Search results for: social support networks

Authors: Kinneret Segal

Abstract:

Background: The work of a midwife is emotionally challenging, both positively and negatively. Midwives share moments of joy when a baby is welcomed into the world and also attend difficult events of loss and trauma. The relationship that develops with the maternity is the essence of the midwife's care, and it is a fundamental source of motivation and professional satisfaction. This close relationship with the maternity may be used as a double-edged sword in cases of exposure to traumatic events at birth. Birth problems, exposure to emergencies and traumatic events, and loss can affect the professional quality of life and the Compassion satisfaction of the midwife. It seems that the issue of traumatic experiences in the work of midwives has not been sufficiently explored. Aim: The present study examined the associations between exposure to traumatic events, personal resilience and post-traumatic symptoms, professional quality of life, and organizational commitment among midwifery nurses in Israeli hospitals. Methods: 131 midwives from three hospitals in the country's center in Israel participated in this study. The data were collected during 2021 using a self-report questionnaire that examined sociodemographic characteristics, the degree of exposure to traumatic events in the delivery room, personal resilience, post-traumatic symptoms, professional quality of life, and organizational commitment. Results: The three most difficult traumatic events for the midwives were death or fear of death of a newborn, death or fear of the death of a mother, and a quiet birth. The higher the frequency of exposure to traumatic events, the more numerous and intense the onset of post-trauma symptoms. The more numerous and powerful the post-trauma symptoms, the higher the level of professional burnout and/or compassion fatigue, and the lower the level of compassion satisfaction. High levels of compassion satisfaction and/or low professional burnout were expressed in a heightened sense of organizational commitment. Personal resilience, country of birth, traumatic symptoms, and organizational commitment predicted satisfaction from compassion. Conclusions: Midwives are exposed to traumatic events associated with dissatisfaction and impairment of the professional quality of life that accompanies burnout and compassion fatigue. Exposure to traumatic events leads to the appearance of traumatic symptoms, a decrease in organizational commitment, and psychological and mental well-being. The issue needs to be addressed by implementing training programs, organizational support, and policies to improving well-being and quality of care among midwives.

Keywords: organizational commitment, traumatic experiences, personal resilience, quality of life

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Authors: Nathalie Stephenne, Mathieu Veschkens, Stéphane Palm, Christophe Charlemagne, Jacques Defoux

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According to Europe’s first River basin Management Plans (RBMPs), 56% of European rivers failed to achieve the good status targets of the Water Framework Directive WFD. In Central European countries such as Belgium, even more than 80% of rivers failed to achieve the WFD quality targets. Although the RBMP’s should reduce the stressors and improve water body status, their potential to address multiple stress situations is limited due to insufficient knowledge on combined effects, multi-stress, prioritization of measures, impact on ecology and implementation effects. This paper describes a webGis prototype developed for the Walloon administration to improve the communication and the management of sediment dredging actions carried out in rivers and lakes in the frame of RBMPs. A large number of stakeholders are involved in the management of rivers and lakes in Wallonia. They are in charge of technical aspects (client and dredging operators, organizations involved in the treatment of waste…), management (managers involved in WFD implementation at communal, provincial or regional level) or policy making (people responsible for policy compliance or legislation revision). These different kinds of stakeholders need different information and data to cover their duties but have to interact closely at different levels. Moreover, information has to be shared between them to improve the management quality of dredging operations within the ecological system. In the Walloon legislation, leveling dredged sediments on banks requires an official authorization from the administration. This request refers to spatial information such as the official land use map, the cadastral map, the distance to potential pollution sources. The production of a collective geodatabase can facilitate the management of these authorizations from both sides. The proposed internet system integrates documents, data input, integration of data from disparate sources, map representation, database queries, analysis of monitoring data, presentation of results and cartographic visualization. A prototype of web application using the API geoviewer chosen by the Geomatic department of the SPW has been developed and discussed with some potential users to facilitate the communication, the management and the quality of the data. The structure of the paper states the why, what, who and how of this communication tool.

Keywords: sediments, web application, GIS, rivers management

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Authors: Jacqueline M. Dias, Amina A Khowaja

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Clinical education is one of the most important components of a nursing curriculum as it develops the students’ cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills. Clinical teaching ensures the integration of knowledge into practice. As the numbers of students increase in the field of nursing coupled with the faculty shortage, clinical preceptors are the best choice to ensure student learning in the clinical settings. The clinical preceptor role has been introduced in the undergraduate nursing programme. In Pakistan, this role emerged due to a faculty shortage. Initially, two clinical preceptors were hired. This study will explore clinical preceptors views and experiences of precepting Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) students in an undergraduate program. A case study design was used. As case studies explore a single unit of study such as a person or very small number of subjects; the two clinical preceptors were fundamental to the study and served as a single case. Qualitative data were obtained through an iterative process using in depth interviews and written accounts from reflective journals that were kept by the clinical preceptors. The findings revealed that the clinical preceptors were dedicated to their roles and responsibilities. Another, key finding was that clinical preceptors’ prior knowledge and clinical experience were valuable assets to perform their role effectively. The clinical preceptors found their new role innovative and challenging; it was stressful at the same time. Findings also revealed that in the clinical agencies there were unclear expectations and role ambiguity. Furthermore, clinical preceptors had difficulty integrating theory into practice in the clinical area and they had difficulty in giving feedback to the students. Although this study is localized to one university, generalizations can be drawn from the results. The key findings indicate that the role of a clinical preceptor is demanding and stressful. Clinical preceptors need preparation prior to precepting students on clinicals. Also, institutional support is fundamental for their acceptance. This paper focuses on the views and experiences of clinical preceptors undertaking a newly established role and resonates with the literature. The following recommendations are drawn to strengthen the role of the clinical preceptors: A structured program for clinical preceptors is needed along with mentorship. Clinical preceptors should be provided with formal training in teaching and learning with emphasis on clinical teaching and giving feedback to students. Additionally, for improving integration of theory into practice, clinical modules should be provided ahead of the clinical. In spite of all the challenges, ten more clinical preceptors have been hired as the faculty shortage continues to persist.

Keywords: baccalaureate nursing education, clinical education, clinical preceptors, nursing curriculum

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Authors: Bilel Chalghaf, Mathieu Varin

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Forest characterization in Quebec, Canada, is usually assessed based on photo-interpretation at the stand level. For species identification, this often results in a lack of precision. Very high spatial resolution imagery, such as DigitalGlobe, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), have the potential to overcome the limitations of aerial imagery. To date, few studies have used that data to map a large number of species at the tree level using machine learning techniques. The main objective of this study is to map 11 individual high tree species ( > 17m) at the tree level using an object-based approach in the broadleaf forest of Kenauk Nature, Quebec. For the individual tree crown segmentation, three canopy-height models (CHMs) from LiDAR data were assessed: 1) the original, 2) a filtered, and 3) a corrected model. The corrected CHM gave the best accuracy and was then coupled with imagery to refine tree species crown identification. When compared with photo-interpretation, 90% of the objects represented a single species. For modeling, 313 variables were derived from 16-band WorldView-3 imagery and LiDAR data, using radiance, reflectance, pixel, and object-based calculation techniques. Variable selection procedures were employed to reduce their number from 313 to 16, using only 11 bands to aid reproducibility. For classification, a global approach using all 11 species was compared to a semi-hierarchical hybrid classification approach at two levels: (1) tree type (broadleaf/conifer) and (2) individual broadleaf (five) and conifer (six) species. Five different model techniques were used: (1) support vector machine (SVM), (2) classification and regression tree (CART), (3) random forest (RF), (4) k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), and (5) linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Each model was tuned separately for all approaches and levels. For the global approach, the best model was the SVM using eight variables (overall accuracy (OA): 80%, Kappa: 0.77). With the semi-hierarchical hybrid approach, at the tree type level, the best model was the k-NN using six variables (OA: 100% and Kappa: 1.00). At the level of identifying broadleaf and conifer species, the best model was the SVM, with OA of 80% and 97% and Kappa values of 0.74 and 0.97, respectively, using seven variables for both models. This paper demonstrates that a hybrid classification approach gives better results and that using 16-band WorldView-3 with LiDAR data leads to more precise predictions for tree segmentation and classification, especially when the number of tree species is large.

Keywords: tree species, object-based, classification, multispectral, machine learning, WorldView-3, LiDAR

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Authors: Yen-Ting Chiu, Chia-Ying Lin, Pei-Hsuan Ho

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New technologies can help solve the problem of labor shortage and the decline of birthrate. Technologies can improve human’s life and reduce the burden on the staff and bring convenience to people. That’s why unmanned retail store X-Store was established in Taiwan to create more valuable services and shopping experiences based on smart retailing. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of unmanned stores, X-Store, on customers’ behavioral intentions. It uses the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model as a basis and adds a perceived value factor to explain customer willingness to use the X-Store. In addition, the study further divided the sample into gender and age groups to compare behavioral differences between different groups. The study collected 214 valid questionnaires through online questionnaires. Using SPSS as a statistical analysis tool, the results of the study show that effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and perceived value have a significant impact on behavioral intention to use X-Store. However, performance expectancy is not significant. This research concludes with managerial implications and suggestions for retail practitioners.

Keywords: perceived value, smart retailing, unmanned store, UTAUT, X-Store

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Authors: Veruska C. Dutra, Afonso R. Aquino

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Since the 1980s, global tourism activity has consolidated worldwide to become an important economic contributor, and consequently, the sociocultural and environmental impacts are starting to become evidenced. This raises the need of discussing about actions for sustainable tourism that should be linked not only to the economy, but also to the environment and social aspects. The work that is going to be presented is part of a doctoral research project in Sciences undertaken at the Sao Paulo University, Brazil. It aims to analyze whether the monitoring of the tourism sector with a focus on sustainability is applicable or not, through those indicators, put in a case study in the Jalapão State Park (JSP) conservation unit, in the state of Tocantins, Brazil. This is a study of an interdisciplinary nature that had the deductive method as its guide. We concluded that the key points of the sustainable tourism, when analyzed with the focal point in environmental indicators, are an important evaluation and quantification tool of that activity in the study locus. It displayed itself as an adequate tool for monitoring, thus decoding, the main environmental impacts that occur in tourism regions and their intensity, which is made possible through analysis, and has the objective to trace ways to prevent and correct the presented impacts.

Keywords: indicators, tourism, sustainability, Jalapão

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Authors: Sonia Butalia, Huong Luu, Alexis Guigue, Karen J. B. Martins, Khanh Vu, Scott W. Klarenbach

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Obesity is associated with significant personal impacts on health and has a substantial economic burden on payers due to increased healthcare use. A contemporary estimate of the healthcare costs associated with obesity at the population level are lacking. This evidence may provide further rationale for weight management strategies. Methods: Adults who underwent a medical procedure between 2012 and 2019 in Alberta, Canada were categorized into the investigational cohort (had body mass index [BMI]-defined class 2 or 3 obesity based on a procedure-associated code) and the control cohort (did not have the BMI procedure-associated code); those who had bariatric surgery were excluded. Characteristics were presented and healthcare costs ($CDN) determined over a 1-year observation period (2019/2020). Logistic regression and a generalized linear model with log link and gamma distribution were used to assess total healthcare costs (comprised of hospitalizations, emergency department visits, ambulatory care visits, physician visits, and outpatient prescription drugs); potential confounders included age, sex, region of residence, and whether the medical procedure was performed within 6-months before the observation period in the partial adjustment, and also the type of procedure performed, socioeconomic status, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and seven obesity-related health conditions in the full adjustment. Cost ratios and estimated cost differences with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported; incremental cost differences within the adjusted models represent referent cases. Results: The investigational cohort (n=220,190) was older (mean age: 53 standard deviation [SD]±17 vs 50 SD±17 years), had more females (71% vs 57%), lived in rural areas to a greater extent (20% vs 14%), experienced a higher overall burden of disease (CCI: 0.6 SD±1.3 vs 0.3 SD±0.9), and were less socioeconomically well-off (material/social deprivation was lower [14%/14%] in the most well-off quintile vs 20%/19%) compared with controls (n=1,955,548). Unadjusted total healthcare costs were estimated to be 1.77-times (95% CI: 1.76, 1.78) higher in the investigational versus control cohort; each healthcare resource contributed to the higher cost ratio. After adjusting for potential confounders, the total healthcare cost ratio decreased, but remained higher in the investigational versus control cohort (partial adjustment: 1.57 [95% CI: 1.57, 1.58]; full adjustment: 1.21 [95% CI: 1.20, 1.21]); each healthcare resource contributed to the higher cost ratio. Among urban-dwelling 50-year old females who previously had non-operative procedures, no procedures performed within 6-months before the observation period, a social deprivation index score of 3, a CCI score of 0.32, and no history of select obesity-related health conditions, the predicted cost difference between those living with and without obesity was $386 (95% CI: $376, $397). Conclusions: If these findings hold for the Canadian population, one would expect an estimated additional $3.0 billion per year in healthcare costs nationally related to BMI-defined obesity (based on an adult obesity rate of 26% and an estimated annual incremental cost of $386 [21%]); incremental costs are higher when obesity-related health conditions are not adjusted for. Results of this study provide additional rationale for investment in interventions that are effective in preventing and treating obesity and its complications.

Keywords: administrative data, body mass index-defined obesity, healthcare cost, real world evidence

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Authors: Chechen Liao, Hung Wen Shaw

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Recently, online impulse buying has been growing rapidly. It has become a major issue of concern and provided a lot of opportunities for online businesses. This study examines the effect of hedonic shopping values on hedonic motivations, and in turn affecting the urge of impulse buying. The study also explores the effects of website quality and the individual characteristics of impulsiveness on the urge of impulse buying. A total of 459 valid questionnaires were collected. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypothesis. This study found that adventure shopping, value shopping, and social shopping have a positive effect on hedonic motivations, which in turn positively affect the urge of impulse buying. Website quality and the individual characteristics of impulsiveness have a positive effect on the urge of impulse buying. The result of this study validates the phenomenon of online impulse buying behavior. This study also suggests that having a good website quality is the most important factor for increasing the likelihood of consumer impulse purchase. The study could serve as a basis for future research regarding online impulse buying behavior.

Keywords: hedonic motivation, hedonic shopping value, impulse buying, impulsiveness, website quality

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Authors: Muzaffar Hussain

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Requests strategies are considered as a part of the speech acts, which are frequently used in everyday communication. Each language provides speech acts to the speakers; therefore, the selection of appropriate form seems more culture-specific rather than language. The present paper investigates the gender-based difference in the use of request strategies by native speakers of Urdu/Punjabi male and female who are learning English as a second language. The data for the present study were collected from 68 graduate students, who are learning English as an L2 in Pakistan. They were given an online close-ended questionnaire, based on Discourse Completion Test (DCT). After analyzing the data, it was found that the L1 male Urdu/Punjabi speakers were inclined to use more direct request strategies while the female Urdu/Punjabi speakers used indirect request strategies. This paper also found that in some situations female participants used more direct strategies than male participants. The present study concludes that the use of request strategies is influenced by culture, social status, and power distribution in a society.

Keywords: gender variation, request strategies, face-threatening, second language pragmatics, language competence

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Authors: Ali Mohammadi

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This study explored the root causes of women's lack of writing in literature by digging into Virginia Woolf's A Room of One’s Own. Virginia Woolf was the pioneer of feminist literary criticism in the 20th century. She was hugely preoccupied, throughout her writing life, with the role of women in history and with the relationship between women and fiction. Besides, she wrote continuously about the difficulties of women's writing and of writing as a woman. This research aims to mirror a number of key arguments concerning women’s issues: the social and economic conditions necessary for writing; the problem of a tradition of women's writing; the concept of a 'female sentence' articulating women's voices and values and the idea of the androgynous aesthetic in which an author would be able to write free from an awareness of their sex as male or female. Woolf was very wary of making any definitive assertions about women's writing, or at least in terms of its style or form. Indeed, much of the essay is taken up with her reflections on the lack of women's writing over the history of English literature. It was concluded that the reason for this absence of female writing does not just spring from the deficiency of genius, but of material circumstances and facilities. Additionally, the demands of the domestic household, the poverty of education available to women, and the laws that denied married women’s ownership of funds or property made it virtually impossible for women to take up writing as a profession.

Keywords: autonomy, facilities, genius, literature, women

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Authors: Ahmad Javid Habib, Tetsuo Kidokoro

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There is an increasing demand for developing urban land to provide better living conditions for all citizens in Afghanistan. Most of the development will involve the acquisition of land. And the current land acquisition method practiced by central government is expropriation, which is a cash-based transaction method that imposes heavy fiscal burden on local municipalities and central government, and it does not protect ownership rights and social equity of landowners besides it relocates the urban poor to remote areas with limited access to jobs and public services. The questionnaire analysis, backed by observations of different case studies in countries where land readjustment is used as a collaborative land development tool indicates that the method plays a key role in valuing landowners’ rights, giving other community members and stakeholders the opportunity to collaboratively implement urban development projects. The practice of the method is reducing the heavy fiscal burden on the local and central governments and is a better option to deal with the current development challenges in Afghanistan.

Keywords: collaboration, land readjustment, master plan, expropriation

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Authors: Rafael Martins Manzano Silva, Jean-Francois Tremong

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Electrification of railway lines allows to increase speed, power, capacity and energetic efficiency of rolling stocks. However, this process of electrification is complex and costly. An electrification project is not just about design of catenary. It also includes installation of structures around electrification, as substation installation, electrical isolation, signalling, telecommunication and civil engineering structures. France has more than 30,000 km of railways, whose only 53% are electrified. The others 47% of railways use diesel locomotive and represent only 10% of the circulation (tons.km). For this reason, a new type of electrification, less expensive than the usual, is requested to enable the modernization of these railways. One solution could be the use of hybrids trains. This technology opens up new opportunities for less expensive infrastructure development such as the partial electrification of railway lines. In a partially electrified railway, the power supply of theses hybrid trains could be made either by the catenary or by the on-board energy storage system (ESS). Thus, the on-board ESS would feed the energetic needs of the train along the non-electrified zones while in electrified zones, the catenary would feed the train and recharge the on-board ESS. This paper’s objective deals with the technical and economic potential identification of partial electrification of railway lines. This study provides different scenarios of electrification by replacing the most expensive places to electrify using on-board ESS. The target is to reduce the cost of new electrification projects, i.e. reduce the cost of electrification infrastructures while not increasing the cost of rolling stocks. In this study, scenarios are constructed in function of the electrification’s cost of each structure. The electrification’s cost varies considerably because of the installation of catenary support in tunnels, bridges and viaducts is much more expensive than in others zones of the railway. These scenarios will be used to describe the power supply system and to choose between the catenary and the on-board energy storage depending on the position of the train on the railway. To identify the influence of each partial electrification scenario in the sizing of the on-board ESS, a model of the railway line and of the rolling stock is developed for a real case. This real case concerns a railway line located in the south of France. The energy consumption and the power demanded at each point of the line for each power supply (catenary or on-board ESS) are provided at the end of the simulation. Finally, the cost of a partial electrification is obtained by adding the civil engineering costs of the zones to be electrified plus the cost of the on-board ESS. The study of the technical and economic potential ends with the identification of the most economically interesting scenario of electrification.

Keywords: electrification, hybrid, railway, storage

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Authors: Sudip Mondal, Biswanath Mondal, Sudit S. Mukhopadhyay, Apurba Dey

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Bioactive materials improve devices for a long lifespan but have mechanical limitations. Mechanical characterization is one of the very important characteristics to evaluate the life span and functionality of the scaffold material. After implantation of scaffold material the primary stage rejection of scaffold occurs due to non biocompatible effect of host body system. The second major problems occur due to the effect of mechanical failure. The mechanical and biocompatibility failure of the scaffold materials can be overcome by the prior evaluation of the scaffold materials. In this study chemically treated Labeo rohita scale is used for synthesizing hydroxyapatite (HAp) biomaterial. Thermo-gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) is carried out to ensure thermal stability. The chemical composition and bond structures of wet ball-milled calcined HAp powder is characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Fish scale derived apatite materials consists of nano-sized particles with Ca/P ratio of 1.71. The biocompatibility through cytotoxicity evaluation and MTT assay are carried out in MG63 osteoblast cell lines. In the cell attachment study, the cells are tightly attached with HAp scaffolds developed in the laboratory. The result clearly suggests that HAp material synthesized in this study do not have any cytotoxic effect, as well as it has a natural binding affinity for mammalian cell lines. The synthesized HAp powder further successfully used to develop porous scaffold material with suitable mechanical property of ~0.8GPa compressive stress, ~1.10 GPa a hardness and ~ 30-35% porosity which is acceptable for implantation in trauma region for animal model. The histological analysis also supports the bio-affinity of processed HAp biomaterials in Wistar rat model for investigating the contact reaction and stability at the artificial or natural prosthesis interface for biomedical function. This study suggests the natural sourced fish scale-derived HAp material could be used as a suitable alternative biomaterial for tissue engineering application in near future.

Keywords: biomaterials, hydroxyapatite, scaffold, mechanical property, tissue engineering

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Authors: Jean C. G. Silva, Kaline N. Ferreira, Rennio F. Sena, Flavio L. H. Silva

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The Prosopis juliflora (called algaroba in Northeastern Region of Brazil) is a species of medium to large size that can reach 18 meters high, being typical of arid and semi-arid regions by to requirement less water to survive; this is a fundamental attribute from its adaptation. It's considered of multiple uses, because the trunk, the fruit, and the algaroba pods are utilized for several purposes, among them, the production of wood from lumber mill, charcoal, alcohol, animal and human consumption, being hence, a culture of economic and social value. The use of waste Prosopis juliflora can be carried out for like pyrolysis and gasification processes, in order to energy production in those regions where it is grown. Thus this study aims to characterize the residue of the algaroba pods and evaluate the kinetic parameters, activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential factor (k0), the devolatilization process through the data obtained from TG/DTG curves with different levels of heating rates. At work was used the heating rates of 5 K.min-1, 10 K.min-1, 15 K.min-1, 20 K.min-1 and 30 K.min-1, in inert nitrogen atmosphere (99.997%) under a flow of 40 ml.min-1. The kinetic parameters were obtained using the methods of Friedman and Ozawa-Flynn-Wall.

Keywords: activation energy, devolatilization, kinetic parameters, waste

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Authors: Na Li, Yunwei Zhang, Yuhong Niu

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The study discussed the patent protections of health system and enterprises in Shanghai. The comparisons of technical distribution and scopes of patent protections between Shanghai health system and enterprises were used by the methods of IPC classification, co-words analysis and visual social network. Results reflected a decreasing order within IPC A61 area, namely A61B, A61K, A61M, and A61F. A61B required to be further investigated. The highest authorized patents A61B17 of A61B of IPC A61 area was found. Within A61B17, fracture fixation, ligament reconstruction, cardiac surgery, and biopsy detection were regarded as common concerned fields by Shanghai health system and enterprises. However, compared with cardiac closure which Shanghai enterprises paid attention to, Shanghai health system was more inclined to blockages and hemostatic tools. The results also revealed that the scopes of patent protections of Shanghai enterprises were relatively centralized. Shanghai enterprises had a series of comprehensive strategies for protecting core patents. In contrast, Shanghai health system was considered to be lack of strategic patent protections for core patents.

Keywords: co-words analysis, IPC classification, patent protection, technical distribution

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Authors: Aber Aboalgasm, Rupert Ward, Ruth Taylor, Jonathan Glazzard

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Teaching art by digital means is a big challenge for the majority of teachers of art and artistic design courses in primary education schools. These courses can clearly identify relationships between art, technology, and creativity in the classroom .The aim of this article is to present a modern way of teaching art, using digital tools in the art classroom in order to improve creative ability in pupils aged between 9 and 11 years; it also presents a conceptual model for creativity based on digital art. The model could be useful for pupils interested in learning drawing and using an e-drawing package, and for teachers who are interested in teaching their students modern digital art, and improving children’s creativity. This model is designed to show the strategy of teaching art through technology, in order for children to learn how to be creative. This will also help education providers to make suitable choices about which technological approaches they should choose to teach students and enhance their creative ability. It is also expected that use of this model will help to develop social interactive qualities that may improve intellectual ability.

Keywords: digital tools, motivation, creative activity, education

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Authors: Ingrid van der Heijden, Kristen Dunkle, Rachel Jewkes

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Background: Emerging literature on prevalence shows that men with disabilities are four more times likely than men without disabilities to experience sexual violence during their lifetime. However, compared to women with disabilities, men with disabilities still have lesser experiences of violence. While empirical evidence on the prevalence of victimization of men with disabilities is emerging, there is scarcer evidence highlighting disabled men’s perpetration of different forms of violence, particularly intimate partner violence. We can assume that men are likely to be both perpetrators and victims of violence, making more complex the causes and risks of violence. Gender norms and disability stigma play important roles in men’s experiences of violence. Men may be stigmatized because of their inability to attain hegemonic masculine ideals of strength, control over women and sexual conquest, which makes them more susceptible to emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Little to no evidence exists of men with disabilities’ experiences of perpetration of intimate partner violence, family violence or community violence. So far studies on male victimization do not succeed to offer contextual evidence that would highlight why and how men with disabilities perpetrate and/or are victims of sexual or other forms of violence. Objective: The overall aim to highlight men with disabilities’ experiences of both victimization and perpetration, and how living up to normative and hegemonic ideals of masculinity and ‘ability’ shape their experiences. It will include: identifying how gender and impairments intersect and shape their experiences of violence; identifying the contexts of and risks for violence; identifying the impacts and consequences of violence on their lives (including mental health impacts), and identifying obstacles and enablers to support and interventions to prevent violence. Methodology: In-depth qualitative interviews with 20 men with disabilities participating in interventions conducted by the What Works Global Programme for violence prevention (DIFD) in Africa and Asia. Men with a range of disabilities will be invited to share their lifetime experiences of violence. Implications for Practice: The data from this study will be used to start thinking about strategies to include men with disabilities in violence prevention strategies for both men and women. Limitations: Because men will be participating in interventions, it is assumed that they will not have severe impairments that hamper their cognitive or physical ability to participate in the intervention activities - and therefore will be able to participate in the in-depth interviews. Of course, this is a limitation of the study as it does not include those men with severe disabilities – measured by the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning - who may be more vulnerable and at higher risk of experiencing violence, and who are less likely to be able to access services and interventions.

Keywords: gender, men with disabilities, perpetration of violence, victimization

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Authors: Yi Shan Wu, Ting Hsuan Wu, Li Wei Cheng, Pei Yu Guo

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Given the fiercely competitive environment, human capital is one of the most valuable assets in a commercial enterprise. Therefore, developing strategies to acquire more talents is crucial. Talents are mainly attracted by both internal and external employer brands as well as by the messages conveyed from the employer image. This not only manifests the importance of a brand and an image of an organization but shows people might be affected by their personal values when assessing an organization as an employer. The goal of the present study is to examine the association between employer brand, employer image, and the likelihood of increasing organizational attractiveness. In addition, we draw from social identity theory to propose value congruence may affect the relationship between employer brand and employer image. Data was collected from those people who only worked less than a year in the industry via an online survey (N=209). The results show that employer image partly mediates the effect of employer brand on organizational attractiveness. In addition, the results also suggest that value congruence does not moderate the relationship between employer brand and employer image. These findings explain why building a good employer brand could enhance organization attractiveness and indicate there should be other factors that may affect employer image building, offering directions for future research.

Keywords: organizational attractiveness, employer brand, employer image, value congruence

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Authors: Yang Wenjuan, Xu Yilun

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Based on the comparative analysis of the relevant evaluation methods of walking environment, this paper selects the combined evaluation method of macro urban morphology analysis and micro urban design quality survey, then investigates and analyzes the walking environment of three rail transit station area in Nanjing to explore the influence factor and internal relation of walkability of rail transit station area. Analysis shows that micro urban design factors have greater impact on the walkability of rail transit station area compared with macro urban morphology factors, the convenience is the key factor in the four aspects of convenience, security, identity and comfortability of the urban design factors, the convenience is not only affected by the block network form, but also related to the quality of the street space. The overall evaluation of walkability comes from the overlapping and regrouping of the walking environment at different levels, but some environmental factors play a leading role. The social attributes of pedestrians also partly influence their walking perception and evaluation.

Keywords: rail transit station area, walkability, evaluation, influence factors

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Authors: Marco Ferretti, Marcello Risitano, Maria Cristina Pietronudo, Lina Ozturk

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A green port is the result of a sustainable long-term strategy adopted by an entire port infrastructure, therefore by the set of actors involved in port activities. The strategy aims to realise the development of sustainable port infrastructure focused on the reduction of negative environmental impacts without jeopardising economic growth. Green technology represents the core tool to implement sustainable solutions, however, they are not a magic bullet. Ports have always been integrated in the local territory affecting the environment in which they operate, therefore, the sustainable strategy should fit with the entire local systems. Therefore, adopting a sustainable strategy means to know how to involve and engage a wide stakeholders’ network (industries, production, markets, citizens, and public authority). The existing research on the topic has not well integrated this perspective with those of sustainability. Research on green ports have mixed the sustainability aspects with those on the maritime industry, neglecting dynamics that lead to the development of the green port phenomenon. We propose an analysis of green ports adopting the lens of ecosystem studies in the field of management. The ecosystem approach provides a way to model relations that enable green solutions and green practices in a port ecosystem. However, due to the local dimension of a port and the port trend on innovation, i.e., sustainable innovation, we draw to a specific concept of ecosystem, those on local innovation systems. More precisely, we explore if a green port is a local innovation system engaged in developing sustainable innovation with a large impact on the territory or merely an innovation adopter. To address this issue, we adopt a comparative case study selecting two innovative ports in Europe: Rotterdam and Genova. The case study is a research method focused on understanding the dynamics in a specific situation and can be used to provide a description of real circumstances. Preliminary results show two different approaches in supporting sustainable innovation: one represented by Rotterdam, a pioneer in competitiveness and sustainability, and the second one represented by Genoa, an example of technology adopter. The paper intends to provide a better understanding of how sustainable innovations are developed and in which manner a network of port and local stakeholder support this process. Furthermore, it proposes a taxonomy of green ports as developers and adopters of sustainable innovation, suggesting also best practices to model relationships that enable the port ecosystem in applying a sustainable strategy.

Keywords: green port, innovation, sustainability, local innovation systems

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Authors: Chang-Yong Kim, Dong-Woo Kim, Whon-Hyun Lee, Yong-Joo Kim, Tae-Won Chung, Kyung-Mi Lee, Han-Sol Kim, Eun-Joo Lee, Euh Duck Jeong

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In the past, together with the annual increase in investment on national R&D projects, the government’s budget investment in FE has steadily maintained. In the case of major developed countries, R&D and its supporting works are distinguished and professionalized in their own right, in so far as having a training system for facilities, equipment operation, and maintenance personnel. In Korea, however, research personnel conduct both research and equipment operation, leading to quantitative shortages of operational manpower and qualitative problems due to insecure employment such as maintenance issues or the loss of effectiveness of necessary equipment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the current status of engineer operated national research FE in Korea based on a 2017 survey results of domestic facilities and to suggest policy implications. A total of 395 research institutes that carried out national R&D projects and registered more than two FE since 2005 were surveyed on-line for two months. The survey showed that 395 non-profit research facilities were operating 45,155 pieces of equipment with 2,211 engineer operated national research FE, meaning that each engineer had to manage 21 items of FE. Among these, 43.9% of the workers were employed in temporary positions, including indefinite term contracts. Furthermore, the salary and treatment of the engineer personnel were relatively low compared to researchers. In short, engineers who exclusively focused on managing and maintaining FE play a very important role in increasing research immersion and obtaining highly reliable research results. Moreover, institutional efforts and government support for securing operators are severely lacking as domestic national R&D policies are mostly focused on researchers. The 2017 survey on FE also showed that 48.1% of all research facilities did not even employ engineers. In order to solve the shortage of the engineer personnel, the government will start the pilot project in 2012, and then only the 'research equipment engineer training project' from 2013. Considering the above, a national long-term manpower training plan that addresses the quantitative and qualitative shortage of operators needs to be established through a study of the current situation. In conclusion, the findings indicate that this should not only include a plan which connects training to employment but also measures the creation of additional jobs by re-defining and re-establishing operator roles and improving working conditions.

Keywords: engineer, Korea, maintenance, operation, research facilities and equipment

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Authors: Ming Wei

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Over the past two decades, Location Based Service (LBS) data have been increasingly applied to urban and transportation studies due to their comprehensiveness and consistency. However, compared to other LBS data including mobile phone data, GPS and social networking platforms, smart card data collected from public transport users have arguably yet to be fully exploited in urban systems analysis. By using five weekdays of passenger travel transaction data taken from go card – Southeast Queensland’s transit smart card – this paper analyses the spatiotemporal distribution of passenger movement with regard to the land use patterns in Brisbane. Work and residential places for public transport commuters were identified after extracting journeys-to-work patterns. Our results show that the locations of the workplaces identified from the go card data and residential suburbs are largely consistent with those that were marked in the land use map. However, the intensity for some residential locations in terms of population or commuter densities do not match well between the map and those derived from the go card data. This indicates that the misalignment between residential areas and workplaces to a certain extent, shedding light on how enhancements to service management and infrastructure expansion might be undertaken.

Keywords: big data, smart card data, travel pattern, land use

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Authors: Sara Fallahi

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This paper reviews the importance of content familiarity of receptive skills and offers solutions to the issue of content unfamiliarity in language learning materials. Presently, language learning materials are mainly comprised of global issues and target language speakers’ culture(s) in receptive skills. This might leadlearners to focus on content rather than the language. As a solution, materials on receptive skills can be developed with a focus on learners’culture and social concerns, especially in the beginner levels of learning. Language learners often learn their target language through the receptive skills of listening and reading before language production ensues through speaking and writing. Students’ journey from receptive skills to productive skills is mainly concentrated on by teachers. There are barriers to language learning, such as time and energy, that can hinder learners’ understanding and ability to build the required background knowledge of the content. This is generated due to learners’ unfamiliarity with the skill’s content. Therefore, materials that improve content familiarity will help learners improve their language comprehension, learning, and usage. This presentation will conclude with practical solutions to help teachers and learners more authentically integrate language and culture to elevate language learning.

Keywords: language learning, listening content, reading content, content familiarity, ESL books, language learning books, cultural familiarity

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Authors: Endrick Barnacin, Jean-Luc Henry, Jack Molinié, Jimmy Nagau, Hélène Delatte, Gérard Lebreton

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Palynology is a field of interest for many disciplines. It has multiple applications such as chronological dating, climatology, allergy treatment, and even honey characterization. Unfortunately, the analysis of a pollen slide is a complicated and time-consuming task that requires the intervention of experts in the field, which is becoming increasingly rare due to economic and social conditions. So, the automation of this task is a necessity. Pollen slides analysis is mainly a visual process as it is carried out with the naked eye. That is the reason why a primary method to automate palynology is the use of digital image processing. This method presents the lowest cost and has relatively good accuracy in pollen retrieval. In this work, we propose a system combining recognition and grouping of pollen. It consists of using a Logistic Model Tree to classify pollen already known by the proposed system while detecting any unknown species. Then, the unknown pollen species are divided using a cluster-based approach. Success rates for the recognition of known species have been achieved, and automated clustering seems to be a promising approach.

Keywords: pollen recognition, logistic model tree, expectation-maximization, local binary pattern

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Authors: Ana B. Carrera-Aguilar , Rodrigo T. Sepulveda-Hirose, Diego A. Bernal-Gurrusquieta, Francisco A. Ramirez Casas

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In recent years, Mexico City has presented high levels of atmospheric pollution; the city is also an example of inequality and poverty that impact metropolitan areas around the world. This combination of social and economic exclusion, coupled with high levels of pollution evidence the loss of well-being among the population. The effect of air pollution on quality of life is an area of study that has been overlooked. The purpose of this study is to find relations between air quality and quality of life in Mexico City through statistical analysis of a regression model and principal component analysis of several atmospheric contaminants (CO, NO₂, ozone, particulate matter, SO₂) and well-being indexes (HDI, poverty, inequality, life expectancy and health care index). The data correspond to official information (INEGI, SEDEMA, and CEPAL) for 2000-2018. Preliminary results show that the Human Development Index (HDI) is affected by the impacts of pollution, and its indicators are reduced in the presence of contaminants. It is necessary to promote a strong interest in this issue in Mexico City. Otherwise, the problem will not only remain but will worsen affecting those who have less and the population well-being in a generalized way.

Keywords: air quality, Mexico City, quality of life, statistics

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Authors: Tuğçe Yavaş Akış

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In recent years, due to an increased use of radioactive materials, radioactive sources are constantly being transported via air, road and ocean ways for medical, industrial, research etc. purposes throughout the world. The quantity of radioactive materials transported all around the world varies from negligible quantities in shipments of consumer products to very large quantities in shipments of irradiated nuclear fuel. Radioactive materials have been less attractive for social science researchers in literature. In this study, it is aimed to discover desired flow of radioactive materials from logistics service quality (LSQ) perspective. In doing so, case study approach will be employed by using secondary data collected from one of the world’s leading transportation companies’ customer care system reports. Movement of radioactive cargoes containing IR-192 and logistics process will be analyzed with the help of logistics service quality dimensions. Based on the case study that will be conducted, interaction between dimensions, the importance of each dimension in desired flow, and their relevance with desired flow of radioactive materials will be explained. This study will bring out the desired flow of radioactive materials transportation and be a guide for all other companies, employees and researchers.

Keywords: logistics service quality, LSQ dimension , radioactive material, transportation

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Authors: Ozge Celik, Elvan Ender

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With rapidly increasing population growth and industrial revolution in the 1950s, in Turkey migration began to the cities from the countryside. Along the rapid growth of urban population has started to bring many problems. Depending on the uncontrolled urban development, concerns about the protection of natural values has increased day by day. As a result of disturbance on the natural environment, human health has started to be under threat. After all, much urban planning approaches outspread that protecting natural resources by respect to human health and troubleshooting problems emerging with anthropogenic effects. Smart growth concept is one of the chosen methods to resolve the problems in Turkey. In this paper, smart growth concept idea and its criteria will be explained while ecological planning and urban planning problems will be mentioned in Turkey according to the need of concept. Studies, consisting of practical and theoretical smart growth ideas, shows that ecological landscape planning is not included in the urban development process in Turkey. The main idea is to initiate urban development plans considering social and cultural structures of cultural assets and also natural values.

Keywords: ecological landscape planning, smart growth, Turkey, urban development

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Authors: Mohammad Didar Hossain

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Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between productive engagements and the psychological well-being of older adults in the U.S by analyzing cross-sectional data from a secondary dataset. Specifically, this paper analyzed the associations of 4 different types of productive engagements, including current work status, caregiving to the family members, volunteering and religious strengths with the psychological well-being as an outcome variable. Methods: Data and sample: The study used the data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The HRS is a nationally representative prospective longitudinal cohort study that has been conducting biennial surveys since 1992 to community-dwelling individuals 50 years of age or older on diverse issues. This analysis was based on the 2016 wave (cross-sectional) of the HRS dataset and the data collection period was April 2016 through August 2017. The samples were recruited from a multistage, national area-clustered probability sampling frame. Measures: Four different variables were considered as the predicting variables in this analysis. Firstly, current working status was a binary variable that measured by 0=Yes and 1= No. The second and third variables were respectively caregiving and volunteering, and both of them were measured by; 0=Regularly, 1= Irregularly. Finally, find in strength was measured by 0= Agree and 1= Disagree. Outcome (Wellbeing) variable was measured by 0= High level of well-being, 1= Low level of well-being. Control variables including age were measured in years, education in the categories of 0=Low level of education, 1= Higher level of education and sex r in the categories 0=male, 1= female. Analysis and Results: Besides the descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression analyses were applied to examine the association between independent and dependent variables. The results showed that among the four independent variables, three of them including working status (OR: .392, p<.001), volunteering (OR: .471, p<.003) and strengths in religion (OR .588, p<.003), were significantly associated with psychological well-being while controlling for age, gender and education factors. Also, no significant association was found between the caregiving engagement of older adults and their psychological well-being outcome. Conclusions and Implications: The findings of this study are mostly consistent with the previous studies except for the caregiving engagements and their impact on older adults’ well-being outcomes. Therefore, the findings support the proactive initiatives from different micro to macro levels to facilitate opportunities for productive engagements for the older adults, and all of these may ultimately benefit their psychological well-being and life satisfaction in later life.

Keywords: productive engagements, older adults, psychological wellbeing, productive aging

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Authors: Moufida Benmoussa

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Since the escalation of the Syrian conflict in 2011, 6.9 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries, and 6.7 have remained displaced in Syria. Out of the 6.9 who fled Syria, over one million have crossed the Mediterranean Sea and become refugees and asylum seekers in various European countries. As a European and a member country of the EU, the Republic of Ireland was not an exception. In response to the refugee crisis caused mainly by the Syrian displacement, Ireland established the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (SHAM) in 2014 and the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) in 2015, followed by its second phase in 2019. In light of these events, Irish print media played a significant role in covering the Irish government’s decisions, political stance, and public opinion on the debate on taking Syrian refugees into Ireland. Considering the tremendous impact of media on politics and public opinion, my research examined how The Irish Times and Irish Independent framed Syrian migration to Ireland. I adopted a qualitative framing analysis to identify the prominent framings in these two newspapers. The collection of newspaper articles focused on three periods. The first period is from the first of January 2014 to the end of December 2014. During this period, the media covered the launch of the Syrian Humanitarian Admission Programme (SHAP) and stories about the first arrival of the Syrian refugees to Ireland. The second period is the year 2015. During this year, various events gained the attention of the Irish media. These events include Ireland’s establishment of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, the Paris attacks, and the publishing of Aylan Kurdi’s Photograph. The third period is from the first of December 2019 to the thirtieth of January 2020. In this period, the media covered the convention of Ireland with the UNHCR and the European Union to provide sanctuary to 2900 refugees in the years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The primary findings of my study indicate that The Irish Times and Irish Independent’s framing of Syrian migration to Ireland was various. My research findings indicate that The Irish Times and Irish Independent’s framing of Syrian migration to Ireland was varied and asymmetrical. The dominant frames used by these two newspapers are humanitarian, responsibility, contribution, burden, intruder, and threat. The former three frames positively perceive Syrian migration to Ireland and support the Irish government’s decisions to welcome more Syrian refugees. On the other hand, the last three frames perceive Syrian migration and refugees negatively and stand for the principle that Ireland should not take Syrian refugees.

Keywords: framing, Syrian migration, Ireland, newspaper

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Authors: Mina Sadat Orooje, Mohammad Mehdi Latifi, Behnam Fereydooni Eftekhari

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The integration of cutting-edge Internet of Things (IoT) technologies with advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems is revolutionizing healthcare facility management. However, the current landscape of hospital building maintenance suffers from slow, repetitive, and disjointed processes, leading to significant financial, resource, and time losses. Additionally, the potential of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in facility maintenance is hindered by a lack of data within digital models of built environments, necessitating a more streamlined data collection process. This paper presents a robust framework that harmonizes AI with BIM-IoT technology to elevate healthcare Facility Maintenance Management (FMM) and address these pressing challenges. The methodology begins with a thorough literature review and requirements analysis, providing insights into existing technological landscapes and associated obstacles. Extensive data collection and analysis efforts follow to deepen understanding of hospital infrastructure and maintenance records. Critical AI algorithms are identified to address predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, and optimization needs alongside integration strategies for BIM and IoT technologies, enabling real-time data collection and analysis. The framework outlines protocols for data processing, analysis, and decision-making. A prototype implementation is executed to showcase the framework's functionality, followed by a rigorous validation process to evaluate its efficacy and gather user feedback. Refinement and optimization steps are then undertaken based on evaluation outcomes. Emphasis is placed on the scalability of the framework in real-world scenarios and its potential applications across diverse healthcare facility contexts. Finally, the findings are meticulously documented and shared within the healthcare and facility management communities. This framework aims to significantly boost maintenance efficiency, cut costs, provide decision support, enable real-time monitoring, offer data-driven insights, and ultimately enhance patient safety and satisfaction. By tackling current challenges in healthcare facility maintenance management it paves the way for the adoption of smarter and more efficient maintenance practices in healthcare facilities.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, building information modeling, healthcare facility maintenance, internet of things integration, maintenance efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 47