Search results for: Latin America countries

Authors: Blythe Maltby

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Homeless populations are one of the sections of society most vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters. Channels of communication to these populations are limited as they lack access to mainstream modes of emergency notification, often being the last to know about state emergencies. This study aims to answer if there is a way that cities and policies be designed to help reduce casualty rates to the homeless during state emergencies, such as earthquake and tsunami preparations. The study used a qualitative research approach, namely by speaking to levels of government, homelessness charities and workers and others about preparations and their experiences with the response of state emergencies. The proposed paper may help countries identify the gaps in their preparations to help facilitate better resources to look after these vulnerable populations.

Keywords: accessibility, disaster mitigation, homeless, Vancouver

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Authors: Jonathan Frank, Michelle Salmona

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We conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses of nurses’ perceived ease of use of electronic medical records and telemedicine in the Cook Islands. We examined antecedents of perceived ease of use through the lens of social construction of learning, and cultural diffusion. Our findings confirmed expected linkages between PEOU, attitudes and intentions. Interviews with nurses suggested infrastructural barriers to engaged learning. We discussed managerial implications of our findings, and areas of interest for future research.

Keywords: health information technology, ICT4D, TAM, developing countries

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Authors: Amin Behradfar

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‎Tourism has a direct impact on the national revenue for all touristic countries. It creates work opportunities‎, ‎industries‎, ‎and several investments to serve and raise nations performance and cultures. ‎This paper is devoted to analyze dynamical behaviour of a four-dimensional non-linear tourism-based social-ecological system by using the codimension two bifurcation theory‎. ‎In fact we investigate the cusp bifurcation of that‎. ‎Implications of our mathematical results to the tourism‎ ‎industry are discussed‎. Moreover, profitability‎, ‎compatibility and sustainability of the tourism system are shown by the aid of cusp bifurcation and numerical techniques‎.

Keywords: tourism-based social-ecological dynamical systems, cusp bifurcation, center manifold theory, profitability, ‎compatibility, sustainability

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Authors: Marian Emmanuel Okon

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Introduction: The Niger Delta region of Nigeria has a vast reserve of oil and gas, which has globally positioned the nation as the sixth largest exporter of crude oil. Production rapidly rose following oil discovery. In most oil producing nations of the world, the wealth generated from oil production and export has propelled economic advancement, enabling the development of industries and other relevant infrastructures. Therefore, it can be assumed that majority of the oil resource such as Nigeria’s, has the potential to improve the health of the population via job creation and derived revenues. However, the health benefits of this economic development might be offset by the environmental consequences of oil exploitation and production. Objective: This research aims to evaluate the balance between the health benefits of oil-led economic development and harmful environmental consequences of crude oil exploitation in Nigeria. Study Design: A pathway has been designed to guide data search and this study. The model created will assess the relationship between oil-led economic development and population health development via job creation, improvement of education, development of infrastructure and other forms of development as well as through harmful environmental consequences from oil activities. Data/Emerging Findings: Diverse potentially suitable datasets which are at different geographical scales have been identified, obtained or applied for and the dataset from the World Bank has been the most thoroughly explored. This large dataset contains information that would enable the longitudinal assessment of both the health benefits and harms from oil exploitation in Nigeria as well as identify the disparities that exist between the communities, states and regions. However, these data do not extend far back enough in time to capture the start of crude oil production. Thus, it is possible that the maximum economic benefits and health harms could be missed. To deal with this shortcoming, the potential for a comparative study with countries like United Kingdom, Morocco and Cote D’ivoire has also been taken into consideration, so as to evaluate the differences between these countries as well as identify the areas of improvement in Nigeria’s environmental and health policies. Notwithstanding, these data have shown some differences in each country’s economic, environmental and health state over time as well as a corresponding summary statistics. Conclusion: In theory, the beneficial effects of oil exploitation to the health of the population may be substantial as large swaths of the ‘wider determinants’ of population heath are influenced by the wealth of a nation. However, if uncontrolled, the consequences from environmental pollution and degradation may outweigh these benefits. Thus, there is a need to address this, in order to improve environmental and population health in Nigeria.

Keywords: environmental pollution, health benefits, oil-led economic development, petroleum exploitation

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Authors: Rosa Tsegaye Aga, Xuan Jiang, Pavel Vazquez Faci, Siqing Liu, Simon Rayner, Endalkachew Alemu, Markos Abebe

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Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of disease globally. In most cases, TB is treatable and curable, but only with the proper treatment. There is a time when drug-resistant TB occurs when bacteria become resistant to the drugs that are used to treat TB. Current strategies to identify drug-resistant TB bacteria are laboratory-based, and it takes a longer time to identify the drug-resistant bacteria and treat the patient accordingly. But machine learning (ML) and data science approaches can offer new approaches to the problem. In this study, we propose to develop an ML-based model to predict the antibiotic resistance phenotypes of TB isolates in minutes and give the right treatment to the patient immediately. The study has been using the whole genome sequence (WGS) of TB isolates as training data that have been extracted from the NCBI repository and contain different countries’ samples to build the ML models. The reason that different countries’ samples have been included is to generalize the large group of TB isolates from different regions in the world. This supports the model to train different behaviors of the TB bacteria and makes the model robust. The model training has been considering three pieces of information that have been extracted from the WGS data to train the model. These are all variants that have been found within the candidate genes (F1), predetermined resistance-associated variants (F2), and only resistance-associated gene information for the particular drug. Two major datasets have been constructed using these three information. F1 and F2 information have been considered as two independent datasets, and the third information is used as a class to label the two datasets. Five machine learning algorithms have been considered to train the model. These are Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random forest (RF), Logistic regression (LR), Gradient Boosting, and Ada boost algorithms. The models have been trained on the datasets F1, F2, and F1F2 that is the F1 and the F2 dataset merged. Additionally, an ensemble approach has been used to train the model. The ensemble approach has been considered to run F1 and F2 datasets on gradient boosting algorithm and use the output as one dataset that is called F1F2 ensemble dataset and train a model using this dataset on the five algorithms. As the experiment shows, the ensemble approach model that has been trained on the Gradient Boosting algorithm outperformed the rest of the models. In conclusion, this study suggests the ensemble approach, that is, the RF + Gradient boosting model, to predict the antibiotic resistance phenotypes of TB isolates by outperforming the rest of the models.

Keywords: machine learning, MTB, WGS, drug resistant TB

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Authors: Deepak Jugran, Rajesh Gill

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Purpose: To study the demographic, sociological, gender and clinical profile of the children presented for childhood cataract at a public sector tertiary eye care centre in India. Methodology: The design of the study is retrospective, and hospital-based data is available with the Central Registration Department of the PGIMER, Chandigarh. The majority of the childhood cataract cases are being reported in this hospital, yet not each and every case of childhood cataract approaches PGI, Chandigarh. Nevertheless, this study is going to be pioneering research in India, covering five-year data of the childhood cataract patients who visited the Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh, from 1.1.2015 to 31.12.2019. The SPSS version 23 was used for all statistical calculations. Results: A Total of 354 children were presented for childhood cataract from 1.1.2015 to 31.12.2019. Out of 354 children, 248 (70%) were male, and 106 (30%) were female. In-spite of 2 flagship programmes, namely the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) and Aayushman Bharat (PM JAY) for eradication of cataract, no children received any financial assistance from these two programmes. A whopping 99% of these children belong to the poor families. In most of these families, the mothers were house-wives and did not employ anywhere. These interim results will soon be conveyed to the Govt. of India so that a suitable mechanism can be evolved to address this pertinent issue. Further, the disproportionate ratio of male and female children in this study is an area of concern as we don’t know whether the prevalence of childhood cataract is lower in female children or they are not being presented on time in the hospital by the families. Conclusion: The World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized Childhood blindness resulting from cataract as a priority area and urged all member countries to develop institutionalized mechanisms for its early detection, diagnosis and management. The childhood cataract is an emerging and major cause of preventable and avoidable childhood blindness, especially in low and middle-income countries. In the formative years, the children require a sound physical, mental and emotional state, and in the absence of either one of them, it can severely dent their future growth. The recent estimate suggests that India could suffer an economic loss of US$12 billion (Rs. 88,000 Crores) due to blindness, and almost 35% of cases of blindness are preventable and avoidable if detected at an early age. Besides reporting these results to the policy makers, synchronized efforts are needed for early detection and management of avoidable causes of childhood blindness such as childhood cataract.

Keywords: childhood blindness, cataract, Who, Npcb

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Authors: J. Iwaro, A. Mwasha, K. Ramsubhag

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Global warming has become a threat of our time. It poses challenges to the existence of beings on earth, the built environment, natural environment and has made a clear impact on the level of energy and water consumption. As such, increase in the ambient temperature increases indoor and outdoor temperature level of the buildings which brings about the use of more energy and mechanical air conditioning systems. In addition, in view of the increased modernization and economic growth in the developing countries, a significant amount of energy is being used, especially those with hot climatic conditions. Since modernization in developing countries is rising rapidly, more pressure is being placed on the buildings and energy resources to satisfy the indoor comfort requirements. This paper presents a sustainable passive roof solution as a means of reducing energy cooling loads for satisfying human comfort requirements in a hot climate. As such, the study based on the field study data discusses indoor thermal roof design strategies for a hot climate by investigating the impacts of roof thermal performance on indoor thermal comfort in naturally ventilated building envelope small scaled structures. In this respect, the traditional concrete flat roof, corrugated galvanised iron roof and pre-painted standing seam roof were used. The experiment made used of three identical small scale physical models constructed and sited on the roof of a building at the University of the West Indies. The results show that the utilization of insulation in traditional roofing systems will significantly reduce heat transfer between the internal and ambient environment, thus reducing the energy demand of the structure and the relative carbon footprint of a structure per unit area over its lifetime. Also, the application of flat slab concrete roofing system showed the best performance as opposed to the metal roof sheeting alternative systems. In addition, it has been shown experimentally through this study that a sustainable passive roof solution such as insulated flat concrete roof in hot dry climate has a better cooling strength that can provide building occupant with a better thermal comfort, conducive indoor conditions and energy efficiency.

Keywords: building envelope, roof, energy consumption, thermal comfort

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Authors: Christina Van Wingerden

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This paper focuses on a sense of belonging, isolation, and the use of a learning management system as a “third space” for connection and community. Given student use of learning management systems (LMS) for courses on campuses, moderate to high use of social media and hand-held devices, the author explores the possibilities of LMS as a third space. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated student experiences of isolation, and research indicates that students who experience a sense of belonging have a greater likelihood for academic retention and success. The impacts on students of an LMS designed for student employee orientation and training were examined through a mixed methods approach, including a survey, individual interviews, and focus groups. The sample involved 250-450 undergraduate student employees at a US northwestern university. The goal of the study was to find out the efficiency and effectiveness of the orientation information for a wide range of student employees from multiple student affairs departments. And unexpected finding emerged within the study in 2015 and was noted again as a finding in the 2017 study. Students reported feeling like they individually connected to the department, and further to the university because of the LMS orientation. They stated they could see themselves as part of the university community and like they belonged. The orientation, through the LMS, was designed for and occurred online (asynchronous), prior to students traveling and beginning university life for the academic year. The students indicated connection and belonging resulting from some of the design features. With the onset of COVID-19 and prolonged sheltering in place in North America, as well as other parts of the world, students have been precluded from physically gathering to educate and learn. COVID-19 essentially paused face-to-face education in 2020. Media, governments, and higher education outlets have been reporting on widespread college student stress, isolation, loneliness, and sadness. In this context, the author conducted a current mixed methods study (online survey, online interviews) of students in advanced degree programs, like Ph.D. and Ed.D. specifically investigating isolation and sense of belonging. As a part of the study a prototype of a Canvas site was experienced by student interviewees for their reaction of this Canvas site prototype as a “third” space. Some preliminary findings of this study are presented. Doctoral students in the study affirmed the potential of LMS as a third space for community and social academic connection.

Keywords: COVID-19, isolation, learning management system, sense of belonging

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Authors: Bholenath

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Ever since Elon Musk revealed his plan to terraform Mars on national television in 2015, the debate regarding the legality of such an activity under the current Outer Space Treaty regime is gaining momentum. Terraforming means to alter or transform the atmosphere of another planet to have the characteristics of landscapes on Earth. Musk’s plan is to alter the entire environment of Mars so as to make it habitable for humans. He has long been an advocate of colonizing Mars, and in order to make humans an interplanetary species; he wants to detonate thermonuclear devices over the poles of Mars. For a common man, it seems to be a fascinating endeavor, but for space lawyers, it poses new and fascinating legal questions. Some of the questions which arise are whether the use of nuclear weapons on celestial bodies is permitted under the Outer Space Treaty? Whether such an alteration of the celestial environment would fall within the scope of the term 'harmful contamination' under Article IX of the treaty? Whether such an activity which would put an entire planet under the control of a private company can be permitted under the treaty? Whether such terraforming of Mars would amount to its appropriation? Whether such an activity would be in the 'benefit and interests of all countries'? This paper will be attempt to examine and elucidate upon these legal questions. Space is one such domain where the law should precede man. The paper follows the approach that the de lege lata is not capable of prohibiting the terraforming of Mars. Outer Space Treaty provides the freedoms of space and prescribes certain restrictions on those freedoms as well. The author shall examine the provisions such as Article I, II, IV, and IX of the Outer Space Treaty in order to establish the legality of terraforming activity. The author shall establish how such activity is peaceful use of the celestial body, is in the benefit and interests of all countries, and does neither qualify as national appropriation of the celestial body nor as its harmful contamination. The author shall divide the paper into three chapters. The first chapter would be about the general introduction of the problem, the analysis of Elon Musk’s plan to terraform Mars, and the need to study terraforming from the lens of the Outer Space Treaty. In the second chapter, the author shall attempt to establish the legality of the terraforming activity under the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty. In this vein, the author shall put forth the counter interpretations and the arguments which may be formulated against the lawfulness of terraforming. The author shall show as to why the counter interpretations establishing the unlawfulness of terraforming should not be accepted, and in doing so, the author shall provide the interpretations that should prevail and ultimately establishes the legality of terraforming activity under the treaty. In the third chapter, the author shall draw relevant conclusions and give suggestions.

Keywords: appropriation, harmful contamination, peaceful, terraforming

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Authors: Hussaini Garba Mohammed

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Background/Significance: The lack of data gathering is affecting NGOs world-wide in general to have good data information about educational and health related issues among communities in any country and around the world. For example, HIV/AIDS smoking (Tuberculosis diseases) and COVID-19 virus carriers is becoming a serious public health problem, especially among old men and women. But there is no full details data survey assessment from communities, villages, and rural area in some countries to show the percentage of victims and patients, especial with this world COVID-19 virus among the people. These data are essential to inform programming targets, strategies, and priorities in getting good information about data gathering in any society.

Keywords: reliable information, data assessment, data mining, data communication

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Authors: Raluca-Ioana Antonescu

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The paper treats about the Korean public diplomacy and national branding strategies, and how the Korean language textbooks were used in order to construct the Korean national image. The field research of the paper stands at the intersection between Linguistics and Political Science, while the problem of the research is the role of language and culture in national branding process. The research goal is to contribute to the literature situated at the intersection between International Relations and Applied Linguistics, while the objective is to conceptualize the idea of national branding by emphasizing a dimension which is not much discussed, and that would be the education as an instrument of the national branding and public diplomacy strategies. In order to examine the importance of language upon the national branding strategies, the paper will answer one main question, How is the Korean language used in the construction of national branding?, and two secondary questions, How are explored in literature the relations between language and national branding construction? and What kind of image of South Korea the language textbooks for foreigners transmit? In order to answer the research questions, the paper starts from one main hypothesis, that the language is an essential component of the culture, which is used in the construction of the national branding influenced by traditional elements (like Confucianism) but also by modern elements (like Western influence), and from two secondary hypothesis, the first one is that in the International Relations literature there are little explored the connections between language and national branding, while the second hypothesis is that the South Korean image is constructed through the promotion of a traditional society, but also a modern one. In terms of methodology, the paper will analyze the textbooks used in Romania at the universities which provide Korean Language classes during the three years program B.A., following the dialogs, the descriptive texts and the additional text about the Korean culture. The analysis will focus on the rank status difference, the individual in relation to the collectivity, the respect for the harmony, and the image of the foreigner. The results of the research show that the South Korean image projected in the textbooks convey the Confucian values and it does not emphasize the changes suffered by the society due to the modernity and globalization. The Westernized aspect of the Korean society is conveyed more in an informative way about the Korean international companies, Korean internal development (like the transport or other services), but it does not show the cultural changed the society underwent. Even if the paper is using the textbooks which are used in Romania as a teaching material, it could be used and applied at least to other European countries, since the textbooks are the ones issued by the South Korean language schools, which other European countries are using also.

Keywords: confucianism, modernism, national branding, public diplomacy, traditionalism

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Authors: Encarnación Álvarez, Rosa M. García-Fernández, Francisco J. Blanco-Encomienda, Juan F. Muñoz

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The European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) is a popular survey which provides information on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions of households and individuals in the European Union. The EUSILC contains variables which may contain outliers. The presence of outliers can have an impact on the measures and indicators used by the EU-SILC. In this paper, we used data sets from various countries to analyze the presence of outliers. In addition, we obtain some indicators after removing these outliers, and a comparison between both situations can be observed. Finally, some conclusions are obtained.

Keywords: poverty line, headcount index, risk of poverty, skewness coefficient

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Authors: Nabil Mohammed Nasser Salem

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International advertisements targeting the Arab world are usually modified to be compatible with the conservative culture in many Arab countries. The portrayal of female models in international advertisements in Arab magazines avoids direct sexual representation. Arab culture is guided by religious teachings and social restrictions that prohibit the display of many parts of the female body. Exposure of shoulders, arms, armpits, cleavage, legs, thighs, etc., of the female body is usually avoided in international advertisements published in Arab magazines. Exposure to parts of the female body other than the face and hands may be considered offensive in many parts of Arab countries. Although extensive research has been conducted on Arabic advertisements, to our best knowledge, there are no publications in the literature that address the recent changes in the visual sign system in international advertisements in Arab magazines using semiotics as a research method. The present study aims to analyze the changes in the visual sign system of international advertisements published in Arab magazines that promote female fragrances. It tries to analyze the differences in the sexual representations of the same female models in some selected advertisements during different periods. The magazines are randomly selected from the period between 2000 and 2019. The selection of magazines is based on their availability and popularity. The study focuses on the Dior Jadore ads because they reflect important changes in the appearance of the same female model between 2000 to 2019. The result of the study shows important changes in the sexual representation of the same female body. The Dior Jadore advertisement in 2000 shows only the head of the female model. The model is modestly portrayed and shows clear cultural and religious restrictions on the sexual representation of the female body. The result shows that the same female model is portrayed differently in the Dior Jadore advertisement from the period 2005 to 2019. These versions of advertisements show more parts of the female body that are covered in the older versions and show stronger sexual representations. The study is an important contribution as it fills an important gap in the literature by extending semiotic research to the study of recent visual changes in the sign system of international advertisements published in Arab magazines during an important period in the history of international advertisement targeting the Arab world, as they reflect changes in the sexual representation of female models.

Keywords: Arab magazine, female body, international advertisements, semiotics, sexual representation

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Authors: Nino Damenia

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The agricultural sector plays an important role in the development of Georgia's economy, it contributes to employment and food security. It faces various types of risks that may lead to heavy financial losses. Agricultural insurance is one of the means of combating agricultural risks. The paper discusses the agricultural insurance experience of those countries (European countries and the USA) that have successfully implemented the agricultural insurance program. Analysis of international cases shows that a well-designed and implemented agri-insurance system can bring significant benefits to farmers, insurance companies and the economy as a whole. In the background of all this, the Government of Georgia recognized the importance of agro-insurance and took important steps for its development. In 2014, in cooperation with insurance companies, an agro-insurance program was introduced, the purpose of which is to increase the availability of insurance for farmers and stimulate the agro-insurance market. Despite such a step forward, challenges remain such as awareness of farmers, insufficient infrastructure for data collection and risk assessment, involvement of insurance companies and other important factors. With the support of the government and stakeholders, it is possible to overcome the existing challenges and establish a strong and effective agro-insurance system. Objectives. The purpose of the research is to analyze the development trends of the agricultural insurance market, to identify the main factors affecting its growth, and to further develop recommendations for development prospects for Georgia. Methodologies. The research uses mixed methods, which combine qualitative and quantitative research techniques. The qualitative method includes the study of the literature of Georgian and foreign economists, which allows us to get acquainted with the challenges, opportunities, legislative and regulatory frameworks of agricultural insurance. Quantitative analysis involves collecting data from stakeholders and then analyzing it. The paper also uses the methods of synthesis, comparison and statistical analysis of the agricultural insurance market in Georgia, Europe and the USA. Conclusions. As the main results of the research, we can consider that the analysis of the insurance market has been made and its main functions have been identified; The essence, features and functions of agricultural insurance are analyzed; European and US agricultural insurance market is researched; The stages of formation and development of the agricultural insurance market of Georgia are studied, its importance for the agricultural sector of Georgia is determined; The role of the state for the development of agro-insurance is analyzed and development prospects are established based on the study of the current trends of the agro-insurance market of Georgia.

Keywords: agricultural insurance, agriculture, agricultural insurance program, risk

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Authors: Abdullah Al Mohiuddin

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Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, and ranks low on almost all measures of economic development, thus leaving the population extremely vulnerable to natural disasters and climate events. 20% of GDP come from agriculture but more than 60% of the population relies on agriculture as their main source of income making the entire economy vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. High population density exacerbates the exposure to and effect of climate events, and increases the levels of vulnerability, as does the poor institutional development of the country. The most vulnerable sectors to climate change impacts in Bangladesh are agriculture, coastal zones, water resources, forestry, fishery, health, biomass, and energy. High temperatures, heavy rainfall, high humidity and fairly marked seasonal variations characterize the climate in Bangladesh: Mild winter, hot humid summer and humid, warm rainy monsoon. Much of the country is flooded during the summer monsoon. The Department of Environment (DOE) under the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) is the focal point for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and coordinates climate related activities in the country. Recently, a Climate Change Cell (CCC) has been established to address several issues including adaptation to climate change. The climate change focus started with The National Environmental Management Action Plan (NEMAP) which was prepared in 1995 in order to initiate the process to address environmental and climate change issues as long-term environmental problems for Bangladesh. Bangladesh was one of the first countries to finalise a NAPA (Preparation of a National Adaptation Plan of Action) which addresses climate change issues. The NAPA was completed in 2005, and is the first official initiative for mainstreaming adaptation to national policies and actions to cope with climate change and vulnerability. The NAPA suggests a number of adaptation strategies, for example: - Providing drinking water to coastal communities to fight the enhanced salinity caused by sea level rise, - Integrating climate change in planning and design of infrastructure, - Including climate change issues in education, - Supporting adaptation of agricultural systems to new weather extremes, - Mainstreaming CCA into policies and programmes in different sectors, e.g. disaster management, water and health, - Dissemination of CCA information and awareness raising on enhanced climate disasters, especially in vulnerable communities. Bangladesh has geared up its environment conservation steps to save the world’s poorest countries from the adverse effects of global warming. Now it is turning towards green economy policies to save the degrading ecosystem. Bangladesh is a developing country and always fights against Natural Disaster. At the same time we also fight for establishing ecological environment through promoting Green Economy/Energy by Youth Networking. ANTAR is coordinating a big Youth Network in the southern part of Bangladesh where 30 Youth group involved. It can be explained as the economic development based on sustainable development which generates growth and improvement in human’s lives while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. Green economy in Bangladesh promotes three bottom lines – sustaining economic, environment and social well-being.

Keywords: resilience, networking, mobilizing, resource

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Authors: Tolulope A. Olukunle

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Plastic waste management has emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing developing countries. This paper describes the design of various components of a plastic shredder. This machine is widely used in industries and recycling plants. The introduction of plastic shredder machine will promote reduction of post-consumer plastic waste accumulation and serves as a system for wealth creation and empowerment through conversion of waste into economically viable products. In this design research, a 10 kW electric motor with a rotational speed of 500 rpm was chosen to drive the shredder. A pulley size of 400 mm is mounted on the electric motor at a distance of 1000 mm away from the shredder pulley. The shredder rotational speed is 300 rpm.

Keywords: design, machine, plastic waste, recycling

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Authors: Ferhat Yilmaz

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Defense sector is one of the most important areas where logistics is used extensively. Nations give importance to their defense spending in order to survive in their geography. Parallel to the rising crises around the world, governments increase their defense spending; however, resources are limited while the needs are infinite. Therefore, countries try to develop a more effective use of their defense budget. In order to make logistics more effective and efficient, performance- based logistical system was developed. This article tries to explain the Performance-based Logistical System, its employment process, employment areas, and how it will be used along with other main systems in the Turkey.

Keywords: performance, performance based logistics applications, logistical system, Turkey

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Authors: J. A. Mayouf, Q. A. Najim, H. S. Al-Bayati

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The concentrations of cadmium and lead in sewage sludge samples were determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrometric Method. Samples of sewage sludge were obtained from three sewage treatment plants localised in Middle Region of Libya (Misrata, Msallata and Tarhünah cities). The results shows that, the mean levels of Cadmium for all regions are ranges from 81 to 123.4 ppm and these values are higher than the limitations for the international standard which are not registered more than 50 ppm (dry weight) in USA, Egypt and the EU countries. While, the lead concentrations are ranged from 8.0 to 189.2 ppm and all values are within the standard limits which graduated between (275–613) ppm.

Keywords: cadmium, lead, sewage, spectrometry

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Authors: Aena Iqbal

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The lack of access to maternal and reproductive health in Pakistan poses a great threat to global public health. Obstetric issues, including vesicovaginal fistulas (VVF), are the most common in South Asian countries, leaving women in a more vulnerable state. Koohi Goth Women’s Hospital offers free VVF operations, which draws in women from all over Pakistan. Although reproductive health is being handled, mental health is often neglected in these scenarios. Using a series of questions inspired by the Warwick Edinburgh Model, this paper builds on the results from interviewing women who have received vesicovaginal fistula repair surgery on their mental health, a taboo topic in Pakistan.

Keywords: obstetrics, VVF, Pakistan, reproductive health

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Authors: H. Kadi-Hanifi, F. Amghar

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Steppes of arid Mediterranean zones are deeply threatened by desertification. To stop or alleviate ecological and economic problems associated with this desertification, management actions have been implemented since the last three decades. The struggle against desertification has become a national priority in many countries. In Algeria, several management techniques have been used to cope with desertification. This study aims at investigating the effect of exclosure on floristic diversity and chemical soil proprieties after four years of implementation. 167 phyto-ecological samples have been studied, 122 inside the exclosure and 45 outside. Results showed that plant diversity, composition, vegetation cover, pastoral value and soil fertility were significantly higher in protected areas.

Keywords: Algeria, arid, desertification, pastoral management, soil fertility

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Authors: Nour Aladdin

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This paper explores the interconnectedness of belonging, space, and identity in Anglo Arab literature, particularly Saleem Haddad’s Guapa and Hasan Namir’sGod in Pink. This paper suggest that Rasa and Ramy, the queer Arab characters respectively, do not belong in either the Middle East or the West. Using Amin Maalouf’s analysis of the Arab identity, specifically his argument that an individual identifies strongly with the aspect of their identity that is under attack, this paper argues that all of Rasa and Ramy’s spaces are politically charged - a term that denotes that all values and beliefs instilled in Arabs and their spaces are heavily influenced by Arab politics, culture, and, often times religion. Therefore, the politically charged environments Rasa and Ramy inhabit will always be against one part of their identity, which is why they cannot identify as queer and Arab simultaneously. For Rasa, the unnamed Middle Eastern country, his home environment, as well as the so-called safe space nightclub, condemn his queerness, leading him to connect more to his sexual orientation. However, Rasa associates himself with his Arab roots when he migrates to America, a different form of politically charged space that minoritizes his ethnicity. Similarly, Ramy’s spaces are naturally religiopolitical after Islam heightened in Iraq during the Iraq War; as a result, Ramy’s home environment, Sheikh Ammar’s house, the mosque, and the nightclub are influenced by the religiopolitics and bombard his ability to identify as not only a queer Arab but a queer Arab Muslim. Ultimately, because Rasa and Ramy are constantly in movement, their identity attributes are also in movement. This paper is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on Guapa and the Arab Spring’s politics, mainly its influence on queer Arabs in and around the Middle East. Drawing from a number of queer and Arab gender theories, I analyze all of Rasa’s spaces as politically charged that prevent him from the means to be queer and Arab. The second section examines God in Pink in close connection to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Ramy’s spaces are religiopolitically charged, that prevent him to embrace all of his identity attributes – nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and religious affiliation – concomitantly. The last section considers the rapid use of technology and social media in the Middle East as a means to provide deviant heterotopic spaces for queer Arabs. With the rise of subtle and covert queer heterotopias, there is a slow and steady shift of queer tolerance in the Arab world.

Keywords: belonging, identity, spaces, queer, arabness, middle east, orientalism

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Authors: A. Tamimi, S. Greatrex-White, A. Narayanasamy

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Background: Spirituality has been increasingly acknowledged in the nursing literature as an important element of holistic patient care. To date there have been numerous studies investigating the meaning of spirituality in Western cultures. Spirituality in Middle Eastern countries however remains under-researched. We will present a study which aimed to address this gap. Aim: The study aimed to explore how spirituality manifests in the lives of Jordanian End Stage Renal Failure (ESRF) patients. Methodology and Method: A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was adopted informed by the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Participants (n=27) were recruited from four different dialysis units: in a public hospital, a private hospital, an educational hospital and a refugee’s hospital in Jordan. Data was collected through in-depth unstructured interviews. Data Analysis: Analysis was guided by the tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology namely: gaining immediate sense of what was said both during and after each interview, transcribing data verbatim, translating interviews into the English language, intensive reading and re-reading, seeking meaning units by line to line coding, developing situated structures (how spirituality was manifest in each text), developing a general structure from the individual situated structures (how the phenomenon ‘spirituality’ comes into being). Findings: Three major themes emerged from analysis: Religion, Relationships and Desperation. We will argue that a ‘secular’ concept of spirituality had no meaning for the participants in the study. Spirituality is fundamentally part of religion and vice versa. Discussion: The findings may have consequences for the use of spirituality in multi-cultural settings in Western countries. Additionally, findings highlighted an important emphasis on the practice of spirituality, often underestimated in previous literature for Arab-Muslim Jordanian patients. Conclusion: The study findings contribute to the existing gap in knowledge regarding how Arab-Muslim Jordanian ESRF patients experience spirituality during their illness. It provides valuable insights into the importance of spirituality for this patient group and suggests how nurses, educators and policy makers might help address ESRF patients’ spiritual needs and provide appropriate spiritual care. We suggest the findings may have relevance beyond the Jordanian context in educating nurses’ on the importance of appreciating the religious dimension of spirituality.

Keywords: spirituality, nursing, muslim, Jordan

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Authors: Michel Patiño-Sáenz, Martín Haissiner, Jorge Martínez-Cotrina, Daniel Pastor, Hernando Santamaría-García, Maria-Alejandra Tangarife, Agustin Ibáñez, Sandra Baez

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It has been shown that gruesome descriptions of harm can increase the punishment given to a transgressor. This biasing effect is mediated by negative emotions, which are elicited upon the presentation of gruesome descriptions. However, there is a lack of studies inquiring the influence of such descriptions on moral decision-making in people involved in the criminal justice system. Such populations are of special interest since they have experience dealing with gruesome evidence, but also formal education on how to assess evidence and gauge the appropriate punishment according to the law. Likewise, they are expected to be objective and rational when performing their duty, because their decisions can impact profoundly people`s lives. Considering these antecedents, the objective of this study was to explore the influence gruesome written descriptions on moral decision-making in this group of people. To that end, we recruited attorneys, judges and public prosecutors (Criminal justice group, CJ, n=30) whose field of specialty is criminal law. In addition, we included a control group of people who did not have a formal education in law (n=30), but who were paired in age and years of education with the CJ group. All participants completed an online, Spanish-adapted version of a moral decision-making task, which was previously reported in the literature and also standardized and validated in the Latin-American context. A series of text-based stories describing two characters, one inflicting harm on the other, were presented to participants. Transgressor's intentionality (accidental vs. intentional harm) and language (gruesome vs. plain) used to describe harm were manipulated employing a within-subjects and a between-subjects design, respectively. After reading each story, participants were asked to rate (a) the harmful action's moral adequacy, (b) the amount of punishment deserving the transgressor and (c) how damaging was his behavior. Results showed main effects of group, intentionality and type of language on all dependent measures. In both groups, intentional harmful actions were rated as significantly less morally adequate, were punished more severely and were deemed as more damaging. Moreover, control subjects deemed more damaging and punished more severely any type of action than the CJ group. In addition, there was an interaction between intentionality and group. People in the control group rated harmful actions as less morally adequate than the CJ group, but only when the action was accidental. Also, there was an interaction between intentionality and language on punishment ratings. Controls punished more when harm was described using gruesome language. However, that was not the case of people in the CJ group, who assigned the same amount of punishment in both conditions. In conclusion, participants with job experience in the criminal justice system or criminal law differ in the way they make moral decisions. Particularly, it seems that they are less sensitive to the biasing effect of gruesome evidence, which is probably explained by their formal education or their experience in dealing with such evidence. Nonetheless, more studies are needed to determine the impact this phenomenon has on the fulfillment of their duty.

Keywords: criminal justice system, emotions, gruesome descriptions, intentionality, moral decision-making

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Authors: Jonix Owino, Heather Fuller

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Refugees flee from their home countries due to civil unrest, war, persecution and migrate to Western countries such as the United States in search of a safe haven. Transitioning into a new society and culture can be challenging, thereby affecting refugee’s quality of life and well-being in the host communities. Moreover, as individuals age, they experience physical, cognitive and socioemotional changes that may impact their quality of life. However, little is known about the predictors of quality of life among aging refugees. It is not clear how quality of life varies by age, that is, between midlife refugees in comparison to their older counterparts. In addition to age, other sociodemographic factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, or country of origin are likely to have differential associations to quality of life, yet research on such variations among older refugees is sparse. Thus the present study seeks to explore factors associated with quality of life by asking the following research questions: 1) Do sociodemographic factors (such as age and gender) predict quality of life among older refugees, 2) Is there an association between social integration and quality of life, and 3) Is there an association between migratory related experiences (such as post migratory adjustments) and quality of life. The present study recruited 90 refugees (primarily originating from Bhutan, Somalia, Burundi, and Sudan) aged 50 or older living in the US. The participants completed a structured questionnaire which assessed factors such as participant’s sociodemographic attributes (e.g., age, gender, length of residence in the US, country of origin, employment, level of education, and marital status), and validated measures of social integration, post-migration living difficulties, and quality of life. Preliminary results suggest sociodemographic variability in quality of life among these refugees. Further analyses will be conducted using hierarchical regression analyses to address the following hypotheses: first, it is hypothesized that quality of life will vary by age and gender such that younger refugees and men will report higher quality of life. Second, it is expected that refugees with greater levels of social integration will also report better quality of life. Finally, post-migration factors such as language barriers and family stress are hypothesized to predict poorer quality of life. Further results will be analyzed, including potential moderating effects of age and gender, and resulting findings will be interpreted and discussed. The findings from this study have potential implications for communities on how they can better support older refugees as well as develop social programs that can effectively cater to their well-being. Conclusions will be drawn and discussed in light of policies related to both aging and refugee migration within the context of the US.

Keywords: aging out of place, migration, older refugees, quality of life, social integration

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Authors: Dwi Ashari

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This study attempts to disclose people’s privacy in Indonesian media. Many television (henceforth: TV) programs have shown the exposure of people’s privacy. People, not only celebrities, who appear in TV program often, share their life to the participants to get very intimate self-disclosure with them. Indonesia, as one of the countries with highest population, has many people who watch television everyday. This can be the major factor for some TV stations to create a program to get people’s attention to gain more profit. This study examines some factors of Indonesia TV programs that share the people’s privacy. The relation of privacy in Indonesia TV programs will be related to the concept of self-disclosure and intimacy between the people who share and watch the programs.

Keywords: Indonesia, media, privacy, self-disclosure

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Authors: O. E. Akinyemi, P. O. Alege, O. O. Ajayi, L. A. Amaghionyediwe, A. A. Ogundipe

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Nigeria as an oil-producing developing country in Africa is one of the many countries that had been subsidizing consumption of fossil fuel. Despite the numerous advantage of this policy ranging from increased energy access, fostering economic and industrial development, protecting the poor households from oil price shocks, political considerations, among others; they have been found to impose economic cost, wasteful, inefficient, create price distortions discourage investment in the energy sector and contribute to environmental pollution. These negative consequences coupled with the fact that the policy had not been very successful at achieving some of its stated objectives, led to a number of organisations and countries such as the Group of 7 (G7), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Energy Agency (IEA), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), among others call for global effort towards reforming fossil fuel subsidies. This call became necessary in view of seeking ways to harmonise certain existing policies which may by design hamper current effort at tackling environmental concerns such as climate change. This is in addition to driving a green growth strategy and low carbon development in achieving sustainable development. The energy sector is identified to play a vital role. This study thus investigates the prospects of using fuel subsidy reform as a viable tool in driving an economy that de-emphasizes carbon growth in Nigeria. The method used is the Johansen and Engle-Granger two-step Co-integration procedure in order to investigate the existence or otherwise of a long-run equilibrium relationship for the period 1971 to 2011. Its theoretical framework is rooted in the Environmental Kuznet Curve (EKC) hypothesis. In developing three case scenarios (case of subsidy payment, no subsidy payment and effective subsidy), findings from the study supported evidence of a long run sustainable equilibrium model. Also, estimation results reflected that the first and the second scenario do not significantly influence the indicator of environmental quality. The implication of this is that in reforming fuel subsidy to drive environmental quality for an economy like Nigeria, strong and effective regulatory framework (measure that was interacted with fuel subsidy to yield effective subsidy) is essential.

Keywords: environmental quality, fuel subsidy, green growth, low carbon growth strategy

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Authors: Vilma Deltuvaitė

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Comparisons of financial development across countries are central to answering many of the questions on factors leading to economic development. For this reason this study analyzes the implications of financial system’s development on country’s economic development. The aim of the article: to analyze the impact of financial system’s development on economic development. The following research methods were used: systemic, logical and comparative analysis of scientific literature, analysis of statistical data, time series model (Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model). The empirical results suggest about positive short and long term effect of stock market development on GDP per capita.

Keywords: banking sector, economic development, financial system’s development, stock market, private bond market

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Authors: Barbora Chmelikova

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Current financial markets offer a wide range of financial products to the consumers. However, access to the financial products is not always provided or guaranteed, particularly in less developed countries. For this reason, financial inclusion is an important component in the modern society. This paper investigates financial inclusion and what financial products are held by university students majoring in finance fields. The OECD methodology was used to examine the awareness and use of financial products. The study was conducted via online questionnaire at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic among finance students. The results show that the students use current and savings accounts more than any other financial products.

Keywords: financial inclusion, financial products, personal finance, university students

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Authors: Melisa Yazdan Panahi

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Since, today in most countries around the world much attention is paid to planning the smallest unit in the city i.e. the residential neighborhoods to achieve sustainable urban development goals, a variety of assessment tools have been developed to assess and monitor the sustainability of new developments. One of the most reliable and widely used assessment tools is LEED-ND rating system. This paper whit the aim of assessing sustainability level of Roshdieh neighborhood in Tabriz, has introduced this rating system and applied it in the study area. The results indicate that Roshdieh has the potential of achieving the standards of sustainable neighborhoods, but the present situation is far from the ideal point.

Keywords: LEED-ND, sustainable neighborhood, new developments, Tabriz

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Authors: Graziele Zwielewski, Suzana R. Tolfo

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The globalization of markets, the need to develop competitive advantages and core competencies, among other things, lead organizations to increasingly cross borders to operate in other countries. The expatriation of professionals who go to work in another country besides their own becomes increasingly common. In order to generate data about this issue, research was conducted concerning the perception of expatriate employees concerning expatriation success. The research method used was case study through a qualitative approach. This research was done through interviews with five India expatriates and five China expatriates, interview with expatriate department heads and analysis of company documents. It was found that there are differences between the organizational perception and perception of expatriates of what constitutes mission success. The paper also provides suggestions for further research and suggestions for future expatriates.

Keywords: expatriation success, international assignments, success factors, success for expatriates

Procedia PDF Downloads 354