Search results for: epoxy supports

Authors: WonSun Chen, James Boylan, Erwin Muharemovic, Denny Meyer

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In Australia, drivers aged between 18 and 24 remained at high risk of road fatality over the last decade. Despite the successful implementation of the Graduated Licensing System (GLS) that supports young drivers in their early phases of driving, the road fatality statistics for these drivers remains high. In response to these statistics, studies conducted in Australia prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have demonstrated the benefits of using telematics devices for improving driving behaviour, However, the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on young drivers’ driving behaviour has emerged as a global concern. Therefore, this naturalistic study aimed to evaluate and compare the driving behaviour(such as acceleration, braking, speeding, etc.) of young drivers with the adoption of in-vehicle telematics devices. Forty-two drivers aged between 18 and 30 and residing in the Australian state of Victoria participated in this study during the period of May to October 2022. All participants drove with the telematics devices during the first 30-day. At the start of the second 30-day, twenty-one participants were randomised to an intervention group where they were provided with an additional telematics ray device that provided visual feedback to the drivers, especially when they committed to aggressive driving behaviour. The remaining twenty-one participants remined their driving journeys without the extra telematics ray device (control group). Such trustworthy data enabled the assessment of changes in the driving behaviour of these young drivers using a machine learning approach in Python. Results are expected to show participants from the intervention group will show improvements in their driving behaviour compared to those from the control group.Furthermore, the telematics data enable the assessment and quantification of such improvements in driving behaviour. The findings from this study are anticipated to shed some light in guiding the development of customised campaigns and interventions to further address the high road fatality among young drivers in Australia.

Keywords: driving behaviour, naturalistic study, telematics data, young drivers

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Authors: Aguasanta M. Sarmiento, Jose Miguel Davila, Juan Carlos Fortes, Maria Luisa de la Torre

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Acid mine drainage (AMD) is an acidic leachate with high levels of metals and sulphates in solution, which seriously affects the durability and strength of metallic materials used in the construction of structural and mechanical components. This paper presents the results of the evolution over time of the reduction in tensile strength and defects in AISI 304 stainless steel in contact with acid mine drainage. For this purpose, a total of 30 bars with a diameter of 8 mm and a length of 14 cm were placed transversely in the course of a stream contaminated by AMD from the sulphide mines of the Iberian Pyritic Belt (SW Spain). This stream has average pH values of 2.6, a potential of 660 mV and average concentrations of 12 g/L of sulphates, 1.2 g/L of Fe, 191 mg/L of Zn, etc. Every two months of exposure, 6 stainless steel bars were extracted from the acid stream. They were subjected to surface roughness analysis carried out with the help of Mitutoyo Surftest SJ-210 surface roughness tester. The analysis was carried out at three different points on 5 specimens from each series. The average reading of each parameter is calculated in order to ensure the accuracy of the measurements and the surface coverage. Arithmetic mean roughness value (Ra), mean roughness depth (Rz) and root mean square roughness (Rq) were measured. Five specimens from each series were statically tensile tested using universal equipment (Servosis ME 403 of 200kN). The specimens were clamped at their ends with two grips for cylindrical sections, and the tensile force was applied at a constant speed of 0.5 kN/s, according to the requirements of standard UNE-EN ISO 6892-1: 2020. To determine the modulus of elasticity, limits close to 15% and 55% of the maximum load were used, depending on the course of each test. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) was used to observe corrosion products and defects generated by exposure to AMD. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) was used to analyze the chemical composition of the corrosion products formed. For this purpose, small pieces were cut from the resulting specimens, cleaned and embedded in epoxy resin. The results show that after only 5 months of exposure of AISI 304 stainless steel to the mining environment, the surface roughness increases significantly, with average depths almost 6 times greater than the initial one. Cracks are observed on the surface of the material, which increases in size with the time of exposure. A large number of grains with a composition of more than 57% Pb and 16% Sn can be observed inside these cracks. Tensile tests show a reduction in the resistance of this material after only two months of exposure. The results show the serious problems that would result from the use of this material for the use of mechanical components in a sulphide mining environment, not only because of the significant reduction in the lifetime of such components but also because of the implications for human safety.

Keywords: Acid mine drainage, Corrosion, Mechanical properties, Stainless steel

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Authors: Odunayo Christy Atewolara-Odule, Olapeju O. Aiyelaagbe

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The search for new natural anti-oxidants has grown tremendously over the years because reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and oxidative stress have been linked to a large number of human degenerative diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, and diabetes. Tapinanthus bangwensis, a parasitic plant commonly known as mistletoe belonging to the Loranthaceae family, is mostly employed traditionally to treat inflammation, cancer, diabetes, and hypertension to mention a few. In this study, air-dried pulverized leaves and stem of Tapinanthus bangwensis were successively extracted with n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol to give the corresponding crude extracts. The extracts were purified by column chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography to give the isolated compounds. Structural elucidation was done using mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infra-red, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. The antioxidant activity of the compounds was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ascorbic acid as standard. Three compounds; Friedelin, Eudesmic acid (3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic) and Methyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate were isolated from the extracts of Tapinanthus bangwensis. Friedelin was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the stem while the two other compounds were isolated from the methanol extract of the leaves. The percentages of free radical scavenging activities of the compounds are as follows: Friedelin, 73.69%, methyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate, 79.33% and eudesmic, 87.68% anti-oxidant activity which were quite comparable to 93.96% given by ascorbic acid. We are reporting, to our best knowledge, for the first time the occurrence of friedelin and eudesmic acid in Tapinanthus bangwensis. The high anti-oxidant activity of these compounds supports the use of this plant in the management of diabetes and hypertension as they will be useful in combating complications arising from the disease.

Keywords: column chromatography, eudesmic acid, friedelin, Tapinanthus bangwensis

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Authors: Sahin Yakut, H. Kemal Ulutas, Deniz Deger

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Plasma Assisted Physical Vapor Deposition (PAPVD) method used to produce Poly(ethylene oxide) (pPEO) thin films. Depositions were progressed at various plasma discharge powers as 0, 2, 5 and 30 W for pPEO at 500nm film thicknesses. The capacitance and dielectric dissipation of the thin films were measured at 0,1-107 Hz frequency range and 173-353 K temperature range by an impedance analyzer. Then, alternative conductivity (σac) and activation energies were derived from capacitance and dielectric dissipation. σac of conventional PEO (PEO precursor) was measured to determine the effect of plasma discharge. Differences were observed between the alternative conductivity of PEO’s and pPEO’s depending on plasma discharge power. By this purpose, structural characterization techniques such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) were applied on pPEO thin films. Structural analysis showed that density of crosslinking is plasma power dependent. The crosslinking density increases with increasing plasma discharge power and this increase is displayed as increasing dynamic glass transition temperatures at DSC results. Also, shifting of frequencies of some type of bond vibrations, belonging to bond vibrations produced after fragmentation because of plasma discharge, were observed at FTIR results. The dynamic glass transition temperatures obtained from alternative conductivity results for pPEO consistent with the results of DSC. Activation energies exhibit Arrhenius behavior. Activation energies decrease with increasing plasma discharge power. This behavior supports the suggestion expressing that long polymer chains and long oligomers are fragmented into smaller oligomers or radicals.

Keywords: activation energy, dielectric spectroscopy, organic thin films, plasma polymer

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Authors: Brian Bilich

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A typical global learning program is a two-week project based, culturally immersive and academically relevant experience built around a project with purpose and catered to student and business groups. Global Learning in Continuing Education at Austin Community College promotes global readiness through projects with purpose with special attention given to balancing learning, hospitality and travel. A recent project involved CommunityFirst! Village; a 51-acre planned community which provides affordable, permanent housing for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. Global Learning students collaborated with residents and staff at the Community First! Village on a project to produce two-dimensional remodeling plans of residents’ tiny homes with a focus on but not limited to design improvements on elements related to accessibility, increased usability of living and storage space and esthetic upgrades to boost psychological and emotional appeal. The goal of project-based learning in the context of global learning in Continuing Educaiton at Austin Community Collegen general is two fold. One, in rapid fashion we develop a project which gives the learner a hands-on opportunity to exercise soft and technical skills, like creativity and communication and analytical thinking. Two, by basing projects on global social conflict issues, the project of purpose promotes the development of empathy for other people and fosters a sense of corporate social responsibility in future generations of business leadership. In the example provide above the project informed the student group on the topic of chronic homelessness and promoted awareness and empathy for this underserved segment of the community. Project-based global learning based on projects with purpose has the potential to cultivate global readiness by developing empathy and strengthening emotional intelligence for future generations.

Keywords: project-based learning, global learning, global readiness, globalization, international exchange, collaboration

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Authors: Aikaterini Amanatidou

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We describe the case of a 20-year-old female patient diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) who was scheduled to undergo a wisdom teeth extraction in outpatient surgery. EDS is a hereditary connective tissue disorder characterized by joint hypermobility, skin hyper-extensibility, and vascular and soft tissue fragility. There are six subtypes of Ehlers-Danlos, and in our case, the patient had EDS hyper-mobility (HT) type disorder. One important clinical feature of this syndrome is chronic pain, which is often poorly understood and treated. Our patient had a long history of articular and lumbar pain when she was diagnosed. She was prescribed analgesic treatment for acute and neuropathic pain and had multiple sessions of psychotherapy and physiotherapy to ease the pain. Unfortunately, her extensive medical history was underrated by our anesthetic team, and no further measures were taken for the operation. Despite an uneventful intra-operative phase, the patient experienced several episodes of hyperalgesia during the immediate post-operative care. Management of pain was challenging for the anesthetic team: initial opioid treatment had only a temporary effect and a paradoxical reaction after a while. Final pain relief was eventually obtained with psycho-physiologic treatment, high doses of ketamine, and patient-controlled analgesia infusion of morphine-ketamine-dehydrobenzperidol. We suspected an episode of Opioid-Induced hyperalgesia. This case report supports the hypothesis that anti-hyperalgesics such as ketamine as well as lidocaine, and dexmedetomidine should be considered intra-operatively to avoid opioid-induced hyperalgesia and may be an alternative solution to manage complex chronic pain like others in neuropathic pain syndromes.

Keywords: Ehlers-Danlos, post-operative management, hyperalgesia, opioid-induced hyperalgesia, rare disease

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Authors: Sofie Verstraete, Stijn Debruyne, Frederik Desplentere

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Considering environmental issues, the interest to apply sustainable materials in industry increases. Specifically for composites, there is an emerging need for suitable materials and bonding techniques. As an alternative to traditional composites, short bio-fiber (cellulose-based flax) reinforced Polylactic Acid (PLA) is gaining popularity. However, these thermoplastic based composites show issues in adhesive bonding. This research focusses on analyzing the effects of the fibers near the bonding interphase. The research applies injection molded plate structures. A first important parameter concerns the fiber volume fraction, which directly affects adhesion characteristics of the surface. This parameter is varied between 0 (pure PLA) and 30%. Next to fiber volume fraction, the orientation of fibers near the bonding surface governs the adhesion characteristics of the injection molded parts. This parameter is not directly controlled in this work, but its effects are analyzed. Surface roughness also greatly determines surface wettability, thus adhesion. Therefore, this research work considers three different roughness conditions. Different mechanical treatments yield values up to 0.5 mm. In this preliminary research, only one adhesive type is considered. This is a two-part epoxy which is cured at 23 °C for 48 hours. In order to assure a dedicated parametric study, simple and reproduceable adhesive bonds are manufactured. Both single lap (substrate width 25 mm, thickness 3 mm, overlap length 10 mm) and double lap tests are considered since these are well documented and quite straightforward to conduct. These tests are conducted for the different substrate and surface conditions. Dog bone tensile testing is applied to retrieve the stiffness and strength characteristics of the substrates (with different fiber volume fractions). Numerical modelling (non-linear FEA) relates the effects of the considered parameters on the stiffness and strength of the different joints, obtained through the abovementioned tests. Ongoing work deals with developing dedicated numerical models, incorporating the different considered adhesion parameters. Although this work is the start of an extensive research project on the bonding characteristics of thermoplastic bio-fiber reinforced composites, some interesting results are already prominent. Firstly, a clear correlation between the surface roughness and the wettability of the substrates is observed. Given the adhesive type (and viscosity), it is noticed that an increase in surface energy is proportional to the surface roughness, to some extent. This becomes more pronounced when fiber volume fraction increases. Secondly, ultimate bond strength (single lap) also increases with increasing fiber volume fraction. On a macroscopic level, this confirms the positive effect of fibers near the adhesive bond line.

Keywords: adhesive bonding, bio-fiber reinforced composite, flax fibers, lap joint

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Authors: Axelle Bertrand, Tom Bauer, Carole Charbuillet, Martin Bonte, Marie Voyer, Nicolas Perry

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The complexity of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can be identified as the ultimate obstacle to massification. Due to these obstacles, the diffusion of eco-design and LCA methods in the manufacturing sectors could be impossible. This article addresses the research question: How to adapt the LCA method to generalize it massively and improve its performance? This paper aims to develop an approach for automating LCA in order to carry out assessments on a massive scale. To answer this, we proceeded in three steps: First, an analysis of the literature to identify existing automation methods. Given the constraints of large-scale manual processing, it was necessary to define a new approach, drawing inspiration from certain methods and combining them with new ideas and improvements. In a second part, our development of automated construction is presented (reconciliation and implementation of data). Finally, the LCA case study of a conduit is presented to demonstrate the feature-based approach offered by the developed tool. A computerized environment supports effective and efficient decision-making related to materials and processes, facilitating the process of data mapping and hence product modeling. This method is also able to complete the LCA process on its own within minutes. Thus, the calculations and the LCA report are automatically generated. The tool developed has shown that automation by code is a viable solution to meet LCA's massification objectives. It has major advantages over the traditional LCA method and overcomes the complexity of LCA. Indeed, the case study demonstrated the time savings associated with this methodology and, therefore, the opportunity to increase the number of LCA reports generated and, therefore, to meet regulatory requirements. Moreover, this approach also presents the potential of the proposed method for a wide range of applications.

Keywords: automation, EEE, life cycle assessment, life cycle inventory, massively

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Authors: Jennifer Nutton, Gayle Ployer, Ky Scott, Jenny Morgan

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Working in a circle within higher education creates a decolonial space of mutual respect, responsibility, and reciprocity that facilitates collaborative learning and deep connections among learners and instructors. This approach is beyond simply facilitating a group in a circle but opens the door to creating a sacred space connecting each member to the land, to the Indigenous peoples who have taken care of the lands since time immemorial, to one another, and to one’s own positionality. These deep connections not only center human knowledges and relationships but also acknowledges responsibilities to land. Working in a circle as a relational pedagogical praxis also disrupts institutional power dynamics by creating a space of collaborative learning and deep connections in the classroom. Inherent within circle work is to facilitate connections not just academically but emotionally, physically, culturally, and spiritually. Recent literature supports the use of online talking circles, finding that it can offer a more relational and experiential learning environment, which is often absent in the virtual world and has been made more evident and necessary since the pandemic. These deeper experiences of learning and connection, rooted in both knowledge and the land, can then be shared with openness and vulnerability with one another, facilitating growth and change. This process of beginning with the land is critical to ensure we have the grounding to obstruct the ongoing realities of colonialism. The authors, who identify as both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, as both educators and learners, reflect on their teaching and learning experiences in circle. They share a relational pedagogical praxis framework that has been successful in educating future social workers, environmental activists, and leaders in social and human services, health, legal and political fields.

Keywords: circle work, relational pedagogies, decolonization, distance education

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Authors: Masomeh Jamshid Nejad

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Nowadays, statistical literacy is no longer a necessary skill but an essential skill with broad applications across diverse fields, especially in operational decision areas such as business management, finance, and economics. As such, learning and deep understanding of statistical concepts are essential in the context of business studies. One of the crucial topics in statistical theory and its application is the normal distribution, often called a bell-shaped curve. To interpret data and conduct hypothesis tests, comprehending the properties of normal distribution (the mean and standard deviation) is essential for business students. This requires undergraduate students in the field of economics and business management to visualize and work with data following a normal distribution. Since technology is interconnected with education these days, it is important to teach statistics topics in the context of Python, R-studio, and Microsoft Excel to undergraduate students. This research endeavours to shed light on the effect of Excel-based instruction on learners’ knowledge of statistics, specifically the central concept of normal distribution. As such, two groups of undergraduate students (from the Business Management program) were compared in this research study. One group underwent Excel-based instruction and another group relied only on traditional teaching methods. We analyzed experiential data and BBA participants’ responses to statistic-related questions focusing on the normal distribution, including its key attributes, such as the mean and standard deviation. The results of our study indicate that exposing students to Excel-based learning supports learners in comprehending statistical concepts more effectively compared with the other group of learners (teaching with the traditional method). In addition, students in the context of Excel-based instruction showed ability in picturing and interpreting data concentrated on normal distribution.

Keywords: statistics, excel-based instruction, data visualization, pedagogy

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Authors: Wei Zhao

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The pandemic crisis disrupted normal classroom practices so that the constraints of the traditional practice became apparent. This turns out to be new opportunities for technology-based learning and teaching. However, how the technology supports the preschool teachers go through this sudden crisis and how preschool teachers conceived of the use of technology, appropriate and design technological artifacts as a mediator of knowledge construction in order to suit young children’s literacy level are rarely explored. This study addresses these issues by looking at the influence of a web-supported teacher community on changes/shifts in preschool teachers’ epistemological beliefs and practices. This teachers’ professional development community was formulated before the pandemic time and developed virtually throughout the home-based learning caused by Covid-19. It served as a virtual and asynchronous community for those teachers to collaboratively plan for and conduct online lessons using the knowledge-building approach for the purpose of sustaining children’s learning curiosity and opening up new learning opportunities during the lock-down period. The knowledge-building approach helps to increase teachers’ collective responsibility to collaboratively work on shared educational goals in the teacher community and awareness of noticing new ideas or innovations in their classroom. Based on the data collected across five months during and after the lock-down period and the activity theory, results show a dynamic interplay between the evolution of the community culture, the growth of teacher community and teachers’ identity transformation and professional development. Technology is useful in this regard not only because it transforms the geographical distance and new gathering guidelines after the outbreak of pandemic into new ways of communal communication and collaboration. More importantly, while teachers selected, monitored and adapted the technology, it acts as a catalyst for changes in teachers’ old teaching practices and epistemological dispositions.

Keywords: activity theory, changes in epistemology and practice, knowledge building, web-based teachers’ professional development community

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Authors: Haytam Kasem

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The problem of quick and easy reversible attachment has become of great importance in different fields of technology. For the reason, during the last decade, a new emerging field of adhesion science has been developed. Essentially inspired by some animals and insects, which during their natural evolution have developed fantastic biological attachment systems allowing them to adhere and run on walls and ceilings of uneven surfaces. Potential applications of engineering bio-inspired solutions include climbing robots, handling systems for wafers in nanofabrication facilities, and mobile sensor platforms, to name a few. However, despite the efforts provided to apply bio-inspired patterned adhesive-surfaces to the biomedical field, they are still in the early stages compared with their conventional uses in other industries mentioned above. In fact, there are some critical issues that still need to be addressed for the wide usage of the bio-inspired patterned surfaces as advanced biomedical platforms. For example, surface durability and long-term stability of surfaces with high adhesive capacity should be improved, but also the friction and adhesion capacities of these bio-inspired microstructures when contacting rough surfaces. One of the well-known prototypes for bio-inspired attachment systems is biomimetic wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure for gecko-like attachments. Although physical background of these attachment systems is widely understood, the influence of counter-face roughness and its relationship with the friction force generated when sliding against wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure have yet to be fully analyzed and understood. To elucidate the effect of the counter-face roughness on the friction of biomimetic wall-shaped hierarchical microstructure we have replicated the isotropic topography of 12 different surfaces using replicas made of the same epoxy material. The different counter-faces were fully characterized under 3D optical profilometer to measure roughness parameters. The friction forces generated by spatula-shaped microstructure in contact with the tested counter-faces were measured on a home-made tribometer and compared with the friction forces generated by the spatulae in contact with a smooth reference. It was found that classical roughness parameters, such as average roughness Ra and others, could not be utilized to explain topography-related variation in friction force. This has led us to the development of an integrated roughness parameter obtained by combining different parameters which are the mean asperity radius of curvature (R), the asperity density (η), the deviation of asperities high (σ) and the mean asperities angle (SDQ). This new integrated parameter is capable of explaining the variation of results of friction measurements. Based on the experimental results, we developed and validated an analytical model to predict the variation of the friction force as a function of roughness parameters of the counter-face and the applied normal load, as well.

Keywords: friction, bio-mimetic micro-structure, counter-face roughness, analytical model

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Authors: Boldin Roman, Liliana Analía Diaz

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As the hydrogen economy continues to expand, reducing energy consumption and emissions while stimulating economic growth, the development of efficient and cost-effective hydrogen production technologies is critical. Among various methods, anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolysis stands out due to its potential for using non-noble metal catalysts. The exploration and enhancement of non-noble metal catalysts, such as NiFe-type catalysts, are pivotal for the advancement of AEM technology, ensuring its commercial viability and environmental sustainability. NiFe-type catalysts were synthesized through electrodeposition and characterized both electrochemically and physico-chemically. Various supports, including Ni foam and Ni mesh, were used as porous transport layers (PTLs) to evaluate the effective catalyst thickness and the influence of the PTL in a 5 cm² AEM electrolyzer. This methodological approach allows for a detailed assessment of catalyst performance under operational conditions typical of industrial hydrogen production. The study revealed that electrodeposited non-noble multi-metallic catalysts maintain stable performance as anodes in AEM water electrolysis. NiFe-type catalysts demonstrated superior activity, with the NiFeCoP alloy outperforming others by delivering the lowest overpotential and the highest current density. Furthermore, the use of different PTLs showed significant effects on the electrochemical behavior of the catalysts, indicating that PTL selection is crucial for optimizing performance and efficiency in AEM electrolyzers. Conclusion: The research underscores the potential of non-noble metal catalysts in enhancing efficiency and reducing the costs of AEM electrolysers. The findings highlight the importance of catalyst and PTL optimization in developing scalable and economically viable hydrogen production technologies. Continued innovation in this area is essential for supporting the growth of the hydrogen economy and achieving sustainable energy solutions.

Keywords: AEMWE, electrocatalyst, hydrogen production, water electrolysis.

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Authors: Doddy T. P. Enggarsyah, Soebowo Musa

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Covid-19 pandemic has changed business environments and has spread economic contagion rapidly, as the stringent lockdowns and social distancing, which were initially intended to cut off the spread, have instead cut off the flow of economies. With no existing experience or playbook to deal with such a crisis, the prolonged pandemic can lead to bankruptcies, despite the fact that there are cases of companies that are not only able to survive but also to increase sales and create more jobs amid the economic crisis. This quantitative research study clarifies conflicting findings on organizational inertia whether it is a better strategy to implement during a disruptive environment. 316 respondents who worked in diverse firms operating in various industry types in Indonesia have completed the survey with a response rate of 63.2%. Further, this study clarifies the roles and relationships between organizational inertia, organizational creativity, organizational agility, and organizational resilience that potentially have determinants factors on firm performance in a disruptive environment. The findings of the study confirm that the organizational inertia of the firm will set up strong protection on the organization's fundamental orientation, which eventually will confine organizations to build adequate creative and adaptability responses—such fundamental orientation built from path dependency along with past success and prolonged firm performance. Organizational inertia acts like a control mechanism to ensure the adequacy of the given responses. The term adequate is important, as being overly creative during a disruptive environment may have a contradictory result since it can burden the firm performance. During a disruptive environment, organizations will limit creativity by focusing more on creativity that supports the resilience and new technology adoption will be limited since the cost of learning and implementation are perceived as greater than the potential gains. The optimal path towards firm performance is gained through organizational resilience, as in a disruptive environment, the survival of the organization takes precedence over firm performance.

Keywords: disruptive environment, organizational agility, organizational creativity, organizational inertia, organizational resilience

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Authors: Budi Purnomo, Karen M. Fernandez

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The creation of an ASEAN Community in 2015 is definitely one thing to look forward to. Integration may have birth pains in the beginning but at the end of the day, there are many opportunities that each member-state can take advantage that will benefit the people of ASEAN. Once fully integrated in 2015, ASEAN-certified tourism professionals who pass the common competency standards may find employment in various divisions of labor that are common across various sectors of tourism in member countries. At present, there are six labor divisions where tourism professionals may find employment in ASEAN member countries: namely Front Office; Housekeeping; Food Production; Food and Beverage Services (for Hotel Services); Travel Agency; and Tour Operations (for Travel Services Division). The study attempts to assess the readiness of Indonesian and Filipino students prospective skilled and educated tourism labors to work in ASEAN member countries by 2015. The data sources are obtained from a researcher-designed questionnaire and in-depth interview to reveal the interest of Indonesian and Filipino students to work in other ASEAN member states. The questionnaires were distributed to 240 third and fourth year students who are currently enrolled at the leading tourism institutes/universities in Indonesia and Philippines. The findings of the study will reveal the fulfillment of the requirements to work in ASEAN member-states, the comparison of existing tourism management curricula of Indonesia and Philippines to the Common ASEAN Curriculum (CATC) and Regional Qualifications Framework and Skills Recognition System (RQFSRS) which supports the policies of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia and the Department of Tourism and Department of Labor and Employment of the Republic of the Philippines.

Keywords: ASEAN economic community, prospective skilled and educated tourism labors, tourism labor movement, ASEAN certified-tourism professionals

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Authors: B. Sanchez, D. Zambrana-Vasquez, J. Fresner, C. Krenn, F. Morea, L. Mercatelli

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Local administrations are facing established targets on sustainable development from different disciplines at the heart of different city departments. Nevertheless, some of these targets, such as CO₂ reduction, relate to two or more disciplines, as it is the case of sustainable mobility and energy plans (SUMP & SECAP/SEAP). This opens up the possibility to efficiently cooperate among different city departments and to create and develop harmonized spatial plans by using available resources and together achieving more ambitious goals in cities. The steps of the harmonization processes developed result in the identification of areas to achieve common strategic objectives. Harmonization, in other words, helps different departments in local authorities to work together and optimize the use or resources by sharing the same vision, involving key stakeholders, and promoting common data assessment to better optimize the resources. A methodology to promote resilient city planning via the harmonization of sustainable mobility and energy plans is presented in this paper. In order to validate the proposed methodology, a representative city engaged in an innovation process in efficient spatial planning is used as a case study. The harmonization process of sustainable mobility and energy plans covers identifying matching targets between different fields, developing different spatial plans with dual benefit and common indicators guaranteeing the continuous improvement of the harmonized plans. The proposed methodology supports local administrations in consistent spatial planning, considering both energy efficiency and sustainable mobility. Thus, municipalities can use their human and economic resources efficiently. This guarantees an efficient upgrade of land use plans integrating energy and mobility aspects in order to achieve sustainability targets, as well as to improve the wellbeing of its citizens.

Keywords: integrated multi-sector planning, spatial plans harmonization, sustainable energy and climate action plan, sustainable urban mobility plan

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Authors: S. Curtin, A. Trace

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Introduction: As patients can often be ambivalent about or resistant to any change in their smoking behavior the traditional ‘5 A’ model may be limited as it assumes that patients are ready and motivated to change. However, there is a stage model that is helpful to give guidance for dental students: the Transtheoretical Model (TTM). This model allows students to understand the tasks and goals for the pre-contemplation stage. The TTM was introduced in early stages as a core component of a smoking cessation programme that was integrated into a Behavioral Science programme as applied to dentistry. The aim of the present study is to evaluate and illustrate the students’ current level of knowledge from the questions the students generated in order to engage patients in the tasks and goals of the pre-contemplation stage. Method: N=47 responses of fifth-year undergraduate dental students. These responses were the data set for this study and related to their knowledge base of appropriate questions for a dentist to ask at the pre-contemplation stage of change. A deductive -descriptive analysis was conducted on the data. The goals and tasks of the pre-contemplation stage of the TTM provided a template for this deductive analysis. Results: 51% of students generated relevant, open, exploratory questions for the pre-contemplation stage, whilst 100% of students generated closed questions. With regard to those questions appropriate for the pre-contemplation stage, 19% were open and exploratory, while 66% were closed questions. A deductive analysis of the open exploratory questions revealed that 53% of the questions addressed increased concern about the current pattern of behavior, 38% of the questions concerned increased awareness of a need for change and only 8% of the questions dealt with the envisioning of the possibility of change. Conclusion: All students formulated relevant questions for the pre-contemplation stage, and half of the students generated the open, exploratory questions that increased patients’ awareness of the need to change. More training is required to facilitate a shift in the formulation from closed to open questioning, especially given that, traditionally, smoking cessation was modeled on the ‘5 As’, and that the general training for dentists supports an advisory and directive approach.

Keywords: behaviour change, pre-contemplation stage, trans-theoretical model, undergraduate dentistry students

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Authors: Md. Mizanoor Rahman, Md. Zakir Hossain Talukder, M. Mahruf C. Shohel, Prithvi Shrestha

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In Bangladesh, classroom practice and English Learning (EL) competencies acquired both by the teacher and learner in primary and secondary schools are still very weak. Therefore, English is the most commonly failed examination subject at the school level; in addition, there are severe problems in communicative English by the Bangladeshi nationals– this has been characterized as a constraint to economic development. Job applicants and employees often lack English language skills necessary to work effectively. As a result; both government and its international development partners such as DFID, UNESCO, and CIDA have been very active to uplift the quality of the English language learning and implementing projects with innovative approaches. Recently; the economy has been increasing and in line with this, the technology has been deployed in English learning to improve reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. Young Bangladeshi creative, from a variety of backgrounds including film, animation, photography, and digital media are being trained to develop ideas for English Language Teaching (ELT) media. They are being motivated to develop a wide range of ideas for low cost English learning media products. English Language education policy in Bangladesh supports communicative language teaching practices and accordingly, actors have been influencing curriculum, textbook, deployment of technology and assessment changes supporting communicative ELT. The various projects are also being implemented to reform the curriculum, revise the textbook and adjust the assessment mechanism so that the country can increase in proficiency in communicative English among the population. At present; the numbers of teachers, students and adult learners classified at higher levels of proficiency because of deployment of technology and motivation for learning and using English among school population of Bangladesh. The current paper discusses the various interventions in Bangladesh with appropriate media to improve the competencies of the ELT among population.

Keywords: English learning, technology, education, psychological sciences

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Authors: Lidiia Nazarenko, Henryk Stolarski, Holm Altenbach

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In the paper, a (hierarchical) approach to analysis of thermo-elastic properties of random composites with interphases is outlined and illustrated. It is based on the statistical homogenization method – the method of conditional moments – combined with recently introduced notion of the energy-equivalent inhomogeneity which, in this paper, is extended to include thermal effects. After exposition of the general principles, the approach is applied in the investigation of the effective thermo-elastic properties of a material with randomly distributed nanoparticles. The basic idea of equivalent inhomogeneity is to replace the inhomogeneity and the surrounding it interphase by a single equivalent inhomogeneity of constant stiffness tensor and coefficient of thermal expansion, combining thermal and elastic properties of both. The equivalent inhomogeneity is then perfectly bonded to the matrix which allows to analyze composites with interphases using techniques devised for problems without interphases. From the mechanical viewpoint, definition of the equivalent inhomogeneity is based on Hill’s energy equivalence principle, applied to the problem consisting only of the original inhomogeneity and its interphase. It is more general than the definitions proposed in the past in that, conceptually and practically, it allows to consider inhomogeneities of various shapes and various models of interphases. This is illustrated considering spherical particles with two models of interphases, Gurtin-Murdoch material surface model and spring layer model. The resulting equivalent inhomogeneities are subsequently used to determine effective thermo-elastic properties of randomly distributed particulate composites. The effective stiffness tensor and coefficient of thermal extension of the material with so defined equivalent inhomogeneities are determined by the method of conditional moments. Closed-form expressions for the effective thermo-elastic parameters of a composite consisting of a matrix and randomly distributed spherical inhomogeneities are derived for the bulk and the shear moduli as well as for the coefficient of thermal expansion. Dependence of the effective parameters on the interphase properties is included in the resulting expressions, exhibiting analytically the nature of the size-effects in nanomaterials. As a numerical example, the epoxy matrix with randomly distributed spherical glass particles is investigated. The dependence of the effective bulk and shear moduli, as well as of the effective thermal expansion coefficient on the particle volume fraction (for different radii of nanoparticles) and on the radius of nanoparticle (for fixed volume fraction of nanoparticles) for different interphase models are compared to and discussed in the context of other theoretical predictions. Possible applications of the proposed approach to short-fiber composites with various types of interphases are discussed.

Keywords: effective properties, energy equivalence, Gurtin-Murdoch surface model, interphase, random composites, spherical equivalent inhomogeneity, spring layer model

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Authors: Hui Tag, Jambey Tsering, Pallabi Kalita Hui, Baikuntha Jyoti Gogoi, Vijay Veer

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The food security issues and its relevance in High Mountain regions of the world have been often neglected. Wild edible plants have been playing a major role in livelihood security among the tribal Communities of East Himalayan Region of the world since time immemorial. The Eastern Himalayan Region of India is one of the mega diverse regions of world and rated as top 12th Global Biodiversity Hotspots by IUCN and recognized as one of the 200 significant eco-regions of the Globe. The region supports one of the world’s richest alpine floras and about one-third of them are endemic to the region. There are at least 7,500 flowering plants, 700 orchids, 58 bamboo species, 64 citrus species, 28 conifers, 500 mosses, 700 ferns and 728 lichens. The region is the home of more than three hundred different ethnic communities having diverse knowledge on traditional uses of flora and fauna as food, medicine and beverages. Monpa, Memba and Khamba are among the local communities residing in high altitude region of Eastern Himalaya with rich traditional knowledge related to utilization of wild edible plants. The Monpas, Memba and Khamba are the followers Mahayana sect of Himalayan Buddhism and they are mostly agrarian by primary occupation and also heavily relaying on wild edible plants for their livelihood security during famine since millennia. In the present study, we have reported traditional uses of 40 wild edible plant species and out of which 6 species were analysed at biochemical level for nutrients contents and free radical scavenging activities. The results have shown significant free radical scavenging (antioxidant) activity and nutritional potential of the selected 6 wild edible plants used by the local communities of Eastern Himalayan Region of India.

Keywords: East Himalaya, local community, wild edible plants, nutrition, food security

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Authors: Sahar El-Achkar, Mizan Ahmad

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Poor adaptation of developmental milestones over the lifespan can significantly impact emotional experiences and Satisfaction with Life (SWL) post-retirement. Thus, it is important to understand how adaptive behaviour over the life course can predict emotional experiences. Broadly emotional experiences are either Positive Affect (PA) or Negative Affect (NA). This study sought to explore the impact of successful adaptation of developmental milestones throughout one’s life on emotional experiences and satisfaction with life following retirement. A cross-sectional self-report survey was completed by 132 Australian retirees between the ages 55 and 70 years. Three hierarchical regression models were fitted, controlling for age and gender, to predict PA, NA, and SWL. The full model predicting PA was statistically significant overall, F (8, 121) = 17.97, p < .001, account for 57% of the variability in PA. Industry/Inferiority were significantly predictive of PA. The full model predicting NA was statistically significant overall, F (8, 121) = 12.00, p < .001, accounting for 51% of the variability in NA. Age and Trust/Mistrust were significantly predictive of NA. The full model predicting NA was statistically significant overall, F (8, 121) = 12.00, p < .001, accounting for 51% of the variability in NA. Age and Trust/Mistrust were significantly predictive of NA. The full model predicting SWL, F (8, 121) = 11.05, p < .001, accounting for 45% of the variability in SWL. Trust/Mistrust and Ego Integrity/Despair were significantly predictive of SWL. A sense of industry post-retirement is important in generating PA. These results highlight that individuals presenting with adaptation and identity issues are likely to present with adjustment challenges and unpleasant emotional experiences post-retirement. This supports the importance of identifying and understanding the benefits of successful adaptation and development throughout the lifespan and its significance for the self-concept. Most importantly, the quality of lives of many may be improved, and the future risk of continued poor emotional experiences and SWL post-retirement may be mitigated. Specifically, the clinical implications of these findings are that they support the promotion of successful adaption over the life course and healthy ageing.

Keywords: adaptation, development, negative affect, positive affect, retirement, satisfaction with life

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Authors: Danilo Di Donato

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The continuous new releases of free and open source software (FOSS) and the high costs of proprietary software -whose monopoly is characterized by closed codes and the low level of implementation and customization of software by end-users- impose a reflection on possible tools that can be chosen and adopted for the design and the representation of new steel constructions. The paper aims to show experimentation carried out to verify the actual potential and the effective applicability of FOSS supports to the BIM modeling of steel structures, particularly considering the goal of a possible workflow in order to achieve high level of development (LOD); allow effective interchange methods between different software. To this end, the examined software packages are those with open source or freeware licenses, in order to evaluate their use in architectural praxis. The test has primarily involved the experimentation of Freecad -the only Open Source software that allows a complete and integrated BIM workflow- and then the results have been compared with those of two proprietary software, Sketchup and TeklaBim Sight, which are released with a free version, but not usable for commercial purposes. The experiments carried out on Open Source, and freeware software was then compared with the outcomes that are obtained by two proprietary software, Sketchup Pro and Tekla Structure which has special modules particularly addressed to the design of steel structures. This evaluation has concerned different comparative criteria, that have been defined on the basis of categories related to the reliability, the efficiency, the potentiality, achievable LOD and user-friendliness of the analyzed software packages. In order to verify the actual outcomes of FOSS BIM for the steel structure projects, these results have been compared with a simulation related to a real case study and carried out with a proprietary software BIM modeling. Therefore, the same design theme, the project of a shelter of public space, has been developed using different software. Therefore the purpose of the contribution is to assess what are the developments and potentialities inherent in FOSS BIM, in order to estimate their effective applicability to professional practice, their limits and new fields of research they propose.

Keywords: BIM, steel buildings, FOSS, LOD

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Authors: Helene Eller

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The aim of non-profit organizations (NPO) is to provide services and goods for its clientele, with profit being a minor objective. By having this definition as the basic purpose of doing business, it is obvious that the goal of an organisation is to serve several bottom lines and not only the financial one. This approach is underpinned by the non-distribution constraint which means that NPO are allowed to make profits to a certain extent, but not to distribute them. The advantage is that there are no single shareholders who might have an interest in the prosperity of the organisation: there is no pie to divide. The gained profits remain within the organisation and will be reinvested in purposeful projects. Good governance is mandatory to support the aim of NPOs. Looking for a measure of good governance the principals of corporate governance (CG) will come in mind. The purpose of CG is direction and control, and in the field of NPO, CG is enlarged to consider the relationship to all important stakeholders who have an impact on the organisation. The recognition of more relevant parties than the shareholder is the link to corporate social responsibility (CSR). It supports a broader view of the bottom line: It is no longer enough to know how profits are used but rather how they are made. Besides, CSR addresses the responsibility of organisations for their impact on society. When transferring the concept of CSR to the non-profit area it will become obvious that CSR with its distinctive features will match the aims of NPOs. As a consequence, NPOs who apply CG apply also CSR to a certain extent. The research is designed as a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis. First, the investigation focuses on the theoretical basis of both concepts. Second, the similarities and differences are outlined and as a result the interconnection of both concepts will show up. The contribution of this research is manifold: The interconnection of both concepts when applied to NPOs has not got any attention in science yet. CSR and governance as integrated concept provides a lot of advantages for NPOs compared to for-profit organisations which are in a steady justification to show the impact they might have on the society. NPOs, however, integrate economic and social aspects as starting point. For NPOs CG is not a mere concept of compliance but rather an enhanced concept integrating a lot of aspects of CSR. There is no “either-nor” between the concepts for NPOs.

Keywords: business ethics, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, non-profit organisations

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Authors: Sadegh Marzban, Mohamad Sobhan Sheikh Andalibi, Farnaz Ghassemi, Farzad Towhidkhah

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Parkinson's disease (PD), which is characterized by the tremor at rest, rigidity, akinesia or bradykinesia and postural instability, affects the quality of life of involved individuals. The concept of a fractal is most often associated with irregular geometric objects that display self-similarity. Fractal dimension (FD) can be used to quantify the complexity and the self-similarity of an object such as tremor. In this work, we are aimed to propose a new method for evaluating hyperkinetic movements such as tremor, by using the FD and other correlated parameters in patients who are suffered from PD. In this study, we used 'the tremor data of Physionet'. The database consists of fourteen participants, diagnosed with PD including six patients with high amplitude tremor and eight patients with low amplitude. We tried to extract features from data, which can distinguish between patients before and after medication. We have selected fractal dimensions, including correlation dimension, box dimension, and information dimension. Lilliefors test has been used for normality test. Paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed rank test were also done to find differences between patients before and after medication, depending on whether the normality is detected or not. In addition, two-way ANOVA was used to investigate the possible association between the therapeutic effects and features extracted from the tremor. Just one of the extracted features showed significant differences between patients before and after medication. According to the results, correlation dimension was significantly different before and after the patient's medication (p=0.009). Also, two-way ANOVA demonstrates significant differences just in medication effect (p=0.033), and no significant differences were found between subject's differences (p=0.34) and interaction (p=0.97). The most striking result emerged from the data is that correlation dimension could quantify medication treatment based on tremor. This study has provided a technique to evaluate a non-linear measure for quantifying medication, nominally the correlation dimension. Furthermore, this study supports the idea that fractal dimension analysis yields additional information compared with conventional spectral measures in the detection of poor prognosis patients.

Keywords: correlation dimension, non-linear measure, Parkinson’s disease, tremor

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Authors: Annika Kjallman Alm, Ove Hellzen, Malin Rising-Holmstrom

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Worldwide, the number of people who are living with dementia is increasing because of an aging population, which leads to increased financial and social costs, including reduced quality of life for people with dementia and their care partners. Most people who have dementia reside in the community. Aging in place could be described as having the health and social supports and services you need to live safely and independently in your home or your society for as long as you wish and are able. People with dementia are not different than people without dementia where they want to remain at home, if possible, with a sense of familiarity and engagement in typical everyday activities. So how do persons with dementia or cognitive decline see their possibilities to be socially involved and experience support? The aim of this study was to explore persons with cognitive decline's sense of involvement and support living in the ordinary dwelling. The study was approved by the Ethical Review Authority in Sweden prior to the interviews. Interviews were conducted with 20 persons living at home, either alone or in a relationship. The persons had perceived cognitive decline; some were under investigation or already had a diagnose of early dementia. Thematic analysis was used to identify, analyze, and report patterns within the data. Researchers extracted three main themes through participants’ interviews: a) Importance of social involvement with family and friends. b) Hindrances for social involvement. c) Struggling mentally with a new life situation. Results found that going to activity centers, staying involved, and meeting friends and family enhanced the sense of involvement and support. There were also hindrances to a sense of involvement and support as they struggled with the diagnose and the changes in daily life, such as physical problems, mental problems, or economic issues. The mental struggle of accepting the cognitive decline and the changes in daily life it brought was also an issue for some of the participants. A multidimensional support should be provided by the community to enable persons with cognitive decline to stay involved in family and community in the comfort of their own homes.

Keywords: aging in place, cognitive decline, dementia, sense of involvement

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Authors: Samih Ahmed, Guayente Minchot, Fritz King, Mikael Hallgren

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The stress ribbon system has numerous advantages that include but are not limited to increasing overall stiffness, control deflections, and reduction of materials consumption, which in turn, reduces the load and the cost. Nevertheless, its use is usually limited to bridges, in particular, pedestrian bridges; this can be attributed to the insufficient space that buildings' usually have for end supports, and/or back- stayed cables, that can accommodate the expected high pull-out forces occurring at the cables' ends. In this work, the roof of Västerås Travel Center, which will become one of the longest cable suspended roofs in the world, was chosen as a case study. The aim was to investigate the optimal technique to model the post-tensioned stress ribbon system for the roof structure using the FEM software SAP2000 and to assess any possible reduction in the pull-out forces, deflections, and concrete stresses. Subsequently, a conventional cable suspended roof was simulated using SAP2000, and compared to the post-tension stress ribbon system in order to examine the potential of the latter. Moreover, the effects of temperature loads and support movements on the final design loads were examined. Based on the study, a few practical recommendations concerning the construction method and the iterative design process, required to meet the architectural geometrical demands, are stated by the authors. The results showed that the post-tensioned stress ribbon system reduces the concrete stresses, overall deflections, and more importantly, reduces the pull-out forces and the vertical reactions at both ends by up to 16% and 11%, respectively, which substantially reduces the design forces for the support structures. The magnitude of these reductions was found to be highly correlated to the applied prestressing force, making the size of the prestressing force a key factor in the design.

Keywords: cable suspended, post-tension, roof structure, SAP2000, stress ribbon

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Authors: Mohamed Moheyeldin Mahmoud

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Egypt suffers from a severe shortage of data and charts concerning the physical dimensions, measurements, qualities and consumer behavior. The shortage of needed information and appropriate methods has forced the Egyptian designer to use any other foreign standard when designing a product for the Egyptian consumer which has led to many problems. The urgently needed database concerning the physical specifications, measurements of the Egyptian consumers, as well as the need to support the Ergonomics given courses in many colleges and institutes with the latest technologies, is stated as the research problem. Descriptive analytical method relying on the compiling, comparing and analyzing of information and facts in order to get acceptable perceptions, ideas and considerations is the used methodology by the researcher. The research concludes that: 1. Good interaction relationship between users and products shows the success of that product. 2. An integration linkage between the most prominent fields of science specially Ergonomics, Interaction Design and Ethnography should be encouraged to provide an ultimately updated database concerning the nature, specifications and environment of the Egyptian consumer, in order to achieve a higher benefit for both user and product. 3. Chinese economic policy based on the study of market requirements long before any market activities should be emulated. 4. Using Ethnography supports the design activities creating new products or updating existent ones through measuring the compatibility of products with their environment and user expectations, While contracting a joint cooperation between military colleges, sports education institutes from one side, and design institutes from the other side to provide an ultimately updated (annually updated) database concerning some specifications about students of both sexes applying in those institutes (height, weight, etc.) to provide the Industrial designer with the needed information when creating a new product or updating an existing one concerning that category is recommended by the researcher.

Keywords: adapt, ergonomics, ethnography, interaction design

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Authors: Mark Linden, Rachel Leonard, Trisha Forbes, Michael Brown, Lynne Marsh, Stuart Todd, Nathan Hughes, Maria Truesdale

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Background: Current interventions which aim to improve the mental health of family carers are often face to face, which can create barriers to full participation. Online interventions can offer flexibility in delivery compared to face to face approaches. The primary objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of delivering the Carers-ID online intervention, while the secondary outcome is to improve the mental health of family carers of people with intellectual disabilities. Methods: Family carers (n = 120) will be randomised to receive the intervention (n=60) or assigned to a wait-list control (n=60) group. The intervention (www.Carers-ID.com) consists of fourteen modules which cover topics including promoting resilience, providing peer support, reducing anxiety, managing stress, accessing local supports, managing family conflict and information for siblings who are carers. Primary outcomes for this study include acceptability and feasibility of the outcome measures, recruitment, participation and retention rates and effect sizes. Secondary outcomes will be completed at three time points (baseline, following intervention completion and three months after completion). Secondary outcomes include, depression, anxiety, stress, well-being , resilience and social connectedness. Participants (n=12) who have taken part in the intervention arm of the research will be invited to participate in semi-structured interviews as part of the process evaluation. Discussion: To determine whether a full-scale randomised controlled effectiveness trial is warranted, feasibility testing of the intervention and trial procedures is a necessary first step. The Carers-ID intervention provides an accessible resource for family carers to support their mental health and well-being.

Keywords: intellectual disability, family carer, feasibility trial, online intervention

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Authors: Jayanti De

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Users of any urban road infrastructure may be classified into various categories. The current paper intends to see whether the opinions on different environmental and transportation criteria vary significantly among different types of road users or not. The paper addresses this issue by using a unique survey data that has been collected from Kolkata, a highly populated city in India. Multiple criteria should be taken into account while planning on infrastructure development programs. Given limited resources, a welfare maximizing government typically resorts to public opinion by designing surveys for prioritization of one project over another. Designing such surveys can be challenging and costly. Deciding upon whom to include in a survey and how to represent each group of consumers/road-users depend crucially on how opinion for different criteria vary across consumer groups. A unique dataset has been collected from various parts of Kolkata to statistically test (using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) whether assigning of weights to rank the transportation criteria like congestion, air pollution, noise pollution, and morning/evening delay vary significantly across the various groups of users of such infrastructure. The different consumer/user groups in the dataset include pedestrian, private car owner, para-transit (taxi /auto rickshaw) user, public transport (bus) user and freight transporter among others. Very little evidence has been found that ranking of different criteria among these groups vary significantly. This also supports the hypothesis that road- users/consumers form their opinion by using their long-run rather than immediate experience. As a policy prescription, this implies that under-representation or over-representation of a specific consumer group in a survey may not necessarily distort the overall opinion, since opinions across different consumer groups are highly correlated as evident from this particular case study.

Keywords: multi criteria analysis, project-prioritization, road- users, survey designing

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Authors: Laleh Golamrej Eliasi

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Finland is the second most violent country for women in the European Union (EU). 47% of women in Finland claimed to have experienced domestic violence against women (DVAW), compared to an average of 33% in the EU. Although the statistics in Finland are transparent, to the author’s best knowledge, there are no statisticsonDV by nationality in Finland. On the other hand, being a Muslim woman in a non-Muslim-majority country represents a position of double vulnerability to violence. There are 10404 Afghan refugees in Finland who are Muslim. Barriers such as unfamiliarity with support services, fear of the police, racism, language, economic and practical dependence, social isolation, and family commitments all lead to a lack of reporting of DVAW among migrants. Although witnessing and experiencing DV have devastating effects on women’s and children’s health and well-being, there is a lack of studies about DVAW among Afghan families in Finland. To fill this knowledge gap, Afghan women living in Finland are selected as the target group to assess their views on DVAW and child protection. This study is implemented in the socio-ecological approach framework to assess the impacts of individual characteristics, interpersonal relationships, community, and society components on DVAW in Afghan families. Interviews with Afghan women and content analysis are used to find out participants' views on DVAW, its risk factors, and approaches and methods to improve protection for women and children. Main purpose is to obtain information about participants' views on the subject. The findings can be used to improve culturally safe social work knowledge and practices with a bottom-up approach to reduce DV and increase child protection. Therefore, this research can have important effects on the sustainable development of services and supports the welfare and inclusion of immigrant families. The expected results will contribute to sustainable gender equality, which is in line with the fifth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Keywords: domestic violence, immigrant women, immigrant child protection, social work

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