Search results for: existing HW generation and management practice

Authors: Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, Sumeera Abbasi

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The Farmers Field School (FFS) aims at benefiting poor farmers by improving their knowledge of existing agricultural technologies and integrated crop management to become independent and confident in their decision. The study on effect of farmer’s field school on vegetables production before and after FFS implementation in district Peshawar in four selected villages on each crop in 2011 was conducted from 80 farmers. The results were compared by using paired t-test. It was observed that 80% of the respondents were satisfied with FFS approach as there was a significant increase in vegetable production. The seed rate of tomato and cucumber decreased from 0.185kg/kanal to 0.1 kg/ kanal and 0.120kg/kanal to 0.01kg/kanal while production of tomato and cucumber were increased from 8158.75kgs/kanal to 1030.25kgs/kanal and 3230kgs/kanal to 5340kgs/kanal, respectively after the activities of FFS. FFS brought a positive effect on vegetable production and technology adoption improving their income, skills and knowledge ultimately lead farmers towards empowerment. The input cost including seed, crop management, FYM, and weedicides for tomato were reduced by Rs.28, Rs. 3170 and Rs.658 and cucumber reduced by Rs.35, Rs.570 and Rs.430. Only fertilizers cost was increased by Rs. 2200 in case of tomato and 465 in case of cucumber. FFS facilitator and coordinator should be more skilled and practical oriented to facilitate poor farmers. In light of the above study, more FFS should be planned so that the more farmers should be benefited.

Keywords: effect, farmer field school, vegetables production, integrated crop management

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Authors: Mokhlisur Rahman

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Consumers have developed a sense of responsibility in the past decade, reflecting on their purchasing behavior after viewing an advertisement. Consumers tend to buy ideal products that enable them to be judged by their close network in the opinion world. In such value considerations, any information that feeds consumers' desire for social status helps, which becomes capital for educating consumers on the importance of purchasing green products for manufacturing companies. Companies' effort in manufacturing green products to get high conversion demands a good deal of promotion with quality information and engaging representation. Additionally, converting people from traditional to eco-friendly products requires innovative alternatives to replace the existing product. Considering consumers' understanding of products and their purchasing behavior, it becomes essential for the brands to know the extent to which consumers' level of awareness of the ecosystem is to make them more responsive to green products. Another is brand image plays a vital role in consumers' perception regarding the credibility of the claim regarding the product. Brand image is a significant positive influence on the younger generation, and younger generations tend to engage more in pro-environmental behavior, including purchasing sustainable products. For example, Adidas senses the necessity of satisfying consumers with something that brings more profits and serves the planet. Several of their eco-friendly products are already in the market, and one is UltraBOOST DNA parley, made from 3D-printed recycled ocean waste. As a big brand image, Adidas has leveraged an interest among the younger generation by incorporating sustainability into its advertising. Therefore, influential brands' effort in the sustainable revolution through engaging advertisement makes it more prominent by educating consumers about the reason behind launching the product. This study investigates younger consumers' attitudes toward sustainability, brand recognition, exposure to green advertising, willingness to receive more green advertising, purchasing green products, and motivation. The study conducts a market experiment by creating two video advertisements: a sustainable product video advertisement and a non-sustainable product video advertisement. Both the videos have similar content design and the same length of 2 minutes, but the messages are different based on the identical product type college bags. The first video advertisement promotes eco-friendly college bags made from biodegradable raw materials, and the second promotes non-sustainable college bags made from plastics. After viewing the videos, consumers make purchasing decisions and complete an online survey to collect their attitudes toward sustainable products. The study finds the importance of a sense of responsibility to the consumers for climate change issues. Also, it empowers people to take a step, even small, and increases environmental awareness. This study provides companies with the knowledge to participate in sustainable product launches by collecting consumers' perceptions and attitudes toward green products. Also, it shows how important it is to build a brand's image for the younger generation.

Keywords: brand-image, environment, green-advertising, sustainability, younger-consumer

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Authors: Lucie Jirotková, Daniel Macek, Andrea Palazzo, Veronika Malinová

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Currently, the implementation of 3D models in the construction industry is gaining popularity. Countries around the world are developing their own modelling standards and implement the use of 3D models into their individual permitting processes. Another theme that needs to be addressed are public building spaces and their subsequent maintenance, where the usage of BIM methodology is directly offered. The significant benefit of the implementation of Building Information Management is the information transfer. The 3D model contains not only the spatial representation of the item shapes but also various parameters that are assigned to the individual elements, which are easily traceable, mainly because they are all stored in one place in the BIM model. However, it is important to keep the data in the models up to date to achieve useability of the model throughout the life cycle of the building. It is now becoming standard practice to use BIM models in the construction of buildings, however, the building environment is very often neglected. Especially in large-scale development projects, the public space of buildings is often forwarded to municipalities, which obtains the ownership and are in charge of its maintenance. A 3D model of the building surroundings would include both the above-ground visible elements of the development as well as the underground parts, such as the technological facilities of water features, electricity lines for public lighting, etc. The paper shows the possibilities of a model in the field of information for the handover of premises, the following maintenance and decision making. The attributes and spatial representation of the individual elements make the model a reliable foundation for the creation of "Smart Cities". The paper analyses the current use of the BIM methodology and presents the state-of-the-art possibilities of development.

Keywords: BIM model, urban space, BIM methodology, facility management

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Authors: Carlos Caro, Ernest Bladé, Pedro Acosta, Camilo Lesmes

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The drying-wet process is one of the topics to be more careful in distributed hydrological modeling using finite volume schemes as a means of solving the equations of Saint Venant. In a hydrologic and hydraulic computer model, surface flow phenomena depend mainly on the different flow accumulation and subsequent runoff generation. These accumulations are generated by routing, cell by cell, from the heights of water, which begin to appear due to the rain at each instant of time. Determine when it is considered a dry cell and when considered wet to include in the full calculation is an issue that directly affects the quantification of direct runoff or generation of flow at the end of a zone of contribution by accumulations flow generated from cells or finite volume.

Keywords: hydrology, transport processes, hydrological modelling, finite volume schemes

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Authors: Mohamad Alnajem

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Purpose: To measure the readiness of the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries (K-SMMIs) to implement the lean system (LS) through an evaluation of their existing quality practices, and compare such readiness among different product sectors and ownership types. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts the measurement framework developed by Al-Najem et al. (2013), which establishes six constructs related to lean quality practices, namely: process, planning and control, customer relations, suppliers relations, HR, and top management and leadership. Data were collected from a survey of 50 K-SMMIs operating in different industrial sectors. One research question and two hypotheses were developed and tested using t-test and Levene’s test, descriptive analysis, and one-way ANOVA. Findings: The results demonstrate that the K-SMMIs are far from being ready to implement lean. In addition, the study found that product sector and ownership type have no significant impact on the lean readiness in the K-SMMIs. Practical implications: This research provides insight into preparing Kuwaiti, and other SMMIs, to implement the LS by creating an assessment of their existing lean practices and readiness. Originality/value: This research is among a limited number of studies that have addressed lean within the Arab region, and only the second to examine the level of lean readiness of the K-SMMIs. It expands the literature on lean in developing countries, particularly in the Arab region, and can provide guidance to research within other countries in the region.

Keywords: Kuwaiti small and medium sized industries, lean system, lean readiness, manufacturing industries

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Authors: Norshazmira Mat Azmi, Sayidal El Fatimah Masnan, Shatirah Akib

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More than 70% of the Earth is covered by oceans, which are considered to possess boundless renewable energy, such as tidal energy, tidal current energy, wave energy, thermal energy, and chemical energy. The hybrid system help in improving the economic and environmental sustainability of renewable energy systems to fulfill the energy demand. The concept of hybridizing renewable energy is to meet the desired system requirements, with the lowest value of the energy cost. This paper propose a hybrid power generation system suitable for remote area application and highlight the impact of surface waves on turbine design and performance, and the importance of understanding the site-specific wave conditions.

Keywords: marine current energy, tidal turbines, wave turbine, renewable energy, surface waves, hydraulic flume experiments, instantaneous wave phase

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Authors: Xinrui Gao

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This research aims to explore the potential of shifting urban villages to public housing in China. In common practice, the central and local governments established two divided systems of urban redevelopment and public housing, including aims, design ideas, policy, headquarters, and branch offices. In most cases, the urban regeneration and public housing projects satisfy only the selected part of the society who can afford it (urban regeneration) or meet the requirements (public housing), which fail to cover the housing demand. However, there are many similarities between these two types of housing under the background of a shared economy, especially in target groups, affordable prices, and efficient use of spaces. Shenzhen always takes the lead in China’s urban regeneration and housing reformation. There are some top-down approaches to transforming housing in the urban village into public housing at present. These new approaches will provide a good chance to evaluate existing practices and explore the future development path of urban villages; while at the same time it could positively influence the housing problem in China.

Keywords: urban village, public housing, sharing economy, urban redevelopment

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Authors: Victor Siahaan

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Coal still become the most important energy source for electricity generation known for its contribution which take the biggest portion of energy mix that a country has, for example Indonesia. The low cost of electricity generation and quite a lot of resources make this energy still be the first choice to fill the portion of base load power. To realize its significance to produce electricity, it is necessary to know the amount of coal (volume) needed to ensure that all coal power plants (CPP) in a country can operate properly. To secure the volume of coal, in this study, discussion was carried out regarding the identification of coal mining sources in Indonesia, classification of coal typical from each coal mining sources, and determination of the port of loading. By using data above, the sources of coal mining are then selected to feed certain CPP based on the compatibility of the coal typical and the lowest transport cost.

Keywords: merit order, Indonesian coal mine, electricity, power plant

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Authors: Katarina Lazarević, Mirjana Todosijević, Tijana Vulević, Natalija Momirović, Ranka Erić

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Due to increasing demand, climate change, and world population growth, natural resources are getting exploit fast. One of the most important natural resources is soil, which is susceptible to degradation. Erosion as one of the forms of land degradation is also one of the most global environmental problems. Ecosystem services are often defined as benefits that nature provides to humankind. Soil, as the foundation of basic ecosystem functions, provides benefits to people, erosion control, water infiltration, food, fuel, fibers… This research is using the ecosystem approach as a strategy for natural resources management for promoting sustainability and conservation. The research was done on the Topčiderska River basin (Belgrade, Serbia). The InVEST Sediment Delivery Ratio model was used, to quantify erosion intensity with a spatial distribution output map of overland sediment generation and delivery to the stream. InVEST SDR, a spatially explicit model, is using a method based on the concept of hydrological connectivity and (R) USLE model. This, combined with socio-economic and law and policy analysis, gives a full set of information to decision-makers helping them to successfully manage and deliver sustainable ecosystems.

Keywords: ecosystem services, InVEST model, soil erosion, sustainability

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Authors: Mohita Singh, Sunil Sachdev, Amrita Singh

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Background and Aim: Physical aerobic exercises promote positive changes in one’s mental health, intelligence, and ability to cope with stressful encounters. The present study was designed to explore the correlation between intelligence and stress parameters and to assess the correlation between the same parameters after the practice of one month of moderate-intensity physical exercise. Method: The study was conducted on thirty-five healthy male volunteer students to assess the correlation between stress parameters in subjects with varying level of general intelligence (GI) and emotional intelligence (EI). Correlation studies were again conducted after one month between the same parameters to evaluate the effect of moderate-intensity physical exercise (MIPE). Baseline values were recorded using standard scales. Result: IQ and EQ correlated negatively with both acute and chronic stress parameters and positively with each other. A positive correlation was found between acute and chronic stress. With the practice of one month of moderate-intensity physical exercise, there was significant increment between the parameters under study and hence improved results. Conclusion: MIPE improved correlation between GI, EI, stress parameters, and thus reduced stress and improved intelligence.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, general intelligence, moderate intensity physical exercise, stress response

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Authors: Elizabeta Eduard Baltadzhyan

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This work presents a stage of an investigation about the metaphorical conceptualization of translation in Bulgarian language. The material is a linguistic corpus consisting of 38 interviews with several generations Bulgarian translators and interpreters. The aim of this presentation is to inform about the results of the organization of the source concepts in scenarios that dominate the discursive manifestations of the source domains. The data show that, on the one hand, translators from different generations share some basic assignments of source and target domains, e. g. translation is a journey or translation is an artistic presentation. On the other hand, there are some specific scenarios motivated by significant changes in the socio-economic structure of the country and the valuation of the translator´s mission and work, e. g., the scenario of pleasure and addictive activity marks the generation that enjoy great support and stimulation from the socialist government, whereas the war scenario marks the generation during the Perestroika time.

Keywords: Bulgarian language, metaphor, scenario, translation

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Authors: Zeineb Ben Salem, Wissem Frikha, Mounir Bouassida

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Liquefaction has been responsible for tremendous amounts of damage in historical earthquakes around the world. The installation of stone columns is widely adopted to prevent liquefaction. Stone columns provide a drainage path, and due to their high permeability, allow for the quick dissipation of earthquake generated excess pore water pressure. Several excess pore pressure generation models in silty sand have been developed and calibrated based on the results of shaking table and centrifuge tests focusing on the effect of silt content on liquefaction resistance. In this paper, the generation and dissipation of excess pore pressure variation of reinforced silty sand by stone columns during liquefaction are analyzedwith different silt content based on test results. In addition, the installation effect of stone columns is investigated. This effect is described by a decrease in horizontal permeability within a disturbed zone around the column. Obtained results show that reduced soil permeability and a larger disturbed zone around the stone column increases the generation of excess pore pressure during the cyclic loading and decreases the dissipation rate after cyclic loading. On the other hand, beneficial effects of silt content were observed in the form of a decrease in excess pore water pressure.

Keywords: stone column, liquefaction, excess pore pressure, silt content, disturbed zone, reduced permeability

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Authors: Marcelo Dias Carvalho, Leticia Ishikawa

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Supply Chain Risk Management refers to a set of strategies used by companies to avoid supply chain disruption caused by damage at production facilities, natural disasters, capacity issues, inventory problems, incorrect forecasts, and delays. Many companies use the techniques of the Toyota Production System, which in a way goes against a better management of supply chain risks. This paper studies key events in some multinationals to analyze the trade-off between the best supply chain risk management techniques and management policies designed to create lean enterprises. The result of a good balance of these actions is the reduction of losses, increased customer trust in the company and better preparedness to face the general risks of a supply chain.

Keywords: just in time, lean manufacturing, supply chain disruptions, supply chain management

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Authors: John Davodi, Maryam Davodi-Far

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The human body is the most elaborate of all machines and technologies on Earth, while the human mind is the interdependent source that expels and absorbs the five senses: touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste. Meditation is an ancient form of mind power that has many variations. In fact, those who practice meditation may bring about a positive change in their five senses, depending on the aim of the practitioner. This paper examines the research related to meditation and its effects on individuals suffering from chronic pain. Moreover, consideration is given to whether perceptions of pain can be changed by the practice of meditation as well as whether meditation can have a noticeable and long-term positive effect on the human body. Lastly, the paper examines the type of meditation that is best suited to minimize pain sensations for those who suffer from chronic pain.

Keywords: meditation, pain, relaxation, suffering

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Authors: Eva Štěpánková

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Environmental management implementation is presently one of the ways of organization success and value improvement. Increasing an organization motivation to environmental measures introduction is caused primarily by the rising pressure of the society that generates various incentives to endeavor for the environmental performance improvement. The aim of the paper is to identify and characterize the key incentives and expectations leading organizations to the environmental management implementation. The author focuses on five businesses of different size and field, operating in the Czech Republic. The qualitative approach and grounded theory procedure are used in research. The results point out that the significant incentives for environmental management implementation represent primarily demands of customers, the opportunity to declare the environmental commitment and image improvement. The researched enterprises less commonly expect the economical contribution, competitive advantage increase or export rate improvement. The results show that marketing contributions are primarily expected from the environmental management implementation.

Keywords: environmental management, environmental management system, ISO 14001, Czech Republic

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Authors: Yonggu Jang, Jisong Ryu, Woosik Lee

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The study aims to address the limitations of existing underground facility exploration equipment in terms of exploration depth range, relative depth measurement, data processing time, and human-centered ground penetrating radar image interpretation. The study proposed the use of 3D absolute positioning technology to develop a precision underground facility exploration system. The aim of this study is to establish a precise exploration system for underground facilities based on 3D absolute positioning technology, which can accurately survey up to a depth of 5m and measure the 3D absolute location of precise underground facilities. The study developed software and hardware technologies to build the precision exploration system. The software technologies developed include absolute positioning technology, ground surface location synchronization technology of GPR exploration equipment, GPR exploration image AI interpretation technology, and integrated underground space map-based composite data processing technology. The hardware systems developed include a vehicle-type exploration system and a cart-type exploration system. The data was collected using the developed exploration system, which employs 3D absolute positioning technology. The GPR exploration images were analyzed using AI technology, and the three-dimensional location information of the explored precise underground facilities was compared to the integrated underground space map. The study successfully developed a precision underground facility exploration system based on 3D absolute positioning technology. The developed exploration system can accurately survey up to a depth of 5m and measure the 3D absolute location of precise underground facilities. The system comprises software technologies that build a 3D precise DEM, synchronize the GPR sensor's ground surface 3D location coordinates, automatically analyze and detect underground facility information in GPR exploration images and improve accuracy through comparative analysis of the three-dimensional location information, and hardware systems, including a vehicle-type exploration system and a cart-type exploration system. The study's findings and technological advancements are essential for underground safety management in Korea. The proposed precision exploration system significantly contributes to establishing precise location information of underground facility information, which is crucial for underground safety management and improves the accuracy and efficiency of exploration. The study addressed the limitations of existing equipment in exploring underground facilities, proposed 3D absolute positioning technology-based precision exploration system, developed software and hardware systems for the exploration system, and contributed to underground safety management by providing precise location information. The developed precision underground facility exploration system based on 3D absolute positioning technology has the potential to provide accurate and efficient exploration of underground facilities up to a depth of 5m. The system's technological advancements contribute to the establishment of precise location information of underground facility information, which is essential for underground safety management in Korea.

Keywords: 3D absolute positioning, AI interpretation of GPR exploration images, complex data processing, integrated underground space maps, precision exploration system for underground facilities

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Authors: Hema Vanita Kesevan

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This study investigated the impact of teacher’s language ideology on their classroom discursive practice in ESL / EFL classrooms. It examines teachers’ perceptions of the use of local variety of Malaysian English in the classroom. The investigation shows that although teachers and students are against its use in the classroom, it is widely employed. The participants of this study consist of two Malaysian non-native English teachers with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This study employs a comparative case study approach which focuses on the teachers and their classroom discourse practice. There are two modes of inquiry used in this study: classroom observation and semi-guided interviews. The findings are of interest to ESL / EFL teachers, policy makers and language researchers in the Malaysian and other similar ESL / EFL contexts.

Keywords: language ideology, Malaysian English, native teachers, non-native teachers

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Authors: Wilfred Fritz

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Grid connected solar PV inverters need to be compliant to standard regulations regarding unwanted harmonic generation. This paper gives an introduction to harmonics, solar PV inverter voltage regulation and balancing through compensation and investigates the behaviour of harmonic generation at different power levels. Practical measurements of harmonics and power levels with a power quality data logger were made, on a test network at a university in Germany. The test setup and test results are discussed. The major finding was that between the morning and afternoon load peak windows when the PV inverters operate under low solar insolation and low power levels, more unwanted harmonics are generated. This has a huge impact on the power quality of the grid as well as capital and maintenance costs. The design of a single-tuned harmonic filter towards harmonic mitigation is presented.

Keywords: harmonics, power quality, pulse width modulation, total harmonic distortion

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Authors: Sousan Arafeh

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Educational systems and schools worldwide are increasingly reliant on information and communication technology (ICT). Unfortunately, most educational leadership development programs do not offer formal curricular and/or field experiences that prepare students for managing ICT resources, personnel, and processes. The result is a steep learning curve for the leader and his/her staff and dissipated organizational energy that compromises desired outcomes. To address this gap in education leaders’ development, Arafeh’s Integrated Technology Leadership Model (AITLM) was created. It is a conceptual model and tool that educational leadership students can use to better understand the ICT ecology that exists within their schools. The AITL Model consists of six 'infrastructure types' where ICT activity takes place: technical infrastructure, communications infrastructure, core business infrastructure, context infrastructure, resources infrastructure, and human infrastructure. These six infrastructures are further divided into 16 key areas that need management attention. The AITL Model was created by critically analyzing existing technology/ICT leadership models and working to make something more authentic and comprehensive regarding school leaders’ purview and experience. The AITL Model then served as a tool when it was distributed to over 150 educational leadership students who were asked to review it and qualitatively share their reactions. Students said the model presented crucial areas of consideration that they had not been exposed to before and that the exercise of reviewing and discussing the AITL Model as a group was useful for identifying areas of growth that they could pursue in the leadership development program and in their professional settings. While development in all infrastructures and key areas was important for students’ understanding of ICT, they noted that they were least aware of the importance of the intangible area of the resources infrastructure. The AITL Model will be presented and session participants will have an opportunity to review and reflect on its impact and utility. Ultimately, the AITL Model is one that could have significant policy and practice implications. At the very least, it might help shape ICT content in educational leadership development programs through curricular and pedagogical updates.

Keywords: education leadership, information and communications technology, ICT, leadership capacity building, leadership development

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Authors: Ibrahim Elshaer, Samar Kamel

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Organizational politics (OP) has received a great deal of attention in the management literature due to its popularity, mystery, and potential advantages for those how can use it. It involves the use of power and social networks within an organization to promote interests and gain potential benefits. Its implication for human resource (HR) management decisions is heretofore one of its least studied aspects, and awaits further investigation. Therefore, it is our intention to investigate certain relations between organizational politics and the validity of HR decisions in addition to the expected dysfunctional consequences. The study is undertaken on two HR management practices- Performance appraisal (measured by the distributive justice scale) and downsizing- depending on data gathered from the hotel industry in Egypt; a developing Non-Western country, in which Political practices of HR management are common in public and private organizations. Data was obtained from a survey of 600 employees in the Egyptian hotel industry. A total of 500 responses were attained. 100 uncompleted questionnaires were excluded leaving 400 usable with response rate of around 80%. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the causal relationship between the research variables. The analysis of the current study data reveals that organizational politics is negatively linked to the perception of distributive justice of performance appraisal, additionally, the perception of distributive justice in performance appraisal is positively linked to the perception of validity in the downsizing decisions and finally the perception of OP is negatively linked to the perception of downsizing decisions validity. This study makes three important contributions. First although there have been several studies on OP, the majority of these studies have focused on examining its effect on employees’ attitudes in workplace. This empirical study helps in identifying the influence of OP on the effectiveness and success of HR decisions and accordingly the organizational system. Second, it draws attention to OP as an important phenomenon that influence HR management in hospitality industry, since empirical evidences concerning OP in the hospitality management literature are meager. Third, this study contributes to the existing downsizing literature by examining OP and low distributive justice as challenges of the effectiveness of the downsizing process. Finally, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no empirical study in the tourism and hospitality management literature has examined the effect of OP and distributive justice on the workplace using data gathered from the hotel industry in Egypt; a developing non-Western setting.

Keywords: organizational politics, performance appraisal, downsizing, structural equation modeling, hotel industry

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Authors: Victor Abu

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Background: Social justice ideals are considered as the foundation of nursing practice. These ideals are not always clearly integrated into nursing professional standards or curricula. This hinders concerted global nursing agendas for becoming aware of social injustice or engaging in action for social justice to improve the health of individuals and groups. Aim and objectives: The aim was to create an educational framework for empowering nursing students for social justice awareness and action. This purpose was attained by understanding the meaning of social justice, the effect of social injustice, the visibility of social justice learning, and ways of integrating social justice in nursing education and practice. Methods: Critical interpretive methodologies and constructivist grounded theory research designs guided the processes of recruiting nursing students (n = 11) and nurse educators (n = 11) at a London nursing university to participate in interviews and focus groups, which were analysed by coding systems. Findings: Firstly, social justice was described as ethical practices that enable individuals and groups to have good access to health resources. Secondly, social injustice was understood as unfair practices that caused minimal access to resources, social deprivation, and poor health. Thirdly, social justice learning was considered to be invisible in nursing education due to a lack of explicit modules, educator knowledge, and organisational support. Lastly, explicit modules, educating educators, and attracting leaders’ support were suggested as approaches for the visible integration of social justice in nursing education and practice. Discussion: This research proposes approaches for nursing awareness and action for the development of critical active nurse-learner, critical conscious nurse-educator, and servant nurse leader. The framework on Awareness for Social Justice Action (ASJA) created in this research is an approach for empowering nursing students for social justice practices. Conclusion: This research contributes to and advocates for greater nursing scholarship to raise the spotlight on social justice in the profession.

Keywords: social justice, nursing practice, nursing education, nursing curriculum, social justice awareness, social justice action, constructivist grounded theory

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Authors: Drishti Sharma, Mona Duggal

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Background: WhatsApp can serve as a cost-effective, scalable, convenient, and popular medium for public health management related communication in the developing world where the existing system of communication is top-down and slow. The product supports sending and receiving a variety of media: text, photos, videos, documents, and location, as well as voice/video calls. With growing number of users of smartphones and improving access and penetration of internet, the scope of information technology remains immense in resolving the hurdles faced by traditional public health system. Poor infrastructure, gap in digital literacy, faulty documentation, strict organizational hierarchy and slow movement of information across desks and offices- all these, make WhatsApp an efficient prospect to complement the existing system for communication, feedback and leadership for public health system in India. Objective: This study investigates the benefits, challenges and limitations associated with WhatsApp usage as a public health management tool. Methods: The study was conducted within the Chandigarh Union Territory. We used a qualitative approach and conducted individual semi-structured interviews and group interviews (n = 10). Participants included medical officers (n 20), Program managers (n = 4), academicians (n=2) and administrators (n=2). Thematic and content qualitative analyses were conducted. Message log of the WhatsApp group of one of the health program was assessed. Results: Medical Officers said that WhatsApp helped them remain in touch with the program officer. They could easily give feedback and highlight those challenges which needed immediate intervention from the program managers, hence they felt supported. Also, the application helped them share pictures of their activities (meetings and field activities) with the group which they thought inspired others and gave themselves immense satisfaction. Also, it helped build stronger relationships and better coordination among themselves, the same being important in team events. For program managers, it had become a portal for coordinating large scale campaigns. Its reach and the fact that the feedback is real-time make WhatsApp ideal for district level events. Though the easy informal connectivity made them answerable to their staff but it also provided them with flexibility in operations. It turned out to be an important portal for sharing outcome and goals related feedback (both positive and negative) to the team. To be sure, using WhatsApp for the purpose of public health program presents considerable challenges, including technological barriers, organizational challenges, gender issues, confidentiality concerns and unplanned aftereffects. Nevertheless, its advantages in a low-cost setting make it an efficient alternative. Conclusion: WhatsApp has become an integral part of our lives. Use of this app for public health program management within closed groups looks promising and useful. At the same time, addressing the challenges involved would make its usage safer.

Keywords: communication, mobile technology, public health management, WhatsApp

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Authors: Galit Truman Zinman

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The 'Islamic State' (IS) is one of the most successful jihadist groups in the modern history. The 'Islamic State' strives to realize the idea of erasing the borders between Muslim countries and establishing a wide Islamic caliphate. The 'Islamic State' is based on religious unity and opposition to existing political order. In this paper, the main argument is that the 'Islamic State' is characterized by two significant tendencies of state-building: preservation and change. The methodology of this study is based on the process tracing method and the analysis of primary sources: decisions, announcements and speeches of religious leaders of the Islamic State, slogans, rituals and symbols, audio and video clips produced by the Al-Hayat Media Center, films distributed on YouTube, as well as the content analysis of Dabiq`s articles (IS official Journal) and nasheeds (jihadi songs). The major findings of this study indicate that in practice the 'Islamic State' uses the same socio-political functions typical to the modern state (preservation), but introduces a different religious-ideological content (change). On the one hand, there is a preservation of the principles of existing modern state. Even with the rejection of secularization, globalization, and nationalism, there is an establishment of typical modern nation-state patterns. It is still a state entity, which has an ideological infrastructure, territory, population, governance and a monopoly on the use of violence, security services, justice system, tax collection, etc. All these functions characterize the modern state, and despite the desire of the 'Islamic State' to create a new kind of state, it reminds patterns of the typical modern nation-state. As for the religious-ideological content of the new state, here we can see a tendency of great change. The 'Islamic State' aims to create an Islamic caliphate which would allow the establishment of religious law and order, under a big commitment to return civilization to a seventh-century environment. The 'Islamic State' favors the fight against Western culture and its liberal ideology. It supports the struggle for global jihad against the unbelievers. Today, despite the territorial 'contraction' and the undermining of the organization's governance in Iraq and Syria, the 'Islamic State' continues to maintain its brand among jihadist activists around the world.

Keywords: Islamic State, Islamic caliphate, modern nation-state, religious law and order

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Authors: Ummi Sholihah Pertiwi Abidin, Eva Fadhilah

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Social changes are more and more growing and having many different forms as the time passed and thought methods in the society. One of many forms of that social changes is the emancipation of women that is flourishing by the inception of gender equality perception between men and women in all aspects including education. It’s not anymore found the distinction between genders in learning and the education achieving right at this globalized era. But, it is still many perceptions which are against that equality of education achieving right, either come from the women’s selves or many external factors. They assumed that they are going to be a mother in the future, and a wife, someone with responsible for taking care of the household and everything inside, while the husband is the one who has the responsible for looking for the living. So comes from this kind of assumption, the perception against the education equality between genders, which means there is no need for them –women- to achieve the high education because they will still end up as housewives. Except those working or career women that need high education to support their works. These women are not aware that even a mother needs the high and capable education. Because, as the 'mother to be,' they surely need broad knowledge from the education to educate their children in the future. It is such a big fault to say the kind of thing, 'It is no matter that I am not educated, in case I’m just a housewife. The important thing is my children get a great education'. Unfortunately, it is still often found, saying 'A housewife job is not a big deal to do with high education.' This qualitative method paper raises a theme about the importance of education for women, no matter what will they be in the future. Because however, and whatever is the woman’s career outside the house, or even not working outside, she’s still a mother for her children, and 'educational provision' is a great need. And so forth, this educational provision is a big deal to do with future generation’s foredoom, regarding the first source of children’s knowledge and the first school for them is their mother.

Keywords: women education, mother to be, educational provision, first school, future generation’s foredoom

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Authors: Taye O. Famuditi, Jonathan Potts, Malcolm Bray

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This paper examines the shoreline management planning policy in England and its suitability for ameliorating the diverse environmental problems associated with Nigeria’s coastal zones. It examines the success of SMPs in England since the mid-1990s and progress achieved, with the aim of understudying the current management approach that can be transferred to Nigeria to strengthen its adoption, and as a necessary corollary, implementation of the SMPs. This paper also examines key elements of the shoreline management frameworks in England and provides answers to the question: Would shoreline management planning approach in England be appropriate and feasible in Nigeria? It further concludes that many of the action plans and principles of participation should be adoptable provided that a participatory approach that involves all stakeholders including community members and relevant sectorial ministries as well as appropriate legal framework is encouraged.

Keywords: shoreline management plans, coastal zone management, stakeholder engagement, participatory approach, Nigeria

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Authors: Anuradha Ranawakage, Chathurani Silva

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With the growing expansion of global businesses, supply chains are increasingly exposed to numerous disruptions. Organizations adopt various strategies to mitigate the impact of these disruptions. Depending on the variations in the conditions and characteristics of supply chains, the adoption of resilience strategies may vary across industries. However, these differences are largely unexplored in the existing literature. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the adoption of three proactive strategies: proactive collaboration, digital connectivity, integrated SC risk management, and three reactive strategies: reactive collaboration, inventory and reserve capacity, and lifeline maintenance in the apparel and construction industries in Sri Lanka. An online questionnaire was used to collect data on the implementation of resilience strategies from a sample of 162 apparel and 185 construction companies operating in Sri Lanka. This research makes a significant contribution to the field of supply chain management by assessing the extent to which different resilience strategies are functioned within the apparel and construction industries in Sri Lanka, particularly in an era after a global pandemic that significantly disrupted supply chains all around the world.

Keywords: apparel, construction, proactive strategies, reactive strategies, supply chain resilience

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Authors: Kirsten Wilson, Patrick M. Brauer, Sandra Babic, Diana Golubeva, Jessica Van Eyk, Tinya Wang, Avanti Karkhanis, Tim A. Le Fevre, Andy I. Kokaji, Allen C. Eaves, Sharon A. Louis, , Nooshin Tabatabaei-Zavareh

Abstract:

Long-lived plasma cells are rare, non-proliferative B cells generated from antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) following an immune response to protect the host against pathogen re-exposure. Despite their therapeutic potential, the lack of in vitro protocols in the field makes it challenging to use B cells as a cellular therapeutic tool. As a result, there is a need to establish robust and reproducible methods for the generation of B cells. To address this, we have developed a culture system for generating B cells from hematopoietic stem and/or progenitor cells (HSPCs) derived from human umbilical cord blood (CB) or pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). HSPCs isolated from CB were cultured using the StemSpan™ B Cell Generation Kit and produced CD19+ B cells at a frequency of 23.2 ± 1.5% and 59.6 ± 2.3%, with a yield of 91 ± 11 and 196 ± 37 CD19+ cells per input CD34+ cell on culture days 28 and 35, respectively (n = 50 - 59). CD19+IgM+ cells were detected at a frequency of 31.2 ± 2.6% and were produced at a yield of 113 ± 26 cells per input CD34+ cell on culture day 35 (n = 50 - 59). The B cell receptor loci of CB-derived B cells were sequenced to confirm V(D)J gene rearrangement. ELISpot analysis revealed that ASCs were generated at a frequency of 570 ± 57 per 10,000 day 35 cells, with an average IgM+ ASC yield of 16 ± 2 cells per input CD34+ cell (n = 33 - 42). PSC-derived HSPCs were generated using the STEMdiff™ Hematopoietic - EB reagents and differentiated to CD10+CD19+ B cells with a frequency of 4 ± 0.8% after 28 days of culture (n = 37, 1 embryonic and 3 induced pluripotent stem cell lines tested). Subsequent culture of PSC-derived HSPCs increased CD19+ frequency and generated ASCs from 1 - 2 iPSC lines. This method is the first report of a serum- and feeder-free system for the generation of B cells from CB and PSCs, enabling further B lineage-specific research for potential future clinical applications.

Keywords: stem cells, B cells, immunology, hematopoiesis, PSC, differentiation

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Authors: Makram El Bachawati, Rima Manneh, Thomas Dandres, Carla Nassab, Henri El Zakhem, Rafik Belarbi

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A vegetative roof, also called a garden roof, is a "roofing system that endorses the growth of plants on a rooftop". Garden roofs serve several purposes for a building, such as embellishing the roofing system, enhancing the water management, and reducing the energy consumption and heat island effects. Lebanon is a Middle East country that lacks the use of a sustainable energy system. It imports 98% of its non-renewable energy from neighboring countries and suffers flooding during heavy rains. The objective of this paper is to determine if the implementation of vegetative roofs is effectively better than the traditional roofs for the Lebanese context. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is performed in order to compare an existing extensive green roof to a traditional gravel-asphalted roof. The life cycle inventory (LCI) was established and modeled using the SimaPro 8.0 software, while the environmental impacts were classified using the IMPACT 2002+ methodology. Results indicated that, for the existing extensive green roof, the waterproofing membrane and the growing medium were the highest contributors to the potential environmental impacts. When comparing the vegetative to the traditional roof, results showed that, for all impact categories, the extensive green roof had the less environmental impacts.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, green roofs, vegatative roof, environmental impact

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Authors: Kuribachew Gizaw Tohiye, Monica Garfield

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Personal knowledge management is the aspect of knowledge management that relates to the way in which individuals organize and manage their own set of knowledge. While in that respect, there has been research in this area for the past 25 years, it is at present necessary to speculate upon what research has been done and what we have discovered about this arena of knowledge management. In contrast to organizational knowledge management, which focuses on a firm’s profitability and competitiveness, personal knowledge management (PKM) is concerned with the person’s self-effectiveness, competence and success. People are concerned in managing their knowledge in order to become more efficient in a variety of personal and organizational interests. This study presents a systematic review of PKM studies. Articles with PKM concepts are reviewed with the objective of clearly defining PKM, identifying the benefits of PKM, classifying the tools that enable PKM and finding the research gaps to indicate future research directions in the area. Consequently, we have developed a definition of PKM and identified the benefits of PKM, including an understanding of who seeks PKM and for what. Tools enabling PKM are identified and classified under three categories Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 and finally the research gap and future directions are suggested. Research which facilitates collaboration by using semantic technologies is suggested to be studied further to improve PKM effectiveness.

Keywords: personal knowledge management, knowledge management, organizational knowledge management, systematic review

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Authors: O. Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, J. Fischer, C. Lautenbach, H. A. Pant

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In 21st century higher education (HE), the diversity among students has increased in recent years due to the internationalization and higher mobility. Offering and providing equal and fair opportunities based on students’ individual skills and abilities instead of their social or cultural background is one of the major aims of HE. In this context, valid, objective and transparent assessments of students’ preconditions and academic competencies in HE are required. However, as analyses of the current states of research and practice show, a substantial research gap on assessment practices in HE still exists, calling for the development of effective solutions. These demands lead to significant conceptual and methodological challenges. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the research program 'Modeling and Measuring Competencies in Higher Education – Validation and Methodological Challenges' (KoKoHs) focusses on addressing these challenges in HE assessment practice by modeling and validating objective test instruments. Including 16 cross-university collaborative projects, the German-wide research program contributes to bridging the research gap in current assessment research and practice by concentrating on practical and policy-related challenges of assessment in HE. In this paper, we present a differentiated overview of existing assessments of HE at the national and international level. Based on the state of research, we describe the theoretical and conceptual framework of the KoKoHs Program as well as results of the validation studies, including their key outcomes. More precisely, this includes an insight into more than 40 developed assessments covering a broad range of transparent and objective methods for validly measuring domain-specific and generic knowledge and skills for five major study areas (Economics, Social Science, Teacher Education, Medicine and Psychology). Computer-, video- and simulation-based instruments have been applied and validated to measure over 20,000 students at the beginning, middle and end of their (bachelor and master) studies at more than 300 HE institutions throughout Germany or during their practical training phase, traineeship or occupation. Focussing on the validity of the assessments, all test instruments have been analyzed comprehensively, using a broad range of methods and observing the validity criteria of the Standards for Psychological and Educational Testing developed by the American Educational Research Association, the American Economic Association and the National Council on Measurement. The results of the developed assessments presented in this paper, provide valuable outcomes to predict students’ skills and abilities at the beginning and the end of their studies as well as their learning development and performance. This allows for a differentiated view of the diversity among students. Based on the given research results practical implications and recommendations are formulated. In particular, appropriate and effective learning opportunities for students can be created to support the learning development of students, promote their individual potential and reduce knowledge and skill gaps. Overall, the presented research on competency assessment is highly relevant to national and international HE practice.

Keywords: 21st century skills, academic competencies, innovative assessments, KoKoHs

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