Search results for: the best interests of the child

Authors: Natàlia Garcia Soler, Timothy Moss

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Despite the multiple benefits of sustainable urban drainage, as demonstrated in numerous case studies across the world, urban rainwater harvesting techniques are generally restricted to isolated model projects. The leap from niche to mainstream has, in most cities, proved an elusive goal. Why policies promoting rainwater harvesting are limited in their widespread implementation has seldom been subjected to systematic analysis. Much of the literature on the policy, planning and institutional contexts of these techniques focus either on their potential benefits or on project design, but very rarely on a critical-constructive analysis of past experiences of implementation. Moreover, the vast majority of these contributions are restricted to single-case studies. There is a dearth of knowledge with respect to, firstly, policy implementation processes and, secondly, multi-case analysis. Insights from both, the authors argue, are essential to inform more effective rainwater harvesting in cities in the future. This paper presents preliminary findings from a research project on rainwater harvesting in cities from a social science perspective that is funded by the Swedish Research Foundation (Formas). This project – UrbanRain – is examining the challenges and opportunities of mainstreaming rainwater harvesting in three European cities. The paper addresses two research questions: firstly, what lessons can be learned on suitable policy incentives and planning instruments for rainwater harvesting from a meta-analysis of the relevant international literature and, secondly, how far these lessons are reflected in a study of past and ongoing rainwater harvesting projects in a European forerunner city. This two-tier approach frames the structure of the paper. We present, first, the results of the literature analysis on policy and planning issues of urban rainwater harvesting. Here, we analyze quantitatively and qualitatively the literature of the past 15 years on this topic in terms of thematic focus, issues addressed and key findings and draw conclusions on research gaps, highlighting the need for more studies on implementation factors, actor interests, institutional adaptation and multi-level governance. In a second step we focus in on the experiences of rainwater harvesting in Berlin and present the results of a mapping exercise on a wide variety of projects implemented there over the last 30 years. Here, we develop a typology to characterize the rainwater harvesting projects in terms of policy issues (what problems and goals are targeted), project design (which kind of solutions are envisaged), project implementation (how and when they were implemented), location (whether they are in new or existing urban developments) and actors (which stakeholders are involved and how), paying particular attention to the shifting institutional framework in Berlin. Mapping and categorizing these projects is based on a combination of document analysis and expert interviews. The paper concludes by synthesizing the findings, identifying how far the goals, governance structures and instruments applied in the Berlin projects studied reflect the findings emerging from the meta-analysis of the international literature on policy and planning issues of rainwater harvesting and what implications these findings have for mainstreaming such techniques in future practice.

Keywords: institutional framework, planning, policy, project implementation, urban rainwater management

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Authors: Susan Scott, Dina Hanna, Bassel Zebian, Gary Ruiz, Sreena Das

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Although the number of cases of TB in England has fallen over the last 4 years, it remains an important public health burden with 1 in 20 cases dying annually. The vast majority of cases present in non-UK born individuals with social risk factors. We present a case of non-pulmonary TB presenting in a healthy child born in the UK to professional parents. We present a case of a healthy 10 year old boy who developed acute back pain during school PE. Over the next 5 months, he was seen by various health and allied professionals with worsening back pain and kyphosis. He became increasing unsteady and for the 10 days prior to admission to our hospital, he developed fevers. He was admitted to his local hospital for tonsillitis where he suffered two falls on account of his leg weakness. A spinal X-ray revealed a pathological fracture and gibbus formation. He was transferred to our unit for further management. On arrival, the patient had lower motor neurone signs of his left leg. He underwent spinal fixture, laminectomy and decompression. Microbiology samples taken intra-operatively confirmed Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. He had a positive Mantoux and T-spot and treatment were commenced. There was no evidence of immune compromise. The patient was born in the UK, had a BCG scar and his only travel history had been two years prior to presentation when he travelled to the Phillipines for a short holiday. The patient continues to have issues around neuropathic pain, mobility, pill burden and mild liver side effects from treatment. Discussion: There is a paucity of case reports on spinal TB in paediatrics and diagnosis is often difficult due to the non-specific symptomatology. Although prognosis on treatment is good, a delayed diagnosis can have devastating consequences. This case highlights the continued need for higher index of suspicion and diagnosis in a world with changing patterns of migration and increase global travel. Surgical intervention is limited to the most serious cases to minimise further neurological damage and improve prognosis. There remains the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to deal with challenges of treatment and rehabilitation.

Keywords: tuberculosis, non-pulmonary TB, public health burden, diagnostic challenge

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Authors: Muhandiram Rallage Ruvini Nisansala Yatigammana, Anuruddhika Kumudu Kumari Rajakaruna Jayathilaka

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Sports injuries are common among teenagers and children engaged in organized sports. While most sports injuries are typical, some rare occurrences involve conditions such as eye, dental, cervical, and rare internal organ injuries, such as pancreatic injuries. These injuries, especially traumatic pancreatitis, require prompt attention due to their potential for severe and sometimes fatal complications. This case revolves around a real accident involving a 12-year-old girl, Piyumi, who suffered a face-to-face collision during netball practice, resulting in severe abdominal pain. After a medical examination, she was diagnosed with a rare pancreatic injury, uncommon in children compared to adults. In Piyumi’s case, she had a grade 3 pancreatic injury and underwent non-surgical management, successfully healing her wound without surgery. The study attempts to fill empirical and population gaps, addressing a rarely discussed injury experienced by a 12-year-old female netball player. The paper will also provide an in-depth understanding of pancreatic injury, which is a rare sports injury. The study’s main objective was to investigate the incidence and characteristics of pancreatic injury, particularly focusing on pancreatic trauma, among children and adolescents engaged in high-impact sports, such as netball. This research adopted a case study strategy, employing interviews as the primary data collection method. Interviews were conducted with Piyumi, her parents, and the two specialist doctors directly involved in her treatment, providing firsthand accounts and insights. By examining the case, the paper arrives at three main conclusions. Firstly, pancreatic damage is uncommon, especially in the sports world, and proper diagnosis is essential to avoiding health concerns, particularly for minors. Secondly, CT (Computed Tomography) was useful in locating the injury, as injuries can be diagnosed very well with Computed Tomography (CT) images. Finally, and most importantly, pancreatic injuries are infrequent, but trauma can still occur, particularly in high-impact sports or accidents involving extreme force or falls. These injuries should be accurately diagnosed and treated promptly.

Keywords: child athlete, pancreatic injury, rare sports injuries, sportswoman

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Authors: Camille Alexis-Garsee, Nicola Payne

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One consequence of the pandemic has been the debilitating health impact that some people experience over a longer period of time, known as long-COVID. This has been predominately researched in adults; however, there is emerging evidence on the effects of long-COVID in children. Research has indicated over half of children who contracted COVID-19 experienced persistent symptoms four months after a confirmed diagnosis. There is little research on the impact of this on children and their families. This study aimed to explore the experiences of children with long-COVID, to enable further understanding of the impacts and needs within this group. Semi-structured interviews, facilitated by children’s drawings, were conducted with 15 children (aged 9-16, 9 females). Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings tell a story of loss, change and of resilience. Many children were unable to engage in normal daily activities and were unable to attend school, however, all employed self-management techniques to cope with symptoms and were positive for the future. Four main themes were identified: (1) Education challenges: although some schools tried to accommodate the child’s new limitations with provision of flexi-attendance, online classes and a reduced timetable, children struggled to keep up with their schoolwork and needed more support; (2) Disrupted relationships: children felt socially isolated; they were forced to give up co and extra-curricular activities, were no longer in contact with friendship groups and missed out on key experiences with friends and family; (3) Diverse health-related challenges: children’s symptoms affected daily functioning but were also triggers for changes in thoughts and mood; (4) Coping and resilience: children actively engaged in symptom management and were able to ‘self-pace’ and/or employ distraction activities to cope. They were also focused on living a ‘normal’ life and looked to the future with great positivity. A key challenge of the long-term effects of COVID is recognizing and treating the illness in children and the subsequent impact on multiple aspects of their lives. Even though children described feeling disconnected in many ways, their life goals were still important. A multi-faceted approach is needed for management of this illness, with a focus on helping these children successfully reintegrate into society and achieve their dreams.

Keywords: children’s illness experience, COVID-19, long-COVID in children, long-COVID kids, qualitative research

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Authors: Abdel-Samad M. Ali, Ali A. Hadi Al-Shawi

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Discrimination against women and girls impairs progress in all domains of development articulated either in the framework of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) or in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Paper aspires to create greater awareness among researchers and policy makers of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them within the Arab region. The study reveals how Arab countries are closing in on gender-oriented targets of the third and fifth MDGs. While some countries can claim remarkable achievements particularly in girls’ equality in education, there is still a long way to go to keep Arab’s commitments to current and future generations in other countries and subregions especially in the economic participation or in the political empowerment of women. No country has closed or even expected to close the economic participation gap or the political empowerment gap. This should provide the incentive to keep moving forward in the Post-2015 Agenda. Findings of the study prove that while Arab states have uneven achievements in reducing maternal mortality, Arab women remain at a disadvantage in the labour market. For Arab region especially LDCs, improving maternal health is part of the unmet agenda for the post-2015 period and still calls for intensified efforts and procedures. While antenatal care coverage is improving across the Arab region, progress is marginal in LDCs. To achieve proper realization of gender equality and empowerment of women in the Arab region in the post-2015 agenda, the study presents critical key challenges to be addressed. These challenges include: Negative cultural norms and stereotypes; violence against women and girls; early marriage and child labour; women’s limited control over their own bodies; limited ability of women to generate their own income and control assets and property; gender-based discrimination in law and in practice; women’s unequal participation in private and public decision making autonomy; and limitations in data. However, in all Arab states, gender equality must be integrated as a goal across all issues, particularly those that affect the future of a country.

Keywords: gender, equity, millennium development goals, post-2015 development agenda

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Authors: Nivedita Paul

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The changing character of marriage be it arranged marriage, love marriage, polygamy, informal unions, all signify different gender relations in everyday lives. Marriages in India are part and parcel of the kinship and cultural practices. Arranged marriage is still the dominant form of marriage where spouse selection is the initiative and decision of the parents; but its form is changing, as women are now actively participating in spouse selection but with parental consent. Spouse selection related decision making is important because marriage as an institution brings social change and gender inequality; especially in a women’s life as marriages in India are mostly patrilocal. Moreover, the amount of say in spouse selection can affect a woman’s reproductive rights, domestic violence issues, household resource allocation, communication possibilities with the spouse/husband, marital life, etc. The present study uses data from Indian Human Development Survey II (2011-12) which is a nationally representative multitopic survey that covers 41,554 households. Currently, married women of age group 15-49 in their first marriage; whose year of marriage is from 1970s to 2000s have been taken for the study. Based on spouse selection experiences, the sample of women has been divided into three marriage categories-self, semi and family arranged. Women in self arranged or love marriage is the sole decision maker in choosing the partner, in semi arranged marriage or arranged marriage with consent both parents and women together take the decision, whereas in family arranged or arranged marriage without consent only parents take the decision. The main aim of the study is to find the relationship between spouse selection experiences and women’s autonomy in India. Decision making in economic matters, child and health related decision making, mobility and access to resources are taken to be proxies of autonomy. Method of ordinal regression has been used to find the relationship between spouse selection experiences and autonomy after marriage keeping other independent variables as control factors. Results show that women in semi arranged marriage have more decision making power regarding financial matters of the household, health related matters, mobility and accessibility to resources, when compared to women in family, arranged marriages. For freedom of movement and access to resources women in self arranged marriage have the highest say or exercise greatest power. Therefore, greater participation of women (even though not absolute control) in spouse selection may lead to greater autonomy after marriage.

Keywords: arranged marriage, autonomy, consent, spouse selection

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Authors: Linghua Kong, Xinxia Chen, Mika Gissler, Catharina Lavebratt

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Background: Prenatal exposure to preeclampsia has been associated with an increased risk of offspring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intellectual disability. However, little is known about the association between prenatal exposure to severe preeclampsia and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in offspring. Objective: This study aimed to assess the risk of maternal preeclampsia combined with perinatal problems, specifically low birth weight and prematurity, on offspring neuropsychiatric disorders. Methods: All singleton live births in Finland between 1996 and 2014 (n=1 012 723) were followed up in nation-wide registries until 2018. Main exposures included pre-eclampsia, small for gestational age, and delivery before 34 gestational weeks. Offspring neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders (ICD-10 codes) were examined as outcomes variables. Offspring birth year, sex, maternal age at delivery, parity, marital status at birth, mother's country of birth, maternal smoking, maternal gestational diabetes, maternal use of psychotropic medication during pregnancy, and maternal systemic inflammatory diseases were used as covariates. Risks for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders were estimated using Cox proportional hazards modeling. Results: Of the 1 012 723 offspring, 25 901 (2.6%) were exposed to preeclampsia, and 93 281 (9.2%) were diagnosed with a neuropsychiatric disorder. Compared to births unexposed to preeclampsia, small for gestational age or delivery before 34 gestational weeks, those exposed to preeclampsia only had a 21% increase in the likelihood of any neuropsychiatric disorders after adjusting for potential confounding (adjusted HR=1.21, 95% CI: 1.15-1.26), while exposure to preeclampsia combined with small for gestational age or delivery before 34 gestational weeks had a more than twofold increased risk of having a child with neuropsychiatric disorders (adjusted HR=2.16, 95% CI: 2.02-2.32). The adjusted HR for neuropsychiatric disorders in offspring with small for gestational age or delivery before 34 gestational weeks only was 1.79 (95% CI: 1.73-1.83). In addition, the risk estimate in offspring exposed to both preeclampsia and perinatal problems was greater than those only exposed to preeclampsia for having personality disorders (adjusted HR=1.66; 95% CI: 1.07-2.57), intellectual disabilities (adjusted HR=3.47; 95% CI: 2.86-4.22), specific developmental disorders (adjusted HR=2.91; 95% CI: 2.69-3.15), ASD (adjusted HR=1.75; 95% CI: 1.42-2.17), ADHD and conduct disorders (adjusted HR=2.00; 95%CI: 1.76-2.27), and other behavioral and emotional disorders (adjusted HR=2.09; 95% CI: 1.84-2.37). Conclusion: In utero exposure to severe preeclampsia increased the risk of several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in offspring. Our findings are relevant to women with hypertensive disorders with regard to pregnancy consultation and management and may yield effective clues for the prevention of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in childhood.

Keywords: low birth weight, neurodevelopmental disorders, preeclampsia, prematurity, psychiatric disorders

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Authors: Andrea N. Ofori-Boadu

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The purpose is to develop a conceptual model of subcontractor development practices and processes that strengthen the integration of subcontractors into construction supply chain systems for improved subcontractor performance on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building projects. The construction management of a LEED project has an important objective of meeting sustainability certification requirements. This is in addition to the typical project management objectives of cost, time, quality, and safety for traditional projects; and, therefore increases the complexity of LEED projects. Considering that construction management organizations rely heavily on subcontractors, poor performance on complex projects such as LEED projects has been largely attributed to the unsatisfactory preparation of subcontractors. Furthermore, the extensive use of unique and non-repetitive short term contracts limits the full integration of subcontractors into construction supply chains and hinders long-term cooperation and benefits that could enhance performance on construction projects. Improved subcontractor development practices are needed to better prepare and manage subcontractors, so that complex objectives can be met or exceeded. While supplier development and supply chain theories and practices for the manufacturing sector have been extensively investigated to address similar challenges, investigations in the construction sector are not that obvious. Consequently, the objective of this research is to investigate effective subcontractor development practices and processes to guide construction management organizations in their development of a strong network of high performing subcontractors. Drawing from foundational supply chain and supplier development theories in the manufacturing sector, a mixed interpretivist and empirical methodology is utilized to assess the body of knowledge within literature for conceptual model development. A self-reporting survey with five-point Likert scale items and open-ended questions is administered to 30 construction professionals to estimate their perceptions of the effectiveness of 37 practices, classified into five subcontractor development categories. Data analysis includes descriptive statistics, weighted means, and t-tests that guide the effectiveness ranking of practices and categories. The results inform the proposed three-phased LEED subcontractor development program model which focuses on preparation, development and implementation, and monitoring. Highly ranked LEED subcontractor pre-qualification, commitment, incentives, evaluation, and feedback practices are perceived as more effective, when compared to practices requiring more direct involvement and linkages between subcontractors and construction management organizations. This is attributed to unfamiliarity, conflicting interests, lack of trust, and resource sharing challenges. With strategic modifications, the recommended practices can be extended to other non-LEED complex projects. Additional research is needed to guide the development of subcontractor development programs that strengthen direct involvement between construction management organizations and their network of high performing subcontractors. Insights from this present research strengthen theoretical foundations to support future research towards more integrated construction supply chains. In the long-term, this would lead to increased performance, profits and client satisfaction.

Keywords: construction management, general contractor, supply chain, sustainable construction

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Authors: Abdelkader Guendouz, Fatima Zohra Adel

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Even if both the economic and the human development are an axial pillar in its global policy, Algerian government seems to be more and more engaged in the international context aiming to reach of the so called millennium development goals, and this since its beginning. By looking closely at the Algerian economic policy, it is easy to mention the existence of several programs in which both economic and social realisations including among others, poverty reduction, enhancement of education level and conditions, woman statute and gender equity amelioration targets. The efforts of Algerian government in the field of these targets had been acheminated through three main plans, which are: -PSRE (Plan de Soutien à la Relance Economique), for the period of 2001 to 2004, initiated with about 7 billion US dollar, had been focused on three objectives, namely, poverty reduction, job creation and regional equilibrium with rural areas revitalization. -PCSC (le Programme complémentaire de soutien à la croissance économique), for the period of 2005 to 2009, with a starting funding of 114 billion US dollar. This program aims to develop public services and supporting public investments, especially in which concerns social infrastructures. Now, and at the end of the maturity of the MDGs agenda, an important question is to be asked: what are the main realizations regarding these MDGs? In order to answer this question, the present paper tries to examine the Algerian economic policy (but also the social one) by considering the MDGs challenges, for the period from 2000 to 2010, but also until 2015. This examination is focused on three main targets, namely poverty, education, and health. Firstly, statistical assessment for the Algerian economic and social situation shows that almost all MDGs had been reached during the period of 2000 to 2009 and it continues to maintain and improve them. This observation can be endorsed by invoking some achievements. Starting by the reduction of poverty, the proportion of population living with less than 1 US dollar per a day passed from 8.0 % in 2000 to 0.5 % in 2009, and 0.3 % in 2015. For education sphere, the enrolment ratio of six-year child, which is the most significant index for school attendance, is about 98 % for 2009 against 93 % in 1999, and only 43 % in 1966. Concluding with health care and relevant services; the Algerian government has accomplished big steps in providing easy access to this sector for the population. Moreover, the percentage of assisted accouchement had been raised from 91.2 % in 2000 to 97.2 % in 2009.

Keywords: Algerian economic policy, MDGs, poverty, education, health

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Authors: Rosanna M. Rooney, Sharinaz Hassan, Maryanne McDevitt, Jacob D. Peckover, Robert T. Kane

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Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems experienced by Australian children and adolescents. Research into youth mental health points to the importance of considering emotional competence, parental influence on the child’s emotional development, and the fact that cognitions are still developing in childhood when designing and implementing positive psychology interventions. Additionally, research into such interventions has suggested the inclusion of a coaching component aimed at supporting those implementing the intervention enhances the effects of the intervention itself. In light of these findings and given the burden of anxiety and depression in the longer term, it is necessary to enhance the Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills program and evaluate its efficacy in terms of children’s mental health outcomes. It was expected that the enhancement of the emotional and cognitive aspects of the Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills program, the addition of coaching, and the inclusion of a parent manual would lead to significant prevention effects in internalizing problems at post-test, 6- and 18-months after the completion of the intervention. 502 students (9-11 years old) were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 347) or control group (n = 155). At each time point (baseline, post-test, 6-month follow-up, and 18-month follow-up), students completed a battery of self-report measures. The ten intervention sessions making up the enhanced Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills program were run weekly. At post-test and 6-month follow-up, the intervention group reported significantly lower depression than the control group, with no group differences at the 18-month follow-up. The intervention group reported significantly lower anxiety than the control group only at the 6-month follow-up, with no group differences in the post-test or at the 18-month follow-up. Results suggest that the enhanced Aussie Optimism Positive Thinking Skills program can reduce depressive and anxious symptoms in the short term and highlight the importance of universally implemented positive psychology interventions.

Keywords: positive psychology, emotional competence, internalizing symptoms, universal implementation

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Authors: Michael Picard

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This proposal offers to shed light on the changing legal geography of the global waste economy. Global waste recycling has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. NASDAQ predicts the emergence of a worldwide 1,296G$ waste management market between 2017 and 2022. Underlining this evolution, a new generation of preferential waste-trade agreements has emerged in the Pacific. In the last decade, Japan has concluded a series of bilateral treaties with Asian countries, and most recently with China. An agreement between Tokyo and Beijing was formalized on 7 May 2008, which forged an economic partnership on waste transfer and mining. The agreement set up International Recycling Zones, where certified recycling plants in China process industrial waste imported from Japan. Under the joint venture, Chinese companies salvage the embedded value from Japanese industrial discards, reprocess them and send them back to Japanese manufacturers, such as Mitsubishi and Panasonic. This circular economy is designed to convert surplus garbage into surplus value. Ever since the opening of Sino-Japanese eco-parks, millions of tons of plastic and e-waste have been exported from Japan to China every year. Yet, quite unexpectedly, China has recently closed its waste market to imports, jeopardizing Japan’s billion-dollar exports to China. China notified the WTO that, by the end of 2017, it would no longer accept imports of plastics and certain metals. Given China’s share of Japanese waste exports, a complete closure of China’s market would require Japan to find new uses for its recyclable industrial trash generated domestically every year. It remains to be seen how China will effectively implement its ban on waste imports, considering the economic interests at stake. At this stage, what remains to be clarified is whether China's ban on waste imports will negatively affect the recycling trade between Japan and China. What is clear, though, is the rapid transformation in the legal geography of waste mining in East-Asia. For decades, East-Asian waste trade had been tied up in an ‘ecologically unequal exchange’ between the Japanese core and the Chinese periphery. This global unequal waste distribution could be measured by the Environmental Stringency Index, which revealed that waste regulation was 39% weaker in the Global South than in Japan. This explains why Japan could legally export its hazardous plastic and electronic discards to China. The asymmetric flow of hazardous waste between Japan and China carried the colonial heritage of international law. The legal geography of waste distribution was closely associated to the imperial construction of an ecological trade imbalance between the Japanese source and the Chinese sink. Thus, China’s recent decision to ban hazardous waste imports is a sign of a broader ecological shift. As a global economic superpower, China announced to the world it would no longer be the planet’s junkyard. The policy change will have profound consequences on the global circulation of waste, re-routing global waste towards countries south of China, such as Vietnam and Malaysia. By the time the Berlin Conference takes place in May 2018, the presentation will be able to assess more accurately the effect of the Chinese ban on the transboundary movement of waste in Asia.

Keywords: Asia, ecological unequal exchange, global waste trade, legal geography

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Authors: Keith T. S. Tung, H. W. Tsang, Rosa S. Wong, Frederick K. Ho, Patrick Ip

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Objectives: Atopic diseases are increasingly prevalent among children and adolescents, both locally and internationally. One of the possible contributing factors could be the hypercholesterolemia which leads to cholesterol accumulation in macrophages and other immune cells that would eventually promote inflammatory responses, including augmentation of toll-like receptor (TLR). Meanwhile, physical activity is well known for its beneficial effects against the condition of hypercholesterolemia and incidence of atopic diseases. This study, therefore, explored whether atopic diseases were associated with increased cholesterol levels and whether physical activity habit influenced this association. Methods: This is a sub-study derived from the longitudinal cohort study which recruited a group of children at five years of age in Kindergarten 3 (K3) to investigate the long-term impact of family socioeconomic status on child development. In 2018/19, adolescents (average age: 13 years old) were asked to report their physical activity habit and history of any atopic diseases. During health assessment, peripheral blood samples were collected from the adolescents to study their lipid profile [total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol]. Regression analyses were performed to test the relationships between variables of interest. Results: Among the 315 adolescents, 99 (31.4%) reported to have allergic rhinitis. There were 45 (14.3%) with eczema, 17 (5.4%) with a food allergy, and 12 (3.8%) with asthma. Regression analyses showed that adolescents with a history of any type of atopic diseases had significantly higher total cholesterol (B=13.3, p < 0.01) and LDL cholesterol (B=7.9, p < 0.05) levels. Further subgroup analyses were conducted to examine the effect of physical activity level on the association between atopic diseases and cholesterol levels. We found stronger associations among those who did not meet the World Health Organization recommendation of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activities each day (total cholesterol: B=15.5, p < 0.01; LDL cholesterol: B=10.4, p < 0.05). For those who met this recommendation, the associations between atopic diseases and cholesterol levels became insignificant. Conclusion: Our study results support the current research evidence on the relationship between an elevated level of cholesterol and atopic diseases. More importantly, our results provide preliminary support for the protective effect of regular exercises against elevated cholesterol level due to atopic diseases. The findings highlight the importance of a healthy lifestyle for keeping cholesterol levels in the normal range, which can bring benefits to both physical and mental health.

Keywords: atopic diseases, Chinese adolescents, cholesterol level, physical activity

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Authors: Mustafa M. Donma, Ayşen Haksayar, Bahadır Batar, Buse Tepe, Birol Topçu, Orkide Donma

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Childhood obesity is an ever-increasing health problem. The Association of obesity with severe chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases makes the problem life-threatening. Aside from psychological, societal and metabolic factors, genetic polymorphisms have gained importance concerning etiology in recent years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between rs10455872 gene polymorphism in the Lipoprotein (a) locus and the development of childhood obesity. This was a prospective study carried out according to the Helsinki Declarations. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee. This study was supported by Tekirdag Namik Kemal University Rectorate, Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit. Project No: NKUBAP.02.TU.20.278. A total of 180 children (103 obese (OB) and 77 healthy), aged 6-18 years, without any acute or chronic disease, participated in the study. Two different groups were created: OB and healthy control. Each group was divided into two further groups depending on the nature of the polymorphism. Anthropometric measurements were taken during the detailed physical examination. Laboratory tests and TANITA measurements were performed. For the statistical evaluations, SPSS version 28.0 was used. A P-value smaller than 0.05 was the statistical significance degree. The distribution of lipoprotein (a) rs10455872 gene polymorphism did not differ between OB and healthy children. Children with AG genotype in both OB and control groups had lower body mass index (BMI), diagnostic obesity notation model assessment index (DONMA II), body fat ratio (BFR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and metabolic syndrome index (MetS index) values compared to children with normal AA genotype. In the OB group, serum iron, vitamin B12, hemoglobin, MCV, and MCH values were found to be higher in the AG genotype group than those of children with the normal AA genotype. A significant correlation was found between the MetS index and BFR among OB children with normal homozygous genotype. MetS index increased as BFR increased in this group. However, such a correlation was not observed in the OB group with heterozygous AG genotype. To the best of our knowledge, the association of lipoprotein (a) rs10455872 gene polymorphism with the etiology of childhood obesity has not been studied yet. Therefore, this study was the first report suggesting polymorphism with AG genotype as a good risk factor for obesity.

Keywords: child, gene polymorphism, lipoprotein (a), obesity, rs10455872

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Authors: Jorge Cortés, Alejandra Martínez, Carlos Pérez, Anaid Simón

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The presence of government, news media, and general citizenry in social media allows considering interactions between them as a form of political communication (i.e. the public exchange of contradictory discourses about politics). Twitter’s asymmetrical following model (users can follow, mention or reply to other users that do not follow them) could foster alternative democratic practices and have an impact on Mexican political culture, which has been marked by a lack of direct communication channels between these actors. The research aim is to assess Twitter’s role in political communication practices through the analysis of interaction dynamics between government, news media, and citizens by extracting and visualizing data from Twitter’s API to observe general behavior patterns. The hypothesis is that regardless the fact that Twitter’s features enable direct and horizontal interactions between actors, users repeat traditional dynamics of interaction, without taking full advantage of the possibilities of this medium. Through an interdisciplinary team including Communication Strategies, Information Design, and Interaction Systems, the activity on Twitter generated by the controversy over the presence of Uber in Mexico City was analysed; an issue of public interest, involving aspects such as public opinion, economic interests and a legal dimension. This research includes techniques from social network analysis (SNA), a methodological approach focused on the comprehension of the relationships between actors through the visual representation and measurement of network characteristics. The analysis of the Uber event comprised data extraction, data categorization, corpus construction, corpus visualization and analysis. On the recovery stage TAGS, a Google Sheet template, was used to extract tweets that included the hashtags #UberSeQueda and #UberSeVa, posts containing the string Uber and tweets directed to @uber_mx. Using scripts written in Python, the data was filtered, discarding tweets with no interaction (replies, retweets or mentions) and locations outside of México. Considerations regarding bots and the omission of anecdotal posts were also taken into account. The utility of graphs to observe interactions of political communication in general was confirmed by the analysis of visualizations generated with programs such as Gephi and NodeXL. However, some aspects require improvements to obtain more useful visual representations for this type of research. For example, link¬crossings complicates following the direction of an interaction forcing users to manipulate the graph to see it clearly. It was concluded that some practices prevalent in political communication in Mexico are replicated in Twitter. Media actors tend to group together instead of interact with others. The political system tends to tweet as an advertising strategy rather than to generate dialogue. However, some actors were identified as bridges establishing communication between the three spheres, generating a more democratic exercise and taking advantage of Twitter’s possibilities. Although interactions in Twitter could become an alternative to political communication, this potential depends on the intentions of the participants and to what extent they are aiming for collaborative and direct communications. Further research is needed to get a deeper understanding on the political behavior of Twitter users and the possibilities of SNA for its analysis.

Keywords: interaction, political communication, social network analysis, Twitter

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Authors: Rose Mini Agoes Salim, Shahnaz Safitri

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The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of teaching kindness in preschool children by using several techniques. Kindness is a physical act or emotional support aimed to build or maintain relationships with others. Kindness is known to be essential in the development of moral reasoning to distinguish between the good and bad things. In this study, kindness is operationalized as several acts including helping friends, comforting sad friends, inviting friends to play, protecting others, sharing, saying hello, saying thank you, encouraging others, and apologizing. It is mentioned that kindness is crucial to be developed in preschool children because this is the time the children begin to interact with their social environment through play. Furthermore, preschool children's cognitive development makes them begin to represent the world with words, which then allows them to interact with others. On the other hand, preschool children egocentric thinking makes them still need to learn to consider another person's perspective. In relation to social interaction, preschool children need to be stimulated and assisted by adult to be able to pay attention to other and act with kindness toward them. On teaching kindness to children, the quality of interaction between children and their significant others is the key factor. It is known that preschool children learn about kindness by imitating adults on their two way interaction. Specifically, this study examines two types of teaching techniques that can be done by parents as a way to teach kindness, namely the picture-storybook reading and hand-puppet storytelling. These techniques were examined because both activities are easy to do and both also provide a model of behavior for the child based on the character in the story. To specifically examine those techniques effectiveness in teaching kindness, two studies were conducted. Study I involves 31 children aged 5-6 years old with picture-storybook reading technique, where the intervention is done by reading 8 picture books for 8 days. In study II, hand-puppet storytelling technique is examined to 32 children aged 3-5 years old. The treatments effectiveness are measured using an instrument in the form of nine colored cards that describe the behavior of kindness. Data analysis using Wilcoxon Signed-rank test shows a significant difference on the average score of kindness (p < 0.05) before and after the intervention has been held. For daily observation, a ‘kindness tree’ and observation sheets are used which are filled out by the teacher. Two weeks after interventions, an improvement on all kindness behaviors measured is intact. The same result is also gained from both ‘kindness tree’ and observational sheets.

Keywords: kindness, moral teaching, storytelling, hand puppet

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Authors: Maha Atout, Pippa Hemingway, Jane Seymour

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Background: A mixed method systematic review was undertaken in order to explore issues related to the experiences of health care providers and parents in the care of children with palliative care needs. The aims of this systematic review were to identify existing evidence about the experiences of communication in the care of children with palliative care needs, to appraise the research conducted in this area and to identify gaps in the literature in order to recommend for future related studies. Method: A mixed method systematic review of research on the experience of communication in the care of children with palliative care needs, conducted with parents and health professionals was undertaken. The electronic databases of CINAHL, Cochrane, PubMed, OVID, Social Care Online, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest were searched for the period of 2000-2016. Inclusion was limited to studies of communication experience in the care of children with palliative care needs. Result: Thirty-eight studies were found. The studies were conducted in a variety of countries: Uganda, Jordan, USA, UK, Taiwan, Turkey, Ireland, Poland, Brazil, Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherland, Lebanon, Spain, Greece, and China. The current review shows that parents tend to protect their children when they are discussing their illnesses with them, particularly where they have a life-threatening or life-limiting condition. The approach of parents towards the discussion of sensitive issues concerning death with their children is significantly affected by the cultural background of the families. Conservative cultures encourage collusion behaviours which tend to keep children unaware of the incurable nature of the disease. The major communication challenges reported by health professionals are facing difficulties in judging how much information should be given to parents, responding to difficult questions, conflicts with families and inadequate skills to support grieving families. Conclusion: It is probably significant for the future studies to consider the change of parent-child communication experience over time in order to understand how the parents could change their interaction styles with their children according to the different stages of their children’s disease. Moreover, further studies are required to investigate the experience of communication of parents of children with non-malignant life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses.

Keywords: children with life-threatening or life- limiting illnesses, end of life, experience of communication, healthcare care providers, paediatric palliative care

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Authors: Nabila Farhin, Israt Jahan

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Despite the feminisation of the global health force, women mostly engage in nursing, midwifery and community health workers (HWs), and the posts like surgeons, doctors, and specialists are generally male-dominated. It is also prominent in Bangladesh, where female HWs witness systematic workplace inequalities, discrimination, and underpayment. The Covid-19 pandemic put unsurmountable pressure on HWs as they had to serve in high-risk workplaces as frontliners. The already disadvantaged female HWs shouldered the same burden, were overworked without adequate occupational health and safety measures (OSH) and risked their lives. Acknowledging their vulnerable workplace conditions, the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) circulated a few specialised guidelines amid the peril. Bangladesh tried to adhere to international guidelines while formulating pandemic management strategies. In reality, the already weak and understaffed health sector collapsed with the patient influx and many HWs got infected and died in the line of duty, exposing the high-risk nature of the work. Unfortunately, the gender-segregated data of infected HWs are absent. This qualitative research investigates whether the existing laws of Bangladesh are adequate in protecting female HWs as frontliners in high-risk workplaces during the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper first examines international labour laws safeguarding female frontline HWs. It also analyses the specialised Covid-19 pandemic guidelines protecting their interests. Finally, the research investigates the compliance of Bangladesh as per international legal guidance during the pandemic. In doing so, it explores the domestic laws, professional guidelines for HWs and pandemic response strategies. The paper critically examines the primary sources like international and national statutes, rules, regulations and guidelines. Secondary sources like authoritative journal articles, books and newspaper reports are contextually analysed in line with the objective of the paper. The definition of HW is ambiguous in the labour laws of Bangladesh. It leads to confusion regarding the extent of legal protection rendered to female HWs at private hospitals in high-risk situations. The labour laws are not applicable in Public hospitals, as the employees follow the public service rules. Unfortunately, the country has no specialised law to protect HWs in high-risk workplaces, and the professional guidelines for HWs also remain inadequate in this regard. Even though the pandemic management strategies highlight some protective measures in high-risk situations, they only deal with HWs who are pregnant or have underlying health issues. No specialised protective guidelines can be found for female HWs as frontliners. Therefore, the laws are insufficient and failed to render adequate legal protection to female frontline HWs during the pandemic. The country also lacks comprehensive health legislation and uniform institutional and professional guidelines, preventing them from accessing grievance mechanisms. Hence, the female HWs felt victimised while duty-bound to serve in high-risk workplaces without adequate safeguards. Bangladesh should clarify the definition of HWs and standardise the service rules for providing medical care in high-risk workplaces. The research also recommends adequate health legislation and specialised legal protection to safeguard female HWs in future emergencies.

Keywords: female health workers (HWs), high-risk workplaces, Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh

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Authors: John Zanetich

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Designing an educational activity that encourages inquiry and collaboration is key to engaging students in meaningful learning. Educational Information and Communications Technology (EICT) plays an important role in facilitating cooperative and collaborative learning in the classroom. The EICT also facilitates students’ learning and development of the critical thinking skills needed to solve real world problems. Projects and activities based on constructivism encourage students to embrace complexity as well as find relevance and joy in their learning. It also enhances the students’ capacity for creative and responsible real-world problem solving. Classroom activities based on constructivism offer students an opportunity to develop the higher–order-thinking skills of defining problems and identifying solutions. Participating in a classroom project is an activity for both acquiring experiential knowledge and applying new knowledge to practical situations. It also provides an opportunity for students to integrate new knowledge into a skill set using reflection. Classroom projects can be developed around a variety of learning objects including social media, knowledge management and learning communities. The construction of meaning through project-based learning is an approach that encourages interaction and problem-solving activities. Projects require active participation, collaboration and interaction to reach the agreed upon outcomes. Projects also serve to externalize the invisible cognitive and social processes taking place in the activity itself and in the student experience. This paper describes a classroom project designed to elicit interactions by helping students to unfreeze existing knowledge, to create new learning experiences, and then refreeze the new knowledge. Since constructivists believe that students construct their own meaning through active engagement and participation as well as interactions with others. knowledge management can be used to guide the exchange of both tacit and explicit knowledge in interpersonal interactions between students and guide the construction of meaning. This paper uses an action research approach to the development of a classroom project and describes the use of technology, social media and the active use of tacit knowledge in the college classroom. In this project, a closed group Facebook page becomes the virtual classroom where interaction is captured and measured using engagement analytics. In the virtual learning community, the principles of knowledge management are used to identify the process and components of the infrastructure of the learning process. The project identifies class member interests and measures student engagement in a learning community by analyzing regular posting on the Facebook page. These posts are used to foster and encourage interactions, reflect a student’s interest and serve as reaction points from which viewers of the post convert the explicit information in the post to implicit knowledge. The data was collected over an academic year and was provided, in part, by the Google analytic reports on Facebook and self-reports of posts by members. The results support the use of active tacit knowledge activities, knowledge management and social media to enhance the student learning experience and help create the knowledge that will be used by students to construct meaning.

Keywords: constructivism, knowledge management, tacit knowledge, social media

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Authors: Stella Laletas, Andrea Reupert, Melinda Goodyear, Bradley Morgan

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Background: Many people with a mental illness have young children. Research has shown that early childhood is a particularly vulnerable time for children whose parents have a mental illness. Moreover, repeated research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a multiagency approach to family focused practice for improving parental functioning and preventing adverse outcomes in children whose parents have a mental illness, particularly in the early years of a child’s life. However, there is a paucity of professional development resources for professionals who work with families where a parent has a mental illness and has young children. Significance of the study: This study will make a contribution to addressing knowledge gaps around resource development and workforce needs for early childhood and mental health professionals working with young children where a parent has a mental illness. Objective: This presentation describes a newly developed resource, 'Pathways of Care', specifically designed for early childhood educators and mental health workers, alongside pilot evaluation data regarding its effectiveness. ‘Pathways of Care’ aims to promote collaborative practice and present early identification and referral processes for workers in this sector. The resource was developed by the Children of Parents with a Mental Illness (COPMI) National Initiative which is funded by the Australian Government. Method: Using a mixed method design, the effectiveness of the training resource is also presented. Fifteen workers completed the Family Focus Mental Health Practice Questionnaire pre and post using the resource, to measure confidence and practice change; semi-structured interviews were also conducted with eight of these same workers to further explore the utility of the resource. Findings: The findings indicated the resource was effective in increasing knowledge and confidence, particularly for new and/or inexperienced staff. Examples of how the resource was used in practice by various professions emerged from the interview data. Conclusions: Collaborative practice, early identification and intervention in early childhood can potentially play a key role in altering the life trajectory of children who are at risk. This information has important implications for workforce development and staff training in both the early childhood and mental health sectors. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Keywords: parents with mental ilnesses, early intervention, evaluation, preschool children

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Authors: Md. Abdul Karim, Syed Imran Ahmed, Pandora T. Hardtman

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Informed consent is one of the basic human and ethical rights for childbearing women. It plays a central role in promoting informed decision making between patients and service providers during the labor process. It gives mothers rights to accept or reject any examination and/or procedure, increases the respect and dignity of the mother during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care. To assess the practices of this right during normal vaginal delivery and immediate postpartum care in tertiary level hospital setting in Bangladesh, a quantitative study with cross-sectional design was conducted in Dhaka Medical College & Hospital (DMCH) and Sir Salimullah Medical College & Mitford Hospital (SSMCH) in Dhaka in November 2015. A prevalence-based sample size of 190 was calculated where prevalence, confidence interval and level of significance were at 9.7%, 98% and 5% respectively. The respondents were the mothers who gave normal vaginal childbirth within past 24 hours and received postpartum care there. They were selected through systematic random sampling technique and their face-to-face interview of 190 mothers was done using a structured questionnaire. Data were entered into the spreadsheet (MS Excel 2013 version) and descriptive analysis of findings was done. The result shows the complete absence of informed consent practices and mostly absence of consented care such as right to information, respect for choices of preferences for examination and/or procedure of childbearing women. Although 95% of the mothers were informed that they were being proceeded with normal vaginal delivery, their choice of preference was absent during the process. Only consent (not informed consent) was taken from 50%-72% mothers for examination (except breast examination ‘0%’) and 8%-83% for any procedures during postpartum care. Only one-ninth (11%) of the mothers could ask service providers regarding the services they received. No consent was taken from 3% of the mothers- neither in the labor process nor in postpartum care. This current practice doesn’t comply with the Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) Charter 2011. The issue is not even clarified in the current Standard Clinical Management Protocols of the country. So, improvement of the existing protocol and increased awareness are essential to address this right of child-bearing women and to practice it during normal vaginal delivery and postpartum care.

Keywords: informed consent, normal vaginal delivery, respectful maternity care, tertiary level hospital

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Authors: Sharon Milberger, Jane Turner, Denise White-Perkins

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Michigan shares the overall U.S. national need for more highly qualified professionals who have knowledge and experience in the use of evidence-based practices to meet the special health care needs of children, adolescents, and adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities including autism spectrum disorder (DD/ASD). The Michigan Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (MI-LEND) program is a consortium of six universities that spans the state of Michigan and serves more than 181,800 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. The purpose of the MI LEND program is to improve the health of infants, children and adolescents with disabilities in Michigan by training individuals from different disciplines to assume leadership roles in their respective fields and work across disciplines. The MI-LEND program integrates “L.I.F.E.” perspectives into all training components. L.I.F.E. is an acronym for Leadership, Interdisciplinary, Family-Centered and Equity perspectives. This paper will describe how L.I.F.E. perspectives are embedded into all aspects of the MI-LEND training program including the application process, didactic training, community and clinical experiences, discussions, journaling and projects. Specific curriculum components will be described including content from a training module dedicated to Equity. Upon completion of the Equity module, trainees are expected to be able to: 1) Use a population health framework to identify key social determinants impacting families and children; 2) Explain how addressing bias and providing culturally appropriate linguistic care/services can influence patient/client health and wellbeing; and 3) Describe the impact of policy and structural/institutional factors influencing care and services for children with DD/ASD and their families. Each trainee completes two self-assessments: the Cultural and Linguistic Competence Health Practitioner Assessment and the other assessing social attitudes/implicit bias. Trainees also conduct interviews with a family with a child with DD/ASD. In addition, interdisciplinary Equity-related group activities are incorporated into face-to-face training sessions. Each MI-LEND trainee has multiple ongoing opportunities for self-reflection through discussion and journaling and completion of a L.I.F.E. project as a culminating component of the program. The poster will also discuss the challenges related to teaching and measuring successful outcomes related to diversity/equity perspectives.

Keywords: disability, diversity, equity, training

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Authors: Woledegebrieal Aregay

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Introduction: Family planning is defined as the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births. It is part of a strategy to reduce poverty, maternal, infant and child mortality; empowers women by lightening the burden of excessive childbearing. Family planning is achieved through the use of different contraceptive methods among which the most effective method is modern family planning methods like Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARCs) which are IUCD and Implant and these methods have multiple advantages over other reversible methods. Most importantly, once in place, they do not require maintenance and their duration of action is long, ranging from 3 to10 years. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Gondar town among female college students from April-May. A simple random sampling technique was employed to recruit a total of 1166 study subjects. Descriptive variables were computed for all predictors & dependent variables. The presence of an association between covariates & LARC use was observed by two tables’ findings using the chi-square test. Bivariate logistic regression was conducted to identify all possible factors affecting LARC utilization & its crude Odds Ratio, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) & P-value was observed. A multivariable logistic regression model was developed to control possible confounding variables. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) &P-values will be computed to identify significantly associated factors (P < 0.05) with LARC utilization. Result: Utilization of LARCs was 20.4%, the most common is Implant 86(96.5%), and followed by Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD) 3(3.5%). The result of the multivariate analysis revealed that the significant association of marital status of the respondent on utilization of LARC [AOR 3.965(2.051-7.665)], discussion of the respondent about LARC utilization with the husband/boyfriend [AOR 2.198(1.191-4.058)], and attitude of the respondent on implant was found to be associated [AOR 0.365(0.143-0.933)].Conclusion: The level of knowledge and attitude in this study was not satisfactory, the utilization of long-acting reversible contraceptives among college students was relatively satisfactory but if the knowledge and attitude of the participant has improved the prevalence of LARC were increased.

Keywords: utilization, long-acting reversible contraceptive, Ethiopia, Gondar

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Authors: Alena Nesterenko, Svetlana Petrikova

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Research evaluation is one of the most important elements of self-regulation and development of researchers as it is impartial and independent process of assessment. The method of expert evaluations as a scientific instrument solving complicated non-formalized problems is firstly a scientifically sound way to conduct the assessment which maximum effectiveness of work at every step and secondly the usage of quantitative methods for evaluation, assessment of expert opinion and collective processing of the results. These two features distinguish the method of expert evaluations from long-known expertise widespread in many areas of knowledge. Different typical problems require different types of expert evaluations methods. Several issues which arise with these methods are experts’ selection, management of assessment procedure, proceeding of the results and remuneration for the experts. To address these issues an on-line system was created with the primary purpose of development of a versatile application for many workgroups with matching approaches to scientific work management. Online documentation assessment and statistics system allows: - To realize within one platform independent activities of different workgroups (e.g. expert officers, managers). - To establish different workspaces for corresponding workgroups where custom users database can be created according to particular needs. - To form for each workgroup required output documents. - To configure information gathering for each workgroup (forms of assessment, tests, inventories). - To create and operate personal databases of remote users. - To set up automatic notification through e-mail. The next stage is development of quantitative and qualitative criteria to form a database of experts. The inventory was made so that the experts may not only submit their personal data, place of work and scientific degree but also keywords according to their expertise, academic interests, ORCID, Researcher ID, SPIN-code RSCI, Scopus AuthorID, knowledge of languages, primary scientific publications. For each project, competition assessments are processed in accordance to ordering party demands in forms of apprised inventories, commentaries (50-250 characters) and overall review (1500 characters) in which expert states the absence of conflict of interest. Evaluation is conducted as follows: as applications are added to database expert officer selects experts, generally, two persons per application. Experts are selected according to the keywords; this method proved to be good unlike the OECD classifier. The last stage: the choice of the experts is approved by the supervisor, the e-mails are sent to the experts with invitation to assess the project. An expert supervisor is controlling experts writing reports for all formalities to be in place (time-frame, propriety, correspondence). If the difference in assessment exceeds four points, the third evaluation is appointed. As the expert finishes work on his expert opinion, system shows contract marked ‘new’, managers commence with the contract and the expert gets e-mail that the contract is formed and ready to be signed. All formalities are concluded and the expert gets remuneration for his work. The specificity of interaction of the examination officer with other experts will be presented in the report.

Keywords: expertise, management of research evaluation, method of expert evaluations, research evaluation

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Authors: Jin Li, Jing Sun, Xiangkun Cai, Lijuanwang, Yanbin Tang, Junsheng Huo

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In order to improve the malnutrition of infants and young children in poor rural areas of China, Chinese government implement a project on improvement of children's nutrition in poor rural areas. Each infant or young child aged 6 to 23 months in selected poor rural areas of China was provided a package of Yingyangbao (YYB) per day, which is a full fat soy powder mixed with multiple micronutrient powders. A technical direction to implement this project comprehensively in poor rural areas of China will be provided by assessing the nutritional status of infants and feeding practices of caregiver. The nutritional intervention was conducted using Yingyangbao for infants aged 6 to 23 months in six poor counties of Shanxi, Yunnan and Hubei Provinces. The caregiver or parents of infants were educated on feeding knowledge and practice. A total of 1840 infants were assessed before the intervention and 1789 infants one year later. The length, weight, hemoglobin concentration of infants were measured to evaluate nutritional status before and after the intervention respectively. The questionnaires were designed to collect data for the basic demographic information and feeding practices. The average weight of infants aged 6 to 23 months increased from 9.59 ± 1.54kg to 9.73 ± 1.61kg one years later (p<0.01), and the average length from 76.0±6.0 to 77.0±6.1(p<0.01). The weight and length of infants aged 12 to 17 months had most obviously improving effect among the three age groups. Before the intervention, the hemoglobin concentration value of infants was 11.7±1.2g/L, and the anemia prevalence was 32.9%. One year later, the hemoglobin concentration value of the infants was increased to 12.0±1.1g/dL, and the anemia prevalence was decreased to 26.0%. There were both statistically significant (p <0.01). The anemia prevalence of infants aged 18 to 23 months had most obviously improving effect，which decreased from 25.0% to 17.2%(p<0.01). The proportion of infants aged 6 to 8 months who received solid, semi-solid or soft foods in time was increased from 89.4% to 91.6%, while there was no statistically significant. The proportion of 6-23 month-old infants who received minimum dietary diversity increased from 55.6% to 60.3%(p <0.01). The differences of the proportion of infants who received minimum meal frequency was no statistically significant between before and after the intervention. The nutritional intervention using Yingyangbao showed the significant effect for improving infants aged 6 to 23 months anemia status, weight and length. The feeding practices were improved through education in the process of nutritional intervention, while the effect is not significant. It is need for Chinese government to explore new publicity pattern.

Keywords: nutritional intervention, infants, nutritional status, feeding practice

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Authors: Ruth Nalugya, Claire Nimusiima, Elizabeth Kawesa, Harriet Nambejja, Geert van Hove, Janet Seeley, Femke Bannink Mbazzi

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Background: ‘Obuntu bulamu’, an intervention for children, parents, and teachers to improve the participation and inclusion of children with disabilities (CwD) through peer-to-peer support, was developed and tested in central Uganda between 2017 and 2019. The intervention consisted of children, parents, and teachers' training sessions and peer to peer support activities directed at disability inclusion using an African disability framework. In this paper, we discuss parent participation in and parent evaluation of the ‘Obuntu bulamu’ intervention. Methods: This qualitative Afrocentric intervention study was implemented in 10 communities in the Wakiso district in Central Uganda. We purposely selected children aged 8 to 14 years with different impairments, their peers, and parents, with different levels of household income and familial support, who were enrolled in primary schools in the ten communities with on average three children with disabilities per community. Sixty four parents (33 parents of CwDs and 31 peers) participating in the ‘Obuntu bulamu’ study were interviewed at baseline and endline. Two focus group discussions were held with parents at the midline. Parents also participated in a consultative meeting about the intervention design at baseline, and two evaluation workshops held at midline and endline. Thematic data analysis of the interview and focus group data was conducted. Results: Findings showed parents found the group-based activities inspiring and said they built hope and confidence. Parents felt the intervention was acceptable, culturally appropriate, and supportive as it built on values and practices from their own traditions. Parents reported the intervention enhanced a sense of togetherness and belonging through the group meetings and follow-up activities. Parents also mentioned that the training helped them develop more positive attitudes towards CwD and disability inclusion. Parents felt that the invention increased a child’s participation and inclusion at home, school, and in communities. Conclusion: The Obuntu bulamu peer to peer support intervention is an acceptable, culturally appropriate intervention that has the potential to improve the inclusion of CwD. A larger randomized control trial is needed to evaluate the impact of the intervention model.

Keywords: inclusion, participation, inclusive education, peer support, belonging, Ubuntu, ‘Obuntu bulamu’

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Authors: Sarwat un Nisa

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One of the remarkable gifts that a human being is blessed with is the ability to speak using a combination of sounds. Different combinations of sounds combine to form a word which in turn make a sentence and therefore give birth to a language. A person can either be a monolingual, i.e., can speak one language or bilingual, i.e., can speak more than one language. Whether a person speaks one language or multiple languages or in whatever language a person speaks, the main aim is to communicate, express ideas, feelings or thoughts. Sometimes the choice of a language is deliberate and sometimes it is a habitual act. The language which is used to put our ideas across speaks many things about our cultural, linguistic and ethnic identities. It can never be claimed that bilinguals are better than monolinguals in terms of linguistic skills, bilinguals or multilinguals have more than one language at their disposal. Therefore, how effectively two languages are used by the same person keeps linguists always intrigued. The most prominent and common features found in the speech of bilingual speakers are code switching and code mixing. The aim of the present paper is to explore these features among the adolescent speakers of Kashmir. The reason for studying the linguistics behavior of adolescents is the age when a person is neither an adult nor a child. They want to drift away from the norms and make a new norm for themselves. Therefore, how their linguistics skills are influenced by their age is of great interest because it can set the trend for the future generation. Kashmir is a multilingual society where three languages, i.e., Kashmiri, Urdu, and English are regularly used by the speakers, especially the educated ones. Kashmiri is widely used at home or mostly among adults. Urdu is the official language, and English is used in schools and for most of the written official correspondences. Thus, it is not uncommon to find these three languages coming in contact with each other quite frequently. The language contact results in the code switching and code mixing. In this paper different aspects of code switching and code mixing are discussed. Research Method: The data were collected from the different districts of Kashmir. The informants did not have prior knowledge of the survey. The situation was spontaneous and natural. The topics were introduced by the interviewer to the group of informants which comprised of three participants. They were asked to discuss the topic, most of the times without any intervention of the interviewer. Along with conversations, the informants also filled in written questionnaires comprising sociolinguistic questions. Questionnaires were analysed to get an idea about the sociolinguistic attitude of the informants. Percentage, frequency, and average were used as statistical tools to analyse the data. Conclusions were drawn taking into consideration of interpretations of both speech samples and questionnaires.

Keywords: code mixing, code switching, Kashmir, bilingualism

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Authors: Jayathilake Wijethunga B. G. Mudiyanselage, Jeewantha Ranawaka, Nirosha Lansakara

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Introduction: Women imprisonment is rising in the world. Imprisoned women have more psychological problems and more adverse childhood experiences than the general population. Female prisoners who had psychological problems had more adverse childhood experiences than the prisoners who did not have psychological problems. Most of the imprisoned women are mothers. Mothers are the principal carer for the children. The psychological status of imprisoned female is worth seeking along with its associates since this is a group of women who need others assistance to make their life adjusted. Any intervention that could uplift their psychological wellbeing would make their life better if they are to be released out of the prison. Since there are no studies done in Sri Lanka to study the imprisoned women psychological wellbeing and their childhood experiences, it is important to study on this to find the magnitude of the problem in Sri Lanka. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done at the Welikada Prison, Colombo, among the imprisoned women. 273 imprisoned women were selected using simple random sampling technique. Using interviewer administered questionnaire 270 women were interviewed. Three women did not consent for the study. Frequencies of the selected socio demographic characteristics and selected childhood experiences calculated. GHQ 30 questionnaire was used to assess the psychological distress. Odds ratio was used to calculate the associations between the psychological distress and the selected socio demographic characteristics, selected childhood experiences. Results: Response rate was 98.9%. Mean age of the imprisoned women were 41.28years (SD ±11.86yrs) and Most of women were within the age group of 35-49 years (38.1%). Of them 68.5% were currently married and majority had at least one child. (86.3%). House hold member’s smoking (58.5%) and alcohol (40.4%) use was the commonest adverse childhood experience experienced by the imprisoned women. Nearly one fourth (22.6%) of the imprisoned women had attempted suicide during their life and more than half (55.7%) of them had attempted before the age of 18 years. Similarly of the 258 women who had been sexually active during their life, half (50.0%) of the women had exposed to sexual activities during first eighteen years of life and mean age at first sexual exposure was 19.2 (SD±4.86) years. Nearly three forth (73.7%) of imprisoned women were psychologically distressed in the study sample. Being a women of aged less than 25 years((OR=4.51, 95% CI=1.035-19.64)),previous history of suicidal attempts(OR=2.10,95%CI =1.00-4.41), not having enough foods to eat( OR=2.97, 1.009-8.75) and absence of someone to tell worries (OR=0.355, 95% CI =0.113-0.945) during childhood were significantly associate with psychological distress. Conclusion: Nearly three forth of the imprisoned women were psychologically distressed and younger age, history of suicidal attempts, the absence of someone to tell their worries and not having enough food to eat during childhood were risk factors for psychological distress. Recommendation: Need to strengthen the rehabilitation and mental health services to the imprisoned women.

Keywords: adverse childhood experiences, imprisoned women, psychological distress, prisoners

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Authors: Muhammad Alhada Fuadilah Habib, Ayla Karina Budita, Cut Rizka Al Usrah, Mukhammad Fatkhullah, Kanita Khoirun Nisa, Siti Muslihatul Mukaromah

Abstract:

In this contemporary era, the term of development often emphasised merely on the economic growth aspect. Development of a program often considered as superior by the government, in fact, it often raises various problems. The problems occur because the development policies determined by the government tend to favor private entrepreneurs and impose on the oppression toward the community. The development promised to prosper the community's life, turn out in fact of harming the community, threatening the survival of the community and damaging the ecosystem of nature where the community hangs their life to it. Nowadays many natural resources should be used for the community’s life prosperity. However, the prosperity is conquered by the private entrepreneurs that are regulated through the free market mechanism and wrapped in democratization. This condition actually is a form of neoliberalism that builds new administration order system which is far from the meaning of the word democracy. The government should play more role in protecting community's life and prosperity, but in fact, the government sides with the private entrepreneurs for the sake of the economic benefits regardless of other aspects of the community’s life. This unjustified condition presents a wide range of social movements from the community in response to the neoliberalis policy that actually eliminates the doctrine of community sovereignty. Social movements performed by Yogyakarta south coastal area community, as the focus of the discussion in this paper, is one of the community’s response toward the government policies related to the construction of the ferruginous sand quarry which is tend to favor on private entrepreneurs and highly prejudicing or even threatening the survival of Yogyakarta south coastal area community. The data collection in this study uses qualitative research methods with in-depth interview data collection techniques and purposive informant determination techniques. This method was chosen in order to obtain the insightful data and detailed information to uncover the injustice policies committed by the government-private entrepreneurs toward Yogyakarta south coastal area community. The brief results of this study show that the conflicts between the community and government-private entrepreneurs occurred because of the differences of interests and paradigm of natural resource management. The resistance movements done by the community to fight back the government-private entrepreneurs was conducted by forming an organization called Paguyupan Petani Lahan Pantai Kulon Progo (PPLP-KP). This organization do the resistances through two ways; firstly, quiet action done through various actions such as; refusing against the socialization, performing discussion to deliberate their argument with the government-private entrepreneurs, complaining the problems to the central government, creating banners or billboards which contain the writing of rejection, performing pray rituals to invoke the justice from the God, as well as instill the resistance ideology to their young generation. Secondly, the rough action also is done through various actions such as; doing roadblocks, conducting rallies, as well as doing clash with the government apparatus. In case the resistances done by the community are seen from the pattern. Actually, the resistances are reaction toward the aggression carried out by the government-private entrepreneurs.

Keywords: community resistance, conflict, ferruginous sand quarry construction, social movement

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Authors: Jan Van Uden

Abstract:

The paper reviews classical agency-theory and its contributions to the analysis of complex business negotiations and gives an approach for the modification of the basic agency-model in order to examine the negotiation specific dimensions of agency-problems. By illustrating fundamental potentials for the modification of agency-theory in context of business negotiations the paper highlights recent empirical research that investigates agent-based negotiations and inter-team constellations. A general theoretical analysis of complex negotiation would be based on a two-level approach. First, the modification of the basic agency-model in order to illustrate the organizational context of business negotiations (i.e., multi-agent issues, common-agencies, multi-period models and the concept of bounded rationality). Second, the application of the modified agency-model on complex business negotiations to identify agency-problems and relating areas of risk in the negotiation process. The paper is placed on the first level of analysis – the modification. The method builds on the one hand on insights from behavior decision research (BRD) and on the other hand on findings from agency-theory as normative directives to the modification of the basic model. Through neoclassical assumptions concerning the fundamental aspects of agency-relationships in business negotiations (i.e., asymmetric information, self-interest, risk preferences and conflict of interests), agency-theory helps to draw solutions on stated worst-case-scenarios taken from the daily negotiation routine. As agency-theory is the only universal approach able to identify trade-offs between certain aspects of economic cooperation, insights obtained provide a deeper understanding of the forces that shape business negotiation complexity. The need for a modification of the basic model is illustrated by highlighting selected issues of business negotiations from agency-theory perspective: Negotiation Teams require a multi-agent approach under the condition that often decision-makers as superior-agents are part of the team. The diversity of competences and decision-making authority is a phenomenon that overrides the assumptions of classical agency-theory and varies greatly in context of certain forms of business negotiations. Further, the basic model is bound to dyadic relationships preceded by the delegation of decision-making authority and builds on a contractual created (vertical) hierarchy. As a result, horizontal dynamics within the negotiation team playing an important role for negotiation success are therefore not considered in the investigation of agency-problems. Also, the trade-off between short-term relationships within the negotiation sphere and the long-term relationships of the corporate sphere calls for a multi-period perspective taking into account the sphere-specific governance-mechanisms already established (i.e., reward and monitoring systems). Within the analysis, the implementation of bounded rationality is closely related to findings from BRD to assess the impact of negotiation behavior on underlying principal-agent-relationships. As empirical findings show, the disclosure and reservation of information to the agent affect his negotiation behavior as well as final negotiation outcomes. Last, in context of business negotiations, asymmetric information is often intended by decision-makers acting as superior-agents or principals which calls for a bilateral risk-approach to agency-relations.

Keywords: business negotiations, agency-theory, negotiation analysis, interteam negotiations

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Authors: Steven Walker

Abstract:

This paper assesses recent data on the prevalence of poverty among children and young people diagnosed with mental health problems. The paper will demonstrate that the current hierarchy of risk factors for developing mental health problems needs adjusting to place poverty among the highest risk factors. Globally poverty is calculated to keep rising especially among less developed countries, and the post-Covid 19 economic recession in developed countries is set to rise. The experience of young people enduring Pandemic isolation is already being quantified and is expected to increase referrals for specialist intervention. Searches on several medical/psychological/social databases using keywords: poverty, children, mental illness were undertaken between 2018 and 2021. Worldwide, 700 million people still live in extreme poverty, half of whom are children. Children are physically and mentally disproportionately affected. Children who grow up impoverished lack the basic necessities they need to survive and thrive. 150 million children have been plunged into multidimensional poverty due to COVID-19. The poorest children are twice as likely to die in childhood than their wealthier peers. For those growing up in humanitarian crises such as Ukraine, the risks of deprivation and exclusion are magnified. In the world’s richest countries, one in seven children still live in poverty. Currently, one in four children in the European Union are at risk of falling into poverty. In Europe the impact of Brexit on the UK economy is predicted to reduce GDP by 5% in 2021 with a corresponding rise in poverty. According to the global charity Oxfam wealth inequality impacts levels of child abuse and affects women and girls worse and is a contributory factor in the risk of developing childhood mental illness. In the UK 2000 Foodbanks have opened since 2010, handing out 2 million food parcels annually, where there are currently 4 million children officially living in poverty. This research demonstrates that there is a strong association between families’ socio-economic circumstances and the chances that their children will experience mental illness. Evidence of this association is found repeatedly across developed countries. The paper will conclude by arguing that psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, social workers and CAMHS specialists need to place more importance on this critical socio-economic variable when assessing referred children and also advocate for political priorities in governments to reduce poverty and lower the risk of childhood mental illness.

Keywords: poverty, resilience, risk factor, socio economic, susceptibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 99