Search results for: global mental health

Authors: Appasaheb Raul

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Numerical analysis of a plate fin heat exchanger accounting for the effect of fluid flow maldistribution on the inlet header configuration of the heat exchanger is investigated. It is found that the flow maldistribution is very significant in normal to the flow direction. Various inlet configuration has been studied for various Reynolds Number. By the study, a modified header configuration is proposed and simulated. The two-dimensional parameters are used to evaluate the flow non-uniformity in the header, global flow maldistribution parameter (Sg), and Velocity Ratio (θ). A series of velocity vectors and streamline graphs at different cross-section are achieved and studied qualitatively with experimental results in the literature. The numerical result indicates that the flow maldistribution is serious in the conventional header while in the improved configuration less maldistribution occurs. The flow maldistribution parameter (Sg) and velocity ratio (θ) is reduced in improved configuration. The vortex decreases compared to that of the conventional configuration so the energy and pressure loss is reduced. The improved header can effectively enhance the efficiency of plate fin heat exchanger and uniformity of flow distribution.

Keywords: global flow maldistribution parameter, Sg, velocity ratio, plate fin heat exchanger, fluent 14.5

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Authors: Marianne Simons, Sinan Kurt, Marjolein Stefens, Kai Karos, Johan Lataster

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As cultural diversity within older populations in European countries increases, the role of cultural background should be taken account of in aging studies. Bonding social capital (BSC), containing someone’s socio-emotional resources, is recognised as an important ingredient for wellbeing in old age and found to be associated with someone’s cultural background. The current study examined the association between BSC, loneliness and wellbeing in a sample including older Turkish migrants with a collectivistic cultural background and native Dutch older adults, both living in the Netherlands, characterised by an individualistic culture. A sample of 119 Turkish migrants (64.7% male; age 65-87, M(SD)=71.13(5.04) and 124 native Dutch adults (32.3% male, age 65-94, M(SD)= 71.9(5.32) filled out either an online or printed questionnaire measuring BSC, psychological, social and emotional well-being, loneliness and relevant demographic covariates. Regression analysis - including confounders age, gender, level of education, physical health and relationship - showed positive associations between BSC and respectively emotional, social and psychological well-being and a negative association with loneliness in both samples. Moderation analyses showed that these associations were significantly stronger for the Turkish older migrants than for their native peers. Measurement invariance analysis indicated partial metric invariance for the measurement of BSC and loneliness and non-invariance for wellbeing, calling for caution comparing means between samples. The results stress the importance of BSC for wellbeing of older migrants from collectivistic cultures living in individualistic countries. Previous research, shows a trend of older migrants displaying lower levels of BSC as well as associated variables, such as education, physical health, and financial income. This calls for more research of the interplay between demographic and psychosocial factors restraining mental wellbeing of older migrant populations. Measurement invariance analyses further emphasize the importance of taking cultural background into account in positive aging studies.

Keywords: positive aging, cultural background, wellbeing, social capital, loneliness

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Authors: Olcay Çam, Ayşegül Bilge, Merve Uğuryol, Hacer Demirkol

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Complementary and alternative medicine are important for human health. It has stood out that from past to present people have resorted to particularly Turkish bath houses, cupping therapy, mud bath, hirudotheraphy and healing waters for the purpose of recovering from diseases and refresh their souls. Now, methods such as herbal treatments, massage, aromatherapy, prayer, meditation, yoga and thermal springs have been recently observed to be the most frequently used complementary therapies in Turkey. These methods are not known by people exactly. As a result, complementary therapies are applied along with the modern therapies in Turkey, we are considered to be effective in maintaining and improving individuals’ health.

Keywords: complementary therapy, health, health services, modern therapies

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Authors: Alan S. Weber

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This contribution reviews the current biomedical and qualitative arts research on arts-in-health interventions to improve both individual and population health outcomes. Arts therapies–for example, music therapy with roots in Aristoxenus’s Ἁρμονικὰ στοιχεῖα and the Pythagorean sect–have long been employed in therapeutic contexts. However, the 20th century witnessed the increasing use of the visual and plastic arts (drawing, painting, sculpting), performing arts (drama and dance), and other expressive arts modalities into occupational therapy, well-being medicine, and psychological and psychiatric counselling, diagnosis, and treatment. A significant body of peer-reviewed evidence in the medical and neurological sciences on the role of arts-in-health has developed, and specifically, research on music and art therapy has led to their inclusion within the current biomedical paradigm of evidence-based practice. The arts cannot only aid in public and population health promotion (promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyles, preventing disease onset) but also in addressing psychological issues (regulation of emotion; stress, anxiety, and depression reduction), behavioural issues (basic life skills, coping), and physiological response (immune system function, hormonal regulation, homeostatis). Working as a cross-disciplinary researcher in the arts in an American medical college, the author has developed several successful arts-in-health programs at the national and international level.

Keywords: arts-in-health, evidence based medicine, arts for health, expressive arts therapies

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Authors: Demet Yesiltepe, Ruth Dalton, Ayse Ozbil

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The aim of this paper is to understand the effect of landmarks on spatial navigation. For this study, a mobile-based virtual game, 'Sea Hero Quest' (SHQ), was used. At the beginning of the game, participants were asked to look at maps which included the specific locations of players and checkpoints. After the map disappeared, participants were asked to navigate a boat and find the checkpoints in a pre-given order. By analyzing this data, we aim to better understand an important component of cities, namely landmarks, on spatial navigation. Game levels were analyzed spatially and axial-based integration, choice and connectivity values of levels were calculated to make comparisons. To make this kind of a comparison, we focused on levels which include both local and global landmarks and levels which include only local landmarks. The most significant contribution of this study to urban design and planning fields is that it provides mounting evidence about the utility of landmarks and their roles in cities due to the fact that the game was played more than 2.5 million people. Moreover, by using these results, it can be possible to encourage cities with more global and local landmarks to have more identifiable/readable areas.

Keywords: landmarks, mobile-based games, spatial navigation, virtual environment

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Authors: Naeemeh Silvari

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The phenomenon of the spread and epidemic of the corona virus caused many aspects of the social life of the people of the world to face various challenges. In this regard, and in order to improve the living conditions of the people, the World Health Organization has tried to publish the necessary instructions for its contacts in the world in the form of its media capacities. Considering the importance of cultural differences in the discussion of health communication and the distinct needs of people in different societies, some production contents were produced and published exclusively. This research has studied six videos published on the official page of the World Health Organization in Iran as a case study. The published content has the least semantic affinity with Iranian culture, and it has been tried to show a uniform image of the Middle East with the predominance of the image of the culture of the developing Arab countries.

Keywords: corona, representation, semiotics, instagram, health communication

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Authors: Parveen Kumar

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This article discusses institute information resources. Information, in its most restricted technical sense, is a sequence of symbols that can be interpreted as message information can be recorded as signs, or transmitted as signals. Information is any kind of event that affects the state of a dynamic system. Conceptually, information is the message being conveyed. This concept has numerous other meanings in different contexts. Moreover, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, representation, and especially entropy.

Keywords: institutions, information institutions, information services for mission-oriented institute, pattern

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Authors: Uche A. Nnawulezi

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This paper analyzes the advancing nature of nuclear terrorism and proliferation in the global environment and its attendant impacts. It analyzes discourse and practice with respect to the general prohibition on the utilization of fissionable radioactive materials. Thus, there has been a few ideological, reasonable and academic recommendations of policies aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons which its ultimate nightmare has remained an assault including nuclear explosion in densely populated urban areas. Likewise, this paper concentrates on safety measures aimed at preventing nuclear assaults which should not just concentrate on endeavors to prevent terrorists from exploding nuclear gadgets but should be more concerned on endeavors aimed at preventing the acquisition of nuclear weapons in the first place. The author of this paper has pointed out that the non-proliferation treaty should be vigorously supported as well as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty brought into force. This paper depended unequivocally on secondary sources, for example, textbooks, journals, articles, and periodicals. It concludes that the fundamental proposals made in this paper if completely used shall remain a cornerstone of efforts made in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. At last, the only way is to eliminate stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world or else the likelihood of nuclear terrorism remains a nightmare.

Keywords: nuclear, terrorism, proliferation, global environment

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Authors: Frederik Schulte, Stefan Voß

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The adverse effects of air pollution on public health are an increasingly vital problem in planning for urban regions in many parts of the world. The issue is addressed from various angles and by distinct disciplines in research. Epidemiological studies model the relative increase of numerous diseases in response to an increment of different forms of air pollution. A significant share of air pollution in urban regions is related to transport emissions that are often measured and stored in emission inventories. Though, most approaches in transport planning, engineering, and operational design of transport activities are restricted to general emission limits for specific air pollutants and do not consider more nuanced exposure models. We conduct an extensive literature review on exposure models and emission inventories used to study the health impact of transport emissions. Furthermore, we review methods applied in both domains and use emission inventory data of transportation hubs such as ports, airports, and urban traffic for an in-depth analysis of public health impacts deploying medical exposure models. The results reveal specific urban health risks related to transport emissions that may improve urban planning for environmental health by providing insights in actual health effects instead of only referring to general emission limits.

Keywords: emission inventories, exposure models, transport emissions, urban health

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Authors: Liliane Clark

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Immigrating to a different country may imply having to handle many difficult exertions. There is a particular issue that has to be endured by some immigrants: the children they had to leave behind. It is a phenomenon that occurs with certain frequency. Surprisingly, despite the fact that immigration in the United States is such a large proceeding, there is not much research about the topic in America exploring the trauma of the abandonment caused by this separation and its consequences on the mental health of those children. The term “left behind children” is usually applied to children who were left behind by their parents in their original nation under the care of a noteworthy relative, frequently the grandparents, when they moved to another country. This preliminary research, which is a partial study projected for a doctoral thesis, investigated whether the trauma of abandonment experienced by ten left behind children had affected their emotional development. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and a brief interview were utilized to assess the information. The SDQ explored scales such as emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems and prosocial behavior. In this pilot study, the results indicated that all these issues had some sort of significant correlation between them. During the interviews, the participants or their parents identified a range of symptoms: anxiety disorder, eating disorders, panic attacks, psychotic-like experiences, drug use and depression. Hence, it seems that there is a connection between the trauma of abandonment suffered due to the separation and the children’s consequent symptomatic behavior. Further studies are indeed necessary to validate the initial results of this investigation.

Keywords: abandonment, parent migration, psychological problems, trauma

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Authors: Johanna Gamboa-Kroesen

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School connectedness, or the sense of belonging at school, is a critical factor in adolescent health, academic achievement, and socioemotional well-being. In educational research, the construct of the psychological sense of school membership is often referred to as school engagement, school bonding, or school attachment. While current research recognizes school connectedness as integral to a child’s mental health and academic success, many schools have yet to develop adequate interventions to promote a child’s overall sense of belonging at school. However, prior researches in music education indicates that, among other benefits, music classrooms may provide an environment where students feel they belong. While studies indicates that music learning environments, specifically performing ensemble learning environments, instill a sense of school connectedness and, more broadly, contribute to a student’s socio-emotional development, there has been inadequate research on how the actions of music teachers contribute to this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school connectedness and music learning environments with middle school music students enrolled in a school-based music ensemble. In addition, the study aimed to provide a descriptive analysis of the instructional practices that music teachers use to promote an inclusive environment in their classrooms and an overall sense of belonging in their students. Using 191 student surveys of school membership, student reflective writings, 5 teacher interviews, and 10 classroom observations, this study examined the relationship between 7th and 8th-grade student-reported levels of connectedness within their school-based music ensemble and teacher instructional practice. The study found that students reported high levels of positive school membership within their music classes. Students who participate in school-based orchestra ensembles reported a positive change in emotional state during music instruction. In addition, evidence in this study found that music teachers use instructional practices to build connectedness through de-emphasizing competition and strengthening a student’s sense of relational value within their music learning experience. The findings offer implications for future music teacher instruction to create environments of inclusion, strengthen student-teacher relationships, and promote strategies that enhance student connection to school.

Keywords: music education, belonging, instructional practice, school connectedness

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Authors: Gubair Tarabeh, Ghadir Zriek, David Oppenheim, Avi Sagi-Schwartz, Nina Koren-Karie

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Introduction: Mind-Mindedness (MM) focuses on mothers' attunement to their infant's mental states as reflected in their speech to the infant. Appropriate MM comments are associated with attachment security in individualistic Western societies where parents value their children’s autonomy and independence, and may therefore be more likely to engage in mind-related discourse with their children that highlights individual thoughts, preferences, emotions, and motivations. Such discourse may begin in early infancy, even before infants are likely to understand the semantic meaning of parental speech. Parents in collectivistic societies, by contrast, are thought to emphasize conforming to social norms more than individual goals, and this may lead to parent-child discourse that emphasizes appropriate behavior and compliance with social norms rather than internal mental states of the self and the other. Therefore, the examination of maternal MM and its relationship with attachment in Arab collectivistic culture in Israel was of particular interest. Aims of the study: The goal of the study was to examine whether the associations between MM and attachment in the Arab culture in Israel are the same as in Western samples. An additional goal was to examine whether appropriate and non-attuned MM comments could, together, distinguish among mothers of children in the different attachment classifications. Material and Methods: 76 Arab mothers and their infants between the ages of 12 and 18 months were observed in the Strange Situation Procedure (49 secure (B), 11 ambivalent (C), 14 disorganized (D), and 2 avoidant (A) infants). MM was coded from an 8-minute free-play sequence. Results: Mothers of B infants used more appropriate and less non-attuned MM comments than mothers of D infants, with no significant differences with mothers of C infants. Also, mothers of B infants used less non-attuned MM comments than both mothers of D infants and mothers of C infants. In addition, Mothers of B infants were most likely to show the combination of high appropriate and low non-attuned MM comments; Mothers of D infants were most likely to show the combination of high non-attuned and low appropriate MM comments; and a non-significant trend indicated that mothers of C infants were most likely to show a combination of high appropriate and high non-attuned MM comments. Conclusion: Maternal MM was associated with attachment in the Arab culture in Israel with combinations of appropriate and non-attuned MM comments distinguishing between different attachment classifications.

Keywords: attachment, maternal mind-mindedness, Arab culture, collectivistic culture

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Authors: Orlyn Joyce D. Esquivel

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This study analyzed 50 selected research papers from professional language and linguistic academic journals to portray the differences between Kachru’s (1994) outer circle and expanding circle Englishes. The selected outer circle Englishes include those of Bangladesh, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, and Singapore; and the selected expanding circle Englishes are those of China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. The researcher built ten corpora (five research papers for each corpus) to represent each variety of Englishes. The corpora were examined under grammatical and lexical features using Modified English TreeTagger in Sketch Engine. Results revealed the distinct grammatical and lexical features through the table and textual analyses, illustrated from the most to least dominant linguistic elements. In addition, comparative analyses were done to distinguish the features of each of the selected Englishes. The Language Change Theory was used as a basis in the discussion. Hence, the findings suggest that the ‘outer circle’ Englishes and ‘expanding circle’ Englishes will continue to drift from International English.

Keywords: applied linguistics, English as a global language, expanding circle Englishes, global Englishes, outer circle Englishes

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Authors: Jessy Rugeyo, William Donner

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This research delves into the resilience of Rwanda's public health infrastructure amidst natural disasters, a critical issue given that the Northern Province alone has witnessed no fewer than 1500 cases of disaster ranging from floods and landslides in the last five years, with more than 200 people killed and thousands of homes destroyed, according to MINEMA. In an era where climate change escalates the frequency and intensity of such disasters, fortifying the resilience of public health systems is paramount. This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the existing state of Rwanda's public health infrastructure and its ability to manage such crises. Employing a mix of literature review, case studies, and policy analysis, the study discerns key vulnerabilities and brings to light the intricacies of disaster management in Rwanda. Case studies centered around past natural disasters in Rwanda provide critical insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the existing disaster response mechanisms. A thorough critique of related disaster management and public health infrastructure policies reveals areas of commendable practice, along with gaps calling for policy enhancements. Findings guide the proposition of targeted strategies to bolster the resilience of Rwanda's public health infrastructure. This research serves as a significant contribution to the domains of disaster studies and public health, offering valuable insights for policymakers, public health and disaster management professionals in Rwanda and similar contexts. It presents actionable recommendations for improvement, underscoring the potential for enhancing Rwanda's disaster management capacity. By advocating for the strengthening of public health infrastructure resilience, the research highlights the potential for improved public health outcomes following natural disasters, thereby showcasing significant implications for public health and disaster management in the country, particularly in the face of a changing climate.

Keywords: public health infrastructure, disaster resilience, natural disaster, disaster management, emergency preparedness, health policy

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Authors: Reza Zarei

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The result of the present study is to determine the relation between spiritual intelligence and organizational health and job satisfaction among the female staff in Islamic Azad University of Marvdasht. The population of the study includes the female staff and the faculty of Islamic Azad University of Marvdasht. The method is correlational and the instrument in the research is three questionnaires namely the spiritual intelligence by (ISIS), Amraam and Dryer, organizational health by Fieldman and Job satisfaction questionnaire. In order to test the hypotheses we used interpretive statistics, Pearson and regression correlation coefficient. The findings show that there is a significant relation between the spiritual intelligence and organizational health among the female staff of this unit. In addition, the organizational health has a significant relation with the elements of self-consciousness and social skills and on the other hand, job satisfaction is in significant relation with the elements of self-consciousness, self-control, self-provocation, sympathy and social skills in the whole sample regardless of the participants' gender. Finally, the results of multiple regression and variance analysis showed that using the variables of the spiritual intelligence of the female staff could predict the organizational health and their job satisfaction.

Keywords: job satisfaction, spiritual intelligence, organizational health, Islamic Azad University

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Authors: Shu-Lien Chou, Chung-Feng Liu

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Self-health management of chronic illnesses plays an important part in chronic illness treatments. However, various kinds of health information (health education materials) which government or healthcare institutions provide for patients may not achieve the expected outcome. One of the critical reasons affecting patients’ use intention could be patients’ perceived Information overload regarding the health information. This study proposed an extended model of Theory of Planned Behavior, which integrating perceived information overload as another construct to explore patients’ use intention of the health information for self-health management. The independent variables are attitude, subject norm, perceived behavior control and perceived information overload while the dependent variable is behavior intention to use the health information. The cross-sectional study used a structured questionnaire for data collection, focusing on the chronic patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), who are the potential users of the health information, in a medical center in Taiwan. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of the basic information distribution of the questionnaire respondents, and the Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural equation model to study the reliability and construct validity for testing our hypotheses. A total of 110 patients were enrolled in this study and 106 valid questionnaires were collected. The PLS analysis result indicates that the patients’ perceived information overload of health information contributes the most critical factor influencing the behavioral intention. Subjective norm and perceived behavioral control of TPB constructs had significant effects on patients’ intentions to use health information also, whereas the attitude construct did not. This study demonstrated a comprehensive framework, which extending perceived information overload into TPB model to predict patients’ behavioral intention of using heath information. We expect that the results of this study will provide useful insights for studying health information from the perspectives of academia, governments, and healthcare providers.

Keywords: chronic patients, health information, information overload, theory of planned behavior

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Authors: Ntokozo Mthembu

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Access to relevant health indicates people’s likelihood of survival, including craft of indigenous healing and its related practitioners- izinyanga. However, the emergence of a dreaded novel corona virus - COVID-19 that has engulfed almost the whole world has necessitated the need to revisit the state of traditional healers in South Africa. This circumstance tended to expose the reality of social settings in various social structures and related policies including the manner coloniality reveal its ugly head when it comes treatment between western and African based therapeutic practices in this country. In attempting to gain a better understanding of such experiences, primary and secondary sources were consulted when collecting data that perusal of various literature in this instance including face-to-face interviews with traditional healers working on the street of Tshwane Municipality in South Africa. Preliminary findings revealed that the emergence of this deadly virus coincided with the moment when the government agenda was focussed on fulfilment of its promise of addressing the past inequity practices, including the transformation of medical sector. This scenario can be witnessed by the manner in which government and related agencies such as health department keeps on undermining indigenous healing practice irrespective of its historical record in terms of healing profession and fighting various diseases before times of father of medicine, Imhotep. Based on these preliminary findings, it is recommended that the government should hasten the incorporation of African knowledge systems especially medicine to offer alternatives and diverse to assess the underutilised indigenous African therapeutic approach and relevant skills that could be useful in combating ailments such as COVID 19. Perhaps, the plural medical systems should be recognized and related policies are formulated to guarantee mutual respect among citizens and the incorporation of healing practices in South African health sector, Africa and in the broader global community.

Keywords: indigenous healing practice, inyanga, COVID-19, therapeutic, urban, experience

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Authors: Nadia Allouache

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Solar radiation is by far the largest and the most world’s abundant, clean and permanent energy source. The amount of solar radiation intercepted by the Earth is much higher than annual global energy use. The energy available from the sun is greater than about 5200 times the global world’s need in 2006. In recent years, many promising technologies have been developed to harness the sun's energy. These technologies help in environmental protection, economizing energy, and sustainable development, which are the major issues of the world in the 21st century. One of these important technologies is the solar cooling systems that make use of either absorption or adsorption technologies. The solar adsorption cooling systems are good alternative since they operate with environmentally benign refrigerants that are natural, free from CFCs, and therefore they have a zero ozone depleting potential (ODP). A numerical analysis of thermal and solar performances of an adsorption solar refrigerating system using different adsorbent/adsorbate pairs such as activated carbon AC35 and activated carbon BPL/Ammoniac; is undertaken in this study. The modeling of the adsorption cooling machine requires the resolution of the equation describing the energy and mass transfer in the tubular adsorber that is the most important component of the machine. The Wilson and Dubinin- Astakhov models of the solid-adsorbat equilibrium are used to calculate the adsorbed quantity. The porous medium is contained in the annular space and the adsorber is heated by solar energy. Effect of key parameters on the adsorbed quantity and on the thermal and solar performances are analysed and discussed. The performances of the system that depends on the incident global irradiance during a whole day depends on the weather conditions: the condenser temperature and the evaporator temperature. The AC35/methanol pair is the best pair comparing to the BPL/Ammoniac in terms of system performances.

Keywords: activated carbon-methanol pair, activated carbon-ammoniac pair, adsorption, performance coefficients, numerical analysis, solar cooling system

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Authors: Nadia Jurkovic, Sarven McLinton, Alyson Crozier, Amber Mosewich, Ed O'Connor

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Retiring from elite sport can have detrimental effects on the mental health and life satisfaction of retired elite athletes. To aid in this transition, sporting organisations use retirement interventions. The aim of this study is to understand the experience of elite sport retirement from a holistic perspective, exploring the experiences of retiring athletes, retired athletes, and sport support staff. A secondary aim is used to uncover any recommendations both retiring/retired athletes and sport support staff suggest towards improving retirement programs or interventions. A total of N=15 participants took part in semi-structured interviews to explore their experiences with sport retirement. Retiring and retired elite athletes were asked about how they felt during their transition into retirement, and sport support staff were asked about their experience working with retiring athletes. Data collection and iterative qualitative analysis are still ongoing; however, it is anticipated that the final key themes to emerge will include isolation, identity loss, and lack of support, with varying sub-themes such as organisational support and family support. Relationships across and within themes will be explored within the study. The anticipated findings present retiring from elite sports as a challenging life and career transition; however, current support and resources for elite athletes are not addressing the core difficulties experienced by retiring elite athletes. The findings of this study will inform future development of new co-designed elite sport retirement interventions.

Keywords: elite athlete, retired elite athlete, retirement interventions, transition into retirement, interviews

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Authors: Chukwukelue Uzodinma Umenyilorah

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The advent of the New Media as enabled by information and communication technology from the 19th through the 21st century has no doubt taken its toll on all fronts of human existence; especially in Africa. Apart from shortening the distance between all parts of the world, technology and the new media has also succeeded in making the world a global village. Hence, it is now easy to relay live audio and visual signals across the length and breadth of the world in real time. People now contract and execute businesses across countries, conferences are held and ideas are shared with a simple push of a button. Likewise, political leaders and diplomats are now just a click away from reaching those important decisions that take their country’s fortunes to the next level. On the flip side, ICT and the New Media have also contributed in no small measure in aiding global terrorism and general insecurity around the world. More interesting is the fact that as developing economies, African countries have massively embraced the information technology and this has helped them in keeping up with the trends in the polity of other model democracies around the world. This paper is therefore designed to determine the how much effect ICT and the New Media has exerted on the economic, social and political lives of African. Nigeria shall be used as a case in point for the purpose of this paper.

Keywords: Africa, ICT, new media, Nigeria

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Authors: Aisha Giwa, Mohammed-Faosy Adeniran, Olufunke Femi-Ojo

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Four decades ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI). The EPI blueprint laid out the technical and managerial functions necessary to routinely vaccinate children with a limited number of vaccines, providing protection against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio, and tuberculosis, and to prevent maternal and neonatal tetanus by vaccinating women of childbearing age with tetanus toxoid. Despite global efforts, the Routine Immunization (RI) coverage in two of the World Health Organization (WHO) regions; the African Region and the South-East Asia Region, still remains short of its targets. As a result, the WHO Regional Director for Africa declared 2012 as the year for intensifying RI in these regions and this also coincided with the declaration of polio as a programmatic emergency by the WHO Executive Board. In order to intensify routine immunization, the National Routine Immunization Strategic Plan (2013-2015) stated that its core priority is to ensure 100% adequacy and availability of vaccines for safe immunization. To achieve 100% availability, the “PUSH System” and then “Push-Plus” were adopted for vaccine distribution, which replaced the inefficient “PULL” method. The NPHCDA plays the key role in coordinating activities in area advocacy, capacity building, engagement of 3PL for the state as well as monitoring and evaluation of the vaccine delivery process. eHealth Africa (eHA) is a player as a 3PL service provider engaged by State Primary Health Care Boards (SPHCDB) to ensure vaccine availability through Vaccine Direct Delivery (VDD) project which is essential to successful routine immunization services. The VDD project ensures the availability and adequate supply of high-quality vaccines and immunization-related materials to last-mile facilities. eHA’s commitment to the VDD project saw the need for an assessment of the project vis-a-vis the overall project performance, evaluation of a process for necessary improvement suggestions as well as general impact across Kano State (Where eHA had transitioned to the state), Bauchi State (currently manage delivery to all LGAs except 3 LGAs currently being managed by the state), Sokoto State (eHA currently covers all LGAs) and Zamfara State (Currently, in-sourced and managed solely by the state).

Keywords: cold chain logistics, health supply chain system strengthening, logistics management information system, vaccine delivery traceability and accountability

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Authors: Yuri Kitahara

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Background: Cognitive reappraisal refers to an emotion regulation strategy in which one changes the interpretation of emotion-eliciting events. Numerous studies show that cognitive reappraisal is associated with mental health and better social functioning. However the examination of the predictive factors of adaptive emotion regulation remains as an issue. The present study examined the factors contributing to the habitual use of cognitive reappraisal, with a focus on emotional awareness and working memory. Methods: Data was collected from 30 junior high school students, using a Japanese version of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale for Children (LEAS-C), and N-back task. Results: A positive correlation between emotional awareness and cognitive reappraisal was observed in the high-working-memory group (r = .54, p < .05), whereas no significant relationship was found in the low-working-memory group. In addition, the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant interaction between emotional awareness and working memory capacity (F(1, 26) = 7.74, p < .05). Subsequent analysis of simple main effects confirmed that high working memory capacity significantly increases the use of cognitive reappraisal for high-emotional-awareness subjects, and significantly decreases the use of cognitive reappraisal for low-emotional-awareness subjects. Discussion: These results indicate that under the condition when one has an adequate ability for simultaneous processing of information, explicit understanding of emotion would contribute to adaptive cognitive emotion regulation. The findings are discussed along with neuroscientific claims.

Keywords: cognitive reappraisal, emotional awareness, emotion regulation, working memory

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Authors: M. Panahian

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A global challenge which is of paramount significance today is the issue of devising innovative solutions to tackle the environmental issues, as well as more intelligent and foresightful consumption of and management of natural resources. Changes in global climate resulting from the burning of fossil fuel and the rise in the level of energy consumption are a few examples of environmental issues detrimental to any form of life on earth, which are aggravated year by year. Overall, energy-efficient designs and construction strategies can be studied at three scales: building, block, and city. Nevertheless, as the available literature suggests, the greatest emphasis has been on building and city scales, and little has been done as to the energy-efficient designs at block scale. Therefore, the aim of the current research is to investigate the influences of residential block scale envelope on the energy consumption in buildings. To this end, a case study of residential block scale has been selected in the city of Isfahan, in Iran, situated in a hot and dry climate with cold winters. Eventually, the most effective variables in energy consumption, concerning the block scale envelope, will be concluded.

Keywords: sustainability, passive energy saving solutions, residential block scale, energy efficiency

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Authors: Zate Zewdneh Zana

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Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee), a cornerstone of the global beverage industry, necessitates rigorous genetic conservation due to its economic significance and genetic complexity. In this study, we performed whole-genome resequencing of wild species collected from its birthplace, Ethiopia. Advanced Illumina sequencing technology facilitated the mapping of a high percentage of clean reads to the C. arabica reference genome, revealing a substantial number of genetic variants, predominantly SNPs. Our comprehensive analysis not only uncovered a notable distribution of genomic variants across the coffee genome but also identified distinct genetic groups through phylogenetic and population structure analyses. This genomic study provides invaluable insights into the genetic diversity of C. arabica, highlighting the potential of identified SNPs and InDels in enhancing our understanding of key agronomic traits. The findings contribute significantly to genetic studies and support strategic breeding and conservation efforts essential for sustaining the global coffee industry.

Keywords: population genetics, wild species, evolutionary study, coffee plant

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Authors: Stephanie Giordano, Eric Lam, Rosa Plasencia

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An important piece of active aging is ensuring people have the right support to meet individual needs. Using NCI-AD data, we will look at measures of satisfaction with community access and needed services among people with physical disabilities receiving LTSS in the US. National Core Indicators—Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD) is a voluntary effort by State Medicaid, aging, and disability agencies across the US to measure and track their own performance. NCI-AD uses a standardized survey – the Adult Consumer Survey (ACS), to hear directly from people receiving services about the quality of services and supports they receive. Data from the 2018-19 ACS found that compared to people without a physical disability, those with a physical disability were more likely to make choices about the services they receive, including when and how often they receive those services. Yet people with a physical disability were less likely to report they get enough assistance with everyday activities (e.g., shopping, housework, and taking medications) and self-care (e.g., dressing or bathing) and more likely to report that services and supports do not fully meet their needs and goals. A further breakdown by age shows that people 40-65 years old with a physical disability experienced even greater barriers to being as active in the community as they would like to be, indicating a need to better support people as they age with or into a disability. We will explore how these and other outcomes were affected by COVID-19, take a closer look at outcomes by demographics (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender, and mental health diagnoses) and discuss implications on the future needs of service systems.

Keywords: quality-of-life, long-term services and supports, person-centered, community

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Authors: Chupicai Manuel

Abstract:

The global efforts to end child labour have been increasingly challenged by adages of global capitalism, inequalities and poverty affecting the global south. In the face the of rising inequalities whose origin can be explained from historical and political economy analysis between the poor and the rich countries, child labour is also on the rise particularly on the global south. The socio-economic and political context of Zimbabwe has undergone serious transition from colonial times through the post-independence normally referred to as the transition period up to the present day. These transitions have aided companies and entities in the business and agriculture sector to exploit child labour while country provided conditions that enhance child labour due to vulnerability of children and anomic child welfare system that plagued the country. Children from marginalised communities dominated by plantations and farms are affected most. This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of children working in tea estates, plantations and farms, and the adults who formerly worked in these plantations during their childhood to share their experiences and perceptions on child labour in Zimbabwe. Childhood theories that view children as apprentices and a human rights perspectives were employed to interrogate the concept of childhood, child labour and poverty alleviation strategies. Phenomenological research design was adopted to describe the experiences of children working in plantations and interpret the meanings they have on their work and livelihoods. The paper drew form 30 children from two plantations through semi-structured interviews and 15 key informant interviews from civil society organisations, international labour organisation, adults who formerly worked in the plantations and the personnel of the plantations. The findings of the study revealed that children work on the farms as an alternative model for survival against economic challenges while the majority cited that poverty compel them to work and get their fees and food paid for. Civil society organisations were of the view that child rights are violated and the welfare system of the country is malfunctional. The perceptions of the majority of the children interviewed are that the system on the plantations is better and this confirmed the socio-constructivist theory that views children as apprentices. The study recommended child sensitive policies and welfare regime that protects children from exploitation together with policing and legal measures that secure child rights.

Keywords: child labour, child rights, phenomenology, poverty reduction

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Authors: Ehsan Abshirini

Abstract:

Rivers as one of the most important topographic factors have played a strategic role not only on the appearance of cities but they also affect the structure and morphology of cities. In this paper author intends to find out how a city in its physical network interacts with a river flowing inside. The pilot study is Angers, a city in western France, in which it is influenced by the Maine River. To this purpose space syntax method integrating with GIS is used to extract the properties of physical form of cities in terms of global and local integration value, accessibility and choice value. Simulating the state of absence of river in this city and comparing the result to the current state of city according to the effect of river on the morphology of areas located in different banks of river is also part of interest in this paper. The results show that although a river is not comparable to the city based on size and the area occupied by, it has a significant effect on the form of the city in both global and local properties. In addition, this study endorses that tracking the effect of river-cities and their interaction to rivers in a hybrid of space syntax and GIS may lead researchers to improve their interpretation of physical form of these types of cities.

Keywords: river-cities, Physical form, space syntax properties, GIS, topographic factor

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Authors: Seember Susan Aondoakura

Abstract:

This paper examines the international legal framework established to address the challenges women and girls experience in situations of violent conflict. The United Nations (UN) women, peace, and security agenda (hereafter WPS agenda, the Agenda) aspire to make wars safer for women. It recognizes women's agency in armed conflict and their victimization and formulates measures for their protection. The Agenda also acknowledges women's participation in conflict transformation and post-conflict reconstruction. It also calls for the involvement of women in conflict transformation, encourages the protection of women from sex and gender-based violence (SGBV), and provides relief and recovery from conflict-related SGBV. Using Third World Critical Feminist Theory, this paper argues that the WPS agenda overly focus on the protection of women from SGBV occurring in the less developed and conflict-ridden states in the global south, obscures the complicity of western states and economies to the problem, and silences the privileges that such states derive from war economies that continue to fuel conflict. This protectionist approach of the UN also obliterates other equally pressing problems in need of attention, like the high rates of economic degradation in conflict-ravaged societies of the global south. Prioritising protection also 'others' the problem, obliterating any sense of interconnections across geographical locations and situating women in the less developed economies of the global south as the victims and their men as the perpetrators. Prioritising protection ultimately situates western societies as saviours of Third World women with no recourse to their role in engendering and sustaining war. The paper demonstrates that this saviour mentality obliterates chances of any meaningful coalition between the local and the international in framing and addressing the issue, as solutions are formulated from a specific lens—the white hegemonic lens.

Keywords: conflict, protection, security, SGBV

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Authors: Belayet Hossain, Laura Lamb

Abstract:

The study investigates the importance of health and social capital in determining the labour force status of Canada’s Indigenous population using data from 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey. An instrumental variable ordered probit model has been specified and estimated. The study finds that health status and social capital are important in determining Indigenous peoples’ employment status along with other factors. The results of the study imply that human resource development initiatives of Indigenous Peoples need to be broadened by including health status and social capital. Poor health and low degree of inclusion of the Indigenous Peoples need to be addressed in order to improve employment status of Canada’s Indigenous Peoples.

Keywords: labour force, human capital, social capital, aboriginal people, Canada

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Authors: Zhe Ginnie Wang

Abstract:

Recent cultural design studies have begun to shed light on the discussion of Western-Eastern cultural and aesthetic hybridization, especially in the field of fashion. With the unprecedented spread of cultural Chinese fashion design in the global fashion system, the under-identified ‘Guochao’ aesthetic that has emerged in the global market needs to be academically emphasized with a methodological approach looking at the Western-Eastern cultural hybridization present in fashion visualization. Through an in-depth and comprehensive investigation of a representative international-based Chinese designer, Angel Chen's fashion show 'Madam Qing', this paper provides a methodological approach on how a form of traditional culture can be effectively extracted and applied to modern design using the most effective techniques. The central approach examined in this study involves creating aesthetic revolutions by addressing Chinese cultural identity through re-creating and modernizing traditional Chinese culture in design.

Keywords: style modernization, Chinese culture, guochao, design identity, fashion show, Angel Chen

Procedia PDF Downloads 356