Search results for: wealth creation

Authors: Hamdi Beji, Toufik Kanit, Tanguy Messager

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This study aims to construct a predictive model proficient in foreseeing the linear elastic and thermal characteristics of composite materials, drawing on a multitude of influencing parameters. These parameters encompass the shape of inclusions (circular, elliptical, square, triangle), their spatial coordinates within the matrix, orientation, volume fraction (ranging from 0.05 to 0.4), and variations in contrast (spanning from 10 to 200). A variety of machine learning techniques are deployed, including decision trees, random forests, support vector machines, k-nearest neighbors, and an artificial neural network (ANN), to facilitate this predictive model. Moreover, this research goes beyond the predictive aspect by delving into an inverse analysis using genetic algorithms. The intent is to unveil the intrinsic characteristics of composite materials by evaluating their thermomechanical responses. The foundation of this research lies in the establishment of a comprehensive database that accounts for the array of input parameters mentioned earlier. This database, enriched with this diversity of input variables, serves as a bedrock for the creation of machine learning and genetic algorithm-based models. These models are meticulously trained to not only predict but also elucidate the mechanical and thermal conduct of composite materials. Remarkably, the coupling of machine learning and genetic algorithms has proven highly effective, yielding predictions with remarkable accuracy, boasting scores ranging between 0.97 and 0.99. This achievement marks a significant breakthrough, demonstrating the potential of this innovative approach in the field of materials engineering.

Keywords: machine learning, composite materials, genetic algorithms, mechanical and thermal proprieties

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Authors: Janell Jayamohan

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A pilot project based on the Theory of Planned Behavior was completed at a single sex female international high school in order to improve the quality of comprehensive sex education in a 12th grade classroom. The student sample is representative of a growing phenomenon of “Third Culture Kids” or global nomads; often in today’s world, culture transcends any one dominant influence and blends values from multiple sources. The Objective was to improve intentions of condom use during the students’ first or next intercourse. A peer-education session which focused on condom attitudes, social norms, and self-efficacy - central tenets of the Theory of Planned Behavior - was added to an existing curriculum in order to achieve this objective. Peer educators were given liberty of creating and executing the lesson to their homeroom, a sample of 23 senior students, with minimal intervention from faculty, the desired outcome being that the students themselves would be the best judge of what is culturally relevant and important to their peers. The school nurse and school counselor acted as faculty facilitators but did not assist in the creation or delivery of the lesson, only checked for medical accuracy. The participating sample of students completed a pre and post-test with validated questions assessing changes in attitudes and overall satisfaction with the peer education lesson. As this intervention was completed during the Covid-19 pandemic, the peer education session was completed in a virtual classroom environment, limiting the modes of information delivery available to the peer educators, but is planned to be replicated in an in-person environment in subsequent cycles.

Keywords: adolescents, condoms, peer education, sex education, theory of planned behavior, third culture kids

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Authors: Mehdi Moghimi

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Doctrines associated with situational prevention considers 'place of committing crime' as one of the fundamental elements of a crime. Meanwhile, with regard to causing or having effect on a crime situation, 'place' can be one of the pivotal indices in situational prevention analyses. This study aims at examining the role of place in construction of a crime situation and explaining the relationship between 'place' and situational preventive measures and procedures. Also, how to identify high-crime places, types of high-crime places and the factors influencing their creation are among the most important secondary objectives of this article. Concerning the purpose, it is a practical study whose material has been written through a documentary method using original sources (English), books and written and translated articles etc. This article is written in two main parts. In the first section, cognitive-conceptual issues about 'place' as one of the main causes of crime situation, and its effective interaction with situational preventive measures will be reviewed. The second part of this paper will focus on criminological examination of places and critical locations of crime and provide situational preventive measures to deal with the situation. 'Crime displacement' and 'geographical distribution of benefits'are also considered as the possible consequences of implementing preventive strategies. The results of the study suggest that the inventory of offenses is distributed according to the spatial characteristics. Moreover, according to the criminological characteristics governing region or location, offenders choose the place of crime based on a logical calculation. Therefore, some locations, regions or neighborhoods are permanent places of occurring lots of crimes. As a result, considering "place", preventive measures and procedures can be systematically directed, and using the most effective ways, limited preventive resources are utilized in the most critical places. Finally, some suggestions for further research and application are provided in line with more favorable promotion of situational preventive measures.

Keywords: crime prevention, place, police crime, situational crime prevention

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Authors: Savas Yildiz

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The article assesses the performance of international aid donors to determine the sub-national distribution of their aid projects dependent on recipient countries’ governance. The present paper extends the scope from a cross-country perspective to a more detailed analysis by looking at the effects of institutional qualities on the sub-national distribution of foreign aid. The analysis examines geo-referenced aid project in 37 countries and 404 regions at the first administrative division level in Sub-Saharan Africa from the World Bank (WB) and the African Development Bank (ADB) that were approved between the years 2000 and 2011. To measure the influence of institutional qualities on the distribution of aid the following measures are used: control of corruption, government effectiveness, regulatory quality and rule of law from the World Governance Indicators (WGI) and the corruption perception index from Transparency International. Furthermore, to assess the importance of ethnic heterogeneity on the sub-national distribution of aid projects, the study also includes interaction terms measuring ethnic fragmentation. The regression results indicate a general skew of aid projects towards regions which hold capital cities, however, being incumbent presidents’ birth region does not increase the allocation of aid projects significantly. Nevertheless, with increasing quality of institutions aid projects are less skewed towards capital regions and the previously estimated coefficients loose significance in most cases. Higher ethnic fragmentation also seems to impede the possibility to allocate aid projects mainly in capital city regions and presidents’ birth places. Additionally, to assess the performance of the WB based on its own proclaimed goal to aim the poor in a country, the study also includes sub-national wealth data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DSH), and finds that, even with better institutional qualities, regions with a larger share from the richest quintile receive significantly more aid than regions with a larger share of poor people. With increasing ethnic diversity, the allocation of aid projects towards regions where the richest citizens reside diminishes, but still remains high and significant. However, regions with a larger share of poor people still do not receive significantly more aid. This might imply that the sub-national distribution of aid projects increases in general with higher ethnic fragmentation, independent of the diverse regional needs. The results provide evidence that institutional qualities matter to undermine the influence of incumbent presidents on the allocation of aid projects towards their birth regions and capital regions. Moreover, even for countries with better institutional qualities the WB and the ADB do not seem to be able to aim the poor in a country with their aid projects. Even, if one considers need-based variables, such as infant mortality and child mortality rates, aid projects do not seem to be allocated in districts with a larger share of people in need. Therefore, the study provides further evidence using more detailed information on the sub-national distribution of aid projects that aid is not being allocated effectively towards regions with a larger share of poor people to alleviate poverty in recipient countries directly. Institutions do not have any significant influence on the sub-national distribution of aid towards the poor.

Keywords: aid allocation, georeferenced data, institutions, spatial analysis

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Authors: Ruel A. Welch

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Since the introduction of ServiceNow, the UK’s Science Museum Group’s (SMG) ICT service desk portal. There has not been an analysis of the tools available to SMG staff for just-in-time knowledge acquisition (knowledge management systems) and reporting ICT incidents with a focus on an aspect of professional identity, namely, gender. This study is conducted in the milieu of UK museums, galleries, arts, academic, charitable, and cultural heritage sectors. Numerous authors suggest that males and females experience ICT usage differently. Therefore, it is important for SMG to investigate the apparent disparities so that solutions can be derived to minimize this digital divide if one exists. It is acknowledged at SMG that there are challenges with keeping up with an ever-changing digital landscape. Subsequently, this entails the rapid upskilling of staff and developing an infrastructure that supports just-in-time technological knowledge acquisition and reporting technology-related issues. This problem was addressed by analyzing ServiceNow ICT incident reports and reports from knowledge articles from a six-month period from February to July. This study found a statistically significant relationship between gender and reporting an ICT incident. There is also a significant relationship between gender and the priority level of ICT incidents. Interestingly, there is no statistically significant relationship between gender and reading knowledge articles. Additionally, there is no statistically significant relationship between gender and reporting an ICT incident related to the knowledge article that was read by staff. The knowledge acquired from this study is useful to service desk management practice as it will help to inform the creation of future knowledge articles and ICT incident reporting processes.

Keywords: digital divide, ICT service desk practice, knowledge management systems, workplace learning

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Authors: Shaun Lim

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This paper presents a 9-month ethnographic case study of the value creating strategies employed by an Oxford market-trader of 20th-century maps. Maps are usually valued and sold as either antique objets d’art or useful navigational tools, with 20th-century maps precariously lying between the boundary of the aesthetic and utilitarian value-regimes. Here, the brokerage practices involved in the framing of outdated, lowly valued maps into vintage commodities will be examined. Ethnographic material of the unstudied market of old maps is introduced and situated in the second-hand, antique and collectible spheres of exchange. The map-trader as a broker is the ethnographic and methodological starting point of this paper. Brokerage is understood through the activity of framing that defines and brackets the value-regimes of commodities with the aid of market and framing devices. The trader’s activities will be examined in three parts. (1) The post-sourcing industry: the altering, mounting and tagging of maps before putting them into market circulation. Mounts, frames and tags are seen as market devices that authenticates and frames maps with aesthetic and symbolic values along with the disentanglement of its use value. (2) The market-display: the constitution of space that encourages the relations of looking at maps as aesthetic objects, while the categorical arrangement of the display contributes to legitimising of the collectability of maps. (3) The salesmanship strategies of the trader: the match-making of customers with maps of meaningful value, and the mediating of knowledge through the verbal articulation of the map’s symbolic values. Ultimately, value is not created in an accumulative sense, but is layered and superimposed to cater to a wide spectrum of patrons. The trader creates demand for his goods by mediating and articulating value-regimes already coherent to potential patrons.

Keywords: art and material culture, brokerage, commodification, framing, markets, value

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Authors: Michaela Kaineder, Beate Bartlmae, Stefan Gaebler, Miriam Gutleder, Marlene Wuerfl

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Digital tools and e-participation processes have seen a steady increase in popularity in recent years. While online trends come with the premise of new opportunities and easier participatory possibilities, there are still manifold challenges that smart city initiators and developers need to face. In this paper, innovative quality criteria of citizen participation processes was suggested by defining meaningful and measurable evaluation categories. Considering various developments, including the global megatrend of connectivity, a need for a fundamental examination of the basic structure of citizen participation processes was identified. To this end, the application of methods and tools through different points in the policy cycle is required. In order to provide an overview of the current challenges and problems in the field of participation, this paper analyzes those issues by carrying out a literature review that also focuses on disparities in the civic sector that might hinder residents in their desire for engagement. Additionally, a case study was chosen to demonstrate the potential that e-participation tools offer to planning experts and public authorities when integrating citizen’s creativity and experience at a large scale. This online co-creation process finally leads to offline events – such as local co-design workshops - with professional planners. The findings of this paper subsequently suggest a combination of e-participation and analogue forms to merge the benefits of both worlds, resulting in a broader audience and higher quality for participation processes.

Keywords: citizen participation, disparities, e-participation, integrated urban development, sustainable development goals, sustainable urban development

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Authors: Chuanqiao Zheng, Wei Zeng, Haozhen Lin

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As of March 2020, the number of Chinese netizens has reached 904 million. The proportion of Internet users accessing the Internet through mobile phones is as high as 99.3%. Under the background of 'Internet +', tourists have a stronger sense of independence in the choice of tourism destinations and tourism products. Tourists are more inclined to learn about the relevant information on tourism destinations and other tourists' evaluations of tourist products through the Internet. The search engine, as an integrated platform that contains a wealth of information, is highly valuable to the analysis of the characteristics of the Internet attention given to various tourism destinations, through big data mining and analysis. This article uses the Baidu Index as the data source, which is one of the products of Baidu Search. The Baidu Index is based on big data, which collects and shares the search results of a large number of Internet users on the Baidu search engine. The big data used in this article includes search index, demand map, population profile, etc. The main research methods used are: (1) based on the search index, analyzing the Internet attention given to the tourism in five cities in Northeast Sichuan at different times, so as to obtain the overall trend and individual characteristics of tourism development in the region; (2) based on the demand map and the population profile, analyzing the demographic characteristics and market positioning of the tourist groups in these cities to understand the characteristics and needs of the target groups; (3) correlating the Internet attention data with the permanent population of each province in China in the corresponding to construct the Boston matrix of the Internet attention rate of the Northeast Sichuan tourism, obtain the tourism target markets, and then propose development strategies for different markets. The study has found that: a) the Internet attention given to the tourism in the region can be categorized into tourist off-season and peak season; the Internet attention given to tourism in different cities is quite different. b) tourists look for information including tour guide information, ticket information, traffic information, weather information, and information on the competing tourism cities; with regard to the population profile, the main group of potential tourists searching for the keywords of tourism in the five prefecture-level cities in Northeast Sichuan are youth. The male to female ratio is about 6 to 4, with males being predominant. c) through the construction of the Boston matrix, it is concluded that the star market for tourism in the Northeast Sichuan Economic Zone includes Sichuan and Shaanxi; the cash cows market includes Hainan and Ningxia; the question market includes Jiangsu and Shanghai; the dog market includes Hubei and Jiangxi. The study concludes with the following planning strategies and recommendations: i) creating a diversified business format that integrates cultural and tourism; ii) creating a brand image of niche tourism; iii) focusing on the development of tourism products; iv) innovating composite three-dimensional marketing channels.

Keywords: Baidu Index, big data, internet attention, tourism

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Authors: R. B. B. Samantha Ramachandra, L. D. J. Upul Senarath, S. H. Padmal De Silva

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Dietary pattern largely differs over countries and even within a country, it shows cultural differences. The dietary pattern changes the energy consumption and micronutrient intake, directly affects the pregnancy outcome. The dietary diversity was used as an indirect measure to assess micronutrient adequacy for pregnant mothers in this study. The study was conducted as a baseline survey with the objective of designing an intervention to improve the dietary diversity of pregnant mothers in Sri Lanka. The survey was conducted in Kalutara district of Sri Lanka in 2015 among 769 pregnant mothers at different gestational ages. Dietary diversity questionnaire developed by Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) Food and Nutrition technical Assistance (FANTA) II project, recommended for cross-country use with adaptations was used for data collection. Trained data collectors met pregnant mothers at field ante-natal clinic and questioned on last 24hr dietary recall with portion size and coded food items to identify the diversity. Pregnant mothers were identified from randomly selected 21 clusters of public health midwife areas. 81.5% mothers (n=627) in the sample had been registered at Public Health Midwife (PHM) before 8 weeks of gestation. 24.4% of mothers were with low starting BMI and 22.7% mothers were with high starting BMI. 47.6% (n=388) mothers had abstained from at least one food item during the pregnancy. The food group with the highest consumption was rice (98.4%) followed by sugar (89.9%). 76.1% mothers had consumed milk, 73% consumed fish and sea foods. Consumption of green leaves was 52% and Vit A rich foods consumed only by 49% mothers. Animal organs, flesh meat and egg all showed low prevalence as 4.7%, 21.6% and 20% respectively. Consumption of locally grown roots, nut, legumes all showed very low prevalence. Consumption of 6 or more food groups was considered as good dietary diversity (DD), 4 to 5 food groups as moderate diversity and 3 or less food groups as poor diversity by FAO FANTA II project. 42.1% mothers demonstrated good DD while another 42.1% recorded moderate diversity. Working mothers showed better DD (51.6%, n=82/159) compared to housewives in the sample (chi = 10.656a,. df=2, p=0.005). The good DD showed gradual improvement from 43.1% to 55.5% along the poorest to richest wealth index (Chi=48.045, df=8 and p=0.000). DD showed significant association with the ethnicity and Moors showed the lowest DD. DD showed no association with the home gardening even though where better diversity expected among those who have home gardening (p=0.548). Sri Lanka is a country where many food items can be grown in the garden and semi-urban setting have adequate space for gardening. Many Sri Lankan mothers do not add homegrown items in their meal. At the same time, their consumption of animal food shows low prevalence. The DD of most of the mothers being either moderate or low (58%) may result from inadequate micro nutrient intake during pregnancy. It is recommended that adding green leaves, locally grown vegetables, roots, nuts and legumes can help increasing the DD of Sri Lankan mothers at low cost.

Keywords: dietary diversity, pregnant mothers, micro-nutrient, food groups

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Authors: Iman Shabanzadeh

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The purpose of this research is to understand the lived experience of private sector entrepreneurs in facing the sources of freedom and unfreedom and benefiting from opportunities and basic capabilities in the process of realizing entrepreneurial ability in order to get closer to the macro situation of the narrative of human development in Iranian society. Therefore, the main question of the present research is to figure out what sources of freedom and social opportunities and unfreedom entrepreneurs in Iran's society benefit from the process of transforming their potential entrepreneurial abilities into entrepreneurial and business enterprises. In terms of methodology, the current research method will be thematic analysis in the form of semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs active in small and medium-sized enterprises in Tehran, whose process of establishing and expanding their entrepreneurial activity has been in the last two decades. By examining the possibilities and refusals of advancing these people in the three stages of 'Idea creation and desire for entrepreneurship’, ‘Starting and creating a business’, and finally, ‘Continuing and expanding the business’, the findings of the research show the impact of five main resources for people to realize their potential talents, from the stage of creating an idea to expanding their business. These sources include' family institution,’ ‘education institution,’ ‘social norms and beliefs,’ ‘government and market,’ and ‘personality components of the entrepreneur.’ Finally, the findings are reported in three levels of basic themes (fifteen items), organizing themes (five items), and comprehensive themes (one item) and in the form of a theme network.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, human development, capability, sources of freedom

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Authors: Chih-Ping Chang

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Different from traditional objective evidence, social media evidence has its own characteristics with easily tampering, recoverability, and cannot be read without using other devices (such as a computer). Simply taking a screenshot from social network sites must be questioned its original identity. When the police search and seizure digital information, a common way they use is to directly print out digital data obtained and ask the signature of the parties at the presence, without taking original digital data back. In addition to the issue on its original identity, this conduct to obtain evidence may have another two results. First, it will easily allege that is tampering evidence because the police wanted to frame the suspect and falsified evidence. Second, it is not easy to discovery hidden information. The core evidence associated with crime may not appear in the contents of files. Through discovery the original file, data related to the file, such as the original producer, creation time, modification date, and even GPS location display can be revealed from hidden information. Therefore, how to show this kind of evidence in the courtroom will be arguably the most important task for ruling social media evidence. This article, first, will introduce forensic software, like EnCase, TCT, FTK, and analyze their function to prove the identity with another digital data. Then turning back to the court, the second part of this article will discuss legal standard for authentication of social media evidence and application of that forensic software in the courtroom. As the conclusion, this article will provide a rethinking, that is, what kind of authenticity is this rule of evidence chase for. Does legal system automatically operate the transcription of scientific knowledge? Or furthermore, it wants to better render justice, not only under scientific fact, but through multivariate debating.

Keywords: federal rule of evidence, internet forensic, printouts as evidence, social media evidence, United States v. Vayner

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Authors: Brian Yulianto, Syachrial, Saeful Aziz, Anggita Clara Shinta

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Indonesia, with a population of about two hundred and fifty million people in quantity, indicates the outstanding wealth of human resources. Hundreds of millions of the population scattered in various communities in various regions in Indonesia with the different characteristics of economic, social and unique culture. Broadly speaking, the community in Indonesia is divided into two classes, namely urban communities and rural communities. The rural communities characterized by low potential and management of natural and human resources, limited access of development, and lack of social and economic infrastructure, and scattered and isolated population. West Java is one of the provinces with the largest population in Indonesia. Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in 2015 the number of population in West Java reached 46.7096 million souls spread over 18 districts and 9 cities. The big difference in geographical and social conditions of people in West Java from one region to another, especially the south to the north causing the gap is high. It is closely related to the flow of investment to promote the area. Poverty and underdevelopment are the classic problems that occur on a massive scale in the region as the effects of inequity in development. South Cianjur and Tasikmalaya area South became one of the portraits area where the existing potential has not been capable of prospering society. Tri Dharma College not only define the College as a pioneer implementation of education and research to improve the quality of human resources but also demanded to be a pioneer in the development through the concept of public service. Bandung Institute of Technology as one of the institutions of higher education to implement community service system through collaborative community work program "one of the university community" as one approach to developing villages. The program is based Community Service, where students are not only required to be able to take part in community service, but also able to develop a community development strategy that is comprehensive and integrity in cooperation with government agencies and non-government related as a real form of effort alignment potential, position and role from various parties. Areas of western Java in particular have high poverty rates and disparity. On the other hand, there are three fundamental pillars in the development of rural communities, namely economic development, community development, and the integrated infrastructure development. These pillars require the commitment of all components of community, including the students and colleges for upholding success. College’s community program is one of the approaches in the development of rural communities. ITB is committed to implement as one form of student community service as community-college programs that integrate all elements of the community which is called Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Thematic.

Keywords: development in rural area, collaborative, student community service, Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Thematic ITB

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Authors: José Batista de Souza Neto

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This research project has as its theme the implementation of public policies to support micro and small businesses (MSEs). The research problem defined was how public policies for access to markets that drive the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs are implemented. The general objective of this research is to understand the process of implementing a public policy to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs by the Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises of the State of São Paulo (SEBRAESP). Public policies are constituent elements of entrepreneurship ecosystems that influence the creation and development of ventures from the action of the entrepreneur. At the end of the research, it is expected to achieve the results for the following specific objectives: (a) understand how the entrepreneurial ecosystem of MSEs is constituted; (b) understand how market access public policies for MSEs are designed and implemented; (c) understand SEBRAE's role in the entrepreneurship ecosystem; and (d) offer an action plan and monitor its execution up to march, 2023. The field research will be conducted based on Action Research, with a qualitative and longitudinal approach to the data. Data collection will be based on narratives produced since 2019 when the decision to implement Comércio Brasil program, a public policy focused on generating market access for 4280 MSEs yearly, was made. The narratives will be analyzed by the method of document analysis and narrative analysis. It is expected that the research will consolidate the relevance of public policies to market access for MSEs and the role of SEBRAE as a protagonist in the implementation of these public policies in the entrepreneurship ecosystem will be demonstrated. Action research is recognized as an intervention method, it is expected that this research will corroborate its role in supporting management processes.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship ecosystem, public policies, SEBRAE, action research

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Authors: Eglė Bilevičiūtė, Vidmantas Egidijus Kurapka, Snieguolė Matulienė, Sigutė Stankevičiūtė

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The Council of European Union (EU Council) has stressed on several occasions the need for a concerted, comprehensive and effective solution to delinquency problems in EU communities. In the context of establishing a European Forensic Science Area and the development of forensic science infrastructure in Europe, EU Council believes that forensic science can significantly contribute to the efficiency of law enforcement, crime prevention and combating crimes. Lithuanian scientists have consolidated to implement a project named “Conception of the vision for European Forensic Science 2020 implementation in Lithuania” (the project is funded for the period of 1 March 2014 - 31 December 2016) with the objective to create a conception of implementation of the vision for European Forensic Science 2020 in Lithuania by 1) evaluating the current status of Lithuania’s forensic system and opportunities for its improvement; 2) analysing achievements and knowledge in investigation of crimes listed in conclusions of EU Council on the vision for European Forensic Science 2020 including creation of a European Forensic Science Area and the development of forensic science infrastructure in Europe: trafficking in human beings, organised crime and terrorism; 3) analysing conceptions of criminalistics, which differ in different EU member states due to the variety of forensic schools, and finding means for their harmonization. Apart from the conception of implementation of the vision for European Forensic Science 2020 in Lithuania, the project is expected to suggest provisions that will be relevant to other EU countries as well. Consequently, the presented conception of implementation of vision for European Forensic Science 2020 in Lithuania could initiate a project for a common vision of European Forensic Science and contribute to the development of the EU as an area of freedom, security and justice. The article presents main ideas of the project of the conception of the vision for European Forensic Science 2020 of EU Council and analyses its legal background, as well as prospects of and challenges for its implementation in Lithuania and the EU.

Keywords: EUROVIFOR, standardization, vision for European Forensic Science 2020, Lithuania

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Authors: Nika GorgoShadze, Anri Shainidze, Bachuki Katamadze

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In parallel to the development of the digital economy in the world, electronic commerce is also widely developing. Internet and ICT (information and communication technology) have created new business models as well as promoted to market consolidation, sustainability of the business environment, creation of digital economy, facilitation of business and trade, business dynamism, higher competitiveness, etc. Electronic commerce involves internet technology which is sold via the internet. Nowadays electronic commerce is a field of business which is used by leading world brands very effectively. After the research of internet market in Georgia, it was found out that quality of internet is high in Tbilisi and is low in the regions. The internet market of Tbilisi can be evaluated as high-speed internet service, competitive and cost effective internet market. Development of electronic commerce in Georgia is connected with organizational and methodological as well as legal problems. First of all, a legal framework should be developed which will regulate responsibilities of organizations. The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development will play a crucial role in creating legal framework. Ministry of Justice will also be involved in this process as well as agency for data exchange. Measures should be taken in order to make electronic commerce in Georgia easier. Business companies may be offered some model to get low-cost and complex service. A service centre should be created which will provide all kinds of online-shopping. This will be a rather interesting innovation which will facilitate online-shopping in Georgia. Development of electronic business in Georgia requires modernized infrastructure of telecommunications (especially in the regions) as well as solution of institutional and socio-economic problems. Issues concerning internet availability and computer skills are also important.

Keywords: electronic commerce, internet market, electronic business, information technology, information society, electronic systems

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Authors: Gulnaz Erkomaishvili

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Introduction: The pandemic and the current economic crisis have created problems for entrepreneurship and, therefore for start-up entrepreneurs. The paper presents the challenges of start-up entrepreneurs in Georgia in the time of pandemic and the analysis of the state economic policy measures. Despite many problems, the study found that in 54.2% of start-ups surveyed under the pandemic, innovation opportunities were growing. It can be stated that the pandemic was a good opportunity to increase the innovative capacity of the enterprise. 52% of the surveyed start-up entrepreneurs managed to adapt to the current situation and increase the sale of their products/services through remote channels. As for the assessment of state support measures by start-up entrepreneurs, a large number of Georgian start-ups do not assess the measures implemented by the state positively. Methodology: The research process uses methods of analysis and synthesis, quantitative and qualitative, interview/survey, grouping, relative and average values, graphing, comparison, data analysis, and others. Main Findings: Studies have shown that for the start-up entrepreneurs, the main problem remains: inaccessible funding, workers' qualifications gap, inflation, taxes, regulation, political instability, inadequate provision of infrastructure, amount of taxes, and other factors. Conclusions: The state should take the following measures to support business start-ups: create an attractive environment for investment, availability of soft loans, creation of an insurance system, infrastructure development, increase the effectiveness of tax policy (simplicity of the tax system, clarity, optimal tax level ); promote export growth (develop strategy for opening up international markets, build up a broad marketing network, etc.).

Keywords: start-up entrepreneurs, startups, start-up entrepreneurs support programs, start-up entrepreneurs support economic policy

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Authors: Anatoliy Kharkhurin

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Modifications that the prefix ‘trans-‘ refers to start within a person. This presentation focuses on the transpersonal that goes beyond the individual (trans-personal) to encompass wider aspects of humanities, specifically peak experience as a culminating stage of the creative act. It proposes a model according to which the peak experience results from a harmonious vibration of four spheres, which transcend an individual’s capacities and bring one to a qualitatively different level of experience. Each sphere represents an aspect of creative activity: superconscious, intellectual, emotive and active. Each sphere corresponds to one of four creative functions: authenticity, novelty, aesthetics, and utility, respectively. The creative act starts in the superconscious sphere: the supreme pleasure of Creation is reflected in creative pleasure, which is realized in creative will. These three instances serve as a source of force axes, which penetrate other spheres, and in place of infiltration establish restrictive, expansive, and integrative principles, respectively; the latter balances the other two and ensures a harmonious vibration within a sphere. This Hegelian-like triad is realized within each sphere in the form of creative capacities. The intellectual sphere nurtures capacities to invent and to elaborate, which are integrated by capacity to conceptualize. The emotive sphere nurtures satiation and restrictive capacities integrated by capacity to balance. The active sphere nurtures goal orientation and stabilization capacities integrated by capacity for self-expression. All four spheres vibrate within each other – the superconscious sphere being in the core of the structure followed by intellectual, emotive, and active spheres, respectively – thereby reflecting the path of creative production. If the spheres vibrate in-phase, their amplitudes amplify the creative energy; if in antiphase – the amplitudes reduce the creative energy. Thus, creative act is perceived as continuum with perfectly harmonious vibration within and between the spheres on one side and perfectly disharmonious vibration on the other.

Keywords: creativity, model, transpersonal, peak experience

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Authors: John E. Muñoz, Jose F. Lopez, David S. Lopez

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder that affects 1 out of 5 Colombian children, converting into a real public health problem in the country. Conventional treatments such as medication and neuropsychological therapy have been proved to be insufficient in order to decrease high incidence levels of ADHD in the principal Colombian cities. This work demonstrates a design and development of a videogame that uses a brain computer interface not only to serve as an input device but also as a tool to monitor neurophysiologic signal. The video game named “The Harvest Challenge” puts a cultural scene of a Colombian coffee grower in its context, where a player can use his/her avatar in three mini games created in order to reinforce four fundamental aspects: i) waiting ability, ii) planning ability, iii) ability to follow instructions and iv) ability to achieve objectives. The details of this collaborative designing process of the multimedia tool according to the exact clinic necessities and the description of interaction proposals are presented through the mental stages of attention and relaxation. The final videogame is presented as a tool for sustained attention training in children with ADHD using as an action mechanism the neuromodulation of Beta and Theta waves through an electrode located in the central part of the front lobe of the brain. The processing of an electroencephalographic signal is produced automatically inside the videogame allowing to generate a report of the theta/beta ratio evolution - a biological marker, which has been demonstrated to be a sufficient measure to discriminate of children with deficit and without.

Keywords: BCI, neuromodulation, ADHD, videogame, neurofeedback, theta/beta ratio

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Authors: Luiz G. Véras, Felipe L. Medeiros, Lamartine F. Guimarães

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This work approaches the automatic planning of paths for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) through the application of the Rapidly Exploring Random Tree Star-Smart (RRT*-Smart) algorithm. RRT*-Smart is a sampling process of positions of a navigation environment through a tree-type graph. The algorithm consists of randomly expanding a tree from an initial position (root node) until one of its branches reaches the final position of the path to be planned. The algorithm ensures the planning of the shortest path, considering the number of iterations tending to infinity. When a new node is inserted into the tree, each neighbor node of the new node is connected to it, if and only if the extension of the path between the root node and that neighbor node, with this new connection, is less than the current extension of the path between those two nodes. RRT*-smart uses an intelligent sampling strategy to plan less extensive routes by spending a smaller number of iterations. This strategy is based on the creation of samples/nodes near to the convex vertices of the navigation environment obstacles. The planned paths are smoothed through the application of the method called quintic pythagorean hodograph curves. The smoothing process converts a route into a dynamically-viable one based on the kinematic constraints of the vehicle. This smoothing method models the hodograph components of a curve with polynomials that obey the Pythagorean Theorem. Its advantage is that the obtained structure allows computation of the curve length in an exact way, without the need for quadratural techniques for the resolution of integrals.

Keywords: path planning, path smoothing, Pythagorean hodograph curve, RRT*-Smart

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Authors: Rolando Barradas, Salviano Soares, António Valente, José Alberto Lencastre, Paulo Oliveira

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This article reviews the Ant Colony Optimization, a nature-inspired algorithm, and its implementation in the Scratch/m-Block programming environment. The Ant Colony Optimization is a part of Swarm Intelligence-based algorithms and is a subset of biological-inspired algorithms. Starting with a problem in which one has a maze and needs to find its path to the center and return to the starting position. This is similar to an ant looking for a path to a food source and returning to its nest. Starting with the implementation of a simple wall follower simulator, the proposed solution uses a dynamic graphical interface that allows young students to observe the ants’ movement while the algorithm optimizes the routes to the maze’s center. Things like interface usability, Data structures, and the conversion of algorithmic language to Scratch syntax were some of the details addressed during this implementation. This gives young students an easier way to understand the computational concepts of sequences, loops, parallelism, data, events, and conditionals, as they are used through all the implemented algorithms. Future work includes the simulation results with real contest mazes and two different pheromone update methods and the comparison with the optimized results of the winners of each one of the editions of the contest. It will also include the creation of a Digital Twin relating the virtual simulator with a real micromouse in a full-size maze. The first test results show that the algorithm found the same optimized solutions that were found by the winners of each one of the editions of the Micromouse contest making this a good solution for maze pathfinding.

Keywords: nature inspired algorithms, scratch, micromouse, problem-solving, computational thinking

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Authors: J. Szolomicki, H. Golasz-Szolomicka

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The architectural and structural analysis of selected high-rise buildings in Tokyo is presented in this paper. The capital of Japan is the most densely populated city in the world and moreover is located in one of the most active seismic zones. The combination of these factors has resulted in the creation of sophisticated designs and innovative engineering solutions, especially in the field of design and construction of high-rise buildings. The foreign architectural studios (as, for Jean Nouvel, Kohn Pedesen Associates, Skidmore, Owings & Merill) which specialize in the designing of skyscrapers, played a major role in the development of technological ideas and architectural forms for such extraordinary engineering structures. Among the projects completed by them, there are examples of high-rise buildings that set precedents for future development. An essential aspect which influences the design of high-rise buildings is the necessity to take into consideration their dynamic reaction to earthquakes and counteracting wind vortices. The need to control motions of these buildings, induced by the force coming from earthquakes and wind, led to the development of various methods and devices for dissipating energy which occur during such phenomena. Currently, Japan is a global leader in seismic technologies which safeguard seismic influence on high-rise structures. Due to these achievements the most modern skyscrapers in Tokyo are able to withstand earthquakes with a magnitude of over seven degrees at the Richter scale. Damping devices applied are of a passive, which do not require additional power supply or active one which suppresses the reaction with the input of extra energy. In recent years also hybrid dampers were used, with an additional active element to improve the efficiency of passive damping.

Keywords: core structures, damping system, high-rise building, seismic zone

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Authors: A. F. Alves, L. Schmidt, J. Ferrao

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Portugal is one of the more vulnerable European countries to the impacts of climate change. These include: temperature increase; coastal sea level rise; desertification and drought in the countryside; and frequent and intense extreme weather events. Hence, adaptation strategies to climate change are of great importance. This is what was addressed by ClimAdaPT.Local. This policy-oriented project had the main goal of developing 26 Municipal Adaptation Strategies for Climate Change, through the identification of local specific present and future vulnerabilities, the training of municipal officials, and the engagement of local communities. It is intended to be replicated throughout the whole territory and to stimulate the creation of a national network of local adaptation in Portugal. Supported by methodologies and tools specifically developed for this project, our paper is based on the surveys, training and stakeholder engagement workshops implemented at municipal level. In an 'adaptation-as-learning' process, these tools functioned as a social-learning platform and an exercise in knowledge and policy co-production. The results allowed us to explore the nature of local vulnerabilities and the exposure of gaps in the context of reappraisal of both future climate change adaptation opportunities and possible dysfunctionalities in the governance arrangements of municipal Portugal. Development issues are highlighted when we address the sectors and social groups that are both more sensitive and more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. We argue that a pluralistic dialogue and a common framing can be established between them, with great potential for transformational adaptation. Observed climate change, present-day climate variability and future expectations of change are great societal challenges which should be understood in the context of the sustainable development agenda.

Keywords: adaptation, ClimAdaPT.Local, climate change, Portugal, sustainable development

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Authors: Raymond Ndhlovu, Jen Snowball

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It has long been known that the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) have the potential to aid in physical, social and economic renewal and regeneration of towns and cities, hence their importance when dealing with regional development. The CCIs can act as a catalyst for activity and investment in an area because the ‘consumption’ of cultural activities will lead to the activities and use of other non-cultural activities, for example, hospitality development including restaurants and bars, as well as public transport. ‘Consumption’ of cultural activities also leads to employment creation, and diversification. However, CCIs tend to be clustered, especially around large cities. There is, moreover, a case for development of CCIs around smaller towns and cities, because they do not rely on high technology inputs, and long supply chains, and, their direct link to rural and isolated places makes them vital in regional development. However, there is currently little research on how to craft cultural policy for regions with smaller towns and cities. Using the Sarah Baartman District (SBDM) in South Africa as an example, this paper describes the process of developing cultural policy for a region that has potential, and existing, cultural clusters, but currently no one, coherent policy relating to CCI development. The SBDM was chosen as a case study because it has no large cities, but has some CCI clusters, and has identified them as potential drivers of local economic development. The process of developing cultural policy is discussed in stages: Identification of what resources are present; including human resources, soft and hard infrastructure; Identification of clusters; Analysis of CCI labour markets and ownership patterns; Opportunities and challenges from the point of view of CCIs and other key stakeholders; Alignment of regional policy aims with provincial and national policy objectives; and finally, design and implementation of a regional cultural policy.

Keywords: cultural and creative industries, economic impact, intrinsic value, regional development

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Authors: Pascal Rey, Anaïs Weber

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Many mining projects are being developed in Africa the last decades. Due to the economic opportunities they offer, these projects result in a massive and rapid influx of migrants to the surrounding area. In areas where central government representation is low and local administration lack financial resources, urban development is often anarchical, beyond all public control. It leads to socio-spatial segregation, insecurity and the risk of social conflicts rising. Aware that their economic development is very correlated with local situation, mining companies get more and more involved in regional planning in setting up tools and Strategic Directions document. One of the commonly used tools in this regard is the “Influx Management Plan”. It consists in looking at the region’s absorption capacities in order to ensure its coherent development and by developing several urban centers than one macrocephalic city. It includes many other measures such as urban governance support, skills transfer, creation of strategic guidelines, financial support (local taxes, mining taxes, development funds etc.) local development projects. Through various examples of mining projects in Guinea, A country that is host to many large mining projects, we will look at the implications of regional and urban planning of which mining companies are key playor as well as public authorities. While their investment capacity offers advantages and accelerates development, their actions raise questions of the unilaterality of interests and local governance. By interfering in public affairs are mining companies not increasing the risk of central and local government shirking their responsibilities in terms of regional development, or even calling their legitimacy into question? Is such public-private collaboration really sustainable for the region as a whole and for all stakeholders?

Keywords: Africa, guinea, mine, urban planning

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Authors: Ashley DelCorno

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GEM Anscombe’s 1958 essay Modern Moral Philosophy and the tradition of virtue ethics that followed has given rise to the restoration (or, more plainly, the resurrection) of Aristotle as something of an authority figure. Alisdair MacIntyre and Martha Nussbaum are proponents, for example, not just of Aristotle’s relevancy but also of his apparent implicit authority. That said, it’s not clear that the schema imagined by virtue ethicists accurately describes moral life or that it does not inadvertently work to impoverish genuine decision-making. If the label ‘virtue’ is categorically denied to some groups (while arbitrarily afforded to others), it can only turn on itself, thus rendering ridiculous its own premise. Likewise, as an inescapable feature of virtue ethics, Aristotelean binaries like ‘virtue/vice’ and ‘voluntary/involuntary’ offer up false dichotomies that may seriously compromise an agent’s ability to conceptualize choices that are truly free and rooted in meaningful criteria. Here, this topic is analyzed through a feminist lens predicated on the known paradoxes of patriarchy. The work of feminist theorists Jacqui Alexander, Katharine Angel, Simone de Beauvoir, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Imani Perry, and Amia Srinivasan serves as important guideposts, and the argument here is built from a key tenet of black feminist thought regarding scarcity and possibility. Above all, it’s clear that though the philosophical tradition of virtue ethics presents itself as recovering the place of agency in ethics, its premises possess crippling limitations toward the achievement of this goal. These include, most notably, virtue ethics’ binding analysis of history, as well as its axiomatic attachment to obligatory clauses, problematic reading-in of Aristotle and arbitrary commitment to predetermined and competitively patriarchal ideas of what counts as a virtue.

Keywords: feminist history, the limits of utopic imagination, curatorial creation, truth, virtue, freedom

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Authors: Mariam Dammak, Yosra Makni Fourati, Rania Mnejja

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This paper aims to highlight the conditions and the context of the birth and the implementation of the Chartered Certified Accountants in Tunisian universities. For this purpose, we present an historical overview of the establishment of institutions that started the courses of Chartered accounting, including the Institute of Higher Commercial Studies (IHEC) of Carthage, the Higher Institute of Management (ISG) of Tunis, the Faculty of Economics and Management (FSEG) of Sfax and later the Higher Institute of Accounting and Administration of Enterprises (ISCAE) of Tunis. Then, it would be relevant to examine the changes, carried out by the Tunisian government, of the regulations in force relating to this academic path, from its birth during the 1970s until nowadays. We conducted a documentary study (archival documents, official documents, etc.) accompanied by semi-structured interviews with key actors (accountants, academics, officials of the Ministry of Higher Education) who marked the history of the studies of Tunisian charted accounting. Addressing this research question in Tunisia may contribute to the literature in three ways. First, previous researches dealing with the history of charted accounting-education are scared. Second, this paper allows us to understand the circumstances and context of the birth and teaching of accounting in Tunisia. Eventually, it helps to position the accounting curriculum in relation to international requirements. In fact, the training of accountants is closely related to the practice of the profession, regulated by the Order of Chartered Accountants in Tunisia (OECT). This Order is a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), since its creation in the 80s, has obligations to align with international requirements, particularly those relating to higher education, set up in 2005 and updated in 2015 (International Standard Education: IES).

Keywords: accounting history, chartered certified accountants, higher accounting education, Tunisian context

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Authors: Gülay Dalgıç, Gildis Tachir

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Architectural design studios are ambiencein where architecture design is realized as a palpable product in architectural education. In the design studios that the architect candidate will use in the design processthe information, the methods of approaching the design problem, the solution proposals, etc., are set uptogetherwith the studio coordinators. The architectural design process, on the other hand, is complex and uncertain.Candidate architects work in a process that starts with abstre and ill-defined problems. This process starts with the generation of alternative solutions with the help of representation tools, continues with the selection of the appropriate/satisfactory solution from these alternatives, and then ends with the creation of an acceptable design/result product. In the studio ambience, many designs and thought relationships are evaluated, the most important step is the early design phase. In the early design phase, the first steps of converting the information are taken, and converted information is used in the constitution of the first design decisions. This phase, which positively affects the progress of the design process and constitution of the final product, is complex and fuzzy than the other phases of the design process. In this context, the aim of the study is to investigate the effects of face-to-face learning model and e-learning model on the early design phase. In the study, the early design phase was defined by literature research. The data of the defined early design phase criteria were obtained with the feedback graphics created for the architect candidates who performed e-learning in the first year of architectural education and continued their education with the face-to-face learning model. The findings of the data were analyzed with the common graphics program. It is thought that this research will contribute to the establishment of a contemporary architectural design education model by reflecting the evaluation of the data and results on architectural education.

Keywords: education modeling, architecture education, design education, design process

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Authors: Ajmal Hussain

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In Indian music parlance, Rasa denotes a distinct aesthetic experience that builds up in the mind of the listeners while listening to a piece of Indian classical music. The distinction of the experience is rooted in the concept that it gives rise to an enhanced awareness about the Self or God and creates a mental state detached from mundane issues of everyday life. The theory of Rasa was initially proposed in the context of theatre but became a part of Indian musicological discourse roughly two thousand years ago, however, to this day, it remains shrouded in mystery due to its religious associations and connotations. This paper attempts to demystify the theory of Rasa in the light of available scientific knowledge fund particularly in Brain and Mind sciences. The paper initially describes the religious context of the theory of Rasa and then discusses its classical formulations by Bharata and Abhinavagupta including the steps and stages laid down by the latter to explain the creation of musical experience. The classical formulations are then interpreted with reference to the scientific knowledge fund about the human mind and mechanics of perception. The study uses the model of human mind as proposed by Portuguese-American neuroscientist Antonio Damasio in his theory ‘A Nesting Principle’. On the basis of the findings by Damasio, the paper interprets the experience of Rasa from a scientific perspective and clarifies the sequence of steps and stages involved in the making of musical experience. The study concludes that although the classical formulations of Rasa identify key aspects of musical experience, the association of Rasa with religion is misleading. The association with religion does not depend upon musical stimulus but the intellectual orientation of the listener. It further establishes that the function of Rasa is more profound as, from an evolutionary perspective, it can be seen as a catalyst for higher consciousness.

Keywords: aesthetic, consciousness, music, Rasa

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Authors: Wafeek Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed

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In the era of globalization and openness informational. Anyone who thinks about innovation in the earth population in Islam in our contemporary reality, he will find that it is not destined to its civilized extension to last. The purpose of the research is a trial to reach a realistic vision for creative, innovative and intellectual thought for the earth population in Islam as an instrument to Confrontation and observe the changes that have affected in the architecture of the land during different eras. Through knowing the controls of the ruling legitimacy(that served as definitions and laws which formulate its features) and using customs, traditions, and conventions as a telescope for the earth population in Islam, It explained the impact of them on features of creative formation for the architecture of the land in our contemporary reality. The study shows a modern vision to identify innovation in the earth population in Islam. As well as reformulating its mental image and monitoring its changes in Islamic heritage cities. This will be done through a two main branches: firstly, set forth a theory represented in studying creative concepts which formulate the population of the earth in Islam. Such as initiative and responsibility for reviving the dead land, the lane [alley] as formation unit and social solidarity,… Etc.. The second branch is preparing a practical, critical vision for innovative conceptual thought for the architecture of the land of Islam, through studying the development of a traditional Islamic city., The conceptual thought of making the birth festival ["Al-Refaee"] and its emulation for governing roles in the traditional city building. The research concludes The necessity of forming the suggested a creative vision for identifying how to re-form the conceptual for our contemporary population of the earth. It poses an important question which is how to return to creativity in the architecture of the land of Islam in our built environments.

Keywords: innovation and creation, architecture, the land in Islam, criticism of design

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Authors: Zubair Ahmad

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The aim of this study is to analyze the risks factors and issues with waste management in developing nations as barriers. Depending on their content and categorization, wastes are managed differently. Waste management strategies differ for liquid, solid, and organic wastes. The final stage of trash disposal entails procedures like burning, interment, recycling, and treatment. Due to the rising creation of solid waste, the growing urban population has a magnified impact on the environment and public health. All regions, but especially informal urban neighborhoods, tribal villages, and official rural settlements have a protracted backlog in waste services. Another significant impediment seen in the developing world is a lack of education and awareness of effective waste-management practices. Unauthorized dumpsites pose a serious risk to the environment since they could contain dangerous elements like radioactive, infectious, and toxic waste. Wealthier individuals are more inclined to think that their actions will have an impact on environmental problems and to act to address them. Waste managers need to take action to make sure the public is given information that is consistent with what they currently know. The results of the data analysis conducted with the aid of the various methodologies discussed in the preceding chapter are presented in this chapter by the researcher. Descriptive analysis has been used in research to determine whether or not there are relationships between variables and to determine the importance of the variables. According to a survey, there are no efforts being made to lessen the odor that garbage dump sites emit (in terms of treating or recycling the material placed at dumpsite) This might be the case since respondents only commented on the waste management conditions in their immediate surroundings and may not have fully understood the steps taken to resolve this issue.

Keywords: risk factor of waste material, lack of awareness, developing countries struggles, waste management

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