Search results for: socio cultural

Authors: Jatinderkumar R. Saini, Apurva A. Desai

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e-mail has become an important means of electronic communication but the viability of its usage is marred by Unsolicited Bulk e-mail (UBE) messages. UBE consists of many types like pornographic, virus infected and 'cry-for-help' messages as well as fake and fraudulent offers for jobs, winnings and medicines. UBE poses technical and socio-economic challenges to usage of e-mails. To meet this challenge and combat this menace, we need to understand UBE. Towards this end, the current paper presents a content-based textual analysis of more than 2700 body enhancement medicinal UBE. Technically, this is an application of Text Parsing and Tokenization for an un-structured textual document and we approach it using Bag Of Words (BOW) and Vector Space Document Model techniques. We have attempted to identify the most frequently occurring lexis in the UBE documents that advertise various products for body enhancement. The analysis of such top 100 lexis is also presented. We exhibit the relationship between occurrence of a word from the identified lexis-set in the given UBE and the probability that the given UBE will be the one advertising for fake medicinal product. To the best of our knowledge and survey of related literature, this is the first formal attempt for identification of most frequently occurring lexis in such UBE by its textual analysis. Finally, this is a sincere attempt to bring about alertness against and mitigate the threat of such luring but fake UBE.

Keywords: Body Enhancement, Lexis, Medicinal, Unsolicited Bulk e-mail (UBE), Vector Space Document Model, Viagra

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Authors: Senian Malie, Oriah Akir

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Malaysian corporations going global increased many folds. The shift from domestic to international operations requires increased expatriation to achieve global business goals. Therefore, this study aims to identify the determinants for success in expatriation of Malaysian international corporations. There are certain attributes necessary for a global employee to succeed in international assignment. Self-administered questionnaires were sent to 327 respondents with a response rate of 35.2 percent. The results indicated that most Malaysian manufacturers are involved in expatriation. For a global employee to succeed in an international assignment, the ability to work in international teams was identified and ranked as the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of expatriation followed by language proficiency, adaptability to the international assignment and expatriate sensitivity to cultural elements. The results support previous research with regard to the importance of an effective expatriation selection process in order for a company-s international expansion strategy to succeed.

Keywords: Key Competencies, Expatriate, Expatriation, Globalization, and International Assignment

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Authors: Haider Javed Uppal, Javed Yunas Uppal

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In today's globalized world, it is necessary to develop a form of music that is able to evoke equal emotional responses among people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Indigenous cultures throughout history have developed their own music cognition, specifically in terms of the connections between music and mood. With the advancements in artificial intelligence technologies, it has become possible to analyze and categorize music features such as timbre, harmony, melody, and rhythm, and relate them to the resulting mood effects experienced by listeners. This paper presents a model that utilizes a screenshot translator to convert music from different origins into waveforms, which are then analyzed using machine learning and information retrieval techniques. By connecting these waveforms with Thayer's matrix of moods, a mood classifier has been developed using fuzzy logic algorithms to determine the emotional impact of different types of music on listeners from various cultures.

Keywords: Cognition, world music, artificial intelligence, Thayer’s matrix.

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Authors: Yasaman Zeinali, Farid Khosravikia

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This paper presents a multi-objective framework for sustainable urban development. The proposed framework aims to address different aspects of sustainability in urban development planning. These aspects include, but are not limited to education, health, job opportunities, architecture, culture, environment, mobility, energy, water, waste, and so on. Then, the proposed framework is applied to the Brackenridge Tract (an area in downtown Austin, Texas), to redevelop that area in a sustainable way. The detail of the implementation process is presented in this paper. The ultimate goal of this paper is to develop a sustainable area in downtown Austin with ensuring that it locally meets the needs of present and future generations with respect to economic, social, environmental, health as well as cultural aspects. Moreover, it helps the city with the population growth problem by accommodating more people in that area.

Keywords: Environmental impacts of human activities, sustainability, urban planning.

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Authors: Hanaa Farouk Saleh

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The main purposes of this study are to develop a scale that reflects emerging theoretical understandings of new media credibility, based on the evolution of credibility studies in western researches, identification of the determinants of credibility in the media and its components by comparing traditional and new media credibility scales and building accumulative scale to test new media credibility. This approach was built on western researches using conceptualizations of media credibility, which focuses on four principal components: Source (journalist), message (article), medium (newspaper, radio, TV, web, etc.), and organization (owner of the medium), and adding user and cultural context as key components to assess new media credibility in particular. This study’s value lies in its contribution to the conceptualization and development of new media credibility through the creation of a theoretical measurement tool. Future studies should explore this scale to test new media credibility, which represents a promising new approach in the efforts to define and measure credibility of all media types.

Keywords: Credibility scale, media credibility components, new media credibility scale, scale development.

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Authors: Michele V. Carbinatto, Wagner Wey Moreira, Myrian Nunomura; Mariana H. C. Tsukamoto, VilmaLeni Nista-Piccolo

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Sports Sciences has been historically supported by the positivism idea of science, especially by the mechanistic/reductionist and becomes a field that views experimentation and measurement as the mayor research domains. The disposition to simplify nature and the world by parts has fragmented and reduced the idea of bodyathletes as machine. In this paper we intent to re-think this perception lined by Complexity Theory. We come with the idea of athletes as a reflexive and active being (corporeity-body). Therefore, the construction of a training that considers the cultural, biological, psychological elements regarding the experience of the human corporal movements in a circumspect and responsible way could bring better chances of accomplishment. In the end, we hope to help coaches understand the intrinsic complexity of the body they are training, how better deal with it, and, in the field of a deep globalization among the different types of knowledge, to respect and accepted the peculiarities of knowledge that comprise this area.

Keywords: Sport science, body, complexity theory, corporeity.

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Authors: Maha Salah Abdullah Ismail, Mahmoud M. Alsagheir, Mohammed Salah Abd Allah

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Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by permeability pulmonary edema and refractory hypoxemia. Lung-protective ventilation is still the key of better outcome in ARDS. Prone position reduces the trans-pulmonary pressure gradient, recruiting collapsed regions of the lung without increasing airway pressure or hyperinflation. Prone ventilation showed improved oxygenation and improved outcomes in severe hypoxemic patients with ARDS. This study evaluates the effect of prone positioning on mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS. A quasi-experimental design was carried out at Critical Care Units, on 60 patients. Two tools were utilized to collect data; Socio demographic, medical and clinical outcomes data sheet. Results of the present study indicated that prone position improves oxygenation in patients with severe respiratory distress syndrome. The study recommended that use prone position in patients with severe ARDS, as early as possible and for long sessions. Also, replication of this study on larger probability sample at the different geographical location is highly recommended.

Keywords: Acute respiratory distress syndrome, Critical care, Mechanical ventilation and Prone position.

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Authors: Mohamed Haffar, Loredana Perez

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Significant attention has recently been paid to the cross-cultural negotiations due to the growth of international businesses. Despite the substantial body of literature examining the influence of National Culture (NC) dimensions on negotiations, there is a lack of studies comparing the influence of NC in Latin America with a Western European countries, In particular, an extensive review of the literature revealed that a contribution to knowledge would be derived from the comparison of the influence of NC dimensions on negotiations in UK and Venezuela. The primary data was collected through qualitative interviews, to obtain an insight about the perceptions and beliefs of Venezuelan and British business managers about their negotiating styles. The findings of this study indicated that NC has a great influence on the negotiating styles. In particular, Venezuelan and British managers demonstrated to have opposed negotiating styles, affecting the way they communicate, approach people and their willingness to take risks.

Keywords: National culture, negotiation, international business, Venezula, UK.

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Authors: Akiko Kondo, Akio Kondo

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We are facing serious problems related to long-term depopulation and an aging society with a falling birth rate in Japan. In this situation, we are suffering from a shortfall in human resources as well as a shortage of workforce in rural regions. In addition, we are struggling with a protracted economic slump and excess concentration of population in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. It is an urgent national issue to consider how to live in this country and what kind of structure of society and administration policy is needed. It is necessary to clarify people’s desire for their way of living and social assistance to be provided. The aim of this study is to clarify the characteristics of regional issues and the degree of their seriousness in local municipalities of Japan. We conducted a questionnaire survey about regional agenda in all local municipalities in Japan. We obtained responses concerning the degree of seriousness of regional issues and degree of importance of policies. Based on the data gathered from the survey, it is apparent that many local municipalities are facing an aging population and declining population. We constructed a model to analyze factors for declining population. Using the model, it was clarified that a population’s age structure, job opportunities and income level affect the decline of population. In addition, we showed the way of the evaluation of state of local municipality.

Keywords: Evaluation, Local municipality, Regional analysis, Regional issue.

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Authors: Päivi Aarreniemi-Jokipelto, Merja Alanko-Turunen

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The possibilities of mobile technology generate new demands for vocational teacher trainers to transform their approach to work and to incorporate its usage into their ordinary educational practice. This paper presents findings of a focus discussion group (FDG) session on the usage of iPads within a school of vocational teacher education (SoVTE). It aims to clarify how the teacher trainers are using iPads and what has changed in their work during the usage of iPads. The analytical framework bases on content analysis and expansive learning cycle. It was not only found what kind of a role iPads played in their daily practices but it brought also into attention how a cultural change regarding the usage of social media and mobile technology was desperately needed in the whole work community. Thus, the FGD was abducted for developing the knowledge practices of the community of the SoVTE.

Keywords: iPad, mobile learning, vocational teacher education.

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Authors: Mohammed Alshehri, Steve Drew

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More and more governments around the world are introducing e-government as a means of reducing costs, improving services, saving time and increasing effectiveness and efficiency in the public sector Therefore e-government has been identified as one of the top priorities for Saudi government and all its agencies. However, the adoption of e-government is facing many challenges and barriers such as technological, cultural, organizational, and social issues which must be considered and treated carefully by any government contemplating its adoption. This paper reports on a pilot study amongst online (e-ready) citizens to identify the challenges and barriers that affect the adoption of e-government services especially from their perspective in Saudi society. Based on the analysis of data collected from an online survey the researcher was able to identify some of the important barriers and challenges from the e-ready citizen perspective. As a result, this study has generated a list of possible strategies to move towards successful adoption of egovernment services in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: Challenges, E-government services, adoption, SaudiArabia

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Authors: N. Utaberta, H. Mamamni, M. Surat, A. I. Che-Ani, N.A.G. Abdullah

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The architecture of Safavid Dynasty can be considered the epitome of Iranian architectural beauty. Safavid dynasty (1501- 1722 AC) along with Ottoman in Turkey and Mughal Empire in India were the three great Islamic nations of their time (1500 AC) often known as the last Islamic countries with international authority up to the 20th Century. This era approximately coincide with Renaissance in Europe. In this era, large European countries begin amassing power thanks to significant scientific, cultural and religious revolutions of that time and colonizing nations such as England, Spain and Portugal began to influence international trends with in an increasing while other non-industrial nations diminished. The main objective of this paper is to give a typological overview of the development of decoration and ornament in the architecture of Safafid Dynasty in Iran. It is expected that it can start a wider discussion to enrich this nation-s heritage and contribute to the development of Islamic ornament in general.

Keywords: Ornamentation, Architecture in Iran, Safavid Dynasty

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Authors: Meeta Ratawa Tiwary

Abstract:

Damaturu is the capital of Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria where civic amenities and facilities are not adequate even after 24 years of its existence. The volatile security and political situations are most significant causes for the same. The basic facility for the citizens in terms of drinking water and electricity are not available. For the drinking water, they have to rely on personal boreholes or the filtered borehole waters available in packaged sachets in market. The present study is concerned with environmental impact of indiscriminate disposal of drinking synthetic polythene water sachets in Damaturu. The sachet water is popularly called as “pure water”, but its purity is questionable. Increased production and consumption of sachet water has led to indiscriminate dumping and disposal of empty sachets leading to serious environmental threat. The evidence of this is seen for sachets littering the streets and the drainages blocked by ‘blocks’ of water sachet waste. Sachet water gained much popularity in Nigeria because the product is convenient for use, affordable and economically viable. The present study aims to find out the solution to this environmental problem. The fieldbased study has found some significant factors that cause environmental and socio economic effect due to this. Some recommendations have been made based on research findings regarding sustainable waste management, recycling and re-use of the non-biodegradable products in society.

Keywords: Civic amenities, non-biodegradable, pure water, sustainable environment, waste disposal.

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Authors: Yerbol B. Kairanov, Arnur Zh. Karymsakov

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Petroglyphs, stone sculptures, burial mounds, and other memorial religious structures are ancient artifacts which find reflection in contemporary world culture, including the culture of Kazakhstan. In this article, the problem of the influence of ancient artifacts on contemporary culture is researched, using as an example Kazakhstan-s sculpture and painting. The practice of creating petroglyphs, stone sculptures, and memorial religious structures was closely connected to all fields of human existence, which fostered the formation of and became an inseparable part of a traditional worldview. The ancient roots of Saka-Sythian and Turkic nomadic culture have been studied, and integrated into the foundations of the contemporary art of Kazakhstan. The study of the ancient cultural heritage of Kazakhstan by contemporary artists, sculptors and architects, as well as the influence of European art and cultures on the art of Kazakhstan are furthering the development of a new national art.

Keywords: ancient artifacts, Golden Man, nomadic culture, sculpture, painting

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Authors: Oznur Korukcu, Kamile Kukulu, Mehmet Z. Firat

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The propose of this study is to investigate the factor structures of the W-DEQ, originally developed on UK and Swedish women, were confirmed in Turkish samples, and to obtain a new modified factor structure appropriate to Turkish culture. Statistical analyses of the data obtained were performed using SPSS© for Windows version 13.0 and the SAS statistical software Version 9.1. Both confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis of W-DEQ were performed in the study. Factor analysis yielded four factors related to hope, fear, lack of positive anticipation and riskiness. The alpha estimates of the total W-DEQ score were somewhat higher, being 0.92 for the parous and 0.90 for the nulliparous sample. These are well above the accepted limit of 0.70 and indicate excellent levels of internal reliability, thus showing that the questions were appropriate to the Turkish culture and useful scale for the evaluation of fear of childbirth in Turkish pregnants.

Keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis, cross-cultural research, exploratory factor analysis, fear of childbirth.

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Authors: Sulaiman Yunus

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The need for modeling response to urban fire disaster cannot be over emphasized, as recurrent fire outbreaks have gutted most cities of the world. This necessitated the need for a prompt and efficient response system in order to mitigate the impact of the disaster. Promptness, as a function of time, is seen to be the fundamental determinant for efficiency of a response system and magnitude of a fire disaster. Delay, as a result of several factors, is one of the major determinants of promptgness of a response system and also the magnitude of a fire disaster. Response Delay Model (RDM) intends to bridge the gap in urban fire disaster response system through incorporating and synchronizing the delay moments in measuring the overall efficiency of a response system and determining the magnitude of a fire disaster. The model identified two delay moments (pre-notification and Intra-reflex sequence delay) that can be elastic and collectively plays a significant role in influencing the efficiency of a response system. Due to variation in the elasticity of the delay moments, the model provides for measuring the length of delays in order to arrive at a standard average delay moment for different parts of the world, putting into consideration geographic location, level of preparedness and awareness, technological advancement, socio-economic and environmental factors. It is recommended that participatory researches should be embarked on locally and globally to determine standard average delay moments within each phase of the system so as to enable determining the efficiency of response systems and predicting fire disaster magnitudes.

Keywords: Delay moment, fire disaster, reflex sequence, response, response delay moment.

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Authors: Peggy S. C. van Teunenbroek

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Recently, philanthropic crowd-funding -the raising of external funding from a large audience via social networks or social media- emerged as a new funding instrument for the Dutch cultural sector. However, such philanthropic crowdfunding in the US and the Netherlands is less successful than any other form of crowdfunding. We argue that social aspects are an important stimulus in philanthropic crowd-funding since previous research has shown that crowdfunding is stimulated by something beyond financial merits. Put simply, crowd-funding seems to be a socially motivated activity. In this paper we focus on the effect of social information, described as information about the donation behavior of previous donors. Using a classroom experiment we demonstrated a positive effect of social information on the donation behavior in crowdfunding campaigns. Our study extends previous research by showing who is affected by social information and why, and highlights how social information can be used to stimulate individuals to donate more to crowdfunding projects.

Keywords: Online donation behavior, philanthropic crowd-funding, social information, social influence, social motivation.

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Authors: R. Amooaghaie

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Principally, plants grown in soilless culture may be attacked by the same pests and diseases as cultivated traditionally in soil. The most destructive phytopathogens are fungi, such as Phythium, Phytophthora and Fusarium, followed by viruses, bacteria and nematodes. We investigated effect of carbon nanotube filters on disease management of soilless culture. Tomato seedlings transplant in plastic pots filled with a soilless media of vermiculite. The crop irrigated and fertilized using a hydroponic nutrient solution. We used carbon nanotube filters for nutrient solution disinfection. Our results show that carbon nanotube filtration significantly reduces pathogens on tomato plants. Fungal elimination (Fusarium oxysporum and Pythium spp.) was usually successful at about 96 to 99.9% all over the cultural season. It is seem that in tomato soilless culture, nanofiltration constitutes a reliable method that allows control of the development of diseases caused by pathogenic fungi

Keywords: Fusarium oxysporum, Nanofilteration, Pythium spp., Soilless culture, Tomato

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Authors: Salvatore Pinna

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The growth of organic farming practices in the last few decades is continuing to stimulate the international debate about this alternative food market. As a part of a PhD project research about embeddedness in Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), this paper focuses on the promotional aspects of organic farms websites from the Madrid region. As a theoretical tool, some knowledge categories drawn on the geographic studies literature are used to classify the many ideas expressed in the web pages. By analysing texts and pictures of 30 websites, the study aims to question how and to what extent actors from organic world communicate to the potential customers their personal beliefs about farming practices, products qualities, and ecological and social benefits. Moreover, the paper raises the question of whether organic farming laws and regulations lack of completeness about the social and cultural aspects of food.

Keywords: Alternative food networks, de-commoditisation, organic farming, Madrid, reconnection of food.

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Authors: Wen-Hong Liu, Hao-Tang Jhan, Kun-Lung Lin, Meng-Tsung Lee

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Weather disaster events were frequent and caused loss of lives and property in Taiwan recently. Excessive concentration of population and lacking of integrated planning led to Taiwanese coastal zone face the impacts of climate change directly. Comparing to many countries which have already set up legislation, competent authorities and national adaptation strategies, the ability of coastal management adapting to climate change is still insufficient in Taiwan. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a complete institutional arrangement for coastal management due to climate change in order to protect environment and sustain socio-economic development. This paper firstly reviews the impact of climate change on Taiwanese coastal zone. Secondly, development of Taiwanese institutional arrangement of coastal management is introduced. Followed is the analysis of four dimensions of legal basis, competent authority, scientific and financial support and international cooperations of institutional arrangement. The results show that Taiwanese government shall: 1) integrate climate change issue into Coastal Act, Wetland Act and territorial planning Act and pass them; 2) establish the high level competent authority for coastal management; 3) set up the climate change disaster coordinate platform; 4) link scientific information and decision markers; 5) establish the climate change adjustment fund; 6) participate in international climate change organizations and meetings actively; 7) cooperate with near countries to exchange experiences.

Keywords: Climate Change, Coastal Zone Management, Institution Arrangement, Adaptation.

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Authors: Federica Cornali

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Does education matter to the quality of our life? The results of extensive studies offer an affirmative answer to this question: high education levels are positively associated with higher income, with more highly qualified professions, with lower risk of unemployment, with better physical health and also, it is said, with more happiness. However, exploring these relationships is far from straightforward. Aside from educational credentials, what properties distinguish functionally literate individuals? How can their personal level of satisfaction be measured? What are the social mechanisms whereby education affects well-being?Using a literacy index and several measures for well-being developed by secondary analysis of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey database, this investigation examined the relationship between literacy skills and subjective wellbeing in several OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. Special attention was been addressed to Italy, and in particular to two regions representing territorial differences in this country: Piedmont and Campania.

Keywords: Cultural Divide, Literacy Index, Life Satisfaction, Subjective Well-being Index

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Authors: Q.Y. Lee, Y.M. Lim

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Building conservation work generally involves complex and non-standard work different from new building construction processes. In preparing tenders for building conservation projects, therefore, the quantity surveyor must carefully consider the specificity of non-standard items and demarcate the scope of unique conservation work. While the quantity surveyor must appreciate the full range of works to prepare a good tender document, he typically manages many unfamiliar elements, including practical construction methods, restoration techniques and work sequences. Only by fulfilling the demanding requirements of building conservation work can the quantity surveyor enhance his professionalism an area of growing cultural value and economic importance. By discussing several issues crucial to tender preparations for building conservation projects in Malaysia, this paper seeks a deeper understanding of how quantity surveying can better standardize tender preparation work and more successfully manage building conservation processes.

Keywords: Conservation Works, Quantity Surveying Practice, Tender Preparation, Malaysia

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Authors: Siska Soesanti, Norihiro Nakai

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Bandung city center can be deemed as economic, social and cultural center. However the city center suffers from deterioration. The retail activities tend to shift outward the city center. Numerous idyllic residences changed into business premises in two villages situated in the north part of the city during 1990s, especially after a new highway and flyover opened. According to space syntax theory, the pattern of spatial integration in the urban grid is a prime determinant of movement patterns in the system. The syntactic analysis results show the flyover has insignificant influence on street network in the city center. However the flyover has been generating a major difference in the new commercial area since it has become relatively as strategic as the city center. Besides street network, local government policy, rapid private motorization and particular condition of each site also played important roles in encouraging the current commercial areas to flourish.

Keywords: City center, commercial area, space syntax, street network.

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Authors: Dení Stincer Gómez, Zuraya Monroy Nasr

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Pedagogy of science historically has given priority to teaching strategies that mobilize the cognitive mechanisms leaving out emotional mechanisms. Modern epistemology, cognitive psychology and psychoanalysis begin to argue and prove that emotions are relevant epistemological functions. They are 1) the selection function: that allows the perception and reason choose, to multiple alternative explanation of a particular fact, those are relevant and discard those that are not, 2) heuristic function: that is related to the activation cognitive processes that are effective in the process of knowing; and 3) the so-called content-bearing function: it argues that emotions provide the material reasoning that is subsequently transformed into linguistic propositions. According to these hypotheses, scientific knowledge seems to come from emotions that meet these functions. This paper argues that science education must start from the presence of certain emotions in the learner if we want to form citizens with a scientific or cultural future.

Keywords: Epistemic emotions, science education, formation of citizens and scientists, epistemic functions of emotions.

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Authors: Lhoussain Simour

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This essay endeavors to read Ama Ata Aidoo-s Our Sister Killjoy with a postocolonially-inflected consciousness. It aims at demonstrating how her work could be read as a sophisticated postcolonial revision of the colonial travel narrative whereby the protagonist-s black-eyed squint operates as 'the all-seeing-eye' to subvert the historically unbroken legacy of the Orientalist ideology. It tries to demonstrate how Sissie assumes authority and voice in an act that destabilizes the traditionally established modes of western representation. It is also an investigation into how Aidoo-s text adopts processes which disengage the Eurocentric view produced by the discursive itineraries of western institutions through diverse acts of resistance and 'various strategies of subversion and appropriation'. Her counter discursive strategies of resistance are shaped up in various ways by a feminist consciousness that attempts to articulate a distinct African version of identity and preserve cultural distinctiveness.

Keywords: Orientalism, Africaness, discursive resistance, interracial lesbianism, politics of race, the migrant intellectual.

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Authors: Khadiga Kahwa, Aniza Ismail

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Depression, anxiety, and stress are associated with decreased role functioning, productivity, and quality of life. International students are more prone to psychological distress as they face many stressors while studying abroad. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence and associated factors of depression, anxiety, and stress among international students, their help-seeking behavior, and their awareness of the available on-campus mental support services. A cross-sectional study with a purposive sampling method was performed on 280 international students at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) between the age of 18 and 35 years. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) questionnaire was used anonymously to assess the mental health of students. Socio-demographic, help-seeking behavior, and awareness data were obtained. Independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA test, and multiple linear regression were used to explore associated factors. The overall prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among international students were 58.9%, 71.8%, and 53.9%, respectively. Age was significantly associated with depression and anxiety. Ethnicity showed a significant association with depression and stress. No other factors were found to be significantly associated with psychological distress. Only 9.6% of the international students had sought help from on-campus mental support services. Students who were aware of the presence of such services were only 21.4% of the participants. In conclusion, this study addressed the gap in the literature on the mental health of international students and provided data that could be used in intervention programs to improve the mental health of the increasing number of international students in Malaysia.

Keywords: Anxiety, depression, stress, help-seeking behavior, students.

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Authors: Zhazira Kuanyshbayeva

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Article is devoted to the problem of Kazakhstan people national values in the conditions of the Republic of Kazakhstan independence. Formation of ethnos national values is viewed as the mandatory constituent of this process in contemporary conditions. The article shows the dynamics of forming socialspiritual basis of Kazakhstan people-s national values. It depicts peculiarities of interethnic relations in poly-ethnic and multiconfessional Kazakhstan. The study reviews in every detail various directions of the state social policy development in the sphere of national values. It is aimed to consolidation of the society to achieve the shared objective, i.e. building democratic and civilized state. The author discloses peculiarities of ethnos national values development using specific sources. It is underlined that renewal and modernization of Kazakhstan society represents new stage in the national value development, and its typical feature is integration process based on peoples- friendship, cultural principles of interethnic communication.

Keywords: Interethnic relation, Kazakhstan people, national policy, national values.

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Authors: T. M. Al Muhareb, J. Graham-Jones

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The service quality is a significant element in aviation industry especially in the international airports. Through this paper, the researchers built a model based on Lean six sigma methodologies and applied it in the departure area at KKIA (King Khalid International Airport) in order to assess it. This model characterized with many special features that can become over the cultural differences in aviation industry since it is considered the most critical circumstance in this field. Applying the model of this study is depending on following the DMAIC procedure systemized in lean thinking aspects. This model of Lean-six-sigma as a managerial procedure is mostly focused on the change management culture that requires high level of planning, organizing, modifying, and controlling in order to benefit from strengths as well as revoke weaknesses.

Keywords: Lean-six-sigma, Service quality, Aviation industry, KKIA (King Khalid International Airport), SERVQUAL.

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Authors: Paul Diaconu, Nicoleta Coman

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This paper explores the idea of globalisation and considers accounting-s role in that process in order to develop new spaces for accounting research. That-s why in this paper we are looking for questions not necessary for answers. Adopting an 'alternative' view of accounting it-s related to the fact that we sees accounting as social and evolutionist process, that pays heed to those voices arguing for greater social and environmental justice, and that draws attention to the role of accounting researchers in the process of globalisation. The paper defines globalisation and expands the globalisation and accounting research agenda introducing in this context the harmonization process in accounting. There are the two main systems which are disputing the first stage of being the benchmark: GAAP and IFRS. Each of them has his pluses and minuses on being the selected one. Due to this fact a convergence of the two, joining the advantages and disadvantages of the two should be the solution for an unique international accounting solution. Is this idea realizable, what steps has been made until now, what should be done in the future. The paper is emphasising the role of the cultural differences in the process of imposing of an unique international accounting system by the global organizations..

Keywords: Investors, capital markets, international accounting.

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Authors: Bekim Avdiaj

Abstract:

Everyday life is and will be influenced depending on the developments that society undergoes throughout the history. Particularly, countries undergoing transition from one system to another sustain the greatest impact in trying to embrace the modern system. Kosovo society had the fortune to experience a change, which began in late 1999 to continue up to date. One of the 'developments' of the time with the evolution in Kosovo society was the transition from the traditional education system into the modern one. This transformation began immediately after the war, to continue even today. It was started by internationals, which governed and administered Kosovo society, including education. There was a great 'evolution', because almost the entire system was 'changed'. Among other things, for the first time it was enabled the opening of private schools from the lowest level up to the colleges and universities. This paper will address: how much was ready the society to embrace such a 'cultural' change in education, respectively, how much were prepared teachers for such changes; as it was actually thought to be a modern education system, how much was it according to international standards; what are the results and current situation in Kosovo education.

Keywords: Education, evolution, reform, transformation.

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