Search results for: triple bottom line accounting

Authors: Kadiri Kayode Ibrahim, Kadiri Omowunmi

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The research study was concerned with an evaluation of the effect of marketing strategy on the performance of SMEs in Abuja. This was achieved, specifically, through the examination of the effect of disaggregated components of Marketing Strategy (Product, Price, Promotion, Placement and Process) on Sales Volume (as a proxy for performance). The study design was causal in nature, with the use of quantitative methods involving a cross-sectional survey carried out with the administration of a structured questionnaire. A multistage sample of 398 respondents was utilized to provide the primary data used in the study. Subsequently, path analysis was employed in processing the obtained data and testing formulated hypotheses. Findings from the study indicated that all modeled components of marketing strategy were positive and statistically significant determinants of performance among businesses in the zone. It was, therefore, recommended that SMEs invest in continuous product innovation and development that are in line with the needs and preferences of the target market, as well as adopt a dynamic pricing strategy that considers both cost factors and market conditions. It is, therefore, crucial that businesses in the zone adopt marker communication measures that would stimulate brand awareness and increase engagement, including the use of social media platforms and content marketing. Additionally, owner-managers should ensure that their products are readily available to their target customers through an emphasis on availability and accessibility measures. Furthermore, a commitment to consistent optimization of internal operations is crucial for improved productivity, reduced costs, and enhanced customer satisfaction, which in turn will positively impact their overall performance.

Keywords: product, price, promotion, placement

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Authors: Hossein Mohammadzadeh, Mojtaba Heydarizad

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Among various water resources, the surface water has a dominant role in providing water supply in the arid and semi-arid region of Iran. Andarokh-Kardeh basin is located in 50 km from Mashhad city - the second biggest city of Iran (NE of Iran), draining by Kardeh river which provides a significant portion of potable and irrigation water needs for Mashhad. The stable isotopes (¹⁸O, ²H,¹³C-DIC, and ¹³C-DOC), as reliable and precious water fingerprints, have been measured in Kardeh river (Kharket, Mareshk, Jong, All and Kardeh stations) and in Kardeh dam reservoirs (at five different sites S1 to S5) during March to June 2011 and June 2012. On δ¹⁸O vs. δ²H diagram, the river samples were plotted between Global and Eastern Mediterranean Meteoric Water lines (GMWL and EMMWL) which demonstrate that various moisture sources are providing humidity for precipitation events in this area. The enriched δ¹⁸O and δ²H values (-6.5 ‰ and -44.5 ‰ VSMOW) of Kardeh dam reservoir are compared to Kardeh river (-8.6‰and-54.4‰), and its deviation from Mashhad meteoric water line (MMWL- δ²H=7.16δ¹⁸O+11.22) is due to evaporation from the open surface water body. The enriched value of δ ¹³C-DIC and high amount of DIC values (-7.9 ‰ VPDB and 57.23 ppm) in the river and Kardeh dam reservoir (-7.3 ‰ VPDB and 55.53 ppm) is due to dissolution of Mozdooran Carbonate Formation lithology (Jm1 to Jm3 units) (contains enriched δ¹³C DIC values of 9.2‰ to 27.7‰ VPDB) in the region. Because of the domination of C3 vegetations in Andarokh_Kardeh basin, the δ¹³C-DOC isotope of the river (-28.4‰ VPDB) and dam reservoir (-32.3‰ VPDB) demonstrate depleted values. Higher DOC concentration in dam reservoir (2.57 ppm) compared to the river (0.72 ppm) is due to more biologogical activities and organic matters in dam reservoir.

Keywords: Dam reservoir, Iran, Kardeh river, Khorasan razavi, Stable isotopes

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Authors: Syed Farooq Adil, Merajuddinkhan, Mujeeb Khan, Hamad Z. Alkhathlan

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Phytochemicals from plant extracts belong to an important source of natural products which have demonstrated excellent cytotoxic activities. However, plants of different origins exhibit diverse chemical compositions and bioactivities. Therefore, the discovery of plants based new anticancer agents from different parts of the world is always challenging. In this study, methanolic extracts of different parts of 11 plants from Saudi Arabia have been tested in vitro for their anticancer potential on human liver cancer cell line (HepG2). Particularly, for this study, plants from Asteraceae, Resedaceae, and Polygonaceae families were chosen on the basis of locally available ethnobotanical data and their medicinal properties. Among 12 tested extract samples, three samples obtained from Artemisia monosperma stem, Ochradenus baccatus aerial parts, and Pulicaria glutinosa stem have demonstrated interesting cytotoxic activities with a cell viability of 29.3%, 28.4% and 24.2%, respectively. Whereas, four plant extracts including Calendula arvensis aerial parts, Scorzonera musilii whole plant, A. monosperma leaves show moderate anticancer properties bearing a cell viability ranging from 11.9 to 16.7%. The remaining extracts have shown poor cytotoxic activities. Subsequently, GC-MS analysis of methanolic extracts of the four most active plants extracts such as C. comosum, O. baccatus, P. glutinosa and A. monosperma detected the presence of 41 phytomolecules. Among which 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propionitrile (1), 8,11-octadecadiynoic acid methyl ester (2), 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin (3), and 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl) ethenone (4) were found to be the lead compounds of C. comosum, O. baccatus P. glutinosa and A. monosperma, respectively.

Keywords: medicinal plants, asteraceae, polygonaceae, hepg2

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Authors: Badr Alharbi

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There is significant debate on the evolution of retail marketing as an economy matures. In penetrating new markets, global brands are efficient in establishing a presence and replacing less effective competitors by engaging in superior advertising, pricing and sometimes quality. However, national brands adapt over time and may either partner with global brands in distribution and services or directly compete more efficiently in the new, open market. This explorative study investigates brand preferences in Saudi Arabia. As a conservative society, which is nevertheless highly commercialised, Saudi Arabia markets could be fragmenting with consumer preferences and rejections based on country of origin, globalisation, or perhaps regionalisation. To investigate this, an online survey was distributed to Saudis in Jeddah to gather data on their preferences for travel, technology, clothes and accessories, eating out, vehicles, and influential brands. The results from 710 valid responses were that there are distinct regional and national brand preferences among the young Saudi men who contributed to the survey. Apart from a preference for Saudi food providers, airline preferences were the United Emirates, holiday preferences were Europe, study and work preferences were the United States, hotel preferences were United States-based, car preferences were Japanese, and clothing preferences were United States-based. The results were broadly in line with international research findings; however, the study participants varied from Arab research findings by describing themselves as innovative in their purchase selections, rarely loyal (exception of Apple products) and continually seeking new brand experiences. This survey contributes to an understanding of evolving Saudi consumer preferences.

Keywords: Saudi marketing, globalisation, country of origin, brand preferences

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Authors: Mercy Chepkirui, Paul Orina, Priscilla Boera, Judith Achoki

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Oreochromis jipe is a tropical freshwater bentho-pelagic fish belonging to the Cichlid family that is endemic to the Pangani River basin and Lake Jipe in Kenya and northern Tanzania, while Oreochromis niloticus inhabits the Lake Victoria basin with reported cases in Lake jipe too. Unlike O. jipe, Oreochromis niloticus is spreading across the globe due to its cultural potential. This, however, could cause genetic purity concerns in the event of cross-breeding among the tilapiines, which is already taking place in the wild. The study envisaged establishing the possibility of hybridization among the two species under aquaculture conditions and phenotypically informing the difference between pure and cross lines. Two hundred sixteen mature brooders weighing 100-120g were selected randomly, 108 of Oreochromis Jipe and 108 of Oreochromis niloticus; for each trial, 72 males and 144 females were distributed into 3 crosses, each grouped in triplicates (Oreochromis niloticus (♀) X Oreochromis niloticus(♂);Oreochromis niloticus (♂) X Oreochromis jipe ( ♀); Oreochromis jipe (♂) X Oreochromis niloticus (♀); Oreochromis jipe (♂) X Oreochromis jipe (♀). All trials had the F1 generation, which is currently undergoing growth trials and assessing its viability for the 2nd generation. The results indicated that Oreochromis niloticus has better growth, followed by crosses (Oreochromis niloticus X Oreochromis jipe) and, finally, pure line Oreochromis jipe. Further, pure Oreochromis jipe F1 demonstrated potential for aquaculture adoption despite its recent introduction into aquaculture; thus, this will help towards the conservation of indigenous fish species of Lake Jipe fishery, which is currently under the Internationa Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of endangered fish species. However, there is a need to inform the purity of existing Oreochromis jipe wild stocks to inform genetic material conservation.

Keywords: biodiversity, climate change, fisheries, oreochromis jipe, conservation

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Authors: Konstantine Eristavi

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The paper will contribute to the discussion on the pitfalls, limits, and possibilities of legal and rights discourse in opposing large infrastructural projects in the context of neoliberal globalisation. To this end, the paper will analyse the struggle against the Namakhvani HPP project in Georgia. The latter has been hailed by the government as one of the largest energy projects in the history of the country, with an enormous potential impact on energy security, energy independence, economic growth, and development. This takes place against the backdrop of decades of market-led -or neoliberal- model of development in Georgia, characterised by structural adjustments, deregulation, privatisation, and Laissez-Fair approach to foreign investment. In this context, the Georgian state vies with other low and middle-income countries for foreign capital by offering to potential investors, on the one hand, exemptions from social and environmental regulations and, on the other hand, huge legal concessions and safeguards, thereby participating in what is often called a “race to the bottom.” The Namakhvani project is a good example of this. At every stage, the project has been marred with violations of laws and regulations concerning transparency, participation, social and environmental regulations, and so on. Moreover, the leaked contract between the state and the developer reveals the contractual safeguards which effectively insulate the investment throughout the duration of the contract from the changes in the national law that might adversely affect investors’ rights and returns. These clauses, aimed at preserving investors' economic position, place the contract above national law in many respects and even conflict with fundamental constitutional rights. In response to the perceived deficiencies of the project, one of the largest and most diverse social movements in the history of post-soviet Georgia has been assembled, consisting of the local population, conservative and leftist groups, human rights and environmental NGOs, etc. Crucially, the resistance movement is actively using legal tools. In order to analyse both the limitations and possibilities of legal discourse, the paper will distinguish between internal and immanent critiques. Law as internal critique, in the context of the struggles around the Namakhvani project, while potentially fruitful in hindering the project, risks neglecting and reproducing those factors -e.g., the particular model of development- that made such contractual concessions and safeguards and concomitant rights violations possible in the first place. On the other hand, the use of rights and law as part of immanent critique articulates a certain incapacity on the part of the addressee government to uphold existing laws and rights due to structural factors, hence, pointing to a need for a fundamental change. This 'ruptural' form of legal discourse that the movement employs makes it possible to go beyond the discussion around the breaches of law and enables a critical deliberation on the development model within which these violations and extraordinary contractual safeguards become necessary. It will be argued that it is this form of immanent critique that expresses the emancipatory potential of legal discourse.

Keywords: law, resistance, development, rights

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Authors: Addisu Tadesse Sahile, Tennyson Mgutshini

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Background: Periodontal disease is a common, complex, inflammatory disease characterized by the destruction of tooth-supporting soft and hard tissues of the periodontium and a major public health problem across developed and developing countries. Objectives: The study was aimed at assessing the prevalence of periodontal disease and associated factors among diabetes patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2018. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on 388 diabetes patients selected by systematic random sampling method from March to May 2018. The study was conducted at two conveniently selected public hospitals in Addis Ababa. Data were collected with pre-tested, structured and translated questionnaire then entered to SPSS version 23 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics as a summary, in line with chi-square and binary logistics regression to identify factors associated with periodontal disease, were applied. A 95% CI with a p-value less than 5% was used as a level of significance. Results: Ninety-one percent (n=353) of participants had periodontal disease while oral examination was done in six regions. While only 9% (n=35) of participants were free of periodontal disease. The number of tooth brushings per day, correct techniques of brushing, malocclusion, and fillings that are defective were associated with periodontal disease at p < 0.05. Conclusion and recommendation: A higher prevalence of periodontal disease among diabetes patient was observed. The frequency of tooth brushing, correct techniques of brushing, malocclusion and defective fillings were associated with periodontal disease. Emphasis has to be given to oral health of diabetes patients by every concerned body so as to control the current higher burden of periodontal disease in diabetes.

Keywords: periodontal disease, risk factors, diabetes mellitus, Addis Ababa

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Authors: Yongqin Zhang, John Lett

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Geospatial technologies have been increasingly used in agriculture for various applications and purposes in recent years. Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) fit the needs of farmers in farming operations, from field spraying to grow cycles and crop health. In this research, we conducted a practical research project that used drone technology to design and map optimal locations and layouts of irrigation systems for agriculture farms. We flew a DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone to acquire aerial remote sensing images over two agriculture fields in Forest, Mississippi, in 2022. Flight plans were first designed to capture multiple high-resolution images via a 20-megapixel RGB camera mounted on the drone over the agriculture fields. The Drone Deploy web application was then utilized to develop flight plans and subsequent image processing and measurements. The images were orthorectified and processed to estimate the area of the area and measure the locations of the water line and sprinkle heads. Field measurements were conducted to measure the ground targets and validate the aerial measurements. Geospatial analysis and photogrammetric measurements were performed for the study area to determine optimal layout and quantitative estimates for irrigation systems. We created maps and tabular estimates to demonstrate the locations, spacing, amount, and layout of sprinkler heads and water lines to cover the agricultural fields. This research project provides scientific guidance to Mississippi farmers for a precision agricultural irrigation practice.

Keywords: drone images, agriculture, irrigation, geospatial analysis, photogrammetric measurements

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Authors: Papai Barman, Harihar Sahoo

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With increasing life expectancy, urbanization, and adult out migration, elder people live without adult child and most of time responsible for grandchild caring while the care is needed for them. On this line, the current study examined the association between grandchild caring (GCC) with different household structures and depression among elderly (60+) grandparents (GP) living in India using Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI), 2017-18. HH structure was defined as the skipped-generation household (SGH) where GP and GC lived together without middle generation and the multi-generation household (MGH) where more than two generations lived together. GCC was defined by two categories, compulsive and non-compulsive caring. CES-D depression scale was utilized to measure GP’s mental health. Socio-economic characteristics, chronic diseases, and health behavior were controlled to get the effect of HH structure and GCC considered key explanatory variables. Bivariate analyses showed that the prevalence of elderly lived in SGH in India (2.5%). Prevalence of compulsive caring was found 16.3% in MGH and 51.1% in SGH. Prevalence of depressions was found nearly 37.1 and 49.5% among the GPs responsible for GCC in MGH and SGH, respectively. Using Biprobit and margins results, GPs lived in SGH were 0.40 times (dy/dx=0.40, p<0.001) more likely to report depression than GPs lived in MGH, given the condition on compulsive caring. Ensuring SDG goal-3, health aging, and giving more social security to the elder people responsible for caring while they are needed care at later life, the current study may improve the existing knowledge and help policy makers to make an intervention on this most vulnerable people, especially for the elderly people living in SGH and responsible for caring.

Keywords: household structure, grandchild caring, skipped-generation household, multi-generation household, depression, mental health, India

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Authors: Abheyjit Singh, Kulwant Singh

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There is a gradual depletion of the water table in the earth's crust, and it is required to converse and reduce the scarcity of water. This is only done by rainwater harvesting, recycling of water and by judicially consumption/utilization of water and adopting unique treatment measures. Domestic waste is generated in residential areas, commercial settings, and institutions. Waste, in general, is unwanted, undesirable, and nevertheless an inevitable and inherent product of social, economic, and cultural life. In a cluster, a need-based system is formed where the project is designed for systematic analysis, collection of sewage from the cluster, treating it and then recycling it for multifarious work. The liquid waste may consist of Sanitary sewage/ Domestic waste, Industrial waste, Storm waste, or Mixed Waste. The sewage contains both suspended and dissolved particles, and the total amount of organic material is related to the strength of the sewage. The untreated domestic sanitary sewage has a BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) of 200 mg/l. TSS (Total Suspended Solids) about 240 mg/l. Industrial Waste may have BOD and TSS values much higher than those of sanitary sewage. Another type of impurities of wastewater is plant nutrients, especially when there are compounds of nitrogen N phosphorus P in the sewage; raw sanitary contains approx. 35 mg/l Nitrogen and 10 mg/l of Phosphorus. Finally, the pathogen in the waste is expected to be proportional to the concentration of facial coliform bacteria. The coliform concentration in raw sanitary sewage is roughly 1 billion per liter. The system of sewage disposal technique has been universally applied to all conditions, which are the nature of soil formation, Availability of land, Quantity of Sewage to be disposed of, The degree of treatment and the relative cost of disposal technique. The adopted Thappar Model (India) has the following designed parameters consisting of a Screen Chamber, a Digestion Tank, a Skimming Tank, a Stabilization Tank, an Oxidation Pond and a Water Storage Pond. The screening Chamber is used to remove plastic and other solids, The Digestion Tank is designed as an anaerobic tank having a retention period of 8 hours, The Skimming Tank has an outlet that is kept 1 meter below the surface anaerobic condition at the bottom and also help in organic solid remover, Stabilization Tank is designed as primary settling tank, Oxidation Pond is a facultative pond having a depth of 1.5 meter, Storage Pond is designed as per the requirement. The cost of the Thappar model is Rs. 185 Lakh per 3,000 to 4,000 population, and the Area required is 1.5 Acre. The complete structure will linning as per the requirement. The annual maintenance will be Rs. 5 lakh per year. The project is useful for water conservation, silage water for irrigation, decrease of BOD and there will be no longer damage to community assets and economic loss to the farmer community by inundation. There will be a healthy and clean environment in the community.

Keywords: collection, treatment, utilization, economic

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Authors: Anny Zambrano, German Gonzalez, Yair Quintero

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The continuum damage concept is used to study the interaction between hydraulic fractures and natural fractures, the objective is representing the path and relation among this two fractures types and predict its complex behavior without the need to pre-define their direction as occurs in other finite element applications, providing results more consistent with the physical behavior of the phenomenon. The approach uses finite element simulations through Abaqus software to model damage fracturing, the fracturing process by damage propagation in a rock. The modeling the phenomenon develops in two dimensional (2D) so that the fracture will be represented by a line and the crack front by a point. It considers nonlinear constitutive behavior, finite strain, time-dependent deformation, complex boundary conditions, strain hardening and softening, and strain based damage evolution in compression and tension. The complete governing equations are provided and the method is described in detail to permit readers to replicate all results. The model is compared to models that are published and available. Comparisons are focused in five interactions between natural fractures (NF) and hydraulic fractures: Fractured arrested at NF, crossing NF with or without offset, branching at intersecting NFs, branching at end of NF and NF dilation due to shear slippage. The most significant new finding is, that is not necessary to use pre-defined addresses propagation and stress condition can be evaluated as a dominant factor in the process. This is important because it can model in a more real way the generated complex hydraulic fractures, and be a valuable tool to predict potential problems and different geometries of the fracture network in the process of fracturing due to fluid injection.

Keywords: continuum damage, hydraulic fractures, natural fractures, complex fracture network, stiffness

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Authors: Tsoaledi D. Thobejane, Barnabas C. Okere

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Gender mainstreaming has been adopted as a strategy for promoting gender equality in institutions of higher learning Worldwide, not least in Africa. This study investigated Gender Mainstreaming at the University of Venda, in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study was based on the Feminist Theoretical Framework. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. A case study research design was adopted. The study involved a population of 60 participants and a sample of 25 male and female workers selected using the purposive sampling technique. Data were presented in pie charts, tables, themes and in textual forms. Data were analysed through descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The major findings and conclusions of the study were that the University of Venda faces enormous challenges in mainstreaming gender in the university functions. There are perceptions that most strategic higher positions in the institution are dominated by men while women are marginalized. Although the University has policies on gender, staff members do not know about them while management does not implement its policies. University of Venda makes use of the Employment Equity Act of 1998, but it is not clear whether line managers are aware of its implementation and how. In addition, favouritism, nepotism, patronage, and patriarchy played a role in gender mainstreaming. The study recommended that there should be more gender awareness activities, such as workshops, conferences, and symposia for workers and staff members in order to sensitize them about gender towards understanding. The study also recommended that deserving female staff members should be promoted, and all employees should be encouraged to read and understand gender policies. In addition, management should implement the institutions and national gender policies without fear or favour.

Keywords: gender mainstreaming, gender equality, institutions, representation

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Authors: Jing Nan

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The air breakdown voltage in compact circuit breakers is a critical factor in the design and reliability of electrical distribution systems. This voltage determines the threshold at which the air insulation between conductors will fail or 'break down,' leading to an arc. This phenomenon is highly sensitive to the conditions within the breaker, such as the temperature and the distance between electrodes. Typically, air breakdown voltage models have been reliable for predicting failure under standard operational temperatures. However, in conditions post-arcing, where temperatures can soar above 2000K, these models face challenges due to the complex physics of ionization and electron behaviour at such high-energy states. Building upon the foundational understanding that the breakdown mechanism is initiated by free electrons and propelled by electric fields, which lead to ionization and, potentially, to avalanche or streamer formation, we acknowledge the complexity introduced by high-temperature environments. Recognizing the limitations of existing experimental data, a notable research gap exists in the accurate prediction of breakdown voltage at elevated temperatures, typically observed post-arcing, where temperatures exceed 2000K.To bridge this knowledge gap, we present a method that integrates gap distance and high-temperature effects into air breakdown voltage assessment. The proposed model is grounded in the physics of ionization, accounting for the dynamic behaviour of free electrons which, under intense electric fields at elevated temperatures, lead to thermal ionization and potentially reach the threshold for streamer formation as Meek's criterion. Employing the Saha equation, our model calculates equilibrium electron densities, adapting to the atmospheric pressure and the hot temperature regions indicative of post-arc temperature conditions. Our model is rigorously validated against established experimental data, demonstrating substantial improvements in predicting air breakdown voltage in the high-temperature regime. This work significantly improves the predictive power for air breakdown voltage under conditions that closely mimic operational stressors in compact circuit breakers. Looking ahead, the proposed methods are poised for further exploration in alternative insulating media, like SF6, enhancing the model's utility for a broader range of insulation technologies and contributing to the future of high-temperature electrical insulation research.

Keywords: air breakdown voltage, high-temperature insulation, compact circuit breakers, electrical discharge, saha equation

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Authors: Ante Turudic, Filip Varga, Zlatko Liber, Jernej Jakse, Zlatko Satovic, Ivan Radosavljevic, Martina Grdisa

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Microsatellites (SSRs) are highly informative repetitive sequences of 2-6 base pairs, which are the most used molecular markers in assessing the genetic diversity of plant species. Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium /Trevir./ Sch. Bip) is an outcrossing diploid (2n = 18) endemic to the eastern Adriatic coast and source of the natural insecticide pyrethrin. Due to the high repetitiveness and large size of the genome (haploid genome size of 9,58 pg), previous attempts to develop microsatellite markers using the standard methods were unsuccessful. A next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach was applied on genomic DNA extracted from fresh leaves of Dalmatian pyrethrum. The sequencing was conducted using NovaSeq6000 Illumina sequencer, after which almost 400 million high-quality paired-end reads were obtained, with a read length of 150 base pairs. Short reads were assembled by combining two approaches; (1) de-novo assembly and (2) joining of overlapped pair-end reads. In total, 6.909.675 contigs were obtained, with the contig average length of 249 base pairs. Of the resulting contigs, 31.380 contained one or multiple microsatellite sequences, in total 35.556 microsatellite loci were identified. Out of detected microsatellites, dinucleotide repeats were the most frequent, accounting for more than half of all microsatellites identifies (21,212; 59.7%), followed by trinucleotide repeats (9,204; 25.9%). Tetra-, penta- and hexanucleotides had similar frequency of 1,822 (5.1%), 1,472 (4.1%), and 1,846 (5.2%), respectively. Contigs containing microsatellites were further filtered by SSR pattern type, transposon occurrences, assembly characteristics, GC content, and the number of occurrences against the draft genome of T. cinerariifolium published previously. After the selection process, 50 microsatellite loci were used for primer design. Designed primers were tested on samples from five distinct populations, and 25 of them showed a high degree of polymorphism. The selected loci were then genotyped on 20 samples belonging to one population resulting in 17 microsatellite markers. Availability of codominant SSR markers will significantly improve the knowledge on population genetic diversity and structure as well as complex genetics and biochemistry of this species. Acknowledgment: This work has been fully supported by the Croatian Science Foundation under the project ‘Genetic background of Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium /Trevir/ Sch. Bip.) insecticidal potential’ - (PyrDiv) (IP-06-2016-9034).

Keywords: genome assembly, NGS, SSR, Tanacetum cinerariifolium

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Authors: Bussabamintra Chalauisaeng

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The creative writing skill of Thai fourth year university learners majoring in English at Khon Kaen University, Thailand has been enhanced in an English creative writing course through the implementation of creative thinking process. The creative writing assignments cover writing a variety of short poems and a short story, bibliography and short play scripts. However, this study focuses mainly on writing short poems and short stories through the implementation of creative thinking process via action research design with on-going needs analysis and feedbacks to meet their learning needs for 45 hours. At the end of the course, forty two learners’ creative writing skill appeared to be significantly improved. Through the research instruments such as the tasks assigned both inside and outside the class as self –study including class observation, semi-conversational interviews and teacher feedback both in persons and on line including peer feedbacks. The research findings show that the target learners could produce better short poems and short story assessed by the set of criteria such as the creative and innovative short poems and short stories with complete and interesting elements of a short story like plot, theme, setting, symbolism and so on. This includes a higher level of the awareness of the pragmatic use of English writing in terms of word choices, grammar rules and writing styles. All of these outcomes reflect positive trends of success in terms of the learners’ improved creative writing skill as well as better attitudes to and motivation for learning to write English for pleasure. More interestingly, many learners claimed that this innovative teaching method through the implementation of creative thinking process integrated with creative writing help stretch their imaginations and inspire them to become a writer in the future.

Keywords: creative thinking process, creative writing skill, enhancing, implementing

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Authors: Floris Burgers, Arjan Verschoor

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Poor farmers in developing countries typically do not have the resources or access to institutions to protect themselves against all kinds of income shocks, which makes their farm income highly sensitive to weather and crop price fluctuations, and various other intervening forces. Consequently, the relationship between farming effort and farming outcomes can be noisy, potentially resulting in a situation in which farmers perceive little personal control over the outcomes of their farming efforts. This perceived lack of control can result in learned helplessness in some farmers, who would then be less motivated to invest in their farm. This paper presents the results of a household survey and controlled field experiment conducted in ten villages in a farming area in eastern Uganda with a view to examining the link between learned helplessness and agricultural investment. The results show that (I) farmers with a more pessimistic attributional style for negative life events invest less in their farm, (II) an experience of uncontrollability over income in a priming task increases investment in the farm in a subsequent task if losses in the priming task are small, and decreases investment in the subsequent task if losses are moderate or big, and (III) the relationship between the number of income shocks experienced in the past two years and investment in the farm is more negative among farmers with a more pessimistic attributional style. These results are in line with the reformulated learned helplessness theory underlying this research, which leads this paper to conclude that learned helplessness can cause agricultural underinvestment in a developing country context, potentially contributing to a poverty trap.

Keywords: agricultural investment, attributional style, farmers, learned helplessness, poverty, income shocks

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Authors: Larifah Mohd Sidik, Anuar Kasa

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In recent years, the demands for raw water are increasing along with the growth of the economy and population. Hence, the need for the construction and operation of dams is one of the solutions for the management of water resources problems. The stability of the embankment should be taken into consideration to evaluate the safety of retaining water. The safety of the dam is mostly based on numerous measurable components, for instance, seepage flowrate, pore water pressure and deformation of the embankment. Seepage and slope stability is the primary and most important reason to ascertain the overall safety behavior of the dams. This research study was conducted to evaluate static condition seepage and slope stability performances of Batu dam which is located in Kuala Lumpur capital city. The numerical solution Geostudio-2012 software was employed to analyse the seepage using finite element method, SEEP/W and slope stability using limit equilibrium method, SLOPE/W for three different cases of reservoir level operations; normal and flooded condition. Results of seepage analysis using SEEP/W were utilized as parental input for the analysis of SLOPE/W. Sensitivity analysis on hydraulic conductivity of material was done and calibrated to minimize the relative error of simulation SEEP/W, where the comparison observed field data and predicted value were also carried out. In seepage analysis, such as leakage flow rate, pore water distribution and location of a phreatic line are determined using the SEEP/W. The result of seepage analysis shows the clay core effectively lowered the phreatic surface and no piping failure is shown in the result. Hence, the total seepage flux was acceptable and within the permissible limit.

Keywords: earth dam, dam safety, seepage, slope stability, pore water pressure

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Authors: B. Kulaga, A. Cinti, F. J. Mazzocchini

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Despite the fact that growing academic attention on dark tourism is a fairly recent phenomenon, among the various reasons for travelling death-related ones, are very ancient. Furthermore, the darker side of human nature has always been fascinated and curious regarding death, or at least, man has always tried to learn lessons from death. This study proposes to describe the phenomenon of dark tourism related to the 2016 earthquake in Central Italy, deadly for 302 people and highly destructive for the rural areas of Lazio, Marche, and Umbria Regions. The primary objective is to examine the motivation-experience relationship in a dark tourism site, using the structural equation model, applied for the first time to a dark tourism research in 2016, in a study conducted after the Beichuan earthquake. The findings of the current study are derived from the calculations conducted on primary data compiled from 350 tourists in the areas mostly affected by the 2016 earthquake, including the town of Amatrice, near the epicenter, Castelluccio, Norcia, Ussita and Visso, through conducting a Likert scale survey. Furthermore, we use the structural equation model to examine the motivation behind dark travel and how this experience can influence the motivation and emotional reaction of tourists. Expected findings are in line with the previous study mentioned above, indicating that: not all tourists visit the thanatourism sites for dark tourism purpose, tourists’ emotional reactions influence more heavily the emotional tourist experience than cognitive experiences do, and curious visitors are likely to engage cognitively by learning about the incident or related issues.

Keywords: dark tourism, emotional reaction, experience, motivation, structural equation model

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Authors: R. Hocine, A. Boudjemai, A. Amrani, K. Belkacemi

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Temperature rising is a negative factor in almost all systems. It could cause by self heating or ambient temperature. In solar photovoltaic cells this temperature rising affects on the behavior of cells. The ability of a PV module to withstand the effects of periodic hot-spot heating that occurs when cells are operated under reverse biased conditions is closely related to the properties of the cell semi-conductor material. In addition, the thermal effect also influences the estimation of the maximum power point (MPP) and electrical parameters for the PV modules, such as maximum output power, maximum conversion efficiency, internal efficiency, reliability, and lifetime. The cells junction temperature is a critical parameter that significantly affects the electrical characteristics of PV modules. For practical applications of PV modules, it is very important to accurately estimate the junction temperature of PV modules and analyze the thermal characteristics of the PV modules. Once the temperature variation is taken into account, we can then acquire a more accurate MPP for the PV modules, and the maximum utilization efficiency of the PV modules can also be further achieved. In this paper, the three-Dimensional Transmission Line Matrix (3D-TLM) method was used to map the surface temperature distribution of solar cells while in the reverse bias mode. It was observed that some cells exhibited an inhomogeneity of the surface temperature resulting in localized heating (hot-spot). This hot-spot heating causes irreversible destruction of the solar cell structure. Hot spots can have a deleterious impact on the total solar modules if individual solar cells are heated. So, the results show clearly that the solar cells are capable of self-generating considerable amounts of heat that should be dissipated very quickly to increase PV module's lifetime.

Keywords: thermal effect, conduction, heat dissipation, thermal conductivity, solar cell, PV module, nodes, 3D-TLM

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Authors: S. B. Rathna Kumar, Pranjali A Ujwane, Panchanan Mohanty

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The present study aimed to develop a battery for assessing speech recognition performance by adults in Marathi. A total of four word lists were developed by considering word frequency, word familiarity, words in common use, and phonemic balance. Each word list consists of 25 words (15 monosyllabic words in CVC structure and 10 monosyllabic words in CVCV structure). Equivalence analysis and performance-intensity function testing was carried using the four word lists on a total of 150 native speakers of Marathi belonging to different regions of Maharashtra (Vidarbha, Marathwada, Khandesh and Northern Maharashtra, Pune, and Konkan). The subjects were further equally divided into five groups based on above mentioned regions. It was found that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the speech recognition performance between groups for each word list and between word lists for each group. Hence, the four word lists developed were equally difficult for all the groups and can be used interchangeably. The performance-intensity (PI) function curve showed semi-linear function, and the groups’ mean slope of the linear portions of the curve indicated an average linear slope of 4.64%, 4.73%, 4.68%, and 4.85% increase in word recognition score per dB for list 1, list 2, list 3 and list 4 respectively. Although, there is no data available on speech recognition tests for adults in Marathi, most of the findings of the study are in line with the findings of research reports on other languages. The four word lists, thus developed, were found to have sufficient reliability and validity in assessing speech recognition performance by adults in Marathi.

Keywords: speech recognition performance, phonemic balance, equivalence analysis, performance-intensity function testing, reliability, validity

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Authors: Hussein M. Elmehdi

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In this paper, we present the results of our recent experiments done to examine the effect of air bubbles, which were introduced to bio-samples during preparation, on the rheological properties of soft biological materials. To effectively achieve this, we three samples each prepared with differently. Our soft biological systems comprised of three types of flour dough systems made from different flour varieties with variable protein concentrations. The samples were investigated using ultrasonic waves operated at low frequency in transmission mode. The sample investigated included dough made from bread flour, wheat flour and all-purpose flour. During mixing, the main ingredient of the samples (the flour) was transformed into cohesive dough comprised of the continuous dough matrix and air pebbles. The rheological properties of such materials determine the quality of the end cereal product. Two ultrasonic parameters, the longitudinal velocity and attenuation coefficient were found to be very sensitive to properties such as the size of the occluded bubbles, and hence have great potential of providing quantitative evaluation of the properties of such materials. The results showed that the magnitudes of the ultrasonic velocity and attenuation coefficient peaked at optimum mixing times; the latter of which is taken as an indication of the end of the mixing process. There was an agreement between the results obtained by conventional rheology and ultrasound measurements, thus showing the potential of the use of ultrasound as an on-line quality control technique for dough-based products. The results of this work are explained with respect to the molecular changes occurring in the dough system as the mixing process proceeds; particular emphasis is placed on the presence of free water and bound water.

Keywords: ultrasound, soft biological materials, velocity, attenuation

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Authors: Hsiao-Lan Wang, Chun-Han Chiang, I-Chen Chen

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In Chinese Mandarin, lexical tones play an important role to provide contrasts in word meaning. They are pitch patterns and can be quantified as the fundamental frequency (F0), expressed in Hertz (Hz). In this study, we aim to investigate the influence of frequency discrimination on Chinese children’s performance of reading abilities. Fifty participants from 3rd to 4th grades, including 24 children with reading difficulties and 26 age-matched children, were examined. A serial of cognitive, language, reading and psychoacoustic tests were administrated. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was also employed to study children’s auditory sensitivity. In the present study, auditory frequency was measured through slide-up pitch, slide-down pitch and frequency-modulated tone. The results showed that children with Chinese reading difficulties were significantly poor at phonological awareness and auditory discrimination for the identification of frequency-modulated tone. Chinese children’s character reading performance was significantly related to lexical tone awareness and auditory perception of frequency-modulated tone. In our MEG measure, we compared the mismatch negativity (MMNm), from 100 to 200 ms, in two groups. There were no significant differences between groups during the perceptual discrimination of standard sounds, fast-up and fast-down frequencies. However, the data revealed significant cluster differences between groups in the slow-up and slow-down frequencies discrimination. In the slow-up stimulus, the cluster demonstrated an upward field map at 106-151 ms (p < .001) with a strong peak time at 127ms. The source analyses of two dipole model and localization resolution model (CLARA) from 100 to 200 ms both indicated a strong source from the left temporal area with 45.845% residual variance. Similar results were found in the slow-down stimulus with a larger upward current at 110-142 ms (p < 0.05) and a peak time at 117 ms in the left temporal area (47.857% residual variance). In short, we found a significant group difference in the MMNm while children processed frequency-modulated tones with slow temporal changes. The findings may imply that perception of sound frequency signals with slower temporal modulations was related to reading and language development in Chinese. Our study may also support the recent hypothesis of underlying non-verbal auditory temporal deficits accounting for the difficulties in literacy development seen developmental dyslexia.

Keywords: Chinese Mandarin, frequency modulation sweeps, magnetoencephalography, mismatch negativity, reading difficulties

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Authors: Gajanan M. Sonwane

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The computational studies on 2-phenazinamines with their protein targets have been carried out to design compounds with potential anticancer activity. This strategy of designing compounds possessing selectivity over specific tyrosine kinase has been achieved through G-QSAR and molecular docking studies. The objective of this research has been to design newer 2-phenazinamine derivatives as Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitors by G-QSAR, molecular docking studies followed by wet-lab studies along with evaluation of their anticancer potential. Computational chemistry was done by using VLife MDS 4.3 and Autodock 4.2 followed by wet-lab experiments for synthesizing 2-phenazinamine derivatives. The chemical structures of ligands in 2D were drawn by employing Chemdraw 2D Ultra 8.0 and were converted into 3D. These were optimized by using a semi-empirical method called MOPAC. The protein structure was retrieved from RCSC protein data bank as a PDB file. The binding interactions of protein and ligands were done by using PYMOL. The molecular properties of the designed compounds were predicted in silico by using Osiris property explorer. The parent compound 2-phenazinamine was synthesized by reduction of 2, 4-dinitro-N-phenyl-benzenamine in the presence of tin chloride followed by cyclization in the presence of nitrobenzene and magnesium sulfate. The derivatization at the amino function of 2-phenazinamine was performed by treating parent compound with various aldehydes in the presence of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) and urea to afford 2-(2-chlorophenyl)-3-(phenazine-2-yl) thiazolidine-4-one. Synthesized 39 novel derivatives of 2-phenazinamine and performed antioxidant activity, anti antiproliferative on the bulb of onion and anticancer activity on cell line showing significant competition with marked blockbuster drug imatinib.

Keywords: computer-aided drug design, tyrosin kinases, anticancer, docking

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Authors: Tannaz Alimardani, Amirhossein Moghanian, Morteza Elsa

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Bioactive glasses (BGs) are a group of surface-reactive biomaterials used in clinical applications as implants or filler materials in the human body to repair and replace diseased or damaged bone. Sol-gel technique was employed to prepare a SiO₂-CaO-P₂O₅ glass with a nominal composition of 58S BG with the addition of Sr and Li modifiers which imparts special properties to the BG. The effect of simultaneous addition of Sr and Li on bioactivity and biocompatibility, proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of osteoblast cell line MC3T3-E1 and antibacterial property against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria were examined. BGs were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy before and after soaking the samples in the simulated body fluid (SBF) for different time intervals to characterize the formation of hydroxyapatite (HA) formed on the surface of BGs. Structural characterization indicated that the simultaneous presence of 5% Sr and 5% Li in 58S-BG composition not only did not retard HA formation because of the opposite effect of Sr and Li of the dissolution of BG in the SBF, but also stimulated the differentiation and proliferation of MC3T3-E1s. Moreover, the presence of Sr and Li on the dissolution of the ions resulted in an increase in the mean number of DAPI-labeled nuclei which was in good agreement with the live/dead assay. The result of antibacterial tests revealed that Sr and Li-substituted 58S bioactive glass exhibited a potential antibacterial effect against MRSA bacteria. Because of optimal proliferation and ALP activity of MC3T3-E1cells, proper bioactivity and high antibacterial potential against MRSA, BG-5/5 is suggested as a multifunctional candidate for bone tissue engineering.

Keywords: alkaline, alkaline earth, bioglass, co-doping, ion release

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Authors: Abrar Ajmal

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This quantitative study explored elementary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and effects on grade 8 students' achievement in Punjab, Pakistan. A teacher sample (N=100) rated competencies across inquiry-focused teaching, conceptual building, interaction practices and peer collaboration promotion. A student sample (N=120) self-reported academic abilities, intrinsic motivation, help-seeking and accountability. Findings reveal teachers highly endorse learner-centric strategies, although peer interaction promotion seems less common currently. Meanwhile, significant gender disparities in self-perceived expertise emerge, favouring female over male educators across all facets measured. Additionally, teachers' knowledge positively—and significantly—correlates with student achievement overall and for both genders, highlighting the importance of professional enrichment. However, female pupils demonstrate greater confidence, drive, utilization of academic support, and ownership over learning than male counterparts. Recommendations include ongoing teacher training, targeted competency building for male students and teachers, leveraging gender peer collaboration similarities, and holistic female support amid widening divides. Sustaining instructional quality through empowering, equitable practices that nurture disadvantaged and gifted learners alike can spur systemic improvements. Ultimately, the fire line confirms the interrelations between teachers' multifaceted knowledge and student success.

Keywords: pedagogical knowledge, academic achievement, teacher gender differences, student gender differences, empowering instruction

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Authors: Michael Oppong, Stephanie Owusu Ansah, Daniel Ofori

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The study investigated students’ post-covid-19 experiences with e-learning platforms among undergraduate students of public universities in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The study respectively drew 289 respondents from two public universities, i.e., Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Business School and the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) Business School in Ghana. Given that the population from the two public universities was fairly high, sampling had to be done. The overall population of the study was 480 students randomly sampled from the two public universities using the sampling ratio given by Alreck and Settle (2004). The population constituted 360 students from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Business School and 120 from the Kumasi Technical University Business School (KsTU). The study employed questionnaires as a data collection tool. The data gathered were 289 responses out of 480 questionnaires administered, representing 60.2%. The data was analyzed using pie charts, bar charts, percentages, and line graphs. Findings revealed that the e-learning platforms were still useful. However, the students used it on a weekly basis post-COVID-19, unlike in the COVID-19 era, where it was used daily. All other academic activities, with the exception of examinations, are still undertaken on the e-learning platforms; however, it is underutilized in the post-COVID-19 experience. The study recommends that universities should invest in infrastructure development to enable all academic activities, most especially examinations, to be undertaken using the e-learning platforms to curtail future challenges.

Keywords: e-learning platform, undergraduate students, post-COVID-19 experience, public universities

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Authors: Xiaoyuan Suo

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3D object reconstruction is a broad research area within the computer vision field involving many stages and still open problems. One of the existing challenges in this field lies with micromotion, such as the facial expressions on the appearance of the human or animal face. Similar literatures in this field focuses on 3D reconstruction in stable conditions such as an existing image or photos taken in a rather static environment, while the purpose of this work is to discuss a flexible scan system using multiple cameras that can correctly reconstruct 3D stable and moving objects -- human face with expression in particular. Further, a mathematical model is proposed at the end of this literature to automate the 3D object reconstruction process. The reconstruction process takes several stages. Firstly, a set of simple 2D lines would be projected onto the object and hence a set of uneven curvy lines can be obtained, which represents the 3D numerical data of the surface. The lines and their shapes will help to identify object’s 3D construction in pixels. With the two-recorded angles and their distance from the camera, a simple mathematical calculation would give the resulting coordinate of each projected line in an absolute 3D space. This proposed research will benefit many practical areas, including but not limited to biometric identification, authentications, cybersecurity, preservation of cultural heritage, drama acting especially those with rapid and complex facial gestures, and many others. Specifically, this will (I) provide a brief survey of comparable techniques existing in this field. (II) discuss a set of specialized methodologies or algorithms for effective reconstruction of 3D objects. (III)implement, and testing the developed methodologies. (IV) verify findings with data collected from experiments. (V) conclude with lessons learned and final thoughts.

Keywords: 3D photogrammetry, 3D object reconstruction, facial expression recognition, facial recognition

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Authors: Siddhi Khaire, Samarth Hawaldar, Baladitya Suri

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As efforts towards quantum communication advance, the need for single photon sources becomes imminent. Due to the extremely low energy of a single microwave photon, efforts to build single photon sources and detectors in the microwave range are relatively recent. We plan to use a Cooper Pair Box (CPB) that has a ‘sweet-spot’ where the two energy levels have minimal separation. Moreover, these qubits have fairly large anharmonicity making them close to ideal two-level systems. If the external gate voltage of these qubits is varied rapidly while passing through the sweet-spot, due to Landau-Zener effect, the qubit can be excited almost deterministically. The rapid change of the gate control voltage through the sweet spot induces a non-adiabatic population transfer from the ground to the excited state. The qubit eventually decays into the emission line emitting a single photon. The advantage of this setup is that the qubit can be excited without any coherent microwave excitation, thereby effectively increasing the usable source efficiency due to the absence of control pulse microwave photons. Since the probability of a Landau-Zener transition can be made almost close to unity by the appropriate design of parameters, this source behaves as an on-demand source of single microwave photons. The large anharmonicity of the CPB also ensures that only one excited state is involved in the transition and multiple photon output is highly improbable. Such a system has so far not been implemented and would find many applications in the areas of quantum optics, quantum computation as well as quantum communication.

Keywords: quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum optics, superconducting qubits, flux qubit, charge qubit, microwave single photon source, quantum information processing

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Authors: Partha Sarathi Nayek, Abhiparna Dasgupta, Maheshreddy Gade

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Earth retaining structure plays a vital role in stabilizing unstable road cuts and slopes in the mountainous region. The retaining structures located in seismically active regions like the Himalayas may experience moderate to severe earthquakes. An earthquake produces two kinds of ground motion: permanent quasi-static displacement (fault rapture) on the fault rupture plane and transient vibration, traveling a long distance. There has been extensive research work to understand the dynamic behavior of retaining structures subjected to transient ground motions. However, understanding the effect caused by fault rapture phenomena on retaining structures is limited. The presence of shallow crustal active faults and natural slopes in the Himalayan region further highlights the need to study the response of retaining structures subjected to fault rupture phenomena. In this paper, an attempt has been made to understand the dynamic response of the cantilever retaining wall subjected to surface fault rupture. For this purpose, a 2D finite element model consists of a retaining wall, backfill and foundation have been developed using Abaqus 6.14 software. The backfill and foundation material are modeled as per the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion, and the wall is modeled as linear elastic. In this present study, the interaction between backfill and wall is modeled as ‘surface-surface contact.’ The entire simulation process is divided into three steps, i.e., the initial step, gravity load step, fault rupture step. The interaction property between wall and soil and fixed boundary condition to all the boundary elements are applied in the initial step. In the next step, gravity load is applied, and the boundary elements are allowed to move in the vertical direction to incorporate the settlement of soil due to the gravity load. In the final step, surface fault rupture has been applied to the wall-backfill system. For this purpose, the foundation is divided into two blocks, namely, the hanging wall block and the footwall block. A finite fault rupture displacement is applied to the hanging wall part while the footwall bottom boundary is kept as fixed. Initially, a numerical analysis is performed considering the reverse fault mechanism with a dip angle of 45°. The simulated result is presented in terms of contour maps of permanent displacements of the wall-backfill system. These maps highlighted that surface fault rupture can induce permanent displacement in both horizontal and vertical directions, which can significantly influence the dynamic behavior of the wall-backfill system. Further, the influence of fault mechanism, dip angle, and surface fault rupture position is also investigated in this work.

Keywords: surface fault rupture, retaining wall, dynamic response, finite element analysis

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Authors: Carla Nardelli, Jérome Holtzmann, Céline Baeyens, Catherine Bortolon

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Background. Emotion regulation (ER) is a process associated with difficulties in mental health. Given its transdiagnostic features, its improvement could facilitate the recovery of various psychological issues. A limit of current studies is the lack of knowledge regarding whether available interventionsimprove ER flexibility (i.e., the ability to implement ER strategies in line with contextual demands), even though this capacity has been associated with better mental health and well-being. Therefore, the aim of the study is to test the efficacy of a 9-weeks ER group program (the Affect Regulation Training-ART), using the most appropriate measures (i.e., experience sampling method) in a student population. Plus, the goal of the study is to explore the potential mediative role of ER flexibility on mental health improvement. Method. This Randomized Controlled Trial will comparethe ER program group to an active control group (a relaxation program) in 100 participants. To test the mediative role of ER flexibility on mental health, daily measures will be used before, during, and after the interventions to evaluate the extent to which participants are flexible in their ER. Expected outcomes. Using multilevel analyses, we expect an improvement in anxious-depressive symptomatology for both groups. However, we expect the ART group to improve specifically on ER flexibility ability and the last to be a mediative variable on mental health. Conclusion. This study will enhance knowledge on interventions for students and the impact of interventions on ER flexibility. Also, this research will improve knowledge on ecological measures for assessing the effect of interventions. Overall, this project represents new opportunities to improve ER skills to improve mental health in undergraduate students.

Keywords: emotion regulation flexibility, experience sampling method, psychological intervention, emotion regulation skills

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