scholarly journals Older men learning through religious and political affiliations: case studies from Malta

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin Formosa ◽  
Roberta Chetcuti Galea ◽  
Rosette Farrugia Bonello
Keyword(s):  
Informal Learning ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
First Case ◽  
Immaculate Conception ◽  
The Village

This article examines two case studies from Malta that focus on older men learning through informal channels. The first case study investigated the role of a community-based organisation - namely, a religious confraternity dedicated to 'Our Lady of Immaculate Conception' of the village of Mqabba - as an avenue for informal learning activities for older men. The second case study investigated the connection between affiliation in the Labour Party Veterans' branch of the Labour Party (Malta) and informal learning. The case studies were carried out by employing a qualitative-methodological framework whereby data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The intent was to reveal the perceived interests and expectations regarding what would be considered a satisfying lifestyle in the context of membership of older men in both organisations. Findings reveal the benefits that older men enjoy through participation in such organisations, including increased levels of independence, improved social participation, and positive effects on participants' self-esteem and personal confidence. Informants report that membership also contributed to their mental and physical health and to increased activity. Many underlined how participation aided them in escaping boredom and keeping in touch with the outside world. Findings also reveal that only a few informants were simultaneously involved in organisations and activities not related to their religious and political affiliations, which highlights the importance of both informal learning channels in helping older men lead successful and active lives.

scholarly journals BALANCING TRADITION AND DEVELOPMENT? EARLY TRIALS OF A METHODOLOGY FOR STUDYING VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE AND ITS TRANSFORMATIONS

2020 ◽  
Vol XLIV-M-1-2020 ◽  
pp. 781-788
Author(s):  
M. Lidón de Miguel ◽  
L. García-Soriano ◽  
C. Mileto ◽  
F. Trizio
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Vernacular Architecture ◽  
Architectural Heritage ◽  
Traditional Architecture ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Village

Abstract. In the age of globalization, it becomes necessary to assess the possibilities for the conservation of the characteristic identity features of vernacular architectural heritage. The changes undergone in traditional dwellings appear to be on different scales in societies that are considered developed, and in those that are developing, while the idea of development itself can be the main precursor to change. A study underway aims to identify the nature of the transformations occurring both in traditional architecture and in the society that builds it through case studies and to determine the influence of the concept of “development” in these changes, spotting the potential role of cooperation in the conservation of vernacular architectural heritage and its capacity for sustainability. The analysis of the first case study, the village of Baasneere (Burkina Faso), has made it possible to implement a methodology based on the review of literature, quantitative and qualitative research techniques and the use of three types of cataloguing fiches on three aspects (urban, typological, constructive) of dwellings under study. Although it needs to be adapted to the specific characteristics of the new case studies, the methodology proposed has been proven valid in the study of vernacular settings and their transformations and is also expected to be of use in establishing comparisons between different contexts.

scholarly journals An Overview of the Indian system of Raagas and their Positive Effects on Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Nandakishor Mutalik Desai ◽  
◽  
Dattatreya Mutalik Desai ◽  
Kirthana Kunikullaya ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Third Trimester ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
First Case ◽  
Indian Classical Music ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
Sample Case

Music is often known to stimulate the neurological physiology as well as physical health due to its therapeutic abilities. This article presents a detailed review about the Indian classical music (ICM) Raagas with their relationship to the time of the day during which it is played, the season of the year during which it has a maximal positive effect as well as its relationship to Vaatha, Pittha and Kapha. Two sample case studies with melodic scales are reviewed wherein the first case study relates to the successful stress reduction using Darbari kanada Raaga for subjects undergoing gastroendoscopy and the second one highlights the reduction of blood pressure and heart rate for hypertensive women in their third trimester of pregnancy. A meaningful conclusion is drawn by providing a comprehensive assessment about these two case studies thereby emphasizing on the positive effects of music therapy.

Investigating the potential of redundant manipulators in narrow channels

2020 ◽  
pp. 095440622096451
Author(s):  
Ashish Singla ◽  
Jyotindra Narayan ◽  
Himanshu Arora
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Fuzzy Inference ◽  
Redundant Manipulators ◽  
Redundancy Resolution ◽  
Inference System ◽  
Narrow Channels ◽  
First Case ◽  
Task Priority ◽  
Patient Side

In this paper, an attempt has been made to investigate the potential of redundant manipulators, while tracking trajectories in narrow channels. The behavior of redundant manipulators is important in many challenging applications like under-water welding in narrow tanks, checking the blockage in sewerage pipes, performing a laparoscopy operation etc. To demonstrate this snake-like behavior, redundancy resolution scheme is utilized using two different approaches. The first approach is based on the concept of task priority, where a given task is split and prioritize into several subtasks like singularity avoidance, obstacle avoidance, torque minimization, and position preference over orientation etc. The second approach is based on Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), where the training is provided through given datasets and the results are back-propagated using augmentation of neural networks with fuzzy logics. Three case studies are considered in this work to demonstrate the redundancy resolution of serial manipulators. The first case study of 3-link manipulator is attempted with both the approaches, where the objective is to track the desired trajectory while avoiding multiple obstacles. The second case study of 7-link manipulator, tracking trajectory in a narrow channel, is investigated using the concept of task priority. The realistic application of minimum-invasive surgery (MIS) based trajectory tracking is considered as the third case study, which is attempted using ANFIS approach. The 5-link spatial redundant manipulator, also known as a patient-side manipulator being developed at CSIR-CSIO, Chandigarh is used to track the desired surgical cuts. Through the three case studies, it is well demonstrated that both the approaches are giving satisfactory results.

scholarly journals The Key Strategies to Implement Circular Economy in Building Projects—A Case Study of Taiwan

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 754
Author(s):  
H.-Ping Tserng ◽  
Cheng-Mo Chou ◽  
Yun-Tsui Chang
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Building Industry ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Pilot Projects ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
The World ◽  
Project Phases ◽  
Future Project

The building industry is blamed for consuming enormous natural resources and creating massive solid waste worldwide. In response to this, the concept of circular economy (CE) has gained much attention in the sector in recent years. Many pilot building projects that implemented CE concepts started to appear around the world, including Taiwan. However, compared with the pilot projects in the Netherlands, which are regarded as the pioneer ones by international society, many CE-related practices are not implemented in pilot cases in Taiwan. To assist future project stakeholders to recognize what the key CE-related practices are and how they could be implemented in their building projects in Taiwan, this study has conducted a series of case studies of Dutch and Taiwanese pilot projects and semi-structured interviews with key project stakeholders of Taiwanese pilot projects. Thirty key CE-related practices are identified via case studies, along with their related 5R principles (Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle) and project phases. Suggestion on CE-related practices, their 5R principles, project items, and phases to implement in building projects in Taiwan is also proposed while discussion on differences between two countries’ pilot projects is presented.

scholarly journals Systemic Design: Two Canadian Case Studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Ryan ◽  
Mark Leung
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Management System ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Resource Management System ◽  
First Case ◽  
Systemic Design

This paper introduces two novel applications of systemic design to facilitate a comparison of alternative methodologies that integrate systems thinking and design. In the first case study, systemic design helped the Procurement Department at the University of Toronto re-envision how public policy is implemented and how value is created in the broader university purchasing ecosystem. This resulted in an estimated $1.5 million in savings in the first year, and a rise in user retention rates from 40% to 99%. In the second case study, systemic design helped the clean energy and natural resources group within the Government of Alberta to design a more efficient and effective resource management system and shift the way that natural resource departments work together. This resulted in the formation of a standing systemic design team and contributed to the creation of an integrated resource management system. A comparative analysis of the two projects identifies a shared set of core principles for systemic design as well as areas of differentiation that reveal potential for learning across methodologies. Together, these case studies demonstrate the complementarity of systems thinking and design thinking, and show how they may be integrated to guide positive change within complex sociotechnical systems.

scholarly journals Using Model Performance to Assess the Representativeness of Data for Model Development and Calibration in Financial Institutions

Risks ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 204
Author(s):  
Chamay Kruger ◽  
Willem Daniel Schutte ◽  
Tanja Verster
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Pooled Data ◽  
External Data ◽  
First Case ◽  
Multivariate Prediction ◽  
Credit Data

This paper proposes a methodology that utilises model performance as a metric to assess the representativeness of external or pooled data when it is used by banks in regulatory model development and calibration. There is currently no formal methodology to assess representativeness. The paper provides a review of existing regulatory literature on the requirements of assessing representativeness and emphasises that both qualitative and quantitative aspects need to be considered. We present a novel methodology and apply it to two case studies. We compared our methodology with the Multivariate Prediction Accuracy Index. The first case study investigates whether a pooled data source from Global Credit Data (GCD) is representative when considering the enrichment of internal data with pooled data in the development of a regulatory loss given default (LGD) model. The second case study differs from the first by illustrating which other countries in the pooled data set could be representative when enriching internal data during the development of a LGD model. Using these case studies as examples, our proposed methodology provides users with a generalised framework to identify subsets of the external data that are representative of their Country’s or bank’s data, making the results general and universally applicable.

scholarly journals SABRE observations of Pi2 pulsations: case studies

1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. G. Bradshaw ◽  
M. Lester
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Magnetic Activity ◽  
Auroral Zone ◽  
Field Of View ◽  
Ionospheric Currents ◽  
Pi2 Pulsation ◽  
First Case ◽  
Pi2 Pulsations ◽  
Generation Region

Abstract. The characteristics of substorm-associated Pi2 pulsations observed by the SABRE coherent radar system during three separate case studies are presented. The SABRE field of view is well positioned to observe the differences between the auroral zone pulsation signature and that observed at mid-latitudes. During the first case study the SABRE field of view is initially in the eastward electrojet, equatorward and to the west of the substorm-enhanced electrojet current. As the interval progresses, the western, upward field-aligned current of the substorm current wedge moves westward across the longitudes of the radar field of view. The westward motion of the wedge is apparent in the spatial and temporal signatures of the associated Pi2 pulsation spectra and polarisation sense. During the second case study, the complex field-aligned and ionospheric currents associated with the pulsation generation region move equatorward into the SABRE field of view and then poleward out of it again after the third pulsation in the series. The spectral content of the four pulsations during the interval indicate different auroral zone and mid-latitude signatures. The final case study is from a period of low magnetic activity when SABRE observes a Pi2 pulsation signature from regions equatorward of the enhanced substorm currents. There is an apparent mode change between the signature observed by SABRE in the ionosphere and that on the ground by magnetometers at latitudes slightly equatorward of the radar field of view. The observations are discussed in terms of published theories of the generation mechanisms for this type of pulsation. Different signatures are observed by SABRE depending on the level of magnetic activity and the position of the SABRE field of view relative to the pulsation generation region. A twin source model for Pi2 pulsation generation provides the clearest explanation of the signatures observed.

Mathematical Metaphors Gone Wild

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roi Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Early Modernity ◽  
First Case ◽  
Mathematical Life ◽  
George Lakoff

This chapter examines two case studies that illustrate the limitations of the cognitive theory of mathematical metaphor in accounting for the formation of actual historical mathematical life worlds. The first case study deals with four medieval and early modern examples of relating algebra to geometry. These examples show that when two mathematical domains are linked, what passes between them cannot be reduced to “inferences,” as assumed by the theory of mathematical metaphor. The second case study reviews notions of infinity since early modernity and demonstrates that these notions are far too variegated and complex to be subsumed under a single metaphor—namely, George Lakoff and Rafael Núñez's basic metaphor of infinity, which tries to read all mathematical infinities as metaphorically projecting final destinations on indefinite sequences.

Two Case Studies of Semiosis in Mathematics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roi Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Gender Role ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Generating Functions ◽  
Stable Marriage ◽  
Mathematical Language ◽  
Stable Marriage Problem ◽  
Marriage Problem ◽  
First Case ◽  
Mathematical Signs

This chapter presents two case studies that highlight the problems of mathematical semiosis: how mathematical signs obtain and change their senses. The first case study follows the paradigmatic mathematical sign, x, as it is used in applications of powers series to combinatorics via generating functions. The second case study concerns gender role stereotypes involving the so-called “stable marriage problem.” Both case studies open up questions of how meaning is transferred within and across mathematical contexts and try to substantiate the book's claims about interpretation, formalization, and constraints over mathematical objects and statements. The chapter also considers gender-neutral mathematical language in the context of sexuality.

An Evaluation of a Test-Driven Security Risk Analysis Approach Based on Two Industrial Case Studies

2019 ◽  
pp. 69-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gencer Erdogan ◽  
Phu H. Nguyen ◽  
Fredrik Seehusen ◽  
Ketil Stølen ◽  
Jon Hofstad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Risk Model ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Security Risk ◽  
Risk Models ◽  
First Case ◽  
Assessment Approach ◽  
Security Risk Assessment

Risk-driven testing and test-driven risk assessment are two strongly related approaches, though the latter is less explored. This chapter presents an evaluation of a test-driven security risk assessment approach to assess how useful testing is for validating and correcting security risk models. Based on the guidelines for case study research, two industrial case studies were analyzed: a multilingual financial web application and a mobile financial application. In both case studies, the testing yielded new information, which was not found in the risk assessment phase. In the first case study, new vulnerabilities were found that resulted in an update of the likelihood values of threat scenarios and risks in the risk model. New vulnerabilities were also identified and added to the risk model in the second case study. These updates led to more accurate risk models, which indicate that the testing was indeed useful for validating and correcting the risk models.

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