Search results for: international univeristy

Authors: Vassiliki Drosou, Theoni Oikonomou

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EU-SOLARIS will form a new legal entity to explore and implement improved rules and procedures for Research Infrastructures (RI) for Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) and solar chemistry technologies, in order to optimize RI development and R&D coordination. It is expected to be the first of its kind, where industrial needs and private funding will play a significant role. The success of EU-SOLARIS initiative will be the establishment of a new governance body, aided by sustainable financial models. EU-SOLARIS is expected to be an important tool, which will provide the most complete, high quality scientific infrastructure portfolio at international level and to facilitate researchers' access to highly specialised research infrastructure through a single access point. This will be accomplished by linking scientific communities, industry and universities involved in the CST sector. The access to be offered by EU-SOLARIS will guarantee the direct contact of experienced scientists with newcomers and interested students. The set of RIs participating in EU-SOLARIS will offer access to state of the art infrastructures, high-quality services, and will enable users to conduct high quality research. Access to these facilities will contribute to the enhancement of the European research area by: -Opening installations to European and non-European scientists, coming from both academia and industry, thus improving co-operation. -Improving scientific critical mass in domains where knowledge is now widely dispersed. -Generating strong Europe-wide R&D project consortia, increasing the competitiveness of each member alone. EU-SOLARIS will be created in the framework of a European project, co-funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union –whose initiative is to foster, contribute and promote the scientific and technological development of the CST and solar chemistry technologies. Primary objective of EU-SOLARIS is to contribute to the improvement of the state of the art of these technologies with the aim of preserving and reinforcing the European leadership in this field, in which EU-SOLARIS is expected to be a valuable instrument. EU-SOLARIS scope, activities, objectives, current status and vision will be given in the article. Moreover, the rules, processes and criteria regulating the access to the research infrastructures included in EU-SOLARIS will be presented.

Keywords: concentrated solar thermal (CST) technology, renewable energy sources, research infrastructures, solar chemistry

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Authors: Hernández Marieta, Aguayo Mauricio, Pedreros María, Llompart Ovidio

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The hydrological cycle is influenced by multiple factors, including climate change, land use changes, and anthropogenic activities, all of which threaten water availability and quality worldwide. In recent decades, numerous investigations have used landscape metrics and hydrological modeling to demonstrate the influence of landscape patterns on the hydrological cycle components' natural dynamics. Many of these investigations have determined the repercussions on the quality and availability of water, sedimentation, and erosion regime, mainly in Asian basins. In fact, there is progress in this branch of science, but there are still unanswered questions for our region. This study examines the hydrological response in Chilean basins under various land use change scenarios (LUCC) and the influence of climate change. The components of the water cycle were modeled using a physically distributed type hydrological and hydraulic simulation model based on and oriented to mountain basins TETIS model. Future climate data were derived from Chilean regional simulations using the WRF-MIROC5 model, forced with the RCP 8.5 scenario, at a 25 km resolution for the periods 2030-2060 and 2061-2091. LUCC scenarios were designed based on nature-based solutions, landscape pattern influences, current national and international water conservation legislation, and extreme scenarios of non-preservation and conservation of native forests. The scenarios that demonstrate greater water availability, even under climate change, are those promoting the restoration of native forests in over 30% of the basins, even alongside agricultural activities. Current legislation promoting the restoration of native forests only in riparian zones (30-60 m or 200 m in steeper areas) will not be resilient enough to address future water shortages. Evapotranspiration, direct runoff, and water availability at basin outlets showed the greatest variations due to LUCC. The relationship between hydrological modeling and landscape configuration is an effective tool for establishing future territorial planning that prioritizes water resource protection.

Keywords: TETIS, landscape pattern, hydrological process, water availability, Chilean basins

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Authors: Omneya Messallam, Sara S. Fouad

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The Modernist Movement initially flourished in France, Holland, Germany and the Soviet Union. Many architects and designers were inspired and followed its principles. Two of its most important architects (Gerrit Rietveld and Ludwig Mies van de Rohe) were introduced in this paper. Each did not follow the other’s principles and had their own particular rules; however, they shared the same features of the Modernist International Style, such as Anti-historicism, Abstraction, Technology, Function and Internationalism/ Universality. Key Modernist principles translated into high expectations, which sometimes did not meet the inhabitants’ aspirations of living comfortably; consequently, leading to a conflict and misunderstanding between the designer and their clients’ needs. Therefore, historical case studies (the Schroder and the Farnsworth houses) involving two Modernist pioneer architects have been chosen. This paper is an attempt to explore some of the influential factors affecting buildings design such as: needs, gender, and question concerning commonalities between both designers and their clients. The three aspects and two designers explored here have been chosen because they have been influenced the researchers to understand the impact of those factors on the design process, building’s performance, and the dweller’s satisfaction. This is a descriptive/ analytical research based on two historical comparative case studies that involve several steps such as: key evaluation questions (KEQs), observations, document analysis, etc. The methodology is based on data collation and finding validations. The research aims to state a manifest to regulate the relation between architects and their clients to reach the optimum building performance and functional interior design that suits their clients’ needs, reflects the architects’ character, and the school they belong to. At the end, through the investigation in this paper, the different needs between both the designers and the clients have been seen not only in the building itself but also it could convert the inhabitant’s life in various ways. Moreover, a successful relationship between the architect and their clients could play a significant role in the success of projects. In contrast, not every good design or celebrated building could end up with a successful relationship between the designer and their client or full-fill the inhabitant’s aspirations.

Keywords: architect’s character, building’s performance, commonalities, client’s character, gender, modernist movement, needs

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Authors: Hailemikael Negussie, Sebla Arın Ensarioğlu

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In February 2023 Southeastern Türkiye and Northwestern Syria were hit by two consecutive earthquakes with high magnitude leaving thousands dead and thousands more homeless. The housing crisis in the affected areas has resulted in the need for a fast and qualified solution. There are a number of solutions, one of which is the use of modular designs to rebuild the cities that have been affected. Modular designs are prefabricated building components that can be quickly and efficiently assembled on-site, making them ideal to build structures with faster speed and higher quality. These structures are flexible, adaptable, and can be customized to meet the specific needs of the inhabitants, in addition to being more energy-efficient and sustainable. The prefabricated nature also assures that the quality of the products can be easily controlled. The reason for the collapse of most of the buildings during the earthquakes was found out to be the lack of quality during the construction stage. Using modular designs allows a higher control over the quality of the construction materials being used. The use of modular designs for a project of this scale presents some challenges, including the high upfront cost to design and manufacture components. However, if implemented correctly, modular designs can offer an effective and efficient solution to the urgent housing needs. The aim of this paper is to explore the potential of modular housing for mid- and long-term earthquake-resistant housing needs in the affected disaster zones after the earthquakes of February 2023. In the scope of this paper the adaptability of modular, prefabricated housing designs for the post-disaster environment, the advantages and disadvantages of this system will be examined. Elements such as; the current conditions of the region where the destruction happened, climatic data, topographic factors will be examined. Additionally, the paper will examine; examples of similar local and international modular post-earthquake housing projects. The region is projected to enter a rapid reconstruction phase in the following periods. Therefore, this paper will present a proposal for a system that can be used to produce safe and healthy urbanization policies without causing new aggrievements while meeting the housing needs of the people in the affected regions.

Keywords: post-disaster housing, earthquake-resistant design, modular design, housing, Türkiye

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Authors: Ronli Sifris

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The last Australian Parliamentary inquiry into surrogacy took place in 2016. Since then, a number of countries have reviewed their surrogacy laws, including countries such as New Zealand and the United Kingdom, which traditionally have invoked similar legal approaches to Australia on a broad range of issues. The time is ripe to reform Australia’s surrogacy laws with a view to putting in place a system that best protects the rights of all parties to a surrogacy arrangement, and especially the rights of the child. There are two specific, linked issues which tend to be particularly contentious in the surrogacy context. The first relates to legal parentage. There are questions around whether the surrogate or the intended parents should be deemed the legal parents of a child born through surrogacy and what should be the process for any transfer of parentage. The second key issue relates to compensation and whether a surrogate should be compensated for the reproductive labour inherent in conceiving, gestating, and birthing a child. This paper will invoke a comparative analysis with a view to considering how different countries are regulating surrogacy and which approach best protects the rights all parties involved in the surrogacy arrangement, especially the rights of the children born through surrogacy. The specific countries to be considered are Australia, Canada, and California (United States). I have selected these countries for the following reasons: Australia is the jurisdiction where the author is based, it is, therefore, the jurisdiction with which she has the most familiarity. It allows altruistic surrogacy only and post-birth parentage orders in favour of the intended parents of children born through altruistic surrogacy California, as a jurisdiction allowing for compensated surrogacy and pre-birth parentage orders in favour of the intended parents, sits at the other end of the spectrum to Australia thereby providing an interesting point of comparison. Canada sits somewhere in the middle; it ostensibly allows only altruistic surrogacy, but in practice, many aspects of the Canadian process resemble compensated surrogacy. In addition to conducting a comparative analysis with other countries, the paper will also consider international human rights law as its overarching framework for determining the approach that best protects the rights of a child born through surrogacy. Particular attention will be paid to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as the key children’s rights treaty. The European Court of Human Rights will also be extensively considered as it has decided a number of cases relating to the rights of children born through surrogacy.

Keywords: surrogacy, children’s rights, australia, compensation, parentage

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Authors: Kamal Kaushik, Trisha, Dandapni, Sambit Nanda, A. Mukherjee, S. Pradhan

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INTRODUCTION: As complexity in radiotherapy practice and processes are increasing, there is a need to assure quality control to a greater extent. At present, no international literature available with regards to the optimal quality control indicators for radiotherapy; moreover, few clinical audits have been conducted in the field of radiotherapy. The primary aim is to improve the processes that directly impact clinical outcomes for patients in terms of patient safety and quality of care. PROCEDURE: A team of an Oncologist, a Medical Physicist and a Radiation Therapist was formed for weekly clinical audits of patient’s undergoing radiotherapy audits The stages for audits include Pre planning audits, Simulation, Planning, Daily QA, Implementation and Execution (with image guidance). Errors in all the parts of the chain were evaluated and recorded for the development of further departmental protocols for radiotherapy. EVALUATION: The errors at various stages of radiotherapy chain were evaluated and recorded for comparison before starting the clinical audits in the department of radiotherapy and after starting the audits. It was also evaluated to find the stage in which maximum errors were recorded. The clinical audits were used to structure standard protocols (in the form of checklist) in department of Radiotherapy, which may lead to further reduce the occurrences of clinical errors in the chain of radiotherapy. RESULTS: The aim of this study is to perform a comparison between number of errors in different part of RT chain in two groups (A- Before Audit and B-After Audit). Group A: 94 pts. (48 males,46 female), Total no. of errors in RT chain:19 (9 needed Resimulation) Group B: 94 pts. (61 males,33 females), Total no. of errors in RT chain: 8 (4 needed Resimulation) CONCLUSION: After systematic periodic clinical audits percentage of error in radiotherapy process reduced more than 50% within 2 months. There is a great need in improving quality control in radiotherapy, and the role of clinical audits can only grow. Although clinical audits are time-consuming and complex undertakings, the potential benefits in terms of identifying and rectifying errors in quality control procedures are potentially enormous. Radiotherapy being a chain of various process. There is always a probability of occurrence of error in any part of the chain which may further propagate in the chain till execution of treatment. Structuring departmental protocols and policies helps in reducing, if not completely eradicating occurrence of such incidents.

Keywords: audit, clinical, radiotherapy, improving functionality

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Authors: Pronab Ganguly, Ahmed A. Moustafa

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Holistic management of schizophrenia involves mainstream pharmacological intervention, complimentary medicine intervention, therapeutic intervention and other psychosocial factors such as accommodation, education, job training, employment, relationship, friendship, exercise, overall well-being, smoking, substance abuse, suicide prevention, stigmatisation, recreation, entertainment, violent behaviour, arrangement of public trusteeship and guardianship, day-day-living skill, integration with community, and management of overweight due to medications and other health complications related to medications amongst others. Our review shows that there is no integrated survey by combining all these factors. An international web-based survey was conducted to evaluate the significance of all these factors and present them in a unified manner. It is believed this investigation will contribute positively towards holistic management of schizophrenia. There will be two surveys. In the pharmacological intervention survey, five popular drugs for schizophrenia will be chosen and their efficacy as well as harmful side effects will be evaluated on a scale of 0 -10. This survey will be done by psychiatrists. In the second survey, each element of therapeutic intervention and psychosocial factors will be evaluated according to their significance on a scale of 0 - 10. This survey will be done by care givers, psychologists, case managers and case workers. For the first survey, professional bodies of psychiatrists in English speaking countries will be contacted to request them to ask their members to participate in the survey. For the second survey, professional bodies of clinical psychologist and care givers in English speaking countries will be contacted to request them to ask their members to participate in the survey. Additionally, for both the surveys, relevant professionals will be contacted through personal contact networks. For both the surveys, mean, mode, median, standard deviation and net promoter score will be calculated for each factor and then presented in a statistically significant manner. Subsequently each factor will be ranked according to their statistical significance. Additionally, country specific variation will be highlighted to identify the variation pattern. The results of these surveys will identify the relative significance of each type of pharmacological intervention, each type of therapeutic intervention and each type of psychosocial factor. The determination of this relative importance will definitely contribute to the improvement in quality of life for individuals with schizophrenia.

Keywords: schizophrenia, holistic management, antipsychotics, quality of life

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Authors: Aparna Sengupta

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The paper seeks to find answers to the question as to why India’s disaster management policies have been unable to deliver the desired results. Are the shortcomings in policy formulation, effective policy implementation or timely prevention mechanisms? Or is there a fundamental issue of policy formulation which sparsely takes into account the cultural specificities and uniqueness, technological know-how, educational, religious and attitudinal capacities of the target population into consideration? India was slow in legislating disaster policies but more than that the reason for lesser success of disaster polices seems to be the gap between policy and the people. We not only keep hearing about the failure of governmental efforts but also how the local communities deal far more efficaciously with disasters utilizing their traditional knowledge. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which killed 250,000 people (approx.) could not kill the tribal communities who saved themselves due to their age-old traditional knowledge. This large scale disaster, considered as a landmark event in history of disasters in the twenty-first century, can be attributed in bringing and confirming the importance of Traditional Environmental Knowledge in managing disasters. This brings forth the importance of cultural and traditional know-how in dealing with natural disasters and one is forced to question as to why shouldn’t traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) be taken into consideration while formulating India’s disaster resilience policies? Though at the international level, many scholars have explored the connectedness of disaster to cultural dimensions and several research examined how culture acts as a stimuli in perceiving disasters and their management (Clifford, 1956; Mcluckie, 1970; Koentjaraningrat, 1985; Peacock, 1997; Elliot et.al, 2006; Aruntoi, 2008; Kulatunga, 2010). But in the Indian context, this field of inquiry i.e. linking disaster policies with tradition and generational understanding has seldom received attention of the government, decision- making authorities, disaster managers and even in the academia. The present study attempts to fill this gap in research and scholarship by presenting an historical analysis of disaster and its cognition by cultural communities in India. The paper seeks to interlink the cultural comprehension of Indian tribal communities with scientific-technology towards more constructive disaster policies in India.

Keywords: culture, disasters, local communities, traditional knowledge

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Authors: A. K. Faizah, G. Vadamalai, S. K. Balasundram, W. L. Lim

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Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is a common crop in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Malaysia once ranked as one of the top 3 pineapple producers in the world in the 60's and early 70's, after Hawaii and Brazil. Moreover, government’s recognition of the pineapple crop as one of priority commodities to be developed for the domestics and international markets in the National Agriculture Policy. However, pineapple industry in Malaysia still faces numerous challenges, one of which is the management of disease and pest. Red tip disease on pineapple was first recognized about 20 years ago in a commercial pineapple stand located in Simpang Renggam, Johor, Peninsular Malaysia. Since its discovery, there has been no confirmation on its causal agent of this disease. The epidemiology of red tip disease is still not fully understood. Nevertheless, the disease symptoms and the spread within the field seem to point toward viral infection. Bioassay test on nucleic acid extracted from the red tip-affected pineapple was done on Nicotiana tabacum cv. Coker by rubbing the extracted sap. Localised lesions were observed 3 weeks after inoculation. Negative staining of the fresh inoculated Nicotiana tabacum cv. Coker showed the presence of membrane-bound spherical particles with an average diameter of 94.25nm under transmission electron microscope. The shape and size of the particles were similar to tospovirus. SDS-PAGE analysis of partial purified virions from inoculated N. tabacum produced a strong and a faint protein bands with molecular mass of approximately 29 kDa and 55 kDa. Partial purified virions of symptomatic pineapple leaves from field showed bands with molecular mass of approximately 29 kDa, 39 kDa and 55kDa. These bands may indicate the nucleocapsid protein identity of tospovirus. Furthermore, a handheld sensor, Greenseeker, was used to detect red tip symptoms on pineapple non-destructively based on spectral reflectance, measured as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Red tip severity was estimated and correlated with NDVI. Linear regression models were calibrated and tested developed in order to estimate red tip disease severity based on NDVI. Results showed a strong positive relationship between red tip disease severity and NDVI (r= 0.84).

Keywords: pineapple, diagnosis, virus, NDVI

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Authors: Y. Landkocz, C. Lepers, P.J. Martin, B. Fougère, F. Roy Saint-Georges. A. Verdin, F. Cazier, F. Ledoux, D. Courcot, F. Sichel, P. Gosset, P. Shirali, S. Billet

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In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified air pollution and fine particles as carcinogenic to humans. Causal relationships exist between elevated ambient levels of airborne particles and increase of mortality and morbidity including pulmonary diseases, like lung cancer. However, due to a double complexity of both physicochemical Particulate Matter (PM) properties and tumor mechanistic processes, mechanisms of action remain not fully elucidated. Furthermore, because of several common properties between air pollution PM and tobacco smoke, like the same route of exposure and chemical composition, potential mechanisms of synergy could exist. Therefore, smoking could be an aggravating factor of the particles toxicity. In order to identify some mechanisms of action of particles according to their size, two samples of PM were collected: PM0.03 2.5 and PM0.33 2.5 in the urban-industrial area of Dunkerque. The overall cytotoxicity of the fine particles was determined on human bronchial cells (BEAS-2B). Toxicological study focused then on the metabolic activation of the organic compounds coated onto PM and some genetic and epigenetic changes induced on a co-culture model of BEAS-2B and alveolar macrophages isolated from bronchoalveolar lavages performed in smokers and non-smokers. The results showed (i) the contribution of the ultrafine fraction of atmospheric particles to genotoxic (eg. DNA double-strand breaks) and epigenetic mechanisms (eg. promoter methylation) involved in tumor processes, and (ii) the influence of smoking on the cellular response. Three main conclusions can be discussed. First, our results showed the ability of the particles to induce deleterious effects potentially involved in the stages of initiation and promotion of carcinogenesis. The second conclusion is that smoking affects the nature of the induced genotoxic effects. Finally, the in vitro developed cell model, using bronchial epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages can take into account quite realistically, some of the existing cell interactions existing in the lung.

Keywords: air pollution, fine and ultrafine particles, genotoxic and epigenetic alterations, smoking

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Authors: Mastoor Qubra

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Cyber-attacks have frequently disrupted the critical infrastructures of the major global states and now, cyber threat has become one of the dire security risks for the states across the globe. Recently, ransomware cyber-attacks, wannacry and petya, have affected hundreds of thousands of computer servers and individuals’ private machines in more than hundred countries across Europe, Middle East, Asia, United States and Australia. Although, states are rapidly becoming aware of the destructive nature of this new security threat and counter measures are being taken but states’ isolated efforts would be inadequate to deal with this heinous security challenge, rather a global coordination and cooperation is inevitable in order to develop a credible cyber deterrence policy. Hence, the paper focuses that coordinated global approach is required to deter posed cyber threat. This paper intends to analyze the cyber security counter measures in four dimensions i.e. evaluation of prevalent strategies at bilateral level, initiatives and limitations for cooperation at global level, obstacles to combat cyber terrorism and finally, recommendations to deter the threat by applying tools of deterrence theory. Firstly, it focuses on states’ efforts to combat the cyber threat and in this regard, US-Australia Cyber Security Dialogue is comprehensively illustrated and investigated. Secondly, global partnerships and strategic and analytic role of multinational organizations, particularly United Nations (UN), to deal with the heinous threat, is critically analyzed and flaws are highlighted, for instance; less significance of cyber laws within international law as compared to other conflict prone issues. In addition to this, there are certain obstacles and limitations at national, regional and global level to implement the cyber terrorism counter strategies which are presented in the third section. Lastly, by underlining the gaps and grey areas in the current cyber security counter measures, it aims to apply tools of deterrence theory, i.e. defense, attribution and retaliation, in the cyber realm to contribute towards formulating a credible cyber deterrence strategy at global level. Thus, this study is significant in understanding and determining the inevitable necessity of counter cyber terrorism strategies.

Keywords: attribution, critical infrastructure, cyber terrorism, global cooperation

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Authors: Chia-Chen Wu, Chih-Fu Wu, Pey-Weng Lien, Kai-Chieh Lin

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In the past, the most comprehensively adopted light source was incandescent light bulbs, but with the appearance of LED light sources, traditional light sources have been gradually replaced by LEDs because of its numerous superior characteristics. However, many of the standards do not apply to LEDs as the two light sources are characterized differently. This also intensifies the significance of studies on LEDs. As a Kansei design study investigating the visual glare produced by traffic arrows implemented with LEDs, this study conducted a semantic analysis on the styles of traffic arrows used in domestic and international occasions. The results will be able to reduce drivers’ misrecognition that results in the unsuccessful arrival at the destination, or in traffic accidents. This study started with a literature review and surveyed the status quo before conducting experiments that were divided in two parts. The first part involved a screening experiment of arrow samples, where cluster analysis was conducted to choose five representative samples of LED displays. The second part was a semantic experiment on the display of arrows using LEDs, where the five representative samples and the selected ten adjectives were incorporated. Analyzing the results with Quantification Theory Type I, it was found that among the composition of arrows, fletching was the most significant factor that influenced the adjectives. In contrast, a “no fletching” design was more abstract and vague. It lacked the ability to convey the intended message and might bear psychological negative connotation including “dangerous,” “forbidden,” and “unreliable.” The arrow design consisting of “> shaped fletching” was found to be more concrete and definite, showing positive connotation including “safe,” “cautious,” and “reliable.” When a stimulus was placed at a farther distance, the glare could be significantly reduced; moreover, the visual evaluation scores would be higher. On the contrary, if the fletching and the shaft had a similar proportion, looking at the stimuli caused higher evaluation at a closer distance. The above results will be able to be applied to the design of traffic arrows by conveying information definitely and rapidly. In addition, drivers’ safety could be enhanced by understanding the cause of glare and improving visual recognizability.

Keywords: LED, arrow, Kansei research, preferred imagery

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Authors: Majeda S. Hammoud

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Background and Aim: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common pregnancy complication affecting around 14% of pregnancies globally that carries short and long-term consequences to the mother and her child. Pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity is the most consistently and strongly associated modifiable risk factor with GDM development. This analysis aimed to determine whether vitamin D status during pregnancy modulates the effect of pre-pregnancy obesity/overweight on GDM risk while stratifying by maternal age. Methods: Data from the Kuwait Birth Cohort (KBC) study were analyzed, which enrolled pregnant women in the second or third trimester of gestation. Pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) was categorized as under/normal weight (<25.0), overweight (25.0 to <30.0), and obesity (≥30.0). 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured in blood samples that were collected at recruitment and categorized as deficiency (<50 nmol/L) and insufficiency/sufficiency (≥50 nmol/L). GDM status was ascertained according to international guidelines. Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations, and adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Results: The analyzed study sample included a total of 982 pregnant women, with a mean (SD) age of 31.4 (5.2) years. The prevalence of GDM was estimated to be 17.3% (95% CI: 14.9-19.7), and the prevalence of pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity was 37.8% (95% CI: 34.8-40.8) and 28.8% (95% CI: 26.0-31.7), respectively. The prevalence of gestational vitamin D deficiency was estimated to be 55.3% (95% CI: 52.2-58.4). The association between pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity with GDM risk differed according to maternal age and gestational vitamin D status (Pinteraction[BMI × age × vitamin D = 0.047). Among pregnant women aged <35 years, prepregnancy obesity compared to under/normal weight was associated with increased GDM risk among women with gestational vitamin D deficiency (aOR: 3.65, 95% CI: 1.50-8.86, p = 0.004) and vitamin D insufficiency/sufficiency (aOR: 2.55, 95% CI: 1.16-5.61, p = 0.019). In contrast, among pregnant women aged ≥35 years, pre-pregnancy obesity compared to under/normal weight was associated with increased GDM risk among women with gestational vitamin D deficiency (aOR: 9.70, 95% CI: 2.01-46.69, p = 0.005), but not among women with vitamin D insufficiency/sufficiency (aOR: 1.46, 95% CI: 0.42-5.16, p = 0.553). Conclusion: The effect of pre-pregnancy obesity on GDM risk is modulated by maternal age and gestational vitamin D status, with the effect of pre-pregnancy obesity being more pronounced among older pregnant women (aged ≥35 years) with gestational vitamin D deficiency compared to those with vitamin D insufficiency/sufficiency. Whereas, among younger women (aged <35 years), the effect of pre-pregnancy obesity on GDM risk was not modulated by gestational vitamin D status. Therefore, vitamin D supplementation among pregnant women, specifically older women with pre-pregnancy obesity, may mitigate the effect of pre-pregnancy obesity on GDM risk.

Keywords: gestational diabetes mellitus, vitamin D, obesity, body mass index

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Authors: Jackson Andreas Theo Pola, Leksono Mucharam, Hari Oetomo, Budi Susanto, Wisnu Nugraha

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About half of the world oil reserves are located in carbonate reservoirs, where 65% of the total carbonate reservoirs are oil wet and 12% intermediate wet [1]. Oil recovery in oil wet or mixed wet carbonate reservoirs can be increased by dissolving surfactant to injected water to change the rock wettability from oil wet to more water wet. The Wakamuk Field operated by PetroChina International (Bermuda) Ltd. and PT. Pertamina EP in Papua, produces from main reservoir of Miocene Kais Limestone. First production commenced on August, 2004 and the peak field production of 1456 BOPD occurred in August, 2010. It was found that is a complex reservoir system and until 2014 cumulative oil production was 2.07 MMBO, less than 9% of OOIP. This performance is indicative of presence of secondary porosity, other than matrix porosity which is of low average porosity 13% and permeability less than 7 mD. Implementing chemical EOR in this case is the best way to increase oil production. However, the selected chemical must be able to lower the interfacial tension (IFT), reduce oil viscosity, and alter the wettability; thus a special chemical treatment named SeMAR has been proposed. Numerous laboratory tests such as phase behavior test, core compatibility test, mixture viscosity, contact angle measurement, IFT, imbibitions test and core flooding were conducted on Wakamuk field samples. Based on the spontaneous imbibitions results for Wakamuk field core, formulation of SeMAR with compositional S12A gave oil recovery 43.94% at 1wt% concentration and maximum percentage of oil recovery 87.3% at 3wt% concentration respectively. In addition, the results for first scenario of core flooding test gave oil recovery 60.32% at 1 wt% concentration S12A and the second scenario gave 96.78% of oil recovery at concentration 3 wt% respectively. The soaking time of chemicals has a significant effect on the recovery and higher chemical concentrations affect larger areas for wettability and therefore, higher oil recovery. The chemical that gives best overall results from laboratory tests study will also be a consideration for Huff and Puff injections trial (pilot project) for increasing oil recovery from Wakamuk Field

Keywords: Wakamuk field, chemical treatment, oil recovery, viscosity

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Authors: Oscar Orlando Ortiz Rodriguez, Raquel A. Villamizar-G, Alexander Araque

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There is a total of 1027 municipal development plants in Colombia, 70% of municipalities had Potable Water Treatment Plants (PWTPs) in urban areas and 20% in rural areas. These PWTPs are typically supplied by surface waters (mainly rivers) and resort to gravity, pumping and/or mixed systems to get the water from the catchment point, where the first stage of the potable water process takes place. Subsequently, a series of conventional methods are applied, consisting in a more or less standardized sequence of physicochemical and, sometimes, biological treatment processes which vary depending on the quality of the water that enters the plant. These processes require energy and chemical supplies in order to guarantee an adequate product for human consumption. Therefore, in this paper, we applied the environmental methodology of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental loads of a potable water treatment plant (PWTP) located in northeastern Colombia following international guidelines of ISO 14040. The different stages of the potable water process, from the catchment point through pumping to the distribution network, were thoroughly assessed. The functional unit was defined as 1 m³ of water treated. The data were analyzed through the database Ecoinvent v.3.01, and modeled and processed in the software LCA-Data Manager. The results allowed determining that in the plant, the largest impact was caused by Clarifloc (82%), followed by Chlorine gas (13%) and power consumption (4%). In this context, the company involved in the sustainability of the potable water service should ideally reduce these environmental loads during the potable water process. A strategy could be the use of Clarifloc can be reduced by applying coadjuvants or other coagulant agents. Also, the preservation of the hydric source that supplies the treatment plant constitutes an important factor, since its deterioration confers unfavorable features to the water that is to be treated. By concluding, treatment processes and techniques, bioclimatic conditions and culturally driven consumption behavior vary from region to region. Furthermore, changes in treatment processes and techniques are likely to affect the environment during all stages of a plant’s operation cycle.

Keywords: climate change, environmental impact, life cycle assessment, treated water

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Authors: Jill Steel

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The interlinked issues of emotional wellbeing and attainment continue to dominate international educational discourse. Reading skills are particularly important to attainment in all areas of the curriculum, and illiteracy is associated with reduced wellbeing and life prospects, with serious ramifications for the wider economy and society. Research shows that reading attainment is influenced by reading motivation and frequency. Reading to Dogs (RTD) is increasingly applied to promote reading motivation and frequency in schools despite a paucity of empirical evidence, specifically examining the influence of RTD on emotional wellbeing and engagement with reading. This research aims to examine whether RTD is effective in promoting these positive outcomes among children aged eight to nine years. This study also aims to inform much needed regulation of the field and standards of practice, including both child and dog welfare. Therefore, ethical matters such as children’s inclusion and safety, as well as the rights and wellbeing of dogs infuse the study throughout. The methodological design is a mixed method longitudinal study. A UK wide questionnaire will be distributed to teachers between January and June 2020 to understand their perceptions of RTD. Following this, a randomised controlled trial (N = 100) will begin in August 2020 in two schools of a comparable demographic, with N= 50 in the intervention school, and N= 50 in a waiting list control school. Reading and wellbeing assessments will be conducted prior to and immediately post RTD, and four weeks after RTD to measure sustained changes. The reading assessments include New Group Reading Test, Motivation to Read Profile (Gambrell et al., 1995), as well as reading frequency and reading anxiety assessments specifically designed for the study. Wellbeing assessments include Goodman’s SDQ, (1997) and pupil self-reporting questionnaires specifically designed for the study. Child, class teacher, and parent questionnaires and interviews prior to, during and post RTD will be conducted to measure perceptions of the impact of RTD on mood and motivation towards reading. This study will make a substantial contribution to our understanding of the effectiveness of RTD and thus have consequences for the fields of education and anthrozoology.

Keywords: animal assisted intervention, reading to dogs, welfare, wellbeing

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Authors: Nilanthi Ratnayake, Wen-Ling Liu

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Prior research indicates an increasing gap between the skills and capabilities of graduates in the contemporary workplace across the globe. The challenge of addressing this issue primarily lies on the hands of higher education institutes/universities. In particular, surveys of UK employers and retailers found that soft skills including communication, numeracy, teamwork, confidence, analytical ability, digital/IT skills, business sense, language, and social skills are highly valued by graduate employers, and in achieving this, there are various assessed and non-assessed learning exercises have already been embedded into the university curriculum. To this end, this research study aims to explore the reflections of postgraduate student participation in a live commercial project (i.e. designing an advertising campaign for open days, summer school etc.) implemented with the intention of offering a transformative experience by deploying this project. Qualitative research methodology has been followed in this study, collecting data from three types of target audiences; students, academics and employers via a series of personal interviews and focus group discussions. Recorded data were transcribed, entered into NVIVO, and analysed using meaning condensation and content analysis. Students reported that they had a very positive impact towards improving self-efficacy, especially in relation to soft skills and confidence in seeking employment opportunities. In addition, this project has reduced cultural barriers for international students in general communications. Academic staff and potential employers who attended on the presentation day expressed their gratitude for offering a lifelong experience for students, and indeed believed that these type of projects contribute significantly to enhance skills and capabilities of students to cater the demands of employers. In essence, key findings demonstrate that an integration of knowledge-based skills into a live commercial project facilitate individuals to make the transition from education to employment in terms of skills, abilities and work behaviours more effectively in comparison to some other activities/assuagements that are currently in place in higher education institutions/universities.

Keywords: soft skills, commercially live project, higher education, student participation

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Authors: Julius Niba Fon, Jean Hude E. Moudingo

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Mangrove ecosystems in Cameroon are valuable both in services and functions as they play host to carbon sinks, fishery breeding grounds and natural coastal barriers against storms. In addition to the globally important biodiversity that they contain, they also contribute to local livelihoods. Despite these appraisals, a reduction of about 30 % over a 25 years period due to anthropogenic and natural actions has been recorded. The key drivers influencing mangrove change include population growth, climate change, economic and political trends and upstream habitat use. Reversing the trend of mangrove loss and growing vulnerability of coastal peoples requires a real commitment by the government to develop and implement robust level policies. It has been observed in Cameroon that special ecosystems like mangroves are insufficiently addressed by forestry and/or environment programs. Given these facts, the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) in partnership with the Government of Cameroon and other development actors have put in place the project for sustainable community-based management and conservation of mangrove ecosystems in Cameroon. The aim is to address two issues notably the present weak institutional and legal framework for mangrove management, and the unrestricted and unsustainable harvesting of mangrove resources. Civil society organizations like the Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society, Cameroon Ecology and Organization for the Environment and Development have been working to reduce the deforestation and degradation trend of Cameroon mangroves and also bringing the mangrove agenda to the fore in national and international arenas. Following a desktop approach, we found out that in situ and ex situ initiatives on mangrove management and conservation exist on propagation of improved fish smoke ovens to reduce fuel wood consumption, mangrove forest regeneration, shrimps farming and mangrove protected areas management. The evidence generated from the field experiences are inputs for processes of improving the legal and institutional framework for mangrove management in Cameroon, such as the elaboration of norms for mangroves management engaged by the government.

Keywords: mangrove ecosystem, legal and institutional framework, climate change, civil society organizations

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Authors: Maressa Aires de Proenca

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The inclusion of a gender perspective in peace operations is based on a series of conventions, treaties, and resolutions designed to protect and include women addressing gender mainstreaming. The UN Security Council recognizes that women's participation and gender equality within peace operations are indispensable for achieving sustainable development and peace. However, the participation of women in the field of peace and security is still embryonic. There are gaps when we think about female participation in conflict resolution and peace promotion spaces, and it does not seem clear how women are present in these spaces. This absence may correspond to silence about representation and the guarantee of the female perspective within the context of peace promotion. Thus, the present research aimed to describe the panorama of the participation of women who are currently active in the 14 active UN peace operations, which are: 1) MINUJUSTH, Haiti, 2) MINURSO, Western Sahara, 3) MINUSCA, Central African Republic, 4) MINUSMA, Mali, 5) MONUSCO, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 6) UNAMID, Darfur, 7) UNDOF, Golan, 8) UNFICYP, Cyprus, 9) UNIFIL, Lebanon, 10) UNISFA, Abyei, 11) UNMIK, Kosovo, 12) UNMISS, South Sudan, 13) UNMOGIP, India, and Pakistan, and 14) UNTSO, Middle East. A database was constructed that reported: (1) position held by the woman in the peace operation, (2) her profession, (3) educational level, (4) marital status, (5) religion, (6) nationality, (8) number of years working with peace operations, (9) whether the operation in which it operates has provided training on gender issues. For the construction of this database, official reports and statistics accessed through the UN Peacekeeping Resource Hub were used; The United Nations Statistical Commission, Peacekeeping Master Open Datasets, The Armed Conflict Database (ACD), The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) database; Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) database; from the Evidence and Data for Gender Equality (EDGE) database. In addition to access to databases, peacekeeping operations will be contacted directly, and data requested individually. The database showed that the presence of women in these peace operations is still incipient, but growing. There are few women in command positions, and most of them occupy administrative or human-care positions.

Keywords: women, peace and security, peacekeeping operations, peace studies

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Authors: Svenja Pieritz, Jakab Pilaszanovich

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Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is recognized as being one of the most important skills of the 21st century with having a potential impact on education, job selection, and collaborative systems design. Therefore, CPS has been adopted in several standardized tests, including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2015. A significant challenge of evaluating CPS is the underlying interplay of cognitive and social skills, which requires a more holistic assessment. However, the majority of the existing tests are using a questionnaire-based assessment, which oversimplifies this interplay and undermines ecological validity. Two major difficulties were identified: Firstly, the creation of a controllable, real-time environment allowing natural behaviors and communication between at least two people. Secondly, the development of an appropriate method to collect and synthesize both cognitive and social metrics of collaboration. This paper proposes a more holistic and automated approach to the assessment of CPS. To address these two difficulties, a multiplayer problem-solving game called Sea of Light was developed: An environment allowing students to deploy a variety of measurable collaborative strategies. This controlled environment enables researchers to monitor behavior through the analysis of game actions and chat. The according solution for the statistical model is a combined approach of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Bayesian network analysis. Social exchanges via the in-game chat are analyzed through NLP and fed into the Bayesian network along with other game actions. This Bayesian network synthesizes evidence to track and update different subdimensions of CPS. Major findings focus on the correlations between the evidences collected through in- game actions, the participants’ chat features and the CPS self- evaluation metrics. These results give an indication of which game mechanics can best describe CPS evaluation. Overall, Sea of Light gives test administrators control over different problem-solving scenarios and difficulties while keeping the student engaged. It enables a more complete assessment based on complex, socio-cognitive information on actions and communication. This tool permits further investigations of the effects of group constellations and personality in collaborative problem-solving.

Keywords: bayesian network, collaborative problem solving, game-based assessment, natural language processing

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Authors: Elsayed A. M. Shokr, A. Alhazemi, T. Naser, Talal A. Zuhair, Adel A. Zuhair, Ahmed N. Alshamary, Thamer A. Alanazi, Hosam A. Alanazi

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The main threats to human health from heavy metals are associated with exposure to Pb, Cd, Cu, Mo, Zn, Ni, Mn Co and Cr. is mainly via intake of drinking water being the most important source in most populations. These metals have been extensively studied and their effects on human health regularly reviewed by international bodies such as the WHO. Heavy metals have been used by humans for thousands of years. Although several adverse health effects of heavy metals have been known for a long time, exposure to heavy metals continues, and is even increasing in some parts of the world, in particular in less developed countries, though emissions have declined in most developed countries over the last 100 years. A strong relationship between contaminated drinking water with heavy metals from some of the stations of water shopping in Hail, KSA and chronic diseases such as renal failure, liver cirrhosis, and chronic anemia has been identified in this study. These diseases are apparently related to contaminant drinking water with heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Cu, Mo, Zn, Ni, Mn Co and Cr. Renal failure is related to contaminate drinking water with lead and cadmium, liver cirrhosis to copper and molybdenum, and chronic anemia to copper and cadmium. Recent data indicate that adverse health effects of cadmium exposure may occur at lower exposure levels than previously anticipated, primarily in the form of kidney damage but possibly also bone effects and fractures. The general population is primarily exposed to mercury via drinking water being a major source of methyl mercury exposure, and dental amalgam. During the last century lead, cadmium, zinc, iron and arsenic is mainly via intake of drinking water being the most important source in most populations. Long-term exposure to lead, cadmium, zinc, iron and arsenic in drinking-water is mainly related to primarily in the form of kidney damage. Studies of these diseases suggest that abnormal incidence in specific areas is related to toxic materials in the groundwater and thereby led to the contamination of drinking water in these areas.

Keywords: heavy metals, liver functions, kidney functions and chronic renal failure, hail, renal, water

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Authors: Laura Beckmann, Sabrina Rutter, Isabell Van Ackeren, Nina Bremm, Esther Dominique Klein, Kathrin Racherbäumer

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Current evidence demonstrates that schools in socially disadvantaged contexts are often characterized by lower school performance and lower educational qualifications among the student body, compared to schools in more privileged socio-spacial contexts. At the same time, national and international findings on schools with structural and social challenges show that certain school and classroom development strategies, as well as human and material resources, can significantly contribute to improved school performance of students. The aim of this contribution is to present a 6-year mixed-methods study (Talent Schools in North Rhine-Westphalia), which is designed as a school experiment addressing the well-acknowledged inequality of educational opportunities in the German school system. Started in the year 2019 and funded by the Ministry for School and Education of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the study targets schools in socio-spatially disadvantaged areas, which have increasingly been the focus of both public debate and educational policy. In the German-speaking countries, however, there is little knowledge available on the structure and design of complex strategies for school and classroom development that describe successful approaches to the further development of schools in disadvantaged locations in a process-oriented manner. Given these shortcomings, the present study aims at a longitudinal analysis of school and classroom development processes within 60 ‘talent schools’, whereby concrete micro-progressions within individual schools are documented and aggregated to general processes that may either impede or promote development. The main research question is the following: With the help of which strategies and (teaching) concepts, with which use of resources and with which forms of cooperation can schools contribute to the development of student achievement, including educational qualifications and transition rates in education and employment? Thus, the ‘talent schools’ may serve as examples of how social background can successfully be decoupled from educational success at schools with special structural and procedural challenges. The major chances and challenges of this project will be discussed.

Keywords: educational inequality, school development, student achievement, mixed-methods study

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Authors: Khalil Boukfoussa

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It is important to provide students with food that contains complete nutrients to provide them with mental and physical energy during the school day. Especially since the time students spend in school is equivalent to 50% of their time during the day, which increases the importance of proper nutrition in schools and makes it an ideal way to inculcate the foundations of a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating habits. Proper nutrition is one of the most important things that affect the health and process of growth and development in children, in addition to being a key factor in supporting the ability to focus, supporting mental abilities and developing the student’s academic achievement. In addition to the importance of a healthy diet for the development and growth of the child's body, proper nutrition can significantly contribute to protecting the body from catching viruses and helping it to pass the winter safely. Effective food control systems in different countries are essential to protect the health and safety of domestic consumers. These systems are also crucial in enabling countries to ensure the safety and quality of food entering international trade and to ensure that imported food conforms to national requirements. The current global food trade environment places significant obligations on both importing and exporting countries to strengthen their food control systems and to apply and implement risk-based food control strategiesConsumers are becoming more interested in the way food is produced, processed and marketed, and are increasingly demanding that governments assume greater responsibility for consumer protection and food safety. In many countries, food control is weak because of the abundance of legislation, the multiplicity of jurisdictions and weaknesses in control, monitoring and enforcement. The following guidelines seek to advise national authorities on strategies to strengthen food control systems to protect public health, prevent fraud and fraud, avoid food contamination and help facilitate trade. These Guidelines will assist authorities in selecting the most appropriate food control system options in terms of legislation, infrastructure and enforcement mechanisms. The document clarifies the broad principles that govern food control systems and provides examples of the infrastructure and methods by which national systems can operate

Keywords: food, nutrision, school, safty

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Authors: Nazlı Çetindağ, Pelin Yılmaz Çetiner, Metin Mert İlgün, Emine Birci, Gizemnur Yıldız Uysal, Özcan Hatipoğlu, Ehsan Tuzcuoğlu, Gökhan Sır

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Stressing the importance of water conservation, emphasizing the need for efficient management of household water, and underlining the significance of alternative solutions are important. In this context, advanced solutions based on technologies such as the advanced oxidation process have emerged as promising methods for treating household wastewater. Evaluating household water usage holds critical importance for the sustainability of water resources. Researchers and experts are examining various technological approaches to effectively treat and reclaim water for reuse. In this framework, the advanced oxidation process has proven to be an effective method for the removal of various organic and inorganic pollutants in the treatment of household wastewater. In this study, performance will be evaluated by comparing it with the reference case. This international criterion simulates the washing of home textile products, determining various performance parameters. The specially designed stain strips, including sebum, carbon black, blood, cocoa, and red wine, used in experiments, represent various household stains. These stain types were carefully selected to represent challenging stain scenarios, ensuring a realistic assessment of washing performance. Experiments conducted under different temperatures and program conditions successfully demonstrate the practical applicability of the advanced oxidation process for treating household wastewater. It is important to note that both adherence to standards and the use of real-life stain types contribute to the broad applicability of the findings. In conclusion, this study strongly supports the effectiveness of treating household wastewater with the advanced oxidation process in terms of washing performance under both standard and practical application conditions. The study underlines the importance of alternative solutions for sustainable water resource management and highlights the potential of the advanced oxidation process in the treatment of household water, contributing significantly to optimizing water usage and developing sustainable water management solutions.

Keywords: advanced oxidation process, household water usage, household appliance waste water, modelling, water reuse

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Authors: Riko Wahyudi, Rezky Lasekti Wicaksono, Ayu Satya Damayanti, Ridhasepta Multi Kenrosa

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Implementing Forest Management Unit (FMU) is considered as the best solution for forest management in developing countries. However, when FMU has been formed, many parties then blame the FMU and assume it is not working on. Currently, there are two main issues that make FMU not be functional i.e. institutional and financial issues. This paper is addressing financial issues to make FMUs in Aceh Province can be functional. A mixed financing scheme is proposed here, both direct and indirect financing. The direct financing scheme derived from two components i.e. public funds and businesses. Non-tax instruments of intergovernmental fiscal transfer (IFT) system and FMU’s businesses are assessed. Meanwhile, indirect financing scheme is conducted by assessing public funds within villages around forest estate as about 50% of total villages in Aceh Province are located surrounding forest estate. Potential instruments under IFT system are forest and mining utilization royalties. In order to make these instruments become direct financing for FMU, interventions on allocation and distribution aspects of them are conducted. In the allocation aspect, alteration in proportion of allocation is required as the authority to manage forest has shifted from district to province. In the distribution aspect, Government of Aceh can earmark usage of the funds for FMUs. International funds for climate change also encouraged to be domesticated and then channeled through these instruments or new instrument under public finance system in Indonesia. Based on FMU’s businesses both from forest products and forest services, FMU can impose non-tax fees for each forest product and service utilization. However, for doing business, the FMU need to be a Public Service Agency (PSA). With this status, FMU can directly utilize the non-tax fees without transferring them to the state treasury. FMU only need to report the fees to Ministry of Finance. Meanwhile, indirect financing scheme is conducted by empowering villages around forest estate as villages in Aceh Province is receiving average village fund of IDR 800 million per village in 2017 and the funds will continue to increase in subsequent years. These schemes should be encouraged in parallel to establish a mixed financing scheme in order to ensure sustainable financing for FMU in Aceh Province, Indonesia.

Keywords: forest management, public funds, mixed financing, village

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Nihal Kartaltepe Behram, Göksel Ataman, Dila Okçu

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With the development of foreign direct investments, the social, cultural, political and economic interactions between countries and institutions have become visible and they have become determining factors for the strategic structuring and market goals. In this context the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of cultural distance and institutions on foreign direct investment choices in terms of location and investment model. For international establishments, the concept of culture, as well as the concept of cultural distance, is taken specifically into consideration, especially in the selection of methods for entering the market. In the researches and empirical studies conducted, a direct relationship between cultural distance and foreign direct investments is set and institutions and effective variable factors are examined at the level of defining the investment types. When the detailed calculation strategies and empirical researches and studies are taken into consideration, the most common methods for determining the direct investment model, considering the cultural distances, are full-ownership enterprises and joint ventures. Also, when all of the factors affecting the investments are taken into consideration, it was seen that the effect of institutions such as Government Intervention, Intellectual Property Rights, Corruption and Contract Enforcements is very important. Furthermore agglomeration is more intense and effective on the investment, compared to other factors. China has been selected as the target country, due to its effectiveness in world economy and its contributions to developing countries, which has commercial relationships with. Qualitative research methods are used for this study conducted, to measure the effects of determinative variable factors in the hypotheses of study, on the direct foreign investors and to evaluate the findings. In this study in-depth interview is used as a data collection method and the data analysis is made through descriptive analysis. Foreign Direct Investments are so reactive to institutions and cultural distance is identified by all interviews and analysis. On the other hand, agglomeration is the most strong determiner factor on foreign direct investors in Chinese Market. The reason of this factors, which comprise the sectorial aggregate, are not the strongest factors as agglomeration that the most important finding. We expect that this study became a beneficial guideline for developed and developing countries and local and national institutions’ strategic plans.

Keywords: China, cultural distance, Foreign Direct Investments, institutions

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Authors: George Hikah Benson

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The promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and Intersex (LGBTQIs) rights within the continent of Africa in general and Ghana, in particular, has for some time now, met the fiercest of resistance; premised mainly on socio-cultural-religious factors. This phenomenon contrasts with notions of countries of the Global North where persons within the context of their fundamental freedoms and rights have the right to sexual choices and preferences. A Private Member’s Bill was introduced to the Ghanaian Parliament in 2021, seeking to criminalize the promotion and advocacy of LGBTQIs related activities. This paper in assessing public views on the matter also seeks to ascertain the security implications regarding the passage of the law at the community level. The study also evaluates LGBTQIs rights vis-a-vis the provisions of Chapter 5 of the 1992 Ghana Constitution and global legal jurisprudence on fundamental human rights. To that end, the study adopted a mixed design approach (quantitative and qualitative) to gather data from 1,550 respondents from all ‘walks of life, across all sixteen regions of Ghana. The main findings are that first, over 85% of Ghanaians abhor the practices of LGBTQIs in keeping with the societal, cultural and religious beliefs of Ghanaians, and will go any length to prevent its survival in the country. Further, the time is not ripe for the acceptance of LGBTQ rights in Ghana as the activities will disrupt family values and poison the existing peace that Ghanaians are currently enjoying. However, it is generally believed that when the bill is passed into law, Ghana’s international image will be dented, and 60% of participants and respondents will be unmoved. Against this hostile, intolerant backdrop regarding LGBTQIs rights in the country and in many other African countries, the study foremost recommends that such a law, when passed, should come with a ‘human face’ that will not just seek to be punitive of LGBTQIs persons but corrective. Additionally, the law should be one that offers them support in line with their rights as Ghanaian and African citizens. Moreover, religious and traditional bodies should endeavor to engage LGBTQIs persons in a friendlier, corrective and loving manner rather than in the current hostile environment that society exposes them to.

Keywords: Ghanaian parliament, LGBTQIs rights, perceptions, socio-culture-religious

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Authors: P. Joris, E. Lombard, X. Cameleyre, G. Navarro, A. Paillet, N. Gorret, S. E. Guillouet

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Today, on the international space station, multiple supplies are needed per year to supply food and spare parts and to take out waste. But as it is planned to go longer and further into space these supplies will no longer be possible. The astronaut life support system must be able of continuously transform waste into valuable compounds. Two types of production were identified as critical and could be be supplemented by microorganisms. On the one hand, since microgravity causes rapid muscle loss, single cell proteins (SCPs) could be used as protein rich feed or food. On the other hand, having enough building materials to build an advanced habitat will not be possible only by transporting space goods from earth to mars for example. The bacterium Cupriavidus. necator is well known for its ability to produce a large amount of proteins or of polyhydroxyalkanoate biopolymers (PHAs) depending on its implementation. By coupling the life support system to a 3D-printer, astronauts could be supplied with an unlimited amount of building materials. Additionally, based on the design of the life support system, waste streams have been identified: urea from the crew urine and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from a first stage of organic waste (excrement and food waste) treatment through anaerobic digestion. Thus, the objective of this, within the Spaceship.Fr project, was to demonstrate the feasibility of producing SCPs and PHAs from VFAs and urea in bioreactor. Because life support systems operate continuously as loops, continuous culture experiments were chosen and the effect of the bioreactor dilution rate on biomass composition was investigated. Total transformation of the carbon source into biomass with high SCP or PHA content was achieved in all cases. We will present the transformation performances of VFAs and urea by the bacteria in bioreactor in terms of titers, yields and productivities but also in terms of the quality of SCP and PHA produced, nucleic acid content. We will further discuss the envisioned integration of our process within life support systems.

Keywords: life support system, space travel, waste treatment, single cell proteins, polyhydroxyalkanoates, bioreactor

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Authors: Massimo Morichi

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Over the last five years, starting in 2019, several nuclear measurement systems have been conceived and realized for specific nuclear safeguards applications, as well as for nuclear security, implementing some innovative technologies and methods for attended and unattended nuclear measurements. Some of those technologies imply the integration of combined gamma and neutron detection systems both for counting and spectroscopic applications that allow the SNM (Special Nuclear Material) verification and quantification through specific simultaneous measurements (gamma and neutron) from standard to high count rate due to high flux irradiation. IAEA has implemented some of these technologies in key international safeguards inspections worldwide, like a Fast Neutron Collar Monitor for fresh fuel verification of U235 mass (used during inspections for material declaration verification) or for unattended measuring systems with a distinct shift register installed in an anti-tampering sealed housing in unattended mode (remote inspection and continuous monitoring) together with an Unattended Multichannel Analyzer for spectroscopy analysis of SNM like canisters. Such developments, realized with integrated mid-resolution scintillators (FWHM: <3,5%) together with organic scintillators such as Stilbene detectors or Liquid sealed scintillators like EJ-309 with great pulse shape discrimination managed by a fast DAQ and with a high level of system integration, are offering in the near term the possibility to enhance further their implementation, reducing the form factor in order to facilitate their implementation in many critical parts of the Nuclear Fuel Operations as well as of the Next generation of Nuclear Reactors. This will facilitate embedding these advanced technical solutions in the next generation of nuclear installations, assuring the implementation of the Safeguards by Design requested by IAEA for all future/novel nuclear installations. This work presents the most recent designs/systems and provides some clear examples of ongoing applications on the Fuel Cycle-Fuel Fabrication as well as for the SMR/AMR and microreactors. Detailed technology testing and validation in different configuration if provided together with some case-studies and operational implications.

Keywords: nuclear safeguard, gamma and neutron detection systems, spectroscopy analysis, nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear power reactors, decommissioning dismantling, nuclear security

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Authors: Szilvia Halmos

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Hungary was one of the first countries to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (hereinafter: CRPD). Consequently, Hungary assumed an obligation under international law to review the national law in the light of the Article 12 of the CRPD requiring the States parties to guarantee the equality of persons with disabilities in terms of legal capacity, and to replace the regimes of substitute decision-making by the instruments of supported decision-making. This article is often characterized as one of the key norms of the CRPD, since the legal autonomy of the persons with disabilities is an essential precondition of their participation in the social life on an equal basis with others, envisaged by the social paradigm of disability. This paper examines the impact of the CRPD on the relevant Hungarian national legal norms, with special focus on the relevant rules of the recently codified Civil Code. The employed research methodologies include (1) the specification of the implementation requirements imposed by the Article 12 of the CRPD, (2) the determination of the indicators of the appropriate implementation, (3) the critical analysis of compliance of the relevant Hungarian legal regulation with the indicators, (4) with respect to the relevant case law of the Hungarian Constitutional Court and ordinary courts, the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee of Rights of Persons with Disabilities and (5) to the available empirical figures on the functioning of substitute and supported decision-making regimes. It will be established that the new Civil Code has made large steps toward the equality of persons with disabilities in terms of legal capacity and the support model of decision-making by the introduction of some specific instruments of supported decision-making and the restriction of the application of guardianship. Nevertheless, the regulation currently in effect fails to represent some crucial principles of the Article 12 of the CRPD, such as the non-discrimination of persons with psycho-social disabilities, the support of the articulation of the will and preferences of the individual instead of his/her best interest in the course of decision-making. The changes in the practice of the substitute and the support model brought about by the new legal norms can also be assessed as significant, however, so far unsatisfactory. The number of registered supporters is rather low, and the preconditions of the effective functioning of the support (e.g. the proper training of the supporters) are not ensured.

Keywords: Article 12 of the UN CRPD, Hungarian law on legal capacity, persons with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities, supported decision-making

Procedia PDF Downloads 292