Search results for: Corporate Social Performance (CSP)

Authors: Cleopatra Gittens

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It has been recognized that some social security and national insurance systems in the Eastern Caribbean are experiencing ageing populations and economic and other crises that will present a financial challenge of being unable to pay pension benefits in fifteen to twenty years. This has implications for the fiscal and economic positions of the countries themselves. Hence, organizations would need to address the issue urgently. The study adds to the body of knowledge on social security systems and social security reforms in small island developing states (SIDS). It also makes recommendations for the types of reforms that social security systems in other SIDS can implement given their special circumstances. Secondary research is used to gather financial and other related information on three social security schemes in the Eastern Caribbean. Actuarial and financial reports and other documents of the social security systems are analysed to obtain financial and static data on each of the schemes. The findings show that the three schemes studied are experiencing steady increases in benefit expenditure versus contributions and increasing pensioner to insured ratios. The schemes will deplete their reserves between 2038 and 2050. Two of the schemes have increased their retirement age while the other has not embarked on any reforms. One scheme has made changes to its contribution percentages. Due to their small size, small populations and other unique circumstances, the social security schemes in the identified territories are not likely to be able to take advantage of all of the reform initiatives that the developed world embarked on when faced with similar problems. These schemes will need to make incremental changes that align with the timeframes recommended by the actuarial studies.

Keywords: benefits, pension, small island developing states, social security reform

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Authors: S. O. Odebode, O. E. Adelakun

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The study assessed the perception of rural dwellers on the nutritional and social values of mushroom in Oyo state, Nigeria. One hundred and forty respondents were sampled and interviewed. Results showed that majority (84.9%) had below secondary education and 81.4 % were married, with fairly large (71.4%) household size (5–8). Also, 52.1% had favourable perception toward the nutritional values and 57.1% toward the social values of mushrooms in the study area. There was significant relationship between sex (X² = 4.673), educational level (X² = 11.969) and perception on the values of mushroom. The knowledge level of respondents on mushroom utilization and production is low in the study area. Farmers’ research field should be established to educate rural dwellers on mushroom farm practices and utilization.

Keywords: mushroom, nutritional value, rural dwellers, social value

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Authors: Feddaoui Amina

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Through this study we will try to shed light on the theoretical framework proposed for understanding creative accounting as a financial numbers game and one of the most important techniques of accounts manipulation, its main actors and its practices. We will discover the role of the modified Jones model (1995) in detecting creative accounting practices using discretionary accruals. Finally we will try to confirm the importance and the need to address this type of practices using corporate governance as a main control system and an important defense line to reduce these dangerous accounts manipulation.

Keywords: financial numbers game, creative accounting, modified Jones model, accounts manipulation

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Authors: Augustine Ndudi Egere, Shehu Adamu, Esther Ishaya Solomon

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As internet accessibility and smartphones continue to increase in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, social media platforms have become ubiquitous, causing students of 18-25 age brackets to spend more time on social media. The research investigated the impact of prolonged social media use on the physical health of students, with a specific focus on computer vision syndrome, hand pain, headaches and mental status. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative surveys to gather statistical data on usage patterns and symptoms, along with qualitative interviews into the experiences and perceptions of medical practitioners concerning cases under study within the geopolitical region. The result was analyzed using Regression analysis. It was observed that there is a significant correlation between social media usage by the students in the study age bracket concerning computer vision syndrome, hand pain, headache and general mental status. The research concluded by providing valuable insights into potential interventions and strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of excessive social media use on student well-being and recommends, among others, that educational institutions, parents, and students themselves collaborate to implement strategies aimed at promoting responsible and balanced use of social media.

Keywords: social media, student health, computer vision syndrome, hand pain, headaches, mental staus

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Authors: Jay Martin L. Dionaldo

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This study aimed to develop a causal model on the performance of the basic education teachers in the Division of Malaybalay City for the school year 2018-2019. This study used the responses of 300 randomly selected basic education teachers of Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. They responded to the three sets of questionnaires patterned from the National Education Association (2018) on instructional leadership of teachers, the questionnaire of Caluza et al., (2017) for information and communications technology competencies and the questionnaire on the teachers’ performance using the Individual Performance Commitment and Review Form (IPCRF) adopted by the Department of Education (DepEd). Descriptive statistics such as mean for the description, correlation for a relationship, regression for the extent influence, and path analysis for the model that best fits teachers’ performance were used. Result showed that basic education teachers have a very satisfactory level of performance. Also, the teachers highly practice instructional leadership practices in terms of coaching and mentoring, facilitating collaborative relationships, and community awareness and engagement. On the other hand, they are proficient users of ICT in terms of technology operations and concepts and basic users in terms of their pedagogical indicators. Furthermore, instructional leadership, coaching and mentoring, facilitating collaborative relationships and community awareness and engagement and information and communications technology competencies; technology operations and concept and pedagogy were significantly correlated toward teachers’ performance. Coaching and mentoring, community awareness and engagement, and technology operations and concept were the best predictors of teachers’ performance. The model that best fit teachers’ performance is anchored on coaching and mentoring of the teachers, embedded with facilitating collaborative relationships, community awareness, and engagement, technology operations, and concepts, and pedagogy.

Keywords: information and communications technology, instructional leadership, coaching and mentoring, collaborative relationship

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Authors: Kamran Siddique, Hiroyuki Asada, Yoshifumi Ogami

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The use of Micro Gas Turbine (MGT) as the engine in Unmanned Aerobic Vehicles (UAVs) and power source in Robotics is widespread these days. Research has been conducted in the past decade or so to improve the performance of different components of MGT. This type of engine has interrelated components which have non-linear characteristics. Therefore, the overall engine performance depends on the individual engine element’s performance. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is one of the simulation method tools used to analyze or even optimize MGT system performance. In this study, the compressor of the MGT is designed, and performance optimization is being done using CFD. Performance of the micro compressor is improved in order to increase the overall performance of MGT. A high value of pressure ratio is to be achieved by studying the effect of change of different operating parameters like mass flow rate and revolutions per minute (RPM) and aerodynamical and geometrical parameters on the pressure ratio of the compressor. Two types of compressor designs are considered in this study; 3D centrifugal and ‘planar’ designs. For a 10 mm impeller, the planar model is the simplest compressor model with the ease in manufacturability. On the other hand, 3D centrifugal model, although more efficient, is very difficult to manufacture using current microfabrication resources. Therefore, the planar model is the best-suited model for a micro compressor. So. a planar micro compressor has been designed that has a good pressure ratio, and it is easy to manufacture using current microfabrication technologies. Future work is to fabricate the compressor to get experimental results and validate the theoretical model.

Keywords: computational fluid dynamics, microfabrication, MEMS, unmanned aerobic vehicles

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Authors: Mohammadreza Bakhtiari, Mehrdad Maghsoudi, Hamidreza Bakhtiari

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The widespread adoption of laptops has become essential to modern lifestyles, supporting work, education, and entertainment. Social media platforms have emerged as key spaces where users share real-time feedback on laptop performance, providing a valuable source of data for understanding consumer preferences. This study leverages aspect-based sentiment analysis (ABSA) on 1.5 million tweets to examine how users from developed and developing countries perceive and prioritize 16 key laptop features. The analysis reveals that consumers in developing countries express higher satisfaction overall, emphasizing affordability, durability, and reliability. Conversely, users in developed countries demonstrate more critical attitudes, especially toward performance-related aspects such as cooling systems, battery life, and chargers. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining ABSA using the PyABSA framework with expert insights gathered through a Delphi panel of ten industry professionals. Data preprocessing included cleaning, filtering, and aspect extraction from tweets. Universal issues such as battery efficiency and fan performance were identified, reflecting shared challenges across markets. However, priorities diverge between regions, while users in developed countries demand high-performance models with advanced features, those in developing countries seek products that offer strong value for money and long-term durability. The findings suggest that laptop manufacturers should adopt a market-specific strategy by developing differentiated product lines. For developed markets, the focus should be on cutting-edge technologies, enhanced cooling solutions, and comprehensive warranty services. In developing markets, emphasis should be placed on affordability, versatile port options, and robust designs. Additionally, the study highlights the importance of universal charging solutions and continuous sentiment monitoring to adapt to evolving consumer needs. This research offers practical insights for manufacturers seeking to optimize product development and marketing strategies for global markets, ensuring enhanced user satisfaction and long-term competitiveness. Future studies could explore multi-source data integration and conduct longitudinal analyses to capture changing trends over time.

Keywords: consumer behavior, durability, laptop industry, sentiment analysis, social media analytics

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Authors: Yongsheng Guo

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This study explores the perceptions and conducts of Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa from ethical and cultural perspectives. It offers a better understanding of how ethical and cultural factors affect Chinese investment in Africa and how the investment projects performed in Africa from both Chinese investors and African stakeholders’ perceptions. It adopted a grounded theory approach and conducted 30 in-depth interviews with corporate managers. Grounded theory models are developed to link the ethical and cultural factors, actions, and consequences. Results reveal that some ethical concepts like the unity of humans and nature, benevolence, virtue and responsibility, and cultural traits including propriety, righteousness, sincerity, equilibrium, long-term orientation, and principles affect Chinese investors when making investments in Africa. Most Chinese investors harmonize with local managers, cooperate with each other, and are gentle and courteous to partners. They take stable and steady actions and invest in infrastructure and agriculture projects and adopt a virtue governance system in the organization. This study finds that consequently, Chinese investors and local partners take complementary advantages, make achievements sequentially, and therefore both sides can win. They recognize great potentials and make sustainable development in Africa to achieve the Great Together in the future. This study proposes a Chinese ethics and governance system including economic, social, and political perspectives and compares it with alternative systems. It makes implications to the world island theory and propose suggestions to solve the Clash of Civilizations problem.

Keywords: foreign direct investment, ethics, national culture, China, Africa

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Authors: Alireza Monzavi Chaleshtari, Mahnaz Aliakbari Dehkordi, Mina Gholampour, Majid Saffarinia, Tayebeh Mohtashami, Amin Asadi Hieh

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The study aimed to assess the impact of positive psychology education on the social well-being of high school girls experiencing premenstrual syndrome (PMS). The statistical population comprised high school girls with PMS, with 30 randomly selected participants divided into two groups: 15 in the experimental group and 15 in the control group. The research employed a pre-test and post-test design using a standard questionnaire to evaluate premenstrual syndrome symptoms over a 7-day period before menstruation to a maximum of 2 days after menstruation, along with the Social Keys welfare questionnaire. During the study, the experimental group underwent an 8-session positive psychology group program. Data analysis was conducted using analysis of covariance. The results indicated a significant positive effect of positive psychology training on enhancing the social well-being of girls (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the findings suggest that positive psychology interventions can effectively increase social well-being among high school girls experiencing premenstrual syndrome.

Keywords: positive psychology, premenstrual syndrome, social welfare, girls

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Authors: K. C. Ching

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There is growing public concern over the increasing prevalence of student suicide in Hong Kong. Some identify the problem with insufficient social support, while some attribute it to the vast fluctuations in emotional experience and the hindrances to emotion-regulation, both typical of adolescence and emerging adulthood. This study is thus designed to explore the respective effect of perceived social support and emotion self-confidence, on positive emotions and negative emotions. Fifty-seven Hong Kong higher-education students (17 males, 40 females) aged between 18 and 25 (M = 21.78) responded to an online questionnaire consisted of self-reported measures of perceived social support, emotional self-confidence, positive emotions, and negative emotions. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that emotional self-confidence positively associated with positive emotions and negatively with negative emotions, while perceived social support positively associated with positive emotions but was not related to negative emotions. Perceived social support and emotional self-confidence both predicted positive emotions, but did not interact to predict any emotional outcome. It is concluded that students’ positive and negative emotional experiences are closely related to their emotion-regulation process. But for social support, its effect is merely protective, meaning that although perceived social support generally promotes positive emotions, it alone does not suffice to alleviate students’ negative emotions. These conclusions carry profound implications to suicide prevention practices, including that most existing suicide prevention campaigns should advance from merely fostering mutual support to directly promoting adaptive coping of emotional negativity.

Keywords: emerging adulthood, emotional self-confidence, hong kong, perceived social support, suicide prevention

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Authors: Adriano Pinargote, Josue Mosquera, Eduardo Montero, Dalton Noboa, Jenny Venegas, Genesis Vasquez Escuela

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In the framework of Pre University learning of the Polytechnic School of the Litoral, Guayaquil, Ecuador, the methodology of Active Learning (Flipped Classroom) has been implemented for applicants who wish to obtain a quota within the university. To complement the Active Learning cycle, it has been proposed that the respective students influence the qualification of their work groups, for which a web platform has been created that allows them to evaluate the performance of their peers through a digital coevaluation that measures through statistical methods, the group and individual performance score that can reflect in numbers a weighting score corresponding to the grade of each student. Their feedback provided by the group help to improve the performance of the activities carried out in classes because the note reflects the commitment with their classmates shown in the class, within this analysis we will determine if this implementation directly influences the performance of the grades obtained by the student.

Keywords: active learning, coevaluation, flipped classroom, pre university

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Authors: Muhammad Tufail, Jawad Hussain, Hammad Hussain, Imran Hafeez, Naveed Ahmad

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Road safety performance index is a composite index which combines various indicators of road safety into single number. Development of a road safety performance index using appropriate safety performance indicators is essential to enhance road safety. However, a road safety performance index in developing countries has not been given as much priority as needed. The primary objective of this research is to develop a general Road Safety Performance Index (RSPI) for developing countries based on the facility as well as behavior of road user. The secondary objectives include finding the critical inputs in the RSPI and finding the better method of making the index. In this study, the RSPI is developed by selecting four main safety performance indicators i.e., protective system (seat belt, helmet etc.), road (road width, signalized intersections, number of lanes, speed limit), number of pedestrians, and number of vehicles. Data on these four safety performance indicators were collected using observation survey on a 20 km road section of the National Highway N-125 road Taxila, Pakistan. For the development of this composite index, two methods are used: a) Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and b) Equal Weighting (EW) method. PCA is used for extraction, weighting, and linear aggregation of indicators to obtain a single value. An individual index score was calculated for each road section by multiplication of weights and standardized values of each safety performance indicator. However, Simple Average technique was used for weighting and linear aggregation of indicators to develop a RSPI. The road sections are ranked according to RSPI scores using both methods. The two weighting methods are compared, and the PCA method is found to be much more reliable than the Simple Average Technique.

Keywords: indicators, aggregation, principle component analysis, weighting, index score

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Authors: Steven Wright

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This paper argues that there is an opportunity for PCH to further expand its relevance within the Canadian policy context by taking advantage of the growing international trend of using social indicators for public policy evaluation. Within the mandate and vision of PCH, there is an incomplete understanding of the value that the arts and culture provide for Canadians, specifically with regard to four social indicators: community development, civic engagement, life satisfaction, and work-life balance. As will be shown, culture and the arts have a unique role to play in such quality of life indicators, and there is an opportunity for PCH to aid in the development of a comprehensive national framework that includes these indicators. This paper lays out approach to understanding how social indicators may be included in the Canadian context by first illustrating recent trends in policy evaluation on a national and international scale. From there, a theoretical analysis of the connection between cultural policy and social indicators is provided. The second half of the paper is dedicated to explaining the shortcomings of Canadian cultural policy evaluation in terms of its tendency to justify expenditures related to arts and cultural activities in purely economic terms, and surveying how other governments worldwide are leading the charge in this regard.

Keywords: social indicators, evaluation, cultural policy, arts

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Authors: E. Kaygan, A. Gatto

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An investigation of adaptable winglets for morphing aircraft control and performance is described in this paper. The concepts investigated consist of various winglet configurations fundamentally centred on a baseline swept wing. The impetus for the work was to identify and optimize winglets to enhance controllability and the aerodynamic efficiency of a small unmanned aerial vehicle. All computations were performed with Athena Vortex Lattice modelling with varying degrees of twist, swept, and dihedral angle considered. The results from this work indicate that if adaptable winglets were employed on small scale UAV’s improvements in both aircraft control and performance could be achieved.

Keywords: aircraft, rolling, wing, winglet

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Authors: Abdolamir Gatezadeh, Jamal Daghaleh

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The lifestyle of individuals is important and determinant for the status of psychological and social health. Recently, especially in developed countries, the relationship between lifestyle and mental illnesses, including depression, has attracted the attention of many people. In order to test the causal model of depression based on lifestyle with mediation of social health in the study, basic and applied methods were used in terms of objective and descriptive-field as well as the data collection. Methods: This study is a basic research type and is in the framework of correlational plans. In this study, the population includes all adults in Ahwaz city. A randomized, multistage sampling of 384 subjects was selected as the subjects. Accordingly, the data was collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results: In data analysis, path analysis indicated the confirmation of the assumed model fit of research. This means that subscales lifestyle has a direct effect on depression and subscales lifestyle through the mediation of social health which in turn has an indirect effect on depression. Discussion and conclusion: According to the results of the research, the depression can be used to explain the components of the lifestyle and social health.

Keywords: depression, subscales lifestyle, social health, causal model

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Authors: Umer Mukhtar

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Supply Chain Competitiveness is the capability of a supply chain to deliver value to the customer for the sake of competitive advantage. Service Performance and Quality intervene between supply chain actors including functions inside the firm in a significant way for the supply chain to achieve a competitive position in the market to gain competitive advantage. Supply Chain competitiveness is the current issue of interest because of supply chains’ competition for competitive advantage rather than firms’. A proposed theoretical model is developed by extracting and integrating different theories to pursue further inquiry based on case studies and survey design. It is also intended to develop a scale of service performance for functions of the focal firm that is a revolving center for a whole supply chain.

Keywords: supply chain competitiveness, service performance in supply chain, service quality in supply chain, competitive advantage by supply chain, networks and supply chain, customer value, value supply chain, value chain

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Authors: Jun-ichi Ochiai, Itsuki Noda, Ryo Kanamori, Keiji Hirata, Hitoshi Matsubara, Hideyuki Nakashima

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We conducted exhaustive simulations for data assimilation and evaluation of service quality for various setting in a new shared transportation system, called SAVS. Computational social simulation is a key technology to design recent social services like SAVS as new transportation service. One open issue in SAVS was to determine the service scale through the social simulation. Using our exhaustive simulation framework, OACIS, we did data-assimilation and evaluation of effects of SAVS based on actual tax-use data at Tajimi city, Japan. Finally, we get the conditions to realize the new service in a reasonable service quality.

Keywords: on-demand bus sytem, social simulation, data assimilation, exhaustive simulation

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Authors: Edwin Mwasakidzeni Mutyenyoka

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Without ignoring migration-related challenges in transit zones and places of origin, this inquiry focuses on arrived international immigrants’ exacerbated vulnerability during crises. The aim is to underline longstanding inequalities and demonstrate that crises merely amplify and exacerbate challenges that low-income migrants already face during ‘non-crises’ periods. Social protection, as an agenda for reducing vulnerability, poverty, and risk for low-income households, with regard to basic consumption and services, has been foregrounded in the post-apartheid development discourse in South Africa. Evidently, however, the state, through the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), systemically excludes the majority of non-citizens from state-sponsored social assistance programs - often leaving them heavily dependent on sporadic non-state options and erosive coping mechanisms. In this paper, migration itself should not only be understood as a social protection strategy against poverty and risk but also as a source of vulnerability that often requires social protection. For quasi-ethnographic, it use one migrant destination, Alex Park Township, as a “contact zone” and space of negotiation during the pandemic.

Keywords: south-south migration, crises, social protection, Covid-19 pandemic

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Authors: Tayebeh Jameh-Bozorgi, M. Soleymani

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In this research, the role of social networks in promoting ethics in Iranian sports was investigated. The research adopted a descriptive-analytic method, and the survey’s population consisted of all the athletes invited to the national football, volleyball, wrestling and taekwondo teams. Considering the limited population, the size of the society was considered as the sample size. After the distribution of the questionnaires, 167 respondents answered the questionnaires correctly. The data collection tool was chosen according to Hamid Ghasemi`s, standard questionnaire for social networking and mass media, which has 28 questions. Reliability of the questionnaire was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient (94%). The content validity of the questionnaire was also approved by the professors. In this study, descriptive statistics and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze the data using statistical software. The benchmark tests used in this research included the following: Binomial test, Friedman test, Spearman correlation coefficient, Vermont Creamers, Good fit test and comparative prototypes. The results showed that athletes believed that social network has a significant role in promoting sport ethics in the community. Telegram has been known to play a big role than other social networks. Moreover, the respondents' view on the role of social networks in promoting sport ethics was significantly different in both men and women groups. In fact, women had a more positive attitude towards the role of social networks in promoting sport ethics than men. The respondents' view of the role of social networks in promoting the ethics of sports in the study groups also had a significant difference. Additionally, there was a significant and reverse relationship between the sports experience and the attitude of national athletes regarding the role of social networks in promoting ethics in sports.

Keywords: ethics, social networks, mass media, Iranian sports, internet

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Authors: Nisha James, Shubha Ranganathan

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Sex trafficking is a traumatic ongoing process which includes human rights violations against the victims. Majority of the trafficked individuals in India are from families with low socioeconomic status, from rural areas, unmarried or married off at a very young age. Many of the sex trafficked feel that it is necessary to make sacrifices, for the benefit of their families. The combination of these cultural family values with the stigma of rape and prostitution are manipulated and used as a tool in the abuse of power against the sex trafficked. The rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of these individuals are usually difficult due to the stigma and social exclusion that they face. In these circumstances, social support is very effective in social inclusion of these individuals. The present study was a qualitative one, using semi-structured interviews with 29 Indian survivors of sex trafficking and a few sex workers. Thematic analysis was done on the data derived from the semi-structured interviews. The major findings indicate that the family can be seen as both the ‘cause’ for being sex trafficked, and the factor in victim continuing to be sex trafficked. At the same time, it can also become a driver for getting rescued, rehabilitated and reintegrated. The study also explores the social construction about ‘family’ among the survivors of sex trafficking, reflecting on who they refer to as ‘family’, what they mean by the term ‘family’ and how these families emerge. Therefore the analytic concept of ‘family’ is a crucial element in sex trafficking and cannot be defined only in terms of its conventional definition of a basic unit of society.

Keywords: sex-trafficking, survivor, family, social construction

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Authors: Pamela-Zoe Topalli, Niina Junttila, Päivi M. Niemi, Klaus Ranta

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Adolescents’ biased perceptions about their social competence (SC), whether negatively or positively, serve to influence their socioemotional adjustment such as early feelings of social phobia (nowadays referred to as Social Anxiety Disorder-SAD). Despite the importance of biased self-perceptions in adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment, the extent to which discrepancies between self- and others’ evaluations of one’s SC are linked to social phobic symptoms remains unclear in the literature. This study examined the perceptual discrepancy profiles between self- and peers’ as well as between self- and teachers’ evaluations of adolescents’ SC and the interrelations of these profiles with self-reported social phobic symptoms. The participants were 390 3^rd graders (15 years old) of Finnish lower secondary school (50.8% boys, 49.2% girls). In contrast with variable-centered approaches that have mainly been used by previous studies when focusing on this subject, this study used latent profile analysis (LPA), a person-centered approach which can provide information regarding risk profiles by capturing the heterogeneity within a population and classifying individuals into groups. LPA revealed the following five classes of discrepancy profiles: i) extremely negatively biased perceptions of SC, ii) negatively biased perceptions of SC, iii) quite realistic perceptions of SC, iv) positively biased perceptions of SC, and v) extremely positively biased perceptions of SC. Adolescents with extremely negatively biased perceptions and negatively biased perceptions of their own SC reported the highest number of social phobic symptoms. Adolescents with quite realistic, positively biased and extremely positively biased perceptions reported the lowest number of socio-phobic symptoms. The results point out the negatively and the extremely negatively biased perceptions as possible contributors to social phobic symptoms. Moreover, the association of quite realistic perceptions with low number of social phobic symptoms indicates its potential protective power against social phobia. Finally, positively and extremely positively biased perceptions of SC are negatively associated with social phobic symptoms in this study. However, the profile of extremely positively biased perceptions might be linked as well with the existence of externalizing problems such as antisocial behavior (e.g. disruptive impulsivity). The current findings highlight the importance of considering discrepancies between self- and others’ perceptions of one’s SC in clinical and research efforts. Interventions designed to prevent or moderate social phobic symptoms need to take into account individual needs rather than aiming for uniform treatment. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Keywords: adolescence, latent profile analysis, perceptual discrepancies, social competence, social phobia

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Authors: S. B. Rathna Kumar, Pranjali A Ujwane, Panchanan Mohanty

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The present study aimed to develop a battery for assessing speech recognition performance by adults in Marathi. A total of four word lists were developed by considering word frequency, word familiarity, words in common use, and phonemic balance. Each word list consists of 25 words (15 monosyllabic words in CVC structure and 10 monosyllabic words in CVCV structure). Equivalence analysis and performance-intensity function testing was carried using the four word lists on a total of 150 native speakers of Marathi belonging to different regions of Maharashtra (Vidarbha, Marathwada, Khandesh and Northern Maharashtra, Pune, and Konkan). The subjects were further equally divided into five groups based on above mentioned regions. It was found that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the speech recognition performance between groups for each word list and between word lists for each group. Hence, the four word lists developed were equally difficult for all the groups and can be used interchangeably. The performance-intensity (PI) function curve showed semi-linear function, and the groups’ mean slope of the linear portions of the curve indicated an average linear slope of 4.64%, 4.73%, 4.68%, and 4.85% increase in word recognition score per dB for list 1, list 2, list 3 and list 4 respectively. Although, there is no data available on speech recognition tests for adults in Marathi, most of the findings of the study are in line with the findings of research reports on other languages. The four word lists, thus developed, were found to have sufficient reliability and validity in assessing speech recognition performance by adults in Marathi.

Keywords: speech recognition performance, phonemic balance, equivalence analysis, performance-intensity function testing, reliability, validity

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Authors: Rosemary Saidu, Taiyelolu Martins Ogunjirin

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The study examines the teaching environment and instructional materials on the performance of students in the English Language in selected secondary schools in Ogun State and its implication for counselling. Two research questions guided the study were developed. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed for the study. Samples of 100 students of Senior Secondary School Two (SSS11) were drawn. Purposive sampling technique was to select the five schools. Additionally, the instruments known as Teaching Environment and Instructional Materials on Students Performance in English Inventory (TEIMEI) and Student Achievement Scores (SAS) were used to elicit information. Thereafter, inferential statistics and the non-parametric chi-square statistics at 0.05 alpha levels and 3 degree of freedom were adopted as analytical tools. From the study, it was discovered among others that teaching environment and instructional materials significantly contributed to the performance of students in the English language. From the findings, it was recommended that among others functional language laboratory in the schools, counselors to regularly give guidance talk on the importance of the subject.

Keywords: performance, English language, teaching environment, instructional materials

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Authors: Valentina Colonnello, Paolo Maria Russo

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Living kidney donation requires psychological evaluation and ongoing follow-up. A crucial aspect of this evaluation is assessing the social functioning of donors after donation. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we conducted a review of quantitative and qualitative studies on the psychological assessment of living kidney donors' social functioning. The majority of quantitative studies examining the long-term social health post-donation have primarily utilized the Short Form Health Survey (SF) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQoL-BREF) questionnaires. These studies have indicated that donors' social functioning and relationships either remained stable post-donation or returned to pre-donation levels. In some instances, donors' social functioning even surpassed that of the general population. Qualitative studies, conducted through interviews and focus groups, have revealed donors' experiences and emotional concerns that are often overlooked in quantitative analyses. Specifically, qualitative analysis has identified two main themes: "connecting to others" and "acknowledgment and social support." Our review highlights that the majority of published quantitative studies on donors have employed measures of social functioning that may not fully capture donors' experiences and needs. It underscores the importance of further investigation in quantitative studies to assess donors' actual social health and psychological needs accurately. Overall, this review provides valuable insights into specific constructs that warrant deeper exploration in quantitative studies concerning the assessment of donors' social health and psychological well-being.

Keywords: reported outcomes, personalized medicine, individual differences, emotions, psychological assessment

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Authors: Soheila Sadeghi

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Accurate forecasting of project performance metrics is crucial for successfully managing and delivering urban road reconstruction projects. Traditional methods often rely on static baseline plans and fail to consider the dynamic nature of project progress and external factors. This research proposes a machine learning-based approach to forecast project performance metrics, such as cost variance and earned value, for each Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) category in an urban road reconstruction project. The proposed model utilizes time series forecasting techniques, including Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, to predict future performance based on historical data and project progress. The model also incorporates external factors, such as weather patterns and resource availability, as features to enhance the accuracy of forecasts. By applying the predictive power of machine learning, the performance forecasting model enables proactive identification of potential deviations from the baseline plan, which allows project managers to take timely corrective actions. The research aims to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach using a case study of an urban road reconstruction project, comparing the model's forecasts with actual project performance data. The findings of this research contribute to the advancement of project management practices in the construction industry, offering a data-driven solution for improving project performance monitoring and control.

Keywords: project performance forecasting, machine learning, time series forecasting, cost variance, earned value management

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Authors: Aisyiyah Fauziah Rahmah

Abstract:

Generally, an urban city has a rapid growth, it has frequent a variety of problems, especially of convenience in public space usage. The density of population in urban areas and the high activity is also indicated as a cause of urban resident lifestyle for the worse in social relationships and allow for the stress. Streets and green space (parks) are the only public space in a residential area which is used as a place to build social activity, to meet and interact with the other housing dweller. The high level of activity and social interaction that occurs will affect the spatial arrangement. It can be effected the space structures in housing more complex. Ease in access to public space is the reason many dweller prefer doing social activities there. Hillier in Carmona et al (2003) explains that the pattern and intensity of movement of individuals is influenced by the configuration of space, even the space structure can be regarded as the single most influential determinant of movements in the space. Whyte in Zhang and Lawson (2009) also suggest some factors such as seats, trees, water and legibility of space encourage people to stay in public outdoor space. Furthermore this activities can attract more activities. Villa Bukit Tidar is a housing in Lowokwaru District which highest number of people in Malang City, so social activity is also high there. It has natural and recreational concept and provided with view of Malang City from heights. This potential is able to attract the people who live there to stay in public outdoor space and doing activities there. From this study we can find whether the ease of access to public space and visual satisfaction of Villa Bukit Tidar housing affect the usage of public space. This study was carried out by observing the streets pattern and plot pattern to know the configuration space of Villa Bukit Tidar housing through values of connectivity and integrity by resulting from space sintax analysis. Distributing questionnaires also carried out to determine the level of satisfaction and importance perception of visual condition in the public space in Villa Bukit Tidar housing through Important Performance Analysis (IPA). Results of this research indicated that the public spaces in Villa Bukit Tidar housing who has high connectivity and integrity is considered to be visually satisfied and it has a higher public space usage than has low connectivity and integrity are considered to be visually dissatisfied.

Keywords: configuration space, visual perception, social activities, public space usage

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Authors: Neha Bhushan

Abstract:

For the purpose of this study a village of district Azamgarh has been selected which is a part of the most populous and backward state of the country, Uttar Pradesh. In the age of information, everyone has the right to acquire information and it becomes important to assess the acceptance and non-acceptance of social media among rural population. Rural women of the state are showing positive trends in the form of increased social media and mobile usage. This study is an effort to know the purpose of rural women for using social media. The study design is exploratory and qualitative in nature. Data collection primarily consisted of 25 semi-structured individual interviews having 10 open-ended specific questions in one of the villages of Azamgarh district of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Sampling approach is flexible and situational. Data reveals that rural women have become active on social media since last six months to one year. Most of them are using Facebook, Whatsapp, and YouTube for the purpose of interaction, learning new skills, checking out recipes and latest fashion. This pilot study gives a bird eye view of the problem and opens door for exploring this least explored area.

Keywords: exploratory research, mobile usage, rural women, social media

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Authors: Manoj Kumar

Abstract:

Routing protocols have a central role in any mobile ad hoc network (MANET). There are many routing protocols that exhibit different performance levels in different scenarios. In this paper, we compare AODV, DSDV, DSR, and ZRP routing protocol in mobile ad hoc networks to determine the best operational conditions for each protocol. We analyze these routing protocols by extensive simulations in OPNET simulator and show how to pause time and the number of nodes affect their performance. In this study, performance is measured in terms of control traffic received, control traffic sent, data traffic received, sent data traffic, throughput, retransmission attempts.

Keywords: AODV, DSDV, DSR, ZRP

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Authors: Niran Watchrodom

Abstract:

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the energy performance of a 1.5 Tr commercial split type air conditioner operating at different indoor set points and different air flowrate circulating through the cooling coil. The refrigerant R-22 was used as working fluid. In this paper, the test conditions considered were varied as follows: The room temperature varied from 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 C, the air velocity passing through the evaporator was varied from 1.9, 2.1 and 2.4 m/s. The air velocity passing through the condenser was kept constant at 5 m/s. The results showed that when the indoor temperature was high, 27 C, and air velocity was 1.9 m/s, the coefficient of performance (COP) of the system was 3.74. The electrical power consumption of compressor was 1.64 kW, the rate of heat transfer in the condenser and evaporator were 7.79 and 6.10 kW, respectively. The amount corresponding amount of condensed water coming out of evaporator was 8.20 liter. The system can applied to commercial building.

Keywords: condensed water, coefficient of performance, air velocity

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Authors: Margerita Topalli

Abstract:

In this paper, we analyze the impact of corruption (business environment, informal payments and state capture), crime and tax time, on the enterprise's performance during economic transition in the Central and Eastern Europe and the role of privatization as a moderator. We examine this effect by comparing the performance of the privatized enterprises and the state-owned-enterprises, while controlling for various forms of selection bias. The present study is based on firm-level panel data collected by the BEEPS for 27 transition countries over 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2011. In addition to firm characteristics, BEEPS collects valuable survey information on different forms of corruption, crime, tax time and firm ownership. We estimate the impact of corruption, crime, tax time on the different performance measures (sales, productivity, employment, labor costs and material costs) of the enterprise, whereby we control for firm ownership, with a special focus on the role of the privatization as a moderator. It argues that in general terms, the privatization has positive effects on the performance of enterprises during transition, but these effects are significantly different, depending on the examined performance measure (sales, productivity, employment, labor costs and material costs). When the privatization is effective, the privatized enterprises show a considerable performance improvements, particularly in terms of revenue growth and productivity growth. It also argues that the effects of privatization are different depending on the types of owner (outsider or insider) to whom it gives control. The results show that privatization to insider owners has no significant performance effect.

Keywords: effects of privatization, enterprise performance, state capture, corruption, firm ownership, economic transition, Central and Eastern Europe

Procedia PDF Downloads 321