Search results for: scientific and cognitive development

Authors: Fatima Boutaleb

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Entrepreneurship proves to be crucial for the economic growth and development, since it contributes to job creation and the improvement of the overall productivity thus generating a positive impact upon society at various levels. Promoting entrepreneurship stimulates therefore economic diversity that is key to the betterment and/or maintaining of the standard of living. In fact, recent research suggests that entrepreneurship contributes to development by creating businesses and jobs, stimulating innovation, creating social capital across borders, and channeling political and financial capital. However, different research studies indicate that among the main factors impeding the entrepreneurship are politico-economic as socio-cultural problems, with an intensity for those related to young people and to women. In the MENA region, discrimination inherent in gender is alarming: Only one woman in eight runs her own business against 1 in 3 men. In most countries, young women and young men are facing problems involving access to finance, inadequate infrastructure, lack of support and, in general, an ecosystem that is rather unfavorable. According to the International Labor Organization, North Africa and the Middle East has the highest unemployment rate in all other regions of the world. In other hand, nearly a quarter of the population under 30 is unemployed and youth unemployment costs more than $40 billion each year to the region. In the current context, the situations in the Middle East and North Africa region are singular, both in terms of demographic trends and socio-economic issues around the employment of a large and better trained youth, but still strongly affected by unemployment and under-employment. According to a study published in 2015 by McKinsey, the world gain 26% of additional GDP (47% in the MENA region), more than 28 trillion dollars by 2025, if women came to participate, as well as men, to the economy. Promoting entrepreneurship represents an excellent alternative for the countries whose productive fabric fails to integrate the contingent of young people entering the job market each year. The MENA region, presenting entrepreneurial activity rates below those of other regions in terms of comparable development, has undoubtedly leeway at this level, even though the region displays large national heterogeneity, namely in the priority given to the promotion of entrepreneurship. The objective of this article is therefore to examine the women entrepreneurial vocation in the MENA region, to see to what extent research on the determinant of gender can provide information on the trend of the emerging entrepreneurial activity whether driven by necessity or by opportunity and, on this basis, to submit public policy proposals for the improvement of the mechanisms of inclusion among the youth women people. The objective is not to analyze the causality models but rather to identify the entrepreneurial construct specific to the MENA region via the analysis of GEM data from 2017 to 2019 among adults belonging to 10 countries of the MENA region. Notably, the study shows that inclusion of young women may be enhanced. These disadvantaged segments frequently intend to become entrepreneurs, but they tend not to enact their vocational intentions.

Keywords: economic development, entrepreneurial activity, GEM, gender, informal sector

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Authors: Hang Ju, Changmin Zhu

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The development level of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) can strongly reflect national defense strength as an important spatial information infrastructure. BDS can be not only used for military purposes, such as intelligence gathering, nuclear explosion monitoring, emergency communications, but also for location services, transportation, mapping, precision agriculture. In order to ensure the national defense security and the wide application of BDS in civil and military areas, BDS must be autonomous and controllable. As a complex system of knowledge-intensive, knowledge transformation runs through the whole process of research and development, production, operation, and maintenance of BDS. Based on the perspective of knowledge transformation, this paper expounds on the meaning of socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization of knowledge transformation, and the coupling relationship of autonomy and control on the basis of analyzing the status quo and problems of the autonomy and control of BDS. The autonomous and controllable framework of BDS based on knowledge transformation is constructed from six dimensions of management capability, R&D capability, technical capability, manufacturing capability, service support capability, and application capability. It can provide support for the smooth implementation of information security policy, provide a reference for the autonomy and control of the upstream and downstream industrial chains in Beidou, and provide a reference for the autonomous and controllable research of aerospace components, military measurement test equipment, and other related industries.

Keywords: knowledge transformation, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, autonomy and control, framework

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Authors: Vitalijus Leibenka

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After 2014 the world of Russia’s actions in annexing Crimea has seen a hybrid war that has helped Russia achieve its goals. The world and NATO nations have pointed out that hybrid action can help achieve not only military but also economic and political goals. One of the weapons of action in hybrid warfare is information warfare tools, the use of which helps to carry out actions in the context of hybrid warfare as a whole. In addition, information war tools can be used alone, over time and for long-term purposes. Although forms of information war, such as propaganda and disinformation, have been used in the past, in old conflicts and wars, new forms of information war have emerged as a result of technological development, making the dissemination of information faster and more efficient. The world understands that information is becoming a weapon, but not everyone understands that both information war and information warfare differ in their essence and full content. In addition, the damage and impact of the use of information war, which may have worse consequences than a brief military conflict, is underestimated. Lithuania is also facing various interpretations of the information war. Some believe that the information attack is an information war and the understanding of the information war is limited to a false message in the press. Others, however, deepen and explain the essence of the information war. Society has formed in such a way that not all people are able to assess the threats of information war, to separate information war from information attack. Recently, the Lithuanian government has been taking measures in the context of the information war, making decisions that allow the development of the activities of the state and state institutions in order to create defense mechanisms in the information war. However, this is happening rather slowly and incompletely. Every military conflict, related to Lithuania in one way or another, forces Lithuanian politicians to take up the theme of information warfare again. As a result, a national cyber security center is being set up, and Russian channels spreading lies are banned. However, there is no consistent development and continuous improvement of action against information threats. Although a sufficiently influential part of society (not a political part) helps to stop the spread of obscure information by creating social projects such as “Demaskuok” and “Laikykis ten su Andriumi tapinu”, it goes without saying that it will not become a key tool in the fight against information threats. Therefore, in order to achieve clean dissemination of information in Lithuania, full-fledged and substantial political decisions are necessary, the adoption of which would change the public perception of the information war, its damage, impact and actions that would allow to combat the spread. Political decisions should cover the educational, military, economic and political areas, which are one of the main and most important in the state, which would allow to fundamentally change the situation against the background of information war.

Keywords: information war, information warfare, hybrid war, hybrid warfare, NATO, Lithuania, Russia

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Authors: Paula Costa, Ana Picado, Filomena Pinto, Justina Catarino

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Environmental impact associated with large scale shale gas development is of major concern to the public, policy makers and other stakeholders. To assess this impact on the atmosphere, it is important to monitoring ambient air quality prior to and during all shale gas operation stages. Baseline observations can provide a standard of the pre-shale gas development state of the environment. The lack of baseline concentrations was identified as an important knowledge gap to assess the impact of emissions to the air due to shale gas operations. In fact baseline monitoring of air quality are missing in several regions, where there is a strong possibility of future shale gas exploration. This makes it difficult to properly identify, quantify and characterize environmental impacts that may be associated with shale gas development. The implementation of a baseline air monitoring program is imperative to be able to assess the total emissions related with shale gas operations. In fact, any monitoring programme should be designed to provide indicative information on background levels. A baseline air monitoring program should identify and characterize targeted air pollutants, most frequently described from monitoring and emission measurements, as well as those expected from hydraulic fracturing activities, and establish ambient air conditions prior to start-up of potential emission sources from shale gas operations. This program has to be planned for at least one year accounting for ambient variations. In the literature, in addition to GHG emissions of CH4, CO2 and nitrogen oxides (NOx), fugitive emissions from shale gas production can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). The VOCs include a.o., benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylenes, hexanes, 2,2,4-trimethylpentane, styrene. The concentrations of six air pollutants (ozone, particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), and lead) whose regional ambient air levels are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are often discussed. However, the main concern in the emissions to air associated to shale gas operations, seems to be the leakage of methane. Methane is identified as a compound of major concern due to its strong global warming potential. The identification of methane leakage from shale gas activities is complex due to the existence of several other CH4 sources (e.g. landfill, agricultural activity or gas pipeline/compressor station). An integrated monitoring study of methane emissions may be a suitable mean of distinguishing the contribution of different sources of methane to ambient levels. All data analysis needs to be carefully interpreted taking, also, into account the meteorological conditions of the site. This may require the implementation of a more intensive monitoring programme. So, it is essential the development of a low-cost sampling strategy, suitable for establishing pre-operations baseline data as well as an integrated monitoring program to assess the emissions from shale gas operation sites. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 640715.

Keywords: air emissions, baseline, green house gases, shale gas

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Authors: Mohd Shazad, K. K. Gupta

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Vector borne diseases are a serious global concern. Aedes aegypti, the primary vector for viruses that cause dengue fever, dengue haemorrhagic fever, chikungunya and yellow fever is widespread over large areas of the tropics and subtropics. In last decade, diseases transmitted by Aedes aegypti are of serious concern. In past decade, number of cases of dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic fever, and chikungunya has increased multifold. Present research work focused on impact of ethanol extract of Ocimum sanctum on dengue vector Aedes aegypti. 0-24 hr. old fourth instar larvae of lab-bred population of Aedes aegypti were exposed to ethanol leaf extract of Ocimum with concentrations ranging from 50 ppm to 400 ppm. Survival and development and the treated larvae and reproductive behaviour of the adults emerged from the treated larvae was evaluated. Our results indicated larvicidal potential of the leaf ethanol extract. The influence of the extract was dose dependent. 77.2% mortality was observed in the larvae exposed to 400 ppm for 24 hr. Treatment at lower concentrations revealed delayed toxicity. The larvae survived after treatment showed severe developmental anomalies. Consequently, there was the significant increase in duration of fourth instar larva. The L4 treated with 400-ppm extract moulted after 4.6 days; this was in sharp contrast to control where the larval period of the fourth instar lasts three days. The treated fourth instar larvae in many cases transformed into larva-pupa intermediates with the combination of larva, pupa characters. The larva-pupa intermediates had reduced life span and failed to moult successfully. The adults emerged from the larvae treated with lower doses had reduced reproductive potential. The females exhibited longer preoviposition period, reduced oviposition rate, abnormal oviposition behaviour and decreased fertility. Our studies indicated the possibility of the presence of JH mimic or JH analogue in the leaf ethanol extract of Ocimum. The present research work explored the potentials of Ocimum sanctum, also known as the queen of herbs, in integrated vector management programme of Aedes aegypti, which is a serious threat to human health.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti, development, mortality, Ocimum sanctum reproduction

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Authors: Magdalena Kowalska, Weronika Rupik

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The pancreas is an important organ present in all vertebrate species. It contains two different tissues, exocrine and endocrine, that act as two glands in one. The development and differentiation of the pancreas in reptiles is poorly known in comparison to other vertebrates. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the particular steps concerning the differentiation of the pancreas in the grass snake (Natrix natrix) embryos. For this, histological methods (including hematoxylin and eosin, and Heidenhain's AZAN staining), transmission electron microscopy and three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions from serial paraffin sections were used. The results of this study indicated that the first step of pancreas development in Natrix was the connection of the two pancreatic buds: dorsal and ventral one. Then, duct walls in both buds started to be remodeled from the multilayered to single-layered epithelium. This remodeling started in the dorsal bud and was simultaneously with the differentiation of the duct lumens which occurred by the cavition. During this process, the cells that had no contact with the mesenchyme underwent cell death named anoikis. These findings indicated that the walls of ducts in the embryonic pancreas of the grass snake were initially formed by the abundant principal and single endocrine cells. Later the basal and goblet cells differentiated. Among the endocrine cells, as the first the B and A cells differentiated, then the D and PP cells. The next step of the pancreatic development was the withdrawing of the endocrine cells from the duct walls to form the pancreatic islets. The endocrine cells and islets were found only in the dorsal part of the pancreas in Natrix embryos what is different than in other vertebrate species. The islets were formed mainly by the A cells. Simultaneously, with the differentiation of the endocrine pancreas, the acinar tissue started to differentiate. The source of the acinar cells were pancreatic ducts similar as in other vertebrates. The acini formation began at the proximal part of the pancreas and went towards the caudal direction. Differentiating pancreatic ducts developed into the branched system that can be divided into extralobular, intralobular, and intercalated ducts, similarly as in other vertebrate species. However, the pattern of branching was different. In conclusions, particular steps of the pancreas differentiation in the grass snake were different than in other vertebrates. It can be supposed that these differences are related to the specific topography of the snake’s internal organs and their taxonomy position. All specimens used in the study were captured according to the Polish regulations concerning the protection of wild species. Permission was granted by the Local Ethics Commission in Katowice (41/2010; 87/2015) and the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Katowice (WPN.6401.257.2015.DC).

Keywords: embryogenesis, organogenesis, pancreas, Squamata

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Authors: Ebipatei Victoria Tunyan, T. A. Cao, Cheol Young Ock

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Detecting subjectively biased statements is a vital task. This is because this kind of bias, when present in the text or other forms of information dissemination media such as news, social media, scientific texts, and encyclopedias, can weaken trust in the information and stir conflicts amongst consumers. Subjective bias detection is also critical for many Natural Language Processing (NLP) tasks like sentiment analysis, opinion identification, and bias neutralization. Having a system that can adequately detect subjectivity in text will boost research in the above-mentioned areas significantly. It can also come in handy for platforms like Wikipedia, where the use of neutral language is of importance. The goal of this work is to identify the subjectively biased language in text on a sentence level. With machine learning, we can solve complex AI problems, making it a good fit for the problem of subjective bias detection. A key step in this approach is to train a classifier based on BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) as upstream model. BERT by itself can be used as a classifier; however, in this study, we use BERT as data preprocessor as well as an embedding generator for a Bi-LSTM (Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory) network incorporated with attention mechanism. This approach produces a deeper and better classifier. We evaluate the effectiveness of our model using the Wiki Neutrality Corpus (WNC), which was compiled from Wikipedia edits that removed various biased instances from sentences as a benchmark dataset, with which we also compare our model to existing approaches. Experimental analysis indicates an improved performance, as our model achieved state-of-the-art accuracy in detecting subjective bias. This study focuses on the English language, but the model can be fine-tuned to accommodate other languages.

Keywords: subjective bias detection, machine learning, BERT–BiLSTM–Attention, text classification, natural language processing

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Authors: Maria Gabrielle "Abby" Dalmacio

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Social-emotional learning is a concept that is garnering more importance when considering the development of young children. The aim of this scoping literature review is to explore the implementation of social-emotional learning programs conducted with first-generation immigrant young children ages 3-12 years in North America. This review of literature focuses on social-emotional learning programs taking place in early childhood education centres and elementary school settings that include the first-generation immigrant children population to determine if and how their understanding of social-emotional learning skills may be impacted by the curriculum being taught through North American educational pedagogy. Research on early childhood education and social-emotional learning reveals the lack of inter-cultural adaptability in social emotional learning programs and the potential for immigrant children as being assessed as developmentally delayed due to programs being conducted through standardized North American curricula. The results of this review point to a need for more research to be conducted with first-generation immigrant children to help reform social-emotional learning programs to be conducive for each child’s individual development. There remains to be a gap of knowledge in the current literature on social-emotional learning programs and how educators can effectively incorporate the intercultural perspectives of first-generation immigrant children in early childhood education.

Keywords: early childhood education, social-emotional learning, first-generation immigrant children, north america, inter-cultural perspectives, cultural diversity, early educational frameworks

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Authors: S. Jonsson, D. Millard, C. Bokhove

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Smartphones are ubiquitous and frequently used as learning tools, which makes the design of educational apps an important area of research. A key issue is designing apps to encourage engagement while maintaining a focus on the educational aspects of the app. Flow experience is a promising method for addressing this issue, which refers to a mental state of cognitive absorption and positive emotion. Flow experience has been shown to be associated with positive emotion and increased learning performance. Studies have shown that immediate feedback is an antecedent to Flow. This experiment investigates the effect of immediate feedback on Flow experience. An app teaching Spanish phrases was developed, and 30 participants completed both a 10min session with immediate feedback and a 10min session with delayed feedback. The app contained a task where the user assembles Spanish phrases by pressing bricks with Spanish words. Immediate feedback was implemented by incorrect bricks recoiling, while correct brick moved to form part of the finished phrase. In the delayed feedback condition, the user did not know if the bricks they pressed were correct until the phrase was complete. The level of Flow experienced by the participants was measured after each session using the Flow Short Scale. The results showed that higher levels of Flow were experienced in the immediate feedback session. It was also found that 14 of the participants indicated that the demands of the task were ‘just right’ in the immediate feedback session, while only one did in the delayed feedback session. These results have implications for how to design educational technology and opens up questions for how Flow experience can be used to increase performance and engagement.

Keywords: feedback timing, flow experience, L2 language learning, mobile learning

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Authors: Kehinde, Taye Adetutu

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The fact that Nigeria as a nation is faced by myriads of problems associated with religious crises and political insecurity is no news, the spoken statement and actions of most political giant were the major cause of this unrest. The 'unlearnt' youth within the regions has encompassed the situation. This scenario is further compounded by multilingual nature of the country as it is estimated that there exists amount 400 indigenous languages in Nigeria. It is an indisputable fact that english language which has assumed the status of an official language in Nigeria, given its status has a language of power and captivity by a few with no privilege to attend school. However, educating people in their indigenous language; crises can be averted through the proper orientation and mass literacy campaign, especially for the timid illiterate one, so as to live in unity, peace, tranquillity, and harmony as indivisible nation. In investigating the problem in this study with an emphasis on three major Nigerian language (Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa), participants observations and survey questionnaire were administered to about one hundred and twenty (120) respondents who were randomly selected throughout the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. Findings from this study reveals that teaching and learning of cognitive words and information are more effective in ones mother tongue and helps in stimulating new ideas and changes. This paper was able to explore and critically examine the current state of affairs in Nigeria and proffer possible solutions to the prevailing situations by identifying how indigenous languages and linguistics can be used to ameliorate the present political and religious crisis for Nigeria, thus providing a proper recommendation to achieve meaningful stability and coexistence within a nation.

Keywords: multilingualism, political crisis, religious, Nigeria

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Authors: Ehsan Moradi, Parisa Paikhaste, Amir Alam Beigi, Seyedeh Somayeh Bathaei

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The need for entrepreneurial sustainability is as important as the entrepreneurship category itself. By transferring competencies in a sustainable entrepreneurship framework, entrepreneurship education can make a significant contribution to the effectiveness of businesses, especially for start-up entrepreneurs. This study analyzes the essential competencies of students in the development of sustainable entrepreneurship. It is an applied causal study in terms of nature and field in terms of data collection. The main purpose of this research project is to study and explain the dimensions of sustainability entrepreneurship competencies among agricultural students. The statistical population consists of 730 junior and senior undergraduate students of the Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran. The sample size was determined to be 120 using the Cochran's formula, and the convenience sampling method was used. Face validity, structure validity, and diagnostic methods were used to evaluate the validity of the research tool and Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability to evaluate its reliability. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used by the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) method to prepare a measurement model for data processing. The results showed that seven key dimensions play a role in shaping sustainable entrepreneurial development competencies: systems thinking competence (STC), embracing diversity and interdisciplinary (EDI), foresighted thinking (FTC), normative competence (NC), action competence (AC), interpersonal competence (IC), and strategic management competence (SMC). It was found that acquiring skills in SMC by creating the ability to plan to achieve sustainable entrepreneurship in students through the relevant mechanisms can improve entrepreneurship in students by adopting a sustainability attitude. While increasing students' analytical ability in the field of social and environmental needs and challenges and emphasizing curriculum updates, AC should pay more attention to the relationship between the curriculum and its content in the form of entrepreneurship culture promotion programs. In the field of EDI, it was found that the success of entrepreneurs in terms of sustainability and business sustainability of start-up entrepreneurs depends on their interdisciplinary thinking. It was also found that STC plays an important role in explaining the relationship between sustainability and entrepreneurship. Therefore, focusing on these competencies in agricultural education to train start-up entrepreneurs can lead to sustainable entrepreneurship in the agricultural higher education system.

Keywords: sustainable entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education, competency, agricultural higher education

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Authors: Alexander Wachtel, Michael T. Franzen, Walter F. Tichy

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Programming requires years of training. With natural language and end user development methods, programming could become available to everyone. It enables end users to program their own devices and extend the functionality of the existing system without any knowledge of programming languages. In this paper, we describe an Interactive Spreadsheet Processing Module (ISPM), a natural language interface to spreadsheets that allows users to address ranges within the spreadsheet based on inferred table schema. Using the ISPM, end users are able to search for values in the schema of the table and to address the data in spreadsheets implicitly. Furthermore, it enables them to select and sort the spreadsheet data by using natural language. ISPM uses a machine learning technique to automatically infer areas within a spreadsheet, including different kinds of headers and data ranges. Since ranges can be identified from natural language queries, the end users can query the data using natural language. During the evaluation 12 undergraduate students were asked to perform operations (sum, sort, group and select) using the system and also Excel without ISPM interface, and the time taken for task completion was compared across the two systems. Only for the selection task did users take less time in Excel (since they directly selected the cells using the mouse) than in ISPM, by using natural language for end user software engineering, to overcome the present bottleneck of professional developers.

Keywords: natural language processing, natural language interfaces, human computer interaction, end user development, dialog systems, data recognition, spreadsheet

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Authors: Eun-Taek Sin, Hyun-Ju Jang, Chang Geun Song, Yong-Sik Han

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Due to the climate change, the coastal urban area repeatedly suffers from the loss of property and life by flooding. There are three main causes of inland submergence. First, when heavy rain with high intensity occurs, the water quantity in inland cannot be drained into rivers by increase in impervious surface of the land development and defect of the pump, storm sewer. Second, river inundation occurs then water surface level surpasses the top of levee. Finally, Coastal inundation occurs due to rising sea water. However, previous studies ignored the complex mechanism of flooding, and showed discrepancy and inadequacy due to linear summation of each analysis result. In this study, inland flooding and river inundation were analyzed together by HDM-2D model. Petrov-Galerkin stabilizing method and flux-blocking algorithm were applied to simulate the inland flooding. In addition, sink/source terms with exponentially growth rate attribute were added to the shallow water equations to include the inland flooding analysis module. The applications of developed model gave satisfactory results, and provided accurate prediction in comprehensive flooding analysis. The applications of developed model gave satisfactory results, and provided accurate prediction in comprehensive flooding analysis. To consider the coastal surge, another module was developed by adding seawater to the existing Inland Flooding-River Inundation binding module for comprehensive flooding analysis. Based on the combined modules, the Coastal Inundation – Inland & River Flow Interface was simulated by inputting the flow rate and depth data in artificial flume. Accordingly, it was able to analyze the flood patterns of coastal cities over time. This study is expected to help identify the complex causes of flooding in coastal areas where complex flooding occurs, and assist in analyzing damage to coastal cities. Acknowledgements—This research was supported by a grant ‘Development of the Evaluation Technology for Complex Causes of Inundation Vulnerability and the Response Plans in Coastal Urban Areas for Adaptation to Climate Change’ [MPSS-NH-2015-77] from the Natural Hazard Mitigation Research Group, Ministry of Public Safety and Security of Korea.

Keywords: flooding analysis, river inundation, inland flooding, 2D hydrodynamic model

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Authors: Mimi Roy, Sriroop Chaudhuri

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Sustainable water supply is among the basic needs for human development, especially in the rural areas of the developing nations where safe water supply and basic sanitation infrastructure is direly needed. In light of the above, we propose a simple methodology to develop a composite water sustainability index (WSI) to assess the collective performance of the existing rural water supply services (RWSS) in India over time. The WSI will be computed by summarizing the details of all the different varieties of water supply schemes presently available in India comprising of 40 liters per capita per day (lpcd), 55 lpcd, and piped water supply (PWS) per household. The WSI will be computed annually, between 2010 and 2016, to elucidate changes in holistic RWSS performances. Results will be integrated within a robust geospatial framework to identify the ‘hotspots’ (states/districts) which have persistent issues over adequate RWSS coverage and warrant spatially-optimized policy reforms in future to address sustainable human development. Dataset will be obtained from the National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP), operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS), at state/district/block levels to offer the authorities a cross-sectional view of RWSS at different levels of administrative hierarchy. Due to simplistic design, complemented by spatio-temporal cartograms, similar approaches can also be adopted in other parts of the world where RWSS need a thorough appraisal.

Keywords: rural water supply services, piped water supply, sustainability, composite index, spatial, drinking water

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Authors: R. Bužgová, R. Kozáková, M. Škutová, M. Bar, P. Ressner, P. Bártová

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Introduction: Currently, there has been an increasing concern about the provision of palliative care in non-oncological patients in both professional literature and clinical practice. However, there is not much scientific information on how to provide neurological and palliative care together. The main objective of the project is to create and to verify a concept of neuro-palliative and rehabilitative care for patients with selected neurological diseases in an advanced stage of the disease and also to evaluate bio-psychosocial and spiritual needs of these patients and their caregivers related to the quality of life using created standardized tools. Methodology: Triangulation of research methods (qualitative and quantitative) will be used. A concept of care and assessment tools will be developed by analyzing interviews and focus groups. Qualitative data will be analyzed using grounded theory. The concept of care will be tested in the context of the intervention study. Using quantitative analysis, we will assess the effect of an intervention provided on the saturation of needs, quality of life, and quality of care. A research sample will be made up of the patients with selected neurological diseases (Parkinson´s syndrome, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease), together with patients´ family members. Based on the results, educational materials and a certified course for health care professionals will be created. Findings: Based on qualitative data analysis, we will propose the concept of integrated care model combining neurological, rehabilitative and specialist palliative care for patients with selected neurological diseases in different settings of care and services. Patients´ needs related to quality of life will be described by newly created and validated measuring tools before the start of intervention (application of neuro-palliative and palliative approach) and then in the time interval. Conclusion: Based on the results, educational materials and a certified course for doctors and health care professionals will be created.

Keywords: multidisciplinary approach, neuropalliative care, research, quality of life

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Authors: Ravindra P. Singh, Drupad Ram, Dinesh K. Gupta

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Rare earth ions doped metal oxides are a class of luminescent materials which have been proved to be excellent for applications in field emission displays and cathode ray tubes, plasma display panels. Under UV irradiation Eu+++ doped Y2O3 is a red phosphor and Tb+++ doped Y 2O3 is a green phosphor. It is possible that, due to their high quantum efficiency, they might serve as improved luminescent markers for identification of biomolecules, as already reported for CdSe and CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals. However, for any biological applications these particle powders must be suspended in water while retaining their phosphorescence. We hereby report synthesis and characterization of Eu+++ and Tb+++ doped yttrium oxide nanoparticles by sol-gel and hydrothermal processes. Eu+++ and Tb+++ doped Y2O3 nanoparticles have been synthesized by hydrothermal process using yttrium oxo isopropoxide [Y5O(OPri)13] (crystallized twice) and it’s acetyl acetone modified product [Y(O)(acac)] as precursors. Generally the sol-gel derived metal oxides are required to be annealed to the temperature ranging from 400°C-800°C in order to develop crystalline phases. However, this annealing also results in the development of aggregates which are undesirable for bio-conjugation experiments. In the hydrothermal process, we have achieved crystallinity of the nanoparticles at 300°C and the development of crystalline phases has been found to be proportional to the time of heating of the reactor. The average particle sizes as calculated from XRD were found to be 28 nm, 32 nm, and 34 nm by hydrothermal process. The particles were successfully suspended in chloroform in the presence of trioctyl phosphene oxide and TEM investigations showed the presence of single particles along with agglomerates.

Keywords: nanophosphors, Y2O3:Eu+3, Y2O3:Tb+3, sol-gel, hydrothermal method, TEM, XRD

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Authors: Keng H. Kong, Louis C. Tan, Wing L. Aw, Kay Y. Tay

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Background: Fatigue is a common problem in patients with Parkinson's disease, with reported prevalence of up to 70%. Fatigue can be disabling and has adverse effects on patients' quality of life. There is currently no satisfactory treatment of fatigue. Acupuncture is effective in the treatment of fatigue, especially that related to cancer. Its role in Parkinson's disease-related fatigue is uncertain. Aims: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture treatment in Parkinson's disease-related fatigue. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that acupuncture is effective in alleviating Parkinson's disease-related fatigue. Design: A single center, randomized, controlled study with two parallel arms. Participants: Forty participants with idiopathic Parkinson's disease will be enrolled. Interventions: Participants will be randomized to receive verum (real) acupuncture or placebo acupuncture. The retractable non-invasive sham needle will be used in the placebo group. The intervention will be administered twice a week for five weeks. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome will be the change in general fatigue score of the multidimensional fatigue inventory at week 5. Secondary outcome measures include other subscales of the multidimensional fatigue inventory, movement disorders society-unified Parkinson's disease rating scale, Parkinson's disease questionnaire-39 and geriatric depression scale. All outcome measures will be assessed at baseline (week 0), completion of intervention (week 5) and 4 weeks after completion of intervention (week 9). Results: To date, 23 participants have been recruited and nine have completed the study. The mean age is 63.5±14.2 years, mean duration of Parkinson’s disease is 6.4±1.8 years and mean MDS-UPDRS score is 8.3±2.8. The mean general fatigue score of the multidimensional fatigue inventory is 13.5±4.6. No significant adverse event related to acupuncture is noted. Potential significance: If the results are as expected, this study will provide preliminary scientific evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in Parkinson's Disease-related fatigue, and opens the door for a larger multicentre trial to be performed. In the longer term, it may lead to the integration of acupuncture in the care of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Keywords: acupuncture, fatigue, Parkinson's disease, trial

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Authors: Claudia Patricia Beltran Miranda, Mónica López Anaya, Mónica Navarro Meza, Maria Leonor Valderrama Chairez

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Background: Mexico occupies the second world-wide place of morbid obese people (10- 12 million). Factors that predispose the development of MO are genetic, environmental, physiological, psycho-social and behavioral (nourishing habits). Objective: Associate Gln223Arg polymorphism of gene LEPR, levels of leptina and nourishing habits with the presence of morbid obesity in adolescents of the south of Jalisco (México). Methods: In 41 adolescents (18 normal weight and 23 morbid obesity) of 12 to 19 years of age, both sexes that were measure size and weight with tanita scale and stadimeter to determine IMC. Morbid obesity was determined by tables of the WHO and was established with a standard deviation >3. The Gln223Arg polymorphism have been identify by PCR and leptina levels by ELISA. Nourishing habits were evaluate by the questionnaire the Adolescent Food Habits Checklist. The statistical analysis was performed to compare mean scores obtained from the questionnaire when we compare morbid obesity vs. normal weight adolescents with p=0.03 and a significance of 95%. Results: frequencies alellics and genics were not stadistics significatives p= 0,011 and p=0,279 respectly when were compared between normal weight adolescents and morbib obesity Leptin levels and nourishing habits were associated with morbid obesity. The polymorphism not shown significance with morbid obesity. Conclusions: Dietary habits and leptin levels in adolescents are important factor that predisposes the development of obesity in adolescents. The presence of the polymorphism are not associated with morbid obesity in these subjects.

Keywords: leptin, nourishing habits, morbid obesity, polymorphism

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Authors: Virginia Martin Torrejon, Song Hang

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Gelatine foams are widely explored materials due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, and availability. They exhibit outstanding properties and are currently subject to increasing scientific research due to their potential use in different applications, such as biocompatible cellular materials for biomedical products or biofoams as an alternative to fossil-fuel-derived packaging. Gelatine is a highly surface-active polymer, and its concentrated solutions usually do not require surfactants to achieve low surface tension. Still, anionic surfactants like sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) strongly interact with gelatine, impacting its viscosity and rheological properties and, in turn, their foaming behaviour. Foaming behaviour is a key parameter for cellular solids produced by mechanical foaming as it has a significant effect on the processing and properties of cellular materials. Foamability mainly impacts the density and the mechanical properties of the foams, while foam stability is crucial to achieving foams with low shrinkage and desirable pore morphology. This work aimed to investigate the influence of SDS on the foaming behaviour of concentrated gelatine foams by using a dynamic foam analyser. The study of maximum foam height created, foam formation behaviour, drainage behaviour, and foam structure with regard to bubble size and distribution were carried out in 10 wt% gelatine solutions prepared at different SDS/gelatine concentration ratios. Comparative rheological and viscometry measurements provided a good correlation with the data from the dynamic foam analyser measurements. SDS incorporation at optimum dosages and gelatine gelation led to highly stable foams at high expansion ratios. The viscosity increase of the hydrogel solution at SDS content increased was a key parameter for foam stabilization. In addition, the impact of SDS content on gelling time and gel strength also considerably impacted the foams' stability and pore structure.

Keywords: dynamic foam analyser, gelatine foams stability and foamability, gelatine-surfactant foams, gelatine-SDS rheology, gelatine-SDS viscosity

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Authors: Alexandre Olkoski, Marcelo Curth

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Football in Brazil is considered a passion, being the most popular sport in the country, both by the consumer public and by the means of communication that divulge it individually, when compared with other sports modalities. In the last two decades, the soccer teams have given greater importance to the management, since they understood that the same should be managed as a company, but with peculiarities related to the business. In this sense, Brazilian soccer clubs started to make bigger investments for the adhesion of fans in their social frames, allowing a greater need of understanding about the profile of this group of fans/clients. Thus, this work aims to understand the reasons that cause the fans to join the club and identify variables present in the process of intention to join the club. For that, a qualitative exploratory research was conducted, in which thirty-one membership of a soccer club from southern Brazil were interviewed. Based on the interviews, five categories were classified as emotional aspects (passion and love), cognitive aspects (easy access to the stadium and promotional values in tickets), external influences (family and friends), situational aspects (club moment) and aspects related to the event (engagement by modality). As results found in the analysis, it can be highlighted that the motivation of the majority of the respondents to become a member of the analyzed club, is related to the emotional aspects, such as passion and love. Thus, it is perceived that sport, in the case of soccer, generates in the involved ones (fans and leaders) different manifestations, suggesting that the management of this type of business has great complexity and should not be observed only by the spectrum of the club like a business.

Keywords: consumer behavior, marketing, membership, soccer

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Authors: Mandisi Matyana

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Although the South African local government is doing all the best in ensuring improved service delivery for the citizens, service delivery disparity still remains the real challenge for other municipalities. The unequal distribution of services within municipal wards is causing unequal happiness among the citizens; hence others do enjoy different provided municipal services, while others do not. It is acknowledged that less access to municipal services infringes one’s rights, such as the right to human dignity and the right to life. Some of the municipal services are basic services and they are the mainstay of human survival, such as water, housing, etc. It is quite evident that the service delivery disparity could be caused by the various factors within the local municipality affairs, including both administrative and political factors. Therefore, this study is undertaken to check and evaluate the main foundations of service delivery disparity in ensuring equal development of the state, particularly for local communities. The study used the qualitative method to collect the data from the citizens of Winnie Madikizela Mandela Local Municipality. An extensive literature was also conducted in understanding the causes of service delivery disparity. Study findings prove that the service delivery disparity could be caused by factors such as political interference in administration, corruption and fraud, elevated unemployment levels, inadequate institutional capacity, etc. Therefore, the study recommends strong community participation and constant external supervision in the local government so as to encourage openness in local government to ensure fair administration towards services to be provided.

Keywords: administration, development, municipal services, service delivery disparity, Winnie Madikizela Mandela local municipality

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Authors: Mursal Ibrahim Zada

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Since 2001, the new Government of Afghanistan has put the improvement of transportation in rural area as one of the key issues for the development of the country. Since then, about 17,000 km of rural roads were planned to be constructed in the entire country. This thesis will assess the impact of rural road improvement on the development of rural communities and housing facilities. Specifically, this study aims to show that the improved road has leads to an improvement in the community, which in turn has a positive effect on the lives of rural people. To obtain this goal, a questionnaire survey was conducted in March 2015 to the residents of four different districts of Kabul province, Afghanistan, where the road projects were constructed in recent years. The collected data was analyzed using on a regression analysis considering different factors such as land price, waiting time at the station, travel time to the city, number of employed family members and so on. Three models are developed to demonstrate the relationship between different factors before and after the improvement of rural transportation. The results showed a significant change positively in the value of land price and housing facilities, travel time to the city, waiting time at the station, number of employed family members, fare per trip to the city, and number of trips to the city per month after the pavement of the road. The results indicated that the improvement of transportation has a significant impact on the improvement of the community in different parts, especially on the price of land and housing facility and travel time to the city.

Keywords: accessibility, Afghanistan, housing facility, rural area, land price

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Authors: Manavjit Singh Dhindsa, Ursula Das, Kshirasagar Naik, Marzia Zaman, Richard Purcell, Srinivas Sampalli, Abdul Mutakabbir, Chung-Horng Lung, Thambirajah Ravichandran

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These days, wildland fires, also known as forest fires, are more prevalent than ever. Wildfires have major repercussions that affect ecosystems, communities, and the environment in several ways. Wildfires lead to habitat destruction and biodiversity loss, affecting ecosystems and causing soil erosion. They also contribute to poor air quality by releasing smoke and pollutants that pose health risks, especially for individuals with respiratory conditions. Wildfires can damage infrastructure, disrupt communities, and cause economic losses. The economic impact of firefighting efforts, combined with their direct effects on forestry and agriculture, causes significant financial difficulties for the areas impacted. This research explores different forest fire spread models and presents a comprehensive review of various techniques and methodologies used in the field. A forest fire spread model is a computational or mathematical representation that is used to simulate and predict the behavior of a forest fire. By applying scientific concepts and data from empirical studies, these models attempt to capture the intricate dynamics of how a fire spreads, taking into consideration a variety of factors like weather patterns, topography, fuel types, and environmental conditions. These models assist authorities in understanding and forecasting the potential trajectory and intensity of a wildfire. Emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding of wildfire dynamics, this research explores the approaches, assumptions, and findings derived from various models. By using a comparison approach, a critical analysis is provided by identifying patterns, strengths, and weaknesses among these models. The purpose of the survey is to further wildfire research and management techniques. Decision-makers, researchers, and practitioners can benefit from the useful insights that are provided by synthesizing established information. Fire spread models provide insights into potential fire behavior, facilitating authorities to make informed decisions about evacuation activities, allocating resources for fire-fighting efforts, and planning for preventive actions. Wildfire spread models are also useful in post-wildfire mitigation strategies as they help in assessing the fire's severity, determining high-risk regions for post-fire dangers, and forecasting soil erosion trends. The analysis highlights the importance of customized modeling approaches for various circumstances and promotes our understanding of the way forest fires spread. Some of the known models in this field are Rothermel’s wildland fuel model, FARSITE, WRF-SFIRE, FIRETEC, FlamMap, FSPro, cellular automata model, and others. The key characteristics that these models consider include weather (includes factors such as wind speed and direction), topography (includes factors like landscape elevation), and fuel availability (includes factors like types of vegetation) among other factors. The models discussed are physics-based, data-driven, or hybrid models, also utilizing ML techniques like attention-based neural networks to enhance the performance of the model. In order to lessen the destructive effects of forest fires, this initiative aims to promote the development of more precise prediction tools and effective management techniques. The survey expands its scope to address the practical needs of numerous stakeholders. Access to enhanced early warning systems enables decision-makers to take prompt action. Emergency responders benefit from improved resource allocation strategies, strengthening the efficacy of firefighting efforts.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, deep learning, forest fire management, fire risk assessment, fire simulation, machine learning, remote sensing, wildfire modeling

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Authors: E. Prema Shyam

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The role of international organizations has contributed in various ways for the good governance in the world at large. Since the beginning of the 1990s international organizations, particularly those active in the areas of human rights, trade and economic etc., have embraced a 'good governance'. It is also pertinent to mention that the application of the concept of good governance to international organizations themselves and not exclusively to national or regional polities is a more recent phenomenon. Especially since the second half of the 1990s, a number of international organizations have carried out major governance reforms, assuming that their calls for governments to heed higher standards of good governance will be all the more credible provided that they develop a good governance standard for themselves. In addition to this number of organizations such as the United Nations (UN), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Union (EU), International Committee of the Red Cross and World Trade Organization (WTO). OECD has been specifically mobilized to fight corruption. The World Bank was the first international organization to address the issue of good governance when it attributed the African development crisis to a crisis of governance in a 1989 report. International organizations are often denounced for their lack of transparency and democracy. However, in the last few years, a number of them have pushed through impressive reforms aimed at enhancing good governance standards within their own organizations, especially in the light of their long-standing secrecy. This is a remnant of the traditional conception of international organizations, which renders them merely answerable to their Members. International organizations have already gone quite some way in the areas of good management and opening up to the public. However, as far as participatory governance is concerned, lot to be done for the larger interest of society. In this paper, an attempt has been made to focus the issues on international organisations with regard to good governance.

Keywords: good governance, World Trade Organisation, international organisation, governance reforms

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Authors: Bhakti Chitale

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Mumbai city, which is the business capital of India and one of the most crowded cities in the world, holds the biggest slum in Asia. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) occupies an area of 4035 sq.km. with a population of 22.8 million people. This population is mostly urban with 91% of this population living in areas of Municipal Corporations and Councils. Another 3% live in Census Towns. The region has 9 Municipal Corporations, 8 Municipal councils, and around 1000 villages. On the one hand MMR reflects the highest contribution to the Nations overall economy and on the other hand it shows the horrible and intolerable picture of about 2 million people, who are living in slums/without even slum with totally unhygienic conditions and with total loss of hope. The generations are about to get affected adversely if the solution is not worked out. This study is an attempt towards working out the solution. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is state government's authority, specially formed to govern the development of MMR. MMRDA is engaged in long term planning, promotion of new growth centres, implementation of strategic projects and financing infrastructure development. While preparing the master plan for MMR for next 20 years MMRDA conducted a detail study regarding Housing scenario in MMR and possible options for improvement. The author was the in charge officer for the said assignment. This paper puts light on the interesting outcomes of the research study, which ranges from the adverse effects of government policies, automatic responses of housing market, effects on planning processes, and overall changing needs of housing patterns in the world due to changes in the social mechanism. It alarms the urban planners who usually focus on smart infrastructure development, about allied future dangers. This housing study will explain the complexities, realities and needs of innovations in the housing policies all over the world. The paper will explain further few success stories and failure stories of government initiatives with reasons. It gives the clear idea about the differences in needs of housing for people from different economic groups and direct and indirect market pressures on low cost housing. Magical phenomenon came in front like a large percentage of vacant houses is present in spite of the huge need. Housing market gets affected by the developments or any other physical and financial changes taking place in the nearby areas or cities, also by changes in cities which are located far from the region and also by the international investments or policy changes. Instead of just depending on governments actions in case of generation of affordable housing, it becomes equally important to make the housing markets automatically generate such stock and still make them sustainable is the aim of all the movement. In summary, we may say that the paper will sequentially elaborate the complete dynamics of housing in one of the most crowded urban area in the world that is Mumbai Metropolitan Region, with a lot of data, analysis, case studies, and recommendations.

Keywords: Mumbai India, slum housing, region planning, market recommendations

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Authors: Yen-Hui Lu

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In the past two decades, in order to increase university visibility and internationalization, English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has become one of the main language policies in higher education institutions where English is not a dominant language. However, given the complex, discipline-embedded nature of academic communication, academic literacy does not come with students’ everyday language experience, and it is a challenge for all students. Particularly, to engage students in the effective learning process of discipline concepts in the EMI classrooms, teachers need to provide explicit academic language instruction to assist students in deep understanding of discipline concepts. To bridge the gap between academic language development and discipline learning in the EMI classrooms, the researcher incorporates academic language strategies and key elements of project-based learning (PBL) into an Academic Language Strategy driven PBL (ALS-PBL) model. With clear steps and strategies, the model helps EMI teachers to scaffold students’ academic language development in the EMI classrooms. ALS-PBL model includes three major stages: preparation, implementation, and assessment. First, in the preparation stage, ALS-PBL teachers need to identify learning goals for both content and language learning and to design PBL topics for investigation. Second, during the implementation stage, ALS-PBL teachers use the model as a guideline to create a lesson structure and class routine. There are five important elements in the implementation stage: (1) academic language preparation, (2) connecting background knowledge, (3) comprehensible input, (4) academic language reinforcement, and (5) sustained inquiry and project presentation. Finally, ALS-PBL teachers use formative assessments such as student learning logs, teachers’ feedback, and peer evaluation to collect detailed information that demonstrates students’ academic language development in the learning process. In this study, ALS-PBL model was implemented in an interdisciplinary course entitled “Science is Everywhere”, which was co-taught by five professors from different discipline backgrounds, English education, civil engineering, business administration, international business, and chemical engineering. The purpose of the course was to cultivate students’ interdisciplinary knowledge as well as English competency in disciplinary areas. This study used a case-study design to systematically investigate students’ learning experiences in the class using ALS-PBL model. The participants of the study were 22 college students with different majors. This course was one of the elective EMI courses in this focal university. The students enrolled in this EMI course to fulfill the school language policy, which requires the students to complete two EMI courses before their graduation. For the credibility, this study used multiple methods to collect data, including classroom observation, teachers’ feedback, peer assessment, student learning log, and student focus-group interviews. Research findings show four major successful aspects of implementing ALS-PBL model in the EMI classroom: (1) clear focus on both content and language learning, (2) meaningful practice in authentic communication, (3) reflective learning in academic language strategies, and (4) collaborative support in content knowledge.This study will be of value to teachers involved in delivering English as well as content lessons to language learners by providing a theoretically-sound practical model for application in the classroom.

Keywords: academic language development, content and language integrated learning, english as a medium of instruction, project-based learning

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Authors: Shahlan Surat, Saemah Rahman, Saadiah Kummin

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When teachers reflect and evaluate whether their teaching methods actually have an impact on students’ learning, they will adjust their practices accordingly. This inevitably improves their students’ learning and performance. The approach in meta-teaching can invigorate and create a passion for teaching. It thus helps to increase the commitment and love for the teaching profession. This study was conducted to determine the level of metacognitive thinking of teachers in the process of teaching and learning in the classroom. Metacognitive thinking teachers include the use of metacognitive knowledge which consists of different types of knowledge: declarative, procedural and conditional. The ability of the teachers to plan, monitor and evaluate the teaching process can also be determined. This study was conducted on 377 graduate teachers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The stratified sampling method was selected for the purpose of this study. The metacognitive teaching inventory consisting of 24 items is called InKePMG (Teacher Indicators of Effectiveness Meta-Teaching). The results showed the level of mean is high for two components of metacognitive knowledge; declarative knowledge (mean = 4.16) and conditional (mean = 4.11) whereas, the mean of procedural knowledge is 4.00 (moderately high). Similarly, the level of knowledge in monitoring (mean = 4.11), evaluating (mean = 4.00) which indicate high score and planning (mean = 4.00) are moderately high score among teachers. In conclusion, this study shows that the planning and procedural knowledge is an important element in improving the quality of teachers teaching in the classroom. Thus, the researcher recommended that further studies should focus on training programs for teachers on metacognitive skills and also on developing creative thinking among teachers.

Keywords: metacognitive thinking skills, procedural knowledge, conditional knowledge, meta-teaching and regulation of cognitive

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Authors: Odunjo Oluronke Omolola, Okanlawon Simon Ayorinde

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This study examines the relationship between house characteristics and socio-economic characteristics of developers in Ibadan, southwest, Nigeria. The research is borne out of the fact that social housing has not done much as a result of finance and housing poverty is on the increase in the country. Multistage random sampling was used in selecting 2,646 respondents in the area. The questionnaire forms the basic instrument for data collection and was administered to heads of households to collect information on socio-economic and demographic characteristics as well as characteristics of development. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were employed in the presentation of the findings; MANOVA was used to analyse the relationship between house characteristics measured by wall materials (Y1-Yn) and socio-economic characteristics of developers measured by gender (X1), religion (X2), educational background (X3) and employment status (X4).The study found out that the bulk of the respondents (65.7%) were male, while 51.7% practiced Christianity. Also, 35.9% had HND/1st/Postgraduate degree, while 43.9% were self employed; Most households however, had membership size of 5 (26.9%). The significant wall material in the area was sandcrete block (71.2%) as opposed to mud (19.1%) and brick (0.6%). Multiple Analysis of Variance shows that there is a significant relationship between sandcrete block and each of gender (X1) and employment status (X3). The factor adduced to this is accessibility to cooperative societies which serve as the gravitational force of attraction for housing finance. The study suggests among others that, there should be re-invigoration of existing cooperative societies, while more should be established for the provision of housing finance.

Keywords: relationship, house development, developers, sandcrete block, cooperative societies

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Authors: Craig Wight

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Tourism visits to sites associated to varying degrees with death and dying have for some time inspired academic debate and research into what has come to be popularly described as ‘dark tourism’. Research to date has been based on the mobilisation of various social scientific methodologies to understand issues such as the motivations of visitors to consume dark tourism experiences and visitor interpretations of the various narratives that are part of the consumption experience. This thesis offers an alternative conceptual perspective for carrying out research into dark tourism by presenting a discourse analysis of Lithuanian occupation-themed museums using Foucault’s concept of ‘discursive formation’ from ‘Archaeology of Knowledge’. A constructivist methodology is therefore applied to locate the rhetorical representations of Lithuanian and Jewish subject positions and to identify the objects of discourse that are produced in five museums that interpret a historical era defined by occupation, the persecution of people and genocide. The discourses and consequent cultural function of these museums are examined, and the key finding of the research proposes that they authorise a particular Lithuanian individualism which marginalises the Jewish subject position and its related objects of discourse into abstraction. The thesis suggests that these museums create the possibility to undermine the ontological stability of Holocaust and the Jewish-Lithuanian subject which is produced as an anomalous, ‘non-Lithuanian’ cultural reference point. As with any Foucauldian archaeological research, it cannot be offered as something that is ‘complete’ since it captures only a partial field, or snapshot of knowledge, bound to a specific temporal and spatial context. The discourses that have been identified are perhaps part of a more elusive ‘positivity’ which is salient across a number of cultural and political surfaces which are ripe for a similar analytical approach in future. It is hoped that the study will motivate others to follow a discourse-analytical approach to research in order to further understand the critical role of museums in public culture when it comes to shaping knowledge about ‘inconvenient’ pasts.

Keywords: genocide heritage, foucault, Lithuanian tourism, discursive formatoin

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Authors: Melissa Teo

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It is increasingly important that project managers develop greater capabilities to better manage the social, cultural, political, environmental and economic impacts on proposed construction projects. These challenges are best resolved in consultation with communities rather than in conflict with them. This is particularly important on controversial projects which are projects that have obtained government sanctioned ‘development approval’ but not ‘community approval’. While a rich body of research and intellectual frameworks exist in the fields of urban geography and planning to understand and manage community concerns during the pre-development approval stages of new projects, current theoretical frameworks guiding community engagement in project management are inadequate. A new and innovative research agenda is needed to guide thinking about the role of local communities in the construction process and is an important research gap that needs to be filled. Within this context, this research aims to assess the effectiveness of strategies adopted by project teams to engage with local communities so as to capture lessons learnt to apply to future projects. This paper reports a research methodology which uses Arnstein’s model of participation to better understand how power differentials between the project team and local communities can influence the adoption of community engagement strategies. A case study approach is utilizing interviews and documentary analysis of a large-scale controversial construction project in Queensland, Australia is presented. The findings will result in a number of recommendations to guide community engagement practices on future projects.

Keywords: community engagement, construction, case study, project management

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