Search results for: cultural modification

Authors: Betül Demirbağ, Nesrin Demir

Abstract:

As a developmental period, early adulthood has a vital role in romantic relationships in young adult's life. lt's known that in this period, satisfaction of individual needs such as affiliation is essential for well-functioning and to be succeeded in sequent developmental task. Romantic relationships have an expected association with attachment style. But it's needed to get more information about indicators of romantic relationships in different cultural backgrounds. in this research it's aimed to investigate whether there is a relationship between romantic relationship beliefs and Ego identity status and also other possible indicators such as gender, age, socioeconomic status. Participants were undergraduate students training in various programs in Education Faculty in Adiyaman University. As data collection tool, Romantic Relationship Beliefs scale and Ego Identity Process Questionnaire which was adapted into Turkish were used. Results were discussed in the relevant literature.

Keywords: ego identity, romantic relationships, university counseling

Procedia PDF Downloads 543

Authors: Sreetama Ghosh, Sundara Ramaprabhu

Abstract:

Carbon dioxide gas has been a major cause for the worldwide increase in green house effect, which leads to climate change and global warming. So CO₂ capture & sequestration has become an effective way to reduce the concentration of CO₂ in the environment. One such way to capture CO₂ in porous materials is by adsorption process. A potential material in this aspect is porous hexagonal boron nitride or 'white graphene' which is a well-known two-dimensional layered material with very high thermal stability. It had been investigated that the sample with hierarchical pore structure and high specific surface area shows excellent performance in capturing carbon dioxide gas and thereby mitigating the problem of environmental pollution to the certain extent. Besides, the presence of sulfur as well as nitrogen in the sample synergistically helps in the increase in adsorption capacity. In this work, a cost effective single step synthesis of highly porous boron nitride nanosheets doped with sulfur had been demonstrated. Besides, the CO₂ adsorption-desorption studies were carried on using a pressure reduction technique. The studies show that the nanosheets exhibit excellent cyclic stability in storage performance. Thermodynamic studies suggest that the adsorption takes place mainly through physisorption. The studies show that the nanosheets exhibit excellent cyclic stability in storage performance. Further, the surface modification of the highly porous nano sheets carried out by incorporating ionic liquids had further enhanced the capturing capability of CO₂ gas in the nanocomposite, revealing that this particular material has the potential to be an excellent adsorbent of carbon dioxide gas.

Keywords: CO₂ capture, hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets, porous network, sulfur doping

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Verd Shomrom, Gilat Trabelsi

Abstract:

The goal of the study was to examine the effects of Computerized Cognitive Training (CCT) with and without cognitive mediation on Executive Function (EF) (planning and self- regulation) and on psychological resiliency among adolescents with Attention Deficits Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) with or without Learning Disabilities (LD). Adolescents diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and / or Learning Disabilities have multidimensional impairments that result from neurological damage. This work explored the possibility of influencing cognitive aspects in the field of Executive Functions (specifically: patterns of planning and self-regulation) among adolescents with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder and / or Learning Disabilities who study for a 10-12 grades. 46 adolescents with ADHD and/or with LD were randomly applied to experimental and control groups. All the participants were tested (BRC- research version, Resiliency quaternaries) before and after the intervention: mediated/ non-mediated Computerized Cognitive Training (MINDRI). The results indicated significant effects of cognitive modification in the experimental group, between pre and post Phases, in comparison to control group, especially in self- regulation (BRC- research version, Resiliency quaternaries), and on process analysis of Computerized Cognitive Training (MINDRI). The main conclusion was that even short- term mediation synchronized with CCT could greatly enhance the performance of executive functions demands. Theoretical implications for the positive effects of MLE in combination with CCT indicate the ability for cognitive change. The practical implication is the awareness and understanding of efficient intervention processes to enhance EF, learning awareness, resiliency and self-esteem of adolescents in their academic and daily routine.

Keywords: attention deficits hyperactive disorder, computerized cognitive training, executive function, mediated learning experience, learning disabilities

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Sheyla Moroni

Abstract:

A number of scholars around the world have analyzed the great architectural and urban planning revolution proposed by Skopje 2014, but so far, there are no readings of the parallels between the museums in the Balkan area (including Greece) that share the same name as the museum at the center of that political and cultural revolution. In the former FYROM (now renamed North Macedonia), a museum called "Macedonian Struggle" was born during the reconstruction of the city of Skopje as the new "national" capital. This new museum was built under the "Skopje 2014" plan and cost about 560 million euros (1/3 of the country's GDP). It has been a "flagship" of the government of Nikola Gruevski, leader of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party. Until 2016 this museum was close to the motivations of the Macedonian nationalist movement (and later party) active (including terrorist actions) during the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum served to narrate a new "nation-building" after "state-building" had already taken place. But there are three other museums that tell the story of the "Macedonian struggle" by understanding "Macedonia" as a territory other than present-day North Macedonia. The first one is located in Thessaloniki and primarily commemorates the "Greek battle" against the Ottoman Empire. While the first uses a new dark building and many reconstructed rooms and shows the bloody history of the quest for "freedom" for the Macedonian language and people (different from Greeks, Albanians, and Bulgarians), the second is located in an old building in Thessaloniki and in its six rooms on the ground floor graphically illustrates the modern and contemporary history of Greek Macedonia. There are also third and fourth museums: in Kastoria (toward the Albanian border) and in Chromio (near the Greek-North Macedonian border). These two museums (Kastoria and Chromio) are smaller, but they mark two important borders for the (Greek) regions bordering Albania to the east and dividing it to the northwest not only from the Ottoman past but also from two communities felt to be "foreign" (Albanians and former Yugoslav Macedonians). All museums reconstruct a different "national edifice" and emphasize the themes of language and religion. The objective of the research is to understand, through four museums bearing the same name, what are the main "mental boundaries" (religious, linguistic, cultural) of the different states (reconstructed between the late 19th century and 1991). Both classical historiographic methodology (very different between Balkan and "Western" areas) and on-site observation and interactions with different sites are used in this research. An attempt is made to highlight four different political focuses with respect to nation-building and the Public History (and/or propaganda) approaches applied in the construction of these buildings and memorials tendency often that one "defines" oneself by differences from "others" (even if close).

Keywords: nationalisms, museum, nation building, public history

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Eileen Kim

Abstract:

As socioeconomic disparities grew in New York during the 1970s, artists represented new values that came with the times. Street art, in particular, was birthed from a distinctly urban, fringe setting to ultimately become one of the most lucrative forms of art today. Examining the economic and psychological reasons behind the rise of street art, this paper delves into the development of the art market as a parallel insight into human behaviors and economic models such as supply and demand. The purpose of this study is to show the role of the increasingly divided socioeconomic classes and the rise of art collecting as an asset-building form. This study concludes that the iconography and market value of street art represented distinct values that came from a series of intertwined social matters such as racial tensions and revolutions in industrial innovation.

Keywords: art industry, cultural representation, ethnicity, markets, public property, social classes, street art

Procedia PDF Downloads 213

Authors: Antonieta Heyden Megale

Abstract:

With the advent of globalization, the social, cultural and linguistic situation of the whole world has changed. In this scenario, the teaching of English, in Brazil, has become a booming business and the belief that this language is essential to a successful life is played by the media that sees it as a commodity and spares no effort to sell it. In this context, it has become evident the growth of bilingual and international schools that have English and Portuguese as languages of instruction. According to federal legislation, all schools in the country must follow the Curriculum guidelines proposed by the Ministry of Education of Brazil. It is then mandatory that, in addition to the specific foreign curriculum an international school subscribes to, it must also teach all subjects of the official minimum curriculum and these subjects have to be taught in Portuguese. It is important to emphasize that, in these schools, English is the most prestigious language. Therefore, firstly, Brazilian teachers who teach Portuguese in such contexts find themselves in a situation in which they teach in a low-status language. Secondly, because such teachers’ actions are guided by a different cultural matrix, which differs considerably from Anglo-Saxon values and beliefs, they often experience intercultural conflict in their workplace. Taking it consideration, this research, focusing on the trajectories of a specific group of Brazilian teachers of Portuguese in international and bilingual schools located in the city of São Paulo, intends to analyze how they discursively represent their own professional identities and practices. More specifically the objectives of this research are to understand, from the perspective of the investigated teachers, how they (i) rebuilt narratively their professional careers and explain the factors that led them to an international or to an immersion bilingual school; (ii) position themselves with respect to their linguistic repertoire; (iii) interpret the intercultural practices they are involved with in school and (v) position themselves by foregrounding categories to determine their membership in the group of Portuguese teachers. We have worked with these teachers’ autobiographical narratives. The autobiographical approach assumes that the stories told by teachers are systems of meaning involved in the production of identities and subjectivities in the context of power relations. The teachers' narratives were elicited by the following trigger: "I would like you to tell me how you became a teacher in a bilingual/international school and what your impressions are about your work and about the context in which it is inserted". These narratives were produced orally, recorded, and transcribed for analysis. The teachers were also invited to draw their "linguistic portraits". The theoretical concepts of positioning and the indexical cues were taken into consideration in data analysis. The narratives produced by the teachers point to intercultural conflicts related to their expectations and representations of others, which are never neutral or objective truths but discursive constructions.

Keywords: bilingual schools, identity, interculturality, narrative

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: Yeşim Özer Özkan, Fatma Büşra Fincan

Abstract:

Biased sample is a regression of an observation, design process and all of the specifications lead to tendency of a side or the situation of leaving from the objectivity. It is expected that, test items are answered by the students who come from different social groups and the same ability not to be different from each other. The importance of the expectation increases especially during student selection and placement examinations. For example, all of the test items should not be beneficial for just a male or female group. The aim of the research is an investigation of item bias whether or not the exam included in 2014 free boarding and scholarship examination in terms of gender variable. Data which belong to 5th, 6th, and 7th grade the secondary education students were obtained by the General Directorate of Measurement, Evaluation and Examination Services in Turkey. 20% students were selected randomly within 192090 students. Based on 38418 students’ exam paper were examined for determination item bias. Winsteps 3.8.1 package program was used to determine bias in analysis of data, according to Rasch Model in respect to gender variable. Mathematics items tests were examined in terms of gender bias. Firstly, confirmatory factor analysis was applied twenty-five math questions. After that, NFI, TLI, CFI, IFI, RFI, GFI, RMSEA, and SRMR were examined in order to be validity and values of goodness of fit. Modification index values of confirmatory factor analysis were examined and then some of the items were omitted because these items gave an error in terms of model conformity and conceptual. The analysis shows that in 2014 free boarding and scholarship examination exam does not include bias. This is an indication of the gender of the examination to be made in favor of or against different groups of students.

Keywords: gender, item bias, placement test, Rasch model

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Danielle A. Walker, Kyle L. Johnson, Patrick J. Fox, Jacen S. Moore

Abstract:

The HIV Continuum of Care has become a universal model to provide context for the process of HIV testing, linkage to care, treatment, and viral suppression. HIV testing is the first step in moving toward community viral suppression. Countries with a lower socioeconomic status experience the lowest rates of testing and access to care. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is located in the heart of sub-Saharan Africa, where testing and access to care are low and women experience higher HIV prevalence compared to men. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo there is only a 21.6% HIV testing rate among women. Because a critical gap exists between a woman’s risk of contracting HIV and the decision to be tested, this study was conducted to obtain a better understanding of the relationship between factors that could influence HIV testing among women. The datasets analyzed were from the 2013-14 Democratic Republic of the Congo Demographic and Health Survey Program. The data was subset for women with an age range of 18-49 years. All missing cases were removed and one variable was recoded. The total sample size analyzed was 14,982 women. The results showed that there did not seem to be a difference in HIV testing by mean age. Out of 11 religious categories (Catholic, Protestant, Armee de salut, Kimbanguiste, Other Christians, Muslim, Bundu dia kongo, Vuvamu, Animist, no religion, and other), those who identified as Other Christians had the highest testing rate of 25.9% and those identified as Vuvamu had a 0% testing rate (p<0.001). There was a significant difference in testing by religion. Only 0.7% of women surveyed identified as having no religious affiliation. This suggests partnerships with key community and religious leaders could be a tool to increase testing. Over 60% of women who had never been tested for HIV did not know where to be tested. This highlights the need to educate communities on where testing facilities can be located. Almost 80% of women who believed HIV could be transmitted by supernatural means and/or witchcraft had never been tested before (p=0.08). Cultural beliefs could influence risk perception and testing decisions. Consequently, misconceptions need to be considered when implementing HIV testing and prevention programs. Location by province, years of education, and wealth index were also analyzed to control for socioeconomic status. Kinshasa had the highest testing rate of 54.2% of women living there, and both Equateur and Kasai-Occidental had less than a 10% testing rate (p<0.001). As the education level increased up to 12 years, testing increased (p<0.001). Women within the highest quintile of the wealth index had a 56.1% testing rate, and women within the lowest quintile had a 6.5% testing rate (p<0.001). This study concludes that further research is needed to identify culturally competent methods to increase HIV education programs, build partnerships with key community leaders, and improve knowledge on access to care.

Keywords: Democratic Republic of the Congo, cultural beliefs, education, HIV testing

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Chinchira Bunchutrakun

Abstract:

The purposes of the study are to investigate the problems that the translators encountered when translating English idioms into Thai and study the strategies they applied in solving the problems. The original English version and the Thai translated version of each of two works of fiction were purposively selected for the study. The first was Mr. Maybe, written by Jane Green and translated by Montharat Songphao. The second was The Trials of Tiffany Trott, written by Isabel Wolff and translated by Jitraporn Notoda. Thirty idioms of two translated works of fiction were, then, analyzed. Questionnaires and interviews with the translators of each novel were conducted to obtain the best possible information. The results indicated that the only type of problem that occurred was cultural problems, and these were solved differently by the two translators.

Keywords: translation, idiom translation, fiction translation, problem-solution strategies

Procedia PDF Downloads 285

Authors: Nebojša Janićijević

Abstract:

At the end of 1970s, Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede, had conducted an enormous empirical research on the differences between national cultures. In his huge research, he had identified four dimensions of national culture according to which national cultures differ and determined the index for every dimension of national culture for each country that took part in his research. The index showed a country’s position on the continuum between the two extreme poles of the cultural dimensions. Since more than 40 years have passed since Hofstede's research, there is a doubt that, due to the changes in national cultures during that period, they are no longer a good basis for research. The aim of this research is to check the validity of Hofstee's indices of national culture The empirical study conducted in the branches of a multinational company in Serbia, France, the Netherlands and Denmark aimed to determine whether Hofstede’s measures of national culture dimensions are still valid. The sample consisted of 155 employees of one multinational company, where 40 employees came from three countries and 35 employees were from Serbia. The questionnaire that analyzed the positions of national cultures according to the Hofstede’s four dimensions was formulated on the basis of the initial Hofstede’s questionnaire, but it was much shorter and significantly simplified comparing to the original questionnaire. Such instrument had already been used in earlier researches. A statistical analysis of the obtained questionnaire results was done by a simple calculation of the frequency of the provided answers. Due to the limitations in methodology, sample size, instrument, and applied statistical methods, the aim of the study was not to explicitly test the accuracy Hofstede’s indexes but to enlighten the general position of the four observed countries in national culture dimensions and their mutual relations. The study results have indicated that the position of the four observed national cultures (Serbia, France, the Netherlands and Denmark) is precisely the same in three out of four dimensions as Hofstede had described in his research. Furthermore, the differences between national cultures and the relative relations between their positions in three dimensions of national culture correspond to Hofstede’s results. The only deviation from Hofstede’s results is concentrated around the masculinity–femininity dimension. In addition, the study revealed that the degree of power distance is a determinant when choosing leadership style. It has been found that national cultures with high power distance, like Serbia and France, favor one of the two authoritative leadership styles. On the other hand, countries with low power distance, such as the Netherlands and Denmark, prefer one of the forms of democratic leadership styles. This confirms Hofstede’s premises about the impact of power distance on leadership style. The key contribution of the study is that Hofstede’s national culture indexes are still a reliable tool for measuring the positions of countries in national culture dimensions, and they can be applied in the cross-cultural research in management. That was at least the case with four observed countries: Serbia, France, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

Keywords: national culture, leadership styles, power distance, collectivism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance

Procedia PDF Downloads 56

Authors: Shaneil Taylor

Abstract:

Gender-based violence is a reflection of the inequalities that are associated within a society between the men and women that affects the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims. There are various determinants that contribute to the health risk of young women who have experienced sexual violence, in countries that have a high prevalence rate for HIV. For instance, in South Africa, where the highest prevalence rate for HIV is among young women, their susceptibility to the virus has been increased by sexual violence and cultural inequalities. Therefore, this study is a review of literature that explores how gender-based violence increases the possibility for HIV/AIDS among young women in South Africa.

Keywords: gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS transmission, risky sexual behavior, young women

Procedia PDF Downloads 515

Authors: Aziza Al-Sawafi

Abstract:

Introduction: The evidence of family interventions in schizophrenia is robust primarily in high-income settings. However, they have been adapted to other settings and cultures to improve effectiveness and acceptability. In Oman, there is limited integration of psychosocial interventions in the treatment of schizophrenia. Therefore, the adaptation of family intervention to the Omani culture may facilitate its uptake. Most service users in Oman live with their families outside the healthcare system, and nothing is known about their experience, needs, or resources. Furthermore, understanding caregivers' and mental health professionals' preferences, perceptions, and experience is a fundamental element in the process of intervention development. Therefore, this study aims to develop a culturally sensitive, feasible, and acceptable family intervention for relatives living with schizophrenia in Oman. Method: The Medical Research Council's framework for the evaluation of complex health care interventions provided the conceptual structure for the study. The development phase was carried out, which involved three stages: 1) systematically reviewing the available literature regarding culturally adapted family interventions in the Arab world 2) In-depth interviews with caregivers to explore their experience and perceived needs and preferences regarding intervention 3) A focus group study involving health professionals to explore the acceptability and feasibility of delivering the family intervention in the Omani context. Data synthesis determined the design of the proposed intervention according to the findings obtained from the previous stages. Results: Stage one: The systematic review found limited evidence of culturally-adapted family interventions in the Arab region. However, the cultural adaptation process was comprehensive, and the implementation was reported to be feasible and acceptable. Stage two: The experience of family caregivers illuminated four main themes: burden, stigma, violence, and family needs. Burdens of care included objective and subjective burdens, positive feelings, and coping mechanisms. Caregivers gave their opinion about the content and preference of the intervention from their personal experiences. Stage three: mental health professionals discussed the delivery system of the intervention from a clinical standpoint concerning issues and barriers to implementation. They recommended modifications to the components of the intervention to ensure its acceptability and feasibility in the local setting. Data synthesis was carried out, and the intervention was designed. Conclusion: This study provides evidence of the potential applicability and acceptability of a culturally sensitive family intervention for families of individuals with schizophrenia in Oman. However, more work needs to be done to test the feasibility of the study and overcome the practical challenges.

Keywords: cultural-adaptation, family intervention, Oman, schizophrenia

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: Wen-Wen Wang, Qian Ye, Yi-Feng Lin

Abstract:

Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to increase continuously, resulting in climate change and global warming. As a result, CO₂ capture has attracted a large amount of research attention. Among the various CO₂ capture methods, membrane technology has proven to be highly efficient in capturing CO₂, because it can be scaled up, low energy consumptions and small area requirements for use by the gas separation. Various nanofibrous membranes were successfully prepared by a simple electrospinning process. The membrane contactor combined with chemical absorption and membrane process in the post-combustion CO₂ capture is used in this study. In a membrane contactor system, the highly porous and water-repellent nanofibrous membranes were used as a gas-liquid interface in a membrane contactor system for CO₂ absorption. In this work, we successfully prepared the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) porous membranes with an electrospinning process. Afterwards, the as-prepared water-repellent PVDF porous membranes were used for the CO₂ capture application. However, the pristine PVDF nanofibrous membranes were wetted by the amine absorbents, resulting in the decrease in the CO₂ absorption flux, the hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) materials were added into the PVDF nanofibrous membranes to improve the solvent resistance of the membranes. To increase the hydrophobic properties and CO₂ absorption flux, more hydrophobic surfaces of the PDMS/PVDF nanofibrous membranes are obtained by the grafting of fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) on the membranes surface. Furthermore, the highest CO₂ absorption flux of the PDMS/PVDF nanofibrous membranes is reached after the FAS modification with four times. The PDMS/PVDF nanofibrous membranes with 60 wt% PDMS addition can be a long and continuous operation of the CO₂ absorption and regeneration experiments. It demonstrates the as-prepared PDMS/PVDF nanofibrous membranes could potentially be used for large-scale CO₂ absorption during the post-combustion process in power plants.

Keywords: CO₂ capture, electrospinning process, membrane contactor, nanofibrous membranes, PDMS/PVDF

Procedia PDF Downloads 262

Authors: Baikuntha Prasad Acharya, Elizabeth Halpenny

Abstract:

Small tourism enterprises (STEs) are primary providers of services and attractions in many destinations of less developed countries; they are considered the lifeblood of tourism sector. Furthermore, in rural community destinations of such countries including Nepal, STEs are regarded as alternative tools for advancing economic and sociocultural transformations. Many families in rural Nepali destinations are venturing into small tourism entrepreneurship so that their poverty can be reduced and they can live a sustained life. Most these communities are utilizing their lifestyles and natural and cultural heritages as tourism attractions. This study aimed to understand the sustainability of the STEs in rural destinations by synthesizing observations from Ghalegaon and Ghandruk of the Annapurna Conservation Area in western Nepal. Ghalegaon has community-based homestays and Ghandruk has independently owned and operated small tourism businesses such as cafes, tea houses, lodges, guest houses, and hotels, etc. The community-based homestays of Ghalegaon are compared with the independently owned and operated STEs of Ghandruk. The data were collected through multiple sources: 1) survey of tourists (n=112) and households (n=191); 2) interviews (n=14) with the locals, 3) group discussions (n=10) with different local groups including that of regional tourism players, experts and policy makers, 4) observations, and 5) document analysis. The STEs of both communities were first analyzed by understanding their level of sustainability as businesses, and then were explored how they were impacting on respective communities’ sustainability. The survey indicators and guidelines for interviews and group discussions were adapted to the Nepalese context based on four pillars of sustainability: economic, social, cultural and environmental; an additional dimension of management was also included, particularly for the STEs. The findings have shown a weaker economic and management dimensions of Ghalegaon’s Homestay than that of Ghandruk’s STEs. Some interesting social complexities of rural tourism and entrepreneurship were also revealed. This study’s findings do not much resonate to what Nepal government’s current rural tourism strategies that have been envisioned and prioritized for, particularly that the rural homestay tourism opportunities enhance inclusiveness of women and other deprived communities by spreading the benefits to the grassroots level. The study has highlighted several important applied implications to the local tourism management committees, tourism operators and associations, and regional and national tourism authorities. Further studies are advisable in other similar contexts in Nepal and in other countries to see whether there are variances in the findings.

Keywords: Nepal, rural tourism communities, small tourism enterprises, sustainability

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Jahangir Ahmad Rather, Emad A. Khudaish, Ahsanulhaq Qurashi, Palanisamy Kannan

Abstract:

Chemical modification and assembling of fullerenes are fundamentally important for the application of fullerenes as functional molecules and in molecular devices and organic electronic devices. We have synthesized fullerene nanorods C60NRs conjugate via liquid-liquid interface and the synthesized C60NRs was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, field emission electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction techniques. The C60NRs were immobilized on glassy carbon electrode via surface bound diazonium salts as an impact strategy. This method involves electrografting of p–nitrophenyl to give GCE–Ph–NO2 and then the terminal nitro-group was chemically reduced to GCE–Ph–NH2 in a presence of sodium borohydride/gold–polyaniline nanocomposite (NaBH4/Au–PANI). The Au–PANI composite was synthesized and characterized by FTIR, UV-vis, SEM and EDX techniques. The C60NRs were immobilized on GCE–Ph–NH2 via amination reaction which involves N-H addition across a π-bond on [60] fullerene. The immobilized C60NRs/GCE was subjected to electrochemical reduction in 1.0 M KOH to yield ERC60NRs/GCE sensor. The developed sensor shows high electrocatalytic activity for the detection of ethylparaben (EP) over a concentration range from 0.01 to 0.52 µM with a detection limit (LOD) 3.8 nM. The amount of EP present in the nourishing repair cream (OlAY®) was determined by standard addition method at the developed ERC60NRs/GCE sensor. The total concentration of EP was found to be 0.011 µM (0.1%) and is within the permissible limit of 0.19 % EP in cosmetics according to the European scientific committee (SCCS) on consumer safety on 22 March 2011 (SCCS/1348/11).

Keywords: diazonium salt reduction, ethylparaben (EP), endocrine disruptor, fullerene nanorods (C60NRs), gold–polyaniline nanocomposite (Au–PANI)

Procedia PDF Downloads 220

Authors: Kirsi Laurén, Tiina Seppä

Abstract:

This study focuses on human-mire relations in the context of digital aestheticization and the long-standing tradition of folklore concerning mires. The study concentrates on the Patvinsuo mire in Eastern Finland and the Viiankiaapa mire in Finnish Lapland. Patvinsuo is a national park, and Viiankiaapa is a protected mire area with hiking trails and other recreational infrastructure. Perceiving the environment through digital technology can help to notice aesthetic details in nature. In addition, sharing images and texts digitally through social media adds a sense of community to the relationship with nature and, at the same time, creates a different kind of living heritage where old and new traditions meet and mingle. People visiting and camping in these areas 'self-care' themselves through recreation in nature. However, these practices and digital aestheticization can sometimes lead to the erosion of fragile mires. The research focuses on understanding the impact of digital aestheticization, such as taking digital photos, on the relationship with nature for individuals moving and working in mires. Additionally, the study aims to explore the contemporary perception of the water environment in mires and its cultural heritage, including mythical and folkloric elements. The research material consists of senso-digital walking interviews and digital recordings (audio recordings, photographs, videos) made during the mire walks, as well as archival material from the Finnish Literature Society’s Archives on mire folklore. The analysis of the material relies centrally on theories from sensory anthropology on the relationship between sensory perception and culture. The modern-day interviewees include outdoor enthusiasts spending their leisure time in mires, artists treating mires in their art, and nature experts (scientists, civil servants, and nature guides). The senso-digital walking interviews were conducted in Patvinsuo and Viiankiaapa mires on a trail chosen by the interviewees themselves. The material selected from the archive consists mainly of folk beliefs and folk poetry from the 19th and 20th centuries that express the relationship of the narrator to the mires. The interview and archival materials date from different periods and are different in character, which has to be taken into account in the analysis. However, in the analysis of both materials, particular attention is paid to the descriptions of sensations that appear in them. Analyzing the materials in parallel is limited by the fact that they date from different periods, but on the other hand, it is their different ages that make it possible to perceive the changes in the cultural heritage of mires.

Keywords: mires, living heritage, digital aestheticization, folklore, sensory anthropology

Procedia PDF Downloads 89

Authors: F. Bosca, F. Foglietta, F. Turci, E. Calcio Gaudino, S. Mana, F. Dosio, R. Canaparo, L. Serpe, A. Barge

Abstract:

In recent years, medical science has improved chemotherapy, radiation therapy and adjuvant therapy and has developed newer targeted therapies as well as refining surgical techniques for removing cancer. However, the chances of surviving the disease depend greatly on the type and location of the cancer and the extent of the disease at the start of treatment. Moreover, mainstream forms of cancer treatment have side effects which range from the unpleasant to the fatal. Therefore, the continuation of progress in anti-cancer therapy may depend on placing emphasis on other existing but less thoroughly investigated therapeutic approaches such as Sonodynamic Therapy (SDT). SDT is based on the local activation of a so called 'sonosensitizer', a molecule able to be excited by ultrasound, the radical production as a consequence of its relaxation processes and cell death due to different mechanisms induced by radical production. The present work deals with synthesis, characterization and preliminary in vitro test of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT) decorated with porphyrins and biological vectors. The SWCNT’s surface was modified exploiting 1, 3-dipolar cycloaddition or Dies Alder reactions. For this purpose, different porphyrins scaffolds were ad-hoc synthesized using also non-conventional techniques. To increase cellular specificity of porphyrin-conjugated SWCNTs and to improve their ability to be suspended in aqueous solution, the modified nano-tubes were grafted with suitable glutamine or hyaluronic acid derivatives. These nano-sized sonosensitizers were characterized by several methodologies and tested in vitro on different cancer cell lines.

Keywords: sonodynamic therapy, porphyrins synthesis and modification, SWNCT grafting, hyaluronic acid, anti-cancer treatment

Procedia PDF Downloads 375

Authors: Elochukwu A. Nwankwo, Matthias U. Agboeze

Abstract:

Many heritage sites abound in the shores of Nigeria with enormous tourism potentials. Heritage sites do not only depict the cultural and historical transmutation of people but also functions in the image design and promotion of a locality. This reveals the unique role of heritage sites to structural development of an area. Heritage sites have of recent been a victim of degradation and social abuse arising from seasonal ignorance; hence minimizing its potentials to the socio-economic development of an area. This paper is emphasizing on the adoption of community development approaches in heritage preservation in Igbo area. Its modalities, applications, challenges and prospect were discussed. Such understanding will serve as a catalyst in aiding general restoration and preservation of heritage sites in Nigeria and other African states.

Keywords: heritage resources, community development, preservation, sustainable development, approaches

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: Tunde Ope-Davies

Abstract:

Transmediality and platformization as online content-sharing protocols have continued to accentuate the growing impact of the unprecedented digital revolution across the world. The rapid transformation across all sectors as a result of this revolution has continued to spotlight the increasing importance of new media technologies in redefining and reshaping the rhythm and dynamics of our private and public discursive practices. Equally, social and political activities are being impacted daily through the creation and transmission of political discourse content through multi-channel platforms such as mobile telephone communication, social media networks and the internet. It has been observed that digital platforms have become central to the production, processing, and distribution of multimodal social data and cultural content. The platformization paradigm thus underpins our understanding of how digital platforms enhance the production and heterogenous distribution of media and cultural content through these platforms and how this process facilitates socioeconomic and political activities. The use of multiple digital platforms to share and transmit political discourse material synchronously and asynchronously has gained some exciting momentum in the last few years. Nigeria’s 2023 general elections amplified the usage of social media and other online platforms as tools for electioneering campaigns, socio-political mobilizations and civic engagement. The study, therefore, focuses on transmedia and platformed political discourse as a new strategy to promote political candidates and their manifesto in order to mobilize support and woo voters. This innovative transmedia digital discourse model involves a constellation of online texts and images transmitted through different online platforms almost simultaneously. The data for the study was extracted from the 2023 general elections campaigns in Nigeria between January- March 2023 through media monitoring, manual download and the use of software to harvest the online electioneering campaign material. I adopted a discursive-analytic qualitative technique with toolkits drawn from a computer-mediated multimodal discourse paradigm. The study maps the progressive development of digital political discourse in this young democracy. The findings also demonstrate the inevitable transformation of modern democratic practice through platform-dependent and transmedia political discourse. Political actors and media practitioners now deploy layers of social media network platforms to convey messages and mobilize supporters in order to aggregate and maximize the impact of their media campaign projects and audience reach.

Keywords: social media, digital humanities, political discourse, platformized discourse, multimodal discourse

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Abdolamir Gatezadeh, Rezvan K. A. Mohamamdi, Arash Jelodari

Abstract:

It has been well established that personality traits and self-compassion are associated with psychological well-being. Thus, the current research aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms in a collectivist culture. Method: One hundred and fifty college students were chosen and filled out Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale, the NEO Personality Inventory, and Neff's Self-Compassion Scale. Results: The results of correlation analysis showed that there were significant relationships between the personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and self-compassion (self-kindness, isolation, mindfulness, and the total score of self-compassion) with psychological well-being. The regression analysis showed that neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness significantly predicted psychological well-being. Discussion and conclusion: The cultural implications and future orientations have been discussed.

Keywords: college students, personality traits, psychological well-being, self-compassion

Procedia PDF Downloads 196

Authors: Kepeng Li

Abstract:

This paper examines the phenomenon of recidivism in the Chinese stock market, emphasizing the significance of mitigating repeat offences within the corporate domain. Using a contingency model and data from Chinese publicly listed companies (1999-2018), the study investigates the impact of underperformance, governance factors, and managerial traits on unethical conduct. The research suggests that persistently unmet economic objectives can foster problem-focused exploration, potentially leading to misconduct. Furthermore, the study considers the unique cultural context of China, where “guanxi” and corruption may influence corporate behavior. It concludes that governance mechanisms play a pivotal role in regulating corporate behavior, underscoring the necessity for enhanced oversight and enforcement of corporate governance standards.

Keywords: recidivism, corporate misbehavior, BTOF, aspiration level, corporate governance, individual characteristics

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Khawla Almulla

Abstract:

It is noticed that many Arab intellectuals have called to the need and the importance of enlightenment and its application in their communities, such as Saudi Arabia. To every Islamic state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents a strategic cornerstone, since it is considered the cradle of Islam. It is the Land of the Two Holy Mosques: the Holy Mosque in Makkah surrounding the Kaaba, towards which all Muslims around the world turn while performing daily prayers and even travel to if possible in order to perform the Hajj (Pilgrimage). It also has the Prophet'ـ‘s Holy Mosque in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, which contains the tomb of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Therefore, Saudi Arabia occupies an eminent position among Arab and Islamic countries on a religious level. Saudi Arabia has become the most influential country in the Arab world, since it has one-third of the oil resources outside Central Asia, China and Russia .It is the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil. Discovering oil in Saudi Arabia converted it from an important country for Muslims-only to an important country for the major industrial countries and also the developing countries, as well. For various reasons, the diversity of intellectual currents can play a significant role in each community by way of cultural improvement, the development of civilization and the education of people until they become accustomed to accepting or rejecting opinions or ideas which differ from or oppose their own. In addition, the intellectual pluralism and cultural diversity can play a variety of roles. This helps promote dialogue and understanding between different groups or schools of thought. It can also develop cognitive skills, by exchanging ideas and views between different schools and intellectual currents. However, in Saudi Arabia there is much to oppose this plurality. The situation today shows that having a variety of ideologies and differences of cultures are not considered a reasonable way to develop intellectually as an individual or as a country. Rather the opposite is recommended, such that the ideologies of different groups are enough to bring out intellectual conflict and then to the segregation of society. As a consequence, extremism of thought from the different currents in Saudi Arabia has become apparent. This research is of great importance in its exploration of two significant themes. First, it highlights the Saudi Arabian background, in particular the historical, religious and social contexts, in order to understand the background of each religious or liberal movement and find the core of the intellectual differences between them. In addition, the aim of this research is to show the importance of moderation in Islamic thought in Saudi Arabia by tracing the thoughts and views of Dr Salman Al-Odah, whom he has considered to be the most important moderate thinker in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: Saudi Arabia, intellectual movements, religious movements, extremism, moderation, Salafism, liberalism, Salman Al-Odah

Procedia PDF Downloads 274

Authors: Anna Czarczynska

Abstract:

Creativity is taken as a requirement for a personal anti-fragile career path in the context of regional competitive advantage in the terms of socio-economics creative environment. At the personal level, the competence and value-based approach to creativity are proposed, is an elaboration of the resource-based view of the group of individuals selected from given country. Entrepreneurial creativity competence (measured by the Schein anchor questionnaire) is based on an independent way of thinking and empowerment presents one aspect of creative capability, however quickly verified by the market, that’s why we treat this as a basic exemplification of average creative attitude combine with the entrepreneurial attitude. This introductory instrument enables further scientific research based on the same group in the context of multi-cultural external creative or the non-creative environment.

Keywords: creativity, value-based approach, entrepreneurship, regional culture

Procedia PDF Downloads 182

Authors: R. R. Dewi Rahmawaty Aktyani Putri, Earmporn Thongkrajai, Dedy Purwito

Abstract:

There were many instruments have been developed to assess social support which has the different dimension in breast cancer patients. The Issue of measurement is a challenge to determining the component of dimensional concept, defining the unit of measurement, and establishing the validity and reliability of the measurement. However, the instruments where need to know how much support which obtained and perceived among women with breast cancer who undergone chemotherapy which it can help nurses to prevent of non-adherence in chemotherapy. This study aimed to measure the reliability of BC-SSAS instrument among 30 Indonesian women with breast cancer aged 18 years and above who undergone chemotherapy for six cycles in the oncological unit of Outpatient Department (OPD), Margono Soekardjo Hospital, Central Java, Indonesia. Data were collected during October to December 2015 by using modified the Breast Cancer Social Support Assessment (BC-SSAS). The Cronbach’s alpha analysis was carried out to measure internal consistency for reliability test of BC-SSAS instrument. This study used five experts for content validity index. The results showed that for content validity, I-CVI was 0.98 and S-CVI was 0.98; Cronbach’s alpha value was 0.971 and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the subscales were high, with 0.903 for emotional support, 0.865 for informational support, 0.901 for tangible support, 0.897 for appraisal support and 0.884 for positive interaction support. The results confirmed that the BC-SSAS instrument has high reliability. BC-SSAS instruments were reliable and can be used in health care services to measure the social support received and perceived among women with breast cancer who undergone chemotherapy so that preventive interventions can be developed and the quality of health services can be improved.

Keywords: BC-SSAS, women with breast cancer, chemotherapy, Indonesia

Procedia PDF Downloads 350

Authors: Alex Gonzalez Caceres, Jan Karlshøj, Tor Arvid Vik

Abstract:

Life cycle of residential buildings are expected to be several decades, 40% of European residential buildings have inefficient energy conservation measure. The existing building represents 20-40% of the energy use and the CO₂ emission. Since net zero energy buildings are a short-term goal, (should be achieved by EU countries after 2020), is necessary to plan the next logical step, which is to prepare the existing outdated stack of building to retrofit them into an energy efficiency buildings. In order to accomplish this, two specialize and widespread tool can be used Building Information Modelling (BIM) and life-cycle assessment (LCA). BIM and LCA are tools used by a variety of disciplines; both are able to represent and analyze the constructions in different stages. The combination of these technologies could improve greatly the retrofitting techniques. The incorporation of the carbon footprint, introducing a single database source for different material analysis. To this is added the possibility of considering different analysis approaches such as costs and energy saving. Is expected with these measures, enrich the decision-making. The methodology is based on two main activities; the first task involved the collection of data this is accomplished by literature review and interview with experts in the retrofitting field and BIM technologies. The results of this task are presented as an evaluation checklist of BIM ability to manage data and improve decision-making in retrofitting projects. The last activity involves an evaluation using the results of the previous tasks, to check how far the IFC format can support the requirements by each specialist, and its uses by third party software. The result indicates that BIM/LCA have a great potential to improve the retrofitting process in existing buildings, but some modification must be done in order to meet the requirements of the specialists for both, retrofitting and LCA evaluators.

Keywords: retrofitting, BIM, LCA, energy efficiency

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: S. Da Costa, D. Páez, F. Sánchez

Abstract:

We examine the causal role of positive affect on creativity, the association of creativity or innovation in the ideation phase with functional emotional regulation, successful adjustment to stress and dispositional emotional creativity, as well as the predictive role of creativity for positive emotions and social adjustment. The study examines the effects of modification of positive affect on creativity. Participants write three poems, narrate an infatuation episode, answer a scale of personal growth after this episode and perform a creativity task, answer a flow scale after creativity task and fill a dispositional emotional creativity scale. High and low positive effect was induced by asking subjects to write three poems about high and low positive connotation stimuli. In a neutral condition, tasks were performed without previous affect induction. Subjects on the condition of high positive affect report more positive and less negative emotions, more personal growth (effect size r = .24) and their last poem was rated as more original by judges (effect size r = .33). Mediational analysis showed that positive emotions explain the influence of the manipulation on personal growth - positive affect correlates r = .33 to personal growth. The emotional creativity scale correlated to creativity scores of the creative task (r = .14), to the creativity of the narration of the infatuation episode (r = .21). Emotional creativity was also associated, during performing the creativity task, with flow (r = .27) and with affect balance (r = .26). The mediational analysis showed that emotional creativity predicts flow through positive affect. Results suggest that innovation in the phase of ideation is associated with a positive affect balance and satisfactory performance, as well as dispositional emotional creativity is adaptive.

Keywords: affectivity, creativity, induction, innovation, psychological factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 95

Authors: Habibollah Mashhady, Behruz Lotfi, Mohammad Doosti, Moslem Fatollahi

Abstract:

An exploration of the related literature reveals that all instruction methods aim at training autonomous learners. After the turn of second language pedagogy toward learner-oriented strategies, learners’ needs were more focused. Yet; the historical, social and political aspects of learning were still neglected. The present study investigates the notion of autonomous learning and explains its various facets from a pedagogical point of view. Furthermore; different elements, fields and scopes of autonomous learning will be explored. After exploring different aspects of autonomy, it is postulated that liberatory autonomy is highlighted since it not only covers social autonomy but also reveals learners’ capabilities and human potentials. It is also recommended that learners consider different elements of autonomy such as motivation, knowledge, confidence, and skills.

Keywords: critical pedagogy, social autonomy, academic learning, cultural notions

Procedia PDF Downloads 449

Authors: Sugandhi, Parteek Kumar, Sanmeet Kaur

Abstract:

Sign Language (SL) is used by deaf and other people who cannot speak but can hear or have a problem with spoken languages due to some disability. It is a visual gesture language that makes use of either one hand or both hands, arms, face, body to convey meanings and thoughts. SL automation system is an effective way which provides an interface to communicate with normal people using a computer. In this paper, an avatar based dictionary has been proposed for text to Indian Sign Language (ISL) generation system. This research work will also depict a literature review on SL corpus available for various SL s over the years. For ISL generation system, a written form of SL is required and there are certain techniques available for writing the SL. The system uses Hamburg sign language Notation System (HamNoSys) and Signing Gesture Mark-up Language (SiGML) for ISL generation. It is developed in PHP using Web Graphics Library (WebGL) technology for 3D avatar animation. A multilingual ISL dictionary is developed using HamNoSys for both English and Hindi Language. This dictionary will be used as a database to associate signs with words or phrases of a spoken language. It provides an interface for admin panel to manage the dictionary, i.e., modification, addition, or deletion of a word. Through this interface, HamNoSys can be developed and stored in a database and these notations can be converted into its corresponding SiGML file manually. The system takes natural language input sentence in English and Hindi language and generate 3D sign animation using an avatar. SL generation systems have potential applications in many domains such as healthcare sector, media, educational institutes, commercial sectors, transportation services etc. This research work will help the researchers to understand various techniques used for writing SL and generation of Sign Language systems.

Keywords: avatar, dictionary, HamNoSys, hearing impaired, Indian sign language (ISL), sign language

Procedia PDF Downloads 209

Authors: Cheng Zeng, George Michailidis, Hitoshi Iyatomi, Leo L. Duan

Abstract:

The conditional density characterizes the distribution of a response variable y given other predictor x and plays a key role in many statistical tasks, including classification and outlier detection. Although there has been abundant work on the problem of Conditional Density Estimation (CDE) for a low-dimensional response in the presence of a high-dimensional predictor, little work has been done for a high-dimensional response such as images. The promising performance of normalizing flow (NF) neural networks in unconditional density estimation acts as a motivating starting point. In this work, the authors extend NF neural networks when external x is present. Specifically, they use the NF to parameterize a one-to-one transform between a high-dimensional y and a latent z that comprises two components [zₚ, zₙ]. The zₚ component is a low-dimensional subvector obtained from the posterior distribution of an elementary predictive model for x, such as logistic/linear regression. The zₙ component is a high-dimensional independent Gaussian vector, which explains the variations in y not or less related to x. Unlike existing CDE methods, the proposed approach coined Augmented Posterior CDE (AP-CDE) only requires a simple modification of the common normalizing flow framework while significantly improving the interpretation of the latent component since zₚ represents a supervised dimension reduction. In image analytics applications, AP-CDE shows good separation of 𝑥-related variations due to factors such as lighting condition and subject id from the other random variations. Further, the experiments show that an unconditional NF neural network based on an unsupervised model of z, such as a Gaussian mixture, fails to generate interpretable results.

Keywords: conditional density estimation, image generation, normalizing flow, supervised dimension reduction

Procedia PDF Downloads 77

Authors: Thabiso Michael Mokotjomela, Jasper Knight

Abstract:

Intensification of agricultural food production in sub-Saharan Africa is of paramount importance as a means of increasing the food security of communities that are already experiencing a range of environmental and socio-economic stresses. However, achieving this aim faces several challenges including ongoing climate change, increased resistance of diseases and pests, extreme environmental degradation partly due to biological invasions, land tenure and management practices, socio-economic developments of rural populations, and national population growth. In particular, non-native plant species tend to display greater adaptation capacity to environmental stress than native species that form important food resource base for human beings, thus suggesting a potential for usage to shift accordingly. Based on review of the historical benefits of non-native plant species in food production in sub-Saharan Africa, we propose that use of non-invasive, non-native plant species and/or the genetic modification of native species might be viable options for future agricultural sustainability in this region. Coupled with strategic foresight planning (e.g. use of biological control agents that suppress plant species’ invasions), the consumptive use of already-introduced non-native species might help in containment and control of possible negative environmental impacts of non-native species on native species, ecosystems and biodiversity, and soil fertility and hydrology. Use of non-native species in food production should be accompanied by low cost agroecology practices (e.g. conservation agriculture and agrobiodiversity) that may promote the gradual recovery of natural capital, ecosystem services, and promote conservation of the natural environment as well as enhance food security.

Keywords: food security, invasive species, agroecology, agrobiodiversity, socio-economic stresses

Procedia PDF Downloads 352