Search results for: Nigeria Inexperienced Constructing Council

Authors: Mohammad Mirwais Arghandiwal, Fujita Motohiro, Wisinee Wisetjindawat

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Since 2001, the new government of Afghanistan addressed the improvement of transportation in rural areas as one of the key issues for the country development. This paper thus, aims to show the impotency of transportation in the rural area of Kabul province. A field survey in Kabul Province capital of Afghanistan has been conducted during March, 2015, and 201 questionnaires were collected from four districts named Shakar Dara, Paghman, Char Asyab, and Khak Jabar to investigate the impacts of road transportation on the people’s daily life. The districts had their road projects constructed during the last 3-5 years. The interviewees are chosen randomly from a different category of districts residences. As transportation is one of the most important factors for the development of the communities, during the survey it was very easily to observe a positive effect on the life of people. The improvement on the accessibility has had a positive impact on the land and land price. In this paper, a model is created to show the relationship between different factors and the land price improvement. In the end, a recommendation is presented on the establishment of the community council for a better use and maintenance of road projects. We emphasize on a public and private partnership at a community level in the districts during the construction period too. In addition, the communities should be encouraged on their positive role in the improvement of transportation through their participation and collaboration with the local government.

Keywords: accessibility, Afghanistan, poverty, rural area, transportation development

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Authors: Chayakarn Bamrungbutr, James Sillitoe

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The term ‘shadow port’ is used to describe a port whose markets are dominated by an adjacent port that has a more competitive capability. Recently, researchers have put effort into studying the mechanisms of how a regional port, in the shadow of a nearby predominant port which is a capital city port, can compete and grow. However, such mechanism is still unclear. This study thus focuses on understanding the growth of shadow port and the type of shadow port by using the two capital city ports of Thailand; Bangkok port (the former main port) and Laem Chabang port (the current main port), as the case study. By developing an understanding of the mechanisms of shadow, port could ultimately lead to an increase in the competitiveness. In this study, a framework of opportunity capture (introduced by Magala, 2004) will be used to create a framework for the study of the growth of the selected shadow port. In the process of building this framework, five groups of port development experts, consisting of government, council, academia, logistics provider and industry, will be interviewed. To facilitate this work, the Noticing, Collecting and Thinking model which was developed by Seidel (1998) will be used in an analysis of the dataset. The resulting analysis will be used to classify the type of shadow port. The type of these ports will be a significant factor for developing a feasible strategic guideline for the future management planning of ports, particularly, shadow ports, and then to increase the competitiveness of a nation’s maritime transport industry, and eventually lead to a boost in the national economy.

Keywords: shadow port, Bangkok Port, Laem Chabang Port, port growth

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Authors: Aly Audu Fada

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The mono-economic structure of Nigerian economy has made it depend on oil for so many years. Apart from the negative effect of its exploitation, relying solely on oil as the major source of revenue for peddling the ship of development is myopic. The crumbling oil price in the world market is one proof of the dangers of this over-dependence. This paper highlights the consequences of the oil-driven economy and explores the various opportunities that are accessible in tourism through a contextual analysis. It is recommended that those at the helm of affairs should initiate collaboration between the public and private sectors to explore and harness the rich tourism resources naturally dispersed across the country to achieve the objectives of economic transformation agenda of the Federal Government.

Keywords: diversifying, economic, tourism, oil

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Authors: Fung Chiat Loo, Fung Ying Loo

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This paper discusses, suggests, and constructs a notation system to facilitate the learning and understanding of the two aspects of music and movement in a sports routine. This model serves to provide a simple and logical notation that does not require training in both music and choreography. Notation is an important medium in many art forms, particularly in music and dance, transmitting information that cannot easily be expressed using words or language. Another field that is closely associated with dance and music is sports routine, which equally requires choreography and music. However, from the perspective of music, it is common to observe many incongruencies appearing between the music used and the choreography that impede an optimal perception of the performance. The concept of the notation proceeds with a discussion and review of existing dance notations that could contribute to sports routines, along with rules and a code of points in selected sports routines. The author's involvement as an insider of numerous musical theatre productions also contributed to this study. The notation constructed includes time (tempo), significances of musical accents, direction, and phrasing, along with significances of movements (jump, punch, shape). It is believed that the level of congruence between music and movement will provide optimal visualization, and in that, the notation serves to provide adequate information on both entities for the understanding of athletes and coaches.

Keywords: notation, choreography, music learning, sports routines, congruence

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Authors: Meenakshi Dahal

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Generally, children start verbal communication by the age of eighteen months. Though they have difficulties in constructing complete sentences, they try to make their thought s understandable to the audience. By the age of 36 months, when they enroll in preschool, their Language and communication skills are enhanced. Children need plenty of classroom experiences that will help them to develop their oral language skills. Oral language is the primary means through which each individual child is enabled to structure, evaluate, describe and to express his/her experiences. In the context of multi lingual and multi-cultural country like Nepal, the languages used in preschool and the communities vary. In such a case, the language of instruction in the preschool is different from the language used by the children to communicate at home. Using qualitative research method the socio-cultural aspect of the language learning has been analyzed. This has been done by analyzing and exploring preschool activities as well as the language of instruction and communication in the preschools in rural Nepal. It is found that the language of instruction is different from the language of communications primarily used by the children. Teachers seldom use local language resulting in difficulties for the children to understand. Instead of recognizing their linguistic, social and cultural capitals teachers conform to using the Nepali language which the children are not familiar with. Children have to adapt to new language structures and patterns of usage resulting them to be slow in oral language and communication in the preschool. The paper concludes that teachers have to recognize the linguistic capitals of the children and schools need to be responsible to facilitate this process for all children, whatever their language background.

Keywords: children, language, preschool, socio-culture

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Authors: Yi Hu

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House Made of Dawn is famous novelist N. Scott Momaday’s Pulitzer-winning novel in 1968. The novel tells a story of the struggling life of an Indian named Abel, following the pattern of leaving home, coming home, leaving again, and returning home at the closure of the story. It touches upon the theme of the relationship between Indianness, identity, and tradition. Abel’s confusion over his identity and his constant struggle and exploration of his identity are pivoted on the tradition of oral literature in the form of story-telling. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the important role of oral tradition in constructing Abel’s Indian cultural identity. The significance of the research lies in two aspects: first of all, the research aims to provide an enlightening perspective for Momaday’s House Made of Dawn in order to gain a better understanding of the novel. Secondly, by emphasizing the importance of traditional culture in identity construction, the research hopes to provide some referential value for people who suffer from identity predicament in modern society. Finally, the paper draws a conclusion that alienation from traditional tribal culture will result in a serious physical and psychological crisis for Indian people. Indian people should adhere to their traditional culture in order to construct their unique cultural identity.

Keywords: House Made of Dawn, identity, N.Scott.Momaday, oral tradition

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Authors: Mu-Yen Chen, Min-Hsuan Fan, Chia-Chen Chen, Siang-Yu Jhong

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In recent years, real estate prediction or valuation has been a topic of discussion in many developed countries. Improper hype created by investors leads to fluctuating prices of real estate, affecting many consumers to purchase their own homes. Therefore, scholars from various countries have conducted research in real estate valuation and prediction. With the back-propagation neural network that has been popular in recent years and the orthogonal array in the Taguchi method, this study aimed to find the optimal parameter combination at different levels of orthogonal array after the system presented different parameter combinations, so that the artificial neural network obtained the most accurate results. The experimental results also demonstrated that the method presented in the study had a better result than traditional machine learning. Finally, it also showed that the model proposed in this study had the optimal predictive effect, and could significantly reduce the cost of time in simulation operation. The best predictive results could be found with a fewer number of experiments more efficiently. Thus users could predict a real estate transaction price that is not far from the current actual prices.

Keywords: artificial neural network, Taguchi method, real estate valuation model, investors

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Authors: Mauro Callejas-Cuervo, Andrea C. Alarcon-Aldana, Andres F. Ruiz-Olaya, Juan C. Alvarez

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Motion capture (MC) is the construction of a precise and accurate digital representation of a real motion. Systems have been used in the last years in a wide range of applications, from films special effects and animation, interactive entertainment, medicine, to high competitive sport where a maximum performance and low injury risk during training and competition is seeking. This paper presents an inertial and magnetic sensor based technological platform, intended for particular amplitude monitoring and telerehabilitation processes considering an efficient cost/technical considerations compromise. Our platform particularities offer high social impact possibilities by making telerehabilitation accessible to large population sectors in marginal socio-economic sector, especially in underdeveloped countries that in opposition to developed countries specialist are scarce, and high technology is not available or inexistent. This platform integrates high-resolution low-cost inertial and magnetic sensors with adequate user interfaces and communication protocols to perform a web or other communication networks available diagnosis service. The amplitude information is generated by sensors then transferred to a computing device with adequate interfaces to make it accessible to inexperienced personnel, providing a high social value. Amplitude measurements of the platform virtual system presented a good fit to its respective reference system. Analyzing the robotic arm results (estimation error RMSE 1=2.12° and estimation error RMSE 2=2.28°), it can be observed that during arm motion in any sense, the estimation error is negligible; in fact, error appears only during sense inversion what can easily be explained by the nature of inertial sensors and its relation to acceleration. Inertial sensors present a time constant delay which acts as a first order filter attenuating signals at large acceleration values as is the case for a change of sense in motion. It can be seen a damped response of platform virtual in other images where error analysis show that at maximum amplitude an underestimation of amplitude is present whereas at minimum amplitude estimations an overestimation of amplitude is observed. This work presents and describes the platform virtual as a motion capture system suitable for telerehabilitation with the cost - quality and precision - accessibility relations optimized. These particular characteristics achieved by efficiently using the state of the art of accessible generic technology in sensors and hardware, and adequate software for capture, transmission analysis and visualization, provides the capacity to offer good telerehabilitation services, reaching large more or less marginal populations where technologies and specialists are not available but accessible with basic communication networks.

Keywords: inertial sensors, joint amplitude measurement, MEMS, telerehabilitation

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Authors: Joshua Chima Chizoba, Wisdom Izuchukwu Uzoma, Elizabeth Ifeyiwa Okoyeh

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Water cannot be optimally used and sustained unless the quality is periodically assessed. The study area Umunneochi and environs are located in south eastern part of Nigeria. It stretches geographically from latitudes 50501N to 60000N and longitudes 70201E to 70301. The major geologic formations in the area include the Asu River group, Nkporo Shale, and Ajali Sandstone. The aim of this study is to evaluate the hydrochemical characteristics of surface and ground water sources in parts of Umunneochi and environs in order to establish portability of the water sources for drinking, domestic and irrigation purposes. A total of 15 samples were collected randomly from streams, springs and wells. The samples were analyzed for physicochemical parameters and heavy metals using handheld digital kits, photometer, titration method and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) following acceptable standards. The obtained analytical data were interpreted, and results were compared with World Health Organization (WHO) standard. The concentration of pH, SO42-and Cl- range from 5.81 mg/l – 6.07 mg/l, 41.93 mg/l – 142.95 mg/l and 20.00 mg/l – 111 mg/l respectively, while Pb and Zn revealed a relative low mean concentration of 0.14 mg/l and 0.40 mg/l, which are all within (WHO) permissible limits except pH. About 27% of the samples are moderately hard. This is attributed to the mining activities in the areas. The abundance of cations and anions in the area are in the order of K+>Na+>Mg2+>Ca2+ and SO4->Cl->HCO3->NO3-, respectively. Chloride, bicarbonate, and nitrate are all within the permissible limits. 13.33% of the total samples contain Sulphate above the standard permissible limits. The values of calculated Water Quality Index (WQI) are less than 50 indicating excellent water. The predominant water-type in the study area is Na-Cl water type and mixed Ca-Mg-Cl water type based on the sample plots on the Piper diagram. The Sodium Absorption Ratio (SAR) calculations showed excellent water for consumption and also good water for irrigation purpose with low sodium and alkalinity ratio respectively. Government water projects are recommended in the area for sustainable domestic and agricultural water supply to ease the stress of water supply problems.

Keywords: groundwater, hydrochemical, physichochemical, water-type, sodium adsorption ratio

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Authors: Ugwu O. C., Mamah R. O., Awudu W. S.

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This work is aimed at enhancing signal reception on a mobile radio network and minimizing outage probability in a mobile radio network using adaptive beamforming antenna arrays. In this research work, an empirical real-time drive measurement was done in a cellular network of Globalcom Nigeria Limited located at Ikeja, the headquarters of Lagos State, Nigeria, with reference base station number KJA 004. The empirical measurement includes Received Signal Strength and Bit Error Rate which were recorded for exact prediction of the signal strength of the network as at the time of carrying out this research work. The Received Signal Strength and Bit Error Rate were measured with a spectrum monitoring Van with the help of a Ray Tracer at an interval of 100 meters up to 700 meters from the transmitting base station. The distance and angular location measurements from the reference network were done with the help Global Positioning System (GPS). The other equipment used were transmitting equipment measurements software (Temsoftware), Laptops and log files, which showed received signal strength with distance from the base station. Results obtained were about 11% from the real-time experiment, which showed that mobile radio networks are prone to signal failure and can be minimized using an Adaptive Beamforming Antenna Array in terms of a significant reduction in Bit Error Rate, which implies improved performance of the mobile radio network. In addition, this work did not only include experiments done through empirical measurement but also enhanced mathematical models that were developed and implemented as a reference model for accurate prediction. The proposed signal models were based on the analysis of continuous time and discrete space, and some other assumptions. These developed (proposed) enhanced models were validated using MATLAB (version 7.6.3.35) program and compared with the conventional antenna for accuracy. These outage models were used to manage the blocked call experience in the mobile radio network. 20% improvement was obtained when the adaptive beamforming antenna arrays were implemented on the wireless mobile radio network.

Keywords: beamforming algorithm, adaptive beamforming, simulink, reception

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Authors: Abiodun Amusan, Olugbenga Akinola, Kazeem Akano, María Hernández-Castañeda, Jenna Dick, Akintunde Sowunmi, Geoffrey Hart, Grace Gbotosho

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Introduction: Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACTs) is the cornerstone malaria treatment option in most malaria-endemic countries. Unfortunately, the malaria control effort is constantly being threatened by resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to ACTs. The recent evidence of artemisinin resistance in East Africa and its possibility of spreading to other African regions portends an imminent health catastrophe. This study aimed at evaluating the occurrence, prevalence, and influence of artemisinin-resistance markers on treatment outcomes in Ibadan before and after post-adoption of artemisinin combination therapy (ACTs) in Nigeria in 2005. Method: The study involved day zero dry blood spot (DBS) obtained from malaria patients during retrospective (2000-2005) and prospective (2021) studies. A cohort in the prospective study received oral dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine and underwent a 42-day follow-up to observe treatment outcomes. Genomic DNA was extracted from the DBS samples using a QIAamp blood extraction kit. Fragments of P. falciparum kelch13 (Pfkelch13), P. falciparum coronin (Pfcoronin), P. falciparum multidrug resistance 2 (PfMDR2), and P. falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) genes were amplified and sequenced on a sanger sequencing platform to identify artemisinin resistance-associated mutations. Mutations were identified by aligning sequenced data with reference sequences obtained from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and student t-tests. Results: Mean parasite clearance time (PCT) and fever clearance time (FCT) were 2.1 ± 0.6 days (95% CI: 1.97-2.24) and 1.3 ± 0.7 days (95% CI: 1.1-1.6) respectively. Four mutations, K189T [34/53(64.2%)], R255K [2/53(3.8%)], K189N [1/53(1.9%)] and N217H [1/53(1.9%)] were identified within the N-terminal (Coiled-coil containing) domain of Pfkelch13. No artemisinin resistance-associated mutation usually found within the β-propeller domain of the Pfkelch13 gene was found in these analyzed samples. However, K189T and R255K mutations showed a significant correlation with longer parasite clearance time in the patients (P<0.002). The observed Pfkelch13 gene changes did not influence the baseline mean parasitemia (P = 0.44). P76S [17/100 (17%)] and V62M [1/100 (1%)] changes were identified in the Pfcoronin gene fragment without any influence on the parasitological parameters. No change was observed in the PfMDR2 gene, while no artemisinin resistance-associated mutation was found in the PfCRT gene. Furthermore, a sample each in the retrospective study contained the Pfkelch13 K189T and Pfcoronin P76S mutations. Conclusion: The study revealed absence of genetic-based evidence of artemisinin resistance in the study population at the time of study. The high frequency of K189T Pfkelch13 mutation and its correlation with increased parasite clearance time in this study may depict geographical variation of resistance mediators and imminent artemisinin resistance, respectively. The study also revealed an inherent potential of parasites to harbour drug-resistant genotypes before the introduction of ACTs in Nigeria.

Keywords: artemisinin resistance, plasmodium falciparum, Pfkelch13 mutations, Pfcoronin

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Authors: Nima Dastanboo, Xiao-Qing Li, Hamed Gharibdoost

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The purpose of this study is to investigate about the geological properties ahead of a tunnel face with using Electrical Resistivity Tomography ERT and Tunnel Seismic Prediction TSP303 methods. In deep tunnels with hydro-geological conditions, it is important to study the geological structures of the region before excavating tunnels. Otherwise, it would lead to unexpected accidents that impose serious damage to the project. For constructing Nosoud tunnel in west of Iran, the ERT and TSP303 methods are employed to predict the geological conditions dynamically during the excavation. In this paper, based on the engineering background of Nosoud tunnel, the important results of applying these methods are discussed. This work demonstrates seismic method and electrical tomography as two geophysical techniques that are able to detect a tunnel. The results of these two methods were being in agreement with each other but the results of TSP303 are more accurate and quality. In this case, the TSP 303 method was a useful tool for predicting unstable geological structures ahead of the tunnel face during excavation. Thus, using another geophysical method together with TSP303 could be helpful as a decision support in excavating, especially in complicated geological conditions.

Keywords: tunnel seismic prediction (TSP303), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), seismic wave, velocity analysis, low-velocity zones

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Authors: Sze Wai Veera Fung, Peter W. Ferretto

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Similar to most ethnic groups in China, men of the Dong minority hold the primary position in policymaking, moral authority, social values, and the control of the property. As the spatial embodiment of the patriarchal ideals, the house plays a significant role in producing and reproducing the distinctive gender status within the Dong society. Nevertheless, Dong women do not see their home as a cage of confinement, nor do they see themselves as a victim of oppression. For these women with reference to their productive identity, a house is a dwelling place with manifold meanings, including a proof of identity, an economic instrument, and a public resource operating on the community level. This paper examines the role of the house as a central site for identity construction and maintenance for the southern dialect Dong minority women in Hunan, China. Drawing on recent interviews with the Dong women, this study argues that women as productive individuals have a strong influence on the form of their house and the immediate environment, regardless of the male-dominated social construct of the Dong society. The aim of this study is not to produce a definitive relationship between women, house, and identity. Rather, it seeks to offer an alternative lens into the complexity and diversity of gender dynamics operating in and beyond the boundary of the house in the context of contemporary rural China.

Keywords: conception of home, Dong minority, house, rural China, woman’s identity

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Authors: Grace O. Akinlade, Danjuma D. Maza, Oluwakemi O. Olawolu, Delight O. Babalola, John A. O. Oyekunle, Joshua O. Ojo

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The Mokuro area of Ile-Ife, South West Nigeria, was well known for gold mining in the past (about twenty years ago). However, the place has since been reclaimed and converted to residential area without any environmental risk assessment of the impact of the mining tailings on the environment. Soil, water, and plant samples were collected from 4 different locations around the mine-turned-residential area. Soil samples were pulverized and sieved into finer particles, while the plant samples were dried and pulverized. All the samples were digested and analyzed for As, Pb, Cd, and Zn using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). From the analysis results, the hazard index (HI) was then calculated for the metals. The soil and plant samples were air dried and pulverized, then weighed, after which the samples were packed into special and properly sealed containers to prevent radon gas leakage. After the sealing, the samples were kept for 28 days to attain secular equilibrium. The concentrations of 40K, 238U, and 232Th in the samples were measured using a cesium iodide (CsI) spectrometer and URSA software. The AAS analysis showed that As, Pb, Cd (Toxic metals), and Zn (essential trace metals) are in concentrations lower than permissible limits in plants and soil samples, while the water samples had concentrations higher than permissible limits. The calculated health indices (HI) show that HI for water is >1 and that of plants and soil is <1. Gamma spectrometry result shows high levels of activity concentrations above the recommended limits for all the soil and plant samples collected from the area. Only the water samples have activity concentrations below the recommended limit. Consequently, the absorbed dose, annual effective dose, and excess lifetime cancer risk are all above the recommended safe limit for all the samples except for water samples. In conclusion, all the samples collected from the area are either contaminated with toxic metals or they pose radiological hazards to the consumers. Further detailed study is therefore recommended in order to be able to advise the residents appropriately.

Keywords: toxic metals, gamma spectrometry, Ile-Ife, radiological hazards, gold mining

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Authors: Larry O. Awo, George N. Duru

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There is growing public and mental health concerns over the availability of gambling platforms and shops in Nigeria and the high level of youth involvement in gambling. Early theorizing maintained that gambling involvement driven by the quest for resource gains. However, evidences show that the economic model of gambling tend to explain the involvement of the gambling business owners (sport lottery operators: SLOs) as most gamblers lose more than they win. This loss, according to the law of effect, ought to discourage decisions to gamble. However, the quest to recover loses has often initiated and prolonged gambling sessions. Therefore, the need to investigate mental contemplations (such as counterfactual reasoning (upward versus downward) of what “would, should, or could” have been, and feeling of the illusion of control; IOC) over gambling outcome as risk or protective factors in gambling decisions became pertinent. The present study sought to understand the differential contributions and conditional effects of upward versus downward counterfactual reasoning as pathways through which the association between IOC and gambling decision of Nigerian youths (N = 120, mean age = 18.05, SD = 3.81) could be explained. The study adopted a randomized group design, and data were obtained by means of stimulus material (the Gambling Episode; GE) and self-report measures of IOC and Gambling Decision. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) result showed that participants in the upward counterfactual reasoning group (M = 22.08) differed from their colleagues in the downward counterfactual reasoning group (M = 17.33) on the decision to gamble, and this difference was significant [F(1,112) = 23, P < .01]. HAYES PROCESS macro moderation analysis results showed that 1) IOC and upward counterfactual reasoning were positively associated with the decision to gamble (B = 14.21, t = 6.10, p < .01 and B = 7.22, t = 2.07, p < .01), 3) upward counterfactual reasoning did not moderate the association between IOC and gambling decision (p > .05), and 4) downward counterfactual reasoning negatively moderated the association between IOC and gambling decision (B = 07, t = 2.18, p < .05) such that the association was strong at a low level of downward counterfactual, but wane at high levels of downward counterfactual reasoning. The implication of these findings are that IOC and upward counterfactual reasoning were risk factors and promote gambling behavior, while downward counterfactual reasoning protects individuals from gambling activities. Thus, it is concluded that downward counterfactual reasoning strategies should be included in gambling therapy and treatment packages as it could diminish feelings of both IOC and negative feelings of missed positive outcomes and the urge to gamble.

Keywords: counterfactual reasoning, gambling cognition, gambling decision, nigeria, youths

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Authors: Carrollyne Aasen, Laverne Seales

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With increased Latinx communities within the United States, specifically in California, and more universities receiving designations of Hispanic-Serving institutions, Spanish programs have evolved to include more targeted and applicable practical skills. The Spanish program in the Languages and Cultures Department at California Lutheran University incorporated an interdisciplinary project with the Communication Department to create student-generated Spanish-language news inserts, which serve as a sister publication to the English-language student newspaper, The Echo. California Lutheran University is a Hispanic-Serving Institution, meaning it is an accredited undergraduate institution with full-time Hispanic/Latinx students equivalent to at least 25 percent of the total students enrolled. As a Hispanic Serving Institution with growing numbers of bilingual students, faculty, staff, and community members, the need for more information aimed at Hispanic/Latinx communities increased, resulting in the opportunity to reflect topics of interest by community members. This project was developed to fulfill the Spanish program's goals for proficiency by using the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages guidelines and the university's need to support students and the community's voices. This article describes the stages from inception to production and the incorporation of journalism principles into the Spanish curriculum.

Keywords: interdisciplinary, media, foreign languages, HSI

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Authors: Emily Carrothers

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This research takes a critical look at the development of the social worker subjectivity, particularly in Canada. Through an interrogation of required graduate course texts, this paper explicates the discursive formation, orientation, and maintenance of the social worker subject and the conceptualizations of poverty in graduate social work education. This research aims to advance understandings of power and ideology in social work graduate texts and formations of particular dominant constructions of poverty and social worker subjectivity. Guiding questions for this inquiry include: What are social workers being oriented to? What are social workers being oriented away from? How is poverty theorized, discussed and/or attached to social location in social work education? And, how are social workers implicated in contesting or reinforcing poverty? Using critical discourse analysis, 6 texts were analyzed with a particular focus on ways in which notions of poverty are discursively represented and ways in which notions of the formation of the social worker were approached. This revealed that discursively underpinning social work in anti-oppressive practice (AOP) can work to reify hierarchal structures of power that orient social workers away from structural poverty reduction strategies and towards punitive interactions with those that experience poverty and multiple forms of marginalization. This highlights that the social worker subjectivity is formed in opposition to the client, with graduate texts constructing the social worker as an expert in client’s lives and experiences even more so than the client.

Keywords: Canada, education, social work, subjectivity

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Authors: Tehmina Aslam

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South-Asian societies elicit a male-dominant hierarchy, socio-economically and politico-religiously. The aim of the study was to examine the contribution of gender to violent extremism in order to devise means for its control in Pakistan. A qualitative case study based on interviews was conducted of de-radicalized former militants who were affiliated to militant organizations such as Sipahe Sahaba Pakistan, Lashkare Jhangvi, Laskhare Taibah, and Jaishe Mohammad, and who resided in Sargodha and Jhang, cities of the Punjab. The study exuded three main findings: first, gender alone was insufficient to motivate a male youth to resort to violent extremism; second, gender segregation made a male youth more vulnerable to an extremist ideology; and third, male gender was more prone to the influence of an extremist misguided religious ideology that pandered to male chauvinistic (societal dogmas constructing a male identity) needs and offered a male youth an opportunity to reinforce male dominance in society. The conclusion drawn was that the confluence of societal dogmas and extremist (religious) ideologies offered the major resistance against preventing violent extremism and, without dealing with both of them simultaneously, the tendency in male youth to resorting to violent extremism could not be dissipated.

Keywords: violent extremism, countering violent extremism, preventing violent extremism, youth

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Authors: Bukola Dawodu, Charles Onyema

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The phytoplankton and environmental characteristics of Tarkwa Bay, Lagos in South-western Nigeria were investigated from January to June 2012. Environmental characteristics within the Bay were largely determined by floodwater inflow in the wet months (April – June) and increased tidal marine conditions in the dry months (January – March). Similarly, rainfall distribution and possibly tidal seawater inflow were the key factors that govern the variation in phytoplankton distribution, species diversity, chlorophyll a concentration and environmental characteristics of the bay. Values for physico-chemical parameters were indicative of high levels of fluctuations inwards from the East mole towards Tarkwa Bay (e.g. T.S.S > 11mg/L, T.D.S > 33541.0mg/L, D.O. < 5.4). Chlorophyll A values did not show any discernable pattern and correlated negatively with total dissolved solids and total suspended solids (r = -0.27 and -0.04) as both were inconsistent throughout the study period. Four phytoplankton divisions were observed throughout the sampling period with the Bacillariophyta (diatoms) being the dominant group followed by Dinophyta (dinoflagellates), Cyanophyta (the blue-green algae) and Chlorophyta (the green algae). A total of twenty-one species from nine genera were recorded during the period of study. Diatoms formed the most abundant group making fifteen species from five genera. The centric forms dominated over the pennates in the diatom group with Skeletonema sp. Chaetoceros spp. and Coscinodiscus spp. being the dominant centric diatoms while Navicula spp. was the more dominant pennate form. The Dinoflagellates were represented by six species from one genus, the blue-green algae with five species from two genera while the green algae had one species from one genus. Comparatively, total biomass was more in the dry months (Jan. - Mar.) and decreased in the 'wet months' (Apr. – Jun.). Species diversity (S), Shannon Wiener index (Hs), Margalef Index (d) and Equitability Index (j) values were higher during the dry months while reduced value marked the wet months possibly as a result of dilution of rain effects. Outcomes of bio-indices variations were reflections of the degree of occurrence and abundance of species linked to seasons operating in the study site.

Keywords: coastal waters, phytoplankton, species abundance, ecosystems

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Authors: Olupemi E. Oludare

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This paper investigates the creative practice engaged in Juju music, a Nigerian Neo-traditional genre of the Yoruba, and its influence on the consciousness of societal praxis. It takes a musical and cultural perspective, as representational indices of how the people’s religious, social, educational, and political consciousness is expressed in their music. The study adopts the historical cum descriptive design in its methodology, tracing the historical development of Juju music, the appropriation of musical and cultural materials in its creative process, and a descriptive analysis of its musical practice, in order to substantiate the role and function of Juju music and its musicians in the political, philosophical, and social consciousness of Nigeria’s pre- and post-independence epoch. Data were collected through oral interviews of selected Juju practitioners, stakeholders, and enthusiasts. It also employed the use of discography of Juju musicians. This paper discusses musical factors such as form, melodic and rhythmic patterns, and thematic materials, while highlighting cultural factors such as linguistic elements, with textual analysis, as a conscious avenue of expression. The study revealed that Juju musicians composed their music by engaging both indigenous and foreign musical materials, as a means of creative practice for musical entertainment, while expressing the people’s consciousness of their beliefs, values, and socio-political issues, hence the music functioning as a vehicle for social commentaries. The popularization and commercialization of Juju music brought the musicians national and international accolades, subsequently attracting contributions from contemporary musicians, which led to innovations of new brands, such as ‘Afro-Juju’, ‘Gospel-Juju’, ‘Hip-Hop-Juju’, etc., albeit retaining the basic musical elements of its progenitor, as a conscious music for socio-cultural functions. This study concludes that Juju music and its musicians remain germane in the musical scene of the nation’s social, educational, and political terrain, especially in the current Nigerian democratic climate. This paper recommends the promotion and patronage of the Juju music in its original form, to prevent its decline in current times, since it serves as an enrichment of national identity both in Nigeria, and Internationally.

Keywords: appropriation, consciousness, creative practice, national identity, neo-traditional

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Authors: Simeon Mayala, Ida Herdlevær, Jonas Bull Haugsøen, Shamundeeswari Anandan, Sonia Gavasso, Morten Brun

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In this paper, we propose a minimum spanning tree-based method for segmenting brain tumors. The proposed method performs interactive segmentation based on the minimum spanning tree without tuning parameters. The steps involve preprocessing, making a graph, constructing a minimum spanning tree, and a newly implemented way of interactively segmenting the region of interest. In the preprocessing step, a Gaussian filter is applied to 2D images to remove the noise. Then, the pixel neighbor graph is weighted by intensity differences and the corresponding minimum spanning tree is constructed. The image is loaded in an interactive window for segmenting the tumor. The region of interest and the background are selected by clicking to split the minimum spanning tree into two trees. One of these trees represents the region of interest and the other represents the background. Finally, the segmentation given by the two trees is visualized. The proposed method was tested by segmenting two different 2D brain T1-weighted magnetic resonance image data sets. The comparison between our results and the standard gold segmentation confirmed the validity of the minimum spanning tree approach. The proposed method is simple to implement and the results indicate that it is accurate and efficient.

Keywords: brain tumor, brain tumor segmentation, minimum spanning tree, segmentation, image processing

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Authors: Piotr Prewysz-Kwinto, Grazyna Voss

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In June 2013, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a directive on financial reporting (Directive 2013/34/EU). The main objective was to simplify the principles of the preparation of financial statements, including the principles of the presentation and disclosures of financial information by adapting reporting burdens to the type and size of an undertaking. Therefore, the Directive introduced a classification of all undertakings into five groups, i.e. micro, small, medium-sized, large and public-interest entities, and defined in detail the classification criteria. The principles of the preparation of financial statements and the presentation of financial information as well as applicable simplifications were defined for each group. The EU Member States had to implement the provisions of Directive 34 relating to accounting and financial reporting into domestic norms until January 1, 2016. In Poland, the provisions of Directive 34 were implemented into domestic accounting norms specified in the Polish Accounting Act on a gradual basis. On July 11, 2014, the Polish Parliament adopted an amendment to the Act, introducing the Directive's solutions for micro-undertakings and on July 23, 2015, for the remaining undertakings. The aim of this paper is to present Polish solutions relating to financial reporting after the implementation of Directive 34 and the results of the survey conducted among accountants regarding the evaluation of the implemented simplifications for micro and small undertakings.

Keywords: accounting standards, financial reporting, financial statement, simplification

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Authors: Abraham Castro-Alvarez, Luisaldo Sandate-Flores, Roberto Parra-Saldivar

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The losing of crops during the whole production process is a problem that is affecting farmers in the whole world, as climate change affects the weather behavior. Stenocereus spp. is a tropical, exotic and endemic columnar cacti, it produces a colored and expensive fruit known how “pitaya”. The quality and value of the fruit, these species represent an attractive option for economical development in arid and semi-arid regions. This fruits are produced in Mexico, mainly in 4 regions, Mixteca Oaxaca-Puebla, Michoacan, Sinaloa-Sonora, Jalisco-Zacatecas. Pitaya can be an option to try mixed crop in this states due to the resistance to hard weather conditions. And also because of the marginalization problems that exist in these townships. As defined by the Population National Council it consists in the absence of development opportunities and the lack of capacity to get them. According to an analysis done in EsriPress ArcGis 10.1 the potential area in the country is almost the half of the territory being the total area of Mexico 1,965,249 km2 and the area with potential to produce pitaya 960,527 km2. This area covers part of the most affected townships that also have a few options of maize varieties making even harder the production of maize and exposing farmers to crop losing if conditions are good enough. Making pitaya a good option for these farmers to have an economic backup in their productions.

Keywords: maize, pitaya, rain fed, Stenocereus

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Authors: Genevieve Jorolan-Quintero

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After the devastation caused by typhoon Haiyan in the southeastern part of the Philippines in 2012, there was this intense need among the indigenous communities to ‘reconcile’ with nature. The belief that the deluge, which claimed thousands of lives, was caused by the destruction of the environment because of humanities’ greed and carelessness was widespread and strong. The rift had to be mended. Nature had to be appeased. For this, the balyan (priestess) was called in to perform a ritual. Only she can communicate with the spirits. The communities depend on her spiritual intervention as she alone has the power to invoke the spirits of nature. Among the indigenous people, the balyan is most often also a magdadawot (bard) who possesses the knowledge especially about the folk epics and the skill to chant them. The balyan is the communities’ repository of knowledge. When one passes away, a whole library of tribal knowledge and wisdom is lost. The oral traditions embody the life values, ideals, customs, and even the history of the First Nations People. These include the myths, epics, legends, riddles, and songs. The indigenous system is patriarchal, but is actually indirectly matriarchal reflecting the authority of the woman. Disputes within the community are heard and tried by the Council of Elders. However, the balyan is often consulted for her opinion. Her advice is deemed significant and most often necessary. These are three instances that highlight the significant role of the balyan among the indigenous communities in the Philippines, especially among the Mandaya tribe who live in the southern region of the country. This paper highlights the unique kind of leadership of the Mandaya woman – as priestess and bard - and her impact on the lives of her people.

Keywords: balyan, bard, magdadawot, mandaya

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Authors: Tricia Agocs, Debra Langan, Carrie B. Sanders

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Studies of the challenges faced by women in policing have paid little attention to the specific experiences of Policewomen who are mothers. Guided by critical theorizing on the gendered nature of the police culture and domestic labor, 16 police officer mothers in Ontario, Canada, were interviewed. Our qualitative analyses explore their experiences of the “lion’s share” of domestic labor; the organizational, cultural, and operational features of policing; and the challenges of child care, and examine how these combine to foster particular stresses. In contrast to intensive mothering approaches that rely on the advice of external experts, our participants work to protect children by carefully constructing stories and asking questions that are based on their own on-the-job experiences with dangerous and/or abhorrent situations. As such, they engage in danger-protection parenting practices to prevent their children from becoming victims or offenders. Our research extends the theorizing on intensive/extensive mothering practices, builds on the scholarship on policing, and adds to the literature on women in nonstandard occupations. This sociological analysis of police mothers’ experiences and practices underscores the importance of understanding and working to change the social contexts, at work and at home, that compromise the well-being of police mothers and other emergency-response workers.

Keywords: policewomen, mothers, parenting, danger, qualitative research

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Authors: Bagus Hanindhito, Fariz Azmi Pratama, Ulfah Nadiya

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Nowadays, digital system including, but not limited to, computer and internet have penetrated the education system widely. Critical information such as students’ academic records is stored in a server off- or on-campus. Although several countermeasures have been taken to protect the vital resources from outsider attack, the defense from insiders threat is not getting serious attention. At the end of 2017, a security incident that involved academic information system in one of the most respected universities in Indonesia affected not only the reputation of the institution and its academia but also academic integrity in Indonesia. In this paper, we will explain our efforts in investigating this security incident where we have implemented a novel rapid evidence remote acquisition method in high-availability server and storage system thus our data collection efforts do not disrupt the academic information system and can be conducted remotely minutes after incident report has been received. The acquired evidence is analyzed during digital forensic by constructing the model of the system in an isolated environment which allows multiple investigators to work together. In the end, the suspect is identified as a student (insider), and the investigation result is used by prosecutors to charge the suspect as an academic crime.

Keywords: academic information system, academic crime, digital forensic, high-availability server and storage, rapid evidence remote acquisition, security incident

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Authors: Zhang Shuqi, Liu Dan

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For the problems in intelligent network anomaly traffic detection models, such as low detection accuracy caused by the lack of training samples, poor effect with small sample attack detection, a classification model enhancement method, F-ACGAN(Flow Auxiliary Classifier Generative Adversarial Network) which introduces generative adversarial network and adversarial training, is proposed to solve these problems. Generating adversarial data with category labels could enhance the training effect and improve classification accuracy and model robustness. FACGAN consists of three steps: feature preprocess, which includes data type conversion, dimensionality reduction and normalization, etc.; A generative adversarial network model with feature learning ability is designed, and the sample generation effect of the model is improved through adversarial iterations between generator and discriminator. The adversarial disturbance factor of the gradient direction of the classification model is added to improve the diversity and antagonism of generated data and to promote the model to learn from adversarial classification features. The experiment of constructing a classification model with the UNSW-NB15 dataset shows that with the enhancement of FACGAN on the basic model, the classification accuracy has improved by 8.09%, and the score of F1 has improved by 6.94%.

Keywords: data imbalance, GAN, ACGAN, anomaly detection, adversarial training, data augmentation

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Authors: Mubina Rauf

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Critical thinking is a highly valued outcome of university education. There is an agreement in literature that it is demonstrated through the abilities to highlight issues and assumptions, find links between ideas and concepts, make correct inferences, evaluate evidence or authority and deduce conclusions (Tsui, 2002). Although Critical thinking plays a significant role in developing all academic skills, its role in developing writing skills is significant (Kurfiss, 1988). SAW (student academic writing) is an observable output of critical thinking (Wilson K. , 2016). When students apply critical thinking to their writing, they present clear, accurate, significant and logical arguments constructing their own voice in the form of an essay or dissertation (Matsuda, 2001). This presentation will show how a rubric can be used to find evidence of critical thinking in SAW. Participants will experience how evidence-based written arguments supported by background knowledge and authorial voice can develop students into efficient critical thinkers. Participants will have an opportunity to use the rubric to find the evidence of critical thinking in SAW samples. This presentation is intended for classroom teachers with or without the basic knowledge of implementing critical thinking in academic settings. Participants will also learn tips how various features of critical thinking can be developed among students. After the session, the participants will be able to use or adapt the rubric according to their needs to find evidence of critical thinking in SAW within their context.

Keywords: critical thinking, Rubric, student academic writing, argumentation, text analysis

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Authors: Songul Cinaroglu

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Background: Random Forest is an efficient, multi-class machine learning method using for classification, regression and other tasks. This method is operating by constructing each tree using different bootstrap sample of the data. Determining the number of trees in random forests is an open question in the literature for studies about improving classification performance of random forests. Aim: The aim of this study is to analyze whether there is an optimal number of trees in Random Forests and how performance of Random Forests differ according to increase in number of trees using sample health data sets in R programme. Method: In this study we analyzed the performance of Random Forests as the number of trees grows and doubling the number of trees at every iteration using “random forest” package in R programme. For determining minimum and optimal number of trees we performed Mc Nemar test and Area Under ROC Curve respectively. Results: At the end of the analysis it was found that as the number of trees grows, it does not always means that the performance of the forest is better than forests which have fever trees. In other words larger number of trees only increases computational costs but not increases performance results. Conclusion: Despite general practice in using random forests is to generate large number of trees for having high performance results, this study shows that increasing number of trees doesn’t always improves performance. Future studies can compare different kinds of data sets and different performance measures to test whether Random Forest performance results change as number of trees increase or not.

Keywords: classification methods, decision trees, number of trees, random forest

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Authors: Jeevan Jyoti Mohindroo, Umesh Kumar Garg

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The district of Tarntaran is located25 km south of Amritsar city in Punjab State of Northwestern India. It is 5059 Sq. Km in area. It is surrounded by Amritsar in the North, Kapurthala in the East, and Ferozepur in the South and Pakistan in the West. Patti Town is a municipal council of the Tarntaran district of the Indian state of Punjab, located 45 km from Amritsar its geographical coordinates are 310 16' 51" north to 740 51' 25" East Longitude. The town spreads over an area of 50sq. Km. Moisture content is very less in the air, falling within the semiarid region and frequently facing water scarcity as well as water quality problems. The major sources of employment are agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry engaging almost 80% of the workforce. Water samples are collected from 400 locations in 20 villages on the Patti –Khem Karan highway with 20 samples from each village, and were subjected to analysis of chemical characteristics. The type of water that predominates in the study area is Ca-Mg-HCO3 type, based on hydro-chemical analysis. Besides, suitability of water for irrigation is evaluated based on the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), residual sodium carbonate, sodium percent and salinity hazard. Other Physico-chemical parameters such as pH, TDS, conductance, etc. were also determined using a water analysis kit. Analysis of water samples for heavy metal analysis was also carried out in the present study.

Keywords: groundwater, chemical classification, SAR, RSC, USSL diagram

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