Search results for: balance of soft power

Authors: Sarika Bahadure

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Sustainability starts with conserving resources for future generations. Since human’s existence on this earth, he has been consuming natural resources. The resource consumption pace in the past was very slow, but industrialization in 18^th century brought a change in the human lifestyle. New inventions and discoveries upgraded the human workforce to machines. The mass manufacture of goods provided easy access to products. In the last few decades, the globalization and change in technologies brought consumer oriented market. The consumption of resources has increased at a very high scale. This overconsumption pattern brought economic boom and provided multiple opportunities, but it also put stress on the natural resources. This paper tries to put forth the facts and figures of the population growth and consumption of resources with examples. This is explained with the help of the mathematical expression of doubling known as exponential growth. It compares the carrying capacity of the earth and resource consumption of humans’ i.e. ecological footprint and bio-capacity. Further, it presents the need to conserve natural resources and re-examine sustainable resource use approach for sustainability.

Keywords: consumption, exponential growth, population, resources, sustainability

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Authors: Ayyoub Jamali, Alena Kozlova

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has tested the mettle of the international community, prompting not only States but also non-state actors to take deterrent action in response. Indeed, international sports organisations, namely FIFA and UEFA, have been rather successful in shifting the power dynamics by introducing a complete ban on the Russian national and club teams. This article aims to inquire into the human rights implications of such actions taken by international sports organisations. First, the article departs from an assessment of the legal status of FIFA and UEFA under international law and reflects on how a legal link could be established vis-à-vis their human rights obligations. Second, it examines the human rights aspects of the impugned measures by FIFA and UEFA on the part of the Russian athletes, further scrutinising them against the international human rights law principle of non-discrimination through a proportionality test. Last, it draws basic pathways for how possible human rights violations committed in the context of measures adopted by such organisations could be remedied, outlining the challenges of arbitration and litigation in Switzerland.

Keywords: FIFA, UEFA, FUR, ban, human rights, Russia, Ukraine, non-state actors

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Authors: Franciele L. Bernard, Felipe Dalla Vecchia, Barbara B. Polesso, Jose A. Donato, Marcus Seferin, Rosane Ligabue, Jailton F. do Nascimento, Sandra Einloft

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The increasing level of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere related to fossil fuels processing and utilization are contributing to global warming phenomena considerably. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies appear as one of the key technologies to reduce CO2 emissions mitigating the effects of climate change. Absorption using amines solutions as solvents have been extensively studied and used in industry for decades. However, solvent degradation and equipment corrosion are two of the main problems in this process. Poly (ionic liquid) (PIL) is considered as a promising material for CCS technology, potentially more environmentally friendly and lesser energy demanding than traditional material. PILs possess a unique combination of ionic liquids (ILs) features, such as affinity for CO2, thermal and chemical stability and adjustable properties, coupled with the intrinsic properties of the polymer. This study investigated new Poly (ionic liquid) (PIL) based on polyurethanes with different ionic liquids cations and its potential for CO2 capture. The PILs were synthesized by the addition of diisocyante to a difunctional polyol, followed by an exchange reaction with the ionic Liquids 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIM Cl); tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) and tetrabutylphosphonium bromide (TBPB). These materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Tensile strength analysis, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The PILs CO2 sorption capacity were gravimetrically assessed in a Magnetic Suspension Balance (MSB). It was found that the ionic liquids cation influences in the compounds properties as well as in the CO2 sorption. The best result for CO2 sorption (123 mgCO2/g at 30 bar) was obtained for the PIL (PUPT-TBA). The higher CO2 sorption in PUPT-TBA is probably linked to the fact that the tetraalkylammonium cation having a higher positive density charge can have a stronger interaction with CO2, while the imidazolium charge is delocalized. The comparative CO2 sorption values of the PUPT-TBA with different ionic liquids showed that this material has greater capacity for capturing CO2 when compared to the ILs even at higher temperature. This behavior highlights the importance of this study, as the poly (urethane) based PILs are cheap and versatile materials.

Keywords: capture, CO2, ionic liquids, ionic poly(urethane)

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Authors: Luisa Villani

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The proposal aims to express concerns about the connection between mind, body, society, and environment in the Flyers’ dance, a very well-known rotatory dance in Mexico, to create meanings and to make the apprehension of the world possible. The interaction among the brain, mind, body, and environment, and the intersubjective relation among them, means the world creates and recreates a social interaction. The purpose of this methodology, based on the embodied cognition theory, which was named “A Performance-Embodied Theory” is to find the principles and patterns that organize the culture and the rules of the apprehension of the environment by Totonac people while the dance is being performed. The analysis started by questioning how anthropologists can interpret how Totonacs transform their unconscious knowledge into conscious knowledge and how the scheme formation of imagination and their collective imagery is understood in the context of public-facing rituals, such as Flyers’ dance. The problem is that most of the time, researchers interpret elements in a separate way and not as a complex ritual dancing whole, which is the original contribution of this study. This theory, which accepts the fact that people are body-mind agents, wants to interpret the dance as a whole, where the different elements are joined to an integral interpretation. To understand incorporation, data was recollected in prolonged periods of fieldwork, with participant observation and linguistic and extralinguistic data analysis. Laban’s notation for the description and analysis of gestures and movements in the space was first used, but it was later transformed and gone beyond this method, which is still a linear and compositional one. Performance in a ritual is the actualization of a potential complex of meanings or cognitive domains among many others in a culture: one potential dimension becomes probable and then real because of the activation of specific meanings in a context. It can only be thought what language permits thinking, and the lexicon that is used depends on the individual culture. Only some parts of this knowledge can be activated at once, and these parts of knowledge are connected. Only in this way, the world can be understood. It can be recognized that as languages geometrize the physical world thanks to the body, also ritual does. In conclusion, the ritual behaves as an embodied grammar or a text in movement, which, depending on the ritual phases and the words and sentences pronounced in the ritual, activates bits of encyclopedic knowledge that people have about the world. Gestures are not given by the performer but emerge from the intentional perception in which gestures are “understood” by the audio-spectator in an inter-corporeal way. The impact of this study regards the possibility not only to disseminate knowledge effectively but also to generate a balance between different parts of the world where knowledge is shared, rather than being received by academic institutions alone. This knowledge can be exchanged, so indigenous communities and academies could be together as part of the activation and the sharing of this knowledge with the world.

Keywords: dance, flyers, performance, embodied, cognition

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Authors: Bhavana Gulaty, Arshia Chaudhri

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Great civic projects contribute integrally to a city, and every city undergoes a recurring cycle of urban transformations and regeneration by their insertion. The M.I.C.E. (Meetings, Incentives, Convention and Exhibitions) industry is the forbearer of one category of such catalytic civic projects. Through a specific focus on M.I.C.E. destinations, this paper illustrates the multifarious dimensions that urban catalysts impact the city on S.P.U.R. (Seed. Profile. Urbane. Reflections), the theoretical framework of this paper aims to unearth these dimensions in the realm of the COEX (Convention & Exhibition) biosphere. The ‘COEX Biosphere’ is the filter of such catalysts being ecosystems unto themselves. Like a ripple in water, the impact of these strategic interventions focusing on art, culture, trade, and promotion expands right from the trigger; the immediate context to the region and subsequently impacts the global scale. These ripples are known to bring about significant economic, social, and political and network changes. The COEX inventory in the Asian context has one such prominent addition; the proposed India International Convention and Exhibition Centre (IICC) at New Delhi. It is envisioned to be the largest facility in Asia currently and would position India on the global M.I.C.E map. With the first phase of the project scheduled to open for use in the end of 2019, this flagship project of the Government of India is projected to cater to a peak daily footfall of 3,20,000 visitors and estimated to generate 5,00,000 jobs. While the economic benefits are yet to manifest in real time and ‘Good design is good business’ holds true, for the urban transformation to be meaningful, the benefits have to go beyond just a balance sheet for the city’s exchequer. This aspect has been found relatively unexplored in research on these developments. The methodology for investigation will comprise of two steps. The first will be establishing an inventory of the global success stories and associated benefits of COEX projects over the past decade. The rationale for capping the timeframe is the significant paradigm shift that has been observed in their recent conceptualization; for instance ‘Innovation Districts’ conceptualised in the city of Albuquerque that converges into the global economy. The second step would entail a comparative benchmarking of the projected transformations by IICC through a toolkit of parameters. This is posited to yield a matrix that can form the test bed for mapping the catalytic trajectory for projects in the pipeline globally. As a ready reckoner, it purports to be a catalyst to substantiate decision making in the planning stage itself for future projects in similar contexts.

Keywords: catalysts, COEX, M.I.C.E., urban transformations

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Authors: Eduardo F. Mello, Peter H. Bauer

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The primary focus of this paper is the generation of energy-optimal speed trajectories for heterogeneous electric vehicle platoons in urban driving conditions. Optimal speed trajectories are generated for individual vehicles and for an entire platoon under the assumption that they can be executed without errors, as would be the case for self-driving vehicles. It is then shown that the optimization for the “average vehicle in the platoon” generates similar transportation energy savings to optimizing speed trajectories for each vehicle individually. The introduced approach only requires the lead vehicle to run the optimization software while the remaining vehicles are only required to have adaptive cruise control capability. The achieved energy savings are typically between 30% and 50% for stop-to-stop segments in cities. The prime motivation of urban platooning comes from the fact that urban platoons efficiently utilize the available space and the minimization of transportation energy in cities is important for many reasons, i.e., for environmental, power, and range considerations.

Keywords: electric vehicles, energy efficiency, optimization, platooning, self-driving vehicles, urban traffic

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Authors: Samrat Vikramaditya Tiwari, Atul Sewaiwar, Yeon-Ho Chung

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Device-to-device (D2D) communication is considered a promising technique to provide wireless peer-to-peer communication services. Due to increasing demand on mobile services, available spectrum for radio frequency (RF) based communications becomes scarce. Recently, visible light communications (VLC) has evolved as a high speed wireless data transmission technology for indoor environments with abundant available bandwidth. In this paper, a novel VLC based D2D communication that provides wireless peer-to-peer communication is proposed. Potential low operating power devices for an efficient D2D communication over increasing distance of separation between devices is analyzed. Optical repeaters (OR) are also proposed to enhance the performance in an environment where direct D2D communications yield degraded performance. Simulation results show that VLC plays an important role in providing efficient D2D communication up to a distance of 1 m between devices. It is also found that the OR significantly improves the coverage distance up to 3.5 m.

Keywords: visible light communication, light emitting diode, device-to-device, optical repeater

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Authors: M. Ghasemi, S.Fazelifar

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Abstract Aim: Over-weight is not desirable and has implications for health and in the case of athletes affects performance. Exercise is a strategy used to counteract overweight owing to create a negative energy balance by increasing energy expenditure and influencing appetite regulating hormones. Interestingly, recent studies have revealed inhibitory effects of exercise on the hunger associated with these hormones in healthy subjects Neuropeptide Y(NPY) is a 36 amino acid protein that is a powerful stimulant appetite. NPY is an important central orexigenic hormone predominantly produced by the hypothalamus, and recently found to be secreted in adipose tissue. This neurotransmitter is secreted in the brain and autonomic nervous system. On the other hand, research has shown that thyme in addition to various properties, also affects the appetite. The purpose of this study was to determine Effects of eight weeks endurance training and thyme consumption on neuropeptide Y in untrained men. Methodology: 36 Healthy untrained men (mean body weight 78.25±3.2 kg, height 176±6.8 cm, age 34.32±4.54 years and BMI 29.1±4.3 kg/m2) voluntarily participated in this study . Subjects were randomly divided into four groups: 1. control, 2. Endurance training, 3. Thyme 4. Endurance training + Thyme. Amount of 10cc Blood sampling were obtained pre-test and post-test (after 8 weeks). The taken blood samples were centrifuged at 1500 × g for 15 min then plasma was stored at -20 °C until analysis. Endurance training consisted three session per week with 60% -75% of reserve heart rate for eight weeks. Exclusion criteria were history of gastrointestinal, endocrine, cardiovascular or psychological disease, and consuming any supplementation, alcohol and tobacco products. Descriptive statistics including means, standard deviations, and ranges were calculated for all measures. K-S test to determine the normality of the data and analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to analyze the data. A significant difference in the p<0/05 accepted. Results: Results showed that aerobic training significantly reduced body weight, body mass index, percent body fat, but significant increase observed in maximal oxygen consumption level (p ≤ 0/05). The neuropeptide Y levels were significantly increased after exercise. Analysis of data determined that there was no significant difference between the four groups. Conclusion: Appetite control plays a critical role in the competition between energy consumption and energy expenditure. The results of this study showed that endurance training and thyme consumption can be cause improvement in physiological parameters such as increasing aerobic capacity, reduction of fat mass and improve body composition in untrained men.

Keywords: Endurance training, neuropeptide Y, thyme, untrained men

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Authors: Bar Y. Ainuz, Harry M. Salinas, Aleeza Ali, Eli B. Levitt, Austin J. Pourmoussa, Antoun Bouz, Miguel A. Medina

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Introduction: Breast conservation therapy remains the mainstay surgical treatment for early breast cancer. Oncoplastic techniques, in conjunction with lumpectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy, have been demonstrated to achieve good aesthetic results without adversely affecting cancer outcomes in the treatment of patients with macromastia or significant ptosis. In our patient population, many women present for breast conservation with pre-existing cosmetic implants or with breast volumes too small for soft tissue, only oncoplastic techniques. Our study evaluated a consecutive series of patients presenting for breast conservation undergoing concomitant oncoplastic-augmentation-mastopexy (OAM) with a contralateral augmentation-mastopexy for symmetry. Methods: OAM surgical technique involves simultaneous lumpectomy with exchange or placement of implants, oncoplastic mastopexy, and concomitant contralateral augmentation mastopexy for symmetry. Patients undergoing lumpectomy for breast conservation as outpatients were identified via retrospective chart review at a high volume private academic affiliated community-based cancer center. Patients with ptosis and either pre-existing breast implants or insufficient breast volume undergoing oncoplastic implant placement (or exchange) and mastopexy were included in the study. Operative details, aesthetic outcomes, and complications were assessed. Results: Over a continuous three-year period, with a two-surgeon cohort, 30 consecutive patients (56 breasts, 4 unilateral procedures) were identified. Patients had an average age of 52.5 years and an average BMI of 27.5, with 40% smokers or former smokers. The average operative time was 2.5 hours, the average implant size removed was 352 cc, and the average implant size placed was 300 cc. All new implants were smooth silicone, with the majority (92%) placed in a retropectoral fashion. 40% of patients received chemotherapy, and 80% of patients received whole breast adjuvant photon radiotherapy with a total radiation dose of either 42.56 or 52.56 Gy. The average and median length of follow-up were both 8.2 months. Of the 24 patients that received radiotherapy, 21% had asymmetry due to capsular contracture. A total of 7 patients (29.2%) underwent revisions for either positive margins (12.5%), capsular contracture (8.3%), implant loss (4.2%), or cosmetic concerns (4.2%). One patient developed a pulmonary embolism in the acute postoperative period and was treated with anticoagulant therapy. Conclusion: Oncoplastic augmentation mastopexy is a safe technique with good aesthetic outcomes and acceptable complication rates for ptotic patients with breast cancer and a paucity of breast volume or pre-existing implants who wish to pursue breast-conserving therapy. The revision rates compare favorably with single-stage cosmetic augmentation procedures as well as other oncoplastic techniques described in the literature. The short-term capsular contracture rates seem lower than the rates in patients undergoing radiation after mastectomy and implant-based reconstruction. Long term capsular contractures and revision rates are too early to know in this cohort.

Keywords: breast conserving therapy, oncoplastic augmentation mastopexy, capsular contracture, breast reconstruction

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Authors: Ashish Mahalle, Kishore Borakhade

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High porosity metal foams are excellent for heat dissipation. There use has been widened to include heat removal from high density microelectronics circuits. Other important applications have been found in compact heat exchangers for airborne equipment, regenerative and dissipative air cooled condenser towers, and compact heat sinks for power electronic. The low relative density, open porosity and high thermal conductivity of the cell edges, large accessible surface area per unit volume, and the ability to mix the cooling fluid make metal foam heat exchangers efficient, compact and light weight. This paper reports the thermal performance of metal foam for high heat dissipation. In experimentation metal foam samples of different pore diameters i.e. 35 µ, 20 µ, 12 µ, are analyzed for varying velocities and heat inputs. The study investigate the effect of various dimensionless no. like Re,Nu, Pr and heat transfer characteristics of basic flow configuration.

Keywords: pores, foam, effective thermal conductivity, permeability

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Authors: Z. Xu

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Immersive virtual reality (VR) has gained momentum in humanitarian communication due to its utopian promises of co-presence, immediacy, and transcendence. These potential benefits have led the United Nations (UN) to tirelessly produce and distribute VR series to evoke global empathy and encourage policymakers, philanthropic business tycoons and citizens around the world to actually do something (i.e. give a donation). However, it is unclear whether or not VR can cultivate cosmopolitans with a sense of social responsibility towards the geographically, socially/culturally and morally mediated misfortune of faraway others. Drawing upon existing works on the mediation of distant suffering, this article constructs an analytical framework to articulate the issue. Applying this framework on a case study of five of the UN’s VR pieces, the article identifies three paradoxes that exist between cyber-utopian and cyber-dystopian narratives. In the “paradox of distance”, VR relies on the notions of “presence” and “storyliving” to implicitly link audiences spatially and temporally to distant suffering, creating global connectivity and reducing perceived distances between audiences and others; yet it also enables audiences to fully occupy the point of view of distant sufferers (creating too close/absolute proximity), which may cause them to feel naive self-righteousness or narcissism with their pleasures and desire, thereby destroying the “proper distance”. In the “paradox of agency”, VR simulates a superficially “real” encounter for visual intimacy, thereby establishing an “audiences–beneficiary” relationship in humanitarian communication; yet in this case the mediated hyperreality is not an authentic reality, and its simulation does not fill the gap between reality and the virtual world. In the “paradox of the hierarchies of human life”, VR enables an audience to experience virtually fundamental “freedom”, epitomizing an attitude of cultural relativism that informs a great deal of contemporary multiculturalism, providing vast possibilities for a more egalitarian representation of distant sufferers; yet it also takes the spectator’s personally empathic feelings as the focus of intervention, rather than structural inequality and political exclusion (an economic and political power relations of viewing). Thus, the audience can potentially remain trapped within the minefield of hegemonic humanitarianism. This study is significant in two respects. First, it advances the turn of digitalization in studies of media and morality in the polymedia milieu; it is motivated by the necessary call for a move beyond traditional technological environments to arrive at a more novel understanding of the asymmetry of power between the safety of spectators and the vulnerability of mediated sufferers. Second, it not only reminds humanitarian journalists and NGOs that they should not rely entirely on the richer news experience or powerful response-ability enabled by VR to gain a “moral bond” with distant sufferers, but also argues that when fully-fledged VR technology is developed, it can serve as a kind of alchemy and should not be underestimated merely as a “bugaboo” of an alarmist philosophical and fictional dystopia.

Keywords: audience, cosmopolitan, distant suffering, virtual reality, humanitarian communication

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Authors: Olubisi Friday Oluduro

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The Paris Agreement 2015, the result of negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), after Kyoto Protocol expiration, sets a long-term goal of limiting the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and of pursuing efforts to limiting this temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius. An advancement on the erstwhile Kyoto Protocol which sets commitments to only a limited number of Parties to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, it includes the goal to increase the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and to make finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low GHGs emissions. For it achieve these goals, the Agreement requires all Parties to undertake efforts towards reaching global peaking of GHG emissions as soon as possible and towards achieving a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks in the second half of the twenty-first century. In addition to climate change mitigation, the Agreement aims at enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing the vulnerability to climate change in different parts of the world. It acknowledges the importance of addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse of climate change. The Agreement also contains comprehensive provisions on support to be provided to developing countries, which includes finance, technology transfer and capacity building. To ensure that such supports and actions are transparent, the Agreement contains a number reporting provisions, requiring parties to choose the efforts and measures that mostly suit them (Nationally Determined Contributions), providing for a mechanism of assessing progress and increasing global ambition over time by a regular global stocktake. Despite the somewhat global look of the Agreement, it has been fraught with manifold limitations threatening its very existential capability to produce any meaningful result. Considering these obvious limitations some of which were the very cause of the failure of its predecessor—the Kyoto Protocol—such as the non-participation of the United States, non-payment of funds into the various coffers for appropriate strategic purposes, among others. These have left the developing countries largely threatened eve the more, being more vulnerable than the developed countries, which are really responsible for the climate change scourge. The paper seeks to examine the mitigation and adaptation measures under the Paris Agreement 2015, appraise the present situation since the Agreement was concluded and ascertain whether the developing countries have been better or worse off since the Agreement was concluded, and examine why and how, while projecting a way forward in the present circumstance. It would conclude with recommendations towards ameliorating the situation.

Keywords: mitigation, adaptation, climate change, Paris agreement 2015, framework

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Authors: Lipaz Shamoa-Nir, Irene Razpurker-Apfeld

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This research examined the impact of subliminal exposure to religious content on the mutual attitudes of majority group members (Jews) and minority group members (Muslims). Participants were subliminally exposed to religious concepts (e.g., Mezuzah, yarmulke or veil) and then they filled questionnaires assessing their stereotypes towards the out-group members. Each participant was primed with either in-group religious concepts, out-group concepts or neutral ones. The findings show that the Muslim participants were not influenced by the religious content to which they were exposed while the Jewish participants perceived the Muslims as less 'hostile' when subliminally exposed to religious concepts, regardless of concept type (out-group/in-group). This research highlights the influence of evoked religious content on out-group attitudes even when the perceiver is unaware of prime content. The power that exposure to content in a non-native language has in activating attitudes towards the out-group is also discussed.

Keywords: intergroup attitudes, stereotypes, majority-minority, religious out-group, implicit content, native language

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Authors: Mohamad Bagher Heidari, Hefzollah Mohammadian

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New discoveries in materials on the nanometer-length scale are expected to play an important role in addressing ongoing and future challenges in the field of communication. Devices and systems for ultra-high speed short and long range communication links, portable and power efficient computing devices, high-density memory and logics, ultra-fast interconnects, and autonomous and robust energy scavenging devices for accessing ambient intelligence and needed information will critically depend on the success of next-generation emerging nonmaterials and devices. This article presents some exciting recent developments in nonmaterials that have the potential to play a critical role in the development and transformation of future intelligent communication and telecom networks in the gas refinery. The industry is benefiting from nanotechnology advances with numerous applications including those in smarter sensors, logic elements, computer chips, memory storage devices, optoelectronics.

Keywords: nonmaterial, intelligent communication, nanoscale, nanophotonic, telecom

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Authors: S. Ramteke, K. S. Patel

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Aerosols are complex mixture of particulate matters (PM) inclusive of carbons, silica, elements, various salts, etc. Aerosols get deep into the human lungs and cause a broad range of health effects, in particular, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. They are one of the major culprits for the climate change. They are emitted by the high thermal processes i.e. vehicles, steel, sponge, cement, thermal power plants, etc. Raipur (22˚33'N to 21˚14'N and 82˚6'E) to 81˚38'E) is a growing industrial city in central India with population of two million. In this work, the distribution of inorganics (i.e. Cl⁻, NO³⁻, SO₄²⁻, NH₄⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) associated to the PM in the ambient air is described. The PM₁₀ in ambient air of Raipur city was collected for duration of one year (December 2014 - December 2015). The PM₁₀ was segregated into nine modes i.e. PM₁₀.₀₋₉.₀, PM₉.₀₋₅.₈, PM₅.₈₋₄.₇, PM₄.₇₋₃.₃, PM₃.₃₋₂.₁, PM₂.₁₋₁.₁, PM₁.₁₋₀.₇, PM₀.₇₋₀.₄ and PM₀.₄ to know their emission sources and health hazards. The analysis of ions and metals was carried out by techniques i.e. ion chromatography and TXRF. The PM₁₀ concentration (n=48) was ranged from 100-450 µg/m³ with mean value of 73.57±20.82 µg/m³. The highest concentration of PM₄.₇₋₃.₃, PM₂.₁₋₁.₁, PM₁.₁₋₀.₇ was observed in the commercial, residential and industrial area, respectively. The effect of meteorology i.e. temperature, humidity, wind speed and wind direction in the PM₁₀ and associated elemental concentration in the air is discussed.

Keywords: ambient aerosol, ions, metals, segregation

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Authors: Wala A. Bagunaid, Maram Meccawy, Arwa Allinjawi, Zilal Meccawy

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Continuous self-assessment becomes crucial in self-paced online learning environments. Students often depend on themselves to assess their progress; which is considered an essential requirement for any successful learning process. Today’s education institutions face major problems around student motivation and engagement. Thus, personalized e-learning systems aim to help and guide the students. Gamification provides an opportunity to help students for self-assessment and social comparison with other students through attempting to harness the motivational power of games and apply it to the learning environment. Furthermore, Open Social Student Modeling (OSSM) as considered as the latest user modeling technologies is believed to improve students’ self-assessment and to allow them to social comparison with other students. This research integrates OSSM approach and gamification concepts in order to provide self-assessment for English language learners at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). This is achieved through an interactive visual representation of their learning progress.

Keywords: e-learning system, gamification, motivation, social comparison, visualization

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Authors: Nadjib Melkemi, Salah Belaidi

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Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) studies have been performed on nineteen molecules of 1,2-dithiole-3-thione analogues. The compounds used are the potent inducers of enzymes involved in the maintenance of reduced glutathione pools as well as phase-2 enzymes important to electrophile detoxication. A multiple linear regression (MLR) procedure was used to design the relationships between molecular descriptor and detoxication properties of the 1,2-dithiole-3-thione derivatives. The predictivity of the model was estimated by cross-validation with the leave-one-out method. Our results suggest a QSAR model based of the following descriptors: qS2, qC3, qC5, qS6, DM, Pol, log P, MV, SAG, HE and EHOMO for the specific activity of quinone reductase; qS1, qS2, qC3, qC4, qC5, qS6, DM, Pol, logP, MV, SAG, HE and EHOMO for the production of growth hormone. To confirm the predictive power of the models, an external set of molecules was used. High correlation between experimental and predicted activity values was observed, indicating the validation and the good quality of the derived QSAR models.

Keywords: QSAR, quinone reductase activity, production of growth hormone, MLR

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Authors: Alan Bhekisisa Buthelezi

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The aim of this paper is to explore African management and leadership philosophies at secondary schools in post-apartheid South Africa. The research was conducted in the King Cetshwayo district of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Apart from the literature on participative management, the paper reports on a research in which an empirical investigation based on a quantitative research paradigm was used to collect data from secondary school principals. The literature findings revealed that secondary school principals need to rethink their management and leadership philosophies in the twenty-first century. The findings of this research further reveal that ubuntu (humanness) and lekgotla (Sesotho term for “an African participatory approach to decision-making”) should be embedded in the art of school management and leadership in the South African context. The paper concludes with the submission that ongoing capacity-building workshops should be fast-tracked on matters pertaining to management and leadership.

Keywords: distributed leadership, team leadership, decentralization of power, transformational leadership

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Authors: Alan Bhekisisa Buthelezi

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The aim of this paper is to explore African management and leadership philosophies at secondary schools in post-apartheid South Africa. The research was conducted in the King Cetshwayo district of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. Apart from the literature on participative management, the paper reports on research in which an empirical investigation based on a quantitative research paradigm was used to collect data from secondary school principals. The literature findings revealed that secondary school principals need to rethink their management and leadership philosophies in the twenty-first century. The findings of this research further reveal that ubuntu (humanness) and lekgotla (Sesotho term for ‘an African participatory approach to decision-making’) should be embedded in the art of school management and leadership in the South African context. The paper concludes with the submission that ongoing capacity-building workshops should be fast-tracked on matters pertaining to management and leadership.

Keywords: transformational leadership, distributed leadership, team leadership, decentralisation of power

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Authors: Duanlei Yuan, Guangchao Yan, Zhanqing Chen, Xian Cheng

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This paper mainly focuses on the problem that high voltage circuit breaker’s closing and opening operation at random phase brings harmful electromagnetic transient effects on the power system. To repress the negative transient effects, a 35 kV SF6 phase-control circuit breaker equipped with electromagnetic force driving actuator is designed in this paper. Based on the constructed mathematical and structural models, the static magnetic field distribution and dynamic properties of the under loading actuator are simulated. The prototype of 35 kV SF6 phase-control circuit breaker is developed based on theories analysis and simulation. Tests are carried on to verify the operating reliability of the prototype. The developed circuit breaker can control its operating speed intelligently and switches with phase selection. Results of the tests and simulation prove that the phase-control circuit breaker is feasible for industrial applications.

Keywords: phase-control, circuit breaker, electromagnetic force driving actuator, tests and simulation

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Authors: Arya S. S.

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India is one of the powerful country in the world .India and Maldives having common interests in regional security and economic growth, this relationship has seen substantial change in recent years. This paper examines the complex dynamics of this bilateral relationship, emphasizing the careful balancing act that both countries perform in order to advance regional prosperity. It looks at historical connections, geopolitical factors, and current issues like economic cooperation, climate change, and marine security. The study highlights how India's involvement in the Maldives contributes to both bilateral ties and regional stability by examining important initiatives including trade agreements and infrastructure projects. It also discusses the effects of outside factors and the necessity for both nations to strategically manage their interests. In order to contribute to a more affluent and stable Indian Ocean area, this study ultimately seeks to shed light on how India and the Maldives may cooperate to promote sustainable development while tackling security issues. The India Maldives relation is very crucial in the regional stability of Indian ocean region. The initiatives like building infrastructure, giving financial support, and establishing the India-Maldives Friendship Bridge demonstrate India's dedication to Maldivian prosperity. In addition to boosting the Maldives' economy, these investments strengthen India's clout in the area, which is essential for preserving its maritime security interests in the face of growing Chinese dominance. Both India and China involved in a strategic tug of war in order to enhance their dominance in Maldives. There are difficulties with this collaboration including, political unrest in the Maldives has occasionally resulted in changes to foreign policy, particularly under regimes that support stronger ties with China. India has expressed concern about losing strategic footholds in the Indian Ocean as a result of China's extension of influence through debt diplomacy and infrastructure projects. India must therefore strike a balance between advancing its objectives and upholding Maldivian sovereignty as well as the goals of its people and government. In summary, the partnership between India and the Maldives is a complex balancing act that is marked by cultural links, security cooperation, and economic dependency. Both countries must negotiate the complexity of international relations as they work for regional prosperity, especially in light of both internal and external factors. India and the Maldives can strengthen their positions as key actors in the changing dynamics of the Indian Ocean by promoting cooperation and communication. This would not only protect their particular interests but also help create a stable and prosperous South Asian region.

Keywords: regional security, balancing act, debt trap diplomacy, strategic tug of war

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Authors: Reza Mokhtari Malekabadi, Leila Jalalabadi, Zahra Kiyani Ghaleh No

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Today, systems of management and urban planning, attempt to reach more sustainable development through monitoring developments, urban development and development plans. Monitoring of changes in the urban places and sustainable urban development accounted a base for the realization of worthy goals urban sustainable development. The importance of women in environmental protection programs is high enough that in 21 agenda has been requested from all countries to allocate more shares to women in their policies. On the other hand, urban waste landfill has become one of the environmental concerns in modern cities. This research assumes that the impact of women on recycling, reduction and proper waste landfill is much more than men. For this reason, three districts; Yousef Abad, Heshmatieh and Nezam Abad are gauged through questionnaire and using the analytical research hypothesis model. This research will be categorized as functional research. The results have shown that noticing the power of women, their participation towards realization of the development objectives and programs can be used in solving their problems.

Keywords: citizens, urban, environmental, sustainability, solid waste, Tehran

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Authors: Beste Ozcan, Valerio Sperati, Laura Romano, Tania Moretta, Simone Scaffaro, Noemi Faedda, Federica Giovannone, Carla Sogos, Vincenzo Guidetti, Gianluca Baldassarre

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+me is an experimental interactive toy with the appearance of a soft, pillow-like, panda. Shape and consistency are designed to arise emotional attachment in young children: a child can wear it around his/her neck and treat it as a companion (i.e. a transitional object). When caressed on paws or head, the panda emits appealing, interesting outputs like colored lights or amusing sounds, thanks to embedded electronics. Such sensory patterns can be modified through a wirelessly connected tablet: by this, an adult caregiver can adapt +me responses to a child's reactions or requests, for example, changing the light hue or the type of sound. The toy control is therefore shared, as it depends on both the child (who handles the panda) and the adult (who manages the tablet and mediates the sensory input-output contingencies). These features make +me a potential tool for therapy with children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ND), characterized by impairments in the social area, like Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Language Disorders (LD): as a proposal, the toy could be used together with a therapist, in rehabilitative play activities aimed at encouraging simple social interactions and reinforcing basic relational and communication skills. +me was tested in two pilot experiments, the first one involving 15 Typically Developed (TD) children aged in 8-34 months, the second one involving 7 children with ASD, and 7 with LD, aged in 30-48 months. In both studies a researcher/caregiver, during a one-to-one, ten-minute activity plays with the panda and encourages the child to do the same. The purpose of both studies was to ascertain the general acceptability of the device as an interesting toy that is an object able to capture the child's attention and to maintain a high motivation to interact with it and with the adult. Behavioral indexes for estimating the interplay between the child, +me and caregiver were rated from the video recording of the experimental sessions. Preliminary results show how -on average- participants from 3 groups exhibit a good engagement: they touch, caress, explore the panda and show enjoyment when they manage to trigger luminous and sound responses. During the experiments, children tend to imitate the caregiver's actions on +me, often looking (and smiling) at him/her. Interesting behavioral differences between TD, ASD, and LD groups are scored: for example, ASD participants produce a fewer number of smiles both to panda and to a caregiver with respect to TD group, while LD scores stand between ASD and TD subjects. These preliminary observations suggest that the interactive toy +me is able to raise and maintain the interest of toddlers and therefore it can be reasonably used as a supporting tool during therapy, to stimulate pivotal social skills as imitation, turn-taking, eye contact, and social smiles. Interestingly, the young age of participants, along with the behavioral differences between groups, seem to suggest a further potential use of the device: a tool for early differential diagnosis (the average age of a child

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, interactive toy, social interaction, therapy, transitional wearable companion

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Authors: Helee Dave

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Globalization has helped in the growth and change of the Indian economy to a great extent. The purchasing power of Indians has increased. IT Infrastructure has considerably improved in India. There is an increase in the usage of smartphones. The smartphones facilitate all sorts of work now a day, from getting groceries to planning a tour; it is just one click away. Similar is the case with equity trading. The traders in equity market can now deal with their stocks through mobile applications eliminating the middle man. The traders do not have an option but to open a dematerialization account with the banks which are compulsory enough irrespective of their mode of transaction that is online or offline. Considering that India is a young country having more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and 65% of its population below the age of 35; this youth is comfortable with the usage of smartphones. The banking industry is also providing a virtual platform supporting equity market industry. Yet equity trading through online applications is at an infant stage. This paper primarily attempts to understand challenges and opportunities faced by equity trading through mobile apps in India.

Keywords: BPO, business process outsourcing, de-materialization account, equity, ITES, information technology enabled services

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Authors: Neha Adsul, Rohit Shah

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Background: The global history of nursing is exclusively a history of deep contradictions as it seeks to negotiate inclusion in an already gendered world. Although a powerful 'clinical gaze exists, nurses have toiled to re-negotiate and subvert the 'medical gaze' by practicing the 'therapeutic gaze' to tether back 'care into nursing practice.' This helps address the duality of the 'body' and 'mind' wherein the patient is not just limited to being an object of medical inquiry. Nevertheless, there has been a consistent effort to fit 'nursing' into being an art or an emerging science over the years. Especially with advances in hospital-based techno-centric medical practices, the boundaries between technology and nursing practices are becoming more blurred as the technical process becomes synonymous with nursing, eroding the essence of nursing care. Aim: This paper examines the history of nursing and offers insights into how gendered relations and the ideological belief of 'nursing as gendered work' have propagated to the subjugation of the nursing profession. It further aims to provide insights into the patriarchally imbibed techno-centrism that negates the gendered caregiving which lies at the crux of a nurse's work. Method: A literature search was carried out using Google Scholar, Web of Science and PubMed databases. Search words included: technology and nursing, medical technology and nursing, history of nursing, sociology and nursing and nursing care. The history of nursing is presented in a discussion that weaves together the historical events of the 'Birth of the Clinic' and the shift from 'bed-side medicine' to 'hospital-based medicine' that legitimizes exploitation of the bodies of patients to the 'medical gaze while the emergence of nursing as acquiescent to instrumental, technical, positivist and dominant views of medicine. The resultant power asymmetries, wherein in contemporary nursing, the constant struggle of nurses to juggle between being the physicians "operational right arm" to harboring that subjective understanding of the patients to refrain from de-humanizing nursing-care. Findings: The nursing profession suffers from being rendered invisible due to gendered relations having patrifocal societal roots. This perpetuates a notion rooted in the idea that emphasizes empiricism and has resulted in theoretical and epistemological fragmentation of the understanding of body and mind as separate entities. Nurses operate within this structure while constantly being at the brink of being pushed beyond the legitimate professional boundaries while being labeled as being 'unscientific' as the work does not always corroborate and align with the existing dominant positivist lines of inquiries. Conclusion: When understood in this broader context of how nursing as a practice has evolved over the years, it provides a particularly crucial testbed for understanding contemporary gender relations. Not because nurses like to live in a gendered work trap but because the gendered relations at work are written in a covert narcissistic patriarchal milieu that fails to recognize the value of intangible yet utmost necessary 'caring work in nursing. This research urges and calls for preserving and revering the humane aspect of nursing care alongside the emerging tech-savvy expectations from nursing work.

Keywords: nursing history, technocentric, power relations, scientific duality

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Authors: Lucie Pospíšilová, Robert Osman, Hana Porkertová

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The scholarly literature demonstrates disability and masculinity in conflict with each other. While disability is associated with dependence, weakness, or helplessness, masculinity is associated with independence, strength, and power. Thus, disabled masculinity might be a dilemma experienced on a personal level. The relationship between masculinity and disability is also interesting from a geographical point of view because the conception of space is gendered. In our society, the skills like spatial orientation, working with the maps, and navigation technologies as same as with scale are associated with masculinity. And because these skills are related to the visual imagination, it is the blindness that is associated with the limitation or even the absence of them. Thus, the conflict of masculinity and disability in the spatial experience is very well apparent in the case of visually impaired men. To study this conflict can tell us a lot not only about the experience of visually impaired men but also about the conception of space in geography and in our society. The paper uses Henri Lefebvre's theory of space based on a triad of spatial practice, representations of space, and representational space. It answers the question: How masculinity and disability intersect in the spatial experience of visually impaired men? The data come from research conducted in Brno and Prague (Czechia) in 2020 and 2021 and include 7 interviews and 6 go-alongs with visually impaired men.

Keywords: disability, masculinity, abstract space, spatial experience, visually impaired men

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Authors: Ahmed Khalil

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The discoveries in material sciences create an impulse in renewable energy transmission. Application techniques become more accessible by applied sciences. Variety of materials, application methods, and performance analyzing techniques can convert daily life functions to energy sources. These functions not only include natural sources like sun, wind, or water but also comprise the motion of tools used by human beings. In line with this, vehicles' motion, speed and weights come to the scene as energy sources together with piezoelectric nano-generators beneath the roads. Numerous application examples are put forward with repeated average performance, versus the differentiating challenges depending on geography and project conditions. Such holistic approach provides way for feed backs on research and improvement process of nano-generators beneath asphalt roads. This paper introduces the specific application methods of piezoelectric nano-generator beneath asphalt roads of Ahmadi Township in Kuwait.

Keywords: nano-generator pavements, piezoelectric, renewable energy, transducer

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Authors: Jacqueline P. Davies

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Introduction: Student nurses must develop skills in observation, communication and reflection as well as public health knowledge from their first year of training. This paper will explain a method developed for students to collect their own findings about public health in urban areas. These areas are both rich in the history of old public health that informs the content of many traditional public health walks, but are also locations where new public health concerns about chronic disease are concentrated. The learning method explained in this paper enables students to collect their own data and write original work as first year students. Examples of their findings will be given. Methodology: In small groups, health care students are instructed to walk in neighbourhoods near to the hospitals they will soon attend as apprentice nurses. On their walks, they wander slowly, engage in conversations, and enter places open to the public. As they drift, they observe with all five senses in the real three dimensional world to collect data for their reflective accounts of old and new public health. They are encouraged to stop for refreshments and taste, as well as look, hear, smell, and touch while on their walk. They reflect as a group and later develop an individual reflective account in which they write up their deep reflections about what they observed on their walk. In preparation for their walk, they are encouraged to look at studies of quality of Life and other neighbourhood statistics as well as undertaking a risk assessment for their walk. Findings: Reflecting on their walks, students apply theoretical concepts around social determinants of health and health inequalities to develop their understanding of communities in the neighbourhoods visited. They write about the treasured historical architecture made of stone, bronze and marble which have outlived those who built them; but also how the streets are used now. The students develop their observations into thematic analyses such as: what we drink as illustrated by the empty coke can tossed into a now disused drinking fountain; the shift in home-life balance illustrated by streets where families once lived over the shop which are now walked by commuters weaving around each other as they talk on their mobile phones; and security on the street, with CCTV cameras placed at regular intervals, signs warning trespasses and barbed wire; but little evidence of local people watching the street. Conclusion: In evaluations of their first year, students have reported the health walk as one of their best experiences. The innovative approach was commended by the UK governing body of nurse education and it received a quality award from the nurse education funding body. This approach to education allows students to develop skills in the real world and write original work.

Keywords: education, innovation, nursing, urban

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Authors: Zanele Ntshidi, Sebinasi Dzikiti, Dominic Mazvimavi

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South Africa is a dry country and yet it is ranked as the 8th largest exporter of fresh apples (Malus Domestica) globally. Prime apple producing regions are in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of the country where all the fruit is grown under irrigation. Climate change models predict increasingly drier future conditions in these regions and the frequency and severity of droughts is expected to increase. For the sustainability and growth of the fruit industry it is important to minimize non-beneficial water losses from the orchard floor. The aims of this study were firstly to compare the water use of cover crop species used in South African orchards for which there is currently no information. The second aim was to investigate how orchard water use (evapotranspiration) was partitioned into beneficial (tree transpiration) and non-beneficial (orchard floor evaporation) water uses for micro-sprinkler irrigated orchards with different canopy covers. This information is important in order to explore opportunities to minimize non-beneficial water losses. Six cover crop species (four exotic and two indigenous) were grown in 2 L pots in a greenhouse. Cover crop transpiration was measured using the gravimetric method on clear days. To establish how water use was partitioned in orchards, evapotranspiration (ET) was measured using an open path eddy covariance system, while tree transpiration was measured hourly throughout the season (October to June) on six trees per orchard using the heat ratio sap flow method. On selected clear days, soil evaporation was measured hourly from sunrise to sunset using six micro-lysimeters situated at different wet/dry and sun/shade positions on the orchard floor. Transpiration of cover crops was measured using miniature (2 mm Ø) stem heat balance sap flow gauges. The greenhouse study showed that exotic cover crops had significantly higher (p < 0.01) average transpiration rates (~3.7 L/m2/d) than the indigenous species (~ 2.2 L/m²/d). In young non-bearing orchards, orchard floor evaporative fluxes accounted for more than 60% of orchard ET while this ranged from 10 to 30% in mature orchards with a high canopy cover. While exotic cover crops are preferred by most farmers, this study shows that they use larger quantities of water than indigenous species. This in turn contributes to a larger orchard floor evaporation flux. In young orchards non-beneficial losses can be minimized by adopting drip or short range micro-sprinkler methods that reduce the wetted soil fraction thereby conserving water.

Keywords: evapotranspiration, sap flow, soil evaporation, transpiration

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Obesity, a disease associated with a low-grade inflammation, is a risk factor for the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS). So far, MetS risk factors such as parameters related to glucose and lipid metabolisms as well as blood pressure were considered for the evaluation of this disease. There are still some ambiguities related to the characteristic features of MetS observed particularly in pediatric population. Hormonal imbalance is also important, and quite a lot information exists about the behaviour of some hormones in adults. However, the hormonal profiles in pediatric metabolism have not been cleared yet. The aim of this study is to investigate the profiles of cortisol, insulin, and thyroid hormones in children with MetS. The study population was composed of morbid obese (MO) children without (Group 1) and with (Group 2) MetS components. WHO BMI-for age and sex percentiles were used for the classification of obesity. The values above 99 percentile were defined as morbid obesity. Components of MetS (central obesity, glucose intolerance, high blood pressure, high triacylglycerol levels, low levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol) were determined. Anthropometric measurements were performed. Ratios as well as obesity indices were calculated. Insulin, cortisol, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free T₃ and free T₄ analyses were performed by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Data were evaluated by statistical package for social sciences program. p<0.05 was accepted as the degree for statistical significance. The mean ages±SD values of Group 1 and Group 2 were 9.9±3.1 years and 10.8±3.2 years, respectively. Body mass index (BMI) values were calculated as 27.4±5.9 kg/m² and 30.6±8.1 kg/m², successively. There were no statistically significant differences between the ages and BMI values of the groups. Insulin levels were statistically significantly increased in MetS in comparison with the levels measured in MO children. There was not any difference between MO children and those with MetS in terms of cortisol, T₃, T₄ and TSH. However, T₄ levels were positively correlated with cortisol and negatively correlated with insulin. None of these correlations were observed in MO children. Cortisol levels in both MO as well as MetS group were significantly correlated. Cortisol, insulin, and thyroid hormones are essential for life. Cortisol, called the control system for hormones, orchestrates the performance of other key hormones. It seems to establish a connection between hormone imbalance and inflammation. During an inflammatory state, more cortisol is produced to fight inflammation. High cortisol levels prevent the conversion of the inactive form of the thyroid hormone T₄ into active form T₃. Insulin is reduced due to low thyroid hormone. T₃, which is essential for blood sugar control- requires cortisol levels within the normal range. Positive association of T₄ with cortisol and negative association of it with insulin are the indicators of such a delicate balance among these hormones also in children with MetS.

Keywords: children, cortisol, insulin, metabolic syndrome, thyroid hormones

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