Search results for: Barriers to housing

Authors: Aly Mohamed El Husseiny, Azza Ezz Abdelkader

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There is a critical thin line between freedom of choice and randomness. The distance between imagination and perception and between perception and execution varies depending on numerous factors. While in developed areas residents have the opportunity and abilities to build flexible homes, residents in developing areas create their own dwellings in informal settlements, even though none of them is comfortable at home in the long run. This paper explores three factors: What residents really need, what they do with limited flexibility, and what they do when there are no limits, as in the case of informal settlements. This paper studies alteration to residential buildings and how they connect to the changes in people’s lifecycle in all past cases. This study also examines all approaches to flexibility, focusing on a social approach. The results of this study are based on three practical studies: Interviews with residents in an informal settlement (Eshash Mahfouz in Minya in Egypt), a civil study of buildings in a middle-class district, and a survey of residents from many countries, including Egypt, and interviews with a number of them to determine residents’ needs and the extent of renovations they made or would like to make to their homes.

Keywords: Flexibility, housing, freedom of choice, social, changes, residents.

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Authors: Eneli Kindsiko, Kulno Türk

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The purpose of the current article is to reveal misconceptions about ICT occupations that keep females away from the field. The study focuses on the three phases in one’s career life cycle: pre-university, university and workplace with the aim of investigating how to attract more females into an ICT-related career. By studying nearly 300 secondary school graduates, 102 university students and 18 female ICT specialists, the study revealed six myths that influence the decision-making process of young girls in pursuing an ICT-related education and career. Furthermore, discriminating conception of ICT as a primarily man’s world is developed before the university period. Stereotypical barriers should be brought out to the public debate, so that a remarkable proportion of possible employees (women) would not stay away from the tech-related fields. Countries could make a remarkable leap in efficiency, when turning their attention to the gender-related issues in the labour market structure.

Keywords: ICT, women, education, stereotypes, computers.

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Authors: Reinhard Haas, Amela Ajanovic

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In recent years various types of electric vehicles has gained again increasing attention as an environmentally benign technology in transport. Especially for urban areas with high local pollution this Zero-emission technology (at the point of use) is considered to provide proper solutions. Yet, the bad economics and the limited driving ranges are still major barriers for a broader market penetration of battery electric vehicles (BEV) and of fuel cell vehicles (FCV). The major result of our analyses is that the most important precondition for a further dissemination of BEV in urban areas are emission-free zones. This is an instrument which allows the promotion of BEV without providing excessive subsidies. In addition, it is important to note that the full benefits of EV can only be harvested if the electricity used is produced from renewable energy sources. That is to say, it has to be ensured that the use of BEV in urban areas is clearly linked to a green electricity purchase model. And moreover, the introduction of a CO2- emission-based tax system would support this requirement.

Keywords: Electric vehicles, economics, policies, history.

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Authors: Michal Lysek, Mike Danilovic, Jasmine Lihua Liu

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HMS Industrial Networks AB has been recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the industrial communication industry worldwide. The creation of their Anybus innovation during the 1990s contributed considerably to the company’s success. From inception, HMS’ employees were innovating for the purpose of creating new business (the creation phase). After the Anybus innovation, they began the process of internationalization (the commercialization phase), which in turn led them to concentrate on cost reduction, product quality, delivery precision, operational efficiency, and increasing growth (the growth phase). As a result of this transformation, performing new radical innovations have become more complicated. The purpose of our research was to explore the dynamics of innovation at HMS from the aspect of key actors, activities, and events, over the three phases, in order to understand what led to the creation of their Anybus innovation, and why it has become increasingly challenging for HMS to create new radical innovations for the future. Our research methodology was based on a longitudinal, retrospective study from the inception of HMS in 1988 to 2014, a single case study inspired by the grounded theory approach. We conducted 47 interviews and collected 1 024 historical documents for our research. Our analysis has revealed that HMS’ success in creating the Anybus, and developing a successful business around the innovation, was based on three main capabilities – cultivating customer relations on different managerial and organizational levels, inspiring business relations, and balancing complementary human assets for the purpose of business creation. The success of HMS has turned the management’s attention away from past activities of key actors, of their behavior, and how they influenced and stimulated the creation of radical innovations. Nowadays, they are rhetorically focusing on creativity and innovation. All the while, their real actions put emphasis on growth, cost reduction, product quality, delivery precision, operational efficiency, and moneymaking. In the process of becoming an international company, HMS gradually refocused. In so doing they became profitable and successful, but they also forgot what made them innovative in the first place. Fortunately, HMS’ management has come to realize that this is the case and they are now in search of recapturing innovation once again. Our analysis indicates that HMS’ management is facing several barriers to innovation related path dependency and other lock-in phenomena. HMS’ management has been captured, trapped in their mindset and actions, by the success of the past. But now their future has to be secured, and they have come to realize that moneymaking is not everything. In recent years, HMS’ management have begun to search for innovation once more, in order to recapture their past capabilities for creating radical innovations. In order to unlock their managerial perceptions of customer needs and their counter-innovation driven activities and events, to utilize the full potential of their employees and capture the innovation opportunity for the future.

Keywords: Barriers to innovation, dynamics of innovation, in search of excellence and innovation, radical innovation.

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Authors: Shishir Kumar, Chhaya Gangwal, Seema Raj

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Public health informatics (PHI) which has seen successful implementation in the developed world, become the buzzword in the developing countries in providing improved healthcare with enhanced access. In rural areas especially, where a huge gap exists between demand and supply of healthcare facilities, PHI is being seen as a major solution. There are factors such as growing network infrastructure and the technological adoption by the health fraternity which provide support to these claims. Public health informatics has opportunities in healthcare by providing opportunities to diagnose patients, provide intra-operative assistance and consultation from a remote site. It also has certain barriers in the awareness, adaptation, network infrastructure, funding and policy related areas. There are certain medico-legal aspects involving all the stakeholders which need to be standardized to enable a working system. This paper aims to analyze the potential and challenges of Public health informatics services in rural communities.

Keywords: PHI, e-health, Public health.

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Authors: Gregor Radonjič, Aleksandra P. Korda, Damijan Krajnc

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The aim of the study was to investigate whether there is the promotion of product ecodesign measures as a result of adopting ISO 14001 certification in manufacturing companies in the Republic of Slovenia. Companies gave the most of their product development attention to waste and energy reduction during manufacturing process and reduction of material consumption per unit of product. Regarding the importance of different ecodesign criteria reduction of material consumption per unit of product was reported as the most important criterion. Less attention is paid to endof- life issues considering recycling or packaging. Most manufacturing enterprises considered ISO 14001 standard as a very useful tool or at least a useful tool helping them to accelerate and establish product ecodesign activities. Two most frequently considered ecodesign drivers are increased competitive advantage and legal requirements and two most important barriers are high development costs and insufficient market demand.

Keywords: ecodesign, environmental management system, ISO 14001, products

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Authors: Nazeema Ahmed

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Mental health in higher education has received increasing attention over the past few decades. The high academic demands of the engineering degree, coupled with students’ mental health challenges, have led to higher education institutions offering psychotherapeutic services to students. This paper discusses an evaluation of the psychotherapy service at the University of Cape Town. The aim was to determine (i) the efficacy of the service; and (ii) the impact of race, gender, and language of the therapist on the students’ therapeutic process. An online survey was sent to 109 students who attended psychotherapy. The majority expressed favorable experiences of psychotherapy, with reports of increased capacity to engage with their academic work. Most students did not experience the gender, race, or language of the psychologists to be barriers to their therapy. The findings point to a need for ongoing psychological support for students.

Keywords: Psychotherapy, efficacy, engineering, education.

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Authors: A. Yacob, N. Hj. Ali, M. H. Yusoff, M. Y. MohdSaman, W. M. A. F. W. Hamzah

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Personalized learning becomes increasingly popular which not be restricted by time, place or any other barriers. This study proposes an analysis of Personalized Learning using Item Response Theory which considers course material difficulty and learner ability.The study investigates twenty undergraduate students at TATI University College, who are taking programming subject. By using the IRT,it was found that, finding the most appropriate problem levels to each student include high and low level test items together is not a problem. Thus, the student abilities can be asses more accurately and fairly. Learners who experience more anxiety will affect a heavier cognitive load and receive lower test scores.Instructors are encouraged to provide a supportive learning environment to enhance learning effectiveness because Cognitive Load Theory concerns the limited capacity of the brain to absorb new information.

Keywords: Analysis, Cognitive Load Theory, Item Response Theory, Learning, Motivation, Performance.

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Authors: Leire Urcola, Amaia Altuzarra

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This communication is intended to provide some issues for thought on the importance of implementation of Blended Learning in traditional universities, particularly in the Spanish university system. In this respect, we believe that virtual environments are likely to meet some of the needs raised by the Bologna agreement, trying to maintain the quality of teaching and at the same time taking advantage of the functionalities that virtual learning platforms offer. We are aware that an approach of learning from an open and constructivist nature in universities is a complex process that faces significant technological, administrative and human barriers. Therefore, in order to put plans in our universities, it is necessary to analyze the state of the art of some indicators relating to the use of ICT, with special attention to virtual teaching and learning, so that we can identify the main obstacles and design adaptive strategies for their full integration in the education system. Finally, we present major initiatives launched in the European and state framework for the effective implementation of new virtual environments in the area of higher education.

Keywords: Blended learning, e-Learning, ICT, Virtual LearningEnvironments

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Authors: Fatma Kürüm Varolgüneş, Fatih Canan

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Mardin is one of the unique cities in Turkey with its rich cultural and historical heritage. Mardin’s traditional dwellings have been affected both by natural data such as climate and topography and by cultural data like lifestyle and belief. However, in the new settlements, housing is formed with modern approaches and unsuitable forms clashing with Mardin’s culture and environment. While the city is expanding, traditional textures are ignored. Thus, traditional settlements are losing their identity and are vanishing because of the rapid change and transformation. The main aim of this paper is to determine the physical and social data needed to define the characteristic features of Mardin’s old and new settlements. In this context, based on social and cultural data, old and new settlement formations of Mardin have been investigated from various aspects. During this research, the following methods have been utilized: observations, interviews, public surveys, literature review, as well as site examination via maps, photographs and questionnaire methodology. In conclusion, this paper focuses on how changes in the physical forms of cities affect the typology and the identity of cities, as in the case of Mardin.

Keywords: Urban and local identity, historical city center, traditional settlements, Mardin, Turkey.

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Authors: M. Mohammad, Y-C Lan

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Australian government agencies have a natural desire to provide migrants a wide range of opportunities. Consequently, government online services should be equally available to migrants with a non-English speaking background (NESB). Despite the commendable efforts of governments and local agencies in Australia to provide such services, in reality, many NESB communities are not taking advantage of these services. This article–based on an extensive case study regarding the use of online government services by the Arabic NESB community in Australia–reports on the possible reasons for this issue, as well as suggestions for improvement. The conclusion is that Australia should implement ICT-based or e-government policies, programmes, and services that more accurately reflect migrant cultures and languages so that migrant integration can be more fully accomplished. Specifically, this article presents an NESB Model that adopts the value of usercentricity or a more individual-focused approach to government online services in Australia.

Keywords: Barriers to use, e-government, ICT, NESB community, online services.

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Authors: Asif Husain, Majid Matouq Assas

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In recent years demolished concrete waste handling and management is the new primary challenging issue faced by the countries all over the world. It is very challenging and hectic problem that has to be tackled in an indigenous manner, it is desirable to completely recycle demolished concrete waste in order to protect natural resources and reduce environmental pollution. In this research paper an experimental study is carried out to investigate the feasibility and recycling of demolished waste concrete for new construction. The present investigation to be focused on recycling demolished waste materials in order to reduce construction cost and resolving housing problems faced by the low income communities of the world. The crushed demolished concrete wastes is segregated by sieving to obtain required sizes of aggregate, several tests were conducted to determine the aggregate properties before recycling it into new concrete. This research shows that the recycled aggregate that are obtained from site make good quality concrete. The compressive strength test results of partial replacement and full recycled aggregate concrete and are found to be higher than the compressive strength of normal concrete with new aggregate.

Keywords: Demolished, concrete waste, recycle, new concrete, fresh coarse aggregate.

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Authors: C. C. Huang, M. S. Amirrudin, N. A. Ahamad Noruddin, R. Othman

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Anti-money laundering is commonly recognized as a set of procedures, laws or regulations designed to reduce the practice of generating income through illegal actions. In Malaysia, the government and law enforcement agencies have stepped up their capacities and efforts to curb money laundering since 2001. One of these measures was the enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) in 2001. The implementation costs on anti-money laundering requirements (AMLR) can be burdensome to those who are involved in enforcing them. The objective of this paper is to explore the perceived effectiveness of AMLR from the enforcement agencies- perspective. This is a preliminary study whose findings will help to give direction for further AML research in Malaysia. In addition, the results of this study provide empirical evidences on the perceived effectiveness of AMLR prior to further investigations on barriers and improvements of the implementation of the anti-money laundering regime in Malaysia.

Keywords: Anti-money laundering, anti-money laundering requirements, perceived effectiveness, enforcement agencies.

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Authors: K. B. Manwade, G. A. Patil

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Mobile agent has motivated the creation of a new methodology for parallel computing. We introduce a methodology for the creation of parallel applications on the network. The proposed Mobile-Agent parallel processing framework uses multiple Javamobile Agents. Each mobile agent can travel to the specified machine in the network to perform its tasks. We also introduce the concept of master agent, which is Java object capable of implementing a particular task of the target application. Master agent is dynamically assigns the task to mobile agents. We have developed and tested a prototype application: Mobile Agent Based Parallel Computing. Boosted by the inherited benefits of using Java and Mobile Agents, our proposed methodology breaks the barriers between the environments, and could potentially exploit in a parallel manner all the available computational resources on the network. This paper elaborates performance issues of a mobile agent for parallel computing.

Keywords: Parallel Computing, Mobile Agent.

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Authors: Miroslava Šidlovská, Ida Petrovičová, Tomáš Pilka, Branislav Kolena

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Phthalates are ubiquitous environmental pollutants well known because of their endocrine disrupting activity in human organism. The aim of our study was, by biological monitoring, investigate exposure to phthalates of Roma ethnicity group i.e. children and adults from 5 families (n=29, average age 11.8 ± 7.6 years) living in western Slovakia. Additionally, we analysed some associations between anthropometric measures, questionnaire data i.e. socio-economic status, eating and drinking habits, practise of personal care products and household conditions in comparison with concentrations of phthalate metabolites. We used for analysis of urine samples high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) to determine concentrations of phthalate metabolites monoethyl phthalate (MEP), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), mono-iso-butyl phthalate (MiBP), mono(2-ethyl- 5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (5OH-MEHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (5oxo-MEHP) and mono(2-etylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP). Our results indicate that ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status and different housing conditions in Roma population can affect urinary concentration of phthalate metabolites.

Keywords: Biomonitoring, ethnicity, human exposure, phthalate metabolites.

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Authors: J. Lam, R. Chan

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The adoption of e-learning in Hong Kong has been increasing rapidly in the past decade. To understand the e-learning experiences of the students, the School of Professional and Continuing Education of The University of Hong Kong conducted a survey. The survey aimed to collect students- experiences in using learning management system, their perceived e-learning advantages, barriers in e-learning and preferences in new e-learning development. A questionnaire with 84 questions was distributed in mid 2012 and 608 valid responds were received. The analysis results showed that the students found e-learning helpful to their study. They preferred interactive functions and mobile features. Blended learning mode, both face-to-face learning mode integrated with online learning and face-to-face learning mode supplemented with online resources, were preferred by the students. The results of experiences of Hong Kong students in e-learning provided a contemporary reference to the e-learning practitioners to understand the e-learning situation in Asia.

Keywords: E-learning, blended learning, learning experience, learning management system.

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Authors: Thomas Kerstein, Martin Laurowski, Philipp Klein, Michael Weyrich, Hubert Roth, Jürgen Wahrburg

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Optical 3D measurement of objects is meaningful in numerous industrial applications. In various cases shape acquisition of weak textured objects is essential. Examples are repetition parts made of plastic or ceramic such as housing parts or ceramic bottles as well as agricultural products like tubers. These parts are often conveyed in a wobbling way during the automated optical inspection. Thus, conventional 3D shape acquisition methods like laser scanning might fail. In this paper, a novel approach for acquiring 3D shape of weak textured and moving objects is presented. To facilitate such measurements an active stereo vision system with structured light is proposed. The system consists of multiple camera pairs and auxiliary laser pattern generators. It performs the shape acquisition within one shot and is beneficial for rapid inspection tasks. An experimental setup including hardware and software has been developed and implemented.

Keywords: automated optical inspection, depth from structured light, stereo vision, surface reconstruction

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Authors: Dongkyoo Shin, Dongil Shin, Sukil Cha, Seyoung Kim

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ebXML (Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language) is an e-business standard, sponsored by UN/CEFACT and OASIS, which enables enterprises to exchange business messages, conduct trading relationships, communicate data in common terms and define and register business processes. While there is tremendous e-business value in the ebXML, security remains an unsolved problem and one of the largest barriers to adoption. XML security technologies emerging recently have extensibility and flexibility suitable for security implementation such as encryption, digital signature, access control and authentication. In this paper, we propose ebXML business transaction models that allow trading partners to securely exchange XML based business transactions by employing XML security technologies. We show how each XML security technology meets the ebXML standard by constructing the test software and validating messages between the trading partners.

Keywords: Electronic commerce, e-business standard, ebXML, XML security, secure business transaction.

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Authors: Irfan N. Umar, Yong Su-Lyn

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The purpose of this research is to determine the knowledge and skills possessed by instructional design (ID) practitioners in Malaysia. As ID is a relatively new field in the country and there seems to be an absence of any studies on its community of practice, the main objective of this research is to discover the tasks and activities performed by ID practitioners in educational and corporate organizations as suggested by the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction. This includes finding out the ID models applied in the course of their work. This research also attempts to identify the barriers and issues as to why some ID tasks and activities are rarely or never conducted. The methodology employed in this descriptive study was a survey questionnaire sent to 30 instructional designers nationwide. The results showed that majority of the tasks and activities are carried out frequently enough but omissions do occur due to reasons such as it being out of job scope, the decision was already made at a higher level, and the lack of knowledge and skills. Further investigations of a qualitative manner should be conducted to achieve a more in-depth understanding of ID practices in Malaysia

Keywords: instructional design, ID competencies, ID models, IBSTPI

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Authors: Nouf Saad Alnassar, Susan Grant, Ray Holland

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This research study examines cases of Saudi Arabian universities and female academics for work environment issues within the context of design management applications. The study proposes use of design research, ergonomics and systems design thinking to develop the university design which facilitates removal of physical and cognitive barriers for female academics. Review of literature demonstrates that macro and micro ergonomic combined with design management and system design strategies can significantly improve the workplace design for female academics. The university design model would be prepared based on the analyses of primary data obtained from archived documents, participants' observation logs, photo audits, focus groups and semi-structured interviews of currently employed female academics in the selected case universities.

Keywords: Design management, workplace design, university design, ergonomics.

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Authors: J. Koiso-Kanttila, A. Soikkeli, A. Aapaoja

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Construction in Finland is focusing increasingly on renovation instead of conventional new construction, and this trend will continue to grow in the coming years and decades. Renovation of the large number of suburban residential apartment buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s poses a particular challenge. However, renovation projects are demanding for the residents of these buildings, since they usually are uninitiated in construction issues. On the other hand, renovation projects generally apply the operating models of new construction. Nevertheless, the residents of an existing residential apartment building are some of the best experts on the site. Thus, in this research project we applied a relational model in developing and testing at case sites a planning process that employs interactive planning methods. Current residents, housing company managers, the city zoning manager, the contractor’s and prefab element supplier’s representatives, professional designers and researchers all took part in the planning. The entire interactive planning process progressed phase by phase as the participants’ and designers’ concerted discussion and ideation process, so that the end result was a renovation plan desired by the residents.

Keywords: Apartment building renovation, interactive planning, project alliance, user-orientedness.

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Authors: Panagiotis Pentaris

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The issue of social and legal recognition of LGBTQ families is of high importance when exploring the possibility of a family. Of equal importance is the fact that both society and the individual contribute to the overall recognition of LGBTQ families. This paper is a conceptual discussion, by methodology, of both sides; it uses a method of constructive analysis to expound on this issue. This method’s aim is to broaden conceptual theory, and introduce a new relationship between concepts that were previously not associated by evidence. This exploration has found that LGBTQ realities from an international perspective may differ and both legal and social rights are critical toward self-consciousness and the formation of a family. This paper asserts that internalised and historic oppression of LGBTQ individuals, places them, not always and not in all places, in a disadvantageous position as far as engaging with the potential of forming a family goes. The paper concludes that lack of social recognition and internalised oppression are key barriers regarding LGBTQ families.

Keywords: Family, gay, LGBTQ, self-worth, social rights.

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Authors: Wen Huei Chou, Yi-Ting Chen

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Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with social interactions and communication. It is challenging for them to understand social cues such as facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice in social settings, leading to social conflicts and misunderstandings. Over time, feelings of frustration and anxiety can make them reluctant to engage in social situations and worsen their communication barriers. This study focused on children with autism who also experience social anxiety. Through focus group interviews with parents of children with autism and occupational therapists, it explores the reasons and scenarios behind the development of social anxiety in these children. Social scenario stories and interactive applications tailored for children with autism were designed and developed. In addition, working with the educational robots, coping strategies for various emotional situations were elaborated on, and children were helped to understand their emotions.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety, robot, social scenario story, interactive applications.

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Authors: Victor Oluwaseyi Olowonisi

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The paper aimed at presenting an overview on the concept of e-learning as it relates to higher education and how it provides opportunities for students, instructors and the government in developing the educational sector. It also touched on the benefits and challenges attached to e-learning as a new medium of reaching more students especially in the Nigerian context. The opportunities attributed to e-learning in the paper includes breaking boundaries barriers, reaching a larger number of students, provision of jobs for ICT experts, etc. In contrary, poor power supply, cost of implementation, poor computer literacy, technophobia (fear of technology), computer crime and system failure were some of the challenges of e-learning discussed in the paper. The paper proffered that the government can help the people gain more from e-learning through its financing. Also, it was stated that instructors/lecturers and students need to undergo training on computer application in order for e-learning to be more effective in developing higher education in Nigeria.

Keywords: E-Learning, education, higher education, increasing literacy.

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Authors: Li Li, Kai-Hsuan Chu

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It is well known that the real estate price depends on a lot of factors. Each house current value is dependent on the location, room number, transportation, living convenience, year and surrounding environments. Although, there are different experienced models for housing agent to estimate the price, it is a case by case study without overall dynamic variation investigation. However, many economic parameters may more or less influence the real estate price variation. Here, the influences of most macroeconomic parameters on real estate price are investigated individually based on least-square scheme and grey correlation strategy. Then those parameters are classified into leading indices, simultaneous indices and laggard indices. In addition, the leading time period is evaluated based on least square method. The important leading and simultaneous indices can be used to establish an artificial intelligent neural network model for real estate price variation prediction. The real estate price variation of Taipei, Taiwan during 2005 ~ 2017 are chosen for this research data analysis and validation. The results show that the proposed method has reasonable prediction function for real estate business reference.

Keywords: Real estate price, least-square, grey correlation, macroeconomics.

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Authors: Abeba Nigussie Turi, Xiangming Samuel Li

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Data-driven business models are more typical for established businesses than early-stage startups that strive to penetrate a market. This paper provided an extensive discussion on the principles of data analytics for early-stage digital entrepreneurial businesses. Here, we developed data-driven decision-making (DDDM) framework that applies to startups prone to multifaceted barriers in the form of poor data access, technical and financial constraints, to state some. The startup DDDM framework proposed in this paper is novel in its form encompassing startup data analytics enablers and metrics aligning with startups' business models ranging from customer-centric product development to servitization which is the future of modern digital entrepreneurship.

Keywords: Startup data analytics, data-driven decision-making, data acquisition, data generation, digital entrepreneurship.

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Authors: Stella Ouma, M. E. Herselman

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The Application of e-health solutions has brought superb advancements in the health care industry. E-health solutions have already been embraced in the industrialized countries. In an effort to catch up with the growth, the developing countries have strived to revolutionize the healthcare industry by use of Information technology in different ways. Based on a technology assessment carried out in Kenya – one of the developing countries – and using multiple case studies in Nyanza Province, this work focuses on an investigation on how five rural hospitals are adapting to the technology shift. The issues examined include the ICT infrastructure and e-health technologies in place, the knowledge of participants in terms of benefits gained through the use of ICT and the challenges posing barriers to the use of ICT technologies in these hospitals. The results reveal that the ICT infrastructure in place is inadequate for e-health implementations as a result to various challenges that exist. Consequently, suggestions on how to tackle the various challenges have been addressed in this paper.

Keywords: Challenges, e-health, healthcare, information communication technology, rural areas.

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Authors: Jeong-Hyeon Kim, Ki-Yeob Kang, Myung-Hyun Kim, Jae-Myung Lee

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Primary barrier of membrane type LNG containment system consist of corrugated 304L stainless steel. This 304L stainless steel is austenitic stainless steel which shows different material behaviors owing to phase transformation during the plastic work. Even though corrugated primary barriers are subjected to significant amounts of pre-strain due to press working, quantitative mechanical behavior on the effect of pre-straining at cryogenic temperatures are not available. In this study, pre-strain level and pre-strain temperature dependent tensile tests are carried to investigate mechanical behaviors. Also, constitutive equations with material parameters are suggested for a verification study.

Keywords: Constitutive equation, corrugated sheet, pre-strain effect, elasto-visco-plastic-damage model, 304L stainless steel.

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Authors: P. Ahern, D. Collery

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The implementation of lean thinking in the manufacturing industry revolutionized the traditional approach to large-scale production through the process of identifying the waste in each task and putting in place mitigation measures to eliminate the waste in all its forms. The Irish construction industry, however, has been much slower to adopt the principles of lean, opting instead to stick with the traditional approach to construction project delivery which is inherently wasteful. Lean thinking holds the potential to revolutionize the construction industry in a similar manner to the adoption of lean manufacturing. Lean principles present opportunities for reduced project duration, reduced project cost, improved quality, and elimination of re-works and non-value-added activities. This research has been designed to accumulate research data through available literature, electronic surveys, and interviews. The results show an industry reluctant to accept change and an undefined path to successful lean construction implementation.

Keywords: Barriers, lean construction, lean implementation, lean manufacturing, lean philosophy.

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Authors: Parviz Alinezhad, Ali Sanati, Koorosh Naser Momtahen

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Square pipes (pipes with square cross sections) are being used for various industrial objectives, such as machine structure components and housing/building elements. The utilization of them is extending rapidly and widely. Hence, the out-put of those pipes is increasing and new application fields are continually developing. Due to various demands in recent time, the products have to satisfy difficult specifications with high accuracy in dimensions. The reshaping process design of pipes with square cross sections; however, is performed by trial and error and based on expert-s experience. In this paper, a computer-aided simulation is developed based on the 2-D elastic-plastic method with consideration of the shear deformation to analyze the reshaping process. Effect of various parameters such as diameter of the circular pipe and mechanical properties of metal on product dimension and quality can be evaluated by using this simulation. Moreover, design of reshaping process include determination of shrinkage of cross section, necessary number of stands, radius of rolls and height of pipe at each stand, are investigated. Further, it is shown that there are good agreements between the results of the design method and the experimental results.

Keywords: Circular Pipes, Square Pipes, Shear Deformation, Reshaping Process, Numerical Simulation.

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