Modern megalopolises are special socio-economic agglomerations in which the quality of life, comfortable urban environment, infrastructure development, high level of information technology and Internet accessibility create an attractive image of the territories for the younger generation. The conditions of communication and socialization of the urban environment in a modern megalopolis are determined by the high level of digitalization, speed and volume of information flows. All these factors influence the value orientations and political preferences of young citizens. The influence of digitalization on the formation of political norms, values and forms of political participation among the younger generation determines the relevance of the study. The purpose of the study is to identify the relationship between the value preferences of young people, the degree of inclusion in network communications and digital forms of political participation. The methodological basis of the study was the value concepts of R. Inglehart, M. Rokeach, the theory of civic culture of G.A. Almond and S. Verba, the theory of value schisms of S.M. Lipset - S. Rokkan. The empirical basis of the study was the results of an online survey of young people in large cities of the Russian Federation. Multivariate analysis methods allowed us to identify the connection between the model of political participation using digital technologies and the types of value orientations of urban youth. The results of the cluster analysis revealed two politically active groups that have different ideological and value vectors of activity. The basis for the divisions between the two segments is the axis with individualistic and collectivist poles, which are combined with liberal and conservative value priorities.
Emanuelle Cristina Lins Bastos, Nicole Almeida Conde Vidal, Luan dos Santos Aragão
et al.
Abstract Objective Evaluate violations of the Brazilian Code of Marketing of Infant and Toddler Food, Teats, Pacifiers, and Baby Bottles (NBCAL) in the retail food environment around health centers and early childhood education centers in Maceió. Methods This cross-sectional study, conducted between April 2022 and March 2023, audited all food retail outlets selling products regulated by the Code in the vicinity of health centers and early childhood education centers. The results were expressed as frequencies. Results Of the 1,176 food retail outlets audited, 8.8% showed violations. The violations were concentrated in pharmacies (65.0%) and supermarkets (26.2%). When examining these two types of establishments (n=601), it was observed that 41.6% of those affiliated with retail chains exhibited violations. The probability of violation in retail chains was 6.8 times higher (95% confidence interval: 4.5-10.2) than in independent establishments. The most frequent violations occurred in follow-up formulas for early childhood children (27.5%), infant and follow-up formulas for infants (22.0%), and dairy compound products (19.7%). The promotional strategy most associated with the violations was special display (74.7%). Conclusion The retail food environment in Maceió revealed violations of the Code, with pharmacy chains and supermarkets posing the main threats to breastfeeding. Given the responsibilities of distributors and industry provided for in the legislation, this work reported abusive marketing practices that negatively impact the human right to adequate food and nutrition of children.
BackgroundThe method of supporting roadways using small coal pillars has been widely applied in China. As a result, the stability of goaf-side coal pillars affects mining safety. Resulting from multiple disturbance effects, coal pillars tend to contain various types of damage fractures. The confined water environment in goaves with water accumulation might cause the instability failure of damaged goaf-side coal pillars. MethodsTo investigate the impacts of the damage fracture structure on coal stability, this study introduced the concept of relatively stable initial damage fractures. Based on the theory of damage mechanics, this study constructed hydro-mechanical-damage (HMD) coupling models for goaf-side coal pillars. Using the COMSOL finite element analysis software, this study explored the seepage failure process of goaf-side coal pillars under unilateral water pressure. Results and ConclusionsThe results indicate that the mechanical parameters of initial damage fractures significantly influenced the occurrence time of secondary damage to coals, with critical thresholds existing between them. Damage fractures significantly affected the stability of the goaf-side coal pillars. Specifically, under unilateral water pressure, the goaf-side coal pillars exhibited asymmetric failure morphologies, and the seepage velocities at local water-inrush points increased by two orders of magnitude compared to pre-damage states. The fracture structure affected the instability process of coals. As the fracture angle increased from 30° to 60°, the occurrence time of coal instability decreased from 7.0 h to 4.1 h. The model with 0° fractures experienced instability the most quickly (3.9 h) due to the special stress orientation. From the perspective of macroscopic damage development, all models underwent four damage stages: (1) the secondary damage development at tips of initial damage fractures, (2) the damage penetration through boundaries, (3) the large-scale propagation of damage zones, and (4) the formation of pathways for local water inrushes at boundaries. In contrast, the evolutionary characteristics of the quantity of damage units reveal two damage stages: damage development and rapid propagation. The fracture structure affected the damage development rate primarily during the damage development stage, while the duration of the rapid propagation stage differed insignificantly across varying models. The results of this study provide a reference for the stability assessment and instability process identification of water-resisting coals in goaves.
Muhammad Usama Zahid, Muhammad Usman Akram, Muhammad Danish Nisar
et al.
The rapid growth in wireless technology has revolutionized the way of living but at the same time, raising security concerns of unauthorized access of spectrum, both military and commercial sectors. The subject of Radio Frequency (RF) fingerprinting has got special attention in recent years. Researchers proposed various datasets of radio signals of different types of devices (drones, cell phones, IoT, and Radar). However, presently there is no freely available dataset on walkie-talkies/commercial radios. To fill out the void, we present an innovative dataset including more than 2700 radio signals captured from 27 radios located in an indoor multipath environment. This dataset can enhance the security of the communication channels by providing the possibility to analyse and detect any unauthorized source of transmission. Furthermore, we also propose two innovative deep learning models named Light Weight 1DCNN and Light Weight Bivariate 1DCNN, for efficient data processing and learning patterns from the complex dataset of radio signals.
Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics, Science (General)
Role conflict is prevalent for college athletes across varying competitive levels, sport types, and identities. Recent reform to the collegiate athletic model, such as enabling college athletes (CAs) to profit from their Name, Image, and Likeness, may create additional demands and conflicts for participants. Despite the plethora of research into college athletes’ experiences with role conflict, few studies examine possible solutions. This study offers a novel intervention to role conflict through a community engagement (CE) program. Short, immersive, contributions to one’s local environment can improve social connections, limit negative mental health effects, and generate a higher sense of purpose, all of which can mitigate role conflict, but have yet to be empirically verified with CAs. Insights from a larger Participatory Action Research (PAR) study are shared to offer a theory-informed approach to initiate CE in college sports. The PAR established relationships between a DI athletic department and a local chapter of the Special Olympics (SO). Findings indicate the potential for CE to reduce role conflict for CAs. In this new era of college sports wherein athletes and departments are seeking new compensation forms and models of support, we argue CE creates generative roles and experiences to better integrate academic, athletic, and employment settings.
Landfill leachate is a significant environmental threat due to the complexity and variety of its pollutants. There are various physical, chemical, and biological treatment methods proposed for leachate treatment. Adsorption with conventional adsorbents such as activated carbon is a process which has been widely employed with relative success. Magnetic adsorbents are a special type of adsorbents with favorable stability, high adsorption capacities, and excellent recycling and reuse capabilities when compared to conventional sorbents. Research regarding the synthesis and use of magnetic adsorbents has been growing at a rapid pace, exhibiting >8-fold increase in publications in the decade of 2010 to 2020. In the current study, both conventional and magnetic adsorbents for landfill leachate treatment have been comprehensively reviewed and discussed. The application of magnetic adsorbents for landfill leachate treatment is relatively new, with numerous avenues of research open to study. Although the production of magnetic adsorbents is significantly more expensive than conventional adsorbents, when taking into consideration all life cycle costs, they are much more competitive than it initially appears. If environmental impacts are of concern, research should shift towards the use of greener chemicals and processes for magnetic adsorbent synthesis, because preliminary analysis of the current synthesis processes shows a much higher environmental impact compared to conventional adsorbents, in particular in terms of global warming potential and energy use.
Hakimeh Imani, Mohammadreza Bagherzadeh, Mojtabi Tabari
et al.
Aim and Introduction: In a world where change is evident, the only way to survive is to adapt to changes. Organizations have realized that their most important capital is human resources, which is an important factor in the success and progress of any organization. A necessary condition for the realization of the goals of any organization is the existence of special manpower and employees who, in addition to having special abilities and skills, have a commitment to their job and organization and feel satisfied with their duties. The purpose of the current research was to design and compile the human resource management audit model in Pars Petrochemical Company.Methodology: The research method was a mixed research type with an exploratory design and a fundamental goal. The research community in the qualitative section includes 12 experts in the field of human resources management who were selected by snowball sampling. In the quantitative part, all the employees of Pars Petrochemical Company (N=400), using Cochran's formula, 196 people were selected as a sample. Based on the opinions of experts, and based on the Delphi technique, 108 indicators were extracted to include the policy dimension (14 items), the process dimension (19 items) and the performance dimension (75 items) and based on that, a researcher made a questionnaire whose validity was verified by the Delphi panel. Its confirmation and reliability (α=0.91) were obtained. The data were analyzed by SAW multivariate analysis test, t-Student mean comparisons and SPSS and EQS software.Findings: Based on the significance of each of the indicators in the explanation of the components of the model, the significance of the components in the explanation of the dimensions, as well as the significance of the dimensions in the overall explanation of the model, it can be concluded that the audit model of human resources management can be explained based on the 3 dimensions of policy, processes and performance. and each of these dimensions can be meaningfully measured through 3 identified components, i.e.: structure, developing systems and employee balance. Also, the role of each of the model indicators in explaining the components was found to be significant, which showed the overall significance of the human resource management audit model in this research. The results showed that the contribution of the policy dimension in explaining the human resources management audit was equal to 0.60, the process dimension was 0.89, and the performance dimension was 1.23. Also, the fit of the research model is appropriate and confirms its high power in explaining the causal-effect relationships of the variables.Discussion and Conclusion: Considering that the audit of human resources management, organization and human resources can have consequences such as productivity and increasing performance and efficiency, it is suggested that the managers of the organization establish and create a human resources management audit unit according to the results of the research. Pay attention as part of the human resource management system in the organization. Among the limitations of this research is the lack or absence of suitable standards and indicators for human resource development audit. On the other hand, the indicators designed for the unit studied in this research cannot be generalized to other works and can only be explained and improved in future audits for the same units; But the general steps of the audit process can be modeled. Also, the execution capability of the model depends on the availability of information and documents and evidence required by the units, and in addition, the resistance of some participants in the project (interviewees) or the lack of sufficient knowledge of the overall purpose of the audit or the process of conducting it, including other obstacles and problems are work. Also, in the worst case, the audit model may be used only for formal but unrealistic confirmations of existing conditions and reporting to managers.Finally, it can be stated that human resource management audit offers assurance and reflection about the main organizational costs and an opportunity to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of human resource management and its potential role in the future success of the organization. The future orientation of HRM audits (unlike other types of audits) is related to the planning needs of the organization and provides an emphasis on evidence-based review of credibility. The use of accepted auditing techniques, combined with audit independence and competence, provides a unique contribution to the organizational planning and control environment. Each audit's quality, skills and competencies, and potential costs and benefits should be considered individually at the organizational level. The benefits of human resource management audit can include discovering areas for improving the organization's future, clarifying human resources goals, aligning human resource plans with the organization's strategic plans and priorities, highlighting critical human resource issues for organizational success, and re-examining key assumptions. and clarifying in the organization that these goals can be achieved based on the model presented in this research.
Abstract Recent advances in the shape selectivity of zeolites and molecular sieve catalysts for the methanol-to-olefins (MTO) reaction are elaborated in this minireview. The concept and classification of shape selectivity are briefly introduced and summarized. The effect of cavity structure of cavity-type zeolites and molecular sieves are comprehensively discussed, with focus on the formation of hydrocarbon pool intermediates, reaction route, diffusion, product selectivity, as well as deactivation in the chemical environment of cavity-type molecular sieves. Furthermore, the impact of topology of zeolites and molecular sieves on reaction route and product selectivity are elucidated, with special attention on the shape selectivity of 1-dimensional 10-membered ring zeolites. The debate regarding the impact of coke formation on product selectivity over SAPO-34 is also discussed in detail. Moreover, the progress of modification strategies including metal cations incorporation and pre-coking process for improving shape selectivity have been summarized. The perspective of shape selective catalysis in future is outlined and predicted.
Local event tourism is one of the types of tourism that can play an essential role in the sustainable economic and social development of communities. However, this issue has received less attention. Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival is one of these events held every year in the spring season. This study aims to identify the factors that attract tourists to this event. For this purpose, the factors attracting tourists to the events were extracted by qualitative content analysis and then the tourists' opinions. Finally, a conceptual framework of
influencing factors on customers' tendencies, including 50 indicators in 15 components, was presented. Also, the quantitative analysis of Q data shows that accessibility, hospitality, and spending time with friends were essential for the first group of tourists, social interactions and event quality were necessary for the second group, patriotic and learning motives were important for the third group, and experience and enjoyment of the event were necessary for the fourth group. At the same time, natural attractions and enjoyment of the festival environment have been essential for all tourists, and these results can be a basis for formulating marketing strategies for local tourism events.
Introduction
During the last two decades, the tourism industry has increasingly strengthened the local economy due to its high diversity and convenient access. In addition, the development of the tourism industry causes benefits such as increasing the employment and income of residents, improving transportation, and, most importantly, protecting the cultural heritage of local communities. One of the types of tourism is event tourism, which has grown significantly in recent years. Event tourism is a form of travel with special interests in which people visit a special event to attend or along with their trip. One of the important products in tourism development has been an event in the form of cultural festivals. In this regard, local festivals as a branch of cultural events are considered one of travelers’ actions in rural areas.
On the other hand, due to its various natural, historical, and cultural attractions, Iran is considered one of the most capable countries in the world for organizing such events. For this reason, practical steps can be taken toward the successful development of this type of tourism by more closely examining the events and festivals held in the country. One of these local festivals is the Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival, held every year at the beginning of the rose-picking season for one month in the Meymand Fars region. In this regard, it will be beneficial to identify the effective factors in attracting tourists to this annual local event, to get a more detailed understanding of the affairs and a deeper understanding of the social, cultural, and economic realities of the region and to plan for the sustainable development of this region. However, this issue has received less attention despite its clarity and necessity. On this subject, the current research seeks to identify the indicators and components influencing the tendency of tourists to visit rural events by using the qualitative content analysis method and providing a conceptual framework of these factors. Then, by analyzing the data of Meymand Flower and Rose Festival tourists based on the conceptual model, the types of tourists of this local event were identified.
Materials and Methods
This research aims to identify the factors that attract event tourists to local festivals using the Q method in Meymand Flower and Rose Festival, Fars. In terms of purpose, this research is practical, and according to the approach and type of data, it can be categorized as mixed research. The current research was carried out in 2023 in Fars province regarding time and place. In this research, first, the qualitative content analysis method with a directional approach has been used to identify and determine the existing indicators.
Then, to know the mentality of participants in the Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival and collect data (using the Q method), all the customers who participated in this festival in 2023 were studied.
Discussion and Results
In the first step, based on the content analysis of the screened studies, the researchers reviewed the final studies several times to determine titles or themes. At this stage, the researchers identified the factors affecting tourists' tendency towards events. Since some words had the same meaning, the necessary overlaps were made, and some indicators were removed. In the next step, the content validity ratio of Lawshe was used to check the validity of indicators in rural tourism. After this step, the number of 50 indicators was finalized and categorized into 15 concepts. Then, in the quantitative part, the data obtained from the Q factor analysis methodology was used to identify and extract the mentality of tourists. For this purpose, the tourists' opinions about the factors affecting their attendance at the Meymand Flower and Rose Festival 2023 were collected. With exploratory factor analysis, the participants were selected based on the shared values and the role of the data in explaining the total explanatory variance, and finally, the Varimax rotation divided the rest into four groups after removing 30 of them.
Conclusions
In this research, an attempt was made to use a mixed approach; firstly, with the help of qualitative content analysis, the indicators and components of local festivals were identified, and then the mentality of the tourists of Meymand Fars Flower and Rose Festival was extracted as a study. Finally, a conceptual framework of influencing
factors on customers' tendencies, including 50 indicators in 15 components, was presented. Then, based on the results of the quantitative method, four groups of customers were identified in Meymand Rose and Rose Festival. Enjoying nature, weather, and flowers and plants are among the motivations that are common among all four groups; in other words, it was the common feature of all visitors to this festival. However, in the separated groups, the factors have a significant dispersion.
In the first group, the three factors of accessibility, hospitality of the destination, and spending time with friends are among the unique factors that have attracted them to this festival. This group constituted almost 37 percent of the participants in the research.
The second group, which included almost 27 percent of the sample of festival tourists, with a sense of loyalty to the event and satisfaction, considers this festival a platform for social interactions and feels a sense of national pride by attending it.
The third group is attracted to this festival with patriotic motives and the aim of learning, excitement, and making memories, and the festival’s popularity has been one of the main reasons for them. Finally, the fourth group of this festival has chosen a suitable place for photography and a space to enjoy holidays and relaxation with the intention of diversity in experience.
In this context, the most significant difference between the present research and the previous studies is related to the classification of factors affecting the tendency of tourists, so that in none of the mentioned researches, the factors influencing the attraction of event tourists to local festivals have not been reported in a comprehensive category.
Therefore, it is recommended to relevant provincial and national policymakers and patriot service providers to pay attention to the extracted effective indicators as the most key factors in their service strategy by recognizing the important characteristics of each category of tourists.
Management. Industrial management, Management of special enterprises
The article is dedicated to exploring trends and prospects in the development of the international and domestic audit services markets. The authors examine key factors influencing the growth of audit firms and analyze the challenges and risks they encounter. The most common types of audit services are analyzed, including financial statement audits, tax consulting, risk management, and others, as well as various additional services provided by audit firms. Special emphasis is placed on the largest international audit companies, known as the "Big Four," and their key differentiators such as size, specialization, and technological approach. Factors influencing the prospects of the international audit services market are investigated, including increasing demand, business globalization, innovation, sustainable development, and changes in the regulatory environment. Furthermore, the authors explore trends in the growth of service volumes, expansion of client bases, and diversification of services offered by audit firms in Ukraine. Based on data from the Audit Chamber of Ukraine, figures are provided regarding market growth and differences in volumes over specific years. The article analyzes factors contributing to this growth, such as the expansion of mandatory audits and the implementation of international audit standards. Another aspect of growth is highlighted – increasing client numbers – as well as the approaches taken by audit firms to expand their service spectrum in the market. Additionally, examples of promising directions for the development of the audit services market in Ukraine are presented, such as climate and energy audits, advisory audits, IT audits, and more. The quality of auditors' professional training, the utilization of analytical tools and IT technologies for the successful development of these directions, is considered crucial.
Othmani Nurul Izzati, Mohamad Wan Saiful Nizam Wan, Abdul Hamid Nor Hamizah
et al.
This study investigates the number of special needs students and how a sensory garden can Incorporate nature into a child’s sensory integration therapy for sensory processing input. The case study was conducted at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Bukit Payong which offers specialized classes for students with special needs. The objectives of this study are to identify types of special needs students in this school and to provide or design an environment that incorporates natural elements as a therapeutic approach by engaging students in physical activities that facilitate the management of sensory input. Method used in this study are content analysis to understand sensory integration and sensory garden, semi structured interview identified the numbers of special needs students in this school. The outcomes of this study entail the identification of distinct types of special needs students present at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Bukit Payong This information serves as a foundation for developing learning spaces that are tailored to the specific needs of these students, thereby improving their focus and concentration in the classroom by providing a sensory garden. Additionally, the study introduces a sensory integration design that incorporates activities aimed at assisting children in mastering the more challenging learning tasks. Such activities contribute to the development of cognitive abilities, language skills, gross motor skills, and social interaction that is facilitated through the transfer of expert knowledge.
José Américo Fernandes de Souza, M. M. Silva, Saulo Rodrigues
et al.
The accelerated growth of the automotive supply network has had an immeasurable impact on the environment, especially relating to reusing and disposal of materials. The appropriate management of End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) has become an imperative item for achieving sustainable development in the field of interest and it is, therefore, a target of special attention from global economies in recent years. Therefore, the present study aims to estimate the future generation of ELVs to assist decision making and mitigate the global impact of this type of waste on the environment. For this, a hybrid forecasting model was used, based on Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) methodology and on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), with a set of temporal data extracted from Brazilian sectoral platforms. The results achieved point to a good convergence of the model, indicating better performance than a naive or trivial prediction. The efficiency obtained by the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient was 98% and the expectation is that for the year 2030, approximately 5.2 million ELVs will be produced in Brazil, of which only 78 thousand units would be effectively recycled, considering the current vehicle recycling rate in the country. Considering the scarcity of information that supports decision-making in waste management in Brazil, this study may also contribute to the proposition of alternatives that favor the proper management of automotive waste, providing a reference for the formulation and implementation of policies related to ELVs in the country.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) have become a promising tool for therapeutic intervention. Their unique features, including self-renewal, multipotency and immunomodulatory properties draw the worldwide attention of researchers and physicians with respect to their application in disease treatment. However, the environment (so-called niche) from which MSCs are isolated may determine their usefulness. Many studies indicated the involvement of MSCs in ageing and disease. In this review, we have focused on how type 2 diabetes (T2D) and metabolic syndrome (MS) affect MSC properties, and thus limit their therapeutic potential. Herein, we mainly focus on apoptosis, autophagy and mitochondria deterioration processes that indirectly affect MSC fate. Based on the data presented, special attention should be paid when considering autologous MSC therapy in T2D or MS treatments, as their therapeutic potential may be restricted.
In recent decades, primal-dual neural networks, as a special type of recurrent neural networks, have received great success in real-time manipulator control. However, noises are usually ignored when neural controllers are designed based on them, and thus, they may fail to perform well in the presence of intensive noises. Harmonic noises widely exist in real applications and can severely affect the control accuracy. This work proposes a novel primal-dual neural network design that directly takes noise control into account. By taking advantage of the fact that the unknown amplitude and phase information of a harmonic signal can be eliminated from its dynamics, our deliberately designed neural controller is able to reach the accurate tracking of reference trajectories in a noisy environment. Theoretical analysis and extensive simulations show that the proposed controller stabilizes the control system polluted by harmonic noises and converges the position tracking error to zero. Comparisons show that our proposed solution consistently and significantly outperforms the existing primal-dual neural solutions as well as feedforward neural one and adaptive neural one for redundancy resolution of manipulators.
Abstract Objectives In line with the aims of this special issue, the purpose of this paper is to forward a position on the concept of sport parenting expertise through the presentation of six key postulates. Design Literature review and position statement. Method By adopting methods associated with an academic position paper, a statement is presented that we believe encapsulates sport parenting expertise. Six key postulates of parenting expertise, formulated from critically reviewing and interpreting relevant literature, are then presented. Results We propose that sport parenting expertise is dependent on the degree to which parents demonstrate a range of competencies; namely that parents, (a) select appropriate sporting opportunities and provide necessary types of support, (b) understand and apply appropriate parenting styles, (c) manage the emotional demands of competitions, (d) foster healthy relationships with significant others, (e) manage organizational and developmental demands associated with sport participation, and, (f) adapt their involvement to different stages of their child's athletic career. Conclusion Expertise in sport parenting requires parents to develop knowledge and utilize a range of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational skills in order to support their child, manage themselves, and operate effectively in the wider youth sport environment. Recommendations for applied researchers to further investigate these postulates and substantiate the components of sport parenting expertise are offered.