Search results for: impact of agroforestry

Authors: Ehsan Soleymaninejadian

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As the field of immunology is growing day by day, and its chaotic system amazes more people, greed of research in this area is growing; however dealing with human or mammalian cells such as mice make the research expensive. Although there are some differences between higher animals with insects, importance of innate immunity during evolution made it untouched. So, for understanding the innate immunity insects can be good models. They are cheap; reproduction is fast and in the case genetics, less complicated. In this review, we tried to briefly tackle with important factors in insects’ innate immunity such as melanization, encapsulation, JAK-STAT, IMD, and Toll pathways. At the end, we explained how hormones and nerve system also can impact on immune system and make it more beautiful. In concluding remarks, the possibility of taking help from insect immune system to fight against diseases such as cancer has been considered.

Keywords: insects, innate immunity, melanization, intracellular pathways, hormones

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Authors: Murtaza Hassan Sheikh, Ahmed A. A. AlSaleh, Naser H. N. Jasem

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Kuwait has not yet made its mark in the world of technology and research. Therefore, advancements have been made to fill in this gap. Since Robotics covers a wide variety of fields and helps innovation, efforts have been made to promote its education. Despite of the efforts made in Kuwait, robotics education is still on hold. The paper discusses the issues and obstacles in the implementation of robotics education in Kuwait and how a robotics kit “E-Robot” is making an impact in the Kuwait’s future education and innovation. Problems such as robotics competitions rather than education, complexity of robot programming and lack of organized open source platform are being addressed by the introduction of the E-Robot Kit in Kuwait. Due to its success since 2012 a total of 15 schools have accepted the Kit as a core subject, with 200 teaching it as an extracurricular activity.

Keywords: robotics education, Kuwait's education, e-robot kit, research and development, innovation and creativity

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Authors: Michael Subbey, Kwame Takyi Danquah

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Finding a child's exceptional skills and abilities at a young age and nurturing them is a challenging process. The Social Learning Theory (SLT) of Albert Bandura is used to analyze the effects of early talent identification on children's growth and development. The study examines both the advantages and disadvantages of early talent identification and stresses the significance of a moral strategy that puts the welfare of the child first. The paper emphasizes the value of a balanced approach to early talent identification that takes into account individual differences, cultural considerations, and the child's social environment.

Keywords: early talent development, social learning theory, child development, child welfare

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Authors: Nijanthan Mohan, Rolf Gross, Fabian Theis

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The conventional method used in the construction industries often resulted in significant rework since most of the decisions were taken onsite under the pressure of project deadlines and also due to the improper information flow, which results in ineffective coordination. However, today’s architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) stakeholders demand faster and accurate deliverables, efficient buildings, and smart processes, which turns out to be a tall order. Hence, the building information modelling (BIM) concept was developed as a solution to fulfill the above-mentioned necessities. Even though BIM is successfully implemented in most of the world, it is still in the early stages in Germany, since the stakeholders are sceptical of its reliability and efficiency. Due to the huge capital requirement, the small and medium-sized construction companies are still reluctant to implement BIM workflow in their projects. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the opportunities and obstacles to implementing BIM for prefabrication. Among all other advantages of BIM, pre-fabrication is chosen for this paper because it plays a vital role in creating an impact on time as well as cost factors of a construction project. The positive impact of prefabrication can be explicitly observed by the project stakeholders and participants, which enables the breakthrough of the skepticism factor among the small scale construction companies. The analysis consists of the development of a process workflow for implementing prefabrication in building construction, followed by a practical approach, which was executed with two case studies. The first case study represents on-site prefabrication, and the second was done for off-site prefabrication. It was planned in such a way that the first case study gives a first-hand experience for the workers at the site on the BIM model so that they can make much use of the created BIM model, which is a better representation compared to the traditional 2D plan. The main aim of the first case study is to create a belief in the implementation of BIM models, which was succeeded by the execution of offshore prefabrication in the second case study. Based on the case studies, the cost and time analysis was made, and it is inferred that the implementation of BIM for prefabrication can reduce construction time, ensures minimal or no wastes, better accuracy, less problem-solving at the construction site. It is also observed that this process requires more planning time, better communication, and coordination between different disciplines such as mechanical, electrical, plumbing, architecture, etc., which was the major obstacle for successful implementation. This paper was carried out in the perspective of small and medium-sized mechanical contracting companies for the private building sector in Germany.

Keywords: building information modelling, construction wastes, pre-fabrication, small and medium sized company

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Authors: Opemiposi Adegbulu

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The research investigates the existence of a public interest consideration or rationale for the management of directors’ conflicts of interest within large public corporations. This is conducted through extensive literature review and theories on the definition of conflicts of interest, the firm and purposes of the fiduciary duty of loyalty under which the management of these conflicts of interest find their foundation. Conflicts of interest is an elusive, diverse and engaging subject, a cross-cutting problem of governance which involves all levels of governance, ranging from local to global, public to corporate or financial sectors. It is a common issue that affects corporate governance and corporate culture, having a negative impact on the reputation of corporations and their trustworthiness. It is clear that addressing this issue is imperative for good governance of corporations as they are increasingly becoming and are powerful global economies with significant power and influence in the society. Similarly, the bargaining power of these powerful corporations has been recognised by international organisations such as the UN and the OECD. This is made evident by the increasing calls and push for greater responsibility of these corporations for environmental and social disasters caused by their corporate activities and their impact in various parts of the world. Equally, in the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act like other legislation and regulatory efforts made to manage conflicts of interest linked to corporate governance, in many countries indicates that there is a (global) public interest in the maintenance of the orderly functioning of commerce. Consequently, the governance of these corporations is tremendously pivotal to the society as it touches upon a key aspect of the good functioning of society. This is because corporations, particularly large international corporations can be said to be the plumbing of the global economy. This study will employ theoretical, doctrinal and comparative methods. The research will make use largely of theory-guided methodology and theoretical framework – theories of the firm, public interest, regulation, conflicts of interest in general, directors’ conflicts of interest and corporate governance. Although, the research is intended to be narrowed down to the topic of conflicts of interest in corporate governance, the subject of company directors’ duty of loyalty and the management of conflicts of interest, an examination of the history, origin and typology of conflicts of interest in general will be carried out in order to identify some specific challenges to understanding and identifying these conflicts of interest; origin, diverging theories, psychological barrier to definition, similarities with public sector conflicts of interest due to the notions of corrosion of trust, the effect on decision-making and judgment, “being in a particular kind of situation”, etc. The result of this research will be useful and relevant in the identification of the rationale for the management of directors’ conflicts of interest, contributing to the understanding of conflicts of interest in the private sector and the significance of public interest in corporate governance of large corporations.

Keywords: conflicts of interest, corporate governance, corporate law, directors duty of loyalty, public interest

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Authors: Yudo Prasetyo, Hana Sugiastu Firdaus, Diyanah Diyanah

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The phenomenon of the lack of clean water supply in several big cities in Indonesia is a major problem in the development of urban areas. Moreover, in the city of Semarang, the population density and growth of physical development is very high. Continuous and large amounts of underground water (aquifer) exposure can result in a drastically aquifer supply declining in year by year. Especially, the intensity of aquifer use in the fulfilment of household needs and industrial activities. This is worsening by the land subsidence phenomenon in some areas in the Semarang city. Therefore, special research is needed to know the spatial correlation of the impact of decreasing aquifer capacity on the land subsidence phenomenon. This is necessary to give approve that the occurrence of land subsidence can be caused by loss of balance of pressure on below the land surface. One method to observe the correlation pattern between the two phenomena is the application of remote sensing technology based on radar and optical satellites. Implementation of Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DINSAR) or Small Baseline Area Subset (SBAS) method in SENTINEL-1A satellite image acquisition in 2014-2017 period will give a proper pattern of land subsidence. These results will be spatially correlated with the aquifer-declining pattern in the same time period. Utilization of survey results to 8 monitoring wells with depth in above 100 m to observe the multi-temporal pattern of aquifer change capacity. In addition, the pattern of aquifer capacity will be validated with 2 underground water cavity maps from observation of ministries of energy and natural resources (ESDM) in Semarang city. Spatial correlation studies will be conducted on the pattern of land subsidence and aquifer capacity using overlapping and statistical methods. The results of this correlation will show how big the correlation of decrease in underground water capacity in influencing the distribution and intensity of land subsidence in Semarang city. In addition, the results of this study will also be analyzed based on geological aspects related to hydrogeological parameters, soil types, aquifer species and geological structures. The results of this study will be a correlation map of the aquifer capacity on the decrease in the face of the land in the city of Semarang within the period 2014-2017. So hopefully the results can help the authorities in spatial planning and the city of Semarang in the future.

Keywords: aquifer, differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DINSAR), land subsidence, small baseline area subset (SBAS)

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Authors: Shiva Ebrahimian Dehaghani, Afsaneh Doosti, Morteza Zare

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Background: There is no consensus regarding the association between dysphagia and cognition. Purpose: The aim of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the available evidence on the direction and strength of association between dysphagia and cognition. Methodology: PubMed, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science were searched about the association between dysphagia and cognition. A random-effects model was used to determine weighted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the impact of each individual study on the pooled results. Results: A total of 1427 participants showed that some cognitive disorders were significantly associated with dysphagia (OR = 3.23; 95% CI, 2.33–4.48). Conclusion: The association between cognition and swallowing disorders suggests that multiple neuroanatomical systems are involved in these two functions.

Keywords: adult, association, cognitive impairment, dysphagia, systematic review

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Authors: Ainura Kairanbayeva

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Currently, the issue of maintaining the operational condition of highways at the required level is acute in Kazakhstan. The impact of landslides on the state of the road industry in Kazakhstan has been poorly studied. This article presents the classification of natural hazards and examines the influence of atmospheric natural processes on the operational condition of the sections of the highway "Ayusai–Kosmostantsia" passing along the mountain slopes of the Trans-Ili Alatau. According to the results of field studies, multi-turn reflected cracks have been identified, this is also due to the fact that the base of the road is made of a sand-gravel mixture and is not treated with reinforcing additives and the actual density of the asphalt concrete pavement is below regulatory requirements.

Keywords: building materials and products, construction of highways and engineering structures, construction processes, displacements of the earth's surface, geodynamic processes

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Authors: Mike Wei, Mario Cedillo, Jiahui Lin, Carol Lorraine Storey-Johnson, Carla Boutin-Foster

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Purpose: The extent to which health insurance enrollment succeeds under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) rests heavily on the ability to reach the uninsured and motivate them to enroll. We sought to identify perceptions about the ACA among uninsured patients at a free clinic in New York City. Background: The ACA holds tremendous promise for reducing the number of uninsured Americans. As of April 2014, nearly 8 million people had signed up for health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Despite this early success, future and continued enrollment rests heavily on the degree of public awareness. Reaching eligible individuals and increasing their awareness and understanding remains a fundamental challenge to realizing the full potential of the ACA. Reaching out to uninsured patients who are seeking care through safety net facilities such as free clinics may provide important avenues for reaching potential enrollees. This project focuses on the experience at the free clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College, the Weill Cornell Community Clinic (WCCC), and seeks to understand perceptions about the ACA among its patient population. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of all patients who visited the free clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College, the Weill Cornell Community Clinic, from July 2013 to May 2014. Patients who provided informed consent at their visit and completed a semi-structured questionnaire were included (N=62). The questionnaire comprised of questions about demographic characteristics and open-ended questions about their knowledge and perception of the impact of the ACA. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the population demographics. Qualitative coding techniques were used for open-ended items. Results: Approximately one third of patients surveyed never had health insurance. Of the remaining 65%, 20% lost their insurance within the past year. Only 55% had heard about the ACA, and only 10% knew about the Health Benefits Exchange. Of those who had heard about the ACA, sentiments were tinged with optimistic misperceptions, such as “it will be free health care for all.” While optimistic, most of the responses focused on the economic implications of the ACA. Conclusions: These findings reveal the immense amount of misconception and lack of understanding with regards to the ACA. As such, the study highlights the need to educate and address the concerns of those who remain skeptical or uncertain about the implications of the ACA.

Keywords: Affordable Care Act, demographics, free clinics, underserved.

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Authors: Olusegun A. Afolabi, Ndivhuwo Ndou

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Composite material is an important area that has gained global visibility in many research fields in recent years. Composite material is the combination of separate materials with different properties to form a single material having different properties from the parent materials. Material composition and combination is an important aspect of composite material. The focus of this study is to provide insight into an easy way of calculating the compositions and formulations of constituent materials that make up any composite material. The compositions of the matrix and filler used for fabricating composite materials are taken into consideration. From the composite fabricated, data can be collected and analyzed based on the test and characterizations such as tensile, flexural, compression, impact, hardness, etc. Also, the densities of the matrix and the filler with regard to their constituent materials are discussed.

Keywords: composite material, density, filler, matrix, percentage weight, volume fraction

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Authors: Hector Valverde Martínez

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In this text, the application possibilities of developments in MR are explored as an element within the museographic space that affects the visitor-museum relationship to satisfy the needs of knowledge and recreation that visitors have to improve the experience. The emphasis points out the way in which it is thinking from the digital to understand the possibilities in the design of museum experiences, and are analyzed the strategies used inside and outside the museum space are exemplified from the use of MR and their impact on the visitors' experience to reach different levels of depth of knowledge in an exhibition; the exploration of limits in the creation of atmospheres that allow visitors to feel immersed in a completely different reality from the one they live to better understand the topics addressed in the exhibition, and strategies that are used to encourage museum audiences to actively participate and extend the experience of the museum beyond its walls.

Keywords: mixed realities, experience, visitor, museums

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Authors: Rifky Cahya Putra

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At this time of corona makes some countries affected difficult. As a result, many traders or companies are difficult to work in this pandemic era. So human activities in some fields must implement a new lifestyle or known as new normal. The transition from the one activity to another certainly requires high adaptation. So that almost in all sectors experience the impact of this phase, on of which is the wedding organizer. This research aims to find out what strategies are used so that the company can run in this pandemic. Techniques in data collection in the form interview to the owner of the wedding organizer and his team. Data analysis qualitative descriptive use interactive model analysis consisting of three main things, namely data reduction, data presentaion, and conclusion. For the result of the interview, the conclusion is that there are three strategies consisting of social media, sponsorship, and promotion.

Keywords: strategy, wedding organizer, pandemic, indonesia

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Authors: Shwiri Eshwa Chumbow

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This research paper explores the contribution of legal translation in conflict resolution with a specific focus on the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. The Anglophone Crisis, which emerged from grievances concerning language and legal systems, has underscored the importance of accurate and culturally sensitive legal translation services. Using documentary research and case study analysis, this paper examines the impact of translation (or lack thereof) on conflict resolution and proposes translation-related solutions to resolve the conflict and promote peace. The findings highlight the critical role of (legal) translation in bridging linguistic and cultural gaps, facilitating dialogue, and fostering understanding in conflict resolution processes.

Keywords: anglophone crisis, Cameroon, conflict resolution, francophone, legal translation, translation

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Authors: Juan P. Novoa, Mario A. Rios

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This paper presents a transmission planning methodology that considers the conversion of HVAC transmission lines to HVDC as an alternative of expansion of power systems, as a consequence of restrictions for the construction of new lines. The transmission expansion planning problem formulates an optimization problem that minimizes the total cost that includes the investment cost to convert lines from HVAC to HVDC and possible required reinforcements of the power system prior to the conversion. The costs analysis assesses the impact of the conversion on the reliability because transmission lines are out of service during the conversion work. The presented methodology is applied to a test system considering a planning a horizon of 10 years.

Keywords: transmission expansion planning, HVDC, cost optimization, energy non-supplied

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Authors: Abdullah S. Alghamdi, Khaled Alghamdi, Richard O. Jenkins, Parvez I. Haris

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Background: Physical activity is an important factor in the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Reduction in HbA1c level, an important diabetes biomarker, was reported in patients who increased their daily physical activity. Although the ambient temperature was reported to be positively correlated to a negative impact on health and increase the incidences of diabetes, the exposure to bright sunlight was recently found to be associated with enhanced insulin sensitivity and improved beta-cell function. How Ramadan alters physical activity, and especially sunlight exposure, has not been adequately investigated. Aim: This study aimed to assess the physical activity and sun exposure of Saudis with T2DM over different periods (before, during, and after Ramadan) and related this to HbA1c levels. Methods: This study recruited 82 Saudis with T2DM, who chose to fast during Ramadan, from the Endocrine and Diabetic Centre of Al Iman General Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ethical approvals for this study were obtained from De Montfort University and Saudi Ministry of Health. Physical activity and sun exposure were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. Physical activity was estimated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), while the sun exposure was assessed by asking the patients about their hours per week of direct exposure to the sun, and daily hours spent outdoors. Blood samples were collected in each period for measuring HbA1c. Results: Low physical activity was observed in more than 60% of the patients, with no significant changes between periods. There were no significant variances between periods in the daily hours spent outdoors and the total number of weekly hours of direct exposure to the sun. The majority of patients reported only few hours of exposure to the sun (1h or less per week) and time spent outdoors (1h or less per day). The mean HbA1c significantly changed between periods (P = 0.001), with lowest level during Ramadan. There were significant differences in the mean HbA1c between the groups for the level of physical activity (P < 0.001), with significant lower mean HbA1c in the higher-level group. There were no significant variances in the mean of HbA1c between the groups for the daily hours spent outdoors. The mean HbA1c of the patients, who reported never in their total weekly hours of exposure to the sun, was significantly lower than the mean HbA1c of those who reported 1 hour or less (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Physical inactivity was prevalent among the study population with very little exposure to the sun or time spent outdoors. Higher level of physical activity was associated with lower mean HbA1c levels. Encouraging T2DM patients to achieve the recommended levels of physical activity may help them to obtain greater benefits of Ramadan fasting, such as reducing their HbA1c levels. The impact of low direct exposure to the sun and the time spent outdoors needs to be further investigated in both healthy and diabetic patients.

Keywords: diabetes, fasting, physical activity, sunlight, Ramadan

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Authors: Ainia Nurul Aqida

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Lead is one of the sources of air pollution. The use of lead on motor vehicle fuels resulted in the increasing contamination of lead in the air. The polluted air that has been inhaled by many people, especially guards and sellers of retail gasoline filling stations. The impact is increased levels of lead in blood. One result is an increase in blood pressure that causes hypertension. This research would like to know the relationship between blood lead levels in the incidence of hypertension in Indonesia. The method used in this study is a systematic review of the three journals have been published in the year 2007 to the year 2010 with the total sample is 312 samples. Odd ratio values obtained in the first article was OR = 6.50 pvalue = 0.000, CI = 95 % (2.89 to 14.60), and the second article was obtained OR 2.619 (95 % CI: 0.944 to 7.625) pvalue = 0.028, and the third article was obtained 0.002 r = 0.324 R2 = 10.5 %. Over all, there is a relationship between blood lead levels with the incidence of hypertension in Indonesia.

Keywords: lead, blood, air pollution, hypertension

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Authors: Samuel Marínez González

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In the last decades, the studies about humor have been increasing significantly in all areas. In the field of education and, specially, in the second language teaching, most research has concentrated on the beneficial effects that the introduction of humor in the process of teaching and learning a foreign language, as well as its impact on teachers and students. In the following research, we will try to know the learners’ perspectives about humor and its use in the Spanish as a Foreign Language classes. In order to do this, a different range of students from the Spanish courses at the University of Cape Town will participate in a survey that will reveal their beliefs about the frequency of humor in their daily lives and their Spanish lessons, their reactions to humorous situations, and the main advantages or disadvantages, from their point of view, to the introduction of humor in the teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language.

Keywords: education, foreign languages, humor, pedagogy, Spanish as a Foreign Language, students’ perceptions

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Authors: Saeid Doaei

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The various studies have examined the relationship between FTO gene expression and macronutrients levels. In order to obtain better viewpoint from this interactions, all of the existing studies were reviewed systematically. All published papers have been obtained and reviewed using standard and sensitive keywords from databases such as CINAHL, Embase, PubMed, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane, from 1990 to 2016. The results indicated that all of 6 studies that met the inclusion criteria (from a total of 428 published article) found FTO gene expression changes at short-term follow-ups. Four of six studies found an increased FTO gene expression after calorie restriction, while two of them indicated decreased FTO gene expression. The effect of protein, carbohydrate and fat were separately assessed and suggested by all of six studies. In conclusion, the level of FTO gene expression in hypothalamus is related to macronutrients levels. Future research should evaluate the long-term impact of dietary interventions.

Keywords: obesity, gene expression, FTO, macronutrients

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Authors: Ulemu Maseko

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This study critically examines the empowerment of Muslim women in Malawi, focusing on the Muslim Women’s Organization (MWO) and its impact on gender equality within Islamic communities. It explores MWO's interpretation of Islamic women's rights, the stereotypes Muslim women face, and the factors limiting their rights. Utilizing qualitative methods, including interviews, focus groups, and participant observations, the research adopts phenomenological and feminist frameworks. Findings indicate that since its establishment in 1985, MWO has significantly advocated for gender equality by leveraging Islamic teachings and policy to support women’s empowerment, enabling Muslim women to participate in social change. However, entrenched cultural traditions, patriarchal structures, and systemic poverty remain barriers to empowerment.

Keywords: Islam, women empowerment, Malawi, Islamic feminism

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Authors: Alexis Piedrahita, Ludi Valencia, Aura Gutierrez

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The migration crisis that is currently being experienced in the world is a continuous phenomenon that has had solutions in form but not in substance, violating the international humanitarian law of people who are in transit through countries foreign to their roots, especially women of age reproductive, this has caused different governments and organizations worldwide to meet around this problem to define concise actions to protect the rights of migrant women in the world. This research compiles the stories of migrant women who arrive in Colombia seeking better opportunities, such as accessibility to comprehensive and quality health services, including primary health care. This is the gateway to the offer of health promotion and disease prevention services.

Keywords: accessibility, primary health care, sexual and reproductive health, sustainable development goals, women migrant

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Authors: Zenebu Adere Tola

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Informal settlements behave dynamically over space and time and the number of people living in such housing areas is growing worldwide. In the cities of developing countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa, poverty, unemployment rate, poor living condition, lack transparency and accountability, lack of good governance are the major factors to contribute for the people to hold land informally and built houses for residential or other purposes. In most of Ethiopian cities informal settlement is highly seen in peripheral areas this is because people can easily to hold land for housing from local farmers, brokers, speculators without permission from concerning bodies. In Adama informal settlement has created risky living conditions and led to environmental problems in natural areas the main reason for this was the lack of sufficient knowledge about informal settlement development. On the other side there is a strong need to transform informal into formal settlements and to gain more control about the actual spatial development of informal settlements. In another hand to tackle the issue it is at least very important to understand the scale of the problem. To understand the scale of the problem it is important to use up-to-date technology. For this specific problem, it is good to use high-resolution imagery to detect informal settlement in Adama city. The main objective of this study is to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics and environmental impacts of informal settlement using OBIA. Specifically, the objective of this study is to; identify informal settlement in the study area, determine the change in the extent and pattern of informal settlement and to assess the environmental and social impacts of informal settlement in the study area. The methods to be used to detect the informal settlement is object-oriented image analysis. Consequently, reliable procedures for detecting the spatial behavior of informal settlements are required in order to react at an early stage to changing housing situations. Thus, obtaining spatial information about informal settlement areas which is up to date is vital for any actions of enhancement in terms of urban or regional planning. Using data for this study aerial photography for growth and change of informal settlements in Adama city. Software ECognition software for classy to built-up and non-built areas. Thus, obtaining spatial information about informal settlement areas which is up to date is vital for any actions of enhancement in terms of urban or regional planning.

Keywords: informal settlement, change detection, environmental impact, object based analysis

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Authors: Adji Achmad Rinaldo Fernandes

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Regression analysis is a statistical method that is able to describe and predict causal relationships between individuals. Not all relationships have a known curve shape; often, there are relationship patterns that cannot be known in the shape of the curve; besides that, a cause can have an impact on more than one effect, so that between effects can also have a close relationship in it. Regression analysis that can be done to find out the relationship can be brought closer to the semiparametric regression of truncated spline biresponse. The purpose of this study is to examine the function estimator and determine the best model of truncated spline biresponse semiparametric regression. The results of the secondary data study showed that the best model with the highest order of quadratic and a maximum of two knots with a Goodness of fit value in the form of Adjusted R2 of 88.5%.

Keywords: biresponse, farmer attachment, farmer loyalty, truncated spline

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Authors: Ishara Madusanka, So Morikawa

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Natural disasters, particularly floods, pose severe challenges globally, affecting both developed and developing countries. In many regions, especially Asia, riverine floods are prevalent and devastating. Integrated flood management incorporates structural and non-structural measures, with preventive relocation emerging as a cost-effective and proactive strategy for areas repeatedly impacted by severe flooding. However, preventive relocation is often hindered by economic, psychological, social, and institutional barriers. This study investigates the factors influencing resistance to preventive relocation and evaluates the role of flood risk information in shaping relocation decisions through risk perception. A conceptual model was developed, incorporating variables such as Flood Risk Information (FRI), Place Attachment (PA), Good Living Conditions (GLC), and Adaptation to Flooding (ATF), with Flood Risk Perception (FRP) serving as a mediating variable. The research was conducted in Welipitiya in the Polwatta river basin, Matara district, Sri Lanka, a region experiencing recurrent flood damage. For this study, an experimental design involving a structured questionnaire survey was utilized, with 185 households participating. The treatment group received flood risk information, including flood risk maps and historical data, while the control group did not. Data were collected in 2023 and analyzed using independent sample t-tests and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM was chosen for its ability to model latent variables, handle complex relationships, and suitability for exploratory research. Multi-group Analysis (MGA) assessed variations across different flood risk areas. Findings indicate that flood risk information had a limited impact on flood risk perception and relocation decisions, though its effect was significant in specific high-risk areas. Place attachment was a significant factor influencing relocation decisions across the sample. One potential reason for the limited impact of flood risk information on relocation decisions could be the lack of specificity in the information provided. The results suggest that while flood risk information alone may not significantly influence relocation decisions, it is crucial in specific contexts. Future studies and practitioners should focus on providing more detailed risk information and addressing psychological factors like place attachments to enhance preventive relocation efforts.

Keywords: flood risk communication, flood risk perception, place attachment, preventive relocation, structural equation modeling

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Authors: Sylvain Perrin, Thomas Saillour

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The Grande-Motte port and seafront development project on the French Mediterranean coastline entailed evaluating wave impact loads (pressures and forces) on the new beach seawall and comparing the resulting scour potential at the base of the existing and new seawall. A physical model was built at ARTELIA’s hydraulics laboratory in Grenoble (France) to provide insight into the evolution of scouring overtime at the front of the wall, quasi-static and impulsive wave force intensity and distribution on the wall, and water and sand overtopping discharges over the wall. The beach was constituted of fine sand and approximately 50 m wide above mean sea level (MSL). Seabed slopes were in the range of 0.5% offshore to 1.5% closer to the beach. A smooth concrete structure will replace the existing concrete seawall with an elevated curved crown wall. Prior the start of breaking (at -7 m MSL contour), storm-driven maximum spectral significant wave heights of 2.8 m and 3.2 m were estimated for the benchmark historical storm event dated of 1997 and the 50-year return period storms respectively, resulting in 1 m high waves at the beach. For the wave load assessment, a tensor scale measured wave forces and moments and five piezo / piezo-resistive pressure sensors were placed on the wall. Light-weight sediment physical model and pressure and force measurements were performed with scale 1:18. The polyvinyl chloride light-weight particles used to model the prototype silty sand had a density of approximately 1 400 kg/m3 and a median diameter (d50) of 0.3 mm. Quantitative assessments of the seabed evolution were made using a measuring rod and also a laser scan survey. Testing demonstrated the occurrence of numerous impulsive wave impacts on the reflector (22%), induced not by direct wave breaking but mostly by wave run-up slamming on the top curved part of the wall. Wave forces of up to 264 kilonewtons and impulsive pressure spikes of up to 127 kilonewtons were measured. Maximum scour of -0.9 m was measured for the new seawall versus -0.6 m for the existing seawall, which is imputable to increased wave reflection (coefficient was 25.7 - 30.4% vs 23.4 - 28.6%). This paper presents a methodology for the setup and operation of a physical model in order to assess the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic processes at a beach seawall during storms events. It discusses the pros and cons of such methodology versus others, notably regarding structures peculiarities and model effects.

Keywords: beach, impacts, scour, seawall, waves

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Authors: Cristian F.T. Montenegro, Luís F. N. Lourenço, Maurício B. C. Salles, Renato M. Monaro

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More PV systems have been connected to the electrical network each year. As the number of PV systems increases, some issues affecting grid operations have been identified. This paper studied the impacts related to changes in solar irradiance on a distribution/sub-transmission network, considering variations due to moving clouds and daily cycles. Using MATLAB/Simulink software, a solar farm of 30 MWp was built and then implemented to a test network. From simulations, it has been determined that irradiance changes can have a significant impact on the grid by causing voltage fluctuations outside the allowable thresholds. This work discussed some local control strategies and grid reinforcements to mitigate the negative effects of the irradiance changes on the grid.

Keywords: reactive power control, solar irradiance, utility-scale PV systems, voltage fluctuations

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Authors: Oscar E. Cariceo

Abstract:

In Chile, there is a lack of evidence about the impact of polyvictimization on the emergence of suicidal thoughts among children and young people. Thus, this study aims to explore the association between the episodes of polyvictimization suffered by Chilean children and young people and the manifestation of signs related to suicidal tendencies. To achieve this purpose, secondary data from the First Polyvictimization Survey on Children and Adolescents of 2017 were analyzed, and a binomial logistic regression model was applied to establish the probability that young people are experiencing suicidal ideation episodes. The main findings show that women between the ages of 13 and 15 years, who are in seventh grade and second in subsidized schools, are more likely to express suicidal ideas, which increases if they have suffered different types of victimization, particularly physical violence, psychological aggression, and sexual abuse.

Keywords: Chile, polyvictimization, suicidal ideation, youth

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Authors: Philip Semaha, Zhongfang Lei, Ziwen Zhao, Sen Liu, Zhenya Zhang, Kazuya Shimizu

Abstract:

The increasing generation of saline wastewater through various industrial activities is becoming a global concern for activated sludge (AS) based biological treatment which is widely applied in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). As for the AS process, an increase in wastewater salinity has negative impact on its overall performance. The advent of conventional aerobic granular sludge (AGS) or bacterial AGS biotechnology has gained much attention because of its superior performance. The development of algal-bacterial AGS could enhance better nutrients removal, potentially reduce aeration cost through symbiotic algae-bacterial activity, and thus, can also reduce overall treatment cost. Nonetheless, the potential of salt stress to decrease biomass growth, microbial activity and nutrient removal exist. Up to the present, little information is available on saline wastewater treatment by algal-bacterial AGS. To the authors’ best knowledge, a comparison of the two AGS systems has not been done to evaluate nutrients removal capacity in the context of salinity increase. This study sought to figure out the impact of salinity on the algal-bacterial AGS system in comparison to bacterial AGS one, contributing to the application of AGS technology in the real world of saline wastewater treatment. In this study, the salt concentrations tested were 0 g/L, 1 g/L, 5 g/L, 10 g/L and 15 g/L of NaCl with 24-hr artificial illuminance of approximately 97.2 µmol m¯²s¯¹, and mature bacterial and algal-bacterial AGS were used for the operation of two identical sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) with a working volume of 0.9 L each, respectively. The results showed that salinity increase caused no apparent change in the color of bacterial AGS; while for algal-bacterial AGS, its color was progressively changed from green to dark green. A consequent increase in granule diameter and fluffiness was observed in the bacterial AGS reactor with the increase of salinity in comparison to a decrease in algal-bacterial AGS diameter. However, nitrite accumulation peaked from 1.0 mg/L and 0.4 mg/L at 1 g/L NaCl in the bacterial and algal-bacterial AGS systems, respectively to 9.8 mg/L in both systems when NaCl concentration varied from 5 g/L to 15 g/L. Almost no ammonia nitrogen was detected in the effluent except at 10 g/L NaCl concentration, where it averaged 4.2 mg/L and 2.4 mg/L, respectively, in the bacterial and algal-bacterial AGS systems. Nutrients removal in the algal-bacterial system was relatively higher than the bacterial AGS in terms of nitrogen and phosphorus removals. Nonetheless, the nutrient removal rate was almost 50% or lower. Results show that algal-bacterial AGS is more adaptable to salinity increase and could be more suitable for saline wastewater treatment. Optimization of operation conditions for algal-bacterial AGS system would be important to ensure its stably high efficiency in practice.

Keywords: algal-bacterial aerobic granular sludge, bacterial aerobic granular sludge, Nutrients removal, saline wastewater, sequencing batch reactor

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Authors: Ravinder Kataria, Jatinder Kumar, B. S. Pabla

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Ultrasonic machining is one of the most widely used non-traditional machining processes for machining of materials that are relatively brittle, hard, and fragile such as advanced ceramics, refractories, crystals, quartz etc. Present article has been targeted at investigating the impact of different experimental conditions (power rating, cobalt content, tool material, thickness of work piece, tool geometry, and abrasive grit size) on over cut in ultrasonic drilling of WC-Co composite material. Taguchi’s L-36 orthogonal array has been employed for conducting the experiments. Significant factors have been identified using analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. The experimental results revealed that abrasive grit size and tool material are most significant factors for over cut.

Keywords: ANOVA, abrasive grit size, Taguchi, WC-Co, ultrasonic machining

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Authors: Pappas Theodoros, Mihail Diakomihalis

Abstract:

Measuring the economic impact of tourism in a benchmark economy is a global concern, with previous measurements being partial and not fully integrated. Tourism is a phenomenon that requires individual consumption of visitors and which should be observed and measured to reveal, thus, the overall contribution of tourism to an economy. The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) is a critical tool for assessing the annual growth of tourism, providing reliable measurements. This article introduces a system of TSA information that encompasses all the works of the TSA, including input, storage, management, and analysis of data, as well as additional future functions and enhances the efficiency of tourism data management and TSA collection utility. The methodology and results presented offer insights into the development and implementation of TSA.

Keywords: tourism satellite account, information system, data-based tourist account, relation database

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Authors: Zoe Boon Suan Loy

Abstract:

An exploratory research undertaken in 2000 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic examined the changing roles of Singapore school leaders as they lead teachers in developing future-ready learners. While it is evident that ‘LEADER’ qualities epitomize the knowledge, competencies, and skills required, recent events in an increasing VUCA and BANI world characterized by massively disruptive Ukraine -Russian war, unabating tense US-Sino relations, issues related to sustainability, and rapid ageing will have an impact on school leadership. As an increasingly complex endeavour, this requires a relook as they lead teachers in nurturing holistically-developed future-ready students. Digitalisation, new technology, and the push for a green economy will be the key driving forces that will have an impact on job availability. Similarly, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, including ChatGPT, will aggravate and add tremendous stress to the work of school leaders. This paper seeks to explore the key school leadership shifts required beyond the ‘LEADER’ qualities as school leaders respond to the changes, challenges, and opportunities in the 21st C new normal. The research findings for this paper are based on an exploratory qualitative study on the perceptions of 26 school leaders (vice-principals) who were attending a milestone educational leadership course at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. A structured questionnaire is designed to collect the data, which is then analysed using coding methodology. Broad themes on key competencies and skills of future-ready leaders in the Singapore education system are then identified. Key Findings: In undertaking their leadership roles as leaders of future-ready learners, school leaders need to demonstrate the ‘LEADER’ qualities. They need to have a long-term view, understand the educational imperatives, have a good awareness of self and the dispositions of a leader, be effective in optimizing external leverages and are clear about their role expectations. These ‘LEADER’ qualities are necessary and relevant in the post-Covid era. Beyond this, school leaders with ‘LEADER’ qualities are well supported by the Ministry of Education, which takes cognizance of emerging trends and continually review education policies to address related issues. Concluding Statement: Discussions within the education ecosystem and among other stakeholders on the implications of the use of artificial intelligence and ChatGPT on the school curriculum, including content knowledge, pedagogy, and assessment, are ongoing. This augurs well for school leaders as they undertake their responsibilities as leaders of future-ready learners.

Keywords: Singapore education system, ‘LEADER’ qualities, school leadership, future-ready leaders, future-ready learners

Procedia PDF Downloads 72