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Authors: Pradip Kumar Das

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As the entire world continues its rapid move towards industrialization, it has seriously threatened mankind’s ability to maintain an ecological balance. Geographical and natural forces have a significant influence on the location of industries. Industrialization is the foundation stone of the development of any country, while the unplanned industrialization and discharge of waste by industries is the cause of environmental pollution. There is growing degree of awareness and concern globally among nations about environmental degradation or pollution. Environmental resources endowed by the gift of nature and not manmade are invaluable natural resources of a country like India. Any developmental activity is directly related to natural and environmental resources. Economic development without environmental considerations brings about environmental crises and damages the quality of life of present, as well as future generation. As corporate sectors in the global market, especially in India, are becoming anxious about environmental degradation, naturally more and more emphasis will be ascribed to how environment-friendly the outcomes are. Maintaining accounts of such environmental and natural resources in the country has become more urgent. Moreover, international awareness and acceptance of the importance of environmental issues has motivated the development of a branch of accounting called “Environmental Accounting”. Environmental accounting attempts to detect and focus the resources consumed and the costs rendered by an industrial unit to the environment. For the sustainable development of mankind, a healthy environment is indispensable. Gradually, therefore, in many countries including India, environment matters are being given top most priority. Accounting and disclosure of environmental matters have been increasingly manifesting as an important dimension of corporate accounting and reporting practices. But, as conventional accounting deals with mainly non-living things, the formulation of valuation, and measurement and accounting techniques for incorporating environment-related matters in the corporate financial statement sometimes creates problems for the accountant. In the light of this situation, the conceptual analysis of the study is concerned with the rationale of environmental accounting on the economy and society as a whole, and focuses the failures of the traditional accounting system. A modest attempt has been made to throw light on the environmental awareness in developing nations like India and discuss the problems associated with the implementation of environmental accounting. The conceptual study also reflects that despite different anomalies, environmental accounting is becoming an increasing important aspect of the accounting agenda within the corporate sector in India. Lastly, a conclusion, along with recommendations, has been given to overcome the situation.

Keywords: environmental accounting, environmental degradation, environmental management, environmental resources

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Authors: Ahmed Elsayed, Andrew Shea, Nicolas Kelly, John Allison

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In northern European climates, domestic space heating and hot water represents a significant proportion of total primary total primary energy use and meeting these demands from a national electricity grid network supplied by renewable energy sources provides an opportunity for a significant reduction in EU CO₂ emissions. However, in order to adapt to the intermittent nature of renewable energy generation and to avoid co-incident peak electricity usage from consumers that may exceed current capacity, the demand for heat must be decoupled from its generation. Storage of heat within the fabric of dwellings for use some hours, or days, later provides a route to complete decoupling of demand from supply and facilitates the greatly increased use of renewable energy generation into a local or national electricity network. The integration of thermal energy storage into the building fabric for retrieval at a later time requires much evaluation of the many competing thermal, physical, and practical considerations such as the profile and magnitude of heat demand, the duration of storage, charging and discharging rate, storage media, space allocation, etc. In this paper, the authors report investigations of thermal storage in building fabric using concrete material and present an evaluation of several factors that impact upon performance including heating pipe layout, heating fluid flow velocity, storage geometry, thermo-physical material properties, and also present an investigation of alternative storage materials and alternative heat transfer fluids. Reducing the heating pipe spacing from 200 mm to 100 mm enhances the stored energy by 25% and high-performance Vacuum Insulation results in heat loss flux of less than 3 W/m², compared to 22 W/m² for the more conventional EPS insulation. Dense concrete achieved the greatest storage capacity, relative to medium and light-weight alternatives, although a material thickness of 100 mm required more than 5 hours to charge fully. Layers of 25 mm and 50 mm thickness can be charged in 2 hours, or less, facilitating a fast response that could, aggregated across multiple dwellings, provide significant and valuable reduction in demand from grid-generated electricity in expected periods of high demand and potentially eliminate the need for additional new generating capacity from conventional sources such as gas, coal, or nuclear.

Keywords: fabric integrated thermal storage, FITS, demand side management, energy storage, load shifting, renewable energy integration

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Authors: Dedjo Yao Simon, Takahiro Saito, Norikazu Inuzuka, Ikuo Sugiyama

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Abidjan city (Republic of Ivory Coast) is an emerging megacity and an urban coastal area where the number of floods reported is on a rapid increase due to climate change and unplanned urbanization. However, comprehensive disaster mitigation plans, policies, and financial resources are still lacking as the population ignores the extent and location of the flood zones; making them unprepared to mitigate the damages. Considering the existing condition, this paper aims to discuss an approach for flood risk reduction in Cocody Commune through value capture strategy and flood risk communication. Using geospatial techniques and hydrological simulation, we start our study by delineating flood zones and depths under several return periods in the study area. Then, through a questionnaire a field survey is conducted in order to validate the flood maps, to estimate the flood risk and to collect some sample of the opinion of residents on how the flood risk information disclosure could affect the values of property located inside and outside the flood zones. The results indicate that the study area is highly vulnerable to 5-year floods and more, which can cause serious harm to human lives and to properties as demonstrated by the extent of the 5-year flood of 2014. Also, it is revealed there is a high probability that the values of property located within flood zones could decline, and the values of surrounding property in the safe area could increase when risk information disclosure commences. However in order to raise public awareness of flood disaster and to prevent future housing promotion in high-risk prospective areas, flood risk information should be disseminated through the establishment of an early warning system. In order to reduce the effect of risk information disclosure and to protect the values of property within the high-risk zone, we propose that property tax increments in flood free zones should be captured and be utilized for infrastructure development and to maintain the early warning system that will benefit people living in flood prone areas. Through this case study, it is shown that combination of value capture strategy and risk communication could be an effective tool to educate citizen and to invest in flood risk reduction in emerging countries.

Keywords: Cocody-Abidjan, flood, geospatial techniques, risk communication, value capture

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Authors: Milena Trojanowska

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Disability is a phenomenon for which meanings and definitions have evolved over the decades. This became the trigger to start a project to answer the question of what disability constitutes in the course of an incurable chronic disease. The chosen research group are people living with multiple sclerosis.The contextual phase of the research was participant observation at the Polish Multiple Sclerosis Society, the largest NGO in Poland supporting people living with MS and their relatives. The research techniques used in the project are (in order of implementation): group interviews with people living with MS and their relatives, narrative interviews, asynchronous technique, participant observation during events organised for people living with MS and their relatives.The researcher is currently conducting follow-up interviews, as inaccuracies in the respondents' narratives were identified during the data analysis. Interviews and supplementary research techniques were used over the four years of the research, and the researcher also benefited from experience gained from 12 years of working with NGOs (diaries, notes). The research was carried out in Poland with the participation of people living in this country only.The research has been based on grounded theory methodology in a constructivist perspectivedeveloped by Kathy Charmaz. The goal was to follow the idea that research must be reliable, original, and useful. The aim was to construct an interpretive theory that assumes temporality and the processualityof social life. TheAtlas.ti software was used to collect research material and analyse it. It is a program from the CAQDAS(Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software) group.Several key factors influencing the construction of a disability identity by people living with multiple sclerosis was identified:-course of interaction with significant relatives,- the expectation of identification with disability (expressed by close relatives),- economic profitability (pension, allowances),- institutional advantages (e.g. parking card),- independence and autonomy (not equated with physical condition, but access to adapted infrastructure and resources to support daily functioning),- the way a person with MS construes the meaning of disability,- physical and mental state,- medical diagnosis of illness.In addition, it has been shown that making an assumption about the experience of disability in the course of MS is a form of cognitive reductionism leading to further phenomenon such as: the expectation of the person with MS to construct a social identity as a person with a disability (e.g. giving up work), the occurrence of institutional inequalities. It can also be a determinant of the choice of a life strategy that limits social and individual functioning, even if this necessity is not influenced by the person's physical or psychological condition.The results of the research are important for the development of knowledge about the phenomenon of disability. It indicates the contextuality and complexity of the disability phenomenon, which in the light of the research is a set of different phenomenon of heterogeneous nature and multifaceted causality. This knowledge can also be useful for institutions and organisations in the non-governmental sector supporting people with disabilities and people living with multiple sclerosis.

Keywords: disability, multiple sclerosis, grounded theory, poland

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Authors: Castillo-Acevedo J, Mena-Rivero R, Silva-Poot H

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In Mexico, as largely of the developing countries, the rural housing is a study object, since the diversity of constructive idiosyncrasies for locality, involves various factors that make it vulnerable; an important aspect of study is the progressive deterioration that is seen in the rural housing. Various social programs, contribute financial resources in the field of housing to provide support for families living in rural areas, however, they do not provide a coordination with the self-construction that is usually the way in which is built in these areas. The present study, exposes the physical situation and an economic assessment that presents the rural self-constructed housing in three rural communities in the south of the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, which were built with funding from federal social programs. The information compilation was carried out in a period of seven months in which there was used the intentional sampling of typical cases, where the object study was the housing constructed with supports of the program “Rural Housing” between the year 2009 and 2014. Instruments were used as the interview, ballot papers of observation, ballot papers of technical verification and various measuring equipment laboratory for the classification of pathologies; for the determination of some pathologies constructive Mexican standards were applied how NMX-C-192-ONNCCE, NMX-C-111-ONNCCE, NMX-C-404-ONNCCE and finally used the software of Opus CMS ® with the help of tables of the National Consumer Price Index (CPI) for update of costs and wages according to the line of being applied in Mexico, were used for an economic valuation. The results show 11 different constructive pathologies and exposes greater presence with the 22.50% to the segregation of the concrete; the economic assessment shows that 80% of self-constructed housing, exceed the cost of construction it would have compared to a similar dwelling built by a construction company; It is also exposed to the 46.10% of the universe of study represent economic losses in materials to the social activities by houses not built. The system of self-construction used by the social programs, affect to some extent the program objectives applied in underserved areas, as implicit and additional costs affect the economic capacity of beneficiaries who invest time and effort in an activity that are not specialists, which this research provides foundations for sustainable alternatives or possibly eliminate the practice of self-construction of implemented social programs in marginalized rural communities in the south of state of Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Keywords: economic valuation, pathologies constructive, rural housing, social programs

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Authors: Karima Adilla

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

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

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Authors: Isabelle Gobatto

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Based on an anthropological approach, this paper explores the medical profession and the construction of medical practices by considering the multiform articulations between structural poverty and the production of care from a low-resource francophone West African country, Burkina Faso. This country is considered in its exemplary dimension of culturally differentiated countries of the African continent that share the same situation of structural poverty. The objective is to expose the effects of structural poverty on the ways of constructing professional knowledge and thinking about the sense of the medical profession. If doctors are trained to have the same capacities in South and West countries, which are to treat and save lives whatever the cultural contexts of the practice of medicine, the ways of investing their role and of dealing with this context of action fracture the homogenization of the medical profession. In the line of anthropology of biomedicine, this paper outlines the complex effects of structural poverty on health care, care relations, and the moral economy of doctors. The materials analyzed are based on an ethnography including two temporalities located thirty years apart (1990-1994 and 2020-2021), based on long-term observations of care practices conducted in healthcare institutions, interviews coupled with the life histories of physicians. The findings reveal that disabilities faced by doctors to deliver care are interpreted as policy gaps, but they are also considered by physicians as constitutive of the social and cultural characteristics of patients, making their capacities and incapacities in terms of accompanying caregivers in the production of care. These perceptions have effects on know-how, structured around the need to act even when diagnoses are not made so as not to see patients desert health structures if the costs of care are too high for them. But these interpretations of highly individualizing dimensions of these difficulties place part of the blame on patients for the difficulties in using learned knowledge and delivering effective care. These situations challenge the ethics of caregivers but also of ethnologists. Firstly because the interpretations of disabilities prevent caregivers from considering vulnerabilities of care as constituting a common condition shared with their patients in these health systems, affecting them in an identical way although in different places in the production of care. Correlatively, these results underline that these professional conceptions prevent the emergence of a figure of victim, which could be shared between patients and caregivers who, together, undergo working and care conditions at the limit of the acceptable. This dimension directly involves politics. Secondly, structural poverty and its effects on care challenge the ethics of the anthropologist who observes caregivers producing, without intent to arm, experiences of care marked by an ordinary violence, by not giving them the care they need. It is worth asking how anthropologists could get doctors to think in this light in west-African societies.

Keywords: Africa, care, ethics, poverty

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Authors: Amin Asgarian, Ghyslaine McClure

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Proper seismic evaluation of Non-Structural Components (NSCs) mandates an accurate estimation of floor seismic demands (i.e. acceleration and displacement demands). Most of the current international codes incorporate empirical equations to calculate equivalent static seismic force for which NSCs and their anchorage system must be designed. These equations, in general, are functions of component mass and peak seismic acceleration to which NSCs are subjected to during the earthquake. However, recent studies have shown that these recommendations are suffered from several shortcomings such as neglecting the higher mode effect, tuning effect, NSCs damping effect, etc. which cause underestimation of the component seismic acceleration demand. This work is aimed to circumvent the aforementioned shortcomings of code provisions as well as improving them by proposing a simplified, practical, and yet accurate approach to generate acceleration Floor Design Spectra (FDS) directly from corresponding Uniform Hazard Spectra (UHS) (i.e. design spectra for structural components). A database of 27 Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings in which Ambient Vibration Measurements (AVM) have been conducted. The database comprises 12 low-rise, 10 medium-rise, and 5 high-rise buildings all located in Montréal, Canada and designated as post-disaster buildings or emergency shelters. The buildings are subjected to a set of 20 compatible seismic records and Floor Response Spectra (FRS) in terms of pseudo acceleration are derived using the proposed approach for every floor of the building in both horizontal directions considering 4 different damping ratios of NSCs (i.e. 2, 5, 10, and 20% viscous damping). Several effective parameters on NSCs response are evaluated statistically. These parameters comprise NSCs damping ratios, tuning of NSCs natural period with one of the natural periods of supporting structure, higher modes of supporting structures, and location of NSCs. The entire spectral region is divided into three distinct segments namely short-period, fundamental period, and long period region. The derived roof floor response spectra for NSCs with 5% damping are compared with the 5% damping UHS and procedure are proposed to generate roof FDS for NSCs with 5% damping directly from 5% damped UHS in each spectral region. The generated FDS is a powerful, practical, and accurate tool for seismic design and assessment of acceleration-sensitive NSCs particularly in existing post-critical buildings which have to remain functional even after the earthquake and cannot tolerate any damage to NSCs.

Keywords: earthquake engineering, operational and functional components (OFCs), operational modal analysis (OMA), seismic assessment and design

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Authors: Magdalena Maria Rost-Roszkowska, Alina Chachulska-Żymełka, Monika Tarnawska, Maria Augustyniak, Alina Kafel, Agnieszka Babczyńska

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Autophagy is a form of cell remodeling in which an internalization of organelles into vacuoles that are called autophagosomes occur. Autophagosomes are the targets of lysosomes, thus causing digestion of cytoplasmic components. Eventually, it can lead to the death of the entire cell. However, in response to several stress factors, e.g., starvation, heavy metals (e.g., cadmium) autophagy can also act as a pro-survival factor, protecting the cell against its death. The main aim of our studies was to check if the process of autophagy, which could appear in the midgut epithelium after Cd treatment, can be fixed during the following generations of insects. As a model animal, we chose the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a well-known polyphagous pest of many vegetable crops. We analyzed specimens at final larval stage (5th larval stage), due to its hyperfagy, resulting in great amount of cadmium assimilate. The culture consisted of two strains: a control strain (K) fed a standard diet, and a cadmium strain (Cd), fed on standard diet supplemented with cadmium (44 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food) for 146 generations, both strains. In addition, the control insects were transferred to the Cd supplemented diet (5 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food, 10 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food, 20 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food, 44 mg Cd per kg of dry weight of food). Therefore, we obtained Cd1, Cd2, Cd3 and KCd experimental groups. Autophagy has been examined using transmission electron microscope. During this process, degenerated organelles were surrounded by a membranous phagophore and enclosed in an autophagosome. Eventually, after the autophagosome fused with a lysosome, an autolysosome was formed and the process of the digestion of organelles began. During the 1st year of the experiment, we analyzed specimens of 6 generations in all the lines. The intensity of autophagy depends significantly on the generation, tissue and cadmium concentration in the insect rearing medium. In the Ist, IInd, IIIrd, IVth, Vth and VIth generation the intensity of autophagy in the midguts from cadmium-exposed strains decreased gradually according to the following order of strains: Cd1, Cd2, Cd3 and KCd. The higher amount of cells with autophagy was observed in Cd1 and Cd2. However, it was still higher than the percentage of cells with autophagy in the same tissues of the insects from the control and multigenerational cadmium strain. This may indicate that during 6-generational exposure to various Cd concentration, a preserved tolerance to cadmium was not maintained. The study has been financed by the National Science Centre Poland, grant no 2016/21/B/NZ8/00831.

Keywords: autophagy, cell death, digestive system, ultrastructure

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Authors: Zakhile Somlata

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In the context of international linguistic and cultural diversity, all languages can be used for all purposes. Africa in general and South Africa, in particular, is not an exception to multilingual and multicultural society. The multilingual and multicultural nature of South African society has a direct bearing to the heterogeneity of South African Universities in general. Universities as the centers of research, innovation, and transformation of the entire society should be at the forefront in leading multilingualism. The universities in South Africa had been using English and to a certain extent Afrikaans as the only academic languages during colonialism and apartheid regime. The democratic breakthrough of 1994 brought linguistic relief in South Africa. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa recognizes 11 official languages that should enjoy parity of esteem for the realization of multilingualism. The elevation of the nine previously marginalized indigenous African languages as academic languages in higher education is central to multilingualism. It is high time that Afrocentric model instead of Eurocentric model should be the one which underpins education system in South Africa at all levels. Almost all South African universities have their language policies that seek to promote access and success of students through multilingualism, but the main dilemma is the implementation of language policies. This study is significant to respond to two objectives: (i) To evaluate how selected institutions use language policies for accessibility and success of students. (ii) To study how selected universities integrate African languages for both academic and administrative purposes. This paper reflects the language policy practices in one selected University of Technology (UoT) in South Africa. The UoT has its own language policy which depicts linguistic diversity of the institution and its commitment to promote multilingualism. Translanguaging pedagogy which accommodates minority languages' usage in the teaching and learning process plays a pivotal role in promoting multilingualism. This research paper employs mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative research) approach. Qualitative data has been collected from the key informants (insiders and experts), while quantitative data has been collected from a cohort of third-year students. A mixed methods approach with its convergent parallel design allows the data to be collected separately, analysed separately but with the comparison of the results. Language development initiatives have been discussed within the framework of language policy and policy implementation strategies. Theoretically, this paper is rooted in language as a problem, language as a right and language as a resource. The findings demonstrate that despite being a multilingual institution, there is a perpetuation of marginalization of African languages to be used as academic languages. Findings further display the hegemony of English. The promotion of status quo compromises the promotion of multilingualism, Africanization of Higher Education and intellectualization of indigenous African languages in South Africa under a democratic dispensation.

Keywords: afro-centric model, hegemony of English, language as a resource, translanguaging pedagogy

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Authors: Samuel Carpintero

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Public-private partnerships (PPP) arrangements have emerged all around the world as a response to infrastructure deficits and the need to refurbish existing infrastructure. The motivations of governments for embarking on PPPs for the delivery of public infrastructure are manifold, and include on-time and on-budget delivery as well as access to private project management expertise. The PPP formula has been used by some State governments in United States and Canada, where the participation of private companies in financing and managing infrastructure projects has increased significantly in the last decade, particularly in the transport sector. On the one hand, this paper examines the various ways used in these two countries in the implementation of PPP arrangements, with a particular focus on risk transfer. The examination of risk transfer in this paper is carried out with reference to the following key PPP risk categories: construction risk, revenue risk, operating risk and availability risk. The main difference between both countries is that in Canada the demand risk remains usually within the public sector whereas in the United States this risk is usually transferred to the private concessionaire. The aim is to explore which lessons can be learnt from both models than might be useful for other countries. On the other hand, the paper also analyzes why the Spanish companies have been so successful in winning PPP contracts in North America during the past decade. Contrary to the Latin American PPP market, the Spanish companies do not have any cultural advantage in the case of the United States and Canada. Arguably, some relevant reasons for the success of the Spanish groups are their extensive experience in PPP projects (that dates back to the late 1960s in some cases), their high technical level (that allows them to be aggressive in their bids), and their good position and track-record in the financial markets. The article’s empirical base consists of data provided by official sources of both countries as well as information collected through face-to-face interviews with public and private representatives of the stakeholders participating in some of the PPP schemes. Interviewees include private project managers of the concessionaires, representatives of banks involved as financiers in the projects, and experts in the PPP industry with close knowledge of the North American market. Unstructured in-depth interviews have been adopted as a means of investigation for this study because of its powers to achieve honest and robust responses and to ensure realism in the collection of an overall impression of stakeholders’ perspectives.

Keywords: PPP, concession, infrastructure, construction

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Authors: Cherng-Jye Jeng, Ming-Feng Hou, Hsing-Yuan Liu, Chuan-Feng Chang, Lih-Rong Wang, Yen-Chin Lin

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Introduction: The incidence of breast cancer has gradually increased in Taiwan, and the characteristic of younger ages impact these women in their middle age, and may also cause challenges in terms of family, work, and illness. Breasts are symbols of femininity, as well as of sex. For women, breasts are important organs for the female identity and sexual expression. Losing breasts not only affects the female role, but would also affect sexual attraction and sexual desire. Thus, women with breast cancer who have need for mastectomies experience physical incompletion, which affects women’s self-confidence, physical image, and self-orientation. Purposes: 1. To understand the physical experience of women with breast cancer. 2. To explore the issue of sexual issues on the health effects of women with breast cancer. 3. To construct a domestic sex life issue group model for domestic women with breast cancer. 4. To explore the accompaniment experiences and sexual relationship adjustments of spouses when women have breast cancer. Method: After the research plan passes IRB review, participants will be recruited at breast surgery clinic in the affiliated hospital, to screen suitable subjects for entry into the group. Between March and May 2015, two sexual health and sex life consultation groups were conducted, which were (1) 10 in postoperative groups for women with cancer; (2) 4 married couples group for postoperative women with cancer. After sharing experiences and dialogue, women can achieve mutual support and growth. Data organization and analysis underwent descriptive analysis in qualitative research, and the group process was transcribed into transcripts for overall-content and category-content analysis. Results: Ten women with breast cancer believed that participating in group can help them exchange experiences, and elevate sexual health. The main issues include: (1) after breast cancer surgery, patients generally received chemotherapy or estrogen suppressants, causing early menopause; in particular, vaginal dryness can cause pain or bleeding in intercourse, reducing their desire for sexual activity; (2) breast cancer accentuates original spousal or family and friend relationships; some people have support and care from their family, and spouses emphasize health over the appearance of breasts; however, some people do not have acceptance and support from their family, and some even hear spousal sarcasm about loss of breasts; (3) women with breast cancer have polarized expressions of optimism and pessimism in regards to their emotions, beliefs, and body image regarding cancer; this is related to the women’s original personalities, attribution of causes of cancer, and extent of worry about relapse. Conclusion: The research results can be provided as a reference to medical institutions or breast cancer volunteer teams, to pay attention to maintaining the health of women with breast cancer.

Keywords: women with breast cancer, experiences of objectifying the body, quality of sex life, sexual health

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Authors: Gokul Prasad, Pennan Chinnasamy

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The degradation of groundwater resources, attributed to factors such as excessive abstraction and contamination, has emerged as a global concern. This study delves into the stable isotopes of water) in a hard-rock aquifer situated in the Upper Godavari watershed, an agriculturally rich region in India underlain by Basalt. The higher groundwater draft (> 90%) poses significant risks; comprehending groundwater sources, flow patterns, and their environmental impacts is pivotal for researchers and water managers. The region has faced five droughts in the past 20 years; four are categorized as medium. The recharge rates are variable and show a very minimum contribution to groundwater. The rainfall pattern shows vast variability, with the region receiving seasonal monsoon rainfall for just four months and the rest of the year experiencing minimal rainfall. This research closely monitored monsoon precipitation inputs and examined spatial and temporal fluctuations in δ18O and δ2H in both groundwater and precipitation. By discerning individual recharge events during monsoons, it became possible to identify periods when evaporation led to groundwater quality deterioration, characterized by elevated salinity and stable isotope values in the return flow. The locally derived meteoric water line (LMWL) (δ2H = 6.72 * δ18O + 1.53, r² = 0.6) provided valuable insights into the groundwater system. The leftward shift of the Nashik LMWL in relation to the GMWL and LMWL indicated groundwater evaporation (-33 ‰), supported by spatial variations in electrical conductivity (EC) data. Groundwater in the eastern and northern watershed areas exhibited higher salinity > 3000uS/cm, expanding > 40% of the area compared to the western and southern regions due to geological disparities (alluvium vs basalt). The findings emphasize meteoric precipitation as the primary groundwater source in the watershed. However, spatial variations in isotope values and chemical constituents indicate other contributing factors, including evaporation, groundwater source type, and natural or anthropogenic (specifically agricultural and industrial) contaminants. Therefore, the study recommends focused hydro geochemistry and isotope analysis in areas with strong agricultural and industrial influence for the development of holistic groundwater management plans for protecting the groundwater aquifers' quantity and quality.

Keywords: groundwater quality, stable isotopes, salinity, groundwater management, hard-rock aquifer

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Authors: David Hough

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Indigenous peoples can generally be described as the original or first peoples of a land prior to colonization. While there is no single definition of indigenous peoples, the United Nations has developed a general understanding based on self-identification and historical continuity with pre-colonial societies. Indigenous peoples are often traditional holders of unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs who possess valuable knowledge and practices which support sustainable management of natural resources. They often have social, economic, political systems, languages and cultures, which are distinct from dominant groups in the society or state where they live. They generally resist attempts by the dominant culture at assimilation and endeavour to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities. In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly passed a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, known as UNDRIP. It (in addition to other international instruments such as ILO 169), sets out far-reaching guidelines, which – among other things – attempt to protect and promote indigenous languages and cultures. Paragraphs 13 and 14 of the declaration state the following regarding language, culture and education: Article 13, Paragraph 1: Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit for future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems, and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons. Article 14, Paragraph I: Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning. These two paragraphs call for the right of self-determination in education. Paragraph 13 gives indigenous peoples the right to control the content of their teaching, while Paragraph 14 states that the teaching of this content should be based on methods of teaching and learning which are appropriate to indigenous peoples. This paper reviews an approach to furthering linguistic and cultural human rights for indigenous peoples in education, which supports UNDRIP. It has been employed in countries in Asia and the Pacific, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Far East Russia and Nepal. It is based on bottom-up community-based initiatives where students, teachers and local knowledge holders come together to produce classroom materials in their own languages that reflect their traditional beliefs and value systems. They may include such things as knowledge about herbal medicines and traditional healing practices, local history, numerical systems, weights and measures, astronomy and navigation, canoe building, weaving and mat making, life rituals, feasts, festivals, songs, poems, etc. Many of these materials can then be mainstreamed into math, science language arts and social studies classes.

Keywords: Indigenous peoples, linguistic and cultural human rights, materials development, teacher training, traditional knowledge

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Authors: Avadh Bihari

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a global parameter to define corporates' ethical and responsible behaviour. It was a voluntary practice in India till 2013, driven by various guidelines, which has become a mandate since 2014 under the Companies Act, 2013. This has compelled the corporates to redesign their CSR strategies by bringing in structures, planning, accountability, and transparency in their processes with a mandate to 'comply or explain'. Based on the author's M.Phil. dissertation, this paper presents the changes in organisational practices and institutional mechanisms of third-sector organisations (TSOs) with the theoretical frameworks of institutionalism and co-optation. It became an interesting case as India is the only country to have a law on CSR, which is not only mandating the reporting but the spending too. The space of CSR in India is changing rapidly and affecting multiple institutions, in the context of the changing roles of the state, market, and TSOs. Several factors such as stringent regulation on foreign funding, mandatory CSR pushing corporates to look out for NGOs, and dependency of Indian NGOs on CSR funds have come to the fore almost simultaneously, which made it an important area of study. Further, the paper aims at addressing the gap in the literature on the effects of mandated CSR on the functioning of TSOs through the empirical and theoretical findings of this study. The author had adopted an interpretivist position in this study to explore changes in organisational practices from the participants' experiences. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with five corporate officials, eleven officials from six TSOs, and two academicians, located at Mumbai and Delhi, India. The findings of this study show the legislation has institutionalised CSR, and TSOs get co-opted in the process of implementing mandated CSR. Seventy percent of the corporates implement their CSR projects through TSOs in India; this has affected the organisational practices of TSOs to a large extent. They are compelled to recruit expert workforce, create new departments for monitoring & evaluation, communications, and adopt management practices of project implementation from corporates. These are attempts to institutionalise the TSOs so that they can produce calculated results as demanded by corporates. In this process, TSOs get co-opted in a struggle to secure funds and lose their autonomy. The normative, coercive, and mimetic isomorphisms of institutionalism come into play as corporates are mandated to take up CSR, thereby influencing the organisational practices of TSOs. These results suggest that corporates and TSOs require an understanding of each other's work culture to develop mutual respect and work towards the goal of sustainable development of the communities. Further, TSOs need to retain their autonomy and understanding of ground realities without which they become an extension of the corporate-funder. For a successful CSR project, engagement beyond funding is required from corporate, through their involvement and not interference. CSR-led community development can be structured by management practices to an extent, but cannot overshadow the knowledge and experience of TSOs.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, institutionalism, organisational practices, third-sector organisations

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Authors: Alaa Osman, Sara Elgazzar, Breksal Elmiligy

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The Supply Chain Operation Reference (SCOR) model is considered one of the most widely implemented supply chain performance measurement systems (SCPMSs). Several studies have been proposed on the SCOR model adaptation in developed countries context; while there is a limited availability of previous work on the SCPMSs application generally and the SCOR model specifically in developing nations. This paper presents a research agenda on the SCOR model adaptation in the developing countries. It aims at investigating the challenges of adapting the SCOR model to manage and measure supply chain performance in developing countries. The research will exemplify the system in the Egyptian automotive sector to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the application of the SCOR model can affect the performance of automotive companies in Egypt, with a necessary understanding of challenges and obstacles faced the adaptation of the model in the Egyptian supply chain context. An empirical study was conducted on the Egyptian automotive sector in three companies considering three different classes: BMW, Hyundai and Brilliance. First, in-depth interviews were carried out to gain an insight into the implementation and the relevance of the concepts of supply chain management and performance measurement in the Egyptian automotive industry. Then, a formal survey was designed based on the SCOR model five main processes (plan, source, make, deliver and return) and best practices to investigate the challenges and obstacles faced the adaptation of the SCOR model in the Egyptian automotive supply chain. Finally, based on the survey results, the appropriate best practices for each process were identified in order to overcome the SCOR model adaptation challenges. The results showed that the implementation of the SCOR model faced different challenges and unavailability of the required enablers. The survey highlighted the low integration of end-to-end supply chain, lacks commitment for the innovative ideas and technologies, financial constraints and lack of practical training and support as the main challenges faced the adaptation of the SCOR model in the Egyptian automotive supply chain. The research provides an original contribution to knowledge by proposing a procedure to identify challenges encountered during the process of SCOR model adoption which can pave a way for further research in the area of SCPMSs adaptation, particularly in the developing countries. The research can help managers and organizations to identify obstacles and difficulties of the SCOR model adaptation, subsequently this can facilitate measuring the improved performance or changes in the organizational performance.

Keywords: automotive sector, developing countries, SCOR model, supply chain performance

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Authors: Mona Mohamed Shawkt Ragab, Heba Mohamed Darwish

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Context: Comfort properties of garments are crucial for the wearer, and with the increasing demand for cotton fabric, there is a need to explore alternative fabrics that can offer similar or superior comfort properties. This study focuses on comparing the comfort properties of tencel/cotton single jersey fabric and cotton single jersey fabric, with the aim of identifying fabrics that are more suitable for summer clothes. Research Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the comfort properties of tencel/cotton single jersey fabric and cotton single jersey fabric, with the goal of identifying fabrics that can serve as alternatives to cotton, considering their comfort properties for summer clothing. Methodology: An experimental, analytical approach was employed in this study. Two circular knitting machines were used to produce the fabrics, one with a 24 inches gauge and the other with a 28 inches gauge. Both fabrics were knitted with three different loop lengths (3.05 mm, 2.9 mm, and 2.6 mm) to obtain loose, medium, and tight fabrics for evaluation. Various comfort properties, including air permeability, water vapor permeability, wickability, and thermal resistance, were measured for both fabric types. Findings: The study found a significant difference in comfort properties between tencel/cotton single jersey fabric and cotton single jersey fabric. Tencel/cotton fabric exhibited higher air permeability, water vapor permeability, and wickability compared to cotton fabric. These findings suggest that tencel fabric is more suitable for summer clothes due to its superior ventilation and absorption properties. Theoretical Importance: This study contributes to the exploration of alternative fabrics to cotton by evaluating their comfort properties. By identifying fabrics that offer better comfort properties than cotton, particularly in terms of water usage, the study provides valuable insights into sustainable fabric choices for the fashion industry. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The comfort properties of the fabrics were measured using appropriate testing methods. Paired comparison t-tests were conducted to determine the significant differences between tencel/cotton fabric and cotton fabric in the measured properties. Correlation coefficients were also calculated to examine the relationships between the factors under study. Question Addressed: The study addresses the question of whether tencel/cotton single jersey fabric can serve as an alternative to cotton fabric for summer clothes, considering their comfort properties. Conclusion: The study concludes that tencel/cotton single jersey fabric offers superior comfort properties compared to cotton single jersey fabric, making it a suitable alternative for summer clothes. The findings also highlight the importance of considering fabric properties, such as air permeability, water vapor permeability, and wickability, when selecting materials for garments to enhance wearer comfort. This research contributes to the search for sustainable alternatives to cotton and provides valuable insights for the fashion industry in making informed fabric choices.

Keywords: comfort properties, cotton fabric, tencel fabric, single jersey

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Authors: Aliya Moreira, Blake Duffy, Sam Kosinski, Kate Heckman, Erika Steensma

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Introduction: The One Health initiative promotes recognition of the interrelatedness between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. The field of comparative medicine studies the similarities and differences between humans and animals for the purpose of advancing medical sciences. Currently, medical school education is narrowly focused on human anatomy and physiology, but as the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, a holistic understanding of health requires comprehension of the interconnection between health and the lived environment. To prepare future physicians for unique challenges from emerging zoonoses to climate change, medical students can benefit from exposure to and experience with One Health and Comparative Medicine content. Methods: In January 2020, an elective course for medical students on One Health and Comparative Medicine was created to provide medical students with the background knowledge necessary to understand the applicability of animal and environmental health in medical research and practice. The 2-week course was continued in January 2021, with didactic and experiential activities taking place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to student feedback, lectures were added to expand instructional content on zoonotic and wildlife diseases for the second iteration of the course. Other didactic sessions included interprofessional lectures from 20 physicians, veterinarians, public health professionals, and basic science researchers. The first two cohorts of students were surveyed regarding One Health and Comparative Medicine concepts at the beginning and conclusion of the course. Results: 16 medical students have completed the comparative medicine course thus far, with 87.5% (n=14) completing pre-and post-course evaluations. 100% of student respondents indicated little to no exposure to comparative medicine or One Health concepts during medical school. Following the course, 100% of students felt familiar or very familiar with comparative medicine and One Health concepts. To assess course efficacy, questions were evaluated on a five-point Likert scale. 100% agreed or strongly agreed that learning Comparative Medicine and One Health topics augmented their medical education. 100% agreed or strongly agreed that a course covering this content should be regularly offered to medical students. Conclusions: Data from the student evaluation surveys demonstrate that the Comparative Medicine course was successful in increasing medical student knowledge of Comparative Medicine and One Health. Results also suggest that interprofessional training in One Health and Comparative Medicine is applicable and useful for medical trainees. Future iterations of this course could capitalize on the inherently interdisciplinary nature of these topics by enrolling students from veterinary and public health schools into a longitudinal course. Such recruitment may increase the course’s value by offering multidisciplinary student teams the opportunity to conduct research projects, thereby strengthening both the individual learning experience as well as sparking future interprofessional research ventures. Overall, these efforts to educate medical students in One Health topics should be reproducible at other institutions, preparing more future physicians for the diverse challenges they will encounter in practice.

Keywords: medical education, interprofessional instruction, one health, comparative medicine

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Authors: Nicola G. G. Cecca

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In Italian IPSSEOAs, high schools that give a vocational education to students that will work in the field of Enogastronomy and Hotel Management, the course of Food Science allows the students to start and see food as a mixture of substances that they will transform during their profession. These substances are characterized not only by a chemical composition but also by a molecular structure that makes them nutritionally active. But the increasing number of new products proposed by Food Industry, the modern techniques of production and transformation, the innovative preparations required by customers have made many information reported in the most wide spread Food Science textbooks not up-to-date or too poor for the people who will work in catering sector. Often Authors offer information aged to Bohr’s Atomic Model and to the ‘Octet Rule’ proposed by G.N. Lewis to describe the Chemical Bond, without giving any reference to new as Orbital Atomic Model and Molecular Orbital Theory that, in the meantime, start to be old themselves. Furthermore, this antiquated information precludes an easy understanding of a wide range of properties of nutritive substances and many reactions in which the food constituents are involved. In this paper, our attention is pointed out to use GEOMAG™ to represent the dynamics with which the chemical bond is formed during the synthesis of the molecules. GEOMAG™ is a toy, produced by the Swiss Company Geomagword S.A., pointed to stimulate in children, aged between 6-10 years, their fantasy and their handling ability and constituted by metallic spheres and metallic magnetic bars coated by coloured plastic materials. The simulation carried out with GEOMAG™ is based on the similitude existing between the Coulomb’s force and the magnetic attraction’s force and in particular between the formulae with which they are calculated. The electrostatic force (F in Newton) that allows the formation of the chemical bond can be calculated by mean Fc = kc q1 q2/d2 where: q1 e q2 are the charge of particles [in Coulomb], d is the distance between the particles [in meters] and kc is the Coulomb’s constant. It is surprising to observe that the attraction’s force (Fm) acting between the magnetic extremities of GEOMAG™ used to simulate the chemical bond can be calculated in the same way by using the formula Fm = km m1 m2/d2 where: m1 e m2 represent the strength of the poles [A•m], d is the distance between the particles [m], km = μ/4π in which μ is the magnetic permeability of medium [N•A-2]. The magnetic attraction can be tested by students by trying to keep the magnetic elements of GEOMAG™ separate by hands or trying to measure by mean an appropriate dynamometric system. Furthermore, by using a dynamometric system to measure the magnetic attraction between the GEOMAG™ elements is possible draw a graphic F=f(d) to verify that the curve obtained during the simulation is very similar to that one hypnotized, around the 1920’s by Linus Pauling to describe the formation of H2+ in according with Molecular Orbital Theory.

Keywords: chemical bond, molecular orbital theory, magnetic attraction force, GEOMAG™

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Authors: Alina Murtishcheva

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The development of an effective system of administrative supervision is a prerequisite for the functioning of local self-government on the basis of the rule of law. Administrative supervision of local self-government is of particular importance in the EU countries due to the influence of integration processes. The central authorities act on the international level; however, subnational authorities also have to implement European legislation in order to strengthen integration. Therefore, the central authority, being the connecting link between supranational and subnational authorities, should bear responsibility, including financial responsibility, for possible mistakes of subnational authorities. Consequently, the state should have sufficient mechanisms of control over local and regional authorities in order to correct their mistakes. At the same time, the control mechanisms do not deny the autonomy of local self-government. The paper analyses models of administrative supervision of local self-government in Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, and France. The research methods used in this paper are theoretical methods of analysis of scientific literature, constitutions, legal acts, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe reports, and constitutional court decisions, as well as comparative and logical analysis. The legislative basis of administrative supervision was scrutinized, and the models of administrative supervision were classified, including a priori control and ex-post control or their combination. The advantages and disadvantages of these models of administrative supervision are analysed. Compliance with Article 8 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government is of great importance for countries achieving common goals and sharing common values. However, countries under study have problems and, in some cases, demonstrate non-compliance with provisions of Article 8. Such non-conformity as the endorsement of a mayor by the Flemish Government in Belgium, supervision with a view to expediency in Great Britain, and the tendency to overuse supervisory power in Poland are analysed. On the basis of research, the tendencies of administrative supervision of local authorities’ activities in selected European countries are described. Several recommendations for Ukraine as a country that had been granted the EU candidate status are formulated. Having emphasised its willingness to become a member of the European community, Ukraine should not only follow the best European practices but also avoid the mistakes of countries that have long-term experience in developing the local self-government institution. This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement № P-PD-22-194

Keywords: administrative supervision, decentralisation, legality, local authorities, local self-government

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Authors: Ming-Chan Chung, Wen-Ming Huang, Yi-Chu Liu, Li-Hui Yang, Ming-Jyh Chen

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introduction: Hospital buildings require considerable energy, including air conditioning, lighting, elevators, heating, and medical equipment. Energy consumption in hospitals is expected to increase significantly due to innovative equipment and continuous development plans. Consequently, the environment and climate will be adversely affected. Hospitals should therefore consider transforming from their traditional role of saving lives to being at the forefront of global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. As healthcare providers, it is our responsibility to provide a high-quality environment while using as little energy as possible. Purpose / Methods: Compare the energy-saving benefits of solar photovoltaic systems and solar hot water systems. The proportion of electricity consumption effectively reduced after the installation of solar photovoltaic systems. To comprehensively assess the potential benefits of utilizing solar energy for both photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal applications in hospitals, a solar PV system was installed covering a total area of 28.95 square meters in 2021. Approval was obtained from the Taiwan Power Company to integrate the system into the hospital's electrical infrastructure for self-use. To measure the performance of the system, a dedicated meter was installed to track monthly power generation, which was then converted into area output using an electric energy conversion factor. This research aims to compare the energy efficiency of solar PV systems and solar thermal systems. Results: Using the conversion formula between electrical and thermal energy, we can compare the energy output of solar heating systems and solar photovoltaic systems. The comparative study draws upon data from February 2021 to February 2023, wherein the solar heating system generated an average of 2.54 kWh of energy per panel per day, while the solar photovoltaic system produced 1.17 kWh of energy per panel per day, resulting in a difference of approximately 2.17 times between the two systems. Conclusions: After conducting statistical analysis and comparisons, it was found that solar thermal heating systems offer higher energy and greater benefits than solar photovoltaic systems. Furthermore, an examination of literature data and simulations of the energy and economic benefits of solar thermal water systems and solar-assisted heat pump systems revealed that solar thermal water systems have higher energy density values, shorter recovery periods, and lower power consumption than solar-assisted heat pump systems. Through monitoring and empirical research in this study, it has been concluded that a heat pump-assisted solar thermal water system represents a relatively superior energy-saving and carbon-reducing solution for medical institutions. Not only can this system help reduce overall electricity consumption and the use of fossil fuels, but it can also provide more effective heating solutions.

Keywords: sustainable development, energy conservation, carbon reduction, renewable energy, heat pump system

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Authors: Deepak Jugran, Rajesh Gill

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Purpose: To study the demographic, sociological, gender and clinical profile of the children presented for childhood cataract at a public sector tertiary eye care centre in India. Methodology: The design of the study is retrospective, and hospital-based data is available with the Central Registration Department of the PGIMER, Chandigarh. The majority of the childhood cataract cases are being reported in this hospital, yet not each and every case of childhood cataract approaches PGI, Chandigarh. Nevertheless, this study is going to be pioneering research in India, covering five-year data of the childhood cataract patients who visited the Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh, from 1.1.2015 to 31.12.2019. The SPSS version 23 was used for all statistical calculations. Results: A Total of 354 children were presented for childhood cataract from 1.1.2015 to 31.12.2019. Out of 354 children, 248 (70%) were male, and 106 (30%) were female. In-spite of 2 flagship programmes, namely the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) and Aayushman Bharat (PM JAY) for eradication of cataract, no children received any financial assistance from these two programmes. A whopping 99% of these children belong to the poor families. In most of these families, the mothers were house-wives and did not employ anywhere. These interim results will soon be conveyed to the Govt. of India so that a suitable mechanism can be evolved to address this pertinent issue. Further, the disproportionate ratio of male and female children in this study is an area of concern as we don’t know whether the prevalence of childhood cataract is lower in female children or they are not being presented on time in the hospital by the families. Conclusion: The World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized Childhood blindness resulting from cataract as a priority area and urged all member countries to develop institutionalized mechanisms for its early detection, diagnosis and management. The childhood cataract is an emerging and major cause of preventable and avoidable childhood blindness, especially in low and middle-income countries. In the formative years, the children require a sound physical, mental and emotional state, and in the absence of either one of them, it can severely dent their future growth. The recent estimate suggests that India could suffer an economic loss of US$12 billion (Rs. 88,000 Crores) due to blindness, and almost 35% of cases of blindness are preventable and avoidable if detected at an early age. Besides reporting these results to the policy makers, synchronized efforts are needed for early detection and management of avoidable causes of childhood blindness such as childhood cataract.

Keywords: childhood blindness, cataract, Who, Npcb

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Authors: Tashinga Matindike

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By means of definition, digital artworks encompass an array of artistic productions that are expressed in a technological form as an essential part of a creative process. Examples include illustrations, photos, videos, sculptures, and installations. Within the context of the visual arts, the process of repatriation involves the return of once-appropriated goods. Archiving denotes the preservation of a commodity for storage purposes in order to nurture its continuity. The aforementioned definitions form the foundation of the academic framework and premise of the argument, which is outlined in this paper. This paper aims to define, discuss and decipher the complexities involved in digitising artworks, whilst explaining the benefits of the process, particularly within the South African context, which is rich in tangible and intangible traditional cultural material, objects, and performances. With the internet having been introduced to the African Continent in the early 1990s, this new form of technology, in its own right, initiated a high degree of efficiency, which also resulted in the progressive transformation of computer-generated visual output. Subsequently, this caused a revolutionary influence on the manner in which technological software was developed and uterlised in art-making. Digital technology and the digitisation of creative processes then opened up new avenues of collating and recording information. One of the first visual artists to make use of digital technology software in his creative productions was United States-based artist John Whitney. His inventive work contributed greatly to the onset and development of digital animation. Comparable by technique and originality, South African contemporary visual artists who make digital artworks, both locally and internationally, include David Goldblatt, Katherine Bull, Fritha Langerman, David Masoga, Zinhle Sethebe, Alicia Mcfadzean, Ivan Van Der Walt, Siobhan Twomey, and Fhatuwani Mukheli. In conclusion, the main objective of this paper is to address the following questions: In which ways has the South African art community of visual artists made use of and benefited from technology, in its digital form, as a means to further advance creativity? What are the positive changes that have resulted in art production in South Africa since the onset and use of digital technological software? How has digitisation changed the manner in which we record, interpret, and archive both written and visual information? What is the role of South African art institutions in the development of digital technology and its use in the field of visual art. What role does digitisation play in the process of the repatriation of artworks and artefacts. The methodology in terms of the research process of this paper takes on a multifacted form, inclusive of data analysis of information attained by means of qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Keywords: digital art, digitisation, technology, archiving, transformation and repatriation

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Authors: G. Iacoviello, A. Lazzini

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This paper focuses on the development of the study of accounting in the Italian education system between the 19th and 20th centuries. It also focuses on the subsequent formation of a scientific and experimental forma mentis that would prepare students for administrative and managerial activities in industry, commerce and public administration. From a political perspective, the period was characterized by two dominant movements - liberalism (1861-1922) and fascism (1922-1945) - that deeply influenced accounting practices and the entire Italian education system. The materials used in the study include both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources used to inform this study are numerous original documents issued from 1890-1935 by the government and maintained in the Historical Archive of the State in Rome. The secondary sources have supported both the development of the theoretical framework and the definition of the historical context. This paper assigns to the educational system the role of cultural producer. Foucauldian analysis identifies the problem confronted by the critical intellectual in finding a way to deploy knowledge through a 'patient labour of investigation' that highlights the contingency and fragility of the circumstances that have shaped current practices and theories. Education can be considered a powerful and political process providing students with values, ideas, and models that they will subsequently use to discipline themselves, remaining as close to them as possible. It is impossible for power to be exercised without knowledge, just as it is impossible for knowledge not to engender power. The power-knowledge relationship can be usefully employed for explaining how power operates within society, how mechanisms of power affect everyday lives. Power is employed at all levels and through many dimensions including government. Schools exercise ‘epistemological power’ – a power to extract a knowledge of individuals from individuals. Because knowledge is a key element in the operation of power, the procedures applied to the formation and accumulation of knowledge cannot be considered neutral instruments for the presentation of the real. Consequently, the same institutions that produce and spread knowledge can be considered part of the ‘power-knowledge’ interrelation. Individuals have become both objects and subject in the development of knowledge. If education plays a fundamental role in shaping all aspects of communities in the same way, the structural changes resulting from economic, social and cultural development affect the educational systems. Analogously, the important changes related to social and economic development required legislative intervention to regulate the functioning of different areas in society. Knowledge can become a means of social control used by the government to manage populations. It can be argued that the evolution of Italy’s education systems is coherent with the idea that power and knowledge do not exist independently but instead are coterminous. This research aims to reduce such a gap by analysing the role of the state in the development of accounting education in Italy.

Keywords: education system, government, knowledge, power

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Authors: Antonio Piga

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The study of language strategies in financial and corporate discourse has always been vital for understanding how companies manage to communicate effectively with a wider customer base and offers new perspectives on how companies interact with key stakeholders, not only to convey transparency and an image of trustworthiness, but also to create affiliation and attract investment. In the light of Systemic Functional Linguistics, the purpose of this study is to examine and analyse the annual reports of Asian and Western joint-stock companies involved in oil refining and power generation from the point of view of the functions and frequency of grammatical metaphors. More specifically, grammatical metaphor - through the lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) - is used as a theoretical tool for analysing a synchronic cross-cultural study of the communicative strategies adopted by Asian and Western companies to communicate social and environmental sustainability and showcase their ethical values, performance and competitiveness to local and global communities and key stakeholders. According to Systemic Functional Linguistics, grammatical metaphor can be divided into two broad areas: ideational and interpersonal. This study focuses on the first type, ideational grammatical metaphor (IGM), which includes de-adjectival and de-verbal nominalisation. The dominant and more effective grammatical tropes used by Asian and Western corporations in their annual reports were examined from both a qualitative and quantitative perspective. The aim was to categorise and explain how ideational grammatical metaphor is constructed cross-culturally and presented through structural language patterns involving re-mapping between semantics and lexico-grammatical features. The results show that although there seem to be more differences than similarities in terms of the categorisation of the ideational grammatical metaphors conceptualised in the two case studies analysed, there are more similarities than differences in terms of the occurrence, the congruence of process types and the role and function of IGM. Through the immediacy and essentialism of compacting and condensing information, IGM seems to be an important linguistic strategy adopted in the rhetoric of corporate annual reports, contributing to the ideologies and actions of companies to report and promote efficiency, profit and social and environmental sustainability, thus advocating the engagement and investment of key stakeholders.

Keywords: corporate annual reports, cross-cultural perspective, ideational grammatical metaphor, rhetoric, systemic functional linguistics

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Authors: A. Hamza, H. Kathyayini, N. Nagaraju

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Aluminophosphates, both amorphous and crystalline materials find applications as adsorbents, ceramics, and pigments and as catalysts/catalyst supports in organic fine chemical synthesis. Most of the applications are varied depending on the type of metal incorporated, particle size, surface area, porosity and morphology of aluminophosphate. The porous and surface properties of these materials are normally fine-tuned by adopting various preparation methodologies. Numerous crystalline microporous and mesoporous aluminophosphates and metal-aluminophosphates have been reported in literature, in which the synthesis has been carried out by using structure directing organic molecules/surfactants. In present work, amorphous aluminophosphate (AlP) and metal-aluminophosphates MAlP (M = Cu, Zn, Cr, Fe, Ce and Zr) and their mixed forms M-1M2AlP are prepared under a typical precipitation condition, i.e. at low temperature in order to keep the Von-Weirmann relative super saturation of the precipitating medium and obtain small size precipitate particles. These materials are prepared without using any surfactants. All materials are thoroughly characterised for surface and bulk properties by N2 adsorption-desorption technique, XRD, FT-IR, TG and SEM. The materials are also analysed for the amount and the strength of their surface acid sites, by NH3-TPD and CO2-TPD techniques respectively. All the materials prepared in the work are investigated for their catalytic activity in following applications in the synthesis of industrially important Jasminaldehyde via, aldol condensation of n-heptanal and benzaldehyde, in the synthesis of biologically important chalcones by Claisen-shmidth condensation of benzaldehyde and substituted chalcones. The effect of the amount of the catalysts, duration of the reaction, temperature of the reaction, molar ratio of the reactants has been studied. The porosity of pure aluminophosphate is found to be changed significantly by the incorporation of transition metals during preparation of aluminophosphate. The pore size increased from microporous to mesoporous and finally to macroporous by following order of metals Cu = Zn < Cr < Ce < Fe = Zr. The change in surface area and porosity of double metal-aluminophosphates depended on the concentration of both the metals. The acidity of aluminophosphate is either increased or decreased which depended on the type and valence of metals loaded. A good number of basic sites are created in metal-aluminophosphates irrespective of the metals used. A maximum catalytic activity for synthesis of both jasminaldehyde and chalcone is obtained by FeAlP as catalysts; these materials are characterized by decreased strength and concentration of acidic sites with optimum level basic sites.

Keywords: amorphous metal-aluminophosphates, surface properties, acidic-basic properties, Aldol, Claisen-Shmidth condensation, jasminaldehyde, chalcone

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Authors: Madhvi Bhayani

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Introduction: Due to the rapid pace of urbanization, the urban health issues have become one of the significant threats to future development in India. It also poses serious repercussions on the citizen’s health. As urbanization in India is increasing at an unprecedented rate and it has generated the urban health crisis among the city dwellers especially the urban poor. The increasing proportion of the urban poor and vulnerable to the health indicators worse than the rural counterparts, they face social and financial barriers in accessing healthcare services and these conditions make human health at risk. The Local as well as the State and National governments are alike tackling with the challenges of urbanization as it has become very essential for the government to provide the basic necessities and better infrastructure that make life in cities safe and healthy. Thus, the paper argues that if no major realistic steps are taken with immediate effect, the citizens will face a huge burden of health hazards. Aim: This paper attempts to analyze the current infrastructure, government planning, and its future policy, it also discusses the challenges and outcomes of urbanization on health and its impact on it and it will also predict the future trend with regard to disease burden in the urban areas. Methods: The paper analyzes on the basis of the secondary data by taking into consideration the connection between the Rapid Urbanization and Public Health Challenges, health and health care system and its services delivery to the citizens especially to the urban poor. Extensive analyses of government census reports, health information and policy, the government health-related schemes, urban development and based on the past trends, the future status of urban infrastructure and health outcomes are predicted. The social-economic and political dimensions are also taken into consideration from regional, national and global perspectives, which are incorporated in the paper to make realistic predictions for the future. Findings and Conclusion: The findings of the paper show that India suffers a lot due to the double burden of rapidly increasing in diseases and also growing health inequalities and disparities in health outcomes. Existing tools of governance of urban health are falling short to provide the better health care services. They need to strengthen the collaboration and communication among the state, national and local governments and also with the non-governmental partners. Based on the findings the policy implications are then described and areas for future research are defined.

Keywords: health care, urbanization, urban health, service delivery

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Authors: Abdolamir Allameh, Shahnaz Esmaeili, Mina Allameh, Safoura Khajeniazi

Abstract:

Stem cells with therapeutic applications can be isolated from human placenta/umblical cord blood (UCB) as well as the cord tissue (UC). Stem cells in culture are vulnerable to oxidative stress, particularly when subjected to differentiation process. The aim of this study was to examine the chnages in the rate of oxidation that occurs to cellular macromolecules during hepatic differentiation of mononuclear cells (MSCs). In addition, the impact of the hepatic differentiation process of MSC on cellular and biological activity of the cells will be undertaken. For this purpose, first mononuclear cells (MNCs) were isolated from human UCB which was obtained from a healthy full-term infant. The cells were cultured at a density of 3×10⁵ cells/cm² in DMEM- low-glucose culture media supplemented with 20% FBS, 2 mM L-glutamine, 100 μg/ml streptomycin and 100 U/ml penicillin. Cell cultures were then incubated at 37°C in a humidified 5% CO₂ incubator. After removing non-adherent cells by replacing culture medium, fibroblast-like adherent cells were resuspended in 0.25% trypsin-EDTA and plated in 25 cm² flasks (1×10⁴/ml). Characterization of the MSCs was routinely done by observing their morphology and growth curve. MSCs were subjected to a 2-step hepatocyte differentiation protocol in presence of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), dexamethazone (DEX) and oncostatin M (OSM). The hepatocyte-like cells derived from MSCs were checked every week for 3 weeks for changes in lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl formation and DNA oxidation i.e., 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) assay. During the 3-week differentiation process of MSCs to hepatocyte-like cells we found that expression liver-specific markers such as albumin, was associated with increased levels of lipid peroxidation and protein carbonyl formation. Whereas, undifferentiated MSCs has relatively low levels of lipid peroxidation products. There was a significant increase ( p < 0.05) in lipid peroxidation products in hepatocytes on days 7, 14, and 21 of differentiation. Likewise, the level of protein carbonyls in the cells was elevated during the differentiation. The level of protein carbonyls measured in hepatocyte-like cells obtained 3 weeks after differentiation induction was estimated to be ~6 fold higher compared to cells recovered on day 7 of differentiation. On the contrary, there was a small but significant decrease in DNA damage marker (8-OH-dG) in hepatocytes recovered 3 weeks after differentiation onset. The level of 8-OHdG which was in consistent with formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In conclusion, this data suggest that despite the elevation in oxidation of lipid and protein molecules during hepatocyte development, the cells were normal in terms of DNA integrity, morphology, and biologically activity.

Keywords: adult stem cells, DNA integrity, free radicals, hepatic differentiation

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: I. Nanako, Mariko Era, Hiroshi Morita

Abstract:

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

Keywords: antibacterial, antifungal, foam materials, Igusa

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: E. Rommes, Els Toonen, Rahil Roodsaz, Suborna Camellia, Farhana Alam, Saad Khan, Jhalok Ranjon Talukder, Tanveer Hassan, Syeda Farjana Ahmed, Sabina Faiz Rashid

Abstract:

In Bangladesh, a country in which adults (both parents and teachers) find it particularly hard to speak with youth about sexuality, adolescents seem to struggle with various insecurities about their sexual feelings, thoughts, behavior and physical characteristics. On the basis of a large number of interviews and focus groups with rural and urban Bangla adolescent girls and boys of lower and middle class as part of the large-scale three-year project ‘Breaking the Shame’, we have identified ten sexual themes or ‘myths’ that youth struggle with most. These encompass amongst others beliefs and insecurities on masturbation, discharge, same-sex behavior and feelings, the effects of watching porn and gender norms. We argue that the Internet is a particularly suitable medium to ‘debunk’ those myths, as youth can consult it anonymously and privately and so avoid social shame. Moreover, amongst the myths, we have identified two kinds which may need different debunking techniques. One kind of myth concerns scientifically uncontested, generally biological related information, such as the effects of having sex with a pregnant woman, questions on the effects of a penile or vaginal discharge or questions on the effects of masturbation. The second kind of myths concerns more diverse information sources and deals with e.g. religious or culturally specific norms, such as on the meaning and existence of homosexuality or gender appropriate norms of behavior in Bangladesh. For addressing both kinds of myths, expert information including a wealth of references to information resources needs to be provided, which the Internet is very suitable for. For the second kind of myths, adolescents also need to learn how to deal with sometimes conflicting norms and information sources, and they need to develop and reflect on their own opinions as part of their identity formation. On the basis of a literature review, we thus distinguish general information needs from identity formation needs, which includes the need to be able to relate information and opinions to one’s own opinions and situation. Hence, we argue that youth not only need abstract expert information to be able to debunk sexual myths, but also the option to discuss this information with other adolescents and compare their own situation and opinions with other peers, who in that way serve as ‘warm experts’ for each other. In this paper, we will describe the outcomes of our qualitative study above. In addition, we will present our findings of an intervention by presenting youth with general, uncontested information on the Internet with additional peer discussion options to compare the debunking effects on different kinds of myths.

Keywords: peer discussion, intervention, sexual myths, shame

Procedia PDF Downloads 207