Search results for: physical activity questionnaire

Authors: Daniele Traversaro

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Problem: Senior citizens have been facing a challenging reality as a result of strict public health measures designed to protect people from the COVID-19 outbreak. These include the risk of social isolation due to the inability of the elderly to integrate with technology. Never before have information and communication technology (ICT) skills become essential for their everyday life. Although third-age ICT education and lifelong learning are widely supported by universities and governments, there is a lack of literature on which teaching strategy/methodology to adopt in an entirely online ICT course aimed at third-age learners. This contribution aims to present an application of the Think-Pair-Share (TPS) learning method in an ICT third-age virtual classroom with an intergenerational approach to conducting online group labs and review activities. This collaborative strategy can help increase student engagement, promote active learning and online social interaction. Research Question: Is collaborative learning applicable and effective, in terms of student engagement and learning outcomes, for an entirely online third-age ICT introductory course? Methods: In the TPS strategy, a problem is posed by the teacher, students have time to think about it individually, and then they work in pairs (or small groups) to solve the problem and share their ideas with the entire class. We performed four experiments in the ICT course of the University of the Third Age of Genova (University of Genova, Italy) on the Microsoft Teams platform. The study cohort consisted of 26 students over the age of 45. Data were collected through online questionnaires. Two have been proposed, one at the end of the first activity and another at the end of the course. They consisted of five and three close-ended questions, respectively. The answers were on a Likert scale (from 1 to 4) except two questions (which asked the number of correct answers given individually and in groups) and the field for free comments/suggestions. Results: Results show that groups perform better than individual students (with scores greater than one order of magnitude) and that most students found it helpful to work in groups and interact with their peers. Insights: From these early results, it appears that TPS is applicable to an online third-age ICT classroom and useful for promoting discussion and active learning. Despite this, our experimentation has a number of limitations. First of all, the results highlight the need for more data to be able to perform a statistical analysis in order to determine the effectiveness of this methodology in terms of student engagement and learning outcomes as a future direction.

Keywords: collaborative learning, information technology education, lifelong learning, older adult education, think-pair-share

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Authors: Karen Guerrero

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Kindergarten-12th grade teachers engaged in teacher professional development (PD) on game-based learning techniques and strategies to support teaching STEMSS (STEM + Social Studies with an emphasis on geography across the curriculum) to language learners. Ten effective strategies have supported teaching content and language in tandem. To provide exiting teacher PD on summer and spring breaks, gamification has integrated these strategies to engage linguistically diverse student populations to provide informal language practice while students engage in the content. Teachers brought a STEMSS lesson to the PD, engaged in a wide variety of games (dice, cards, board, physical, digital, etc.), critiqued the games based on gaming elements, then developed, brainstormed, presented, piloted, and published their game-based STEMSS lessons to share with their colleagues. Pre and post-surveys and focus groups were conducted to demonstrate an increase in knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in using gamification to teach content in the classroom. Provide an engaging strategy (gamification) to support teaching content and language to linguistically diverse students in the K-12 classroom. Game-based learning supports informal language practice while developing academic vocabulary utilized in the game elements/content focus, building both content knowledge through play and language development through practice. The study also investigated teacher's increase in knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in using games to teach language learners. Mixed methods were used to investigate knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy prior to and after the gamification teacher training (pre/post) and to understand the content and application of developing and utilizing game-based learning to teach. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge in applying game-based learning theories to the K-12 classroom to support English learners in developing English skills and STEMSS content knowledge.

Keywords: gamification, teacher professional development, STEM, English learners, game-based learning

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Authors: Mavis Ofosuah Asante, Abena Abokoma Asemanyi, Belinda Osei-mensah, Stephen Osei Akyiaw

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The study examined mobile money service fraud experiences and perspectives on control practices at University of Education, Winneba. The objectives of the study included to examine the forms of MoMo fraud strategies experienced by customers of MoMo on UEW Campus, to examine and classify the main perpetrators of the MoMo fraud among UEW students as well as the framework for fraud detection put together by the Telco’s and consumers on UEW Campus. The study adopted the case study research design. The purposive sampling technique was used to select the UEW Campus. Using the convenience sampling technique, five respondents were sampled for the study. The outcome of the in-depth interviews conducted revealed Mobile money fraud was committed in various forms, such as anonymous calls and text messages from scammers, fraudsters calling to deceive subscribers that they are to deliver goods from abroad or from a close relative under false pretexts. Finally, fraudsters sending false cash-out messages to merchants for authorization of which the physical cash is issued by the merchant to the fraudster without the equivalent e-cash. Mobile money fraud has been perpetuated in diverse forms such as mobile money network systems fraud, false promotion fraud, and reversal of erroneous transactions, fortuitous scams, and mobile money agents' fraud. Finally, the frameworks that have been used to detect mobile money fraud include the display of national identifies cards for the transaction, digital identification systems, the use of firewall to protect mobile money accounts, effective information technology architecture for mobile money services, reporting of mobile money fraud to telecoms and the sanctioning of mobile money fraudsters. The study suggested there should be public education and awareness creation on the activities of mobile money fraudsters in Ghana by telecommunication companies in conjunction with the National Communications Authority and the Bank of Ghana. The study, therefore, concluded that the menace of mobile money fraud threatens the integrity of the mobile money financial services.

Keywords: mobile money, fraud, telecommunication, merchant

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Authors: V. A. Dubovsky, V. V. Savchenko, A. A. Baryskevich

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The current trend in the automotive industry towards automatic vehicles is creating new challenges related to human factors. This occurs due to the fact that the driver is increasingly relieved of the need to be constantly involved in driving the vehicle, which can negatively impact his/her situation awareness when manual control is required, and decrease driving skills and abilities. These new problems need to be studied in order to provide road safety during the transition towards self-driving vehicles. For this purpose, it is important to develop an appropriate conceptual model of the interaction between the driver and the automated vehicle, which could serve as a theoretical basis for the development of mathematical and simulation models to explore different aspects of driver behaviour in different road situations. Well-known driver behaviour models describe the impact of different stages of the driver's cognitive process on driving performance but do not describe how the driver controls and adjusts his actions. A more complete description of the driver's cognitive process, including the evaluation of the results of his/her actions, will make it possible to more accurately model various aspects of the human factor in different road situations. This paper presents a conceptual model of the 'driver – highly automated vehicle' system based on the P.K. Anokhin's theory of functional systems, which is a theoretical framework for describing internal processes in purposeful living systems based on such notions as goal, desired and actual results of the purposeful activity. A central feature of the proposed model is a dynamic coupling mechanism between the decision-making of a driver to perform a particular action and changes of road conditions due to driver’s actions. This mechanism is based on the stage by stage evaluation of the deviations of the actual values of the driver’s action results parameters from the expected values. The overall functional structure of the highly automated vehicle in the proposed model includes a driver/vehicle/environment state analyzer to coordinate the interaction between driver and vehicle. The proposed conceptual model can be used as a framework to investigate different aspects of human factors in transitions between automated and manual driving for future improvements in driving safety, and for understanding how driver-vehicle interface must be designed for comfort and safety. A major finding of this study is the demonstration that the theory of functional systems is promising and has the potential to describe the interaction of the driver with the vehicle and the environment.

Keywords: automated vehicle, driver behavior, human factors, human-machine system

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Authors: Caterina Grandi, Lukas Lochner, Marco Padovan, Mirco Rizzi, Paola Sperinde, Fabio Vittadello, Luisa Cavada

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Background: In recent years, the use of Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) has achieved worldwide popularity. With the increased public interest in CAMs, attention to it within Health Care Schools and Colleges has also improved. Studies generally assess the knowledge and attitudes regarding CAMs in medical and nursing students. The current study focused on the knowledge, attitudes and practice of CAM in healthcare students. Aim: To assess the knowledge and attitudes regarding complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in healthcare students in South Tyrol, a region in Northern Italy. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 361 students. Self-administered questionnaire was adapted and modified by the researchers from several questionnaires. The instrument consisted of three sections: 1) demographical characteristics (gender, place of residence and year of study); 2) general attitudes towards CAM, evaluated through 11 items using a Likert scale (agree, partly agree, partly disagree, disagree); 3) knowledge and use about any particular CAM practices (acupuncture, aromatherapy, creative therapies, diet/nutritional therapies, phytotherapy/herbal therapies, compresses, massage therapy, Ayurvedic therapy, Tibetan medicine, naturopathy, homeopathy, pet therapy, reflexology, therapeutic touch, chiropractic/osteopathy). Results: The sample consisted of 63 males and 297 females, 58% living in villages. 151 students (42%) were in the first year, 99 (27%) in the second and 106 (30%) in the third. Both men and women agreed with statements about the utility and benefits of CAMs. Women were significantly more likely than men to agree that the CAM practices should be included in the curriculum (p < 0.004), that the health professionals should be able to advice their patients about commonly used CAM methods (p < 0.002) and that the clinical care should integrate CAM practices (p < 0.04). Students in the second year showed the highest mean score for the statement 'CAM includes ideas and methods from which conventional medicine could benefit' (p = 0.049), highlighting a positive attitude, while students in the third year achieved the lowest mean score for the negative statement 'The results of CAM are in most cases due to a placebo effect'. Regarding this statement, participants living in villages disagreed significantly than students living in the city (p < 0.001). Females appeared to be significantly more familiar with homeopathy (p < 0.002), aromatherapy (p < 0.033), creative therapies (p < 0.001) and herbal therapies (p<0.002) than males. Moreover, women were likely to use CAM more frequently than men, particularly to solve psychological problems (p < 0.004). In addition, women perceived the benefit significantly more positive than men (p < 0.001). Students in the second year revealed to use the CAM mostly to improve the quality of life (p < 0.023), while students in the third year used CAMs particularly for chronic diseases (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Results from this study suggested that female students show more positive attitudes on CAM than male students. Moreover, the prevalence of CAM use and its perceived benefits differ between males and females, so that women are more willing to use CAM practices.

Keywords: attitude, CAM, complementary and alternative medicine, healthcare students, knowledge

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Authors: Tzu-Ting Hu, Jung-Der Wang, Ming-Yeng Lin, Jin-Luh Chen, Perng-Jy Tsai

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The vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) has been classified as group 1 (human) carcinogen by the IARC. Workers exposed to VCM are known associated with the development of the liver cancer and hence might cause economical and health losses. Particularly, for those work for the petrochemical industry have been seriously concerned in the environmental and occupational health field. Considering assessing workers’ health risks and their resultant economical and health losses requires the establishment of long-term VCM exposure data for any similar exposure group (SEG) of interest, the development of suitable technologies has become an urgent and important issue. In the present study, VCM exposures for petrochemical industry workers were determined firstly based on the database of the 'Workplace Environmental Monitoring Information Systems (WEMIS)' provided by Taiwan OSHA. Considering the existence of miss data, the reconstruction of historical exposure techniques were then used for completing the long-term exposure data for SEGs with routine operations. For SEGs with non-routine operations, exposure modeling techniques, together with their time/activity records, were adopted for determining their long-term exposure concentrations. The Bayesian decision analysis (BDA) was adopted for conducting exposure and health risk assessments for any given SEG in the petrochemical industry. The resultant excessive cancer risk was then used to determine the corresponding loss of quality-adjusted life expectancy (QALE). Results show that low average concentrations can be found for SEGs with routine operations (e.g., VCM rectification 0.0973 ppm, polymerization 0.306 ppm, reaction tank 0.33 ppm, VCM recovery 1.4 ppm, control room 0.14 ppm, VCM storage tanks 0.095 ppm and wastewater treatment 0.390 ppm), and the above values were much lower than that of the permissible exposure limit (PEL; 3 ppm) of VCM promulgated in Taiwan. For non-routine workers, though their high exposure concentrations, their low exposure time and frequencies result in low corresponding health risks. Through the consideration of exposure assessment results, health risk assessment results, and QALE results simultaneously, it is concluded that the proposed method was useful for prioritizing SEGs for conducting exposure abatement measurements. Particularly, the obtained QALE results further indicate the importance of reducing workers’ VCM exposures, though their exposures were low as in comparison with the PEL and the acceptable health risk.

Keywords: exposure assessment, health risk assessment, petrochemical industry, quality-adjusted life years, vinyl chloride monomer

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Authors: Harihara Prakash Ramanathan, Daksha Mishra, Ankita Dhaduk

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Relevance: This qualitative study will educate the clinician in putting into practice the advanced method of movement science in restoring the function. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of Active Release Technique and myofascial release technique on range of motion, neck function and pain in patients with upper trapezius spasm. Methods/Analysis: The study was approved by the institutional Human Research and Ethics committee. This study included sixty patients of age group between 20 to 55 years with upper trapezius spasm. Patients were randomly divided into two groups receiving Active Release Technique (Group A) and Myofascial Release Technique (Group B). The patients were treated for 1 week and three outcome measures ROM, pain and functional level were measured using Goniometer, Visual analog scale(VAS), Neck disability Index Questionnaire(NDI) respectively. Paired Sample 't' test was used to compare the differences of pre and post intervention values of Cervical Range of motion, Neck disability Index, Visual analog scale of Group A and Group B. Independent't' test was used to compare the differences between two groups in terms of improvement in cervical range of motion, decrease in visual analogue scale(VAS), decrease in Neck disability index score. Results: Both the groups showed statistically significant improvements in cervical ROM, reduction in pain and in NDI scores. However, mean change in Cervical flexion, cervical extension, right side flexion, left side flexion, right side rotation, left side rotation, pain, neck disability level showed statistically significant improvement (P < 0. 05)) in the patients who received Active Release Technique as compared to Myofascial release technique. Discussion and conclusions: In present study, the average improvement immediately post intervention is significantly greater as compared to before treatment but there is even more improvement after seven sessions as compared to single session. Hence, this proves that several sessions of Manual techniques are necessary to produce clinically relevant results. Active release technique help to reduce the pain threshold by removing adhesion and promote normal tissue extensibility. The act of tensioning and compressing the affected tissue both with digital contact and through the active movement performed by the patient can be a plausible mechanism for tissue healing in this study. This study concluded that both Active Release Technique (ART) and Myofascial release technique (MFR) are equally effective in managing upper trapezius muscle spasm, but more improvement can be achieved by Active Release Technique (ART). Impact and Implications: Active Release Technique can be adopted as mainstay of treatment approach in treating trapezius spasm for faster relief and improving the functional status.

Keywords: trapezius spasm, myofascial release, active release technique, pain

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Authors: Sujit Kumar, Anita Surroch

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Indian culture, religions, literature and philosophy has attracted attention of the scholars across the globe since time immemorial. They endeavoured to interpret these dimensions as per their comprehension of Indian Society. The present paper is an attempt to portray a critical analysis of traditional bases of Indian Society as articulated by the great Indians who immensely contributed by shaping, practicing and passing these sub-systems on to the successive generations. India was endowed with a class of intellectuals par excellence during ancient times that traversed lengths and breaths of the country, interacted with the people, understood their capabilities & limitations and needs and churned such knowledge with their fellow beings. It witnessed an era of emergence of Varnashrama, Purushartha, Dharma and Sanskara system. Mention of Varna system in the Purush hymn of Rigveda, Vrihadyaranyak Upnishda. Shantiparva of Mahabharata, the Gita and the interpretations offered by Lord Krishna, Bhrigua Rishi, Yudhishtra and philosophers of modern times give a glimpse of macro level division of labour in ancient Indian Society. The Ashrama system, the four stages of life as referred to in Upnishdas (Chandogaya, Jawali) Sutras (Vashisht Dharma Sutra, Gautma Dharma Sutra), Smritis (Manusmiriti) and four step ladder described by Ved Vyasa is a comprehensive scheme of harmonious development of physical, mental and spiritual capabilities of human beings during different stages of life. The Purushartha, the four broad duties (Dharama, Artha, Kama & Moksha) of human being, lays emphasis on discharging duties as per ones Varna, Ashrama and also keeping in view the time, space and circumstances. Sanskaras are methods and a process to purify mind, body and soul. Today, one gets refraction (not reflection as shades of beliefs, customs practices and interpretations of Varnashrama, Purushartha, Dharma and Sanskara in letter and spirit has undergone changes) of such traditional bases from the writings of Indologists and other scholars.

Keywords: intellectuals, Rigveda, Sanskaras, traditional

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Authors: Charmaine B. Distor

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Collaboration has long been recognized in different fields, but there’s been little research on operationalizing it especially on a multi-sectoral setting as per the author’s best knowledge. Also, communication is one of the factors that is usually overlooked when studying it. Specifically, this study aimed to describe the organizational profile and tasks of collaborators in the visitor management program of Make It Makiling (MIM). It also identified the factors that motivated collaborators to collaborate in MIM while determining the communication dimensions in the collaborative process. It also determined the communication channels used by collaborators in MIM while identifying the outcomes of collaboration in MIM. This study also found out if a relationship exists between collaborators’ motivations for collaboration and their perceived outcomes of collaboration, and collaborators' communication dimensions and their perceived outcomes of collaboration. Lastly, it also provided recommendations to improve the communication in MIM. Data were gathered using a self-administered survey that was patterned after Mattessich and Monsey’s (1992) collaboration experience questionnaire. Interviews and secondary sources mainly provided by the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems (MCME) were also used. From the seven MIM collaborating organizations that were selected through purposive sampling, 86 respondents were chosen. Then, data were analyzed through frequency counts, percentages, measures of central tendencies, and Pearson’s and Spearman rho correlations. Collaborators’ length of collaboration ranged from seven to twenty years. Furthermore, six out of seven of the collaborators were involved in the task of 'emergency, rescue, and communication'. For the other aspect of the antecedents, the history of previous collaboration efforts ranked as the highest rated motivation for collaboration. In line with this, the top communication dimension is the governance while perceived effectiveness garnered the highest overall average among the perceived outcomes of collaboration. Results also showed that the collaborators highly rely on formal communication channels. Meetings and memos were the most commonly used communication channels throughout all tasks under the four phases of MIM. Additionally, although collaborators have a high view towards their co-collaborators, they still rely on MCME to act as their manager in coordinating with one another indirectly. Based on the correlation analysis, antecedent (motivations)-outcome relationship generally had positive relationships. However, for the process (communication dimensions)-outcome relationship, both positive and negative relationships were observed. In conclusion, this study exhibited the same trend with existing literature which also used the same framework. For the antecedent-outcome relationship, it can be deduced that MCME, as the main organizer of MIM, can focus on these variables to achieve their desired outcomes because of the positive relationships. For the process-outcome relationship, MCME should also take note that there were negative relationships where an increase in the said communication dimension may result in a decrease in the desired outcome. Recommendations for further study include a methodology that contains: complete enumeration or any parametric sampling, a researcher-administered survey, and direct observations. These might require additional funding, but all may yield to richer data.

Keywords: antecedent-outcome relationship, carrying capacity, organizational communication, process-outcome relationship

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Authors: Ana Elisa Ribeiro Costa, Sónia Daniela Ferreira Miranda, João Pedro De Carvalho Pereira, João Carlos Simões Bernardo

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Elastomeric thermoplastics (TPEs) have been widely used in the footwear industry over the years. Recently this industry has been requesting materials that can combine lightweight and high abrasion resistance. Although there are blowing agents on the market to improve the lightweight, when these are incorporated into molten polymers during the extrusion or injection molding, it is necessary to have some specific processing conditions (e.g. effect of temperature and hydrodynamic stresses) to obtain good properties and acceptable surface appearance on the final products. Therefore, it is a great advantage for the compounder industry to acquire compounds that already include the blowing agents. In this way, they can be handled and processed under the same conditions as a conventional raw material. In this work, the expandable TPEs compounds, namely a TPU and a SEBS, with the incorporation of blowing agents, have been developed through a co-rotating modular twin-screw parallel extruder. Different blowing agents such as thermo-expandable microspheres and an azodicarbonamide were selected and different screw configurations and temperature profiles were evaluated since these parameters have a particular influence on the expansion inhibition of the blowing agents. Furthermore, percentages of incorporation were varied in order to investigate their influence on the final product properties. After the extrusion of these compounds, expansion was tested by the injection process. The mechanical and physical properties were characterized by different analytical methods like tensile, flexural and abrasive tests, determination of hardness and density measurement. Also, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed. It was observed that it is possible to incorporate the blowing agents on the TPEs without their expansion on the extrusion process. Only with reprocessing (injection molding) did the expansion of the agents occur. These results are corroborated by SEM micrographs, which show a good distribution of blowing agents in the polymeric matrices. The other experimental results showed a good mechanical performance and its density decrease (30% for SEBS and 35% for TPU). This study suggested that it is possible to develop optimized compounds for footwear applications (e.g., sole shoes), which only will be able to expand during the injection process.

Keywords: blowing agents, expandable thermoplastic elastomeric compounds, low density, footwear applications

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Authors: Inkeri Jaaskelainen

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The purpose of this study is to shed light on what it is like to study in apprenticeship training using Finnish as a second language. This study examines the stories and experiences of apprenticeship students learning and studying Finnish as part of their vocational studies. Also, this pilot study examines the effects of learning to pronounce Finnish through body motions and gestures. Many foreign students choose apprenticeships and start vocational training too early, while their language skills in Finnish are still very weak. Both duties at work and school assignments require reasonably good general language skills (B1.1), and, especially at work, language skills are also a safety issue. At work, students should be able to simultaneously learn Finnish and do vocational studies in a noisy, demanding, and stressful environment. Learning and understanding new things is very challenging under these circumstances and sometimes students get exhausted and experience a lot of stress - which makes learning even more difficult. Students are different from each other and so are their ways to learn. Thereafter, one of the most important features of apprenticeship training and second language learning is a good understanding of adult learners and their needs. Kinaesthetic methods are an effective way to support adult students’ cognitive skills and make learning more relaxing and fun. Empirical findings show that language learning can indeed be supported in physical ways, by body motions and gestures. The method used here, named TFFL (Touch and Feel Foreign Languages), was designed to support adult language learning, to correct or prevent language fossilization, and to help the student to manage emotions. Finnish is considered as a difficult language to learn, mostly because it is so different from nearly all other languages. Many learners complain that they are lost or confused and there is a need to find a way to simultaneously learn the language and to handle negative emotion that comes from the Finnish language and the learning process itself. Due to the nature of the Finnish language, good pronunciation skills are needed just to understand the way the language work. Movements (body movements etc.) are a natural part of many cultures, but not Finnish. In Finland, students have traditionally been expected to stay still, and that is not a natural way for many foreign students. However, the kinaesthetic TFFL method proved out to be a useful way to help some L2 students to feel phonemes, rhythm, and intonation, to improve their Finnish, and, thereby, also to successfully complete their vocational studies.

Keywords: Finnish, fossilization, interference, kinaesthetic method

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Authors: Smita Mathur

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Play is an innate, player-centric, joyful, fundamental activity of early childhood development that significantly contributes to social, emotional, and academic learning. Leveraging the power of play can enhance these domains by creating engaging, interactive, and developmentally appropriate learning experiences for young children. This research aimed to systematically examine young children’s play behaviors with a focus on four primary objectives: (1) the frequency and duration of on-task behaviors, (2) social interactions and emotional expressions during play, (3) the correlation between academic skills and play, and (4) identifying best practices for integrating play-based curricula. To achieve these objectives, a mixed-method study was conducted among young preschool-aged children in low socio-economic populations in the United States. The children were identified using purposive sampling. The children were observed during structured play in classrooms and unstructured play during outdoor playtime and in their home environments. The study sampled 97 preschool-aged children. A total of 3970 minutes of observations were coded to address the research questions. Thirty-seven percent of children lived in linguistically isolated families, and 76% lived in basic budget poverty. Children lived in overcrowded housing situations (67%), and most families had mixed citizenship status (66%). The observational study was conducted using the observation protocol during the Oxford Study Project. On-task behaviors were measured by tracking the frequency and duration of activities where children maintained focus and engagement. In examining social interactions and emotional expressions, the study recorded social interactions, emotional responses, and teacher involvement during play. The study aimed to identify best practices for integrating play-based curricula into early childhood education. By analyzing the effectiveness of different play-based strategies and their impact on on-task behaviors, social-emotional development, and academic skills, the research sought to provide actionable recommendations for educators and caregivers. The findings from study 1. Highlight play behaviors that increase on-task behaviors and academic, & social skills in young children. 2. Offers insights into teacher preparation and designing play-based curriculum 3. Research critiques observation as a data collection technique.

Keywords: play, early childhood education, social-emotional development, academic development

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Authors: Elissavet Kosta

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Introduction: In this research, we will propose the methodology, which is required for the planning of the cultural route in order to prepare substantiated proposals for the development and planning of cultural routes in Greece in the near future. Our research has started at 2016. Methodology in our research: Α combination of primary and secondary research will be used as project methodology. Furthermore, this study aims to follow a multidisciplinary approach, using dimensions of qualitative and quantitative data analysis models. Regarding the documentation of the theoretical part of the project, the method of secondary research will be mainly used, yet in combination with bibliographic sources. However, the data collection regarding the research topic will be conducted exclusively through primary research (questionnaires and interviews). Cultural Routes: The cultural route is defined as a brand name touristic product, that is a product of cultural tourism, which is shaped according to a specific connecting element. Given its potential, the cultural route is an important ‘tool’ for the management and development of cultural heritage. Currently, a constant development concerning the cultural routes is observed in an international level during the last decades, as it is widely accepted that cultural tourism has an important role in the world touristic industry. Cultural Routes in Greece: Especially for Greece, we believe, actions have not been taken to the systematic development of the cultural routes yet. The cultural routes that include Greece and have been design in a world scale as well as the cultural routes, which have been design in Greek ground up to this moment are initiations of the Council of Europe, World Tourism Organization UNWTO and ‘Diazoma’ association. Regarding the study of cultural routes in Greece as a multidimensional concept, the following concerns have arisen: Firstly, we are concerned about the general impact of cultural routes at local and national level and specifically in the economic sector. Moreover, we deal with the concerns regarding the natural environment and we delve into the educational aspect of cultural routes in Greece. In addition, the audience we aim at is both specific and broad and we put forward the institutional framework of the study. Finally, we conduct the development and planning of new cultural routes, having in mind the museums as both the starting and ending point of a route. Conclusion: The contribution of our work is twofold and lies firstly on the fact that we attempt to create cultural routes in Greece and secondly on the fact that an interdisciplinary approach is engaged towards realizing our study objective. In particular, our aim is to take advantage of all the ways in which the promotion of a cultural route can have a positive influence on the way of life of society. As a result, we intend to analyze how a cultural route can turn into a well-organized activity that can be used as social intervention to develop tourism, strengthen the economy and improve access to cultural goods in Greece during the economic crisis.

Keywords: cultural heritage, cultural routes, cultural tourism, Greece

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Authors: Safia Hasan Varachhia, Neela Badrie, Marsha Singh

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Genetic modification of food is an innovative technology that offers a host of benefits and advantages to consumers. Consumer attitudes towards GM food and GM technologies can be identified a major determinant in conditioning market force and encouraging policy makers and regulators to recognize the significance of consumer influence on the market. This study aimed to investigate and evaluate the extent of consumer awareness, knowledge, perception and acceptance of GM foods and its associated health risks and benefit in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies. The specific objectives of this study were to (determine consumer awareness to GM foods, ascertain their perspectives on health and safety risks and ethical issues associated with GM foods and determine whether labeling of GM foods and ingredients will influence consumers’ willingness to purchase GM foods. A survey comprising of a questionnaire consisting of 40 questions, both open-ended and close-ended was administered to 240 shoppers in small, medium and large-scale supermarkets throughout Trinidad between April-May, 2015 using convenience sampling. This survey investigated consumer awareness, knowledge, perception and acceptance of GM foods and its associated health risks/benefits. The data was analyzed using SPSS 19.0 and Minitab 16.0. One-way ANOVA investigated the effects categories of supermarkets and knowledge scores on shoppers’ awareness, knowledge, perception and acceptance of GM foods. Linear Regression tested whether demographic variables (category of supermarket, age of consumer, level of were useful predictors of consumer’s knowledge of GM foods). More than half of respondents (64.3%) were aware of GM foods and GM technologies, 28.3% of consumers indicated the presence of GM foods in local supermarkets and 47.1% claimed to be knowledgeable of GM foods. Furthermore, significant associations (P < 0.05) were observed between demographic variables (age, income, and education), and consumer knowledge of GM foods. Also, significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed between demographic variables (education, gender, and income) and consumer knowledge of GM foods. In addition, age, education, gender and income (P < 0.05) were useful predictors of consumer knowledge of GM foods. There was a contradiction as whilst 35% of consumers considered GM foods safe for consumption, 70% of consumers were wary of the unknown health risks of GM foods. About two-thirds of respondents (67.5%) considered the creation of GM foods morally wrong and unethical. Regarding GM food labeling preferences, 88% of consumers preferred mandatory labeling of GM foods and 67% of consumers specified that any food product containing a trace of GM food ingredients required mandatory GM labeling. Also, despite the declaration of GM food ingredients on food labels and the reassurance of its safety for consumption by food safety and regulatory institutions, the majority of consumers (76.1%) still preferred conventionally produced foods over GM foods. The study revealed the need to inform shoppers of the presence of GM foods and technologies, present the scientific evidence as to the benefits and risks and the need for a policy on labeling so that informed choices could be taken.

Keywords: genetically modified foods, income, labeling consumer awareness, ingredients, morality and ethics, policy

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Authors: Z. Mazrouei-Sebdani, A. Khoddami, H. Hadadzadeh, M. Zarrebini

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Silica aerogels are well-known meso-porous materials with high specific surface area (500–1000 m2/g), high porosity (80–99.8%), and low density (0.003–0.8 g/cm3). However, the silica aerogels generally are highly brittle due to their nanoporous nature. Physical and mechanical properties of the silica aerogels can be enhanced by compounding with the fibers. Although some reports presented incorporation of the fibers into the sol, followed by further modification and drying stages, no information regarding the aerogel powders as filler in the polymeric fibers is available. In this research, waterglass based aerogel powder was prepared in the following steps: sol–gel process to prepare a gel, followed by subsequent washing with propan-2-ol, n-Hexane, and TMCS, then ambient pressure drying, and ball milling. Inspired by limited dust releasing, aerogel powder was introduced to the PET electrospinning solution in an attempt to create required bulk and surface structure for the nano fibers to improve their hydrophobic and insulation properties. The samples evaluation was carried out by measuring density, porosity, contact angle, sliding angle, heat transfer, FTIR, BET and SEM. According to the results, porous silica aerogel powder was fabricated with mean pore diameter of 24 nm and contact angle of 145.9º. The results indicated the usefulness of the aerogel powder confined into nano fibers to control surface roughness for manipulating superhydrophobic nanowebs with sliding angle of 5˚ and water contact angle of 147º. It can be due to a multi-scale surface roughness which was created by nanowebs structure itself and nano fibers surface irregularity in presence of the aerogels while a laye of fluorocarbon created low surface energy. The wettability of a solid substrate is an important property that is controlled by both the chemical composition and geometry of the surface. Also, a decreasing trend in the heat transfer was observed from 22% for the nano fibers without any aerogel powder to 8% for the nano fibers with 4% aerogel powder. The development of thermal insulating materials has become increasingly more important than ever in view of the fossil energy depletion and global warming that call for more demanding energy-saving practices.

Keywords: Superhydrophobicity, Insulation, Sol-gel, Surface energy, Roughness.

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Authors: Mehri Sadat Alavinasab Ashgezari, Gholam Reza Nabi Bidhendi, Fatemeh Sadat Alavinasab Ashkezari

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Atmospheric aerosol loading (AAL) from anthropogenic sources is an evidence in industrial development. The accelerated trends in material consumption at the global scale in recent years demonstrate consumption paradigms sensible to the planetary boundaries (PB). This paper is a statistical approach on recognizing the path of climate-relevant bulk materials production (CBMP) of steel, cement and plastics to AAL via an updated and validated spatiotemporal distribution. The methodology of statistical analysis used the most updated regional or global databases or instrumental technologies. This corresponded to a selection of processes and areas capable for tracking AAL within the last decade, analyzing the most validated data while leading to explore the behavior functions or models. The results also represented a correlation within socio economic metabolism idea between the materials specified as macronutrients of society and AAL as a PB with an unknown threshold. The selected country contributors of China, India, US and the sample country of Iran show comparable cumulative AAL values vs to the bulk materials domestic extraction and production rate in the study period of 2012 to 2022. Generally, there is a tendency towards gradual descend in the worldwide and regional aerosol concentration after 2015. As of our evaluation, a considerable share of human role, equivalent 20% from CBMP, is for the main anthropogenic species of aerosols, including sulfate, black carbon and organic particulate matters too. This study, in an innovative approach, also explores the potential role of AAL control mechanisms from the economy sectors where ordered and smoothing loading trends are accredited through the disordered phenomena of CBMP and aerosol precursor emissions. The equilibrium states envisioned is an approval to the well-established theory of Spin Glasses applicable in physical system like the Earth and here to AAL.

Keywords: atmospheric aeroso loading, material flows, climate bulk materials, industrial ecology

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Authors: S. Yussuf Abdulmaliq

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Experiment was conducted for two years (2013 and 2014) at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Teaching and Research Farm to study the effects of soil organic amendment types and rates on soil chemical fertility improvement, growth and yield of Amarathus cruentus in the southern guinea savannah, lapai, Niger state, Nigeria. Soil and manure samples were collected and analysed for physical and chemical components. The experiments were laid out in 3 x 4 factorial in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). Consisting of three (3) levels of soil amendment types (Poultry manure, goat manure and cowdung) and four (4) levels of amendment rates (0, 6, 12 and 18 t ha-1). Data collected include plant height/plant (cm), number of leaves/plant, leaf area/ plant (cm2) at 2, 4, 6 and 8WAT, fresh vegetable yield/plant, fresh vegetable yield/plot and fresh vegetable yield in tons ha-1. The result obtained showed that, Amaranthus cruentus height, number of leaves and leaf area were not significantly affected by the type of organic amendment and rates at 2WAT in 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons. However, at 4, 6 and 8 WAT, significant differences were observed among the types of amendment and their rates. Application of poultry manure as soil amendment supported taller, large number of leaves and wider leaf area, and higher marketable vegetable yield in 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons (Pα 0.05) which was closely followed by goat manure in the two (2) cropping seasons. In addition, the application of 18 t ha-1 was superior to 12, 6 and the control by producing tallest amaranthus plants, higher number of leaves, wider leaf area and higher marketable vegetable yield in 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons (Pα 0.05). In conclusion, the use of 18 t ha-1poultry manure is therefore recommended as soil amendment for Amaranthus cruentus in southern guinea savannah of Nigeria.

Keywords: Amaranthus cruentus, cowdung, goat manure, poultry manure, soil amendment

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Authors: Mohammad Rahman, Guy Burton, Megan Mathias

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Strategic management as an organizational practice was adopted by the public sector in the New Public Management (NPM) era that began in most parts of the world in the 1980s. Strategy as a new public management concept was subscribed by governments in both developed and developing world, as they were persuaded that clearly defined vision, mission and goals, as well as programs and projects - aligned with the goals - could potentially help achieve government vision at the national level and organizational goals at the service-delivery level. The advocates for strategic management in the public sector saw an inherent link between strategy and performance, claiming that the implementation of organizational strategy has an effect on the overall performance of an organization. Arguably, many government entities that have failed in enhancing team and individual performance had poorly-designed strategy or weak strategy implementation. Another key argument about low-level performance is linked with lack of strategic sense-making and orientation by middle managers in particular. Scholars maintain that employees at all levels need to understand strategic management plan in order to facilitate its implementation. Therefore, involving employees (particularly the middle managers) from the beginning potentially helps an organization avoid the drop in performance, and on the contrary would increase their commitment. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is well known for adopting public sector reform strategies and tools since the 1990s. This observation is contextually pertinent in the case of the Government of Dubai, which has provided a Strategy Execution Guide to all of its entities to achieve high level strategic success in service delivery. The Dubai public sector also adopts road maps for e-Government, Smart Dubai, Expo 2020, investment, environment, education, health and other sectors. Evidently, some of these strategies are bringing tangible (e.g. Smart Dubai transformation) results in a transformational manner. However, the amount of academic research and literature on the strategy process vis-à-vis staff performance in the Government of Dubai is limited. In this backdrop, this study examines how individual performance of public sector employees in Dubai is linked with their sense-making, engagement and orientation with strategy development and implementation processes. Based on a theoretical framework, this study will undertake a sample-based questionnaire survey amongst middle managers in Dubai public sector to (a) measure the level of engagement of middle managers in strategy development and implementation processes as perceived by them; (b) observe the organizational landscape in which role expectations are placed on middle managers; and (c) examine the impact of employee engagement in strategy development process and the conditions for role expectations on individual performance. The paper is expected to provide new insights on the interface between strategic sense-making and performance in order to contribute a better understanding of the current culture/practices of staff engagement in strategic management in the public sector of Dubai.

Keywords: employee performance, government of Dubai, middle managers, strategic sense-making

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Authors: Valencia Fernandes, Dharmendra Kumar Khatri, Shashi Bala Singh

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Background and Aim: Epigenetics are the inaudible signatures of several pathological processes in the brain. This study understands the influence of DNA methylation, a major epigenetic modification, in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of the diabetic brain and its notable effect on the cellular chaperones and synaptic proteins. Method: Chronic high fat diet and STZ-induced diabetic mice were studied for cognitive dysfunction, and global DNA methylation, as well as DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) activity, were assessed. Further, the cellular chaperones and synaptic proteins were examined using DNMT inhibitor, 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dC)-via intracerebroventricular injection. Moreover, % methylation of these synaptic proteins were also studied so as to correlate its epigenetic involvement. Computationally, its interaction with the DNMT enzyme were also studied using bioinformatic tools. Histological studies for morphological alterations and neuronal degeneration were also studied. Neurogenesis, a characteristic marker for new learning and memory formation, was also assessed via the BrdU staining. Finally, the most important behavioral studies, including the Morris water maze, Y maze, passive avoidance, and Novel object recognition test, were performed to study its cognitive functions. Results: Altered global DNA methylation and increased levels of DNMTs within the nucleus were confirmed in the cortex and hippocampus of the diseased mice, suggesting hypermethylation at a genetic level. Treatment with AzadC, a global DNA demethylating agent, ameliorated the protein and gene expression of the cellular chaperones and synaptic fidelity. Furthermore, the methylation analysis profile showed hypermethylation of the hsf1 protein, a master regulator for chaperones and thus, confirmed the epigenetic involvement in the diseased brain. Morphological improvements and decreased neurodegeneration, along with enhanced neurogenesis in the treatment group, suggest that epigenetic modulations do participate in learning and memory. This is supported by the improved behavioral test battery seen in the treatment group. Conclusion: DNA methylation could possibly accord in dysregulating the memory-associated proteins at chronic stages in type 2 diabetes. This could suggest a substantial contribution to the underlying pathophysiology of several metabolic syndromes like insulin resistance, obesity and also participate in transitioning this damage centrally, such as cognitive dysfunction.

Keywords: epigenetics, cognition, chaperones, DNA methylation

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Authors: A. M. Andriano, M. Lombardi, A. Lopolito, M. Prosperi, A. Stasi, E. Iannuzzi

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In according to the scientific debate on the definition of Social Innovation (SI), the present paper identifies SI as new ideas (products, services, and models) that simultaneously meet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations. This concept offers important tools to unravel the difficult condition for the agricultural sector in marginalized areas, characterized by the abandonment of activities, low level of farmer education, and low generational renewal, hampering new territorial strategies addressed at and integrated and sustainable development. Models of SI in agriculture, starting from bottom up approach or from the community, are considered to represent the driving force of an ecological and digital revolution. A system based on SI may be able to grasp and satisfy individual and social needs and to promote new forms of entrepreneurship. In this context, Vazapp ('Go Hoeing') is an emerging SI model in southern Italy that promotes solutions for satisfying needs of farmers and facilitates their relationships (creation of network). The Vazapp’s initiative, considered in this study, is the Contadinners ('Farmer’s dinners'), a dinner held at farmer’s house where stakeholders living in the surrounding area know each other and are able to build a network for possible future professional collaborations. The aim of the paper is to identify the evolution of farmers’ relationships, both quantitatively and qualitatively, because of the Contadinner’s initiative organized by Vazapp. To this end, the study adopts the Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodology by using UCINET (Version 6.667) software to analyze the relational structure. Data collection was realized through a questionnaire distributed to 387 participants in the twenty 'Contadinners', held from February 2016 to June 2018. The response rate to the survey was about 50% of farmers. The elaboration data was focused on different aspects, such as: a) the measurement of relational reciprocity among the farmers using the symmetrize method of answers; b) the measurement of the answer reliability using the dichotomize method; c) the description of evolution of social capital using the cohesion method; d) the clustering of the Contadinners' participants in followers and not-followers of Vazapp to evaluate its impact on the local social capital. The results concern the effectiveness of this initiative in generating trustworthy relationships within the rural area of southern Italy, typically affected by individualism and mistrust. The number of relationships represents the quantitative indicator to define the dimension of the network development; while the typologies of relationships (from simple friendship to formal collaborations, for branding new cooperation initiatives) represents the qualitative indicator that offers a diversified perspective of the network impact. From the analysis carried out, Vazapp’s initiative represents surely a virtuous SI model to catalyze the relationships within the rural areas and to develop entrepreneurship based on the real needs of the community.

Keywords:

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Authors: Rai Sachindra Prasad

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Thought is physical force. This has been well recognized but hardly translated visually or otherwise in the sense of its transfer from one individual to another. In the present world of chaos and disorder with yawning gaps between right and wrong thinking individuals, if it is possible to transfer the right thoughts to replace the wrong ones it would indeed be a great achievement in the present situation of the world which is torn with violence with dangerous thoughts of individuals. Moreover, such a possibility would completely remove the barrier of language between two persons, which at times proves to be a great obstacle in realizing a desired purpose. If a proper instrumentation scheme containing appropriate transducers and electronics is designed and implemented to realize this thought ransfer phenomenon, this would prove to be extremely useful when properly used. Considering the advancements already made in recording the nerve impulses in the brain, which are electrical events of very short durations that move along the axon, it is conceivable that this may be used to good effect in implementing the scheme. In such a proposition one shoud consider the roles played by pineal body, pituitary gland and ‘association’ areas. Pioneer students of brain have thought that associations or connections between sensory input and motor output were made in these areas. It is currently believed that rather than being regions of simple sensory-motor connections, the association areas process and integrate sensory information relayed to them from the primary sensory areas of the cortex and from the thalamus, after the information has been processed, it may be sent to motor areas to be acted upon. Again, even though the role played by pineal body is not known fully to neurologists its interconnection with pituitary gland is a matter of great significance to the ‘Rishis’ and; Seers’ s described in Vedas and Puranas- the ancient Holy books of Hindus. If the pineal body is activated through meditation it would control the pituitary gland thereby the individual’s thoughts and acts. Thus, if thoughts can be picked up by special transducers, these can be connected to suitable electronics circuitry to amplify the signals. These signals in the form of electromagnetic waves can then be transmitted using modems for long distance transmission and eventually received by or passed on to a subject of interest through another set of electronics circuit and devices.

Keywords: modems, pituitary gland, pineal body, thought transfer

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Authors: Hamide Aydin, Banu Karaman, Ayhan Bozkurt, Umran Kurtan

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Recently, Proton Conducting Gel Polymer Electrolytes (GPEs) have drawn much attention in supercapacitor applications due to their physical and electrochemical characteristics and stability conditions for low temperatures. In this research, PVA-H2SO4-H3BO3 GPE has been used for electric-double layer capacitor (EDLCs) application, in which electrospun free-standing carbon nanofibers are used as electrodes. Introduced PVA-H2SO4-H3BO3 GPE behaves as both separator and the electrolyte in the supercapacitor. Symmetric Swagelok cells including GPEs were assembled via using two electrode arrangements and the electrochemical properties were searched. Electrochemical performance studies demonstrated that PVA-H2SO4-H3BO3 GPE had a maximum specific capacitance (Cs) of 134 F g-1 and showed great capacitance retention (%100) after 1000 charge/discharge cycles. Furthermore, PVA-H2SO4-H3BO3 GPE yielded an energy density of 67 Wh kg-1 with a corresponding power density of 1000 W kg-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1. PVA-H2SO4 based polymer electrolyte was produced according to following procedure; Firstly, 1 g of commercial PVA was dissolved in distilled water at 90°C and stirred until getting transparent solution. This was followed by addition of the diluted H2SO4 (1 g of H2SO4 in a distilled water) to the solution to obtain PVA-H2SO4. PVA-H2SO4-H3BO3 based polymer electrolyte was produced by dissolving H3BO3 in hot distilled water and then inserted into the PVA-H2SO4 solution. The mole fraction was arranged to ¼ of the PVA repeating unit. After the stirring 2 h at RT, gel polymer electrolytes were obtained. The final electrolytes for supercapacitor testing included 20% of water in weight. Several blending combinations of PVA/H2SO4 and H3BO3 were studied to observe the optimized combination in terms of conductivity as well as electrolyte stability. As the amount of boric acid increased in the matrix, excess sulfuric acid was excluded due to cross linking, especially at lower solvent content. This resulted in the reduction of proton conductivity. Therefore, the mole fraction of H3BO3 was chosen as ¼ of PVA repeating unit. Within this optimized limits, the polymer electrolytes showed better conductivities as well as stability.

Keywords: electrical double layer capacitor, energy density, gel polymer electrolyte, ultracapacitor

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Authors: Palita Sooksamran, Katcharin Mahawong

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This research aims to offer the development of innovator teachers training curriculum to create instructional innovation according to active learning approach to enhance learning achievement. The research and development process is carried out in 3 steps: Step 1 The study of the needs necessary to develop a training curriculum: the inquiry was conducted by a sample of teachers in private schools in Phayao province that provide basic education at the level of education. Using a questionnaire of 176 people, the sample was defined using a table of random numbers and stratified samples, using the school as a random layer. Step 2 Training curriculum development: the tools used are developed training curriculum and curriculum assessments, with nine experts checking the appropriateness of the draft curriculum. The statistic used in data analysis is the average ( ) and standard deviation (S.D.) Step 3 study on effectiveness of training curriculum: one group pretest/posttest design applied in this study. The sample consisted of 35 teachers from private schools in Phayao province. The participants volunteered to attend on their own. The results of the research showed that: 1.The essential demand index needed with the list of essential needs in descending order is the choice and create of multimedia media, videos, application for learning management at the highest level ,Developed of multimedia, video and applications for learning management and selection of innovative learning management techniques and methods of solve the problem Learning , respectively. 2. The components of the training curriculum include principles, aims, scope of content, training activities, learning materials and resources, supervision evaluation. The scope of the curriculum consists of basic knowledge about learning management innovation, active learning, lesson plan design, learning materials and resources, learning measurement and evaluation, implementation of lesson plans into classroom and supervision and motoring. The results of the evaluation of quality of the draft training curriculum at the highest level. The Experts suggestion is that the purpose of the course should be used words that convey the results. 3. The effectiveness of training curriculum 1) Cognitive outcomes of the teachers in creating innovative learning management was at a high level of relative gain score. 2) The assessment results of learning management ability according to the active learning approach to enhance learning achievement by assessing from 2 education supervisor as a whole were very high , 3) Quality of innovation learning management based on active learning approach to enhance learning achievement of the teachers, 7 instructional Innovations were evaluated as outstanding works and 26 instructional Innovations passed the standard 4) Overall learning achievement of students who learned from 35 the sample teachers was at a high level of relative gain score 5) teachers' satisfaction towards the training curriculum was at the highest level.

Keywords: training curriculum, innovator teachers, active learning approach, learning achievement

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Authors: Alexandra Kennedy

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Making use of the notion of ‘epodic spaces’ this paper presents a reconsideration of non-objective art practices, proposing alternatives to established materialist, formalist, process-based conceptualist approaches to such work. In his Neo-Concrete Manifesto (1959) Ferreira Gullar (1930-2016) sought to create a distinction between various forms of non-objective art. He distinguished the ‘geometric’ arts of neoplasticism, constructivism, and suprematism – which he described as ‘dangerously acute rationalism’ – from other non-objective practices. These alternatives, he proposed, have an expressive potential lacking in the former and this formed the basis for their categorisation as neo-concrete. Gullar prioritized the phenomenological over the rational, with an emphasis on the role of the spectator (a key concept of minimalism). Gullar highlighted the central role of sensual experience, colour and the poetic in such work. In the early twentieth century, Russian Cosmism – an esoteric philosophical movement – was highly influential on Russian avant-garde artists and can account for suprematist artists’ interest in, and approach to, planar geometry and four-dimensional space as demonstrated in the abstract paintings of Kasimir Malevich (1879-1935). Nikolai Fyodorov (1823-1903) promoted the idea of anti-gravity and cosmic space as the field for artistic activity. The artist and writer Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939) wrote on the concept of Euclidean space, the overcoming of such rational conceptions of space and the breaking free from the gravitational field and the earth’s sphere. These imaginary spaces, which also invoke a bodily experience, present a poetic dimension to the work of the suprematists. It is a dimension that arguably aligns more with Gullar’s formulation of his neo-concrete rather than that of his alignment of Suprematism with rationalism. While found in experiments with planar geometry, the interest in forms suggestive of an experience of breaking free–both physically from the earth and conceptually from rational, mathematical space (in a pre-occupation with non-Euclidean space and anti-geometry) and in their engagement with the spatial properties of colour, Suprematism presents itself as imaginatively epodic. The paper discusses both historical and contemporary non-objective practices in this context, drawing attention to the manner in which the category of the non-objective is used to categorise art works which are, arguably, qualitatively different.

Keywords: anti-gravity, neo-concrete, non-Euclidian geometry, non-objective painting

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Obiageli Eze

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Millions of Nigerian children are subjected daily to all forms of abuse, ranging from trafficking to slavery, and forced labor. These under age children are taken from different parts of the Country to be used as sex slaves and laborers in the big cities, killed for rituals, organ transplantation, or used for money laundering, begging on the streets or are put to work in the fields. These children are made to do inhuman jobs under degrading conditions and face all kinds of abuse at the hands of their owners with no hope of escape. While lots of people blame poverty or culture as a basis for human trafficking in Nigeria, the National Agency for the Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) says other causes of the outrageous rate of human trafficking in the country are ignorance, desperation, and the promotion and commercialization of sex by the European Union (EU) as dozens of young Nigerian children and women are forced to work as prostitutes in European countries including the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Spain. In the cause of searching for greener pastures, they are coerced into work they have not chosen and subjected to perpetual life in bondage. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 prohibits slave trade and slavery. Despite the fact that Nigeria is a Sovereign member of the United Nations and signatory to this International instrument, Child trafficking and slavery is still on the increase. This may be caused by the fact that the punishment for this crime in Nigeria is a maximum term of 10 years imprisonment with some of the worst offenders getting off with as little as 2 years imprisonment or an option of fine. It goes without saying that this punishment is not sufficient to act as a deterrent to these modern slave traders. Another major factor oiling the wheel of trafficking in the country is voodoo. The victims are taken to shrines of voodoo priests for oath taking. There, underage girls and boys are made to swear that they would never reveal the identities of their traffickers to anyone if arrested whether in the course of the journey or in the destination countries and that they would pay off debt. Nigeria needs tougher Laws in order to be able to combat human trafficking and slave trade. Also there has to be aggressive sensitization and awareness programs designed to educate and enlighten the public as to the dangers faced by these victims and the need to report any suspicious activity to the authorities. This paper attempts to give an insight into the plight of under-age Nigerian children trafficked and sold as slaves and offer a more effective stand in the fight against it.

Keywords: child labor, slavery, slave trade, trafficking

Procedia PDF Downloads 497

Authors: Dorota Zielińska, Monika Trząskowska, Anna Łepecka, Katarzyna Neffe-Skocińska, Beata Bilska, Marzena Tomaszewska, Danuta Kołożyn-Krajewska

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Minimum durability date (MDD) labeled food is known to have a long shelf life. A properly stored or transported food retains its physical, chemical, microbiological, and sensory properties up to MDD. The aim of the study was to assess the sensory quality and microbiological safety of selected thermally processed products,i.e., mayonnaise, jam, and canned tuna within and after MDD. The scope of the study was to determine the markers of microbiological quality, i.e., the total viable count (TVC), the Enterobacteriaceae count and the total yeast and mold (TYMC) count on the last day of MDD and after 1 and 3 months of storage, after the MDD expired. In addition, the presence of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes was examined on the last day of MDD. The sensory quality of products was assessed by quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA), the intensity of differentiators (quality features), and overall quality were defined and determined. It was found that during three months storage of tested food products, after the MDD expired, the microbiological quality slightly decreased, however, regardless of the tested sample, TVC was at the level of <3 log cfu/g, similarly, the Enterobacretiaceae, what indicates the good microbiological quality of the tested foods. The TYMC increased during storage but did not exceed 2 logs cfu/g of product. Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes were not found in any of the tested food samples. The sensory quality of mayonnaise negatively changed during storage. After three months from the expiry of MDD, a decrease in the "fat" and "egg" taste and aroma intensity, as well as the "density" were found. The "sour" taste intensity of blueberry jam after three months of storage was slightly higher, compared to the jam tested on the last day of MDD, without affecting the overall quality. In the case of tuna samples, an increase in the "fishy" taste and aroma intensity was observed during storage, and the overall quality did not change. Tested thermally processed products (mayonnaise, jam, and canned tuna) were characterized by good microbiological and sensory quality on the last day of MDD, as well as after three months of storage under conditions recommended by the producer. These findings indicate the possibility of reducing food losses by extending or completely abolishing the MDD of selected thermal processed food products.

Keywords: food wastes, food quality and safety, mayonnaise, jam, tuna

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Authors: R. B. B. Samantha Ramachandra, L. D. J. Upul Senarath, S. H. Padmal De Silva

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Dietary pattern largely differs over countries and even within a country, it shows cultural differences. The dietary pattern changes the energy consumption and micronutrient intake, directly affects the pregnancy outcome. The dietary diversity was used as an indirect measure to assess micronutrient adequacy for pregnant mothers in this study. The study was conducted as a baseline survey with the objective of designing an intervention to improve the dietary diversity of pregnant mothers in Sri Lanka. The survey was conducted in Kalutara district of Sri Lanka in 2015 among 769 pregnant mothers at different gestational ages. Dietary diversity questionnaire developed by Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) Food and Nutrition technical Assistance (FANTA) II project, recommended for cross-country use with adaptations was used for data collection. Trained data collectors met pregnant mothers at field ante-natal clinic and questioned on last 24hr dietary recall with portion size and coded food items to identify the diversity. Pregnant mothers were identified from randomly selected 21 clusters of public health midwife areas. 81.5% mothers (n=627) in the sample had been registered at Public Health Midwife (PHM) before 8 weeks of gestation. 24.4% of mothers were with low starting BMI and 22.7% mothers were with high starting BMI. 47.6% (n=388) mothers had abstained from at least one food item during the pregnancy. The food group with the highest consumption was rice (98.4%) followed by sugar (89.9%). 76.1% mothers had consumed milk, 73% consumed fish and sea foods. Consumption of green leaves was 52% and Vit A rich foods consumed only by 49% mothers. Animal organs, flesh meat and egg all showed low prevalence as 4.7%, 21.6% and 20% respectively. Consumption of locally grown roots, nut, legumes all showed very low prevalence. Consumption of 6 or more food groups was considered as good dietary diversity (DD), 4 to 5 food groups as moderate diversity and 3 or less food groups as poor diversity by FAO FANTA II project. 42.1% mothers demonstrated good DD while another 42.1% recorded moderate diversity. Working mothers showed better DD (51.6%, n=82/159) compared to housewives in the sample (chi = 10.656a,. df=2, p=0.005). The good DD showed gradual improvement from 43.1% to 55.5% along the poorest to richest wealth index (Chi=48.045, df=8 and p=0.000). DD showed significant association with the ethnicity and Moors showed the lowest DD. DD showed no association with the home gardening even though where better diversity expected among those who have home gardening (p=0.548). Sri Lanka is a country where many food items can be grown in the garden and semi-urban setting have adequate space for gardening. Many Sri Lankan mothers do not add homegrown items in their meal. At the same time, their consumption of animal food shows low prevalence. The DD of most of the mothers being either moderate or low (58%) may result from inadequate micro nutrient intake during pregnancy. It is recommended that adding green leaves, locally grown vegetables, roots, nuts and legumes can help increasing the DD of Sri Lankan mothers at low cost.

Keywords: dietary diversity, pregnant mothers, micro-nutrient, food groups

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Authors: Mikhail O. Eremin

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Present work is devoted to experimental study and numerical modelling of failure of rocks typical for Kuzbass coal basin (Russia). The main goal was to define strength and deformation characteristics of rocks on the base of uniaxial compression and three-point bending loadings and then to build a mathematical model of failure process for both types of loading. Depending on particular physical-mechanical characteristics typical rocks of Kuzbass coal basin (sandstones, siltstones, mudstones, etc. of different series – Kolchuginsk, Tarbagansk, Balohonsk) manifest brittle and quasi-brittle character of failure. The strength characteristics for both tension and compression are found. Other characteristics are also found from the experiment or taken from literature reviews. On the base of obtained characteristics and structure (obtained from microscopy) the mathematical and structural models are built and numerical modelling of failure under different types of loading is carried out. Effective characteristics obtained from modelling and character of failure correspond to experiment and thus, the mathematical model was verified. An Instron 1185 machine was used to carry out the experiments. Mathematical model includes fundamental conservation laws of solid mechanics – mass, impulse, energy. Each rock has a sufficiently anisotropic structure, however, each crystallite might be considered as isotropic and then a whole rock model has a quasi-isotropic structure. This idea gives an opportunity to use the Hooke’s law inside of each crystallite and thus explicitly accounting for the anisotropy of rocks and the stress-strain state at loading. Inelastic behavior is described in frameworks of two different models: von Mises yield criterion and modified Drucker-Prager yield criterion. The damage accumulation theory is also implemented in order to describe a failure process. Obtained effective characteristics of rocks are used then for modelling of rock mass evolution when mining is carried out both by an open-pit or underground opening.

Keywords: damage accumulation, Drucker-Prager yield criterion, failure, mathematical modelling, three-point bending, uniaxial compression

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Authors: Erin Hea-Jin Kim

Abstract:

This study aims to investigate scholarly communication patterns in Korean studies, which focuses on all aspects of Korea, including history, culture, literature, politics, society, economics, religion, and so on. It is called ‘national study or home study’ as the subject of the study is itself, whereas it is called ‘area study’ as the subject of the study is others, i.e., outside of Korea. Understanding of the structure of scholarly communication in Korean studies is important since the motivations, procedures, results, or outcomes of individual studies may be affected by the cooperative relationships that appear in the communication structure. To this end, we collected 1,798 articles with the (author or index) keyword ‘Korean’ published in 2018 from the Scopus database and extracted the institution and country of the authors using a text mining technique. A total of 96 countries, including South Korea, was identified. Then we constructed a co-authorship network based on the countries identified. The indicators of social network analysis (SNA), co-occurrences, and cluster analysis were used to measure the activity and connectivity of participation in collaboration in Korean studies. As a result, the highest frequency of collaboration appears in the following order: S. Korea with the United States (603), S. Korea with Japan (146), S. Korea with China (131), S. Korea with the United Kingdom (83), and China with the United States (65). This means that the most active participants are S. Korea as well as the USA. The highest rank in the role of mediator measured by betweenness centrality appears in the following order: United States (0.165), United Kingdom (0.045), China (0.043), Japan (0.037), Australia (0.026), and South Africa (0.023). These results show that these countries contribute to connecting in Korean studies. We found two major communities among the co-authorship network. Asian countries and America belong to the same community, and the United Kingdom and European countries belong to the other community. Korean studies have a long history, and the study has emerged since Japanese colonization. However, Korean studies have never been investigated by digital content analysis. The contributions of this study are an analysis of co-authorship in Korean studies with a global perspective based on digital content, which has not attempted so far to our knowledge, and to suggest ideas on how to analyze the humanities disciplines such as history, literature, or Korean studies by text mining. The limitation of this study is that the scholarly data we collected did not cover all domestic journals because we only gathered scholarly data from Scopus. There are thousands of domestic journals not indexed in Scopus that we can consider in terms of national studies, but are not possible to collect.

Keywords: co-authorship network, Korean studies, Koreanology, scholarly communication

Procedia PDF Downloads 151

Authors: Adline Nkwam-Uwaoma, Mishack Ndukwu

Abstract:

Traditionally, child rearing in Nigeria closely reflects the ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’ maxim and as such spanking, flogging, slapping, beating and even starving a child as a form of punishment for wrongdoing and as a method of behaviour modification are common. These are not necessarily considered as maltreatment or abuse of the child. Despite the adoption and implementation of the child rights act in Nigeria, violence against children seems to be on a steady increase. Stories of sexual molestation, rape, child labour, infliction of physical injuries and use of children for rituals by parents, guardians or other members of the society abound. Violence against children is considered as those acts by other persons especially adults that undermine and threaten the healthy life and existence of children or those that violet their rights as humans. In Nigeria newspapers are a major source of News, second only to radio and television in coverage, currency and content. National dailies are newspapers with daily publications and national spread or coverage. This study analysed the frequency, length, prominence level, direction and sources of information reported on violence against children in the selected national daily newspapers. It then provided information on the role of the newspapers in Nigeria in the fight against child violence and public awareness of the impact of violence against children on the development of the nation and the attempts to curtail such violence. The composite week sampling technique in which the four weeks of the month are reduced to one and a sample is randomly selected from each day of the week was used. As such 168 editions of Daily Sun and Punch newspapers published from January to December of 2016 were selected. Data were collected using code sheet and analyzed via content analysis. The result showed that the frequency of the newspapers’ reportage of violence against children in Nigeria was low. Again, it was found that the length or space given to reports on violence against children was inadequate, the direction of the few reports on violence against children was in favour of the course or fight against child violence, and these newspapers gave no prominence to reports on violence against children. Finally, it was found that a major source of News about violence against children was through journalism; government and individual sources provided only minimal information.

Keywords: children, newspapers' reportage, Nigeria, violence

Procedia PDF Downloads 152