Search results for: dominant retailer

Authors: Jefriza, Habibah Lateh, Saumi Syahreza

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The 2016 Mw 6.5 Pidie Jaya earthquake is one of the biggest disasters that has occurred in Aceh within the last five years. This earthquake has caused severe damage to many infrastructures such as schools, hospitals, mosques, and houses in the district of Pidie Jaya and surrounding areas. Earthquakes commonly occur in Aceh Province due to the Aceh-Sumatra is located in the convergent boundaries of the Sunda Plate subducted beneath the Indo-Australian Plate. This convergence is responsible for the intensification of seismicity in this region. The plates are tilted at a speed of 63 mm per year and the right lateral component is accommodated by strike- slip faulting within Sumatra, mainly along the great Sumatran fault. This paper presents preliminary findings of InSAR study aimed at investigating the co-seismic surface deformation pattern in Pidie Jaya, Aceh-Indonesia. Coseismic surface deformation is rapid displacement that occurs at the time of an earthquake. Coseismic displacement mapping is required to study the behavior of seismic faults. InSAR is a powerful tool for measuring Earth surface deformation to a precision of a few centimetres. In this study, two radar images of the same area but at two different times are required to detect changes in the Earth’s surface. The ascending and descending Sentinel-1A (S1A) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data and Sentinels application platform (SNAP) toolbox were used to generate SAR interferogram image. In order to visualize the InSAR interferometric, the S1A from both master (26 Nov 2016) and slave data-sets (26 Dec 2016) were utilized as the main data source for mapping the coseismic surface deformation. The results show that the fringes of phase difference have appeared in the border region as a result of the movement that was detected with interferometric technique. On the other hand, the dominant fringes pattern also appears near the coastal area, this is consistent with the field investigations two days after the earthquake. However, the study has also limitations of resolution and atmospheric artefacts in SAR interferograms. The atmospheric artefacts are caused by changes in the atmospheric refractive index of the medium, as a result, has limitation to produce coherence image. Low coherence will be affected the result in creating fringes (movement can be detected by fringes). The spatial resolution of the Sentinel satellite has not been sufficient for studying land surface deformation in this area. Further studies will also be investigated using both ALOS and TerraSAR-X. ALOS and TerraSAR-X improved the spatial resolution of SAR satellite.

Keywords: earthquake, InSAR, interferometric, Sentinel-1A

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Authors: Markus Bredel, Sindhu Nair, Hoa Q. Trummell, Rajani Rajbhandari, Christopher D. Willey, Lewis Z. Shi, Zhuo Zhang, William J. Placzek, James A. Bonner

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Purpose: EGFR-targeted monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) provide clinical benefit in some patients with H&N squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but others progress with minimal response. Missense mutations in the EGFR ectodomain (ECD) can be acquired under mAb therapy by mimicking the effect of large deletions on receptor untethering and activation. Little is known about the contribution of EGFR ECD mutations to EGFR activation and anti-EGFR response in HNSCC. Methods: We selected patient-derived HNSCC cells (UM-SCC-1) for resistance to mAb Cetuximab (CTX) by repeated, stepwise exposure to mimic what may occur clinically and identified two concurrent EGFR ECD mutations (UM-SCC-1R). We examined the competence of the mutants to bind EGF ligand or CTX. We assessed the potential impact of the mutations through visual analysis of space-filling models of the native sidechains in the original structures vs. their respective side-chain mutations. We performed CRISPR in combination with site-directed mutagenesis to test for the effect of the mutants on ligand-independent EGFR activation and sorting. We determined the effects on receptor internalization, endocytosis, downstream signaling, and radiation sensitivity. Results: UM-SCC-1R cells carried two non-synonymous missense mutations (G33S and N56K) mapping to domain I in or near the EGF binding pocket of the EGFR ECD. Structural modeling predicted that these mutants restrict the adoption of a tethered, inactive EGFR conformation while not permitting association of EGFR with the EGF ligand or CTX. Binding studies confirmed that the mutant, untethered receptor displayed a reduced affinity for both EGF and CTX but demonstrated sustained activation and presence at the cell surface with diminished internalization and sorting for endosomal degradation. Single and double-mutant models demonstrated that the G33S mutant is dominant over the N56K mutant in its effect on EGFR activation and EGF binding. CTX-resistant UM-SCC-1R cells demonstrated cross-resistance to mAb Panitumuab but, paradoxically, remained sensitive to the reversible receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor Erlotinib. Conclusions: HNSCC cells can select for EGFR ECD mutations under EGFR mAb exposure that converge to trap the receptor in an open, constitutively activated state. These mutants impede the receptor’s competence to bind mAbs and EGF ligand and alter its endosomal trafficking, possibly explaining certain cases of clinical mAb and radiation resistance.

Keywords: head and neck cancer, EGFR mutation, resistance, cetuximab

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Authors: Festa Shabani

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This paper aims at investigating bilingual speech in the International Schools of Prishtina. More particularly, it seeks to analyze bilingual phenomena among adolescent students highly exposed to English with the latter as the language of instruction at school in naturally-occurring conversations within school environment. Adolescence was deliberately chosen since it is regarded as an age when peer influence on language choice is the greatest. Driven by daily unsystematic observation and prior research already undertaken, the hypothesis stated is that Albanian continues to be the dominant language among Prishtina international schools’ students with a lot of code-switched items from the English. Furthermore, they will also use lexical borrowings - words already adapted in the receiving language, from the language they have been in contact with, in their speech often in the lack of existing equivalents in Albanian or for other reasons. This is done owing to the fact that the language of instruction at school is English, and any topic related to the language they have been exposed to will trigger them to use English. Therefore, this needs special attention in an attempt to identify patterns of their speech; in this way, linguistic and socio-pragmatic factors will be considered when analyzing the motivations behind their language choice. Methodology for collecting data include participant systematic observation and tape-recording. While observing them in their natural conversations, the fieldworker also took notes, which helped transcribe details better. The paper starts by raising the question of whether code-switching is occurring among Prishtina International Schools’ students highly exposed to English. The data gathered from students in informal settings suggests that there are well-founded grounds for an affirmative answer. The participants in this study are observed to be code-switching, although showing differences in degree. However, a generalization cannot be made on the basis of the findings except in so far it appears that English has, in turn, became a language to which they turn when identifying with the group when discussing about particular school topics. Particularly, participants seemed to use intra-sentential CS in cases when they seem to find an English expression rather easier than an Albanian one when repeating or emphasizing a point when urged to talk about educational issues with English being their language of instruction, and inter-sentential code-switching, particularly when quoting others. Concerning the grammatical aspect of code-switching, the intrasentential CS is used more than the intersentetial one. Speaking of gender, the results show that there were really no significant differences in regards quantity between male and female participants. However, the slight tendency for men to code switch intrasententially more than women was manifested. Similarly, a slight tendency again for a difference to emerge is on intersentential switching, which contributes 21% to the total number of switches for women, but 11% to the total number of switches for men.

Keywords: Albanian, code-switching contact linguistics, bilingual phenomena, lexical borrowing, English

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Authors: Minji Seo

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Fashion stakeholders are becoming increasingly aware of technological innovation in manufacturing. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused transformations in working patterns, such as working remotely rather thancommuting. To enable smooth remote working, 3D fashion design software is being adoptedas the latest trend in design and production. The majority of fashion designers, however, are still resistantto this change. Previous studies on 3D fashion design software solely highlighted the beneficial and detrimental factors of adopting design innovations. They lacked research on the relationship between resistance factors and the adoption of innovation. These studies also fell short of exploringthe perspectives of users of these innovations. This paper aims to investigate the key drivers and barriers of employing 3D fashion design software as wellas to explore the challenges faced by designers.It also toucheson the governmental support for digital manufacturing in Seoul, South Korea, and London, the United Kingdom. By conceptualising local support, this study aims to provide a new path for industrial clusters to optimise digital apparel manufacturing. The study uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Initially, it reflects a survey of 350 samples, fashion designers, on innovation resistance factors of 3D fashion design software and the effectiveness of local support. In-depth interviews with 30 participants provide a better understanding of designers’ aspects of the benefits and obstacles of employing 3D fashion design software. The key findings of this research are the main barriers to employing 3D fashion design software in fashion production. The cultural characteristics and interviews resultsare used to interpret the survey results. The findings of quantitative data examine the main resistance factors to adopting design innovations. The dominant obstacles are: the cost of software and its complexity; lack of customers’ interest in innovation; lack of qualified personnel, and lack of knowledge. The main difference between Seoul and London is the attitudes towards government support. Compared to the UK’s fashion designers, South Korean designers emphasise that government support is highly relevant to employing 3D fashion design software. The top-down and bottom-up policy implementation approach distinguishes the perception of government support. Compared to top-down policy approaches in South Korea, British fashion designers based on employing bottom-up approaches are reluctant to receive government support. The findings of this research will contribute to generating solutions for local government and the optimisation of use of 3D fashion design software in fashion industrial clusters.

Keywords: digital apparel production, industrial clusters, innovation resistance, 3D fashion design software, manufacturing, innovation, technology, digital manufacturing, innovative fashion design process

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Authors: Sherly Shelton, Zhaohui Lin

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In recent decades, the inter-annual variability of summer precipitation over the India and Sri Lanka has intensified significantly with an increased frequency of both abnormally dry and wet summers. Therefore prediction of the inter-annual variability of summer precipitation is crucial and urgent for water management and local agriculture scheduling. However, none of the hypotheses put forward so far could understand the relationship to monsoon variability and related factors that affect to the South West Monsoon (SWM) variability in Sri Lanka. This study focused to identify the spatial and temporal variability of SWM rainfall events from June to September (JJAS) over Sri Lanka and associated trend. The monthly rainfall records covering 1980-2013 over the Sri Lanka are used for 19 stations to investigate long-term trends in SWM rainfall over Sri Lanka. The linear trends of atmospheric variables are calculated to understand the drivers behind the changers described based on the observed precipitation, sea surface temperature and atmospheric reanalysis products data for 34 years (1980–2013). Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was applied to understand the spatial and temporal behaviour of seasonal SWM rainfall variability and also investigate whether the trend pattern is the dominant mode that explains SWM rainfall variability. The spatial and stations based precipitation over the country showed statistically insignificant decreasing trends except few stations. The first two EOFs of seasonal (JJAS) mean of rainfall explained 52% and 23 % of the total variance and first PC showed positive loadings of the SWM rainfall for the whole landmass while strongest positive lording can be seen in western/ southwestern part of the Sri Lanka. There is a negative correlation (r ≤ -0.3) between SMRI and SST in the Arabian Sea and Central Indian Ocean which indicate that lower temperature in the Arabian Sea and Central Indian Ocean are associated with greater rainfall over the country. This study also shows that consistently warming throughout the Indian Ocean. The result shows that the perceptible water over the county is decreasing with the time which the influence to the reduction of precipitation over the area by weakening drawn draft. In addition, evaporation is getting weaker over the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Sri Lankan landmass which leads to reduction of moisture availability required for the SWM rainfall over Sri Lanka. At the same time, weakening of the SST gradients between Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal can deteriorate the monsoon circulation, untimely which diminish SWM over Sri Lanka. The decreasing trends of moisture, moisture transport, zonal wind, moisture divergence with weakening evaporation over Arabian Sea, during the past decade having an aggravating influence on decreasing trends of monsoon rainfall over the Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Arabian Sea, moisture flux convergence, South West Monsoon, Sri Lanka, sea surface temperature

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Authors: Arina V. Tankanag, Gennady V. Krasnikov, Nikolai K. Chemeris

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The development of respiration-dependent oscillations in the peripheral blood flow may occur by at least two mechanisms. The first mechanism is related to the change of venous pressure due to mechanical activity of lungs. This phenomenon is known as ‘respiratory pump’ and is one of the mechanisms of venous return of blood from the peripheral vessels to the heart. The second mechanism is related to the vasomotor reflexes controlled by the respiratory modulation of the activity of centers of the vegetative nervous system. Early high phase synchronization of respiration-dependent blood flow oscillations of left and right forearm skin in healthy volunteers at rest was shown. The aim of the work was to study the effect of deep controlled breathing on the phase synchronization of skin blood flow oscillations. 29 normotensive non-smoking young women (18-25 years old) of the normal constitution without diagnosed pathologies of skin, cardiovascular and respiratory systems participated in the study. For each of the participants six recording sessions were carried out: first, at the spontaneous breathing rate; and the next five, in the regimes of controlled breathing with fixed breathing depth and different rates of enforced breathing regime. The following rates of controlled breathing regime were used: 0.25, 0.16, 0.10, 0.07 and 0.05 Hz. The breathing depth amounted to 40% of the maximal chest excursion. Blood perfusion was registered by laser flowmeter LAKK-02 (LAZMA, Russia) with two identical channels (wavelength 0.63 µm; emission power, 0.5 mW). The first probe was fastened to the palmar surface of the distal phalanx of left forefinger; the second probe was attached to the external surface of the left forearm near the wrist joint. These skin zones were chosen as zones with different dominant mechanisms of vascular tonus regulation. The degree of phase synchronization of the registered signals was estimated from the value of the wavelet phase coherence. The duration of all recording was 5 min. The sampling frequency of the signals was 16 Hz. The increasing of synchronization of the respiratory-dependent skin blood flow oscillations for all controlled breathing regimes was obtained. Since the formation of respiration-dependent oscillations in the peripheral blood flow is mainly caused by the respiratory modulation of system blood pressure, the observed effects are most likely dependent on the breathing depth. It should be noted that with spontaneous breathing depth does not exceed 15% of the maximal chest excursion, while in the present study the breathing depth was 40%. Therefore it has been suggested that the observed significant increase of the phase synchronization of blood flow oscillations in our conditions is primarily due to an increase of breathing depth. This is due to the enhancement of both potential mechanisms of respiratory oscillation generation: venous pressure and sympathetic modulation of vascular tone.

Keywords: deep controlled breathing, peripheral blood flow oscillations, phase synchronization, wavelet phase coherence

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Authors: Tom Turner

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The recent financial crisis in 2008 and the growing inequality in developed industrial societies would appear to present significant challenges to capitalism and the free market. Yet there have been few substantial mainstream political or economic challenges to the dominant capitalist and market paradigm to-date. There is no dearth of critical and theoretical (academic) analyses regarding the prevailing systems failures. Yet despite the growing inequality in the developed industrial societies and the financial crisis in 2008 few commentators have advocated the comprehensive socialization or state ownership of the means of production to our knowledge – a core principle of radical Marxism in the 19th and early part of the 20th century. Undoubtedly the experience in the Soviet Union and satellite countries in the 20th century has cast a dark shadow over the notion of centrally controlled economies and state ownership of the means of production. In this paper, we explore the history of a doctrine advocating the socialization or state ownership of the means of production that was central to Marxism and socialism generally. Indeed this doctrine provoked an intense and often acrimonious debate especially for left-wing parties throughout the 20th century. The debate within the political economy tradition has historically tended to divide into a radical and a revisionist approach to changing or reforming capitalism. The radical perspective views the conflict of interest between capital and labor as a persistent and insoluble feature of a capitalist society and advocates the public or state ownership of the means of production. Alternatively, the revisionist perspective focuses on issues of distribution rather than production and emphasizes the possibility of compromise between capital and labor in capitalist societies. Over the 20th century, the radical perspective has faded and even the social democratic revisionist tradition has declined in recent years. We conclude with the major challenges that confront both the radical and revisionist perspectives in the development of viable policy agendas in mature developed democratic societies. Additionally, we consider whether state ownership of the means of production still has relevance in the 21st century and to what extent state ownership is off the agenda as a political issue in the political mainstream in developed industrial societies. A central argument in the paper is that state ownership of the means of production is unlikely to feature as either a practical or theoretical solution to the problems of capitalism post the financial crisis among mainstream political parties of the left. Although the focus here is solely on the shifting views of the radical and revisionist socialist perspectives in the western European tradition the analysis has relevance for the wider socialist movement.

Keywords: sate ownership, ownership means of production, radicals, revisionists

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Authors: Pamela Aimee Rigor

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This study aims to examine the representation of Syrian refugees resettled in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland in local community and major newspapers. While there is strong support for immigration in Canada, public opinion towards refugees and asylum seekers is a bit more varied. Concerns about the legitimacy of refugee claims are among the common concerns of Canadians, and hateful or negative narratives are still present in Canadian media discourse which affects how people view refugees. To counter the narratives, these Syrian refugees must publicly declare how grateful they are because they are resettled in Canada. The dominant media discourse is that these refugees should be grateful as they have been graciously accepted by Canada and Canadians, once again upholding the image of Canada being a generous and humanitarian nation. The study examined the representation of Syrian refugees and the Syrian refugee resettlement in Canadian newspapers from September 2015 to October 2017 – around the time Prime Minister Trudeau came into power up until the present. Using a combination of content and discourse analysis, it aimed to uncover how local community and major newspapers in Vancouver covered the Syrian refugee ‘crisis’ – more particularly, the arrival and resettlement of the refugees in the country. Using the qualitative data analysis software Nvivo 12, the newspapers were analyzed and sorted into themes. Based on the initial findings, the discourse of Canada being a humanitarian country and Canadians being generous, as well as the idea of Syrian refugees having to publicly announce how grateful they are, is still present in the local community newspapers. This seems to be done to counter the hateful narratives of citizens who might view them as people who are abusing help provided by the community or the services provided by the government. However, compared to the major and national newspapers in Canada, many these local community newspapers are very inclusive of Syrian refugee voices. Most of the News and Community articles interview Syrian refugees and ask them their personal stories of plight, survival, resettlement and starting a ‘new life’ in Canada. They are not seen as potential threats nor are they dismissed – the refugees were named and were allowed to share their personal experiences in these news articles. These community newspapers, even though their representations are far from perfect, actually address some aspects of the refugee resettlement issue and respond to their community’s needs. There are quite a number of news articles that announce community meetings and orientations about the Syrian refugee crisis, ways to help in the resettlement process, as well as community fundraising activities to help sponsor refugees or resettle newly arrived refugees. This study aims to promote awareness of how these individuals are socially constructed so we can, in turn, be aware of the certain biases and stereotypes present, and its implications on refugee laws and public response to the issue.

Keywords: forced migration and conflict, media representations, race and multiculturalism, refugee studies

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Authors: Jim Weese

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The Kinesiology, Exercise and Sport Science environment remain excellent venues for leadership research. Prescribed leadership (coaching), emergent leadership (players and organizations), and executive leadership are all popular themes in the research literature. Leadership remains a popular area of inquiry in the sport management domain as well as an interesting area for practitioners who wish to heighten their leadership practices and effectiveness. The need for effective leadership in these areas given competing demands for attention and resources may be at an all-time high. The presenter has extensive research and practical experience in the area and has developed his concept based on the latest leadership literature. He refers to this as the Five ’C’s of Leadership. These components, noted below, have been empirically validated and have served as the foundation for extensive consulting with academic, sport, and business leaders. Credibility (C1) is considered the foundation of leadership. There are two components to this area, namely: (a) leaders being respected for having the relevant knowledge, insights, and experience to be seen as credible sources of information, and (b) followers perceiving the leader as being a person of character, someone who is honest, reliable, consistent, and trustworthy. Compelling Vision (C2) refers to the leader’s ability to focus the attention of followers on a desired end goal. Effective leaders understand trends and developments in their industry. They also listen attentively to the needs and desires of their stakeholders and use their own instincts and experience to shape these ideas into an inspiring vision that is effectively and continuously communicated. Charismatic Communicator (C3) refers to the leader’s ability to formally and informally communicate with members. Leaders must deploy mechanisms and communication techniques to keep their members informed and engaged. Effective leaders sprinkle in ‘proof points’ that reinforce the vision’s relevance and/or the unit’s progress towards its attainment. Contagious Enthusiasm (C4) draws on the emotional intelligence literature as it relates to exciting and inspiring followers. Effective leaders demonstrate a level of care, commitment, and passion for their people and feelings of engagement permeate the group. These leaders genuinely care about the task at hand, and for the people working to make it a reality. Culture Builder (C5) is the capstone component of the model and is critical to long-term success and survival. Organizational culture refers to the dominant beliefs, values and attitudes of members of a group or organization. Some have suggested that developing and/or imbedding a desired culture for an organization is the most important responsibility for a leader. The author outlines his Five ‘C’s’ of Leadership concept and provide direct application to executive leadership in Kinesiology, Exercise and Sport Science.

Keywords: effectiveness, leadership, management, sport

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Authors: Shashi Bhushan, Sucharita Sen

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In India, forest and people are inextricably linked since millions of people live adjacent to or within protected areas and harvest forest products. Indian forest has their own legacy to sustain by its own climatic nature with several social, economic and cultural activities. People surrounding forest areas are not only dependent on this resource for their livelihoods but also for the other source, like religious ceremonies, social customs and herbal medicines, which are determined by the forest like agricultural land, groundwater level, and soil fertility. The assumption that fuelwood and fodder extraction, which is the part of local livelihood leads to deforestation, has so far been the dominant mainstream views in deforestation discourses. Given the occupational division across social groups in Kaimur reserve forest, the differential nature of dependence of forest resources is important to understand. This paper attempts to assess the nature of dependence and impact of forest degradation on rural households across various social groups. Also, an additional element that is added to the enquiry is the way degradation of forests leading to scarcity of forest-based resources impacts the patterns of dependence across various social groups. Change in forest area calculated through land use land cover analysis using remote sensing technique and examination of different economic activities carried out by the households that are forest-based was collected by primary survey in Kaimur reserve forest of state of Bihar in India. The general finding indicates that the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste communities, the most socially and economically deprived sections of the rural society are involved in a significant way in collection of fuelwood, fodder, and fruits, both for self-consumption and sale in the market while other groups of society uses fuelwood, fruit, and fodder for self-use only. Depending on the local forest resources for fuelwood consumption was the primary need for all social groups due to easy accessibility and lack of alternative energy source. In last four decades, degradation of forest made a direct impact on rural community mediated through the socio-economic structure, resulting in a shift from forest-based occupations to cultivation and manual labour in agricultural and non-agricultural activities. Thus there is a need to review the policies with respect to the ‘community forest management’ since this study clearly throws up the fact that engagement with and dependence on forest resources is socially differentiated. Thus tying the degree of dependence and forest management becomes extremely important from the view of ‘sustainable’ forest resource management. The statization of forest resources also has to keep in view the intrinsic way in which the forest-dependent population interacts with the forest.

Keywords: forest degradation, livelihood, social groups, tribal community

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Authors: F. Pal-Fam, S. Keszthelyi

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Phytosanitary condition of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) was endangered by several phytopathogenic agents, mainly microfungi, such as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Diaporthe helianthi, Plasmopara halstedtii, Macrophomina phaseolina and so on. There are more agrotechnical and chemical technologies against them, for instance, tolerant hybrids, crop rotations and eventually several in-crop chemical treatments. There are different fungicide treatment methods in sunflower in Hungarian agricultural practice in the quest of obtaining healthy and economic plant products. Besides, there are many choices of useable active ingredients in Hungarian sunflower protection. This study carried out into the examination of the effect of five different fungicide active substances (found on the market) and three different application modes (early; late; and early and late treatments) in a total number of 9 sample plots, 0.1 ha each other. Five successive vegetation periods have been investigated in long term, between 2013 and 2017. The treatments were: 1)untreated control; 2) boscalid and dimoxystrobin late treatment (July); 3) boscalid and dimoxystrobin early treatment (June); 4) picoxystrobin and cyproconazole early treatment; 5) picoxystrobin and cymoxanil and famoxadone early treatment; 6) picoxystrobin and cyproconazole early; cymoxanil and famoxadone late treatments; 7) picoxystrobin and cyproconazole early; picoxystrobin and cymoxanil and famoxadone late treatments; 8) trifloxystrobin and cyproconazole early treatment; and 9) trifloxystrobin and cyproconazole both early and late treatments. Due to the very different yearly weather conditions different phytopathogenic fungi were dominant in the particular years: Diaporthe and Alternaria in 2013; Alternaria and Sclerotinia in 2014 and 2015; Alternaria, Sclerotinia and Diaporthe in 2016; and Alternaria in 2017. As a result of treatments ‘infection frequency’ and ‘infestation rate’ showed a significant decrease compared to the control plot. There were no significant differences between the efficacies of the different fungicide mixes; all were almost the same effective against the phytopathogenic fungi. The most dangerous Sclerotinia infection was practically eliminated in all of the treatments. Among the single treatments, the late treatment realised in July was the less efficient, followed by the early treatments effectuated in June. The most efficient was the double treatments realised in both June and July, resulting 70-80% decrease of the infection frequency, respectively 75-90% decrease of the infestation rate, comparing with the control plot in the particular years. The lowest yield quantity was observed in the control plot, followed by the late single treatment. The yield of the early single treatments was higher, while the double treatments showed the highest yield quantities (18.3-22.5% higher than the control plot in particular years). In total, according to our five years investigation, the most effective application mode is the double in-crop treatment per vegetation time, which is reflected by the yield surplus.

Keywords: fungicides, treatments, phytopathogens, sunflower

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Authors: Marina Bubalo, Davor Romić, Stjepan Husnjak, Helena Bakić

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Even though European Council Directive 91/676/EEC known as Nitrates Directive was adopted in 1991, the issue of water quality preservation in areas of intensive agricultural production still persist all over Europe. High nitrate nitrogen concentrations in surface and groundwater originating from diffuse sources are one of the most important environmental problems in modern intensive agriculture. The fate of nitrogen in soil, surface and groundwater in agricultural area is mostly affected by anthropogenic activity (i.e. agricultural practice) and hydrological and climatological conditions. The aim of this study was to identify impact of land use, soil type, soil vulnerability to pollutant percolation, and natural aquifer vulnerability to nitrate occurrence in surface and groundwater within an intensive agricultural area. The study was set in Varaždin County (northern Croatia), which is under significant influence of the large rivers Drava and Mura and due to that entire area is dominated by alluvial soil with shallow active profile mainly on gravel base. Negative agricultural impact on water quality in this area is evident therefore the half of selected county is a part of delineated nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZ). Data on water quality were collected from 7 surface and 8 groundwater monitoring stations in the County. Also, recent study of the area implied detailed inventory of agricultural production and fertilizers use with the aim to produce new agricultural land use database as one of dominant parameters. The analysis of this database done using ArcGIS 10.1 showed that 52,7% of total County area is agricultural land and 59,2% of agricultural land is used for intensive agricultural production. On the other hand, 56% of soil within the county is classified as soil vulnerable to pollutant percolation. The situation is similar with natural aquifer vulnerability; northern part of the county ranges from high to very high aquifer vulnerability. Statistical analysis of water quality data is done using SPSS 13.0. Cluster analysis group both surface and groundwater stations in two groups according to nitrate nitrogen concentrations. Mean nitrate nitrogen concentration in surface water – group 1 ranges from 4,2 to 5,5 mg/l and in surface water – group 2 from 24 to 42 mg/l. The results are similar, but evidently higher, in groundwater samples; mean nitrate nitrogen concentration in group 1 ranges from 3,9 to 17 mg/l and in group 2 from 36 to 96 mg/l. ANOVA analysis confirmed statistical significance between stations that are classified in the same group. The previously listed parameters (land use, soil type, etc.) were used in factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) to detect importance of each stated parameter in local water quality. Since stated parameters mostly cannot be altered, there is obvious necessity for more precise and more adapted land management in such conditions.

Keywords: agricultural area, nitrate, factorial correspondence analysis, water quality

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Authors: Jung-Hong Hong, Jing-Cen Yang, Cai-Yu Ou

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The analysis of geographic inequality heavily relies on the use of location-enabled statistical data and quantitative measures to present the spatial patterns of the selected phenomena and analyze their differences. To protect the privacy of individual instance and link to administrative units, point-based datasets are spatially aggregated to area-based statistical datasets, where only the overall status for the selected levels of spatial units is used for decision making. The partition of the spatial units thus has dominant influence on the outcomes of the analyzed results, well known as the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). A new spatial reference framework, the Taiwan Geographical Statistical Classification (TGSC), was recently introduced in Taiwan based on the spatial partition principles of homogeneous consideration of the number of population and households. Comparing to the outcomes of the traditional township units, TGSC provides additional levels of spatial units with finer granularity for presenting spatial phenomena and enables domain experts to select appropriate dissemination level for publishing statistical data. This paper compares the results of respectively using TGSC and township unit on the mortality data and examines the spatial characteristics of their outcomes. For the mortality data between the period of January 1^st, 2008 and December 31^st, 2010 of the Taitung County, the all-cause age-standardized death rate (ASDR) ranges from 571 to 1757 per 100,000 persons, whereas the 2^nd dissemination area (TGSC) shows greater variation, ranged from 0 to 2222 per 100,000. The finer granularity of spatial units of TGSC clearly provides better outcomes for identifying and evaluating the geographic inequality and can be further analyzed with the statistical measures from other perspectives (e.g., population, area, environment.). The management and analysis of the statistical data referring to the TGSC in this research is strongly supported by the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. An integrated workflow that consists of the tasks of the processing of death certificates, the geocoding of street address, the quality assurance of geocoded results, the automatic calculation of statistic measures, the standardized encoding of measures and the geo-visualization of statistical outcomes is developed. This paper also introduces a set of auxiliary measures from a geographic distribution perspective to further examine the hidden spatial characteristics of mortality data and justify the analyzed results. With the common statistical area framework like TGSC, the preliminary results demonstrate promising potential for developing a web-based statistical service that can effectively access domain statistical data and present the analyzed outcomes in meaningful ways to avoid wrong decision making.

Keywords: mortality map, spatial patterns, statistical area, variation

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Authors: Abubakar Dikko

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The research investigates the causes of unemployment in Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa, and the role of Capital Accumulation in reducing the unemployment profile of these economies as proposed by the post-Keynesian economics. This is conducted through extensive review of literature on the NAIRU models and focused on the post-Keynesian view of unemployment within the NAIRU framework. The NAIRU (non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment) model has become a dominant framework used in macroeconomic analysis of unemployment. The study views the post-Keynesian economics arguments that capital accumulation is a major determinant of unemployment. Unemployment remains the fundamental socio-economic challenge facing African economies. It has been a burden to citizens of those economies. Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa are great African nations battling with high unemployment rates. In 2013, the countries recorded high unemployment rates of 16.9%, 23.9% and 24.9% respectively. Most of the unemployed in these economies comprises of youth. Roughly about 40% working age South Africans has jobs, whereas in Nigeria and Namibia is less than that. Unemployment in Africa has wide implications on households which has led to extensive poverty and inequality, and created a rampant criminality. Recently in South Africa there has been a case of xenophobic attacks which were caused by the citizens of the country as a result of unemployment. The high unemployment rate in the country led the citizens to chase away foreigners in the country claiming that they have taken away their jobs. The study proposes that there is a strong relationship between capital accumulation and unemployment in Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa, and capital accumulation is responsible for high unemployment rates in these countries. For the economies to achieve steady state level of employment and satisfactory level of economic growth and development there is need for capital accumulation to take place. The countries in the study have been selected after a critical research and investigations. They are selected based on the following criteria; African economies with high unemployment rates above 15% and have about 40% of their workforce unemployed. This level of unemployment is the critical level of unemployment in Africa as expressed by International Labour Organization (ILO). The African countries with low level of capital accumulation. Adequate statistical measures have been employed using a time-series analysis in the study and the results revealed that capital accumulation is the main driver of unemployment performance in the chosen African countries. An increase in the accumulation of capital causes unemployment to reduce significantly. The results of the research work will be useful and relevant to federal governments and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa to resolve the issue of high and persistent unemployment rates in their economies which are great burden that slows growth and development of developing economies. Also, the result can be useful to World Bank, African Development Bank and International Labour Organization (ILO) in their further research and studies on how to tackle unemployment in developing and emerging economies.

Keywords: capital accumulation, unemployment, NAIRU, Post-Keynesian economics

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Authors: Pradeep Peiris, Hasini Lecamwasam

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The fluid, ambiguous, and often elusive existence of caste among the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka has inspired many scholarly endeavours. Originally, Sinhalese caste was organized according to the occupational functions assigned to various groups in society. Hence cultivators came to be known as Goyigama, washers Dobi, drummers Berava, smiths Navandanna and so on. During pre-colonial times the specialized services of various groups were deployed to build water reservoirs, cultivate the land, and/or sustain the Buddhist order by material means. However, as to how and why caste prevails today in Sinhalese society when labour is in ideal terms free to move where it wants, or in other words, occupation is no longer strictly determined or restricted by birth, is a question worth exploring. Hence this paper explores how, and perhaps more interestingly why, when the nexus between traditional occupations and caste status is fast disappearing, caste itself has managed to survive and continues to be salient in politics in Sri Lanka. In answer to this larger question, the paper looks at caste from three perspectives: 1) Buddhism, whose ethical project provides a justification of social stratifications that transcends economic bases 2) Capitalism that has reactivated and reproduced archaic relations in a process of 'accumulation by subordination', not only by reinforcing the marginality of peripheral caste groups, but also by exploiting caste divisions to hinder any realization of class interests and 3) Democracy whose supposed equalizing effect expected through its ‘one man–one vote’ approach has been subverted precisely by itself, whereby the aggregate ultimately comes down to how many such votes each ‘group’ in society has. This study draws from field work carried out in Dedigama (in the District of Kegalle, Central Province) and Kelaniya (in the District of Colombo, Western Province) in Sri Lanka over three years. The choice of field locations was encouraged by the need to capture rural and urban dynamics related to caste since caste is more apparently manifest in rural areas whose material conditions partially warrant its prevalence, whereas in urban areas it exists mostly in the ideological terrain. In building its analysis, the study has employed a combination of objectivist and subjectivist approaches to capture the material and ideological existence of caste and caste politics in Sinhalese society. Therefore, methods such as in-depth interviews, observation, and collection of demographical and interpretive data from secondary sources were used for this study. The paper has been situated in a critical theoretical framework of social inquiry in an attempt to question dominant assumptions regarding such meta-labels as ‘Capitalism’ and ‘Democracy’, and also the supposed emancipatory function of religion (focusing on Buddhism).

Keywords: Buddhism, capitalism, caste, democracy, Sri Lanka

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Authors: Ming-Chien Su, Yi-Zih Chen, Nien-Hsin Kao, Hideaki Shibata

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The major component of the atmosphere is nitrogen, yet atmospheric nitrogen has limited availability for biological use. Human activities have produced different types of nitrogen related compounds such as nitrogen oxides from combustion, nitrogen fertilizers from farming, and the nitrogen compounds from waste and wastewater, all of which have impacted the environment. Many studies have indicated the N-footprint is dominated by food, followed by housing, transportation, and goods and services sectors. To solve the impact issues from agricultural land, nitrogen cycle research is one of the key solutions. The study site is located in Hualien County, Taiwan, a major rice and food production area of Taiwan. Importantly, environmentally friendly farming has been promoted for years, and an environmental indicator system has been established by previous authors based on the concept of resilience capacity index (RCI) and environmental performance index (EPI). Nitrogen management is required for food production, as excess N causes environmental pollution. Therefore it is very important to develop a roadmap of the nitrogen footprint, and to integrate it with environmental indicators. The key focus of the study thus addresses (1) understanding the environmental impact caused by the nitrogen cycle of food products and (2) uncovering the trend of the N-footprint of agricultural products in Hualien, Taiwan. The N-footprint model was applied, which included both crops and energy consumption in the area. All data were adapted from government statistics databases and crosschecked for consistency before modeling. The actions involved with agricultural production were evaluated and analyzed for nitrogen loss to the environment, as well as measuring the impacts to humans and the environment. The results showed that rice makes up the largest share of agricultural production by weight, at 80%. The dominant meat production is pork (52%) and poultry (40%); fish and seafood were at similar levels to pork production. The average per capita food consumption in Taiwan is 2643.38 kcal capita−1 d−1, primarily from rice (430.58 kcal), meats (184.93 kcal) and wheat (ca. 356.44 kcal). The average protein uptake is 87.34 g capita−1 d−1, and 51% is mainly from meat, milk, and eggs. The preliminary results showed that the nitrogen footprint of food production is 34 kg N per capita per year, congruent with the results of Shibata et al. (2014) for Japan. These results provide a better understanding of the nitrogen demand and loss in the environment, and the roadmap can furthermore support the establishment of nitrogen policy and strategy. Additionally, the results serve to develop a roadmap of the nitrogen cycle of an environmentally friendly farming area, thus illuminating the nitrogen demand and loss of such areas.

Keywords: agriculture productions, energy consumption, environmental indicator, nitrogen footprint

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Authors: Rebecca Johnson, Elizabeth Hoban

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Condom use among young men in Cambodia has declined between 2005 and 2014 which has public health implications such as increased risks of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and unplanned pregnancies. Conversations about sexual and reproductive health issues, including condom use, are not socially sanctioned in Cambodian society leaving young adults with limited knowledge of, and poor access to sexual and reproductive health services. Additionally, men play a dominant role in decision making regarding condom use within sexual partnerships. This study sought to fill a gap in knowledge by exploring young adult males’ attitudes, perceptions and behaviours regarding condom use. In February and March 2018, twenty young adult males, aged 18 to 24 years, were recruited from urban, peri urban and rural areas in Cambodia. The young adult males participated in a face-to-face semi structured interview that used an interview guide and photo elicitation method. The interview explored participants’ knowledge of sexual and reproductive health issues and efficacy, sexual behaviours, and use of condoms. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted and the following major themes emerged: understanding of reproduction, understanding of sexually transmitted infections, knowledge about condoms, condom use, access to condoms, and sexual behaviour. Participants’ knowledge of condoms and specific reasons for their use varied; most participants understood that condoms provide protection from sexually transmitted infections and prevent pregnancy. Stigma associated with condom access was consistently referred to as a problem and the main reason cited by young men for not using condoms during sexual intercourse. The perceived importance of condom use altered with partner type and relationship status, dependent upon the need for protection from sexually transmitted infections or pregnancy. Condoms were used for infection control in the context of multiple relationships, or as a contraceptive method for unmarried and some married couples. The majority of young men engaged in premarital sexual intercourse, of those men the many used condoms. The inconsistent use of condoms by young men in Cambodia is of public health concern because of the increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (including HIV), and unplanned pregnancy. Public health action is required in order to minimize long term health issues for individuals and the community. Health education is required to increase knowledge of condom use, sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and reduce the stigma associated with this topic. Sustainable health promotion programs are needed to increase ease of access to condoms for young people. Public health policy in Cambodia needs to be reviewed to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes for young adults.

Keywords: Cambodia, condom use, sexual and reproductive health, young adult males

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Authors: Assamen Ayalew Ejigu, Liang-Chiun Chao

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In recent semiconductor and nanotechnology, quality material synthesis, proper characterizations, and productions are the big challenges. As cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is a promising semiconductor material for photovoltaic (PV) and other optoelectronic applications, this study was aimed at to grow and characterize high quality Cu2O nanorods for the improvement of the efficiencies of thin film solar cells and other potential applications. In this study, well-structured cuprous oxide (Cu2O) nanorods were successfully fabricated using IBSD method in which the Cu2O samples were grown on silicon substrates with a substrate temperature of 400°C in an IBSD chamber of pressure of 4.5 x 10-5 torr using copper as a target material. Argon, and oxygen gases were used as a sputter and reactive gases, respectively. The characterization of the Cu2O nanorods (NRs) were done in comparison with Cu2O thin film (TF) deposited with the same method but with different Ar:O2 flow rates. With Ar:O2 ratio of 9:1 single phase pure polycrystalline Cu2O NRs with diameter of ~500 nm and length of ~4.5 µm were grow. Increasing the oxygen flow rates, pure single phase polycrystalline Cu2O thin film (TF) was found at Ar:O2 ratio of 6:1. The field emission electron microscope (FE-SEM) measurements showed that both samples have smooth morphologies. X-ray diffraction and Rama scattering measurements reveals the presence of single phase Cu2O in both samples. The differences in Raman scattering and photoluminescence (PL) bands of the two samples were also investigated and the results showed us there are differences in intensities, in number of bands and in band positions. Raman characterization shows that the Cu2O NRs sample has pronounced Raman band intensities, higher numbers of Raman bands than the Cu2O TF which has only one second overtone Raman signal at 2 (217 cm-1). The temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectra measurements, showed that the defect luminescent band centered at 720 nm (1.72 eV) is the dominant one for the Cu2O NRs and the 640 nm (1.937 eV) band was the only PL band observed from the Cu2O TF. The difference in optical and structural properties of the samples comes from the oxygen flow rate change in the process window of the samples deposition. This gave us a roadmap for further investigation of the electrical and other optical properties for the tunable fabrication of the Cu2O nano/micro structured sample for the improvement of the efficiencies of thin film solar cells in addition to other potential applications. Finally, the novel morphologies, excellent structural and optical properties seen exhibits the grown Cu2O NRs sample has enough quality to be used in further research of the nano/micro structured semiconductor materials.

Keywords: defect levels, nanorods, photoluminescence, Raman modes

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Authors: Nouha Bouayed Abdelmoula, Rim Louati, Nawel Abdellaoui, Balkiss Abdelmoula, Oldez Kaabi, Walid Smaoui, Samir Aloulou

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Background and Aims: Cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome (CFC) is an autosomal dominant disorder with the vast majority of cases arising by a new mutation of BRAF, MEK1, MEK2, or rarely, KRAS genes. Here, we report a rare Tunisian case of CFC syndrome for whom we identify SOS1 mutation. Methods: Genomic DNA was obtained from peripheral blood collected in an EDTA tube and extracted from leukocytes using the phenol/chloroform method according to standard protocols. High resolution melting (HRM) analysis for screening of mutations in the entire coding sequence of PTPN11 was conducted first. Then, HRM assays to look for hot spot mutations coding regions of the other genes of the RAS-MAPK pathway (RAt Sarcoma viral oncogene homolog Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases Pathway): SOS1, SHOC2, KRAS, RAF1, KRAS, NRAS, CBL, BRAF, MEK1, MEK2, HRAS, and RIT1, were applied. Results: Heterozygous SOS1 point mutation clustered in exon 10, which encodes for the PH domain of SOS1, was identified: c.1655 G > A. The patient was a 9-year-old female born from a consanguineous couple. She exhibited pulmonic valvular stenosis as congenital heart disease. She had facial features and other malformations of Noonan syndrome, including macrocephaly, hypertelorism, ptosis, downslanting palpebral fissures, sparse eyebrows, a short and broad nose with upturned tip, low-set ears, high forehead commonly associated with bitemporal narrowing and prominent supraorbital ridges, short and/or webbed neck and short stature. However, the phenotype is also suggestive of CFC syndrome with the presence of more severe ectodermal abnormalities, including curly hair, keloid scars, hyperkeratotic skin, deep plantar creases, and delayed permanent dentition with agenesis of the right maxillary first molar. Moreover, the familial history of the patient revealed recurrent brain malignancies in the paternal family and epileptic disease in the maternal family. Conclusions: This case report of an overlapping RASopathy associated with SOS1 mutation and familial history of brain tumorigenesis is exceptional. The evidence suggests that RASopathies are truly cancer-prone syndromes, but the magnitude of the cancer risk and the types of cancer partially overlap.

Keywords: cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, CFC, SOS1, brain cancer, germline mutation

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Authors: Z. M. Biyasheva, M. Zh. Tleubergenova, Y. A. Zaripova, A. L. Shakirov, V. V. Dyachkov

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In recent years, interest in ecogenetic and biomedical problems related to the effects on the population of radon and its daughter decay products has increased significantly. Of particular interest is the assessment of the consequence of irradiation at hazardous radon areas, which includes the Almaty region due to the large number of tectonic faults that enhance radon emanation. In connection with the foregoing, the purpose of this work was to study the genetic effects of exposure to supernormal radon doses on the alpha-radiation model. Irradiation does not affect the growth of the cell, but rather its ability to differentiate. In addition, irradiation can lead to somatic mutations, morphoses and modifications. These damages most likely occur from changes in the composition of the substances of the cell. Such changes are epigenetic since they affect the regulatory processes of ontogenesis. Variability in the expression of regulatory genes refers to conditional mutations that modify the formation of signs of intraspecific similarity. Characteristic features of these conditional mutations are the dominant type of their manifestation, phenotypic asymmetry and their instability in the generations. Currently, the terms “morphosis” and “modification” are used to describe epigenetic variability, which are maintained in Drosophila melanogaster cultures using linkaged X- chromosomes, and the mutant X-chromosome is transmitted along the paternal line. In this paper, we investigated the epigenetic effects of alpha particles, whose source in nature is mainly radon and its daughter decay products. In the experiment, an isotope of plutonium-238 (Pu²³⁸), generating radiation with an energy of about 5500 eV, was used as a source of alpha particles. In an experiment in the first generation (F₁), deformities or morphoses were found, which can be called "radiation syndromes" or mutations, the manifestation of which is similar to the pleiotropic action of genes. The proportion of morphoses in the experiment was 1.8%, and in control 0.4%. In this experiment, the morphoses in the flies of the first and second generation looked like black spots, or melanomas on different parts of the imago body; "generalized" melanomas; curled, curved wings; shortened wing; bubble on one wing; absence of one wing, deformation of thorax, interruption and violation of tergite patterns, disruption of distribution of ocular facets and bristles; absence of pigmentation of the second and third legs. Statistical analysis by the Chi-square method showed the reliability of the difference in experiment and control at P ≤ 0.01. On the basis of this, it can be considered that alpha particles, which in the environment are mainly generated by radon and its isotopes, have a mutagenic effect that manifests itself, mainly in the formation of morphoses or deformities.

Keywords: alpha-radiation, genotoxicity, morphoses, radioecology, radon

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Authors: Tsitsi Nyukurayi Muparari, Walter Timo De Vries, Jaap Zevenbergen

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The nature of Land administration accommodates diversity in terms of both spatial data handling activities and the expertise involved, which supposedly aims to satisfy the unpredictable demands of land data and the diverse demands of the customers arising from the land. However, it is known that strategic decisions of restructuring are in most cases repelled in favour of complex structures that strive to accommodate professional diversity and diverse roles in the field of Land administration. Yet despite of this widely accepted knowledge, there is scanty theoretical knowledge concerning the psychological methodologies that can extract the deeper perceptions from the diverse spatial expertise in order to explain the invisible control arm of the polarised reception of the ideas of change. This paper evaluates Q methodology in the context of a cadastre and land registry merger (under one agency) using the Swedish cadastral system as a case study. Precisely, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of Q methodology towards modelling the diverse psychological perceptions of spatial professionals who are in a widely contested decision of merging the cadastre and land registry components of Land administration using the Swedish cadastral system as a case study. An empirical approach that is prescribed by Q methodology starts with the concourse development, followed by the design of statements and q sort instrument, selection of the participants, the q-sorting exercise, factor extraction by PQMethod and finally narrative development by logic of abduction. The paper uses 36 statements developed from a dominant competing value theory that stands out on its reliability and validity, purposively selects 19 participants to do the Qsorting exercise, proceeds with factor extraction from the diversity using varimax rotation and judgemental rotation provided by PQMethod and effect the narrative construction using the logic abduction. The findings from the diverse perceptions from cadastral professionals in the merger decision of land registry and cadastre components in Sweden’s mapping agency (Lantmäteriet) shows that focus is rather inclined on the perfection of the relationship between the legal expertise and technical spatial expertise. There is much emphasis on tradition, loyalty and communication attributes which concern the organisation’s internal environment rather than innovation and market attributes that reveals customer behavior and needs arising from the changing humankind-land needs. It can be concluded that Q methodology offers effective tools that pursues a psychological approach for the evaluation and gradations of the decisions of strategic change through extracting the local perceptions of spatial expertise.

Keywords: cadastre, factor extraction, land administration merger, land registry, q-methodology, rotation

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Authors: Haleema Sadia

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The study is aimed at exploring the identity construction of female British born Pakistani postgraduate student who shifted to Pakistan at the age of 12, stayed there for 8 years and re-shifted to UK for Higher Education. Research questions are: 1. What is the academic and socio-cultural background of the participant prior to joining the UoM as a postgrad student? 2. How the participant talk, see herself and act in relation to cultural and social norms and practices? Participant’ identity is explored through positioning theory of Holland et al. (1998), referring to the ways people understand and enact their social positions in the figured world. The research is a case study based on narrative interview of Shabana, a British-born Pakistani female postgraduate student, who has recently joined the university of Manchester. Shabana received her primary education in UK during the first twelve years of her life. She is the youngest among the three sisters, with only one brother younger to her. Her father, although not well educated is a successful entrepreneur, maintaining offices in UK and Pakistan. Her mother is a housewife with no formal education. Shabana’s elder sister got involved in a relationship with a Pakistani boy against cultural norms of arranged marriage. Resultantly the three sisters were shifted to Pakistan to be equated with socio-religious norms. Shabana termed her first year in Pakistan as disgusting and she hated her father for the decision. However after a year’s time and shifting from an orthodox city to the provincial capital Lahore, she developed liking for the Pakistani culture. She gradually developed a new socio-religious identity during her stay, which she expressed as a turning point in her life. After completing O level Shabana returned back to UK and joined the University of Hull as undergraduate Student. At Hull she remained isolated, missed the religious environment and relished the memories of Lahore. She would visit Pakistan almost three times a year. After obtaining her BSc degree from Hull she went back to Pakistan. Soon after she decided to improve her academic qualification. She came to UK to join her parents and got admission in the MSc chemistry program at UoM. Presently Shabana talks about the dominant role of male members in the family culture in decision-making. She strongly feels to struggle hard and attain equal status with males in education, employment, earning, authority and freedom. She sees herself in a position to share the authority with her (would be) husband in important family and other matters. Shabana has developed a new identity of a mix of both Pakistani and UK culture. She is appreciative of the socio-cultural values of UK while still regarding the cultural and religious values of Pakistan in high esteem.

Keywords: postgraduate students, identity construction, cultural shifts, female british pakistani student

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Authors: Elakneswaran Yogarajah, Toyoharu Nawa, Eiji Owaki

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Cement-based materials have been using in various reinforced concrete structural components as well as in nuclear waste repositories. The sulfate attack has been an environmental issue for cement-based materials exposed to sulfate bearing groundwater or soils, and it plays an important role in the durability of concrete structures. The reaction between penetrating sulfate ions and cement hydrates can result in swelling, spalling and cracking of cement matrix in concrete. These processes induce a reduction of mechanical properties and a decrease of service life of an affected structure. It has been identified that the precipitation of secondary sulfate bearing phases such as ettringite, gypsum, and thaumasite can cause the damage. Furthermore, crystallization of soluble salts such as sodium sulfate crystals induces degradation due to formation and phase changes. Crystallization of mirabilite (Na₂SO₄:10H₂O) and thenardite (Na₂SO₄) or their phase changes (mirabilite to thenardite or vice versa) due to temperature or sodium sulfate concentration do not involve any chemical interaction with cement hydrates. Over the past couple of decades, an intensive work has been carried out on sulfate attack in cement-based materials. However, there are several uncertainties still exist regarding the mechanism for the damage of concrete in sulfate environments. In this study, modelling work has been conducted to investigate the chemical degradation of cementitious materials in various sulfate environments. Both internal and external sulfate attack are considered for the simulation. In the internal sulfate attack, hydrate assemblage and pore solution chemistry of co-hydrating Portland cement (PC) and slag mixing with sodium sulfate solution are calculated to determine the degradation of the PC and slag-blended cementitious materials. Pitzer interactions coefficients were used to calculate the activity coefficients of solution chemistry at high ionic strength. The deterioration mechanism of co-hydrating cementitious materials with 25% of Na₂SO₄ by weight is the formation of mirabilite crystals and ettringite. Their formation strongly depends on sodium sulfate concentration and temperature. For the external sulfate attack, the deterioration of various types of cementitious materials under external sulfate ingress is simulated through reactive transport model. The reactive transport model is verified with experimental data in terms of phase assemblage of various cementitious materials with spatial distribution for different sulfate solution. Finally, the reactive transport model is used to predict the long-term performance of cementitious materials exposed to 10% of Na₂SO₄ for 1000 years. The dissolution of cement hydrates and secondary formation of sulfate-bearing products mainly ettringite are the dominant degradation mechanisms, but not the sodium sulfate crystallization.

Keywords: thermodynamic calculations, reactive transport, radioactive waste disposal, PHREEQC

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Authors: Sempiga Olivier, Dominika Latusek-Jurczak

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Climate change has allegedly been attributed to a high consumption of fossil fuels, leading to severe environmental problems. The energy sector has been among the most polluting sectors for many decades. Consequently, there is a lack of trust in several energy firms, especially those in fossil fuels and nuclear energy. A robust regulatory framework is needed, and more investment in renewable energy sources is paramount for a better environmental outcome. Given the significant environmental impact of energy production and consumption in the energy sector, sustainable marketing practices have become increasingly important. Although the latter has had the lion’s share in polluting the environment, much effort has been made recently to move away from fossil fuels and privilege renewable energy sources. How this shift would help rebuild trust in the energy industry is unclear. For the shift to have lasting effects, it may be essential that regulatory agencies examine how energy firms engage in sustainable investment. There is little empirical evidence on whether adopting regulating marketing practices and investment initiatives can help different organizations reduce their environmental impact and promote sustainable development. Little is known about how and whether the environmental value in firms goes beyond rhetoric, greenwashing and publicity to translate into economic gains and environmental performance. The study investigates how regulatory agencies can help energy firms invest sustainably and take sustainable initiatives even amid the energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and how these sustainable practices relate to renewed consumer trust. Using data from Corporate Knights, the study, through time series, analyses the relationship between sustainable regulation, sustainable practices of energy firms from around the world and their relation to consumer trust and environmental performance over the past 20 years. It examines how their sustainable investment, energy, and carbon productivity relate to environmental sustainability and consumer trust. This longitudinal study provides empirical evidence of the interplay between regulation, trust and environmental performance. The research is grounded in institutional trust theory, which emphasizes the role of regulatory frameworks and organizational practices in shaping public perceptions of fairness, transparency, and legitimacy. Results show that organizations in the energy sector, supported by robust regulatory tools, can overcome the negative image of polluters and compete with other companies in the fight against climate change and global warming. However, to do so, energy firms should consider investing more in renewable energy sources and implementing sustainable strategies and practices that go beyond greenwashing to improve their environmental performance, thereby rebuilding consumer trust in the energy sector. Results allow regulatory regimes and organizations to learn why it is crucial for energy firms to invest in renewable energy sources and engage in various sustainable initiatives and practices to contribute to better environmental outcomes and higher levels of trust.

Keywords: consumer trust, energy, environmental performance, regulation, renewable energy sources, sustainable practices

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Authors: Evans V. Mauda, Stefan H. Foord, Thinandavha C. Munyai

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The greatest threat to biodiversity is a loss of habitat through landscape fragmentation and attrition. Land use changes are therefore among the most immediate drivers of species diversity. Urbanization and agriculture are the main drivers of habitat loss and transformation in the Savanna biomes of South Africa. Agricultural expansion and the intensification in particular, take place at the expense of biodiversity and will probably be the primary driver of biodiversity loss in this century. Arthropods show measurable behavioural responses to changing land mosaics at the smallest scale and heterogeneous environments are therefore predicted to support more complex and diverse biological assemblages. Ants are premier soil turners, channelers of energy and dominate insect fauna, while spiders are a mega-diverse group that can regulate other invertebrate populations. This study aims to quantify the response of these two taxa in a rural-urban mosaic of a rapidly developing communal area. The study took place in and around two villages in the north-eastern corner of South Africa. Two replicates for each of the dominant land use categories, viz. urban settlements, dryland cultivation and cattle rangelands, were set out in each of the villages and sampled during the dry and wet seasons for a total of 2 villages × 3 land use categories × 2 seasons = 24 assemblages. Local scale variables measured included vertical and horizontal habitat structure as well as structural and chemical composition of the soil. Ant richness was not affected by land use but local scale variables such as vertical vegetation structure (+) and leaf litter cover (+), although vegetation complexity at lower levels was negatively associated with ant richness. However, ant richness was largely shaped by regional and temporal processes invoking the importance of dispersal and historical processes. Spider species richness was mostly affected by land use and local conditions highlighting their landscape elements. Spider richness did not vary much between villages and across seasons and seems to be less dependent on context or history. There was a considerable amount of variation in spider richness that was not explained and this could be related to factors which were not measured in this study such as temperature and competition. For both ant and spider assemblages the constrained ordination explained 18 % of variation in these taxa. Three environmental variables (leaf litter cover, active carbon and rock cover) were important in explaining ant assemblage structure, while two (sand and leaf litter cover) were important for spider assemblage structure. This study highlights the importance of disturbance (land use activities) and leaf litter with the associated effects on ant and spider assemblages across the study area.

Keywords: ants, assemblages, biosphere, diversity, land use, spiders, urbanization

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Authors: Alono Thorie, Ananya Mukhopadhyay

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Ooid bearing horizons of the Proterozoic Kunihar Formation, Simla Group, Lesser Himalaya have been addressed in the present work. The study is concentrated around the outskirts of Arki town, Solan district, Himachal Pradesh, India. Based on the sedimentary facies associations, the processes that promote the formation of ooids have been documented. The facies associations that have been recorded are: (i) Oolitic-Intraclastic grainstone (FA1), (ii) Oolitic grainstone (FA2), (iii) Boundstone (FA3), (iv) Dolomudstone (FA4) and (v) Rudstone (FA5). Oolitic-Intraclastic grainstone (FA1) mainly consists of well sorted ooids with concentric laminae and intraclasts. Large ooids with grain sizes more than 4 mm are characteristic of oolites throughout the area. Normally graded beds consisting of ooids and intraclasts are frequently documented in storm sediments in shelf environments and carbonate platforms. The well-sorted grainstone fabric indicates deposition in a high-energy shoal with tidal currents and storm reworking. FA2 comprises spherical to elliptical grains up to 8.5cm in size with concentric cortex and micritic nuclei. Peloids in FA2 are elliptical, rounded objects <0.3 mm in size. FA1 and FA2 have been recorded alongside boundstones (FA3) comprising stromatolites having columnar, wavy and domal morphology. Boundstones (FA3) reflect microbial growth in carbonate platforms and reefs. Dolomudstones (FA4) interbedded with cross laminated sandstones and erosional surfaces reflect sedimentation in storm dominated zones below fair-weather wave base. Rudstone (FA5) is composed of oolitic grainstone (FA2), boundstone (FA3) and dolomudstone (FA4). These clasts are few mm to more than 10 cm in length. Rudstones indicate deposition along a slope with intermittent influence of wave currents and storm activities. Most ooids from the Kunihar Formation are regular ooids with abundance of broken ooids. Compound and concentric ooids indicating medium to low energy environments are present but scarce. Ooids from high energy domains are more dominant than ooids developed from low energy environments. The unusually large size of the Kunihar ooids (more than 8.5 cm) is rare in the geological record. Development of carbonate deposits such as oolitic- intraclastic Grainstones (FA1), oolitic grainstones (FA2) and rudstones (FA5), and reflect deposition in an agitated beach environment with abundant microbial activity and high energy shallow marine waters influenced by tide, wave and storm currents. Occurrences of boundstone (FA4) or stromatolitic carbonate amongst oolitic facies (FA1 and FA2) and appearance of compound and concentric ooids indicate intervals of calm in between agitated phases of storm, wave and tidal activities.

Keywords: proterozoic, Simla Group, ooids, stromatolites

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Authors: Justin Durham, Chanda Rooney, Robert Mather, Mickie Vanhoy

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The psychological construct of empathy is to understand a person’s cognitive perspective and experience the other person’s emotional state. Deciphering emotional states is conducive for interpreting vicarious pain. Observing others' physical pain activates neural networks related to the actual experience of pain itself. The study addresses empathy as a nonlinear dynamic process of simulation for individuals to understand the mental states of others and experience vicarious pain, exhibiting self-organized criticality. Such criticality follows from a combination of neural networks with an excitatory feedback loop generating bistability to resonate permutated empathy. Cortical networks exhibit diverse patterns of activity, including oscillations, synchrony and waves, however, the temporal dynamics of neurophysiological activities underlying empathic processes remain poorly understood. Mu rhythms are EEG oscillations with dominant frequencies of 8-13 Hz becoming synchronized when the body is relaxed with eyes open and when the sensorimotor system is in idle, thus, mu rhythm synchrony is expected to be highest in baseline conditions. When the sensorimotor system is activated either by performing or simulating action, mu rhythms become suppressed or desynchronize, thus, should be suppressed while observing video clips of painful injuries if previous research on mirror system activation holds. Twelve undergraduates contributed EEG data and survey responses to empathy and psychopathy scales in addition to watching consecutive video clips of sports injuries. Participants watched a blank, black image on a computer monitor before and after observing a video of consecutive sports injuries incidents. Each video condition lasted five-minutes long. A BIOPAC MP150 recorded EEG signals from sensorimotor and thalamocortical regions related to a complex neural network called the ‘pain matrix’. Physical and social pain are activated in this network to resonate vicarious pain responses to processing empathy. Five EEG single electrode locations were applied to regions measuring sensorimotor electrical activity in microvolts (μV) to monitor mu rhythms. EEG signals were sampled at a rate of 200 Hz. Mu rhythm desynchronization was measured via 8-13 Hz at electrode sites (F3 & F4). Data for each participant’s mu rhythms were analyzed via Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) and multifractal time series analysis.

Keywords: desynchronization, dynamical systems theory, electroencephalography (EEG), empathy, multifractal time series analysis, mu waveform, neurophysiology, pain simulation, social cognition

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Authors: Ana Cristina García-Luna Romero

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This document seeks to reflect on the urban project from its conceptual identity root. In the first instance, a proposal is made on how the city project is sustained from the conceptual root, from the logos: it opens a way to assimilate the imagination; what we imagine becomes a reality. In this way, firstly, the need to use language as a vehicle for transmitting the stories that sustain us as humanity can be deemed as an important social factor that enables us to social behavior. Secondly, the need to attend to the written language as a mechanism of power, as a means to consolidate a dominant ideology or a political position, is raised; as it served to carry out the modernization project, it is therefore addressed differences between the real and the literate city. Thus, the consolidated urban-architectural project is based on logos, the project, and planning. Considering the importance of materiality and its relation to subjective well-being contextualized from a socio-urban approach, we question ourselves into how we can look at something that is doubtful. From a philosophy perspective, the truth is considered to be nothing more than a matter of correspondence between the observer and the observed. To understand beyond the relative of the gaze, it is necessary to expose different perspectives since it depends on the understanding of what is observed and how it is critically analyzed. Therefore, the analysis of materiality, as a political field, takes a proposal based on this research in the principles in transgenesis: principle of communication, representativeness, security, health, malleability, availability of potentiality or development, conservation, sustainability, economy, harmony, stability, accessibility, justice, legibility, significance, consistency, joint responsibility, connectivity, beauty, among others. The (urban) human being acts because he wants to live in a certain way: in a community, in a fair way, with opportunity for development, with the possibility of managing the environment according to their needs, etc. In order to comply with this principle, it is necessary to design strategies from the principles in transgenesis, which must be named, defined, understood, and socialized by the urban being, the companies, and from themselves. In this way, the technical status of the city in the neoliberal present determines extraordinary conditions for reflecting on an almost emergency scenario created by the impact of cities that, far from being limited to resilient proposals, must aim at the reflection of the urban process that the present social model has generated. Therefore, can we rethink the paradigm of the perception of life quality in the current neoliberal model in the production of the character of public space related to the practices of being urban. What we are trying to do within this document is to build a framework to study under what logic the practices of the social system that make sense of the public space are developed, what the implications of the phenomena of the inscription of action and materialization (and its results over political action between the social and the technical system) are and finally, how we can improve the quality of life of individuals from the urban space.

Keywords: cities, nature, society, urban quality of life

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Authors: Alison L. Miles

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Almost all major financial institutions in the world suffered losses due to the financial crisis of 2007, but the extent varied widely. The causes of the crash of 2007 are well documented and predominately focus on the role and complexity of the financial markets. The dominant theme of the literature suggests the causes of the crash were a combination of globalization, financial sector innovation, moribund regulation and short termism. While these arguments are undoubtedly true, they do not tell the whole story. A key weakness in the current analysis is the lack of consideration of those leading the banks pre and during times of crisis. This purpose of this study is to examine the possible link between the leadership styles and characteristics of the CEO, CFO and chairman and the financial institutions that failed or needed recapitalization. As such, it contributes to the literature and debate on international financial crises and systemic risk and also to the debate on risk management and regulatory reform in the banking sector. In order to first test the proposition (p1) that there are prevalent leadership characteristics or traits in financial institutions, an initial study was conducted using a sample of the top 65 largest global banks and financial institutions according to the Banker Top 1000 banks 2014. Secondary data from publically available and official documents, annual reports, treasury and parliamentary reports together with a selection of press articles and analyst meeting transcripts was collected longitudinally from the period 1998 to 2013. A computer aided key word search was used in order to identify the leadership styles and characteristics of the chairman, CEO and CFO. The results were then compared with the leadership models to form a picture of leadership in the sector during the research period. As this resulted in separate results that needed combining, SPSS data editor was used to aggregate the results across the studies using the variables ‘leadership style’ and ‘company financial performance’ together with the size of the company. In order to test the proposition (p2) that there was a prevalent leadership style in the banks that failed and the proposition (P3) that this was different to those that did not, further quantitative analysis was carried out on the leadership styles of the chair, CEO and CFO of banks that needed recapitalization, were taken over, or required government bail-out assistance during 2007-8. These included: Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch, Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, Barclays, Northern Rock, Fortis and Allied Irish. The findings show that although regulatory reform has been a key mechanism of control of behavior in the banking sector, consideration of the leadership characteristics of those running the board are a key factor. They add weight to the argument that if each crisis is met with the same pattern of popular fury with the financier, increased regulation, followed by back to business as usual, the cycle of failure will always be repeated and show that through a different lens, new paradigms can be formed and future clashes avoided.

Keywords: banking, financial crisis, leadership, risk

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Authors: Anemonë Zeneli

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Classrooms composed of students with varied linguistic repertoires, in combination with new technologies, have shifted what it means to be literate and how literacy is taught. At the same time, definitions of literacy matter greatly as they shape literacy education curricula, national literacy agendas, and pedagogical choices. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of New Literacy Studies and Critical Literacy, this research investigates how Kosovar teachers make sense of literacy. The study employed a qualitative research design involving classroom observations, teacher interviews, and document analysis in a public school in the capital city of Kosovo, Prishtina. Data was collected from 5 Albanian language teachers. Classroom observations allowed for the documentation of how teachers applied literacy and language pedagogies to their teaching. Teacher interviews provided insights into teachers’ understanding of literacy education and the rationale behind their chosen pedagogies. Document analysis, more specifically, lesson plan analysis, further explained teachers’ content and instructional choices. The findings suggest that teachers understand literacy as standardized language instruction. They spoke to the challenges of language instruction in standardized Albanian in a Gheg (dialect) dominant society. Teachers’ narratives described the tension that students face in navigating standardized language expectations while being unable to use their home (Gheg) literacies. Teachers’ narratives were imbued with moral contestation as they explained the lack of an infrastructure that allows students to apply their home language and literacies in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers expressed their insistence on teaching “the words of the book.” While this viewpoint on language and literacy is generally aligned with normative and colonial expectations on language, at the same time, it reveals teachers’ intention to ‘equip’ their students with skills and practices that they will be tested on. Some of the teachers also articulated the need for a pedagogy of correction that the work of upholding the standardized language variation necessitates. Here, teachers also utilized discourses of neoliberalism when discussing students’ English repertoire and its value in “opening doors” and advancement opportunities in life while further framing students’ home literacies, the Gheg dialect, in a deficit manner. If educators and policymakers are to make informed decisions about efforts to improve schools, it is important to improve our knowledge of what informs teachers’ pedagogical choices in teaching literacy. This study contributes to and expands the current knowledge base on teachers’ understanding of literacy education and their role in shaping literacy education. As schools continue to navigate (growing) diverse forms of literacy, this study highlights the importance of equipping educators with the knowledge and tools to apply literacy pedagogies that reflect the ever-shifting definitions of literacy education.

Keywords: literacy education, standardized language, critical narrative analysis, literacy teaching

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