Search results for: planning for diversity

Authors: Andre Bechuke

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The quality of every learning programme in Higher Education (HE) is dependent on the planning, design, and development of the curriculum decisions. These curriculum development decisions are highly influenced by the knowledge of the end-user, who are not always just the students. When curriculum experts plan, design and develop learning programmes, they always have the end-users in mind throughout the process. Without proper knowledge of the end-user(s), the design and development of a learning programme might be flawed. Curriculum experts often struggle to determine who the real end-user is. As such, it is even more challenging to establish what needs to be known about the end user that should inform the plan, design, and development of a learning programme. This research sought suggest approaches to guide curriculum experts to identify the end-user(s), taking into consideration the pressure and influence other agencies and structures or stakeholders (industry, students, government, universities context, lecturers, international communities, professional regulatory bodies) have on the design of a learning programme and the graduates of the programmes. Considering the influence of these stakeholders, which is also very important, the task of deciding who the real end-user of the learning programme becomes very challenging. This study makes use of criteria 1 and 18 of the Council on Higher Education criteria for programme accreditation to guide the process of identifying the end-users when developing a learning programme. Criterion 1 suggests that designers must ensure that the programme is consonant with the institution’s mission, forms part of institutional planning and resource allocation, meets national requirements and the needs of students and other stakeholders, and is intellectually credible. According to criterion 18, in designing a learning programme, steps must be taken to enhance the employability of students and alleviate shortages of expertise in relevant fields. In conclusion, there is hardly ever one group of end-users to be considered for developing a learning programme, and the notion that students are the end-users is not true, especially when the graduates are unable to use the qualification for employment.

Keywords: council on higher education, curriculum design and development, higher education, learning programme

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Authors: Morena Paulisic, Marli Gonan Bozac

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Business organization and management in theory are typically presented as gender- neutral. Although in practice female contribution to corporation is not questionable, gender diversity in top management of corporation is and that especially in emerging countries like Croatia. This paper brings insights into obstacles and problems which should be overcome. Furthermore, gives an introspective view on the most important promotion and motivation factors of powerful female CEOs in Croatia. The goal was to clarify perception and performance of female CEOs that contributed to their success and to determine mutual characteristics of women in corporate entrepreneurship regarding the motivation. For our study we used survey instrument that was developed for this research. The research methods used were: table research, field research, generalization method, comparative method, and statistical method (descriptive statistics and Pearson’s Chi-square test). Some result showed us that today even more women in corporations are not likely to accept more engagement at work if it harms their families (2003 – 31.9% in 2013 – 33.8%) although their main motivating factor is still interested job (2003 – 95.8%; in 2013-100%). It is also significant that 78.8 % of Croatian top managers (2013) think that women managers in Croatia are insufficiently spoken and written about, and that the reasons for this are that: (1) the society underestimates their ability (37.9%); (2) women underestimate themselves (22.4%); (3) the society still mainly focuses on male managers (20.7%) and (4) women managers avoid interviews and appearing on front pages (19%). The environment still “blocks” the natural course of advancement of women managers in organisations (entrepreneurship in general) and the main obstacle is that women must always or almost always be more capable than men in order to succeed (96.6%). Based on survey results on longitudinal research conducted in 2003 (return rate 30,8%) and 2013 (return rate 29,2%) in Croatia we expand understanding of determination indicators of corporate female entrepreneurship. Theoretically in practice gender structure at the management level (executive management, management board and supervisory board) throw years (2011- 2014) have positive score but still women remain significantly underrepresented at those positions. Findings from different sources have shown that diversity at the top of corporations’ correlates with better performance. In this paper, we have contributed to research on gender in corporate entrepreneurship by offering experiences from successful female CEOs and explanation why in social responsible society women with their characteristics can support needed changes and construct different way forward for corporations. Based on research result we can conclude that in future underrepresentation of female in corporate entrepreneurship should be overcome.

Keywords: Croatia, female entrepreneurship, glass ceiling, motivation

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Authors: Abubakar Sadiq Mensah

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The Knowledge of the population growth of a nation is paramount to national planning. The population of a place is studied and a model developed over a period of time, Matrices is used to form model for population growth. The eigenvalue ƛ of the matrix A and its corresponding eigenvector X is such that AX = ƛX is calculated. The stable age distribution of the population is obtained using the eigenvalue and the characteristic polynomial. Hence, estimation could be made using eigenvalues and eigenvectors.

Keywords: eigenvalues, eigenvectors, population, growth/stability

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Authors: Karen V. Lee

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The background and significance of this study involves autoethnographic research about a music teacher learning how education and curriculum planning can help her overcome harmful and lasting career consequences from sexual violence. Curriculum surrounding intervention resources from education helps her cope with consequences influencing her career as music teacher. Basic methodology involves the qualitative method of research as theoretical framework where the author is drawn into a deep storied reflection about political issues surrounding teachers who need to overcome social, psychological, and health risk behaviors from violence. Sub-themes involve counseling, curriculum, adult education to ensure teachers receive social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and intervention resources that evoke visceral, emotional responses from the audience. Major findings share how stories provide helpful resources to teachers who have been victims of violence. It is hoped the research dramatizes an episodic yet incomplete story that highlights the circumstances surrounding the protagonist’s life as teacher with previous sexual violence. In conclusion, the research has a reflexive storied framework with video and music from curriculum planning that embraces harmful and lasting consequences from sexual violence. The reflexive story of the sensory experience critically seeks verisimilitude by evoking lifelike and believable feelings from others. Thus, the scholarly importance of using education and curriculum as intervention resources to accompany storied research can provide transformative aspects that can contribute to social change. Overall, the circumstance surrounding the story about sexual violence is not uncommon in society. Thus, continued education and curriculum that supports the moral mission to help teachers overcome sexual violence that socially impacts their professional lives as victims.

Keywords: education, curriculum, sexual violence, storied autoethnography

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Authors: Hannah Dean

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The growth ideology, and its association with progress, is an important construct in the narrative of modernity. This ideology is embedded in neoclassical economic growth theory which conceptualises growth as linear and predictable, and the entrepreneur as a rational economic manager. This conceptualisation has been critiqued for reinforcing the managerial discourse in entrepreneurship studies. Despite these critiques, both the neoclassical growth theory and its adjacent managerial discourse dominate entrepreneurship studies notably the literature on female entrepreneurs. The latter is the focus of this paper. Given this emphasis on growth, female entrepreneurs are portrayed as problematic because their growth lags behind their male counterparts. This image which ignores the complexity and diversity of female entrepreneurs’ experience persists in the literature due to the lack of studies that analyse the process and contextual factors surrounding female entrepreneurs’ experience. This study aims to address the subordination of female entrepreneurs by questioning the hegemonic logic of economic growth and the managerial discourse as a true representation for the entrepreneurial experience. This objective is achieved by drawing on Schumpeter’s theorising and narrative inquiry. This exploratory study undertakes in depth interviews to gain insights into female entrepreneurs’ experience and the impact of the economic growth model and the managerial discourse on their performance. The narratives challenge a number of assumptions about female entrepreneurs. The participants occupied senior positions in the corporate world before setting up their businesses. This is at odds with much writing which assumes that women underperform because they leave their career without gaining managerial experience to achieve work-life balance. In line with Schumpeter, who distinguishes the entrepreneur from the manager, the participants’ main function was innovation. They did not believe that the managerial paradigm governing their corporate careers was applicable to their entrepreneurial experience. Formal planning and managerial rationality can hinder their decision making process. The narratives point to the gap between the two worlds which makes stepping into entrepreneurship a scary move. Schumpeter argues that the entrepreneurial process is evolutionary and that failure is an integral part of it. The participants’ entrepreneurial process was in fact irregular. The performance of new combinations was not always predictable. They therefore relied on their initiative. The inhibition to deploy these traits had an adverse effect on business growth. The narratives also indicate that over-reliance on growth threaten the business survival as it faces competing pressures. The study offers theoretical and empirical contributions to (female) entrepreneurship studies by presenting Schumpeter’s theorising as an alternative theoretical framework to the neoclassical economic growth theory. The study also reduces entrepreneurs’ vulnerability by making them aware of the negative influence that the linear growth model and the managerial discourse hold upon their performance. The study has implications for policy makers as it generates new knowledge that incorporates the current social and economic changes in the context of entrepreneurs that can no longer be sustained by the linear growth models especially in the current economic climate.

Keywords: economic growth, female entrepreneurs, managerial discourse, Schumpeter

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Authors: D. Calogine, O. Chau, S. Dotti, O. Ramiarinjanahary, P. Rasoavonjy, F. Tovondahiniriko

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Mafate is a natural circus in the north-western part of Reunion Island, without an electrical grid and road network. A micro-grid concept is being experimented in this area, composed of a photovoltaic production combined with electrochemical batteries, in order to meet the local population for self-consumption of electricity demands. This work develops a discrete model as well as a stochastic model in order to reach an optimal equilibrium between production and consumptions for a cluster of houses. The management of the energy power leads to a large linearized programming system, where the time interval of interest is 24 hours The experimental data are solar production, storage energy, and the parameters of the different electrical devices and batteries. The unknown variables to evaluate are the consumptions of the various electrical services, the energy drawn from and stored in the batteries, and the inhabitants’ planning wishes. The objective is to fit the solar production to the electrical consumption of the inhabitants, with an optimal use of the energies in the batteries by satisfying as widely as possible the users' planning requirements. In the discrete model, the different parameters and solutions of the linear programming system are deterministic scalars. Whereas in the stochastic approach, the data parameters and the linear programming solutions become random variables, then the distributions of which could be imposed or established by estimation from samples of real observations or from samples of optimal discrete equilibrium solutions.

Keywords: photovoltaic production, power consumption, battery storage resources, random variables, stochastic modeling, estimations of probability distributions, mixed integer linear programming, smart micro-grid, self-consumption of electricity.

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Authors: Yakin Ekin, Onur Akbulut

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This study aims not only to create a summarized background for the effective and efficient use of the potential of Izmir by providing the strategic planning works and institutional and sectoral strategy documents with different purposes realized by all relevant institutions and organizations in Izmir and Aegean Region to steer towards the same priorities and aims, but also focuses on a criticism and comparison viewpoint about tourism sector in Izmir.

Keywords: regional plan, Izmir, tourism, sectoral strategy

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Authors: Taonga Temwani Chibaka

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This qualitative research study was conducted to identify the common risk factors that affect the construction industry in Malawi in the building and infrastructure (civil works) projects. The study then evaluates the possible risk responses that are done to mitigate the various risk factors that were identified. I addition the research also established the barriers to risk management implementation with lastly mapping out as where the identified risk factors fall on which stage of the project and then also map out the knowledge areas that need to be worked on the cases on Malawian construction industry in order to mitigate most of the identified risk factors. The study involved the interviewing the professionals from the construction industry in Malawi where insights and ideas were collected, analysed and interpreted. The key study findings show that risks related to clients group are perceived as most critical followed by the contractor related, consultant related and then external group related factors respectively where preventive measures are the most applied risk response technique where the aim to avoid most of the risk factors from happening. Most of the risk factors identified were internal risks and in managerial category which suggested that risk planning was to be emphasized at pre-contract stage to minimize these risks since a bigger percentage of the risk factors were mapped out at implementation stage. Furthermore, barriers to risk management were identified and the key barriers were lack of awareness; lack of knowledge; lack of formal policies in place; regarded as costly and limited time which resulted in proposing that regulating authorities to purposefully introduce intense training on risk management to make known of this new knowledge area. The study then recommends that organisation should formally implement risk management where policies should be introduced to enforce all parties to undertake this. Risk planning was regarded as paramount and this to be done from pre-contract phase so as to mitigate 80% of the risk factors. Finally, training should be done on all project management knowledge areas.

Keywords: risk management, risk factors, risks, malawi

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Authors: Seyedeh Belin Tavakoly Sany, Rosli Hashim, Majid Rezayi, Aishah Salleh

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The primary objectives of this study were to investigate the distribution and composition of the macrobenthic community and their response to environmental parameters in the North Port, west coastal waters of Malaysia. A total of 25 species were identified, including 13 bivalvia, 4 gastropoda, and 3 crustacea. The other taxa were less diversified. There were no temporal changes in the macrobenthic community composition, but significant effects (p < 0.05) on the benthic community composition were found on a spatial scale. The correlation analyses and similarity tests were in good agreement, confirming the significant response of macrobenthic community composition to variations of environmental parameters.

Keywords: distribution, macrobenthic community, diversity, North Port, Malaysia

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Authors: María Eugenia Peltzer, María Estela Rodríguez

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This work presents an approach to the cultural aspects of the Immigrants as part of the Cultural Intangible Heritage of Argentina. The intangible cultural heritage consists of the manifestations, practices, uses, representations, expressions, knowledge, techniques and cultural spaces that communities and groups recognize as an integral part of their cultural heritage. This heritage generates feelings of identity and establishes links with the collective memory, as well as being transmitted and recreated over time according to its environment, its interaction with nature and its history contributing to promote respect for cultural diversity and Human creativity. The Immigrants brings together those who came from other lands and their descendants, thus maintaining their traditions through time and linking the members of each cultural group with a strong sense of belonging through a communicative and effective process.

Keywords: cultural, immigration, memories, social

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Authors: Mohsen Nouraei

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Peaceful coexistence with other religions is one of the most important matters raised the issue of religious diversity. Some people believe that the Quranic policy about the non-Muslims is based on the war and regard the reason of the progress of Islam in the early centuries as based on sword force. This article, which is written in a descriptive and analytical method, investigates this claim and evaluates it with the teachings and instructions of the Quran. The result of this paper shows that not only the teachings of the Quran do not cause the problems, but also The Quranic verses has obligated the Muslims to interact peacefully with their doctrinal opponents and exercise justice in this regard. This paper shows that the principle of interaction with non-Muslims is based on peace and coexistence, and Islam is the inspirer of religious coexistence with the followers of other religions.

Keywords: Quran, peace, religious coexistence, Christians, Jewish

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Authors: Flora Xu, Marta Fernandez Olmos

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

Keywords: business strategy, crisis, digitalization, uncertainty

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Authors: Rym Saidi, Pape Alioune Ndiaye, Mohamed Idbella, Ammar Ibnyasser, Zineb Rchiad, Issam Kadmiri Meftahi, Khalid Daoui, Adnane Bargaz

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Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important leguminous crop grown worldwide, and the second most important food legume in Morocco. In addition, that chickpea plays a significant role in humans’ dietary consumption, it has key ecological interest in terms of biological N-fixation (BNF) having the ability to symbiotically secure 20-80% of needed. Alongside nitrogen (N), low soil phosphorus (P) availability is one of the major factors limiting chickpea growth and productivity. After nitrogen, P is the most important macronutrient for plants growth and development as well as the BNF. In the context of improving chickpea symbiotic performance, co-application of beneficial bacterial inoculants (including Mesorhizobium) and Rock P-fertilizer could boost chickpea performance and productivity, owing to increasing P-utilization efficiency and overall nutrient acquisition under P-deficiency conditions. Greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of two chickpea varieties (Arifi “A” and Bochra “B”) to co-application of RP-fertilizer alongside Mesorhizobium and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) consortium under P-deficient soil in Morocco. Our findings demonstrate that co-applying RP50 with bacterial inoculant significantly increased NDW by 85.71% and 109.09% in A and B chickpea varieties respectively, compared to uninoculated RP-fertilized plants. Nodule Pi and leghemoglobin (LHb) contents also increased in RP-fertilized bacterial inoculants plants. Likewise, shoot and root dry weights of both chickpea varieties increased with bacterial inoculation and RP-fertilization. This is due to enhanced Pi content in shoot (282.54% and 291.42%) and root (334.30% and 408.32%) in response to RP50-Inc compared to unfertilized uninoculated plants, for A and B chickpea varieties respectively. Rhizosphere available P was also increased by 173.86% and 182.25% in response to RP50-Inc as compared to RP-fertilized uninoculated plants, with a positive correlation between soil available P and root length in inoculated plants of A. and B. chickpea varieties (R= 0.49; 0.6) respectively. Furthermore, Mesorhizobium was among the dominant genera in rhizosphere bacterial diversity of both chickpea varieties. This can be attributed to its capacity to enhance plant growth traits, with a more pronounced effect observed in B. variety. Our research demonstrates that integrated fertilization with bacterial inoculation effectively improves biological N-fixation and P nutrition, enhancing the agrophysiological performance of Moroccan chickpea varieties, particularly in restricted P-availability conditions.

Keywords: chickpea varieties, bacterial consortium, inoculants, Mesorhizobium, Rock-P fertilizer, phosphorus deficiency, agrophysiological performance

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Authors: K. Vrinda

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Coastal ecosystems across the world are facing a lot of challenges due to natural phenomena as well as from uncontrolled human interventions. Here, Alappad, a coastal island situated in Kerala, India is undergoing significant damage and is gradually losing its environmental and social sustainability. The area is blessed with very rare and precious black mineral sand deposits. Sand mining for these minerals started in 1911 and is still continuing. But, unfortunately all the problems that Alappad faces now, have its root on mining of this mineral sand. The land area is continuously diminishing due to sea erosion. The mining has also caused displacement of people and environmental degradation. Marine life also is getting affected by mining on beach and pollution. The inhabitants are fishermen who are largely dependent on the eco-system for a living. So loss of environmental sustainability subsequently affects social sustainability too. Now the damage has reached a point beyond which our actions may not be able to make any impact. This was one of the most affected areas of the 2004 tsunami and the environmental degradation has further increased the vulnerability. So this study focuses on understanding the concerns related to the resource utilization, environment and the indigenous community staying there, and on formulating suitable strategies to restore the sustainability of the area. An extensive study was conducted on site, to find out the physical, social, and economical characteristics of the area. A focus group discussion with the inhabitants shed light on different issues they face in their day-to-day life. The analysis of all these data, led to the formation of a new development vision for the area which focuses on environmental restoration and socio-economic development while allowing controlled exploitation of resources. A participatory approach is formulated which enables these three aspects through community based programs.

Keywords: Community development, Disaster resilience, Ecological restoration, Environmental sustainability, Social-environmental planning, Social Sustainability

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Authors: Herath M. P. C. Jayaweera, Samer Hanoun

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Path planning for on-time obstacle avoidance is an essential and challenging task that enables drones to achieve safe operation in any application domain. The level of challenge increases significantly on the obstacle avoidance technique when the drone is following a ground mobile entity (GME). This is mainly due to the change in direction and magnitude of the GME′s velocity in dynamic and unstructured environments. Force field techniques are the most widely used obstacle avoidance methods due to their simplicity, ease of use, and potential to be adopted for three-dimensional dynamic environments. However, the existing force field obstacle avoidance techniques suffer many drawbacks, including their tendency to generate longer routes when the obstacles are sideways of the drone′s route, poor ability to find the shortest flyable path, propensity to fall into local minima, producing a non-smooth path, and high failure rate in the presence of symmetrical obstacles. To overcome these shortcomings, this paper proposes an on-time three-dimensional obstacle avoidance method for drones to effectively and efficiently avoid dynamic and static obstacles in unknown environments while pursuing a GME. This on-time obstacle avoidance technique generates velocity waypoints for its obstacle-free and efficient path based on the shape of the encountered obstacles. This method can be utilized on most types of drones that have basic distance measurement sensors and autopilot-supported flight controllers. The proposed obstacle avoidance technique is validated and evaluated against existing force field methods for different simulation scenarios in Gazebo and ROS-supported PX4-SITL. The simulation results show that the proposed obstacle avoidance technique outperforms the existing force field techniques and is better suited for real-world applications.

Keywords: drones, force field methods, obstacle avoidance, path planning

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Authors: Sumayya S.

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Making cities adaptive and inclusive is one among the inherent goal and challenge for contemporary cities. This is a serious concern when the urban transformations occur in varying magnitude due to visible and invisible factors. One type of visibly invisible factor is ecommerce and its expanding operation that is understood to cause changes to the conventional spatial structure positively and negatively. With the continued growth in e-commerce activities and its future potential, market analysts, media, and even retailers have questioned the importance of a future presence of traditional Brick-and-mortar stores in cities as a critical element, with some even referring to the repeated announcement of the closure of some store chains as the end of the online shopping era. Essentially this raises the question of how adaptive and inclusive the cities are to the dynamics of transformative changes that are often unseen. People have become more comfortable with seating inside and door delivery systems, and this increased change in usage of public spaces, especially the commercial corridors. Through this research helped in presetting a new approach for planning and designing commercial activities centers and also presents the impact of ecommerce on the urban fabric, such as division and fragmentation of space, showroom syndrome, reconceptualization of space, etc., in a critical way. The changes are understood by analyzing the e-commerce logistic process. Based on the inferences reach at the conclusion for the need of an integrated approach in the field of planning and designing of public spaces for the sustainable omnichannel retailing. This study was carried out with the following objectives Monitoring the impact of e commerce on the traditional shopping space. Explore the new challenges and opportunities faced by the urban form. Explore how adaptive and inclusive our cities are to the dynamics of transformative changes caused by ecommerce.

Keywords: E-commerce, shopping streets, online environment, offline environment, shopping factors

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Authors: Madhat Abu Al-Naeem, Ismail Yusoff, Ng Tham Fatt, Yatimah Alias

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Groundwater in Gaza strip is increasingly being exposed to anthropic and natural factors that seriously impacted the groundwater quality. Physiochemical data of groundwater can offer important information on changes in groundwater quality that can be useful in improving water management tactics. An integrative hydrochemical and statistical techniques (Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and factor analysis (FA)) have been applied on the existence ten physiochemical data of 84 samples collected in (2000/2001) using STATA, AquaChem, and Surfer softwares to: 1) Provide valuable insight into the salinization sources and the hydrochemical processes controlling the chemistry of groundwater. 2) Differentiate the influence of natural processes and man-made activities. The recorded large diversity in water facies with dominance Na-Cl type that reveals a highly saline aquifer impacted by multiple complex hydrochemical processes. Based on WHO standards, only (15.5%) of the wells were suitable for drinking. HCA yielded three clusters. Cluster 1 is the highest in salinity, mainly due to the impact of Eocene saline water invasion mixed with human inputs. Cluster 2 is the lowest in salinity also due to Eocene saline water invasion but mixed with recent rainfall recharge and limited carbonate dissolution and nitrate pollution. Cluster 3 is similar in salinity to Cluster 2, but with a high diversity of facies due to the impact of many sources of salinity as sea water invasion, carbonate dissolution and human inputs. Factor analysis yielded two factors accounting for 88% of the total variance. Factor 1 (59%) is a salinization factor demonstrating the mixing contribution of natural saline water with human inputs. Factor 2 measure the hardness and pollution which explained 29% of the total variance. The negative relationship between the NO3- and pH may reveal a denitrification process in a heavy polluted aquifer recharged by a limited oxygenated rainfall. Multivariate statistical analysis combined with hydrochemical analysis indicate that the main factors controlling groundwater chemistry were Eocene saline invasion, seawater invasion, sewage invasion and rainfall recharge and the main hydrochemical processes were base ion and reverse ion exchange processes with clay minerals (water rock interactions), nitrification, carbonate dissolution and a limited denitrification process.

Keywords: dendrogram and cluster analysis, water facies, Eocene saline invasion and sea water invasion, nitrification and denitrification

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Authors: Miranda Lin

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This project examined the impact of a globally focused service-learning project implemented in a multicultural education course in a Midwestern university. This project facilitated critical self-reflection and build cross-cultural competence while nurturing a partnership with two schools that serve students with disabilities in Vietnam. Through a service-learning project, pre-service teachers connected via Skype with the principals/teachers at schools in Vietnam to identify and subsequently develop needed instructional materials for students with mild, moderate, and severe disabilities. Qualitative data sources include students’ intercultural competence self-reflection survey (pre-test and post-test), reflections, discussions, service project, and lesson plans. Literature Review- Global service-learning is a teaching strategy that encompasses service experiences both in the local community and abroad. Drawing on elements of global learning and international service-learning, global service-learning experiences are guided by a framework that is designed to support global learning outcomes and involve direct engagement with difference. By engaging in real-world challenges, global service-learning experiences can support the achievement of learning outcomes such as civic. Knowledge and intercultural knowledge and competence. Intercultural competence development is considered essential for cooperative and reciprocal engagement with community partners.Method- Participants (n=27*) were mostly elementary and early childhood pre-service teachers who were enrolled in a multicultural education course. All but one was female. Among the pre-service teachers, one Asian American, two Latinas, and the rest were White. Two pre-service teachers identified themselves as from the low socioeconomic families and the rest were from the middle to upper middle class.The global service-learning project was implemented in the spring of 2018. Two Vietnamese schools that served students with disabilities agreed to be the global service-learning sites. Both schools were located in an urban city.Systematic collection of data coincided with the course schedule as follows: an initial intercultural competence self-reflection survey completed in week one, guided reflections submitted in week 1, 9, and 16, written lesson plans and supporting materials for the service project submitted in week 16, and a final intercultural competence self-reflection survey completed in week 16. Significance-This global service-learning project has helped participants meet Merryfield’s goals in various degrees. They 1) learned knowledge and skills in the basics of instructional planning, 2) used a variety of instructional methods that encourage active learning, meet the different learning styles of students, and are congruent with content and educational goals, 3) gained the awareness and support of their students as individuals and as learners, 4) developed questioning techniques that build higher-level thinking skills, and 5) made progress in critically reflecting on and improving their own teaching and learning as a professional educator as a result of this project.

Keywords: global service-learning, teacher education, intercultural competence, diversity

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Authors: Farhood Rismanchian, Seong Hyeon Park, Young Hoon Lee

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This paper proposes a method to optimize the layout of an emergency department (ED) based on real executions of care processes by considering several planning objectives simultaneously. Recently, demand for healthcare services has been dramatically increased. As the demand for healthcare services increases, so do the need for new healthcare buildings as well as the need for redesign and renovating existing ones. The importance of implementation of a standard set of engineering facilities planning and design techniques has been already proved in both manufacturing and service industry with many significant functional efficiencies. However, high complexity of care processes remains a major challenge to apply these methods in healthcare environments. Process mining techniques applied in this study to tackle the problem of complexity and to enhance care process analysis. Process related information such as clinical pathways extracted from the information system of an ED. A 0-1 goal programming approach is then proposed to find a single layout that simultaneously satisfies several goals. The proposed model solved by optimization software CPLEX 12. The solution reached using the proposed method has 42.2% improvement in terms of walking distance of normal patients and 47.6% improvement in walking distance of critical patients at minimum cost of relocation. It has been observed that lots of patients must unnecessarily walk long distances during their visit to the emergency department because of an inefficient design. A carefully designed layout can significantly decrease patient walking distance and related complications.

Keywords: healthcare operation management, goal programming, facility layout problem, process mining, clinical processes

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Authors: Som Pal Baliyan

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The purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze farm management skills in broiler poultryproducers in Botswana. The study adopted a descriptive and correlation research design. The population of the study was the poultry farm operators who had been in broiler poultry farming at least for two years. Based on the information from literature, a questionnaire was constructed for data collection on seven areas of farm management skills namely; planning skills, accounting and financial management skills, production management skills, product procurement and marketing skills, decision making skills, risk management skills, and specific technical skills. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were accomplished by a panel of experts and by calculating the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, respectively. Data were collected through a survey of 60 randomly sampled poultry farm operators in Botswana. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistical tools whereby the level of farm management skills were determined by calculating means and standard deviations of the management skills among the broiler producers. The level of farm management skills in broilers producers was discussed. All the seven farm management skills were ranked based on their calculated means. The specific technical skills and risk management skills were the highest and the lowest ranked farm management skills, respectively.Findings revealed that the broiler producers had skills above the average level only in specific technical skills whereas the skill levels in the remaining six farm management skills under study were found below the average level. This prevailing low level of farm management skills can be justified asthe cause of failure or poor performance of the broiler poultry farms in Botswana. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency and productivityin broiler production in the country, it was recommended that the broiler poultry producers should be adequately trained in areas of planning skills, financial management skills, production management skills, product procurement and marketing skills, decision making skills and risk management skills.

Keywords: poultry production, broiler production, management skills, levels of skills

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Authors: Mehwish Jamil Noor

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Morphological features of pollen (sculpturing) were useful for identification of different floral taxa. In this study 49 pollen grains, types belonging to 25 families were studied using Scanning Electron Microscope. Shape and sculpturing of pollen ranging from Psilate, scabrate to reticulate, bireticulate and echinolophate. Honey pollen was identified using morphological features, number and arrangement of pore and colpi, size and shape. It presents the first attempt from Pakistan involving extraction of pollen from honey, its identification and taxonomic analysis. Among pollen studied diversity in shape and sculpturing has been observed ranging from Psilate, scabrate to reticulate to bireticulate and echinolophate condition. Pollen has been identified with the help of morphological feature, number and arrangement of pore and colpi, size and shape, reference slides, light microscopic data and previous literature have been consulted for pollen identification. Pollen of closely related species resemble each other therefore pollen identification of airborne and honey pollen is not possible till species level. Survey of flora was carried in parallel to keep the record about the allergenic and melliferous preference of specific sites through surveys and interviews. Their pollination season and geographical distribution were recorded. Two hundred and five including wild and cultivated taxa were identified belonging to sixty-seven families. Major bee attracting wild shrub and trees includes Justicia adhatoda, Acacia nilotica, Ziziphus jujuba, Taraxicum officinalis, Artemisia dubia, Casuarina sp., Ulmus sp., Broussonetia papyrifera, Cupressus sp. or Pinus roxburghii etc. Cultivated crops like Pennisetum typhoides, Nigella sativa, Triticum sativum along with fruit trees of Pyrus, Prunus, Eryobotria, Citrus etc. are popular melliferous floras. Exotic/ introduced species like Eucalyptus or Parthenium hysterophorus, are also frequently visited by bees indicating the significance of those plants in the honey industry. It is concluded that different microscopic analysis techniques give more clear and authentic pictures of and melliferous pollen identification which is well supported by the floral calendar. The diversity of pollen are observed in case of melliferous pollen, and most of the windborne pollen were found less sculptured or psilate expressing the adaptation to the specific mode of pollination. Pollen morphology and sculpturing would serve as a reference for future studies.

Keywords: pollen, allergenic flora, sem, pollen key, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

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Authors: Olga Blasco-Blasco, Vicente Liern

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The development of tourism since the mid-20th century has raised problems of overcrowding, indiscriminate construction in seaside areas and gentrification. Increasingly, the World Tourism Organisation and public institutions are promoting policies that encourage sustainability. From the perspective of sustainability, three types of tourism can be established: traditional tourism, sustainable tourism and sustainable impact tourism. Measuring sustainability is complex due to its multiple dimensions of different relative importance and diversity in nature. In order to try to answer this problem and to identify the benefits of applying policies that promote sustainable tourism, a decision-making analysis will be carried out through the application of a multicriteria analysis method. The proposal is applied to hotel reservations and to the evaluation and management of tourism sustainability in the Spanish Autonomous Communities.

Keywords: sustainable tourism, multicriteria analysis, flexible optimization, composite indicators

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Authors: Simon Elias Bibri, Vera Minavere Bardici

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In this article, we investigate framing, discursive and material selectivity as important issues that need to be addressed in the planning of eco–city as a model of sustainable urban form. Focusing on the Stockholm region in Sweden, we discuss issues of the contribution of eco–city model to sustainability and examine key themes associated with the construction of the discourse on eco–city projects, namely the integration of environmental, economic, and social sustainability as well as design and technology as solutions in urban projects documents pertaining specifically to Hammarby Sjöstad and Stockholm Royal Seaport. The article is divided into four sections. First, we elucidate the concept and problem of framing and discursive and material selectivity. Second, we briefly discuss the discourse of sustainability, sustainable urban forms, and eco–city, pointing out some key issues that need to be addressed in sustainable urban planning. In the third and main section of the article, we investigate plans and projects for sustainable urban development, focusing on framing and discursive and material selectivity issues in the construction of the discourse on eco–city projects in Stockholm and discussing the findings in terms of the integration of sustainability dimensions, the economic benefits of and the negative environmental effects of energy efficiency and green technology, the shaping influence of cultural frames, the links of eco–city to macro–processes of regulation, the technological orientation of eco–city projects and the associated selectivity aspects. The article concludes with a call for further research for the possibilities for a more environmentally sound and holistic approach to sustainable urban forms.

Keywords: framing, selectivity, sustainability, eco–city, sustainable urban form, design, energy efficiency, green technology, Hammarby Sjöstad, Stockholm Royal Seaport

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Authors: Eunkyo Kang, Jihye Lee, Jiyeon Choo

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Background: Pediatric palliative care has been increasing, and the number of studies has focused on the age at which pediatric patient can be notified their terminal illness, pediatric advanced care planning (ACP) and palliative care. However, there is a lack of research on health professionals’ perception. Aim: We aimed to investigate the perceptions of healthcare professionals about appropriate age disclosing terminal illness, awareness of ACP, and the relationship between ACP knowledge and the preference for palliative care for children. Methods: We administered nationwide questionnaires to 928 physicians from the 12 hospitals and the Korean Medical Association and 1,241 individuals of the general Korean population. We asked about the age at which the pediatric patients could be notified of their terminal illness, by 4 groups; 4 years old or older, 12 years old or older, 15 years old or older, or not. In addition, we surveyed the questionnaires about the knowledge of ACP of the medical staff, the preference of the pediatric hospice palliative care, aggressive treatment, and life-sustaining treatment preference. Results: In the appropriate age disclosing terminal illness, there were more respondents in the physicians than in the general population who thought that it was possible even at a younger age. Palliative care preference in pediatric patients who were expected to expire within months was higher when health care professionals had knowledge of ACPs compared to those without knowledge. The same results were obtained when deaths were expected within weeks or days. The age of the terminal status notification, the health care professionals who thought to be available at a lower age have a higher preference for palliative care and has less preference for aggressive treatment and life-sustaining treatment. Conclusion: Despite the importance of pediatric palliative care, our study confirmed that there is a difference in the preference of the health care professionals for pediatric palliative care according to the ACP knowledge of the medical staff or the appropriate age disclosing terminal illness. Future research should focus on strategies for inducing changes in perceptions of health care professionals and identifying other obstacles for the pediatric palliative care.

Keywords: pediatric palliative care, disclosing terminal illness, palliative care, advanced care planning

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Authors: S. Grinnell

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A PhD Research Project exploring the Social Health and Well-Being Impacts associated with Hydraulic Fracturing, with an aim to produce a Best Practice Support Guidance for those anticipating dealing with planning applications or submitting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). Amid a possible global energy crisis, founded upon a number of factors, including unstable political situations, increasing world population growth, people living longer, it is perhaps inevitable that Hydraulic Fracturing (commonly referred to as ‘fracking’) will become a major player within the global long-term energy and sustainability agenda. As there is currently no best practice guidance for governing bodies the Best Practice Support Document will be targeted at a number of audiences including, consultants undertaking EIAs, Planning Officers, those commissioning EIAs Industry and interested public stakeholders. It will offer a robust, evidence-based criteria and recommendations which provide a clear narrative and consistent and shared approach to the language used along with containing an understanding of the issues identified. It is proposed that the Best Practice Support Document will also support the mitigation of health impacts identified. The Best Practice Support Document will support the newly amended Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (2011/92/EU), to be transposed into UK law by 2017. A significant amendment introduced focuses on, ‘higher level of protection to the environment and health.’ Methodology: A qualitative research methods approach is being taken with this research. It will have a number of key stages. A literature review has been undertaken and been critically reviewed and analysed. This was followed by a descriptive content analysis of a selection of international and national policies, programmes and strategies along with published Environmental Impact Assessments and associated planning guidance. In terms of data collection, a number of stakeholders were interviewed as well as a number of focus groups of local community groups potentially affected by fracking. These were determined from across the UK. A theme analysis of all the data collected and the literature review will be undertaken, using NVivo. Best Practice Supporting Document will be developed based on the outcomes of the analysis and be tested and piloted in the professional fields, before a live launch. Concluding statement: Whilst fracking is not a new concept, the technology is now driving a new force behind the use of this engineering to supply fuels. A number of countries have pledged moratoria on fracking until further investigation from the impacts on health have been explored, whilst other countries including Poland and the UK are pushing to support the use of fracking. If this should be the case, it will be important that the public’s concerns, perceptions, fears and objections regarding the wider social health and well-being impacts are considered along with the more traditional biomedical health impacts.

Keywords: fracking, hydraulic fracturing, socio-economic health, well-being

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Authors: Mads H. Clausen

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Plant cell walls are structurally complex and contain a larger number of diverse carbohydrate polymers. These plant fibers are a highly valuable bio-resource and the focus of food, energy and health research. We are interested in studying the interplay of plant cell wall carbohydrates with proteins such as enzymes, cell surface lectins and antibodies. However, detailed molecular level investigations of such interactions are hampered by the heterogeneity and diversity of the polymers of interest. To circumvent this, we target well-defined oligosaccharides with representative structures that can be used for characterizing protein-carbohydrate binding. The presentation will highlight chemical syntheses of plant cell wall oligosaccharides from our group and provide examples from studies of their interactions with proteins.

Keywords: oligosaccharides, carbohydrate chemistry, plant cell walls, carbohydrate-acting enzymes

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Authors: M.R Asghari Bejestani, Gh. R. Mohammad Khani, V.R. Nafisi

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Imagined speech recognition is one of the most interesting approaches to BCI development and a lot of works have been done in this area. Many different experiments have been designed and hundreds of combinations of feature extraction methods and classifiers have been examined. Reported classification accuracies range from the chance level to more than 90%. Based on non-stationary nature of brain signals, we have introduced 3 classification modes according to time difference in inter and intra-class samples. The modes can explain the diversity of reported results and predict the range of expected classification accuracies from the brain signal accusation procedure. In this paper, a few samples are illustrated by inspecting results of some previous works.

Keywords: brain computer interface, silent talk, imagined speech, classification, signal processing

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Authors: Samantha J. Hall, Luke Taylor, Kenneth I. Cumming, Jakki Bardsley, Scott S. P. Wildman

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Medway School of Pharmacy – a joint collaboration between the University of Kent and the University of Greenwich – is a large school of pharmacy in the United Kingdom. The school primarily delivers the accredited Master or Pharmacy (MPharm) degree programme. Reportedly, some students may feel isolated from the larger student body that extends across four separate campuses, where a diverse range of academic subjects is delivered. In addition, student engagement has been noted as being limited in some areas, as evidenced in some cases by poor attendance at some lectures. In January 2015, the University of Kent launched a new initiative dedicated to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI). As part of this project, Medway School of Pharmacy employed ‘Student Success Project Officers’ in order to analyse past and present school data. As a result, initiatives have been implemented to i) negate disparities in attainment and ii) increase engagement, particularly for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students which make up for more than 80% of the pharmacy student cohort. Social media platforms are prevalent, with global statistics suggesting that they are most commonly used by females between the ages of 16-34. Student focus groups held throughout the academic year brought to light the school’s need to use social media much more actively. Prior to the EDI initiative, social media usage for Medway School of Pharmacy was scarce. Platforms including: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, The Student Room and University Blogs were either introduced or rejuvenated. This action was taken with the primary aim of increasing student engagement. By using a number of varied social media platforms, the university is able to capture a large range of students by appealing to different interests. Social media is being used to disseminate important information, promote equality and diversity, recognise and celebrate student success and also to allow students to explore the student life outside of Medway School of Pharmacy. Early data suggests an increase in lecture attendance, as well as greater evidence of student engagement highlighted by recent focus group discussions. In addition, students have communicated that active social media accounts were imperative when choosing universities for 2015/16. It allows students to understand more about the University and community prior to beginning their studies. By having a lively presence on social media, the university can use a multi-faceted approach to succeed in early engagement, as well as fostering the long term engagement of continuing students.

Keywords: engagement, social media, pharmacy, community

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Authors: Francesco Venuti, Simona Alfiero

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The aim of this paper is to develop an empirical research on the nature and consequences of corporate governance on Eurozone Insurance Industry risk taking attitude. More particularly, we analyzed the effect of public ownership on risk taking with respect to privately held Insurance Companies. We also analyzed the effects on risk taking attitude of different degrees of ownership concentration, directors compensation, and the dimension/diversity of the Board of Directors. Our results provide quite strong evidence that, coherently with the Agency Theory, publicly traded insurance companies with more concentrated ownership are less risky than the corresponding privately held.

Keywords: agency theory, corporate governance, insurance companies, risk taking

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Authors: Mark Opmeer

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The fruitful relationship between cultural heritage and digital technology is evident. Due to the development of user-friendly software, an increasing amount of heritage scholars use ict for their research activities. As a result, the implementation of information technology for heritage planning has become a research objective in itself. During the last decades, we have witnessed a growing debate and literature about the importance of computer technologies for the field of cultural heritage and ecotourism. Indeed, implementing digital technology in support of these domains can be very fruitful for one’s research practice. However, due to the rapid development of new software scholars may find it challenging to use these innovations in an appropriate way. As such, this contribution seeks to explore the interplay between geospatial technologies (geo-ict), civic engagement and cultural heritage and tourism. In this article, we discuss our findings on the use of geo-ict in support of civic participation, cultural heritage and sustainable tourism development in the southern Italian district of Brindisi. In the city of Latiano, three workshops were organized that involved local members of the community to distinguish and discuss interesting points of interests (POI’s) which represent the cultural significance and identity of the area. During the first workshop, a so called mappa della comunità was created on a touch table with collaborative mapping software, that allowed the participators to highlight potential destinations for tourist purposes. Furthermore, two heritage-based itineraries along a selection of identified POI’s was created to make the region attractive for recreants and tourists. These heritage-based itineraries reflect the communities’ ideas about the cultural identity of the region. Both trails were subsequently implemented in a dedicated mobile application (app) and was evaluated using a mixed-method approach with the members of the community during the second workshop. In the final workshop, the findings of the collaboration, the heritage trails and the app was evaluated with all participants. Based on our conclusions, we argue that geospatial technologies have a significant potential for involving local communities in heritage planning and tourism development. The participants of the workshops found it increasingly engaging to share their ideas and knowledge using the digital map of the touch table. Secondly, the use of a mobile application as instrument to test the heritage-based itineraries in the field was broadly considered as fun and beneficial for enhancing community awareness and participation in local heritage. The app furthermore stimulated the communities’ awareness of the added value of geospatial technologies for sustainable tourism development in the area. We conclude this article with a number of recommendations in order to provide a best practice for organizing heritage workshops with similar objectives.

Keywords: civic engagement, geospatial technologies, tourism development, cultural heritage

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