Search results for: adaptation challenges

Authors: Vassilis Argyropoulos, Magda Nikolaraizi, Maria Papazafiri

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A growing number of students with disabilities attend institutions of higher education, and according to evidenced-based data, it seems that they face many obstacles regarding their academic access and inclusion. The fact that more and more students decide to actively participate in higher education, on the one hand, empowers and strengthens inclusiveness in tertiary education, but on the other hand, it brings new challenges to their access to scientific content as well as to their interactions with other students and faculty members. For this, accessibility centres have come to the fore in many higher education institutions, in order to respond to the needs of students with disabilities. In this paper, we present a study regarding the peer tutoring program, which is a service delivered by the Accessibility Centre at the University of Thessaly in Greece. Specifically, the current paper aims to describe the experiences of tutees and tutors regarding their relationships developed throughout the peer tutoring program. Twelve tutors and eight tutees with disabilities participated in the study, whose experiences were explored through interviews and were analyzed in a qualitative way. In our study, all tutees and most of the tutors described their relationship as friendly, while a few tutors preferred a more formal relationship. Also, both tutors and tutees described some of the challenges, such as setting limits or arranging an appointment. Finally, peer tutoring programs seem very promising, but in order to be effective, there is a need for training and supporting students regarding their role as well as monitoring the progress of the peer tutoring program, ensuring its smooth operation and success for both tutors and tutees.

Keywords: disability, higher education institutions, interviews, peer tutoring, inclusiveness

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Authors: Mohammad Bakhshandeh

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Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a crucial and necessary practice that plays a vital role in ensuring the safety and integrity of critical structures, and in particular, bridges. The continuous monitoring of bridges for signs of damage or degradation through Bridge Health Monitoring (BHM) enables early detection of potential problems, allowing for prompt corrective action to be taken before significant damage occurs. Although all monitoring techniques aim to provide accurate and decisive information regarding the remaining useful life, safety, integrity, and serviceability of bridges, understanding the development and propagation of damage is vital for maintaining uninterrupted bridge operation. Over the years, extensive research has been conducted on BHM methods, and experts in the field have increasingly adopted new methodologies. In this article, we provide a comprehensive exploration of the various BHM approaches, including sensor-based, non-destructive testing (NDT), model-based, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods. We also discuss the challenges associated with BHM, including sensor placement and data acquisition, data analysis and interpretation, cost and complexity, and environmental effects, through an extensive review of relevant literature and research studies. Additionally, we examine potential solutions to these challenges and propose future research ideas to address critical gaps in BHM.

Keywords: structural health monitoring (SHM), bridge health monitoring (BHM), sensor-based methods, machine-learning algorithms, and model-based techniques, sensor placement, data acquisition, data analysis

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Authors: Flora Xu, Marta Fernandez Olmos

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This article is mainly about critical assessment and comprehensive understanding of the business strategy in the post COVID-19 scenario. This study aims to elucidate how companies are responding to the unique challenges posed by the pandemic and how these measures are shaping the future of the business environment. The pandemic has exposed the fragility and flexibility of the global supply chain, and procurement and production strategies should be reconsidered. It should increase the diversity of suppliers and the flexibility of the supply chain, and some companies are considering transferring their survival to the local market. This can increase local employment and reduce international transportation disruptions and customs issues. By shortening the distance between production and market, companies can respond more quickly to changes in demand and unforeseen events. The demand for remote work and online solutions will increase the adoption of digital technology and accelerate the digital transformation of many organizations. Marketing and communication strategies need to adapt to a constantly changing environment. The business resilience strategy was emphasized as a key component of the response to the COVID-19. The company is seeking to strengthen its risk management capabilities and develop a business continuity plan to cope with future unexpected disruptions. The pandemic has reconfigured human resource practices and changed the way companies manage their employees. Remote work has become the norm, and companies focus on managing workers' health and well-being, as well as flexible work policies to ensure operations and support for employees during crises. This change in human resources practice has a lasting impact on how companies apply talent and labor management in the post COVID-19 world. The pandemic has prompted a significant review of business strategies as companies adapt to constantly changing environments and seek to ensure their sustainability and profitability in times of crisis. This strategic reassessment has led to product diversification, exploring international markets and adapting to the changing market. Companies have responded to the unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19. The COVID-19 has promoted innovation effort in key areas and focused on the responsibility in today's business strategy for sustainability and the importance of corporate society. The important challenge of formulating and implementing business strategies in uncertain times. These challenges include making quick and agile decisions in turbulent environments, risk management, and adaptability to constantly changing market conditions. The COVID-19 highlights the importance of strategic planning and informed decision-making - making in a business environment characterized by uncertainty and complexity. In short, the pandemic has reconfigured the way companies handle business strategies and emphasized the necessity of preparing for future challenges in a business world marked by uncertainty and complexity.

Keywords: business strategy, crisis, digitalization, uncertainty

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Authors: Manta Nowbuth, Marie Anais Kimberley Therese

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The vulnerability of coastal areas to storm surges stands as a critical global concern. The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events have increased the risks faced by communities living along the coastlines Worldwide. Small Island developing states (SIDS) stands out as being exceptionally vulnerable, coastal regions, ecosystems of human habitation and natural forces, bear witness to the frontlines of climate-induced challenges, and the intensification of storm surges underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive understanding of coastal vulnerability. With limited landmass, low-lying terrains, and resilience on coastal resources, SIDS face an amplified vulnerability to the consequences of storm surges, the delicate balance between human activities and environmental dynamics in these island nations increases the urgency of tailored strategies for assessing and mitigating coastal vulnerability. This research uses an approach to evaluate the vulnerability of coastal communities in Mauritius. The Satellite imagery analysis makes use of sentinel satellite imageries, modified normalised difference water index, classification techniques and the DSAS add on to quantify the extent of shoreline erosion or accumulation, providing a spatial perspective on coastal vulnerability. The coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) is applied by Gonitz et al Formula, this index considers factors such as coastal slope, sea level rise, mean significant wave height, and tidal range. Weighted assessments identify regions with varying levels of vulnerability, ranging from low to high. The study was carried out in a Village Located in the south of Mauritius, namely Rivière des Galets, with a population of about 500 people over an area of 60,000m². The Village of Rivière des Galets being located in the south, and the southern coast of Mauritius being exposed to the open Indian ocean, is vulnerable to swells, The swells generated by the South east trade winds can lead to large waves and rough sea conditions along the Southern Coastline which has an impact on the coastal activities, including fishing, tourism and coastal Infrastructures, hence, On the one hand, the results highlighted that from a stretch of 123km of coastline the linear rate regression for the 5 –year span varies from-24.1m/yr. to 8.2m/yr., the maximum rate of change in terms of eroded land is -24m/yr. and the maximum rate of accretion is 8.2m/yr. On the other hand, the coastal vulnerability index varies from 9.1 to 45.6 and it was categorised into low, moderate, high and very high risks zones. It has been observed that region which lacks protective barriers and are made of sandy beaches are categorised as high risks zone and hence it is imperative to high risk regions for immediate attention and intervention, as they will most likely be exposed to coastal hazards and impacts from climate change, which demands proactive measures for enhanced resilience and sustainable adaptation strategies.

Keywords: climate change, coastal vulnerability, disaster management, remote sensing, satellite imagery, storm surge

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Authors: Smiso Buthelezi, Petros Dlamini, Dennis Ocholla

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The study assesses the University of Zululand's practices for documenting, sharing, and accessing indigenous knowledge. Two research objectives guided it: to determine how indigenous knowledge (IK) is developed at the University of Zululand and how indigenous knowledge (IK) is documented at the University of Zululand. The study adopted both interpretive and positivist research paradigms. Ultimately, qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. The qualitative research approach collected data from academic and non-academic staff members. Interviews were conducted with 18 academic staff members and 5 with support staff members. The quantitative research approach was used to collect data from indigenous knowledge (IK) theses and dissertations from the University of Zululand Institutional Repository between 2009-2019. The study results revealed that many departments across the University of Zululand were involved in creating indigenous knowledge (IK)-related content. The department of African Languages was noted to be more involved in creating IK-related content. Moreover, the documentation of the content related to indigenous knowledge (IK) at the University of Zululand is done frequently but is not readily known. It was found that the creation and documentation of indigenous knowledge by different departments faced several challenges. The common challenges are a lack of interest among indigenous knowledge (IK) owners in sharing their knowledge, the local language as a barrier, and a shortage of proper tools for recording and capturing indigenous knowledge (IK). One of the study recommendations is the need for an indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) policy to be in place at the University of Zululand.

Keywords: knowledge creation, SECI model, information and communication technology., indigenous knowledge

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Authors: Endang Ghani Ashfiya

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This study explores corporate social responsibility (CSR) planning in a downstream business of multinational oil and gas company in Indonesia from managerial perspectives. The institutional logic is employed in this research to gain a comprehensive understanding of the way the MNC manages the socio-cultural aspects in the host countries, especially in the process of translation and adaptation of the company’s CSR global guidelines. The interviews are conducted with fifteen managers in that company, both at the top managerial level and operational level. In the beginning, this research explains the Indonesian society’s conception of CSR from the managerial standpoints. The society’s understanding of the CSR concept becomes the fundamental foundations of the company in developing CSR programs. This study found the company’s approach to its CSR in two ways. First, proactive CSR which reflects the global CSR guidelines. Second, reactive CSR which do not show any explicit relations to the global guidelines, but conform with society’s demands. The findings stimulate discussions regarding the power of an MNC vis-à-vis the socio-cultural implication in society’s demand for CSR.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility planning, Indonesia, institutional logic, multinational company, oil and gas company, socio-cultural aspects

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Authors: Youmen Chaaban

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The study examined the influence of a situated professional development program (PD) aimed at enhancing English language teachers’ knowledge and skills and improving their instructional practices. The PD model under examination was developed upon sound theoretical underpinnings, taking into consideration research-based principles of effective PD. However, the implementation of the PD model within several school contexts required further investigation from the perspectives of the teachers, who were receiving the PD activities, and the instructional coaches, who were providing them. The paper, thus, presents the results of a qualitative study examining the perceptions of seventeen English language teachers and nineteen instructional coaches about the strengths of the PD program, the challenges they faced in the implementation of the program, and their suggestions for the improvement of the program’s implementation and outcomes. Comparisons were further made between the two groups of participants to uncover agreements and contradictions in their perceptions. Data were collected from the teachers through in-depth interviews and observations, while the data collected from the instructional coaches were open-ended surveys followed by focus group interviews. The findings of the study confirm the necessity of structuring PD activities around sound theoretical underpinnings. However, practical considerations specific to the contexts where the PD activities take place should be considered when evaluating the PD’s effectiveness. Finally, the study provides several recommendations for maximizing the influence of the PD program on teachers’ practices and beliefs.

Keywords: English language teachers, situated professional development, teacher beliefs, teacher practices

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Authors: Sun Zhe, Ruggero Micheletto

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The research of neural network is very important for the development of advanced next generation intelligent devices and the medical treatment. The most important part of the neural network research is the learning. The process of learning in our brain is essentially several adjustment processes of connection strength between neurons. It is very difficult to figure out how this mechanism works in the complex network and how the connection strength influences brain functions. For this reason, we made a model with only two coupled neurons and studied the influence of connection strength between them. To emulate the neuronal activity of realistic neurons, we prefer to use the Izhikevich neuron model. This model can simulate the neuron variables accurately and it’s simplicity is very suitable to implement on computers. In this research, the parameter ρ is used to estimate the correlation coefficient between spike train of two coupling neurons.We think the results is very important for figuring out the mechanism between synchronization of coupling neurons and synaptic plasticity. The result also presented the importance of the spike frequency adaptation in complex systems.

Keywords: neural networks, noise, stochastic processes, coupled neurons, correlation coefficient, synchronization, pacemaker, synaptic plasticity

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Authors: Qirat Naz, Abasiokpon Udoakah

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In developed countries, global migration is diversifying. The minority ethnic population, including refugees and asylum seekers who, fled their home countries due to war, terrorism, oppression, or natural disasters, and returning home is dangerous for them. They need sanctuary and peaceful environment in host countries. They begin the process of acculturation, in which a person adopts the social mores and behavioral patterns of the dominant culture, yet they still have unique multicultural needs that the dominant society fails to address. The aim of this research is to provide a holistic understanding of the living experiences of a minority population, particularly migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, in the health and social care system of South Wales. The purpose of this study is to investigate three research objectives: the multicultural health care needs of minorities, as well as the barriers to seeking health and social care facilities. There are Welsh policies for promoting cultural competence in the health and social care sectors; this research will explore the implications and impact of these policies on the target population. This research study will be conducted using qualitative research methods, tools, and techniques. This research is an inductive approach to coming up with a grounded theory. The sample will be divided into two groups: migrants and professionals providing any kind of services to migrants; each group will contain 30 participants. Interpretive phenomenological analysis would be utilized during the process of coding and developing the main themes of this research. The positionality of the researcher would be minimized by unloaded and open-ended questions, researcher’s work experience in research, continuous evaluation of her positionality, daily base reflection of fieldwork and seeking the help of male and female gatekeepers. The research findings would be based on emic perspective, and by documenting the emic perspective of minorities, this research will contribute to the knowledge of appropriate channels, including organizations, academics, and policymakers, to discover possible solutions and coping mechanisms to deal with the challenges and meet the multicultural demands of minorities. This research will provide a more in-depth understanding of minorities and will help to promote the diversity of health and social care in South Wales.

Keywords: migration, migrants, cultural competence, cultural barriers, healthcare challenges

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Authors: Syed Ahsan, Saleh Alshomrani, Ishtiaq Rasool, Ali Hassan

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In this oral presentation, we will provide an overview of the technical and semantic architecture of a desert border security and critical infrastructure protection security system. Modern border security systems are designed to reduce the dependability and intrusion of human operators. To achieve this, different types of sensors are use along with video surveillance technologies. Application of these technologies in a harsh desert environment of Saudi Arabia poses unique challenges. Environmental and geographical factors including high temperatures, desert storms, temperature variations and remoteness adversely affect the reliability of surveillance systems. To successfully implement a reliable, effective system in a harsh desert environment, the following must be achieved: i) Selection of technology including sensors, video cameras, and communication infrastructure that suit desert environments. ii) Reduced power consumption and efficient usage of equipment to increase the battery life of the equipment. iii) A reliable and robust communication network with efficient usage of bandwidth. Also, to reduce the expert bottleneck, an ontology-based intelligent information systems needs to be developed. Domain knowledge unique and peculiar to Saudi Arabia needs to be formalized to develop an expert system that can detect abnormal activities and any intrusion.

Keywords: border security, sensors, abnormal activity detection, ontologies

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Authors: Pachawo Bisani, Goodall Nyirenda

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The Malawi National Antiretroviral Therapy (NART) Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system was designed and developed with guidance from the Ministry of Health through the Department of HIV and AIDS (DHA) with the aim of supporting the management of HIV patient data and reporting in high prevalence ART clinics. As of 2021, the system has been scaled up to over 206 facilities across the country. The system is integrated with the clinical decision support system (CDSS) to assist healthcare providers in making a decision about an individual patient at a particular point in time. Despite NART EMR undergoing several evaluations and assessments, little has been done to evaluate the clinical decision support system in the NART EMR system. Hence, the study aimed to evaluate the use of CDSS in the NART EMR system in Malawi. The study adopted a mixed-method approach, and data was collected through interviews, observations, and questionnaires. The study has revealed that the CDSS tools were integrated into the ART clinic workflow, making it easy for the user to use it. The study has also revealed challenges in system reliability and information accuracy. Despite the challenges, the study further revealed that the system is effective and efficient, and overall, users are satisfied with the system. The study recommends that the implementers focus more on the logic behind the clinical decision-support intervention in order to address some of the concerns and enhance the accuracy of the information supplied. The study further suggests consulting the system's actual users throughout implementation.

Keywords: clinical decision support system, electronic medical record system, usability, antiretroviral therapy

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Authors: Fatou Cisse

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Depression is one of the most serious health problems experienced by immigrants and refugees, who are likely to undergo heightened political, economic, social, and environmental stressors as they transition to a new culture. The purpose of this literature review is to identify and compare risks associated with depression among young adult immigrants and refugees aged 18 to 25. Ten articles focused on risks associated with depression symptoms among this population were reviewed, revealing several common themes: Stress, identity, culture, language barriers, discrimination, social support, self-esteem, length of time in the receiving country, origins, or background. Existing research has failed to account adequately for sample size, language barriers, how the concept of "depression" differs across cultures, and stressors immigrants and refugees experience prior to the transition to the new culture. The study revealed that immigrants and refugees are at risk for depression and that the risk is greater in the refugee population due to their history of trauma. The Roy Adaptation Model was employed to understand the coping mechanisms that refugees and immigrants could use to reduce rates of depression. The psychiatric nurse practitioner must be prepared to intervene and educate this population on these coping mechanisms to help them overcome the feelings that lead to depression and facilitate a smooth integration into the new culture.

Keywords: immigration, refugees, depression, young adults

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Authors: Elham Rajabian

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The ascent of cybersecurity incidents is a rising threat to most organisations in general, while the impact of the incidents is unique to each of the organizations. It is a need for behavioural sciences to concentrate on employees’ behaviour in order to prepare key security mitigation opinions versus cybersecurity incidents. There are noticeable differences among users of a computer system in terms of complying with security behaviours. We can discuss the people's differences under several subjects such as delaying tactics on something that must be done, the tendency to act without thinking, future thinking about unexpected implications of present-day issues, and risk-taking behaviours in security policies compliance. In this article, we introduce high-profile cyber-attacks and their impacts on weakening cyber resiliency in organizations. We also give attention to human errors that influence network security. Human errors are discussed as a part of psychological matters to enhance compliance with the security policies. The organizational challenges are studied in order to shape a sustainable cyber risks management approach in the related work section. Insiders’ behaviours are viewed as a cyber security gap to draw proper cyber resiliency in section 3. We carry out the best cybersecurity practices by discussing four CIS challenges in section 4. In this regard, we provide a guideline and metrics to measure cyber resilience in organizations in section 5. In the end, we give some recommendations in order to build a cybersecurity culture based on individual behaviours.

Keywords: cyber resilience, human factors, cybersecurity behavior, attitude, usability, security culture

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Authors: Roberta Facchinetti, Sara Corrizzato, Silvia Cavalieri

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Increasing interconnection between data digitalization and linguistic investigation has given rise to unprecedented potentialities and challenges for corpus linguists, who need to master IT tools for data analysis and text processing, as well as to develop techniques for efficient and reliable annotation in specific mark-up languages that encode documents in a format that is both human and machine-readable. In the present paper, the challenges emerging from the compilation of a linguistic corpus will be taken into consideration, focusing on the English language in particular. To do so, the case study of the InterDiplo corpus will be illustrated. The corpus, currently under development at the University of Verona (Italy), represents a novelty in terms both of the data included and of the tag set used for its annotation. The corpus covers media interviews and debates with diplomats and international operators conversing in English with journalists who do not share the same lingua-cultural background as their interviewees. To date, this appears to be the first tagged corpus of international institutional spoken discourse and will be an important database not only for linguists interested in corpus analysis but also for experts operating in international relations. In the present paper, special attention will be dedicated to the structural mark-up, parts of speech annotation, and tagging of discursive traits, that are the innovational parts of the project being the result of a thorough study to find the best solution to suit the analytical needs of the data. Several aspects will be addressed, with special attention to the tagging of the speakers’ identity, the communicative events, and anthropophagic. Prominence will be given to the annotation of question/answer exchanges to investigate the interlocutors’ choices and how such choices impact communication. Indeed, the automated identification of questions, in relation to the expected answers, is functional to understand how interviewers elicit information as well as how interviewees provide their answers to fulfill their respective communicative aims. A detailed description of the aforementioned elements will be given using the InterDiplo-Covid19 pilot corpus. The data yielded by our preliminary analysis of the data will highlight the viable solutions found in the construction of the corpus in terms of XML conversion, metadata definition, tagging system, and discursive-pragmatic annotation to be included via Oxygen.

Keywords: spoken corpus, diplomats’ interviews, tagging system, discursive-pragmatic annotation, english linguistics

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Authors: Filip Dodigovic, Kreso Ivandic, Damir Stuhec, S. Strelec

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The general difference analysis between the former and new design concepts in geotechnical engineering is carried out. The application of new regulations results in the need for real adaptation of the computation principles of limit states, i.e. by providing a uniform way of analyzing engineering tasks. Generally, it is not possible to unambiguously match the limit state verification procedure with those in the construction engineering. The reasons are the inability to fully consistency of the common probabilistic basis of the analysis, and the fundamental effect of material properties on the value of actions and the influence of actions on resistance. Consequently, it is not possible to apply separate factorization with partial coefficients, as in construction engineering. For the slope stability analysis design procedures problems in the light of the use of limit states in relation to the concept of allowable stresses is detailed in. The quantifications of the safety margins in the slope stability analysis for both approaches is done. When analyzing the stability of the slope, by the strict application of the adopted forms from the new regulations for significant external temporary and/or seismic actions, the equivalent margin of safety is increased. The consequence is the emergence of more conservative solutions.

Keywords: allowable pressure, Eurocode 7, limit states, slope stability

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Authors: Gözde Arzu Sarıcan

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Contemporary urbanization processes and spatial transformations are intensely debated across various fields of social sciences. One prominent concept in these discussions is "common spaces." Common spaces offer a critical theoretical framework, particularly for addressing the social and economic inequalities brought about by urbanization. This study examines the processes of commoning and their impacts through the lens of squatter neighborhoods in Turkey, emphasizing the importance of affordable housing. It focuses on the role and significance of these neighborhoods in the formation of common spaces, analyzing the collective actions and resistance strategies of residents. This process, which began with the construction of shelters to meet the shelter needs of low-income households migrating from rural to urban areas, has turned into low-quality squatter settlements over time. For low-income households lacking the economic power to rent or buy homes in the city, these areas provided an affordable housing solution. Squatter neighborhoods reflect the efforts of local communities to protect and develop their communal living spaces through collective actions and resistance strategies. This collective creation process involves the appropriation of occupied land as a common resource through the rules established by the commons. Organized occupations subdivide these lands, shaped through collective creation processes. For the squatter communities striving for economic and social adaptation, these areas serve as buffer zones for urban integration. In squatter neighborhoods, bonds of friendship, kinship, and compatriotism are strong, playing a significant role in the creation and dissemination of collective knowledge. Squatter areas can be described as common spaces that emerge out of necessity for low-income and marginalized groups. The design and construction of housing in squatter neighborhoods are shaped by the collective participation and skills of the residents. Streets are formed through collective decision-making and labor. Over time, the demands for housing are communicated to local authorities, enhancing the potential for commoning. Common spaces are shaped by collective needs and demands, appropriated, and transformed into potential new spaces. Common spaces are continually redefined and recreated. In this context, affordable housing becomes an essential aspect of these common spaces, providing a foundation for social and economic stability. This study evaluates the processes of commoning and their effects through the lens of squatter neighborhoods in Turkey. Communities living in squatter neighborhoods have managed to create and protect communal living spaces, especially in situations where official authorities have been inadequate. Common spaces are built on values such as solidarity, cooperation, and collective resistance. In urban planning and policy development processes, it is crucial to consider the concept of common spaces. Policies that support the collective efforts and resistance strategies of communities can contribute to more just and sustainable living conditions in urban areas. In this context, the concept of common spaces is considered an important tool in the fight against urban inequalities and in the expression and defense mechanisms of communities. By emphasizing the importance of affordable housing within these spaces, this study highlights the critical role of common spaces in addressing urban social and economic challenges.

Keywords: affordable housing, common space, squating process, turkey

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Authors: Lucksini Raveendran

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Introduction: This mixed-methods study focuses on the experiences of ethnocultural youth and families in Canada, identifying key barriers and opportunities to inform service programming and policies that can better meet their mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Methods: Mental Health Commission of Canada's Headstrong initiative administered the youth survey (April – June 2020) and family survey (June – August 2020) with a total sample size of 137 and 481 respondents, respectively. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key challenges faced, coping strategies used, and help-seeking behaviours. A similar approach was also applied to the family survey data, but instead, a representative sample was collated to analyze geographically variable and ethnically diverse subgroups. Results and analysis: Multiple challenges have impacted families, including increased feelings of loneliness and distress from border travel restrictions, especially among those navigating pregnancy alone or managing children with developmental needs, which is often understudied. Also, marginalized groups were disproportionately affected by inequitable access to communication technologies, further deepening the digital divide. Some reported living in congregated homes with regular conflicts, thus leading to increased anxiety and exposure to violence. For many families, urbanicity and ethnicity played a key role in how families reported coping with feelings of uncertainty while managing work commitments, navigating community resources, fulfilling care responsibilities, and homeschooling children of all ages. Despite these challenges, there was evidence of post-traumatic growth and building community resiliency. Conclusions and implications for policy, practice, or additional research: There is a need to foster opportunities to promote and sustain mental health, wellness, and resilience for families through social connections. Also, intersectionality must be embedded in the collection, analysis, and application of data to improve equitable access to evidence-based and recovery-oriented mental health supports among diverse families in Canada. Lastly, address future research on the long-term COVID-19 impacts of travel border restrictions on family wellness.

Keywords: mental health, youth mental health, family wellness, health equity

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Authors: Shreyas Kumar, Mili Shangari

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Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in the cyber insurance sector represents a significant advancement, offering the potential to revolutionize risk assessment, fraud detection, and claims processing. However, this integration introduces a range of regulatory and economic challenges that must be addressed to ensure responsible and effective deployment of AI technologies. This paper examines the multifaceted regulatory landscape governing AI in cyber insurance and explores the economic implications of compliance, innovation, and market dynamics. AI's capabilities in processing vast amounts of data and identifying patterns make it an invaluable tool for insurers in managing cyber risks. Yet, the application of AI in this domain is subject to stringent regulatory scrutiny aimed at safeguarding data privacy, ensuring algorithmic transparency, and preventing biases. Regulatory bodies, such as the European Union with its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), mandate strict compliance requirements that can significantly impact the deployment of AI systems. These regulations necessitate robust data protection measures, ethical AI practices, and clear accountability frameworks, all of which entail substantial compliance costs for insurers. The economic implications of these regulatory requirements are profound. Insurers must invest heavily in upgrading their IT infrastructure, implementing robust data governance frameworks, and training personnel to handle AI systems ethically and effectively. These investments, while essential for regulatory compliance, can strain financial resources, particularly for smaller insurers, potentially leading to market consolidation. Furthermore, the cost of regulatory compliance can translate into higher premiums for policyholders, affecting the overall affordability and accessibility of cyber insurance. Despite these challenges, the potential economic benefits of AI integration in cyber insurance are significant. AI-enhanced risk assessment models can provide more accurate pricing, reduce the incidence of fraudulent claims, and expedite claims processing, leading to overall cost savings and increased efficiency. These efficiencies can improve the competitiveness of insurers and drive innovation in product offerings. However, balancing these benefits with regulatory compliance is crucial to avoid legal penalties and reputational damage. The paper also explores the potential risks associated with AI integration, such as algorithmic biases that could lead to unfair discrimination in policy underwriting and claims adjudication. Regulatory frameworks need to evolve to address these issues, promoting fairness and transparency in AI applications. Policymakers play a critical role in creating a balanced regulatory environment that fosters innovation while protecting consumer rights and ensuring market stability. In conclusion, the integration of AI in cyber insurance presents both regulatory and economic challenges that require a coordinated approach involving regulators, insurers, and other stakeholders. By navigating these challenges effectively, the industry can harness the transformative potential of AI, driving advancements in risk management and enhancing the resilience of the cyber insurance market. This paper provides insights and recommendations for policymakers and industry leaders to achieve a balanced and sustainable integration of AI technologies in cyber insurance.

Keywords: artificial intelligence (AI), cyber insurance, regulatory compliance, economic impact, risk assessment, fraud detection, cyber liability insurance, risk management, ransomware

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Authors: Leena Inamdar, David Allen, Sushma Acquilla, James Gore

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Health systems globally are facing increasingly complex challenges. Emerging health threats, changing population demographics and increasing health inequalities, globalisation, economic constraints on government spending are some of the most critical ones. These challenges demand not only innovative funding and cross-sectoral approaches, but also require a multidisciplinary public health workforce equipped with skills and expertise to meet the future challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aim to outline an approach to assessing the feasibility of establishing a competency-based public health training at a country level. Although the SDGs provide an enabling impetus for change and promote positive developments, public health training and education still lag behind. Large gaps are apparent in both the numbers of trained professionals and the options for high quality training. Public health training in most Low-Middle Income Countries is still largely characterized by a traditional and limited public health focus. There is a pressing need to review and develop core and emerging competences for a well-equipped workforce fit for the future. This includes the important role of national Health and Human Resource Ministries in determining these competences. Public health has long been recognised as a multidisciplinary field, with need for professionals from a wider range of disciplines such as management, health promotion, health economics, law. Leadership and communication skills are also critical to achieve the successes in meeting public health outcomes. Such skills and competences need to be translated into competency-based training and education, to prepare current public health professionals with the skills required in today’s competitive job market. Integration of academic and service based public-health training, flexible accredited programmes to support existing mid-career professionals, continuous professional development need to be explored. In the current global climate of austerity and increasing demands on health systems, the need for stepping up public health training and education is more important than ever. By using a case study, we demonstrate the process of assessing the in-county capacity to establish a competency based public health training programme that will help to develop a stronger, more versatile and much needed public health workforce to meet the SDGs.

Keywords: public health training, competency-based, assessment, SDGs

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Authors: Essam Mansour

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The key purpose of this study is to provide first-hand information about beggars in Egypt, especially from the perspective of their information seeking behaviour including their information needs. The researcher tries to investigate the information-seeking behaviour of Egyptian beggars with regard to their thoughts, perceptions, motivations, attitudes, habits, preferences as well as challenges that may impede their use of information. The research methods used were an adapted form of snowball sampling of a heterogeneous demographic group of participants in the beggary activity in Egypt. This sampling was used to select focus groups to explore a range of relevant issues. Data on the demographic characteristics of the Egyptian beggars showed that they tend to be men, mostly with no formal education, with an average age around 30s, labeled as low-income persons, mostly single and mostly Muslims. A large number of Egyptian beggars were seeking for information to meet their basic needs as well as their daily needs, although some of them were not able to identify their information needs clearly. The information-seeking behaviour profile of a very large number of Egyptian beggars indicated a preference for informal sources of information over formal ones to solve different problems and meet the challenges they face during their beggary activity depending on assistive devices, such as mobile phones. The high degree of illiteracy and the lack of awareness about the basic rights of information as well as information needs were the most important problems Egyptian beggars face during accessing information. The study recommended further research to be conducted about the role of the library in the education of beggars. It also recommended that beggars’ awareness about their information rights should be promoted through educational programs that help them value the role of information in their life.

Keywords: user studies, information-seeking behaviour, information needs, information sources, beggars, Egypt

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Authors: Cansu Civelek

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The flexible and uneven character of neoliberalism has provided adaptation of urban strategies into the constantly changing circumstances in order to renew and reproduce the neoliberal accumulation model. Instrumentalization of catastrophic events to this end has been one of those global urban strategies. Regarding Turkey, exploitation of natural disasters has been the latest tactic of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government to achieve radical economic goals. ‘Unhealthy’ and ‘risky’ structures of squatter settlements have often been articulated while the regenerations, expropriations, and exclusions have been sugarcoated through the discourses of ‘reintegrating the shanty zones into the cities’, ‘supplying healthy housing’, and ‘win-win’ character of the projects. Being the first regeneration project of Eskişehir, the Karapınar Regeneration Project has been initiated in 2011 by the partnership of the Odunpazarı Municipality of the JDP and the Mass Housing Organization. Discourses around the forthcoming disasters, ‘risky structures’ of the squatters, and the importance of the ‘security of life and property’ have been utilized, even though the zone is situated on a geotechnically stable area. Yet, many of the locals are worried about the payments while some have already decided to move elsewhere at the outskirts of the city.

Keywords: neoliberal urbanism, urban regeneration, illegal settlements, discourses

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Authors: P. Saravanan, A. Vasumathi

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Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) plays a vital role in formulating the policies and strategies for the company, in order to fulfill the employee’s requirement and to perform the job efficiently within the organisation. Human Resource Management (HRM) functions helps in attracting and motivating the talented workforce for the organisation and by increasing the performance of an individual, will result in achieving the defined goals and objectives for the company. HRM function plays an important role in managing the workers within organisation through a formal communication channel. Since HR functions acts as a mediatory role in between the employee as well as the employers within the organisation that helps in improving the efficacy and skills of the individuals employed within the company. HR manager acts as a change agent, enabling and driving the change management program with respect to business HR functions and its future requirements of the company. Due to change in the business environment, the focus of HR manager is shifting from administrative/personal functions in to a strategic business HR function. HR managers plays a strategic role in managing various HR functions such as recruitment and selection, human resource information system, manpower planning, performance management, conflict management, employee engagement, compensation management, policy formation and retention strategies followed within the industry. Major challenges faced by HR managers at work place are managing the level of engagement for the talented resources within the organisation, reducing the conflicts at workplace, mapping the talented resources through succession planning process, building the effective appraisal process and performance management system and mapping the compensation based on the skills and experience possed by the employee within the company. The authors conducted a study for the sample size of 75 HR managers from an Indian IT company through systematic sampling method. This study identifies that the female employees are facing lesser conflict than the male employees against their managers within the organisation and also the study determines the impact of demographic profile on strategic HRM practices and its challenges faced by HR managers in IT firm, India.

Keywords: strategic human resource management, change agent, employee engagement, performance management, succession planning and conflict management

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Authors: Y. Perera, M. Pathiraja

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Within the paradigm of 'Resilient Built-environments,' in order for architecture to be resilient, 'Resilience' should be identified as an essential component of the architect’s notion of creativity. In much simpler terms, 'Resilient Built-Environment' should necessarily be a by-product of the 'Resilient Architect.' The inherent influence of individualistic notions of creativity upon the practice had intensified the dichotomy between theory and practice unless the notion of 'Resilience' is identified as an integral component of the architect’s notion of creativity. Analysing the architectural position is an ideal way of understanding the architect’s notion of creativity, therefore, in exploring the notion of 'Resilience' and the 'Resilient Architect' within the Sri Lankan platform, the architectural positions of two renowned architects; Geoffrey Bawa and Valentine Gunasekara were explored and analysed. The architectural positions of both the architects asserted specific rules and methodologies adopted within the process of problem solving that had subsequently led to a traceable language / pattern within their architecture. The dominance of such rules within the practice could be detrimental to adaptation of theories / notions, such as 'Resilience' and the formation of the 'Resilient Architect', unless methodologies itself are flexible, robust, despite rigidity, or else the notion of 'Resilience' exist in the form of a methodological rule.

Keywords: architectural position, creativity, education, practice, resilience, theory

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Authors: Lunthita M. Duthely, John T. Avella, John Ganapati Coleman

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For as many as one in three adolescents living in the United States, the adolescent years is a period of low well-being and mental health challenges—from depressive symptoms to mild to moderate psychological diagnoses. Longitudinal population health studies demonstrated that these challenges persist in young adulthood, and beyond. The positive psychology (PS) approach is a more preventative approach to well-being, which contrasts the traditional, deficits approach to curing mental illness. The research among adult populations formed the basis for PS studies among adolescents. The empirical evidence for the effectiveness of PS interventions exists for both adult and youth populations. Positive Psychology interventions target individuals’ strengths, such as hope and optimism, and positive emotions, such as gratitude. Positive psychology interventions such as increasing gratitude, proved effective in many outcomes among youth, including psychological, social, and academically-related outcomes. Although gratitude-inducing studies have been conducted for the past decade in the United States, few studies have been conducted among samples of urban youth, particularly youth of diverse cultural backgrounds. For nearly two decades, the secular practice of meditation has been tested among adults and more recently among youth, focused mostly among clinical samples. The field of Contemplative Sciences explores practices such as Hatha Yoga, Tai Chi, and Meditation, as preventative practices among children and adolescents. A more recent initiative is to explore Contemplative Practices in the school environment. Contemplative Practices yield a variety of positive outcomes, including academic, social, psychological, physiological, and neurological changes among children and adolescents. Again, few studies were conducted among adolescents of diverse cultural backgrounds. The purpose of this doctoral dissertation research study was to test a gratitude-meditation intervention among middle school students attending a public charter school, located in an urban region of Metropolitan Miami. The objective of this presentation is to summarize the challenges and success of bringing a positive psychology and meditation intervention into an urban middle school. Also, the most recent findings on positive psychology and meditation interventions conducted in school environments will be presented as well.

Keywords: adolescents, contemplative intervention, gratitude, secular meditation, positive psychology, school engagement, Sri Chinmoy

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Authors: Anju Vaidya

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Sanitation is concerned with proper disposal of human excreta, waste water and promotion of hygiene. Lack of sanitation impacts our environment affecting our finance, schooling, health, and thus exacerbating poverty, discrimination and exclusion of the marginalized group. Sanitation can be a route and one of the most important factor to reach the goals of all Millennium Development goals. This study aims at exploring what are the rights to sanitation of the people, how it is enacted and what challenges are being faced while implementing the right to sanitation in South-Asian countries (India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka) at government, non-government and international level. This study also aims at finding how right sanitation is interlinked with children rights. The available reports submitted by government and civil society organizations working in South-Asian countries from the website of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights that were submitted under International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights and Convention on rights of the child have been selected and analyzed. The study uses Literature review to analyze these UN documents submitted from 2000 to 2015 in the context of South-Asian countries. Preliminary insight reveals that sanitation is recognized as one of the important factor to attain adequate standard of living. It has been found that inadequate sanitation has been a major factor that affects all aspects of life and one of its devastating impacts is increased child mortality. Many efforts have been made at national and international level in South-Asian countries to improve the state of sanitation and sanitation services. Various approaches such as Community led Total Sanitation, School led Total Sanitation, establishing Open Defecation free zone, water supply services and other sanitation and hygiene awareness programs are being launched. Despite different efforts and programs being implemented, sanitation and hygiene practices and behavior change remains to be a big challenge. Disparity in access and imbalance between urban and rural services and geographical regions, inadequate financing, clear policy framework and fragile functionality are some of the significant challenges faced while implementing these programs. Children are one of the most vulnerable group that are affected to a large extent. The study brings into light varied approaches that are being made and challenges that are being faced by government, non-government and civil society organizations while implementing the programs and strategies related to sanitation. It also highlights the relation of sanitation as a human right with child rights. This can help the stakeholders and policymakers better understand that improving sanitation situation is a process that requires learning, planning and behavior change and achieving sanitation coverage targets and motivating behavior change requires additional tools based on participation, non-discrimination and process approaches for planning and feedback.

Keywords: challenges, child rights, open defecation, sanitation as a human right

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Authors: Bibhuti Bhusan Sahoo, Ramakar Jha

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Mapping of the extreme events (droughts) is one of the adaptation strategies to consequences of increasing climatic inconsistency and climate alterations. There is no operational practice to forecast the drought. One of the suggestions is to update mapping of drought prone areas for developmental planning. Drought indices play a significant role in drought mitigation. Many scientists have worked on different statistical analysis in drought and other climatological hazards. Many researchers have studied droughts individually for different sub-divisions or for India. Very few workers have studied district wise probabilities over large scale. In the present study, district wise drought probabilities over KBK (Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput) districts of Odisha, India, Which are seriously prone to droughts, has been established using Hydrological drought index and Meteorological drought index along with the remote sensing drought indices to develop a multidirectional approach in the field of drought mitigation. Mapping for moderate and severe drought probabilities for KBK districts has been done and regions belonging different class intervals of probabilities of drought have been demarcated. Such type of information would be a good tool for planning purposes, for input in modelling and better promising results can be achieved.

Keywords: drought indices, KBK districts, proposed drought severity index, SPI

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Authors: Ghadir Hummeid

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Undoubtedly, our world is leading all the purposes and efforts to achieve sustainable development in life in all respects. Sustainability has been regarded as a solution to many challenges of our world today, materiality and immateriality. With the new consequences and challenges our world today, such as global climate change, the use of non-renewable resources, environmental pollution, the decreasing of urban health, the urban areas’ aging, the highly increasing migrations into urban areas linked to many consequences such as highly infrastructure density, social segregation. All of that required new forms of governance, new urban policies, and more efficient efforts and urban applications. Based on the fact that cities are the core of life and it is a fundamental life axis, their development can increase or decrease the life quality of their inhabitants. Architects and planners see themselves today in the need to create new approaches and new sustainable policies to develop urban areas to correspond with the physical and non-physical transformations that cities are nowadays experiencing. To enhance people's lives and provide for their needs in this present without compromising the needs and lives of future generations. The application of sustainability has become an inescapable part of the development and projections of cities' planning. Yet its definition has been indefinable due to the plurality and difference of its applications. As the conceptualizations of technology are arising and have dominated all life aspects today, from smart citizens and smart life rhythms to smart production and smart structures to smart frameworks, it has influenced the sustainability applications as well in the planning and urbanization of cities. The term "smart city" emerged from this influence as one of the possible key solutions to sustainability. The term “smart city” has various perspectives of applications and definitions in the literature and in urban applications. However, after the observation of smart city applications in current cities, this paper defined the smart city as an urban environment that is controlled by technologies yet lacks the physical architectural representation of this smartness as the current smart applications are mostly obscured from the public as they are applied now on a diminutive scale and highly integrated into the built environment. Regardless of the importance of these technologies in improving the quality of people's lives and in facing cities' challenges, it is important not to neglect their architectural and urban presentations will affect the shaping and development of city neighborhoods. By investigating the concept of smart cities and exploring its potential applications on a neighbourhood scale, this paper aims to shed light on understanding the challenges faced by cities and exploring innovative solutions such as smart city applications in urban mobility and how they affect the different aspects of communities. The paper aims to shape better articulations of smart neighborhoods’ morphologies on the social, architectural, functional, and material levels. To understand how to create more sustainable and liveable future approaches to developing urban environments inside cities. The findings of this paper will contribute to ongoing discussions and efforts in achieving sustainable urban development.

Keywords: sustainability, urban development, smart city, resilience, sense of belonging

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Authors: Tobias Huwer, Thomas Bobek, Gunter Spöcker

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Driving forces for enhancements in production are trends like digitalization and individualized production. Currently, such developments are restricted to assembly parts. Thus, complex freeform surfaces are not addressed in this context. The need for efficient use of resources and near-net-shape production will require individualized production of complex shaped workpieces. Due to variations between nominal model and actual geometry, this can lead to changes in operations in Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) to make CAPP manageable for an adaptive serial production. In this context, 3D CAD data can be a key to realizing that objective. Along with developments in the geometrical adaptation, a preceding inspection method based on CAD data is required to support the process planner by finding objective criteria to make decisions about the adaptive manufacturability of workpieces. Nowadays, this kind of decisions is depending on the experience-based knowledge of humans (e.g. process planners) and results in subjective decisions – leading to a variability of workpiece quality and potential failure in production. In this paper, we present an automatic part inspection method, based on design and measurement data, which evaluates actual geometries of single workpiece preforms. The aim is to automatically determine the suitability of the current shape for further machining, and to provide a basis for an objective decision about subsequent adaptive manufacturability. The proposed method is realized by a workflow-based approach, keeping in mind the requirements of industrial applications. Workflows are a well-known design method of standardized processes. Especially in applications like aerospace industry standardization and certification of processes are an important aspect. Function blocks, providing a standardized, event-driven abstraction to algorithms and data exchange, will be used for modeling and execution of inspection workflows. Each analysis step of the inspection, such as positioning of measurement data or checking of geometrical criteria, will be carried out by function blocks. One advantage of this approach is its flexibility to design workflows and to adapt algorithms specific to the application domain. In general, within the specified tolerance range it will be checked if a geometrical adaption is possible. The development of particular function blocks is predicated on workpiece specific information e.g. design data. Furthermore, for different product lifecycle phases, appropriate logics and decision criteria have to be considered. For example, tolerances for geometric deviations are different in type and size for new-part production compared to repair processes. In addition to function blocks, appropriate referencing systems are important. They need to support exact determination of position and orientation of the actual geometries to provide a basis for precise analysis. The presented approach provides an inspection methodology for adaptive and part-individual process chains. The analysis of each workpiece results in an inspection protocol and an objective decision about further manufacturability. A representative application domain is the product lifecycle of turbine blades containing a new-part production and a maintenance process. In both cases, a geometrical adaptation is required to calculate individual production data. In contrast to existing approaches, the proposed initial inspection method provides information to decide between different potential adaptive machining processes.

Keywords: adaptive, CAx, function blocks, turbomachinery

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Authors: Achim Washington, Reece Clothier, Jose Silva

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System Safety Regulations (SSR) are a central component to the airworthiness certification of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). There is significant debate on the setting of appropriate SSR for UAS. Putting this debate aside, the challenge lies in how to apply the system safety process to UAS, which lacks the data and operational heritage of conventionally piloted aircraft. The limited knowledge and lack of operational data result in uncertainty in the system safety assessment of UAS. This uncertainty can lead to incorrect compliance findings and the potential certification and operation of UAS that do not meet minimum safety performance requirements. The existing system safety assessment and compliance processes, as used for conventional piloted aviation, do not adequately account for the uncertainty, limiting the suitability of its application to UAS. This paper discusses the challenges of undertaking system safety assessments for UAS and presents current and envisaged research towards addressing these challenges. It aims to highlight the main advantages associated with adopting a risk based framework to the System Safety Performance Requirement (SSPR) compliance process that is capable of taking the uncertainty associated with each of the outputs of the system safety assessment process into consideration. Based on this study, it is made clear that developing a framework tailored to UAS, would allow for a more rational, transparent and systematic approach to decision making. This would reduce the need for conservative assumptions and take the risk posed by each UAS into consideration while determining its state of compliance to the SSR.

Keywords: Part 1309 regulations, risk models, uncertainty, unmanned aircraft systems

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Authors: Prathiksha Kamath, Pratibha Jamkhandi, Prateek Ghanti, Priyanshu Gupta, M. Lakshmi Neelima

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Combining Image Captioning and Visual Question Answering (VQA) tasks have emerged as a new and exciting research area. The image captioning task involves generating a textual description that summarizes the content of the image. VQA aims to answer a natural language question about the image. Both these tasks include computer vision and natural language processing (NLP) and require a deep understanding of the content of the image and semantic relationship within the image and the ability to generate a response in natural language. There has been remarkable growth in both these tasks with rapid advancement in deep learning. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of recent progress in combining image captioning and visual question-answering (VQA) tasks. We first discuss both image captioning and VQA tasks individually and then the various ways in which both these tasks can be integrated. We also analyze the challenges associated with these tasks and ways to overcome them. We finally discuss the various datasets and evaluation metrics used in these tasks. This paper concludes with the need for generating captions based on the context and captions that are able to answer the most likely asked questions about the image so as to aid the VQA task. Overall, this review highlights the significant progress made in combining image captioning and VQA, as well as the ongoing challenges and opportunities for further research in this exciting and rapidly evolving field, which has the potential to improve the performance of real-world applications such as autonomous vehicles, robotics, and image search.

Keywords: image captioning, visual question answering, deep learning, natural language processing

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