Search results for: theory of public administration

Authors: Pierre Mintom, Ebai Patricia, Merlin Dasse, Marlyse Chantal Nyangon Ndongo, Aicha Aretouyap Kouotou, Felix Essiben, Christine Fernande Nyangono Biyegue

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Background: The death of women during and after pregnancy remains a major concern in public health policy in Cameroon. Among the causes of this mortality is eclampsia which is a consequence of the Pre-eclampsia characterized by the double burden of pregnancy-induced hypertension and albuminuria in pregnant women. Objective: To determine the various factors associated with the pre-eclampsia in pregnant women of Foumban. Methodology: A cross-sectional and analytical study was carried out during the period from July to August 2020 and supplemented by another study carried out from August 05 to September 05, 2022, at the Foumban district hospital. A questionnaire was administered to pregnant women. It focused on socio-demographic parameters, the state nutritional, health status, and maternal parameters. Blood pressure was taken using an electronic blood pressure monitor, and urinary albumin was measuring using urine dipstick. Pre-eclampsia was defined by three types of double burden: double burden systolic hypertension–hyperalbuminuria (SHH), defined for SBP≥140 mmHg and hyperalbuminuria ≥1+ on urine dipstick, double burden diastolic hypertension–hyperalbuminuria (DHH), defined for PAD≥90 mmHg and hyperalbuminuria ≥1+ on the urine dipstick, and the double burden systolodiastolic arterial hypertension– hyperalbuminuria (SDHH), defined for SBP ≥ 140mmHg, PAD≥90 mmHg and hyperalbuminuria ≥1+ on urine dipstick. IBM SPSS Software was used for statistical analysis. Results: The results of this study show that the prevalence of pre-eclampsia was 17.3% for the double burden SHH, 19.9% for the double burden DHH and 14.1% for double burden SDHH. Associated factors with pre-eclampsia according to the three types of double burden were marital status (P<0.05), religion (P<0.05), history of hypertension before pregnancy (P<0.05). Associated factors for the double burden of DHH and SDHH were the nutritional status before the pregnancy (P<0.05) and the number of prenatal consultations (P<0.05). In terms of food groups, regular consumption of spices significantly increased the risk of pre-eclampsia by 5.318, 6.277 and 11.271 times respectively for the SHH, DHH and SDHH double burdens, while regular consumption of sweets regular consumption of sweets increased by 2.42 times and 2.053 times respectively the double DHH and SDHH burdens respectively. Conclusion: Our study made it possible to redefine pre-eclampsia by considering the subtypes of hypertension. Certain socio-demographic parameters and certain dietary habits influence the occurrence of pre-eclampsia characterized by the double burden Hypertension-hyperalbuminuria in pregnant women, which may later lead to the occurrence of eclampsia. Moreover, albuminemia could be a good predicitive factor of pre-eclampsia and could be explored.

Keywords: hypertension, hyperalbuminuria, pregnant women, foumban

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Authors: Ruwandika Perera

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Even though the Sri Lankan government provides a reasonable level of support for students at all levels of the school system, for example, free education, textbooks, school uniforms, subsidized public transportation, and school meals, low participation in learning among secondary students is an issue warranting investigation, particularly in low socio-economic districts. This study attempted to determine the levels of motivation and engagement amongst students in a number of schools in two low socio-economic districts of Sri Lanka. This study employed quantitative research design in an attempt to determine levels of motivation and engagement amongst Sri Lankan secondary school students. Motivation and Engagement Scale-Junior School (MES-JS) was administered among 100 Sinhala-medium and 100 Tamil-medium eighth-grade students (50 students from each gender). The mean age of the students was 12.8 years. Schools were represented by type 2 government schools located in Monaragala and Nuwara Eliya districts in Sri Lanka. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to measure the construct validity of the scale. Since this did not provide a robust solution, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted. Four factors were identified; Failure Avoidance and Anxiety (FAA), Positive Motivation (PM), Uncertain Control (UC), and Positive Engagement (PE). An independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare PM, PE, FAA, and UC in gender and ethnic groups. There was no significant difference identified for PE, FAA, and UC scales based upon gender. These results indicate that for the participants in this study, there were no significant differences based on gender in the levels of failure avoidance and anxiety, uncertain control, and positive engagement in the school experience. But, the result for the PM scale was close to significant, indicating there may be differences based on gender for positive motivation. A significant difference exists for all scales based on ethnicity, with the mean result for the Tamil students being significantly higher than that for the Sinhala students. These results indicate those Sinhala-medium students’ levels of positive motivation and positive engagement in learning was lower than Tamil-medium students. Also, these results indicate those Tamil-medium students’ levels of failure avoidance, anxiety, and uncertain control was higher than Sinhala-medium students. It could be concluded that male students levels of PM were significantly lower than female students. Also, Sinhala-medium students’ levels of PM and PE was lower than Tamil-medium students, and Tamil-medium students levels of FAA and UC was significantly higher than Sinhala-medium students. Thus, there might be particular school-related conditions affecting this situation, which are related to early adolescents’ motivation and engagement in learning.

Keywords: early adolescents, engagement, low socio-economic districts, motivation

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Authors: Ana-María Gómez-Carvajal, Hernando Santamaría-García, Mateo Bernal, Mario Valderrama, Daniela Lizarazo, Juliana Restrepo, María Fernanda Barreto, Angélica Parra, Paula Torres, Diana Matallana, Jaime Silva, José Santamaría-García, Sandra Baez

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Higher levels of oxytocin are associated with better performance on social cognition tasks. However, higher levels of oxytocin have also been associated with increased levels of envy and schadenfreude. Considering these antecedents, this study aims to explore social emotions (i.e., envy and schadenfreude) and other components of social cognition (i.e. ToM and empathy), in women in the puerperal period and their respective partners, compared to a control group of men and women without children or partners. Control women should be in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle or taking oral contraceptives as they allow oxytocin levels to remain stable. We selected this population since increased levels of oxytocin are present in both mothers and fathers of newborn babies. Both groups were matched by age, sex, and education level. Twenty-two parents of newborns (11 women, 11 men) and 15 controls (8 women, 7 men) performed an experimental task designed to trigger schadenfreude and envy. In this task, each participant was shown a real-life photograph and a description of two target characters matched in age and gender with the participant. The task comprised two experimental blocks. In the first block, participants read 15 sentences describing fortunate events involving either character. After reading each sentence, participants rated the event in terms of how much envy they felt for the character (1=no envy, 9=extreme envy). In the second block, participants read and reported the intensity of their pleasure (schadenfreude, 1=no pleasure, 9=extreme pleasure) in response to 15 unfortunate events happening to the characters. Five neutral events were included in each block. Moreover, participants were assessed with ToM and empathy tests. Potential confounding variables such as general cognitive functioning, stress levels, hours of sleep and depression symptoms were also measured. Results showed that parents of newborns showed increased levels of envy and schadenfreude. These effects are not explained by any confounding factor. Moreover, no significant differences were found in ToM or empathy tests. Our results offer unprecedented evidence of specific differences in envy and schadenfreude levels in parents of newborns. Our findings support previous studies showing a negative relationship between oxytocin levels and negative social emotions. Further studies should assess the direct relationship between oxytocin levels in parents of newborns and the performance in social emotions tasks.

Keywords: envy, empathy, oxytocin, schadenfreude, social emotions, theory of mind

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Authors: Flora Takayindisa, Tsoaledi Thobejane, Thizwilondi Mudau

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This study highlights what people in polygamous marriages face on a daily basis. It argues that there are more disadvantages for women in polygamous marriages than their counterparts in monogamous relationships. The study further suggests that the patriarchal power structure seems to take a powerful and effective role on polygamous marriages in our societies, particularly in Zimbabwe where this study took place. The study explored the intricacies of polygamous marriages and how these dominances can be resolved. The research is therefore presented through the ‘lived realities’ of the affected women in polygamous marriages in Gutu District located in Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe. Polygamous marriages are practised in different societies. Some women who are practising a polygamous lifestyle are emotionally and physically abused in their relationships. Evidence also suggests children from polygamous marriages also suffer psychologically when their fathers take other wives. Relationships within the family are very difficult because of the husband’s seeming favouritism for one wife. Children are mostly affected by disputes between co-wives and they often lack quality time with their fathers. There are mixed feelings about polygamous marriages. There are some people who condemn it saying inhumane. However, considerations must be made of what it might mean to other people who do not have choices of any other form of marriage. The other factor that has to be noted is that polygamous marriages are not always negative. There are some positive things that result from the polygamous marriages. The study was conducted in a village called Matizha. In the study, a qualitative research approach was employed to stimulate awareness of the social, cultural, religious and the effect of economic factors in polygamous marriages. This approach facilitates a unique understanding of the experiences of women in polygamous marriages, their experiences being both negative and positive. The qualitative type of research method enabled the respondents to have an open minded when they were being asked questions. The researcher utilised the feminist theory in the study. The researcher employed guide interviews to acquire information from the participants. The chapter focuses on the participants who took part in the study, how the participants were selected, ethical considerations, data collection, the interview process, the research instruments and the summary. The data was obtained using a guided interview for all the respondents ranging from all ages who are in polygamous marriages. The researcher presented the demographic information of the participants. Thereafter, the researcher presented other aspects of the data collection like social factors, economic factors and also religious affiliation. The conclusions and recommendations are made from the four main themes that came up from the discussions. The recommendations were made for the women, the policies and laws affecting women, and finally, recommendations for future research. It is believed that the overall objectives of the study have been met and research questions have been answered based on the findings of the study discussed.

Keywords: co-wives, egalitarianism, experiences, polyandry, polygamy, woman

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Authors: Faye Cosgrove, Donna Peacock

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This paper examines current state strategies for dealing with vulnerable people in police custody and identifies the underpinning discourses and practices which inform these strategies. It has previously been argued that the state has utilised contradictory and conflicting responses to the control of crime, by employing opposing strategies of denial and adaptation in order to simultaneously both display sovereignty and disclaim responsibility. This paper argues that these contradictory strategies are still being employed in contemporary criminal justice, although the focus and the purpose have now shifted. The focus is upon the ‘vulnerable’ suspect, whose social identity is as incongruous, complex and contradictory as his social environment, and the purpose is to redirect attention away from negative state practices, whilst simultaneously displaying a compassionate and benevolent countenance in order to appeal to the voting public. The findings presented here result from intensive qualitative research with police officers, with health care professionals, and with civilian volunteers who work within police custodial environments. The data has been gathered over a three-year period and includes observational and interview data which has been thematically analysed to expose the underpinning mechanisms from which the properties of the system emerge. What is revealed is evidence of contemporary state practices of denial relating to the harms of austerity and the structural relations of vulnerability, whilst simultaneously adapting through processes of ‘othering’ of the vulnerable, ‘responsibilisation’ of citizens, defining deviance down through diversionary practices, and managing success through redefining the aims of the system. The ‘vulnerable’ suspect is subject to individual pathologising, and yet the nature of risk is aggregated. ‘Vulnerable’ suspects are supported in police custody by private citizens, by multi-agency partnerships, and by for-profit organisations, while the state seeks to collate and control services, and thereby to retain a veneer of control. Late modern ambivalence to crime control and the associated contradictory practices of abjuration and adjustment have extended to state responses to vulnerable suspects. The support available in the custody environment operates to control and minimise operational and procedural risk, rather than for the welfare of the detained person, and in fact, the support available is discovered to be detrimental to the very people that it claims to benefit. The ‘vulnerable’ suspect is now subject to the bifurcated logics employed at the new limits of the sovereign state.

Keywords: custody, policing, sovereign state, vulnerability

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Authors: Mirjana Dokmanovic

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In recent years, the disadvantaged and marginalised position of rural women in the Republic of Serbia has been recognised in a number of national strategies and policy papers. A number of measures have been adopted by the government aimed at economic empowerment of rural women and eliminating barriers to accessing decision making and economic and social opportunities. However, their implementation pace is still slow. The aim of the paper is to indicate the necessity of a comprehensive policy approach to eliminating discrimination against rural women that would include policy and financial commitments for enhancing agricultural and rural development as a whole, instead of taking fragmented measures targeting consequences instead of causes. The paper introduces main findings of the study of challenges, constraints, and opportunities of rural women in Serbia to enjoy their economic and social rights. The research methodology included the desk research and the qualitative analysis of the available data, statistics, policy papers, studies, and reports produced by the government, ministries and other governmental bodies, independent human rights bodies, and civil society organizations (CSOs). The findings of the study reveal that rural women are at great risk of poverty, particularly in remote areas, and when getting old or widowed. Young rural women working in agriculture are also in unfavorable position, as they do not have opportunities to enjoy their rights during pregnancy and maternity leave, childcare leave and leave due to the special care of a child. The study indicates that the main causes of their unfavorable position are related to the prevalent patriarchal surrounding and economic and social underdevelopment of rural areas in Serbia. Gender inequalities have been particularly present in accessing land and property rights, inheritance, education, social protection, healthcare, and decision making. Women living in the rural areas are exposed at high risk of discrimination in all spheres of public and private life that undermine their enjoyment of basic economic, social and cultural rights. The vulnerability of rural women to discrimination increases in cases of the intersectionality of other grounds of discrimination, such as disability, ethnicity, age, health condition and sexual discrimination. If they are victims of domestic violence, their experience lack of access to shelters and protection services. Despite the State’s recognition of the marginalized position of rural women, there is still a lack of a comprehensive policy approach to improving the economic and social position of rural women.

Keywords: agricultural and rural development, care economy, discrimination against women, economic and social rights, feminization of poverty, Republic of Serbia, rural women

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Authors: Krithika Lakshmi Sathiya Moorthy

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Introduction: Young people’s attitude towards Intimate partner violence (IPV) is likely to influence their indulgence in or abstinence from IPV in future. We aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of college students in a south Indian city regarding IPV, its associated factors and redressal mechanisms. Methods: A convenient sample of 247 students, pursuing medicine and engineering, participated in this analytical cross sectional study. They responded to a self-administered questionnaire developed and pretested for this study. The questionnaire comprises statements from a third person’s perspective and vignettes to reduce social desirability bias. Clearance was obtained from the Institute Ethical Committee of Velammal Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Madurai, India. Data were entered in Epidata Entry v3.1, Odense, Denmark and analysed using SPSS v20.0. Results: Among 247 students, 116 (47%) were males and 59 (24.9%) hailed from rural areas. About 18% (43) of students believed that IPV was a problem only among females. Almost half of the students had witnessed IPV; at home between their parents (9.7%), other family members (13.4%), in their neighbourhood (13%) or public places (15%). Only 118 (47.8%) were aware that a law was in place in India to address IPV. The perceived risk factors for IPV were alcoholic spouse (78.9%), low income families (53.8%), personality traits (52.2%) and dowry system (51%). A sizeable number of students (38.4%) believed that some amount of physical violence was allowable in a marital relationship while 57.6% even considered IPV as an expression of love. Males as compared to females were more in agreement with negative gender stereotypes such as husband can– ‘threaten wife to ensure welfare of family’ (55% vs. 34%, p < 0.001), ‘spy on wife to check fidelity’ (41% vs. 27%, p < 0.001), ‘financially deprive housewife to punish’ (13% vs. 3.8%, p=0.001) and agreed with the statement that it is ‘duty of wife to comply with demands for sex from the husband’ (9.5% vs 4.6%, p=0.3). About 32% males and 25.6% females foresaw themselves as perpetrators of IPV in future. Conclusion: Knowledge about IPV and the associated risk factors among the study population was satisfactory. However, there was widespread acceptance of negative societal gender stereotypes, more so among males and some degrees of IPV were acceptable between married couples. The study advocates the need to halt the propagation of negative gender stereotypes in the impressionable young minds and the necessity to spread the awareness that no degree of IPV is acceptable. This knowledge is also required to plan the content and choose the appropriate media to effectively communicate the awareness about IPV among young persons.

Keywords: attitude, India, intimate partner violence, knowledge, students

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Authors: Matthias Stange

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Building Information Modelling (BIM) is one of the most promising methods in the building design process and plays an important role in the digitalization of the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Industry. The application of BIM is seen as the key enabler for increasing productivity in the construction industry. The model-based collaboration using the BIM method is intended to significantly reduce cost increases, schedule delays, and quality problems in the planning and construction of buildings. Numerous qualitative studies based on expert interviews support this theory and report perceived benefits from the use of BIM in terms of achieving project objectives related to cost, schedule, and quality. However, there is a large research gap in analysing quantitative data collected from real construction projects regarding the actual benefits of applying BIM based on representative sample size and different application regions as well as different project typologies. In particular, the influence of the project-related BIM maturity level is completely unexplored. This research project examines primary data from 105 construction projects worldwide using quantitative research methods. Projects from the areas of residential, commercial, and industrial construction as well as infrastructure and hydraulic engineering were examined in application regions North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, MENA region, and South America. First, a descriptive data analysis of 6 independent project variables (BIM maturity level, application region, project category, project type, project size, and BIM level) were carried out using statistical methods. With the help of statisticaldata analyses, the influence of the project-related BIM maturity level on 6 dependent project variables (deviation in planning time, deviation in construction time, number of planning collisions, frequency of rework, number of RFIand number of changes) was investigated. The study revealed that most of the benefits of using BIM perceived through numerous qualitative studies have not been confirmed. The results of the examined sample show that the application of BIM did not have an improving influence on the dependent project variables, especially regarding the quality of the planning itself and the adherence to the schedule targets. The quantitative research suggests the conclusion that the BIM planning method in its current application has not (yet) become a recognizable increase in productivity within the planning and construction process. The empirical findings indicate that this is due to the overall low level of BIM maturity in the projects of the examined sample. As a quintessence, the author suggests that the further implementation of BIM should primarily focus on an application-oriented and consistent development of the project-related BIM maturity level instead of implementing BIM for its own sake. Apparently, there are still significant difficulties in the interweaving of people, processes, and technology.

Keywords: AEC-process, building information modeling, BIM maturity level, project results, productivity of the construction industry

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Authors: S. Sansone-Casaburi

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The pandemic that the world is going through is causing important changes in the daily life of all cities, which can translate into opportunities to rearrange pending situations. Among others: the town-city relationship and sustainability. On the one hand, the city continues to be the center of attention, and the countryside is assumed as the supplier of food. However, the temporary closure of cities highlighted the importance of the rural environment, and many people are reassessing this context as an alternative for life. Furthermore, the countryside is not simply the home and the center of activity of the people who inhabit it, but rather constitutes the active group of all citizens, both rural and urban. On the other hand, the pandemic is the opportunity to meet sustainable development goals. Sustainable development is understood as the capital to be transferred to future generations made up of three types of wealth: natural capital (environment), human capital (people, relationships, culture), and artificial or built capital, made up of buildings and infrastructure, or by cities and towns. The 'new normal' can mean going back to the countryside, but not to a merely agricultural place but to a sustainable, affordable, and healthy place, which, with the appropriate infrastructures, allows work from a distance, a new post-COVID-19 modality. The contribution of the research is towards the recovery of traditional villages from the perspective of populations that have managed to maintain their vitality with innovative solutions. It is assumed that innovation is a path for the recovery of traditional villages, so we ask: what conditions are necessary for innovation to be successful and sustainable? In the research, several variables were found, among which culture is named, so the objective of this article is to understand Uruena, a town in the province of Valladolid, which with only 182 inhabitants houses five museums and twelve bookstores that make up the first Villa del Libro in Spain. The methodology used is mixed: inductive and deductive and the results were specified in determining the formula of innovative peoples in culture: PIc = Pt + C [E (Aec) + S (pp) + A (T + s + t + enc)]. Where the innovative villages in culture PIc are the result of traditional villages Pt that from a cultural innovation C, integrates into the economic, economic and cultural activities E (Aec); in the social sphere, the public and private actors S (pp); and in the environmental (A), Territory (T), services (s), technology (t) and natural and built spaces (enc). The results of this analysis will focus on determining what makes the structure of innovative peoples sustainable and understanding what variables make up that structure to verify if they can be applied in other contexts and repower abandoned places to provide a solution for people who migrate to this context. That is, learn from what has been done to replicate it in similar cases.

Keywords: culture as innovation, depopulation, sustainability, traditional villages

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Authors: Ruchi Sharma, Rajasekhar Balasubramanian

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Motor vehicles emit a number of air pollutants, among which fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) is of major concern in cities with high population density due to its negative impacts on air quality and human health. Typically, people spend more than 80% of their time indoors. Consequently, human exposure to traffic-related PM₂.₅ in indoor environments has received considerable attention. Most of the public residential buildings in tropical countries are designed for natural ventilation where indoor air quality tends to be strongly affected by the migration of air pollutants of outdoor origin. However, most of the previously reported traffic-related PM₂.₅ exposure assessment studies relied on ambient PM₂.₅ concentrations and thus, the health impact of traffic-related PM₂.₅ on occupants in naturally ventilated buildings remains largely unknown. Therefore, a systematic field study was conducted to assess indoor human exposure to traffic-related PM₂.₅ with and without mitigation measures in a typical naturally ventilated residential apartment situated near a road carrying a large volume of traffic. Three PM₂.₅ exposure scenarios were simulated in this study, i.e., Case 1: keeping all windows open with a ceiling fan on as per the usual practice, Case 2: keeping all windows fully closed as a mitigation measure, and Case 3: keeping all windows fully closed with the operation of a portable indoor air cleaner as an additional mitigation measure. The indoor to outdoor (I/O) ratios for PM₂.₅ mass concentrations were assessed and the effectiveness of using the indoor air cleaner was quantified. Additionally, potential human health risk based on the bioavailable fraction of toxic trace elements was also estimated for the three cases in order to identify a suitable mitigation measure for reducing PM₂.₅ exposure indoors. Traffic-related PM₂.₅ levels indoors exceeded the air quality guidelines (12 µg/m³) in Case 1, i.e., under natural ventilation conditions due to advective flow of outdoor air into the indoor environment. However, while using the indoor air cleaner, a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the PM₂.₅ exposure levels was noticed indoors. Specifically, the effectiveness of the air cleaner in terms of reducing indoor PM₂.₅ exposure was estimated to be about 74%. Moreover, potential human health risk assessment also indicated a substantial reduction in potential health risk while using the air cleaner. This is the first study of its kind that evaluated the indoor human exposure to traffic-related PM₂.₅ and identified a suitable exposure mitigation measure that can be implemented in densely populated cities to realize health benefits.

Keywords: fine particulate matter, indoor air cleaner, potential human health risk, vehicular emissions

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Authors: F. Nur Baran Aksakal, Özge Dinç, H. Tanju Besler, Begüm Mutuş, Özlem Üliç Çatar, Orhan Aydoğdu, Serhat Ünal

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Healthy eating habits are associated not only with the newborn, child, and maternal health but also with longer life expectancy by acting as a protective factor against non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. The role of nutrition in medical education is to provide information about the relationship between healthy nutrition and malnutrition as well as diet-related non-communicable diseases. Considering the information pollution experienced in the field of nutrition and health in the society, it is seen that more than half of the population receives information from family physicians as the closest counseling unit. However, postgraduate nutrition education programs for physicians and other health professionals who wish to improve their current knowledge of the role of nutrition communication in the prevention and management of chronic diseases are limited worldwide. However, nutrition courses are either not included in the undergraduate medical education curriculum of physicians or they are insufficient. Based on this need, the main aim of the study group was to develop a "Nutrition and Nutrition Communication Training for Physicians" program that would be conducted in cooperation with the Sabri Ülker Foundation and the Federation of Family Physicians Associations (AHEF). This program is the first online nutrition and nutrition communication information platform for physicians in Turkey. This program aims to present the concept of adequate and balanced nutrition to physicians, the importance of nutrition in diseases with scientific data, and to gain communication skills that may be necessary while transferring scientific information to the public. A needs assessment questionnaire was applied to identify pre-program training needs. A study plan was made to allow the participation of all family physicians in the population, and a complete inventory was targeted. In other words, we aimed to reach the whole source without taking a section of the population. Participation in the training is based on volunteerism. The needs assessment study is conducted using 25,102 family physicians for whom email addresses are available. The online questionnaire was sent to all the family physicians with a reminder email one week after the first one, and 1308 responded. Considering the topics determined, a training program was prepared for family physicians under eight online training titles, starting in March 2022, and conducted once every two weeks. The number of audience members present at each session was between 1217 and 1673, and a minimum of 17 and a maximum of 53 questions were received in each session. We strongly believe that to prevent individuals' health problems and to have better control over chronic diseases, the information level of physicians should be increased via these kinds of interventions, and better collaboration between family physicians and dieticians should be established.

Keywords: nutrition communication, nutrition training, communication, nutrition

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Authors: Irfan Khan, Chiemeka David Ekene Arize, Hilly Swami

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Mental health care access and stigma present global challenges, with disparities significantly influenced by economic, cultural, and societal factors. This paper focuses on the mental health care systems of South Asia and the United States, comparing how cultural norms, infrastructure, and policy affect mental health care accessibility and effectiveness in both regions. In South Asia, mental health care is hindered by a combination of underfunding, a critical shortage of professionals, and deeply ingrained cultural stigmas that deter help-seeking. Traditional beliefs often link mental disorders to supernatural causes, and women face additional barriers due to gender disparities. Despite recent policy reforms, implementation remains a challenge, particularly in rural areas. In contrast, the U.S. has a more developed healthcare infrastructure but continues to grapple with stigma, particularly within professional settings like law enforcement. Interventions such as the use of community health workers (CHWs) and collaborative care models have improved access, especially among underserved populations. However, the U.S. still faces disparities in care for minority groups, where cultural competence and stigma reduction are critical for improving outcomes. The paper’s comparative analysis identifies transferable strategies from the U.S. that could be adapted to South Asia’s context, such as integrating mental health care into primary care and using digital interventions to bridge the treatment gap in rural areas. Additionally, South Asia's community-centered approaches offer insights that could enhance the cultural adaptability of interventions in the U.S., particularly for ethnic minorities and immigrant populations. Through a systematic review, this paper examines intervention strategies, stigma, policy support, and the cultural and social determinants of mental health in both regions. The findings emphasize the need for culturally tailored mental health interventions and policy reforms that promote access and reduce stigma. Recommendations include enhancing public awareness, integrating mental health services into primary care, expanding community-based programs, and leveraging digital health interventions. This research contributes to the global discourse on mental health by highlighting culturally sensitive approaches that can be adapted to improve mental health care access and outcomes in both South Asia and the United States.

Keywords: mental health stigma South Asia, mental health care accessibility South Asia, cultural influences mental health South Asia, mental health interventions USA, cross-cultural mental health care

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Authors: Jenna Pyorala

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This research looks at the principles and purposes ornamental design has served in the field of textile design. Ornamental designs are characterized by richness of details, abundance of elements, vegetative motifs and organic forms that flow harmoniously in complex compositions. Research on ornamental design is significant, because ornaments have been overlooked and considered as less meaningful and aesthetically pleasing than minimalistic, modern designs. This is despite the fact that in many parts of the world ornaments have been an important part of the cultural identification and expression for centuries. Ornament has been claimed to be superficial and merely used as a decorative way to hide the faults of designs. Such generalization is an incorrect interpretation of the real purposes of ornament. Many ornamental patterns tell stories, present mythological scenes or convey symbolistic meanings. Historically, ornamental decorations have been representing ideas and characteristics such as abundance, wealth, power and personal magnificence. The production of fine ornaments required refined skill, eye for intricate detail and perseverance while compiling complex elements into harmonious compositions. For this reason, ornaments have played an important role in the advancement of craftsmanship. Even though it has been claimed that people in the western design world have lost the relationship to ornament, the relation to it has merely changed from the practice of a craftsman to conceptualisation of a designer. With the help of new technological tools the production of ornaments has become faster and more efficient, demanding less manual labour. Designers who commit to this style of organic forms and vegetative motifs embrace and respect nature by representing its organically growing forms and by following its principles. The complexity of the designs is used as a way to evoke a sense of extraordinary beauty and stimulate intellect by freeing the mind from the predetermined interpretations. Through the study of these purposes it can be demonstrated that complex and richer design styles are as valuable a part of the world of design as more modern design approaches. The study highlights the meaning of ornaments by presenting visual examples and literature research findings. The practice based part of the project is the visual analysis of historical and cultural ornamental traditions such as Indian Chikan embroidery, Persian carpets, Art Nouveau and Rococo according to the rubric created for the purpose. The next step is the creation of ornamental designs based on the key elements in different styles. Theoretical and practical parts are woven together in this study that respects respect the long traditions of ornaments and highlight the importance of these design approaches to the field, in contrast to the more commonly preferred styles.

Keywords: cultural design traditions, ornamental design, organic forms from nature, textile design

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Authors: Adeola Adenikinju, Olusanya E. Olubusoye, Lateef O. Akinpelu, Dilinna L. Nwobi

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Since the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (2007), the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has made public its fiscal budget and the subsequent implementation report. A critical review of these documents shows significant variations in the five macroeconomic variables which are inputs in each Presidential budget; oil Production target (mbpd), oil price ($), Foreign exchange rate(N/$), and Gross Domestic Product growth rate (%) and inflation rate (%). This results in underperformance of the Federal budget expected output in terms of non-oil and oil revenue aggregates. This paper evaluates first the existing variance between budgeted and actuals, then the relationship and causality between the determinants of Federal fiscal budget assumptions, and finally the determinants of FGN’s Gross Oil Revenue. The paper employed the use of descriptive statistics, the Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, and a Profit oil probabilistic model to achieve these objectives. This model permits for both the static and dynamic effect(s) of the independent variable(s) on the dependent variable, unlike a static model that accounts for static or fixed effect(s) only. It offers a technique for checking the existence of a long-run relationship between variables, unlike other tests of cointegration, such as the Engle-Granger and Johansen tests, which consider only non-stationary series that are integrated of the same order. Finally, even with small sample size, the ARDL model is known to generate a valid result, for it is the dependent variable and is the explanatory variable. The results showed that there is a long-run relationship between oil revenue as a proxy for budget performance and its determinants; oil price, produced oil quantity, and foreign exchange rate. There is a short-run relationship between oil revenue and its determinants; oil price, produced oil quantity, and foreign exchange rate. There is a long-run relationship between non-oil revenue and its determinants; inflation rate, GDP growth rate, and foreign exchange rate. The grangers’ causality test results show that there is a mono-directional causality between oil revenue and its determinants. The Federal budget assumptions only explain 68% of oil revenue and 62% of non-oil revenue. There is a mono-directional causality between non-oil revenue and its determinants. The Profit oil Model describes production sharing contracts, joint ventures, and modified carrying arrangements as the greatest contributors to FGN’s gross oil revenue. This provides empirical justification for the selected macroeconomic variables used in the Federal budget design and performance evaluation. The research recommends other variables, debt and money supply, be included in the Federal budget design to explain the Federal budget revenue performance further.

Keywords: ARDL, budget performance, oil price, oil quantity, oil revenue

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Authors: Ioanna Taouki, Marie Lallier, David Soto

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Metacognition refers to the capacity to reflect upon our own cognitive processes. Although there is an ongoing discussion in the literature on the role of metacognition in learning and academic achievement, little is known about its neurodevelopmental trajectories in early childhood, when children begin to receive formal education in reading. Here, we evaluate the metacognitive ability, estimated under a recently developed Signal Detection Theory model, of a cohort of children aged between 6 and 7 (N=60), who performed three two-alternative-forced-choice tasks (two linguistic: lexical decision task, visual attention span task, and one non-linguistic: emotion recognition task) including trial-by-trial confidence judgements. Our study has three aims. First, we investigated how metacognitive ability (i.e., how confidence ratings track accuracy in the task) relates to performance in general standardized tasks related to students' reading and general cognitive abilities using Spearman's and Bayesian correlation analysis. Second, we assessed whether or not young children recruit common mechanisms supporting metacognition across the different task domains or whether there is evidence for domain-specific metacognition at this early stage of development. This was done by examining correlations in metacognitive measures across different task domains and evaluating cross-task covariance by applying a hierarchical Bayesian model. Third, using robust linear regression and Bayesian regression models, we assessed whether metacognitive ability in this early stage is related to the longitudinal learning of children in a linguistic and a non-linguistic task. Notably, we did not observe any association between students’ reading skills and metacognitive processing in this early stage of reading acquisition. Some evidence consistent with domain-general metacognition was found, with significant positive correlations between metacognitive efficiency between lexical and emotion recognition tasks and substantial covariance indicated by the Bayesian model. However, no reliable correlations were found between metacognitive performance in the visual attention span and the remaining tasks. Remarkably, metacognitive ability significantly predicted children's learning in linguistic and non-linguistic domains a year later. These results suggest that metacognitive skill may be dissociated to some extent from general (i.e., language and attention) abilities and further stress the importance of creating educational programs that foster students’ metacognitive ability as a tool for long term learning. More research is crucial to understand whether these programs can enhance metacognitive ability as a transferable skill across distinct domains or whether unique domains should be targeted separately.

Keywords: confidence ratings, development, metacognitive efficiency, reading acquisition

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Authors: Valentina Piric, Maja Martinovic, Zoran Barac

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The application of marketing to the domain of politics has become relevant in recent times. With this article the authors wanted to explore the issue of the current political engagement among young people in Croatia. The question is what makes young people (age 18-30) politically active in young democracies such as that of the Republic of Croatia. Therefore, the objective of this study was to discover the real or hidden motivations behind the decision to actively participate in politics among young members of the two largest political parties in the country – the Croatian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Croatia. The study expected to find that the motivation for political engagement of young people is often connected with a possible achievement of individual goals and egoistic needs such as: self-acceptance, social success, financial success, prestige, reputation, status, recognition from the others etc. It was also expected that, due to the poor economic and social situation in the country, young people feel an increasing disconnection from politics. Additionally, the authors expected to find that there is a huge potential to engage young people in the political life of the country through a proper and more interactive use of marketing communication campaigns and social media platforms, with an emphasis on highly ethical motives of political activity and their benefits to society. All respondents included in the quantitative survey (sample size [N=100]) are active in one of the two largest political parties in Croatia. The sampling and distribution of the survey occurred in the field in September 2016. The results of the survey demonstrate that in Croatia, the way young people feel about politics and act accordingly, are in fact similar to what the theory describes. The research findings reveal that young people are politically active; however, the challenge is to find a way to motivate even more young people in Croatia to actively participate in the political and democratic processes in the country and to encourage them to see additional benefits out of this practice, not only related to their individual motives, but related more to the well-being of Croatia as a country and of every member of society. The research also discovered a huge potential for political marketing communication possibilities, especially related to interactive social media. It is possible that the social media channels have a stronger influence on the decision-making process among young people when compared to groups of reference. The level of interest in politics among young Croatians varies; some of them are almost indifferent, whilst others express a serious interest in different ways to actively contribute to the political life of the country, defining a participation in the political life of their country almost as their moral obligation. However, additional observations and further research need to be conducted to get a clearer and more precise picture about the interest in politics among young people in Croatia and their social potential.

Keywords: Croatia, marketing communication, motivation, politics, young people

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Authors: N. C. Okoronkwo, I. E. Mbaeyi-Nwaoha, C. P. Agbata

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Childhood malnutrition is one of the most persistent public health problems throughout developing countries, including Nigeria. Demographic and Health survey data from twenty-one developing countries indicated that poor complementary feeding of children aged 6- 23 months contributes to negative growth trends. To reduce malnutrition among children in the society, formulation of complimentary food rich in essential nutrient for optimum growth and development of infants is essential. This study focused on the evaluation of complementary food produced by solid-state fermentation of Acha and Soybean using Rhizopus oligosporus (2710) and Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) using Lactobacillus planterum (B-41621). The raw materials were soaked separately, each in four volumes of 0.9M acetic acid for 16 hours, rinsed with clean water, steam cooked and cooled. Solid-state fermentation (SSF) was carried out by inoculating Acha and Soybean with spore suspension (1x 10⁶spores/ml) of Rhizopus oligosporus (2710) and OFSP with spore suspension (1x 106spores/ml) of Lactobacillus planterum (B-41621). Fermentation which lasted for 72hours was carried out with 24hours sampling. The samples were blended in the following ratios: Acha and soybean 100: 100 (AS), Acha/soybean and OFSP 50: 50(ASO), made into gruel and compared with a commercial infant formula (Cerelac) which served as the control (CTRL). The samples were analyzed for proximate composition using AOAC methods and sensory attributes using a hedonic scale. Results showed that moisture, crude protein, fibre and ash content increased significantly (p<0.05) as fermentation progressed, while carbohydrate and fat content decreased. The protein, moisture, fibre and ash content ranged from 17.10-19.02%, 54.97-56.27%, 7.08-7.60% and2.09-2.38%, respectively, while carbohydrate and fat content ranged from 12.95-10.21% and 5.81-4.52%, respectively. In sensory scores, there were no significant (p>0.05) difference between the average mean scores of colours, texture and consistency of the samples. The sensory score for the overall acceptability ranged from 6.20-7.80. Sample CTRL had the highest score, while sample ASO had the least score. There was no significant (p>0.05) difference between samples CTRL and AS. Solid-state fermentation improved the nutritional content and flavour of the developed complementary food, which is needed for infant growth and development.

Keywords: Complementary food, malnutrition, proximate composition, solid-state fermentation

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Authors: Lana Burmistrova

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Introduction: The influence of visual impairments on several cognitive processes used in the music learning process is an increasingly important area in special education and cognitive musicology. Many children have several visual impairments due to the refractive errors and irreversible inhibitors. However, based on the compensatory neuroplasticity and functional reorganization, congenitally blind (CB) and early blind (EB) individuals use several areas of the occipital lobe to perceive and process auditory and tactile information. CB individuals have greater memory capacity, memory reliability, and less false memory mechanisms are used while executing several tasks, they have better working memory (WM) and short-term memory (STM). Blind individuals use several strategies while executing tactile and working memory n-back tasks: verbalization strategy (mental recall), tactile strategy (tactile recall) and combined strategies. Methods and design: The aim of the pilot study was to substantiate similar tendencies while executing attention, memory and combined auditory tasks in blind and sighted individuals constructed for this study, and to investigate attention, memory and combined mechanisms used in the music learning process. For this study eight (n=8) blind and eight (n=8) sighted individuals aged 13-20 were chosen. All respondents had more than five years music performance and music learning experience. In the attention task, all respondents had to identify pitch changes in tonal and randomized melodic pairs. The memory task was based on the mismatch negativity (MMN) proportion theory: 80 percent standard (not changed) and 20 percent deviant (changed) stimuli (sequences). Every sequence was named (na-na, ra-ra, za-za) and several items (pencil, spoon, tealight) were assigned for each sequence. Respondents had to recall the sequences, to associate them with the item and to detect possible changes. While executing the combined task, all respondents had to focus attention on the pitch changes and had to detect and describe these during the recall. Results and conclusion: The results support specific features in CB and EB, and similarities between late blind (LB) and sighted individuals. While executing attention and memory tasks, it was possible to observe the tendency in CB and EB by using more precise execution tactics and usage of more advanced periodic memory, while focusing on auditory and tactile stimuli. While executing memory and combined tasks, CB and EB individuals used passive working memory to recall standard sequences, active working memory to recall deviant sequences and combined strategies. Based on the observation results, assessment of blind respondents and recording specifics, following attention and memory correlations were identified: reflective attention and STM, reflective attention and periodic memory, auditory attention and WM, tactile attention and WM, auditory tactile attention and STM. The results and the summary of findings highlight the attention and memory features used in the music learning process in the context of blindness, and the tendency of the several attention and memory types correlated based on the task, strategy and individual features.

Keywords: attention, blindness, memory, music learning, strategy

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Authors: James Beauchemin

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Introduction: The incarceration of people with mental illness and substance use disorders is a major public health issue, with social, clinical, and economic implications. Yoga participation has been associated with numerous psychological benefits; however, there is a paucity of research examining impacts of yoga with incarcerated populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of a six-week yoga intervention on several mental health-related variables, including emotion regulation, body awareness, and warnings of substance relapse among incarcerated females. Methods: This study utilized a pre-post, three-arm design, with participants assigned to intervention, therapeutic community, or general population groups. A between-groups analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted across groups to assess intervention effectiveness using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Scale of Body Connection (SBC), and Warnings of Relapse (AWARE) Questionnaire. Results: ANCOVA results for warnings of relapse (AWARE) revealed significant between-group differences F(2, 80) = 7.15, p = .001; np2 = .152), with significant pairwise comparisons between the intervention group and both the therapeutic community (p = .001) and the general population (p = .005) groups. Similarly, significant differences were found for emotional regulation (DERS) F(2, 83) = 10.521, p = .000; np2 = .278). Pairwise comparisons indicated a significant difference between the intervention and general population (p = .01). Finally, significant differences between the intervention and control groups were found for body awareness (SBC) F(2, 84) = 3.69, p = .029; np2 = .081). Between-group differences were clarified via pairwise comparisons, indicating significant differences between the intervention group and both the therapeutic community (p = .028) and general population groups (p = .020). Implications: Study results suggest that yoga may be an effective addition to integrative mental health and substance use treatment for incarcerated women, and contributes to increasing evidence that holistic interventions may be an important component for treatment with this population. Specifically, given the prevalence of mental health and substance use disorders, findings revealed that changes in body awareness and emotion regulation may be particularly beneficial for incarcerated populations with substance use challenges as a result of yoga participation. From a systemic perspective, this proactive approach may have long-term implications for both physical and psychological well-being for the incarcerated population as a whole, thereby decreasing the need for traditional treatment. By integrating a more holistic, salutogenic model that emphasizes prevention, interventions like yoga may work to improve the wellness of this population, while providing an alternative or complementary treatment option for those with current symptoms.

Keywords: yoga, mental health, incarceration, wellness

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Authors: Tayo P. Ogundunmade, Adedayo A. Adepoju

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Terrorist attacks in liberal democracies bring about a few pessimistic results, for example, sabotaged public support in the governments they target, disturbing the peace of a protected environment underwritten by the state, and a limitation of individuals from adding to the advancement of the country, among others. Hence, seeking for techniques to understand the different factors involved in terrorism and how to deal with those factors in order to completely stop or reduce terrorist activities is the topmost priority of the government in every country. This research aim is to develop an efficient deep learning-based predictive model for the prediction of future terrorist activities in Nigeria, addressing low-quality prediction accuracy problems associated with the existing solution methods. The proposed predictive AI-based model as a counterterrorism tool will be useful by governments and law enforcement agencies to protect the lives of individuals in society and to improve the quality of life in general. A Heterogeneous Bayesian Neural Network (HETBNN) model was derived with Gaussian error normal distribution. Three primary transfer functions (HOTTFs), as well as two derived transfer functions (HETTFs) arising from the convolution of the HOTTFs, are namely; Symmetric Saturated Linear transfer function (SATLINS ), Hyperbolic Tangent transfer function (TANH), Hyperbolic Tangent sigmoid transfer function (TANSIG), Symmetric Saturated Linear and Hyperbolic Tangent transfer function (SATLINS-TANH) and Symmetric Saturated Linear and Hyperbolic Tangent Sigmoid transfer function (SATLINS-TANSIG). Data on the Terrorist activities in Nigeria gathered through questionnaires for the purpose of this study were used. Mean Square Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Test Error are the forecast prediction criteria. The results showed that the HETFs performed better in terms of prediction and factors associated with terrorist activities in Nigeria were determined. The proposed predictive deep learning-based model will be useful to governments and law enforcement agencies as an effective counterterrorism mechanism to understand the parameters of terrorism and to design strategies to deal with terrorism before an incident actually happens and potentially causes the loss of precious lives. The proposed predictive AI-based model will reduce the chances of terrorist activities and is particularly helpful for security agencies to predict future terrorist activities.

Keywords: activation functions, Bayesian neural network, mean square error, test error, terrorism

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Authors: Sayantan Khanra, Rojers P. Joseph

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Background and Significance: This study is aimed at analyzing the role of demographic and service quality variables in the adoption and diffusion of e-government services among the users in India. The study proposes to examine the users' perception about e-Government services and investigate the key variables that are most salient to the Indian populace. Description of the Basic Methodologies: The methodology to be adopted in this study is Hierarchical Regression Analysis, which will help in exploring the impact of the demographic variables and the quality dimensions on the willingness to use e-government services in two steps. First, the impact of demographic variables on the willingness to use e-government services is to be examined. In the second step, quality dimensions would be used as inputs to the model for explaining variance in excess of prior contribution by the demographic variables. Present Status: Our study is in the data collection stage in collaboration with a highly reliable, authentic and adequate source of user data. Assuming that the population of the study comprises all the Internet users in India, a massive sample size of more than 10,000 random respondents is being approached. Data is being collected using an online survey questionnaire. A pilot survey has already been carried out to refine the questionnaire with inputs from an expert in management information systems and a small group of users of e-government services in India. The first three questions in the survey pertain to the Internet usage pattern of a respondent and probe whether the person has used e-government services. If the respondent confirms that he/she has used e-government services, then an aggregate of 15 indicators are used to measure the quality dimensions under consideration and the willingness of the respondent to use e-government services, on a five-point Likert scale. If the respondent reports that he/she has not used e-government services, then a few optional questions are asked to understand the reason(s) behind the same. Last four questions in the survey are dedicated to collect data related to the demographic variables. An indication of the Major Findings: Based on the extensive literature review carried out to develop several propositions; a research model is prescribed to start with. A major outcome expected at the completion of the study is the development of a research model that would help to understand the relationship involving the demographic variables and service quality dimensions, and the willingness to adopt e-government services, particularly in an emerging economy like India. Concluding Statement: Governments of emerging economies and other relevant agencies can use the findings from the study in designing, updating, and promoting e-government services to enhance public participation, which in turn, would help to improve efficiency, convenience, engagement, and transparency in implementing these services.

Keywords: adoption and diffusion of e-government services, demographic variables, hierarchical regression analysis, service quality dimensions

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Authors: Zülfiye Bıkmaz, Aytolan Yıldırım

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This study was planned as a descriptive regressive study in order to determine the relationship between the competency levels of working nurses, the levels of competency expected by nursing students, the critical thinking disposition of nurses, their perceived autonomy levels, and certain socio demographic characteristics. It is also a methodological study with regard to the intercultural adaptation of the Nursing Competence Scale (NCS) in both working and student samples. The sample of the study group of nurses at a university hospital for at least 6 months working properly and consists of 443 people filled out questionnaires. The student group, consisting of 543 individuals from the 4 public university nursing 3rd and 4th grade students. Data collection tools consisted of a questionnaire prepared in order to define the socio demographic, economic, and personal characteristics of the participants, the ‘Nursing Competency Scale’, the ‘Autonomy Subscale of the Sociotropy – Autonomy Scale’, and the ‘California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory’. In data evaluation, descriptive statistics, nonparametric tests, Rasch analysis and correlation and regression tests were used. The language validity of the ‘NCS’ was performed by translation and back translation, and the context validity of the scale was performed with expert views. The scale, which was formed into its final structure, was applied in a pilot application from a group consisting of graduate and student nurses. The time constancy of the test was obtained by analysis testing retesting method. In order to reduce the time problems with the two half reliability method was used. The Cronbach Alfa coefficient of the scale was found to be 0.980 for the nurse group and 0.986 for the student group. Statistically meaningful relationships between competence and critical thinking and variables such as age, gender, marital status, family structure, having had critical thinking training, education level, class of the students, service worked in, employment style and position, and employment duration were found. Statistically meaningful relationships between autonomy and certain variables of the student group such as year, employment status, decision making style regarding self, total duration of employment, employment style, and education status were found. As a result, it was determined that the NCS which was adapted interculturally was a valid and reliable measurement tool and was found to be associated with autonomy and critical thinking.

Keywords: nurse, nursing student, competence, autonomy, critical thinking, Rasch analysis

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Authors: Ernest Nweke

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Mongolia has made giant strides in the development of its auditing and accounting system from Soviet-style to a market-oriented system. High levels of domestic and foreign investment desired by the Mongolian government require that better and improved quality of corporate information and disclosure consistent with international standards be made available to investors. However, the Mongolian Certified Public Accountants (CPA) profession is still developing, and the quality of services provided by accounting firms in most cases do not comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) framework approved by the government for use in financial reporting. Against this backdrop, Accounting and audit reforms, liberalization and deregulation, establishment of an efficient and effective professional monitoring and supervision regime are policy necessities. These will further enhance the Mongolian business environment, eliminate incompetence in the system, make the economy more attractive to investors and ultimately lift reporting standards and bring about improved accounting, auditing and disclosure practices among Mongolian firms. This paper examines the fundamental issues in the accounting and auditing environment in Mongolia and investigates the relationship between selected characteristics of Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE) listed firms (profitability, leverage, firm size, firm auditor size, firm listing age, board size and proportion of independent directors) and voluntary accounting disclosures in their annual reports and accounts. The selected sample of firms for the research purpose consists of the top 20 indexes of the MSE, representing over 95% of the market capitalization. An empirical analysis of the hypothesized relationship was carried out using multiple regression in EViews analytical software. Research results lend credence to the fact that only a few of the company attributes positively impact voluntary accounting disclosures in Mongolian Stock Exchange-listed firms. The research is motivated by the absence of empirical evidence on the correlation between the quality of voluntary accounting disclosures made by listed companies in Mongolia and company characteristics and the findings thereof significantly useful to both firms and regulatory authorities. The concluding part of the paper precisely consists of useful research-based recommendations for listed firms and regulatory agencies on measures to put in place in order to enhance the quality of corporate financial reporting and disclosures in Mongolia.

Keywords: accounting, auditing, corporate disclosure, listed firms

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Authors: Păcurar Diana Istina

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Structured in three chapters, the article attempts an X-ray of the theatrical aesthetics, correctly understood through the emotions generated in the intimate structure of the spectator that precedes the triggering of the viewer’s perception and not through the superposition, unfortunately common, of the notion of aesthetics with the style in which a theater show is built. The first chapter contains a brief history of the appearance of the word aesthetic, the formulation of definitions for this new term, as well as its connections with the notions of semiotics, in particular with the perception of the message transmitted. Starting with Aristotle and Plato, and reaching Magritte, their interventions should not be interpreted in the sense that the two scientific concepts can merge into one discipline. The perception that is the object of everyone’s analysis, the understanding of meaning, the decoding of the messages sent, and the triggering of feelings that culminate in pleasure, shaping the aesthetic vision, are some elements that keep semiotics and aesthetics distinct, even though they share many methods of analysis. The compositional processes of aesthetic representation and symbolic formation are analyzed in the second part of the paper from perspectives that include or do not include historical, cultural, social, and political processes. Aesthetics and the organization of its symbolic process are treated, taking into account expressive activity. The last part of the article explores the notion of aesthetics in applied theater, more specifically in the theater show. Taking the postmodern approach that aesthetics applies to the creation of an artifact and the reception of that artifact, the intervention of these elements in the theatrical system must be emphasized –that is, the analysis of the problems arising in the stages of the creation, presentation, and reception, by the public, of the theater performance. The aesthetic process is triggered involuntarily, simultaneously, or before the moment when people perceive the meaning of the messages transmitted by the work of art. The finding of this fact makes the mental process of aesthetics similar or related to that of semiotics. No matter how perceived individually, beauty, the mechanism of production can be reduced to two. The first step presents similarities to Peirce’s model, but the process between signified and signified additionally stimulates the related memory of the evaluation of beauty, adding to the meanings related to the signification itself. Then, the second step, a process of comparison, is followed, in which one examines whether the object being looked at matches the accumulated memory of beauty. Therefore, even though aesthetics is derived from the conceptual part, the judgment of beauty and, more than that, moral judgment come to be so important to the social activities of human beings that it evolves as a visible process independent of other conceptual contents.

Keywords: aesthetics, semiotics, symbolic composition, subjective joints, signifying, signified

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Authors: D. Scarpanti, M. Brondino, M. Pasini

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Background: the present study explores the role of light and restorativeness on work. According with the Attention Restoration Theory (ART) and a Model of Work Environment, the main idea is that some features of environment, i.e., lighting, influences the direct attention, and so, the performance. Restorativeness refers to the presence/absence level of all the characteristics of physical environment that help to regenerate direct attention. Specifically, lighting can affect level of fascination and attention in one hand; and in other hand promotes several biological functions via pineal gland. Different reviews on this topic show controversial results. In order to bring light on this topic, the hypotheses of this study are that lighting can affect the construct of restorativeness and, in the second time, the restorativeness can affect the performance. Method: the participants are 30 workers of a mechatronic company in the North Italy. Every subject answered to a questionnaire valuing their subjective perceptions of environment in a different way: some objective features of environment, like lighting, temperature and air quality; some subjective perceptions of this environment; finally, the participants answered about their perceived performance. The main attention is on the features of light and his components: visual comfort, general preferences and pleasantness; and the dimensions of the construct of restorativeness; fascination, coherence and being away. The construct of performance per se is conceptualized in three level: individual, team membership and organizational membership; and in three different components: proficiency, adaptability, and proactivity, for a total of 9 subcomponents. Findings: path analysis showed that some characteristics of lighting respectively affected the dimension of fascination; and, as expected, the dimension of fascination affected work performance. Conclusions: The present study is a first pilot step of a wide research. These first results can be summarized with the statement that lighting and restorativeness contribute to explain work performance variability: in details perceptions of visual comfort, satisfaction and pleasantness, and fascination respectively. Results related to fascination are particularly interesting because fascination is conceptualized as the opposite of the construct of direct attention. The main idea is, in order to regenerate attentional capacity, it’s necessary to provide a lacking of attention (fascination). The sample size did not permit to test simultaneously the role of the perceived characteristics of light to see how they differently contribute to predict fascination of the work environment. However, the results highlighted the important role that light could have in predicting restorativeness dimensions and probably with a larger sample we could find larger effects also on work performance. Furthermore, longitudinal data will contribute to better analyze the causal model along time. Applicative implications: the present pilot study highlights the relevant role of lighting and perceived restorativeness in the work environment and the importance to focus attention on light features and the restorative characteristics in the design of work environments.

Keywords: lighting, performance, restorativeness, workplace

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Authors: Zhuoran Li, Guan Qin

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A robust and efficient compositional equilibrium characterization model for hydrate-containing systems is required, especially for time-critical simulations such as subsea pipeline flow assurance analysis, compositional simulation in hydrate reservoirs etc. A multiphase flash calculation framework, which combines Gibbs energy minimization function and cubic plus association (CPA) EoS, is developed to describe the highly non-ideal phase behavior of hydrate-containing systems. A non-iterative eigenvalue problem-solving approach for the trust-region sub-problem is selected to guarantee efficiency. The developed flash model is based on the state-of-the-art objective function proposed by Michelsen to minimize the Gibbs energy of the multiphase system. It is conceivable that a hydrate-containing system always contains polar components (such as water and hydrate inhibitors), introducing hydrogen bonds to influence phase behavior. Thus, the cubic plus associating (CPA) EoS is utilized to compute the thermodynamic parameters. The solid solution theory proposed by van der Waals and Platteeuw is applied to represent hydrate phase parameters. The trust-region method combined with the trust-region sub-problem non-iterative eigenvalue problem-solving approach is utilized to ensure fast convergence. The developed multiphase flash model's accuracy performance is validated by three available models (one published and two commercial models). Hundreds of published hydrate-containing system equilibrium experimental data are collected to act as the standard group for the accuracy test. The accuracy comparing results show that our model has superior performances over two models and comparable calculation accuracy to CSMGem. Efficiency performance test also has been carried out. Because the trust-region method can determine the optimization step's direction and size simultaneously, fast solution progress can be obtained. The comparison results show that less iteration number is needed to optimize the objective function by utilizing trust-region methods than applying line search methods. The non-iterative eigenvalue problem approach also performs faster computation speed than the conventional iterative solving algorithm for the trust-region sub-problem, further improving the calculation efficiency. A new thermodynamic framework of the multiphase flash model for the hydrate-containing system has been constructed in this work. Sensitive analysis and numerical experiments have been carried out to prove the accuracy and efficiency of this model. Furthermore, based on the current thermodynamic model in the oil and gas industry, implementing this model is simple.

Keywords: equation of state, hydrates, multiphase equilibrium, trust-region method

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Authors: Lorenza Sganzetta, Nunzia Borrelli

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The research intends to reflect on the current mapping of the Food Strategies, on the reasons why in the planning objectives panorama, such sustainability priorities are located in those geographic areas and on the evolutions of these priorities of the Mediterranean planning dispositions. The whirling population growth that is affecting global cities is causing an enormous challenge to conventional resource-intensive food production and supply and the urgent need to face food safety, food security and sustainability concerns. Urban or Territorial Food Strategies can provide an interesting path for the development of this new agenda within the imperative principle of sustainability. In the specific, it is relevant to explore what ‘sustainability’ means within these policies. Most of these plans include actions related to four main components and interpretations of sustainability that are food security and safety, food equity, environmental sustainability itself and cultural identity and, at the designing phase, they differ slightly from each other according to the degree of approximation to one of these dimensions. Moving from these assumptions, the article would analyze some practices and policies representatives of different Food Strategies of the world and focus on the Mediterranean ones, on the problems and negative externalities from which they start, on the first interventions that are implementing and on their main objectives. We will mainly use qualitative data from primary and secondary collections. So far, an essential observation could have been made about the relationship between these sustainability dimensions and geography. In statistical terms, the US and Canadian policies tended to devote a large research space to health issues and access to food; those northern European showed a special attention to the environmental issues and the shortening of the chain; and finally the policies that, even in limited numbers, were being developed in the Mediterranean basin, were characterized by a strong territorial and cultural imprint and their major aim was to preserve local production and the contact between the productive land and the end consumer. Recently, though, Mediterranean food planning strategies are focusing more on health related and food accessibility issues and analyzing our diets not just as a matter of culture and territorial branding but as tools for reducing public health costs and accessibility to fresh food for everyone. The article would reflect then on how Food Safety, Food Security and Health are entering the new agenda of the Mediterranean Food Strategies. The research hypothesis suggests that the economic crisis that in the last years invested both producers and consumers had a significant impact on the nutrition habits and on the redefinition of food poverty, even in the fatherland of the healthy Mediterranean diet. This trend and other variables influenced the orientation and the objectives of the food strategies.

Keywords: food security, food strategy, health, sustainability

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Authors: Anusha Vaddiraj Pallapu

Abstract:

Across the globe, there is a steady increase in people residing in urban areas. Due to this increase in urban population, urban health is affecting. The major issues identified like overcrowding, air pollution, unhealthy diet, inadequate infrastructure, poor solid waste management systems and insufficient access to health facilities, these issues are gradually clearly observed in health statistics of diseases and deaths rapidly increase in urban areas. Therefore, the present study aims to assess the health statistics and infrastructure services at urban areas to know the cause and effect between Infrastructure, its management and diseases (water borne). Most of the Indian cities have the municipal boundaries, which authorized by their respective municipal corporations and development authorities. Generally, cities have various zones under which municipal wards exist. The paper focuses on the city Ahmedabad, at Gujarat state. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is divided into six zones namely Central zone, West zone, New-West zone, East zone, North zone, and South zone. Each zone includes various wards within it. Incidence of diseases in Ahmadabad which are linked to infrastructure was identified such as water-borne diseases. Later on, the occurrence of water-borne diseases at urban area was examined at each zone level. The study methodology follows four steps i.e. 1) Pre-Field literature study: Study on Sewerage system in urban areas and its best practices and public health status globally and Indian scenario; 2) Field study: Data collection and interviews of stakeholders regarding heal status and issues at each zone and ward level; 3) Post field: Data analysis with qualitative description of each ward of zones, followed by correlation coefficient analysis between sewerage coverage, diseases and density of each ward using geographic information system mapping (GIS); 4) Identification of reasons: Affected health on each of zone and wards followed by correlation analysis on each reason. The results reveal that the health conditions in Ahmedabad municipal zones or boundaries are effected due to the slums created by the migrated people from various rural and urban areas. It is also observed that due to increase in population water supply and sewerage management is affecting. The overall effect on infrastructure is creating the health diseases which detailed in the paper using geographical information system in Indian city.

Keywords: infrastructure, municipal wards, GIS, water supply, sewerage, medical facilities, water borne diseases

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Authors: Zhuo Job Chen, Kevin Nute

Abstract:

The work reported examines potential linkages between spatial and temporal prospects, and more specifically, between variations in the spatial depth and foreground obstruction of window views, and observers’ sense of connection to the future. It was found that external views from indoor spaces were strongly associated with a sense of the future, that partially obstructing such a view with foreground objects significantly reduced its association with the future, and replacing it with a pictorial representation of the same scene (with no real actual depth) removed most of its temporal association. A lesser change in the spatial depth of the view, however, had no apparent effect on association with the future. While the role of spatial depth has still to be confirmed, the results suggest that spatial prospects directly affect temporal ones. The word “prospect” typifies the overlapping of the spatial and temporal in most human languages. It originated in classical times as a purely spatial term, but in the 16th century took on the additional temporal implication of an imagined view ahead, of the future. The psychological notion of prospection, then, has its distant origins in a spatial analogue. While it is not yet proven that space directly structures our processing of time at a physiological level, it is generally agreed that it commonly does so conceptually. The mental representation of possible futures has been a central part of human survival as a species (Boyer, 2008; Suddendorf & Corballis, 2007). A sense of the future seems critical not only practically, but also psychologically. It has been suggested, for example, that lack of a positive image of the future may be an important contributing cause of depression (Beck, 1974; Seligman, 2016). Most people in the developed world now spend more than 90% of their lives indoors. So any direct link between external views and temporal prospects could have important implications for both human well-being and building design. We found that the ability to see what lies in front of us spatially was strongly associated with a sense of what lies ahead temporally. Partial obstruction of a view was found to significantly reduce that sense connection to the future. Replacing a view with a flat pictorial representation of the same scene removed almost all of its connection with the future, but changing the spatial depth of a real view appeared to have no significant effect. While foreground obstructions were found to reduce subjects’ sense of connection to the future, they increased their sense of refuge and security. Consistent with Prospect and Refuge theory, an ideal environment, then, would seem to be one in which we can “see without being seen” (Lorenz, 1952), specifically one that conceals us frontally from others, without restricting our own view. It is suggested that these optimal conditions might be translated architecturally as screens, the apertures of which are large enough for a building occupant to see through unobstructed from close by, but small enough to conceal them from the view of someone looking from a distance outside.

Keywords: foreground obstructions, prospection, spatial depth, window views

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Authors: Hugo Badia

Abstract:

This research answers which is the most suitable transit network structure to serve specific demand requirements in an increasing urban dispersion process. Two main approaches of network design are found in the literature. On the one hand, a traditional answer, widespread in our cities, that develops a high number of lines to connect most of origin-destination pairs by direct trips; an approach based on the idea that users averse to transfers. On the other hand, some authors advocate an alternative design characterized by simple networks where transfer is essential to complete most of trips. To answer which of them is the best option, we use a two-step methodology. First, by means of an analytical model, three basic network structures are compared: a radial scheme, starting point for the other two structures, a direct trip-based network, and a transfer-based one, which represent the two alternative transit network designs. The model optimizes the network configuration with regard to the total cost for each structure. For a scenario of dispersion, the best alternative is the structure with the minimum cost. This dispersion degree is defined in a simple way considering that only a central area attracts all trips. If this area is small, we have a high concentrated mobility pattern; if this area is too large, the city is highly decentralized. In this first step, we can determine the area of applicability for each structure in function to that urban dispersion degree. The analytical results show that a radial structure is suitable when the demand is so centralized, however, when this demand starts to scatter, new transit lines should be implemented to avoid transfers. If the urban dispersion advances, the introduction of more lines is no longer a good alternative, in this case, the best solution is a change of structure, from direct trips to a network based on transfers. The area of applicability of each network strategy is not constant, it depends on the characteristics of demand, city and transport technology. In the second step, we translate analytical results to a real case study by the relationship between the parameters of dispersion of the model and direct measures of dispersion in a real city. Two dimensions of the urban sprawl process are considered: concentration, defined by Gini coefficient, and centralization by area based centralization index. Once it is estimated the real dispersion degree, we are able to identify in which area of applicability the city is located. In summary, from a strategic point of view, we can obtain with this methodology which is the best network design approach for a city, comparing the theoretical results with the real dispersion degree.

Keywords: analytical network design model, network structure, public transport, urban dispersion

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