Search results for: traditional institutions

Authors: Diogo Pereira, Maria Moura, Joana Campos, João Nunes

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As the Ukraine war highlights the European Economic Area’s vulnerability and external dependence on feed and food, agriculture gains significant importance. Transformative change is necessary to reach a sustainable and resilient agricultural sector. Agriculture is an important drive for bioeconomy and the equilibrium and survival of society and rural fires resilience. The pressure of (1) water stress, (2) nutrient cycle, and (3) social demographic evolution towards 70% of the population in Urban systems and the aging of the rural population, combined with climate change, exacerbates the problem and paradigm of rural and wildfires, especially in Portugal. The Portuguese territory is characterized by (1) 28% of marginal land, (2) the soil quality of 70% of the territory not being appropriate for agricultural activity, (3) a micro smallholding, with less than 1 ha per proprietor, with mainly familiar and traditional agriculture in the North and Centre regions, and (4) having the most vulnerable areas for rural fires in these same regions. The most important difference between the South, North and Centre of Portugal, referring to rural and wildfires, is the agricultural activity, which has a higher level in the South. In Portugal, rural and wildfires represent an average annual economic loss of around 800 to 1000 million euros. The WinBio model is an agrienvironmental metabolism design, with the capacity to create a new agri-food metabolism through Agricultural Organized Areas, a privatepublic partnership. This partnership seeks to grow agricultural activity in regions with (1) abandoned territory, (2) micro smallholding, (3) water and nutrient management necessities, and (4) low agri-food literacy. It also aims to support planning and monitoring of resource use efficiency and sustainability of territories, using agriculture as a barrier for rural and wildfires in order to protect rural population.

Keywords: agricultural organized areas, residues, climate change, drought, nutrients, rural and wild fires

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Authors: Eleni Maistrou, D. Kosmopoulos, Carolina Moretti, Amalia Konidi, Katerina Boulougoura

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InterArch is an ongoing research project that has been running since September 2020. It aims to propose the design of a site-based digital application for archaeological sites and outdoor guided tours, supporting virtual and augmented reality technology. The research project is co‐financed by the European Union and Greek national funds, through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH - CREATE – INNOVATE (project code: Τ2ΕΔΚ-01659). It involves mutual collaboration between academic and cultural institutions and the contribution of an IT applications development company. The research will be completed by July 2023 and will run as a pilot project for the city of Ancient Messene, a place of outstanding natural beauty in the west of Peloponnese, which is considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece. The applied research project integrates an interactive approach to the natural environment, aiming at a manifold sensory experience. It combines the physical space of the archaeological site with the digital space of archaeological and cultural data while at the same time, it embraces storytelling processes by engaging an interdisciplinary approach that familiarizes the user with multiple semantic interpretations. The mingling of the real-world environment with its digital and cultural components by using augmented reality techniques could potentially transform the visit on-site into an immersive multimodal sensory experience. To this purpose, an extensive spatial analysis along with a detailed evaluation of the existing digital and non-digital archives is proposed in our project, intending to correlate natural landscape morphology (including archaeological material remains and environmental characteristics) with the extensive historical records and cultural digital data. On-site research was carried out, during which visitors’ itineraries were monitored and tracked throughout the archaeological visit using GPS locators. The results provide our project with useful insight concerning the way visitors engage and interact with their surroundings, depending on the sequence of their itineraries and the duration of stay at each location. InterArch aims to propose the design of a site-based digital application for archaeological sites and outdoor guided tours, supporting virtual and augmented reality technology. Extensive spatial analysis, along with a detailed evaluation of the existing digital and non-digital archives, is used in our project, intending to correlate natural landscape morphology with the extensive historical records and cultural digital data. The results of the on-site research provide our project with useful insight concerning the way visitors engage and interact with their surroundings, depending on the sequence of their itineraries and the duration of stay at each location.

Keywords: archaeological site, digital space, semantic interpretations, cultural heritage

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Authors: Huan Ting Liao

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In a typical manufacturing environment, computer numerical control (CNC) machining is essential for automating production through precise computer-controlled tool operations, significantly enhancing efficiency and ensuring consistent product quality. However, traditional CNC production lines often rely on manual loading and unloading, limiting operational efficiency and scalability. Although automated loading systems have been developed, they frequently lack sufficient intelligence and configuration efficiency, requiring extensive setup adjustments for different products and impacting overall productivity. This research addresses the job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) in CNC machining environments, aiming to minimize total completion time (makespan) and maximize CNC machine utilization. We propose a novel approach using reinforcement learning (RL), specifically the Q-learning algorithm, to optimize scheduling decisions. The study simulates the JSSP, incorporating robotic arm operations, machine processing times, and work order demand allocation to determine optimal processing sequences. The Q-learning algorithm enhances machine utilization by dynamically balancing workloads across CNC machines, adapting to varying job demands and machine states. This approach offers robust solutions for complex manufacturing environments by automating decision-making processes for job assignments. Additionally, we evaluate various layout configurations to identify the most efficient setup. By integrating RL-based scheduling optimization with layout analysis, this research aims to provide a comprehensive solution for improving manufacturing efficiency and productivity in CNC-based job shops. The proposed method's adaptability and automation potential promise significant advancements in tackling dynamic manufacturing challenges.

Keywords: job shop scheduling problem, reinforcement learning, operations sequence, layout optimization, q-learning

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Authors: Wei-Wen Hu, Yong-Zhi Zhong

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Depositing conductive polypyrrole (PPy) onto elastic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate can obtain a highly stretchable conductive film, which can be used to construct a bioreactor to cyclically stretch and electrically stimulate surface cells. However, how to completely harvest these stimulated muscle tissue to repair damaged muscle is a challenge. To address this concern, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), a monomer of temperature-sensitive polymer, was added during the polymerization of pyrrole on PDMS so that the resulting P(Py-co-NIPAAm)/PDMS should own both conductivity and thermo-sensitivity. Therefore, cells after stimulation can be completely harvested as cell sheets by reducing temperature. Mouse skeletal myoblast, C2C12 cells, were applied to examine our hypothesis. In electrical stimulation, C2C12 cells on P(Py-co-NIPAAm)/PDMS demonstrated the best myo-differentiation under the electric field of 1 V/cm. Regarding cyclic stretching, the strain equal to or higher than 9% can highly align C2C12 perpendicular to the stretching direction. The Western blotting experiments demonstrated that the cell sheets harvested by cooling reserved more extracellular matrix (ECM) than cells collected by the traditional trypsin digestion method. Immunostaining of myosin heavy chain protein (MHC) indicated that both mechanical and electrical stimuli effectively increased the number of myotubes and the differentiation ratio, and the myotubes can be aligned by cyclic stretching. Stimulated cell sheets can be harvested by cooling, and the alignment of myotubes was still maintained. These results suggested that the deposition of P(Py-co-NIPAAm) on PDMS can be applied to harvest intact cell sheets after cyclic stretching and electrical stimulation, which increased the feasibility of bioreactor for the application of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Keywords: bioreactor, cell sheet, conductive polymer, cyclic stretching, electrical stimulation, muscle tissue engineering, myogenesis, thermosensitive hydrophobicity

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Authors: Sadeq Al Yaari, Muhammad Alkhunayn, Adham Al Yaari, Ayah Al Yaari, Ayman Al Yaari, Montaha Al Yaari, Sajedah Al Yaari, Fatehi Eissa

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The recent rise of smart educational aids and the move away from traditional listening aids are leading to a fundamental shift in the way in which individuals with attention and listening problems (ALP) manipulate listening inputs and/or act appropriately to the spoken information presented to them. A total sample of twenty-six ALP pupils (m=20 and f=6) between 7-12 years old was selected from different strata based on gender, region and school. In the sample size, thirteen (10 males and 3 females) received the treatment in terms of smart classes provided with smart educational aids in a listening course that lasted for four months, while others did not (they studied the same course by the same instructor but in ordinary class). A pretest was administered to assess participants’ levels, and a posttest was given to evaluate their attention and listening comprehension performance, namely in phonetic and phonological tests with sociolinguistic themes that have been designed for this purpose. Test results were analyzed both psychoneurolinguistically and statistically. Results reveal a remarkable change in pupils’ behavioral listening where scores witnessed a significant difference in the performance of the experimental ALP group in the pretest compared to the posttest (Pupils performed better at the pretest-posttest on phonetics than at the two tests on phonology). It is concluded that smart educational aids designed for listening skills help not only increase the listening command of pupils with ALP to understand what they listen to but also develop their interactive listening capability and, at the same rate, are responsible for increasing concentrated and in-depth listening capacity. Plus, ALP pupils become able to grasp the audio content of text recordings, including educational audio recordings, news, oral stories and tales, views, spiritual/religious text and general knowledge. However, the pupils have not experienced individual smart audio-visual aids that connect listening to other language receptive and productive skills, which could be the future area of research.

Keywords: smart educational aids, listening attention, pupils, problems

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Authors: S. N. Susenburger, D. Boecker

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In the age of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA), where digital transformation is challenging long standing traditional hardware and manufacturing companies, innovation needs a different methodology, strategy, mindset, and culture. What used to be a mindset of scaling per quantity is now shifting to orchestrating ecosystems, platform business models and service bundles. While large corporations are trying to mimic the nimbleness and versatile mindset of startups in the core of their digital strategies, they’re at the frontier of facing one of the largest organizational and cultural changes in history. This paper elaborates on how a manufacturing giant transformed its Corporate Information Technology (IT) to enable digital and Internet of Things (IoT) business while establishing the mindset and the approaches of the Innovation Inside-Out/Outside-In Strategy. It gives insights into the core elements of an innovation culture and the tactics and methodologies leveraged to support the cultural shift and transformation into an IoT company. This paper also outlines the core elements for an innovation culture and how the persona 'Connected Engineer' thrives in the digital innovation environment. Further, it explores how tapping domain-focused ecosystems in vibrant innovative cities can be used as a part of the strategy to facilitate partner co-innovation. Therefore, findings from several use cases, observations and surveys led to conclusion for the strategy tandem of Innovation Inside-Out/Outside-In. The findings indicate that it's crucial in which phases and maturity level the Innovation Inside-Out/Outside-In Strategy is activated: cultural aspects of the business and the regional ecosystem need to be considered, as well as cultural readiness from management and active contributors. The 'not invented here syndrome' is a barrier of large corporations that need to be addressed and managed to successfully drive partnerships, as well as embracing co-innovation and a mindset shifting away from physical products toward new business models, services, and IoT platforms. This paper elaborates on various methodologies and approaches tested in different countries and cultures, including the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, and Germany.

Keywords: innovation management, innovation culture, innovation methodologies, digital transformation

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Authors: Iacopo Testi, Diego Pajarito, Nicoletta Roberto, Carmen Greco

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Today, a consistent segment of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this proportion will vastly increase in the next decades. Therefore, understanding the key trends in urbanization, likely to unfold over the coming years, is crucial to the implementation of sustainable urban strategies. In parallel, the daily amount of digital data produced will be expanding at an exponential rate during the following years. The analysis of various types of data sets and its derived applications have incredible potential across different crucial sectors such as healthcare, housing, transportation, energy, and education. Nevertheless, in city development, architects and urban planners appear to rely mostly on traditional and analogical techniques of data collection. This paper investigates the prospective of the data science field, appearing to be a formidable resource to assist city managers in identifying strategies to enhance the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of our urban areas. The collection of different new layers of information would definitely enhance planners' capabilities to comprehend more in-depth urban phenomena such as gentrification, land use definition, mobility, or critical infrastructural issues. Specifically, the research results correlate economic, commercial, demographic, and housing data with the purpose of defining the youth economic discomfort index. The statistical composite index provides insights regarding the economic disadvantage of citizens aged between 18 years and 29 years, and results clearly display that central urban zones and more disadvantaged than peripheral ones. The experimental set up selected the city of Rome as the testing ground of the whole investigation. The methodology aims at applying statistical and spatial analysis to construct a composite index supporting informed data-driven decisions for urban planning.

Keywords: data science, spatial analysis, composite index, Rome, urban planning, youth economic discomfort index

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Authors: Anjali Sidhu, Anju Bala, Amit Kumar

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Metal nanoparticles have the potential to revolutionize the agriculture owing to sizzling interdisciplinary nano-technological application domain. Numerous patents and products incorporating engineered nanoparticles (NPs) entered into agro-applications with the collective goal to promote proficiency as well as sustainability with lower input and generating meager waste than conventional products and approaches. Loose smut of wheat caused by Ustilago segetum tritici is an internally seed-borne pathogen. It is dormant in the seed unless the seed germinates and its symptoms are expressed at the reproductive stage of the plant only. Various seed treatment agents are recommended for this disease but due to the inappropriate methods of seed treatments used by farmers, each and every seed may not get treated, and the infected seeds escape the fungicidal action. The antimicrobial potential and small size of nanoparticles made them the material of choice as they could enter each seed and restrict the pathogen inside the seed due to the availability of more number of nanoparticles per unit volume of the nanoformulations. Nanoparticles of diverse nature known for their in vitro antimicrobial activity viz. ZnO, MgO, CuS and AgNPs were synthesized, surface modified and characterized by traditional methods. They were applied on infected wheat seeds which were then grown in pot conditions, and their mycelium was tracked in the shoot and leaf region of the seedlings by microscopic staining techniques. Mixed responses of inhibition of this internal mycelium were observed. The time and method of application concluded to be critical for application, which was optimised in the present work. The results implicated that there should be field trails to get final fate of these pot trails up to commercial level. The success of their field trials could be interpreted as a revolution to replace high dose organic fungicides of high residue behaviour.

Keywords: metal nanoparticles, nanopriming, seed borne pathogen, Ustilago segetum tritici

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Authors: S. Cafiso, B. Capace, A. Di Graziano, C. D’Agostino

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Systematic monitoring of the trackbed is necessary to assure safety and quality of service in the railway system. Moreover, to produce effective management of the maintenance treatments, the assessment of bearing capacity of the railway trackbed must include ballast, sub-ballast and subgrade layers at different depths. Consequently, there is an increasing interest in obtaining a consistent measure of ballast bearing capacity with no destructive tests (NDTs) able to work in the physical and time restrictions of railway tracks in operation. Moreover, in the case of the local railway with reduced gauge, the use of the traditional high-speed track monitoring systems is not feasible. In that framework, this paper presents results from in site investigation carried out on ballast and sleepers with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Light Falling Weight Deflectometer (LWD). These equipment are currently used in road pavement maintenance where they have shown their reliability and effectiveness. Application of such Non-Destructive Tests in railway maintenance is promising but in the early stage of the investigation. More specifically, LWD was used to estimate the stiffness of ballast and sleeper support, as well. LWD, despite the limited load (6 kN in the trial test) applied directly on the sleeper, was able to detect defects in the bearing capacity at the Sleeper/Ballast interface. A dual frequency GPR was applied to detect the presence of layers’ discontinuities at different depths due to fouling phenomena that are the main causes of changing in the layer dielectric proprieties within the ballast thickness. The frequency of 2000Mhz provided high-resolution data to approximately 0.4m depth, while frequency of 600Mhz showed greater depth penetration up to 1.5 m. In the paper literature review and trial in site experience are used to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT analysis) of the application of GPR and LWD for the assessment of bearing capacity of railway track-bed.

Keywords: bearing capacity, GPR, LWD, no destructive test, railway track

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Authors: Lim Pey Huan

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Yi-Kuan-Tao has been developing in Malaysia for nearly 60 years. It was initially introduced from mainland China and later from Taiwan starting from the 1970s. Yi-Kuan-Tao was considered a 'new religion' for the local Chinese community in Malaysia in its early stages, as Chinese immigrants primarily practiced Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, or Catholicism upon settling in the region. The overseas propagation and development of Yi-Kuan-Tao today primarily occur through Taiwanese temples, which began spreading abroad as early as 1949. Particularly since the 1970s, with the rapid economic growth of Taiwan, various branches of Taiwanese Yi-Kuan-Tao have gained economic strength to propagate abroad, further expanding the influence of Yi-Kuan-Tao overseas. Southeast Asia is the region out from Taiwan where the propagation and development of Yi-Kuan-Tao are fastest and most concentrated. With approximately over 6 million Chinese inhabitants, Malaysia's pursuit of traditional Chinese culture has led to a flourishing interest in Yi-Kuan-Tao, particularly its advocacy of the unity of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, with an emphasis on promoting Confucian thought. Moreover, Taiwan's rapid economic development since the 1970s has enabled Yi-Kuan-Tao to allocate significant human and financial resources for external propagation efforts. Additionally, Malaysia's government has adopted a relatively tolerant policy towards religion since that time, further fostering the flourishing development of Yi-Kuan-Tao in Malaysia. Furthermore, this thesis aims to strengthen the lineage and continuity of the Yi-Kuan-Tao tradition, particularly the branch of Fa Yi Chong De, through the perspective of Heavenly Mandate (天命). By examining the different origins and ethnic backgrounds, it investigates how the Malaysian Chinese community has experienced different changes through the cultural baptism of religion, thus delving into the religious influence of Yi-Kuan-Tao. Given that the Fa Yi Chong De Academy in Taiwan is currently in an active development and construction phase, academic works related to Yi-Kuan-Tao will lay a more solid academic foundation for the future establishment of the academy.

Keywords: initial exploration, cultural shifts, Yi-Kuan-Tao, Malaysian Chinese community

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Authors: Upasana G. Singh, Meera Gungea

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Learning is no more confined to the traditional classroom, teacher, and student interaction. Many universities offer courses through the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode, attracting a diversity of learners in terms of age, gender, and profession to name a few. The ODL mode has surfaced as one of the famous sought-after modes of learning, allowing learners to invest in their educational growth without hampering their personal and professional commitments. This mode of learning, however, requires that those who ultimately choose to adopt it must be prepared to undertake studies through such medium. The purpose of this research is to assess whether students who join universities offering courses through the ODL mode are ready to embark and study within such a framework. This study will be helpful to unveil the challenges students face in such an environment and thus contribute to developing a framework to ease adoption and integration into the ODL environment. Prior to the implementation of e-learning, a readiness assessment is essential for any institution that wants to adopt any form of e-learning. Various e-learning readiness assessment models have been developed over the years. However, this study is based on a conceptual model for e-Learning Readiness Assessment which is a ‘hybrid model’. This hybrid model consists of 4 main parameters: 1) Technological readiness, 2) Culture readiness, 3) Content readiness, and 4) Demographics factors, with 4 sub-areas, namely, technology, innovation, people and self-development. The model also includes the attitudes of users towards the adoption of e-learning as an important aspect of assessing e-learning readiness. For this study, some factors and sub-factors of the hybrid model have been considered and adapted, together with the ‘Attitude’ component. A questionnaire was designed based on the models and students where the target population were students enrolled at the Open University of Mauritius, in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Preliminary findings indicate that most (68%) learners have an average knowledge about ODL form of learning, despite not many (72%) having previous experience with ODL. Despite learning through ODL 74% of learners preferred hard copy learning material and 48% found difficulty in reading learning material on electronic devices.

Keywords: open learning, distance learning, student readiness, a hybrid model

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Authors: Ayodeji Motunrayo Omoare

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Economically fish provides an important source of food and income for both men and women especially many households in the developing world and fishing has an important social and cultural position in river-rine communities. However, fish is highly susceptible to deterioration. Consequently, this study was carried out to correlate income generation of small-scale women fish processors in Abeokuta metropolis, Ogun State, Nigeria. Eighty small-scale women fish processors were randomly selected from five communities as the sample size for this study. Collected data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that the mean age of the respondents was 31.75 years with average household size of 4 people while 47.5% of the respondents had primary education. Most (86.3%) of the respondents were married and had spent more than 11 years in fish processing. The respondents were predominantly Yoruba tribe (91.2%). Majority (71.3%) of the respondents used traditional kiln for processing their fish while 23.7% of the respondents used hot vegetable oil to fry their fish. Also, the result revealed that respondents sourced capital from Personal Savings (48.8%), Cooperatives (27.5%), Friends and Family (17.5%) and Microfinance Banks (6.2%) for fish processing activities. The respondents generated an average income of ₦7,000.00 from roasted fish, ₦3,500.00 from dried fish, and ₦5,200.00 from fried fish daily. However, inadequate processing equipment (95.0%), non-availability of credit facility from microfinance banks (85.0%), poor electricity supply (77.5%), inadequate extension service support (70.0%), and fuel scarcity (68.7%) were major constraints to fish processing in the study area. Results of chi-square analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between personal characteristics (χ2 = 36.83, df = 9), processing methods (χ2 = 15.88, df = 3) and income generated at p < 0.05 level of significance. It can be concluded that significant relationship existed between processing methods and income generated. The study, therefore, recommends that modern processing equipment should be made available to the respondents at a subsidized price by the agro-allied companies.

Keywords: correlates, income, fish processors, women, small-scale

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Authors: Bernard Nnamdi Emenyeonu

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The study of communication as a fully-fledged discipline in institutions of higher education in the Sultanate of Oman is relatively young. Its evolution is associated with Oman's Renaissance beginning from 1970, which ushered in an era of modernization in which education, industrialization, expansion, and liberalization of the mass media, provision of infrastructure, and promotion of multilateral commercial ventures were considered among the top priorities of national development plans. Communication studies were pioneered by the sole government university, Sultan Qaboos University, in the 1990s, but so far, the program is taught in Arabic only. In recognition of the need to produce professionals suitably equipped to fit into the expanding media establishments in the Sultanate as well as the widening global market, the government decided to establish programs in which communication would be taught in English language. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, six Colleges of Applied Sciences were established in Oman in 2007. These colleges offer a 4-year Bachelor degree program in communication studies that comprises six areas of specialization: Advertising, Digital Media, International Communication, Journalism, Media Management and Public Relations. Over the years, a trend has emerged where students tend to flock to particular specializations such as Public Relations and Digital Media, while others, such as Advertising and Journalism, continue to draw the least number of students. In some instances, some specializations have had to be frozen due to the dire lack of interest among new students. It has also been observed that female students are more likely to be more biased in choice of specializations. It was therefore the task of this paper to establish, through a survey and focus group interviews, the factors that influence choice of communication studies as well as particular specializations, among Omani Communication Studies undergraduates. Results of the study show that prior to entering into the communication studies program, the majority of students had no idea of what the field entailed. Whatever information they had about communication studies was sourced from friends and relatives rather than more reliable sources such as career fairs or guidance counselors. For the most part, the choice of communication studies as a major was also influenced by factors such as family, friends and prospects for jobs. Another significant finding is the strong association between gender and choice of specializations within the program, with females flocking to digital media while males tended to prefer public relations. Reasons for specialization preferences dwelt strongly on expectations of a good GPA and the promise of a good salary after graduation. Regardless of gender, most students identified careers in news reporting, public relations and advertising as unsuitable for females. Teaching and program presentation were identified as the most suitable for females. Based on these and other results, the paper not only examined the social and cultural factors that are likely to have influenced the respondent's attitude to communication studies, but also discussed the implication for curriculum development and career development in a developing society such as Oman.

Keywords: career choice, communication specialization, media education, Oman

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Authors: Alexandre Beaupré-Lavallée, Pier-André Bouchard St-Amant, Nathalie Beaulac

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The question of internal governance of universities is a political and scientific debate in the province of Quebec (Canada). Governments have called or set up inquiries on the subject on three separate occasions since the complete overhaul of the educational system in the 1960s: the Parent Commission (1967), the Angers Commission (1979) and the Summit on Higher Education (2013). All three produced reports that highlight the constant tug-of-war for authority and legitimacy within universities. Past and current research that cover Quebec universities have studied several aspects regarding internal governance: the structure as a whole or only some parts of it, the importance of certain key aspects such as collegiality or strategic planning, or of stakeholders, such as students or administrators. External governance has also been studied, though, as with internal governance, research so far as only covered well delineated topics like financing policies or overall impacts from wider societal changes such as New Public Management. The latter, NPM, is often brought up as a factor that influenced overall State policies like “steering-at-a-distance” or internal shifts towards “managerialism”. Yet, to the authors’ knowledge, there is not study that specifically maps how the Quebec State formally influences internal governance. In addition, most studies about the Quebec university system are not comparative in nature. This paper presents a portion of the results produced by a 2022- 2023 study that aims at filling these last two gaps in knowledge. Building on existing governmental, institutional, and scientific papers, we documented the legal and regulatory framework of the Quebec university system and of twenty-one other university systems in North America and Europe (2 in Canada, 2 in the USA, 16 in Europe, with the addition of the European Union as a distinct case). This allowed us to map the presence (or absence) of mandatory structures of governance enforced by States, as well as their composition. Then, using Clark’s “triangle of coordination”, we analyzed each system to assess the relative influences of the market, the State and the collegium upon the governance model put in place. Finally, we compared all 21 non-Quebec systems to characterize the province’s policies in an internal perspective. Preliminary findings are twofold. First, when all systems are placed on a continuum ranging from “no State interference in internal governance” to “State-run universities”, Quebec comes in the middle of the pack, albeit with a slight lean towards institutional freedom. When it comes to overall governance (like Boards and Senates), the dual nature of the Quebec system, with its public university and its coopted yet historically private (or ecclesiastic) institutions, in fact mimics the duality of all university systems. Second, however, is the sheer abundance of legal and regulatory mandates from the State that, while not expressly addressing internal governance, seems to require de facto modification of internal governance structure and dynamics to ensure institutional conformity with said mandates. This study is only a fraction of the research that is needed to better understand State-universities interactions regarding governance. We hope it will set the stage for future studies.

Keywords: internal governance, legislation, Quebec, universities

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Authors: N. G. Klivleyeva, T. I. Glebova, G. V. Lukmanova, S. B. Bayseit, S. Z. Taubaeva, M. K. Kalkozhaeva

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The role of viral diseases in the general infectious disease incidence increases every year and requires special attention to the problem of interpreting the etiology of infectious agents. Influenza and acute respiratory viral infections are one of the most pressing public health issues. In the period 2012-2014, collection of 419 nasal swabs and 150 blood sera has been carried out in the patient care institutions of the various Kazakhstan regions from patients with symptoms of ARVI and pneumonia. Primary identification of biosamples for the presence of influenza viral antigens in enzyme immunoassay on nitrocellulose membrane gave positive results in 125 swabs (29.8%). Biosample screening in immunofluorescence test revealed the presence of influenza viral antigens against A/H1 in 63 samples (15.0%), A/H3 – in 70 samples (16.7%) and type B – in 9 samples (2.1%). As a result of primary infection, and successive passages in chick embryos and MDCK cell cultures, 38 HAAg were isolated from 419 samples with a clear cytopathic effect and hemagglutination titre in MDCK cell culture within 1:2-1:4, in CE - 1:8-1:256. The infectivity of isolates in chicken embryos were 3.5-6.5 lg EID50/0.2, in MDCK cell culture – 2.5-6.5 lg PFU/ml. Identification of 28 isolates was carried out in inhibition reactions of hemagglutinating activity and neuraminidase activity, showed their belonging to the influenza virus: 26 strains to A/H1N1, one - to A/H3N2, and one - to type B. Serological examination of blood sera for the presence of specific antibodies being an indirect evidence of the performed isolation and contributing to the timely interpretation of the disease etiology in the epidemics takes an important place in the comprehensive study of influenza viruses circulating among people. Serological analyzes were carried out in HAI assay using a kit consisting of 12 reference strains obtained from the WHO centre for reference and research on Influenza (CDC, Atlanta, USA) and three Kazakhstan (A/Almaty/347/09 (H1N1v), A/Almaty/462/11 (H3N2) and B/Almaty/414/10) human influenza viruses that are stored in the laboratory collection. The results of serological analysis of 150 blood sera showed that antihaemagglutinins against the A/H3N2 virus serosubtype were found in 46 samples (49.4%) out of 93 sera collected in 2012-2013. The antibody titres were within 1:160-1:320. 19 sera (20.4%) were seropositive against influenza A/H1N1 virus, the antibodies were observed in titres of 1:20-1:40. Six sera (6.4%) were positive against the influenza A/H1N1+A/H3N2 virus (mixed infection); the antibodies were recorded in titres of 1:20-1:40. Antihaemagglutinins against influenza type B virus were detected only in five sera (5.4%). The results of analysis of 57 sera collected in 2014 showed that antihaemagglutinins against A/H3N2 virus subtype were detected in 32 blood sera (56.1%) in titres of 1:160-1:640. Ten sera (17.5%) were seropositive against A/H1N1 virus; antihaemagglutinins against influenza type B virus were not detected. Therefore, virological and serological studies have shown that in Kazakhstan, as well as in the world, the influenza viruses A/H1N1, A/H3N2 and influenza B viruses were actively circulating during the epidemic seasons in 2012-2014.

Keywords: influenza, MDCK cell, serological analysis, virus

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Authors: Scott Nielsen, Luca Longanesi, Chris Chuck

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Palm oil is obtained from the flesh and kernel of the fruit of oil palms and is the most productive and inexpensive oil crop. The global demand for palm oil is approximately 75 million metric tonnes, a 29% increase in global production of palm oil since 2016. This expansion of oil palm cultivation has resulted in mass deforestation, vast biodiversity destruction and increasing net greenhouse gas emissions. One possible alternative is to produce a saturated oil, similar to palm, from microbes such as oleaginous yeast. The yeasts can be cultured on sugars derived from second-generation sources and do not compete with tropical forests for land. One highly promising oleaginous yeast for this application is Metschnikowia pulcherrima. However, recent techno-economic modeling has shown that cell lysis and standard lipid extraction are major contributors to the cost of the oil. Typical cell disruption techniques to extract either single cell oils or proteins have been based around bead-beating, homogenization and acid lysis. However, these can have a detrimental effect on lipid quality and are energy-intensive. In this study, a vortex separator, which produces high sheer with minimal energy input, was investigated as a potential low energy method of lysing cells. This was compared to four more traditional methods (thermal lysis, acid lysis, alkaline lysis, and osmotic lysis). For each method, the yeast loading was also examined at 1 g/L, 10 g/L and 100 g/L. The quality of the cell disruption was measured by optical cell density, cell counting and the particle size distribution profile comparison over a 2-hour period. This study demonstrates that the vortex separator is highly effective at lysing the cells and could potentially be used as a simple apparatus for lipid recovery in an oleaginous yeast process. The further development of this technology could potentially reduce the overall cost of microbial lipids in the future.

Keywords: palm oil substitute, metschnikowia pulcherrima, cell disruption, cell lysis

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Authors: Yi Huang

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Background: For the development of children, it is important for parents to encourage children not only on academic competence but also on children’s social competence. In the western cultural context, parents emphasize more heavily on female children’s social-behavioral development. However, whether the conclusion is correct in eastern culture and whether the parent’s gender affects such an emphasis remains unclear. And, more valuably, from the perspective of intervention, except for the nature factors - child’s gender and parent’s gender, it is also worth to probe whether the improvable factors, such as parent’s perspective taking, influence parent’s emphasis on child’s social competence. Aim: This study was aimed to investigate the impact of parent’s gender, child’s gender, and parent’s perspective-taking on parent’s attitudes of encouragement of the child’s social competence under the Chinese cultural context. Method: 461 Chinese parents whose children were in the first year of middle school during the research time participated in this study. Among all participants, there were 155 fathers and 306 mothers. The research adopted the self-report of perspective-taking, which is the sub-scale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the self-report of the encouragement on a child’s social communication, which is the sub-scale of the Chinese version of The Children Rearing Practice Report. In this study, 291 parents reported regarding male children, and 170 parents reported regarding female children. Results: Contrary to the traditional western theory, which usually suggests parent puts more attention on social development and competence to girl the instead of the boy, in the Chinese context, parent emphasizes social competence more on the male child. Analogically, in China, compared to mother, father underscores the child’s social competence more heavily. By constructing the hierarchical regression model, the result indicated that after controlling the variables of the gender of child and the gender of parent, parent’s perspective-taking still explains for the variance of parent’s encouragement on child’s social competence, which means, parent’s perspective-taking predicts parent’s encouragement on child’s social competence after excluding the impact of the gender of parent and child. Conclusion: For Chinese parents, the ability of perspective-taking is beneficial to enhance their awareness of encouraging children’s social competence.

Keywords: parent; child, gender differences, perspective-taking, social development

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Authors: Waqas Ahmed Khan Afridi, Subhas Chandra Mukhopadhyay, Bandita Mainali

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The research paper presents a unique approach to evapotranspiration (ET) prediction using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) learning algorithm. The study leverages real-time sensor node data to develop an accurate and adaptable prediction model, addressing the inherent challenges of traditional ET estimation methods. The integration of the SVM algorithm with real-time sensor node data offers great potential to improve spatial and temporal resolution in ET predictions. In the model development, key input features are measured and computed using mathematical equations such as Penman-Monteith (FAO56) and soil water balance (SWB), which include soil-environmental parameters such as; solar radiation (Rs), air temperature (T), atmospheric pressure (P), relative humidity (RH), wind speed (u2), rain (R), deep percolation (DP), soil temperature (ST), and change in soil moisture (∆SM). The one-year field data are split into combinations of three proportions i.e. train, test, and validation sets. While kernel functions with tuning hyperparameters have been used to train and improve the accuracy of the prediction model with multiple iterations. This paper also outlines the existing methods and the machine learning techniques to determine Evapotranspiration, data collection and preprocessing, model construction, and evaluation metrics, highlighting the significance of SVM in advancing the field of ET prediction. The results demonstrate the robustness and high predictability of the developed model on the basis of performance evaluation metrics (R2, RMSE, MAE). The effectiveness of the proposed model in capturing complex relationships within soil and environmental parameters provide insights into its potential applications for water resource management and hydrological ecosystem.

Keywords: evapotranspiration, FAO56, KNIME, machine learning, RStudio, SVM, sensors

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Authors: Maria L. McLeod

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This study examines the ways in which cancer patient narratives are portrayed and framed on the websites of three leading U.S. cancer care centers –The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Thirty patient stories, ten from each cancer center website blog, were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative textual analysis of unstructured data, documenting repeated use of specific metaphors and tropes while charting common themes and other elements of story structure and content. Patient narratives were coded using grounded theory as the basis for conducting emergent qualitative research. As part of a systematic, inductive approach to collecting and analyzing data, recurrent and unique themes were examined and compared in terms of positive and negative framing, patient agency, and institutional praise. All three of these cancer care centers are teaching hospitals with university affiliations, that emphasizes an evidence-based scientific approach to treatment that utilizes the latest research and cutting-edge techniques and technology. Thus, the use of anecdotal evidence presented in patient narratives could be perceived as being in conflict with this evidence-based model, as the patient stories are not an accurate representation of scientific outcomes related to developing cancer, cancer reoccurrence, or cancer outcomes. The representative patient narratives tend to exclude or downplay adverse responses to treatment, survival rates, integrative and/or complementary cancer treatments, cancer prevention and causes, and barriers to treatment, such as the limitation of insurance plans, costs of treatment, and/or other issues related to access, potentially contributing to false narratives and inaccurate notions of cancer prevention, cancer care treatment and the potential for a cure. Both quantitative and qualitative findings demonstrate that cancer patient stories featured on the blogsites of the nation’s top cancer care centers deemphasize patient agency and, instead, emphasize deference and gratitude toward the institutions where the featured patients received treatment. Along these lines, language choices reflect positive framing of the cancer experience. Accompanying portrait photos of healthy appearing subjects as well as positive-framed headlines, subheads, and pull quotes function similarly, reflecting hopeful, transformative experiences and outcomes over hardship and suffering. Although patient narratives include real, factual scientific details and descriptions of actual events, the stories lack references to more negative realities of cancer diagnosis and treatment. Instead, they emphasize the triumph of survival by which the cancer care center, in the savior/hero role, enables the patient’s success, represented as a cathartic medical journey.

Keywords: cancer framing, cancer stories, medical gaze, patient narratives

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Authors: Yasin Polat, Yılmaz Dağdemir, Mehmet Arı

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Samarium (III) oxide and Ytterbium (III) oxide doped Bismuth trioxide solid solutions, the nano ceramic (Bi2O3)1-x-y(Sm2O3)x(Yb2O3)y ternary system were obtained with x=5, 20 mol %, and y=5, 20 mol % dopant concentrations have been synthesized in air atmosphere with solid state reaction. Temperature dependent electrical conductivity of the samples have been investigated by 4-point probe technique by heating and cooling process. Doped-Bi2O3 materials of solid electrolyte systems are good oxygen anions O2-conductors which have collected much attention as potential solid ceramic electrolytes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) because of their relatively high oxygen ionic conductivity at lower temperatures.(Bi2O3)-based electrolytes have also wide other technological applications in devices with high economical interest such as oxygen sensors, ceramic membranes for oxygen separation, oxygen pumps, catalyzing of some heterogeneous reactions, partial oxidation of the hydrocarbons, and additive material in paints. In recent years, many experimental researches have mostly focused on improving of the Bi-based electrolytes which have high oxide ionic conductivity at low temperatures and better performance as alternatives to traditional stabilized zirconia has taken place. Generally, these systems are much better solid electrolytes than well-known stabilized zirconia, because some of the bismuth trioxide phases exhibit higher ion conductivity than other oxide ionic conductors. Crystal structure of the Nano ceramic (Bi2O3)1-x-y(Sm2O3)x(Yb2O3)y has been determined by X-Ray powder diffractions (XRD) measurements before and after electrical conductivity measurements of the samples. Surface and grain structure properties of the samples were determined by SEM analysis. The samples which synthesized in this study can be used in industrial applications such as electrolytes of the solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC).

Keywords: 4-point probe technique, bismuth trioxide, solid state reaction, solid oxide fuel cell

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Authors: Wang Chung-Kwei, Lo Kuo Ying

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This study is aimed to examine main and moderation effect of Chinese traditional social wisdom ‘Ren-qing Shi-kuo’ on the adjustment of insurance workers. Rationale: Ren-qing Shi-ku as a social wisdom has been emphasized and practiced by collective-oriented Chinese for thousand years. The concept of‘Ren-qing Shi-ku’includes values, beliefs and behavior rituals, which helps Chinese to cope with interpersonal conflicts in a sophisticated and closely tied collective society. Based on interview and literature review, we found out Chinese still emphasized the importance of ‘Ren-qing Shi-ku’. The concepts contains five factors, including ‘proper emotion display’, ‘social ritual abiding’, ‘ make empathetic concession’, ‘harmonious and proper behavior’ and ‘tolerance for the interest of the whole’. We developed an indigenous ‘Ren-qing Shi-ku’scale based on interview data and a survey on social worker students. Research methods: We conduct a dyad survey between 294 insurance worker and their supervisors. Insurance workers’ response on ‘Ren-qing Shi-ku,emotion labor, emotional exhaustion, work stress and load, work satisfaction and well-being were collected. We also ask their supervisors to rate these workers ‘empathy, social rule abiding, work performance, and Ren-qing Shi-ku performance. Results: Students’self-ratings on Ren-qing Shi-ku scale are positively correlated with rating from their supervisors on all above indexes. Workers who have higher Ren-qing Shi-ku score also have lower work stress and emotion exhaustion, higher work satisfaction and well-being, more emotion deep acting. They also have higher work performance, social rule abiding, and Ren-qing Shi-ku performance rating from their supervisor. The finding of this study suggested Ren-qing Shi-ku is an effective indicator on insurance workers ‘adjustment. Since Ren-qing Shi-ku is trainable, we suggested that Ren-qing Shi-ku training might be beneficial to service industry in a collective-oriented culture.

Keywords: work stress, Ren-qing Shi-ku, emotional exhaustion, work satisfaction, well-being

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Authors: Pablo Ampuero, Claudia Labarca

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The current research paper assesses how the narrative of Chilean businesspeople about China shapes a new Orientalism Analyses on the role of non-state actors in foreign policy that have hitherto theorized about Orientalism as a narrative of hegemonic power. Hence, it has been instrumental to the efforts of imperialist powers to justify their mission civilisatrice. However, such conceptualization can seldom explain new complexities of international interactions at the height of globalization. Hence, we assessed the case of Chile, a small Latin American country, and its relationship with China, its largest trading partner. Through a discourse analysis of interviews with Chilean businesspeople engaged in the Chinese market, we could determine that Chile is building an Orientalist image of China. This new business Orientalism reinforces a relation of alterity based on commercial opportunities, traditional values, and natural dispositions. Hence, the perception of the Chinese Other amongst Chilean business people frames a new set of representations as part of the essentially commercial nature of current bilateral relations. It differs from previous frames, such as the racial bias frame of the early 20^th century, or the anti-communist frame in reaction to Mao’s leadership. As in every narrative of alterity, there is not only a construction of the Other but also a definition of the Self. Consequently, this analysis constitutes a relevant case of the role of non-state actors in asymmetrical bilateral relations, where the non-state actors of the minor power build and act upon an Orientalist frame, which is not representative of its national status in the relation. This study emerges as a contribution on the relation amongst non-state actors in asymmetrical relations, where the smaller power’s business class acts on a negative prejudice of its interactions with its counterpart. The research builds upon the constructivist approach to international relations, linking the idea of Nation Branding with Orientalism in the case of Chile-China relations.

Keywords: new business Orientalism, small power, framing, Chile-China relations

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Authors: Jackie Oakley, Alice V. Brown

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Those experiencing homelessness are regularly excluded from the development of policies and services that impact their lives. This is particularly true for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing homelessness in Australia, who tend to have differing needs, cultural obligations, and views of what equates to a ‘home’ and ‘homelessness’ than non-Aboriginal Australians. Aboriginal people are the traditional owners of Australia yet have had to survive within colonial housing customs, housing and homelessness policies, and markets that often conflict with their culture. Recognising this, in 2022, we commenced community-led research into the needs of Aboriginal people experiencing homelessness in Perth. Historically, research has often been done on Aboriginal people rather than with them. As such, a Participatory Action Research methodology was chosen, which recognises that those being researched are the experts of their circumstances rather than the research team, and facilitates their driving of the research, its questions, and how their community can directly benefit. A Community Ownership Group (COG) was formed to guide this process and negotiate the best ways that the Aboriginal community can be fairly and adequately involved. The COG approved a process developed by an Aboriginal Elder called Ngala Kadidjiny (Knowledge Vault), which outlines who and when various groups should be consulted throughout the research to ensure adequate involvement of the Aboriginal community at all stages. The process includes many markers of research integrity, including ensuring a Community Ownership Group is formed with diversity and recruiting its members through votes taking place within Elders groups across the metropolitan area. The process also demands that the community have the chance to review research findings before any findings are published. Additionally, the process asks that draft reports and findings are delivered to the broader community and Community Ownership Groups before being finalised, published, and shared officially with stakeholders and the government. This paper details how Ngala Kadidjiny’s process impacted the research, how it was explained and agreed upon by the Aboriginal community, the benefits and challenges of such a process, and its implications for other community-led research for and with Aboriginal people experiencing homelessness.

Keywords: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Aboriginal elders, homelessness, community-led research, community consultation

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Authors: Madiha El Awamie, Catherine Rees

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Natural preservatives have been used as alternatives to traditional chemical preservatives; however, a limited number have been commercially developed and many remain to be investigated as sources of safer and effective antimicrobials. In this study, we have been investigating the antimicrobial activity of an extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra (liquorice) that was provided as a waste material from the production of liquorice flavourings for the food industry, and to investigate if this retained the expected antimicrobial activity so it could be used as a natural preservative. Antibacterial activity of liquorice extract was screened for evidence of growth inhibition against eight species of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria innocua, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus subtilis. The Gram-negative bacteria tested include Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium but none of these were affected by the extract. In contrast, for all of the Gram-positive bacteria tested, growth was inhibited as monitored using optical density. However parallel studies using viable count indicated that the cells were not killed meaning that the extract was bacteriostatic rather than bacteriocidal. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration [MIC] and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration [MBC] of the extract was also determined and a concentration of 50 µg ml^-1 was found to have a strong bacteriostatic effect on Gram-positive bacteria. Microscopic analysis indicated that there were changes in cell shape suggesting the cell wall was affected. In addition, the use of a reporter strain of Listeria transformed with the bioluminescence genes luxABCDE indicated that cell energy levels were reduced when treated with either 12.5 or 50 µg ml^-1 of the extract, with the reduction in light output being proportional to the concentration of the extract used. Together these results suggest that the extract is inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive bacteria only by damaging the cell wall and/or membrane.

Keywords: antibacterial activity, bioluminescence, Glycyrrhiza glabra, natural preservative

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Authors: Tarek Saadawi, Rosario Gennaro, Jonathan Akeley

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There is rapidly growing demand for professionals to fill positions in Cybersecurity. This is recognized as a national priority both by government agencies and the private sector. Cybersecurity is a very wide technical area which encompasses all measures that can be taken in an electronic system to prevent criminal or unauthorized use of data and resources. This requires defending computers, servers, networks, and their users from any kind of malicious attacks. The need to address this challenge has been recognized globally but is particularly acute in the New York metropolitan area, home to some of the largest financial institutions in the world, which are prime targets of cyberattacks. In New York State alone, there are currently around 57,000 jobs in the Cybersecurity industry, with more than 23,000 unfilled positions. The Cybersecurity Program at City College is a collaboration between the Departments of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. In Fall 2020, The City College of New York matriculated its first students in theCybersecurity Master of Science program. The program was designed to fill gaps in the previous offerings and evolved out ofan established partnership with Facebook on Cybersecurity Education. City College has designed a program where courses, curricula, syllabi, materials, labs, etc., are developed in cooperation and coordination with industry whenever possible, ensuring that students graduating from the program will have the necessary background to seamlessly segue into industry jobs. The Cybersecurity Program has created multiple pathways for prospective students to obtain the necessary prerequisites to apply in order to build a more diverse student population. The program can also be pursued on a part-time basis which makes it available to working professionals. Since City College’s Cybersecurity M.S. program was established to equip students with the advanced technical skills needed to thrive in a high-demand, rapidly-evolving field, it incorporates a range of pedagogical formats. From its outset, the Cybersecurity program has sought to provide both the theoretical foundations necessary for meaningful work in the field along with labs and applied learning projects aligned with skillsets required by industry. The efforts have involved collaboration with outside organizations and with visiting professors designing new courses on topics such as Adversarial AI, Data Privacy, Secure Cloud Computing, and blockchain. Although the program was initially designed with a single asynchronous course in the curriculum with the rest of the classes designed to be offered in-person, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a move to fullyonline learning. The shift to online learning has provided lessons for future development by providing examples of some inherent advantages to the medium in addition to its drawbacks. This talk will address the structure of the newly-implemented Cybersecurity Master’s Program and discuss the innovations, challenges, and possible future directions.

Keywords: cybersecurity, new york, city college, graduate degree, master of science

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Authors: Phusit Phukamchanoad, Chutchai Ditchareon, Suwaree Yordchim

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This research was to study on background and social and cultural context of Kamchanoad community for sustainable tourism management. All data was collected through in-depth interview with village headmen, community committees, teacher, monks, Kamchanoad forest field officers and respected senior citizen above 60 years old in the community who have lived there for more than 40 years. Altogether there were 30 participants for this research. After analyzing the data, content from interview and discussion, Kamchanoad has both high land and low land in the region as well as swamps that are very capable of freshwater animals’ conservation. Kamchanoad is also good for agriculture and animal farming. 80% of Kamchanoad’s land are forest, freshwater and rice farms. Kamchanoad was officially set up as community in 1994 as “Baan Nonmuang”. Inhabitants in Kamchanoad make a living by farming based on sufficiency economy. They have rice farm, eucalyptus farm, cassava farm and rubber tree farm. Local people in Kamchanoad still believe in the myth of Srisutto Naga. They are still religious and love to preserve their traditional way of life. In order to understand how to create successful tourism business in Kamchanoad, we have to study closely on local culture and traditions. Outstanding event in Kamchanoad is the worship of Grand Srisutto, which is on the full-moon day of 6th month or Visakhabucha Day. Other big events are also celebration at the end of Buddhist lent, Naga firework, New Year celebration, Boon Mahachart, Songkran, Buddhist Lent, Boon Katin and Loy Kratong. Buddhism is the main religion in Kamchanoad. The promotion of tourism in Kamchanoad is expected to help spreading more income for this region. More infrastructures will be provided for local people as well as funding for youth support and people activities.

Keywords: social and culture area, tourism management, Kamchanoad Community, Udon Thani Province

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Authors: Shweta Vardia

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The 2021 decision by the World Heritage Center to align buffer zones with the 2015 Strategy for Sustainable Development marks a significant advancement in the protection of cultural and natural heritage sites. Buffer zones play a critical role in preserving the outstanding universal value, authenticity, and integrity of heritage sites, shielding them from threats such as urbanization, industrialization, and tourism. The 2015 Strategy emphasizes the integration of culture and heritage into sustainable development policies, highlighting the importance of community participation, traditional knowledge, and effective management in the conservation of heritage sites. This paper examines the implications of this strategic alignment for tentative World Heritage Sites in India. It explores how buffer zones can serve as tools for sustainable tourism, economic growth, and environmental protection while also addressing the socio-economic needs of local communities. By adopting a people-centered approach, the study underscores the need for active community involvement in heritage conservation, recognizing local residents as long-term custodians of cultural heritage. The role of buffer zones in promoting sustainable livelihoods, enhancing resilience to environmental changes, and fostering a sense of belonging among communities is also discussed. The challenges associated with buffer zones, including restrictive boundaries, unclear legislative frameworks, and potential disconnection from sociocultural contexts, are critically analyzed. The paper advocates for a holistic and integrated approach to buffer zone management, ensuring that policies are not only theoretically sound but also practically feasible. It concludes by emphasizing the need for collaborative efforts among conservation professionals, local communities, and policymakers to achieve sustainable development goals that respect both the heritage site's integrity and the well-being of surrounding populations.

Keywords: buffer zones, India, local communities, urbanization, world heritage sites

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Authors: Mudrika Singhal

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The research paper is basically about how the genetically modified organisms evolved and their significance in today’s world. It also highlights about the various pros and cons of the genetically modified organisms and the progress of India in this field. A genetically modified organism is the one whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. They have a wide range of uses such as transgenic plants, genetically modified mammals such as mouse and also in insects and aquatic life. Their use is rooted back to the time around 12,000 B.C. when humans domesticated plants and animals. At that humans used genetically modified organisms produced by the procedure of selective breeding and not by genetic engineering techniques. Selective breeding is the procedure in which selective traits are bred in plants and animals and then are domesticated. Domestication of wild plants into a suitable cultigen is a well known example of this technique. GMOs have uses in varied fields ranging from biological and medical research, production of pharmaceutical drugs to agricultural fields. The first organisms to be genetically modified were the microbes because of their simpler genetics. At present the genetically modified protein insulin is used to treat diabetes. In the case of plants transgenic plants, genetically modified crops and cisgenic plants are the examples of genetic modification. In the case of mammals, transgenic animals such as mice, rats etc. serve various purposes such as researching human diseases, improvement in animal health etc. Now coming upon the pros and cons related to the genetically modified organisms, pros include crops with higher yield, less growth time and more predictable in comparison to traditional breeding. Cons include that they are dangerous to mammals such as rats, these products contain protein which would trigger allergic reactions. In India presently, group of GMOs include GM microorganisms, transgenic crops and animals. There are varied applications in the field of healthcare and agriculture. In the nutshell, the research paper is about the progress in the field of genetic modification, taking along the effects in today’s world.

Keywords: applications, mammals, transgenic, engineering and technology

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Authors: Gul Jan

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It is the first quantitative ethno-botanical analysis and conservation issues of medicinal flora of Alpine and Sub-alpine, Hindikush region of Pakistan. The objective of the study aims to report, compare the uses and highlight the ethno-Botanical significance of medicinal plants for treatment of various diseases. A total of 250 (242 males and 8 females) local informants including 10 Local Traditional Healers were interviewed. Information was collected through semi-structured interviews, analyzed and compared by quantitative ethno-botanical indices such as Jaccard index (JI), Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), use value (UV) and Relative frequency of citation (RFC).Thorough survey indicated that 57 medicinal plants belongs to 43 families were investigated to treat various illnesses. The highest ICF is recorded for digestive system (0.69%), Circolatory system (0.61%), urinary tract system, (0.53%) and respiratory system (0.52%). Used value indicated that, Achillea mellefolium (UV = 0.68), Aconitum violaceum (UV = 0.69), Valeriana jatamansi (UV = 0.63), Berberis lyceum (UV = 0.65) and are exceedingly medicinal plant species used in the region. In comparison, highest similarity index is recorded in these studies with JI 17.72 followed by 16.41. According to DMR output, Pinus williciana ranked first due to multipurpose uses among all species and was found most threatened with higher market value. Unwise used of natural assets pooled with unsuitable harvesting practices have exaggerated pressure on plant species of the research region. The main issues causative to natural variety loss found were over grazing of animals, forest violation, wild animal hunting, fodder, plant collection as medicine, fuel wood, forest fire, and invasive species negatively affect the natural resources. For viable utilization, in situ and ex situ conservation, skillful collecting, and reforestation project may be the resolution. Further wide field management research is required.

Keywords: quantitative analysis, conservations issues, medicinal flora, alpine and sub-alpine, Hindukush region

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Authors: Reza Eslami-Farsani, Hamed Khosravi, Saba Fayazzadeh

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Lightweight and efficient structures have the aim to enhance the efficiency of the components in various industries. Toward this end, composites are one of the most widely used materials because of durability, high strength and modulus, and low weight. One type of the advanced composites is grid-stiffened composite (GSC) structures which have been extensively considered in aerospace, automotive, and aircraft industries. They are one of the top candidates for replacing some of the traditional components which are used here. Although there are a good number of published surveys on the design aspects and fabrication of GSC structures, little systematic work has been reported on their material modification to improve their properties, to our knowledge. Matrix modification using nanoparticles is an effective method to enhance the flexural properties of the fibrous composites. In the present study, a silane coupling agent (3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane/3-GPTS) was introduced onto the silica (SiO2) nanoparticle surface and its effects on the three-point flexural response of isogrid E-glass/epoxy composites were assessed. Based on the fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) spectra, it was inferred that the 3-GPTS coupling agent was successfully grafted onto the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles after modification. Flexural test revealed an improvement of 16%, 14%, and 36% in stiffness, maximum load and energy absorption of the isogrid specimen filled with 3 wt.% 3-GPTS/SiO2 compared to the neat one. It would be worth mentioning that in these structures, a considerable energy absorption was observed after the primary failure related to the load peak. Also, 3-GPTMS functionalization had a positive effect on the flexural behavior of the multiscale isogrid composites. In conclusion, this study suggests that the addition of modified silica nanoparticles is a promising method to improve the flexural properties of the grid-stiffened fibrous composite structures.

Keywords: isogrid-stiffened composite panels, silica nanoparticles, surface modification, flexural properties, energy absorption

Procedia PDF Downloads 248