Search results for: global health

Authors: Tshilidzi C. Manyanya, Nthaduleni S. Nethengwe, Edmore Kori

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The UNFCCC, FAO, GCF, IPCC and other global structures advocate for agro-ecology do address food security and sovereignty. However, most of the expected outcomes concerning agro-ecological were not empirically tested for universal application. Agro-ecology is theorised to increase crop health over ago-ecological farms and decrease over conventional farms. Increased crop health means increased carbon sequestration and thus less CO2 in the atmosphere. This is in line with the view that global warming is anthropogenically enhanced through GHG emissions. Agro-ecology mainly affects crop health, soil carbon content and yield on the cultivated land. Economic sustainability is directly related to yield capacity, which is theorized to increase by 3-10% in a space of 3 - 10 years as a result of agro-ecological implementation. This study aimed to empirically assess the practicality and validity of these assumptions. The study utilized mainly GIS and RS techniques to assess the effectiveness of agro-ecology in crop health improvement from satellite images. The assessment involved a longitudinal study (2013 – 2015) assessing the changes that occur after a farm retrofits from conventional agriculture to agro-ecology. The assumptions guided the objectives of the study. For each objective, an agro-ecological farm was compared with a conventional farm in the same climatic conditional occupying the same general location. Crop health was assessed using satellite images analysed through ArcGIS and Erdas. This entailed the production of NDVI and Re-classified outputs of the farm area. The NDVI ranges of the entire period of study were thus compared in a stacked histogram for each farm to assess for trends. Yield capacity was calculated based on the production records acquired from the farmers and plotted in a stacked bar graph as percentages of a total for each farm. The results of the study showed decreasing crop health trends over 80% of the conventional farms and an increase over 80% of the organic farms. Yield capacity showed similar patterns to those of crop health. The study thus showed that agro-ecology is an effective strategy for crop-health improvement and yield increase.

Keywords: agro-ecosystem, conventional farm, dialectical, sustainability

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Authors: Sufian Abdo Jilo

Abstract:

Veterinary services conserve and maintain animal life and improve the living conditions of human beings through improving rural livelihoods and feeding; veterinary services also address global health crises by preventing risks such as emerging pandemic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, contamination of foods, and environmental health problems at their origin. The purpose of this policy brief is to analyze the way veterinary organizations provide services and to propose an optimal organization for veterinary services in developing countries. The current situation of veterinary institutions in developing countries can't counter the challenge related to animal health and productivity. As a result, reorganization, amalgamation, merging, and consolidation of veterinary health services (veterinary clinics, slaughterhouses, quarantine, and veterinary markets) together with the construction of closer veterinary service facilities and the construction of common areas will help institutions to strengthen cooperation among different veterinarians, which is the first steps for the implementation of a One Health platform and multidisciplinary activities. The improvement and reorganization of the veterinary services institutions will also help the veterinary clinics easily obtain various medical chemicals such as blood and rumen from abattoirs, enhance the surveillance of livestock diseases, enable the community to buy healthy animals from the animal market, and help to reduce economic waste. The services can be performed by a small number of veterinarians through a model of specific areas common to all veterinary services. This model improves the skills and knowledge of veterinarians in all aspects of veterinary medicine and saves students and researchers time. Communities or customers can save time by getting all veterinary services at once. It saves the budget on purchasing medical equipment and medicines at each location and avoids expiration dates on medicines. This model is the latest solution to the global health crisis and should be implemented in the near future to combat the emergence and reemergence of new pathogenic microorganisms.

Keywords: abattoir, developing countries, reform, service, veterinary

Procedia PDF Downloads 51

Authors: Monica Plechero

Abstract:

Many firms belonging to Italian industrial districts faced a crisis starting from 2000 and upsurging during 2008-2014. To remain competitive in the global market, these firms and their local systems need to renovate their traditional competitive advantages, strengthen their link with global flows of knowledge. This may be particularly relevant in sectors such as the mechatronics, that combine traditional knowledge domain with new knowledge domains (e.g. mechanics, electronics, and informatics). This sector is nowadays one of the key sectors within the so-called ‘smart specialization strategy’ that can lead part of the Italian traditional industry towards new economic developmental opportunities. This paper, by investigating the mechatronics district of the Veneto region, wants to shed new light on how firms of a local system can gain from the globalization of innovation and innovation networks. Methodologically, the paper relies on primary data collected through a survey targeting firms of the local system, as well as on a number of qualitative case studies. The relevant role of medium size companies in the district emerges as evident, as they have wider opportunities to be involved in different processes of globalization of innovation. Indeed, with respect to small companies, the size of medium firms allows them to exploit strategically international markets and globally distributed knowledge. Supporting medium firms’ global innovation strategies, and incentivizing their role as district gatekeepers, may strengthen the competitive capability of the local system and provide new opportunities to positively face global competition.

Keywords: global innovation network, industrial district, internationalization, innovation, mechatronics, Veneto region

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Authors: Sreejith Jayachandran, Mojtaba Ghods, Morteza Mohammadzaheri

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The modern busy world is running behind new embedded technologies based on computers and software; meanwhile, some people forget to do their health condition and regular medical check-ups. Some of them postpone medical check-ups due to a lack of time and convenience, while others skip these regular evaluations and medical examinations due to huge medical bills and hospital expenses. Engineers and medical experts have come together to give birth to a new device in the telemonitoring system capable of monitoring, checking, and evaluating the health status of the human body remotely through the internet for the needs of all kinds of people. The remote health monitoring device is a microcontroller-based embedded unit. Various types of sensors in this device are connected to the human body, and with the help of an Arduino UNO board, the required analogue data is collected from the sensors. The microcontroller on the Arduino board processes the analogue data collected in this way into digital data and transfers that information to the cloud, and stores it there, and the processed digital data is instantly displayed through the LCD attached to the machine. By accessing the cloud storage with a username and password, the concerned person’s health care teams/doctors and other health staff can collect this data for the assessment and follow-up of that patient. Besides that, the family members/guardians can use and evaluate this data for awareness of the patient's current health status. Moreover, the system is connected to a Global Positioning System (GPS) module. In emergencies, the concerned team can position the patient or the person with this device. The setup continuously evaluates and transfers the data to the cloud, and also the user can prefix a normal value range for the evaluation. For example, the blood pressure normal value is universally prefixed between 80/120 mmHg. Similarly, the RHMS is also allowed to fix the range of values referred to as normal coefficients. This IoT-based miniature system (11×10×10) cm³ with a low weight of 500 gr only consumes 10 mW. This smart monitoring system is manufactured with 100 GBP, which can be used not only for health systems, it can be used for numerous other uses including aerospace and transportation sections.

Keywords: embedded technology, telemonitoring system, microcontroller, Arduino UNO, cloud storage, global positioning system, remote health monitoring system, alert system

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Authors: Maria Luisa T. Uayan

Abstract:

The global need for qualified nurses to take care of the clients with various health needs is an incessant occurrence that persistently cause migration of nurses from developing to developed countries. The pull-push theory of migration greatly affects health care delivery systems of sending countries which is the same way affects nursing management. The exodus of nurses prepared to provide the much needed leadership at the bedside leaves the country in clusters giving health care institutions limited time to develop the next front-line managers that will assure quality patient care. This paper focuses on the extent and consequences of the massive recurring migration phenomena that is felt ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINE health care arena. It deals with the causes, problems, and effects of the cyclical loss of competent Filipina nurses in terms of emigration. Also, it will highlights the difficulties confronted by nursing service departments and health care teams when more experienced nurses set out for the “greener pastures” and patients are placed under the care of novice nurses. Fundamentally, it will emphasize the impact of suffering the loss of competent nurse managers in the Philippine health care institutions and provide contemporary recommendations on how to responsd accordingly to this very timely issue.

Keywords: Migration, Nurse Manager, Philippines

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: Khan R. Rahaman, Quazi K. Hassan

Abstract:

Global changes in climate, environment, economies, populations, governments, institutions, and cultures converge in localities. Changes at a local scale, in turn, contribute to global changes as well as being affected by them. Our hypothesis is built on a consideration that temperature does vary at local level (i.e., termed as local warming) in comparison to the predicted models at the regional and/or global scale. To date, the bulk of the research relating local places to global climate change has been top-down, from the global toward the local, concentrating on methods of impact analysis that use as a starting point climate change scenarios derived from global models, even though these have little regional or local specificity. Thus, our focus is to understand such trends over the southern Alberta, which will enable decision makers, scientists, researcher community, and local people to adapt their policies based on local level temperature variations and to act accordingly. Specific objectives in this study are: (i) to understand the local warming (temperature in particular) trend in context of temperature normal during the period 1961-2010 at point locations using meteorological data; (ii) to validate the data by using specific yearly data, and (iii) to delineate the spatial extent of the local warming trends and understanding influential factors to adopt situation by local governments. Existing data has brought the evidence of such changes and future research emphasis will be given to validate this hypothesis based on remotely sensed data (i.e. MODIS product by NASA).

Keywords: local warming, climate change, urban area, Alberta, Canada

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Authors: Zimu Li, Zheng Wan

Abstract:

The Suez Canal plays an important role in global shipping networks and is one of the most frequently used waterways in the world. The 2021 canal obstruction by ship Ever Given in March 2021, however, completed blocked the Suez Canal for a week and caused significant disruption to world trade. Therefore, it is very important to quantitatively analyze the impact of the accident on the robustness of the global shipping network. However, the current research on maritime transportation networks is usually limited to local or small-scale networks in a certain region. Based on the complex network theory, this study establishes a global shipping complex network covering 2713 nodes and 137830 edges by using the real trajectory data of the global marine transport ship automatic identification system in 2018. At the same time, two attack modes, deliberate (Suez Canal Blocking) and random, are defined to calculate the changes in network node degree, eccentricity, clustering coefficient, network density, network isolated nodes, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality under the two attack modes, and quantitatively analyze the actual impact of Suez Canal Blocking on the robustness of global shipping network. The results of the network robustness analysis show that Suez Canal blocking was more destructive to the shipping network than random attacks of the same scale. The network connectivity and accessibility decreased significantly, and the decline decreased with the distance between the port and the canal, showing the phenomenon of distance attenuation. This study further analyzes the impact of the blocking of the Suez Canal on Chinese ports and finds that the blocking of the Suez Canal significantly interferes withChina's shipping network and seriously affects China's normal trade activities. Finally, the impact of the global supply chain is analyzed, and it is found that blocking the canal will seriously damage the normal operation of the global supply chain.

Keywords: global shipping networks, ship AIS trajectory data, main channel, complex network, eigenvalue change

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Authors: Elnaz Sabzehparvar, Pouya Rabiei, Houman Rezaei

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Few studies have been conducted about the effects of compound exercises emphasizing local stability and global stabilization subsystems on the performance of athletes. The present research aimed to study the effect of 6 weeks of compound exercises emphasizing local and global stability on the dynamic balance of elite male Taekwondo athletes. Twenty-seven elite male Taekwondo athletes (with a mean age, mass, and height of 24.4 ± 4.9 years, 75.7 ± 15.1kg, and 181.4 ± 7.8 cm, respectively) were assigned to two groups of control (n=12) and exercise (n=15). 6 weeks of compound exercises in 2 local and global phases. The first phase included activation exercises which were done separately and locally for 3 weeks. Then, integrative exercises specific to the global stabilization subsystems (longitudinal-depth, posterior oblique and anterior, and lateral) was carried out for next 3 weeks. The dynamic balance of subjects was measured in the pre-test and post-test using the Y Balance Test (YBT). After 6 weeks of compound exercises, scores of the YBT in the exercise group showed a significant improvement in all three anterior (p=0.035), posterolateral (p=0.017) and medial (p=0.001) directions in the post-test compared to the control group (p ≤ 0.05 for all comparisons). The findings of the present study suggested that compound exercises focusing on muscle as separate units and then as interdependent chains (muscular subsystems) can significantly increase YBT on elite male Taekwondo athletes in all three directions.

Keywords: Taekwondo, compound exercises, local and global stability, muscular subsystems

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Authors: Tanu Malik, Eusebe Gnonlonfoun, Eudes L. Anihouvi

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The rise of nutrition-related diseases, increase of health care cost, and the social perception that food could directly affect health have naturally created an environment conducive to the development of foods and beverages with an asserted health benefit. Consumer habits have turned considerably healthier in recent years and led to the demand for fortified and enhanced foods that could adequately provide health benefits beyond necessary nutrients for humans when they are consumed as part of the diet and regularly. These trends have developed a global market for functional foods, that grows annually and undoubtedly requires to be diversified. Product development appears thus as a key research priority for both the food industry and science sectors. The health benefits of these functional foods are summarized in two possible ways: either indirectly as a desired result of biogenic effect or through the direct interaction of ingested live microorganisms with the host (probiotic effect). This paper reviews functional foods and their beneficial health effects with a key focus on probiotics for the possible expansion of their use by the food industry in order to develop non-dairy based probiotics foods. Likewise, it reveals the need for more researches oriented towards an accurate understanding of the possible interaction between probiotic strains and the matrix and, on the other hand, the interaction between probiotic strains and some enzymes used during food manufacturing.

Keywords: functional foods, food industry, health benefits, probiotics

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Authors: Olga Bernikova, Oleg Redkin

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Globalization is a process of worldwide economic, political and cultural integration. Obviously, this phenomenon has both positive and negative issues. This article analyzes the impact of the modern process of globalization on the national traditions of language teaching and research. In this context, the problem of the ratio of local to global can be viewed from several sides. Firstly, since English is the language of over 80 percent of scientific and technical research worldwide, what should be the language of science in certain region? Secondly, language 'globality' is not always associated with English, because intercultural communications may have their regional peculiarities. For example, in the Arab world, Modern Standard Arabic can also be regarded as 'global' phenomenon, since the mother-tongue languages of the population are local Arabic dialects. In addition, the correlation 'local' versus 'global' is manifested not only in the linguistic sphere but also in the methodology used in language acquisition and research. Thus, the major principles of the Arabic philological tradition, which goes back to the 7th century, are still spread in the modern Arab world. At the same time, the terminology and methods of language research that are peculiar to this tradition are quite far from the issues of general linguistics that underlies the description of all the languages of the world. The present research relies on a comparative analysis of sources in Arabic linguistics, including original works in Arabic dating back to the 12th-13th centuries. As a case study, interaction of local and global is also considered on the example of the Arabic teaching and research in Russia. Speaking about the correlation between local and global it is possible to forecast development of two parallel tendencies: the spread of the phenomena of globalization on one hand, and local implementation of a language policy aimed at preserving native languages, including Arabic, on the other.

Keywords: Arabic, global, language, local, tradition

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Khan R. Rahaman, Quazi K. Hassan

Abstract:

Global changes in climate, environment, economies, populations, governments, institutions, and cultures converge in localities. Changes at a local scale, in turn, contribute to global changes as well as being affected by them. Our hypothesis is built on a consideration that temperature does vary at local level (i.e., termed as local warming) in comparison to the predicted models at the regional and/or global scale. To date, the bulk of the research relating local places to global climate change has been top-down, from the global toward the local, concentrating on methods of impact analysis that use as a starting point climate change scenarios derived from global models, even though these have little regional or local specificity. Thus, our focus is to understand such trends over the southern Alberta, which will enable decision makers, scientists, researcher community, and local people to adapt their policies based on local level temperature variations and to act accordingly. Specific objectives in this study are: (i) to understand the local warming (temperature in particular) trend in context of temperature normal during the period 1961-2010 at point locations using meteorological data; (ii) to validate the data by using specific yearly data, and (iii) to delineate the spatial extent of the local warming trends and understanding influential factors to adopt situation by local governments. Existing data has brought the evidence of such changes and future research emphasis will be given to validate this hypothesis based on remotely sensed data (i.e. MODIS product by NASA).

Keywords: local warming, climate change, urban area, Alberta, Canada

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Henry Venter, Murali Thyloth, Alceu Casseb

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Historically, mental and substance use disorders were not a global health priority. Since the 1993 World Development Report, the importance of the contribution of mental health and substance abuse on the relative global burden associated with disease morbidity has been recognized with 300 million people worldwide suffering from depression alone. This led to an international effort to improve the mental health of populations around the world. Despite these efforts some countries remain at the top of the list of countries with the highest rate of mental illness. Important research questions were asked: Would there be commonalities regarding mental health between these countries; would there be common factors leading to the high prevalence of mental illness; and how prepared are these countries with mental health delivery? Findings from this research can aid organizations and institutions preparing mental health service providers to focus training and preparation to address specific needs revealed by the study. Methods: Researchers decided to compare three distinctly different countries at the top of the list of countries with the highest rate of mental illness, the USA, India and Brazil, situated on three different continents with different economies and lifestyles. Data were collected using archival research methodology, reviewing records and findings of international and national health and mental health studies to subtract and compare data and findings. Results: The findings indicated that India is the most depressed country in the world, followed by the USA (and China) with Brazil in Latin America with the greatest number of depressed individuals. By 2020 roughly 20% of India, acountry of over one billion citizens, will suffer from some form of mental illnees, yet there are less than 4,000 experts available. In the USA 164.8 million people were substance abusers and an estimate of 47.6 million adults, 18 or older, had any mental illness in 2018. That means that about one in five adults in the USA experiences some form of mental illness each year, but only 41% of those affected received mental health care or services in the past year. Brazil has the greatest number of depressed individuals, in Latin America. Adults living in Sao Paulo megacity has prevalence of mental disorders at greater levels than similar surveys conducted in other areas of the world with more than one million adults with serious impairment levels. Discussion: The results show that, despite the vast socioeconomic differences between the three countries, there are correlations regarding mental health prevalence and difficulty to provide adequate services including a lack of awareness of how serious mental illness is, stigma for seeking mental illness, with comorbidity a common phenomenon, and a lack of partnership between different levels of service providers, which weakens mental health service delivery. The findings also indicate that mental health training institutions have a monumental task to prepare personnel to address the future mental health needs in each of the countries compared, which will constitute the next phase of the research.

Keywords: mental health epidemiology, mental health disorder, mental health prevalence, mental health treatment

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Authors: Fabrizio Codella, Chris Parker, Samer Saab

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The Kigali Amendment is driving the adoption of low Global Warming Potential refrigerants in commercial refrigeration systems in over a hundred countries. Several refrigeration systems for the small and large retail stores at mild and hot ambient temperature climates have been compared for hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), hydrofluoroolefins (HFO), transcritical CO₂ and propane, in typical and advanced system architectures. The results of system performance, emissions and lifetime cost have been compared. The greatest benefits were found to be obtained by low global warming potential HFO advanced systems.

Keywords: commercial refrigeration, CO₂, emissions, HFO, lifetime cost, performance

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Authors: Abdelhafid Zenati, Mohamed Tadjine

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The mathematical formulation of biomedical problems is an important phase to understand and predict the dynamic of the controlled population. In this paper we perform a stability analysis of a coupled model for healthy and cancerous cells dynamics in Acute Myeloid Leukemia, this represents our first aim. Second, we illustrate the effect of the interconnection between healthy and cancer cells. The PDE-based model is transformed to a nonlinear distributed state space model (delay system). For an equilibrium point of interest, necessary and sufficient conditions of global asymptotic stability are given. Thus, we came up to give necessary and sufficient conditions of global asymptotic stability of the origin and the healthy situation and control of the dynamics of normal hematopoietic stem cells and cancerous during myelode Acute leukemia. Simulation studies are given to illustrate the developed results.

Keywords: distributed delay, global stability, modelling, nonlinear models, PDE, state space

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Ernest Tambo, Ghislaine Madjou, Jeanne Y. Ngogang, Shenglan Tang, Zhou XiaoNong

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Implementing national to community-based 'One Health' surveillance approach for human, animal and environmental consequences mitigation offers great opportunities and value-added in sustainable development and wellbeing. 'One Health' surveillance approach global partnerships, policy commitment and financial investment are much needed in addressing the evolving threats and epidemics crises mitigation in African countries. The paper provides insights onto how China-Africa health development cooperation in promoting “One Health” surveillance approach in response advocacy and mitigation. China-Africa health development initiatives provide new prospects in guiding and moving forward appropriate and evidence-based advocacy and mitigation management approaches and strategies in attaining Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Early and continuous quality and timely surveillance data collection and coordinated information sharing practices in malaria and other diseases are demonstrated in Comoros, Zanzibar, Ghana and Cameroon. Improvements of variety of access to contextual sources and network of data sharing platforms are needed in guiding evidence-based and tailored detection and response to unusual hazardous events. Moreover, understanding threats and diseases trends, frontline or point of care response delivery is crucial to promote integrated and sustainable targeted local, national “One Health” surveillance and response approach needs implementation. Importantly, operational guidelines are vital in increasing coherent financing and national workforce capacity development mechanisms. Strengthening participatory partnerships, collaboration and monitoring strategies in achieving global health agenda effectiveness in Africa. At the same enhancing surveillance data information streams reporting and dissemination usefulness in informing policies decisions, health systems programming and financial mobilization and prioritized allocation pre, during and post threats and epidemics crises programs strengths and weaknesses. Thus, capitalizing on “One Health” surveillance and response approach advocacy and mitigation implementation is timely in consolidating Africa Union 2063 agenda and Africa renaissance capabilities and expectations.

Keywords: Africa, one health approach, surveillance, response

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Authors: Rose Mutuota

Abstract:

Western knowledge have influenced the Kenyan education system through colonisation and policies borrowed from the global North. Researchers argue that studies of education and systems based on Northernframeworks ignore the lived experiences of the global South. The history of colonization is one such example. In light of this, there is a need for schools to consider the lived experience of the Kenyan child and integrate Indigenous knowledge in the education system. The study reported here explored the possibility of creating a blended/hybrid curriculum that values Indigenous knowledge and practices but also selectively use side as from the global North. Acasestudyformat was employed. Teachers and principals in four schools were interviewed. The findings indicated that teachers and students brought indigenous knowledge to the classroom but were limited in their use by existing educational policies.AnotherfindingwasthatpoliciesborrowedfromtheglobalNorthdid not suit the context in the Southincountries with a history of colonization. There was the need for policymakers to ensure the policies borrowed from the North suit the Kenyan context. The recommendations included the deliberate and mandated use of indigenous knowledge in classrooms including indigenous languages for instruction, the use of locally available assets to support students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms, and the use of a hybrid curriculum that privileges indigenous knowledge over Westernknowledgesintheschoolcurriculum.

Keywords: global North, global South, inclusive educate indigenous knowledges

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Authors: Afolabi Joseph Fasoranti

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Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in Nigeria, being one of the ten leading causes of hospital admissions and a leading cause of death in adults, especially among the economically productive age group. This paper critically examined the importance of health education towards the eradication and prevention of tuberculosis in Nigeria. It was reviewed and discussed under the following subheadings; Global burden of tuberculosis in Nigeria, concept, definition and etiology of tuberculosis, Signs and symptoms of tuberculosis, diagnosis of tuberculosis, causative agent, modes of infection and incubation period, risk factors of pulmonary tuberculosis Dots and stop TB programmes in Nigeria Treatment and prevention of tuberculosis TB treatment strategies, Dealing with treatment problems in Nigeria Stigmatization against Tuberculosis Patients Health education as a tool for achieving free tuberculosis country. Emphasis for Tb control has been placed on the development of improved vaccines, diagnostic and treatment courses but less on health education and awareness. Although the need for these tools is indisputable, the obstacle facing the spread of TB go beyond technological. The findings of this study may stimulate health system policy makers, Government and non- governmental organizations, donor agencies and other stakeholders in planning and designing health education intervention programs on the control and eradication of tuberculosis. It therefore recommended that Government should implement health education as part of the DOTs, this will thus empower the tuberculosis patients on ways to live healthy, lifestyle, in doing this, they will recover fast and prevent them from spreading the disease.

Keywords: tuberculosis, health education, panacea, Nigeria, prevention

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Authors: Sabahat Zahra

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The purpose of this research is to present the changing global environment and its potential impacts on sustainable food and energy production at global level, particularly in Pakistan. The food and energy related-economic sector has been subjected to negative consequences due to recent extreme changes in weather conditions, particularly in developing countries. Besides continuous modifications in weather, population is also increasing by time, therefore it is necessary to take special steps and start effective initiatives to cope with the challenges of food and energy security to fight hunger and for economic stability of country. Severe increase in temperature and heat waves has also negative impacts on food production as well as energy sustainability. Energy (in terms of electricity) consumption has grown up than the production potential of the country as a consequence of increasing warm weather. Ultimately prices gone up when there is more consumption than production. Therefore, all these aspects of climate change are interrelated with socio-economic issues. There is a need to develop long-term policies on regional and national levels for maintainable economic growth. This research presents a framework-plan and recommendations for implementation needed to mitigate the potential threats due to global climate change sustainable food and energy production under climate change in the country.

Keywords: climate changes, energy security, food security, global climate change

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Authors: M. Akhlaque Ahmed, Maliha Afshan, Adeel Tahir

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Global and diffuse solar radiation studies have been carried out for the Capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad ( latitude 330 43’N and Longitude 370 71’E) to assess the solar potential of the area. The global and diffuse solar radiation were carried out using sunshine hour data for the above-mentioned area. Monthly total solar radiation is calculated through regression constants a and b through declination angle of the sun and sunshine hours and KT that is cloudiness index are used to calculate the diffuse solar radiation. Result obtained shows variation in the direct and diffuse component of solar radiation in summer and winter months for Islamabad. Diffuse solar radiation was found maximum in July, i.e., 32% whereas direct or beam radiation was found to be high in April to June, i.e., 73%. During July, August, and December, the sky was found cloudy. From the result, it appears that with the exception of monsoon month July and August the solar energy can be utilized very efficiently throughout the year in Islamabad.

Keywords: global radiation, Islamabad, diffuse radiation, sky condition, sunshine hour

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Authors: Eko Nursanty, Joesron Alie Syahbana, Atik Suprapti

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Tourist gaze is a set of experiences that experienced by a tourist in attempt to familiarize himself with the certain local tourism site’s condition. It is started from looking for information prior arriving at the location, then during the visit and gaining unique experience with the local inhabitant, and then experiencing the ingenuity of the location, finally to bring impression that keeps on attaching despite leaving from it. This research attempted to grab the message of tourist gaze in the process of structuring which is conducted in the global tourism in the cities in Indonesia, particularly Solo as the study case of the research. The method employed is the field observation of qualitative research. The expected result is to relate the tourist gaze theory with the development of ongoing global tourism.

Keywords: tourist gaze, tourism, city branding, Solo

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Authors: Ehsan Soltanzadeh, Hassan Zare

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This paper introduces examples of the influences of global warming on water resources and means of adaptation. The contributing causes of shortage in water resources are sophisticated and have interactions with each other. The world-scale phenomena like global warming have led to an increase in air and ocean’s mean temperature, and this has already caused adverse effects on water resources. Other factors that exacerbated this situation such as population increase, changes in farming habits, rise in city dwellers, unbalanced request for energy and aquatic resources, improved living standards, new eating habits, increasing economic growth and consequently flourishing industrial activities, and different types of pollution such as air, water, etc., are compelling more pressure on our limited water resources. The report will briefly discuss climate change and its detrimental impacts on the water resources and finally will introduce two effective solutions to mitigate the consequences or even reverse them in the near to mid-term future: utilization of molten salt technology for storing huge amounts of generated electricity in solar power plants to accommodate power grid demands, and implementing fuel cell CHPs to reduce carbon emission, and consequently, mitigate the global warming phenomenon as the major root cause of threatening water resources.

Keywords: climate change, global warming, water resources, GHG emissions, fuel cell-CHP, solar power plant, molten salt storage

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Authors: Ana Avila Bohorquez

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Elite (Netflix, 2018-) is the second original series produced by Netflix in Spain. Premiered in 2018, it became an international success, both critically and among audiences. Reviewers praised its use of teen drama tropes with a more progressive twist. Netflix announced that the first season had been streamed by over 20 million accounts within its first month of release. This paper aims to determine what characteristics led to Elite’s international success, finding the elements of its narrative and visual design that resonate with global audiences. After reviewing the bibliography about transnational fiction, questionnaires sent to international audience members through social media shed light on what these characteristics are. Additionally, interviews with the creative team were performed in order to compare their point of view with the audiences’ perception. Even though Elite can be considered a Spanish show from its inception, it's setting in the “fantasy” world of the rich and its lack of social realism so common among Spanish productions managed to attract global audiences, to whom it has appealed on a more emotional level.

Keywords: elite, global television, Netflix, teen drama, transnational fiction

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Authors: Iyabosola B. Oronti, Adeoluwawale A. Adewusi, Olubusola O. Nuga

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Sub-Saharan Africa has long been known to be a region rife with poverty, inadequate health facilities, food shortages, high transport and communication costs and very low pace of infrastructural and technological development. These factors combined have led to decades of resource paucity in engineering education. Engineering is core to global development and building of capacity in engineering education with available resources in sub-Saharan Africa has become imperative. This paper identifies core political issues and policy shifts contributing adversely to this present state of affairs, and also explores the offshoots of the changing global political environment as it affects engineering education in the developing nations of sub-Saharan Africa. Opportunities for instituting resource sufficiency are examined and corrective measures that can be taken to resuscitate and stabilize the educational sector in the region are also suggested.

Keywords: capacity building, engineering education, resource sufficiency, sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: Aliya Hisam, Zia Ul Haq, Sohail Aziz, Patrick Doherty, Jill Pell

Abstract:

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of Mobile health augmented Cardiac rehabilitation (MCard) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among post-acute coronary syndrome(post-ACS) patients. Methodology: In a randomized controlled trial, post-ACS patients were randomly allocated (1:1) to an intervention group (received MCard; counseling, empowering with self-monitoring devices, short text messages, in addition to standard post-ACS care) or control group (standard post-ACS care). HRQoL was assessed by generic Short Form-12 and MacNew quality of life myocardial infarction (QLMI) tools. Participants were followed for 24 weeks with data collection and analysis at three-time points (baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks). Result: At baseline, 160 patients (80 in each group; mean age 52.66+8.46 years; 126 males, 78.75%) were recruited, of which 121(75.62%) continued and were analyzed at 12-weeks and 119(74.37%) at 24-weeks. The mean SF-12 physical component score significantly improved in the MCard group at 12 weeks follow-up (48.93 vs. control 43.87, p<.001) and 24 weeks (53.52 vs. 46.82 p<.001). The mean SF-12 mental component scores also improved significantly in the MCard group at 12 weeks follow-up (44.84 vs. control 41.40, p<.001) and 24 weeks follow-up (48.95 vs 40.12, p<.001). At 12-and 24-week follow-up, all domains of MacNew QLMI (social, emotional, physical and global) were also statistically significant (p<.001) improved in the MCard group, unlike the control group. Conclusion: MCard is feasible and effective at improving all domains of HRQoL. There was an improvement in physical, mental, social, emotional and global domains among the MCard group in comparison to the control group. The addition of MCard programs to post-ACS standard care may improve patient outcomes and reduce the burden on the health care setting.

Keywords: acute coronary syndrome, mobile health augmented cardiac rehabilitation (MCard), cardiovascular diseases, cardiac rehabilitation, health-related quality of life, short form 12, MacNew QLMI

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Authors: Ramona Zharfpeykan

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This study analyses the trend and nature of sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs) reporting in firms globally. It presents both trend and panel data of sustainability reports of 798 firms in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database from 2010 to 2014. The results show some fluctuations in the frequency of sustainability KPI reporting globally across the time while the major focus of reports in firms stayed almost the same. It made us further analyse this trend and found that there are some indicators, such as 'environmental protect expenses' and 'number of grievances', that was barely reported over this period along with some highly popular ones such as 'direct economic value' and 'employment rate'. We could not find any statistical correlation between the KPI reporting percentage and the firms’ industries generally and neither if they belong to environmentally sensitive industries.

Keywords: global reporting initiatives, sustainability reporting, sustainability KPI, trends of sustainability reporting

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Tess Hartland, Moitree Banerjee, Sue Churchill, Antonina Pereira, Ian Tyndall, Ruth Lowry

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Background: Sexual health services and policies for middle-aged and older adults are underdeveloped, while global sexually transmitted infections in this age group are on the rise. The Interreg cross-Europe Sexual Health In Over 45s (SHIFT) project aims to increase participation in sexual health services and improve sexual health and wellbeing in people aged over 45, with an additional focus on disadvantaged groups. Methods: A two-pronged mixed-methodology is being used to develop a model for good service provision in sexual health for over 45s. (1) Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a scoping review is being conducted, using the databases PsychINFO, Web of Science, ERIC and PubMed. A key search strategy using terms around sexual health, good practice, over 45s and disadvantaged groups. The initial search for literature yielded 7914 results. (2) Surveys (n=1000) based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour are being administered across the UK, Belgium and Netherlands to explore current sexual health knowledge, awareness and attitudes. Expected results: It is expected that sexual health needs and potential gaps in service provision will be identified in order to inform good practice for sexual health services for the target population. Results of the scoping review are being analysed, while focus group and survey data is being gathered. Preliminary analysis of the survey data highlights barriers to access such as limited risk awareness and stigma. All data analysis will be completed by the time of the conference. Discussion: Findings will inform the development of a model to improve sexual health and wellbeing for among over 45s, a population which is often missed in sexual health policy improvement.

Keywords: adult health, disease prevention, health promotion, over 45s, sexual health

Procedia PDF Downloads 106

Authors: Michelle J. Miller

Abstract:

In recent year, there has been a rise of two emerging issues that impact the global employment and business market that the legal community must review closer: offshore outsourcing and data privacy. These two issues intersect because employment opportunities are shifting due to offshore outsourcing and some States, like the United States, anti-outsourcing legislation has been passed or presented to retain jobs within the country. In addition, the legal requirements to retain the privacy of data as a global employer extends to employees and third party service provides, including services outsourced to offshore locations. For this reason, this paper will review the intersection of these two issues with a specific focus on data privacy.

Keywords: outsourcing, data privacy, international compliance, multinational corporations

Procedia PDF Downloads 381

Authors: Abdulwahab Alalyani, Mahbub Rashid

Abstract:

Public Open Space (POS) availability and distribution among urban communities have a central role to promotes community health. However, growing health challenges in a city would raise attention to the planning quality of these community's assets. This research aims to measure the existing availability and distribution equity of POS in the context of Saudi Arabia using Riyadh city as a case study. The methodology for the POS availability was by calculating the total POS with respect to the population total (m²/inhabitant). All POS were mapped using geographical information systems (GIS), and the total area availability of POS was compared to global, regional, and local standards. To evaluate the significant differences in POS availability across low, medium, and high-income Riyadh neighborhoods, we used a One-way ANOVA analysis of covariance to test the differences. The results are as follows; POS availability was lower than global standers. Riyadh has only 1.40m² per capita of POS. Spatial equity of the availability were significantly different among Riyadh neighborhoods based on socioeconomic status. The future development of POS should be focused on increasing general POS availability and should be given priority to those low-income and unhealthy communities. Accessibility indicators of POS should be considered in future studies.

Keywords: open spaces availability, open spaces distribution, spatial equity, healthy city, Riyadh City

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Melaku Tsehay

Abstract:

The Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Associations (CCRDA), and the CORE Group Polio Partners (CGPP) Secretariat have been working with Global Alliance for Vac-cines and Immunization (GAVI) to improve the immunization data quality in Afar and Somali Regional States. The main aim of this study was to compare the quality of immunization data before and after the above interventions in health facilities in the pastoralist communities in Ethiopia. To this end, a comparative-cross-sectional study was conducted on 51 health facilities. The baseline data was collected in May 2019, while the end line data in August 2021. The WHO data quality self-assessment tool (DQS) was used to collect data. A significant improvment was seen in the accuracy of the pentavalent vaccine (PT)1 (p = 0.012) data at the health posts (HP), while PT3 (p = 0.010), and Measles (p = 0.020) at the health centers (HC). Besides, a highly sig-nificant improvment was observed in the accuracy of tetanus toxoid (TT)2 data at HP (p < 0.001). The level of over- or under-reporting was found to be < 8%, at the HP, and < 10% at the HC for PT3. The data completeness was also increased from 72.09% to 88.89% at the HC. Nearly 74% of the health facilities timely reported their respective immunization data, which is much better than the baseline (7.1%) (p < 0.001). These findings may provide some hints for the policies and pro-grams targetting on improving immunization data qaulity in the pastoralist communities.

Keywords: data quality, immunization, verification factor, pastoralist region

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Sandeep Reddy, Sonia Allan, Simon Coghlan, Paul Cooper

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its application in medicine has generated ample interest amongst policymakers and clinicians. Successes with AI in medical imaging interpretation and clinical decision support are paving the way for its incorporation into routine healthcare delivery. While there has been a focus on the development of ethical principles to guide its application in healthcare, challenges of this application go beyond what ethics principles can address thus requiring robust governance frameworks. Also, while ethical challenges of medical artificial intelligence are being discussed, the ethics of deploying AI in lower-income countries receive less attention than in other developed economies. This creates an imperative not only for sound ethical guidelines but also for robust governance frameworks to regulate AI in medicine around the world. In this article, we discuss what components need to be considered in developing these governance frameworks and who should lead this worldwide effort.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, global health, governance, ethics

Procedia PDF Downloads 122