7,085 research outputs found

    Dark tourism, the holocaust, and well-being: a systematic review

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    Dark tourists experience negative and positive feelings in Holocaust places, suggesting emotional ambivalence. The research question of this study is, “is feeling well-being, as a consequence of dark tourism, a way of banalizing the horror?”. The purpose of this study is threefold: to provide an updated systematic literature review (SLR) of dark tourism associated with Holocaust sites and visitors' well-being; to structure the findings into categories that provide a comprehensive overview of the topics; and to identify which topics are not well covered, thus suggesting knowledge gaps. Records to be included should be retrievable articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, books, and book chapters, all focused on the SLR's aims and the research question; other types of publications were outrightly excluded. The search was performed in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases with three keywords and combinations: “dark tourism”, “Holocaust”, and “well-being”. Methodological decisions were based on the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Nonrandomized Studies (RoBANS). This systematic review adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. During the process, 144 documents were included, of which 126 were journal articles, 8 were books, and 10 were book chapters. The results point out a hierarchical structure with the main category (Dark tourism - Holocaust - Well-being) and three second-order categories (Dark tourism - Holocaust, Dark tourism - Well-being, and Holocaust - Well-being), from which different subcategories emerge: motivations for visiting places and guiding; ambivalent emotional experience that leads to the transformation of the self; and intergenerational trauma. The gaps identified were the trivialization of horror in Holocaust places; dark tourist profile; motivations and constraints behind visiting dark places; Holocaust survivors and their descendants' well-being; how dark tourism associated with the Holocaust positively or negatively impacts well-being. Major limitations included: lack of randomized allocation; lack of standard outcome definitions; and suboptimal comparison groups. Positive and negative impacts on the well-being of the Holocaust dark tourist were sought, as they are associated with the marketing and management, promotion, digital communication, guiding, or storytelling design of such locations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Development of Flame Retardant and Antibacterial Dual Functionalised Flexible Polyurethane Foam

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    Flexible Polyurethane foam (PUF), with its unique properties, such as lightweight and softness, has been utilised extensively. Nevertheless, owing to the intrinsic high flammability and low ignition temperature, PUF-associated fire risks are always a concern. During PUF’s combustion, excessive heat and toxic gases can be generated, threatening the health and life of human beings and causing huge property loss. Consequently, improving the flame retardancy of the PUF is of importance. Later, the global COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2019, leading to the public’s increased awareness of maintaining good hygiene conditions. Since PUF products are frequently in contact with humans daily, rendering the PUF with bacterial-killing properties should also be addressed. This dissertation delivers studies on introducing flame retardancy to the PUF via a surface engineering method named the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. Due to the consequent COVID-19 situation, this thesis expands the investigations to endow the PUF with antibacterial performances. Preliminary research on fabricating a newly emerged two-dimensional material called MXene (Ti3C2) and chitosan (CH) as flame retardants (FRs) to impart fire safety performances to the PUF was conducted. With only 6.9 wt.% mass added to the PUF, unprecedented fire resistance and smoke suppression properties were received. It was revealed that the FR mechanism was ascribed to the hybrid coating’s excellent barrier and carbonisation effects. Further investigations on improving the PUFs’ biodegradability identified synergistic effects between the MXene with the CH and phytic acid, demonstrating the great potential for reducing the toxicity and improving the eco-friendliness of the PUFs. Additionally, this thesis analysed the FR and antibacterial dual-functionalised PUFs. The synthesised MXene, CH, and silver ion hybridised coating endows the foam with exceptional bactericidal properties with decreases of 99.7 % in gram-negative bacteria and 88.9 % in gram-positive bacteria compared with the unmodified counterpart. Excellent flame retardancy possessed by the dual-functionalised PUFs was discovered. The compatibility of the two functional coatings was evaluated and confirmed. The results manifest the great potential for eradicating the fire risks of PUFs and providing traditional PUF products with antibacterial properties, further expanding PUF’s applications

    Deep Learning to Predict the Hydration and Performance of Fly Ash-Containing Cementitious Binders

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    Fly ash (FA) – an industrial byproduct – is used to partially substitute Portland cement (PC) in concrete to mitigate concrete\u27s environmental impact. Chemical composition and structure of FAs significantly impact hydration kinetics and compressive strength of concrete. Due to the substantial diversity in these physicochemical attributes of FAs, it has been challenging to develop a generic theoretical framework – and, therefore, theory-based analytical models – that could produce reliable, a priori predictions of properties of [PC + FA] binders. In recent years, machine learning (ML) – which is purely data-driven, as opposed to being derived from theorical underpinnings – has emerged as a promising tool to predict and optimize properties of complex, heterogenous materials, including the aforesaid binders. That said, there are two issues that stand in the way of widespread use of ML models: (1) ML models require thousands of data-records to learn input-output correlations and developing such a large, yet consistent database is impractical; and (2) ML models – while good at producing predictions – are unable to reveal the underlying correlation between composition/structure of material and its properties. This study employs a deep forest (DF) model to predict composition- and time-dependent hydration kinetics and compressive strength of [PC + FA] binders. Data dimensionality-reduction and segmentation techniques – premised on theoretical understanding of composition-structure correlations in FAs, and hydration mechanism of PC – are used to boost the DF model\u27s prediction performance. And, finally, through inference of the intermediate and final outputs of the DF model, a simple, closed-form analytical model is developed to predict compressive strength, and reveal the correlations between mixture design and compressive strength of [PC + FA] binders

    MODELING THE TENSILE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE WITH POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE (PET) WASTE AS REPLACEMENT FOR FINE AGGREGATE USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

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    Tensile strength of concrete made with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste as replacement for fine aggregate was modelled using artificial neural network. A multilayer feedforward neural network (MLFFNN) and radial basis function (RBF) methodology were compared to see which was more accurate. The MLFFNN modelling results showed a predictive accuracy of 95.364% and a root mean square error value of 4.4409 Ă— 10-16 while RBF neural network modeling results showed a higher predictive accuracy (99.509%) with a lower root mean square error value (1.6653 Ă— 10-16). It is concluded that ANN models accurately predicted the tensile strength of PET concrete

    Hell: Educationally in post-secular societies

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    Many countries around the world, including Australia, have secularism expressed in their identity. However, as these secular nations (as they understand themselves) shift into post-secular societies, it raises questions around the place and content of religious education and instruction in secular settings: particularly in regard to the shadow side of theological views, such as on the matter of hell. Acknowledging the valuable contribution religious education offers by providing a space for children to question and search for meaning, how or indeed should hell be taught to children in public (secular) schools? Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: In the context of the secular and/or non-religious public reflex in society, there is a tension on the place of religious thought in secular educational settings. As scrutiny increases of what, and how, religious material is shared and taught, especially to children, the role and place of hell in this space must be reviewed. This study provides a basis for Practical Theology in post-secular societies, utilising the Australian context, to do so

    Tourism and heritage in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone

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    Tourism and Heritage in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) uses an ethnographic lens to explore the dissonances associated with the commodification of Chornobyl's heritage. The book considers the role of the guides as experience brokers, focusing on the synergy between tourists and guides in the performance of heritage interpretation. Banaszkiewicz proposes to perceive tour guides as important actors in the bottom-up construction of heritage discourse contributing to more inclusive and participatory approach to heritage management. Demonstrating that the CEZ has been going through a dynamic transformation into a mass tourism attraction, the book offers a critical reflection on heritagisation as a meaning-making process in which the resources of the past are interpreted, negotiated, and recognised as a valuable legacy. Applying the concepts of dissonant heritage to describe the heterogeneous character of the CEZ, the book broadens the interpretative scope of dark tourism which takes on a new dimension in the context of the war in Ukraine. Tourism and Heritage in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone argues that post-disaster sites such as Chornobyl can teach us a great deal about the importance of preserving cultural and natural heritage for future generations. The book will be of interest to academics and students who are engaged in the study of heritage, tourism, memory, disasters and Eastern Europe
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