Search results

The purpose of this study is to provide recommendations for improving the social performance of warnings using mobile services in flash flood prone communities. A warning cannot be considered effective until it is received, understood and responded to by those at risk. This is defined as the social performance of warning communication techniques. Mobile services offer opportunities for improving this, particularly in Bangladesh, but have been underutilised. In this research, characteristics of the warning, mobile services and community are found to influence the social performance.

A framework on the factors affecting the social performance was developed and applied using data collected through interviews at the national and regional level along with focus-group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews at the local level in the Sunamganj District, Bangladesh.

The study demonstrated that mobile services are the preferred means of warning communication. Communities strongly preferred voice short messaging service (SMS) and interactive voice response (IVR) because of easier accessibility and understanding of the message. Text-based services [SMS and cell broadcasting service (CBS)] were still found to be acceptable. These should be simple, use symbols and refer to additional sources of information. Further recommendations include mixing push (e.g. SMS and CBS) and pull-based (e.g. IVR) mobile services, utilising local social networks, decentralising the dissemination process and raising awareness.

A limited sample of interviews and FGDs were used.

Concrete recommendations are made for overcoming obstacles related to the effective use of mobiles services.

The suggestions made can contribute to improving the social performance of flood early warning communication.

The conceptualisation of mobile services’ contribution to social performance of flood warning and field-level application.

Climate change is affecting people displacement in Bangladesh by both sudden environmental events and gradual environmental change. This paper aims to assess the sustainable adaptation measures for resolving the displacement problem induced by climate change considering the socioeconomic differences between the past and the present location of living places for island dwellers of the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh.

Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted for conducting the study. The main tool of the household survey was a questionnaire survey. In addition to the estimate of displacement, the authors have used hazard impact analysis, weightage analysis and sustainable adaptation analysis with various ranking. Meaningful data were analyzed through SPSS software and presented through statistical techniques.

Climate change-induced different natural disasters, such as cyclone, tidal surge, tidal flood and coastal erosion, were frequent in the study areas and responsible for mass displacement. After displacement, people lost not only their identity but also social and cultural harmony and faced different economic and environmental crises. However, nearly 20 types of adaptation options were identified for protection from the displacement of coastal people.

The study prescribed 11 specific criteria and 4 principles of sustainable adaptation options for resolving the climate displacement problem. Moreover, seven adaptation practices showed high sustainability, ten showed medium sustainability and five showed low sustainability in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and implementation ability.

The study would help to establish sustainable adaptation measures through the combination of environment, economic and social harmony with regard to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Changes are inevitable and organisations should develop their organisational capacity for change (OCC) to survive. This paper aims to test the effect of market orientation on OCC (learning, process and context), as well as the impact of OCC on organisational performance.

This research used a survey of 314 heads of study programmes in Indonesia’s highest-ranked universities to test the proposed hypotheses.

The results of this research demonstrate that OCC is determined by customer orientation and cross-functional coordination (market orientation), while competitor orientation influences the learning dimension of OCC. Moreover, only the context dimension of OCC positively influences organisational performance in addition to serving as a mediator between market orientation (customer orientation and cross-functional coordination) and organisational performance, whereas competitor orientation positively influences organisational performance.

This paper empirically tested the three dimensions of OCC (learning, process and context) that had previously been discussed only conceptually. Furthermore, the organisation should be market-oriented to possess the capacity for change. Finally, the paper proposes and demonstrates that organisational context (culture) plays a significant role in OCC in developing organisational performance.

Members' behaviour to support change is a critical factor in organisational change. Building on social cognitive theory, this research investigates how empowering leadership (EL) contributes to behavioural support for change in higher education. The paper argues that the relationship between EL and behavioural support for change is moderated by diversity climate.

To test the hypotheses, 107 colleges from the highest-ranking 11 universities in Indonesia, consisting of 1,634 faculties, participated in this study.

Members would experience higher support for change with EL. Furthermore, the positive relationship between EL and behavioural support for change was stronger in members who perceived a more diverse climate.

This study empirically tested how behaviour to support change was determined by leaders' empowering behaviour based on social cognitive theory in a high-power distance culture. In terms of its methodological contributions, this study used a multi-level analysis in order to test EL. Finally, the research on behavioural support for change has been expanded upon through a unit-level analysis.

Calorie restricted diets are known to improve health and promote healthy aging. This happens because of controlled inflammation and metabolism in the body. This study aims to evaluate the differences in anthropometric and biochemical parameters in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats because of consumption of a calorie restricted diet.

The study divided SD rats (n = 15) into 3 groups consuming high calorie intake (HCI), medium calorie intake and low calorie intake (LCI). Anthropometric parameters were determined through measurement of abdominal circumference (AC), thoracic circumference (TC), body length and body weight (BW). Biochemical parameters analyzed in this study were fasting blood glucose level and full blood lipid profile. Nutritional status was obtained based on food consumption, energy intake (EI) and food efficiency rate. Measurements were taken for a period of four weeks.

Analysis on anthropometric parameters indicates a significant difference in mean BW between HCI (230.44 ± 1.47 g) and LCI (188.54 ± 1.50 g). There is a significant difference in abdominal TC ratio (p < 0.001; F = 13.599) in the LCI group (1.01 ± 0.00714) compared to the HCI group (1.04 ± 0.00858). Post hoc for nutrition parameters indicates a significant difference in mean EI between HCI (9.71 ± 0.006 kJ) and LCI (3.21 ± 0.001 kJ). There is a significant effect (p < 0.0001; F = 3042872.02) of EI on rats in all three groups. HDL levels were significantly higher (p < 0.0001; F = 1536.89) in the LCI group (68.60 ± 0.55 mg/dL) compared to the HCI group (49.40 ± 0.55 mg/dL). The Pearson’s correlation results show a strong positive correlation in EI with BW (p < 0.01; r = 0.988), AC (p < 0.01; r = 0.970) and body mass index (p < 0.01; r = 0.972).

Low calorie diet has been proven to affect anthropometric development and has shown improvements in biochemical parameters of the rats. This may result in healthy aging which could prevent later-life diseases.

The generality of the universe is “everything.” In this regard, the Qur'an declares abundantly on the ultimate and perfect domain of the divine law in creation. This also means the profundity of the divine law in explaining and applying to all things in the knowledge–time–space dimensions of the conscious universe. Such observations or insights that span the complete universe comprise the Signs of Allah (ayath Allah).¹

In recent years, though a growing body of research has emerged on world-class universities (WCUs), studies in this field remain limited. The purpose of this study is to identify and describe the research gap and provide a future direction for WCU research. This paper highlights the key theoretical approaches, methods, journals, unit analyses, authors, themes, countries and papers in this field. It also outlines the antecedents and consequences of WCU status.

This study collected all research related to WCUs published from 2004 to 2020. In total, 47 studies of the 435 found on Scopus and Web-of-Science are included in the review.

The results show that though the body of WCU literature is growing, it is fragmented in terms of theoretical frameworks, methodology, countries studied and unit analyses. This study also found that national, organisational and individual factors are among the antecedents and organisational and individual consequences of WCUs.

This study investigates existing gaps in the WCU literature and identifies new research directions for future research. Further, this study scrutinises existing studies to determine how universities have used a variety of methods and theories to achieve WCU status across numerous countries and settings. Finally, this study develops an antecedents and consequences WCU framework to synthesise existing studies.

This chapter focusses primarily on the short-term measures and policy reactions of transport operators and regulators to the COVID-19 pandemic throughout 2020/2021 (such as the introduction of physical distancing and mask wearing) but also considers those policies which directly influence public transport (such as parking management and working from home). Emphasis is placed on the experience in a number of jurisdictions to identify the influence of varying governmental level responses to the pandemic. The approaches of different jurisdictions are compared using a narrative approach to help identify policy narrative elements by policy actors as the pandemic unfolded. Such an approach enables us to focus on how decision-makers can learn from the COVID-19 experience to better react to future unexpected incidents. In identifying the future policy implications and challenges, the chapter suggests that strategic planning will need to respond to both the ‘current normal’ and the ‘next normal’, and will require flexibility and tight integration between urban planning and public transport planning, as well as private transport and long-distance transport. The chapter also highlights the importance of learning from the experience of other jurisdictions and disciplines (such as disaster management) and offers suggestions for further research.