Search results for: early childhood education quality in China

Authors: Wai M. Shum

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There was evidence that the change of marital quality satisfaction was related to the different stages of the family life cycle. Research studies have been largely based on western contexts, which found a curvilinear U-shaped trend in changes of marital satisfaction over the course of a marriage, but little is known about the marital experiences of Hong Kong couples. Through in-depth interviews, this qualitative study explored the marital relationship of middle-aged couples in a satisfying marriage and to identify how couples maintain a satisfying relationship in the local context. Findings from this study suggested twelve themes with some showing consistency with previous literature, such as communication, companionship, trust, and fidelity. The affective aspects of empathetic understanding and perceived empathy were found to have an enormous effect on couples’ bondedness. The high level of differentiation and security served as a basis for unconditional contribution, acceptance, and adjustment to unsolvable issues such that negative emotion would not be escalated. The manifestations of intimacy and commitment in the triangular theory of love were more frequently addressed than passion in striving for marital longevity in the local context. This study challenged the curvilinear trend of marital satisfaction throughout marriage, with couples showing different pathways of marital satisfaction. The study gave insights on martial enrichment, such as facilitating couples to disclose their vulnerabilities, desire for physical intimacy, and passion in the pursuit of enduring marriage instead of an emphasis on skills training on communication and conflict resolution.

Keywords: intimacy, marital relationship, marital satisfaction, middle-aged

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Authors: M. Marín-Ferrer, M. A. Hernández, T. Tollefsen, S. Vanzo, E. Nweke, P. V. Tognoli, M. De Cort

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Under the terms of Article 36 of the Euratom Treaty, European Union Member States (MSs) shall periodically communicate to the European Commission (EC) information on environmental radioactivity levels. Compilations of the information received have been published by the EC as a series of reports beginning in the early 1960s. The environmental radioactivity results received from the MSs have been introduced into the Radioactivity Environmental Monitoring database (REMdb) of the Institute for Transuranium Elements of the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) sited in Ispra (Italy) as part of its Directorate General for Energy (DG ENER) support programme. The REMdb brings to the scientific community dealing with environmental radioactivity topics endless of research opportunities to exploit the near 200 millions of records received from MSs containing information of radioactivity levels in milk, water, air and mixed diet. The REM action was created shortly after Chernobyl crisis to support the EC in its responsibilities in providing qualified information to the European Parliament and the MSs on the levels of radioactive contamination of the various compartments of the environment (air, water, soil). Hence, the main line of REM’s activities concerns the improvement of procedures for the collection of environmental radioactivity concentrations for routine and emergency conditions, as well as making this information available to the general public. In this way, REM ensures the availability of tools for the inter-communication and access of users from the Member States and the other European countries to this information. Specific attention is given to further integrate the new MSs with the existing information exchange systems and to assist Candidate Countries in fulfilling these obligations in view of their membership of the EU. Article 36 of the EURATOM treaty requires the competent authorities of each MS to provide regularly the environmental radioactivity monitoring data resulting from their Article 35 obligations to the EC in order to keep EC informed on the levels of radioactivity in the environment (air, water, milk and mixed diet) which could affect population. The REMdb has mainly two objectives: to keep a historical record of the radiological accidents for further scientific study, and to collect the environmental radioactivity data gathered through the national environmental monitoring programs of the MSs to prepare the comprehensive annual monitoring reports (MR). The JRC continues his activity of collecting, assembling, analyzing and providing this information to public and MSs even during emergency situations. In addition, there is a growing concern with the general public about the radioactivity levels in the terrestrial and marine environment, as well about the potential risk of future nuclear accidents. To this context, a clear and transparent communication with the public is needed. EURDEP (European Radiological Data Exchange Platform) is both a standard format for radiological data and a network for the exchange of automatic monitoring data. The latest release of the format is version 2.0, which is in use since the beginning of 2002.

Keywords: environmental radioactivity, Euratom, monitoring report, REMdb

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Authors: Katsumi Mera

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between strengths/weaknesses on studying and subjective well-being among Japanese working adults. We conducted an online questionnaire survey of Japanese working adults (aged 20-69) and obtained 1,063 valid responses. Subjective well-being was evaluated using the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale, the method used in the World Happiness Survey, in which the highest possible life is set at 10, and the lowest possible life is set at 0. The mean subjective well-being of all 1,063 respondents was 5.87, which is a very similar value that was obtained in the Japanese World Happiness Survey in 2023. First, we investigated the respondents' strengths/weaknesses in studying and their subjective well-being. The results showed that the subjective well-being of the group who answered that they were good at studying (6.62) was significantly higher than that of the group who answered that they were poor at studying (5.15). Next, we investigated the subjective well-being of students who answered that they were good at Japanese, Math, English, Social studies, and Science, the major subjects in Japan, and found that the subjective well-being of the group that answered that they were good at these subjects was higher than that of the group that answered that they were poor at these subjects. When the correlation between the score of "strengths/weaknesses on studying" and the score of "subjective well-being" was examined, those who answered that they were good at studying had higher subjective well-being (correlation coefficient r = 0.26, p < 0.001). The correlation between the subjective well-being score and the score of "strengths/weaknesses on studying each subject” was examined. Among the subjects, the subjective well-being score was the highest for those who answered that they were good at English (correlation coefficient r = 0.17, p < 0.001). These results indicate a relationship between strengths/weaknesses on studying and subjective well-being among workers in Japan. These findings may provide an important basis for considering what kind of education should be focused on in order to nurture working adults with high levels of well-being.

Keywords: subject well-being, strengths/weaknesses, studying, Japanese working adults

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Authors: J. Constanzo, B. Paquette, G. Charest, L. Masson-Côté, M. Guillot

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Targeted and whole-brain irradiation in humans can result in significant side effects causing decreased patient quality of life. To adequately investigate structural and functional alterations after stereotactic radiosurgery, preclinical studies are needed. The first step is to establish a robust standardized method of targeted irradiation on small regions of the rat brain. Eleven euthanized male Fischer rats were imaged in a stereotactic bed, by computed tomographic (CT), to estimate positioning variations regarding to the bregma skull reference point. Using a rat brain atlas and the stereotactic bregma coordinates assessed from CT images, various regions of the brain were delimited and a treatment plan was generated. A dose of 37 Gy at 30% isodose which corresponds to 100 Gy in 100% of the target volume (X = 98.1; Y = 109.1; Z = 100.0) was set by Leksell Gamma Plan using sectors number 4, 5, 7, and 8 of the Gamma Knife unit with the 4-mm diameter collimators. Effects of positioning accuracy of the rat brain on the dose deposition were simulated by Gamma Plan and validated with dosimetric measurements. Our results showed that 90% of the target volume received 110 ± 4.7 Gy and the maximum of deposited dose was 124 ± 0.6 Gy, which corresponds to an excellent relative standard deviation of 0.5%. This dose deposition calculated with the Gamma Plan was validated with the dosimetric films resulting in a dose-profile agreement within 2%, both in X- and Z-axis,. Our results demonstrate the feasibility to standardize the irradiation procedure of a small volume in the rat brain using a Gamma Knife.

Keywords: brain irradiation, dosimetry, gamma knife, small-animal irradiation, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)

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Authors: David B. Kisakye, Paul Mugabi

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Biomass briquettes have been identified as a plausible and close alternative to commonly used energy fuels such as charcoal and firewood, whose prices are escalating due to the dwindling natural resource base. However, briquettes do not seem to be as popular as would be expected. This study assessed the production, distribution, and acceptability of the briquettes in the Kampala district. A total of 60 respondents, 50 of whom were briquette users and 10 briquette producers, were sampled from five divisions of Kampala district to evaluate consumer acceptability, preference for briquette type and shape. Households and institutions were identified to be the major consumers of briquettes, while community-based organizations were the major distributors of briquettes. The Chi-square test of independence showed a significant association between briquette acceptability and briquette attributes of substitutability and low cost (p < 0,05). The Kruskal Wallis test showed that low-income class people preferred non-carbonized briquettes. Gender, marital status, and income level also cause variation in preference for spherical, stick, and honeycomb briquettes (p < 0,05). The major challenges faced by briquette users in Kampala were; production of a lot of ash, frequent crushing, and limited access to briquettes. The producers of briquettes were mainly challenged by regular machine breakdown, raw material scarcity, and poor carbonizing units. It was concluded that briquettes have a market and are generally accepted in Kampala. However, user preferences need to be taken into account by briquette produces, suitable cookstoves should be availed to users, and there is a need for standards to ensure the quality of briquettes.

Keywords: consumer acceptability, biomass residues, briquettes, briquette producers, distribution, fuel, marketability, wood fuel

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Authors: Yehjune Heo

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Fingerprint Anti-Spoofing approaches have been actively developed and applied in real-world applications. One of the main problems for Fingerprint Anti-Spoofing is not robust to unseen samples, especially in real-world scenarios. A possible solution will be to generate artificial, but realistic fingerprint samples and use them for training in order to achieve good generalization. This paper contains experimental and comparative results with currently popular GAN based methods and uses realistic synthesis of fingerprints in training in order to increase the performance. Among various GAN models, the most popular StyleGAN is used for the experiments. The CNN models were first trained with the dataset that did not contain generated fake images and the accuracy along with the mean average error rate were recorded. Then, the fake generated images (fake images of live fingerprints and fake images of spoof fingerprints) were each combined with the original images (real images of live fingerprints and real images of spoof fingerprints), and various CNN models were trained. The best performances for each CNN model, trained with the dataset of generated fake images and each time the accuracy and the mean average error rate, were recorded. We observe that current GAN based approaches need significant improvements for the Anti-Spoofing performance, although the overall quality of the synthesized fingerprints seems to be reasonable. We include the analysis of this performance degradation, especially with a small number of samples. In addition, we suggest several approaches towards improved generalization with a small number of samples, by focusing on what GAN based approaches should learn and should not learn.

Keywords: anti-spoofing, CNN, fingerprint recognition, GAN

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Authors: Papazafeiropoulou Olga

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The purpose of this paper focuses on exploring the emergence of Greek tragedy on the American stage until the first half of the 20th century through the intellectual processes and contributions of Greek, Italian and Jewish community theatre. Drawing on a wide range of sources, we trace Greek tragedy on the American stage, exploring the intricate processes of community’s theatre identities. The announcement aims to analyze the distinct yet related efforts of first Americans to intersect with Greek tragedy, searching simultaneously for the identities of immigrants. Ultimately, ancient drama became a vehicle not only for great developments in the American theater. In 1903, the Greek actor Dionysios Taboularis arrived in America, while the immigrant stream from Greece to America brought his artistic heritage, presenting in “Hall House” of Chicago the play Return. In 1906, in New York, an amateur group presented the play The Alosi of Messolonghi, and the next year in Chicago, an attempt was noted with a dramatic romance. In the decade 1907-1917, Nikolaos Matsoukas founded and directed the “Arbe theater”, while Petros Kotopoulis formed a troupe. In 1930, one of the greatest Greek theatrical events was the arrival of Marika’s Kotopoulis. Also, members of Vrysoula’s Pantopoulos formed the “Athenian Operetta”, with a positive influence on Greek American theatre. Italian immigrant community, located in tenement “Little Italies” throughout the city, and soon amateur theatrical clubs evolved. The earliest was the “Circolo Filodrammatico Italo-Americano” in 1880. Fausto Malzone’s artistic direction paved the way for the professional Italian immigrant theatre. Immigrant audiences heard the plays of their homeland, representing a major transition for this ethnic theatre. In 1900, the community had produced the major forces that created the professional theatre. By l905, the Italian American theatre had become firmly rooted in its professional phase. Yiddish Theater was both an import and a home-grown phenomenon. In 1878, The Sorceress was brought to America by Boris Thomashefsky. Between 1890 and 1940, many Yiddish theater companies appeared in America, presenting adaptations of classical plays. Αmerica’s people's first encounter with ancient texts was mostly academic. The tracing of tragedy as a form and concept that follows the evolutionary course of domestic social, aesthetic, and political ferments according to the international trends and currents draws conclusions about the early Greek, Italian, and Jewish immigrant’s theatre in relationship to the American scene until the first half of 20th century. Presumably, community theater acquired identity by intersecting with the spiritual reception of tragedy in America.

Keywords: American, community, Greek, Italian, identities, intersection, Jewish, theatre, tragedy

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Authors: Jaspinder Kaur, Jatinder Pal Singh

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Introduction- Delusional parasitosis is a rare psychotic illness characterized by a fixed belief of manifesting a parasite in a body when in reality, it was not. Also known as Ekbom syndrome or delusional infestations, or acarophobia. Although the patient has no primary skin pathology, but all skin findings were secondary to skin manipulation by the patient itself, which is why up to 90% of patients first seek consultation from a dermatologist. Most commonly, it was seen in older people with female to male ratio is 2:1. For treatment, the patient first need to be investigated to rule all other possible causes, as Delusional parasitosis can be caused by Vitamin B12 deficiency, pellagra, hepatic and renal disease, diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, and leprosy. When all possible causes ruled out, psychiatric referral to be done. Rule out other psychiatric comorbidities, and treatment should be done accordingly. Patient with delusional parasitosis responds well to second generation antipsychotics and need to continuous medication over years, and relapse is likely if treatment is stopped. Case Presentation- A 79-year-old female, belonging to lower socio-economic status, presented with complaints of itching sensation with erythematous patches over the scalp and multiple scratch excoriations lesion over the scalp, face and neck from the past 7-8 months. She had a feeling of small insect crawling under her skin and scalp area. To reduce the itching and kill the insect, she would scratch and squeeze her skin repeatedly. When the family tried to give her explanation that there was no insect in her body, she would not get convinced, rather got angry and abuse family members for not believing her. Gradually, her sleep would remain disturbed, she would be seen awake at night, seen to be scratching her skin, pull her scalp hair, even squeeze out her healed lesions. She collected her skin debris, scalp hairs and look out for insect. Because of her continuous illness, the patient started to remain sad and had crying spells. Her appetite decreased. She became socially isolated and stopped doing her activities of daily living. Family member’s first consulted dermatologist, investigated thoroughly with routine investigations, autoimmune and malignancy workup. As all investigations were normal, following which patient was referred for psychiatric evaluation. The patient was started on Tablet Olanzapine 2.5 mg, gradually increased to 7.5 mg. Over 1 month, there was reduction in itching, skin pricking. Lesions were gradually healed, and the patient continued to take other dermatological medications and ointment and was in regular follow up with psychiatric liaison from past 2 months with 70-80 % improvement in her symptoms. Conclusion- Delusional parasitosis is a psychiatric disorder of insidious onset, seen commonly in middle and old age people. Both psychiatric and dermatology consultation liaison will help the patient for an early diagnosis and adequate treatment. If a primary psychiatric diagnosis, the patient respond well to second generation antipsychotics but always require a further evaluation and treatment management if it is secondary to some physical or other psychiatric comorbidity.

Keywords: delusional parasitosis, delusional infestations, rare, primary psychiatric diagnosis, antipsychotic agents

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Authors: Kaavya Rathnakumar

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Minimally processed fruits have the attributes of convenience and fresh like quality. In minimally processed products, the cells of the tissue are alive, and the essential nutrients and flavours are retained. Some of the procedures include washing, trimming, sorting, cutting, slicing and shredding. Fruits such as pineapple and guava were taken for the study of textural properties for a period of five days. After the performance of various unit operations 50g cubes of pineapple and guava has been weighed. For determining the textural properties, samples were taken in which set of 12 samples were treated by using 1% citric acid solution and dried for 5 minutes the remaining set of 12 samples were untreated. In set of treated samples 6 were vacuum packed and stored in the refrigerator, and the other sample was normally stored. For untreated samples was done in a similar way. In texture profile analysis the force required for 1cm penetration of 2mm cylindrical needle inside the fruits were recorded for all packages. It was observed that guava the fresh sample had a force of penetration of 3250mm and as the days increased the force decreased to 357.4 mm for vacuum packed refrigerated storage. In the case of pineapple, the force of penetration of the fresh sample was 2325mm which was decreased to 26.3mm on the fourth day and very low at the fifth day for vacuum packed refrigerated storage. But in case of untreated samples, the fruits were spoiled may be because of no pre-treatment and packaging. Comparatively, it was found that vacuum packed refrigerated samples had higher shelf life than normal packed samples in ambient conditions.

Keywords: 1% citric acid solution, normal packed, refrigerated storage, vacuum packed

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Authors: Pooja Kherudkar, Namdeo Hedaoo

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There are various causes for asphalt pavement distresses which can develop prematurely or with aging in services. These causes are not limited to aging of bitumen binder but include poor quality materials and construction, inadequate mix design, inadequate pavement structure design considering the traffic and lack of preventive maintenance. There is physical evidence available for each type of pavement distress. Distress in asphalt pavements can be categorized in different distress modes like fracture (cracking and spalling), distortion (permanent deformation and slippage), and disintegration (raveling and potholes). This study shows the importance of severity determination of distresses for the selection of appropriate preventive maintenance treatment. Distress analysis of the deteriorated roads was carried out. Four roads of urban flexible pavements from Pune city was selected as a case study. The roads were surveyed to detect the types, to measure the severity and extent of the distresses. Causes of distresses were investigated. The pavement condition rating values of the roads were calculated. These ranges of ratings were as follows; 1 for poor condition road, 1.1 to 2 for fair condition road and 2.1 to 3 for good condition road. Out of the four roads, two roads were found to be in fair condition and the other two were found in good condition. From the various preventive maintenance treatments like crack seal, fog seal, slurry seal, microsurfacing, surface dressing and thin hot mix/cold mix bituminous overlays, the effective maintenance treatments with respect to the surface condition and severity levels of the existing pavement were recommended.

Keywords: distress analysis, pavement condition rating, preventive maintenance treatments, surface distress measurement

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Authors: Murat Arıbaş, Uğur Özcan

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Due to the increasing number of universities and academics, the fund of the universities for research activities and grants/supports given by government institutions have increased number and quality of academic research projects. Although every academic research project has a specific purpose and importance, limited resources (money, time, manpower etc.) require choosing the best ones from all (Amiri, 2010). It is a pretty hard process to compare and determine which project is better such that the projects serve different purposes. In addition, the evaluation process has become complicated since there are more than one evaluator and multiple criteria for the evaluation (Dodangeh, Mojahed and Yusuff, 2009). Mehrez and Sinuany-Stern (1983) determined project selection problem as a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. If a decision problem involves multiple criteria and objectives, it is called as a Multi Attribute Decision Making problem (Ömürbek & Kınay, 2013). There are many MCDM methods in the literature for the solution of such problems. These methods are AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), ANP (Analytic Network Process), TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation), UTADIS (Utilities Additives Discriminantes), ELECTRE (Elimination et Choix Traduisant la Realite), MAUT (Multiattribute Utility Theory), GRA (Grey Relational Analysis) etc. Teach method has some advantages compared with others (Ömürbek, Blacksmith & Akalın, 2013). Hence, to decide which MCDM method will be used for solution of the problem, factors like the nature of the problem, types of choices, measurement scales, type of uncertainty, dependency among the attributes, expectations of decision maker, and quantity and quality of the data should be considered (Tavana & Hatami-Marbini, 2011). By this study, it is aimed to develop a systematic decision process for the grant support applications that are expected to be evaluated according to their scientific adequacy by multiple evaluators under certain criteria. In this context, project evaluation process applied by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) the leading institutions in our country, was investigated. Firstly in the study, criteria that will be used on the project evaluation were decided. The main criteria were selected among TÜBİTAK evaluation criteria. These criteria were originality of project, methodology, project management/team and research opportunities and extensive impact of project. Moreover, for each main criteria, 2-4 sub criteria were defined, hence it was decided to evaluate projects over 13 sub-criterion in total. Due to superiority of determination criteria weights AHP method and provided opportunity ranking great number of alternatives TOPSIS method, they are used together. AHP method, developed by Saaty (1977), is based on selection by pairwise comparisons. Because of its simple structure and being easy to understand, AHP is the very popular method in the literature for determining criteria weights in MCDM problems. Besides, the TOPSIS method developed by Hwang and Yoon (1981) as a MCDM technique is an alternative to ELECTRE method and it is used in many areas. In the method, distance from each decision point to ideal and to negative ideal solution point was calculated by using Euclidian Distance Approach. In the study, main criteria and sub-criteria were compared on their own merits by using questionnaires that were developed based on an importance scale by four relative groups of people (i.e. TUBITAK specialists, TUBITAK managers, academics and individuals from business world ) After these pairwise comparisons, weight of the each main criteria and sub-criteria were calculated by using AHP method. Then these calculated criteria’ weights used as an input in TOPSİS method, a sample consisting 200 projects were ranked on their own merits. This new system supported to opportunity to get views of the people that take part of project process including preparation, evaluation and implementation on the evaluation of academic research projects. Moreover, instead of using four main criteria in equal weight to evaluate projects, by using weighted 13 sub-criteria and decision point’s distance from the ideal solution, systematic decision making process was developed. By this evaluation process, new approach was created to determine importance of academic research projects.

Keywords: Academic projects, Ahp method, Research projects evaluation, Topsis method.

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Authors: Harriet Kebirungi, Majaliwa Jackson-Gilbert Mwanjalolo, S. Livingstone Luboobi, Richard Joseph Kimwaga, Consolata Kabonesa

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This paper assessed gender responsiveness of water and sanitation policies and legal frameworks at Makerere University, Uganda. The objectives of the study were to i) examine the gender responsiveness of water and sanitation related policies and frameworks implemented at Makerere University; and ii) assess the challenges faced by the University in customizing national water and sanitation policies and legal frameworks into University policies. A cross-sectional gender-focused study design was adopted. A checklist was developed to analyze national water and sanitation policies and legal frameworks and University based policies. In addition, primary data was obtained from Key informants at the Ministry of Water and Environment and Makerere University. A gender responsive five-step analytical framework was used to analyze the collected data. Key findings indicated that the policies did not adequately address issues of gender, water and sanitation and the policies were gender neutral consistently. The national policy formulation process was found to be gender blind and not backed by situation analysis of different stakeholders including higher education institutions like Universities. At Makerere University, due to lack of customized and gender responsive water and sanitation policy and implementation framework, there were gender differences and deficiencies in access to and utilization of water and sanitation facilities. The University should take advantage of existing expertise within them to customize existing national water policies and gender, and water and sanitation sub-sector strategy. This will help the University to design gender responsive, culturally acceptable and environmental friendly water and sanitation systems that provide adequate water and sanitation facilities that address the needs and interests of male and female students.

Keywords: gender, Makerere University, policies, water, sanitation

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Authors: Torsten Mielitz, Dietmar Schulz, York C. Roth

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Market forecasts show a significant increase in the demand for aircraft within the next two decades and production rates will be adapted accordingly. Improvements and optimizations in the industrial system are becoming more important to cope with future challenges in manufacturing and assembly. Highest quality standards have to be met for aerospace parts, whereas cost effective production in industrial systems and methodologies are also a key driver. A look at other industries like e.g., automotive shows well established processes to streamline existing manufacturing systems. In this paper, the implementation of 'PULL' principles in an existing manufacturing process chain for a large scale composite part is presented. A nonlinear extrapolation based on 'Little's Law' showed a risk of a significant increase of parts needed in the process chain to meet future demand. A project has been set up to mitigate the risk whereas the methodology has been changed from a traditional milestone approach in the beginning towards an agile way of working in the end in order to facilitate immediate benefits in the shop-floor. Finally, delivery rates could be increased avoiding more semi-finished parts in the process chain (work in progress & inventory) by the successful implementation of the 'PULL' philosophy in the shop-floor between the work stations. Lessons learned during the running project as well as implementation and operations phases are discussed in order to share best practices.

Keywords: aerospace composite part manufacturing, PULL principles, shop-floor implementation, lessons learned

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Authors: Dalal Benboutrif

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Religion and Development relation is one of the most arguable phrases amongst politicians, philosophers, clerics, scientists, sociologists and even the public. The main objective of this research is to clarify the relations, contrasts and interactions between religion and the major types of development including social, political, economic and scientific developments, by focusing on Islam religion. A review of the literature was performed concerning religion and development relations and conflicts, by focusing on Islam religion and then the unprocessed tips of the review were characterized. Regarding clarification of the key points of the literature, three main sectors were considered in the research. The first sector of the research mainly focused on the philosophical views on religion, which were analyzed by main evaluation of three famous philosophers’ ideas: ‘Kant’, ‘Hegel’ and ‘Weber’, and then a critical discussion on Weber’s idea about Islam and development was applied. The second sector was specified to ‘Religion and Development’ and mainly discussed the role of religion in development through poverty reduction, the interconnection of religion, spirituality and social development, religious education effects on social development, and the relation of religion with political development. The third sector was specified to ‘Islam and Development’ and mainly discussed the Islamic golden age of science, major reasons of today’s backwardness (non-development) of most Islamic countries, and Quranic instructions regarding adaptability of Islam with development. The findings of the current research approved the research hypothesis as: ‘Religious instructions (included Islam) are not in conflict with development’, rather, it could have positive effects mainly on social development and it can pave the way for society to develop. Turkey was considered as a study model, as a successful developed Islamic country demonstrating the non-conflicting relation of Islam and development.

Keywords: development, Islam, philosophy, religion

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Authors: Wanida Suwunniponth

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This research paper aimed to developing a causal relationship model of success factors of customer relationship management of tourism in Thailand and to investigating relationships among the potential factors that facilitate the success of customer relationship management (CRM). The research was conducted in both quantitative and qualitative methods, by utilizing both questionnaire and in-depth interview. The questionnaire was used in collecting the data from 250 management staff in the hotels located within Bangkok area. Sampling techniques used in this research included cluster sampling according to the service quality and simple random sampling. The data input was analyzed by use of descriptive analysis and System Equation Model (SEM). The research findings demonstrated important factors accentuated by most respondents towards the success of CRM, which were organization, people, information technology and the process of CRM. Moreover, the customer relationship management of tourism business in Thailand was found to be successful at a very significant level. The hypothesis testing showed that the hypothesis was accepted, as the factors concerning with organization, people and information technology played an influence on the process and the success of customer relationship management, whereas the process of customer relationship management factor manipulated its success. The findings suggested that tourism business in Thailand with the implementation of customer relationship management should opt in improvement approach in terms of managerial structure, corporate culture building with customer- centralized approach accentuated, and investment of information technology and customer analysis, in order to capacitate higher efficiency of customer relationship management process that would result in customer satisfaction and retention of service.

Keywords: customer relationship management, casual relationship model, tourism, Thailand

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Authors: Jasper Kevin C. Dionisio, Denise Mae M. Unsay

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In a manufacturing firm, controlling the process ensures that optimum efficiency, productivity, and quality in an organization are achieved. An operation with no standardized procedure yields a poor productivity, inefficiency, and an out of control process. This study focuses on controlling the small intestine processing of a chicken dressing plant through the use of Statistical Process Control (SPC). Since the operation does not employ a standard procedure and does not have an established standard time, the process through the assessment of the observed time of the overall operation of small intestine processing, through the use of X-Bar R Control Chart, is found to be out of control. In the solution of this problem, the researchers conduct a motion and time study aiming to establish a standard procedure for the operation. The normal operator was picked through the use of Westinghouse Rating System. Instead of utilizing the traditional motion and time study, the researchers used the X-Bar R Control Chart in determining the process average of the process that is used for establishing the standard time. The observed time of the normal operator was noted and plotted to the X-Bar R Control Chart. Out of control points that are due to assignable cause were removed and the process average, or the average time the normal operator conducted the process, which was already in control and free form any outliers, was obtained. The process average was then used in determining the standard time of small intestine processing. As a recommendation, the researchers suggest the implementation of the standard time established which is with consonance to the standard procedure which was adopted from the normal operator. With that recommendation, the whole operation will induce a 45.54 % increase in their productivity.

Keywords: motion and time study, process controlling, statistical process control, X-Bar R Control chart

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Authors: Freda Adomaa, Samuel Oppong Boampong, Charles Gyamfi Rahman

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The living and working environment of migrants and their access to healthcare services induce good or poor health. This study was conducted to assess the factors associated with rural-urban migration and its associated health hazards among female adolescents. A sample size of two hundred (200) was chosen in which all responded to questionnaires comprising closed-ended questions, which were distributed to gather data from the respondents, after which it was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The utilized three causes of rural-urban migration thus political, economic and socio-cultural. The study revealed that political situations such as regional inequality (65.4%) and ethnic conflicts (78.2%) whereas economic factors such as lack of amenities (82.3%), lack of employment in rural communities (77.4%), lack of education (74%), and poverty (85.3%) as well as socio-cultural factors such as divorced parents (65.6%), media influence (79.1%), family conflicts (59.4%) and appealing urban informal sector (65.2%) are major causes of migration. Respondents’ encountered challenges such as poor remuneration for services (87.2%), being maltreated by a colleague or worker (69%), sleeping in open space (73.3%), and harassment by the task force (71.4%) and teenage pregnancies (58.5%). The study concluded that the three variables play a key role in adolescent migration and when they travel they end up getting involved in serious health hazardous behaviors such as rapes as well as physical and psychological harassments’. The study, therefore, recommends that vocational training of the rural people on small scale industries (non-farm) activities that could generate an income for the rural household should be introduced.

Keywords: rural, urban, migration, female health hazards

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Authors: Mehrzad Soltani, Pegah Rezaei

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In the endeavor to construct cities that are not only thriving but also environmentally responsible, effective urban planning and architectural design assume paramount significance. The focal point of this pursuit is the harnessing of urban renewable energy. By embracing sustainable practices such as the integration of solar panels into the urban landscape and the establishment of smart grids, cities are poised to confront head-on the dual challenge of surging energy demands and pressing environmental concerns. Urban renewable energy solutions offer a multifaceted approach to these issues. Firstly, they usher in a clean and sustainable source of energy, reducing the cities' ecological footprint while ensuring a continuous power supply. This transition to eco-friendly energy is also intrinsically linked to enhanced spatial utilization, thereby streamlining the efficiency of urban areas. Moreover, it spurs the adoption of sustainable transportation alternatives, diminishing the reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating air pollution. However, the significance of integrating renewable energy solutions transcends the realm of urban sustainability. It embodies a holistic approach towards creating cities that harmoniously coexist with the natural environment while catering to the needs and aspirations of their inhabitants. In essence, prioritizing sustainability in urban planning and architectural design has evolved from a choice to a necessity, one that not only safeguards the cities' well-being but also fosters a better quality of life for their residents. Thus, it is imperative that we acknowledge the transformative potential of these innovations as we pave the way towards the cities of the future.

Keywords: sustainability, smart grids, solar panel, urban planning, environmental concerns

Procedia PDF Downloads 99

Authors: Emmanuel O. Ezim, Idowu A. Olayinka, Michael Oladunjoye, Izuchukwu I. Obiadi

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Monitoring of reservoir properties prior to well placements and production is a requirement for optimisation and efficient oil and gas production. This is usually done using well log analyses and 3-D seismic, which are often prone to errors. However, 4-D (Time-lapse) seismic, incorporating numerous 3-D seismic surveys of the same field with the same acquisition parameters, which portrays the transient changes in the reservoir due to production effects over time, could be utilised because it generates better resolution. There is, however dearth of information on the applicability of this approach in the Niger Delta. This study was therefore designed to apply 4-D seismic, well-log and geologic data in monitoring of reservoirs in the EK field of the Niger Delta. It aimed at locating bypassed accumulations and ensuring effective reservoir management. The Field (EK) covers an area of about 1200km2 belonging to the early (18ma) Miocene. Data covering two 4-D vintages acquired over a fifteen-year interval were obtained from oil companies operating in the field. The data were analysed to determine the seismic structures, horizons, Well-to-Seismic Tie (WST), and wavelets. Well, logs and production history data from fifteen selected wells were also collected from the Oil companies. Formation evaluation, petrophysical analysis and inversion alongside geological data were undertaken using Petrel, Shell-nDi, Techlog and Jason Software. Well-to-seismic tie, formation evaluation and saturation monitoring using petrophysical and geological data and software were used to find bypassed hydrocarbon prospects. The seismic vintages were interpreted, and the amounts of change in the reservoir were defined by the differences in Acoustic Impedance (AI) inversions of the base and the monitor seismic. AI rock properties were estimated from all the seismic amplitudes using controlled sparse-spike inversion. The estimated rock properties were used to produce AI maps. The structural analysis showed the dominance of NW-SE trending rollover collapsed-crest anticlines in EK with hydrocarbons trapped northwards. There were good ties in wells EK 27, 39. Analysed wavelets revealed consistent amplitude and phase for the WST; hence, a good match between the inverted impedance and the good data. Evidence of large pay thickness, ranging from 2875ms (11420 TVDSS-ft) to about 2965ms, were found around EK 39 well with good yield properties. The comparison between the base of the AI and the current monitor and the generated AI maps revealed zones of untapped hydrocarbons as well as assisted in determining fluids movement. The inverted sections through EK 27, 39 (within 3101 m - 3695 m), indicated depletion in the reservoirs. The extent of the present non-uniform gas-oil contact and oil-water contact movements were from 3554 to 3575 m. The 4-D seismic approach led to better reservoir characterization, well development and the location of deeper and bypassed hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Keywords: reservoir monitoring, 4-D seismic, well placements, petrophysical analysis, Niger delta basin

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Authors: Eric Tardif, Nicolas Meylan

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Recent studies suggest that the consolidation of episodic memory is better achieved through repeated retrieval than with the use of concept mapping or repeated study. Although such laboratory results highly appeal to educationalists, it remains to be shown whether they can be directly used in a classroom setting. Forty-five college students (42 girls; mean age 16.1 y/o) were asked to remember pairs of biology-related words (e.g. mitochondria-energy) in two configurations. The first configuration consisted of a three-minute study of pairs of words followed by a final one-minute test in which the first word of a pair was shown and the subject asked to write down the second associated word. This procedure was repeated three times. The second configuration consisted of a one-minute study of a list of pairs of words, which was immediately followed by a one-minute test. This procedure was repeated 6 times. Subjects filled out a small questionnaire assessing their general mood, level of fatigue, stress and motivation to do the exercise. One week later, subjects were given a final test using the same words. A total of 8 lists of words were studied and tested during the semester. Results showed that subjects recalled more correct words when using the second configuration, both within the study period and one week later, confirming laboratory findings. However, the general performance (mean items recalled) as well as the motivation to do the exercise gradually decreased during the semester. Motivation was positively correlated with performance (r=0.77, p<0.05). The results suggest that laboratory findings may provide some applications in education but other variables inherent to the classroom setting must also be considered.

Keywords: long-term, episodic memory, consolidation, retrieval, school setting

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Authors: Alireza Jalilifar, Nadia Mayahi

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An oral defense is the examination of a doctoral program in which the candidates display their academic capacity through sharing and disseminating the findings of their study and defending their position. In this challenging criticism-generating context, the examiners evaluate the PhD dissertation critically so as to confirm its scholarly merit or lack of it. To identify the examiners’ expectations of the viva, this study used a conversation analytic approach for analyzing the data. The research is inductive in that it seeks to develop theory that is grounded in the data. The data comprised transcripts of the question and answer section of two applied linguistics doctoral defense sessions from two accredited Iranian state universities in 2019, both of which are among the top Iranian universities on the list of Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In spite of the similar shortcomings and deficiencies, for instance, in terms of innovation, development, sampling, and treatment, raised by the examiners, one of these defenses passed with distinction while the other was referred for re-submission. It seems that the outcome of a viva, in an EFL context, not only depends on adherence to the rules and regulations of doctoral research but is also influenced to a certain extent by the strictness of the examiners and the candidates’ language proficiency and effective negotiation and communication skills in this confrontational communicative event. The findings of this study provide evidence for the issues determining the success or failure of PhD candidates in displaying their claims of scholarship during their defense sessions. This study has implications for both applied linguistics doctoral students and academics in EFL contexts who try to prove and authenticate the doctorateness of a dissertation.

Keywords: academic discourse, conversation analysis, doctoral defense, doctorateness, EFL

Procedia PDF Downloads 160

Authors: Michaela Wang

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Since British established colonial settlements across the East Coast, Native Americans have suffered stark socio economic disparities in comparison to their neighboring communities. This paper employs the 1990, 2000, and 2010 United States Decennial Census to assess whether and to what extent the casino economy helped to close this socioeconomic gap between the Mohegan tribe and its surrounding community. These three Decennial Censuses cover two decades, from six years prior to the erection of Mohegan Sun casino to 14 years afterwards, including the Great Recession 2007-2009. Income, employment, education and housing parameters are selected as socio economic indicators. The profitable advent of the Mohegan Sun in 1996 dramatically improved the socio economic status of the Mohegan Tribe between 1990 and 2000. In fact, for most of these indicators––poverty, median household income, employment, home ownership, and car ownership––disparities shifted; tribal socioeconomic parameters improved from well below the level of New London County in 1990, to the same level or above the county rates in 2000. However, economic downturn in 2007-2009 Great Recession impacted Mohegan people remarkably. By 2010, disparities for household income, employment, home ownership, and car ownership returned. The casino bridged socio economic inequalities, but at the face of economic crises, the mono-product economy grew vulnerable.

Keywords: socio economic, indigenous, native American, disparity

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Sofia Cramerotti, Angela Cattoni, Laura Biancato, Dario Ianes

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The recognition of specific standards for new professionals, within the teaching profile, is a necessary process in order to foster an innovative school vision in accordance with the change that school is experiencing. In line with the reform of the national education and training system and with the National Training Plan for teachers, our Research and Development department developed a training project based on a framework (Syllabus) of skills that each 'Expert Teacher' should master in order to fulfill what the different specific profiles request. The syllabus is a fundamental tool for a training process consistent with the teaching profiles, both to guide the to-become teachers entering in service and to provide the in-service teachers with a system of evaluation and improvement of their skills. According to the national and international literature about professional standards for teachers, we aggregated the skills of the syllabus in three macro areas: (1) Area of professional skills related to the teacher profile and their continuous training; (2) area of teaching skills related to the school innovation; (3) area of organizing skills related to school participation for its improvement. The syllabus is a framework that identifies and describes the skills of the expert teacher in all of their roles. However, the various skills take on different importance in the different profiles involved in the school; some of those skills are determining a role, others could be secondary. Therefore, the characterization of the different profiles is represented by suitably weighted skills sets. In this way, the same skill could differently characterize each profile. In the future, we hope that the skills development and training for the teacher could evolve in a skills development and training for the whole school staff ('Expert Team'). In this perspective, the school will, therefore, benefit from a solid team, in which the skills of the various profiles are all properly developed and well represented.

Keywords: framework, skills, teachers, training

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: Manuela Gamba, Niki Mandolesi

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Teenagers today have little knowledge about how to move or play together. The adults who are part of sports culture must find an effective way to foster this essential ability. Our research in Italy uses a 'holistic model' based on fantasy literature to explore the relationships between the game identities and self-identities of young people and the achievement of psycho-motor, emotional and social well-being in the realms of sport and education. Physical activity projects were carried out in schools and extra-curricular associations in Rome, combining outdoor activities and distance learning. This holistic and malleable game model is inspired by fantasy accounts of the journeys taken in The Lord of Rings and Harry Potter books. We know that many have a lot of resistance to the idea of using fantasy and play as a pedagogical tool, but the results obtained in this experience are surprising. Our interventions and investigations focused on promoting self-esteem, awareness, a sense of belonging, social integration, cooperation, well-being, and informed decision making: a basis for healthy and effective citizenship. For teenagers, creative thinking is the right stimulus to involve and compare the story of characters to their own journey through social and self-reflective identity analysis. We observed how important it is to engage students emotionally as well as cognitively and that enabling them to play with identity through relationships with peers. There is a need today for a multidisciplinary synthesis of analog and digital values, especially in response to recent distance-living experiences. There is a need for a global reconceptualization of free time and nature in the human experience.

Keywords: awareness, creativity, identity, play

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Elnaz Alimi, Keriakoula Andriopoulos, Sam Boyer, Weronika Zuczek

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Occupational therapists can use coaching strategies to guide parents in providing therapy for their children with developmental disabilities. Evidence from various fields has shown increased parental self-efficacy and positive child outcomes as benefits of home and community-based parent coaching models. A literature review was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of parent coaching interventions delivered in home and community settings for children with developmental disabilities ages 0-12, on a variety of parent and child outcomes. CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, PubMed, OTseeker were used as databases. The inclusion criteria consisted of: children with developmental disabilities ages 0-12 and their parents, parent coaching models conducted in the home and community, and parent and child outcomes. Studies were excluded if they were in a language other than English and published before 2000. Results showed that parent coaching interventions led to more positive therapy outcomes in child behaviors and symptoms related to their diagnosis or disorder. Additionally, coaching strategies had positive effects on parental satisfaction with therapy, parental self-efficacy, and family dynamics. Findings revealed decreased parental stress and improved parent-child relationships. Further research on parent coaching could involve studying the feasibility of coaching within occupational therapy specifically, incorporating cultural elements into coaching, qualitative studies on parental satisfaction with coaching, and measuring the quality of life outcomes for the whole family.

Keywords: coaching model, developmental disabilities, occupational therapy, pediatrics

Procedia PDF Downloads 197

Authors: Bahram Khan, Anderson Rocha Ramos, Rui R. Paulo, Fernando J. Velez

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With the growing demand for a new blend of applications, the users dependency on the internet is increasing day by day. Mobile internet users are giving more attention to their own experiences, especially in terms of communication reliability, high data rates and service stability on move. This increase in the demand is causing saturation of existing radio frequency bands. To address these challenges, researchers are investigating the best approaches, Carrier Aggregation (CA) is one of the newest innovations, which seems to fulfill the demands of the future spectrum, also CA is one the most important feature for Long Term Evolution - Advanced (LTE-Advanced). For this purpose to get the upcoming International Mobile Telecommunication Advanced (IMT-Advanced) mobile requirements (1 Gb/s peak data rate), the CA scheme is presented by 3GPP, which would sustain a high data rate using widespread frequency bandwidth up to 100 MHz. Technical issues such as aggregation structure, its implementations, deployment scenarios, control signal techniques, and challenges for CA technique in LTE-Advanced, with consideration of backward compatibility, are highlighted in this paper. Also, performance evaluation in macro-cellular scenarios through a simulation approach is presented, which shows the benefits of applying CA, low-complexity multi-band schedulers in service quality, system capacity enhancement and concluded that enhanced multi-band scheduler is less complex than the general multi-band scheduler, which performs better for a cell radius longer than 1800 m (and a PLR threshold of 2%).

Keywords: component carrier, carrier aggregation, LTE-advanced, scheduling

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Sheikh Nawaz Ali, Pratima Pandey, P. Morthekai, Jyotsna Dubey, Md. Firoze Quamar

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The high mountain glaciers are one of the most sensitive recorders of climate changes, because they have the tendency to respond to the combined effect of snow fall and temperature. The Himalayan glaciers have been studied with a good pace during the last decade. However, owing to its large ecological diversity and geographical vividness, major part of the Indian Himalaya is uninvestigated, and hence the palaeoclimatic patterns as well as the chronology of past glaciations in particular remain controversial for the entire Indian Himalayan transect. Although the Himalayan glaciers are nourished by two important climatic systems viz. the southwest summer monsoon and the mid-latitude westerlies, however, the influence of these systems is yet to be understood. Nevertheless, existing chronology (mostly exposure ages) indicate that irrespective of the geographical position, glaciers seem to grow during enhanced Indian summer monsoon (ISM). The Himalayan mountain glaciers are referred to the third pole or water tower of Asia as they form a huge reservoir of the fresh water supplies for the Asian countries. Mountain glaciers are sensitive probes of the local climate, and, thus, they present an opportunity and a challenge to interpret climates of the past as well as to predict future changes. The principle object of all the palaeoclimatic studies is to develop a futuristic models/scenario. However, it has been found that the glacial chronologies bracket the major phases of climatic events only, and other climatic proxies are sparse in Himalaya. This is the reason that compilation of data for rapid climatic change during the Holocene shows major gaps in this region. The sedimentation in proglacial lakes, conversely, is more continuous and, hence, can be used to reconstruct a more complete record of past climatic variability that is modulated by changing ice volume of the valley glacier. The Himalayan region has numerous proglacial lacustrine deposits formed during the late Quaternary period. However, there are only few such deposits which have been studied so far. Therefore, this is the high time when efforts have to be made to systematically map the moraines located in different climatic zones, reconstruct the local and regional moraine stratigraphy and use multiple dating techniques to bracket the events of glaciation. Besides this, emphasis must be given on carrying multiproxy studies on the lacustrine sediments that will provide a high resolution palaeoclimatic data from the alpine region of the Himalaya. Although the Himalayan glaciers fluctuated in accordance with the changing climatic conditions (natural forcing), however, it is too early to arrive at any conclusion. It is very crucial to generate multiproxy data sets covering wider geographical and ecological domains taking into consideration multiple parameters that directly or indirectly influence the glacier mass balance as well as the local climate of a region.

Keywords: glacial chronology, palaeoclimate, multiproxy, Himalaya

Procedia PDF Downloads 264

Authors: Pedro M. Abreu, Bruno R. Mendes

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The management of pharmacotherapy and the process of dispensing medicines is becoming critical in clinical pharmacy due to the increase of incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases, the complexity and customization of therapeutic regimens, the introduction of innovative and more expensive medicines, the unbalanced relation between expenditure and revenue as well as due to the lack of rationalization associated with medication use. For these reasons, co-payments emerged in Europe in the 70s and have been applied over the past few years in healthcare. Co-payments lead to a rationing and rationalization of user’s access under healthcare services and products, and simultaneously, to a qualification and improvement of the services and products for the end-user. This analysis, under hospital practices particularly and co-payment strategies in general, was carried out on all the European regions and identified four reference countries, that apply repeatedly this tool and with different approaches. The structure, content and adaptation of European co-payments were analyzed through 7 qualitative attributes and 19 performance indicators, and the results expressed in a scorecard, allowing to conclude that the German models (total score of 68,2% and 63,6% in both elected co-payments) can collect more compliance and effectiveness, the English models (total score of 50%) can be more accessible, and the French models (total score of 50%) can be more adequate to the socio-economic and legal framework. Other European models did not show the same quality and/or performance, so were not taken as a standard in the future design of co-payments strategies. In this sense, we can see in the co-payments a strategy not only to moderate the consumption of healthcare products and services, but especially to improve them, as well as a strategy to increment the value that the end-user assigns to these services and products, such as medicines.

Keywords: clinical pharmacy, co-payments, healthcare, medicines

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Chen Zhang; Qiang Wang

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With the rapid development of the new generation of digital technology, various industries have created more and more value by using digital technology, accelerating the digital transformation of various industries. The economic form of human society has evolved with the progress of technology, and in this context, the power conversion, transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry in terms of quality, efficiency and energy change has become a top priority. Based on the digitalization background, this paper analyzes the transformation and upgrading efficiency of the manufacturing industry and evaluates the impact of the driving factors, which have very important theoretical and practical significance. This paper utilizes qualitative research methods, entropy methods, data envelopment analysis methods and econometric models to explore the transformation and upgrading efficiency of manufacturing enterprises and driving factors. The study shows that the transformation and upgrading efficiency of the manufacturing industry shows a steady increase, and regions rich in natural resources and social resources provide certain resources for transformation and upgrading. The ability of scientific and technological innovation has been improved, but there is still much room for progress in the transformation of scientific and technological innovation achievements. Most manufacturing industries pay more attention to green manufacturing and sustainable development. In addition, based on the existing problems, this paper puts forward suggestions for improving infrastructure construction, developing the technological innovation capacity of enterprises, green production and sustainable development.

Keywords: digitization, manufacturing firms, transformation and upgrading, efficiency, driving factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Amrin Moger, Sagar Bhalerao, Martin Mathew

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Advertisements play a vital role in dissemination of information regarding products and services. Advertisements as Mass Media tool is not only a source of entertainment, but also a source of information, education and entertainment. It provides information about the outside world and exposes us to other ways of life and culture. Public service advertisements (PSA) are generally aimed at public well-being. Aim of PSA is not to make profit, but rather to change public opinion and raise awareness in the Society about a social issue.’ Start with the boys’ is one such PSA aims to create awareness about issue of ‘gender bias’ that is taught prevalent in the society. Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are also consumers of PSA in the society. The population of persons with disability in the society also faces gender bias and discrimination. It is a double discrimination. The advertisement selected for the study gives out a strong message on gender bias and therefore must be accessible to everyone including PWDs in the society. Accessibility of PSA in the digital format can be done with the help of Universal Design (UD) in digital media application. Features of UD inclusive in nature, and it focus on eliminating established barriers through initial designs. It considers the needs of diverse people, whether they are persons with or without disability. In this research two aspects of UD in digital media: captioning and Indian sign language (ISL) is used. Hence a short survey study was under taken to know the effects of a multimedia on gender bias, in accessible format on persons with and without disability. The result demonstrated a significant difference in the opinion, on the usage accessible and non-accessible format for persons with and without disability and their understanding of message in the PSA selected for the study.

Keywords: public service advertisements, gender, disability, accessibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 357