Search results for: population aging

Authors: Agboka Komi Mensah, John Odindi, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Onisimo Mutanga, Henri Ez Tonnang

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Ecosystems are networks of organisms and populations that form a community of various species interacting within their habitats. Such habitats are defined by abiotic and biotic conditions that establish the initial limits to a population's growth, development, and reproduction. The habitat’s conditions explain the context in which species interact to access resources such as food, water, space, shelter, and mates, allowing for feeding, dispersal, and reproduction. Dispersal is an essential life-history strategy that affects gene flow, resource competition, population dynamics, and species distributions. Despite the importance of dispersal in population dynamics and survival, understanding the mechanism underpinning the dispersal of organisms remains challenging. For instance, when an organism moves into an ecosystem for survival and resource competition, its progression is highly influenced by extrinsic factors such as its physiological state, climatic variables and ability to evade predation. Therefore, greater spatial detail is necessary to understand organism dispersal dynamics. Understanding organisms dispersal can be addressed using empirical and mechanistic modelling approaches, with the adopted approach depending on the study's purpose Cellular automata (CA) is an example of these approaches that have been successfully used in biological studies to analyze the dispersal of living organisms. Cellular automata can be briefly described as occupied cells by an individual that evolves based on proper decisions based on a set of neighbours' rules. However, in the ambit of modelling individual organisms dispersal at the landscape scale, we lack user friendly tools that do not require expertise in mathematical models and computing ability; such as a visual analytics framework for tracking and forecasting the dispersal behaviour of organisms. The term "visual analytics" (VA) describes a semiautomated approach to electronic data processing that is guided by users who can interact with data via an interface. Essentially, VA converts large amounts of quantitative or qualitative data into graphical formats that can be customized based on the operator's needs. Additionally, this approach can be used to enhance the ability of users from various backgrounds to understand data, communicate results, and disseminate information across a wide range of disciplines. To support effective analysis of the dispersal of organisms at the landscape scale, we therefore designed Pydisp which is a free visual data analytics tool for spatiotemporal dispersal modeling built in Python. Its user interface allows users to perform a quick and interactive spatiotemporal analysis of species dispersal using bioecological and climatic data. Pydisp enables reuse and upgrade through the use of simple principles such as Fuzzy cellular automata algorithms. The potential of dispersal modeling is demonstrated in a case study by predicting the dispersal of Fopius arisanus (Sonan), endoparasitoids to control Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Kenya. The results obtained from our example clearly illustrate the parasitoid's dispersal process at the landscape level and confirm that dynamic processes in an agroecosystem are better understood when designed using mechanistic modelling approaches. Furthermore, as demonstrated in the example, the built software is highly effective in portraying the dispersal of organisms despite the unavailability of detailed data on the species dispersal mechanisms.

Keywords: cellular automata, fuzzy logic, landscape, spatiotemporal

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Authors: Aroona Hashmi

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Student’s success in Mathematics and Science depends upon their learning attitude towards both subjects. It also influences the participation rate of the learner. The present study was based on a survey of high school students about their attitude towards Mathematics and Science at Secondary level. Students of the both gender constitute the population of this study. Sample of the study was 276 students and 20 teachers from 10 Government schools from Lahore District. Questionnaire and interview were selected as tool for data collection. The results showed that Pakistani students’ positive attitude towards learning Mathematics and Science. There was a significance difference between the students’ attitude towards learning Mathematics and no significance difference was found in the students’ attitude towards learning Science at Secondary level.

Keywords: attitude, mathematics, science, secondary level

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Authors: Paul Campbell, Nicholas Biddle

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There is a complex, endogenous relationship between individual circumstances, attitudes, and behaviour. This study uses longitudinal panel data to assess changes in social and political attitudes over a 7-year period. Attitudes are captured with the question 'what is the most important issue facing Australia today', collected at multiple time points in a longitudinal survey of 2200 Australians. Consistency of attitudes, and factors predicting change over time, are assessed. The consistency of responses has methodological implications for data collection, specifically how often such questions ought to be asked of a population. When change in attitude is observed, this study assesses the extent to which individual demographic characteristics, personality traits, and broader societal events predict change.

Keywords: attitudes, longitudinal survey analysis, personality, social values

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Authors: H. C. Chen, S. W. C. Chan, K. Cheng, A. Vathsala, H. K. Sran, H. He

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Background: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is the last stage of chronic kidney disease. The numbers of patients with ESRD have increased worldwide due to the growing number of aging, diabetes and hypertension populations. Patients with ESRD suffer from physical illness and psychological distress due to complex treatment regimens, which often affect the patients’ social and psychological functioning. As a result, the patients may fail to perform daily self-care and self-management, and consequently experience worsening conditions. Aims: The study aims to examine the effectiveness of a self-efficacy psychoeducational programme on primary outcome (self-efficacy) and secondary outcomes (psychological wellbeing, treatment adherence, and quality of life) in patients with ESRD and haemodialysis in Singapore. Methodology: A randomised controlled, two-group pretest and repeated posttests design will be carried out. A total of 154 participants (n=154) will be recruited. The participants in the control group will receive a routine treatment. The participants in the intervention group will receive a self-efficacy psychoeducational programme in addition to the routine treatment. The programme is a two-session of educational intervention in a week. A booklet, two consecutive sessions of face-to-face individual education, and an abdominal breathing exercise are adopted in the programme. Outcome measurements include Dialysis Specific Self-efficacy Scale, Kidney Disease Quality of Life- 36 Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Renal Adherence Attitudes Questionnaire and Renal Adherence Behaviour Questionnaire. The questionnaires will be used to measure at baseline, 1- and 3- and 6-month follow-up periods. Process evaluation will be conducted with a semi-structured face to face interview. Quantitative data will be analysed using SPSS21.0 software. Qualitative data will be analysed by content analysis. Significance of the study: This study will identify a clinically useful and potentially effective approach to help patients with end-stage renal disease and haemodialysis by enhancing their self-efficacy in self-care behaviour, and therefore improving their psychological well-being, treatment adherence and quality of life. This study will provide information to develop clinical guidelines to improve patients’ disease self-management and to enhance health-related outcomes and it will help reducing disease burden.

Keywords: end-stage renal disease (ESRD), haemodialysis, psychoeducation, self-efficacy

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Authors: Milind Chaudhari, Suhail Balasinor

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Due to massive deforestation and an ever-increasing population, the organic content of the soil is depleting at a much faster rate. Due to this, there is a big chance that the entire food production in the world will drop by 40% in the next two decades. Vertical farming can help in aiding food production by leveraging big data and cloud computing to ensure plants are grown naturally by providing the optimum nutrients sunlight by analyzing millions of data points. This paper outlines the most important parameters in vertical farming and how a combination of big data and AI helps in calculating and analyzing these millions of data points. Finally, the paper outlines how different organizations are controlling the indoor environment by leveraging big data in enhancing food quantity and quality.

Keywords: big data, IoT, vertical farming, indoor farming

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Authors: Mike Wei, Mario Cedillo, Jiahui Lin, Carol Lorraine Storey-Johnson, Carla Boutin-Foster

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Purpose: The extent to which health insurance enrollment succeeds under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rests heavily on the ability to reach the uninsured and motivate them to enroll. We sought to identify perceptions about the ACA among uninsured patients at a free clinic in New York City. Background: The ACA holds tremendous promise for reducing the number of uninsured Americans. As of April 2014, nearly 8 million people had signed up for health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Despite this early success, future and continued enrollment rests heavily on the degree of public awareness. Reaching eligible individuals and increasing their awareness and understanding remains a fundamental challenge to realizing the full potential of the ACA. Reaching out to uninsured patients who are seeking care through safety net facilities such as free clinics may provide important avenues for reaching potential enrollees. This project focuses on the experience at the free clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College, the Weill Cornell Community Clinic (WCCC), and seeks to understand perceptions about the ACA among its patient population. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of all patients who visited the free clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College, the Weill Cornell Community Clinic, from July 2013 to May 2014. Patients who provided informed consent at their visit and completed a semi-structured questionnaire were included (N=62). The questionnaire comprised of questions about demographic characteristics and open-ended questions about their knowledge and perception of the impact of the ACA. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the population demographics. Qualitative coding techniques were used for open-ended items. Results: Approximately one third of patients surveyed never had health insurance. Of the remaining 65%, 20% lost their insurance within the past year. Only 55% had heard about the ACA, and only 10% knew about the Health Benefits Exchange. Of those who had heard about the ACA, sentiments were tinged with optimistic misperceptions, such as “it will be free health care for all.” While optimistic, most of the responses focused on the economic implications of the ACA. Conclusions: These findings reveal the immense amount of misconception and lack of understanding with regards to the ACA. As such, the study highlights the need to educate and address the concerns of those who remain skeptical or uncertain about the implications of the ACA.

Keywords: Affordable Care Act, demographics, free clinics, underserved.

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Authors: Juan-Pedro Rica-Peromingo

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Nowadays, corpus linguistics has become a key research methodology for Translation Studies, which broadens the scope of cross-linguistic studies. In the case of the study presented here, the approach used focuses on learners with little or no experience to study, at an early stage, general mistakes and errors, the correct or incorrect use of translation strategies, and to improve the translational competence of the students. Led by Sylviane Granger and Marie-Aude Lefer of the Centre for English Corpus Linguistics of the University of Louvain, the MUST corpus (MUltilingual Student Translation Corpus) is an international project which brings together partners from Europe and worldwide universities and connects Learner Corpus Research (LCR) and Translation Studies (TS). It aims to build a corpus of translations carried out by students including both direct (L2 > L1) an indirect (L1 > L2) translations, from a great variety of text types, genres, and registers in a wide variety of languages: audiovisual translations (including dubbing, subtitling for hearing population and for deaf population), scientific, humanistic, literary, economic and legal translation texts. This paper focuses on the work carried out by the Spanish team from the Complutense University (UCMA), which is part of the MUST project, and it describes the specific features of the corpus built by its members. All the texts used by UCMA are either direct or indirect translations between English and Spanish. Students’ profiles comprise translation trainees, foreign language students with a major in English, engineers studying EFL and MA students, all of them with different English levels (from B1 to C1); for some of the students, this would be their first experience with translation. The MUST corpus is searchable via Hypal4MUST, a web-based interface developed by Adam Obrusnik from Masaryk University (Czech Republic), which includes a translation-oriented annotation system (TAS). A distinctive feature of the interface is that it allows source texts and target texts to be aligned, so we can be able to observe and compare in detail both language structures and study translation strategies used by students. The initial data obtained point out the kind of difficulties encountered by the students and reveal the most frequent strategies implemented by the learners according to their level of English, their translation experience and the text genres. We have also found common errors in the graduate and postgraduate university students’ translations: transfer errors, lexical errors, grammatical errors, text-specific translation errors, and cultural-related errors have been identified. Analyzing all these parameters will provide more material to bring better solutions to improve the quality of teaching and the translations produced by the students.

Keywords: corpus studies, students’ corpus, the MUST corpus, translation studies

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Authors: Mahboobe Daneshvar

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Introduction: Clinical studies on the effect of systemic conditions on periodontal diseases have shown that some systemic deficiencies may provide grounds for the onset of periodontal diseases. One of these systemic problems is osteoporosis, which may be a risk factor for the onset and exacerbation of periodontitis. This study tends to evaluate periodontal indices in osteoporotic menopausal women and compare them with healthy controls. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, participants included 45-75-year-old menopausal women referred to rheumatology wards of the Khatamolanbia Clinic and Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd; Their bone density was determined by DEXA-scan and by imaging the femoral-lumbar bone. Thirty patients with osteoporosis and 30 subjects with normal BMD were selected. Then, informed consent was obtained for participation in the study. During the clinical examinations, tooth loss (TL), plaque index (PI), gingival recession, pocket probing depth (PPD), clinical attachment loss (CAL), and tooth mobility (TM) were measured to evaluate the periodontal status. These clinical examinations were performed to determine the periodontal status by catheter, mirror and probe. Results: During the evaluation, there was no significant difference in PPD, PI, TM, gingival recession, and CAL between case and control groups (P-value>0.05); that is, osteoporosis has no effect on the above factors. These periodontal factors are almost the same in both healthy and patient groups. In the case of missing teeth, the following results were obtained: the mean of missing teeth was 22.173% of the total teeth in the case group and 18.583% of the total teeth in the control group. In the study of the missing teeth in the case and control groups, there was a significant relationship between case and control groups (P-value = 0.025). Conclusion: In fact, since periodontal disease is multifactorial and microbial plaque is the main cause, osteoporosis is considered a predisposing factor in exacerbation or persistence of periodontal disease. In patients with osteoporosis, usually pathological fractures, hormonal changes, and aging lead to reduced physical activity and affect oral health, which leads to the manifestation of periodontal disease. But this disease increases tooth loss by changing the shape and structure of bone trabeculae and weakening them. Osteoporosis does not seem to be a deterministic factor in the incidence of periodontal disease, since it affects bone quality rather than bone quantity.

Keywords: plaque index, Osteoporosis, tooth mobility, periodontal packet

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Authors: Michelle D. Hand, Michelle L. Kaiser

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African refugees are among the fastest-growing populations in the United States and nearly half of these refugees come from Somalia, many of whom are Somali Bantus, the most marginalized group in Somali society. Yet limited research is available on Somali Bantu refugees. In this paper, Empowerment Theory is used to guide an in-depth exploration of the potential benefits of using community kitchen gardens to increase community food security among Somali Bantu refugees. In addition, recommendations for future research, policy and practice are offered following existing scholarly and grey source literature guidelines as informed by an Empowerment perspective to best meet the needs of this under-researched and underserved yet growing population.

Keywords: community kitchen gardens, food insecurity, refugees, Somali Bantu

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Authors: Sofiane Bourchak, Sébastien Bridier

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The objective of this study is to show how to calculate and map solar energy’s quantity (instantaneous and accumulated global solar radiation during the year) available on roofs in the city Aix-en-Provence which has a population of 140,000 inhabitants. The result is a geographic information system (GIS) layer, which represents hourly and monthly the production of solar energy on roofs throughout the year. Solar energy professionals can use it to optimize implementations and to size energy production systems. The results are presented as a set of maps, tables and histograms in order to determine the most effective costs in Aix-en-Provence in terms of photovoltaic power (electricity) and thermal power (hot water).

Keywords: geographic information system, photovoltaic, thermal, solar potential, solar radiation

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Authors: P. T. Collett, M. Kershaw

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Introduction: The discussion regarding which method of anesthesia provides better results for lower limb arthroplasty is a continuing debate. Multiple meta-analysis has been performed with no clear consensus. The current recommendation is to use neuraxial anesthesia for lower limb arthroplasty; however, the evidence to support this decision is weak. The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) society has recommended, either technique can be used as part of a multimodal anesthetic regimen. A local study was performed to see if the current anesthetic practice correlates with the current recommendations and to evaluate the efficacy of the different techniques utilized. Method: 90 patients who underwent total hip or total knee replacements at Nevill Hall Hospital between February 2019 to July 2019 were reviewed. Data collected included the anesthetic technique, day one opiate use, pain score, and length of stay. The data was collected from anesthetic charts, and the pain team follows up forms. Analysis: The average of patients undergoing lower limb arthroplasty was 70. Of those 83% (n=75) received a spinal anaesthetic and 17% (n=15) received a general anaesthetic. For patients undergoing knee replacement under general anesthetic the average day, one pain score was 2.29 and 1.94 if a spinal anesthetic was performed. For hip replacements, the scores were 1.87 and 1.8, respectively. There was no statistical significance between these scores. Day 1 opiate usage was significantly higher in knee replacement patients who were given a general anesthetic (45.7mg IV morphine equivalent) vs. those who were operated on under spinal anesthetic (19.7mg). This difference was not noticeable in hip replacement patients. There was no significant difference in length of stay between the two anesthetic techniques. Discussion: There was no significant difference in the day one pain score between the patients who received a general or spinal anesthetic for either knee or hip replacements. The higher pain scores in the knee replacement group overall are consistent with this being a more painful procedure. This is a small patient population, which means any difference between the two groups is unlikely to be representative of a larger population. The pain scale has 4 points, which means it is difficult to identify a significant difference between pain scores. Conclusion: There is currently little standardization between the different anesthetic approaches utilized in Nevill Hall Hospital. This is likely due to the lack of adherence to a standardized anesthetic regimen. In accordance with ERAS recommends a standard anesthetic protocol is a core component. The results of this study and the guidance from the ERAS society will support the implementation of a new health board wide ERAS protocol.

Keywords: anaesthesia, orthopaedics, intensive care, patient centered decision making, treatment escalation

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Authors: Kristine Demilou Santiago

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In a context of a developing nation, how important is the role of Corporate Social Responsibility health programs? Is there a possibility that this will render a large impact in a society where health benefits are insufficient? The Philippine government has been in an unceasing battle to provide its citizens competitive health benefits through launching various health programs. As the efforts are being claimed by the government, the numbers just show that all the health benefits being offered such as PhilHealth health cards, medical missions and other subsidized government health benefits are not effective and sufficient at the minimum level. This is a major characteristic of a developing nation which the Philippine government is focusing on addressing as it becomes a national concern under the effects of poverty. Industrial companies, through Corporate Social Responsibility, are playing an important role in the aspiration to resolve this problem on health programs as supposed to be basic services to citizens of the Philippine government. The rise of commitment by these industrial companies to render health programs to communities as part of their corporate citizenship has covered a large portion of the basic health services that the Filipino citizens are supposed to be receiving. This is the most salient subject that a developing nation should focus on determining the important contribution of industrial companies present in their country as part of the citizens’ access to basic health services. The use of survey forms containing quantitative and qualitative questions which aim to give numerical figures and support answers as to the role of CSR Health programs in helping the communities receive the basic health services they need was the methodological procedure followed in this research. A sample population in a community where the largest industrial company in a province of the Philippines was taken through simple random sampling. The assumption is that this sample population which represents the whole of the community has the highest opportunities to access both the government health services and the CSR health program services of the industrial company located in their community. Results of the research have shown a significant level of participation by industrial companies through their CSR health programs in the attainment of basic health services that should be rendered by the Philippine government to its citizens as part of the state’s health benefits. In a context of a developing nation such as the Philippines, the role of Corporate Social Responsibility is beyond the expectation of initiating to resolve environmental and social issues. It is moving deeper in the concept of the corporate industries being a pillar of the government in catering the support needed by the individuals in the community for its development. As such, the concept of the presence of an industrial company in a community is said to be a parallel progress: by which when an industrial company expands because it is becoming more profitable, so is the community gaining the same step of progress in terms of socioeconomic development.

Keywords: basic health services, CSR health program, health services in a developing nation, Philippines health benefits

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Authors: Geyang Xia

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In many countries, governments have responded to the growing demand for educational resources through school district systems, and there is substantial evidence that school district systems have been effective in promoting inter-district and inter-school equity in educational resources. However, the scarcity of quality educational resources has brought about varying levels of education among different school districts, making it a common choice for many parents to buy a house in the school district where a quality school is located, and they are even willing to bear huge commuting costs for this purpose. Moreover, this is evidenced by the fact that parents of families in school districts with quality education resources have longer average commute lengths and longer average commute distances than parents in average school districts. This "unequal traveling" under the influence of the school district system is more common in school districts at the primary level of education. This further reinforces the differential hierarchy of educational resources and raises issues of inequitable educational public services, education-led residential segregation, and gentrification of school district housing. Against this background, this paper takes Nanjing, a famous educational city in China, as a case study and selects the school districts where the top 10 public elementary schools are located. The study first identifies the spatio-temporal behavioral trajectory dataset of these high-quality school district households by using spatial vector data, decrypted cell phone signaling data, and census data. Then, by constructing a "house-school-work (HSW)" commuting pattern of the population in the school district where the high-quality educational resources are located, and based on the classification of the HSW commuting pattern of the population, school districts with long employment hours were identified. Ultimately, the mechanisms and patterns inherent in this unequal commuting are analyzed in terms of six aspects, including the centrality of school district location, functional diversity, and accessibility. The results reveal that the "unequal commuting" of Nanjing's high-quality school districts under the influence of the school district system occurs mainly in the peripheral areas of the city, and the schools matched with these high-quality school districts are mostly branches of prestigious schools in the built-up areas of the city's core. At the same time, the centrality of school district location and the diversity of functions are the most important influencing factors of unequal commuting in high-quality school districts. Based on the research results, this paper proposes strategies to optimize the spatial layout of high-quality educational resources and corresponding transportation policy measures.

Keywords: school-district system, high quality school district, commuting pattern, unequal traveling

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Authors: Inmaculada Yuste Martinez

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Since July 5, 2014, Abubaker al Bagdadi, leader of the Islamic State since 2010 climbed the pulpit of the Great Mosque of Al Nuri of Mosul and proclaimed the Caliphate, the number of fighters who have travelled to Syria to join the Caliphate has increased as never before. Although it is true that the phenomenon of foreign fighters is not a new phenomenon, as it occurred after the Spanish Civil War, Republicans from Ireland and the conflict of the Balkans among others, it is highly relevant the fact that in this case, it has reached figures unknown in Europe until now. The approval of the resolution 2178 (2014) of the Security Council, foreign terrorist fighters placed the subject a priority position on the International agenda. The available data allow us to affirm that women have increasingly assumed operative functions in jihadist terrorism and in the activities linked to it in the development of attacks in the European Union, including minors and young adults. In the case of Spain, one in four of the detainees in 2016 were women, a significant increase compared to 2015. This contrasts with the fact that until 2014 no woman had been prosecuted in Spain for terrorist activities of a jihadist nature. It is fundamental when we talk about the prevention of radicalization and counterterrorism that we do not underestimate the potential threat to the security of countries like Spain that women from the West can assume to the global jihadist movement. This work aims to deepen the radicalization processes of these women and their profiles influencing the female inmate population. It also wants to focus on the importance of creating de-radicalization programs for these inmates since women are a crucial element in radicalization processes. A special focus it is made on young radicalized female inmate population as this target group is the most recoverable and on which it would result more fruitful to intervene. De-radicalization programs must also be designed to fit their profiles and circumstances; a sensitive environment will be prisons and juvenile centers, areas that until now had been unrelated to this problem and which are already hosting the first convicted in judicial offices in Spanish territory. A qualitative research and an empirical and analytical method has been implemented in this work, focused on the cases that took place in Spain of young women and the imaginary that the Islamic State uses for the processes of radicalization for this target group and how it does not fit with their real role in the Jihad, as opposed to other movements in which women do have a real and active role in the armed conflict as YPJ do it as a part of the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party of Syria.

Keywords: caliphate, de-radicalization, foreign fighter, gender perspective, ISIS, jihadism, recruitment

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Authors: Jiajia Peng

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Tinnitus is one of the common symptoms of ear diseases and is characterized by an abnormal perception of sound without external stimulation. Tinnitus is agony and seriously affects the life of the general population by approximately 1%. Sleep disturbance is a common problem in patients with tinnitus. Lack of sleep will lead to the accumulation of metabolites in the brain and cannot be cleared in time. These substances enhance sympathetic nerve reactivity in the auditory system, resulting in tinnitus occurrence or aggravation. Then, tinnitus may aggravate sleep disturbance, thus forming a vicious circle. Through a systematic review of the relevant literature, we summarize the research on tinnitus and sleep. Although the results suggest that tinnitus is often accompanied by sleep disturbance, the impact of unfavorable sleep habits on tinnitus is not clear. In particular, the relationships between sleep behaviors and other chronic diseases have been revealed. To reduce the incidence rate of tinnitus, clinicians should pay attention to the relevance between different sleep behaviors and tinnitus.

Keywords: tinnitus, sleep, sleep factor, sleep behavior

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Authors: Eszter Siposne Nandori

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The paper describes how the subjective interpretation of poverty changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of data collection at the end of 2020 are compared to the results of a similar survey from 2019. The methods of systematic data collection are used to collect data about the beliefs of the population about poverty. The analysis is carried out in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, one of the most backward areas in Hungary. The paper concludes that poverty is mainly linked to material values, and it did not change from 2019 to 2020. Some slight changes, however, highlight the effect of the pandemic: poverty is increasingly seen as a generational problem in 2020, and another important change is that isolation became more closely related to poverty.

Keywords: Hungary, interpretation of poverty, pandemic, systematic data collection, subjective poverty

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Authors: Mohammad Didar Hossain

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Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between productive engagements and the psychological well-being of older adults in the U.S by analyzing cross-sectional data from a secondary dataset. Specifically, this paper analyzed the associations of 4 different types of productive engagements, including current work status, caregiving to the family members, volunteering and religious strengths with the psychological well-being as an outcome variable. Methods: Data and sample: The study used the data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The HRS is a nationally representative prospective longitudinal cohort study that has been conducting biennial surveys since 1992 to community-dwelling individuals 50 years of age or older on diverse issues. This analysis was based on the 2016 wave (cross-sectional) of the HRS dataset and the data collection period was April 2016 through August 2017. The samples were recruited from a multistage, national area-clustered probability sampling frame. Measures: Four different variables were considered as the predicting variables in this analysis. Firstly, current working status was a binary variable that measured by 0=Yes and 1= No. The second and third variables were respectively caregiving and volunteering, and both of them were measured by; 0=Regularly, 1= Irregularly. Finally, find in strength was measured by 0= Agree and 1= Disagree. Outcome (Wellbeing) variable was measured by 0= High level of well-being, 1= Low level of well-being. Control variables including age were measured in years, education in the categories of 0=Low level of education, 1= Higher level of education and sex r in the categories 0=male, 1= female. Analysis and Results: Besides the descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression analyses were applied to examine the association between independent and dependent variables. The results showed that among the four independent variables, three of them including working status (OR: .392, p<.001), volunteering (OR: .471, p<.003) and strengths in religion (OR .588, p<.003), were significantly associated with psychological well-being while controlling for age, gender and education factors. Also, no significant association was found between the caregiving engagement of older adults and their psychological well-being outcome. Conclusions and Implications: The findings of this study are mostly consistent with the previous studies except for the caregiving engagements and their impact on older adults’ well-being outcomes. Therefore, the findings support the proactive initiatives from different micro to macro levels to facilitate opportunities for productive engagements for the older adults, and all of these may ultimately benefit their psychological well-being and life satisfaction in later life.

Keywords: productive engagements, older adults, psychological wellbeing, productive aging

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Authors: Gilang Maulana, Dhika Rahma Qomariah, Yasin Fadil

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Purpose: This research meant to measure the magnitude of the influence of the quality of the presentation to the targeted audience perception in catching information presentation. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research uses a quantitative research method. The kind of data that uses in this research is the primary data. The population in this research are students the economics faculty of Semarang State University. The sampling techniques uses in this research is purposive sampling. The retrieving data uses questionnaire on 30 respondents. The data analysis uses descriptive analysis. Result: The quality of presentation influential positive against perception of the audience. This proved that the more qualified presentation will increase the perception of the audience. Limitation: Respondents were limited to only 30 people.

Keywords: quality of presentation, presentation, audience, perception, semarang state university

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Authors: Yuan Zhang

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Along with large population and great demands for urban development, Hong Kong serves as a typical high-density city with multiple altitudes, advanced three-dimensional traffic system, rich city open space, etc. This paper contributes to analyzing its complex urban form and evolution mechanism from three aspects of view, separately as time, space and buildings. Taking both horizontal and vertical dimension into consideration, this paper provides a perspective to explore the fascinating process of growing and space folding in the urban form of high-density city, also as a research reference for related high-density urban design.

Keywords: evolution mechanism, high-density city, Hong Kong, urban form

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Authors: Maryam Siyami

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Nowadays, one of the major environmental challenges is hospital waste, which, due to the presence of hazardous, toxic, and infectious agents, is of particular concern. The expansion of cities and population growth has significantly accelerated the establishment of various healthcare institutions. In this paper, the geotechnical-environmental risks in healthcare centers have been examined. The Iranian Leopold Matrix method was used to analyze the data. According to the study results, the greatest impact was related to socio-economic, environmental factors, particularly waste and wastewater management. Additionally, the most significant geotechnical-environmental risks at hospital were hospital hazardous waste, chemicals, and waste disposal. In conclusion, the most beneficial geotechnical-environmental measures were determined to be wastewater collection, waste collection, and recycling.

Keywords: risk, geotechnics, environment, Leopold Matrix

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Authors: Margarida Franca

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The influence of the ‘cultural turn’ movement and the consequent deconstruction of scientific thought allowed geography and other social sciences to open or deepen their studies based on the analysis of multiple identities, on singularities, on what is particular or what marks the difference between individuals. In the context of postmodernity, the geography of religion has gained a favorable scientific, thematic and methodological focus for the qualitative and subjective interpretation of various religious identities, sacred places, territories of belonging, religious communities, among others. In the context of ‘late modernity’ or ‘net modernity’, sacred places and the definition of a network of sacred territories allow believers to attain the ‘ontological security’. The integration on a religious group or a local community, particularly a religious community, allows human beings to achieve a sense of belonging, familiarity or solidarity and to overcome, in part, some of the risks or fears that society has discovered. The importance of sacred places comes not only from their inherent characteristics (eg transcendent, mystical and mythical, respect, intimacy and abnegation), but also from the possibility of adding and integrating members of the same community, creating bonds of belonging, reference and individual and collective memory. In addition, the formation of different networks of sacred places, with multiple scales and dimensions, allows the human being to identify and structure his times and spaces of daily life. Thus, each individual, due to his unique identity and life and religious paths, creates his own network of sacred places. The territorial expression of religious identity allows to draw a variable and unique geography of sacred places. Through the case study of the practicing Catholic population in the diocese of Coimbra (Portugal), the aim is to study the territorial expression of the religious identity of the different local communities of this city. Through a survey of six parishes in the city, we sought to identify which factors, qualitative or not, define the different territorial expressions on a local, national and international scale, with emphasis on the socioeconomic profile of the population, the religious path of the believers, the religious group they belong to and the external interferences, religious or not. The analysis of these factors allows us to categorize the communities of the city of Coimbra and, for each typology or category, to identify the specific elements that unite the believers to the sacred places, the networks and religious territories that structure the religious practice and experience and also the non-representational landscape that unifies and creates memory. We conclude that an apparently homogeneous group, the Catholic community, incorporates multitemporalities and multiterritorialities that are necessary to understand the history and geography of a whole country and of the Catholic communities in particular.

Keywords: geography of religion, sacred places, territoriality, Catholic Church

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Authors: M. Tassi, E. Dotsika, P. Karalis, A. Trantalidou, A. Mazarakis Ainian

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The Kythnos Island in Greece is of particular archaeological interest, as it has been inhabited from the 12th BC until the 7th AD. From island excavations, numerous faunal and human skeletal remains have been recovered. This work is the first attempt at the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the island via stable isotope analysis. Specifically, we perform 13C and 18O isotope analysis in faunal bone apatite in order to investigate the climate conditions that prevailed in the area. Additionally, we conduct 13C and 15N isotope analysis in faunal bone collagen, which will constitute the baseline for the subsequent diet reconstruction of the ancient Kythnos population.

Keywords: stable isotopes analysis, bone collagen stable isotope analysis, bone apatite stable isotope analysis, paleodiet, palaeoclimate

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Authors: Anila Hayat

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Pakistan is one of those developing countries that are least involved in emissions but has the most vulnerable environmental conditions. Pakistan is ranked 8th in most affected countries by climate change on the climate risk index 1992-2011. Pakistan is facing severe water shortages and flooding as a result of changes in rainfall patterns, specifically in the least developed areas such as Tharparkar. Nagarparkar, once an attractive tourist spot located in Tharparkar because of its tropical desert climate, is now facing severe drought conditions for the last few decades. This study investigates the present socio-economic situation of local communities, major impacts of droughts and their underlying causes and current mitigation strategies adopted by local communities. The study uses both secondary (quantitative in nature) and primary (qualitative in nature) methods to understand the impacts and explore causes on the socio-economic life of local communities of the study area. The relevant data has been collected through household surveys using structured questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews of key personnel from local and international NGOs to explore the sensitivity of impacts and adaptation to droughts in the study area. This investigation is limited to four rural communities of union council Pilu of Nagarparkar district, including Bheel, BhojaBhoon, Mohd Rahan Ji Dhani and Yaqub Ji Dhani villages. The results indicate that drought has caused significant economic and social hardships for the local communities as more than 60% of the overall population is dependent on rainfall which has been disturbed by irregular rainfall patterns. The decline in Crop yields has forced the local community to migrate to nearby areas in search of livelihood opportunities. Communities have not undertaken any appropriate adaptive actions to counteract the adverse effect of drought; they are completely dependent on support from the government and external aid for survival. Respondents also reported that poverty is a major cause of their vulnerability to drought. An increase in population, limited livelihood opportunities, caste system, lack of interest from the government sector, unawareness shaped their vulnerability to drought and other social issues. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the local authorities shall create awareness about drought hazards and improve the resilience of communities against drought. It is further suggested to develop, introduce and implement water harvesting practices at the community level to promote drought-resistant crops.

Keywords: migration, vulnerability, awareness, Drought

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Authors: Tom Farrelly, Yvonne Kavanagh, Tony Murphy

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The sharp rise in international students into Ireland has provided colleges with a number of opportunities but also a number of challenges, both at an institutional and individual lecturer level and of course for the incoming student. Previously, Ireland’s population, particularly its higher education student population was largely homogenous, largely drawn from its own shores and thus reflecting the ethnic, cultural and religious demographics of the day. However, over the twenty years Ireland witnessed considerable economic growth, downturn and subsequent growth all of which has resulted in an Ireland that has changed both culturally and demographically. Propelled by Ireland’s economic success up to the late 2000s, one of the defining features of this change was an unprecedented rise in the number of migrants, both academic and economic. In 2013, Ireland’s National Forum for the Enhancement for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (hereafter the National Forum) invited proposals for inter-institutional collaborative projects aimed at different student groups’ transitioning in or out of higher education. Clearly, both as a country and a higher education sector we want incoming students to have a productive and enjoyable time in Ireland. One of the ways that will help the sector help the students make a successful transition is by developing strategies and polices that are well informed and student driven. This abstract outlines the research undertaken by the five colleges Institutes of Technology: Carlow; Cork; Tralee & Waterford and University College Cork) in Ireland that constitute the Southern cluster aimed at helping international students transition into the Irish higher education system. The aim of the southern clusters’ project was to develop a series of online learning units that can be accessed by prospective incoming international students prior to coming to Ireland and by Irish based lecturing staff. However, in order to make the units as relevant and informed as possible there was a strong research element to the project. As part of the southern cluster’s research strategy a large-scale online survey using SurveyMonkey was undertaken across the five colleges drawn from their respective international student communities. In total, there were 573 responses from students coming from over twenty different countries. The results from the survey have provided some interesting insights into the way that international students interact with and understand the Irish higher education system. The research and results will act as a model for consistent practice applicable across institutional clusters, thereby allowing institutions to minimise costs and focus on the unique aspects of transitioning international students into their institution.

Keywords: digital, international, support, transitions

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Authors: J. R. Wang, H. C. Chen, C. Shih, S. W. Chen, J. H. Yang, Y. Chiang

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In this study, we focus on the establishment of the analysis model for Maanshan PWR nuclear power plant (NPP) by using RADTRAD and SNAP codes with the FSAR, manuals, and other data. In order to evaluate the cumulative dose at the Exclusion Area Boundary (EAB) and Low Population Zone (LPZ) outer boundary, Maanshan NPP RADTRAD/SNAP model was used to perform the analysis of the DBA LOCA case. The analysis results of RADTRAD were similar to FSAR data. These analysis results were lower than the failure criteria of 10 CFR 100.11 (a total radiation dose to the whole body, 250 mSv; a total radiation dose to the thyroid from iodine exposure, 3000 mSv).

Keywords: RADionuclide, transport, removal, and dose estimation (RADTRAD), symbolic nuclear analysis package (SNAP), dose, PWR

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Authors: Chua Lee Chuan

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This study was conducted to explore parents’ beliefs towards the teaching profession. This survey was conducted on 51 parents of teacher candidates in a teacher training institute. A research instrument, using questionnaires, adapted from FIT-Choice scale developed by Richardson and Watt (2006) was used to collect data from the population. The findings showed that parents, in general, have positive attitudes towards the teaching profession. They perceived teaching as a career highly valued by the society. Though the teaching job was viewed as difficult and requiring high expertise, the salary received commensurate their hard work and heavy workload. In terms of gender, male and female parents did not differ in their beliefs about the teaching profession. However, results indicated that educational attainment and income level had significant effect on parents’ beliefs on teaching as a profession. Implications and recommendations in relation to the findings are also included.

Keywords: beliefs, teaching profession, parents, teacher candidates

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Authors: Rajni Singh, Rakesh Mishra, Mukunda Upadhyay

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India is among the nations born out of partition that led to one of the greatest forced migrations that marked the past century. The Indian subcontinent got partitioned into two nation-states, namely India and Pakistan. This led to an unexampled mass displacement of people accounting for about 20 million in the subcontinent as a whole. This exemplifies the socio-political version of displacement, but there are other identified reasons leading to human displacement viz., natural calamities, development projects and people-trafficking and smuggling. Although forced migrations are rare in incidence, they are mostly region-specific and a very less percentage of population appears to be affected by it. However, when this percentage is transcripted in terms of volume, the real impact created by such migration can be realized. Forced migration is thus an issue related to the lives of many people and requires to be addressed with proper intervention. Forced or involuntary migration decimates peoples' assets while taking from them their most basic resources and makes them migrate without planning and intention. This in most cases proves to be a burden on the destination resources. Thus, the question related to their security concerns arise profoundly with regard to the protection and safeguards to these migrants who need help at the place of destination. This brings the human security dimension of forced migration into picture. The present study is an analysis of a sample of 1501 persons by NSSO in India (National Sample Survey Organisation), which identifies three reasons for forced migration- natural disaster, social/political problem and displacement by development projects. It was observed that, of the total forced migrants, about 4/5th comprised of the internally displaced persons. However, there was a huge inflow of such migrants to the country from across the borders also, the major contributing countries being Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Gulf countries and Nepal. Among the three reasons for involuntary migration, social and political problem is the most prominent in displacing huge masses of population; it is also the reason where the share of international migrants to that of internally displaced is higher compared to the other two factors /reasons. Second to political and social problems, natural calamities displaced a high portion of the involuntary migrants. The present paper examines the factors which increase people's vulnerability to forced migration. On perusing the background characteristics of the migrants it was seen that those who were economically weak and socially fragile are more susceptible to migration. Therefore, getting an insight about this fragile group of society is required so that government policies can benefit these in the most efficient and targeted manner.

Keywords: involuntary migration, displacement, natural disaster, social and political problem

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Authors: Vicario Marina, Bustos Freddy, Olivares Jesús, Gómez Pilar

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This paper presents a didactic model and a tool as educational resources to support the learning of geometry; they focus on topics difficult to understand. The target population is elementary school students. The tool is based on a collaborative educational approach using multi-touch devices. The proposal is based on the challenges found in the instructional design and prototype implementation. Traditionally, elementary students have had many problems assimilating mathematical topics; this new Educatronic prototype facilitates the learning experience using exercises and they were tested with different children demonstrating the benefits of the prototype by improving their mathematical skills.

Keywords: educatronic prototype, geometry, multitouch surface, educational computing, primary school, mathematics, educational informatics

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Authors: Yeimy L. Quintana, Juan G. Zuluaga, Sandra S. Arango

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The comet assay is a method based on electrophoresis that is used to measure DNA damage in cells and has shown important results in the identification of substances with a potential risk to the human population as innumerable physical, chemical and biological agents. With this technique is possible to obtain images like a comet, in which the tail of these refers to damaged fragments of the DNA. One of the main problems is that the image has unequal luminosity caused by the fluorescence microscope and requires different processing to condition it as well as to know how many optimal comets there are per sample and finally to perform the measurements and determine the percentage of DNA damage. In this paper, we propose the design and implementation of software using Image Processing Toolbox-MATLAB that allows the automation of image processing. The software chooses the optimum comets and measuring the necessary parameters to detect the damage.

Keywords: artificial vision, comet assay, DNA damage, image processing

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Authors: Yajing Jiang, Jing Wu

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Residential area construction links many problems such as population resources, ecology, social values, public services and transportation in the city. After Chinese housing reform, a large number of residential area development accompanied by the loss of agricultural and ecological land. To explore the future of Chinese urban residential area, this article concentrates on how the 'Compact Settlement' behaves in improving the living environment and saving the resources. Through the research of residential area in Hangzhou, there are some determines that increasing the development intensity of the area can indeed bring some improvement in the overall environment. In conclusion, possible design alternatives are discussed for leading Chinese urban development towards a more sustainable path.

Keywords: compact city development, environmental sustainability, residential area, Hangzhou

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