scholarly journals Improving Vegetable Safety in China: Does Co-Regulation Work?

Author(s):  
Lita Alita ◽  
Liesbeth Dries ◽  
Peter Oosterveer

In the last decade, vegetable safety issues have received growing attention from both consumers and public authorities in China, as vegetable safety hazards pose a serious threat to public health. In 2017, the Industry & Trade Bureau in China implemented a “Market Renovation Program”. This program includes the renovation of wholesale and wet markets, the formal registration of all stallholders in these markets and the introduction of a rapid test for pesticides residues. We apply the co-regulation framework to assess the implementation and results of the renovation program on the safety of vegetables. A mixed methods approach is used to investigate the effects of the renovation program. The qualitative study elaborates on the implementation of the renovation program and the behavioural changes of stakeholders in handling vegetables through interviews and field observations. The quantitative results confirm that the renovation program has a positive impact on vegetable safety. In conclusion, this study shows that the key factor for the success of the renovation program is the transition of authority from the local, public authority to the market management.

Author(s):  
Olga Leptiukhova ◽  
Marija Utkina

For more than half a century bicycle transport demonstrates its effectiveness as one of the elements of the transport network of the city. Currently, vehicles with low-power motors such as electric bicycle, electric scooter, gyrometer, segway, wheelbarrow, scooter motor and others are gaining people's attention. These vehicles can be combined into a group of low-speed individual vehicles (hereinafter - NITS) with similar re-quirements for the operational parameters of urban infrastructure. From the urban point of view, the interest in NITC is that the number of its users has increased significantly in recent years. The article presents the results of a sociological survey of residents of Serpukhov, allowing to assess the current and potential readi-ness of the population to use NITC. The growing popularity of NITC has led to an increase in the environmen-tal and economic effect, which is manifested at a particular level of development of the movement on NITC. The ecological and economic effect of the use of NITC has an extremely positive impact on the improvement of the urban environment. This article provides a list of indicators that reflect the growth in the standards of living of society from movement by the NITC, and the calculation of one of them - the increase in entrepre-neurial activity on the streets with increased traffic to the NITC. Indicators are necessary for calculation of complex criterion of efficiency and safety of street network due to development of the movement by NITC. The result will allow public authorities authorized to make decisions on the strategy of transport policy of cities to quantify the ratio of economic benefits from the development of infrastructure of the NITC with the cost of its construction and operation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ovidiu I. Moisescu ◽  
Oana A. Gică ◽  
Victor O. Müller ◽  
Camelia Ancuța Müller

This paper investigates how customer loyalty can be enhanced by improving customers’ perceptions of corporate fairness towards public authorities, taking into account the mediating role of customer-company identification, in a multi-sectorial context, in a developing country in Central and Eastern Europe. The investigation is conducted comparatively within four main industries (telecom services, retail banking services, dairy products and personal care products) and depicts the particular impact these perceptions have on customer loyalty in each domain, with practical implications concerning corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications. A consumer survey was designed and implemented among a sample of 1464 customers from Romania. The collected data was analyzed by means of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). We found that customers’ perception of corporate fairness towards public authorities has a significant and positive impact on customer loyalty in all investigated industries, both directly and indirectly via customer-company identification, with a higher impact for services, especially for retail banking services.


Author(s):  
Jerome P. Breyer

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) recognizes that a new paradigm in highway safety evaluation was brought about by the advent of advanced technologies such as photo log, geographic information systems (GIS), and global-positioning satellite systems. Whereas these technologies are known to serve distinct singular purposes in a highway agency, ADOT has endeavored to explore the possibilities of integrating these technologies for the purpose of providing an all-encompassing perspective of crash history and roadside characteristics in a multimedia display of GIS maps and related photo imagery. The research provides the account of an analytic tool-development process aimed at improving the recognition of highway safety hazards. These hazards might otherwise be apparent if not for the relative complexity of existing relational databases and spatial GIS infrastructure at ADOT. Previous methods of mining data from the ADOT crash databases were limited in functionality as well as in reliability. By promoting the “visualization” of highway safety conditions, the advanced technologies open a wealth of new opportunities in identifying problematic roadside conditions and crash histories. This is expected to lead to an improved economy of implementing safety improvements that are designed properly to mitigate the “real” conditions that can be identified. The research is a companion to the larger, FHWA-sponsored research into establishing a corridor safety-improvement program for Arizona (FHWA Report FHWA-AZ 98-458).


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (65) ◽  
Author(s):  
Celina Salvador-García

La COVID-19 ha generado un escenario educativo inesperado en el que la educación a distancia se ha convertido una realidad en todas las etapas educativas. No obstante, atender a todo el alumnado debe seguir siendo una prioridad docente. Este estudio de caso examina el efecto generado por una propuesta gamificada sobre alumnado de tercero y cuarto de primaria. El estudio se acomete mediante una metodología mixta que analiza cuantitativamente los datos de participación del alumnado (n=138) y cualitativamente la percepción de la docente implicada a través de una entrevista. Los resultados cuantitativos, evidencian diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la participación del alumnado durante las semanas que se utilizó la gamificación. Además, la entrevista muestra cuatro categorías sobre las que se conforma la percepción de la docente sobre la intervención: inclusión, participación, motivación y reto personal. En conclusión, el estudio desvela que la gamificación puede ser un método útil para favorecer la educación inclusiva, aumentar la participación del alumnado e incrementar su motivación; y aporta información de calado susceptible de ser transferida a otros contextos a fin de mejorar las experiencias de educación a distancia garantizando la atención a todo el alumnado. COVID-19 has come with an unexpected educative scenario where distance education became a reality in all educational stages. However, attending to every student should still be a must for all educators. This case study examines the effect of a gamified proposal on third and fourth level primary students. The study uses a mixed methods approach analyzing quantitatively students’ participation data (n=138) and qualitatively the viewpoint of the involved teacher through an interview. The quantitative results show statistically significant differences in the students’ participation during the weeks that gamification was applied. Moreover, the interview displays four categories that conform the teachers’ perspective regarding the intervention: inclusion, participation, motivation and personal challenge. In conclusion, the study discloses that gamification may be a useful method to promote an inclusive education, increase students’ participation as well as their motivation. In addition, it contributes to share relevant information transferable to other contexts in order to improve distance education experiences guaranteeing attention to all students.


Author(s):  
Lijia Lin

The chapter investigated students' behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement, as well as their learning in a blended environment. A convergent mixed methods research design was used in which quantitative data (face-to-face attendance, online system login, and survey) were collected from 71 undergraduate students, and qualitative data (focus group interview) were collected from six of these students. These data were further analyzed and integrated. The quantitative results showed that students' online login, the behavioral engagement indicator, had a positive impact on their learning, which was supported by qualitative findings. Further analysis revealed the mixture of students' engagement, such as confusion vs. interesting feelings to online discussions and frustration vs. not much effort using the online system.


2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Richard Olenchak

Students who have learning disabilities concurrently with giftedness continue to trouble educators regarding the nature of programming best suited to their needs. While numerous extant studies have concentrated on the disabilities of such students, this analysis, patterned after a similar study (Olenchak, 1995), has focused on their personal strengths. This inquiry was structured to ascertain the effects of counseling aimed at enhancing their success in instructional environments. The counseling interventions were based predominately on Talents Unlimited (Schlichter & Palmer, 1993) and the study probed their effects on the attitudes, self-concepts, and creative productivity of gifted/LD youngsters enrolled in the sixth through eighth grades. Quantitative results indicated that year-long participation in such counseling had significant positive impact on attitudes toward school and self-concept. Furthermore, qualitative data consisting of interviews, journal analyses, and classroom observations reinforced the quantitative findings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-139
Author(s):  
Christina Yeager Pelatti ◽  
Alison Martino ◽  
Kaitlyn P. Wilson

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the inclusion of a bi-directional communication journal between caregivers and student clinicians during a five-week summer preschool programme impacted caregivers’ perceptions and had a positive impact on their children’s language development. This study included a mixed methods design. Child participants (mean age = 4 years, 4 months) were assigned to one of four classrooms; two classrooms served as control classrooms ( n = 12 children), and two participated in the journal intervention ( n = 15 children). Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaires reflecting caregivers’ perceptions of the speech and language environment and their children’s language development at the start and end of the programme. Quantitative results revealed a significant main effect of time regarding caregivers’ perceptions of their child’s language development. Thematic analysis of narrative questionnaire responses revealed three core themes including: improved communication between caregivers and student clinicians, insight about child’s routines, and application in the home environment. Overall, the results of this pilot study offer preliminary support for the use of bi-directional communication journals as a method of supporting preschoolers’ growth in speech and language skills through caregiver involvement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danish Farooq ◽  
Sarbast Moslem

Human behavior has been considered as a key factor in road safety. Mostly drivers involve in risky behaviors that cause road safety issues. The identification and categorization of risky driver behavior factors is very important to solve road safety issues. This study aims to evaluate and rank the most significant driver behavior factors related to road safety using multi criteria decision making applications. Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) was designed based on Saaty scale by considering the important risky driver behavior factors related to road safety. Twenty experts of transportation engineering department having high driving experience were asked to fill the dynamic questionnaire survey. The analytic network process (ANP) was applied based on pairwise comparisons of driver responses to rank the risky driver behavior factors. Network model results were used to differentiate more significant and less significant risky driving behavior factors based on measured criteria on perceived road safety issues. The analysis results revealed that "driving without alcohol use" was the most significant factor and "obeying speed limits" was the least significant factor for road safety as compared to other factors. The high rank risky driver behavior factors should be more focused to solve road safety issues.


Author(s):  
Sergiu-Vlad Stan ◽  
◽  
Marius-Anton Stupar ◽  

Romania's accession to the EU depended largely on the ability of Romanian public authorities to implement reforms among public organizations in the country. Globally, however, a successful public administration has become a key factor in determining a nation's competitive advantage. The purpose of this article is to emphasize the efforts of the Romanian public administration to submit to the process of administrative reform and as a consequence to contribute to the creation of an administrative reform strategy based on which Romanian public organizations can be reformed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Boetto ◽  
Bernadette Moorhead ◽  
Karen Bell

Adopting a critical social work frame of reference, this paper explores the impacts and challenges of a two-week study abroad program to India on Australian social work students’ understanding of the environment in practice. Using a mixed methods approach, a small study was undertaken in 2011 involving pre and post-program surveys, as well as a facilitated reflective workshop to explore environmental social work.  Results are discussed and indicate the program had a positive impact on expanding students’ conventional socio-cultural understanding of the environment and global dimensions of environmental degradation.  Whilst this is positive and suggests some justification for the international study abroad program, other questions and challenges are raised relating to complex cultural issues and neo-colonial aspects of study abroad programs.


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