Search results for: public speaking

Authors: Z. Sun

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Health communication is essential in promoting healthy lifestyles, managing disease conditions, and eventually reducing health disparities. The key elements of successful health communication always include the development of communication strategies to engage people in thinking about their health, inform them about healthy choices, persuade them to adopt safe and healthy behaviours, and eventually achieve public health objectives. The use of 'Narrative' is recognised as a kind of health communication strategy to enhance personal and public health due to its potential persuasive effect in motivating and supporting individuals change their beliefs and behaviours by inviting them into a narrative world, breaking down their cognitive and emotional resistance and enhance their acceptance of the ideas portrayed in narratives. Meanwhile, the popularity of social media has provided a novel means of communication for both healthcare stakeholders, and a special group of active social media users (influencers) have started playing a pivotal role in providing health ‘solutions’. Such individuals are often referred to as ‘influencers’ because of their central position in the online communication system and the persuasive effect their actions may have on audiences. They may have established a positive rapport with their audience, earned trust and credibility in a specific area, and thus, their audience considers the information they delivered to be authentic and influential. To our best knowledge, to date, there is no published research that examines the effect of diabetes narratives presented by social media influencers and their impacts on health-related outcomes. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the diabetes narratives presented by social media influencers in the UK because of the new dimension they bring to health communication and the potential impact they may have on audiences' health outcomes. This study is situated within the interpretivist and narrative paradigms. A mixed methodology combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches has been adopted. Qualitative data has been derived to provide a better understanding of influencers’ personal experiences and how they construct meanings and make sense of their world, while quantitative data has been accumulated to identify key social media influencers in the UK and measure the impact of diabetes narratives on audiences. Twitter has been chosen as the social media platform to initially identify key influencers. Two groups of participants are the top 10 key social media influencers in the UK and 100 audiences of each influencer, which means a total of 1000 audiences have been invited. This paper is going to discuss, first of all, the background of the research under the context of health communication; Secondly, the necessity and contribution of this research; then, the major research questions being explored; and finally, the methods to be used.

Keywords: diabetes, health communication, narratives, social media influencers

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Authors: Lynn Ruggieri

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The worldwide pandemic has only increased sustainability awareness. The public is demanding that businesses be held accountable for their impact on the environment. While financial data enjoys uniformity in reporting requirements, there are no uniform reporting requirements for non-financial data. Europe is leading the way with some standards being implemented for reporting non-financial sustainability data; however, there is no uniformity globally. And without uniformity, there is not a clear understanding of what information to include and how to disclose it. Sustainability reporting will provide important information to stakeholders and will enable businesses to understand their impact on the environment. Therefore, there is a crucial need for this data. This paper looks at the history of sustainability reporting in the countries of the European Union and throughout the world and makes a case for worldwide reporting requirements for sustainability.

Keywords: financial reporting, non-financial data, sustainability, global financial reporting

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Authors: Juliana Kurniawati, Helen Diana Vida

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Visiting mall is one of the Indonesian communities’ lifestyle who live in urban areas. Indonesian people, especially who live in Jakarta, use a shopping mall as one of the favourite places to get pleasure. This mall visitors come from various social classes. They use the shopping mall as a place to identify themselves as urban people. Jakarta has a number of great shopping malls such as Plaza Indonesia, Plaza Senayan, Pondok Indah Mall, etc. The shopping malls become one of the popular places since Jakarta's public sphere such as parks and playgrounds are very limited in number compared to that of shopping malls. In Jakarta, people do not come to a shopping mall only for shopping. Sometimes they go there to look around, meet up with some friends, or watch a movie. We can find everything in the shopping malls. The principle of one-stop shopping becomes an attractive offer for urban people. The items for selling are various, from the cheap goods to the expensive ones. A new era in consumer culture began with the advent of shopping was localized in France in the 19th century. Since the development of the online store and the easier way to access the internet, everyone can shop 24 hours anywhere they want. The emergence of online store indirectly has an impact on the viability of conventional stores. In October 2017, in Indonesia, two outlets branded goods namely Lotus and Debenhams were closed. This may a result of increasingly rampant online stores and shopping style urban society shift. The rising of technology gives some influence on the development of e-commerce in Indonesia. Everyone can access e-commerce. However, those who can do it are the middle up class to high class people. The development of e-commerce in Indonesia is quite fast, we can observe the emergence of various online shopping sites on various social media platforms such as Zalora, Berrybenka, Bukalapak, Lazada, and Tokopedia. E-commerce is increasingly affecting people's lives in line with the development of lifestyle and increasing revenue. This research aims to know the reasons of urban society choosing e-commerce as a medium for grocery shopping, how e-commerce is affecting their shopping styles, as well as why society provides confidence in the online store for shopping. This research uses theories of lifestyle by David Chaney. The subject of this research is urban society who actively shop online on Zalora, the communities based in Jakarta. Zalora site was chosen because the site is selling branded goods. This research is expected to explain in detail about the changing style of the urban community from the shopping mall to digital media by emphasizing the aspect of public confidence towards the online store.

Keywords: e-commerce, shopping, lifestyle, changing

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Authors: Chettou Souhaila, Soufi Omar, Roumia Mohammed Ammar

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Protecting the environment is to preserve the survival and future of humanity. Indeed, the environment is our source of food and drinking water, the air is our source of oxygen, the climate allows our survival and biodiversity are a potential drug reservoir. Preserving the environment is, therefore, a matter of survival. The objective of this project is to familiarize the general public with environmental problems not only with the theme of environmental protection, but also with the concept of biodiversity in different ecosystems. For it, the aim of our project was to create the Ecorium which is a place that preserves many species of plants of different ecosystems, schools, malls, buildings, offices, ecological transports, gardens, and many familial activities that participated in the ecosystems development, strategic biodiversity and sustainable development.

Keywords: ecological system, ecorium, environment, sustainable development

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Authors: Hassan Alhaji Hassan, Inuwa Abdu Ibrahim

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The research looks at the decaying socioeconomic values in northern Nigeria, which is directly affecting the administration of service at different levels. The aim is to establish the consequence of a valueless society on individual and public life at different levels. The result of governments’ continued neglect of education, societal values, which have negatively affected societal development and indeed development in general. Therefore, focus is on governments’ poor performance in Nigeria, using secondary sources of data. In conclusion, the research asserts the need for the application of the values of some traditional values as personal principles and good governance as the way out of the present deteriorating conditions.

Keywords: socioeconomic, values, education, Northern Nigeria, good governance

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Authors: Ali Conn, Kimberly Allen

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Food and nutrition play a significant role in humans. It helps them function, grow, and develop into better individuals. However, as essential as food may seem to most people, it is not the case for everyone. South Africans, for example, have been suffering from hunger and poverty for the longest time now. With the spread of the COVID-19 virus, their situations have become worse. Millions of children and their families do not have access to food, hence no proper nutrition. They could barely make ends meet, so they make sure to make the most of what little they have for their household. Fortunately, organizations like SA Harvest aim to end hunger in South Africa. However, they still need to know more about how they can help South Africans with their current diet. Currently, most of the diets are composed of maize and rice. They do not have much to spend on fruits, so these commodities are seen as a luxury. With the help of organizations like SA Harvest, South Africans will be educated and more aware of what they need to eat.

Keywords: nutrition, public health, SA Harvest, food

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Authors: Chamaraja Parulli

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Family is an important social institution devoted to the growth of a child, and parents are the important agents of socialization. Mentally challenged children are those who are affected by intellectual disability, which is manifested by limitation in intellectual functioning and adoptive behavior. Intellectual disability affects about 3-4 percentage of the general population. Intellectual disability is caused by genetic condition, problems during pregnancy, problems during childbirth, or illness. Mental retardation is the world’s most complex and challenging issue. The stigmatization of disability results in social and economic marginalization. Parents of the mentally challenged children will have a very high level of parenting stress, which is significantly more than the stress perceived by the parents of the children without disability. The prevalence of severe mental disorder called Schizophrenia is among 1.1 percent of the total population in India. On the other hand, 11 to 12 percent is the overall lifetime occurrence rate of mental disorders. While the government has a separate program for mental health, the segment is marred by lack of adequate doctors and infrastructure. Mentally retarded children have certain limitations in mental functioning and skills, which makes them slow learners in speaking, walking, and taking care of their personal needs such as dressing and eating. Accepting a child with mental handicap becomes difficult for parents and to the whole family, as they have to face many problems, including those of management, finance, deprivation of rest, and leisure. Also, the problems faced by the parents can be seen in different areas like – educational, psychological, social, emotional, financial and family related issues. The study brought out various difficulties and problems faced by the parents as well as family members. The findings revealed that the mental retardation is not only a medico-psychological problem but also a socio-cultural problem. The study results, however, indicate that the quality of life of the family having children with mental retardation can be improved to a greater extent by building up a child-friendly ambience at home. The main aim of the present study is to assess the problems faced by the parents of mentally challenged children, with the help of personal interview data collected from the parents of mentally challenged children, residing in Shimoga District of Karnataka State, India. These individuals were selected using stratified random sampling method. Organizing effective intervention programs for parents, family, society, and educational institutions towards reduction of family stress, augmenting the family’s strengths, increasing child’s competence and enhancing the positive attitudes and values of the society will go a long way for the peaceful existence of the mentally challenged children.

Keywords: mentally challenged children, intellectual disability, special children, social infrastructure, differently abled, psychological stress, marginalization

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Authors: Urva Maryam

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Information has become an important asset to the current cosmos. Globally, various tactics are being observed to confine the spread of information as it makes people vulnerable to security attacks. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is a publicly available source that has disseminated information about users or website, companies, and various organizations. This paper focuses on the quantitative method of exploring various OSINT tools that reveal public information of personals. This information could further facilitate the phishing attacks. Phishing attacks can be launched on email addresses, open ports, and unsecured web-surfing. This study allows to analyze information retrieved from OSINT tools i.e., the Harvester, and Maltego, that can be used to send phishing attacks to individuals.

Keywords: OSINT, phishing, spear phishing, email spoofing, the harvester, maltego

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Authors: Tara T. Y. Yadollahi, Alesandra A. D. Dulic

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This paper investigates the intricate relationship between societal norms and self-expression, focusing particularly on the dress codes enforced upon women in restrictive cultures, with a special emphasis on Iran. This study explores how such mandates foster a societal duality, where women must constantly negotiate between public compliance and private authenticity. This dual existence not only influences women’s choice of clothing but also deeply impacts their self-presentation and interaction within society, perpetuating a cycle of vigilance and self-expression. To enhance the discussion, this paper introduces a short video project titled "Be in my Chador," which visually represents these themes and aims to provoke critical reflection on the pervasive impact of societal expectations on individual behavior.

Keywords: feminism, dress code, self-expression, self-censorship

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Authors: Esther Ekundayo

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The nature of AI-generated works makes it difficult to identify an author. Although, some scholars have suggested that all the players involved in its creation should be allocated authorship according to their respective contribution. From the programmer who creates and designs the AI to the investor who finances the AI and to the user of the AI who most likely ends up creating the work in question. While others suggested that this issue may be resolved by the UK computer-generated works (CGW) provision under Section 9(3) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. However, under the UK and Nigerian copyright law, only human-created works are recognised. This is usually assessed based on their originality. This simply means that the work must have been created as a result of its author’s creative and intellectual abilities and not copied. Such works are literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and are those that have recently been a topic of discussion with regards to generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI). Unlike Nigeria, the UK CDPA recognises computer-generated works and vests its authorship with the human who made the necessary arrangement for its creation . However, making necessary arrangement in the case of Nova Productions Ltd v Mazooma Games Ltd was interpreted similarly to the traditional authorship principle, which requires the skills of the creator to prove originality. Although, some recommend that computer-generated works complicates this issue, and AI-generated works should enter the public domain as authorship cannot be allocated to AI itself. Additionally, the UKIPO recognising these issues in line with the growing AI trend in a public consultation launched in the year 2022, considered whether computer-generated works should be protected at all and why. If not, whether a new right with a different scope and term of protection should be introduced. However, it concluded that the issue of computer-generated works would be revisited as AI was still in its early stages. Conversely, due to the recent developments in this area with regards to Generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, DALL-E and AIVA, amongst others, which can produce human-like copyright creations, it is therefore important to examine the relevant issues which have the possibility of altering traditional copyright principles as we know it. Considering that the UK and Nigeria are both common law jurisdictions but with slightly differing approaches to this area, this research, therefore, seeks to answer the following questions by comparative analysis: 1)Who is the author of an AI-generated work? 2)Is the UK’s CGW provision worthy of emulation by the Nigerian law? 3) Would a sui generis law be capable of protecting AI-generated works and its author under both jurisdictions? This research further examines the possible barriers to the implementation of the new law in Nigeria, such as limited technical expertise and lack of awareness by the policymakers, amongst others.

Keywords: authorship, artificial intelligence (AI), generative ai, computer-generated works, copyright, technology

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Authors: Srikanth Bade

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This paper discusses how the usage of social media has altered certain discourses and communicated with the political institutions for major actions in Indian scenario. The advent of new technology in the form of social media has engrossed the general public to discuss in the open forum. How they promulgated their ideas into action is captured in this study. Moreover, these discourses happening in the social media is analyzed from certain philosophical traditions by adopting a framework. Hence, this paper analyses the role of social media in political communication and change the political discourse. Also, this paper tries to address the issue that whether the deliberation made through social media had indeed communicated the issue of political matters to the decision making authorities.

Keywords: collective action and social capital, political communication, political discourse, social media

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Authors: Ghada M. AlSwayied, Anas N. AlHumaid

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Smoking has been linked to thousands of deaths worldwide. Around three million adults continue to use tobacco each day in Saudi Arabia; a sign that smoking is prevalent among Saudi population and obviously considered as a public health threat. Although the awareness against smoking is continuously running, it can be observed that smoking behavior increases noticeably as common practice especially among young adults across the world. Therefore, it was an essential step to guess what does motivate smokers to think about quit smoking. Can a graphic and emotional ad that is focusing on health consequences do really make a difference? A case study has been conducted on the Annual Anti-Smoking National Campaign, which was provided by Saudi Ministry of Health in the period of May 2017. To assess campaign’s effects on the number of calls, the number of visits and online access to health messages during and after the campaign period from May to August compared with the previous campaign in 2016. The educational video was selected as a primary tool to deliver the smoking health message. The Minister of Health who is acting as a role model for young adults was used to deliver a direct message to smokers with an avoidance of smoking cues usage. Due to serious consequences of smoking, the Minister of Health delivered the news of canceling the media campaign and directing the budget to smoking cessation clinics. It was shown that the positive responses and interactions on the campaign were obviously remarkable; achieving a high rate of recall and recognition. During the campaign, the number of calls to book for a visit reached 45880 phone calls, and the total online views ran to 1,253,879. Whereas, clinic visit raised up to 213 cumulative percent. Interestingly, a total number of 15,192 patients visited the clinics along three months compared with the last year campaign’s period, which was merely 4850 patients. Furthermore, around half of patients who visited the clinics were in the age from 26 to 40-year-old. There was a great progress in enhancing public awareness on: 'where to go' to assist smokers in making a quit attempt. With regard to the stages of change theory, it was predicted that by following direct-message technique; the proportion of patients in the contemplation and preparation stages would be increased. There was no process evaluation obtained to assess implementation of the campaigns’ activities.

Keywords: smoking, health promotion, role model, educational material, intervention, community health

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Authors: Drazen Simlesa, Jelena Pudjak, Anita Tonkovic Busljeta

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Regarding social economy (SE), Croatia is, on general level, considered as ex-communist country with good tradition, bad performance in second part of 20th Century because of political control in the business sector, which has in transition period (1990-1999) became a problem of ignorance in public administration (policy level). Today, social economy in Croatia is trying to catch up with other EU states on all important levels of SE sector: legislative and institutional framework, financial infrastructure, education and capacity building, and visibility. All four are integral parts of Strategy for the Development of Social Entrepreneurship in the Republic of Croatia for the period of 2015 – 2020. Within iPRESENT project, funded by Croatian Science Foundation, we have mapped social economy actors and after many years there is a clear and up to date social economy base. At the ICSE 2016 we will present main outcomes and results of this process. In the second year of the project we conducted a field research across Croatia carried out 19 focus groups with most influential, innovative and inspirational social economy actors. We divided interview questions in four themes: laws on social economy and public policies, definition/ideology of social economy and cooperation on SE scene, the level of democracy and working conditions, motivation and existence of intrinsic values. The data that are gathered through focus group interviews has been analysed via qualitative data analysis software (Atlas ti.). Major finding that will be presented in ICSA 2016 are: Social economy actors are mostly unsatisfied with legislative and institutional framework in Croatia and consider it as unsupportive and confusing. Social economy actors consider SE to be in the line with WISE model and as a tool for community development. The SE actors that are more active express satisfaction with cooperation amongst SE actors and other partners and stakeholders, but the ones that are in more isolated conditions (spatially) express need for more cooperation and networking. Social economy actors expressed their praise for democratic atmosphere in their organisations and fair working conditions. And finally, they expressed high motivation to continue to work in the social economy and are dedicated to the concept, including even those that were at the beginning interested just in getting a quick job. It means that we can detect intrinsic values for employees in social economy organisations. This research enabled us to describe for the first time in Croatia the view from the inside, attitudes and opinion of employees of social economy organisations.

Keywords: employees, focus groups, mapping, social economy

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Authors: Márcia Aparecida Teixeira

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Sports, in particular football, boosts considerably the financial market of a certain locality, be it city or even a country. The financial transactions involving this medium stand out from other existing businesses, such as small industries. Strategically, social networks are inserted in this sporting environment, in order to promote and attract new fans of this modality. The present study analyzes the use of social networks in Sports Marketing with a focus on football. For the object of this study, it was chosen a specific club, the Club Atlético Mineiro, a Brazilian club of great national notoriety. The social networks on focus will be: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It will be analyzed the content and frequency of the posts, reception of the target public in relation to the content made available and its feedback.

Keywords: social network, sport, strategy, marketing

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Authors: Angeliki Gkiouzeli, Christine Rotonda, Elise Eby, Claire Touchet, Marie-Jo Brennstuhl, Cyril Tarquinio

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Resilience is a psychological concept of possible relevance to the development and maintenance of chronic pain (CP). It refers to the ability of individuals to maintain reasonably healthy levels of physical and psychological functioning when exposed to an isolated and potentially highly disruptive event. Extensive research in recent years has supported the importance of this concept in the CP literature. Increased levels of resilience were associated with lower levels of perceived pain intensity and better mental health outcomes in adults with persistent pain. The ongoing project seeks to include the concept of pain-specific resilience in the French literature in order to provide more appropriate measures for assessing and understanding the complexities of CP in the near future. To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no validated version of the pain-specific resilience measure, the Pain Resilience scale (PRS), for French-speaking populations. Therefore, the present work aims to address this gap, firstly by performing a linguistic and cultural translation of the scale into French and secondly by studying the internal validity and reliability of the PRS for French CP populations. The forward-translation-back translation methodology was used to achieve as perfect a cultural and linguistic translation as possible according to the recommendations of the COSMIN (Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments) group, and an online survey is currently conducted among a representative sample of the French population suffering from CP. To date, the survey has involved one hundred respondents, with a total target of around three hundred participants at its completion. We further seek to study the metric properties of the French version of the PRS, ''L’Echelle de Résilience à la Douleur spécifique pour les Douleurs Chroniques'' (ERD-DC), in French patients suffering from CP, assessing the level of pain resilience in the context of CP. Finally, we will explore the relationship between the level of pain resilience in the context of CP and other variables of interest commonly assessed in pain research and treatment (i.e., general resilience, self-efficacy, pain catastrophising, and quality of life). This study will provide an overview of the methodology used to address our research objectives. We will also present for the first time the main findings and further discuss the validity of the scale in the field of CP research and pain management. We hope that this tool will provide a better understanding of how CP-specific resilience processes can influence the development and maintenance of this disease. This could ultimately result in better treatment strategies specifically tailored to individual needs, thus leading to reduced healthcare costs and improved patient well-being.

Keywords: chronic pain, pain measure, pain resilience, questionnaire adaptation

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Authors: Festa Shabani

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This paper aims at investigating bilingual speech in the International Schools of Prishtina. More particularly, it seeks to analyze bilingual phenomena among adolescent students highly exposed to English with the latter as the language of instruction at school in naturally-occurring conversations within school environment. Adolescence was deliberately chosen since it is regarded as an age when peer influence on language choice is the greatest. Driven by daily unsystematic observation and prior research already undertaken, the hypothesis stated is that Albanian continues to be the dominant language among Prishtina international schools’ students with a lot of code-switched items from the English. Furthermore, they will also use lexical borrowings - words already adapted in the receiving language, from the language they have been in contact with, in their speech often in the lack of existing equivalents in Albanian or for other reasons. This is done owing to the fact that the language of instruction at school is English, and any topic related to the language they have been exposed to will trigger them to use English. Therefore, this needs special attention in an attempt to identify patterns of their speech; in this way, linguistic and socio-pragmatic factors will be considered when analyzing the motivations behind their language choice. Methodology for collecting data include participant systematic observation and tape-recording. While observing them in their natural conversations, the fieldworker also took notes, which helped transcribe details better. The paper starts by raising the question of whether code-switching is occurring among Prishtina International Schools’ students highly exposed to English. The data gathered from students in informal settings suggests that there are well-founded grounds for an affirmative answer. The participants in this study are observed to be code-switching, although showing differences in degree. However, a generalization cannot be made on the basis of the findings except in so far it appears that English has, in turn, became a language to which they turn when identifying with the group when discussing about particular school topics. Particularly, participants seemed to use intra-sentential CS in cases when they seem to find an English expression rather easier than an Albanian one when repeating or emphasizing a point when urged to talk about educational issues with English being their language of instruction, and inter-sentential code-switching, particularly when quoting others. Concerning the grammatical aspect of code-switching, the intrasentential CS is used more than the intersentetial one. Speaking of gender, the results show that there were really no significant differences in regards quantity between male and female participants. However, the slight tendency for men to code switch intrasententially more than women was manifested. Similarly, a slight tendency again for a difference to emerge is on intersentential switching, which contributes 21% to the total number of switches for women, but 11% to the total number of switches for men.

Keywords: Albanian, code-switching contact linguistics, bilingual phenomena, lexical borrowing, English

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Authors: Fahimeh Ghorbani, Alam Saleh

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Ideology, politics and art have always been omnipresent patterns of Islam since its early age. The Islamic empire, expanded from China to Andalusia, has instrumentalized art and architecture to enhance political legitimacy of different dynasties or states throughout its history. Quranic verses utilized to convey ideological messages in the major mosques and mausoleums. Iranians had already been employing art and architecture to propagate their political legitimacy prior to Islam. The land of Iran and its art with strong civilizational pre-Islamic history has been profoundly politicized since the rise of Islam in the region. Early Islamic period in Iran has witnessed introduction of a new architectural language, new formulas for spatial configuration in built spaces, as well as new system of architectural decoration. Studying Iran’s Early Islamic architecture helps in better understanding the process of socio-political identity making of Iranian-Islamic culture, and thus art and architecture. This period also set the stage for formation of glorious architectural movements through Persianate world in later periods. During the Early Islamic period in Iran, the innovative combination of Islamic ideology and Iranian Architecture created formidable ideological tools in politicizing art in the region and beyond. As such, this paper aims to investigate the political history and architectural legacy from late Sassanid to Early Islamic period, delves into the ways in which Early Islamic architecture played role in transforming Persian concepts of kingship, administration, and social organization. In so doing, the study focuses on the Perso-Islamic architectural synthesis under the Samanids and Seljuk dynasty as case studies. The paper also explores how the newly introduced Islamic architecture has been employed to address the question of political legitimacy and to propagate states’ political agenda in early Islamic Iran (650-1250). As for the existing literature, despite its uniqueness and significance, Early Islamic architecture of Iran has received little scholarly attention. However, there exists a sizeable body of scholarship on socio-historic condition of the land of Iran during Early Islamic period which provide a solid base for the project. Methodologically speaking, the authors look into the subject through various lenses. They will conduct historic and archival research in libraries, private collections, and archives in Iran and the related neighbouring countries in Persian, Arabic and English. The methods of visual and formal analysis are applied to examine architectural features of the period. There are also a high number of intriguing, yet poorly examined, published and unpublished documents, old plans, drawings and photos of monuments preserved in Cultural Heritage of Iran Organization which will be consulted.

Keywords: Iran, Islamic architecture, early Islamic Iran, early Islamic architecture, politicized art, political legitimacy, propaganda, aesthetics

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Authors: Pornpong Porpraphant

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This paper aimed to demonstrate how work performance quality development activity carried out for employees in an organization could lead to the organizational success and competency as a whole. The case studies selected for this research were the Thai huge corporate including Siam Cement Group or SCG, PTT Public Company Limited, and Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand or EGAT. The in- depth interview was applied with the three main groups that included the facilitator group, the managerial group, and the operational officer group. The Plan- Do- Check- Act approach was also utilized as to build up a conceptual model in corporate management that fostered employees’ knowledge acquisition, resulting in an improved work performance.

Keywords: high performance organization, quality, work performance quality development

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Authors: I. Fahi, T. Remmal, F. El Kamel, B. Ayoub

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The treatment of the geotechnical database of the region of Casablanca was difficult to achieve due to the heterogeneity of the nomenclature of the lithological formations composing its soil. It appears necessary to harmonize the nomenclature of the facies and to produce cartographic documents useful for construction projects and studies before any investment program. To achieve this, more than 600 surveys made by the Public Laboratory for Testing and Studies (LPEE) in the agglomeration of Casablanca, were studied. Moreover, some local observations were made in different places of the metropolis. Each survey was the subject of a sheet containing lithological succession, macro and microscopic description of petrographic facies with photographic illustration, as well as measurements of geomechanical tests. In addition, an X-ray diffraction analysis was made in order to characterize the surficial formations of the region.

Keywords: Casablanca, guidebook, petrography, soil

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Authors: Rubisha Adhikari, Rajani Shah

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Introduction: Aging is a natural, global and inevitable phenomenon every single person has to go through, and nobody can escape the process. One of the emerging challenges to public health is to improve the quality of later years of life as life expectancy continues to increase. Quality of life (QoL) has grown to be a key goal for many public health initiatives. Population aging has become a global phenomenon as they are growing more quickly in emerging nations than they are in industrialized nations, leaving minimal opportunities to regulate the consequences of the demographic shift. Methods: A community-based descriptive analytical approach was used to examine the quality of life and associated factors among elderly people. A mixed method was chosen for the study. For the quantitative data collection, a household survey was conducted using the WHOQOL-OLD tool. In-depth interviews were conducted among twenty participants for qualitative data collection. Data generated through in-depth interviews were transcribed verbatim. In-depth interviews lasted about an hour and were audio recorded. The in-depth interview guide had been developed by the research team and pilot-tested before actual interviews. Results: This study result showed the association between quality of life and socio-demographic variables. Among all the variables under socio-demographic variable of this study, age (ꭓ2=14.445, p=0.001), gender (ꭓ2=14.323, p=<0.001), marital status (ꭓ2=10.816, p=0.001), education status (ꭓ2=23.948, p=<0.001), household income (ꭓ2=13.493, p=0.001), personal income (ꭓ2=14.129, p=0.001), source of personal income (ꭓ2=28.332,p=<0.001), social security allowance (ꭓ2=18.005,p=<0.001), alcohol consumption (ꭓ2=9.397,p=0.002) are significantly associated with quality of life of elderly. In addition, affordability (ꭓ2=12.088, p=0.001), physical activity (ꭓ2=9.314, p=0.002), emotional support (ꭓ2=9.122, p=0.003), and economic support (ꭓ2=8.104, p=0.004) are associated with quality of life of elderly people. Conclusion: In conclusion, this mixed method study provides insight into the attributes of the quality of life of elderly people in Nepal and similar settings. As the geriatric population is growing in full swing, maintaining a high quality of life has become a major challenge. This study showed that determinants such as age, gender, marital status, education status, household income, personal income, source of personal income, social security allowance and alcohol consumption, economic support, emotional support, affordability and physical activity have an association with quality of life of the elderly.

Keywords: ageing, chitwan, elderly, health status, quality of life

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Authors: Lisdey Espinoza Pedraza

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Organised crime in Mexico evolves faster that our capacity to understand and explain it. Organised gangs have become successful entrepreneurs in many ways ad they have somehow mimicked the working ways of the authorities and in many cases, they have successfully infiltrated the governmental spheres. This business model is only possible under a clear scheme of rampant impunity. Impunity, however, is not exclusive to the PRI. Nor the PRI, PAN, or PRD can claim the monopoly of corruption, but what is worse is that none can claim full honesty in their acts either. The current security crisis in Mexico shows a crisis in the Mexican political party system. Corruption today is not only a problem of dishonesty and the correct use of public resources. It is the principal threat to Mexican democracy, governance, and national security.

Keywords: security, war on drugs, drug trafficking, Mexico, Latin America, United States

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Authors: Chineduum Okpala

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Nigeria, since her independence, has been engulfed in financial crimes of different forms. From embezzlement and conversion of public funds by public servants to stealing, contract inflation, and money laundering. Money laundering in Nigeria, particularly by political exposed persons, has been an issue of concern since independence. Corruption has been endemic, and Nigeria needs to integrate pro-active measures to show to the international community that it is ready to move against this vice. This paper discusses the negative effect of corruption and its effect on prosecutorial discretion. It also takes cognisance of the policy and aims of the anti-money laundering (AML) policy as enacted in Nigeria. It also takes as valid the assumption that the effective application of the rule of law will improve the efficacy of the Nigerian regime. In this regard, the perspective is internal to the Nigerian regime and its internal policy discourse which also reflect its policy discourse at international level. This paper takes notice of the typology of money laundering (ML) offences that most affect Nigeria, which hinges on corruption and abuse of office by a specific type of person, politically exposed persons (PEP). This typology of money laundering offence appears to be the most prevalent in developing nations like Nigeria. The application of essential principles of law provides an opportunity for the internalisation of the rule of law in the anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria, which could aid the successful prosecution of politically exposed persons on money laundering offences. The rule of law and how well the Nigerian legal system manages to deal with the interface between high level politics and the criminal justice system in Nigeria cannot be understood from internal sources but must be developed as a genuine but critical account informed by perspectives external to the Nigerian regime. If the efficacy of the regime is to be assessed in view of notorious failures of the regime, an external assessment is needed. Hence the paper discusses the need to integrate the essential principles of law in the application of prosecutorial discretion in the anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria, particularly with politically exposed persons. The paper highlights jurisdiction where prosecutorial discretion is integrated into the anti-money laundering regime in accordance to the rule of law which forms a basis for comparative analysis of the success of the anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria. This paper discusses why the application of prosecutorial discretion should not be used as a tool to extricate or avail the rich and powerful in the society from justice. The paper aims to argue that the successful prosecution of politically exposed persons, will raise the confidence of the citizens and the international community in the anti-money laundering regime in Nigeria.

Keywords: money laundering, politically exposed persons, corruption, Nigeria

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Authors: Shahzadi Laibah Burq, Gina Scarpete Walters

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Piipaash, representing one large family of North American languages, Yuman, is reported as one of the seriously endangered languages in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of Arizona. In a collaborative venture between Arizona State University (ASU) and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC), efforts have been made to revitalize and preserve the Piipaash language and its cultural heritage. The present study is one example of several other language documentation and revitalization initiatives that Humanities Lab ASU has taken. This study was approved to receive a “Beyond the lab” grant after the researchers successfully created a Teaching Guide for Early Childhood Piipaash storybook during their time working in the Humanities Lab. The current research is an extension of the previous project and focuses on creating customized teaching materials and tools for the teachers and parents of the students of the Early Enrichment Program at SRPMIC. However, to determine and maximize the usefulness of the teaching materials with regards to their reliability, validity, and practicality in the given context, this research aims to conduct Environmental Analysis and Need Analysis. Environmental Analysis seeks to evaluate the Early Enrichment Program situation and Need Analysis to investigate the specific and situated requirements of the teachers to assist students in building target language skills. The study employs a qualitative methods approach for the collection of the data. Multiple data collection strategies are used concurrently to gather information from the participants. The research tools include semi-structured interviews with the program administrators and teachers, classroom observations, and teacher shadowing. The researchers utilize triangulation of the data to maintain validity in the process of data interpretation. The preliminary results of the study show a need for culturally appropriate materials that can further the learning of students of the target language as well as the culture, i.e., clay pots and basket-making materials. It was found that the course and teachers focus on developing the Listening and Speaking skills of the students. Moreover, to assist the young learners beyond the classroom, the teachers could make use of send-home teaching materials to reinforce the learning (i.e., coloring books, including illustrations of culturally relevant animals, food, and places). Audio language resources are also identified as helpful additional materials for the parents to assist the learning of the kids.

Keywords: indigenous education, materials development, need analysis, piipaash language revitalizaton

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Authors: Pramit Garg, Vikas Kumar

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In December 2015, all the members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) unanimously adopted the historic Paris Agreement. As per the convention, 197 countries have followed the guidelines of the agreement and have agreed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and also reduce the carbon emission to reach net carbon neutrality by 2050 and reduce the global temperature by 2°C by the year 2100. Globally, transport accounts for 23% of the energy-related CO2 that feeds global warming. Decarbonization of the transport sector is an essential step towards achieving India’s nationally determined contributions and net zero emissions by 2050. Metro rail systems are playing a vital role in the decarbonization of the transport sector as they create metro cities for the “21st-century world” that could ensure “mobility, connectivity, productivity, safety and sustainability” for the populace. Metro rail was introduced in Delhi in 2002 to decarbonize Delhi-National Capital Region and to provide a sustainable mode of public transportation. Metro Rail Projects significantly contribute to pollution reduction and are thus a prerequisite for sustainable development. The Delhi Metro is the 1ˢᵗ metro system in the world to earn carbon credits from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects registered under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A good Metro Project with reasonable network coverage attracts a modal shift from various private modes and hence fewer vehicles on the road, thus restraining the pollution at the source. The absence of Greenhouse Gas emissions from the vehicle of modal shift passengers and lower emissions due to decongested roads contribute to the reduction in Green House Gas emissions and hence overall reduction in atmospheric pollution. The reduction in emission during the horizon year 2002 to 2019 has been estimated using emission standards and deterioration factor(s) for different categories of vehicles. Presently, our results indicate that the Delhi Metro system has reduced approximately 17.3% of motorized trips by road resulting in an emission reduction significantly. Overall, Delhi Metro, with an immediate catchment area of 17% of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD), is helping today to reduce 387 tonnes of emissions per day and 141.2 ktonnes of emissions yearly. The findings indicate that the Metro rail system is driving cities towards a more livable environment.

Keywords: Delhi metro, GHG emission, sustainable public transport, urban transport

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Authors: Cahyaningsih Cahyaningsih, Fu'ad Rakhman

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This study examines empirically the association between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and tax avoidance. This study also investigates the effect of earnings on the relation between CSR and tax avoidance. Effective tax rate (ETR) and cash effective tax rate (CETR) were used to measure tax avoidance. Corporate social responsibility fund (CSRF) and corporate social responsibility disclosure (CSRD) were used as proxies for CSR. Test was conducted for public firms which were listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange during the period of 2011-2014. Based on slack resource theory, this study finds that the relation between CSR and tax avoidance is moderated by earnings.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility disclosure, corporate social responsibility fund, earnings, tax avoidance

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Authors: Rima Abu Jaber Bransi, Rawya Jarjoura Burbara

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This study deals with two pioneering approaches in teaching Arabic as a mother tongue: first, computerization of literary and functional texts in the mother tongue; second, the pioneering model in teaching writing skills by computerization. The significance of the study lies in its treatment of a serious problem that is faced in the era of technology, which is the widening gap between the pupils and their mother tongue. The innovation in the study is that it introduces modern methods and tools and a pioneering instructional model that turns the process of mother tongue teaching into an effective, meaningful, interesting and motivating experience. In view of the Arabic language diglossia, standard Arabic and spoken Arabic, which constitutes a serious problem to the pupil in understanding unused words, and in order to bridge the gap between the pupils and their mother tongue, we resorted to computerized techniques; we took texts from the pre-Islamic period (Jahiliyya), starting with the Mu'allaqa of Imru' al-Qais and other selected functional texts and computerized them for teaching in an interesting way that saves time and effort, develops high thinking strategies, expands the literary good taste among the pupils, and gives the text added values that neither the book, the blackboard, the teacher nor the worksheets provide. On the other hand, we have developed a pioneering computerized model that aims to develop the pupil's ability to think, to provide his imagination with the elements of growth, invention and connection, and motivate him to be creative, and raise level of his scores and scholastic achievements. The model consists of four basic stages in teaching according to the following order: 1. The Preparatory stage, 2. The reading comprehension stage, 3. The writing stage, 4. The evaluation stage. Our lecture will introduce a detailed description of the model with illustrations and samples from the units that we built through highlighting some aspects of the uniqueness and innovation that are specific to this model and the different integrated tools and techniques that we developed. One of the most significant conclusions of this research is that teaching languages through the employment of new computerized strategies is very likely to get the Arabic speaking pupils out of the circle of passive reception into active and serious action and interaction. The study also emphasizes the argument that the computerized model of teaching can change the role of the pupil's mind from being a store of knowledge for a short time into a partner in producing knowledge and storing it in a coherent way that prevents its forgetfulness and keeping it in memory for a long period of time. Consequently, the learners also turn into partners in evaluation by expressing their views, giving their notes and observations, and application of the method of peer-teaching and learning.

Keywords: classical poetry, computerization, diglossia, writing skill

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Authors: Blanka Havlickova

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In the last ten years, there are growing numbers of troops with machine guns serving on streets of European cities. We can see them around government buildings, major transport hubs, synagogues, galleries and main tourist landmarks. As the main purpose of armed soldier’s presence in European cities authorities declare the prevention of terrorist attacks and psychological support for tourists and domestic population. The main objective of the following study is to find out whether the deployment of armed soldiers in European cities has a calming and reassuring effect on Czech citizens (if the presence at armed soldiers make the Czech population feel more secure) or rather becomes a stress factor (the presence of soldiers standing guard in full military fatigues recalls serious criminality and terrorist attacks which are reflected in the fears and insecurity of Czech population). The initial hypothesis of this study is connected with the priming theory, the idea that when we are exposed to an image (armed soldier), it makes us unconsciously focus on a topic connected with this image (terrorism). This paper is based on a quantitative public survey, which was carried out in the form of electronic questioning among the citizens of the Czech Republic. Respondents answered 14 questions about two European cities – London and Paris. Besides general questions investigating the respondents' awareness of these cities, some of the questions focused on the fear that the respondents had when picturing themselves leaving next Monday for the given city (London or Paris). The questions asking about respondent´s travel fears and concerns were accompanied by different photos. When answering the question about fear some respondents have been presented with a photo of Westminster Palace and the Eiffel with ordinary citizens while other respondents have been presented with a picture of the Westminster Palace, the and Eiffel's tower not only with ordinary citizens, but also with one soldier holding a machine gun. The main goal of this paper is to analyse and compare data about concerns for these two groups of respondents (presented with different pictures) and find out if and how an armed soldier with a machine gun in front of the Westminster Palace or the Eiffel Tower affects the public's concerns about visiting the site. In other words, the aim of this paper is to confirm or rebut the hypothesis that the look at a soldier with a machine gun in front of the Eiffel Tower or the Westminster Palace automatically triggers the association with a terrorist attack leading to an increase in fear and insecurity among Czech population.

Keywords: terrorism, security measures, priming, risk perception

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Authors: Abdelmanie Suleimat, Nagham Abu Shaqra, Sawsan Majali, Issam Adawi, Heba Abo Shindi, Anas Al Mohtaseb

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The Government of Jordan recognizes that maternal mortality constitutes a grave public health problem. Over the past two decades, there has been significant progress in improving the quality of maternal health services, resulting in improved maternal and child health outcomes. Despite these efforts, measurement and analysis of maternal mortality remained a challenge, with significant discrepancies from previous national surveys that inhibited accuracy. In response with support from USAID, the Jordan Maternal Mortality Surveillance Response (JMMSR) System was established to collect, analyze, and equip policymakers with data for decision-making guided by interdisciplinary multi-levelled advisory groups aiming to eliminate preventable maternal deaths, A 2016 Public Health Bylaw required the notification of deaths among women of reproductive age. The JMMSR system was launched in 2018 and continues annually, analyzing data received from health facilities, to guide policy to prevent avoidable deaths. To date, there have been four annual national maternal mortality reports (2018-2021). Data is collected, reviewed by advisory groups, and then consolidated in an annual report to inform and guide the Ministry of Health (MOH); JMMSR collects the necessary information to calculate an accurate maternal mortality ratio and assists in identifying leading causes and contributing factors for each maternal death. Based on this data, national response plans are created. A monitoring and evaluation plan was designed to define, track, and improve implementation through indicators. Over the past four years, one of these indicators, ‘percent of facilities notifying respective health directorates of all deaths of women of reproductive age,’ increased annually from 82.16%, 92.95%, and 92.50% to 97.02%, respectively. The Government of Jordan demonstrated commitment to the JMMSR system by designating the MOH to primarily host the system and lead the development and dissemination of policies and procedures to standardize implementation. The data was translated into practical and evidence-based recommendations. The successful impact of results deepened the understanding of maternal mortality in Jordan, which convinced the MOH to amend the Bylaw now mandating electronic reporting of all births and neonatal deaths from health facilities to empower the JMMSR system, by developing a stillbirths and neonatal mortality surveillance and response system.

Keywords: maternal health, maternal mortality, preventable maternal deaths, maternal morbidity

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Authors: Laura Petrosyan

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The high and persistent working results are possible when people are interested in the results of the work. Motivation of working may be present as a psychological complicated phenomena, which determines person's behavior in working process. Researchers point out that working motivation is displayed in three correlated conditions. These are interest in outcomes of work, satisfaction with the work, and the third, is the level of devotion of employee. Solution of the problem of effective staff management depends on the development of workers' skills. Despite, above mentioned problem could be solved by the process of finding methods to induce the employees to the effective work. Motivation of the managerial activity aroused not only during the working process, but also before it starts. During education the future manager obtains many professional skills. However, the experience shows, that only professional skills are not enough for the effective work. Presently, one of the global educational problems is the development of motivation in professions. In psychological literature the fact is mentioned, that the motivation can be inside and outside. Outside motivation is active only at short time. Instead, inside motivation can be active during all process of the professional development. Hence, the motivation of managerial activity might be developed during the education. The future manager choose the profession being under some impression of personal qualities. Detection of future manager’s motivation will influence on the development of syllabuses. Moreover, use of the psychological methods could be evolved for preparing motivated managers. Conducted research has been done in the Public Administration Academy of the RA. The aim of research was to discover students' motivation of profession. 102 master students took part in the research from Public Administration Academy. In the research were used the following methods: method of identifying a person's motivation to succeed (T. Elers) and method of studying students’ motivation (T.E. Ilyin). First of the methods designed to explore a person's motivational orientation to get success represented by Hackhausen. The method gives the opportunity to reveal the level of motivation to success. In the second method separated three scales: i) Knowledge achievements, ii) Knowledge of the profession, iii) Get a diploma. The data obtained from these tests gave quantitative data. Aanalyses of our survey results exposes that within master students the high level have the average rates of knowledge achievements. The average rates of knowledge of the profession and geting a diploma not in high level. Furthermore, there are almost equal to each other. In the educational process The student acquiring skills not synthesize with the wield profession. Results show that specialists really view about profession not formulated yet.

Keywords: managerial activity, motivation, psychological complicated phenomena, working process, education the future manager

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Authors: Motaz Alshawwa

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This current study aims to know journalists' motives for dealing with electronic journalism more than paper journalism in Palestine. The participants of the study were (250) journalists. To achieve the study objective, a questionnaire was used that was composed of (18) questions. The results of the study showed that the motives dealing with electronic journalism were utilitarian motives that were represented by knowing the local news. We find a statistically significant relationship at the level of significance of 0.05 between the uses of electronic journalism and gender, and there are statistically significant differences at the level of 0.05 in the motives of dealing with electronic journalism. The study recommends the daily paper journals in Palestine should meet the various and different needs of the public.

Keywords: electronic journalism, journalist, paper journalism, utilitarian motives

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