Search results for: local cowpea

Authors: Biaou Jean-Baptiste Kouchoro, Anissa Meziane, Philippe Micheau, Mathieu Renier, Nicolas Quaegebeur

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Numerous experimental and numerical studies have shown the interest of the local defects resonance (LDR) for the Non-Destructive Testing of metallic and composite plates. Indeed, guided ultrasonic waves such as Lamb waves, which are increasingly used for the inspection of these flat structures, enable the generation of local resonance phenomena by their interaction with a damaged area, allowing the detection of defects. When subjected to a large amplitude motion, a nonlinear behavior can predominate in the damaged area. This work presents a 2D Finite Element Model of the local resonance of a 12 mm long and 5 mm deep Flat Bottom Hole (FBH) in a 6 mm thick aluminum plate under the excitation induced by an incident A0 Lamb mode. The analysis of the transient response of the FBH enables the precise determination of its resonance frequencies and the associate modal deformations. Then, a linear parametric study varying the geometrical properties of the FBH highlights the sensitivity of the resonance frequency with respect to the plate thickness. It is demonstrated that the resonance effect disappears when the ratio of thicknesses between the FBH and the plate is below 0.1. Finally, the nonlinear behavior of the FBH is considered and studied introducing geometrical (taken into account the nonlinear component of the strain tensor) nonlinearities that occur at large vibration amplitudes. Experimental analysis allows observation of the resonance effects and nonlinear response of the FBH. The differences between these experimental results and the numerical results will be commented on. The results of this study are promising and allow to consider more realistic defects such as delamination in composite materials.

Keywords: guided waves, non-destructive testing, dynamic field testing, non-linear ultrasound/vibration

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Authors: A. A. Akharayi, B. E. Anjola

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The economic development of a country depends greatly on internally built revenue. Small and Medium-scale Enterprise (SMEs) contributes to the economic buoyancy as it provides employment for the teeming population, encourages job creation by youths who believes in themselves and also by others who have gathered finance enough to invest in growable investment. SMEs is faced with several challenges. The study investigates the role and challenges of SMEs Somolu Local Government Area. Simple random sampling techniques were used to select entrepreneurs (SMEs owners and managers). One hundred and fifty (150) registered SMEs were selected across the LGA data collection with the use of well-structured questionnaire. The data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21. The result of the analysis indicated that marketing, finance, social facilities and indiscriminate taxes among other high level of fund available significantly (p <0 .05) increase firm capacity while marketing showed a significant (p < 0.05) relationship with profit level.

Keywords: challenge, development, economic, small and medium scale enterprise

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Authors: Montserrat Crespi-Vallbona; Oscar Mascarilla-Miró

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Mature destinations have different challenges trying to attract tourism and please its citizens. Hence, they have to maintain their touristic interest to standard demand and also not to undeceive those tourists with more advanced experiences. Second, they have to be concerned for the daily life of citizens and avoid the negative effects of touristification. This balance is quite delicate and often has to do with the sensitivity and commitment of the party in the local government. However, what is a general consensus is the need for destinations to differentiate from the homogeneous rest of regions and create new content, consumable resources or marketing events to guarantee their positioning. In this sense, the main responsibility of destinations is to satisfy users, tourists and citizens. Hence, its aim has to do with holistic experiences, which collect these wide approaches. Specifically, this research aims to analyze the volume and growth of tourist houses in the central touristic neighborhoods of Barcelona (this is Ciutat Vella) as the starting point to identify the behavior of tourists regarding their interests in searching for local heritage attractiveness and community atmosphere. Then, different cases are analyzed in order to show how Barcelona struggles to keep its attractive brand for the visitors, as well as for its inhabitants. Methodologically, secondary data used in this research comes from official registered tourist houses (Catalunya Government), Open Data (Barcelona municipality), the Airbnb tourist platform, from the Incasol Data and Municipal Register of Inhabitants. Primary data are collected through in-depth interviews with neighbors, social movement managers and political representatives from Turisme de Barcelona (local DMO, Destination Management Organization). Results show what the opportunities and priorities are for key actors to design policies to find a balance between all different interests.

Keywords: touristification, tourist houses, governance, tourism demand, airbnbfication

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Authors: Chin Pang Lei

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Colonized by the UK, handed over to China, and now as a global financial city, Hong Kong’s history is never easy to write under the dominant discourses of colonialism, nationalism and globalization. In this plight, cinema, regarded as Hong Kong’s most representative cultural form, is used for writing, exploring and questioning the local history of the city. In their writing of the past, Hong Kong directors such as Wong Kar-wai, Stanley Kwan and Tsui Hark have demonstrated alternative ways of historicizing Hong Kong. Despite their interests in different periods of time (Wong is obsessed with the 1960s; Kwan is attracted to the 1930s; Tsui often goes back to the early 20th century), all these directors use genres as their time machines to revisit the past. As a popular cultural form, genres always come with a series of ideologies which define our lives and explain the society. Hence, in a changing society, genres change and complicate themselves with different packages of meanings. Genres function as open-ended and corrigible schemata which can contain multiple themes and various meanings. In Hong Kong, genres, often seen as highly commercial and overly market-oriented, are opportunities for alternative history writing and the exploration of local identities. This paper examines how these Hong Kong directors use the popular forms of genres, such as melodrama, martial art and gangster films, to present the past, and how the stories of the fictional characters, such as prostitutes, martial artists and jobless hooligans mobilize imagination of history. These texts show that genre is a crucial platform for Hong Kong’s post-colonial self-writing. Via genres, history in these films is against official and canonical history as well as grand narrative. Genres as time machines articulate a voice for Hong Kong.

Keywords: Hong Kong cinema, genre, historicizing, local history, Wong Kar-Wai

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Authors: Fameli Kyriaki-Maria, Assimakopoulos D. Vasiliki, Kotroni Vassiliki

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The Greater Athens Area (GAA) faces photochemical and particulate pollution episodes as a result of the combined effects of local pollutant emissions, regional pollution transport, synoptic circulation and topographic characteristics. The area has undergone significant changes since the Athens 2004 Olympic Games because of large scale infrastructure works that lead to the shift of population to areas previously characterized as rural, the increase of the traffic fleet and the operation of highways. However, no recent modelling studies have been performed due to the lack of an accurate, updated emission inventory. The photochemical modelling system MM5/CAMx was applied in order to study the photochemical and particulate pollution characteristics above the GAA for two distinct ten-day periods in the summer of 2006 and 2010, where air pollution episodes occurred. A new updated emission inventory was used based on official data. Comparison of modeled results with measurements revealed the importance and accuracy of the new Athens emission inventory as compared to previous modeling studies. The model managed to reproduce the local meteorological conditions, the daily ozone and particulates fluctuations at different locations across the GAA. Higher ozone levels were found at suburban and rural areas as well as over the sea at the south of the basin. Concerning PM10, high concentrations were computed at the city centre and the southeastern suburbs in agreement with measured data. Source apportionment analysis showed that different sources contribute to the ozone levels, the local sources (traffic, port activities) affecting its formation.

Keywords: photochemical modelling, urban pollution, greater Athens area, MM5/CAMx

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Authors: Cheng Shuk Ling

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This paper examines the English syntactic errors and their patterns in the written assignments of a General Education course at City University of Hong Kong. Subjects are 60 local and non-local (exchange) undergraduate students who are all EFL learners and L2 users with diversified education and disciplinary background (i.e. their major of study), which are unrelated to English language studies. The objective of this paper brings to the foreground a broad discussion of EFL/L2 undergraduate learners’ average syntactic ability in terms of written assessment. This paper is an attempt in classifying the patterns and categories of syntactic errors committed by students who were brought up and educated in non-native English-speaking countries. Thus, pedagogical recommendations are offered for both EFL/L2 learners and educators in tertiary education settings in such ways as to calibrate how and in what manner English language as the medium of instruction can lead to more enduring effects in learners within non-native English-speaking countries.

Keywords: syntactic errors, english as a foreign language, second language users, pedagogy

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Authors: Sulochini Pather

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Romanians are the second largest group of non-British nationals in the UK, following the Poles; over one million were reported in 2021. This follows the rapid growth in the number of Eastern Europeans settling in the UK for work which is linked to the expansion of the European Union. A recent report suggests that the growing numbers of Eastern European pupils have heightened concerns about their impact on the education of native English speakers, but little has been done to focus on the challenges faced by these students and their educational and life experiences. The pilot study presented in this paper focuses on six Romanian students aged between 14 and 19 from two schools and a college in the local area and includes data from interviews with headteachers, teachers, students, and parents. The paper highlights key findings which point to barriers and support Romanian children encounter in mainstream education, their homes, and community and the extent to which a volunteering program offered at a local charity called Community Action to Create Hope (CATCH) impacts their education and lives. The study has implications for supporting the inclusion of immigrant children.

Keywords: Romanian, Eastern European, inclusion, volunteering programme

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Authors: Nur Nadhirah Rusyda Rosnan, Nursuhaili Najwa Masrol, Nurul Fatiha MD Nor, Mohammad Zafrullah Mohammad Salim, Sim Choon Cheak

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Accurate inventories of oil palm planted areas are crucial for plantation management as this would impact the overall economy and production of oil. One of the technological advancements in the oil palm industry is semi-automated palm counting, which is replacing conventional manual palm counting via digitizing aerial imagery. Most of the semi-automated palm counting method that has been developed was limited to mature palms due to their ideal canopy size represented by satellite image. Therefore, immature palms were often left out since the size of the canopy is barely visible from satellite images. In this paper, an approach using a morphological filter and high-resolution satellite image is proposed to detect immature palm trees. This approach makes it possible to count the number of immature oil palm trees. The method begins with an erosion filter with an appropriate window size of 3m onto the high-resolution satellite image. The eroded image was further segmented using watershed segmentation to delineate immature palm tree regions. Then, local minimum detection was used because it is hypothesized that immature oil palm trees are located at the local minimum within an oil palm field setting in a grayscale image. The detection points generated from the local minimum are displaced to the center of the immature oil palm region and thinned. Only one detection point is left that represents a tree. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated on three subsets with slopes ranging from 0 to 20° and different planting designs, i.e., straight and terrace. The proposed method was able to achieve up to more than 90% accuracy when compared with the ground truth, with an overall F-measure score of up to 0.91.

Keywords: immature palm count, oil palm, precision agriculture, remote sensing

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Authors: Sabina Ngodigha, Roland Gbarabe, Aiyebatonworio Austin

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A study of fisher’s knowledge (FK) and community-based fisheries management practices in River Nun estuary was conducted to assess the contribution of FK to fisheries resources conservation. A total of 390 fishers operates in the area of which 221 were interviewed based on having a minimum of 10 years of experience. Community-based fisheries management programme was introduced and implemented by fishermen’s union in 2010 for the sustainable management and conservation of fisheries resources. Local law introduced were: band on the use of mesh size of less than 5cm and band on chemical fishing. Defaulters were made to pay monetary fines ranging from #2,000 to #6,000 while fishers caught using chemicals to fish were arrested and landed over to the police for prosecution. The management method has enhanced conservation of fisheries resources which is a major source of livelihood for the people. Landings increased tremendously resulting in positive increase in the finances of the fishers. It is, therefore, pertinent to introduce community-based laws to check over exploitation of fisheries resources in the Niger Delta.

Keywords: community, conservation, fishers knowledge, local laws, management

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Authors: Sharmeen Rahman, Daniel Schmidt, Jane Hughes

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Paratya australiensis Kemp (Decapoda: Atyidae) is a widely distributed indigenous freshwater shrimp, highly abundant in eastern Australia. This species has been considered as a model stream organism to study genetics, dispersal, biology, behaviour and evolution in Atyids. Paratya has a filter feeding and scavenging habit which plays a significant role in the formation of lotic community structure. It has been shown to reduce periphyton and sediment from hard substrates of coastal streams and hence acts as a strongly-interacting ecosystem macroconsumer. Besides, Paratya is one of the major food sources for stream dwelling fishes. Paratya australiensis is a cryptic species complex consisting of 9 highly divergent mitochondrial DNA lineages. Among them, one lineage has been observed to favour upstream sites at higher altitudes, with cooler water temperatures. This study aims to identify local adaptation in upstream and downstream populations of this lineage in three streams in the Conondale Range, North-eastern Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Two populations (up and down stream) from each stream have been chosen to test for local adaptation, and a parallel pattern of adaptation is expected across all streams. Six populations each consisting of 24 individuals were sequenced using the Restriction Site Associated DNA-seq (RAD-seq) technique. Genetic markers (SNPs) were developed using double digest RAD sequencing (ddRAD-seq). These were used for de novo assembly of Paratya genome. De novo assembly was done using the STACKs program and produced 56, 344 loci for 47 individuals from one stream. Among these individuals, 39 individuals shared 5819 loci, and these markers are being used to test for local adaptation using Fst outlier tests (Arlequin) and Bayesian analysis (BayeScan) between up and downstream populations. Fst outlier test detected 27 loci likely to be under selection and the Bayesian analysis also detected 27 loci as under selection. Among these 27 loci, 3 loci showed evidence of selection at a significance level using BayeScan program. On the other hand, up and downstream populations are strongly diverged at neutral loci with a Fst =0.37. Similar analysis will be done with all six populations to determine if there is a parallel pattern of adaptation across all streams. Furthermore, multi-locus among population covariance analysis will be done to identify potential markers under selection as well as to compare single locus versus multi-locus approaches for detecting local adaptation. Adaptive genes identified in this study can be used for future studies to design primers and test for adaptation in related crustacean species.

Keywords: Paratya australiensis, rainforest streams, selection, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs)

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Authors: Shahida Mohd Sharif, Norsidah Ujang

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Recent research has shown that many of the urban population in Kuala Lumpur, especially from the lower-income group, suffer from socio-psychological problems. They are reported as experiencing anxiety, depression, and stress, which is made worst by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Much of the population was forced to observe the Movement Control Order (MCO), which is part of pandemic mitigation measures, pushing them to live in isolation as the new normal. The study finds the need to strategize for a better approach to help these people coping with the socio-psychological condition, especially the population from the lower-income group. In Kuala Lumpur, as part of the Local Agenda 21 programme, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall has introduced Green Initiative: Urban Farming, which among the approaches is the community garden. The local authority promotes the engagement to be capable of improving the social environment of the participants. Research has demonstrated that social interaction within community gardens can help the members improve their socio-psychological conditions. Therefore, the study explores the residents’ experience from low-cost flats participating in the community gardening initiative from a social attachment perspective. The study will utilise semi-structured interviews to collect the participants’ experience with community gardening and how the social interaction exchange between the members' forms and develop their ties and trust. For a context, the low-cost flats are part of the government social housing program (Program Perumahan Rakyat dan Perumahan Awam). Meanwhile, the community gardening initiative (Projek Kebun Kejiranan Bandar LA21 KL) is part of the local authority initiative to address the participants’ social, environmental, and economic issues. The study will conduct thematic analysis on the collected data and use the ATLAS.ti software for data organization and management purposes. The findings could help other researchers and stakeholders understand the social interaction experience within community gardens and its relation to ties and trusts. The findings could shed some light on how the participants could improve their social environment, and its report could provide the local authority with evidence-based documentation.

Keywords: community gardening participation, lower-income population, social attachment, social interaction

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Authors: Nneka M. Chidieber-Mark, Roseline D. Ejike

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Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) have been described as all biological materials, other than timber extracted from natural and managed forests for human subsistence and economic activities. This study focused on the production, utilization and marketing of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was adopted in the selection of respondents for the study. Data were from primary sources only. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistical tools as well as Net Income Analysis. Results show that a vast number of plant based and animal based NTFPs exist in the study area. They are harvested and used for multiple purposes. NTFPs are a source of income for the indigenes that depend on it for their livelihood. Unsustainable production and harvesting as well as poor marketing information was among the constraints impeding the growth and development of NTFPs sub-sector in the study area.

Keywords: non-timber forest products, production, utilization, marketing

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Authors: Dhanashree Moghe, Roberta Bullingham, Rizwan Ahmed, Tarun Singhal

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Aim: The NHS Bowel Screening Programme recommends the use of endoscopic tattooing for suspected malignant lesions that later require surgical or endoscopic localisation, using local protocols as guidance. This is in accordance with guidance from the BSG (The British Society of Gastroenterologists). We used a well-recognised local protocol as a standard to audit current tattooing practice in a large district general hospital with no current local guidelines. Method: A retrospective quantitative analysis of 50 patients who underwent segmental colonic resection for cancer over a 6-month period in 2021. We reviewed historic electronic endoscopy reports recording relevant data on tattoo indication and placement. Secondly, we carried out an anonymous survey of 16 independent lower GI endoscopists on self-reported details of their practice. Results: In our study, 28 patients (56%) had a tattoo placed at the time of their colonoscopy. Of these, only 53% (n=15) had the tattoo distal to the lesion, with the measured distance of the tattoo from the lesion only being documented in 8 reports. Only seven patients (25%) had a circumferential (4 quadrant) placement of the tattoo. 13 patients had lesions either in the caecum or rectum, locations deemed unnecessary as per BSG guidelines. Of the survey responses collected, there were four different protocols being used to guide practice. Only 50% of respondents placed tattoos at the correct distance from the lesion, and 83% placed the correct number of tattoos. Conclusion: There is a lack of standardisation of practices in colonic tattooing demonstrated in our study with incomplete compliance to our standard. The inadequate documentation of tattoo location can contribute to confusion and inaccuracy in the intraoperative localisation of lesions. This has the potential to increase operation length and morbidity. There is a need to standardise both technique and documentation in colonoscopic tattooing practice.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, endoscopic tattooing, colonoscopy, NHS BSCP

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Authors: Siddique Ullah Baig, Alisha Manzoor

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The remotest, mountainous, and icy Broghil Valley is a high-profile protected area as a national park, which hosts one of the highest altitude permanent human settlements on the earth. This park hosts a distributed but diverse range of habitats. Due to a lack of infrastructures, higher altitudes, and harsh environmental conditions, poverty-stricken inhabitants mostly rely on its resources, causing ecological dis-balance. This study aims to investigate the environmental degradation of natural resources of the park based on empirical evidence from stakeholders and geoinformatics. The result shows that one-fourth of the park is a gently undulating basin dotted with water bodies / grass, and agricultural land and three fourth is entirely rugged with steep mountains and glaciers. There are virtually no forests as the arid cold tundra climate and high altitude prevent tree growth. Rapid three-decadal land cover changes have led to ecological disequilibrium of the park, narrowing the traditional diverse food base, decreasing the resilience of biodiversity and local livelihoods as crop-land has shifted towards fallow, alpine-grass to peat-land and snow/glacial ice area to bare-soil/rocks. The local community believes in exploiting whatever vegetation or organic material is available for use as food, fodder, and fuel. The permanent presence of the community and limited cost-effective options in the park will be a challenge forever to maintain undisturbed natural processes as the objective of a national park.

Keywords: Broghil National Park, natural resources, environmental degradation, land cover

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Authors: Wenting Pan, Fang Chen

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The aim is to increase understanding of the potential effects of religion and economy development in East and Southeast Asia. Religion developed in the east, and southeast Asia is connected with community intensively, especially the activities by women. It could facilitate spiritual awakening in the community and economic empowerment. The theories were assessed by using survey information for Wenzhou which is the legendary city of Chinese economic development, measuring attendance at formal religious services, religious beliefs, and self-identification as religious. Wenzhou’s chamber of commerce is all over the world. Apart from large and small processing factories, Wenzhou is dotted with temples and Taoist temples. In the survey four of the control variables (size of temples, profitability, multiple densities, type of industry and so on) were significant issues to find a relationship between local people and the culture of local religion. What’s more, women should be taken into account seriously. This study has social economy implications for Wenzhou as well as a number of other countries in the East and Southeast Asia.

Keywords: East and Southeast Asia, economy development, Religion, Wenzhou

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Authors: Hajnalka Szarvas

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The research examines the effectiveness of e-participation tools and methods from a point of view of cultural fitting to the Hungarian community traditions. Participation can have very different meanings depending on the local cultural and historical traditions, experiences of the certain societies. Generally when it is about e-democracy or e-participation tools most of the researches are dealing with its technological sides and novelties, but there is not much said about the cultural and social context of the different platforms. However from the perspective of their success it would be essential to look at the human factor too, the actual users, how the certain DMS or any online platform is fitting to the way of thought, the way of functioning of the certain society. Therefore the paper will explore that to what extent the different online platforms like Loomio, Democracy OS, Your Priorities EVoks, Populus, miutcank.hu, Liquid Democracy, Brain Bar Budapest Lab are compatible with the Hungarian mental structures and community traditions, the contents of collective mind about community functioning. As a result the influence of cultural embeddedness of the logic of e-participation development tools on success of these methods will be clearly seen. Furthermore the most crucial factors in general which determine the efficiency of e-participation development tools in Hungary will be demonstrated.

Keywords: cultural embeddedness, e-participation, local community traditions, mental structures

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Authors: Owolabi Kolade Matthew

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In this work, we investigate both the analytical and numerical studies of the dynamical model comprising of three species system. We analyze the linear stability of stationary solutions in the one-dimensional multi-system modeling the interactions of two predators and one prey species. The stability analysis has a lot of implications for understanding the various spatiotemporal and chaotic behaviors of the species in the spatial domain. The analysis results presented have established the possibility of the three interacting species to coexist harmoniously, this feat is achieved by combining the local and global analyzes to determine the global dynamics of the system. In the presence of diffusion, a viable exponential time differencing method is applied to multi-species nonlinear time-dependent partial differential equation to address the points and queries that may naturally arise. The scheme is described in detail, and justified by a number of computational experiments.

Keywords: asymptotically stable, coexistence, exponential time differencing method, global and local stability, predator-prey model, nonlinear, reaction-diffusion system

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Authors: Olajumoke Temilola Fatimat, Fasasi Fausat Kikelomo, Ishola Ganiyat Folasayo, Omayeka Mary

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Psychoactive substances are chemical substances that affect the normal functioning of the brain and cause changes in behavior, mood, and consciousness. Psychoactive substance abuse constitutes one of the most important risk–taking behavior among adolescents and young adults in secondary schools. The study, therefore, assessed the factors influencing the use of psychoactive substances among senior secondary students in Ibadan South–West Local Government Area, Oyo State. A descriptive non-experimental design was adopted; purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 330 respondents, while questionnaires were used for data collection. The descriptive statistics of frequency count, percentages, inferential statistics of chi-square, and analysis of variance were used for the analysis. The results revealed that the majority of the respondents had heard of the term substance abuse before 226 (75.3%); it was also revealed that the majority of the respondents had good knowledge of psychoactive substances, 67.8%. There was no significant relationship between age and knowledge of psychoactive substances among senior secondary students, with a p-value of 0.199. The outcome of this study indicates that drug abuse is increasing day by day among secondary school students and may have greatly contributed to poor performance in examinations as well as undermining academic ability and performance among students. It was recommended that efforts should be made by the school authorities of the secondary schools in Ibadan South–West Local Government Area, Oyo State, and in Oyo State generally in collaboration with health personnel to educate adolescents on psychoactive substance abuse. This is to ensure that adolescents are adequately educated and updated on knowledge of psychoactive substance abuse.

Keywords: factors, influence, psychoactive substance, secondary school

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Authors: Asim Alsharif, Christophe Pinna, Hassan Ghadbeigi

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The development of next-generation advanced high strength steels (AHSS) used in the automotive industry requires a better understanding of local deformation and damage development at the scale of their microstructures. This work is focused on dual-phase DP1000 steels and involves micro-mechanical tensile testing inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) combined with digital image correlation (DIC) to quantify the heterogeneity of deformation in both ferrite and martensite and its evolution up to fracture. Natural features of the microstructure are used for the correlation carried out using Davis LaVision software. Strain localization is observed in both phases with tensile strain values up to 130% and 110% recorded in ferrite and martensite respectively just before final fracture. Damage initiation sites have been observed during deformation in martensite but could not be correlated to local strain values. A finite element (FE) model of the microstructure has then been developed using Abaqus to map stress distributions over representative areas of the microstructure by forcing the model to deform as in the experiment using DIC-measured displacement maps as boundary conditions. A MATLAB code has been developed to automatically mesh the microstructure from SEM images and to map displacement vectors from DIC onto the FE mesh. Results show a correlation of damage initiation at the interface between ferrite and martensite with local principal stress values of about 1700MPa in the martensite phase. Damage in ferrite is now being investigated, and results are expected to bring new insight into damage development in DP steels.

Keywords: advanced high strength steels, digital image correlation, finite element modelling, micro-mechanical testing

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Authors: C. E. Chinma, S. O. Azeez, J. C. Anuonye, O. B. Ocheme, C. M. Yakubu, S. James, E. U. Ohuoba, I. A. Baba

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There is growing interest in the use of rice bran protein in food formulation due to its hypoallergenic protein, high nutritional value and health promoting potentials. For the first time, the amino acid profile, protein digestibility, antioxidant, and functional properties of protein concentrate from some local varieties of rice bran from Nigeria were studied for possible food applications. Protein concentrates were prepared from rice bran and analysed using standard methods. Results showed that protein content of Kwandala, Yardass, Jeep, and Jamila were 69.24%, 69.97%, 68.73%, and 71.62%, respectively while total essential amino acid were 52.71, 53.03, 51.86, and 55.75g/100g protein, respectively. In vitro protein digestibility of protein concentrate from Kwandala, Yardass, Jeep and Jamila were 90.70%, 91.39%, 90.57% and 91.63% respectively. DPPH radical inhibition of protein from Kwandala, Yardass, Jeep, and Jamila were 48.15%, 48.90%, 47.56%, and 53.29%, respectively while ferric reducing ability power were 0.52, 0.55, 0.47 and 0.67mmol TE per gram, respectively. Protein concentrate from Jamila had higher onset (92.57oC) and denaturation temperature (102.13oC), and enthalpy (0.72J/g) than Jeep (91.46oC, 101.76oC, and 0.68J/g, respectively), Kwandala (90.32oC, 100.54oC and 0.57J/g, respectively), and Yardass (88.94oC, 99.45oC, and 0.51J/g, respectively). In vitro digestibility of protein from Kwandala, Yardas, Jeep, and Jamila were 90.70%, 91.39%, 90.57% and 91.63% respectively. Oil absorption capacity of Kwandala, Yardass, Jeep, and Jamila were 3.61, 3.73, 3.40, and 4.23g oil/g sample respectively, while water absorption capacity were 4.19, 4.32, 3.55 and 4.48g water/g sample, respectively. Protein concentrates had low bulk density (0.37-0.43g/ml). Protein concentrate from Jamila rice bran had the highest foam capacity (37.25%), followed by Yardass (34.20%), Kwandala (30.14%) and Jeep (28.90%). Protein concentrates showed low emulsifying and gelling capacities. In conclusion, protein concentrate prepared from these local rice bran varieties could serve as functional ingredients in food formulations and for enriching low protein foods.

Keywords: rice bran protein, amino acid profile, protein digestibility, antioxidant and functional properties

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Authors: A. A. Adekunle, A. M. Omoare, W. O. Oyediran

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This study was carried out to assess rural women’s skill acquisition in the processing of locust bean in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 90 women locust bean processors for this study. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The result showed that the mean age of respondents was 40.72 years. Most (70.00%) of the respondents were married. The mean processing experience was 8.63 years. 93.30% of the respondents relied on information from fellow locust beans processors and friends. All (100%) the respondents did not acquire improved processing skill through trainings and workshops. It can be concluded that the rural women’s skill acquisition on modernized processing techniques was generally low. It is hereby recommend that the rural women processors should be trained by extension service providers through series of workshops and seminars on improved processing techniques.

Keywords: locust bean, processing, skill acquisition, rural women

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Authors: Yan Wang; Mathis Stock

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The World Heritage Site of Honghe Hani rice terrace, also a marginal rural region in Southern China, is undergoing rapid change because of urbanization and heritage tourism. Influenced by out-migration and changing ways of living in the urbanization process, the place sees a tendency of losing its rice terrace landscape, traditional housings and other forms of cultural traditions. However, heritage tourism tends to keep the past, valorize them for tourism purposes and diversifies rural livelihood strategies. The place stands at this development trajectories, where the same resources are subjected to different uses by different actors. The research seeks to answer the questions of how the site is transformed and co-constructed by different institutions, practices and actors, and the how heritage tourism affects local livelihood. The research aims to describe the transformation of villages, rice terraces, and cultural traditions, analyze the place-making process, and assess the role of heritage tourism in local livelihood transition. The research uses a mixed of methods including direct observation, participant observation, interviews; collects various data of images, words, narratives, and statistics, and analyze them qualitatively and qualitatively. Theoretically, it is hoped that the research would reexamine the concept of heritage, the world heritage practice from UNESCO, reveal the conflicts it entails in development and brings more thoughts from a functional perspective on heritage in relation to rural development. Practically, it is also anticipated that the research could access the linkage between heritage tourism and local livelihood, and generate concrete suggestions on how tourism could engage locals and improve their livelihood.

Keywords: cultural landscape, Hani rice terraces, heritage tourism, livelihood strategy, place making, rural development, transformation

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Authors: O. M. Omar, G. D. Abd Elhameed, A. M. Heniegal, H. A. Mohamadien

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Green concrete are generally composed of recycling materials as hundred or partial percent substitutes for aggregate, cement, and admixture in concrete. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, efforts are needed to develop environmentally friendly construction materials. Using of fly ash based geopolymer as an alternative binder can help reduce CO2 emission of concrete. The binder of geopolymer concrete is different from the ordinary Portland cement concrete. Geopolymer Concrete specimens were prepared with different concentration of NaOH solution M10, M14, and, M16 and cured at 60 ºC in duration of 24 hours and 8 hours, in addition to the curing in direct sunlight. Thus, it is necessary to study the effects of the geopolymer binder on the behavior of concrete. Concrete is made by using geopolymer technology is environmental friendly and could be considered as part of the sustainable development. In this study the Local Alkaline Activator in Egypt and dolomite as coarse aggregate in fly ash based-geopolymer concrete was investigated. This paper illustrates the development of mechanical properties. Since the gained compressive strength for geopolymer concrete at 28 days was in the range of 22.5MPa – 43.9MPa.

Keywords: geopolymer, molarity, sodium hydroxide, sodium silicate

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Authors: Fakhruddin Esa, Yusri Yusof

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The confirmatory of Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation is most vital in quality management. This paper focuses on employees' perceptions towards TQM implementation in a local automotive company supplier. The objectives of this study are first and foremost to determine the perception of TQM implementation among the staff, and secondly to ascertain the correlation between the variables, and lastly to identify the relative influence of the 10 TQM variables on the cost of poor quality (COPQ). The TQM implementation is perceived to be moderate. All correlation is found to be significant and five variables having positively moderate to high correlation. Out of 10 variables, quality system improvement, reward and recognition and customer focus influence the perceived COPQ. This study extended a discussion on these three variables contribution to TQM in general and the human resource development in the organization. A significant recommendation to lowering costs of internal error, such as trouble shooting and scraps are also discussed. Certain components of further research that would add value to this study have also been suggested and perhaps could be implemented at policy-level initiatives.

Keywords: cost of poor quality (COPQ), correlation, total quality management (TQM), variables

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Authors: Caiwei Chen, Jianhao Li, Jiasong Zhu

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The reform and opening-up stimulated economic and technological take-off in China while resulting in massive urbanization and motorization. Wujiaochang area was set as a secondary business district in Shanghai to meet the growing demand, with the reconstruction of Wujiaochang Plaza in 2005 being a milestone of this intended urban renewal. Wujiaochang is now an economically dynamic area providing much larger traffic and transit capacity transportation-wise. However, this rebuilding has completely changed the face of the district. It is, therefore, appropriate to evaluate its impact on neighborhoods and communities while assessing the overall sustainability of such an operation. In this study, via an online questionnaire survey among local residents and daily visitors, we assess the perceptions and the estimated impact of Wujiaochang Plaza's reconstruction. We then confront these results to the 62 answers from local residents to a questionnaire collected on paper. The analysis of our data, along with observation and other forms of information -such as maps analysis or online applications (Dianping)- demonstrate major improvement in economic sustainability but also significant losses in environmental sustainability, especially in terms of active transportation. As for the social viewpoint, local residents' opinions tend to be rather positive, especially regarding traffic safety and access to consumption, despite the lack of connectivity and radical changes induced by Wujiaochang massive transformations. In general, our investigation exposes the overall positive outcomes of Wujiaochang Plaza reconstruction but also unveils major drawbacks, especially in terms of soft mobility and traffic fluidity. We gather that our approach could be of tremendous help for future major urban interventions, as such approaches in municipal regeneration are widely implemented in Chinese cities and yet still need to be thoroughly assessed in terms of sustainability.

Keywords: China's reform and opening-up, economical revitalization, neighborhood identity, sustainability assessment, urban renewal

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Authors: Barbara Roosen, Oswald Devisch

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Spatial projects are often contested. Despite participatory trajectories in official spatial development processes, citizens engage often by their power to say no. Participatory mapping helps to produce more legible and democratic ways of decision-making. It has proven its value in producing a multitude of knowledges and views, for individuals and community groups and local stakeholders to imagine desired and undesired futures and to give them the rhetorical power to present their views throughout the development process. From this perspective, mapping works as a social process in which individuals and groups share their knowledge, learn from each other and negotiate their relationship with each other as well as with space and power. In this way, these processes eventually aim to activate communities to intervene in cooperation in real problems. However, these are fragile and bumpy processes, sometimes leading to (local) conflict and intractable situations. Heterogeneous subjectivities and knowledge that become visible during the mapping process and which are contested by members of the community, is often the first trigger. This paper discusses a participatory mapping project conducted in a residential subdivision in Flanders to provide a deeper understanding of how or under which conditions the mapping process could moderate discordant situations amongst inhabitants, local organisations and local authorities, towards a more constructive outcome. In our opinion, this implies a thorough documentation and presentation of the different steps of the mapping process to design and moderate an open and transparent dialogue. The mapping project ‘Make the Neighbourhood’, is set up in the aftermath of a socio-spatial design intervention in the neighbourhood that led to polarization within the community. To start negotiation between the diverse claims that came to the fore, we co-create a desired future map of the neighbourhood together with local organisations and inhabitants as a way to engage them in the development of a new spatial development plan for the area. This mapping initiative set up a new ‘common’ goal or concern, as a first step to bridge the gap that we experienced between different sociocultural groups, bottom-up and top-down initiatives and between professionals and non-professionals. An atlas of elements (materials), an atlas of actors with different roles and an atlas of ways of cooperation and organisation form the work and building material of the future neighbourhood map, assembled in two co-creation sessions. Firstly, we will consider how the mapping procedures articulate the plurality of claims and agendas. Secondly, we will elaborate upon how social relations and spatialities are negotiated and reproduced during the different steps of the map making. Thirdly, we will reflect on the role of the rules, format, and structure of the mapping process in moderating negotiations between much divided claims. To conclude, we will discuss the challenges of visualizing the different steps of mapping process as a strategy to moderate tense negotiations in a more constructive direction in the context of spatial development processes.

Keywords: conflict, documentation, participatory mapping, residential subdivision

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Authors: Divya Ramaseshan

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The indigenous beauty of a space supported by its local context is unmatchable. India, known to be a hub for varied cultural significance, has one of the best uses of vernacularism. This paper focuses on the traditional houses present in Thirumayilai, Mylapore, one of the oldest and most populous cities in Chennai. The Mylapore houses are known for their Agraharam style with thinnai, courtyard, and sloping roof characteristics. These homes had a combined influence of Indian, Islamic as well as Neo-classical architecture in their design. The design of the houses reflects the lives of Brahmin communities which have almost vanished from sight now. According to the growing demands of local residents as well as urbanization, many houses have been renovated. Some of those structures have been conserved in certain streets showcasing their historical identity. Other structures have either been demolished or redesigned based on people’s needs. Those structures have been identified and studied to understand the comparative features that have been changed. Many of those were in direct relevance to the city’s climate, family size, socializing habits, and local materials. Being a temple town, Mylapore has contour variations sloping towards various water bodies. These factors have been considered for building homes as well. The study aims to list down the possible design guidelines that could be effective in today’s construction field. The pros and cons are analyzed, and the respective methodologies are framed. Our modern construction technologies have brought in the best visual aesthetics in a short frame of time, but the serene touch of teak wood, walking through paved stones, daydreaming in the sunlit courtyards, and chitchatting in porticos are always cherished. Architects around the world are trying hard to achieve such appreciated design elements in upcoming projects with the best use of modern technology. This will also improvise people’s mental health in the comfort of their homes.

Keywords: Agraharam, Mylapore, traditional, vernacularism

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Authors: Eric K. W. Aikins

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Traditionally, Ghana is a marine fishing country. The fishing industry dominated by artisanal marine fishing helps Ghana to meet its fish and protein requirements. Also, it provides employment for most coastal dwellers that depend on fishing as their main economic enterprise. Nonetheless, the marine fishing industry is confronted with challenges that have contributed to a declining fish production in recent past decade. Bad fishing practices and the general limited knowledge on sustainable management of fisheries resources are the limiting factors that affect sustainable fish production and sustainable marine biodiversity management in Ghana. This paper discusses the challenges and strategies for attaining and maintaining sustainable marine fishing in Ghana as well as the state of marine fishing in Ghana. It concludes that an increase in the level of involvement of local fishers in the management of fisheries resources of the country could help local fishers to employ sustainable fisheries resources exploitation methods that could result in an improvement in the spatio-economic development and wellbeing of affected fishing communities in particular and Ghana in general.

Keywords: pair trawling, sargassum, spatio-economic development, sustainable marine fishing

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Authors: Ateba Benedict Belobo, Faan Pelser, Ambe Marcus

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Aims: This study arise from repeated complaints from both electronic mails about the underperformance of Mafikeng Small and Medium-Size enterprises after the global financial crisis. The authors were on the view that, this poor performance experienced could be as a result of the negative effects on the cash flow of these businesses due to volatilities in the business environment in general prior to the global crisis. Thus, the paper was mainly aimed at determining the shortcomings experienced by these SMEs with regards to cash flow management. It was also aimed at suggesting possible measures to improve cash flow management of these SMEs in this tough time. Methods: A case study was conducted on 3 beverage suppliers, 27 bottle stores, 3 largest fast consumer goods super markets and 7 automobiles enterprises in the Mafikeng local municipality. A mixed method research design was employed and a purposive sampling was used in selecting SMEs that participated. Views and experiences of participants of the paper were captured through in-depth interviews. Data from the empirical investigation were interpreted using open coding and a simple percentage formula. Results: Findings from the empirical research reflected that majority of Mafikeng SMEs suffer poor operational performance prior to the global financial crisis primarily as a result of poor cash flow management. However, the empirical outcome also indicted other secondary factors contributing to this poor operational performance. Conclusion: Finally, the authorsproposed possible measures that could be used to improve cash flow management and to solve other factors affecting operational performance of SMEs in the Mafikeng local municipality in other to achieve a better business performance.

Keywords: cash flow, business performance, global financial crisis, SMEs

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Authors: Fang Bin Guo, Emma Roberts, Haibin Du, Yonggang Wang, Yu Chen, Xiuli Ge

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This paper explores the findings so far from a major externally-funded project which operates internationally in China, Germany and the UK. The research team is working in the context of the redevelopment of post-industrial sites in China and how these might be platforms for creative enterprises and thereby, the economy and welfare to flourish. Results from the project are anticipated to inform urban design policies in China and possibly farther afield. The research has utilised ethnographic studies and participatory design methods to investigate alternative strategies for sustainable urban renewal of China’s post-industrial areas. Additionally, it has undertaken comparative studies of successful examples of European and Chinese urban regeneration cases. The international cross-disciplinary team has been seeking different opportunities for developing relevant creative industries whilst retaining cultural and industrial heritage. This paper will explore the research conducted so far by the team and offer initial findings. Findings point out the development challenges of cities respecting the protection of local culture/heritages, history of the industries and transformation of the local economies. The preliminary results and pilot analysis of the current research have demonstrated that local government policyholders, business investors/developers and creative industry practitioners are the three major stakeholders that will impact city revitalisations. These groups are expected to work together with asynchronous vision in order for redevelopments to be successful. Meanwhile, local geography, history, culture, politics, economy and ethnography have been identified as important factors that impact on project design and development during urban transformations. Data is being processed from the team’s research conducted across the focal Western and Chinese cities. This has provided theoretical guidance and practical support to the development of significant experimental projects. Many were re-examined with a more international perspective, and adjustments have been based on the conclusions of the research. The observations and research are already generating design solutions in terms of ascertaining essential site components, layouts, visual design and practical facilities for regenerated sites. Two significant projects undertaken by this project team have been nominated by the central Chinese government as the most successful exemplars. They have been listed as outstanding national industry heritage projects; in particular, one of them was nominated by ArchDaily as Building of the Year 2019, and so this project outcome has made a substantial contribution to research and innovation. In summary, this paper will outline the funded project, discuss the work conducted so far, and pinpoint the initial discoveries. It will detail the future steps and indicate how these will impact on national and local governments in China, designers, local citizens and building users.

Keywords: cultural & industrial heritages, ethnographic research, participatory design, regeneration of post-industrial sites, sustainable

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