Search results for: policy transformation

Authors: Esther Ranero Carrazana, Maria Karla Ramirez Valdes

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First responders, including firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel, are frequently exposed to high-stress scenarios that significantly increase their risk of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Their work involves life-threatening situations, witnessing suffering, and making critical decisions under pressure, all contributing to psychological strain. The objectives of this research on "Stress Reduction Techniques for First Responders: Scientifically Proven Methods" are as follows. One of them is to evaluate the effectiveness of stress reduction techniques. The primary objective is to assess the efficacy of various scientifically proven stress reduction techniques explicitly tailored for first responders. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Training, Interoception and Exteroception, Sensory Integration, and Body Perception Awareness are scrutinized for their ability to mitigate stress-related symptoms. Furthermore, we evaluate and enhance the understanding of stress mechanisms in first responders by exploring how different techniques influence the physiological and psychological responses to stress. The study aims to deepen the understanding of stress mechanisms in high-risk professions. Additionally, the study promotes psychological resilience by seeking to identify and recommend methods that can significantly enhance the psychological resilience of first responders, thereby supporting their mental health and operational efficiency in high-stress environments. Guide training and policy development is an additional objective to provide evidence-based recommendations that can be used to guide training programs and policy development aimed at improving the mental health and well-being of first responders. Lastly, the study aims to contribute valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge in stress management, specifically tailored to the unique needs of first responders. This study involved a comprehensive literature review assessing the effectiveness of various stress reduction techniques tailored for first responders. Techniques evaluated include Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Training, Interoception and Exteroception, Sensory Integration, and Body Perception Awareness, focusing on their ability to alleviate stress-related symptoms. The review indicates promising results for several stress reduction methods. HRV Training demonstrates the potential to reflect stress vulnerability and enhance physiological and behavioral flexibility. Interoception and Exteroception help modulate the stress response by enhancing awareness of the body's internal state and its interaction with the environment. Sensory integration plays a crucial role in adaptive responses to stress by focusing on individual senses and their integration. Therefore, body perception awareness addresses stress and anxiety through enhanced body perception and mindfulness. The evaluated techniques show significant potential in reducing stress and improving the mental health of first responders. Implementing these scientifically supported methods into routine training could significantly enhance their psychological resilience and operational effectiveness in high-stress environments.

Keywords: first responders, HRV training, mental health, sensory integration, stress reduction

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Authors: Kiana Taheri

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Rural tourism has garnered significant attention as a catalyst for rural development and sustainability, particularly in regions like Tuscany, Italy, where the convergence of cultural heritage, picturesque landscapes, and agricultural traditions provides a fertile ground for tourism activities. This paper investigates the pivotal role of women entrepreneurs in driving sustainable rural tourism development, with a specific focus on Tuscany. Drawing upon a synthesis of literature on rural tourism, entrepreneurship, and gender studies, this research offers insights into how women entrepreneurs contribute to the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of rural tourism in Tuscany. The conceptual framework of this study is rooted in the evolving landscape of rural development, shaped by shifting paradigms in agricultural policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union. This framework underscores the transition from traditional agrarian economies to dynamic rural tourism destinations characterized by a consumer-centric approach and a focus on sustainable development. Against this backdrop, the study delves into the multifaceted contributions of women entrepreneurs within the rural tourism sector. Central to the analysis is the recognition of rural tourism as a nexus of social, cultural, economic, and environmental interactions, wherein women entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in leveraging local resources, preserving cultural heritage, and fostering community engagement. By capitalizing on their unique perspectives, skills, and networks, women entrepreneurs drive innovation, diversification, and inclusivity within the tourism sector, thereby enhancing its resilience and long-term viability. Moreover, the study highlights the symbiotic relationship between rural tourism development and women's empowerment, as evidenced by the increasing prominence of women entrepreneurs in Tuscany's rural economy. Through their leadership roles in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and agritourism ventures, women entrepreneurs not only contribute to economic growth but also challenge traditional gender norms and empower local communities. A key empirical focus of this research is a comprehensive case study of Tuscany, renowned for its successful rural tourism model and vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through qualitative interviews, surveys, and archival analysis, the study elucidates the strategies, challenges, and impacts of women entrepreneurs on sustainable rural tourism development in Tuscany. By examining the experiences of women entrepreneurs across diverse sectors of rural tourism, including hospitality, gastronomy, and cultural heritage, the study offers nuanced insights into their contributions to regional development and empowerment. In conclusion, this research contributes to the burgeoning scholarship on rural tourism, entrepreneurship, and gender studies by shedding light on the transformative role of women entrepreneurs in driving sustainable development agendas in rural areas. By elucidating the interplay between gender dynamics, entrepreneurial activities, and tourism development, this study seeks to inform policy interventions and strategic initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive and sustainable rural tourism ecosystems.

Keywords: rural tourism, women empowerment, entrepreneurship, sustainable development, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

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Authors: Mai Alshareef

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The Saudi government considers the modernisation of the education system as a critical component of the national development plan, Saudi Vision 2030; however, this sudden reform creates tension amongst Saudis. This study examines first the reflection of the social and digital education reform on stakeholders and the general Saudi public, and second, the influence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the ethnoreligious conflict in Saudi Arabia. This study employs Cyberconflict theory to examine conflicts in the real world and cyberspace. The findings are based on a qualitative case study methodology that uses netnography, an analysis of 3,750 Twitter posts and semi-structural interviews with 30 individuals, including key actors in the Saudi education sector and Twitter activists during 2019\2020. The methods utilised are guided by thematic analysis to map an understanding of factors that influence societal conflicts in Saudi Arabia, which in this case include religious, national, and gender identity. Elements of Cyberconflict theory are used to better understand how conflicting groups build their identities in connection to their ethnic/religious/cultural differences and competing national identities. The findings correspond to the ethnoreligious components of the Cyberconflict theory. Twitter became a battleground for liberals, conservatives, the Saudi public and elites, and it is used in a novel way to influence public opinion and to challenge the media monopoly. Opposing groups relied heavily on a discourse of exclusion and inclusion and showed ethnic and religious affiliations, national identity, and chauvinism. The findings add to existing knowledge in the cyberconflict field of study, and they also reveal outcomes that are critical to the Saudi Arabian national context.

Keywords: education, cyberconflict, Twitter, national identity

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Authors: Abdulazeez Balogun Shittu

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This study investigates the role of self-overestimation and underestimation of others in fueling religious conflicts in Nigeria. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research examines how exaggerated self-perceptions and diminished views of others contribute to intergroup tensions, stereotypes, and violence. The findings reveal that self-overestimation and underestimation of others are significant predictors of religious conflict, mediated by factors such as intergroup bias, social identity, cultural narratives and lack of interfaith dialogue. The study also identifies the consequences of these biases, including Escalated sectarian violence, social cohesion erosion and polarized communities. To mitigate these effects, the research recommends interfaith education and dialogue initiatives, inclusive governance and policy frameworks and pluralistic media representation. This study contributes to the understanding of psychological and social dynamics driving religious conflict in Nigeria, informing evidence-based policies and interventions to promote peaceful coexistence.

Keywords: conflict resolution, intergroup relations, Nigeria, Religious conflict, self-overestimation, social psychology, underestimation of others

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Authors: Asma Batool

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Immigrant families raising a child with developmental disabilities in Canada encounter many challenges during the process of disability care. Starting from the early screening of their child for diagnosis followed by challenges associated with treatment, access and service utilization. A substantial amount of research focuses on identifying barriers. However, the functional aspects of barriers in terms of their potential influences on parents and children with disabilities are unexplored yet. This paper presents functional analysis of barriers in disability care research by adopting a method of integrated approach. Juxtaposition of two developmental approaches, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model and parents ‘transformational process model is generating multiple hypotheses to be considered while empirically investigating causal relationships and mediating or moderating factors among various variables related with disability care research. This functional analysis suggests that barriers have negative impacts on the physical and emotional development of children with disabilities as well as on the overall quality of family life (QOFL). While, barriers have facilitating impacts on parents, alternatively, the process of transformation in parents expedite after experiencing barriers. Consequently, parents reconstruct their philosophy of life and experience irreversible but continuous developmental change in terms of transformations simultaneously with their developing child and may buffer the expected negative impacts of barriers on disabled child and QOFL. Overall, this paper is suggesting implications for future research and parents’ transformations are suggesting potential pathways to minimize the negative influences of barriers that parents experience during disability care, hence improving satisfaction in QOFL in general.

Keywords: barriers in disability care, developmental disabilities, parents’ transformations, quality of family life

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Authors: G. B. M. Carvalho, V. A. C. Vale, E. T. L. Cöuras Ford

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A heated pool makes it possible to use it during all hours of the day and in the seasons, especially in physiotherapies and sports centers. However, the cost of installation, operation and maintenance often makes it difficult to deploy. In addition, the current global policy for the use of natural resources from energy sources contradicts the most common means of heating swimming pools, such as the use of gas (Natural Gas and Liquefied Petroleum Gas), the use of firewood or oil and the use of electricity (heat pumps and electrical resistances). In this sense, this work focuses on the use of solar water heaters to be used in swimming pools of physiotherapy centers, in order to analyze their viability for this purpose in view of the costs linked to the medium and/or long term heating. For this, materials of low cost, low weight, easy commercial acquisition were used besides easy manufacture. Parameters such as flow, temperature distribution, efficiency and technical-economic feasibility were evaluated.

Keywords: heating, water, pool, solar energy, solar collectors, temperature, efficiency

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Authors: Nana Weng

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Localization in the aspect of human resource means more diversity and more opportunities. The main purpose of this article is to identify the perception of local employees and intermediate managers (non-Japanese) and figure out exploratory factors which have been contributing and blocking the level of localization in the aspect of human resource management by using EFA (Exploratory Factors Analysis). Questionnaires will be designed for local employees and managers to inquire about the perceptions of regulations and implementation regarding recruitment, training and development, promotion and rewarding. The study finds that Japanese firms have worked well in the process of localization, especially in hiring and training local staffs in Taiwan. The significance of this study lies in paying more attention to the perception of local employees and intermediate managers regarding localization rather than interviews results from Japanese expatriates or top HR managers who are in charging of localization policy-making.

Keywords: Japanese firms in Taiwan, localization of human resources, exploratory factors analysis, local employees and intermediate managers

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Authors: Zsolt Szabolcsi

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Political communication in Hungary has undergone a significant change in the 2010s. One element of the transformation is the Flashnews. This media product was launched in March 2015 and since then 40-50 blocks are broadcasted, daily, on 5 channels. Flashnews blocks are condensed news sessions, containing the summary of political narratives. It starts with the introduction of the narrator, then, usually four news topics are presented and, finally, the narrator concludes the block. The block lasts only one minute and, therefore, it provides a blink session into the main narratives of political communication at the time. Beyond its rapid pace, what makes its avoidance difficult is that these blocks are always in the first position in the commercial break of a non-political media product. Although it is only one minute long, its significance is high. The content of the Flashnews reflects the main governmental narratives and, therefore, the Flashnews is part of the agenda-setting capacity of political communication. It reaches media consumers who have limited knowledge and interest in politics, and their use of media products is not politically related. For this audience, the Flashnews pops up in the same way as commercials. Due to its structure and appearance, the impact of Flashnews seems to be similar to commercials, imbedded into the break of media products. It activates existing knowledge constructs, builds up associational links and maintains their presence in a way that the recipient is not aware of the phenomenon. The research aims to examine the extent to which the Flashnews and the main news narratives are identical in their content. This aim is realized with the content analysis of the two news products by examining the Flashnews and the evening news during main sport events from 2016 to 2018. The initial hypothesis of the research is that Flashnews is a contribution to the news management technique for an effective articulation of political narratives in public service media channels.

Keywords: flashnews, political communication, political marketing, news management

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Authors: Barzi Ghizlane, Badrane Nohayla

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In an environment characterized by a succession of economic, environmental, and social crises, companies must reassess their financial approach, not merely with a survival mindset, but with the aim of evolving and thriving in a constantly changing context. In this process, a sustainable financial function becomes imperative to ensure long-term growth. By integrating sustainable and responsible practices, companies can better identify and anticipate risks, diversify their sources of financing, and, most importantly, strengthen the management of their resources. Indeed, the sustainable financial function goes far beyond traditional financial activities of companies. It positions itself as a strategic pillar of development and growth through the adoption of green approaches that meet their immediate needs. This perspective constitutes a combination of financial performance and sustainability. Consequently, it allows companies to navigate with agility in a changing environment while ensuring increased resilience. Moreover, a company’s ability to withstand external shocks and risks is based on three fundamental pillars. First, proactive crisis management, which essentially allows for the identification and detection of vulnerabilities related to economic and social risks, while establishing efficient and flexible financial mechanisms to mitigate their impact. Second, maintaining financial transparency is crucial to strengthening stakeholder trust, attracting investors, and solidifying the company's market reputation. Finally, incorporating responsible and resilient investments, primarily based on ESG criteria, is key. The objective of this study is to explore how the green financial function can become a key driver in increasing companies’ resilience to various contemporary crises. It aims to demonstrate that the introduction of sustainable principles in financial management is a pathway to turning challenges into opportunities for growth and transformation.

Keywords: finance, corporate, innovation, resilience, crises, performance

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Authors: Omair Anas

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The Persian Gulf has been in turmoil for a long time since the colonial administration has handed over the role to the small and weak kings and emirs who were assured of protection in return of many economic and security promises to them. The regional order, Saudi Arabia evolved was a rentier regional order secured by an expansion of rentier economy and taking responsibility for much of the expenses of the regional order on behalf of relatively poor countries. The two oil booms helped the Saudi state to expand the 'rentier order' driven stability and bring the countries like Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine under its tutelage. The disruptive misadventure, however, came with Iran's proclamation of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 which it wanted to be exported to its 'un-Islamic and American puppet' Arab neighbours. For Saudi Arabia, even the challenge presented by the socialist-nationalist Arab dictators like Gamal Abdul Nasser and Hafez Al-Assad was not that much threatening to the Saudi Arabia’s then-defensive realism. In the Arab uprisings, the Gulf monarchies saw a wave of insecurity and Iran found it an opportune time to complete the revolutionary process it could not complete after 1979. An alliance of convenience and ideology between Iran and Islamist groups had the real potential to challenge both Saudi Arabia’s own security and its leadership in the region. The disruptive threat appeared at a time when the Saudi state had already sensed an impending crisis originating from the shifts in the energy markets. Low energy prices, declining global demands, and huge investments in alternative energy resources required Saudi Arabia to rationalize its economy according to changing the global political economy. The domestic Saudi reforms remained gradual until the death of King Abdullah in 2015. What is happening now in the region, the Qatar crisis, the Lebanon crisis and the Saudi-Iranian proxy war in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen has combined three immediate objectives, rationalising Saudi economy and most importantly, the resetting the Saudi royal power for Saudi Arabia’s longest-serving future King Mohammad bin Salman. The Saudi King perhaps has no time to wait and watch the power vacuum appearing because of Iran’s expansionist foreign policy. The Saudis appear to be employing an offensive realism by advancing a pro-active regional policy to counter Iran’s threatening influence amid disappearing Western security from the region. As the Syrian civil war is coming to a compromised end with ceding much ground to Iran-controlled militias, Hezbollah and Al-Hashad, the Saudi state has lost much ground in these years and the threat from Iranian proxies is more than a reality, more clearly in Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. This paper attempts to analyse the changing Saudi behaviour in the region, which, the author understands, is shaped by an offensive-realist approach towards finding a favourable security environment for the Saudi-led regional order, a post-rentier order perhaps.

Keywords: terrorism, Saudi Arabia, Rentier State, gulf crisis

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Authors: Rafla Attia, Claudio Zucca, Bao Quang Le, Sana Dridi, Thouraya Sahli, Taoufik Hermassi

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In Tunisia, landscape change and land degradation are critical issues for landscape conservation, management, and planning. Landscapes are undergoing crucial environmental problems made evident by soil degradation and desertification. Human improper uses of land resources (e.g., unsuitable land uses, unsustainable crop intensification, and poor rangeland management) and climate change are the main factors leading to the landscape transformation and desertification affecting high proportions of the Tunisian lands. Land use planning (LUP) to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) must be supported by methodologies and technologies that help identify best solutions and practices and design context-specific sustainable land management (SLM) strategies. Such strategies must include restoration or rehabilitation efforts in areas with high land degradation, as well as prevention of degradation that could be caused by improper land use (LU) and land management (LM). The geoinformatics Land Use Planning for LDN (LUP4LDN) tool has been designed for this purpose. Its aim is to support national and sub-national planners in i) mapping geographic patterns of current land degradation; ii) anticipating further future land degradation expected in areas that are unsustainably managed; and iii) providing an interactive procedure for developing participatory LU-LM transitional scenarios over selected regions of interest and timeframes, visualizing the related expected levels of impacts on ecosystem services via maps and graphs. The tool has been co-developed and piloted with national stakeholders in Tunisia. The piloting implementation assessed how the LUP4LDN tool fits with existing LUP processes and the benefits achieved by using the tool to support land use planning for LDN.

Keywords: land use system, land cover, sustainable land management, land use planning for land degradation neutrality

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Authors: Wen Liu

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With the rapid progress of modern cities, the railway construction must be developing quickly in China. As a typical high-density country, shopping center on the subway should be one important factor during the process of urban development. The paper discusses the influence of the layout of shopping center on the subway, and put it in the time and space’s axis of Shanghai urban development. We use the digital technology to establish the database of relevant information. And then get the change role about shopping center on subway in Shanghaiby the Kernel density estimate. The result shows the development of shopping center on subway has a relationship with local economic strength, population size, policy support, and city construction. And the suburbanization trend of shopping center would be increasingly significant. By this case research, we could see the Kernel density estimate is an efficient analysis method on the spatial layout. It could reveal the characters of layout form of shopping center on subway in essence. And it can also be applied to the other research of space form.

Keywords: Shanghai, shopping center on the subway, layout form, Kernel density estimate

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Authors: Domingos Vita, Patrick Brady

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Background: There is a tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in Angola that has been getting worse for more than a decade despite the active implementation of the DOTS strategy. The aim of this study was to directly interrogate healthcare workers involved in TB control on what they consider to be the drivers of the TB epidemic in Angola. Methods: Twenty four in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with medical staff working in this field in the provinces of Luanda and Benguela. Results: The healthcare professionals see the migrant working poor as a particular problem for the control of TB. These migrants are constructed as ‘Rural People’ and are seen as non-compliant and late-presenting. This is a stigmatized and marginal group contending with the additional stigma associated with TB infection. The healthcare professionals interviewed also see the interruption of treatment and self medication generally as a better explanation for the TB epidemic than urbanization or lack of medication. Conclusions: The local narrative is in contrast to previous explanations used elsewhere in the developing world. To be effective policy must recognize the local issues of the migrant workforce, interruption of treatment and the stigma associated with TB in Angola.

Keywords: Africa, Angola, migrants, qualitative, research, tuberculosis

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Authors: Rama Seth, Luise Noring, Pratim Majumdar

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Based on an extensive literature review, this paper presents distinct approaches to value, quantify and trade ecosystem services, with particular emphasis on services provided by mangroves and wetlands. Building on diverse monetary and market-based systems for the improved allocation of natural resources, such trading and exchange-based methods can help tackle the degradation of ecosystem services in a more targeted and structured manner than achievable with stand-alone policy and administrative regulations. Using various threads of literature, the paper proposes a platform that serves as the skeletal foundation for developing an efficient global market for ecosystem services trading. The paper bridges a significant research and practice gap by recommending how to establish an equilibrium in the biosphere via trading mechanisms while also discovering other research gaps and future research potential in the domain of ecosystem valuation.

Keywords: environment, economics, mangroves, wetlands, markets, ESG, global capital, climate investments, valuation, ecosystem services

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Authors: Kwok Tak Kit

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The government and community have raised their awareness of the benefits of water reuse. Deforestation has a significant effect to climate change as it causes the drying out of the tropical rainforest and hence increases the chance of natural hazards. The loss of forests due to natural fire or human factors would be threatening the storage and supply of clean water. In this paper, we will focus on the discussion of the relationship of the natural water collection system, afforestation and country parks towards environmental sustainability and circular economy with a case study of water conservation policy and strategy in Hong Kong and Singapore for further research. The UN General Assembly launched the Water Action Decade in 2018 to mobilize action that will help to tackle the growing challenge of water scarcity through water conservation and protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.

Keywords: afforestation, environmental sustainability, water conservation, circular economy, climate change, sustainable development goal

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Authors: Tyler Gill, Sophia Daniels

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The paper examines how accessing the spatial-temporal constrains of data will help inform policymakers and law enforcement officials. The authors utilize Chicago crime data from 2006-2016 to demonstrate how the Emerging Hot Spot Tool is an ideal hot spot clustering approach to analyze crime data. Traditional approaches include density maps or creating a spatial weights matrix to include the spatial-temporal constrains. This new approach utilizes a space-time implementation of the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic to visualize the data more quickly to make better decisions. The research will help complement socio-cultural research to find key patterns to help frame future policies and evaluate the implementation of prior strategies. Through this analysis, homicide trends and patterns are found more effectively and recommendations for use by non-traditional users of GIS are offered for real life implementation.

Keywords: crime mapping, emerging hot spot analysis, Getis-Ord Gi*, spatial-temporal analysis

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Authors: Rudra P. Pradhan

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This paper examines the Granger causal nexus between financial development and energy consumption in the group of 35 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Countries over the period 1988-2012. The study uses two financial development indicators such as private sector credit and stock market capitalization and seven energy consumption indicators such as coal, oil, gas, electricity, hydro-electrical, nuclear and biomass. Using panel cointegration tests, the study finds that financial development and energy consumption are cointegrated, indicating the presence of a long-run relationship between the two. Using a panel vector error correction model (VECM), the study detects both bidirectional and unidirectional causality between financial development and energy consumption. The variation of this causality is due to the use of different proxies for both financial development and energy consumption. The policy implication of this study is that economic policies should recognize the differences in the financial development-energy consumption nexus in order to maintain sustainable development in the selected 35 FATF countries.

Keywords: energy consumption, financial development, FATF countries, Panel VECM

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Authors: Mananya Meenakorn

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The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of public enterprise reform policy on the attributes of organizational commitments in the public energy enterprises in Thailand. It compares three structural types of public energy enterprises: totally state-owned public enterprises, partially transformed public enterprises and totally transformed public enterprises, based on the degree of state ownership and the level of management control that exist in the public reformed organizations, by analyzing the presence of the desirable attributes of organizational commitment as perceived by employees. Findings indicate that there are statistically significant differences in the level of some dimensions of organizational commitment between the three types of public energy enterprises. The results also indicate empirical evidence concerning the causal relationship between the antecedents and organizational commitment. Whereas change-related behaviors show a direct negative influence on organizational commitment, both HRM practices and work-related values indicate direct positive influences on them also.

Keywords: affective commitment, organizational commitment, public enterprise reform organizations, public energy enterprises in Thailand

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Authors: Issa Hussein Manita

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This paper presents an example of industrial information system design and implementation (IIDC), the most common software engineering design steps that are applied to the different design stages. We are going through the life cycle of software system development. We start by a study of system requirement and end with testing and delivering system, going by system design and coding, program integration and system integration step. The most modern software design tools available used in the design this includes, but not limited to, Unified Modeling Language (UML), system modeling, SQL server side application, uses case analysis, design and testing as applied to information processing systems. The system is designed to perform tasks specified by the client with real data. By the end of the implementation of the system, default or user defined acceptance policy to provide an overall score as an indication of the system performance is used. To test the reliability of he designed system, it is tested in different environment and different work burden such as multi-user environment.

Keywords: software engineering, design, system requirement, integration, unified modeling language

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Authors: Janki Shankar, Shu-Ping Chen

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This Canadian study explored the perspectives of recent immigrant workers regarding occupational health and safety (OHS) and workplace conditions that increase workers’ vulnerability to sustaining injury or illness. Using an interpretive research approach and semi structured qualitative interviews, 42 recent immigrant workers from a range of industries operating in two cities in a province in Canada were interviewed. A constant comparative approach was used to identify key themes across the workers’ experiences. The findings revealed that these workers have an incomplete understanding of OHS. In many workplaces, poor job training, little worker support, lack of power in the workplace, and a poor workplace safety culture make it difficult for recent immigrant workers to acquire OHS information and implement safe work practices. This study proposes workplace policies and practices that will improve worker OHS awareness and make workplaces safer for immigrant workers.

Keywords: new immigrant workers, occupational health and safety, workplace challenges, policy, practice

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Authors: Pat Nelson

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Since the release of the 21^st century policing report in the United States, the techniques of de-escalation have received a lot of attention and focus in political systems, policy changes, and the media. The challenge in professional peace officer education is that there is a vast range of defining de-escalation and understanding the various techniques involved, many of which are based on popular media. This research surveyed professional peace officer education university students on their definition of de-escalation and the techniques associated with de-escalation before specific communications coursework was completed. The students were then surveyed after the communication coursework was completed to determine the changes in defining and understanding de-escalation techniques. This research has found that clearly defining de-escalation and emphasizing the broad range of techniques available enhances the students’ understanding and application of proper de-escalation. This research demonstrates the need for professional peace officer education to move students from media concepts of law enforcement to theoretical concepts.

Keywords: criminal justice education, communication theory, de-escalation, peace officer communication

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Authors: Satish Y. Deodhar

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Science without history is like a man without memory. The colossal history of India stores many ideas on economic ethics and public policy, which have been forgotten in the course of time. This paper is an attempt to bring to the fore contributions from ancient Indian treatises. In this context, the paper briefly summarizes alternative economic ideas such as communism, capitalism, and the holistic approach of ancient Indian writings. Thereafter, the idea of a welfare brick for an individual consisting of three dimensions -Purusharthas, Ashramas, and Varnas is discussed. Given the contours of the welfare brick, the concept of the state, its economic policies, markets, prices, interest rates, and credit are covered next. This is followed by delving into the treatment of land, property rights, guilds, and labour relations. The penultimate section summarises the economic advice offered to the head of a household in the treatise Shukranitisara. Finally, in concluding comments, the relevance of ancient Indian writings for modern times is discussed -both for pedagogy and economic policies.

Keywords: ancient Indian treatises, history of economic thought, science of political economy, Sanskrit

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Authors: P. Leo, E. Cerri, L. Fratini, G. Buffa

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The Friction Stir Welding process uses an inert rotating mandrel and a force on the mandrel normal to the plane of the sheets to generate the frictional heat. The heat and the stirring action of the mandrel create a bond between the two sheets without melting the base metal. As matter of fact, the use of a solid state welding process limits the insurgence of defects, due to the presence of gas in melting bath, and avoids the negative effects of materials metallurgical transformation strictly connected with the change of phase. The industrial importance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy is well known. It provides an exceptional good balance of strength, ductility, fatigue and fracture properties together with good corrosion resistance and good metallurgical stability. In this paper, the authors analyze the microstructure of friction stir welded joints of Ti-6Al-4V processed at the same travel speed (35 mm/min) but at different rotation speeds (300-500 rpm). The microstructure of base material (BM), as result from both optical microscope and scanning electron microscope analysis is not homogenous. It is characterized by distorted α/β lamellar microstructure together with smashed zone of fragmented β layer and β retained grain boundary phase. The BM has been welded in the-as received state, without any previous heat treatment. Even the microstructure of the transverse and longitudinal sections of joints is not homogeneous. Close to the top of weld cross sections a much finer microstructure than the initial condition has been observed, while in the center of the joints the microstructure is less refined. Along longitudinal sections, the microstructure is characterized by equiaxed grains and lamellae. Both the length and area fraction of lamellas increases with distance from longitudinal axis. The hardness of joints is higher than that of BM. As the process temperature increases the average microhardness slightly decreases.

Keywords: friction stir welding, microhardness, microstructure, Ti-6Al-4V

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Authors: Frederic Jumelle, Kelvin So, Didan Deng

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A method and system for neuropsychological performance test, comprising a mobile terminal, used to interact with a cloud server which stores user information and is logged into by the user through the terminal device; the user information is directly accessed through the terminal device and is processed by artificial neural network, and the user information comprises user facial emotions information, performance test answers information and user chronometrics. This assessment is used to evaluate the cognitive performance and emotional response of the subject to a series of dichotomous questions describing various situations of daily life and challenging the users' knowledge, values, ethics, and principles. In industrial applications, the timing of this assessment will depend on the users' need to obtain a service from a provider, such as opening a bank account, getting a mortgage or an insurance policy, authenticating clearance at work, or securing online payments.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, neurofinance, neuropsychology, risk management

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Authors: Zunaidah Ab Hasan, Azhana Othman, Abd Halim Mohd Noor, Nor Shahrina Mohd Rafien

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This study highlights some of the factors of the poor in Malaysia by household and individual level. The discussion covers the demographic, economic and social aspects. The data is derived from the National Databank of Poverty Malaysia (eKasih) for the year of 2013. The explanatory analysis is used to analyse factor of poverty in Malaysia specifically in Malacca. The evidence confirms that male are prone to be poor. For the ethnic, majority of the poor are Malays. The number of dependency and unskilled head of household also contributes to the factors to be poor. Despite that health and physical condition condition does not affect the household head is likely to be poor. Outcome of this study hope to provide guideline that would beneficial to various stakeholders such as zakat institutions, policy makers, welfare department and other agencies related. This will lead to better standard of living as envisioned in the fourth National Key Result Areas (NKRAs).

Keywords: factors of poverty, eKasih, explanatory analysis, welfare department

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Authors: Faten Hatem

Abstract:

This paper explores the associated understanding of the role and meaning of art and whether it is perceived to be separate from smart city construction. The paper emphasises the significance of fulfilling the inherent need for discovery and interaction, driving people to explore new places and think of works of art. This is done by exploring the ways of thinking and types of art in Milton Keynes by illustrating a general pattern of misunderstanding that relies on the separation between smart, art, and architecture, promoting a better and deeper understanding of the interconnections between neuroscience, art, and architecture. A reflective approach is used to clarify the potential and impact of using art-based research, methodology, and ways of knowing when approaching global phenomena and knowledge production while examining the process of making and developing smart cities, in particular, asserting that factors can severely impact it in the process of conducting the study itself. It follows a case study as a research strategy. The qualitative methods included data collection and analysis that involved interviews and observations that depended on visuals.

Keywords: smart cities, art and smart, smart cities design, smart cities making, sustainability, city brain and smart cities metrics, smart cities standards, smart cities applications, governance, planning and policy

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Authors: P. C. Tewari, Parveen Kumar

Abstract:

The paper describes the availability analysis of milling system of a rice milling plant using probabilistic approach. The subsystems under study are special purpose machines. The availability analysis of the system is carried out to determine the effect of failure and repair rates of each subsystem on overall performance (i.e. steady state availability) of system concerned. Further, on the basis of effect of repair rates on the system availability, maintenance repair priorities have been suggested. The problem is formulated using Markov Birth-Death process taking exponential distribution for probable failures and repair rates. The first order differential equations associated with transition diagram are developed by using mnemonic rule. These equations are solved using normalizing conditions and recursive method to drive out the steady state availability expression of the system. The findings of the paper are presented and discussed with the plant personnel to adopt a suitable maintenance policy to increase the productivity of the rice milling plant.

Keywords: availability modeling, Markov process, milling system, rice milling plant

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Authors: Francesca Fermi, Paola Astegiano, Angelo Martino, Stephanie Heitel, Michael Krail

Abstract:

In order to achieve the targeted emission reductions for the decarbonisation of the European economy by 2050, fundamental contributions are required from both energy and transport sectors. The objective of this paper is to analyse the impacts of a largescale diffusion of e-vehicles, either battery-based or fuel cells, together with the implementation of transport policies aiming at decreasing the use of motorised private modes in order to achieve greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, in the context of a future high share of renewable energy. The analysis of the impacts and challenges of future scenarios on transport sector is performed with the ASTRA (ASsessment of TRAnsport Strategies) model. ASTRA is a strategic system-dynamic model at European scale (EU28 countries, Switzerland and Norway), consisting of different sub-modules related to specific aspects: the transport system (e.g. passenger trips, tonnes moved), the vehicle fleet (composition and evolution of technologies), the demographic system, the economic system, the environmental system (energy consumption, emissions). A key feature of ASTRA is that the modules are linked together: changes in one system are transmitted to other systems and can feed-back to the original source of variation. Thanks to its multidimensional structure, ASTRA is capable to simulate a wide range of impacts stemming from the application of transport policy measures: the model addresses direct impacts as well as second-level and third-level impacts. The simulation of the different scenarios is performed within the REFLEX project, where the ASTRA model is employed in combination with several energy models in a comprehensive Modelling System. From the transport sector perspective, some of the impacts are driven by the trend of electricity price estimated from the energy modelling system. Nevertheless, the major drivers to a low carbon transport sector are policies related to increased fuel efficiency of conventional drivetrain technologies, improvement of demand management (e.g. increase of public transport and car sharing services/usage) and diffusion of environmentally friendly vehicles (e.g. electric vehicles). The final modelling results of the REFLEX project will be available from October 2018. The analysis of the impacts and challenges of future scenarios is performed in terms of transport, environmental and social indicators. The diffusion of e-vehicles produces a consistent reduction of future greenhouse gas emissions, although the decarbonisation target can be achieved only with the contribution of complementary transport policies on demand management and supporting the deployment of low-emission alternative energy for non-road transport modes. The paper explores the implications through time of transport policy measures on mobility and environment, underlying to what extent they can contribute to a decarbonisation of the transport sector. Acknowledgements: The results refer to the REFLEX project which has received grants from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 691685.

Keywords: decarbonisation, greenhouse gas emissions, e-mobility, transport policies, energy

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Authors: Chiung-Ju Huang

Abstract:

This study utilizes the quantile regression analysis to examine the impact of governance (including democratic quality and technical quality) on happiness in 101 countries worldwide, classified as “developed countries” and “developing countries”. The empirical results show that the impact of democratic quality and technical quality on happiness is significantly positive for “developed countries”, while is insignificant for “developing countries”. The results suggest that the authorities in developed countries can enhance the level of individual happiness by means of improving the democracy quality and technical quality. However, for developing countries, promoting the quality of governance in order to enhance the level of happiness may not be effective. Policy makers in developed countries may pay more attention on increasing real GDP per capita instead of promoting the quality of governance to enhance individual happiness.

Keywords: governance, happiness, multiple regression, quantile regression

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Authors: Heloisa H. Miura, Luiza M. Pallone

Abstract:

In Brazil, people forced to move due to environmental causes, called 'environmental migrants', have always been neglected by public policies and legislation. Meanwhile, the numbers of climate-induced migration within and to Brazil continues to increase. The operating Immigration Law, implemented in 1980 under the Brazilian military regime, is widely considered to be out of date, once it does not offer legal protection to migrants who do not fit the definition of a refugee and are not allowed to stay regularly in the country. Aiming to reformulate Brazil’s legislation and policies on the matter, a new Migration Bill (PL 2516/2015) is currently being discussed in the Senate and is expected to define a more humanized approach to migration. Although the present draft foresees an expansion of the legal protection to different types of migrants, it still hesitates to include climate-induced displacements in its premises and to establish a migration management strategy. By introducing a human rights-based approach, this paper aims to provide a new multidisciplinary perspective to the protection of environmental migrants in Brazil.

Keywords: environmental migrants, human mobility, climate change, migration policy

Procedia PDF Downloads 408