Search results for: learning assessment

Authors: Olurankinse Felix

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Local governments in Ondo State Nigeria are the third tier of government saddled with the responsibility of providing governance and economic services at the grassroots. To be able to do this, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided that a proportion of Federation Account be allocated to them in addition to their internally generated revenue. From the allocation and other incidental sources of revenue, the local governments are expected to provide basic infrastructures and other social amenities to better the lots of the rural dwellers. Nevertheless, local governments’ performances in terms of provision of social amenities are without questioning and quite not encouraging. Assessing the performance of local governments in this period of dearth and scarcity of resources is highly indispensable more so that the activities of local governments’ staff are bedeviled and characterized with fraud, corruption and mismanagement. Considering the direct impact of the consequences of their action on the living standard of the rural dwellers therefore calls for the need to evaluate their level of performances using capital budgeting approach. The paper being a time series study adopts the survey design. Data were obtained through secondary source mainly from the Annual financial statements and publication of approved budgets estimates covering the period of study (2008-2012). The use of ratio analysis was employed in analyzing the comparative level of performances of the local governments under study. The result of the study shows that less than 30% of the local governments were able to harness the budgetary allocation to provide amenities to the beneficiaries while majority of the local governments were involved in unethical conduct ranging from theft of fund, corruption, diversion of funds and extra-budgetary activities. Also, there is poor internally generated revenue to complement the statutory allocation and besides, the monthly withholding of larger portions of local government share by the state in the name of joint account were also seen as contributory factors. The study recommends the need for transparency and accountability in public fund management through the oversight function of the state house of assembly. Also local government should be made to be autonomous and independent of the state by jettisoning the idea of joint account.

Keywords: performance, transparency and accountability, capital budgeting, joint account, local government autonomy

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Authors: David Adade-Boateng, Benard Fei Baffoe, Colin A. Booth, Michael A. Fullen

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Remediation of diesel fuel, oil and grease in contaminated soils obtained from a mine site in Ghana are explored using rhizoremediation technology with different levels of nutrient amendments (i.e. N (nitrogen) in Compost (0.2, 0.5 and 0.8%), Urea (0.2, 0.5 and 0.8%) and Topsoil (0.2, 0.5 and 0.8%)) for a native species. A Ghanaian native grass species, Paspalum spp. from the Poaceae family, indicative across Sub-Saharan Africa, was selected following the development of essential and desirable growth criteria. Vegetative parts of the species were subjected to ten treatments in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) in three replicates. The plant-associated microbial community was examined in Paspalum spp. An assessment of the influence of Paspalum spp on the abundance and activity of micro-organisms in the rhizosphere revealed a build-up of microbial communities over a three month period. This was assessed using the MPN method, which showed rhizospheric samples from the treatments were significantly different (P <0.05). Multiple comparisons showed how microbial populations built-up in the rhizosphere for the different treatments. Treatments G (0.2% compost), H (0.5% compost) and I (0.8% compost) performed significantly better done other treatments, while treatments D (0.2% topsoil) and F (0.8% topsoil) were insignificant. Furthermore, treatment A (0.2% urea), B (0.5% urea), C (0.8% urea) and E (0.5% topsoil) also performed the same. Residual diesel and oil concentrations (as total petroleum hydrocarbons, TPH and oil and grease) were measured using infra-red spectroscopy and gravimetric methods, respectively. The presence of single species successfully enhanced the removal of hydrocarbons from soil. Paspalum spp. subjected to compost levels (0.5% and 0.8%) and topsoil levels (0.5% and 0.8%) showed significantly lower residual hydrocarbon concentrations compared to those treated with Urea. A strong relationship (p<0.001) between the abundance of hydrocarbon degrading micro-organisms in the rhizosphere and hydrocarbon biodegradation was demonstrated for rhizospheric samples with treatment G (0.2% compost), H (0.5% compost) and I (0.8% compost) (P <0.001). The same level of amendment with 0.8% compost (N-level) can improve the application effectiveness. These findings have wide-reaching implications for the environmental management of soils contaminated by hydrocarbons in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is necessary to further investigate the in situ rhizoremediation potential of Paspalum spp. at the field scale.

Keywords: rhizoremediation, microbial population, rhizospheric sample, treatments

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Authors: Souzan Al Sayegh, Izzeldin Ibrahim, Mercia Van Der Walt, Mohamed Al-Kuwari

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Background: Walking is the most common form of physical activity which can promote a healthy well-being among people of different age groups. In this regard, pedometers are becoming more popular within research and are considered useful tools in monitoring physical activity levels based on individuals’ daily steps. A value of ˂5,000 steps/day is identified as a sedentary lifestyle index where individuals are physically inactive. Those achieving 5,000-7,499 steps/day have a low active lifestyle as they do not meet the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) recommendations. Moreover, individuals achieving ≥7,500 steps/day are classified as physically active. The objective of this study is to assess the physical activity levels of adult population in Qatar through a pedometer-based program over a one-year period. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis, as part of a longitudinal study, was carried out over one year to assess the daily step count. 'Step into Health' is a community-based program launched by Aspire as an approach for the purpose of improving physical activity across the population of Qatar. The program involves the distribution of pedometers to registered members which is supported by a self-monitoring online account and linked to a web database. Daily habitual physical activity (daily total step count) was assessed through Omron HJ-324U pedometer. Analyses were done on data extracted from the web database. Results: A total of 1,988 members were included in this study (males: n=1,143, 57%; females: n=845, 43%). Average age was 37.8±10.9 years distributed as 60% of age between age 25-54 (n=1,186), 27% of age 45-64 (n=546), and 13% of age 18-24 years (n=256). Majority were non-Qataris, 81% (n=1,609) compared with 19% of the Qatari nationality (n=379). Average body mass index (BMI) was 27.8±6.1 (kg/m2) where most of them (41%, n=809) were found to be overweight, between 25-30 kg/m2. Total average step count was 5,469±3,884. Majority were found to be sedentary (n=1110, 55.8%). Middle aged individuals were more active than the other two age groups. Males were seen as more active than females. Those who were less active had a higher BMI. Older individuals were more active. There was a variation in the physical activity level throughout the year period. Conclusion: It is essential to further develop the available intervention programs and increase their physical activity behavior. Planning such physical activity interventions for female population should involve aspects such as time, environmental variables and aerobic steps.

Keywords: adults, pedometer, physical activity, step-count

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Authors: Mohamed H. Sorour, Hayam F. Shaalan, Heba A. Hani, Eman S. Sayed

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Ion exchange adsorption has a long standing history of success for seawater softening and selective ion removal from saline sources. Strong, weak and mixed types ion exchange systems could be designed and optimized for target separation. In this paper, different types of adsorbents comprising zeolite 13X and kaolin, in addition to, poly acrylate/zeolite (AZ), poly acrylate/kaolin (AK) and stand-alone poly acrylate (A) hydrogel types were prepared via microwave (M) and ultrasonic (U) irradiation techniques. They were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The developed adsorbents were evaluated on bench scale level and based on assessment results, a composite bed has been formulated for performance evaluation in pilot scale column investigations. Owing to the hydrogel nature of the partially crosslinked poly acrylate, the developed adsorbents manifested a swelling capacity of about 50 g/g. The pilot trials have been carried out using magnesium enriched Red Seawater to simulate Red Seawater desalination brine. Batch studies indicated varying uptake efficiencies, where Mg adsorption decreases according to the following prepared hydrogel types AU>AM>AKM>AKU>AZM>AZU, being 108, 107, 78, 69, 66 and 63 mg/g, respectively. Composite bed adsorbent tested in the up-flow mode column studies indicated good performance for Mg uptake. For an operating cycle of 12 h, the maximum uptake during the loading cycle approached 92.5-100 mg/g, which is comparable to the performance of some commercial resins. Different regenerants have been explored to maximize regeneration and minimize the quantity of regenerants including 15% NaCl, 0.1 M HCl and sodium carbonate. Best results were obtained by acidified sodium chloride solution. In conclusion, developed cation exchange adsorbents comprising clay or zeolite support indicated adequate performance for Mg recovery under saline environment. Column design operated at the up-flow mode (approaching expanded bed) is appropriate for such type of separation. Preliminary cost indicators for Mg recovery via ion exchange have been developed and analyzed.

Keywords: batch and dynamic magnesium separation, seawater, polyacrylate hydrogel, cost evaluation

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Authors: B. Kulaga, A. Cinti, F. J. Mazzocchini

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Despite the fact that growing academic attention on dark tourism is a fairly recent phenomenon, among the various reasons for travelling death-related ones, are very ancient. Furthermore, the darker side of human nature has always been fascinated and curious regarding death, or at least, man has always tried to learn lessons from death. This study proposes to describe the phenomenon of dark tourism related to the 2016 earthquake in Central Italy, deadly for 302 people and highly destructive for the rural areas of Lazio, Marche, and Umbria Regions. The primary objective is to examine the motivation-experience relationship in a dark tourism site, using the structural equation model, applied for the first time to a dark tourism research in 2016, in a study conducted after the Beichuan earthquake. The findings of the current study are derived from the calculations conducted on primary data compiled from 350 tourists in the areas mostly affected by the 2016 earthquake, including the town of Amatrice, near the epicenter, Castelluccio, Norcia, Ussita and Visso, through conducting a Likert scale survey. Furthermore, we use the structural equation model to examine the motivation behind dark travel and how this experience can influence the motivation and emotional reaction of tourists. Expected findings are in line with the previous study mentioned above, indicating that: not all tourists visit the thanatourism sites for dark tourism purpose, tourists’ emotional reactions influence more heavily the emotional tourist experience than cognitive experiences do, and curious visitors are likely to engage cognitively by learning about the incident or related issues.

Keywords: dark tourism, emotional reaction, experience, motivation, structural equation model

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Authors: Ramesh Kumar Behera, Md. Izhar Hassan

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Accident investigation and analysis are useful to identify deficiencies in plant, process, and management practices and formulate preventive strategies for injury elimination. In India and other parts of the world, industrial accidents are investigated to know the causes and also to fulfill legal compliances. However, findings of investigation are seldom used appropriately to strengthen Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in expected lines. The mineral rich state of Odisha in eastern coast of India; known as a hub for Iron and Steel industries, witnessed frequent accidents during 2005-2009. This article based on study of 982 fatal ‘factory-accidents’ occurred in Odisha during the period 2001-2016, discusses the ‘turnaround-story’ resulting in reduction of fatal accident from 122 in 2009 to 45 in 2016. This paper examines various factors causing incidents; accident pattern in steel and chemical sector; role of climate and harsh weather conditions on accident causation. Software such as R, SQL, MS-Excel and Tableau were used for analysis of data. It is found that maximum fatality is caused due to ‘fall from height’ (24%); steel industries are relatively more accident prone; harsh weather conditions of summer increase chances of accident by 20%. Further, the study suggests that enforcement of partial work-restriction around lunch time during peak summer, screening and training of employees reduce accidents due to fall from height. The study indicates that learning from accident investigation and analysis can be used as a method to reduce work related accidents in the journey towards ‘Vision Zero’.

Keywords: accident investigation and analysis, fatal accidents in India, fall from height, vision zero

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Authors: T. Holecki, J. Wozniak-Holecka, P. Romaniuk

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Due to the highly centralized model of financing health care in Poland, local self-government rarely undertook their own initiatives in the field of public health, particularly health promotion. However, since 2017 the possibility of applying for a subsidy to health policy programs has been allowed, with the additional resources to be retrieved from the National Health Fund, which is the dominant payer in the health system. The amount of subsidy depends on the number of inhabitants in a given unit and ranges about 40% of the total cost of the program. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of newly implemented solutions in financing health policy on the management of public finances, as well as on the activity provided by local self-government in health promotion. An effort to estimate the amount of expenses that both local governments, and the National Health Fund, spent on local health policy programs while implementing the new solutions. The research method is the analysis of financial data obtained from the National Health Fund and from local government units, as well as reports published by the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Pricing, which holds substantive control over the health policy programs, and releases permission for their implementation. The study was based on a comparative analysis of expenditures on the implementation of health programs in Poland in years 2010-2018. The presentation of the results includes the inclusion of average annual expenditures of local government units per 1 inhabitant, the total number of positively evaluated applications and the percentage share in total expenditures of local governments (16 voivodships areas). The most essential purpose is to determine whether the assumptions of the subsidy program are working correctly in practice, and what are the real effects of introducing legislative changes into local government levels in the context of public health tasks. The assumption of the study was that the use of a new motivation tool in the field of public management would result in multiplication of resources invested in the provision of health policy programs. Preliminary conclusions show that financial expenditures changed significantly after the introduction of public funding at the level of 40%, obtaining an increase in funding from own funds of local governments at the level of 80 to 90%.

Keywords: health care system, health policy programs, local self-governments, public health management

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Authors: Angelika Dorawa, Lena Kreppel

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Writing in the disciplines plays a major role at Universities. On the one hand, lectures look at the substance of assignments and on the other hand, they expect students to meet professional standards of layout and proofreading. However, the integration of writing concepts into the range of subjects is new to German Universities of Applied Sciences, which are focused on technical and scientific contexts. The Westphalian University of Applied Sciences (WH) established a successful program Talente_schreiben (Writing_Talents) that was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to improve written language skills for first-semester students at the WH. Besides having the main focus on basic language skills on all language levels, we also concentrate on subject-specific programs such as writing in the disciplines and are pioneers in this field in Germany. Since 2013, we started to include learning-to-write programs since first-semester students of Business Law studies must complete a writing assignment in the form and writing style of a legal opinion in order to fulfill their undergraduate degree requirements. To support our students at its best, our course for business lawyers focuses not only on the writing skills per se, but also on teaching both, the content and the particular discourse of the discipline. Hence, a specialist in German studies and a faculty tutor share the experience of processing, producing and reflecting a text. Whereas the German studies specialist refers to the rhetorical context such as orthography, grammar etc., the tutor acts as a guide on the side referring to the course content itself. In our presentation, we want to give an insight of the practice of a business law discipline, the combination of rhetoric and composition and discuss the methodological and didactic approaches.

Keywords: German for business lawyers, talent development, pioneer program, Germany

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Authors: Gabrielle Peck, Ryan Hayes

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This research presents the design and creation of a drone gas analyser, aimed at addressing the need for independent data collection and analysis of gas emissions during large-scale fires, particularly wasteland fires. The analyser drone, comprising a lightweight gas analysis system attached to a remote-controlled drone, enables the real-time assessment of smoke toxicity and the monitoring of gases released into the atmosphere during such incidents. The key components of the analyser unit included two gas line inlets connected to glass wool filters, a pump with regulated flow controlled by a mass flow controller, and electrochemical cells for detecting nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide, and oxygen levels. Additionally, a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) analyser is employed to monitor carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and hydrocarbon concentrations. Thermocouples can be attached to the analyser to monitor temperature, as well as McCaffrey probes combined with pressure transducers to monitor air velocity and wind direction. These additions allow for monitoring of the large fire and can be used for predictions of fire spread. The innovative system not only provides crucial data for assessing smoke toxicity but also contributes to fire prediction and management. The remote-controlled drone's mobility allows for safe and efficient data collection in proximity to the fire source, reducing the need for human exposure to hazardous conditions. The data obtained from the gas analyser unit facilitates informed decision-making by emergency responders, aiding in the protection of both human health and the environment. This abstract highlights the successful development of a drone gas analyser, illustrating its potential for enhancing smoke toxicity analysis and fire prediction capabilities. The integration of this technology into fire management strategies offers a promising solution for addressing the challenges associated with wildfires and other large-scale fire incidents. The project's methodology and results contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field of environmental monitoring and safety, emphasizing the practical utility of drones for critical applications.

Keywords: fire prediction, drone, smoke toxicity, analyser, fire management

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Authors: Omar Alsetoohy, Mohamed Ezzat, Mahmoud Abou Kamar

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The success of a restaurant or hotel depends very much on the quality and quantity of its human resources. Thus, establishing a competitive edge through human assets requires careful attention to the practices that best leverage these assets. Usually, hotel or restaurant employees recognize customer defection as an unfavorable or unpleasant occurrence associated with failure. These failures could be in handling, communication, learning, or encouragement. Besides, employees could be afraid of blame from their colleagues and managers, which prevents them from freely discussing these mistakes with them. Such behaviors, in turn, would push employees to withdraw from the workplace. However, we have a good knowledge of the leadership outcomes, but less is known about how and why these effects occur. Accordingly, mindful leaders usually analyze the causes and underlying mechanisms of failures for work improvement. However, despite the excessive literature in the field of leadership and employee behaviors, to date, no research studies had investigated the impact of a failure-tolerant restaurant culture on the employees’ withdrawal behaviors considering the moderating role of psychological empowerment and mindful leadership. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the impact of a failure-tolerant culture on the employees’ withdrawal behaviors in fast-food restaurants in Egypt considering the moderating effects of employee empowerment and mindful leaders. This study may contribute to the existing literature by filling the gap between failure-tolerant cultures and employee withdrawal behaviors in the hospitality literature. The study may also identify the best practices for restaurant operators and managers to deal with employees' failures as an improvement tool for their performance.

Keywords: failure-tolerant culture, employees’ withdrawal behaviors psychological empowerment, mindful leadership, restaurants

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Authors: Yulan Wu

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The spread of fake news on social media has posed significant societal harm to the public and the nation, with its threats spanning various domains, including politics, economics, health, and more. News on social media often covers multiple domains, and existing models studied by researchers and relevant organizations often perform well on datasets from a single domain. However, when these methods are applied to social platforms with news spanning multiple domains, their performance significantly deteriorates. Existing research has attempted to enhance the detection performance of multi-domain datasets by adding single-domain labels to the data. However, these methods overlook the fact that a news article typically belongs to multiple domains, leading to the loss of domain knowledge information contained within the news text. To address this issue, research has found that news records in different domains often use different vocabularies to describe their content. In this paper, we propose a fake news detection framework that combines domain knowledge and expert knowledge. Firstly, it utilizes an unsupervised domain discovery module to generate a low-dimensional vector for each news article, representing domain embeddings, which can retain multi-domain knowledge of the news content. Then, a feature extraction module uses the domain embeddings discovered through unsupervised domain knowledge to guide multiple experts in extracting news knowledge for the total feature representation. Finally, a classifier is used to determine whether the news is fake or not. Experiments show that this approach can improve multi-domain fake news detection performance while reducing the cost of manually labeling domain labels.

Keywords: fake news, deep learning, natural language processing, multiple domains

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Authors: Yuri Melis, Mattia Resteghini, Emanuela Apicella, Eugenia Dozio, Leonardo Mendolicchio

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Aim: This retrospective study was created to analyze the psychometric, anthropometric and body composition values in patients at the beginning and the discharge of their of hospitalization in the residential care clinic for eating and feeding disorders (EFD’s). Method: The sample was composed by (N=59) patients with mean age N= 33,50, divided in subgroups: Anorexia Nervosa (AN) (N=28), Bulimia Nervosa (BN) (N=13) and Binge Eating Disorders (BED) (N=14) recruited from a residential care clinic for eating and feeding disorders. The psychometrics level was measured with self-report questionnaires: Eating Disorders Inventory-3 (EDI-3) The Body Uneasiness Test (BUT), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI – 2). The anthropometric and nutritional values was collected by Body Impedance Assessment (B.I.A), Body mass index (B.M.I.). Measurements were made at the beginning and at the end of hospitalization, with an average time of recovery of about 8,6 months. Results: The all data analysis showed a statistical significance (p-value >0,05 | power size N=0,950) in variation from T0 (start of recovery) to T1 (end of recovery) in the clinical scales of MMPI-2, AN group (Hypocondria T0 64,14 – T1 56,39) (Depression T0 72,93 – T1 59,50) (Hysteria T0 61,29 – T1 56,17) (Psychopathic deviation T0 64,00 – T1 60,82) (Paranoia T0 63,82 – T1 56,14) (Psychasthenia T0 63,82 – T1 57,86) (Schizophrenia T0 64,68 – T1 60,43) (Obsessive T0 60,36 – T1 55,68); BN group (Hypocondria T0 64,08 – T1 47,54) (Depression T0 67,46 – T1 52,46) (Hysteria T0 60,62 – T1 47,84) (Psychopathic deviation T0 65,69 – T1 58,92) (Paranoia T0 67,46 – T1 55,23) (Psychasthenia T0 60,77 – T1 53,77) (Schizophrenia T0 64,68 – T1 60,43) (Obsessive T0 62,92 – T1 54,08); B.E.D groups (Hypocondria T0 59,43 – T1 53,14) (Depression T0 66,71 – T1 54,57) (Hysteria T0 59,86 – T1 53,82) (Psychopathic deviation T0 67,39 – T1 59,03) (Paranoia T0 58,57 – T1 53,21) (Psychasthenia T0 61,43 – T1 53,00) (Schizophrenia T0 62,29 – T1 56,36) (Obsessive T0 58,57 – T1 48,64). EDI-3 report mean value is higher than clinical cut-off at T0, in T1, there is a significant reduction of the general mean of value. The same result is present in the B.U.T. test in the difference between T0 to T1. B.M.I mean value in AN group is (T0 14,83 – T1 18,41) BN group (T0 20 – T1 21,33) BED group (T0 42,32 – T1 34,97) Phase Angle results: AN group (T0 4,78 – T1 5,64) BN (T0 6 – T1 6,53) BED group (T0 6 – T1 6,72). Discussion and conclusion: The evident presence that on the whole sample, we have an altered serious psychiatric and clinic conditions at the beginning of recovery. The interesting conclusions that we can draw from this analysis are that a multidisciplinary approach that includes the entire care of the subject: from the pharmacological treatment, analytical psychotherapy, Psychomotricity, nutritional rehabilitation, and rehabilitative, educational activities. Thus, this Multidisciplinary treatment allows subjects in our sample to be able to restore psychopathological and metabolic values to below the clinical cut-off.

Keywords: feeding and eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, care clinic treatment, multidisciplinary treatment

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Authors: Chahrazed Salhi, Ayoub Zeroual, Yasmina Hamitouche

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Soil water erosion poses a significant threat to the watersheds in Algeria today. The degradation of storage capacity in large dams over the past two decades, primarily due to erosion, necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the factors that contribute to soil erosion. The Isser watershed, located in the Northwestern region of Algeria, faces additional challenges such as recurrent droughts and the presence of delicate marl and clay outcrops, which amplify its susceptibility to water erosion. This study aims to employ advanced techniques such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS), in conjunction with the Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) method and Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, to predict specific erosion patterns and analyze the key factors influencing erosion in the Isser basin. To accomplish this, an array of data sources including rainfall, climatic, hydrometric, land use, soil, digital elevation, and satellite data were utilized. The application of the SWAT model to the Isser basin yielded an average annual soil loss of approximately 16 t/ha/year. Particularly high erosion rates, exceeding 12 T/ha/year, were observed in the central and southern parts of the basin, encompassing 41% of the total basin area. Through Canonical Correlation Analysis, it was determined that vegetation cover and topography exerted the most substantial influence on erosion. Consequently, the study identified significant and spatially heterogeneous erosion throughout the study area. The impact of land topography on soil loss was found to be directly proportional, while vegetation cover exhibited an inverse proportional relationship. Modeling specific erosion for the Ladrat dam sub-basin estimated a rate of around 39 T/ha/year, thus accounting for the recorded capacity loss of 17.80% compared to the bathymetric survey conducted in 2019. The findings of this research provide valuable decision-support tools for soil conservation managers, empowering them to make informed decisions regarding soil conservation measures.

Keywords: Isser watershed, RS, CCA, SWAT, vegetation cover, topography

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Authors: Lee Yujin, Han Jiye, Oh Jin-Woo

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The adverse effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has attracted considerable public interests. The benzene-like EDCs structure mimics the mechanisms of hormones naturally occurring in vivo, and alters physiological function of the endocrine system. Although, some of the most representative EDCs such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and phthalates compounds already have been prohibited to produce and use in many countries, however, PCBs and phthalates in plastic products as flame retardant and plasticizer are still circulated nowadays. EDCs can be released from products while using and discarding, and it causes serious environmental and health issues. Here, we developed virus-based structurally coloured nanostructure that can detect minute EDCs concentration sensitively and selectively. These structurally coloured nanostructure exhibits characteristic angel-independent colors due to the regular virus bundle structure formation through simple pulling technique. The designed number of different colour bands can be formed through controlling concentration of virus solution and pulling speed. The virus, M-13 bacteriophage, was genetically engineered to react with specific ECDs, typically PCBs and phthalates. M-13 bacteriophage surface (pVIII major coat protein) was decorated with benzene derivative binding peptides (WHW) through phage library method. In the initial assessment, virus-based color sensor was exposed to several organic chemicals including benzene, toluene, phenol, chlorobenzene, and phthalic anhydride. Along with the selectivity evaluation of virus-based colour sensor, it also been tested for sensitivity. 10 to 300 ppm of phthalic anhydride and chlorobenzene were detected by colour sensor, and showed the significant sensitivity with about 90 of dissociation constant. Noteworthy, all measurements were analyzed through principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discrimination analysis (LDA), and exhibited clear discrimination ability upon exposure to 2 categories of EDCs (PCBs and phthalates). Because of its easy fabrication, high sensitivity, and the superior selectivity, M-13 bacteriophage-based color sensor could be a simple and reliable portable sensing system for environmental monitoring, healthcare, social security, and so on.

Keywords: M-13 bacteriophage, colour sensor, genetic engineering, EDCs

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Authors: B. Sadek, N. Khan, D. Łażewska, K. Kieć-Kononowicz

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The effects of the non-imidazole histamine H3 receptor (H3R) antagonist DL77 in passive avoidance paradigm (PAP) and novel object recognition (NOR) task in MK801-induced cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia (CDS) in adult male rats, and applying donepezil (DOZ) as a reference drug were investigated. The results show that acute systemic administration of DL77 (2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly improved MK801-induced (0.1 mg/kg, i.p.) memory deficits in PAP. The ameliorating activity of DL77 (5 mg/kg, i.p.) in MK801-induced deficits was partly reversed when rats were pretreated with the centrally-acting H2R antagonist zolantidine (ZOL, 10 mg/kg, i.p.) or with the antimuscarinic antagonist scopolamine (SCO, 0.1 mg/kg, i.p.), but not with the CNS penetrant H1R antagonist pyrilamine (PYR, 10 mg/kg, i.p.). Moreover, the memory enhancing effect of DL77 (5 mg/kg, i.p.) in MK801-induced memory deficits in PAP was strongly reversed when rats were pretreated with a combination of ZOL (10 mg/kg, i.p.) and SCO (1.0 mg/kg, i.p.). Furthermore, the significant ameliorative effect of DL77 (5 mg/kg, i.p.) on MK801-induced long-term memory (LTM) impairment in NOR test was comparable to the DOZ-provided memory-enhancing effect, and was abrogated when animals were pretreated with the histamine H3R agonist R-(α)-methylhistamine (RAMH, 10 mg/kg, i.p.). However, DL77(5 mg/kg, i.p.) failed to provide procognitive effect on MK801-induced short-term memory (STM) impairment in NOR test. In addition, DL77 (5 mg/kg) did not alter anxiety levels and locomotor activity of animals naive to elevated-plus maze (EPM), demonstrating that improved performances with DL77 (5 mg/kg) in PAP or NOR are unrelated to changes in emotional responding or spontaneous locomotor activity. These results provide evidence for the potential of H3Rs for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders related to impaired memory function, e.g. CDS.

Keywords: histamine H3 receptor, antagonist, learning, memory impairment, passive avoidance paradigm, novel object recognition

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Authors: Rammah Abdlbagi, Egmen Tazcan, Kiriti Tripathi, Vinayagam Sudhakar, Thomas Swallow, Aakash Pai

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Introduction and Objectives: MRI has an increasing role in the diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer. Multiparametric MRI includes multiple sequences, including T2 weighting, diffusion weighting, and dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE). Administration of DCE is expensive, time-consuming, and requires medical supervision due to the risk of anaphylaxis. Biparametric MRI (bpMRI), without DCE, overcomes many of these issues; however, there is conflicting data on its accuracy. Furthermore, data on the concordance between bpMRI lesion and pathology specimen, as well as the rates of cancer stage upgrading after surgery, is limited within the available literature. This study aims to examine the diagnostic test accuracy of bpMRI in the diagnosis of prostate cancer and radiological assessment of prostate cancer staging. Specifically, we aimed to evaluate the ability of bpMRI to accurately localise malignant lesions to better understand its accuracy and application in MRI-targeted biopsies. Materials and Methods: One hundred and forty patients who underwent bpMRI prior to radical prostatectomy (RP) were retrospectively reviewed from a single institution. Histological grade from the prostate biopsy was compared with surgical specimens from RP. Clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) was defined as Gleason grade group ≥2. bpMRI staging was compared with RP histology. Results: Overall sensitivity of bpMRI in diagnosing csPCa independent of location and staging was 98.87%. Of the 140 patients, 29 (20.71%) had their prostate biopsy histology upgraded at RP. 61 (43.57%) patients had csPca noted on RP specimens in areas that were not identified on the bpMRI. 55 (39.29%) had upstaging after RP from the original staging with bpMRI. Conclusions: Whilst the overall sensitivity of bpMRI in predicting any clinically significant cancer was good, there was notably poor concordance in the location of the tumour between bpMRI and eventual RP specimen. The results suggest that caution should be exercised when using bpMRI for targeted prostate biopsies and validates the continued role of systemic biopsies. Furthermore, a significant number of patients were upstaged at RP from their original staging with bpMRI. Based on these findings, bpMRI results should be interpreted with caution and can underestimate TNM stage, requiring careful consideration of treatment strategy.

Keywords: biparametric MRI, Ca prostate, staging, post prostatectomy histology

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Authors: Abrar Ajmal

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This quantitative study explored elementary school teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and effects on grade 8 students' achievement in Punjab, Pakistan. A teacher sample (N=100) rated competencies across inquiry-focused teaching, conceptual building, interaction practices and peer collaboration promotion. A student sample (N=120) self-reported academic abilities, intrinsic motivation, help-seeking and accountability. Findings reveal teachers highly endorse learner-centric strategies, although peer interaction promotion seems less common currently. Meanwhile, significant gender disparities in self-perceived expertise emerge, favouring female over male educators across all facets measured. Additionally, teachers' knowledge positively—and significantly—correlates with student achievement overall and for both genders, highlighting the importance of professional enrichment. However, female pupils demonstrate greater confidence, drive, utilization of academic support, and ownership over learning than male counterparts. Recommendations include ongoing teacher training, targeted competency building for male students and teachers, leveraging gender peer collaboration similarities, and holistic female support amid widening divides. Sustaining instructional quality through empowering, equitable practices that nurture disadvantaged and gifted learners alike can spur systemic improvements. Ultimately, the fire line confirms the interrelations between teachers' multifaceted knowledge and student success.

Keywords: pedagogical knowledge, academic achievement, teacher gender differences, student gender differences, empowering instruction

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Authors: Khadijah Saeed Khan

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One of the major current societal issues of Swedish society is to integrate newcomer refugees well into the host society. The cultural integration issue is one of the under debated topic in the literature, and this study intends to meet this gap from the Swedish perspective. The purpose of this study is to explore the role and types of cultural landscapes of refugee women in Sweden and how these landscapes help or hinder the settlement process. The cultural landscapes are referred to as a set of multiple cultural activities or practices which refugees perform in a specific context and circumstances (i.e., being in a new country) to seek, share or use relevant information for their settlement. Information plays a vital role in various aspects of newcomers' lives in a new country. This article has an intention to highlight the importance of multiple cultural landscapes as a source of information (regarding employment, language learning, finding accommodation, immigration matters, health concerns, school and education, family matters, and other everyday matters) for refugees to settle down in Sweden. Some relevant theories, such as information landscapes and socio-cultural theories, are considered in this study. A qualitative research design is employed, including semi-structured deep interviews and participatory observation with 20 participants. The initial findings show that the refugee women encounter many information-related and integration-related challenges in Sweden and have built a network of cultural landscapes in which they practice various co-ethnic cultural and religious activities at different times of the year. These landscapes help them to build a sense of belonging with people from their own or similar land and assist them to seek and share relevant information in everyday life in Sweden.

Keywords: cultural integration, cultural landscapes, information, women refugees

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Authors: Nuttapimon Bhirommuang, Kulapong Jayanama

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Background: Prevalence of malnutrition in hospitalized patient is higher than general population. As a result of the unawareness of consequence and the more concerning in the other aspects of care, many patients with high risk of malnutrition are unrecognized. Even if malnutrition has been identified as affecting in many patient outcomes, the impact may differ in each population and group of patients. Objectives: The aims of this study were to examine the association between the nutritional status and the length of stay and hospital costs in hospitalized patients, to investigate the factors related these outcomes and to determine the frequency of malnutrition in hospitals. Method: This retrospective cohort study enrolled all patients aged 15 years old or older and admitted in SDMC, Ramathibodi Hospital between 1st January 2016 and 30th September 2016. The nutritional status assessment by Nutrition Alert Form (NAF) was performed by well-trained nurses in all patients at admission. Baseline characteristics were recorded. Length of stay and hospital costs were collected during their hospitalization. Univariate analysis, nonparametric rank test, Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare means in the case of nonnormally and noncontinuously distributed data. Chi-square used to analyze categorical variables, the nutritional status and the length of stay and hospital costs and identify possible confounding factors (data were analyzed using SPSS version 18.0). Result: Of the 2,906 patients, 3.9% were severe malnutrition (NAF-C score > 10) and 11.4% were moderate malnutrition (NAF-B score 6 - 10). Both length of stay and hospital costs were found significantly higher in more severe malnutrition group (p < 0.001), NAF = A: 3.21 days, 95% CI 3.06-3.35 and 111,544.25 THB, 95% CI 106,994.41 – 116,094.1; NAF = B: 7.54 days, 95% CI 6.32 – 8.76 and 162,302.4 THB, 95% CI 129,557.88 – 195,046.92; NAF =C: 14.77 days, 95% CI 11.34 – 18.2 and 323,572.11 THB, 95% CI 226,958.1 – 420,096.13 (1 THB = 0.03019 USD). Age of each nutritional status group had also significant increase from NAF A to NAF C (p < 0.001): 55.07, 67.03 and 73.88 years old, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of malnutrition in Ramathibodi hospital is voluminous. Severe malnutrition screening by NAF is significantly correlated with worse clinical outcome, especially higher length of stay and hospital costs. Elderly is also a significant factor which correlates with malnutrition. The results of this study could change the awareness of health personnel and the practice protocol. Moreover, the further study concerning nutritional support in high-risk group of malnutrition is ongoing to confirm this hypothesis.

Keywords: malnutrition, NAF, length of stay, hospital costs

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Authors: Shirka Kassam Jwasshaka

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Graduates from higher educational institutions in Nigeria need to leave with the necessary skills to be independent in the emergence work environment. The goal of this study is to develop a framework of digital skills that Nigerian graduates in building construction need to be proficient in various digital skills to comfortably fit into the global advances in a technological labour market. The descriptive survey design was used in this investigation. The study's population consisted of building construction experts selected from different sites within the North Central geographical zones of Nigeria. Using random sampling approaches, 120 seasoned experts were chosen. Three research questions raised by the researchers guided the study. The data was gathered using a 60-item, structured questionnaire. The questions were formulated around three key skill areas such as digital skills related to ICT, digital skills related to general workforce, and basic digital literacy skills that students should have. A building construction specialist validated the questionnaire. Winstep in conjunction with SPSS was used to determine the Cronbach Alpha reliability of the items' internal consistency and person separation,item measure, item fit based on PTMEA CORR, polarity items, misfit items, unidimensionality, and a person-item map. The Cronbach Coefficient reliability of items for the three sub constructs was 0.70. The results showed nearly every sub component within the three areas of digital skills was regarded as significant to be learn by experts. The researchers recommended among other things, that all parties involved in the education sector should work together to develop a curriculum that covers digital skills which can meet employer’s' needs.

Keywords: lifelong learning, digital skill, framework, building technology

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Authors: Nalini Murugaiyah

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Indigenous students require a positive school environment where meaningful learning ought to be there to minimise myriad challenges. Therefore, Orang Asli student’s school environment should be culturally responsive and equipped with student-centred activities or provide constructively designed curriculum and pedagogy. This study sought to extend the knowledge of culturally responsive school leadership practises which relevant and responsive to Orang Asli students through th lens of a theoretical framework, Culturally Responsive School Leadership. The aim of the proposed study is to examine and understand the real-world application of leadership practices that are relevant and responsive to Orang Asli students in Malaysia. This study will also include the often-voiceless voices’ of Orang Asli students, parents, and community leaders to gain a deeper understanding of the process and experience of engaging in culturally responsive school leadership. The study will explore the differences between school leaders, teachers, parents, and community leaders in relation to culturally responsive school environment, non-Orang Asli school leaders’ and teachers’ support to the needs of Orang Asli children, children’s perspectives of teachers’ practices in the classroom align with their culture; and, the demonstration of teacher’s culturally responsive behaviour in the classroom. A basic qualitative study is the proposed research design for this study, and the data is collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. This qualitative research is designed to gain in-depth knowledge about how the principal’s leadership is culturally responsive towards the school environment, which will improve the quality of education received by the Orang Asli community in Malaysia, hence reducing the drop-out rates in Orang Asli students.

Keywords: indigenous leadership, equity, inclusion, policy

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Authors: Micah J. Dobson

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After-school programs of physical education provide children with opportunities to engage in physical activities while developing healthy habits. To ensure that these programs are inclusive, diverse, and engaging, however, schools must consider various factors when designing and implementing them. This study sought to bring out efficient strategies for structuring after-school programs of physical education. The literature review was conducted using various databases and search engines. Some databases that index the journals include ERIC, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost. The search terms were combinations of keywords such as “after-school,” “physical education,” “inclusion,” “diversity,” “engagement,” “program design,” “program implementation,” “program effectiveness,” and “best practices.” The findings of this study suggest that schools that desire inclusivity must consider four key factors when designing and implementing after-school physical education programs. First, the programs must be designed with variety and fun by incorporating activities such as dance, sports, and games that appeal to all students. Second, instructors must be trained to create supportive and positive environments that foster student engagement while promoting physical literacy. Third, schools must collaborate with community stakeholders and organizations to ensure that programs are culturally inclusive and responsive. Fourth, schools can incorporate technology into their programs to enhance engagement and provide additional growth and learning opportunities.In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into efficient strategies for structuring after-school programs of physical education that are inclusive, diverse, and engaging for all students. By considering these factors when designing and implementing their programs, schools can promote physical activity while supporting students’ overall well-being and health.

Keywords: after-school programs of physical education, community partnership, inclusivity, instructor training, technology

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Authors: Deepak Singh, Rail Kuliev

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The abstract highlights the critical importance of optimizing data integration and management strategies in the upstream oil and gas industry. With its complex and dynamic nature generating vast volumes of data, efficient data integration and management are essential for informed decision-making, cost reduction, and maximizing operational performance. Challenges such as data silos, heterogeneity, real-time data management, and data quality issues are addressed, prompting the proposal of several strategies. These strategies include implementing a centralized data repository, adopting industry-wide data standards, employing master data management (MDM), utilizing real-time data integration technologies, and ensuring data quality assurance. Training and developing the workforce, “reskilling and upskilling” the employees and establishing robust Data Management training programs play an essential role and integral part in this strategy. The article also emphasizes the significance of data governance and best practices, as well as the role of technological advancements such as big data analytics, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). To illustrate the practicality of these strategies, real-world case studies are presented, showcasing successful implementations that improve operational efficiency and decision-making. In present study, by embracing the proposed optimization strategies, leveraging technological advancements, and adhering to best practices, upstream oil and gas companies can harness the full potential of data-driven decision-making, ultimately achieving increased profitability and a competitive edge in the ever-evolving industry.

Keywords: master data management, IoT, AI&ML, cloud Computing, data optimization

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Authors: Valdir Moura, Raniele dos Anjos de Souza, Fernando Gomes de Souza, Jose Vagner da Silva, Jerry Adriani Johann

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The estimate of the Area of Land to be planted with annual crops and its stratification by the municipality are important variables in crop forecast. Nowadays in Brazil, these information’s are obtained by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and published under the report Assessment of the Agricultural Production. Due to the high cloud cover in the main crop growing season (October to March) it is difficult to acquire good orbital images. Thus, one alternative is to work with remote sensing data from dates before the crop growing season. This work presents the use of multitemporal Landsat data gathered on July and September (before the summer growing season) in order to estimate the area of land to be planted with summer crops in an area of São Paulo State, Brazil. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and digital image processing techniques were applied for the treatment of the available data. Supervised and non-supervised classifications were used for data in digital number and reflectance formats and the multitemporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images. The objective was to discriminate the tracts with higher probability to become planted with summer crops. Classification accuracies were evaluated using a sampling system developed basically for this study region. The estimated areas were corrected using the error matrix derived from these evaluations. The classification techniques presented an excellent level according to the kappa index. The proportion of crops stratified by municipalities was derived by a field work during the crop growing season. These proportion coefficients were applied onto the area of land to be planted with summer crops (derived from Landsat data). Thus, it was possible to derive the area of each summer crop by the municipality. The discrepancies between official statistics and our results were attributed to the sampling and the stratification procedures. Nevertheless, this methodology can be improved in order to provide good crop area estimates using remote sensing data, despite the cloud cover during the growing season.

Keywords: area intended for summer culture, estimated area planted, agriculture, Landsat, planting schedule

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Authors: Yessenia Parrado, Ana Barbosa, Daniela Mahe, Sebastian Toro, Jhon Garcia

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The purpose of this work is to present the identification and characterization of the barriers and enablers to public innovation in the Central Region of Colombia from a mixed methodology in a research carried out in 2020 by the Laboratory of Innovation, Creativity and New Technologies of the National University of Colombia in alliance with the National Planning Department. Based on the research, the index of barriers to regional and departmental public innovation was built, which reflects the level of difficulty of the territorial entities to overcome the barriers present around three dimensions: organizational structure of the entity, generation of public value, and governance processes. The index was built from the item response methodology and the multiple correspondence analysis from the application of an institutional information form for public entities and a perception form for public servants. This investigation had the participation of 36 entities and 1038 servers and servants from the departments of Huila, Meta, Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Tolima, and the Capital District. In this exercise, it was identified that the departmental indices range between 13 and 44 and that the regional index was 30 out of 100. From the analysis of the information, it was possible to establish that the main barriers are the lack of specialized agencies for public innovation exercises, lack of qualified personnel and work methodologies for public innovation, inadequate information management, lack of feedback between the learning from governmental and non-governmental entities, the inability of the initiatives to generate binding participation mechanisms and the lack of qualification of citizens to participate in these processes.

Keywords: item response, public innovation, quantitative analysis, compared analysis

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Authors: Tanimola Kazeem Abiodun

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In Nigeria, both formal education and distance learning opportunities are used in teacher training. Practical courses aim to improve the skills of teacher candidates in a school environment. Teacher candidates attend kindergarten classes under the supervision of a teacher. In this context, the guiding skills of teachers gain importance in terms of shaping candidates’ perceptions about teaching profession. In this study, the teachers’ perceptions related to the guiding skills within the practical courses were determined. Also, the perceptions and applications related to guiding skills were compared. A Likert scale questionnaire and an open-ended question were used to determine perceptions and applications. 120 questionnaires were taken into consideration and analyses of data were performed by using percentage distribution and QSR Nvivo 8 program. In this study, statements related to teachers’ perceptions about the guiding skills were asked and it is determined that almost all the teachers agreed about the importance of these statements. On the other hand, how these guidance skills are applied by teachers is also queried with an open-ended question. Finally, thoughts and applications related to guidance skills were compared to each other. Based on this comparison, it is seen that there are some differences between the thoughts and applications especially related with time management, planning, feedbacks, curriculum, workload, rules and guidance. It can be said that some guidance skills cannot be controlled only by teachers. For example, candidates’ motivation, attention, population and educational environment are also determinative factors for effective guidance. In summary, it is necessary to have prior conditions for teachers to apply these idealized guidance skills for training more successful candidates to pre-school education era. At this point, organization of practical courses by the faculties gains importance and in this context it is crucial for faculties to revise their applications based on more detailed researches.

Keywords: teacher training, guiding skills, education, practical courses

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Authors: M. Silveirinha, P. Lobo

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In the last few decades, many studies have documented a systematic under-representation of women in the news. Aside from being fewer than men, research has also shown that they are frequently portrayed according to traditional stereotypes that have been proven to be disadvantageous for women. When considering this problem, it has often been argued that news content will be more gender balanced when the number of female journalists increases. However, the recent so-called ‘feminization’ of media professions has shown that this assumption is too simplistic. If we want to better grasp gender biases in news content we will need to take a deeper approach into the processes of news production and into journalism culture itself, taking the study of newsmaking as a starting point and theoretical framework, with the purpose of examining the actual newsroom routines, professional values, structures and news access that eventually lead to an unbalanced media representation of women. If journalists consider themselves to be observers of everyday social and political life, of specific importance, as a vast body of research shows, is the observation of women journalist’s believes and of their roles and practices in a gendered newsroom. In order to better understand the professional and organizational context of news production, and the gender power relations in decision-making processes, we conducted a participant observation in two television newsrooms. Our approach involved a combination of methods, including overt observation itself, formal and informal interviews and the writing-up and analysis of our own diaries. Drawing insights in organizational sociology, we took newsroom practices to be a result of professional routines and socialization and focused on how women and men respond to newsroom dynamics and structures. We also analyzed the gendered organization of the newsmaking process and the subtle and/or obvious glass-ceiling obstacles often reported on. In our paper we address two levels of research: first, we look at our results and establish an overview of the patterns of continuity between the gendering of organizations, working conditions and professional journalist beliefs. At this level, the study not only interrogates how journalists handle views on gender and the practice of the profession but also highlights the structural inequalities in journalism and the pervasiveness of family–work tensions for female journalists. Secondly, we reflect on our observation method, and establish a critical assessment of the method itself.

Keywords: gender, journalism, participant observation, women

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Authors: Chiqian Zhang, Kyle D. McIntosh, Nathan Sienkiewicz, Ian Struewing, Erin A. Stelzer, Jennifer L. Graham, Jingrang Lu

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Phytoplankton plays an essential role in freshwater aquatic ecosystems and is the primary group synthesizing organic carbon and providing food sources or energy to ecosystems. Therefore, the identification and quantification of phytoplankton are important for estimating and assessing ecosystem productivity (carbon fixation), water quality, and eutrophication. Microscopy is the current gold standard for identifying and quantifying phytoplankton composition and abundance. However, microscopic analysis of phytoplankton is time-consuming, has a low sample throughput, and requires deep knowledge and rich experience in microbial morphology to implement. To improve this situation, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was considered for phytoplankton identification and quantification. Using qPCR to assess phytoplankton composition and abundance, however, has not been comprehensively evaluated. This study focused on: 1) conducting a comprehensive performance comparison of qPCR and microscopy techniques in identifying and quantifying phytoplankton and 2) examining the use of qPCR as a tool for assessing eutrophication. Twelve large rivers located throughout the United States were evaluated using data collected from 2017 to 2019 to understand the relation between qPCR-based phytoplankton abundance and eutrophication. This study revealed that temporal variation of phytoplankton abundance in the twelve rivers was limited within years (from late spring to late fall) and among different years (2017, 2018, and 2019). Midcontinent rivers had moderately greater phytoplankton abundance than eastern and western rivers, presumably because midcontinent rivers were more eutrophic. The study also showed that qPCR- and microscope-determined phytoplankton abundance had a significant positive linear correlation (adjusted R² 0.772, p-value < 0.001). In addition, phytoplankton abundance assessed via qPCR showed promise as an indicator of the eutrophication status of those rivers, with oligotrophic rivers having low phytoplankton abundance and eutrophic rivers having (relatively) high phytoplankton abundance. This study demonstrated that qPCR could serve as an alternative tool to traditional microscopy for phytoplankton quantification and eutrophication assessment in freshwater rivers.

Keywords: phytoplankton, eutrophication, river, qPCR, microscopy, spatiotemporal variation

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Authors: Dianne Lyneth Alavado

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At the turn of the millennium, development paradigms in the international scene revolved around one goal: elimination of global poverty without comprising human rights. One measure which achieved high endorsement and visibility in the world of work is the Decent Work Agenda (DWA) championed by the United Nation’s (UN) specialized agency for work, the International Labour Organization (ILO). The DWA has been thoroughly promoted and recommended as an ingredient of development planning and a poverty reduction strategy, particularly in developing countries such as the Philippines. The global imperative of economic growth is measurable not only in the numbers raked in by countries in terms of expanding economy but also by the development and realization of the full capacities of their people. Decent work (DW), as an outcome and not just a development approach, promises poverty eradication by means of providing both quantity and quality work that is accompanied by rights, representation, and protection. As a party to these international pacts, the Philippines is expected to heed the call towards a world free from poverty through well-endorsed measures such as the DWA with the aid of multilateral and donor organizations such as the ILO. This study aims to assess the capacity and readiness of the Philippines to achieve the goals of the DWA. This is a qualitative research using the sociological and juridical lens in the desk analysis of existing Philippine laws, policies, and programs vis-à-vis decent work indicators set forth by the ILO. Interview with experts on the Philippine labor situation is conducted for further validation. The paper identifies gaps within the Philippine legal system and its collection of laws, acts, presidential decrees, department orders and other policy instruments aimed towards achieving the goals of the DWA. Among the major findings of this paper are: the predisposition of Philippine labor laws towards the formal sector; the need for alternative solutions for the informal sector veering away from the usual dole-outs and livelihood projects; the needs for evaluation of policies and programs that are usually self-evaluated; the minimal reach of the labour inspectorate which ensures decent work; and the lack of substantial penalty for non-compliance with labor laws. The paper concludes with policy implications and recommendations towards addressing the potholes on the road to Decent Work.

Keywords: decent work agenda, labor laws, millennium development goals, poverty eradication, sustainable development goal

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Authors: Ramesh Joshi, Nisha Khatik

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Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng locally known as “Curry patta” or “Meetha neem” belonging to the family Rutaceae that grows wildly in Southern Asia. Its aromatic leaves are commonly used as the raw material for traditional medicinal formulations in India. The leaves contain essential oil and also used as a condiment. Several monomeric and binary carbazol alkaloids present in the various plant parts. These alkaloids have been reported to possess anti-microbial, mosquitocidal, topo-isomerase inhibition and antioxidant properties. Some of the alkaloids reported in this plant have showed anti carcinogenic and anti-diabetic properties. The conventional method of propagation of this tree is limited to seeds only, which retain their viability for only a short period. Hence, a biotechnological approach might have an advantage edging over traditional breeding as well as the genetic improvement of M. koenigii within a short period. The development of a reproducible regeneration protocol is the prerequisite for ex situ conservation and micropropagation. An efficient protocol for high frequency regeneration of in vitro plants of Murraya koenigii via different explants such as- nodal segments, intermodal segments, leaf, root segments, hypocotyle, cotyledons and cotyledonary node explants is described. In the present investigation, assessment of clonal fidelity in the micropropagated plantlets of Murraya koenigii was attempted using RAPD and ISSR markers at different pathways of plant tissue culture technique. About 20 ISSR and 40 RAPD primers were used for all the samples. Genomic DNA was extracted by CTAB method. ISSR primer were found to be more suitable as compared to RAPD for the analysis of clonal fidelity of M. koenigii. The amplifications however, were finally performed using RAPD, ISSR markers owing to their better performance in terms of generation of amplification products. In RAPD primer maximum 75% polymorphism was recorded in OPU-2 series which exhibited out of 04 scorable bands, three bands were polymorphic with a band range of size 600-1500 bp. In ISSR primers the UBC 857 showed 50% polymorphism with 02 band were polymorphic of band range size between 400-1000 bp.

Keywords: genetic fidelity, Murraya koenigii, aromatic plants, ISSR primers

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