Search results for: social workers

Authors: Basak Ozkendirci

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The discovery of chemical dyes, the development of regenerated fibers, and warp knitting technology have enormous effects on the fashion world. The trends created by the information obtained in the context of various studies today shape the fashion world. Trend analysts must follow scientific developments as well as sociological events, political developments and artwork to obtain healthy data on trends. Digital printing technologies have changed the dynamics of textile printing production and also the style of printed designs. Fashion designers already have started design 3D printed accessories and garments. The research fields like the internet of things, artificial intelligence, hologram technologies, mechatronics, energy storage systems, nanotechnology are seen as the technologies that will change the social life and economy of the future. It is clear that research carried out in these areas will affect the textiles of the future and whereat the trends of fashion. The article aims to create a future vision for trend researchers and designers by giving clues about the changes to be experienced in the fashion world. In the first part of the article, information about the scientific studies that are thought to shape the future is given, and the forecasting about how the inventions that can be obtained from these studies can be adapted at the textile are presented. In the second part of the article, examples of how the new generation of innovative textiles will affect the daily life experience of the user are given.

Keywords: biotextiles, fashion trends, nanotextiles, new materials, smart textiles, techno textiles

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Authors: Yeukai Mupangavanhu

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The paper examines the concept of ubuntu and the extent to which it can play a role in ensuring fairness and justice in contractual relationships. Courts are expected to balance sanctity of contract and fairness. Public policy is currently a mechanism which is used by courts when balancing the above two competing interests. It, however, generally favours the freedom and sanctity of contract. The question which is addressed in this paper is whether the concept of ubuntu is an alternative mechanism that may be used to mitigate the sometimes harsh and unfair consequences of the doctrine of freedom and sanctity of contract. A comparative study and case analysis is the methodology that is used in this article. Unfairness in contracts is generally related to the problem of inequality in bargaining power underscored by deeply entrenched social and economic inequalities that are a consequence of apartheid and patriarchy. The transformative nature of the constitution demands the inclusion of African legal ideas and values in the legal order. There is a need for the harmonisation of western ideals which are based on the classical model of law of contract with relevant African principles. In order to attain a transformative legal order that promotes a societal transformation and enhances the lives of everyone courts cannot continue to frown upon African values. Ubuntu has the potential of steering the law of contract in a more equitable direction. The substantive rules of contract law undoubtedly need to be infused with the notion of ubuntu. The reconciliation of Western and African values is at the heart of legal transformation.

Keywords: fairness, sanctity of contract, contractual justice, transformative constitutionalism

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Authors: Lal Hussain, Wajid Aziz, Sajjad Ahmed Nadeem, Saeed Arif Shah, Abdul Majid

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Brain electrical activity as reflected in Electroencephalography (EEG) have been analyzed and diagnosed using various techniques. Among them, complexity measure, nonlinearity, disorder, and unpredictability play vital role due to the nonlinear interconnection between functional and anatomical subsystem emerged in brain in healthy state and during various diseases. There are many social and economical issues of alcoholic abuse as memory weakness, decision making, impairments, and concentrations etc. Alcoholism not only defect the brains but also associated with emotional, behavior, and cognitive impairments damaging the white and gray brain matters. A recently developed signal analysis method i.e. Multiscale Permutation Entropy (MPE) is proposed to estimate the complexity of long-range temporal correlation time series EEG of Alcoholic and Control subjects acquired from University of California Machine Learning repository and results are compared with MSE. Using MPE, coarsed grained series is first generated and the PE is computed for each coarsed grained time series against the electrodes O1, O2, C3, C4, F2, F3, F4, F7, F8, Fp1, Fp2, P3, P4, T7, and T8. The results computed against each electrode using MPE gives higher significant values as compared to MSE as well as mean rank differences accordingly. Likewise, ROC and Area under the ROC also gives higher separation against each electrode using MPE in comparison to MSE.

Keywords: electroencephalogram (EEG), multiscale permutation entropy (MPE), multiscale sample entropy (MSE), permutation entropy (PE), mann whitney test (MMT), receiver operator curve (ROC), complexity measure

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Authors: Diana Bardhi

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Road safety is an essential part of the economic and social development of any industrialized country. Decisions to maintain and improve the reliability, functionality of infrastructure structures can only be achieved through integrated road life cycle planning and management. There has always been a tendency to review road maintenance strategies, but there is still no serious and reliable administration due to not only insufficient funds but also problems in the proper reorganization of this system. The safety and performance of the road system depend on the ongoing activity of road maintenance management. For it to be effective, it is necessary to intervene before the degradation has caused irreparable damage or damage with a high economic cost of repairs. Investments in road infrastructure during 2006-2014 show that the life of these projects presents problems related to the maintenance and management of life cycle performance in a wide range of constituent elements. Maintenance planning includes various problems that depend on the degree of degradation of asphalt layers, the degree of damage to road structures (bridges, tunnels, culverts, and the economic planning of resources for their repair). The purpose of this study is first to provide a brief overview of the problems in the field of maintenance and life cycle management of road infrastructure investments, proposing ways to reorganize the sector of administration and maintenance of ongoing roads and secondly testing and evaluating the work and nature of standards of different types of road infrastructure projects, through a methodology consisting of a) development, b) data collection, and c) analysis.

Keywords: infrastructure, maintenance, depreciation, efficiency

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Authors: S. M. Amin Hosseini, Ana Blanco, Albert De La Fuente, Sergio Cavalaro

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In emergency situations, it is fundamental to provide with a safe shelter to the population affected. However, the lack of resources and short time often represent a barrier difficult to overcome. A sustainable, rapid and low-cost construction technique is earthbag construction. This technique has spread as an alternative to the construction of emergency shelter, social housing, and even ecovillages. The earthbag construction consists of introducing soil in degradable bags that are stacked to form adobe structures. The present study aims to assess characteristics of the earthbag construction technique based on sustainability requirements and features of other methods used for temporary housing. In this case, after defining the sustainability criteria and emergency situation necessities, this study compares earthbag construction with other types of prefabricated temporary housing. Finally, the most suitable conditions for applying this technique based on the particular local properties and second life scenarios of superadobe temporary housing. The results of the study contribute to promote the earthbag and superadobe techniques as sustainable alternatives for temporary housing. However, the sustainability index of this technology highly depends on affected local conditions and characteristics. Consequently, in order to achieve a high sustainability index, emergency managers need to decide about this technology based on the highlighted results of this study, attention to the importance of specific local conditions and next functions of temporary housing.

Keywords: temporary housing, temporary shelter, earthbag, superadobe, sustainability, emergency

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Authors: Isaac Kwaku Adu, Jacob Doku Tetteh, John Joseph Puthenkalam, Kwabena Effah Antwi

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The continuous increase in population implies increase in food demand. There is, therefore, the need to increase agricultural production and other forest products to ensure food security and economic development. This paper employs the three-level intensity analysis to assess the total change of land-use in two-time intervals (1986-2002 and 2002-2017), the net change and swap as well as gross gains and losses in the two intervals. The results revealed that the overall change in the 31-year period was greater in the second period (2002-2017). Agriculture and forest categories lost in the first period while the other land class gained. However, in the second period agriculture and built-up increased greatly while forest, water bodies and thick bushes/shrubland experienced loss. An assessment revealed a reduction of forest in both periods but was greater in the second period and expansion of agricultural land was recorded as population increases. The pixels gaining built-up targeted agricultural land in both intervals, it also targeted thick bushes/shrubland and waterbody in the second period only. Built-up avoided forest in both intervals as well as waterbody and thick bushes/shrubland. To help in developing the best land-use strategies/policies, a further validation of the social factors is necessary.

Keywords: agricultural land, forest, Ghana, land-use, intensity analysis, remote sensing

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Authors: Yuan Fang, Wang-Ming Li, Yi-Chen Ruan

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Rural healthy old-age care for urban elderly who go to surrounding villages on vacation is a new mode of old-age care in developed coastal areas of China. Such villages that receive urban elderly can be called old-caring villages. Due to the popularity of healthy old-age care in rural areas, more and more urban elderly people participate in the ranks of rural old-age care, resulting in excessive number of tourists in some old-caring villages, exceeding the carrying capacity of the village. Excessive passenger flow may damage the ecological environment, social environment, and facilities environment of the village, and even affect the development potential of the village pension industry. On the basis of on-site investigation and questionnaire survey, this paper summarizes the willingness and behavioral characteristics of the urban elderly population and finds that it will have a certain impact on the old-caring villages in the process of pension vacation in the aspects of ecology, construction, society, and economy. According to the influence of tourists, the paper constructs a system of capacity restriction factors of the old-caring villages, which includes four types: ecological environment capacity, policy environment capacity, perceived congestion capacity, and village service capacity, and fourteen specific indicators. It will provide a theoretical basis for reasonable control of the development scale of the old-caring villages.

Keywords: old-caring villages, restriction factors system, tourists' influence, environmental capacity

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Authors: Kalluru Maheswaramma, Putta Padma

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This study makes an attempt to demonstrate the wondrous world of the upwardly middle black community in Gloria Naylor’s Linden Hills. Gloria Naylor’s first novel The Women of Brewster Place is about the working class and Linden Hills about middle-class Black America. Naylor believes their serenity that is lost in the middle or working class black people as they move into the upper patriarchal society. Naylor challenges the different forms of superiority, homophobia, and chauvinism, interracial bias, and the like, which plague a community so significantly trying to be acceptable in the larger white community. In an ironic twist, Naylor creates characters that recognize their desire for a solid black community but who in reality ignore blackness and negate any emergent sign of its development. Linden Hills is an expose of the wealthy and spiritually dissolute upper class. Linden Hills is an examination of an upper-middle-class African American community in which women are largely exploited or invisible and in which men have, in the course of upward mobility, sacrificed their racial identity and their essence. Linden Hills is a social world, which includes firm stratification, false values, and an immobilizing impact on its residents. Touching a brief note upon the origin and development of African American Literature as well a note on the chosen writer and her works, the paper proceeds to depict the middle-class black community of Linden Hills.

Keywords: gloria naylor, linden hills, African American community, the middle black community

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Authors: Athira Babu, M. Nazeer

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Concrete is the most common and versatile construction material used in any type of civil engineering structure. The durability and strength characteristics of concrete make it more desirable among any other construction materials. The manufacture and use of concrete produces wide range of environmental and social consequences. The major component in concrete, cement accounts for roughly 5 % of global CO2 emissions. In order to improve the environmental friendliness of concrete, suitable substitutes are added to concrete. The present study deals with GGBS and silica fume as supplementary cementitious materials. The strength and durability studies were conducted in this ternary blended concrete. Several mixes were adopted with varying percentages of Silica Fume i.e., 5%, 10% and 15%. Binary mix with 50% GGBS was also prepared. GGBS content has been kept constant for the rest of mixes. There is an improvement in compressive strength with addition of Silica Fume.Maximum workability, split tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, flexural strength and impact resistance are obtained for GGBS binary blend. For durability studies, maximum sulphate resistance,carbonation resistance andresistance to chloride ion penetration are obtained for ternary blended concrete. Partial replacement of GGBS and Silica Fume reduces the environmental effects, produces economical and eco-friendly concrete. The study showed that for strength characteristics, binary blended concrete showed better performance while for durability study ternary blend performed better.

Keywords: concrete, GGBS, silica fume, ternary blend

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Authors: Imran Ullah Imran

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Language contact is a familiar concept in the present global world. Across the globe, languages get mixed up at different levels. Borrowing, code-switching are some of the means through which languages interact. This study examines Pashto-English contact at word and syllable levels. By recording the speech of 30 Pashto native speakers, selected via 'social network' sampling, the study located a number of Pashto-English compound words, which is a unique contact of its kind. In data analysis, tokens were categorized on the basis of their pattern and morphological structure. The study shows that Pashto-English Bilingual Compound words (BCWs) are very prevalent in the Pashto language. The study also found that the BCWs in Pashto are completely productive and have their own meanings. It also shows that the dominant pattern of hybrid words in Pashto is the conjugation of an independent English root word followed by a Pashto inflectional morpheme, which contributes to the core semantic content of the construction. The BCWs construction shows that how both the languages are closer to each other. Pashto-English contact results into bilingual compound and hybrid words, which forms a considerable number of tokens in the present-day spoken Pashto. On the basis of these findings, the study assumes that the same phenomenon may increase with the passage of time that would, in turn, result in the formation of more bilingual compound or hybrid words.

Keywords: code-mixing, bilingual compound words, pashto-english contact, hybrid words, inflectional lexical morpheme

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Authors: Emmanuel Anim

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Ghana has been touted as an oasis of peace in Africa following her relatively peaceful democratic elections, proliferated number of the media, and freedom of speech. Besides, the former Gold Coast country is yet to experience any major incidence of terrorism. Nevertheless, the somewhat occasional simmering violence and conflicts arising from political, religious and chieftaincy skirmishes, largely at its northern part portrays that it is not immune to the political violence of terrorism. The predominantly-based qualitative research reveals that current conditions of socio-politico-economic, and religious issues in Ghana places the West African country on the possible sidelines of the phenomenon of terrorism, when its status quo is juxtaposed with the factors enumerated to have culminated in the rise of Boko Haram, and its accompanying insurgency in Nigeria. Arguing from the perspective of the theory of Social Movement, the analyses and discussions note that the current state of affairs in Ghana could foster domestic terrorism in the country. What is more, the research shows that Ghana faces threats from transnational terrorism given the tendency for elements in Ghana to sympathize and subscribe to the ideological dictates and appeals from Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations. As a consequence, the study recommends that adverse conditions of poverty, poor governance, unemployment, and rising levels of (Islamic) religious radicalization should be remedied by economic improvements, good governance, job creation, and de-radicalization programs by government officials to aid mitigate the incidence of terrorism in the country.

Keywords: Boko Haram, Ghana, Nigeria, terrorism

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Authors: Liudmila A.Guzikova

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Being federative state Russia includes more than 80 subjects which are widely diverse by climatic conditions, demographic characteristics, cultural traditions, intensity of migration, economic development and investment attraction and other parameters. Now, in the regions of the country all forms of housing problem are present - housing mismatch to sanitary and hygienic standards, overcrowding, forced residence in financially burdensome housing, homelessness, -although the extent of these symptoms varies widely. Heterogeneity of regional conditions in combination with specifics of regional housing situation requires to concentrate the study of housing problem on the regional level. Traditionally housing market and mortgage are considered as the instruments of housing problem solving. The question arises how the housing market and mortgage market contribute to solving the housing problem in the regions of Russia. Though the purchase of dwelling in ownership should not be regarded as a universal method of the housing problem solving, the purchase of dwelling both by own funds or by use of mortgage can reduce the problem and enhance public satisfaction of living conditions. The aim of the study is to identify differences and similarities in the development of regional housing markets and mortgage lending in the regions of Russia and to evaluate their impact on the status of the housing problem. To achieve the aim of the study the methods of correlation and regression analysis are used. The data of federal statistics constitutes the information base of research. The results of the study contribute to better understanding of the interrelations in housing sphere and can be used to work out social and economic development programs in the regions.

Keywords: housing market, housing problem, mortgage, regional economy

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Authors: Mohammad Mirzaei

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The term "modernism" is at the heart of debates about 20th-century literature and critical theory. Astradur Eysteinsson argues here that the notion of modernity does not emerge directly from the literature it encompasses but is actually a product of critical practices related to non-traditional literature. By intervening in and relating them to modernist works and contemporary literary theories, Esteinsson takes a comprehensive look at the idea of modernity. Eysteinsson critically examines various expressions of modernism in the rich spectrum of American, British, and European literature, criticism, and theory. He first explored a number of modernist paradigms and found a conflict between modernism's potential for cultural subversion and its relatively conservative status as a formalist project. In turn, he sees these paradigms as interpretations and inventions of literary history. Seen in this way, modernism presents both a historical change in the literary scene and the context of this change. Imbued with the connotations of tradition and modernity, modernity fulfills its primary function. Highlights and defines the complex relationship between history and post-realist literature. Eysteinsson focuses on how concepts of modernism guide our understanding of literature and literary history and how they influence the evaluation of experimental and 3post realist works in literature and art. He discusses in detail the relationship between modernism and the key terms postmodernism, avant-garde, and realism. In staging a crisis of subject and reference, modernity is not a form of discourse but its subversion, the "other" that may reveal important aspects of our social and linguistic experience in Western culture.

Keywords: literature, modernism, western cultures, postmodernism

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Authors: Fahimeh Khatami, Elham Sanagar Darbani, Behnosh Khir Khah, R.Khatami

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Rural and ruralism is one of the residential forms that form in special natural areas, and the Interaction between their internal and external forces cause developments and changes that are different in time and space. Over time, historical developments, social and economic changes in the political system cause developments and rapid growth of the rural to urban settlements. However, criteria for recognizing rural settlements to the city are different in every land. One of the problems in modern plan is inattention to indicators and criteria of changing these settlements to the city. The method of this research is a type of applied and compilation research and library and field methods are used in it. And also qualitative and quantitative indicators have been provided while collecting documents and studies from rural districts like Dehnow, Virani, Abardeh, Zoshk, Nowchah, Jaqarq in tourism area of Mashhad. In this research, the used tool is questionnaire and for analyzing quantitative variables by Morris and Mac Granahan examination, the importance of each factor and the development settlements are evaluated, and the rural that can convert to the city was defined. In result, according to Askalvgram curve obtained from analysis, it was found that among the mentioned villages, Virani and Nowchah rural districts have this ability to convert to the city; Zoshk rural district will be converting to the city in future and Dehnow, Abardeh and Jaqarq rural districts won’t be converting.

Keywords: rural settlements, city, indicators, Torqabe and Shandiz rural districts

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Authors: Md. Shafiullah

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This study delves into the evolving landscape of urban childcare in Bangladesh, focusing on the experiences and challenges faced by parents in Dhaka city. This paper argues that the traditional childcare arrangement of city families is inadequate to meet the development needs of children. The study aims to explore the childcare challenges faced by urban parents as they transition from traditional family-based childcare networks to alternative caregiving arrangements amidst urbanization, economic shifts, and social transformations. Utilizing a mixed-method research approach, combining quantitative surveys (n = 200) and four qualitative interviews, the research examines the parental viewpoints on childcare practices and the role of societal norms and values. The study finds childcare crises in both the family and daycare settings. In family care, caregiving suffers from the less availability of grandparents, a lack of skills of caregivers, and a lack of child interaction. As for the daycare, it is affected by the absence of appropriate policies, a lack of quality, health and safety concerns, affordability issues, and cultural concerns. Additionally, the study highlights inadequacies in childcare policies and regulatory frameworks, calling for comprehensive reforms to address the childcare vacuum in urban areas. By shifting the focus from developed to developing countries, this study contributes to the literature and suggests policy implications for Bangladesh and beyond.

Keywords: childcare, child development, childcare policy, daycare, Bangladesh

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Authors: Vilasinee Jintalikhitdee, Saowapa Phaithayawat

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The research on “The Way of Life of the Civil Servant Community under the Bureau of the Royal Household” aims to study 1) the way of life of the people who live in the civil servant community in Tha Wasukri, and 2) the model of community administration of civil servants under the Bureau of the Royal Household. This research is conducted qualitatively and quantitatively by collecting data from interviews, focus group discussion, participant and non-participant observation along with the data from the questionnaire based on age groups which include elder group, working age group and youth group. The result of the research shows that the origin of this community is related to the history during the Rama V’s reign. It has been a harbor for the king to boat in any royal ceremonies; this custom is still maintained until today. The status or position of person who serves the king in terms of working is often inherited from the bureau of the Royal Household based on his/her consanguinity and, hence, further receives the rights to live in the Tha Wasukri area. Therefore, this community has some special characteristics demonstrating the way of living influenced by the regulation of the Bureau of the Royal Household such as respecting elders and interdependence in which there is internal social organization with the practice of bureaucracy in going in and out the community. The person who has rights to live here must be friendly to everybody so that this community will be a safe place for lives and property. The administration based on the model of Bangkok for local administration was used as an external structure only, but the way of living still follows the practice of the Bureau of the Royal Household.

Keywords: way of life, community, Tha Wasukri, Bureau of the Royal Household

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Authors: Elkington Sibusiso Mnguni

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In South Africa, mining has been a key economic sector since the discovery of gold in 1886 in the Witwatersrand region, where the city of Johannesburg is located. However, some mines have since been decommissioned, and the continuous pumping of acid mine drainage (AMD) also stopped causing the AMD to rise towards the ground surface. This posed a serious environmental risk to the groundwater resources and river systems in the region. This paper documents the development and extent of the environmental damage as well as the measures implemented by the government to alleviate such damage. The study will add to the body of knowledge on the subject of AMD treatment to prevent environmental degradation. The method used to gather and collate relevant data and information was the desktop study. The key findings include the social and environmental impact of the AMD, which include the pollution of water sources for domestic use leading to skin and other health problems and the loss of biodiversity in some areas. It was also found that the technical intervention of constructing a plant to pump and treat the AMD using the high-density sludge technology was the most effective short-term solution available while a long-term solution was being explored. Some successes and challenges experienced during the implementation of the project are also highlighted. The study will be a useful record of the current status of the AMD treatment interventions in the region.

Keywords: acid mine drainage, groundwater resources, pollution, river systems, technical intervention, high density sludge

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Authors: Sylvia Graczka

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Waste related environmental problems are not only exploding but are also spotlighted for capacity shortages in recycling, as China announced its ban on waste imports. According to the waste hierarchy, prevention is the primary solution for waste, and also the cheapest. Waste related environmental pollution as externality puts an ever-growing burden on communities bearing the social costs. Economic policies often claim to be pro-environment, this often appears only theoretically, or at the level of principles. There are few concrete occurrences of tools in economic policies, such as green taxes, that are truly effective in stimulating the shift towards waste reduction. The paper presents theoretical economic policy tools based on literature review, and case studies on applied economic policy tools by analyzing policy papers, strategies in force, in line with ‘polluter pays’ and ‘extended producer responsibility’ principles. The study also emphasizes the differences between the broader notion of waste reduction and that of waste minimization, parallel to the difference between resource efficiency and resource savings. It also puts the issue in the context of neoclassical environmental economics and ecological economics, to present alternatives in approach. The research concludes in identifying effective economic policy tools that support the reduction of material use, and the prevention of waste. Consumer and producer awareness of waste problems and consciousness related to their choices are inevitable to make economic policy tools work effectively.

Keywords: economic policy, producer responsibility, resource efficiency, waste prevention

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Authors: Emiljan Karma

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One of the major problems of the present is young people who are not concerned with employment, education, or training (NEETs). Unfortunately, this group of people in Albania is a considerable part of working-age people, and despite the measures taken, they remain a major problem. NEETs in Albania are very heterogeneous. This is since youth unemployment and inactivity rate are at a very high level (Albania has the highest NEET rate among EU candidates/potential candidates’ countries and EU countries); the high level of NEET rate in Albania means that government agencies responsible for labour market regulation and other social actors interested in the phenomenon (representatives of employees, representatives of employers, non-governmental organizations, etc.) did not effectively materialize the policies in the field of youth employment promotion. The National Agency for Employment and Skills (NAES) delivers measures specifically designed to target unemployed youth, being the key stakeholder in the implementation of employment policies and skills development in Albania. In the context of identifying and assisting NEETs, this role becomes even stronger. The experience of different EU countries (e.g., Youth Guarantee) indicates that there are different policy-making structures and various outreach mechanisms for constraining the youth NEET phenomenon. The purpose of this research is to highlight: (1) The identification of NEETs feature in Albania; (2) The identification of tailored and efficient outreach mechanisms to assist vulnerable NEETs; (3) The fundamental importance of stakeholders’ partnership at central and regional level.

Keywords: labor market, NEETs, non-registered NEETs, unemployment

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Authors: Idowu J. Diyaolu, Ebenezer O. Obayomi, Taiwo A. Bamidele

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Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been observed to have influence on the lifestyle of youths in general. Dressing styles, fashion consciousness and choice of role model are some of the areas of influence. The study was carried out to examine the perception and influence of ICT on the clothing culture of selected Senior Secondary School Students in Ife-East Local government area of Osun State, Nigeria. Two hundred Senior Secondary School Students from public and private schools were randomly selected. Data was collected using structured questionnaire. The result showed that 79.0% were computer literate, 64.5% have facebook account and 93.5% browse with phones. Based on their perception on the influence of ICT, 74.5% of the respondents agreed that frequent use of ICT has increased their level of fashion consciousness while 60.5% were motivated by the images and dressing pattern in magazines, on TV and the internet. Also, large proportions (60.5%) were influenced by the dressing styles of their friends on social media. Male students were significantly more engaged in ICT related activities than females (t = 1.29, P < 0.05), whereas there is no significant difference in the involvement in ICT activities between private and public school students (t = 0.325, P > 0.05). Since ICT has influence on dressing, appropriate dressing pattern should be encouraged on mass media.

Keywords: dress culture, information and communication technology, fashion trend, role model

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Authors: Lin Peng, Jin Zhang, Yuanyuan Miao, Quanquan Zheng

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Group discussion and group decision-making have long been a topic of research interest. Traditional research on group decision making typically focuses on the strategies or functional models of combining members’ preferences to reach an optimal consensus. In this research, we want to explore natural process group decision making through discussion and examine relevant, influential factors--common superordinate identity shared by group and size of the groups. We manipulated the social identity of the groups into either a shared superordinate identity or different subgroup identities. We also manipulated the size to make it either a big (6-8 person) group or small group (3-person group). Using experimental methods, we found members of a superordinate identity group tend to modify more of their own opinions through the discussion, compared to those only identifying with their subgroups. Besides, members of superordinate identity groups also formed stronger identification with group decision--the results of group discussion than their subgroup peers. We also found higher member modification in bigger groups compared to smaller groups. Evaluations of decisions before and after discussion as well as group decisions are strongly linked to group identity, as members of superordinate group feel more confident and satisfied with both the results and decision-making process. Members’ opinions are more similar and homogeneous in smaller groups compared to bigger groups. This research have many implications for further research and applied behaviors in organizations.

Keywords: group decision making, group size, identification, modification, superordinate identity

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Authors: Alicja Kot-Niewiadomska

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Securing sustainable access to raw materials is vital for the growth of the European economy and for the goals laid down in Strategy Europe 2020. One of the most important sources of mineral raw materials are primary deposits. The efficient management of them, including extraction, will ensure competitiveness of the European economy. A critical element of this approach is mineral deposits safeguarding and the most important tool - spatial planning. The safeguarding of deposits should be understood as safeguarding of land access, and safeguarding of area against development, which may (potential) prevent the use of the deposit and the necessary mining activities. Many European Union countries successfully integrated their mineral policy and spatial policy, which has ensured the proper place of mineral deposits in their spatial planning systems. These, in turn, are widely recognized as the most important mineral deposit safeguarding tool, the essence of which is to ensure long-term access to its resources. The examples of Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, discussed in the paper, are often mentioned as examples of good practices in this area. Although none of these countries managed to avoid cases of social and environmental conflicts related to mining activities, the solutions they implement certainly deserve special attention. And for many countries, including Poland, they can be a potential source of solutions aimed at improving the protection of mineral deposits.

Keywords: mineral deposits, land use planning, mineral deposit safeguarding, European practices

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Authors: Lauren Provost

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The digital world remains increasingly vulnerable, making the development of effective cybersecurity approaches even more critical in supporting the success of the digital economy and national security. Although approaches to cybersecurity have shifted and improved in the last decade with new models, especially with cloud computing and mobility, a record number of high severity vulnerabilities were recorded in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and its National Vulnerability Database (NVD) in 2020. This is due, in part, to the increasing complexity of cyber ecosystems. Security must be approached with a more comprehensive, multi-tool strategy that addresses the complexity of cyber ecosystems, including the human factor. Ethical hacking has emerged as such an approach: a more effective, multi-strategy, comprehensive approach to cyber security's most pressing needs, especially understanding the human factor. Research on ethical hacking, however, is limited in scope. The two main objectives of this work are to (1) provide highlights of case studies in ethical hacking, (2) provide a conceptual framework for research in ethical hacking that embraces and addresses both technical and nontechnical security measures. Recommendations include an improved conceptual framework for research centered on ethical hacking that addresses many factors and attributes of significant attacks that threaten computer security; a more robust, integrative multi-layered framework embracing the complexity of cybersecurity ecosystems.

Keywords: ethical hacking, literature review, penetration testing, social engineering

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Authors: Irfana M., Priyandi Kabasi

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Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulty acquiring and using language despite having all the requirements of cognitive skills to support language acquisition. These children have normal non-verbal intelligence, hearing, and oral-motor skills, with no history of social/emotional problems or significant neurological impairment. Nevertheless, their language acquisition lags behind their peers. Phonological complexity can be considered to be the major factor that causes the inaccurate production of speech in this population. However, the implementation of various ranges of complex phonological stimuli in the treatment session of SLI should be followed for a better prognosis of speech accuracy. Hence there is a need to study the levels of phonological complexity. The present study consisted of 7 individuals who were diagnosed with SLI and 10 developmentally normal children. All of them were Hindi speakers with both genders and their age ranged from 4 to 5 years. There were 4 sets of stimuli; among them were minimal contrast vs maximal contrast nonwords, minimal coarticulation vs maximal coarticulation nonwords, minimal contrast vs maximal contrast words and minimal coarticulation vs maximal coarticulation words. Each set contained 10 stimuli and participants were asked to repeat each stimulus. Results showed that production of maximal contrast was significantly accurate, followed by minimal coarticulation, minimal contrast and maximal coarticulation. A similar trend was shown for both word and non-word categories of stimuli. The phonological complexity effect was evident in the study for each participant group. Moreover, present study findings can be implemented for the management of SLI, specifically for the selection of stimuli.

Keywords: coarticulation, minimal contrast, phonological complexity, specific language impairment

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Authors: Javier Delgado-Gonzaga, Wilfrido Rivera, David Juárez-Romero

Abstract:

Cooling and water purification are processes that have contributed to the economic and social development of the modern world. However, these processes require a significant amount of energy globally. Nowadays, absorption heat pumps have been studied with great interest since they are capable of producing cooling and/or purifying water from low-temperature energy sources such as industrial waste heat or renewable energy. In addition, absorption heat pumps require negligible amounts of electricity for their operation and generally use working fluids that do not represent a risk to the environment. The objective of this work is to evaluate a system that integrates an absorption heat transformer and an absorption cooling system to produce fresh water and cooling from a low-temperature heat source. Both cycles operate with the working pair LiBr-H2O. The integration is possible through the interaction of the LiBr-H2O solution streams between both cycles and also by recycling heat from the absorption heat transformer to the absorption cooling system. Mathematical models were developed to compare the performance of four different configurations. The results showed that the configuration in which the hottest streams of LiBr-H2O solution preheated the coldest streams in the economizers of both cycles was one that achieved the best performance. The interaction of the solution currents and the heat recycling analyzed in this work serves as a record of the possibilities of integration between absorption cycles for cogeneration.

Keywords: absorption heat transformer, absorption cooling system, water desalination, integrated system

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Authors: Amira Mabrouk, Chokri Abdennadher

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The reduction of road congestion which is inherent to the use of vehicles is an obvious priority to public authority. Therefore, assessing the willingness to pay of an individual in order to save trip-time is akin to estimating the change in price which was the result of setting up a new transport policy to increase the networks fluidity and improving the level of social welfare. This study holds an innovative perspective. In fact, it initiates an economic calculation that has the objective of giving an estimation of the monetized time value during the trips made in Sfax. This research is founded on a double-objective approach. The aim of this study is to i) give an estimation of the monetized value of time; an hour dedicated to trips, ii) determine whether or not the consumer considers the environmental variables to be significant, iii) analyze the impact of applying a public management of the congestion via imposing taxation of city tolls on urban dwellers. This article is built upon a rich field survey led in the city of Sfax. With the use of the contingent valuation method, we analyze the “declared time preferences” of 450 drivers during rush hours. Based on the fond consideration of attributed bias of the applied method, we bring to light the delicacy of this approach with regards to the revelation mode and the interrogative techniques by following the NOAA panel recommendations bearing the exception of the valorization point and other similar studies about the estimation of transportation externality.

Keywords: willingness to pay, contingent valuation, time value, city toll

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Authors: Majid Mathlouthi, Fethi Lebdi

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Throughout the world, the extent and magnitude of droughts have economic, social and environmental consequences. Today climate change has become more and more felt; most likely they increase the frequency and duration of droughts. An analysis by event of dry event, from series of observations of the daily rainfall is carried out. A daily precipitation threshold value has been set. A catchment localized in Northern Tunisia where the average rainfall is about 600 mm has been studied. Rainfall events are defined as an uninterrupted series of rainfall days understanding at least a day having received a precipitation superior or equal to a fixed threshold. The dry events are constituted of a series of dry days framed by two successive rainfall events. A rainfall event is a vector of coordinates the duration, the rainfall depth per event and the duration of the dry event. The depth and duration are found to be correlated. So we use conditional probabilities to analyse the depth per event. The negative binomial distribution fits well the dry event. The duration of the rainfall event follows a geometric distribution. The length of the climatically cycle adjusts to the Incomplete Gamma. Results of this analysis was used to study of the effects of climate change on water resources and crops and to calibrate precipitation models with little rainfall records. In response to long droughts in the basin, the drought management system is based on three phases during each of the three phases; different measurements are applied and executed. The first is before drought, preparedness and early warning; the second is drought management, mitigation in the event of drought; and the last subsequent drought, when the drought is over.

Keywords: dry spell, precipitation threshold, climate vulnerability, adaptation measures

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Authors: Frederick Monyepao

Abstract:

Crack cocaine first appeared on the scene in the form of cocaine freebasing in the late 1970s. Stockbrokers, investment bankers, rock stars, Hollywood elites, and a few pro athletes were regular users of the substance. As criminogenic factors associated with substance abuse began to surface, congress passed new legislation. The laws led to the increase of health coverage insurances and the expansion of hospitals. By the mid-1980s, crack use spread into America's inner cities among impoverished African Americans and Latinos. While substance abuse increased among minority communities, legislation pertaining to substance abuse evolved. The prison industry also expanded the number of cells available. A qualitative approach was taken, drawing from a range secondary sources for contextual analysis. This paper traces out the continued marginalisation and racist undertones towards minorities as perpetuated by certain drug policies. It was discovered that the new legislation on crack was instrumental in the largest incarcerations the United States ever faced. Drug offenders increased in prisons eightfold from 1986 to 2000. The paper concludes that American drug control policies are consistently irrational and ineffective when measured by levels of substance use and abuse. On the contrary, these policies have been successful as agents of social control in maintaining the stratification patterns of racial/ethnic minorities and women. To move beyond prohibition, radical law and policy reform may require a change in narratives on substance use.

Keywords: crack, drug policy, minorities, racism, substance abuse

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Authors: Mohamed Mahmoud Hasan, Hoda M. O. Mokhtar

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With the gigantic increment in portable applications use and the spread of positioning and location-aware technologies that we are seeing today, new procedures and methodologies for location-based strategies are required. Location recommendation is one of the highly demanded location-aware applications uniquely with the wide accessibility of social network applications that are location-aware including Facebook check-ins, Foursquare, and others. In this paper, we aim to present a new methodology for location recommendation. The proposed approach coordinates customary spatial traits alongside other essential components including shortest distance, and user interests. We also present another idea namely, "activity trajectory" that represents trajectory that fulfills the set of activities that the user is intrigued to do. The approach dispatched acquaints the related distance value to select trajectory(ies) with minimum cost value (distance) and spatial-area to prune unneeded directions. The proposed calculation utilizes the idea of movement direction to prescribe most comparable N-trajectory(ies) that matches the client's required action design with least voyaging separation. To upgrade the execution of the proposed approach, parallel handling is applied through the employment of a MapReduce based approach. Experiments taking into account genuine information sets were built up and tested for assessing the proposed approach. The exhibited tests indicate how the proposed approach beets different strategies giving better precision and run time.

Keywords: location based recommendation, map-reduce, recommendation system, trajectory search

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Authors: Mona Bakry Abdel Meguid Abdelaal

Abstract:

Despite growing evidence that parental involvement in their adolescents’ lives affects the way they perceive the community around them, little effort has been made to address the importance of this relationship and how it affect the adolescents' interaction with their environment. Adolescents are influenced by their parents while they are growing up and this socialization process services to shape the adolescents sense of self, influencing not only how adolescents feel about themselves, but affecting how they interact with their surroundings. In order to effectively understand this issue, it is important to understand the adolescents’ understanding of healthy parental involvement in their lives, in addition to the obstacles that hinder their communication styles with their parents. Understanding parental involvement in their adolescents’ lives will provide further understanding of the role that social work can perform in this field. The rationale for undertaking this study grew out of the literature on adolescents’ studies in addition to the researchers’ interaction with freshmen female students, who are still in the adolescent stage, in the university. The primary purpose of this study was to understand female adolescents’ awareness of healthy parental involvement in their freshmen year in the university life, as well as obstacles that might hinder that healthy involvement. Using semi-structured interview with a purposive sample of the first year female students in the university, the study managed to determine if the type of parental involvement and parental emotional responsiveness between the adolescents and their parents affects the way they interact with their environment, in addition, to determine the obstacles that hamper the communication between adolescents and their parents.

Keywords: adolescents, parental involvement, interaction, university life

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