Search results for: Irish post primary teaching

Authors: Bandana Saikia, Ashok Bhattacharyya

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Endophytic microbes and their metabolites positively impact overall plant health, which may have a potential implication in agriculture. In the present study, 177 bacterial endophytes and 57 fungal endophytes were isolated, with the highest recovery rate from tomato roots. A maximum of 112 endophytes were isolated during monsoon, followed by 64 isolates and 58 isolates isolated during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods, respectively, indicating the rich diversity in bacterial and fungal endophytes of tomato crops from different locations of Assam, India. Further, the endophytes were evaluated for their antagonistic potential against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Fungal endophytic isolate AAUTLF (Endophytic Fungi of Tomato Leaf from Assam Agricultural University, Assam, India area) and bacterial endophyte D1B (Endophytic bacteria of tomato from Dhemiji, India district) showed the highest antifungal activity against the pathogen both in vitro and in vivo. Based on 5.8 rDNA sequence analysis of fungal and 16S rDNA sequence of bacteria endophytes, the most effective fungal and bacterial isolates against FOL were identified as Trichoderma asperellum AAUTLF and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia D1B, respectively. The isolates showed an antagonistic effect against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lycopersici in-vitro and reduced the disease index of Fusarium wilt in tomatoes by 64.4% under pot conditions. Trichoderma asperellum AAUTLF produced an antifungal compound viz., 6-pentyl-2H-pyran-2-one, which also possesses growth-promoting characteristics. The bacteria Stenotrophomonas maltophilia D1B produced antifungal compounds, including benzothiazole, oleic acid, phenylacetic acid, and 3-(Hydroxy-phenyl-methyl)-2,3-dimethyl-octan-4-one. This would be of high importance for the source of antagonistic strains and biocontrol of tomato Fusarium wilt, as well as other plant fungal diseases.

Keywords: root endophytes, Stemotrophomonas, Trichoderma, benzothiazole, 6-pentyl-2H-pyran-2-one

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Authors: Jang-Hwan Jo

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The supply management of ecosystem services of local forests is an essential issue as it is linked to the ecological welfare of local residents. This study aims to estimate the supply, trade-offs, and synergies of local forest regulating ecosystem services using a land cover classification map (LCCM) and a forest types map (FTM). Rigorous literature reviews and Expert Delphi analysis were conducted using the detailed variables of 1:5,000 LCCM and FTM. Land-use scoring method and Getis-Ord Gi* Analysis were utilized on detailed variables to propose a method for estimating supply, trade-offs, and synergies of the local forest regulating ecosystem services. The analysis revealed that the rank order (1st to 5th) of supply of regulating ecosystem services was Erosion prevention, Air quality regulation, Heat island mitigation, Water quality regulation, and Carbon storage. When analyzing the correlation between defined services of the entire city, almost all services showed a synergistic effect. However, when analyzing locally, trade-off effects (Heat island mitigation – Air quality regulation, Water quality regulation – Air quality regulation) appeared in the eastern and northwestern forest areas. This suggests the need to consider not only the synergy and trade-offs of the entire forest between specific ecosystem services but also the synergy and trade-offs of local areas in managing the regulating ecosystem services of local forests. The study result can provide primary data for the stakeholders to determine the initial conditions of the planning stage when discussing the establishment of policies related to the adjustment of the supply of regulating ecosystem services of the forests with limited access. Moreover, the study result can also help refine the estimation of the supply of the regulating ecosystem services with the availability of other forms of data.

Keywords: ecosystem service, getis ord gi* analysis, land use scoring method, regional forest, regulating service, synergies, trade-offs

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Authors: Atiya Khan

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Recent research on the condition of school education in India has reaffirmed the importance of quality teacher professional development, especially in light of the rapid changes in teaching methods, learning theories, curriculum, and major shifts in information and technology that education systems are experiencing around the world. However, the quality of programs of teacher professional development in India is often uneven, in some cases non-existing. The educational authorities in India have long recognized this and have developed a range of programs to assist in-service teacher education. But, these programs have been mostly inadequate at improving the quality of teachers in India. Policy literature and reports indicate that the unevenness of these programs and more generally the lack of quality teacher professional development in India are due to factors such as a large number of teachers, budgetary constraints, top-down decision making, teacher overload, lack of infrastructure, and little or no follow-up. The disparity between the government stated goals for quality teacher professional development in India and its inability to meet the learning needs of teachers suggests that new interventions are needed. The realization that globalization has brought about an increase in the social, cultural, political and economic interconnectedness between countries has also given rise to transnational opportunities for education systems, such as India’s, aiming to build their capacity to support teacher professional development. Moreover, new developments in communication technologies seem to present a plausible means of achieving high-quality professional development for teachers through the creation of social learning spaces, such as transnational learning networks. This case study investigates the potential of one such transnational learning network to support the quality of teacher professional development in India, namely the Australia-Asia BRIDGE School Partnerships Project. It explores the participation of some fifteen teachers and their principals from BRIDGE participating schools in Delhi region of India; focusing on their professional development expectations from the BRIDGE program and account for their experiences in the program, in order to determine the program’s potential for the professional development of teachers in this study.

Keywords: case study, Australia-Asia BRIDGE Project, teacher professional development, transnational learning networks

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Authors: Ayman H. Amer Eissa, Abdul Rahman O. Alghannam

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The agricultural crop residuals are considered one of the most important problems faced by the environmental life and farmers in the world. A study was carried out to evaluate the physical characteristics of chopped date palm stalks (fronds and leaflets). These properties are necessary to apply normal design procedures such as pneumatic conveying, fluidization, drying, and combustion. The mechanical treatment by cutting, crushing or chopping and briquetting processes are the primary step and the suitable solution for solving this problem and recycling these residuals to be transformed into useful products. So the aim of the present work to get a high quality for agriculture residues such as date palm stalks (fronds), date palm leaflets briquettes. The results obtained from measuring the mechanical properties (average shear and compressive strength) for date palm stalks at different moisture content (12.63, 33.21 and 60.54%) was (6.4, 4.7 and 3.21MPa) and (3.8, 3.18 and 2.86MPa) respectively. The modulus of elasticity and toughness were evaluated as a function of moisture content. As the moisture content of the stalk regions increased the modulus of elasticity and toughness decreased indicating a reduction in the brittleness of the stalk regions. Chopped date palm stalks (palm fronds), date palm leaflets having moisture content of 8, 10 and 12% and 8, 10 and 12.8% w.b. were dandified into briquettes without binder and with binder (urea-formaldehyde) using a screw press machine. Quality properties for briquettes were durability, compression ratio hardness, bulk density, compression ratio, resiliency, water resistance and gases emission. The optimum quality properties found for briquettes at 8 % moisture content and without binder. Where the highest compression stress and durability were 8.95, 10.39 MPa and 97.06 %, 93.64 % for date palm stalks (palm fronds), date palm leaflets briquettes, respectively. The CO and CO2 emissions for date palm stalks (fronds), date palm leaflets briquettes were less than these for loose residuals.

Keywords: residues, date palm stalks, chopper, briquetting, quality properties

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Authors: Muhamad Hafiz Ismail, Ahmad H., Nelfianty M. R.

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The longitudinal study is conducted to identify predictive factors of soccer talent among male players aged 14 to 17 years. Convenience sampling involving elite respondents (n=20) and sub-elite respondents (n=20) male soccer players. Descriptive statistics were reported as frequencies and percentages. The inferential statistical analysis is used to report the status of reliability, independent samples t-test, paired samples t-test, and multiple regression analysis. Generally, there are differences in mean of height, muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, task orientation, cognitive anxiety, self-confidence, juggling skills, short pass skills, long pass skills, dribbling skills, and shooting skills for 20 elite players and sub-elite players. Accordingly, there was a significant difference between pre and post-test for thirteen variables of height, weight, fat percentage, muscle strength, muscle endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, BMI, task orientation, juggling skills, short pass skills, a long pass skills, and dribbling skills. Based on the first predictive factors (physical), second predictive factors (fitness), third predictive factors (psychological), and fourth predictive factors (skills in playing football) pledged to the soccer talent; four multiple regression models were produced. The first predictive factor (physical) contributed 53.5 percent, supported by height and percentage of fat in soccer talents. The second predictive factor (fitness) contributed 63.2 percent and the third predictive factors (psychology) contributed 66.4 percent of soccer talent. The fourth predictive factors (skills) contributed 59.0 percent of soccer talent. The four multiple regression models could be used as a guide for talent scouting for soccer players of the future.

Keywords: soccer talent identification, fitness and physical test, soccer skills test, psychological test

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Authors: Mohammad Zakir, Saamia Shams

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Background: Provision of quality family planning services remarkably contribute towards increased uptake of modern contraceptive methods and have important implications on reducing fertility rates. The quality of care in family planning has beneficial impact on reproductive health of women, yet little empirical evidence is present to show the relationship between the impact of adequate training of Community Mid Wives (CMW) and quality family planning services. Aim: This study aimed to enhance the knowledge and counseling skills of CMWs in improving the access to quality client-centered family planning services in Pakistan. Methodology: A quasi-experimental longitudinal study using Initial Quality Assurance Scores-Training-Post Training Quality Assurance Scores design with a non- equivalent control group was adopted to compare a set of experimental CMWs that received four days training package including Family Planning Methods, Counselling, Communication skills and Practical training on IUCD insertion with a set of comparison CMWs that did not receive any intervention. A sample size of 100 CMW from Suraj Social Franchise (SSF) private providers was recruited from both urban and rural Pakistan. Results: Significant improvement in the family planning knowledge and counseling skills (p< 0.001) of the CMWs was evident in the experimental group as compared to comparison group with p > 0.05. Non- significant association between pre-test level family planning knowledge and counseling skills was observed in both the groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that adequate training is an important determinant of quality of family planning services received by clients. Provider level training increases the likelihood of contraceptives uptake and decreases the likelihood of both unintended and unwanted pregnancies. Enhancing quality of family planning services may significantly help reduce the fertility and improve the reproductive health indicators of women in Pakistan.

Keywords: community mid wives, family planning services, quality of care, training

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Authors: Eunjoo Lee

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Background: As the number of surgeries increases, the incidence of adverse events is likely to become more prevalent. Patients who are somewhat knowledgeable about surgery-related adverse events are more likely to engage in safety initiatives to prevent them. Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a smartphone application developed during the study to enhance patients’ knowledge of surgery-related adverse events during hospitalization. Design: Non-randomized, one group, measured pre- and post-intervention. Participants: Thirty-six hospitalized patients admitted to the orthopedics unit of a general hospital in South Korea. Methods. First, a smartphone application to enhance patients’ knowledge of surgery-related adverse events was developed through an iterative process, which included a literature review, expert consultation, and pilot testing. The application was installed on participants’ smartphones, and research assistants taught the participants to use it. Twenty-five true/false questions were used to assess patients’ knowledge of preoperative precautions (eight items), surgical site infection (five items), Foley catheter management (four items), drainage management (four items), and anesthesia-related complications (four items). Results: Overall, the percentage of correct answers increased significantly, from 57.02% to 73.82%, although answers related to a few specific topics did not increase that much. Although the patients’ understanding of drainage management and the Foley catheter did increase substantially after they used the smartphone application, it was still relatively low. Conclusions: The smartphone application developed during this study enhanced the patients’ knowledge of surgery-related adverse events during hospitalization. However, nurses must make an additional effort to help patients to understand certain topics, including drainage and Foley catheter management. Relevance to clinical practice: Insufficient patient knowledge increases the risk of adverse events during hospitalization. Nurses should take active steps to enhance patients’ knowledge of a range of safety issues during hospitalization, in order to decrease the number of surgery-related adverse events.

Keywords: patient education, patient participation, patient safety, smartphone application, surgical errors

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Authors: Rossella Resi

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This paper describes a project carried out in an Italian school with English learning pupils combining three didactic tools which are attested to be relevant for the success of young learner’s language curriculum: the use of technology, the intralingual and interlingual mediation (according to CEFR) and the cultural dimension. Aim of this project was to test a technological hands-on translation activity like subtitling in a formal teaching context and to exploit its potential as motivational tool for developing listening and writing, translation and cross-cultural skills among language learners. The activities proposed involved the use of professional subtitling software called Aegisub and culture-specific films. The workshop was optional so motivation was entirely based on the pleasure of engaging in the use of a realistic subtitling program and on the challenge of meeting the constraints that a real life/work situation might involve. Twelve pupils in the age between 16 and 18 have attended the afternoon workshop. The workshop was organized in three parts: (i) An introduction where the learners were opened up to the concept and constraints of subtitling and provided with few basic rules on spotting and segmentation. During this session learners had also the time to familiarize with the main software features. (ii) The second part involved three subtitling activities in plenum or in groups. In the first activity the learners experienced the technical dimensions of subtitling. They were provided with a short video segment together with its transcription to be segmented and time-spotted. The second activity involved also oral comprehension. Learners had to understand and transcribe a video segment before subtitling it. The third activity embedded a translation activity of a provided transcription including segmentation and spotting of subtitles. (iii) The workshop ended with a small final project. At this point learners were able to master a short subtitling assignment (transcription, translation, segmenting and spotting) on their own with a similar video interview. The results of these assignments were above expectations since the learners were highly motivated by the authentic and original nature of the assignment. The subtitled videos were evaluated and watched in the regular classroom together with other students who did not take part to the workshop.

Keywords: ICT, L2, language learning, language mediation, subtitling

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Authors: Victor Birikorang Danquah

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Ghana's primary energy supply is heavily reliant on petroleum, biomass, and hydropower. Currently, Ghana gets its energy from hydropower (Akosombo and Bui), thermal power plants powered by crude oil, natural gas, and diesel, solar power, and imports from La Cote d'Ivoire. Until the early 2000s, large hydroelectric dams dominated Ghana's electricity generation. Due to unreliable weather patterns, Ghana increased its reliance on thermal power. However, thermal power contributes the highest percentage in terms of electricity generation in Ghana and is predominantly supplied by Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Ghana's electricity industry operates the corporate utility model as its business model. This model is typically' vertically integrated,' with a single corporation selling the majority of power generated by its generation assets to its retail business, which then sells the electricity to retail market consumers. The corporate utility model has a straightforward value proposition that is based on increasing the number of energy units sold. The unit volume business model drives the entire energy value chain to increase throughput, locking system users into unsustainable practices. This report uses the qualitative research approach to explore the electricity industry in Ghana. There is a need for increasing renewable energy, such as wind and solar, in electricity generation. The research recommends two critical business models for the penetration of renewable energy in Ghana's power sector. The first model is the peer-to-peer electricity trading model, which relies on a software platform to connect consumers and generators in order for them to trade energy directly with one another. The second model is about encouraging local energy generation, incentivizing optimal time-of-use behaviour, and allowing any financial gains to be shared among the community members.

Keywords: business model innovation, electricity generation, renewable energy, solar energy, sustainability, wind energy

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Authors: N. Porzionato, M. Mantiñan, E. Bussi, S. Grinberg, R. Gutierrez, G. Curutchet

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This work sets out to debate the tensions involved in the processes of contamination and self-purification in the urban space, particularly in the streams that run through the Buenos Aires metropolitan area. For much of their course, those streams are piped; their waters do not come into contact with the outdoors until they have reached deeply impoverished urban areas with high levels of environmental contamination. These are peripheral zones that, until thirty years ago, were marshlands and fields. They are now densely populated areas largely lacking in urban infrastructure. The Cárcova neighborhood, where this project is underway, is in the José León Suárez section of General San Martín country, Buenos Aires province. A stretch of José León Suarez canal crosses the neighborhood. Starting upstream, this canal carries pollutants due to the sewage and industrial waste released into it. Further downstream, in the neighborhood, domestic drainage is poured into the stream. In this paper, we formulate a hypothesis diametrical to the one that holds that these neighborhoods are the primary source of contamination, suggesting instead that in the stretch of the canal that runs through the neighborhood the stream’s waters are actually cleaned and the sediments accumulate pollutants. Indeed, the stretches of water that runs through these neighborhoods act as water processing plants for the metropolis. This project has studied the different organic-load polluting contributions to the water in a certain stretch of the canal, the reduction of that load over the course of the canal, and the incorporation of pollutants into the sediments. We have found that the surface water has considerable ability to self-purify, mostly due to processes of sedimentation and adsorption. The polluting load is accumulated in the sediments where that load stabilizes slowly by means of anaerobic processes. In this study, we also investigated the risks of sediment management and the use of the processes studied here in controlled conditions as tools of environmental restoration.

Keywords: bioremediation, pollutants, sediments, urban streams

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Authors: Yosef Ferede Bogale

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree of customer satisfaction and the variables influencing it in the instance of the Bank of Abyssinia branches in the districts of Arada and Bole in Addis Ababa. The study was carried out utilizing a mixed research approach and a descriptive and explanatory research design in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Both primary and secondary data were employed in this investigation. The study's target population consisted of 1000 of the bank's most prestigious clients. With a 93% response rate, 265 respondents from both genders in the active age group had higher levels of education and work experience and were in the active age group. Customers of the case bank under consideration comprised the study's target audience. The respondents, who belonged to both gender groups, were in the active age bracket with superior levels of education and work experience. As a result, this investigation discovered that the degree of client satisfaction was assigned a medium rating. Additionally given a middling rating were the company's image practices, employee competency, technology, and service quality. Further, the results also demonstrate that corporate image, employees’ competency, technology, and service quality all positively and significantly affect customer happiness. This study found that, to varying degrees, company image, technology, competence, and high-quality financial services will all improve consumer happiness. According to this report, banks should monitor customer satisfaction and service quality at least twice a year. This is because there is a growing movement among bank service providers for accountability, and measuring these factors is crucial. This study also recommends that banks make every effort to satisfy consumers' expectations to the highest level.

Keywords: customer satisfaction, corporate image, quality services risk, bank

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Authors: Mehwish Durrani, Rubina Nazli, Muhammad Abubakr, Muhammad Shafiq

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Objectives: To evaluate the high socio-economic status, urbanization, and decrease ambulation can lead to early osteoporosis in women reporting from Peshawar region. Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study was done. Sample size was 100 subjects, using 30% proportion of osteoporosis, 95% confidence level, and 9% margin of error under WHO software for sample size determination. Place and Duration of study: This study was carried out in the tertiary referral health care facilities of Peshawar viz PGMI Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Ethical approval for the study was taken from the Institutional Ethical Research board (IERD) at Post Graduate Medical Institute, Hayatabad Medical Complex, and Peshawar.The study was done in six months time period. Patients and Methods: Levels of CTX1 as a marker of bone degradation in radiographically assessed perimenopausal women was determined. These females were randomly selected and screened for osteoporosis. Hemoglobin in gm/dl, ESR by Westergren method as millimeter in 1 hour, Serum Ca mg/dl, Serum alkaline Phosphatase international units per liter radiographic grade of osteoporosis according to Singh index as 1-6 and CTX 1 level in pg/ml. Results: High levels of CTX1 was observed in perimenopausal osteoporotic women which were radiographically diagnosed as osteoporotic patients. The High socio-economic class also predispose to osteoporosis. Decrease ambulation another risk factor showed significant association with the increased levels of CTX1. Conclusion: The results of this study propose that minimum ambulation and high socioeconomic class both had significance association with the increase levels of serum CTX1, which in turn will lead to osteoporosis and to its complications.

Keywords: osteoporosis, CTX1, perimenopausal women, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Khyberpuktoonkhwa

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Authors: Paras Agarwal

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Background: Initially believed to be rare, metastases to the eye are the most common ocular malignancy. The choroid’s high perfusion rate not only makes it the most susceptible ocular site for tumour seeding, but also promotes its growth. The cancers most frequently responsible for choroidal metastases originate from the breast and lung, although a significant proportion have unidentified primaries at the time of presentation. Case Presentation: This case report describes a 34 year old female presenting to the ophthalmology department with a one month history of painless distorted vision. On fundus examination, she was noted to have bilateral choroidal lesionsand subsequently underwent a comprehensive diagnostic work-up. The patient was diagnosed with metastatic pulmonary adenocarcinoma, despite lacking conventional risk factors. As she was found to have a mutation in EGFR, the patient was commenced on tyrosine-kinase inhibition with afatinib. The choroidal lesions regressed with a significant improvement in visual acuity and a dramatic anatomical reduction of the choroidal masses. Conclusions: Our case demonstrates the importance of considering metastases as a differential diagnosis for choroidal lesions. Appropriate and thorough history-taking, examination and investigations may be required in order to deduce the underlying cause. Our case is unusual in view of the choroidal lesion being the primary manifestation of metastatic lung cancer in a young patient with no known risk factors. Early recognition of choroidal metastases is important as it is often the first sign of tumour dissemination and will prompt earlier treatment with systemic medications such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy or hormonal therapy. Our case report also demonstrates the efficacy of afatinib for the treatment of choroidal metastases, with morphological and functional improvements observed with regard to the choroidal metastatic tumour.

Keywords: choroidal neoplasm, choroidal naevus, pulmonary adenocarcinoma, metastases, lung cancer

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Authors: Hadjer Chellia

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the present study reports on second language use among Algerian international students in the UK. In Algeria, French has an important status among the Algerian verbal repertoires due to colonial reasons. This has triggered many language conflicts and many debates among policy makers in Algeria. In higher education, Algerian English students’ sociolinguistic profile is characterised by the use of French as a sign of prestige. What may leave room for debate is the effect of crossing borders towards the UK as a result of international mobility programmes, a transition which could add more complexity since French, is not so significant as a language in the UK context. In this respect, the micro-objective is to explore the fate of French use among Ph.D. students in the UK as a newly established group vis-à-vis English. To fulfill the purpose of the present inquiry, the research employs multiple approaches in which semi-structured interview is a primary source of data to know participants’ attitudes about French use, targeting both their pre-migratory experience and current one. Web-based questionnaires are set up to access larger population. Focus group sessions are further procedures of scrutiny in this piece of work to explore the actual linguistic behaviours. Preliminary findings from both interviews and questionnaires reveal that students’ current experience, particularly living in the UK, affects their pre-migratory attitudes towards French language and its use. The overall findings are expected to bring manifold contributions to the field of research among which is setting factors that influence language use among newly established émigrés communities. The research is also relevant to international students’ experience of study abroad in terms of language use in the guise of internationalization of higher education, mobility and exchange programmes. It could contribute to the sociolinguistics of the Algerian diaspora: the dispersed residence of non-native communities - not to mention its significance on the Algerian research field abroad.

Keywords: Algerian diaspora, French language, language maintenance, language shift, mobility

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Authors: Pennapa Palapin

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This research sought to study the traditional local wisdom and study the promotion and dissemination of traditional local wisdom in order to find the forms of promotion and dissemination of traditional local wisdom to create occupations among the elderly at Nonmueng Community, Muang Sub-District, Baan Dung District, UdonThani Province. The criterion used to select the research sample group was, being a person having a role involved in the promotion and dissemination of traditional local wisdom to create occupations among the elderly at Nonmueng Community, Muang Sub-District, Baan Dung District, UdonThani Province; being an experienced person whom the residents of Nonmueng Community find trustworthy; and having lived in Nonmueng Community for a long time so as to be able to see the development and change that occurs. A total of 16 people were selected. Data was gathered as a qualitative study, through semi-structured in-depth interviews. The collected data was then summarised and discussed according to the research objectives. Finally, the data was presented in a narrative format. Results found that the identifying traditional local wisdom of the community (which grew from the residents’ experience and beneficial usage in daily life, passed down from generation to generation) was the weaving of cloth and basketry. As for the manner of promotion and dissemination of traditional local wisdom, the skills were passed down through teaching by example to family members, relatives and others in the community. This was done by the elders or elderly members of the community. For the promotion and dissemination of traditional local wisdom to create occupations among the elderly, the traditional local wisdom should be supported in every way through participation of the community members. For example, establish a museum of traditional local wisdom for the collection of traditional local wisdom in various fields, both in the past and at present. This would be a source of pride for the community, in order to make traditional local wisdom widely known and to create income for the community’s elderly. Additional ways include exhibitions of products made by traditional local wisdom, finding both domestic and international markets, as well as building both domestic and international networks aiming to find opportunities to market products made by traditional local wisdom.

Keywords: traditional local wisdom, occupation, elderly, community

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Authors: Sara Piccirillo

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The integrated urban regeneration represents a great opportunity to deliver correct management of the territory if implemented through the reuse, enhancement, and transformation of abandoned industrial areas, according to sustainability strategies. In environmental terms, recycling abandoned sites by demolishing buildings and regenerating the urban areas means promoting adaptation to climate change and a new sensitivity towards city living. The strategic vision of 'metabolism' can be implemented through diverse actions made on urban settlements, and planning certainly plays a primary role. Planning an urban transformation in a sustainable way is more than auspicable. It is necessary to introduce innovative urban soil management actions to mitigate the environmental costs associated with current land use and to promote projects for the recovery/renaturalization of urban or non-agricultural soils. However, by freeing up these through systematic demolition of the disused heritage, new questions open up in terms of environmental costs deriving from the inevitable impacts caused by the disposal of waste. The mitigation of these impacts involves serious reflection on the recycling supply chains aimed at the production and reuse of secondary raw materials in the construction industry. The recent developments in R&D of recycling materials are gradually becoming more and more pivotal in consideration of environmental issues such as increasing difficulties in exploiting natural quarries or strict regulations for the management and disposal of waste sites. Therefore, this contribution, set as a critical essay, presents the reconstruction outputs of the regulatory background on the material recycling chain up to the 'end of waste' stage, both at a national and regional scale. This extended approach to this urban design practice goes beyond the cultural dimension that has relegated urban regeneration to pure design only. It redefines its processes through an interdisciplinary system that affects human, environmental and financial resources.

Keywords: waste management, C&D waste, recycling, urban trasformation

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Authors: Venkateswar Pujari

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This study tries to investigate the complex interplay between control, awareness, and attention in human cognitive processes. The fundamental elements of cognitive functioning that play a significant role in influencing perception, decision-making, and behavior are attention, awareness, and control. Understanding how they interact can help us better understand how our minds work and may even increase our understanding of cognitive science and its therapeutic applications. The study uses an empirical methodology to examine the relationships between attention, awareness, and control by integrating different experimental paradigms and neuropsychological tests. To ensure the generalizability of findings, a wide sample of participants is chosen, including people with various cognitive profiles and ages. The study is structured into four primary parts, each of which focuses on one component of how attention, awareness, and control interact: 1. Evaluation of Attentional Capacity and Selectivity: In this stage, participants complete established attention tests, including the Stroop task and visual search tasks. 2. Evaluation of Awareness Degrees: In the second stage, participants' degrees of conscious and unconscious awareness are assessed using perceptual awareness tasks such as masked priming and binocular rivalry tasks. 3. Investigation of Cognitive Control Mechanisms: In the third phase, reaction inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory capacity are investigated using exercises like the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the Go/No-Go paradigm. 4. Results Integration and Analysis: Data from all phases are integrated and analyzed in the final phase. To investigate potential links and prediction correlations between attention, awareness, and control, correlational and regression analyses are carried out. The study's conclusions shed light on the intricate relationships that exist between control, awareness, and attention throughout cognitive function. The findings may have consequences for cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and clinical psychology by providing new understandings of cognitive dysfunctions linked to deficiencies in attention, awareness, and control systems.

Keywords: attention, awareness, control, cognitive functioning, neuropsychological assessment

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Authors: A. Pensiri, K. Nantaporn, P. Parichut

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Tourism is very important to the economy of many countries due to the large contribution in the areas of employment and income generation. However, the rapid growth of tourism can also be considered as one of the major uses of water user, and therefore also have a significant and detrimental impact on the environment. Guest behavior in water usage can be used to manage water in hotels for sustainable water resources management. This research presents a study of hotel guest water usage behavior at two hotels, namely Hotel A (located in Kathu district) and Hotel B (located in Muang district) in Phuket Province, Thailand, as case studies. Primary and secondary data were collected from the hotel manager through interview and questionnaires. The water flow rate was measured in-situ from each water supply device in the standard room type at each hotel, including hand washing faucets, bathroom faucets, shower and toilet flush. For the interview, the majority of respondents (n = 204 for Hotel A and n = 244 for Hotel B) were aged between 21 years and 30 years (53% for Hotel A and 65% for Hotel B) and the majority were foreign (78% in Hotel A, and 92% in Hotel B) from American, France and Austria for purposes of tourism (63% in Hotel A, and 55% in Hotel B). The data showed that water consumption ranged from 188 litres to 507 liters, and 383 litres to 415 litres per overnight guest in Hotel A and Hotel B (n = 244), respectively. These figures exceed the water efficiency benchmark set for Tropical regions by the International Tourism Partnership (ITP). It is recommended that guest water saving initiatives should be implemented at hotels. Moreover, the results showed that guests have high satisfaction for the hotels, the front office service reveal the top rates of average score of 4.35 in Hotel A and 4.20 in Hotel B, respectively, while the luxury decoration and room cleanliness exhibited the second satisfaction scored by the guests in Hotel A and B, respectively. On the basis of this information, the findings can be very useful to improve customer service satisfaction and pay attention to this particular aspect for better hotel management.

Keywords: hotel, tourism, Phuket, water usage

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Authors: Misbah Nizamani, Saira Malik

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Introduction: Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for patients suffering from morbid obesity. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) accounts for over 50% of total bariatric procedures. The aim of our meta-analysis is to investigate the effectiveness and safety of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols for patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Method: To gather data, we searched PubMed, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Central. Eligible studies were randomized controlled trials and cohort studies involving adult patients (≥18 years) undergoing bariatric surgeries, i.e., Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Outcome measures included LOS, postoperative narcotic usage, postoperative pain score, postoperative nausea and vomiting, postoperative complications and mortality, emergency department visits and readmission rates. RevMan version 5.4 was used to analyze outcomes. Results: Three RCTs and three cohorts with 1522 patients were included in this study. ERAS group and control group were compared for eight outcomes. LOS was reduced significantly in the intervention group (p=0.00001), readmission rates had borderline differences (p=0.35) and higher postoperative complications in the control group, but the result was non-significant (p=0.68), whereas postoperative pain score was significantly reduced (p=0.005). Total MME requirements became significant after performing sensitivity analysis (p= 0.0004). Postoperative mortality could not be analyzed on account of invalid data showing 0% mortality in two cohort studies. Conclusion: This systemic review indicated the effectiveness of the application of ERAS protocols in LSG in reducing the length of stay, post-operative pain and total MME requirements postoperatively, indicating the feasibility and assurance of its application.

Keywords: eras protocol, sleeve gastrectomy, bariatric surgery, enhanced recovery after surgery

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Authors: Ana M. G. Sperandio, Adriana A. C. Rosa, Jussara C. Guarnieri

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This study consists of a research of the Post Occupancy Assessment (POA) of Medicinal Gardens' project of Urban Social Center’s square, in the city of 'Santa Barbara d'Oeste', located in the interior of Sao Paulo, Brazil. In view of the fact that community gardens, as well as medicinal gardens, are based on innumerable functions. The addition to the pedagogical function rescues people from their origins through (re)contact with the land, as a vehicle for social integration. Bearing in mind the project has the potential to fight hunger among the low-income population, to treat some diseases, also works as a strategy of environmental recovery especially of idle land. Such as very often only accumulate weeds and garbage, and therefore, must be considered in the Municipal Master Plan for the activity to be regulated. Objective: Identify on implantation the medicinal plants' value and principles for the promotion of a healthy city. Methodology: Application of the walkthrough, where it is possible to affirm that this instrument has three routes: one officer applied within the urban social center and two complementary ones, one being about 3 miles and the other being almost 5,5 miles. Results: Through a dialogical course, one can observe the benefits that the community medicinal gardens bring to the local population. In addition, it is consistent with the proposal for the community to be enabled to access collective care with home orientations that rescue the local and regional culture making the physical environment. This project aims at promoting more pleasant and inclusive through the actions of the caregiver, local leadership and the co-participation of local government. Although with the aim of increasing the supply value and improving the living conditions of social groups and interrelationship. Conclusion: This type of urban intervention, which articulates social participation, rescue of medicinal cultures and local knowledge, intersectoriality, social inclusion, among other premises connected with health promotion, and the city presents a potential for reverberation of practices in social networks with the objective of meeting the healthy city strategies.

Keywords: healthy city, healthy urban planning, medicinal gardens, social participation

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Authors: Jakub Gren

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The recent transfer of banking supervision to the ECB has expanded its influence as of a non-majoritarian and technocratic policy-shaper in EU supervisory policies. To fulfil the main policy objectives of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the ECB has been tasked with building a single supervisory approach to supervised banks across the euro area and is now exclusively responsible for direct supervision of the largest ‘significant’ euro area banks and the oversight of the remaining ‘less significant’ banks. This enhanced supranational position of the ECB significantly alters the EU institutional order and creates powerful incentives to actively pursue integrationist agenda by the ECB. However, this drastic shift has a little impact upon adapting the ECB’s new supervisory mandate to the requirements of democratic legitimacy. Whereas the ECB’s strong pre-crisis independence and limited accountability could be reconciled with democratic principles through a clearly articulated price stability mandate, independence and limited accountability in the context of a more complex supervisory mandate is problematic. Hence, in order to ensure the democratic legitimacy of the ECB/SSM’s supervisory policies, the ECB’s supervisory mandate requires both a lower scope of independence and higher accountability requirements. To address this situation, organizational separation (“Chinese Wall”) between the ECB monetary and supervisory arms was introduced. This separation includes different reporting lines and the relocation of the ECB’s monetary function to a new building complex while leaving its supervisory function at the Euro-tower (“Two Towers”). This paper argues that these measures are not sufficient to establish proper checks and balances on the ECB’s powers to pursue euro zone’s wide supervisory policies. As a remedy, this contribution suggests that the ECB’s Treaties-embedded independence, as set out by art. 130 TFEU, designed to carry out its monetary function shall not be fully applicable to its supervisory function. Indeed functional and conditional reading of this provision to ECB supervisory function could enhance the legitimacy of future ECB’s supervisory action.

Keywords: accountability and transparency, democratic governance, financial management, rule of law

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Authors: Kathryn L. Duncan, Charles A. Kuntz, James O. Simcock

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A surgical approach to the cranium for treatment of frontal lobe and olfactory bulb neoplasia in dogs is described in this report, which provided excellent access for visualisation and removal of gross neoplastic tissue. An 8-year-old spayed female Shih Tzu crossbreed dog (dog 1) and a 13-year-old neutered male Miniature Fox Terrier (dog 2) were evaluated for removal of neoplasms involving both the frontal lobe and olfactory bulb. Both dogs presented with abnormal neurological clinical signs, decreased menace responses, and behavioural changes. Additionally, dog 2 presented with compulsive circling and generalized tonic-clonic seizure activity. Computed tomography was performed in both dogs, and MRI was also performed in dog 1. Imaging was consistent with frontal lobe and olfactory bulb neoplasia. A transorbital frontal bone craniectomy, with orbital ligament desmotomy and ventrolateral retraction of the globe, was performed in both cases without complication. Dog 1 had a focal area of lysis in the frontal bone adjacent to the neoplasm in the frontal lobe. The presence of the bone defect provided part of the impetus for this approach, as it would permit resection of the lytic bone. In addition, the neoplasms would be surgically accessible without encountering interposed brain parenchyma, reducing the risk of iatrogenic injury. Both dogs were discharged from the hospital within 72 hours post-operatively, both with normal mentation. Case 1 had a histopathologic diagnosis of malignant anaplastic neoplasm. The tumour recurred 101d postoperatively, and the patient was euthanized. Case 2 was diagnosed with a meningioma and was neurologically normal at 294d postoperatively. This transorbital surgical approach allowed successful removal of the intracranial frontal lobe and olfactory bulb neoplasms in 2 dogs. This approach should be considered for dogs with lateralized frontal lobe and olfactory bulb neoplasms that are closely associated with the suborbital region of the frontal bone.

Keywords: neurosurgery, small animal surgery, surgical oncology, veterinary neurology

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Authors: Patrick Oehler, Nicholas Folger

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Following a new public management approach, Germany has widely reformed its higher education system around the turn of the millennium. Aimed at preparing the country’s publicly funded universities and applied science colleges for a century of glory, the reforms led to the introduction of rigid performance measurement and management practices, which disrupted the inert system on all levels. Yet, many of the new policies met significant resistance, and some of them had to be reversed over time. Ever since Germany has struggled to find a balance between its pre- and its post-millennial approach to performance measurement and management. This contribution combines insights of a joint research project, which was created and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with the aim to better understand the effects of its performance measurement and management policies, including those the ministry had implemented over the previous decades. The research project combines researchers from 17 German research institutions who employed a wide range of theories from various disciplines and very diverse research methods to explain performance measurement and management and their consequences on the behavior of various stakeholders in higher education systems. In these projects, performance measurement and management have been researched from three angles—education, research, and third mission. The collaborative project differentiated functional and dysfunctional elements of common performance measurement and management practices, and identified key problems with these practices, such as (1) oversimplification of performance indicators, (2) ‘overmeasurement’ of performance in general, (3) excessive use of quantitative indicators, and (4), a myopic focus on research-focused indicators and a negligence of measures targeting education and third mission. To address these issues, the collaborative project developed alternative approaches to performance measurement and management, including suggestions for qualitative performance measures, improved supervision, review, and evaluations methods, and recommendations how to better balance education, research, and third mission. The authors would like to share the rich findings of the joint research project with an international audience and discuss their implications for alternative higher education systems.

Keywords: performance measurement, performance management, new public management, performance evaluation

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Authors: Yosra Ben Salah, Wang Li Jun, Salem Bellil

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The village Hammem Zriba is a lost little paradise in the middle of a beautiful landscape that captures the eyes of every visitor. The village alone is a rich expression of different elements such as urban, architecture, technical and vernacular elements, as well as sociological, spiritual and religious behaviors. This heritage is in degrading conditions and is threatened by disappearing soon; thus, actions have to be taken as soon as possible to preserve this heritage, record, analyze and learn from its traditional ways of construction. The strategy of this study is to examine the architecture within the Berber society over a period of time and influenced by a certain location and its relationship to the social and cultural aspects; this research will focus on historical, environmental, social and cultural aspects influencing architecture. The contents of this paper should mainly be constructed by three successive layouts of historical view, a cultural view and an architectural view that will include the urban and domestic scale. This research relies on the integration of both theoretical and empirical investigations. On the theoretical level: A documentary analysis of secondary data is used. Documentary analysis means content analysis of the relevant documents that include books, journals, magazines, archival data, and field survey and observations. On the empirical level: analysis of these traditional ways of planning and house building will be carried out. Through the Analysis, three techniques will be employed to collect primary data. These techniques are; systematic analysis of the architectural drawings, quantitative analysis to the houses statistics, and a direct observation. Through this research, the technical, architectural and urban achievements of the Berber people who represent a part of the general history and architectural history will be emphasized. And on a second point the potential for the sustainability present in this traditional urban planning and housing to be used to formulate guidelines for modern urban and housing development.

Keywords: culture, history, traditional architecture, values

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Authors: Malik Imtiaz Ahmad

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The prime sources of Islamic Law or Shariah are Quran and Sunnah and is applied to the personal and public affairs of Muslims. Islamic law is deemed to be divine and furnishes a complete code of conduct based upon universal values to build honesty, trust, righteousness, piety, charity, and social justice. The primary focus of this paper was to examine the development of Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh) over time and its relevance to the field of Islamic finance. This encompassed a comprehensive analysis of the historical context, key legal principles, and their application in contemporary financial systems adhering to Islamic principles. This study aimed to elucidate the deep-rooted connection between Islamic law and finance, offering valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in the Islamic finance sector. Understanding the historical context and legal underpinnings is crucial for ensuring the compliance and ethicality of modern financial systems adhering to Islamic principles. Fintech solutions are developing fields to accelerate the digitalization of Islamic finance products and services for the harmonization of global investors' mandate. Through this study, we focus on institutional governance that will improve Sharia compliance, efficiency, transparency in decision-making, and Islamic finance's contribution to humanity through the SDGs program. The research paper employed an extensive literature review, historical analysis, examination of legal principles, and case studies to trace the evolution of Islamic law and its contemporary application in Islamic finance, providing a concise yet comprehensive understanding of this intricate relationship. Through these research methodologies, the aim was to provide a comprehensive and insightful exploration of the historical evolution of Islamic law and its relevance to contemporary Islamic finance, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of this unique and growing sector of the global financial industry.

Keywords: sharia, sequencing Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic congruent marketing, social development goals of Islamic finance

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Authors: George Cudjoe Agbemabiese, John Paul Kosiba, Michael Boadi Nyamekye, Vanessa Narkie Tetteh, Caleb Nunoo, Mohammed Muniru Husseini

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The smartphone industry continues to experience massive growth, evidenced by expanding markets and an increasing number of brands, models and manufacturers. As technology advances rapidly, manufacturers of smartphones are consistently introducing new innovations to keep up with the latest evolving industry trends and customer demand for more modern devices. This study aimed to assess the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistant (VA) on improving customer experience, resulting in the continuous use of mobile brands. Specifically, this article assesses the role of hedonic, utilitarian, and social benefits provided by AIVA on customer experience and the continuance intention to use mobile phone brands. Using a primary data collection instrument, the quantitative approach was adopted to examine the study's variables. Data from 348 valid responses were used for the analysis based on structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS version 23. Three main factors were identified to influence customer experience, which results in continuous usage of mobile phone brands. These factors are social benefits, hedonic benefits, and utilitarian benefits. In conclusion, a significant and positive relationship exists between the factors influencing customer experience for continuous usage of mobile phone brands. The study concludes that mobile brands that invest in delivering positive user experiences are in a better position to improve usage and increase preference for their brands. The study recommends that mobile brands consider and research their prospects' and customers' social, hedonic, and utilitarian needs to provide them with desired products and experiences.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, continuance usage, customer experience, smartphone industry

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Authors: Zhuo Feng, Ying Gao

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Public-private partnership (PPP), as an innovative way to provide infrastructures by the private sector, is being widely used throughout the world. Compared with the traditional mode, PPP emerges largely for merits of relieving public budget constraint and improving infrastructure supply efficiency by involving private funds. However, PPP projects are characterized by large scale, high investment, long payback period, and long concession period. These characteristics make PPP projects full of risks. One of the most important risks faced by the private sector is demand risk because many factors affect the real demand. If the real demand is far lower than the forecasting demand, the private sector will be got into big trouble because operating revenue is the main means for the private sector to recoup the investment and obtain profit. Therefore, it is important to study how the government compensates the private sector when the demand risk occurs in order to achieve Pareto-improvement. This research focuses on price compensation mechanism, an ex-post compensation mechanism, and analyzes, by mathematical modeling, the impact of price compensation mechanism on payoff of the private sector and consumer surplus for PPP toll road projects. This research first investigates whether or not price compensation mechanisms can obtain Pareto-improvement and, if so, then explores boundary conditions for this mechanism. The research results show that price compensation mechanism can realize Pareto-improvement under certain conditions. Especially, to make the price compensation mechanism accomplish Pareto-improvement, renegotiation costs of the government and the private sector should be lower than a certain threshold which is determined by marginal operating cost and distortionary cost of the tax. In addition, the compensation percentage should match with the price cut of the private investor when demand drops. This research aims to provide theoretical support for the government when determining compensation scope under the price compensation mechanism. Moreover, some policy implications can also be drawn from the analysis for better risk-sharing and sustainability of PPP projects.

Keywords: infrastructure, price compensation mechanism, public-private partnership, renegotiation

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Authors: Jakia Rajoana

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The aim of this paper is to examine the role of women entrepreneurs in bringing about sustainable rural tourism (SRT) development in Sundarbans area of Bangladesh. Theoretically, it draws upon empowerment and entrepreneurial marketing concepts. Women entrepreneurship development and lack of empowered women as role models is an important issue for developing economies in South Asia. Despite the substantial role women play in rural economy of Sundarbans, their contribution remains overlooked as enterprises led by them are run on an informal basis and their business acumen is not taken seriously both by their families and society at large. Studies on SRT fail to engage in sufficient depth with the term applied in this paper as ‘invisible women on the margins’ who run their enterprises with no formal training or societal/familial support. Moreover, the link between their (non) tourism enterprise and their empowerment remains under-theorized. Thus empirically, this research seeks to fill a significant gap by focusing on a considerably under-researched Sundarbans region. Methodologically, this study follows a qualitative research design using visual ethnographic approach. Participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentation are the primary data collection instruments in three coastal communities – Munshigonj, Burigoalini and Gabura – in the Sundarbans area. By focusing on the narratives of these under-investigated women, this work aims to provide in-depth and nuanced insights into salient issues on marginal communities experience from rural women’s perspectives. Initial findings illustrate that the Sundarbans women have low income due to no or little education. In addition, socio-cultural and religious factors also restrict the scope of their extensive contribution to workplace. In addition, physical and social violence which is a common occurrence for these women inhibits their agency and contributes to their disempowerment.

Keywords: gender, empowerment, entrepreneurial marketing, sustainable rural tourism, Sundarbans

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Authors: Vivian W. L. Tsang, Karen Lockhart, Samuel Spiegel, Annalee Yassi

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Background: Workers in the informal economy often incur exposure to well-documented occupational health hazards. Insufficient attention has been afforded to rigorously evaluating intervention programs to reduce the risks, especially in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). Objectives: This systematic review, conducted as part of the World Health Organization’s Global Plan of Action for Workers’ Health, sought to assess the state of knowledge on occupational health programs and interventions for the informal artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector, an occupation which directly employs at least 50 million people. Methods: We used a comprehensive search strategy for four well-known databases relevant to health outcomes: PubMed, Engineering Village, OVID Medline, and Web of Science, and employed the PRISMA framework for our analysis. Findings: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria of a primary study focused on assessing the impact of interventions addressing occupational health concerns in ASGM. There were no studies evaluating or even identifying comprehensive occupational health and safety programs for this sector, although target interventions addressing specific hazards exist. Major areas of intervention –education and introduction of mercury-reducing/eliminating technology were identified, and the challenges and limitations of each intervention taken into the assessment. Even for these, however, there was a lack of standardization for measuring outcome or impact, let alone long-term health outcomes for miners and mining communities. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for research on comprehensive occupational health programs addressing the array of hazards faced by artisanal and small-scale miners.

Keywords: informal economy, artisanal and small-scale gold mining, occupational health, health and safety, workplace safety

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Authors: Ebuwa Osagie, Chet Biliyok, Yeung Hoi

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Regeneration energy requirement and ways to reduce it is the main aim of most CO2 capture researches currently being performed and thus, post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) option is identified to be the most suitable for the natural gas-fired power plants. From current research and development (R&D) activities worldwide, two main areas are being examined in order to reduce the regeneration energy requirement of amine-based PCC, namely: (a) development of new solvents with better overall performance than 30wt% monoethanolamine (MEA) aqueous solution, which is considered as the base-line solvent for solvent-based PCC, (b) Integration of the PCC Plant to the power plant. In scaling-up a PCC pilot plant to the size required for a commercial-scale natural gas-fired power plant, process modelling and simulation is very essential. In this work, an integrated process made up of a 482MWe natural gas-fired power plant, an MEA-based PCC plant which is developed and validated has been modelled and simulated. The PCC plant has four absorber columns and a single stripper column, the modelling and simulation was performed with Aspen Plus® V8.4. The gas turbine, the heat recovery steam generator and the steam cycle were modelled based on a 2010 US DOE report, while the MEA-based PCC plant was modelled as a rate-based process. The scaling of the amine plant was performed using a rate based calculation in preference to the equilibrium based approach for 90% CO2 capture. The power plant was integrated to the PCC plant in three ways: (i) flue gas stream from the power plant which is divided equally into four stream and each stream is fed into one of the four absorbers in the PCC plant. (ii) Steam draw-off from the IP/LP cross-over pipe in the steam cycle of the power plant used to regenerate solvent in the reboiler. (iii) Condensate returns from the reboiler to the power plant. The integration of a PCC plant to the NGCC plant resulted in a reduction of the power plant output by 73.56 MWe and the net efficiency of the integrated system is reduced by 7.3 % point efficiency. A secondary aim of this study is the parametric studies which have been performed to assess the impacts of natural gas on the overall performance of the integrated process and this is achieved through investigation of the capture efficiencies.

Keywords: natural gas-fired, power plant, MEA, CO2 capture, modelling, simulation

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