Search results for: cognitive development program ASD caregivers

Authors: Hassan Taimoor, Piotr Krajewski, Piotr Gabrielzcak

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Being responsible for the largest source of energy-related emissions, the transportation sector is driven by more than half of global oil demand and total energy consumption, making it a crucial factor in tackling climate change and environmental degradation. The present study empirically tests the effectives of the energy-related tax (TXEN) in curbing transport-related carbon emissions (CO2TRANSP) in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economies over the period of 1990-2020. Moreover, Green Finance (GF), Technology (TECH), and Gross domestic product (GDP) have also been added as explanatory factors which might affect CO2TRANSP emissions. The study employs the Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR), an advance econometric technique to observe the variations along each quantile. Based on the results of the preliminary test, we confirm the presence of cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity. Whereas the result of the panel unit root test report mixed order of variables’ integration. The findings reveal that rise in income level activates CO2TRANSP, confirming the first stage of Environmental Kuznet Hypothesis. Surprisingly, the present TXEN policies of OECD member states are not mature enough to tackle the CO2TRANSP emissions. However, the findings confirm that GF and TECH are solely responsible for the reduction in the CO2TRANSP. The outcomes of Bootstrap Quantile Regression (BSQR) further validate and support the earlier findings of MMQR. Based on the findings of this study, it is revealed that the current TXEN policies are too moderate, and an incremental and progressive rise in TXEN may help in a transition toward a cleaner and sustainable transportation sector in the study region.

Keywords: transport-related CO2 emissions, energy-related tax, green finance, technological development, oecd member states

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Authors: Maria João Ferreira, Natalia Sierra-Garcia, Javier Cremades, Carla António, Ana M. Rodrigues, Helena Silva, Ângela Cunha

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Salicornia ramosissima, a halophyte that grows naturally in coastal areas of the northern hemisphere, is often considered the most promising halophyte candidate for extensive crop cultivation and saline agriculture practices. The expanding interest in this plant surpasses its use as gourmet food and includes their potential application as a source of bioactive compounds for the pharmaceutical industry. Despite growing well in saline soils, sustainable and ecologically friendly techniques to enhance crop production and the nutritional value of this plant are still needed. The root microbiome of S. ramosissima proved to be a source of taxonomically diverse plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). Halotolerant strains of Bacillus, Salinicola, Pseudomonas, and Brevibacterium, among other genera, exhibit a broad spectrum of plant-growth promotion traits [e.g., 3-indole acetic acid (IAA), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase, siderophores, phosphate solubilization, Nitrogen fixation] and express a wide range of extracellular enzyme activities. In this work, three plant growth-promoting bacteria strains (Brevibacterium casei EB3, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans RL18, and Bacillus aryabhattai SP20) isolated from the rhizosphere and the endosphere of S. ramosissima roots from different saltmarshes along the Portuguese coast were inoculated in S. ramosissima seeds. Plants germinated from inoculated seeds were grown for three months in pots filled with a mixture of perlite and estuarine sediment (1:1) in greenhouse conditions and later transferred to a growth chamber, where they were maintained two months with controlled photoperiod, temperature, and humidity. Pots were placed on trays containing the irrigation solution (Hoagland’s solution 20% added with 10‰ marine salt). Before reaching the flowering stage, plants were collected, and the fresh and dry weight of aerial parts was determined. Non-inoculated seeds were used as a negative control. Selected dried stems from the most promising treatments were later analyzed by GC-TOF-MS for primary metabolite composition. The efficiency of inoculation and persistence of the inoculum was assessed by Next Generation Sequencing. Inoculations with single strain EB3 and co-inoculations with EB3+RL18 and EB3+RL18+SP20 (All treatment) resulted in significantly higher biomass production (fresh and dry weight) compared to non-inoculated plants. Considering fresh weight alone, inoculation with isolates SP20 and RL18 also caused a significant positive effect. Combined inoculation with the consortia SP20+EB3 or SP20+RL18 did not significantly improve biomass production. The analysis of the profile of primary metabolites will provide clues on the mechanisms by which the growth-enhancement effect of the inoculants operates in the plants. These results sustain promising prospects for the use of rhizospheric and endophytic PGPB as biofertilizers, reducing environmental impacts and operational costs of agrochemicals and contributing to the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of saline agriculture. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by project Rhizomis PTDC/BIA-MIC/29736/2017 financed by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through the Regional Operational Program of the Center (02/SAICT/2017) with FEDER funds (European Regional Development Fund, FNR, and OE) and by FCT through CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 + UIDB/50017/2020), LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020). We also acknowledge FCT/FSE for the financial support to Maria João Ferreira through a PhD grant (PD/BD/150363/2019). We are grateful to Horta dos Peixinhos for their help and support during sampling and seed collection. We also thank Glória Pinto for her collaboration providing us the use of the growth chambers during the final months of the experiment and Enrique Mateos-Naranjo and Jennifer Mesa-Marín of the Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, the University of Sevilla for their advice regarding the growth of salicornia plants in greenhouse conditions.

Keywords: halophytes, PGPB, rhizosphere engineering, biofertilizers, primary metabolite profiling, plant inoculation, Salicornia ramosissima

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Authors: Jason Dellatolla, Scott Thomas

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Much of the current literature pertaining to resistance training (RT) volume prescription lacks ecological validity, and very few studies investigate true high-volume ranges. Purpose: The present study sought to investigate the effects of ecologically-valid high- vs low-volume RT on muscular size and strength in trained men. Methods: This study systematically randomized trained, college-aged men into two groups: low-volume (LV; n = 4) and high-volume (HV; n = 5). The sample size was affected by COVID-19 limitations. Subjects followed an ecologically-valid 6-week RT program targeting both muscle size and strength. RT occurred 3x/week on non-consecutive days. Over the course of six weeks, LVR and HVR gradually progressed from 15 to 23 sets/week and 30 to 46 sets/week of lower-body RT, respectively. Muscle strength was assessed via 3RM tests in the squat, stiff-leg deadlift (SL DL), and leg press. Muscle hypertrophy was evaluated through a combination of DXA, BodPod, and ultrasound (US) measurements. Results: Two-way repeated-measures ANOVAs indicated that strength in all 3 compound lifts increased significantly among both groups (p < 0.01); between-group differences only occurred in the squat (p = 0.02) and SL DL (p = 0.03), both of which favored HVR. Significant pre-to-post-study increases in indicators of hypertrophy were discovered for lean body mass in the legs via DXA, overall fat-free mass via BodPod, and US measures of muscle thickness (MT) for the rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, long-head of the biceps femoris, and total MT. Between-group differences were only found for MT of the vastus medialis – favoring HVR. Moreover, each additional weekly set of lower-body RT was associated with an average increase in MT of 0.39% in the thigh muscles. Conclusion: We conclude that ecologically-valid RT regimens significantly improve muscular strength and indicators of hypertrophy. When HVR is compared to LVR, HVR provides significantly greater gains in muscular strength but has no greater effect on hypertrophy over the course of 6 weeks in trained, college-aged men.

Keywords: ecological validity, hypertrophy, resistance training, strength

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Authors: Saifurahman Fayiz

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Afghanistan and India have close technical, political, economic, and diplomatic bilateral ties. The ties is not limited between the governments of the two countries, but their relationship are among the peoples. India is the best regional trustworthy partner and biggest donor for the development of Afghanistan. The objectives of this study to assess India’s foreign policy towards Afghanistan since 9\11. The research method conducted based on qualitative research method with descriptive. The research findings propose that; India should deal with and build up its strategy relations with neighbor countries.

Keywords: strategy, policy, India, Afghanistan

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Authors: Yanqun Li, Hong Geng

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The rapid urbanization process taking big cities as the main body leads to the unequal configuration of urban and rural areas in the aspects of land supply, industrial division of labor, service supply and space allocation, and induces the shrinking characterization of service energy, industrial system and population vitality in small towns. As an important spatial unit in the spectrum of urbanization that serves, connects and couples urban and rural areas, the shrinking phenomenon faced by small towns has an important influence on the healthy development of urbanization. Based on the census of small towns in Wuhan metropolitan area, we have found that the shrinking of small towns is a passive contraction of elastic tension under the squeeze in cities. Once affected by the external forces such as policy regulation, planning guidance, and population return, small towns will achieve expansion and growth. Based on the theory of complex adaptive systems, this paper comprehensively constructs the development index evaluation system of small towns from five aspects of population, economy, space, society and ecology, measures the shrinking level of small towns, further analyzes the shrinking characteristics of small towns, and identifies whether the shrinking is elastic or not. And then this paper measures the resilience ability index of small town contract from the above-mentioned five aspects. Finally, this paper proposes an adaptive mechanism of urban-rural interaction evolution under fine division of labor to response the passive shrinking in small towns of Wuhan. Based on the above, the paper creatively puts forward the planning response measures of the small towns on the aspects of spatial layout, function orientation and service support, which can provide reference for other regions.

Keywords: complex adaptive systems, resiliency shrinking, adaptation mechanism, planning response

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Authors: A. Guemache, M. Omari

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Oxides with formula Ca1-xSrx MnO3 (0≤x≤0.2) were synthesized using co-precipitation method. The identification of the obtained phase was carried out using infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Thermogravimetric and differential analysis was permitted to characterize different transformations of precursors which take place during one heating cycle. The study of electrochemical behavior was carried out by cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy. The obtained results show that apparent catalytic activity improved when increasing the concentration of strontium. Anodic current densities varies from 1.3 to 5.9 mA/cm2 at the rate scan of 20 mV.s-1 and a potential 0.8 V for oxides with composition x=0 to 0.2.

Keywords: oxide, co-precipitation, electrochemical properties, cathode-type

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Authors: Sumedha Ganjoo, Santosh Goswami

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The rising reliance on technology places national security at the forefront of 21st-century issues. It complicates the efforts of emerging and developed countries to combat cyber threats and increases the inherent risk factors connected with technology. The inability to preserve data securely might have devastating repercussions on a massive scale. Consequently, it is vital to establish national, regional, and global data protection rules and regulations that penalise individuals who participate in immoral technology usage and exploit the inherent vulnerabilities of technology. This study paper seeks to analyse GDPR-inspired Bills in the South Asian Region and determine their suitability for the development of a worldwide data protection framework, considering that Asian countries are much more diversified than European ones. In light of this context, the objectives of this paper are to identify GDPR-inspired Bills in the South Asian Region, identify their similarities and differences, as well as the obstacles to developing a regional-level data protection mechanism, thereby satisfying the need to develop a global-level mechanism. Due to the qualitative character of this study, the researcher did a comprehensive literature review of prior research papers, journal articles, survey reports, and government publications on the aforementioned topics. Taking into consideration the survey results, the researcher conducted a critical analysis of the significant parameters highlighted in the literature study. Many nations in the South Asian area are in the process of revising their present data protection measures in accordance with GDPR, according to the primary results of this study. Consideration is given to the data protection laws of Thailand, Malaysia, China, and Japan. Significant parallels and differences in comparison to GDPR have been discussed in detail. The conclusion of the research analyses the development of various data protection legislation regimes in South Asia.

Keywords: data privacy, GDPR, Asia, data protection laws

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Authors: Mary Rosa Espinosa-Ochoa

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Some constructions appear suddenly in children’s speech and are productive from the beginning. These constructions are supported by others, previously acquired, with which they share semantic and pragmatic features. Thus, for example, the acquisition of the passive voice in German is supported by other constructions with which it shares the lexical verb sein (“to be”). This also occurs in Spanish, in the acquisition of the progressive aspectual periphrasis estar (“to be”) + verb root + -ndo (present participle), supported by locative constructions acquired earlier with the same verb. The periphrasis shares with the locative constructions not only the lexical verb estar, but also pragmatic relations. Both constructions can be used to answer the question ¿Dónde está? (“Where is he/she/it?”), whose answer could be either Está aquí (“He/she/it is here”) or Se está bañando (“He/she/it is taking a bath”).This study is a corpus-based analysis of two children (1;08-2;08) and the input directed to them: it proposes that the pragmatic and semantic support from previously-acquired constructions comes from the input, during interaction with others. This hypothesis is based on analysis of constructions with estar, whose use to express temporal change (which differentiates it from its counterpart ser [“to be”]), is given in variation sets, similar to those described by Küntay and Slobin (2002), that allow the child to perceive the change of place experienced by nouns that function as its grammatical subject. For example, at different points during a bath, the mother says: El jabón está aquí “The soap is here” (beginning of bath); five minutes later, the soap has moved, and the mother says el jabón está ahí “the soap is there”; the soap moves again later on and she says: el jabón está abajo de ti “the soap is under you”. “The soap” is the grammatical subject of all of these utterances. The Spanish verb + -ndo is a progressive phase aspect encoder of a dynamic state that generates a token. The verb + -ndo is also combined with verb estar to encode. It is proposed here that the phases experienced in interaction with the adult, in events related to the verb estar, allow a child to generate this dynamicity and token reading of the verb + -ndo. In this way, children begin to produce the periphrasis suddenly and productively, even though neither the periphrasis nor the verb + -ndo itself are frequent in adult speech.

Keywords: child language acquisition, input, variation sets, Spanish language

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Authors: Svetlana Petrikova, Alexander Yu Kostinskiy

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Management of research evaluation in the Higher School of Economics (HSE) originates from the HSE Academic Fund created in 2004 to facilitate and support academic research and presents its results to international academic community. As the means to inspire the applicants, science projects went through competitive selection process evaluated by the group of experts. Drastic development of HSE, quantity of applied projects for each Academic Fund competition and the need to coordinate the conduct of expert evaluation resulted in founding of the Office for Research Evaluation in 2013. The Office’s primary objective is management of research evaluation of science projects. The standards to conduct the evaluation are defined as follows: - The exercise of the process approach, the unification of the functioning of department. - The uniformity of regulatory, organizational and methodological framework. - The development of proper on-line evaluation system. - The broad involvement of external Russian and international experts, the renouncement of the usage of own employees. - The development of an algorithm to make a correspondence between experts and science projects. - The methodical usage of opened/closed international and Russian databases to extend the expert database. - The transparency of evaluation results – free access to assessment while keeping experts confidentiality. The management of research evaluation of projects is based on the sole standard, organization and financing. The standard way of conducting research evaluation at HSE is based upon Regulations on basic principles for research evaluation at HSE. These Regulations have been developed from the moment of establishment of the Office for Research Evaluation and are based on conventional corporate standards for regulatory document management. The management system of research evaluation is implemented on the process approach basis. Process approach means deployment of work as a process, which is the aggregation of interrelated and interacting activities processing inputs into outputs. Inputs are firstly client asking for the assessment to be conducted, defining the conditions for organizing and carrying of the assessment and secondly the applicant with proper for the competition application; output is assessment given to the client. While exercising process approach to clarify interrelation and interacting main parties or subjects of the assessment are determined and the way for interaction between them forms up. Parties to expert assessment are: - Ordering Party – The department of the university taking the decision to subject a project to expert assessment; - Providing Party – The department of the university authorized to provide such assessment by the Ordering Party; - Performing Party – The legal and natural entities that have expertise in the area of research evaluation. Experts assess projects in accordance with criteria and states of expert opinions approved by the Ordering Party. Objects of assessment generally are applications or HSE competition project reports. Mainly assessments are deployed for internal needs, i.e. the most ordering parties are HSE branches and departments, but assessment can also be conducted for external clients. The financing of research evaluation at HSE is based on the established corporate culture and traditions of HSE.

Keywords: expert assessment, management of research evaluation, process approach, research evaluation

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Authors: Sungho Kim, Jaechoul Shin, Yujin Baek, Nakseok Kim, Kyungnam Kim, Shinhaeng Jo

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The climate change and increase in heavy traffic have been accelerating damages that cause the problems such as pothole on asphalt pavement. Pothole causes traffic accidents, vehicle damages, road casualties and traffic congestion. A quick and efficient maintenance method is needed because pothole is caused by stripping and accelerates pavement distress. In this study, we propose a rapid and systematic pothole management by developing a pothole automated repairing equipment including a volume measurement system of pothole. Three kinds of cold mix asphalt mixture were investigated to select repair materials. The materials were evaluated for satisfaction with quality standard and applicability to automated equipment. The volume measurement system of potholes was composed of multi-sensor that are combined with laser sensor and ultrasonic sensor and installed in front and side of the automated repair equipment. An algorithm was proposed to calculate the amount of repair material according to the measured pothole volume, and the system for releasing the correct amount of material was developed. Field test results showed that the loss of repair material amount could be reduced from approximately 20% to 6% per one point of pothole. Pothole rapid automated repair equipment will contribute to improvement on quality and efficient and economical maintenance by not only reducing materials and resources but also calculating appropriate materials. Through field application, it is possible to improve the accuracy of pothole volume measurement, to correct the calculation of material amount, and to manage the pothole data of roads, thereby enabling more efficient pavement maintenance management. Acknowledgment: The author would like to thank the MOLIT(Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport). This work was carried out through the project funded by the MOLIT. The project name is 'development of 20mm grade for road surface detecting roadway condition and rapid detection automation system for removal of pothole'.

Keywords: automated equipment, management, multi-beam sensor, pothole

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Authors: Niina Jallinoja, Anu Moisio

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Focus on adult learning is vital to overcome economic challenges as well as to respond to the demand for new competencies and sustained productivity in the digitalized world economy. Employees of all ages must be able to carry on continuous professional development to remain competitive in the labor market. According to EU policies, countries should offer more flexible opportunities for adult learners who study online and in so-called ‘second chance’ qualification programmes. Traditionally, adult education in Finland has comprised of not only liberal adult education but also the government funding to study for Bachelor, Master's, and Ph.D. degrees in Finnish Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS). From the beginning of 2021, public funding is allocated not only to degrees but also to courses to achieve new competencies for adult learners in Finland. Consequently, there will be degree students (often younger of age) and adult learners studying in the same evening, online and blended courses. The question is thus: How are combined studies meeting the different needs of degree students and adult learners? Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (UAS), located in the metropolitan area of Finland, is taking up the challenge of continuous learning for adult learners. Haaga-Helia has been reforming the bachelor level education and respective shorter courses from 2019 in the biggest project in its history. By the end of 2023, Haaga-Helia will have a flexible, modular curriculum for the bachelor's degrees of hospitality management, business administration, business information technology, journalism and sports management. Building on the shared key competencies, degree students will have the possibility to build individual study paths more flexibly, thanks to the new modular structure of the curriculum. They will be able to choose courses across all degrees, and thus, build their own unique competence combinations. All modules can also be offered as separate courses or learning paths to non-degree students, both publicly funded and as commercial services for employers. Consequently, there will be shared course implementations for degree studies and adult learners with various competence requirements. The newly designed courses are piloted in parallel of the designing of the curriculum in Haaga-Helia during 2020 and 2021. Semi-structured online surveys are composed among the participants for the key competence courses. The focus of the research is to understand how students in the bachelor programme and adult learners from Open UAE perceive the learning experience in such a diverse learning group. A comparison is also executed between learning methods of in-site teaching, online implementation, blended learning and virtual self-learning courses to understand how the pedagogy is meeting the learning objectives of these two different groups. The new flexible curricula and the study modules are to be designed to fill the most important competence gaps that exist in the Finnish labor markets. The new curriculum will be dynamic and constantly evolving over time according to the future competence needs in the labor market. This type of approach requires constant dialogue between Haaga-Helia and workplaces during and after designing of the shared curriculum.

Keywords: ccompetence development, continuous learning, curriculum, higher education

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Authors: Nazli Kazanoglu

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Reconciliation of work and family life has been an area of interest within the academic as well as in the political debate for more than three decades. With the dramatic changes in the extent to which women and men contribute to unpaid domestic work and paid employment, the reconciliation of work and family life issues have become more prominent than ever before. And they have begun to enjoy an increased attention of policy makers both at the EU and national levels. Over the last three decades the EU has initiated numerous equality programs and strategies and roadmaps regarding reconciliation of work and family life, though particularly because of the crisis and increasing willingness of achieving the EUs target of seventy five per cent of men and women in employment by 2020, those programs, strategies and roadmaps emphasized on eradicating womens familial burdens while entering labor market and providing them as equal opportunities as their male counterparts have. Reconciliation of work and family life policies thus bit by bit moved away from the objectives with a strong commitment to ensuring gender equality towards employment objectives. This paper is thus an endeavor to look at the nature of EU reconciliation of work and family life policies from the angle of gender equality. More precisely relying on the feminist literature, this paper rests on the assumption that reconciliation of work and family policies should provide the sufficient measures indeed with a more emphasis on endorsing gender equality rather than economic concerns and prioritizes two inter-related aspects while evaluating the gender equality of reconciliation of work and family life policies. First providing free choice to women in terms of their family and work lives and second challenge the unequal division of labor at home. In that sense, it investigates the nature of the changing uses and meanings of gender equality in reconciliation of work and family life policies in different stages of the EU social policy development particularly after the introduction of European Employment Strategy which gave a tremendous importance to reconciliation of work and family life during their collaborations with other issues on the EU agenda as well as the major rationale behind their development and implementation and locates them in terms of two inter-related parameters mentioned above.

Keywords: European Union, division of unpaid work, gender equality, rhetoric of free choice

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Authors: Asma Zaib, Saeed Khan, Ayaz Ahmed Noonari, Sehrish Bint-e-Mohsin

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Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females worldwide and is estimated that more than 450,000 deaths are reported each year. It accounts for about 14% of all female cancer deaths. Angiogenesis plays an essential role in Breast cancer development, invasion, and metastasis. Breast cancer predominantly begins in luminal epithelial cells lining the normal breast ducts. Breast carcinoma likely requires coordinated efforts of both increased proliferation and increased motility to progress to metastatic stages.Resveratrol: a natural stilbenoid, has anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects that inhibits proliferation of variety of human cancer cell lines, including breast, prostate, stomach, colon, pancreatic, and thyroid cancers.The objective of this study is:To investigate anti-neoangiogenesis effects of Resveratrol in breast cancer and to analyze inhibitory effects of resveratrol on aromatase, Erα, HER2/neu, and VEGFR.Docking is the computational determination of binding affinity between molecule (protein structure and ligand).We performed molecular docking using Swiss-Dock and to determine docking effects of (1) Resveratrol with Aromatase, (2) Resveratrol with ERα (3) Resveratrol with HER2/neu and (4) Resveratrol with VEGFR2.Docking results of resveratrol determined inhibitory effects on aromatase with binding energy of -7.28 kcal/mol which shows anticancerous effects on estrogen dependent breast tumors. Resveratrol also show inhibitory effects on ERα and HER2/new with binging energy -8.02, and -6.74 respectively; which revealed anti-cytoproliferative effects upon breast cancer. On the other hand resveratrol v/s VEGFR showed potential inhibitory effects on neo-angiogenesis with binding energy -7.68 kcal/mol, angiogenesis is the important phenomenon that promote tumor development and metastasis. Resveratrol is an anti-breast cancer agent conformed by in silico studies, it has been identified that resveratrol can inhibit breast cancer cells proliferation by acting as competitive inhibitor of aromatase, ERα and HER2 neo, while neo-angiogemesis is restricted by binding to VEGFR which authenticates the anti-carcinogenic effects of resveratrol against breast cancer.

Keywords: angiogenesis, anti-cytoproliferative, molecular docking, resveratrol

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Authors: Bougema Theodore Ntenkeh, Chi-bikom Barbara Kyien

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The reduction of poverty and hunger sits at the heart of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and are the first two of the Sustainable Development Goals. The World Food Day celebrated on the 16th of October every year, highlights the need for people to have physical and economic access at all times to enough nutritious and safe food to live a healthy and active life; while the world poverty day celebrated on the 17th of October is an opportunity to acknowledge the struggle of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard, and for the community to recognize and support poor people in their fight against poverty. The association between household food security and poverty reduction is not only sparse in Cameroon but mostly qualitative. The paper therefore investigates the effect of household food security on poverty reduction in Cameroon quantitatively using data from the Cameroon Household Consumption Survey collected by the Government Statistics Office. The methodology employed five indicators of household food security using the Multiple Correspondence Analysis and poverty is captured as a dummy variable. Using a control function technique, with pre and post estimation test for robustness, the study postulates that household food security has a positive and significant effect on poverty reduction in Cameroon. A unit increase in the food security score reduces the probability of the household being poor by 31.8%, and this effect is statistically significant at 1%. The result further illustrates that the age of the household head and household size increases household poverty while households residing in urban areas are significantly less poor. The paper therefore recommends that households should diversify their food intake to enhance an effective supply of labour in the job market as a strategy to reduce household poverty. Furthermore, family planning methods should be encouraged as a strategy to reduce birth rate for an equitable distribution of household resources including food while the government of Cameroon should also develop the rural areas given that trend in urbanization are associated with the concentration of productive economic activities, leading to increase household income, increased household food security and poverty reduction.

Keywords: food security, poverty reduction, SDGs, Cameroon

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Authors: Mohaya Farzin, Parvin Babaei, Mohammad Rostampour

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Ghrelin plays a considerable role in important neurological effects related to food intake and energy homeostasis. As was found, regular physical activity may make available significant improvements to cognitive functions in various behavioral situations. Anxiety is one of the main concerns of the modern world, affecting millions of individuals’ health. There are contradictory results regarding ghrelin's effects on anxiety-like behavior, and the plasma level of this peptide is increased during physical activity. Here we aimed to evaluate the coincident effects of exogenous ghrelin and aerobic exercise on anxiety-like behavior and passive avoidance memory in Wistar rats. Forty-five male Wistar rats (250 ± 20 g) were divided into 9 groups (n=5) and received intra-hippocampal injections of 3.0 nmol ghrelin and performed aerobic exercise training for 8 weeks. Control groups received the same volume of saline and diazepam as negative and positive control groups, respectively. Learning and memory were estimated using a shuttle box apparatus, and anxiety-like behavior was recorded by an elevated plus-maze test (EPM). Data were analyzed by ANOVA test, and p<0.05 was considered significant. Our findings showed that the combined effect of ghrelin and aerobic exercise improves the acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval of passive avoidance memory in Wistar rats. Furthermore, it is supposed that the ghrelin receiving group spent less time in open arms and fewer open arms entries compared with the control group (p<0.05). However, exercising Wistar rats spent more time in the open arm zone in comparison with the control group (p<0.05). The exercise + Ghrelin administration established reduced anxiety (p<0.05). The results of this study demonstrate that aerobic exercise contributes to an increase in the endogenous production of ghrelin, and physical activity alleviates anxiety-related behaviors induced by intra-hippocampal injection of ghrelin. In general, exercise and ghrelin can reduce anxiety and improve memory.

Keywords: anxiety, ghrelin, aerobic exercise, learning, passive avoidance memory

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Authors: Andrei Contan, Richard Torkar

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Aim: The process of test automation and its practices in industry have to be better understood, both for the industry itself and for the research community. Method: We conducted a quantitative industry survey by asking IT professionals to answer questions related to the area of test automation. Results: Test automation needs and practices vary greatly between organizations at different stages of the software development life cycle. Conclusions: Most of the findings are general test automation challenges and are specific to small- to medium-sized companies, developing software applications in the web, desktop or mobile domain.

Keywords: survey, testing, test automation, status of test automation

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Authors: Antonio M. Oliveira, Patricia Oliveira-Silva, Jose Matias Alves, Gary McPherson

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The music teaching is oriented towards offering formal music training. Due to its specificities, this vocational program starts at a very young age. Although provided by the State, the offer is limited to 6 schools throughout the country, which means that the vacancies for prospective students are very limited every year. It is therefore crucial that these vacancies be taken by especially motivated children grown within households that offer the ideal setting for success. Some of the instruments used to evaluate musical performance are highly sensitive to specific previous training, what represents a severe validity problem for testing children who have had restricted opportunities for formal training. Moreover, these practices may be unfair because, for instance, they may not reflect the candidates’ music aptitudes. Based on what constitutes a prerequisite for making an excellent music student, researchers in this field have long argued that motivation, task commitment, and parents’ support are as important as ability. Thus, the aim of this study is: (1) to prepare an inventory of admission requirements in Australia, Portugal and Ireland; (2) to examine whether the candidates to music conservatories and parents’ level of motivation, assessed at three evaluation points (i.e., admission, at the end of the first year, and at the end of the second year), correlates positively with the candidates’ progress in learning a musical instrument (i.e., whether motivation at the admission may predict student musicianship); (3) an adaptation of an existing instrument to assess the motivation (i.e., to adapt the items to the music setting, focusing on the motivation for playing a musical instrument). The inclusion criteria are: only children registered in the administrative services to be evaluated for entrance to the conservatory will be accepted for this study. The expected number of participants is fifty (5-6 years old) in all the three frequency schemes: integrated, articulated and supplementary. Revisiting musical admission procedures is of particular importance and relevance to musical education because this debate may bring guidance and assistance about the needed improvement to make the process of admission fairer and more transparent.

Keywords: music learning, music admission requirements, student’s motivation, parent’s motivation

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Authors: T. Frawley, G. O'Kelly

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The UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems Higher Diploma in Mental Health (HDMH) nursing programme commenced in January 2017. Forty students successfully completed the programme. Programme evaluation was conducted from the outset. Research ethics approval was granted by the UCD Human Research Ethics Committee – Sciences in November 2016 (LS-E-16-163). Plan for Sustainability: Each iteration of the programme continues to be evaluated and adjusted accordingly. Aims: The ultimate purpose of the HDMH programme is to prepare registered nurses (registered children’s nurse (RCN), registered nurse in intellectual disability (RNID) and registered general nurse (RGN)) to function as effective registered psychiatric nurses in all settings which provide care and treatment for people experiencing mental health difficulties. Curriculum evaluation is essential to ensure that the programme achieves its purpose, that aims and expected outcomes are met and that required changes are highlighted for the programme’s continuing positive development. Methods: Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the evaluation. A series of questionnaires were used (the majority pre and post programme) to determine student perceptions of the programme, behaviour and attitudinal change from commencement to completion. These included the student assessment of learning gains (SALG); mental health knowledge schedule (MAKS); mental health clinician attitudes scale (MICA); reported and intended behaviour scale (RIBS); and community attitudes towards the mentally ill (CAMI). In addition, student and staff focus groups were conducted. Evaluation methods also incorporated module feedback. Outcome/Results: The evaluation highlighted a very positive response in relation to the achievement of programme outcomes and preparation for future work as registered psychiatric nursing. Some areas were highlighted for further development, which have been taken cognisance of in the 2019 iteration of the programme.

Keywords: learning gains, mental health, nursing, stigma

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Authors: Lucja Rodzik, Joanna Lewandowska-Lancucka, Michal Szuwarzynski, Krzysztof Szczubialka, Maria Nowakowska

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The analysis of nucleobases is of great importance for bioscience since their abnormal concentration in body fluids suggests the deficiency and mutation of the immune system, and it is considered to be an important parameter for diagnosis of various diseases. The presented conjugate meets the need for development of the effective, selective and highly sensitive sensor for nucleobase/nucleoside detection. The novel, highly fluorescent cadmium telluride quantum dots (CdTe QDs) functionalized with thymine and stabilized with thioglycolic acid (TGA) conjugates has been developed and thoroughly characterized. Successful formation of the material was confirmed by elemental analysis, and UV–Vis fluorescence and FTIR spectroscopies. The crystalline structure of the obtained product was characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. The composition of CdTe QDs and their thymine conjugate was also examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The size of the CdTe-thymine was 3-6 nm as demonstrated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) imaging. The plasmon resonance fluorescence band at 540 nm on excitation at 351 nm was observed for these nanoparticles. The intensity of this band increased with the increase in the amount of conjugated thymine with no shift in its position. Based on the fluorescence measurements, it was found that the CdTe-thymine conjugate interacted efficiently and selectively not only with adenine, a nucleobase complementary to thymine, but also with nucleosides and adenine-containing modified nucleosides, i.e., 5′-deoxy-5′-(methylthio)adenosine (MTA) and 2’-O-methyladenosine, the urinary tumor markers which allow monitoring of the disease progression. The applicability of the CdTe-thymine sensor for the real sample analysis was also investigated in simulated urine conditions. High sensitivity and selectivity of CdTe-thymine fluorescence towards adenine, adenosine and modified adenosine suggest that obtained conjugate can be potentially useful for development of the biosensor for complementary nucleobase/nucleoside detection.

Keywords: CdTe quantum dots, conjugate, sensor, thymine

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Authors: Ya-Hui Lee, Ching-Yi Lu, Chien Hung, Hsieh

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The purpose of this study is to explore the difference between state-owned-enterprise employees and the civil servants regarding their future-oriented thinking and retirement planning. The researchers investigated 687 middle age and older adults (345 state-owned-enterprise employees and 342 civil servants) through survey research, to understand the relevance between and the prediction of their future-oriented thinking and retirement planning. The findings of this study are: 1.There are significant differences between these two professions regarding future-oriented thinking but not retirement planning. The results of the future-oriented thinking of civil servants are overall higher than that of the state-owned-enterprise employees. 2. There are significant differences both in the aspects of future-oriented thinking and retirement planning among civil servants of different ages. The future-oriented thinking and retirement planning of ages 55 and above are more significant than those of ages 45 or under. For the state-owned-enterprise employees, however, there is no significance found in their future-oriented thinking, but in their retirement planning. Moreover, retirement planning is higher at ages 55 or above than at other ages. 3. With regard to education, there is no correlation to future-oriented thinking or retirement planning for civil servants. For state-owned-enterprise employees, however, their levels of education directly affect their future-oriented thinking. Those with a master degree or above have greater future-oriented thinking than those with other educational degrees. As for retirement planning, there is no correlation. 4. Self-assessment of economic status significantly affects the future-oriented thinking and retirement planning of both civil servants and state-owned-enterprise employees. Those who assess themselves more affluently are more inclined to future-oriented thinking and retirement planning. 5. For civil servants, there are significant differences between their monthly income and retirement planning, but none with future-oriented thinking. As for state-owned-enterprise employees, there are significant differences between their monthly income and retirement planning as well as future-oriented thinking. State-owned-enterprise employees who have significantly higher monthly incomes (1,960 euros and above) have more significant future-oriented thinking and retirement planning than those with lower monthly incomes (1,469 euros and below). 6. The middle age and older adults of both professions have positive correlations with future-oriented thinking and retirement planning. Through stepwise multiple regression analysis, the results indicate that future-oriented thinking and retirement planning have positive predictions. The authors then present the findings of this study for state-owned-enterprises, public authorities, and older adult educational program designs in Taiwan as references.

Keywords: state-owned-enterprise employees, civil servants, future-oriented thinking, retirement planning

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Authors: Y. D. Lim, K. S. Yap, K. T. Ooi

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In recent years, environmental issue has been a hot topic in the world, especially the global warming effect caused by conventional non-environmentally friendly refrigerants has increased. Several studies of a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly refrigeration system have been conducted in order to tackle the issue. In search of a better refrigeration system, CO2 refrigeration system has been proposed as a better option. However, the high throttling loss involved during the expansion process of the refrigeration cycle leads to a relatively low efficiency and thus the system is impractical. In order to improve the efficiency of the refrigeration system, it is suggested by replacing the conventional expansion valve in the refrigeration system with an expander. Based on this issue, a new type of expander-compressor combined unit, named Cross Vane Expander-Compressor (CVEC) was introduced to replace the compressor and the expansion valve of a conventional refrigeration system. A mathematical model was developed to calculate the performance of CVEC, and it was found that the machine is capable of saving the energy consumption of a refrigeration system by as much as 18%. Apart from energy saving, CVEC is also geometrically simpler and more compact. To further improve its efficiency, optimization study of the device is carried out. In this report, several design parameters of CVEC were chosen to be the variables of optimization study. This optimization study was done in a simulation program by using complex optimization method, which is a direct search, multi-variables and constrained optimization method. It was found that the main design parameters, which was shaft radius was reduced around 8% while the inner cylinder radius was remained unchanged at its lower limit after optimization. Furthermore, the port sizes were increased to their upper limit after optimization. The changes of these design parameters have resulted in reduction of around 12% in the total frictional loss and reduction of 4% in power consumption. Eventually, the optimization study has resulted in an improvement in the mechanical efficiency CVEC by 4% and improvement in COP by 6%.

Keywords: complex optimization method, COP, cross vane expander-compressor, CVEC, design optimization, direct search, energy saving, improvement, mechanical efficiency, multi variables

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Authors: Shishay Kidanu, Abdullah Alhaj

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Sinkholes in the karst terrain of Greene County, Missouri, pose significant geohazards, imposing challenges on construction and infrastructure development, with potential threats to lives and property. To address these issues, understanding the influencing factors and modeling sinkhole susceptibility is crucial for effective mitigation through strategic changes in land use planning and practices. This study utilizes geographic information system (GIS) software to collect and process diverse data, including topographic, geologic, hydrogeologic, and anthropogenic information. Nine key sinkhole influencing factors, ranging from slope characteristics to proximity to geological structures, were carefully analyzed. The Frequency Ratio method establishes relationships between attribute classes of these factors and sinkhole events, deriving class weights to indicate their relative importance. Weighted integration of these factors is accomplished using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method in a GIS environment, resulting in a comprehensive sinkhole susceptibility index (SSI) model for the study area. Employing Jenk's natural break classifier method, the SSI values are categorized into five distinct sinkhole susceptibility zones: very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. Validation of the model, conducted through the Area Under Curve (AUC) and Sinkhole Density Index (SDI) methods, demonstrates a robust correlation with sinkhole inventory data. The prediction rate curve yields an AUC value of 74%, indicating a 74% validation accuracy. The SDI result further supports the success of the sinkhole susceptibility model. This model offers reliable predictions for the future distribution of sinkholes, providing valuable insights for planners and engineers in the formulation of development plans and land-use strategies. Its application extends to enhancing preparedness and minimizing the impact of sinkhole-related geohazards on both infrastructure and the community.

Keywords: sinkhole, GIS, analytical hierarchy process, frequency ratio, susceptibility, Missouri

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Authors: Jigg Pelayo, Ricardo Villar

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The Philippines is long considered as a valuable producer of high value crops globally. The country’s employment and economy have been dependent on agriculture, thus increasing its demand for the efficient agricultural mechanism. Remote sensing and geographic information technology have proven to effectively provide applications for precision agriculture through image-processing technique considering the development of the aerial scanning technology in the country. Accurate information concerning the spatial correlation within the field is very important for precision farming of high value crops, especially. The availability of height information and high spatial resolution images obtained from aerial scanning together with the development of new image analysis methods are offering relevant influence to precision agriculture techniques and applications. In this study, an algorithm was developed and implemented to detect and count high value crops simultaneously through adaptive scaling of support vector machine (SVM) algorithm subjected to object-oriented approach combining watershed transformation and local maxima filter in enhancing tree counting and detection. The methodology is compared to cutting-edge template matching algorithm procedures to demonstrate its effectiveness on a demanding tree is counting recognition and delineation problem. Since common data and image processing techniques are utilized, thus can be easily implemented in production processes to cover large agricultural areas. The algorithm is tested on high value crops like Palm, Mango and Coconut located in Misamis Oriental, Philippines - showing a good performance in particular for young adult and adult trees, significantly 90% above. The s inventories or database updating, allowing for the reduction of field work and manual interpretation tasks.

Keywords: high value crop, LiDAR, OBIA, precision agriculture

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Authors: Adaobi Anakwe, Wilson Majee, Kari White, Rhonda BeLue

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Background: Black men in the U.S. have overall poorer health, are more likely to experience unintended pregnancies, and have pregnancies (with their partner) at younger ages than other racial/ethnic groups. These factors increase the likelihood that pregnancies among Black fathers will occur at suboptimal paternal health. Although several community-based programs exist to support low-income Black fathers’ involvement with their families, little is known about the sexual and reproductive health, and family planning needs of fathers enrolled in these programs. The objective of this study was to quantitatively examine the relationship between Black fathers’ fertility desires and pregnancy prevention strategies and qualitatively explore the nuances of this relationship. Methods: A concurrent mixed-methods approach was used to survey 36 and interview 13 Black fathers from low-income backgrounds, who were participating in a community-based fatherhood program in a Midwestern urban area. Fathers in this study were ≥18 years old with at least one child. Differences between groups were compared using Fisher’s Exact tests and thematic analyses to examine the relationship between participants' fertility desires and reproductive planning practices. Results: Participants had a median age of 33 years, and 72% were non-residential biological parents. About 40% of men desired pregnancy, and 69% reported they or their partner always used contraception. In bivariate analysis, participants’ fertility desires were not associated with pregnancy prevention (p=0.251). Although most interview participants desired pregnancies, several factors contributed to their ability to plan for a pregnancy. Men felt that using contraception to prevent pregnancies was dependent on navigating trust with a partner. Health before pregnancy and financial stability were also important. Overall, participants thought that using an adult mindset, in which they considered the consequences of unprotected sex, was key to family planning. Conclusion: Black fathers may not desire pregnancy and consider a variety of factors, but this does not always result in active pregnancy prevention/contraceptive use. Community-based organizations already working with Black fathers can be leveraged to increase reproductive health awareness and facilitate reproductive planning for fathers.

Keywords: reproductive planning, reproductive health, preconception health, Black fathers, fertility desires, pregnancy

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Authors: Elena Pello, Martin Bobak, Yuri Nikitin

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In current issue we evaluated integration of magnesium with lipids; the attractive findings were obtained in men and women; the crucial ties of magnesium with total cholesterol in hypertensive men, with total cholesterol in concordance with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in hypertensive women were disclosed; unanswered questions were trapped, difficulties were surmounted, and magnesium deficiency perseverance in pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease development was expressed; nutrients as well as risk factors may contribute to cardiovascular complications.

Keywords: dietary, magnesium, hypertension, lipids

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Authors: Jiyoung Kim, Chae Weon Chung

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Labor pain is one of the most common concerns of pregnant women, thus women are in need of possible options they could take to control the pain. So, this study aimed to explore maternal perception of epidural anesthesia and to compare the childbirth outcomes according to the use of epidural anesthesia. For this descriptive study, women who were over 36 weeks of pregnancy were recruited from an out-patient obstetric clinic in a public hospital in Seoul. Women were included in the study if agreed to participate, were pregnant singleton, without pregnancy complication, and expecting a natural birth. Data collection was done twice, the first one at the prenatal care visit and the second one at an in-patient ward on 2nd day postpartum. The instrument of the beliefs about epidural anesthesia, one item of asking intention to use epidural anesthesia, demographics, and obstetrical characteristics were incorporated into a questionnaire. One nurse researcher performed data collection with the structured questionnaire after the approval of the institutional review board. At the initial data collection 133 women were included, while 117 were retained at the second point after excluded 13 women due to the occurrence of complications. Analyses were done by chi-square, t-test, and ANOVA using the SPSS program. Women were aged 32.5 years old, 22.2% were over 35 years old. The average gestational age was 38.5 weeks, and 67.5% were nulliparous. Out of 38 multiparous women, 20 women (52.6%) had received epidural anesthesia in the previous delivery. At the initial interview, 62.6% (n=73) of women wanted to receive epidural anesthesia while 22.4% answered not decided and 15.4% did not want to take the procedure. However, there were changes in proportions between women’s intention to take it and actual procedures done, particularly, two-thirds of women (n=26) who had been undecided were found to receive epidural anesthesia during labor. There was a significant difference in the perception of epidural anesthesia measured before delivery between women who received and not received it (t=3.68, p < .001). Delivery outcomes were statistically different between the two groups in delivery mode (chi-square=8.64, p=.01), O₂ supply during labor (chi-square =5.01, p=.03), duration of 2nd stage of labor (t=3.70, p < .001), and arterial cord blood pH (t=2.64, p=.01). Interestingly, there was no difference in labor pain perceived between women with and without epidural anesthesia. Considering the preference and use of epidural anesthesia, health professionals need to assess coping ability of women undergoing delivery and to provide accurate information about pain control to support their decision making and eventually to enhance delivery outcomes for mothers and neonates.

Keywords: epidural anesthesia, delivery outcomes, labor pain, perception

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Authors: Silvia Miele, Patrice Rusconi, Harriet Tenenbaum

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An increasingly multi-ethnic Europe has been pushing citizens’ boundaries on who should be entitled and to what extent to practise their own diversity. Indeed, according to a Standard Eurobarometer survey conducted in 2017, immigration is seen by Europeans as the most serious issue facing the EU, and a third of respondents reported they do not feel comfortable interacting with migrants from outside the EU. Many of these come from Muslim countries, accounting for 4.9% of Europe population in 2016. However, the figure is projected to rise up to 14% by 2050. Additionally, political debates have increasingly focused on Muslim immigrants, who are frequently portrayed as difficult to integrate, while nationalist parties across Europe have fostered the idea of insuperable cultural differences, creating an atmosphere of hostility. Using a 3 X 3 X 2 between-subjects design, it was investigated how people reason about endorsing religious and non-religious rights to minorities. An online survey has been administered to university students of three different countries (Italy, Spain and the UK) via Qualtrics, presenting hypothetical scenarios through a vignette methodology. Each respondent has been randomly allocated to one of the three following conditions: Christian, Muslim or non-religious (vegan) target. Each condition entailed three questions about children self-determination rights to exercise some control over their own lives and 3 questions about children nurturance rights of care and protection. Moreover, participants have been required to further elaborate on their answers via free-text entries and have been asked about their contact and quality of contact with the three targets, and to self-report religious, national and ethnic identification. Answers have been recorded on a Likert scale of 1-5, 1 being "not at all", 5 being "very much". A two-way ANCOVA will be used to analyse answers to closed-ended questions, while free-text answers will be coded and data will be dichotomised based on Social Cognitive Domain Theory for four categories: moral, social conventional and psychological reasons, and analysed via ANCOVAs. This study’s findings aim to contribute to the implementation of educational interventions and speak to the introduction of governmental policies on human rights.

Keywords: children's rights, Europe, migration, minority

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Authors: Nyimas Annissa Mutiara Andini

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There are 325,000 children younger than age 15 in the U.S. have epilepsy. In Indonesia, 40% of 3,5 millions cases of epilepsy happens in children. The most common type of epilepsy, which affects 6 out of 10 people with the disorder, is called idiopathic epilepsy and which has no identifiable cause. One of the most commonly used medications in the treatment of this childhood epilepsy is sodium valproate. Administration of sodium valproat in children has a problem to fail. Nearly 60% of pediatric patients known were mildly, moderately, or severely non-adherent with therapy during the first six months of treatment. Many parents or caregiver took far less medication than prescribed, and the treatment-adherence pattern for the majority of patients was established during the first month of treatment. 42% of the patients were almost always given their medications as prescribed but 13% had very poor adherence even in the early weeks and months of treatment. About 7% of patients initially gave the medication correctly 90% of the time, but adherence dropped to around 20% within six months of starting treatment. Over the six months of observation, the total missing of administration is about four out of 14 doses in any given week. This fail can cause the epilepsy to relapse. Whereas, current reported epilepsy disorder were significantly more likely than those never diagnosed to experience depression (8% vs 2%), anxiety (17% vs 3%), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (23% vs 6%), developmental delay (51% vs 3%), autism/autism spectrum disorder (16% vs 1%), and headaches (14% vs 5%) (all P< 0.05). They had a greater risk of limitation in the ability to do things (relative risk: 9.22; 95% CI: 7.56–11.24), repeating a school grade (relative risk: 2.59; CI: 1.52–4.40), and potentially having unmet medical and mental health needs. In the other side, technology can help to make our life easier. One of the technology, that we can use is a mobile application. A mobile app is a software program we can download and access directly using our phone. Indonesians are highly mobile centric. They use, on average, 6.7 applications over a 30 day period. This paper is aimed to describe an application that could help to control a sodium valproat administration in children; we call it as D-Epi app. D-Epi app is a downloadable application that can help parents or caregiver alert by a timer-related application to warn whether it is the time to administer the sodium valproat. It works not only as a standard alarm, but also inform important information about the drug and emergency stuffs to do to children with epilepsy. This application could help parents and caregiver to take care a child with epilepsy in Indonesia.

Keywords: application, children, D-Epi, epilepsy

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Authors: Amina Beldjazia, Djamel Alatou, Khaled Missaoui

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The forest of Mahouna is a part of the mountain range of the Tell Atlas in the northeast of Algeria. It is characterized by a significant biodiversity. The management of this resource requires thorough the understanding of the current state of the vegetation (inventories), degradation factors and ongoing monitoring of the various long-term ecological changes. Digital mapping is a very effective way to in-depth knowledge of natural resources. The realization of a vegetation map based on satellite images, aerial photographs and the use of geographic information system (GIS), shows large values results of the vegetation of the massif in the scientific view point (the development of a database of the different formations that exist on the site, ecological conditions) and economic (GIS facilitate our task of managing the various resources and diversity of the forest). The methodology is divided into three stages: the first involves an analysis of climate data (1988 to 2013); the second is to conduct field surveys (soil and phytoecological) during the months of June and July 2013 (10 readings), the third is based on the development of different themes and synthetic cards by software of GIS (ENVI 4.6 and 10 ARCMAP). The results show: cork oak covers an area of 1147 ha. Depending on the environmental conditions, it rests on sandstone and individualizes between 3 layers of vegetation from thermo-mediterranean (the North East part with 40ha), meso-Mediterranean (1061 ha) and finally the supra-Mediterranean (46ha ). The map shows the current actual state of the cork oak forest massif of Mahouna, it is an older forest (>150 years) where regeneration is absent because of several factors (fires, overgrazing, leaching, erosion, etc.). The cork oak is in the form of dense forest with Laburnum and heather as the dominant species. It may also present in open forest dominated by scrub species: Daphne gniduim, Erica arborea, Calycotome spinosa, Phillyrea angustifolia, Lavandula stoechas, Cistus salvifolius.

Keywords: biodiversity, environmental, Mahouna, Cork oak

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Authors: Gideon Nyuimbe Gasu

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Sub Saharan Africa is at a critical point, experiencing rapid population growth, particularly in urban areas and young growing force. At the same time, the growing risk of catastrophic global climate change threatens to weaken food production system, increase intensity and frequency of drought, flood, and fires and undermine gains on development and poverty reduction. Although the region has the lowest per capital greenhouse gas emission level in the world, it will need to join global efforts to address climate change, including action to avoid significant increases and to encourage a green economy. Thus, there is a need for the concept of 'greening the economy' as was prescribed at Rio Summit of 1992. Renewable energy is one of the criterions to achieve this laudable goal of maintaining a green economy. There is need to address climate change while facilitating continued economic growth and social progress as energy today is critical to economic growth. Fossil fuels remain the major contributor of greenhouse gas emission. Thus, cleaner technologies such as carbon capture storage, renewable energy have emerged to be commercially competitive. This paper sets out to examine how to achieve a low carbon economy with minimal emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases which is one of the outcomes of implementing a green economy. Also, the paper examines the different renewable energy sources such as nuclear, wind, hydro, biofuel, and solar voltaic as a panacea to the looming climate change menace. Finally, the paper assesses the different renewable energy and energy efficiency as a propeller to generating new sources of income and jobs and in turn reduces carbon emission. The research shall engage qualitative, evaluative and comparative methods. The research will employ both primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources of information shall be drawn from the sub Saharan African region and the global environmental organizations, energy legislation, policies and related industries and the judicial processes. The secondary sources will be made up of some books, journal articles, commentaries, discussions, observations, explanations, expositions, suggestions, prescriptions and other material sourced from the internet on renewable energy as a panacea to climate change. All information obtained from these sources will be subject to content analysis. The research result will show that the entire planet is warming as a result of the activities of mankind which is clear evidence that the current development is fundamentally unsustainable. Equally, the study will reveal that a low carbon development pathway in the sub Saharan African region should be embraced to minimize emission of greenhouse gases such as using renewable energy rather than coal, oil, and gas. The study concludes that until adequate strategies are devised towards the use of renewable energy the region will continue to add and worsen the current climate change menace and other adverse environmental conditions.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, climate change, legislation/law, renewable energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 211