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Authors: Amir Hossein Ashari, Sedighe Erfan Manesh

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When investigating Iranian traditional and historical urban development, such as that seen in Shiraz, our attention is drawn to mosques as a focal point. Vakil Mosque in Shiraz is completely consistent, coordinated and integrated with the Bazaar, square and school. This is a significant example of traditional urban development. The position of the mosque in the most important urban joint near bazaar in a way that it is considered part of the bazaar structure are factors that have given it social, political, and economic roles in addition to the original religious role. These are among characteristics of sustainable development. The mosque has had an important effect in formation of the city because it is connected to main gates. In terms of access, the mosque has different main and peripheral access paths from different parts of the city. The courtyard of the mosque was located next to the main elements of the city so that it was considered as an urban open space, which made it a more active and more dynamic place. This study is carried out via library and field research with the purpose of finding strategies for taking advantage of useful features of the mosque in traditional urban development. These features include its role as a gathering center for people and city in sustainable urban development. Mosque can be used as a center for enhancing social interactions and creating a sense of association that leads to sustainable social space. These can act as a model which leads us to sustainable cities in terms of social and economic factors.

Keywords: mosque, traditional urban development, sustainable social space, Vakil Mosque, Shiraz

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Authors: Bruno Baptista, Andreia S. R. Oliveira, Patricia V. Mendonca, Jorge F. J. Coelho, Fani Sousa

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Drug delivery systems are designed to allow adequate protection and controlled delivery of drugs to specific locations. These systems aim to reduce side effects and control the biodistribution profile of drugs, thus improving therapeutic efficacy. This study involved the synthesis of polymeric nanoparticles, based on amphiphilic diblock copolymers, comprising a biocompatible, poly (oligo (ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate (POEOMA) as hydrophilic segment and a pH-sensitive block, the poly (2-diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDPA). The objective of this work was the development of polymeric pH-responsive nanoparticles to encapsulate and carry small RNAs as a model to further develop non-coding RNAs delivery systems with therapeutic value. The responsiveness of PDPA to pH allows the electrostatic interaction of these copolymers with nucleic acids at acidic pH, as a result of the protonation of the tertiary amine groups of this polymer at pH values below its pKa (around 6.2). Initially, the molecular weight parameters and chemical structure of the block copolymers were determined by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy, respectively. Then, the complexation with small RNAs was verified, generating polyplexes with sizes ranging from 300 to 600 nm and with encapsulation efficiencies around 80%, depending on the molecular weight of the polymers, their composition, and concentration used. The effect of pH on the morphology of nanoparticles was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) being verified that at higher pH values, particles tend to lose their spherical shape. Since this work aims to develop systems for the delivery of non-coding RNAs, studies on RNA protection (contact with RNase, FBS, and Trypsin) and cell viability were also carried out. It was found that they induce some protection against constituents of the cellular environment and have no cellular toxicity. In summary, this research work contributes to the development of pH-sensitive polymers, capable of protecting and encapsulating RNA, in a relatively simple and efficient manner, to further be applied on drug delivery to specific sites where pH may have a critical role, as it can occur in several cancer environments.

Keywords: drug delivery systems, pH-responsive polymers, POEOMA-b-PDPA, small RNAs

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Authors: Divya Kanchibhotla, Shashank Kulkarni, Shweta Singh

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Chronic stress and sleep quality reduces mental health and increases the risk of developing depression and anxiety as well. There is increasing evidence for the utility of meditation as an adjunct clinical intervention for conditions like depression and anxiety. The present study is an attempt to explore the impact of Sahaj Samadhi Meditation (SSM), a category of Automatic Self Transcending Meditation (ASTM), on perceived stress and sleep quality in adults. The study design was a single group pre-post assessment. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used in this study. Fifty-two participants filled PSS, and 60 participants filled PSQI at the beginning of the program (day 0), after two weeks (day 16) and at two months (day 60). Significant pre-post differences for the perceived stress level on Day 0 - Day 16 (p < 0.01; Cohen's d = 0.46) and Day 0 - Day 60 (p < 0.01; Cohen's d = 0.76) clearly demonstrated that by practicing SSM, participants experienced reduction in the perceived stress. The effect size of the intervention observed on the 16th day of assessment was small to medium, but on the 60th day, a medium to large effect size of the intervention was observed. In addition to this, significant pre-post differences for the sleep quality on Day 0 - Day 16 and Day 0 - Day 60 (p < 0.05) clearly demonstrated that by practicing SSM, participants experienced improvement in the sleep quality. Compared with Day 0 assessment, participants demonstrated significant improvement in the quality of sleep on Day 16 and Day 60. The effect size of the intervention observed on the 16th day of assessment was small, but on the 60th day, a small to medium effect size of the intervention was observed. In the current study we found out that after practicing SSM for two months, participants reported a reduction in the perceived stress, they felt that they are more confident about their ability to handle personal problems, were able to cope with all the things that they had to do, felt that they were on top of the things, and felt less angered. Participants also reported that their overall sleep quality improved; they took less time to fall asleep; they had less disturbances in sleep and less daytime dysfunction due to sleep deprivation. The present study provides clear evidence of the efficacy and safety of non-pharmacological interventions such as SSM in reducing stress and improving sleep quality. Thus, ASTM may be considered a useful intervention to reduce psychological distress in healthy, non-clinical populations, and it can be an alternative remedy for treating poor sleep among individuals and decreasing the use of harmful sedatives.

Keywords: automatic self transcending meditation, Sahaj Samadhi meditation, sleep, stress

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Authors: Howard Prosser

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This paper examines how critical thinking is framed, especially for primary-school students, in the recently established Australian Curriculum: History. Critical thinking is one of the curriculum’s 'general capabilities.' History provides numerous opportunities for critical thinking’s application in everyday life. The so-called 'history wars' that took place just prior to the curriculum’s introduction in 2014 sought to bring to light the limits of a singular historical narrative and reveal that which had been repressed. Consequently, the Australian history curriculum reflects this shifting mindset. Teachers are presented with opportunities to treat history in the classroom as a repository of social possibility, especially related to democratic potential, beyond hackneyed and jingoistic tales of Australian nationhood. Yet such opportunities are not explicit within the document and are up against pre-existing pedagogic practices. Drawing on political thinker Cornelius Castoriadis’s rendering of the 'social-historical' and 'paidea,' as well as his mobilisation of psychoanalysis, the study outlines how the curriculum’s critical-thinking component opens up possibilities for students and teachers to revise assumptions about how history is understood. This ontological shift is ultimately creative: the teachers’ imaginations connect the students’ imaginations, and vice versa, to the analysis that is at the heart of historical thinking. The implications of this social imagination add to the current discussions about historical consciousness among scholars like Peter Seixas. But, importantly, it has practical application in the primary-school classroom where history becomes creative acts, like play, that is indeterminate and social rather than fixed and individual.

Keywords: Australia, Castoriadis, critical thinking, history, imagination

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Authors: Emily J. Winnall

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It is understood that China has the largest population of people living with dementia in the world; however, little is known about this culturally diverse community, specifically the Chinese Communities, which has been poorly represented in past British research Literature. Further research is needed to gain a greater understanding of the support needs of caregivers caring for a relative living with dementia from the Chinese background. Dementia care and caregivers in Chinese communities are less investigated. The study is a case study of two Chinese community centers and one housing support service. Semi-structured one-to-one interviews and a pilot questionnaire were used as the methods for the study. A toolkit will also be created as a document that provides guidance and signposting to health and social care services for Chinese communities. The findings identified three main themes. Caregivers do not receive any formal support from the UK health and social services, and they felt they would have benefited from getting advice on what support they could access. Furthermore, the data also identified that Chinese organisations do not have the knowledge of dementia, to be able to support those living with dementia and their families. Also, people living with dementia and their families rarely present to Chinese organisations and UK health and social care services, meaning they are not receiving the support they are entitled to or need. Additionally, the community center would like to see workshops/courses around dementia for people from Chinese backgrounds. The study concludes that people from Chinese cultural backgrounds do not have sufficient access to support from UK health and social care services. More information needs to be published that will benefit Chinese communities.

Keywords: Chinese, Chinese organisations, Dementia, family caregivers, social care

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Authors: Erica Siqueira, Adriana Bin, Rachel Stefanuto

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The paper aims to identify and to discuss the impact and results of ex-ante, mid-term and ex-post evaluation initiatives in Brazilian Social Enterprises from the point of view of the entrepreneurs and investors, highlighting the processes involved in these activities and their aftereffects. The study was conducted using a descriptive methodology, primarily qualitative. A multiple-case study was used, and, for that, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten entrepreneurs in the (i) social finance, (ii) education, (iii) health, (iv) citizenship and (v) green tech fields, as well as three representatives of various impact investments, which are (i) venture capital, (ii) loan and (iii) equity interest areas. Convenience (non-probabilistic) sampling was adopted to select both businesses and investors, who voluntarily contributed to the research. The evaluation is still incipient in most of the studied business cases. Some stand out by adopting well-known methodologies like Global Impact Investing Report System (GIIRS), but still, have a lot to improve in several aspects. Most of these enterprises use nonexperimental research conducted by their own employees, which is ordinarily not understood as 'golden standard' to some authors in the area. Nevertheless, from the entrepreneur point of view, it is possible to identify that most of them including those routines in some extent in their day-by-day activities, despite the difficulty they have of the business in general. In turn, the investors do not have overall directions to establish evaluation initiatives in respective enterprises; they are funding. There is a mechanism of trust, and this is, usually, enough to prove the impact for all stakeholders. The work concludes that there is a large gap between what the literature states in regard to what should be the best practices in these businesses and what the enterprises really do. The evaluation initiatives must be included in some extension in all enterprises in order to confirm social impact that they realize. Here it is recommended the development and adoption of more flexible evaluation mechanisms that consider the complexity involved in these businesses’ routines. The reflections of the research also suggest important implications for the field of Social Enterprises, whose practices are far from what the theory preaches. It highlights the risk of the legitimacy of these enterprises that identify themselves as 'social impact', sometimes without the proper proof based on causality data. Consequently, this makes the field of social entrepreneurship fragile and susceptible to questioning, weakening the ecosystem as a whole. In this way, the top priorities of these enterprises must be handled together with the results and impact measurement activities. Likewise, it is recommended to perform further investigations that consider the trade-offs between impact versus profit. In addition, research about gender, the entrepreneur motivation to call themselves as Social Enterprises, and the possible unintended consequences from these businesses also should be investigated.

Keywords: evaluation practices, impact, results, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship ecosystem

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Authors: Samrah Saeed

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Introduction: This study considers a measure of positive body image and the associations between body appreciation, beauty ideals internalization, dietary habits, and physical activity in young adults. Positive body image is assessed by Body Appreciation Scale 2. It is used to assess a person's acceptance of the body, the degree of positivity, and respect for the body.Regular physical activity and healthy eating arebasically important for the body, and they play an important role in creating a positive image of the body. Objectives: To identify the associations between body appreciation and beauty ideals internalization. To compare body appreciation and body ideals internalization among students of different physical activity. To explore the associations between dietary habits (unhealthy, healthy), body appreciation and body ideals internalization. Research methods and organization: Study participants were young adult students, aged 18-35, both male and female.The research questionnaire consisted of four areas: body appreciation, beauty ideals internalization, dietary habits, and physical activity.The questionnaire was created in Google Forms online survey platform.The questionnaire was filled out anonymously Result and Discussion: Physical dissatisfaction, diet, eating disorders and exercise disorders are found in young adults all over the world.Thorough nutrition helps people understand who they are by reassuring them that they are okay without judging or accepting themselves. Social media can positively influence body image in many ways.A healthy body image is important because it affect self-esteem, self-acceptance, and your attitude towards food and exercise.

Keywords: pysical activity, dietary habits, body image, beauty ideals internalization, body appreciation

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Authors: Khalid Soussi

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Implementing innovative teaching and learning methods is of pivotal importance for student motivation and teaching quality. At the center of such quality are teaching competencies. The present paper investigates three teachers’ core competencies related to their innovative teaching performance: educational/pedagogical competency, teaching competency, and social competency. The paper also attempts to describe the influence of social factors on innovation in higher education. Many recent studies highlight the technological competency as an independent one, but it is believed in this study that the latter makes part of the pedagogical competency. A Likert scale questionnaire was used to measure teachers’ judgements of core competencies role in innovative teaching performance. The study also attempted to demarcate the social variables that may affect innovative teaching in higher education. The findings indicate that teachers’ educational competency and teaching competency were generally confirmed to be either important or very important for innovation in teaching performance. Regarding social competency, the study also shows that satisfaction from job, daily working hours, amount of workload, flexibility in the functioning and the quality of students are the main factors that have a large effect on teachers’ innovative teaching performance.

Keywords: higher education, innovative teaching, teaching competencies, teaching performance

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Authors: Maria Joan Grafil, Hannah Wendam, Christine Joyce Yu

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The use of social networking sites had been a big part of life of most people. One of the most popular among these is Facebook. Users range from young adults to late adults. While it is more popular among emerging and young adults, this social networking site gives people opportunities to express the self. Via Facebook, people have the opportunity to think about what they prefer to show others. This study identified which among the multiple facets of the self (real self, false self or ideal self) is dominantly presented by young adults and middle adults in using the social networking site Facebook. South Metro Manila was the locale of this study where 100 young adult participants (aged 18-25) were students from nearby universities and the 100 middle adult participants (aged 35-45) were working residents within the area. Participants were comprised of 53% females and 47% males. The data was gathered using a self-report questionnaire to determine which online self-presentation (real self-presentation, false self-presentation, or ideal self-presentation) of the participants has greater extent when engaging in the social networking site Facebook. Using means comparison, results showed that both young adults and middle adults engaged primarily in real self-presentation.

Keywords: false self, ideal self, middle adult, real self, self presentation, young adult

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Authors: Adi Gielgun-Katz, Alina S. Rusu

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In the last two decades, education systems worldwide have integrated new pedagogical methods and strategies in lesson plans, such as innovative technologies, social-emotional learning (SEL), gamification, mixed learning, multiple literacies, and many others. Visual language, such as photographs, is known to transcend cultures and languages, and it is commonly used by youth to express positions and affective states in social networks. Therefore, visual language needs more educational attention as a linguistic and communicative component that can create connectedness among the students and their teachers. Nowadays, when SEL is gaining more and more space and meaning in the area of academic improvement in relation to social well-being, and taking and sharing pictures is part of the everyday life of the majority of people, it becomes natural to add the visual language to SEL approach as a reinforcement strategy for connecting education to the contemporary culture and language of the youth. This article presents a program conducted in a high school class in Israel, which combines the five SEL with photography techniques, i.e., Social-Emotional Learning Visual Empowerments (SELVEs) program (experimental group). Another class of students from the same institution represents the control group, which is participating in the SEL program without the photography component. The SEL component of the programs addresses skills such as: troubleshooting, uncertainty, personal strengths and collaboration, accepting others, control of impulses, communication, self-perception, and conflict resolution. The aim of the study is to examine the effects of programs on the level of the five SEL aspects in the two groups of high school students: Self-Awareness, Social Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision Making, and Relationship Skills. The study presents a quantitative assessment of the SEL programs’ impact on the students. The main hypothesis is that the students’ questionnaires' analysis will reveal a better understanding and improvement of the five aspects of the SEL in the group of students involved in the photography-enhanced SEL program.

Keywords: social-emotional learning, photography, education program, adolescents

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Authors: David Calderon Villegas, Thomas Kaltizky

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Run-of-river (RoR) hydropower projects represent a viable, clean, and cost-effective alternative to dam-based plants and provide decentralized power production. However, RoR schemes cost-effectiveness depends on the proper selection of site and design flow, which is a challenging task because it requires multivariate analysis. In this respect, this study presents the development of an investment decision support tool for assessing the optimal size of an RoR scheme considering the technical, environmental, and cost constraints. The net present value (NPV) from a project perspective is used as an objective function for supporting the investment decision. The tool has been tested by applying it to an actual RoR project recently proposed in Colombia. The obtained results show that the optimum point in financial terms does not match the flow that maximizes energy generation from exploiting the river's available flow. For the case study, the flow that maximizes energy corresponds to a value of 5.1 m3/s. In comparison, an amount of 2.1 m3/s maximizes the investors NPV. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the NPV as a function of the debt rate changes and the electricity prices and the CapEx. Even for the worst-case scenario, the optimal size represents a positive business case with an NPV of 2.2 USD million and an IRR 1.5 times higher than the discount rate.

Keywords: small hydropower, renewable energy, RoR schemes, optimal sizing, objective function

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Authors: Sanchai Ratthanakwan

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This research aims to study situations and characteristics of the problems facing the urban poor. The data and information are collected by focus group and in-depth interview leader and members of Four Regions Slum Network, community representatives and the social welfare officer. The research can be concluded that the problems of the urban poor faced with three major problems: Firstly, the shortage of housing and stability issues in housing; secondly, the problem of substandard quality of life; and thirdly, the debt problem. The study found that a solution will be found in two ways: First way is the creation of housing for the urban poor in slums or community intrusion by the state. Second way is the stability in the housing and subsistence provided by the community center called “housing stability”.

Keywords: urban poor, social welfare, Bangkok metropolis, housing stability

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Authors: Ghodsieh Isapour Toutizad, Aiyong Wang, Joonsoo Han, Derek Creaser, Louise Olsson, Magnus Skoglundh, Hanna HaRelind

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Nitrous oxide (N2O), which is generally formed as a byproduct of industrial chemical processes and fossil fuel combustion, has attracted considerable attention due to its destructive role in global warming and ozone layer depletion. From various developed technologies used for lean NOx reduction, the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with ammonia is presently the most applied method. Therefore, the development of catalysts for efficient lean NOx reduction without forming N2O in the process, or only forming it to a very small extent from the exhaust gases is of crucial significance. One type of catalysts that nowadays are used for this aim are zeolite-based catalysts. It is owing to their remarkable catalytic performance under practical reaction conditions such as high thermal stability and high N2 selectivity. Among all zeolites, copper ion-exchanged zeolites, with CHA, MFI, and BEA framework structure (like SSZ-13, ZSM-5 and Beta, respectively), represent higher hydrothermal stability, high activity and N2 selectivity. This work aims at investigating the effect of the zeolite framework structure on the formation of N2O during NH3-SCR reaction conditions over three Cu-based zeolites ranging from small-pore to large-pore framework structure. In the zeolite framework, Cu exists in two cationic forms, that can catalyze the SCR reaction by activating NO to form NO+ and/or surface nitrate species. The nitrate species can thereafter react with NH3 to form another intermediate, ammonium nitrate, which seems to be one source for N2O formation at low temperatures. The results from in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) indicate that during the NO oxidation step, mainly NO+ and nitrate species are formed on the surface of the catalysts. The intensity of the absorption peak attributed to NO+ species is higher for the Cu-CHA sample compared to the other two samples, indicating a higher stability of this species in small cages. Furthermore, upon the addition of NH3, through the standard SCR reaction conditions, absorption peaks assigned to N-H stretching and bending vibrations are building up. At the same time, negative peaks are evolving in the O-H stretching region, indicating blocking/replacement of surface OH-groups by NH3 and NH4+. By removing NH3 and adding NO2 to the inlet gas composition, the peaks in the N-H stretching and bending vibration regions show a decreasing trend in intensity, with the decrease being more pronounced for increasing pore size. It can probably be owing to the higher accumulation of ammonia species in the small-pore size zeolite compared to the other two samples. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the ammonia surface species are strongly bonded to the CHA zeolite structure, which makes it more difficult to react with NO2. To conclude, the framework structure of the zeolite seems to play an important role in the formation and reactivity of surface species relevant for the SCR process. Here we intend to discuss the connection between the zeolite structure, the surface species, and the formation of N2O during ammonia-SCR.

Keywords: fast SCR, nitrous oxide, NOx, standard SCR, zeolites

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Authors: Peter Edwar Mortada Nasif

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The use of CAD (Computer Aided Design) technology is ubiquitous in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. This has led to its inclusion in the curriculum of architecture schools in Nigeria as an important part of the training module. This article examines the ethical issues involved in implementing CAD (Computer Aided Design) content into the architectural education curriculum. Using existing literature, this study begins with the benefits of integrating CAD into architectural education and the responsibilities of different stakeholders in the implementation process. It also examines issues related to the negative use of information technology and the perceived negative impact of CAD use on design creativity. Using a survey method, data from the architecture department of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Uli University was collected to serve as a case study on how the issues raised were being addressed. The article draws conclusions on what ensures successful ethical implementation. Millions of people around the world suffer from hepatitis C, one of the world's deadliest diseases. Interferon (IFN) is treatment options for patients with hepatitis C, but these treatments have their side effects. Our research focused on developing an oral small molecule drug that targets hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins and has fewer side effects. Our current study aims to develop a drug based on a small molecule antiviral drug specific for the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Drug development using laboratory experiments is not only expensive, but also time-consuming to conduct these experiments. Instead, in this in silicon study, we used computational techniques to propose a specific antiviral drug for the protein domains of found in the hepatitis C virus. This study used homology modeling and abs initio modeling to generate the 3D structure of the proteins, then identifying pockets in the proteins. Acceptable lagans for pocket drugs have been developed using the de novo drug design method. Pocket geometry is taken into account when designing ligands. Among the various lagans generated, a new specific for each of the HCV protein domains has been proposed.

Keywords: drug design, anti-viral drug, in-silicon drug design, hepatitis C virus, computer aided design, CAD education, education improvement, small-size contractor automatic pharmacy, PLC, control system, management system, communication

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Authors: Trilochana Dash, Chandan Kumar Sahoo

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In today's environment of intensive industrialization, the role of business in societal modernization is critical. The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) arose due to rising societal awareness of company conduct. Corporations that practice CSR devote a portion of their profits to society’s sustainable development (SD). The concept of CSR and SD has increased the impact of industries on society. In this study, bibliometric analysis was conducted using the “R” programming language to determine the comprehensiveness of CSR and SD. From 2003 to 2022, bibliometric data was collected from two databases: Scopus and Web of Science (WOS). According to the findings, CSR and SD research has risen exponentially in the past two decades, and “Corporate Social Responsibility and Environment Management” emerged as the most influential journal in this field. The findings also show that relatively very few researchers collaborate in CSR and SD research in the last twenty years. It is widely acknowledged that most CSR and SD research is conducted in developed countries and developing countries undergoing fast industrialization. Thematic evolution and cluster analysis clearly show that the notion of CSR and SD among scholars has been quite popular over the last two decades. Finally, limitations and future directions are discussed.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, bibliometric analysis, “R” programming language, visualization, holistic picture

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Authors: E. H. Uguru, S. F. A. Sani, M. U. Khandaker, M. H. Rabir

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The beginning of cycle transient safety parameters is paramount for smooth reactor operation. The enhanced operational safety of UO₂ fuelled AP1000 reactor being the first using three fissile enrichment zones motivated this research for (Th, U)O₂ fuel. This study evaluated the impact of fissile enrichment, soluble boron, and gadolinia on the transient safety parameters to determine the basis for choosing the three fissile enrichment zones. Fuel assembly and core model of Westinghouse small modular reactor were investigated using different fuel and reactivity control arrangements. The Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX) integrated with CINDER90 burn-up code was used for the calculations. The results show that the moderator temperature coefficient of reactivity (MTC) and the fuel temperature coefficient of reactivity (FTC) were respectively negative and decreased with increasing fissile enrichment. Soluble boron significantly decreased the MTC but slightly increased FTC while gadolinia followed the same trend with a minor impact. However, the MTC and FTC respectively decreased significantly with increasing change in temperature. These results provide a guide on the considerable factors in choosing the three fissile enrichment zones for (Th, U)O₂ fuel in anticipation of their impact on safety parameters. Therefore, this study provides foundational results on the factors that must be considered in choosing three fissile arrangement zones for (Th, U)O₂ fuel.

Keywords: reactivity, safety parameters, small modular reactor, soluble boron, thorium fuel cycle

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Authors: Ayman Othman, Tallat Ali

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A pavement maintenance management system (PMMS) was developed for the city of Aswan as a model of a small city to provide the road maintenance department in Aswan city with the capabilities for comprehensive planning of the maintenance activities needed to put the internal pavement network into desired physical condition in view of maintenance budget constraints. The developed system consists of three main stages. First is the inventory & condition survey stage where the internal pavement network of Aswan city was inventoried and its actual conditions were rated in segments of 100 meters length. Second is the analysis stage where pavement condition index (PCI) was calculated and the most appropriate maintenance actions were assigned for each segment. The total maintenance budget was also estimated and a parameter based ranking criteria were developed to prioritize maintenance activities when the available maintenance budget is not sufficient. Finally comes the packaging stage where approved maintenance budget is packed into maintenance projects for field implementation. System results indicate that, the system output maintenance budget is very reasonable and the system output maintenance programs agree to a great extent with the actual maintenance needs of the network. Condition survey of Aswan city road network showed that roughness is the most dominate distress. In general, the road network can be considered in a fairly reasonable condition, however, the developed PMMS needs to be officially adapted to maintain the road network in a desirable condition and to prevent further deterioration.

Keywords: pavement, maintenance, management, system, distresses, survey, ranking

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Authors: Alena Radina

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On the global stage, national image is shaped by historical memory of wars and alliances, government ideology and particularly media stereotypes which represent countries in positive or negative ways. News magazine covers are a key site for national representation. The object of analysis in this paper is the portrayals of the US, Germany, China, and Russia in the front pages and cover stories of “Time”, “Der Spiegel”, “Beijing Review”, and “Expert”. Political comedy helps people learn about current affairs even if politics is not their area of interest, and thus satire indirectly sets the public agenda. Coupled with satirical messages, cover images and the linguistic messages embedded in the covers become persuasive visual and verbal factors, known to drive about 80% of magazine sales. Preliminary analysis identified satirical elements in magazine covers, which are known to influence and frame understandings and attract younger audiences. Multimodal and transnational comparative framing analyses lay the groundwork to investigate why journalists, editors and designers deploy certain frames rather than others. This research investigates to what degree frames used in covers correlate with frames within the cover stories and what these framings can tell us about media professionals’ representations of their own and other nations. The study sample includes 32 covers consisting of two covers representing each of the four chosen countries from the four magazines. The sampling framework considers two time periods to compare countries’ representation with two different presidents, and between men and women when present. The countries selected for analysis represent each category of the international news flows model: the core nations are the US and Germany; China is a semi-peripheral country; and Russia is peripheral. Examining textual and visual design elements on the covers and images in the cover stories reveals not only what editors believe visually attracts the reader’s attention to the magazine but also how the magazines frame and construct national images and national leaders. The cover is the most powerful editorial and design page in a magazine because images incorporate less intrusive framing tools. Thus, covers require less cognitive effort of audiences who may therefore be more likely to accept the visual frame without question. Analysis of design and linguistic elements in magazine covers helps to understand how media outlets shape their audience’s perceptions and how magazines frame global issues. While previous multimodal research of covers has focused mostly on lifestyle magazines or newspapers, this paper examines the power of current affairs magazines’ covers to shape audience perception of national image.

Keywords: framing analysis, magazine covers, multimodality, national image, satire

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Authors: Amer Ait Sidhoum

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Interest in sustainability has gained ground among practitioners, academics and policy-makers due to growing stakeholders’ awareness of environmental and social concerns. This is particularly true for agriculture. However, relatively little research has been conducted on the quantification of social sustainability and the contribution of social issues to the agricultural production efficiency. This research's main objective is to propose a method for evaluating prices of social outputs, more precisely shadow prices, by allowing for the stochastic nature of agricultural production that is to say for production uncertainty. In this article, the assessment of social outputs’ shadow prices is conducted within the methodological framework of nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). An output-oriented directional distance function (DDF) is implemented to represent the technology of a sample of Catalan arable crop farms and derive the efficiency scores the overall production technology of our sample is assumed to be the intersection of two different sub-technologies. The first sub-technology models the production of random desirable agricultural outputs, while the second sub-technology reflects the social outcomes from agricultural activities. Once a nonparametric production technology has been represented, the DDF primal approach can be used for efficiency measurement, while shadow prices are drawn from the dual representation of the DDF. Computing shadow prices is a method to assign an economic value to non-marketed social outcomes. Our research uses cross sectional, farm-level data collected in 2015 from a sample of 180 Catalan arable crop farms specialized in the production of cereals, oilseeds and protein (COP) crops. Our results suggest that our sample farms show high performance scores, from 85% for the bad state of nature to 88% for the normal and ideal crop growing conditions. This suggests that farm performance is increasing with an improvement in crop growth conditions. Results also show that average shadow prices of desirable state-contingent output and social outcomes for efficient and inefficient farms are positive, suggesting that the production of desirable marketable outputs and of non-marketable outputs makes a positive contribution to the farm production efficiency. Results also indicate that social outputs’ shadow prices are contingent upon the growing conditions. The shadow prices follow an upward trend as crop-growing conditions improve. This finding suggests that these efficient farms prefer to allocate more resources in the production of desirable outputs than of social outcomes. To our knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to compute shadow prices of social outcomes while accounting for the stochastic nature of the production technology. Our findings suggest that the decision-making process of the efficient farms in dealing with social issues are stochastic and strongly dependent on the growth conditions. This implies that policy-makers should adjust their instruments according to the stochastic environmental conditions. An optimal redistribution of rural development support, by increasing the public payment with the improvement in crop growth conditions, would likely enhance the effectiveness of public policies.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis, shadow prices, social sustainability, sustainable farming

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Authors: Abdul Basit Kiani, Maryam Kiani

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Content Management Systems (CMS) have transformed the landscape of web development by providing an accessible and efficient platform for creating and managing digital content. This abstract explores the key features and benefits of CMS in web development, highlighting its impact on website creation and maintenance. CMS offers a user-friendly interface that empowers individuals to create, edit, and publish content without requiring extensive technical knowledge. With customizable templates and themes, users can personalize the design and layout of their websites, ensuring a visually appealing online presence. Furthermore, CMS facilitates efficient content organization through categorization and tagging, enabling visitors to navigate and search for information effortlessly. It also supports version control, allowing users to track and manage revisions effectively. Scalability is a notable advantage of CMS, as it offers a wide range of plugins and extensions to integrate additional features into websites. From e-commerce functionality to social media integration, CMS adapts to evolving business needs. Additionally, CMS enhances collaborative workflows by allowing multiple user roles and permissions. This enables teams to collaborate effectively on content creation and management, streamlining processes and ensuring smooth coordination. In conclusion, CMS serves as a powerful tool in web development, simplifying content creation, customization, organization, scalability, and collaboration. With CMS, individuals and businesses can create dynamic and engaging websites, establishing a strong online presence with ease.

Keywords: web development, content management systems, information technology, programming

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Authors: Tzu-Jung Tseng, Pei-Hsuen Han, Tsung-Hsueh Lu

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Background: Choropleth mortality map is commonly used to identify areas with higher mortality risk. However, the use of choropleth map alone might result in the misinterpretation of differences in mortality rates between areas. Two areas with different color shades might not actually have a significant difference in mortality rates. The mortality rates estimated for an area with a small population would be less stable. We suggest of bringing the 95% confidence intervals (CI) into the choropleth mortality map to help users interpret the areal mortality rate difference more properly. Method: In the first choropleth mortality map, we used only three color to indicate standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for each district in Tainan, Taiwan. The red color denotes that the SMR of that district was significantly higher than the Tainan average; on the contrary, the green color suggests that the SMR of that district was significantly lower than the Tainan average. The yellow color indicates that the SMR of that district was not statistically significantly different from the Tainan average. In the second choropleth mortality map, we used traditional sequential color scheme (color ramp) for different SMR in 37 districts in Tainan City with bar chart of each SMR with 95% CI in which the users could examine if the line of 95% CI of SMR of two districts overlapped (nonsignificant difference). Results: The all-causes SMR of each district in Tainan for 2008 to 2013 ranged from 0.77 (95% CI 0.75 to 0.80) in East District to 1.39 Beimen (95% CI 1.25 to 1.52). In the first choropleth mortality map, only 16 of 37 districts had red color and 8 districts had green color. For different causes of death, the number of districts with red color differed. In the first choropleth mortality map we added a bar chart with line of 95% CI of SMR in each district, in which the users could visualize the SMR differences between districts. Conclusion: Through the use of 95% CI the users could interpret the aral mortality differences more properly.

Keywords: choropleth map, small area variation, standardized mortality ratio (SMR), Taiwan

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Authors: Tony Chapman-Wilson

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Applied theatre is not an ultimate vehicle to create social change; but is more an opportunity of hope that the production material might affect this. Theatre-makers are able to deconstruct socially and politically challenging themes to encourage their audience to witness lived experiences as they consider themes of concern and injustice. This allows writers to (re) present the lived experiences of trans people, and for social injustice, continued transphobia, and lack of equity to be presented to an audience for debate. There needs to be a stronger position and presence of trans voices and active participation presented of these rather than just that of the cisgender-lens and standpoint. This research examines the relationship between human rights and theatre and considers global examples of this practice, as well as exploring the negatives formed from this relationship, and how this may be developed in the future. This focusses on the ability of theatre to denounce the violations of human rights and considers the power of theatre to support the importance of the awareness of violations to human rights for the raised awareness and potential for action of the audience – who may themselves be part of the oppressed, or indeed an oppressor. The fundamental assertion here is not one of evidenced social change, but of awareness raising of the audience and the potential for social activism and action. The practice of applied theatre is one that is experienced by the audience and the project participants alike, with the intention that theatre may consider how people interact with one another. This paper examines the opportunity of verbatim theatre techniques to allow for a cis-led trans-collaborative research project to (re) present intergenerational trans identities.

Keywords: applied theatre, verbatim, transgender, social justice

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Authors: Justin Bin

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has been rapidly rising in usage recently, already active in the daily lives of millions, from distinguished AIs like the popular ChatGPT or Siri to more obscure, inconspicuous AIs like those used in social media or internet search engines. As upcoming generations grow immersed in emerging technology, AI will play a vital role in their development. Namely, the education sector, an influential portion of a person’s early life as a student, faces a vast ocean of possibilities concerning the implementation of AI. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the effect that AI will have on the future of the educational field. More particularly, this study delves deeper into the following three categories: school admissions, the productivity of students, and ethical concerns (role of human teachers, purpose of schooling itself, and significance of diplomas). This study synthesizes research and data on the current effects of AI on education from various published literature sources and journals, as well as estimates on further AI potential, in order to determine the main, overarching effects it will have on the future of education. For this study, a systematic organization of data in terms of type (quantitative vs. qualitative), the magnitude of effect implicated, and other similar factors were implemented within each area of significance. The results of the study suggest that AI stands to change all the beforementioned subgroups. However, its specific effects vary in magnitude and favorability (beneficial or harmful) and will be further discussed. The results discussed will reveal to those affiliated with the education field, such as teachers, counselors, or even parents of students, valuable information on not just the projected possibilities of AI in education but the effects of those changes moving forward.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, education, schools, teachers

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Authors: Vijaykumar Patel, P. Bahadur

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Microstructural evolution of a cationic gemini surfactant 12-4-12 micelles in the presence of bile salts has been investigated using different techniques. A negative value of interaction parameter evaluated from surface tension measurements is a signature of strong synergistic interaction between oppositely charged surfactants. Both the bile salts compete with each other in inducing the micellar transition of 12-4-12 micelles depending on their hydrophobicity. Viscosity measurements disclose that loading of bile salts induces morphological changes in 12-4-12 micelles; sodium deoxycholate is more efficient in altering the aggregation behaviour of 12-4-12 micelles compared to sodium cholate and presents pronounced increase in viscosity and micellar growth which is suppressed at elevated temperatures. A remarkable growth of 12-4-12 micelles in the presence of sodium deoxycholate at low pH has been ascribed to the solubilization of bile acids formed in acidic medium. Small angle neutron scattering experiments provided size and shape of 12-4-12/bile salt mixed micelles are explicated on the basis of hydrophobicity of bile salts. The location of bile salts in micelle was determined from nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy. The present study characterizes 12-4-12 gemini-bile salt mixed systems which significantly enriches our knowledge, and such a structural transition provides an opportunity to use these bioamphiphiles as delivery vehicles and in some pharmaceutical formulations.

Keywords: gemini surfactants, bile salts, SANS (small angle neutron scattering), NOESY (nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy)

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Authors: Gianni Jacucci

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Alfred Schutz (1932), at the very turning towards phenomenology, of the attention for the social sciences, stated that successful communication of meanings requires the sharing of “sedimenta-tions “ of previous meanings. Börje Langefors (1966), at the very beginning of the social studies of information systems, stated that a common professional basis is required for a correct sharing of meanings, e. g., “standardised accounting data among accountants”. Harold Garfinkel (1967), at the very beginning of ethnomethodology, stated that the accounting of social events must be carried out in the same language used by the actors of those events in managing their practice. Community of practice: we advocate professional descriptions of the community of practice members to scientifically determine the level of child psycho social emotional development. Our approach consists of an application to Human Sciences of Husserl’s Phenomenological Philosophy using a method reminder of Giorgi’s DPM in Psychology. Husserl’s requirement of "Epoché," which involves eliminating prejudices from the minds of observers, is met through "concept cleaning," achieved by consistently sharing disciplinary concepts within their community of practice. Mean-while, the absence of subjective bias is ensured by the meticulous attention to detail in their professional expertise. Our approach shows promise in accurately assessing many other properties through detailed professional descriptions of the community of practice members.

Keywords: scientific rigour, descriptive phenomenological method, sedimentation of meanings, community of practice

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Authors: Brahim Ouzaka, Said Ouhadi

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Family businesses (FB) represent the oldest and most resilient form of organization. However, they are weakened by problems of entrepreneurial discontinuity. The objective of this paper is to analyze the problem of the succession of FBs created by senior entrepreneurs. This study analyzes and explores the constructs of senior entrepreneurship and the strategy and takeover policies of the Moroccan Family owned Small and Medium-Sized Businesses. Our main research question is formulated as follows: how does senior entrepreneurship promote the takeover of Moroccan family SMEs? So we aim through this study to analyze the challenge of the takeover of the FB created by senior entrepreneurs in order to explore and understand the specificities, choices and strategies as well as the reality of the takeover process among this category of senior entrepreneurs. After a review of the literature on the relationship between the constructs of senior entrepreneurship and the takeover of FBs, the empirical study will consist of an exploratory qualitative approach of 3 family SMEs created by senior entrepreneurs and subsequently transmitted to their descendants. This qualitative research serves to explore the choices, the strategies as well as the specificities of the entrepreneurial acts and processes of this category of entrepreneurs. The interviews were conducted with senior entrepreneurs and successors of three Moroccan family SMEs, focusing on the specificity of entrepreneurial actions and strategies in the case of SMEs launched by senior entrepreneurs and on the reality of the conduct and preparation of the takeover process, the methods of socialization and training of buyers in the context of these companies.

Keywords: senior entrepreneurship, family SME, family business, takeover

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Authors: Muhammad Feteha

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The socio-political Middle East scene has radically changed over the last decade, and one major contributor to this change was the Egyptian revolution of 2011. The massive impact of this revolution that originally started as a small protest in the Tahrir square has attracted more scholars to study the public space in Egypt, where it has become a necessity in order to understand and improve the socio-political conditions. The status of public space in Egypt has been deteriorating due to many reasons, including privatization and neglect. This paper studies one of the major problems of the contemporary public space in Cairo, which is the lack of identity. This takes place through a comparative analysis between selected case studies from both medieval and contemporary Cairo. The theoretical framework upon which the analysis is based views public space as a ‘container of social action’ and a ‘product of spatial practice’. Through the ‘deciphering of space’, differences in the socio-political role, symbolism, and identity of public spaces between both eras are shown. The paper aims to extract some lessons from public space in medieval Cairo, which was truly the ‘centerpiece of the public realm’ and a ‘fundamental expressions’ of the unique trans-dynastic architectural identity of Cairo. In addition, it suggests some strategies to revive the Cairene identity of public space instead of constructing new ones to be only ‘utilitarian spaces used for circulation’ and lack any identity.

Keywords: architectural identity, Cairene public space, Islamic architectural history, production of space

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Authors: Titin Handayani, Adi Mulyanto, Fajar Eko Priyanto

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It is generally recognized, that algae could be an interesting option for reducing CO₂ emissions. Based on light and CO₂, algae can be used for the production various economically interesting products. Current algae cultivation techniques, however, still present a number of limitations. Efficient feeding of CO₂, especially on a large scale, is one of them. Current methods for CO₂ feeding to algae cultures rely on the sparging pure CO₂ or directly from flue gas. The limiting factor in this system is the solubility of CO₂ in water, which demands a considerable amount of energy for an effective gas to liquid transfer and leads to losses to the atmosphere. Due to the current ineffective methods for CO₂ introduction into algae ponds very large surface areas would be required for enough ponds to capture a considerable amount of the CO₂. The purpose of this study is to assess technology to capture carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions generated by industry by utilizing of microalgae Chlorella sp. The microalgae were cultivated in a bioreactor culture pond raceway type. The result is expected to be useful in mitigating the effects of greenhouse gases in reducing the CO₂ emissions. The research activities include: (1) Characterization of boiler flue gas, (2) Operation of culture pond, (3) Sampling and sample analysis. The results of this study showed that the initial assessment absorption of the flue gas by microalgae using 1000 L raceway pond completed by heat exchanger were quite promising. The transfer of CO₂ into the pond culture system was run well. This identified from the success of cooling the boiler flue gas from the temperature of about 200 °C to below ambient temperature. Except for the temperature, the gas bubbles into the culture media were quite fine. Therefore, the contact between the gas and the media was well performed. The efficiency of CO₂ absorption by Chlorella sp reached 6.68 % with an average CO₂ loading of 0.29 g/L/day.

Keywords: Chlorella sp., CO2 emission, heat exchange, microalgae, milk industry, raceway pond

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Authors: Akbar Rostamabadi, Adel Mazloumi, Abbas Rahimi Foroushani

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This study aimed to determine the Work Ability Index (WAI) and examine the influence of health dimensions and demographic variables on the work ability of Iranian farmers working in small farm enterprises. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 294 male farmers. The WAI and SF-36 questionnaires were used to determine work ability and health status. The effect of demographics variables on the work ability index was investigated with the independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA. Also, multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the association between the mean WAI score and the SF-36 scales. The mean WAI score was 35.1 (SD=10.6). One-way ANOVA revealed a significant relationship between the mean WAI and age. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that work ability was more influenced by physical scales of the health dimensions, such as physical function, role-physical, and general health, whereas a lower association was found for mental scales such as mental health. The average WAI was at a moderate work ability level for the sample population of farmers in this study. Based on the WAI guidelines, improvement of work ability and identification of factors affecting it should be considered a priority in interventional programs. Given the influence of health dimensions on WAI, any intervention program for preservation and promotion work ability among the studied farmers should be based on balancing and optimizing the physical and psychosocial work environments, with a special focus on reducing physical work load.

Keywords: farmers, SF-36, Work Ability Index (WAI), Iran

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Authors: Ishaq Alhassan Meriga

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This study examined the phenomenon of mob violence and its implication for peace in Ghana. The study used the archival study of media reports and content analysis of other secondary data as well as eyewitness accounts. The study examined trends and patterns of vigilante violence within the Ghanaian context. Results showed a considerable increase in the occurrence of mob violence within the last 10 years. Theft and robbery emerged as the most frequently suspected crimes for which victims were attacked, while the LGBT community is not left out. Cases of mob violence were most frequently reported in urban areas. This study has shown that the patterns, scope, nature, and implication of mob justice in Ghana are fairly and comparatively similar to those found in other parts of Africa and the globe. Mob violence is identified as undermining the rule of law and thereby infringing on the fundamental human rights of the victims. It is confirmed to have a cycle of effects that is an impediment to the peace of the country. The study underscores the implications of mob violence in terms of disdaining human life and dignity, revisiting our justice systems and punishment procedures, resourcing, and empowering law enforcers to fight the menace of vigilantism. First, the archival study had a limitation regarding missing data. The majority of the cases used for the study lack information mostly on perpetrators and the steps taken by public authorities and security agencies after reports of a mob attack have been lodged with them. The study recommends for further research to be undertaken on the perpetrators and survivors of mob actions in order to get a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. This will give a more comprehensive view of the issue of mob violence in Ghana. From the findings, it can be concluded that mob justice is a social canker in Ghanaian communities, which has a great impact on the peace of the country.

Keywords: LGBT, mob justice, peace, vigilantism

Procedia PDF Downloads 86