Search results for: coastal and marine tourism threats

Authors: Yajun Qiao, Yaner Yan, Ning Li, Shuqing An

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In order to relieve the pressure on a land resource from a huge population, reclamation has occurred in many coastal wetlands. Plants can maintain their elemental composition within normal limits despite the variations of external conditions. Reclamation may affect carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry in the plant to some extent by altering physical and chemical properties of soil in a coastal wetland. We reported the seasonal dynamic of C, N and P stoichiometry in root, stem and leaf of Suaeda salsa (L.) Pall. and in soil between reclamation plots and natural plots. Our results of three-way ANOVA indicated that sampling season always had significant effect on C, N, P concentrations and their ratios; organ had no significant effect on N, P concentration and N:P; plot type had no significant effect on N concentration and C:N. Sampling season explained the most variability of tissue N and P contents, C:N, C:P and N:P, while it’s organ for C using the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method. By independent sample T-test, we found that reclamation affect more on C, N and P stoichiometry of stem than that of root or leaf on the whole. While there was no difference between reclamation plots and natural plots for soil in four seasons. For three organs, C concentration had peak values in autumn and minimum values in spring while N concentration had peak values in spring and minimum values in autumn. For P concentration, three organs all had peak values in spring; however, the root had minimum value in winter, the stem had that in autumn, and leaf had that in summer. The seasonal dynamic of C, N and P stoichiometry in a leaf of Suaeda salsa were much steadier than that in root or stem under the drive of reclamation.

Keywords: nitrogen, phosphorus, reclamation, seasonal dynamic, Suaeda salsa

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Authors: Esam El Gohary

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— The companies’ ability to survive and compete in the fierce competition is determined by its competitiveness level. With the spread of information technology use and appearance of online shopping, it became crucial for companies to adopt e-commerce system to increase its competitiveness. This paper was conducted with the purpose of determine how increasing the service value through e-commerce factors (competitive strategy, ICT infrastructures, logistics, security, human resources and innovation) can enhance companies' competitiveness. The problem of this paper is summarized in the absence of the thorough awareness of e-commerce benefits for business owners and customers, as well as how to reduce the intangibility attributes of e-commerce. For this purpose this paper describes the e-commerce in Egypt and its success factors (infrastructures, legal and regulatory environment, human resources and innovation), as well as displays the barriers of such factor, to investigate the significant of these factors on increasing service value and enhance companies' competitiveness. This paper revealed that e-commerce companies have many opportunities to enhance its competitiveness in Egypt, which is enhanced by several factors. The most important factors are “strong ICT infrastructure, qualified and skilled human resources, in addition to the distinctive logistics that distinguish Egypt due to its location, strong legal and regulatory environment and Innovation, as well as the competitive strategy. As well as, companies encounter several threats such as; the lack of infrastructures and logistics in rural areas, the absence of the inclusive understanding and awareness of e-commerce, fear from e-payment transactions and fraud, the ambiguity and burdensome of customs. Through the research findings several recommendations were introduced to both government and companies to overcome threats and exploit opportunities to improve performance and enhance companies' competitiveness.

Keywords: e-commerce competitiveness, e-commerce factors, e-commerce in Egypt, information technology

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Authors: Abdelkarim Mahdhi, Fdhila Kais, Faouzi Lamari, Zeineb Hmila, Fathi Kamoun, Maria Ángeles Esteban, Amina Bakhrouf

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Pathogenic bacteria are considered to be responsible for several infectious diseases in aquaculture. To overcome diseases in fish culture, the use of antimicrobial drugs as strategy, have been adopted. The use of probiotic was a promising approach to avoid the risk associated to pathogenic bacteria. To find a biological control treatment against pathogens, we undertook this investigation to study the maintain of the probiotic properties of Bacillus sp., such as viability, adhesive ability to abiotic surface, antibacterial activity and pathogenicity/toxicity, under marine starvation conditions. Our data revealed that the tested strains maintained their capacity to inhibit pathogens in vivo and in vitro conditions. These strains maintain their adhesive capacity to polystyrene and do not demonstrate the pathogenic or toxic effect to the host. The obtained results give insight about the effect of starvation conditions on the physiological responses of these Bacillus strains that can be considered as a potential candidate’s probiotic.

Keywords: bacillus, probiotic, cell viability, starvation conditions

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Authors: Azusa Katsumata

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Where there is collaboration between universities and companies in the educational context, companies seek ‘knowledge’ from universities and provide a ‘place of practice’ to them. Several universities have introduced activities aimed at the mutual enlightenment of a diversity of people in career education. However, several programs emphasize on delivering results, and on practicing the prepared materials as planned. Few programs focus on unexpected failures and setbacks. This way of learning is important in career education so that classmates can help each other, overcome difficulties, draw out each other’s strengths, and learn from them. Seijo University in Tokyo offered Tokyo Tourism, a Project-Based Learning course, as a first-year career education course until 2016. In cooperation with a travel agency, students participate in planning actual tourism products for foreigners visiting Japan, undertake tours serving as guides. This paper aims to study the 'learning platform' created by a series of processes such as the fieldwork, planning tours, the presentation, selling the tourism products, and guiding the tourists. We conducted a questionnaire to measure the development of work-related skills in class. From the results of the questionnaire, we can see, in the example of this class, that students demonstrated an increased desire to be pro-active and an improved motivation to learn. Students have not, however, acquired policy or business skills. This is appropriate for first-year careers education, but we need to consider how this can be incorporated into future courses. In the questionnaire filled out by the students after the class, the following results were found. Planning and implementing travel products while learning from each other, and helping the teams has led to improvements in the student workforce. This course is a collaborative project between Japanese universities and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games committee.

Keywords: university career education, platform of learning, project-based learning, collaboration between university and company

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Authors: Colm Barcoe, Garvan Whelan

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Over the past five years, visitations of American holidaymakers to Ireland have grown exponentially owing to the online strategies of Tourism Ireland, a Destination Marketer (DMO) with a meagre budget which is extended by their understanding of best practices to maximise their monetary allowance. This suggested framework incorporates a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) such as financial, marketing, and operational that offer a scale of measurement from which the Irish DMO can monitor the success of each promotional campaign when targeting the US and Canada. These are presented not as final solutions but rather as suggestions based on empirical evidence obtained from both primary and secondary sources. This research combines the wisdom extracted through qualitative methodologies with the objective of understanding the processes that drive both emergent and agile strategies. The Study extends the work relative to performance and examines the role of social media in the context of promoting Ireland to North America. There are two main themes that are identified and analysed in this investigation, these are the approach of the DMO when advocating Ireland as a brand and the benefits of digital platforms set against a proposed scale of KPIs, such as destination marketing, brand positioning, and identity development. The key narrative of this analysis is to focus on the power of social media when capitalising upon marketing opportunities, operating on a relatively small budget. This will always be a relevant theme of discussion due to the responsibility of an organisation like Tourism Ireland operating under the restraints imposed by government funding. The overall conclusions of this research may help inform those concerned with the implementing of social media strategies develop clearer models of measurement when promoting a destination to North America. The suggestions of this study will benefit small and medium enterprises particularly.

Keywords: destination marketing, framework, measure, performance

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Authors: José Antonio Donaire Benito, Konstantina Zerva

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Historically, cities have been places where people from many nations and cultures have met and settled together, while population flows and density have had a significant impact on urban dynamics. Cities' high density of social, cultural, business offerings, everyday services, and other amenities not intended for tourists draw not only tourists but a wide range of city users as well. With the coordination of city rhythms and the porosity of the community, city users order and frame their urban experience. From one side, recent literature focuses on the shift in urban tourist experience from 'having' a holiday through 'doing' activities to 'becoming' a local by experiencing a part of daily life. On the other hand, there is a debate on the 'touristification of everyday life', where middle and upper class urban dwellers display attitudes and behaviors that are virtually undistinguishable from those of visitors. With the advent of globalization and technological advances, modern society has undergone a radical transformation that has altered mobility patterns within it, blurring the boundaries between tourism and everyday life, work and leisure, and "hosts" and "guests". Additionally, the presence of other 'temporary city' users, such as commuters, digital nomads, second home owners, and migrants, contributes to a more complex transformation of tourist cities. Moving away from this traditional clear distinction between 'hosts' and 'guests', which represents a more static view of tourism, and moving towards a more liquid narrative of mobility, academics on tourism development are embracing the New Mobilities Paradigm. The latter moves beyond the static structures of the modern world and focuses on the ways in which social entities are made up of people, machines, information, and images in a moving system. In light of this fluid interdependence between tourists and guests, a question arises as to whether overtourism, which is considered as the underlying cause of citizens' perception of a lower urban quality of life, is a fair representation of perceived mobility excessiveness, place consumption disruptiveness, and residents displacement. As a representative example of an overtourism narrative, Barcelona was chosen as a study area for this purpose, focusing on the incoming city users to reflect in depth the variety of people who contribute to mobility flows beyond those residents already have. Several statistical data have been analyzed to determine the number of national and international visitors to Barcelona at some point during the day in 2019. Specifically, tracking data gathered from mobile phone users within the city are combined with tourist surveys, urban mobility data, zenithal data capture, and information about the city's attractions. The paper shows that tourists are only a small part of the different incoming city users that daily enter Barcelona; excursionists, commuters, and metropolitans also contribute to a high mobility flow. Based on the diversity of incoming city users and their place consumption, it seems that the city's urban experience is more likely to be impacted by over-mobility tan over-tourism.

Keywords: city users, density, new mobilities paradigm, over-tourism.

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Authors: Mariana Calderón, Paola Montenegro, Diana Moreno

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Through this study, it was possible to identify the different levels and types of violence, both individual and collective, experienced by women, girls, and the sexually diverse population of Buenaventura translated from the different tensions and threats against ancestrality and accounting for a social and political context of violence related to race and geopolitical location. These threats are related to: the stigma and oblivion imposed on practices and knowledge; the imposition of the hegemonic culture; the imposition of external customs as a way of erasing ancestrality; the singling out and persecution of those who practice it; the violence that the health system has exercised against ancestral knowledge and practices, especially in the case of midwives; the persecution of the Catholic religion against this knowledge and practices; the difficulties in maintaining the practices in the displacement from rural to urban areas; the use and control of ancestral knowledge and practices by the armed actors; the rejection and stigma exercised by the public forces; and finally, the murder of the wise women at the hands of the armed actors. This research made it possible to understand the importance of using tools such as the violence meter to support processes of resistance to violence against women, girls, and sexually diverse people; however, it is essential that these tools be adapted to the specific contexts of the people. In the analysis of violence, it was possible to identify that these not only affect women, girls, and sexually diverse people individually but also have collective effects that threaten the territory and the ancestral culture to which they belong. Ancestrality has been the object of violence, but at the same time, it has been the place from which resistance has been organized. The identification of the violence suffered by women, girls, and sexually diverse people is also an opportunity to make visible the forms of resistance of women and communities in the face of this violence. This study examines how women, girls, and sexually diverse people in Buenaventura have been exposed to sexism and racism, which historically have been translated into specific forms of violence, in addition to the other forms of violence already identified by the traditional models of the violentometer. A qualitative approach was used in the study. The study included the participation of more than 40 people and two women's organizations from Buenaventura. The participants came from both urban and rural areas of the municipality of Buenaventura and were over 15 years of age. The participation of such a diverse group allowed for the exchange of knowledge and experiences, particularly between younger and older people. The instrument used for the exercise was previously defined with the leaders of the organizations and consisted of four moments that referred to i) ancestry, ii) threats to ancestry, iii) identification of resistance and iv) construction of the ancestral violentometer.

Keywords: violence against women, intersectionality, sexual and reproductive rights, black communities

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Authors: U. V. Okpala

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Flood is an overflow of water that submerges or ‘drowns’ land. In developing countries it occurs as a result of blocking of natural and man-made drainages and poor maintenance of water dams/reservoirs which seldom give way after persistent heavy down pours. In coastal lowlands and swamp lands, flooding is aided mainly by blocked channels and indiscriminate sand fling of coastal swamp areas and natural drainage channel for urban development/constructions. In this paper, the causes of flood and possible scientific, technological, political, economic and social impacts of flood disaster on the environment a case study of Anambra State have been studied. Often times flooding is caused by climate change, especially in the developed economy where scientific mitigating options are highly employed. Researchers have identified Green Houses Gases (GHG) as the cause of global climate change. The recent flood disaster in Anambra State which caused physical damage to structures, social dislocation, contamination of clean drinking water, spread of water-borne diseases, shortage of crops and food supplies, death of non-tolerant tree species, disruption in transportation system, serious economic loss and psychological trauma is a function of climate change. There is need to encourage generation of renewable energy sources, use of less carbon intensive fuels and other energy efficient sources. Carbon capture/sequestration, proper management of our drainage systems and good maintenance of our dams are good option towards saving the environment.

Keywords: flooding, climate change, carbon capture, energy systems

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Authors: Muhammad Alhada Fuadilah Habib, Ayla Karina Budita, Cut Rizka Al Usrah, Mukhammad Fatkhullah, Kanita Khoirun Nisa, Siti Muslihatul Mukaromah

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In this contemporary era, the term of development often emphasised merely on the economic growth aspect. Development of a program often considered as superior by the government, in fact, it often raises various problems. The problems occur because the development policies determined by the government tend to favor private entrepreneurs and impose on the oppression toward the community. The development promised to prosper the community's life, turn out in fact of harming the community, threatening the survival of the community and damaging the ecosystem of nature where the community hangs their life to it. Nowadays many natural resources should be used for the community’s life prosperity. However, the prosperity is conquered by the private entrepreneurs that are regulated through the free market mechanism and wrapped in democratization. This condition actually is a form of neoliberalism that builds new administration order system which is far from the meaning of the word democracy. The government should play more role in protecting community's life and prosperity, but in fact, the government sides with the private entrepreneurs for the sake of the economic benefits regardless of other aspects of the community’s life. This unjustified condition presents a wide range of social movements from the community in response to the neoliberalis policy that actually eliminates the doctrine of community sovereignty. Social movements performed by Yogyakarta south coastal area community, as the focus of the discussion in this paper, is one of the community’s response toward the government policies related to the construction of the ferruginous sand quarry which is tend to favor on private entrepreneurs and highly prejudicing or even threatening the survival of Yogyakarta south coastal area community. The data collection in this study uses qualitative research methods with in-depth interview data collection techniques and purposive informant determination techniques. This method was chosen in order to obtain the insightful data and detailed information to uncover the injustice policies committed by the government-private entrepreneurs toward Yogyakarta south coastal area community. The brief results of this study show that the conflicts between the community and government-private entrepreneurs occurred because of the differences of interests and paradigm of natural resource management. The resistance movements done by the community to fight back the government-private entrepreneurs was conducted by forming an organization called Paguyupan Petani Lahan Pantai Kulon Progo (PPLP-KP). This organization do the resistances through two ways; firstly, quiet action done through various actions such as; refusing against the socialization, performing discussion to deliberate their argument with the government-private entrepreneurs, complaining the problems to the central government, creating banners or billboards which contain the writing of rejection, performing pray rituals to invoke the justice from the God, as well as instill the resistance ideology to their young generation. Secondly, the rough action also is done through various actions such as; doing roadblocks, conducting rallies, as well as doing clash with the government apparatus. In case the resistances done by the community are seen from the pattern. Actually, the resistances are reaction toward the aggression carried out by the government-private entrepreneurs.

Keywords: community resistance, conflict, ferruginous sand quarry construction, social movement

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Authors: Jacky Bhagat, Baban S Ingole

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In this study, in vivo experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of a toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), benzo(k)fluoranthene (B[k]F), on marine gastropod, Morula granulata collected from Goa, west coast of India. Snails were exposed to different concentrations of B(k)F (1, 10, 25 and 50 µg/L) for 96 h. The genotoxic effects were evaluated by measuring DNA strand breaks using alkaline comet assay and oxidative stress were measured with the help of battery of biomarkers such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) catalase (CAT), glutathione-s-transferase (GST), and lipid peroxidation (LPO). Concentration-dependent increase in percentage tail DNA (TDNA) was observed in snails exposed to B(k)F. Exposure concentrations above 1 µg/L of B(k)F, showed significant increase in SOD activity and LPO value in snails. After 96 h, SOD activity were found to be doubled for 50 µg/L of B(k)F with reference to control. Significant increase in CAT and GST activity was observed at all exposure conditions at the end of the exposure time. Our study showed that B(k)F induces oxidative stress in snails which further lead to genotoxic damage.

Keywords: benzo(k)fluoranthene, comet assay, gastropod, oxidative stress

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Authors: Abraham Kidane

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The study aims at assessing the prospects and challenges of community-based ecotourism development in and around the Guassa Community Conservation Area (GCCA) for the establishment of alternative sources of livelihood for local people and the conservation of natural resources. The Guassa area and its surrounding area are endowed with natural, cultural, and religious tourism resources. The study is descriptive in its design and uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Interviews and questionnaires were used as an instrument for data gathering. The interview was undertaken with government officials, NGO officials, and experts, with three local community representatives. The three Kebeles of Guassa were chosen using purposive sampling because of the fact that they are immediate neighbors to GCCA, and hence, 150 questionnaires were administered proportionally to the household numbers in each kebeles. The perspectives of the MoCT, EWCA, and some Tour Operation agencies were uncovered through questionnaires; for each of them, five questionnaires were administered, and all the returns were used in the analysis. Frequency, percentage, average mean, One Way-ANOVA, and independent t-test are used to analyze quantitative data. The findings revealed that food insecurity is commonplace in the study area. The local people's reliance on the conservation area’s resources has been increasing, and the area size is also dwindling from time to time. On the other hand, the local people's levels of awareness about Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) are low. In addition, the local capacity in relation to conservation and CBET development is also low, even though there is inadequate training offered by the government and NGOs. In general, tourism is not yet considered an alternative source of income and a means of conserving natural resources. In addition, the challenges for CBET development apart from low awareness level about CBET and low capacity, poor infrastructure, and poor tourism facilities were also identified as challenges in the study area.

Keywords: ecotourism, CBET, alternative livelihood, conservation

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Authors: Wentao He, Jingxi Liu, De Xie

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It is necessary to manage the fatigue crack growth (FCG) once those cracks are detected during in-service inspections. In this paper, a simulation program (FCG-System) is developed utilizing the commercial software ABAQUS with its object-oriented programming interface to simulate the fatigue crack path and to compute the corresponding fatigue life. In order to apply FCG-System in large-scale marine structures, the substructure modeling technique is integrated in the system under the consideration of structural details and load shedding during crack growth. Based on the nodal forces and nodal displacements obtained from finite element analysis, a formula for shell elements to compute stress intensity factors is proposed in the view of virtual crack closure technique. The cracks initiating from the intersection of flange and the end of the web-stiffener are investigated for fatigue crack paths and growth lives under water pressure loading and axial force loading, separately. It is found that the FCG-System developed by authors could be an efficient tool to perform fatigue crack growth analysis on marine structures.

Keywords: crack path, fatigue crack, fatigue live, FCG-system, virtual crack closure technique

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Authors: Jianlun Zhang, Christine Lim

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Local food is one of the most attractive elements to tourists. The role of local cuisine in destination branding is very important because it is the distinctive identity that helps tourists remember the destination. The objectives of this study are: (1) Test the direct relation between the cognitive image of destination food and tourists’ intention to eat local food. (2) Examine the mediating effect of tourists’ desire to try destination food on the relationship between the cognitive image of local food and tourists’ intention to eat destination food. (3) Study the moderating effect of tourists’ perceived difficulties in finding local food on the relationship between tourists’ desire to try destination food and tourists’ intention to eat local food. To achieve the goals of this study, Macanese cuisine is selected as the destination food. Macau is located in Southeastern China and is a former colonial city of Portugal. The taste and texture of Macanese cuisine are unique because it is a fusion of cuisine from many countries and regions of mainland China. As people travel to seek authentically exotic experience, it is important to investigate if the food image of Macau leaves a good impression on tourists and motivate them to try local cuisine. A total of 449 Chinese tourists were involved in this study. To analyze the data collected, partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique is employed. Results suggest that the cognitive image of Macanese cuisine has a direct effect on tourists’ intention to eat Macanese cuisine. Tourists’ desire to try Macanese cuisine mediates the cognitive image-intention relationship. Tourists’ perceived difficulty of finding Macanese cuisine moderates the desire-intention relationship. The lower tourists’ perceived difficulty in finding Macanese cuisine is, the stronger the desire-intention relationship it will be. There are several practical implications of this study. First, the government tourism website can develop an authentic storyline about the evolvement of local cuisine, which provides an opportunity for tourists to taste the history of the destination and create a novel experience for them. Second, the government should consider the development of food events, restaurants, and hawker businesses. Third, to lower tourists’ perceived difficulty in finding local cuisine, there should be locations of restaurants and hawker stalls with clear instructions for finding them on the websites of the government tourism office, popular tourism sites, and public transportation stations in the destination. Fourth, in the post-COVID-19 era, travel risk will be a major concern for tourists. Therefore, when promoting local food, the government tourism website should post images that show food safety and hygiene.

Keywords: cognitive image of destination food, desire to try destination food, intention to eat food in the destination, perceived difficulties of finding local cuisine, PLS-SEM

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Authors: Thammanoon Raveepong, Craig Wheway

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Originating from a multifaceted research project beginning with the opening of the Green Market at Ban Laow sub-district, Kosum Phisai, Mahasarakham with the support of Kosum Phisai Governor. The project involves key stakeholders related to villagers who have become involved with linking local identity to a more global identity to help ameliorate falling agricultural incomes and casualised work. There have been fifteen formal meetings involving local government stakeholders that took place at the local university, local schools, a public meeting at Ban-Don-Toom and Village meeting shelters. These events hosted 176 local stakeholders consisting of the District Governor, 7 Chairpersons/Heads of the District Development Council, a Health Promotion group, District retired government staff, 4 sub-district local government members, the City Development Council, 2 representatives from Mahasarakham Provincial Culture Council, 4 principles of all local schools, 11 village heads, 15 scholars form local and national universities, 132 villagers and 4 staff from public relation units. The goal of the project was to initiate a variety of local projects including promotion of Local healthy food, farm/homestay accommodation, local uniqueness, Travel guides (in book form and guide youths) and the proposed development of community tourism with the aim to utilise local people and activities to tap into the growing alternative tourism market. This paper aims to document the progress thus far, and the challenges presented working with local communities that have lacked expertise in linking to the global economy to derive economic benefits for their communities.

Keywords: Community-based tourism, community participation, local identity, mahasarakham province

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Authors: Adebayo John Julius, Emmanuel Imoagene

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Mitigating global warming through reducing emission from deforestation and degradation (REDD) has been given increasing attentions in government-to-government negotiations while discussions among decision-makers have been going on, it is important to learn about the perception of local people in relation to REDD because the implementation will affect their lives. A survey was conducted using questionnaires to examine the livelihood and forest dependency of the local people in the vicinity of Onigambari and Ido area. Respondents’ income from forest activities and forest resources are collected. Participation in tourism related activities among the household members was also investigated to measure the potential of this “eco-friendly” income generation activity in the local communities. There was a general indication of reducing slash-and-burn activities with distance from the park and involvement in tourism-related job. Most of the local people were willing to accept compensation as alternative for slash-and-burn activities. The compensation preferred is in various form of development and different level of forest and environmental activities

Keywords: livelihood, emission, deforestation, degradation, local people, southwest Nigeria

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Authors: Stephen L. Roberts

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This article offers a critical analysis of the rise of syndromic surveillance systems for the advanced detection of pandemic threats within contemporary global health security frameworks. The article traces the iterative evolution and ascendancy of three such novel syndromic surveillance systems for the strengthening of health security initiatives over the past two decades: 1) The Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED-mail); 2) The Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN); and 3) HealthMap. This article demonstrates how each newly introduced syndromic surveillance system has become increasingly oriented towards the integration of digital algorithms into core surveillance capacities to continually harness and forecast upon infinitely generating sets of digital, open-source data, potentially indicative of forthcoming pandemic threats. This article argues that the increased centrality of the algorithm within these next-generation syndromic surveillance systems produces a new and distinct form of infectious disease surveillance for the governing of emergent pathogenic contingencies. Conceptually, the article also shows how the rise of this algorithmic mode of infectious disease surveillance produces divergences in the governmental rationalities of global health security, leading to the rise of an algorithmic governmentality within contemporary contexts of Big Data and these surveillance systems. Empirically, this article demonstrates how this new form of algorithmic infectious disease surveillance has been rapidly integrated into diplomatic, legal, and political frameworks to strengthen the practice of global health security – producing subtle, yet distinct shifts in the outbreak notification and reporting transparency of states, increasingly scrutinized by the algorithmic gaze of syndromic surveillance.

Keywords: algorithms, global health, pandemic, surveillance

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Authors: Igor Pejic

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The main focus of this research will be on analyzing correlative links between terrorism as an asymmetrical threat and the consequences it leaves on conventional security forces. The methodology behind the research will include qualitative research methods focusing on comparative analysis of books, scientific papers, documents and other sources, in order to deduce, explore and formulate the results of the research. With the coming of the 21^st century and the rising multi-polar, new world threats quickly emerged. The realistic approach in international relations deems that relations among nations are in a constant state of anarchy since there are no definitive rules and the distribution of power varies widely. International relations are further characterized by egoistic and self-orientated human nature, anarchy or absence of a higher government, security and lack of morality. The asymmetry of power is also reflected on countries' security capabilities and its abilities to project power. With the coming of the new millennia and the rising multi-polar world order, the asymmetry of power can be also added as an important trait of the global society which consequently brought new threats. Among various others, terrorism is probably the most well-known, well-based and well-spread asymmetric threat. In today's global political arena, terrorism is used by state and non-state actors to fulfill their political agendas. Terrorism is used as an all-inclusive tool for regime change, subversion or a revolution. Although the nature of terrorist groups is somewhat inconsistent, terrorism as a security and social phenomenon has a one constant which is reflected in its political dimension. The state's security apparatus, which was embodied in the form of conventional armed forces, is now becoming fragile, unable to tackle new threats and to a certain extent outdated. Conventional security forces were designed to defend or engage an exterior threat which is more or less symmetric and visible. On the other hand, terrorism as an asymmetrical threat is a part of hybrid, special or asymmetric warfare in which specialized units, institutions or facilities represent the primary pillars of security. In today's global society, terrorism is probably the most acute problem which can paralyze entire countries and their political systems. This problem, however, cannot be engaged on an open field of battle, but rather it requires a different approach in which conventional armed forces cannot be used traditionally and their role must be adjusted. The research will try to shed light on the phenomena of modern day terrorism and to prove its correlation with the state conventional armed forces. States are obliged to adjust their security apparatus to the new realism of global society and terrorism as an asymmetrical threat which is a side-product of the unbalanced world.

Keywords: asymmetrical warfare, conventional forces, security, terrorism

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Authors: Donald G. Danmeier, Gian Marco Pizzo, Matthew Brennan

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Although wetlands have been proposed as a green alternative to manage coastal flood hazards because of their capacity to adapt to sea level rise and provision of multiple ecological and social co-benefits, they are often overlooked due to challenges in quantifying the uncertainty and naturally, variability of these systems. This objective of this study was to quantify wave attenuation provided by a natural marsh surrounding a large oil refinery along the US Gulf Coast that has experienced steady erosion along the shoreward edge. The vegetation module of the SWAN was activated and coupled with a hydrodynamic model (DELFT3D) to capture two-way interactions between the changing water level and wavefield over the course of a storm event. Since the marsh response to relative sea level rise is difficult to predict, a range of future marsh morphologies is explored. Numerical results were examined to determine the amount of wave attenuation as a function of marsh extent and the relative contributions from white-capping, depth-limited wave breaking, bottom friction, and flexing of vegetation. In addition to the coupled DELFT3D-SWAN modeling of a storm event, an uncoupled SWAN-VEG model was applied to a simplified bathymetry to explore a larger experimental design space. The wave modeling revealed that the rate of wave attenuation reduces for higher surge but was still significant over a wide range of water levels and outboard wave heights. The results also provide insights to the minimum marsh extent required to fully realize the potential wave attenuation so the changing coastal hazards can be managed.

Keywords: green infrastructure, wave attenuation, wave modeling, wetland

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Authors: Afiq Mohd Fahmi, Tony Gutierrez, Sebastian Hennige

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Increasing amounts of CO₂ entering the marine environment, also known as ocean acidification, is documented as having harmful impacts on a variety of marine organisms. When considering the future risk of hydrocarbon pollution, which is generally detrimental to marine life as well, this needs to consider how OA-induced changes to microbial communities will compound this since hydrocarbon degradation is influenced by the community-level microbial response. This study aims to evaluate the effects of increased atmospheric CO₂ conditions and oil enrichment on the phytoplankton-associated bacterial communities. Faroe Shetland Channel (FSC) is a subarctic region in the northeast Atlantic where crude oil extraction has recently been expanded. In the event of a major oil spill in this region, it is vital that we understand the response of the bacterial community and its consequence on primary production within this region—some phytoplankton communities found in the ocean harbor hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria that are associated with its psychosphere. Surface water containing phytoplankton and bacteria from FSC were cultured in ambient and elevated atmospheric CO₂ conditions for 4 days of acclimation in microcosms before introducing 1% (v/v) of crude oil into the microcosms to simulate oil spill conditions at sea. It was found that elevated CO₂ conditions do not significantly affect the chl a concentration, and exposure to crude oil detrimentally affected chl a concentration up to 10 days after exposure to crude oil. The diversity and richness of the bacterial community were not significantly affected by both CO₂ treatment and oil enrichment. The increase in the relative abundance of known hydrocarbon degraders such as Oleispira, Marinobacter and Halomonas indicates potential for biodegradation of crude oil, while the resilience of dominant taxa Colwellia, unclassified Gammaproteobacteria, unclassified Rnodobacteria and unclassified Halomonadaceae could be associated with the recovery of microalgal community 13 days after oil exposure. Therefore, the microbial community from the subsurface of FSC has the potential to recover from crude oil pollution even under elevated CO₂ (750 ppm) conditions.

Keywords: phytoplankton, bacteria, crude oil, ocean acidification

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Authors: Mohamed S. Selim, Nesreen A. Fatthallah, Shimaa A. Higazy, Zhifeng Hao, Xiang Chen

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After the prohibition of tin-based fouling-prevention coatings in 2003, the researchers were directed toward eco-friendly coatings. Because of their nonstick, environmental, and economic benefits, foul-release nanocoatings have received a lot of attention. They use physical anti-adhesion terminology to deter any fouling attachment.Natural bioinspired surfaces have micro/nano-roughness and low surface free energy features, which may inspire the design of dynamic antifouling coatings. Graphene-based nanocomposite surfaces were designed to combat marine-fouling adhesion with ecological as well as eco-friendly effects rather than biocidal solutions. Polymer–graphenenanofiller hybrids are a novel class of composite materials in fouling-prevention applications. The controlled preparation of nanoscale orientation, arrangement, and direction along the composite building blocks would result in superior fouling prohibition. This work representsfoul-release nanocomposite top coats for marine coating applications with superhydrophobicity, surface inertness against fouling adherence, cost-effectiveness, and increased lifetime.

Keywords: foul-release nanocoatings, graphene-based nanocomposite, polymer, nanofillers

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Authors: Foruzan Taheri, Seyedeh Negar Hosseinian, Katayoon Alizadeh

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The small countryside city of Shandiz, with a population of about 13.297 is located 35 km to the west of the Mashhad metropolitan. Due to Shandiz’s natural beauty, suitable climate, and its close proximity to Mashhad which is the largest city in the eastern half of the country, many people own second houses in this area. In addition to this, Shandiz hosts millions of visitors annually. Its economic role, which is parallel and complementary to Mashhad, has caused population growth, the increase of activities, and physical expansion, all of which exceed the city’s capacity. The aim of this descriptive and analytical study was to evaluate the impact of city expansion on the environment and aid in preventing further harm to the natural environment of this perimeter. Data were collected from population and housing statistics during a different period of time-based on GIS. Results show that the existence of an integrated environmental management system in order to coordinate development projects and the expansion of tourism programs that meet environmental conditions are necessary and achieving sustainable development with quality of life in this area without considering environmental limitations and capabilities cannot be sustained.

Keywords: population growth, tourism, physical development, environmental impact, Shandiz City

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Authors: Samuel Richard Marcourt

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The economic impact of community sports facilities can be examined through various dimensions, such as job creation, tourism, local business development, and property values. The aim of the study is to evaluate the economic impacts of community sports facilities on residents who lived within 500m radii of 4 Astro Turf soccer facilities in Ghana. The results of the study were based on the responses from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 purposively selected participants aged between 25 and 55 years. Participants’ responses revealed that community sports facilities create direct and indirect benefits for residents. Further, the direct benefits include job creation and employment among residents in the locality. Again, the promotion of local entrepreneurship and small business development, as well promotion of tourism, were indirect benefits. Consequently, the study provides useful data for stakeholders, including The Ministry of Sports, Ghana Football Association (GFA), and Government and non-governmental organizations, to construct more community sports facilities to assist in reducing the level of unemployment in Ghanaian communities.

Keywords: economic impact, community sports facilities, Astro turf, residents

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Authors: Mojtaba Fayaz, Richard Hallal

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This study examines the various types of dangers that our virtual environment is vulnerable to, including how it can be attacked and how to avoid/secure our data. The terrain of cyberspace is never completely safe, and Covid- 19 has added to the confusion, necessitating daily periodic checks and evaluations. Cybercriminals have been able to enact with greater skill and undertake more conspicuous and sophisticated attacks while keeping a higher level of finesse by operating from home. Different types of cyberattacks, such as operation-based attacks, authentication-based attacks, and software-based attacks, are constantly evolving, but research suggests that software-based threats, such as Ransomware, are becoming more popular, with attacks expected to increase by 93 percent by 2020. The effectiveness of cyber frameworks has shifted dramatically as the pandemic has forced work and private life to become intertwined, destabilising security overall and creating a new front of cyber protection for security analysis and personal. The high-rise formats in which cybercrimes are carried out, as well as the types of cybercrimes that exist, such as phishing, identity theft, malware, and DDoS attacks, have created a new front of cyber protection for security analysis and personal safety. The overall strategy for 2022 will be the introduction of frameworks that address many of the issues associated with offsite working, as well as education that provides better information about commercialised software that does not provide the highest level of security for home users, allowing businesses to plan better security around their systems.

Keywords: cyber security, authentication, software, hardware, malware, COVID-19, threat actors, awareness, home users, confidentiality, integrity, availability, attacks

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Authors: Mário Silva, Filipa Gomes, Filipa Oliveira, Simone Morais, Cristina Delerue-Matos

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Brown seaweeds are abundant in Portuguese coastline and represent an almost unexploited marine economic resource. One of the most common species, easily available for harvesting in the northwest coast, is Saccorhiza polyschides grows in the lowest shore and costal rocky reefs. It is almost exclusively used by local farmers as natural fertilizer, but contains a substantial amount of valuable compounds, particularly alginates, natural biopolymers of high interest for many industrial applications. Alginates are natural polysaccharides present in cell walls of brown seaweed, highly biocompatible, with particular properties that make them of high interest for the food, biotechnology, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Conventional extraction processes are based on thermal treatment. They are lengthy and consume high amounts of energy and solvents. In recent years, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) has shown enormous potential to overcome major drawbacks that outcome from conventional plant material extraction (thermal and/or solvent based) techniques, being also successfully applied to the extraction of agar, fucoidans and alginates. In the present study, acid pretreatment of brown seaweed Saccorhiza polyschides for subsequent microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of alginate was optimized. Seaweeds were collected in Northwest Portuguese coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean between May and August, 2014. Experimental design was used to assess the effect of temperature and acid pretreatment time in alginate extraction. Response surface methodology allowed the determination of the optimum MAE conditions: 40 mL of HCl 0.1 M per g of dried seaweed with constant stirring at 20ºC during 14h. Optimal acid pretreatment conditions have enhanced significantly MAE of alginates from Saccorhiza polyschides, thus contributing for the development of a viable, more environmental friendly alternative to conventional processes.

Keywords: acid pretreatment, alginate, brown seaweed, microwave-assisted extraction, response surface methodology

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Authors: Seyed Reza Naghibulsadat

Abstract:

The nature of communication includes various forms of media productions, which include film and theater. In the current situation, since social networks have emerged, they have brought their own communication capabilities and have features that show speed, public access, lack of media organization and the production of extensive content, and the development of critical thinking; Also, they contain capabilities to develop access to all kinds of media productions, including movies and theater shows; Of course, this works differently in different conditions and communities. In terms of the scale of exploitation, the film has a more general audience, and the theater has a special audience. The film industry is more developed based on more modern technologies, but the theater, based on the older ways of communication, contains more intimate and emotional aspects. ; But in general, the main focus is the development of access to movies and theater shows, which is emphasized by those involved in this field due to the capabilities of social networks. In this research, we will look at these 2 areas and the relevant components for both areas through social networks and also the common points of both types of media production. The main goal of this research is to know the strengths and weaknesses of using social networks for the marketing of movies and theater shows and, at the same time are, also considered the opportunities and threats of this field. The attractions of these two types of media production, with the emergence of social networks, and the ability to change positions, can provide the opportunity to become a media with greater exploitation and higher profitability; But the main consideration is the opinions about these capabilities and the ability to use them for film and theater marketing. The main question of the research is, what are the marketing components for movies and theaters using social media capabilities? What are its strengths and weaknesses? And what opportunities and threats are facing this market? This research has been done with two methods SWOT and meta-analysis. Non-probability sampling has been used with purposeful technique. The results show that a recent approach is an approach based on eliminating threats and weaknesses and emphasizing strengths, and exploiting opportunities in the direction of developing film and theater marketing based on the capabilities of social networks within the framework of local cultural values and presenting achievements on an international scale or It is universal. This introduction leads to the introduction of authentic Iranian culture and foreign enthusiasts in the framework of movies and theater art. Therefore, for this issue, the model for using the capabilities of social networks for movie or theater marketing, according to the results obtained from Respondents, is a model based on SO strategies and, in other words, offensive strategies so that it can take advantage of the internal strengths and made maximum use of foreign situations and opportunities to develop the use of movies and theater performances.

Keywords: marketing, movies, theatrical show, social network potentials

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Authors: Raquel Bayon, Ainara Lopez-Ortega, Elena Rodriguez, Amaya Igartua

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Corrosion is one of the most concerning phenomenon that accelerates material degradation in offshore applications. In order to avoid the premature failure of metallic materials in marine environments, organic coatings have widely been used, due to their elevated corrosion resistance. Thermally-sprayed metals have recently been used in offshore applications, whereas ceramic materials are usually less employed, due to their high cost. The protectiveness of the coatings can be evaluated and categorized in corrosivity categories in accordance with the ISO 12944-6 Standard. According to this standard, for coatings that are supposed to work in marine environments, a C5-M category is required for components working out of the water or partially immersed in the splash zone, and an Im2 category for totally immersed components. C5-M/Im-2 high category would correspond to a durability of more than 20 years without maintenance in accordance with ISO 12944 and NORSOK M501 standards. In this work, the corrosion behavior of three potential coatings used in offshore applications has been evaluated. For this aim, the materials have been subjected to different environmental conditions in several climatic chambers (humidostatic, climatic, immersion, UV and salt-fog). The category of the coatings to each condition has been selected, in accordance with the previously mentioned standard.

Keywords: cabinet, coatings, corrosion, offshore

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Authors: Uttam Kumar Sahoo, K. Lalhmingsangi, J. H. Lalremruati

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Non-timber forest resources particularly the high-value, low volume NTFPs has drawn interest as an activity all over the world during the past three decades that could raise standards of living for the rural folks while being compatible with forest conservation. This is particularly true for the people living in and around or fringes of protected areas. However, the economics that plays between resources’ stock and its utilization by the humans is yet to be validated and evaluated logistically. A study was therefore designed to understand the linkages between resource (especially NTFPs) availability and their utilization, existing threats to this biodiversity conservation and the role of NTFPs within the livelihood systems of those households that are most directly involved in creating conservation threats. About 25% of the households were sampled from the two sites ‘resource-rich’ and ‘resource poor’ area of Dampa Tiger Reserve (Western boundary). Our preliminary findings suggest that the collection of relatively high-volume and low value NTFPs such as fuelwood, fodder has caused degradation of forest resources while the low-volume and high-value NTFPs such as wild edible mushrooms, vegetables, other specialty food products, inputs to crafts, medicinal plants have resulted into species promotion/conservation through their domestication in traditional agroforestry systems including home gardens and/or collateral protection of the Tiger Reserve. It is thus suggested that proper assessment of these biodiversities, their direct and indirect valuation, market and non-market profits etc be carried out in greater details which would result in prescribing effective management plans around the park.

Keywords: household economy, livelihood strategies, non-timber forest products, species conservation

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: I. Gusti Agung Aditya Surya Wibawa, Andri Syafriya, Beiruny Syam

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Gumai Formation which acts as regional seal for Talang Akar Formation becomes one of the most prolific reservoir in South Sumatra Basin and the primary exploration target in this area. Marine conditions were eventually established during the continuation of transgression sequence leads an open marine facies deposition in Early Miocene. Marine clastic deposits where calcareous shales, claystone and siltstones interbedded with fine-grained calcareous and glauconitic sandstones are the domination of lithology which targeted as the hydrocarbon reservoir. All this time, the main objective of PetroChina’s exploration and production in Betara area is only from Lower Talang Akar Formation. Successful testing in some exploration wells which flowed gas & condensate from Gumai Formation, opened the opportunity to optimize new reservoir objective in Betara area. Limitation of conventional wireline logs data in Gumai interval is generating technical challenge in term of geological approach. A utilization of Gas While Drilling indicator initiated with the objective to determine the next Gumai reservoir candidate which capable to increase Jabung hydrocarbon discoveries. This paper describes how Gas While Drilling indicator is processed to generate potential and non-potential zone by cut-off analysis. Validation which performed by correlation and comparison with well logs, Drill Stem Test (DST), and Reservoir Performance Monitor (RPM) data succeed to observe Gumai reservoir in Betara Complex. After we integrated all of data, we are able to generate a Betara Complex potential map and overlaid with reservoir characterization distribution as a part of risk assessment in term of potential zone presence. Mud log utilization and geophysical data information successfully covered the geological challenges in this study.

Keywords: Gumai, gas while drilling, classification, reservoir, potential

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Authors: Ainara Lopez-Ortega, Raquel Bayon, Elena Rodriguez, Amaya Igartua

Abstract:

The materials used in offshore structural applications are continuously subjected to aggressive environmental conditions that accelerate their degradation, thus shortening their useful life. Wear, corrosion and the effect of marine microorganisms are the main processes taking place in marine environments, and whenever they occur simultaneously the durability of materials is strongly reduced. In the present work, the tribocorrosion behaviour of a High-Strength Low-Alloy (HSLA) steel and three coatings commonly used for protecting offshore components has been studied by means of unidirectional tribological tests in synthetic seawater. The coatings were found to enhance the tribological response of the uncoated steel and provide the system with improved corrosion resistance, in terms of smaller material losses and reduction of friction coefficients. The tests were repeated after ageing the materials in a salt-fog cabinet, and the aging process was found to slightly affect the performance of two of the coatings, in terms of higher material losses, meanwhile the third coating was not affected.

Keywords: coatings, corrosion, high-strength low-alloy steel, seawater, tribocorrosion

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Authors: Aicha Chaouay, Lahsen Bazzi, Mustapha Hilali

Abstract:

Seawater has chemical and biological characteristics making it particularly aggressive in relation to the corrosion of many materials including copper and steels low or moderate allies. Note that these materials are widely used in the manufacture of port infrastructure in the marine environment. These structures are exposed to two types of corrosion including: general corrosion and localized corrosion caused by the presence of sulfite-reducing micro-organisms. This work contributes to the study of the problematic related to bacterial contamination of the marine environment of large Agadir and evaluating the impact of this pollution on the corrosion resistance of copper. For the realization of this work, we conducted monthly periodic draws between (October 2012 February 2013) of seawater from the Anza area of the Bay of Agadir. Thus, after each sampling, a study of the electro chemical corrosion behavior of copper was carried out. Electro chemical corrosion parameters such as the corrosion potential, the corrosion current density, the charge transfer resistance and the double layer capacity were evaluated. The electro chemical techniques used in this work are: the route potentiodynamic polarization curves and electro chemical impedance.

Keywords: Bay of Agadir, microbial contamination, seawater (Morocco), corrosion, copper

Procedia PDF Downloads 502