Topic Review
Migration, Climate Change and Livelihoods
Climate change and migration have been issues of concern among scientists for a number of decades, and various arguments have been made asserting that climate change is becoming a major driver of population displacement. It was noted in the early 1990s that “climate change greatly influenced human migration, causing displacement of millions of people who suffered erosion, agricultural disruption, and flooding”. Globally, about 25 million people were forced from their families and livelihoods during the mid-1990s, due to severe environmental crises, such as drought, flooding, pollution, and natural disasters. This type of movement can be called a “forced migration”, as it is a movement in which elements of coercion exist, such as threats to life and livelihoods. Forced migration is not only caused by environmental “push” factors, such as sea level rise, but also “pull” factors, which can also be environmental, social, and economic.
  • 952
  • 17 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Participatory Methods for Urban Development
Despite the fact that vulnerable communities are the most affected by unplanned cities, considerably less attention has been given to involving them in urban development in order to ensure equitable outcomes. In this regard, there is an urgent need for governments to introduce and enforce processes that allow citizens, including vulnerable communities, to participate in development planning and policymaking. However, at present, there is a lack of guidance for practitioners regarding the definition of a clear purpose of community engagement and the selection of appropriate participatory methods to fulfil the set purpose. This study provides a thorough account of the participatory methods that can be used to achieve various engagement goals throughout the urban development process. This structured literature review used 71 reports published from 2000 to 2020. The review revealed 34 participatory methods, wherein most of the methods are devoted to informing, consulting and involving communities, whilst only a few methods are available for interactive public participation that supports true collaboration and empowerment. The study identified 12 purposes of community engagement in urban development, and mapped the 34 participatory methods for achieving them. The analysed case studies showed that the current community engagement practices are mainly in the pre-design and briefing stages of the urban development processes, and that most projects are aiming to achieve the ‘inform’ and ‘consult’ levels of engagement, with a few aiming to achieve the ‘involve’ and ‘collaborate’ levels. This study shows that community engagement is often overlooked during the professional design, development and post-development phases. The paper presents an onion model which can be used by practitioners to choose appropriate participatory methods based on the intended urban development phase, the engagement level and the purpose of the community engagement.
  • 2.3K
  • 16 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Benefits of Online Tourism Sources
Online sources of information are a matter of special interest in tourism research. In particular, they are key elements in the formation of destination image. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between online sources of information and destination image and to analyze the mediating role of motivation to co-create in that relationship. A research model was developed, and hypotheses were tested on data collected from 394 usable responses about the World Heritage city of Cuenca (Spain). The results show that online commercial sources have a direct positive impact on the conative, affective and cognitive dimensions of the tourist image, in this order. Additionally, this study supports the view that motivation to co-create mediates the relationship between online information sources and destination image. Finally, motivation to co-create was also found to have a positive and direct impact, in this order, on conative, cognitive and affective image. The main value of our research is that it underlines the essential influence of motivation to co-create in the relationship between online information sources and destination image. This study also provides a critical review of the existing literature by positing a conceptual theoretical framework that links three types of online sources of information (social media sources, online commercial sources and online non-commercial sources) and destination image. 
  • 844
  • 16 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Gender Identity
Gender is learned; it is a social construct. There is a lack of literature connecting children’s social identity formation and education for ecological sustainability in early childhood education. This gap in literature can be attributed to a common misconception that young children are not able to understand and express more complex social identity nor identify with ecological and sustainable education principles. However, this inquiry illuminates that from the perspective of Reggio-inspired educators’ social constructivist experiences, preprimary age children are in fact competent and capable of socially constructing complex knowledge and of representing their theories on identity and ecology through reuse materials.
  • 557
  • 16 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Highway-rail grade crossing (HRGC) accidents
Highway-rail grade crossing (HRGC) accidents pose a serious risk of safety to highway users, including pedestrians trying to cross HRGCs. A significant increase in the number of HRGC accidents globally calls for greater research efforts, which are not limited to the analysis of accidents at HRGCs but also understanding user perception, driver behavior, potential conflicting areas at crossings, effectiveness of countermeasures and user perception towards them. HRGC safety is one of the priority areas in the State of Florida, since the state HRGCs experienced a total of 429 injuries and 146 fatalities between 2010 and 2019 with a significant increase in HRGC accidents over the last years.
  • 1.1K
  • 15 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Student Performance in MOOCs
COVID-19 has drastically changed human life, both in the current era and, no doubt, in the years to come. One of the hot topics during this period is whether and how COVID-19 will change education patterns in the next few years. This entry aimed to investigate the relationship between massive open online courses (MOOCs) and students’ learning performance. To that end, this entry combined the gamification concept with the modified information systems (IS) success model and the expectation–confirmation model (ECM) for building a research model. We surveyed 586 students through an online survey and tested the hypotheses. The results indicated that MOOCs’ information quality (IQ), system quality (SQ), and service quality (SEQ) had positive influences on the confirmation, which then affected MOOCs’ usefulness, satisfaction, and gamification. Students’ continued usage intention and course performance were positively influenced by usefulness and gamification. Students’ continued usage intention of MOOCs also positively affected course performance. The relationship between gamification and satisfaction, however, was not proved. The results also showed that gamification, which was composed of entertainment, challenge, and social interaction, played a critical role in improving students’ continued usage intention of MOOCs and their course performance.
  • 531
  • 13 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Cyber and Offline Dating Abuse
 The increasing use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and networking has promoted the occurrence of different forms of victimization, specifically in terms of interpersonal interaction (e.g., cyberbullying or online risk-taking behaviour), which also includes cyber dating abuse (CDA). Some studies report that CDA is an extension of offline dating abuse (ODA). 
  • 771
  • 11 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Psychoneuroendocrineimmunology (PNEI)
Psychoneuroendocrineimmunology (PNEI) brings together knowledge acquired since the 1930s from endocrinology, immunology, neuroscience, and psychology. With PNEI, a model of research and interpretation of health and disease is emerging, which sees the human body as a structured and interconnected unit, where the psychological and biological systems are mutually coordinated. In the PNEI view, many factors could influence mental health, with the endocrine system involved in mediating the effects of environmental stress on mental health and inflammation in the onset and course of psychiatric disorders as a result of individual and collective conditions and behaviors.  PNEI paradigm configures the possibilities of going beyond the historical and philosophical contrast between mind and body, as well as the scientific antithesis of the twentieth century, between medicine and psychology, overcoming their respective reductionism, which assigns the body to the first and the psyche to the second.   
  • 2.5K
  • 11 Aug 2021
Topic Review
COVID-19 Pandemic Impact Tourism Stakeholder
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry is still sustained, and the response of the tourism industry is an indispensable element that is increasingly recognized. This response has led to the emergence of literature about the impact of COVID-19 on the stakeholders of the tourism industry, thereby contributing to the industry. Nonetheless, criterion factors and investigated practices on the implementation of decision-making by stakeholders in the tourism industry have not been fully explored. Practically, the irresistible risk industry is already synonymous with tourism. Indeed, it is an unstable industry. 2003, 2 million tourists reduce of SARS. 2009, Global Economic Crisis tourist 37 million reduce. 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, the world's borders are blocked, all international travel is stopped, and the mobility of tourists is prohibited. However, effective decision-making is lacking, and few studies have determined the solutions in the tourism industry of stakeholder. How the tourism industry survives under the crisis context is an urgent issue.
  • 2.1K
  • 11 Aug 2021
Topic Review
The Tryptophan-Kynurenine Metabolic Pathway
Tryptophan (TRP) is one of the essential amino acids, which participates in protein synthesis. The tryptophan’s main metabolic route is the kynurenine pathway (KP) through which approximately 90-95% of TRP degrades into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and other bioactive metabolites. The appropriate amount of NAD+ is essential to maintain the operation and the viability of cells. The other molecules are neurotoxic, neuroprotective, oxidant, antioxidant, and/or immune modifiers. They play an important role in the function of the brain and the peripheral tissues. The change in the levels of the bioactive molecules is considered to contribute to the development of a wide range of illnesses from cancer to immunologic, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric diseases.
  • 11.2K
  • 10 Aug 2021
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