Search results for: Hadoti region

Authors: Deniz Sari, Selahattin İncecik, Nesimi Ozkurt

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Surface ozone, which named as one of the most critical pollutants in the 21th century, threats to human health, forest and vegetation. Specifically, in rural areas surface ozone cause significant influences on agricultural productions and trees. In this study, in order to understand to the surface ozone levels in rural areas we focus on the north-western side of Biga Peninsula which covers by the mountainous and forested area. Ozone concentrations were measured for the first time with passive sampling at 10 sites and two online monitoring stations in this rural area from 2013 and 2015. Using with the daytime hourly O3 measurements during light hours (08:00–20:00) exceeding the threshold of 40 ppb over the 3 months (May, June and July) for agricultural crops, and over the six months (April to September) for forest trees AOT40 (Accumulated hourly O3 concentrations Over a Threshold of 40 ppb) cumulative index was calculated. AOT40 is defined by EU Directive 2008/50/EC to evaluate whether ozone pollution is a risk for vegetation, and is calculated by using hourly ozone concentrations from monitoring systems. In the present study, we performed the trajectory analysis by The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model to follow the long-range transport sources contributing to the high ozone levels in the region. The ozone episodes observed between 2013 and 2015 were analysed using the HYSPLIT model developed by the NOAA-ARL. In addition, the cluster analysis is used to identify homogeneous groups of air mass transport patterns can be conducted through air trajectory clustering by grouping similar trajectories in terms of air mass movement. Backward trajectories produced for 3 years by HYSPLIT model were assigned to different clusters according to their moving speed and direction using a k-means clustering algorithm. According to cluster analysis results, northerly flows to study area cause to high ozone levels in the region. The results present that the ozone values in the study area are above the critical levels for forest and vegetation based on EU Directive 2008/50/EC.

Keywords: AOT40, Biga Peninsula, HYSPLIT, surface ozone

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Authors: Wenqian Bai

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Background: In response to the post-pandemic directives of Xi Jinping concerning the new era of ecological civilization, China has embarked on ecological restoration projects across its territorial spaces. This initiative faces challenges such as complex evaluation metrics and subpar informatization standards. Methodology: This research focuses on Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province, to assess its resource and environmental carrying capacities and the appropriateness of land use for development from ecological, agricultural, and urban perspectives. The study incorporates a range of spatial data to evaluate factors like ecosystem services (including water conservation, soil retention, and biodiversity), ecological vulnerability (addressing issues like soil erosion and desertification), and resilience. Utilizing the Minimum Cumulative Resistance model along with the ‘Three Zones and Three Lines’ strategy, the research maps out ecological corridors and significant ecological networks. These frameworks support the ecological restoration and environmental enhancement of the area. Results: The study identifies critical ecological zones in Mianzhu City's northwestern region, highlighting areas essential for protection and particularly crucial for water conservation. The southeastern region is categorized as a generally protected ecological zone with respective ratings for water conservation functionality and ecosystem resilience. The research also explores the spatial challenges of three ecological functions and underscores the substantial impact of human activities, such as mining and agricultural expansion, on the ecological baseline. The proposed spatial arrangement for ecological restoration, termed ‘One Mountain, One Belt, Four Rivers, Five Zones, and Multiple Corridors’, strategically divides the city into eight major restoration zones, each with specific tasks and projects. Conclusion: With its significant ‘mountain-plain’ geography, Mianzhu City acts as a crucial ecological buffer for the Yangtze River's upper reaches. Future development should focus on enhancing ecological corridors in agriculture and urban areas, controlling soil erosion, and converting farmlands back to forests and grasslands to foster ecosystem rehabilitation.

Keywords: ecological restoration, resource and environmental carrying capacity, land development suitability, ecosystem services, ecological vulnerability, ecological networks

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Authors: B. M. Moda, L. F. Secco

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Through free and fair elections and others less democratic processes, Latin America has been gradually turning into a right-wing political region. In order to understand these recent changes, this paper aims to discuss the origin and the traits of the pink wave in the subcontinent, the reasons for its current rollback and future projections for left-wing in the region. The methodology used in this paper will be descriptive and analytical combined with secondary sources mainly from the social and political sciences fields. The canons of the Washington Consensus was implemented by the majority of the Latin American governments in the 80s and 90s under the social democratic and right-wing parties. The neoliberal agenda caused political, social and economic dissatisfaction bursting into a new political configuration for the region. It started in 1998 when Hugo Chávez took the office in Venezuela through the Fifth Republic Movement under the socialist flag. From there on, Latin America was swiped by the so-called ‘pink wave’, term adopted to define the rising of self-designated left-wing or center-left parties with a progressive agenda. After Venezuela, countries like Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Equator, Nicaragua, Paraguay, El Salvador and Peru got into the pink wave. The success of these governments was due a post-neoliberal agenda focused on cash transfers programs, increasing of public spending, and the straightening of national market. The discontinuation of the preference for the left-wing started in 2012 with the coup against Fernando Lugo in Paraguay. In 2015, the chavismo in Venezuela lost the majority of the legislative seats. In 2016, an impeachment removed the Brazilian president Dilma Rousself from office who was replaced by the center-right vice-president Michel Temer. In the same year, Mauricio Macri representing the right-wing party Proposta Republicana was elected in Argentina. In 2016 center-right and liberal, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was elected in Peru. In 2017, Sebastián Piñera was elected in Chile through the center-right party Renovación Nacional. The pink wave current rollback points towards some findings that can be arranged in two fields. Economically, the 2008 financial crisis affected the majority of the Latin American countries and the left-wing economic policies along with the end of the raw materials boom and the subsequent shrinking of economic performance opened a flank for popular dissatisfaction. In Venezuela, the 2014 oil crisis reduced the revenues for the State in more than 50% dropping social spending, creating an inflationary spiral, and consequently loss of popular support. Politically, the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013 weakened the ‘socialism of the twenty first century’ ideal, which was followed by the death of Fidel Castro, the last bastion of communism in the subcontinent. In addition, several cases of corruption revealed during the pink wave governments made the traditional politics unpopular. These issues challenge the left-wing to develop a future agenda based on innovation of its economic program, improve its legal and political compliance practices, and to regroup its electoral forces amid the social movements that supported its ascension back in the early 2000s.

Keywords: Latin America, political parties, left-wing, right-wing, pink wave

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Authors: Fongang Robert Tichuck

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This paper reports the findings of a study undertaken to assess the socio-economic and environmental impacts of mining in Bertoua Eastern Region of Cameroon. In addition to sampling community perceptions of mining activities, the study prescribes interventions that can assist in mitigating the negative impacts of mining. Marked environmental and interrelated socio-economic improvements can be achieved within regional artisanal gold mines if the government provides technical support to local operators, regulations are improved, and illegal mining activity is reduced.

Keywords: gold mining, socio-economic, mining activities, local people

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Authors: Giorgi Sulashvili, Vladimer Kekenadze, Olga Khutsishvili, Bela Khotenashvili, Tsiuri Phkhakadze, Besarion Tsikhelashvili

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The article dealt with the South Caucasus is a complex economic policy, which consists of strands: The process of deepening economic integration in the South Caucasus region; deepening economic integration with the EU in the framework of "Neighbourhood policy with Europe" and in line with the Maastricht criteria; the development of bilateral trade and economic relations with many countries of the world community; the development of sufficient conditions for the integration of the South Caucasus region in the world to enter the market. According to the author, to determine the place of Georgia in the regional policy of the South Caucasus, it is necessary to consider two views about Georgia: The first is the view of Georgia, as a part of global economic and political processes and the second look at Georgia, as a country located in the geo-economic and geopolitical space of the South Caucasus. Such approaches reveal the place of Georgia in two dimensions; in the global and regional economies. In the countries of South Caucasus, the tourism has been developing fast and has a great social and economic importance. Tourism influences deeply on the social and economic growth of the regions of the country. Tourism development formulates thousand new jobs, fixes the positions of small and middle businesses, ensures the development of the education and culture of the population. In the countries of South Caucasus, the Tourist Industry can be specified as the intersectoral complex, which consists of travel transport and it’s technical service network, tourist enterprises which are specialized in various types, wide network services. Tourists have a chance to enjoy all of these services. At the transitional stage of shifting to the market economy, tourism is among the priorities in the development of the national economy of our country. It is true that the Georgian tourism faces a range of problems at present, but its recognition and the necessity for its development may be considered as a fact. Besides, we would underline that the revitalization of the Georgian tourism is not only the question of time. This area can bring a lot of benefits as to private firms, as to specific countries. It also has many negative effects were conducted fundamental research and studies to consider both, positive and negative impacts of tourism. In the future such decisions will be taken that will bring, the maximum benefit at minimum cost, in order for tourism to take its place in Georgia it is necessary to understand the role of the tourism sector in the economic structure.

Keywords: transitional stage, national economy, Georgian tourism, positive and negative impacts

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Authors: William Luke Hamel

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Existing conceptions of urban flooding caused by tidal fluctuations and sea-level rise have been inadequately conceptualized by metrics of resilience and methods of flow modeling. While a great deal of research has been devoted to the effects of urbanization on pluvial flooding, the kind of tidal flooding experienced by locations like Hampton Roads, Virginia, has not been adequately conceptualized as being a result of human factors such as urbanization and gray infrastructure. Resilience from sea level rise and its associated flooding has been pioneered in the region with the 2015 Norfolk Resilience Plan from 100 Resilient Cities as well as the 2016 Norfolk Vision 2100 plan, which envisions different patterns of land use for the city. Urban resilience still conceptualizes the city as having the ability to maintain an equilibrium in the face of disruptions. This economic and social equilibrium relies on the Elizabeth River, narrowly conceptualized. Intentionally or accidentally, the river was made to be a piece of infrastructure. Its development was meant to serve the docks, shipyards, naval yards, and port infrastructure that gives the region so much of its economic life. Inasmuch as it functions to permit the movement of cargo; the raising and lowering of ships to be repaired, commissioned, or decommissioned; or the provisioning of military vessels, the river as infrastructure is functioning properly. The idea that the infrastructure is malfunctioning when high tides and sea-level rise create flooding is predicated on the idea that the infrastructure is truly a human creation and can be controlled. The natural flooding cycles of an urban river, combined with the action of climate change and sea-level rise, are only abnormal so much as they encroach on the development that first encroached on the river. The urban political ecology of water provides the ability to view the river as an infrastructural extension of urban networks while also calling for its emancipation from stationarity and human control. Understanding the river and city as a hydrosocial territory or as a socio-natural system liberates both actors from the duality of the natural and the social while repositioning river flooding as a normal part of coexistence on a floodplain. This paper argues for the adoption of an urban political ecology lens in the analysis and governance of urban rivers like the Elizabeth River as a departure from the equilibrium-seeking and stability metrics of urban resilience.

Keywords: urban flooding, political ecology, Elizabeth river, Hampton roads

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Authors: Mergen Dyussenov

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Food security has become a prominent issue on the global policy agenda. Yet, one particular region that remains understudied is a cohort of Central Asian countries. To shed light onto the issue, the paper looks into a review of existing literature related to food security policies in Central Asia. In so doing, it seeks to systematize the context analyzed, key findings, and recommendations. Furthermore, it analyzes the role of key actors in promoting the food security policies across Central Asian nations. Finally, the paper attempts to set the agenda for further research.

Keywords: food security, central Asia, the role of actors, policy analysis

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Authors: Hisham M. Soliman, Hassan Yousef

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This manuscript presents new results on design saturated power system stabilizers (PSS) to assign system poles within a desired region for achieving good dynamic performance. The regional pole placement is accomplished against model uncertainties caused by different load conditions. The design is based on a sufficient condition in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMI) which forces the saturated nonlinear controller to lie within the linear zone. The controller effectiveness is demonstrated on a single machine infinite bus system.

Keywords: power system stabilizer, saturated control, robust control, regional pole placement, linear matrix inequality (LMI)

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Authors: Marin Kanarev, Delyan Stoyanov, Ivanna Popova, Nadezhda Petrova

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Thanks to increased survival rates in patients bearing oncological malignancies due to recent developments in anti-cancer therapies and diagnostic techniques, observation of clinical cases of metachronous cancers is more common and can provide more in-depth knowledge of their development and, as a result, help clinicians apply suitable therapy. This unusual case of three metachronous tumors presented the opportunity to follow their occurrence, progression, and treatment thoroughly. A 77-year-old male presented with carcinoma ventriculi of the pylorus region, which was surgically removed via upper subtotal stomach resection, a lateral antecolical gastro-enteroanastomosis, and a subsequent Braun anastomosis. An EOX chemotherapy regimen followed. A CT scan four months later showed no indication of recurrence or dissemination. The same scan, performed as a part of the follow-up plan two years later, showed an indication of neoplastic growth in the urinary bladder. After the patient had been directed to a urologist, the suspicion was confirmed, and the growth was histologically diagnosed as a carcinoma of the urinary bladder. An immunohistochemistry test showed an expression of PDL1 of less than 5%, which resulted in treatment with GemCis chemotherapy regimen that led to full remission. Two years and seven months after the first surgery, a CT scan showed again that the two carcinomas were gone. However, four months later, elevated tumor markers prompted a PET/CT scan, which showed data indicative of recurring neoplastic growth in the region of the stomach cardia. It was diagnosed as an adenocarcinoma infiltrating the esophagus. Preoperative chemotherapy with the ECF regimen was completed in four courses, and a CT scan showed no progression of the disease. In less than a month after therapy, the patient underwent laparotomy, debridement, gastrectomy, and a subsequent mechanical terminal-lateral esophago-jejunoanasthomosis. It was verified that the tumor originated from metastasis from the carcinoma ventriculi, which was located in the pylorus. In conclusion, this case report highlights the importance of patient follow-up and studying recurring neoplastic growth. Despite the absence of symptoms, clinicians should maintain a high level of suspicion when evaluating the patient data and choosing the most suitable therapy.

Keywords: carcinoma, follow-up, metachronous, neoplastic growth, recurrence

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Authors: Zeena Dcosta, Junaid Ahmed, Ceena Denny, Nandita Shenoy

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In the field of dentistry, there are many conditions which warrant the requirement of three-dimensional imaging that can aid in diagnosis and therapeutic management. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is considered highly accurate in producing a three-dimensional image of an object and provides a complete insight of various findings in the captured volume. But, most of the clinicians focus primarily on the teeth and jaws and numerous unanticipated clinically significant incidental findings may be missed out. Rapid integration of CBCT into the practice of dentistry has led to the detection of various incidental findings. However, the prevalence of these incidental findings is still unknown. Thus, the study aimed to discern the reason for referral and to identify incidental findings on the referred CBCT scans. Patient’s demographic data such as age and gender was noted. CBCT scans of multiple fields of views (FOV) were considered. The referral for CBCT scans was broadly classified into two major categories: diagnostic scan and treatment planning scan. Any finding on the CBCT volumes, other than the area of concern was recorded as incidental finding which was noted under airway, developmental, pathological, endodontics, TMJ, bone, soft tissue calcifications and others. Few of the incidental findings noted under airway were deviated nasal septum, nasal turbinate hypertrophy, mucosal thickening and pneumatization of sinus. Developmental incidental findings included dilaceration, impaction, pulp stone and gubernacular canal. Resorption of teeth and periapical pathologies were noted under pathological incidental findings. Root fracture along with over and under obturation was noted under endodontics. Incidental findings under TMJ were flattening, erosion and bifid condyle. Enostosis and exostosis were noted under bone lesions. Tonsillolth, sialolith and calcified styloid ligament were noted under soft tissue calcifications. Incidental findings under others included foreign body, fused C1- C2 vertebrae, nutrient canals, and pneumatocyst. Maxillofacial radiologists should be aware of possible incidental findings and should be vigilant about comprehensively evaluating the entire captured volume, which can help in early diagnosis of any potential pathologies that may go undetected. Interpretation of CBCT is truly an art and with the experience, we can unravel the secrets hidden in the grey shades of the radiographic image.

Keywords: cone beam computed tomography, incidental findings, maxillofacial region, radiologist

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Authors: T. B. Karu Jayasundara

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The Earth’s gravity is not uniform. The satellite imageries of the Earth’s surface from NASA reveal a number of different gravity anomaly regions all over the globe. When the moon rotates around the earth, its gravity has a major physical influence on a number of regions on the earth. This physical change can be seen by the tides. The tides make sea levels high and low in coastal regions. During high tide, the gravitational force of the Moon pulls the Earth’s gravity so that the total gravitational intensity of Earth is reduced; it is further reduced in the low gravity regions of Earth. This reduction in gravity helps keep the suspended particles such as dust in the atmosphere, sand grains in the sea water for longer. Dramatic differences can be seen from the floating dust in the low gravity regions when compared with other regions. The above phenomena can be demonstrated from experiments. The experiments have to be done in high and low gravity regions of the earth during high and low tide, which will assist in comparing the final results. One of the experiments that can be done is by using a water filled cylinder about 80 cm tall, a few particles, which have the same density and same diameter (about 1 mm) and a stop watch. The selected particles were dropped from the surface of the water in the cylinder and the time taken for the particles to reach the bottom of the cylinder was measured using the stop watch. The times of high and low tide charts can be obtained from the regional government authorities. This concept is demonstrated by the particle drop times taken at high and low tides. The result of the experiment shows that the particle settlement time is less in low tide and high in high tide. The experiment for dust particles in air can be collected on filters, which are cellulose ester membranes and using a vacuum pump. The dust on filters can be used to make slides according to the NOHSC method. Counting the dust particles on the slides can be done using a phase contrast microscope. The results show that the concentration of dust is high at high tide and low in low tide. As a result of the high tides, a high concentration of heavy minerals deposit on placer deposits and dust particles retain in the atmosphere for longer in low gravity regions. These conditions are remarkably exhibited in the lowest low gravity region of the earth, mainly in the regions of India, Sri Lanka and in the middle part of the Indian Ocean. The biggest heavy mineral placer deposits are found in coastal regions of India and Sri Lanka and heavy dust particles are found in the atmosphere of India, particularly in the Delhi region.

Keywords: gravity, minerals, tides, moon, costal, atmosphere

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Authors: Florian Kiebert, Hagen Schmidt

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Standing surface acoustic waves (sSAWs) have already been used to manipulate particles in a microfluidic channel made of polydimethylsiloxan (PDMS). Usually two identical facing interdigital transducers (IDTs) are exploited to form an sSAW. Further, it has been reported that an sSAW can be generated by a single IDT using a superstrate resonating cavity or a PDMS post. Nevertheless, both setups utilising a traveling surface acoustic wave (tSAW) to create an sSAW for particle manipulation are costly. We present a simplified setup with a tSAW and a PDMS channel to form an sSAW. The incident tSAW is reflected at the rear PDMS channel wall and superimposed with the reflected tSAW. This superpositioned waves generates an sSAW but only at regions where the distance to the rear channel wall is smaller as the attenuation length of the tSAW minus the channel width. Therefore in a channel of 500µm width a tSAW with a wavelength λ = 120 µm causes a sSAW over the whole channel, whereas a tSAW with λ = 60 µm only forms an sSAW next to the rear wall of the channel, taken into account the attenuation length of a tSAW in water. Hence, it is possible to concentrate and trap particles in a defined region of the channel by adjusting the relation between the channel width and tSAW wavelength. Moreover, it is possible to generate a particle gradient over the channel width by picking the right ratio between channel wall and wavelength. The particles are moved towards the rear wall by the acoustic streaming force (ASF) and the acoustic radiation force (ARF) caused by the tSAW generated bulk acoustic wave (BAW). At regions in the channel were the sSAW is dominating the ARF focuses the particles in the pressure nodes formed by the sSAW caused BAW. On the one side the ARF generated by the sSAW traps the particle at the center of the tSAW beam, i. e. of the IDT aperture. On the other side, the ASF leads to two vortices, one on the left and on the right side of the focus region, deflecting the particles out of it. Through variation of the applied power it is possible to vary the number of particles trapped in the focus points, because near to the rear wall the amplitude of the reflected tSAW is higher and, therefore, the ARF of the sSAW is stronger. So in the vicinity of the rear wall the concentration of particles is higher but decreases with increasing distance to the wall, forming a gradient of particles. The particle gradient depends on the applied power as well as on the flow rate. Thus by variation of these two parameters it is possible to change the particle gradient. Furthermore, we show that the particle gradient can be modified by changing the relation between the channel width and tSAW wavelength. Concluding a single IDT generates an sSAW in a PDMS microchannel enables particle gradient generation in a well-defined microfluidic flow system utilising the ARF and ASF of a tSAW and an sSAW.

Keywords: ARF, ASF, particle manipulation, sSAW, tSAW

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Authors: Halilu Babaji, Adamu Buba

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Illicit arms and the emergence of armed groups have witnessed unprecedented situations of political uncertainties in Nigeria, and the twenty-first century globalisation has established the process that has benefited a good number of militia groups and thereby boosting both illicit arms movement and the thriving of terrorist groups, which are largely responsible for the longstanding threat to the national security and stability of the country. This has unleashed unforeseen consequences on the entire Sub-region, following an inflow of weapons and armed fighter which are motivated by weak governance, insecurity and poverty. The social, economic and political environments make it a fertile breeding ground for the penetration and development of terrorist groups in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: arms, emergence, insecurity, groups

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Authors: Barnabás Körmöndi

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The recent crises have affected societies worldwide, resulting in the irresponsible exploitation of natural resources and the unattainability of sustainability. Regions that are economically underdeveloped, such as the Bodrogköz in Eastern Hungary and Slovakia, experience these issues more severely. The aim of this study is to analyze the natural and social resources of the Bodrogköz area for the planning of complex development based on ecotourism. The objective is to develop ecotourism opportunities in this least developed area of the borderland of Hungary and Slovakia. The study utilizes desk research, deep interviews, focus group meetings, and remote sensing methods. Desk research is aimed at providing a comprehensive understanding of the area, while deep interviews and focus group meetings were conducted to understand the stakeholders' perspectives on the potential for ecotourism. Remote sensing methods were used to better understand changes in the natural environment. The study identified the potential for ecotourism development in the Bodrogköz area due to its near-natural habitats along its bordering rivers and rich cultural heritage. The analysis revealed that ecotourism could promote the region's sustainable development, which is essential for its economic growth. Additionally, the study identified the possible threats to the natural environment during ecotourism development and suggested strategies to mitigate these threats. This study highlights the significance of ecotourism in promoting sustainable development in underdeveloped areas such as the Bodrogköz. It provides a basis for future research on ecotourism development and sustainable planning in similar regions. The analysis is based on the data collected through desk research, deep interviews, focus group meetings, and remote sensing. The assessment was conducted through content analysis, which allowed for the identification of themes and patterns in the data. The study addressed the question of how to develop ecotourism in the least developed area of the borderland of Hungary and Slovakia and promote sustainable development in the region. In conclusion, the study highlights the potential for ecotourism development in Bodrogköz and identifies the natural and social resources that contribute to its development. The study emphasizes the need for sustainable development to promote economic growth and mitigate any environmental threats. The findings can inform the development of future strategic plans for ecotourism, promoting sustainable development in underdeveloped regions.

Keywords: ecotourism, natural resources, remote sensing, social development

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Authors: Sonia Sonia

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This paper presents a family of iterative scheme for solving nonlinear systems of equations which have wide application in sciences and engineering. The proposed iterative family is based upon some parameters which generates many different iterative schemes. This family is completely derivative free and uses first of divided difference operator. Moreover some numerical experiments are performed and compared with existing methods. Analysis of convergence shows that the presented family has fourth-order of convergence. The dynamical behaviour of proposed family and local convergence have also been discussed. The numerical performance and convergence region comparison demonstrates that proposed family is efficient.

Keywords: convergence, divided difference operator, nonlinear system, Newton's method

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Authors: S. Limpattayanate, M. Hunsom

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A comparison of activity and stability of the as-formed Pt/C, Pt-Co, and Pt-Pd/C electrocatalysts, prepared by a combined approach of impregnation and seeding, was performed. According to the activity test in a single proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of the Pt-M/C electro catalyst was slightly lower than that of Pt/C. The j0.9 V and E10 mA/cm2 of the as-prepared electrocatalysts increased in the order of Pt/C>Pt-Co/C>Pt-Pd/C. However, in the medium-to-high current density region, Pt-Pd/C exhibited the best performance. With regard to their stability in a 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte solution, the electro chemical surface area decreased as the number of rounds of repetitive potential cycling increased due to the dissolution of the metals within the catalyst structure. For long-term measurement, Pt-Pd/C was the most stable than the other three electrocatalysts.

Keywords: ORR activity, stability, Pt-based electrocatalysts, PEM fuel cell

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Authors: Gonzalez Carlos, Martinez Fransisco

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There are various types of analysis that allow us to involve seismic phenomena that cause strong requirements for structures that are designed by society; one of them is a probabilistic analysis which works from prediction equations that have been created based on metadata seismic compiled in different regions. These equations form models that are used to describe the 5% damped pseudo spectra response for the various zones considering some easily known input parameters. The biggest problem for the creation of these models requires data with great robust statistics that support the results, and there are several places where this type of information is not available, for which the use of alternative methodologies helps to achieve adjustments to different models of seismic prediction.

Keywords: GMPM, 5% damped pseudo-response spectra, models of seismic prediction, PSHA

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Authors: Elena Iacob, Marie-Louise Ionescu, Elena Ionescu, Carmen Elena Tebrencu, Oana Teodora Ciuperca

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Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) is an advanced technique frequently used to authenticate both raw materials and final products using their specific fingerprints and to determine plant extracts biomarkers based on their functional groups. In recent years the market for Hypericum has grown rapidly and also has grown the cases of adultery/replacement, especially for Hypericum perforatum L.specie. Presence/absence of same biomarkers provides preliminary identification of Hypericum species in safe use in the manufacture of food supplements. The main objective of the work was to characterize the main biomarkers of Hypericum perforatum L. (St. John's wort) and identify this species in herbal food supplements after specific FT-IR fingerprint. An experimental program has been designed in order to test: (1) raw material (St. John's wort); (2)intermediate raw materials (St. John's wort dry extract ); (3) the finished products: tablets based on powders, on extracts, on powder and extract, hydroalcoholic solution from herbal mixture based on St. John's wort. The analyze using FTIR infrared spectroscopy were obtained raw materials, intermediates and finished products spectra, respectively absorption bands corresponding and similar with aliphatic and aromatic structures; examination was done individually and through comparison between Hypericum perforatum L. plant species and finished product The tests were done in correlation with phytochemical markers for authenticating the specie Hypericum perforatum L.: hyperoside, rutin, quercetin, isoquercetin, luteolin, apigenin, hypericin, hyperforin, chlorogenic acid. Samples were analyzed using a Shimatzu FTIR spectrometer and the infrared spectrum of each sample was recorded in the MIR region, from 4000 to 1000 cm-1 and then the fingerprint region was selected for data analysis. The following functional groups were identified -stretching vibrations suggests existing groups in the compounds of interest (flavones–rutin, hyperoside, polyphenolcarboxilic acids - chlorogenic acid, naphtodianthrones- hypericin): oxidril groups (OH) free alcohol type: rutin, hyperoside, chlorogenic acid; C = O bond from structures with free carbonyl groups of aldehyde, ketone, carboxylic, ester: hypericin; C = O structure with the free carbonyl of the aldehyde groups, ketone, carboxylic acid, esteric/C = O free bonds present in chlorogenic acid; C = C bonds of the aromatic ring (condensed aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic compounds) present in all compounds of interest; OH phenolic groups: present in all compounds of interest, C-O-C groups from glycoside structures: rutin, hyperoside, chlorogenic acid. The experimental results show that: (I)The six fingerprint region analysis indicated the presence of specific functional groups: (1) 1000 - 1130 cm-1 (C-O–C of glycoside structures); (2) 1200-1380 cm-1 (carbonyl C-O or O-H phenolic); (3) 1400-1450 cm-1 (C=C aromatic); (4) 1600- 1730 cm-1 (C=O carbonyl); (5) 2850 - 2930 cm-1 (–CH3, -CH2-, =CH-); (6) 338-3920 cm-1 (OH free alcohol type); (II)Comparative FT-IR spectral analysis indicate the authenticity of the finished products ( tablets) in terms of Hypericum perforatum L. content; (III)The infrared spectroscopy is an adequate technique for identification and authentication of the medicinal herbs , intermediate raw material and in the food supplements less in the form of solutions where the results are not conclusive.

Keywords: Authentication, FT-IR fingerprint, Herbal supplements, Hypericum perforatum L.

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Authors: Tamal Sur, Tapas Acharya

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Identifying the water resource in hard crystalline rock terrain has been a huge challenge over the decades as it is considered a poor groundwater province area. Over the years, usage of satellite imagery for the delineation of groundwater potential zone in sheared hard rock terrain has been occasionally successful. In numerous circumstances, it has been observed that groundwater potential zone delineated by satellite imagery study has failed to yield satisfactory result on its own. The present study discusses the fact that zones having a high concentration of lineaments oblique to the general trend of shear fabric could be good groundwater potential zones within a shear zone in crystalline fractured rock aquifer system. Due to this fact, the density of lineaments and the number of intersecting lineaments increases over that particular region, making it a suitable locale for good groundwater recharge, which is mostly composed of Precambrian metamorphic rocks i.e., quartzite, granite gneisses, porphyroclastic granite-gneiss, quartzo-feldspathic-granite-gneiss, mylonitic granites, quartz-biotite-granite gneiss and some phyllites of Purulia district of West Bengal, NE India. This study aims to construct an attempt to demonstrate the relationship of the high amount of lineament accumulation and their intersection with high groundwater fluctuation zones, i.e., good groundwater potential zones. On the basis of that, an effort has been made to characterize the shear zones with respect to their groundwater potentiality. Satellite imagery data (IRS-P6 LISS IV standard FCC image) analysis reveals the bifurcating nature of North Purulia shear zone (NPSZ) and South Purulia shear zone (SPSZ) over the study area. Careful analysis of lineament rose diagrams, lineament density map, lineament intersection density map, and frequency diagrams for water table depths with an emphasis on high water table fluctuations exhibit the fact that different structural features existing over North and South Purulia shear zones can affect the nature of hydraulic potential of that region.

Keywords: crystalline hard rock terrain, groundwater recharge, hydrogeology, lineaments, shear zone, water table fluctuation

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Authors: Belachew Gebrewold

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The Horn of Africa is marred by complex and systematic internal and external political, economic and social-cultural causes of conflict that result in internal displacement and migration. This paper engages with them and shows how such a study can help us to understand migration, both in this region and more generally. The conflict has occurred within states, between states, among proxies, between armies. Human insecurities as a result of the state collapse of Somalia, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the whole region, recurrent drought affecting the livelihoods of subsistence farmers as well as nomads, exposure to hunger, environmental degradation, youth unemployment, rapid growth of slums around big cities, and political repression (especially in Eritrea) have been driving various segments of the regional population into regional and international migration. Eritrea has been going through a brutal dictatorship which pushes many Eritreans to flee their country and be exposed to human trafficking, torture, detention, and agony on their way to Europe mainly through Egypt, Libya and Israel. Similarly, Somalia has been devastated since 1991 by unending civil war, state collapse, and radical Islamists. There are some important aspects to highlight in the conflict-migration nexus in the Horn of Africa: first, the main push factor for the Somalis and Eritreans to leave their countries and risk their lives is the physical insecurity they have been facing in their countries. Secondly, as a result of the conflict the economic infrastructure is massively destroyed. Investment is rare; job opportunities are out of sight. Thirdly, in such a grim situation the politically and economically induced decision to migrate is a household decision, not only an individual decision. Based on this third point this research study took place in the Horn of Africa between 2014 and 2016 during different occasions. The main objective of the research was to understanding how the increasing migration is affecting the socio-economic and socio-political environment, and conversely how the socio-economic and socio-political environments are increasing migration decisions; and whether and how these decisions are individual or family decisions. The main finding is the higher the human insecurity, the higher the family decision; the lower the human insecurity, the higher the individual decision. These findings apply not only to the Eritrean, Somali migrants but also to Ethiopian migrants. But the general impacts of migration on sending countries’ human security is quite mixed and complex.

Keywords: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa, insecurity, migration, Somalia

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Authors: Hafid Nadia, Meziane Toufik

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The aim of this study was the characterization of the goat meat by the determination of quantity and the quality in Batna region. The first part was the evaluation of production and consumption. The investigations show that the goat meat third after mutton and beef, it’s especially consumed by the indigenous population located in the Mountain and steep area. The second part of this review treats nutritional quality of this meat by the quantification of the chemical composition, including fat profile, and establishes a link between animal age and the values of these parameters. Moisture, fat contents, and cholesterol levels varied with age. Because of the decreasing level of cholesterol in the Chevon meat, it is more recommended for consumption to prevent or reduce the incidence of coronary disease and heart attack.

Keywords: biochemical composition, cholesterol, goat meat, heart attack

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Authors: Magda Silva

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This paper presents the empirical and the theoretical principles associated with the Duke in Brazil Summer Program. Using a sociocultural model and critical theory, this study abroad maximizes students’ ability to enrich language competence, intercultural skills, and critical thinking. The fourteen-year implementation of this project demonstrates the global importance of foreign language teaching as the program unfolds into real life scenarios within the cultures of distinct regions of Brazil; Cosmopolitan Rio, in the southeast, and rural Belém, northern Amazon region.

Keywords: study abroad, critical thinking, sociocultural theory, foreign language, empirical, theoretical

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Authors: Nwachukwu Ihiejeto Celestine

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Rural poverty in Nigeria has been the bake of the society. It has been a canker worm which has eaten deep into the fabric of Nigerian society. Different models and principles have been applied to eradicate it, such as operation feed the nation, green revolution, NAPEP etc. Little or nothing has been done in the area of entrepreneurship education to tame this monster. It is based on this that the author wants to x-ray the role entrepreneurship education which studies “the process of identifying, bringing a vision to life” could play in the eradication of rural poverty in Nigeria. This will go along in providing appropriate principles for poverty alleviation and eradication in Nigeria. Some selected states in the eastern Geo-political region could be x-rayed in this circumstance. It is hoped that policy makers etc will find the work cogent in formulating and implementing policy decisions.

Keywords: poverty, entrepreneurship, education, Nigeria

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Authors: Tamal Sur, Tapas Acharya

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Identifying the water resource in hard crystalline rock terrain has been a huge challenge over the decades as it is considered a poor groundwater province area. Over the years, usage of satellite imagery for the delineation of groundwater potential zone in sheared hard rock terrain has been occasionally successful. In numerous circumstances, it has been observed that groundwater potential zone delineated by satellite imagery study has failed to yield satisfactory result on its own. The present study discusses the fact that zones having high concentration of lineaments oblique to the general trend of shear fabric could be good groundwater potential zones within a shear zone in crystalline fractured rock aquifer system. Due to this fact, the density of lineaments and the number of intersecting lineaments increases over that particular region, making it a suitable locale for good groundwater recharge, which is mostly composed of Precambrian metamorphic rocks i.e., quartzite, granite gneisses, porphyroclastic granite-gneiss, quartzo-feldspathic-granite-gneiss, mylonitic granites, quartz-biotite-granite gneiss and some phyllites of Purulia district of West Bengal, NE India. This study aims to construct an attempt to demonstrate the relationship of high amount of lineament accumulation and their intersection with high groundwater fluctuation zones i.e., good groundwater potential zones. On the basis of that, an effort has been made to characterize the shear zones with respect to their groundwater potentiality. Satellite imagery data (IRS-P6 LISS IV standard FCC image) analysis reveals the bifurcating nature of North Purulia shear zone (NPSZ) and South Purulia shear zone (SPSZ) over the study area. Careful analysis of lineament rose diagrams, lineament density map, lineament intersection density map, and frequency diagrams for water table depths with an emphasis on high water table fluctuations exhibit the fact that different structural features existing over North and South Purulia shear zones can affect the nature of hydraulic potential of that region.

Keywords: crystalline hard rock terrain, groundwater recharge, hydrogeology, lineaments, shear zone, water table fluctuation

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Authors: Abdullah H. Özcan, Dilara Hisar, Yetkin Sayar, Cem Ünsalan

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In this study, an automated building and tree detection method is proposed using DSM data and true orthophoto image. A multiscale matched filtering is used on DSM data. Therefore, first watershed transform is applied. Then, Otsu’s thresholding method is used as an adaptive threshold to segment each watershed region. Detected objects are masked with NDVI to separate buildings and trees. The proposed method is able to detect buildings and trees without entering any elevation threshold. We tested our method on ISPRS semantic labeling dataset and obtained promising results.

Keywords: building detection, local maximum filtering, matched filtering, multiscale

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Authors: M. Yakoubi, N. Belboukhari, A. Cheriti, K. Sekoum

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Launaea nudicaulis (L.) Hook.f. is a desert, spontaneous plant and endemic to northem Sahara, which belongs to the Asteraceae family. This species exists in the region of Bechar (Local name; El-Rghamma). In our knowledge, no work has been founded, except studies showing the antimicrobial and antifungal activity of methalonic extract of this plant. The present paper describes the chemical composition of the essential oil from Launaea nudicaulis and qualification of isolation and identification of some pure products by column chromatography. The essential oil from the aerial parts of Launaea nudicaulis (Asteraceae) was obtained by hydroditillation in 0.4% yield, led to isolation of four several new products. The isolation is made by column chromatography and followed by GC-IK and GC-MS analysis.

Keywords: Launaea nudicaulis, asteraceae, essential oil, column chromatography, GC-FID, GC-MS

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Authors: Ali Benali Djouher Leila

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Labiovelarization of velar consonants and labials is a very widespread phenomenon. It is attested in all the major northern Berber dialects. Only the Tuareg is totally unaware of it. But, even within the large Berber-speaking regions of the north, it is very unstable: it may be completely absent in certain dialects (such as the Bougie region in Kabylie), and its extension and frequency can vary appreciably between the dialects which know it. Some dialects of Great Kabylia or the Chleuh domain, for example, "labiovélarize" more than others from the same region. Thus, in Great Kabylia, the adjective "large" will be pronounced: amqqwran with the At Yiraten and amqqran with the At Yanni, a few kilometers away. One of the problems with them is deciding whether it is one or two phonemes. All the criteria used by linguists in this kind of case lead to the conclusion that they are unique phonemes (a phoneme and not a succession of two phonemes, / k + w /, for example). The phonetic and phonological criteria are moreover clearly confirmed by the morphological data since, in the system of verbal alternations, these complex segments are treated as single phonemes: agree, "to draw, to fetch water," akwer, "to fly," have exactly the same morphology as as "jealous," arem" taste," Ames, "dirty" or afeg, "steal" ... verbs with two radical consonants (type aCC). At the level of notation, both scientific and usual, it is, therefore, necessary to represent the labiovélarized by a single letter, possibly accompanied by a diacritic. In fact, actual practices are diverse. - The scientific representation of type does not seem adequate for current use because its realization is easy only on a microcomputer. The Berber Documentation File used a small ° (of n °) above the writing line: k °, g ° ... which has the advantage of being easy to achieve since it is part of general typographical conventions in Latin script and that it is present on a typewriter keyboard. Mouloud Mammeri, then the Berber Study Group of Vincennes (Tisuraf review), and a majority of Kabyle practitioners over the last twenty years have used the succession "consonant +" semi-vowel / w / "(CW) on the same line of writing; for all the reasons explained previously, this practice is not a good solution and should be abandoned, especially as it particularizes Kabyle in the Berber ensemble. In this study, we were interested in two velar consonants, / g / and / k /, labiovellarized: / gw / and the / kw / (we adopted the addition of the "w") for the representation for ease of writing in graphical mode. It is a question of trying to characterize these four consonants in order to see if they have different places of articulation and if they are distinct (if these velars are distinct from their labiovellarized counterpart). This characterization is done using locus equations.

Keywords: berber consonants;, labiovelarization, locus equations, acoustical caracterization, kabylian dialect, algerian language

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Authors: Ana Fonseca, Ana Gouveia, Edgar Ramalho, Rita Henriques, Filipa Figueiredo, João Nunes

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Due to persistent climate pressures, there is a need to find a resilient economic system that is regenerative in nature. Bioeconomy offers the possibility of replacing non-renewable and non-biodegradable materials derived from fossil fuels with ones that are renewable and biodegradable, while a Circular Economy aims at sustainable and resource-efficient operations. The term "Circular Bioeconomy", which can be summarized as all activities that transform biomass for its use in various product streams, expresses the interaction between these two ideas. Portugal has a very favourable context to promote a Circular Bioeconomy due to its variety of climates and ecosystems, availability of biologically based resources, location, and geomorphology. Recently, there have been political and legislative efforts to develop the Portuguese Circular Bioeconomy. The Action Plan for a Sustainable Bioeconomy, approved in 2021, is composed of five axes of intervention, ranging from sustainable production and the use of regionally based biological resources to the development of a circular and sustainable bioindustry through research and innovation. However, as some statistics show, Portugal is still far from achieving circularity. According to Eurostat, Portugal has circularity rates of 2.8%, which is the second lowest among the member states of the European Union. Some challenges contribute to this scenario, including sectorial heterogeneity and fragmentation, prevalence of small producers, lack of attractiveness for younger generations, and absence of implementation of collaborative solutions amongst producers and along value chains.Regarding the Portuguese industrial sector, there is a tendency towards complex bureaucratic processes, which leads to economic and financial obstacles and an unclear national strategy. Together with the limited number of incentives the country has to offer to those that pretend to abandon the linear economic model, many entrepreneurs are hesitant to invest the capital needed to make their companies more circular. Absence of disaggregated, georeferenced, and reliable information regarding the actual availability of biological resources is also a major issue. Low literacy on bioeconomy among many of the sectoral agents and in society in general directly impacts the decisions of production and final consumption. The WinBio project seeks to outline a strategic approach for the management of weaknesses/opportunities in the technology transfer process, given the reality of the territory, through road mapping and national and international benchmarking. The developed work included the identification and analysis of agents in the interior region of Portugal, natural endogenous resources, products, and processes associated with potential development. Specific flow of biological wastes, possible value chains, and the potential for replacing critical raw materials with bio-based products was accessed, taking into consideration other countries with a matured bioeconomy. The study found food industry, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries generate huge amounts of waste streams, which in turn provide an opportunity for the establishment of local bio-industries powered by this biomass. The project identified biological resources with potential for replication and applicability in the Portuguese context. The richness of natural resources and potentials known in the interior region of Portugal is a major key to developing the Circular Economy and sustainability of the country.

Keywords: circular bioeconomy, interior region of portugal, regional development., public policy

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Authors: Pushpendra Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, R. Balasubramanian

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Estimation of optical flow from a sequence of images using variational methods is one of the most successful approach. Discontinuity between different motions is one of the challenging problem in flow estimation. In this paper, we design a new anisotropic diffusion operator, which is able to provide smooth flow over a region and efficiently preserve discontinuity in optical flow. This operator is designed on the basis of intensity differences of the pixels and isotropic operator using exponential function. The combination of these are used to control the propagation of flow. Experimental results on the different datasets verify the robustness and accuracy of the algorithm and also validate the effect of anisotropic operator in the discontinuity preserving.

Keywords: optical flow, variational methods, computer vision, anisotropic operator

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Authors: Catherine Begin, Jeanne Berthod, Manon Truchon

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In Quebec, there are more than 8,000 community organizations throughout the province, representing more than 72,000 jobs. Working in a community setting involves several particularities (e.g., contact with the suffering of users, feelings of powerlessness, institutional pressure, unstable funding, etc.), which can put workers at risk of fatigue, burnout, and psychological distress. A 2007 study shows that 52% of community workers surveyed have a high psychological distress index. The Ricochet project, founded in 2019, is an initiative aimed at providing various care and services to community workers in the Quebec City region, with a global health approach. Within this program, mindful self-compassion training (MSC) is offered at a low cost. MSC is one of the effective strategies proposed in the literature to help prevent and reduce burnout. Self-compassion is the recognition that suffering, failure, and inadequacies are inherent in the human experience and that everyone, including oneself, deserves compassion. MSC training targets several behavioral, cognitive, and emotional learnings (e.g., motivating oneself with caring, better managing difficult emotions, promoting resilience, etc.). A mixed-method evaluation was conducted with the participants in order to explore the effects of the training on community workers in the Quebec City region. The participants were community workers (management or caregiver). 15 participants completed satisfaction and perceived impact surveys, and 30 participated in structured interviews. Quantitative results showed that participants were generally completely satisfied or satisfied with the training (94%) and perceived that the training allowed them to develop new strategies for dealing with stress (87%). Participants perceived effects on their mood (93%), their contact with others (80%), and their stress level (67%). Some of the barriers raised were scheduling constraints, length of training, and guilt about taking time for oneself. The qualitative results show that individuals experienced long-term benefits, as they were able to apply the tools they received during the training in their daily lives. Some barriers were noted, such as difficulty in getting away from work or problems with the employer, which prevented enrollment. Overall, the results of this evaluation support the use of MSC (mindful self-compassion) training among community workers. Future research could support this evaluation by using a rigorous design and developing innovative ways to overcome the barriers raised.

Keywords: mindful self-compassion, community workers, work stres, burnout, wellbeing at work

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