Search results for: environmental corporate social responsibility

Authors: Sezen Aslan, N. Aydan Sat

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The society of 21st century constantly faces with complex otherness that emerges in various forms and justifications. Otherness caused by class, race or ethnicity inevitably reflects to urban areas, and in this way, cities are diversified into totally self-centered and closed-off urban enclaves. One of the most important dynamics that creates otherness in contemporary society is migration. Immigration on an international scale is one of the most important events that have reshaped the world, and the number of immigrants in the world is increasing day by day. Forced migration and refugee statements constitute the major part of countries' immigration policies and practices. Domestic problems such as racism, violence, war, censorship and silencing, attitudes contrary to human rights, different cultural or religious identities cause populations to migrate. Immigration is one of the most important reasons for the formation of urban enclaves within cities. Turkey, which was used to face a higher rate of outward migration, has begun to host immigrant groups from foreign countries. 1980s is the breaking point about the issue as a result of internal disturbances in the Middle East. After Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan immigrants, Turkey faces the largest external migration in its story with Syrian population. Turkey has been hosting approximate three million Syrian people after Syrian Civil War which started in 2011. 92% of Syrian refugees are currently living in different urban areas in Turkey instead of camps. Syrian refugees are experiencing a spontaneous spatiality due to the lack of specific settlement and housing policies of the country. This spontaneity is one of the most important factors in the creation of urban enclaves. From this point of view, the aim of this study is to clarify processes that lead the creation of urban enclaves and to explain socio-spatial effects of these urban enclaves to the other parts of the cities. Ankara, which is one of the most registered Syrian hosting Province in Turkey, is selected as a case study area. About 55% of the total Syrian population lives in the Altındağ district in Ankara. They settled specifically in two neighborhoods in Altındağ district, named as Önder and Ulubey. These neighborhoods are old slum areas, and they were evacuated due to urban renewal on the same dates with the migration of the Syrians. Before demolition of these old slums, Syrians are settled into them as tenants. In the first part of the study, a brief explanation of the concept of urban enclave, its occurrence parameters and possible socio-spatial threats, examples from previous immigrant urban enclaves caused internal migration will be given. Emergence of slums, planning history and social processes in the case study area will be described in the second part of the study. The third part will be focused on the Syrian refugees and their socio-spatial relationship in the case study area and in-depth interviews with refugees and spatial analysis will be realized. Suggestions for the future of the case study area and recommendations to prevent immigrant groups from social and spatial exclusion will be discussed in the conclusion part of the study.

Keywords: migration, immigration, Syrian refugees, urban enclaves, Ankara

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Authors: S. Ebisintei, M. A. Olutoye, A. S. Kovo, U. G. Akpan

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The effect of soil degradation due to ion leachate migration using dumpsite located at Idu industrial area of Abuja was investigated. It was done to assess the health and environmental pollution consequences caused by heavy metals’ concentration in the soil on inhabitants around the settlement. Soil samples collected from four cardinal points and at the center during the dry and wet season were pretreated, digested and heavy metal concentrations present were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The concentrations of Pb, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Cr, were determined and also for control sample obtained 300 m away from the dumpsite. Water samples were collected from three wells to test for physiochemical properties of pH, COD, BOD, DO, hardness, conductivity, and alkalinity. The result showed a significant difference in concentration of toxic heavy metals in the dumpsite as compared to the control sample. A mathematical model was developed to predict the heavy metal concentrations beyond the sampling point. The results indicate that metal concentrations in both dry and wet season were above the WHO, and SON set standards. The trend, if unrestrained, portends danger to human life, reduces agricultural productivity and sustainability.

Keywords: soil degradation, ion leachate, productivity, environment, sustainability

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Authors: Sapna Bhargav

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Contemporary fiction is an intricate exercise where novelist acquires the role of a philosopher, a sociologist and a psychologist. The dilemma of fragmented self that a man experiences, is a crucial subject of contemporary fiction. Paul Auster's fiction is exemplary of the merger of Existentialism and Postmodernism, and while both of these movements insist on isolation of the self from all aspects of social affiliation, Auster's unique blend of these concepts presents man in a state which is not just alienated, but stranded in a desolate abyss, rendering even the release of death as questionable. The conundrums of the self is a compulsory consequence of the existentialist alienation that postmodern man is subjected to, and is further accentuated by the fact that existentialist freedom dictates that not only are one's actions not dictated by any form of external entity, but also the onus of one's destiny lies on an individual's own deeds. This paper will analyse Auster's The Brooklyn Follies from an Existentialist perspective, and will attempt to trace the alienation and identity conflicts of the Auster’s characters along with some of the common Austerian themes. An emphasis will be laid on the characters’ endeavour to reconstruct their lost self.

Keywords: alienation, existentialism, identity, postmodernism, self

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Authors: Yan Zeng, Li Tao, Liujun Han, Tianye Zhang, Yongan Yu, Kaijun Ma, Long Chen

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Mechanical asphyxia is one of the main cause of death; however, death by mechanical asphyxia may be difficult to prove in court, particularly in cases in which corpses exhibit no obvious signs of asphyxia. To identify a credible biomarker of asphyxia, we first examined the expression levels of all the mRNAs in human cardiac tissue specimens subjected to mechanical asphyxia and compared these expression levels with those of the corresponding mRNAs in specimens subjected to craniocerebral injury. A total of 119 differentially expressed mRNAs were selected and the expression levels of these mRNAs were examined in 44 human cardiac tissue specimens subjected to mechanical asphyxia, craniocerebral injury, hemorrhagic shock and other causes of death. We found that DUSP1 and KCNJ2 were up-regulated in tissue specimens of mechanical asphyxia compared with control tissues, with no significant correlation between age, environmental temperature and PMI, indicating that DUSP1 and KCNJ2 may associate with mechanical asphyxia-induced death and can thus serve as useful biomarkers of death by mechanical asphyxia.

Keywords: mechanical asphyxia, biomarkers, DUSP1, KCNJ2, cardiac tissue

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Authors: S. Kittipongvises, A. Dubsok

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The mineral and mining industry is necessary for countries to have an adequate and reliable supply of materials to meet their socio-economic development. Despite its importance, the environmental impacts from mineral exploration are hugely significant. This study aimed to investigate and quantify the amount of GHGs emissions emitted from both electricity and diesel vehicle fuel consumption in basalt mining in Thailand. Plant A, located in the northeastern region of Thailand, was selected as a case study. Results indicated that total GHGs emissions from basalt mining and operation (Plant A) were approximately 2,501,086 kgCO₂e and 1,997,412 kgCO₂e in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The estimated carbon intensity ranged between 1.824 kgCO₂e to 2.284 kgCO₂e per ton of rock product. Scope 1 (direct emissions) was the dominant driver of its total GHGs compared to scope 2 (indirect emissions). As such, transport related combustion of diesel fuels generated the highest GHGs emission (65%) compared to emissions from purchased electricity (35%). Some of the potential implications for mining entities were also presented.

Keywords: basalt mining, diesel fuel, electricity, GHGs emissions, Thailand

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Authors: Abdul Rahim Al Umairi, Hamed Al Kindi

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The cement production process significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 25% of total industrial emissions. This study systematically examined new, underutilized materials—sewage sludge ash (SSA), marble waste (MW), and calcined clay (CC)—to evaluate their effects when partially replacing white Portland cement (WPC) in cement paste formulations. Various replacement proportions (10%, 20%, and 30%) were tested, along with different treatment temperatures (600°C, 630°C, 730°C, and 850°C) for SSA and CC. To gain a deeper understanding of the resulting materials, analyses such as XRF, XRD, and SEM were conducted. The highest compressive strength recorded for the 28-day cured cement paste was 91 MPa when 20% SSA (treated at 600°C) was used, compared to just 53 MPa for the control sample. Conversely, CC exhibited minimal enhancement in compressive strength, while MW had detrimental effects. Additionally, replacing WPC with SSA and CC at 9% and 21% resulted in slight improvements in compressive strength. This research highlights the potential of utilizing underexploited materials like SSA to improve the mechanical and chemical properties of cement paste, indicating that further investigation is necessary to enhance environmental sustainability.

Keywords: sewage sludge ash, calcined clay, marble waste, cement

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Authors: Fiona Mwaniki

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Climate change is considered a serious threat to sustainable development globally and as one of the greatest ecological, economic and social challenges of our time. The global demand for food is projected to increase by 60% by 2050. Small holder farmers who are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change are expected to contribute to this projected demand. Effective climate change education and communication is therefore required for smallholder and subsistence farmers’ in order to build communities that are more climate change aware, prepared and resilient. In Kenya radio is the most important and dominant mass communication tool for agricultural extension. This study investigated the potential role of radio in influencing farmers’ understanding and use of climate change information. The broad aims of this study were three-fold. Firstly, to identify Kenyan farmers’ perceptions and responses to the impacts of climate change. Secondly, to develop radio programs that communicate climate change information to Kenyan farmers and thirdly, to evaluate the impact of information disseminated through radio on farmers’ understanding and responses to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This study was conducted within the farming community of Kilifi County, located along the Kenyan coast. Education and communication about climate change was undertaken using radio to make available information understandable to different social and cultural groups. A mixed methods pre-and post-intervention design that provided the opportunity for triangulating results from both quantitative and qualitative data was used. Quantitative and qualitative data was collected simultaneously, where quantitative data was collected through semi structured surveys with 421 farmers’ and qualitative data was derived from 11 focus group interviews, six interviews with key informants and nine climate change experts. The climate change knowledge gaps identified in the initial quantitative and qualitative data were used in developing radio programs. Final quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis enabled an assessment of the impact of climate change messages aired through radio on the farming community in Kilifi County. Results of this study indicate that 32% of the farmers’ listened to the radio programs and 26% implemented technologies aired on the programs that would help them adapt to climate change. The most adopted technologies were planting drought tolerant crops including indigenous crop varieties, planting trees, water harvesting and use of manure. The proportion of farmers who indicated they knew “a fair amount” about climate change increased significantly (Z= -5.1977, p < 0.001) from 33% (at the pre intervention phase of this study) to 64% (post intervention). However, 68% of the farmers felt they needed “a lot more” information on agriculture interventions (43%), access to financial resources (21%) and the effects of climate change (15%). The challenges farmers’ faced when adopting the interventions included lack of access to financial resources (18%), high cost of adaptation measures (17%), and poor access to water (10%). This study concludes that radio effectively complements other agricultural extension methods and has the potential to engage farmers’ on climate change issues and motivate them to take action.

Keywords: climate change, climate change intervention, farmers, radio

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Authors: Indrajit Ghosh, Jaydip Roy

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Literacy rate is an important indicator for measurement of human development. But this is not a good one to capture the qualitative dimension of educational attainment of an individual or a society. The overall educational level of an area is an important issue beyond the literacy rate. The overall educational level can be thought of as an outcome of the educational levels of individuals. But there is no well-defined algorithm and mathematical model available to measure the overall educational level of an area. A heuristic approach based on accumulated experience of experts is effective one. It is evident that fuzzy logic offers a natural and convenient framework in modeling various concepts in social science domain. This work suggests the implementation of fuzzy logic to develop a mathematical model for measurement of educational attainment of an area in terms of Education Index. The contribution of the study is two folds: conceptualization of “Education Profile” and proposing a new mathematical model to measure educational attainment in terms of “Education Index”.

Keywords: education index, education profile, fuzzy logic, literacy

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Authors: Behrang Ekrami, Amin Tamadon

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Caspian red deer or maral (Cervus elaphus maral) is a ruminant from the family of Cervidae. Maintenance and protection of maral requires knowing the behavioral, physiological, environmental characteristics and factors harmful to this species. In this article, reproductive and behavioral traits of this species in both sexes are presented based on observations and the available records of protected deer in Wildlife Refuge of Semeskande, Sari (one of the sites that preserve the maral in the Free Zones of Hyrcanian forest) from 2006 to 2011. Hart characteristics including sexual behavior, apparent changes during reproductive season and reproductive physiology; and hind characteristics including of ovulation, reproductive cycle, mating, pregnancy and parturition, have been evaluated. Identification of maral reproductive characteristics in Wildlife Refuge of Semeskande, Sari is one of the most important information requirements to preserve and breed this species and will open up new routes for performing new methods of reproduction of this species in Iran wildlife parks or other refuge areas.

Keywords: caspian red deer, reproduction, behavior, Iran

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Authors: Gnanachandrasamy G., Zhou Y., Ramkumar T., Venkatramanan S., Wang S., Mo Liping, Jingru Zhang

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In order to assess the heavy metal contamination totally fourty five groundwater samples were collected from the coastal part of Cauvery deltaic region, South India, during monsoon season in the year of 2017. The study area lies between longitudes 79º15’ to 79º 50’ E and latitudes 10º10’ to 11º20’ N with total area of 2,569 km². The concentration of As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The heavy metals ranged between 0.007-117.8 µg/l for As, 8.503-1281 µg/l for Ba, 0.006-0.12 µg/l for Cd, 0.23-5.572µg/l for Cr, 0.44-17.9 µg/l for Co, 0.633-11.56 µg/l for Cu, 0.467-29.34 µg/l for Ni, 0.008-5.756 µg/l for Pb, 0.979 to 45.49 µg/l for Se, and 2.712-10480 µg/l for Zn in the groundwaters. A comparison of heavy metal concentration with WHO and BIS drinking water standards shows that Ni, Zn, As, Se, and Ba level is higher than the drinking water standards in some of the groundwater samples, and the concentrations of all the other heavy metals were lower than the drinking water standards. The present levels of heavy metal concentration in the studied area groundwaters are moderate to severe to public health and environmental concerns and need attention.

Keywords: cauvery delta, drinking water, groundwater, heavy metals

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Authors: Dorota Rucińska

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This theoretical paper combines the academic discourse regarding a specific part of dark tourism. Based on the literature analysis, distinction of natural disasters in thanatourism was investigated, which is connected with dynamic geographical conditions. Natural disasters used to play an important role in social life by their appearance in myths and religions. Nowadays, tourists pursuing natural hazards can be divided into three groups: Those interested in natural hazards themselves; those interested in landscape deformation and experiencing emotions shortly after extreme events - natural disasters - occur; and finally those interested in historic places log after an extreme event takes place. An important element of the natural disaster tourism is quick access to information on the location of a disaster and the destination of a potential excursion. Natural disaster tourism suits alternative tourism, yet it is opposed culture tourism, and sustainable tourism. The paper compares types and groups of tourists. It also considers the contradictions that describe dualism, which exists in dark tourism.

Keywords: dark tourism, dualism, natural disasters, natural hazards, thanatoursim

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Authors: Joao Ferreira Do Rosario, Maria De Lurdes Calisto, Ana Teresa Machado, Nuno Gustavo, Rui Gonçalves

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The tourism sector is increasingly important to the economic performance of countries and a relevant theme to academic research, increasing the importance of understanding how and why tourists evaluate tourism locations. The city of Lisbon is currently a tourist destination of excellence in the European and world-wide panorama, registering a significant growth of the economic weight of its tourist activities in the Gross Added Value of the region. Although there is research on the feedback of those who visit tourist sites and different methodologies for studying tourist sites have been applied, this research seeks to be innovative in the objective of obtaining insights on the competitiveness in terms of attractiveness of the city of Lisbon as a tourist destination, based the feedback of tourists in the Facebook pages of the most visited museums and monuments of Lisbon, an interpretation that is relevant in the development of strategies of tourist attraction. The intangible dimension of the tourism offer, due to its unique condition of simultaneous production and consumption, makes eWOM particularly relevant. The testimony of consumers is thus a decisive factor in the decision-making and buying process in tourism. Online social networks are one of the most used platforms for tourists to evaluate the attractiveness's points of a tourism destination (e.g. cultural and historical heritage), with this user-generated feedback enabling relevant information about the customer-tourists. This information is related to the tourist experience representing the true voice of the customer. Furthermore, this voice perceived by others as genuine, opposite to marketing messages, may have a powerful word-of-mouth influence on other potential tourists. The relevance of online reviews sharing, however, becomes particularly complex, considering social media users’ different profiles or the possible and different sources of information available, as well as their associated reputation associated with each source. In the light of these trends, our research focuses on the tourists’ feedback on Facebook pages of the most visited museums and monuments of Lisbon that contribute to its attractiveness as a tourism destination. Sentiment Analysis is the methodology selected for this research, using public available information in the online context, which was deemed as an appropriate non-participatory observation method. Data will be collected from two museums (Museu dos Coches and Museu de Arte Antiga) and three monuments ((Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Torre de Belém and Panteão Nacional) Facebook pages during a period of one year. The research results will help in the evaluation of the considered places by the tourists, their contribution to the city attractiveness and present insights helpful for the management decisions regarding this museums and monuments. The results of this study will also contribute to a better knowledge of the tourism sector, namely the identification of attributes in the evaluation and choice of the city of Lisbon as a tourist destination. Further research will evaluate the Lisbon attraction points for tourists in different categories beyond museums and monuments, will also evaluate the tourist feedback from other sources like TripAdvisor and apply the same methodology in other cities and country regions.

Keywords: Lisbon tourism, opinion mining, sentiment analysis, tourism location attractiveness evaluation

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Authors: Esra Alveroglu Durucu, Kenan Koc

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In this study, we synthesized and characterized nano-sized Poly- N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) hydrogels. N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) micro and macro gels are known as a thermosensitive colloidal structure, and they respond to changes in the environmental conditions such as temperature and pH. Here, nano-sized gels were synthesized via precipitation copolymerization method. N,N-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) and ammonium persulfate APS were used as crosslinker and initiator, respectively. 8-Hydroxypyrene-1,3,6- trisulfonic Acid (Pyranine, Py) molecules were used for arranging the particle size and thus physical properties of the nano-sized hydrogels. Fluorescence spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and light scattering methods were used for characterizing the synthesized hydrogels. The results show that the gel size was decreased with increasing amount of ionic molecule from 550 to 140 nm due to the electrostatic behavior of the ionic side groups of pyranine. Light scattering experiments demonstrate that lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the gels shifts to the lower temperature with decreasing size of gel due to the hydrophobicity–hydrophilicity balance of the polymer chains.

Keywords: hydrogels, lower critical solution temperature, nanogels, poly(n-isopropylacrylamide)

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Authors: R. M. EL-Sharkawy, L. S. Nasrat, K. B. Ewiss

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This work presents a study of flashover voltage for outdoor polyester and composite insulators under dry, ultra-violet and contaminated conditions. Cylindrical of polyester composite samples (with different lengths) have been prepared after incorporated with different concentration of inorganic filler e.g. Magnesium Hydroxide [Mg(OH)2] to improve the electrical and thermal properties in addition to maximize surface flashover voltage and decrease tracking phenomena. Results showed that flashover voltage reaches to 46 kV for samples without filler and 52.6 kV for samples containing 40% of [Mg(OH)2] filler in dry condition. A comparison between different concentrations of filler under various environmental conditions (dry and contaminated conditions) showed higher flashover voltage values for samples containing filler with ratio 40% [Mg(OH)2] and length 3cm than that of samples containing filler [Mg(OH)2] with ratios 20%, 30% and lengths 0.5cm, 1cm, 2cm and 2.5cm. Flashover voltage decreases by adding [Mg(OH)2] filler for polyester samples under ultra-violet condition; as the ratio of filler increases, the value of flashover voltage decreases Also, in this study, the effect of thermal performance with respect to surface of the sample under test have been investigated in details.

Keywords: flashover voltage, filler, polymers, ultra-violet radiation

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Authors: Salman Khokhar

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The geopolitical landscape in Pakistan has become shrouded with suspicion between the state and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The study argues that the social mobility of the community has become severely compromised, especially after the inception of the blasphemy laws and their subsequent enhancements in later years. The securitization of the community has ensured that the daily lives of Ahmadi Muslims have become severely restricted as their integration and assimilation into society become defined through their religious identity and beliefs. Consequently, performing congregational prayers or engaging in any other community activity is carried out secretly as the repercussions of such actions may lead to incarceration or, in some cases, even more extreme apprehension measures. The securitization of Ahmadis, and their daily lives are severely curtailed in Pakistan; however, due to transnational approaches, the community must implement specific measures to ensure the safety of its members, even in the West. The eyes of suspicion are always on the activities of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and the community’s headquarters in Rabwah is always being viewed with suspicious lenses. The study considers how secrecy has enveloped the everyday life of the Ahmadi Muslim community and how it embodies characteristics which we thought had come to an end many years ago.

Keywords: freedom, ideology, Islam, persecution

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Authors: Khaled Ibrahim, Mathew Parackal, Damien Mather, Paul Hansen

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The integration between marketing and technology has given brands unprecedented opportunities to reach accurate customer data and competence to change customers' behaviour. Technology has generated a transformation within brands from traditional branding to algorithmic branding. However, brands have utilised customer data in non-cognitive programmatic targeting. This algorithmic persuasion may be effective in reaching the targeted audience. But it may encounter a moral conflict simultaneously, as it might not consider our social principles. Moral branding is a critical topic; particularly, with the increasing interest in commercial settings to teaching machines human morals, e.g., autonomous vehicles and chatbots; however, it is understudied in the marketing literature. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the recent moral branding literature. Furthermore, applying human-like mind theory as initial framing to this paper explores a more comprehensive concept involving human morals, machine behaviour, and branding.

Keywords: brand machines, conceptual framework, moral branding, moral machines

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Authors: Adriana Pereira Arteaga

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In many Latin American countries the transition towards legal pluralism - has developed as part of what is called Latin-American-Constitutionalism over the last thirty years. The aim of this paper is to discuss how legal pluralism in its current form in Bolivia may produce exclusion and violence. Legal sources and discourse analysis - as an approach to examine written language on discourse documentation- will be used to develop this paper. With the constitution of 2009, Bolivia was symbolically "re-founded" into a multi-nation state. This shift goes hand in hand with the "indigenista" and "decolonisation" ideologies developing since the early 20th century. Discourses based on these ideologies reflect the rejection of liberal and western premises on which the Bolivian republic was originally built after independence. According to the "indigenista" movements, the liberal nation-state generates institutions corresponding to a homogenous society. These liberal institutions not only ignore the Bolivian multi-nation reality, but also maintain the social structures originating form the colony times, based on prejudices against the indigenous. The described statements were elaborated through the image: the indigenous people humiliated by a cruel western system as highlighted by the constitution's preamble. This narrative had a considerable impact on the sensitivity of people and received great social support. Therefore the proposal for changing structures of the nation-state, is charged with an emancipatory message of restoring even the pre-Columbian order. An order at times romantically described as the perfect order. Legally this connotes a rejection of the positivistic national legal system based on individual rights and the promotion of constitutional recognition of indigenous justice administration. The pluralistic Constitution is supposed to promote tolerance and a peaceful coexistence among nations, so that the unity and integrity of the country could be maintained. In its current form, legal pluralism in Bolivia is justified on pre-existing rights contained for example in the International - Labour - Organization - Convention 169, but it is more developed on the described discursive constructions. Over time these discursive constructions created inconsistencies in terms of putting indigenous justice administration into practice: First, because legal pluralism has been more developed on level of political discourse, so a real interaction between the national and the indigenous jurisdiction cannot be observed. There are no clear coordination and cooperation mechanisms. Second, since the recently reformed constitution is based on deep sensitive experiences, little is said about the general legal principles on which a pluralistic administration of justice in Bolivia should be based. Third, basic rights, liberties, and constitutional guarantees are also affected by the antagonized image of the national justice administration. As a result, fundamental rights could be violated on a large scale because many indigenous justice administration practices run counter to these constitutional rules. These problems are not merely Bolivian but may also be encountered in other regional countries with similar backgrounds, like Ecuador.

Keywords: discourse, indigenous justice, legal pluralism, multi-nation

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Authors: Emily Hickmann, Peggy Richter, Maren Kaehlig, Hannes Schlieter

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Patient engagement is a cornerstone of high-quality care and essential for patients with chronic diseases to achieve improved health outcomes. Through digital transformation, possibilities to engage patients in their personal healthcare have multiplied. However, the exploitation of this potential is still lagging. To support the transmission of patient engagement theory into practice, this paper’s objective is to give a state-of-the-art overview of patient engagement tools and methods. A systematic literature review was conducted. Overall, 56 tools and methods were extracted and synthesized according to the four attributes of patient engagement, i.e., personalization, access, commitment, and therapeutic alliance. The results are discussed in terms of their potential to be implemented in digital health solutions under consideration of the “computers are social actors” (CASA) paradigm. It is concluded that digital health can catalyze patient engagement in practice, and a broad future research agenda is formulated.

Keywords: chronic diseases, digitalization, patient-centeredness, patient empowerment, patient engagement

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Authors: Aşina Gülerarslan, M. Faik Özdengül

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The new economic, social and political world order has led to the emergence of a wide range of persuasion strategies and practices based on an ever expanding marketing axis that involves organizations, ideas and persons as well as products and services. It is seen that since the 1990's, a wide variety of competitive marketing ideas have been offered systematically to target audiences in the field of politics as in other fields. When the components of marketing are taken into consideration, all kinds of communication efforts involving “political leaders”, who are conceptualized as products in terms of political marketing, serve a process of social persuasion, which cannot be restricted to election periods only, and a manageable “image”. In this context, image, which is concerned with how the political product is perceived, involves not only the political discourses shared with the public but also all kinds of biographical information about the leader, the leader’s specific way of living and routines and his/her attitudes and behaviors in their private lives, and all these are regarded as components of the “product image”. While on the one hand the leader’s verbal or supra-verbal references serve the way the “spirit of the product” is perceived –just as in brand positioning- they also show their self-esteem levels, in other words how they perceive themselves on the other hand. Indeed, their self-esteem levels are evaluated in three fundamental categories in the “Functional Analysis”, namely parent, child and adult, and it is revealed that the words, tone of voice and body language a person uses makes it easy to understand at what self-esteem level that person is. In this context, words, tone of voice and body language, which provide important clues as to the “self” of the person, are also an indication of how political leaders evaluate both “themselves” and “the mass/audience” in the communication they establish with their audiences. When the matter is taken from the perspective of Turkey, the levels of self-esteem in the relationships that the political leaders establish with the masses are also important in revealing how our society is seen from the perspective of a specific leader. Since the leader is a part of the marketing strategy of a political party as a product, this evaluation is significant in terms of the forms of relationships between political institutions in our country with the society. In this study, the self-esteem level in the documentary entitled “Master’s Story”, where Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s life history is told, is analyzed in the context of words, tone of voice and body language. Within the scope of the study, at what level of self-esteem Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in the “Master’s Story”, a documentary broadcast on Beyaz TV, was investigated using the content analysis method. First, based on the Functional Analysis Literature, a transactional approach scale was created regarding parent, adult and child self-esteem levels. On the basis of this scale, the prime minister’s self-esteem level was determined in three basic groups, namely “tone of voice”, “the words he used” and “body language”. Descriptive analyses were made to the data within the framework of these criteria and at what self-esteem level the prime minister spoke throughout the documentary was revealed.

Keywords: political marketing, leader image, level of self-esteem, transactional approach

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Authors: Arash Esmaeili, Zhibang Liu, Yang Xiang, Jimmy Yun, Lei Shao

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A high pressure carbon dioxide (CO₂) absorption from a specific gas in a conventional column has been evaluated by the Aspen HYSYS simulator using a wide range of single absorbents and blended solutions to estimate the outlet CO₂ concentration, absorption efficiency and CO₂ loading to choose the most proper solution in terms of CO₂ capture for environmental concerns. The property package (Acid Gas-Chemical Solvent) which is compatible with all applied solutions for the simulation in this study, estimates the properties based on an electrolyte non-random two-liquid (E-NRTL) model for electrolyte thermodynamics and Peng-Robinson equation of state for the vapor and liquid hydrocarbon phases. Among all the investigated single amines as well as blended solutions, piperazine (PZ) and the mixture of piperazine and monoethanolamine (MEA) have been found as the most effective absorbents respectively for CO₂ absorption with high reactivity based on the simulated operational conditions.

Keywords: absorption, amine solutions, Aspen HYSYS, carbon dioxide, simulation

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Authors: Denis Ushakov

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Fast growing international migration as a factor of labor globalization now is one of the most important trends of world economy and determinant of social-political transformations. Study of fundamental economical reasons for international migration is relevant due to their prognostic, predictable and normative potential, which can be used in conditions of global economic non-stability. This paper analyzes role of natural-resources, financial and labor factors in economic growth of the modern states; studies relationships between stimulating role of natural resources, finance and labor with levels of modern countries’ economy development. Based on achieved results, findings about fundamental reasons of international migration; transformation of labor factor’s role in providing an economical progress of the states; efficiency of positive impact of manufacturing factors (domestic and attracted from international markets) were offered.

Keywords: international migration, migrant, labor productivity, economy efficiency of migration, migration policy

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Authors: Selda Uzal Seyfi, Levent Seyfi

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The technological devices are more often being used days by day. Thus, electro magnetic pollution is being more important now than last decades. Especially mobile phones and their base stations are subject to assessment in respect of all living beings health as well as of human beings. In this context, it is worth to evaluate the situation of electromagnetic radiation exposing living beings such as animals. In this study, electromagnetic radiation levels to which sheep are exposed in Konya/Turkey are presented. The electromagnetic radiation is measured at 1800 MHz for GSM base stations. 1085 sheep farms are determined in areas of Konya center region (Selçuklu, Meram, and Karatay) in which sheep and goat breeding is widely carried out. In this study, 790 sheep and goat farms, 10.8 % for total farms in Konya region (7276), having more than 100 animals are assessed. Then, the data obtained are depicted. As a conclusion, the results should be evaluated together with the future measurements to determine the exact effect on health of sheep and their productivity.

Keywords: electromagnetic pollution, sheep housing, sheep and goat farm, environmental pollution

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Authors: Bubaker F. Shareia

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Much of the literature on research design has focussed on research conducted in developed, uni-cultural or primarily English speaking countries. Studies of qualitative case study research, the challenges and prospects have been embedded in Western/Euro-centric society and social theories. Although there have been some theoretical studies, few empirical studies have been conducted to explore the nature of the challenges of qualitative case study in developing countries. These challenges include accessibility to organizations, conducting interviews in developing countries, accessing documents and observing official meetings, language and cultural challenges, the use of consent forms, issues affecting access to companies, respondent issues and data analysis. The author, while conducting qualitative case study research in Libya, faced all these issues. The discussion in this paper examines these issues in order to make a contribution toward the literature in this area.

Keywords: accounting, challenges, prospects, developing countries, Libya, qualitative case study

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Authors: Hossein Keshtkar, Ali Nasiri Toosi

Abstract:

With the growing concerns about gasoline environmental pollution and also the need for a more widely available fuel source, natural gas is finding its way to the automotive engines. But before this could happen industrially, simulations of natural gas direct injection need to take place to maximize and optimize power output. KIVA is one of the most powerful tools when it comes to engine simulation. Widely accepted by both researchers and the industry, KIVA an open-source code, offers great in-depth simulation and analyzation. KIVA can compute complex phenomena’s which can occur inside the chamber before, whilst and after ignition. One downside to KIVA, is its in-capability of simulating gaseous injections, making it useful for only liquidized fuel. In this study, we developed a numerical code, to enable the simulation of gaseous injection within the KIVA code. By introducing our code as a subroutine, we modified the original KIVA program. To ensure the correct application of gaseous fuel injection using our modified KIVA code, we simulated two different cases and compared them with their experimental data. We concluded our modified version of KIVA’s simulation results came in very close to those measured experimentally.

Keywords: gaseous injections, KIVA, natural gas direct injection, numerical code, simulation

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Authors: Badriah Algarni

Abstract:

The pedagogy of ‘flipped learning’ is a form of blended instruction which is gaining widespread attention throughout the world. However, there is a lack of research concerning teachers’ professional development (TPD) in teachers who use flipping. The aim of this study was, therefore, to identify teachers’ perspectives on their experience of flipped PD. The study used a qualitative approach. Purposive sampling recruited nineteen teachers who participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. Overall, the teachers reported feeling more confident in their knowledge and skills after participating in flipped TPD. The analysis of the interview data revealed five overarching themes:1) increased engagement with the content; 2) better use of resources; 3) a social, collaborative environment; 4) exchange of practices and experiences; and 5) valuable online activities. These findings can encourage educators, policymakers, and trainers to consider flipped TPD as a form of PD to promote the building of teachers’ knowledge and stimulate reflective practices to improve teaching and learning practices.

Keywords: engagement, flipped learning, teachers’ professional development, collaboration

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Authors: S. Akinde, Jubril Olatunbosun

Abstract:

In recent years, most of the urban centers in Nigeria are fast experiencing housing problems such as unaffordable housing and environmental challenges, all of which determine the nature of housing quality. The population continues to increase and the demand for quality housing increases probably at the same rate. Several kinds of houses serve various purposes; the objectives of the low cost housing schemes as the name suggests is to make houses quality to both the middle and lower classes of people in Lagos. A casual look into the study area of Iba Low Cost Housing Estate and the Unity Low Cost Housing Estate, Ojo and Alimosho respectively in Lagos State have shown a huge demands for houses. The study area boasts of a large population all engaged in various commercial activities with income at various levels. It would be fair to say that these people are mainly of the middle class and lower class. This means the low cost housing scheme truly serves these purposes. A Low Cost Housing Scheme of Iba which is publicly owned and Low Cost Housing Scheme of Unity Estate (UE) is privately owned.  

Keywords: housing, residential quality, low cost housing scheme, public, private estates

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Authors: Shuja Alharbi

Abstract:

Oil and Gas industry has many applications considered as toxic or hazardous, where process fluid leakage is not permitted and leads to health, safety, and environmental impacts. Caustic/Acidic applications, High Benzene Concentrations, Hydrogen sulfide rich oil/gas as well as liquids operating above their auto-ignition temperatures are examples of such liquids that pose as a risk to the industry operation, and for those, special arrangements are in place to allow for the safe operation environment. Pumps in the industry requires special attention, specifically in the interface between the fluid and the environment, where the potential of leakages are foreseen. Mechanical Seals are used to contain the fluid within the equipment, but the prices are ever increasing for such seals, along with maintenance, design, and operating requirements. Several alternatives to seals are being employed nowadays, such as Sealless systems, which is hermitically sealed from the atmosphere and does not require sealing. This technology is considered relatively new and requires more studies to understand the limitations and factors associated from an owner and design perspective. Things like financial factors, maintenance factors, and design limitation should be studies further in order to have a mature and reliable technical solution available to end users.

Keywords: pump, sealless, selection, failure

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Authors: Sherine El-Menshawy

Abstract:

Death, funerary beliefs and customs form an essential feature of belief systems and practices in many cultures. It is evident that during the pre-historical periods, various techniques of corpses burial and funerary rituals were conducted. Occasionally, corpses were merely buried in the sand, or in a grave where the body is placed in a contracted position- with knees drawn up under the chin and hands normally lying before the face- with mounds of sand, marking the grave or the bodies were burnt. However, common practice, that was demonstrable in the archaeological record, was burial. The earliest graves were very simple consisting of a shallow circular or oval pits in the ground. The current study focuses on the material culture at Qatar during the pre-historical period, specifically their funerary architecture and burial practices. Since information about burial customs and funerary practices in Qatar prehistory is both scarce and fragmentary, the importance of such study is to answer research questions related to funerary believes and burial habits during the early stages of civilization transformations at prehistory Qatar compared with Mesopotamia, since chronologically, the earliest pottery discovered in Qatar belongs to prehistoric Ubaid culture of Mesopotamia, that was collected from the excavations. This will lead to deep understanding of life and social status in pre-historical period at Qatar. The research also explores the relationship between pre-history Qatar funerary traditions and those of neighboring cultures in the Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, with the aim of ascertaining the distinctive aspects of pre-history Qatar culture, the reception of classical culture and the role it played in the creation of local cultural identities in the Near East. Methodologies of this study based on published books and articles in addition to unpublished reports of the Danish excavation team that excavated in and around Doha, Qatar archaeological sites from the 50th. The study is also constructed on compared material related to burial customs found in Mesopotamia. Therefore this current research: (i) Advances knowledge of the burial customs of the ancient people who inhabited Qatar, a study which is unknown recently to scholars, the study though will apply deep understanding of the history of ancient Qatar and its culture and values with an aim to share this invaluable human heritage. (ii) The study is of special significance for the field of studies, since evidence derived from the current study has great value for the study of living conditions, social structure, religious beliefs and ritual practices. (iii) Excavations brought to light burials of different categories. The graves date to the bronze and Iron ages. Their structure varies between mounds above the ground or burials below the ground level. Evidence comes from sites such as Al-Da’asa, Ras Abruk, and Al-Khor. Painted Ubaid sherds of Mesopotamian culture have been discovered in Qatar from sites such as Al-Da’asa, Ras Abruk, and Bir Zekrit. In conclusion, there is no comprehensive study which has been done and lack of general synthesis of information about funerary practices is problematic. Therefore, the study will fill in the gaps in the area.

Keywords: archaeological, burial, findings, prehistory, Qatar

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Authors: Siti Rossidatul Munawaroh, Siti Khusnul Khowatim

Abstract:

This study is determined to find how is the influence of family attention of students in provides guidance of the student learning. The increasing of student’s learning motivation can be increased made up in various ways, one of them are through students social guidance in their relation with the family. The family not only provides the matter and the learning time but also be supervise for the learning time and guide his children to overcome a learning disability. The character of physics subject in their science experiences at junior high schools has demanded that student’s ability is to think symbolically and understand something in a meaningful manner. Therefore, the reinforcement of the physics learning motivation is clearly necessary not only by the school are related, but the family environment and the society. As for the role of family which includes maintenance, parenting, coaching, and educating both of physically and spiritually, this way is expected to give spirit impulsion in studying physics subject in order to increase student learning achievements.

Keywords: physics subject, the influence of family attention, learning motivation, the Student care

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Authors: Stanley Fore, Gaetan Ngabonziza

Abstract:

In spite of the need for skilled labour in South Africa, tertiary education graduates are increasingly faced with unemployment, which poses a serious obstacle to the economic growth of the country. This paper is an outcome of the study that investigated students’ perceptions on the role of entrepreneurship education in enhancing graduates’ self-employment. The study was descriptive in nature and used a survey questionnaire to answer questions pertaining to the extent to which entrepreneurship education is important in enhancing self-employment endeavours. Collected data were analysed using of the statistical software for social science (SPSS) for descriptive statistics in the form of tables and charts. The study found that entrepreneurship education is critical in providing knowledge and skills that are required to succeed in self-employment. As one module of entrepreneurship does not ensure self-employment orientation or more positive expectations about entrepreneurial abilities and careers, this study suggests that students, irrespective of their field of study, should be given entrepreneurship modules in every academic year. This will help in reminding them that their success does not solely rely on their ability to find a better-paying employment but also on their ability to employ themselves.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, education, self-employment, students

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