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Both research and child protection practice are still far away from having uniform definitions of violence against children. The different disciplines involved in the sectors of national child protection systems rely on separate discourses and terms; definitions are sometimes rather general or implicit, and operationalizations of important elements are rare. The various terms in use – child maltreatment, child abuse and neglect, child endangerment, children at risk, children in need, etc. – speak of the variety, not only of concepts, but also of practices. With respect to the latter, definitional issues are also issues of the scope and thresholds of intervention. This chapter provides an overview of major terms and definitional approaches to violence against children and identifies eminent differences between them. Findings from several studies on the Swiss child protection system, including the first multi-sectorial national survey on agency responses to child maltreatment, illustrate how professionals use definitions and the consequences of having multiple definitional concepts for documenting reported cases. We conclude by advocating for a consensus-based interdisciplinary process of developing shared definitions of violence against children.

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) has been used to combat reading challenges, namely reading accuracy and rate for learners with intellectual, developmental and learning disabilities (IDLD). Whilst most reading CAI effectiveness has been studied in English, other transparent languages have less evidence. This study provides a systematic review and meta-analysis of CAI effectiveness for transparent language reading for K-3 learners with IDLD.

This study systematically reviews academic peer-reviewed studies from 2010 to 2023 with either randomised controlled treatment (RCT) or single-case treatments. Articles were searched from the ACM Digital Library, Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, ERIC, PsychINFO and Science Direct databases, references and systematic review articles. Reading component skills effect sizes were computed using the random effect sizes model.

11 RCT studies of reading CAI for transparent languages with 510 learners with IDLD were found. A random effect sizes (Cohen’s d) of CAI on individual reading component skills were d = 0.24, p-value = 0.063 and confidence interval (CI) 95% (−0.068–0.551) for phonics and phonemic awareness d = 0.41, p-value = 0.000 and CI 95% (0.175–0.644). Given an average intervention dosage of 1.8 h weekly for a maximum of 16 weeks, CAI had better retention with d = 1.13, p-value = 0.066 and CI 95%(−0.339–2.588). However, these results must be interpreted with a concern of only using published studies.

The study contributes to quantitative CAI effectiveness for transparent language reading components for learners with IDLD.

Net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) are essential for reducing the environmental consequences of the construction industry. However, its uptake within the industry has been limited, and the inherent barriers remain not fully explored especially in developing countries. This paper aims to examine the critical barriers that hinder the implementation of NZEBs in the construction sector of developing economies like Ghana.

Quantitative data were collected from 80 construction professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI) using online survey questionnaires. The data set underwent analysis following a four-level analytical protocol comprising reliability test analysis, mean score ranking, exploratory factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation.

Market readiness barriers were considered the most crucial barriers to the implementation of NZEBs in the GCI with an index of 4.023. This was followed by awareness and policy barriers with an index of 4.007. Finally, resistance to change, then cost and capacity barriers were ranked third and fourth, based on their indices of 3.763 and 3.615, respectively.

The results of this research shed light on a relatively unexplored area within the construction sector, particularly in a developing country like Ghana. The findings of this study will provide valuable information to support policy reviews and formulation and buttress the drive towards sustainability and achieving NZEBs.

This narrative review explored the efficacy of school-based child sexual abuse prevention programmes between 1990 and 2002. There were 22 efficacy studies that met clear inclusion criteria. Results covered both methodological design and the range of outcome measures. Methodology was analysed through four dimensions (target population, prevention programme implementation, evaluation methodology and cost-effectiveness). Outcomes for children covered nine categories (knowledge, skills, emotion, perception of risk, touch discrimination, reported response to actual threat/abuse, disclosure, negative effects and maintenance of gains). The studies had many methodological limitations. Prevention programmes had a measure of effectiveness in increasing children ' s awareness of child sexual abuse as well as self-protective skills. Beyond minimal disclosure rates, there was no evidence to demonstrate that programmes protected children from intra-familial sexual abuse. For a small number of children prevention programmes produced minimal negative emotional effects. Recommendations for future research, policy and practice, include realistic outcomes for child participants and locating programmes within wider abuse prevention measures.

In this chapter, four bi-objective vehicle routing problems are considered. Weighted-sum approach optimization models are formulated with the use of mixed-integer programming. In presented optimization models, maximization of capacity of truck versus minimization of utilization of fuel, carbon emission, and production of noise are taken into account. The problems deal with real data for green logistics for routes crossing the Western Pyrenees in Navarre, Basque Country, and La Rioja, Spain.

Heterogeneous fleet of trucks is considered. Different types of trucks have not only different capacities, but also require different amounts of fuel for operations. Consequently, the amount of carbon emission and noise vary as well. Modern logistic companies planning delivery routes must consider the trade-off between the financial and environmental aspects of transportation. Efficiency of delivery routes is impacted by truck size and the possibility of dividing long delivery routes into smaller ones. The results of computational experiments modeled after real data from a Spanish food distribution company are reported. Computational results based on formulated optimization models show some balance between fleet size, truck types, and utilization of fuel, carbon emission, and production of noise. As a result, the company could consider a mixture of trucks sizes and divided routes for smaller trucks. Analyses of obtained results could help logistics managers lead the initiative in environmental conservation by saving fuel and consequently minimizing pollution. The computational experiments were performed using the AMPL programming language and the CPLEX solver.

Women working in public relations (PR) in the 1990s developed the power of metamodern pragmatism to avoid being constrained in this decade of contradictions.

This was a time of promise for female empowerment and careers. The PR industry in Britain had quadrupled in size, yet increased feminisation and professionalisation did not resolve gender inequity. Indeed, alongside the existence of ‘old boys clubs’ and hedonistic macho agencies in the industry, the 1990s offered a lad's mag culture and an AbFab image of PR.

An original collaborative historical ‘Café Delphi’ method was developed using three themes (sex, sexuality and sexism) to explore women's careers and contributions in the expanding and increasingly powerful field of PR in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. It built on feminist critique of the industry and paradoxical portrayals of women resulting from significant changes in media, popular culture and a pluralistic marketplace.

Individual and collective experiences of women working in PR at the time reveal the power of attitudes to affect their ability to achieve equality and empowerment. Women navigated tensions between the benefits of accelerated pluralism and the patriarchal resistance in the workplace through performative choices and a deep sense of pragmatism.