Search results for: public sector projects

Authors: Delia Gabriela Moisa, Demos Parapanos, Tim Heap

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The tourism sector is mainly comprised of small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMEs), representing approximately 80% of global businesses in this field. These entities require focused attention and support to address challenges, ensuring their competitiveness and relevance in a dynamic industry characterized by continuously changing customer preferences. To address these challenges, it becomes imperative to consider not only socio-demographic factors but also delve into the intricate interplay of psychological elements influencing consumer behavior. This study investigates the impact of personality traits and travel motivations on visitor activities in Cumbria, United Kingdom, an iconic region marked by UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including The Lake District National Park and Hadrian's Wall. With a £4.1 billion tourism industry primarily driven by SMEs, Cumbria serves as an ideal setting for examining the relationship between tourist psychology and activities. Employing the Big Five personality model and the Travel Career Pattern motivation theory, this study aims to explain the relationship between psychological factors and tourist activities. The study further explores SME perspectives on personality-based market segmentation, providing strategic insights into addressing evolving tourist preferences.This pioneering mixed-methods study integrates quantitative data from 330 visitor surveys, subsequently complemented by qualitative insights from tourism SME representatives. The findings unveil that socio-demographic factors do not exhibit statistically significant variations in the activities pursued by visitors in Cumbria. However, significant correlations emerge between personality traits and motivations with preferred visitor activities. Open-minded tourists gravitate towards events and cultural activities, while Conscientious individuals favor cultural pursuits. Extraverted tourists lean towards adventurous, recreational, and wellness activities, while Agreeable personalities opt for lake cruises. Interestingly, a contrasting trend emerges as Extraversion increases, leading to a decrease in interest in cultural activities. Similarly, heightened Agreeableness corresponds to a decrease in interest in adventurous activities. Furthermore, travel motivations, including nostalgia and building relationships, drive event participation, while self-improvement and novelty-seeking lead to adventurous activities. Additionally, qualitative insights from tourism SME representatives underscore the value of targeted messaging aligned with visitor personalities for enhancing loyalty and experiences. This study contributes significantly to scholarship through its novel framework, integrating tourist psychology with activities and industry perspectives. The proposed conceptual model holds substantial practical implications for SMEs to formulate personalized offerings, optimize marketing, and strategically allocate resources tailored to tourist personalities. While the focus is on Cumbria, the methodology's universal applicability offers valuable insights for destinations globally seeking a competitive advantage. Future research addressing scale reliability and geographic specificity limitations can further advance knowledge on this critical relationship between visitor psychology, individual preferences, and industry imperatives. Moreover, by extending the investigation to other districts, future studies could draw comparisons and contrasts in the results, providing a more nuanced understanding of the factors influencing visitor psychology and preferences.

Keywords: personality trait, SME, tourist behaviour, tourist motivation, visitor activity

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Authors: Maria Hadjisoteriou, Yiorgos Hadjichristou

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This paper aims to explore and provoke a debate, through the work of the design studio, “living where the immaterial matters” of the architecture department of the University of Nicosia, on the role that the “immaterial matter” can play in enhancing innovative sustainable architecture and viewing the cities as sustainable organisms that always grow and alter. The blurring, juxtaposing binary of immaterial and matter, as the theoretical backbone of the Unit is counterbalanced by the practicalities of the contested sites of the last divided capital Nicosia with its ambiguous green line and the ghost city of Famagusta in the island of Cyprus. Jonathan Hill argues that the ‘immaterial is as important to architecture as the material concluding that ‘Immaterial–Material’ weaves the two together, so that they are in conjunction not opposition’. This understanding of the relationship of the immaterial vs material set the premises and the departing point of our argument, and talks about new recipes for creating hybrid public space that can lead to the unpredictability of a complex and interactive, sustainable city. We hierarchized the human experience as a priority. We distinguish the notion of space and place referring to Heidegger’s ‘building dwelling thinking’: ‘a distinction between space and place, where spaces gain authority not from ‘space’ appreciated mathematically but ‘place’ appreciated through human experience’. Following the above, architecture and the city are seen as one organism. The notions of boundaries, porous borders, fluidity, mobility, and spaces of flows are the lenses of the investigation of the unit’s methodology, leading to the notion of a new hybrid urban environment, where the main constituent elements are in a flux relationship. The material and the immaterial flows of the town are seen interrelated and interwoven with the material buildings and their immaterial contents, yielding to new sustainable human built environments. The above premises consequently led to choices of controversial sites. Indisputably a provoking site was the ghost town of Famagusta where the time froze back in 1974. Inspired by the fact that the nature took over the a literally dormant, decaying city, a sustainable rebirthing was seen as an opportunity where both nature and built environment, material and immaterial are interwoven in a new emergent urban environment. Similarly, we saw the dividing ‘green line’ of Nicosia completely failing to prevent the trespassing of images, sounds and whispers, smells and symbols that define the two prevailing cultures and becoming a porous creative entity which tends to start reuniting instead of separating , generating sustainable cultures and built environments. The authors would like to contribute to the debate by introducing a question about a new recipe of cooking the built environment. Can we talk about a new ‘urban recipe’: ‘cooking architecture and city’ to deliver an ever changing urban sustainable organism, whose identity will mainly depend on the interrelationship of the immaterial and material constituents?

Keywords: blurring zones, porous borders, spaces of flow, urban recipe

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Authors: Ribeiro Tiago Magalhães

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Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of a hydroelectric power plant in the state of Amapá, and to present the results obtained by dimensioning the diversity of the main mosquito vectors involved in the transmission of pathogens that cause diseases such as malaria, dengue and leishmaniasis. Methodology: The present study was conducted on the banks of the Araguari River, in the municipalities of Porto Grande and Ferreira Gomes in the southern region of Amapá State. Nine monitoring campaigns were conducted, the first in April 2014 and the last in March 2016. The selection of the catch sites was done in order to prioritize areas with possible occurrence of the species considered of greater importance for public health and areas of contact between the wild environment and humans. Sampling efforts aimed to identify the local vector fauna and to relate it to the transmission of diseases. In this way, three phases of collection were established, covering the schedules of greater hematophageal activity. Sampling was carried out using Shannon Shack and CDC types of light traps and by means of specimen collection with the hold method. This procedure was carried out during the morning (between 08:00 and 11:00), afternoon-twilight (between 15:30 and 18:30) and night (between 18:30 and 22:00). In the specific methodology of capture with the use of the CDC equipment, the delimited times were from 18:00 until 06:00 the following day. Results: A total of 32 species of mosquitoes was identified, and a total of 2,962 specimens was taxonomically subdivided into three genera (Culicidae, Psychodidae and Simuliidae) Psorophora, Sabethes, Simulium, Uranotaenia and Wyeomyia), besides those represented by the family Psychodidae that due to the morphological complexities, allows the safe identification (without the method of diaphanization and assembly of slides for microscopy), only at the taxonomic level of subfamily (Phlebotominae). Conclusion: The nine monitoring campaigns carried out provided the basis for the design of the possible epidemiological structure in the areas of influence of the Cachoeira Caldeirão HPP, in order to point out among the points established for sampling, which would represent greater possibilities, according to the group of identified mosquitoes, of disease acquisition. However, what should be mainly considered, are the future events arising from reservoir filling. This argument is based on the fact that the reproductive success of Culicidae is intrinsically related to the aquatic environment for the development of its larvae until adulthood. From the moment that the water mirror is expanded in new environments for the formation of the reservoir, a modification in the process of development and hatching of the eggs deposited in the substrate can occur, causing a sudden explosion in the abundance of some genera, in special Anopheles, which holds preferences for denser forest environments, close to the water portions.

Keywords: Amazon, hydroelectric, power, plants

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Authors: Bolatbek Rysbaiuly, Nazerke Rysbayeva, Aigerim Rysbayeva

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Relevance: Energy saving elevated to public policy in almost all developed countries. One of the areas for energy efficiency is improving and tightening design standards. In the tie with the state standards, make high demands for thermal protection of buildings. Constructive arrangement of layers should ensure normal operation in which the humidity of materials of construction should not exceed a certain level. Elevated levels of moisture in the walls can be attributed to a defective condition, as moisture significantly reduces the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of materials. Absence at the design stage of modeling the processes occurring in the construction and predict the behavior of structures during their work in the real world leads to an increase in heat loss and premature aging structures. Method: To solve this problem, widely used method of mathematical modeling of heat and mass transfer in materials. The mathematical modeling of heat and mass transfer are taken into the equation interconnected layer [1]. In winter, the thermal and hydraulic conductivity characteristics of the materials are nonlinear and depends on the temperature and moisture in the material. In this case, the experimental method of determining the coefficient of the freezing or thawing of the material becomes much more difficult. Therefore, in this paper we propose an approximate method for calculating the thermal conductivity and moisture permeability characteristics of freezing or thawing material. Questions. Following the development of methods for solving the inverse problem of mathematical modeling allows us to answer questions that are closely related to the rational design of fences: Where the zone of condensation in the body of the multi-layer fencing; How and where to apply insulation rationally his place; Any constructive activities necessary to provide for the removal of moisture from the structure; What should be the temperature and humidity conditions for the normal operation of the premises enclosing structure; What is the longevity of the structure in terms of its components frost materials. Tasks: The proposed mathematical model to solve the following problems: To assess the condition of the thermo-physical designed structures at different operating conditions and select appropriate material layers; Calculate the temperature field in a structurally complex multilayer structures; When measuring temperature and moisture in the characteristic points to determine the thermal characteristics of the materials constituting the surveyed construction; Laboratory testing to significantly reduce test time, and eliminates the climatic chamber and expensive instrumentation experiments and research; Allows you to simulate real-life situations that arise in multilayer enclosing structures associated with freezing, thawing, drying and cooling of any layer of the building material.

Keywords: energy saving, inverse problem, heat transfer, multilayer walling

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Authors: Brian Yulianto, Syachrial, Saeful Aziz, Anggita Clara Shinta

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Indonesia, with a population of about two hundred and fifty million people in quantity, indicates the outstanding wealth of human resources. Hundreds of millions of the population scattered in various communities in various regions in Indonesia with the different characteristics of economic, social and unique culture. Broadly speaking, the community in Indonesia is divided into two classes, namely urban communities and rural communities. The rural communities characterized by low potential and management of natural and human resources, limited access of development, and lack of social and economic infrastructure, and scattered and isolated population. West Java is one of the provinces with the largest population in Indonesia. Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in 2015 the number of population in West Java reached 46.7096 million souls spread over 18 districts and 9 cities. The big difference in geographical and social conditions of people in West Java from one region to another, especially the south to the north causing the gap is high. It is closely related to the flow of investment to promote the area. Poverty and underdevelopment are the classic problems that occur on a massive scale in the region as the effects of inequity in development. South Cianjur and Tasikmalaya area South became one of the portraits area where the existing potential has not been capable of prospering society. Tri Dharma College not only define the College as a pioneer implementation of education and research to improve the quality of human resources but also demanded to be a pioneer in the development through the concept of public service. Bandung Institute of Technology as one of the institutions of higher education to implement community service system through collaborative community work program "one of the university community" as one approach to developing villages. The program is based Community Service, where students are not only required to be able to take part in community service, but also able to develop a community development strategy that is comprehensive and integrity in cooperation with government agencies and non-government related as a real form of effort alignment potential, position and role from various parties. Areas of western Java in particular have high poverty rates and disparity. On the other hand, there are three fundamental pillars in the development of rural communities, namely economic development, community development, and the integrated infrastructure development. These pillars require the commitment of all components of community, including the students and colleges for upholding success. College’s community program is one of the approaches in the development of rural communities. ITB is committed to implement as one form of student community service as community-college programs that integrate all elements of the community which is called Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Thematic.

Keywords: development in rural area, collaborative, student community service, Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Thematic ITB

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Authors: Fernanda Mary R. G. Da Silva, Adriana C. F. Mozzambani, Marcelo F. Mello

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Introduction: Sexual assault against children and adolescents is a public health problem with serious consequences on their quality of life, especially for those who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The broad literature in this research area points to greater losses in verbal learning, explicit memory, speed of information processing, attention and executive functioning in PTSD. Objective: To compare the neuropsychological functions of adolescents from 14 to 17 years of age, victims of sexual violence with PTSD with those of healthy controls. Methodology: Application of a neuropsychological battery composed of the following subtests: WASI vocabulary and matrix reasoning; Digit subtests (WISC-IV); verbal auditory learning test RAVLT; Spatial Span subtest of the WMS - III scale; abbreviated version of the Wisconsin test; concentrated attention test - D2; prospective memory subtest of the NEUPSILIN scale; five-digit test - FDT and the Stroop test (Trenerry version) in adolescents with a history of sexual violence in the previous six months, referred to the Prove (Violence Care and Research Program of the Federal University of São Paulo), for further treatment. Results: The results showed a deficit in the word coding process in the RAVLT test, with impairment in A3 (p = 0.004) and A4 (p = 0.016) measures, which compromises the verbal learning process (p = 0.010) and the verbal recognition memory (p = 0.012), seeming to present a worse performance in the acquisition of verbal information that depends on the support of the attentional system. A worse performance was found in list B (p = 0.047), a lower priming effect p = 0.026, that is, lower evocation index of the initial words presented and less perseveration (p = 0.002), repeated words. Therefore, there seems to be a failure in the creation of strategies that help the mnemonic process of retention of the verbal information necessary for learning. Sustained attention was found to be impaired, with greater loss of setting in the Wisconsin test (p = 0.023), a lower rate of correct responses in stage C of the Stroop test (p = 0.023) and, consequently, a higher index of erroneous responses in C of the Stroop test (p = 0.023), besides more type II errors in the D2 test (p = 0.008). A higher incidence of total errors was observed in the reading stage of the FDT test p = 0.002, which suggests fatigue in the execution of the task. Performance is compromised in executive functions in the cognitive flexibility ability, suggesting a higher index of total errors in the alternating step of the FDT test (p = 0.009), as well as a greater number of persevering errors in the Wisconsin test (p = 0.004). Conclusion: The data from this study suggest that sexual violence and PTSD cause significant impairment in the neuropsychological functions of adolescents, evidencing risk to quality of life in stages that are fundamental for the development of learning and cognition.

Keywords: adolescents, neuropsychological functions, PTSD, sexual violence

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Authors: Reem Alajmi, Hind Al Harbi, Tahany Ayaad, Zainab Al Musawi

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Hard ticks Hyalomma spp. (family: Ixodidae) are obligate ectoparasite in their all life stages on some domestic animals mainly camels and cattle. Ticks may lead to many economic and public health problems because of their blood feeding behavior. Also, they act as vectors for many bacterial, viral and protozoan agents which may cause serious diseases such as tick-born encephalitis, Rocky-mountain spotted fever, Q-fever and Lyme disease which can affect human and/or animals. In the present study, molecular identification of ticks that attack camels in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia based on the partial sequence of mitochondrial 16s rRNA gene was applied. Also, the present study aims to detect natural infections of collected camel ticks with Rickessia spp. and Borelia spp. using PCR/hybridization of Citrate synthase encoding gene present in bacterial cells. Hard ticks infesting camels were collected from different camels located in a farm in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia. Results of the present study showed that the collected specimens belong to two species: Hyalomma dromedari represent 99% of the identified specimens and Hyalomma marginatum which account for 1 % of identified ticks. The molecular identification was made through blasting the obtained sequence of this study with sequences already present and identified in GeneBank. All obtained sequences of H. dromedarii specimens showed 97-100% identity with the same gene sequence of the same species (Accession # L34306.1) which was used as a reference. Meanwhile, no intraspecific variations of H. marginatum mesured because only one specimen was collected. Results also had shown that the intraspecific variability between individuals of H. dromedarii obtained in 92 % of samples ranging from 0.2- 6.6%, while the remaining 7 % of the total samples of H. dromedarii showed about 10.3 % individual differences. However, the interspecific variability between H. dromedarii and H. marginatum was approximately 18.3 %. On the other hand, by using the technique of PCR/hybridization, we could detect natural infection of camel ticks with Rickettsia spp. and Borrelia spp. Results revealed the natural presence of both bacteria in collected ticks. Rickettsial spp. infection present in 29% of collected ticks, while 35% of collected specimen were infected with Borrelia spp. The valuable results obtained from the present study are a new record for the molecular identification of camel ticks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and their natural infection with both Rickettsia spp. and Borrelia spp. These results may help scientists to provide a good and direct control strategy of ticks in order to protect one of the most important economic animals which are camels. Also results of this project spotlight on the disease that might be transmitted by ticks to put out a direct protective plan to prevent spreading of these dangerous agents. Further molecular studies are needed to confirm the results of the present study by using other mitochondrial and nuclear genes for tick identification.

Keywords: Camel ticks, Rickessia spp. , Borelia spp. , mitochondrial 16s rRNA gene

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Authors: Danjuma Bawa

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This paper aimed at exploring the capabilities of Location-Allocation model in complementing the strides of the existing physical planning models in the location and distribution of facilities for regional consumption. The paper was designed to provide a blueprint to the Nigerian government and other donor agencies especially the Fertilizer Distribution Initiative (FDI) by the federal government for the revitalization of the terrorism ravaged regions. Theoretical underpinnings of central place theory related to spatial distribution, interrelationships, and threshold prerequisites were reviewed. The study showcased how Location-Allocation Model (L-AM) alongside Central Place Theory (CPT) was applied in Geographic Information System (GIS) environment to; map and analyze the spatial distribution of settlements; exploit their physical and economic interrelationships, and to explore their hierarchical and opportunistic influences. The study was purely spatial qualitative research which largely used secondary data such as; spatial location and distribution of settlements, population figures of settlements, network of roads linking them and other landform features. These were sourced from government ministries and open source consortium. GIS was used as a tool for processing and analyzing such spatial features within the dictum of CPT and L-AM to produce a comprehensive spatial digital plan for equitable and judicious location and distribution of fertilizer deports in the study area in an optimal way. Population threshold was used as yardstick for selecting suitable settlements that could stand as service centers to other hinterlands; this was accomplished using the query syntax in ArcMapTM. ArcGISTM’ network analyst was used in conducting location-allocation analysis for apportioning of groups of settlements around such service centers within a given threshold distance. Most of the techniques and models ever used by utility planners have been centered on straight distance to settlements using Euclidean distances. Such models neglect impedance cutoffs and the routing capabilities of networks. CPT and L-AM take into consideration both the influential characteristics of settlements and their routing connectivity. The study was undertaken in two terrorism ravaged Local Government Areas of Adamawa state. Four (4) existing depots in the study area were identified. 20 more depots in 20 villages were proposed using suitability analysis. Out of the 300 settlements mapped in the study area about 280 of such settlements where optimally grouped and allocated to the selected service centers respectfully within 2km impedance cutoff. This study complements the giant strides by the federal government of Nigeria by providing a blueprint for ensuring proper distribution of these public goods in the spirit of bringing succor to these terrorism ravaged populace. This will ardently at the same time help in boosting agricultural activities thereby lowering food shortage and raising per capita income as espoused by the government.

Keywords: central place theory, GIS, location-allocation, network analysis, urban and regional planning, welfare economics

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Authors: Jonathan Sahu, Jill Aylott

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Individuals with Autism, Intellectual and Developmental disabilities (AIDD) are one of the most vulnerable groups in society, hampered not only by their own limitations to understand and interact with the wider society, but also societal limitations in perception and understanding. Communication to express their needs and wishes is fundamental to enable such individuals to live and prosper in society. This research project was designed as an organisational case study, in a large secondary health care hospital within the National Health Service (NHS), to assess the quality of care provided to people with AIDD and to review the role of advocacy to reduce health inequalities in these individuals. Methods: The research methodology adopted was as an “insider researcher”. Data collection included both quantitative and qualitative data i.e. a mixed method approach. A semi-structured interview schedule was designed and used to obtain qualitative and quantitative primary data from a wide range of interdisciplinary frontline health care workers to assess their understanding and awareness of systems, processes and evidence based practice to offer a quality service to people with AIDD. Secondary data were obtained from sources within the organisation, in keeping with “Case Study” as a primary method, and organisational performance data were then compared against national benchmarking standards. Further data sources were accessed to help evaluate the effectiveness of different types of advocacy that were present in the organisation. This was gauged by measures of user and carer experience in the form of retrospective survey analysis, incidents and complaints. Results: Secondary data demonstrate near compliance of the Organisation with the current national benchmarking standard (Monitor Compliance Framework). However, primary data demonstrate poor knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, poor knowledge of organisational systems, processes and evidence based practice applied for people with AIDD. In addition there was poor knowledge and awareness of frontline health care workers of advocacy and advocacy schemes for this group. Conclusions: A significant amount of work needs to be undertaken to improve the quality of care delivered to individuals with AIDD. An operational strategy promoting the widespread dissemination of information may not be the best approach to deliver quality care and optimal patient experience and patient advocacy. In addition, a more robust set of standards, with appropriate metrics, needs to be developed to assess organisational performance which will stand the test of professional and public scrutiny.

Keywords: advocacy, autism, health inequalities, intellectual developmental disabilities, quality of care

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Authors: Maryam Tabrizi, Shahrzad Aarup

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Objectives- Understanding the close association between oral health and overall health for older adults at the right time and right place, a person, focus treatment through Project ECHO telementoring. Methodology- Data from monthly ECHO telementoring sessions were provided for three years. Sessions including case presentations, overall health conditions, considering medications, organ functions limitations, including the level of cognition. Contributions- Providing the specialist level of providing care to all elderly regardless of their location and other health conditions and decreasing oral health inequity by increasing workforce via Project ECHO telementoring program worldwide. By 2030, the number of adults in the USA over the age of 65 will increase more than 60% (approx.46 million) and over 22 million (30%) of 74 million older Americans will need specialized geriatrician care. In 2025, a national shortage of medical geriatricians will be close to 27,000. Most individuals 65 and older do not receive oral health care due to lack of access, availability, or affordability. One of the main reasons is a significant shortage of Oral Health (OH) education and resources for the elderly, particularly in rural areas. Poor OH is a social stigma, a thread to quality and safety of overall health of the elderly with physical and cognitive decline. Poor OH conditions may be costly and sometimes life-threatening. Non-traumatic dental-related emergency department use in Texas alone was over $250 M in 2016. Most elderly over the age of 65 present with at least one or multiple chronic diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, heart diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at higher risk to develop gum (periodontal) disease, yet they are less likely to get dental care. In addition, most older adults take both prescription and over-the-counter drugs; according to scientific studies, many of these medications cause dry mouth. Reduced saliva flow due to aging and medications may increase the risk of cavities and other oral conditions. Most dental schools have already increased geriatrics OH in their educational curriculums, but the aging population growth worldwide is faster than growing geriatrics dentists. However, without the use of advanced technology and creating a network between specialists and primary care providers, it is impossible to increase the workforce, provide equitable oral health to the elderly. Project ECHO is a guided practice model that revolutionizes health education and increases the workforce to provide best-practice specialty care and reduce health disparities. Training oral health providers for utilizing the Project ECHO model is a logical response to the shortage and increases oral health access to the elderly. Project ECHO trains general dentists & hygienists to provide specialty care services. This means more elderly can get the care they need, in the right place, at the right time, with better treatment outcomes and reduces costs.

Keywords: geriatric, oral health, project echo, chronic disease, oral health

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Authors: Delaram Hosseinioun

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In their collections, Shirin Neshat, Mitra Tabrizian, Gohar Dashti and Newsha Tavakolian adopt a hybrid form of narrative to confront the restrictions imposed on women in hegemonic public and private spaces. Focusing on motives such as social marginalisation, crisis of belonging, as well as lack of agency for women, the artists depict the regression of women’s rights in their respective generations. Based on the ideas of Michael Bakhtin, namely his concept of polyphony or the plurality of contradictory voices, the views of Judith Butler on giving an account to oneself and Henri Leverbre’s theories on social space, this study illustrates the artists’ concept of identity in crisis through time and space. The research explores how the artists took their art as a novel dimension to depict and confront the hardships imposed on Iranian women. Henri Lefebvre makes a distinction between complex social structures through which individuals situate, perceive and represent themselves. By adding Bakhtin’s polyphonic view to Lefebvre’s concepts of perceived and lived spaces, the study explores the sense of social fragmentation in the works of Dashti and Tavakolian. One argument is that as the representatives of the contemporary generation of female artists who spend their lives in Iran and faced a higher degree of restrictions, their hyperbolic and theatrical styles stand as a symbolic act of confrontation against restrictive socio-cultural norms imposed on women. Further, the research explores the possibility of reclaiming one's voice and sense of agency through art, corresponding with the Bakhtinian sense of polyphony and Butler’s concept of giving an account to oneself. Works of Neshat and Tabrizian as the representatives of the previous generation who faced exile and diaspora, encompass a higher degree of misplacement, violence and decay of women’s presence. In Their works, the women’s body encompasses Lefebvre’s dismantled temporal and special setting. Notably, the ongoing social conviction and gender-based dogma imposed on women frame some of the concurrent motives among the selected collections of the four artists. By applying an interdisciplinary lens and integrating the conducted interviews with the artists, the study illustrates how the artists seek a transcultural account for themselves and women in their generations. Further, the selected collections manifest the urgency for an authentic and liberal voice and setting for women, resonating with the concurrent Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran.

Keywords: persian modern female photographers, transcultural studies, shirin neshat, mitra tabrizian, gohar dashti, newsha tavakolian, butler, bakhtin, lefebvre

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Authors: Priyanka Manghani, Manthan Patel, Rahul Peddawad

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Cervical Cancer is a major public health hurdle in the area of women’s health. The most common cause of Cervical Cancer is the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Human papilloma virus has various genotypes, with HPV 16 and HPV 18 being the major etiological factor causing carcinoma of the Cervix. Early screening and detection by Papanicolaou Smears (PAP) is an effective method for identifying premalignant and malignant lesions. In case of existing pre- malignant lesions /cervical dysplasia’s found with HPV 16 or 18, appropriate follow up can be done to prevent it from developing into a neoplasm. Aims and Objectives: Primary Aim; To study various abnormal cervical cytology reports as detected by Pap Smear Tests, using the Bethesda System in women at a Tertiary Care Hospital. Secondary Aim; To discuss the importance of Pap smear in Cervical Cancer Screening Program. Materials and Methods: Our study is a prospective study, based on 101 women who attended the Out-patient department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at a tertiary care hospital in age group 20-40 years with chief complaints of white/foul vaginal discharge, post-coital Bleeding, low back pain, irregular menstruation, etc. 60 women, who were tested, of the total no of women, were commercial sex workers, thus being a high-risk group for HPV infection. All women underwent conventional cytology. For all the abnormal smears, further cervical biopsies were done, and the final diagnosis was done on the basis of histopathology (gold standard). Results: In all these patients, 16 patients presented with normal smears out of which 2 belonged to the category of commercial sex workers (3.33%) and 14 being from the normal/control group (34.15%). 44 women presented with inflammatory smears out of which 30 were commercial sex workers (50%) and 14 from the control Group (34.15%). A total of 11 women presented with infectious etiology with 6 being commercial sex workers (10%) and 5 (12.2%) being in the control group. A total of 8 patients presented with low-grade squamous intra epithelial lesion (LSIL) with 7 (11.7%) being commercial sex workers and 1(2.44%) patient belonging to the control group. A Total of 7 patients presented with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) with 6 (10%) being commercial sex workers and 1 (2.44%) belonging to the control group. 9 patients in total presented with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) with 6(10%) being commercial sex workers and 3 (7.32%) belonging to the control group. Squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) presence was found only in 1(1.7%) commercial sex worker. Conclusion – We conclude that HSIL, LSIL, SCC and sexually related infections are comparatively more common in vulnerable groups such as sex workers due to a variety of factors such as multiple sexual partners and poor genital hygiene. Early screening and follow up interventions are highly needed for them along with Health education for risk factors and to emphasize on the importance of Pap smear screening.

Keywords: cervical cancer, papanicolaou (pap) smear, bethesda system, neoplasm

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Authors: Christina Y. P. Ting

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Migration is a global phenomenon with movements of migrants from developed and developing countries to the host societies. Migrants have changed the host countries’ demography – its population structure and also its ethnic cultural diversity. Acculturation of migrants in terms of their adoption of the host culture is seen as important to ensure that they ‘fit into’ their adopted country so as to participate in everyday public life. However, this research found that the increase of the China-born migrants’ post-migration consumption level had impact on Australia’s environment reflected not only because of their adoption of elements of the host culture, but also retention of aspects of Chinese culture – indicating that the influence of bi-culturalism was in operation. This research, which was based on the face-to-face interview with 61 China-born migrants in the suburb of Box Hill, Melbourne, investigated the pattern of change in the migrants’ consumption upon their settlement in Australia. Using an ecological footprint calculator, their post-migration footprints were found to be larger than pre-migration footprint. The uniquely-derived CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) Index was used to measure individuals’ strength of connectedness to ethnic culture. Multi-variant analysis was carried out to understand which independent factors that influence consumption best explain the change in footprint (which is the difference between pre-and post-migration footprints, as a dependent factor). These independent factors ranged from socio-economic and demographics to the cultural context, that is, the CALD Index and indicators of acculturation. The major findings from the analysis were: Chinese culture (as measured by the CALD Index) and indicators of acculturation such as length of residency and using English in communications besides the traditional factors such as age, income and education level made significant contributions to the large increase in the China-born group’s post-migration consumption level. This paper as part of a larger study found that younger migrants’ large change in their footprint were related to high income and low level of education. This group of migrants also practiced bi-cultural consumption in retaining ethnic culture and adopting the host culture. These findings have importantly highlighted that for a host society to tackle environmental crisis, governments need not only to understand the relationship between age and consumption behaviour, but also to understand and embrace the migrants’ ethnic cultures, which may act as bridges and/or fences in relationships. In conclusion, for governments to deal with national issues such as environmental crisis within a cultural diverse population, it necessitates an understanding of age and aspects of ethnic culture that may act as bridges and fences. This understanding can aid in putting in place policies that enable the co-existence of a hybrid of the ethnic and host cultures in order to create and maintain a harmonious and secured living environment for population groups.

Keywords: bicultural consumer, CALD index, consumption, ethnic culture, migrants

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Authors: Maryam Ziaee, Himanshu Shee, Amrik Sohal

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Big Data Analytics (BDA) in supply chain management has recently drawn the attention of academics and practitioners. Big data refers to a massive amount of data from different sources, in different formats, generated at high speed through transactions in business environments and supply chain networks. Traditional statistical tools and techniques find it difficult to analyse this massive data. BDA can assist organisations to capture, store, and analyse data specifically in the field of supply chain. Currently, there is a paucity of research on BDA in the pharmaceutical supply chain context. In this research, the Australian pharmaceutical supply chain was selected as the case study. This industry is highly significant since the right medicine must reach the right patients, at the right time, in right quantity, in good condition, and at the right price to save lives. However, drug shortages remain a substantial problem for hospitals across Australia with implications on patient care, staff resourcing, and expenditure. Furthermore, a massive volume and variety of data is generated at fast speed from multiple sources in pharmaceutical supply chain, which needs to be captured and analysed to benefit operational decisions at every stage of supply chain processes. As the pharmaceutical industry lags behind other industries in using BDA, it raises the question of whether the use of BDA can improve transparency among pharmaceutical supply chain by enabling the partners to make informed-decisions across their operational activities. This presentation explores the impacts of BDA on supply chain management. An exploratory qualitative approach was adopted to analyse data collected through interviews. This study also explores the BDA potential in the whole pharmaceutical supply chain rather than focusing on a single entity. Twenty semi-structured interviews were undertaken with top managers in fifteen organisations (five pharmaceutical manufacturers, five wholesalers/distributors, and five public hospital pharmacies) to investigate their views on the use of BDA. The findings revealed that BDA can enable pharmaceutical entities to have improved visibility over the whole supply chain and also the market; it enables entities, especially manufacturers, to monitor consumption and the demand rate in real-time and make accurate demand forecasts which reduce drug shortages. Timely and precise decision-making can allow the entities to source and manage their stocks more effectively. This can likely address the drug demand at hospitals and respond to unanticipated issues such as drug shortages. Earlier studies explore BDA in the context of clinical healthcare; however, this presentation investigates the benefits of BDA in the Australian pharmaceutical supply chain. Furthermore, this research enhances managers’ insight into the potentials of BDA at every stage of supply chain processes and helps to improve decision-making in their supply chain operations. The findings will turn the rhetoric of data-driven decision into a reality where the managers may opt for analytics for improved decision-making in the supply chain processes.

Keywords: big data analytics, data-driven decision, pharmaceutical industry, supply chain management

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Basiru Amuneni

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Astronomy is one domain with a rise in data. Traditional tools for data management have been employed in the quest for knowledge discovery. However, these traditional tools become limited in the face of big. One means of maximizing knowledge discovery for big data is the use of scientific visualisation. The aim of the work is to explore the possibilities offered by emerging creative technologies of Virtual Reality (VR) systems and game engines to visualize multiwavelength datasets. Game Engines are primarily used for developing video games, however their advanced graphics could be exploited for scientific visualization which provides a means to graphically illustrate scientific data to ease human comprehension. Modern astronomy is now in the era of multiwavelength data where a single galaxy for example, is captured by the telescope several times and at different electromagnetic wavelength to have a more comprehensive picture of the physical characteristics of the galaxy. Visualising this in an immersive environment would be more intuitive and natural for an observer. This work presents a standalone VR application that accesses galaxy FITS files. The application was built using the Unity Game Engine for the graphics underpinning and the OpenXR API for the VR infrastructure. The work used a methodology known as Design Science Research (DSR) which entails the act of ‘using design as a research method or technique’. The key stages of the galaxy modelling pipeline are FITS data preparation, Galaxy Modelling, Unity 3D Visualisation and VR Display. The FITS data format cannot be read by the Unity Game Engine directly. A DLL (CSHARPFITS) which provides a native support for reading and writing FITS files was used. The Galaxy modeller uses an approach that integrates cleaned FITS image pixels into the graphics pipeline of the Unity3d game Engine. The cleaned FITS images are then input to the galaxy modeller pipeline phase, which has a pre-processing script that extracts, pixel, galaxy world position, and colour maps the FITS image pixels. The user can visualise image galaxies in different light bands, control the blend of the image with similar images from different sources or fuse images for a holistic view. The framework will allow users to build tools to realise complex workflows for public outreach and possibly scientific work with increased scalability, near real time interactivity with ease of access. The application is presented in an immersive environment and can use all commercially available headset built on the OpenXR API. The user can select galaxies in the scene, teleport to the galaxy, pan, zoom in/out, and change colour gradients of the galaxy. The findings and design lessons learnt in the implementation of different use cases will contribute to the development and design of game-based visualisation tools in immersive environment by enabling informed decisions to be made.

Keywords: astronomy, visualisation, multiwavelenght dataset, virtual reality

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Authors: Ipek Goktepe, Israa Elnemr, Hammad Asim, Hao Feng, Mosbah Kushad, Hee Park, Sheikha Alzeyara, Mohammad Alhajri

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Food safety management in Qatar is under the shared oversight of multiple agencies in two government ministries (Ministry of Public Health and Ministry of Municipality and Environment). Despite the increasing number and diversity of the food service establishments, no systematic food surveillance system is in place in the country, which creates a gap in terms of determining the food safety attitudes and practices applied in the food service operations. Therefore, this study seeks to partially address this gap through determination of food safety knowledge among food handlers, specifically with respect to food preparation and handling practices, and sanitation methods applied in food service providers (FSPs) and a major market in Doha, Qatar. The study covered a sample of 53 FSPs randomly selected out of 200 FSPs. Face-to-face interviews with managers at participating FSPs were conducted using a 40-questions survey. Additionally, 120 produce handlers who are in direct contact with fresh produce at the major produce market in Doha were surveyed using a questionnaire containing 21 questions. A written informed consent was obtained from each survey participant. The survey data were analyzed using the chi-square test and correlation test. The significance was evaluated at p ˂ 0.05. The results from the FSPs surveys indicated that the average age of FSPs was 11 years, with the oldest and newest being established in 1982 and 2015, respectively. Most managers (66%) had college degree and 68% of them were trained on the food safety management system known as HACCP. These surveys revealed that FSP managers’ training and education level were highly correlated with the probability of their employees receiving food safety training while managers with lower education level had no formal training on food safety for themselves nor for their employees. Casual sit-in and fine dine-in restaurants consistently kept records (100%), followed by fast food (36%), and catering establishments (14%). The produce handlers’ survey results showed that none of the workers had any training on safe produce handling practices. The majority of the workers were in the age range of 31-40 years (37%) and only 38% of them had high-school degree. Over 64% of produce handlers claimed to wash their hands 4-5 times per day but field observations pointed limited handwashing as there was soap in the settings. This observation suggests potential food safety risks since a significant correlation (p ˂ 0.01) between the educational level and the hand-washing practices was determined. This assessment on food safety culture through determination of food and produce handlers' level of knowledge and practices, the first of its kind in Qatar, demonstrated that training and education are important factors which directly impact the food safety culture in FSPs and produce markets. These findings should help in identifying the need for on-site training of food handlers for effective food safety practices in food establishments in Qatar.

Keywords: food safety, food safety culture, food service providers, food handlers

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Authors: Sanjay Ranade

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Traditional film theory assumes the cinema audience in a darkened room where cinema is projected on to a white screen, and the audience suspends their sense of reality. Shifts in audiences due to changes in cultural tastes or trends have been studied for decades. In the past two decades, however, the audience, especially the youth, has shifted to digital media for the consumption of cinema. As a result, not only are audiences watching cinema on different devices, they are also consuming cinema in places and ways never imagined before. Public transport often crowded to the brim with a lot of ambient content, and a variety of workplaces have become sites for cinema viewing. Cinema is watched piecemeal and at different times of the day. Audiences use devices such as mobile phones and tablets to watch cinema. The cinema viewing experience is getting redesigned by the user. The emerging design allows the spectator to not only consume images and narratives but also produce, reproduce, and manipulate existing images and narratives, thereby participating in the process and influencing it. Spectatorship studies stress on the importance of subjectivity when dealing with the structure of the film text and the cultural and psychological implications in the engagement between the spectator and the film text. Indian cinema has been booming and contributing to global movie production significantly. In 2005 film production was 1000 films a year and doubled to 2000 by 2016. Digital technology helped push this growth in 2012. Film studies in India have had a decided Euro-American bias. The studies have chiefly analysed the content for ideological leanings or myth or as reflections of society, societal changes, or articulation of identity or presented retrospectives of directors, actors, music directors, etc. The one factor relegated to the background has been the spectator. If they have been addressed, they are treated as a collective of class or gender. India has a performative tradition going back several centuries. How Indians receive cinema is an important aspect to study with respect to film studies. This exploratory and descriptive study looked at 162 young media students studying cinema at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The students, speaking as many as 20 languages amongst them, were drawn from across the country’s media schools. The study looked at nine film societies registered with the Federation of Film Societies of India. A structured questionnaire was made and distributed online through media teachers for the students. The film societies were approached through the regional office of the FFSI in Mumbai. Lastly, group discussions were held in Mumbai with students and teachers of media. A group consisted of between five and twelve student participants, along with one or two teachers. All the respondents looked at themselves as spectators and shared their experiences of spectators of cinema, providing a very rich insight into Indian conditions of viewing cinema and challenges for cinema ahead.

Keywords: audience, digital, film studies, reception, reception spectatorship

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Authors: Nicholas Anderson, Steven Petersen, Tom Bates, Val Anderson

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Under the multiple-use management regime established in the United States for federally owned lands, government agencies have come under pressure from commercial apiaries to grant permits for the summer pasturing of honeybees on government lands. Federal agencies have struggled to integrate honeybees into their management plans and have little information to make regulations that resolve how many colonies should be allowed in a single location and at what distance sets of hives should be placed. Many conservation groups have voiced their concerns regarding the introduction of honeybees to these natural lands, as they may outcompete and displace native pollinating species. Assessing the quality of an area in regard to its floral resources, pollen, and nectar can be important when attempting to create regulations for the integration of commercial honeybee operations into a native ecosystem. Areas with greater floral resources may be able to support larger numbers of honeybee colonies, while poorer resource areas may be less resilient to introduced disturbances. Attempts are made in this study to determine flower cover using high resolution drone imagery to help assess the floral resource availability to pollinators in high elevation, tall forb communities. This knowledge will help in determining the potential that different areas may have for honeybee pasturing and honey production. Roughly 700 images were captured at 23m above ground level using a drone equipped with a Sony QX1 RGB 20-megapixel camera. These images were stitched together using Pix4D, resulting in a 60m diameter high-resolution mosaic of a tall forb meadow. Using the program ENVI, a supervised maximum likelihood classification was conducted to calculate the percentage of total flower cover and flower cover by color (blue, white, and yellow). A complete vegetation inventory was taken on site, and the major flowers contributing to each color class were noted. An accuracy assessment was performed on the classification yielding an 89% overall accuracy and a Kappa Statistic of 0.855. With this level of accuracy, drones provide an affordable and time efficient method for the assessment of floral cover in large areas. The proximal step of this project will now be to determine the average pollen and nectar loads carried by each flower species. The addition of this knowledge will result in a quantifiable method of measuring pollen and nectar resources of entire landscapes. This information will not only help land managers determine stocking rates for honeybees on public lands but also has applications in the agricultural setting, aiding producers in the determination of the number of honeybee colonies necessary for proper pollination of fruit and nut crops.

Keywords: honeybee, flower, pollinator, remote sensing

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Authors: Soumya Awasthi

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The spread of radical ideology is possible not merely through public meetings, protests, and mosques but even in schools, seminaries, and madrasas. The rhetoric created around the relationship between religion and conflict has been the primary factor for instigating global conflicts – when religion is used to achieve broader objectives. There have been numerous cases of religion-driven conflict around the world be it the Jewish revolt between 66 AD and 628 AD or the 1119 AD the Crusades revolt or during the Cold War period or the rise of right-wing politics in India. Some of the major developments which reiterate the significance of religion in the contemporary times include: (1) The emergence of theocracy in Iran in 1979 (2) Resurgence of world-wide religious beliefs in post-Soviet space. (3) Emergence of transnational terrorism shaped by twisted depiction of Islam by the self proclaimed protectors of the religion. Therefore this paper is premised in the argument that religion has always found itself on the periphery of the discipline of International Relations (IR), and has received less attention than it deserves. The focus of the topic is on the discourses of ‘Deobandi’ and its impact both on the geopolitics of the region- particularly in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan- and also at the global level. Discourse is a mechanism in use since time immemorial and has been a key tool to mobilise masses against the ruling authority. With the help of field surveys, qualitative and analytical method of research in religion and international relations, it has been found that they are numerous madrassas that are running illegally and are unregistered. These seminaries are operating in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA). During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, relation between religion and geopolitics was highlighted when there was a sudden spread of radical ideas, finding support from countries like Saudi Arabia (who funded the campaign) and Pakistan (which organised the Saudi funds and set up training camps, both educational and military). During this period there was a huge influence of Wahabi theology on the madrasas which started with Deoband philosophy and later became a mix of Wahabi (influenced by Ahmad Ibn Hannabal and Ibn Taimmiya) and Deobandi philosophy, tending towards fundamentalism. Later the impact of regional geopolitics had influence on the global geopolitics when the incidents like attack on the US in 2001, bomb blasts in U.K, Indonesia, Turkey, and Israel in 2000s. In the midst of all this, there were several scholars who pointed towards Deobandi Philosophy as one of the drivers in the creation of armed Islamic groups in Pakistan, Afghanistan. Hence this paper will make an attempt to understand the trend as to how Deobandi religious discourses originating from India have changed over the decades, and who the agents of such changes are. It will throw light on Deoband from pre-independence till date to create a narrative around the religious discourses and Deobandi philosophy and its spill over impact on the map of global and regional security.

Keywords: Deobandi School of Thought, radicalization, regional and global geopolitics, religious discourses, Whabi movement

Procedia PDF Downloads 192

Authors: Cinthia G. P. Calou, Franz J. Antezana, Ana I. O. Nicolau, Eveliny S. Martins, Paula R. A. L. Soares, Glauberto S. Quirino, Dayanne R. Oliveira, Priscila S. Aquino, Régia C. M. B. Castro, Ana K. B. Pinheiro

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Introduction: As an integral part of the health-disease process, gestation is a period in which the social insertion of women can influence, in a positive or negative way, the course of the pregnancy-puerperal cycle. Thus, evaluating the quality of life of this population can redirect the implementation of innovative practices in the quest to make them more effective and real for the promotion of a more humanized care. This study explores the associations between the obstetric factors with affected areas of health-related quality of life of pregnant women with habitual risk. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, quantitative study conducted in three public facilities and a private service that provides prenatal care in the city of Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil. The sample consisted of 261 pregnant women who underwent low-risk prenatal care and were interviewed from September to November 2014. The collection instruments were a questionnaire containing socio-demographic and obstetric variables, in addition to the Brazilian version of the Mother scale Generated Index (MGI) characterized by being a specific and objective instrument, consisting of a single sheet and subdivided into three stages. It allows identifying the areas of life of the pregnant woman that are most affected, which could go unnoticed by the pre-formulated measurement instruments. The obstetric data, as well as the data concerning the application of the MGI scale, were compiled and analyzed through the statistical program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20.0. After the compilation, a descriptive analysis was carried out. Then, associations were made between some variables. The tests applied were the Pearson Chi-Square and the Fisher's exact test. The odds ratio was also calculated. These associations were considered statistically significant when the p (probability) value was less than or equal to a level of 5% (α = 0.05) in the tests performed. Results: The variables that negatively reflected the quality of life of the pregnant women and presented a significant association with the polaciuria were: gestational age (p = 0.022) and parity (p = 0.048). Episodes of nausea and vomiting also showed significant with gestational age correlation (p = 0.0001). Evaluating the crossing of stress, we observed a significant association with parity (p = 0.0001). In turn, emotional lability revealed dependence on the variable type of delivery (p = 0.009). Conclusion: The health professionals involved in the assistance to the pregnant woman can understand how the process of gestation is experienced, considering all its peculiar transformations; to meet their individual needs, stimulating their autonomy and their power of choice, envisaging the achievement of a better quality of life related to health in the perspective of health promotion.

Keywords: health-related quality of life, obstetric nursing, pregnant women, prenatal care

Procedia PDF Downloads 263

Authors: Hiromi Kawasaki, Satoko Yamasaki, Mika Iwasa, Tomoko Iki, Akiko Takaki

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In basic nursing, the conditions necessary for maintaining human health -temperature, humidity, illumination, distance from others, noise, moisture, meals, and excretion- were explained. Nursing students often think of these conditions in the context of a hospital room. In order to make students think of these conditions in terms of an environment necessary for maintaining health and preventing illness for residents, in the third year of community health nursing, students learned how to assess and improve the environment -particularly via the case of shelters in the event of a disaster. The importance of environmental management has increased in 2020 as a preventive measure against COVID-19 infection. We verified the effect of the lessons, which was decided to be conducted through distance learning. Sixty third-year nursing college students consented to participate in this study. Environmental standard knowledge for conducting environmental assessment was examined before and after class, and the percentage of correct answers was compared. The χ² test was used for the test, with a 5% significance level employed. Measures were evaluated via a report submitted by the students after class. Student descriptions were analyzed both qualitatively and descriptively with respect to expected health problems and suggestions for improvement. Students have already learned about the environment in terms of basic nursing in their second year. The correct answers for external environmental values concerning interpersonal distance, illumination, noise, and room temperature (p < 0.001) increased significantly after taking the class. Humidity was registered 83.3% before class and 93.3% after class (p = 0.077). Regarding the body, the percentage of students who answered correctly was 70% or more, both before and after the class. The students’ reports included overcrowding, high humidity/high temperature, and the number of toilets as health hazards. Health disorders to be prevented were heat stroke, infectious diseases, and economy class syndrome; improvement methods were recommended for hyperventilation, stretching, hydration, and waiting at home. After the public health nursing class, the students were able to not only propose environmental management of a hospital room but also had an understanding of the environment in terms of the lives of individuals, environmental assessment, and solutions to health problems. The response rate for basic items learned in the second year was already high before and after class, and interpersonal distance and ventilation were described by students. Students were able to use what they learned in basic nursing about the standards of the human mind and body. In the external environment, the memory of specific numerical values was ambiguous. The environment of the hospital room is controlled, and interest in numerical values may decrease. Nursing staff needs to maintain and improve human health as well as hospital rooms. With COVID-19, it was thought that students would continue to not only consider this point in reference to hospital rooms but also in regard to places where people gather. Even in distance learning, students were able to learn the important issues and lessons.

Keywords: environmental assessment, evacuation center, nursing education, nursing students

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Authors: Denise Levy, Gian M. A. A. Sordi

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This web based project focuses on continuing corporate education and improving workers' skills in Brazilian radioactive facilities throughout the country. The potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) shall contribute to improve the global communication in this very large country, where it is a strong challenge to ensure high quality professional information to as many people as possible. The main objective of this system is to provide Brazilian radioactive facilities a complete web-based repository - in Portuguese - for research, consultation and information, offering conditions for learning and improving professional and personal skills. UNIPRORAD is a web based system to offer unified programs and inter-related information about radiological protection programs. The content includes the best practices for radioactive facilities in order to meet both national standards and international recommendations published by different organizations over the past decades: International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN). The website counts on concepts, definitions and theory about optimization and ionizing radiation monitoring procedures. Moreover, the content presents further discussions related to some national and international recommendations, such as potential exposure, which is currently one of the most important research fields in radiological protection. Only two publications of ICRP develop expressively the issue and there is still a lack of knowledge of fail probabilities, for there are still uncertainties to find effective paths to quantify probabilistically the occurrence of potential exposures and the probabilities to reach a certain level of dose. To respond to this challenge, this project discusses and introduces potential exposures in a more quantitative way than national and international recommendations. Articulating ICRP and AIEA valid recommendations and official reports, in addition to scientific papers published in major international congresses, the website discusses and suggests a number of effective actions towards safety which can be incorporated into labor practice. The WEB platform was created according to corporate public needs, taking into account the development of a robust but flexible system, which can be easily adapted to future demands. ICTs provide a vast array of new communication capabilities and allow to spread information to as many people as possible at low costs and high quality communication. This initiative shall provide opportunities for employees to increase professional skills, stimulating development in this large country where it is an enormous challenge to ensure effective and updated information to geographically distant facilities, minimizing costs and optimizing results.

Keywords: distance learning, information and communication technology, nuclear science, radioactive facilities

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Authors: Md. Kabir Azaharul Islam

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Background: The purpose of this interventions was to describe the source and extent to increase health seeking rights and uptake of quality integrated maternal health, family planning and HIV information, clinical-non clinical services, and commodities amongst young people age 10-24 among brothel based Female Sex Worker’s in Bangladesh. Such Knowledge will equip with information to develop more appropriate and effective interventions that address the problem of HIV/AIDS and SRHR within the brothel based female sex worker’s community. Methods: Before start the intervention we observed situation in brothel and identify lack of knowledge about health issues, modern health facility, sexual harassment and violence & health rights. To enable access to the intervention obtained permission from a series of stakeholders within the brothel system. This intervention to the most vulnerable young key people during January 2014 to December, 2015, it designed an intervention that focuses on using peer education and sensitization meeting with self help group leader’s, pimbs, swardarni, house owner, local leaders, law enforcement agencies and target young key people (YKPs) through peer educator’s distributed BCC materials and conducted one to one and group session issues of HIV/AIDS, life skill education, maternal health, sexual reproductive health & rights, gender based violence, STD/STI and drug users in the community. Set up community based satellite clinic to provided clinical-non clinical services and commodities for SRH, FP and HIV including general health among brothel based FSWs. Peer educator frequently move and informed target beneficiaries’ age 10-24 YKPs about satellite clinic as well as time & date in the community. Results: This intervention highly promotes of brothel based FSW utilization of local facility based health providers private and public health facilities.2400 FSWs age 10-24 received information on SRHR, FP and HIV as well as existing health facilities, most of FSWs to received service from traditional healer before intervention. More than 1080 FSWs received clinical-non clinical services and commodities from satellite clinic including 12 ANC, 12 PNC and 25 MR. Most of young FSW age 10-24 are treated bonded girls under swardarni, house owner and pimbs, they have no rights to free movement as per need. As a result, they have no rights for free movement. However the brothel self help group (SHG) has become sensitized flowing this intervention. Conclusions: The majority of female sex workers well being regarding information on SRHR, FP and HIV as well as local health facilities now they feel free to go outside facilities for better health service. not only increased FSWs’ vulnerability to HIV infection and sexual reproductive health rights but also had huge implications for their human rights. This means that even when some clients impinged FSW’s rights (for example avoiding payment for services under the pretext of dissatisfaction), they might not be able to seek redress for fear of being ejected from the brothel. They raise voice national & local level different forum.

Keywords: ANC, HIV, PNC, SRHR

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Authors: Dan Luo

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With the climate change can exacerbate exposure of cultural heritage to climatic stressors, scholars pin their hope on digital technology can help the site avoid surprises. Virtual museum has been regarded as a highly effective technology that enables people to gain enjoyable visiting experience and immersive information about cultural heritage. The technology clearly reproduces the images of the tangible cultural heritage, and the aesthetic experience created by new media helps consumers escape from the realistic environment full of uncertainty. The new cultural anchor has appeared outside the cultural sites. This article synthesizes the international literature on the virtual museum by developing diagrams of Citespace focusing on the tangible cultural heritage and the alarmingly situation has emerged in the process of resolving climate change: (1) Digital collections are the different cultural assets for public. (2) The media ecology change people ways of thinking and meeting style of cultural heritage. (3) Cultural heritage may live forever in the digital world. This article provides a typical practice information to manage cultural heritage in a changing climate—the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in the far northwest of China, which is a worldwide cultural heritage site famous for its remarkable and sumptuous murals. This monument is a typical synthesis of art containing 735 Buddhist temples, which was listed by UNESCO as one of the World Cultural Heritage sites. The caves contain some extraordinary examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years - the architectural form, the sculptures in the caves, and the murals on the walls, all together constitute a wonderful aesthetic experience. Unfortunately, this magnificent treasure cave has been threatened by increasingly frequent dust storms and precipitation. The Dunhuang Academy has been using digital technology since the last century to preserve these immovable cultural heritages, especially the murals in the caves. And then, Dunhuang culture has become a new media culture after introduce the art to the world audience through exhibitions, VR, video, etc. The paper chooses qualitative research method that used Nvivo software to encode the collected material to answer this question. The author paid close attention to the survey in Dunhuang City, including participated in 10 exhibition and 20 salons that are Dunhuang-themed on network. What’s more, 308 visitors were interviewed who are fans of the art and have experienced Dunhuang culture online(6-75 years).These interviewees have been exposed to Dunhuang culture through different media, and they are acutely aware of the threat to this cultural heritage. The conclusion is that the unique halo of the cultural heritage was always emphasized, and digital media breeds twin brothers of cultural heritage. In addition, the digital media make it possible for cultural heritage to reintegrate into the daily life of the masses. Visitors gain the opportunity to imitate the mural figures through enlarged or emphasized images but also lose the perspective of understanding the whole cultural life. New media construct a new life aesthetics apart from the Authorized heritage discourse.

Keywords: cultural ecology, digital twins, life aesthetics, media

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Authors: Mustafa Mutahari, Nao Sugiki, Kojiro Matsuo

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The four decades of war, lack of job opportunities, poverty, lack of services, and natural disasters in different provinces of Afghanistan have contributed to a rapid increase in the population of Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. Population census has not been conducted since 1979, the first and last population census in Afghanistan. However, according to population estimations by Afghan authorities, the population of Kabul has been estimated at more than 4 million people, whereas the city was designed for two million people. Although the major transport mode of Kabul residents is public transport, responsible authorities within the country failed to supply the required means of transportation systems for the city. Besides, informal resettlement, lack of intersection control devices, presence of illegal vendors on streets, presence of illegal and unstandardized on-street parking and bus stops, driver`s unprofessional behavior, weak traffic law enforcement, and blocked roads and sidewalks have contributed to the extreme traffic congestion of Kabul. In 2018, the government of Afghanistan approved the Kabul city Urban Design Framework (KUDF), a vision towards the future of Kabul, which provides strategies and design guidance at different scales to direct urban development. Considering traffic congestion of the city and its budget limitations, the KUDF proposes a BRT route network with seven lines to reduce the traffic congestion, and it is said to facilitate more than 50% of Kabul population to benefit from this service. Based on the KUDF, it is planned to increase the BRT mode share from 0% to 17% and later to 30% in medium and long-term planning scenarios, respectively. Therefore, a detailed research study is needed to evaluate the proposed system before the implementation stage starts. The integrated land-use transport model is an effective tool to evaluate the Kabul BRT because of its future assessment capabilities that take into account the interaction between land use and transportation. This research aims to analyze and evaluate the proposed BRT route network with the application of an integrated land-use and transportation model. The research estimates the population distribution and travel behavior of Kabul within small boundary scales. The actual road network and land-use detailed data of the city are used to perform the analysis. The BRT corridors are evaluated not only considering its impacts on the spatial interactions in the city`s transportation system but also on the spatial developments. Therefore, the BRT are evaluated with the scenarios of improving the Kabul transportation system based on the distribution of land-use or spatial developments, planned development typology and population distribution of the city. The impacts of the new improved transport system on the BRT network are analyzed and the BRT network is evaluated accordingly. In addition, the research also focuses on the spatial accessibility of BRT stops, corridors, and BRT line beneficiaries, and each BRT stop and corridor are evaluated in terms of both access and geographic coverage, as well.

Keywords: accessibility, BRT, integrated land-use and transport model, travel behavior, spatial development

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Authors: Ummeh Saika, Toshio Kikuchi

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Population growth and urbanization is a global phenomenon. As the rapid progress of technology, many cities in the international community are facing serious problems of urbanization. There is no doubt that the urbanization will proceed to have significant impact on the ecology, economy and society at local, regional, and global levels. The inhabitants of Dhaka city suffer from lack of proper urban facilities. The green spaces are needed for different functional and leisure activities of the urban dwellers. Again growing densification, a number of green space are transferred into open space in the Dhaka city. As a result greenery of the city's decreases gradually. Moreover, the existing green space is frequently threatened by encroachment. The role of green space, both at community and city level, is important to improve the natural environment and social ties for future generations. Therefore, it seems that the green space needs to be more effective for public interaction. The main objective of this study is to address the effectiveness of urban green space (Urban Park) of Dhaka City. Two approaches are selected to fulfill the study. Firstly, analyze the long-term spatial changes of urban green space using GIS and secondly, investigate the relationship of urban park network with physical and social environment. The case study site covers eight urban parks of Dhaka metropolitan area of Bangladesh. Two aspects (Physical and Social) are applied for this study. For physical aspect, satellite images and aerial photos of different years are used to find out the changes of urban parks. And for social aspect, methods are used as questionnaire survey, interview, observation, photographs, sketch and previous information of parks to analyze about the social environment of parks. After calculation of all data by descriptive statistics, result is shown by maps using GIS. According to physical size, parks of Dhaka city are classified into four types: Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large parks. The observed result showed that the physical and social environment of urban parks varies with their size. In small size parks physical environment is moderate by newly tree plantation and area expansion. However, in medium size parks physical environment are poor, example- tree decrease, exposed soil increase. On the other hand, physical environment of large size and extra large size parks are in good condition, because of plenty of vegetation and well management. Again based on social environment, in small size parks people mainly come from surroundings area and mainly used as waiting place. In medium-size parks, people come to attend various occasion from different places. In large size and extra large size parks, people come from every part of the city area for tourism purpose. Urban parks are important source of green space. Its influence both physical and social environment of urban area. Nowadays green space area gradually decreases and transfer into open space. The consequence of this research reveals that changes of urban parks influence both physical and social environment and also impact on urban life.

Keywords: physical environment, social environment, urban life, urban parks

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Authors: Marie Alexandre, Jean Bernatchez

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This paper focuses on the complexity of the face-to-face-to-distance learning transition process. Our research action aims to support the process of transition from classroom to distance learning for teachers in higher education with regard to pedagogical practices that can meet the various needs of students using digital learning environments. In Quebec and elsewhere in the world, the advent of digital education is helping to transform teaching, which is significantly changing the role of teachers. While distance education implies a dissociation of teaching and learning to a variable degree in space and time, distance education (DE) is becoming more and increasingly becoming a preferred option for maintaining the delivery of certain programs and providing access to programs and to provide access to quality activities throughout Quebec. Given the impact of teaching practices on educational success, this paper reports on the results of three research objectives: 1) To document teachers' knowledge of teaching in distance education through the design, experimentation and production of a repertoire of the determinants of pedagogical practices in response to students' needs. 2) Explain, according to a gendered logic, the adequacy between the pedagogical practices implemented in distance learning and the response to the profiles and needs expressed by students using digital learning environments; 3) Produce a model of a support approach during the process of transition from classroom to distance learning at the college level. A mixed methodology, i.e., a quantitative component (questionnaire survey) and a qualitative component (explanatory interviews and living lab) was used in cycles that were part of an ongoing validation process. The intervention includes the establishment of a professional collaboration group, webinars training webinars for the participating teachers on the didactic issue of knowledge-teaching in FAD, the didactic use of technologies, and the differentiated socialization models of educational success in college education. All of the tools developed will be used by partners in the target environment as well as by all teacher educators, students in initial teacher training, practicing teachers, and the general public. The results show that access to training leading to qualifications and commitment to educational success reflects the existing links between the people in the educational community. The relational stakes of being present in distance education take on multiple configurations and different dimensions of learning testify to needs and realities that are sometimes distinct depending on the life cycle. This project will be of interest to partners in the targeted field as well as to all teacher trainers, students in initial teacher training, practicing college teachers, and to university professors. The entire educational community will benefit from digital resources in education. The scientific knowledge resulting from this action research will benefit researchers in the fields of pedagogy, didactics, teacher training and pedagogy in higher education in a digital context.

Keywords: action research, didactics, digital learning environment, distance learning, higher education, pedagogy technological, pedagogical content knowledge

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Authors: P. H. G. J. Pushpakumara, A. M. P. Adikari, S. U. B. Tennakoon, Ranil Abeysinghe, Andrew Dawson

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Introduction: Deliberate Self-harm (DSH) is a global public health problem. Since 1950, suicide rates in Sri Lanka are among the highest national rates in the world. It has become an increasingly common response to emotional distress in young adults. However, it remains unclear the reason for this occurrence. Objectives: The descriptive component of this study was conducted to identify of epidemiological pattern of DSH and suicide in Kurunegala District (KD). Assessment of association between DSH socio-cultural, economical and psychological factors were the objectives of the case control component. Methods: Prospective data collection of DSH and suicide was conducted at all (46) hospitals and all (28) police stations in the KD for thirty six months, from 1st January 2011, as the descriptive component. Case control component was conducted at T.H. Kurunegala (THK) for eighteen months duration, from 1st July 2011. Cases (n=439) were randomly selected from a block of 7 consecutively admitted consenting DSP patients using a computer program. Age, sex and residential divisional secretariat division one to one matched, individuals were randomly selected as controls from patients presented to Out Patient Department. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I and II Disorders was used to diagnose psychiatric disorders. Validated tools were used to measure other constructs. Results: Suicide incidences in KD were, 21.6, 20.7 and 24.3 per 100,000 population in 2011- 2013 (Male:female ratio 5.7, 4.4 and 6.4). 60% of suicides were due to poisoning. DSP incidences were 205.4, 248.3 and 202.5 per 100,000 population in 2011- 2013. Highest age standardized male DSP incidence reported in 20-24 years (769.6/100,000) and female in 15-19 years (1304.0/100,000). Bing married (age >25 years), monthly family income less than Rs.30,000, not achieving G.C.E (O/L) qualifications, a school drop-out, not in a permanent position in occupation, being a manual and an own account worker, were significantly associated with DSP. Perceiving the quality of relationship as bad or very bad with parents, spouse/ girlfriend/ boyfriend and sibling as associated with 8, 40 and 10.5 times higher risk respectively. Feeling and experiences of neglect, other emotional abuses, feeling of insecurity with the family, in child hood, and having a contact history carried an excess risk for DSP. Cases were less likely to seek help. Further, they had significantly lower scores for life skills and life skills application ability. 25.6% DSH patients had DSM TR axis-I and/or TR axis-II disorder. The presence of psychiatric disorder carried 7.7 (95% CI 4.3 – 13.8) times higher risk for DSP. Conclusion: In general, pattern of DSH and suicide is, unique, different from developed, upper and middle income and lower and middle income countries. It is a learned way of expressing emotions in difficult situations of vulnerable people.

Keywords: deliberate self-harm, help-seeking, life-skills, mental- health, psychological, social, suicide

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Authors: Liya Abraham

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Eritrea is located along the Red Sea, north of the Horn of Africa, between Djibouti and Sudan and has a population of about 3.2 million as of 2010. It has six administrative regions; Anseba, Debub, Debubawi K’eyih Bahri, Gash-Barka, Ma'akel, and Semenawi K’eyih Bahri. Eritrea has got its independence in 1991 after 30 years war of liberation. The country is blessed with various medicinal flora and fauna, and marine and terrestrial biodiversity. Traditional Medicine (TM) has been an integral part of the Eritrean culture for centuries. So far, more than 19 TM modalities have been recognized, and are broadly categorized as; herbal, procedure-based and spiritual. Despite the availability of modern medicine to the majority of the population, TM is still widely practiced. The rationale behind widespread use is accessibility, affordability and cultural acceptability. Hence, TM is of great contribution to the Eritrean health care system. As a matter of fact, harnessing the potential contribution of effective and safe TM in order to attain Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has been emphasized in the WHO TM strategy 2014-2023. The Eritrean TM, however, was operating without regulation and reliable scientific justification behind its safety and efficacy. Thus, the Ministry of Health (MoH), in recognition of the role of TM in primary healthcare and safeguard public health, established a regulatory body for TM so-called as Traditional Medicine Unit (TMU) in 2012. The mission of the unit is to ensure rational TM use through an integrated health service delivery system and contribute to the country’s economic and social development. The unit has established its national TM policy in 2017. The activities of the unit are guided by the National TM Advisory Committee (TMAC), responsible for the provision of technical assistance and advisory role. Moreover, the Legal Framework and Code of Ethics and Practice which provide a legal basis for the regulation of TM have also been drafted. In recognition of the importance of TM research and development, the unit launched a nationwide TM survey in 2017 and had surveyed two zones (Gash-Barka and Debub). The findings of the survey were subjected to a research dissemination workshop and publication in international journals. Furthermore, TM-related adverse events reporting tool (Green Form) aiming to guide regulatory interventions and researches have been established by the unit, and ever since reports are flowing. The unit has also been offering training to THPs, pharmacy students and health care professionals regarding TM and its regulatory activities. In addition, as part of the establishment of the national medicinal plants' database and herbal monograph, more than 329 and 30 medicinal plants, have been compiled respectively. In conclusion, TM is still widely accepted and practiced in Eritrea. The TMU ever since its establishment is endeavoring to ensure the safety and efficacy of the TM, and its integration in the mainstream health service delivery system.

Keywords: efficacy, regulation, safety, traditional medicine, traditional medicine unit, universal health coverage

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Authors: Alexis D'Agostino, Amanda Pomeroy

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Background: Resource availability is essential to effective implementation of national nutrition policies. To this end, the SPRING Project has collected and analyzed budget data from government ministries in Uganda, international donors, and other nutrition implementers to provide data for the first time on what funding is actually allocated to implement nutrition activities named in the national nutrition plan. Methodology: USAID’s SPRING Project used the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP) as the starting point for budget analysis. Thorough desk reviews of public budgets from government, donors, and NGOs were mapped to activities named in the UNAP and validated by key informants (KIs) across the stakeholder groups. By relying on nationally-recognized and locally-created documents, SPRING provided a familiar basis for discussions to increase credibility and local ownership of findings. Among other things, the KIs validated the amount, source, and type (specific or sensitive) of funding. When only high-level budget data were available, KIs provided rough estimates of the percentage of allocations that were actually nutrition-relevant, allowing creation of confidence intervals around some funding estimates. Results: After validating data and narrowing in on estimates of funding to nutrition-relevant programming, researchers applied a formula to estimate overall nutrition allocations. In line with guidance by the SUN Movement and its three-step process, nutrition-specific funding was counted at 100% of its allocation amount, while nutrition sensitive funding was counted at 25%. The vast majority of nutrition funding in Uganda is off-budget, with over 90 percent of all nutrition funding is provided outside of the government system. Overall allocations are split nearly evenly between nutrition-specific and –sensitive activities. In FY 2013/14, the two-year study’s baseline year, on- and off-budget funding for nutrition was estimated to be around 60 million USD. While the 60 million USD allocations compare favorably to the 66 million USD estimate of the cost of the UNAP, not all activities are sufficiently funded. Those activities with a focus on behavior change were the most underfunded. In addition, accompanying qualitative research suggested that donor funding for nutrition activities may shift government funding into other areas of work, making it difficult to estimate the sustainability of current nutrition investments.Conclusions: Beyond providing figures, these estimates can be used together with the qualitative results of the study to explain how and why these amounts were allocated for particular activities and not others, examine the negotiation process that occurred, and suggest options for improving the flow of finances to UNAP activities for the remainder of the policy tenure. By the end of the PBN study, several years of nutrition budget estimates will be available to compare changes in funding over time. Halfway through SPRING’s work, there is evidence that country stakeholders have begun to feel ownership over the ultimate findings and some ministries are requesting increased technical assistance in nutrition budgeting. Ultimately, these data can be used within organization to advocate for more and improved nutrition funding and to improve targeting of nutrition allocations.

Keywords: budget, nutrition, financing, scale-up

Procedia PDF Downloads 409