Search results for: green residential building

Authors: Krzysztof J. Czarnocki, F. Silveira, E. Czarnocka, K. Szaniawska

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Research background: Problems related to the occupational health and decreasing level of safety occur commonly in the construction industry. Important factor in the occupational safety in construction industry is scaffold use. All scaffolds used in construction, renovation, and demolition shall be erected, dismantled and maintained in accordance with safety procedure. Increasing demand for new construction projects unfortunately still is linked to high level of occupational accidents. Therefore, it is crucial to implement concrete actions while dealing with scaffolds and risk assessment in construction industry, the way on doing assessment and liability of assessment is critical for both construction workers and regulatory framework. Unfortunately, professionals, who tend to rely heavily on their own experience and knowledge when taking decisions regarding risk assessment, may show lack of reliability in checking the results of decisions taken. Purpose of the article: The aim was to indicate crucial parameters that could be modeling with Risk Assessment Model (RAM) use for improving both building enterprise productivity and/or developing potential and safety climate. The developed RAM could be a benefit for predicting high-risk construction activities and thus preventing accidents occurred based on a set of historical accident data. Methodology/Methods: A RAM has been developed for assessing risk levels as various construction process stages with various work trades impacting different spheres of enterprise activity. This project includes research carried out by teams of researchers on over 60 construction sites in Poland and Portugal, under which over 450 individual research cycles were carried out. The conducted research trials included variable conditions of employee exposure to harmful physical and chemical factors, variable levels of stress of employees and differences in behaviors and habits of staff. Genetic modeling tool has been used for developing the RAM. Findings and value added: Common types of trades, accidents, and accident causes have been explored, in addition to suitable risk assessment methods and criteria. We have found that the initial worker stress level is more direct predictor for developing the unsafe chain leading to the accident rather than the workload, or concentration of harmful factors at the workplace or even training frequency and management involvement.

Keywords: safety climate, occupational health, civil engineering, productivity

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Authors: Maximilian Elsen, Frank Tietze

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The development and diffusion of green technologies are crucial for achieving our ambitious climate targets. The Paris Agreement commits its members to develop strategies for achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the second half of the century. Governments, executives, and academics are working on net-zero strategies and the business of rating organisations on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance has grown tremendously in its public interest. ESG data is now commonly integrated into traditional investment analysis and an important factor in investment decisions. Creating these metrics, however, is inherently challenging as environmental and social impacts are hard to measure and uniform requirements on ESG reporting are lacking. ESG metrics are often incomplete and inconsistent as they lack fully accepted reporting standards and are often of qualitative nature. This study explores the use of patent data for assessing the environmental performance of companies by focusing on their patented inventions in the space of climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies (CCMAT). The present study builds on the successful identification of CCMAT patents. In this context, the study adopts the Y02 patent classification, a fully cross-sectional tagging scheme that is fully incorporated in the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), to identify Climate Change Adaptation Technologies. The Y02 classification was jointly developed by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and provides means to examine technologies in the field of mitigation and adaptation to climate change across relevant technologies. This paper develops sustainability-related metrics for firm-level patent portfolios. We do so by adopting a three-step approach. First, we identify relevant CCMAT patents based on their classification as Y02 CPC patents. Second, we examine the technological strength of the identified CCMAT patents by including more traditional metrics from the field of patent analytics while considering their relevance in the space of CCMAT. Such metrics include, among others, the number of forward citations a patent receives, as well as the backward citations and the size of the focal patent family. Third, we conduct our analysis on a firm level by sector for a sample of companies from different industries and compare the derived sustainability performance metrics with the firms’ environmental and financial performance based on carbon emissions and revenue data. The main outcome of this research is the development of sustainability-related metrics for firm-level environmental performance based on patent data. This research has the potential to complement existing ESG metrics from an innovation perspective by focusing on the environmental performance of companies and putting them into perspective to conventional financial performance metrics. We further provide insights into the environmental performance of companies on a sector level. This study has implications of both academic and practical nature. Academically, it contributes to the research on eco-innovation and the literature on innovation and intellectual property (IP). Practically, the study has implications for policymakers by deriving meaningful insights into the environmental performance from an innovation and IP perspective. Such metrics are further relevant for investors and potentially complement existing ESG data.

Keywords: climate change mitigation, innovation, patent portfolios, sustainability

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Authors: Rakesh Tiwary, D. M. Diwakar, Sandhya Mahapatro

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Agro-forestry offers huge opportunities for diversification of agriculture in middle Gangetic Basin of India, particularly in the state of Bihar as the region is identified with traditional & stagnant agriculture, low productivity, high population pressure, rural poverty and lack of agro- industrial development. The region is endowed with favourable agro-climatic, soil & drainage conditions; interestingly, there has been an age old tradition of agro-forestry in the state. However, due to demographic pressures, declining land holdings and other socio- economic factors, agro forestry practices have declined in recent decades. The government of Bihar has initiated a special program for expansion of agro-forestry based on modern practices with an aim to raise income level of farmers, make available raw material for wood based industries and increase green cover in the state. The Agro-forestry Schemes – Poplar & Other Species are the key components of the program being implemented by Department of Environment & Forest, Govt. of Bihar. The paper is based on fieldwork based evaluation study on experiences of implementation of the agro-forestry schemes. Understanding adoption patterns, identification of key motives for practising agro-forestry, experiences of farmers well analysing the barriers in expansion constituted the major themes of the research study. This paper is based on primary as well as secondary data. The primary data consists of beneficiary household survey, Focus Group Discussions among beneficiary communities, dialogue and multi stakeholder meetings and field visit to the sites. The secondary data information was collected and analysed from official records, policy documents and reports. Primary data was collected from about 500 beneficiary households of Muzaffarpur & Saharsa- two populous, large and agriculture dominated districts of middle Gangetic basin of North Bihar. Survey also covers 100 households of non-beneficiaries. Probability Proportionate to Size method was used to determine the number of samples to be covered in different blocks of two districts. Qualitative tools were also implemented to have better insights about key research questions. Present paper discusses socio-economic background of farmers practising agro-forestry; the adoption patterns of agro- forestry (choice of plants, methods of plantation and others); and motivation behind adoption of agro-forestry and the comparative benefits of agro-forestry (vis-a-vis traditional agriculture). Experience of beneficiary farmers with agro-forestry based on government programs & promotional campaigns (in terms of awareness, ease of access, knowhow and others) have been covered in the paper. Different aspects of survival of plants have been closely examined. Non beneficiaries but potential adopters were also interviewed to understand barriers of adoption of agro- forestry. Paper provides policy recommendations and interventions required for effective expansion of the agro- forestry and realisation of its future prospects for agricultural diversification in the region.

Keywords: agro-forestry adoption patterns, farmers’ motivations & experiences, Indian middle Gangetic plains, strategies for expansion

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Authors: Qian Wang, Haibo Gu

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To drive practical interpretations and applications of various policies in building the transnational education joint-ventures, middle managers learn to navigate through uncertainties and ambiguities. However, the current literature views very little about those middle managers’ experiences, perceptions, and practices. This paper takes the empirical approach and aims to uncover the middle managers’ experiences by conducting interviews, campus visits, and document analysis. Following the qualitative research method approach, the researchers gathered information from a mixture of fourteen foreign and Chinese managers. Their perceptions of the China-foreign cooperation in higher education and their perceived roles have offered important, valuable insights to this group of people’s attitudes and management performances. The diverse cultural and demographic backgrounds contributed to the significance of the study. There are four key findings. One, middle managers’ immediate micro-contexts and individual attitudes are the top two influential factors in managers’ performances. Two, the foreign middle managers showed a stronger sense of self-identity in risk-taking. Three, the Chinese middle managers preferred to see difficulties as part of their assigned responsibilities. Four, middle managers in independent universities demonstrated a stronger sense of belonging and fewer frustrations than middle managers in secondary institutes. The researchers propose that training for managers in a transnational educational setting should consider these discoveries when select fitting topics and content. In particular, middle managers should be better prepared to anticipate their everyday jobs in the micro-environment; hence, information concerning sponsor organizations’ working culture is as essential as knowing the national and local regulations, and socio-culture. Different case studies can help the managers to recognize and celebrate the diversity in transnational education. Situational stories can help them to become aware of the diverse and wide range of work contexts so that they will not feel to be left alone when facing challenges without relevant previous experience or training. Though this research is a case study based in the Chinese transnational higher education setting, the implications could be relevant and comparable to other transnational higher education situations and help to continue expanding the potential applications in this field.

Keywords: educational management, middle manager performance, transnational higher education

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Authors: Piumi L. Denagamage, Vibusha Madanayake

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At the end of a 30-year civil war in Sri Lanka in 2009, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) played a prominent role in post-war development and peacebuilding. Women were a major “beneficiary” of NGO activities on socio-economic empowerment, capacity building for advocacy, and grassroots participation in activism. Undoubtedly, their contribution to Sri Lanka’s post-war transition is tremendous. As development practitioners and researchers who have worked closely with several international and national NGOs in Sri Lanka’s post-war setting, the authors, while practicing self-reflexivity, intend to theorize the grey literature prepared by NGOs against the theoretical frameworks of Transnational and Third World feminisms. Using examples of the grassroots activities conducted by the NGOs with war-affected women, the paper questions whether Colombo-based feminism represents the lived realities of grassroots women at the transnational level. It argues that Colombo-based feminists use their power and exposure to Western feminist approaches to portray diverse forms of oppression women face at grassroots levels, their needs for advocacy, and different modes of resistance on the ground. Many NGOs depend on international donor funding for their grassroots work, which also contributes to their utilization of Western-led knowledge. Despite their efforts to “save marginalized women from oppression,” these modes of intervention are often rejected by the public, including women at local levels. This has also resulted in the rejection of feminism entirely as a culturally root-less alien Western ideology. The analysis connects with the Transnational and Third World theoretical feminist perspectives to problematize the power relations between Western knowledge systems and the lived experiences of grassroots women in the peacebuilding process through NGO activism in Sri Lanka. It also emphasizes that the infiltration of Western knowledge through NGOs has led to the participation of grassroots women only through adjustments of their lived experiences to match the alien knowledge rather than theorizing based on their own lived realities. While sharing a concern that NGOs’ power to adopt Western knowledge systems is often unchecked and unmitigated, the paper signifies the importance of adopting the methods of alternative theorizing to ensure meaningful participation of Third World women in peacebuilding.

Keywords: alternative theorizing, colombo-based feminism, grassroots women in peacebuilding, NGO activism, transnational and third world feminisms

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Authors: Adhithy Menon E., Biju C. A.

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Heritage monuments were first introduced to the public in the 1960s when the concept of preserving them was introduced. As a result of the 1990s, the concept of cultural landscapes gained importance, emphasizing the importance of culture and heritage in the context of the landscape. It is important to note that this paper is primarily concerned with the second category of ecological landscapes, which is organically evolving landscapes, as they represent a complex network of tangible, intangible, and environment, and the connections they share with the communities in which they are situated. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has identified 39 cultural sites as being in danger, including the Iranian city of Bam and the historic city of Zabid in Yemen. To ensure its protection in the future, it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of the factors contributing to this degradation. An analysis of selected cultural landscapes from around the world is conducted to determine which parameters cause their degradation. The paper follows the objectives of understanding cultural landscapes and their importance for development, followed by examining various criteria for identifying cultural landscapes, their various classifications, as well as agencies that focus on their protection. To identify and analyze the parameters contributing to the deterioration of cultural landscapes based on literature and case studies (cultural landscape of Sintra, Rio de Janeiro, and Varanasi). As a final step, strategies should be developed to enhance deteriorating cultural landscapes based on these parameters. The major findings of the study are the impact of community in the parameters derived - integrity (natural factors, natural disasters, demolition of structures, deterioration of materials), authenticity (living elements, sense of place, building techniques, religious context, artistic expression) public participation (revenue, dependence on locale), awareness (demolition of structures, resource management) disaster management, environmental impact, maintenance of cultural landscape (linkages with other sites, dependence on locale, revenue, resource management). The parameters of authenticity, public participation, awareness, and maintenance of the cultural landscape are directly related to the community in which the cultural landscape is located. Therefore, by focusing on the community and addressing the parameters identified, the deterioration curve of cultural landscapes can be altered.

Keywords: community, cultural landscapes, heritage, organically evolved, public participation

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Authors: Jung Lee

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This study identifies how the cultivation capabilities of social capital influence the overall attitudes of social media users and how these influences differ across user groups. First, the cultivation capabilities of social capital are identified from three aspects, namely, social capital accessibility, potentiality and sensitivity. These three types of social capital acquisition capabilities collectively represent how the social media users perceive the social media environment in terms of possibilities for social capital creation. These three capabilities are hypothesized to influence social media satisfaction and continuing use intention. Next, two essential activities in social media are identified, namely, posting and replying, to categorise social media users based on behavioral patterns. Various social media activities consist of the combinations of these two basic activities. Posting represents the broadcasting aspect of social media, whereas replying represents the communicative aspect of social media. We categorize users into four from communicators to observers by using these two behaviors to develop usage pattern matrix. By applying the usage pattern matrix to the capability model, we argue that posting behavior generally has a positive moderating effect on the attitudes of social media users, whereas replying behavior occasionally exhibits the negative moderating effect. These different moderating effects of posting and replying behavior are explained based on the different levels of social capital sensitivity and expectation of individuals. When a person is highly expecting social capital from social media, he or she would post actively. However, when one is highly sensitive to social capital, he or she would actively respond and reply to postings of other people because such an act would create a longer and more interactive relationship. A total of 512 social media users are invited to answer the survey. They were asked about their attitudes toward the social media and how they expect social capital through this practice. They were asked to check their general social media usage pattern for user categorization. Result confirmed that most of the hypotheses were supported. Three types of social capital cultivation capabilities are significant determinants of social media attitudes, and two social media activities (i.e., posting and replying) exhibited different moderating effects on attitudes. This study provides following discussions. First, three types of social capital cultivation capabilities were identified. Despite the numerous concerns about social media, such as whether it is a decent and real environment that produces social capital, this study confirms that people explicitly expect and experience social capital values from social media. Second, posting and replying activities are two building blocks of social media activities. These two activities are useful in explaining different the attitudes of social media users and predict future usage.

Keywords: social media, social capital, social media satisfaction, social media use intention

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Authors: Afees Adebayo Salam

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This paper attempts an in-depth analysis of the economic impact of Ogbomoso migrant community in the Jos metropolis. It discusses the factors that motivated a sizeable number of Ogbomoso people (from southwestern Nigeria) to leave their hometown for a new place/space in Jos (northern Nigeria). It examines the historical antecedent of Ogbomoso migrants in northern Nigeria with emphasis on Jos metropolis. The movement of Ogbomoso migrants to Jos was dictated by the economic and social challenges of colonial and post-colonial periods. The political crisis of the 1960s was a contributory factor to the process of Ogbomoso migration to other parts of Nigeria. In the aftermath, many people migrated from Ogbomoso to different parts of the country and beyond to seek for better economic opportunities. The establishment of Ogbomoso migrant community in Jos was dated back to the colonial era when taxation was introduced by the British. Many people could not pay these taxes from their peasant farming activities, while some embarked on migration to places such as Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Keffi and Bauchi due to the harsh economic situation at home. Their settlement in Jos brought about success in several spheres of human endeavours. Ogbomoso migrants dominated both paid jobs and private business sector such as textile merchants, food stuff sellers, herbalists, printers, transporters, and religious missionaries, as well as clerical officers in the government establishments. Their remittances were invested in different sectors of Ogbomoso economy. The migrants had in one way or the other contributed to the socio-economic development of their host community in Jos as entrepreneurs. Branches of such industries were located in their hometown of Ogbomoso as a clear demonstration of community development. The remittance pattern of the migrants has transformed Ogbomoso to enviable position. Moreover, the economic success of Ogbomoso migrants over the period under review indicates the process of nation building due to peaceful nature of inter-ethnic engagements between Ogbomoso migrants and their host community in Jos. Therefore, the paper makes use of oral, archival and secondary sources to analyse the processes of migration and its economic impact. Oral interviews were conducted in Ogbomoso town with veteran migrants and their family members. Interviews were also conducted in Jos with the indigenous host community as well as other urban residents. Archival materials were obtained from Arewa House Archives and the National Archives, Kaduna and the National Archives, Ibadan.

Keywords: Ogbomoso migrants, Jos metropolis, community development, economic impact

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Authors: Yeo Kyeong Lee, Hae Won Min, Ji Yeon Kang, Hee Sun Kim, Yeong Soo Shin

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Fire incidents have been steadily increased over the last year according to national emergency management agency of South Korea. Even though most of the fire incidents with property damage have been occurred in building, rehabilitation has not been properly done with consideration of structure safety. Therefore, this study aims at evaluating rehabilitation effects on fire damaged normal strength concrete beams through experiments and finite element analyses. For the experiments, reinforced concrete beams were fabricated having designed concrete strength of 21 MPa. Two different cover thicknesses were used as 40 mm and 50 mm. After cured, the fabricated beams were heated for 1hour or 2hours according to ISO-834 standard time-temperature curve. Rehabilitation was done by removing the damaged part of cover thickness and filling polymeric mortar into the removed part. Both fire damaged beams and rehabilitated beams were tested with four point loading system to observe structural behaviors and the rehabilitation effect. To verify the experiment, finite element (FE) models for structural analysis were generated using commercial software ABAQUS 6.10-3. For the rehabilitated beam models, integrated temperature-structural analyses were performed in advance to obtain geometries of the fire damaged beams. In addition to the fire damaged beam models, rehabilitated part was added with material properties of polymeric mortar. Three dimensional continuum brick elements were used for both temperature and structural analyses. The same loading and boundary conditions as experiments were implemented to the rehabilitated beam models and non-linear geometrical analyses were performed. Test results showed that maximum loads of the rehabilitated beams were 8~10% higher than those of the non-rehabilitated beams and even 1~6 % higher than those of the non-fire damaged beam. Stiffness of the rehabilitated beams were also larger than that of non-rehabilitated beams but smaller than that of the non-fire damaged beams. In addition, predicted structural behaviors from the analyses also showed good rehabilitation effect and the predicted load-deflection curves were similar to the experimental results. From this study, both experiments and analytical results demonstrated good rehabilitation effect on the fire damaged normal strength concrete beams. For the further, the proposed analytical method can be used to predict structural behaviors of rehabilitated and fire damaged concrete beams accurately without suffering from time and cost consuming experimental process.

Keywords: fire, normal strength concrete, rehabilitation, reinforced concrete beam

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Authors: Zeta Dooly, Aidan Duane

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The collaborative European funded research and development landscape provides prime environmental conditions for multi-disciplinary teams to learn and enhance their knowledge beyond the capability of training and learning within their own organisation cocoons. Whilst the emergence of the academic entrepreneur has changed the focus of educational institutions to that of quasi-businesses, the training and professional development of lecturers and academic staff are often not formalised to the same level as industry. This research focuses on industry and academic collaborative research funded by the European Commission. The impact of research is scalable if an optimum research network is created and managed effectively. This paper investigates network embeddedness, the nature of relationships, links, and nodes within a research network, and the enhancement of the network’s knowledge. The contribution of this paper extends our understanding of establishing and maintaining effective collaborative research networks. The effects of network embeddedness are recognized in the literature as pertinent to innovation and the economy. Network theory literature claims that networks are essential to innovative clusters such as Silicon valley and innovation in high tech industries. This research provides evidence to support the impact collaborative research has on the disparate individuals toward their innovative contributions to their organisations and their own professional development. This study adopts a qualitative approach and uncovers some of the challenges of multi-disciplinary research through case study insights. The contribution of this paper recommends the establishment of scaffolding to accommodate cooperation in research networks, role appointment, and addressing contextual complexities early to avoid problem cultivation. Furthermore, it suggests recommendations in relation to network formation, intra-network challenges in relation to open data, competition, friendships, and competency enhancement. The network capability is enhanced by the adoption of the relevant theories; network theory, open innovation, and social exchange, with the understanding that the network structure has an impact on innovation and social exchange in research networks. The research concludes that there is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the impact of network reuse and network hoping that provides scaffolding for the network members to enhance and build upon their knowledge using a progressive approach.

Keywords: research networks, competency building, network theory, case study

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Authors: Fentie, Belay, Mulat

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In today’s high decrement figure of the global economy, nations are facing many economic, social and political challenges; universally, there is high distress of food and other survival insecurity. Further, as a result of conflict, natural disasters, and leadership influences, youths are existentially less empowered and unemployed, especially in developing countries. With this situation to handle well challenges, it’s important to search, investigate and deliberate about youth, unemployment, empowerment and possible management fashions, as youths have the potential to carry and fight such battles. The method adopted is a qualitative analysis of secondary data sources in youth empowerment, unemployment and development as an inclusive framework. Youth unemployment is a major development headache for most African countries. In Ethiopia, following weak youth empowerment, youth unemployment has increased from time to time, and quality education and organization linkage matter as an important constraint. As a management challenge, although accessibility of quality education for Ethiopian youths is an important constraint, the country's youths are fortified deceptively and harassed in a vicious political challenge in their struggle to fetch social and economic changes in the country. Further, thousands of youths are inactivated, criminalized and lost their lives and this makes youths hopeless anger in their lives and pushes them further to be exposed for addictions, prostitution, violence, and illegitimate migrations. This youth challenge wasn’t only destined for African countries; rather, indeed, it was a global burden and headed as a global agenda. As a resolution, the construction of a healthy education system can create independent youths who acquire success and accelerate development. Developing countries should ensue development in the cultivation of empowerment tools through long and short-term education, implementing policy in action, diminishing wide-ranging gaps of (religion, ethnicity & region), and take high youth population as an opportunity and empower them. Further managing and empowering youths to be involved in decision-making, giving political weight and building a network of organizations to easily access job opportunities are important suggestions to save youths in work, for both increasing their income and the country's food security balance.

Keywords: development, Ethiopia, management, unemployment, youth empowerment

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Authors: D. M. Samartsev, A. G. Copping

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As with all industries, architects are using increasing amounts of automation within practice, with approaches such as generative design and use of AI becoming more commonplace. However, the discourse on the rate at which the architectural design process is being automated is often personal and lacking in objective figures and measurements. This results in confusion between people and barriers to effective discourse on the subject, in turn limiting the ability of architects, policy makers, and members of the public in making informed decisions in the area of design automation. This paper proposes the use of a framework to quantify the progress of automation within the design process. The use of a reductionist analysis of the design process allows it to be quantified in a manner that enables direct comparison across different times, as well as locations and projects. The methodology is informed by the design of this framework – taking on the aspects of a systematic review but compressed in time to allow for an initial set of data to verify the validity of the framework. The use of such a framework of quantification enables various practical uses such as predicting the future of the architectural industry with regards to which tasks will be automated, as well as making more informed decisions on the subject of automation on multiple levels ranging from individual decisions to policy making from governing bodies such as the RIBA. This is achieved by analyzing the design process as a generic task that needs to be performed, then using principles of work breakdown systems to split the task of designing an entire building into smaller tasks, which can then be recursively split further as required. Each task is then assigned a series of milestones that allow for the objective analysis of its automation progress. By combining these two approaches it is possible to create a data structure that describes how much various parts of the architectural design process are automated. The data gathered in the paper serves the dual purposes of providing the framework with validation, as well as giving insights into the current situation of automation within the architectural design process. The framework can be interrogated in many ways and preliminary analysis shows that almost 40% of the architectural design process has been automated in some practical fashion at the time of writing, with the rate at which progress is made slowly increasing over the years, with the majority of tasks in the design process reaching a new milestone in automation in less than 6 years. Additionally, a further 15% of the design process is currently being automated in some way, with various products in development but not yet released to the industry. Lastly, various limitations of the framework are examined in this paper as well as further areas of study.

Keywords: analysis, architecture, automation, design process, technology

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Authors: Anderson Rocha-Buelvas, Jaqueline Mena Huertas, Edith Burbano Rosero, Arsenio Hidalgo Troya, Mauricio Casas Cruz

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COVID-19 is a disruptive pandemic for the public health and economic system of whole countries, including Colombia. Nariño Department is the southwest of the country and draws attention to being on the border with Ecuador, constantly facing demographic transition affecting infections between countries. In Nariño, the early routine diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, which can be handled at BSL-2, has affected the transmission dynamics of COVID-19. However, new emerging and re-emerging viruses with biological flexibility classified as a Risk Group 3 agent can take advantage of epidemiological opportunities, generating the need to increase clinical diagnosis, mainly in border regions between countries. The overall objective of this project was to assure the quality of the analytical process in the diagnosis of high biological risk pathogens in Nariño by building a laboratory that includes biosafety level (BSL)-2 and (BSL)-3 containment zones. The delimitation of zones was carried out according to the Verification Tool of the National Health Institute of Colombia and following the standard requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories of the International Organization for Standardization. This is achieved by harmonization of methods and equipment for effective and durable diagnostics of the large-scale spread of highly pathogenic microorganisms, employing negative-pressure containment systems and UV Systems in accordance with a finely controlled electrical system and PCR systems as new diagnostic tools. That increases laboratory capacity. Protection in BSL-3 zones will separate the handling of potentially infectious aerosols within the laboratory from the community and the environment. It will also allow the handling and inactivation of samples with suspected pathogens and the extraction of molecular material from them, allowing research with pathogens with high risks, such as SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, and syncytial virus, and malaria, among others. The diagnosis of these pathogens will be articulated across the spectrum of basic, applied, and translational research that could receive about 60 daily samples. It is expected that this project will be articulated with the health policies of neighboring countries to increase research capacity.

Keywords: medical laboratory science, SARS-CoV-2, public health surveillance, Colombia

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Authors: Siddharudha B. Patil

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Cotton is a premier commercial fibre crop of India subjected to ravages of insect pests. Sucking pests viz thrips, Thrips tabaci,(lind) leaf hopper Amrsca devastance,(dist) miridbug, Poppiocapsidea beseratense (Dist) and bollworms continue to inflict damage Bt Cotton right from seeding stage. Their infestation impact cotton yield to an extent of 30-40 percent. Chemical control is still adoptable as one of the techniques for combating these pests. Presently, growers have many challenges in selecting effective chemicals which fit in with an integrated pest management. Spinetoram has broad spectrum with excellent insecticidal activity against both sucking pests and bollworms. Hence, it is expected to make a great contribution to stable production and quality improvement of agricultural products. Spinetoram is a derivative of biologically active substances (Spinosyns) produced by soil actinomycetes, Saccharopolypara spinosa which is semi synthetic active ingredient representing Spinosyn chemical class of insecticide and has demonstrated higher level of efficacy with reduced risk on beneficial arthropods. The efforts were made in the present study to test the efficacy of Spinetoram against sucking pests and bollworms in comparison with other insecticides in Bt Cotton under field condition. Field experiment was laid out during 2013-14 and 2014-15 at Agricultural Research station Dharwad (Karnataka-India) in a randomized block design comprising eight treatments and three replications. Bt cotton genotype, Bunny BG-II was sown in a plot size of 5.4 m x5.4 m. Recommend agronomical practices were followed. The Spinetoram 12% SC alone and incombination with sulfaxaflore with varied dosages against pest complex was tested. Performance was compared with Spinosad 45% SC and thiamethoxam 25% WG. The results of consecutive seasons revealed that nonsignificant difference in thrips and leafhopper population and varied significantly after 3 days of imposition. Among the treatments, combiproduct, Spinetoram 10%WG + Sulfoxaflor 30% WG@ 140 gai/ha registered lowest population of thrips (3.91/3 leaves) and leaf hoppers (1.08/3 leaves) followed by its lower dosages viz 120 gai/ha (4.86/3 leaves and 1.14/3 leaves of thrips and leaf hoppers, respectively) and 100 gai/ha (6.02 and 1.23./3 leaves of thrips and leaf hoppers respectively) being at par, significantly superior to rest of the treatments. On the contrary, the population of thrips, leaf hopper and miridbugs in untreated control was on higher side. Similarly the higher dosage of Spinetoram 10% WG+ Sulfoxaflor 30% WG (140 gai/ha) proved its bioefficacy by registering lowest miridbug incidence of 1.70/25 squares, followed by its lower dosage (1.78 and 1.83/25 squares respectively) Further observation made on bollworms incidence revealed that the higher dosage of Spinetoram 10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG (140 gai/ha) registered lowest percentage of boll damage (7.22%), more number of good opened bolls (36.89/plant) and higher seed cotton yield (19.45q/ha) followed by rest of its lower dosages, Spinetoram 12% SC alone and Spinosad 45% SC being at par significantly superior to rest of the treatments. However, significantly higher boll damage (15.13%) and lower seed cotton yield (14.45 q/ha) was registered in untreated control. Thus Spinetoram10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG can be a promising option for pest management in Bt Cotton.

Keywords: Spinetoram10% WG+Sulfoxaflor 30% WG, sucking pests, bollworms, Bt cotton, management

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Authors: Wujian Han

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In the process of human interaction and communication, speech act verbs are considered to be the most active component and the main means for information transmission, and are also taken as an indication of the structure of linguistic behavior. The theoretical value and practical significance of such everyday built-in metalanguage have long been recognized. This paper, which is part of a bigger study, is aimed to provide useful insights for a more precise and systematic application to speech act verbs translation between English and Chinese, especially with regard to the degree to which generic integrity is maintained in the practice of translation of legal documents. In this study, the corpus, i.e. Chinese legal texts and their English translations, English legal texts, ordinary Chinese texts, and ordinary English texts, serve as a testing ground for examining contrastively the usage of English and Chinese directive speech act verbs in legal genre. The scope of this paper is relatively wide and essentially covers all directive speech act verbs which are used in ordinary English and Chinese, such as order, command, request, prohibit, threat, advice, warn and permit. The researcher, by combining the corpus methodology with a contrastive perspective, explored a range of characteristics of English and Chinese directive speech act verbs including their semantic, syntactic and pragmatic features, and then contrasted them in a structured way. It has been found that there are similarities between English and Chinese directive speech act verbs in legal genre, such as similar semantic components between English speech act verbs and their translation equivalents in Chinese, formal and accurate usage of English and Chinese directive speech act verbs in legal contexts. But notable differences have been identified in areas of difference between their usage in the original Chinese and English legal texts such as valency patterns and frequency of occurrences. For example, the subjects of some directive speech act verbs are very frequently omitted in Chinese legal texts, but this is not the case in English legal texts. One of the practicable methods to achieve adequacy and conciseness in speech act verb translation from Chinese into English in legal genre is to repeat the subjects or the message with discrepancy, and vice versa. In addition, translation effects such as overuse and underuse of certain directive speech act verbs are also found in the translated English texts compared to the original English texts. Legal texts constitute a particularly valuable material for speech act verb study. Building up such a contrastive picture of the Chinese and English speech act verbs in legal language would yield results of value and interest to legal translators and students of language for legal purposes and have practical application to legal translation between English and Chinese.

Keywords: contrastive analysis, corpus-based, directive speech act verbs, legal texts, translation between English and Chinese

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Authors: A. Yousuf, M. Iqbal, A. Mir, S. Aziz

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This study deals with the women’s right to land for gender equality. Economic Transformation Initiative, Gilgit-Baltistan (ETI-GB), an ambitious program supported by International Fund for Agricultural Development United Nation (IFAD, UN), aims to strengthen land reforms process in disputed area of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Pakistan, that is taking place first time in the history. This project is a brick to build the foundation of land reforms and land policies in GB. The ETI-GB provides substantive support to government of GB in developing policy measures and initiatives to promote women’s right to have and to own land is kind of unconventional step in a very traditional society. It would be interesting to have discussion and document the people’s response regarding this project. The study has used mixed method for data collection. For qualitative data, content analysis is used to have a thorough understanding of different types of land reforms across the globe particularly in South Asia. Theoretical understanding of the literature is essential which provides the basis why land reforms are important and how far it plays an important role when it comes to eliminating inequality. Focused group discussion was carried out for verification and triangulation of data. For quantitative, survey was conducted to take responses from the people of the region and analyzed. The program is implemented in Ghizer district of GB. 2340 households were identified as beneficiaries of newly developed land. Among them, 2285 were men households, and 55 were women households. There is a significant difference between men and women households. In spite of great difference, it is a great achievement of the donor that in history of GB, first time women are going to be entitled to land ownership. GB is a patriarchal society, many social factors like cultural, religious play role for gender inequality. In developing countries, such as Pakistan, the awareness of land property rights has not been given proper attention to gender equality development frameworks. It is argued that land property rights of women have not been taken into mainstream policymaking in the development of nation building process. Consequently, this has generated deprivation of women’s property rights, low income level, lack of education and poor health. This paper emphasises that there should have proper land property right of women in Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan, provided that the gender empowerment could be increased in terms of women’s property rights.

Keywords: gender equality, women right to land ownership, property rights, women empowerment

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Authors: Kimberly Samaha

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The Bio-Hub Ecosystem model was developed to address a critical area of concern within the global energy market regarding biomass as a feedstock for power plants. Yet the lack of an economically-viable business model for bioenergy facilities has resulted in the continuation of idled and decommissioned plants. This study analyzed data and submittals to the Born Global Maine Innovation Challenge. The Innovation Challenge was a global innovation challenge to identify process innovations that could address a ‘whole-tree’ approach of maximizing the products, byproducts, energy value and process slip-streams into a circular zero-waste design. Participating companies were at various stages of developing bioproducts and included biofuels, lignin-based products, carbon capture platforms and biochar used as both a filtration medium and as a soil amendment product. This case study shows the QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) methodology of the prequalification process and the resulting techno-economic model that was developed for the maximizing profitability of the Bio-Hub Ecosystem through continuous expansion of system waste streams into valuable process inputs for co-hosts. A full site plan for the integration of co-hosts (biorefinery, land-based shrimp and salmon aquaculture farms, a tomato green-house and a hops farm) at an operating forestry-based biomass to energy plant in West Enfield, Maine USA. This model and process for evaluating the profitability not only proposes models for integration of forestry, aquaculture and agriculture in cradle-to-cradle linkages of what have typically been linear systems, but the proposal also allows for the early measurement of the circularity and impact of resource use and investment risk mitigation, for these systems. In this particular study, profitability is assessed at two levels CAPEX (Capital Expenditures) and in OPEX (Operating Expenditures). Given that these projects start with repurposing facilities where the industrial level infrastructure is already built, permitted and interconnected to the grid, the addition of co-hosts first realizes a dramatic reduction in permitting, development times and costs. In addition, using the biomass energy plant’s waste streams such as heat, hot water, CO₂ and fly ash as valuable inputs to their operations and a significant decrease in the OPEX costs, increasing overall profitability to each of the co-hosts bottom line. This case study utilizes a proprietary techno-economic model to demonstrate how utilizing waste streams of a biomass energy plant and/or biorefinery, results in significant reduction in OPEX for both the biomass plants and the agriculture and aquaculture co-hosts. Economically viable Bio-Hubs with favorable environmental and community impacts may prove critical in garnering local and federal government support for pilot programs and more wide-scale adoption, especially for those living in severely economically depressed rural areas where aging industrial sites have been shuttered and local economies devastated.

Keywords: bio-economy, biomass energy, financing, zero-waste

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Authors: Alejandra Castillo-Arias, Santiago Amézquita-Murcia, Golber Carvajal-Lavi, Carlos M. Zuluaga-Domínguez

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The intricate relationship between health and nutrition has driven the food industry to seek healthier and more sustainable alternatives. A key strategy currently employed is the reduction of saturated fats and the incorporation of ingredients that align with new consumer trends. Modified starch, a polysaccharide widely used in baking, also serves as a functional ingredient to boost dietary fiber content. However, its use in puff pastry remains challenging due to the technological difficulties in achieving a buttery pastry with the necessary strength to create thin, flaky layers. This study explored the potential of incorporating modified starch into puff pastry formulations. To evaluate the physicochemical properties of wheat flour mixed with modified starch, five different flour samples were prepared: T1, T2, T3, and T4, containing 10g, 20g, 30g, and 40g of modified starch per 100 g mixture, respectively, alongside a control sample (C) with no added starch. The analysis focused on various physicochemical indices, including the Water Absorption Index (WAI), Water Solubility Index (WSI), Swelling Power (SP), and Water Retention Capacity (WRC). The puff pastry was further characterized by color measurement and sensory analysis. For the preparation of the puff pastry dough, the flour, modified starch, and salt were mixed, followed by the addition of water until a homogenous dough was achieved. The margarine was later incorporated into the dough, which was folded and rolled multiple times to create the characteristic layers of puff pastry. The dough was then cut into equal pieces, baked at 170°C, and allowed to cool. The results indicated that the addition of modified starch did not significantly alter the specific volume or texture of the puff pastries, as reflected by the stable WAI and SP values across the samples. However, the WRC increased with higher starch content, highlighting the hydrophilic nature of the modified starch, which necessitated additional water during dough preparation. Color analysis revealed significant variations in the L* (lightness) and a* (red-green) parameters, with no consistent relationship between the modified starch treatments and the control. However, the b* (yellow-blue) parameter showed a strong correlation across most samples, except for treatment T3. Thus, modified starch affected the a* component of the CIELAB color spectrum, influencing the reddish hue of the puff pastries. Variations in baking time due to increased water content in the dough likely contributed to differences in lightness among the samples. Sensory analysis revealed that consumers preferred the sample with a 20% starch substitution (T2), which was rated similarly to the control in terms of texture. However, treatment T3 exhibited unusual behavior in texture analysis, and the color analysis showed that treatment T1 most closely resembled the control, indicating that starch addition is most noticeable to consumers in the visual aspect of the product. In conclusion, while the modified starch successfully maintained the desired texture and internal structure of puff pastry, its impact on water retention and color requires careful consideration in product formulation. This study underscores the importance of balancing product quality with consumer expectations when incorporating modified starches in baked goods.

Keywords: consumer preferences, modified starch, physicochemical properties, puff pastry

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Authors: Dawa Wangmo

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The anti-religious campaigns of the Soviet Union in the 1930s eradicated Kalmyk Buddhism from the public sphere. Following Perestroika, the Kalmyks retained a sense of being essentially Buddhist people. Nevertheless, since the collapse of the Soviet Communist regime, Kalmykia has been going through vigorous ethnic and cultural revitalization. The new Kalmyk government is reviving the religion with the building of Buddhist temples and the attempted training of Kalymk monks. Kalmykia, officially an autonomous republic within the Federation of Russia, is situated in the European part of Russia in the steppe region bordering the Caspian Sea in its southeast. According to the 2010 census, the Kalmyks, a people of Mongolian origin, constitute over 57 percent of the Republic’s population of less than 290000. Russians living in Kalmykia comprise around 30 percent, the remainder being various Slavic and Asian groups. Since the Kalmyks historically adhere to Buddhism, Kalmykia is often described in tourist brochures and proudly by the Kalmyks themselves as one of the three “traditional Buddhist republics” of Russia and “the only Buddhist region” in Europe. According to traditional Kalmyk Gelug Buddhism, monasticism is the central aspect; hence monastic Tibetans from India have been invited to the Republic to help revive Buddhism and their Buddhist identity in Russia as a whole. However, for the young post-soviets, the monastic way of life is proving too alien, and the subsequent labeling by these monks of ‘surviving’ Kalmyk Buddhist practices as superstitious, mistaken, or corrupt is an initial step in the purification of alternate views, leading to religious reform. This sentiment is also felt by younger Kalmyks who do not find sense in surviving Buddhism but believe more in the philosophical approach of Buddhism taught by the visiting Buddhist teachers at Dharma centers. By discussing this post-soviet shift in local notions of religious efficacy, an attempt will be made to shed light on how the social movements of both reform and revival arise as a collusion between contemporary Tibetan and Kalmyk views on the nature of true Buddhism. This work explores aspects of religious innovation that have developed since the early 1990s in the process of reconstitution of ethnic and religious identity in Kalmykia, a Republic in the southwest of Russia. Any attempts to study the history of Buddhism in Kalmykia would surely mean studying the “History of the most northern Dharma community in the World.”

Keywords: Kalmykia, Tibetan Buddhism, reform, revival, identity

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Authors: Md. Rashel Sheikh

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The shipbuilding industry in Bangladesh had become a fast-growing industry in recent years when it began to export newly built ships. The various activities of shipbuilding industries in their limited, confined spaces added occupational worker exposures to chemicals, dusts, and metal fumes. The aim of this literature search is to identify the potential sources of occupational health hazards in shipyards and to promote the regulation of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for the workers. In shipyards, occupational workers are involved in various activities, such as the manufacture, repair, maintenance, dismantling of boats and ships, building small ocean-going vessels and ferries. The occupational workers in the shipbuilding industry suffer from a number of hazardous issues, such as asthma, dermatitis, hearing deficits, and musculoskeletal disorders. The use of modern technologies, such as underwater plasma welding, electron beam welding, and friction stir welding and laser cutting and welding, and appropriate PPE (i.e., long-sleeved shirt and long pants, shoes plus socks, safety masks, chemical resistant gloves, eyewear, face shield, and respirators) can help reduce the occupational exposure to environmental hazards created by different activities in the shipyards. However, most shipyards in Bangladesh use traditional methods, e.g., flame cutting and arc, that add hazardous waste and pollutants to the environment in and around the shipyard. The safety and security of occupational workers in the shipyard workplace are very important. It is the primary responsibility of employers to ensure the safety and security of occupational workers in the shipyards. Employers must use advanced technologies and supply adequate and appropriate PPE for the workers. There are a number of accidents and illnesses that happen daily in the shipyard industries in Bangladesh due to the negligence and lack of adequate technologies and appropriate PPE. In addition, there are no specific regulations and implementations available to use the PPE. It is essential to have PPE regulations and strict enforcement for the adoption of PPE in the shipbuilding industries in Bangladesh. Along with the adoption of PPE with regular health examinations, health education to the workers regarding occupational hazards and lifestyle diseases are also important and require reinforcement. Monitoring health and safety hazards in shipyards are essential to enhance worker protection, and ensure worker safety, and mitigate workplace injuries and illnesses.

Keywords: shipbuilding Industries, health education, occupational health hazards, personal protective equipment, shipyard workers, occupational workers, shipyards

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Authors: Claes Gunnarsson, Karin Fröding, Nina Hasche

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Innovation is a necessity for the evolution of societies and it is also a driving force in human life that leverages value creation among cross-sector participants in various network arrangements. Social innovations can be characterized as the creation and implementation of a new solution to a social problem, which is more effective and sustainable than existing solutions in terms of improvement of society’s conditions and in particular social inclusion processes. However, barriers exist which may restrict the potential of social innovations to live up to its promise as a societal welfare promoting driving force. The literature points at difficulties in tackling social problems primarily related to problem complexity, access to networks, and lack of financial muscles. Further research is warranted at detailed at detail clarification of these barriers, also connected to recognition of the interplay between institutional logics on the development of cross-sector collaborations in networks and the organizing processes to achieve innovation barrier break-through. There is also a need to further elaborate how obstacles that spur a difference between the actual and desired state of innovative value creating service systems can be overcome. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate barriers to social innovations, based on qualitative content analysis of 36 dialogue-based seminars (i.e. research circles) with nine Swedish focus groups including more than 90 individuals representing civil society organizations, private business, municipal offices, and politicians; and analyze patterns that reveal constituents of barriers to social innovations. The paper draws on central aspects of innovation barriers as discussed in the literature and analyze barriers basically related to internal/external and tangible/intangible characteristics. The findings of this study are that existing institutional structures highly influence the transformative potential of social innovations, as well as networking conditions in terms of building a competence-propelled strategy, which serves as an offspring for overcoming barriers of competence extension. Both theoretical and practical knowledge will contribute to how policy-makers and SI-practitioners can facilitate and support social innovation processes to be contextually adapted and implemented across areas and sectors.

Keywords: barriers, research circles, social innovation, service systems

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Authors: Soumita Banerjee

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The State of West Bengal is mostly watered by innumerable rivers, and they are different in nature in both the northern and the southern part of the state. The southern part of West Bengal is mainly drained with the river Bhagirathi-Hooghly, and its major distributaries and tributaries have divided this major river basin into many subparts like the Ichamati-Bidyadhari, Pagla-Bansloi, Mayurakshi-Babla, Ajay, Damodar, Kangsabati Sub-basin to name a few. These rivers basically drain the Districts of Bankura, Burdwan, Hooghly, Nadia and Purulia, Birbhum, Midnapore, Murshidabad, North 24-Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah and South 24-Parganas. West Bengal has a huge number of flood-prone blocks in the southern part of the state of West Bengal, the responsible factors for flood situation are the shape and size of the catchment area, its steep gradient starting from plateau to flat terrain, the river bank erosion and its siltation, tidal condition especially in the lower Ganga Basin and very low maintenance of the embankments which are mostly used as communication links. Along with these factors, DVC (Damodar Valley Corporation) plays an important role in the generation (with the release of water) and controlling the flood situation. This year the whole Gangetic West Bengal is being flooded due to high intensity and long duration rainfall, and the release of water from the Durgapur Barrage As most of the rivers are interstate in nature at times floods also take place with release of water from the dams of the neighbouring states like Jharkhand. Other than Embankments, there is no such structural measures for combatting flood in West Bengal. This paper tries to analyse the reasons behind the flood situation this year especially with the help of climatic data collected from the Indian Metrological Department, flood related data from the Irrigation and Waterways Department, West Bengal and GPM (General Precipitation Measurement) data for rainfall analysis. Based on the threshold value derived from the calculation of the past available flood data, it is possible to predict the flood events which may occur in the near future and with the help of social media it can be spread out within a very short span of time to aware the mass. On a larger or a governmental scale, heightening the settlements situated on the either banks of the river can yield a better result than building up embankments.

Keywords: dam failure, embankments, flood, rainfall

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Authors: Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Katiya Yassim, Venkatesha Prasad

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Input-intensive production systems characterise industrial agriculture as an unsustainable means to address food and nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods. There is extensive empirical evidence that supports the diversification and reorientation of industrial agriculture and that incorporates ecological practices viewed as essential for achieving balanced and productive farming systems. An agroecological farming system is a viable alternative approach that can improve food production, especially for the most vulnerable communities and households. Furthermore, substantial proof and supporting evidence show that such a system holds the key to increasing dietary diversity at the local level and reducing the multiple health and environmental risks stemming from industrial agriculture. This paper, therefore, aims to demonstrate the benefits of the agroecology food system through an evidenced-based approach that shows how the broader agricultural network structures can play a meaningful role, particularly for impoverished households in today’s reality. The methodology is centered on a structured literature review that analyses urban agriculture, agroecology, and food insecurity. Notably, ground-truthing, practical experiences, and field observation of agroecological farming were deployed. This paper places particular emphasis on the practical application of the agroecological approach in urban and peri-urban settings. Several evaluation reports on local and provincial initiatives clearly show that very few households engage in food gardens and urban agriculture. These households do not make use of their backyards or nearby open spaces for a number of reasons, such as stringent city by-laws, restricted access to land, little or no knowledge of innovative or alternative farming practices, and a general lack of interest. Furthermore, limited resources such as water and energy and lack of capacity building and training implementation are additional constraints that are hampering small scale food gardens and farms in other settings. The Agroecology systems approach is viewed as one of the key solutions to tackling these problems.

Keywords: agroecology, water-energy-food nexus, sutainable development goals, social, environmental and economc impact

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Authors: Jean Paul Muambangu Milambo, Peter Nyasulu, John Akudugu, Leonidas Ndayisaba, Joyce Tsoka-Gwegweni, Lebwaze Massamba Bienvenu, Mitshindo Mwambangu Chiro

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In 2018, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were responsible for 48% of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with cancer contributing to 5% of these deaths. There is a notable absence of cancer registries, capacity-building activities, budgets, and treatment roadmaps in the DRC. Current cancer estimates are primarily based on mathematical modeling with limited data from neighboring countries. This study aimed to assess cancer subtype prevalence in Kinshasa hospitals and compare these findings with WHO model estimates. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted from 2018 to 2020 at HJ Hospitals in Kinshasa. Data were collected using American Cancer Society (ACS) questionnaires and physician logs. Descriptive analysis was performed using STATA version 16 to estimate cancer burden and provide evidence-based recommendations. Results: The results from the chart review at HJ Hospitals in Kinshasa (2018-2020) indicate that out of 6,852 samples, approximately 11.16% were diagnosed with cancer. The distribution of cancer subtypes in this cohort was as follows: breast cancer (33.6%), prostate cancer (21.8%), colorectal cancer (9.6%), lymphoma (4.6%), and cervical cancer (4.4%). These figures are based on histopathological confirmation at the facility and may not fully represent the broader population due to potential selection biases related to geographic and financial accessibility to the hospital. In contrast, the World Health Organization (WHO) model estimates for cancer prevalence in the DRC show different proportions. According to WHO data, the distribution of cancer types is as follows: cervical cancer (15.9%), prostate cancer (15.3%), breast cancer (14.9%), liver cancer (6.8%), colorectal cancer (5.9%), and other cancers (41.2%) (WHO, 2020). Conclusion: The data indicate a rising cancer prevalence in DRC but highlight significant gaps in clinical, biomedical, and genetic cancer data. The establishment of a population-based cancer registry (PBCR) and a defined cancer management pathway is crucial. The current estimates are limited due to data scarcity and inconsistencies in clinical practices. There is an urgent need for multidisciplinary cancer management, integration of palliative care, and improvement in care quality based on evidence-based measures.

Keywords: cancer, risk factors, DRC, gene-environment interactions, survivors

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Authors: Konrad Steyn, Jacques Laubscher

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South African urban design solutions are mostly aligned with European and North American models that are often not appropriate in addressing some of this country’s challenges such as multiculturalism and decaying urban areas. Sustainable urban redevelopment in South Africa should be comprehensive in nature, sensitive in its manifestation, and should be robust and inclusive in order to achieve social relevance. This paper argues that the success of an urban design intervention is largely dependent on the public’s perceptions and expectations, and the way people participate in shaping their environments. The concept of sustainable urbanism is thus more comprehensive than – yet should undoubtedly include – methods of construction, material usage and climate control principles. The case study is a central element of this research paper. 725 Arcadia Street in Pretoria, was originally commissioned as a food market structure. A starkly contrasting existing modernist adjacent building forms the morphological background. Built in 1969, it is a valuable part of Pretoria’s modernist fabric. It was realised early on that the project should not be a mere localised architectural intervention, but rather an occasion to revitalise the neighbourhood through urban regeneration. Because of the complex and comprehensive nature of the site and rich cultural diversity of the area, a multi-faceted approach seemed the most appropriate response. The methodology for collating data consisted of a combination of literature reviews (regarding the historic original fauna and flora and current plants, observation (frequent site visits) and physical surveying on the neighbourhood level (physical location, connectivity to surrounding landmarks as well as movement systems and pedestrian flows). This was followed by an exploratory design phase, culminating in the present redevelopment proposal. Since built environment interventions are increasingly based on generalised normative guidelines, an approach focusing of urban acupuncture could serve as an alternative. Celebrating the specific urban condition, urban acupuncture offers an opportunity to influence the surrounding urban fabric and achieve urban renewal through physical, social and cultural mediation.

Keywords: neighbourhood, urban renewal, South African urban design solutions, sustainable urban redevelopment

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Authors: Dong Yue, Hua Chen

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The study region Xihu Harbor in Xiangshan County, Ningbo City is located in the central coast of Zhejiang Province. Concerning the wave dispating issue, Ningbo government firstly introduced Spartina alterniflora in 1980s. In the 1990s, S. alterniflora spread so rapidly thus a ‘grassland’ in the sea has been created nowadays. It has become the most important invasive plant of China’s coastal tidal flats. Although S. alterniflora had some ecological and economic functions, it has also brought series of hazards. It has ecological hazards on many aspects, including biomass and biodiversity, hydrodynamic force and sedimentation process, nutrient cycling of tidal flat, succession sequence of soil and plants and so on. On engineering, it courses problems of poor drainage and channel blocking. On economy, the hazard mainly reflected in the threat on aquaculture industry. The purpose of this study is to explore an ecological, feasible and economical way to manage Spartina alterniflora and use the land formed by it, taking Xihu Harbor in Xiangshan County as a case. Comparison method, mathematical modeling, qualitative and quantitative analysis are utilized to proceed the study. Main outcomes are as follows. By comparing a series of S. alterniflora managing methods which include the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation, waterlogging, herbicide and biological substitution from three standpoints – ecology, engineering and economy. It is inferred that the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation is among the top rank of S. alternifora managing methods. The combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation means using large-scale mechanical equipment like large screw seagoing dredger to excavate the S. alterniflora with root and mud together. Then the mix of mud and grass was blown off nearby coastal tidal zone transported by pipelines, which can cushion the silt of tidal zone to form a land. However, as man-made land by coast, the reclamation area’s ecological sensitivity is quite high and will face high possibility of flood threat. Therefore, the reclamation area has many reasonability requirements, including ones on location, specific scope, water surface rate, direction of main watercourse, site of water-gate, the ratio of ecological land to urban construction land. These requirements all became important basis when the planning was being made. The water system planning, green space system planning, road structure and land use all need to accommodate the ecological requests. Besides, the profits from the formed land is the managing project’s source of funding, so how to utilize land efficiently is another considered point in the planning. It is concluded that by aiming at managing a large area of S. alterniflora, the combination of mechanical cutting and hydraulic reclamation is an ecological, feasible and economical method. The planning of reclamation area should fully respect the natural environment and possible disasters. Then the planning which makes land use efficient, reasonable, ecological will promote the development of the area’s city construction.

Keywords: ecological management, ecological planning method, reclamation area, Spartina alternifora, Xihu harbor

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Authors: Sheel Chakraborty

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Modern society in developed countries has distanced itself from the earlier norm of joint family living, and with the increase of economic pressure, parents' availability for their children during their infant years has been consistently decreasing over the past three decades. During the same time, the pre-primary education system - built mainly on the developmental psychology theory framework of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, has been promoted in the US through the legislature and funding. Early care and education may have a positive impact on young minds, but a growing number of kids facing social challenges in making friendships in their teenage years raises serious concerns about its effectiveness. The survey-based primary research presented here shows a statistically significant number of millennials between the ages of 10 and 25 prefer to build friendships virtually than face-to-face interactions. Moreover, many teenagers depend more on their virtual friends whom they never met. Contrary to the belief that early social interactions in a non-home setup make the kids confident and more prepared for the real world, many shy-natured kids seem to develop a sense of shakiness in forming social relationships, resulting in loneliness by the time they are young adults. Reflecting on George Mead’s theory of self that is made up of “I” and “Me”, most functioning homes provide the required freedom and forgivable, congenial environment for building the "I" of a toddler; however, daycare or preschools can barely match that. It seems social images created from the expectations perceived by preschoolers “Me" in a non-home setting may interfere and greatly overpower the formation of a confident "I" thus creating a crisis around the inability to form friendships face to face when they grow older. Though the pervasive nature of social media can’t be ignored, the non-parental early care and education practices adopted largely by the urban population have created a favorable platform of teen psychology on which social media popularity thrived, especially providing refuge to shy Gen-Z teenagers. This can explain why young adults today perceive social media as their preferred outlet of expression and a place to form dependable friendships, despite the risk of being cyberbullied.

Keywords: digital socialization, shyness, developmental psychology, friendship, early education

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Authors: Pavana Basavakumar, Devadas Bhat

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Diabetes is a disease which often goes undiagnosed until its secondary effects are noticed. Early detection of the disease is necessary to avoid serious consequences which could lead to the death of the patient. Conventional invasive tests for screening of diabetes are mostly painful, time consuming and expensive. There’s also a risk of infection involved, therefore it is very essential to develop non-invasive methods to screen and estimate the level of blood glucose. Extensive research is going on with this perspective, involving various techniques that explore optical, electrical, chemical and thermal properties of the human body that directly or indirectly depend on the blood glucose concentration. Thus, non-invasive blood glucose monitoring has grown into a vast field of research. In this project, an attempt was made to device a prototype for screening of diabetes by measuring electrical impedance of the skin and building a model to predict a patient’s condition based on the measured impedance. The prototype developed, passes a negligible amount of constant current (0.5mA) across a subject’s index finger through tetra polar silver electrodes and measures output voltage across a wide range of frequencies (10 KHz – 4 MHz). The measured voltage is proportional to the impedance of the skin. The impedance was acquired in real-time for further analysis. Study was conducted on over 75 subjects with permission from the institutional ethics committee, along with impedance, subject’s blood glucose values were also noted, using conventional method. Nonlinear regression analysis was performed on the features extracted from the impedance data to obtain a model that predicts blood glucose values for a given set of features. When the predicted data was depicted on Clarke’s Error Grid, only 58% of the values predicted were clinically acceptable. Since the objective of the project was to screen diabetes and not actual estimation of blood glucose, the data was classified into three classes ‘NORMAL FASTING’,’NORMAL POSTPRANDIAL’ and ‘HIGH’ using linear Support Vector Machine (SVM). Classification accuracy obtained was 91.4%. The developed prototype was economical, fast and pain free. Thus, it can be used for mass screening of diabetes.

Keywords: Clarke’s error grid, electrical impedance of skin, linear SVM, nonlinear regression, non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, screening device for diabetes

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Authors: Jamal Ahmad

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The Sanctuary of the Kafirs is a sanctified place for the people of Kalash which contain the sacred remains of their culture. The existence of the cultural Sanctuary is not limited up to boundaries of culture but its canopy also contain the spiritual attachments in terms of religion, rituals, introspections, myths, customs and living standards. Culture is the manifestation of the human intellectual achievement in a qualitative phenomenon of a place. The ethnic people of Hindu Kush (Kalash) are an indigenous group that practices Animism. They believe in Animistic Symbology i-e the material universe has high spiritual power. The Animism in their living standard comes from the high spiritualized and sacred sacrifices of animals goats, sheep etc. in their festivals which is the symbol of purity. Similarly certain cultural and religious phenomena make its behavior, its living pattern, its fairy tales, its birth and even its death unique. The scattered and the vanishing fragments of the Kafiristan, demands the phenomenal solution which molds all these factors into preserving standards. It demands a place of belief where, their unique culture, religion, festivals and life style make a sincere base for future existence, and such phenomena of place will consciously or unconsciously molds these ideas into building fabric. The Sanctuary contains ancient vandalized cemetery, the qaliq* the mujnatikeen*, the jastaks*, dewadoor* an amphitheater for dancing and ritual performances, an herbal garden and a profile sanctuary of the blood line of Kalash. The Case-Analysis provokes a new architecture of place, as the Phenomenological Architecture, which requires a place and phenomenon to take place. The Animistic Symbology and Phenomenology both are the part of their life but needs to reveal its hidden meaning and existence i-e (The Balamain, the alpine meadows, the sacred river). The Architectural work is strengthened by the philosophies of Animism and Phenomenology which make it easy to understand. The Scope of work is to reincarnate the ethical boundaries between the neighboring tribes and the Kafirs, by a series of dwellings, cultural and religious communal buildings and spaces, gardens and streets layout under the umbrella of ethical beliefs of Kalash community. So we conclude to build the Sanctuary of the Kafirs, in Bamboret valley of Kalash.

Keywords: Qaliq, Mujnatikeen, Dewadoor, Jastaks

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Authors: Saima Shaikh, Andre Brown, Wallace Enegbuma

Abstract:

Earthquakes strike both developed and developing countries, causing tremendous damage and the loss of lives of millions of people, mainly due to the collapsing of buildings, particularly in poorer countries. Despite the socio-economic and technological restrictions, the poorer countries have adopted proven and established housing-strengthening techniques from affluent countries. Rural communities are aware of the earthquake-strengthening mechanisms for improving housing resilience, but owing to socio-economic and technological constraints, the seismic guidelines are rarely implemented, resulting in informal construction practice. Unregistered skilled laborers make substantial contributions to the informal construction sector, particularly in rural areas where knowledge is scarce. Laborers employ their local expertise in house construction; however, owing to a lack of seismic expertise in safe building procedures, the authorities' regulated seismic norms are not applied. From the perspective of seismic knowledge transformation in safe buildings practices, the study focuses on the feasibility of seismic guidelines implementation. The study firstly employs a literature review of massive-scale reconstruction after the 2005 earthquake in rural Pakistan. The 2005-earthquake damaged over 400,000 homes, killed 70,000 people and displaced 2.8 million people. The research subsequently corroborated the pragmatic approach using questionnaire field survey among the rural people in 2005-earthquake affected areas. Using the literature and the questionnaire survey, the research analyzing people's perspectives on technical acceptability, financial restrictions, and socioeconomic viability and examines the effectiveness of seismic knowledge transfer in safe buildings practices. The findings support the creation of a knowledge transfer framework in disaster mitigation and recovery planning, assisting rural communities and builders in minimising losses and improving response and recovery, as well as improving housing resilience and lowering vulnerabilities. Finally, certain conclusions are obtained in order to continue the resilience research. The research can be further applied in rural areas of developing countries having similar construction practices.

Keywords: earthquakes, knowledge transfer, resilience, informal construction practices

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