Search results for: ethnic relations in Swedish social work education

Authors: Rajni Singh, Rakesh Mishra, Mukunda Upadhyay

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India is among the nations born out of partition that led to one of the greatest forced migrations that marked the past century. The Indian subcontinent got partitioned into two nation-states, namely India and Pakistan. This led to an unexampled mass displacement of people accounting for about 20 million in the subcontinent as a whole. This exemplifies the socio-political version of displacement, but there are other identified reasons leading to human displacement viz., natural calamities, development projects and people-trafficking and smuggling. Although forced migrations are rare in incidence, they are mostly region-specific and a very less percentage of population appears to be affected by it. However, when this percentage is transcripted in terms of volume, the real impact created by such migration can be realized. Forced migration is thus an issue related to the lives of many people and requires to be addressed with proper intervention. Forced or involuntary migration decimates peoples' assets while taking from them their most basic resources and makes them migrate without planning and intention. This in most cases proves to be a burden on the destination resources. Thus, the question related to their security concerns arise profoundly with regard to the protection and safeguards to these migrants who need help at the place of destination. This brings the human security dimension of forced migration into picture. The present study is an analysis of a sample of 1501 persons by NSSO in India (National Sample Survey Organisation), which identifies three reasons for forced migration- natural disaster, social/political problem and displacement by development projects. It was observed that, of the total forced migrants, about 4/5th comprised of the internally displaced persons. However, there was a huge inflow of such migrants to the country from across the borders also, the major contributing countries being Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Gulf countries and Nepal. Among the three reasons for involuntary migration, social and political problem is the most prominent in displacing huge masses of population; it is also the reason where the share of international migrants to that of internally displaced is higher compared to the other two factors /reasons. Second to political and social problems, natural calamities displaced a high portion of the involuntary migrants. The present paper examines the factors which increase people's vulnerability to forced migration. On perusing the background characteristics of the migrants it was seen that those who were economically weak and socially fragile are more susceptible to migration. Therefore, getting an insight about this fragile group of society is required so that government policies can benefit these in the most efficient and targeted manner.

Keywords: involuntary migration, displacement, natural disaster, social and political problem

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Authors: Anil Kumar Kursenge

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In the State of united Andhra Pradesh, many Adivasi People live in areas rich in living and non-living resources, including forests that contain abundant biodiversity, water and minerals. Of united Andhra Pradesh 76.2m population, over five million are Adivasi population of forest landscape. They depend on forests for a substantial part of their livelihoods and close cultural affinity with forests. However, they are the most impoverished population of the State, and the high levels of poverty in Andhra Pradesh forest landscapes are largely an outcome of historically-rooted institutionalised marginalisation. As the State appropriated forests and forest land for itself, it deprived local people of their customary rights in the forest. The local realities of the forest rights deprivations are extremely complex, reflecting a century and a half of compounded processes. With growing population pressure and ever-increasing demands for natural and mineral resources, Adivasi Peoples' lands, which are often relatively rich in resources, become more and more attractive to 'developers.' The development projects and institutionalised marginalisation have been deprived Adivasi people's rights over natural resources has resulted in serious negative effects on Adivasi people and on their lands. Historically, the desire for development for such resources has resulted in the removal, decimation, or extermination of many tribal communities. These deprivations have led to highly conflictual relations between the State and the Adivasi people and forest areas in Andhra Pradesh. Today, the survival of the Adivasi Peoples requires recognition of their rights to the forest resources found in their lands and territories on which they depend for their economic, cultural, survival, spiritual and physical well-being. In this context, this paper attempts to discuss the issues of deprivation with regard to access to forest resources and development projects where many Adivasis in State uprooted from their homes and lands.

Keywords: tribal people, forest rights, livelihoods, deprivation, marginalisation, Andhra Pradesh

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Authors: Lin Qing

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[Objective/Significance] The cultivation of high-value patents is the focus and difficulty of patent work, which is of great significance to the construction of a powerful country with intellectual property rights. This work should not only pay attention to the existing patent applications, but also start from the pre-application to explore the high-value technical solutions as the core of high-value patents. [Methods/processes] Comply with the principle of scientific and technological knowledge diffusion, this study studies the top academic conference papers and their cited patent applications, taking the power semiconductor field as an example, using facts date show the feasibility and rationality of mining technology solutions from high quality research results to foster high value patents, stating the actual benefits of these achievements to the industry, giving patent protection suggestions for Chinese applicants comparative with field situation. [Results/Conclusion] The research shows that the quality of citation applications of ISPSD papers is significantly higher than the field average level, and the ability of Chinese applicants to use patent protection related achievements needs to be improved. This study provides a practical and highly targeted reference idea for patent administrators and researchers, and also makes a positive exploration for the practice of the spirit of breaking the five rules.

Keywords: high-value patents cultivation, technical solutions, knowledge diffusion, top academic conference papers, intellectual property information analysis

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Authors: Rashed Shah, Jeanne Koepsell, Dixmer Rivera, Eric Swedberg, David Marsh

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Success of primary health care goals of health promotion and disease prevention may well be determined by community based health workers’ overall job satisfaction. It is also important to understand the ways community health workers perceive their jobs and the importance they give to the various factors influencing their job satisfaction, which is critical before making a decision for task-shifting and for expanding their scope of work. Although brigadistas are unpaid volunteers, they are formally recognized and receive support and supervision from the Ministry of Health in Nicaragua. Brigadistas are responsible for classifying and diagnosing illnesses, administering treatment, counseling mothers and care givers within the community, encouraging referral in case of serious illness and making follow-up visits at home. Some brigadistas provide more technically advanced services, including treatment for pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis and/or distribution of contraceptives. Expanding brigadistas’ duties could threaten their heretofore ‘job satisfaction’. This study primarily aims to report on job satisfaction of brigadistas in Nicaragua before expanding the scope of their work by adding more responsibilities. The study was guided by the following research questions: 1) What aspects of their job made the brigadistas satisfied or dissatisfied? 2) What is the job satisfaction level of brigadistas in Nicaragua? This cross-sectional study was conducted during March – July 2014, to assess brigadistas’ job satisfaction, prior to deciding on inclusion of care for sick newborns and young infants (<2 months of age) to brigadistas’ existing service package of community case management for children of 2-59 months of age. Following stratified random sampling strategy, 15 brigadistas were randomly selected from each of the following four strata: [(1) females under 25 years of age, (2) females over 30 years of age, (3) males under 25 years of age, and (4) males over 30 years of age. Out of 45 completed in-person interview with eligible and available brigadistas, 20 (44.4%) were with female and 25 (55.6%) were with male respondents; the mean age (±sd) was found as 32.0 (±3.2) years. About 53% (24/45) brigadista mentioned “Training” as the most helpful for performing their job. Another 31% (14/45) mentioned that “feeling of doing good, supporting community, women and children” was helpful to perform their job well. When asked about difficulty, about 35.5% (16/45) brigadistas mentioned about “Lack of time” due to their responsibilities in family, farm, other work places, study and such time constraint made their job performance difficult. Measured on a 0-5 scale, estimated average job satisfaction was 4.2. Current trends in task-shifting and integrated program delivery require community health workers (like the brigadistas) to deliver several essential services, including maternal, newborn and child health, and family planning, and thereby increasing their responsibilities. Given the reported level of job satisfaction among brigadistas (4.2 out of 5), and the mentioned difficulty in performing their current job (as ‘Lack of Time’) in this study results, the policy makers and program managers in MOH should be cautious enough before making a decision to expand current scope of work for brigadistas in Nicaragua.

Keywords: Brigadisata, job satisfaction, Nicaragua, task-shifting

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Authors: Esther Robert, Romanus Aboh

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This paper undertakes a socio-pragmatic investigation of gender enactment in new month text messages. This study employs Gumperz’s Interactional Sociolinguistics as its theoretical point of reference to investigate how people create meaning through social interaction. This theory attempts to analyse any social interaction based on contextualization cues and presuppositions. This study explores the appropriateness of language used in texting. The text messages are collected from different mobile phones from different genders, which form the data for this paper. The study observes remarkable differences between genders in the use of informal language. The study reveals that men and women differ remarkably in conversational interaction as well as in writing. While it is observed that women are emotional, orderly, and meticulous, detailed and observed certain grammatical rules, men are casual, brief and appear to show evidence that less attention is paid to grammatical rules. Also, the study shows women as relaxing, showing love, care, concern with their emotive, spirit-raising and touching language, while mean are direct, short, and straight to the point. It is discovered through the study that women behave this way because of their brain-wiring. That is why language and communication matter more to women than to men and this reflects in their new month text messages.

Keywords: difference, emotionalised expressions, gender, texting

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Authors: Alvaro Aguinaga, Carlos Avila, Edgar Cando

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This article proposes a n-layer architecture, with a web client as a front-end, for the development of a virtual platform for process simulation on CNC machines. This Open-Source platform includes a CAD-CAM interface drawing primitives, and then used to furnish a CNC program that triggers a touch-screen virtual simulator. The objectives of this project are twofold. First one is an educational component that fosters new alternatives for the CAD-CAM/CNC learning process in undergrad and grade schools and technical and technological institutes emphasizing in the development of critical skills, discussion and collaborative work. The second objective puts together a research and technological component that will take the state of the art in CAD-CAM integration to a new level with the development of optimal algorithms and virtual platforms, on-line availability, that will pave the way for the long-term goal of this project, that is, to have a visible and active graduate school in Ecuador and a world wide Open-Innovation community in the area of CAD-CAM integration and operation of CNC machinery. The virtual platform, developed as a part of this study: (1) delivers improved training process of students, (2) creates a multidisciplinary team and a collaborative work space that will push the new generation of students to face future technological challenges, (3) implements industry standards for CAD/CAM, (4) presents a platform for the development of industrial applications. A protoype of this system was developed and implemented in a network of universities and technological institutes in Ecuador.

Keywords: CAD-CAM integration, virtual platforms, CNC machines, multi-layer based architecture

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Authors: Prabhdip Brar

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Since the ancient times recycling, reusing and upcycling has been strongly practiced in India. However, previously reprocess was common due to lack of resources and availability of free time, especially with women who were homemakers. The upward strategy of design philosophy and drift of sustainability is sustainable fashion which is also termed eco fashion, the aspiration of which is to craft a classification which can be supported ad infinitum in terms of environmentalism and social responsibility. The viable approach of sustaining fashion is part of the larger trend of justifiable design where a product is generated and produced while considering its social impact to the environment. The purpose of this qualitative research paper is to find out if the apparel design boutiques in Chandigarh, (an educated fashion-conscious city) are contributing towards making conscious efforts with the re-use of environmentally responsive materials to rethink about eco-conscious traditional techniques and socially responsible approaches of the invention. Observation method and case studies of ten renowned boutiques of Chandigarh were conducted to find out about the creativity of their waste management and social contribution. Owners were interviewed with open-ended questions to find out their understanding of sustainability. This paper concludes that there are many sustainable ideas existing within India from olden times that can be incorporated into modern manufacturing techniques. The results showed all the designers are aware of sustainability as a concept. In all practical purposes, a patch of fabric is being used for bindings or one over the other as surface ornamentation techniques. Plain Fabrics and traditional prints and fabrics are valued more by the owners for using on other garments. Few of them sort their leftover pieces according to basic colors. Few boutique owners preferred donating it to Non-Government organizations. Still, they have enough waste which is not utilized because of lack of time and labor. This paper discusses how the Indian traditional techniques still derive influences though design and techniques, making India one of the contributing countries to the sustainability of fashion and textiles.

Keywords: eco-fashion textile, sustainable textiles, sustainability in india, waste management

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Authors: Elucir Gir, Myllena Nilce de Freitas Surmano, Laelson Rochelle Milanês Sousa, Mayra Gonçalves Menegueti, Ana Cristina de Oliveira E Silva, Renata Karina Reis

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Objective: To analyze the factors associated with the worsening of the quality of life of health professionals in the Southeast region of Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors. Method: Analytical cross-sectional study carried out with health professionals from the southeastern region of Brazil. Data collection took place through an online survey with a form stored on the Survey Monkey platform. Bivariate analysis was used, and the chi-square test was adopted, followed by the multiple binary logistic regression model based on the stepwise method. Results: 3,493 health professionals participated in the study. Factors associated with worsening quality of life were: Professional Category (Nursing assistant) [OR 1.851 (95%CI 1.035-3.311) p= 0.038]; types of people who provided care (people in general) [OR 1.445 (95%CI 1.072-1.945) p=0.015]; Supply of good quality PPE by the institution where he works (no) [OR 1.595 (CI 95% 1.144-2.223) p= 0.006] and Supply of good quality PPE by the institution where he works (in part) [OR 1.563 (CI 95% 1.257-1.943) p < 0.001]. Conclusion: The factors associated with the worsening of the quality of life of health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic were: Professional Category (Nursing assistant); types of people who provided assistance (people in general); Supply of sufficient PPE by the institution where you work (no) and Supply of good quality PPE by the institution where you work (in part). Future studies should investigate to what extent QoL can be improved based on modifiable factors.

Keywords: COVID-19, quality of life, health professionals, respiratory infections

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Authors: Richa Raje, Anumol Antony

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Playing is the foremost stepping stone for childhood development. Play is an essential aspect of a child’s development and learning because it creates meaningful enduring environmental connections and increases children’s performance. The children’s proficiencies are ever varying in their course of growth. There is innovation in the activities, as it kindles the senses, surges the love for exploration, overcomes linguistic barriers and physiological development, which in turn allows them to find their own caliber, spontaneity, curiosity, cognitive skills, and creativity while learning during play. This paper aims to comprehend the learning in play which is the most essential underpinning aspect of the outdoor play area. It also assesses the trend of playgrounds design that is merely hammered with equipment's. It attempts to derive a relation between the natural environment and children’s activities and the emotions/senses that can be evoked in the process. One of the major concerns with our outdoor play is that it is limited to an area with a similar kind of equipment, thus making the play highly regimented and monotonous. This problem is often lead by the strict timetables of our education system that hardly accommodates play. Due to these reasons, the play areas remain neglected both in terms of design that allows learning and wellbeing. Poorly designed spaces fail to inspire the physical, emotional, social and psychological development of the young ones. Currently, the play space has been condensed to an enclosed playground, driveway or backyard which confines the children’s capability to leap the boundaries set for him. The paper emphasizes on study related to kids ranging from 5 to 11 years where the behaviors during their interactions in a playground are mapped and analyzed. The theory of affordance is applied to various outdoor play areas, in order to study and understand the children’s environment and how variedly they perceive and use them. A higher degree of affordance shall form the basis for designing the activities suitable in play spaces. It was observed during their play that, they choose certain spaces of interest majority being natural over other artificial equipment. The activities like rolling on the ground, jumping from a height, molding earth, hiding behind tree, etc. suggest that despite equipment they have an affinity towards nature. Therefore, we as designers need to take a cue from their behavior and practices to be able to design meaningful spaces for them, so the child gets the freedom to test their precincts.

Keywords: children, landscape design, learning environment, nature and play, outdoor play

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Authors: Ilya Vladimirovich Konevtsev, Elena Anatolievna Rodionova

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This work is devoted to the study of the impact of the methodology of flexible management in IT companies on the level of organizational and professional stress of employees. It is assumed that the level of organizational and professional stress will decrease statistically significantly, provided that the company operates in accordance with the principles of flexible methodology, including Scrum or Kanban frameworks. The professional health of employees of various companies in the modern world is a stable interest for organizational psychology and many other related disciplines. The urgency of the problem is due to the fact that professional health is an extremely important factor that ensures the well-being, involvement, and interest of an employee in the activity, which directly affects his efficiency and work results. The use of modern methodologies for managing projects, teams, and entire companies, as practice shows, largely contributes to improving the efficiency and satisfaction of employees, but it is still not clear what factors contribute to this result. The purpose of this study is largely to clarify the question of how HR management methodologies affect the professional health of company employees. The study involved 44 employees of IT companies, of which 27 are men and 17 women, where Agile management methodology is used, and 41 employees of IT companies (33 men, 8 women) where Agile is not used. As a result, it was found out that the use of Agile methodology is interrelated with low indicators of organizational stress and professional stress; however, regression analysis showed that only the Kanban framework acts as a predictor of reducing professional stress, while the level of organizational stress is statistically significantly reduced when using Scrum and Kanban.

Keywords: professional stress, organizational stress, agile, scrum, Kanban

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Authors: Reham Barakat

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Over the last few decades, the influence of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), especially the World Bank (WB), has significantly increased. Since the early 1980s, IFIs have assumed greater role, especially in developing countries; their total lending has dramatically increased, affecting billions of people in their Borrower States. Though the purpose of the development assistance provided by IFIs is to alleviate poverty and promote economic and social development in their member countries, IFIs have been subject to massive criticism by civil society institutions, international NGOs and local communities for the harmful environmental, social and economic impacts resulting from their development interventions in borrower countries, such as deforestation, displacement of indigenous peoples, and unemployment. While the role of IFIs has expanded over time, affecting billions of people, their accountability mechanisms remained behind and were criticized for lacking sufficient independency and enforceability. The serious adverse environmental impacts of the World Bank’s funded projects, along with their weak accountability mechanisms, raises the question of 'To what extent IFIs should be held internationally responsible for the harmful environmental consequences arising from their development interventions?'. This paper argues that IFIs are legally responsible for the harmful environmental consequences arising from their development interventions. The study (i) identifies the applicable laws and relevant primary rules from which the international environmental obligations of IFIs towards their borrower countries are derived (ii) assesses the World Bank’s compliance to the principles of the International Environmental Law including the precautionary principle, the polluter pays principle, and the principle of Good-Neighborliness, (iii) assesses the World Bank’s current internal accountability mechanisms for harmful environmental impacts resulting from the World Bank’s funded projects, and finally (iv) identifies the appropriate dispute settlement mechanisms to which states and non-state actors could raise their claims against IFIs for harmful environmental consequences arising from their interventions.

Keywords: international environmental law, international financial institutions, international responsibility, world bank, environmental and social safeguards

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Authors: Venera Goxha

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Property and inheritance rights for women whose husbands were killed or disappeared during the last war in Kosovo is the purpose of this study, respectively, the access of these women to family real estate. The case study is about women whose husbands were killed or disappeared during the last war in Kosovo and who, on this occasion, earned the title of 'widow'.The research is conducted in the villages of Krusha e Vogël - Municipality of Prizren, and Krusha e Madhe - Municipality of Rahovec, one of the most suffered villages from the recent war in Kosovo. Krusha e Vogël, as a result of the recent war, has 113 male victims, or 70% of all men from the age of 13 to the age of 77, leaving widows and orphans. In the village of Krusha e Madhe, 243 Albanians were massacred by Serbs living in the same village, leaving widows and orphaned children alive. According to these data, most of the Krushian families, as heads of households, have surviving wives and widows. Therefore, being the head of the family and facing a mountain of challenges, such as economic, social, and cultural, the issue of how these women have approached the property and family heritage is considered. The equal right to property and inheritance is a right that is guaranteed to women with all legislation in force, starting from the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo onwards. Article 7 of the Constitution of Kosovo and the subsequent legal framework recognizes the equality of women and the equal division of property between heirs, daughters, and sons. However, some of the legislation does not successfully reflect the current reality in Kosovo. All these ambiguities follow from the ‘patriarchal law’ of the Albanians in the time of the early Middle Ages, later known as the ‘Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini’. At the time it was written and applied, it weighted the law in force, but later over time, it passed into tradition, culture, and mentality. The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini, in no context, has treated women equally to men. The female, according to the Kanun, was a working tool, a creature to be born, to work, to carry, to raise children, and to remain faithful to the husband even when the husband is not faithful.

Keywords: property rights, heritage, widows, code

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Authors: Nourhane Mohamed El Haridi, Mostafa El Arabi, Zeyad El Sayad

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Biomimicry is defined, by Benyus the natural sciences writer, as imitating or taking inspiration from nature’s forms and processes to solve human problems. Biomimicry is the conscious emulation of life’s genius. As the design community realizes the tremendous impact human constructions have on the world, environmental designers look to new approaches like biomimicry to advance sustainable design. Building leading the declaration made by biomimicry scientists that a full imitation of nature engages form, ecosystem, and process; this paper uses a logic approach to interpret human and environmental wholeness. Designers would benefit from both integrating social theory with environmental thinking and from combining their substantive skills with techniques for getting sustainable biomimic urban design. Integrating biomimicryʹs “Life’s Principles” into a built environment process model will make biomimicry more accessible and thus more widely accepted throughout the industry, and the sustainability of all species will benefit. The Biomimicry Guild hypothesizes the incorporation of these principles, called Lifeʹs Principles, increase the likelihood of sustainability for a respective design, and make it more likely that the design will have a greater impact on sustainability for future generations of all species as mentioned by Benyus in her book. This thesis utilizes Life’s Principles as a foundation for a design process model intended for application on built environment projects at various scales. This paper takes a look at the importance of the integration of biomimicry in urban design to get more sustainable cities and better life, by analyzing the principles of both sustainability and biomimicry, and applying these ideas on futuristic or existing cities to make a biomimic sustainable city more healthier and more conductive to life, and get a better biomimic urban design. A group of experts, architects, biologists, scientists, economists and ecologists should work together to face all the financial and designing difficulties, to have better solutions and good innovative ideas for biomimic sustainable urban design, it is not the only solution, but it is one of the best studies for a better future.

Keywords: biomimicry, built environment, sustainability, urban design

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Authors: Ilham Benali, Nasser Hajji, Nawfal Acha

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Given the fact that the pharmaceutical industry is a commonly studied sector in the context of innovation, the majority of innovation research is devoted to the developed markets known by high research and development (R&D) assets and intensive innovation. In contrast, in developing countries where R&D assets are very low, there is relatively little research to mention in the area of pharmaceutical sector innovation, characterized mainly by two principal elements which are the presence of foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals. With the scarcity of research in this field, this paper attempts to study the effect of these two elements on the firms’ innovation tendencies. Other traditional factors that influence innovation, which are the age and the size of the firm, the R&D activities and the market structure, revealed in the literature review, will be included in the study in order to try to make this work more exhaustive. The study starts by examining innovation tendency in pharmaceutical firms located in developing countries before analyzing the effect of foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals on technological, organizational and marketing innovation. Based on the related work and on the theoretical framework developed, there is a probability that foreign-owned firms and licensed manufacturing agreements between local firms and multinationals have a negative influence on technological innovation. The opposite effect is possible in the case of organizational and marketing innovation.

Keywords: developing countries, foreign owned firms, innovation, licensed manufacturing agreements, pharmaceutical industry

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Authors: A. Kourou, A. Ioakeimidou, E. Pelli, M. Panoutsopoulou, V. Abramea

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Worldwide there is a growing recognition that education is a critical component of any disaster impacts reduction effort and a great challenge too. Given this challenge, a broad range of awareness raising projects at all levels are implemented and are continuously evaluated by Earthquake Planning and Protection Organization (EPPO). This paper presents an overview of EPPO educational initiative (seminars, lectures, workshops, campaigns and educational material) and its evaluation results. The abovementioned initiative is focused to aware the public, train teachers and civil protection staff, inform students and educate people with disabilities on subjects related to earthquake reduction issues. The better understating of how human activity can link to disaster and what can be done at the individual, family or workplace level to contribute to seismic reduction are the main issues of EPPO projects. Survey results revealed that a high percentage of teachers (included the ones of special schools) from all over the country have taken the appropriate preparedness measures at schools. On the other hand, the implementation of earthquake preparedness measures at various workplaces (kindergartens, banks, utilities etc.) has still significant room for improvement. Results show that the employees in banks and public utilities have substantially higher rates in preventive and preparedness actions in their workplaces than workers in kindergartens and other workplaces. One of the EPPO educational priorities is to enhance earthquake preparedness of people with disabilities. Booklets, posters and applications have been created with the financial support of the Council of Europe, addressed to people who have mobility impairments, learning difficulties or cognitive disability (ή intellectual disabilities). Part of the educational material was developed using the «easy-to-read» method and Makaton language program with the collaboration of experts on special needs education and teams of people with cognitive disability. Furthermore, earthquake safety seminars and earthquake drills have been implemented in order to develop children’s, parents’ and teachers abilities and skills on earthquake impacts reduction. To enhance the abovementioned efforts, EPPO is a partner at prevention and preparedness projects supported by EU Civil Protection Financial Instrument. One of them is E-PreS’ project (Monitoring and Evaluation of Natural Hazard Preparedness at School Environment). The main objectives of E-PreS project are: 1) to create smart tools which define, simulate and evaluate drills procedure at schools, centers of vocational training of people with disabilities or other workplaces, and 2) to involve students or adults with disabilities in the E-PreS system evacuation procedure in case of earthquake, flood, or volcanic occurrence. Two other EU projects (RACCE educational kit and EVANDE educational platform) are also with the aim of contributing to raising awareness among people with disabilities, students, teachers, volunteers etc. It is worth mentioning that even though in Greece many efforts have been done till now to build awareness towards earthquakes and establish preparedness status for prospective earthquakes, there are still actions to be taken.

Keywords: earthquake, emergency plans, E-PreS project, people with disabilities, special needs education

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Authors: Hassam Hassan Elborombaly

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The pollution generated from transportation modes, congestion and traffic heritage has led to the deterioration of historic buildings and the urban heritage in historic cities. Accordingly, this paper attempts to diagnose the transport and traffic problems in historic cities. In general and in Heritage Cities, and to investigate methods for conserving the urban heritage from negative effects of traffic congestion and of the traditional red modes of transportation. It also attempts to explore possible areas for intervention to mitigate transportation and traffic problems in the light of the principles of the sustainable transportation framework. It aims to draw conclusion and propose recommendation that would increase the efficiency and effectiveness of transportation plans in historic Cairo and consequently achieve sustainable transportation. Problems In historic cities public paths compose an irregular network enclosing large residential plots (defined as super blocks quarters or hettas). The blocks represent the basic morphology units in historic Cities. Each super block incorporates several uses (i.e. residential, non-residential, service uses and others). Local paths reach the interior of the super blocks in an organized inter core, which deals mainly with residential functions mixed with handicraft activities and is composed of several local path units; (b) the other core, which is bound by the public paths and contains a combination of residential, commercial and social activities. Objectives: 1- To provide amenity convenience and comfort for visitors and people who live and work in the area. Pedestrianizing, accessibility and safety are to be reinforced while respecting the organic urban pattern. 2- To enhance street life, vitality and activity, in order to attract people and increase economic prosperity. Research Contents • Relation between residential areas and transportation in the inner core • Analytical studies for historic areas in heritage cities • Sustainable transportation planning in heritage cities • Dynamic and flexible methodology for achieving sustainable transportation network for the Heritage Cities • Result and Recommendation

Keywords: irregular network, public paths, sustainable transportation, urban heritage

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Authors: Kakha Nadiardze, Nana Phirosmanashvili

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The goal of this paper is to present the problems of lack of information among farmers in food safety. Global food supply chains are becoming more and more diverse, making traceability systems much harder to implement across different food markets. In this abstract, we will present our work for analyzing the key developments in Georgian food market from regulatory controls to administrative procedures to traceability technologies. Food safety and quality assurance are most problematic issues in Georgia as food trade networks become more and more complex, food businesses are under more and more pressure to ensure that their products are safe and authentic. The theme follow-up principles from farm to table must be top-of-mind for all food manufacturers, farmers and retailers. Following the E. coli breakout last year, as well as more recent cases of food mislabeling, developments in food traceability systems is essential to food businesses if they are to present a credible brand image. Alongside this are the ever-developing technologies in food traceability networks, technologies that manufacturers and retailers need to be aware of if they are to keep up with food safety regulations and avoid recall. How to examine best practice in food management is the main question in order to protect company brand through safe and authenticated food. We are working with our farmers to work with our food safety experts and technology developers throughout the food supply chain. We provide time by time food analyses on heavy metals, pesticide residues and different pollutants. We are disseminating information among farmers how the latest food safety regulations will impact the methods to use to identify risks within their products.

Keywords: food safety, GMO, LMO, E. coli, quality

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Authors: Sriram Kashyap Prasad, Ionut Florescu

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This study models the intraday asset prices as driven by Markov process. This work identifies the latent states of the Hidden Markov model, using limit order book data (trades and quotes) to continuously estimate the states throughout the day. This work builds a trading strategy using estimated states to generate signals. The strategy utilizes current state to recalibrate buy/ sell levels and the transition between states to trigger stop-loss when adverse price movements occur. The proposed trading strategy is tested on the Stevens High Frequency Trading (SHIFT) platform. SHIFT is a highly realistic market simulator with functionalities for creating an artificial market simulation by deploying agents, trading strategies, distributing initial wealth, etc. In the implementation several assets on the NASDAQ exchange are used for testing. In comparison to a strategy with static buy/ sell levels, this study shows that the number of limit orders that get matched and executed can be increased. Executing limit orders earns rebates on NASDAQ. The system can capture jumps in the limit order book prices, provide dynamic buy/sell levels and trigger stop loss signals to improve the PnL (Profit and Loss) performance of the strategy.

Keywords: algorithmic trading, Hidden Markov model, high frequency trading, limit order book learning

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Authors: Izabela Kapsa

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Civic participation is an important aspect of democracy. The contemporary model of democracy is based on citizens' participation in political decision-making (deliberative democracy, participatory democracy). This participation takes many forms of activities like display of slogans and symbols, voting, social consultations, political demonstrations, membership in political parties or organizing civil disobedience. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe after 1989 are characterized by great social, economic and political diversity. Civil society is also part of the process of democratization. Civil society, funded by the rule of law, civil rights, such as freedom of speech and association and private ownership, was to play a central role in the development of liberal democracy. Among the many interpretations of concepts, defining the concept of contemporary democracy, one can assume that the terms civil society and democracy, although different in meaning, nowadays overlap. In the post-communist countries, the process of shaping and maturing societies took place in the context of a struggle with a state governed by undemocratic power. State fraud or repudiation of the institution is a representative state, which in the past was the only way to manifest and defend its identity, but after the breakthrough became one of the main obstacles to the development of civil society. In Central and Eastern Europe, there are many obstacles to the development of civil society, for example, the elimination of economic poverty, the implementation of educational campaigns, consciousness-related obstacles, the formation of social capital and the deficit of social activity. Obviously, civil society does not only entail an electoral turnout but a broader participation in the decision-making process, which is impossible without direct and participative democratic institutions. This article considers such broad forms of civic participation and their characteristics in Central and Eastern Europe. The paper is attempts to analyze the functioning of electronic forms of civic participation in Central and Eastern European states. This is not accompanied by a referendum or a referendum initiative, and other forms of political participation, such as public consultations, participative budgets, or e-Government. However, this paper will broadly present electronic administration tools, the application of which results from both legal regulations and increasingly common practice in state and city management. In the comparative analysis, the experiences of post-communist bloc countries will be summed up to indicate the challenges and possible goals for further development of this form of citizen participation in the political process. The author argues that for to function efficiently and effectively, states need to involve their citizens in the political decision-making process, especially with the use of electronic tools.

Keywords: Central and Eastern Europe, e-participation, e-government, post-communism

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Authors: Amir Hossein Ashari, Sedighe Erfan Manesh

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One of the problems in developing countries is renovating the historical context and inducing behaviors appropriate to modern life to such a context. This study was conducted using field and library methods in 2012. Similar cases carried out in Iran and developing countries were compared to unveil the strengths and weaknesses of these projects. At present, in the historical context of Shiraz, the distance between two religious shrines of Shahcheragh (Ahmad ibn Musa) and Astaneh (Sayed Alaa al-Din Hossein), which are significant places in religious, cultural, social, and economic terms, is an area full of historic places called Bein Al-Haramein. Unfortunately, some of these places have been worn out and are not appropriate for common uses. The basic strategy of Bein Al-Haramein was to improve social development of Shiraz, to enhance the vitality and dynamism of the historical context of Bein Al-Haramein and to create tourist attractions in order to boost the city's economic and social stability. To this end, the project includes the huge Bein Al-Haramein Commercial Complex which is under construction now. To construct the complex, officials have decided to demolish places of historical value which can lead to irreparable consequences. Iranian urban design has always been based on three elements of bazaars, mosques and government facilities with bazaars being the organic connector of the other elements. Therefore, the best strategy in the above case is to provide for a commercial connection between the two poles. Although this strategy is included in the project, lack of attention to renovation principles in this area and complete destruction of the context will lead to its irreversible damage and will destroy its cultural and historical identity. In urban planning of this project, some important issues have been neglected including: preserving valuable buildings and special old features of the city, rebuilding worn buildings and context to attract trust and confidence of the people, developing new models according to changes, improving the structural position of old context with minimal degradation, attracting partnerships of residents and protecting their rights and finally using potential facilities of the old context. The best strategy for achieving sustainability in Bein Al-Haramein can be the one used in the distance between Santa Maria Novella and Santa Maria Del Fiore churches in historical context where while protecting the historic context and constructions, old buildings were renovated and given different commercial and service uses making them sustainable and dynamic places. Similarly, in Bein Al-Haramein, renovating old constructions and monuments and giving different commercial and other uses to them can help improve the economic and social sustainability of the area.

Keywords: Bein Al-Haramein, sustainability, historical context, historical context

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Authors: Adnan Celik

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Entrepreneurs are people who attempt to do a business and do not hesitate to do so. They are involved in the production of economic goods and services through factors of production. They also find the financial resources necessary for production and the markets where the production will be evaluated. After all, they create economic values. The main function of the entrepreneur in contemporary societies is to realize innovations. From this point, the power of the modern entrepreneur is based on her/his capacity to innovate and transform his innovations into tangible commercial products. In this context, the concept of an entrepreneur is used to mean the person or persons who constantly innovate. Successful entrepreneurs take on the role of the locomotive in the development of their countries. They support economic development with their activities. In addition to production and marketing activities, it also has important contributions to employment. Along with the development of the country, they also try to make the income distribution more balanced. Especially developed country entrepreneurs intensely perform the following functions; “to produce new goods and services or to increase the quality and quality of known goods and services; ability to develop and apply new production methods; establishing new organizations in the industry; reach new markets; to find new sources from which raw materials and similar materials can be obtained”. Entrepreneurs who fully implement business functions are easier to achieve economic efficiency. Thus, they provide great advantages to the business and the national economy. Successful entrepreneurs are people who make money by creating economic values. These revenues are; on the one hand, it is distributed to individuals in the business as wages, premiums, or dividends; It is also used in the growth of companies. Thus, employees, managers, entrepreneurs and the whole country can benefit greatly. In the least developed countries, the guiding effect of traditional value patterns on individuals' attitudes and behaviors varies depending on the socio-economic characteristics of individuals. It is normal for an entrepreneur with a low level of education, who was brought up in a traditional structure, to behave in accordance with traditional value patterns. In fact, this is the primary problem of all countries in the development effort. The solution to this problem will be possible by giving the necessary importance to the social dimension as well as the technical dimension of development. This study mainly focuses on the importance of entrepreneurship for the national economy. This issue has been handled separately in terms of developed and least developed countries. As a result of the study, entrepreneurship suggestions were made, especially to least developed countries, with the goal of national economy and development.

Keywords: entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, national economy, entrepreneurship in developed and least developed countries

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Authors: Chijioke Oliver Nwodoh, Jonah Ikechukwu Eze, Loretta Chika Ukwuaba, Ifeoma Ndubuisi, Ada Carol Nwaneri, Ijeoma Lewechi Okoronkwo

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Presence of nursing workforce with unequal qualification and status in Nigeria has undermined the growth of nursing profession in the country. Upgrading of the existing basic and post-basic nursing schools to degree-awarding institutions in Nigeria is a way-forward to solving this inequality problem and Nigeria teaching hospitals are in vantage position for this project due to the already existing supportive structure and manpower in those hospitals. What the nurse trainers and the stakeholders of the teaching hospitals may hold for or against the upgrading is a determining factor for the upgrading project, but that is not clear and has not been investigated in Nigeria. The study investigated the perception of nurse trainers and stakeholders of teaching hospitals in Enugu State of Nigeria on the obstacles and ways-forward to upgrading nursing schools to degree-awarding institutions in Nigeria. The study specifically elicited what the subjects may view as obstacles to upgrading basic and post-basic nursing schools to degree-awarding institutions in Nigeria and ascertained their suggestions on the possible ways of overcoming the obstacles. By utilizing cross-sectional descriptive design and a purposive sampling procedure, 78 accessible subjects out of a total population of 87 were used for the study. The generated data from the subjects were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and mean for the research questions and Pearson’s chi-square for the hypotheses, with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 20.0. The result showed that lack of extant policy, fund, and disunity among policy makers and stakeholders of nursing profession are the main obstacles to the upgrading. However, the respondents did not see items like: stakeholders and nurse trainers of basic and post-basic schools of nursing; fear of admitting and producing poor quality nurses; and so forth, as obstacles to the upgrading project. Institution of the upgrading policy by Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, funding, awareness creation for the upgrading and unison among policy makers and stakeholders of nursing profession are the major possible ways to overcome the obstacles. The difference in the subjects’ perceptions between the two hospitals was found to be statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). It is recommended that the policy makers and stakeholders of nursing in Nigeria should unite and liaise with Federal Ministries of Health and Education for modalities and actualization of upgrading nursing schools to degree-awarding institutions in Nigeria.

Keywords: nurse trainers, obstacles, perception, stakeholders, teaching hospital, upgrading basic nursing schools, ways-forward

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Authors: Sofía Luna, Carla González Salamanca

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The 2008 economic crisis had huge implications in Europe. In this continent, the repercussions of the crisis were not only economic but also political and institutional. The economic stress has generated changes in the perception of the citizens, their attitude and the confidence placed in the political organizations. The lost of confidence is not only present in the debtor countries but it is also present in the European economic powers like Germany and France. This research explains how the economic crisis had an impact in the identity, population’s attitude and how this generated the rise of extreme right parties. In addition, it defines the different types of attitudes and support that exist towards these political and economic institutions. The results of this investigation show that the depression beside of its economic implications, it caused institutional, social and political difficulties for the Union. Moreover, the support and attitudes of the population were severely strained because the confidence in the political organization decreased. Furthermore, a rise in the otherness sentiment was shown. In other words, the distinction between “us” and “them” increased causing repercussions in the collective European identity. Additionally, there was a spread in national identities that caused the rise of the extreme right wing parties. In conclusion, the 2008 economic crisis caused not only economic stress but also it generated a political, social and institutional crisis in Europe.

Keywords: Europe, identity, economic crisis, otherness sentiment

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Authors: S. Somerset, D. J. Hoare

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Participation in sport is linked to better mental and physical health in children and adults. Studies have shown children who participate in sports benefit from improved social skills, self-confidence, communication skills and a better quality of life. Children who participate in sports from a young age are also more likely to continue to have active lifestyles during adulthood. This is an important consideration with a nation where physical activity levels are declining and the incidences of obesity are rising. Getting children active and keeping them active can provide long term health benefits to the individual but also a potential reduction in health costs in the future. This systematic review aims to identify the barriers to participation in sport for children aged up to 18 years and encompasses both qualitative and quantitative studies. The bibliographic databases, EMBASE, Medline, CINAHL and SportDiscus were searched. Additional hand searches were carried out on review articles found in the searches to identify any studies that may have been missed. Studies involving children up to 18 years without additional needs focusing on barriers to participation in sport were included. Randomised control trials, policy guidelines, studies with sport as an intervention, studies focusing on the female athlete triad, tobacco abuse, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, pre exercise testing, and cardiovascular disease were excluded. Abstract review, full paper review and quality appraisal were conducted by two researchers. A consensus meeting took place to resolve any differences at the abstract, full text and data extraction / quality appraisal stages. The CASP qualitative studies appraisal tool and the CASP cohort studies tool (excluding question 3 and 4 which refer to interventions) were used for quality appraisal in this review. The review identified several salient barriers to participation in sport for children. These barriers ranged from the uniform worn during school physical education lessons to the weather during participation in sport. The most commonly identified barriers in the review include parental support, time allocation, location of the activity and the cost of the activity. Therefore, it would be beneficial for a greater provision to be made within the school environment for children to participate sport. This can reduce the cost and time commitment required from parents to encourage participation. This would help to increase activity levels of children, which ultimately can only be a good thing.

Keywords: barrier, children, participation, sport

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Authors: Anusha Vaddiraj Pallapu

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Measuring urban sustainable development is at the forefront in contributing to overall sustainability, and it refers to attaining social equity, environmental protection and minimizing the impacts of urbanization. Assessing performance of urban issues ranging from larger consumption of natural resources by humans in terms of lifestyle to creating a polluted nearby environment, social and even economic dimensions of sustainability major issues observed such as water quality, transportation, management of solid waste and traffic pollution. However, relying on the framework of the project to do the goals of sustainable development or minimization of urban impacts through management practices is not enough to deal with the present urban issues. The aim of the sustainability is to know how severely the resources are depleted because of human consumption and how issues are characterized. The paper aims to assign benchmarks for the selected sustainability indicators for research, and analysis is done through multivariate analysis in Indian context a case of Nagpur city to identify the play role of each urban issues in the overall sustainability. The main objectives of this paper are to examine the indicators over by time basis on various scenarios and how benchmarking is used, what and which categories of values should be considered as the performance of indicators function.

Keywords: environmental sustainability indicators, principal component analysis, urban sustainability, urban clusters, benchmarking

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Authors: John Narh

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There is high rate of deforestation in Ghana due to agricultural expansion, illegal mining and illegal logging. While it is attempting to address the illegalities, Ghana has also initiated a reforestation program known as the Modified Taungya System (MTS). Within the MTS framework, farmers are allocated degraded forestland and provided with tree seedlings to practice agroforestry until the trees form canopy. Yet, the political, ecological and economic models that inform the selection of tree species, the motivations of participating farmers as well as the factors that accounts for differential access to the land and performance of farmers engaged in the program lie underexplored. Using a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach in five forest-fringe communities in the Eastern Region of Ghana, the study reveals that economic factors and Ghana’s commitment to international conventions on the environment underpin the selection of tree species for the MTS program. Social network and access to remittances play critical roles in having access to, and enhances poor farmers’ chances in the program respectively. Farmers are more motivated by the access to degraded forestland to cultivate food crops than having a share in the trees that they plant. As such, in communities where participating farmers are not informed about their benefit in the tree that they plant, the program is largely unsuccessful.

Keywords: translocality, deforestation, forest management, social network

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Authors: Fantahun Ibrahim

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The Ethiopian army was one of the largest and most heavily armed ground forces in Africa between 1974 and 1991. It scored a decisive victory over Somalia’s armed forces in March 1978. It, however, failed to withstand the combined onslaught of the northern insurgents from Tigray and Eritrea and finally collapsed in 1991. At the heart of the problem was the army’s huge intelligence failure. The northern insurgents, on the other hand, had a cutting edge in intelligence gathering. Among other things they infiltrated the army high command and managed to get top secrets about the army. Commanders who had fallen into the hands of the insurgents in several battles were told to send letters to their colleagues in the command structure and persuade them to work secretly for the insurgents. Some commanders did work for the insurgents and played a great role in the undoing of military operations. Insurgent commanders were able to warn their fighters about air strikes before jet fighters took off from airfields in the northern theatre. It was not uncommon for leaders of insurgents to get the full details of military operations days before their implementation. Such intelligence failures led to major military disasters like the fall of Afabet (March, 1988), Enda Sellase (February, 1989), Massawa and Debre Tabor (February, 1990), Karra Mishig, Meragna and Alem Ketema (June, 1990). This paper, therefore, seeks to investigate the army’s intelligence failures using untapped archival documents kept at the Ministry of National Defence in Addis Ababa and interviewing key former commanders of the army and ex-leaders of the insurgents.

Keywords: Ethiopian army, intelligence, infiltration, insurgents

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Authors: Richard Grünwald, Wenling Wang, Yan Feng

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The presented paper explores the changing dynamics of regional water security in the Mekong River Basin and examines the contemporary water-related challenges from a critical hydropolitical perspective. By drawing on the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and Conflict Database (LMCCD) recording more than 3000 water-related events within the basin in the last 30 years, we identified several trends changing the dynamics of the regional water security in the Mekong River Basin. Firstly, there is growing politicization of water that is no longer interpreted as abundant. While some scientists blame the rapid basin development, particularly in upstream countries, other researchers consider climate change and cumulative environmental impacts of various water projects as the main culprit for changing the water flow. Secondly, there is an increasing securitization of large-scale hydropower dams with questionable outcomes. Despite hydropower dams raise many controversies, many riparian states push the development at all cost. Such water security dilemma can be especially traced to Laos and Cambodia, which highly invest in the hydropower sector even at the expense of the local environment and good relations with neighbouring countries situated lower on the river. Thirdly, there is a lack of accountable transboundary water governance that will effectively face a looming water crisis. To date, most of the existing cooperation mechanisms are undermined by the geopolitical interests of foreign donors and increasing mistrust to scientific approaches dealing with water insecurity. Our findings are beneficial for the policy-makers and other water experts who want to grasp the broader hydropolitical context in the Mekong River Basin and better understand the new water security threats, including misinterpretation of the hydrological data and legitimization of the pro-development narratives.

Keywords: critical hydropolitics, mekong river, politicization of science, water governance, water security

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Authors: Kazam Ali, Muhammad Sagheer, Mansoor-Ul- Hasan, Abdul Rashid, Chaudhary Muhammad Shahid Hanif, Fawad Zafar Ahmad Khan, Hafiz Muhammad Aatif

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Natural extracts of two medicinal plants Nicotiana tabacum and Eucalyptus globulus were tested for their toxic and enzyme inhibition effects against three insects species of stored grains Tribolium castaneum, Trogoderma granarium and Sitophilus granarius. Responses of insects varied with exposure periods and dilution levels of acetone extracts of plants. Both plant extracts were lethal to insects but the crude leaf extract of N. tabacum evidenced strong toxic action against three tested insect species. Maximum mortality 36.30% in S. granarius, 25.96% in T. castaneum, and 21.88% in T. granarium were found at 20% dilution level, after 10 days exposure to botanical extract of N. tabacum. The impact of N. tabacum and E. globulus on the activity of esterases; acetylcholinesterase (AChE), α-carboxylesterase (α-CE), β-carboxylesterase (β-CE) and phosphatses; acid phosphatase (AcP), alkaline phosphatase (AlP) of three stored grain insect species were also studied in the survivors of toxicity assay. Whole body homogenates of insects were used for enzyme determination and consumption of high dose rate N. tabacum extract containing diet resulted in maximum 55.33% inhibition of AChE and 26.17% AlP inhibition in T. castaneum, while 44.17% of α-CE and 31.67% inhibition of β-CE activity were noted in S. granarius. Maximum inhibition 23.44% of AcP activity was found in T. granarium exposed to diet treated with the extract of E. globulus. The findings indicate that acetone extracts of N. tabacum and E. globulus are naturally occurring pesticide and facts of the enzyme inhibition relations specify that their effect changes with the insect species.

Keywords: natural extract, medicinal plant, toxic effects, enzyme inhibition, acetone extract

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Authors: H. C. Chen, S. W. C. Chan, K. Cheng, A. Vathsala, H. K. Sran, H. He

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Background: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is the last stage of chronic kidney disease. The numbers of patients with ESRD have increased worldwide due to the growing number of aging, diabetes and hypertension populations. Patients with ESRD suffer from physical illness and psychological distress due to complex treatment regimens, which often affect the patients’ social and psychological functioning. As a result, the patients may fail to perform daily self-care and self-management, and consequently experience worsening conditions. Aims: The study aims to examine the effectiveness of a self-efficacy psychoeducational programme on primary outcome (self-efficacy) and secondary outcomes (psychological wellbeing, treatment adherence, and quality of life) in patients with ESRD and haemodialysis in Singapore. Methodology: A randomised controlled, two-group pretest and repeated posttests design will be carried out. A total of 154 participants (n=154) will be recruited. The participants in the control group will receive a routine treatment. The participants in the intervention group will receive a self-efficacy psychoeducational programme in addition to the routine treatment. The programme is a two-session of educational intervention in a week. A booklet, two consecutive sessions of face-to-face individual education, and an abdominal breathing exercise are adopted in the programme. Outcome measurements include Dialysis Specific Self-efficacy Scale, Kidney Disease Quality of Life- 36 Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Renal Adherence Attitudes Questionnaire and Renal Adherence Behaviour Questionnaire. The questionnaires will be used to measure at baseline, 1- and 3- and 6-month follow-up periods. Process evaluation will be conducted with a semi-structured face to face interview. Quantitative data will be analysed using SPSS21.0 software. Qualitative data will be analysed by content analysis. Significance of the study: This study will identify a clinically useful and potentially effective approach to help patients with end-stage renal disease and haemodialysis by enhancing their self-efficacy in self-care behaviour, and therefore improving their psychological well-being, treatment adherence and quality of life. This study will provide information to develop clinical guidelines to improve patients’ disease self-management and to enhance health-related outcomes and it will help reducing disease burden.

Keywords: end-stage renal disease (ESRD), haemodialysis, psychoeducation, self-efficacy

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