Search results for: Ghana’s west coast

Authors: Majid Afkhami, Maryam Ehsanpour, Reza Khoshnood, Zahra Khoshnood, Rastin Afkhami

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Marine pollution is a global environmental problem. Different human activities on land, in the water and in the air contribute to the contamination of seawater, sediments and organisms with potentially toxic substances. Contaminants can be natural substances or artificially produced compounds. After discharge into the sea, contaminants can stay in the water in dissolved form or they can be removed from the water column through sedimentation to the bottom sediments. Histopathological alterations can be used as indicators for the effects of various anthropogenic pollutants on organisms and are a reflection of the overall health of the entire population in the ecosystem. These histo pathological biomarkers are closely related to other biomarkers of stress since many pollutants have to undergo metabolic activation in order to be able to provoke cellular change in the affected organism. In order to make evaluation of the effects of oil pollution, some heavy metals bioaccumulation and explore their histopathological effects on hepatocytes of Oriental sole (Euryglossa orientalis) and Deep flounder (Psettodes erumei), fishes caught from two areas of north coast of the Persian Gulf: Bandar Abbass and Bandar Lengeh. Concentrations of Ni and V in liver of both species in two sampling regions were in following order: Bandar abbass Bandar lengeh; also between two species, these quantities were higher in P. erumei than E. orientalis in both sampling regions. Histopathology of the liver shows some cellular alterations including: degeneration, necrosis and tissue disruption, and histopathological effects were severe in P. erumei than E. orientalis. Results showed that Bandar Abbass region was more polluted than Bandar Lengeh, and because Ni and V were oil pollution indicators, and two flat fishes were benthic, they can receive considerable amount of oil pollution through their biological activities like feeding. Also higher amounts of heavy metal concentrations and major histopathological effects in E. orientalis showed strong relationship between benthic habitat of the fish and amounts of received pollutants from water and sediments, because E. orientalis is more related to the bottom than P. erumei.

Keywords: heavy metals, flatfishes, Persian Gulf, oil pollution

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Authors: Hossein Nikandam Kermanshah, Babak Samavatian, Akbar Hemmati Sabet, Mohammad Ahmadpanah

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This is a quasi-experimental study that has been conducted in order to compare the effectiveness of social skills training and stress management training on self-esteem and aggression in first grade high school students. Forty-five people were selected from research community and were put randomly in there groups of social skills training, stress management training and control ones. Collecting data tools in this study was devise, self-esteem and AGQ aggression questionnaire. Self-esteem and aggression questionnaires has been conducted as the pre-test and post-test. Social skills training and stress management groups participated in eight 1.5 hour session in a week. But control group did not receive any therapy. For descriptive analysis of data, statistical indicators like mean, standard deviation were used, and in inferential statistics level multi variable covariance analysis have been used. The finding result show that group training social skills and stress management is significantly effective on the self-esteem and aggression, there is a meaningful difference between training social skills and stress management on self-esteem that the preference is with group social skills training, in the difference between group social skills training and stress management on aggression, the preference is with group stress management.

Keywords: social skill training, stress management training, self-esteem aggression, psychological sciences

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Authors: Xuan Pang, Alvin L. Lee, Peggy Glatthaar

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Libraries across the world have been an innovation engine of creativity and opportunityin many decades. The on-going global epidemiology outbreak and health crisis experience illuminates potential reforms, rethinking beyond traditional library operations and services. Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) is one of the emerging technologies libraries used to deliver information digitally in support of online learning and teachingand make educational materials more affordable and more accessible. CDL became a popular term in the United States of America (USA) as a result of a white paper authored by Kyle K. Courtney (Harvard University) and David Hansen (Duke University). The paper gave the legal groundwork to explore CDL: Fair Use, First Sale Doctrine, and Supreme Court rulings. Library professionals implemented this new technology to fulfill their users’ needs. Three libraries in the state of Florida (University of Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, and Florida A&M University) started a conversation about how to develop strategies to make CDL work possible at each institution. This paper shares the stories of piloting and initiating a CDL program to ensure students have reliable, affordable access to course materials they need to be successful. Additionally, this paper offers an overview of the emerging trends of Controlled Digital Lending in the USA and demonstrates the development of the CDL platforms, policies, and implementation plans. The paper further discusses challenges and lessons learned and how each institution plans to sustain the program into future library services. The fundamental mission of the library is providing users unrestricted access to library resources regardless of their physical location, disability, health status, or other circumstances. The professional due diligence of librarians, as information professionals, is to makeeducational resources more affordable and accessible.CDL opens a new frontier of library services as a mechanism for library practice to enhance user’s experience of using libraries’ services. Libraries should consider exploring this tool to distribute library resources in an effective and equitable way. This new methodology has potential benefits to libraries and end users.

Keywords: controlled digital lending, emerging technologies, equitable access, collaborations

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: Emmylou Rahtz, Sarah Goldingay, Sara Warber, Ann Arbor, Paul Dieppe

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Introduction: Lourdes is a Catholic, Marian healing venue in South West France. Many miraculous cures have been attributed to visits there. In addition, many visitors seem to experience improvements in health and wellbeing, in the absence of a cure of disease. We wanted to investigate that phenomenon. Methods: We spent 10 days in Lourdes in 2017, carrying out ethnographic research, talking to many visitors, and carrying out formal, recorded interviews with several pilgrims, doctors, nurses, helpers, and priests. Results: Profound experiences and improvements in health and wellbeing were commonly reported. A number of ‘noetic’ experiences were also described. The paper will illustrate these phenomena. In addition, many participants in the research talked about why being in Lourdes was so beneficial to them. The community spirit, ethos of prayer, flow, synchronicity, and ability to find new meaning for life’s ills were cited as likely reasons. Conclusions: We believe that the ‘real miracle’ of Lourdes is the fact that of the many hundreds of thousands of people who go there each year, many find great benefit in health and wellbeing. It is likely that this is due to the ethos of the place, the community spirit, non-judgmental approach and loving acceptance of all aspects of humanity. Acknowledgments: We thank the BIAL foundation for generous funding of this research, and Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis and his team for facilitating our work, as well as all those who participated.

Keywords: healing, miracles, noetic experiences, wellbeing

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Authors: Shahin Farajifar, Azadeh Safadoust, Ali Akbar Mahboubi

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A study was conducted to evaluate hydraulic properties of a sandy loam soil and corn (Zea mays L.) crop production under a short-term tillage and manure combinations field experiment carried out in west of Iran. Treatments included composted cattle manure application rates [0, 30, and 60 Mg (dry weight) ha-1] and tillage systems [no-tillage (NT), chisel plowing (CP), and moldboard plowing (MP)] arranged in a split-plot design. Soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) were significantly affected by manure and tillage treatments. At any matric suction, the soil water content was in the order of MP>CP>NT. At all matric suctions, the amount of water retained by the soil increased as manure application rate increased (i.e. 60>30>0 Mg ha-1). Similar to the tillage effects, at high suctions the differences of water retained due to manure addition were less than that at low suctions. The change of SWCC from tillage methods and manure applications may attribute to the change of pore size and aggregate size distributions. Soil Ks was in the order of CP>MP>NT for the first two layers and in the order of MP>CP and NT for the deeper soil layer. The Ks also increased with increasing rates of manure application (i.e. 60>30>0 Mg ha-1). This was due to the increase in the total pore size and continuity.

Keywords: corn, manuure, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil water characteristic curve, tillage

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Authors: Basan Shrestha

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The relationship between the household size and the poverty is not well understood. Malthus followers advocate that the increasing population add pressure to the dwindling resource base due to increasing demand that would lead to poverty. Others claim that bigger households are richer due to availability of household labour for income generation activities. Facts from Nepal were analyzed to examine the relationship between the household size and poverty rate. The analysis of data from 3,968 Village Development Committee (VDC)/ municipality (MP) located in 75 districts of all five development regions revealed that the average household size had moderate positive correlation with the poverty rate (Karl Pearson's correlation coefficient=0.44). In a regression analysis, the household size determined 20% of the variation in the poverty rate. Higher positive correlation was observed in eastern Nepal (Karl Pearson's correlation coefficient=0.66). The regression analysis showed that the household size determined 43% of the variation in the poverty rate in east. The relation was poor in far-west. It could be because higher incidence of poverty was there irrespective of household size. Overall, the facts revealed that the bigger households were relatively poorer. With the increasing level of awareness and interventions for family planning, it is anticipated that the household size will decrease leading to the decreased poverty rate. In addition, the government needs to devise a mechanism to create employment opportunities for the household labour force to reduce poverty.

Keywords: household size, poverty rate, nepal, regional development

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Authors: Agatha Padma Laksitaningtyas, Sumiyati Gunawan

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Mataram Irrigation Canal has 31,2 km length, is the main irrigation canal in Special Region Province of Yogyakarta, connecting Progo River on the west side and Opak River on the east side. It has an important role as the main water carrier distribution for various purposes such as agriculture, fishery, and plantation which should be free from sediment material. Bed Load Sediment is the basic sediment that will make the sediment process on the irrigation canal. Sediment process is a simultaneous event that can make deposition sediment at the base of irrigation canal and can make the height of elevation water change, it will affect the availability of water to be used for irrigation functions. To predict the amount of drowning sediments in the irrigation canal using two methods: Meyer-Peter and Muller’s Method which is an energy approach method and Einstein Method which is a probabilistic approach. Speed measurement using floating method and using current meters. The channel geometry is measured directly in the field. The basic sediment of the channel is taken in the field by taking three samples from three different points. The result of the research shows that by using the formula Meyer -Peter Muller get the result of 60,75799 kg/s, whereas with Einsten’s Method get result of 13,06461 kg/s. the results may serve as a reference for dredging the sediments on the channel so as not to disrupt the flow of water in irrigation canal.

Keywords: bed load, sediment, irrigation, Mataram canal

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Authors: Juariah Salam Suryadi

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North coast (Pantura) line is known as a high-risk area related to reproductive health. This is because along the line, there are many food stalls and entertainment industries that at night the function changed to be sexual transaction areas. This business line also facilitate circulation and transaction of drug and substance abuse. The environment conditions can influence adolescents who live in this area. It is because of adolescence characteristics that has high curiosity and looking for their identities. Therefore, purposes of this study were to explore reproductive health behaviour of early adolescents who lived in Pantura line and to suggest intervention based on the adolescents reproductive health conditions. This study was conducted in November 2016 among the seventh-grade students of Pusakajaya Junior High School 1 and 2, Subang District. Number of respondents were 269 students (Male=135, Female=134). The students were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Some teachers also interviewed to complement the data. The quantitative data was analyzed with univariate analysis, while content analysis was used for the qualitative data. Findings of this study showed that 85,2% of male students were smoker. Most of them started smoking at elementary school. Male students who often drunk alcohol were about 25,2% and all of them initiated to drink at elementary school. There were about 21,5% of male students ever used drug and substance abuse. There were 54,6% of the students that confessed having a lover. Most of them were female students. Sexual behaviour that ever done with their lovers were: holding hands (37,4%), kissing (4%) and embracing (6,8%). Although all of the students claimed to have never had sexual intercourse, but 5,9% of them said that they had friends who have had sexual intercourse. Most of the students also had friends with negative characteristics. Their friends were smoker (82,2%), drinker (53,2%) and drug abuse (42%). Most of the students recognized that they took the risks behaviour to get pleasure with their peers. Information from the teachers indicated that most problem of male students were smoking and drug and substance abuse; while sexuality including unwanted pregnancies were reproductive problems of many female students. Therefore, It is recommended to enhance understanding of the adolescents about risks of unhealthy behaviour through continuing reproductive health education, both in school and out of school. Policy support to create positive social environment and adolescents friendly is also suggested.

Keywords: reproductive health, behaviour, early adolescents, pantura line

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Authors: C. Nathanailides, S. Anastasiou, P. Logothetis, G. Kanlis

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Production parameters of gilt head sea bream fish farm such as feeding regimes, mortalities, fish densities were used to calculate the economic efficiency of six different aquaculture sites from West Greece. Samples of farmed sea bream were collected and lipid content, microbial load and filleting yield of the samples were used as quality criteria. The results indicate that Lipid content, filleting yield and microbial load of fish originating from different fish farms varied significantly with improved quality exhibited in fish farms which exhibited improved Feed conversion rates and lower mortalities. Changes in feeding management practices such as feed quality and feeding regimes have a significant impact on the financial performance of sea bass farms. Fish farms which exhibited improved feeding conversion rates also exhibited increased profitability. Improvements in the FCR explained about 13.4 % of the difference in profitability of the different aquaculture sites. Lower mortality and higher growth rates were also exhibited by the fish farms which exhibited improved FCR. It is concluded that best feeding management practices resulted in improved product quality and profitability.

Keywords: aquaculture economics, gilt head sea, production fish, feeding management

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Authors: A. J. Otjen

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Native American communities are struggling with unemployment and depressed economies. A major cause is a lack of business knowledge, education, and cultural desire. And yet, in the history of the American West, Native Americans were considered the best traders and negotiators for everything from furs to weapons to buffalo. To improve these economies, there has been an effort to reintroduce that heritage to todays and tomorrows generation of tribal members, such Crow, Cheyenne, and Blackfeet. Professors at the College of Business Montana State University-Billings (MSUB) teach tribal students in Montana to create business plans. These plans have won national small business plan competitions. The teaching and advising method used at MSUB is uniquely successful as theses business students are now five time national champions. This article reviews the environment and the method of learning to achieve a winning small business plan with Native American students. It discusses the five plans that became national champions. And it discusses the problems and solutions discovered in the process of achieving results. Students who participated in this endeavor have graduated and become CPAs, MBAs, and gainfully employed in their chosen professions. They have also worked to improve the economies of their native lands and homes. By educating members of these communities with business strategy and plan development, they are better able to impact their own economies.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, native American economies, small businesses, unemployment

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Authors: Iman Nazari, Behrouz Shaabani, Ali Ramouz

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Regarding to the dramatic rise of cancer prevalence of cancers in Iran and also base on the investigations around environmental factors which causes cancer, The air and water pollution is in high level in Iran’s capital city this issue motivated us to start an investigation on concentration of heavy metals and nitrate in Tehran’s Tap water, additionally we investigated the effects of this contaminations on public health, it is clear that heavy metals and also nitrate are causes cancers directly and indirectly, we divided the city to four districts: (1) North, (2) East, (3) West, (4) South and totally collected over 30 samples from noted districts, we obvious difference in concentrations, after a study we founded the reasons of this difference, the old distribution system, non-standard sewage disposal system, travel up from contaminated rains, releasing industrial wastes waters without any pretreatment, the most important one is the old distribution system, Tehran is an old city hence distribution system is old too we know that the old water pipes were built from alloys which containing several of this harmful heavy metals, releasing of this heavy metals from pipes to the tap water is one of the most Important reasons, as the result we presented the concentrations by districts and the alternatives to decreasing the level of this contaminations.

Keywords: water quality, heavy metals, drinking water, environmental toxinology

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Authors: Abdulfatah Faraj Aboufayed

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Water erosion is the most important problems of the soil in the Jebel Nefusa area located in north west of Libya, therefore erosion station had been established in the Faculty of Veterinary and rainfed agriculture research Station, University of the Jepel Algherbee in Zentan. The length of the station is 72.6 feet, 6 feet width, and the percentage of it's slope is 3%. The station was established to measure the mount of soil eroded and amount of surface water produced during the seasons 95/96 and 96/97 from each rain storms. The Monitoring shows that there was a difference between the two seasons in the number of rainstorms which made differences in the amount of surface runoff water and the amount of soil eroded between the two seasons. Although the slope is low (3%), the soil texture is sandy and the land ploughed twice during each season surface runoff and soil eroded occurred. The average amount of eroded soil was 3792 grams (gr) per season and the average amount of surface runoff water was 410 litter (L) per season. The amount of surface runoff water would be much greater from Jebel Nefusa upland with steep slopes and collecting of them will save a valuable amount of water which lost as a runoff while this area is in desperate of this water. The regression analysis of variance show strong correlation between rainfall depth and the other two depended variable (the amount of surface runoff water and the amount of eroded soil). It shows also strong correlation between amount of surface runoff water and amount of eroded soil.

Keywords: rain, surface runoff water, soil, water erosion, soil erosion

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Authors: Jinu Phonamontham

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Coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19, is a virus caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus. The pandemic has caused over 10 million cases and 500,000 deaths worldwide through the end of June 2020. In a previous study, HLA-DQA1*01:02 allele was associated with COVID-19 disease (p-value = 0.0121). Furthermore, there was a statistical significance between HLA- DQB1*06:02 and COVID-19 in the Italian population by Bonferroni’s correction (p-value = 0.0016). Nevertheless, there is no data describing the distribution of HLA alleles as a valid marker for prediction of COVID-19 in the Thai population. We want to investigate the prevalence of HLA-DQA1*01:02 and HLA-DQB1*06:02 alleles that are associated with severe COVID-19 in the Thai population. In this study, we recruited 200 healthy Thai individuals. Genomic DNA samples were isolated from EDTA blood using Genomic DNA Mini Kit. HLA genotyping was conducted using the Lifecodes HLA SSO typing kits (Immucor, West Avenue, Stamford, USA). The frequency of HLA-DQA1 alleles in Thai population, consisting of HLA-DQA1*01:01 (27.75%), HLA-DQA1*01:02 (24.50%), HLA-DQA1*03:03 (13.00%), HLA-DQA1*06:01 (10.25%) and HLA-DQA1*02:01 (6.75%). Furthermore, the distributions of HLA-DQB1 alleles were HLA-DQB1*05:02 (21.50%), HLA-DQB1*03:01 (15.75%), HLA-DQB1*05:01 (14.50%), HLA-DQB1*03:03 (11.00%) and HLA-DQB1*02:02 (8.25%). Particularly, HLA- DQA1*01:02 (29.00%) allele was the highest frequency in the NorthEast group, but there was not significant difference when compared with the other regions in Thais (p-value = 0.4202). HLA-DQB1*06:02 allele was similarly distributed in Thai population and there was no significant difference between Thais and China (3.8%) and South Korea (6.4%) and Japan (8.2%) with p-value > 0.05. Whereas, South Africa (15.7%) has a significance with Thais by p-value of 0.0013. This study supports the specific genotyping of the HLA-DQA1*01:02 and HLA-DQB1*06:02 alleles to screen severe COVID-19 in Thai and many populations.

Keywords: HLA-DQA1*01:02, HLA-DQB1*06:02, Asian, Thai population

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Authors: Golaleh Ghaffari

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A basin sediment yield refers to the amount of sediment exported by a basin over a period of time, which will enter a reservoir located at the downstream limit of the basin. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT, 2008) was used to hydrology and sediment transport modeling at daily and monthly time steps within the Gheshlagh dam basin in north-west of Iran. The SWAT model and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were applied to evaluate basin hydrology and sediment yield using historical flow and sediment data and to identify and prioritize critical sub-basins based on sediment transport. The results of this study indicated that simulated daily discharge and sediment values matched the observed values satisfactorily. The model predicted that mean annual basin precipitation for the total study period (413 mm) was partitioned in to evapotranspiration (36%), percolation/groundwater recharge (21%) and stream water (25%), yielding 18% surface runoff. Potential source areas of erosion were also identified with the model. The range of the annual contributing erosive zones varied spatially from 0.1 to 103 t/ha according to the slope and land use at the basin scale. Also the fifteen sub basins create the 60% of the total sediment yield between the all (102) sub basins. The results of the study indicated that SWAT can be a useful tool for assessing hydrology and sediment yield response of the watersheds in the region.

Keywords: erosion, Gheshlagh dam, sediment yield, SWAT

Procedia PDF Downloads 523

Authors: Emma O’ Keeffe, Helen Hughes, Peter McLoughlin, Shiau Pin Tan, Nick McCarthy

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Biosecurity is emerging as one of the most important issues facing the agricultural and forestry community. This is as a result of increased invasion from new pests and diseases with the main protocol for dealing with these species being the use of synthetic pesticides. However, these chemicals have been shown to exhibit negative effects on the environment. Seaweeds represent a vast untapped resource of bio-molecules with a broad range of biological activities including pesticidal. This project investigated both the antifungal and antibacterial activity of seaweed species against two problematic root rot fungi, Armillaria mellea and Heterobasidion annosum and ten quarantine bacterial plant pathogens including Xanthomonas arboricola, Xanthomonas fragariae, and Erwinia amylovora. Four seaweed species were harvested from the South-East coast of Ireland including brown, red and green varieties. The powdered seaweeds were extracted using four different solvents by liquid extraction. The poisoned food technique was employed to establish the antifungal efficacy, and the standard disc diffusion assay was used to assess the antibacterial properties of the seaweed extracts. It was found that extracts of the green seaweed exhibited antifungal activity against H. annosum, with approximately 50% inhibition compared to the negative control. The protectant activities of the active extracts were evaluated on disks of Picea sitchensis, a plant species sensitive to infection from H. annosum and compared to the standard chemical control product urea. The crude extracts exhibited very similar activity to the 10% and 20% w/v concentrations of urea, demonstrating the ability of seaweed extracts to compete with commercially available products. Antibacterial activity was exhibited by a number of seaweed extracts with the red seaweed illustrating the strongest activity, with a zone of inhibition of 15.83 ± 0.41 mm exhibited against X. arboricola whilst the positive control (10 μg/disk of chloramphenicol) had a zone of 26.5 ± 0.71 mm. These results highlight the potential application of seaweed extracts in the forestry and agricultural industries for use as biopesticides. Further work is now required to identify the bioactive molecules that are responsible for this antifungal and antibacterial activity in the seaweed extracts, including toxicity studies to ensure the extracts are non-toxic to plants and humans.

Keywords: antibacterial, antifungal, biopesticides, seaweeds

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Abdmohammad Mousavi, Mohsen Shams, Mehdi Akbartabar Toori, Ali Mousavizadeh, Mohammad Ali Morowatisharifabad

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Introduction: The effectiveness of Transtheoretical Model constructs on dietary behavior change has been subject to questions by some studies. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between self–efficacy and decisional balance as mediator variables and transfer obese and overweight women among the stages of behavior change of calorie balanced dietary intake. Method: In this cross-sectional study, 448 obese and overweight 20-44 years old women were selected from three health centers in Yasuj, a city in south west of Iran. Anthropometric data were measured using standard techniques. Demographic, stages of change, self-efficacy and decisional balance data were collected by questionnaires and analyzed using One–Way ANOVA and Generalized Linear Models tests. Results: Demographic and anthropometric variables were not different significantly in different stages of change related to calorie intake except the pre-high school level of education (P=.047, OR=502, 95% CI= .255 ~ .990). Mean scores of Self-efficacy ( F(4.425)= 27.09, P= .000), decisional balance (F(4.394), P= .004), and pros (F(4.430)=5.33, P=000) were different significantly in five stages of change. However, the cons did not show a significant change in this regard (F(4.400)=1.83, P=.123). Discussion: Women movement through the stages of changes for calorie intake behavior can be predicted by self efficacy, decisional balance and pros.

Keywords: transtheoretical model, stages of change, self efficacy, decisional balance, calorie intake, women

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Authors: E. J. Spamer, J. M. Van Zyl, MHA Combrinck

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The Unit for Open Distance Learning (UODL) at the North-West University (NWU), South Africa was established in 2013 with its main function to deliver open distance learning (ODL) programmes to approximately 30 000 students from the Faculties of Education Sciences, Health Sciences, Theology and Arts and Culture. Quality operational and administrative processes are key components in the delivery of these programmes and they need to function optimally for students to be successful in their studies. Operational and administrative processes include aspects such as applications, registration, dissemination of study material, availability of electronic platforms, the management of assessment, and the dissemination of important information. To be able to ensure and enhance quality during these processes, it is vital to determine students’ perceptions with regards to these mentioned processes. A questionnaire was available online and also distributed to the 63 tuition centres. The purpose of this research was to determine the perceptions of ODL students from NWU regarding operational and administrative processes. 1903 students completed and submitted the questionnaire. The data was quantitatively analysed and discussed. Results indicated that the majority of students are satisfied with the operational and administrative processes; however, the results also indicated some areas that need improvement. The data gathered is important to identify strengths and areas for improvement and form part of a bigger strategy of qualitative assurance at the UODL.

Keywords: administrative support, ODL programmes, quantitative study, students' perceptions

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Authors: Rastislav Stojsavljevic

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During most of the Middle Ages, warmer-than-average weather prevailed in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. This period is also called Medieval Climate Optimum. It had its most noticeable phases during the 12th and 13th centuries. Due to climatic conditions, the appearance of unstable weather was observed. Strong storms and hail were a frequent occurrence. From the 9th to the 15th century, the Christian religion dominated the Balkan Peninsula. From East-West Schism (1054 A.D.), most of the people in Balkan states belonged to Eastern Orthodox churches: Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia. Medieval Croatia and the coastal part (the Adriatic Sea) of Zeta belonged to the Roman Catholic church. In addition to the dominant Christian religion, a lot of pagan Slavic cults remained in the Balkans during the Middle Ages. Various superstitions were a regular occurrence. They were dominant during severe storms, floods, great droughts, the appearance of comets, etc. In this paper, the appearance of warm and cold temperature spells will be investigated. In the second half of the 14th century, the Little Ice Age began and lasted for several centuries. The period of the first half of the 15th century is characterized by cold and snowy winters. Hunger was a regular occurrence. This has given rise to many beliefs which will be researched and mentioned in the paper.

Keywords: the Balkans, religion, medieval climate optimum, little ice age

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Authors: Merina Islam

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In this paper, an attempt is made to draw out the contemporary relevance of philosophy in school education of India. This paper attempt is made to inquire into the importance of philosophy for schoolchildren in the Indian cultural context. As education in philosophy for children is useful for teaching the acquisition of knowledge from the information provided, for questioning of rules in different contexts, and for the analysis of facts encountered in daily life. Ethical attitudes can neither be derived from the information provided about the moral rules, nor do they result from a practice of unquestioning obedience It includes some studies done in this field and also reports on philosophy. Many European countries emphasise on the above said theme. There are lots of work and research done by many philosophers on philosophy for children. Indian values system is different from the West and more important than others. Education has become a tool to achieve efficiency in all walks of human life whether social, political, religious or philosophical. Every nation started developing its own specific set of educational values. For India it is very necessary to increase philosophical thinking study and research. Philosophy could make significant contribution, particularly in relation to children's moral development because the Indian curriculum currently neglects this aim. A teacher can play an important role in promoting this discussion because a teacher has the capacity to influence students with their thoughts and personality and engages them in these activities. Philosophy needs to be included in the curriculum and have demonstrated cognitive and social gains in children who were explored to philosophy in their schooling.

Keywords: education, ethical attitude, moral value, philosophy

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Authors: Ayman Mohammed, Abdul Raffay Ilyas, Syeda Rohma Sadia, Zuha Durrani, Fareeha Kamal, Shaheryar Syed, Arshiya Shareef, Mukarram Zaidi

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On June 16, 2019, Coalition Avenir de Québec (CAQ) passed Bill 21, a controversial bill impacting many Canadians. The Bill prohibits workers in the Quebec provincial sector from wearing any form of religious articles. While the Bill claims to treat all religious symbols equally, those with distinctive items of dress such as hijabs, kippahs, and turbans become targets of the discriminatory nature of the Bill. With the rise in xenophobic behaviour across Canada and the West, Think For Actions conducted a study of Bill 21. The study included responses from Indigenous, Muslims, Sikhs and Jewish people residing in Calgary. The focus was on the recent passing of Bill 21, their opinions on the perceived attitudes of intolerance, and the perceptions of common stereotypes. The data collection and analysis happened over 9 weeks. The method of data collection was semi-structured interviews held in focus groups in different religious institutions and cultural/community centres in Calgary. The focus groups generated unanimously negative responses to the Bill. Participants described the Bill as “hateful” and one which “targets minority religions”. The participants had hopes that the Bill would be defeated and Quebec residents would be protected by their basic rights to practice their religion.

Keywords: Bill 21, Islamophobia, Quebec, minorities, discrimination

Procedia PDF Downloads 146

Authors: Mahmood Seyyed, Akram Salehi Heykoei, Hamidreza Safakish Kashani

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Among the remaining resource of the past, coins considered as an authentic documents among the most important documentary sources. The coins were minted in a place that called mint. The number and position of the mints in each period reflects the amount of economic power, political security and business growth, which was always fluctuated its position with changing the political and economic condition. Considering that, trade has more growth during the Safavid period than previous ones, the mint also has been in greater importance. It seems the one hand, the growth of economic in Safavid period has a direct link with the number and places of the mints at that time and in the other hand, the mints have been formed in some places because of the specific characteristic of cities and regions. Increasing the number of mints in the north of the country due to the growth of silk trade and in the west and northwest due to the political and commercial relation with Ottoman Empire, also the characteristics such as existence of mines, located in the Silk Road and communication ways, all are the results of this investigation. Accordingly, in this article researcher tries to examine the characteristics that give priority to a city for having mint. With considering that in the various historical periods, the mints were based in the most important cities in terms of political and social, at that time, this article examines the cities specific characteristics in the formation of the mints in Safavid period.

Keywords: documentary sources, coins, mint, city, Safavid

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Authors: Abdul Salam Turkmani

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The Lower Cretaceous rocks are exposed only in the mountains regions of Syria, such as the Anti- Lebanon mountain on the western side of Damascus. The lower cretaceous sequences are made up of different rocks. The upper and middle parts of the section are composed mainly of carbonate sediments and, less frequently, gypsum and anhydrite. The lower beds are mainly composed of sandstone, conglomerate and clay. Clay samples were collected from the study area, which is located about 45 km west of the city of Damascus, near the border village of Kfer Yabous and to the left of the Damascus -Beirut International Road, within the lower Cretaceous upper Aptian deposits. The properties of clay were carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Thermal Analysis (DTA-TG-DSC) techniques. The studied samples of clay were mainly composed of kaolinite, quartz, illite. Chemical analysis shows the content of SiO₂ varied between 46.06 to 73 % Al₂O₃ 14.55-26.56%, about the staining oxides (Fe₂O₃ + TiO₂), the total content is about 4.3 to 12.5%. The physical properties were determined by studying the behavior of the body before and after firing, showed low bending strength values (22.5 kg/cm²) after drying, and (about 247 kg/cm²) after firing at 1180°C, water absorption value was about 10%. The cubic thermal expansion coefficient at 1140°C is 213.77 x 10-7 /°C. All of the presented results confirm the suitability of this clay for the ceramic industry.

Keywords: anti-Lebanon, Damascus, ceramic, clay, thermal analysis, thermal expansion coefficient

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Authors: Tabitha D. Hussein, Arigu M. Sunday

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This paper is an attempt to gauge the conception and misconception of mental health in the Gwafan community, Jos North Plateau State, Nigeria (West Africa), to ascertain which side of the scale the pendulum swings. Mental health education and awareness are necessary for healthy community development. However, in a society such as ours in Nigeria (Africa) that is not knowledge-based, it is easy for people to embrace hearsay, speculations, superstition, and the supernatural. The objectives of this paper are two folds: first, to examine the level of awareness of the people on mental health, or the lack of it; second, to ascertain their access to mental health services and good practices. The methodology adopted is qualitative research, and the instrument used is T-test related. The findings include, first, the fact that a larger population has misconceptions about Mental Health. Second, this misconception is a result of a lack of basic knowledge of Mental Health. Based on the aforementioned, the paper recommends that there is a need for more Mental Health Education among the populace and access to Mental Health services and practices (Preventative and Curative). The paper concludes that in a society that is not knowledgebase, every attempt should be made to shift people’s mindset from superstitious knowledge to evidence-based knowledge, which can empower them to make informed decisions not only on mental Health but on associative Health issues that can aid their wellbeing, livelihood and sustainable development as a whole.

Keywords: conceptions, misconceptions, mental health, knowledge, superstition, service delivery

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Authors: Faouzi Ameur, Atef Belhaj Ali

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Located in the South-west of Saudi Arabia, Jeddah is more than a harbor. It is a big city of the Red Sea and the second town of Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh the capital. Jeddah profits from several economic assets due especially to its transit position towards the high sacred places of Islam like Mecca and Medina. During summer, this metropolis is transformed into a political capital and a tourist resort for foreigners and Saudis alike. The city of Jeddah was affected by serious sudden floods; two great ones took place in 2009, and in 2011. The human and material tools were considerable, since these events caused the death to hundreds of people, damaged thousands of buildings built on basins slopes, which, however had the authorizations necessary. To cope with these natural disasters, several urban hydraulic measures were undertaken like building dams and canals to collect surface waters. These urban measures aimed at the protection of inhabitants and belongings against the risks of floods as well as the interception and the drainage of streams. Although these protection measures are important, expensive, and effective, they are no longer enough or effective to cope with the evolution of the natural disasters that the city of Jeddah is constantly exposed to. These protective hydraulic measures did not make it possible to reach risk zero situations. They transferred the damages towards other zones. This paper purports to study the protection network systems in Jeddah and to understand their various impacts during floods on the city and on its inhabitants.

Keywords: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, urbanization, hydraulic protection

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Authors: Lisa Chandler, Alistair Ward

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A significant component of design pedagogy is the need to foster design thinking in various contexts and to support students in understanding links between educational exercises and their potential application in professional design practice. It is also important that educators provide opportunities for students to engage with new technologies and encourage them to imagine applying their design skills for a range of outcomes. Problem solving is central to design so it is also essential that students understand that there can be multiple solutions to a design brief, and are supported in undertaking creative experimentation to generate imaginative outcomes. This paper presents a case study examining some innovative approaches to addressing these elements of design pedagogy. It investigates the effectiveness of the Immerse Lab, a three wall projection room at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, as a learning context for design practice, for generating ideas and for supporting learning involving the comparative display of design outcomes. The project required first year design students to create a simple graphic design derived from an ordinary object and to incorporate specific design criteria. Utilizing custom-designed software, the students’ solutions were projected together onto the Immerse walls to create a large-scale, immersive grid of images, which was used to compare and contrast various responses to the same problem. The software also enabled individual student designs to be transformed, multiplied and enlarged in multiple ways and prompted discussions around the applicability of the designs in real world contexts. Teams of students interacted with their projected designs, brainstorming imaginative applications for their outcomes. Analysis of 77 anonymous student surveys revealed that the majority of students found: learning in the Immerse Lab to be beneficial; comparative review more effective than in standard tutorial rooms; that the activity generated new ideas; it encouraged students to think differently about their designs; it inspired students to develop their existing designs or create new ones. The project demonstrates that curricula involving immersive spaces can be effective in supporting engaging and relevant design pedagogy and might be utilized in other disciplinary areas.

Keywords: design pedagogy, immersive education, technology-enhanced learning, visualization

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Authors: Leila Yazdanpanah, Hajieh Shahbazian, Seyed Mahmoud Latifi, Armaghan Moravej Aleali, Saeed Ghanbari

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Introduction: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of diabetes in people aged over 20 years in Ahvaz, Iran. Material and Methods: The study population selected by cluster sampling. Fasting blood sugar (FBS) assessed after minimum 8 hours night fasting. A questionnaire included: age, sex, weight, height, blood pressure, waist circumference and previous history of diabetes were completed for each patient. FBS≥126mg/dl and/or oral hypoglycemic treatment and/or insulin was defined as diabetes, FBS=100-125 mg/dl as impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and FBS<100mg/dl as normal. Results: Study population was 936 persons (47.2 % male and 52.8% female). The mean age of a population was 42.2±14 years. Diabetes was detected in 15.1 % of population. Only 57cases(6.1%) were aware of their disease and 9% had unknown diabetes. Diabetes was detected in 14.5% of male (11.3% unknown and 3.2 % known diabetes) and in 11.7% of female (7% unknown and 4.7% known diabetes). Prevalence of diabetes had no significant difference (P=0.21) in male and female but unknown diabetes was significantly higher in male (P=0.025). Prevalence of diabetes was increased with rising of age between 20-60 years old but decreasing after 60 years old. Diabetes was related to age, waist circumference and systolic and diastolic blood pressure, TG level and BMI in both sex (P=0.0001). Conclusion: More than half of female and three-fourth of male diabetic patients are unaware of their disease in South of Iran. Diabetes screening should be intensified in this population.

Keywords: diabetes, prevalence, risk factor, awareness

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Authors: Ahmed Tafraoui, Gilles Escadeillas, Thierry Vidal

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The southern Algeria is known for its huge sand dunes that cover part of its territory (Sahara). This sand has features that allow a glimpse of a recovery in the construction field in the form of Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC). This type of concrete using a large amount of silica fume, ultra fine addition that gives very high performance but is also relatively rare and expensive. Replacing it with another addition to equivalent properties, such as metakaolin, can also be considered. The objective of this study is to both enhance the sand dunes of Erg south west western Algeria but also reduce manufacturing costs of Ultra High Performance Concrete to incorporating metakaolin to instead of silica fume. Performances to determine mechanical performance are instantaneous, compression and bending. Initially, we characterized the Algerian sand dune. Then, we have to find a formulation of UHPC, adequate in terms of implementation and to replace silica fume by metakaolin. Finally, we studied the actual value of the sand dune. Concrete obtained have very high mechanical performance, up to a compressive strength of 250 MPa, a tensile strength of 45 MPa by bending with the method of heat treatment. This study shows that the enhancement of dune sand studied is quite possible in UHPC, and in particular UHPC bundles and the replacement of silica fume by metakaolin do not alter the properties of these concretes.

Keywords: Ultra High Performance Concrete, sand dune, formulations, silica fume, metakaolin, strength

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Authors: Valean Maria

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Construction and demolition waste management is a timely topic, due to the urgency of its transition to sustainability. This sector is responsible for over a third of the waste generated in the E.U., while the legislation requires a proportion of at least 70% preparation for reuse and recycle, excluding backfilling. To this end, the E.U. Commission has provided the Level(s) methodology, allowing for the standardized planning and reporting of waste quantities across all levels of the construction process, from the architecture, to the demolition, from the estimation stage, to the actual measurements at the end of the operations. We applied Level(s) for the first time to the Romanian context, a developing E.U. country in which illegal dumping of contruction waste in nature and landfills, are still common practice. We performed the desk study of the buildings’ documents, followed by field studies of the sites, and finally the insertion and calculation of statistical data of the construction and demolition waste. We learned that Romania is far from the E.U. average in terms of the initial estimations of waste, with some numbers being higher, others lower, and that the price of evacuation to landfills is significantly lower in the developing country, a possible barrier to adopting the new regulations. Finally, we found that concrete is the predominant type waste, in terms of quantity as well as cost of disposal. Further directions of research are provided, such as mapping out all of the alternative facilities in the region and the calculation of the financial costs and of the CO2 footprint, for preparing and delivering waste sustainably, for a more sound and locally adapted model of waste management.

Keywords: construction, waste, management, levels, EU

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Authors: C. C. Igwe

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Several parts of Neem tree (Azadirachta indica) are used in traditional medicine in many West African countries for the treatment of various human diseases. The leaf, stem - bark and seed were air dried for 8, 5 and 7 days, respectively. The shells were carfully separated from the seeds, each powdered sample obtained with mechanical miller and 250 mm sieve. The neem samples were individually subjected to extraction with acetone, n-hexane for 48hr and 72 hr, respectively. Physico-chemical and antibacterial evaluation were carried out using standard methods. Results of physico - chemical analyses of the extracted oil from the seed shows that it has a brownish colour, with a smell similar to garlic while the moisture content, refractive index are 0.76% and 1.47 respectively. Other vital chemical results obtained from the neem oil such as saponification value (234.62), acid value (10.84 %), free fatty acid (5.84 %) and peroxide value (10.52%) indicated the oil extracted satisfied standard oils parameters for quality soap and cosmetics production. The antibacterial screening by disc diffusion revealed the oil demonstrated high activity against Staphylococcus aureus. Both the physio-chemical and antibacterial of samples have been certified by National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control. The preliminary results of this study may validate the medicinal value of the plant. Further studies are in progress to clarify the in vivo potentials of neem extracts in the management of human communicable diseases and this is a subject of investigation in our group.

Keywords: anti-bacterial, neem extract, physico-chemical analyses, staphylococcus aureus

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Authors: G. E. Forcados, M. L. Shu, C. N. Chinyere

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Acalypha wilkesiana is a medicinal plant commonly used in most parts of West Africa as a decoction in treating several human diseases. Existing literature on its toxicity is predominantly on the organic extracts in contrast to the routine use of hot aqueous extracts as decoction. The aim of this study was to examine the phytochemical profile and sub-acute toxicity of A. wilkesiana leaf extracts in albino rats. Three groups of 8 experimental rats each were administered 300 mg/kg, 600 mg/kg and 1200 mg/kg body weight per day for 14 days while a fourth (control) group took tap-water. On day 15, the rats were sacrificed, and blood collected. Biochemical and hematological parameters were analysed and histopathological examination of liver and kidney were performed. There was significant increase (p<0.05) in the levels of some biochemical parameters (AST, ALT, creatinine, urea) in all the test groups compared to control. Histopathological examination of the liver revealed centrilobular degeneration and necrosis with sinusoidal dilatation as well as polymorphonuclear and mononuclear infiltration, likewise severe glomerular and tubular degeneration and necrosis with hemorrhage in the kidney at all dose levels. The results from this study suggest that aqueous leaf extract of A. wilkesiana is hepatotoxic and nephrotoxic at dose levels of 300 mg/kg and above. Therefore, precautionary measures are necessary for home use of the leaf extract of A. wilkesiana.

Keywords: acute toxicity, A. wilkesiana, aqeous extract, albino rats, biochemical and haematological parameters, histopathological examination

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