Search results for: cultural route

Authors: Lucrezia Crescenzi-Lanna, Silvia Cataldi, Williams Contreras, Valerio Pieri

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According to the European Commission, gender-based violence (GBV) is a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women in five areas: physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, mistreatment of women, and economic violence (henceforth EV). The TESORO project "Treatment, ExpoSition, and ORigin of economic viOlence: An innovation and internationalization project between Italy and Spain" focuses on this last dimension of gender-based violence, the least studied and the one that has received least media coverage. In Spain, 12% (2,350,684) of women over fifteen years of age have suffered economic violence from their partner or ex-partner during their lives. In Italy, another country participating in the project, many women who are welcomed in refuges and who report cases of psychological violence (79%) and/or physical violence (61%) are also victims of economic violence (34%), according to the D.i.Re. Thermometer: "Donne in Rete contro la Violenza", the association that brings together more than eighty refuges against violence in Italy. At the social level, this form of violence is incorporated into practices of inequality that manifest themselves in both the daily management of couples and families and the workplace and institutional settings. As for the mechanisms related to EV, the literature argues that it is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that has socioeconomic and cultural roots. EV manifests itself through various strategies, which represent forms of power and control aimed at preventing women's financial independence. To analyse the issue of EV we use a multidisciplinary approach and a mixed design that includes: 1) a questionnaire administered to a stratified sample of more than a thousand Italian and Spanish citizens to study the cultural and socio-relational mechanisms and the origin of EV in family and couple contexts; and 2) interviews with those running refuges as part of the struggle against gender violence, to understand how mechanisms and educational activities in the field of economic violence are manifested in the respective region and are supportive of women. The decision to use this strategy responds to the need to combine an exploratory perspective with an explanatory one in order to understand some of the relevant concepts related to the complex phenomena of EV and the interventions dedicated to its prevention. The data will be finalized in June 2022 and presented at the ICWS conference. Among TESORO’s contributions, its collection of qualitative and quantitative data on EV in Italy and Spain stands out, deepening its origin, prevention, and treatment beyond its incidence, which has already been studied in the Macro-Survey on Violence against Women.

Keywords: gender-based violence, economic violence, economic harm, gender inequality, workplace and family contexts

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Authors: Dhvanidevi N. Jadeja, Daya S. Kaul, Anurag A. Kandya

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Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) collection in a city is performed in less effective manner which results in the poor management of the environment and natural resources. Municipal corporation does not possess efficient waste management and recycling programs because of the complex task involving many factors. Solid waste collection system depends upon various factors such as manpower, number and size of vehicles, transfer station size, dustbin size and weight, on-road traffic, and many others. These factors affect the collection cost, energy and overall municipal tax for the city. Generally, different types of waste are scattered throughout the city in a heterogeneous way that poses changes for efficient collection of solid waste. Efficient waste collection and transportation strategy must be effectively undertaken which will include optimization of routes, volume of waste, and manpower. Being these optimized, the overall cost can be reduced as the fuel and energy requirements would be less and also the municipal waste taxes levied will be less. To carry out the optimization study of collection system various data needs to be collected from the Ahmedabad municipal corporation such as amount of waste generated per day, number of workers, collection schedule, road maps, number of transfer station, location of transfer station, number of equipment (tractors, machineries), number of zones, route of collection etc. The ArcGis Network Analyst is introduced for the best routing identification applied in municipal waste collection. The simulation consists of scenarios of visiting loading spots in the municipality of Ahmedabad, considering dynamic factors like network traffic changes, closed roads due to natural or technical causes. Different routes were selected in a particular area of Ahmedabad city, and present routes were optimized to reduce the length of the routes, by using ArcGis Network Analyst. The result indicates up to 35% length minimization in the routes.

Keywords: collection routes, efficiency, municipal solid waste, optimization

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Authors: Shurouq Munzer

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This study investigates methods for inferring the presence of cooking activity at an archaeological site through the study of cooking tools, contextual evidence, and food preparation techniques. This paper examines the patterns of cooking utensils and categorizes the morphological features as well as the types of clay utilized in manufacturing such cooking utensils. Despite challenges in accessing such evidence due to its limited availability in books and excavations. The excavation results provide the point for evaluating progress in daily life and underscore the cultural, social, and economic significance of studying cooking activity at archaeological sites within their archaeological contexts.

Keywords: coarse ware, cooking utensils, ḥisba, waqif, muḥtasib, foodways, practice, cuisine, food preparation

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Authors: Fatemeh Jafari Hemmat Abadi

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Through empathy, caring, and nurturing, benevolent leaders can help people with disabilities overcome the stigma of disability and smile at their work environment and work. The main purpose of our research is to examine the performance of people with physical disabilities in virtual teams across geographical, cultural and linguistic barriers around the world. Our results show the relationship between benevolent leadership and the three components of well-being among administrative staff, disability including perceived discrimination, job satisfaction and the need for improvement. The two factors identified for productivity are pervasive team attitudes in the team and proper leadership by the team leader.

Keywords: benevolent leadership, virtual teams, group attitudes pervasive, climate including disability

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Authors: Siddhant Yadav, Ann Vincent, Sanjeev Nanda, Karen M. Fischer, Jessica A. Wright

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Statement of the Problem: Despite the growing popularity of cannabis in the general population, there are several unknowns regarding its use, specific reasons for use, patient’s choice of products, health benefits, and adverse effects. The aim of our study was to evaluate patient-reported information related to cannabis use that was recorded in the electronic medical records. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: We manually reviewed the electronic medical records of cannabis users who were part of a large pharmacogenomic study. Data abstracted included demographics, level of education, concurrent alcohol and tobacco use, type of cannabis utilized, formulation, indication, symptomatic improvement, or adverse effects reported. Following this, we did a descriptive statistical analysis. Findings: Our sample of 164 cannabis users were predominantly female (73.2%); 66% of users reported using cannabis for medical indications. Of the 109 patients who recorded information pertaining to alcohol/tobacco use, two-thirds of cannabis users reported concurrent use of alcohol, and about half of them were former or current tobacco users. The mean age of cannabis use was 66 years. Regarding the type of cannabis, 34.1% reported using marijuana, 32.3% reported CBD use, 1.8% reported using THC, and 1.2% reported using Marinol. Oral formulations (capsules, oils, suspensions, brownies, cakes, and tea) were the most common route (44 %). Indications for use included chronic pain (n=76), anxiety (n=9), counteracting side effects of chemotherapy (n=4), and palliative reasons (n=2). Fifty-eight of the 76 users endorsed improvement in chronic pain (80%), 5 users reported improvement in anxiety, and 2 reported improvement in side effects of chemotherapy. Conclusion & Significance: The majority of our cannabis users were Caucasian females, and there was a high likelihood of coinciding use of alcohol/tobacco in patients using cannabis. Most of our patients used the oral formulation for chronic pain. Importantly, a considerable number of patients reported improvements in chronic pain, anxiety, and side effects of chemotherapy.

Keywords: cannabis use, adverse effects, medical practice, indications

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Authors: Adiyam Amare

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This research explores the handloom weaving quality and fashion development process for traditional Ethiopian costumes, particularly focusing on the challenges and opportunities within the contemporary global fashion market. Through a qualitative approach, including interviews and direct observations, the study identifies key factors affecting the handloom industry, such as quality improvement, market integration, and cultural preservation. The findings suggest that enhancing production quality, modernizing techniques, and fostering global market participation can significantly improve the competitiveness of Ethiopian traditional garments in the global fashion industry.

Keywords: fashion, culture, design, textile

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Authors: Changdong Oh

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With the arrival of post-industrial society, social scientists have been giving attention to issues of which factors shape cleavage of political parties. Especially, there is a heated controversy over whether and how social and cultural values influence the identities of parties and voting behavior. Drawing from Moral Foundations Theory (MFT), which approached similar issues by considering the effect of five moral foundations on political decision-making of people, this study investigates the role of moral rhetoric in the evolution of Korean political parties. Researcher collected official announcements released by the major two parties (Democratic Party of Korea, Saenuri Party) from 2007 to 2016, and analyzed the data by using Word2Vec algorithm and Moral Foundations Dictionary. Five moral decision modules of MFT, composed of care, fairness (individualistic morality), loyalty, authority and sanctity (group-based, Durkheimian morality), can be represented in vector spaces consisted of party announcements data. By comparing the party vector and the five morality vectors, researcher can see how the political parties have actively used each of the five moral foundations to express themselves and the opposition. Results report that the conservative party tends to actively draw on collective morality such as loyalty, authority, purity to differentiate itself. Notably, such moral differentiation strategy is prevalent when they criticize an opposition party. In contrast, the liberal party tends to concern with individualistic morality such as fairness. This result indicates that moral cleavage does exist between parties in South Korea. Furthermore, individualistic moral gaps of the two political parties are eased over time, which seems to be due to the discussion of economic democratization of conservative party that emerged after 2012, but the community-related moral gaps widened. These results imply that past political cleavages related to economic interests are diminishing and replaced by cultural and social values associated with communitarian morality. However, since the conservative party’s differentiation strategy is largely related to negative campaigns, it is doubtful whether such moral differentiation among political parties can contribute to the long-term party identification of the voters, thus further research is needed to determine it is sustainable. Despite the limitations, this study makes it possible to track and identify the moral changes of party system through automated text analysis. More generally, this study could contribute to the analysis of various texts associated with the moral foundation and finding a distributed representation of moral, ethical values.

Keywords: moral foundations theory, moral politics, party system, Word2Vec

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Authors: Charles Ruffner, Michael Manton, Gintautas Kibirkstis, Gediminas Brazaitas, Vitas Marozas, Ekaterine Makrickiene, Rutile Pukiene, Per Angelstam

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In dynamic boreal forests, fire is an important natural disturbance, which drives regeneration and mortality of living and dead trees, and thus successional trajectories. However, current forest management practices focusing on wood production only have effectively eliminated fire as a stand-level disturbance. While this is generally well studied across much of Europe, in Lithuania, little is known about the historic fire regime and the role fire plays as a management tool towards the sustainable management of future landscapes. Focusing on Scots pine forests, we explore; i) the relevance of fire disturbance regimes on forestlands of Lithuania; ii) fire occurrence in the Dzukija landscape for dry upland and peatland forest sites, and iii) correlate tree-ring data with climate variables to ascertain climatic influences on growth and fire occurrence. We sampled and cross-dated 132 Scots pine samples with fire scars from 4 dry pine forest stands and 4 peatland forest stands, respectively. The fire history of each sample was analyzed using standard dendrochronological methods and presented in FHAES format. Analyses of soil moisture and nutrient conditions revealed a strong probability of finding forests that have a high fire frequency in Scots pine forests (59%), which cover 34.5% of Lithuania’s current forestland. The fire history analysis revealed 455 fire scars and 213 fire events during the period 1742-2019. Within the Dzukija landscape, the mean fire interval was 4.3 years for the dry Scots pine forest and 8.7 years for the peatland Scots pine forest. However, our comparison of fire frequency before and after 1950 shows a marked decrease in mean fire interval. Our data suggest that hemi-boreal forest landscapes of Lithuania provide strong evidence that fire, both human and lightning-ignited fires, has been and should be a natural phenomenon and that the examination of biological archives can be used to guide sustainable forest management into the future. Currently, fire use is prohibited by law as a tool for forest management in Lithuania. We recommend introducing trials that use low-intensity prescribed burning of Scots pine stands as a regeneration tool towards mimicking natural forest disturbance regimes.

Keywords: biodiversity conservation, cultural burning, dendrochronology, forest dynamics, forest management, succession

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Authors: Hisham Mortada

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For thousands of years mud houses have represented the practical wisdom and spirituality of people, particularly those of desert regions, who learned how to use local materials to build homes that fitted the environmental and cultural conditions which they lived in. As a case study, the central region of Saudi Arabia exhibits a tradition of earth architecture that is unique in style, culture and sustainability. Aiming to contribute towards the local debate of the suitability of the traditional mud architecture for today’s lifestyle of Saudis, this paper explores the sustainable nature of the traditional adobe architecture of this hot arid region from environmental, social and technical points of view.

Keywords: desert architecture, alternative materials, Saudi Arabia, arid climate, green architecture

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Authors: Rieski Prihastuti, Meliana Depo, Trisno A. Wibowo, Misinem

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On October 19, 2017, Yogyakarta Islamic Hospital reported 38 garment employees with nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea after they had lunch on October 18, 2017, to Sleman District Health Office. Objectives of this study were to ensure the outbreak and identify source and route of transmission. Case-control study was conducted to analyze food items that caused the outbreak. A case was defined as a person who got symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea with/without vomiting, fever, and headache after they had lunch on October 18, 2017. Samples included leftover lunch box, vomit, tap water and drinking water had been sent to the laboratory. Data were analyzed descriptively as frequency table and analyzed by using chi-square in bivariate analysis. All of 196 garment employee was included in this study. The common symptoms of this outbreak were abdominal pain (84.4%), diarrhea (72.8%), nausea (61.6%), headache (52.8%), vomiting (12.8%), and fever (6.4%) with median incubation period 13 hours (range 1-34 hours). Highest attack rate and odds ratio was found in grilled chicken (Attack Rate 58,49%) with Odds Ratio 11,023 (Confidence Interval 95% 1.383 - 87.859; p value 0,005). Almost all samples showed mold, except drinking water. Based on its sign and symptoms, also incubation period, diarrheal Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens were suspected to be the causative agent of the outbreak. Limitation of this study was improper sample handling and no sample of food handler and stools in the food caterer. Outbreak investigation training needed to be given to the hospital worker, and monitoring should be done to the food caterer to prevent another outbreak.

Keywords: disease outbreak, foodborne disease, food poisoning, outbreak

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Authors: Toumi Khamari

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This abstract presents an ecolinguistic investigation of the role of language in cultivating environmental consciousness within the Algerian context. Grounded in the field of applied linguistics, this study aims to explore how language shapes perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors related to the environment in Algeria. By examining linguistic practices and discourse patterns, this research sheds light on the potential for language to inspire ecological sustainability and foster environmental awareness. Employing a qualitative research design, the study incorporates discourse analysis and ethnographic methods to analyze language use and its environmental implications. Drawing from Algerian linguistic and cultural contexts, we investigate the unique ways in which language reflects and influences environmental consciousness among Algerian individuals and communities. This research explores the impact of linguistic features, metaphors, and narratives on environmental perceptions, addressing the complex interplay between language, culture, and the natural world. Previous studies have emphasized the significance of language in shaping environmental ideologies and worldviews. In the Algerian context, linguistic representations of nature, such as traditional proverbs and indigenous knowledge, hold immense potential in cultivating a harmonious relationship between humans and the environment. This research delves into the multifaceted connections between language, cultural heritage, and ecological sustainability, aiming to identify linguistic practices that promote environmental stewardship and conservation in Algeria. Furthermore, the study investigates the effectiveness of ecolinguistic interventions tailored to the Algerian context. By examining the impact of eco-education programs, eco-literature, and language-based environmental campaigns, we aim to uncover the potential of language as a catalyst for transformative environmental change. These interventions seek to engage Algerian individuals and communities in dialogue, empowering them to take active roles in environmental advocacy and decision-making processes. Through this research, we contribute to the field of ecolinguistics by shedding light on the Algerian perspective and its implications for environmental consciousness. By understanding the linguistic dynamics at play and leveraging Algeria's rich linguistic heritage, we can foster environmental awareness, encourage sustainable practices, and nurture a deeper appreciation for Algeria's unique ecological landscapes. Ultimately, this research seeks to inspire a collective commitment to environmental stewardship and contribute to the global discourse on language, culture, and the environment.

Keywords: eco-linguistics, environmental consciousness, language and culture, Algeria and North Africa

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Authors: Jyoti Sharma

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Although notion of giftedness is a reality, yet it swings along the pendulum of equality and excellence. At times, nurturance of gifted abilities becomes a struggle of better catchment of resources and facilities. Those from affluent setup are blessed with better support system whereas gifted children from disadvantaged group suffer from submissive upbringing. In developing countries like India, with diverse demographic profiles, socio-cultural diversity and economic disparity, the very concept of equality in education face severe challenge. The present paper presents the dichotomy of ideology of equality and excellence in education practices. It highlights the need of wider vision, better policy making and decentralized implementation services to allow gifted children to enjoy what they are; dream what they can be; and promote what they will be.

Keywords: gifted, disadvantaged, education safety net, India

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Authors: Tereza Bartosikova

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This paper describes the values of a specific type of industrial heritage-aluminum factories. It is an especially endangered kind of industrial heritage with only a little attention paid. The paper aims to highlight the uniqueness of these grounds and to specify several options for revitalizations. The research is based on complex aluminum factories mapping in Europe from archives and bibliographic sources and on site. There is analyzed gained information that could offer a new view on the aluminum grounds. Primarily, the data are described according to the works in Žiar nad Hronom, Slovakia. More than a half aluminum grounds have ended up the production, although they can go on further. They are closely connected with some areas identity and their presence has left striking footsteps in the environment. By saving them, the historical continuity, cultural identity of population and also the economic stability of region would be supported.

Keywords: aluminum, industrial heritage, regeneration, values

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Authors: Dike Ibegbulem

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This paper interrogates the chances of Nigeria achieving its target of making the list of the first 70 countries in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) rankings by the year 2023. That is, in light of existing conflicts in policies relating to the door-to-door carriage of goods and multimodal transport operations (MTOs) in the country. Drawing on the famed Legal Origins theory plus data from World Bank; and using Singapore as a touchstone, the paper unveils how amongst the top-ranked Commonwealth jurisdictions, positive correlations have been recorded over the past years between certainty in their policies on MTOs on the one hand; and their Enforcing Contracts (EC) and Doing Business (DB) indices on the other. The paper postulates that to increase Nigeria’s chances of achieving her DB2023 objective, legislative and curial policies on MTOs and door-to-door carriage of goods have to be realigned in line with prevailing policies in highly-ranked Commonwealth jurisdictions of the Global North. Her appellate courts, in particular, will need some unshackling from English pedigrees which still delimit admiralty jurisdiction to port-to-port shipping, to the exclusion of door-to-door carriage of goods beyond navigable waters. The paper identifies continental and domestic instruments, plus judicial precedents, which provide bases for expanding admiralty jurisdiction to adjudication of claims derived from door-to-door or multimodal transport contracts and other allied maritime-plus contracts. It prescribes synergy between legislative and curial policies on MTOs and door-to-door carriage of goods as species of admiralty – an emerging trend in top-ranked Commonwealth jurisdictions of the Global North.

Keywords: admiralty jurisdiction, legal origins, world bank, ease of doing business, enforcing contracts, multimodal transport operation, door-to-door, carriage of goods by sea, combined transport shipping

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Authors: Portia Muehlbauer

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This paper examines the evolving landscape of preventing and countering violent extremism (PCVE) by delving into the growing importance of integrating human rights principles into violence prevention strategies on the local, community level. This study sheds light on the underlying theoretical frameworks of violent extremism and the influence of gender while investigating the intersection between human rights preservation and violent extremism prevention. To gain practical insight, the research focuses on two prominent international non-governmental organizations, Women without Borders (WwB) and Hedayah, and their distinct PCVE initiatives. WwB adopts a gender-sensitive approach, implementing parental education programs that empower mothers in at-risk communities to prevent the spread of violent extremism. In contrast, Hedayah takes an indirect route, employing capacity building programs that enhance the capabilities of educators, social workers, and psychologists in early intervention, rehabilitation and reintegration efforts. Qualitative data for this comparative analysis was collected through an extensive four-month internship at WwB during the fall of 2020, a three-month internship at Hedayah in the spring of 2021, a thought-provoking semi-structured interview with the executive director of WwB, personal field notes, and a comprehensive discourse analysis of the prevailing literature on human rights considerations in PCVE practices. This study examines the merits and challenges of integrating human rights into PCVE programming through the lens of both organizations, WwB and Hedayah. The findings of this study will inform policymakers, practitioners, and researchers on the intricate relationship between human rights protection and effective PCVE strategies.

Keywords: preventing and countering violent extremism, human rights, counterterrorism, peacebuilding, capacity building programs, gender studies

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Authors: Syed Kamran Sami, Saqib Siddiqui

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In recent times, flexible supercapacitors retaining high electrochemical performance and steadiness along with mechanical endurance has developed as a spring of attraction due to the exponential progress and innovations in energy storage devices. To meet the rampant increasing demand of energy storage device with the small form factor, a unique, low cost and high-performance supercapacitor with considerably higher capacitance and mechanical robustness is required to recognize their real-life applications. Here in this report, synthesis route of electrode materials with low rigidity and high charge storage performance is reported using 1D-1D hybrid structure of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods, and conductive polymer smeared polyvinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene (P(VDF–TrFE)) electrospun nanofibers. The ZnO nanorods were uniformly grown on poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS) coated P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers using hydrothermal growth to manufacture light weight, permeable electrodes for supercapacitor. The PEDOT: PSS coated P(VDF-TrFE) porous web of nanofibers act as framework with high surface area. The incorporation of ZnO nanorods further boost the specific capacitance by 59%. The symmetric device using the fabricated 1D-1D hybrid electrodes reveals fairly high areal capacitance of 1.22mF/cm² at a current density of 0.1 mA/cm² with a power density of more than 1600 W/Kg. Moreover, the fabricated electrodes show exceptional flexibility and high endurance with 90% and 76% specific capacitance retention after 1000 and 5000 cycles respectively signifying the astonishing mechanical durability and long-term stability. All the properties exhibited by the fabricated electrode make it convenient for making flexible energy storage devices with the low form factor.

Keywords: ZnO nanorods, electrospinning, mechanical endurance, flexible supercapacitor

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Authors: Kate Parkinson

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A Family Group Conference (FGC) is a family-led decision-making process through which a family/kinship group, rather than the professionals involved, is asked to develop a plan for the care or the protection of children in the family. In England and Wales, FGCs are used in 76% of local authorities and in recent years, have tended to be used in cases where the local authority are considering the court process to remove children from their immediate family, to explore kinship alternatives to local authority care. Some local authorities offer the service much earlier, when families first come to the attention of children's social care, in line with research that suggests the earlier an FGC is held, the more likely they are to be successful. Family plans that result from FGCs are different from professional plans in that they are unique to a family and, as a result, reflect the diversity of families. Despite the fact that FGCs are arguable the most researched area of social work globally, there is a dearth of research that examines the nature of family plans and their substance. This paper presents the findings of a documentary analysis of 42 Early Help FGC plans from local authorities in England, with the aim of exploring the level and type of support that family members offer at a FGC. A thematic analysis identified 5 broad areas of support: Practical Support, Building Relationships, Child-care Support, Emotional Support and Social Support. In the majority of cases, family members did not want or ask for any formal support from the local authority or other agencies. Rather, the families came together to agree a plan of support, which was within the parameters of the resources that they as a family could provide. Perhaps then the role of the Early Help professional should be one of a facilitating and enabling role, to support families to develop plans that address their own specific difficulties, rather than the current default option, which is to either close the case because the family do not meet service thresholds or refer to formal support if they do, which may offer very specific support, have rigid referral criteria, long waiting lists and may not reflect the diverse and unique nature of families. FGCs are argued to be culturally appropriate social work practices in that they are appropriate for families from a range of cultural backgrounds and can be adapted to meet particular cultural needs. Furthermore, research on the efficacy of FGCs at an Early Help Level has demonstrated that Early Help FGCs have the potential to address difficulties in family life and prevent the need for formal support services, which are potentially stigmatising and do not reflect the uniqueness and diversity of families. The paper concludes with a recommendation for the use of FGCs across Early Help Services in England and Wales.

Keywords: family group conferences, family led decision making, early help, prevention

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Authors: Binay Pattanayak

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Multilingual state, Jharkhand is home to more than 19 tribal and regional languages. These are used by more than 33 communities in the state. The state has declared 12 of these languages as official languages of the state. However, schools in the state do not recognize any of these community languages even in early grades! Children, who speak in their mother tongues at home, local market and playground, find it very difficult to understand their teacher and textbooks in school. They fail to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills in early grades. Out of frustration due to lack of comprehension, the majority of children leave school. Jharkhand sees the highest dropout in early grades in India. To address this, the state under the guidance of the author designed a mother tongue based pre-school education programme named Bhasha Puliya and bilingual picture dictionaries in 9 tribal and regional mother tongues of children. This contributed significantly to children’s school readiness in the school. Followed by this, the state designed a mother-tongue based multilingual education programme (MTB-MLE) for multilingual context. The author guided textbook development in 5 tribal (Santhali, Mundari, Ho, Kurukh and Kharia) and two regional (Odia and Bangla) languages. Teachers and community members were trained for MTB-MLE in around 1,000 schools of the concerned language pockets. Community resource groups were constituted along with their academic calendars in each school to promote story-telling, singing, painting, dancing, riddles, etc. with community support. This, on the one hand, created rich learning environments for children. On the other hand, the communities have discovered a great potential in the process of developing a wide variety of learning materials for children in own mother-tongue using their local stories, songs, riddles, paintings, idioms, skits, etc. as a process of their literary, cultural and technical enrichment. The majority of children are acquiring strong early grade reading skills (basic literacy and numeracy) in grades I-II thereby getting well prepared for higher studies. In a phased manner they are learning Hindi and English after 4-5 years of MTB-MLE using the foundational language learning skills. Community members have started designing new books, audio-visual learning materials in their mother-tongues seeing a great potential for their cultural and technological rejuvenation.

Keywords: community resource groups, MTB-MLE, multilingual, socio-linguistic survey, learning

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Authors: Ira V. Stancheva, Ely G. Zayova, Maria P. Geneva, Marieta G. Hristozkova, Lyudmila I. Dimitrova, Maria I. Petrova

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The study describes a highly efficient and low-cost protocol for rapid and mass in vitro propagation of medicinal and aromatic plant species (Hyssopus officinalis L., Lamiaceae). Hyssop is an important aromatic herb used for its medicinal values because of its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. The protocol for large-scale multiplication of this aromatic plant was developed using young stem tips explants. The explants were sterilized with 0.04% mercuric chloride (HgCl₂) solution for 20 minutes and washing three times with sterile distilled water in 15 minutes. The cultural media was full and half strength Murashige and Skoog medium containing indole-3-butyric acid. Full and ½ Murashige and Skoog media without auxin were used as controls. For each variant 20 glass tubes with two plants were used. In each tube two tip and nodal explants were inoculated. Maximum shoot and root number were obtained on ½ Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 0.1 mg L-1 indole-3-butyric acid at the same time after four weeks of culture. The number of shoots per explant and shoot height were considered. The data on rooting percentage, the number of roots per plant and root length were collected after the same cultural period. The highest percentage of survival 85% for this medicinal plant was recorded in mixture of soil, sand and perlite (2:1:1 v/v/v). This mixture was most suitable for acclimatization of all propagated plants. Ex vitro acclimatization was carried out at 24±1 °C and 70% relative humidity under 16 h illuminations (50 μmol m⁻²s⁻¹). After adaptation period, the all plants were transferred to the field. The plants flowered within three months after transplantation. Phenotypic variations in the acclimatized plants were not observed. An average of 90% of the acclimatized plants survived after transferring into the field. All the in vitro propagated plants displayed normal development under the field conditions. Developed in vitro techniques could provide a promising alternative tool for large-scale propagation that increases the number of homologous plants for field cultivation. Acknowledgments: This study was conducted with financial support from National Science Fund at the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, Project DN06/7 17.12.16.

Keywords: Hyssopus officinalis L., in vitro culture, micro propagation, acclimatization

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Authors: Sachin Pawar, Suman Patra, Goutam Mukhopadhyay

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The primary function of a shaft is to transfer power. The shaft can be cast or forged and then machined to the final shape. Manufacturing of ~5 m length and 0.6 m diameter shaft is very critical. More difficult is to maintain its straightness during heat treatment and machining operations, which involve thermal and mechanical loads, respectively. During the machining operation of a such forged mandrel shaft, a deflection of 3-4mm was observed. To remove this deflection shaft was pressed at both ends which led to the development of cracks in it. To investigate the root cause of the deflection and cracking, the sample was cut from the failed shaft. Possible causes were identified with the help of a cause and effect diagram. Chemical composition analysis, microstructural analysis, and hardness measurement were done to confirm whether the shaft meets the required specifications or not. Chemical composition analysis confirmed that the material grade was 42CrMo4. Microstructural analysis revealed the presence of untempered martensite, indicating improper heat treatment. Due to this, ductility and impact toughness values were considerably lower than the specification of the mentioned grade. Residual stress measurement of one more bent shaft manufactured by a similar route was done by portable X-ray diffraction(XRD) technique. For better understanding, measurements were done at twelve different locations along the length of the shaft. The occurrence of a high amount of undesirable tensile residual stresses close to the Ultimate Tensile Strength(UTS) of the material was observed. Untempered martensitic structure, lower ductility, lower impact strength, and presence of a high amount of residual stresses all confirmed the improper tempering heat treatment of the shaft. Tempering relieves the residual stresses. Based on the findings of this study, stress-relieving heat treatment was done to remove the residual stresses and deflection in the shaft successfully.

Keywords: residual stress, mandrel shaft, untempered martensite, portable XRD

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Authors: Anca Dinischiotu, Sorina Nicoleta Voicu

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Silica nanoparticles (SiO2-NPs) are widely used in consumer products such as paints, plastics, insulation materials, tires, concrete production, as well as in gene delivery systems and imaging procedures. Environmental human exposure to them occurs during utilization of these products, in a time-dependent manner, the uptake being by topic and inhalation route especially. SiO2-NPs enter cells and induce membrane damage, oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions in a concentration-dependent manner. In this study, MRC-5 cells (human fetal lung fibroblasts) were exposed to amorphous SiO2-NPs at a dose of 62.5 μg/ml for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The size distribution of NPs was a lognormal function, in the range 3-14 nm. A time-dependent decrease of total reduced glutathione concentration by 36%, 50%, and 78% and an increase of NO level by 62%, 32%, respectively 24% compared to control were noticed. An up-regulation of NF-kB expression by 20%, 50% respectively 10% and of Nrf-2 by 139%, 58%, and 16% compared to control after 24, 48 and 72 hours was noticed also. The expression of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and COX-2 was up-regulated in a time-dependent manner. Also, the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were down-regulated after 48 and 72 hours, whereas their activities raised in a time-dependent manner. Exposure of cells to NPs up-regulated the expression of inducible NO synthase, as previously was shown, and probably this is the reason for the increased level of NO, that can react with the thiol groups of reduced glutathione molecules, diminishing its concentration Nrf2 is a transcription factor translocated in nucleus, under oxidative stress, where downstream gene expression activates in order to modulate the adaptive intracellular response against oxidative stress. The cross-talk between Nrf2 and NF-kB activities regulates the inflammatory processes. The activation of NF-kB could activate up-regulation of IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8. The increase of COX-2 expression could be correlated with IL-1β one. Also, probably in response to the pro-inflammatory cytokines, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were induced and activated. In conclusion, the exposure of MRC-5 cells to SiO2-NPs generated inflammation in a time-dependent manner.

Keywords: inflammation, MRC-5 cells, oxidative stress, silica nanoparticles

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Authors: Jeremy Goldsmith

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The Gambia, the smallest country in mainland Africa and one of the poorest countries on Earth, is currently experiencing historically unprecedented levels of out-migration to Europe. As a result, Gambians are currently among the top four nationalities emigrating to Europe. The central question that this thesis will address is: what factors impact the migration-related decision-making capabilities of Gambians? Based on interviews with NGOs, as well as those who have migrated and returned, are planning to migrate, and their friends and families, a pattern will emerge. This pattern will be woven into first person narratives which will explore the politico-economic, environmental, and socio-cultural factors that inform individual decision-making with regards to migration.

Keywords: migration, The Gambia, Africa, politico-economic, sociocultural, environmental

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Authors: Buddhiprabha D. D. Pathirana

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Despite a rapid increase in the number of school counselors in the recent past; procuring the service of school counselors is a luxury that many Sri Lankan schools cannot afford. In addition, school counseling in Sri Lanka also faces new challenges in implementation due to the fact that a generally agreed consensus on training, ethical standards, role identity, counseling model, and structures for school counselors has not been reached. Therefore, this paper has several objectives. First, it reviews a brief history of school counseling in Sri Lanka and describes its current status. Second, it describes current trends/ problems specific to Sri Lankan school counseling milieu which have limited the progress of school counseling as a practice. Third, it discusses societal and cultural issues that are important to consider when implementing school counseling as a practices in Sri Lanka and provides recommendations to improve it.

Keywords: school counseling, Sri Lanka, current situation, recommendations

Procedia PDF Downloads 537

Authors: Taba Tath

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Arunachal Pradesh, located in the easternmost part of India, is known for its natural beauty and diverse tribal lifestyles. The state has the highest species richness and biological diversity among Northeast states in terms of flora, fauna, and tribal traditions and culture. The protection of nature and culture is a practice that is widely used by governments or nongovernmental organizations seeking to preserve the scenic beauty of landscapes and their natural resources in spaces that stand out for their natural and cultural value and have not been heavily impacted by human activity. The whole of Arunachal Pradesh comes under the purview of special permits such as the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and Protected Area Permit (PAP) for domestic and foreign travellers, respectively. Due to politically vibrant areas and naturally fragile in nature, the state needs to be protected, but at the same time, the demand for tourism activities is increasing gradually due to its unique blend of nature and socio-cultural richness. There are 13 protected areas in the state which is unexplored, and there are no tourism activities in these protected areas except for Namdapha National Park. Out of 13 protected areas, the Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the well-managed protected areas located near the Assam-Arunachal border, approximately 40km away from Tezpur town, Assam. The state has great potential for wildlife and nature-based tourism development, which can also indirectly support wildlife and nature-based livelihood options for the local inhabitants living in the peripheral of the sanctuary area due to its high richness in terms of flora and fauna. To promote the richness of the state, boost tourism, and the economic, social and environmental development of the area and local communities, a proper tourism management practice and framework are very much required. The research paper has made an attempt to study the role of stakeholders in preserving and promoting the Protected Areas for tourism development in a sustainable way. This is both a primary and secondary study conducted with field visits, interaction, questionnaire and observation with the various stakeholders and also conducted with the Government reports, magazines and other published sources available. Furthermore, this study will be relevant to all stakeholders for having knowledge and processes for promoting tourism in Protected Areas in a sustainable way. The results will provide relevant information and process for the management and promotion of the protected Areas and to strengthen the sustainable tourism activities in these areas.

Keywords: protected area, inner line permit, protected area permit, management, government, nongovernmental organization, stakeholders, sustainable, natural resources

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Aspalella A. Rahman

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Domestic violence is not an uncommon phenomenon throughout the world. Malaysia is no exception. However, the exact prevalence of domestic violence in Malaysia is difficult to capture due to cultural understanding and sensitivity of the issues existing in the society. This paper aims to examine the issues and problems with the law of domestic violence in Malaysia. As such, it will mainly rely on statutes as its primary sources of information. It will analyse the scope and provisions of the Penal Code as well as the Domestic Violence Act 1994. Any shortcomings and gaps in the laws will be highlighted. It is submitted that domestic violence remains a problem in Malaysia. Although many strategies and plans have been implemented in attempting to combat this social problem, it remains unresolved. This is due to the inefficient implementation of the law. Although much has been done, there is still more to be done by the Malaysian government to combat domestic violence more effectively. For this reason, significant cooperation between the law enforcement authorities, NGOs, and the community must be established.

Keywords: challenges, domestic violence, issues, Malaysia

Procedia PDF Downloads 302

Authors: Daya Rani

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Non-metal-based compounds have emerged as promising electrodes in recent years to replace scarce and expensive transition-metals for energy storage applications. Herein, a simple electro-spinning technique followed by carbonization is used to create tetraphosphorus triselenide(P4Se3)nano-flakes encapsulated in carbon nanofiber (P4Se3@CNF) to obtain a binder-free, metal-free and flexible hybrid electrode with high electrical conductivity and cyclic stability. A remarkable capacitive performance (5.5-folds@P4Se3) of 810Fg-1/[email protected] has been obtained using P4Se3@CNF electrode with an excellent rate capability compared to pristine(P4Se3) which is further supported by theoretical calculations via intercalating graphene within bare P4Se3 flakes inducing partial charge redistribution in hetero-structure. A flexible pouch-type hybrid-supercapacitor followed by coin-cell has been manufactured offering exceptional energy-density without sacrificing power density and ultra-long durability over 35000 and 100000-cycles with capacitance-retention of 99.77% and 100%, respectively. It has been demonstrated that as-fabricated device has practical usefulness towards renewable energy harvesting and storage via integrating commercial solar cell module with supercapattery array that can enlighten the blue LED approximately for 31minutes, rotate the homemade windmill device, power Arduino and glow “INST” against 2minutes of charging. This work demonstrates a facile route towards the development of metal-free electrochemical renewable energy storage/transfer devices offering an inevitable adoption in industrial platforms.

Keywords: metal free, carbon nano-fiber, pouch-type hybrid super-capacitor, nano-flakes

Procedia PDF Downloads 22

Authors: Julian Y. Raheema, Michael R. Hess, Raymond C. Provost, Mark Bilinski

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The world is rapidly moving towards advancing and utilizing artificial intelligence and autonomous robotics. The ground-breaking Boston Dynamics quadruped robot, SPOT, was designed for industrial and commercial tasks requiring limited autonomous navigation. Out of the box, SPOT has route memorization and playback – it can repeat a path that it has been manually piloted through, but it cannot autonomously navigate an area that has not been previously explored. The presented SPOT payload package is built on ROS framework to support autonomous navigation and mapping of an unexplored environment. The package is fully integrated with SPOT to take advantage of motor controls and collision avoidance that comes natively with the robot. The payload runs all computations onboard, takes advantage of visual odometry SLAM and uses an Intel RealSense depth camera and Velodyne LiDAR sensor to generate 2D and 3D maps while in autonomous navigation mode. These maps are fused into the navigation stack to generate a costmap to enable the robot to safely navigate the environment without causing damage to the surroundings or the robot. The operator defines the operational zone and start location and then sends the explore command to have SPOT explore, generate 2D and 3D maps of the environment and return to the start location to await the operator's next command. The benefit of the presented package is that it is much lighter weight and less expensive than previous approaches and, importantly, operates in GPS-denied scenarios, which is ideal for indoor mapping. There are numerous applications that are hazardous to humans for SPOT enhanced with the autonomy payload, including disaster response, nuclear inspection, mine inspection, and so on. Other less extreme uses cases include autonomous 3D and 2D scanning of facilities for inspection, engineering and construction purposes.

Keywords: autonomous, SLAM, quadruped, mapping, exploring, ROS, robotics, navigation

Procedia PDF Downloads 90

Authors: Claudia Schier, Arvid Biallas, Bernd Friedrich

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The demand for Li-ion-batteries owing to their benefits, such as; fast charging time, high energy density, low weight, large temperature range, and a long service life performance is increasing compared to other battery systems. These characteristics are substantial not only for battery-operated portable devices but also in the growing field of electromobility where high-performance energy storage systems in the form of batteries are highly requested. Due to the sharp rising production, there is a tremendous interest to recycle spent Li-Ion batteries in a closed-loop manner owed to the high content of valuable metals such as cobalt, manganese, and lithium as well as regarding the increasing demand for those scarce applied metals. Currently, there are just a few industrial processes using hydrometallurgical methods to recover valuable metals from Li-ion-battery waste. In this study, the extraction of valuable metals from spent Li-ion-batteries is investigated by pretreated and subsequently leached battery wastes using different precipitation methods in a comparative manner. For the extraction of lithium, cobalt, and other valuable metals, pelletized battery wastes with an initial Li content of 2.24 wt. % and cobalt of 22 wt. % is used. Hydrochloric acid with 4 mol/L is applied with 1:50 solid to liquid (s/l) ratio to generate pregnant leach solution for subsequent precipitation steps. In order to obtain pure precipitates, two different pathways (pathway 1 and pathway 2) are investigated, which differ from each other with regard to the precipitation steps carried out. While lithium carbonate recovery is the final process step in pathway 1, pathway 2 requires a preliminary removal of lithium from the process. The aim is to evaluate both processes in terms of purity and yield of the products obtained. ICP-OES is used to determine the chemical content of leach liquor as well as of the solid residue.

Keywords: hydrochloric acid, hydrometallurgy, Li-ion-batteries, metal recovery

Procedia PDF Downloads 171

Authors: Veruska C. Dutra, Lucio F.M. Adorno, Mary L. G. S. Senna

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Since it recognized the importance of planning sustainable tourism, which has been discussed effective methods of monitoring tourist. In this sense, the indicators, can transmit a set of information about complex processes, events or trends, showing up as an important monitoring tool and aid in the environmental assessment, helping to identify the progress of it and to chart future actions, contributing, so for decision making. The World Tourism Organization - WTO recognizes the importance of indicators to appraise the tourism activity in the point of view of sustainability, launching in 1995 eleven Keys Indicators of Sustainable Tourism to assist in the monitoring of tourist destinations. So we propose a case study to examine the applicability or otherwise of a monitoring methodology and aid in the understanding of tourism sustainability, analyzing the effectiveness of local indicators on the approach defined by the WTO. The study was applied to the Lagoa da Confusão City, in the state of Tocantins - North Brazil. The case study was carried out in 2006/2007, with the guiding deductive method. The indicators were measured by specific methodologies adapted to the study site, so that could generate quantitative results which could be analyzed at the proposed scale WTO (0 to 10 points). Applied indicators: Attractive Protection – AP (level of a natural and cultural attractive protection), Sociocultural Impact–SI (level of socio-cultural impacts), Waste Management - WM (level of management of solid waste generated), Planning Process-PP (trip planning level) Tourist Satisfaction-TS (satisfaction of the tourist experience), Community Satisfaction-CS (satisfaction of the local community with the development of local tourism) and Tourism Contribution to the Local Economy-TCLE (tourist level of contribution to the local economy). The city of Lagoa da Confusão was presented as an important object of study for the methodology in question, as offered condition to analyze the indicators and the complexities that arose during the research. The data collected can help discussions on the sustainability of tourism in the destination. The indicators TS, CS, WM , PP and AP appeared as satisfactory as allowed the measurement "translating" the reality under study, unlike TCLE and the SI indicators that were not seen as reliable and clear and should be reviewed and discussed for an adaptation and replication of the same. The application and study of various indicators of sustainable tourism, give better able to analyze the local tourism situation than monitor only one of the indicators, it does not demonstrate all collected data, which could result in a superficial analysis of the tourist destination.

Keywords: indicators, Lagoa da Confusão, Tocantins, Brazil, monitoring, sustainability

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Authors: Shanawaz Patil, Mohamed Haneef, K. S. Narayanaswamy

Abstract:

In the recent years, aluminum metal matrix composites were most widely used, which are finding wide applications in various field such as automobile, aerospace defense etc., due to their outstanding mechanical properties like low density, light weight, exceptional high levels of strength, stiffness, wear resistance, high temperature resistance, low coefficient of thermal expansion and good formability. In the present work, an effort is made to study the effect of heat treatment on mechanical properties of aluminum 7075 alloy reinforced with constant weight percentage of naturally occurring mineral beryl and varying weight percentage of graphene. The hybrid composites are developed with 0.5 wt. %, 1wt.%, 1.5 wt.% and 2 wt.% of graphene and 6 wt.% of beryl  by stir casting liquid metallurgy route. The cast specimens of unreinforced aluminum alloy and hybrid composite samples were prepared for heat treatment process and subjected to solutionizing treatment (T6) at a temperature of 490±5 ^oC for 8 hours in a muffle furnace followed by quenching in boiling water. The microstructure analysis of as cast and heat treated hybrid composite specimens are examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The tensile test and hardness test of unreinforced aluminum alloy and hybrid composites are examined. The wear behavior is examined by pin-on disc apparatus. The results of as cast specimens and heat treated specimens were compared. The heat treated Al7075-Beryl-Graphene hybrid composite had better properties and significantly improved the ultimate tensile strength, hardness and reduced wear loss when compared to aluminum alloy and  as cast hybrid composites.

Keywords: beryl, graphene, heat treatment, mechanical properties

Procedia PDF Downloads 144