Search results for: tunneling case study

Authors: Massimo Mozzon, Nadia Raffaelli

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Proteases from herbs, woody plants, and trees are exploited for cheesemaking in several countries, especially in South Europe and West Africa. Particularly, “thistles” belonging to several genera within the Asteraceae family (Cynara, Silybum, Centaurea, Carlina, Cirsium, Onopordum) are traditionally used in Mediterranean countries for clotting raw ewe’s and goat’s milk. For the first time, the clotting performance of an aqueous extract from flowers of Onopordum tauricum Willd. (Taurian thistle, bull cottonthistle) were tested in milk of different origin (cow, goat, ewe). The vegetable material was collected in the Central Apennines range, between the Marche and Umbria regions. A response surface methodology (RSM) approach was used to study the effect of the curdling variables (temperature, pH, amount of enzymatic extract) on the technological performance of the thistle extract. A three-step procedure for the purification of the enzyme (ammonium sulphate precipitation, gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography) was also carried out. The milk clotting activity (MCA) of O. tauricum crude extracts was strongly affected by temperature, pH and by the interaction between these two variables, according to a second-order response surface model, while the milk/coagulant ratio did not affect in a significant way the clotting properties. Experimental data showed that the addition of 10 mM CaCl2 reduced the clotting time of ewe’s, goat’s, and cow’s milk by about 3-fold, 8-fold, and 14-fold, respectively, at 35°C and pH 6.7-6.8. After purification, an enzymatic preparation very close to homogeneity was obtained, which showed a major band at about 30 kDa when analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The identity of the enzyme as an aspartic protease was confirmed by inhibition studies. Cheese-making trials were carried out to check the scale-up (1 to 5 L of milk; 37 °C; 10 mM CaCl2 fortification) and set the recipe: 35-45% of curd yields were recorded, according to curd cutting and pressing.

Keywords: milk clotting activity, Onopordum tauricum, plant proteases, vegetable rennet

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Authors: M. A. Wijewardane, S. A. N. C. Sudasinghe, H. K. G. Punchihewa, W. K. D. L. Wickramasinghe, S. A. Philip, M. R. S. U. Kumara

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Visual comfort is one of the major parameters that can be taken to measure the human comfort in any environment. If the provided illuminance level in a working environment does not meet the workers visual comfort, it will lead to eye-strain, fatigue, headache, stress, accidents and finally, poor productivity. However, improvements in lighting do not necessarily mean that the workplace requires more light. Unnecessarily higher illuminance levels will also cause poor visual comfort and health risks. In addition, more power consumption on lighting will also result in higher energy costs. So, during this study, visual comfort and the illuminance requirement for the workers in textile/apparel industry were studied to perform different tasks (i.e. cutting, sewing and knitting) at their workplace. Experimental studies were designed to identify the optimum illuminance requirement depending upon the varied fabric colour and type and finally, energy saving potentials due to controlled illuminance level depending on the workforce requirement were analysed. Visual performance of workers during the sewing operation was studied using the ‘landolt ring experiment’. It was revealed that around 36.3% of the workers would like to work if the illuminance level varies from 601 lux to 850 lux illuminance level and 45.9% of the workers are not happy to work if the illuminance level reduces less than 600 lux and greater than 850 lux. Moreover, more than 65% of the workers who do not satisfy with the existing illuminance levels of the production floors suggested that they have headache, eye diseases, or both diseases due to poor visual comfort. In addition, findings of the energy analysis revealed that the energy-saving potential of 5%, 10%, 24%, 8% and 16% can be anticipated for fabric colours, red, blue, yellow, black and white respectively, when the 800 lux is the prevailing illuminance level for sewing operation.

Keywords: Landolt Ring experiment, lighting energy consumption, illuminance, textile and apparel industry, visual comfort

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Authors: Fatema-Tuz-Zohra Khanam, Ali Al-Naji, Asanka G. Perera, Kim Gibson, Javaan Chahl

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Conventional contact-based vital signs monitoring sensors such as pulse oximeters or electrocardiogram (ECG) may cause discomfort, skin damage, and infections, particularly in neonates with fragile, sensitive skin. Therefore, remote monitoring of the vital sign is desired in both clinical and non-clinical settings to overcome these issues. Camera-based vital signs monitoring is a recent technology for these applications with many positive attributes. However, there are still limited camera-based studies on neonates in a clinical setting. In this study, the heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) of eight infants at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Flinders Medical Centre were remotely monitored using a digital camera applying color and motion-based computational methods. The region-of-interest (ROI) was efficiently selected by incorporating an image decomposition method. Furthermore, spatial averaging, spectral analysis, band-pass filtering, and peak detection were also used to extract both HR and RR. The experimental results were validated with the ground truth data obtained from an ECG monitor and showed a strong correlation using the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) 0.9794 and 0.9412 for HR and RR, respectively. The RMSE between camera-based data and ECG data for HR and RR were 2.84 beats/min and 2.91 breaths/min, respectively. A Bland Altman analysis of the data also showed a close correlation between both data sets with a mean bias of 0.60 beats/min and 1 breath/min, and the lower and upper limit of agreement -4.9 to + 6.1 beats/min and -4.4 to +6.4 breaths/min for both HR and RR, respectively. Therefore, video camera imaging may replace conventional contact-based monitoring in NICU and has potential applications in other contexts such as home health monitoring.

Keywords: neonates, NICU, digital camera, heart rate, respiratory rate, image decomposition

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Authors: Charles Chikwendu Okpala, Christopher Chukwutoo Ihueze

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As a technique that reduces variation in a product by lessening the sensitivity of the design to sources of variation, rather than by controlling their sources, Taguchi Robust Design entails the designing of ideal goods, by developing a product that has minimal variance in its characteristics and also meets the desired exact performance. This paper examined the concept of the manufacturing approach and its application to brake pad product of an automotive parts manufacturing company. Although the firm claimed that only defects, excess inventory, and over-production were the few wastes that grossly affect their productivity and profitability, a careful study and analysis of their manufacturing processes with the application of Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED) tool showed that the waste of waiting is the fourth waste that bedevils the firm. The selection of the Taguchi L9 orthogonal array which is based on the four parameters and the three levels of variation for each parameter revealed that with a range of 2.17, that waiting is the major waste that the company must reduce in order to continue to be viable. Also, to enhance the company’s throughput and profitability, the wastes of over-production, excess inventory, and defects with ranges of 2.01, 1.46, and 0.82, ranking second, third, and fourth respectively must also be reduced to the barest minimum. After proposing -33.84 as the highest optimum Signal-to-Noise ratio to be maintained for the waste of waiting, the paper advocated for the adoption of all the tools and techniques of Lean Production System (LPS), and Continuous Improvement (CI), and concluded by recommending SMED in order to drastically reduce set up time which leads to unnecessary waiting.

Keywords: lean production system, single minute exchange of dies, signal to noise ratio, Taguchi robust design, waste

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Authors: Babak Bahri, Fatemeh Yassaee Meybodi, Changiz Eslahchi

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In the pursuit of effective cancer therapies, the exploration of combinatorial drug regimens is crucial to leverage synergistic interactions between drugs, thereby improving treatment efficacy and overcoming drug resistance. However, identifying synergistic drug pairs poses challenges due to the vast combinatorial space and limitations of experimental approaches. This study introduces ClusterSyn, a machine learning (ML)-powered framework for classifying anti-cancer drug synergy scores. ClusterSyn employs a two-step approach involving drug clustering and synergy score prediction using a fully connected deep neural network. For each cell line in the training dataset, a drug graph is constructed, with nodes representing drugs and edge weights denoting synergy scores between drug pairs. Drugs are clustered using the Markov clustering (MCL) algorithm, and vectors representing the similarity of drug pairs to each cluster are input into the deep neural network for synergy score prediction (synergy or antagonism). Clustering results demonstrate effective grouping of drugs based on synergy scores, aligning similar synergy profiles. Subsequently, neural network predictions and synergy scores of the two drugs on others within their clusters are used to predict the synergy score of the considered drug pair. This approach facilitates comparative analysis with clustering and regression-based methods, revealing the superior performance of ClusterSyn over state-of-the-art methods like DeepSynergy and DeepDDS on diverse datasets such as Oniel and Almanac. The results highlight the remarkable potential of ClusterSyn as a versatile tool for predicting anti-cancer drug synergy scores.

Keywords: drug synergy, clustering, prediction, machine learning., deep learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Said Ghalem

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Honey is primarily composed of sugars: glucose and fructose. Depending honey, it's either fructose or glucose predominates. More the fructose concentration and the less the glycemic index (GI) is high. Thus, changes in the insulin response shows a decrease of the amount of insulin secreted at an increased fructose honey. Honey is also a compound that can reduce the lipid in the blood. Several studies on animals, but which remain to be checked in humans, have shown that the honey can have interesting effects when combined with other molecules: associated with Metformin (a medicine taken by diabetics), it shows the benefits and effects of diabetes preserves the tissue; associated ginger, it increases the antioxidant activity and thus avoids neurologic complications, neuropathic. Molecular modeling techniques are widely used in chemistry, biology, and the pharmaceutical industry. Most of the currently existing drugs target enzymes. Inhibition of DPP-4 is an important approach in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. We have chosen for the inhibition of DPP-4 the following molecules: Linagliptin (BI1356), Sitagliptin (Januvia), Vildagliptin, Saxagliptin, Alogliptin, and Metformin (Glucophage), that are involved in the disease management of type 2 diabetes and added to honey. For this, we used software Molecular Operating Environment. A Wistar rat study was initiated in our laboratory with a well-studied protocol; after sacrifice, according to international standards and respect for the animal This theoretical approach predicts the mode of interaction of a ligand with its target. The honey can have interesting effects when combined with other molecules, it shows the benefits and effects of honey preserves the tissue, it increases the antioxidant activity, and thus avoids neurologic complications, neuropathic or macrovascular. The organs, especially the kidneys of Wistar, shows that the parameters to renal function let us conclude that damages caused by diabetes are slightly perceptible than those observed without the addition of a high concentration of fructose honey.

Keywords: honey, molecular modeling, DPP4 enzyme, metformin

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Authors: Ayman M. A. Rashwan, Mohamed F. Mohamed, Mohamed M. A. Abdalla

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A field experiment was conducted in the Agricultural Research Station, at El-Ghoraieb, Assiut to study dry seed yield performance of two locally adapted cultivars (‘Azmerly’ and ‘Cream 7’) and two line introductions (IT81D-1032 and IT82D-812) of common cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) grown at three different within-row spaces (20, 30 and 40 cm) and two planting dates in the summer (April 15th and 30th) and in the fall season (Aug. 12th and 27th) of two successive seasons. The data showed that total dry-seed yield produced by plants grown at 20 cm was greater than at 30 cm in all cvs/lines in both years. Increases in 1000-seed weight were detected in cv ‘Azmerly’ and line IT82D-812 when they were grown at 30 cm as compared with 20 cm in the summer season. However, in the fall season such increases were found in all cvs/lines. Planting at 40 cm produced seeds of greater weight than planting at 30 cm for all cvs/lines in the fall season and also in cv. Cream 7 and line IT82D-812 in the summer season. Planting on April 15th in the summer and also planting on Aug. 12th in the fall had plants which showed increases in 1000-seed weight and total dry-seed yield. The greatest 1000-seed weight was found in the line IT81D-1032 in the summer season and in the line IT82D-812 in the fall season. The sum up results revealed that ‘Azmerly’ produced greater dry-seed yield than ‘Cream 7’ and both of them were superior to the line IT82D-812 and IT81D-1032 in the summer season. In the fall, however, the line IT82D-812 produced greater dry-seed yield than the other cultivars/lines.

Keywords: Cowpea, Assiut, fall, planting dates, El-Ghoraieb, dry-seed yield

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Authors: Smriti, Ajeet Kumar

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We present a variant of the Irving-Kirkwood procedure to obtain the microscopic expressions of the cross-section averaged continuum fields such as internal force and moment in one-dimensional nanostructures in the non-equilibrium setting. In one-dimensional continuum theories for slender bodies, we deal with quantities such as mass, linear momentum, angular momentum, and strain energy densities, all defined per unit length. These quantities are obtained by integrating the corresponding pointwise (per unit volume) quantities over the cross-section of the slender body. However, no well-defined cross-section exists for these nanostructures at finite temperature. We thus define the cross-section of a nanorod to be an infinite plane which is fixed in space even when time progresses and defines the above continuum quantities by integrating the pointwise microscopic quantities over this infinite plane. The method yields explicit expressions of both the potential and kinetic parts of the above quantities. We further specialize in these expressions for helically repeating one-dimensional nanostructures in order to use them in molecular dynamics study of extension, torsion, and bending of such nanostructures. As, the Irving-Kirkwood procedure does not yield expressions of stiffnesses, we resort to a thermodynamic equilibrium approach to obtain the expressions of axial force, twisting moment, bending moment, and the associated stiffnesses by taking the first and second derivatives of the Helmholtz free energy with respect to conjugate strain measures. The equilibrium approach yields expressions independent of kinetic terms. We then establish the equivalence of the expressions obtained using the two approaches. The derived expressions are used to understand the extension, torsion, and bending of single-walled carbon nanotubes at non-zero temperatures.

Keywords: thermoelasticity, molecular dynamics, one dimensional nanostructures, nanotube buckling

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Authors: I GD Yudha Partama, A. Kanno, Y. Akamatsu, R. Inui, M. Goto, M. Sekine

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The aerial photogrammetry of shallow water bottoms has the potential to be an efficient high-resolution survey technique for shallow water topography, thanks to the advent of convenient UAV and automatic image processing techniques Structure-from-Motion (SfM) and Multi-View Stereo (MVS)). However, it suffers from the systematic overestimation of the bottom elevation, due to the light refraction at the air-water interface. In this study, we present an empirical method to correct for the effect of refraction after the usual SfM-MVS processing, using common software. The presented method utilizes the empirical relation between the measured true depth and the estimated apparent depth to generate an empirical correction factor. Furthermore, this correction factor was utilized to convert the apparent water depth into a refraction-corrected (real-scale) water depth. To examine its effectiveness, we applied the method to two river sites, and compared the RMS errors in the corrected bottom elevations with those obtained by three existing methods. The result shows that the presented method is more effective than the two existing methods: The method without applying correction factor and the method utilizes the refractive index of water (1.34) as correction factor. In comparison with the remaining existing method, which used the additive terms (offset) after calculating correction factor, the presented method performs well in Site 2 and worse in Site 1. However, we found this linear regression method to be unstable when the training data used for calibration are limited. It also suffers from a large negative bias in the correction factor when the apparent water depth estimated is affected by noise, according to our numerical experiment. Overall, the good accuracy of refraction correction method depends on various factors such as the locations, image acquisition, and GPS measurement conditions. The most effective method can be selected by using statistical selection (e.g. leave-one-out cross validation).

Keywords: bottom elevation, MVS, river, SfM

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Authors: Abdullah Al Farwan, Ya Zhang

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In today’s educational arena, it is critical to understand educational data and be able to evaluate important aspects, particularly data on student achievement. Educational Data Mining (EDM) is a research area that focusing on uncovering patterns and information in data from educational institutions. Teachers, if they are able to predict their students' class performance, can use this information to improve their teaching abilities. It has evolved into valuable knowledge that can be used for a wide range of objectives; for example, a strategic plan can be used to generate high-quality education. Based on previous data, this paper recommends employing data mining techniques to forecast students' final grades. In this study, five data mining methods, Decision Tree, JRip, Naive Bayes, Multi-layer Perceptron, and Random Forest with wrapper feature selection, were used on two datasets relating to Portuguese language and mathematics classes lessons. The results showed the effectiveness of using data mining learning methodologies in predicting student academic success. The classification accuracy achieved with selected algorithms lies in the range of 80-94%. Among all the selected classification algorithms, the lowest accuracy is achieved by the Multi-layer Perceptron algorithm, which is close to 70.45%, and the highest accuracy is achieved by the Random Forest algorithm, which is close to 94.10%. This proposed work can assist educational administrators to identify poor performing students at an early stage and perhaps implement motivational interventions to improve their academic success and prevent educational dropout.

Keywords: classification algorithms, decision tree, feature selection, multi-layer perceptron, Naïve Bayes, random forest, students’ academic performance

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Authors: Kanupriya Rawat, Aleksandra Błachnio, Paweł Izdebski

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Achievement motivation, which drives a person to strive for success, is an important construct in sports psychology. This systematic review aims to analyze the methods of measuring achievement motivation used in previous studies published over the past four decades and to find out which method of measuring achievement motivation is the most prevalent and the most effective by thoroughly examining measures of achievement motivation used in each study and by evaluating most highly cited achievement motivation measures in sport. In order to understand this latent construct, thorough measurement is necessary, hence a critical evaluation of measurement tools is required. The literature search was conducted in the following databases: EBSCO, MEDLINE, APA PsychARTICLES, Academic Search Ultimate, Open Dissertations, ERIC, Science direct, Web of Science, as well as Wiley Online Library. A total of 26 articles met the inclusion criteria and were selected. From this review, it was found that the Achievement Goal Questionnaire- Sport (AGQ-Sport) and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) were used in most of the research, however, the average weighted impact factor of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire- Sport (AGQ-Sport) is the second highest and most relevant in terms of research articles related to the sport psychology discipline. Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) is highly popular in cross-cultural adaptation but has the second last average IF among other scales due to the less impact factor of most of the publishing journals. All measures of achievement motivation have Cronbach’s alpha value of more than .70, which is acceptable. The advantages and limitations of each measurement tool are discussed, and the distinction between using implicit and explicit measures of achievement motivation is explained. Overall, both implicit and explicit measures of achievement motivation have different conceptualizations of achievement motivation and are applicable at either the contextual or situational level. The conceptualization and degree of applicability are perhaps the most crucial factors for researchers choosing a questionnaire, even though they differ in their development, reliability, and use.

Keywords: achievement motivation, task and ego orientation, sports psychology, measures of achievement motivation

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Authors: Martin C. Eze, Gao Min

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Lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Li-TFSI) dopant is beneficial in improving the properties of 2,2′,7,7′-Tetrakis (N, N-di-p-methoxyphenylamino)-9,9′-spiro-bifluorene (Spiro-OMETAD) transport layer used in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Properties such as electrical conductivity, band energy mismatch, and refractive index of Spiro-OMETAD layers are believed to play key roles in PSCs performance but only the dependence of electrical conductivity on Li-TFSI doping has been extensively studied. In this work, the effect of Li-TFSI doping level on highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy, electrical conductivity, and refractive index of Spiro-OMETAD film and PSC performance was demonstrated. The Spiro-OMETAD films were spin-coated at 4000 rpm for 30 seconds from solutions containing 73.4 mM of Spiro-OMeTAD, 23.6 mM of 4-tert-butylpyridine, 7.6 mM of tris(2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-4-tert-butylpyridine) cobalt(III) tri[bis(trifluoromethane) sulfonimide] (FK209) dopant and Li-TFSI dopant varying from 37 to 62 mM in 1 ml of chlorobenzene. From ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), ellipsometry, and 4-probe studies, the results show that films deposition from Spiro-OMETAD solution doped with 40 mM of Li-TFSI shows the highest electrical conductivity of 6.35×10-6 S/cm, the refractive index of 1.87 at 632.32 nm, HOMO energy of -5.22 eV and the lowest HOMO energy mismatch of 0.21 eV compared to HOMO energy of perovskite layer. The PSCs fabricated show the best power conversion efficiency, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor of 17.10 %, 1.1 V, and 70.12%, respectively, for devices based on Spiro-OMETAD solution doped with 40 mM of Li-TFSI. This study demonstrates that the optimum Spiro-OMETAD/ Li-TFSI doping ratio of 1.84 is the optimum doping level for Spiro-OMETAD layer preparation.

Keywords: electrical conductivity, homo energy mismatch, lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, power conversion efficiency, refractive index

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Authors: Ismail Abubakar, Hamid Mehrabi, Reg Morton

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Currently, extensive signal analysis is performed in order to evaluate structural health of turbomachinery blades. This approach is affected by constraints of time and the availability of qualified personnel. Thus, new approaches to blade dynamics identification that provide faster and more accurate results are sought after. Generally, modal analysis is employed in acquiring dynamic properties of a vibrating turbomachinery blade and is widely adopted in condition monitoring of blades. The analysis provides useful information on the different modes of vibration and natural frequencies by exploring different shapes that can be taken up during vibration since all mode shapes have their corresponding natural frequencies. Experimental modal testing and finite element analysis are the traditional methods used to evaluate mode shapes with limited application to real live scenario to facilitate a robust condition monitoring scheme. For a real time mode shape evaluation, rapid evaluation and low computational cost is required and traditional techniques are unsuitable. In this study, artificial neural network is developed to evaluate the mode shape of a lab scale rotating blade assembly by using result from finite element modal analysis as training data. The network performance evaluation shows that artificial neural network (ANN) is capable of mapping the correlation between natural frequencies and mode shapes. This is achieved without the need of extensive signal analysis. The approach offers advantage from the perspective that the network is able to classify mode shapes and can be employed in real time including simplicity in implementation and accuracy of the prediction. The work paves the way for further development of robust condition monitoring system that incorporates real time mode shape evaluation.

Keywords: modal analysis, artificial neural network, mode shape, natural frequencies, pattern recognition

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Kasra Afsahi, Maryam Soheilifar, S. Hossein Hosseini, Omid Seyed Esmaeili, Rouzbeh Kezemi, Noushin Mehrbod, Nazanin Vahed, Tahereh Hajiahmad, Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari

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Background: Stroke is a disabling neurological disease. Rehabilitative therapies are important treatment methods. This clinical trial was done to compare the effects of VR beside conventional rehabilitation versus conventional rehabilitation alone on spasticity and motor function in stroke patients. Materials and Methods: In this open-label randomized controlled clinical trial, 40 consecutive patients with stable first-ever ischemic stroke in the past three to 12 months that were referred to a rehabilitation clinic in Tehran, Iran, in 2020 were enrolled. After signing the informed written consent form, subjects were randomly assigned by block randomization of five in each block as cases with 1:1 into two groups of 20 cases; conventional plus VR therapy group: 45-minute conventional therapy session plus 15-minute VR therapy, and conventional group: 60-minute conventional therapy session. VR rehabilitation is designed and developed with different stages. Outcomes were modified Ashworth scale, recovery stage score for motor function, range of motion (ROM) of shoulder abduction/wrist extension, and patients’ satisfaction rate. Data were compared after study termination. Results: The satisfaction rate among the patients was significantly better in the combination group (P=0.003). Only wrist extension was varied between groups and was better in the combination group. The variables generally had a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Virtual reality plus conventional rehabilitation therapy is superior versus conventional rehabilitation alone on the wrist and elbow spasticity and motor function in patients with stroke.

Keywords: stroke, virtual therapy, rehabilitation, treatment

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Authors: B. L. Avanthi Isaka, P. G. Ranjith

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The development of technically-sound enhanced geothermal systems (EGSs) is identified as a viable solution for world growing energy demand with immense potential, low carbon dioxide emission and importantly, as an environmentally friendly option for renewable energy production. The use of supercritical carbon dioxide (ScCO₂) as the working fluid in EGSs by replacing traditional water-based method is promising due to multiple advantages prevail in ScCO₂-injection for underground reservoir stimulation. The evolution of reservoir stimulation using ScCO₂ and the understanding of the flow behavior of a ScCO₂-stimulated geothermal reservoir is vital in applying ScCO₂-EGSs as a replacement for water-based EGSs. The study is therefore aimed to investigate the flow behavior of a ScCO₂-fractured rock medium at in-situ stress and temperature conditions. A series of permeability tests were conducted for ScCO₂ fractured Harcourt granite rock specimens at 90ºC, under varying confining pressures from 5–60 MPa using the high-pressure and high-temperature tri-axial set up which can simulate deep geological conditions. The permeability of the ScCO₂-fractured rock specimens was compared with that of water-fractured rock specimens. The results show that the permeability of the ScCO₂-fractured rock specimens is one order higher than that of water-fractured rock specimens and the permeability exhibits a non-linear reduction with increasing confining pressure due to the stress-induced fracture closure. Further, the enhanced permeability of the ScCO₂-induced fracture with multiple secondary branches was explained by exploring the CT images of the rock specimens. However, a single plain fracture was induced under water-based fracturing.

Keywords: supercritical carbon dioxide, fracture permeability, granite, enhanced geothermal systems

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Authors: L. Freeman, D. Bax, V. K. Sapong

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Community-based, preventative approaches to violent extremism may be effective and yet remain an underutilised method. In a realm where security approaches dominate, with the focus on countering violence extremism and combatting radicalisation, community resilience programming remains sparse. This paper will present a survey tool that aims to measure the risk and protective factors that can lead to violent extremism in Mozambique and Tanzania. Conducted in four districts in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique and one district in Pwani, Tanzania, the survey uses a combination of BRAVE-14, Afrocentric and context-specific questions in order to more fully understand community resilience opportunities and challenges in preventing and countering violent extremism. Developed in Australia and Canada to measure radicalisation risks in individuals and communities, BRAVE-14 is a tool not yet applied in the African continent. Given the emerging threat of Islamic extremism in Northern Mozambique and Eastern Tanzania, which both experience a combination of socio-political exclusion, resource marginalisation and religious/ideological motivations, the development of the survey is timely and fills a much-needed information gap in these regions. Not only have these Islamist groups succeeded in tapping into the grievances of communities by radicalising and recruiting individuals, but their presence in these regions has been characterised by extreme forms of violence, leaving isolated communities vulnerable to attack. The expected result of these findings will facilitate the contextualisation and comparison of the protective and risk factors that inhibit or promote the radicalisation of the youth in these communities. In identifying sources of resilience and vulnerability, this study emphasises the implementation of context-specific intervention programming and provides a strong research tool for understanding youth and community resilience to violent extremism.

Keywords: community resilience, Mozambique, preventing violent extremism, radicalisation, Tanzania

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Authors: Ahmed Bux Jamali

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The purpose of this study is to examine and evaluate the overall counterterrorism cooperation during Obama Administration towards Pakistan. It aims and focuses on the performances and measures taken by United States of America during President Obama in office in order to eradicate terrorism from Pakistan. Being a grave national security threat, terrorism played a disastrous role in the domestic peace and stability of both countries. For the sake of curbing this menace in South Asia in general and Pakistan in particular, the role of Obama Administration is viable and results-oriented despite major ups and downs in Pakistan U.S Relations during that period of time. Obama administration formulated policies when he comes to office in 2009 by looking at the already efforts done by Bush Administration to counterterrorism from Pakistan. Obama’s foreign policy was revolving around defense and diplomacy when it comes to dealing with Pakistan. The concept of smart power was indeed a core principle of Obama’s administration to gain the strategic objectives in Pakistan. Obama’s strategies in terms of providing military aid packages and various assistance programs, working on institutional building and strengthening the economy helped Pakistan in strengthening the military capabilities to go for militant operation in the safe havens area in the tribal areas of Pakistan. It further helped building institutional mechanism in the governmental policies to counter terrorism and militancy. The training of combat forces, artillery, and equipment provided by US proved fatal for the militant terrorist organizations seeking hideouts in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Resultantly, many top leaders of al Qaeda and many affiliated militant groups were captured and given to US as well. Despite many ups and downs in the bilateral relations on various domestic and international issues, both countries didn’t compromise the elimination of terrorist phenomena from Pakistan which was indeed a great success of the Obama administration’s counterterrorism and counterinsurgency strategies in the long run.

Keywords: counterterrorism cooperation, national security strategy, Obama administration, Pakistan-US relations

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Authors: Nicolas Bigot, M'hamed Boutaous, Nahiene Hamila, Shihe Xin

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Composite materials with polymer matrices are widely used in most industrial areas, particularly in aeronautical and automotive ones. Thanks to the development of a high-performance thermoplastic semicrystalline polymer matrix, those materials exhibit more and more efficient properties. The polymer matrix in composite materials can manifest a specific crystalline structure characteristic of crystallization in a fibrous medium. In order to guarantee a good mechanical behavior of structures and to optimize their performances, it is necessary to define realistic mechanical constitutive laws of such materials considering their physical structure. The interaction between fibers and matrix is a key factor in the mechanical behavior of composite materials. Transcrystallization phenomena which develops in the matrix around the fibers constitute the interphase which greatly affects and governs the nature of the fiber-matrix interaction. Hence, it becomes fundamental to quantify its impact on the thermo-mechanical behavior of composites material in relationship with processing conditions. In this work, we propose a numerical model coupling the thermal and crystallization kinetics in long fiber-based composite materials, considering both the spherulitic and transcrystalline types of the induced structures. After validation of the model with comparison to results from the literature and noticing a good correlation, a parametric study has been led on the effects of the thermal kinetics, the fibers volume fractions, the deformation, and the pressure on the crystallization rate in the material, under processing conditions. The ratio of the transcrystallinity is highlighted and analyzed with regard to the thermal kinetics and gradients in the material. Experimental results on the process are foreseen and pave the way to establish a mechanical constitutive law describing, with the introduction of the role on the crystallization rates and types on the thermo-mechanical behavior of composites materials.

Keywords: composite materials, crystallization, heat transfer, modeling, transcrystallization

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Authors: I. Farid, K. Zouari

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An attempt has been made to examine the effect of water storage structures on groundwater recharge in a semi-arid agroclimatic setting in Jeloula Basin (Central Tunisia). In this area, surface water in rivers is seasonal, and therefore groundwater is the perennial source of water supply for domestic and agricultural purposes. Three pumped storage water power plants (PSWPP) have been built to increase the overall water availability in the basin and support agricultural livelihoods of rural smallholders. The scale and geographical dispersion of these multiple lakes restrict the understanding of these coupled human-water systems and the identification of adequate strategies to support riparian farmers. In the present review, hydrochemistry and isotopic tools were combined to get an insight into the processes controlling mineralization and recharge conditions in the investigated aquifer system. This study showed a slight increase in the groundwater level, especially after the artificial recharge operations and a decline when the water volume moves down during drought periods. Chemical data indicate that the main sources of salinity in the waters are related to water-rock interactions. Data inferred from stable isotopes in groundwater samples indicated recharge with modern rainfall. The investigated surface water samples collected from the PSWPP are affected by a significant evaporation and reveal large seasonal variations, which could be controlled by the water volume changes in the open surface reservoirs and the meteorological conditions during evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. The geochemical information is comparable to the isotopic results and illustrates that the chemical and isotopic signatures of reservoir waters differ clearly from those of groundwaters. These data confirm that the contribution of the artificial recharge operations from the PSWPP is very limited.

Keywords: Jeloula basin, recharge, hydrochemistry, isotopes

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Authors: U.-B. Schaer, M. Wehr, R. Hodler

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Background: Most nursing students require more training time for necessary nursing skills than defined by nursing schools curriculum to acquire basic nursing skills. Given skills training lessons are too brief to enable effective student learning, meaning in-depth skills practice and repetition various learning steps. This increases stress levels and the pressure to succeed for a nursing student with slower learning capabilities. Another possible consequence is that nursing students are less prepared in the required skills for future clinical practice. Intervention: The Bern College of Higher Education of Nursing, Switzerland, started the independent peer practice learning program in 2012. A concept was developed which defines specific aims and content as well as student’s rights and obligations. Students enlist beforehand and order the required materials. They organize themselves and train in small groups in allocated training location in the area of Learning Training and Transfer (LTT). During the peer practice, skills and knowledge can be repeatedly trained and reflected in the peer groups without the presence of a tutor. All invasive skills are practiced only on teaching dummies. This allows students to use all their potential. The students may access learning materials as literature and their own student notes. This allows nursing students to practice their skills and to deepen their knowledge on corresponding with their own learning rate. Results: Peer group discussions during the independent peer practice learning support the students in gaining certainty and confidence in their knowledge and skills. This may improve patient safety in future daily care practice. Descriptive statics show that the number of students who take advantage of the independent peer practice learning increased continuously (2012-2018). It has to be mentioned that in 2012, solely students of the first semester attended the independent peer practice learning program, while in 2018 over one-third of the participating students were in their fifth semester and final study year. It is clearly visible that the demand for independent peer practice learning is increasing. This has to be considered in the development of future teaching curricula.

Keywords: learning program, nursing students, peer learning, skill training

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Authors: Zahra Fotovatnia, Jeffery A. Jones, Alexandra Gottardo

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Speech communication often occurs in environments where noise conceals part of a message. Listeners should compensate for the lack of auditory information by picking up distinct acoustic cues and using semantic and sentential context to recreate the speaker’s intended message. This situation seems to be more challenging in a nonnative than native language. On the other hand, early bilinguals are expected to show an advantage over the late bilingual and monolingual speakers of a language due to their better executive functioning components. In this study, English monolingual speakers were compared with early and late nonnative speakers of English to understand speech in noise processing (SIN) and the underlying neurobiological features of this phenomenon. Auditory mismatch negativities (MMNs) were recorded using a double-oddball paradigm in response to a minimal pair that differed in their middle vowel (beat/bit) at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. The results did not show any significant structural and electroneural differences across groups. However, vocabulary knowledge correlated positively with performance on tests that measured SIN processing in participants who learned English after age 6. Moreover, their performance on the test negatively correlated with the integral area amplitudes in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG). In addition, the STG was engaged before the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in noise-free and low-noise test conditions in all groups. We infer that the pre-attentive processing of words engages temporal lobes earlier than the fronto-central areas and that vocabulary knowledge helps the nonnative perception of degraded speech.

Keywords: degraded speech perception, event-related brain potentials, mismatch negativities, brain regions

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Authors: Daria Pashneva, Julija Pauraite, Agne Minderyte, Vadimas Dudoitis, Lina Davuliene, Kristina Plauskaite, Inga Garbariene, Steigvile Bycenkiene

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Black carbon (BC) has received particular attention around the world, not only for its impact on regional and global climate change but also for its impact on air quality and public health. In order to study the relationship between indoor and outdoor BC concentrations, studies were carried out in Vilnius, Lithuania. The studies are aimed at determining the relationship of concentrations, identifying dependencies during the day and week with a further opportunity to analyze the key factors affecting the indoor concentration of BC. In this context, indoor and outdoor continuous real-time measurements of optical BC-related light absorption by aerosol particles were carried out during the cold season (from October to December 2020). The measurement venue was an office located in an urban background environment. Equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentration was measured by an Aethalometer (Magee Scientific, model AE-31). The optical transmission of carbonaceous aerosol particles was measured sequentially at seven wavelengths (λ= 370, 470, 520, 590, 660, 880, and 950 nm), where the eBC mass concentration was derived from the light absorption coefficient (σab) at 880 nm wavelength. The diurnal indoor eBC mass concentration was found to vary in the range from 0.02 to 0.08 µgm⁻³, while the outdoor eBC mass concentration - from 0.34 to 0.99 µgm⁻³. Diurnal variations of eBC mass concentration outdoor vs. indoor showed an increased contribution during 10:00 and 12:00 AM (GMT+2), with the highest indoor eBC mass concentration of 0.14µgm⁻³. An indoor/outdoor eBC ratio (I/O) was below one throughout the entire measurement period. The weekend levels of eBC mass concentration were lower than in weekdays for indoor and outdoor for 33% and 28% respectively. Hourly mean mass concentrations of eBC for weekdays and weekends show diurnal cycles, which could be explained by the periodicity of traffic intensity and heating activities. The results show a moderate influence of outdoor eBC emissions on the indoor eBC level.

Keywords: black carbon, climate change, indoor air quality, I/O ratio

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Authors: Logan Carmichael

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As the world’s governments seek to increasingly digitize their service provisions, there exists a subsequent and fully valid concern about the security underpinning these digital governance provisions. Estonia, a small and innovative Baltic nation, has been refining both its digital governance structure and cybersecurity mechanisms for over three decades and has been praised as global ‘best practice’ in both fields. However, the security of the Estonian digital governance system has been ever-evolving and significantly shaped by cybersecurity crises. This paper examines said crises – 2007 cyberattacks on Estonian government, banks, and news media; the 2017 e-ID crisis; the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine – and how governance decision-making following these crises has shaped the cybersecurity of the digital governance structure in Estonia. This paper employs a blended constructivist and historical institutionalist theoretical approach as a useful means to view governance and decision-making in the wake of cybersecurity incidents affecting the Estonian digital governance structure. Together, these theoretical groundings frame the topics of cybersecurity and digital governance in an Estonian context through a lens of ideation and experience, as well as institutional path dependencies over time and cybersecurity crises as critical junctures to study. Furthermore, this paper takes a qualitative approach, employing discourse analysis, policy analysis, and elite interviewing of Estonian officials involved in digital governance and cybersecurity in order to glean nuanced perspectives into the processes that followed these four crises. Ultimately, the results of this paper will offer insight into how governments undertake policy-driven change following cybersecurity crises to ensure sufficient security of their digitized service provisions. This paper’s findings are informative not only in continued decision-making in the Estonian system but also in other states currently implementing a digital governance structure, for which security mechanisms are of the utmost importance.

Keywords: cybersecurity, digital governance, Estonia, crisis management, governance in crisis

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Authors: Yih-Jer Wu, Ling-Lang Huang

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Shared decision-making (SDM) is a critical aspect of determining optimal medical strategies. However, current patient decision aids (PDAs) often prioritize evidence-based discussions over value-based considerations. Despite its significance, there is limited research addressing the 'value gap' between patients and healthcare providers. To address this gap, we developed the 'Patient-Doctor Relationship Questionnaire,' consisting of 12 questions. To explore potential variations in the patient-doctor value gap across different medical specialties, we conducted interviews with physicians, surgeons, and their respective patients, utilizing the questionnaire. Between 2020 and 2022, we interviewed a total of 144 patients and 19 doctors. Among the 12 questions, physicians demonstrated significant patient-doctor value gaps in 5 questions, while surgeons in 3 questions. Only one question turned out significant gaps in both physicians and surgeons. When asking both doctors and their patients to choose one from the following 6 answers (1. No issue significant; 2. Not knowing how to make a medical decision; 3. Not confident in the doctor’s clinical judgment; 4. Not knowing how to articulate one’s own condition; 5. Unable to afford medical expenses; 6. Not understanding what doctors explain) in response to the question “what the most significant issue is in the medical consultation”, over 50% of doctors chose “Not knowing how to make a medical decision” (physicians vs. patients, 50% vs. 11%, p=0.046; surgeon vs. patients, 83% vs. 29%, p=0.001), while significantly more patients chose “No issue significant” (10% vs. 52%, p=0.002; 0% vs. 33%, p<0.001, respectively). Our findings indicate that value gaps do exist between patients and doctors and that most patients in Taiwan "fully trust" their doctors' recommendations for medical decisions. However, when treatment outcomes are far from ideal, this overinflated "trust" may turn into frustration, which could become the catalyst for medical disputes. Doctors should spend more time having more effective communication with their patients, particularly regarding potentially dissatisfactory treatment outcomes. This study underscores the substantial variability in the patient-doctor value gap, often overlooked in SDM. Patients from different clinical backgrounds may hold values distinct from those of their healthcare providers. Bridging this value gap is imperative for achieving genuine and effective SDM.

Keywords: share-decision making, value gaps, communication, doctor-patient relationship

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Authors: Katarzyna Baruch, Agata Szelag, Aleksandra Majchrzak, Tadeusz Kamisinski

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Methodology of measurement of sound absorption coefficient in scaled models is based on the ISO 354 standard. The measurement is realised indirectly - the coefficient is calculated from the reverberation time of an empty chamber as well as a chamber with an inserted sample. It is crucial to maintain the atmospheric conditions stable during both measurements. Possible differences may be amended basing on the formulas for atmospheric attenuation coefficient α given in ISO 9613-1. Model studies require scaling particular factors in compliance with specified characteristic numbers. For absorption coefficient measurement, these are for example: frequency range or the value of attenuation coefficient m. Thanks to the possibilities of modern electroacoustic transducers, it is no longer a problem to scale the frequencies which have to be proportionally higher. However, it may be problematic to reduce values of the attenuation coefficient. It is practically obtained by drying the air down to a defined relative humidity. Despite the change of frequency range and relative humidity of the air, ISO 9613-1 standard still allows the calculation of the amendment for little differences of the atmospheric conditions in the chamber during measurements. The paper discusses a number of theoretical analyses and experimental measurements performed in order to obtain consistency between the values of attenuation coefficient calculated from the formulas given in the standard and by measurement. The authors performed measurements of reverberation time in a chamber made in a 1/8 scale in a corresponding frequency range, i.e. 800 Hz - 40 kHz and in different values of the relative air humidity (40% 5%). Based on the measurements, empirical values of attenuation coefficient were calculated and compared with theoretical ones. In general, the values correspond with each other, but for high frequencies and low values of relative air humidity the differences are significant. Those discrepancies may directly influence the values of measured sound absorption coefficient and cause errors. Therefore, the authors made an effort to determine an amendment minimizing described inaccuracy.

Keywords: air absorption correction, attenuation coefficient, dimensional analysis, model study, scaled modelling

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Authors: Naylya Djumaeva

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Since the end of 2019, the world has been shaken by an infection that has claimed the lives of more than six and a half million patients. Currently, SARS-CoV-2 not only causes acute damage but has long-term consequences affecting every organ and has brought a wave of a new chronic disabling condition called Long-Covid..This preliminary study describes an application of un-explored properties of low-level laser radiation with laser- light emitter in the field of which is placed Copegus (Ribavirin) with the aim of treatment of patients with Long-Covid syndrome. The difference from the traditional use of the drug is that Copegus was not prescribed to the patient by the traditional method - orally or intravenously, and the medicinal properties of the drug were introduced into the patient’s body using the un-explored properties of low-power laser radiation. Ninety eight patients with Long- Covid syndrome were observed. The obtained findings suggest that under the influence of the field formed into the laser- light emitter with a Copegus placed inside the field, the remote transfer of pharmacological properties of Сopegus occurs. Conclusions about the produced effect of exposure were made based on improvement in the condition of patients, the disappearance of complaints, and positive changes in various diagnostic tests performed by the patients. Biography: Djumaeva N completed her PhD from the Institute of Epidemiology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in 2000. In her dissertation work devoted to the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, she presented data on the possible influence of Complex Homeopathic Preparations on the organization of bound intracellular water in the cells of the body. She is the Consultant (Neurologist) at the Scientific-Research Institute for Virology, Uzbekistan, and an expert in “medicament testing” method (30 years). She has published 43 papers, including 2 patents.

Keywords: long covid, low level laser, copegus, laser- light emmiter

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Authors: Nitin Kumar

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Purpose: The current research work focuses mainly on evolving a delivery system for ginseng extract (GE), which in turn will ameliorate the neuroprotective potential by means of enhancing the ginsenoside (Rb1) bio-availability (BA). For more noteworthy enhancement in oral bioavailability (OBA) along with pharmacological properties, the drug carriers’ performance can be strengthened by utilizing phytosomes-loaded microspheres (PM) delivery system. Methods: For preparing the disparate phytosome complexes (F1, F2, and F3), an aqueous extract of ginseng roots (GR) along with phospholipids were reacted in disparate ratio. Considering the outcomes, F3 formulation (spray-dried) was chosen for preparing the phytosomes powder (PP), PM, and extract microspheres (EM). PM was made by means of loading of F3 into Gum Arabic (GA) in addition to maltodextrin polymer mixture, whereas EM was prepared by means of the addition of extract directly into the same polymer mixture. For investigating the neuroprotective effect (NPE) in addition to their pharmacokinetic (PK) properties, PP, PM, and EM formulations were assessed. Results: F3 formulation gave enhanced entrapment efficiency (EE) (i.e., 50.61%) along with good homogeneity of spherical shaped particle size (PS) (42.58 ± 1.4 nm) with least polydispersity index (PDI) (i.e., 0.193 ± 0.01). The sustained release (up to 24 h) of ginsenoside Rb1 (GRb1) is revealed by the dissolution study of PM. A significantly (p < 0.05) greater anti-oxidant (AO) potential of PM can well be perceived as of the diminution in the lipid peroxidase level in addition to the rise in the glutathione superoxide dismutase (SOD) in addition to catalase levels. It also showed a greater neuroprotective potential exhibiting significant (p < 0.05) augmentation in the nociceptive threshold together with the diminution in damage to nerves. A noteworthy enhancement in the relative BA (157.94%) of GRb1 through the PM formulation can well be seen in the PK studies. Conclusion: It is exhibited that the PM system is an optimistic and feasible strategy to enhance the delivery of GE for the effectual treatment of neuropathic pain.

Keywords: ginseng, neuropathic, phytosome, pain

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Authors: Yongjiang Zhang, Kallol Barai, Umesh R. Hodeghatta, Trang Tran, Vikas Dhiman

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Detecting water stress on crops early and accurately is crucial to minimize its impact. This study aims to measure water stress in wild blueberry crops non-destructively by analyzing proximal hyperspectral data. The data collection took place in the summer growing season of 2022. A drought experiment was conducted on wild blueberries in the randomized block design in the greenhouse, incorporating various genotypes and irrigation treatments. Hyperspectral data ( spectral range: 400-1000 nm) using a handheld spectroradiometer and leaf water potential data using a pressure chamber were collected from wild blueberry plants. Machine learning techniques, including multiple regression analysis and random forest models, were employed to predict leaf water potential (MPa). We explored the optimal wavelength bands for simple differences (RY1-R Y2), simple ratios (RY1/RY2), and normalized differences (|RY1-R Y2|/ (RY1-R Y2)). NDWI ((R857 - R1241)/(R857 + R1241)), SD (R2188 – R2245), and SR (R1752 / R1756) emerged as top predictors for predicting leaf water potential, significantly contributing to the highest model performance. The base learner models achieved an R-squared value of approximately 0.81, indicating their capacity to explain 81% of the variance. Research is underway to develop a neural vegetation index (NVI) that automates the process of index development by searching for specific wavelengths in the space ratio of linear functions of reflectance. The NVI framework could work across species and predict different physiological parameters.

Keywords: hyperspectral reflectance, water potential, spectral indices, machine learning, wild blueberries, optimal bands

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Authors: Harsha Nagar, Vineet Aniya, Alka Kumari, Satyavathi B.

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In the present study, engineered bio-coal was produced from pressed seed cake, which otherwise is non-edible in origin. The production process involves a slow pyrolysis wherein, based on the optimization of process parameters; a substantial reduction in H/C and O/C of 77% was achieved with respect to the original ratio of 1.67 and 0.8, respectively. The bio-coal, so the product was found to have a higher heating value of 29899 kJ/kg with surface area 17 m²/g and pore volume of 0.002 cc/g. The functional characterization of bio-coal and its subsequent modification was carried out to enhance its active sites, which were further used as an adsorbent material for removal of 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) herbicide from the aqueous stream. The point of zero charge for the bio-coal was found to be pH < 3 where its surface is positively charged and attracts anions resulting in the maximum 2, 4, 6-TCP adsorption at pH 2.0. The parametric optimization of the adsorption process was studied based on the Box-Behken design with the desirability approach. The results showed optimum values of adsorption efficiency of 74.04% and uptake capacity of 118.336 mg/g for an initial metal concentration of 250 mg/l and particle size of 0.12 mm at pH 2.0 and 1 g/L of bio-coal loading. Negative Gibbs free energy change values indicated the feasibility of 2,4,6-TCP adsorption on biochar. Decreasing the ΔG values with the rise in temperature indicated high favourability at low temperatures. The equilibrium modeling results showed that both isotherms (Langmuir and Freundlich) accurately predicted the equilibrium data, which may be attributed to the different affinity of the functional groups of bio-coal for 2,4,6-TCP removal. The possible mechanism for 2,4,6-TCP adsorption is found to be physisorption (pore diffusion, p*_p electron donor-acceptor interaction, H-bonding, and van der Waals dispersion forces) and chemisorption (phenolic and amine groups chemical bonding) based on the kinetics data modeling.

Keywords: engineered biocoal, 2, 4, 6-trichlorophenol, box behnken design, biosorption

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Authors: Anima Ashraf

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Over the past few decades biodiversity has become the issue of global concern for its rapid reduction worldwide. Bangladesh is no exception. The country is exceptionally endowed with a vast variety of flora and fauna, but due to tremendous population pressure, rural poverty and unemployment it has been decreased alarmingly. Since, both biodiversity and sustainable development are the part of human life in modern era and both work together to make our life safer and comfortable therefore balance should be kept in development and biodiversity conservation and priority should be given to alternative and sustainable development paths. This paper is based on study of two projects undertaken by Arannayk Foundation jointly with its local NGO partners. The aim was to understand previous, current and future scenarios for the hilly biodiversity of Khagrachari in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. It is also observed how alternative income generating activities (AIGA) improve livelihood of the tribal inhabitants of the area, decrease their dependency on forest resources and also aid conservation activities. Intensive field visits were made and interviews were conducted with key informants to see the progress and achievements of local NGOs working with the tribal community for the past seven years to restore the denuded hills of Khagrachari. The paper also covers the impacts and interventions of the projects and the methods used to aid conservation activities. Raising awareness among the villagers has reduced extraction of forests resources by 47% and granting funds and access to microcredit to adopt AIGAs have increased their average annual income by 25%. Finally, the paper concludes that effective community-based conservation practices are fundamental to ensure biodiversity conservation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In order to conserve biodiversity and restore the forests of CHT, livelihood development of the villagers has to be considered as the main component of the projects undertaken by all NGOs and the Government.

Keywords: biodiversity, conservation, forests, livelihood

Procedia PDF Downloads 258