Search results for: approach to local and institutional level

Authors: Arsalan Khan, Faisal Jamil

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The unprecedented increase in anthropogenic gases in recent decades has led to climatic changes worldwide. CO2 emissions are the most important factors responsible for greenhouse gases concentrations. This study decomposes the changes in overall CO2 emissions in Pakistan for the period 1990-2012 using Log Mean Divisia Index (LMDI). LMDI enables to decompose the changes in CO2 emissions into five factors namely; activity effect, structural effect, intensity effect, fuel-mix effect, and emissions factor effect. This paper confirms an upward trend of overall emissions level of the country during the period. The study finds that activity effect, structural effect and intensity effect are the three major factors responsible for the changes in overall CO2 emissions in Pakistan with activity effect as the largest contributor to overall changes in the emissions level. The structural effect is also adding to CO2 emissions, which indicates that the economic activity is shifting towards more energy-intensive sectors. However, intensity effect has negative sign representing energy efficiency gains, which indicate a good relationship between the economy and environment. The findings suggest that policy makers should encourage the diversification of the output level towards more energy efficient sub-sectors of the economy.

Keywords: energy consumption, CO2 emissions, decomposition analysis, LMDI, intensity effect

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Authors: Gregory Sullivan

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The evolution of global warming has escalated the number and complexity of forest fires around the world. As an example, the United States and Brazil combined generated more than 30,000 forest fires last year. The impact to our environment, structures and individuals is incalculable. The world has learned to try to take this in stride, trying multiple ways to contain fires. Some countries are trying to use cameras in limited areas. There are discussions of using hundreds of low earth orbit satellites and linking them together, and, interfacing them through ground networks. These are all truly noble attempts to defeat the forest fire phenomenon. But there is a better, simpler answer. A bigger piece of the solutions puzzle is to see the fires while they are small, soon after initiation. The approach is to see the fires while they are very small and report their location (latitude and longitude) to local first responders. This is done by placing a sensor at geostationary orbit (GEO: 26,000 miles above the earth). By placing this small satellite in GEO, we can “stare” at the earth, and sense temperature changes. We do not “see” fires, but “measure” temperature changes. This has already been demonstrated on an experimental scale. Fires were seen at close to initiation, and info forwarded to first responders. it were the first to identify the fires 7 out of 8 times. The goal is to have a small independent satellite at GEO orbit focused only on forest fire initiation. Thus, with one small satellite, focused only on forest fire initiation, we hope to greatly decrease the impact to persons, property and the environment.

Keywords: space detection, wildfire early warning, demonstration wildfire detection and action from space, space detection to first responders

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Authors: Lubica Hikkerova, Jean-Michel Sahut

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Environmental protection remains a global challenge but, since 2012, there has been a progressive decline in corporate engagement in environmental protection issues. This study seeks to investigate the role of financial capacity and governance in improving the level of environmental engagement of companies. The regression technique is applied to data on 351 large European companies from the ASSET4-ESG database for the 2007-2015 period. Firstly, the results show that the companies in the sample are fairly engaged in environmental protection, with a strong dispersion representing nearly four times the average. This means that the companies in the sample do not share the same level of engagement in matters of environmental protection, some being more committed than others. Secondly, the results reveal that the financial capacity of the company, as assessed through its indicators, has a significant effect on its level of environmental protection engagement in the present sample. This effect is more positive the higher the profits the company makes, and more negative the more heavily indebted or, the higher the rates of dividends it pays per share. Lastly, the results also show that a better quality of governance plays an important role in the decision to undertake actions leading to environmental protection. More specifically, the degree of management implication in the running of the business, the respect of the rights of the shareholders, the effectiveness of the control exerted by the board of directors, and, to a lesser extent, the independence of the audit committee, are variables which have a positive and significant influence on the level of environmental engagement of companies.

Keywords: financial capacity, corporate governance, environmental engagement, stakeholder theory, theory of organizational legitimacy, theory of resources and capabilities

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Authors: Xueqing Ivy Chen, Christo De Coning

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It is clear from practice that a gap exists between Result-Based Monitoring and Evaluation (RBME) as a discipline, and Knowledge Management (KM) on the other hand. Whereas various government departments have institutionalised these functions, KM and M&E has functioned in isolation from each other in a practical sense in the public sector. It’s therefore necessary to explore the relationship between KM and M&E and the necessity for integration, so that a convergence of these disciplines can be established. An integration of KM and M&E will lead to integration and improvement of evidence-based information and policy decision-making. M&E and KM process models are available but the complementarity between specific process steps of these process models are not exploited. A need exists to clarify the relationships between these functions in order to ensure evidence based information and policy decision-making. This paper will depart from the well-known policy process models, such as the generic model and consider recent on the interface between policy, M&E and KM.

Keywords: result-based monitoring and evaluation, RBME, knowledge management, KM, evident based decision making, public policy, information systems, institutional arrangement

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Authors: Fernando P. Silva, Valter J. S. Leite, Erivelton G. Nepomuceno

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In this paper, a nonlinear controller design for an omnidirectional mobile is presented. The robot controller consists of an inner-loop controller and an outer-loop controller, the first is designed using state feedback (robust allocation) and the second controller is designed based on Robust Multi Inversion (RMI) approach. The objective of RMI controller is rendering the robust inversion of the dynamic, when the model is affected by uncertainties. A model nonlinear MIMO of an omni-directional robot (small-league of Robocup) is used to simulate the RMI approach. The parameters of linear and nonlinear model are varied to cause modelling uncertainties among the model and the real model (real system) generating an error in inner-loop controller signal that must be compensated by RMI controller. The simulation test results show that the RMI is capable of compensating the uncertainties and keep the system stable and controlled under uncertainties.

Keywords: robust multi inversion, omni-directional robot, robocup, nonlinear control

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Authors: Kalpana Adhikari, Mandip Subedi, Keshab Sharma, Indra P. Acharya

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The Gorkha Nepal earthquake of moment magnitude (Mw) 7.8 struck the central region of Nepal on April 25, 2015 with the epicenter about 77 km northwest of Kathmandu Valley . Peak ground acceleration observed during the earthquake was 0.18g. This motion induced several geotechnical effects such as landslides, foundation failures liquefaction, lateral spreading and settlement, and local amplification. An aftershock of moment magnitude (Mw) 7.3 hit northeast of Kathmandu on May 12 after 17 days of main shock caused additional damages. Kathmandu is the largest city in Nepal, have a population over four million. As the Kathmandu Valley deposits are composed mainly of sand, silt and clay layers with a shallow ground water table, liquefaction is highly anticipated. Extensive liquefaction was also observed in Kathmandu Valley during the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake. Field investigations were carried out in Kathmandu Valley immediately after Mw 7.8, April 25 main shock and Mw 7.3, May 12 aftershock. Geotechnical investigation of both liquefied and non-liquefied sites were conducted after the earthquake. This paper presents observations of liquefaction and liquefaction induced damage, and the liquefaction potential assessment based on Standard Penetration Tests (SPT) for liquefied and non-liquefied sites. SPT based semi-empirical approach has been used for evaluating liquefaction potential of the soil and Liquefaction Potential Index (LPI) has been used to determine liquefaction probability. Recorded ground motions from the event are presented. Geological aspect of Kathmandu Valley and local site effect on the occurrence of liquefaction is described briefly. Observed liquefaction case studies are described briefly. Typically, these are sand boils formed by freshly ejected sand forced out of over-pressurized sub-strata. At most site, sand was ejected to agricultural fields forming deposits that varied from millimetres to a few centimeters thick. Liquefaction-induced damage to structures in these areas was not significant except buildings on some places tilted slightly. Boiled soils at liquefied sites were collected and the particle size distributions of ejected soils were analyzed. SPT blow counts and the soil profiles at ten liquefied and non-liquefied sites were obtained. The factors of safety against liquefaction with depth and liquefaction potential index of the ten sites were estimated and compared with observed liquefaction after 2015 Gorkha earthquake. The liquefaction potential indices obtained from the analysis were found to be consistent with the field observation. The field observations along with results from liquefaction assessment were compared with the existing liquefaction hazard map. It was found that the existing hazard maps are unrepresentative and underestimate the liquefaction susceptibility in Kathmandu Valley. The lessons learned from the liquefaction during this earthquake are also summarized in this paper. Some recommendations are also made to the seismic liquefaction mitigation in the Kathmandu Valley.

Keywords: factor of safety, geotechnical investigation, liquefaction, Nepal earthquake

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Authors: Rameshwar Singh Seema

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In today’s world where diabetes has become an epidemic, our aim was to potentiate the effect of probiotics by integrating probiotics with cereals to formulate composite foods using Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and Lactobacillus casei NCDC19 against type 2 diabetes. After optimizing the product by Response Surface Methodology, it was studied for their effect on induction and progression of type 2 diabetes in HFD-fed Wistar rats. After 9 weeks study, best results were shown by the group fed with oat and milk based product fermented with LGG and L. casei NCDC19 which resulted in a significant decrease in blood glucose, HBA1c, improved OGTT, oxidative stress, cholesterol and triglycerides level during progression study of type 2 diabetes. During induction study also, there was significant reduction in blood glucose level, oxidative stress, cholesterol level and triglycerides level but slightly less as compared to progression study. Real time PCR gene expression studies were done for 5 genes (GLUT-4, IRS-2, ppar-γ, TNF-α, IL-6) whose expression is directly related to type 2 diabetes. The relative fold change expression was increased in case of GLUT-4, IRS-2, ppar-γ and decreased in case of TNF-α and IL-6 during both induction and progression study of diabetes but more significantly during progression study. Hence it was concluded that oat and milk based probiotic fermented product showed the synergistic effect of probiotics and oats especially in case of progression of type 2 diabetes. The benefits of these probiotic formulations may be further validated by clinical trials.

Keywords: type 2 diabetes, LGG, L.casei NCDC19, food science

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Authors: Rita Gill Singh, Alex Chun Koon, Cindy Sing Bik Ngai, Joanna Wen Ying Ho, Mei Li Khong, Enoch Chan, Terrence Lau

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Although humour is viewed as a beneficial element in teaching, there has been little attempt to systematize humour in teaching, possibly because it is difficult to teach someone to be humorous. This study integrated planned humour pedagogical approach into teaching and learning activities and examined the effect of systematically planned humour on students’ engagement and learning in different courses. Specifically, appropriate types of humour (i.e. analogy, absurdity and wordplay) and incorporation methods and frequency were systematically integrated into the lessons of courses at some higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The results showed that the planned humour pedagogical approach increased student engagement, as well as enhanced learning and motivation while reducing students’ stress. The pedagogical implications of this study will be useful for researchers, practitioners, and educators.

Keywords: higher education, pedagogy, humour, student engagement, learning, motivation

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Authors: Qaisara Parveen, M. Imran Yousuf

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The purpose of this study was to find the effectiveness of the use of advance organizer model for enhancing meta-cognition of students in the subject of science. It was hypothesized that the students of experimental group taught through advance organizer model would show the better cognition than the students of control group taught through traditional teaching. The population of the study consisted of all secondary school students studying in government high school located in Rawalpindi. The sample of the study consisted of 50 students of 9th class of humanities group. The sample was selected on the basis of their pretest scores through matching, and the groups were randomly assigned for the treatment. The experimental group was taught through advance organizer model while the control group was taught through traditional teaching. The self-developed achievement test was used for the purpose of pretest and posttest. After collecting the pre-test score and post-test score, the data was analyzed and interpreted by use of descriptive statistics as mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics t-test. The findings indicate that students taught using advance organizers had a higher level of meta-cognition as compared to control group. Further, meta cognition level of boys was found higher than that of girls students. This study also revealed the fact that though the students at different meta-cognition level approached learning situations in a different manner, Advance organizer model is far superior to Traditional method of teaching.

Keywords: descriptive, experimental, humanities, meta-cognition, statistics, science

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Authors: Fatimah A. Alhomaid, Nadia H. Mahmoud, Maha A. Al-Qaraawi

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The present study was designed to induce hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) in elderly male and female rats. Also,to evaluate, the effect of (HHcy) as a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease and brain atrophy and folate supplementation on serum levels of Hcy, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), triglycerides, pyridoxal phosphate , folate also, histopathological examination of brain and cerebrovascular vessels In this work 50 male and 50 female elderly albino rats were used and divided into five groups. The first group served as control, the second and third group received two different dose of L-methionine, the fourth and fifth group received fortified diet with folate powder plus L-methionine. Our results showed that homocysteine levels in male and female rats that received low and high dose of methionine were higher than in the control group, while the levels of folate significantly decreased in male rats only. Induced hyperhomocysteinemia in elderly male and female rats led to significant increase in serum level of cholesterol, LDLc and triglycerides but serum level of HDLc were significantly lower in methionine treated male and female rats than in control. Our results showed that a strong positive correlation between all these parameters and homocysteine except HDLc levels which correlate negatively to Hcy levels. Administration of folate to methionine treated male rats led to insignificant changes in the level of cholesterol when compared to control group but this level was found to be significantly decrease in female rats received small dose of methionine. When the level of cholesterol compared to the same dose of methionine treated group we found a significant decrease in both male and female rats. LDLc and triglycerides level significantly decrease in male rats only versus the control rats, while when compared to low and high dose of methionine a significant decreased occurs. A significant increase in serum level of HDLc in male and female rats when compared to both control and methionine treated groups. In male and female rats supplemented with folate we found an increased serum levels of folate when compared to rats received both dose of methionine. The levels of pyridoxal phosphate significantly decreased in all treated rats compared to the control group and its level were increased with supplementation of folate versus the rats received small and large dose of methionine. It can be concluded that hyperhomocysteinemia may be an additional risk factor for cerebrovascular atherosclesosis and brain atrophy in elderly people and diatery supplementation with folate blocking the activity of homocysteine and may be considered as a therapeutic possibility.

Keywords: hyperhomocysteinemia, brain atrophy, cerebrovascular, L-methionine, pyridoxal phosphate

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Authors: Wen-Juinn Chen, Yi-Phei Chou, Jou-Han Wang

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Tainan coast is suffering from beach erosion, wave overtopping, and lowland flooding; though most of the shoreline has been protected by seawalls, they still threatened by sea level rise. For coastal resources developing, coastal land utilization, and to draft an appropriate mitigate strategy. Firstly; we must assess the impact of beach erosion under a different scenario of climate change. Here, we have used the meteorological data since 1898 to 2012 to prove that the Tainan area did suffer the impact of climate change. The result shows the temperature has been raised to about 1.7 degrees since 1989. Also, we analyzed the tidal data near the Tainan coast (Anpin site and Junjunn site), it shows sea level rising with a rate about 4.1~4.8 mm/year, this phenomenon will have serious impacts on Tainan coastal area, especially it will worsen coastal erosion. So we have used Bruun rule to calculate the shoreline retreated rate at every two decade period since 2012. Wave data and bottom sand diameter D50 were used to calculate the closure depth that will be used in Bruun formula and the active length of the profile is computed by the beach slope and Dean's equilibrium concept. After analysis, we found that in 2020, the shoreline will be retreated about 3.0 to 12 meters. The maximum retreat is happening at Chigu coast. In 2060, average shoreline retreated distance is 22m, but at Chigu and Tsenwen, shoreline may be backward retreat about 70m and will be reached about 130m at 2100, this will cause a lot of coastal land loss to the sea, protect and mitigate project must be quickly performed.

Keywords: sea level rise, shoreline, coastal erosion, climate change

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Authors: Shikha Gupta, Suneet Kathuria, Supriya Sampley, Sunil Katyal

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Opioids are being increasingly used these days as adjuvants to local anesthetics in spinal anesthesia. The aim of this prospective, randomized, double‑blind study is to compare the effects of adding sufentanil or fentanyl to low dose bupivacaine in spinal anesthesia for endoscopic urological procedures. A total of 90 elective endoscopic urological surgery patients, 40‑80 years old, received spinal anesthesia with 7.5 mg hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5% (Group A) or by adding sufentanil 10 μg (Group B) or fentanyl 25 μg (Group C) to 5 mg hyperbaric bupivacaine 0.5%. These groups were compared in terms of the quality of spinal anesthesia as well as analgesia. Analysis of variance and Chi‑square test were used for Statistical analysis. The onset of sensory and motor blockade was significantly rapid in Group A as compared with Groups B and C. The maximum upper level of sensory block was higher in Group A patients than Groups B and C patients. Quality of analgesia was significantly better and prolonged in sufentanil group as compared with other two groups. Motor block was more intense and prolonged in Group A as compared with Groups B and C patients. Request for post‑operative analgesic was significantly delayed in Group B patients. Hence in conclusions, spinal anesthesia for endoscopic urological procedures in elderly patients using low dose bupivacaine (5 mg) combined with 10 μg sufentanil is associated with a lower incidence of hemodynamic instability, better quality and prolonged duration as compared to that by adding 25 μg fentanyl.

Keywords: adjuvants, bupivacaine, fentanyl, intrathecal, low dose spinal, sufentanil

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Authors: Henriette van Rensburg, Betty Adcock

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Concern about the lack of knowledge of quality teaching and teacher retention in rural and remote areas of Australia, has caused academics to improve pre-service teachers’ understanding of this problem. The participants in this study were forty students enrolled in an undergraduate educational course (EDO3341 Teaching in rural and remote communities) at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba in 2012. This study involved an innovative case-based teaching approach in order to broaden their generally under-informed understanding of teaching in a rural and remote area. Three themes have been identified through analysing students’ critical reflections: learning expertise, case-based learning support and authentic learning. The outcomes identified the changes in pre-service teachers’ understanding after they have deepened their knowledge of the realities of teaching in rural and remote areas.

Keywords: rural and remote education, case based teaching, innovative education approach, higher education

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Authors: Meidesta Pitria, Akiko Okabe

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In high-density informal settlement, extension area at the outside of the houses could primarily happen as a spatial modification response. House extension in high-density informal settlement is not only becoming a physical spatial modification that makes a blur zone between private and public but also supporting the growth and existence of informal economy and other daily activities in both individuals and communities. This research took a case study in an informal settlement named Kampung Cikini, a densely populated area in Central Jakarta. The aim of this study is to identify and clarify house extension as a strategy in dealing with urbanization in an informal settlement. By using the perspective and information from housewives, the analysis is based on the assumption that land ownership transformation and the activities in house extension area influence the different kinds of house extension’s spatial modification and local planning policy in relation with the implementation of house extension strategy. The data collection was done in four sites, two sites are located in outer-wide alley and another two sites are located in inner-narrow alley. In this research, data of 104 housewives in 86 houses were collected through representatives of housewives and local leader of each sites. The research was started from participatory mapping process, deep interview with local leader, and initiated collaboration with housewives community in having a celebration as communal event to cultivate together the issue. This study shows that land ownership, activities, and alley are indispensable in the decision of extension space making. The more permanency status of land ownership the more permanent and various extension could be implemented. However, in some blocks, the existence of origin house or first land owner also has a significant role in coordination and agreement in using and modifying extension space. In outer-wide alley, the existence of more various activities in front area of the houses is significantly related with the chance given by having wider alley, particularly for informal income generating activities. In the inner-narrow alley, limited space in front of the houses affects more negotiations in the community for having more shared spaces, even inside their private space.

Keywords: house extension, housewives, informal settlement, kampung, high density

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Authors: Hyun-Woo Cho

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Detection of incipient abnormal events in production processes is important to improve safety and reliability of manufacturing operations and reduce losses caused by failures. The construction of calibration models for predicting faulty conditions is quite essential in making decisions on when to perform preventive maintenance. This paper presents a multivariate calibration monitoring approach based on the statistical analysis of process measurement data. The calibration model is used to predict faulty conditions from historical reference data. This approach utilizes variable selection techniques, and the predictive performance of several prediction methods are evaluated using real data. The results shows that the calibration model based on supervised probabilistic model yielded best performance in this work. By adopting a proper variable selection scheme in calibration models, the prediction performance can be improved by excluding non-informative variables from their model building steps.

Keywords: calibration model, monitoring, quality improvement, feature selection

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Authors: Kevin Smith

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Publicly traded company in the US are legally obligated to host earnings calls that discuss their most recent financial reports. During these calls, investors are able to ask these companies questions about these financial reports and on the future direction of the company. This paper examines whether common institutional owners use these calls as a way to indirectly signal to companies in their portfolio to not take actions that could hurt the common owner's interests. This paper uses transcripts taken from the earnings calls of the six largest health insurance companies in the US from 2014 to 2019. This data is analyzed using text analysis and sentiment analysis to look for patterns in the statements made by common owners. The analysis found that common owners where more likely to recommend against direct price competition and instead redirect the insurance companies towards more passive actions, like investing in new technologies. This result indicates a mechanism that common owners use to reduce competition in the health insurance market.

Keywords: common ownership, text analysis, sentiment analysis, machine learning

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Authors: Petrus Louis Nolte

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University sport in South Africa is not isolated from the complexity of globalization and professionalization of sport, as it forms an integral part of the sport development environment in South Africa. In order to align their sport programmes with global and professional requirements, several universities opted to develop elite sport programmes; recruit specialized personnel such as coaches, administrators and athletes; provide expert coaching; scientific and medical services; sports testing; fitness, technical and tactical expertise; sport psychological and rehabilitation support; academic guidance and career assistance; and student-athlete accommodation. In addition, universities provide administrative support and high-quality physical resources (training facilities) for the benefit of the overall South African sport system. Although it is not compulsory for universities to develop elite sport programmes to prepare their teams for competitions, elite competitions such as the annual Varsity Sport, University Sport South Africa (USSA) and local club competitions and leagues within university international competitions where universities not only compete but also deliver players for representative national netball teams. The aim of this study is therefore to describe the perceptions of players of the university elite netball programmes they were participating in. This study adopted a descriptive design with a quantitative approach, utilizing a self-structured questionnaire as research technique. As this research formed part of a national research project for NSA with a population of 172 national and provincial netball players, a sample of 92 university netball players from the population was selected. Content validity of the self-structured questionnaire was secured through a test-retest process, with construct validity through a member of the Statistical Consultation Services (STATCON) of the University of Johannesburg that provided feedback on the structural format of the questionnaire. Reliability was measured utilising Cronbach Alpha on p<0.005 level of significance. A reliability score of 0.87 was measured. The research was approved by the Board of Netball South Africa and ethical conduct implemented according to the processes and procedures approved by the Ethics Committees of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg with clearance number REC-01-30-2019. From the results it is evident that university elite netball programmes are professional, especially with regards to the employment of knowledgeable and competent coaches and technical officials such as team managers and sport sciences staff. These professionals have access to elite training facilities, support staff, and relatively large groups of elite players, all elements of an elite programme that could enhance the national federation’s (Netball South Africa) system. Universities could serve the dual purpose of serving as university netball clubs, as well as providing elite training services and facilities as performance hubs for national players.

Keywords: elite sport programmes, university netball, player experiences, Varsity Sport netball

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Authors: Jia-Lien Hsu, Chiung-Wen Chang

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Research articles may follow a simple and succinct structure of organizational patterns, called move. For example, considering extended abstracts, we observe that an extended abstract usually consists of five moves, including Background, Aim, Method, Results, and Conclusion. As another example, when publishing articles in PubMed, authors are encouraged to provide a structured abstract, which is an abstract with distinct and labeled sections (e.g., Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussions) for rapid comprehension. This paper introduces a method for computational analysis of move structures (i.e., Background-Purpose-Method-Result-Conclusion) in abstracts and introductions of research documents, instead of manually time-consuming and labor-intensive analysis process. In our approach, sentences in a given abstract and introduction are automatically analyzed and labeled with a specific move (i.e., B-P-M-R-C in this paper) to reveal various rhetorical status. As a result, it is expected that the automatic analytical tool for move structures will facilitate non-native speakers or novice writers to be aware of appropriate move structures and internalize relevant knowledge to improve their writing. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian approach to determine move tags for research articles. The approach consists of two phases, training phase and testing phase. In the training phase, we build a Bayesian model based on a couple of given initial patterns and the corpus, a subset of CiteSeerX. In the beginning, the priori probability of Bayesian model solely relies on initial patterns. Subsequently, with respect to the corpus, we process each document one by one: extract features, determine tags, and update the Bayesian model iteratively. In the testing phase, we compare our results with tags which are manually assigned by the experts. In our experiments, the promising accuracy of the proposed approach reaches 56%.

Keywords: academic English writing, assisted writing, move tag analysis, Bayesian approach

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Authors: Farhad Reyazat, Richard Werner

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This paper contributes to the existent literature by developing a framework that explains how to monitor potential threats to banking sector stability. The study explores structural vulnerabilities at the country level, but also look at bilateral exposures within a network context. The study contributes in analysing of the European banking systemic risk at aggregated level, which integrates the characteristics of bank size, and interconnectedness relative to the size of the economy which ultimate risk belong to, taking to account the concentration ratio of the banking industry within the whole economy. The nature of the systemic risk depends on the interplay of the network topology with the nature of financial transactions over the network, assets and buffer stemming from bank size, correlations, and the nature of the shocks to the financial system. The study’s results illustrate the contribution of banks’ size, size of economy and concentration of counterparty exposures to a given country’s banks in explaining its systemic importance, how much the banking network depends on a few traditional hubs activities and the changes of this dependencies over the last 9 years. The role of few of traditional hubs such as Swiss banks and British Banks and also Irish banks- where the financial sector is fairly new and grew strongly between 1990s till 2008- take the fourth position on 2014 reducing the relative size since 2006 where they had the first position. In-degree concentration index analysis in the study shows concentration index of banking network was not changed since financial crisis 2007-8. In-degree concentration index on first quarter of 2014 indicates that US, UK and Germany together, getting over 70% of the network exposures. The result of comparing the in-degree concentration index with 2007-4Q, shows the same group having over 70% of the network exposure, however the UK getting more important role in the hub and the market share of US and Germany are slightly diminished.

Keywords: systemic risk, counterparty risk, financial stability, interconnectedness, banking concentration, european banks risk, network effect on systemic risk, concentration risk

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Authors: Maria Janet, Anita David, P. Vijayasamundeeswarimaria

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Introduction: The main purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of web-based and blended learning on Paediatric Basic Life Support on competency among undergraduate nursing students in selected nursing colleges in Chennai. Materials and methods: A descriptive pre-test and post-test study design were used for this study. Samples of 100 Fourth year B.Sc., nursing students at Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Nursing SRIHER, Chennai, 100 Fourth year B.Sc., nursing students at Apollo College of Nursing, Chennai, were selected by purposive sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was Knowledge Questionnaire on Paediatric Basic Life Support (PBLS). It consists of 29 questions on the general expansion of Basic Life Support and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Prerequisites of Basic Life Support, and Knowledge on Paediatric Basic Life Support in which each question has four multiple choices answers, each right answer carrying one mark and no negative scoring. This questionnaire was formed with reference to AHA 2020 (American Heart Association) revised guidelines. Results: After the post-test, in the web-based learning group, 58.8% of the students had an inadequate level of objective performance score, while 41.1% of them had an adequate level of objective performance score. In the blended learning group, 26.5% of the students had an inadequate level of an objective performance score, and 73.4% of the students had an adequate level of an objective performance score. There was an association between the post-test level of knowledge and the demographic variables of undergraduate nursing students undergoing blended learning. The age was significant at a p-value of 0.01, and the performance of BLS before was significant at a p-value of 0.05. The results show that there was a significant positive correlation between knowledge and objective performance score of undergraduate nursing students undergoing web-based learning on paediatric basic life support.

Keywords: basic life support, paediatric basic life support, web-based learning, blended learning

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Authors: Nadiah Mohamad, Wan Samiati Andriana Wan Mohd Daud, M. Suhaimi Tohid, Mohd Fazli Othman, Mohamad Rizal Salleh

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This is a collaborative project of the mural art between The Department of Fine Art from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Petronas Dagangan Berhad (PDB), the most leading retailer and marketer of downstream oil and gas products in Malaysia. Five different states in the Peninsular of Malaysia that has been identified in showcasing the National Identity of Malaysia at each Petronas gas station, this also includes the Air Keroh in Melaka, Pasir Pekan in Kelantan, Pontian in Johor, Simpang Pulai in Perak, and also Wakaf Bharu in Terengganu. This project is to analyze the element of national identity that has been demonstrated at the Petronas's Mural. The ultimate aim of the mural is to let the community and local people to be aware about what Malaysians are consists and proud of and how everyone is able to connect with the idea through visual art. The method that is being explained in this research is by using visual data through research and also self-experience in collecting the visual data in identifying what images is considered as the national identity and idea development and visual analysis is being transferred based upon the visual data collection. In this stage, elements and principles of design will be the key in highlighting what is necessary for a work of art. In conclusion, visual image of the National Identity of Malaysia is able to connect to the audience from local and also to the people from outside the country to learn and understand the beauty and diversity of Malaysia as a unique country with art through the wall of five Petronas gas station.

Keywords: community, fine art, mural art, national identity

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Authors: Sabiha S. Marine, Nicole Flint, John Rolfe

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The Queensland state government introduced commercial gill net fishing closures in Cairns, Mackay, and Rockhampton in November 2015 to increase the recreational fishing opportunities, nature-based tourism, and economic benefits in these three regional areas. This management change is likely to improve the potential for more desirable stock structures through natural recruitment. Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) is one of the popular target fish for recreational and commercial fishers in Northern Australia. This investigation examines the effects of reduced commercial fishing from both biological and economic perspectives, particularly on the local Barramundi population of the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, the largest river catchment flowing to the eastern coast of Australia. Data on different parameters of biological and economic aspects have been collated from secondary sources for analysis through a system simulation approach to identify the effectiveness of the commercial netting closures on recreational fishing effort, especially for the Barramundi population. The results have the potential to explain certain consequences of the netting closures in Queensland, which could serve to inform future fisheries management decisions. The study output as a whole will help in the better management of fisheries resources by evaluating recreational fishing opportunities in Queensland, where the potential for increases in recreation is high.

Keywords: Barramundi, bioeconomic model, fishery management, recreational fishing

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Authors: Robyn Moloney, HuiLing Xu

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Many countries wish to produce Asia-literate citizens, through language education. International contexts of Chinese language education are seeking pedagogical innovation to meet local contextual factors frequently holding back learner success. In multicultural Australia, innovative pedagogy is urgently needed to support motivation in sustained study, with greater strategic integration of technology. This research took a qualitative approach to identify need and solutions. The paper analyses strategies that three secondary school teachers are adopting to meet specific challenges in the Australian context. The data include teacher interviews, classroom observations and student interviews. We highlight the use of task-based learning and differentiated teaching for multilevel classes, and the role which digital technologies play in facilitating both areas. The strategy examples are analysed in reference both to a research-based framework for describing quality teaching, and to current understandings of motivation in language learning. The analysis of data identifies learning featuring deep knowledge, higher-order thinking, engagement, social support, utilisation of background knowledge, and connectedness, all of which work towards the learners having a sense of autonomy and an imagination of becoming an adult Chinese language user.

Keywords: Chinese pedagogy, digital technologies, motivation, secondary school

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Authors: Weichao Yu, Kai Wen, Weihe Huang, Yang Yang, Jing Gong

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Metal-loss corrosion is a major threat to the safety and integrity of gas pipelines as it may result in the burst failures which can cause severe consequences that may include enormous economic losses as well as the personnel casualties. Therefore, it is important to ensure the corroding pipeline integrity and efficiency, considering the value of wall thickness, which plays an important role in the failure probability of corroding pipeline. Actually, the wall thickness is controlled during pipe purchase stage. For example, the API_SPEC_5L standard regulates the allowable tolerance of the wall thickness from the specified value during the pipe purchase. The allowable wall thickness tolerance will be used to determine the wall thickness distribution characteristic such as the mean value, standard deviation and distribution. Taking the uncertainties of the input variables in the burst limit-state function into account, the reliability approach rather than the deterministic approach will be used to evaluate the failure probability. Moreover, the cost of pipe purchase will be influenced by the allowable wall thickness tolerance. More strict control of the wall thickness usually corresponds to a higher pipe purchase cost. Therefore changing the wall thickness tolerance will vary both the probability of a burst failure and the cost of the pipe. This paper describes an approach to optimize the wall thickness tolerance considering both the safety and economy of corroding pipelines. In this paper, the corrosion burst limit-state function in Annex O of CSAZ662-7 is employed to evaluate the failure probability using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. By changing the allowable wall thickness tolerance, the parameters of the wall thickness distribution in the limit-state function will be changed. Using the reliability approach, the corresponding variations in the burst failure probability will be shown. On the other hand, changing the wall thickness tolerance will lead to a change in cost in pipe purchase. Using the variation of the failure probability and pipe cost caused by changing wall thickness tolerance specification, the optimal allowable tolerance can be obtained, and used to define pipe purchase specifications.

Keywords: allowable tolerance, corroding pipeline segment, operation cost, production cost, reliability approach

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Authors: Rose Shayeghi, Pejman Hosseinioun

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During the academic year of 2014-2015, a needs analysis was conducted in four major universities of Iran to assess the present and target situation academic language needs of undergraduate students of geology. Participants included undergraduate students (N = 102), graduate students (N = 47), subject-specific teachers (N = 12), and ESAP teachers (N = 20). Instrumentation included four needs analysis questionnaires, self-assessment and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that, despite some inconsistencies in participants’ perceptions, ‘reading subject specific texts’, ‘knowledge of general vocabulary’, ‘using bilingual technical dictionaries’, and ‘writing e-mails to teachers and field experts’ were perceived as either ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to students’ success by all the participants. Moreover, the findings revealed that undergraduate students’ General English Proficiency (GEP) level was generally lower than what is required in the EAP courses. The findings of the study can have implications for improving and renewing EAP courses under study.

Keywords: ESP, EAP, needs analysis, triangulation, geology

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Authors: Katie E. Jennings

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The interactions between family dynamics and environmental factors with mental health vulnerability in individuals are well known and are a theme for on-going research and debate. The impact upon mental health issues and forensic issues on family dynamics, experience, and emotional wellbeing cannot be over-Emphasised. For forensic patients with diagnosed mental disorders, these relationships and environments may have also been functionally linked to the development and maintenance of those disorders; with significant adverse childhood experiences being a common feature of many Patient’s histories. Mental health hospitals remove the patient from their home environments and provide treatment outside of these relationships and often outside of the home area. There is, therefore, a major focus on Services ensuring that patients are able to build and maintain relationships with family and friends, requiring services to involve families in Patients' care and treatment wherever possible. There are standards set by Government and clinical bodies that require absolute demonstration of the inclusion of family and friends in all aspects of the care and treatment of forensic patients. For some patients and family members, this push to take on a “role” in care can be unhelpful, extremely stressful, and has constant implications for the potential delicate reparation of relationships. Based on work undertaken for over 20 years in forensic mental health settings, this paper explores the positive psychology approach to a dimensional model to family inclusion in mental health care that learns from family court work and allows for the maintenance of relationships to be at both proximal and Distil levels; to prevent the replication of abuse, decrease the need for falsehoods and assist the recovery of all. The model is based on allowing families to choose to not be involved or be involved in different ways if this is seen to be more helpful. It also allows patients to choose the level of potential involvement that they would find helpful, and for this to be reviewed at a timeframe agreed by all parties, rather than when the next survey is due or the patient has a significant care meeting. This paper is significant as there is a lack of research to support services to use a positive psychology approach to work in this area, the assumption that being asked to be involved must be positive for all seems naïve at best for this patient group. Work relating to the psychology of family can significantly contribute to the development of knowledge in this area. The development of a dimensional model will support choice within families and assist in the development of more honest and open relationships.

Keywords: family dynamics, forensic, mental disorder, positive psychology

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Authors: Archana Sharma, Vijayashree Nayak, Ashok Kumar

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Three-dimensional matrices were fabricated from blend of natural-natural polymers like carrageenan-gelatin and synthetic -natural polymers such as PEG- gelatin (PEG of different molecular weights (2,000 and 6,000) using two different crosslinkers; glutaraldehyde and EDC-NHS by cryogelation technique. Blends represented a feasible approach to design 3-D scaffolds with controllable mechanical, physical and biochemical properties without compromising biocompatibility and biodegradability. These matrices possessed interconnected porous structure, good mechanical strength, biodegradable nature, constant swelling kinetics, ability to withstand high temperature and visco-elastic behavior. Hemocompatibility of cryogel matrices was determined by coagulation assays and hemolytic activity assay which demonstrated that these cryogels have negligible effects on coagulation time and have excellent blood compatibility. In vitro biocompatibility (cell-matrix interaction) inferred good cell adhesion, proliferation, and secretion of ECM on matrices. These matrices provide a microenvironment for the growth, proliferation, differentiation and secretion of ECM of different cell types such as IMR-32, C2C12, Cos-7, rat bone marrow derived MSCs and human bone marrow MSCs. Hoechst 33342 and PI staining also confirmed that the cells were uniformly distributed, adhered and proliferated properly on the cryogel matrix. An ideal scaffold used for tissue engineering application should allow the cells to adhere, proliferate and maintain their functionality. Neurotransmitter analysis has been done which indicated that IMR-32 cells adhered, proliferated and secreted neurotransmitters when they interacted with these matrices which showed restoration of their functionality. The cell-matrix interaction up to molecular level was also evaluated so to check genotoxicity and protein expression profile which indicated that these cryogel matrices are non-genotoxic and maintained biofunctionality of cells growing on these matrices. All these cryogels, when implanted subcutaneously in balb/c mice, showed no adverse systemic or local toxicity effects at implantation site. There was no significant increase in inflammatory cell count has otherwise been observed after scaffold implantation. These cryogels are supermacroporous and this porous structure allows cell infiltration and proliferation of host cells. This showed the integration and presence of infiltrated cells into the cryogel implants. Histological analysis confirmed that the implanted cryogels do not have any adverse effect in spite of host immune system recognition at the site of implantation, on its surrounding tissues and other vital host organs. In vivo biocompatibility study after in vitro biocompatibility analysis has also concluded that these synthesized cryogels act as important biological substitutes, more adaptable and appropriate for transplantation. Thus, these cryogels showed their potential for soft tissue engineering applications.

Keywords: cryogelation, hemocompatibility, in vitro biocompatibility, in vivo biocompatibility, soft tissue engineering applications

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Authors: Rabia Göçmen, Gülşah Kanbur, Sinan Sefa Parlat

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Aim of this study is to determine the effects of cellular insulin receptor stimulators on performance, plasma glucose, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), total cholesterol, triglyceride, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) hormone levels, and incubation features in the breeding Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica). In the study, a total of 84 breeding quails was used, 6 weeks’ age, 24 are male and 60, female. Rations used in experiment are 2900 kcal/kg metabolic energy and 20% crude protein. Water pH is calibrated to 7.45. Ration and water were administered ad-libitum to the animals. As metformin source, metformin-HCl was used and as chrome resource, chromium picolinate was used. Trial groups were formed as control group (basal ration), metformin group (basal ration, added metformin at the level of feed of 20 mg/kg), and chromium picolinate (basal ration, added feed of 1500 ppb Cr) group. When regarded to the results of performance at the end of experiment, it is seen that live weight gain, feed consumption, egg weight, feed conversion ratio (Feed consumption/ egg weight), and egg production were affected at the significant level (p < 0.05). When the results are evaluated in terms of incubation features, hatchability and hatchability of fertile egg ratio were not affected from the treatments. Fertility ratio was significantly affected by metformin and chromium picolinate treatments and fertility rose at the significant level compared to control group (p < 0.05). According to results of experiment, plasma glucose level was not affected by metformin and chromium picolinate treatments. Plasma, total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and triglyceride levels were significantly affected from insulin receptor stimulators added to ration (p < 0.05). Hormone level of Plasma T3 and T4 were also affected at the significant level from insulin receptor stimulators added to ration (p < 0.05).

Keywords: chromium picolinate, cholesterol, hormone, metformin, quail

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Authors: Erika Mattio

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The aim of this project is to study the Chinese presence in Ethiopia, in the area between the Saba River and the Coptic areas of the Tigray, with detailed documentation of the Danakil region, from which the salt pickers caravans departed; the study was created to understand the relationships and consequences of the Chinese advance in these areas, inhabited by tribes linked to ancient, still practiced religious rituals, and home to unique landscapes and archaeological sites. Official estimates of the number of Chinese in Africa vary widely; on the continent, there are increasingly diverse groups of Chinese migrants in terms of language, dialect, class, education, and employment. Based on this and on a very general state of the art, it was decided to increase the studies on this phenomenon, focusing the attention on one of the most interesting countries for its diversity, cultural wealth, and for strong Chinese presence: Ethiopia. The study will be integrated with interdisciplinary investigation methods, such as landscape archeology, historiographic research, participatory anthropology, geopolitics, and cultural anthropology and ethnology. There are two main objectives of the research. The first is to predict what will happen to these populations and how the territory will be modified, trying to monitor the growth of infrastructure in the country and the effects it will have on the population. Risk analyzes will be carried out to understand what the foreign presence may entail, such as the absence of sustenance for local populations, the ghettoization of foreigners, unemployment of natives and the exodus of the population to the capital; the relationships between families and the local population will be analyzed, trying to understand the dynamics of socialization and interaction. Thanks to the use of GIS, the areas affected by the Chinese presence will be geo-referenced and mapped, delimiting the areas most affected and creating a risk analysis, both in desert areas and in archaeologically and historically relevant areas. The second point is to document the life and rituals of Ethiopian populations in order not to lose the aspects of uniqueness that risk being lost. Local interviews will collect impressions and criticisms from the local population to understand if the Chinese presence is perceived as a threat or as a solution. Furthermore, Afar leaders in the Logya area will be interviewed, in truly exclusive research, to understand their links with the foreign presence. From the north, along the Saba river, we will move to the northwest, in the Tigray region, to know the impressions in the Coptic area, currently less threatened by the Chinese presence but still affected by urbanization proposals. There will also be documented the Coptic rituals of Gennà and Timkat, unique expressions of a millennial tradition. This will allow the understanding of whether the Maoist presence could influence the religious rites and forms of belief present in the country, or the country will maintain its cultural independence.

Keywords: Ethiopia, GIS, risk perceptions, salt caravans

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Authors: G. Salavwa, P. Erhijakpor Jr., H. Ukwu

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This study will explore child labour issues in Nigeria because it is capable of affecting the physical and general well-being of children who perform hazardous work. This feat will be achieved through qualitative research methodology. Data collection shall be elicited by oral interviews and documental content analysis to delve on the application of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), International Labour Organization ILO and Geneva Convention relating to child labour practices in Nigeria. This will include the relevance of present domestic laws relating to child labour as implemented in Nigeria, together with factors that contribute to the practice of child labour in the country. The oral interview data analysis will be performed by breaking the interview data into significant statements and themes. This shall be done by comparing and determining the commonalities that are prevalent in the participants’ views regarding child labour menace in Nigeria. Presumably, findings from this study shall unveil that a poor educational policy, a widespread poverty level which is mostly prevalent amongst families in the rural areas of the country, a lack of employment for adults, have led to the ineffectiveness of the local child labour laws in Nigeria. These has in turn culminated into a somewhat non-implementation of the international laws of the CRC, ILO and Geneva Declaration on child labour to which the Nigerian government is a signatory. Based on the finding, this study will calls on the government of Nigeria to extend its free educational policy from the elementary, secondary to tertiary educations. The government also has to ensure that offenders of children’s rights should face a severe punishment.

Keywords: commonalities, tertiary, constitution, qualitative

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