Search results for: imaging violence in East Africa

Authors: Grace Iember Anweh, Er Shipp

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Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) has been a contending issue across the globe. The menace of child sexual violence cuts across all continents. From 0 - 13 years, children have been sexually abused – some to the extent that their reproductive organs have been permanently damaged. The research in view is timely, as it will contribute data on CSA and media role to the communication parlance. This study believes that the adverse effects of this menace can hinder children who are potential leaders of tomorrow from harnessing their potentials to contribute to the growth and development of societies due to the psychological, health, and social effects of sex abuse. Where government policies, the law, cultural beliefs, and bottle necks surrounding processes of fighting child sexual abuse have failed, this study assumes that adequate coverage by the mass media, especially the newspapers known for their in-depth coverage and reporting, can help to eradicate or reduce to its barest minimum, the menace of CSA. Therefore, this study aims at assessing the coverage of newspapers – their policies and content towards preventive strategies, and how the public access and receive the messages to the extent they take action to forestall the persistence of sexual violation of children in Nigeria. Methodologically, the study has adopted qualitative and quantitative methods to answer the problem. The study used in-depth interview method to find out from journalists and editors of newspapers the policies that define the production of news content on sexual gender-based violence. In addition, selected National Daily newspapers are content - analysed to determine the focus of media coverage and whether the contents are preventive-based or case-based. In addition, caregivers of the reproductive ages from 16 years and above, ranging from parents, guardians, and school management, will form the study population through a survey using the questionnaire. The aim is to determine their views regarding mass media coverage of sexual violence against children and the effectiveness of the content, to the extent of prompting them to keep the child safe from sexual molesters. Findings from the content analysis so far show that newspapers in Nigeria are not engaged in preventive content of CSA. Their contents are rather case-based.

Keywords: newspaper, coverage, prevention, child, sexual abuse

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Authors: Ali Conn, Kimberly Allen

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Food and nutrition play a significant role in humans. It helps them function, grow, and develop into better individuals. However, as essential as food may seem to most people, it is not the case for everyone. South Africans, for example, have been suffering from hunger and poverty for the longest time now. With the spread of the COVID-19 virus, their situations have become worse. Millions of children and their families do not have access to food, hence no proper nutrition. They could barely make ends meet, so they make sure to make the most of what little they have for their household. Fortunately, organizations like SA Harvest aim to end hunger in South Africa. However, they still need to know more about how they can help South Africans with their current diet. Currently, most of the diets are composed of maize and rice. They do not have much to spend on fruits, so these commodities are seen as a luxury. With the help of organizations like SA Harvest, South Africans will be educated and more aware of what they need to eat.

Keywords: nutrition, public health, SA Harvest, food

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Authors: Muhammad Asim

Abstract:

Background: Less than half of women in South Asia (SA) use any modern contraceptive method which leads to a huge burden of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths, and socioeconomic loss. Women empowerment plays a pivotal role in improving various health seeking behaviours, including contraceptive use. The objective of this study to explore the association between women's empowerment and modern contraceptive, among rich and poor segment of population in SA. Methods: We used the most recent, large-scale, demographic health survey data of five South Asian countries, namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The outcome variable was the current use of modern contraceptive methods. The main exposure variable was a combination (interaction) of socio-economic status (SES) and women’s level of empowerment (low, medium, and high), where SES was bifurcated into poor and rich; and women empowerment was divided into three categories: decision making, attitude to violence and social independence. Moreover, overall women empowerment indicator was also created by using three dimensions of women empowerment. We applied both descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression techniques for data analyses. Results: Most of the women possessed ‘medium’ level of empowerment across South Asian Countries. The lowest attitude to violence empowerment was found in Afghanistan, and the lowest social independence empowerment was observed in Bangladesh across SA. However, Pakistani women have the lowest decision-making empowerment in the region. The lowest modern contraceptive use (22.1%) was found in Afghanistan and the highest (53.2%) in Bangladesh. The multivariate results depict that the overall measure of women empowerment does not affect modern contraceptive use among poor and rich women in most of South Asian countries. However, the decision-making empowerment plays a significant role among both poor and rich women to use modern contraceptive methods across South Asian countries. Conclusions: The effect of women’s empowerment on modern contraceptive use is not consistent across countries, and among poor and rich segment of population. Of the three dimensions of women’s empowerment, the autonomy of decision making in household affairs emerged as a stronger determinant of mCPR as compared with social independence and attitude towards violence against women.

Keywords: women empowerment, contraceptive use, South Asia, women autonomy

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Authors: Bright Chukwunwike Uzuegbunam, Wojciech Paslawski, Hans Agren, Christer Halldin, Wolfgang Weber, Markus Luster, Thomas Arzberger, Behrooz Hooshyar Yousefi

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There is a need to develop a PET tracer that will enable to diagnosis and track the progression of Alpha-synucleinopathies (Parkinson’s disease [PD], dementia with Lewy bodies [DLB], multiple system atrophy [MSA]) in living subjects over time. Alpha-synuclein aggregates (a-syn), which are present in all the stages of disease progression, for instance, in PD, are a suitable target for in vivo PET imaging. For this reason, we have developed some promising a-syn tracers based on a disarylbisthiazole (DABTA) scaffold. The precursors are synthesized via a modified Hantzsch thiazole synthesis. The precursors were then radiolabeled via one- or two-step radiofluorination methods. The ligands were initially screened using a combination of molecular dynamics and quantum/molecular mechanics approaches in order to calculate the binding affinity to a-syn (in silico binding experiments). Experimental in vitro binding assays were also performed. The ligands were further screened in other experiments such as log D, in vitro plasma protein binding & plasma stability, biodistribution & brain metabolite analyses in healthy mice. Radiochemical yields were up to 30% - 72% in some cases. Molecular docking revealed possible binding sites in a-syn and also the free energy of binding to those sites (-28.9 - -66.9 kcal/mol), which correlated to the high binding affinity of the DABTAs to a-syn (Ki as low as 0.5 nM) and selectivity (> 100-fold) over Aβ and tau, which usually co-exist with a-synin some pathologies. The log D values range from 2.88 - 2.34, which correlated with free-protein fraction of 0.28% - 0.5%. Biodistribution experiments revealed that the tracers are taken up (5.6 %ID/g - 7.3 %ID/g) in the brain at 5 min (post-injection) p.i., and cleared out (values as low as 0.39 %ID/g were obtained at 120 min p.i. Analyses of the mice brain 20 min p.i. Revealed almost no radiometabolites in the brain in most cases. It can be concluded that in silico study presents a new venue for the rational development of radioligands with suitable features. The results obtained so far are promising and encourage us to further validate the DABTAs in autoradiography, immunohistochemistry, and in vivo imaging in non-human primates and humans.

Keywords: alpha-synuclein aggregates, alpha-synucleinopathies, PET imaging, tracer development

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Authors: Samy A. Khalil, U. Ali Rahoma

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The measurements of solar radiation, satellite data has been routinely utilize to estimate solar energy. However, the temporal coverage of satellite data has some limits. The reanalysis, also known as "retrospective analysis" of the atmosphere's parameters, is produce by fusing the output of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) models with observation data from a variety of sources, including ground, and satellite, ship, and aircraft observation. The result is a comprehensive record of the parameters affecting weather and climate. The effectiveness of reanalysis datasets (ERA-5) for North Africa was evaluate against high-quality surfaces measured using statistical analysis. Estimating the distribution of global solar radiation (GSR) over five chosen areas in North Africa through ten-years during the period time from 2011 to 2020. To investigate seasonal change in dataset performance, a seasonal statistical analysis was conduct, which showed a considerable difference in mistakes throughout the year. By altering the temporal resolution of the data used for comparison, the performance of the dataset is alter. Better performance is indicate by the data's monthly mean values, but data accuracy is degraded. Solar resource assessment and power estimation are discuses using the ERA-5 solar radiation data. The average values of mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of the reanalysis data of solar radiation vary from 0.079 to 0.222, 0.055 to 0.178, and 0.0145 to 0.198 respectively during the period time in the present research. The correlation coefficient (R2) varies from 0.93 to 99% during the period time in the present research. This research's objective is to provide a reliable representation of the world's solar radiation to aid in the use of solar energy in all sectors.

Keywords: solar energy, ERA-5 analysis data, global solar radiation, North Africa

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Authors: Muhammad Asim

Abstract:

Background: Less than half of women in South Asia (SA) use any modern contraceptive method which leads to a huge burden of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths, and socioeconomic loss. Women empowerment plays a pivotal role in improving various health seeking behaviours, including contraceptive use. The objective of this study to explore the association between women's empowerment and modern contraceptive, among rich and poor segment of population in SA. Methods: We used the most recent, large-scale, demographic health survey data of five South Asian countries, namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The outcome variable was the current use of modern contraceptive methods. The main exposure variable was a combination (interaction) of socio-economic status (SES) and women’s level of empowerment (low, medium, and high), where SES was bifurcated into poor and rich; and women empowerment was divided into three categories: decision making, attitude to violence and social independence. Moreover, overall women empowerment indicator was also created by using three dimensions of women empowerment. We applied both descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression techniques for data analyses. Results: Most of the women possessed ‘medium’ level of empowerment across South Asian Countries. The lowest attitude to violence empowerment was found in Afghanistan, and the lowest social independence empowerment was observed in Bangladesh across SA. However, Pakistani women have the lowest decision-making empowerment in the region. The lowest modern contraceptive use (22.1%) was found in Afghanistan and the highest (53.2%) in Bangladesh. The multivariate results depict that the overall measure of women empowerment does not affect modern contraceptive use among poor and rich women in most of South Asian countries. However, the decision-making empowerment plays a significant role among both poor and rich women to use modern contraceptive methods across South Asian countries. Conclusions: The effect of women’s empowerment on modern contraceptive use is not consistent across countries, and among poor and rich segment of population. Of the three dimensions of women’s empowerment, the autonomy of decision making in household affairs emerged as a stronger determinant of mCPR as compared with social independence and attitude towards violence against women.

Keywords: women empowerment, modern contraceptive use, South Asia, women autonomy

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Authors: M. Kang'ethe Simon, Nomngcoyiya Thanduxolo

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The aim of this article is to explore the role of selected cultural practices and assess how they can be a panacea in mitigating the state of social vices in South Africa. The article uses a review of literature methodology. Findings indicate that Africans were hoodwinked by white people to abandon their cultures for western based cultures. African cultures continue to weaken as they succumb to forces of westernization, eurocentrism, modernization, civilization, and globalization. Africans have realised that their cultures abandoned such as virginity testing, sexual mores and taboos and circumcision could be a panacea in mitigating some of the societal ills such as moral decadence and HIV/AIDS. The article urges for a resuscitation of cultural practices such as virginity testing, thigh sex (ukumetsha), circumcision and teachings that accompanied initiation schools; and societies to undergo an attitudinal and cultural paradigm shift that will consider the invaluable aspects of cultures that can effectuate and facilitate mitigation of social ills in African countries such as South Africa.

Keywords: virginity testing (reed dance), circumcision, initiation schools, African Renaissance, thigh sex, moral decadence, cultural custodians, state of anomie

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Authors: Fereshteh M. Haskouei, Habib Alimohammadian

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Magnetic susceptibility (χ) is operational to identify of late quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles in loess-paleosol sequences. It is well accepted that many loess-paleosol sequences bear witness to cold-dry/warm-humid periods, well known as glacial-interglacial cycles, respectively. For this study, loess-paleosol sequence of north-east of Iran was magnetically investigated. The study area is situated at about 8 km away of Neka city, on the main road of Sari-Behshahr, in Mazandaran Province, north of Iran. The youngest deposits of study area are the late Quaternary wind-blown accumulations. In this study, the total number of 117 samples was collected from loess-paleosols units. After that, the natural remnant magnetization (NRM) and magnetic susceptibility (MS) of the samples were measured. Variation of MS of more than 110 loess samples was plotted to reveal the correlation of the MS and paleoclimatic changes. This study aims reconstruction of climatic changes (glacial-interglacial and stadials-interstadials cycles). To confirm our results we compared MS (χ) and the curves of other investigations in paleoclimatology. This correspondence abled us to recognize worldly events in the study area such as: Younger Dryas, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), deglaciation of Northern Hemisphere etc. The obtained magnetic data indicate that during almost 50 ka, at least two glacial-interglacial periods occurred in north-east of Iran. Further, variation of χ values revealed short period of climatically cycles known as stadials-interstadials. We recognized 4 stadials and a single stadial as colder sub-periods for S₀ (recently soil-paleosol) and S₂ (lower paleosol), respectively, Moreover, we recognized 6 warmer sub-periods (interstadials) for L₁ (upper loess) and one interstadial L₂ (lower loess).

Keywords: glacial-interglacial cycles, Iran, last glacial maximum (LGM), loess, magnetic susceptibility (χ), Neka, stadials-interstadials sub-periods, younger dryas

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Authors: Sudha Subramani, Hua Wang

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Domestic Violence (DV) against women is now recognized to be a serious and widespread problem worldwide. There is a growing concern that violence against women has a global public health impact, as well as a violation of human rights. From the existing statistical surveys, it is revealed that there exists a strong relationship between DV and health issues of women like bruising, lacerations, depression, anxiety, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, hyper-arousal, emotional distress, sexually transmitted diseases and so on. This social problem is still considered as behind the closed doors issue and stigmatized topic. Women conceal their sufferings from family and friends, as they experience a lack of trust in others, feelings of shame and embarrassment among the society. Hence, women survivors of DV experience some barriers in seeking the support of specialized services such as health care access, crisis support, and legal guidance. Fortunately, with the popularity of social media like Facebook and Twitter, people share their opinions and emotional feelings to seek the social and emotional support, for sympathetic encouragement, to show compassion and empathy among the public. Considering the DV, social media plays a predominant role in creating the awareness and promoting the support services to the public, as we live in the golden era of social media. The various professional people like the public health researchers, clinicians, psychologists, social workers, national family health organizations, lawyers, and victims or their family and friends share the unprecedentedly valuable information (personal opinions and experiences) in a single platform to improve the social welfare of the community. Though each tweet or post contains a less informational value, the consolidation of millions of messages can generate actionable knowledge and provide valuable insights about the public opinion in general. Hence, this paper reports on an exploratory analysis of the effectiveness of social media for unobtrusive assessment of attitudes and awareness towards DV. In this paper, mixed methods such as qualitative analysis and text mining approaches are used to understand the social media disclosures of DV through the lenses of opinion sharing, anonymity, and support seeking. The results of this study could be helpful to avoid the cost of wide scale surveys, while still maintaining appropriate research conditions is to leverage the abundance of data publicly available on the web. Also, this analysis with data enrichment and consolidation would be useful in assisting advocacy and national family health organizations to provide information about resources and support, raise awareness and counter common stigmatizing attitudes about DV.

Keywords: domestic violence, social media, social stigma and support, women health

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Authors: Dimakatso Machetele, Clare Kelso, Thea Schoeman

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In developing countries such as India, China, and South Africa, disposal of household solid waste in rural areas is of great concern. Rural communities face numerous challenges that include the absence of waste collection services and sanitation facilities. The inadequate provision of waste collection and sanitation services results to the occurrence of infectious diseases e.g., malaria. The gap in the management of household solid waste between rural and urban communities, whereby urban communities have better waste management services compared to rural areas is an environmental injustice towards rural communities. The unequal distribution of infrastructure in South Africa’s waste management is a concern that stems from the spatial inequalities of the country’s apartheid history. The Limpopo province has a higher proportion of households without waste collection services from the municipality. The present research objectives are to investigate the public’s perceptions and factors contributing to the management of household solid waste in two contrasting rural Wards in the Greater Tzaneen Municipality. There is limited data and studies that have been conducted to understand the management of household solid waste in rural areas, and specifically, for the Greater Tzaneen Municipality located in the Limpopo province, South Africa. The findings of the study will propose recommendations to the Greater Tzaneen Municipality, rural municipalities in South Africa, and globally to explore sustainable methods to manage household solid waste and explore economic opportunities within the waste management sector to alleviate poverty in rural communities.

Keywords: rural, household solid wase, perceptions, waste management

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Authors: Jeremy Goldsmith

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The Gambia, the smallest country in mainland Africa and one of the poorest countries on Earth, is currently experiencing historically unprecedented levels of out-migration to Europe. As a result, Gambians are currently among the top four nationalities emigrating to Europe. The central question that this thesis will address is: what factors impact the migration-related decision-making capabilities of Gambians? Based on interviews with NGOs, as well as those who have migrated and returned, are planning to migrate, and their friends and families, a pattern will emerge. This pattern will be woven into first person narratives which will explore the politico-economic, environmental, and socio-cultural factors that inform individual decision-making with regards to migration.

Keywords: migration, The Gambia, Africa, politico-economic, sociocultural, environmental

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Authors: Nitin Dwivedi, Jigna Shah

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Brain tumor is metastatic neoplasm of central nervous system, in most of cases it is life threatening disease with low survival rate. Despite of enormous efforts in the development of therapeutics and diagnostic tools, the treatment of brain tumors and gliomas remain a considerable challenge in the area of neuro-oncology. The most reason behind of this the presence of physiological barriers including blood brain barrier and blood brain tumor barrier, lead to insufficient reach ability of therapeutic agents at the site of tumor, result of inadequate destruction of gliomas. So there is an indeed need empowerment of brain tumor imaging for better characterization and delineation of tumors, visualization of malignant tissue during surgery, and tracking of response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Multifunctional different generations of dendrimer offer an improved effort for potentiate drug delivery at the site of brain tumor and gliomas. So this article emphasizes the innovative dendrimer approaches in tumor targeting, tumor imaging and delivery of therapeutic agent.

Keywords: blood brain barrier, dendrimer, gliomas, nanotechnology

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Authors: Nqobizwe Mvelo Ngema

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This paper argues that the custom of virginity testing has been revived in order to combat against social ills such as unwanted pregnancies, immorality, promiscuity and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, virginity testing is not free from challenges such as the belief that having sexual intercourse with a virgin can cure men from AIDS, virginity testing is not accurate because there is scientific evidence supporting the fact that there many ways of losing virginity other than sexual intercourse, for example, the usage of tampons and participation in physical activities may tear the hymen. South African parliament took some positive steps in combatting against harm associated with virginity testing by regulating it in the Children’s Act. It is argued, in this paper, that the abolition of virginity testing may lead to paper law and it would be premature to abolish virginity testing in South Africa.

Keywords: equality rights, virginity testing, human rights, interdisciplinary law and legal studies

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Authors: Arnon Medzini, Lilach Lev Ari

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Migration, the driving force behind increased urbanization, has made cities much more diverse places to live in. Nearly one-fifth of all migrants live in the world’s 20 largest cities. In many of these global cities, migrants constitute over a third of the population. Many of contemporary migrants are in fact ‘forced migrants,’ pushed from their countries of origin due to political or ethnic violence and persecution or natural disasters. During the past decade, massive numbers of labor migrants and asylum seekers have migrated from African countries to Israel via Egypt. Their motives for leaving their countries of origin include ongoing and bloody wars in the African continent as well as corruption, severe conditions of poverty and hunger, and economic and political disintegration. Most of the African migrants came to Israel from Eritrea and Sudan as they saw Israel the closest natural geographic asylum to Africa; soon they found their way to the metropolitan Tel-Aviv area. There they concentrated in poor neighborhoods located in the southern part of the city, where they live under conditions of crowding, poverty, and poor sanitation. Today around 45,000 African migrants reside in these neighborhoods, and yet there is no legal option for expelling them due to dangers they might face upon returning to their native lands. Migration of such magnitude to the weakened neighborhoods of south Tel-Aviv can lead to the destruction of physical, social and human infrastructures. The character of the neighborhoods is changing, and the local population is the main victim. These local residents must bear the brunt of the failure of both authorities and the government to handle the illegal inhabitants. The extremely crowded living conditions place a heavy burden on the dilapidated infrastructures in the weakened areas where the refugees live and increase the distress of the veteran residents of the neighborhoods. Some problems are economic and some stem from damage to the services the residents are entitled to, others from a drastic decline in their standard of living. Even the public parks no longer serve the purpose for which they were originally established—the well-being of the public and the neighborhood residents; they have become the main gathering place for the infiltrators and a center of crime and violence. Based on secondary data analysis (for example: The Israel’s Population, Immigration and Border Authority, the hotline for refugees and migrants), the objective of this presentation is to discuss the effects of forced migration to Tel Aviv on the following tensions: between the local population and the immigrants; between the local population and the state authorities, and between human rights groups vis-a-vis nationalist local organizations. We will also describe the changes which have taken place in the urban infrastructure of the city of Tel Aviv, and discuss the efficacy of various Israeli strategic trajectories when handling human problems arising in the marginal urban regions where the forced migrant population is concentrated.

Keywords: African asylum seekers, forced migrants, marginal urban regions, urban infrastructure

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Authors: Suwaiba Sabiu Bako, Yaw Debrah

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In spite of the extensive literature available on the human resource management (HRM) systems and practices of multinational companies (MNCs) from developed countries, there are gaps concerning emerging countries’ multinational companies’ (EMNCs) HRM systems and practices. This study examines the transfer of HRM practices in Nigerian subsidiaries of MNCs from South Africa. It reveals that South MNCs hybridise their recruitment and selection processes and localise their compensation and employee relations. It also proves that performance appraisal, talent management and code of conduct practices are largely transferred to subsidiaries with minimal adaptation.

Keywords: EMNCs, HRM practices, HRM systems, Nigeria, South Africa

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Authors: Liberty Takudzwa Nyete

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This paper examines the feminine representation of women’s experiences in relation to womanhood as depicted by selected three South African female authors:. The study examines the challenges, difficulties and strategies used by various female characters’ to deal with situations in a typical apartheid and post-apartheid society. It also explores the way in which gender, race and class discourses are treated in the selected texts. The three authors, born and bred at the peak of the anti-apartheid movement and women’s protest against patriarchy, witnessed the effects of apartheid on both their families and societies at large which could perhaps have influenced their writing. The study is informed by both the feminist and womanist ideologies postulated by different theorists. In particular, the study of Not Woman Enough considers issues of motherhood, womanhood and racism; while that of Shameless focuses on the importance of women’s narration of their own stories, sexuality and racism; and the depiction of sexual violence, class, and women’s roles in the fight against oppression is explored with regard to This Book Betrays My Brother. Thus, the study concludes on the social makeovers that include women in all the spheres of life, such as education and the economy, which were largely dominated by men but are no longer defined by economic status, physical attributes, class nor sexuality.

Keywords: apartheid, feminism, prostitution, sexual violence, womanism, womanhood

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Authors: Sankarprasad Bhuniya, Sukhendu Maiti, Eun-Joong Kim, Hyunseung Lee, Jonathan L. Sessler, Kwan Soo Hong, Jong Seung Kim

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A new theranostic strategy is described. It is based on the use of an “all in one” prodrug, namely the biotinylated piperazine-rhodol conjugate 4a. This conjugate, which incorporates the anticancer drug SN-38, undergoes self-immolative cleavage when exposed to biological thiols. This leads to the tumor-targeted release of the active SN-38 payload along with fluorophore 1a. This release is made selective as the result of the biotin functionality. Fluorophore 1a is 32-fold more fluorescent than prodrug 4a. It permits the delivery and release of the SN-38 payload to be monitored easily in vitro and in vivo, as inferred from cell studies and ex vivo analyses of mice xenografts derived HeLa cells, respectively. Prodrug 4a also displays anticancer activity in the HeLa cell murine xenograft tumor model. On the basis of these findings we suggest that the present strategy, which combines within a single agent the key functions of targeting, release, imaging, and treatment, may have a role to play in cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Keywords: theranostic, prodrug, cancer therapy, fluorescence

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Authors: D. Songpol, K. Taweesak, T. Sookyuen

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A social enterprise is an organization that operates commercial business as a source of income with the aim of addressing social and environmental issues. Though it is clear that this kind of organization will benefit society and environment but in practice, it is found that most of social enterprises’ goals cannot be achieved. The most success factors of social enterprises usually rely on individual characteristics of entrepreneurs, especially in educational business. This study aims to find out the magnitude of influence from the components of entrepreneur competencies to social enterprises in education. There are developmental models of research demonstrating that knowledge, skills and attributes affect the success of social enterprises in term of sustainability, social opportunities and innovation leadership. The 5-scale questionnaire was used to collect data from the social entrepreneurs in education who operates in the South East Asian region of 135 samples and then processed by the methods of structural equation models. The results show that the competency of entrepreneurs in attributes has the greatest impact on the success of social enterprises while the skills and knowledge have respectively impact on the social enterprises’ success as well. The reason why attributes of entrepreneurs have the greatest impact on social enterprise success is because, social enterprise is an organization that does not motivate or provide attractive financial incentives to the entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs, who succeed in developing their organizations, therefore need attribute factor higher than normal entrepreneurs, especially those in education sector that have somewhat few human resources to operate their businesses. More importantly, attribute’s traits such as entrepreneurial passion, self-efficacy, entrepreneurial identity and, innovativeness and perseverance will significantly affect the ideology and tolerance of the entrepreneurs once facing the problem in doing business. In conclusion, the education social enterprise would be successful depending on the performance of the entrepreneurs which derives from higher attributes competency.

Keywords: education, entrepreneur competencies, social enterprise, South East Asia

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Authors: Omogboyega Abe

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This paper examines the relationships between socio-economic inequalities of power, race, wealth engendered by corporate structure, and domination in postcolonial Africa. The paper further considers how land as an epitome of property and power for the locals paved the way for capitalist accumulation and control in the hands of transnational corporations. European colonization of Africa was contingent on settler colonialism, where properties, including land, were re-modified as extractive resources for primitive accumulation. In developing Africa's extractive resources, transnational corporations (TNCs) usurped states' structures and domination over native land. The usurpation/corporate capture that exists to date has led to remonstrations and arguably a counter-productive approach to development projects. In some communities, the mention of extractive companies triggers resentment. The paradigm of state capture and state autonomy is simply inadequate to either describe or resolve the play of forces or actors responsible for severe corporate-induced human rights violations in emerging markets. Moreover, even if the deadly working conditions are conceived as some regulatory failure, it is tough to tell whose failure. The analysis in this paper is that the complexity and ambiguity evidenced by the multiple regimes and political and economic forces shaping production, consumption, and distribution of socio-economic variables are not exceptional in emerging markets. Instead, the varied experience in developing countries provides a window for seeing what we face in understanding and theorizing the structure and operation of the global economic and regulatory order in general.

Keywords: colonial, emerging markets, business, human rights, corporation

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Authors: Muhammad G. Salim, Betty J.L. Laglbauer, Sila K. Sari, Irianes C. Gozali, Fahmi, Didik Rudianto, Selvia Oktaviyani, Isabel Ender

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Muncar, East Java, is one of the largest artisanal fisheries in Indonesia. Sharks and rays are caught as both target and bycatch, for local meat consumption and with some derived products exported. Of the seven mobulid ray species occurring in Indonesia, five have been recorded as retained bycatch at Muncar fishing port: the spinetail devil ray (Mobula mobular), the bentfin devil ray (Mobula thurstoni), the sicklefin devil ray (Mobula tarapacana), the oceanic manta ray (Mobula birostris) and the reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi). Both manta ray species are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and are protected in Indonesia despite still being captured as bycatch, while all the three devil ray species mentioned here are listed as Endangered and do not currently benefit from any protection in Indonesian waters. Mobulid landings in East Java are caused primarily by small-scale drift gillnets but they also occasionally occur on longlines and in purse-seines operating off the coast of East Java and occasionally in fishing grounds located as far as the Makassar and Sumba Straits. Landing trends from 2015-2019 (non-continuous surveys) revealed that the highest abundance of mobulid rays at Muncar fishing port occurs during the upwelling season from June-October. During El-Nino or above-average temperature years, this may extend until November (such as in 2015 and 2019). The strong seasonal upwelling along the East Java coast is linked to higher zooplankton abundance (inferred from chlorophyll-a sea-surface concentrations), on which mobulids forage, along with teleost fishes constituting the primary target of gillnet fisheries in the Bali Strait. Mobulid ray landings in Muncar were dominated by Mobula mobular, followed by M. thurstoni, M. tarapacana, M. birostris and M. alfredi, however, the catch varied across years and seasons. A majority of immature individuals were recorded in M. mobular and M. thurstoni, and slight decreases in landings, despite no known changes in fishing effort, were observed across the upwelling seasons of 2015-2018 for M. mobular. While all mobulids are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which regulates international trade in gill plates sought after in the Chinese Medicine Trade, local and national-level management measures are required to sustain mobulid populations. The findings presented here provide important baseline data, from which potential management approaches can be identified.

Keywords: devil ray, mobulid, manta ray, Indonesia

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Authors: Thomas Compton

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As Decolonialism becomes an important topic in Political Theory, the rupture between the colonized and the colonist relation has lost attention. Focusing on the anti-colonial activist Madhi Amel, we shall consider his attention to the permanence of the colonial relation and how it preempts Frank Wilderson’s formulation of (white) culturally necessary Anti-Black violence. Both projects draw attention away from empirical accounts of oppression, instead focusing on the structural relation which precipitates them. As Amel says that we should stop thinking of the ‘underdeveloped’ as beyond the colonial relation, Wilderson says we should stop think of the Black rights that have surpassed the role of the slave. However, Amel moves beyond his idol Althusser’s Structuralism toward a formulation of the colonial relation as source of domination. Our analysis will take a Lacanian turn in considering how this non-relation was formulated as a relation how this space of negativity became a ideological opportunity for Colonial domination. Wilderson’s work shall problematise this as we conclude with his criticisms of Structural accounts for the failure to consider how Black social death exists as more than necessity but a cite of white desire. Amel, a Lebanese activist and scholar (re)discovered by Hicham Safieddine, argues colonialism is more than the theft of land, but instead a privatization of collective property and form of investment which (re)produces the status of the capitalist in spaces ‘outside’ the market. Although Amel was a true Marxist-Leninsist, who exposited the economic determinacy of the Colonial Mode of Production, we are reading this account through Alenka Zupančič’s reformulation of the ‘invisible hand job of the market’. Amel points to the signifier ‘underdeveloped’ as buttressed on a pre-colonial epistemic break, as the Western investor (debt collector) sees the (post?) colony narcissistic image. However, the colony can never become site of class conflict, as the workers are not unified but existing between two countries. In industry, they are paid in Colonial subjectivisation, the promise of market (self)pleasure, at home, they are refugees. They are not, as Wilderson states, in the permanent social death of the slave, but they are less than the white worker. This is formulated as citizen (white), non-citizen (colonized), anti-citizen (Black/slave). Here we may also think of how indentured Indians were used as instruments of colonial violence. Wilderson’s aphorism “there is no analogy to anti-Black violence” lays bare his fundamental opposition between colonial and specifically anti-Black violence. It is not only that the debt collector, landowner, or other owners of production pleasures themselves as if their hand is invisible. The absolute negativity between colony and colonized provides a new frontier for desire, the development of a colonial mode of production. An invention inside the colonial structure that is generative of class substitution. We shall explore how Amel ignores the role of the slave but how Wilderson forecloses the history African anti-colonial.

Keywords: afropessimism, fanon, marxism, postcolonialism

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Authors: Muhd. Barzani Gasim, Mohd. Ekhwan Toriman, Mohd. Khairul Amri Kamarudin, Azman Azid, Siti Humaira Haron, Muhammad Hafiz Md. Saad

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Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that constantly exposed to flooding and landslide. The disaster has caused some troubles such loss of property, loss of life and discomfort of people involved. This problem occurs as a result of climate change leading to increased stream flow rate as a result of disruption to regional hydrological cycles. The aim of the study is to determine hydrologic processes in the east coasts of Peninsular Malaysia, especially in Kelantan Basin. Parameterized to account for the spatial and temporal variability of basin characteristics and their responses to climate variability. For hydrological modeling of the basin, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model such as relief, soil type, and its use, and historical daily time series of climate and river flow rates are studied. The interpretation of Landsat map/land uses will be applied in this study. The combined of SWAT and climate models, the system will be predicted an increase in future scenario climate precipitation, increase in surface runoff, increase in recharge and increase in the total water yield. As a result, this model has successfully developed the basin analysis by demonstrating analyzing hydrographs visually, good estimates of minimum and maximum flows and severe floods observed during calibration and validation periods.

Keywords: east coasts of Peninsular Malaysia, Kelantan river basin, minimum and maximum flows, severe floods, SWAT model

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Authors: Hubert Feiglstorfer

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Due to its location in a transition zone from the Pannonian to the pre-Alpine region, the east of Austria shows a small-scale diversity in the regional development of certain vernacular building techniques. In this article the relationship between natural building material resources, topography and climate will be examined. Besides environmental preconditions, social and economic historical factors have developed different construction techniques within certain regions in the Weinviertel and Burgenland, the two eastern federal states of Austria. But even within these regions, varying building techniques were found, due to the locally different use of raw materials like wood, stone, clay, lime, or organic fibres. Within these small-scale regions, building traditions were adapted over the course of time due to changes in the use of the building material, for example from wood to brick or from wood to earth. The processing of the raw materials varies from region to region, for example as rammed earth, cob, log, or brick construction. Environmental preconditions cross national borders. For that reason, developments in the neighbouring countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia are included in this analysis. As an outcome of this research a map was drawn which shows the interrelation between locally available building materials, topography, climate and local building techniques? As a result of this study, which covers the last 300 years, one can see how the local population used natural resources very sensitively adapted to local environmental preconditions. In the case of clay, for example, changes of proportions of lime and particular minerals cause structural changes that differ from region to region. Based on material analyses in the field of clay mineralogy, on ethnographic research, literature and archive research, explanations for certain local structural developments will be given for the first time over the region of East Austria.

Keywords: European crafts, material culture, architectural history, earthen architecture, earth building history

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Authors: Ranj Tofik

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This article aims to demonstrate a link and/or correlation between the rise of China and the US-Iranian conflict, from a US point of view. To demonstrate this link, the article relies on the content analysis method by analyzing American reports and official data. This article concludes that this correlation indicates that the more China rises and the greater the Chinese threat to America, the more changes will occur in the US-Iranian conflict and the US actions regarding this conflict will increase – in the form of imposing sanctions and using means of pressure on Iran, or trying to reach an agreement and settlement with Iran. This article, via noting and observing that correlation, also claims that before 2012, Iran was a regional threat to US interests in the Middle East. However, after 2012 when the rise of China became one of the major threats to America, Iran, because of its rapprochement with China, became also part of the Chinese threat, which is a threat to America's global standing. In addition, observing this correlation indicates the possibility that the rise of China and its threat to the USA has become one of the main drivers in the US-Iranian conflict. Consequently, it can be said that Iran has become a vital issue in the US-China rivalry, as it has become an appropriate gateway for China to enter the Middle East and undermine US hegemony there.

Keywords: China-Iran relations, China's rise, JCPOA, US-Chinese competition, US-Iranian conflict

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Authors: Chhabi Nigam, S. Ramakrishnan

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This paper brings out the analysis of the airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to study the impact of Doppler centroid on Image quality and geocoding accuracy from the perspective of Stripmap mode of data acquisition. Although in Stripmap mode of data acquisition radar beam points at 90 degrees broad side (side looking), shift in the Doppler centroid is invariable due to platform motion. In-accurate estimation of Doppler centroid leads to poor image quality and image miss-registration. The effect of Doppler centroid is analyzed in this paper using multiple sets of data collected from airborne platform. Occurrences of ghost (ambiguous) targets and their power levels have been analyzed that impacts appropriate choice of PRF. Effect of aircraft attitudes (roll, pitch and yaw) on the Doppler centroid is also analyzed with the collected data sets. Various stages of the RDA (Range Doppler Algorithm) algorithm used for image formation in Stripmap mode, range compression, Doppler centroid estimation, azimuth compression, range cell migration correction are analyzed to find the performance limits and the dependence of the imaging geometry on the final image. The ability of Doppler centroid estimation to enhance the imaging accuracy for registration are also illustrated in this paper. The paper also tries to bring out the processing of low squint SAR data, the challenges and the performance limits imposed by the imaging geometry and the platform dynamics on the final image quality metrics. Finally, the effect on various terrain types, including land, water and bright scatters is also presented.

Keywords: ambiguous target, Doppler Centroid, image registration, Airborne SAR

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Authors: Ethan James

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Over one billion people worldwide suffer from some level of vision loss or blindness as a result of progressive retinal diseases. Many patients, particularly in developing areas, are incorrectly diagnosed or undiagnosed whatsoever due to unconventional diagnostic tools and screening methods. Artificial intelligence (AI) based on deep learning (DL) convolutional neural networks (CNN) have recently gained a high interest in ophthalmology for its computer-imaging diagnosis, disease prognosis, and risk assessment. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a popular imaging technique used to capture high-resolution cross-sections of retinas. In ophthalmology, DL has been applied to fundus photographs, optical coherence tomography, and visual fields, achieving robust classification performance in the detection of various retinal diseases including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa. However, there is no complete diagnostic model to analyze these retinal images that provide a diagnostic accuracy above 90%. Thus, the purpose of this project was to develop an AI model that utilizes machine learning techniques to automatically diagnose specific retinal diseases from OCT scans. The algorithm consists of neural network architecture that was trained from a dataset of over 20,000 real-world OCT images to train the robust model to utilize residual neural networks with cyclic pooling. This DL model can ultimately aid ophthalmologists in diagnosing patients with these retinal diseases more quickly and more accurately, therefore facilitating earlier treatment, which results in improved post-treatment outcomes.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, deep learning, imaging, medical devices, ophthalmic devices, ophthalmology, retina

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Authors: Lynda C. Mbadugha, Bankole Awuzie, Kwanda Khumalo, Lindokuhle Matsebula, Masenoke Kgaditsi

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Inadequate waste management remains a fundamental issue in the majority of cities around the globe, but it becomes a threat when it concerns informal settlements. Although studies have evaluated the performance of waste management measures, only a few have addressed that with a focus on South African informal settlements and the reasons for their apparent ineffectiveness in such locations. However, there may be evidence of variations in the extant problems due to the uniqueness of each location and the factors influencing the performance. Thus, there is a knowledge deficit regarding implementing waste management measures in South African informal settlements. This study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of waste management measures in the Alaska informal settlement in South Africa to assess the previously collected data of other areas using the degree of correlation. The research investigated a real-world scenario in the specified location using a case study approach and multiple data sources. The findings described various waste management practices used in Alaska's informal settlements; however, a correlation was found between the performance of these measures and those already used. The observed differences are primarily attributable to the physical characteristics of the locations, the lack of understanding of the environmental and health consequences of careless waste disposal, and the negative attitudes of the residents toward waste management practices. This study elucidates waste management implementation in informal settlements. It contributes to the relevant bodies of knowledge by describing these practices in South Africa. This paper's practical value emphasizes the general waste management characteristics of South Africa's informal settlements to facilitate the planning and provision of necessary interventions. The study concludes that the enablers and inhibitors are mainly political, behavioral, and environmental concerns.

Keywords: factors, informal settlement, performance, waste management

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Authors: Leela Edwin, Rithin Joseph, P. H. Dhiju Das, K. A. Sayana, P. S. Muhammed Sherief

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The shrimp trawl fishery is considered one of the more valuable fisheries from the South east Coast of Arabian Sea. Inventory data for the shrimp were collected over 1 year period and used to carry out a life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA was performed to assess and compare the environmental impacts associated with the fishing operations related to shrimp fishery. This analysis included the operation of the vessels, together with major inputs related to the production of diesel, trawl nets, or anti-fouling paints. Data regarding vessel operation was obtained from the detailed questionnaires filled out by 180 trawlers. The analysis on environmental impacts linked to shrimp extraction on a temporal scale, showed that varying landings enhanced the environmental burdens mainly associated with activities related to diesel production, transport and consumption of the fishing vessels. Discard rates for trawlers were also identified as a major environmental impact in this fishery.

Keywords: shrimp trawling, life cycle assesment (LCA), Arabian sea, environmental impacts

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Authors: Valerian Omsarashvili, Nino Jamrishvili

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Georgia is one of the hail-dangerous countries of world. The work on action on hail processes in Georgia was conducted in 1960-1989 (East Georgia) over the total area of approximately 1.2 million hectares with average positive economic effect near 75 %. In 2015 in East Georgia, the anti-hail service was restored. Therefore, for the estimation of the effectiveness of action on the hail processes at present, arose the need for the detailed analysis of damage from the hail in the past. The work presents the analysis of the data about the number of days with the hail, the areas of damage of agricultural crops (general and to 100 %), and also the economic damage from the hail, of the caused loss to agricultural crops on the territories land of 123 separate populated areas of into 1982 and 1984-1989. In particular, on the average to one populated area, the total area of agricultural crops damaged from the hail was approximately 140 hectares, to 100% damage - 60 hectares, economic damage - 120 thousand US dollars. The corresponding maps of the distribution of the damaged areas on the investigated territory with the use of GIS-technologies are obtained.

Keywords: damage to agricultural crops, hail, Georgia, economic damage

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Authors: Medina Adulyarat

Abstract:

Like many other countries, Thailand is experiencing an increase in its proportion of older adults. However, the political, social, and religious climates of the various regions of Thailand are very diverse and the life experiences of older Thai citizens can vary greatly by region. For more than a decade, the southernmost provinces, namely Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, have experienced social and political unrest, often characterized by violence in the form of bombings and shootings, which has impacted the older adults residing in these regions. While, Muslims are considered a minority in Thailand, the majority of individuals in southernmost regions are Muslims, causing these regions to be different in terms of culture and beliefs. Using a phenomenological approach, this study examines older adults’ perceptions of successful aging within the context of violent social and political unrest. This research aims to 1) understand how older adults living in these areas perceive successful aging in relation to Rowe and Kahn’s successful ageing model, and 2) describe the experiences of older adults living in areas of violent social and political unrest. Data were collected using in-depth interviews with eight older adults living in the unrest area, composing of four males and four females aged between 55-75. Content analysis was used to investigate older adults’ perception of successful aging. Older adults living their life amidst the violence did not view the situation as a threat to their life for they viewed that they are not the targets of the unrest situation. Additionally, participants identified their religious beliefs and a strong sense of community belonging as coping strategies employed to deal with social and political unrest. Thus, according to them, the violence did not affect their perception of successful aging. While the participants’ perceptions of successful aging were generally consistent with aspects identified in the successful aging model proposed by Rowe and Kahn, a theme of “financial stability” emerged. The results can be divided into four interrelated themes, which are; 1) engaging with others; 2) religiosity; 3) financial stability; and 4) health. Understanding the older persons’ view of successful aging in vulnerable situations should add more depth and enhance the conceptualization of the successful aging concept.

Keywords: cultural gerontology, minority population, successful aging, unrest situation

Procedia PDF Downloads 310