scholarly journals Assessing Accessibility of Footpath-Level Walkability in Old Core Cities of India for Promoting Universal Mobility through Architectural Planning Research: Case Study of Central Kolkata, India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
GAURAB DAS MAHAPATRA ◽  
Suguru Mori ◽  
Rie Nomura
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Building Typology ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Architectural Planning ◽  
Street Furniture ◽  
Pedestrian Infrastructure ◽  
Pedestrian Crossing ◽  
Indian Cities

In this research, the accessibility in the footpath-level walkability condition of old core cities of India has been assessed, considering Central Kolkata, India as a case. Post-2015, after the implementation of Goal Number 11 of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (i.e. Sustainable Cities and Communities), the significance of universal mobility has globally manifolded in the walkability sector. This research has been done in theoretical, ideological, and methodological patterns using Architectural Planning Research for promoting Universal Mobility in old Indian cities. The variables (categorical) used in this research are related to pedestrian infrastructure. The categorical variables are: 1) Building Typology of Stretch, 2) Footpath Dimensions, 3) Temporary Encroachment, 4) Permanent Encroachment, 5) Bus Stop, 6) Metro Rail Entrance, 7) Railings, 8) Storm Water Drains, 9) Public Toilet, 10) Trash Bins, 11) Street Lights, 12) Flooring, 13) Manholes, 14) Kerb, 15) Pedestrian Crossing, 16) Street Furniture, 17) Safety and Security, and 18) Additional Inclusive Features like signage. This research shows that the footpath stretches in Central Kolkata, India are inadequate in terms of ideal accessibility. In addition to this, the result of this research portrays complexities in the adaptability of accessible walkability-related considerations; thereby suggesting a new accessibility audit format for old core Indian cities for achieving Universal Mobility standards in the future. The authors also propose quantitative methods to conduct future research in the same domain.

scholarly journals Sustainability in Participatory Sports Events: The Development of a Research Instrument and Empirical Insights

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6034
Author(s):  
Ine Hugaerts ◽  
Jeroen Scheerder ◽  
Kobe Helsen ◽  
Joris Corthouts ◽  
Erik Thibaut ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Research Instrument ◽  
Sports Events ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Goals

The United Nations (UN) considers sports as an important enabler of sustainable development. The popular and fast-growing Participatory Sports Event (PSE) sector can play an important role in this regard, however, research that measures and reports sustainability in PSEs is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to construct and validate a research instrument based on the UN’s sustainable development goals, and to examine sustainability in PSEs. To this end, an online survey was administered among a representative sample of 303 PSE organisers, located in Flanders, Belgium. A confirmatory factor analysis affirmed the social, economic and environmental dimensions of the instrument and provided evidence for its validity and reliability. The results reveal significant discrepancies between the three dimensions, with a noticeable lower score for environmental sustainability compared to social and economic sustainability. Furthermore, challenges are highlighted in the field of the civil society sector and in walking sports events. The findings also indicate that large-sized events are more likely to be sustainable. The current study can act as a foundation for future research on sustainability in PSEs and can assist PSE organisers and policymakers to increase the sustainability-related performance of the sector.

scholarly journals Gender differences in motivations to attend festivals in Saudi Arabia

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-141
Author(s):  
Faten Alshammari ◽  
Jeremy Whaley ◽  
Songyee Hur ◽  
Youn-Kyung Kim
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Gender Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Saudi Arabians

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to conduct a within-gender analysis and between-gender differences in seeking (personal and interpersonal) and escaping (personal and interpersonal) motivations to attend a non-traditional festival in Saudi Arabia. Specific objectives were: to conduct a within-gender analysis in motivations to attend a non-traditional festival in Saudi Arabia; and to examine between-gender differences in motivations to attend a non-traditional festival in Saudi Arabia.Design/methodology/approachBased on the data collected from 458 attendees at a non-traditional festival in Saudi Arabia, the authors employed network analysis for within-gender analysis and MANOVA and ANOVA for between-gender comparison. The network analysis served two purposes, in that it examined each item’s predictability for each gender, and analyzed the correlations among motivation items within each gender. In addition, the General Linear Model served to compare the male and female groups’ motivations to attend the non-traditional festival. The authors first performed MANOVA for each dimension and then ANOVA for each dimension’s individual items.FindingsWithin-gender analysis reveals that several sets of motivations were associated strongly for both genders. This suggests that Saudi Arabians seem to enjoy entertainment because it projects the festival mood; they want to escape both from home and work and attend the festival to relieve stress by changing their routine pace. However, gender differences were apparent in several other items, especially for the group of women. Between-group comparison analysis shows significant gender differences in several elements of motivation. Overall, personal seeking and escaping were greater for males than females. In contrast, interpersonal seeking was greater for females than males.Research limitations/implicationsEntertainment seems to be a key contributor to the festival mood because entertainment and the festival mood were related closely for both genders. In fact, personal and interpersonal escaping means were greater than personal interpersonal seeking means for both genders. Indeed, opportunities exist to develop non-traditional festivals in the country further. Gender differences were identified in several items of personal seeking and escaping, and interpersonal seeking. With respect to personal seeking, men tend to seek the entertainment, festival mood and the event’s uniqueness more than do women, a finding that their higher means in personal escaping supported. It is clear that men view the festival as a way to enjoy themselves to escape from their jobs and daily stress to a greater degree than do their female counterparts. Women are more likely to seek interpersonal experiences in that they are more likely to enjoy the festival because it offers the opportunity to meet new people and spend quality time with family and friends. This study has several limitations, leading to suggestions for future research. Because seeking and escaping motivations have been used relatively little in the festival setting, future researchers should develop a valid scale of personal and interpersonal seeking and escaping motivations specifically for festivals employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Second, while the data were collected at a single non-traditional festival, future research can use multiple sites to increase the ability to generalize the findings. Third, although this study was limited to Saudi Arabia, further research can apply seeking and escaping motivations, both at the personal and interpersonal levels, to other cultures to extend the applicability of the framework used in this study.Practical implicationsNon-traditional festival managers need to focus on an atmosphere that provides festivities, as many people in the Saudi Arabian culture appear to be escaping from their everyday lives to enjoy themselves and with family and friends. To appeal to male workers, festival organizers and managers need to advertise and market the events’ mood and liveliness overall with photos of workers leaving the office free of stress and looking forward to attending an event. To appeal to women who desire unique experiences that a variety of forms of entertainment provide, event managers must ensure that the entertainment is innovative and creative, and differs from what other festivals provide to attract more female attendees. Also, festival planners must focus on events that incorporate the family unit and promote the opportunity to meet new people to appeal to women in Saudi Arabia.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine gender differences in festival motivations in Saudi Arabia. The relaxation of the historically strict and conservative cultural values, coupled with the country’s desire to develop its tourism and event sector, provides an ideal opportunity for future research. The authors hope that this research will stimulate further interest in the country with the goal to develop and market its tourism sector and products on the world’s stage.

scholarly journals Evolving injury profiles amid advancing sport: Musculoskeletal injuries in ringball players

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Blessing Mkhwanazi ◽  
Julian David Pillay
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Injury Prevention ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Musculoskeletal Injuries ◽  
Ankle Injuries ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Current Season ◽  
Kwazulu Natal

Background: Ringball, a sport historically derived from conventional basketball and netball, demonstrates the evolution of traditional sport. The variations between these sports may predispose players to different risk factors and consequent injuries and their impact, yet they are usually considered comparably. Objective: To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries and to profile injuries based on location, severity, and mechanisms of occurrence. A further objective was to compare the injuries sustained in ringball with that of basketball and netball. Methods: A questionnaire-based study, administered to 110 ringball players in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, was applied. Data were described and compared using frequencies/ percentages for categorical variables. Results: Seventy-six ringball players completed the questionnaire (69% response rate). The prevalence of at least one injury during/after the last or current season was 80% (n=61). The most commonly reported injury was to the foot/ankle (36%; n=33) followed by the knee (29%; n=27) and wrist (9%; n=8). The most common mechanisms of injury reported were landing (15%; n=9), jumping (9%; n=5), goal shooting (7%; n=4), defending (7%; n=4) and collision (7%; n=4). Discussion: Ringball shares similar injuries to that of basketball/netball, with foot/ankle injuries being the most prevalent. The prevalence of other injuries in ringball differed from basketball/netball, suggesting variations between these sports as a contributor to the injuries described. Conclusion: The evolution of sport and the modifications in rules/techniques may create a nuanced injury profile to those commonly identified. The combination of a sport’s uniqueness/modification and its similarities to other sports warrants the need for more tailored approaches to injury prevention and a platform for future research.

scholarly journals Resveratrol in Rodent Models of Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review of Experimental Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Fu Su ◽  
Li Jiang ◽  
Xiao-Wen Zhang ◽  
Ashok Iyaswamy ◽  
Min Li
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Animal Models ◽  
Motor Function ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Rodent Models ◽  
Neuroprotective Effects ◽  
Systematic Analysis

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease featured by progressive degeneration of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons (DA) accompanied with motor function impairment. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that natural compounds from herbs have potent anti-PD efficacy in PD models. Among those compounds, resveratrol, a polyphenol found in many common plants and fruits, is more effective against PD. Resveratrol has displayed a potent neuroprotective efficacy in several PD animal models. However, there is still no systematic analysis of the quality of methodological design of these studies, nor of their results. In this review, we retrieved and analyzed 18 studies describing the therapeutic effect of resveratrol on PD animal models. There are 5 main kinds of PD rodent models involved in the 18 articles, including chemical-induced (MPTP, rotenone, 6-OHDA, paraquat, and maneb) and transgenic PD models. The neuroprotective mechanisms of resveratrol were mainly concentrated on the antioxidation, anti-inflammation, ameliorating mitochondrial dysfunction, and motor function. We discussed the disadvantages of different PD animal models, and we used meta-analysis approach to evaluate the results of the selected studies and used SYRCLE’s risk of bias tool to evaluate the methodological quality. Our analytical approach minimized the bias of different studies. We have also summarized the pharmacological mechanisms of resveratrol on PD models as reported by the researchers. The results of this study support the notion that resveratrol has significant neuroprotective effects on different PD models quantified using qualitative and quantitative methods. The collective information in our review can guide researchers to further plan their future experiments without any hassle regarding preclinical and clinical studies. In addition, this collective assessment of animal studies can provide a qualitative analysis of different PD animal models, either to guide further testing of these models or to avoid unnecessary duplication in their future research.

The Circular Economy and The Green Jobs Creation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Sulich ◽  
Letycja Sołoducho-Pelc
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Linear Regression Method ◽  
Green Jobs ◽  
Environmental Goods ◽  
Services Sector ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Development Goals

Abstract The Circular Economy (CE) is a proposal for new, more sustainable and durable economy model. As consequence, of this pro-environmental economic model induces visible changes on the labor market which are Green Jobs (GJ). This paper is focused on the creation of Green Jobs in the CE. The GJ are most visible in the Environmental Goods and Services Sector (EGSS). This study aims to investigate EGSS among 28 European Union countries in years 2009–2019. The adopted method was literature research complemented by the statistical analysis of secondary data from Eurostat in the linear regression method. Then, some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their measure were used as main indicators reflecting changes on the labor market. Results are presented as a model indicating which of the SDGs can support CE and enhance number of the ‘Green Jobs’. Presented results contribute to the science, because combine factors influencing GJ creation in EGSS, in CE perspective. This study underlines a lack of uniform methods for measuring and forecasting the effects of green jobs creation and indicate future research directions.

Smart technologies challenges and issues in social inclusion – case of disabled youth in a developing country

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bissane Harb ◽  
Dina Sidani
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Millennium Development Goals ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Smart Technologies

Purpose In light of the emphasis on “inclusion” in the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the notion of social inclusion encompasses the goal of granting opportunities for disabled people, integrate them and make them participate in the new environment. Referring to the capability theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the social inclusion of disabled young people in Lebanon. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a qualitative approach based on a series of focused semi-structured interviews with 11 participants occupying key positions in aid associations for disabled people. Findings The findings suggest that smart technologies can enhance social inclusion through three key factors: the nature of impairment and other personal characteristics of disabled people, the resources available to them and the environmental aspects provided by government policies and society’s cultural practices. In the contemporary society characterized by an increasing role of ICTs, the findings of this research could contribute to lead the developing countries to a sustainable and inclusive world through social inclusion of their youth. Research limitations/implications This study has some limitations that should be mentioned. First, it was conducted only on a small sample size (with 11 interviewees). Further empirical research must be conducted on larger sample to build and elaborate on the findings. Second, the results are mainly based on the points of view of people working in aid associations for disabled people. In future research, semi-structured interviews can be carried out with the disabled people themselves or with members of their family to ask them about their personal experience with smart technologies and the impact of this on their social inclusion. It was also suggested that the future research should explore the challenges of inclusion for different categories of disabled people separately because they are not all facing the same issues and the same challenges. Furthermore, as this paper focuses on the role of smart technologies in the development of social inclusion of disabled people, future research could take place with other groups, for example, Palestinian and Syrian refugees, to identify whether these groups are experiencing similar challenges and barriers when trying to use smart technologies as a way to enhance their social inclusion. Practical implications Related to a larger and broader approach, social inclusion of disabled or marginalized people or refugees in developing countries could be a way to commit to a sustainable and inclusive world, in alignment with the eight goals of the Millennium Development Goals. Originality/value Related to a larger and broader approach, social inclusion of disabled or marginalized people or refugees in developing countries could be a way to commit to a sustainable and inclusive world, in alignment with the eight goals of the Millennium Development Goals.

Framework Proposition Strategy for Collection of Returned Products in Reverse Logistics Environment

2020 ◽  
pp. 462-475
Author(s):  
Hendrik Lamsali
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Reverse Logistics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Development ◽  
Logistics System ◽  
Logistics Network ◽  
Plastics Recycling ◽  
Product Return ◽  
Development Goals

The importance of reverse logistics and product recovery is evident in various industries as well as in current UNESCO sustainable development goals. This includes plastics and recycling with the former “contributed” significantly towards environmental issues and the latter being one of the primary solutions. The motivations of its implementation are generally divided into legal, economic, and socio-environmental factors. One of the crucial components of plastics recycling and a reverse logistics system is product return channels. The success of other components especially the recovery operations depends on the effectiveness of the return channels. Although numerous investigations on product return channels have been carried out, research on some critical aspects remains wanting. This study presents a review that highlights this deficiency, depicts relevant research development on product return channels, decision-making issues, and direction for future research. At the end of the study, the authors propose a new closed-loop logistics network and future research framework propositions.

Monitoring and Evaluation

2021 ◽  
pp. 99-116
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Monitoring ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Social Change Organizations

This chapter focuses on how monitoring and evaluation plays a pivotal role in the design and execution of initiatives leading up to social transformation. The work evidences that measuring effectiveness is one of the biggest challenges that many social change organizations face; this chapter addresses this issue. It explores and suggests qualitative and quantitative methods to track progress and how to measure growth. Among these methods is a narrative analysis tool that the authors have developed to evidence the ways in which a person's story of self, or the story of a group, transforms overtime. The methods suggested here respond to both local needs and global measures of success, such as the United Nations' sustainable development goals. Conceptually, this section draws from the notions of participatory action monitoring and evaluation as discussed by Chevalier and Buckles, and of the power relations that mediate processes of evaluation discussed by Chapela and Jarillo.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: Evidence from the Longitudinal Parenting Across Cultures Project

2021 ◽  
pp. 89-112
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Lansford ◽  
W. Andrew Rothenberg ◽  
Sombat Tapanya ◽  
Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado ◽  
Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Health And Well Being

This chapter uses evidence from the Parenting Across Cultures (PAC) project to illustrate ways in which longitudinal data can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) The chapter begins by providing an overview of the research questions that have guided the international PAC as well as a description of the participants, procedures, and measures. Next, empirical findings from PAC are summarized to illustrate implications for six specific SDGs related to child and adolescent development in relation to education, poverty, gender, mental health, and well-being. Then the chapter describes how longitudinal data offer advantages over cross-sectional data in operationalizing SDG targets and implementing the SDGs. Finally, limitations, future research directions, and conclusions are provided.

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