Search results for: development of regions

Authors: Mohannad Tarrad

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The research deals with the beginnings of the vernacular Jordanian architecture since the establishment of the Jordanian state in the early nineteenth century until now, where the Jordanian architecture was based on the interactions of the Jordanian society with the surrounding environment, where the local materials available in the construction area were used, and the construction systems inherited from previous civilizations were used. The builders in Jordan relied on exchanging knowledge and transferring it from one generation to another, where they were able to formulate a construction style capable of responding to the requirement of architectural spaces, and each region of Jordan has its own way of building, as there are various geographical areas in Jordan, including agricultural, mountainous and desert areas. Then the research touched on a historical study of the architectural space and identifying the value of the architectural space in the Jordanian social life, which is related to the customs and traditions of a society influenced by the Arab Islamic civilization, and then the construction, the structural structure, its characteristics and the constituent elements of the building were defined in the vernacular l Jordanian architecture. From the structural point of view, and then to identify the structural materials used in the structural structure and the impact of the structural structure on the design from several aspects, leading to the interior space and the factors affecting it. The research aims to explain and clarify the interconnected design and construction solutions in the vernacular Jordanian architecture in a manner that respects the environmental context, taking into account the material cost of the building, where the financial situation of the home owner plays an important role in choosing the building material and construction method. Case studies from heritage buildings from several Jordanian regions will be analyzed to illustrate the idea of the research.

Keywords: construction systems, architectural space, environmental context, Jordanian architecture

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Authors: Michael Menberu

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Housing affordability is a crucial policy objective. Incorporating economic sustainability in affordable housing in the development of the poorest of the poor's housing programs has become a major concern. This paper examines the affordability and economic sustainability of the poorest of the poor affordable housing in Debre Markos city. To address this, this study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods, Using a questionnaire survey, Interviews, field observation, household survey, and Pearson correlation analysis. The findings show that households in the expansion area have lower monthly incomes than in the past, but they are satisfied with the housing quality, rental pricing, and tenure security of their homes. This demonstrates in providing affordable housing for the poorest of the poor the location of the houses must be considered in order to have affordable and economically sustainable development. The findings show that housing is not truly affordable if it is in an inaccessible place with a long commute to work, high transportation expenditures, and land use that is homogeneous. Increasing the supply of affordable housing in accessible locations helps the poorest of the poor achieve multiple planning objectives: it reduces transportation costs, improves incomes, provides infrastructure, and reduces the distance to the work area.

Keywords: housing, affordable housing, economic sustainability, the poorest of the poor housing

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Authors: Jiayue Guo, Lili You

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Background: Children and adolescent health are crucial for both personal well-being and the nation's future health landscape. Health Literacy (HL) is important in enabling adolescents to self-manage their health, a fundamental step towards health empowerment. However, there are limited tools for assessing HL among elementary and junior high school students. This study aims to construct and validate a test-based HL scale for Chinese students, offering a scientific reference for cross-cultural HL tool development. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey. Participants were recruited from a stratified cluster random sampling method, a total of 4189 Chinese in-school primary and secondary students. The development of the scale was completed by defining the concept of HL, establishing the item indicator system, screening items (7 health content dimensions), and evaluating reliability and validity. Delphi method expert consultation was used to screen items, the Rasch model was conducted for quality analysis, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to examine the internal consistency. Results: We developed four versions of the HL scale, each with a total score of 100, encompassing seven key health areas: hygiene, nutrition, physical activity, mental health, disease prevention, safety awareness, and digital health literacy. Each version measures four dimensions of health competencies: knowledge, skills, motivation, and behavior. After the second round of expert consultation, the average importance score of each item by experts is 4.5–5.0, and the coefficient of variation is 0.000–0.174. The knowledge and skills dimensions are judgment-based and multiple-choice questions, with the Rasch model confirming unidimensionality at a 5.7% residual variance. The behavioral and motivational dimensions, measured with scale-type items, demonstrated internal consistency via Cronbach's alpha and strong inter-item correlation with KMO values of 0.924 and 0.787, respectively. Bartlett's test of sphericity, with p-values <0.001, further substantiates the scale's reliability. Conclusions: The new test-based scale, designed to evaluate competencies within a multifaceted framework, aligns with current international adolescent literacy theories and China's health education policies, focusing not only on knowledge acquisition but also on the application of health-related thinking and behaviors. The scale can be used as a comprehensive tool for HL evaluation and a reference for other countries.

Keywords: adolescent health, Chinese, health literacy, rasch model, scale development

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Authors: Shivangi Agrawal, Hsiu-I Ting

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Entrepreneurship is an essential source of economic growth and a prominent factor influencing socio-economic development. Entrepreneurship education educates and enhances entrepreneurial activity. This study aims to understand current trends in entrepreneurship education and evaluate the effectiveness of diverse entrepreneurship education programs. An increasing number of universities offer entrepreneurship education courses to create and successfully continue entrepreneurial ventures. Despite the prevalence of entrepreneurship education, research studies lack inconsistency about the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education to promote and develop entrepreneurship. Strategies to develop entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions among individuals are hindered by a lack of understanding of entrepreneurs' educational purposes, components, methodology, and resources required. Lack of adequate entrepreneurship education has been linked with low self-efficacy and lack of entrepreneurial intent. Moreover, in the age of digitisation and during the COVID-19 pandemic, digital learning platforms (e.g., online entrepreneurship education courses and programs) and other digital tools (e.g., digital game-based entrepreneurship education) have become more relevant to entrepreneurship education. This paper contributes to the continuation of academic literature in entrepreneurship education by evaluating and assessing current trends in entrepreneurship education programs, leading to better understanding to reduce gaps between entrepreneurial development requirements and higher education institutions.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, digital technologies, academic entrepreneurship, COVID-19

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Authors: Gelareh Ghaderi

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the overall objective of this study is to develop two alternative plans of spatial and infrastructural development for the Netwerkstad Twente (Twente region) until 2040 and to assess the impacts of those two alternative plans. This region is located on the eastern border of the Netherlands, and it comprises of five municipalities. Based on the strengths and opportunities of the five municipalities of the Netwerkstad Twente, and in order develop the region internationally, strengthen the job market and retain skilled and knowledgeable young population, two alternative visions have been developed; environmental oriented vision, and economical oriented vision. Environmental oriented vision is based mostly on preserving beautiful landscapes. Twente would be recognized as an educational center, driven by green technologies and environment-friendly economy. Market-oriented vision is based on attracting and developing different economic activities in the region based on visions of the five cities of Netwerkstad Twente, in order to improve the competitiveness of the region in national and international scale. On the basis of the two developed visions and strategies for achieving the visions, land use and infrastructural development are modeled and assessed. Based on the SWOT analysis, criteria were formulated and employed in modeling the two contrasting land use visions by the year 2040. Land use modeling consists of determination of future land use demand, assessment of suitability land (Suitability analysis), and allocation of land uses on suitable land. Suitability analysis aims to determine the available supply of land for future development as well as assessing their suitability for specific type of land uses on the basis of the formulated set of criteria. Suitability analysis was operated using CommunityViz, a Planning Support System application for spatially explicit land suitability and allocation. Netwerkstad Twente has highly developed transportation infrastructure, consists of highways network, national road network, regional road network, street network, local road network, railway network and bike-path network. Based on the assumptions of speed limitations on different types of roads provided, infrastructure accessibility level of predicted land use parcels by four different transport modes is investigated. For evaluation of the two development scenarios, the Multi-criteria Evaluation (MCE) method is used. The first step was to determine criteria used for evaluation of each vision. All factors were categorized as economical, ecological and social. Results of Multi-criteria Evaluation show that Environmental oriented cities scenario has higher overall score. Environment-oriented scenario has impressive scores in relation to economical and ecological factors. This is due to the fact that a large percentage of housing tends towards compact housing. Twente region has immense potential, and the success of this project will define the Eastern part of The Netherlands and create a real competitive local economy with innovations and attractive environment as its backbone.

Keywords: economical oriented vision, environmental oriented vision, infrastructure, land use, multi criteria assesment, vision

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Authors: Chia-Chun Wu, Ying-Yao Cheng

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The purpose of this study was developing the 'short-form BASIC scale' psychotic tendencies subscale so as to provide a more efficient, economical and effective way to assess the mental health of recruits. 1749 students from Naval Recruit Training Center participated in this study. The multidimensional constructs of psychotic tendencies subscale include four dimensions: schizophrenic tendencies, manic tendencies, depression tendencies, and suicidal ideation. We cut down the 36-item psychotic tendencies subscale to 25 items by using multidimension Rasch techniques. They were applied to assess model-data fit and to provide the validity evidence of the short form BASIC scale of psychotic tendencies subscale. The person separation reliabilities of the measures from four dimensions were .70, .67, .74 and .57, respectively. In addition, there is a notable correlation between the length version and short version of schizophrenic tendencies (scaled .89), manic tendencies (.96), depression tendencies (.97) and suicidal ideation (.97). The results have indicated that the development of the study of short-form scale sufficient to replace the original scale. Therefore, it is suggested that short-form basic scale is used to assess the mental health with participants being more willing to answer questions to ensure the validation of assessments.

Keywords: BASIC scale, military, Rasch analysis, short-form scale

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Authors: Keivan Jamshidi

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Distal swelling and eventual degeneration of axon in the CNS and PNS have been considered to be the characteristic neuropathological effects of acrylamide (ACR) neuropathy. This study was conducted to determine the neurotoxic effects of different doses of ACR (0.5, 5, 50, 100, and 500 mg/kg per day × 11days i. p.) on hypothalamus of rat using the de Olmos amino cupric-silver stain and electron microscopy. For this purpose 60 adult male rats (Wistar, approximately 250 g) were randomly assigned in 5 treatment groups as A, B, C, D, E) exposed to 0.5, 5, 50, 100, and 500 mg/kg per dayx11days i. p. and one control group as F received daily i. p. injections of 0.9% saline (3ml/kg). As indices of developing neurotoxicity, weight gain, gait scores and landing hindlimb foot splay were determined. After 11 days, two rats for silver stain, and two rats for EM were randomly selected; dissected and proper samples were collected from hypothalamus. Results did show no neurological behavior in groups A, B and F were observed in group C. Rats in groups D and E died within 1-2 hours due to sever toxemia. In histopathological studies based on de Olmos technique no argyrophilic neurons or processes were observed in stained sections obtained from hypothalamus of rats belong to groups A, B, and F while moderate to severe argyrophilic changes were observed in different nuclei and regions of stained sections obtained from hypothalamus of rats belong to group C. In ultra-structural studies some variations in the myelin sheet of injured axons including decompactation, interlaminar space formation, disruption of the laminar sheet, accumulation of neurofilaments, vacculation, and clumping inside the axolem, and finally complete disappearance of laminar sheet were observed.

Keywords: acrylamide, hypothalamus, rat, de Olmos amino cupric, silver stain, electron microscopy

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Authors: Weishou Shen, Changxin Zou, Dong Liu

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High-mountain environments are experiencing more rapid warming than lowlands. The Tibetan (Qinghai-Xizang, TP) Plateau, known as the “Third Pole” of the Earth and the “Water Tower of Asia,” is the highest plateau in the world, however, ecological response to climate change has been hardly documented in high altitude regions. In this paper, we investigated climate warming induced ecological changes on the Tibetan Plateau over the past 50 years through combining remote sensing data with a large amount of in situ field observation. The results showed that climate warming up to 0.41 °C/10 a has greatly improved the heat conditions on the TP. Lake and river areas exhibit increased trend whereas swamp area decreased in the recent 35 years. The expansion in the area of the lake is directly related to the increase of precipitation as well as the climate warming up that makes the glacier shrink, the ice and snow melting water increase and the underground frozen soil melting water increase. Climate warming induced heat condition growth and reduced annual range of temperature, which will have a positive influence on vegetation, agriculture production and decreased freeze–thaw erosion on the TP. Terrestrial net primary production and farmland area on the TP have increased by 0.002 Pg C a⁻¹ and 46,000 ha, respectively. We also found that seasonal frozen soil depth decreased as the consequence of climate warming. In the long term, accelerated snow melting and thinned seasonal frozen soil induced by climate warming possibly will have a negative effect on alpine ecosystem stability and soil preservation.

Keywords: global warming, alpine ecosystem, ecological response, remote sensing

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Authors: Sulafah Basahel

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Nowadays, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) around the world are attempting to utilize Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enhance learning process and strategies of knowledge delivery for students through Distance Education (DE) system. Stakeholders in DE system face a complex situation of different ill-defined and related issues that influence decision making process. In this study system thinking as a body of knowledge is used to explore the emergent properties that produced from these connections between issues and could have either positive or negative outcomes for the DE development. Checkland Soft System Methodology (SSM) - Mode 2 is employed in a cultural context of Saudi Arabia for more knowledge acquisition purposes among multiple stakeholders in DE rather than solving problems to achieve an overall development of DE system. This paper will discuss some political, cultural issues and connections between them that impact on effectiveness of stakeholders’ activities and relations. This study will significantly contribute to both system thinking and education fields by leading decision makers in DE to reconsider future plans, strategies and right actions for more successful educational practices.

Keywords: distance education, higher education institutions, ill-defined issues, soft system methodology-Mode 2

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Authors: Aldrin R. Logdat

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The insights and wisdom of the Alangan Mangyans offer valuable guidance for developing alternative ecological and development frameworks. Their reverence for the sacredness of the land, rooted in their traditional cosmology, guides their harmonious relationship with nature. Through their practice of swidden farming, ecosystem preservation takes precedence as they carefully manage agricultural activities and allow for forest regeneration. This approach aligns with natural processes, reflecting their profound understanding of the natural world. Similar to early advocates like Aldo Leopold, the emphasis is on shifting our perception of land from a commodity to a community. The indigenous wisdom of the Alangan Mangyans provides practical and sustainable approaches to preserving the interdependence of the biotic community and ecosystems. By integrating their cultural heritage, we can transcend the prevailing anthropocentric mindset and foster a meaningful and sustainable connection with nature. The revitalization of cultural energy and the embrace of alternative frameworks require learning from indigenous peoples like the Alangan Mangyans, where reverence for the land and the recognition of the interconnectedness between humanity and nature are prioritized. This paves the way for a future where harmony with nature and the well-being of the Earth community prevail.

Keywords: Alangan Mangyans, ecological frameworks, sacredness of the land, cultural energy

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Authors: Angelica Alvarez-Lee, Sergio Martinez-Diaz, Jose Luis Garcia-Corona, Humberto Lanz-Mendoza

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World aquaculture is always looking for improvements to achieve productions with high yields avoiding the infection by pathogenic agents. The best way to achieve this is to know the biological model to create alternative treatments that could be applied in the hatcheries, which results in greater economic gains and improvements in human public health. In the last decade, immunomodulation in shrimp culture with probiotics, organic acids and different carbon sources has gained great interest, mainly in larval and juvenile stages. Immune priming is associated with a strong protective effect against a later pathogen challenge. This work provides another perspective about immunostimulation from spawning until hatching. The stimulation happens during development embryos and generates resistance to infection by pathogenic bacteria. Massive spawnings of white shrimp L. vannamei were obtained and placed in experimental units with 700 mL of sterile seawater at 30 °C, salinity of 28 ppm and continuous aeration at a density of 8 embryos.mL⁻¹. The immunostimulating effect of three death strains of non-pathogenic bacterial (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) and a pathogenic strain for white shrimp (Vibrio parahaemolyticus) was evaluated. The strains killed by heat were adjusted to O.D. 0.5, at A 600 nm, and directly added to the seawater of each unit at a ratio of 1/100 (v/v). A control group of embryos without inoculum of dead bacteria was kept under the same physicochemical conditions as the rest of the treatments throughout the experiment and used as reference. The duration of the stimulus was 12 hours, then, the larvae that hatched were collected, counted and transferred to a new experimental unit (same physicochemical conditions but at a salinity of 28 ppm) to carry out a challenge of infection against the pathogen V. parahaemolyticus, adding directly to seawater an amount 1/100 (v/v) of the live strain adjusted to an OD 0.5; at A 600 nm. Subsequently, 24 hrs after infection, nauplii survival was evaluated. The results of this work shows that, after 24 hrs, the hatching rates of immunostimulated shrimp embryos with the dead strains of B. subtillis and V. parahaemolyticus are significantly higher compared to the rest of the treatments and the control. Furthermore, survival of L. vanammei after a challenge of infection of 24 hrs against the live strain of V. parahaemolyticus is greater (P < 0.05) in the larvae immunostimulated during the embryonic development with the dead strains B. subtillis and V. parahaemolyticus, followed by those that were treated with E. coli. In summary superficial antigens can stimulate the development cells to promote hatching and can have normal development in agreeing with the optical observations, plus exist a differential response effect between each treatment post-infection. This research provides evidence of the immunostimulant effect of death pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacterial strains in the rate of hatching and oversight of shrimp L. vannamei during embryonic and larval development. This research continues evaluating the effect of these death strains on the expression of genes related to the defense priming in larvae of L. vannamei that come from massive spawning in hatcheries before and after the infection challenge against V. parahaemolyticus.

Keywords: immunostimulation, L. vannamei, hatching, survival

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Authors: Kgaugelo Lekota, Ayesha Hassim, Henriette Van Heerden

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Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax that is composed of three genetic groups, namely A, B, and C. Clade-A is distributed world-wide, while sub-clades B has been identified in Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa. KNP is one of the endemic anthrax regions in South Africa with distinctive genetic diversity. Genomic surveillance of KNP B. anthracis strains was employed on the historical culture collection isolates (n=67) dated from the 1990’s to 2015 using a whole genome sequencing approach. Whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) and pan-genomics analysis were used to define the B. anthracis genetic population structure. This study showed that KNP has heterologous B. anthracis strains grouping in the A-clade with more prominent ABr.005/006 (Ancient A) SNP lineage. The 2012 and 2015 anthrax isolates are dispersed amongst minor sub-clades that prevail in non-stabilized genetic evolution strains. This was augmented with non-parsimony informative SNPs of the B. anthracis strains across minor sub-clades of the Ancient A clade. Pan-genomics of B. anthracis showed a clear distinction between A and B-clade genomes with 11 374 predicted clusters of protein coding genes. Unique accessory genes of B-clade genomes that included biosynthetic cell wall genes and multidrug resistant of Fosfomycin. South Africa consists of diverse B. anthracis strains with unique defined SNPs. The sequenced B. anthracis strains in this study will serve as a means to further trace the dissemination of B. anthracis outbreaks globally and especially in South Africa.

Keywords: bacillus anthracis, whole genome single nucleotide polymorphisms, pangenomics, kruger national park

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Authors: Kenneth Christie

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Syria and Iraq are Arabian nightmares at the local, the regional and global levels in terms of human security and the protection of the vulnerable. Wracked by civil war, ethnic and political violence in the last 5 years in the case of Syria and 13 years in the case of Iraq, the body count now is staggering; the humanitarian crisis continues and there appears no end to this. A crisis that has claimed the lives of 200,000 people so far in Syria, sparked a humanitarian catastrophe fuelled violent Islamic extremism and exposed serious splits in the international community who appear to have no consensus. The international community’s failure to act is simply another sign of the desperate situation which has developed over conflicts that appears unsolvable in the immediate future and may be intractable in the long range. Three things are really at stake I’m going to argue in these continuing crises and how it will affect the human security dimensions of the conflict. Firstly, the protection of vulnerable individuals and civilians in the war, 2ndly, the dire consequences for regional instability as a result and thirdly the risks for minority and ethnic identities who are caught up in this, within and across these volatile borders. This paper will examine these elements and the consequences of the conflict in terms of human security, migration and development.

Keywords: human security, migration, Syria and Iraq, conflict and development

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Authors: Amao Funmilayo Lanrewaju, T. Ogunlade

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The paper examines the causes and characteristics of informal settlements and outdoor advertisement in the evaluation of quality of environment. The paper identifies the problems that have aided informal settlements to: Urbanization, poverty, growth of informal sector, non-affordability of land and housing shortage. The paper asserts that the informal settlements have serious adverse effects on the people’s health, their built environment and quality of life. The secondary data was obtained from books, journals and seminar papers. The paper argues that, although the urban upgrading possesses great potential for improving quality of built environment in informal settlements, there is a need to repackage the upgrading exercise so that majority can benefit from it. It is necessary to incorporate community participation into the urban upgrading in order to assist the very poor that cannot take care of their housing consumption needs. Therefore, government is encouraged to see informal settlements as a solution to new city planning rather than problem to the urban areas. This paper suggests the implementation of policies and planning, physical infrastructural development, social economic improvement, environment and health improvement. Government, private and communities interventions on informal settlements are required in order to prevent further decay for sustainable development.

Keywords: quality of environment, informal settlements, urban upgrading, outdoor advertisement

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Authors: Tiantian Li, Lusheng Wang, Zhaohui Zhan, Daming Zhu

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In this paper, we propose two string problems, and study algorithms and complexity of various versions for those problems. Let S = {s₁, s₂, . . . , sₘ} be a set of m strings. A common substring of S is a substring appearing in every string in S. Given a set of m strings S = {s₁, s₂, . . . , sₘ} and a positive integer k, we want to find a set C of k common substrings of S such that the k common substrings in C appear in the same order and have no overlap among the m input strings in S, and the total length of the k common substring in C is maximized. This problem is referred to as the longest total length of k common substrings from m input strings (LCSS(k, m) for short). The other problem we study here is called the longest total length of a set of common substrings with length more than l from m input string (LSCSS(l, m) for short). Given a set of m strings S = {s₁, s₂, . . . , sₘ} and a positive integer l, for LSCSS(l, m), we want to find a set of common substrings of S, each is of length more than l, such that the total length of all the common substrings is maximized. We show that both problems are NP-hard when k and m are variables. We propose dynamic programming algorithms with time complexity O(k n₁n₂) and O(n₁n₂) to solve LCSS(k, 2) and LSCSS(l, 2), respectively, where n1 and n₂ are the lengths of the two input strings. We then design an algorithm for LSCSS(l, m) when every length > l common substring appears once in each of the m − 1 input strings. The running time is O(n₁²m), where n1 is the length of the input string with no restriction on length > l common substrings. Finally, we propose a fixed parameter algorithm for LSCSS(l, m), where each length > l common substring appears m − 1 + c times among the m − 1 input strings (other than s1). In other words, each length > l common substring may repeatedly appear at most c times among the m − 1 input strings {s₂, s₃, . . . , sₘ}. The running time of the proposed algorithm is O((n12ᶜ)²m), where n₁ is the input string with no restriction on repeats. The LSCSS(l, m) is proposed to handle whole chromosome sequence alignment for different strains of the same species, where more than 98% of letters in core regions are identical.

Keywords: dynamic programming, algorithm, common substrings, string

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Authors: Abdulsalami Muyideen Deji

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Nigeria as nation got independence in 1960 from British government which allowed indigenous people to form self-government and rule themselves base on the acceptable laws and orders provided by indigenes. All citizens saw it as a welcome development that gave them opportunity to develop at their own pace. Certainly, this occurred at the first instance up to the first republic of 1963. But things became worse for the country when the first military coup of January 15, 1966 sowed apple of discord between the three major tribes in Nigeria Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo as a result of miscarriage of well-conceived plan of master-minder of that coup Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. Although, the argument had emanated from different quarters that if Nigeria was given opportunity to develop at the pace it was going at that time probably the Nigeria would have been among developed nation today, but that ill-fated coup was a clog in the wheel of nation’s progress. The base of this argument is that Nigeria achievements after independence still depend on the work of leaders who secure independence and also directed the affairs of nation within that short period of time up till today. Since then Nigeria has been grasping with different system of government, yet, the nation is still far from the solution. This paper will analyze Nigeria politics from independence, offer suggestion on the way forward. The source is strictly base on secondary source from textbook, newspapers, internet and journals.

Keywords: politics, government, independence, development

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Authors: Alexandre H. Okano, Pedro M. D. Agrícola, Daniel G. Da S. Machado, Luiz I. Do N. Neto, Luiz F. Farias Junior, Paulo H. D. Nascimento, Rickson C. Mesquita, John F. Araujo, Eduardo B. Fontes, Hassan M. Elsangedy, Shinsuke Shimojo, Li M. Li

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The prefrontal cortex is involved in the reward system and the insular cortex integrates the afferent inputs arriving from the body’ systems and turns into feelings. Therefore, modulating neuronal activity in these regions may change individuals’ perception in a given situation such as exercise. We tested whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) change cerebral oxygenation and pleasure during exercise. Fourteen volunteer healthy adult men were assessed into five different sessions. First, subjects underwent to a maximum incremental test on a cycle ergometer. Then, subjects were randomly assigned to a transcranial direct current stimulation (2mA for 15 min) intervention in a cross over design in four different conditions: anode and cathode electrodes on T3 and Fp2 targeting the insular cortex, and Fpz and F4 targeting prefrontal cortex, respectively; and their respective sham. These sessions were followed by 30 min of moderate intensity exercise. Brain oxygenation was measured in prefrontal cortex with a near infrared spectroscopy. Perceived exertion and pleasure were also measured during exercise. The asymmetry in prefrontal cortex oxygenation before the stimulation decreased only when it was applied over this region which did not occur after insular cortex or sham stimulation. Furthermore, pleasure was maintained during exercise only after prefrontal cortex stimulation (P > 0.7), while there was a decrease throughout exercise (P < 0.03) during the other conditions. We conclude that tDCS over the prefrontal cortex changes brain oxygenation in ventromedial prefrontal cortex and maintains perceived pleasure during exercise. Therefore, this technique might be used to enhance effective responses related to exercise.

Keywords: affect, brain stimulation, dopamine neuromodulation, pleasure, reward, transcranial direct current stimulation

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Authors: Nazeema Ahmed

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This paper reports on the development of a student peer mentoring programme at a higher education institution. The programme is dependent on volunteering senior undergraduate students who are trained to mentor first-year students studying towards an engineering degree. The evaluation of the programme took the form of first-year students completing a self-report paper questionnaire at the onset of a lecture and mentors completing their questionnaire electronically. The evaluation yielded mixed findings. Peer mentoring clearly benefited some students in their adjustment to the institution. Specific mentors’ personal attributes enabled the establishment of successful mentoring relationships, where encouragement, advice and academic assistance was provided. Gains were reciprocal with mentors reporting that the programme contributed towards their personal development. Confidence in the programme was expressed in mentors feeling that it was an initiative worth continuing and first-year students agreeing that it be recommended to future first-year students. This was despite many unfavourable experiences of mentors where their professionalism and commitment to the programme was suspect. It is evident that while mentors began with noble intentions they appear either to lose interest or become overwhelmed with their own workload as the academic year progresses. On the other hand, some mentors reported feeling challenged by the apathy of first-year students who failed to maximise the opportunity available to them. The different attitudes towards mentoring that manifested as a mentoring culture in some departments were particularly pertinent to its successful implementation. The findings point to the key role of academic staff in the mentoring programme who model the mentoring relationship in their interaction with student mentors. While their involvement in the programme may be perceived as a drain on resources in an already demanding academic teaching environment, it is imperative that structural changes be put in place for the programme to be both efficient and sustainable. A pervasive finding concerns the evolving institutional culture of student development in the faculty. Mentors and first-year students alike alluded to the potential of the mentoring programme provided it is seriously endorsed at both the departmental and faculty level. The findings provide a foundation from which to develop the programme further and to begin improving its capacity for maximizing student retention in South African higher education.

Keywords: engineering students, first-year students, peer mentoring

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Authors: Nomakholwa F. Stokwe, Antoinette P. Malan

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Woolly apple aphid (WAA), Eriosoma lanigerum, is an important pest of apples worldwide. The aphid feeds above ground on buds and leaf axils and the roots of apple trees. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) of the two families, Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae, and their symbiotic bacteria have generated extensive interest as inundative applied biological control agents of insects. With the development of the resistance of WAA to chemicals, export restrictions, and the inability of parasitoids to control the aphid successfully early in the season, considering EPNs as an alternative biocontrol agent is important. Seven EPN species were tested for their pathogenicity against WAA. Laboratory bioassays identified S. yirgalemense and H. zealandica as being the most virulent against the subterranean stage of the WAA, with a mortality rate of 48% and 38%, respectively. Studies on the effect of WAA size showed that the last instar is most susceptible to infection, whereas smaller instars appear to be too small for nematode penetration and infection. Neither increasing the exposure period of the aphids nor increasing the nematode concentration affected the infection rate positively. The haemolymph of WAA showed an inhibitory effect on the development of the symbiotic bacteria, preventing the completion of the nematode’s life cycle.

Keywords: apples, biocontrol, entomopathogenic nematodes, woolly apple aphid

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Authors: Marwan Khalil Qader, Arshad Mohammad Abdullah

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Antimicrobial resistance is a major cause of significant morbidity and mortality globally. Seven plant extracts (Plantago mediastepposa, Quercusc infectoria, Punic granatum, Thymus lcotschyana, Ginger officeinals, Rhus angustifolia and Cinnamon) were collected from different regions of Kurdistan region of Iraq. These plants’ extracts were dissolved in absolute ethanol and distillate water, after which they were assayed in vitro as an antimicrobial activity against Candida tropicalis, Candida albicanus, Candida dublinensis, Candida krusei and Candida glabrata also against 2 Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) and 3 Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsilla pneumonia). The antimicrobial activity was determined in ethanol extracts and distilled water extracts of these plants. The ethanolic extracts of Q. infectoria showed the maximum activity against all species of Candida fungus. The minimum inhibition zone of the Punic granatum ethanol extracts was 0.2 mg/ml for all microorganisms tested. Klebsilla pneumonia was the most sensitive bacterial strain to Quercusc infectoria and Rhus angustifolia ethanol extracts. Among both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria tested with MIC of 0.2 mg/ml, the minimum inhibition zone of Ginger officeinals D. W. extracts was 0.2 mg/mL against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsilla pneumonia. The most sensitive bacterial strain to Thymus lcotschyana and Plantago mediastepposa D.W. extracts was S. aureus and E. coli.

Keywords: antimicrobial activity, pathogenic bacteria, plant extracts, chemical systems engineering

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Authors: Tamara Tallman

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Collaboration is a powerful tool for professional development and central for creating opportunities for teachers to reflect on their practice. However, school districts continue to have difficulty both implementing and sustaining collaboration. The purpose of this research was to investigate the experience of the teacher in a creative, instructional collaboration. The teachers in this study found that teacher-initiated collaboration offered them trust and they were more open with their partners. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was used for this study as it told the story of the teacher’s experience. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was chosen for this study to capture the complex and contextual nature of the teacher experience from a creative, instructional collaborative experience. This study sought to answer the question of how teachers in a private, faith-based school experience collaboration. In particular, the researcher engaged the study’s participants in interviews where they shared their unique perspectives on their experiences in relation to this phenomenon. Through the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis, the researcher interpreted the experiences of each participant in an attempt to gain deeper insight into how teachers made sense of their understanding of collaboration. In addition to the researcher’s interpreting the meaning of this construct for each research participant, this study gave a voice to the individual experiences and positionality of each participant at the research site. Moreover, the key findings presented in this study shed light on how teachers within this particular context participated in and made sense of their experience of creating an instructional collaborative. The research presented the findings that speak to the meaning that each research participant experienced in their relation to participating in building a collaborative culture and its effect on professional and personal growth. The researcher provided recommendations for future practice and research possibilities. The research findings demonstrated the unique experiences of each participant as well as a connection to the literature within the field of teacher professional development. The results also supported the claim that teacher collaboration can facilitate school reform. Participating teachers felt less isolation and developed more teacher knowledge.

Keywords: collaboration, personal grwoth, professional development, teachers

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Authors: Mir Hussain Nawaz, Lyudmila Nedyalkova, Haizhong Zhu, Wael M. Rabeh

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In this study, we aim to biochemically and structurally characterize the interactions of human HK2 with the mitochondria in addition to the role of its N-terminal domain in catalysis and stability of the full-length enzyme. Here, we solved the crystal structure of human HK2 in complex with glucose and glucose-6-phosphate (PDB code: 2NZT), where it is a homodimer with catalytically active N- and C-terminal domains linked by a seven-turn α-helix. Different from the inactive N-terminal domains of isozymes 1 and 3, the N- domain of HK2 not only capable to catalyze a reaction but it is responsible for the thermodynamic stabilizes of the full-length enzyme. Deletion of first α-helix of the N-domain that binds to the mitochondria altered the stability and catalytic activity of the full-length HK2. In addition, we found the linker helix between the N- and C-terminal domains to play an important role in controlling the catalytic activity of the N-terminal domain. HK2 is a major step in the regulation of glucose metabolism in cancer making it an ideal target for the development of new anticancer therapeutics. Characterizing the structural and molecular mechanisms of human HK2 and its role in cancer metabolism will accelerate the design and development of new cancer therapeutics that are safe and cancer specific.

Keywords: cancer metabolism, enzymology, drug discovery, protein stability

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Authors: Danielle M. Barna, Kolbjørn Engeland, Thordis Thorarinsdottir, Chong-Yu Xu

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Design flood values give estimates of flood magnitude within a given return period and are essential to making adaptive decisions around land use planning, infrastructure design, and disaster mitigation. Often design flood values are needed at locations with insufficient data. Additionally, in hydrologic applications where flood retention is important (e.g., floodplain management and reservoir design), design flood values are required at different flood durations. A statistical approach to this problem is a development of a regression model for extremes where some of the parameters are dependent on flood duration in addition to being covariate-dependent. In hydrology, this is called a regional flood-duration-frequency (regional-QDF) model. Typically, the underlying statistical distribution is chosen to be the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. However, as the support of the GEV distribution depends on both its parameters and the range of the data, special care must be taken with the development of the regional model. In particular, we find that the GEV is problematic when developing a GAMLSS-type analysis due to the difficulty of proposing a link function that is independent of the unknown parameters and the observed data. We discuss these challenges in the context of developing a regional QDF model for Norway.

Keywords: design flood values, bayesian statistics, regression modeling of extremes, extreme value analysis, GEV

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Authors: Khrystyna Pavlyk

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In the OECD countries, percentage of adults with higher education degrees has increased by 10 % during 2000-2010. Continuously increasing demand for higher education gives universities a chance of becoming key players in socio-economic development of a territory (region or city) via knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, and knowledge spillovers. During previous decade, universities have tried to support spin-offs and start-ups, introduced courses on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. While much has been done, new trends are starting to emerge in search of better approaches. Recently a number of universities created centers that conduct research in a field social entrepreneurship, which in turn underpin educational programs run at these universities. The list includes but is not limited to the Centre for Social Economy at University of Liège, Institute for Social Innovation at ESADE, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford, Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Rosklide, Social Entrepreneurship Initiative at INSEAD. Existing literature already examined social entrepreneurship centers in terms of position in the institutional structure, initial and additional funding, teaching initiatives, research achievements, and outreach activities. At the same time, Universities can become social enterprises themselves. Previous research revealed that universities use both business and social entrepreneurship models. Universities which are mainly driven by a social mission are more likely to transform into social entrepreneurial institutions. At the same time, currently, there is no clear understanding of what social entrepreneurship in higher education is about and thus social entrepreneurship in higher education needs to be studied and promoted at the same time. Main roles which socially oriented university can play in city development include: buyer (implementation of socially focused local procurement programs creates partnerships focused on local sustainable growth.); seller (centers created by universities can sell socially oriented goods and services, e.g. in consultancy.); employer (Universities can employ socially vulnerable groups.); business incubator (which will help current student to start their social enterprises). In the paper, we will analyze these in more detail. We will also examine a number of indicators that can be used to assess the impact, both direct and indirect, that universities can have on city's economy. At the same time, originality of this paper mainly lies not in methodological approaches used, but in countries evaluated. Social entrepreneurship is still treated as a relatively new phenomenon in post-transitional countries where social services were provided only by the state for many decades. Paper will provide data and example’s both from developed countries (the US and EU), and those located in CIS and CEE region.

Keywords: social enterprise, university, regional economic development, comparative study

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Authors: Dalal Sadeqi

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Groundwater is an important component of Kuwait’s water resources. Although limited in quantity and often poor in quality, the significance of this natural source of water cannot be overemphasized. Recharge of groundwater in Kuwait occurs during periodical storm events, especially in open desert areas. Runoff water dissolves accumulated surficial meteoric salts and subsequently leaches them into the groundwater following a period of evaporative enrichment at or near the soil surface. Geochemical processes governing groundwater recharge vary in time and space. Stable isotope (18O and 2H) and geochemical signatures are commonly used to gain some insight into recharge processes and groundwater salinization mechanisms, particularly in arid and semiarid regions. This article addresses the mechanism used in identifying and characterizing the main water shed areas in Kuwait using stable isotopes in an attempt to determine favorable groundwater recharge sites in the country. Stable isotopes of both rainwater and groundwater were targeted in different hydrogeological settings. Additionally, data and information obtained from subsurface logs in the study area were collected and analyzed to develop a better understanding of the lateral and vertical extent of the groundwater aquifers. Geographic Information System (GIS) and RockWorks 3D modelling software were used to map out the hydrogeomorphology of the study area and the subsurface lithology of the investigated aquifers. The collected data and information, including major ion chemistry, isotopes, subsurface characteristics, and hydrogeomorphology, were integrated in a GIS platform to identify and map out suitable natural recharge areas as part of an integrated water resources management scheme that addresses the challenges of the sustainability of the groundwater reserves in the country.

Keywords: scarcity, integrated, recharge, isotope

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Authors: P. Abhishesh, B. S. Ryuh, Y. S. Oh, H. J. Moon, R. Akanksha

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This paper discusses about the conceptual design and development of the control system software using Programmable logic controller (PLC) for autonomous driving and agricultural operations of Multipurpose Agricultural Robot Platform (MARP). Based on given initial conditions by field analysis and desired agricultural operations, the structural design development of MARP is done using modelling and analysis tool. PLC, being robust and easy to use, has been used to design the autonomous control system of robot platform for desired parameters. The robot is capable of performing autonomous driving and three automatic agricultural operations, viz. hilling, mulching, and sowing of seeds in the respective order. The input received from various sensors on the field is later transmitted to the controller via ZigBee network to make the changes in the control program to get desired field output. The research is conducted to provide assistance to farmers by reducing labor hours for agricultural activities by implementing automation. This study will provide an alternative to the existing systems with machineries attached behind tractors and rigorous manual operations on agricultural field at effective cost.

Keywords: agricultural operations, autonomous driving, MARP, PLC

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Authors: Yudi Zhao, Ziyun Zhou, Yueting Yao, Shuying Dai, Zhiling Yan, Longyu Yang, Chuanyin Li, Li Shi, Yufeng Yao

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HPV16 E4 gene plays an important role in viral genome amplification and release. Therefore, a variation of the E4 gene nucleic acid sequence may affect the carcinogenicity of HPV16. In order to understand the relationship between the variation of HPV16 E4 gene and cervical cancer, this study was to amplify and sequence the DNA sequences of E4 genes in 118 HPV16-positive cervical cancer patients and 151 HPV16-positive asymptomatic individuals. After obtaining E4 gene sequences, the phylogenetic trees were constructed by the Neighbor-joining method for gene variation analysis. The results showed that: 1) The distribution of HPV16 variants between the case group and the control group differed greatly (P = 0.015)，and the Asian-American（AA）variant was likely to relate to the occurrence of cervical cancer. 2) DNA sequence analysis showed that there were significant differences in the distribution of 8 variants between the case group and the control group (P < 0.05). And 3) In European (EUR) variant, two variations, C3384T (L18L) and A3449G (P39P), were associated with the initiation and development of cervical cancer. The results suggested that the variation of HPV16 E4 gene may be a contributor affecting the occurrence as well as the development of cervical cancer, and different HPV16 variants may have different carcinogenic capability.

Keywords: cervical cancer, HPV16, E4 gene, variations

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Authors: Șercăianu Mihai, Aldea Mihaela, Iacoboaea Cristina, Luca Oana, Nenciu Ioana

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The rise and mitigation of unauthorized illegal waste dumps are a significant global issue within waste management ecosystems, impacting disadvantaged communities. Globally, including in Romania, many individuals live in houses without legal recognition, lacking ownership or construction permits, in areas known as "informal settlements." An increasing number of regions and cities in Romania are struggling to manage their illegal waste dumps, especially in the context of increasing poverty and lack of regulation related to informal settlements. One such informal settlement is located at the end of Bistra Street in Câlnic, within the Reșița Municipality of Caras Severin County. The article presents a case study that focuses on employing remote sensing techniques and spatial data to monitor and map illegal waste practices, with subsequent integration into a geographic information system tailored for the Reșița community. In addition, the paper outlines the steps involved in devising strategies aimed at enhancing waste management practices in disadvantaged areas, aligning with the shift toward a circular economy. Results presented in the paper contain a spatial mapping and visualization methodology calibrated with in situ data collection applicable for identifying illegal landfills. The emergence and neutralization of illegal dumps pose a challenge in the field of waste management. These approaches, which prove effective where conventional solutions have failed, need to be replicated and adopted more wisely.

Keywords: informal settlements, GIS, waste dumps, waste management, monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Misra Ayse Adsiz, Selim Selvi

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In today's world, technology is competing with time. In order to catch up with the world's companies and adapt quickly to the changes, it is necessary to speed up the processes and keep pace with the rate of change of the technology. The missile system design processes, which are handled with classical methods, keep behind in this race. Because customer requirements are not clear, and demands are changing again and again in the design process. Therefore, in the system design process, a methodology suitable for the missile system design dynamics has been investigated and the processes used for catching up the era are examined. When commonly used design processes are analyzed, it is seen that any one of them is dynamic enough for today’s conditions. So a hybrid design process is established. After a detailed review of the existing processes, it is decided to focus on the Scrum Framework and Agile Philosophy. Scrum is a process framework. It is focused on to develop software and handling change management with rapid methods. In addition, agile philosophy is intended to respond quickly to changes. In this study, it is aimed to integrate Scrum framework and agile philosophy, which are the most appropriate ways for rapid production and change adaptation, into the missile system design process. With this approach, it is aimed that the design team, involved in the system design processes, is in communication with the customer and provide an iterative approach in change management. These methods, which are currently being used in the software industry, have been integrated with the product design process. A team is created for system design process. The roles of Scrum Team are realized with including the customer. A scrum team consists of the product owner, development team and scrum master. Scrum events, which are short, purposeful and time-limited, are organized to serve for coordination rather than long meetings. Instead of the classic system design methods used in product development studies, a missile design is made with this blended method. With the help of this design approach, it is become easier to anticipate changing customer demands, produce quick solutions to demands and combat uncertainties in the product development process. With the feedback of the customer who included in the process, it is worked towards marketing optimization, design and financial optimization.

Keywords: agile, design, missile, scrum

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Chaiyaset Promsri

Abstract:

Based on the synthesis of related literatures, this research found thirteen related dimensions that involved the development of natural disaster preparedness awareness including hazard knowledge, hazard attitude, training for disaster preparedness, rehearsal and practice for disaster preparedness, cultural development for preparedness, public relations and communication, storytelling, disaster awareness game, simulation, past experience to natural disaster, information sharing with family members, and commitment to the community (time of living).  The 40-item of natural disaster preparedness awareness questionnaire was developed based on these thirteen dimensions. Data were collected from 595 participants in Bangkok metropolitan and vicinity. Cronbach's alpha was used to examine the internal consistency for this instrument. Reliability coefficient was 97, which was highly acceptable.  Exploratory Factor Analysis where principal axis factor analysis was employed. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index of sampling adequacy was .973, indicating that the data represented a homogeneous collection of variables suitable for factor analysis. Bartlett's test of Sphericity was significant for the sample as Chi-Square = 23168.657, df = 780, and p-value < .0001, which indicated that the set of correlations in the correlation matrix was significantly different and acceptable for utilizing EFA. Factor extraction was done to determine the number of factors by using principal component analysis and varimax.  The result revealed that four factors had Eigen value greater than 1 with more than 60% cumulative of variance. Factor #1 had Eigen value of 22.270, and factor loadings ranged from 0.626-0.760. This factor was named as "Knowledge and Attitude of Natural Disaster Preparedness".  Factor #2 had Eigen value of 2.491, and factor loadings ranged from 0.596-0.696. This factor was named as "Training and Development". Factor #3 had Eigen value of 1.821, and factor loadings ranged from 0.643-0.777. This factor was named as "Building Experiences about Disaster Preparedness".  Factor #4 had Eigen value of 1.365, and factor loadings ranged from 0.657-0.760. This was named as "Family and Community". The results of this study provided support for the reliability and construct validity of natural disaster preparedness awareness for utilizing with populations similar to sample employed.

Keywords: natural disaster, disaster preparedness, disaster awareness, Thai citizens

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