Search results

Glaucoma is a blinding disease which disproportionately affects some communities, particularly African‐Caribbeans. The ‘ReGAE’ project: Research into Glaucoma and Ethnicity was set up in 1999 and is based at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre. Among its aims are to provide ethnically‐sensitive evidence‐based information to help inform the future commissioning and training of glaucoma care with ethnic groups and to develop a national programme of glaucoma education.

The purpose of this study to shed light on the importance of social media hosted content related to socially-motivated discussions. Moving from the field of communication for development, the research leverages social media as a powerful tool for collecting and analyse peer-to-peer communication towards the conceptualization of eVoices of Unheard. The deep understanding of these conversation can generate recommendations for organizations and governments designing and providing interventions fostering local socio-economic development.

The study presents a large-scale analysis of social media interactions on the topic “#favela” to generate insights into a social network structure, narrative contents and meaning generated.

Structurally, the analysed networks are comparable with those presented in current academic literature; automatic text analysis confirmed the promise of the inner value of communication for development opening the floor to conceptualization of the “eVoices of unheard”, which is the collective and conscious use of social media to mediate community discussions about tangible and intangible issues related to socio-economic development.

Framed within the rise of interactive communication for development this research show that social media an support the notion of voice proposed by Couldry (2010) moving from process (i.e. the recording of the voice) towards value (i.e. the possibility of giving an account of one’s life and its conditions to have an impact on human life and resources) thereby understanding intangible issues related with socio-economic development.

The traditional network scheduling methods such as the Critical Path Method (CPM), Programme Evaluation Review Technique (PERT), and bar charting are typically not effective for the planning of linear construction projects. Linear scheduling methods, on the other hand, model the progress of repetitive activities in sloping lines and are more effective for linear modelling and analysis. Nonetheless, their use in the construction industry has so far been very limited. Among other reasons for this is the unfamiliarity of construction personnel with these techniques, which plays a major role in hampering their application. This paper introduces a graphically based approach to assist in the linear programming (LP) modelling of linear scheduling analysis. The Planning & Optimization for Linear Operations (POLO) system provides a graphic LP modelling environment in which model formulation can be easily accomplished in a graphic and interactive fashion. Thus, the application of linear scheduling methods can be facilitated. The Isle of Palms Connector Bridge project in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina is used to demonstrate the use of the system.

Application of technology and meeting accessibility requirements of guests are two essential areas to consider and improve in order to facilitate, ameliorate and accelerate the management of hospitality services furnished by hotels. These two trends carry great importance for competitivity of hotels' services and sustainability of tourism industry. They are two distinguishing characteristics that build a positive perception of hotels' image among its rivals.

This chapter aims to reflect the current level of conformance of the hotels' services to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for tourism, specifically, SDG 11 related to accessibility and SDGs 9, 12 and 13 related to technology. A qualitative research is conducted to find out the commitment and awareness levels of the hotel staff at managerial positions to the accessibility and technology requirements in line with the mentioned SDGs. The representatives of city centre hotels of İzmir, Turkey with three, four and five stars and boutique hotels categories are chosen as the target population. The results obtained via content analysis signal that the extent of conformity of hotels to technology and accessibility requirements in line with the adoption of the related SDGs depend on the creation of practical solutions on the educational, legal and managerial perspectives. The chapter contributes to academic literature in tourism management and brings suggestions for tourism practitioners to adapt and improve their services to meet the standards and requirements of SDGs related to accessibility and adoption of technology in hospitality services.

This chapter unpacks how the value of altruism is rooted in the pedagogical model used by Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL), a faith-based organization providing tertiary education opportunities through a blended learning approach to people living at the margins. This contribution aims at tracing how this value, summarized in the Jesuit motto “men and women for others,” is rooted in JWL modus operandi and informs its educational practices, in particular by discussing the following elements of its model: (1) the Experience – Reflection – Action cycle, (2) the Global Classroom, (3) the Local Community of Learners, and (4) the student-led operation mode. Finally, this chapter provides a reflection, based on the organization practice and experience, to contribute to the broader discussion on values and their global validity by unpacking the tension of a modus operandi based on values culturally and religiously rooted but that aims at being globally understood and shared.

This study seeks to offer empirical insights into the role of alternatives analysis within strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in implementing low-carbon development (LCD) as part of Tanzania's efforts to tackle climate change.

The study design is cross-sectional multi-case. It draws on six SEA cases from Tanzania. Data were collected from SEA reports and subsequently analysed qualitatively using content analysis. The analysis framework was derived from the best practice literature and focused on determining whether and how alternatives were identified, assessed and selected and where and how LCD aspects were included.

The findings reveal that the practice of alternatives analysis is generally weak and varied. Gaps identified include neglect of alternatives, lack of transparency, a focus on mitigating harm, lack of inclusiveness and partial integration of LCD considerations.

Many countries are still developing their SEA systems, which requires building on local experience and adapting to local circumstances. Tanzanian SEA practitioners appear to place little weight on alternatives analysis and perform SEA using outdated, impact-based approaches. The study outlines policy recommendations for working more effectively with alternatives in Tanzania and comparable contexts.

There is a noticeable lack of scholarly emphasis on SEA processes that effectively identify, evaluate and select alternatives aligned with explicit societal values and concerns. This study focuses on the alternatives analysis stage, offering novel insights into the potential for constructing a desirable, low-carbon future. The cases studied show that an LCD-focused analysis is feasible and can be improved with the right theoretical and methodological approaches.

In recent international debates on auditing regulation, Spain has assumed a real prominence as a claimed practical example of where a policy of mandatory audit firm rotation did not work and was duly abolished. This study aims to provide an analysis of the implementation and subsequent removal of mandatory audit firm rotation in Spain in the 1990s.

This takes the form of historical analysis; the evidence in the paper derives from congressional hearings, financial newspapers and documents produced by the professional associations of auditors in Spain.

This paper demonstrates that at no stage was mandatory rotation of audit firms ever enforced on Spanish auditors. Further, the revision and subsequent removal of the Spanish law on mandatory audit firm rotation emerge as a rather politicized process, with no evident reference being made in the process of legislative reform to Spanish auditing experiences. The analysis also reveals that at the very time that Spain was being cited internationally for rejecting mandatory audit firm rotation, Spanish political parties and regulators were debating whether to “re‐introduce” such a regulation.

The clear implication of the paper is that considerable caution needs to be taken in today's international‐auditing arena, when analyzing the standpoints and claims made by professional associations and the evidence they provide to support their arguments for and against regulatory reform.