Search results for: global societal impact

Authors: Karolina Patora

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This article investigates liquidity risk management by banks, which has gained significant importance since the global financial crisis of 2008. The issue is of particular interest for countries like Poland, in which foreign capital plays a dominant role. Such an ownership structure poses certain risks to the local banking sector, which faces an increased probability of the withdrawal of funding or assets’ transfers abroad in case of a crisis. Both these factors can have a detrimental influence on the liquidity position of foreign-owned banks and hence negatively affect the financial stability of the whole banking sector. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a dominating share of foreign investors in the Polish banking sector on the liquidity position of commercial banks. The study hypothesizes that the ownership structure of the Polish banking sector, in which there are banks predominantly controlled by foreign investors, does not pose a threat to the liquidity position of Polish banks. A supplementary research hypothesis is that the liquidity risk profile of foreign-owned banks differs from that of domestic banks. The sample consists of 14 foreign-owned banks and 5 domestic banks owned by local investors, which together constitute approximately 87% of the banking sector’s assets. The data covers the period of 2004–2014. The results of the regression models show no evidence of significant differences in terms of the dynamics of changes of the liquidity buffers between the foreign-owned and domestic banks, although the signs of the coefficients might suggest that the foreign-owned banks were decreasing the holdings of liquid assets at a slower pace over the examined period, compared to the domestic banks. However, no proof of the statistical significance of these findings has been found. The supplementary research hypothesis that the liquidity risk profile of foreign-controlled banks differs from that of domestic banks was rejected.

Keywords: foreign-owned banks, liquidity position, liquidity risk, financial stability

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Authors: Muhammad Umar Kibiya

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The study aims to examine whether regulatory changes have an impact on the financial reporting quality of Microfinance Banks in Nigeria. The research employed a panel data analysis technique, using data from 2018 to 2022. The sample includes 72 microfinance banks, using regression analyses to examine the relationship between variables. The findings indicate that Board Chairmanship has a positive and significant effect on financial reporting quality. It also reveals that share ownership has a negative and significant impact on financial reporting quality. The results suggest that regulatory changes have a positive and significant influence on financial reporting quality. Thus, findings have important implications for microfinance banks in Nigeria. It suggests that having a strong and competent board chairperson can enhance financial reporting quality, leading to more transparent and reliable information for stakeholders. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of regulatory changes in improving financial reporting practices in the microfinance banking sector. The study contributes to the extant literature by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between board chairmanship, share ownership, financial reporting quality, and regulatory changes in microfinance banks. It further supports the concept that governance mechanisms and regulatory reforms play a crucial role in ensuring transparency and accountability within the microfinance banking sector. It recommends that microfinance banks should appoint experienced and qualified individuals as board chairpersons to enhance financial reporting quality. Furthermore, policymakers and regulatory authorities should continue to implement and enforce regulations that promote transparent financial reporting practices in microfinance banks.

Keywords: board chairman, share ownership, financial reporting quality, microfinance, regulatory changes

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Authors: Rajendra Kumar Pandey

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Forest genetic resources not only represent regional biodiversity but also have immense value as the wealth for securing livelihood of poor people. These are vulnerable to ecological due to depletion/deforestation and /or impact of climate change. These resources of various plant categories are vulnerable on the floor of natural tropical forests, and leading to the threat on the growth and development of future forests. More than 170 species, including NTFPs, are in critical condition for their survival in natural tropical forests of Central India. Forest degradation, commensurate with biodiversity loss, is now pervasive, disproportionately affecting the rural poor who directly depend on forests for their subsistence. Looking ahead the interaction between forest and water, soil, precipitation, climate change, etc. and its impact on biodiversity of tropical forests, it is inevitable to develop co-operation policies and programmes to address new emerging realities. Forests ecosystem also known as the 'wealth of poor' providing goods and ecosystem services on a sustainable basis, are now recognized as a stepping stone to move poor people beyond subsistence. Poverty alleviation is the prime objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, environmental sustainability including other MDGs, is essential to ensure successful elimination of poverty and well being of human society. Loss and degradation of ecosystem are the most serious threats to achieving development goals worldwide. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005) was an attempt to identify provisioning and regulating cultural and supporting ecosystem services to provide livelihood security of human beings. Climate change may have a substantial impact on ecological structure and function of forests, provisioning, regulations and management of resources which can affect sustainable flow of ecosystem services. To overcome these limitations, policy guidelines with respect to planning and consistent research strategy need to be framed for conservation and sustainable development of forest genetic resources.

Keywords: climate change, forest ecosystem services, sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation

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Authors: Mahboobeh Hemmati, Tahar Messadi, Hongmei Gu

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Today, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a leading method in mitigating the environmental impacts emerging from the building sector. In this paper, LCA is used to quantify the Green House Gas (GHG) emissions during the construction phase of the largest mass timber residential structure in the United States, Adohi Hall. This building is a 200,000 square foot 708-bed complex located on the campus of the University of Arkansas. The energy used for buildings’ operation is the most dominant source of emissions in the building industry. Lately, however, the efforts were successful at increasing the efficiency of building operation in terms of emissions. As a result, the attention is now shifted to the embodied carbon, which is more noticeable in the building life cycle. Unfortunately, most of the studies have, however, focused on the manufacturing stage, and only a few have addressed to date the construction process. Specifically, less data is available about environmental impacts associated with the construction of mass timber. This study presents, therefore, an assessment of the environmental impact of the construction processes based on the real and newly built mass timber building mentioned above. The system boundary of this study covers modules A4 and A5 based on building LCA standard EN 15978. Module A4 includes material and equipment transportation. Module A5 covers the construction and installation process. This research evolves through 2 stages: first, to quantify materials and equipment deployed in the building, and second, to determine the embodied carbon associated with running equipment for construction materials, both transported to, and installed on, the site where the edifice is built. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the building is the primary metric considered in this research. The outcomes of this study bring to the front a better understanding of hotspots in terms of emission during the construction process. Moreover, the comparative analysis of the mass timber construction process with that of a theoretically similar steel building will enable an effective assessment of the environmental efficiency of mass timber.

Keywords: construction process, GWP, LCA, mass timber

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Authors: Affan Ahmed

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This research investigates the Influence of geomagnetic storm occurring from April 22 to April 26, 2023, on the Earth’s ionosphere, with a focus on analyzing specific ionospheric parameters to understand the storm's effects on ionospheric stability and GNSS signal propagation. Geomagnetic storms, caused by intensified solar wind-magnetosphere interactions, can significantly disturb ionospheric conditions, impacting electron density, Total Electron Content (TEC), and thermospheric composition. Such disturbances are particularly relevant to satellite-based navigation and communication systems, as fluctuations in ionospheric parameters can degrade signal integrity and reliability. In this study, data were obtained from multiple sources, including OMNIWeb for parameters like Dst, Kp, Bz, Electric Field, and solar wind pressure, GUVI for O/N₂ ratio maps, and TEC data from low-, mid-, and high-latitude stations available on the IONOLAB website. Additional Equatorial Electrojet (EEJ) and geomagnetic data were acquired from INTERMAGNET. The methodology involved comparing storm-affected data from April 22 to April 26 with quiet days in April 2023, using statistical and wavelet analysis to assess variations in parameters like TEC, O/N₂ ratio, and geomagnetic indices. The results show pronounced fluctuations in TEC and other ionospheric parameters during the main phase of the storm, with spatial variations observed across latitudes, highlighting the global response of the ionosphere to geomagnetic disturbances. The findings underline the storm’s significant impact on ionospheric composition, particularly in mid- and high-latitude regions, which correlates with increased GNSS signal interference in these areas. This study contributes to understanding the ionosphere’s response to geomagnetic activity, emphasizing the need for robust models to predict and mitigate space weather effects on GNSS-dependent technologies.

Keywords: geomagnetic storms, ionospheric disturbances, space weather effects, magnetosphere-ionopheric coupling

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Authors: Mohamed Moheyeldin Mahmoud

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Various Islamic, Coptic and Jewish archeological places are located in many Egyptian neighborhoods such as Alsayeda zainab, Aldarb Alahmar, Algammaleya and many other in which they are daily exposed to a great traffic intensity causing vibrations. Vibrations could be stated as one of the most important challenges that face the archeological buildings and threaten their survival. The impact of vibrations varies according to the nature of the soil, nature and building conditions, how far the source of vibration is and the period of exposure. Traffic vibrations could be also stated as one of the most common types of vibrations having the greatest impact on buildings and archaeological installations. These vibrations result from the way that the vehicles act with different types of roads which vary according to the shape, nature, and type of obstacles. Other elements concerning the vehicle itself such as speed, weight, and load have a direct impact on the vibrations resulting from the vehicle movement that couldn't be neglected. The research aims to determine some of the requirements that must be observed when designing the public means of transport operating in the archaeological areas, in order to preserve the archaeological nature of the place. The research concludes that light weight slow motion vehicles should be used (25-50 km/h at maximum) having a multi-leaf steel spring suspension system instead of having an air-bag one should be used in order to reduce generated vibrations that could destroy the archeological buildings. Isolation layers could be used in the engine chamber in order to reduce the resulting noise causing vibrations. Electrically operated engines that use solar photovoltaic cells as a source of electricity could be used instead of gas ones in order to reduce the resulting engine noise.

Keywords: archeological, design, isolation layers, suspension, vibrations

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Authors: Nashwa Elyamany

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In visual cultures, namely that of the United States, media representations are such influential and pervasive reflections of societal norms and expectations to the extent that they impact the manner in which both genders view themselves. Health and fitness magazines fall within the realm of visual culture. Since the main goal of communication is to ensure proper dissemination of information in order for the target audience to grasp the intended messages, it becomes imperative that magazine publishers, editors, advertisers and image producers use different modes of communication within their reach to convey messages to their readers and viewers. A rapid waxing flow of multimodality floods popular discourse, particularly health and fitness magazine cover pages. The use of well-crafted cover lines and visual images is imbued with agendas, consumerist ideologies and properties capable of effectively conveying implicit and explicit meaning to potential readers and viewers. In essence, the primary goal of this thesis is to interrogate the multi-semiotic operations and manifestations of hegemonic masculinity and femininity in male and female body culture, particularly on the cover pages of the twin American magazines Men's Health and Women's Health using corpora that spanned from 2011 to the mid of 2016. The researcher explores the semiotic resources that contribute to shaping and legitimizing a new form of postmodern, consumerist, gendered discourse that positions the reader-viewer ideologically. Methodologically, the researcher carries out analysis on the macro and micro levels. On the macro level, the researcher takes on a critical stance to illuminate the ideological nature of the multimodal ensemble of the cover pages, and, on the micro level, seeks to put forward new theoretical and methodological routes through which the semiotic choices well invested on the media texts can be more objectively scrutinized. On the macro level, a 'themes' analysis is initially conducted to isolate the overarching themes that dominate the fitness discourse on the cover pages under study. It is argued that variation in terms of frequencies of such themes is indicative, broadly speaking, of which facets of hegemonic masculinity and femininity are infused in the fitness discourse on the cover pages. On the micro level, this research work encompasses three sub-levels of analysis. The researcher follows an SF-MMDA approach, drawing on a trio of analytical frameworks: Halliday's SFG for the verbal analysis; Kress & van Leeuween's VG for the visual analysis; and CMT in relation to Sperber & Wilson's RT for the pragma-cognitive analysis of multimodal metaphors and metonymies. The data is presented in terms of detailed descriptions in conjunction with frequency tables, ANOVA with alpha=0.05 and MANOVA in the multiple phases of analysis. Insights and findings from this multi-faceted, social-semiotic analysis are interpreted in light of Cultivation Theory, Self-objectification Theory and the literature to date. Implications for future research include the implementation of a multi-dimensional approach whereby linguistic and visual analytical models are deployed with special regards to cultural variation.

Keywords: gender, hegemony, magazine cover page, multimodal discourse analysis, multimodal metaphor, multimodal metonymy, systemic functional grammar, visual grammar

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Authors: Mukondi Nethavhakone

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The high prevalence of violence against women is a global public health problem. Our societies have become dangerous places for women. Women during their child-bearing ages are at a higher risk of experiencing emotional, physical, and sexual violence. What makes it more concerning is that these violent acts are perpetrated by family members or partners, or ex-partners. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is associated with long-lasting physical, reproductive, sexual, mental, and maternal health implications. Expectedly women’s mental health would dimmish as a result of experiencing IPV. The burden of violence against women is seen to be heavier in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared to the rest of the world. Countries have committed to eliminating all forms of violence against women through the sustainable development goal, aiming to see changes by the year 2030. As such, various countries have implemented psychosocial interventions of different levels of impact. However, little is known, especially in low- and middle-income countries, with regard to the potential of psychosocial interventions for IPV to improve the mental health outcomes for the survivors and/or victims of IPV. Analysing the risk for IPV through a social-ecological theoretical approach, low- and middle-income countries still readdressing gender inequality which is the cause of intimate partner violence. That is why it is taking time for these countries to shift psychosocial interventions to focus more on the improvement of the mental health of the survivors. It is, therefore, against this backdrop that the researcher intends to undertake a scoping review to understand the nature and characteristics of psychosocial interventions that have been implemented in low- and middle-income countries. With the findings from the scoping review, the researcher aims to develop a conceptual framework that may be a useful resource for healthcare practitioners and researchers in low- and middle-income countries. As this area of research has not been thoroughly reviewed, the results from this scoping will determine whether a systematic review will be justifiable. Additionally, the researcher will identify gaps and opportunities for future research in this area.

Keywords: mental health improvement, psychosocial interventions, intimate partner violence, LMICs

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Authors: Seid Ahmed Mohammed, Nedim Yalansiz

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Many historians hardly gave due attention for historical comparison as their methods of study. They were still stunt supporter of the use of their own historical research method in their studies. But this method lacks the way to analyze some worldwide dynamics of events in comparative perspectives. Some dynamics like revolution, modernization, societal change and transformation needs broader analysis for broadening our historical knowledge’s by comparing and contrasting of the causes, courses and consequences of such dynamics historical developments in the world at large. In this paper, our study focuses up on ‘the dynamics of modernization’ and the challenge of modernity of the old regimes. For instance, countries like Turkey, Ethiopia, China, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and Thailand have almost the same dynamics in facing the challenge of modernity. In such countries, the old regimes tried to introduce modernization and ‘reform from the above’ in order to tackle the gradual decline of the empire that faced strong challenge from the outside world. The other similarity of them was that as the rulers attempted to introduce the modernization reforms the old traditional and the religious institutions strongly opposed the reforms as the reforms alienated the power and prestige of the traditional classes. Similarly, the rules introduced modernization for maintaining their own unique socio-cultural and religious dynamics not as borrowing and acculturation of the west by complete destruction of their own. Therefore, this paper attempted to give a comparative analysis of two modernizers Tewodros II (1855-1868) of Ethiopia and Sultan Selim III (1739-1808) of Ottoman Turkey who tried to modernize their empire unfortunately they paid their precious life as a result of modernization.

Keywords: comparative history, Ethiopia, modernization, Ottoman Turkey

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Authors: Salma Aboussalam, Karima Khalil, Khalid Elkalay

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An Ecopath model was employed to investigate the trophic structure, function, and current state of the Moroccan Mediterranean Sea ecosystem. The model incorporated 31 functional groups, including 21 fish species, 7 invertebrates, 2 primary producers, and a detritus group. The trophic interactions among these groups were analyzed, revealing an average trophic transfer efficiency of 23%. The results indicated that the ecosystem produced more energy than it consumed, with high respiration and consumption rates. Indicators of stability and development were low for the Finn cycle index (13.97), system omnivory index (0.18), and average Finn path length (3.09), indicating a disturbed ecosystem with a linear trophic structure. Keystone species were identified through the use of the keystone index and mixed trophic impact analysis, with demersal invertebrates, zooplankton, and cephalopods found to have a significant impact on other groups.

Keywords: Ecopath, food web, trophic flux, Moroccan Mediterranean Sea

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Authors: Theresa Robinson Harris

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Small businesses are important to the United States economy, yet the majority struggle to remain relevant and close before their fifth year. This qualitative study explored small business failure by comparing the experiences of small-business owners to understand their involvement with leadership during the early stages of the business, and the impact of this on the firms’ ability to survive. Participants’ experiences from two groups were compared to glean an understanding of the leadership process, how leadership differs between the groups, and to see what themes or constructs emerged that could help to explain the high failure rate. Leadership was perceived to be important when envisioning a path for the future and when providing a platform for employees to succeed. Those who embraced leadership as a skillset were more likely to get through the challenges of the early developmental years while those ignoring the importance of leadership were more likely to close prematurely. These findings suggest a disconnect with regards to the understanding, role, and benefits of leadership in small organizations, particularly young organizations in the early stages of development.

Keywords: leadership, small business, entrepreneurship, success, failure

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Authors: Chun-Yuan Chen, Ming-Chang Li, Xiu-Hui Wen, Yi-Ching Tu

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The objective of this study explores GPS (Global Positioning System) applied to trace construction vehicles such as trucks or cranes, help to pattern the earth-dumping stations of traffic construction in Taiwan. Traffic construction in this research is defined as the engineering of high-speed railways, expressways, and which that distance more than kilometers. Audit the location and check the compliance with regulations of earth-dumping stations is one of important tasks in Taiwan EPA. Basically, the earth-dumping station was known as one source of particulate matter from air pollution during construction process. Due to GPS data can be analyzed quickly and be used conveniently, this study tried to find out dumping stations by modeling vehicles tracks from GPS data during work cycle of construction. The GPS data updated from 13 vehicles related to an expressway construction in central Taiwan. The GPS footprints were retrieved to Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files so that can pattern the tracks of trucks by computer applications, the data was collected about eight months- from Feb. to Oct. in 2017. The results of GPS footprints identified dumping station and outlined the areas of earthwork had been passed to the Taiwan EPA for on-site inspection. Taiwan EPA had issued advice comments to the agency which was in charge of the construction to prevent the air pollution. According to the result of this study compared to the commonly methods in inspecting environment by manual collection, the GPS with KML patterning and modeling method can consumes less time. On the other hand, through monitoring the GPS data from construction vehicles could be useful for administration to development and implementation of strategies in environmental management.

Keywords: automatic management, earth-dumping station, environmental management, Global Positioning System (GPS), particulate matter, traffic construction

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Authors: Autjira Songjan, Vimolsri Sansuk

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The research aim to study the possible negative environmental impact by adventure tourism in Krabi, Thailand, which is a popular destination for adventure tourism. The research is carried out through quantitative and qualitative methods. Questionnaires are distributed to 400 adventure tourists: 160 Thai and 240 international tourists. Questions involved experiences and opinions towards the environment and certain practices which influence a protection or degradation of environment from tour guides, tour operators and tourists. Furthermore, in-depth interviews were carried out with 21 adventure tour operators operating 5 main adventure tours. The finding shows the various types of adventure activities in Krabi involve different kinds of nature, therefore the characteristics of the different adventure activities are likely to affect the physical environment in different level. Kayaking tours are managed inside the mangrove forests, and may lead to negative impact on the ecosystem of mangroves, through loud noise, pulling out the mangrove population.

Keywords: adventure activities, Krabi province in Thailand, physical environment, adventure tourism

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Authors: Anastasis Petrou

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Black Swan Theories (BSTs) have existed since the 2nd Century BC. However, problematisation in the interdisciplinary field of Public Administration and Informatics (PA&I) about the impact of Black Swans as rare events in Society is a more recent phenomenon but with a growing, although dispersed, body of research literature. This paper offers a synopsis of core issues and questions raised in PA&I literature about the impacts of rare events in Society, the need for knowledge accumulation and explainability processes about rare events and asks what could help explain the occurrence, severity, heterogeneity, overall impact of Black Swans and the challenges they represent to established scientific methods. The second part of the paper considers how the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) could assist researchers in better explaining rare events in PA&I. However, the research shows that whilst AI use at the start of knowledge accumulation and explainability processes about rare events is beneficial it is also fraught with challenges discussed herein. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

Keywords: black swans, public administration, AI, informatics

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Authors: Essa Alenazi, Zulfikar Adamu

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is not an exception in relying on the growth of its construction industry to support rapid population growth. However, its need for infrastructure development is constrained by low productivity levels and cost overruns caused by factors such as delays to project completion. Delays in delivering a construction project are a global issue and while theories such as Optimism Bias have been used to explain such delays, in KSA, client-related causes of delays are also significant. The objective of this paper is to develop a framework-based approach to explore how the country’s construction industry can manage and reduce delays in construction projects through building information modelling (BIM) in order to mitigate the cost consequences of such delays.  It comprehensively and systematically reviewed the global literature on the subject and identified gaps, critical delay factors and the specific benefits that BIM can deliver for the delay management.  A case study comprising of nine hospital projects that have experienced delay and cost overruns was also carried out. Five critical delay factors related to the clients were identified as candidates that can be mitigated through BIM’s benefits. These factors are: Ineffective planning and scheduling of the project; changes during construction by the client; delay in progress payment; slowness in decision making by the client; and poor communication between clients and other stakeholders. In addition, data from the case study projects strongly suggest that optimism bias is present in many of the hospital projects. Further validation via key stakeholder interviews and documentations are planned.

Keywords: building information modelling (BIM), clients perspective, delay management, optimism bias, public sector projects

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Authors: Rishana Bilimoria

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Darwin’s insightful anthropological theory on the evolution drove mankind’s understanding of our existence in the natural world. Scientists consider analysis of dental and craniofacial remains to be pivotal in uncovering facts about our evolutionary journey. The resilient mineral content of enamel and dentine allow cranial and dental remains to be preserved for millions of years, making it an excellent resource not only in anthropology but other fields of research including forensic dentistry. This literature review aims to chronologically approach each ancestral species, reviewing Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Homo Habilis, Homo Rudolfensis, Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthalis, and finally Homo Sapiens. Studies included in the review assess the features of cranio-dental remains that are of evolutionary importance, such as microstructure, microwear, morphology, and jaw biomechanics. The article discusses the plethora of analysis techniques employed to study dental remains including carbon dating, dental topography, confocal imaging, DPI scanning and light microscopy, in addition to microwear study and analysis of features such as coronal and root morphology, mandibular corpus shape, craniofacial anatomy and microstructure. Furthermore, results from these studies provide insight into the diet, lifestyle and consequently, ecological surroundings of each species. We can correlate dental fossil evidence with wider theories on pivotal global events, to help us contextualize each species in space and time. Examples include dietary adaptation during the period of global cooling converting the landscape of Africa from forest to grassland. Global migration ‘out of Africa’ can be demonstrated by enamel thickness variation, cranial vault variation over time demonstrates accommodation to larger brain sizes, and dental wear patterns can place the commencement of lithic technology in history. Conclusions from this literature review show that dental evidence plays a major role in painting a phenotypic and all rounded picture of species of the Homo genus, in particular, analysis of coronal morphology through carbon dating and dental wear analysis. With regards to analysis technique, whilst studies require larger sample sizes, this could be unrealistic since there are limitations in ability to retrieve fossil data. We cannot deny the reliability of carbon dating; however, there is certainly scope for the use of more recent techniques, and further evidence of their success is required.

Keywords: cranio-facial, dental remains, evolution, hominids

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Authors: Huda Al-Shuaily, E. M. Lacap

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Higher Education is one of the most essential fundamentals for the advancement and progress of a country. It demands to be as accessible as possible and as comprehensive as it can be reached. In this paper, we succeeded to expand the accessibility and delivery of higher education using an Open Educational Resources (OER), a freely accessible, openly licensed documents, and media for teaching and learning. This study creates a comparative design of student’s academic performance on the course Introduction to Database and student engagement to the virtual learning environment (VLE). The study was done in two successive semesters - one without using the OER and the other is using OER. In the study, we established that there is a significant increase in student’s engagement in VLE in the latter semester compared to the former. By using the latter semester’s data, we manage to show that the student’s engagement has a positive impact on students’ academic performance. Moreso, after clustering their academic performance, the impact is seen higher for students who are low performing. The results show that these engagements can be used to potentially predict the learning styles of the student with a high degree of precision.

Keywords: EDM, learning analytics, moodle, OER, student-engagement

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Authors: E. O. E. Nnadi

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Transportation is a critical factor in the economic growth and development of any nation, region or state. Good transportation network supports every sector of the economy like the manufacturing, transportation and encourages investors thereby affect the overall economic prosperity. The paper evaluates the impact of transportation on the economic growth of Nigeria using south eastern states as a case study. The choice of the case study is its importance as the commercial and industrial nerve of the country. About 200 respondents who are of different professions such as dealers in goods, transporters, contractors, consultants, bankers were selected and a set of questionnaire were administered to using the systematic sampling technique in the five states of the region. Descriptive statistics and relative importance index (RII) technique was employed for the analysis of the data gathered. The findings of the analysis reveal that Nigeria has the least effective ratio per population in Africa of 949.91 km/Person. Conclusion was drawn to improve road network in the area and the country as a whole to enhance the economic activities of the people.

Keywords: economic growth, south-east, transportation, transportation cost, Nigeria

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Authors: Medagedara Kaushalya Sewwandi Supun Gunarathne

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This research explores the underlying motivations and consequences of individuals changing their sexual orientation as a response to sexual violence. The primary objective of the study is to unravel the psychological, emotional, and social factors that drive individuals, akin to Celie in Alice Walker’s ‘The Color Purple’, to contemplate and undergo changes in their sexual orientation following the trauma of sexual violence. Through an analytical and qualitative approach, the study employs in-depth textual and thematic analyses to scrutinize the complex interplay between sexual orientation and violence within the selected text. Through a close examination of Celie’s journey and experiences, the study reveals that her decision to switch sexual orientation arises from a desire for a more favorable and benevolent relationship driven by the absence of safety and refuge in her previous relationships. By establishing this bond between sexual orientation and violence, the research underscores how sexual violence can lead individuals to opt for a change in their sexual orientation. The findings highlight Celie’s transformation as a means to seek solace and security, thus concluding that sexual violence can prompt individuals to alter their sexual orientation. The ensuing discussion explores the implications of these findings, encompassing psychological, emotional, and social consequences, as well as the societal and cultural factors influencing the perception of sexual orientation. Additionally, it sheds light on the challenges and stigma faced by those who undergo such transformations. By comprehending the complex relationship between sexual violence and the decision to change sexual orientation, as exemplified by Celie in ‘The Color Purple’, a deeper understanding of the experiences of survivors who seek a safe haven through altering their sexual orientation can be attained.

Keywords: sexual violence, sexual orientation, refuge, transition

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Authors: Akumeyam Elvis Akum, Njanjo Thecla Anyongo Mukete, Fonkeng George Epah

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Globally, the goal of higher education is to enhance graduate employability skills. Paradoxically, Cameroon’s graduate employability rate is far below the graduation rate. This worrisome situation caused the researcher to hypothesize that the teaching and learning experiences account for this increasing disparity. The study sought to investigate the effect on graduate employability of the teaching of organizational, problem-solving, innovation, and risk management skills on graduate employability. The study adopted a descriptive survey design with a quantitative approach. Data was collected by quantitative techniques from a random sample of 385 graduates using closed-ended structured questionnaire. Generally, findings revealed that entrepreneurship education does not sufficiently enhance graduate employability in the University of Buea. Specifically, the teaching of organizational skills does not significantly enhance their employability, as an average of 55% of graduates indicated that the course did not sufficiently help them develop skills for planning, management of limited resources, collaboration, and the setting of priorities. Also, 60% of the respondents indicated that the teaching of problem-solving skills does not significantly enhance graduate employability at the University of Buea. Contrarily, 57% of the respondents agreed that through their experiences in entrepreneurship education, their innovation skills were improved. The study recommended that a practical approach to teaching should be adopted, with attention to societal needs. A framework to ensure the teaching of entrepreneurship to students at the undergraduate level is recommended, such that those who do not continue with university studies after their Bachelor’s degree would have acquired the needed skills for employability.

Keywords: employability, entrepreneurship education, graduate, innovative skills, organizational skills, problem-solving skills, risk management skills

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Authors: Semiu Bello

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Since the discovery of HIV/AIDS in 1981, it has been a major global challenge and its ravaging consequences have had negative imprints on both the affected and infected people. The challenge of HIV/AIDS does not only affect the developing countries of the world, the developed nations have had their share of the experiences. The disease has, therefore, attracted the attentions of national governments and international donor agencies with huge financial investments toward the eradication of the virus and its global menace. Socially, however, people living with HIV/AIDS have had to battle with an array of social challenges in regards to the infection; the social stigmas, which seem to be more prevalent in underdeveloped and developing societies. The social stigmas with which people living with HIV/AIDS have suffered from include, but not limited, to social isolation, group avoidance, loss of jobs, public ridicule and non-appointment to official and government positions. Given this background, this study examines the roles of therapeutic communication otherwise called patient-provider communication within a clinical environment, focusing on Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) Sagamu, Nigeria as a case study. In other words, this study will investigate the level of interpersonal communication, interactions, and relationships that often take place between people living with HIV/AIDS and health care providers including doctors, nurses and social workers. This study will methodologically adopt the in-depth interview to interview six members of people living with HIV/AIDS at OOUTH. The dimensions of the data will determine the policy prescriptions of this study, which as envisage, may contribute to the improved use of therapeutic communication by health care providers and may thereof improve the psychology of people living with HIV/AIDS in the face of any social stigma.

Keywords: health care providers, people living with HIV/AIDS, social stigma, therapeutic communication

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Authors: Nadia Fatima Zahra Malki

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Quality is one of the most important modern management patterns that organizations seek to achieve in all areas and sectors in order to meet the needs and desires of customers and to remain and continuity, as they constitute a competitive advantage for the organization. and among the most prominent organizations that must be available on the quality factor are health organizations as they relate to the most valuable component of production. It is a person, and his health, and any error in it threatens his life and may lead to death, so she must provide health services of high quality to achieve the highest degree of satisfaction for the patient. This research aims to study the quality of health services and the extent of their impact on patient satisfaction, and this is through an applied study that relied on measuring the level of quality of health services in the university hospital center of Algeria and the extent of their impact on patient satisfaction according to the dimensions of the quality of health services, and we reached a conclusion that the determinants of the quality of health services It affects patient satisfaction, which necessitates developing health services according to patients' requirements and improving their quality to obtain patient satisfaction.

Keywords: health service, health quality, quality determinants, patient satisfaction

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Authors: Balwinder Singh, Veerpaul Kaur Mann

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The COVID-19 had a dramatic impact on several countries across the world. National governments have imposed widespread restrictions to prevent the growth of this pandemic. The new health competitive scenario induced by the COVID-19 crisis raised many issues on how business activities should be reorganized due to the difficulties of physical interactions with distributors, suppliers and customers. The pandemic has particularly affected the whole marketing processes because of the relevant issues emerged in managing physical sale channels and interactions with one another, both in the Business-to-Consumer and in the Business-to-Business markets. Recent research about the appropriate actions and strategies that could help firms overcome the crisis has highlighted the key role of digital technologies that may ensure connections and, thus, help business activities to run smoothly. This could be true, especially with the emergence of strong limitations on physical interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In such a scenario, the online channel becomes the most important conducive for online customers to get in contact with the firm and carry out online purchasing activities.

Keywords: COVID-19, business, digital marketing, online customers

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Authors: Jehad Al Dallal

Abstract:

Software engineers apply different measures to quantify the quality of software design. These measures consider artifacts developed at low or high level software design phases. The results are used to point to design weaknesses and to indicate design points that have to be restructured. Understanding the relationship among the quality measures and among the design quality aspects considered by these measures is important to interpreting the impact of a measure for a quality aspect on other potentially related aspects. In addition, exploring the relationship between quality measures helps to explain the impact of different quality measures on external quality aspects, such as reliability and maintainability. In this paper, we report a replication study that empirically explores the correlation between six well known and commonly applied design quality measures. These measures consider several quality aspects, including complexity, cohesion, coupling, and inheritance. The results indicate that inheritance measures are weakly correlated to other measures, whereas complexity, coupling, and cohesion measures are mostly strongly correlated.  

Keywords: quality attribute, quality measure, software design quality, Spearman correlation

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Authors: Loukou Amoin Marie Djedri

Abstract:

Financing is important for all terrorists – from the largest organizations in control of territories, to the smallest groups – not only for spreading fear through attacks, but also to finance the expansion of terrorist dogmas. These organizations pose serious threats to the international community. The disruption of terrorist financing aims to create a hostile environment for the growth of terrorism and to limit considerably the terrorist groups capacities. The World Bank (WB), together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), decided to include in their scope the Fight against the money laundering and the financing of terrorism, in order to assist Member States in protecting their internal financial system from terrorism use and abuse and reinforcing their legal system. To do so, they have adopted the Anti-Money Laundering /Combating Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) standards that have been set up by the Financial Action Task Force. This set of standards, recognized as the international standards for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, has to be implemented by States Members in order to strengthen their judicial system and relevant national institutions. However, we noted that, to date, some States Members still have significant AML/CFT deficiencies, which can constitute serious threats not only to the country’s economic stability but also for the global financial system. In addition, studies stressed out that repressive measures are more implemented by countries than preventive measures, which could be an important weakness in a state security system. Furthermore, we noticed that the AML/CFT standards evolve slowly, while techniques used by terrorist networks keep developing. The goal of the study is to show how to enhance the AML/CFT global compliance through the work of the IMF and the WB, to help member states to consolidate their financial system. To encourage and ensure the effectiveness of these standards, a methodology for assessing the compliance with the AML/CFT standards has been created to follow up the concrete implementation of these standards and to provide accurate technical assistance to countries in need. A risk-based approach has also been adopted as a key component of the implementation of the AML/CFT Standards, with the aim of strengthening the efficiency of the standards. Instead, we noted that the assessment is not efficient in the process of enhancing AML/CFT measures because it seems to lack of adaptation to the country situation. In other words, internal and external factors are not enough taken into account in a country assessment program. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the AML/CFT regime in the fight against the financing of terrorism and to find lasting solutions to achieve the global AML/CFT compliance. The work of all the organizations involved in this combat is imperative to protect the financial network and to lead to the disintegration of terrorist groups in the future.

Keywords: AML/CFT standards, financing of terrorism, international financial institutions, risk-based approach

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Tafadzwa Shumba, Rose C. Nyatondo, Regret Sunge

Abstract:

This research analyses the impact of budget deficits on the economic performance of Zimbabwe. The study employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) confines testing method to co-integration and long-run estimation using time series data from 1980-2018. The Augmented Dick Fuller (ADF) and the Granger approach were used to testing for stationarity and causality among the factors. Co-integration test results affirm a long term association between GDP development rate and descriptive factors. Causality test results show a unidirectional connection between budget shortfall to GDP development and bi-directional causality amid debt and budget deficit. This study also found unidirectional causality from debt to GDP growth rate. ARDL estimates indicate a significantly positive long term and significantly negative short term impact of budget shortfall on GDP. This suggests that budget deficits have a short-run growth retarding effect and a long-run growth-inducing effect. The long-run results follow the Keynesian theory that posits that fiscal deficits result in an increase in GDP growth. Short-run outcomes follow the neoclassical theory. In light of these findings, the government is recommended to minimize financing of recurrent expenditure using a budget deficit. To achieve sustainable growth and development, the government needs to spend an absorbable budget deficit focusing on capital projects such as the development of human capital and infrastructure.

Keywords: ARDL, budget deficit, economic performance, long run

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Kavish Kejriwal, Richa Grover

Abstract:

Consumer awareness and pending legislation have pushed environmental issues into the spotlight, making it imperative for organizations to have a plan of action for “going green.” This is the reason why Green Supply Chain Management has become the integral part of many organization with a goal to reduce cost, increase efficiency and be environmental friendly. Implementation of GSCM involves many factors which act as barriers, making it a tedious task. These barriers have different relationship among themselves creating different impact on implementation Green Supply Chain Management. This work focuses on determining those barriers which have essentially to be removed in the initial stages of GSCM adoption. In this work, the author has taken the case of a petroleum industry in order to come up with a solution. A DEMATEL approach is used to reach the solution.

Keywords: barriers, environment, green supply chain management, impact, interpretive structural modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 282

Authors: Elena Barbaro, Elena Gregoris, Rossano Piazza, Boris Mifka, Tatjana Ivošević, Ivo Orlić, Ana Alebić-Juretić, Andrea Gambaro, Daniele Contini

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The aim of the POSEIDON project is to quantify the relative contribution of maritime traffic and harbor activities to atmospheric pollutants concentration in four port-cities of the Adriatic Sea. This study focuses on the harbors of Venice and Rijeka. In order to investigate the main pollution sources, emission inventories were used as input for receptor models: PMF (positive matrix factorization) and PCA (principal components analysis); moreover source identification was also conducted using PAHs diagnostic ratios. The ship traffic impact was quantified: i) on gaseous and particulate PAHs, collected using a new method which consisted in a double simultaneous sampling, in different wind sectors; ii) applying PMF to data of metals, PAHs and ions in PM10; iii) using the vanadium concentration according to the Agrawal methodology.

Keywords: ship traffic, PMF, harbor, POSEIDON

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Authors: Souad Hassene Daouadji, Larbi Hammadi, Abdelkrim Hazzab

Abstract:

The slips intended for the manufacture of ceramics must have rheological properties well-defined in order to bring together the qualities required for the casting step (good fluidity for feeding the molds easily settles while generating a regular settling of the dough and for the dehydration phase of the dough in the mold a setting time relatively short is required to have a sufficient refinement which allows demolding both easy and fast). Many additives haveadded in slip of ceramic in order to improve their rheological properties. In this study, we investigated the impact of xanthan gumon rheological properties of ceramic Slip. The modified Cross model is used to fit the stationary flow curves of ceramic slip at different concentration of xanthan added. The thixotropic behavior studied of mixture ceramic slip-xanthan gumat constant temperature is analyzed by using a structural kinetic model (SKM) in order to account for time dependent effect.

Keywords: ceramic slip, xanthan gum, modified cross model, thixotropy, viscosity

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Melika Masjedi

Abstract:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has a significant impact on the mental health and relationship dynamics of couples, leading to decreased marital satisfaction. This study examines the mediating role of sexual and romantic relationship dynamics in relation to PTSD and marital satisfaction among Iranian couples. Using a sample of 107 participants, quantitative methods were utilized to assess variables such as relationship functioning, PTSD symptom severity, and the influence of sexual and romantic interactions. The findings demonstrate a strong correlation between heightened PTSD symptoms and reduced marital satisfaction, particularly in the domains of intimacy and emotional connection. The study highlights the importance of addressing relational dynamics to improve marital outcomes in PTSD-affected couples.

Keywords: intimacy, marital satisfaction, PTSD, relationship dynamics, trauma

Procedia PDF Downloads 29