Search results for: religious states

Authors: Timothy Gray

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This paper will present work and discuss lessons learned during a semester-long travel study based in Southeast Asia, which was run in the Spring Semester of 2019 and again in the summer of 2023. The first travel group consisted of fifteen students, and the second group consisted of twelve students ranging from second-year to graduate level, student participants majoring in either architecture or planning. Students worked in interdisciplinary teams, each team beginning their travel study, living together in a separate small town for over a month in (relatively) remote conditions in rural Thailand. Students became intimately familiar with these towns, forged strong personal relationships, and built reservoirs of knowledge one conversation at a time. Rather than impose external ideas and solutions, students were asked to learn from and be open to lessons from the people and the place. The following design statement was used as a point of departure for their investigations: It is our shared premise that architecture exists in small villages and towns of Southeast Asia in the ingenuity of the people, that architecture exists in a shared language of making, modifying, and reusing. It is a modest but vibrant architecture, an architecture that is alive and evolving, an architecture that is small in scale, accessible, and one that emerges from the people. It is an architecture that can exist in a modified bicycle, a woven bamboo bridge, or a self-built community. Students were challenged to engage in existing conditions as design professionals, both empowering and lending coherence to the energies that already existed in the place. As one of the student teams noted in their design narrative: “During our field study, we had the unique opportunity to tour a number of informal settlements and meet and talk to residents through interpreters. We found that many of the residents work in nearby factories for dollars a day. Others find employment in self-generated informal economies such as hand carving and textiles. Despite extreme poverty, we found these places to be vibrant and full of life as people navigate these challenging conditions to live lives with purpose and dignity.” Students worked together with local community members and colleagues to develop a series of varied proposals that emerged from their interrogations of place and partnered with community members and professional colleagues in the development of these proposals. Project partners included faculty and student colleagues Yangon University, the mayor's Office, Planning Department Officials and religious leaders in Sawankhalok, Thailand, and community leaders in Natonchan, Thailand, to name a few. This paper will present a series of student community-based design projects that emerged from these conditions. The paper will also discuss this model of travel study as a way of building an architecture which uses social and cultural issues as a catalyst for design. The paper will discuss lessons relative to sustainable development that the Western students learned through their travels in Southeast Asia.

Keywords: travel study, CAPasia, architecture of empowerment, modular housing

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Authors: Kolade Olawande Owoeye, George R. S. Weir

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The widespread of terrorism and extremism activities on the internet has become a major threat to the government and national securities due to their potential dangers which have necessitated the need for intelligence gathering via web and real-time monitoring of potential websites for extremist activities. However, the manual classification for such contents is practically difficult or time-consuming. In response to this challenge, an automated classification system called composite technique was developed. This is a computational framework that explores the combination of both semantics and syntactic features of textual contents of a web. We implemented the framework on a set of extremist webpages dataset that has been subjected to the manual classification process. Therein, we developed a classification model on the data using J48 decision algorithm, this is to generate a measure of how well each page can be classified into their appropriate classes. The classification result obtained from our method when compared with other states of arts, indicated a 96% success rate in classifying overall webpages when matched against the manual classification.

Keywords: extremist, web pages, classification, semantics, posit

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Authors: R. I. You, C. L. Ho, M. S. Dai, H. M. Hung, S. F. Yen, C. S. Chen, T. Y. Chao

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Neutrophils are the most abundant innate immune cells to against invading microorganisms. Numerous data shown neutrophils have plasticity in response to physiological and pathological conditions. Tumor-associated neutrophils (TAN) exist in distinct types of tumor and play an important role in cancer biology. Different transcriptomic profiles of neutrophils in tumor and non-tumor samples have been identified. Several miRNAs have been recognized as regulators of gene expression in neutrophil, which may have key roles in neutrophil activation. However, the miRNAs expression patterns in TAN are not well known. To address this question, magnetic bead isolated neutrophils from tumor-bearing mice were used in this study. We analyzed production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by luminol-dependent chemiluminescence assay. The expression of miRNAs targeting NADPH oxidase, ROS generation and autophagy was explored using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our data suggest that tumor environment influence neutrophil develop to differential states of activation via miRNAs regulation.

Keywords: tumor-associated neutrophil, miRNAs, neutrophil, ROS

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Authors: Jachin Pousson, Valdis Bernhofs

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Applications of the binaural sound experience are wide-ranged. This paper focuses on the interaction between binaural tones and human emotion with an aim to apply the resulting knowledge artistically. For the purpose of this study, binaural music is defined as musical arrangements of sound which are made of combinations of binaural difference tones. Here, the term ‘binaural difference tone’ refers to the pulsating tone heard within the brain which results from listening to slightly differing audio frequencies or pure pitches in each ear. The frequency or tempo of the pulsations is the sum of the precise difference between the frequencies two tones and is measured in beats per second. Polyrhythmic pulsations that can be heard within combinations of these differences tones have shown to be able to entrain or tune brainwave patterns to frequencies which have been linked to mental states which can be characterized by different levels of attention and mood.

Keywords: binaural auditory pulsations, brainwave entrainment, emotion, music composition

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Authors: Cory Cannon

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In the current era of shrinking budgets, increasing amounts of worldwide natural disasters, state and non-state initiated conflicts within the world. The response has involved multinational coalitions to conduct effective military operations. The need for a Knowledge Management strategy when developing these coalitions have been overlooked in the past and the need for developing these accords early on will save time and help shape the way information and knowledge are transferred from the staff and action officers of the coalition to the decision-makers in order to make timely decisions within an ever changing environment. The aim of this paper is to show how Knowledge Management has developed within the United States military and how the transformation of working within a Combined/ Joint environment in both the Middle East and the Far East has improved relations between members of the coalitions as well as being more effective as a military force. These same principles could be applied to multinational corporations when dealing with cultures and decision-making processes.

Keywords: civil-military, culture, joint environment, knowledge management

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Authors: Maria De Los Angeles Rodriguez Cadena

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This paper discusses how the fictional versions of women of the past contribute to advance today’s ideas of social justice, personal freedom and emancipation as well as to highlight the creative challenge of constructing people and events on fictional narratives on television that incorporate multiple and simultaneous layers of meaning and complexity. This project builds on existing scholarship on audiovisual texts by exploring an influential but under-studied director. In two Mexican television series, Patricia Arriaga Jordan, an award-winning television producer, scriptwriter and director, constructs the life of two outstanding women that have played an influential role in national history and captured Mexican’s popular imagination for generations: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Malinche. Malinche (2018) tells the story of an extraordinary indigenous woman, Malintzin, during the Spanish Conquest (1511-1550) that is considered to have played a key role in the fall of the Aztec empire by acting as translator, negotiator and cultural mediator for the Spanish conquerors. Juana Ines (2016) portrays Sor Juana, a poet, essayist, playwright, theologian, philosopher, nun, of XVII century colonial Mexico, one of the brightest minds of her time, and now recognized as the first feminist of the Americas who wrote on the rights of women to an education, religious authority and feminist advocacy. Both series, as fictional narratives that recreate defining historical periods, specific events and relevant characters in the History of Mexico can be read as an example of what is called texts of cultural memory. A cultural memory text is a narrative that bonds the concepts of history, identity and belonging, and that is realized and disseminated through symbolic systems such as written documents, visual images, and dramatic representation. Cultural memory, through its narratives of historical fiction, emphasizes memory processes (historiography) and its implications and artifacts (cultural memory) mainly through the medial frameworks of remembering, which are the medial process by which memories (narratives, documents) participate in public knowledge and become collective memory. Historical fiction on television not only creates a portrayal of the past related to the real lives of protagonists, but it also significantly contributes to understand the past as an ever-evolving entity that highlights both, the necessary connection with the present as part of a developing sense of collective identity and belonging, as well as the relevance of the medium in which the past is represented and that ultimately supports the process of historical awareness. Through the emblematic recreation of national heroines and historical events in the unique context of historical drama on television, those texts constitute a venue where concepts of the past and the traditionally established ideas about history and heroines are highlighted, questioned and transformed.

Keywords: cultural memory, historical fiction, Mexico, television, women directors

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Authors: Sunita Patel

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Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity as well as mortality in India. Objective of this study is to examine CVDs prevalence and identify their behavioral and cultural risk factors with the help of SAGE-2007 data conducted on 6th states in India. Findings reveal that 18.3% of people diagnosed with CVDs in India. Higher disease occurs in an increasing rate between ages of 30-39 having OR 2.45 (CI: 1.66-3.63) and 70+ age OR 7.45 (CI: 4.82-11.49) times higher compare to 18-29 age group respectively. Wealth quintile higher CVD occurs as 3rd in 60% (CI: 1.16-2.21) and in richest 5th quintile 58% (CI: 1.13-2.21) contrast to lowest quintile. Relative risk depicted that 22.4% in moderate and 44% in vigorous activity have less chance of diseases compare to who performed no work and those who consumed alcohol. Results reveal that policy prospect should be recommended and that it would be beneficial for awareness of people and their future.

Keywords: behavioral risk, cultural risk, cardio-vascular diseases, wealth quintile

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Authors: Cheng-Lin Liu, Fei Liu

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For the multi-agent systems with agent's dynamics described by high-order integrator, and usual consensus algorithm composed of the state coordination control parts is proposed. Under communication delay, consensus algorithm in asynchronously-coupled form just can make the agents achieve a stationary consensus, and sufficient consensus condition is obtained based on frequency-domain analysis. To recover the original consensus state of the high-order agents without communication delay, besides, a predictor-based consensus algorithm is constructed via multiplying the delayed neighboring agents' states by a delay-related compensation part, and sufficient consensus condition is also obtained. Simulation illustrates the correctness of the results.

Keywords: high-order dynamic agents, communication delay, consensus, predictor-based algorithm

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Authors: Rohin Sharma, Sumantu Chaulagain

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This paper presents calculations of total energy of InGaN alloy carried out in a disordered quasirandom structure for a triclinic super cell. This structure replicates the disorder and composition effect in the alloy. First principle calculations within the density functional theory with the local density approximation approach is employed to accurately determine total energy of the system. Lattice constants and band gaps associated with the ground states are then estimated for different concentration ratios of the alloy. We provide precise results of quasirandom structures of the alloy and their lattice constants with the total energy and band gap energy of the system for the range of seven different composition ratios and their respective lattice parameters.

Keywords: DFT, ground state, LDA, quasicrystal, triclinic super cell

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Authors: Anna Savchenko

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The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought about a wave of decolonisation throughout the Soviet space in the 1990s. While this emancipation ushered in an era of reform in the newly independent states, it also opened up the opportunity for countries such as Ukraine to be (re)colonised by a different ruling power: the European Union. Ukraine’s relationship with the EU has been further complicated by the fact that the country’s political leadership has aligned itself with a Western agenda of democratisation. This article challenges the neoliberal belief that the global market can spurn democratisation by analysing the way in which market privatisation in Ukraine has allowed for mass corruption to flourish. I submit that neoliberalism, or the sheer force of the global market, is just as colonising as modern-day imperialism has proven to be by providing an analytical synthesis of Russia and Ukraine’s century-old conflict. The EU’s demonstrated inability to mediate cross-border conflict in the region foreshadows that Ukraine may have been economically colonised by another failing state.

Keywords: neoliberalism, imperealism, Russian-Ukrainian conflict, democratisation, colonisation

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Authors: Erimias Firre

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This study is situated within the religio-cultural milieu of Coptic Orthodox Christians of the Tigrinya ethnic group in Eritrea. With this ethnic group being conservative and traditionally bound, extended family structures dissected along various clans and expansive community networks are the distinguishing mark of its members. Notably, Coptic Tigrinya constitutes the largest percentage of all Christian denominations in Eritrea. As religious, cultural beliefs, rituals and teachings permeate in all aspects of social life, a distinct worldview and traditionalized health and illness conceptualization are common. Accordingly, this study argues that religio-culturally bound illness ideologies immensely determine the perception, help seeking behavior and healing preference of Coptic Tigrinya in Eritrea. The study bears significance in the sense that it bridges an important knowledge gap, given that it is ethno-linguistically (within the Tigrinya ethnic group), spatially (central region of Eritrea) and religiously (Coptic Christianity) specific. The conceptual framework guiding this research centered on the social determinants of mental health, and explores through the lens of critical theory how existing systems generate social vulnerability and structural inequality, providing a platform to reveal how the psychosocial model has the capacity to emancipate and empower those with mental disorders to live productive and meaningful lives. A case study approach was employed to explore the interrelationship between religio-cultural beliefs and practices and perception of common mental disorders of depression, anxiety, bipolar affective, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorders and the impact of these perceptions on people with those mental disorders. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 41 participants representing seven diverse cohorts; people with common mental disorders, family caregivers, general community members, ex-fighters , priests, staff at St. Mary’s and Biet-Mekae Community Health Center; resulting in rich data for thematic analysis. Findings highlighted current religio-cultural perceptions, causes and treatment of mental disorders among Coptic Tigrinya result in widespread labelling, stigma and discrimination, both of those with mental disorders and their families. Traditional healing sources are almost exclusively tried, sometimes for many years, before families and sufferers seek formal medical assessment and treatment, resulting difficult to treat illness chronicity. Service gaps in the formal medical system result in the inability to meet the principles enshrined in the WHO Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 to which the Eritrean Government is a signatory. However, the study found that across all participant cohorts, there was a desire for change that will create a culture whereby those with mental disorders will have restored hope, connectedness, healing and self-determination.

Keywords: Coptic Tigrinya, mental disorders, psychosocial model social integration and recovery, traditional healing

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Authors: Raihana Abdul Wahab, Norihan Kadir, Muhamad Hazwan Mustafa

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The determination of accurate times for Fajr and Dhuha prayers in Malaysia is faced with issues of differing views in the fixation of the parameters of the sun’s altitude used in the calculation of astronomy, especially in Malaysia. Therefore, this study aims to identify issues and problems in the methods used in determining the accurate times for both these prayers through a literature review of previous research studies. The results show the need to review the parameters of sun altitude used in calculating prayer times for both these prayers through observations in changes in the brightness of the early morning light for distinguish of true dawn and false dawn for the Fajr prayers and the length of the shadow for Dhuha payer by collecting data from all the states throughout Malaysia.

Keywords: fajr, Dhuha, sky brightness, length of shadows, astronomy, Islamic jurisprudence

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Authors: Yasmine Ahmed Shemeis

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Determining the impact of productivity increases on wage levels is often difficult due to the unavailability of individual-level productivity data. Accordingly, we proxy for productivity using a self-perceived measure of health based on the postulated positive relationship between better health and productivity improvements. Using Egypt’s labour market data for the years 2012 and 2018 and utilizing a Maximum Likelihood Estimation method, we address two issues: the endogeneity of health in the estimation of wages and a sample selection bias. Our findings indicate the great value that better health has in enhancing wage levels in Egypt’s private sector. Also, we find that overlooking the endogeneity of health underestimates its effect on wages. Thus, the improvement of health states is likely to be beneficial in improving labour market outcomes in terms of wages as well as labour productivity in Egypt.

Keywords: labour, Productivity, Wages, Endogeneity, Sample Selection

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Authors: Samir Zeghlache, Abderrahmen Bouguerra, Kamel Kara, Djamel Saigaa

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The control of the trirotor helicopter includes nonlinearities, uncertainties and external perturbations that should be considered in the design of control laws. This paper presents a control strategy for an underactuated six degrees of freedom (6 DOF) trirotor helicopter, based on the coupling of the fuzzy logic control and sliding mode control (SMC). The main purpose of this work is to eliminate the chattering phenomenon. To achieve our purpose we have used a fuzzy logic control to generate the hitting control signal, also the non linear observer is then synthesized in order to estimate the unmeasured states. Finally simulation results are included to indicate the trirotor UAV with the proposed controller can greatly alleviate the chattering effect and remain robust to the external disturbances.

Keywords: fuzzy sliding mode control, trirotor helicopter, dynamic modelling, underactuated systems

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Authors: Jayeola Olabisi, T. Olawale Oladunjoye, Ademola A. Adewumi

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The study empirically examines the relationship that exists between the economic environment and entrepreneurial development in Nigeria. A structured questionnaire is administered on the study and data collected are analysed using Analysis of Variance and Regression. The following variables are indices of determination; Interest Rate (IR); Income Tax (IT). The results of the study show that there is a significant relationship between IR and ED in Nigeria (p < 0.5) with a positive correlation (r=0.526, r2=0.276). Also, there is a significant relationship between IT and ED in Nigeria (p < 0.05), with a positive association (r=0.546; r2=0.299). The study concludes that the emergence of the higher level of the stable economic environment is critical to entrepreneurial development in Nigeria. Therefore, government involvement in public private partnership for infrastructural development, enlargement of productive, judicious and transparent use of funds collected from income tax and affordable interest rate will galvanise the inward sourcing of raw materials that boost entrepreneurial development in Nigeria.

Keywords: interest rate, income tax, business environment and entrepreneurial development

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Authors: Tahraoui Boualem

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The International Labor Organization is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, and it is the only organization within the United Nations system that is distinguished by its tripartite legitimacy and which simultaneously includes governments, workers' and employers' organizations of its member states in a joint effort to set standards and policies Work to promote decent work in various parts of the world, and the expression of international labor standards basically means two types of documents, namely international labor agreements and international labor recommendations, and so far its general conference, which is held annually, has set a number of standards, the number of which has reached 184 agreements and 192 recommendations so far. For this reason, it is decided to clarify the International Labor Organization and the formulation of international labor standards within two sections. In the first topic, the researcher discusses the concept of the International Labor Organization, and in the second topic, it highlights the legal basis for the authority of the International Labor Organization in protecting the rights of workers.

Keywords: international labor, international labor standards, rights of workers, nation’s system

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Authors: Arti Singh, Carolyn Jenkins, Oyedunni S. Arulogun, Mayowa O. Owolabi, Fred S. Sarfo, Bruce Ovbiagele, Enzinne Sylvia

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Background: Stroke, the leading cause of adult-onset disability and the second leading cause of death, is a major public health concern particularly pertinent in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where nearly 80% of all global stroke mortalities occur. The Stroke Investigative Research and Education Network (SIREN) seeks to comprehensively characterize the genomic, sociocultural, economic, and behavioral risk factors for stroke and to build effective teams for research to address and decrease the burden of stroke and other non communicable diseases in SSA. One of the first steps to address this goal was to effectively engage the communities that suffer the high burden of disease in SSA. This study describes how the SIREN project engaged six sites in Ghana and Nigeria over the past three years, describing the community engagement activities that have arisen since inception. Aim: The aim of community engagement (CE) within SIREN is to elucidate information about knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices (KABP) about stroke and its risk factors from individuals of African ancestry in SSA, and to educate the community about stroke and ways to decrease disabilities and deaths from stroke using socioculturally appropriate messaging and messengers. Methods: Community Advisory Board (CABs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and community outreach programs. Results: 27 FGDs with 168 participants including community heads, religious leaders, health professionals and individuals with stroke among others, were conducted, and over 60 CE outreaches have been conducted within the SIREN performance sites. Over 5,900 individuals have received education on cardiovascular risk factors and about 5,000 have been screened for cardiovascular risk factors during the outreaches. FGDs and outreach programs indicate that knowledge of stroke, as well as risk factors and follow-up evidence-based care is limited and often late. Other findings include: 1) Most recognize hypertension as a major risk factor for stroke. 2) About 50% report that stroke is hereditary and about 20% do not know organs affected by stroke. 3) More than 95% willing to participate in genetic testing research and about 85% willing to pay for testing and recommend the test to others. 4) Almost all indicated that genetic testing could help health providers better treat stroke and help scientists better understand the causes of stroke. The CABs provided stakeholder input into SIREN activities and facilitated collaborations among investigators, community members and stakeholders. Conclusion: The CE core within SIREN is a first-of-its kind public outreach engagement initiative to evaluate and address perceptions about stroke and genomics by patients, caregivers, and local leaders in SSA and has implications as a model for assessment in other high-stroke risk populations. SIREN’s CE program uses best practices to build capacity for community-engaged research, accelerate integration of research findings into practice and strengthen dynamic community-academic partnerships within our communities. CE has had several major successes over the past three years including our multi-site collaboration examining the KABP about stroke (symptoms, risk factors, burden) and genetic testing across SSA.

Keywords: community advisory board, community engagement, focus groups, outreach, SSA, stroke

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Authors: Siti Nurjanah, Supahar

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E-learning has become an increasingly popular mode of instruction, particularly in the field of physics education, where it offers opportunities for interactive and engaging learning experiences. This research aims to analyze the trends of research that investigated e-learning in physics education. Data was extracted from Scopus's database using the keywords "physics" and "e-learning". Of the 380 articles obtained based on the search criteria, a trend analysis of the research was carried out with the help of RStudio using the biblioshiny package and VosViewer software. Analysis showed that publications on this topic have increased significantly from 2014 to 2021. The publication was dominated by researchers from the United States. The main journal that publishes articles on this topic is Proceedings Frontiers in Education Conference fie. The most widely cited articles generally focus on the effectiveness of Moodle for physics learning. Overall, this research provides an in-depth understanding of the trends and key findings of research related to e-learning in physics.

Keywords: bibliometric analysis, physics education, biblioshiny, E-learning

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Authors: Sara Parker, Kay Standing

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This paper will share insights into how menstruators bodies in Nepal are viewed and controlled in Nepal due to the deeply held stigmas and taboos that exist that frame menstrual blood as impure and polluting. It draws on a British Academy Global Challenges Research (BA/GCRF) funded project, ‘Dignity Without Danger,’ that ran from December 2019 to 2022. In Nepal, beliefs and myths around menstrual related practices prevail and vary in accordance to time, generation, caste and class. Physical seclusion and/or restrictions include the consumption of certain foods, the ability to touch certain people and objects, and restricted access to water sources. These restrictions not only put women at risk of poor health outcomes, but they also promote discrimination and challenge fundamental human rights. Despite the pandemic, a wealth of field research and creative outputs have been generated to help break the silence that surrounds menstruation and also highlights the complexity of addressing the harms associated with the exclusion from sacred and profane spaces that menstruators face. Working with locally recruited female research assistants, NGOS and brining together academics from the UK and Nepal, we explore the intersecting factors that impact on menstrual experiences and how they vary throughout Nepal. WE concur with Tamang that there is no such thing as a ‘Nepali Woman’, and there is no one narrative that captures the experiences of menstruators in Nepal. These deeply held beliefs and practices mean that menstruators are denied their right to a dignified menstruation. By being excluded from public and private spaces, such as temples and religious sites, as well as from kitchens and your own bedroom in your own home, these beliefs impact on individuals in complex and interesting ways. Existing research in Nepal by academics and activists demonstrates current programmes and initiatives do not fully address the misconceptions that underpin the exclusionary practices impacting on sexual and reproductive health, a sense of well being and highlight more work is needed in this area. Research has been conducted in all 7 provinces and through exploring and connecting disparate stories, artefacts and narratives, we will deepen understanding of the complexity of menstrual practices enabling local stakeholders to challenge exclusionary practices. By using creative methods to engage with stakeholders and share our research findings as well as highlighting the wealth of activism in Nepal. We highlight the importance of working with local communities, leaders and cutting across disciplines and agencies to promote menstrual justice and dignity. Our research findings and creative outputs that we share on social media channels such as Dignity Without Danger Facebook, Instagram and you tube stress the value of employing a collaborative action research approach to generate material which helps local people take control of their own narrative and change social relations that lead to harmful practices.

Keywords: menstruation, Nepal, stigma, social norms

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Authors: Igor V. Kuzminov

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According to its content, the proposed article is a collection of articles with comments and additions. All articles, in one way or another, have a connection with the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The content of the articles is given in a concise form. The articles were published in different journals at different times. Main topics are presented: gravity, biography of the Earth, physics of global warming-cooling cycles, multiverse. The articles are based on the laws of classical physics. Along the way, it should be noted that the Second Law of thermodynamics can be formulated as the Law of Matter Cooling. As it cools down, the processes of condensation, separation, and changes in the aggregate states of matter occur. In accordance with these changes, a picture of the world is being formed. Also, the main driving force of these processes is the inverse temperature dependence of the forces of gravity. As matter cools, the forces of gravity increase. The actions of these phenomena in the compartment form a picture of the world.

Keywords: gravitational forces, cooling of matter, inverse temperature dependence of gravitational forces, planetary model of the atom

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Authors: Mahdi Zolfaghari, Seyed Hossein Hosseinian, Hossein Askarian Abyaneh, Mehrdad Abedi

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This paper presents a virtual active power filter (VAPF) using vehicle to grid (V2G) technology to maintain power quality requirements. The optimal discrete operation of the power converter of electric vehicle (EV) is based on recognizing desired switching states using the model predictive control (MPC) algorithm. A fast dynamic response, lower total harmonic distortion (THD) and good reference tracking performance are realized through the presented control strategy. The simulation results using MATLAB/Simulink validate the effectiveness of the scheme in improving power quality as well as good dynamic response in power transferring capability.

Keywords: electric vehicle, model predictive control, power quality, V2G technology, virtual active power filter

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Authors: Sanaa Riaz

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The free people, Amazigh (plural Imazighen), often known by the more popular exonym, Berber, are spread across several North African countries with the highest population in Morocco have been substantially misunderstood and differentially showcased by entities from western-school educated scholars to human, health and women’s rights organizations, to the State to the international community. This paper is an examination of the various conceptualization of the Imazighen. With the popularity of the Arab Spring movement to oust monarchical and dictatorial rulers across the Middle East and North Africa in Morocco, the Moroccan monarchy introduced various reform programs to win public favor. These included social, economic and educational reforms to incorporate marginalized groups such as the Imazighen. The monarchy has ushered Amazigh representation in public offices and landscape through Amazigh script, even though theirs has been an oral culture. After the Arab Spring, the Justice and Development party, an Islamist party took over in Morocco due to its accessibility to the masses, In Sept. 2021, unlike the case of Egypt and Tunisia where military and constitutional means were sought, Morocco successfully removed it from power through the ballot, resulting in a real victory for the neutral monarchy and its representation as a moderate, secular and liberal force for the nation. As a result, supporting the perpetuation of Amazigh linguistic identity also became synonymous to making a secular statement as a Muslim. It has led to the telling of Amazigh identity at state museums as one representing the indigenous, pure, diverse, culturally-rich and united Morocco. Reform efforts have also prioritized an amiable look towards the economic and familial links of Moroccan Jews with the few thousand families still left in the country and a showcasing through museums and cultural centers of the Jewish identity as Moroccan first. In that endeavor, it is interesting to note the coverage of Jews as the indigenous of Morocco through the embracing of their “folk” cultural and religious practices, those that are not continued outside Morocco. In this epistemology, the concept of the Moroccan Jew becomes similar to the indigenous Amazigh, both cherished as the oldest peoples of Morocco and symbols of its unity and resilience. In the urban discourse, Amazigh identity is a concept that continues to be part of the deliberations of elites and scholars graduating from French schools on the incorporation of rural and illiterate Morocco in economic and educational advancement. Yet, with the constant influx of migrants from Western Sahara into cities like Fez and Marrakesh, Amazigh has often been described as the umbrella term of those of “mixed” ethnic ancestry who constitute the country’s free population. In sum, Amazigh identity highlights the changing discourse on marginalized communities, human rights, representation, Moroccan nationhood, and regional and transnational politics. The aim of this paper is to analyze perceptions of Amazigh identity in Morocco post-2021 ousting of the Islamist party using data from state-sponsored museum displays and cultural centers collected in Summer 2022 and scholarly analyses of Amazigh identity, representation and rights in Morocco.

Keywords: Amazigh identity, Morocco, representation, state politics

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Authors: Ayyoub Jamali, Jennie Edlund, Alena Kozlová

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This paper evaluates the monitoring, prevention, and enforcing mechanisms of the core values of international organisations (IOs) in a comparative human rights perspective. The IOs in focus are the European Union, the Council of Europe, the African Union, and the Organization of American States. The paper will take the founding treaties of these IOs and their relevant protocols as a starting point to identify the values and the mechanisms used for their implementation. It will explore the scope of violations, the procedures in place and evaluate what type of response to those breaches seems to work best in terms of achieving its declared objectives. The study will identify and compare the weaknesses and strengths of each mechanism used by the IOs and recognize common challenges and means, thereby drawing inter-organizational comparisons. Consequently, the findings of this paper can be used among the IOs to improve their system and thus enhance their effectiveness.

Keywords: international organizations, core values, human rights, enforcement mechanism, compliance

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Authors: Aaron Derner

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Unlike the histories of France, the UK, or even Spain, the Russian colonial past often dissolves before the seemingly more salient Cold War figurations or Soviet dissolution. The obvious explanation behind Caucasian states’ roles—that of Russian-propped governments obeying the whims of their patron—is but the latest instance of such oversight. Where the results of colonial social and cultural interactions are indelibly stamped across France, Algeria, and every other former (and current) French holding, so to are the Muscovite and Russian colonial ambitions embedded within the modern politics and cultures of both Russia and the Caucasus. Russian colonial artefacts are enhanced and perhaps granted an additional social explanatory edge over those of the ‘typical’ colonizers, by the cyclical adoration for and noisy rejection of European cultural markers over the centuries, along with the somewhat unusual composition of the Cossacks: Russia’s main agents of colonialization within the Caucasian frontier. The story of Russia and Chechnya, of all the Caucasus, is of the manufacture of social and individual identity through “modes of subjectification” inherent within the region’s colonial history and driven by the triangular interactions between three main groups: the Cossacks, the Caucasian Mountain Tribes, and the Russian Metropol. Together, interactions between these social groups worked to shape and transform the lifestyles and institutional pathologies that constitute the Russian and Chechen states and the politics between them. At the core of this (Western) state-building is the simultaneous and seemingly contradictory desire to be more Western and emulate Western cultural and political practices while also desperately grasping for a uniquely Russian identity. This sits somewhat ironically against the backdrop that Russia hosted a frontier-based settler society and had established that distinctly European feature of settler colonialism early in its history—arguably establishing a claim to being the most “colonial” of the colonial powers. There is no doubt that these forces worked to shape contemporary Russian political and social identity—apparent in the mythic popularity of the Cossack in Russian literature, politics, and academic discourse. What needs to be expanded from the current narrative, however, is that beyond the Cossack identity’s attractiveness on the grounds of its tones of freedom and resistance to unjust authority, the identity is rooted in the imperial ambitions and colonial experiences of the Russian state, and is, therefore, a direct marker of domination and subjectification. Adding an unusual dimension to this not-uncommon cultural progression, the Russian state needed to colonize both the Caucases and the Russian Cossacks, appropriating them in much the same way they appropriated the Circassian mountain tribes. The focus of this paper is not to tell yet another story of how one culture entered an area to overpower another but how a ‘powerful,’ ‘modern,’ ‘Western(ish)’ culture was profoundly and continually changed through its contact with a group of tribal ‘savages’ and ‘braves.’

Keywords: Russia, chechnya, subjectification, caucasus, cossacks, Ukraine

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Authors: Zahid Ahmad, Nauman Ali

Abstract:

This study has estimated the trade between USA and individual members of European Union using Gravity Model of Trade as The USA has a complex trade relationship with the European countries consist of a large number of consumers, which make USA dependent on EU for major of its total world trade. However, among the member of EU, the trade potential of USA with individual members of EU is not known. Panel data techniques e.g. Random Effect, Fixed Effect and Pooled Panel have been applied to secondary quantitative data to analyze the Trade between USA and EU. Trade Potential of USA with individual members of EU has been obtained using the ratio of Actual trade of USA with EU members and the trade as predicted by Gravity Model. The Study concluded that the USA has greater trade potential with 16 members of EU, including Croatia, Portugal and United Kingdom on top. On the other hand, Finland, Ireland, and France are the top countries with which the USA has exhaustive trade potential.

Keywords: analytical technique, economic, gravity, international trade, significant

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Authors: David Hough

Abstract:

Indigenous peoples can generally be described as the original or first peoples of a land prior to colonization. While there is no single definition of indigenous peoples, the United Nations has developed a general understanding based on self-identification and historical continuity with pre-colonial societies. Indigenous peoples are often traditional holders of unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs who possess valuable knowledge and practices which support sustainable management of natural resources. They often have social, economic, political systems, languages and cultures, which are distinct from dominant groups in the society or state where they live. They generally resist attempts by the dominant culture at assimilation and endeavour to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities. In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly passed a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, known as UNDRIP. It (in addition to other international instruments such as ILO 169), sets out far-reaching guidelines, which – among other things – attempt to protect and promote indigenous languages and cultures. Paragraphs 13 and 14 of the declaration state the following regarding language, culture and education: Article 13, Paragraph 1: Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit for future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems, and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons. Article 14, Paragraph I: Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning. These two paragraphs call for the right of self-determination in education. Paragraph 13 gives indigenous peoples the right to control the content of their teaching, while Paragraph 14 states that the teaching of this content should be based on methods of teaching and learning which are appropriate to indigenous peoples. This paper reviews an approach to furthering linguistic and cultural human rights for indigenous peoples in education, which supports UNDRIP. It has been employed in countries in Asia and the Pacific, including the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Far East Russia and Nepal. It is based on bottom-up community-based initiatives where students, teachers and local knowledge holders come together to produce classroom materials in their own languages that reflect their traditional beliefs and value systems. They may include such things as knowledge about herbal medicines and traditional healing practices, local history, numerical systems, weights and measures, astronomy and navigation, canoe building, weaving and mat making, life rituals, feasts, festivals, songs, poems, etc. Many of these materials can then be mainstreamed into math, science language arts and social studies classes.

Keywords: Indigenous peoples, linguistic and cultural human rights, materials development, teacher training, traditional knowledge

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Authors: Sandhya Rijal, Saroj Adhikari, Ramesh R. Pant

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Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) have attracted substantial interest in the recent years with the increasing recognition that these can provide essential community needs for improved and diversified rural livelihood and support the objectives of biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, various challenges are witnessed in their sustainable harvest and management. Assuming that sustainable management with community stewardship can offer one of the solutions to existing challenges, the study assesses the linkages between NTFPs and rural livelihood in Lamabagar village of Dolakha, Nepal. The major objective was to document the status of NTFPs and their contributions in households of Lamabagar. For status documentation, vegetation sampling was done using systematic random sampling technique. 30 plots of 10 m × 10 m were laid down in six parallel transect lines at horizontal distance of 160 m in two different community forests. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted in 76 households (excluding non-response rate) using stratified random sampling technique for contribution analysis. Likewise, key informant interview and focus group discussions were also conducted for data triangulations. 36 different NTFPs were recorded from the vegetation sample in two community forests of which 50% were used for medicinal purposes. The other uses include fodder, religious value, and edible fruits and vegetables. Species like Juniperus indica, Daphne bholua Aconitum spicatum, and Lyonia ovalifolia were frequently used for trade as a source of income, which was sold in local market. The protected species like Taxus wallichiana and Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora were also recorded in the area for which the trade is prohibited. The protection of these species urgently needs community stewardship. More than half of the surveyed households (55%) were depending on NTFPs for their daily uses, other than economic purpose whereas 45% of them sold those products in the market directly or in the form of local handmade products as a source of livelihood. NTFPs were the major source of primary health curing agents especially for the poor and unemployed people in the study area. Hence, the NTFPs contributed to livelihood under three different categories: subsistence, supplement income and emergency support, depending upon the economic status of the households. Although the status of forest improved after handover to the user group, the availability of valuable medicinal herbs like Rhododendron anthopogon, Swertia nervosa, Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora, and Aconitum spicatum were declining. Inadequacy of technology, lack of easy transport access, and absence of good market facility were the major limitations for external trade of NTFPs in the study site. It was observed that people were interested towards conservation only if they could get some returns: economic in terms of rural settlements. Thus, the study concludes that NTFPs could contribute rural livelihood and support conservation objectives only if local communities are provided with the easy access of technology, market and capital.

Keywords: contribution, medicinal, subsistence, sustainable harvest

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Authors: P. Halder, A. Zaman

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It is estimated that heart disease accounts for one in ten deaths worldwide. United States deaths due to heart disease are among the leading causes of death according to the World Health Organization. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) account for one in four U.S. deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to statistics, women are more likely than men to die from heart disease as a result of strokes. A 50% increase in men's mortality was reported by the World Health Organization in 2009. The consequences of cardiovascular disease are severe. The causes of heart disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, abnormal pulse rates, etc. Machine learning (ML) can be used to make predictions and decisions in the healthcare industry. Thus, scientists have turned to modern technologies like Machine Learning and Data Mining to predict diseases. The disease prediction is based on four algorithms. Compared to other boosts, the Ada boost is much more accurate.

Keywords: heart disease, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, feature selection, random forest, AdaBoost, SVM, decision tree

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Authors: Obasan Kehinde

Abstract:

Social Infrastructure such as transport, telecommunications, energy, water, health, housing, and educational facilities have become part and parcel of human existence and have since been seen as prerequisite for the development of any economy. It is difficult to imagine a modern world without these facilities. Using a survey research design, data was gathered through a multi-stage sampling and a random sampling method from a total of 117 respondents, the study investigates the role of social infrastructure on the performance of entrepreneurs drawn from 10 Local Government Areas across two carefully selected states in the South-West, Nigeria. The data was analyzed using a descriptive statistical analysis and a t-test. The result shows that the impact of social infrastructure on entrepreneur performance is significant at 0.00 level of significant. Thus, this study recommends that entrepreneurs should take note of the social infrastructures available in the environment for the purpose of citing business in order to reduce the cost of production and other business costs.

Keywords: social infrastructure, entrepreneur performance, entrepreneurship, business

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Authors: Chloe Shu-Hua Yeh

Abstract:

Effects of videogame play on players cognitive abilities is a growing research field in the recent decades, however, little is known about how ‘out-of-school’ use of videogame influences creativity. This interdisciplinary research explores the cognitive and emotional effects of two different types of online videogames (an action videogame and a non-action videogame) on subsequent creativity performances using a within-participant design study with 36 participants. Results showed that after playing the action game participants performed higher originality, elaboration and flexibility than after playing the causal game. The results explored effects of emotional states elicited during playing the games suggesting that arousal may be a significant emotional factor which influence subsequent creativity performance. The cognitive and emotional effects of videogame were discussed followed with implications for emotion-creativity-videogame play research, game designers, educational practitioners and parents.

Keywords: attentional breadth, creativity, emotion, videogame play

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