Search results for: formal concept analysis

Authors: Emmy Kipsoi

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Kenya legalized the Sexual offence bill (2001), after vigorous campaigning and lobbying by feminist both in and out of parliament to ensure that the bill passed with minimal amendments. The sexual offense act provides for a good description on what constitutes sexual offences and the penalties that follow. It is from this context that the paper explores and interrogated the lived experiences of women living and working in Kenyan urban towns, who had experienced some form of sexual harassment. The study employed phenomenology to interpret the experiences of twenty (20) women in an urban town between the ages of 20 to 65 years women who had received at least some formal education and where engaged in some formal form of employment. The findings indicated that various forms of sexual harassment were experienced in the Kenyan town. Secondly, the knowledge about the contents of the bill wanting most of the women interviews were not aware of the protection accorded by law. The number of reported cases of sexual harassment shed light on the isolation, frustration and fear that women live despite a progressive law in print

Keywords: Kenya, phenomenology, sexual harassment, women

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Authors: Yuanyuan Shi

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Being psychologically flexible is important, especially, under a globalized cultural milieu. Treating psychological flexibility as a form of multicultural competence, we conducted five studies to construct the lay concept of psychological flexibility (Study 1 and 2) and test the association between psychological flexibility and multicultural adaptation (Study 3-5). In Study 1, we first identified the components of psychological flexibility by prototype analysis among lay Chinese (N = 165) and American (N = 165). In Study 2, we examined the convergent validity of the lay concept of psychological flexibility consisted with hypothesized structures via survey among Chinese (N = 172) and American participants (N = 165). Then, we examined the relationship between psychological flexibility and multicultural orientation in American and Chinese contexts (Study 3, N = 6245), and tested the influence of experimentally-manipulated psychological flexibility on foreign cultural accommodation (Study 4 N = 409; Study 5, N = 320). The results showed, higher flexibility was accompanied by higher cognitive flexibility, emotion reappraisal, resilience, and openness to experience, and lower need for cognition closure; besides, people with high psychological flexible turned out to have stronger multicultural orientation and better multicultural adaptations. Our research highlights the importance of psychological flexibility in multicultural situations and extends the understanding of the relationship between multicultural experience and well-being.

Keywords: adaptation, psychological flexibility, multicultural competence, multicultural orientation

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Authors: Mina Latif Ghaly Sawiras

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The difference between Islamic terrorism and human-rights has become a big question in the fight against Islamic terrorism globally. This is was raised on the fact that terrorism and human rights are interrelated to the extent that, when the former starts, the latter is violated. This direct linkage was recognized in the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action as adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna on 25 June 1993 which agreed that acts of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations are aimed at the destruction of human rights. Hence, Islamic-terrorism constitutes a violation on our most basic human rights. To this end, the first part of this paper will focus on the nexus between terrorism and human rights and endeavors to draw a co-relation between these two concepts. The second part thereafter will analyse the emerging concept of cyber-terrorism and how it takes place. Further, an analysis of cyber counter-terrorism balanced as against human rights will also be undertaken. This will be done through the analysis of the concept of ‘securitization’ of human rights as well as the need to create a balance between counterterrorism efforts as against the protection of human rights at all costs. The paper will then conclude with recommendations on how to balance counter-terrorism and human rights in the modern age.

Keywords: balance, counter-terrorism, cyber-terrorism, human rights, security, violation

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Authors: Arup K. Sarma, Jayshree Hazarika

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The North-eastern part of India, which receives heavier rainfall than other parts of the subcontinent, is of great concern now-a-days with regard to climate change. High intensity rainfall for short duration and longer dry spell, occurring due to impact of climate change, affects river morphology too. In the present study, an attempt is made to delineate the North-Eastern region of India into some homogeneous clusters based on the Fuzzy Clustering concept and to compare the resulting clusters obtained by using conventional methods and non conventional methods of clustering. The concept of clustering is adapted in view of the fact that, impact of climate change can be studied in a homogeneous region without much variation, which can be helpful in studies related to water resources planning and management. 10 IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) stations, situated in various regions of the North-east, have been selected for making the clusters. The results of the Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) analysis show different clustering patterns for different conditions. From the analysis and comparison it can be concluded that non conventional method of using GCM data is somehow giving better results than the others. However, further analysis can be done by taking daily data instead of monthly means to reduce the effect of standardization.

Keywords: climate change, conventional and nonconventional methods of clustering, FCM analysis, homogeneous regions

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Authors: Farouk Shehu Abdulwahab

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The concept of farmer-farmer knowledge sharing was introduced to bridge the extension worker-farmer ratio gap in developing countries. However, the idea was poorly accepted, especially in typical agrarian communities. Therefore, the study explores the concept of a farmer-to-farmer knowledge-sharing network to enhance extension service delivery. The study collected data from 80 farmers randomly selected through a series of multiple stages. The Data was analysed using a 5-point Likert scale and descriptive statistics. The Likert scale results revealed that 62.5% of the farmers are satisfied with farmer-to-farmer knowledge-sharing networks. Moreover, descriptive statistics show that lack of capacity building and low level of education are the most significant problems affecting farmer-farmer sharing networks. The major implication of these findings is that the concept of farmer-farmer knowledge-sharing networks can work better for farmers in developing countries as it was perceived by them as a reliable alternative for information sharing. Therefore, the study recommends introducing incentives into the concept of farmer-farmer knowledge-sharing networks and enhancing the capabilities of farmers who are opinion leaders in the farmer-farmer concept of knowledge-sharing to make it more sustainable.

Keywords: agricultural productivity, extension, farmer-to-farmer, livelihood, technology transfer

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Authors: Hilly Moodrick-Even Khen

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This study analyzes the legal regulation of the use of force in international law in the context of three emerging Palestinian forms of struggle against Israeli occupation: the Knife Intifada, Gaza border disturbances, and the launching of incendiary kites. It discusses what legal paradigms or concepts should regulate the type and level of force used in each situation—a question that is complicated by various dilemmas—and appraises the Israel Defence Forces policies tailored in response. Methodologically, the study is based on analysis of scholarship on the conceptual legal issues as well as dicta of the courts. It evaluates the applicability of two legal paradigms regulating the use of force in military operations—(i) the conduct of hostilities and (ii) law enforcement—as well as the concept of self-defense in international law and the escalation of force procedure. While the “Knife Intifada” clearly falls under the law enforcement paradigm, the disturbances at the border and the launching of incendiary kites raise more difficult questions, as applying law enforcement, especially in the latter case, can have undesirable ramifications for safeguarding humanitarian interests. The use of force in the cases of the border disturbances and the incendiary kites should thus be regulated, mutatis mutandis, by the concept of self-defense and escalation of force procedures; and in the latter case, the hostilities paradigm can also be applied. The study provides a factual description and analysis of the background and nature of the forms of struggle in Gaza and the West Bank—in each case surveying the geo-political developments since operation Protective Edge, contextualizing how the organized and unorganized violent activities evolved, and analyzing them in terms of level of organization and intensity. It then presents the two paradigms of the use of force—law enforcement and conduct of hostilities—and the concept of self-defense. Lastly, it uses the factual findings as the basis for legally analyzing which paradigm or concept regulating the use of force applies for each form of struggle. The study concludes that in most cases, the concept of self-defense is preferable to the hostilities or the law enforcement paradigms, as it best safeguards humanitarian interests and ensures the least loss of civilian lives.

Keywords: Israeli-Palestinian conflict, self defense, terrorism, use of force

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Authors: Ana Breda, Catarina Cruz

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Daily, we face unpredictable events, often attributed to chance, as there is no justification for such an occurrence. Chance, understood as a source of uncertainty, is present in several aspects of human life, such as weather forecasts, dice rolling, and lottery. Surprisingly, humans and some animals can quickly adjust their behavior to handle efficiently doubly stochastic processes (random events with two layers of randomness, like unpredictable weather affecting dice rolling). This adjustment ability suggests that the human brain has built-in mechanisms for perceiving, understanding, and responding to simple probabilities. It also explains why current trends in mathematics education include probability concepts in official curriculum programs, starting from the third year of primary education onwards. In the first years of schooling, children learn to use a certain type of (specific) vocabulary, such as never, always, rarely, perhaps, likely, and unlikely, to help them to perceive and understand the probability of some events. These are keywords of crucial importance for their perception and understanding of probabilities. The development of the probabilistic concepts comes from facts and cause-effect sequences resulting from the subject's actions, as well as the notion of chance and intuitive estimates based on everyday experiences. As part of a junior summer school program, which took place at a Portuguese university, a non-formal learning experiment was carried out with 18 children in the 5th and 6th grades. This experience was designed to be implemented in a dynamic of a serious ice-breaking game, to assess their levels of probabilistic, critical, and creative thinking in understanding impossible, certain, equally probable, likely, and unlikely events, and also to gain insight into how the non-formal learning context influenced their achievements. The criteria used to evaluate probabilistic thinking included the creative ability to conceive events classified in the specified categories, the ability to properly justify the categorization, the ability to critically assess the events classified by other children, and the ability to make predictions based on a given probability. The data analysis employs a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretative-methods approach based on students' written productions, audio recordings, and researchers' field notes. This methodology allowed us to conclude that such an approach is an appropriate and helpful formative assessment tool. The promising results of this initial exploratory study require a future research study with children from these levels of education, from different regions, attending public or private schools, to validate and expand our findings.

Keywords: critical and creative thinking, non-formal mathematics learning, probabilistic thinking, serious game

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Authors: Muhammad Iqbal Rachman, Mohammad Faisol Soleh

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The Law No. 26 Year 2000 about Indonesia’s Human Right Court became a new legal enforcement frame of human right law in Indonesia. The new spirit based on some international propulsion in order to enforce human right which basic right of everyone that appearance since in fetus. This matters indicated how crucial the arrangement of human right law, considering the role of state on human right enforcement in this context which became main pillar or instrument to accommodate citizen interest. Basically, the adopting of Law No. 26 Year 2000 came from the womb of concept international crimes regulation based on Rome Statute which became the international law instrument in order to legal enforce of international crimes. But in the other side, the enactment Rome Statute concept in Indonesia has facing with political and academics interest which resulted unaccommodating every type of international crimes in Law No. 26 Year 2000. The analyzing of political and academics background became the fundamental point to find out the solutions based on the regulation of Rome Statute concept matters in Indonesia.

Keywords: academic consideration, human right, political consideration, rome statute, unregulated concept

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Authors: Trilochana Dash, Chandan Kumar Sahoo

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In today's environment of intensive industrialization, the role of business in societal modernization is critical. The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) arose due to rising societal awareness of company conduct. Corporations that practice CSR devote a portion of their profits to society’s sustainable development (SD). The concept of CSR and SD has increased the impact of industries on society. In this study, bibliometric analysis was conducted using the “R” programming language to determine the comprehensiveness of CSR and SD. From 2003 to 2022, bibliometric data was collected from two databases: Scopus and Web of Science (WOS). According to the findings, CSR and SD research has risen exponentially in the past two decades, and “Corporate Social Responsibility and Environment Management” emerged as the most influential journal in this field. The findings also show that relatively very few researchers collaborate in CSR and SD research in the last twenty years. It is widely acknowledged that most CSR and SD research is conducted in developed countries and developing countries undergoing fast industrialization. Thematic evolution and cluster analysis clearly show that the notion of CSR and SD among scholars has been quite popular over the last two decades. Finally, limitations and future directions are discussed.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, bibliometric analysis, “R” programming language, visualization, holistic picture

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Authors: Anu Soikkelii, Laura Sorri

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Finnish national research project, User- and Business-oriented Suburb Renovation Concept (KLIKK), was started in January 2012 and will end in June 2014. The perspective of energy efficiency is emphasised in the project, but also it addresses what improving the energy efficiency of suburban apartment buildings means from the standpoint of architecturally valuable buildings representing different periods. The project will also test the impacts of stricter energy efficiency requirements on renovation projects. The primary goal of the project is to develop a user-oriented, industrial, economic renovation concept for suburban apartment building renovation, extension and construction of additional storeys. The concept will make it possible to change from performance- and cost-based operation to novel service- and user-oriented, site-specifically tailored renovation methods utilizing integrated order and delivery chains.The present project is collaborating with Ministry of the Environment and participating cities in developing a new type of lighter town planning model for suburban renovations and in-fill construction. To support this, the project will simultaneously develop practices for environmental impact assessment tools in renovation and suburban supplementary and in-fill construction.

Keywords: energy efficiency, prefabrication, renovation concept, suburbs, sustainability, user-orientated

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Authors: Sushil Kumar Solanki, Rachna Khare

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Universal Design is a concept of built environment creation, where all people are facilitated to the maximum extent possible without using any type of specialized design. However, accessible design is a design process in which the needs of people with disabilities are specifically considered. Building standards on accessibility contains scoping and technical requirements for accessibility to sites, facilities, building and elements by individual with disability. India is also following its prescriptive types of various building standards for the creation of physical environment for people with disabilities. These building standards are based on western models instead of research based standards to serve Indian needs. These standards lack contextual connect when reflects in its application in the urban and rural environment. This study focuses on critical and comparative study of various international building standards and codes, with existing Indian accessibility standards to understand problems and prospects of concept of Universal Design building standards for India. The result of this study is an analysis of existing state of Indian building standard pertaining to accessibility and future need of performance based Universal Design concept.

Keywords: accessibility, building standard, built-environment, universal design

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Authors: Chien-Hung Liu, Yu-Fen Chen

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This study used triangular laser probe and three-axial direction mobile platform for surface measurement, programmed it and applied it to real-time analytic statistics of different measured data. This structure was used to design a system integration program: using triangular laser probe for scattering or reflection non-contact measurement, transferring the captured signals to the computer through RS-232, and using RS-485 to control the three-axis platform for a wide range of measurement. The data captured by the laser probe are formed into a 3D surface. This study constructed an optical measurement application program in the concept of visual programming language. First, the signals are transmitted to the computer through RS-232/RS-485, and then the signals are stored and recorded in graphic interface timely. This programming concept analyzes various messages, and makes proper presentation graphs and data processing to provide the users with friendly graphic interfaces and data processing state monitoring, and identifies whether the present data are normal in graphic concept. The major functions of the measurement system developed by this study are thickness measurement, SPC, surface smoothness analysis, and analytical calculation of trend line. A result report can be made and printed promptly. This study measured different heights and surfaces successfully, performed on-line data analysis and processing effectively, and developed a man-machine interface for users to operate.

Keywords: laser probe, non-contact measurement, triangulation measurement principle, statistical process control, labVIEW

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Authors: Serkan Tezgel

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The two qualities of the sea, as a medium of transportation and as a resource, necessitate maritime security for economic stability and good order at sea. The borderless nature of the sea makes it one of the best platforms to contribute to regional peace and international order. For this reason, the establishment of maritime security in East Mediterranean will enhance the security-peace-democracy triangle in the region. This paper proposes the application of the Smart Security Concept in the East Mediterranean. Smart Security aims to secure critical infrastructure, such as hydrocarbon platforms, against asymmetrical threats. The concept is based on Anti Asymmetrical Area Denial (A3D) which necessitates limiting freedom of action of maritime terrorists and piracy by founding safe and secure maritime areas through sea lines of communication using short range capabilities. Smart Security is a regional maritime cooperation concept for the narrow seas. Cooperation and interoperability are essential attributes of this regional security concept. Therefore, multinational excellence centers such as Multinational Maritime Security Center of Excellence-Aksaz in Turkey, which will determine necessary capabilities and plan/coordinate workshops, training and exercises, are bound to be the principal characteristic of Smart Security concept and similar regional concepts. Smart Security, a crucial enabler of energy and regional security, can provide an enduring approach for operating in the challenging environment of narrow seas and for countering asymmetrical threats.

Keywords: security, cooperation, asymmetrical, area denial

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Authors: Mostafa Jafarian Abyaneh, Khashayar Jafari, Vahab Toufigh

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The cost of experiments on different types of concrete has raised the demand for prediction of their behavior with numerical analysis. In this research, an advanced numerical model has been presented to predict the complete elastic-plastic behavior of polymer concrete (PC), high-strength concrete (HSC), high performance concrete (HPC) along with different steel fiber contents under uniaxial compression. The accuracy of the numerical response was satisfactory as compared to other conventional simple models such as Mohr-Coulomb and Drucker-Prager. In order to predict the complete elastic-plastic behavior of specimens including softening behavior, disturbed state concept (DSC) was implemented by nonlinear finite element analysis (NFEA) and hierarchical single surface (HISS) failure criterion, which is a failure surface without any singularity.

Keywords: disturbed state concept (DSC), hierarchical single surface (HISS) failure criterion, high performance concrete (HPC), high-strength concrete (HSC), nonlinear finite element analysis (NFEA), polymer concrete (PC), steel fibers, uniaxial compression test

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Authors: Ahmed M. Alavi

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India is the motherland of countless beliefs and religious traditions. Hinduism is one of the oldest traditions of India and owns the treasure of numerous organic and inorganic gods. Hinduism was unfamiliar of the manifestation of divine powers in its early accounts. The conceptualization of the divine powers is still debatable query among the experts of the area. This study examines the unseen memoirs of the Hindu god concept and answers the dubious question ‘how Hindu gods subjected to manifestation? Comparing the attitude of the Hindu and Asiatic tantric traditions; these study hypotheses the clear role of tantric Bhakti movements which originated in 3rd to 5th century BC in south India as the key of the conceptualization. The study concludes exploring the vital role of Bhakti movement in rifting the Indian Hindu community to three major fans of manifested gods; the Shaivism, Vishnavism and Saktism and spreading the new trend all over the sub-continent.

Keywords: Bhakti movement, concept of manifestation of divine object, Hindu god concept, Tantrism

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Authors: Rady Farag Aziz Ibrahim

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The gap between Islamic terrorism and human rights has become an important issue in the fight against Islamic terrorism worldwide. This situation is repeated because terrorism and human rights are interconnected in such a way that when the former begins, the latter becomes subject to violence. This unknown relationship was recognized in the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action adopted at the International Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna on 25 June 1993, confirming that terrorist acts, in all their forms and manifestations, aim to destroy the rights of individuals. humanity to destroy. Therefore, Islamic terrorism is a violation of basic human rights. For this purpose, the first part of the article will focus on the relationship between terrorism and human rights and the synergy between these two concepts. The second part then explores the emerging concept of cyber threats and how they exist. Additionally, technology analysis will be conducted against threats based on human rights. This will be achieved through analysis of the concept of 'securitization' of human rights and by striking a balance between counter-terrorism measures and the protection of human rights at all costs. This article concludes with recommendations on how to balance terrorism and human rights today.

Keywords: sustainable development, human rights, the right to development, the human rights-based approach to development

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Authors: Arūnas Gudinavičius

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The historiography of scholarly journals in Eastern Europe is fragmented, and so far, the development of scholarly journals in Eastern Europe has not been studied from a publishing point of view in the context of scientific communication. There are only a few general articles on the period before World War II; also, there is hardly any systematic and publicly available information about the Soviet period and the situation of scientific communication in Eastern Europe at the end of the XX century and the beginning of the XXI century. There is a lack of research data on scholarly journals in Lithuania. The existing researches focuses mostly on the specific needs of academic institutions. The publication of scientific journals and papers is analyzed as a part of the scientific communication circle. Formal science communication from the point of view that it is the results formed in the course of communication are examined, which are necessarily characterized by long-term access to a large circle of users. Improved model of scientific communication by supplementing the dissemination of research results with formal and informal communication channels is used, according to which the scientific communication system forms the essence of science, where the social, lasting value of science and the dissemination of scientific results to scientists and the public are the most important. The model covers the science communication process from research initiation to journal publication and citation. We are focusing on the publishing and dissemination stages of the model of scientific communication. The paper is to systematize and analyze the various types of scientific journal publishers from 1907 until 2020 as a means of formal documentary communication in the context of all scientific communication. The research analyses the case of a small European country and presents chronological and geographical characteristics of the publication of scientific periodicals, analyzes the publishers of scientific periodicals and their activities, publishing formats, and dissemination methods.

Keywords: scientific communication, scientific periodicals, scientific journals, publishing

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Authors: Simin Sasani

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This study will explore a group of English language teachers’ understanding of intercultural competence to find out if they are aware of the concept and how important it is for them. It will investigate how much they are concerned about the challenges that the learners might face in their intercultural communications and to what extent they can help the learners to overcome the barriers to increase students’ insight into cultural differences. In addition, it will explore how a group of non-native English language teachers define culture in relation to their English language teaching practices. More specifically, the research tries to take the how and why of inclusion of intercultural competence into consideration and how non-native teachers think they can improve their learners’ knowledge and skills in this domain. The study will be conducted in the UK and the participants are eight non-native English language teachers who are currently teaching general English language courses for foreigners. A pilot study have been conducted for this research which its results show three non-native English teachers are aware of the notion although they have not had any formal education about intercultural competence. Their challenges and limitation were also highlighted through interviews and observations.

Keywords: English, English language teachers, intercultural communications, intercultural competence, non-natives

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Authors: Liang-Hsuan Chen, Chia-Jung Chang

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Fuzzy random variables have been introduced as an imprecise concept of numeric values for characterizing the imprecise knowledge. The descriptive parameters can be used to describe the primary features of a set of fuzzy random observations. In fuzzy environments, the expected values are usually represented as fuzzy-valued, interval-valued or numeric-valued descriptive parameters using various metrics. Instead of the concept of area metric that is usually adopted in the relevant studies, the numeric expected value is proposed by the concept of distance metric in this study based on two characters (fuzziness and randomness) of FRVs. Comparing with the existing measures, although the results show that the proposed numeric expected value is same with those using the different metric, if only triangular membership functions are used. However, the proposed approach has the advantages of intuitiveness and computational efficiency, when the membership functions are not triangular types. An example with three datasets is provided for verifying the proposed approach.

Keywords: fuzzy random variables, distance measure, expected value, descriptive parameters

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Authors: Edward Nartey

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Although the boundaries of sustainable performance and growth in the field of service supply chains (SCs) have been broadened by scholars in recent years, research on the impact and promises of Industry 4.0 Destructive Technologies (IDTs) on sustainability performance under disruptive events is still scarce. To mitigate disruptions in the SC and improve efficiency by identifying areas for cost savings, organizations have resorted to investments in digitalization, automation, and control mechanisms in recent years. However, little is known about the sustainability implications for IDT adoption and controls in service SCs, especially during disruptive events. To investigate this paradox, survey data were sought from 223 public health managers across Ghana and analyzed via covariance-based structural equations modelling. The results showed that both formal and informal control have a positive and significant relationship with IDT adoption. In addition, formal control has a significant and positive relationship with environmental and economic sustainability but an insignificant relationship with social sustainability. Furthermore, informal control positively impacts economic performance but has an insignificant relationship with social and environmental sustainability. While the findings highlight the prevalence of the IDTs being initiated by Ghanaian public health institutions (PHIs), this study concludes that the installed control systems in these organizations are inadequate for promoting sustainable SC behaviors under destructive events. Thus, in crisis situations, PHIs need to redesign their control systems to facilitate IDT integration towards sustainability issues in SCs.

Keywords: industry 4.0 destructive technologies, formal control, informal control, sustainable supply chain performance, public health organizations

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Authors: Asta Sarkauskiene

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The pedagogy of Olympic education is based upon the main idea of P. de Coubertin, that physical education can and has to support the education of the perfect person, the one who was an aspiration in archaic Greece, when it was looking towards human as a one whole, which is composed of three interconnected functions: physical, psychical and spiritual. The following research question was formulated in the present study: What curriculum of non-formal physical education in school can positively influence physical development of 11-13 years old children? The aim of this study was to formulate and implement curriculum of non-formal physical education, based on Olympic pedagogy, and assess its effectiveness for physical development of 11-13 years old children. The research was conducted in two stages. In the first stage 51 fifth grade children (Mage = 11.3 years) participated in a quasi-experiment for two years. Children were organized into 2 groups: E and C. Both groups shared the duration (1 hour) and frequency (twice a week) but were different in their education curriculum. Experimental group (E) worked under the program developed by us. Priorities of the E group were: training of physical powers in unity with psychical and spiritual powers; integral growth of physical development, physical activity, physical health, and physical fitness; integration of children with lower health and physical fitness level; content that corresponds children needs, abilities, physical and functional powers. Control group (C) worked according to NFPE programs prepared by teachers and approved by school principal and school methodical group. Priorities of the C group were: motion actions teaching and development; physical qualities training; training of the most physically capable children. In the second stage (after four years) 72 sixth graders (Mage = 13.00) attended in the research from the same comprehensive schools. Children were organized into first and second groups. The curriculum of the first group was modified and the second - the same as group C. The focus groups conducted anthropometric (height, weight, BMI) and physiometric (VC, right and left handgrip strength) measurements. Dependent t test indicated that over two years E and C group girls and boys height, weight, right and left handgrip strength indices increased significantly, p < 0.05. E group girls and boys BMI indices did not change significantly, p > 0.05, i.e. height and weight ratio of girls, who participated in NFPE in school, became more proportional. C group girls VC indices did not differ significantly, p > 0.05. Independent t test indicated that in the first and second research stage differences of anthropometric and physiometric measurements of the groups are not significant, p > 0.05. Formulated and implemented curriculum of non-formal education in school, based on olympic pedagogy, had the biggest positive influence on decreasing 11-13 years old children level of BMI and increasing level of VC.

Keywords: non – formal physical education, olympic pedagogy, physical development, health sciences

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Authors: Nadiya Zahra Karimi, Amir Ghiami Rad

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The physical health of students from an early age and the proper formation of the musculoskeletal system of their body is part of the overall health of these people. Most chronic musculoskeletal problems and pains can be controlled and reduced with education at an early age. Therefore, with the correct and timely diagnosis of these abnormalities, we can play an important role in their proper treatment and control, and in a way, raise the level of quality of life and positive self-concept in students. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between erectile dysfunctions of the upper limbs (head and neck, shoulder, thoracic and lumbar) and the quality of life and self-concept of male students aged 7 to 10 years. The statical population of the study consists of 227 students of shahadat boys’ primary school in khajeh city. Due to the corona pandemic conditions, the research samples were identified after screening and available according to the entrance criteria of the study. To validate the quality of life, the valid WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire will be used for self-concept variables, Dolatabadi, Fatemeh (2007) questionnaire, and for physical screening, a checkerboard, plumb line, and flexible ruler will be used. There is a negative and significant relationship between the dimensions of upper limb anomalies and quality of life factors, and also there is a negative and significant relationship between the dimensions of upper limb anomalies and self-concept factors. The results showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between head and neck abnormalities with quality of life and self-concept factors, with a significance level of less than 0.05 in male students aged 7 to 10 years.

Keywords: upper limb erectile dysfunction, quality of life, self-concept, erectile abnormalities

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Authors: J. R. Wang, H. T. Lin, Y. Chiang, H. C. Chen, C. Shih

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Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is located on the northern coast of Taiwan. Its nuclear steam supply system is a type of BWR/6 designed and built by General Electric on a twin unit concept. First, the methodology of Kuosheng NPP SPU (Stretch Power Uprate) safety analysis TRACE/SNAP model was developed in this research. Then, in order to estimate the safety of Kuosheng NPP under the more severe condition, the SBO (Station Blackout) + LOCA (Loss-of-Coolant Accident) transient analysis of Kuosheng NPP SPU TRACE/SNAP model was performed. Besides, the animation model of Kuosheng NPP was presented using the animation function of SNAP with TRACE/SNAP analysis results.

Keywords: TRACE, safety analysis, BWR/6, severe accident

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Authors: M. Novak, J. Dufourmount, D. Wildi, A. Sutherland, L. Sosa, J. Zimmer, E. Szabo

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The circular economy has grounded itself amongst scholars and practitioners operating across governments and enterprises. The aim of this paper is to augment the circular economy concept by identifying common core and enabling circular business models. To this aim, we have analysed over 150 papers regarding circular activities and identified 8 clusters of business models and enablers. We have mapped and harmonised the most prominent frameworks conceptualising the circular economy. Our findings indicate that circular economy core business models include regenerative in addition to reduce, reuse and recycle activities. We further find enabling activities in design, digital technologies, knowledge development and sharing, multistakeholder collaborations, and extended corporate responsibility initiatives in various forms. We critically contrast the application of these business models across the European and African contexts. Overall, we find that seemingly varied circular economy definitions distill the same conceptual business models. We hope to contribute towards the coherence of the circular economy concept, and the continuous development of practical guidance to select and implement circular strategies.

Keywords: Circular economy, content analysis, business models, definitions, enablers, frameworks

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Authors: Ismael Lins Patriota

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Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer who started his musical career under the influence of twelve-tone music and dodecaphonism. From 1968 to 1976, he isolated himself to search for a new path as a composer. In this period, he converted to Russian orthodoxy and changed his composing to tintinnabuli, a musical technique combining triadic chords with simple melodies. The recent analysis of Pärt’s output demonstrates that mathematics remained an influence after the invention of tintinnabuli. The present discussion deals with the relationship between math and religion in his work Out of the Depths (1980), proposing a musical-text approach and examining the minimum elements of the piece, such as motives and sub-phrases, which is the main focus of this work, considering text patterns and the role of the organ, which also uses the tintinnabuli system. The analysis of these elements demonstrates that Pärt uses math as a formal element, and the composer combines musical parameters to execute a personal and innovative interpretation of the text.

Keywords: Arvo Pärt, Out of the Depths, math, religion, analysis

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Authors: Prakash Singh, Thembinkosi Twalo

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The sustainability of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), in South Africa, is being threatened by the reported cases of poor administration, weak management of resources, inappropriate job performance, and inappropriate job behaviour of some of the workers. Since the structural-functionalists assume that formal education is a solution to societal challenges, it therefore means that the BCMM should not be experiencing this threat since many of its workers have various levels of formal education. Consequently, this study using the mixed method research approach, set out to investigate the paradoxical co-existence of inappropriate job behaviour and performance with formal education at the BCMM. Considering the impact of human factors in the labour process, this study draws attention to the divergent objectives of skill and skill bearer, with the application of knowledge subject to the knowledge bearer’s motives, will, attitudes, ethics and values. Consequently, inappropriate job behaviour and performance practices could be due to numerous factors such as lack of the necessary capabilities or refusal to apply what has been learnt due to racial or other prejudices. The role of the human factor in the labour process is a serious omission in human capital theory, which regards schooling as the only factor contributing to the ability to do a job. For this reason this study’s theoretical framework is an amalgamation of the four theories - human capital, social capital, cultural capital, and reputation capital – in an effort to obtain a broader view of the factors that shape job behaviour and performance. Since it has been established that human nature plays a crucial role in how workers undertake their responsibilities, it is important that this be taken into consideration in the BCMM’s monitoring and evaluation of the workers’ job performance practices. Hence, this exploratory study brings to the fore, the effects of poor job performance practices on the job satisfaction of workers.

Keywords: human capital, poor job performance practices, service delivery, workers’ job satisfaction

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Authors: Divine Kwaku Ahadzie

Abstract:

Project management (PM) as a concept has evolved from the early 20th Century into a recognized academic and professional discipline, and indications are that it has come to stay in the 21st Century as a world-wide paradigm shift for managing successful construction projects. However, notwithstanding the strong inroads that PM has made in legitimizing its academic and professional status in construction management practice, the underlining philosophies are still based on cases and conventional practices. An important theoretical issue yet to be addressed is the lack of a universal theory that offers philosophical legitimacy for the PM concept as a uniquely specialized management concept. Here, it is hypothesized that the law of entropy, the theory of uncertainties and the theory of risk management offer plausible explanations for addressing the lacuna of what constitute PM theory. The theoretical bases of these plausible underlying theories are argued and attempts made to establish the functional relationships that exist between these theories and the PM concept. The paper then draws on data related to the success and/or failure of a number of construction projects to validate the theory.

Keywords: concepts, construction, project management, universal theory

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Authors: Dmitry K. Shaytan, Georgy D. Laptev

Abstract:

In our research we aimed to test a managerial approach for the fuzzy front end (FFE) of innovation by creating controlled experiment/ business case in a breakthrough innovation development. The experiment was in the sport industry and covered all aspects of the customer discovery stage from ideation to prototyping followed by patent application. In the paper we describe and analyze mile stones, tasks, management challenges, decisions made to create the break through innovation, evaluate overall managerial efficiency that was at the considered FFE stage. We set managerial outcome of the FFE stage as a valid product concept in hand. In our paper we introduce hypothetical construct “Q-factor” that helps us in the experiment to distinguish quality of FFE outcomes. The experiment simulated for entrepreneur the FFE of innovation and put on his shoulders responsibility for the outcome of valid product concept. While developing managerial approach to reach the outcome there was a decision to look on product concept from the cognitive psychology and cognitive science point of view. This view helped us to develop the profile of a person whose projection (mental representation) of a new product could optimize for a manager or entrepreneur FFE activities. In the experiment this profile was tested to develop breakthrough innovation for swimmers. Following the managerial approach the product concept was created to help swimmers to feel/sense water. The working prototype was developed to estimate the product concept validity and value added effect for customers. Based on feedback from coachers and swimmers there were strong positive effect that gave high value for customers, and for the experiment – the valid product concept being developed by proposed managerial approach for the FFE. In conclusions there is a suggestion of managerial approach that was derived from experiment.

Keywords: concept development, concept testing, customer discovery, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial management, idea generation, idea screening, startup management

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Authors: Cinzia Carrodano, Dimitri Konstantas

Abstract:

Risk is part of our lives. In today’s society risk is connected to our safety and safety has become a major priority in our life. Each person lives his/her life based on the evaluation of the risk he/she is ready to accept and sustain, and the level of safety he/she wishes to reach, based on highly personal criteria. The assessment of risk a person takes in a complex environment and the impact of actions of other people’actions and events on our perception of risk are alements to be considered. The concept of Holistic Risk Assessment (HRA) aims in developing a methodology and a model that will allow us to take into account elements outside the direct influence of the individual, and provide a personalized risk assessment. The concept is based on the fact that in the near future, we will be able to gather and process extremely large amounts of data about an individual and his/her environment in real time. The interaction and correlation of these data is the key element of the holistic risk assessment. In this paper, we present the HRA concept and describe the most important elements and considerations.

Keywords: continuous data, dynamic risk, holistic risk assessment, risk concept

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Authors: Alhassan Dahiru

Abstract:

Value management is widely accepted technique of eliminating unnecessary cost at different stages of project development that maximizes the functional value of a project by managing its evolution and development from concept to completion. Many construction industry practitioners are not aware of Value Management practice, and its use is less widespread in Nigeria. The aim of this research is to identify the level of awareness on value management practice amongst construction practitioners with a view to contribute to the improvement of the implementation of value management practice in the Nigerian construction industry. In this study, construction practitioners have been chosen as respondents from the 6 geopolitical zones of the federation including FCT Abuja. Through the survey, a total number of 360 semi-structured questionnaires were administered and 284 were returned and remained good for the analysis. The results indicate that most of the respondents were aware of the value management concept and issues surrounding construction industry in Nigeria, while about 32% of the respondents were not aware of its potential benefits. Therefore, organisations should review their techniques and processes from time to time for improvement on effective service delivery. Additionally, a change management strategy should also be part of every organization to ease the introduction of new techniques such as value management. There is also the need for more value management training workshops and seminars in order to enlighten the participants of the construction industry on the principles, concept, and techniques involved in the value management process.

Keywords: sustainability, value management, construction practitioners, Nigeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 225