Search results for: professional mobility

Authors: Ciaran Friel, Jerry Suls, Patrick Robles, Frank Vicari, Joan Duer-Hefele, Karina W. Davidson

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Physical activity guidelines focus on increasing moderate intensity activity for older adults, but adherence to recommendations remains low. This is despite the fact that scientific evidence supports that any increase in physical activity is positively correlated with health benefits. Behavior change techniques (BCTs) have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing sedentary behavior and promoting physical activity. This pilot study uses a Personalized Trials (N-of-1) design to evaluate the efficacy of using four BCTs to promote an increase in low-intensity physical activity (2,000 steps of walking per day) in adults aged 45-75 years old. The 4 BCTs tested were goal setting, action planning, feedback, and self-monitoring. BCTs were tested in random order and delivered by text message prompts requiring participant response. The study recruited health system employees in the target age range, without mobility restrictions and demonstrating interest in increasing their daily activity by a minimum of 2,000 steps per day for a minimum of five days per week. Participants were sent a Fitbit Charge 4 fitness tracker with an established study account and password. Participants were recommended to wear the Fitbit device 24/7, but were required to wear it for a minimum of ten hours per day. Baseline physical activity was measured by the Fitbit for two weeks. Participants then engaged with a clinical research coordinator to review comprehension of the text message content and required actions for each of the BCTs to be tested. Participants then selected a consistent daily time in which they would receive their text message prompt. In the 8 week intervention phase of the study, participants received each of the four BCTs, in random order, for a two week period. Text message prompts were delivered daily at a time selected by the participant. All prompts required an interactive response from participants and may have included recording their detailed plan for walking or daily step goal (action planning, goal setting). Additionally, participants may have been directed to a study dashboard to view their step counts or compare themselves with peers (self-monitoring, feedback). At the end of each two week testing interval, participants were asked to complete the Self-Efficacy for Walking Scale (SEW_Dur), a validated measure that assesses the participant’s confidence in walking incremental distances and a survey measuring their satisfaction with the individual BCT that they tested. At the end of their trial, participants received a personalized summary of their step data in response to each individual BCT. Analysis will examine the novel individual-level heterogeneity of treatment effect made possible by N-of-1 design, and pool results across participants to efficiently estimate the overall efficacy of the selected behavioral change techniques in increasing low-intensity walking by 2,000 steps, 5 days per week. Self-efficacy will be explored as the likely mechanism of action prompting behavior change. This study will inform the providers and demonstrate the feasibility of N-of-1 study design to effectively promote physical activity as a component of healthy aging.

Keywords: aging, exercise, habit, walking

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Authors: Claire Norman-Maillet

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Insider fraud, including its various synonyms such as occupational, employee or internal fraud, is a major financial crime threat whereby an employee defrauds (or attempts to defraud) their current, prospective, or past employer. ‘Employee’ covers anyone employed by the company, including contractors, directors, and part time staff; they may be a solo bad actor or working in collusion with others, whether internal or external. Insider fraud is even more of a concern given the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has generated multiple opportunities to commit insider fraud. Insider fraud is something that is not necessarily thought of as a significant financial crime threat; the focus of most academics and practitioners has historically been on that of ‘external fraud’ against businesses or entities where an individual or group has no professional ties. Without the face-to-face, ‘over the shoulder’ capabilities of staff being able to keep an eye on their employees, there is a heightened reliance on trust and transparency. With this, naturally, comes an increased risk of insider fraud perpetration. The objective of the research is to better understand how companies are impacted by insider fraud, and therefore how to stop it. This research will make both an original contribution and stimulate debate within the financial crime field. The financial crime landscape is never static – criminals are always creating new ways to perpetrate financial crime, and new legislation and regulations are implemented as attempts to strengthen controls, in addition to businesses doing what they can internally to detect and prevent it. By focusing on insider fraud specifically, the research will be more specific and will be of greater use to those in the field. To achieve the aims of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 individuals who either work in financial services and deal with insider fraud or work within insider fraud perpetration in a recruitment or advisory capacity. This was to enable the sourcing of information from a wide range of individuals in a setting where they were able to elaborate on their answers. The principal recruitment strategy was engaging with the researcher’s network on LinkedIn. The interviews were then transcribed and analysed thematically. Main findings in the research suggest that insider fraud has been ignored owing to the denial of accepting the possibility that colleagues would defraud their employer. Whilst Coronavirus has led to a significant rise in insider fraud, this type of crime has been a major risk to businesses since their inception, however have never been given the financial or strategic backing required to be mitigated, until it's too late. Furthermore, Coronavirus should have led to companies tightening their access rights, controls and policies to mitigate the insider fraud risk. However, in most cases this has not happened. The research concludes that insider fraud needs to be given a platform upon which to be recognised as a threat to any company and given the same level of weighting and attention by Executive Committees and Boards as other types of economic crime.

Keywords: fraud, insider fraud, economic crime, coronavirus, Covid-19

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Authors: Helene Jacobson Pettersson, Linda Lill

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Research that combines educational science, social work and migration studies shows that ethnic relations tend to be represented from various angles and with different content. As studied here, it is found in steering documents, literature, and teaching that the construction of ethnic relations related to social work varies in education over time. The study has its actuality in changed preconditions to social work education caused by the demographic development and the on-going globalization in the Swedish society. In this presentation we will explore strategies and experiences of teaching ethnic relations at social work educations in Sweden. The purpose is to investigate the strategies that are used and what content is given to ethnic relations in the social work education. University teachers are interviewed concerning their interpretation of steering documents related to the content and how they transform this in their teaching. Even though there has been a tradition to include aspects as intercultural relations and ethnicity, the norms of the welfare state has continued to be the basis for how to conceptualize people’s way of living and social problems. Additionally, the contemporary migration situation with a large number of refugees coming to Sweden peaking in 2015, dramatically changes the conditions for social work as a practice field. Increasing economic and social tensions in Sweden, becomes a challenge for the universities to support the students to achieve theoretical and critical knowledge and skills needed to work for social change, human rights and equality in the ethnic diverse Swedish society. The study raises questions about how teachers interpret the goals of the social work programs in terms of ethnic relations. How do they transform this into teaching? How are ethnic relations in social work described and problematized in lectures, cases and examinations? The empirical material is based on interviews with teachers involved in the social work education at four Swedish universities. The interviewees were key persons in the sense that they could influence the course content, and they were drawn from different semesters of the program. In depth interviews are made on the themes; personal entrance, description and understanding of ethnic relations in social work, teachers’ conception of students understanding of ethnic relations, and the content, form and strategies for teaching used by the teachers. The analysis is thematic and inspired from narrative analysis. The results show that the subject is relatively invisible in steering documents. The interviewees have experienced changes in the teaching over time, with less focus on intercultural relations and specific cultural competence. Instead ethnic relations are treated more contextually and interacting with categories as gender, class and age. The need of theoretical and critical knowledge of migration and ethnic relations in a broad sense but also for specific professional use is emphasized.

Keywords: ethnic relations, social work education, social change, human rights, equality, ethnic diversity in Sweden

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Authors: Yazmin Pineda Zapata

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Leading a complete school and culture transformation can be a daunting task for any administrator. This is especially true when change agents are advocating for inclusive reform in their schools. As leaders embark on this journey, they must ascertain that an inclusive environment is not a place, a classroom, or a resource setting; it is a place of acceptance nurtured by supportive and meaningful learning opportunities where all students can thrive. A qualitative approach, phenomenology, was used to investigate principals’ actions and behaviors that supported inclusive schooling for students with disabilities. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following research question: How do leaders develop and maintain inclusive education? Fourteen K-12 principals purposefully selected from various sources (e.g., School Wide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT), The Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (MCIE), The Arc of Texas Inclusion Works organization, The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH), the CAL State Summer Institute in San Marcos, and the PEAK Parent Center and/or other recognitions were interviewed individually using a semi-structured protocol. Upon completion of data collection, all interviews were transcribed and marked using A priori coding to analyze the responses and establish a correlation among Villa and Thousand’s five organizational supports to achieve inclusive educational reform: Vision, Skills, Incentives, Resources, and Action Plan. The findings of this study reveal the insights of principals who met specific criteria and whose schools had been highlighted as exemplary inclusive schools. Results show that by implementing the five organizational supports, principals were able to develop and sustain successful inclusive environments where both teachers and students were motivated, made capable, and supported through the redefinition and restructuring of systems within the school. Various key details of the five variables for change depict essential components within these systems, which include quality professional development, coaching and modeling of co-teaching strategies, collaborative co-planning, teacher leadership, and continuous stakeholder (e.g., teachers, students, support staff, and parents) involvement. The administrators in this study proved the valuable benefits of inclusive education for students with disabilities and their typically developing peers. Together, along with their teaching and school community, school leaders became capable stakeholders that promoted the vision of inclusion, planned a structured approach, and took action to make it a reality.

Keywords: Inclusive education, leaders, principals, shared-decision making, shared leadership, special education, sustainable change

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Authors: M. Roberts

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We Are Undefeatable - is a mass marketing behaviour change campaign that aims to support the least active people living with long term health conditions to be more active. This is an important issue to address because people with long term conditions are an historically underserved community for the sport and physical activity sector and the least active of those with long term conditions have the most to gain in health and wellbeing benefits. The campaign has generated a significant change in the way physical activity is communicated and people with long term conditions are represented in the media and marketing. The goal is to create a social norm around being active. The campaign is led by a unique partnership of organisations: the Richmond Group of Charities (made up of Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Asthma + Lung UK, Breast Cancer Now, British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross, Diabetes UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, Rethink Mental Illness, Royal Voluntary Service, Stroke Association, Versus Arthritis) along with Mind, MS Society, Parkinson’s UK and Sport England, with National Lottery Funding. It is underpinned by the COM-B model of behaviour change. It draws on the lived experience of people with multiple long term conditions to shape the look and feel of the campaign and all the resources available. People with long term conditions are the campaign messengers, central to the ethos of the campaign by telling their individual stories of overcoming barriers to be active with their health conditions. The central messaging is about finding a way to be active that works for the individual. We Are Undefeatable is evaluated through a multi-modal approach, including regular qualitative focus groups and a quantitative evaluation tracker undertaken three times a year. The campaign has highlighted the significant barriers to physical activity for people with long term conditions. This has changed the way our partnership talks about physical activity but has also had an impact on the wider sport and physical activity sector, prompting an increasing departure from traditional messaging and marketing approaches for this audience of people with long term conditions. The campaign has reached millions of people since its launch in 2019, through multiple marketing and partnership channels including primetime TV advertising and promotion through health professionals and in health settings. Its diverse storytellers make it relatable to its target audience and the achievable activities highlighted and inclusive messaging inspire our audience to take action as a result of seeing the campaign. The We Are Undefeatable campaign is a blueprint for physical activity campaigns; it not only addresses individual behaviour change but plays a role in addressing systemic barriers to physical activity by sharing the lived experience insight to shape policy and professional practice.

Keywords: behaviour change, long term conditions, partnership, relatable

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Authors: Hela Ghali, Sihem Ben Fredj, Mohamed Ben Rejeb, Sawssen Layouni, Salwa Khefacha, Lamine Dhidah, Houyem Said Laatiri

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Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to public health and motivates to improve prevention and control programs both at international (WHO) and national levels. Despite their low pathogenicity, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are common nosocomial pathogens in several countries. The high potential for transmission of VRE between patients and the threat to send its resistance genes to other bacteria such as staphylococcus aureus already resistant to meticilin, justify strict control measures. Indeed, in Europe, the proportion of Enterococcus faecium responsible for invasive infections, varies from 1% to 35% in 2011 and less than 5% were resistant to vancomycin. In addition, it represents the second cause of urinary tract and wound infections and the third cause of nosocomial bacteremia in the United States. The nosocomial outbreaks of VRE have been mainly described in intensive care services, hematology-oncology and haemodialysis. An epidemic of VRE has affected our hospital and the objective of this work is to describe the measures put in place. Materials/Methods: Following the alert given by the service of plastic surgery concerning a patient carrier of VRE, a team of the prevention and healthcare security service (doctor + technician) made an investigation. A review of files was conducted to draw the synoptic table and the table of cases. Results: By contacting the microbiology laboratory, we have identified four other cases of VRE and who were hospitalized in Medical resuscitation department (2 cases, one of them was transferred to the Physical rehabilitation department), and Nephrology department (2 cases). The visit has allowed to detect several malfunctions in professional practice. A crisis cell has allowed to validate, coordinate and implement control measures following the recommendations of the Technical Center of nosocomial infections. In fact, the process was to technically isolate cases in their sector of hospitalization, to restrict the use of antibiotics, to strength measures of basic hygiene, and to make a screening by rectal swab for both cases and contacts (other patients and health staff). These measures have helped to control the situation and no other case has been reported for a month. 2 new cases have been detected in the intensive care unit after a month. However, these are short-term strategies, and other measures in the medium and long term should be taken into account in order to face similar outbreaks. Conclusion: The efforts to control the outbreak were not efficient since 2 new cases have been reported after a month. Therefore, a continuous monitoring in order to detect new cases earlier is crucial to minimize the dissemination of VRE.

Keywords: hospitals, nosocomial infection, outbreak, vancomycin-resistant enterococci

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Authors: Marco Frieslaar, Bing Chu, Eric Rogers

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Stroke is a devastating illness that is the second biggest cause of death in the world (after heart disease). Where it does not kill, it leaves survivors with debilitating sensory and physical impairments that not only seriously harm their quality of life, but also cause a high incidence of severe depression. It is widely accepted that early intervention is essential for recovery, but current rehabilitation techniques largely favor hospital-based therapies which have restricted access, expensive and specialist equipment and tend to side-step the emotional challenges. In addition, there is insufficient funding available to provide the long-term assistance that is required. As a consequence, recovery rates are poor. The relatively unexplored solution is to develop therapies that can be harnessed in the home and are formulated from technologies that already exist in everyday life. This would empower individuals to take control of their own improvement and provide choice in terms of when and where they feel best able to undertake their own healing. This research seeks to identify how effective post-stroke, rehabilitation therapy can be applied to upper limb mobility, within the physical context of a home rather than a hospital. This is being achieved through the design and construction of an automation scheme, based on iterative learning control and the Riener muscle model, that has the ability to adapt to the user and react to their level of fatigue and provide tangible physical recovery. It utilizes a SMART Phone and laptop to construct an iterative learning control (ILC) system, that monitors upper arm movement in three dimensions, as a series of exercises are undertaken. The equipment generates functional electrical stimulation to assist in muscle activation and thus improve directional accuracy. In addition, it monitors speed, accuracy, areas of motion weakness and similar parameters to create a performance index that can be compared over time and extrapolated to establish an independent and objective assessment scheme, plus an approximate estimation of predicted final outcome. To further extend its assessment capabilities, nerve conduction velocity readings are taken by the software, between the shoulder and hand muscles. This is utilized to measure the speed of response of neuron signal transfer along the arm and over time, an online indication of regeneration levels can be obtained. This will prove whether or not sufficient training intensity is being achieved even before perceivable movement dexterity is observed. The device also provides the option to connect to other users, via the internet, so that the patient can avoid feelings of isolation and can undertake movement exercises together with others in a similar position. This should create benefits not only for the encouragement of rehabilitation participation, but also an emotional support network potential. It is intended that this approach will extend the availability of stroke recovery options, enable ease of access at a low cost, reduce susceptibility to depression and through these endeavors, enhance the overall recovery success rate.

Keywords: home-based therapy, iterative learning control, Riener muscle model, SMART phone, stroke rehabilitation

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Authors: Pariya Sheykhmaleki, Debajyoti Pati

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Rural areas in the United States face numerous challenges in providing quality and assessable primary healthcare services, especially during emergencies such as natural disasters or pandemics. This study showcases a cutting-edge flexible module that aims to overcome these challenges by offering adaptable healthcare facilities capable of providing comprehensive health services in remote and disaster-prone regions. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), approximately 62 million Americans, or 1 in 5 individuals, live in areas designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) for primary care. These areas are characterized by limited access to healthcare facilities, shortage of healthcare professionals, transportation barriers, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, higher rates of chronic diseases, mental health disparities, and limited availability of specialized care, including urgent circumstances like pandemics that can exacerbate this issue. To address these challenges, the literature study began by examining primary health solutions in very remote areas, e.g., spaceships, to identify the state-of-the-art technologies and the methods used to facilitate primary care needs. The literature study on flexibility in architecture and interior design was also adapted to develop a conceptual design for rural areas. The designed flexible module provides an innovative solution. This module can be prefabricated as all parts are standardized. The flexibility of the module allows the structure to be modified based on local and geographical requirements as well as the ability to expand as required. It has been designed to stand either by itself or work in tandem with public buildings. By utilizing sustainable approaches and flexible spatial configurations, the module optimizes the utilization of limited resources while ensuring efficient and effective healthcare delivery. Furthermore, the poster highlights the key features of this flexible module, including its ability to support telemedicine and telehealth services for all five levels of urgent care conditions, i.e., from facilitating fast tracks to supporting emergency room services, in two divided zones. The module's versatility enables its deployment in rural areas located far from urban centers and disaster-stricken regions, ensuring access to critical healthcare services in times of need. This module is also capable of responding in urban areas when the need for primary health becomes vastly urgent, e.g., during a pandemic. It emphasizes the module's potential to bridge the healthcare gap between rural and urban areas and mitigate the impact of rural health challenges.

Keywords: rural health, healthcare challenges, flexible modular design, telemedicine, telehealth

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Authors: Benoit Atge, Alice Dhersin, Oscar Da Silva Cacao, Beatrice Martinez, Dominique Ducint, Catherine Verdun-Esquer, Isabelle Baldi, Mathieu Molimard, Antoine Villa, Mireille Canal-Raffin

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Introduction: Healthcare workers' exposure to antineoplastic drugs (AD) is a burning issue for occupational medicine practitioners. Biological monitoring of occupational exposure (BMOE) is an essential tool for assessing AD contamination of healthcare workers. In addition to BMOE, surface sampling is a useful tool in order to understand how workers get contaminated, to identify sources of environmental contamination, to verify the effectiveness of surface decontamination way and to ensure monitoring of these surfaces. The objective of this work was to develop a complete tool including a kit for surface sampling and a quantification analytical method for AD traces detection. The development was realized with the three following criteria: the kit capacity to sample in every professional environment (healthcare services, veterinaries, etc.), the detection of very low AD traces with a validated analytical method and the easiness of the sampling kit use regardless of the person in charge of sampling. Material and method: AD mostly used in term of quantity and frequency have been identified by an analysis of the literature and consumptions of different hospitals, veterinary services, and home care settings. The kind of adsorbent device, surface moistening solution and mix of solvents for the extraction of AD from the adsorbent device have been tested for a maximal yield. The AD quantification was achieved by an ultra high-performance liquid chromatography method coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Results: With their high frequencies of use and their good reflect of the diverse activities through healthcare, 15 AD (cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, doxorubicin, daunorubicin, epirubicin, 5-FU, dacarbazin, etoposide, pemetrexed, vincristine, cytarabine, methothrexate, paclitaxel, gemcitabine, mitomycin C) were selected. The analytical method was optimized and adapted to obtain high sensitivity with very low limits of quantification (25 to 5000ng/mL), equivalent or lowest that those previously published (for 13/15 AD). The sampling kit is easy to use, provided with a didactic support (online video and protocol paper). It showed its effectiveness without inter-individual variation (n=5/person; n= 5 persons; p=0,85; ANOVA) regardless of the person in charge of sampling. Conclusion: This validated tool (sampling kit + analytical method) is very sensitive, easy to use and very didactic in order to control the chemical risk brought by AD. Moreover, BMOE permits a focal prevention. Used in routine, this tool is available for every intervention of occupational health.

Keywords: surface contamination, sampling kit, analytical method, sensitivity

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Authors: Kamaljeet Kaur, Vinod Kumari, Jatesh Kathpalia, Bas Kaur

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A gender bias towards girl child is pervasive across the world. It is seen in all the strata of the society and manifests in various forms. However nature and extent of these inequalities are not uniform. Generally these inequalities are more prevalent in patriarchal society. Despite emerging and increasing opportunities for women, there are still inequalities between men and women in each and every sphere like education, health, economy, polity and social sphere. Patriarchal ideology as a cultural norm enforces gender construction which is oriented toward hierarchical relations between the sexes and neglect of women in Indian society. Discrimination to girls may also vary by their age and be restricted to the birth order and sex composition of her elder surviving siblings. The present study was conducted to know the gender discrimination among rural children in India. The respondents were selected from three generations as per AICRP age group viz, 18-30 years (3rd generation), 31-60 years (2nd generation) and above 60 years (1st generation). A total sample size was 600 respondents from different villages of two districts of Haryana state comprising of half males and half females. Data were collected using personal interview schedule and analysed by SPSS software. Among the total births 46.35 per cent were girl child and 53.64 % were male child. Dropout rate was more in female children as compared to male children i.e. near about one third (31.09%) female children dropped school followed by 21.17 % male children. It was quite surprising that near about two-third (61.16%) female children and more than half (59.22%) of the male children dropped school. Cooking was mainly performed by adult female with overall mean scores 2.0 and ranked first which was followed by female child (1.7 mean scores) clearly indicating that cooking was the activity performed mainly by females while activity related to purchase of fruits and vegetable, cereals and pulses was mainly done by adult male. First preference was given to male child for serving of costly and special food. Regarding professional aspiration of children of the respondents’ families, it was observed that 20.10% of the male children wanted to become engineer, whereas only 3.89 % female children wanted to become engineer. Ratio of male children was high in both generations irrespective of the districts. School dropouts were more in case of female in both the 1st and 2 nd generations. The main reasons of school dropout were lack of interest, lack of resources and early marriage in both the generations. Female enrolment was more in faculty of arts, whereas in case of male percentage it was more in faculty of non-medical and medical which showed that female children were getting traditional type of education. It is suggested to provide equal opportunities to girls and boys in home as well as outside the home for smooth functioning of society.

Keywords: gender biasness, male child, female child, education, home

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Authors: Aldila Dyas Nurfitri

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Nowadays, leadership has became the one of main issues in forming organization groups even countries. The concept of a social contract between the leaders and subordinates become one of the explanations for the leadership process. The interests of the two parties are not always the same, but they must work together to achieve both goals. Based on the concept at the previous it comes “The Leader Member Exchange Theory”—well known as LMX Theory, which assumes that leadership is a process of social interaction interplay between the leaders and their subordinates. High-quality LMX relationships characterized by a high carrying capacity, informal supervision, confidence, and power negotiation enabled, whereas low-quality LMX relationships are described by low support, large formal supervision, less or no participation of subordinates in decision-making, and less confidence as well as the attention of the leader Application of formal supervision system in a low LMX behavior was in line with strict controls on toxic leadership model. Leaders must be able to feel toxic control all aspects of the organization every time. Leaders with this leadership model does not give autonomy to the staff. This behavior causes stagnation and make a resistant organizational culture in an organization. In Indonesia, the pattern of toxic leadership later evolved into a dysfunctional system that is growing rapidly. One consequence is the emergence of corrupt behavior. According to Kellerman, corruption is defined as a pattern and some subordinates behave lie, cheat or steal to a degree that goes beyond the norm, they put self-interest than the common good.According to the corruption data in Indonesia based on the results of ICW research on 2012 showed that the local government sector ranked first with 177 cases. Followed by state or local enterprises as much as 41 cases. LMX is defined as the quality of the relationship between superiors and subordinates are implications for the effectiveness and progress of the organization. The assumption of this theory that leadership as a process of social interaction interplay between the leaders and his followers are characterized by a number of dimensions, such as affection, loyalty, contribution, and professional respect. Meanwhile, the toxic leadership is dysfunctional leadership in organization that is led by someone with the traits are not able to adjust, do not have integrity, malevolent, evil, and full of discontent marked by a number of characteristics, such as self-centeredness, exploiting others, controlling behavior, disrespecting others, suppress innovation and creativity of employees, and inadequate emotional intelligence. The leaders with some characteristics, such as high self-centeredness, exploiting others, controlling behavior, and disrespecting others, tends to describe a low LMX relationships directly with subordinates compared with low self-centeredness, exploiting others, controlling behavior, and disrespecting others. While suppress innovation and creativity of employees aspect and inadequate emotional intelligence, tend not to give direct effect to the low quality of LMX.

Keywords: leader-member exchange, toxic leadership, leadership

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Authors: Ruth Green, Samantha Milton, Rinal Desai

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Background/Aims: Eye pain/swelling/redness is a common presentation to Barnet General Hospital (a district general hospital), pediatric emergency department, and is managed by both the pediatric and emergency teams. The management of each child differs dramatically depending on the healthcare professional who reviews them. There also appears to be confusion in diagnosis between periorbital cellulitis, pre-septal cellulitis, and orbital cellulitis. Pre septal cellulitis refers to an inflammation of the eyelids and soft tissue anterior to the orbital septum. In contrast, orbital cellulitis is a serious, rapidly progressive infection of soft tissues located posterior to the orbital septum. Pre-septal cellulitis is more prevalent and less serious than orbital cellulitis, although it may be part of a continuous spectrum if untreated. Pre-septal cellulitis should there be diagnosed and treated urgently to prevent spread to the septum. For the purpose of the audit, the term periorbital cellulitis has been used as an umbrella term for all spectrums of this infection. The audit aimed to look at, how as a whole, the department is diagnosing and managing orbital and pre-septal cellulitis. Gold Standard: Patients of the same age and diagnosis should be treated with the same medication, advice, and follow-up. Method: Data was collected retrospectively from pediatric patients ( < 18years) who attended the emergency department from June 2019 to February 2020 who had been coded as pre-septal cellulitis, periorbital cellulitis, orbital cellulitis, or eye pain/swelling/redness. Demographics, signs and symptoms, management, and follow-up were recorded for all patients with any of the diagnoses of pre-septal, periorbital, or orbital cellulitis. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet was used to record the anonymised data. Results: There were vast discrepancies in the diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with periorbital cellulitis. Conclusion/Discussion: The audit concluded there is no uniform approach to managing periorbital cellulitis in Barnet General Hospital Paediatric Emergency Department. Healthcare professionals misdiagnosed conjunctivitis as periorbital cellulitis, and adequate steps did not appear to be documented on excluding red flag signs and symptoms of patients presenting. There was no consistency in follow-up, with some patients having timely phone reviews or clinical reviews for mild symptoms. Advice given by the staff was appropriate, and patients did return when symptoms got worse and were treated accordingly. Plan: Given the inconsistency, a gold standard care pathway or local easily accessible clinical guideline can be developed to help with the diagnosis and management of periorbital cellulitis. Along with this, a teaching session can be carried out for the staff of the pediatric team and emergency department to disseminate the teaching. Following the introduction of a guideline and teaching sessions, patients notes can be re-reviewed to check improvement in patient care.

Keywords: periorbital cellulitis, preseptal cellulitis, orbital cellulitis, erythematous eyelid

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Authors: Susanna Asatryan

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The author will introduce a single module related to English teaching methodology for master course students getting specialization “A Foreign Language Teacher of High Schools And Professional Educational Institutions” of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences. The overall aim of the presentation is to introduce learning and teaching strategies within EXE Computer program for Mastery student-teachers of the University. The author will display the advantages of the use of this program. The learners interact with the teacher in the classroom as well as they are provided an opportunity for virtual domain to carry out their learning procedures in association with assessment and self-assessment. So they get integrated into blended learning. As this strategy is in its piloting stage, the author has elaborated a single module, embracing 3 main sections: -Teaching English vocabulary at high school, -Teaching English grammar at high school, and -Teaching English pronunciation at high school. The author will present the above mentioned topics with corresponding sections and subsections. The strong point is that preparing this module we have planned to display it on the blended learning landscape. So for this account working with EXE program is highly effective. As it allows the users to operate several tools for self-learning and self-testing/assessment. The author elaborated 3 single EXE files for each topic. Each file starts with the section’s subject-specific description: - Objectives and Pre-knowledge, followed by the theoretical part. The author associated and flavored her observations with appropriate samples of charts, drawings, diagrams, recordings, video-clips, photos, pictures, etc. to make learning process more effective and enjoyable. Before or after the article the author has downloaded a video clip, related to the current topic. EXE offers a wide range of tools to work out or prepare different activities and exercises for the learners: 'Interactive/non-interactive' and 'Textual/non-textual'. So with the use of these tools Multi-Select, Multi-Choice, Cloze, Drop-Down, Case Study, Gap-Filling, Matching and different other types of activities have been elaborated and submitted to the appropriate sections. The learners task is to prepare themselves for the coming module or seminar, related to teaching methodology of English vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. The point is that the teacher has an opportunity for face to face communication, as well as to connect with the learners through the Moodle, or as a single EXE file offer it to the learners for their self-study and self-assessment. As for the students’ feedback –EXE environment also makes it available.

Keywords: blended learning, EXE program, learning/teaching strategies, self-study/assessment, virtual domain,

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Authors: Birge Yildirim Okta

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This paper aims to narrate the story of Atatürk Cultural Center in Taksim Square, which was demolished in 2018 and discuss its architectonic as a social place of memory and its existence and demolishment as the space of politics. The paper uses narrative discourse analysis to research Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) as a place of memory and space of politics from the establishment of the Turkish Republic (1923) until today. After the establishment of the Turkish Republic, one of the most important implementations in Taksim Square, reflecting the internationalist style, was the construction of the Opera Building in Prost Plan. The first design of the opera building belonged to Aguste Perret, which could not be implemented due to economic hardship during World War II. Later the project was designed by architects Feridun Kip and Rüknettin Güney in 1946 but could not be completed due to the 1960 military coup. Later the project was shifted to another architect Hayati Tabanlıoglu, with a change in its function as a cultural center. Eventually, the construction of the building was completed in 1969 in a completely different design. AKM became a symbol of republican modernism not only with its modern architectural style but also with it is function as the first opera building of the Republic, reflecting the western, modern cultural heritage by professional groups, artists, and the intelligentsia. In 2005, Istanbul’s council for the protection of cultural heritage decided to list AKM as a grade 1 cultural heritage, ending a period of controversy which saw calls for the demolition of the center as it was claimed, it ended its useful lifespan. In 2008 the building was announced to be closed for repairs and restoration. Over the following years, the building was demolished piece by piece silently while the Taksim mosque has been built just in front of Atatürk Cultural Center. Belonging to the early republican period AKM was a representation of the cultural production of modern society for the emergence and westward looking, secular public space in Turkey. Its erasure from the Taksim scene under the rule of the conservative government, Justice, and Development Party, and the construction of the Taksim mosque in front of AKM’s parcel is also representational. The question of governing the city through space has always been an important aspect for governments, those holding political power since cities are the chaotic environments that are seen as a threat for the governments, carrying the tensions of the proletariat or the contradictory groups. The story of AKM as a dispositive or a regulatory apparatus demonstrates how space itself is becoming a political medium, to transform the socio-political condition. The paper narrates the existence and demolishment of the Atatürk Cultural Center by discussing the constructed and demolished building as a place of memory and space of politics.

Keywords: space of politics, place of memory, Atatürk Cultural Center, Taksim square, collective memory

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Authors: Thitima Plejai

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The practice in the operating room has been continually performed according to standards of services; however, undesirable incidents from surgical services are found such as surgical complications in the operating room. This participation action research aimed to develop practice guidelines for surgical safety management to reduce undesirable incidents from surgical services in the operating room of Songkhla Hospital. The target population was all 84 members of the multidisciplinary team who were involved in surgical services in the operating room consisting of 28 surgeons from five branches of surgery, 27 anesthetists and nurse anesthetists, and 29 surgical nurses. The data were collected through in-depth interviews, and non-participatory observations. The research instrument was tested by three experts, and the steps of the development consisted of four cycles, each consisting of assessment, planning, practice, practice reflection, and improvement until every step is practicable. The data were validated through triangulation research method, analyzed through content analysis and statistical analysis with number and percentage. The results of the development of practice guidelines surgical safety management to reduce undesirable incidents from surgical services could be concluded as follows. 1) The multidisciplinary team in surgery participated in the needs assessment for development of practice guidelines for surgical patient safety, and agreed on adapting the WHO Surgical Safety Checklists for use. 2) The WHO Surgical Safety Checklists was implemented, and meetings were held for the multidisciplinary team in surgery and the organizational risk committee to improve the practice guidelines to make them more practicable. 3) The multidisciplinary team consisting of surgeons from five branches of surgery, anesthetists, nurse anesthetists, surgical nurses, and the organizational risk committee announced policy on safety for surgical patients; the organizational risk committee designated the Surgical Safety Checklist as an instrument for surgical patient safety. The results of the safety management found that the surgical team members who could follow 100 percent of the guidelines were: professional nurses who checked patient identity and information before taking the patient to the operating room and kept complete records of data on the patients; surgical nurses who checked readiness of the patient before surgery; nurse anesthetists who assessed readiness before administering anesthetic drugs, and confirmed correctness of the patient; and circulating perioperative nurses who gave confirmation to the surgical team after completion of the surgery. The rates of undesirable incidents (surgical complications rates) before and after the implementation of the surgical safety management were 1.60 percent and 0.66 percent, respectively. The satisfaction of the surgery-related teams towards the use of the guidelines was 89 percent. The practice guidelines for surgical safety management to reduce undesirable incidents were taken as guidelines for surgical safety that the multidisciplinary team involved in the surgical process implemented correctly and in the same direction and clearly reduced undesirable incidents in surgical patients.

Keywords: practice guidelines, surgical safety management, reduce undesirable incidents, operating Room

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Authors: Somnath Bhattacharyya

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The mobile adsorbed surface charge on hydrophobic surfaces can modify the velocity slip condition as well as create a Marangoni stress at the interface. The functionalized hydrophobic walls of micro/nanopores, e.g., graphene nanochannels, may possess physio-sorbed ions. The lateral mobility of the physisorbed absorbed ions creates a friction force as well as an electric force, leading to a modification in the velocity slip condition at the hydrophobic surface. In addition, the non-uniform distribution of these surface ions creates a surface tension gradient, leading to a Marangoni stress. The impact of the mobile surface charge on streaming potential and electrochemical energy conversion efficiency in a pressure-driven flow of ionized liquid through the nanopore is addressed. Also, enhanced electro-osmotic flow through the hydrophobic nanochannel is also analyzed. The mean-filed electrokinetic model is modified to take into account the short-range non-electrostatic steric interactions and the long-range Coulomb correlations. The steric interaction is modeled by considering the ions as charged hard spheres of finite radius suspended in the electrolyte medium. The electrochemical potential is modified by including the volume exclusion effect, which is modeled based on the BMCSL equation of state. The electrostatic correlation is accounted for in the ionic self-energy. The extremal of the self-energy leads to a fourth-order Poisson equation for the electric field. The ion transport is governed by the modified Nernst-Planck equation, which includes the ion steric interactions; born force arises due to the spatial variation of the dielectric permittivity and the dielectrophoretic force on the hydrated ions. This ion transport equation is coupled with the Navier-Stokes equation describing the flow of the ionized fluid and the 3fourth-order Poisson equation for the electric field. We numerically solve the coupled set of nonlinear governing equations along with the prescribed boundary conditions by adopting a control volume approach over a staggered grid arrangement. In the staggered grid arrangements, velocity components are stored on the midpoint of the cell faces to which they are normal, whereas the remaining scalar variables are stored at the center of each cell. The convection and electromigration terms are discretized at each interface of the control volumes using the total variation diminishing (TVD) approach to capture the strong convection resulting from the highly enhanced fluid flow due to the modified model. In order to link pressure to the continuity equation, we adopt a pressure correction-based iterative SIMPLE (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations) algorithm, in which the discretized continuity equation is converted to a Poisson equation involving pressure correction terms. Our results show that the physisorbed ions on a hydrophobic surface create an enhanced slip velocity when streaming potential, which enhances the convection current. However, the electroosmotic flow attenuates due to the mobile surface ions.

Keywords: microfluidics, electroosmosis, streaming potential, electrostatic correlation, finite sized ions

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Authors: Annalise Weckesser, Alex Wade, Clara Joergensen, Jerome Turner

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Introduction: Digital mobile technologies afford Generation M a number of opportunities in terms of communication, creativity and connectivity in their social interactions. Yet these young people’s use of such technologies is often the source of moral panic with accordant social anxiety especially prevalent in media representations of teen ‘sexting,’ or the sending of sexually explicit images via smartphones. Thus far, most responses to youth sexting have largely been ineffective or unjust with adult authorities sometimes blaming victims of non-consensual sexting, using child pornography laws to paradoxically criminalise those they are designed to protect, and/or advising teenagers to simply abstain from the practice. Prevention strategies are further skewed, with sex education initiatives often targeted at girls, implying that they shoulder the responsibility of minimising the risks associated with sexting (e.g. revenge porn and sexual predation). Purpose of Study: Despite increasing public interest and concern about ‘teen sexting,’ there remains a dearth of research with young people regarding their experiences of navigating sex and relationships in the current digital media landscape. Furthermore, young people's views on sexting are rarely solicited in the policy and educational strategies aimed at them. To address this research-policy-education gap, an interdisciplinary team of four researchers (from anthropology, media, sociology and education) have undertaken a peer-to-peer research project to co-create a sexual health intervention. Methods: In the winter of 2015-2016, the research team conducted serial group interviews with four cohorts of students (aged 13 to 15) from a secondary school in the West Midlands, UK. To facilitate open dialogue, girls and boys were interviewed separately, and each group consisted of no more than four pupils. The team employed a range of participatory techniques to elicit young people’s views on sexting, its consequences, and its interventions. A final focus group session was conducted with all 14 male and female participants to explore developing a peer-to-peer ‘safe sexting’ education intervention. Findings: This presentation will highlight the ongoing, ‘old school’ sexual double standards at work within this new digital frontier. In the sharing of ‘nudes’ (teens’ preferred term to ‘sexting’) via social media apps (e.g. Snapchat and WhatsApp), girls felt sharing images was inherently risky and feared being blamed and ‘slut-shamed.’ In contrast, boys were seen to gain in social status if they accumulated nudes of female peers. Further, if boys had nudes of themselves shared without consent, they felt they were expected to simply ‘tough it out.’ The presentation will also explore what forms of supports teens desire to help them in their day-to-day navigation of these digitally mediated, heteronormative performances of teen femininity and masculinity expected of them. Conclusion: This is the first research project, within UK, conducted with rather than about teens and the phenomenon of sexting. It marks a timely and important contribution to the nascent, but growing body of knowledge on gender, sexual politics and the digital mobility of sexual images created by and circulated amongst young people.

Keywords: teens, sexting, gender, sexual politics

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Authors: Jiabei Zhang

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Although adapted physical education (APE) teacher preparation programs are available in the nation, a consistent standards-based competency evaluation scale for preparing of qualified personnel for teaching children with disabilities in APE cannot be identified in the literature. The purpose of this study was to develop a standard-based competency evaluation scale for assessing qualifications for teaching children with disabilities in APE. Standard-based competencies were reviewed and identified based on research evidence documented as effective in teaching children with disabilities in APE. A standard-based competency scale was developed for assessing qualifications for teaching children with disabilities in APE. This scale included 20 standard-based competencies and a 4-point Likert-type scale for each standard-based competency. The first standard-based competency is knowledgeable of the causes of disabilities and their effects. The second competency is the ability to assess physical education skills of children with disabilities. The third competency is able to collaborate with other personnel. The fourth competency is knowledgeable of the measurement and evaluation. The fifth competency is to understand federal and state laws. The sixth competency is knowledgeable of the unique characteristics of all learners. The seventh competency is the ability to write in behavioral terms for objectives. The eighth competency is knowledgeable of developmental characteristics. The ninth competency is knowledgeable of normal and abnormal motor behaviors. The tenth competency is the ability to analyze and adapt the physical education curriculums. The eleventh competency is to understand the history and the philosophy of physical education. The twelfth competency is to understand curriculum theory and development. The thirteenth competency is the ability to utilize instructional designs and plans. The fourteenth competency is the ability to create and implement physical activities. The fifteenth competency is the ability to utilize technology applications. The sixteenth competency is to understand the value of program evaluation. The seventeenth competency is to understand professional standards. The eighteenth competency is knowledgeable of the focused instruction and individualized interventions. The nineteenth competency is able to complete a research project independently. The twentieth competency is to teach children with disabilities in APE independently. The 4-point Likert-type scale ranges from 1 for incompetent to 4 for highly competent. This scale is used for assessing if one completing all course works is eligible for receiving an endorsement for teaching children with disabilities in APE, which is completed based on the grades earned on three courses targeted for each standard-based competency. A mean grade received in three courses primarily addressing a standard-based competency will be marked on a competency level in the above scale. The level 4 is marked for a mean grade of A one receives over three courses, the level 3 for a mean grade of B over three courses, and so on. One should receive a mean score of 3 (competent level) or higher (highly competent) across 19 standard-based competencies after completing all courses specified for receiving an endorsement for teaching children with disabilities in APE. The validity, reliability, and objectivity of this standard-based competency evaluation scale are to be documented.

Keywords: evaluation scale, teacher preparation, adapted physical education teachers, and children with disabilities

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Authors: K. C. Tanuja, Mamatha P. Raj

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"People have always lived on streets. They have been the places where children first learned about the world, where neighbours met, the social centres of towns and cities, the rallying points for revolts, the scenes of repression. The street has always been the scene of this conflict, between living and access, between resident and traveller, between street life and the threat of death.” Livable Streets by Donald Appleyard. Urbanisation is happening rapidly all over the world. As population increasing in the urban settlements, its required to provide quality of life to all the inhabitants who live in. Urban design is a place making strategic planning. Urban design principles promote visualising any place environmentally, socially and economically viable. Urban design strategies include building mass, transit development, economic viability and sustenance and social aspects. Cities are wonderful inventions of diversity- People, things, activities, ideas and ideologies. Cities should be smarter and adjustable to present technology and intelligent system. Streets represent the community in terms of social and physical aspects. Streets are an urban form that responds to many issues and are central to urban life. Streets are for livability, safety, mobility, place of interest, economic opportunity, balancing the ecology and for mass transit. Urban streets are places where people walk, shop, meet and engage in different types of social and recreational activities which make urban community enjoyable. Streets knit the urban fabric of activities. Urban streets become livable with the introduction of social network enhancing the pedestrian character by providing good design features which in turn should achieve the minimal impact of motor vehicle use on pedestrians. Livable streets are the spatial definition to the public right of way on urban streets. Streets in India have traditionally been the public spaces where social life happened or created from ages. Streets constitute the urban public realm where people congregate, celebrate and interact. Streets are public places that can promote social interaction, active living and community identity. Streets as potential contributors to a better living environment, knitting together the urban fabric of people and places that make up a community. Livable streets or complete streets are making our streets as social places, roadways and sidewalks accessible, safe, efficient and useable for all people. The purpose of this paper is to understand the concept of livable street and parameters of livability on urban streets. Streets to be designed as the pedestrians are the main users and create spaces and furniture for social interaction which serves for the needs of the people of all ages and abilities. The problems of streets like congestion due to width of the street, traffic movement and adjacent land use and type of movement need to be redesigned and improve conditions defining the clear movement path for vehicles and pedestrians. Well-designed spatial qualities of street enhances the street environment, livability and then achieves quality of life to the pedestrians. A methodology been derived to arrive at the typologies in street design after analysis of existing situation and comparing with livable standards. It was Donald Appleyard‟s Livable Streets laid out the social effects on streets creating the social network to achieve Livable Streets.

Keywords: livable streets, social interaction, pedestrian use, urban design

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Authors: Abderrahmane Soufi

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The building sector is the largest consumer of energy in France, accounting for 44% of French consumption. To reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency, France implemented an energy transition law targeting 40% energy savings by 2030 in the tertiary building sector. Building simulation tools are used to predict the energy performance of buildings but the reliability of these tools is hampered by discrepancies between the real and simulated energy performance of a building. This performance gap lies in the simplified assumptions of certain factors, such as the behavior of occupants on air conditioning and heating, which is considered deterministic when setting a fixed operating schedule and a fixed interior comfort temperature. However, the behavior of occupants on air conditioning and heating is stochastic, diverse, and complex because it can be affected by many factors. Probabilistic models are an alternative to deterministic models. These models are usually derived from statistical data and express occupant behavior by assuming a probabilistic relationship to one or more variables. In the literature, logistic regression has been used to model the behavior of occupants with regard to heating and air conditioning systems by considering univariate logistic models in residential buildings; however, few studies have developed multivariate models for higher education and vocational training buildings in a Mediterranean climate. Therefore, in this study, occupant behavior on heating and air conditioning systems was modeled using logistic regression. Occupant behavior related to the turn-on heating and air conditioning systems was studied through experimental measurements collected over a period of one year (June 2023–June 2024) in three classrooms occupied by several groups of students in engineering schools and professional training. Instrumentation was provided to collect indoor temperature and indoor relative humidity in 10-min intervals. Furthermore, the state of the heating/air conditioning system (off or on) and the set point were determined. The outdoor air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed were collected as weather data. The number of occupants, age, and sex were also considered. Logistic regression was used for modeling an occupant turning on the heating and air conditioning systems. The results yielded a proposed model that can be used in building simulation tools to predict the energy performance of teaching buildings. Based on the first months (summer and early autumn) of the investigations, the results illustrate that the occupant behavior of the air conditioning systems is affected by the indoor relative humidity and temperature in June, July, and August and by the indoor relative humidity, temperature, and number of occupants in September and October. Occupant behavior was analyzed monthly, and univariate and multivariate models were developed.

Keywords: occupant behavior, logistic regression, behavior model, mediterranean climate, air conditioning, heating

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Authors: Shazia Almas, Jaffar Iqbal, Nazia Almas

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In most of the South Asian countries like Pakistan medical profession is one the most valued and respectful professions yet being a medical professional requires an enormous amount of responsibilities and work overload at the same time which possibly can be in contrast with family role of a doctor. Job and family are two primary spheres of a person's life no matter whatever the profession one adopts and the type of family one is running. There is a bi-directional relationship between job and family. The type and nature of work, time schedules, working shifts in medical profession are very demanding in the countries like Pakistan where number of patients is far more higher than the number of doctors available. The work life also have significant impact on family life and vice versa. Because of the sensitivity and interdependency of these relations, today’s overarching and competing demands remain dissatisfactory. The main objective of the current research is to investigate how interpersonal relationships affect work and work affects interpersonal relationships of medical professionals. In line with identifying these facts, the current study aimed to examine the predictive role of psychological capital (self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience), in organizational outcome (job satisfaction) and personal outcome (family satisfaction) amongst male and medical professionals. A total of 350 participants from public and private sector hospitals of Pakistan were recruited through simple random and stratified sampling techniques, with age ranges from 26-50 years. The questionnaire including established and certified self-report measures of Psychological Capital Questionnaire, Job Satisfaction, and Family Satisfaction were adopted to collect the data. The reliability and validity of mentioned instruments were established through Cronbach’s alpha and factor analyses (exploratory and confirmatory) respectively using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) by AMOS. The proposed hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s Correlation and Regression analyses for predicting effect whereas, t-Test was deployed to verify the difference between male and female health professionals. The results revealed that self-efficacy and optimism predicted job satisfaction while, self-efficacy, hope, and resilience predicted family satisfaction. Moreover, the results depicted significant gender differences in job satisfaction where females were higher on job satisfaction as compared to male medical professionals but no significant differences were observed in levels of family satisfaction between both genders. The study has implications for social, organizational and work policy designers. The study also paves for more researches with positive psychological approach to promote work-family harmony.

Keywords: family satisfaction, job satisfaction, medical professionals, psychological capital

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Authors: Raphael Palucci Rosa, Giuseppe Rosace

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Stereolithography (SLA) is one of the 3D-printing technologies that has been steadily growing in popularity for both industrial and personal applications due to its versatility, high accuracy, and low cost. Its printing process consists of using a light emitter to solidify photosensitive liquid resins layer-by-layer to produce solid objects. However, the majority of the resins used in SLA are derived from petroleum and characterized by toxicity, stability, and recalcitrance to degradation in natural environments. Aiming to develop an eco-friendly resin, in this work, different combinations of a standard commercial SLA resin (Peopoly UV professional) with a vegetable-based resin were investigated. To reach this goal, different mass concentrations (varying from 10 to 50 wt%) of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO), a vegetable resin produced from soyabean oil, were mixed with a commercial acrylate-based resin. 1.0 wt% of Diphenyl(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide (TPO) was used as photo-initiator, and the samples were printed using a Peopoly moai 130. The machine was set to operate at standard configurations when printing commercial resins. After the print was finished, the excess resin was drained off, and the samples were washed in isopropanol and water to remove any non-reacted resin. Finally, the samples were post-cured for 30 min in a UV chamber. FT-IR analysis was used to confirm the UV polymerization of the formulated resin with different AESO/Peopoly ratios. The signals from 1643.7 to 1616, which corresponds to the C=C stretching of the AESO acrylic acids and Peopoly acrylic groups, significantly decreases after the reaction. The signal decrease indicates the consumption of the double bonds during the radical polymerization. Furthermore, the slight change of the C-O-C signal from 1186.1 to 1159.9 decrease of the signals at 809.5 and 983.1, which corresponds to unsaturated double bonds, are both proofs of the successful polymerization. Mechanical analyses showed a decrease of 50.44% on tensile strength when adding 10 wt% of AESO, but it was still in the same range as other commercial resins. The elongation of break increased by 24% with 10 wt% of AESO and swelling analysis showed that samples with a higher concentration of AESO mixed absorbed less water than their counterparts. Furthermore, high-resolution prototypes were printed using both resins, and visual analysis did not show any significant difference between both products. In conclusion, the AESO resin was successful incorporated into a commercial resin without affecting its printability. The bio-based resin showed lower tensile strength than the Peopoly resin due to network loosening, but it was still in the range of other commercial resins. The hybrid resin also showed better flexibility and water resistance than Peopoly resin without affecting its resolution. Finally, the development of new types of SLA resins is essential to provide new sustainable alternatives to the commercial petroleum-based ones.

Keywords: 3D-printing, bio-based, resin, soybean, stereolithography

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Authors: Diana F. Lopes, Jorge Simoes, José Martins, Eduardo Castro

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Health professionals are the keystone of any health system, by delivering health services to the population. Given the time and cost involved in training new health professionals, the planning process of the health workforce is particularly important as it ensures a proper balance between the supply and demand of these professionals and it plays a central role on the Health 2020 policy. In the past 40 years, the planning of the health workforce in Portugal has been conducted in a reactive way lacking a prospective vision based on an integrated, comprehensive and valid analysis. This situation may compromise not only the productivity and the overall socio-economic development but the quality of the healthcare services delivered to patients. This is even more critical given the expected shortage of the health workforce in the future. Furthermore, Portugal is facing an aging context of some professional classes (physicians and nurses). In 2015, 54% of physicians in Portugal were over 50 years old, and 30% of all members were over 60 years old. This phenomenon associated to an increasing emigration of young health professionals and a change in the citizens’ illness profiles and expectations must be considered when planning resources in healthcare. The perspective of sudden retirement of large groups of professionals in a short time is also a major problem to address. Another challenge to embrace is the health workforce imbalances, in which Portugal has one of the lowest nurse to physician ratio, 1.5, below the European Region and the OECD averages (2.2 and 2.8, respectively). Within the scope of the HEALTH 2040 project – which aims to estimate the ‘Future needs of human health resources in Portugal till 2040’ – the present study intends to get a comprehensive dynamic approach of the problem, by (i) estimating the needs of physicians and nurses in Portugal, by specialties and by quinquenium till 2040; (ii) identifying the training needs of physicians and nurses, in medium and long term, till 2040, and (iii) estimating the number of students that must be admitted into medicine and nursing training systems, each year, considering the different categories of specialties. The development of such approach is significantly more critical in the context of limited budget resources and changing health care needs. In this context, this study presents the drivers of the healthcare needs’ evolution (such as the demographic and technological evolution, the future expectations of the users of the health systems) and it proposes a Bayesian methodology, combining the best available data with experts opinion, to model such evolution. Preliminary results considering different plausible scenarios are presented. The proposed methodology will be integrated in a user-friendly decision support system so it can be used by politicians, with the potential to measure the impact of health policies, both at the regional and the national level.

Keywords: bayesian estimation, health economics, health workforce planning, human health resources planning

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Authors: Frazer G. Thompson

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Israel is a nation of cultural and historical diversity, yet the success factors for a modern Bedouin-Arab high-tech entrepreneur seem to be different from those of other Jewish-Israeli citizens. The purpose of this descriptive narrative case study is to explore how an Arab-Israeli all Negev-Bedouin technology company has succeeded in the Israeli high-tech industry by utilizing technology and engineering career opportunities available to Bedouin youth for ‘Sadel Tech,’ at Be’er-Sheva, the Negev, Israel. Methods: The strategy of inquiry seeks to explore real-life contextual understandings, multi-level perspectives, and the cultural influences of personal, community, educational, and entrepreneurial factors. The research methodology includes in-depth one-on-one interviews, focus group sessions, and overt observation to explore the meaning and understanding of the constructs toward determining the effect all or a few of the elements may have on the overall success factors of the company. Results: Study results indicate that the state-run educational system in Israel fails to adequately integrate important aspects of Bedouin culture into the learning environment. However, Bedouin entrepreneurs are finding ways to compensate for these inadequacies by utilizing non-traditional methods of teaching, learning, and doing business. Government incentives for Bedouin start-ups are also recognized as contributors. Employees of Sadel live and work in the Negev, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, further informing the study that the traditions of tribal etiquette continue to contribute to modern Bedouin-Arab business culture. Conclusion: Bedouin's business success in Israel is a multi-dimensional concept. While cultural acumen plays a prominent and unique role for both Arab-Israelis and Jewish-Israelis in economic and entrepreneurial pursuits, the marginalization of the Bedouin continues to contribute to the lack of educational and professional opportunities for Bedouin in Israel. Although recognized as important at the government level, programs necessary to implement the infrastructure required to support Bedouin entrepreneurship in Israel remain infantile. The Israeli Government is providing opportunities through grants and other incentives for Bedouin entrepreneurial start-ups, indicating that Israel has recognized the impact of this growing demographic. However, although many Bedouin graduates from University each year with advanced degrees, opportunities for Bedouin within the Israeli high-tech sector remain scarce.

Keywords: Bedouin education, Bedouin entrepreneur, economic anthropology, ethnic business opportunities, Israeli tech, Silicon Wadi

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Authors: Noor Ashikin Omar

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The rapid growth and advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) at a global scene has greatly influenced and revolutionised interaction amongst society. The use of ICT has become second nature in managing everyday lives, particularly in the education environment. Traditional learning methods of using blackboards and chalks have been largely improved by the use of ICT devices such as interactive whiteboards and computers in school. This paper aims to explore the impacts of virtual learning environments (VLE) on teacher’s pedagogy and student’s learning in primary school settings. The research was conducted in two phases. Phase one of this study comprised a short interview with the school’s senior assistants to examine issues and challenges faced during planning and implementation of FrogVLE in their respective schools. Phase two involved a survey of a number of questionnaires directed to three major stakeholders; the teachers, students and parents. The survey intended to explore teacher’s and student’s perspective and attitude towards the use of VLE as a teaching and learning medium and as a learning experience as a whole. In addition, the survey from parents provided insights on how they feel towards the use of VLE for their child’s learning. Collectively, the two phases enable improved understanding and provided observations on factors that had affected the implementation of the VLE into primary schools. This study offers the voices of the students which were frequently omitted when addressing innovations as well as teachers who may not always be heard. It is also significant in addressing the importance of teacher’s pedagogy on students’ learning and its effects to enable more effective ICT integration with a student-centred approach. Finally, parental perceptions in the implementation of VLE in supporting their children’s learning have been implicated as having a bearing on educational achievement. The results indicate that the all three stakeholders were positive and highly supportive towards the use of VLE in schools. They were able to understand the benefits of moving towards the modern method of teaching using ICT and accept the change in the education system. However, factors such as condition of ICT facilities at schools and homes as well as inadequate professional development for the teachers in both ICT skills and management skills hindered exploitation of the VLE system in order to fully utilise its benefits. Social influences within different communities and cultures and costs of using the technology also has a significant impact. The findings of this study are important to the Malaysian Ministry of Education because it informs policy makers on the impact of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) on teacher’s pedagogy and learning of Malaysian primary school children. The information provided to policy makers allows them to make a sound judgement and enables an informed decision making.

Keywords: attitudes towards virtual learning environment (VLE), parental perception, student's learning, teacher's pedagogy

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Authors: Carmen Noheda

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This text provides a reflection on the way of thinking about the study of the history of music by examining the production of historiography in Spain at the turn of the century. Based on concepts developed by the historical theorist Jörn Rüsen, the article focuses on the following aspects: the theoretical artifacts that structure the interpretation of the limits of writing the history of music, the narrative patterns used to give meaning to the discourse of history, and the orientation context that functions as a source of criteria of significance for both interpretation and representation. This analysis intends to show that historical music theory is not only a means to abstractly explore the complex questions connected to the production of historical knowledge, but also a tool for obtaining concrete images about the intellectual practice of professional musicologists. Writing about the historiography of contemporary Spanish music is a task that requires both a knowledge of the history that is being written and investigated, as well as a familiarity with current theoretical trends and methodologies that allow for the recognition and definition of the different tendencies that have arisen in recent decades. With the objective of carrying out these premises, this project takes as its point of departure the 'immediate historiography' in relation to Spanish music at the beginning of the 21st century. The hesitation that Spanish musicology has shown in opening itself to new anthropological and sociological approaches, along with its rigidity in the face of the multiple shifts in dynamic forms of thinking about history, have produced a standstill whose consequences can be seen in the delayed reception of the historiographical revolutions that have emerged in the last century. Methodologically, this essay is underpinned by Rüsen’s notion of the disciplinary matrix, which is an important contribution to the understanding of historiography. Combined with his parallel conception of differing paradigms of historiography, it is useful for analyzing the present-day forms of thinking about the history of music. Following these theories, the article will in the first place address the characteristics and identification of present historiographical currents in Spanish musicology to thereby carry out an analysis based on the theories of Rüsen. Finally, it will establish some considerations for the future of musical historiography, whose atrophy has not only fostered the maintenance of an ingrained positivist tradition, but has also implied, in the case of Spain, an absence of methodological schools and an insufficient participation in international theoretical debates. An update of fundamental concepts has become necessary in order to understand that thinking historically about music demands that we remember that subjects are always linked by reciprocal interdependencies that structure and define what it is possible to create. In this sense, the fundamental aim of this research departs from the recognition that the history of music is embedded in the conditions that make it conceivable, communicable and comprehensible within a society.

Keywords: historiography, Jörn Rüssen, Spanish musicology, theory of history of music

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Authors: K. Ghosh, S. N. Tripathi, Manish Joshi, Y. S. Mayya, Arshad Khan, B. K. Sapra

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We have developed a CFD coupled aerosol microphysics model in the context of aerosol generation from a glowing wire. The governing equations can be solved implicitly for mass, momentum, energy transfer along with aerosol dynamics. The computationally efficient framework can simulate temporal behavior of total number concentration and number size distribution. This formulation uniquely couples standard K-Epsilon scheme with boundary layer model with detailed aerosol dynamics through residence time. This model uses measured temperatures (wire surface and axial/radial surroundings) and wire compositional data apart from other usual inputs for simulations. The model predictions show that bulk fluid motion and local heat distribution can significantly affect the aerosol behavior when the buoyancy effect in momentum transfer is considered. Buoyancy generated turbulence was found to be affecting parameters related to aerosol dynamics and transport as well. The model was validated by comparing simulated predictions with results obtained from six controlled experiments performed with a laboratory-made hot wire nanoparticle generator. Condensation particle counter (CPC) and scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) were used for measurement of total number concentration and number size distribution at the outlet of reactor cell during these experiments. Our model-predicted results were found to be in reasonable agreement with observed values. The developed model is fast (fully implicit) and numerically stable. It can be used specifically for applications in the context of the behavior of aerosol particles generated from glowing wire technique and in general for other similar large scale domains. Incorporation of CFD in aerosol microphysics framework provides a realistic platform to study natural convection driven systems/ applications. Aerosol dynamics sub-modules (nucleation, coagulation, wall deposition) have been coupled with Navier Stokes equations modified to include buoyancy coupled K-Epsilon turbulence model. Coupled flow-aerosol dynamics equation was solved numerically and in the implicit scheme. Wire composition and temperature (wire surface and cell domain) were obtained/measured, to be used as input for the model simulations. Model simulations showed a significant effect of fluid properties on the dynamics of aerosol particles. The role of buoyancy was highlighted by observation and interpretation of nucleation zones in the planes above the wire axis. The model was validated against measured temporal evolution, total number concentration and size distribution at the outlet of hot wire generator cell. Experimentally averaged and simulated total number concentrations were found to match closely, barring values at initial times. Steady-state number size distribution matched very well for sub 10 nm particle diameters while reasonable differences were noticed for higher size ranges. Although tuned specifically for the present context (i.e., aerosol generation from hotwire generator), the model can also be used for diverse applications, e.g., emission of particles from hot zones (chimneys, exhaust), fires and atmospheric cloud dynamics.

Keywords: nanoparticles, k-epsilon model, buoyancy, CFD, hot wire generator, aerosol dynamics

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Anxuan Xie, Chun-Chan Yu

Abstract:

Survey evidence provides support that auditors can gain professional knowledge not only from client firms but also from teammates they work with. Furthermore, given that knowledge is accumulated in nature, along with the reality that auditors today must work in an environment of increased diversity, whether the attributes of teammates will influence the effects of knowledge sharing and accumulation and ultimately influence an audit partner’s audit quality should be interesting research issues. We test whether the gender of co-signers will moderate the effect of a lead partner’s cooperative experiences on financial restatements. Furthermore, if the answer is “yes”, we further investigate the underlying reasons. We use data from Taiwan because, according to Taiwan’s law, engagement partners, who are basically two certificate public accountants from the same audit firm, are required to disclose (i.e., sign) their names in the audit report of public companies since 1983. Therefore, we can trace each engagement partner’s historic direct cooperative (co-signing) records and get large-sample data. We find that the benefits of knowledge sharing manifest primarily via co-signing audit reports with audit partners of different gender from the lead engagement partners, supporting the argument that in an audit setting, accumulated gender-diverse working relationship is positively associated with knowledge sharing, and therefore improve lead engagements’ audit quality. This study contributes to the extant literature in the following ways. First, we provide evidence that in the auditing setting, the experiences accumulated from cooperating with teammates of a different gender from the lead partner can improve audit quality. Given that most studies find evidence of negative effects of surface-level diversity on team performance, the results of this study support the prior literature that the association between diversity and knowledge sharing actually hinges on the context (e.g., organizational culture, task complexity) and “bridge” (a pre-existing commonality among team members that can smooth the process of diversity toward favorable results) among diversity team members. Second, this study also provides practical insights with respect to the audit firms’ policy of knowledge sharing and deployment of engagement partners. For example, for audit firms that appreciate the merits of knowledge sharing, the deployment of auditors of different gender within an audit team can help auditors accumulate audit-related knowledge, which will further benefit the future performance of those audit firms. Moreover, nowadays, client firms also attach importance to the diversity of their engagement partners. As their policy goals, lawmakers and regulators also continue to promote a gender-diverse working environment. The findings of this study indicate that for audit firms, gender diversity will not be just a means to cater to those groups. Third, for audit committees or other stakeholders, they can evaluate the quality of existing (or potential) lead partners by tracking their co-signing experiences, especially whether they have gender-diverse co-signing experiences.

Keywords: co-signing experiences, audit quality, knowledge sharing, gender diversity

Procedia PDF Downloads 54

Authors: Jane E. Hill

Abstract:

Quality of life is an important component for many. With that in mind, everyone will experience some type of loss within his or her lifetime. A person can experience loss due to break up, separation, divorce, estrangement, or death. An individual may experience loss of a job, loss of capacity, or loss caused by human or natural-caused disasters. An individual’s response to such a loss is unique to them, and not everyone will seek services to assist them with their grief due to loss. Counseling can promote positive outcomes for clients that are grieving by addressing the client’s personal loss and helping the client process their grief. However, a lack of understanding on the part of counselors of how people grieve may result in negative client outcomes such as poor health, psychological distress, or an increased risk of depression. Education and training in grief counseling can improve counselors’ problem recognition and skills in treatment planning. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) master’s degree counseling students view themselves as having been adequately trained in grief theories and skills. Many people deal with grief issues that prevent them from having joy or purpose in their lives and that leaves them unable to engage in positive opportunities or relationships. This study examined CACREP-accredited master’s counseling students’ self-reported competency, training, and education in providing grief counseling. The implications for positive social change arising from the research may be to incorporate and promote education and training in grief theories and skills in a majority of counseling programs and to provide motivation to incorporate professional standards for grief training and practice in the mental health counseling field. The theoretical foundation used was modern grief theory based on John Bowlby’s work on Attachment Theory. The overall research question was how competent do master’s-level counselors view themselves regarding the education or training they received in grief theories or counseling skills in their CACREP-accredited studies. The author used a non-experimental, one shot survey comparative quantitative research design. Cicchetti’s Grief Counseling Competency Scale (GCCS) was administered to CACREP master’s-level counseling students enrolled in their practicum or internship experience, which resulted in 153 participants. Using a MANCOVA, there was significance found for relationships between coursework taken and (a) perceived assessment skills (p = .029), (b) perceived treatment skills (p = .025), and (c) perceived conceptual skills and knowledge (p = .003). Results of this study provided insight for CACREP master’s-level counseling programs to explore and discuss curriculum coursework inclusion of education and training in grief theories and skills.

Keywords: counselor education and training, grief education and training, grief and loss, quality of life

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: E. Tugba Topcu

Abstract:

The emergency services are usually the first places to encounter forensic cases. Hence, it is important to consider forensics from the perspective of the emergency services staff and the physiological and psychological consequences that may arise as a result of behaviour by itself or another person. Accurate and detailed documentation of the situation in which the patient first arrives at the emergency service and preservation of the forensic findings is pivotal for the subsequent forensic investigation. The first step in determining whether or not a forensic case exists is to perform a medical examination of the patient. For each individual suspected to be part of a forensic case, police officers should be informed at the same time as the medical examination is being conducted. Violent events are increasing every year and with an increase in the number of forensic cases, emergency service workers have increasing responsibility and consequently play a key role in protecting, collecting and arranging the forensic evidence. In addition, because the emergency service workers involved in forensic events typically have information about the accused and/or victim, as well as evidence related to the events and the cause of injuries, police officers often require their testimony. However, both nurses and other health care personnel do not typically have adequate expertise in forensic medicine. Emergency nurses should take an active role for determining that whether any patient admitted to the emergency services is a clinical forensic patient the emergency service with injury and requiring possible punishment and knowing of their roles and responsibilities in this area provides legal protection as well as the protection of the judicial affair. Particularly, in emergency services, where rapid patient turnover and high workload exists, patient registration and case reporting may not exist. In such instances, the witnesses, typically the nurses, are often consulted for information. Knowledge of forensic medical matters plays a vital role in achieving justice. According to the Criminal Procedure Law, Article 75, Paragraph 3, ‘an internal body examination or the taking of blood or other biological samples from the body can be performed only by a doctor or other health professional member’. In favour of this item, the clinic nurse and doctor are mainly responsible for evaluating forensic cases in emergency departments, performing the examination, collecting evidence, and storing and reporting data. The courts place considerable importance on determining whether a suspect is the victim or accused and, thus, in terms of illuminating events, it is crucial that any evidence is gathered carefully and appropriately. All the evidence related to the forensic case including the forensic report should be handed over to the police officers. In instances where forensic evidence cannot be collected and the only way to obtain the evidence is the hospital environment, health care personnel in emergency services need to have knowledge about the diagnosis of forensic evidence, the collection of evidence, hiding evidence and provision of the evidence delivery chain.

Keywords: emergency department, emergency nursing, forensic cases, forensic nursing

Procedia PDF Downloads 222