Search results for: welfare regimes status
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4027

Search results for: welfare regimes status

3787 The Labor Participation-Fertility Trade-Off: Exploring Fecundity and Its Consequences to Women's Employment in the Philippines

Authors: Ariane C. Lim, Daphne Ashley L. Sze, Kenneth S. Santos

Abstract:

As women are now given more freedom and choice to pursue employment, the world’s over-all fertility has been decreasing mainly due to the shift in time allocation between working and child-rearing. As such, we study the case of the Philippines, where there exists a decreasing fertility rate and increasing openness for women labor participation. We focused on the distinction between fertility and fecundity, the former being the manifestation of the latter and aim to trace and compare the effects of both fecundity and fertility to women’s employment status through the estimation of the reproduction function and multinomial logistic function. Findings suggest that the perception of women regarding employment opportunities in the Philippines links the negative relationship observed between fertility, fecundity and women’s employment status. Today, there has been a convergence in the traditional family roles of men and women, as both genders now have identical employment opportunities that continue to shape their preferences.

Keywords: multinomial logistic function, tobit, fertility, women employment status, fecundity

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3786 Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: An Investigation of the Relationship between Race, Ethnicity, Health Care Access, and Health Status

Authors: Dorcas Matowe

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Inequality in health care for racial and ethnic minorities continues to be a growing concern for many Americans. Some of the barriers hindering the elimination of health disparities include lack of insurance, socioeconomic status (SES), and racism. This study will specifically focus on the association between some of these factors- health care access, which includes insurance coverage and frequency of doctor visits, race, ethnicity, and health status. The purpose of this study will be to address the following questions: is having health insurance associated with increased doctor visits? Are racial and ethnic minorities with health insurance more or less likely to see a doctor? Is the association between having health insurance moderated by being an ethnic minority? Given the current implications of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, this study will highlight the need to prioritize health care access for minorities and confront institutional racism. Critical Race Theory (CRT) will demonstrate how racism has reinforced these health disparities. This quantitative study design will analyze secondary data from the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) questionnaire, a telephone survey conducted annually in all 50 states and three US territories by state health departments in conjunction with the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Non-identifying health-related data is gathered annually from over 400,000 adults 18 years and above about their health status and use of preventative services. Through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the relationship between the predictor variables of health care access, race, and ethnicity, the criterion variable of health status, and the latent variables of emotional support and life satisfaction will be examined. It is hypothesized that there will be an interaction between certain racial and ethnic minorities who went to see a doctor, had insurance coverage, experienced racism, and the quality of their health status, emotional support, and life satisfaction.

Keywords: ethnic minorities, health disparities, health access, racism

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3785 Maturity Status of Male Boys in Punjab - India

Authors: Parminder K. Laroiya, Sukhdeep S. Kang

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The Present cross-sectional study was conducted on 610 boys (ranging in age bracket of 11 to 17 years) to assess their developmental age to check percentage of early, normal and late maturity among them, and to check whether there is any significant difference in their calendar age and developmental age. Developmental age of these subjects has been accessed by TW2 method (using hand wrist X-rays) and their chronological age was checked from their date of birth certificate. Developmental status of subjects i.e. early, normal or late mature was considered with +2 years or -2 years from their calendar age. Results of this study shows that 50% boys were normal in their maturity status in all age brackets and rest of subjects were either early maturers 24.92% or late maturers 25.08%. When pattern of maturity was studied in each age group it has been found that till the age of 15 years, percentage of normal maturity was less than 50 % whereas in 16 and 17 years age groups, this percentage of normal maturity increased to 60% - 65 % ( this may be because at this age mostly boys attain adolescence) Further investigation of each age group showed that till the age of 14 years percentage of late maturity among these boys were approximately 35% to 40% whereas early maturity lies between 15% to 20%. It has been found from the present study that at the age of 15 years, there is a twist among percentage of late and early maturity among boys-early maturers are 38.61% and late maturers are 16.84%. At the age of 16 and 17 years percentage of late maturity has been decreased to 3% to 6%, whereas percentage of early maturity increased to 35.64 % and 30.69 % respectively.

Keywords: maturity status, developmental age, chronological age, X-rays

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3784 The Economic Benefits of Higher Education to the Graduates in the Philippines

Authors: Christia C. Baltar

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Everybody goes to primary education but not all proceed to secondary education because of poverty and it is evident in the Philippines. Moreover, the number goes down when they reach higher education. The researcher believes that higher education may improve the standard of living of the family looking at the economic benefits of it. Once one graduated from a particular degree, one may employ with higher wage than those who are non-degree holder. Every year the Philippines produce more than five hundred thousand graduates of higher education and it keeps on increasing every year. Thus, the competition in the employment is really high. It is then important to pursue higher education than settling to a high school graduate because a degree is what most of the employer is looking for. The Philippine government through the Department of Labor and Employment is offering job fairs to all cities as much as possible just to cater employment for those graduates away from urban areas like in Manila and even the privates sectors also proposing for job fairs. Researcher conducted a survey in her institution and she further used secondary information to strengthen the findings of her survey. Researcher used descriptive measures, chi-square test for independence, and the correlation coefficient to analyze the data in her survey. In the survey conducted results show that there was an increase on the income of the family of the graduates of higher education. The graduates believed that their standard of living improved because they were able to work in a better job. The data were analyzed and the results show that there was no significant relationship on sex, age and marital status of the graduates to their economic status but the degree program they enrolled in the tertiary education affects their economic status. The impact of earning higher education can be seen indirectly to the economic growth of the Philippines. Finally, researcher concludes that there is direct and indirect impact of the higher education to the economic status of the graduates.

Keywords: economic benefits, economic status, graduate, higher education

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3783 The Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Adolescents in Public and Private Schools in Two Senatorial Districts of Osun State, Nigeria

Authors: O. Akinola, R. Mustapha

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Obesity is the most serious long-term health problem currently facing adolescents and its prevalence increasing worldwide including developing countries. A cross-sectional study was carried out among age 11-19 years in both public and private school in the urban area of the state. The data was collected using pretest self-administered questionnaire; Anthropometric measurement was also used to examine their nutritional status. Obesity status were determined using BMI cut off point, the overweight was found to be 3.06% among female and 0.6% among male whereas the prevalence of obesity was 0.46% in female and non among male. 62.6% snack daily, fruit consumption pattern was low 0.6%, and 43.7% spend between 4-5 hours watching television daily after school. A positive association exists between the lifestyle and nutritional status of the respondents. Education effort to improve nutrition knowledge can be incorporated into course curriculum and focus on various components within the system when implementing preventive measure on obesity.

Keywords: adolescent, obesity, overweight, prevalence

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3782 Digitalize or Die-Responsible Innovations in Healthcare and Welfare Sectors

Authors: T. Iakovleva

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Present paper suggests a theoretical model that describes the process of the development of responsible innovations on the firm level in health and welfare sectors. There is a need to develop new firm strategies in these sectors. This paper suggests to look on the concept of responsible innovation that was originally developed on the social level and to apply this new concept to the new area of firm strategy. The rapid global diffusion of information and communication technologies has greatly improved access to knowledge. At the same time, communication is cheap, information is a commodity, and global trade increases technological diffusion. As a result, firms and users, including those outside of industrialized nations, get early exposure to the latest technologies and information. General-purpose technologies such as mobile phones and 3D printers enable individuals to solve local needs and customize products. The combined effect of these changes is having a profound impact on the innovation landscape. Meanwhile, the healthcare sector is facing unprecedented challenges, which are magnified by budgetary constraints, an aging population and the desire to provide care for all. On the other hand, patients themselves are changing. They are savvier about their diseases, they expect their relation with the healthcare professionals to be open and interactive, but above all they want to be part of the decision process. All of this is a reflection of what is already happening in other industries where customers have access to large amount of information and became educated buyers. This article addresses the question of how ICT research and innovation may contribute to developing solutions to grand societal challenges in a responsible way. A broad definition of the concept of responsibility in the context of innovation is adopted in this paper. Responsibility is thus seen as a collective, uncertain and future-oriented activity. This opens the questions of how responsibilities are perceived and distributed and how innovation and science can be governed and stewarded towards socially desirable and acceptable ends. This article addresses a central question confronting politicians, business leaders, and regional planners.

Keywords: responsible innovation, ICT, healthcare, welfare sector

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3781 Lifestyle Factors Associated With Overweight/obesity Status In Croatian Adolescents: A Population-Based Study

Authors: Lovro Štefan

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The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the associations between the overweight/obesity status and lifestyle factors. In this cross-sectional study, participants were 1950 urban secondary-school students (54.7% of female students) aged 17-18 years old. Dependent variable was body-mass index status derived from self-reported height and weight. The outcome was binarised, where participants with value <25 kg/m2 were collapsed into „normal“, while those ≥25 kg/m2 into „overweight/obesity“ category. Independent variables were gender, type of school, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, self-rated health, self-perceived socioeconomic status and psychological distress. The associations between the dependent and independent variables were analyzed by using multiple logistic regression analysis. In the univariate model, being overweight/obese was significantly associated with being a male student (OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.23 to 0.42), attending a vocational school (OR 1.87; 95% CI 1.42 to 2.48), not meeting the recommendations for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.88), more time spending in sedentary behaviour (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.07 to 2.19), poor self-rated health (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.56) and lower socioeconomic status (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.48 to 0.84). In the multivariate model, the same associations occured between the dependent and independent variable. In both models, psychological distress was not associated with being overweight/obese. In conclusion, our findings suggest, that lifestyle factors are independently associated with body-mass index

Keywords: body mass index, secondary-school students, Croatia, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, logistic regression

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3780 Modification of the Risk for Incident Cancer with Changes in the Metabolic Syndrome Status: A Prospective Cohort Study in Taiwan

Authors: Yung-Feng Yen, Yun-Ju Lai

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Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is reversible; however, the effect of changes in MetS status on the risk of incident cancer has not been extensively studied. We aimed to investigate the effects of changes in MetS status on incident cancer risk. Methods: This prospective, longitudinal study used data from Taiwan’s MJ cohort of 157,915 adults recruited from 2002–2016 who had repeated MetS measurements 5.2 (±3.5) years apart and were followed up for the new onset of cancer over 8.2 (±4.5) years. A new diagnosis of incident cancer in study individuals was confirmed by their pathohistological reports. The participants’ MetS status included MetS-free (n=119,331), MetS-developed (n=14,272), MetS-recovered (n=7,914), and MetS-persistent (n=16,398). We used the Fine-Gray sub-distribution method, with death as the competing risk, to determine the association between MetS changes and the risk of incident cancer. Results: During the follow-up period, 7,486 individuals had new development of cancer. Compared with the MetS-free group, MetS-persistent individuals had a significantly higher risk of incident cancer (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.18). Considering the effect of dynamic changes in MetS status on the risk of specific cancer types, MetS persistence was significantly associated with a higher risk of incident colon and rectum, kidney, pancreas, uterus, and thyroid cancer. The risk of kidney, uterus, and thyroid cancer in MetS-recovered individuals was higher than in those who remained MetS but lower than MetS-persistent individuals. Conclusions: Persistent MetS is associated with a higher risk of incident cancer, and recovery from MetS may reduce the risk. The findings of our study suggest that it is imperative for individuals with pre-existing MetS to seek treatment for this condition to reduce the cancer risk.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome change, cancer, risk factor, cohort study

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3779 Dynamics of Marital Status and Information Search through Consumer Generated Media: An Exploratory Study

Authors: Shivkumar Krishnamurti, Ruchi Agarwal

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The study examines the influence of marital status on consumers of products and services using blogs as a source of information. A pre-designed questionnaire was used to collect the primary data from the respondents (experiences). Data were collected from one hundred and eighty seven respondents residing in and around the Emirates of Sharjah and Dubai of the United Arab Emirates. The collected data was analyzed with the help of statistical tools such as averages, percentages, factor analysis, student’s t-test and structural equation modeling technique. Objectives of the study are to know the reasons how married and unmarried or single consumers of products and services are motivated to use blogs as a source of information, to know whether the consumers of products and services irrespective of their marital status share their views and experiences with other bloggers and to know the respondents’ future intentions towards blogging. The study revealed the following: Majority of the respondents have the motivation to blog because they are willing to receive comments on what they post about services, convenience of blogs to search for information about services and products, by blogging respondents share information on the symptoms of a disease/ disorder that may be experienced by someone, helps to share information about ready to cook mix products and are keen to spend more time blogging in the future.

Keywords: blog, consumer, information, marital status

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3778 Response of Summer Sesame to Irrigation Regimes and Nitrogen Levels

Authors: Kalpana Jamdhade, Anita Chorey, Bharti Tijare, V. M. Bhale

Abstract:

A field experiment was conducted during summer season of 2011 at Agronomy research farm, Dr. PDKV, Akola, to study the effect of irrigation regime and nitrogen levels on growth and productivity of summer sesame. The experiment was laid out in split plot Design in which three irrigation scheduling on the basis of IW/CPE ratio viz., irrigation at 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 IW/CPE ratios (I1, I2 and I3, respectively) and one irrigation scheduling based on critical growth stages of sesame (I4), in main plot and three nitrogen levels 0, 30 and 60 kg N ha-1 (N0, N1 and N2, respectively) in subplot. The result showed that plant height, number of leaves plant-1, leaf area and dry matter accumulation were maximum in irrigation scheduling at 1.0 IW/CPE ratio, which significantly superior over 0.6 IW/CPE ratio and irrigation at critical growth stages but were statistically at par with irrigation at 0.8 IW/CPE ratio. Nitrogen levels, application of 60 kg N ha-1 was recorded significantly superior all growth parameters over treatment 30 kg N ha-1 and 0 kg N ha-1. In case of yield attributes viz., No. of capsules plant-1, Test wt., grain yield and Stalk yield (qha-1) were maximum in irrigation scheduling at 1.0 IW/CPE ratio and were significantly superior over 0.8 IW/CPE ratio, 0.6 IW/CPE ratio and irrigation at critical growth stages. Application of 60 kg N ha-1 increased all yield attributing characters over application of 30 and 0 kg N ha-1. In case of economics of crop same trend was found and the highest B:C ration was obtained in irrigation scheduling at 1.0 IW/CPE ratio. Whereas, application of 30 kg N ha-1 was recorded highest B:C ration over application of 60 and 0 kg N ha-1. Interaction effect of irrigation and nitrogen levels were found to be non significant in summer season.

Keywords: irrigation regimes, nitrogen levels, summer sesame, agricultural technology

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3777 Nepal Himalaya: Status of Women, Politics, and Administration

Authors: Tulasi Acharya

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The paper is a qualitative analysis of status of women and women in politics and administration in Nepal Himalaya. The paper reviews data of women in civil service and in administrative levels. Looking at the Nepali politics and administration from the social constructivist perspective, the paper highlights some social and cultural issues that have othered women as “second sex.” As the country is heading towards modernity, gender friendly approaches are being instituted. Although the data reflects on the progress on women’s status and on women’s political and administrative participation, the data is not enough to predict the democratic gender practices in political and administrative levels. The political and administrative culture of Nepal Himalaya should be changed by promoting gender practices and deconstructing gender images in administrative culture through representative bureaucracy and by introducing democratic policies.

Keywords: politics, policy, administration, culture, women, Nepal, democracy

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3776 Analysis of Productivity and Poverty Status among Users of Improved Sorghum Varieties in Kano State, Nigeria

Authors: Temitope Adefunsho Olatoye, Julius Olabode Elega

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Raising agricultural productivity is an important policy goal for governments and development agencies, and this is central to growth, income distribution, improved food security, and poverty alleviation among practitioners. This study analyzed the productivity and poverty status among users of improved sorghum varieties in Kano State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was adopted in the selection of 131 sorghum farmers who were users of improved sorghum varieties. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive (frequency distribution and percentage) and inferential (productivity index and FGT model) statistics. The result of the socioeconomic characteristics of the sorghum farmers showed a mean age of 40 years, with about 93.13% of the sorghum farmers being male. Also, as indicated by the result, the majority (82.44%) of the farmers were married, with most of them having qur’anic education with a mean farm size of 3.6 ha, as reported in the study area. Furthermore, the result showed that the mean farming experience of the sorghum farmers in the study area was 19 years, with an average monthly income of about ₦48,794, as reported in the study area. The result of the productivity index showed a ratio of 192,977kg/ha, while the result of poverty status shows that 62.88% were in the non-poor category, 21.21% were poor, and 15.91% were very poor, respectively. The result also showed that the incidence of poverty for sorghum farmers was 16%, indicating that the incidence of poverty was prevalent in the study area. Based on the findings of this study, it was therefore recommended that seed companies should facilitate the spread of improved sorghum varieties as it has an impact on the productivity and poverty status of sorghum farmers in the study area.

Keywords: Foster Greer Thorbecke model, improved sorghum varieties, productivity, poverty status

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3775 Association Between Disability and Obesity Status Among US Adults: Findings From 2019-2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)

Authors: Chimuanya Osuji, Kido Uyamasi, Morgan Bradley

Abstract:

Introduction: Obesity is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, with higher rates occurring among certain populations. Even though disparities in obesity rates exist for those with disabilities, few studies have assessed the association between disability and obesity status. This study aims to examine the association between type of disability and obesity status among US adults during the Covid-19 pandemic (2019-2021). Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study was obtained from the 2019, 2020 and 2021 NHIS. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to assess the relationship between each type of disability and obesity status (reference= normal/underweight). Each model adjusted for demographic, health status and health-related quality of life variables. Statistical analyses were conducted using SAS version 9.4. Results: Of the 82,632 US adults who completed the NHIS in 2019, 2020, and 2021. 8.9% (n= 7,354) reported at least 1 disability-related condition. Respondents reported having a disability across vision (1.5%), hearing (1.5%), mobility (5.3%), communication (0.8%), cognition (2.4%) and self-care (1.1%) domains. After adjusting for covariates, adults with at least 1 disability-related condition were about 30% more likely to have moderate-severe obesity (AOR=1.3; 95% CI=1.11, 1.53). Mobility was the only disability category positively associated with mild obesity (AOR=1.16; 95% CI=1.01, 1.35) and moderate/severe obesity (AOR=1.6; 95% CI=1.35, 1.89). Individuals with vision disability were about 35% less likely to have mild obesity (AOR=0.66; 95% CI=0.51, 0.86) and moderate-severe obesity (AOR=0.66; 95% CI= 0.48, 0.9). Individuals with hearing disability were 28% less likely to have mild obesity (AOR=0.72; 95% CI= 0.56, 0.94). Individuals with communication disability were about 30% less likely to be overweight (AOR=0.66; 95% CI=0.47, 0.93) and 50% less likely to have mild obesity (AOR=0.45; 95% CI= 0.29, 0.71). Individuals with cognitive disability were about 25% less likely to have mild obesity and about 35% less likely to have moderate-severe obesity. Individuals with self-care disability were about 30% less likely to be overweight. Conclusion: Mobility-related disabilities are significantly associated with obesity status among adults residing in the United States. Researchers and policy makers should implement obesity intervention methods that can address the gap in obesity prevalence rates among those with and without disabilities.

Keywords: cognition, disability, mobility, obesity

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3774 Organizational Agility in 22 Districts of Tehran Municipality

Authors: Mehrnoosh Jafari, Zeinolabedin Amini Sabegh, Habibollah Azimian

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Background: Today variable and dynamic environment doubles importance of using suitable solutions for confronting these changes in th4e organizations. One of the best ways for coping with environmental changes is directing the organization towards agility. Current research aims at investigating status of organizational agility in Tehran municipality (22 districts). Research Methodology: This research is applied research in terms of purpose of study and it is survey in terms of collection of descriptive data. A sample (n = 377) was selected from Tehran Municipality (22 districts) employees using multistage sampling method (cluster and regular). Data were collected using organizational agility standard questionnaire, and they were analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS software as well as inferential statistics such as one-sample t-test and Friedman test and descriptive statistics such as mean and median. Findings: Research findings showed organizational agility status in the organizations under study is in relatively optimal status and competence has highest priority in terms of ranking and priority of organizational agility indexes. Conclusion: It is necessary that managers provide suitable conditions for promoting organizational agility status in the organizations under study by identifying factors affecting change in the organizational environments and using available potentials for better coping with changes and higher flexibility and speed.

Keywords: organizational, municipality, employer, agility

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3773 Stress and Personality as Predictors of Aggressive Behaviour among Nurses of Private Hospitals in Imo State, Nigeria

Authors: Ngozi N. Sydney-Agbor, Chioma N. Ihegboro

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Stress and personality as factors influencing nurses’ aggressive behaviour were investigated. The participants comprised of one hundred and fifty nurses selected through convenience sampling technique from four (4) private hospitals in Imo State, Nigeria; namely: Eastern Summit Specialist Clinics and Maternity, St. David Hospital, New Cross Hospital, and Christian Teaching Hospital. The nurses were all females with ages between 20–35 and a mean age of 25.10 years and a standard deviation of 4.15. The participants were administered with Job Related Tension Scale, Type A Behaviour Scale and Buss- Perry Aggressive Behaviour Scale. Two hypotheses were postulated and tested. Cross- sectional survey and Regression Analysis were adopted as design and statistics respectively. Results showed that as stress increased, nurses aggression also increased. Personality also predicted nurses aggressive behaviour with Type As’ exhibiting higher aggression than Type Bs’.The study recommended that hospital management board should improve the welfare of the nurses and their morale should be boosted by involving them in policy-making concerning their welfare and care of their patients, this will help minimise situations capable of increasing aggressive behaviour. There should also be sensitization on the negative impact of aggressive behaviour to patients especially amongst the personality Type A’s who are more susceptible to aggression.

Keywords: aggressive behaviour, nurses, personality, stress

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3772 Fighting for What’s Fair: Illegitimacy Appraisals as Drivers of Different Collective Action Responses to Economic Inequality

Authors: Finn Lannon, Jenny Roth, Roland Deutsch, Eric Igou

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The world continues to be rife with economic inequality, which has an impact on how people think and behaves in response to large and often growing gaps in wealth. Large gaps in earnings between groups within a particular organization, area or society can create tension between groups. Collective action tendencies (to protest, sign a petition, vote on behalf of an ingroup etc.) are also a growing phenomenon globally. Research shows that economic inequality promotes social processes such as appraisals of illegitimacy, which are recognized antecedents of collective action. This paper examines different types of collective action intentions among middle-status group members in response to economic inequality in two studies. Study 1 (N = 72) demonstrates a causal link between high economic inequality and collective action intentions of middle-status group members both to reduce inequality and to improve group status. A second pre-registered study (N = 432) examines key drivers of these relationships, including illegitimacy appraisals and direction of intergroup comparison. Adding to the current understanding of the topic, distinctions between the illegitimacy of one’s group status and the illegitimacy of societal inequality are found to mediate key relationships between economic inequality and relevant collective action types. The direction of intergroup comparison (upwards vs. downwards) is also shown to have a significant impact on collective action intentions to improve group status. Findings add to the understanding of the consequences of economic inequality and drivers of collective action intentions.

Keywords: economic inequality, collective action, legitimacy, social psychology

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3771 Women Executives' Career Success in the Office of the Basic Education

Authors: Nipon Sasithornsaowapa

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This research aims to study the impact of personality and family status on women executives’ career success of the primary education department of Thailand. The independent variable includes three factors, namely family status, personality, and knowledge-skill-experience, while the dependent variable is the career success. The population of this study includes 2,179 female management officials in the department of primary education. A total of 400 female managers is interviewed and utilized as a sample group. A questionnaire is developed and used as a research tool for data collection. Content analysis is performed to get the quantitative data. Descriptive statistics in this research is conducted by SPSS program. The findings revealed that personality and family status of samples have an influence on the overall career success of women executives in terms of their objective career success. However, in terms of specific factors of personality or family status, it is found that there is no relevance of each factor on the women executives’ career success. It can be concluded that the factor affecting the women executives’ career success is subjective career success including the happiness and enjoyment with the job not factor concerning materials. Their success is the result of each individual working experience. However, their personal characteristics do not affect their success.

Keywords: career success, women executives, primary education, knowledge-skill-experience

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3770 Health Status, Perception of Self-Efficacy and Social Support of Thailand Aging

Authors: Wipakon Sonsnam, Kanya Napapongsa

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The quantitative aim of the study; 1) health conditions, to examine the state of health of the aging, 2) perceived of self-efficacy, self-care of aging ,3) perceived of social support of the aging, 4) to examine factors associated with self-efficacy in enhancing the health and self-care when illness. 100 samples selected from communities in Dusit, Bangkok, 2014 by random sampling. The questionnaires were used to collect data have 5-point rating scale, consisting of strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, and strongly disagree; approved content valid by 3 experts, reliability coefficients alpha was .784 for perceived of self-efficacy, self-care of aging and .827 for perceived of social support of the aging. ST-5, 2Q used for collect mental health. The ability to engage in a daily routine was collected by Barthel ADL index. Founding, the sample group were female (68%). (33%) of them were in the age of 60-65. Most of them were married and still live with their spouse (55%) and do not work (38%). The average annual income was less than 10,000 baht supported by child. Most people think that income was adequate (49.0%) and Satisfaction (61.0%). Most of aging caring them-self, followed by them spouse (26%). Welfare of the public had supported, living for the aging (100%), followed by Join and health volunteers in communities (23%). In terms of health, (53%) of the sample group feels health was fair, hypertension was the most common health condition among sample group (68%), following by diabetes (55%). About eyesight, (42%) have visual acuity. (59.0%) do not need hearing aids. 84% have more than 20 teeth remaining, and have no problem with chewing (61%). In terms of Ability to engage in a daily routine, most of people (84%) in sample group are in type 1. (91%) of the participants don’t have bladder incontinence. For mental condition, (82%) do not have insomnia. (87%) do not have anxiety. (96%) do not have depression. However, (77%) of the sample group is facing stress. In terms of environment in home, bathroom in the home (90.0%) and floor of bathroom was slippery (91.0%). (48%) of the sample group has the skills of how to look after themselves while being sick, and how to keep up healthy lifestyle. Besides, some other factors, such as gender, age and educational background are related to the health perception. The statistical significance was <0.05. Suggestion: The instruments available to national standards such as ST-5, 2Q and Barthel ADL index. Reliability coefficients alpha was .784 for perceived of self-efficacy, self-care of aging and .827 for perceived of social support of the aging. The instrument used to collect perceived of social support must be further developed to study level of influence of social support that affect the health of elderly.

Keywords: ้health status, perception of aging, self-efficacy, social support

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3769 Social Integration of Visually Impaired Persons in Georgia

Authors: Vakhtang Nozadze, Luiza Arutinova, Khatuna Martskvishvili

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The social empowerment of most needed individuals is a challenging issue, especially for developing countries. The current study explores the effects of visual impairment on individuals’ satisfaction with different aspects of life (i.e. education, job, income, family) and coping strategies. Furthermore, the difference between groups according to health status is revealed. Other demographic variables (education, employment, and marital status) is also considered. The cross-sectional design and self-reported questionnaires were adopted. Seventy-two visually impaired males and females (age range 13-66) and seventy healthy individuals participated in the study. The results reveal the importance of health status on the accessibility of social amenities, individuals’ satisfaction with life, and a diversity of coping strategies, irrespective of the age. The research has an important implication for social integration research and policy.

Keywords: coping strategies, life satisfaction, social integration, visual impairment

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3768 Estimating Poverty Levels from Satellite Imagery: A Comparison of Human Readers and an Artificial Intelligence Model

Authors: Ola Hall, Ibrahim Wahab, Thorsteinn Rognvaldsson, Mattias Ohlsson

Abstract:

The subfield of poverty and welfare estimation that applies machine learning tools and methods on satellite imagery is a nascent but rapidly growing one. This is in part driven by the sustainable development goal, whose overarching principle is that no region is left behind. Among other things, this requires that welfare levels can be accurately and rapidly estimated at different spatial scales and resolutions. Conventional tools of household surveys and interviews do not suffice in this regard. While they are useful for gaining a longitudinal understanding of the welfare levels of populations, they do not offer adequate spatial coverage for the accuracy that is needed, nor are their implementation sufficiently swift to gain an accurate insight into people and places. It is this void that satellite imagery fills. Previously, this was near-impossible to implement due to the sheer volume of data that needed processing. Recent advances in machine learning, especially the deep learning subtype, such as deep neural networks, have made this a rapidly growing area of scholarship. Despite their unprecedented levels of performance, such models lack transparency and explainability and thus have seen limited downstream applications as humans generally are apprehensive of techniques that are not inherently interpretable and trustworthy. While several studies have demonstrated the superhuman performance of AI models, none has directly compared the performance of such models and human readers in the domain of poverty studies. In the present study, we directly compare the performance of human readers and a DL model using different resolutions of satellite imagery to estimate the welfare levels of demographic and health survey clusters in Tanzania, using the wealth quintile ratings from the same survey as the ground truth data. The cluster-level imagery covers all 608 cluster locations, of which 428 were classified as rural. The imagery for the human readers was sourced from the Google Maps Platform at an ultra-high resolution of 0.6m per pixel at zoom level 18, while that of the machine learning model was sourced from the comparatively lower resolution Sentinel-2 10m per pixel data for the same cluster locations. Rank correlation coefficients of between 0.31 and 0.32 achieved by the human readers were much lower when compared to those attained by the machine learning model – 0.69-0.79. This superhuman performance by the model is even more significant given that it was trained on the relatively lower 10-meter resolution satellite data while the human readers estimated welfare levels from the higher 0.6m spatial resolution data from which key markers of poverty and slums – roofing and road quality – are discernible. It is important to note, however, that the human readers did not receive any training before ratings, and had this been done, their performance might have improved. The stellar performance of the model also comes with the inevitable shortfall relating to limited transparency and explainability. The findings have significant implications for attaining the objective of the current frontier of deep learning models in this domain of scholarship – eXplainable Artificial Intelligence through a collaborative rather than a comparative framework.

Keywords: poverty prediction, satellite imagery, human readers, machine learning, Tanzania

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3767 Research on the Performance Management of Social Organizations Participating in Home-Based Care

Authors: Qiuhu Shao

Abstract:

Community home-based care service system, which is based on the family pension, supported by community pension and supplied by institutions pension, is an effective pension system to solve the current situation of China's accelerated aging. However, due to the fundamental realities of our country, the government is not able to bear the unilateral supply of the old-age service of the community. Therefore, based on the theory of welfare pluralism, the participation of social organizations in the home-based care service center has become an important part of the diversified supply of the old-age service for the elderly. Meanwhile, the home-based care service industry is still in the early stage, the management is relatively rough, which resulted in a large number of social resources waste. Thus, scientific, objective and long-term implementation is needed for social organizations to participate in home-based care services to guide its performance management. In order to realize the design of the performance management system, the author has done a research work that clarifies the research status of social organization's participation in home-based care service. Relevant theories such as welfare pluralism, community care theory, and performance management theory have been used to demonstrate the feasibility of data envelopment analysis method in social organization performance research. This paper analyzes the characteristics of the operation mode of the home-based care service center, and hackles the national as well as local documents, standards and norms related to the development of the home-based care industry, particularly studies those documents in Nanjing. Based on this, the paper designed a set of performance management PDCA system for home-based care service center in Nanjing and clarified each step of the system in detail. Subsequently, the research methods of performance evaluation and performance management and feedback, which are two core steps of performance management have been compared and screened in order to establish the overall framework of the performance management system of the home-based care service center. Through a large number of research, the paper summarized and analyzed the characteristics of the home-based care service center. Based on the research results, combined with the practice of the industry development in Nanjing, the paper puts forward a targeted performance evaluation index system of home-based care service center in Nanjing. Finally, the paper evaluated and sub-filed the performance of 186 home-based care service centers in Nanjing and then designed the performance optimization direction and performance improvement path based on the results. This study constructs the index system of performance evaluation of home-based care service and makes the index detailed to the implementation level, and constructs the evaluation index system which can be applied directly. Meanwhile, the quantitative evaluation of social organizations participating in the home-based care service changed the subjective impression in the previous practice of evaluation.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, home-based care, performance management, social organization

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3766 Sunflower Oil as a Nutritional Strategy to Reduce the Impacts of Heat Stress on Meat Quality and Dirtiness Pigs Score

Authors: Angela Cristina Da F. De Oliveira, Salma E. Asmar, Norbert P. Battlori, Yaz Vera, Uriel R. Valencia, Tâmara D. Borges, Antoni D. Bueno, Leandro B. Costa

Abstract:

The present study aimed to evaluate the replacement of 5% of starch per 5% of sunflower oil (SO) on meat quality and animal welfare of growing and finishing pigs (Iberic x Duroc), exposed to a heat stress environment. The experiment lasted 90 days, and it was carried out in a randomized block design, in a 2 x 2 factorial, composed of two diets (starch or sunflower oil (with or without) and two feed intake management (ad libitum and restriction). Seventy-two crossbred males (51± 6,29 kg body weight - BW) were housed in climate-controlled rooms, in collective pens and exposed to heat stress environment (32°C; 35% to 50% humidity). The treatments studies were: 1) control diet (5% starch x 0% SO) with ad libitum intake (n = 18); 2) SO diet (replacement of 5% of starch per 5% of SO) with ad libitum intake (n = 18); 3) control diet with restriction feed intake (n = 18); or 4) SO diet with restriction feed intake (n = 18). Feed were provided in two phases, 50-100 Kg BW for growing and 100-140 Kg BW for finishing, respectively. Within welfare evaluations, dirtiness score was evaluated all morning during ninety days of the experiment. The presence of manure was individually measured based on one side of the pig´s body and scored according to: 0 (less than 20% of the body surface); 1 (more than 20% but less than 50% of the body surface); 2 (over 50% of the body surface). After the experimental period, when animals reach 130-140 kg BW, they were slaughtered using carbon dioxide (CO2) stunning. Carcass weight, leanness and fat content, measured at the last rib, were recorded within 20 min post-mortem (PM). At 24h PM, pH, electrical conductivity and color measures (L, a*, b*) were recorded in the Longissimus thoracis and Semimembranosus muscles. Data shown no interaction between diet (control x SO) and management feed intake (ad libitum x restriction) on the meat quality parameters. Animals in ad libitum management presented an increase (p < 0.05) on BW, carcass weight (CW), back fat thickness (BT), and intramuscular fat content (IM) when compared with animals in restriction management. In contrast, animals in restriction management showing a higher (p < 0.05) carcass yield, percentage of lean and loin thickness. To welfare evaluations, the interaction between diet and management feed intake did not influence the degree of dirtiness. Although, the animals that received SO diet, independently of the management, were cleaner than animals in control group (p < 0,05), which, for pigs, demonstrate an important strategy to reduce body temperature. Based in our results, the diet and management feed intake had a significant influence on meat quality and animal welfare being considered efficient nutritional strategies to reduce heat stress and improved meat quality.

Keywords: dirtiness, environment, meat, pig

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3765 Avoiding Packet Drop for Improved through Put in the Multi-Hop Wireless N/W

Authors: Manish Kumar Rajak, Sanjay Gupta

Abstract:

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are infrastructure less and intercommunicate using single-hop and multi-hop paths. Network based congestion avoidance which involves managing the queues in the network devices is an integral part of any network. QoS: A set of service requirements that are met by the network while transferring a packet stream from a source to a destination. Especially in MANETs, packet loss results in increased overheads. This paper presents a new algorithm to avoid congestion using one or more queue on nodes and corresponding flow rate decided in advance for each node. When any node attains an initial value of queue then it sends this status to its downstream nodes which in turn uses the pre-decided flow rate of packet transfer to its upstream nodes. The flow rate on each node is adjusted according to the status received from its upstream nodes. This proposed algorithm uses the existing infrastructure to inform to other nodes about its current queue status.

Keywords: mesh networks, MANET, packet count, threshold, throughput

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3764 An Exploratory Research on Awareness towards Human Rights among Public Representatives of Bihar, India

Authors: Saba Farheen, Uday Shankar

Abstract:

Background- Attaining equality among all humans and eliminating all forms of discrimination against them are fundamental human rights. These rights are based on the belief that all human beings are born free with equal dignity, esteem, and honour. In India, more than 30 percent politicians are having criminal background. They are also illiterate, which obstacle them in governing the system. They do not know the basic human rights. Because of this, they cannot decide what to do for the sake of the nation. Bihar is the third largest populated state of India and is characterized by corrupt politicians and poor literacy rate. If the politicians can aware about the human rights, then they will show positive attitude towards these. Aim- The main goal of the present research was to study the subjects’ knowledge or awareness towards their human rights. It was an attempt to identify social-psychological conditions that inhibit or facilitate awareness among public representatives towards their human rights in the special context of Bihar, India. Thus the main variable awareness towards human rights has been treated as the main dependent variable. The other two variables-socio economic status and Educational status, have been treated as independent variables. Method- The subjects were 400 public representatives in the age group of 35 to 50 years. They were from High socio economic status (N=150), Middle socio economic status (N=150), and Low socio economic status (N=100). The subjects were either educated (N=200) or Uneducated (N=200). The subjects were selected randomly from the different districts of Bihar, India. “Human Rights Awareness Scale” by Dr. Iftekhar Hossain, Dr. Saba Farheen, and Dr. Uday Shankar was applied in this study. Results- Results have shown that the public representatives have very low level of awareness towards the human rights. Also, the subjects from Middle SES have highest awareness in comparison with subjects of High and Low SES. Uneducated public representatives have less awareness than the educated one about human rights. Conclusion- Conclusively, it can be stated that human rights awareness among the public representatives of India is very low, and it is being affected by their Socio economic status and literacy level.

Keywords: human rights, awareness, public representatives, bihar, India

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3763 Food Intake Pattern and Nutritional Status of Preschool Children of Chakma Ethnic Community

Authors: Md Monoarul Haque

Abstract:

Nutritional status is a sensitive indicator of community health and nutrition among preschool children, especially the prevalence of undernutrition that affects all dimensions of human development and leads to growth faltering in early life. The present study is an attempt to assess the food intake pattern and nutritional status of pre-school Chakma tribe children. It was a cross-sectional community based study. The subjects were selected purposively. This study was conducted at Savar Upazilla of Rangamati. Rangamati is located in the Chittagong Division. Anthropometric data height and weight of the study subjects were collected by standard techniques. Nutritional status was measured using Z score according WHO classification. χ2 test, independent t-test, Pearson’s correlation, multiple regression and logistic regression was performed as P<0.05 level of significance. Statistical analyses were performed by appropriate univariate and multivariate techniques using SPSS windows 11.5. Moderate (-3SD to <-2SD) to severe underweight (<-3SD) were 23.8% and 76.2% study subjects had normal weight for their age. Moderate (-3SD to <-2SD) to severe (<-3SD) stunted children were only 25.6% and 74.4% children were normal and moderate to severe wasting were 14.7% whereas normal child was 85.3%. Significant association had been found between child nutritional status and monthly family income, mother education and occupation of father and mother. Age, sex and incomes of the family, education of mother and occupation of father were significantly associated with WAZ and HAZ of the study subjects (P=0.0001, P=0.025, P=0.001 and P=0.0001, P=0.003, P=0.031, P=0.092, P=0.008). Maximum study subjects took local small fish and some traditional tribal food like bashrool, jhijhipoka and pork very much popular food among tribal children. Energy, carbohydrate and fat intake was significantly associated with HAZ, WAZ, BAZ and MUACZ. This study demonstrates that malnutrition among tribal children in Bangladesh is much better than national scenario in Bangladesh. Significant association was found between child nutritional status and family monthly income, mother education and occupation of father and mother. Most of the study subjects took local small fish and some traditional tribal food. Significant association was also found between child nutritional status and dietary intake of energy, carbohydrate and fat.

Keywords: food intake pattern, nutritional status, preschool children, Chakma ethnic community

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3762 The Influence of Career Optimism and Relationship Status on University Students’ Wellbeing

Authors: Didem Kepir Savoly, Selen Demirtas Zorbaz

Abstract:

University students are at such a developmental stage that they are in between adolescence and adulthood, which is called emerging adulthood. And this developmental stage can be stressful due to its own nature. The potential stressor can be related to their academic life, career thoughts or beliefs, and the quality of their relationships with their peers, friends, and partners. University life is also a time that they explore and navigate their career goals and relationships. These life events may contribute to their wellbeing and mental health positively or negatively. Also, relationship status can have an impact on individuals’ mental health, whether they feel satisfied or not, and can play a role in university students’ wellbeing. The relationships between career, relationship, and wellbeing can be multifaceted and complex, and more research is required in this area. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the influence of career optimism and relationship status on university students’ wellbeing. According to the purpose of the research, the following hypotheses are established: 1. University students with higher career optimism will exhibit a higher level of wellbeing. 2. University students in relationships will report a higher level of wellbeing. This research is based on a quantitative method. The scale implementation, correlational, and group comparison analysis were utilized to analyze data. The data was collected from university students in Turkiye by utilizing the Career Optimism Scale and a questionnaire to identify participants’ relationship status and demographic variables. The findings and their implications may inspire researchers and practitioners, especially practitioners at counseling centers and career services of universities, in order to tailor psychoeducational and intervention programs to promote university students’ mental health.

Keywords: career optimism, relationship status, university students, wellbeing

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3761 Systematic Review of Quantitative Risk Assessment Tools and Their Effect on Racial Disproportionality in Child Welfare Systems

Authors: Bronwen Wade

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Over the last half-century, child welfare systems have increasingly relied on quantitative risk assessment tools, such as actuarial or predictive risk tools. These tools are developed by performing statistical analysis of how attributes captured in administrative data are related to future child maltreatment. Some scholars argue that attributes in administrative data can serve as proxies for race and that quantitative risk assessment tools reify racial bias in decision-making. Others argue that these tools provide more “objective” and “scientific” guides for decision-making instead of subjective social worker judgment. This study performs a systematic review of the literature on the impact of quantitative risk assessment tools on racial disproportionality; it examines methodological biases in work on this topic, summarizes key findings, and provides suggestions for further work. A search of CINAHL, PsychInfo, Proquest Social Science Premium Collection, and the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Collection was performed. Academic and grey literature were included. The review includes studies that use quasi-experimental methods and development, validation, or re-validation studies of quantitative risk assessment tools. PROBAST (Prediction model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool) and CHARMS (CHecklist for critical Appraisal and data extraction for systematic Reviews of prediction Modelling Studies) were used to assess the risk of bias and guide data extraction for risk development, validation, or re-validation studies. ROBINS-I (Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions) was used to assess for bias and guide data extraction for the quasi-experimental studies identified. Due to heterogeneity among papers, a meta-analysis was not feasible, and a narrative synthesis was conducted. 11 papers met the eligibility criteria, and each has an overall high risk of bias based on the PROBAST and ROBINS-I assessments. This is deeply concerning, as major policy decisions have been made based on a limited number of studies with a high risk of bias. The findings on racial disproportionality have been mixed and depend on the tool and approach used. Authors use various definitions for racial equity, fairness, or disproportionality. These concepts of statistical fairness are connected to theories about the reason for racial disproportionality in child welfare or social definitions of fairness that are usually not stated explicitly. Most findings from these studies are unreliable, given the high degree of bias. However, some of the less biased measures within studies suggest that quantitative risk assessment tools may worsen racial disproportionality, depending on how disproportionality is mathematically defined. Authors vary widely in their approach to defining and addressing racial disproportionality within studies, making it difficult to generalize findings or approaches across studies. This review demonstrates the power of authors to shape policy or discourse around racial justice based on their choice of statistical methods; it also demonstrates the need for improved rigor and transparency in studies of quantitative risk assessment tools. Finally, this review raises concerns about the impact that these tools have on child welfare systems and racial disproportionality.

Keywords: actuarial risk, child welfare, predictive risk, racial disproportionality

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3760 The Association between Affective States and Sexual/Health-Related Status among Men Who Have Sex with Men in China: An Exploration Study Using Social Media Data

Authors: Zhi-Wei Zheng, Zhong-Qi Liu, Jia-Ling Qiu, Shan-Qing Guo, Zhong-Wei Jia, Chun Hao

Abstract:

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to understand and examine the association between diurnal mood variation and sexual/health-related status among men who have sex with men (MSM) using data from MSM Chinese Twitter messages. The study consists of 843,745 postings of 377,610 MSM users located in Guangdong that were culled from the MSM Chinese Twitter App. Positive affect, negative affect, sexual related behaviors, and health-related status were measured using the Simplified Chinese Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. Emotions, including joy, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust were measured using the Weibo Basic Mood Lexicon. A positive sentiment score and a positive emotions score were also calculated. Linear regression models based on a permutation test were used to assess associations between affective states and sexual/health-related status. In the results, 5,871 active MSM users and their 477,374 postings were finally selected. MSM expressed positive affect and joy at 8 a.m. and expressed negative affect and negative emotions between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. In addition, 25.1% of negative postings were directly related to health and 13.4% reported seeking social support during that sensitive period. MSM who were senior, educated, overweight or obese, self-identified as performing a versatile sex role, and with less followers, more followers, and less chat groups mainly expressed more negative affect and negative emotions. MSM who talked more about sexual-related behaviors had a higher positive sentiment score (β=0.29, p < 0.001) and a higher positive emotions score (β = 0.16, p < 0.001). MSM who reported more on their health status had a lower positive sentiment score (β = -0.83, p < 0.001) and a lower positive emotions score (β = -0.37, p < 0.001). The study concluded that psychological intervention based on an app for MSM should be conducted, as it may improve mental health.

Keywords: affect, men who have sex with men, sexual related behavior, health-related status, social media

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3759 The Structural Pillars in Contemporary Mexico: Legacies of the Past and Lessons for the Future

Authors: Lisdey Espinoza Pedraza

Abstract:

In places from Latin America to Africa, a big number of authoritarian regimes have given way to democratic forces and increasingly responsive and open societies. Many countries have embarked upon a process of democratisation for the first time while many others have moved to restore their democratic roots. Mexico is one of these countries, and although the Mexican state is not democratic neither dictatorial in the strict sense the Anglo-Saxon and European tradition has defined these concepts, it is possible to find elements that combine both concepts. History helps us understand and study the past, interpret the present and predict the future. In the case of the Mexican political system, history has had a very specific effect in each of the areas that comprise the making of what it is now the contemporary Mexican system. Each of the different historical periods has left a legacy that has marked the way the political system has evolved. The historical periods that Mexico has undergone since its emergence as an independent state, have permeated until modern days and some of these legacies are the ones which will help us understand and interpret many of the structures of the current Mexican political system. The most notorious characteristic of contemporary Latin America is its dependency, underdevelopment and economic disparity once this region if compared with Europe and North America. There is a widespread persistence of economic dependence and social problems despite the creation of independent countries. The role of the state is to supervise the development of relations among actors. The political phenomenon is full of a constant process of transitions and the particular case of the formation of the Mexican state evidences this.

Keywords: Mexico, democratisation process, PRI, authoritarian regimes, political transitions, Latin America

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3758 Historic Fire Occurrence in Hemi-Boreal Forests: Exploring Natural and Cultural Scots Pine Multi-Cohort Fire Regimes in Lithuania

Authors: Charles Ruffner, Michael Manton, Gintautas Kibirkstis, Gediminas Brazaitas, Vitas Marozas, Ekaterine Makrickiene, Rutile Pukiene, Per Angelstam

Abstract:

In dynamic boreal forests, fire is an important natural disturbance, which drives regeneration and mortality of living and dead trees, and thus successional trajectories. However, current forest management practices focusing on wood production only have effectively eliminated fire as a stand-level disturbance. While this is generally well studied across much of Europe, in Lithuania, little is known about the historic fire regime and the role fire plays as a management tool towards the sustainable management of future landscapes. Focusing on Scots pine forests, we explore; i) the relevance of fire disturbance regimes on forestlands of Lithuania; ii) fire occurrence in the Dzukija landscape for dry upland and peatland forest sites, and iii) correlate tree-ring data with climate variables to ascertain climatic influences on growth and fire occurrence. We sampled and cross-dated 132 Scots pine samples with fire scars from 4 dry pine forest stands and 4 peatland forest stands, respectively. The fire history of each sample was analyzed using standard dendrochronological methods and presented in FHAES format. Analyses of soil moisture and nutrient conditions revealed a strong probability of finding forests that have a high fire frequency in Scots pine forests (59%), which cover 34.5% of Lithuania’s current forestland. The fire history analysis revealed 455 fire scars and 213 fire events during the period 1742-2019. Within the Dzukija landscape, the mean fire interval was 4.3 years for the dry Scots pine forest and 8.7 years for the peatland Scots pine forest. However, our comparison of fire frequency before and after 1950 shows a marked decrease in mean fire interval. Our data suggest that hemi-boreal forest landscapes of Lithuania provide strong evidence that fire, both human and lightning-ignited fires, has been and should be a natural phenomenon and that the examination of biological archives can be used to guide sustainable forest management into the future. Currently, fire use is prohibited by law as a tool for forest management in Lithuania. We recommend introducing trials that use low-intensity prescribed burning of Scots pine stands as a regeneration tool towards mimicking natural forest disturbance regimes.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, cultural burning, dendrochronology, forest dynamics, forest management, succession

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