Search results for: disaster awareness

Authors: Poulomi Bhadra, Manjushree Palit, Sanjeev P. Sahni

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Forensic science uses all branches of science for criminal investigation and trial and has increasingly emerged as an important tool in the administration of justice. However, the growth and development of this field in India has not been as rapid or widespread as compared to the more developed Western countries. For successful administration of justice, it is important that all agencies involved in law enforcement adopt an inter-professional approach towards forensic science, which is presently lacking. In light of the alarmingly high average acquittal rate in India, this study aims to examine the lack of understanding and appreciation of the importance and scope of forensic evidence and expert opinions amongst law professionals such as lawyers and judges. Based on a study of trial court cases from Delhi and surrounding areas, the study underline the areas in forensics where the criminal justice system has noticeably erred. Using this information, the authors examine the extent of forensic understanding amongst legal professionals and attempt to conclusively identify the areas in which they need further appraisal. A cross-sectional study done using a structured questionnaire was conducted amongst law professionals across age, gender, type and years of experience in court, to determine their understanding of DNA, fingerprints and other interdisciplinary scientific materials used as forensic evidence. In our study, we understand the levels of understanding amongst lawyers with regards to DNA and fingerprint evidence, and how it affects trial outcomes. We also aim to understand the factors that prevent credible and advanced awareness amongst legal personnel, amongst others. The survey identified the areas in modern and advanced forensics, such as forensic entomology, anthropology, cybercrime etc., in which Indian legal professionals are yet to attain a functional understanding. It also brings to light, what is commonly termed as the ‘CSI-effect’ in the Western courtrooms, and provides scope to study the existence of this phenomenon and its effects on the Indian courts and their judgements. This study highlighted the prevalence of unchallenged expert testimony presented by the prosecution in criminal trials and impressed upon the judicial system the need for independent analysis and evaluation of the scientist’s data and/or testimony by the defense. Overall, this study aims to define a clearer and rigid understanding of why legal professionals should have basic understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of forensic sciences. Based on the aforementioned findings, the author suggests various measures by which judges and lawyers might obtain an extensive knowledge of the advances and promising potentialities of forensic science. This includes promoting a forensic curriculum in legal studies at Bachelor’s and Master’s level as well as in mid-career professional courses. Formation of forensic-legal consultancies, in consultation with the Department of Justice, will not only assist in training police, military and law personnel but will also encourage legal research in this field. These suggestions also aim to bridge the communication gap that presently exists between law practitioners, forensic scientists and the general community’s awareness of the criminal justice system.

Keywords: forensic science, Indian legal professionals, interdisciplinary awareness, legal education

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Authors: Dakeyi Athanase

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The ratification of an international human rights legal instrument provides signatory States with an opportunity to assume a set of obligations and rights for the benefit of their citizens, offering increased possibilities, opportunities, and means to access an improved quality of life – to be, to appear, and to become. Developed nations typically experience cultural, political, social, economic, legal, and regulatory transformations in response to this transition. In a methodologically proactive approach, mechanisms undergo a visible and comprehensible process of qualitative and quantitative change. Conversely, in nations undergoing development, the response to such ratification varies. Some demonstrate positive policy changes, while others remain stagnant or regress. Cameroon falls into the second category, despite efforts, as it legally prohibits 50% of its population with disabilities from acquiring the status of a person with a disability. The overarching goal of this communication is to highlight these deficiencies and their detrimental effects on various aspects of life, fostering awareness among beneficiaries and advocating for more inclusive transformations in the country. Our project employs a popular and participatory methodological approach by involving beneficiaries and their organizations in its preparation. It is also inclusive, representing the diversity of disabilities and engaging natural and legal persons from various backgrounds. Active consultations occur at all levels of the activities. Anticipated outcomes include raising awareness globally among nations, international cooperation organizations, NGOs, and other inclusive development actors. We seek their support for local advocacy efforts to fully implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Concurrently, we hope they express solidarity with the victims in Cameroon who have been left behind and recommend legal reforms to align domestic and international legislation with the promotion and protection of disability rights.

Keywords: droit, convention, handicap, discrimination, participation, inclusion

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Authors: Emma Worley, Mhairi De Sainte Croix, Savneet Lochab, Christopher Roberts, Mark Stroud, Mo Salehan, Kevin Jones

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Awareness about the importance of teaching about diversity at medical school is growing. In the realm of diversity includes discussion around the LGBTQ+ community. At Bristol, diversity is taught in first or second year. However, echoing and expanding that teaching throughout the curriculum is needed. This feeds into the spiral curriculum but also highlights the relevance of the topic. It is well known that some people in the LGBTQ+ community struggle the access healthcare due to previous negative experiences. In 2019, 1 in 7 LGBTQ+ people avoided seeking medical care due to fears about discrimination. If people have fears about seeking medical help, then seeking help from Palliative care when they are at their most vulnerable situation can be even harder. To improve positive healthcare situations for people who identify as LGBTQ+ needs to start with talking. Along with some of our CTAs (clinical teaching assistants) we created a teaching session to explore the barriers faced by LGBTQ+ and incorporated communication stations into this. Our plan is to run this session as a three-hour session first discussing different topics: ethnical diversity, ‘coming out’, LGBTQ+ in the older generation, transgender. This will be followed by looking more closely at the barriers to accessing the hospice. The next part of the session will encompass two or three communication scenarios hopefully prompting further discussion and reflection on ways to improve our communication. The first scenario outline is a gay man/lesbian woman with lung cancer discussing options around the hospice. The second scenario is a transgender person with female genitalia who now has cervical cancer (as was not followed up on pap smears after the change of name). The third scenario is a HIV homosexual male patient who has been admitted with dementia. He has a partner but is not married. His next of kin is down as his parents but his parents do not know about his sexuality and HIV status. It allows discussion around confidentiality as well as broaching the meaning of ‘family’ in the LGBTQ+ community. We have chosen to pitch this teaching session to Bristol Year 4 students. They will be currently doing their 6-week Palliative care block, which fits in well. Each session will have four students attend. We have been lucky enough to have two CTAs (clinical teaching assistants) who identify as LGBTQ+ offer their experiences and help. They have been able to help us with the preparation and delivery of the session. Given anecdotal evidence and stories helps to highlight the importance and relevance of this session. The aim is to increase awareness of some factors that may contribute to people who identify as LGBTQ+ having a negative healthcare experience. By starting to talk about it allows awareness and only then will we be able to start to change and improve. Our aim, if the sessions run well, is to expand these sessions to different academy hospitals. Therefore, all Bristol 4th year students would have the opportunity to take part in the teaching session. We would like to expand our portfolio of case scenarios, to address so tricker topics such as a transgender person with dementia who reverts back to a different gender. We would also like to recruit a diverse range of actors, ideally people who identify as the patient in the scenario does. For example, a transgender person acts the transgender scenario. This would give authenticity and enhance the student’s learning experience.

Keywords: communication skills, healthcare barriers, LGBTQ+, palliative care

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Authors: Okafor Calistus Chibuzor

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Preserving African architectural heritage is a multifaceted endeavor that intersects with socio-cultural, economic, and environmental factors. Despite growing recognition of the importance of safeguarding these invaluable cultural assets, numerous challenges persist, hindering effective preservation efforts across the continent. This paper investigates the underlying factors impeding the preservation of African architectural heritage, aiming to provide insights for addressing this critical issue. The study begins with an exploration of the historical background and significance of African architectural heritage, highlighting its rich diversity and cultural significance. The study acknowledges that there is an urgent need to address the threats facing these heritage sites, including urbanization, rapid development, lack of funding, inadequate legal protection, and insufficient public awareness. The primary aim of this research is to identify and analyze the key factors contributing to the deterioration and loss of African architectural heritage, with the objective of formulating strategies to mitigate these challenges. A mixed-use research methodology combining archival research, field surveys, stakeholder interviews, and case studies is employed to gather comprehensive data and insights. The findings reveal a complex interplay of socio-economic, political, and institutional factors shaping the preservation landscape in Africa, including issues related to funding, governance, community engagement, and capacity building. The paper concludes by highlighting the urgent need for coordinated efforts among government agencies, heritage organizations, local communities, and international stakeholders to address the identified challenges and develop sustainable preservation strategies. Recommendations are provided for enhancing legal frameworks, promoting community involvement, fostering public awareness, and mobilizing resources to safeguard Africa's rich architectural heritage for future generations.

Keywords: African architectural heritage, preservation challenges, preservation strategies, factors

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Authors: W. S. Hsu, Y. Chiang, Y. S. Tseng, J. R. Wang, C. Shih, S. W. Chen

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Kuosheng nuclear power plant (NPP) is a BWR/6 plant in Taiwan. There is more concern for the safety of NPPs in Taiwan after Japan Fukushima NPP disaster occurred. Hence, in order to estimate the safety of Kuosheng NPP spent fuel pool (SFP), by using TRACE, MELCOR, and SNAP codes, the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP SFP was performed. There were two main steps in this research. First, the Kuosheng NPP SFP models were established. Second, the transient analysis of Kuosheng SFP was done by TRACE and MELCOR under the cooling system failure condition (Fukushima-like condition). The results showed that the calculations of MELCOR and TRACE were very similar in this case, and the fuel uncover happened roughly at 4^th day after the failure of cooling system. The above results indicated that Kuosheng NPP SFP may be unsafe in the case of long-term SBO situation. In addition, future calculations were needed to be done by the other codes like FRAPTRAN for the cladding calculations.

Keywords: TRACE, MELCOR, SNAP, spent fuel pool

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Authors: Einat Peles, Anat Sason, Ariel Claman, Gabriel Barkay, Miriam Adelson

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Individuals with opioid addiction are characterized as suffering from stress responses disturbance, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and autonomic nervous system function. HPA axis is known to be stabilized during methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Mindfulness (present-oriented, nonjudgmental awareness of cognitions, emotions, perceptions, and habitual behavioral reactions in daily life) counteracts stress. To our knowledge, the relation between perceived stress and mindfulness trait among MMT patients has never been studied. To measure indices of mindfulness and their relation to perceived stress among MMT patients, a cross-sectional random sample of current MMT patients was performed using questionnaires for perceived stress (PSS) and mindfulness trait (FFMQ- yields a total score and individual scores for five internally consistent mindfulness factors: Observing, Describing, Acting with awareness and consciousness, Non-judging the inner experience, Non-reactivity to the inner experience). Two additional groups were studied to serve as reference groups; Medical students that are known to suffer from stress, and Axis II psychiatric diagnosis patients that are known to characterized with poor mindfulness trait. Results: Groups included 41 MMT patients, 27 Axis II patients and 36 medical students. High perceived stressed (PSS≥18) defined among 61% of the MMT patients and 50% of the medical students. Highest mindfulness score observed among non-stressed MMT patients (153.5±17.2) followed by the groups of stressed MMT and non-stressed student (128.9±17.0 and 130.5±13.3 respectively), with the lowest score among stressed students (116.3±17.9) (multivariate analyses, corrected model p (F=14.3) < 0.0005, p (group) < 0.0005, p (stress) < 0.0005, p (interaction) =0.2). Linear inverse correlations were found between perceived stress score and mindfulness score among MMT patients (R=-0.65, p < 0.0005) and students (R=-0.51, p=0.002). Axis II patients had the lowest mindfulness score (103.4±25.3). Conclusion: High prevalence of high perceived stressed which characterized with poor mindfulness trait observed in both MMT patients and medical students, two different population groups. The effectiveness of mindfulness treatment in reducing stress and improve mindfulness trait should be evaluated to improve rehabilitation of MMT patients, and students success.

Keywords: mindfulness, stress, methadone maintenance treatment, medical students

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Authors: Vuyayo Tsheleza, Simbarashe Ndhleve, Christopher Mpundu Musampa

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Mismanagement of waste is continuously emerging as a rising malpractice in most developing countries, especially in fast growing cities. Household solid waste in Mthatha has been reported to be one of the problems facing the city and is overwhelming local authorities, as it is beyond the environment and management capacity of the existing waste management system. This study estimates per capita waste generation, quantity of different waste types generated by inhabitants of formal and informal settlements in Mthatha as well as waste management practices in the aforementioned socio-economic stratums. A total of 206 households were systematically selected for the study using stratified random sampling categorized into formal and informal settlements. Data on household waste generation rate, composition, awareness, and household waste management behaviour and practices was gathered through mixed methods. Sampled households from both formal and informal settlements with a total of 684 people generated 1949kg per week. This translates to 2.84kg per capita per week. On average, the rate of solid waste generation per capita was 0.40 kg per day for a person living in informal settlement and 0.56 kg per day person living in formal settlement. When recorded in descending order, the proportion food waste accounted for the most generated waste at approximately 23.7%, followed by disposable nappies at 15%, papers and cardboards 13.34%, glass 13.03%, metals at 11.99%, plastics at 11.58%, residue at 5.17, textiles 3.93%, with leather and rubber at 2.28% as the least generated waste type. Different waste management practices were reported in both formal and informal settlements with formal settlements proving to be more concerned about environmental management as compared to their counterparts, informal settlement. Understanding attitudes and perceptions on waste management, waste types and per capita solid waste generation rate can help evolve appropriate waste management strategies based on the principle of reduce, re-use, recycle, environmental sound disposal and also assist in projecting future waste generation rate. These results can be utilized as input when designing growing cities’ waste management plans.

Keywords: awareness, characterisation, per capita, quantification

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Authors: Hussein Lujuo Mohamed

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Introduction: Public health has always been influenced by climate and weather. Changes in climate and climate variability, particularly changes in weather extremes affect the environment that provides people with clean air, food, water, shelter, and security. Tanzania is not an exception to the threats of climate change. The health sector is mostly affected due to emergence and proliferation of infectious diseases, thereby affecting health of the population and thus impacting achievement of sustainable development goals. Methodology: A desk review on documented issues pertaining to climate change and health in Tanzania was done using Google search engine. Keywords included climate change, link, health, climate initiatives. In cases where information was not available, documents from Ministry of Health, Vice Presidents Office-Environment, Local Government Authority, Ministry of Water, WHO, research, and training institutions were reviewed. Some of the reviewed documents from these institutions include policy brief papers, fieldwork activity reports, training manuals, and guidelines. Results: Six main climate resilience activities were identified in Tanzania. These were development and implementation of climate resilient water safety plans guidelines both for rural and urban water authorities, capacity building of rural and urban water authorities on implementation of climate-resilient water safety plans, and capacity strengthening of local environmental health practitioners on mainstreaming climate change and health into comprehensive council health plans. Others were vulnerability and adaptation assessment for the health sector, mainstreaming climate change in the National Health Policy, and development of risk communication strategy on climate. In addition information, education, and communication materials on climate change and to create awareness were developed aiming to sensitize and create awareness among communities on climate change issues and its effect on public health. Conclusion: Proper implementation of these interventions will help the country become resilient to many impacts of climate change in the health sector and become a good example for other least developed countries.

Keywords: climate, change, Tanzania, health

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Authors: S. Nasri, H. Bouziri

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Disasters are quite experienced in our days. They are caused by floods, landslides, and building fires that is the main objective of this study. To cope with these unexpected events, precautions must be taken to protect human lives. The emphasis on disposal work focuses on the resolution of the evacuation problem in case of no-notice disaster. The problem of evacuation is listed as a dynamic network flow problem. Particularly, we model the evacuation problem as an earliest arrival flow problem with load dependent transit time. This problem is classified as NP-Hard. Our challenge here is to propose a metaheuristic solution for solving the evacuation problem. We define our objective as the maximization of evacuees during earliest periods of a time horizon T. The objective provides the evacuation of persons as soon as possible. We performed an experimental study on emergency evacuation from the tunisian children’s hospital. This work prompts us to look for evacuation plans corresponding to several situations where the network dynamically changes.

Keywords: dynamic network flow, load dependent transit time, evacuation strategy, earliest arrival flow problem, tabu search metaheuristic

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Authors: Anita Chhatwal

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and investigate the scope of usage of Academic Social Networking Websites (ASNs) by the Science faculty members across universities of North India, viz. Panjab University, Punjabi University and University of Delhi, Delhi. Design/Methodology/Approach: The present study is based upon the primary data collected from 81 science faculty participants from three universities of North India. Questionnaire method was used as an instrument for survey. The study is descriptive and research-based to investigate the popular ASNs amongst the participants from three sample universities and the purpose for which they use them along with the problems they encounter while using ASNs. Findings: The findings of the study revealed that majority of the participants were using ASNs for their academic needs. It was observed that majority of the participants (78%) used ASNs to access scientific papers, while 73.8% of the participants used them to share their research publications. ResearchGate (60.5%) and Google Scholar (59.7%) were the top two most preferred and widely used ASNs by the participants. The critical analysis of the data shows that laptops (86.3%) emerged as major tools for accessing ASNs. Shortage of computers was found to be the chief obstacle in accessing ASNs by the participants. Results of the study demonstrate that 56.3% of participants suggested conduct of seminars and training as the most effective method to increase the awareness of ASNs. Research Limitations/Implications: The study in hand absorbed the 81 faculty (Assistant Professors) members from 15 Science teaching departments across three sample universities of North India. The findings of this study will help the Government of India to regulate and simultaneously make effort to develop and enhance ASNs usage among faculty, researchers, and students. The present study will add to the existing library and information science literature and will be advantageous for all the information professionals as well. Originality/Value: This study is original survey based on primary data investigate the usage of ASNs by the academia. This study will be useful for research scholars, academicians and students all over the world.

Keywords: academic social networks, awareness and usage, North India, scholarly communication, web 2.0

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Authors: Xu Mengyuan, Xu Lei

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Behind the rapid development of Chinese city, the contradiction of frequent urban waterlogging and the shortage of water resources is deepening. In order to solve this problem, introduce the low impact development "sponge city" construction mode in the process of the construction of new urbanization in China, make our city " resilience to adapt" environmental change and natural disaster. Firstly this paper analyses the basic reason of urban waterlogging, then introduces the basic connotation and realization approach of “sponge city”. Finally, study on the project in Lishui Guazhou, focuses on the analysis of the "urban ecological corridor" construction strategy and the positive impact on city in the construction of “sponge city”. Meanwhile, we put forward the ”local conditions” and ”sustainable” as the construction ideas, make use of ecological construction leading city development, explore the ecological balance through the city to enhance the regional value, and providing reference and reflection for the development and future of the “sponge city” in China.

Keywords: urban water logging, sponge city, urban ecological corridor, sustainable development, China

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Authors: Roseanne Sharon Borromeo, Mariana Carvalho, Mariia Karizhenskaia

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Healthcare providers need to comprehend cultural diversity for optimal patient-centered care, especially near the end of life. Although a universal method for navigating cultural differences would be ideal, culture’s high complexity makes this strategy impossible. Adding cultural humility, a process of self-reflection to understand personal and systemic biases and humbly acknowledging oneself as a learner when it comes to understanding another's experience leads to a meaningful process in palliative care generating respectful, honest, and trustworthy relationships. This study is a systematic review of the literature on cultural humility in palliative care research and best practices. Race, religion, language, values, and beliefs can affect an individual’s access to palliative care, underscoring the importance of culture in palliative care. Cultural influences affect end-of-life care perceptions, impacting bereavement rituals, decision-making, and attitudes toward death. Cultural factors affecting the delivery of care identified in a scoping review of Canadian literature include cultural competency, cultural sensitivity, and cultural accessibility. As the different parts of the world become exponentially diverse and multicultural, healthcare providers have been encouraged to give culturally competent care at the bedside. Therefore, many organizations have made cultural competence training required to expose professionals to the special needs and vulnerability of diverse populations. Cultural competence is easily standardized, taught, and implemented; however, this theoretically finite form of knowledge can dangerously lead to false assumptions or stereotyping, generating poor communication, loss of bonds and trust, and poor healthcare provider-patient relationship. In contrast, Cultural humility is a dynamic process that includes self-reflection, personal critique, and growth, allowing healthcare providers to respond to these differences with an open mind, curiosity, and awareness that one is never truly a “cultural” expert and requires life-long learning to overcome common biases and ingrained societal influences. Cultural humility concepts include self-awareness and power imbalances. While being culturally competent requires being skilled and knowledgeable in one’s culture, being culturally humble involves the sometimes-uncomfortable position of healthcare providers as students of the patient. Incorporating cultural humility emphasizes the need to approach end-of-life care with openness and responsiveness to various cultural perspectives. Thus, healthcare workers need to embrace lifelong learning in individual beliefs and values on suffering, death, and dying. There have been different approaches to this as well. Some adopt strategies for cultural humility, addressing conflicts and challenges through relational and health system approaches. In practice and research, clinicians and researchers must embrace cultural humility to advance palliative care practices, using qualitative methods to capture culturally nuanced experiences. Cultural diversity significantly impacts patient-centered care, particularly in end-of-life contexts. Cultural factors also shape end-of-life perceptions, impacting rituals, decision-making, and attitudes toward death. Cultural humility encourages openness and acknowledges the limitations of expertise in one’s culture. A consistent self-awareness and a desire to understand patients’ beliefs drive the practice of cultural humility. This dynamic process requires practitioners to learn continuously, fostering empathy and understanding. Cultural humility enhances palliative care, ensuring it resonates genuinely across cultural backgrounds and enriches patient-provider interactions.

Keywords: cultural competency, cultural diversity, cultural humility, palliative care, self-awareness

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Authors: Mohammad Motiee

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From Kierkegaard to Sartre, the concept of 'being' was debated over various angles in the philosophy of being. Then, the futility, nothingness and absurdity of human condition in the world were all justified and led to a kind of solution by different approaches like Christianity, loss of faith, authentic existence and responsibility. In an extreme concern, the human condition in the world was pondered in different ways and the philosophy of thought tried to render an awareness of such condition for human beings. The present study aims at illustration of some approaches presented by prominent existentialists to justify the controversies in the concept of existence in human life.

Keywords: existence, existentialism, alienation, being

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Authors: Warnakulasuriya Arachichige Malisha Ann Rosary Fernando, Udalamatta Gamage Omila Chalanka Jinadasa, Bihini Pabasara Amandi Amarasinghe, Manul Thisuraka Mandalawatta, Uthpala Samarakoon, Manori Gamage

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The surge in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) has become a critical public health crisis demanding urgent attention and action. Like many other nations, Sri Lanka is grappling with a significant increase in STDs due to a lack of education and awareness regarding their dangers. Presently, the available applications for tracking and managing STDs cover only a limited number of easily detectable infections, resulting in a significant gap in effectively controlling their spread. To address this gap and combat the rising STD rates, it is essential to leverage technology and data. Employing technology to enhance the tracking and management of STDs is vital to prevent their further propagation and to enable early intervention and treatment. This requires adopting a comprehensive approach that involves raising public awareness about the perils of STDs, improving access to affordable healthcare services for early detection and treatment, and utilizing advanced technology and data analysis. The proposed mobile application aims to cater to a broad range of users, including STD patients, recovered individuals, and those unaware of their STD status. By harnessing cutting-edge technologies like image detection, symptom-based identification, prevention methods, doctor and clinic recommendations, and virtual counselor chat, the application offers a holistic approach to STD management. In conclusion, the escalating STD rates in Sri Lanka and across the globe require immediate action. The integration of technology-driven solutions, along with comprehensive education and healthcare accessibility, is the key to curbing the spread of STDs and promoting better overall public health.

Keywords: STD, machine learning, NLP, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Tali Neta

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Humans’ impact on the environment has been incredibly brutal, with enormous plastic- and other pollutants (e.g., cigarette buds, paper cups, tires) worldwide. On land, litter costs taxpayers a fortune. Most of the litter pollution comes from the land, yet it is one of the greatest hazards to marine environments. Due to spatial and temporal limitations, previous litter data covered very small areas. Currently, smartphones can be used to obtain information on various pollutants (through citizen science), and they can greatly assist in acknowledging and mitigating the environmental impact of litter. Litter app data, such as the Litterati, are available for study through a global map only; these data are not available for download, and it is not clear whether irrelevant hashtags have been eliminated. Instagram and Twitter open-source geospatial data are available for download; however, these are considered inaccurate, computationally challenging, and impossible to quantify. Therefore, the resulting data are of poor quality. Other downloadable geospatial data (e.g., Marine Debris Tracker8 and Clean Swell10) are focused on marine- rather than terrestrial litter. Therefore, accurate terrestrial geospatial documentation of litter distribution is needed to improve environmental awareness. The current research employed citizen science to examine litter distribution in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, using the OpenLitterMap (OLM) app. The OLM app is an application used to track litter worldwide, and it can mark litter locations through photo georeferencing, which can be presented through GIS-designed maps. The OLM app provides open-source data that can be downloaded. It also offers information on various litter types and “hot-spots” areas where litter accumulates. In this study, Lethbridge College students collected litter data with the OLM app. The students produced GIS Story Maps (interactive web GIS illustrations) and presented these to school children to improve awareness of litter's impact on environmental health. Preliminary results indicate that towards the Lethbridge Coulees’ (valleys) East edges, the amount of litter significantly increased due to shrubs’ presence, that acted as litter catches. As wind generally travels from west to east in Lethbridge, litter in West-Lethbridge often finds its way down in the east part of the coulees. The students’ documented various litter types, while the majority (75%) included plastic and paper food packaging. The students also found metal wires, broken glass, plastic bottles, golf balls, and tires. Presentations of the Story Maps to school children had a significant impact, as the children voluntarily collected litter during school recess, and they were looking into solutions to reduce litter. Further litter distribution documentation through Citizen Science is needed to improve public awareness. Additionally, future research will be focused on Drone imagery of highly concentrated litter areas. Finally, a time series analysis of litter distribution will help us determine whether public education through Citizen Science and Story Maps can assist in reducing litter and reaching a cleaner and healthier environment.

Keywords: citizen science, litter pollution, Open Litter Map, GIS Story Map

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Authors: Myriam Roy

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The perspectives of the Togolese public towards mental illness were assessed, looking at religious affiliation, personal knowledge of someone with a mental illness, and education level as influencers. The goal was to observe which factors influenced most strongly the general public’s attitudes towards mental illness. The Togolese population was surveyed within the context of mental health awareness workshops and involved college and university students, rural community members, and company employees. Taylor and Dear’s Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) questionnaire was used to assess these influencers and includes four dimensions of community attitudes towards mental illness: authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, and community mental health ideology (CMHI). Demographic questions were also included, tailored to the various realities of the Togolese population. These questions looked, among others, at religious, ethnical (region of origin within Togo), and educational background. It was found that religious affiliation and personal knowledge did not correlate significantly with changes in the four dimensions of the CAMI scale. It suggests that public perspectives towards mental illness might not be as associated with these variables as was previously thought. The dimensions, however, did correlate with themselves as was expected. Authoritarianism was associated positively with social restrictiveness, benevolence was associated negatively with social restrictiveness and positively with CMHI, and CMHI was associated negatively with social restrictiveness, indicating the CAMI did not suffer from reliability and validity issues when used with this population. Interestingly, level of education significantly impacted authoritarianism level, with higher education associated with a decrease in authoritarianism. This finding would support the notion that education is likely to provide access to a wide array of information as well as interaction with people from various backgrounds and situations. Providing increased awareness regarding mental health and illness in schools could be beneficial to favor the impact that education appears to have on public perspectives towards mental illness in Togo. Future studies could assess which mental health interventions in schools would be the most useful in Togo.

Keywords: CAMI questionnaire, cross-cultural psychology, stigma towards mental illness, West African psychology

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Authors: Tao Feng, Wei-Wei Zhang, Chang-Ming Ding

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Cross-site scripting (XSS) is one of the most popular WEB Attacking methods at present, and also one of the most risky web attacks. Because of the population of JavaScript, the scene of the cross site scripting attack is also gradually expanded. However, since the web application developers tend to only focus on functional testing and lack the awareness of the XSS, which has made the on-line web projects exist many XSS vulnerabilities. In this paper, different various techniques of XSS attack are analyzed, and a method automatically to detect it is proposed. It is easy to check the results of vulnerability detection when running it as a plug-in.

Keywords: XSS, no target attack platform, automatic detection，XSS detection

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Authors: Nilgün Katrancı, Pınar Göv

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With the acceleration and assessment of quality and patient safety works in healthcare services in the 21st century, activities to reduce errors have gained importance. The prevention and reduction of unintended consequences related to healthcare services and errors made during the delivery of healthcare services can be achieved by understanding the causes of the errors. Communication is the basic reason most frequently seen in such cases. Nurses who communicate with patients more closely and for longer time play a more critical role in ensuring patient safety compared to other healthcare professionals. To reduce the risk of medical errors and increase the quality of care, it is important to raise the awareness of nurses about patient safety in training period. This descriptive study was conducted between February 2017 and May 2017 to assess intern students' attitudes towards and knowledge of patient safety and medical errors. The target population of the study consists of intern students at the Faculty of Nursing in Gaziantep University (N=180). The study did not apply any sample selection method, and the research group consisted of 90 female and 37 male senior students who were available and accepted to take part in the study (N=127). The study used personal information form and medical error attitude scale to collect data. The medical error attitude scale consists of 16 items and 3 sub-dimensions. The most frequently seen medical error in the clinics the interns worked at was found as ‘Failure to comply with asepsis rules’ with a rate of 67,7%. The most frequent case among reasons for not disclosing an error is ‘noticing and correcting the error before affecting the patient’ with the rate of 70,9%. The most frequently expressed implications of disclosing a serious error for the intern students participating in the study are ‘harming patient trust (78%)’ and ‘possibility of overreaction by patient (62,2%)’. According to the results of the study, the awareness of the students about the importance of medical errors and error reporting was found high (3,48 ± 0,49). Consequently, it is important to assess and positively improve the attitudes of nurses and other healthcare professionals towards medical errors for the determination of causes of medical errors and their prevention.

Keywords: healthcare service, intern student, medical error, patient safety

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Authors: Oluwalola Felicia Kikelomo

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The introduction of entrepreneurship education in polytechnics is seen as a measure to reduce the rate of unemployment and strategically position the economy for sustainable development in Nigeria. This paper discusses the roles of polytechnics in entrepreneurship development. It also examines the challenges of entrepreneurship education in Polytechnics. The paper recommends, among others, that the entrepreneurship education should be property funded by the government with the support of non-governmental organizations so that there would be adequate resources to organize and manage the education. In addition, drastic and serious awareness campaigns should be mounted to sensitize the public and the students on the need for entrepreneurship education.

Keywords: education, polytechnic entrepreneurship development, education, human development

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Authors: Mohammed E. Ibrahim, Baraa A. Taha, Kamil M. A. Shabban

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Background: Epilepsy is a common but widely misunderstood illness. Consequently, patients with epilepsy suffer from considerable stigmatization in society. This social stigma and discrimination often cause more suffering for the patients than the disease itself. Since very few studies have explored the misperceptions about epilepsy among university students in Sudan, it is not possible to provide focused intervention aimed at eliminating this discrimination. Methods: A cross-sectional study was applied among the first-year medical students at the University of Khartoum between December (2020) and February (2021). A 29-item standardized questionnaire was self-administered by 198 students (out of 320) who agreed to participate in this study. Google form was the tool used to collect the data. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science software version 26. Result: Overall, the results indicate a negative trend in knowledge and attitude toward epilepsy. The vast majority of the respondents (84.8%) have read or heard about epilepsy, while 43.9% had seen someone with epilepsy. Only 7.5% of the participants reported that epilepsy is contagious, whereas 43.4% of them think that epilepsy is a psychological disorder. About 62.2% of students think head/birth trauma is a cause of epilepsy. On the other side, about 15.7% and 5.1% believed that evil spirits and punishment from god can also be a possible cause of epilepsy; we found these false beliefs are more common in participants from rural areas (p-value < 0.05). In regard to attitude, 19.7% of students thought that it is inappropriate for a patient with epilepsy to have a child. This attitude correlates with the mother’s education as the percentage is higher for those who have lower mother’s education (through secondary school education and below) (p < 0.05). The majority of Our participant knew that some people with epilepsy need life-long drug treatment; this belief was found to be more common in females than their counterparts(p < 0.05). . Finally, most of the respondents (93.9%) thought that a child with epilepsy Can be successful in a normal class. This belief is four-time as common in participants whose mothers have higher education (through university education and above) compared with corresponding respondents (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study concludes that students' knowledge about epilepsy is limited and requires immediate intervention through educational campaigns to develop a well-informed and tolerant community.

Keywords: epilepsy, awareness, attitude, university students, Sudan

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Authors: Bright Msukwa

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Background: Malawi suffered economic instability, bad weather and massive flooding in the year 2015. A massive flood in the country, mainly in the southern region lead to damage of agriculture products. As a result, one of the heavily affected was Zingwangwa, Blantyre. Methods: We interviewed a selected number of houses residing in donor constructed temporal shelters and those still residing close to the floods prone areas in Zingwangwa, Blantyre. Results: About 67% of the population insisted that they resided on the land, which was prone to the floods as it belonged to their ancestors and their staying was part of preserving ancestral values. The remaining 23% of the population demonstrated economic challenges due to floods that contributed to the damage of their food crops, property and houses. Conclusion: Beliefs can negatively affect economic life improvement if mindsets are not changed among people in the rural area. Recommendation: Improving natural resource management, climate and disaster resilience.

Keywords: economic, belief, walfare, poverty

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Authors: Naveen Kumar B. T., Anuj Tyagi, Prabjeet Singh, Shanthanagouda A. H., Sumeet Rai

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Inland saline water resources are gaining the importance in expanding the aquaculture activities to mitigate the nutritional and food security issues of the world. For profitable and sustainable aquaculture practices, scientific farming, biosecurity measure, and best fish health management should be the integral part of developmental activities. Keeping in line with global awareness and trends, the Indian government has taken an innovative step to conduct disease surveillance and awareness programme for aquatic disease through network project. This ‘National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD)’ is being implemented in collaboration of national institutes and state agriculture universities with funding support from National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Govt. of India. Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana, an NSPAAD collaborator, has been actively engaged in disease surveillance in the Indian state of Punjab. Shrimp farming in inland saline areas of Punjab is expanding at a tremendous pace under the guidance of GADVASU along with the support of State Fisheries Department. Under this national disease surveillance programme, we reported Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) infection in the Litopenaeus vannamei cultured in the inland saline waters. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based diagnosis was carried out using the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) protocol. It was observed that out of 20 shrimp farms, two farms were 1st step PCR positive and two more farms were nested PCR positive. All the EHP positive ponds had shown the white faeces along with mortalities at very low rate. Therefore, implementation of biosecurity and continuous surveillance and monitoring program for finfish and shellfish aquaculture are in need of the hour to prevent and control the large-scale disease outbreaks and subsequent economic losses.

Keywords: disease, EHP, inland saline water, shrimp culture

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Authors: Nahid Tavakoli, Mohammad H. Yarmohammadian, Ali Samimi

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In earthquake situation, medical response communities such as field and referral hospitals are challenged with injured victims’ identification and tracking. In our project, it was developed a patient tracking platform (PTP) where first responders triage the patients with an electronic tag which report the location and some information of each patient during his/her movement. This platform includes: 1) near field communication (NFC) tags (ISO 14443), 2) smart mobile phones (Android-base version 4.2.2), 3) Base station laptops (Windows), 4) server software, 5) Android software to use by first responders, 5) disaster command software, and 6) system architecture. Our model has been completed through literature review, Delphi technique, focus group, design the platform, and implement in an earthquake exercise. This paper presents consideration for content, function, and technologies that must apply for patient tracking in medical emergencies situations. It is demonstrated the robustness of the patient tracking platform (PTP) in tracking 6 patients in a simulated earthquake situation in the yard of the relief and rescue department of Isfahan’s Red Crescent.

Keywords: test and evaluation, patient tracking platform, earthquake, simulation

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Authors: Sumiti Saharan, Pallav Patankar, Lily W. Lee

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Understanding the health-seeking behaviors and attitudes of women towards maternal health in the context of gender roles and family dynamics is tremendously crucial for designing effective and impactful interventions aimed at improving maternal and child health outcomes. Further, as the digital world becomes more accessible and affordable, it is imperative to scope the potential of digital technology in enabling access to maternal health information in different socio-economic groups (SEGs). In the summer of 2017, we conducted a study with 500 women across different SEGs in urban India who were pregnant or had had a delivery in the last year. The study was undertaken to assess their maternal health information seeking behavior with a particular focus on probing their use of digital technology for health-related information. The study also measured women's decision-making autonomy in the context of maternal health, awareness of their rights to quality and respectful maternal healthcare, and agency to voice their rights. We probed the impact of key variables including education, age, and socioeconomic status on all outcome variables. In terms of health-seeking behaviors, we found that women heavily relied on medical professionals and/or their mothers and mothers-in-law for all maternal health advice. Digital adoption was found to be high across all SEGs, with around 70% of women from all populations using the internet several times a week. On the other hand, use of the internet for both accessing maternal health information and choosing maternity hospitals were both significantly dependent on SEG. The key reasons reported for not using the internet for health purposes were lack of awareness and lack of trust on content accuracy. Decisions around health practices and type of delivery were found to be jointly made by women and other family members. Almost all women reported their husbands to play a key role in all maternal health decisions and for decisions with a clear financial implication like choice of hospital for delivery, husbands were reported to be the sole decision maker by a majority of women. The agency of women was also found to be low in interactions with maternal healthcare providers with a third of respondents not comfortable with voicing their opinions and preferences to their doctors. Interestingly, we find that this relatively low agency was prominent in both lower middle class and middle-class SEGs. Recognition of the sociocultural determinants of behavior is the first step in developing actionable strategies for improving maternal health outcomes. Our study quantifies the agency and autonomy of women in urban India and the variables that impact them. Our findings emphasize the value of gender normative approaches that factor in the key role husbands play in guiding maternal health decisions. They also highlight the power of digital approaches for catalyzing access to maternal health information. These insights into the attitude and behaviors of mothers in context of their sociocultural environments—and their relationship with digital technology—can help pave the way towards designing effective, scalable maternal and child health programs in developing nations like India.

Keywords: access to healthcare information, behavior, digital health, maternal health

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Authors: Narissa Lewis, Susan Geertshuis

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The global and national employability agenda is changing the higher education landscape as academic staff are faced with the responsibility of developing employability capabilities and attributes in addition to delivering discipline specific content and skills. They realise that the shift towards teaching sustainable capabilities means a shift in the way they teach. But what that shift should be or how they should bring it about is unclear. As part of a national funded project, representatives from several New Zealand (NZ) higher education institutions and the NZ Association of Graduate Employers partnered to discover, trial and disseminate means of embedding employability in the curriculum. Findings from four focus groups (n=~75) and individual interviews (n=20) with staff from several NZ higher education institutions identified factors that enable or hinder embedded employability development within their respective institutions. Participants believed that higher education institutions have a key role in developing graduates for successful lives and careers however this requires a significant shift in culture within their respective institutions. Participants cited three main barriers: lack of strategic direction, support and guidance; lack of understanding and awareness of employability; and lack of resourcing and staff capability. Without adequate understanding and awareness of employability, participants believed it is difficult to understand what employability is let alone how it can be embedded in the curriculum. This presentation will describe some of the impacts that the employability agenda has on staff as they try to move from traditional to contemporary forms of teaching to develop employability attributes of students. Changes at the institutional level are required to support contemporary forms of teaching, however this is often beyond the sphere of influence at the teaching staff level. The study identified that small changes to teaching practices were necessary and a simple model to facilitate change from traditional to contemporary forms of teaching was developed. The model provides a framework to identify small but impactful teaching practices and exemplar teaching practices were identified. These practices were evaluated for transferability into other contexts to encourage small but impactful changes to embed employability in the curriculum.

Keywords: curriculum design, change management, employability, teaching exemplars

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Authors: Chia-Wen Kuo

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Jesse Curran states that there is a "breath awareness" that "facilitates a present-minded capability" to catalyse an "epistemological rupture" in Emily Dickinson's poetry, particularly in the age of Anthropocene. In Dickinson's "Nature", non-humans are subjectified as nature ceases to be subordinated to human interests, and Dickinson's Eco-humility has driven us, readers, into mimicking nature for the making of a better world. In terms of sustainable architecture, Norman Foster is among the representatives who utilise BIM to reduce architectural waste while satiating the users' aesthetic craving for a spectacular skyline. Notably, the Gherkin - 30 St. Mary Axe in east-end London. In 2019, Foster and his team aspired to savour the London skyline with his new design - the Tulip, which has been certified by the LEED as a legitimate green building as well as a complementary extension of the Gherkin. However, Foster's proposition had been denied for numerous times by the mayor Sadiq Khan and the city council as the Tulip cannot blend in the public space around while its observatory functions like a surveillance platform. The Tulip, except for its aesthetic idiosyncrasy, fails to serve for the public good other than another ostentatious tourist attraction in London. The architectural team for Mode Gakuen Cocoon tower, completed in 2008, intended to honour Nature with the symbolism in the building's aesthetic design. It serves as an architectural cocoon that nurtures the students of "Special Technology and Design College" inside. The building itself turns into a Dickinsonian anthropomorphism, where humans are made humble to learn from the entomological beings for self-betterment in the age of Anthropocene. Despite bearing resemblance to a tulip as well as its LEED credential, Norman Foster’s Tulip merely pays tribute to the Nature in a relatively superficial manner without constructing an apparatus that substantially benefit the Londoners as all green cities should embrace Emily Dickinson’s “breath awareness” and be built and treated as an extensive as well as expansive form of biomimicry.

Keywords: green city, sustianable architecture, London, Tokyo

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Authors: Njoroge Margaret W., Johnson Deborah

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Gender-specific risk factors for common mental disorders that disproportionately affect women include but are not limited to gender-based violence, socioeconomic disadvantage, sociocultural factors and unrelenting responsibility for the care of others. The overall objective of this study was to assess mental health conditions and their risk factors among women in Garissa County, Kenya. The study adopted both quantitative and qualitative research designs. The study participants were 100 adult women and 20 key informants from different sectors in the region. Data was collected using DSM-5 (PCL-5) and Kessler Psychological Distress, interviews schedule and focus group discussions. Analysis of quantitative data was done using univariate analysis, while qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results revealed that about 60% of women presented with moderate to severe psychological distress (PD), while 53% presented with PTSD. Additionally, women who have undergone female genital mutilation had higher PTSD and PD scores. They also presented with low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, sex anxiety, avoidance of reminders and intrusive memories of the event, especially those who developed fistula. The risk factors for poor mental health outcomes include lack of awareness/knowledge of mental health, retrogressive cultural practices (child marriage and female genital mutilation), as well as beliefs about the causes of mental disorders. The study also established that people with mental illness are neglected, abused and stigmatized. Preferred treatment approaches include prayers and the use of witch doctors and traditional healers. The study recommends gendered and culturally responsive interventions geared towards increasing community awareness and knowledge on mental health, reducing stigma and improving mental-health-seeking behaviors for women and girls in the region. Supported by the Ministry of Health, the approach should be spearheaded by trained community lay counselors.

Keywords: women, mental health conditions, cultural beliefs/practices, stigma, poverty, psychological distress, PTSD

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Authors: Essam Almuhsin, Ben Soh, Alice Li, Azmat Ullah

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It is widely accepted that university students must acquire new knowledge, skills, awareness, and understanding to increase opportunities for professional and personal growth. The study reveals a significant increase in users engaging in e-coaching activities and a growing need for it during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper proposes an e-coaching methodology for higher education in Saudi Arabia to address the need for effective coaching in the current online learning environment.

Keywords: role of e-coaching, e-coaching in higher education, Saudi higher education environment, e-coaching methodology, the importance of e-coaching

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Authors: Regina Rahimi, Delores Liston

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The advent of COVID-19 has heightened awareness of the need for social emotional learning (SEL) throughout all educational contexts. Given this, schools (most often p12 settings) have begun to embrace practices for addressing social-emotional learning. While there is a growing body of research and literature on common practices of SEL, there is no ‘standard’ for its implementation. Our work proposed here recognizes there is no universal approach for addressing SEL and rather, seeks to explore how SEL can be approached in and through diverse contexts. We assert that left unrecognized and unaddressed by teachers, issues with social and emotional well-being profoundly negatively affect students’ academic performance and exacerbate teacher stress. They contribute to negative student-teacher relationships, poor classroom management outcomes, and compromised academic outcomes. Therefore, teachers and administrators have increasingly turned to developing pedagogical and classroom practices that support the social and emotional dimensions of students. Substantive quantitative evidence indicates professional development training to improve awareness and foster positive teacher-student relationships can provide a protective function for psycho-social outcomes and a promotive factor for improved learning outcomes for students. Our work aims to add to the growing body of literature on improving student well-being by providing a unique examination of SEL through a lens of diverse contexts. Methodology: This presentation hopes to present findings from an edited volume that will seek to highlight works that examine SEL practices in a variety of academic settings. The studies contained within the work represent varied forms of qualitative research. Conclusion: This work provides examples of SEL in higher education/postsecondary settings, a variety of P12 academic settings (public; private; rural, urban; charter, etc.), and international contexts. This work demonstrates the variety of ways educational institutions and educators have used SEL to address the needs of students, providing examples for others to adapt to their own diverse contexts. This presentation will bring together exemplar models of SEL in diverse practice settings.

Keywords: social emotional learning, teachers, classrooms, diversity

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Authors: Mohan Kotamrazu

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Cyclone Hudhud which battered the city of Visakhapatnam on 12^th October, 2014, damaged many buildings, public amenities and infrastructure facilities along the Visakha- Bheemili coastal corridor. More than half the green cover of the city was wiped out. Majority of the trees along the coastal corridor suffered from complete or partial damage. In order to understand the different ways that trees incurred damage during the cyclone, a damage assessment study was carried out by the author. The areas covered by this study included two university campuses, several parks and residential colonies which bore the brunt of the cyclone. Post disaster attempts have been made to restore many of the trees that have suffered from partial or complete damage from the effects of extreme winds. This paper examines the various ways that trees incurred damage from the cyclone Hudhud and presents some examples of the restoration efforts carried out by educational institutions, public parks and religious institutions of the city of Visakhapatnam in the aftermath of the devastating cyclone.

Keywords: defoliaton, salt spray damage, uprooting and wind throw, restoration

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