The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act address factors to consider in educating students with and without…
Abstract
The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act address factors to consider in educating students with and without disabilities together to the maximum extent appropriate. This chapter is designed to examine the origins and evolving interpretations of the LRE concept in special education policy and practice. Discussion traces the evolution of the concept as a legal principle, and reviews its application to educational strategies for students with learning and behavioral disabilities in contemporary schools. In conclusion, the future of the LRE concept is addressed in light of competing policies promoting presumptive inclusive education, and publicly funded school choice programs promoting greater involvement of parents in choosing where their children with and without disabilities should be educated.
Mihail Cocosila, Glen Farrelly and Houda Trabelsi
The purpose of this study is to describe a comparative study of the perceptions of users and non-users of an early contact tracing application helping to prevent the spread of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to describe a comparative study of the perceptions of users and non-users of an early contact tracing application helping to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unprecedented incidence of this disease warrants investigating theoretically the use of mobile contact tracing applications as a promising approach to curtail its transmission.
Design/methodology/approach
A consumption value-based model of the adoption and use of a contact tracing mobile application was built and tested through a cross-sectional survey conducted with 2 samples (of 309 already users and 306 non-users) in the Province of Alberta, Canada.
Findings
Utilitarian and social values together with health information seeking and perceived critical mass drive the use of the application while perceived privacy risk is an obstacle to usage for both users and non-users.
Research limitations/implications
Study participants self-assessed their risk category of potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus, and this was a subjective measure including an emotional component.
Practical implications
No major differences in the approaches targeting users and non-users of a mobile contact tracing application to encourage its adoption and use are necessary.
Social implications
Additional efforts are required to convey to people information on the benefits and current rate of use of such an application and to mitigate privacy risk concerns.
Originality/value
Overall, the study offers theoretical and practical contributions that may help improve the adoption and usage of contact tracing applications addressing the COVID-19 pandemic or other possible public health crises.
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This chapter deals with the estimation of the effect of exchange rate flexibility on financial account openness. The purpose of our analysis is twofold: On the one hand, we try to…
Abstract
This chapter deals with the estimation of the effect of exchange rate flexibility on financial account openness. The purpose of our analysis is twofold: On the one hand, we try to quantify the differences in the estimated parameters when exchange rate flexibility is treated as an exogenous regressor. On the other hand, we try to identify how two different degrees of exchange rate flexibility (intermediate vs floating regimes) affect the propensity of opening the financial account. We argue that a simultaneous determination of exchange rate and financial account policies must be acknowledged in order to obtain reliable estimates of their interaction and determinants. Using a panel data set of advanced countries and emerging markets, a trivariate probit model is estimated via a maximum simulated likelihood approach. In line with the monetary policy trilemma, our results show that countries switching from an intermediate regime to a floating arrangement are more likely to remove capital controls. In addition, the estimated coefficients exhibit important differences when exchange rate flexibility is treated as an exogenous regressor relative to the case when it is treated as endogenous.
Patrizia Lombardi and Valentina Ferretti
Policy makers are frequently challenged by the need to achieve sustainable development in cities and regions. Current decision-making processes are based on evaluation support…
Abstract
Purpose
Policy makers are frequently challenged by the need to achieve sustainable development in cities and regions. Current decision-making processes are based on evaluation support systems which are unable to tackle the problem as they cannot take a holistic approach or a full account of actors. The purpose of this paper is to present a new generation of evaluation systems to support decision making in planning and regeneration processes which involve expert participation. These systems ensure network representation of the issues involved and visualization of multiple scenarios.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review is used for both revising existing evaluation tools in urban planning and the built environment and highlighting the need to give stakeholders (industry, cities, operators, etc.) new tools for collaborative or individual decisions and to facilitate scaling up solutions. An overview of the new generation of decision support systems, named Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support Systems (MC-SDSS) is provided and real case studies are analyzed to show their ability to tackle the problem.
Findings
Recent research findings highlight that decisions in urban planning should be supported by collaborative and inclusive processes. Otherwise, they will fail. The case studies illustrated in this study highlight the usefulness of MC-SDSS for the successful resolution of complex problems, thanks to the visualization facilities and a network representation of the scenarios.
Research limitations/implications
The case studies are limited to the Italian context.
Practical implications
These SDSS are able to empower planners and decision makers to better understand the interaction between city design, social preferences, economic issues and policy incentives. Therefore, they have been employed in several case studies related to territorial planning and regeneration processes.
Originality/value
This study provides three case studies and a review of the new MC-SDSS methodology which involve the Analytic Network Process technique to support decision-making in urban and regional planning.
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Eileen L. Sullivan, George P. Sillup and Ronald K. Klimberg
The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multicriteria decision support system that has been successfully applied to numerous decision-making situations, has been applied to…
Abstract
The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a multicriteria decision support system that has been successfully applied to numerous decision-making situations, has been applied to patient assessment. The AHP was used with Timeslips™, a group storytelling program that encourages creative expression among dementia patients, to determine the optimal scale for pre and post assessment among the nine most common agitation and anxiety scales. The AHP used the six criteria identified by qualitative assessment of the nine scales: (1) validity/reliability, (2) observation period, (3) training required, (4) time to administer, (5) most appropriate administrator, and (6) accessibility/cost. The AHP indicated that the Overt Agitation & Anxiety Scale was optimal for use with Timeslips; the process and results are discussed.
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Recently, mHealth apps for COVID-19 have emerged as a new research area due to the diverse efforts to control the COVID-19 epidemic. Although there are many bibliometric studies…
Abstract
Purpose
Recently, mHealth apps for COVID-19 have emerged as a new research area due to the diverse efforts to control the COVID-19 epidemic. Although there are many bibliometric studies on mHealth and its applications, no bibliometric study sheds light on mHealth apps for COVID-19 as a new research area. To address the above-mentioned research gap, the current study conducts a bibliometric analysis of research in mHealth apps for COVID-19. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the new area and its directions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a bibliometric approach to provide an analysis of the overall status of research in mHealth apps for COVID-19. The Scopus database provided by Elsevier was used to extract the analyzed data in this study. SciVal was used to perform the analyses, while VOSviewer was used for scientific mapping.
Findings
A total of 457 publications were published between 2020 and 2021 (until Tuesday, June 1) and cited 3,559 times. Publications were written by 2,375 authors, with an average of 5.20 authors per publication. Articles play a pivotal role in the literature on mHealth apps for COVID-19 in terms of production and impact. The research area of mHealth apps for COVID-19 is multidisciplinary. The United States made the largest contribution to this area, while the UK was the most influential. This study reveals the most productive and influential sources, institutions and authors. It also reveals the research hotspots and major thematic clusters in mHealth apps for COVID-19, highly cited publications and the international collaboration network.
Originality/value
mHealth apps for COVID-19 are gaining more and more importance due to their influential role in controlling the COVID-19 epidemic. Using bibliometric analysis, the study contributes to defining the knowledge structure of global research in mHealth apps for COVID-19 as a new, interdisciplinary area of research that has not previously been studied. Therefore, the study results and the comprehensive picture obtained about research in mHealth apps for COVID-19, especially at the level of Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence applications, make it an effective supplement to the expert evaluation in the field.
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Steven B. Scyphers and Susannah B. Lerman
Climate change is a global threat to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In an increasingly urbanized world, homeowners play an important role in climate…
Abstract
Purpose
Climate change is a global threat to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In an increasingly urbanized world, homeowners play an important role in climate adaptation and environmental sustainability through decisions to landscape and manage their residential properties.
Methodology/approach
In this chapter, we review the potential impacts of climate change on environmental sustainability in urban ecosystems and highlight the role of urban and suburban residents in conserving biodiversity. We focus extensively on the interactions of homeowners and residential landscapes in urban coastal and desert environments.
Practical implications
Understanding how human-environment interactions are linked with a changing climate is especially relevant for coastal and desert cities in the United States, which are already experiencing visible impacts of climate change. In fact, many homeowners are already making decisions in response to environmental change, and these decisions will ultimately shape the future structure, function and sustainability of these critically important ecosystems.
Social implications
Considering the close relationship between biodiversity and the health and well-being of human societies, understanding how climate change and other social motivations affect the landscaping decisions of urban residents will be critical for predicting and enhancing sustainability in these social-ecological systems.
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Hannah R. Marston, Linda Shore, Laura Stoops and Robbie S. Turner
L. Ferretti, E. Traverso and G. Ventura
Summary The corrosion behaviour of a naval mild steel has been studied in the natural environment in a part of the Port of Genoa, where the water temperature is evelated by a hot…
Abstract
Summary The corrosion behaviour of a naval mild steel has been studied in the natural environment in a part of the Port of Genoa, where the water temperature is evelated by a hot effluent from a generating station.
Vincent Hayward, Oliver R. Astley, Manuel Cruz‐Hernandez, Danny Grant and Gabriel Robles‐De‐La‐Torre
Haptic interfaces enable person‐machine communication through touch, and most commonly, in response to user movements. We comment on a distinct property of haptic interfaces, that…
Abstract
Haptic interfaces enable person‐machine communication through touch, and most commonly, in response to user movements. We comment on a distinct property of haptic interfaces, that of providing for simultaneous information exchange between a user and a machine. We also comment on the fact that, like other kinds of displays, they can take advantage of both the strengths and the limitations of human perception. The paper then proceeds with a description of the components and the modus operandi of haptic interfaces, followed by a list of current and prospective applications and a discussion of a cross‐section of current device designs.