Search results for: aims and objectives of quality education

Authors: Payal Sudhan

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Popular films in India, Bollywood, and other local industries make a range of commercial films that attract vast viewership. Love, Heroism, Action, Adventure, Revenge, etc., are some of the dearest themes chosen by many filmmakers of various popular film Industries across the world. However, sexuality has become an issue to address within the cinema. Such films feature in small numbers compared to other themes. One can easily assume that homosexuality is unlikely to be a favorite theme found in Indian popular cinema. It doesn’t mean that there is absolutely no film made on the issues of homosexuality. There have been several attempts. Earlier, some movies depicted homosexual (gay) characters as comedians, which continued until the beginning of the 21st century. The study aims to explore how modern homophobia and stereotype are represented in the films and how it affects homosexuality in the recent Malayalam Cinema. The study wills primarily focusing on Mumbai Police (2013) and My Life Partner (2014). The study tries to explain social space, the idea of a cure, and criminality. The film that has been selected for the analysis Mumbai Police (2013) is a crime thriller. The nonlinear narration of the movie reveals, towards the end, the murderer of ACP Aryan IPS, who was shot dead in a public meeting. In the end, the culprit is the enquiring officer, ACP Antony Moses, himself a close friend and colleague of the victim. Much to one’s curiosity, the primary cause turns out to be the sexual relation Antony has. My Life Partner generically can be classified as a drama. The movie puts forth male bonding and visibly riddles the notions of love and sex between Kiran and his roommate Richard. Running through the same track, the film deals with a different ‘event.’ The ‘event’ is the exclusive celebration of male bonding. The socio-cultural background of the cinema is heterosexual. The elements of heterosexual social setup meet the ends of diplomacy of the Malayalam queer visual culture. The film reveals the life of two gays who were humiliated by the larger heterosexual society. In the end, Kiran dies because of extreme humiliation. The paper is a comparative and cultural analysis of the two movies, My Life Partner and Mumbai Police. I try to bring all the points of comparison together and explain the similarities and differences, how one movie differs from another. Thus, my attempt here explains how stereotypes and homophobia with other related issues are represented in these two movies.

Keywords: queer cinema, homophobia, malayalam cinema, queer films

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Authors: Wadha Alqahtani

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In recent times, polymers have seen a great surge in interest in the field of medicine, particularly chemotherapeutics. One recent innovation is the conversion of polymeric materials into “polymeric nanoparticles”. These nanoparticles can be designed and modified to encapsulate and transport drugs selectively to cancer cells, minimizing collateral damage to surrounding healthy tissues, and improve patient quality of life. In this study, we have synthesized pseudo-branched polyester polymers from bio-based small molecules, including sorbitol, glutaric acid and a propargylic acid derivative to further modify the polymer to make it “click-able" with an azide-modified target ligand. Melt polymerization technique was used for this polymerization reaction, using lipase enzyme catalyst NOVO 435. This reaction was conducted between 90- 95 °C for 72 hours. The polymer samples were collected in 24-hour increments for characterization and to monitor reaction progress. The resulting polymer was purified with the help of methanol dissolving and filtering with filter paper then characterized via NMR, GPC, FTIR, DSC, TGA and MALDI-TOF. Following characterization, these polymers were converted to a polymeric nanoparticle drug delivery system using solvent diffusion method, wherein DiI optical dye and chemotherapeutic drug Taxol can be encapsulated simultaneously. The efficacy of the nanoparticle’s apoptotic effects were analyzed in-vitro by incubation with prostate cancer (LNCaP) and healthy (CHO) cells. MTT assays and fluorescence microscopy were used to assess the cellular uptake and viability of the cells after 24 hours at 37 °C and 5% CO2 atmosphere. Results of the assays and fluorescence imaging confirmed that the nanoparticles were successful in both selectively targeting and inducing apoptosis in 80% of the LNCaP cells within 24 hours without affecting the viability of the CHO cells. These results show the potential of using biodegradable polymers as a vehicle for receptor-specific drug delivery and a potential alternative for traditional systemic chemotherapy. Detailed experimental results will be discussed in the e-poster.

Keywords: chemotherapeutic drug, click chemistry, nanoparticle, prostat cancer

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Authors: Hillary Mwongyera

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The Semliki basin has become a frontier for petroleum exploration in recent years. Exploration efforts have resulted into extensive seismic data acquisition and drilling of three wells namely; Turaco 1, Turaco 2 and Turaco 3. A petrophysical analysis of the Turaco 1 well was carried out to identify two reservoir zones on which AVO modeling was performed. A combination of seismic modeling and rock physics modeling was applied during reservoir characterization and monitoring to determine variations of seismic responses with amplitude characteristics. AVO intercept gradient analysis applied on AVO synthetic CDP gathers classified AVO anomalies associated with both reservoir zones as Class 1 AVO anomalies. Fluid replacement modeling was carried out on both reservoir zones using homogeneous mixing and patchy saturation patterns to determine effects of fluid substitution on rock property interactions. For both homogeneous mixing and saturation patterns, density (ρ) showed an increasing trend with increasing brine substitution while Shear wave velocity (Vs) decreased with increasing brine substitution. A study of compressional wave velocity (Vp) with increasing brine substitution for both homogeneous mixing and patchy saturation gave quite interesting results. During patchy saturation, Vp increased with increasing brine substitution. During homogeneous mixing however, Vp showed a slightly decreasing trend with increasing brine substitution but increased tremendously towards and at full brine saturation. A sensitivity analysis carried out showed that density was a very sensitive rock property responding to brine saturation except at full brine saturation during homogeneous mixing where Vp showed greater sensitivity with brine saturation. Rock physics modeling was performed to predict diagnostics of reservoir quality using an inverse deterministic approach which showed low shale content and a high degree of shale stiffness within reservoir zones.

Keywords: Amplitude Versus Offset (AVO), fluid replacement modelling, reservoir characterization, AVO attributes, rock physics modelling, reservoir monitoring

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Authors: Bencherif Kada

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In forest management practice, landscape and Mediterranean forest are never posed as linked objects. But sustainable forestry requires the valorization of the forest landscape and this aim involves assessing the spatial distribution of biodiversity by mapping forest landscaped units and subunits and by monitoring the environmental trends. This contribution aims to highlight, through object-oriented classifications, the landscaped biodiversity of the National Park of Tlemcen (Algeria). The methodology used is based on ground data and on the basic processing units of object-oriented classification that are segments, so-called image-objects, representing a relatively homogenous units on the ground. The classification of Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) imagery is performed on image objects, and not on pixels. Advantages of object-oriented classification are to make full use of meaningful statistic and texture calculation, uncorrelated shape information (e.g., length-to-width ratio, direction and area of an object, etc.) and topological features (neighbor, super-object, etc.), and the close relation between real-world objects and image objects. The results show that per object classification using the k-nearest neighbor’s method is more efficient than per pixel one. It permits to simplify the content of the image while preserving spectrally and spatially homogeneous types of land covers such as Aleppo pine stands, cork oak groves, mixed groves of cork oak, holm oak and zen oak, mixed groves of holm oak and thuja, water plan, dense and open shrub-lands of oaks, vegetable crops or orchard, herbaceous plants and bare soils. Texture attributes seem to provide no useful information while spatial attributes of shape, compactness seem to be performant for all the dominant features, such as pure stands of Aleppo pine and/or cork oak and bare soils. Landscaped sub-units are individualized while conserving the spatial information. Continuously dominant dense stands over a large area were formed into a single class, such as dense, fragmented stands with clear stands. Low shrublands formations and high wooded shrublands are well individualized but with some confusion with enclaves for the former. Overall, a visual evaluation of the classification shows that the classification reflects the actual spatial state of the study area at the landscape level.

Keywords: forest, oaks, remote sensing, biodiversity, shrublands

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Authors: Y. Teterin, S. Suleymanova, I. Dmitriev, P. Yartcev

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Introduction: One of the most common complications after pancreas transplantation are pancreatic fluid collections (PFCs), which are often complicated not only by infection and subsequent disfunction of the pancreatoduodenal graft (PDG), but also with a rather high mortality rate of recipients. Drainage is not always effective and often requires repeated open surgical interventions, which worsens the outcome of the surgery. Percutaneous drainage of PFCs combined with endoscopic stenting of the main pancreatic duct of the pancreatoduodenal graft (MPDPDG) showed high efficiency in the treatment of PFCs. Aims & Methods: From 01.01.2012 to 31.12.2021 at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine were performed 64 transplantations of PDG. In 11 cases (17.2%), the early postoperative period was complicated by the formation of PFCs. Of these, 7 patients underwent percutaneous drainage of pancreonecrosis with high efficiency and did not required additional methods of treatment. In the remaining 4 patients, drainage was ineffective and was an indication for endoscopic stenting of the MPDPDG. They were the ones who made up the study group. Among them were 3 men and 1 woman. The mean age of the patients was 36,4 years.PFCs in these patients formed on days 1, 12, 18, and 47 after PDG transplantation. We used a gastroscope to stent the MPDPDG, due to anatomical features of the location of the duodenoduodenal anastomosis after PDG transplantation. Through the endoscope channel was performed selective catheterization of the MPDPDG, using a catheter and a guidewire, followed by its contrasting with a water-soluble contrast agent. Due to the extravasation of the contrast, was determined the localization of the defect in the PDG duct system. After that, a plastic pancreatic stent with a diameter of 7 Fr. and a length of 7 cm. was installed along guidewire. The stent was installed in such a way that its proximal edge completely covered the defect zone, and the distal one was determined in the intestinal lumen. Results: In all patients PDG pancreaticography revealed extravasation of a contrast in the area of the isthmus and body of the pancreas, which required stenting of the MPDPDG. In 1 (25%) case, the patient had a dislocation of the stent into the intestinal lumen (III degree according to Clavien-Dindo (2009)). This patient underwent repeated endoscopic stenting of the MPDPDG. On average 23 days after endoscopic stenting of the MPDPDG, the drainage tubes were removed and after approximately 40 days all patients were discharged in a satisfactory condition with follow-up endocrinologist and surgeon consultation. Pancreatic stents were removed after 6 months ± 7 days. Conclusion: Endoscopic stenting of the main pancreatic duct of the donor pancreas is by far the most highly effective and minimally invasive method in the treatment of PFCs after transplantation of the pancreatoduodenal complex.

Keywords: pancreas transplantation, endoscopy surgery, diabetes, stenting, main pancreatic duct

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Authors: Alexander A. Karabutov, Natalia B. Podymova, Elena B. Cherepetskaya

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The theoretical analysis is carried out to get the relation between the ultrasonic wave velocity and the value of residual stresses. The laser-ultrasonic method is developed to evaluate the residual stresses and subsurface defects in metals. The method is based on the laser thermooptical excitation of longitudinal ultrasonic wave sand their detection by a broadband piezoelectric detector. A laser pulse with the time duration of 8 ns of the full width at half of maximum and with the energy of 300 µJ is absorbed in a thin layer of the special generator that is inclined relative to the object under study. The non-uniform heating of the generator causes the formation of a broadband powerful pulse of longitudinal ultrasonic waves. It is shown that the temporal profile of this pulse is the convolution of the temporal envelope of the laser pulse and the profile of the in-depth distribution of the heat sources. The ultrasonic waves reach the surface of the object through the prism that serves as an acoustic duct. At the interface ‚laser-ultrasonic transducer-object‘ the conversion of the most part of the longitudinal wave energy takes place into the shear, subsurface longitudinal and Rayleigh waves. They spread within the subsurface layer of the studied object and are detected by the piezoelectric detector. The electrical signal that corresponds to the detected acoustic signal is acquired by an analog-to-digital converter and when is mathematically processed and visualized with a personal computer. The distance between the generator and the piezodetector as well as the spread times of acoustic waves in the acoustic ducts are the characteristic parameters of the laser-ultrasonic transducer and are determined using the calibration samples. There lative precision of the measurement of the velocity of longitudinal ultrasonic waves is 0.05% that corresponds to approximately ±3 m/s for the steels of conventional quality. This precision allows one to determine the mechanical stress in the steel samples with the minimal detection threshold of approximately 22.7 MPa. The results are presented for the measured dependencies of the velocity of longitudinal ultrasonic waves in the samples on the values of the applied compression stress in the range of 20-100 MPa.

Keywords: laser-ultrasonic method, longitudinal ultrasonic waves, metals, residual stresses

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Authors: Beatriz Garcia-Juan, Ana B. Escrig-Tena, Vicente Roca-Puig

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The aim of this article is to conduct a theoretical and empirical study in order to examine how the goal orientation (GO) of public employees affects the relationship between the structural and psychological empowerment that they experience at their workplaces. In doing so, we follow structural empowerment (SE) and psychological empowerment (PE) conceptualizations, and relate them to the public administration framework. Moreover, we review arguments from GO theories, and previous related contributions. Empowerment has emerged as an important issue in the public sector organization setting in the wake of mainstream New Public Management (NPM), the new orientation in the public sector that aims to provide a better service for citizens. It is closely linked to the drive to improve organizational effectiveness through the wise use of human resources. Nevertheless, it is necessary to combine structural (managerial) and psychological (individual) approaches in an integrative study of empowerment. SE refers to a set of initiatives that aim the transference of power from managerial positions to the rest of employees. PE is defined as psychological state of competence, self-determination, impact, and meaning that an employee feels at work. Linking these two perspectives will lead to arrive at a broader understanding of the empowerment process. Specifically in the public sector, empirical contributions on this relationship are therefore important, particularly as empowerment is a very useful tool with which to face the challenges of the new public context. There is also a need to examine the moderating variables involved in this relationship, as well as to extend research on work motivation in public management. It is proposed the study of the effect of individual orientations, such as GO. GO concept refers to the individual disposition toward developing or confirming one’s capacity in achievement situations. Employees’ GO may be a key factor at work and in workforce selection processes, since it explains the differences in personal work interests, and in receptiveness to and interpretations of professional development activities. SE practices could affect PE feelings in different ways, depending on employees’ GO, since they perceive and respond differently to such practices, which is likely to yield distinct PE results. The model is tested on a sample of 521 Spanish local authority employees. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test the research hypotheses using SPSS 22 computer software. The results do not confirm the direct link between SE and PE, but show that learning goal orientation has considerable moderating power in this relationship, and its interaction with SE affects employees’ PE levels. Therefore, the combination of SE practices and employees’ high levels of LGO are important factors for creating psychologically empowered staff in public organizations.

Keywords: goal orientation, moderating effect, psychological empowerment, structural empowerment

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Authors: Alshutwi Sitah

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Many countries around the world are struggling to maintain an adequate number of nurses. Inadequate nursing staffing could compromise the quality of patient care. Among many factors that contribute to registered nurses (RN) turnover, the influence of work–family conflict (WFC) has gained little attention. WFC was found to be significantly associated with increased turnover intention (TI) among employees. Furthermore, WFC has been linked to a number of negative consequences, including lower job satisfaction and organizational commitment, sleep insufficiency, insomnia symptoms, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, sleep insufficiency, and high cholesterol. In an effort to find strategies to manage the consequences of WFC, many behavioral, psychological, and career scholars have focused on the role of supervisor support. Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (FSSB) has been found to be a promising approach contributing to the reduction of TI in employees’ experiencing WFC. Despite the importance of work–family issues and the influence of FSSB, limited studies have been conducted among the nursing population and none were found that included a sample from Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the main Purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of FSSB on the relationship among WFC, Stress, and TI in Saudi Arabian registered nurses. Method: A cross-sectional study. Sample: Convenience sampling; 113 Saudi female nurse. Result: Fifty percent of nurses intended to leave their workplace, 68 % of nurses reported having a conflict between work and family, and 44% reported having a high level of stress. A significant positive correlation was found between WFC and TI (r= .43, P < 0.01). A negative correlation was found between FSSB and TI (r= -.53, P < 0.01). Both WFC and stress were associated with TI; however, these associations were buffered (weaken), when nurses had higher FSSB. Conclusion: The FSSB could be seen as a tool to help married, female nurses to demonstrate their professional role without compromising their family responsibilities. Nurses’ turnover is a complex issue that may require multiple prevention strategies; however, enhancing FSSB could be a key resource for maintaining a positive workplace environment and reducing TI.

Keywords: turnover intention, work-family conflict, supervisor support, nursing retention

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Authors: N. Dunleavy, E. Lovemore, K. Siljeur, D. Jackson, M. Hendricks, M. Hoosain, N. Plastow, S. Marais

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Background: The work requirements of sewing machine operators cause physical and emotional strain. Past ergonomic interventions have been provided to alleviate physical concerns; however, a holistic, multimodal intervention was needed to improve these factors. Aim: The study aimed to examine the effect of an occupational therapy programme on sewing machine operators’ pain, mental health, and productivity within a factory in the South African context. Methods: A pilot randomised control trial was conducted with 22 sewing machine operators within a single factory. Stratified randomisation was used to determine the experimental (EG) and control groups (CG), using measures for pain intensity, level of depression (mental health), and productivity rates as stratification variables. The EG received the multimodal intervention, incorporating education, seating adaptations, and mental health intervention. In three months, the CG will receive the same intervention. Pre- and post-intervention testing have occurred with upcoming three- and six-month follow-ups. Results: Immediate results indicate a statistically significant decrease in pain in both experimental and control groups; no change in productivity scores and depression between the two groups. This may be attributed to external factors. The values for depression further showed no statistical significance between the two groups and within pre-and post-test results. The Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS) version-24 was used as the data analysis testing, where all the tests will be evaluated at a 5% significance level. Contribution of research: The research adds to the body of knowledge informing the Occupational Therapy role in work settings, providing evidence on the effectiveness of workplace-based multimodal interventions. Conclusion: The study provides initial data on the effectiveness of a pilot randomised control trial on pain and mental health in South Africa. Results indicated no quantitative change between the experimental and control groups; however, qualitative data suggest a clinical significance of the findings.

Keywords: ergonomics programme, occupational therapy, sewing machine operators, workplace-based multimodal interventions

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Authors: K. Premakumar, R. G. Lakmali, S. M. A. C. U. Senarathna

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In the present world, production and consumption of fruit and vegetable beverages have increased owing to the healthy life style of the people. Therefore, a study was conducted to develop composite vegetable squash by incorporating nutritional, medicinal and organoleptic properties of tomato, pumpkin and ginger. Considering the finding of several preliminary studies, five formulations in different combinations tomato pumpkin were taken and their physico-chemical parameters such as pH, TSS, titrable acidity, ascorbic acid content and total sugar and organoleptic parameters such as colour, aroma, taste, nature, overall acceptability were analyzed. Then the best sample was improved by using 1 % ginger (50% tomato+ 50% pumpkin+ 1% ginger). Best three formulations were selected for storage studied. The formulations were stored at 30 °C room temperature and 70-75% of RH for 12 weeks. Physicochemical parameters , organoleptic and microbial activity (total plate count, yeast and mold, E-coil) were analyzed during storage periods and protein content, fat content, ash were also analysed%.The study on the comparison of physico-chemical and sensory qualities of stored Squashes was done up to 12 weeks storage periods. The nutritional analysis of freshly prepared tomato pumpkin vegetable squash formulations showed increasing trend in titratable acidity, pH, total sugar, non -reducing sugar, total soluble solids and decreasing trend in ascorbic acid and reducing sugar with storage periods. The results of chemical analysis showed that, there were the significant different difference (p < 0.05) between tested formulations. Also, sensory analysis also showed that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) for organoleptic character characters between squash formulations. The highest overall acceptability was observed in formulation with 50% tomato+ 50% pumpkin+1% ginger and all the all the formulations were microbiologically safe for consumption. Based on the result of physico-chemical characteristics, sensory attributes and microbial test, the Composite Vegetable squash with 50% tomato+50% pumpkin+1% ginger was selected as best formulation and could be stored for 12 weeks without any significant changes in quality characteristics.

Keywords: nutritional analysis, formulations, sensory attributes, squash

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Authors: Ourvashi Bissoon

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Sub-Saharan Africa in addition to being resource rich is increasingly being seen as having a huge growth potential and as a result, is increasingly attracting MNEs on its soil. To empirically assess the effectiveness of GDP in tracking sustainable resource use and the role played by MNEs in Sub-Saharan Africa, a panel data analysis has been undertaken for 32 countries over thirty-five years. The time horizon spans the period 1980-2014 to reflect the evolution from before the publication of the pioneering Brundtland report on sustainable development to date. Multinationals’ presence is proxied by the level of FDI stocks. The empirical investigation first focuses on the impact of trade openness and MNE presence on the traditional measure of economic growth namely the GDP growth rate, and then on the genuine savings (GS) rate, a measure of weak sustainability developed by the World Bank, which assumes the substitutability between different forms of capital and finally, the impact on the adjusted Net National Income (aNNI), a measure of green growth which caters for the depletion of natural resources is examined. For countries with significant exhaustible natural resources and important foreign investor presence, the adjusted net national income (aNNI) can be a better indicator of economic performance than GDP growth (World Bank, 2010). The issue of potential endogeneity and reverse causality is also addressed in addition to robustness tests. The findings indicate that FDI and openness contribute significantly and positively to the GDP growth of the countries in the sample; however there is a threshold level of institutional quality below which FDI has a negative impact on growth. When the GDP growth rate is substituted for the GS rate, a natural resource curse becomes evident. The rents being generated from the exploitation of natural resources are not being re-invested into other forms of capital namely human and physical capital. FDI and trade patterns may be setting the economies in the sample on a unsustainable path of resource depletion. The resource curse is confirmed when utilising the aNNI as well, thus implying that GDP growth measure may not be a reliable to capture sustainable development.

Keywords: FDI, sustainable development, genuine savings, sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: K. Hariohm, V. Prakash, J. Saravana Kumar

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Introduction and Rationale: Increased scope of Physiotherapy (PT) practice also has contributed to research in the field of PT. It is essential to determine the production and quality of the clinical trials from India since, it may reflect the scientific growth of the profession. These trends can be taken as a baseline to measure our performance and also can be used as a guideline for the future trials. Objective: To quantify and analyze qualitatively the RCT’s from India from the period 2000-2013’ May, and classify data for the information process. Methods: Studies were searched in the Medline database using the key terms “India”, “Indian”, “Physiotherapy”. Clinical trials only with PT authors were included. Trials out of scope of PT practice and on animals were excluded. Retrieved valid articles were analyzed for published year, type of participants, area of study, PEDro score, outcome measure domains of impairment, activity, participation; ‘a priori’ sample size calculation, region, and explanation of the intervention. Result: 45 valid articles were retrieved from the year 2000-2013’ May. The majority of articles were done on symptomatic participants (81%). The frequencies of conditions repeated more were low back pain (n-7) and diabetes (n-4). PEDro score with mode 5 and upper limit of 8 and lower limit 4 was found. 97.2% of studies measure the outcome at the impairment level, 34% in activity level, and 27.8% in participation level. 29.7% of studies did ‘a priori’ sample size calculation. Correlation of year trend and PEDro score found to be not significant (p>.05). Individual PEDro item analysis showed, randomization (100%), concealment (33%) baseline (76%), blinding-subject, therapist, assessor (9.1%, 0%, 10%), follow-up (89%) ITT (15%), statistics between groups (100%), measures of variance (88 %). Conclusion: The trend shows an upward slope in terms of RCTs published from India which is a good indicator. The qualitative analysis showed some gaps in the clinical trial design, which can be expected to be, fulfilled by the future researchers.

Keywords: RCT, PEDro, physical therapy, rehabilitation

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Authors: Konstantina Georgali

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The present study explores Greek teachers’ understandings of typical language development and of language difficulties. Its core aim was to highlight that teachers need to have a thorough understanding of educational linguistics, that is of how language figures in education. They should also be aware of how language should be taught so as to promote language development for all students while at the same time support the needs of children with language difficulties in an inclusive ethos. The study, thus argued that language can be a dynamic learning mechanism in the minds of all children and a powerful teaching tool in the hands of teachers and provided current research evidence to show that structural and morphological particularities of native languages- in this case, of the Greek language- can be used by teachers to enhance children’s understanding of language and simultaneously improve oral language skills for children with typical language development and for those with language difficulties. The research was based on a Sequential Exploratory Mixed Methods Design deployed in three consecutive and integrative phases. The first phase involved 18 exploratory interviews with teachers. Its findings informed the second phase involving a questionnaire survey with 119 respondents. Contradictory questionnaire results were further investigated in a third phase employing a formal testing procedure with 60 children attending Y1, Y2 and Y3 of primary school (a research group of 30 language impaired children and a comparison group of 30 children with typical language development, both identified by their class teachers). Results showed both strengths and weaknesses in teachers’ awareness of educational linguistics and of language difficulties. They also provided a different perspective of children’s language needs and of language teaching approaches that reflected current advances and conceptualizations of language problems and opened a new window on how best they can be met in an inclusive ethos. However, teachers barely used teaching approaches that could capitalize on the particularities of the Greek language to improve language skills for all students in class. Although they seemed to realize the importance of oral language skills and their knowledge base on language related issues was adequate, their practices indicated that they did not see language as a dynamic teaching and learning mechanism that can promote children’s language development and in tandem, improve academic attainment. Important educational implications arose and clear indications of the generalization of findings beyond the Greek educational context.

Keywords: educational linguistics, inclusive ethos, language difficulties, typical language development

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Authors: Esra Yuce, Isil D. S. Yamaner, Murude Yazan

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Aims and objective: Antiresorptive agents including bisphosphonates and denosumab as strong suppressors of osteoclasts are the most commonly used antiresorptive medications for the treatment of osteoporosis which counteract the negative quantitative alteration of trabecular and cortical bone by inhibition of bone turnover. Oral bisphosphonate therapy for the treatment of osteopenia, osteoporosis or Paget's disease is associated with the low-grade risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw, while higher-grade risk is associated with receiving intravenous bisphosphonates therapy in the treatment of multiple myeloma and bone metastases. On the other hand, there has been a remarkable increase in incidences of antiresorptive related osteonecrosis of the jaw (ARONJ) in oral bisphosphonate users. This clinical presentation will evaluate the healing outcomes via piezoelectric bone surgery under the irrigation of PVP-I solution irrigation in patients received bisphosphonate therapy. Material-Method: The study involved 8 female and 5 male patients that have been treated for ARONJ. Among 13 necrotic sites, 9 were in the mandible and 4 were in the maxilla. All of these 13 patients treated with surgical debridement via piezoelectric bone surgery under irrigation by solution with 3% PVP-I concentration in combination with long-term antibiotic therapy and 5 also underwent removal of mobile segments of bony sequestrum. All removable prosthesis in 8 patients were relined with soft liners during the healing periods in order to eliminate chronic minor traumas. Results: All patients were on oral bisphosphonate therapy for at least 2 years and 5 of which had received intravenous bisphosphonates up to 1 year before therapy with oral bisphosphonates was started. According to the AAOMS staging system, four cases were stage II, eight cases were stage I, and one case was stage III. The majority of lesions were identified at sites of dental prostheses (38%) and dental extractions (62%). All patients diagnosed with ARONJ stage I had used unadjusted removable prostheses. No recurrence of the symptoms was observed during the present follow-up (9–37 months). Conclusion: Despite their confirmed effectiveness, the prevention and treatment of osteonecrosis of the jaw secondary to oral bisphosphonate therapy remain major medical challenges. Treatment with piezoelectric bone surgery with irrigation of povidone-iodine solution was effective for management of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. Taking precautions for patients treated with oral bisphosphonates, especially also denture users, may allow for a reduction in the rate of developing osteonecrosis of the maxillofacial region.

Keywords: antiresorptive drug related osteonecrosis, bisphosphonate therapy, piezoelectric bone surgery, povidone iodine

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Authors: A. Yu-Chen Chien, B. Ying-Ju Su

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Greenway is a type of linear park which links the planar parklands and connects the open spaces. In the urban environment, except for providing open spaces with recreational function as well as effectively improve the appearance of the surrounding environment, greenway and parkland also creates benefits to the social and psychological aspects of human. In 2014, the statistics of The Ministry of Home Affairs show that citizens in Taichung enjoy the green area at an average of 4.27 square kilometers per person. How to use the existing green space system effectively and enhance the quality of leisure life thus become the major issues today. The study here points out that greenway and parkland and other open spaces are closely related to the daily life of urban residents. Whether the operation could be executed in accordance with the design is our major concern. To explore the issue, we implemented the Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Taiyuan Greenway in Taichung City. In 1956, Taichung city carried out the urban plan according to Howard’s concept about “Garden City” and built the Taiyuan greenway to restrain the urban expansion. 50-year past, due to the population growth and new demands, the government started to reconstruct the program. It is a three stage modification project of “The Townspace Renaissance project in Taiwan” since 2009, of which the greenway construction is the main point. In this research, we mainly focus on the third stage of this program to investigate the user’s preference and degree of satisfaction based on the Post-Occupancy Evaluation about the finished, unfinished, and undergoing construction sectors as well as facilities. We collected and analyzed the data based on the questionnaires and explored the possible facts that might have affected the degree of satisfaction about the greenway modification project based on the chi-square test. We hope to inspect the purpose of the demonstration projects and provide reference to the Taichung government for the modification planning and the greenway design in the future.

Keywords: greenway, landscape greenway, post-occupancy evaluation, Taichung city

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Authors: Yang Gon Seo, Chang-Joon Kim, Dae Hyeok Kim

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It is estimated that 1.5 billion tires are produced worldwide each year which will eventually end up as waste tires representing a major potential waste and environmental problem. Pyrolysis has been great interest in alternative treatment processes for waste tires to produce valuable oil, gas and solid products. The oil and gas products may be used directly as a fuel or a chemical feedstock. The solid produced from the pyrolysis of tires ranges typically from 30 to 45 wt% and have high carbon contents of up to 90 wt%. However, most notably the solid have high sulfur contents from 2 to 3 wt% and ash contents from 8 to 15 wt% related to the additive metals. Upgrading tire pyrolysis products to high-value products has concentrated on solid upgrading to higher quality carbon black and to activated carbon. Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are one of the common malodorous compounds that can be found in emissions from many sewages treatment plants and industrial plants. Therefore, removing these harmful gasses from emissions is of significance in both life and industry because they can cause health problems to human and detrimental effects on the catalysts. In this work, pyrolytic carbon black from waste tires was used to develop adsorbent with good adsorption capacity for removal of hydrogen and ammonia. Pyrolytic carbon blacks were prepared by pyrolysis of waste tire chips ranged from 5 to 20 mm under the nitrogen atmosphere at 600℃ for 1 hour. Pellet-type adsorbents were prepared by a mixture of carbon black, metal oxide and sodium hydroxide or hydrochloric acid, and their adsorption capacities were estimated by using the breakthrough curve of a continuous fixed bed adsorption column at ambient condition. The adsorbent was manufactured with a mixture of carbon black, iron oxide(III), and sodium hydroxide showed the maximum working capacity of hydrogen sulfide. For ammonia, maximum working capacity was obtained by the adsorbent manufactured with a mixture of carbon black, copper oxide(II), and hydrochloric acid.

Keywords: adsorbent, ammonia, pyrolytic carbon black, hydrogen sulfide, metal oxide

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Authors: Merina Islam

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There are many environmental problems. Various counter measures have been taken for environmental problems. Philosophy is an important contributor to environmental studies as it takes deep interest in meaning analysis of the concept environment and other related concepts. The Buddhist frame, which is virtue ethical, remains a better alternative to the traditional environmental outlook. Granting the unique role of man in immoral deliberations, the Buddhist approach, however, maintains a holistic concept of ecological harmony. Buddhist environmental ethics is more concerned about the complete moral community, the total ecosystem, than any particular species within the community. The moral reorientation proposed here has resemblance to the concept of 'deep ecology. Given the present day prominence of virtue ethics, we need to explore further into the Buddhist virtue theory, so that a better framework to treat the natural world would be ensured. Environment has turned out to be one of the most widely discussed issues in the recent times. Buddhist concepts such as Pratityasamutpadavada, Samvrit Satya, Paramartha Satya, Shunyata, Sanghatvada, Bodhisattva, Santanvada and others deal with interdependence in terms of both internal as well external ecology. The internal ecology aims at mental well-being whereas external ecology deals with physical well-being. The fundamental Buddhist concepts for dealing with environmental Problems are where the environment has the same value as humans as from the two Buddhist doctrines of the Non-duality of Life and its Environment and the Origination in Dependence; and the inevitability of overcoming environmental problems through the practice of the way of the Bodhisattva, because environmental problems are evil for people and nature. Buddhism establishes that there is a relationship among all the constituents of the world. There is nothing in the world which is independent from any other thing. Everything is dependent on others. The realization that everything in the universe is mutually interdependent also shows that the man cannot keep itself unaffected from ecology. This paper would like to focus how the Buddhist’s identification of nature and the Dhamma can contribute toward transforming our understanding, attitudes, and actions regarding the care of the earth. Environmental Ethics in Buddhism presents a logical and thorough examination of the metaphysical and ethical dimensions of early Buddhist literature. From the Buddhist viewpoint, humans are not in a category that is distinct and separate from other sentient beings, nor are they intrinsically superior. All sentient beings are considered to have the Buddha-nature, that is, the potential to become fully enlightened. Buddhists do not believe in treating of non-human sentient beings as objects for human consumption. The significance of Buddhist theory of interdependence can be understood from the fact that it shows that one’s happiness or suffering originates from ones realization or non-realization respectively of the dependent nature of everything. It is obvious, even without emphasis, which in the context of deep ecological crisis of today there is a need to infuse the consciousness of interdependence.

Keywords: Buddhism, deep ecology, environmental problems, Pratityasamutpadavada

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Authors: Margaret Nohilly, Fionnuala Tynan

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Wellbeing in not only a national priority in Ireland but in the international context. A review of the literature highlights the consistent efforts of researchers to define the concept of wellbeing. This study sought to explore the understating of Wellbeing in Irish primary schools. National Wellbeing Guidelines in the Irish context frame the concept of wellbeing through a mental health paradigm, which is but one aspect of wellbeing. This exploratory research sought the views of Irish primary school teachers on their understanding of the concept of wellbeing and the practical application of strategies to promote wellbeing both in the classroom and across the school. Teacher participants from four counties in the West of Ireland were invited to participate in focus group discussion and workshops through the Education Centre Network. The purpose of this process was twofold; firstly to explore teachers’ understanding of wellbeing in the primary school context and, secondly, for teachers to be co-creators in the development of practical strategies for classroom and whole school implementation. The voice of the teacher participants was central to the research design. The findings of this study indicate that the definition of wellbeing in the Irish context is too abstract a definition for teachers and the focus on mental health dominates the discourse in relation to wellbeing. Few teachers felt that they were addressing wellbeing adequately in their classrooms and across the school. The findings from the focus groups highlighted that while teachers are incorporating a range of wellbeing strategies including mindfulness and positive psychology, there is a clear disconnect between the national definition and the implementation of national curricula which causes them concern. The teacher participants requested further practical strategies to promote wellbeing at whole school and classroom level within the framework of the Irish Primary School Curriculum and enable them to become professionally confident in developing a culture of wellbeing. In conclusion, considering wellbeing is a national priority in Ireland, this research promoted the timely discussion the wellbeing guidelines and the development of a conceptual framework to define wellbeing in concrete terms for practitioners. The centrality of teacher voices ensured the strategies proposed by this research is both practical and effective. The findings of this research have prompted the development of a national resource which will support the implementation of wellbeing in the primary school at both national and international level.

Keywords: definition, wellbeing, strategies, curriculum

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Authors: Gabriela Lucas Sanchez

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The contemporary housing industry is dominated by tract houses, which prioritize uniformity and cost-efficiency over environmental and ecological considerations. However, as the world faces the growing challenges of climate change and resource depletion, there is an urgent need to rethink the residential paradigm. This essay explores how regenerative practices can be integrated into standard residential designs to create a shift that reduces the environmental impact of housing and actively contributes to ecological health. Passive sustainable practices, such as passive solar design, natural ventilation, and the use of energy-efficient materials, aim to maximize resource use efficiency, minimize waste, and create healthy living environments. Regenerative practices, on the other hand, go beyond sustainability to work in harmony with natural systems, actively restoring and enriching the environment. Integrating these two approaches can redefine the residential paradigm, creating homes that reduce harm and positively impact the local ecosystem. The essay begins by exploring the principles and benefits of passive sustainable practices, discussing how they can reduce energy consumption and improve indoor environmental quality in standardized housing. Passive sustainability minimizes energy consumption through strategic design choices, such as optimizing building orientation, utilizing natural ventilation, and incorporating high-performance insulation and glazing. However, while sustainability efforts have been important steps in the right direction, a more holistic, regenerative approach is needed to address the root causes of environmental degradation. Regenerative development and design seek to go beyond simply reducing negative impacts, instead aiming to create built environments that actively contribute to restoring and enhancing natural systems. This shift in perspective is critical, as it recognizes the interdependence between human settlements and the natural world and the potential for buildings to serve as catalysts for positive change.

Keywords: passive sustainability, regenerative architecture, residential architecture, community

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Authors: A. van Staden, M. M. Coetzee

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Despite numerous efforts to increase the literacy level of South African learners, for example, through the implementation of educational policies such as the Revised National Curriculum statement, advocating mother-tongue instruction (during a child's formative years), in reality, the majority of South African children are still being educated in a second language (in most cases English). Moreover, despite the fact that a significant percentage of our country's budget is spent on the education sector and that both policy makers and educationalists have emphasized the importance of learning English in this globalized world, the poor overall academic performance and English literacy level of a large number of school leavers are still a major concern. As we move forward in an attempt to comprehend the nuances of English language and literacy development in our country, it is imperative to explore both extrinsic and intrinsic factors that contribute or impede the effective development of English as a second language. In the present study, the researchers set out to investigate how intrinsic factors such as motivation and self-concept contribute to or affect English language learning amongst high school learners in South Africa. Emanating from the above the main research question that guided this research is the following: Is there a significant relationship between high school learners' self-concept, motivation, and English second language performances? In order to investigate this hypothesis, this study utilized quantitative research methodology to investigate the interplay of self-concept and motivation in English language learning. For this purpose, we sampled 201 high school learners from various schools in South Africa. Methods of data gathering inter alia included the following: A biographical questionnaire; the Academic Motivational Scale and the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analyses yielded significant correlations between L2 learners' motivation and their English language proficiency, including demonstrating positive correlations between L2 learners' self-concept and their achievements in English. Accordingly, researchers have argued that the learning context, in which students learn English as a second language, has a crucial influence on students' motivational levels. This emphasizes the important role the teacher has to play in creating learning environments that will enhance L2 learners' motivation and improve their self-concepts.

Keywords: motivation, self-concept, language learning, English second language learners (L2)

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Authors: Dyah Adi Sriwahyuni

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Institutional work has become a prominent and contemporary institutional theory perspective in organization studies. A wealth of studies in organizations have explored actor activities in creating, maintaining, and disrupting institutions at the field level. However, the exploration of the work of actors in creating new management practices at the organizational level has been somewhat limited. The current institutional work literature mostly describes the work of actors at the field level and ignores organizational actors who work to realize management practices. Organizational actors here are defined as actors in organizations who work to institutionalize a particular management practice within the organizations. The extant literature has also generalized the types of management practices, which meant overlooking the unique characteristics of each management fashion as well as a management practice. To fill these gaps, this study aims to provide empirical evidence so as to contribute theoretically to institutional work through a comparative case study on organizational actors’ creation of knowledge management (KM) practice in two public sector organizations in Indonesia. KM is a contemporary management practice employed to manage individual and organizational knowledge in order to improve organizational performance. This practice presents a suitable practical setting with which to provide a rich understanding of the organizational actors’ institutional work and their connection with technology. Drawing on and extending the work of Perkmann and Spicer (2008), this study explores the forms of institutional work performed by organizational actors, including their motivation, skills, challenges, and opportunities. The primary data collection is semi-structured interviews with knowledgeable actors and document analysis for validity and triangulation. Following Eisenhardt's cross-case patterns, the researcher analyzed the collected data focusing on within-group similarities and intergroup differences. The researcher coded interview data using NVivo and used documents to corroborate the findings. The study’s findings add to the wealth of institutional theory literature in organization studies, particularly institutional work related to management practices. This study builds a theory about the work of organizational actors in creating knowledge management practices. Using the perspective of institutional work, research can show the roles of the various actors involved, their practices, and their relationship to technology (materiality), not only focusing on actors with a power which has been the theorizing of institutional entrepreneurship. The development of knowledge management practices in the Indonesian public sector is also a significant additional contribution, given that the current KM literature is dominated by conceptualizing the KM framework and the impact of KM on organizations. The public sector, which is the research setting, also provides important lessons on how actors in a highly institutionalized context are creating an institution, in this case, a knowledge management practice.

Keywords: institutional work, knowledge management, case study, public sector organizations

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Authors: Josiah Damisa, Michelle Louise Richardson, Morenike Adewuyi

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Lower back pain is a significant cause of disability worldwide and associated with great implications in terms of the well-being of affected individuals and society as a whole due to its undeniable socio-economic impact. With its prevalence on the increase as a result of an aging global population, the need for novel forms of pain management is ever paramount. This review aims to provide further insight into current research regarding a role for the endocannabinoid signaling pathway as a target in the treatment of chronic pain, with particular emphasis on its potential use as part of the treatment of lower back pain. Potential advantages and limitations of cannabis-based medicines over other forms of analgesia currently licensed for medical use are discussed in addition to areas that require ongoing consideration and research. To evaluate the efficacy of cannabis-based medicines in chronic pain, studies pertaining to the role of medical cannabis in chronic disease were reviewed. Standard searches of PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science databases were undertaken with peer-reviewed journal articles reviewed based on the indication for pain management, cannabis treatment modality used and study outcomes. Multiple studies suggest an emerging role for cannabis-based medicines as therapeutic agents in the treatment of chronic back pain. A potential synergistic effect has also been purported if these medicines are co-administered with opiate analgesia due to the similarity of the opiate and endocannabinoid signaling pathways. However, whilst recent changes to legislation in the United Kingdom mean that cannabis is now licensed for medicinal use on NHS prescription for a number of chronic health conditions, concerns remain as to the efficacy and safety of cannabis-based medicines. Research is lacking into both their side effect profiles and the long-term effects of cannabis use. Legal and ethical considerations to the use of these products in standardized medical practice also persist due to the notoriety of cannabis as a drug of abuse. Despite this, cannabis is beginning to gain traction as an alternative or even complementary drug to opiates, with some preclinical studies showing opiate-sparing effects. Whilst there is a paucity of clinical trials in this field, there is scope for cannabinoids to be successful anti-nociceptive agents in managing chronic back pain. The ultimate aim would be to utilize cannabis-based medicines as alternative or complementary therapies, thereby reducing opiate over-reliance and providing hope to individuals who have exhausted all other forms of standard treatment.

Keywords: endocannabinoids, cannabis-based medicines, chronic pain, lower back pain

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Authors: Renate Verkaik, Mieke Rijken, Hennie Boeije

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Elderly who are living alone and who are having one or more impairments are vulnerable for a loss of wellbeing and institutionalization. Physical exercise and social activities together with peers have the potential to make them more resilient. The Dutch program ‘More Resilience, Longer at Home’ initiated by FNO funded 126 local projects to stimulate vulnerable older citizens to participate in exercise and social activities, and as such to improve wellbeing and independent living. The program evaluation addressed the following questions: (1) what are the effects of the program on older (65+) participants exercise behavior, social activities and what is the relationship with wellbeing?, (2) which factors contribute to successful implementation of the projects and their outcomes? A mixed method approach was used. Effects on participants were assessed with a short survey, containing questions on exercise, social engagement, daily functioning, loneliness and life satisfaction. Results of the participants were compared with those of a reference group from the Dutch national population. Perceived influencing factors were investigated with a questionnaire for project leaders. This questionnaire was based on site visits and interviews with project leaders, volunteers and participating elderly. Preliminary results show that social engagement of the participating elderly rises significantly (p ≤ .05) as do their exercise levels and daily functioning. They experience less social loneliness, but not less emotional loneliness. Additionally, there is a positive association between daily functioning and life satisfaction and between exercise and life satisfaction. Perceived influencing factors that contribute to successful implementation of the projects can be categorized in 4 types: (1) characteristics of the activities; (2) profiles of the involved staff (professionals and volunteers), (3) characteristics of the organization, (4) the social political environment. Conclusions are that local projects have been successful in stimulating older citizens to participate in exercise and social activities. Multiple factors need to be addressed to ensure sustainability and scaling-up of the good practices.

Keywords: elderly living alone in the community, exercise and social activities, resilience, quality of life

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Authors: B. Rusyidi, D. Mariana

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Although reforms in trafficking regulations have taken place since 2007, Indonesia is still struggling to fight child trafficking. This study aimed to identify and assess risk factors and vulnerabilities in the life of trafficked children prior to, during, and after being trafficked in order to inform the child protection system and its policies. The study was qualitative and utilized in-depth interviews to collect data. Data were gathered in 2014 and 2015 from 15 trafficked and sexually exploited girls aged 14 to 17 years originating from West Java. Social workers, safe home personnel and parents were also included as informants. Data analysis was guided by the ecological perspective and theme analyses. The study found that risks and vulnerabilities of the victims were associated with conditions at various levels of the environment. At the micro level, risk factors and vulnerabilities included young age, family conflict/violence, involvement with the “wrong” circle of friends/peers, family poverty, lack of social and economic support for the victim’s family, and psychological damages due to trafficking experiences. At the mezzo level, the lack of structured activities after school, economic inequality, stigma towards victims, lack of services for victims, and minimum public education on human trafficking were among the community hazards that increased the vulnerability and risks. Gender inequality, consumerism, the view of children as assets, corruption, weak law enforcement, the lack of institutional support, and community-wide ignorance regarding trafficking were found as factors that increased risks and vulnerabilities at the macro level. The findings from the study underline the necessity to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors at the individual, family, community and societal levels. Shifting the current focus from tertiary to primary/prevention policies and improving institutional efforts are pressing needs in the context of reducing child trafficking in Indonesia. The roles of human service providers including social work also should be promoted.

Keywords: child trafficking, child sexual exploitation, ecological perspective, risks and vulnerabilities

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Authors: A. H. Nanher, N. P. Singh, Shashidhar Yadav, Sachin Tyagi

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Agricultural production system is an outcome of a complex interaction of seed, soil, water and agro-chemicals (including fertilizers). Therefore, judicious management of all the inputs is essential for the sustainability of such a complex system. Precision agriculture gives farmers the ability to use crop inputs more effectively including fertilizers, pesticides, tillage and irrigation water. More effective use of inputs means greater crop yield and/or quality, without polluting the environment the focus on enhancing the productivity during the Green Revolution coupled with total disregard of proper management of inputs and without considering the ecological impacts, has resulted into environmental degradation. To evaluate a new approach for site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). Large variation in initial soil fertility characteristics and indigenous supply of N, P, and K was observed among Field- and season-specific NPK applications were calculated by accounting for the indigenous nutrient supply, yield targets, and nutrient demand as a function of the interactions between N, P, and K. Nitrogen applications were fine-tuned based on season-specific rules and field-specific monitoring of crop N status. The performance of SSNM did not differ significantly between high-yielding and low-yielding climatic seasons, but improved over time with larger benefits observed in the second year Future, strategies for nutrient management in intensive rice systems must become more site-specific and dynamic to manage spatially and temporally variable resources based on a quantitative understanding of the congruence between nutrient supply and crop demand. The SSNM concept has demonstrated promising agronomic and economic potential. It can be used for managing plant nutrients at any scale, i.e., ranging from a general recommendation for homogenous management of a larger domain to true management of between-field variability. Assessment of pest profiles in FFP and SSNM plots suggests that SSNM may also reduce pest incidence, particularly diseases that are often associated with excessive N use or unbalanced plant nutrition.

Keywords: nutrient, pesticide, crop, yield

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Authors: Jameson Mirimu, Edward Mawejje, Ibra Twinomujuni

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Introduction: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) are a vulnerable category whose risk of acquiring HIV is 20 times compared to the general population accounting for 25% of the new infections. Despite proven scientific evidence of preventing HIV acquisition, Oral Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PreP) is less used as one of the biomedical interventions among the AGYW. By 2020, only 31000-32000 of the targeted 90,000 persons in Uganda enrolled on Oral PreP LPHS-EC project employed a combination of Expanded Peer Outreach Approach (EPOA) and Effective client follow-up to increase PreP initiation (PrEP_NEW) and continuation for more than three months (PrEP_CT). Method: Quantitatively, data from National Key population Combination tracker retrospectively analyzed by M&E, focused group discussion with AGYWs and Health care workers to identify barriers. Barriers found; hesitancy of AGYW, misconceptions about Oral PrEP, inadequate knowledge and skills in handling adolescent and Data quality issues. To address the mentioned barriers, youth friendly corners initiated in study sites, identified PrEP Champions among the AGYW, oral PrEP dialogues, group Antenatal counselling, CQI Projects initiated, weekly perfomance meetings to track performance. Results: Routine program data review PrEP_NEW and PrEP_CT increased from 5% (4/80) and 4% (2/54), respectively, in July 2022 to 90% (72/80) and 79% (43/54) respectively for PrEP_NEW and PrEP_CT at the end of March 2023. Lessons Learnt: Demystifying misconception about oral Prep through provision of adequate information by involving health care workers through skills enhancement, CQI projects are critical intervention. Conclusion: With improved safe spaces, skills enhancement of health workers, stakeholders’ engagement through Oral Prep dialogues is critical in improving PreP uptake and continuity among the AGYWS.

Keywords: prep, uptake, continuation, AGYW

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Authors: Mohammadreza Delfieh, Seyed Ali Mohammad Modarres Sanavy, Rouzbeh Farhoudi

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Fennel is of most important medicinal plants which is widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries. In order to investigate the effect of different nitrogen nutritional systems including chemical, organic and biologic ones at different plant densities on yield, yield components and seed essential oil content and yield of this valuable medicinal plant, a field experiment was carried out in 2013-2014 agricultural season at Islamic Azad University of Shoushtar agricultural college in split plot design with 18 treatments and based on completely randomized blocks design. Different nitrogen system treatments consisting of: 1. N1 or control (Uniformly spreading urea fertilizer in the plot, 50% at planting time and 50% at stem elongation), 2. N2 (Uniformly spreading 50% of urea fertilizer in the plot at planting time and spraying the other 50% of urea fertilizer at stem elongation on fennel foliage), 3. N3 or cow manure, 4. N4 or biofertilizer (Inoculation of fennel seeds with Azotobacter and Azospirillum), 5. N5 or Integrated-1 (Cow manure + uniformly spreading urea fertilizer in the plot at stem elongation), 6. N6 or Integrated-2 (Cow manure + Inoculation of fennel seeds with Azotobacter and Azospirillum) were applied to the main plots. Three fennel densities consisting of: 1. FD1 (60 plant/m2), 2. FD2 (80 plant/m2) and 3. FD3 (100 plant/m2) were applied to subplots. Results showed that all of the traits were significantly affected by applied treatments (P 0.01). The interaction between treatments also were significant at 5 percent level for shoot dry weight and at 1 percent level for other traits. Based on the results, using the Integrated-1 treatment at 100 plant per m2 produced 94.575 g/m2 seed yield containing 3.375 percent of essential oil. Utilization of such combination not only could lead to a desirable fennel quantity and quality, but also is more consistent with environment.

Keywords: fennel (foeniculum vulgare mill.), nutritional system, nitrogen, biofertilizer, organic fertilizer, chemical fertilizer, density

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Authors: Camilla Marini, Deborah Agostino

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Cultural institutions provide more than service-based offers; indeed, they are experience-based contexts. A cultural experience is a special event that encompasses a wide range of values which, for visitors, are primarily cultural rather than economic and financial. Cultural institutions have always been characterized by inclusivity and participatory practices, but the upcoming of digital technologies has put forward their interest in collaborative practices and the relationship with their audience. Indeed, digital technologies highly affected the cultural experience as it was conceived. Especially, museums, as traditional and authoritative cultural institutions, have been highly challenged by digital technologies. They shifted by a collection-oriented toward a visitor-centered approach, and digital technologies generated a highly interactive ecosystem in which visitors have an active role, shaping their own cultural experience. Most of the studies that investigate value co-creation in museums adopt a single perspective which is separately one of the museums or one of the users, but the analysis of the convergence/divergence of these perspectives is still emphasized. Additionally, many contributions focus on digital value co-creation as an outcome rather than as a process. The study aims to provide a joint perspective on digital value co-creation which include both museum and visitors. Also, it deepens the contribution of digital technologies in the value co-creation process, addressing the following research questions: (i) what are the convergence/divergence drivers on digital value co-creation and (ii) how digital technologies can be means of value co-creation? The study adopts an action research methodology that is based on the case of WORTHY, an educational project which involves cultural institutions and schools all around Europe, creating a virtual collaborative museum. It represents a valuable case for the aim of the study since it has digital technologies at its core, and the interaction through digital technologies is fundamental, all along with the experience. Action research has been identified as the most appropriate methodology for researchers to have direct contact with the field. Data have been collected through primary and secondary sources. Cultural mediators such as museums, teachers and students’ families have been interviewed, while a focus group has been designed to interact with students, investigating all the aspects of the cultural experience. Secondary sources encompassed project reports and website contents in order to deepen the perspective of cultural institutions. Preliminary findings highlight the dimensions of digital value co-creation in cultural institutions from a museum-visitor integrated perspective and the contribution of digital technologies in the value co-creation process. The study outlines a two-folded contribution that encompasses both an academic and a practitioner level. Indeed, it contributes to fulfilling the gap in cultural management literature about the convergence/divergence of service provider-user perspectives but it also provides cultural professionals with guidelines on how to evaluate the digital value co-creation process.

Keywords: co-creation, digital technologies, museum, value

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Authors: Ahlem Bouziri, Chiraz Latiri, Eric Gaussier

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The steady growth in the size of textual document collections is a key progress-driver for modern information retrieval techniques whose effectiveness and efficiency are constantly challenged. Given a user query, the number of retrieved documents can be overwhelmingly large, hampering their efficient exploitation by the user. In addition, retaining only relevant documents in a query answer is of paramount importance for an effective meeting of the user needs. In this situation, the query expansion technique offers an interesting solution for obtaining a complete answer while preserving the quality of retained documents. This mainly relies on an accurate choice of the added terms to an initial query. Interestingly enough, query expansion takes advantage of large text volumes by extracting statistical information about index terms co-occurrences and using it to make user queries better fit the real information needs. In this respect, a promising track consists in the application of data mining methods to extract dependencies between terms, namely a generic basis of association rules between terms. The key feature of our approach is a better trade off between the size of the mining result and the conveyed knowledge. Thus, face to the huge number of derived association rules and in order to select the optimal combination of query terms from the generic basis, we propose to model the problem as a classification problem and solve it using a supervised learning algorithm such as SVM or k-means. For this purpose, we first generate a training set using a genetic algorithm based approach that explores the association rules space in order to find an optimal set of expansion terms, improving the MAP of the search results. The experiments were performed on SDA 95 collection, a data collection for information retrieval. It was found that the results were better in both terms of MAP and NDCG. The main observation is that the hybridization of text mining techniques and query expansion in an intelligent way allows us to incorporate the good features of all of them. As this is a preliminary attempt in this direction, there is a large scope for enhancing the proposed method.

Keywords: supervised leaning, classification, query expansion, association rules

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Authors: Lou Gargouri

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This paper examines how Fanny Cabon's solo performance, Gardiennes (2018) strategically crafts empathetic witnessing through the artist's vocal and physical embodiment of her female ancestors' testimonies, dramatizing the cyclical inheritance of reproductive trauma across generations. Drawing on affect theory and the concept of ethical co-presence, we argue that Cabon's raw voicing of illegal abortions, miscarriages, and abuse through her shape-shifting presence generates an intimate energy loop with the audience. This affective resonance catalyzes recognition of historical injustices, consecrating each singular experience while building collective solidarity. Central to Cabon's political efficacy is her transparent self-revelation through intimate impersonation, which fosters identification with diverse characters as interconnected subjects rather than objectified others. Her solo form transforms the isolation often associated with women's marginalization into radical inclusion, repositioning them from victims to empowered survivors. Comparative analysis with other contemporary works addressing abortion rights illuminates how Gardiennes subverts the traditional medical and clerical gazes that have long governed women's bodies. Ultimately, we contend Gardiennes models the potential of solo performance to harness empathy as a subversive political force. Cabon's theatrical alchemy circulates the effects of injustice through the ethical co-presence of performer and spectator, forging intersubjective connections that reframe marginalized groups traditionally objectified within dominant structures of patriarchal power. In dramatizing how the act of witnessing another's trauma can generate solidarity and galvanize resistance, Cabon's work demonstrates the role of embodied performance in catalyzing social change through the recuperation of women's voices and lived experiences. This paper thus aims to contribute to the emerging field of feminist solo performance criticism by illuminating how Cabon's innovative dramaturgy bridges the personal and the political. Her strategic mobilization of intimacy, identification, and co-presence offers a model for how the affective dynamics of autobiographical performance can be harnessed to confront gendered oppression and imagine more equitable futures. Gardiennes invites us to consider how the circulation of empathy through ethical spectatorship can foster the collective alliances necessary for advancing the unfinished project of women's liberation.

Keywords: gender and sexuality studies, solo performance, trauma studies, affect theory

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