Matthew Fish and Olivia Fakoussa
Pre- and post-immigration trauma and stress make refugees a particularly vulnerable group in terms of mental health and well-being. The purpose of this paper is to describe a…
Abstract
Purpose
Pre- and post-immigration trauma and stress make refugees a particularly vulnerable group in terms of mental health and well-being. The purpose of this paper is to describe a listening project undertaken in Plymouth, UK, which sought the views of 17 service users (n=12) and staff (n=5) from four local support organisations, for people with refugee and asylum seeker status and those with diverse cultural backgrounds. Aims of the project were to expand Western-centric understandings regarding beneficial support and the promotion of good mental health and well-being in this population.
Design/methodology/approach
Responses were subjected to thematic analysis, co-conducted with a service user. Participants were asked about their personal understandings of mental health and well-being and what supports or hinders well-being.
Findings
The findings enabled the development of a model incorporating 10 threads which support and 9 holes that can hinder well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The relatively small numbers of participants compared with the numbers of asylum seekers and refugees in Plymouth may not be fully representative of the general population in Plymouth and the UK.
Originality/value
Despite increasing cultural diversity within the UK population, available mental health services exist mainly as developed from a Western psychological model of mental distress and treatment. This research provides services with a more informed understanding of mental health for asylum seekers and refugees. As such it is of value towards future service design in Plymouth and the UK. Findings also contributed to a successful funding bid to set up a peer-led support project in the city.
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Matthew Fish, William Miller, D’Arcy Becker and Aimee Pernsteiner
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of organizational culture as a company migrates through a four-stage model for designing a performance measurement system (PMS…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of organizational culture as a company migrates through a four-stage model for designing a performance measurement system (PMS) focused on customer profitability.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a single-site phenomenological case study, at Growth Spurt Marine Accessories (Growth Spurt), a manufacturing organization headquartered in the USA. Data were collected over a two-year period through interviews with accounting staff, internal company documents and recording observational notes.
Findings
The paper identifies three major factors that prevented Growth Spurt from transitioning its customer profitability analysis (CPA) reporting package through Kaplan and Cooper’s four-stage model of PMS design: executives exerting their power and spending political capital to prevent implementation without providing rationale, executives believing that the allocation methods were too subjective and executives relying on their own intuition in analyzing customer profitability rather than relying on data. These factors suggest that organizational culture plays an important role in migrating a customer-focused profitability PMS through Kaplan and Cooper’s four-stage model of PMS system design.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that a PMS focused on customer profitability that does not advance beyond Stage II (financial reporting-driven) may still suit the needs of an organization. Additionally, managers should advocate for a multidisciplinary PMS design and implementation team to minimize potentially adverse effects of organizational culture.
Originality/value
This paper is unique because it applies Kaplan and Cooper’s four-stage model for PMS design to CPA and it uses a phenomenological case approach to explore impediments to a comprehensive CPA implementation.
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Shimpei Iwasaki and Rajib Shaw
Our planet's essential goods and services emanate from the functions of biological diversity. An ecological sphere rich in variety and endowed with highly productive ecosystem…
Abstract
Our planet's essential goods and services emanate from the functions of biological diversity. An ecological sphere rich in variety and endowed with highly productive ecosystem services in which fishery resources are present provides attractive benefits. Fishery resource is the primary form of people's livelihood for survival, especially in coastal areas. It is a major source of food protein for human beings representing at least 15 percent of the average per capita animal protein intake of more than 2.9 billion people [Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2009]. Significant demands for fishery resources create employment opportunities for many people around the world (FAO, 1995). Indeed, the number of fishers, including aquaculturists, has grown faster than the world's population and faster than employment in traditional agriculture during the past three decades (FAO, 2007a, 2009). In 2004, an estimated 51 million people were making their entire or partial living from fish production and capture (Pomeroy & Rivera-Guieb, 2006), the great majority of these in Asian countries (FAO, 2007a, 2009). According to FAO (2009), it has been estimated that for each person employed in the fishery primary sector, there could be four employed in the secondary sector (including fish processing, marketing, and related service industries). The estimated total population employed in the entire fish industry is approximately 204 million people. The total amounts of fish landing, including aquaculture, have maintained an upward trend, as shown in Fig. 1.1. To a large extent, advanced fishing technology that is efficiently and effectively capable of catching or harvesting fishery resources attracted a large number of fishers and has contributed to an increase in fish landing quantity.
Joanne Lee Kunatuba, Ana Laqeretabua and Ulusapeti Tiitii
In order to develop strategies to support the aquaculture industry in Samoa, an extensive gender analysis was undertaken collaboratively by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the…
Abstract
In order to develop strategies to support the aquaculture industry in Samoa, an extensive gender analysis was undertaken collaboratively by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Government of Samoa through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry for Women, Community and Social Development. Data were collected via time use surveys, discussion focus groups and individual interviews to determine the type of roles, and forms of contribution to individual aquaculture farms undertaken by women and men. Our study found that both women and men contributed to aquaculture farming, although the value women assigned to their contribution, although time-consuming and extensive, was often lower relative to men. We have also found that by training and mentoring fisheries officers to conduct the research, these officers have become more aware of womens’ substantial contribution to the sector. There are now plans to adjust training programs to reflect this new knowledge.
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Yohei Chiba, Rajib Shaw and Sivapuram Prabhakar
This paper aims to assess climate change-related non-economic loss and damage (NELD) through case studies of Bangladesh and Japan, evaluate how NELD are addressed in these…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess climate change-related non-economic loss and damage (NELD) through case studies of Bangladesh and Japan, evaluate how NELD are addressed in these countries and provide the ways forward for further improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reviewed the literature to examine NELD and looked into currently available methodologies and their limitations. It reviewed governmental disaster reports and plans and interviewed with communities to understand NELD in each country’s context.
Findings
This paper indicates that NELDs are not sufficiently reported in the countries studied. Underestimation of NELD may lead to limited outcomes in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). NELD should be measured and integrated into decision-making, through capacity-building from local to national level.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is based on the literature review and stakeholder consultations in the study countries. The results are specific to these countries. Readers may find them applicable to other country situations.
Practical implications
NELD-related information is directly relevant for preparing countries to achieve their sustainable development, CCA and DRR objectives as suggested by the recent international frameworks such as sustainable development goals (SDGs), Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework for DRR.
Social implications
This paper identifies several NELD indicators related to societal well-being in the study countries and beyond, and addressing them will have positive impact on the society.
Originality/value
Addressing NELD is a recent topic under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and nothing much has been done on how countries can address NELD in their developmental, CCA and DRR approaches. This paper identifies the importance of integrating NELD into decision-making and the ways forward to researchers, governments and policymakers for addressing NELD.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the prejudice and discrimination constructs through the lens of a transcendent knowledge concept.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the prejudice and discrimination constructs through the lens of a transcendent knowledge concept.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper seeks to demonstrate that Spiritism or Spiritist Doctrine (SD) – regarded here as a source of transcendent knowledge – offers compelling arguments and provides suitable explanations (i.e. transcendent ontology) in relation to the issue of discrimination
Findings
Overall, this paper contributes to a better understanding of diversity and inclusive perspectives by examining the antecedents and consequences of discrimination through the insightful lens of SD tenets. In this sense, the findings suggest that the discriminators and prejudiced people may ironically pass through – as a result of the law of cause and effect – the same hard situations (i.e. ordeals or nightmares) – even though in their future lives – that they impose in their current victims to forcefully open their minds, support universal values, enhance their own feelings and spiritual intelligence.
Practical implications
Evidence presented here (although conceptually in nature) could be somewhat integrated into training sections of diversity management. At a minimum, it may encourage the shift of attitudes, revision of embedded values and reflections about the spiritual consequences to the perpetrators of discrimination against minorities.
Originality/value
Taken as a whole, the SD tenets prompt us to understand that the acts of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination engender suffering for their perpetrators, even in their future lives (i.e. reincarnations). Broadly speaking, the SD principles compel us to consider transcendent knowledge even in the context of organizational life.
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Nicholas P. Lovrich, Michael J. Gaffney, Edward P. Weber, R. Michael Bireley, Dayna R. Matthews and Bruce Bjork
We assessed attempts by federal and state agencies to utilize a Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) approach to address endangered species and natural resource…
Abstract
We assessed attempts by federal and state agencies to utilize a Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) approach to address endangered species and natural resource protection issues in two watersheds in Washington State involving listed species of salmon, steelhead and bull trout. In the wake of the listing of these species, NOAA Fisheries and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) joined to implement a multi-party collaboration to enforcement termed Resource-Oriented Enforcement (ROE). We sought to determine if federal and state resource agencies can collaborate effectively and if collaborative approaches can achieve short- and long-term resource protection goals. A citizen mail survey (n=800+ in each location) and extensive personal interviews with key actors were conducted to assemble evidence on the degree of success achieved in implementing ROE. Observed results suggest that collaboration can
Grace Carr, Nate Brown, Kayla Clark, Chris McBarnes, Taylor Phillips, Tyler Shreve, Inna Willis and Jacob Hochard
State agencies responsible for wildlife management and habitat preservation have historically relied on revenues generated from traditional sources, such as hunting and fishing…
Abstract
State agencies responsible for wildlife management and habitat preservation have historically relied on revenues generated from traditional sources, such as hunting and fishing licenses (consumptive users). This conventional funding model tends to overlook the shift in demographics and preferences toward non-consumptive activities like wildlife watching and nature tourism, as well as the indirect benefits from such activities. To address this disproportionate representation, innovative funding mechanisms are being explored throughout the Rocky Mountain West to provide avenues for inclusive conservation funding that incorporates non-consumptive users, such as recreational fees, conservation-oriented merchandizing, and co-branding partnerships with small businesses. Inspired by this methodology, initiatives like the University of Wyoming’s, “WYldlife for Tomorrow” (WFT) have been developed as an innovative approach that fosters collaboration between state agencies, businesses, educational institutions, and local communities for the purpose of creating sustainable funding streams for wildlife and habitat conservation. By responding to the evolving trends in hunting and fishing interests, this collaborative effort holds the potential to establish a sustainable model for wildlife management programs.
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The Health Congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute was held at Brighton from May 23rd to 27th, 1949. In the course of his inaugural address to the Congress His Grace the Duke of…
Abstract
The Health Congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute was held at Brighton from May 23rd to 27th, 1949. In the course of his inaugural address to the Congress His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, K.G., P.C., G.C.V.O., said: “ Of all the gifts which one may be born with, everyone will agree that Good Health is greatest. It is also the most important. Let us look at Health. What is health? I would hesitate to answer that question in front of the present audience. But I know what the simple answer is—to feel well and to go on feeling well. That, in short, is good health. But, like all precious things, it has to be looked after. And, good or bad, it can play an ever‐important part in the life of each one of us. The fresh air of the countryside and the pure air from the sea are our best safeguards for good health. But in many areas we have too large a crowd to move and too great a distance to cover before they can benefit by these two assets. And the trend in this country is toward more houses, more towns and an increasing population which is becoming too large for the country and may make ever harder the task of prevention of all that is bad. The sea will always be there for those who wish to spend their holidays away from home. But the big cities cannot be expected to empty their people for a day on to the coast. We live in an age of planning. Every government, every government department, and every local authority, plans. They spend colossal sums of money. They show very little return. Is it too much to hope that perhaps fewer people will plan our lives, and that common sense, not money, will be the backbone upon which the health of the nation will exist.”
Syed Haroon Abdul Gafoor and Padma Theagarajan
Conventional diagnostic techniques, on the other hand, may be prone to subjectivity since they depend on assessment of motions that are often subtle to individual eyes and hence…
Abstract
Purpose
Conventional diagnostic techniques, on the other hand, may be prone to subjectivity since they depend on assessment of motions that are often subtle to individual eyes and hence hard to classify, potentially resulting in misdiagnosis. Meanwhile, early nonmotor signs of Parkinson’s disease (PD) can be mild and may be due to variety of other conditions. As a result, these signs are usually ignored, making early PD diagnosis difficult. Machine learning approaches for PD classification and healthy controls or individuals with similar medical symptoms have been introduced to solve these problems and to enhance the diagnostic and assessment processes of PD (like, movement disorders or other Parkinsonian syndromes).
Design/methodology/approach
Medical observations and evaluation of medical symptoms, including characterization of a wide range of motor indications, are commonly used to diagnose PD. The quantity of the data being processed has grown in the last five years; feature selection has become a prerequisite before any classification. This study introduces a feature selection method based on the score-based artificial fish swarm algorithm (SAFSA) to overcome this issue.
Findings
This study adds to the accuracy of PD identification by reducing the amount of chosen vocal features while to use the most recent and largest publicly accessible database. Feature subset selection in PD detection techniques starts by eliminating features that are not relevant or redundant. According to a few objective functions, features subset chosen should provide the best performance.
Research limitations/implications
In many situations, this is an Nondeterministic Polynomial Time (NP-Hard) issue. This method enhances the PD detection rate by selecting the most essential features from the database. To begin, the data set's dimensionality is reduced using Singular Value Decomposition dimensionality technique. Next, Biogeography-Based Optimization (BBO) for feature selection; the weight value is a vital parameter for finding the best features in PD classification.
Originality/value
PD classification is done by using ensemble learning classification approaches such as hybrid classifier of fuzzy K-nearest neighbor, kernel support vector machines, fuzzy convolutional neural network and random forest. The suggested classifiers are trained using data from UCI ML repository, and their results are verified using leave-one-person-out cross validation. The measures employed to assess the classifier efficiency include accuracy, F-measure, Matthews correlation coefficient.