Search results for: climate change ethics

Authors: Yahaya Abdullahi Adadu, Canice Erunke Esidene

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The problems of socio-economic development have been a major challenge bedeviling the Nigerian post-colonial state since her political independence from Britain in October I,1960. Critics have argued that the dilemma of Nigeria’s economic survival started since the early 1970s when the agricultural sector which supposedly was the economic mainstay has been literally substituted with the gains of the oil petro-dollars coming from the foreign exchange earnings. Agriculture therefore, which used to be a major player in terms of human and national upliftment in Nigeria have been given a back seat while oil and gas has taken over the front burner in virtually every aspect of Nigeria’s national life. This study is therefore an exposition of the efforts of the Nasarawa state government in reversing the dangerous trend in which the over reliance on oil wealth has caused to persons, individuals and groups in terms of the prevailing levels of poverty and other attendant vices therein. The study focuses on the management policies of the various regimes in the state since its inception in 1996, with particular reference to the regime types-military and civilian alike in propelling the needed policy change, which could transform the economy in line with international best practices. Particular emphasis will be paid to the BADA-KOSHI agricultural scheme whose interest was to recover the lost glory of rural agriculture through series of roots and tuber expansion, and particularly such crops as yam minissetts, cassava, sweet potatoes and coco-yam, respectively. The paper covers the period between 1996 -2011, a period considered to be critical in the agricultural revolution of the state. The study adopts a theoretical approach via secondary methods of analysis for the efficient explanations of the burning issues under consideration. The paper sums up with policy recommendations and conclusion.

Keywords: poverty, agriculture, Badakoshi, rural policy management

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Authors: R. Simões, M. Silveirinha

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Driven by the need to understand the results of previous research that clearly shows deep unbalances of the media discourses about women and men in spite of the growing numbers of female journalists, our paper aims to progress from the 'what' to the 'why' of these unbalanced representations. Furthermore, it does so at a time when journalism is undergoing a dramatic change in terms of professional practices and in how media organizations are organized and run, affecting women in particular. While some feminist research points to the fact that female and male journalists evaluate the role of the news and production methods in similar ways feminist theorizing also suggests that thought and knowledge are highly influenced by social identity, which is also inherently affected by the experiences of gender. This is particularly important at a time of deep societal and professional changes. While there are persuasive discussions of gender identities at work in newsrooms in various countries studies on the issue will benefit from cases that focus on the particularities of local contexts. In our paper, we present one such case: the case of Portugal, a country hit hard by austerity measures that have affected all cultural industries including journalism organizations, already feeling the broader impacts of the larger societal changes of the media landscape. Can we gender these changes? How are they felt and understood by female and male journalists? And how are these discourses framed by androcentric, feminist and post-feminist sensibilities? Foregrounding questions of gender, our paper seeks to explore some of the interactions of societal and professional forces, identifying their gendered character and outlining how they shape journalism work in general and the production of unbalanced gender representations in particular. We do so grounded in feminist studies of journalism as well as feminist organizational and work studies, looking at a corpus of 20 in-depth interviews of female and male Portuguese journalists. The research findings illustrate how gender in journalism practices interacts with broader experiences of the cultural and economic contexts and show the ambivalences of these interactions in news organizations.

Keywords: gender, journalism, newsroom culture, Portuguese journalists

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Authors: Mohammed Alasel, Michael Keusgen

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Gold is a noble metal; in its nano-scale level (e.g. spherical nanoparticles), the conduction electrons are triggered to collectively oscillate with a resonant frequency when certain wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation interact with its surface; this phenomenon is known as surface plasmon resonance (SPR). SPR is responsible for giving the gold nanoparticles its intense red color depending mainly on its size, shape and distance between nanoparticles. A decreased distance between gold nanoparticles results in aggregation of them causing a change in color from red to blue. This aggregation enables gold nanoparticles to serve as a sensitive biosensoric indicator. In the proposed work, gold nanoparticles were modified with two proteins: i) Borrelia antigen, variable lipoprotein surface-exposed protein (VlsE), and ii) protein A. VlsE antigen induces a strong antibody response against Lyme disease and can be detected from early to late phase during the disease in humans infected with Borrelia. In addition, it shows low cross-reaction with the other non-pathogenic Borrelia strains. The high specificity of VlsE antigen to anti-Borrelia antibodies, combined simultaneously with the high specificity of protein A to the Fc region of all IgG human antibodies, was utilized to develop a rapid test for serological point of care diagnosis of borreliosis in human serum. Only in the presence of anti-Borrelia antibodies in the serum probe, an aggregation of gold nanoparticles can be observed, which is visible by a concentration-dependent colour shift from red (low IgG) to blue (high IgG). Experiments showed it is clearly possible to distinguish between positive and negative sera samples using a simple suspension of the two-protein modified gold nanoparticles in a very short time (30 minutes). The proposed work showed the potential of using such modified gold nanoparticles generally for serological diagnosis. Improved specificity and reduced assay time can be archived in applying increased salt concentrations combined with decreased pH values (pH 5).

Keywords: gold nanoparticles, gold aggregation, serological diagnosis, protein A, lyme borreliosis

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Authors: Nuran Öze

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People always want to be aware of what is happening around them. The nature of man constantly triggers the need for gathering information because of curiosity. The media has emerged to save people the need for information. It is known that the media has changed with the technological developments over time, diversified and, people's information needs are provided in different ways. Today, the Internet has become an integral part of everyday life. The invasion of the Internet into everyday life practices at this level affects every aspect of life. These effects cause people to change their life practices. Technological developments have always influenced of people, the way they reach information. Looking at the history of the media, the breaking point about the dissemination of information is seen as the invention of the machine of the printing press. This adventure that started with written media has now become a multi-dimensional structure. Written, audio, visual media has now changed shape with new technologies. Especially emerging of the internet to everyday life, of course, has effects on media field. 'New media' has appeared which contains most of traditional media features in its'. While in the one hand this transformation enables captures a harmony between traditional and new media, on the other hand, new media and traditional media are rivaling each other. The purpose of this study is to examine the problematic relationship between traditional media and new media through the news reading practices of individuals. This study can be evaluated as a kind of media sociology. To reach this aim, two different field researches will be done besides literature review. The research will be conducted in Northern Cyprus. Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus is located in the Mediterranean Sea. North Cyprus is a country which is not recognized by any country except Turkey. Despite this, takes its share from all technological developments take place in the world. One of the field researches will consist of the questionnaires to be applied on media readers' news reading practices. This survey will be conducted in a social media environment. The second field survey will be conducted in the form of interviews with general editorials or news directors in traditional media. In the second field survey, in-depth interview method will be applied. As a result of these investigations, supporting sides between the new media and the traditional media and directions which contrast with each other will be revealed. In addition to that, it will try to understand the attitudes and perceptions of readers about the traditional media and the new media in this study.

Keywords: new media, news, North Cyprus, traditional media

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Authors: Tim Bolle, Franziska Kreimendahl, Thomas Gries, Stefan Jockenhoevel

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The therapeutic treatment of extensive, deep wounds is limited. Autologous split-skin grafts are used as a so-called ‘gold standard’. Most common deficits are the defects at the donor site, the risk of scarring as well as the limited availability and quality of the autologous grafts. The aim of this project is a tissue engineered dermal-epidermal skin replacement to overcome the limitations of the gold standard. A key requirement for the development of such a three-dimensional implant is the formation of a functional capillary-like network inside the implant to ensure a sufficient nutrient and gas supply. Tailored three-dimensional warp knitted spacer fabrics are used to reinforce the mechanically week fibrin gel-based scaffold and further to create a directed in vitro pre-vascularization along the parallel-oriented pile yarns within a co-culture. In this study various three-dimensional warp knitted spacer fabrics were developed in a factorial design to analyze the influence of the machine parameters such as the stitch density and the pattern of the fabric on the scaffold performance and further to determine suitable parameters for a successful fibrin gel-incorporation and a physiological performance of the scaffold. The fabrics were manufactured on a Karl Mayer double-bar raschel machine DR 16 EEC/EAC. A fine machine gauge of E30 was used to ensure a high pile yarn density for sufficient nutrient, gas and waste exchange. In order to ensure a high mechanical stability of the graft, the fabrics were made of biocompatible PVDF yarns. Key parameters such as the pore size, porosity and stress/strain behavior were investigated under standardized, controlled climate conditions. The influence of the input parameters on the mechanical and morphological properties as well as the ability of fibrin gel incorporation into the spacer fabric was analyzed. Subsequently, the pile yarns of the spacer fabrics were colonized with Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) to analyze the ability of the fabric to further function as a guiding structure for a directed vascularization. The cells were stained with DAPI and investigated using fluorescence microscopy. The analysis revealed that the stitch density and the binding pattern have a strong influence on both the mechanical and morphological properties of the fabric. As expected, the incorporation of the fibrin gel was significantly improved with higher pore sizes and porosities, whereas the mechanical strength decreases. Furthermore, the colonization trials revealed a high cell distribution and density on the pile yarns of the spacer fabrics. For a tailored reinforcing structure, the minimum porosity and pore size needs to be evaluated which still ensures a complete incorporation of the reinforcing structure into the fibrin gel matrix. That will enable a mechanically stable dermal graft with a dense vascular network for a sufficient nutrient and oxygen supply of the cells. The results are promising for subsequent research in the field of reinforcing mechanically weak biological scaffolds and develop functional three-dimensional scaffolds with an oriented pre-vascularization.

Keywords: fibrin-gel, skin replacement, spacer fabric, pre-vascularization

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Authors: Sophie Del Fa, Loup Ducol

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This presentation will focus on the discursive practices of Les Soulèvements de la Terre (hereafter SdlT), a French environmentalist group mobilized against agribusiness. More specifically, we will use, as a case study, the violently repressed demonstration that took place in Sainte-Soline on March 25, 2023 (see after for details). The SdlT embodies the renewal of anti-capitalist and environmentalist struggles that began with Occupy Wall Street in 2009 and in France with the Nuit debout in 2016 and the yellow vests movement from 2019 to 2020. These struggles have three things in common: they are self-organized without official leaders, they rely mainly on occupations to reappropriate public places (squares, roundabouts, natural territories) and they are anti-capitalist. The SdlT was created in 2021 by activists coming from the Zone-to-Defend of Notre-Dame-des-Landes, a victorious 10 yearlong occupation movement against an airport near Nantes, France (from 2009 to 2018). The SdlT is not labeled as a formal association, nor as a constituted group, but as an anti-capitalist network of local struggles at the crossroads of ecology and social issues. Indeed, although they target agro-industry, land grabbing, soil artificialization and ecology without transition, the SdlT considers ecological and social questions as interdependent. Moreover, they have an encompassing vision of ecology that they consider as a concern for the living as a whole by erasing the division between Nature and Culture. Their radicality is structured around three main elements: federative and decentralized dimensions, the rhetoric of living alliances and militant creatives strategies. The objective of this reflexion is to understand how these three dimensions are articulated through the SdlT’s discursive practices. To explore these elements, we take as a case study one specific event: the demonstration against the ‘basins’ held in Sainte-Soline on March 25, 2023, on the construction site of new water storage infrastructure for agricultural irrigation in western France. This event represents a turning point for the SdlT. Indeed, the protest was violently repressed: 5000 grenades were fired by the police, hundreds of people were injured, and one person was still in a coma at the time of writing these lines. Moreover, following Saint-Soline’s events, the Minister of Interior Affairs, Gérald Darmin, threatened to dissolve the SdlT, thus adding fuel to the fire in an already tense social climate (with the ongoing strikes against the pensions reform). We anchor our reflexion on three types of data: 1) our own experiences (inspired by ethnography) of the Sainte-Soline demonstration; 2) the collection of more than 500 000 Tweets with the #SainteSoline hashtag and 3) a press review of texts and articles published after Sainte-Soline’s demonstration. The exploration of these data from a turning point in the history of the SdlT will allow us to analyze how the three dimensions highlighted earlier (federative and decentralized dimensions, rhetoric of living alliances and creatives militant strategies) are materialized through the discursive practices surrounding the Sainte-Soline event. This will allow us to shed light on how a new contemporary movement implements contemporary environmental struggles.

Keywords: discursive practices, Sainte-Soline, Ecology, radical ecology

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Authors: Margarida Matos, João Pereira dos Santos, José Tavares

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Anti-minority discrimination is a persistent phenomenon with long-run effects. While there is a vast literature in economics and psychology that shows that personality and beliefs are not fixed and can be altered by experience, particularly in the so-called impressionable years in early adulthood, less is known about the long-lasting impacts of major events occurring during this time on minority attitudes. In this paper, we study the impact of serving in the military on long-term attitudes towards minorities. For many, military conscription and serving in war are unique life-shaping events. In the context of military service, individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds interact and learn with each other, potentially changing their views and attitudes in a persistent manner. A prominent theory about the change of attitudes is the contact theory. It suggests that prejudice can be decreased if members of the groups interact with one another. The present paper adds to the literature by providing evidence from a more complicated setting involving the exposure to combat. We study the attitudes of veterans of the Portuguese Colonial War between 1961 and 1974, what was the latest war between African independence movements and Europeans. More than 70 percent of military age Portuguese men were drafted every year and sent to fight in Africa in the widest draft in post-World War II Western Europe. The contact between Portuguese and African soldiers was both cooperative as well as adversarial. Portuguese fought against but also alongside locally recruited African men, who represented half of the Portuguese contingent for substantial periods. We use data from the European Social Survey to identify Portuguese citizens likely to have been drafted and were send to fight in the former Portuguese colonies in Africa. We show that men likely to have fought in African wars are more accepting of immigrants than women of their same cohort, as well as than males from younger and older cohorts. The use of corresponding cohorts from Spain as placebo tests confirms our results. Our findings also hold in a regression discontinuity design setting.

Keywords: attitudes, immigration, war in Africa, veterans, portugal

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Authors: A. Terfous, Y. Liu, A. Ghenaim, P. A. Garambois

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With increasing urbanization worldwide, it is crucial to sustainably manage sediment flows in urban networks and especially in stormwater detention basins. One key aspect is to propose optimized designs for detention tanks in order to best reduce flood peak flows and in the meantime settle particles. It is, therefore, necessary to understand complex flows patterns and sediment deposition conditions in stormwater detention basins. The aim of this paper is to study flow structure and particle deposition pattern for a given tank geometry in view to control and maximize sediment deposition. Both numerical simulation and experimental works were done to investigate the flow and sediment distribution in a storm tank with a cavity. As it can be indicated, the settle distribution of the particle in a rectangular tank is mainly determined by the flow patterns and the bed shear stress. The flow patterns in a rectangular tank differ with different geometry, entrance flow rate and the water depth. With the changing of flow patterns, the bed shear stress will change respectively, which also play an influence on the particle settling. The accumulation of the particle in the bed changes the conditions at the bottom, which is ignored in the investigations, however it worth much more attention, the influence of the accumulation of the particle on the sedimentation should be important. The approach presented here is based on the resolution of the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations to account for turbulent effects and also a passive particle transport model. An analysis of particle deposition conditions is presented in this paper in terms of flow velocities and turbulence patterns. Then sediment deposition zones are presented thanks to the modeling with particle tracking method. It is shown that two recirculation zones seem to significantly influence sediment deposition. Due to the possible overestimation of particle trap efficiency with standard wall functions and stick conditions, further investigations seem required for basal boundary conditions based on turbulent kinetic energy and shear stress. These observations are confirmed by experimental investigations processed in the laboratory.

Keywords: storm sewers, sediment deposition, numerical simulation, experimental investigation

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Authors: Asif Zaman, Moinul Islam Zaber, Amin Ahsan Ali

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In recent years of industrialization, the South Asian countries are being affected by air pollution due to a severe increase in fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM₂.₅). Among them, Bangladesh is one of the most polluting countries. In this paper, statistical analyses were conducted on the time series of PM₂.₅ from various districts in Bangladesh, mostly around Dhaka city. Research has been conducted on the dynamic interactions and relationships between PM₂.₅ concentrations in different zones. The study is conducted toward understanding the characteristics of PM₂.₅, such as spatial-temporal characterization, correlation of other contributors behind air pollution such as human activities, driving factors and environmental casualties. Clustering on the data gave an insight on the districts groups based on their AQI frequency as representative districts. Seasonality analysis on hourly and monthly frequency found higher concentration of fine particles in nighttime and winter season, respectively. Cross correlation analysis discovered a phenomenon of correlations among cities based on time-lagged series of air particle readings and visualization framework is developed for observing interaction in PM₂.₅ concentrations between cities. Significant time-lagged correlations were discovered between the PM₂.₅ time series in different city groups throughout the country by cross correlation analysis. Additionally, seasonal heatmaps depict that the pooled series correlations are less significant in warmer months, and among cities of greater geographic distance as well as time lag magnitude and direction of the best shifted correlated particulate matter time series among districts change seasonally. The geographic map visualization demonstrates spatial behaviour of air pollution among districts around Dhaka city and the significant effect of wind direction as the vital actor on correlated shifted time series. The visualization framework has multipurpose usage from gathering insight of general and seasonal air quality of Bangladesh to determining the pathway of regional transportation of air pollution.

Keywords: air quality, particles, cross correlation, seasonality

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Authors: Anil Koklu, Amin Mansoorifar, Ali Beskok

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Dielectric spectroscopy (DS) is a noninvasive, label free technique for a long term real-time measurements of the impedance spectra of biological cells. DS enables characterization of cellular dielectric properties such as membrane capacitance and cytoplasmic conductivity. We have developed a lab-on-a-chip device that uses an electro-activated microwells array for loading, DS measurements, and unloading of biological cells. We utilized from dielectrophoresis (DEP) to capture target cells inside the wells and release them after DS measurement. DEP is a label-free technique that exploits differences among dielectric properties of the particles. In detail, DEP is the motion of polarizable particles suspended in an ionic solution and subjected to a spatially non-uniform external electric field. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first microfluidic chip that combines DEP and DS to analyze biological cells using electro-activated wells. Device performance is tested using two different cell lines of prostate cancer cells (RV122, PC-3). Impedance measurements were conducted at 0.2 V in the 10 kHz to 40 MHz range with 6 s time resolution. An equivalent circuit model was developed to extract the cell membrane capacitance and cell cytoplasmic conductivity from the impedance spectra. We report the time course of the variations in dielectric properties of PC-3 and RV122 cells suspended in low conductivity medium (LCB), which enhances dielectrophoretic and impedance responses, and their response to sudden pH change from a pH of 7.3 to a pH of 5.8. It is shown that microfluidic chip allowed online measurements of dielectric properties of prostate cancer cells and the assessment of the cellular level variations under external stimuli such as different buffer conductivity and pH. Based on these data, we intend to deploy the current device for single cell measurements by fabricating separately addressable N × N electrode platforms. Such a device will allow time-dependent dielectric response measurements for individual cells with the ability of selectively releasing them using negative-DEP and pressure driven flow.

Keywords: microfluidic, microfabrication, lab on a chip, AC electrokinetics, dielectric spectroscopy

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Authors: Hitakshi Mahendru, Advait Tambe, Simran Chandok, Niharika Sanadhya

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After the Second World War had come to an end, the Founding Fathers of the United Nations recognized a need for a supreme peacekeeping mechanism to act as a mediator between nations and moderate disputes that might blow up, if left unchecked. It has been more than seven decades since the establishment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). When it was created, there were certain aim and objectives that the ICJ was intended to achieve. However, in today’s world, with change in political dynamics and international relations between countries, the ICJ has not succeeded in achieving several of these objectives. The ICJ is the only body in the international scenario that has the authority to regulate disputes between countries. However, in recent times, with countries like China disregarding the importance of the ICJ, there is no hope for the ICJ to command respect from other nations, thereby sending ICJ on a slow, yet steady path towards redundancy. The authority of the judgements given by the International Court of Justice, which is one of the main pillars of the United Nations, is questionable due to the forthcoming reactions from various countries on public platforms. The ICJ’s principal role within the United Nations framework is to settle peacefully international/bilateral disputes between the states that come under its jurisdiction and in accordance with the principles laid down in international law. By shedding light on the public backlash from the Chinese Government to the recent South China Sea judgement, we see the decreasing relevance of the ICJ in the contemporary world scenario. Philippines and China have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries but after the recent judgement the tension has reached an all-time high with China threatening to prosecute anybody as trespassers while continuing to militarise the disputed area. This paper will deal with the South China Sea judgement and the manner in which it has been received by the Chinese Government. Also, it will look into the consequences of counter-back. The authors will also look into the Marshall Island matter and propose a model judgement, in accordance with the principles of international law that would be the most suited for the given situation. Also, the authors will propose amendments in the working of the Security Council to ensure that the Marshal Island judgement is passed and accepted by the countries without any contempt.

Keywords: International Court of Justice, international law, Marshall Islands, South China Sea, United Nations Charter

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Authors: Sibani Bisoyi, Ute Zschieschang, Alexander Hoyer, Hagen Klauk

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Abstract— Organic thin-film transistors (TFTs) have great potential to be used for various applications such as flexible displays or sensors. For some of these applications, the TFTs must be able to withstand temperatures in excess of 100 °C, for example to permit the integration with devices or components that require high process temperatures, or to make it possible that the devices can be subjected to the standard sterilization protocols required for biomedical applications. In this work, we have investigated how the thermal stability of low-voltage small-molecule semiconductor dinaphtho[2,3-b:2’,3’-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT) TFTs is affected by the encapsulation of the TFTs and by the ambient in which the thermal stress is performed. We also studied to which extent the thermal stability of the TFTs depends on the channel length. Some of the TFTs were encapsulated with a layer of vacuum-deposited Teflon, while others were left without encapsulation, and the thermal stress was performed either in nitrogen or in air. We found that the encapsulation with Teflon has virtually no effect on the thermal stability of our TFTs. In contrast, the ambient in which the thermal stress is conducted was found to have a measurable effect, but in a surprising way: When the thermal stress is carried out in nitrogen, the mobility drops to 70% of its initial value at a temperature of 160 °C and to close to zero at 170 °C, whereas when the stress is performed in air, the mobility remains at 75% of its initial value up to a temperature of 160 °C and at 60% up to 180 °C. To understand this behavior, we studied the effect of the thermal stress on the semiconductor thin-film morphology by scanning electron microscopy. While the DNTT films remain continuous and conducting when the heating is carried out in air, the semiconductor morphology undergoes a dramatic change, including the formation of large, thick crystals of DNTT and a complete loss of percolation, when the heating is conducted in nitrogen. We also found that when the TFTs are heated to a temperature of 200 °C in air, all TFTs with a channel length greater than 50 µm are destroyed, while TFTs with a channel length of less than 50 µm survive, whereas when the TFTs are heated to the same temperature (200 °C) in nitrogen, only the TFTs with a channel smaller than 8 µm survive. This result is also linked to the thermally induced changes in the semiconductor morphology.

Keywords: organic thin-film transistors, encapsulation, thermal stability, thin-film morphology

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Authors: Kalpana Goel

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Australian social work schools are finding it difficult to find appropriate placements for the increasing number of international students enrolled in their Master of Social Work qualifying (MSWQ) programs. Anecdotally, it has been noticed that fewer social work students are ready to work with older people whose numbers are rising globally. An innovative and unique placement for international students enrolled in the MSWQ at one Australian university was organised in partnership with a community-based service working with older clients to meet two objectives: increasing the number of suitable placements for international students and preparing social work students to work with older people. Creative activities and projects were designed to provide meaningful engagement and experience in working with older people in the community. Students participated in a number of projects that were matched with their interest and capability in a 500-hour placement. The students were asked to complete an online survey after all work for the placement had been completed. The areas of assessment were: self-perceived change in perception towards age and older people, valued field placement experiences including reflective practice, knowledge and skill development, and constraints and challenges experienced in the placement. Findings revealed students’ increased level of confidence in applying social work theory to practice, developing effective communication and interpersonal skills, and use of innovation and creativity in preparing well-being plans with older adults. Challenges and constraints related to their limited English language ability and lack of cultural knowledge of the host society. It was recognised that extra support for these students and more planning in the beginning phase of placement are vital to placement success. Caution in matching students with clients of similar cultural background must be exercised to ensure that there is equity in task allocation and opportunities for wider experiences.

Keywords: field placement, international students, older people, social work

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Authors: B. Mavhuru, N. S. Nethengwe

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Human activities on land degradation have triggered several environmental problems especially in rural areas that are underdeveloped. The main aim of this study is to analyze the contribution of different land uses to gully development and sediment load on the Nzhelele River Valley in the Limpopo Province. Data was collected using different methods such as observation, field data techniques and experiments. Satellite digital images, topographic maps, aerial photographs and the sediment load static model also assisted in determining how land use affects gully development and sediment load. For data analysis, the researcher used the following methods: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient and statistical correlation methods. The results of the research illustrate that high land use activities create negative changes especially in areas that are highly fragile and vulnerable. Distinct impact on land use change was observed within settlement area (9.6 %) within a period of 5 years. High correlation between soil organic matter and soil moisture (R=0.96) was observed. Furthermore, a significant variation (p ≤ 0.6) between the soil organic matter and soil moisture was also observed. A very significant variation (p ≤ 0.003) was observed in bulk density and extreme significant variations (p ≤ 0.0001) were observed in organic matter and soil particle size. The sand mining and agricultural activities has contributed significantly to the amount of sediment load in the Nzhelele River. A high significant amount of total suspended sediment (55.3 %) and bed load (53.8 %) was observed within the agricultural area. The connection which associates the development of gullies to various land use activities determines the amount of sediment load. These results are consistent with other previous research and suggest that land use activities are likely to exacerbate the development of gullies and sediment load in the Nzhelele River Valley.

Keywords: drainage basin, geomorphological processes, gully development, land degradation, riparian land use and sediment load

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Authors: T. J. B. van Niekerk, J. Viviers, E. J. Cilliers

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Substantial efforts were made in South Africa, stemming from a historic political change in 1994, to remedy the inequality and injustice, resulting from a dispensation where spatial patterns were largely based on racial segregation. Spatially distorted patterns predominantly originated from colonialism in the beginning of the twentieth century, ensuing a physical imprint on South African cities relating to architecture, urban layout and planning, frequently reflecting European norms and standards. As a consequence of physical and land use barriers, and well-established dual cities, attempts to address spatial injustices, apart from limited occurrences in metropolitan areas, gravely failed. Interception of incessant segregated growth, combined with urban sprawl is becoming increasingly evident. Intervention is a prerequisite to duly address the impact of colonial planning and its legacy still prevalent in most urban areas. During 1998, the National Department of Transport prepared the “Moving South Africa” strategy; presenting the Corridor Densification Option Model for the first time, as it was deemed more fitting to the existing South African urban tenure patterns than more familiar planning approaches. Urban planners are progressively contemplating the Corridor Densification Option Model and its attributes, besides its transportation emphasis, as an alternative approach to address spatial imbalances and to attain the physical integration of contemporary urban forms. In attaining a clearer understanding of the Corridor Densification Option Model, its rationale was analysed in greater detail. This research further investigated the provisional applications of the model in spatially segregated cities and illustrated that viable options are present to effectively employ it. Research revealed that the application of the model will, however, be dependent on the occurrence of specific characteristics in spatially segregated cities to warrant augmentation thereof.

Keywords: corridor densification option model, spatially segregated settlements, integration, urban restructuring

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Authors: Dakeyi Athanase

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The ratification of an international human rights legal instrument provides signatory States with an opportunity to assume a set of obligations and rights for the benefit of their citizens, offering increased possibilities, opportunities, and means to access an improved quality of life – to be, to appear, and to become. Developed nations typically experience cultural, political, social, economic, legal, and regulatory transformations in response to this transition. In a methodologically proactive approach, mechanisms undergo a visible and comprehensible process of qualitative and quantitative change. Conversely, in nations undergoing development, the response to such ratification varies. Some demonstrate positive policy changes, while others remain stagnant or regress. Cameroon falls into the second category, despite efforts, as it legally prohibits 50% of its population with disabilities from acquiring the status of a person with a disability. The overarching goal of this communication is to highlight these deficiencies and their detrimental effects on various aspects of life, fostering awareness among beneficiaries and advocating for more inclusive transformations in the country. Our project employs a popular and participatory methodological approach by involving beneficiaries and their organizations in its preparation. It is also inclusive, representing the diversity of disabilities and engaging natural and legal persons from various backgrounds. Active consultations occur at all levels of the activities. Anticipated outcomes include raising awareness globally among nations, international cooperation organizations, NGOs, and other inclusive development actors. We seek their support for local advocacy efforts to fully implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Concurrently, we hope they express solidarity with the victims in Cameroon who have been left behind and recommend legal reforms to align domestic and international legislation with the promotion and protection of disability rights.

Keywords: droit, convention, handicap, discrimination, participation, inclusion

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Authors: Radwa Elshorbagy, Alaa Elden Balbaa, Khaled Ayad, Waleed Reda

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Introduction: Ankle sprain is a common lower limb injury that is complicated by high recurrence rate. The cause of recurrence is not clear; however, changes in motor control have been postulated. Objective: to determine the contribution of proximal hip strategy to dynamic postural control in patients with recurrent ankle sprain. Methods: Fifteen subjects with recurrent ankle sprain (group A) and fifteen healthy control subjects (group B) participated in this study. Abductor-adductors as well as flexor-extensor hip musculatures control was abolished by fatigue using the Biodex Isokinetic System. Dynamic postural control was measured before and after fatigue by the Biodex Balance System. Results: Repeated measures MANOVA was used to compare between and within group differences, in group A fatiguing of hip muscles (flexors-extensors and abductors-adductors) increased overall stability index (OASI), anteroposterior stability index (APSI) and mediolateral stability index (MLSI) significantly (p=0.00) whereas; in group B fatiguing of hip flexors-extensors increased significantly OASI and APSI only (p= 0.017, 0.010; respectively) while fatiguing of hip abductors-adductors has no significant effect on these variables. Moreover, patients with ankle sprain had significantly lower dynamic balance after hip muscles fatigue compared to the control group. Specifically, after hip flexor-extensor fatigue, the OASI, APSI and MLSI were increased significantly than those of the control values (p= 0.002, 0.011, and 0.003, respectively) whereas fatiguing of hip abductors-adductors increased significantly in OASI and APSI only (p=0.012, 0.026, respectively). Conclusion: To maintain dynamic balance, patients with recurrent ankle sprain seem to rely more on the hip strategy. This means that those patients depend on a top to down instead of down to top strategy clinical relevance: patients with recurrent ankle sprain less efficient in maintaining the dynamic postural control due to the change in motor strategies. Indicating that health care providers and rehabilitation specialists should treat CAI as a global/central and not just as a simple local or peripheral injury.

Keywords: hip strategy, ankle strategy, postural control, dynamic balance

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Authors: Mohammed Alharbi, Clare Wood, Vasileios Samaras

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Sustainability leadership is a controversial topic, particularly in the engineering context. The theoretical and practical technical focus of the engineering profession impacts our lives. Technologically, engineers significantly contribute to our modern civilization. Industrial revolutions are among the top engineering accomplishments that have contributed to the flourishing of our life. However, engineers have not always received the credit they deserve; instead, they have been blamed for the advent of various global issues, among them the global warming phenomena that are believed to be a result of the industrial revolutions. Global challenges demand engineers demonstrate more than their technical skills for effective contribution to a sustainable future. As a result, engineering leadership has emerged as a new research field. Sustainable manufacturing is a cornerstone for sustainable development. Investigating the change to more sustainable manufacturing practices is a significant issue for all, and even more in the field of engineering leadership. Engineers dominate the manufacturing industry; however, one of the main criticism of engineers is the lack of leadership skills. The literature on engineering leadership has not highlighted enough the engineers' leadership ability in leading sustainable manufacturing. Since we are at the cusp of a new industrial revolution -Industry 4.0, it is vital to investigate the ability of engineers to lead the industry towards a sustainable future. The primary purpose of this paper is to evaluate engineers' sustainability leadership competencies utilizing The Cambridge University Behavioral Competency Model. However, the practical application of the Cambridge model is limited due to the absence of a reliable measurement tool. Therefore, this study developed a valid and reliable survey instrument tool compatible with the Cambridge model as a secondary objective. More than 300 Saudi engineers from the manufacturing industry responded to an online questionnaire collected through the Qualtrics platform and analyzed using SPSS software. The findings provide a contemporary understanding of engineers' mindset related to sustainability leadership. The output of this research study could be valuable in designing effective engineering leadership programs in academia or industry, particularly for enhancing a sustainable manufacturing environment.

Keywords: engineer, leadership, manufacturing, sustainability

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Authors: Nurjannatul Naim Kamaruddin, Tengku Sifziuzl Tengku Muhammad, Aina Farahiyah Abdul Manan, Habsah Mohamad

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Atherosclerosis which leads to cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, unstable angina (ischemic heart pain), sudden cardiac death and stroke is the principal cause of death worldwide. It has been a very critical issue as current common drug treatment, statin therapy has left bad side effects like rhabdomyolysis, atrial fibrillation, liver disease, abdominal and chest pain. Interestingly, the discoveries of proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 have paved a new way in the treatment of atherosclerosis. This serine protease is believed to involve in the regulation of LDL- uptake by LDL-receptor. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the potential of Acanthaster plancii fractions to reduce the transcriptional activity of the PCSK9 promoter. In this study, the marine organism which is Acanthaster plancii has been used as the source for marine compounds in inhibiting PCSK9. The cytotoxicity activity of ten fractions from the methanol extracts of Acanthaster plancii was investigated on HepG2 cell lines using MTS assay and dual glo luciferase assay was carried out later to analyses the effects of the samples in reducing the transcriptional activity of the PCSK9 promoter. Both assays used fractions with five different concentrations, 3.13µg/mL, 6.25µg/mL, 12.5µg/mL, 25µg/mL, and 50µg/mL. MTS assay indicated that the fractions are non-cytotoxic towards HepG2 cell lines as their IC50 value is greater than 30µg/mL. Whilst, for the dual glo luciferase assay, among all the fractions, Enhance Fraction 2 (EF2) showed the best potential in reducing the transcriptional activity of the PCSK9 promoter. The results indicated that this EF2 gave the lowest PCSK9 promoter expression at low concentration which is 0.2 fold change at 6.25µg/mL. This finding suggested that further analysis should be done to validate the potential of Acanthaster plancii as the source of anti-atherosclerotic agent.

Keywords: Acanthaster plancii, atherosclerosis, luciferase assay, PCSK9

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Authors: Patricia Sumod

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There is a unique movement of fashion that features a trend around secondhand clothing. This is especially observed in the lifestyles of the millennials, where the concept of reusing apparel and accessories is noticeable and, therefore, slowly diminishing the high consumption of fast fashion and generating environmental awareness. This paper will focus on how this clothing trend influences and engages consumers in buying secondhand clothing and creating fashionable looks simultaneously. To further examine the millennials’ motivation towards consumption and using secondhand fashion, a concept as a trendsetter, this paper will take a closer look at their idea of concern for the environment. Considering second-hand clothing is a sustainable consumption practice, it will investigate the role of social influencers, trendsetters, and millennials in overall fashion consumption in this context. This study aims to understand how secondhand clothing and millennials differ from other consumers regarding the perception of fast-depleting natural resources, price sensitivity, vintage attachments, and psychographics. Secondly, the paper will also present the connection of emotion between millennials and secondhand clothing that may not be necessarily purchased but received. This study will reflect on the already identified influences in increased purchase behavior and an uncharted positive relationship between the consumer and the products. This behavior will further formulate into a habit by consumer segments, creating an expanded market for secondhand clothing. There is no definite indication that fast fashion will cease to exist, but slowing its rapid movement is an attempt to work toward a sustainable future. The conclusion will present possibilities for consumers to engage in C2C online interaction, thereby reinforcing a notable change in consumer behavior and attitude in contradiction to today’s extreme consumerism and willingness to be adaptable to a minimalist way of life. Fashion brands will then begin a new forecast to actively accommodate the new millennial concept of fashion that will advertise more concern than insatiability. The research will be with literature from various authors, insights provided by researchers on this new wave of consumers, and a qualitative approach with face-to-face interviews with a sample group who are in the practice of secondhand clothing consumption.

Keywords: second-hand clothing, millennials, sustainability, consumption practice, fashion environment.

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Authors: Norhan Anwar Elshikh

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The study aimed to identify the extent of rural women’s awareness of gender issues and discrimination against women. The study also investigated the relationship between the extent of that awareness and the social and economic characteristics of the surveyed women. The study aimed to find both the related factors and the affecting factors of the surveyed women's awareness of gender issues and the discrimination against them. The study then proposed some recommendations that can raise rural women's ability to understand gender issues and discrimination against women. To achieve the study goals, a field study was conducted in the Al-Buhaira governorate. Abu Homs township was chosen as one of the traditional rural areas closest in its characteristics to most rural areas in Egypt, and the Abu Homs township consists of one town and seven rural local units. The local unit of Baraka Ghattas was chosen, as it is considered on average level in human development. Baraka Ghattas local unit includes five villages. Alherfah village and Barakat Ghatas village were chosen to conduct the study as they represent the high and the low levels of human development, respectively. The study included households of women who were in their fertile period in the sample’s villages. The volume of the sample was divided among the two villages according to the number of families in each village, so that each village is represented in the sample space by the same percentage of its presence in the original community. The size of the sample was determined, which is 385 women, According to the Crijsey and Morgen equation. To execute the study, a questionnaire was designed and collected through personal interviews. The results showed that the independent variables most influencing the dependent variable are, from high to low, the economic level of the respondent's family, the number of children of the respondent, the level of formal education of the husband, then leadership ability and the level of ambition, respectively. These variables are responsible for explaining 52% of the change in the extent of rural women's awareness of gender issues and discrimination against women. The study was concluded by providing suggestions and recommendations to improve rural women's awareness of gender issues and discrimination against women.

Keywords: gender, rural women, discrimination, discrimination against women

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Authors: Lun Lou, Jintu Fan

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While personal protective equipment (PPE) prevents the healthcare personnel from exposing to harmful surroundings, it creates a barrier to the dissipation of body heat and perspiration, leading to severe heat stress during prolonged exposure, especially in hot environments. It has been found that most of the existed personal cooling strategies have limitations in achieving effective cooling performance with long duration and lightweight. This work aimed to develop a lightweight (<1.0 kg) and less expensive wearable air cooling and dehumidifying system (WCDS) that can be applied underneath the protective clothing and provide 50W mean cooling power for more than 5 hours at 35°C environmental temperature without compromising the protection of PPE. For the WCDS, blowers will be used to activate an internal air circulation inside the clothing microclimate, which doesn't interfere with the protection of PPE. An air cooling and dehumidifying chamber (ACMR) with a specific design will be developed to reduce the air temperature and humidity inside the protective clothing. Then the cooled and dried air will be supplied to upper chest and back areas through a branching tubing system for personal cooling. A detachable ice cooling unit will be applied from the outside of the PPE to extract heat from the clothing microclimate. This combination allows for convenient replacement of the cooling unit to refresh the cooling effect, which can realize a continuous cooling function without taking off the PPE or adding too much weight. A preliminary thermal manikin test showed that the WCDS was able to reduce the microclimate temperature inside the PPE averagely by about 8°C for 60 minutes when the environmental temperature was 28.0 °C and 33.5 °C, respectively. Replacing the ice cooling unit every hour can maintain this cooling effect, while the longest operation duration is determined by the battery of the blowers, which can last for about 6 hours. This unique design is especially helpful for the PPE users, such as health care workers in infectious and hot environments when continuous cooling and dehumidifying are needed, but the change of protective clothing may increase the risk of infection. The new WCDS will not only improve the thermal comfort of PPE users but can also extend their safe working duration.

Keywords: personal thermal management, heat stress, ppe, health care workers, wearable device

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Authors: Neda Safari, Jacob Petersen-Perlman

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There are more than two million dams in the United States, and a considerable portion of them are either non-operational or approaching the end of their designed lifespan. However, this emerging trend is new, and the majority of dam sites have not undergone thorough research and assessments after their removal to determine the overall effectiveness of restoration initiatives, particularly in the case of large-scale dams that may significantly impact their surrounding areas. A crucial factor to consider is the lack of specific regulations pertaining to dam removal at the federal level. Consequently, other environmental regulations that were not originally designed with dam removal considerations are used to execute these projects. This can result in delays or challenges for dam removal initiatives. The process of removing dams is usually the most important first step to restore the ecological and biological health of the river, but often there is a lack of measurable indicators to assess if it has achieved its intended objectives. In addition, the majority of studies on dam removal are only short-term and focus on a particular measure of response. Therefore, it is essential to conduct extensive and continuous monitoring to analyze the river's response throughout every aspect. Our study is divided into two sections. The first section of my research will analyze the establishment and utilization of dam removal laws and regulations in the Condit Dam removal process. We will highlight the areas where the frameworks for policy and dam removal projects remain in need of improvement in order to facilitate successful dam removals in the future. In this part, We will review the policies and plans that affected the decision-making process to remove the Condit dam while also looking at how they impacted the physical changes to the river after the dam was removed. In the second section, we will look at the effects of the dam removal over a decade later and attempt to determine how the river's physical response has been impacted by this modification. Our study aims to investigate the Condit dam removal process and its impact on the ecological response of the river. We anticipate identifying areas for improvement in policies pertaining to dam removal projects and exploring ways to enhance them to ensure improved project outcomes in the future.

Keywords: dam removal, ecolocgical change, water related regulation, water resources

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Authors: Dorsa Moayedi

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‘The Cities’ and Cinema have a history going as far back as silent films; however, the standards of picturing a city in a film are somewhat vague. ‘Genius Loci’ of a city can be easily described with parameters that architects have detected; nevertheless, the genius loci of an ‘urban movie’ is untouched. Cities have been among the provocative matters that pushed filmmakers to ponder upon them and to picture them along with their urban identity thoroughly in their artworks, though the impacts of the urban life on the plot and characters is neglected, and so a city in a movie is usually restricted to ‘the place where the story happens’. Cities and urban life are among those that are in constant change and ongoing expansion; therefore, they are always fresh and ready to challenge people with their existence. Thus, the relationship between the city and cinema is metamorphic, though it could be defined and explored. The dominant research on the idea of urbanism has been conducted by outstanding scholars of architecture, like Christian Norberg-Schulz, and the studies on Cinema have been done by theorists of cinema, like Christian Metz, who have mastered defining their own realm; still, the idea to mingle the domains to reach a unified theory which could be applied to ‘urban movies’ is barely worked on. In this research, we have sought mutual grounds to discuss ‘urbanism in cinema,’ the grounds that cinema could benefit from and get to a more accurate audio-visual representation of a city, in accordance with the ideas of Christopher Alexander and the term he coined ‘The Timeless Way of Building.’ We concentrate on movies that are dependent on urban life, mainly those that possess the names of cities, like ‘Nashville (1975), Manhattan (1979), Fargo (1996), Midnight in Paris (2011) or Roma (2018), according to the ideas of urban design and narratives of cinema. Contrary to what has often been assumed, cinema and architecture could be defined in line with similar parameters, and architectural terms could be applied to the research done on movies. Our findings indicate that the theories of Christopher Alexander can best fit the paradigm to study an ‘Urban Movie’, definitions of a timeless building, elaborate on the characteristics of a design that could be applied to definitions of an urban movie, and set a prototype for further filmmaking regarding the urban life.

Keywords: city, urbanism, urban movies, identity, representation

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Authors: Tarek Duzan

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Fractures are a fundamental property of most reservoirs. Despite their abundance, they remain difficult to detect and quantify. The most effective characterization of fractured reservoirs is accomplished by integrating geological, geophysical, and engineering data. Detection of fractures and defines their relative contribution is crucial in the early stages of exploration and later in the production of any field. Because fractures could completely change our thoughts, efforts, and planning to produce a specific field properly. From the structural point of view, all reservoirs are fractured to some point of extent. North Gialo field is thought to be a naturally fractured reservoir to some extent. Historically, natural fractured reservoirs are more complicated in terms of their exploration and production efforts, and most geologists tend to deny the presence of fractures as an effective variable. Our aim in this paper is to determine the degree of fracturing, and consequently, our evaluation and planning can be done properly and efficiently from day one. The challenging part in this field is that there is no enough data and straightforward well testing that can let us completely comfortable with the idea of fracturing; however, we cannot ignore the fractures completely. Logging images, available well testing, and limited core studies are our tools in this stage to evaluate, model, and predict possible fracture effects in this reservoir. The aims of this study are both fundamental and practical—to improve the prediction and diagnosis of natural-fracture attributes in N. Gialo hydrocarbon reservoirs and accurately simulate their influence on production. Moreover, the production of this field comes from 2-phase plan; a self depletion of oil and then gas injection period for pressure maintenance and increasing ultimate recovery factor. Therefore, well understanding of fracturing network is essential before proceeding with the targeted plan. New analytical methods will lead to more realistic characterization of fractured and faulted reservoir rocks. These methods will produce data that can enhance well test and seismic interpretations, and that can readily be used in reservoir simulators.

Keywords: natural fracture, sandstone reservoir, geological, geophysical, and engineering data

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Authors: Adekemi Adebowale

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The duty of disclosure in Nigerian insurance law is in need of reform. The materiality of an undisclosed fact (notwithstanding that it was an honest and innocent non-disclosure) currently entitles insurers to avoid insurance policies, leaving an insured with an uncovered loss. While the test of materiality requires an insured to voluntarily disclose facts that will influence an insurer's decision without proper guidelines from the insurer, the insurer is only expected to prove that the undisclosed fact had influenced its judgment in fixing the premium or determining whether to accept the risk. This problem places an onerous duty on the assured to volunteer to the insurer every material fact even though the insured only has a slight idea about the mind of a hypothetical prudent insurer. This paper explores the modern approach to revisiting the problem of an insured’s pre-contractual obligation to determine material facts in Nigerian insurance law. The aim is to build upon the change in the structure of insurance contract obligations in other common law jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom. The doctrinal and comparative methodology captures the burden imposed on the insured under the existing Nigerian insurance law. It finds that the continued application of the law leaves the insured in the weakest position, and he stands to lose in a contract supposedly created for his benefit. It is apparent that if this problem remains unresolved, the over-all consequence will contribute to a significant decline in the insurance contract, which may affect the Nigerian economy. The paper aims to evaluate the risks of the continuous application of the traditional law, which does not keep with the pace of modern insurance practice. It will ultimately produce a legally compliant reform, along with a significant deviation from the archaic structure that exists in the Nigerian insurance law. This paper forms part of an on-going PhD research on "The insured’s pre-contractual duty of utmost of utmost good faith". The outcome from the research to date finds that the insured bears the burden of the obligation to act in utmost good faith where it concerns disclosure of material facts.

Keywords: disclosure, materiality, Nigeria, United Kingdom, utmost good faith

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Authors: Konstantin Yu. Moiseev, Antonina F. Budnik, Andrey I. Emanuilov, Petr M. Masliukov

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The vast majority of sympathetic ganglionic neurons are catecholaminergic. Some sympathetic neurons lack catecholamines and mostly use acetylcholine as their main neurotransmitter. Some cholinergic postganglionic neurons also express neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). Preganglionic sympathetic neurons are cholinergic and most of them are also nNOS-immunoreactive (IR). The purpose of this study was to gain further insight into the neuroplasticity of sympathetic neurons during postnatal ontogenesis by comparing the development of pre- and postganglionic neurons expressing nNOS in different mammals. nNOS was investigated by immunohistochemistry in the sympathetic superior cervical ganglion (SCG), stellate ganglion (SG), celiac ganglion (CG) and spinal cord from rats, mice and cats of different ages (newborn, 10-day-old, 20-day-old, 30-day-old, 2-month-old and 2-year-old). In rats and mice, nNOS-positive neurons were not found in sympathetic ganglia from birth onwards. In cats, non-catecholaminergic nNOS-IR sympathetic ganglionic neurons are present from the moment of birth. In all studied age groups, substantial populations of nNOS-IR cells (up to 8.3%) was found in the SG, with a much smaller population found in the SCG (<1%) and only few cells observed in the CG. The percentage of nNOS-IR neurons in the CG and SCG did not significantly change during development. The proportion of nNOS-IR neuron profiles in the SG increased in first 20 days of life from 2.3±0.15% to 8.3±0.56%. In the SG, percentages of nNOS-IR sympathetic neurons colocalizing vasoactive intestinal peptide increased in the first 20 days of life. Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT)-IR and calcitonin gene-related peptide-IR neurons were not observed in the sympathetic ganglia of newborn animals and did not appear until 10 days after birth. In the SG of newborn and 10-day-old kittens, the majority of NOS-IR neurons were calbindin (CB)-IR, whereas in the SCG and CG of cats of all age groups and in the SG of 30-day-old and older kittens, the vast majority of NOS-IR neurons lacked CB. In newborn mammals, the most of sympathetic preganglionic neurons in the nucleus intermediolateralis thoracolumbalis pars principalis (nucl.ILp) were nNOS-IR. The percentage of nNOS-IR neurons decreased and the same parameter of ChAT-IR neurons increased during the development. We conclude that the development of nNOS-IR preganglionic and ganglionic sympathetic neurons in different mammals has time and species differences.

Keywords: sympathetic neuron, nitric oxide synthase, immunohistochemistry, development

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Authors: Leixuri Aguirre, Iñaki Milton-Laskibar, Elizabeth Hijona, Luis Bujanda, Agnes M. Rimando, Maria P. Portillo

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Introduction: In recent years great attention has been paid by scientific community to phenolic compounds as active biomolecules naturally present in foodstuffs due to their beneficial effects on health. Pterostilbene is a resveratrol dimethylether derivative which shows higher biodisponibility. Objective. To analyze the effects of two doses of pterostilbene on several markers of thermogenic capacity in a model of genetic obesity, which shows reduced thermogenesis. Methods: The experiment was conducted with thirty Zucker (fa/fa) rats that were distributed in 3 experimental groups, the control group and two groups orally administered with pterostilbene at 15 and 30 mg/kg body weight/day for 6 weeks. Gene expression of Ucp1, Pgc-1α, Cpt1b, Pparα, Nfr1, Tfam and Cox-2 were assessed by RT-PCR, protein expression of UCP1 and GLUT4 by western blot and enzyme activity of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1b and citrate synthase by spectrophotometry in interscapular brown adipose tissue (iBAT). Statistical analysis was performed by using one way ANOVA and Newman-Keuls as post-hoc test. Results: Pterostilbene did not change gene expression of Pgc-1α. However, significant increases were found in the expression of Ucp1, Pparα, Nfr-1 and Cox-2. Protein expression of UCP1 and GLUT4 was increased in animals treated with pterostilbene, as well as the activities of CPT-1b and CS. These effects were observed with both doses of pterostilbene, without differences between them. Conclusions: These results show that pterostilbene increases thermogenic and oxidative capacity of brown adipose tissue in obese rats. Whether these effects effectively contribute to the anti-obesity properties of these compound needs further research. Acknowledgments: MINECO-FEDER (AGL2015-65719-R), Basque Government (IT-572-13), University of the Basque Country (ELDUNANOTEK UFI11/32), Institut of Health Carlos III (CIBERobn). Iñaki Milton is a fellowship from the Basque Government.

Keywords: brown adipose tissue, pterostilbene, thermogenesis, uncoupling protein 1

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Authors: Joanna Peksa, Faith Dillon-Lee

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Current developments in the Western economies have turned some universities into corporate institutions driven by practices of production and commodity. Academia is increasingly becoming integrated into national economies as a result of students paying fees and is consequently using business practices in student retention and engagement. With these changes, pedagogy status as a priority within the institution has been changing in light of these new demands. New strategies have blurred the boundaries that separate a student from a client. This led to a change of the dynamic, disrupting the traditional idea of the knowledge market, and emphasizing the corporate aspect of universities. In some cases, where students are seen primarily as a customer, the purpose of academia is no longer to educate but sell a commodity and retain fee-paying students. This paper considers opposing viewpoints on the commodification of higher education, reflecting on the reality of maintaining a pedagogic grounding in an increasingly commercialized sector. By analysing a case study of the Student Success Festival, an event that involved academic and marketing teams, the differences are considered between the respective visions of the pedagogic arm of the university and the corporate. This study argues that the initial concept of the event, based on the principles of gamification, independent learning, and cognitive criticality, was more clearly linked to a grounded pedagogic approach. However, when liaising with the marketing team in a crucial step in the creative process, it became apparent that these principles were not considered a priority in terms of their remit. While the study acknowledges in the power of pedagogy, the findings show that a pact of concord is necessary between different stakeholders in order for students to benefit fully from their learning experience. Nevertheless, while issues of power prevail and whenever power is unevenly distributed, reaching a consensus becomes increasingly challenging and further research should closely monitor the developments in pedagogy in the UK higher education.

Keywords: economic pressure, commodification, pedagogy, gamification, public service, marketization

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Authors: Paul Lam, Chi Him Chan, Alan Tse

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Language laboratories have been widely used in language learning, starting in the middle of the last century as one of the earliest forms of educational technology. They are designed to assist students’ language learning with technological innovations. Traditional language laboratories provide individual workstations that allow students to access multimedia language resources. In this type of facility, students can train their listening and speaking abilities, and teachers can also assess the performance of an individual student. Although such a setting promotes a student-centered pedagogy by encouraging students to work at their own pace and according to their own needs, it still favours a traditional, behaviourist language learning pedagogy which focuses on repetitive drilling. The change of pedagogies poses challenges to both the teachers and the facilities. The peer-learning pedagogy advocates that language learning should focus on the social aspect, which emphasizes the importance of everyday communication in language learning. The self-access, individual workstation language laboratories may not be able to provide the flexibility for interaction in the new pedagogies. Modern advancement in technology is another factor that drove our language laboratory renovation. In particular, mobile and wireless technology enabled the use of smaller and more flexible devices, making possible much clever use of space. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) renovated nine existing language laboratories to provide lighter and more advanced equipment, movable tables, and round desks. These facilities allow more flexibility and encourage students’ interaction. It is believed that the renovated language laboratories can serve different peer learning activities and thus support peer-learning pedagogies in language teaching and learning. A survey has been conducted to collect comments from the teachers who have used the renovated language laboratories and received forty-four response. The teachers’ comments reveal that they experienced different challenges in using the renovated language laboratories, and there is a need to provide guidance to teachers during the technological and pedagogical transition. For example, teachers need instruction on using the newly installed devices such as touch-monitor and visualizer. They also need advice on planning new teaching and learning activities. Nevertheless, teachers appreciated that the renovated language laboratories are flexible and provide more spaces for different learning activities.

Keywords: language laboratories, language learning, peer-learning, student interaction

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