Search results for: Western countries

Authors: M. Chukhryaeva, R. Skhalyakho, J. Kagazegeva, E. Pocheshkhova, L. Yepiskopossyan, O. Balanovsky, E. Balanovska

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The Middle East is crossroad of different populations at different times. The Kurds are of particular interest in this region. Historical sources suggested that the origin of the Kurds is associated with Medes. Therefore, it was especially interesting to compare gene pool of Kurds with other supposed descendants of Medes-Tats. Yezidis are ethno confessional group of Kurds. Yezidism as a confessional teaching was formed in the XI-XIII centuries in Iraq. Yezidism has caused reproductively isolation of Yezidis from neighboring populations for centuries. Also, isolation helps to retain Yezidian caste system. It is unknown how the history of Yezidis affected its genу pool because it has never been the object of researching. We have examined the Y-chromosome variation in Yezidis and Kurdish males to understand their gene pool. We collected DNA samples from 90 Yezidi males and 24 Kurdish males together with their pedigrees. We performed Y-STR analysis of 17 loci in the samples collected (Yfiler system from Applied Biosystems) and analysis of 42 Y-SNPs by real-time PCR. We compared our data with published data from other Kurdish groups and from European, Caucasian, and West Asian populations. We found that gene pool of Yezidis contains haplogroups common in the Middle East (J-M172(xM67,M12)- 24%, E-M35(xM78)- 9%) and in South Western Asia (R-M124- 8%) and variant with wide distribution area - R-M198(xM458- 9%). The gene pool of Kurdish has higher genetic diversity than Yezidis. Their dominants haplogroups are R-M198- 20,3 %, E-M35- 9%, J-M172- 9%. Multidimensional scaling also shows that the Kurds and Yezidis are part of the same frontier Asian cluster, which, in addition, included Armenians, Iranians, Turks, and Greeks. At the same time, the peoples of the Caucasus and Europe form isolated clusters that do not overlap with the Asian clusters. It is noteworthy that Kurds from our study gravitate towards Tats, which indicates that most likely these two populations are descendants of ancient Medes population. Multidimensional scaling also reveals similarity between gene pool of Yezidis, Kurds with Armenians and Iranians. The analysis of Yezidis pedigrees and their STR variability did not reveal a reliable connection between genetic diversity and caste system. This indicates that the Yezidis caste system is a social division and not a biological one. Thus, we showed that, despite many years of isolation, the gene pool of Yezidis retained a common layer with the gene pool of Kurds, these populations have common spectrum of haplogroups, but Yezidis have lower genetic diversity than Kurds. This study received primary support from the RSF grant No. 16-36-00122 to MC and grant No. 16-06-00364 to EP.

Keywords: gene pool, haplogroup, Kurds, SNP and STR markers, Yezidis

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Authors: B. Grygalewicz, R. Woroniecka, J. Rygier, K. Borkowska, A. Labak, B. Nowakowska, B. Pienkowska-Grela

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Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common form of adult leukemia in the Western world. Hemizygous and or homozygous loss at 13q14 occur in more than half of cases and constitute the most frequent chromosomal abnormality in CLL. It is believed that deletions 13q14 play a role in CLL pathogenesis. Two microRNA genes miR-15a and miR- 16-1 are targets of 13q14 deletions and plays a tumor suppressor role by targeting antiapoptotic BCL2 gene. Deletion size, as a single change detected in FISH analysis, has haprognostic significance. Patients with small deletions, without RB1 gene involvement, have the best prognosis and the longest overall survival time (OS 133 months). In patients with bigger deletion region, containing RB1 gene, prognosis drops to intermediate, like in patients with normal karyotype and without changes in FISH with overall survival 111 months. Aim: Precise delineation of 13q14 deletions regions in two groups of CLL patients, with mono- and biallelic deletions and qualifications of their prognostic significance. Methods: Detection of 13q14 deletions was performed by FISH analysis with CLL probe panel (D13S319, LAMP1, TP53, ATM, CEP-12). Accurate deletion size detection was performed by CGH Haematological Cancer and SNP array (8x60K). Results: Our investigated group of CLL patients with the 13q14 deletion, detected by FISH analysis, comprised two groups: 18 patients with monoallelic deletions and 18 patients with biallelic deletions. In FISH analysis, in the monoallelic group the range of cells with deletion, was 43% to 97%, while in biallelic group deletion was detected in 11% to 94% of cells. Microarray analysis revealed precise deletion regions. In the monoallelic group, the range of size was 348,12 Kb to 34,82 Mb, with median deletion size 7,93 Mb. In biallelic group discrepancy of total deletions, size was 135,27 Kb to 33,33 Mb, with median deletion size 2,52 Mb. The median size of smaller deletion regions on one copy chromosome 13 was 1,08 Mb while the average region of bigger deletion on the second chromosome 13 was 4,04 Mb. In the monoallelic group, in 8/18 deletion region covered RB1 gene. In the biallelic group, in 4/18 cases, revealed deletion on one copy of biallelic deletion and in 2/18 showed deletion of RB1 gene on both deleted 13q14 regions. All minimal deleted regions included miR-15a and miR-16-1 genes. Genetic results will be correlated with clinical data. Conclusions: Application of CGH microarrays technique in CLL allows accurately delineate the size of 13q14 deletion regions, what have a prognostic value. All deleted regions included miR15a and miR-16-1, what confirms the essential role of these genes in CLL pathogenesis. In our investigated groups of CLL patients with mono- and biallelic 13q14 deletions, patients with biallelic deletion presented smaller deletion sizes (2,52 Mb vs 7,93 Mb), what is connected with better prognosis.

Keywords: CLL, deletion 13q14, CGH microarrays, SNP array

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Authors: Balogun R. Ayodeji, Adefisan E. Adesanya, Adeyewa Z. Debo, E. C. Okogbue

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The need to investigate diurnal weather circles in West Africa is coined in the fact that complex interactions often results from diurnal weather patterns. This study investigates diurnal circles of wind, rainfall and convective properties using six (6) hour interval data from the ERA-Interim and the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM). The seven distinct zones, used in this work and classified as rainforest (west-coast, dry, Nigeria-Cameroon), Savannah (Nigeria, and Central Africa and South Sudan (CASS)), Sudano-Sahel, and Sahel, were clearly indicated by the rainfall pattern in each zones. Results showed that the land‐ocean warming contrast was more strongly sensitive to seasonal cycle and has been very weak during March-May (MAM) but clearly spelt out during June-September (JJAS). Dipoles of wind convergence/divergence and wet/dry precipitation, between CASS and Nigeria Savannah zones, were identified in morning and evening hours of MAM, whereas distinct night and day anomaly, in the same location of CASS, were found to be consistent during the JJAS season. Diurnal variation of convective properties showed that stratiform precipitation, due to the extremely low occurrence of flashcount climatology, was dominant during morning hours for both MAM and JJAS than other periods of the day. On the other hand, diurnal variation of the system sizes showed that small system sizes were most dominant during the day time periods for both MAM and JJAS, whereas larger system sizes were frequent during the evening, night, and morning hours. The locations of flashcount and system sizes agreed with earlier results that morning and day-time hours were dominated by stratiform precipitation and small system sizes respectively. Most results clearly showed that the eastern locations of Sudano and Sahel were consistently dry because rainfall and precipitation features were predominantly few. System sizes greater than or equal to 800 km² were found in the western axis of the Sudano and Sahel zones, whereas the eastern axis, particularly in the Sahel zone, had minimal occurrences of small/large system sizes. From the results of locations of extreme systems, flashcount greater than 275 in one single system was never observed during the morning (6Z) diurnal, whereas, the evening (18Z) diurnal had the most frequent cases (at least 8) of flashcount exceeding 275 in one single system. Results presented had shown the importance of diurnal variation in understanding precipitation, flashcount, system sizes patterns at diurnal scales, and understanding land-ocean contrast, precipitation, and wind field anomaly at diurnal scales.

Keywords: convective properties, diurnal circle, flashcount, system sizes

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Authors: Golyasamin Khanehzaei, Mohd. Bakri Ishak, Ahmad Makmom Hj Abdullah, Latifah Abd Manaf

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Abstract—Management of clinical waste is a critical problem worldwide. Immediate attention is required to manage the clinical waste in an appropriate way in newly developing economy country such as Malaysia. The increasing amount of clinical waste generated is resulted from rapid urbanization and growing number of private health care facilities in developing countries such as Malaysia. In order to develop a sensible clinical waste management system and improvement of the management, information on factors affecting clinical waste generation has the crucial role. This paper is the study of management characteristics of clinical waste and the level of efficiency of clinical waste management systems operating in private clinics located in Selangor, Malaysia. Are they following the proper international standards? By taking all of this in consideration the aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the current trend, current challenges and also the present opportunities among the challenges of clinical waste management in private clinics of Selangor, Malaysia. The SWOT analysis was characterized for the evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The methodology for this study was constituted of direct observation, Informal interviews, Conducting SWOT analysis, conduction of one sustainability dimensions analysis and application. The results show that clinical waste management in private clinics is far from an ideal model.

Keywords: clinical waste, SWOT analysis, Selangor, Malaysia

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Authors: Pawan Kumar Pant, Bhanu Gupta, S. R. Kale, S. V. Veeravalli

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In many countries, buses are the principal means of transport, of which a majority are naturally ventilated with open windows. The design of this ventilation has little scientific basis and to address this problem a study has been undertaken involving both experiments and numerical simulations. The flow pattern inside and around of an open window bus with passengers has been investigated in detail. A full scale three-dimensional numerical simulation has been used for a) a bus with closed windows and b) with open windows. In either simulation, the bus had 58 seated passengers. The bus dimensions used were 2500 mm wide × 2500 mm high (exterior) × 10500 mm long and its speed was set at 40 km/h. In both cases, the flow separates at the top front edge forming a vortex and reattaches close to the mid-length. This attached flow separates once more as it leaves the bus. However, the strength and shape of the vortices at the top front and wake region is different for both cases. The streamline pattern around the bus is also different for the two cases. For the bus with open windows, the dominant airflow inside the bus is from the rear to the front of the bus and air velocity at the face level of the passengers was found to be 1/10th of the free stream velocity. These findings are in good agreement with flow visualization experiments performed in a water channel at 10 m/s, and with smoke/tuft visualizations in a wind tunnel with a free-stream velocity of approximately 40 km/h on a 1:25 scaled Perspex model.

Keywords: air flow, moving bus, open windows, vortex, wind tunnel

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Authors: Sarah Vuningoma, Maria Rosa Lorini, Wallace Chigona

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The potential of mobile phones is evident in their ability to address isolation and loneliness, support the improvement of interpersonal relations, and contribute to the facilitation of assimilation processes. Mobile phones can play a role in facilitating the integration of refugees into a new environment. This study aims to evaluate the impact of mobile phone use on helping refugees navigate the challenges posed by cultural differences in the host country. Semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data for the study, involving a sample size of 27 participants. Participants in the study were refugees based in South Africa, and thematic analysis was the chosen method for data analysis. The research highlights the numerous challenges faced by refugees in their host nation, including a lack of local cultural skills, the separation of family and friends from their countries of origin, hurdles in acquiring legal documentation, and the complexities of assimilating into the unfamiliar community. The use of mobile phones by refugees comes with several advantages, such as the advancement of language and cultural understanding, seamless integration into the host country, streamlined communication, and the exploration of diverse opportunities. Concurrently, mobile phones allow refugees in South Africa to manage the impact of culture shock.

Keywords: mobile phones, culture shock, refugees, South Africa

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Authors: Andrew Green, Jiaming Liu, Kellathur Srinivasan, Raymond Chua

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Introduction: The size of Singapore’s online health product (HP) market (e-commerce) is largely unknown. However, it is recognized that a large majority comes from overseas and thus, unregulated. As buying HP from unauthorized sources significantly compromises public health safety, understanding e-commerce users’ demographics and their perceptions on online HP purchasing becomes a pivotal first step to form a basis for recommendations in Singapore’s pharmacovigilance efforts. Objective: To assess the prevalence of online HP purchasing behaviour among Singaporean e-commerce users. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study targeting Singaporean e-commerce users recruited from various local websites and online forums. Participants were not randomized into study arms but instead stratified by random sampling method based on participants’ age. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire was used to explore participants' demographics, online HP purchasing behaviour, knowledge and attitude. The association of different variables with online HP purchasing behaviour was analysed using logistic regression statistics. Main outcome measures: Prevalence of HP e-commerce users in Singapore (%) and variables that contribute to the prevalence (adjusted prevalent ratio). Results: The study recruited 372 complete and valid responses. The prevalence of online HP consumers among e-commerce users in Singapore is estimated to be 55.9% (1.7 million consumers). Online purchasing of complementary HP (46.9%) was the most prevalent, followed by medical devices (21.6%) and Western medicine (20.5%). Multivariate analysis showed that age is an independent variable that correlates with the likelihood of buying HP online. The prevalence of HP e-commerce users is highest in the 35-44 age group (64.1%) and lowest among the 16-24 age group (36.4%). The most bought HP through the internet are vitamins and minerals (21.5%), non-herbal (15.9%), herbal (13.9%), weight loss (8.7%) and sports (8.4%) supplements. While the top 3 products are distributed equally between the genders, there is a skew towards female respondents (12.4% in females vs. 4.9% in males) for weight loss supplements and towards males (13.2% in males vs. 3.7% in females) for sports supplements. Even though online consumers are in the younger age brackets, our study found that up to 72.0% of HP bought online are bought for others (buyer’s family and/or friends). Multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant association between purchasing HP through online means and the perceptions that 'internet is safe' (adjusted Prevalence Ratio=1.15, CI 1.03-1.28), 'buying HP online is time saving' (PR=1.17, CI 1.01-1.36), and 'recognition of HP brand' (PR=1.21 CI 1.06-1.40). Conclusions: This study has provided prevalence data for online HP market in Singapore, and has allowed the country’s regulatory body to formulate a targeted pharmacovigilance approach to this growing problem.

Keywords: e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, pharmacovigilance, Singapore

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Authors: Ted Gournelos

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Marketing approaches in practice and academic literature usually foreground the importance of product and brand awareness in strategy. Decisions emphasize justifications and promotions of existing projects, which has the unintended consequence of pushing marketing, public relations, and other communications to secondary strategies and tactics rather than as inherent pieces of organizational development. In other words, marketers implement what others have already decided. This is a challenge not only for the communications field, but also for the organizations themselves, since integrated communications employees are often the primary, if not the only, touchpoints for client/customer/user research and interaction. Organizations thus become increasingly out of touch, raising the risk of public or human resources crisis and decreasing the focus on opportunities for development and growth. This paper will discuss the potential for social entrepreneurship to refocus marketing and communications professionals on primary strategy, and suggest best practices for developing initiatives not only to impact marketing efforts themselves, but also the guiding organizational approaches to project management, human resources, corporate social responsibility, and research. It will provide a comparative analysis of social media marketing efforts conducted by food security non-governmental organizations from several countries, pointing out both flaws and areas of opportunity for integration with for-profit organizational strategy, and discuss the implications of descriptive, proactive, and interactive messaging.

Keywords: social enterprise, strategy, innovation, social media

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Authors: Despina Vamvuka, Despina Pentari

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Forestry wastes are readily available in large quantities around the world. Based on European Green Deal for the deployment of renewable and decarbonized energy by 2050, as well as global energy crisis, energy recovery from such wastes reducing greenhouse gas emissions is very attractive. Gasification has superior environmental performance to combustion, producing a clean fuel gas utilized in internal combustion engines, gas turbines, solid oxide fuel cells, or for synthesis of liquid bio-fuels and value-added chemicals. In this work, pine needles, which are abundantly found in Mediterranean countries, were gasified by either steam or carbon dioxide via a two-step process to improve reactivity and eliminate tar, employing a fixed bed unit and a thermal analysis system. Solid, liquid and gaseous products from the whole process were characterized and their energy potential was determined. Thermal behaviour, reactivity, conversion and energy recovery were examined. The gasification process took place above 650°C. At 950°C conversion and energy recovery were 77% dry and 2 under a flow of steam and 85% dry and 2.9 under a flow of carbon dioxide, respectively. Organic matter was almost completely converted to syngas, the yield of which varied between 89% and 99%. The higher heating values of biochar, bio-oil and pyrolysis gas were 27.8 MJ/kg, 33.5 MJ/kg and 13.6 MJ/m3. Upon steam or carbon dioxide gasification, the higher heating value of syngas produced was 11.5 MJ/m3 and 12.7 MJ/m3, respectively.

Keywords: gasification, biomass, steam, carbon dioxide

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Authors: Jagul Huma Lashari, Arabella Bhutto

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Last few years have shown increased an interest of researchers in knowledge and technology transfer. However, facts show fewer types of knowledge transfer practices in the developing countries. This article focuses on assessment transfer channels of academic research produced by highly qualified academicians working in universities in Sindh offering degrees in field of an Environment in Sindh Pakistan. The academic field has been chosen because in field of the environment there is alarming need of research into practice for sustainable development. Using case study approach; in this research qualitative interviews have been conducted from PhD faculty members working in the universities offering degrees in field of environment. Obtained data is analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test with the help of statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS). Research explored 31 channels of academic knowledge transfer from detailed review of literature and exploratory interviews with participants. Identified knowledge transfer channels have been grouped together in 6 groups of knowledge transfer channels; As knowledge transfer through publications, networking, mobility of researchers, joint research, intellectual property and co-operations. Results revealed that academic knowledge have been transferred through publications, networking, and co-operation. However, less number of academic knowledge has been transferred through groups of knowledge transfer channels such as Intellectual Property and joint research.

Keywords: environment, research knowledge, transfer channels, universities

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Authors: Derya Yucel, Nigar Angın, Dürdane Mart, Meltem Turkeri, Volkan Catalkaya, Celal Yucel

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Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) with high protein content is a vital food, especially in under-developed and developing countries for the people who do not consume enough meat due to low-income level. The objective of the proposed study is to evaluate growing, yield and yield components of chickpea genotypes under Mediterranean condition so determine tolerance of chickpea genotypes against drought and heat stress. For this purpose, a total of 34 chickpea genotypes were used as material. The experiment was conducted according to factorial randomized complete block design with 3 reps at the Eastern Mediterranean Research Institute, Adana, TURKEY for 2014-15 growing season under three different growing conditions (Winter sowing, irrigated-late sowing and non-irrigated- late sowing). According to results of this experiment, vegetative period, flowering time, poding time, maturity time, plant height, height of first pod, seed yield and 100 seed weight were ranged between 68.33 to 78.77 days, 94.22 to 85.00 days, 94.11 to 106.44 days, 198.56 to 214.44 days, 37.18 to 64.89 cm, 18.33 to 34.83 cm, 417.1 to 1746.4 kg/ha and 14.02 to 45.02 g, respectively. Among the chickpea genotypes, the Aksu, Arda, Çakır, F4 09 (X 05 TH 21-16189), FLIP 03-108 were least affected by drought and heat stress. Therefore, these genotypes can be used as sources of drought and heat tolerance in further breeding programme for evolving the drought and heat tolerant genotypes in chickpea.

Keywords: chickpea, drought stress, heat stress, yield

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Authors: Bhargavi G. Iyer, Ojaswi Bhagat

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In recent years, there has been a lot of discussion about ethnic imbalance and diversity in the international context. Arbitration is now subject to the hegemony of a small number of people who are constantly reappointed. When a court system becomes exclusionary, the quality of adjudication suffers significantly. In such a framework, there is a misalignment between adjudicators' preconceived views and the interests of the parties, resulting in a biased view of the proceedings. The world is currently witnessing a slew of intellectual property battles around cultural appropriation. The term "cultural appropriation" refers to the industrial west's theft of indigenous culture, usually for fashion, aesthetic, or dramatic purposes. Selena Gomez exemplifies cultural appropriation by commercially using the “bindi,” which is sacred to Hinduism, as a fashion symbol. In another case, Victoria's Secret insulted indigenous peoples' genocide by stealing native Indian headdresses. In the case of yoga, a similar process can be witnessed, with Vedic philosophy being reduced to a type of physical practice. Such a viewpoint is problematic since indigenous groups have worked hard for generations to ensure the survival of their culture, and its appropriation by the western world for purely aesthetic and theatrical purposes is upsetting to those who practise such cultures. Because such conflicts involve numerous jurisdictions, they must be resolved through international arbitration. However, these conflicts are already being litigated, and the aggrieved parties, namely developing nations, do not believe it prudent to use the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) already established arbitration procedure. This practise, it is suggested in this study, is the outcome of Europe's exclusionary arbitral system, which fails to recognise the non-legal and non-commercial nature of indigenous culture issues. This research paper proposes a more comprehensive, inclusive approach that recognises the non-legal and non-commercial aspects of IP disputes involving cultural appropriation, which can only be achieved through an ethnically balanced arbitration structure. This paper also aspires to expound upon the benefits of arbitration and other means of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the context of disputes pertaining to cultural issues; positing that inclusivity is a solution to the existing discord between international practices and localised cultural points of dispute. This paper also hopes to explicate measures that will facilitate ensuring inclusion and ideal practices in the domain of arbitration law, particularly pertaining to cultural heritage and indigenous expression.

Keywords: arbitration law, cultural appropriation, dispute resolution, heritage, intellectual property

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Authors: Hyoshin Kim

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Most post-secondary educational institutions have offered a wide variety of professional development programs and resources in order to advance the quality of education. Such programs are designed to support faculty members by focusing on topics such as course design, behavioral learning objectives, class discussion, and evaluation methods. These are based on good intentions and might help both new and experienced educators. However, the fundamental flaw is that these ‘effective methods’ are assumed to work regardless of what we teach and whom we teach. This paper is focused on intercultural intelligence and its application to education. It presents a comprehensive literature review on context and cultural diversity in terms of beliefs, values and worldviews. What has worked well with a group of homogeneous local students may not work well with more diverse and international students. It is because students hold different notions of what is means to learn or know something. It is necessary for educators to move away from certain sets of generic teaching skills, which are based on a limited, particular view of teaching and learning. The main objective of the research is to expand our teaching strategies by incorporating what students bring to the course. There have been a growing number of resources and texts on teaching international students. Unfortunately, they tend to be based on the deficiency model, which treats diversity not as strengths, but as problems to be solved. This view is evidenced by the heavy emphasis on assimilationist approaches. For example, cultural difference is negatively evaluated, either implicitly or explicitly. Therefore the pressure is on culturally diverse students. The following questions reflect the underlying assumption of deficiencies: - How can we make them learn better? - How can we bring them into the mainstream academic culture?; and - How can they adapt to Western educational systems? Even though these questions may be well-intended, there seems to be something fundamentally wrong as the assumption of cultural superiority is embedded in this kind of thinking. This paper examines how educators can incorporate intercultural intelligence into the course design by utilizing a variety of tools such as pre-course activities, peer learning and reflective learning journals. The main goal is to explore ways to engage diverse learners in all aspects of learning. This can be achieved by activities designed to understand their prior knowledge, life experiences, and relevant cultural identities. It is crucial to link course material to students’ diverse interests thereby enhancing the relevance of course content and making learning more inclusive. Internationalization of higher education can be successful only when cultural differences are respected and celebrated as essential and positive aspects of teaching and learning.

Keywords: intercultural competence, intercultural intelligence, teaching and learning, post-secondary education

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Authors: Nur Mohammad Ali, Md. Shafiqul Alam, Jayanta Bhusan Deb, Nowrin Sharmin

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The past ten years have seen significant expansion in the aviation sector, which during the previous five years has steadily pushed emerging countries closer to economic independence. It is crucial to accurately forecast the potential demand for air travel to make long-term financial plans. To forecast market demand for low-cost passenger carriers, this study suggests working with low-cost airlines, airports, consultancies, and governmental institutions' strategic planning divisions. The study aims to develop an artificial intelligence-based methods, notably fuzzy inference systems (FIS), to determine the most accurate forecasting technique for domestic low-cost carrier demand in Bangladesh. To give end users real-world applications, the study includes nine variables, two sub-FIS, and one final Mamdani Fuzzy Inference System utilizing a graphical user interface (GUI) made with the app designer tool. The evaluation criteria used in this inquiry included mean square error (MSE), accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and specificity. The effectiveness of the developed air passenger demand prediction FIS is assessed using 240 data sets, and the accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, and MSE values are 90.83%, 91.09%, 90.77%, and 2.09%, respectively.

Keywords: aviation industry, fuzzy inference system, membership function, graphical user interference

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Authors: Gokul Prasad, Pennan Chinnasamy

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The degradation of groundwater resources, attributed to factors such as excessive abstraction and contamination, has emerged as a global concern. This study delves into the stable isotopes of water) in a hard-rock aquifer situated in the Upper Godavari watershed, an agriculturally rich region in India underlain by Basalt. The higher groundwater draft (> 90%) poses significant risks; comprehending groundwater sources, flow patterns, and their environmental impacts is pivotal for researchers and water managers. The region has faced five droughts in the past 20 years; four are categorized as medium. The recharge rates are variable and show a very minimum contribution to groundwater. The rainfall pattern shows vast variability, with the region receiving seasonal monsoon rainfall for just four months and the rest of the year experiencing minimal rainfall. This research closely monitored monsoon precipitation inputs and examined spatial and temporal fluctuations in δ18O and δ2H in both groundwater and precipitation. By discerning individual recharge events during monsoons, it became possible to identify periods when evaporation led to groundwater quality deterioration, characterized by elevated salinity and stable isotope values in the return flow. The locally derived meteoric water line (LMWL) (δ2H = 6.72 * δ18O + 1.53, r² = 0.6) provided valuable insights into the groundwater system. The leftward shift of the Nashik LMWL in relation to the GMWL and LMWL indicated groundwater evaporation (-33 ‰), supported by spatial variations in electrical conductivity (EC) data. Groundwater in the eastern and northern watershed areas exhibited higher salinity > 3000uS/cm, expanding > 40% of the area compared to the western and southern regions due to geological disparities (alluvium vs basalt). The findings emphasize meteoric precipitation as the primary groundwater source in the watershed. However, spatial variations in isotope values and chemical constituents indicate other contributing factors, including evaporation, groundwater source type, and natural or anthropogenic (specifically agricultural and industrial) contaminants. Therefore, the study recommends focused hydro geochemistry and isotope analysis in areas with strong agricultural and industrial influence for the development of holistic groundwater management plans for protecting the groundwater aquifers' quantity and quality.

Keywords: groundwater quality, stable isotopes, salinity, groundwater management, hard-rock aquifer

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Authors: Sheyla Moroni

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A number of scholars around the world have analyzed the great architectural and urban planning revolution proposed by Skopje 2014, but so far, there are no readings of the parallels between the museums in the Balkan area (including Greece) that share the same name as the museum at the center of that political and cultural revolution. In the former FYROM (now renamed North Macedonia), a museum called "Macedonian Struggle" was born during the reconstruction of the city of Skopje as the new "national" capital. This new museum was built under the "Skopje 2014" plan and cost about 560 million euros (1/3 of the country's GDP). It has been a "flagship" of the government of Nikola Gruevski, leader of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party. Until 2016 this museum was close to the motivations of the Macedonian nationalist movement (and later party) active (including terrorist actions) during the 19th and 20th centuries. The museum served to narrate a new "nation-building" after "state-building" had already taken place. But there are three other museums that tell the story of the "Macedonian struggle" by understanding "Macedonia" as a territory other than present-day North Macedonia. The first one is located in Thessaloniki and primarily commemorates the "Greek battle" against the Ottoman Empire. While the first uses a new dark building and many reconstructed rooms and shows the bloody history of the quest for "freedom" for the Macedonian language and people (different from Greeks, Albanians, and Bulgarians), the second is located in an old building in Thessaloniki and in its six rooms on the ground floor graphically illustrates the modern and contemporary history of Greek Macedonia. There are also third and fourth museums: in Kastoria (toward the Albanian border) and in Chromio (near the Greek-North Macedonian border). These two museums (Kastoria and Chromio) are smaller, but they mark two important borders for the (Greek) regions bordering Albania to the east and dividing it to the northwest not only from the Ottoman past but also from two communities felt to be "foreign" (Albanians and former Yugoslav Macedonians). All museums reconstruct a different "national edifice" and emphasize the themes of language and religion. The objective of the research is to understand, through four museums bearing the same name, what are the main "mental boundaries" (religious, linguistic, cultural) of the different states (reconstructed between the late 19th century and 1991). Both classical historiographic methodology (very different between Balkan and "Western" areas) and on-site observation and interactions with different sites are used in this research. An attempt is made to highlight four different political focuses with respect to nation-building and the Public History (and/or propaganda) approaches applied in the construction of these buildings and memorials tendency often that one "defines" oneself by differences from "others" (even if close).

Keywords: nationalisms, museum, nation building, public history

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Authors: Cyprian M. Mostert

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This paper investigates the effectiveness of tobacco control policy (TCP) in averting cancer mortalities in both educated and uneducated segments of the South African population. A two-stage least squares model (2SLS) was used covering the period 2009-2013. The results show that the TCP caused a 26 percent average decrease in cancer mortalities in both educated and uneducated segment of the population. However, limiting the sales of cheap and illegal tobacco cigarettes is necessary for advancing the effectiveness of TCP in averting cancer mortalities in the uneducated population — as the paper noted an insignificant decrease in cancer mortalities in 2012-2013 due to the presence of cheaper cigarettes. The paper also discovered evidence of persisting tobacco purchases of branded cigarettes in the educated population group which limited the effectiveness of TCP in 2009-2011. Hikes in real tobacco tax to a 0.8 USD price level in 2012 limited tobacco consumption in the educated group resulting in a 29 percent decrease in cancer mortalities. Other developing countries may learn from the South African case and strive to limit the sales of cheap illegal cigarettes while hiking real tobacco tax of branded cigarettes as a key strategy to improve cancer deaths across educated and uneducated population groups.

Keywords: cancer, health policy, health system, tobacco tax

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Authors: C. M. Mat Isa, H. Mohd Saman, S. R. Mohd Nasir, A. Jaapar

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International market expansion involves a strategic process of market entry decision through which a firm expands its operation from domestic to the international domain. Hence, entry timing choices require the needs to balance the early entry risks and the problems in losing opportunities as a result of late entry into a new market. Questionnaire surveys administered to 115 Malaysian construction firms operating in 51 countries worldwide have resulted in 39.1 percent response rate. Factor analysis was used to determine the most significant factors affecting entry timing choices of the firms to penetrate the international market. A logistic regression analysis used to examine the firms’ entry timing choices, indicates that the model has correctly classified 89.5 per cent of cases as late movers. The findings reveal that the most significant factor influencing the construction firms’ choices as late movers was the firm factor related to the firm’s international experience, resources, competencies and financing capacity. The study also offers valuable information to construction firms with intention to internationalize their businesses.

Keywords: factors, early movers, entry timing choices, late movers, logistic regression model, principal axis factorial analysis, Malaysian construction firms

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Authors: Luís Pina

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The conservation of marine biodiversity keeps ecosystems in balance and ensures the sustainable use of resources. In this context, technological resources have been used for monitoring marine species to allow biologists to obtain data in real-time. There are different mobile applications developed for data collection for monitoring purposes, but these systems are designed to be utilized only on third-generation (3G) phones or smartphones with Internet access and in rural parts of the developing countries, Internet services and smartphones are scarce. Thus, the objective of this work is to develop a system to monitor marine turtles using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), which users can access through basic mobile phones. The system aims to improve the data collection mechanism and enhance the effectiveness of current systems in monitoring sea turtles using any type of mobile device without Internet access. The system will be able to report information related to the biological activities of marine turtles. Also, it will be used as a platform to assist marine conservation entities to receive reports of illegal sales of sea turtles. The system can also be utilized as an educational tool for communities, providing knowledge and allowing the inclusion of communities in the process of monitoring marine turtles. Therefore, this work may contribute with information to decision-making and implementation of contingency plans for marine conservation programs.

Keywords: GSM, marine biology, marine turtles, unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)

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Authors: Sahar Shams

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Coeliac disease (CD) is a widely reported disease particularly in countries with predominant Caucasian populations. It presents with many signs and symptoms including iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anaemia/anaemia (IDA/A). The exact association between ID, IDA/A and CD and how accurate these signs are in diagnosing CD is not fully known. This systematic review was conducted to investigate the accuracy of both ID & IDA/A as a diagnostic indicator for CD and whether it warrants point of care testing. A systematic review was performed looking at studies published in MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. QUADAS-2 tool was used to assess risk of bias in each study. ROC curve and forest plots were generated as part of the meta-analysis after data extraction. 16 studies were identified in total, 13 of which were IDA/A studies and 3 ID studies. The prevalence of CD regardless of diagnostic indicator was assumed as 1%. The QUADAS-2 tool indicated most of studies as having high risk of bias. The PPV for CD was higher in those with ID than for those with IDA/A. Meta-analysis showed the overall odds of having CD is 5 times higher in individuals with ID & IDA/A. The ROC curve showed that there is definitely an association between both diagnostic indicators and CD, the association is not a particularly strong one due to great heterogeneity between studies. Whilst an association between IDA/A & ID and coeliac disease was evident, the results were not deemed significant enough to prompt coeliac disease testing in those with IDA/A & ID.

Keywords: anemia, iron deficiency anemia, coeliac disease, point of care testing

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Authors: Wenhao Wang, Xinzhi Xu, Limin Feng, Wei Cong

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This paper comprehensively investigates current development status of global power grids and fossil energy pipelines (oil and natural gas), proposes a standard visual platform of global power and fossil energy based on Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. In this visual platform, a series of systematic visual models is proposed with global spatial data, systematic energy and power parameters. Under this visual platform, the current Global Power Grids Map and Global Fossil Energy Pipelines Map are plotted within more than 140 countries and regions across the world. Using the multi-scale fusion data processing and modeling methods, the world’s global fossil energy pipelines and power grids information system basic database is established, which provides important data supporting global fossil energy and electricity research. Finally, through the systematic and comparative study of global fossil energy pipelines and global power grids, the general status of global fossil energy and electricity development are reviewed, and energy transition in key areas are evaluated and analyzed. Through the comparison analysis of fossil energy and clean energy, the direction of relevant research is pointed out for clean development and energy transition.

Keywords: energy transition, geographic information system, fossil energy, power systems

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Authors: Michel Mikhail

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Introduction: Values, which are the guiding principles and beliefs of our lives, have an influence on one’s psychological health. This study aims to investigate how Schwartz’s four higher-order values (conservation, openness to change, self-transcendence, and self-enhancement) and religious values influence psychological health among the Arab population. Methods: A total of 1,023 respondents from nine Arab countries aged 18 to 71 filled out an online survey with measures of the following constructs: Schwartz’s four higher-order values (Portrait Value Questionnaire-21), religious values (Sahin’s Index of Islamic Moral Values), and general psychological health (General Health Questionnaire-28). Results: Two models of multiple regression were conducted to investigate the relationships between values and psychological health. Higher conservation, self-enhancement, and religious values were significantly associated with better psychological health, with conservation losing significance after adding religious values to the model. All of Schwartz’s four values were found to have a significant relationship with religious values. More self-enhancement and conservation values were associated with higher identification of religious values, and the opposite was true for the other two values. Conclusion: The findings challenged existing assumptions that conservation values relate negatively to psychological health. This finding could be explained by the congruence of conservation values and the Arab culture. The most powerful relationships were those of self-enhancement and religious values, both of which were positively associated with psychological health. As such, therapists should be aware to reconsider biases against religious or conservation values and rather pay attention to their potential positive influence over one’s psychological health.

Keywords: counseling psychology, counseling and cultural values, counseling and religious values, psychotherapy and Arab values

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Authors: Ryan Chalk, G. M. Shafiullah

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Climate change is a pertinent issue facing governments and societies around the world. The industrial revolution has resulted in a steady increase in the average global temperature. The mining and energy production industries have been significant contributors to this change prompting government to intervene by promoting low emission technology within these sectors. This paper initially reviews the energy problem in Australia and the mining sector with a focus on the energy requirements and production methods utilised in Western Australia (WA). Renewable energy in the form of utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV) provides a solution to these problems by providing emission-free energy which can be used to supplement the existing natural gas turbines in operation at the proposed site. This research presents a custom renewable solution for the mining site considering the specific township network, local weather conditions, and seasonal load profiles. A summary of the required PV output is presented to supply slightly over 50% of the towns power requirements during the peak (summer) period, resulting in close to full coverage in the trench (winter) period. Dig Silent Power Factory Software has been used to simulate the characteristics of the existing infrastructure and produces results of integrating PV. Large scale PV penetration in the network introduce technical challenges, that includes; voltage deviation, increased harmonic distortion, increased available fault current and power factor. Results also show that cloud cover has a dramatic and unpredictable effect on the output of a PV system. The preliminary analyses conclude that mitigation strategies are needed to overcome voltage deviations, unacceptable levels of harmonics, excessive fault current and low power factor. Mitigation strategies are proposed to control these issues predominantly through the use of high quality, made for purpose inverters. Results show that use of inverters with harmonic filtering reduces the level of harmonic injections to an acceptable level according to Australian standards. Furthermore, the configuration of inverters to supply active and reactive power assist in mitigating low power factor problems. Use of FACTS devices; SVC and STATCOM also reduces the harmonics and improve the power factor of the network, and finally, energy storage helps to smooth the power supply.

Keywords: climate change, mitigation strategies, photovoltaic (PV), power quality

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Authors: E. K. Linsenmayer

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Traditional international relations theorists define state security, the principal national interest, as a state’s military force. However, many political theorists argue the current definition of security is not comprehensive and therefore, problematic. This paper argues that women’s physical security is not only linked but also necessary to achieve state security. In today’s unipolar political international system, the United States continues to accredit national security to its military. However, in one of the most militarized countries, women remain insecure. Through a case study method of the United States, this paper illuminates a necessary political prescription: the empowerment of women through an inside-out, feminist theoretical approach that makes state security attainable. The research through empirical testing, drawing from several databases, shows the positive effects of women’s physical security on state security. Women’s physical security is defined in terms of equal legal practices, health, education, and female representation in the government. State security is measured by the relative peace of a state, its involvement in conflict and a state’s relations with neighboring states. This paper shows that empowering women, 50% of the world’s population, is necessary for ending the current vicious circle of militarization, war, and insecurity. Without undoing gender power dynamics at the individual and societal level, security at all levels remains unattainable.

Keywords: gender inequality, politics, state security, women's security

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Authors: El Hadi Bouguerra, Nouredine Retiel

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To avoid or at least to attenuate the global warming, it is essential to reduce the energy consumption of the buildings where the biggest potential of savings exists. The impending danger can come from the increase in the needs of air conditioning not only because of the climate warming but also the fast equipping of emerging or developing countries. Passive solutions exist and others are in promising development and therefore, must be applied wherever it is possible. Even if they do not always avoid the resort to an active cooling (mechanical), they allow lowering the load at an acceptable level which can be possibly taken in relay by the renewable energies. These solutions have the advantage to be relatively less expensive and especially adaptable to the existing housing. However, it is the internal convection resistance that controls the heat exchange between the phase change materials (PCM) and the indoor temperature because of the very low heat coefficients of natural convection. Therefore, it is reasonable to link the switch temperature Tm to the temperature of the substrate (walls and ceiling) because conduction heat transfer is dominant. In this case, external conditions (heat sources such as solar irradiation and ambient temperatures) and conductivities of envelope constituents are the most important factors. The walls are not at the same temperature year round; therefore, it is difficult to set a unique switch temperature for the whole season, making the average values a key parameter. With this work, the authors’ aim is to see which parameters influence the optimum switch temperature of a PCM and additionally, if a better selection of PCMs relating to their optimum temperature can enhance their energetic performances.

Keywords: low energy building, energy conservation, phase change materials, PCM

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Authors: Ahmed F. Abdel Qader

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Viral marketing has resulted in a lot of excitement recently as a novel technology in the field of marketing. The need of porting institutions to attract new customers for sporting products and services has increased, especially as many international and Arab clubs rely on them for most of their funding. These organizations, especially clubs, have outlets for selling their products and services; therefore, they are in need for new approaches that are related to modern communication and innovative distribution methods that can depend on the present audience in conveying e-ads to other users in light of the increase in social media users in the Arab world. This study aims at developing a marketing plan for sporting products and services through viral marketing of social media users. The researcher used the descriptive method. The sample consisted of 1991 social media users in 13 Arab countries. The questionnaire consisted of five themes and 42 items. Allan Dib 'one-page marketing plan' was used to develop the sporting products and services marketing plan. The study found that participants reported watching e-ads of sporting products and services that appeared during browsing social media pages; Facebook was the most used means for receiving ads about sporting products and services; sharing the product’s ad depends on the availability of incentives; purchasing sporting products and services takes place after a recommendation by a relative or a friend; and their evaluation of sporting products and services depends on the experiences of other people. The study recommends that the proposed plan should be used in marketing sporting products and services.

Keywords: viral marketing, sporting products, social media, Arab world

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Mateusz Janas

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Innovative implementations in the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) sector are among the essential activities considering the current market realities, technological advancements, and digitization trends. MSMEs play a crucial role and significantly influence the economic conditions of countries, as their competitiveness directly impacts the global economy. Business development and investment in innovation and technology are integral parts of every modern enterprise's strategy, seeking to maintain and achieve a desired competitive position. The instability of the socio-economic environment, along with contemporary changes in artificial intelligence implementation and digitization, requires businesses to adopt increasingly newer solutions and actions. Enterprises must strive to survive in the global market and build competitive positions, especially in uncertain conditions. Being aware of the significance of innovative actions is crucial for MSMEs as it enables them to enhance their operations and expand their scope. It is essential for managers and executives of MSMEs to be focused on development and innovation, as their approach will also impact their employees, emphasizing results and maximizing the company's value. Managers of MSMEs must be aware of various threats, costs, opportunities, and gains that can arise from implementing new technical and organizational solutions. Businesses must view development as an integral part of their strategy and continuously strive for improvement.

Keywords: innovation, SME, develop, management

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Authors: Akanle Florence Foluso

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Access to health care and people’s ability to have a responsible, satisfying and safe sexual life is clearly a defined human right of people with hearing impairment and others with disabilities. This paper investigates the extent to which the hearing impaired have a satisfying, safe sexual life and whether their human right in regard to information and education is violated. The study population consists of all hearing-impaired adolescents and young adults aged 10-24 years who are currently enrolled in primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. A sample of 389 hearing-impaired adolescents was selected, and an adapted version of the illustrative questionnaire for interview - survey by John Cleland was used to collect the data. A correlation of 0.80 was obtained at a P<0.05 level of significance. Teachers in the school of the deaf who used sign language were used in the administration of the questionnaire. The data generated were analyzed using Frequency counts. Summary of responses on access to information, education, voluntary testing, counseling and reproductive services. This is to be violated or protected. Findings show that a gap exists in the level of knowledge of SRH services and voluntary counseling because more than half the respondents are not aware of these services in their community. Access to information, education and health services are rights denied to the hearing impaired. So, their rights are violated.

Keywords: sexuality, gender, reproductive health, human right

Procedia PDF Downloads 42

Authors: Slim Namouchi, Bruno Vallet, Imed Riadh Farah

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3D urban models provide powerful tools for decision making, urban planning, and smart city services. The accuracy of this 3D based systems is directly related to the quality of these models. Since manual large-scale modeling, such as cities or countries is highly time intensive and very expensive process, a fully automatic 3D building generation is needed. However, 3D modeling process result depends on the input data, the proprieties of the captured objects, and the required characteristics of the reconstructed 3D model. Nowadays, producing 3D real-world model is no longer a problem. Remotely sensed data had experienced a remarkable increase in the recent years, especially data acquired using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). While the scanning techniques are developing, the captured data amount and the resolution are getting bigger and more precise. This paper presents a literature review, which aims to identify different methods of automatic 3D buildings extractions either from LiDAR or the combination of LiDAR and satellite or aerial images. Then, we present open source technologies, and data models (e.g., CityGML, PostGIS, Cesiumjs) used to integrate these models in geospatial base layers for smart city services.

Keywords: CityGML, LiDAR, remote sensing, SIG, Smart City, 3D urban modeling

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Authors: Aliyu Umar, Mohammed Yau, Faruruwa M. Dahiru, Saed Garba

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Evaluation of heavy metals in twelve commonly consumed herbal medicines/preparations in Kano State, Nigeria, was carried out. The samples comprised of five unregistered powdered medicines, namely, Zuwo, (ZW); Rai Dorai, (RD); Miyar Tsanya, (MTS); Bagaruwar Makka, (BM); and Madobiya, (M); five unregistered liquid herbal medicinal concussions for pile (MB), yellow fever (MS), typhoid (MT), stomach pain (MC), sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); and two registered herbal medicines; Alif Powder (AP) and Champion Leaf (CL). The heavy metals evaluation was carried out using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and the result revealed the concentrations (ppm) ranges of the heavy metals as follows: Cadmium (0.0045 – 0.1601), Chromium (0.0418 – 0.2092), Cobalt (0.0038 – 0.0760), Copper (0.0547 – 0.2465), Iron (0.1197 – 0.3592), Manganese (0.0123 – 1.4462), Nickel (0.0073 – 0.0960), Lead (0.185 – 0.0927) and Zinc (0.0244 – 0.2444). Comparing the results obtained in this work with the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and permissible limits of other countries, the concentrations of heavy metals in the herbal medicine/preparations are within the allowed permissible limits range in herbal medicines and their use could be safe.

Keywords: Kano state, herbal medicines, registered, unregistered

Procedia PDF Downloads 225