Search results for: drug research

Authors: Faiz Bakhsh, Tahira Yasmeen

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The Afghan refugee children in Pakistan are considered as the most vulnerable persons in danger of being abused and treated badly as compared to the minimum criteria of the protection of refugee children under 1951 refugee convention. This paper explores the impact of the 1951 refugee convention on the protection of refugee children, affected by the armed conflict in Afghanistan, residing in refugee camps in Pakistan. Despite, protection available under Refugee Convention, there exist millions of refugees in the world, including a huge portion of women and children, that remain unprotected, and their protection remains a challenging task for the world community. This study investigates the status and number of refugees in Pakistan, especially children; protection and assistance of refugees under Refugee Convention; protection of the rights of refugee children in Pakistan; and implementation of the rules of Refugee Convention relating refugee children in Pakistan and measures for the protection of refugee children in Pakistan. This socio-legal study utilizes a qualitative research approach and applies mixed methods of data collection. The primary data is collected through the interpretation of the legal framework available for the protection of refugees as well as domestic laws of Pakistan. The secondary data is collected through previous studies available on the same topic. The result of this study indicates that lack of proper implementation of the rules, of the Refugee Convention, relating protection of refugee children cause sufferings to refugee children including the provision of basic health, nutrition, family life, education and protection from child abuse. Pakistan needs a comprehensive domestic legal framework for the protection of refugees, especially refugee children. Moreover, the government of Pakistan with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) must prioritize the protection of Afghan refugee children as per standard criteria provided by the refugee convention 1951.

Keywords: refugee children, refugee convention, armed conflict, Pakistan

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Authors: Angelika Dorawa, Lena Kreppel

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Writing in the disciplines plays a major role at Universities. On the one hand, lectures look at the substance of assignments and on the other hand, they expect students to meet professional standards of layout and proofreading. However, the integration of writing concepts into the range of subjects is new to German Universities of Applied Sciences, which are focused on technical and scientific contexts. The Westphalian University of Applied Sciences (WH) established a successful program Talente_schreiben (Writing_Talents) that was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to improve written language skills for first-semester students at the WH. Besides having the main focus on basic language skills on all language levels, we also concentrate on subject-specific programs such as writing in the disciplines and are pioneers in this field in Germany. Since 2013, we started to include learning-to-write programs since first-semester students of Business Law studies must complete a writing assignment in the form and writing style of a legal opinion in order to fulfill their undergraduate degree requirements. To support our students at its best, our course for business lawyers focuses not only on the writing skills per se, but also on teaching both, the content and the particular discourse of the discipline. Hence, a specialist in German studies and a faculty tutor share the experience of processing, producing and reflecting a text. Whereas the German studies specialist refers to the rhetorical context such as orthography, grammar etc., the tutor acts as a guide on the side referring to the course content itself. In our presentation, we want to give an insight of the practice of a business law discipline, the combination of rhetoric and composition and discuss the methodological and didactic approaches.

Keywords: German for business lawyers, talent development, pioneer program, Germany

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Authors: Tomas Drevinskas, Ruta Mickiene, Audrius Maruska, Nicola Tiso, Algirdas Salomskas, Raimundas Lelesius, Agneta Karpovaite, Ona Ragazinskiene, Loreta Kubiliene

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Antiviral effect of substances accumulated by plants and natural products is known to ethno-pharmacy and modern day medicine. Antiviral properties are usually assigned to volatile compounds and polyphenols. This research work is divided into several parts and the task of this part was to investigate potential plants, potential substances and potential preparation conditions that can be used for the preparation of antiviral agents. Sixteen different medicinal plants, their parts and two types of propolis were selected for screening. Firstly, extraction conditions of non-volatile compounds were investigated: 3 pre-selected plants were extracted with 5 different ethanol – water mixtures (96%, 75%, 60%, 40%, 20 %, vol.) and bidistilled water. Total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and radical scavenging activity was determined. The results indicated that optimal extrahent is 40%, vol. of ethanol – water mixture. Further investigations were performed with the extrahent of 40%, vol. ethanol – water mixture. All 16 of selected plants, their parts and two types of propolis were extracted using selected extrahent. Determined total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and radical scavenging activity indicated that extracts of Origanum Vulgare L., Mentha piperita L., Geranium macrorrhizum L., Melissa officinalis L. and Desmodium canadence L. contains highest amount of extractable phenolic compounds (7.31, 5.48, 7.88, 8.02 and 7.16 rutin equivalents (mg/ ml) respectively), flavonoid content (2.14, 2.23, 2.49, 0.79 and 1.51 rutin equivalents (mg/ml) respectively) and radical scavenging activity (11.98, 8.72, 13.47, 13.22 and 12.22 rutin equivalents (mg/ml) respectively). Composition of the extracts is analyzed using HPLC.

Keywords: antiviral effect, plants, propolis, phenols

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Authors: Burak M. Gonultas

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Criminal investigation provides a practical contribution to this process while criminology provides a theoretical background in the apprehension of criminals arrest and clarification of crimes. However, studies on criminal investigation, which is a practical aspect of this process, are not sufficient. Every crime involves different dynamics in terms of investigation. But investigations of serious crimes are versatile and contains complex processes because of cases they are conducted. Therefore, professionals who conduct serious crime investigations differ in some aspects from others in the field. The most fundamental element of this differentiation is skills and abilities of these professionals. According to Eurostat data, Turkey is in an important position in terms of homicide rates. Therefore, in Turkey practice of serious crime investigation is specialized. The present study aims to research the skills and abilities expected from professionals in conducting an effective serious criminal investigation in Turkey and so aims to offer a number of suggestions. 25 emerged ability and skills collected from literature were asked to professionals (n=289) with semi-structured form according to 5 provinces with the highest and 2 provinces with the lowest number of serious crime cases. Three data categories were collected during experience: 1- Five most important skills and abilities, 2- The most important skills for knowledge and inquiry management and 3- Ability and skills that stand out for five stages of serious criminal investigation. The most rated skills and abilities are investigative skill (13%, n=134), planning/designing (9,2%, n=95) and interpersonal relations/communication (8,8%, n=91) in 1010 skills and abilities. While the 1st and 2nd suggest elections of these professionals, the 3rd also suggests how and what type of training will be given to these professionals. This practice differs from other studies in the area in terms of separately addressing the skills and abilities expected in stages of investigation and in terms of selected methodology.

Keywords: ability, criminal investigation, criminology, homicide, serious crimes, skill, Turkey

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Authors: Yangwon Hyun

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Nowadays, business settings are becoming increasingly multilingual and multicultural under the conditions of globalization. When people from different linguistic and cultural background interact, their divergent cultural conceptualizations may result in communicative problems. Even though intercultural business communication between Thais and South Koreans has become increasingly significant along with the development of international trade relations, there have been very few attempts to conduct research on interactional problems in that context. Based on a Cultural Linguistics perspective, this study analyzes Thai cultural conceptualizations that underly interactional problems with Koreans at Korean business organizations where were located in Thailand. The data was gathered through in-depth interviews with ten Korean and ten Thai employees as well as through six months of field observations. The results indicate that there are three cultural pragmatic schemas that underly problems of interaction between the two groups; (1) the schema of kreng-jai as a communicative strategy of withholding one’s intentions in order to not hurt another’s emotion, (2) the schema of mai-pen-rai as a linguistic strategy of inducing interlocutors to not be concerned about substantial matters so as to avoid confrontations, and (3) the schema of jai-yen as a linguistic expression used for persuading interlocutors to maintain a calm state of mind in order to avoid conflicts. The linguistic behaviors of Thai employees in relation to these three cultural schemas had led to misunderstandings and interpersonal conflicts with Korean supervisors and co-workers. These interactional problems were caused not only because Koreans were unfamiliar with Thai cultural conceptualizations, but also because these conceptualizations were incompatible with goal-oriented Korean business discourse. The findings of this study can enhance mutual understandings between Thai and Korean employees. Thus, it contributes to the promotion of smooth intercultural communication in the workplace.

Keywords: business context, cultural conceptualizations, cultural linguistics, intercultural communication, thai culture

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Authors: Chia-Chia Chang, Jhen-Ting Huang, Hu-Cheng Weng, An-Ya Lo

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This study developed a simple hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) synthesis process and used for supercapacitor application. In which, mesopore provides huge specific surface area, meanwhile, macropore provides excellent mass transfer. Thus the hierarchical porous electrode improves the charge-discharge performance. On the other hand, cerium oxide (CeO2) have also got a lot research attention owing to its rich in content, low in price, environmentally friendly, good catalytic properties, and easy preparation. Besides, a rapid redox reaction occurs between trivalent cerium and tetravalent cerium releases oxygen atom and increase the conductivity. In order to prevent CeO2 from disintegration under long-term charge-discharge operation, the CeO2 carbon porous materials were was integrated as composite material in this study. For in the ex-situ analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis were adopted to identify the surface morphology, crystal structure, and microstructure of the composite. 77K Nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis was used to analyze the porosity of each specimen. For the in-situ test, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronopotentiometry (CP) were conducted by potentiostat to understand the charge and discharge properties. Ragone plot was drawn to further analyze the resistance properties. Based on above analyses, the effect of macropores/mespores and the CeO2/HPC ratios on charge-discharge performance were investigated. As a result, the capacitance can be greatly enhanced by 2.6 times higher than pristine mesoporous carbon electrode.

Keywords: hierarchical porous carbon, cerium oxide, supercapacitor

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Authors: Danijela Vranješ, Nataša Vukajlović

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Turning to learner-centered teaching instead of the teacher-centered approach brought a whole new perspective into the process of teaching and learning and set a new goal for improving the educational process itself. However, recently a tremendous decline in students’ performance on various standardized tests can be observed, above all on the PISA-test. The learner-centeredness on its own is not enough anymore: the students’ ability to think is deteriorating. Especially in foreign language learning, one can encounter a lot of learning by heart: whether it is grammar or vocabulary, teachers often seem to judge the students’ success merely on how well they can recall a specific word, phrase, or grammar rule, but they rarely aim to foster their ability to think. Convinced that foreign language teaching can do both, this research aims to discover how two different approaches to teaching foreign language foster the students’ ability to think as well as to what degree they help students get to the state-determined level of foreign language at the end of the semester as defined in the Common European Framework. For this purpose, two different curricula were developed: one is a traditional, learner-centered foreign language curriculum that aims at teaching the four competences as defined in the Common European Framework and serves as a control variable, whereas the second one has been enriched with various thinking routines and aims at teaching the foreign language as a means to communicate ideas and thoughts rather than reducing it to the four competences. Moreover, two types of tests were created for each approach, each based on the content taught during the semester. One aims to test the students’ competences as defined in the CER, and the other aims to test the ability of students to draw on the knowledge gained and come to their own conclusions based on the content taught during the semester. As it is an ongoing study, the results are yet to be interpreted.

Keywords: common european framework of reference, foreign language learning, foreign language teaching, testing and assignment

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Authors: Omar Alsetoohy, Mohamed Ezzat, Mahmoud Abou Kamar

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The success of a restaurant or hotel depends very much on the quality and quantity of its human resources. Thus, establishing a competitive edge through human assets requires careful attention to the practices that best leverage these assets. Usually, hotel or restaurant employees recognize customer defection as an unfavorable or unpleasant occurrence associated with failure. These failures could be in handling, communication, learning, or encouragement. Besides, employees could be afraid of blame from their colleagues and managers, which prevents them from freely discussing these mistakes with them. Such behaviors, in turn, would push employees to withdraw from the workplace. However, we have a good knowledge of the leadership outcomes, but less is known about how and why these effects occur. Accordingly, mindful leaders usually analyze the causes and underlying mechanisms of failures for work improvement. However, despite the excessive literature in the field of leadership and employee behaviors, to date, no research studies had investigated the impact of a failure-tolerant restaurant culture on the employees’ withdrawal behaviors considering the moderating role of psychological empowerment and mindful leadership. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the impact of a failure-tolerant culture on the employees’ withdrawal behaviors in fast-food restaurants in Egypt considering the moderating effects of employee empowerment and mindful leaders. This study may contribute to the existing literature by filling the gap between failure-tolerant cultures and employee withdrawal behaviors in the hospitality literature. The study may also identify the best practices for restaurant operators and managers to deal with employees' failures as an improvement tool for their performance.

Keywords: failure-tolerant culture, employees’ withdrawal behaviors psychological empowerment, mindful leadership, restaurants

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Authors: Wajih Abbassi, Zouhaier Ben Khelifa

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The present research points towards the empirical validation of three options valuation models, the ad-hoc Black-Scholes model as proposed by Berkowitz (2001), the constant elasticity of variance model of Cox and Ross (1976) and the Kou jump-diffusion model (2002). Our empirical analysis has been conducted on a sample of 26,974 options written on three indexes, the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and the Russell 2000 that were negotiated during the year 2007 just before the sub-prime crisis. We start by presenting the theoretical foundations of the models of interest. Then we use the technique of trust-region-reflective algorithm to estimate the structural parameters of these models from cross-section of option prices. The empirical analysis shows the superiority of the Kou jump-diffusion model. This superiority arises from the ability of this model to portray the behavior of market participants and to be closest to the true distribution that characterizes the evolution of these indices. Indeed the double-exponential distribution covers three interesting properties that are: the leptokurtic feature, the memory less property and the psychological aspect of market participants. Numerous empirical studies have shown that markets tend to have both overreaction and under reaction over good and bad news respectively. Despite of these advantages there are not many empirical studies based on this model partly because probability distribution and option valuation formula are rather complicated. This paper is the first to have used the technique of nonlinear curve-fitting through the trust-region-reflective algorithm and cross-section options to estimate the structural parameters of the Kou jump-diffusion model.

Keywords: jump-diffusion process, Kou model, Leptokurtic feature, trust-region-reflective algorithm, US index options

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Authors: Jennifer Holbein, Maritza Wiedel

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Background: Aging is associated with an increased risk of falls in older adults, and as a result, falls have become public health crises. However, the incidence of falls can be reduced through healthy aging and the implementation of a regular exercise and strengthening program. Public health and healthcare professionals authorize the use of evidence‐based, exercise‐focused fall interventions, but there are major obstacles to translating and disseminating research findings into healthcare practices. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of an intervention, A Matter of Balance, in terms of demand, acceptability, and implementation into current exercise programs. Subjects: Seventy-five participants from rural communities, above the age of sixty, were randomized to an intervention or attention-control of the standardized senior fitness test. Methods: Subject completes the intervention, which combines two components: (1) motivation and (2) fall-reducing physical activities with protocols derived from baseline strength and balanced assessments. Participants (n=75) took part in the program after completing baseline functional assessments as well as evaluations of their personal knowledge, health outcomes, demand, and implementation interventions. After 8-weeks of the program, participants were invited to complete follow-up assessments with results that were compared to their baseline functional analyses. Out of all the participants in the study who complete the initial assessment, approximately 80% are expected to maintain enrollment in the implemented prescription. Furthermore, those who commit to the program should show mitigation of fall risk upon completion of their final assessment.

Keywords: aging population, exercise, falls, functional assessment, healthy aging

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Authors: Dony Adriansyah Nazaruddin, Mohammad Muqtada Ali Khan

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This paper aims to present some imaginative geomorphological sites in Malaysia. This study comprises desk study and field study. Desk study was conducted by reviewing some literatures related to the topic and some geomorphosites in Malaysia. Field study was organized in 2013 and 2014 to investigate the recent situation of these sites and to take some measurements, photographs and rock samples. Some examples of imaginative geomorphosites all over Malaysia have been identified for this purpose. In Peninsular Malaysia, some geomorphosites in Langkawi Islands (the state of Kedah) have imaginative features such as a “turtle” atop the limestone hill of Setul Formation at the Kilim Geoforest Park, a “shoe” at the Kasut island of the Kilim Geoforest Park, a “lying pregnant lady” at the Dayang Bunting island of the Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park, and a “ship” of the Singa Kecil island. Meanwhile, some other examples are from the state of Kelantan, such as a mogote hill with a “human face looking upward” at Gunung Reng, Jeli District and a “boat rock” at Mount Chamah, Gua Musang District. In East Malaysia, there is only one example can be identified, it is the “Abraham Lincoln’s face” at the Deer Cave, Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. Karst landforms dominate the imaginative geomorphosites in Malaysia. The formations of these features are affected by some endogenic and exogenic processes, such as tectonic uplift, weathering (including solution), erosion, and so on. This study will recommend that these imaginative features should be conserved and developed for some purposes, such as research, education, and geotourism development in Malaysia.

Keywords: geomorphosite, geotourism, earth processes, karst landforms, Malaysia

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Authors: Sandeep Bandarwadkar, Tadas Zdankus

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To maintain a comfortable indoor temperature for its residents in the colder season, heating a building is necessary. Due to the expansion in the construction sectors, the consumption of heating energy is increasing. According to Eurostat data, in the European Union, the share of energy consumption of heating energy for space and cooling in residential buildings was around 63% in 2019. These figures indicate that heating energy still accounts for a significant portion of total energy consumption in Europe. Innovation is crucial to reduce energy consumption in buildings and achieve greater energy efficiency and sustainability. It can bring about new solutions that are smarter and more natural energy generation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The ground can serve as an effective and sustainable heat accumulator for heating and cooling. The temperature of the ground is higher than that of the ambient air in the colder period and lower in the warmer period. The building deep in the soil could use less thermal energy compared to the above-ground buildings that provide the same amount of thermal comfort. The temperature difference between the soil and the air inside the building decreases as the temperature of the soil increases. In progress, this process generates the condition that acts against heat loss. However, heat dissipates further to the consecutive layers and reaches thermal equilibrium. The charging of the ground by heat and its dissipation through the adjacent soil layers was investigated experimentally. The results of this research showed that 9% of the energy savings in partially underground buildings and 44.4% in completely underground buildings were derived from heating the space. Heat loss to the ground is treated as a charge of the soil by thermal energy. The dependence of the intensity of the charge on time was analysed and presented.

Keywords: heat transfer, accumulation of heat, underground building, soil charge

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Authors: Nicole Banton

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The maternal and infant mortality rate of Blacks is three times that of Whites in the US. Research indicates that breastfeeding lowers both. In this paper, the researcher examines how the ideas that Black/African American mothers had about breastfeeding before, during, and after pregnancy (postpartum) affected whether or not they initiated breastfeeding. The researcher used snowball sampling to recruit thirty African-American mothers from the Orlando area. At the time of her interview, each mother had at least one child who was at least three years old. Through in-depth face-to-face interviews, the researcher investigated how mothers’ healthcare providers affected their decision-making about infant feeding, as well as how the type of birth that she had (e.g., preterm, vaginal, c-section, full term) affected her actual versus idealized infant feeding practice. Through our discussions, we explored how pre-pregnancy perceptions, birth and postpartum experiences, social support, and the discourses surrounding motherhood within an African-American context affected the perceptions and experiences that the mothers in the study had with their infant feeding practice(s). Findings suggest that the pregnancy and birth experiences of the mothers in the study influenced whether or not they breastfed exclusively, combined breastfeeding and infant formula use, or used infant formula exclusively. Specifically, the interplay of invocation of agency (the ability to control their bodies before, during, and after birth), birth outcomes, and the interaction that the mothers in this study had with resources, human and material, had the highest impact on the initiation, duration, and attitude toward breastfeeding.

Keywords: African American mothers, maternal health, breastfeeding, birth, midwives, obstetricians, hospital birth, breast pumps, formula use, infant feeding, lactation consultant, postpartum, vaginal birth, c-section, familial support, social support, work, pregnancy

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Authors: Muhammad Naziru Yahaya, Mustapha Bashir Ayinde

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Noise has been recognized as a major source of pollution in many urban and semi-urban settlements. Noise pollution causes by vehicular movement in urban cities has reaches an alarming proportion due to continuous increases in vehicles and industrialization. This research aim to determine the geo-physical characteristics of the study area and to determine the level of noise generation and volume intensity in areas where noise levels are high within the metropolis and compare with NESREA and WHO standards. This study identified the various sources of noise, compared noise levels in various parts of the study area with recommended standards and determined the geo-physical characteristic of noise generated. A sound level meter Gm 1352, was used for the noise measurements. The study showed that the noise pollution levels measured in minimum noise level of 63.75 dBA and average maximum of 95.175 dBA, at some locations in Birnin Kebbi metropolis the noise level have exceeded the standard limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO), Federal Environment Protection Agency (FEPA). Results revealed that there was a considerable increase in noise pollution in First Bank roundabout and Haliru Abdu roundabout, attribute to high numbers of vehicular movement and road congestion within Birnin Kebbi. The study therefore concluded that there should be an enforcement and adherence to the regulation regarding noise pollution limit. The minimum average day noise level recorded was 67.225 dBA, and average maximum of 96.6 dBA is an indication that the noise level of Birnin Kebbi metropolis was highly unsatisfactory. Based on this, it is suggested that taking adequate measures and following the laid-down recommendations will reduce traffic noise to the barest minimum.

Keywords: decibel, noise level, pollution, sound level, traffic, highway

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Authors: David C. Nwogbo

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Examining the impact of federalism on good governance is crucial for enhancing governance in Nigeria. This study focuses on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as a case study. Employing a descriptive survey design, data was collected to explore the relationship between federalism and good governance in Abuja, Nigeria. A stratified random sampling method was used to select 289 respondents from the population of Abuja. The sample size was determined using a formula based on precision and population size. A survey questionnaire was employed to gather information on respondents' demographics, perceptions, and experiences concerning federalism and good governance in the FCT. Descriptive statistics, such as percentages and means, were utilized to analyze the study's findings. The findings provided insights into the perceptions and experiences of residents of the FCT with regard to the relationship between federalism and good governance. The results of this study will be useful for policy and decision-making related to the implementation of these concepts in Nigeria and, more specifically, in the FCT, Abuja. The study found that the majority of respondents believe that the federal system of government has not been effective in promoting accountability, transparency, and reducing corruption in Nigeria. There is a need for reforms to improve the effectiveness of the federal system in promoting good governance. These reforms include strengthening institutions, reallocation of resources, reform of the electoral system, decentralization of power, strengthening the role of the judiciary, capacity building, promoting transparency, and engagement of civil society. The findings also highlight the need for significant reforms to address these challenges and promote good governance in the country. The results of this study can be used to inform policy decisions and guide future research on the subject.

Keywords: accountability, federalism, good, governance

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Authors: Tosin T. Oye, Keng Goh, Naren Gupta, Toyosi K. Oye

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One of the most extreme difficulties confronting humankind in the twenty-first century is the consumption of energy. Non-renewable energy sources have been the fundamental energy assets for human culture. The consumption of energy sources emanating from the use of air-conditioning is still causing and has caused harm to the environment and human health. The request for energy could be double or perhaps triple in the future because of the utilization of air-conditioning systems as the worldwide population develops and emerging districts grow their economics. This has recently raised worries in sustainable development over climate change, global warming, ozone layer reduction, health issues, and possible supply problems. As a result of the improvement of way of life, air-conditioning has generally been applied. Nevertheless, environmental pollutions and health issues related with the use of air-conditioning unfolds more as often as possible. In order to diminish their level of undesirable impact on the environment, it is essential to establish suitable strategies for tackling climate change. Therefore, this paper aims to review and analyze studies in sustainability and air- conditioning and subsequently suggest strategies for combatting climate change. Future perspectives for tackling climate change are likewise suggested. The key findings revealed that it is required to establish sustainability measures to reduce the level of energy consumption and carbon emissions in a bid to effectively tackle climate change and its impact on the environment, and then raise public alertness towards the adverse impact of climate change arising from the use of air-conditioning systems. The research outcome offers valuable awareness to the general public, organizations, policymakers, and the government in making future municipal zones sustainable and more climate resilient.

Keywords: air-conditioning, climate change, environment, human health, sustainability

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Authors: Carmen M. Gonzalez-Henriquez, Mauricio A. Sarabia-Vallejos, Juan Rodriguez-Hernandez

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DMAEMA, as a monomer, has been widely studied and used in several application fields due to their pH-sensitive capacity (tertiary amine protonation), being relevant in the biomedical area as a potential carrier for drugs focused on the treatment of genetic or acquired diseases (efficient gene transfection), among others. Additionally, the inhibition of bacterial growth and, therefore, their antimicrobial activity, can be used as dual-functional antifogging/antimicrobial polymer coatings. According to their interesting physicochemical characteristics and biocompatible properties, DMAEMA was used as a monomer to synthesize a smart pH-sensitive hydrogel, namely poly(HEMA-co-PEGDA575-co-DMAEMA). Thus, different mole ratios (ranging from 5:1:0 to 0:1:5, according to the mole ratio between HEMA, PEGDA, and DEAEMA, respectively) were used in this research. The surface patterns formed via a two-step polymerization (redox- and photo-polymerization) were first chemically studied via 1H-NMR and elemental analysis. Secondly, the samples were morphologically analyzed by using Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques. Then, a particular relation between HEMA, PEGDA, and DEAEMA (0:1:5) was also characterized at three different pH (5.4, 7.4 and 8.3). The hydrodynamic radius and zeta potential of the micro-hydrogel particles (emulsion) were carried out as a possible control for morphology, exploring the effect that produces hydrogel micelle dimensions in the wavelength, height, and roughness of the wrinkled patterns. Finally, contact angle and cross-hatch adhesion test was carried out for the hydrogels supported on glass using TSM-silanized surfaces in order to measure their mechanical properties.

Keywords: wrinkled patterns, smart pH-sensitive hydrogels, hydrogel micelle diameter, adhesion tests

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Authors: Daniel Thompson, Sophie Cerutti, Muhammad Peerbux, Hansraj Bookun

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Introduction: Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause end stage renal failure in Australia, responsible for 36% of cases. Patients who require dialysis may be suitable for haemodialysis through an arteriovenous fistula (AVF), and preoperatively careful planning is required to select suitable vessels for a long-lasting fistula that provides suitable dialysis access. Due to high levels of vascular disease in diabetic patients, we sought to investigate whether there is a difference in the types of autologous AVFs created for diabetic patients in renal failure compared to their non-diabetic counterparts. Method: Data was collected from the Australasian Vascular Audit, for all vascular surgery completed at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne between 2011-2020. Patients were selected by operative type, creation of AVF, and compared in two groups, diabetic patients and patients without diabetes. Chi-squared test was utilised to determine significance. Results: Data analysis is ongoing and will be complete with updated abstract in time for the conference. Discussion: Diabetic nephropathy is the cause for roughly a third of end stage renal failure in Australia. Diabetic patients present with a unique set of challenges when it comes to dialysis access due to increased risk of peripheral vascular disease and arterial calcification. Care must be taken in the creation of fistulas to minimise complications and increase the chance of long-lasting access. Our study investigates the difference in autologous AVFs between diabetics and non-diabetics, and results may be used to influence location of fistula creation. Further research may be used to investigate patency rates of fistulas in diabetics vs non-diabetics which would further influence treatment decisions.

Keywords: dialysis, diabetes, renal access, fistula

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Authors: Rasheed Amao Busari, Ahmed Ibrahim

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The engineering properties of giant palms are crucial for the reasonable design of the processing and handling systems. The research was conducted to investigate some engineering properties of giant palm seeds in relation to their oil potential. The ripe giant palm fruit was sourced from some parts of Zaria in Kaduna State and Ado Ekiti in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The mesocarps of the fruits collected were removed to obtain the nuts, while the collected nuts were dried under ambient conditions for several days. The actual moisture content of the nuts at the time of the experiment was determined using KT100S Moisture Meter, with moisture content ranged 17.9% to 19.15%. The physical properties determined are axial dimension, geometric mean diameter, arithmetic mean diameter, sphericity, true and bulk densities, porosity, angles of repose, and coefficients of friction. The nuts were measured using a vernier caliper for physical assessment of their sizes. The axial dimensions of 100 nuts were taken and the result shows that the size ranges from 7.30 to 9.32cm for major diameter, 7.2 to 8.9 cm for intermediate diameter, and 4.2 to 6.33 for minor diameter. The mechanical properties determined were compressive force, compressive stress, and deformation both at peak and break using Instron hydraulic universal tensile testing machine. The work also revealed that giant palm seed can be classified as an oil-bearing seed. The seed gave 18% using the solvent extraction method. The results obtained from the study will help in solving the problem of equipment design, handling, and further processing of the seeds.

Keywords: giant palm seeds, engineering properties, oil potential, moisture content, and giant palm fruit

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Authors: Tien Hui Chiang

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Along with the predominant influence of neo-liberalism, public managerialism is viewed as a panacea for curing the institutionalized weakness caused by the monopoly of the public sector. In the name of efficiency, its outcome-led approach acquires a legitimate status and, in turn, it transforms into the discourse of performativity, reformulating the souls of individual members into the form of docile bodies who are willing to demonstrate their own ability in organizational contributions. The evaluation system and the organizational reconstruction are viewed as the crucial means for achieving this mission. Inevitably, university teachers are confined within a rigid and bureaucratic setting, in which they do not have too much latitude but are subject to the commands of senior administrators. However, the notion of duality highlights the interaction between structural constraints and agency. If the actor discovers the rules or properties of social structure, he/she is able to transform structural constraints into resources for developing creative actions, conceptualized as an agency. This study was designed for examining how duality operates within this hierarchical arrangement formed by public managerialism. Fourteen informants were interviewed from February to August 2014. The findings show that the evaluation system created the culture of neo-academicalism, addressing excellence in research and, in turn, motivating academic-oriented teachers. This correspondence provided a gateway for them to win honor, dignity, and prestige in groups. However, unlike the concept of duality, this agency was operating within the institutionalized context, regulated by structural constraint. Furthermore, complying with the rule/property of social structure was able to secure their advantages.

Keywords: public managerialism, social discourse, neo-academicalism, duality, structural constraint, agency

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Authors: J. K Adedeji, O. H Olowomofe, C. O Alo, S.T Ijatuyi

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The issue of high blood sugar level, the effects of which might end up as diabetes mellitus, is now becoming a rampant cardiovascular disorder in our community. In recent times, a lack of awareness among most people makes this disease a silent killer. The situation calls for urgency, hence the need to design a device that serves as a monitoring tool such as a wrist watch to give an alert of the danger a head of time to those living with high blood glucose, as well as to introduce a mechanism for checks and balances. The neural network architecture assumed 8-15-10 configuration with eight neurons at the input stage including a bias, 15 neurons at the hidden layer at the processing stage, and 10 neurons at the output stage indicating likely symptoms cases. The inputs are formed using the exclusive OR (XOR), with the expectation of getting an XOR output as the threshold value for diabetic symptom cases. The neural algorithm is coded in Java language with 1000 epoch runs to bring the errors into the barest minimum. The internal circuitry of the device comprises the compatible hardware requirement that matches the nature of each of the input neurons. The light emitting diodes (LED) of red, green, and yellow colors are used as the output for the neural network to show pattern recognition for severe cases, pre-hypertensive cases and normal without the traces of diabetes mellitus. The research concluded that neural network is an efficient Accu-Chek design tool for the proper monitoring of high glucose levels than the conventional methods of carrying out blood test.

Keywords: Accu-Check, diabetes, neural network, pattern recognition

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Authors: Swati Bajpai, S. P. K Jena

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Background: There is dramatic increase in the prevalence and severity of overweight in adolescents, raising concerns about their psychosocial and cognitive consequences, thereby indicating the immediate need to understand the effects of increased weight on scholastic performance. Although the body of research is currently limited, available results have identified an inverse relationship between obesity and cognition in adolescents. Aim: to examine the association between increased Body Mass Index in adolescents and their neurocognitive functioning. Methods: A case –control study of 28 subjects in the age group of 11-17 years (14 Males and 14 females) was taken on the basis of main inclusion criteria (Body Mass Index). All of them were randomized to (experimental group: overweight) and (control group: normal weighted). A complete neurocognitive assessment was carried out using validated psychological scales namely, Color Progressive Matrices (to assess intelligence); Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test (Perceptual motor functioning); PGI-Memory Scale for Children (memory functioning) and Malin’s Intelligence Scale Indian Children (verbal and performance ability). Results: statistical analysis of the results depicted that 57% of the experimental group lack in cognitive abilities, especially in general knowledge (99.1±12.0 vs. 102.8±6.7), working memory (91.5±8.4 vs. 93.1±8.7), concrete ability (82.3±11.5 vs. 92.6±1.7) and perceptual motor functioning (1.5±1.0 vs. 0.3±0.9) as compared to control group. Conclusion: Our investigations suggest that weight gain results, at least in part, from a neurological predisposition characterized by reduced executive function, and in turn obesity itself has a compounding negative impact on the brain. Though, larger sample is needed to make more affirmative claims.

Keywords: adolescents, body mass index, neurocognition, obesity

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Authors: Khuram Nawaz Sadozai, Sonia

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The agriculture sector is deemed more vulnerable to climate change as its variation can directly affect the crop’s productivity, but farmers’ adaptation strategies play a vital role in climate change-agriculture relationship. Therefore, this research has been undertaken to assess the Climate Change impact on wheat productivity and farmers’ adaptability strategies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. The panel dataset was analyzed to gauge the impact of changing climate variables (i.e., temperature, rainfall, and humidity) on wheat productivity from 1985 to 2015. Amid the study period, the fixed effect estimates confirmed an inverse relationship of temperature and rainfall on the wheat yield. The impact of temperature is observed to be detrimental as compared to the rainfall, causing 0.07 units reduction in the production of wheat with 1C upsurge in temperature. On the flip side, humidity revealed a positive association with the wheat productivity by confirming that high humidity could be beneficial to the production of the crop over time. Thus, this study ensures significant nexus between agricultural production and climatic parameters. However, the farming community in the underlying study area has limited knowledge about the adaptation strategies to lessen the detrimental impact of changing climate on crop yield. It is recommended that farmers should be well equipped with training and advanced agricultural management practices under the realm of climate change. Moreover, innovative technologies pertinent to the agriculture system should be encouraged to handle the challenges arising due to variations in climate factors.

Keywords: climate change, fixed effect model, panel data, wheat productivity

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Authors: M. J. Matulino, Carissa Ganong, Mark Mills, Jazmine Harry

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Large Woody Debris (LWD), defined as wooden debris with a diameter of at least 10 cm and a length of 2 m, serves as a crucial resource and habitat for aquatic organisms. While research on the ecological impacts of LWD has been conducted in temperate streams, LWD's influence on tropical stream biodiversity remains understudied, making this investigation particularly valuable for future conservation efforts. The Sura River in La Selva Biological Station includes both LWD and open channel sites. We sampled paired LWD and open-channel sites using minnow traps, Promar traps, and dip nets. Vertebrates were identified as species, while macroinvertebrates were identified to order level. We quantified abundance, richness, and Shannon diversity at each. We captured a total of 467 individuals, including 2 turtles, 17 fishes, 1 freshwater crab, 39 shrimp, and 408 other macroinvertebrates. Total abundance was significantly higher in LWD sites. Species richness was marginally higher in LWD sites, but the Shannon diversity index did not differ significantly with habitat. Shrimp (Macrobrachium olfersi) length was significantly higher in LWD areas. Increased food resources and microhabitat availability could contribute to higher abundance, richness, and organismal size in LWD environments. This study fills a critical gap by investigating LWD effects in a tropical environment, providing valuable insights for conservation efforts and the preservation of aquatic biodiversity.

Keywords: large woody debris (LWD), aquatic organisms, ecological impacts, tropical stream biodiversity, conservation efforts

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Authors: Malik Abid Hussain Khokhar, Muhammad Adnan Tahir, Hisham Bin Hafeez Awan

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Continuous environmental determinism and climatic change in the entire globe due to increasing land surface temperature (LST) has become a vital phenomenon nowadays. LST is accelerating because of increasing greenhouse gases in the environment which results of melting down ice caps, ice sheets and glaciers. It has not only worse effects on vegetation and water bodies of the region but has also severe impacts on monsoon areas in the form of capricious rainfall and monsoon failure extensive precipitation. Environment can be monitored with the help of various geographic information systems (GIS) based algorithms i.e. SC (Single), DA (Dual Angle), Mao, Sobrino and SW (Split Window). Estimation of LST is very much possible from digital image processing of satellite imagery. This paper will encompass extraction of LST of Abbottabad using SW technique of GIS and Remote Sensing over last ten years by means of Landsat 7 ETM+ (Environmental Thematic Mapper) and Landsat 8 vide their Thermal Infrared (TIR Sensor) and Optical Land Imager (OLI sensor less Landsat 7 ETM+) having 100 m TIR resolution and 30 m Spectral Resolutions. These sensors have two TIR bands each; their emissivity and spectral radiance will be used as input statistics in SW algorithm for LST extraction. Emissivity will be derived from Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) threshold methods using 2-5 bands of OLI with the help of e-cognition software, and spectral radiance will be extracted TIR Bands (Band 10-11 and Band 6 of Landsat 7 ETM+). Accuracy of results will be evaluated by weather data as well. The successive research will have a significant role for all tires of governing bodies related to climate change departments.

Keywords: environment, Landsat 8, SW Algorithm, TIR

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Authors: K. P. Gogoi

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The current research study investigates the motivational pattern viz Power motivation among the tribal college students of Assam. The sample consisted of 240 college students (120 tribal and 120 non-tribal) ranging from 18-24 years, 60 males and 60 females for both tribal’s and non-tribal’s. Attempts were made to include all the prominent tribes of Assam viz. Thematic Apperception Test, Power motive Scale and a semi structured interview schedule were used to gather information about their family types, parental deprivation, parental relations, social and political belongingness. Mean, Standard Deviation, and t-test were the statistical measures adopted in this 2x2 factorial design study. In addition to this discriminant analysis has been worked out to strengthen the predictive validity of the obtained data. TAT scores reveal significant difference between the tribal’s and non-tribal on power motivation. However results obtained on gender difference indicates similar scores among both the cultures. Cross validation of the TAT results was done by using the power motive scale by T. S. Dapola which confirms the results on need for power through TAT scores. Power motivation has been studied in three directions i.e. coercion, inducement and restraint. An interesting finding is that on coercion tribal’s score high showing significant difference whereas in inducement or seduction the non-tribal’s scored high showing significant difference. On the other hand on restraint no difference exists between both cultures. Discriminant analysis has been worked out between the variables n-power, coercion, inducement and restraint. Results indicated that inducement or seduction (.502) is the dependent measure which has the most discriminating power between these two cultures.

Keywords: power motivation, tribal, social, political, predictive validity, cross validation, coercion, inducement, restraint

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Authors: Khadijah Saeed Khan

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One of the major current societal issues of Swedish society is to integrate newcomer refugees well into the host society. The cultural integration issue is one of the under debated topic in the literature, and this study intends to meet this gap from the Swedish perspective. The purpose of this study is to explore the role and types of cultural landscapes of refugee women in Sweden and how these landscapes help or hinder the settlement process. The cultural landscapes are referred to as a set of multiple cultural activities or practices which refugees perform in a specific context and circumstances (i.e., being in a new country) to seek, share or use relevant information for their settlement. Information plays a vital role in various aspects of newcomers' lives in a new country. This article has an intention to highlight the importance of multiple cultural landscapes as a source of information (regarding employment, language learning, finding accommodation, immigration matters, health concerns, school and education, family matters, and other everyday matters) for refugees to settle down in Sweden. Some relevant theories, such as information landscapes and socio-cultural theories, are considered in this study. A qualitative research design is employed, including semi-structured deep interviews and participatory observation with 20 participants. The initial findings show that the refugee women encounter many information-related and integration-related challenges in Sweden and have built a network of cultural landscapes in which they practice various co-ethnic cultural and religious activities at different times of the year. These landscapes help them to build a sense of belonging with people from their own or similar land and assist them to seek and share relevant information in everyday life in Sweden.

Keywords: cultural integration, cultural landscapes, information, women refugees

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Authors: Vivian Khamis

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Exposure to war and forced migration have been widely linked to child subsequent adaptation. What remains sparse is research spanning multiple risk and protective factors and examining their unique and relative implications to difficulties in mental health among refugee girls. This study investigated the mechanisms through which posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), emotion dysregulation , neuroticism, and behavioral and emotional disorders in Syrian refugee girls is impacted by exposure to war traumas, age, and other risk and protective factors such as coping styles, family relationships, and school environment. The sample consisted of 539 Syrian refugee girls who ranged in age from 7 to 18 years attending public schools in various governorates in Lebanon and Jordan. Two school counselors carried out the interviews with children at school. Results indicated that war trauma, older age, and a combination of negative copying style associated with conflict in the family could lead to an overall state of emotion dysregulation, neuroticism, behavioral and emotional disorders, and PTSD in refugee girls. On the other hand, lapse of time since resettlement in host country, positive copying style, cohesion, and expressiveness in the family would lead to more positive mental health status, including lower levels of emotion dysregulation, neuroticism, behavioral and emotional disorders, and PTSD . Enhanced understanding of the mechanistic role of risk and protective factors in contributing to difficulties in mental health in refugee girls may contribute to the development of effective interventions to target the psychological effects of the refugee experience.

Keywords: refugee girls, PTSD, emotion dysregulation, neuroticism, behavioral and emotional disorders

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Authors: Ryan Brisbin, Hassan Harb, Justin Debow, Hrant Hratchian, Ryan Baxter

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Donor-Acceptor (DA) frameworks are crucial parts of any technology requiring charge transport. This type of behavior is ubiquitous across technologies from semi conductors to solar panels. Currently, most DA systems involve metallic components, but progressive research is being pursued to design fully organic DA systems to be used as both organic semi-conductors and light emitting diodes. These systems are currently comprised of conductive polymers and salts. However, little is known about the effect of various physical aspects (size, torsional angle, electron density) have on the act of reversible charge transfer. Herein, the effect of torsional angle on reductive stability in bis(imino)pyridines is analyzed using a combination of single crystal analysis and electro-chemical peak current ratios from cyclic voltammetry. The computed free energies of reduction and electron attachment points were also investigated through density functional theory and natural ionization orbital theory to gain greater understanding of the global effect torsional angles have on electron transfer in bis(imino)pyridines. Findings indicated that torsional angles are a multi-variable parameter affected by both local steric constraints and resonant electronic contributions. Local steric impacted torsional angles demonstrated a negligible effect on electrochemical reversibility, while resonant affected torsional angles were observed to significantly alter the electrochemical reversibility.

Keywords: cyclic voltammetry, bis(imino)pyridines, structure-activity relationship, torsional angles

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Authors: W. A. M. Abdel Kawy, Kh. M. Darwish

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Adequate land use selection is an essential step towards achieving sustainable development. The main object of this study is to develop a new scale for land suitability system, which can be compatible with the local conditions. Furthermore, it aims to adapt the conventional land suitability systems to match the actual environmental status in term of soil types, climate and other conditions to evaluate land suitability for newly reclaimed areas. The new system suggests calculation of land suitability considering 20 factors affecting crop selection grouping into five categories; crop-agronomic, land management, development, environmental conditions and socio – economic status. Each factor is summed by each other to calculate the total points. The highest rating for each factor indicates the highest preference for the evaluated crop. The highest rated crops for each group are those with the highest points for the actual suitability. This study was conducted to assess the application efficiency of the new land suitability scale in recently reclaimed sites in Egypt. Moreover, 35 representative soil profiles were examined, and soil samples were subjected to some physical and chemical analysis. Actual and potential suitabilities were calculated by using the new land suitability scale. Finally, the obtained results confirmed the applicability of a new land suitability system to recommend the most promising crop rotation that can be applied in the study areas. The outputs of this research revealed that the integration of different aspects for modeling and adapting a proposed model provides an effective and flexible technique, which contribute to improve land suitability assessment for several crops to be more accurate and reliable.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, land suitability, multi-criteria analysis, new reclaimed areas, soil parameters

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