9,119 research outputs found

    The Trinity Reporter, Winter 2023

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    Alumni magazine for Trinity College, Hartford, CThttps://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/reporter/2181/thumbnail.jp

    The role of the institutional environment as a barrier or an enabler to entrepreneurial and innovation activity; the case of the South African green economy industry

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    This thesis examines the relationship between the institutional environment and entrepreneurial and innovation activity within SMEs operating in South Africa's green economy, with a focus on the energy, agriculture, water and sanitation, and waste and recycling sectors. The aim is to investigate how entrepreneurs navigate the institutional environment by utilising entrepreneurial orientation and managerial discretion to achieve entrepreneurial output. By examining the implications of South Africa's post-apartheid legacy on present-day entrepreneurship in these sectors, the study yields valuable insights from the entrepreneurs' perspectives. The methodology adopted in this study is phenomenological, which utilises qualitative research methods, cross-validated with some quantitative evidence in the form of statistical analysis and case studies. The study includes 55 participants, comprising 47 entrepreneurs and 8 stakeholders from government departments, government agencies, NGOs, and incubators. The study highlights the regulatory mechanisms in place to promote small business participation in South Africa's economy and transition to a more environmentally conscious one. However, the outcomes suggest that these measures may not be achieving their intended objectives, and the institutional environment and cultural views may pose significant obstacles to entrepreneurship and the adoption of greener practices. The research emphasises the importance of addressing these issues to promote sustainable economic growth in South Africa. The study recommends a more coordinated effort by all stakeholders to target pertinent socio-economic challenges specific to South Africa's context

    Opportunities for Redress: Re-imagining Relations, Restoration, and Leisure for Uniformed Bodies serving as First Responders

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    In times of distress, uniformed first responders (UFRs) are the first formal line of care on scene and are responsible for providing care. Due to the obligations required of UFRs, they are considered to be at higher risk for experiencing traumatic stressors that may lead to concerns with their mental well-being (such as depression, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress, major depression, generalized anxiety, and sleep disorders) (Benedek et al., 2007; Bennett et al., 2004; Carey et al., 2011; Fullerton et al., 2004; Jacobson et al., 2008; Meyer et al., 2012). In the current climate of social activist movements (Black Lives Matter (BLM) and #Defundthepolice, in particular), the purpose of this research is to unpack and address the complex issue of care provision for first responders alongside these long overdue movements. Drawing from critical theories of disability, this research project was methodologically inspired by critical participatory action research (PAR) and narrative inquiry (Clandinin, 2016). I partnered with a local organization (FF) – a community-based holistic wellness centre built for and by UFRs to offer wellness-based services in Southern Ontario. The PAR team (three individuals) recruited 11 participants (six police officers, four paramedics, and one corrections officer) to participate in a series of audio-recorded focus groups and semi-structured interviews (September to December, 2021). This work was guided by concepts of power, privilege, and culture to unpack what it means to identify as a UFR (i.e., the militant ideologies, power-laden relations and performances, and symbolic representations) By un-learning and re-learning how emergent care is provided in these situations, and how restorative justice and care can be re-centered, this work aims to resist systemic oppressions (i.e., capitalism, government-sanctioned power, and ableism), restore caring bodies, and reconcile power relations with the public. This work employs the concept of redress ¬– the idea of resisting, restoring, repairing, or reconciling – (similar to Amighetti & Nuti, 2015; Henderson & Wakeham, 2013; Spiga, 2012) to address: (1) parts of institutional culture that UFRs that perpetuate toxic resilience, (2) the lack of mental health care relations and support that exist within UFR cultures, and (3) the need for leisure spaces of care, compassion, and healing. Through a reflexive, interpretive analysis (Smith et al.,1999), three main threads are described as making up the material and symbolic constructs of the UFR uniform (relations of power, cultural habitus and performing the expectations and symbolic representation) (Bourdieu, 1990; Butler, 1990; Foucault, 1977; Holt, 2008). Interrupted by necessary reflections on ableism, capitalism, white supremacy, and power in relation to UFRs, the findings of this research provide conceptual and practical implications on how government-sanctioned power is strategically used to maintain toxic relations within institutions that govern UFRs. I also offer reflections on how UFRs and the public experience parallel tensions and systemic harms as a result of government-sanctioned institutions of power. Leisure as a space for coping with stresses and trauma(s) (Heintzman, 2008; Iwasaki & Mannell, 2000; Kleiber et al., 2002; Weissinger & Iso-Ahola, 1984) is then used to better understand how UFRs take up leisure to navigate the nuances of stepping into laborious caring roles. This research makes a case for how leisure as care, healing, and restoration can be used to begin to mend the broken systemic relations for UFRs and the public. The findings of this research are represented through a narrative (documentary inspired) script as a means to share the stories and lived experiences told by UFRs. Future research can build on this work by interrupting government-sanctioned institutions of power that continue to privilege processes of ableism, capitalism, and colonialism and enact systemic harms and violences on UFRs and the public. All persons are in need of care in our badly fractured systems. I believe spaces of leisure can be used to cope and heal from systemic oppressions by offering opportunities for care, healing, and restoration to better meet the communal needs of all members of the public, including UFRs

    The University as a Socio-Material Assemblage:Promotional Videos—Codes, Territories, and Globalization

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    The objective of this thesis is to explore and subsequently develop the concept of the university as a socio-material assemblage with regard to three key concepts of assemblage theory: codes, territories, and globalization (different from the traditional views of globalization). The thesis does this building on a multimodal analysis of data gathered from 26 promotional YouTube videos from UK and Canadian universities. It introduces a new middle-range (mesolevel) theoretical framework by combining concepts from assemblage theory (AT) (DeLanda, 2006; Deleuze & Guattari, 2013), and the inquiry graphics approach (IG) (Lacković, 2020). The methodology focuses on exploring the meanings of the universities’ spaces, physical objects, actors (human and non-human), and the relationships among actors through inquiry graphics analytical lenses. It then establishes codes and territories based on the analysis that territorialize the university as an assemblage, as well as the decodifying and deterritorializing processes within it. Finally, it analyses the observed codes and territories through the lenses of homogenization and hybridization globalization theories. The thesis concludes that the university can be conceptualized and interpreted as a socio-material assemblage whose components are interrelated and have both material and social expressive roles. Further, codes and territories are defined by the strength of the links between their iconic and symbolic expressions. Each university assemblage is connected to other assemblages through the various multi-layered networks that each component belongs to, yet the interaction among the components of an assemblage is interpreted within its specific territories, codes, and semiotic systems. These in turn, are defined by applying the semiotic principles of the IG approach. Finally, the thesis makes three major contributions: it conceptualizes the university as a socio-material assemblage, it develops a middle-range theoretical framework by combining concepts from assemblage theory and the inquiry graphics approach that can be applied to understand other sociomaterial assemblages, and it explains the relation between globalization, territorialization and codification of universities as socio-material assemblages

    Examples of works to practice staccato technique in clarinet instrument

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    Klarnetin staccato tekniğini güçlendirme aşamaları eser çalışmalarıyla uygulanmıştır. Staccato geçişlerini hızlandıracak ritim ve nüans çalışmalarına yer verilmiştir. Çalışmanın en önemli amacı sadece staccato çalışması değil parmak-dilin eş zamanlı uyumunun hassasiyeti üzerinde de durulmasıdır. Staccato çalışmalarını daha verimli hale getirmek için eser çalışmasının içinde etüt çalışmasına da yer verilmiştir. Çalışmaların üzerinde titizlikle durulması staccato çalışmasının ilham verici etkisi ile müzikal kimliğe yeni bir boyut kazandırmıştır. Sekiz özgün eser çalışmasının her aşaması anlatılmıştır. Her aşamanın bir sonraki performans ve tekniği güçlendirmesi esas alınmıştır. Bu çalışmada staccato tekniğinin hangi alanlarda kullanıldığı, nasıl sonuçlar elde edildiği bilgisine yer verilmiştir. Notaların parmak ve dil uyumu ile nasıl şekilleneceği ve nasıl bir çalışma disiplini içinde gerçekleşeceği planlanmıştır. Kamış-nota-diyafram-parmak-dil-nüans ve disiplin kavramlarının staccato tekniğinde ayrılmaz bir bütün olduğu saptanmıştır. Araştırmada literatür taraması yapılarak staccato ile ilgili çalışmalar taranmıştır. Tarama sonucunda klarnet tekniğin de kullanılan staccato eser çalışmasının az olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Metot taramasında da etüt çalışmasının daha çok olduğu saptanmıştır. Böylelikle klarnetin staccato tekniğini hızlandırma ve güçlendirme çalışmaları sunulmuştur. Staccato etüt çalışmaları yapılırken, araya eser çalışmasının girmesi beyni rahatlattığı ve istekliliği daha arttırdığı gözlemlenmiştir. Staccato çalışmasını yaparken doğru bir kamış seçimi üzerinde de durulmuştur. Staccato tekniğini doğru çalışmak için doğru bir kamışın dil hızını arttırdığı saptanmıştır. Doğru bir kamış seçimi kamıştan rahat ses çıkmasına bağlıdır. Kamış, dil atma gücünü vermiyorsa daha doğru bir kamış seçiminin yapılması gerekliliği vurgulanmıştır. Staccato çalışmalarında baştan sona bir eseri yorumlamak zor olabilir. Bu açıdan çalışma, verilen müzikal nüanslara uymanın, dil atış performansını rahatlattığını ortaya koymuştur. Gelecek nesillere edinilen bilgi ve birikimlerin aktarılması ve geliştirici olması teşvik edilmiştir. Çıkacak eserlerin nasıl çözüleceği, staccato tekniğinin nasıl üstesinden gelinebileceği anlatılmıştır. Staccato tekniğinin daha kısa sürede çözüme kavuşturulması amaç edinilmiştir. Parmakların yerlerini öğrettiğimiz kadar belleğimize de çalışmaların kaydedilmesi önemlidir. Gösterilen azmin ve sabrın sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan yapıt başarıyı daha da yukarı seviyelere çıkaracaktır

    Wildlife trade in Latin America: people, economy and conservation

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    Wildlife trade is among the main threats to biodiversity conservation and may pose a risk to human health because of the spread of zoonotic diseases. To avoid social, economic and environmental consequences of illegal trade, it is crucial to understand the factors influencing the wildlife market and the effectiveness of policies already in place. I aim to unveil the biological and socioeconomic factors driving wildlife trade, the health risks imposed by the activity, and the effectiveness of certified captive-breeding as a strategy to curb the illegal market in Latin America through a multidisciplinary approach. I assess socioeconomic correlates of the emerging international trade in wild cat species from Latin America using a dataset of >1,000 seized cats, showing that high levels of corruption and Chinese private investment and low income per capita were related to higher numbers of jaguar seizures. I assess the effectiveness of primate captive-breeding programmes as an intervention to curb wildlife trafficking. Illegal sources held >70% of the primate market share. Legal primates are more expensive, and the production is not sufficiently high to fulfil the demand. I assess the scale of the illegal trade and ownership of venomous snakes in Brazil. Venomous snake taxa responsible for higher numbers of snakebites were those most often kept as pets. I uncover how online wildlife pet traders and consumers responded to campaigns associating the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of 20,000 posts on Facebook groups, only 0.44% mentioned COVID-19 and several stimulated the trade in wild species during lockdown. Despite the existence of international and national wildlife trade regulations, I conclude that illegal wildlife trade is still an issue that needs further addressing in Latin America. I identify knowledge gaps and candidate interventions to amend the current loopholes to reduce wildlife trafficking. My aspiration with this thesis is to provide useful information that can inform better strategies to tackle illegal wildlife trade in Latin America

    CITIES: Energetic Efficiency, Sustainability; Infrastructures, Energy and the Environment; Mobility and IoT; Governance and Citizenship

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    This book collects important contributions on smart cities. This book was created in collaboration with the ICSC-CITIES2020, held in San José (Costa Rica) in 2020. This book collects articles on: energetic efficiency and sustainability; infrastructures, energy and the environment; mobility and IoT; governance and citizenship

    COVID-19 Outbreak and Beyond

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    The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed our lifestyle when, on 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus disease outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Since then, many governments have introduced unprecedented containment measures, hoping to slow the spread of the virus. International research suggests that both the pandemic and the related protective measures, such as lockdown, curfews, and social distancing, are having a profound impact on the mental health of the population. Among the most commonly observed psychological effects, there are high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic symptoms, along with boredom and frustration. At the same time, the behavioral response of the population is of paramount importance to successfully contain the outbreak, creating a vicious circle in which the psychological distress impacts the willingness to comply with the protective measures, which, in turn, if prolonged, could exacerbate the population’s distress. This book includes: i) original studies on the worldwide psychological and behavioral impact of COVID-19 on targeted individuals (e.g., parents, social workers, patients affected by physical and mental disorders); ii) studies exploring the effect of COVID-19 using advanced statistical and methodological techniques (e.g., machine learning technologies); iii) research on practical applications that could help identify persons at risk, mitigate the negative effects of this situation, and offer insights to policymakers to manage the pandemic are also highly welcomed
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