Search results for: euclidean norm

Authors: Emily Cherono Sawe, Elisha Ondieki Makori

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Knowledge and digital economies have brought challenges and potential opportunities for universities to innovate and improve the quality of learning. Disruption technologies and information dynamics continue to transform and change the landscape in teaching, scholarship, and research activities across universities. Digital literacy is a fundamental and imperative element in higher education and training, as witnessed during the new norm. COVID-19 caused unprecedented disruption in universities, where teaching and learning depended on digital innovations and applications. Academic services and activities were provided online, including library information services. Information professionals were forced to adopt various digital platforms in order to provide information services to patrons. University libraries’ roles in fulfilling educational responsibilities continue to evolve in response to changes in pedagogy, technology, economy, society, policies, and strategies of parent institutions. Libraries are currently undergoing considerable transformational change as a result of the inclusion of a digital environment. Academic libraries have been at the forefront of providing online learning resources and online information services, as well as supporting students and staff to develop digital literacy skills via online courses, tutorials, and workshops. Digital literacy transformation and information staff are crucial elements reminiscent of the prioritization of skills and knowledge for lifelong learning. The purpose of this baseline research is to assess the implications of digital literacy transformation in institutions of higher learning in Kenya and share appropriate strategies to leverage and sustain teaching and research. Objectives include examining the leverage and preparedness of the digital literacy environment in streamlining learning in the universities, exploring and benchmarking imperative digital competence for information professionals, establishing the perception of information professionals towards digital literacy skills, and determining lessons, best practices, and strategies to accelerate digital literacy transformation for effective research and learning in the universities. The study will adopt a descriptive research design using questionnaires and document analysis as the instruments for data collection. The targeted population is librarians and information professionals, as well as academics in public and private universities teaching information literacy programmes. Data and information are to be collected through an online structured questionnaire and digital face-to-face interviews. Findings and results will provide promising lessons together with best practices and strategies to transform and change digital literacies in university libraries in Kenya.

Keywords: digital literacy, digital innovations, information professionals, librarians, higher education, university libraries, digital information literacy

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Authors: M. Roberts

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

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

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Authors: Frazer McDonald Ng'oma

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Online Learning in Malawi has only immersed in recent years due to the need to increase access to higher education, the need to accommodate upgrading students who wish to study on a part time basis while still continuing their work, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the closure of schools resulting in academic institutions seeking alternative modes of teaching and Learning to ensure continued teaching and Learning. Realizing that this mode of Learning is becoming a norm, institutions of higher Learning have started pioneering online post-graduate programs from which they can draw lessons before fully implementing it in undergraduate programs. Online learning pedagogy has not been fully grasped and institutions are still experimenting with this mode of Learning until online Learning guiding policies are created and its standards improved. This single case descriptive qualitative research study sought to investigate online postgraduate students’ perceptions and experiences with Student to student interactive pedagogy in their programs. The results of the study are to inform institutions and educators how to structure their programs to ensure that their students get the full satisfaction. 25 Masters students in 3 recently introduced online programs at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES), were engaged; 19 were interviewed and 6 responded to questionnaires. The findings from the students were presented and categorized in themes and subthemes that emerged from the qualitative data that was collected and analysed following Colaizzi’s framework for data analysis that resulted in themes formulation. Findings revealed that Student to student interactions occurred in the online programme during live sessions, on class Whatsapp group, in discussion boards as well as on emails. Majority of the students (n=18) felt the level of students’ interaction initiated by the institution was too much, referring to mandatory interactions activities like commenting in discussion boards and attending to live sessons. Some participants (n=7) were satisfied with the level of interaction and also pointed out that they would be fine with more program-initiated student–to–student interactions. These participants attributed having been out of school for some time as a reason for needing peer interactions citing that it is already difficult to get back to a traditional on-campus school after some time, let alone an online class where there is no physical interaction with other students. In general, majority of the participants (n=18) did not value Student to student interaction in online Learning. The students suggested that having intensive student-to-student interaction in postgraduate online studies does not need to be a high priority for the institution and they further recommended that if a lecturer decides to incorporate student-to-student activities into a class, they should be optional.

Keywords: online learning, interactions, student interactions, post graduate students

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

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

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

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Authors: Aldila Dyas Nurfitri

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

Keywords: leader-member exchange, toxic leadership, leadership

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Authors: Paulette Henry

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If Caribbean Universities wish to remain sustainable in the global education market they must meet the new demands of the 21st Centuries learners. This means preparing the teaching and learning environment with the human and material and resources so that the University can blossom out into the entrepreneurial University. The entrepreneurial University prepares the learner to become a global citizen, one who is innovative and a critical thinker and has the competencies to create jobs. Entrepreneurship education provides more equitable access to university education building capacity for the local and global economy. The entrepreneurial thinking, the mindset, must therefore be among academic and support staff as well as students. In developing countries where resources are scarce, Universities are grappling with a myriad of financial and non-financial issues. These include increasing costs, Union demands for increased remuneration for staff and reduced subvention from governments which has become the norm. In addition, there is the political pressure against increasing tuition fees and the perceptions on the moral responsibilities of universities in national development. The question is how do small universities carve out their niche, meet both political and consumer demands for a high quality, low lost education, fulfil their development mandate and still remain not only viable but competitive. Themes which are central to this discourse on the transitions necessary for the entrepreneurial university are leadership, governance and staff well-being. This paper therefore presents a case study of a Caribbean University to show how transformational leadership and the change management framework propels change towards an entrepreneurial institution seeking to have a competitive advantage despite its low resourced context. Important to this discourse are the transformational approaches used by the University to prepare staff to move from their traditional psyche to embracing an entrepreneurial mindset whilst equipping students within the same mode to become work ready and creative global citizens. Using the mixed methods approach, opinions were garnered from both members of the University community as well as external stakeholder groups on their perception of the role of the University in the business arena and as a primary stakeholder in national development. One of the critical concepts emanating from the discourse was the need to change the mindset of the those in university governance as well as how national stakeholders engage the university. This paper shows how multiple non-financial factors can contribute to change. A combination of transformational and servant leadership, strengthened institutional structures and developing new ones, rebuilding institutional trust and pride have been among the strategies employed within the change management framework. The university is no longer limited by borders but through international linkages has transcended into a transnational stakeholder.

Keywords: competitiveness, context, entrepreneurial, leadership

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Authors: Sudipto Jana

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Background and significance of the study: Banking industry performs as a catalyst for industrial growth and agricultural growth, however, as well involves the existence and welfare of the citizens. The banking system in India was described by unmatched growth and the recreation of bunch making in the pre-liberalization era. At the time of financial sector reforms Reserve Bank of India issued a regulatory norm concerning capital adequacy, income recognition, asset classification and provisioning that have increasingly precede meeting by means of the international paramount performs. Bank management ceaselessly manages the triumph, effectiveness, productivity and performance of the bank as good performance, high productivity and efficiency authorizes the triumph of the bank management targets as well as aims of bank. In a comparable move toward performance of any economy depends upon the expediency and effectiveness of its financial system of nation establishes its economic growth indicators. Profitability and productivity are the most important relevant parameters of any banking group. Keeping in view of this, this study examines the profitability and productivity performance of the selected public sector banks in India. Methodology: This study is based on secondary data obtained from Reserve Bank of India database for the periods between 2006 and 2015. This study purposively selects four types of commercial banks, namely, State Bank of India, United Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Allahabad Bank. In order to analyze the performance with relation to profitability and productivity, productivity performance indicators in terms of capital adequacy ratio, burden ratio, business per employee, spread per employee and advances per employee and profitability performance indicators in terms of return on assets, return on equity, return on advances and return on branch have been considered. In the course of analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation statistics and multiple regression have been used. Major findings: Descriptive statistics indicate that productivity performance of State Bank of India is very satisfactory than other public sector banks in India. But management of productivity is unsatisfactory in case of all the public sector banks under study. Correlation statistics point out that profitability of the public sector banks are strongly positively related with productivity performance in case of all the public sector banks under study. Multiple regression test results show that when profitability increases profit per employee increases and net non-performing assets decreases. Concluding statements: Productivity and profitability performance of United Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Punjab National Bank are unsatisfactory due to poor management of asset quality as well as management efficiency. It needs government’s interference so that profitability and productivity performance are increased in the near future.

Keywords: India, productivity, profitability, public sector banks

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Authors: Gulmira Zhakupova, Tamara Tultabayeva, Aknur Muldasheva, Assem Sagandyk

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The development of technology and production of products with increased biological value based on the use of natural food raw materials are important tasks in the policy of the food market of the Republic of Kazakhstan. For Kazakhstan, livestock farming, in particular sheep farming, is the most ancient and developed industry and way of life. The history of the Kazakh people is largely connected with this type of agricultural production, with established traditions using dairy products from sheep's milk. Therefore, the development of new technologies from sheep’s milk remains relevant. In addition, one of the most promising areas for the development of food technology for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes is sheep milk products as a source of protein, immunoglobulins, minerals, vitamins, and other biologically active compounds. This article presents the results of research on the study of milk processing technology. The objective of the study is to study the possibilities of processing sheep milk and its role in human nutrition, as well as the results of research to improve the technology of sheep milk products. The studies were carried out on the basis of sanitary and hygienic requirements for dairy products in accordance with the following test methods. To perform microbiological analysis, we used the method for identifying Salmonella bacteria (Horizontal method for identifying, counting, and serotyping Salmonella) in a certain mass or volume of product. Nutritional value is a complex of properties of food products that meet human physiological needs for energy and basic nutrients. The protein mass fraction was determined by the Kjeldahl method. This method is based on the mineralization of a milk sample with concentrated sulfuric acid in the presence of an oxidizing agent, an inert salt - potassium sulfate, and a catalyst - copper sulfate. In this case, the amino groups of the protein are converted into ammonium sulfate dissolved in sulfuric acid. The vitamin composition was determined by HPLC. To determine the content of mineral substances in the studied samples, the method of atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used. The study identified the technological parameters of sheep milk products and determined the prospects for researching sheep milk products. Microbiological studies were used to determine the safety of the study product. According to the results of the microbiological analysis, no deviations from the norm were identified. This means high safety of the products under study. In terms of nutritional value, the resulting products are high in protein. Data on the positive content of amino acids were also obtained. The results obtained will be used in the food industry and will serve as recommendations for manufacturers.

Keywords: dairy, milk processing, nutrition, colostrum

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Authors: Rubina Waseem

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The research focuses on the major crises and major effects, largely unforeseen, to counter international security concerns. At the close of 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, China. The coronavirus was initially seen as an inchoate danger, aimed at striking people randomly. Owing to the extraordinary transmissibility of the virus and the highly knitted nature of the international political world, the Covid-19 soon became a formidable global challenge. The once hustling and bustling avenues, city centers, and market places became deserted. Lockdown, self-isolation, hygiene and safety, social-distancing, and job losses became a new norm. The national economies gradually plunged into crisis. The pandemic has so far caused over 33 million cases and one million deaths. The virus continues to devastate social life, as there is yet no therapeutic available. While the world was preoccupied addressing the human and social toll, the pandemic has exacerbated despair, mistrust, and friction in international relations, diplomacy, and strategy. The research will discuss how the coronavirus has accelerated the trends of transition in the postwar security order constructed by the United States. China, Russia, European Union, and other lesser regional players are now increasingly changing their security orientations to undermine the United States standing and authority in world politics. The systemic level analyses will be adopted as a methodology to broaden the lens of the study, and the research will analyze the prevalent global power distribution, whether vulnerable or exposed. The trends of parochial nationalism and isolationism are increasingly replacing multilateralism and collectivism. Yet worse, military posturing is assuming a greater role in international interactions. Taken together, the pandemic has worsened the prospects of international peace and stability by mounting equal pressure across the channels of international relations, diplomacy, and strategy. It is yet unclear which country or collectivity will face the real brunt. Despite this jaded and pessimistic view, the lingering pandemic has the potential to reinforce cooperation, multilateralism, and collectivism in the realm of international politics. There is a renewed momentum for global efforts against the pandemic. States and societies are coming closer to act as a whole. Equally important, the world leaders are feeling tempted to revisit the traditional conception of national security. In this regard, they are exploring the possibility of according preference to non-traditional security issues. In essence, the research concludes that Covid-19 has put the international political system under a great trial.

Keywords: covid-19, global challenges, international politics, international security

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Authors: Sopio Totibadze

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Although the legal framework of Georgia reflects the main principles of gender equality and is in line with the international situation, Georgia remains a male-dominated society. This means that men prevail in many areas of social, economic, and political life, which frequently gives women a subordinate status in society and the family. According to the latest studies, “violence against women and girls in Georgia is also recognized as a public problem, and it is necessary to focus on it”. Moreover, the Public Defender's report (2019) reveals that “in the last five years, 151 women were killed in Georgia due to gender and family violence”. Unfortunately, there are frequent cases of crimes based on gender-based oppression in Georgia, which pose a threat not only to women but also to people of any gender whose desires and aspirations do not correspond to the gender norms and roles prevailing in society. It is well-known that language is often used as a tool for gender oppression. Therefore, feminist and gender studies in linguistics ultimately serve to represent the problem, reflect on it, and propose ways to solve it. Together with technical advancement in communication, a new form of discrimination has arisen- hate language against women in electronic media discourse. Due to the nature of social media and the internet, messages containing hate language can spread in seconds and reach millions of people. However, only a few know about the detrimental effects they may have on the addressee and society. This paper aims to analyse the hateful comments directed at women on various media platforms to determine the linguistic strategies used while attacking women and the reasons why women may fall victim to this type of hate language. The data have been collected over six months, and overall, 500 comments will be examined for the paper. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was chosen for the methodology of the study. The comments posted on various media platforms have been selected manually due to several reasons, the most important being the problem of identifying hate speech as it can disguise itself in different ways- humour, memes, etc. The comments on the articles, posts, pictures, and videos selected for sociolinguistic analysis depict a woman, a taboo topic, or a scandalous event centred on a woman that triggered hate language towards the person to whom the post/article was dedicated. The study has revealed that a woman can become a victim of hatred directed at them if they do something considered to be a deviation from a societal norm, namely, get a divorce, be sexually active, be vocal about feministic values, and talk about taboos. Interestingly, people who utilize hate language are not only men trying to “normalize” the prejudiced patriarchal values but also women who are equally active in bringing down a "strong" woman. The paper also aims to raise awareness about the hate language directed at women, as being knowledgeable about the issue at hand is the first step to tackling it.

Keywords: femicide, hate language, media discourse, sociolinguistics

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Authors: Diane Ghanem, Oscar Covarrubias, Michael Raad, Dawn LaPorte, Babar Shafiq

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Introduction: Standardized exams have long been considered a cornerstone in measuring cognitive competency and academic achievement. Their fixed nature and predetermined scoring methods offer a consistent yardstick for gauging intellectual acumen across diverse demographics. Consequently, the performance of artificial intelligence (AI) in this context presents a rich, yet unexplored terrain for quantifying AI's understanding of complex cognitive tasks and simulating human-like problem-solving skills. Publicly available AI language models such as ChatGPT have demonstrated utility in text generation and even problem-solving when provided with clear instructions. Amidst this transformative shift, the aim of this study is to assess ChatGPT’s performance on the orthopaedic surgery in-training examination (OITE). Methods: All 213 OITE 2021 web-based questions were retrieved from the AAOS-ResStudy website. Two independent reviewers copied and pasted the questions and response options into ChatGPT Plus (version 4.0) and recorded the generated answers. All media-containing questions were flagged and carefully examined. Twelve OITE media-containing questions that relied purely on images (clinical pictures, radiographs, MRIs, CT scans) and could not be rationalized from the clinical presentation were excluded. Cohen’s Kappa coefficient was used to examine the agreement of ChatGPT-generated responses between reviewers. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the performance (% correct) of ChatGPT Plus. The 2021 norm table was used to compare ChatGPT Plus’ performance on the OITE to national orthopaedic surgery residents in that same year. Results: A total of 201 were evaluated by ChatGPT Plus. Excellent agreement was observed between raters for the 201 ChatGPT-generated responses, with a Cohen’s Kappa coefficient of 0.947. 45.8% (92/201) were media-containing questions. ChatGPT had an average overall score of 61.2% (123/201). Its score was 64.2% (70/109) on non-media questions. When compared to the performance of all national orthopaedic surgery residents in 2021, ChatGPT Plus performed at the level of an average PGY3. Discussion: ChatGPT Plus is able to pass the OITE with a satisfactory overall score of 61.2%, ranking at the level of third-year orthopaedic surgery residents. More importantly, it provided logical reasoning and justifications that may help residents grasp evidence-based information and improve their understanding of OITE cases and general orthopaedic principles. With further improvements, AI language models, such as ChatGPT, may become valuable interactive learning tools in resident education, although further studies are still needed to examine their efficacy and impact on long-term learning and OITE/ABOS performance.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, orthopaedic in-training examination, OITE, orthopedic surgery, standardized testing

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Authors: Bingqing Chen

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The Opium War unlocked the gate of China. Since then, modern western culture has been imported strongly and spread throughout this Asian country. The monologue of traditional Chinese culture in the past has been replaced by the hustle and bustle of multiculturalism. In the field of music, starting from school music, China, a country without the concept of composition, was deeply influenced by western culture and professional music composition, and entered the era of professional music composition. Recognizing the importance of national culture, a group of insightful artists began to try to add ‘China’ to musical composition. However, due to the special historical origin of Chinese professional musical composition and the three times of cultural nihilism in China, professional musical composition at this time failed to interpret the deep language structure of local culture within Chinese traditional culture, but only regarded Chinese traditional music as a ‘melody material library.’ At this time, the cross-cultural composition still takes Western music as its ‘norm,’ while our own music culture only exists as the sound of the contrast of Western music. However, after reading scores extensively, watching video performances, and interviewing several active composers, we found that at least in the past 30 years, China has created some works that can be called intercultural music. In these kinds of music, composers put Chinese and Western, traditional and modern in an almost equal position to have a dialogue based on their deep understanding and respect for the two cultures. This kind of music connects two music worlds, and links the two cultural and ideological worlds behind it, and communicates and grows together. This paper chose the works of three composers with different educational backgrounds, and pay attention to how composers can make a dialogue at the organizational structure level of their works. Based on the strategies adopted by composers in structuring their works, this paper expounds on how the composer's music procedure shows intercultural in terms of whole sound effects and cultural symbols. By actively participating in this intercultural practice, composers resorting to various musical and extra-musical procedures to arrive at the so-called ‘innovation within tradition.’ Through the dialogue, we can activate the space of creative thinking and explore the potential contained in culture. This interdisciplinary research promotes the rethinking of the possibility of innovation in contemporary Chinese intercultural music composition, spanning the fields of sound studies, dialogue theory, cultural research, music theory, and so on. Recently, China is calling for actively promoting 'the construction of Chinese music canonization,’ expecting to form a particular music style to show national-cultural identity. In the era of globalization, it is possible to form a brand-new Chinese music style through intercultural composition, but it is a question about talents, and the key lies in how composers do it. There is no recipe for the formation of the Chinese music style, only the composers constantly trying and tries to solve problems in their works.

Keywords: dialogism, intercultural music, national-cultural identity, organization/structure, sound

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Authors: Mohammad Ehsani, Iman Zarei, Soudabeh Moazemigoudarzi

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The aim of this study is to determine Pro-Environmental Behavioral Intention of Mountain Hikers to the Theory of Planned Behavior. According to many researchers nature-based recreation activities play a significant role in the tourism industry and have provided myriad opportunities for the protection of natural areas. It is essential to investigate individuals' behavior during such activities to avoid further damage to precious and dwindling natural resources. This study develops a robust model that provides a comprehensive understanding of the formation of pro-environmental behavioral intentions among climbers of Mount Damavand National Park in Iran. To this end, we combined the theory of planned behavior (TPB), value-belief-norm theory (VBN), and a hierarchical model of leisure constraints to predict individuals’ pro-environmental hiking behavior during outdoor recreation. It was used structural equation modeling to test the theoretical framework. A sample of 787 climbers was analyzed. Among the theory of planned behavior variables, perceived behavioral control showed the strongest association with behavioral intention (β = .57). This relationship indicates that if people feel they can have fewer negative impacts on national resources while hiking, it will result in more environmentally acceptable behavior. Subjective norms had a moderate positive impact on behavioral intention, indicating the importance of other people on the individual's behavior. Attitude had a small positive effect on intention. Ecological worldview positively influenced attitude and personal belief. Personal belief (awareness of consequences and ascribed responsibility) showed a positive association with TPB variables. Although the data showed a high average score in awareness of consequences (mean = 4.219 out of 5), evidence from Damavand Mount shows that there are many environmental issues that need addressing (e.g., vast amounts of garbage). National park managers need to make sure that their solutions result in awareness about proenvironmental behavior (PEB). Findings showed that negative relationship between constraints and all TPB predictors. Providing proper restrooms and parking spaces in campgrounds, strategies controlling limiting capacity and solutions for removing waste from high altitudes are helpful to decrease the negative impact of structural constraints. In order to address intrapersonal constraints, managers should provide opportunities to interest individuals in environmental activities, such as environmental celebrations or making documentaries about environmental issues. Moreover, promoting a culture of environmental protection in the Damavand Mount area would reduce interpersonal constraints. Overall, the proposed model improved the explanatory power of the TPB by predicting 64.7% of intention compared to the original TPB that accounted for 63.8% of the variance in intention.

Keywords: theory of planned behavior, pro-environmental behavior, national park, constraints

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Authors: Sebastian Del Corral Winder, Kiriana Sanchez, Mixalis Poulakis, Samantha Gray

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This paper seeks to explore White privilege and Whiteness. Being White in the U.S. is often perceived as the norm and it brings significant social, economic, educational, and health privileges that often are hidden in social interactions. One quality of Whiteness has been its invisibility given its intrinsic impact on the system, which becomes only visible when paying close attention to White identity and culture and during cross-cultural interactions. The cross-cultural interaction provides an emphasis on differences between the participants and people of color are often viewed as “the other.” These interactions may promote an increased opportunity for discrimination and negative stereotypes against a person of color. Given the recent increase of violence against culturally diverse groups, there has been an increased sense of otherness and division in the country. Furthermore, the accent prestige theory has found that individuals who speak English with a foreign accent are perceived as less educated, competent, friendly, and trustworthy by White individuals in the United States. Using the consensual qualitative research (CQR) methodology, this study explored the cross-cultural dyad from the White individual’s perspective focusing on the psychotherapeutic relationship. The participants were presented with an audio recording of a conversation between a psychotherapist with a Hispanic accent and a patient with an American English accent. Then, the participants completed an interview regarding their perceptions of race, culture, and cross-cultural interactions. The preliminary results suggested that the Hispanic accent alone was enough for the participants to assign stereotypical ethnic and cultural characteristics to the individual with the Hispanic accent. Given the quality of the responses, the authors completed a secondary analysis to explore Whiteness and White privilege in more depth. Participants were found to be on a continuum in their understanding and acknowledgment of systemic racism; while some participants listed examples of inequality, other participants noted: “all people are treated equally.” Most participants noted their feelings of discomfort in discussing topics of cultural diversity and systemic racism by fearing to “say the ‘wrong thing.” Most participants placed the responsibility of discussing cultural differences with the person of color, which has been observed to create further alienation and otherness for culturally diverse individuals. The results indicate the importance of examining racial and cultural biases from White individuals to promote an anti-racist stance. The results emphasize the need for greater systemic changes in education, policies, and individual awareness regarding cultural identity. The results suggest the importance for White individuals to take ownership of their own cultural biases in order to promote equity and engage in cultural humility in a multicultural world. Future research should continue exploring the role of White ethnic identity and education as they appear to moderate White individuals’ attitudes and beliefs regarding other races and cultures.

Keywords: culture, qualitative research, whiteness, white privilege

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Authors: Isis Ribeiro Berger

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In view of recent war conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, the government of Paraná State, in Brazil, started a program to host Ukrainian scientists in state universities in 2022. The initiative aimed at integrating these scientists into the Brazilian academic community, strengthening the role of universities in producing science and innovation even in times of war, as well as fostering Higher Education internationalization. Paraná state was a pioneer in this initiative due to the fact it has been home to the largest contingent of immigrants and descendants of Ukrainians in Brazil because of migratory processes that began at the end of the 19th century. One of the universities receiving Ukrainian scientists is in Foz do Iguaçu, a city that borders Argentina and Paraguay. It is a multilingual environment, whose majority languages are Portuguese (the official language of Brazil), Spanish (the official language of both Argentina and Paraguay), as well as Guarani (the co-official indigenous language of Paraguay). It is in such a sociolinguistic environment that two Ukrainian professors began their activities within the scope of an Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program (master’s and doctorate degree). This case study, whose theme is the management of multilingualism, was developed within the scope of Language Policy. It aimed at identifying the attitudes of both Ukrainian professors and postgraduate students towards multilingualism in this context, given the plural linguistic repertoire of the academic community, as well as identifying the language management strategies for the construction of knowledge implemented by the program and in the classroom by these participants. Therefore, the study was conducted under a qualitative approach, for which surveys and interviews were adopted as part of its methodological procedures. Data revealed the presence of different languages in the classroom (Portuguese, Spanish, English and Ukrainian), which made pedagogical practices challenging for both professors and students, whose levels of knowledge in the different languages varied significantly. The results indicate that multilingualism was the norm as the means of instruction adopted in this context, in which bilingual Portuguese-English-Ukrainian instruction was used by the professors in their lectures. Although English has been privileged for the internationalization of Higher Education in various contexts, it was not used as an exclusive means of instruction in this case, mostly because it is a predominantly Portuguese-Spanish-speaking environment. In addition, the professors counted on the mediation of an interpreter hired by the program since not every student had sufficient knowledge of English as part of their repertoires. The findings also suggest Portuguese is the language that most of the participants of this study prefer, both because it is the mother tongue of majority, and because it is the official language of the host country to the professors, who have sought to integrate to the local culture and community. This research is inserted in the Axis: Multilingualism and Education, of the UNESCO Chair on Language Policies for Multilingualism to which this study is related.

Keywords: attitudes, border region, multilingualism management, Ukrainian professors

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Authors: Pawan Kumar, Dhananjoy Shaw, Manoj Kumar Rathi

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Purpose of the study were to compare between (a) frequencies among the four quartiles of percentile norms of autonomic variables from power events and (b) frequencies among the four quartiles percentile norms of autonomic variables from aerobic events of Indian sportspersons withdrawn from competitive games and sports in regard to number of samples falling in each quartile. The study was conducted on 430 males of 30 to 35 years of age. Based on the nature of game/sports the retired sportspersons were classified into power events (throwers, judo players, wrestlers, short distance swimmers, cricket fast bowlers and power lifters) and aerobic events (long distance runners, long distance swimmers, water polo players). Date was collected using ECG polygraphs. Data were processed and extracted using frequency domain analysis and time domain analysis. Collected data were computed with frequency, percentage of each quartile and finally the frequencies were compared with the chi square analysis. The finding pertaining to norm reference comparison of frequencies among the four quartiles of Indian sportspersons withdrawn from competitive games and sports from (a) power events suggests that frequency distribution in four quartile namely Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 are significantly different at .05 level in regard to variables namely, SDNN, Total Power (Absolute Power), HF (Absolute Power), LF (Normalized Power), HF (Normalized Power), LF/HF ratio, deep breathing test, expiratory respiratory ratio, valsalva manoeuvre, hand grip test, cold pressor test and lying to standing test, whereas, insignificantly different at .05 level in regard to variables namely, SDSD, RMSSD, SDANN, NN50 Count, pNN50 Count, LF (Absolute Power) and 30: 15 Ratio (b) aerobic events suggests that frequency distribution in four quartile are significantly different at .05 level in regard to variables namely, SDNN, LF (Normalized Power), HF (Normalized Power), LF/HF ratio, deep breathing test, expiratory respiratory ratio, hand grip test, cold pressor test, lying to standing test and 30: 15 ratio, whereas, insignificantly different at .05 level in regard to variables namely, SDSD, RMSSD. SDANN, NN50 count, pNN50 count, Total Power (Absolute Power), LF(Absolute Power) HF(Absolute Power), and valsalva manoeuvre. The study concluded that comparison of frequencies among the four quartiles of Indian retired sportspersons from power events and aerobic events are different in four quartiles in regard to selected autonomic functions, hence the developed percentile norms are not homogenously distributed across the percentile scale; hence strengthen the percentage distribution towards normal distribution.

Keywords: power, aerobic, absolute power, normalized power

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Authors: Anita Bajpai, Sarah Duan, Ashlee Erskine, Shehzein Khan, Raymond Kramer

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Introduction: This research focuses on exploring the beneficial effects if any, of Vitamin-D in reducing the need for supplemental oxygen among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Two questions are investigated – Q1)Doeshaving a healthy level of baselineVitamin-D 25-OH (≥ 30ng/ml) help,andQ2) does administering Vitamin-D therapy after-the-factduring inpatient hospitalization help? Methods/Study Design: This is a comprehensive, retrospective, observational study of all inpatients at RUHS from March through December 2020 who tested positive for COVID-19 based on real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction assay of nasal and pharyngeal swabs and rapid assay antigen test. To address Q1, we looked atall N1=182 patients whose baseline plasma Vitamin-D 25-OH was known and who needed supplemental oxygen. Of this, a total of 121 patients had a healthy Vitamin-D level of ≥30 ng/mlwhile the remaining 61 patients had low or borderline (≤ 29.9ng/ml)level. Similarly, for Q2, we looked at a total of N2=893 patients who were given supplemental oxygen, of which713 were not given Vitamin-D and 180 were given Vitamin-D therapy. The numerical value of the maximum amount of oxygen flow rate(dependent variable) administered was recorded for each patient. The mean values and associated standard deviations for each group were calculated. Thesetwo sets of independent data served as the basis for independent, two-sample t-Test statistical analysis. To be accommodative of any reasonable benefitof Vitamin-D, ap-value of 0.10(α< 10%) was set as the cutoff point for statistical significance. Results: Given the large sample sizes, the calculated statistical power for both our studies exceeded the customary norm of 80% or better (β< 0.2). For Q1, the mean value for maximumoxygen flow rate for the group with healthybaseline level of Vitamin-D was 8.6 L/min vs.12.6L/min for those with low or borderline levels, yielding a p-value of 0.07 (p < 0.10) with the conclusion that those with a healthy level of baseline Vitamin-D needed statistically significant lower levels of supplemental oxygen. ForQ2, the mean value for a maximum oxygen flow rate for those not administered Vitamin-Dwas 12.5 L/min vs.12.8L/min for those given Vitamin-D, yielding a p-valueof 0.87 (p > 0.10). We thereforeconcludedthat there was no statistically significant difference in the use of oxygen therapy between those who were or were not administered Vitamin-D after-the-fact in the hospital. Discussion/Conclusion: We found that patients who had healthy levels of Vitamin-D at baseline needed statistically significant lower levels of supplemental oxygen. Vitamin-D is well documented, including in a recent article in the Lancet, for its anti-inflammatory role as an adjuvant in the regulation of cytokines and immune cells. Interestingly, we found no statistically significant advantage for giving Vitamin-D to hospitalized patients. It may be a case of “too little too late”. A randomized clinical trial reported in JAMA also did not find any reduction in hospital stay of patients given Vitamin-D. Such conclusions come with a caveat that any delayed marginal benefits may not have materialized promptly in the presence of a significant inflammatory condition. Since Vitamin-D is a low-cost, low-risk option, it may still be useful on an inpatient basis until more definitive findings are established.

Keywords: COVID-19, vitamin-D, supplemental oxygen, vitamin-D in primary care

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Authors: Jolanta Jonak, Sylvia Tolczyk

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Educational systems are tasked with preparing students for future success in academic or work environments. Schools strive to achieve this goal, but often it is challenging as conventional teaching approaches are often ineffective in increasingly diverse educational systems. In today’s ever-increasing global society, educational systems become increasingly diverse in terms of cultural and linguistic differences, learning preferences and styles, ability and disability. Through increased understanding of disabilities and improved identification processes, students having some form of disabilities tend to be identified earlier than in the past, meaning that more students with identified disabilities are being supported in our classrooms. Also, a large majority of students with disabilities are educated in general education environments. Due to cognitive makeup and life experiences, students have varying learning styles and preferences impacting how they receive and express what they are learning. Many students come from bi or multilingual households and with varying proficiencies in the English language, further impacting their learning. All these factors need to be seriously considered when developing learning opportunities for student's. Educators try to adjust their teaching practices as they discover that conventional methods are often ineffective in reaching each student’s potential. Many teachers do not have the necessary educational background or training to know how to teach students whose learning needs are more unique and may vary from the norm. This is further complicated by the fact that many classrooms lack consistent access to interventionists/coaches that are adequately trained in evidence-based approaches to meet the needs of all students, regardless of what their academic needs may be. One evidence-based way for providing successful education for all students is by incorporating cognitive approaches and strategies that tap into affective, recognition, and strategic networks in the student's brain. This can be done through Differentiated Instruction (DI). Differentiated Instruction is increasingly recognized model that is established on the basic principles of Universal Design for Learning. This form of support ensures that regardless of the students’ learning preferences and cognitive learning profiles, they have opportunities to learn through approaches that are suitable to their needs. This approach improves the educational outcomes of students with special needs and it benefits other students as it accommodates learning styles as well as the scope of unique learning needs that are evident in the typical classroom setting. Differentiated Instruction also is recognized as an evidence-based best practice in education and is highly effective when it is implemented within the tiered system of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model. Recognition of DI becomes more common; however, there is still limited understanding of the effective implementation and use of strategies that can create unique learning environments for each student within the same setting. Through employing knowledge of a variety of instructional strategies, general and special education teachers can facilitate optimal learning for all students, with and without a disability. A desired byproduct of DI is that it can eliminate inaccurate perceptions about the students’ learning abilities, unnecessary referrals for special education evaluations, and inaccurate decisions about the presence of a disability.

Keywords: differentiated instruction, universal design for learning, special education, diversity

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Authors: Khan Farhan Rafat, Riaz Ahmed

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Renowned offshore organizations are drifting towards collaborative exertion to win and implement international projects for business gains. However, devoid of financial constraints, with the availability of skilled professionals, and despite improved project management practices through state-of-the-art tools and techniques, project delays have become a norm these days. This situation calls for exploring the factor(s) affecting the bonding between project management performance and project success. In the context of the well-known 3M’s of project management (that is, manpower, machinery, and materials), machinery and materials are dependent upon manpower. Because the body of knowledge inveterate on the influence of national culture on men, hence, the realization of the impact on the link between project management performance and project success need to be investigated in detail to arrive at the possible cause(s) of project delays. This research initiative was, therefore, undertaken to fill the research gap. The unit of analysis for the proposed research excretion was the individuals who had worked on skyscraper construction projects. In reverent studies, project management is best described using construction examples. It is due to this reason that the project oriented city of Dubai was chosen to reconnoiter on causes of project delays. A structured questionnaire survey was disseminated online with the courtesy of the Project Management Institute local chapter to carry out the cross-sectional study. The Construction Industry Institute, Austin, of the United States of America along with 23 high-rise builders in Dubai were also contacted by email requesting for their contribution to the study and providing them with the online link to the survey questionnaire. The reliability of the instrument was warranted using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.70. The appropriateness of sampling adequacy and homogeneity in variance was ensured by keeping Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity in the range ≥ 0.60 and < 0.05, respectively. Factor analysis was used to verify construct validity. During exploratory factor analysis, all items were loaded using a threshold of 0.4. Four hundred and seventeen respondents, including members from top management, project managers, and project staff, contributed to the study. The link between project management performance and project success was significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed), and 0.05 level (2-tailed) for Pearson’s correlation. Before initiating the moderator analysis test for linearity, multicollinearity, outliers, leverage points and influential cases, test for homoscedasticity and normality were carried out which are prerequisites for conducting moderator review. The moderator analysis, using a macro named PROCESS, was performed to verify the hypothesis that national culture has an influence on the said link. The empirical findings, when compared with Hofstede's results, showed high power distance as the cause of construction project delays in Dubai. The research outcome calls for the project sponsors and top management to reshape their project management strategy and allow for low power distance between management and project personnel for timely completion of projects.

Keywords: causes of construction project delays, construction industry, construction management, power distance

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Authors: Shubhangi Roy

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Relational Contracts (informal understandings not enforceable by law) are a common feature of most economies. However, their dominance is higher in developing countries. Such informality of economic sectors is often co-related to lower economic growth. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether informal arrangements i.e. relational contracts are a cause or symptom of lower levels of economic and/or institutional development. The methodology followed involves an initial survey of 150 test subjects in Northern India. The subjects are all members of occupations where they frequently transact ensuring uniformity in transaction volume. However, the subjects are from varied socio-economic backgrounds to ensure sufficient variance in transaction values allowing us to understand the relationship between the amount of money involved to the method of transaction used, if any. Questions asked are quantitative and qualitative with an aim to observe both the behavior and motivation behind such behavior. An overarching similarity observed during the survey across all subjects’ responses is that in an economy like India with pervasive corruption and delayed litigation, economy participants have created alternative social sanctions to deal with non-performers. In a society that functions predominantly on caste, class and gender classifications, these sanctions could, in fact, be more cumbersome for a potential rule-breaker than the legal ramifications. It, therefore, is a symptom of weak formal regulatory enforcement and dispute settlement mechanism. Additionally, the study bifurcates such informal arrangements into two separate systems - a) when it exists in addition to and augments a legal framework creating an efficient socio-legal equilibrium or; b) in conflict with the legal system in place. This categorization is an important step in regulating informal arrangements. Instead of considering the entire gamut of such arrangements as counter-development, it helps decision-makers understand when to dismantle (latter) and when to pivot around existing informal systems (former). The paper hypothesizes that those social arrangements that support the formal legal frameworks allow for cheaper enforcement of regulations with lower enforcement costs burden on the state mechanism. On the other hand, norms which contradict legal rules will undermine the formal framework. Law infringement, in presence of these norms, will have no impact on the reputation of the business or individual outside of the punishment imposed under the law. It is especially exacerbated in the Indian legal system where enforcement of penalties for non-performance of contracts is low. In such a situation, the social norm will be adhered to more strictly by the individuals rather than the legal norms. This greatly undermines the role of regulations. The paper concludes with recommendations that allow policy-makers and legal systems to encourage the former category of informal arrangements while discouraging norms that undermine legitimate policy objectives. Through this investigation, we will be able to expand our understanding of tools of market development beyond regulations. This will allow academics and policymakers to harness social norms for less disruptive and more lasting growth.

Keywords: distribution of income, emerging economies, relational contracts, sample survey, social norms

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Authors: Riadh Zorgati, Thomas Triboulet

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In quite diverse application areas such as astronomy, medical imaging, geophysics or nondestructive evaluation, many problems related to calibration, fitting or estimation of a large number of input parameters of a model from a small amount of output noisy data, can be cast as inverse problems. Due to noisy data corruption, insufficient data and model errors, most inverse problems are ill-posed in a Hadamard sense, i.e. existence, uniqueness and stability of the solution are not guaranteed. A wide class of inverse problems in physics relates to the Fredholm equation of the first kind. The ill-posedness of such inverse problem results, after discretization, in a very ill-conditioned linear system of equations, the condition number of the associated matrix can typically range from 109 to 1018. This condition number plays the role of an amplifier of uncertainties on data during inversion and then, renders the inverse problem difficult to handle numerically. Similar problems appear in other areas such as numerical optimization when using interior points algorithms for solving linear programs leads to face ill-conditioned systems of linear equations. Devising efficient solution approaches for such system of equations is therefore of great practical interest. Efficient iterative algorithms are proposed for solving a system of linear equations. The approach is based on a preconditioning of the initial matrix of the system with an approximation of a generalized inverse leading to a stochastic preconditioned matrix. This approach, valid for non-negative matrices, is first extended to hermitian, semi-definite positive matrices and then generalized to any complex rectangular matrices. The main results obtained are as follows: 1) We are able to build a generalized inverse of any complex rectangular matrix which satisfies the convergence condition requested in iterative algorithms for solving a system of linear equations. This completes the (short) list of generalized inverse having this property, after Kaczmarz and Cimmino matrices. Theoretical results on both the characterization of the type of generalized inverse obtained and the convergence are derived. 2) Thanks to its properties, this matrix can be efficiently used in different solving schemes as Richardson-Tanabe or preconditioned conjugate gradients. 3) By using Lp norms, we propose generalized Kaczmarz’s type matrices. We also show how Cimmino's matrix can be considered as a particular case consisting in choosing the Euclidian norm in an asymmetrical structure. 4) Regarding numerical results obtained on some pathological well-known test-cases (Hilbert, Nakasaka, …), some of the proposed algorithms are empirically shown to be more efficient on ill-conditioned problems and more robust to error propagation than the known classical techniques we have tested (Gauss, Moore-Penrose inverse, minimum residue, conjugate gradients, Kaczmarz, Cimmino). We end on a very early prospective application of our approach based on stochastic matrices aiming at computing some parameters (such as the extreme values, the mean, the variance, …) of the solution of a linear system prior to its resolution. Such an approach, if it were to be efficient, would be a source of information on the solution of a system of linear equations.

Keywords: conditioning, generalized inverse, linear system, norms, stochastic matrix

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Authors: Rachel Barker

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The exponential velocity in the truly knowledge-intensive world today has increasingly bombarded organizations with unfathomable challenges. Hence organizations are introduced to strange lexicons of descriptors belonging to a new paradigm of who, what and how knowledge at individual and organizational levels should be managed. Although organizational knowledge has been recognized as a valuable intangible resource that holds the key to competitive advantage, little progress has been made in understanding how knowledge sharing at individual level could benefit knowledge use at collective level to ensure added value. The research problem is that a lack of research exists to measure knowledge sharing through a multi-layered structure of ideas with at its foundation, philosophical assumptions to support presuppositions and commitment which requires actual findings from measured variables to confirm observed and expected events. The purpose of this paper is to address this problem by presenting a theoretical approach to measure knowledge sharing in emerging knowledge organizations. The research question is that despite the competitive necessity of becoming a knowledge-based organization, leaders have found it difficult to transform their organizations due to a lack of knowledge on who, what and how it should be done. The main premise of this research is based on the challenge for knowledge leaders to develop an organizational culture conducive to the sharing of knowledge and where learning becomes the norm. The theoretical constructs were derived and based on the three components of the knowledge management theory, namely technical, communication and human components where it is suggested that this knowledge infrastructure could ensure effective management. While it is realised that it might be a little problematic to implement and measure all relevant concepts, this paper presents effect of eight critical success factors (CSFs) namely: organizational strategy, organizational culture, systems and infrastructure, intellectual capital, knowledge integration, organizational learning, motivation/performance measures and innovation. These CSFs have been identified based on a comprehensive literature review of existing research and tested in a new framework adapted from four perspectives of the balanced score card (BSC). Based on these CSFs and their items, an instrument was designed and tested among managers and employees of a purposefully selected engineering company in South Africa who relies on knowledge sharing to ensure their competitive advantage. Rigorous pretesting through personal interviews with executives and a number of academics took place to validate the instrument and to improve the quality of items and correct wording of issues. Through analysis of surveys collected, this research empirically models and uncovers key aspects of these dimensions based on the CSFs. Reliability of the instrument was calculated by Cronbach’s a for the two sections of the instrument on organizational and individual levels.The construct validity was confirmed by using factor analysis. The impact of the results was tested using structural equation modelling and proved to be a basis for implementing and understanding the competitive predisposition of the organization as it enters the process of knowledge management. In addition, they realised the importance to consolidate their knowledge assets to create value that is sustainable over time.

Keywords: innovation, intellectual capital, knowledge sharing, performance measures

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Authors: Tsirekidze M., Aprasidze T.

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Introduction: The problem of dissocial behavior is at the heart of the social sciences and psychiatry; however, it should be noted that its psychiatric aspect is little studied, and some issues of the problem are still controversial. This is complicated by the diversity of terminological concepts in defining “dissocial behavior”, “behavioral disorder”, “abnormal behavior”, “deviant behavior”, “delinquent behavior”, etc. In literature, there is no comprehensive definition of the essence of dissociative behavior. Numerous attempts to systematize dissociative disorders should also be considered unsatisfactory, which is primarily related to the lack of solid criteria for defining this group of disorders. According to the clinical classification, dissocial behavior is divided into psychotic and non-psychotic forms. Such differentiation is conditional in nature since it is not always possible to draw precise, clear distinctions between these forms, and in addition, there is a transition of a behavior disorder or so-called intermediate forms. One group of authors distinguishes two main forms of deviant behavior in terms of both theoretical and practical significance - non-pathological and pathological. In recent years, especially, the non-pathological form of behavior disorder has become topical. It refers to a large group of forms of deviant behavior, the emergence of which is associated with psychologically full-fledged reactions of children and adolescents to stressful situations and extreme conditions. According to the authors, its concept is understandable-it is difficult to draw a line between psychologically understandable reactions and psychogenically induced reactive states. In addition, the concept of "normal" child and adolescent is, to some extent, a vague concept, as in medicine, any definition of the norm. From a practical (more precisely, pragmatic) point of view, the term "abnormal behavioral disorder" undoubtedly makes sense, especially for the purpose of forensic psychiatric examination. Non-pathological deviation mainly includes transient situational reactions, microsocial-pedagogical backwardness, and character accentuation.Deviant behavior was predominantly manifested in a non-pathological form, which, in our opinion, is due to the difficult socio-economic situation of the country, moral-ethical deprivation, and expressed frustration. By itself, society is an indicator of deviation. Add to this situation complicated factors such as micro-social-pedagogical leave, unfavorable family environment, and parenting defects. Consideration is also given to the connection of acceptable deviation with the personal structural features of the adolescent. Aim: The topic of our discussion is the dissocial behavior of the non-psychotic register. Methods: We surveyed 120 adolescents with deviant behaviors. 61% of them were diagnosed with various neuropsychiatric disorders. Results: Abnormal forms of deviant behavior were observed in 13%, and non-pathological forms in -69%. A combination of non-pathological and pathological forms was present in 10% of cases. In the case of non-pathological deviation, microsocial-pedagogical acceptance was revealed in 62%, character accentuation in 22%; during the pathological forms, pathological reactions were observed in 21%, and abnormal formation of the person -21%. Conclusion: It should be emphasized that in case of any of the above defects, if the so-called family psychosis, and medical and pedagogical habilitation measures for the adolescent, it is quite possible to prevent the abnormal development of the child's personality, correct his character, regulate behavior and develop positive labor-social relations.

Keywords: dissocial personality, deviant behavior, dissocial, delinquent behavior

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Authors: Kaustav Mukherjee

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In this paper we propose a Neural Style Transfer solution whereby we have created a Lightweight Separable Convolution Kernel Based GAN Architecture (SC-GAN) which will very useful for designing filter for Mobile Phone Cameras and also Edge Devices which will convert any image to its 2D ANIMATED COMIC STYLE Movies like HEMAN, SUPERMAN, JUNGLE-BOOK. This will help the 2D animation artist by relieving to create new characters from real life person's images without having to go for endless hours of manual labour drawing each and every pose of a cartoon. It can even be used to create scenes from real life images.This will reduce a huge amount of turn around time to make 2D animated movies and decrease cost in terms of manpower and time. In addition to that being extreme light-weight it can be used as camera filters capable of taking Comic Style Shots using mobile phone camera or edge device cameras like Raspberry Pi 4,NVIDIA Jetson NANO etc. Existing Methods like CartoonGAN with the model size close to 170 MB is too heavy weight for mobile phones and edge devices due to their scarcity in resources. Compared to the current state of the art our proposed method which has a total model size of 31 MB which clearly makes it ideal and ultra-efficient for designing of camera filters on low resource devices like mobile phones, tablets and edge devices running OS or RTOS. .Owing to use of high resolution input and usage of bigger convolution kernel size it produces richer resolution Comic-Style Pictures implementation with 6 times lesser number of parameters and with just 25 extra epoch trained on a dataset of less than 1000 which breaks the myth that all GAN need mammoth amount of data. Our network reduces the density of the Gan architecture by using Depthwise Separable Convolution which does the convolution operation on each of the RGB channels separately then we use a Point-Wise Convolution to bring back the network into required channel number using 1 by 1 kernel.This reduces the number of parameters substantially and makes it extreme light-weight and suitable for mobile phones and edge devices. The architecture mentioned in the present paper make use of Parameterised Batch Normalization Goodfellow etc al. (Deep Learning OPTIMIZATION FOR TRAINING DEEP MODELS page 320) which makes the network to use the advantage of Batch Norm for easier training while maintaining the non-linear feature capture by inducing the learnable parameters

Keywords: comic stylisation from camera image using GAN, creating 2D animated movie style custom stickers from images, depth-wise separable convolutional neural network for light-weight GAN architecture for EDGE devices, GAN architecture for 2D animated cartoonizing neural style, neural style transfer for edge, model distilation, perceptual loss

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Authors: Tamam Albelwi, Robert Rogers, Hans-Peter Kubis

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Background: Exercise is widely acknowledged as a highly important health behavior, which reduces risks related to lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease. However, exercise adherence is low in high-risk groups and sedentary lifestyle is more the norm than the exception. Expressed reasons for exercise participation are often based on delayed outcomes related to health threats and benefits but also enjoyment. Whether exercise is perceived as rewarding is well established in animal literature but the evidence is sparse in humans. Additionally, the question how stable any reward is perceived with time delays is an important question influencing decision-making (in favor or against a behavior). For the modality exercise, this has not been examined before. We, therefore, investigated the discounting of pre-established self-selected exercise compared with established rewards of food and money with a computer-based discounting paradigm. We hypothesized that exercise will be discounted like an established reward (food and money); however, we expect that the discounting rate is similar to a consumable reward like food. Additionally, we expected that individuals’ characteristics like preferred intensity, physical activity and body characteristics are associated with discount rates. Methods: 71 participants took part in four sessions. The sessions were designed to let participants select their preferred exercise intensity on a treadmill. Participants were asked to adjust their speed for optimizing pleasantness over an exercise period of up to 30 minutes, heart rate and pleasantness rating was measured. In further sessions, the established exercise intensity was modified and tested on perceptual validity. In the last exercise session rates of perceived exertion was measured on the preferred intensity level. Furthermore, participants filled in questionnaires related to physical activity, mood, craving, and impulsivity and answered choice questions on a bespoke computer task to establish discounting rates of their preferred exercise (kex), their favorite food (kfood) and a value-matching amount of money (kmoney). Results: Participants self-selected preferred speed was 5.5±2.24 km/h, at a heart rate of 120.7±23.5, and perceived exertion scale of 10.13±2.06. This shows that participants preferred a light exercise intensity with low to moderate cardiovascular strain based on perceived pleasantness. Computer assessment of discounting rates revealed that exercise was quickly discounted like a consumable reward, no significant difference between kfood and kex (kfood =0.322±0.263; kex=0.223±0.203). However, kmoney (kmoney=0.080±0.02) was significantly lower than the rates of exercise and food. Moreover, significant associations were found between preferred speed and kex (r=-0.302) and between physical activity levels and preferred speed (r=0.324). Outcomes show that participants perceived and discounted self-selected exercise like an established reward (food and money) but was discounted more like consumable rewards. Moreover, exercise discounting was quicker in individuals who preferred lower speeds, being less physically active. This may show that in a choice conflict between exercise and food the delay of exercise (because of distance) might disadvantage exercise as the chosen behavior particular in sedentary people. Conclusion: exercise can be perceived as a reward and is discounted quickly in time like food. Pleasant exercise experience is connected to low to moderate cardiovascular and perceptual strain.

Keywords: delay discounting, exercise, temporal discounting, time perspective

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Authors: Noury Bakrim

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When dealing with motivation/arbitrariness, forming form (Forma Formans) and morphodynamics are to be grasped as relevant implications of enunciation/enactment, schematization within the specificity of language as sound/meaning articulation. Thus, the fact that a language is a form does not contradict stasis/dynamic enunciation (reflexivity vs double articulation). Moreover, some languages exemplify the role of the forming form, uttering, and schematization (roots in Semitic languages, the Chinese case). Beyond the evolutionary biosemiotic process (form/substance bifurcation, the split between realization/representation), non-isomorphism/asymmetry between linguistic form/norm and linguistic realization (phonetics for instance) opens up a new horizon problematizing the role of Brain – sensorimotor contribution in the continuous forming form. Therefore, we hypothesize biotization as both process/trace co-constructing motivation/forming form. Henceforth, referring to our findings concerning distribution and motivation patterns within Berber written texts (pulse based obstruents and nasal-lateral levels in poetry) and oral storytelling (consonant intensity clustering in quantitative and semantic/prosodic motivation), we understand consonant clustering, motivation and schematization as a complex phenomenon partaking in patterns of oral/written iconic prosody and reflexive metalinguistic representation opening the stable form. We focus our inquiry on both Amazigh and English clusters (/spl/, /spr/) and iconic consonant iteration in [gnunnuy] (to roll/tumble), [smummuy] (to moan sadly or crankily). For instance, the syllabic structures of /splaeʃ/ and /splaet/ imply an anamorphic representation of the state of the world: splash, impact on aquatic surfaces/splat impact on the ground. The pair has stridency and distribution as distinctive features which specify its phonetic realization (and a part of its meaning) /ʃ/ is [+ strident] and /t/ is [+ distributed] on the vocal tract. Schematization is then a process relating both physiology/code as an arthron vocal/bodily, vocal/practical shaping of the motor-articulatory system, leading to syntactic/semantic thematization (agent/patient roles in /spl/, /sm/ and other clusters or the tense uvular /qq/ at the initial position in Berber). Furthermore, the productivity of serial syllable sequencing in Berber points out different expressivity forms. We postulate two Components of motivated formalization: i) the process of memory paradigmatization relating to sequence modeling under sensorimotor/verbal specific categories (production/perception), ii) the process of phonotactic selection - prosodic unconscious/subconscious distribution by virtue of iconicity. Basing on multiple tests including a questionnaire, phonotactic/visual recognition and oral/written reproduction, we aim at patterning/conceptualizing consonant schematization and motivation among EFL and Amazigh (Berber) learners and speakers integrating biolinguistic hypotheses.

Keywords: consonant motivation and prosody, language and order of life, anamorphic representation, represented representation, biotization, sensori-motor and brain representation, form, formalization and schematization

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Authors: Anastasiya Vouchak, Aliaksandr Volchak

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Belarus is not short of water. However, there is a problem of water quality. Its pollution has both natural and man-made origin. This research is based on data from State Water Cadastre of the Republic of Belarus registered from 1994 to 2014. We analyzed changes in such hydro-chemical criteria as concentration of ammonium ions, suspended matter, dissolved oxygen, oil-products, nitrites, phosphates in water, dichromate value, water impurity index, 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). Pollution of water with ammonium ions was observed in Belarus rivers of the Western Dvina, Polota, Schara, Usha, Muhavets, Berzina, Plissa, Svisloch, Pripiat, Yaselda in 2006-2014. The threshold limit value (TLV) was 1.5-3 times as much. Concentration of ammonia in the Berezina exceeded 3 – 5 times the TLVs in 2006-2010. Maximum excess of TLV was registered in the Svisloch (10 km downstream of Minsk) in 2006-2007. It was over 4 mg/dm³ whereas the norm is 0.39 mg/dm³. In 1997 there were ammonia pollution spots in the Dnieper, the Berezina, and the Svisloch Rivers. Since 2006 we have observed pollution spots in the Neman, Ross, Vilia, Sozh, Gorin Rivers, the Osipovichi and Soligorsk reservoirs. Dichromate value exceeds the TLVs in 40% cases. The most polluted waters are the Muhavets, Berezina, Pripiat, Yaselda, Gorin Rivers, the Vileyka and Soligorsk reservoirs. The Western Dvina, Neman, Viliya, Schara, Svisloch, and Plissa Rivers are less polluted. The Dnieper is the cleanest in this respect. In terms of BOD, water is polluted in the Neman, Muhavets, Svisloch, Yaselda, Gorin Rivers, the Osipovichi, Zaslavl, and Soligorsk reservoirs. The Western Dvina, Polota, Sozh, Iputs Rivers and Lake Naroch are not polluted in this respect. This criterion has been decreasing in 33 out of 42 cases. The least suspended matter is in the Berezina, Sozh, Iputs Rivers and Lake Naroch. The muddiest water is in the Neman, Usha, Svisloch, Pripyat, Yaselda Rivers, the Osipovichi and Soligorsk reservoirs. Water impurity index shows reduction of this criterion at all gauge stations. Multi-year average values predominantly (66.6%) correspond to the third class of water quality, i.e. moderately polluted. They include the Western Dvina, Ross, Usha, Muhavets, Dnieper, Berezina, Plissa, Iputs, Pripyat, Yaselda, Gorin Rivers, the Osipovichi and Soligorsk reservoirs. Water in the Svisloch River downstream of Minsk is of the forth quality class, i.e. most polluted. In the rest cases (33.3%) water is relatively clean. They include the Lidea, Schara, Viliya, Sozh Rivers, Lake Lukoml, Lake Naroch, Vileyka and Zaslavl reservoirs. Multi-year average values range from 7.0 to 9.5 mg О₂/dm³. The Yaselda has the least value - 6.7 mg О₂/dm³. A shortage of dissolved oxygen was found in the Berezina (2010), the Yaselda (2007), the Plissa (2011-2014), the Soligorsk reservoir (1996). Contamination of water with oil-products was observed everywhere in 1994-1999. Some spots were found in the Western Dvina, Vilia, Usha, Dnieper in 2003-2006, in the Svisloch in 2002-2012. We are observing gradual decrease of oil pollutants in surface water. The quality of 67 % surface water is referred to as moderately polluted.

Keywords: belarus, hydro-chemical criteria, water pollution, water quality

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Authors: Mireille Elhajj, Washington Ochieng, Deeph Chana

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The challenges of the rapid growth in the demand for transport has traditionally been seen within the context of the problems of congestion, air quality, climate change, safety, and affordability. However, there are increasing threats including those related to crime such as cyber-attacks that threaten the security of the transport of people and goods. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents for the first time, a comprehensive framework for the assessment of the current and future security issues of multi-modal transport systems. The approach or method proposed is based on a structured framework starting with a detailed specification of the transport asset map (transport system architecture), followed by the identification of vulnerabilities. The asset map and vulnerabilities are used to identify the various approaches for exploitation of the vulnerabilities, leading to the creation of a set of threat scenarios. The threat scenarios are then transformed into risks and their categories, and include insights for their mitigation. The consideration of the mitigation space is holistic and includes the formulation of appropriate policies and tactics and/or technical interventions. The quality of the framework is ensured through a structured and logical process that identifies the stakeholders, reviews the relevant documents including policies and identifies gaps, incorporates targeted surveys to augment the reviews, and uses subject matter experts for validation. The approach to categorising security risks is an extension of the current methods that are typically employed. Specifically, the partitioning of risks into either physical or cyber categories is too limited for developing mitigation policies and tactics/interventions for transport systems where an interplay between physical and cyber processes is very often the norm. This interplay is rapidly taking on increasing significance for security as the emergence of cyber-physical technologies, are shaping the future of all transport modes. Examples include: Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) in road transport; the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in rail transport; Automatic Identification System (AIS) in maritime transport; advanced Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) technologies in air transport; and the Internet of Things (IoT). The framework adopts a risk categorisation scheme that considers risks as falling within the following threat→impact relationships: Physical→Physical, Cyber→Cyber, Cyber→Physical, and Physical→Cyber). Thus the framework enables a more complete risk picture to be developed for today’s transport systems and, more importantly, is readily extendable to account for emerging trends in the sector that will define future transport systems. The framework facilitates the audit and retro-fitting of mitigations in current transport operations and the analysis of security management options for the next generation of Transport enabling strategic aspirations such as systems with security-by-design and co-design of safety and security to be achieved. An initial application of the framework to transport systems has shown that intra-modal consideration of security measures is sub-optimal and that a holistic and multi-modal approach that also addresses the intersections/transition points of such networks is required as their vulnerability is high. This is in-line with traveler-centric transport service provision, widely accepted as the future of mobility services. In summary, a risk-based framework is proposed for use by the stakeholders to comprehensively and holistically assess the security of transport systems. It requires a detailed understanding of the transport architecture to enable a detailed vulnerabilities analysis to be undertaken, creates threat scenarios and transforms them into risks which form the basis for the formulation of interventions.

Keywords: mitigations, risk, transport, security, vulnerabilities

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Authors: Sopio Totibadze

Abstract:

Although the legal framework of Georgia reflects the main principles of gender equality and is in line with the international situation (UNDP, 2018), Georgia remains a male-dominated society. This means that men prevail in many areas of social, economic, and political life, which frequently gives women a subordinate status in society and the family (UN women). According to the latest study, “violence against women and girls in Georgia is also recognized as a public problem, and it is necessary to focus on it” (UN women). Moreover, the Public Defender's report on the protection of human rights in Georgia (2019) reveals that “in the last five years, 151 women were killed in Georgia due to gender and family violence”. Sadly, these statistics have increased significantly since that time. The issue was acutely reflected in the document published by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, “Gender Hate Crime” (March 10, 2021). “Unfortunately, the rates of femicide ..... are still high in the country, and distrust of law enforcement agencies often makes such cases invisible, which requires special attention from the state.” More precisely, the cited document considers that there are frequent cases of crimes based on gender-based oppression in Georgia, which pose a threat not only to women but also to people of any gender whose desires and aspirations do not correspond to the gender norms and roles prevailing in society. According to the study, this type of crime has a “significant and lasting impact on the victim(s) and also undermines the safety and cohesion of society and gender equality”. It is well-known that language is often used as a tool for gender oppression (Rusieshvili-Cartledge and Dolidze, 2021; Totibadze, 2021). Therefore, feminist and gender studies in linguistics ultimately serve to represent the problem, reflect on it, and propose ways to solve it. Together with technical advancement in communication, a new form of discrimination has arisen- hate language against women in electronic media discourse. Due to the nature of social media and the internet, messages containing hate language can spread in seconds and reach millions of people. However, only a few know about the detrimental effects they may have on the addressee and society. This paper aims to analyse the hateful comments directed at women on various media platforms to determine (1) the linguistic strategies used while attacking women and (2) the reasons why women may fall victim to this type of hate language. The data have been collected over six months, and overall, 500 comments will be examined for the paper. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was chosen for the methodology of the study. The comments posted on various media platforms, including social media posts, articles, or pictures, have been selected manually due to several reasons, the most important being the problem of identifying hate speech as it can disguise itself in different ways- humour, memes, etc. The comments on the articles, posts, pictures, and videos selected for sociolinguistic analysis depict a woman, a taboo topic, or a scandalous event centred on a woman that triggered a lot of hatred and hate language towards the person to whom the post/article was dedicated. The study has revealed that a woman can become a victim of hatred directed at them if they do something considered to be a deviation from a societal norm, namely, get a divorce, be sexually active, be vocal about feministic values, and talk about taboos. Interestingly, people who utilize hate language are not only men trying to “normalize” the prejudiced patriarchal values but also women who are equally active in bringing down a "strong" woman. The paper also aims to raise awareness about the hate language directed at women, as being knowledgeable about the issue at hand is the first step to tackling it.

Keywords: femicide, hate language, media discourse, sociolinguistics

Procedia PDF Downloads 47