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In 2015, more than one million people crossed the Mediterranean into Europe, fleeing their homes and the dire situations in places like Syria, Libya, and Iraq in search of a better future. Due to the geographical position and its proximity to the North African coast, Italy was one of the countries most affected by the unexpected arrival of asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe. Although refugees are resilient people with marketable skills and strong motivations to build their livelihoods their socio-economic integration in host countries still remains one of the main challenges. In this paper, I explore the barriers refugees must overcome to gain access to the Italian labor market and performed a causal analysis to discover which are the root causes of these barriers to assess potential solutions. After this analysis, I built a theory of change to test if these solutions would achieve the expected outcome of improving the socio-economic integration of refugees in Italy and conclude this paper with a concrete set of recommendations for the Italian government to implement. Restoring order and confidence in Italy’s migration system is essential to counter extremist narratives and provide an opportunity for migrants to integrate better in Italy while benefiting Italian society.

Drawing inspiration from lateral thinking, synergetics, psychology, creativity, and business, this research project employs an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the research process which drives innovation in the field of artificial intelligence. This research project explores methods for harnessing the synergy present in the latest, neuro-symbolic paradigm of artificial intelligence, while noting similarities between the first two waves of AI and dual process theory. It attempts to integrate unconventional, yet potentially promising interdisciplinary ideas into a proof of concept, including creative tools and techniques like the Six Thinking Hats, methods of psychotherapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy and internal family systems, as well as principles related to conflict resolution and ``tensegrity". The proof of concept is a hybrid semantic search system for research papers in computer science, constructed using a process of rapid prototyping and iteration, with special consideration for evaluating how more modular, interpretable, and human-centric approaches to system design can help narrow the gap between cutting-edge AI research and ethical, practical application in business. This research is conducted with the hope of opening the research field to greater creative possibility, as well as deliberate action towards creating more sustainable and human-centric artificial intelligence systems.

Low- and middle-income countries are increasingly under pressure to determine how to integrate their donor-driven health programs into locally-run health programs. Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) is a cost-effective, evidence-based HIV prevention strategy. It has been shown to reduce female to male transmission of HIV by 60%. The World Health Organization and UNAIDS recommend VMMC in 15 countries. These East and Southern African countries have high HIV prevalence rates, where heterosexual sex is the main driver of HIV transmission, and there are low circumcision prevalence rates in some or all populations. External donors such as the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria (GFATM) are seeking to withdraw financial support for the VMMC program, despite its potential contribution to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic, because they feel that national governments should be able to continue the program at steady-state. According to PEPFAR, mathematical modeling shows that reaching high levels of VMMC coverage can “…dramatically reduce community-level HIV incidence and save billions of dollars in HIV care and treatment costs. The imminent withdrawal of donor funding has stimulated national governments to mobilize domestic resources and take responsibility for the oversight and operations of the program from NGOs. In Zimbabwe, there is political will from the government to take on the VMMC program, as evidenced by the national VMMC Sustainability Transition Implementation Plan. According to this plan, the sustainability of the VMMC program calls for an integrated, decentralized, and locally owned program. The vertical (or stand-alone) program will be integrated into existing health services. The availability of the procedure at primary health centers will depend on training of more service providers. Decentralization will require a transfer of management responsibilities from implementing partners to subnational government stakeholders, a consolidation of roles, and greater community engagement. In the first paper, Managing change to integrate and sustain a vertical, donor-funded program: a case study on Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Zimbabwe, I develop a business-school-style teaching case study that uses an example of a health program that is undergoing a transition from a vertical program to a horizontal health program. The VMMC program in Zimbabwe must make changes to its operating model to sustain the program in preparation for the eventual withdrawal of donor funding. It must also transition from a program that is donor and implementing partner led to one that is government owned and operated. This case study illustrates how a health program pivots after a period of disruption (in this case the COVID-19 pandemic); the likelihood of successful change when leadership is shared rather than dependent upon one individual; and how a team can participate in a process to prioritize addressing a problem and mobilize collective action to resolve it. In the second paper, Sustainable integration of a vertical Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision program into routine health services in Zimbabwe: a mixed methods process evaluation of a participatory change intervention, I address whether a systems change intervention called the LEAD Framework furthered the integration and sustainability of the VMMC program. I focus on how the intervention facilitated the transition of VMMC within five pilot districts into a locally-owned and managed program while also strengthening individual and team capacity. District team actions included greater engagement of multisectoral stakeholders, better use of existing resources, and changes to operating models. I observed improvements across all World Health Organization health system building blocks, suggesting that the intervention strengthened the overall health system. A sustainability survey showed a reduction in funding stability but a significant increase in communications, program adaptation, and organizational capacity. In the third paper, Understanding stakeholder perspectives on integrating and sustaining voluntary medical male circumcision into routine health services in Zimbabwe: a qualitative study, I describe the range of psychological and structural barriers and facilitators faced by a broad array of stakeholders engaged in integrating and sustaining the VMMC program. Notably, staffing and financing barriers, particularly the obstacles posed by staff attrition, limited domestic resources, and the transition from a fee-for-service to a facility-based performance model, will make decentralized service delivery and maintaining high levels of productivity challenging. Respondents also mentioned resistance to changing the program's operations as a significant barrier, especially as donors and partners continued to control the funding, thereby limiting the Ministry of Health and Child Care's (MoHCC) decision-making power. However, stakeholders saw an opportunity for increased responsibility and a greater sense of ownership at the subnational level through the decentralization of governance. As a whole, this dissertation provides a description of how a transition of the VMMC program in Zimbabwe from a vertical program to a horizontal program can be facilitated through a participatory, bottom-up systems change intervention called the LEAD Framework, answering research questions not previously addressed in the literature and suggesting next steps for countries undergoing similar processes.

Abstract: It is now over four decades that communicative language teaching (CLT) has been dominant in the domain of second language (L2) teaching. During the early years, grammar instruction faced opposition from the proponents of a strong version of CLT due to the disfavour the existed at that time for structural syllabuses. However, it eventually survived and reappeared as form-focused instruction (FFI), referring to any instructional technique intended to draw learners’ attention explicitly or implicitly to grammatical structures when the focus is on meaning. Nowadays there seems to be a consensus among researchers about the compatibility of FFI and CLT. Therefore, a theoretically and pedagogically significant issue is how and when FFI can be integrated with communicative tasks. This study is an investigation of how grammar practice can be integrated with tasks at the pretask phase and is premised upon the idea that the concept of transfer-appropriate processing should be used in designing practice activities. The dissertation consists of an introductory chapter, a review paper (Paper 1), two research papers (Paper 2 and 3), and a concluding chapter. In Paper 1, it is argued that a reliance on highly controlled grammar exercises is not sufficient for the development of accuracy under conditions requiring fluent oral production as in a normal conversation with native speakers. After reviewing earlier conceptualizations and operationalizations of grammar practice, the paper provides the background for exploring the notion of transfer-appropriateness, which refers to the idea that cognitive processes similar to those of real-world communication should be involved during practice activities. It is argued that transfer-appropriate practice is what is needed to develop learners’ ability to produce targeted grammatical knowledge accurately during fluency-oriented task performance. This paper concludes with a discussion of how transfer-appropriate grammar practice can play a role in CLT and offers an example of a transfer-appropriate practice activity with respect to the English past tense. Paper 2 reports a study that compared the effect of two types of pretask practice activities on the use of the English past tense during task performance. The participants were native speakers of Mandarin enrolled in an EAP program at a Canadian university. They were randomly assigned to the Transfer-Appropriate Practice (TAPRA) or Traditional Practice condition. Oral elicited imitation and written error correction tests showed that the participants were not different in terms of their implicit and explicit knowledge of the past tense at the beginning of the study. After reviewing the past tense rules, the TAPRA group engaged in aural/oral communicative activities over three consecutive days while the Traditional Practice group completed written grammar exercises over the same period. As a post-test, both groups performed a focused communication task that required the use of the past tense. Results revealed that while the groups were not different in overall complexity, accuracy, and target-like use, the TAPRA group was significantly more fluent during the focused task. The findings suggest that TAPRA activities, compared to written grammar exercises, are more successful in balancing the competition between accuracy and fluency for L2 learners’ limited processing capacity. The study reported in Paper 3 was aimed at exploring the type of knowledge that learners draw upon during an elicited imitation (EI) test focused on the simple past. EI tests are often used to measure the effects of different types of form-focused intervention on the development of L2 learners' implicit knowledge. The study examined whether the grammaticality of the target feature, its position in an utterance, and the explicitness of the test instructions influence learners’ imitations and the type of knowledge that they draw on during the test. Forty-four native speakers of Mandarin enrolled in an EAP program at a Canadian university completed an EI test along with four other tests over two consecutive sessions. Results revealed that the participants were more accurate in repeating the regular verbs but neither the position of the verbs nor the type of instructions significantly influenced imitation. Moreover, the participants reported having awareness of the targeted form while repeating the stimulus statements. These learners' awareness of the target structure suggests that EI may be a measure of automatized explicit knowledge, involving the rapid and conscious retrieval of explicit knowledge, rather than implicit knowledge.

Background: Podoconiosis, lymphatic filariasis (LF) and leprosy are neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that cause lymphoedema. Morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) services have been shown to reduce their physical impacts, but little is known both about how to address the psychosocial needs of patients and how to integrate services into the primary care unit and scale up these interventions in the resource-limited countries where they are most needed. Objectives: To evaluate the clinical (physical), mental health and psychosocial outcomes of an integrated holistic care package for lower limb disorders due to podoconiosis, LF and leprosy in north-western Ethiopia, and to determine the fidelity of implementation of the integrated care package. These objectives were set following a systematic review to identify gaps in knowledge surrounding disability, psychosocial and mental health outcomes of people affected by podoconiosis, LF and leprosy. Methods: For the systematic review we searched papers reporting on disability, psychosocial and mental health outcomes of these three NTDs. Peer-reviewed articles were searched and extracted from Medline, PsychInfo, Global Health and Embase. Data were extracted and narratively summarized, as the studies were heterogenous and used different outcome measures. The review has been published. After baseline data collection, a holistic integrated care package was piloted as part of the EnDPoINT (Excellence in Disability Prevention Integrated across Neglected Tropical Diseases) project in Gusha district, Awi zone, Ethiopia. To assess the acceptability, scalability and sustainability of the care package and barriers to its implementation, a qualitative study was conducted. The qualitative data analysis results have been published. We quantitatively assessed the impact of the care package at three months and twelve months post-initiation by using validated measurement tools. For this, mixed effect linear regression and mixed effect logistic regression were conducted; with a fixed effect for time point and a random effect for participant. The cohort study results have been accepted for publication. Results: During the systematic review, fourteen studies provided evidence on the disability associated with leprosy, podoconiosis or LF. Ten studies provided evidence on the association with mental health or psychosocial outcomes. High burden of mental illness was reported, with prevalence varying from 12.6% to 71.7%. During the baseline study, among the 251 patients with lymphoedema who were included, 119 (47.4%) had moderate to severe depression and overall quality of life (QOL) was poor (mean ± SD DLQI score: 11.4 ± 4.2). Disability was significantly associated with depression (β=0.26; 95% CI: 0.19, 0.33) and poor quality of life (β=−0.08; 95%CI: −0.15, −0.01). In the qualitative study, the integrated lymphoedema care package resulted in improved awareness of the causes, treatment and prevention of lymphoedema and in reduced stigma and discrimination. Barriers to integrated care were unrealistic patient expectations, inadequate dissemination across health workers, and poor transportation access In the quantitative follow-up study, we found significant improvements in both physical and psychosocial outcomes. There was reduction in acute adenolymphangioadenitis (ADLA) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] was -2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI] -2.5, -1.79; p<0.001), and overall level of disability (mean reduction in WHODAS 2.0 score -11.0; 95% CI -12.1, -9.9; p<0.001). Significant improvements were also notified in QOL (mean difference in adjusted DLQI score -7.2; 95% CI -7.9, 6.5; p<0.001), and depression (mean PHQ-9 score -7.2; 95% CI -7.9, -6.5; p<0.001). Conclusion: There is high burden of disability, and poor psychosocial and mental health outcomes associated with podoconiosis, LF and leprosy. Health professionals, decision makers and patients believed the integrated lymphoedema care package to be acceptable, and potentially scalable and sustainable. Following implementation of the integrated holistic care package there was significant improvement in both physical and psychosocial-mental health outcomes. This research provides evidence that the EnDPoINT care package is effective across a range of physical and psychosocial outcomes. Following itsscale-up and cost-effectiveness assessment in three more districts, we recommend it to be scaled up to other endemic districts in Ethiopia and elsewhere.

Two trends are currently driving the need for supply chain firms to form closely integrated relationships: collaboration and digitisation. One of the ways to achieve digitisation of supply chain operations is to implement Inter-Organisational Information Systems (IOIS) with selected supply chain partners for a much more efficient, streamlined and orchestrated supply chain operations. Whilst IOIS can be implemented to support various cross-functional business processes (ranging from operational information exchange to pursuing strategic initiatives such as sharing ideas, identifying new market opportunities, and pursing a continuous improvement approach), in the context of this thesis, the purpose of IOIS implementation is to facilitate the inter-firm procurement-related operations with downstream supply chain firms. The study undertaken in this research project was initiated in response to an industry requirement to investigate the implementation of IOIS against a backdrop of improved Supply Chain Management and integration practices by large contractor organisations. A case study research strategy was adopted to investigate the IOIS project related, IOIS (system) related issues encountered in ex-ante and ex-post implementation stages of the IOIS. The study concludes that it is the non-technical factors that are critical to the successful delivery of IOIS projects and provides a guideline on IOIS implementation by large contractor organisations. The findings of this research project have been published in a number of peer-reviewed papers.

With the development of society and industry, demand for energy is growing. The environmental issues caused by mining, transportation and consuming of conventional fuels are getting more and more serious. Wind energy, as a strong power on earth, has been developed for decades. With much attention drawn to it and the development of technology, the cost of wind power has been reduced to a relatively competitive price. Thus the utilization of wind power has been widely obtained globally. However, the cost of wind power is still too high to compete with conventional thermal power if without incentives. As a result, it is important to find influential factors to this problem. This research paper presented the cost and profit of wind power in a more comprehensive way. Firstly, this paper introduces a basic analysis of wind power cost. The cost of wind power mainly consists of three part: investment cost, operation and maintenance cost and financial cost. Site selection, wind energy source, turbine selection method along with tax policies are also discussed here. And then a mathematical model is derived. From this model, we can perceive the composition of wind power cost. Secondly, the integration cost and environmental are discussed in this paper. The randomness of wind resource and the uneven distribution of electricity supply and demand lay heavy burden on electricity management, so that additional reserve capacity and energy storage technology are under development. Damages caused by coal production, transportation and use add environmental value to wind power generation. The social and environmental benefits are constantly ignored when calculating wind power cost, and the cost spent on grid integration caused by the uncertainty of wind energy should also be considered. Finally, an integrated model is derived, analyzing factors influencing wind power cost. A 50MW wind farm is assumed to be built in Urumqi area. It’s cost along with its environmental value is calculated using the method discussed in this report. And the result is compared with wind power price and coal piece.

New-world countries are often characterized by large areas of sprawling post-war suburban development. The streets of these suburbs are often criticized for being unattractive transport corridors that prioritize cars at the cost of the pedestrian environment and ecological health of their neighbourhoods. Green infrastructure (LID) street retrofits, as well as grey infrastructure-dominated traffic calming schemes have been used as partial solutions to the adverse effects of post-war street design. There is, however, a lack of implementation of these measures, along with some confusion as to what is defined as green and grey infrastructure at the street scale. The level to which these schemes are integrated with one another is also unclear. This paper is based on an international English-language systematic review of academic peer-reviewed literature of built infrastructure elements within residential street settings. The review reports on a body of evidence-based literature, discussing the definitions of green and grey infrastructure at the street scale; along with the barriers and enablers to the implementation of green and grey infrastructure, and the level to which the two are integrated. Barriers and enablers to the successful design and implementation of green and grey infrastructure in residential streets are also investigated. The physical components of the various infrastructure elements were used to categorize them in order to clearly define the terms green and grey infrastructure within streets. Evidence suggests that there are two ways in which integration of green and grey infrastructure occurs, however only a third of the papers report on green and grey infrastructure integration. Results also show that cost, spatial constraints and resident perception are the most common barriers to the implementation of green and grey infrastructure retrofits in residential streets. Ways to utilize the known barriers and enablers, along with design considerations, are discussed. The findings presented in this thesis are aimed to provide academics and practitioners with an important series of considerations to help influence the design of street retrofits that achieve a multiple number of social and ecological benefits within a residential setting; in order to help address the adverse social and ecological effects of urbanization and unsustainable post-war development patterns.

Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia has expanded since 1971 to become the largest Christian university in the world. Liberty will be used in this paper as a contemporary example of a Christian university that has maintained its Christian commitment. Liberty will be contrasted with numerous Christian colleges and universities that had similar missions but have eventually lost their religious affiliations and their Christian-oriented focus. This paper will explore how and why other universities have drifted from their original religious affiliations and doctrines. The reasons and processes will be examined and used to develop a program for online Christian education that minimizes the risk of a drift toward secularism, establishes a method for integrating faith and learning in an online environment, and encourages students to develop a life-long commitment to their Christian university.