Search results for: Asia

Authors: Hyuk Sung Yoon, In-Lee Choi, Mohammad Zahirul Islam, Jun Pill Baek, Ho-Min Kang

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The strawberry ‘Maehyang’ cultivated in South Korea has been increased to export to Southeast Asia. The degradation of quality often occurs in strawberries during short export period. Botrytis cinerea has been known to cause major damage to the export strawberries and the disease was caused during shipping and distribution. This study was conducted to find out the sterilized effect of chlorine dioxide(ClO2) gas and high concentration of CO2 gas injection for ‘Maehyang’ strawberry and it was packaged with oxygen transmission rate (OTR) films. The strawberry was harvested at 80% color changed stage and packaged with OTR film and perforated film (control). The treatments were a MAP used by with 20,000 cc·m-2·day·atm OTR film and gas injection in packages. The gas type of ClO2 and CO2 were injected into OTR film packages, and treatments were 6 mg/L ClO2, 15% CO2, and they were combined. The treated strawberries were stored at 3℃ for 30 days. Fresh weight loss rate was less than 1% in all OTR film packages but it was more than 15% in a perforated film treatment that showed severe deterioration of visual quality during storage. Carbon dioxide concentration within a package showed approximately 15% of the maximum CO2 concentration in all treatments except control until the 21st day, it was the tolerated range of maximum CO2 concentration of strawberry in recommended CA or MA conditions. But, it increased to almost 50% on the 30th day. Oxygen concentration showed a decrease down to approximately 0% in all treatments except control for 25 days. Ethylene concentration was shown to be steady until the 17th day, but it quickly increased on the 17th day and dropped down on the final storage day (30th day). All treatments did not show any significant differences in gas treatments. Firmness increased in CO2 (15%) and ClO2 (6mg/L) + CO2 (15%) treatments during storage. It might be the effect of high concentration CO2 known by reducing decay and cell wall degradation. The soluble solid decreased in all treatments during storage. These results were caused to use up the sugar by the increase of respiration during storage. The titratable acidity showed a similarity in all treatments. Incidence of fungi was 0% in CO2 (15%) and ClO2 (6mg/L)+ CO2 (15%), but was more than 20% in a perforated film treatment. Consequently, The result indicates that Chloride Dioxide(ClO2) and high concentration of CO2 inhibited fungi growth. Due to the fact that fresh weight loss rate and incidence of fungi were lower, the ClO2(6mg/L)+ CO2(15%) prove to be most efficient in sterilization. These results suggest that Chloride Dioxide (ClO2) and high concentration of CO2 gas injection treatments were an effective decontamination technique for improving the safety of strawberries.

Keywords: chloride dioxide, high concentration of CO2, modified atmosphere condition, oxygen transmission rate films

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Rosni Lakandri

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With the development of science and technology, there has been a complete transformation in the domain of information technology. Particularly after the Second World War and Cold War period, the role of media and communication technology in shaping the political, economic, socio-cultural proceedings across the world has been tremendous. It performs as a channel between the governing bodies of the state and the general masses. As we have seen the international community constantly talking about the onset of Asian Century, India and China happens to be the major player in this. Both have the civilization history, both are neighboring countries, both are witnessing a huge economic growth and, important of all, both are considered the rising powers of Asia. Not negating the fact that both countries have gone to war with each other in 1962 and the common people and even the policy makers of both the sides view each other till now from this prism. A huge contribution to this perception of people goes to the media coverage of both sides, even if there are spaces of cooperation which they share, the negative impacts of media has tended to influence the people’s opinion and government’s perception about each other. Therefore, analysis of media’s impression in both the countries becomes important in order to know their effect on the larger implications of foreign policy towards each other. It is usually said that media not only acts as the information provider but also acts as ombudsman to the government. They provide a kind of check and balance to the governments in taking proper decisions for the people of the country but in attempting to answer this hypothesis we have to analyze does the media really helps in shaping the political landscape of any country? Therefore, this study rests on the following questions; 1.How do China and India depict each other through their respective News media? 2.How much and what influences they make on the policy making process of each country? How do they shape the public opinion in both the countries? In order to address these enquiries, the study employs both primary and secondary sources available, and in generating data and other statistical information, primary sources like reports, government documents, and cartography, agreements between the governments have been used. Secondary sources like books, articles and other writings collected from various sources and opinion from visual media sources like news clippings, videos in this topic are also included as a source of on ground information as this study is not based on field study. As the findings suggest in case of China and India, media has certainly affected people’s knowledge about the political and diplomatic issues at the same time has affected the foreign policy making of both the countries. They have considerable impact on the foreign policy formulation and we can say there is some mediatization happening in foreign policy issues in both the countries.

Keywords: China, foreign policy, India, media, public opinion

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Obaidul Fattah Tanvir, Zinat Ara Afroze

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Community living adjacent to forests and Protected Areas, especially in South Asian countries, have a common practice in extracting resources for their living and livelihoods. This extraction of resources, because the way it is done, destroys the biophysical features of the area. Deforestation, wildlife poaching, illegal logging, unauthorized hill cutting etc. are some of the serious issues of concern for the sustainability of the natural resources that has a direct impact on environment and climate as a whole. To ensure community involvement in conservation initiatives of the state, community based forest management, commonly known as Comanagement, has been in practice in 6 South Asian countries. These are -India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Involving community in forestry management was initiated first in Bangladesh in 1979 and reached as an effective co-management approach through a several paradigm shifts. This idea of Comanagement has been institutionalized through a Government Order (GO) by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of Bangladesh on November 23, 2009. This GO clearly defines the structure and functions of Co-management and its different bodies. Bangladesh Forest Department has been working in association with community to conserve and manage the Forests and Protected areas of Bangladesh following this legal document. Demographically young people constitute the largest segment of population in Bangladesh. This group, if properly sensitized, can produce valuable impacts on the conservation initiatives, both by community and government. This study traced the major factors that motivate community youths to work effectively with different tiers of comanagement organizations in conservation of forests and Protected Areas of Bangladesh. For the purpose of this study, 3 FGDs were conducted with 30 youths from the community living around the Protected Areas of Cox’s bazar, South East corner of Bangladesh, who are actively involved in Co-management organizations. KII were conducted with 5 key officials of Forest Department stationed at Cox’s Bazar. 2 FGDs were conducted with the representatives of 7 Co-management organizations working in Cox’s Bazar region and approaches of different community outreach activities conducted for forest conservation by 3 private organizations and Projects have been reviewed. Also secondary literatures were reviewed for the history and evolution of Co-management in Bangladesh and six South Asian countries. This study found that innovative community outreach activities that are financed by public and private sectors involving youths and community as a whole have played a pivotal role in conservation of forests and Protected Areas of the region. This approach can be replicated in other regions of Bangladesh as well as other countries of South Asia where Co-Management exists in practice.

Keywords: community, co-management, conservation, forests, protected areas, youth

Procedia PDF Downloads 281

Authors: Kien Vu, Jien Min Soh, Mohamed Jahangir Abubacker, Piyawut Pattamanon, Soojin Lee, Suvro Banerjee

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Recent advances in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), in particular Large Language Models (LLMs) have shown promise to disrupt multiple industries at scale. However, LLMs also present unique challenges, notably, these so-called "hallucination" which is the generation of outputs that are not grounded in the input data that hinders its adoption into production. Common practice to mitigate hallucination problem is utilizing Retrieval Agmented Generation (RAG) system to ground LLMs'response to ground truth. RAG converts the grounding documents into embeddings, retrieve the relevant parts with vector similarity between user's query and documents, then generates a response that is not only based on its pre-trained knowledge but also on the specific information from the retrieved documents. However, the RAG system is not suitable for tabular data and subsequent data analysis tasks due to multiple reasons such as information loss, data format, and retrieval mechanism. In this study, we have explored a novel methodology that combines planning-and-execution and code generation agents to enhance LLMs' data analysis capabilities. The approach enables LLMs to autonomously dissect a complex analytical task into simpler sub-tasks and requirements, then convert them into executable segments of code. In the final step, it generates the complete response from output of the executed code. When deployed beta version on DataSense, the property insight tool of PropertyGuru, the approach yielded promising results, as it was able to provide market insights and data visualization needs with high accuracy and extensive coverage by abstracting the complexities for real-estate agents and developers from non-programming background. In essence, the methodology not only refines the analytical process but also serves as a strategic tool for real estate professionals, aiding in market understanding and enhancement without the need for programming skills. The implication extends beyond immediate analytics, paving the way for a new era in the real estate industry characterized by efficiency and advanced data utilization.

Keywords: large language model, reasoning, planning and execution, code generation, natural language processing, prompt engineering, data analysis, real estate, data sense, PropertyGuru

Procedia PDF Downloads 87

Authors: Neelam Kadyan, Pratima Ranga, Yogender

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Indigenous people are the One who are affected by the climate change the most, although there have contributed little to its causes. This is largely a result of their historic dependence on local biological diversity, ecosystem services and cultural landscapes as a source of their sustenance and well-being. Comprising only four percent of the world’s population they utilize 22 percent of the world’s land surface. Despite their high exposure-sensitivity indigenous peoples and local communities are actively responding to changing climatic conditions and have demonstrated their resourcefulness and resilience in the face of climate change. Traditional Indigenous territories encompass up to 22 percent of the world’s land surface and they coincide with areas that hold 80 percent of the planet’s biodiversity. Also, the greatest diversity of indigenous groups coincides with the world’s largest tropical forest wilderness areas in the Americas (including Amazon), Africa, and Asia, and 11 percent of world forest lands are legally owned by Indigenous Peoples and communities. This convergence of biodiversity-significant areas and indigenous territories presents an enormous opportunity to expand efforts to conserve biodiversity beyond parks, which tend to benefit from most of the funding for biodiversity conservation. Tapping on Ancestral Knowledge Indigenous Peoples are carriers of ancestral knowledge and wisdom about this biodiversity. Their effective participation in biodiversity conservation programs as experts in protecting and managing biodiversity and natural resources would result in more comprehensive and cost effective conservation and management of biodiversity worldwide. Addressing the Climate Change Agenda Indigenous Peoples has played a key role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The territories of indigenous groups who have been given the rights to their lands have been better conserved than the adjacent lands (i.e., Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, etc.). Preserving large extensions of forests would not only support the climate change objectives, but it would respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and conserve biodiversity as well. A climate change agenda fully involving Indigenous Peoples has many more benefits than if only government and/or the private sector are involved. Indigenous peoples are some of the most vulnerable groups to the negative effects of climate change. Also, they are a source of knowledge to the many solutions that will be needed to avoid or ameliorate those effects. For example, ancestral territories often provide excellent examples of a landscape design that can resist the negatives effects of climate change. Over the millennia, Indigenous Peoples have developed adaptation models to climate change. They have also developed genetic varieties of medicinal and useful plants and animal breeds with a wider natural range of resistance to climatic and ecological variability.

Keywords: ancestral knowledge, cost effective conservation, management, indigenous peoples, climate change

Procedia PDF Downloads 677

Authors: M. Chukhryaeva, R. Skhalyakho, J. Kagazegeva, E. Pocheshkhova, L. Yepiskopossyan, O. Balanovsky, E. Balanovska

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The Middle East is crossroad of different populations at different times. The Kurds are of particular interest in this region. Historical sources suggested that the origin of the Kurds is associated with Medes. Therefore, it was especially interesting to compare gene pool of Kurds with other supposed descendants of Medes-Tats. Yezidis are ethno confessional group of Kurds. Yezidism as a confessional teaching was formed in the XI-XIII centuries in Iraq. Yezidism has caused reproductively isolation of Yezidis from neighboring populations for centuries. Also, isolation helps to retain Yezidian caste system. It is unknown how the history of Yezidis affected its genу pool because it has never been the object of researching. We have examined the Y-chromosome variation in Yezidis and Kurdish males to understand their gene pool. We collected DNA samples from 90 Yezidi males and 24 Kurdish males together with their pedigrees. We performed Y-STR analysis of 17 loci in the samples collected (Yfiler system from Applied Biosystems) and analysis of 42 Y-SNPs by real-time PCR. We compared our data with published data from other Kurdish groups and from European, Caucasian, and West Asian populations. We found that gene pool of Yezidis contains haplogroups common in the Middle East (J-M172(xM67,M12)- 24%, E-M35(xM78)- 9%) and in South Western Asia (R-M124- 8%) and variant with wide distribution area - R-M198(xM458- 9%). The gene pool of Kurdish has higher genetic diversity than Yezidis. Their dominants haplogroups are R-M198- 20,3 %, E-M35- 9%, J-M172- 9%. Multidimensional scaling also shows that the Kurds and Yezidis are part of the same frontier Asian cluster, which, in addition, included Armenians, Iranians, Turks, and Greeks. At the same time, the peoples of the Caucasus and Europe form isolated clusters that do not overlap with the Asian clusters. It is noteworthy that Kurds from our study gravitate towards Tats, which indicates that most likely these two populations are descendants of ancient Medes population. Multidimensional scaling also reveals similarity between gene pool of Yezidis, Kurds with Armenians and Iranians. The analysis of Yezidis pedigrees and their STR variability did not reveal a reliable connection between genetic diversity and caste system. This indicates that the Yezidis caste system is a social division and not a biological one. Thus, we showed that, despite many years of isolation, the gene pool of Yezidis retained a common layer with the gene pool of Kurds, these populations have common spectrum of haplogroups, but Yezidis have lower genetic diversity than Kurds. This study received primary support from the RSF grant No. 16-36-00122 to MC and grant No. 16-06-00364 to EP.

Keywords: gene pool, haplogroup, Kurds, SNP and STR markers, Yezidis

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: Thaminda Liyanage, Anuga Liyanage, Chamila Kurukulasuriya, Sidath Bandara

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Background: The burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is growing rapidly around the world, particularly in Asia. Over the last two decades Sri Lanka has experienced an epidemic of CKD with ever growing number of patients pursuing medical care due to CKD and its complications, specially in the “Mahaweli” river basin in north central region of the island nation. This was apparently a new form of CKD which was not attributable to conventional risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension or infection and widely termed as “CKD-unknown” or “CKDu”. In the past decade a number of small scale studies were conducted to determine the aetiology, prevalence and complications of CKDu in North Central region. These hospital-based studies did not provide an accurate estimate of the problem as merely 10% or less of the people with CKD are aware of their diagnosis even in developed countries with better access to medical care. Interestingly, similar observations were made on the changing epidemiology of obesity in the region but no formal study was conducted to date to determine the magnitude of obesity burden. Moreover, if increasing obesity in the region is associated with CKD epidemic is yet to be explored. Methods: We will conduct an area wide cross sectional survey among all adult residents of the “Mahaweli” development project area 5, in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. We will collect relevant medical history, anthropometric measurements, blood and urine for hematological and biochemical analysis. We expect a participation rate of 75%-85% of all eligible participants. Participation in the study is voluntary, there will be no incentives provided for participation. Every analysis will be conducted in a central laboratory and data will be stored securely. We will calculate the prevalence of obesity and chronic kidney disease, overall and by stage using total number of participants as the denominator and report per 1000 population. The association of obesity and CKD will be assessed with regression models and will be adjusted for potential confounding factors and stratified by potential effect modifiers where appropriate. Results: This study will provide accurate information on the prevalence of obesity and CKD in the region. Furthermore, this will explore the association between obesity and CKD, although causation may not be confirmed. Conclusion: Obesity and CKD are increasingly recognized as major public health problems in Sri Lanka. Clearly, documenting the magnitude of the problem is the essential first step. Our study will provide this vital information enabling the government to plan a coordinated response to tackle both obesity and CKD in the region.

Keywords: BMI, Chronic Kidney Disease, obesity, Sri Lanka

Procedia PDF Downloads 270

Authors: Karima Adilla

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Aceh province, into which Islam convinced to have entered Indonesia in the 12th Century before spreading throughout the archipelago and the rest of Southeast Asia, has several early Islamic mosques that still exist until today. However, due to some circumstances, the restoration and rehabilitation towards those mosques have been made in some periods, while the background was diverse. Concerning this, the research will examine the physical changing aspects of 3 prominent historical mosques in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh; those are, Indrapuri Mosque, Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, and Baiturrahim Mosque built coincided with the beginning of Islam’s development in Aceh and regarded as eventful mosques. The existence of Indrapuri Mosque built on the remains of the Lamuri Kingdom’s temple is a historical trace that there was Hindu-Buddhist civilization in Aceh before Islam entered and became the majority religion about 98% from Aceh total population. Also, there was the Dutch who colonialized Aceh behind the existence of two famous mosques in Aceh, namely Baiturrahman Grand Mosque and Baiturrahim Mosque, as the colonizer also assisted to rebuild those 2 sacred Mosques to quell the anger of the Acehnese people because their mosque was burnt by the Dutch. Interestingly, despite underwent a long history successively since the rise of Islam after the Hindu-Buddhist kingdom had collapsed, colonialization, conflict, in Aceh, and even experienced the earthquake and tsunami disaster in 2004, those mosques still exist. Therefore, those mosques have been considered as historical silent witnesses. However, it was not merely those reasons that led the mosques underwent several physical changes, otherwise economic, political, social, cultural and religious factors were also highly influential. Instead of directly illustrating the physical changing of those three mosques, this research intends to identify under what condition the physical appearance continuously changing during the sultanate era, the colonial period until post-independent in terms of the architectural style, detail elements, design philosophy, and how the remnants buildings act as medium to bridge the history. A framework will use qualitative research methods by collecting actual data of the mosque's physical change figures through field studies, investigations, library studies and interviews. This research aims to define every trace of historical issues embedded in the physical changing of those mosques as they are intertwined in collecting historical proof. Thus, the result will reveal the characteristic interrelation between history, the mosque architectural style in a certain period, the physical changes background and its impact. Eventually, this research will also explicate a clear inference of each mosque’s role in representing history in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh specifically, as well as Aceh generally through architectural design concepts.

Keywords: Aceh ancient mosques, Aceh history, Islamic architecture, physical changing

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Ishara Madusanka, So Morikawa

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Natural disasters, particularly floods, pose severe challenges globally, affecting both developed and developing countries. In many regions, especially Asia, riverine floods are prevalent and devastating. Integrated flood management incorporates structural and non-structural measures, with preventive relocation emerging as a cost-effective and proactive strategy for areas repeatedly impacted by severe flooding. However, preventive relocation is often hindered by economic, psychological, social, and institutional barriers. This study investigates the factors influencing resistance to preventive relocation and evaluates the role of flood risk information in shaping relocation decisions through risk perception. A conceptual model was developed, incorporating variables such as Flood Risk Information (FRI), Place Attachment (PA), Good Living Conditions (GLC), and Adaptation to Flooding (ATF), with Flood Risk Perception (FRP) serving as a mediating variable. The research was conducted in Welipitiya in the Polwatta river basin, Matara district, Sri Lanka, a region experiencing recurrent flood damage. For this study, an experimental design involving a structured questionnaire survey was utilized, with 185 households participating. The treatment group received flood risk information, including flood risk maps and historical data, while the control group did not. Data were collected in 2023 and analyzed using independent sample t-tests and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM was chosen for its ability to model latent variables, handle complex relationships, and suitability for exploratory research. Multi-group Analysis (MGA) assessed variations across different flood risk areas. Findings indicate that flood risk information had a limited impact on flood risk perception and relocation decisions, though its effect was significant in specific high-risk areas. Place attachment was a significant factor influencing relocation decisions across the sample. One potential reason for the limited impact of flood risk information on relocation decisions could be the lack of specificity in the information provided. The results suggest that while flood risk information alone may not significantly influence relocation decisions, it is crucial in specific contexts. Future studies and practitioners should focus on providing more detailed risk information and addressing psychological factors like place attachments to enhance preventive relocation efforts.

Keywords: flood risk communication, flood risk perception, place attachment, preventive relocation, structural equation modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 31

Authors: G. Bravo, D. Lopez, A. Iriarte

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Several organizations and governments have created a demand for information about the environmental impacts of agricultural products. Today, the export oriented fruit sector in Chile is being challenged to quantify and reduce their environmental impacts. Chile is the largest southern hemisphere producer and exporter of sweet cherry fruit. Chilean sweet cherry production reached a volume of 80,000 tons in 2012. The main destination market for the Chilean cherry in 2012 was Asia (including Hong Kong and China), taking in 69% of exported volume. Another important market was the United States with 16% participation, followed by Latin America (7%) and Europe (6%). Concerning geographical distribution, the Chilean conventional cherry production is focused in the center-south area, between the regions of Maule and O’Higgins; both regions represent 81% of the planted surface. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely accepted as one of the major methodologies for assessing environmental impacts of products or services. The LCA identifies the material, energy, material, and waste flows of a product or service, and their impact on the environment. There are scant studies that examine the impacts of sweet cherry cultivation, such as acidification and eutrophication. Within this context, the main objective of this study is to evaluate, using the LCA, the acidification and eutrophication impacts of sweet cherry production in Chile. The additional objective is to identify the agricultural inputs that contributed significantly to the impacts of this fruit. The system under study included all the life cycle stages from the cradle to the farm gate (harvested sweet cherry). The data of sweet cherry production correspond to nationwide representative practices and are based on technical-economic studies and field information obtained in several face-to-face interviews. The study takes into account the following agricultural inputs: fertilizers, pesticides, diesel consumption for agricultural operations, machinery and electricity for irrigation. The results indicated that the mineral fertilizers are the most important contributors to the acidification and eutrophication impacts of the sheet cherry cultivation. Improvement options are suggested for the hotspot in order to reduce the environmental impacts. The results allow planning and promoting low impacts procedures across fruit companies, as well as policymakers, and other stakeholders on the subject. In this context, this study is one of the first assessments of the environmental impacts of sweet cherry production. New field data or evaluation of other life cycle stages could further improve the knowledge on the impacts of this fruit. This study may contribute to environmental information in other countries where there is similar agricultural production for sweet cherry.

Keywords: acidification, eutrophication, life cycle assessment, sweet cherry production

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Z. A. Ahmad Noor Syukri, A. J. Nawal Aswan, S. V. Wong

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The motorcycle has become one of the most common type of vehicles used on the road, particularly in the Asia region, including Malaysia, due to its size-convenience and affordable price. This study focuses only on crashes involving motorcycles with passenger cars consisting 43 real world crashes obtained from in-depth crash investigation process from June 2016 till July 2017. The study collected and analyzed vehicle and site parameters obtained during crash investigation and injury information acquired from the patient-treating hospital. The investigation team, consisting of two personnel, is stationed at the Emergency Department of the treatment facility, and was dispatched to the crash scene once receiving notification of the related crashes. The injury information retrieved was coded according to the level of severity using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and classified into different body regions. The data revealed that weekend crashes were significantly higher for the night time period and the crash occurrence was the highest during morning hours (commuting to work period) for weekdays. Bad weather conditions play a minimal effect towards the occurrence of motorcycle – passenger vehicle crashes and nearly 90% involved motorcycles with single riders. Riders up to 25 years old are heavily involved in crashes with passenger vehicles (60%), followed by 26-55 year age group with 35%. Male riders were dominant in each of the age segments. The majority of the crashes involved side impacts, followed by rear impacts and cars outnumbered the rest of the passenger vehicle types in terms of crash involvement with motorcycles. The investigation data also revealed that passenger vehicles were the most at-fault counterpart (62%) when involved in crashes with motorcycles and most of the crashes involved situations whereby both of the vehicles are travelling in the same direction and one of the vehicles is in a turning maneuver. More than 80% of the involved motorcycle riders had sustained yellow severity level during triage process. The study also found that nearly 30% of the riders sustained injuries to the lower extremities, while MAIS level 3 injuries were recorded for all body regions except for thorax region. The result showed that crashes in which the motorcycles were found to be at fault were more likely to occur during night and raining conditions. These types of crashes were also found to be more likely to involve other types of passenger vehicles rather than cars and possess higher likelihood in resulting higher ISS (>6) value to the involved rider. To reduce motorcycle fatalities, it first has to understand the characteristics concerned and focus may be given on crashes involving passenger vehicles as the most dominant crash partner on Malaysian roads.

Keywords: motorcycle crash, passenger vehicle, in-depth crash investigation, injury mechanism

Procedia PDF Downloads 322

Authors: Khawla Almulla

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It is noticed that many Arab intellectuals have called to the need and the importance of enlightenment and its application in their communities, such as Saudi Arabia. To every Islamic state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents a strategic cornerstone, since it is considered the cradle of Islam. It is the Land of the Two Holy Mosques: the Holy Mosque in Makkah surrounding the Kaaba, towards which all Muslims around the world turn while performing daily prayers and even travel to if possible in order to perform the Hajj (Pilgrimage). It also has the Prophet'ـ‘s Holy Mosque in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, which contains the tomb of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Therefore, Saudi Arabia occupies an eminent position among Arab and Islamic countries on a religious level. Saudi Arabia has become the most influential country in the Arab world, since it has one-third of the oil resources outside Central Asia, China and Russia .It is the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil. Discovering oil in Saudi Arabia converted it from an important country for Muslims-only to an important country for the major industrial countries and also the developing countries, as well. For various reasons, the diversity of intellectual currents can play a significant role in each community by way of cultural improvement, the development of civilization and the education of people until they become accustomed to accepting or rejecting opinions or ideas which differ from or oppose their own. In addition, the intellectual pluralism and cultural diversity can play a variety of roles. This helps promote dialogue and understanding between different groups or schools of thought. It can also develop cognitive skills, by exchanging ideas and views between different schools and intellectual currents. However, in Saudi Arabia there is much to oppose this plurality. The situation today shows that having a variety of ideologies and differences of cultures are not considered a reasonable way to develop intellectually as an individual or as a country. Rather the opposite is recommended, such that the ideologies of different groups are enough to bring out intellectual conflict and then to the segregation of society. As a consequence, extremism of thought from the different currents in Saudi Arabia has become apparent. This research is of great importance in its exploration of two significant themes. First, it highlights the Saudi Arabian background, in particular the historical, religious and social contexts, in order to understand the background of each religious or liberal movement and find the core of the intellectual differences between them. In addition, the aim of this research is to show the importance of moderation in Islamic thought in Saudi Arabia by tracing the thoughts and views of Dr Salman Al-Odah, whom he has considered to be the most important moderate thinker in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: Saudi Arabia, intellectual movements, religious movements, extremism, moderation, Salafism, liberalism, Salman Al-Odah

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: Amit Kumar Verma

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The present study deals with fire prediction model in Terai Arc Landscape, one of the most dramatic ecosystems in Asia where large, wide-ranging species such as tiger, rhinos, and elephant will thrive while bringing economic benefits to the local people. Forest fires cause huge economic and ecological losses and release considerable quantities of carbon into the air and is an important factor inflating the global burden of carbon emissions. Forest fire is an important factor of behavioral cum ecological habit of tiger in wild. Post fire changes i.e. micro and macro habitat directly affect the tiger habitat or land. Vulnerability of fire depicts the changes in microhabitat (humus, soil profile, litter, vegetation, grassland ecosystem). Microorganism like spider, annelids, arthropods and other favorable microorganism directly affect by the forest fire and indirectly these entire microorganisms are responsible for the development of tiger (Panthera tigris) habitat. On the other hand, fire brings depletion in prey species and negative movement of tiger from wild to human- dominated areas, which may leads the conflict i.e. dangerous for both tiger & human beings. Early forest fire prediction through mapping the risk zones can help minimize the fire frequency and manage forest fires thereby minimizing losses. Satellite data plays a vital role in identifying and mapping forest fire and recording the frequency with which different vegetation types are affected. Thematic hazard maps have been generated by using IDW technique. A prediction model for fire occurrence is developed for TAL. The fire occurrence records were collected from state forest department from 2000 to 2014. Disciminant function models was used for developing a prediction model for forest fires in TAL, random points for non-occurrence of fire have been generated. Based on the attributes of points of occurrence and non-occurrence, the model developed predicts the fire occurrence. The map of predicted probabilities classified the study area into five classes very high (12.94%), high (23.63%), moderate (25.87%), low(27.46%) and no fire (10.1%) based upon the intensity of hazard. model is able to classify 78.73 percent of points correctly and hence can be used for the purpose with confidence. Overall, also the model works correctly with almost 69% of points. This study exemplifies the usefulness of prediction model of forest fire and offers a more effective way for management of forest fire. Overall, this study depicts the model for conservation of tiger’s natural habitat and forest conservation which is beneficial for the wild and human beings for future prospective.

Keywords: fire prediction model, forest fire hazard, GIS, landsat, MODIS, TAL

Procedia PDF Downloads 352

Authors: I. Nanako, Mariko Era, Hiroshi Morita

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Objectives: Japanese uses TATAMI rather than flooring at home. Igusa ( Juncus effuses var. decipiens ), which is commonly known in the forms of TATAMI. Juncus spp. grow at a relatively high humidity area (Japan, China and Southeast Asia ). Yatsushiro region in the southern part of Kumamoto prefecture is major produing area of Igusa. Igusa found to have honeycomb structure and was also shown to have the ability to control humidity. And Igusa has been used as a medicinal herb for diuretic and antiphlogistic agent. In previous study, we investigated antimicrobial effects of Igusa, and showed high antimicrobial activity against food poisoning bacteria. Therefore, the food trays blended Igusa can be kept clean by antimicrobial activity of Igusa. We focus on ‘Igusa foam materials’. In this study, we investigated the antibacterial and antifungal activity of Igusa, and new application to foam materials for food industry. Materials and method: We used Igusa foam materials (3 × 3 × 3 cm) as a sample. We set about fifteen types of samples combined with a commercial antibacterial agent A, a commercial antibacterial agent B, potassium laurate (C12K) and a commercial antifungal agent C, a commercial antifungal agent D and a commercial antifungal agent E. We selected four bacteria strains (Escherichia coli NBRC 3972, Staphylococus aureus NBRC 12732, Salmonella typhimurium NBRC 13245, Bacillus subtilis NBRC 3335 ) and three fungus strains (Penicillium pinophilum NBRC 6345, Cladosporium cladosporioides NBRC 30314, Aspergillus oryzae NBRC 5238 ). The fungus was cultured at 30 °C on Igusa foam materials after inoculation of the fungus for fourteen days. The bacteria was cultured at 30 °C on Igusa foam materials after inoculation of the bacteria for three days. And the Igusa foam materials were washed with 10 mL normal saline after three days. The normal saline washed Igusa foam materials plated the NA medium. After, It was cultured at 30 °C and used colony counting method. Result and Conclusion: The fifteen types of sample of Igusa foam materials had antifungal activity against C. cladosporioides, A. oryzae and P. pinophilum for fourteen days. The four types of sample contained potassium laurate and antibacterial agent A, sample contained antibacterial agent B and antifungal agent D, sample contained A and antifungal agent E, sample contained B and E had antibacterial activity against B. subtilis. The three types of sample contained potassium laurate and A, sample contained B and D, sample contained A and E had antibacterial activity against S. typhimurium. The five types of sample contained potassium laurate and A, sample contained B and D, sample contained A and E, sample contained B and E, sample contained B and antifungal agent C had antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. These results indicate that Igusa of Igusa foam materials had high antifungal activity. In addition, Igusa foam materials combined with a commercial antibacterial agent had antibacterial activity. In the future, we consider that use of Igusa foam materials may be spread from food industry.

Keywords: antibacterial, antifungal, foam materials, Igusa

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Authors: Othman E. Othman, Amira M. Nowier, Medhat El-Denary

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Camels play an important socio-economic role within the pastoral and agricultural system in the dry and semidry zones of Asia and Africa. Camels are economically important animals in Egypt where they are dual purpose animals (meat and milk). The analysis of chemical composition of camel milk showed that the total protein contents ranged from 2.4% to 5.3% and it is divided into casein and whey proteins. The casein fraction constitutes 52% to 89% of total camel milk protein and it divided into 4 fractions namely αs1, αs2, β and κ-caseins which are encoded by four tightly genes. In spite of the important role of casein genes and the effects of their genetic polymorphisms on quantitative traits and technological properties of milk, the studies for the detection of genetic polymorphism of camel milk genes are still limited. Due to this fact, this work focused - using PCR-RFP and sequencing analysis - on the identification of genetic polymorphisms and SNPs of two casein genes in Maghrabi camel breed which is a dual purpose camel breed in Egypt. The amplified fragments at 488-bp of the camel κ-CN gene were digested with AluI endonuclease. The results showed the appearance of three different genotypes in the tested animals; CC with three digested fragments at 203-, 127- and 120-bp, TT with three digested fragments at 203-, 158- and 127-bp and CT with four digested fragments at 203-, 158-, 127- and 120-bp. The frequencies of three detected genotypes were 11.0% for CC, 48.0% for TT and 41.0% for CT genotypes. The sequencing analysis of the two different alleles declared the presence of a single nucleotide polymorphism (C→T) at position 121 in the amplified fragments which is responsible for the destruction of a restriction site (AG/CT) in allele T and resulted in the presence of two different alleles C and T in tested animals. The nucleotide sequences of κ-CN alleles C and T were submitted to GenBank with the accession numbers; KU055605 and KU055606, respectively. The primers used in this study amplified 942-bp fragments spanning from exon 4 to exon 6 of camel αS1-Casein gene. The amplified fragments were digested with two different restriction enzymes; SmlI and AluI. The results of SmlI digestion did not show any restriction site whereas the digestion with AluI endonuclease revealed the presence of two restriction sites AG^CT at positions 68^69 and 631^632 yielding the presence of three digested fragments with sizes 68-, 563- and 293-bp.The nucleotide sequences of this fragment from camel αS1-Casein gene were submitted to GenBank with the accession number KU145820. In conclusion, the genetic characterization of quantitative traits genes which are associated with the production traits like milk yield and composition is considered an important step towards the genetic improvement of livestock species through the selection of superior animals depending on the favorable alleles and genotypes; marker assisted selection (MAS).

Keywords: genetic polymorphism, SNP polymorphism, Maghrabi camels, κ-Casein gene, αS1-Casein gene

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Authors: Mária Ildikó Farkas

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Kokugaku of the Edo period can be seen as a key factor of defining cultural (and national) identity in the 18th and early 19th century based on Japanese cultural heritage. Kokugaku focused on Japanese classics, on exploring, studying and reviving (or even inventing) ancient Japanese language, literature, myths, history and also political ideology. ‘Japanese culture’ as such was distinguished from Chinese (and all other) cultures, ‘Japanese identity’ was thus defined. Meiji scholars used kokugaku conceptions of Japan to construct a modern national identity based on the premodern and culturalist conceptions of community. The Japanese cultural movement of the 18-19th centuries (kokugaku) of defining cultural and national identity before modernization can be compared not to the development of Western Europe (where national identity strongly attached to modern nation states) or other parts of Asia (where these emerged after the Western colonization), but rather with the ‘national awakening’ movements of the peoples of East Central Europe, a comparison which have not been dealt with in the secondary literature yet. The role of a common language, culture, history and myths in the process of defining cultural identity – following mainly Miroslav Hroch’s comparative and interdisciplinary theory of national development – can be examined compared to the movements of defining identity of the peoples of East Central Europe (18th-19th c). In the shadow of a cultural and/or political ‘monolith’ (China for Japan and Germany for Central Europe), before modernity, ethnic groups or communities started to evolve their own identities with cultural movements focusing on their own language and culture, thus creating their cultural identity, and in the end, a new sense of community, the nation. Comparing actual texts (‘narratives’) of the kokugaku scholars and Central European writers of the nation building period (18th and early 19th centuries) can reveal the similarities of the discourses of deliberate searches for identity. Similar motives of argument can be identified in these narratives: ‘language’ as the primary bearer of collective identity, the role of language in culture, ‘culture’ as the main common attribute of the community; and similar aspirations to explore, search and develop native language, ‘genuine’ culture, ‘original’ traditions. This comparative research offering ‘development patterns’ for interpretation can help us understand processes that may be ambiguously considered ‘backward’ or even ‘deleterious’ (e.g. cultural nationalism) or just ‘unique’. ‘Cultural identity’ played a very important role in the formation of national identity during modernization especially in the case of non-Western communities, who had to face the danger of losing their identities in the course of ‘Westernization’ accompanying modernization.

Keywords: cultural identity, Japanese modernization, kokugaku, national awakening

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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: Arsalan Jabbar, Wajiha Javed, Nelofer Mehboob, Zahid Memon

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Introduction: There are multiple social, individual and cultural factors that influence an individual’s decision to adopt family planning methods especially among non-users in patriarchal societies like Pakistan.Non-users, if targeted efficiently, can contribute significantly to country’s CPR. A research study showed that non-users if convinced to adopt lactational amenorrhea method can shift to long-term methods in future. Research shows that if non-users are targeted efficiently a 59% reduction in unintended pregnancies in Saharan Africa and South-Central and South-East Asia is anticipated. Methods: We did secondary data analysis on Pakistan Demographic Heath Survey (2012-13) dataset. Use of contraception (never-use/ever-use) was the outcome variable. At univariate level Chi-square/Fisher Exact test was used to assess relationship of baseline covariates with contraception use. Then variables to be incorporated in the model were checked for multi-collinearity, confounding, and interaction. Then binary logistic regression (with an urban-rural stratification) was done to find the relationship between contraception use and baseline demographic and social variables. Results: The multivariate analyses of the study showed that younger women (≤ 29 years) were more prone to be never users as compared to those who were > 30 years and this trend was seen in urban areas (AOR 1.92, CI 1.453-2.536) as well as rural areas (AOR 1.809, CI 1.421-2.303). While looking at regional variation, women from urban Sindh (AOR 1.548, CI 1.142-2.099) and urban Balochistan (AOR 2.403, CI 1.504-3.839) had more never users as compared to other urban regions. Women in the rich wealth quintile were more never users and this was seen both in urban and rural localities (urban (AOR 1.106 CI .753-1.624); rural areas (AOR 1.162, CI .887-1.524)) even though these were not statistically significant. Women idealizing more children(> 4) are more never users as compared to those idealizing less children in both urban (AOR 1.854, CI 1.275-2.697) and rural areas (AOR 2.101, CI 1.514-2.916). Women who never lost a pregnancy were more inclined to be non-users in rural areas (AOR 1.394, CI 1.127-1.723) .Women familiar with only traditional or no method had more never users in rural areas (AOR 1.717, CI 1.127-1.723) but in urban areas it wasn’t significant. Women unaware of Lady Health Worker’s presence in their area were more never users especially in rural areas (AOR 1.276, CI 1.014-1.607). Women who did not visit any care provider were more never users (urban (AOR 11.738, CI 9.112-15.121) rural areas (AOR 7.832, CI 6.243-9.826)). Discussion/Conclusion: This study concluded that government, policy makers and private sector family planning programs should focus on the untapped pool of never users (younger women from underserved provinces, in higher wealth quintiles, who desire more children.). We need to make sure to cover catchment areas where there are less LHWs and less providers as ignorance to modern methods and never been visited by an LHW are important determinants of never use. This all is in sync with previous literate from similar developing countries.

Keywords: contraception, demographic and health survey, family planning, never users

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Authors: B. D. Patni, Ashwani Jain, Arindom Chakraborty

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The world’s highest mountain range has been forming since the collision of Indian Plate with Asian Plate 40-50 million years ago. The Indian subcontinent has been deeper and deeper in to the rest of Asia resulting upliftment of Himalaya & Tibetan Plateau. The complex domain has become a major challenge for construction of hydro electric projects. The Himalayas are geologically complex & seismically active. Shifting of Indian Plate northwardly and increasing the amount of stresses in the fragile domain which leads to deformation in the form of several fold, faults and upliftment. It is difficult to undergo extensive geological investigation to ascertain the geological problems to be encountered during construction. Inaccessibility of the terrain, high rock cover, unpredictable ground water condition etc. are the main constraints. The hydroelectric projects located in Himalayas have faced many geological and geo-hydrological problems while construction of surface and subsurface works. Based on the experience, efforts have been made to identify the expected geological problems during and after construction of the projects. These have been classified into surface and subsurface problems which include existence of inhomogeneous deep overburden in the river bed or buried valley, abrupt change in bed rock profile, Occurrences of fault zones/shear zones/fractured rock in dam foundation and slope instability in the abutments. The tunneling difficulties are many such as squeezing ground condition, popping, rock bursting, high temperature gradient, heavy ingress of water, existence of shear seams/shear zones and emission of obnoxious gases. However, these problems were mitigated by adopting suitable remedial measures as per site requirement. The support system includes shotcrete, wire mesh, rock bolts, steel ribs, fore-poling, pre-grouting, pipe-roofing, MAI anchors, toe wall, retaining walls, reinforced concrete dowels, drainage drifts, anchorage cum drainage shafts, soil nails, concrete cladding and shear keys. Controlled drilling & blasting, heading & benching, proper drainage network and ventilation system are other remedial measures adopted to overcome such adverse situations. The paper highlights the geological uncertainties and its remedial measures in Himalaya, based on the analysis and evaluation of 20 hydroelectric projects during construction.

Keywords: geological problems, shear seams, slope, drilling & blasting, shear zones

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Authors: Kiyanoush Ghalavand, Ali Ferydooni

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Fars province Fārs or Pārs is a vast land located in the southwest of Iran. All over the province, you can see and feel the glory of Ancient Iranian culture and civilization. There are many monuments from pre-historical to the Islamic era within this province. The existence of ancient cultural and historical monuments in Fars province including the historical complex of Persepolis, the tombs of Persian poets Hafez and Saadi, and dozens of other valuable cultural and historical works of this province as a symbol of Iranian national identity and the manifestation of transcendent cultural values of this national identity. Fars province is quintessentially Persian. Its name is the modern version of ancient Parsa, the homeland, if not the place of origin, of the Persians, one of the great powers of antiquity. From here, the Persian Empire ruled much of Western and Central Asia, receiving ambassadors and messengers at Persepolis. It was here that the Persian kings were buried, both in the mountain behind Persepolis and in the rock face of nearby Naqsh-e Rustam. We have a complex paradox in Persian and Islamic ideology in the age of technology in Iran. The main purpose of the present article is to identify and describe the problems and prospects of origin and development of the modern approach to the conservation and restoration of ancient monuments and historic buildings, the influence that this development has had on international collaboration in the protection and conservation of cultural heritage, and the present consequences worldwide. The definition of objects and structures of the past as heritage, and the policies related to their protection, restoration, and conservation, have evolved together with modernity, and are currently recognized as an essential part of the responsibilities of modern society. Since the eighteenth century, the goal of this protection has been defined as the cultural heritage of humanity; gradually this has included not only ancient monuments and past works of art but even entire territories for a variety of new values generated in recent decades. In its medium-term program of 1989, UNESCO defined the full scope of such heritage. The cultural heritage may be defined as the entire corpus of material signs either artistic or symbolic handed on by the past to each culture and, therefore, to the whole of humankind. As a constituent part of the affirmation and enrichment of cultural identities, as a legacy belonging to all humankind, the cultural heritage gives each particular place its recognizable features and is the storehouse of human experience. The preservation and the presentation of the cultural heritage are therefore a corner-stone of any cultural policy. The process, from which these concepts and policies have emerged, has been identified as the ‘modern conservation movement’.

Keywords: tradition, modern, heritage, historical building, protection, cultural policy, fars province

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Authors: Matthias Stange

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Building Information Modelling (BIM) is one of the most promising methods in the building design process and plays an important role in the digitalization of the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Industry. The application of BIM is seen as the key enabler for increasing productivity in the construction industry. The model-based collaboration using the BIM method is intended to significantly reduce cost increases, schedule delays, and quality problems in the planning and construction of buildings. Numerous qualitative studies based on expert interviews support this theory and report perceived benefits from the use of BIM in terms of achieving project objectives related to cost, schedule, and quality. However, there is a large research gap in analysing quantitative data collected from real construction projects regarding the actual benefits of applying BIM based on representative sample size and different application regions as well as different project typologies. In particular, the influence of the project-related BIM maturity level is completely unexplored. This research project examines primary data from 105 construction projects worldwide using quantitative research methods. Projects from the areas of residential, commercial, and industrial construction as well as infrastructure and hydraulic engineering were examined in application regions North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, MENA region, and South America. First, a descriptive data analysis of 6 independent project variables (BIM maturity level, application region, project category, project type, project size, and BIM level) were carried out using statistical methods. With the help of statisticaldata analyses, the influence of the project-related BIM maturity level on 6 dependent project variables (deviation in planning time, deviation in construction time, number of planning collisions, frequency of rework, number of RFIand number of changes) was investigated. The study revealed that most of the benefits of using BIM perceived through numerous qualitative studies have not been confirmed. The results of the examined sample show that the application of BIM did not have an improving influence on the dependent project variables, especially regarding the quality of the planning itself and the adherence to the schedule targets. The quantitative research suggests the conclusion that the BIM planning method in its current application has not (yet) become a recognizable increase in productivity within the planning and construction process. The empirical findings indicate that this is due to the overall low level of BIM maturity in the projects of the examined sample. As a quintessence, the author suggests that the further implementation of BIM should primarily focus on an application-oriented and consistent development of the project-related BIM maturity level instead of implementing BIM for its own sake. Apparently, there are still significant difficulties in the interweaving of people, processes, and technology.

Keywords: AEC-process, building information modeling, BIM maturity level, project results, productivity of the construction industry

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Authors: Muhammad Fiaz Qamar, Uzma Mehreen, Muhammad Arfan Zaman, Kazim Ali

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Ovine Theileriosis is a world-wide concern, especially in tropical and subtropical areas, due to having tick abundance that has received less awareness in different developed and developing areas due to less worth of sheep, low to the middle level of infection in different small ruminants herd. Across Asia, the prevalence reports have been conducted to provide equivalent calculation of flock and animal level prevalence of Theileriosisin animals. It is a challenge for veterinarians to timely diagnosis & control of Theileriosis and famers because of the nature of the organism and inadequacy of restricted plans to control. All most work is based upon the development of such a technique which should be farmer-friendly, less expensive, and easy to perform into the field. By the timely diagnosis of this disease will decrease the irrational use of the drugs, and other plan was to determine the prevalence of Theileriosis in District Jhang by using the conventional method, PCR and qPCR, and LAMP. We quantify the molecular epidemiology of T.lestoquardiin sheep from Jhang districts, Punjab, Pakistan. In this study, we concluded that the overall prevalence of Theileriosis was (32/350*100= 9.1%) in sheep by using Giemsa staining technique, whereas (48/350*100= 13%) is observed by using PCR technique (56/350*100=16%) in qPCR and the LAMP technique have shown up to this much prevalence percentage (60/350*100= 17.1%). The specificity and sensitivity also calculated in comparison with the PCR and LAMP technique. Means more positive results have been shown when the diagnosis has been done with the help of LAMP. And there is little bit of difference between the positive results of PCR and qPCR, and the least positive animals was by using Giemsa staining technique/conventional method. If we talk about the specificity and sensitivity of the LAMP as compared to PCR, The cross tabulation shows that the results of sensitivity of LAMP counted was 94.4%, and specificity of LAMP counted was 78%. Advances in scientific field must be upon reality based ideas which can lessen the gaps and hurdles in the way of scientific research; the lamp is one of such techniques which have done wonders in adding value and helping human at large. It is such a great biological diagnostic tools and has helped a lot in the proper diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases. Other methods for diagnosis, such as culture techniques and serological techniques, have exposed humans with great danger. However, with the help of molecular diagnostic technique like LAMP, exposure to such pathogens is being avoided in the current era Most prompt and tentative diagnosis can be made using LAMP. Other techniques like PCR has many disadvantages when compared to LAMP as PCR is a relatively expensive, time consuming, and very complicated procedure while LAMP is relatively cheap, easy to perform, less time consuming, and more accurate. LAMP technique has removed hurdles in the way of scientific research and molecular diagnostics, making it approachable to poor and developing countries.

Keywords: distribution, thelaria, LAMP, primer sequences, PCR

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Authors: R. Kenova, K. Anguelov, R. Nikolova

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The human factor plays a major role in boosting the competitive capacity of logistic enterprises. This is of particular importance when it comes to logistic companies. On the one hand they should be strictly compliant with legislation; on the other hand, they should be competitive in terms of pricing and of delivery timelines. Moreover, their policies should allow them to be as flexible as possible. All these circumstances are reason for very serious challenges for the qualification, motivation and experience of the human resources, working in logistic companies or in logistic departments of trade and industrial enterprises. The geographic place of Bulgaria puts it in position of a country with some specific competitive advantages in the goods transport from Europe to Asia and back. Along with it, there is a number of logistic companies, that operate in this sphere in Bulgaria. In the current paper, the authors aim to establish the condition of the administrative capacity and human resources in the logistic companies and logistic departments of trade and industrial companies in Bulgaria in order to propose some guidelines for improving of their effectiveness. Due to independent empirical research, conducted in Bulgarian logistic, trade and industrial enterprises, the authors investigate both the impact degree and the interdependence of various factors that characterize the administrative capacity. The study is conducted with a prepared questionnaire, in format of direct interview with the respondents. The volume of the poll is 50 respondents, representatives of: general managers of industrial or trade enterprises; logistic managers of industrial or trade enterprises; general managers of forwarding companies – either with own or with hired transport; experts from Bulgarian association of logistics; logistic lobbyist and scientists of the relevant area. The data are gathered for 3 months, then arranged by a specialized software program and analyzed by preset criteria. Based on the results of this methodological toolbox, it can be claimed that there is a correlation between the individual criteria. Also, a commitment between the administrative capacity and other factors that determine the competitiveness of the studied companies is established. In this paper, the authors present results of the empirical research that concerns the number and the workload in the logistic departments of the enterprises. Also, what is commented is the experience, related to logistic processes management and human resources competence. Moreover, the overload level of the logistic specialists is analyzed as one of the main threats for making mistakes and losing clients. The paper stands behind the thesis that there is indispensability of forming an effective and efficient administrative capacity, based on the number, qualification, experience and motivation of the staff in the logistic companies. The paper ends with recommendations about the qualification and experience of the specialists in logistic departments; providing effective and efficient administrative capacity in the logistic departments; interdependence of the human factor and the other factors that influence the enterprise competitiveness.

Keywords: administrative capacity, human resources, logistic competitiveness, staff qualification

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Authors: Maurice A. Duka, Leobel Von Q. Tamayo, Niño Carlo I. Casim

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The paucity of long-term measurements and monitoring of accurate water quality parameter profiles is evident for small and deep tropical lakes in Southeast Asia. This leads to a poor understanding of the stratification and mixing dynamics of these lakes in the region. The water quality dynamics of Sampaloc Lake, a tropical crater lake (104 ha, 27 m deep) in the Philippines, were investigated to understand how monsoon-driven conditions impact water quality and ecological health. Located in an urban area with approximately 10% of its surface area allocated to aquaculture, the lake is subject to distinct seasonal changes associated with the Northeast (NE) and Southwest (SW) monsoons. NE Monsoon typically occurs from October to April, while SW monsoon from May to September. These monsoons influence the lake’s water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorophyll-α (chl-α), phycocyanin (PC), and turbidity, leading to significant seasonal variability. Monthly field observations of water quality parameters were made from October 2022 to September 2023 using a multi-parameter probe, YSI ProDSS, together with the collection of meteorological data during the same period. During the NE monsoon, cooler air temperatures and winds with sustained speeds caused surface water temperatures to drop from 30.9 ºC in October to 25.5 ºC in January, resulting in the weakening of stratification and eventually in lake turnover. This turnover redistributed nutrients from hypolimnetic layers to surface layers, increasing chl-α and PC levels (14-41 and 0-2 µg/L) throughout the water column. The fish kill was also observed during the lake’s turnover event as a result of the mixing of hypoxic hypolimnetic waters. Turbidity levels (0-3 NTU) were generally low but showed mid-column peaks in October, which was linked to thermocline-related effects, while low values in November followed heavy rainfall dilution and mixing effects. Conversely, the SW monsoon showed increased surface temperatures (28-30 ºC), shallow thermocline formations (3-11 m), and lower surface chl-α and PC levels (2-8 and 0-0.5 µg/L, respectively), likely due to limited nutrient mixing and more stable stratification. Turbidity was notably higher also in July (11-15 NTU) due to intense rainfall and reduced light penetration, which minimized photosynthetic activity. The SW monsoon also coincided with the typhoon season in the study area, resulting in partial upwelling of nutrients during strong storm events. These findings emphasize the need for continued monitoring of Sampaloc Lake’s seasonal water quality patterns, as monsoon-driven changes are crucial to maintaining its ecological balance and sustainability.

Keywords: seasonal water quality dynamics, Philippine tropical lake, monsoon-driven conditions, stratification and mixing

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Authors: Marius Zemp

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Evidentials indicate how the speaker obtained the information conveyed in a statement. Detailed diachronic-functional accounts of evidential contrasts found in the Greater Himalayan Region (GHR) reveal that contrasting evidentials are not only defined against each other but also that most of them once had different aspecto-temporal (TA) values which must have aligned when their contrast was conventionalized. Based on these accounts, the present paper sheds light on hitherto unidentified mechanisms of grammatical change. The main insights of the present study were facilitated by ‘functional reconstruction’, which (i) revolves around morphemes which appear to be used in divergent ways within a language and/or across different related languages, (ii) persistently devises hypotheses as to how these functional divergences may have developed, and (iii) retains those hypotheses which most plausibly and economically account for the data. Based on the dense and detailed grammatical literature on the Tibetic language family, the author of this study is able to reconstruct the initial steps by which its evidentiality systems developed: By the time Proto-Tibetan started to be spread across much of Central Asia in the 7th century CE, verbal concatenations with and without a connective -s had become common. As typical for resultative constructions around the globe, Proto-Tibetan *V-s-’dug ‘was there, having undergone V’ (employing the simple past of ’dug ‘stay, be there’) allowed both for a perfect reading (‘the state resulting from V holds at the moment of speech’) and an inferential reading (‘(I infer from its result that) V has taken place’). In Western Tibetic, *V-s-’dug grammaticalized in its perfect meaning as it became contrasted with perfect *V-s-yod ‘is there, having undergone V’ (employing the existential copula yod); that is, *V-s-’dug came to mean that the speaker directly witnessed the profiled result of V, whereas *V-s-yod came to mean that the speaker does not depend on direct evidence of the result, as s/he simply knows that it holds. In Eastern Tibetic, on the other hand, V-s-’dug grammaticalized in its inferential past meaning as it became contrasted with past *V-thal ‘went past V-ing’ (employing the simple past of thal ‘go past’); that is, *V-s-’dug came to mean that the profiled past event was inferred from its result, while *V-thal came to mean that it was directly witnessed. Hence, depending on whether it became contrasted with a perfect or a past construction, resultative V-s-’dug grammaticalized either its direct evidential perfect or its inferential past function. This means that in both cases, evidential readings of constructions with distinct but overlapping TA-values became contrasted, and in order for their contrasting meanings to grammaticalize, the constructions had to agree on their tertium comparationis, which was their shared TA-value. By showing that other types of evidential contrasts in the GHR are also TA-aligned, while no single markers (or privative contrasts) are found to have grammaticalized evidential functions, the present study suggests that, at least in this region of the world, evidential meanings grammaticalize only in equipollent contrasts, which always end up TA-aligned.

Keywords: evidential contrasts, functional-diachronic accounts, grammatical change, himalayan languages, tense/aspect-alignment

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Authors: Bikash Ranjan Mishra, Lopamudra D. Satpathy

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In the wake of the phenomenal surge in international business in the last decades or more, both the developed and developing economies around the world are in massive competition to attract more and more FDI flows. While the developed countries have marched ahead in the race, the developing countries, especially those of Asian economies, have followed them at a rapid pace. While most of the previous studies have analysed the role of institutional quality in the promotion of FDI flows in developing countries, very few studies have taken an integrated approach of examining the comprehensive impact of institutional quality, globalization pattern and domestic financial development on FDI flows. In this context, the paper contributes to the literature in two important ways. Firstly, two composite indices of institutional quality and domestic financial development for the Asian countries are constructed in comparison to earlier studies that resort to a single variable for indicating the institutional quality and domestic financial development. Secondly, the impact of these variables on FDI flows through their interaction with geographical region is investigated. The study uses panel data covering the time period of 1996 to 2012 by selecting twenty Asian developing countries by emphasizing the quality of institutions from the geographical regions of eastern, south-eastern, southern and western Asia. Control of corruption, better rule of law, regulatory quality, effectiveness of the government, political stability and voice and accountability are used as indicators of institutional quality. Besides these, the study takes into account the domestic credits in the hands of public, private sectors and in stock markets as domestic financial indicators. First in the specification of model, a factor analysis is performed to reduce the vast determinants, which are highly correlated with each other, to a manageable size. Afterwards, a reduced version of the model is estimated with the extracted factors in the form of index as independent variables along with a set of control variables. It is found that the institutional quality index and index of globalization exert a significant effect on FDI inflows of the host countries; in contrast, the domestic financial index does not seem to play much worthy role. Finally, some robustness tests are performed to make sure that the results are not sensitive to temporal and spatial unobserved heterogeneity. On the basis of the above study, one general inference can be drawn from the policy prescription point of view that the government of these developing countries should strengthen their domestic institution, both financial and non-financial. In addition to these, welfare policies should also target for rapid globalization. If the financial and non-financial institutions of these developing countries become sound and grow more globalized in the economic, social and political domain, then they can appeal to more amounts of FDI inflows that will subsequently result in advancement of these economies.

Keywords: Asian developing economies, FDI, institutional quality, panel data

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Authors: E. M. Condori-Peñaloza, S. S. Costa

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Eleusine indica L, known as goose-grass, is considered a troublesome weed that can cause important economic losses in the agriculture worldwide. However, this grass is used as a medicinal plant in some regions of Brazil to treat influenza and pneumonia. In Africa and Asia, it is used to treat malaria and as diuretic, anti-helminthic, among other uses. Despite its therapeutic potential, little is known about the chemical composition and bioactive compounds of E. indica. Hitherto, two major flavonoids, schaftoside and vitexin, were isolated from aerial part of the species and showed inhibitory activity on lung neutrophil influxes in mice, suggesting a beneficial effect on airway inflammation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the chemical profile of aqueous extracts from aerial parts of Eleusine indica specimens using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-DAD) and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), with emphasis on phenolic compounds. Specimens of E. indica were collected in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Aerial parts of fresh plants were extracted by decoction (10% p/v). After spontaneous precipitation of the aqueous extract at 10-12°C for 24 hours, the supernatant obtained was frozen and lyophilized. After that, 1 g of the extract was dissolved into 25 mL of water and fractionated on a reverse phase chromatography column (RP-2), eluted with a gradient of H2O/EtOH. Five fractions were obtained. The extract and fractions had their chemical profile analyzed by using HPLC-DAD (C-18 column: 20 μL, 256 -365 nm; gradient water 0.01% phosphoric acid/ acetonitrile. The extract was also analyzed by NMR (1H, 500 MHz, D2O) in order to access its global chemical composition. HPLC-DAD analyses of crude extract allowed the identification of ten phenolic compounds. Fraction 1, eluted with 100% water, was poor in phenolic compounds and no major peak was detected. In fraction 2, eluted with 100% water, it was possible to observe one major peak at retention time (RT) of 23.75 minutes compatible with flavonoid; fraction 3, also eluted with 100% water, showed four peaks at RT= 21.47, 23.52, 24.33 and 25.84 minutes, all of them compatible with flavonoid. In fraction 4, eluted with 50%/ethanol/50% water, it was possible to observe 3 peaks compatible with flavonoids at RT=24.65, 26.81, 27.49 minutes, and one peak (28.83 min) compatible with a phenolic acid derivative. Finally, in fraction 5, eluted with 100% ethanol, no phenolic substance was detected. The UV spectra of all flavonoids detected were compatible with the flavone subclass (λ= 320-345 nm). The 1H NMR spectra of aerial parts extract showed signals in three regions: δ 0.8-3.0 ppm (aliphatic compounds), δ 3.0-5.5 ppm corresponding to carbohydrates (signals most abundant and overlapped), and δ 6.0-8.5 ppm (aromatic compounds). Signals compatible with flavonoids (rings A and B) could also be detected in the crude extract spectra. These results suggest the presence of several flavonoids in E. indica, which reinforces their therapeutic potential. The pharmacological activities of Eleusine indica extracts and fractions will be further evaluated.

Keywords: flavonoids, HPLC, NMR, phenolic compounds

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Authors: Andre C Jordaan

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The end of the Cold War and rivalry between super powers has changed the nature of military build-up in many countries. A call from international institutions like the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reduce the levels of military expenditure was the order of the day. However, this bid to cut military expenditure has not been forthright. Recently, active armed conflicts occurred in at least 46 states in 2021 with 8 in the Americas, 9 in Asia and Oceania, 3 in Europe, 8 in the Middle East and North Africa and 18 in sub-Saharan Africa. Global military expenditure in 2022 was estimated to be US$2,2 trillion, representing 2.2 per cent of global gross domestic product. Particularly sharp rises in military spending have followed in African countries and the Middle East. Global military expenditure currently follows two divergent trends, either a declining trend in the West caused mainly by austerity, efforts to control budget deficits and the wrapping up of prolonged wars. However, some parts of the world shows an increasing trend on the back of security concerns, geopolitical ambitions and some internal political factors. Conflict related fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa alone increased by 19 per cent between 2020 and 2021. The interaction between military expenditure (read conflict) and international trade is generally the cause of much debate. Some argue that countries’ fear of losing trade opportunities causes political decision makers to refrain from engaging in conflict when important trading partners are involved. However, three main arguments are always present when discussing the relationship between military expenditure or conflicts and international trade: Free trade could promote peaceful cooperation, it could trigger tension between trading blocs and partners, and trade could have no effect because conflict is based on issues that are more important. Military expenditure remains an important element of the overall government expenditure in many African countries. On the other hand, numerous researchers perceive increased international trade to be one of the main factors promoting economic growth in these countries. The purpose of this paper is therefore to determine what effect, if any, exist between the level of military expenditure and international trade within a selection of 19 African countries. Applying an augmented gravity model to explore the relationship between military expenditure and international trade, evidence is found to confirm the existence of an inverse relationship between these two variables. It seems that the results are in line with the Liberal school of thought where trade is seen as an instrument of conflict prevention. Trade is therefore perceived as a symptom of peace and not a cause thereof. In general, conflict or rumors of conflict tend to reduce trade. If conflict did not impede trade, economic agents would be indifferent to risk. Many claim that trade brings peace, however, it seems that it is rather peace that brings trade. From the results, it appears that trade reduces the risk of conflict and that conflict reduces trade.

Keywords: African countries, conflict, international trade, military expenditure

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Authors: Celestine Odigwe, Epoke Lincoln, Rhoda-Dara Ephraim

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Background; Immunization against the childhood killer diseases is the cardinal strategy for the prevention of these diseases all over the world in under five children, these diseases include; Tuberculosis, Measles, Polio, Tetanus, Diphthria, Pertusis, Yellow Fever, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus Influenza type B. 6.9 million children die before their fifth birthday , 80% of the worlds death in children under 5 years occur in 25 countries most in Africa and Asia and 2 million children can be saved each year with routine immunization Therefore failure to achieve total immunization coverage puts several children at risk. Aim; The aim of the study was to ascertain the prevalence, Investigate the various reasons and causes why several under five children in a suburb of calabar municipal county fail to get the required immunizations as at and when due and possibly the consequences, so that efforts can be re-directed towards the solution of the problems so identified. Methods; the study was a community based cross sectional study. The respondents were the mothers/guardians of the sampled children who were all aged 0-59 months. To be eligible for recruitment into the study, the parent or guardian was required to give an informed consent, reside within the Calabar South County with his/her children aged 0-59 months. We calculated our sample size using the Leslie-Kish formula and we used a two-staged sampling method, first to ballot for the wards to be involved and then to select four of the most populated ones in the wards chosen. Data collection was by interviewer administered structured questionnaire (Appendix I), Data collected was entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. Percentages were calculated and represented using charts and tables Results; The number of children sampled was 159. We found that 150 were fully immunized and 9 were not, the prevalence of missed opportunity was 32% from the study. The reasons for missed opportunities were varied, ranging from false contraindications, logistical problems resulting in very poor access roads to health facilities and poor organization of health centers together with negative health worker attitudes. Some of the consequences of these missed opportunities were increased susceptibility to vaccine preventable diseases, resurgence of the above diseases and increased morbidity and mortality of children aged less than 5 years. Conclusion; We found that ignorance on the part of both parents/guardians and health care staff together with infrastructural inadequacies in the county such as- roads, poor electric power supply for storage of vaccines were hugely responsible for most missed opportunities for immunization. The details of these and suggestions for improvement and the way forward are discussed.

Keywords: missed opportunity, immunization, under five, Calabar south

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Authors: Kenny Chi Man Chui

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Background: In Chinese culture, the traditional equivalent term for English dementia is chi dai zheng, which, whether translated as ‘insanity’ or ‘idiocy’ carries a sharply negative connotation. In fact, even though the traditional name for dementia has evolved, from chi dai zheng to shi zhi zheng, nao tui hua zheng or ren zhi zhang ai zheng, educating the population about more respectful terms for the condition and promoting a positive understanding about people with dementia in society have proven to be time-intensive endeavors. By extension, the use of such terms promotes the perception that people with dementia undergo a ‘total loss of self’ or experience a ‘living death’ or ‘social death’. Both in Asia and elsewhere, the appropriate nomenclature for dementia remains controversial, and different medical and healthcare professionals in Hong Kong have taken various stances on how to refer to the condition there. Indeed, how this negative perception affects the interaction between people with dementia and the surrounding others? Methodology: Qualitative research with the concept of postmodernism, interpretivism, and Foucauldian theory was adopted as frameworks in applying participatory observations, in-depth interviews, and other qualitative methods. First, ten people with dementia—one man and nine women—living in two residential care homes in Hong Kong were interviewed, as were ten members of the care staff, all of whom were women. Next, to coach the staff in understanding the feelings and self-perceptions of people with dementia, two reflective training sessions were provided. Afterward, to assess the impact of the training sessions on the staff, two focus groups were held. Findings: The findings revealed that residents with dementia did not perceive themselves as being ‘demented’ and were confused by not getting responses from the others. From the understanding of care staff, they perceived the residents as being ‘demented’, desolate troublemakers. They described people with dementia as ‘naughty children’ who should be controlled and be punished while treated them as ‘psychiatric patients’ who could be ignored and be mute. “Psychosocial restraint” happened regarding the discrepancy of perception between people with dementia and the care staff. People with dementia did not think that their confusion of memory was related to dementia or, frankly speaking, they did not know what dementia was. When others treated them as ‘demented patients, the residents with mild to moderate dementia fiercely rejected that designation and reported a host of negative feelings, hence the fluctuations of mood and emotion noted by the care staff. Conclusion: As the findings revealed, the people with dementia were also discontent with the care arrangements in the care homes, felt abandoned by others and worried about bothering others. Their shifting emotional states and moods were treated as the Behavioral and Psychological symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), which nothing can do reported by the care staff in the residential care homes. People with dementia become social withdrawal or isolated in daily living, which should be alert and be changed by the social work professionals about the occurrence of “psychosocial restraint” in dementia care.

Keywords: psychosocial restraint, qualitative research, social work with dementitude, voice of people with dementia

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