Search results for: security features

Authors: Majdah Alnefaie

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The ‘netnographic study’ and data mining have been used to monitor the public interaction on Social Media Sites (SMSs) to understand what the motivational factors influence the Saudi intentions regarding allowing women driving in Saudi Arabia in 2018. The netnographic study monitored the publics’ textual and visual communications in Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube. SMSs users’ communications method is also known as electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Netnography methodology is still in its initial stages as it depends on manual extraction, reading and classification of SMSs users text. On the other hand, data mining is come from the computer and physical sciences background, therefore it is much harder to extract meaning from unstructured qualitative data. In addition, the new development in data mining software does not support the Arabic text, especially local slang in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, collaborations between social and computer scientists such as ‘netnographic study’ and data mining will enhance the efficiency of this study methodology leading to comprehensive research outcome. The eWOM communications between individuals on SMSs can promote a sense that sharing their preferences and experiences regarding politics and social government regulations is a part of their daily life, highlighting the importance of using SMSs as assistance in promoting participation in political and social. Therefore, public interactions on SMSs are important tools to comprehend people’s intentions regarding the new government regulations in the country. This study aims to answer this question, "What factors influence the Saudi Arabians' intentions of Saudi female's car-driving in 2018". The study utilized qualitative method known as netnographic study. The study used R studio to collect and analyses 27000 Saudi users’ comments from 25th May until 25th June 2018. The study has developed data collection model that support importing and analysing the Arabic text in the local slang. The data collection model in this study has been clustered based on different type of social networks, gender and the study main factors. The social network analysis was employed to collect comments from SMSs owned by governments’ originations, celebrities, vloggers, social activist and news SMSs accounts. The comments were collected from both males and females SMSs users. The sentiment analysis shows that the total number of positive comments Saudi females car driving was higher than negative comments. The data have provided the most important factors influenced the Saudi Arabians’ intention of Saudi females car driving including, culture and environment, freedom of choice, equal opportunities, security and safety. The most interesting finding indicted that women driving would play a role in increasing the individual freedom of choice. Saudi female will be able to drive cars to fulfill her daily life and family needs without being stressed due to the lack of transportation. The study outcome will help Saudi government to improve woman quality of life by increasing the ability to find more jobs and studies, increasing income through decreasing the spending on transport means such as taxi and having more freedom of choice in woman daily life needs. The study enhances the importance of using use marketing research to measure the public opinions on the new government regulations in the country. The study has explained the limitations and suggestions for future research.

Keywords: netnographic study, data mining, social media, Saudi Arabia, female driving

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Authors: Mahbuba Kaneez Hasna

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Introductory Statement outlining the background: Little has been written about political ecology of urban gardening, such as a network of knowledge generation, technologies of food production and distribution, food consumption practices, and the regulation of ‘agricultural activities. For urban food gardens to sustain as a long-term food security enterprise, we will need to better understand the anthropological, ecological, political, and institutional factors influencing their development, management, and ongoing viability. Significance of the study: Dhaka as one of the fastest growing city. There are currently no studies regards to Bangladesh on how urban slum dwellerscope with the changing urban environment in the city, where they overcome challenges, and how they cope with the urban ecological cycle of food and vegetable production. It is also essential to understand the importance of their access to confined spaces in the slums they apply their indigenous knowledge. These relationships in nature are important factors in community and conservation ecology. Until now, there has been no significant published academic work on relationships between urban and environmental anthropology, urban planning, geography, ecology, and social anthropology with a focus on urban agriculture and how this contributes to the moral economies, indigenous knowledge, and government policies in order to improve the lives and livelihoods of slum dwellers surrounding parks and open spaces in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methodology: it have applied participant observation, semi-structured questionnaire-based interviews, and focus group discussions to collect social data. Interviews were conducted with the urban agriculture practitioners who are slum dwellers who carry out their urban agriculture activities. Some of the interviews were conducted with non-government organisations (NGOs) and local and state government officials, using semi-structured interviews. Using these methods developed a clearer understanding of how green space cultivation, local economic self-reliance, and urban gardening are producing distinctive urban ecologies in Dhaka and their policy-implications on urban sustainability. Major findings of the study: The research provided an in-depth knowledge on the challenges that slum dwellers encounter in establishing and maintaining urban gardens, such as the economic development of the city, conflicting political agendas, and environmental constraints in areas within which gardening activities take place. The research investigated (i) How do slum dwellers perform gardening practices from rural areas to open spaces in the city? (ii) How do men and women’s ethno-botanical knowledge contribute to urban biodiversity; (iii) And how do slum dwellers navigate complex constellations of land use policy, competing political agendas, and conflicting land and water tenures to meet livelihood functions provided by their gardens. Concluding statement: Lack of infrastructure facilities such as water supply and sanitation, micro-drains and waste disposal areas, and poor access to basic health care services increase the misery of people in the slum areas. Lack of environmental health awareness information for farmers, such as the risks from the use of chemical pesticides in gardens and from grazing animals in contaminated fields or cropping and planting trees or vegetable in contaminated dumping grounds, can all cause high health risk to humans and their environment.

Keywords: gender, urban agriculture, ecosystem health, urban slum systems

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Authors: Benjamin Arazi

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Blockchain is the technology behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. It revolutionizes the meaning of trust in the sense of offering total reliability without relying on any central entity that controls or supervises the system. The Wall Street Journal states: “Blockchain Marks the Next Step in the Internet’s Evolution”. Blockchain was listed as #1 in Linkedin – The Learning Blog “most in-demand hard skills needed in 2020”. As stated there: “Blockchain’s novel way to store, validate, authorize, and move data across the internet has evolved to securely store and send any digital asset”. GSMA, a leading Telco organization of mobile communications operators, declared that “Blockchain has the potential to be for value what the Internet has been for information”. Motivated by these seminal observations, this paper presents the foundations of a Blockchain-based “Internet of Assets” academic program that joins under one roof leading application areas that are characterized by the transfer of assets over communication lines. Two such areas, which are pillars of our economy, are Fintech – Financial Technology and mobile communications services. The next application in line is Healthcare. These challenges are met based on available extensive professional literature. Blockchain-based assets communication is based on extending the principle of Bitcoin, starting with the basic question: If digital money that travels across the universe can ‘prove its own validity’, can this principle be applied to digital content. A groundbreaking positive answer here led to the concept of “smart contract” and consequently to DLT - Distributed Ledger Technology, where the word ‘distributed’ relates to the non-existence of reliable central entities or trusted third parties. The terms Blockchain and DLT are frequently used interchangeably in various application areas. The World Bank Group compiled comprehensive reports, analyzing the contribution of DLT/Blockchain to Fintech. The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan are engaged in Project Stella, “Balancing confidentiality and auditability in a distributed ledger environment”. 130 DLT/Blockchain focused Fintech startups are now operating in Switzerland. Blockchain impact on mobile communications services is treated in detail by leading organizations. The TM Forum is a global industry association in the telecom industry, with over 850 member companies, mainly mobile operators, that generate US$2 trillion in revenue and serve five billion customers across 180 countries. From their perspective: “Blockchain is considered one of the digital economy’s most disruptive technologies”. Samples of Blockchain contributions to Fintech (taken from a World Bank document): Decentralization and disintermediation; Greater transparency and easier auditability; Automation & programmability; Immutability & verifiability; Gains in speed and efficiency; Cost reductions; Enhanced cyber security resilience. Samples of Blockchain contributions to the Telco industry. Establishing identity verification; Record of transactions for easy cost settlement; Automatic triggering of roaming contract which enables near-instantaneous charging and reduction in roaming fraud; Decentralized roaming agreements; Settling accounts per costs incurred in accordance with agreement tariffs. This clearly demonstrates an academic education structure where fundamental technologies are studied in classes together with these two application areas. Advanced courses, treating specific implementations then follow separately. All are under the roof of “Internet of Assets”.

Keywords: blockchain, education, financial technology, mobile telecommunications services

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Authors: Chia-Jung Chen, Yu-Chi Hsu, June-Dong Lin, Kun-Chen Chan, Chieh-Tien Wang, Li-Ching Wu, Chung-Feng Liu

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With fast advances in healthcare technology, various total laboratory automation (TLA) processes have been proposed. However, adopting TLA needs quite high funding. This study explores an early adoption experience by Taiwan’s large-scale hospital group, the Chimei Hospital Group (CMG), which owns three branch hospitals (Yongkang, Liouying and Chiali, in order by service scale), based on the five stages of Everett Rogers’ Diffusion Decision Process. 1.Knowledge stage: Over the years, two weaknesses exists in laboratory department of CMG: 1) only a few examination categories (e.g., sugar testing and HbA1c) can now be completed and reported within a day during an outpatient clinical visit; 2) the Yongkang Hospital laboratory space is dispersed across three buildings, resulting in duplicated investment in analysis instruments and inconvenient artificial specimen transportation. Thus, the senior management of the department raised a crucial question, was it time to process the redesign of the laboratory department? 2.Persuasion stage: At the end of 2013, Yongkang Hospital’s new building and restructuring project created a great opportunity for the redesign of the laboratory department. However, not all laboratory colleagues had the consensus for change. Thus, the top managers arranged a series of benchmark visits to stimulate colleagues into being aware of and accepting TLA. Later, the director of the department proposed a formal report to the top management of CMG with the results of the benchmark visits, preliminary feasibility analysis, potential benefits and so on. 3.Decision stage: This TLA suggestion was well-supported by the top management of CMG and, finally, they made a decision to carry out the project with an instrument-leasing strategy. After the announcement of a request for proposal and several vendor briefings, CMG confirmed their laboratory automation architecture and finally completed the contracts. At the same time, a cross-department project team was formed and the laboratory department assigned a section leader to the National Taiwan University Hospital for one month of relevant training. 4.Implementation stage: During the implementation, the project team called for regular meetings to review the results of the operations and to offer an immediate response to the adjustment. The main project tasks included: 1) completion of the preparatory work for beginning the automation procedures; 2) ensuring information security and privacy protection; 3) formulating automated examination process protocols; 4) evaluating the performance of new instruments and the instrument connectivity; 5)ensuring good integration with hospital information systems (HIS)/laboratory information systems (LIS); and 6) ensuring continued compliance with ISO 15189 certification. 5.Confirmation stage: In short, the core process changes include: 1) cancellation of signature seals on the specimen tubes; 2) transfer of daily examination reports to a data warehouse; 3) routine pre-admission blood drawing and formal inpatient morning blood drawing can be incorporated into an automatically-prepared tube mechanism. The study summarizes below the continuous improvement orientations: (1) Flexible reference range set-up for new instruments in LIS. (2) Restructure of the specimen category. (3) Continuous review and improvements to the examination process. (4) Whether installing the tube (specimen) delivery tracks need further evaluation.

Keywords: innovation decision process, total laboratory automation, health care

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Authors: Andreea Campu, Ilinica Muresan, Simona Cainap, Simion Astilean, Monica Focsan

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Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the most severe cardiovascular disease, which has threatened human lives for decades, thus a continuous interest is directed towards the detection of cardiac biomarkers such as cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in order to predict risk and, implicitly, fulfill the early diagnosis requirements in AMI settings. Microfluidics is a major technology involved in the development of efficient sensing devices with real-time fast responses and on-site applicability. Microfluidic devices have gathered a lot of attention recently due to their advantageous features such as high sensitivity and specificity, miniaturization and portability, ease-of-use, low-cost, facile fabrication, and reduced sample manipulation. The integration of gold nanoparticles into the structure of microfluidic sensors has led to the development of highly effective detection systems, considering the unique properties of the metallic nanostructures, specifically the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR), which makes them highly sensitive to their microenvironment. In this scientific context, herein, we propose the implementation of a novel detection device, which successfully combines the efficiency of gold bipyramids (AuBPs) as signal transducers and thermal generators with the sample-driven advantages of the microfluidic channels into a miniaturized, portable, low-cost, specific, and sensitive test for the dual LSPR-thermographic cTnI detection. Specifically, AuBPs with longitudinal LSPR response at 830 nm were chemically synthesized using the seed-mediated growth approach and characterized in terms of optical and morphological properties. Further, the colloidal AuBPs were deposited onto pre-treated silanized glass substrates thus, a uniform nanoparticle coverage of the substrate was obtained and confirmed by extinction measurements showing a 43 nm blue-shift of the LSPR response as a consequence of the refractive index change. The as-obtained plasmonic substrate was then integrated into a microfluidic “Y”-shaped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channel, fabricated using a Laser Cutter system. Both plasmonic and microfluidic elements were plasma treated in order to achieve a permanent bond. The as-developed microfluidic plasmonic chip was further coupled to an automated syringe pump system. The proposed biosensing protocol implicates the successive injection inside the microfluidic channel as follows: p-aminothiophenol and glutaraldehyde, to achieve a covalent bond between the metallic surface and cTnI antibody, anti-cTnI, as a recognition element, and target cTnI biomarker. The successful functionalization and capture of cTnI was monitored by LSPR detection thus, after each step, a red-shift of the optical response was recorded. Furthermore, as an innovative detection technique, thermal determinations were made after each injection by exposing the microfluidic plasmonic chip to 785 nm laser excitation, considering that the AuBPs exhibit high light-to-heat conversion performances. By the analysis of the thermographic images, thermal curves were obtained, showing a decrease in the thermal efficiency after the anti-cTnI-cTnI reaction was realized. Thus, we developed a microfluidic plasmonic chip able to operate as both LSPR and thermal sensor for the detection of the cardiac troponin I biomarker, leading thus to the progress of diagnostic devices.

Keywords: gold nanobipyramids, microfluidic device, localized surface plasmon resonance detection, thermographic detection

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Authors: Sarah Niklas, Lynne Chester, Mark Diesendorf

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Geopolitical tensions, climate change and recent movements favouring a transformative shift in institutional power structures have influenced the economics of conventional energy supply for decades. This study takes a multi-dimensional approach to illustrate the potential of renewable energy (RE) technology to provide a pathway to a low-carbon economy driven by ecologically sustainable, independent and socially just energy. This comparative analysis identifies economic, political and social drivers that shaped the adoption of RE policy in two significantly different economies, Germany and Australia, with strong and weak commitments to RE respectively. Two complementary political-economy theories frame the document-based analysis. Régulation Theory, inspired by Marxist ideas and strongly influenced by contemporary economic problems, provides the background to explore the social relationships contributing the adoption of RE within the macro-economy. Varieties of Capitalism theory, a more recently developed micro-economic approach, examines the nature of state-firm relationships. Together these approaches provide a comprehensive lens of analysis. Germany’s energy policy transformed substantially over the second half of the last century. The development is characterised by the coordination of societal, environmental and industrial demands throughout the advancement of capitalist regimes. In the Fordist regime, mass production based on coal drove Germany’s astounding economic recovery during the post-war period. Economic depression and the instability of institutional arrangements necessitated the impulsive seeking of national security and energy independence. During the postwar Flexi-Fordist period, quality-based production, innovation and technology-based competition schemes, particularly with regard to political power structures in and across Europe, favoured the adoption of RE. Innovation, knowledge and education were institutionalized, leading to the legislation of environmental concerns. Lastly the establishment of government-industry-based coordinative programs supported the phase out of nuclear power and the increased adoption of RE during the last decade. Australia’s energy policy is shaped by the country’s richness in mineral resources. Energy policy largely served coal mining, historically and currently one of the most capital-intense industry. Assisted by the macro-economic dimensions of institutional arrangements, social and financial capital is orientated towards the export-led and strongly demand-oriented economy. Here energy policy serves the maintenance of capital accumulation in the mining sector and the emerging Asian economies. The adoption of supportive renewable energy policy would challenge the distinct role of the mining industry within the (neo)-liberal market economy. The state’s protective role of the mining sector has resulted in weak commitment to RE policy and investment uncertainty in the energy sector. Recent developments, driven by strong public support for RE, emphasize the sense of community in urban and rural areas and the emergence of a bottom-up approach to adopt renewables. Thus, political economy frameworks on both the macro-economic (Regulation Theory) and micro-economic (Varieties of Capitalism theory) scales can together explain the strong commitment to RE in Germany vis-à-vis the weak commitment in Australia.

Keywords: political economy, regulation theory, renewable energy, social relationships, energy transitions

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Authors: Chales Mumbere Musavandalo, Lucie B. Mugherwa, Gloire Kayitoghera Mulondi, Naanson Bweya, Muyisa Musongora, Francis Lelo Nzuzi

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The landscape of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo harbors a large community of Mbuti indigenous peoples, often described as the guardians of nature. Living in and off the forest has long been a sustainable strategy for preserving natural resources. This strategy, seen as a form of eco-responsible citizenship, draws upon ethnobotanical knowledge passed down through generations. However, these indigenous communities are facing socio-cultural upheaval, which impacts their traditional way of life. This study aims to assess the relationship between the Mbuti indigenous people’s way of life and the preservation of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. The study was conducted under the assumption that, despite socio-cultural upheavals, the forest and its resources remain central to the Mbuti way of life. The study was conducted in six encampments, three of which were located inside the forest and two in the anthropized zone. The methodological approach initially involved group interviews in six Mbuti encampments. The objective of these interviews was to determine how these people perceive the various services provided by the forest and the resources obtained from this habitat. The technique of using pebbles was adopted to adapt the exercise of weighting services and resources to the understanding of these people. Subsequently, the study carried out ethnobotanical surveys to identify the wood resources frequently used by these communities. This survey was completed in third position by a transect inventory of 1000 m length and 25 m width in order to enhance the understanding of the abundance of these resources around the camps. Two transects were installed in each camp to carry out this inventory. Traditionally, the Mbuti communities sustain their livelihood through hunting, fishing, gathering for self-consumption, and basketry. The Manniophyton fulvum-based net remains the main hunting tool. The primary forest and the swamp are two habitats from which these peoples derive the majority of their resources. However, with the arrival of the Bantu people, who introduced agriculture based on cocoa production, the Mbuti communities started providing services to the Bantu in the form of labor and field guarding. This cultural symbiosis between Mbute and Bantu has also led to non-traditional practices, such as the use of hunting rifles instead of nets and fishing nets instead of creels. The socio-economic and ecological environment in which Mbuti communities live is changing rapidly, including the resources they depend on. By incorporating the time factor into their perception of ecosystem services, only their future (p-value = 0, 0,121), the provision of wood for energy (p-value = 0,1976), and construction (p-value = 0,2548) would be closely associated with the forest in their future. For other services, such as food supply, medicine, and hunting, adaptation to Bantu customs is conceivable. Additionally, the abundance of wood used by the Mbuti people has been high around encampments located in intact forests and low in those in anthropized areas. The traditional way of life of the Mbuti communities is influenced by the cultural symbiosis, reflected in their habits and the availability of resources. The land tenure security of Mbuti areas is crucial to preserve their tradition and forest biodiversity. Conservation efforts in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve must consider this cultural dynamism and promote positive values for the flagship species. The oversight of subsistence hunting is imperative to curtail the transition of these communities to poaching.

Keywords: traditional life, conservation, Indigenous people, cultural symbiosis, forest

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Authors: Kuldeep Rawat, Michael O'Shea, Maureen McGough

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The paper will discuss a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) funded project to provide cost-effective aviation technologies and research to support counter-poaching operations related to endangered, protected, and/or regulated wildlife. The goal of this project is to provide cost-effective aviation technology and research support to Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in their counter-poaching efforts. In pursuit of this goal, Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is assisting the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in enhancing the Kenya Wildlife Service’s aviation technology and related capacity to meet its counter-poaching mission. Poaching, at its core, is systemic as poachers go to the most extreme lengths to kill high target species such as elephant and rhino. These high target wildlife species live in underdeveloped or impoverished nations, where poachers find fewer barriers to their operations. In Kenya, with fifty-nine (59) parks and reserves, spread over an area of 225,830 square miles (584,897 square kilometers) adequate surveillance on the ground is next to impossible. Cost-effective aviation surveillance technologies, based on a comprehensive needs assessment and operational evaluation, are needed to curb poaching and effectively prevent wildlife trafficking. As one of the premier law enforcement Air Wings in East Africa, KWS plays a crucial role in Kenya, not only in counter-poaching and wildlife conservation efforts, but in aerial surveillance, counterterrorism and national security efforts as well. While the Air Wing has done, a remarkable job conducting aerial patrols with limited resources, additional aircraft and upgraded technology should significantly advance the Air Wing’s ability to achieve its wildlife protection mission. The project includes: (i) Needs Assessment of the KWS Air Wing, to include the identification of resources, current and prospective capacity, operational challenges and priority goals for expansion, (ii) Acquisition of Low-Cost Aviation Technology to meet priority needs, and (iii) Operational Evaluation of technology performance, with a focus on implementation and effectiveness. The Needs Assessment reflects the priorities identified through two site visits to the KWS Air Wing in Nairobi, Kenya, as well as field visits to multiple national parks receiving aerial support and interviewing/surveying KWS Air wing pilots and leadership. Needs Assessment identified some immediate technology needs that includes, GPS with upgrades, including weather application, Night flying capabilities, to include runway lights and night vision technology, Cameras and surveillance equipment, Flight tracking system and/or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, Lightweight ballistic-resistant body armor, and medical equipment, to include a customized stretcher and standard medical evacuation equipment. Results of this assessment, along with significant input from the KWS Air Wing, will guide the second phase of this project: technology acquisition. Acquired technology will then be evaluated in the field, with a focus on implementation and effectiveness. Results will ultimately be translated for any rural or tribal law enforcement agencies with comparable aerial surveillance missions and operational environments, and jurisdictional challenges, seeking to implement low-cost aviation technology. Results from Needs Assessment phase, including survey results and our ongoing technology acquisition and baseline operational evaluation will be discussed in the paper.

Keywords: aerial surveillance mission, aviation technology, counter-poaching, wildlife protection

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Authors: Ananya Barui, Provas Banerjee, Jyotirmoy Chatterjee

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Application of optical technology in medicine and biology has a long track-record. In this endeavor, OCT is able to attract both engineers and biologists to work together in the field of photonics for establishing a striking non-invasive imaging technology. In contrast to other in vivo imaging modalities like Raman imaging, confocal imaging, two-photon microscopy etc. which can perform in vivo imaging upto 100-200 micron depth due to limitation in numerical aperture or scattering, however, OCT can achieve high-resolution imaging upto few millimeters of tissue structures depending on their refractive index in different anatomical location. This tomographic system depends on interference of two light waves in an interferometer to produce a depth profile of specimen. In wound healing, frequent collection of biopsies for follow-up of repair process could be avoided by such imaging technique. Real time skin OCT (the optical biopsy) has efficacy in deeper and faster illumination of cutaneou tissue to acquire high resolution cross sectional images of their internal micro-structure. Swept Source-OCT (SS-OCT), a novel imaging technique, can generate high-speed depth profile (~ 2 mm) of wound at a sweeping rate of laser with micron level resolution and optimum coherent length of 5-6 mm. Normally multi-layered skin tissue depicts different optical properties along with variation in thickness, refractive index and composition (i.e. keratine layer, water, fat etc.) according to their anatomical location. For instance, stratum corneum, the upper-most and relatively dehydrated layer of epidermis reflects more light and produces more lucid and a sharp demarcation line with rest of the hydrated epidermal region. During wound healing or regeneration, optical properties of cutaneous tissue continuously altered with maturation of wound bed. More mature and less hydrated tissue component reflects more light and becomes visible as a brighter area in comparison to immature region which content higher amount water or fat that depicts as a darker area in OCT image. Non-healing wound possess prolonged inflammation and inhibits nascent proliferative stage. Accumulation of necrotic tissues also prevents the repair of non-healing wounds. Due to high resolution and potentiality to reflect the compositional aspects of tissues in terms of their optical properties, this tomographic method may facilitate in differentiating non-healing and acute wounds in addition to clinical observations. Non-invasive OCT offers better insight regarding specific biological status of tissue in health and pathological conditions, OCT images could be associated with histo-pathological ‘gold standard’. This correlated SS-OCT and microscopic evaluation of the wound edges can provide information regarding progressive healing and maturation of the epithelial components. In the context of searching analogy between two different imaging modalities, their relative performances in imaging of healing bed were estimated for probing an alternative approach. Present study validated utility of SS-OCT in revealing micro-anatomic structure in the healing bed with newer information. Exploring precise correspondence of OCT images features with histo-chemical findings related to epithelial integrity of the regenerated tissue could have great implication. It could establish the ‘optical biopsy’ as a potent non-invasive diagnostic tool for cutaneous pathology.

Keywords: histo-pathology, non invasive imaging, OCT, wound healing

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Authors: Leo Byrne, Neil Watts

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In the complex and evolving landscape of global trade, maritime sanctions emerge as a critical tool wielded by the international community to curb illegal activities and alter the behavior of non-compliant states and entities. These sanctions, designed to restrict or prohibit trade by sea with sanctioned jurisdictions, entities, or individuals, face continuous challenges due to the sophisticated evasion tactics employed by countries like North Korea. As the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) diverts significant resources to circumvent these measures, understanding the nuances of their methodologies becomes imperative for maintaining the integrity of global trade systems. The DPRK, one of the most sanctioned nations globally, has developed an intricate network to facilitate its trade in illicit goods, ensuring the flow of revenue from designated activities continues unabated. Given its geographic and economic conditions, North Korea predominantly relies on maritime routes, utilizing foreign ports to route its illicit trade. This reliance on the sea is exploited through various sophisticated methods, including the use of front companies, falsification of documentation, commingling of bulk cargos, and physical alterations to vessels. These tactics enable the DPRK to navigate through the gaps in regulatory frameworks and lax oversight, effectively undermining international sanctions regimes Maritime sanctions carry significant implications for global trade, imposing heightened risks in the maritime domain. The deceptive practices employed not only by the DPRK but also by other high-risk jurisdictions, necessitate a comprehensive understanding of UN targeted sanctions. For stakeholders in the maritime sector—including maritime authorities, vessel owners, shipping companies, flag registries, and financial institutions serving the shipping industry—awareness and compliance are paramount. Violations can lead to severe consequences, including reputational damage, sanctions, hefty fines, and even imprisonment. To mitigate risks associated with these deceptive practices, it is crucial for maritime sector stakeholders to employ rigorous due diligence and regulatory compliance screening measures. Effective sanctions compliance serves as a protective shield against legal, financial, and reputational risks, preventing exploitation by international bad actors. This requires not only a deep understanding of the sanctions landscape but also the capability to identify and manage risks through informed decision-making and proactive risk management practices. As the DPRK and other sanctioned entities continue to evolve their sanctions evasion tactics, the international community must enhance its collective efforts to demystify and counter these practices. By leveraging more stringent compliance measures, stakeholders can safeguard against the illicit use of the maritime domain, reinforcing the effectiveness of maritime sanctions as a tool for global security. This paper seeks to dissect North Korea's adaptive strategies in the face of maritime sanctions. By examining up-to-date, geographically, and temporally relevant case studies, it aims to shed light on the primary nodes through which Pyongyang evades sanctions and smuggles goods via third-party ports. The goal is to propose multi-level interaction strategies, ranging from governmental interventions to localized enforcement mechanisms, to counteract these evasion tactics.

Keywords: maritime, maritime sanctions, international sanctions, compliance, risk

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Authors: Eunjung Lee

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This research investigates the intricate connection between cultural differences and online consumer behaviors by integrating Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions theory with analysis methodologies such as text mining, data mining, and topic analysis. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of how national cultural differences influence individuals' behaviors when engaging with online reviews. To ensure the relevance of our investigation, we systematically analyze and interpret the cultural nuances influencing online consumer behaviors, especially in the context of online reviews. By anchoring our research in Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions theory, we seek to offer valuable insights for marketers to tailor their strategies based on the cultural preferences of diverse global consumer bases. In our methodology, we employ advanced text mining techniques to extract insights from a diverse range of online reviews gathered globally for a specific product or service like Netflix. This approach allows us to reveal hidden cultural cues in the language used by consumers from various backgrounds. Complementing text mining, data mining techniques are applied to extract meaningful patterns from online review datasets collected from different countries, aiming to unveil underlying structures and gain a deeper understanding of the impact of cultural differences on online consumer behaviors. The study also integrates topic analysis to identify recurring subjects, sentiments, and opinions within online reviews. Marketers can leverage these insights to inform the development of culturally sensitive strategies, enhance target audience segmentation, and refine messaging approaches aligned with cultural preferences. Anchored in Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions theory, our research employs sophisticated methodologies to delve into the intricate relationship between cultural differences and online consumer behaviors. Applied to specific cultural dimensions, such as individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term vs. short-term orientation, the study uncovers nuanced insights. For example, in exploring individualism vs. collectivism, we examine how reviewers from individualistic cultures prioritize personal experiences while those from collectivistic cultures emphasize communal opinions. Similarly, within masculinity vs. femininity, we investigate whether distinct topics align with cultural notions, such as robust features in masculine cultures and user-friendliness in feminine cultures. Examining information-seeking behaviors under uncertainty avoidance reveals how cultures differ in seeking detailed information or providing succinct reviews based on their comfort with ambiguity. Additionally, in assessing long-term vs. short-term orientation, the research explores how cultural focus on enduring benefits or immediate gratification influences reviews. These concrete examples contribute to the theoretical enhancement of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions theory, providing a detailed understanding of cultural impacts on online consumer behaviors. As online reviews become increasingly crucial in decision-making, this research not only contributes to the academic understanding of cultural influences but also proposes practical recommendations for enhancing online review systems. Marketers can leverage these findings to design targeted and culturally relevant strategies, ultimately enhancing their global marketing effectiveness and optimizing online review systems for maximum impact.

Keywords: comparative analysis, cultural dimensions, marketing intelligence, national culture, online consumer behavior, text mining

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Authors: Federica Verna, Alessandra Pautasso, Maria Caramelli, Cristiana Maurella, Walter Mignone, Cristina Casalone

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Mosquito-Borne Diseases (MBDs) are dangerously increasing in prevalence, geographical distribution and severity, representing an emerging threat for both humans and animals. Interaction between multiple disciplines is needed for an effective early warning, surveillance and control of MBDs, according to the One Health concept. This work reports the integrated surveillance system enforced by IZSPLV in Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta regions (Northwestern Italy) in order to control MDBs spread. Veterinary services and local human health authority are involved in an information network, to connect the surveillance of human clinical cases with entomological surveillance and veterinary monitoring in order to implement control measures in case of outbreak. A systematic entomological surveillance is carried out during the vector season using mosquitoes traps located in sites selected according to risk factors. Collected mosquitoes are counted, identified to species level by morphological standard classification keys and pooled by collection site, date and species with a maximum of 100 individuals. Pools are analyzed, after RNA extraction, by Real Time RT-PCR distinctive for West Nile Virus (WNV) Lineage 1 and Lineage 2, Real Time RT-PCR USUTU virus (USUV) and a traditional flavivirus End-point RT-PCR. Positive pools are sequenced and the related sequences employed to perform a basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) in the GenBank library. Positive samples are sent to the National Reference Centre for Animal Exotic Diseases (CESME, Teramo) for confirmation. With particular reference to WNV, after the confirmation, as provided by national legislation, control measures involving both local veterinary and human health services are activated: equine sera are randomly sampled within a 4 km radius from the positive collection sites and tested with ELISA kit and WNV NAT screening of blood donors is introduced. This surveillance network allowed to detect since 2011 USUV circulation in this area of Italy. WNV was detected in Piedmont and Liguria for the first time in 2014 in mosquitoes. During the 2015 vector season, we observed the expansion of its activity in Piedmont. The virus was detected in almost all Provinces both in mosquitoes (6 pools) and animals (19 equine sera, 4 birds). No blood bag tested resulted infected. The first neuroinvasive human case occurred too. Competent authorities should be aware of a potentially increased risk of MBDs activity during the 2016 vector season. This work shows that this surveillance network allowed to early detect the presence of MBDs in humans and animals, and provided useful information to public authorities, in order to apply control measures. Finally, an additional value of our diagnostic protocol is the ability to detect all viruses belonging to the Flaviviridae family, considering the emergence caused by other Flaviviruses in humans such as the recent Zika virus infection in South America. Italy has climatic and environmental features conducive to Zika virus transmission, the competent vector and many travellers from Brazil reported every year.

Keywords: integrated surveillance, mosquito borne disease, West Nile virus, Zika virus

Procedia PDF Downloads 348

Authors: Subhash Nerella, Ziyuan Guan, Azra Bihorac, Parisa Rashidi

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Intensive care units (ICUs) provide care to critically ill patients in severe and life-threatening conditions. However, patient monitoring in the ICU is limited by the time and resource constraints imposed on healthcare providers. Many critical care indices such as mobility are still manually assessed, which can be subjective, prone to human errors, and lack granularity. Other important aspects, such as environmental factors, are not monitored at all. For example, critically ill patients often experience circadian disruptions due to the absence of effective environmental “timekeepers” such as the light/dark cycle and the systemic effect of acute illness on chronobiologic markers. Although the occurrence of delirium is associated with circadian disruption risk factors, these factors are not routinely monitored in the ICU. Hence, there is a critical unmet need to develop systems for precise and real-time assessment through novel enabling technologies. We have developed the mobility and circadian disruption quantification system (Mobi-DiQ) by augmenting biomarker and clinical data with pervasive sensing data to generate mobility and circadian cues related to mobility, nightly disruptions, and light and noise exposure. We hypothesize that Mobi-DiQ can provide accurate mobility and circadian cues that correlate with bedside clinical mobility assessments and circadian biomarkers, ultimately important for delirium risk assessment and prevention. The collected multimodal dataset consists of depth images, Electromyography (EMG) data, patient extremity movement captured by accelerometers, ambient light levels, Sound Pressure Level (SPL), and indoor air quality measured by volatile organic compounds, and the equivalent CO₂ concentration. For delirium risk assessment, the system recognizes mobility cues (axial body movement features and body key points) and circadian cues, including nightly disruptions, ambient SPL, and light intensity, as well as other environmental factors such as indoor air quality. The Mobi-DiQ system consists of three major components: the pervasive sensing system, a data storage and analysis server, and a data annotation system. For data collection, six local pervasive sensing systems were deployed, including a local computer and sensors. A video recording tool with graphical user interface (GUI) developed in python was used to capture depth image frames for analyzing patient mobility. All sensor data is encrypted, then automatically uploaded to the Mobi-DiQ server through a secured VPN connection. Several data pipelines are developed to automate the data transfer, curation, and data preparation for annotation and model training. The data curation and post-processing are performed on the server. A custom secure annotation tool with GUI was developed to annotate depth activity data. The annotation tool is linked to the MongoDB database to record the data annotation and to provide summarization. Docker containers are also utilized to manage services and pipelines running on the server in an isolated manner. The processed clinical data and annotations are used to train and develop real-time pervasive sensing systems to augment clinical decision-making and promote targeted interventions. In the future, we intend to evaluate our system as a clinical implementation trial, as well as to refine and validate it by using other data sources, including neurological data obtained through continuous electroencephalography (EEG).

Keywords: deep learning, delirium, healthcare, pervasive sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Joel A. Gordon, Nazmiye Balta-Ozkan, Seyed Ali Nabavi

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Hydrogen-fueled technologies are rapidly advancing as a critical component of the low-carbon energy transition. In countries historically reliant on natural gas for home heating, such as the UK, hydrogen may prove fundamental for decarbonizing the residential sector, alongside other technologies such as heat pumps and district heat networks. While the UK government is set to take a long-term policy decision on the role of domestic hydrogen by 2026, there are considerable uncertainties regarding consumer preferences for ‘hydrogen homes’ (i.e., hydrogen-fueled appliances for space heating, hot water, and cooking. In comparison to other hydrogen energy technologies, such as road transport applications, to date, few studies have engaged with the social acceptance aspects of the domestic hydrogen transition, resulting in a stark knowledge deficit and pronounced risk to policymaking efforts. In response, this study aims to safeguard against undesirable policy measures by revealing the underlying relationships between the factors of domestic hydrogen acceptance and their respective dimensions: attitudinal, socio-political, community, market, and behavioral acceptance. The study employs an online survey (n=~2100) to gauge how different UK householders perceive the proposition of switching from natural gas to hydrogen-fueled appliances. In addition to accounting for housing characteristics (i.e., housing tenure, property type and number of occupants per dwelling) and several other socio-structural variables (e.g. age, gender, and location), the study explores the impacts of consumer heterogeneity on hydrogen acceptance by recruiting respondents from across five distinct groups: (1) fuel poor householders, (2) technology engaged householders, (3) environmentally engaged householders, (4) technology and environmentally engaged householders, and (5) a baseline group (n=~700) which filters out each of the smaller targeted groups (n=~350). This research design reflects the notion that supporting a socially fair and efficient transition to hydrogen will require parallel engagement with potential early adopters and demographic groups impacted by fuel poverty while also accounting strongly for public attitudes towards net zero. Employing a second-order multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in Mplus, the proposed hydrogen acceptance model is tested to fit the data through a partial least squares (PLS) approach. In addition to testing differences between and within groups, the findings provide policymakers with critical insights regarding the significance of knowledge and awareness, safety perceptions, perceived community impacts, cost factors, and trust in key actors and stakeholders as potential explanatory factors of hydrogen acceptance. Preliminary results suggest that knowledge and awareness of hydrogen are positively associated with support for domestic hydrogen at the household, community, and national levels. However, with the exception of technology and/or environmentally engaged citizens, much of the population remains unfamiliar with hydrogen and somewhat skeptical of its application in homes. Knowledge and awareness present as critical to facilitating positive safety perceptions, alongside higher levels of trust and more favorable expectations for community benefits, appliance performance, and potential cost savings. Based on these preliminary findings, policymakers should be put on red alert about diffusing hydrogen into the public consciousness in alignment with energy security, fuel poverty, and net-zero agendas.

Keywords: hydrogen homes, social acceptance, consumer heterogeneity, heat decarbonization

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Authors: M. C. O. Ezeibe, F. I. O. Ezeibe

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Reasons viral diseases (including AI, HIV/AIDS, and COVID-19), tumors (including Cancers and Prostrate enlargement), and antimicrobial-resistant infections (AMR) are difficult to cure are features of the pathogens which normal cells do not have or need (biomedical markers) have not been identified; medicines that can counter the markers have not been invented; strategies and mechanisms for their treatments have not been developed. When cells become abnormal, they acquire negative electrical charges, and viruses are either positively charged or negatively charged, while normal cells remain neutral (without electrical charges). So, opposite charges' electrostatic attraction is a treatment mechanism for viral diseases and tumors. Medicines that have positive electrical charges would mop abnormal (infected and tumor) cells and DNA viruses (negatively charged), while negatively charged medicines would mop RNA viruses (positively charged). Molecules of Aluminum-magnesium silicate [AMS: Al₂Mg₃ (SiO₄)₃], an approved medicine and pharmaceutical stabilizing agent, consist of nanoparticles which have both positive electrically charged ends and negative electrically charged ends. The very small size (0.96 nm) of the nanoparticles allows them to reach all cells in every organ. By stabilizing antimicrobials, AMS reduces the rate at which the body metabolizes them so that they remain at high concentrations for extended periods. When drugs remain at high concentrations for longer periods, their efficacies improve. Again, nanoparticles enhance the delivery of medicines to effect targets. Both remaining at high concentrations for longer periods and better delivery to effect targets improve efficacy and make lower doses achieve desired effects so that side effects of medicines are reduced to allow the immunity of patients to be enhanced. Silicates also enhance the immune responses of treated patients. Improving antimicrobial efficacies and enhancing patients` immunity terminate infections so that none remains that could develop resistance. Some countries do not have natural deposits of AMS, but they may have Aluminum silicate (AS: Al₄ (SiO₄)₃) and Magnesium silicate (MS: Mg₂SiO₄), which are also approved medicines. So, AS and MS were used to formulate an AMS-brand, named Medicinal synthetic AMS {Al₄ (SiO₄)₃ + 3Mg₂SiO₄ → 2Al₂Mg₃ (SiO₄)₃}. To overcome the challenge of AMS, AS, and MS being un-absorbable, Dextrose monohydrate is incorporated in MSAMS-formulations for the simple sugar to convey the electrically charged nanoparticles into blood circulation by the principle of active transport so that MSAMS-antimicrobial formulations function systemically. In vitro, MSAMS reduced (P≤0.05) titers of viruses, including Avian influenza virus and HIV. When used to treat virus-infected animals, it cured Newcastle disease and Infectious bursa disease of chickens, Parvovirus disease of dogs, and Peste des petits ruminants disease of sheep and goats. A number of HIV/AIDS patients treated with it have been reported to become HIV-negative (antibody and antigen). COVID-19 patients are also reported to recover and test virus negative when treated with MSAMS. PSA titers of prostate cancer/enlargement patients normalize (≤4) following treatment with MSAMS. MSAMS has also potentiated ampicillin trihydrate, sulfadimidin, cotrimoxazole, piparazine citrate and chloroquine phosphate to achieve ≥ 95 % infection-load reductions (AMR-prevention). At 75 % of doses of ampicillin, cotrimoxazole, and streptomycin, supporting MSAMS-formulations' treatments with antioxidants led to the termination of even already resistant infections.

Keywords: electrical charges, viruses, abnormal cells, aluminum-magnesium silicate

Procedia PDF Downloads 52

Authors: Thaveesha Dheerasekera, Dileeka Sandamali Alwis

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The escalating prevalence of mental health issues, such as depression and suicidal ideation, is a matter of significant global concern. It is plausible that a variety of factors, such as life events, social isolation, and preexisting physiological or psychological health conditions, could instigate or exacerbate these conditions. Traditional approaches to diagnosing depression entail a considerable amount of time and necessitate the involvement of adept practitioners. This underscores the necessity for automated systems capable of promptly detecting and diagnosing symptoms of depression. The PsyVBot system employs sophisticated natural language processing and machine learning methodologies, including the use of the NLTK toolkit for dataset preprocessing and the utilization of a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model. The PsyVBot exhibits a remarkable ability to diagnose depression with a 94% accuracy rate through the analysis of user input. Consequently, this resource proves to be efficacious for individuals, particularly those enrolled in academic institutions, who may encounter challenges pertaining to their psychological well-being. The PsyVBot employs a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model that comprises a total of three layers, namely an embedding layer, an LSTM layer, and a dense layer. The stratification of these layers facilitates a precise examination of linguistic patterns that are associated with the condition of depression. The PsyVBot has the capability to accurately assess an individual's level of depression through the identification of linguistic and contextual cues. The task is achieved via a rigorous training regimen, which is executed by utilizing a dataset comprising information sourced from the subreddit r/SuicideWatch. The diverse data present in the dataset ensures precise and delicate identification of symptoms linked with depression, thereby guaranteeing accuracy. PsyVBot not only possesses diagnostic capabilities but also enhances the user experience through the utilization of audio outputs. This feature enables users to engage in more captivating and interactive interactions. The PsyVBot platform offers individuals the opportunity to conveniently diagnose mental health challenges through a confidential and user-friendly interface. Regarding the advancement of PsyVBot, maintaining user confidentiality and upholding ethical principles are of paramount significance. It is imperative to note that diligent efforts are undertaken to adhere to ethical standards, thereby safeguarding the confidentiality of user information and ensuring its security. Moreover, the chatbot fosters a conducive atmosphere that is supportive and compassionate, thereby promoting psychological welfare. In brief, PsyVBot is an automated conversational agent that utilizes an LSTM model to assess the level of depression in accordance with the input provided by the user. The demonstrated accuracy rate of 94% serves as a promising indication of the potential efficacy of employing natural language processing and machine learning techniques in tackling challenges associated with mental health. The reliability of PsyVBot is further improved by the fact that it makes use of the Reddit dataset and incorporates Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK) for preprocessing. PsyVBot represents a pioneering and user-centric solution that furnishes an easily accessible and confidential medium for seeking assistance. The present platform is offered as a modality to tackle the pervasive issue of depression and the contemplation of suicide.

Keywords: chatbot, depression diagnosis, LSTM model, natural language process

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Sopio Totibadze

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Although the legal framework of Georgia reflects the main principles of gender equality and is in line with the international situation (UNDP, 2018), Georgia remains a male-dominated society. This means that men prevail in many areas of social, economic, and political life, which frequently gives women a subordinate status in society and the family (UN women). According to the latest study, “violence against women and girls in Georgia is also recognized as a public problem, and it is necessary to focus on it” (UN women). Moreover, the Public Defender's report on the protection of human rights in Georgia (2019) reveals that “in the last five years, 151 women were killed in Georgia due to gender and family violence”. Sadly, these statistics have increased significantly since that time. The issue was acutely reflected in the document published by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, “Gender Hate Crime” (March 10, 2021). “Unfortunately, the rates of femicide ..... are still high in the country, and distrust of law enforcement agencies often makes such cases invisible, which requires special attention from the state.” More precisely, the cited document considers that there are frequent cases of crimes based on gender-based oppression in Georgia, which pose a threat not only to women but also to people of any gender whose desires and aspirations do not correspond to the gender norms and roles prevailing in society. According to the study, this type of crime has a “significant and lasting impact on the victim(s) and also undermines the safety and cohesion of society and gender equality”. It is well-known that language is often used as a tool for gender oppression (Rusieshvili-Cartledge and Dolidze, 2021; Totibadze, 2021). Therefore, feminist and gender studies in linguistics ultimately serve to represent the problem, reflect on it, and propose ways to solve it. Together with technical advancement in communication, a new form of discrimination has arisen- hate language against women in electronic media discourse. Due to the nature of social media and the internet, messages containing hate language can spread in seconds and reach millions of people. However, only a few know about the detrimental effects they may have on the addressee and society. This paper aims to analyse the hateful comments directed at women on various media platforms to determine (1) the linguistic strategies used while attacking women and (2) the reasons why women may fall victim to this type of hate language. The data have been collected over six months, and overall, 500 comments will be examined for the paper. Qualitative and quantitative analysis was chosen for the methodology of the study. The comments posted on various media platforms, including social media posts, articles, or pictures, have been selected manually due to several reasons, the most important being the problem of identifying hate speech as it can disguise itself in different ways- humour, memes, etc. The comments on the articles, posts, pictures, and videos selected for sociolinguistic analysis depict a woman, a taboo topic, or a scandalous event centred on a woman that triggered a lot of hatred and hate language towards the person to whom the post/article was dedicated. The study has revealed that a woman can become a victim of hatred directed at them if they do something considered to be a deviation from a societal norm, namely, get a divorce, be sexually active, be vocal about feministic values, and talk about taboos. Interestingly, people who utilize hate language are not only men trying to “normalize” the prejudiced patriarchal values but also women who are equally active in bringing down a "strong" woman. The paper also aims to raise awareness about the hate language directed at women, as being knowledgeable about the issue at hand is the first step to tackling it.

Keywords: femicide, hate language, media discourse, sociolinguistics

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Authors: Loretta Ichim, Dan Popescu, Grigore Stamatescu

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The paper reports the collaboration between a top university from Romania and three companies for the implementation of a research project in a multidisciplinary domain, focusing on the impact and benefits both for the education and industry. The joint activities were developed under the Space Technology and Advanced Research Program (STAR), funded by the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA) for a university-industry partnership. The context was defined by linking the European Space Agency optional programs, with the development and promotion national research, with the educational and industrial capabilities in the aeronautics, security and related areas by increasing the collaboration between academic and industrial entities as well as by realizing high-level scientific production. The project name is Multisensory Robotic System for Aerial Monitoring of Critical Infrastructure Systems (MUROS), which was carried 2013-2016. The project included the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest (coordinator) and three companies, which manufacture and market unmanned aerial systems. The project had as main objective the development of an integrated system for combined ground wireless sensor networks and UAV monitoring in various application scenarios for critical infrastructure surveillance. This included specific activities related to fundamental and applied research, technology transfer, prototype implementation and result dissemination. The core area of the contributions laid in distributed data processing and communication mechanisms, advanced image processing and embedded system development. Special focus is given by the paper to analyzing the impact the project implementation in the educational process, directly or indirectly, through the faculty members (professors and students) involved in the research team. Three main directions are discussed: a) enabling students to carry out internships at the partner companies, b) handling advanced topics and industry requirements at the master's level, c) experiments and concept validation for doctoral thesis. The impact of the research work (as the educational component) developed by the faculty members on the increasing performances of the companies’ products is highlighted. The collaboration between university and companies was well balanced both for contributions and results. The paper also presents the outcomes of the project which reveals the efficient collaboration between high education and industry: master thesis, doctoral thesis, conference papers, journal papers, technical documentation for technology transfer, prototype, and patent. The experience can provide useful practices of blending research and education within an academia-industry cooperation framework while the lessons learned represent a starting point in debating the new role of advanced research and development performing companies in association with higher education. This partnership, promoted at UE level, has a broad impact beyond the constrained scope of a single project and can develop into long-lasting collaboration while benefiting all stakeholders: students, universities and the surrounding knowledge-based economic and industrial ecosystem. Due to the exchange of experiences between the university (UPB) and the manufacturing company (AFT Design), a new project, SIMUL, under the Bridge Grant Program (Romanian executive agency UEFISCDI) was started (2016 – 2017). This project will continue the educational research for innovation on master and doctoral studies in MUROS thematic (collaborative multi-UAV application for flood detection).

Keywords: education process, multisensory robotic system, research and innovation project, technology transfer, university-industry partnership

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Authors: S. Fadda, M. Fiori, C. Matzuzzi

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Mineralized formations in the bottom sediments of a Miocene transgression have been discovered in Sardinia. The mineral assemblage consists of copper sulphides and oxidates suggesting fluctuations of redox conditions in neutral to high-pH restricted shallow-water coastal basins. Azurite/malachite has been observed as authigenic and occurs as loose spheroidal crystalline particles associated with the transitional-littoral horizon forming the bottom of the marine transgression. Many field observations are consistent with a supergenic circulation of metals involving terrestrial groundwater-seawater mixing. Both clastic materials and metals come from Tertiary volcanic edifices while the main precipitating anions, carbonates, and sulphides species are of both continental and marine origin. Formation of Cu carbonates as a supergene secondary 'oxide' assemblage, does not agree with field evidences, petrographic observations along with textural evidences in the host-rock types. Samples were collected along the sedimentary sequence for different analyses: the majority of elements were determined by X-ray fluorescence and plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. Mineral identification was obtained by X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microprobe. Thin sections of the samples were examined in microscopy while porosity measurements were made using a mercury intrusion porosimeter. Cu-carbonates deposited at a temperature below 100 C° which is consistent with the clay minerals in the matrix of the host rock dominated by illite and montmorillonite. Azurite nodules grew during the early diagenetic stage through reaction of cupriferous solutions with CO₂ imported from the overlying groundwater and circulating through the sandstones during shallow burial. Decomposition of organic matter in the bottom anoxic waters released additional carbon dioxide to pore fluids for azurite stability. In this manner localized reducing environments were also generated in which Cu was fixed as Cu-sulphide and sulphosalts. Microscopic examinations of textural features of azurite nodules give evidence of primary malachite/azurite deposition rather than supergene oxidation in place of primary sulfides. Photomicrographs show nuclei of azurite and malachite surrounded by newly formed microcrystalline carbonates which constitute the matrix. The typical pleochroism of crystals can be observed also when this mineral fills microscopic fissures or cracks. Sedimentological evidence of transgression and regression indicates that the pore water would have been a variable mixture of marine water and groundwaters with a possible meteoric component in an alternatively exposed and subaqueous environment owing to water-level fluctuation. Salinity data of the pore fluids, assessed at random intervals along the mineralised strata confirmed the values between about 7000 and 30,000 ppm measured in coeval sediments at the base of Miocene falling in the range of a more or less diluted sea water. This suggests a variation in mean pore-fluids pH between 5.5 and 8.5, compatible with the oxidized and reduced mineral paragenesis described in this work. The results of stable isotopes studies reflect the marine transgressive-regressive cyclicity of events and are compatibile with carbon derivation from sea water. During the last oxidative stage of diagenesis, under surface conditions of higher activity of H₂O and O₂, CO₂ partial pressure decreased, and malachite becomes the stable Cu mineral. The potential for these small but high grade deposits does exist.

Keywords: sedimentary, Cu-carbonates, authigenic, tertiary, Sardinia

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Pejman Salimi, Sebastiano Tieuli, Somayeh Taghavi, Michela Signoretto, Remo Proietti Zaccaria

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Increasing the growth of industrial waste due to the large quantities of production leads to numerous environmental and economic challenges, such as climate change, soil and water contamination, human disease, etc. Energy recovery of waste can be applied to produce heat or electricity. This strategy allows for the reduction of energy produced using coal or other fuels and directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Among different factories, leather manufacturing plays a very important role in the whole world from the socio-economic point of view. The leather industry plays a very important role in our society from a socio-economic point of view. Even though the leather industry uses a by-product from the meat industry as raw material, it is considered as an activity demanding integrated prevention and control of pollution. Along the entire process from raw skins/hides to finished leather, a huge amount of solid and water waste is generated. Solid wastes include fleshings, raw trimmings, shavings, buffing dust, etc. One of the most abundant solid wastes generated throughout leather tanning is shaving waste. Leather shaving is a mechanical process that aims at reducing the tanned skin to a specific thickness before tanning and finishing. This product consists mainly of collagen and tanning agent. At present, most of the world's leather processing is chrome-tanned based. Consequently, large amounts of chromium-containing shaving wastes need to be treated. The major concern about the management of this kind of solid waste is ascribed to chrome content, which makes the conventional disposal methods, such as landfilling and incineration, not practicable. Therefore, many efforts have been developed in recent decades to promote eco-friendly/alternative leather production and more effective waste management. Herein, shaving waste resulting from metal-free tanning technology is proposed as low-cost precursors for the preparation of carbon material as anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In line with the philosophy of a reduced environmental impact, for preparing fully sustainable and environmentally friendly LIBs anodes, deionized water and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) have been used as alternatives to toxic/teratogen N-methyl-2- pyrrolidone (NMP) and to biologically hazardous Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF), respectively. Furthermore, going towards the reduced cost, we employed water solvent and fluoride-free bio-derived CMC binder (as an alternative to NMP and PVdF, respectively) together with LiFePO₄ (LFP) when a full cell was considered. These actions make closer to the 2030 goal of having green LIBs at 100 $ kW h⁻¹. Besides, the preparation of the water-based electrodes does not need a controlled environment and due to the higher vapour pressure of water in comparison with NMP, the water-based electrode drying is much faster. This aspect determines an important consequence, namely a reduced energy consumption for the electrode preparation. The electrode derived from leather waste demonstrated a discharge capacity of 735 mAh g⁻¹ after 1000 charge and discharge cycles at 0.5 A g⁻¹. This promising performance is ascribed to the synergistic effect of defects, interlayer spacing, heteroatoms-doped (N, O, and S), high specific surface area, and hierarchical micro/mesopore structure of the biochar. Interestingly, these features of activated biochars derived from the leather industry open the way for possible applications in other EESDs as well.

Keywords: biowaste, lithium-ion batteries, physical activation, waste management, leather industry

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Filippo Verre

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This paper explores Turkey’s role as an influential waterpower in the Middle East, emphasizing the Peace Water Pipeline Project (PWPP) as a paradigm of hydro solidarity rather than conventional water diplomacy. Hydro solidarity transcends the strategic and often competitive nature of water diplomacy, highlighting cooperative, inclusive, and mutually beneficial approaches to water resource management. The PWPP, which aimed to transport freshwater from Turkey’s Manavgat River to several water-scarce nations in the Middle East, exemplifies this ethos. By providing a reliable water supply to address the chronic shortages in the region, the project underscored Turkey’s commitment to fostering regional cooperation, stability, and collective well-being through shared water resources. This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the Peace Water Pipeline Project, examining its technical specifications, environmental impact, and political implications. It discusses how the project’s foundation on principles of hydro solidarity could facilitate stronger regional ties, mitigate water-related conflicts, and promote sustainable development. By prioritizing collective benefits over unilateral gains, Turkey’s approach exemplified a transformative model of resource sharing that could inspire similar initiatives globally. This paper argues that the Peace Water Pipeline Project serves as a crucial case study in demonstrating how shared natural resources can be leveraged to build trust, enhance cooperation, and achieve common goals in a geopolitically volatile region. The findings emphasize the importance of adopting hydro solidarity as a guiding principle for future transboundary water projects, showcasing how collaborative water management can play a pivotal role in fostering peace, security, and sustainable development in the Middle East and beyond. This research is based on a mixed methodological approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods. The most relevant qualitative methods will involve Case Studies and Content Analysis. Concretely, the Friendship Dam Project (FDP) between Turkey and Syria will be mentioned to underline the importance of hydro solidarity approaches as opposed to water diplomacy. Analyzing this case aims to identify factors that contribute to successful hydro solidarity agreements, such as effective communication channels, trust-building measures, and adaptive management practices. Concerning Content Analysis, reviewing and analyzing policy documents, treaties, media reports, and public statements will help identify the official narratives and discourses surrounding the PWPP. This method fully comprehends how different stakeholders frame the issues and what solutions they propose. The quantitative methodology used in this research, which complements the qualitative approaches, involves economic valuation, which quantifies the PWPP’s economic impacts on Turkey and the Middle Eastern region. This includes assessing the cost of construction and maintenance and the financial benefits derived from improved water access and reduced conflict. Hydrological modelling will also be used as a quantitative research method. Using hydrological models to simulate the water flow and distribution scenarios helps quantify the pipeline’s potential impacts on water resources. By assessing the sustainability of water extraction and predicting how changes in water availability might affect different regions, these models play a crucial role in this research, shedding light on the impact of transboundary infrastructures on water management.

Keywords: hydro-solidarity, Middle East, transboundary water management, peace water pipeline project, water scarcity

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Authors: Leila Noori, Rosario Barone, Francesca Rappa, Antonella Marino Gammazza, Alessandra Maria Vitale, Giuseppe Donato Mangano, Giusy Sentiero, Filippo Macaluso, Kathryn H. Myburgh, Francesco Cappello, Federica Scalia

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The neuromuscular system controls, directs, and allows movement of the body through the action of neural circuits, which include motor neurons, sensory neurons, and skeletal muscle fibers. Protein homeostasis of the involved cytotypes appears crucial to maintain the correct and prolonged functions of the neuromuscular system, and both neuronal cells and skeletal muscle fibers express significant quantities of protein chaperones, the molecular machinery responsible to maintain the protein turnover. Genetic mutations or defective post-translational modifications of molecular chaperones (i.e., genetic or acquired chaperonopathies) may lead to neuromuscular disorders called as neurochaperonopathies. The limited knowledge of the effects of the defective chaperones on skeletal muscle fibers and neurons impedes the progression of therapeutic approaches. A distinct genetic variation of CCT5 gene encoding for the subunit 5 of the chaperonin CCT (Chaperonin Containing TCP1; also known as TRiC, TCP1 Ring Complex) was recently described associated with severe distal motor neuropathy by our team. In this study, we investigated the histopathological abnormalities of the skeletal muscle biopsy of the pediatric patient affected by the mutation Leu224Val in the CCT5 subunit. We provide molecular and structural features of the diseased skeletal muscle tissue that we believe may be useful to identify undiagnosed cases of this rare genetic disorder. We investigated the histological abnormalities of the affected tissue via hematoxylin and eosin staining. Then we used immunofluorescence and qPCR techniques to explore the expression and distribution of CCT5 in diseased and healthy skeletal muscle tissue. Immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry assays were performed to study the sarcomeric and structural proteins of skeletal muscle, including actin, myosin, tubulin, troponin-T, telethonin, and titin. We performed Western blot to examine the protein expression of CCT5 and some heat shock proteins, Hsp90, Hsp60, Hsp27, and α-B crystallin, along with the main client proteins of the CCT5, actin, and tubulin. Our findings revealed muscular atrophy, abnormal morphology, and different sizes of muscle fibers in affected tissue. The swollen nuclei and wide interfiber spaces were seen. Expression of CCT5 had been decreased and showed a different distribution pattern in the affected tissue. Altered expression, distribution, and bandage pattern were detected by confocal microscopy for the interested muscular proteins in tissue from the patient compared to the healthy control. Protein levels of the studied Hsps normally located at the Z-disk were reduced. Western blot results showed increased levels of the actin and tubulin proteins in the diseased skeletal muscle biopsy compared to healthy tissue. Chaperones must be expressed at high levels in skeletal muscle to counteract various stressors such as mechanical, oxidative, and thermal crises; therefore, it seems relevant that defects of molecular chaperones may result in damaged skeletal muscle fibers. So far, several chaperones or cochaperones involved in neuromuscular disorders have been defined. Our study shows that alteration of the CCT5 subunit is associated with the damaged structure of skeletal muscle fibers and alterations of chaperone system components and paves the way to explore possible alternative substrates of chaperonin CCT. However, further studies are underway to investigate the CCT mechanisms of action to design applicable therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: molecular chaperones, neurochaperonopathy, neuromuscular system, protein homeostasis

Procedia PDF Downloads 59

Authors: Xu Fei (Philip) WU

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As waste recycling concept been accepted more and more in modern societies, the organic portion of the municipal waste become a sires issue in today’s life. Depend on location and season, the organic waste can bee anywhere between 40-65% of total municipal solid waste. Also composting and anaerobic digestion technologies been applied in this field for years, however both process have difficulties been selected by economical and environmental factors. Beside environmental pollution and risk of virus spread, the compost is not a product been welcomed by people even the waste management has to give up them at no cost. The anaerobic digester has to have 70% of water and keep at 35 degree C or above; base on above conditions, the retention time only can be up to two weeks and remain solid has to be dewater and composting again. The enhancive waste water treatment has to be added after. Because these reasons, the voice of suggesting cancelling recycling program and turning all waste to mass burn incinerations have been raised-A process has already been proved has least energy efficiency and most air pollution problem associated process. A newly developed WXF Bio-energy process employs recently developed and patented pre-designed separation, multi-layer and multi-cavity successive bioreactor landfill technology. It features an improved leachate recycling technology, technologies to maximize the biogas generation rate and a reduced overall turnaround period on the land. A single properly designed and operated site can be used indefinitely. In this process, all collected biogas will be processed to eliminate H2S and other hazardous gases. The methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen will be utilized in a proprietary process to manufacture methanol which can be sold to mitigate operating costs of the landfill. This integration of new processes offers a more advanced alternative to current sanitary landfill, incineration and compost technology. Xu Fei (Philip) Wu Xu Fei Wu is founder and Chief Scientist of W&Y Environmental International Inc. (W & Y), a Canadian environmental and sustainable energy technology company with patented landfill processes and proprietary waste to energy technologies. He has worked in environmental and sustainable energy fields over the last 25 years. Before W&Y, he worked for Conestoga-Rovers & Associates Limited, Microbe Environmental Science and Technology Inc. of Canada and The Ministry of Nuclear Industry and Ministry of Space Flight Industry of China. Xu Fei Wu holds a Master of Engineering Science degree from The University of Western Ontario. I wish present this paper as an oral presentation only Selected Conference Presentations: • “Removal of Phenolic Compounds with Algae” Presented at 25th Canadian Symposium on Water Pollution Research (CAWPRC Conference), Burlington, Ontario Canada. February, 1990 • “Removal of Phenolic Compounds with Algae” Presented at Annual Conference of Pollution Control Association of Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. April, 1990 • “Removal of Organochlorine Compounds in a Flocculated Algae Photo-Bioreactor” Presented at International Symposium on Low Cost and Energy Saving Wastewater Treatment Technologies (IAWPRC Conference), Kiyoto, Japan, August, 1990 • “Maximizing Production and Utilization of Landfill Gas” 2009 Wuhan International Conference on Environment(CAWPRC Conference, sponsored by US EPA) Wuhan, China. October, 2009. • “WXF Bio-Energy-A Green, Sustainable Waste to Energy Process” Presented at 9Th International Conference Cooperation for Waste Issues, Kharkiv, Ukraine March, 2012 • “A Lannfill Site Can Be Recycled Indefinitely” Presented at 28th International Conference on solid Waste Technology and Management, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. March, 2013. Hosted by The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management.

Keywords: green fuel, waste management, bio-energy, sustainable development, methanol

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Authors: Mara Getachew Zenebe, Luuk Fleskens, Abdu Obieda Ahmed

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This paper seeks to advance our scientific understanding of optimizing flood utilization in regions impacted by climate change, with a focus on enhancing agricultural productivity through effective irrigation management. The study was conducted as part of a three-year (2021 to 2023) USAID-supported initiative aimed at promoting Economic Growth and Peace in the Gash Agricultural Scheme (GAS), situated in Sudan's water-stressed Eastern region. GAS is the country's largest flood-irrigated scheme, covering 100,800 hectares of cultivable land, with a potential to provide the food security needs of over a quarter of a million agro-pastoral community members. GAS relies on the Gash River, which sources its water from high-intensity rainfall events in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea. However, climate change and variations in these highlands have led to increased variability in the Gash River's flow. The study conducted water balance analyses based on a ten-year dataset of the annual Gash River flow, irrigated area; as well as the evapotranspiration demand of the major sorghum crop. Data collection methods included field measurements, surveys, remote sensing, and CropWat modelling. The water balance assessment revealed that the existing three-year rotation-based irrigation system management, capping cultivated land at 33,000 hectares annually, is excessively risk-averse. While this system reduced conflicts among the agro-pastoral communities by consistently delivering on the land promised to be annually cultivated, it also increased GAS's vulnerability to flood damage due to several reasons. The irrigation efficiency over the past decade was approximately 30%, leaving significant unharnessed floodwater that caused damage to infrastructure and agricultural land. The three-year rotation resulted in inadequate infrastructural maintenance, given the destructive nature of floods. Additionally, it led to infrequent land tillage, allowing the encroachment of mesquite trees hindering major sorghum crop growth. Remote sensing data confirmed that mesquite trees have overtaken 70,000 hectares in the past two decades, rendering them unavailable for agriculture. The water balance analyses suggest shifting to a two-year rotation, covering approximately 50,000 hectares annually while maintaining risk aversion. This shift could boost GAS's annual sorghum production by two-thirds, exceeding 850,000 tons. The scheme's efficiency can be further enhanced through low-cost on-farm interventions. Currently, large irrigation plots that range from 420 to 756 hectares are irrigated with limited water distribution guidance, leading to uneven irrigation. As demonstrated through field trials, implementing internal longitudinal bunds and horizontal deflector bunds can increase adequately irrigated parts of the irrigation plots from 50% to 80% and thus nearly double the sorghum yield to 2 tons per hectare while reducing the irrigation duration from 30 days to a maximum of 17 days. Flow measurements in 2021 and 2022 confirmed that these changes sufficiently meet the sorghum crop's water requirements, even with a conservative 60% field application efficiency assumption. These insights and lessons from the GAS on enhancing agricultural resilience and sustainability in the face of climate change are relevant to flood-based livelihood systems globally.

Keywords: climate change, irrigation management and productivity, variable flood flows, water balance analysis

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Authors: Essam Gooda, Chadi Abdallah, Hamdi Seif, Safaa Baydoun, Rouya Hdeib, Hilal Obeid

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Floods are common natural disaster occurring in semi-arid regions in Lebanon. This results in damage to human life and deterioration of environment. Despite their destructive nature and their immense impact on the socio-economy of the region, flash floods have not received adequate attention from policy and decision makers. This is mainly because of poor understanding of the processes involved and measures needed to manage the problem. The current understanding of flash floods remains at the level of general concepts; most policy makers have yet to recognize that flash floods are distinctly different from normal riverine floods in term of causes, propagation, intensity, impacts, predictability, and management. Flash floods are generally not investigated as a separate class of event but are rather reported as part of the overall seasonal flood situation. As a result, Lebanon generally lacks policies, strategies, and plans relating specifically to flash floods. Main objective of this research is to improve flash flood prediction by providing new knowledge and better understanding of the hydrological processes governing flash floods in the East Catchments of El Assi River. This includes developing rainstorm time distribution curves that are unique for this type of study region; analyzing, investigating, and developing a relationship between arid watershed characteristics (including urbanization) and nearby villages flow flood frequency in Ras Baalbeck and Fekha. This paper discusses different levels of integration approach¬es between GIS and hydrological models (HEC-HMS & HEC-RAS) and presents a case study, in which all the tasks of creating model input, editing data, running the model, and displaying output results. The study area corresponds to the East Basin (Ras Baalbeck & Fakeha), comprising nearly 350 km2 and situated in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. The case study presented in this paper has a database which is derived from Lebanese Army topographic maps for this region. Using ArcMap to digitizing the contour lines, streams & other features from the topographic maps. The digital elevation model grid (DEM) is derived for the study area. The next steps in this research are to incorporate rainfall time series data from Arseal, Fekha and Deir El Ahmar stations to build a hydrologic data model within a GIS environment and to combine ArcGIS/ArcMap, HEC-HMS & HEC-RAS models, in order to produce a spatial-temporal model for floodplain analysis at a regional scale. In this study, HEC-HMS and SCS methods were chosen to build the hydrologic model of the watershed. The model then calibrated using flood event that occurred between 7th & 9th of May 2014 which considered exceptionally extreme because of the length of time the flows lasted (15 hours) and the fact that it covered both the watershed of Aarsal and Ras Baalbeck. The strongest reported flood in recent times lasted for only 7 hours covering only one watershed. The calibrated hydrologic model is then used to build the hydraulic model & assessing of flood hazards maps for the region. HEC-RAS Model is used in this issue & field trips were done for the catchments in order to calibrated both Hydrologic and Hydraulic models. The presented models are a kind of flexible procedures for an ungaged watershed. For some storm events it delivers good results, while for others, no parameter vectors can be found. In order to have a general methodology based on these ideas, further calibration and compromising of results on the dependence of many flood events parameters and catchment properties is required.

Keywords: flood risk management, flash flood, semi arid region, El Assi River, hazard maps

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Authors: Stephan Treuke

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The paper analyses the neighbourhood effects on the economic mobility of the inhabitants of three segregated communities of Salvador (Brazil), in other words, the socio-economic advantages and disadvantages affecting the lives of poor people due to their embeddedness in specific socio-residential contexts. Recent studies performed in Brazilian metropolis have concentrated on the structural dimensions of negative externalities in order to explain neighbourhood-level variations in a field of different phenomena (delinquency, violence, access to the labour market and education) in spatial isolated and socially homogeneous slum areas (favelas). However, major disagreement remains whether the contiguity between residents of poor neighbourhoods and higher-class condominio-dwellers provides structures of opportunities or whether it fosters socio-spatial stigmatization. Based on a set of interviews, investigating the variability of interpersonal networks and their activation in the struggle for economic inclusion, the study confirms that the proximity of Nordeste de Amaralina to middle-/upper-class communities affects positively the access to labour opportunities. Nevertheless, residential stigmatization, as well as structures of social segmentation, annihilate these potentials. The lack of exposition to individuals and groups extrapolating from the favela’s social, educational and cultural context restricts the structures of opportunities to local level. Therefore, residents´ interpersonal networks reveal a high degree of redundancy and localism, based on bonding ties connecting family and neighbourhood members. The resilience of segregational structures in Plataforma contributes to the naturalization of social distance patters. It’s embeddedness in a socially homogeneous residential area (Subúrbio Ferroviário), growing informally and beyond official urban politics, encourages the construction of isotopic patterns of sociability, sharing the same values, social preferences, perspectives and behaviour models. Whereas it’s spatial isolation correlates with the scarcity of economic opportunities, the social heterogeneity of Fazenda Grande II interviewees and the socialising effects of public institutions mitigate the negative repercussions of segregation. The networks’ composition admits a higher degree of heterophilia and a greater proportion of bridging ties accounting for the access to broader information actives and facilitating economic mobility. The variability observed within the three different scenarios urges to reflect about the responsability of urban politics when it comes to the prevention or consolidation of the social segregation process in Salvador. Instead of promoting the local development of the favela Plataforma, public housing programs priorize technocratic habitational solutions without providing the residents’ socio-economic integration. The impact of negative externalities related to the homogeneously poor neighbourhood is potencialized in peripheral areas, turning its’ inhabitants socially invisible, thus being isolated from other social groups. The example of Nordeste de Amaralina portrays the failing interest of urban politics to bridge the social distances structuring the brazilian society’s rigid stratification model, founded on mecanisms of segmentation (unequal access to labour market and education system, public transport, social security and law protection) and generating permanent conflicts between the two socioeconomically distant groups living in geographic contiguity. Finally, in the case of Fazenda Grande II, the public investments in both housing projects and complementary infrastructure (e.g. schools, hospitals, community center, police stations, recreation areas) contributes to the residents’ socio-economic inclusion.

Keywords: economic mobility, neighborhood effects, Salvador, segregation

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Authors: Chiu-Yin Leung

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This research investigates a complex assemblage among indigenous identities, socio-political organization and national apparatus in the border landscape of post-colonial Hong Kong. This former British colony had designated a transient mode of governance in its New Territories and particularly the northernmost borderland in 1951-2012. With a discriminated system of land provisions for the indigenous villagers, the place has been inherited with distinctive village-based culture, historic monuments and agrarian practices until its sovereignty return into the People’s Republic of China. In its latest development imperatives by the national strategic planning, the frontier area of Hong Kong has been identified as a strategy site for regional economic integration in South China, with cross-border projects of innovation and technology zones, mega-transport infrastructure and inter-jurisdictional arrangement. Contemporary literature theorizes borders as the material and discursive production of territoriality, which manifest in state apparatus and the daily lives of its citizens and condense in the contested articulations of power, security and citizenship. Drawing on the concept of assemblage, this paper attempts to tract how the border regime and infrastructure in Hong Kong as a city are deeply ingrained in the everyday lived spaces of the local communities but also the changing urban and regional strategies across different longitudinal moments. Through an intensive ethnographic fieldwork among the borderland villages since 2008 and the extensive analysis of colonial archives, new development plans and spatial planning frameworks, the author navigates the genealogy of the border landscape in Ta Kwu Ling frontier area and its implications as the milieu for new state space, covering heterogeneous fields particularly in indigenous rights, heritage preservation, rural sustainability and regional economy. Empirical evidence suggests an apparent bias towards indigenous power and colonial representation in classifying landscape values and conserving historical monuments. Squatter and farm tenants are often deprived of property rights, statutory participation and livelihood option in the planning process. The postcolonial bureaucracies have great difficulties in mobilizing resources to catch up with the swift, political-first approach of the mainland counterparts. Meanwhile, the cultural heritage, lineage network and memory landscape are not protected altogether with any holistic view or collaborative effort across the border. The enactment of land resumption and compensation scheme is furthermore disturbed by lineage-based customary law, technocratic bureaucracy, intra-community conflicts and multi-scalar political mobilization. As many traces of colonial misfortune and tyranny have been whitewashed without proper management, the author argues that postcolonial justice is yet reconciled in this fragmented border landscape. The assemblage of border in mainstream representation has tended to oversimplify local struggles as a collective mist and setup a wider production of schizophrenia experiences in the discussion of further economic integration among Hong Kong and other mainland cities in the Pearl River Delta Region. The research is expected to shed new light on the theorizing of border regions and postcolonialism beyond Eurocentric perspectives. In reassembling the borderland experiences with other arrays in state governance, village organization and indigenous identities, the author also suggests an alternative epistemology in reconciling socio-spatial differences and opening up imaginaries for positive interventions.

Keywords: heritage conservation, indigenous communities, post-colonial borderland, regional development, rural sustainability

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Authors: P. C. Kutschera, Elena C. Tesoro, Mary Grace Talamera-Sandico, Jose Maria G. Pelayo III

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Second generation military Filipino Amerasians comprise a formidable contemporary segment of the estimated 250,000-plus biracial Amerasians in the Philippines today. Overall, they are a stigmatized and socioeconomically marginalized diaspora, historically; they were abandoned or estranged by U.S. military personnel fathers assigned during the century-long Colonial, Post-World War II and Cold War Era of permanent military basing (1898-1992). Indeed, U.S. military personnel remain stationed in smaller numbers in the Philippines today. This inquiry is an outgrowth of two recent small sample studies. The first surfaced the impact of the U.S. military prostitution system on formation of the ‘Derivative Amerasian Family Construct’ on first generation Amerasians; a second, qualitative case study suggested the continued effect of the prostitution systems' destructive impetuous on second generation Amerasians. The intent of this current qualitative, multiple-case study was to actively seek out second generation sex industry toilers. The purpose was to focus further on this human phenomenon in the post-basing and post-military prostitution system eras. As background, the former military prostitution apparatus has transformed into a modern dynamic of rampant sex tourism and prostitution nationwide. This is characterized by hotel and resorts offering unrestricted carnal access, urban and provincial brothels (casas), discos, bars and pickup clubs, massage parlors, local barrio karaoke bars and street prostitution. A small case study sample (N = 4) of female and male second generation Amerasians were selected. Sample formation employed a non-probability ‘snowball’ technique drawing respondents from the notorious Angeles, Metro Manila, Olongapo City ‘AMO Amerasian Triangle’ where most former U.S. military installations were sited and modern sex tourism thrives. A six-month study and analysis of in-depth interviews of female and male sex laborers, their families and peers revealed a litany of disturbing, and troublesome experiences. Results showed profiles of debilitating human poverty, history of family disorganization, stigmatization, social marginalization and the ghost of the military prostitution system and its harmful legacy on Amerasian family units. Emerging were testimonials of wayward young people ensnared in a maelstrom of deep economic deprivation, familial dysfunction, psychological desperation and societal indifference. The paper recommends that more study is needed and implications of unstudied psychosocial and socioeconomic experiences of distressed younger generations of military Amerasians require specific research. Heretofore apathetic or disengaged U.S. institutions need to confront the issue and formulate activist and solution-oriented social welfare, human services and immigration easement policies and alternatives. These institutions specifically include academic and social science research agencies, corporate foundations, the U.S. Congress, and Departments of State, Defense and Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security (i.e. Citizen and Immigration Services) It is them who continue to endorse a laissez-faire policy of non-involvement over the entire Filipino Amerasian question. Such apathy, the paper concludes, relegates this consequential but neglected blood progeny to the status of humiliating destitution and exploitation. Amerasians; thus, remain entrapped in their former colonial, and neo-colonial habitat. Ironically, they are unwitting victims of a U.S. American homeland that fancies itself geo-politically as a strong and strategic military treaty ally of the Philippines in the Western Pacific.

Keywords: Asian Americans, diaspora, Filipino Amerasians, military prostitution, stigmatization

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Authors: Mariza Kaskara, Stella Girtsou, Maria Prodromou, Alexia Tsouni, Christodoulos Mettas, Stavroula Alatza, Kyriaki Fotiou, Marios Tzouvaras, Charalampos Kontoes, Diofantos Hadjimitsis

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Natural hazard assessment and monitoring are crucial components in managing the risks associated with fires, floods, and geohazards, particularly in regions prone to these natural disasters, such as Greece and Cyprus. Recent advancements in technology led to the development of state-of-the-art systems for assessing and monitoring these hazards. These technologies, developed by the BEYOND Center of Excellence of the National Observatory of Athens, have been successfully applied in Greece and are now set to be transferred to Cyprus. The implementation of these advanced technologies in Greece has significantly improved the country's ability to respond to these natural hazards. Enhancing disaster resilience is crucial as it significantly improves our ability to predict, prepare for, and mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, ultimately saving lives and reducing economic losses. For wildfire risk assessment, a scalar wildfire occurrence risk index has been created based on the predictions of machine learning models. Our objective was to train an ML model that learns to derive a fire susceptibility score when given as input a vector of features assigned to certain spatiotemporal coordinates. Predicting fire danger is crucial for the sustainable management of forest fires as it provides essential information for designing effective prevention measures and facilitating response planning for potential fire incidents. For flood risk assessment, a multi-faceted approach has been employed, including the application of remote sensing techniques, the collection and processing of data from population, buildings, technical studies and field visits, as well as hydrological and hydraulic simulations. All input data are used to create precise flood hazard maps according to various flooding scenarios, detailed flood vulnerability and flood exposure maps, which finally produce the flood risk map. Critical points are identified, and mitigation measures are proposed for the worst-case scenario, namely, refuge areas are defined, and escape routes are designed. Flood risk maps can assist in raising awareness and save lives. For geohazards monitoring (e.g., landslides, subsidence), synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical satellite imagery have been combined with geomorphological and meteorological data and other landslide/ground deformation contributing factors. To monitor critical infrastructures, including dams, advanced InSAR (Interferometric SAR) methodologies are used for identifying surface movements through time. Monitoring these hazards provides valuable information for understanding processes and could lead to early warning systems to protect people and infrastructure. The success of these systems in Greece has paved the way for their transfer to Cyprus to enhance Cyprus's capabilities in natural hazard assessment and monitoring. This transfer is being made through knowledge transfer activities, fostering continuous collaboration between Greek and Cypriot experts. Furthermore, small demonstration actions are implemented to showcase the effectiveness of these technologies in real-world scenarios. In conclusion, the transfer of advanced natural hazard assessment technologies from Greece to Cyprus represents a significant step forward in enhancing the entire region's resilience to disasters. The EXCELSIOR project, funding this opportunity, is committed to empowering Cyprus with the tools and expertise needed to effectively manage and mitigate the risks associated with these natural hazards. Acknowledgment: Authors acknowledge the 'EXCELSIOR': ERATOSTHENES: Excellence Research Centre for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment H2020 Widespread Teaming project.

Keywords: earth observation, monitoring, natural hazards, remote sensing

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Authors: Krishna Raj Regmi

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A “Climate change adaptation and disaster risk management for sustainable agriculture” project was implemented in Nepal, a Himalayan country during 2008 to 2013 sponsored jointly by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Nepal. The paper is based on the results and findings of this joint pilot project. The climate change events such as increased intensity of erratic rains in short spells, trend of prolonged drought, gradual rise in temperature in the higher elevations and occurrence of cold and hot waves in Terai (lower plains) has led to flash floods, massive erosion in the hills particularly in Churia range and drying of water sources. These recurring natural and climate-induced disasters are causing heavy damages through sedimentation and inundation of agricultural lands, crops, livestock, infrastructures and rural settlements in the downstream plains and thus reducing agriculture productivity and food security in the country. About 65% of the cultivated land in Nepal is rainfed with drought-prone characteristics and stabilization of agricultural production and productivity in these tracts will be possible through adoption of rainfed and drought-tolerant technologies as well as efficient soil-water management by the local communities. The adaptation and mitigation technologies and options identified by the project for soil erosion, flash floods and landslide control are on-farm watershed management, sloping land agriculture technologies (SALT), agro-forestry practices, agri-silvi-pastoral management, hedge-row contour planting, bio-engineering along slopes and river banks, plantation of multi-purpose trees and management of degraded waste land including sandy river-bed flood plains. The stress tolerant technologies with respect to drought, floods and temperature stress for efficient utilization of nutrient, soil, water and other resources for increased productivity are adoption of stress tolerant crop varieties and breeds of animals, indigenous proven technologies, mixed and inter-cropping systems, system of rice/wheat intensification (SRI), direct rice seeding, double transplanting of rice, off-season vegetable production and regular management of nurseries, orchards and animal sheds. The alternate energy use options and resource conservation practices for use by local communities are installation of bio-gas plants and clean stoves (Chulla range) for mitigation of green house gas (GHG) emissions, use of organic manures and bio-pesticides, jatropha cultivation, green manuring in rice fields and minimum/zero tillage practices for marshy lands. The efficient water management practices for increasing productivity of crops and livestock are use of micro-irrigation practices, construction of water conservation and water harvesting ponds, use of overhead water tanks and Thai jars for rain water harvesting and rehabilitation of on-farm irrigation systems. Initiation of some works on community-based early warning system, strengthening of met stations and disaster database management has made genuine efforts in providing disaster-tailored early warning, meteorological and insurance services to the local communities. Contingent planning is recommended to develop coping strategies and capacities of local communities to adopt necessary changes in the cropping patterns and practices in relation to adverse climatic and disaster risk conditions. At the end, adoption of awareness raising and capacity development activities (technical and institutional) and networking on climate-induced disaster and risks through training, visits and knowledge sharing workshops, dissemination of technical know-how and technologies, conduct of farmers' field schools, development of extension materials and their displays are being promoted. However, there is still need of strong coordination and linkage between agriculture, environment, forestry, meteorology, irrigation, climate-induced pro-active disaster preparedness and research at the ministry, department and district level for up-scaling, implementation and institutionalization of climate change and disaster risk management activities and adaptation mitigation options in agriculture for sustainable livelihoods of the communities.

Keywords: climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, soil-water management practices, sustainable agriculture

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