CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) VACCINATION: OPINIONS AND ATTITUDES OF SOCIAL WORKERS. A GREEK NATIONAL SURVEY

There is a general belief that vaccines constitute the most effective form of limiting the spread of diseases and protecting public health. Yet, as highly effective tools as vaccines may be, studies reveal that the rates of support and acceptance of vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic from public health personnel in Western countries indicate hesitancy among them. As professional Social Workers are part of the public health personnel who are priority groups for many vaccinations, the present study focused on their opinions and attitudes towards vaccination and their role in motivating their beneficiaries. The purpose of this quantitative Greek National Survey among 771 Social Workers, members of the Association of Social Workers of Greece (ASGLE), who are professionally active in Greece, was to understand and analyze their attitudes towards the available vaccines against COVID-19 and compulsory vaccination. Through the online self-completion questionnaire, which was used for the collection of data, the survey also aimed to evaluate the Social Workers’ knowledge and sources from which they received information about Covid-19, their motivational sources, their views on compulsory vaccination of health professionals and their views on motivating their beneficiaries with regards to vaccination.  Article visualizations

Role of attitudes in Brazil's country brand image

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in International Journal of Business and Globalisation. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBG.2018.095479For past three decades, the academic community has sought to advance the analysis relating to the image of several countries around the world. In relation, several studies have since been published on contemporary relevance of the image of a given country, and its subsequent effects on product evaluations and purchase intentions, among other behavioural outcomes. Nonetheless, despite the importance of the theory of attitude in evaluating the image of a country, the majority of papers in the field has focused on the cognitive component of attitude only, having the other components, affective and conative, not thoroughly being examined. As a result, with an aim to extend our current understanding into the role of attitudes on country brand image, this paper considers the conations more broadly such as, the predisposition for traveling, doing businesses, investing, working in the country, as well as, the willingness for either buying products made in the Brazil or shopping in the Brazil. Additionally, the purpose of this paper is to investigate Brazil's country brand image, based on the three-attitudinal categories "cognitive", "affective", and "conative". The methodological approach taken in this study is a quantitative method via an online survey. The study population consisted of the 427 undergraduate students at foreign institutions partaking agreements with a Brazilian public university. Attitudes were analysed using exploratory factor analysis to correlate potential impact on Brazils' country brand image. The country's image refers to a construct derived from the concept of attitudes, being comprised of cognitive, affective, and conative components. Results of this study indicate that the conative dimension received the highest scores of the respondents implying strong behavioural intentions in relation to Brazil's country brand image. It is also noteworthy that the technical dimension presented a more negative assessment in comparison to all other dimensions of Brazil's image, indicating that such a cognitive element to be adequately developed to highlight better brand assurance

Professionalism in Digital Forensics

There is an increase in the number of investigations, both criminal and civil, that make use of digital forensics, in the number of organisations offering computer forensic services, and in the number of digital forensics practitioners. As a result of this development, there is a need to consider professional issues in order to develop a professional framework that will act to provide a degree of assurance in the skills and expertise of digital forensic practitioners. Denning's criteria of a profession will be used to discuss professionalism in the digital forensics domain,'namely that a profession should: i. Have an enduring and positive effect on society. ii. Include a codified body of principles (conceptual knowledge)

The influence of business and political ties on supplier selection decisions: the case of the Nigerian public sector

Extant relevant literature suggests that nonmarket elements suchas social ties are important strategic options that may help organisationsenhance their competitiveness relative to other competitors when bidding forimportant supply jobs. However, our current understanding of their effects onorganisational outcomes, especially in public supplier selection decisions inemerging economies, is far from complete. Using a sample of 342 experiencedsenior management team (SMT) members and senior level staff in 40 publicsector organisations in Nigeria, this study examined the relative importance ofbusiness and political ties as sources of advantage and strategic intelligence forprospective vendors and contractors during strategic supplier selectiondecisions. Our findings show that both business and political ties are significantpredictors of supplier selection outcomes, and their relative importance in theselection outcome is indistinguishable and key to strategic decision making.Overall, our result suggests that both business and political ties can be utilisedas sources of important resources by supplier firms

Organic cultivation and deficit irrigation practices to improve chemical and biological activity of mentha spicata plants

Intensive crop production and irrational use of fertilizers and agrochemicals have ques-tionable effects on the quality of products and the sustainable use of water for agricultural purposes. Organic cultivation and/or deficit irrigation are, among others, well appreciated practices for a sustainable crop production system. In the present study, spearmint plants (Mentha spicata L.) were grown in different cultivation schemes (conventional versus organic cultivation, full versus deficit irrigation), and effects on the plant physiological and biochemical attributes were examined in two harvesting periods. Deficit irrigation decreased plant growth, but increased total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity of the plants at the second harvest. Spearmint nutrient accumulation was affected by the examined cultivation practices; nitrogen was decreased in organic cultivation, potassium and sodium were elevated at full-irrigated plants, while magnesium, phosphorus, and copper levels were higher at the deficit-irrigated plants. However, conventional/full-irrigated plants had increased height and fresh biomass at the first harvest. Essential oil content decreased at the second harvest in organic and/or deficit treated plants. Additionally, deficit irrigation affected plant growth and delayed the formation of carvone from limonene. The essential oils were further evalu-ated with regard to their bioactivity on a major vineyard pest Lobesia botrana. Volatile compounds from all essential oils elicited strong electroantennographic responses on female insects antennae, highlighting the role of carvone, which is the major constituent (~70%) in all the tested essential oils. M. spicata essential oils also exhibited larvicidal activity on L. botrana, suggesting the potential of their incorporation in integrated pest management systems

Phenotype, treatment practice and outcome in the cobalamin-dependent remethylation disorders and MTHFR deficiency: Data from the E-HOD registry

Aim: To explore the clinical presentation, course, treatment and impact of early treatment in patients with remethylation disorders from the European Network and Registry for Homocystinurias and Methylation Defects (E-HOD) international web-based registry. Results: This review comprises 238 patients (cobalamin C defect n = 161; methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency n = 50; cobalamin G defect n = 11; cobalamin E defect n = 10; cobalamin D defect n = 5; and cobalamin J defect n = 1) from 47 centres for whom the E-HOD registry includes, as a minimum, data on medical history and enrolment visit. The duration of observation was 127 patient years. In 181 clinically diagnosed patients, the median age at presentation was 30 days (range 1 day to 42 years) and the median age at diagnosis was 3.7 months (range 3 days to 56 years). Seventy-five percent of pre-clinically diagnosed patients with cobalamin C disease became symptomatic within the first 15 days of life. Total homocysteine (tHcy), amino acids and urinary methylmalonic acid were the most frequently assessed disease markers; confirmatory diagnostics were mainly molecular genetic studies. Remethylation disorders are multisystem diseases dominated by neurological and eye disease and failure to thrive. In this cohort, mortality, thromboembolic, psychiatric and renal disease were rarer than reported elsewhere. Early treatment correlates with lower overall morbidity but is less effective in preventing eye disease and cognitive impairment. The wide variation in treatment hampers the evaluation of particular therapeutic modalities. Conclusion: Treatment improves the clinical course of remethylation disorders and reduces morbidity, especially if started early, but neurocognitive and eye symptoms are less responsive. Current treatment is highly variable. This study has the inevitable limitations of a retrospective, registry-based design