Search results for: public issues

Authors: Muhammad Shahid Shah, Akram Maqbool, Samina Ashraf

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Since start of this century, world has adopted inclusion as a trend in special education. To meet the challenges of inclusion response, the Punjab government has developed a progressive policy to implement inclusive education. The objectives of this research were to analyze the administration and implementation process by consideration on the management, student’s admission process, screening and assessment, adaptations in curriculum and instruction along with an evaluation, government and nonprofit organizations support. The sample consisted of 50 schools both public and private with a total of 3000 students, 9 percent of which (270) were students with disabilities. Among all the students with disabilities, 63 percent (170) were male and 37 percent (100) were female. The concluded remarks regarding management revealed that a large number of inclusive schools was lacking in terms of developing a certain model for inclusion, including the managerial breakup of staff, the involvement of stakeholders, and conducted frequent meetings. Many of schools are not able to restructure their school organizations due to lack of financial resources, consultations, and backup. As for as student’s admission/identification/assessment was concerned, only 12 percent schools applied a selection process regarding student admission, half of which used different procedures for disable candidates. Approximately 5 percent of inclusive schools had modified their curriculum, including a variety of standards. In terms of instruction, 25 percent of inclusive schools reported that they modified their instructional process. Only a few schools, however, provided special equipment for students with visual impairment, physical impairment, speech and hearing problems, students with mild intellectual disabilities, and autism. In a student evaluation, more than 45 percent reported that test items, administration, time allocations, and students’ reports were modified. For the primary board examination conducted by the Education Department of Government of Punjab, this number decreased dramatically. Finally, government and nonprofit organizations support in the forms of funding, coaching, and facilities were mostly provided by provincial governments and by Ghazali Education Trust.

Keywords: inclusion, identification, assessment, funding, facilities, evaluation

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Authors: Md. Rashel Sheikh

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The shipbuilding industry in Bangladesh had become a fast-growing industry in recent years when it began to export newly built ships. The various activities of shipbuilding industries in their limited, confined spaces added occupational worker exposures to chemicals, dusts, and metal fumes. The aim of this literature search is to identify the potential sources of occupational health hazards in shipyards and to promote the regulation of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for the workers. In shipyards, occupational workers are involved in various activities, such as the manufacture, repair, maintenance, dismantling of boats and ships, building small ocean-going vessels and ferries. The occupational workers in the shipbuilding industry suffer from a number of hazardous issues, such as asthma, dermatitis, hearing deficits, and musculoskeletal disorders. The use of modern technologies, such as underwater plasma welding, electron beam welding, and friction stir welding and laser cutting and welding, and appropriate PPE (i.e., long-sleeved shirt and long pants, shoes plus socks, safety masks, chemical resistant gloves, eyewear, face shield, and respirators) can help reduce the occupational exposure to environmental hazards created by different activities in the shipyards. However, most shipyards in Bangladesh use traditional methods, e.g., flame cutting and arc, that add hazardous waste and pollutants to the environment in and around the shipyard. The safety and security of occupational workers in the shipyard workplace are very important. It is the primary responsibility of employers to ensure the safety and security of occupational workers in the shipyards. Employers must use advanced technologies and supply adequate and appropriate PPE for the workers. There are a number of accidents and illnesses that happen daily in the shipyard industries in Bangladesh due to the negligence and lack of adequate technologies and appropriate PPE. In addition, there are no specific regulations and implementations available to use the PPE. It is essential to have PPE regulations and strict enforcement for the adoption of PPE in the shipbuilding industries in Bangladesh. Along with the adoption of PPE with regular health examinations, health education to the workers regarding occupational hazards and lifestyle diseases are also important and require reinforcement. Monitoring health and safety hazards in shipyards are essential to enhance worker protection, and ensure worker safety, and mitigate workplace injuries and illnesses.

Keywords: shipbuilding Industries, health education, occupational health hazards, personal protective equipment, shipyard workers, occupational workers, shipyards

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Authors: Wai Ha Leung

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Mother tongue language (MTL) curriculum is core to school education in most countries/regions' school curriculum. Through mother tongue language learning, students are expected to enhance their understanding of the nation's culture and foster the sense of cultural and ethnic identity. However, MTL education in Hong Kong is complicated by the colonial history. This study examines Hong Kong Chinese language teachers' perceptions of MTL education, and the implication on MTL curriculum development. The questionnaire was administrated to 97 teachers, and interviews were carried out on 17 teachers. Usually, MTL is both the tool with which knowledge and skills are taught and learned and the vehicle for students to learn about the traditions of the countries' literature and culture. In Hong Kong, 95% of the population is of Chinese descent. Traditionally, education in China was a mixture of philosophy, history, politics and literacy. Chinese as an MTL subject in pre-colonial Hong Kong has always been assigned the mission of developing students' cultural identity in addition to the development of linguistic proficiency. During the colonial period, the Chinese Language curriculum shifted to be more language skills based with less emphasis on Chinese culture and moral education. After the sovereignty of Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, although a new curriculum was implemented in 2002, teaching and learning in school as well as public examinations seem to be remaining language skills oriented instead of culturally based. This deviation from the trend of both Chinese traditional education and global mother tongue language education makes some Chinese language teachers feel confused. In addition, there is comment that in general Hong Kong students' Chinese language proficiency is becoming weaker and weaker in recent years. Thus, effectiveness of the skills oriented language curriculum has come under question. How a language teacher views the aims and objectives of the language subject he or she is teaching has a direct effect on the curriculum delivery and pedagogies used. It is, therefore, important to investigate what is the language teachers' perception of MTL education, and whether the current school curriculum can meet the teachers' expectation as well as achieve the aims of MTL education. Given this context, this study explored the views of Hong Kong Chinese language teachers on MTL education. The data indicate that teachers showed a strong resentment towards the current curriculum. Results may have implications on mother tongue language curriculum development.

Keywords: Chinese language education, curriculum development, mother tongue language education, teachers' perception

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Authors: Melanie Ostermann, Eivind Birkeland, Ying Xue, Alexander Sauter, Mihaela R. Cimpan

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Background: New reliable and robust techniques to assess biological effects of nanomaterials (NMs) in vitro are needed to speed up safety analysis and to identify key physicochemical parameters of NMs, which are responsible for their acute cytotoxicity. The central aim of this study was to validate and evaluate the applicability and reliability of an impedance-based flow cytometry (IFC) technique for the high-throughput screening of NMs. Methods: Eight inorganic NMs from the European Commission Joint Research Centre Repository were used: NM-302 and NM-300k (Ag: 200 nm rods and 16.7 nm spheres, respectively), NM-200 and NM- 203 (SiO₂: 18.3 nm and 24.7 nm amorphous, respectively), NM-100 and NM-101 (TiO₂: 100 nm and 6 nm anatase, respectively), and NM-110 and NM-111 (ZnO: 147 nm and 141 nm, respectively). The aim was to assess the biological effects of these materials on human monoblastoid (U937) cells. Dispersions of NMs were prepared as described in the NANOGENOTOX dispersion protocol and cells were exposed to NMs at relevant concentrations (2, 10, 20, 50, and 100 µg/mL) for 24 hrs. The change in electrical impedance was measured at 0.5, 2, 6, and 12 MHz using the IFC AmphaZ30 (Amphasys AG, Switzerland). A traditional toxicity assay, Trypan Blue Dye Exclusion assay, and dark-field microscopy were used to validate the IFC method. Results: Spherical Ag particles (NM-300K) showed the highest toxic effect on U937 cells followed by ZnO (NM-111 ≥ NM-110) particles. Silica particles were moderate to non-toxic at all used concentrations under these conditions. A higher toxic effect was seen with smaller sized TiO2 particles (NM-101) compared to their larger analogues (NM-100). No interferences between the IFC and the used NMs were seen. Uptake and internalization of NMs were observed after 24 hours exposure, confirming actual NM-cell interactions. Conclusion: Results collected with the IFC demonstrate the applicability of this method for rapid nanotoxicity assessment, which proved to be less prone to nano-related interference issues compared to some traditional toxicity assays. Furthermore, this label-free and novel technique shows good potential for up-scaling in directions of an automated high-throughput screening and for future NM toxicity assessment. This work was supported by the EC FP7 NANoREG (Grant Agreement NMP4-LA-2013-310584), the Research Council of Norway, project NorNANoREG (239199/O70), the EuroNanoMed II 'GEMN' project (246672), and the UH-Nett Vest project.

Keywords: cytotoxicity, high-throughput, impedance, nanomaterials

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Authors: Muhammad Asif Syed, Mirza Amir Baig

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Background: Pakistan is one of the two remaining polio-endemic countries, posing a significant public health challenge for global polio eradication due to failure to interrupt polio transmission. Country specific seroprevalence studies help in the evaluation of immunization program performance, the susceptibility of population against polio virus and identification of existing level of immunity with factors that affect seroconversion of the oral polio vaccine (OPV). The objective of the study was to find out factors associated with seroconversion of the OPV among children 6-59 months in Pakistan. Methods: A Hospital based cross-sectional serosurvey was undertaken in May-June 2015 at District Mirpurkhas, Sindh-Pakistan. Total 180 children aged 6–59 months were selected by using systematic random sampling from Muhammad Medical College Hospital, Mirpurkhas. Demographic, vaccination history and risk factors information were collected from the parents/guardian. Blood sample was collected and tested for the detection of poliovirus IgG antibodies by using ELISA Kit. The IgG titer <10 IU/ml, 50 to <150 IU/ml and >150 IU/ml was defined as negative, weak positive and positive immunity respectively. Pearson Chi-square test was used to determine the difference in seroprevalence in univariate analysis. Results: A total of 180 subjects were enrolled mean age was 23 months (7 -59 months). Off these 160 (89%) children were well and 18 (10%) partially protected against polio virus. Two (1.1%) children had no protection against polio virus as they had <10 IU/ml poliovirus IgG antibodies titer. Both negative cases belong from the female gender, age group 12-23 months, urban area and BMI <50 percentile. There was a difference between normal and the wasting children; it did attain statistical significance (χ2= 35.5, p=0.00). The difference in seroconversion was also observed in relation to the gender (χ2=6.23, p=0.04), duration of breast feeding (χ2=18.6, p=0.04), history of diarrheal disease before polio vaccine administration (χ2=7.7, p=0.02), and stunting (χ2= 114, p=0.00). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that near 90% children achieve seroconversion of OPV and well protected against polio virus. There is an urgent need to focus on factors like duration of breast feeding, diarrheal diseases and malnutrition (acute and chronic) among the children as an immunization strategy.

Keywords: seroconversion, oral polio vaccine, Polio, Pakistan

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Authors: Carolyn Cameron

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Stop Food Waste Australia is working with the industry to co-design sector action plans to prevent and reduce food waste across the supply chain. We are a public-private partnership, funded in 2021 by the Australian national government under the 2017 National Food Waste Strategy. Our partnership has representatives from all levels of government, industry associations from farm to fork, and food rescue groups. Like many countries, Australia has adopted the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of 12.3 to halve food waste by 2030. A seminal 2021 study, the National Food Waste Feasibility Report, developed a robust national baseline, illustrating hotspots in commodities and across the supply chain. This research found that the consumption stages – households, food service, and institutions - account for over half of all food waste, and 22% of food produced never leaves the farm gate. Importantly the study found it is feasible for Australia to meet SDG 12.3, but it will require unprecedented action by governments, industry, and the community. Sector Action Plans (Plan) are one of the four main initiatives of Stop Food Waste Australia, including a voluntary commitment, a coordinated food waste communications hub, and robust monitoring and reporting framework. These plans provide a systems-based approach to reducing food loss and waste while realising multiple benefits for supply chain partners and other collaborators. Each plan is being co-designed with the key stakeholders most able to directly control or influence the root cause(s) of food waste hotspots and to take action to reduce or eliminate food waste in their value chain.  The initiatives in the Plans are fit-for-purpose, reflecting current knowledge and recognising priorities may refocus over time. To date, sector action plans have been developed with the Food Rescue, Cold Chain, Bread and Bakery, and Dairy Sectors. Work is currently underway on Meat and Horticulture, and we are also developing supply-chain stage plans for food services and institutions. The study will provide an overview of Australia’s food waste baseline and challenges, the important role of sector action plans in reducing food waste, and case studies of implementation outcomes.

Keywords: co-design, horticulture, sector action plans, voluntary

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Authors: David Pinzauti, Simon De Jaegher, Maria D'Aguano, Manuele Biazzo

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The COVID-19 pandemic has left an indelible mark on global health, leading to a pressing need for understanding the intricate interactions between the virus and the human microbiome. This study focuses on characterizing the nasal microbiota of patients affected by COVID-19, with a specific emphasis on the comparison with unaffected individuals, to shed light on the crucial role of the microbiome in the development of this viral disease. To achieve this objective, Nanopore technology was employed to analyze the bacterial 16s rRNA full-length gene present in nasal swabs collected in Malta between January 2021 and August 2022. A comprehensive dataset consisting of 268 samples (126 SARS-negative samples and 142 SARS-positive samples) was subjected to a comparative analysis using an in-house, custom pipeline. The findings from this study revealed that individuals affected by COVID-19 possess a nasal microbiota that is significantly less diverse, as evidenced by lower α diversity, and is characterized by distinct microbial communities compared to unaffected individuals. The beta diversity analyses were carried out at different taxonomic resolutions. At the phylum level, Bacteroidota was found to be more prevalent in SARS-negative samples, suggesting a potential decrease during the course of viral infection. At the species level, the identification of several specific biomarkers further underscores the critical role of the nasal microbiota in COVID-19 pathogenesis. Notably, species such as Finegoldia magna, Moraxella catarrhalis, and others exhibited relative abundance in SARS-positive samples, potentially serving as significant indicators of the disease. This study presents valuable insights into the relationship between COVID-19 and the nasal microbiota. The identification of distinct microbial communities and potential biomarkers associated with the disease offers promising avenues for further research and therapeutic interventions aimed at enhancing public health outcomes in the context of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19, nasal microbiota, nanopore technology, 16s rRNA gene, biomarkers

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Authors: Frazer G. Thompson

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The 1990s in America ended with a mass-school-shooting (at least four killed by gunfire excluding the perpetrator(s)) at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Post-event, many demanded that government and civilian experts develop a ‘profile’ of the potential school shooter in order to identify and preempt likely future acts of violence. This grounded theory research study seeks to explore the validity of the original hypotheses proposed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2000, as it relates to the commonality of disclosure by perpetrators of mass-school-shootings, by evaluating fourteen mass-school-shooting events between 2000 and 2019 at locations around the United States. Methods: The strategy of inquiry seeks to investigate case files, public records, witness accounts, and available psychological profiles of the shooter. The research methodology is inclusive of one-on-one interviews with members of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group seeking perspective on commonalities between individuals; specifically, disclosure of intent pre-event. Results: The research determined that school shooters do not ‘unfailingly’ notify others of their plans. However, in nine of the fourteen mass-school-shooting events analyzed, the perpetrator did inform the third party of their intent pre-event in some form of written, oral, or electronic communication. In the remaining five instances, the so-called ‘red-flag’ indicators of the potential for an event to occur were profound, and unto themselves, might be interpreted as notification to others of an imminent deadly threat. Conclusion: Data indicates that conclusions drawn in the FBI’s threat assessment perspective published in 2000 are relevant and current. There is evidence that despite potential ‘red-flag’ indicators which may or may not include a variety of other characteristics, perpetrators of mass-school-shooting events are likely to share their intentions with others through some form of direct or indirect communication. More significantly, implications of this research might suggest that society is often informed of potential danger pre-event but lacks any equitable means by which to disseminate, prevent, intervene, or otherwise act in a meaningful way considering said revelation.

Keywords: columbine, FBI profiling, guns, mass shooting, mental health, school violence

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Authors: Larry O. Awo, George N. Duru

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There is growing public and mental health concerns over the availability of gambling platforms and shops in Nigeria and the high level of youth involvement in gambling. Early theorizing maintained that gambling involvement driven by the quest for resource gains. However, evidences show that the economic model of gambling tend to explain the involvement of the gambling business owners (sport lottery operators: SLOs) as most gamblers lose more than they win. This loss, according to the law of effect, ought to discourage decisions to gamble. However, the quest to recover loses has often initiated and prolonged gambling sessions. Therefore, the need to investigate mental contemplations (such as counterfactual reasoning (upward versus downward) of what “would, should, or could” have been, and feeling of the illusion of control; IOC) over gambling outcome as risk or protective factors in gambling decisions became pertinent. The present study sought to understand the differential contributions and conditional effects of upward versus downward counterfactual reasoning as pathways through which the association between IOC and gambling decision of Nigerian youths (N = 120, mean age = 18.05, SD = 3.81) could be explained. The study adopted a randomized group design, and data were obtained by means of stimulus material (the Gambling Episode; GE) and self-report measures of IOC and Gambling Decision. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) result showed that participants in the upward counterfactual reasoning group (M = 22.08) differed from their colleagues in the downward counterfactual reasoning group (M = 17.33) on the decision to gamble, and this difference was significant [F(1,112) = 23, P < .01]. HAYES PROCESS macro moderation analysis results showed that 1) IOC and upward counterfactual reasoning were positively associated with the decision to gamble (B = 14.21, t = 6.10, p < .01 and B = 7.22, t = 2.07, p < .01), 3) upward counterfactual reasoning did not moderate the association between IOC and gambling decision (p > .05), and 4) downward counterfactual reasoning negatively moderated the association between IOC and gambling decision (B = 07, t = 2.18, p < .05) such that the association was strong at a low level of downward counterfactual, but wane at high levels of downward counterfactual reasoning. The implication of these findings are that IOC and upward counterfactual reasoning were risk factors and promote gambling behavior, while downward counterfactual reasoning protects individuals from gambling activities. Thus, it is concluded that downward counterfactual reasoning strategies should be included in gambling therapy and treatment packages as it could diminish feelings of both IOC and negative feelings of missed positive outcomes and the urge to gamble.

Keywords: counterfactual reasoning, gambling cognition, gambling decision, nigeria, youths

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Authors: Lineo Dzansi

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South African government has been mandated by the Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) to deliver basic services to all who live in it. However, service delivery has always been marred with much criticism and citizens’ dissatisfaction regarding the quality of services rendered to them. This is evidenced by public protests that are common in South Africa lately which they are mostly alleged to link with failure by the government through various municipalities to meet citizens’ service delivery expectations. Municipalities render services through people. People management plays a crucial role in influencing employee and organisational performance and it thus needs to be conducted in a fair and just manner. Literature confirms that there is a relationship between organisational justice perceptions and employee behaviour, and that positive or negative justice perceptions can have an influence on employee attitudes, commitment to their jobs and organisation. The nature of the attachments formed by individuals to their employing organisations depends on the manner in which the organisation treats them. This implies that Municipal employees’ commitment could be linked to fair or unfair perceptions of Human Resource Management practices within their organisations. Unfortunately, the political nature of municipal environment could be a fertile ground for appointments of people based on political affiliation as a reward for political patronage rather than on merit. This paper seeks to investigate the relationship between municipal employees’ perceptions of fairness of Human Resource Management practices and employee commitment from the organisational justice point of view. Research on organisational justice has shown that employees’ organisational justice perceptions link directly with job satisfaction and employee organisational commitment. Quantitative research methods were employed to collect and analyse data from selected managerial and non-managerial municipal employees within selected municipalities in Free State Province of South Africa. Employee commitment has positive relationships with HRM practices at the .05 and .01 levels of significance – indicating that the higher the levels of HRM practices in municipal employees the higher the organisational commitment of employees. Therefore, it is concluded that organisational commitment of municipal employees (EOC) is positively related to their perceptions of fairness of HRM practices (PHF) of municipalities. In other words, fair HRM practices of municipalities promote organisational commitment in municipal employees.

Keywords: organisational Justice, HRM practices, employee organisational commitment, employee attitudes

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Authors: Debora Caetano Dahas

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In ‘Ethics’ and in ‘A Political Treatise’ Spinoza presents his very influential take on natural law and the principles that guide his philosophical work and observations. Spinoza’s ideas about rationalization, God, and ethical behavior are undeniably relevant to many debates in the field of legal theory. In addition, it is important to note that Spinoza's takes on body, mind, and imagination played an important role in building a certain way of understanding the female figure in western societies and of their differences in regards to the male figure. It is important to emphasize that the constant and insistent presentation of women as inferior and irrational beings corroborates the institutionalization of discriminatory public policies and practices legitimized by the legal system that cooperates with the aggravation of gender inequalities. Therefore, his arguments in relation to women and their nature have been highly criticized, especially by feminist theorists during the second half of the 21st century. The questioning of this traditional philosophy –often phallocentric– and its way of describing women as irrational and less capable than men, as well as the attempt to reformulate postulates and concepts, takes place in such a way as to create a deconstruction of classical concepts. Some of the arguments developed by Spinoza, however, can serve as a basis for elucidating in what way and to what extent the social and political construction of the feminine identity served as a basis for gender inequality. Thus, based on to the observations elaborated by Moira Gantes, the present research addresses the relationship between Spinoza and the feminist demands in the juridical and political spheres, elaborating arguments that corroborate the convergence between his philosophy and feminist critical theory. Finally, this research aims to discuss how the feminists' critics of Spinoza’s writings have deconstructed and rehabilitated his principles and, in doing so, can further help to illustrate the importance of his philosophy –and, consequently, of his notes on Natural Law– in understanding gender equality as a vital part of the effective implementation of democratic debate and inclusive political participation and representation. In doing so, philosophical and legal arguments based on the feminist re-reading of Spinoza’s principles are presented and then used to explain the controversial political reform in Brazil, especially in regards to the applicability of the legislative act known as Law n. 9.504/1997 which establishes that at least 30% of legislative seats must be occupied by women.

Keywords: natural law, feminism, politics, gender equality

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Authors: Arzu K. Harmanci Seren, Feride Eskin Bacaksiz

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The shortage of nursing personnel is considered one of the most important labour force issues in health sector of developed countries since early 1970s. International Labour Organization developed standards for working conditions of nurses in collaboration with World Health Organization with the aim of helping to solve nursing shortage problem all over the world. As a result of this collaboration, ILO Nursing Personnel Convention (C. 149), and the accompanying Recommendation (R. 157) were adopted in 1977. Turkey as a country that has a serious nurse shortage problem, has been a member of ILO since 1932, and has not signed this convention yet. This study was planned to compare some of the working standards in Convention with the present working conditions of nurses in Turkey. The data were collected by an on line survey between 19 January-16 February 2015 for this cross-sectional study. Participants were reached through social network accounts in collaboration with nursing associations. Totally 828 nurses from the 57 provinces of Turkey participated in the study. Survey was consisted of 14 open ended questions related to working conditions of nurses and 34 Likert statements related to nursing policies of the facilities they are working in. The data were analysed using the IBM SPSS 21.0 (licensed to Istanbul University) software. Descriptive and comparative statistics were performed. Most of the participants (81.5%) were staff and 18.5% of them were manager nurses. Most of them had baccalaureate (57.9%) or master (27.4%) degree in nursing. 18.5% of the participants were working in private hospitals, 34.9% of them in university hospitals and 46.6% of them were in Ministry of Health Hospitals. It was found that monthly working schedules were announced mostly 7 days ago (18%), working time of nurses was at least 8 hours (41.5%) and at most 24 hours (22.8%) in a day and had time for lunch or dinner 25.18 (SD=16.66), for resting 21.02 (SD=29.25) minutes. On the other hand, it was determined that 316 (43.2%) nurses did not have time for lunch and 61 (7.9%) of them could not find time for eating anything. It was also explored they were working 15-96 hours in a week (mean=48.28, SD=8.89 hours), 4-29 days in a month (mean=19.29, SD=5.03 days) and 597 (72%) nurses overworked changing form 1 hour to 150 hours (32.80, SD=23.42 hours) before the month in which surveys were filled. Most of the participants did not leave the job due to the sickness (47.5%) even if they felt sick. Also most of them did not leave the job due to any excuse (67.2%) or education (57.3%). This study has significance because of nurses from different provinces participated in and it provides brief information about the working conditions of nurses nationwide. It was explored that nurses in Turkey were working at worse conditions according the International Labour Organization’s recommendations.

Keywords: nurse, international labour organization, recommendations for nurses, working conditions

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Authors: Muge Unal, Cengiz Uslu, Mehmet Faruk Altunkasa

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Walkability relates to the ability of the places to connect people with varied destinations within a reasonable amount of time and effort, and to offer visual interest in journeys throughout the network. So, the good quality of the physical environment and arrangement of walkway and sidewalk appear to be more crucial in influencing the pedestrian route choice. Also, proximity, connectivity, and accessibility are significant factor for walkability in terms of an equal opportunity for using public spaces. As a result, there are two important points for walkability. Firstly, the place should have a well-planned street network for accessible and secondly facilitate the pedestrian need for comfort. In this respect, this study aims to examine the both physical and bioclimatic comfort levels of the current condition of pedestrian route with reference to design criteria of a street to access the urban green spaces. These aspects have been identified as the main indicators for walkable streets such as continuity, materials, slope, bioclimatic condition, walkway width, greenery, and surface. Additionally, the aim was to identify the factors that need to be considered in future guidelines and policies for planning and design in urban spaces especially streets. Adana city was chosen as a study area. Adana is a province of Turkey located in south-central Anatolia. This study workflow can be summarized in four stages: (1) environmental and physical data were collected by referred to literature and used in a weighted criteria method to determine the importance level of these data , (2) environmental characteristics of pedestrian routes gained from survey studies are evaluated to hierarchies these criteria of the collected information, (3) and then each pedestrian routes will have a score that provides comfortable access to the park, (4) finally, the comfortable routes to park will be mapped using GIS. It is hoped that this study will provide an insight into future development planning and design to create a friendly and more comfort street environment for the users.

Keywords: comfort level, geographical information system (GIS), walkability, weighted criteria method

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Authors: Ching-Yi Yiu, Hui-Chen Hsu

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Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a popular problem in the modern society. It usually leads to sleep disorder, excessive daytime sleepiness and associated with cardiovascular diseases, cognitive dysfunction and even death. The nonsurgical therapies include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), diet and oral appliances. The surgical approaches have nasal surgery, tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) and transoral robotic surgery (TORS).We compare the impact of surgical treatments on these kinds of patients. Methods: Between January 2018 to September 2022, We have enrolled 125 OSAS patients including 82 male and 43 female in Chi Mei Medical Center, Liouying, Taiwan. The age distribution from 6 to 71 years old (y/o) with mean age 36.1 y/o. The averaged body mass index (BMI) is 25 kg/m2 in male and 25.5 kg/m2 in female. In this cohort, we evaluated their upper airway obstruction sites with nasopharyngoscopy and scheduled a planned surgery. Some of cases received polysomnography (PSG) preoperatively, the averaged apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) is 37.7 events/hour. We have 68 patients received tonsillectomy, 9 received UPPP, 42 received UPPP and septomeatoplasty (SMP) and 6 received adenoidectomy and tonsillectomy (A and T). The subjective daytime sleepiness was evaluated with the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS). Results: In the 68 tonsillectomy group, the averaged BMI is 24.9 kg/m2. In the UPPP group, the averaged BMI is 28.9 kg/m2. In UPPP and SMP group, the averaged BMI is 27.9 kg/m2. In the A and T group, the averaged BMI is 17.2 kg/m2. The reduction of AHI less than 20 is 58% postoperatively. The ESS reduced from 10.9 to 4.9 after surgery. Conclusion: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is a common upper airway disturbance in the general population. The prevalence rate is ranging high depending on different regions, age, sex and race. It leads to severe morbidity and mortality including car accident, stroke, nocturnal desaand sudden death and should be considered to be a major public health problem. The CPAP is effective to improve daytime sleepiness but the long-term compliance is low. The surgical treatment with different modalities can produce 50% decrease in AHI and ESS after surgery in the 6 to 12 months short-term period.

Keywords: apnea-hypopnea index, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, polysomnography, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty

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Authors: Nina Berding

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Migration and the ensuing diversity are integral parts of urban societies. However, engaging with the urban society and its diversification is rarely perceived as something trivial but rather as a difficult task and a major challenge. A central aspect of the discourse is the current migration of refugees from countries of the southern hemisphere to Europe and the resulting challenges for cities, their municipalities and the civil society as a whole. Based on exploratory field research in a German inner-city neighborhood, it is aimed to show that the discourses about migration and diversity are completely contrary to the everyday life actions of the urban society. Processes of migration that include leaving one’s hometown and moving to other places, searching for ‘safe’ environments or better opportunities are, historically speaking, not a new phenomenon. The urban dwellers have a large repertoire of strategies in managing processes of difference in everyday life situations, guided them well for centuries and also in these contemporary processes with an increased mobility and diversity. So there is obviously a considerable discrepancy between what is practically lived in everyday life, and how it is talked about. The results of the study demonstrate that the current discourse about the challenges of migration seems to legitimize interventions beyond humanist approaches where migrants serve as collective scapegoats for social problems and affected by different discrimination and criminalization processes. On the one hand, everyone takes advantage of the super-mobility and super-diversity in their daily lives and on the other hand, powerful stakeholders and designated authorities operate a sort of retro- nationalism and identity collectivism. Political players, the municipalities and other stakeholders then follow an urban public policy that takes actions (increasing police presence, concepts and activities for special groups, exclusion from active social life, preventing participation etc.) towards different ‘groups’ of residents, produced along ‘ethnic’ lines. The results also show that, despite the obstacles and adversities placed in their way, the excluded residents perpetually relocate and re-position themselves and attempt to empower themselves by redefining their identities in their neighborhood.

Keywords: coexistence, everyday life, migration and diversity regimes, urban policy

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Authors: Javed Mohammed

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Right now, bio-medical infrastructure lags well behind the curve. Our healthcare system is dispersed and disjointed; medical records are a bit of a mess; and we do not yet have the capacity to store and process the crazy amounts of data coming our way from widespread whole-genome sequencing. And then there are privacy issues. Despite these infrastructure challenges, some researchers are plunging into bio medical Big Data now, in hopes of extracting new and actionable knowledge. They are doing delving into molecular-level data to discover bio markers that help classify patients based on their response to existing treatments; and pushing their results out to physicians in novel and creative ways. Computer scientists and bio medical researchers are able to transform data into models and simulations that will enable scientists for the first time to gain a profound under-standing of the deepest biological functions. Solving biological problems may require High-Performance Computing HPC due either to the massive parallel computation required to solve a particular problem or to algorithmic complexity that may range from difficult to intractable. Many problems involve seemingly well-behaved polynomial time algorithms (such as all-to-all comparisons) but have massive computational requirements due to the large data sets that must be analyzed. High-throughput techniques for DNA sequencing and analysis of gene expression have led to exponential growth in the amount of publicly available genomic data. With the increased availability of genomic data traditional database approaches are no longer sufficient for rapidly performing life science queries involving the fusion of data types. Computing systems are now so powerful it is possible for researchers to consider modeling the folding of a protein or even the simulation of an entire human body. This research paper emphasizes the computational biology's growing need for high-performance computing and Big Data. It illustrates this article’s indispensability in meeting the scientific and engineering challenges of the twenty-first century, and how Protein Folding (the structure and function of proteins) and Phylogeny Reconstruction (evolutionary history of a group of genes) can use HPC that provides sufficient capability for evaluating or solving more limited but meaningful instances. This article also indicates solutions to optimization problems, and benefits Big Data and Computational Biology. The article illustrates the Current State-of-the-Art and Future-Generation Biology of HPC Computing with Big Data.

Keywords: high performance, big data, parallel computation, molecular data, computational biology

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Authors: India Sanders, Jeffrey Sherman

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Colorism has been a persistent and ingrained issue in the history of the United States, with far-reaching consequences that continue to affect various aspects of daily life, institutional policies, public spaces, economic structures, and social norms. This complex problem has had a particularly profound impact on the African-American community, shaping how they are perceived and treated within society at large. The prevalence of negative stereotypes surrounding African Americans can lead to severe repercussions such as discrimination and mental health disparities. The effects of such biases can also materialize in diverse forms, impacting the well-being and livelihoods of individuals within this community. Current research has examined how people from different racial groups perceive different skin tones of Black people, looking at the cognitive processes that manifest through categorization and stereotypes. Additionally, studies observed consequences related to colorism and how it directly affects those with darker versus lighter skin tones. However, not much research has been conducted on the influence of stereotypes associated with various skin tones. In the present study, it is hypothesized that participants in Group A will rate positive stereotypes associated with lighter skin tones significantly higher than positive stereotypes associated with darker skin tones. It is also hypothesized that participants in Group B will rate negative stereotypes associated with darker skin tones significantly higher than negative stereotypes associated with lighter skin tones. For this study, a quantitative study on stereotypes of skin tone representation within the African-American community will be conducted. Participants will rate the accuracy of various visual representations within mass media of African Americans with light skin tones and dark skin tones using a Likert scale. Participants will also be provided a questionnaire further examining the perception of stereotypes and how this affects their interactions with African Americans with lighter versus darker skin tones. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of skin tone portrayals on African Americans, including associated stereotypes and societal perceptions. It is expected that participants will more likely associate negative stereotypes with African Americans who have darker skin tones, as this is a common and reinforced viewpoint in the cultural and social system.

Keywords: colorism, discrimination, racism, stereotype

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Authors: Hanady Hamdallah, H. Elyse Ireland, John H. H. Williams

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Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a food supplement that is reported to have multiple beneficial health effects, including being anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity. Animal studies have shown a significant anti-obesity effect of CLA, but results in humans were inconsistent, where some of the studies found an anti-obesity effect while other studies failed to find any decline in obesity markers after CLA supplementation. This meta-analysis aimed to determine if oral CLA supplementation has been shown to reduce obesity related markers in women. Pub Med, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were used to identify the eligible trials using two main searching strategies: the first one was to search eligible trials using keywords 'Conjugated linoleic acid', 'CLA', 'Women', and the second strategy was to extract the eligible trials from previously published systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The eligible trials were placebo control trials where women supplemented with CLA mixture in the form of oral capsules for 6 months or less. Also, these trials provided information about body composition expressed as body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), total body fat (TBF), percentage body fat (BF %), and/ or lean body mass (LBM). The quality of each included study was assessed using both JADAD scale and an adapted CONSERT checklist. Meta-analysis of 8 eligible trials showed that CLA supplementation was significantly associated with reduced BW (Mean ± SD, 1.2 ± 0.26 kg, p < 0.001), BMI (0.6 ± 0.13kg/m², p < 0.001) and TBF (0.76 ± 0.26 kg, p= 0.003) in women, when supplemented over 6-16 weeks. Subgroup meta-analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in BW (1.29 ± 0.31 kg, p < 0.001), BMI (0.60 ± 0.14 kg/m², p < 0.001) and TBF (0.82 ± 0.28 kg, p= 0.003) in the trials that had recruited overweight-obese women. The second subgroup meta-analysis, that considered the menopausal status of the participants, found that CLA was significantly associated with reduced BW (1.35 ± 0.37 kg, p < 0.001; 1.05 ± 0.36 kg, p= 0.003) and BMI (0.50 ± 0.17 kg/m², p= 0.003; 0.75 ± 0.2 kg/m², p < 0.001) in both pre and post-menopausal age women, respectively. A reduction in TBF (1.09 ± 0.37 kg, p= 0.003) was only significant in post-menopausal women. Interestingly, CLA supplementation was associated with a significant reduction in BW (1.05 ± 0.35 kg, p< 0.003), BMI (0.73 ± 0.2 kg/m², p < 0.001) and TBF (1.07 ± 0.36 kg, p= 0.003) in the trials without lifestyle monitoring or interventions. No significant effect of CLA on LBM was detected in this meta-analysis. This meta-analysis suggests a moderate anti-obesity effect of CLA on BW, BMI and TBF reduction in women, when supplemented over 6-16 weeks, particularly in overweight-obese women and post-menopausal women. However, this finding requires careful interpretation due to several issues in the designs of available CLA supplementation trials. More well-designed trials are required to confirm this meta-analysis results.

Keywords: body composition, body mass index, body weight, conjugated linoleic acid

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Authors: Shashwat, Sandra G. L. Persiani, Yew Wah Wong, Pramod S. Kamath, Avinash H. Anantharam, Hui Ling Aw, Yann Grynberg

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Achieving zero-energy targets in existing buildings is known to be a difficult task, hence targets are addressed at new buildings almost exclusively. Although these ultra-efficient case-studies remain essential to develop future technologies and drive the concepts of Zero-energy, the immediate need to cut the consumption of the existing building stock remains unaddressed. This work aims to present a reliable and straightforward methodology for assessing the potential of energy-efficient upgrading in existing buildings. Public Singaporean school buildings, characterized by low energy use intensity and large roof areas, were identified as potential objects for conversion to highly-efficient buildings with a positive energy balance. A first study phase included the development of a detailed energy model for two case studies (a primary and a secondary school), based on the architectural drawings provided, site-visits and calibrated using measured end-use power consumption of different spaces. The energy model was used to demonstrate compliances or predict energy consumption of proposed changes in the two buildings. As complete energy monitoring is difficult and substantially time-consuming, short-term energy data was collected in the schools by taking spot measurements of power, voltage, and current for all the blocks of school. The figures revealed that the bulk of the consumption is attributed in decreasing order of magnitude to air-conditioning, plug loads, and lighting. In a second study-phase, a number of energy-efficient technologies and strategies were evaluated through energy-modeling to identify the alternatives giving the highest energy saving potential, achieving a reduction in energy use intensity down to 19.71 kWh/m²/y and 28.46 kWh/m²/y for the primary and the secondary schools respectively. This exercise of field evaluation and computer simulation of energy saving potential aims at a preliminary assessment of the positive-energy feasibility enabling future implementation of the technologies on the buildings studied, in anticipation of a broader and more widespread adoption in Singaporean schools.

Keywords: energy simulation, school building, tropical climate, zero energy buildings, positive energy

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Authors: Eteri Kharaishvili

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Introduction. The paper analyzes the main indicators of export and import of Georgian agri-food products; identifies positive and negative trends under the pandemic; based on the revealed problemssubstantiates the need formodernization ofin agri-food sector. It is argued that low production and productivity rates of food products negatively impact achieving the optimal export-to-import ratio; therefore, it leads toincreaseddependence on other countries andreduces the level of food security. Research objectives. The objective of the research is to identify the key challenges based on the analysis of export-import indicators of Georgian food products during the pandemic period and develop recommendations on the possibilities of post-pandemic perspectives. Research methods. Various theoretical and methodological research tools are used in the paper; in particular, a desk research is carried out on the research topic; endogenous and exogenous variables affecting export and import are determined through factor analysis; SWOT and PESTEL analysis are used to identify development opportunities; selection and groupingof data, identification of similarities and differences is carried outby using analysis, synthesis, sampling, induction and other methods; a qualitative study is conducted based on a survey of agri-food experts and exporters for clarifying the factors that impede export-import flows. Contributions. The factors that impede the export of Georgian agri-food products in the short run under COVID-19 pandemic are identified. These are: reduced income of farmers, delays in the supply of raw materials and supplies to the agri-food sectorfrom the neighboring industries, as well as in harvesting, processing, marketing, transportation, and other sectors; increased indirect costs, etc. The factors that impede the export in the long run areas follows loss of public confidence in the industry, risk of losing positions in traditional markets, etc. Conclusions are made on the problems in the field of export and import of Georgian agri-food products in terms of the pandemic; development opportunities are evaluated based on the analysis of the agri-food sector potential. Recommendations on the development opportunities for export and import of Georgian agri-food products in the post-pandemic period are proposed.

Keywords: agri-food products, export, and import, pandemic period, hindering factor, development potential

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Authors: Arkinzhan Mametov, Alexey Abilov

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Strong earthquakes are dangerous natural phenomena that lead to the destruction of entire cities and the death of a large number of people. The recent strong earthquakes in Turkey and in a number of other states have shown that as a result of them, there are significant human casualties and huge destruction. The city of Almaty is located in the foothill basin of the Trans-Ili Alatau of the Tien Shan Mountain system, in a zone with 9–10-point seismicity. Almaty (formerly Verniy) was founded in 1856 and, since that period, has experienced two catastrophic earthquakes - in 1887 and 1911, which led almost to the complete destruction of the city. Since that time, according to seismologists, the city has been annually exposed to small seismic impacts of 2-3 points. This forced the subsequent search for ways to protect buildings and the public through the use of earthquake-resistant structures and materials, limiting the number of stores of buildings and increasing gaps between them, which was carried out quite consistently and since 1957. However, at present, it is necessary to state a number of violations, primarily of the urban development plan – the placement of high-density multi-stores commercial housing in the urban environment, bypassing the existing regulations and standards in the city. Their appearance contributes to a greater concentration of residents transport in a limited area, which can lead to harmful consequences during powerful earthquakes. The experience of eliminating the consequences of catastrophic earthquakes shows that an important factor in reducing human losses is timely technical and medical assistance to victims of earthquakes, the elimination of blockages, provision of temporary housing and evacuation of the population, especially in winter. In cities located in areas with high seismicity, it is necessary to ensure strict compliance with the requirements of urban development regulations, taking into account the entire complex of planning and organizational measures to minimize the destruction of buildings and human casualties.

Keywords: high seismic zones, urban planning regulations, special standards for planing, minimizing the human casualties

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Authors: Twinkle Sara Joseph

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Virtual reality technology has emerged as a revolutionary power that can transform the education sector in many ways. VR environments can break the boundaries of the traditional classroom setting by immersing the students in realistic 3D environments where they can interact with virtual characters without fearing being judged. Communication skills are essential for every profession, and studies suggest the importance of implementing basic-level communication courses at both the school and graduate levels. Interpersonal communication is a skill that gains prominence as it is required in every profession. Traditional means of training have limitations for trainees as well as participants. The fear of being judged, the audience interaction, and other factors can affect the performance of a participant in a traditional classroom setting. Virtual reality offers a unique opportunity for its users to participate in training that does not set any boundaries that prevent the participants from performing in front of an audience. Specialised applications designed in VR headsets offer a range of training and exercises for participants without any time, space, or audience limitations. The present study aims at measuring the effectiveness of VR training in improving interpersonal communication skills among students. The study uses a mixed-method approach, in which a pre-and post-test will be designed to measure effectiveness. A preliminary selection process involving a questionnaire and a screening test will identify suitable candidates based on their current communication proficiency levels. Participants will undergo specialised training through the VR application Virtual Speech tailored for interpersonal communication and public speaking, designed to operate without the traditional constraints of time, space, or audience. The training's impact will subsequently be measured through situational exercises to engage the participants in interpersonal communication tasks, thereby assessing the improvement in their skills. The significance of this study lies in its potential to provide empirical evidence supporting VR technology's role in enhancing communication skills, thereby offering valuable insights for integrating VR-based methodologies into educational frameworks to prepare students more effectively for their professional futures.

Keywords: virtual reality, VR training, interpersonal communication, communication skills, 3D environments

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Authors: N. Kashif, M. K. Naseer

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This is an undeniable fact that parents are the very first role model for their children and children are the silent observers and followers of their parents. The environment they would be provided will leave either positive or negative lasting impact on their physical and mental behavior and abilities to grow, progress and conquer. This paper focuses on the observation particularly in South Asian countries where females have been facing problems in accessing education and getting financially independent or stable. This paper emphasizes on a survey conducted in rural areas of Punjab State in Pakistan. It explains how the parents’ educational background, financial status, conservative and interdependent accommodation style influence a prominent inequality of giving their female child right to study and get empowered. The forces behind this gender discrimination are not limited to parents’ life style impact but also include some major social problems like distant schools, gender-based harassment, and threat, insecurities, employment opportunities, so on. As a grass root level solution, it is proposed to develop an institution which collects data regarding child birth in their region and can contact the parent when their child is ready to start school. Building up trust based relationship with parents is the most crucial and significant factor. Secondly, celebrities and public figures can play an extraordinary role in running a campaign to advocate and encourage people living in rural areas, villages and small towns. All possible solutions can never be implemented without the support of the state government. Therefore, this paper invites more thoughtful actions, properly planned strategies, initiators to take the lead and make a platform for those who are underprivileged and deprived of their basic rights. Any country, where female constitute 49% of its entire population can never progress without promoting female empowerment and their right to compulsory education, and it is never late or impossible to admit the facts and practically start a flexible solution- oriented approach.

Keywords: employment opportunities, female empowerment, gender based harassment, gender discrimination, inequality, parents' life style impact

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Authors: Rania F. Ahmed, Sally A. El Awdan, Gehad A. Abdel Jaleel, Dalia O. Saleh, Omar A. H. Ahmed-Farid

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The metabolic syndrome is an important public health concern often related to obesity, improper diet, and sedentary lifestyles and can predispose individuals to the development of many dangerous health conditions, disability and early death. This research aimed to investigate the efficacy of resveratrol (RSV) to reverse the neuro-complications associated with metabolic syndrome experimentally-induced in rats using an eight weeks high fat, high fructose diet (HFHF) model. The corresponding drug treatments were administered orally during the last 10 days of the diet. Behavioural tests namely the open field test (OFT) and the forced swimming test (FST) were conducted. Brain levels of monoamines viz. serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine as well as their metabolites were assessed. 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHDG) as an indicative of DNA-fragmentation, nitric oxide (NOx) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) were estimated. Finally, brain antioxidant parameters namely malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH, GSSG) were evaluated. HFHF-induced metabolic syndrome resulted in decreased activity in the OFT and increased immobility duration in the FST. Furthermore, HFHF-induced metabolic syndrome lead to a significant increase in brain monoamines turn over as well as elevation in 8-OHDG, NOx, TNF- α, MDA and GSSG; and reduction in GSH. Ten days daily treatment with RSV (20 and 40 mg/kg p.o) dose dependently increased activity in the OFT and decreased immobility duration in the FST. Moreover, RSV normalized brain monoamines contents, reduced 8-OHDG, NOx, TNF- α, MDA and GSSG; and elevated GSH. In conclusion, we can say that RSV showed neuro-protective properties against HFHF-induced metabolic syndrome represented by monoamines preservation, prevention of neurodegeneration, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potentials and could be recommended as a beneficial daily dietary supplement to treat the neuronal side effects associated with HFHF-induced metabolic syndrome.

Keywords: antioxidants, DNA-fragmentation, forced swimming test, HFHF-induced metabolic syndrome, monoamines, nitric oxide (NOx), open field, resveratrol, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α), 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHDG)

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Authors: Woldegerima G. Medhin, Tadele Araya

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Background: Rabies is acute viral encephalitis affecting mainly carnivores and insectivorous but can affect any mammal. Case fatality rate is 100% once clinical signs appear. Rabies has a worldwide distribution in continental regions of Asia and Africa. Globally, rabies is responsible for more than 61000 human deaths annually. An estimation of human mortality rabies in Asia and Africa annually exceed 35172 and 21476 respectively. Ethiopia approximately 2900 people were estimated to die of rabies annually, Tigary region approximately 98 people were estimated to die annually. The aim of this study is to analyze trends, describe, and evaluate the ten years rabies data in Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted descriptive epidemiological study from 15-30 February, 2023 of rabies exposure and death in humans by reviewing the health management information system report from Tigray Regional Health Bureau and vaccination coverage of dog population from 2013 to 2022. We used case definition, suspected cases are those bitten by the dogs displaying clinical signs consistent with rabies and confirmed cases were deaths from rabies at time of the exposure. Results: A total 21031 dog bites and 375 deaths report of rabies and 18222 post exposure treatments for humans in Tigray region were used. A suspected rabies patients had shown an increasing trend from 2013 to 2015 and 2018 to 2019. Overall mortality rate was 19/1000 in Tigray. Majority of suspected patients (45%) were age <15 years old. An estimated by Agriculture Bureau of Tigray Region about 12000 owned and 2500 stray dogs are available in the region, but yearly dog vaccination remains low (50%). Conclusion: Rabies is a public health problem in Tigray region. It is highly recommended to vaccinate individually owned dogs and concerned sectors should eliminate stray dogs. Surveillance system should strengthen for estimating the real magnitude, launch preventive and control measures.

Keywords: rabies, Virus, transmision, prevalence

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Authors: Ahmad Haidar

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This research paper investigates the concept of modern management, concentrating on the development of managerial practices and the adoption of innovative strategies in response to the fast-changing business landscape caused by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The study begins by examining the historical context of management theories, tracing the progression from classical to contemporary models, and identifying key drivers of change. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature and case studies, this paper provides valuable insights into the principles and practices of modern management, offering a roadmap for organizations aiming to navigate the complexities of the contemporary business world. The paper examines the growing role of digital technology in modern management, focusing on incorporating AI, machine learning, and data analytics to streamline operations and facilitate informed decision-making. Moreover, the research highlights the emergence of new principles, such as adaptability, flexibility, public participation, trust, transparency, and digital mindset, as crucial components of modern management. Also, the role of business leaders is investigated by studying contemporary leadership styles, such as transformational, situational, and servant leadership, emphasizing the significance of emotional intelligence, empathy, and collaboration in fostering a healthy organizational culture. Furthermore, the research delves into the crucial role of environmental sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate digital responsibility (CDR). Organizations strive to balance economic growth with ethical considerations and long-term viability. The primary research question for this study is: "What are the key principles, practices, and innovations that define modern management, and how can organizations effectively implement these strategies to thrive in the rapidly changing business landscape?." The research contributes to a comprehensive understanding of modern management by examining its historical context, the impact of digital technologies, the importance of contemporary leadership styles, and the role of CSR and CDR in today's business landscape.

Keywords: modern management, digital technology, leadership styles, adaptability, innovation, corporate social responsibility, organizational success, corporate digital responsibility

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Authors: Raj Mukta Sundaram

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The location of Ayodhya is distinctly described along river Sarayu in the epic Ramayan. On the contrary, even elaborate descriptions of Lanka and its environs are still proving elusive to human ingenuity to find a direct correlation on the ground. His-torically, there were hardly any attempts to locate Lanka, but some speculations have been made very recently, of which Sri Lanka has gained widespread public ac-ceptance for obvious reasons, such as Sri and Lanka. This belief is almost secured by the impression of Ram Setu on the satellite images, which has led the government to initiate a scientific mission to determine its age. In fact, other viewpoints believe Lanka to be somewhere far-flung along the equator, and another has long proclaimed it to be in central regions of India, but both are diminished by contemporary belief. This study emanates from the fact that Sri Lanka has no correlation to epic, and more importantly, satellite images are deceptive. So the objectives are twofold - firstly, to interpret the text from a holistic approach by analyzing the ecosystem, settlements, geological as-pects, and most importantly, the timeline of key events. Secondly, it explains the pit-falls in the rationale behind contemporary belief. At the outset, it categorically rejects the notion of Ram Setu, which, in geological terms, is merely a part of the continental shelf developed millions of years ago. It also refutes the misconception created by the word “Sri,” which is, in fact, an official name adopted by the country in the seventies with no correlation whatsoever with the events of Ramayana. Likewise, the study ar-gues for the establishment of a prosperous kingdom on a remote island with adverse climatic conditions for any civilization at that time. Eventually, the study demonstrates that travel time for the distances covered by Lord Rama does not corroborate with the description in the epic. It all leads to one conclusion that Lanka cannot be in Sri Lanka. Rather, it needs to be somewhere in the central-eastern parts of India. That region jus-tifies the environs and timelines for the journeys undertaken by Lord Rama, besides the fact that the tribes of the region show strong allegiance to Ravana. The study strongly recommends looking into the central-east region of India for the golden abode of a demon king and rejuvenating tourism of a scenic and culturally rich region hitherto marred by disturbances.

Keywords: spatial analysis, Ramayan, heritage, tourism

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Authors: Anupam Bhatia

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Upon reviewing the literature and the pragmatic work done in the field of E- textiles, it is observed that the applications of wearable technologies have found a steady growth in the field of military, medical, industrial, sports; whereas fashion is at a loss to know how to treat this technology and bring it to market. The purpose of this paper is to understand the practical issues of integration of electronics in garments; cutting patterns for mass production, maintaining the basic properties of textiles and daily maintenance of garments that hinder the wide adoption of interactive fabric technology within Fashion and leisure wear. To understand the practical hindrances an experimental and laboratory approach is taken. “Techno Meets Fashion” has been an interactive fashion project where sensor technologies have been embedded with textiles that result in set of ensembles that are light emitting garments, sound sensing garments, proximity garments, shape memory garments etc. Smart textiles, especially in the form of textile interfaces, are drastically underused in fashion and other lifestyle product design. Clothing and some other textile products must be washable, which subjects to the interactive elements to water and chemical immersion, physical stress, and extreme temperature. The current state of the art tends to be too fragile for this treatment. The process for mass producing traditional textiles becomes difficult in interactive textiles. As cutting patterns from larger rolls of cloth and sewing them together to make garments breaks and reforms electronic connections in an uncontrolled manner. Because of this, interactive fabric elements are integrated by hand into textiles produced by standard methods. The Arduino has surely made embedding electronics into textiles much easier than before; even then electronics are not integral to the daily wear garments. Soft and flexible interfaces of MEMS (micro sensors and Micro actuators) can be an option to make this possible by blending electronics within E-textiles in a way that’s seamless and still retains functions of the circuits as well as the garment. Smart clothes, which offer simultaneously a challenging design and utility value, can be only mass produced if the demands of the body are taken care of i.e. protection, anthropometry, ergonomics of human movement, thermo- physiological regulation.

Keywords: ambient intelligence, proximity sensors, shape memory materials, sound sensing garments, wearable technology

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Authors: Sabin Aslam, Sultan Habibullah Khan, James G. Thomson, Abhaya M. Dandekar

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Losses due to viral diseases are posing a serious threat to crop production. A quick breakdown of resistance to viruses like Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCuV) demands the application of a proficient technology to engineer durable resistance. Gene stacking has recently emerged as a potential approach for integrating multiple genes in crop plants. In the present study, recombinase technology has been used for site-specific gene stacking. A target vector (pG-Rec) was designed for engineering a predetermined specific site in the plant genome whereby genes can be stacked repeatedly. Using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, the pG-Rec was transformed into Coker-312 along with Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi and Nicotiana benthamiana. The transgene analysis of target lines was conducted through junction PCR. The transgene positive target lines were used for further transformations to site-specifically stack two genes of interest using Bxb1 and PhiC31 recombinases. In the first instance, Cas9 driven by multiplex gRNAs (for Rep gene of CLCuV) was site-specifically integrated into the target lines and determined by the junction PCR and real-time PCR. The resulting plants were subsequently used to stack the second gene of interest (AVP3 gene from Arabidopsis for enhancing cotton plant growth). The addition of the genes is simultaneously achieved with the removal of marker genes for recycling with the next round of gene stacking. Consequently, transgenic marker-free plants were produced with two genes stacked at the specific site. These transgenic plants can be potential germplasm to introduce resistance against various strains of cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) and abiotic stresses. The results of the research demonstrate gene stacking in crop plants, a technology that can be used to introduce multiple genes sequentially at predefined genomic sites. The current climate change scenario highlights the use of such technologies so that gigantic environmental issues can be tackled by several traits in a single step. After evaluating virus resistance in the resulting plants, the lines can be a primer to initiate stacking of further genes in Cotton for other traits as well as molecular breeding with elite cotton lines.

Keywords: cotton, CRISPR/Cas9, gene stacking, genome editing, recombinases

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Authors: Benoît Leclercq, Ilse Depraetere

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The goal of this presentation is to shed new light on the semantics and pragmatics of be able to. It presents the results of a corpus analysis based on data from the BNC (British National Corpus), and discusses these results in light of a specific stance on the semantics-pragmatics interface taking into account recent developments. Be able to is often discussed in relation to can and could, all of which can be used to express ability. Such an onomasiological approach often results in the identification of usage constraints for each expression. In the case of be able to, it is the formal properties of the modal expression (unlike can and could, be able to has non-finite forms) that are in the foreground, and the modal expression is described as the verb that conveys future ability. Be able to is also argued to expressed actualised ability in the past (I was able/could to open the door). This presentation aims to provide a more accurate pragmatic-semantic profile of be able to, based on extensive data analysis and one that is embedded in a very explicit view on the semantics-pragmatics interface. A random sample of 3000 examples (1000 for each modal verb) extracted from the BNC was analysed to account for the following issues. First, the challenge is to identify the exact semantic range of be able to. The results show that, contrary to general assumption, be able to does not only express ability but it shares most of the root meanings usually associated with the possibility modals can and could. The data reveal that what is called opportunity is, in fact, the most frequent meaning of be able to. Second, attention will be given to the notion of actualisation. It is commonly argued that be able to is the preferred form when the residue actualises: (1) The only reason he was able to do that was because of the restriction (BNC, spoken) (2) It is only through my imaginative shuffling of the aces that we are able to stay ahead of the pack. (BNC, written) Although this notion has been studied in detail within formal semantic approaches, empirical data is crucially lacking and it is unclear whether actualisation constitutes a conventional (and distinguishing) property of be able to. The empirical analysis provides solid evidence that actualisation is indeed a conventional feature of the modal. Furthermore, the dataset reveals that be able to expresses actualised 'opportunities' and not actualised 'abilities'. In the final part of this paper, attention will be given to the theoretical implications of the empirical findings, and in particular to the following paradox: how can the same expression encode both modal meaning (non-factual) and actualisation (factual)? It will be argued that this largely depends on one's conception of the semantics-pragmatics interface, and that this need not be an issue when actualisation (unlike modality) is analysed as a generalised conversational implicature and thus is considered part of the conventional pragmatic layer of be able to.

Keywords: Actualisation, Modality, Pragmatics, Semantics

Procedia PDF Downloads 125