Search results for: traditional learning approach

Authors: Hyppolite Aignon, Souleymane Yorou, Martin Ryberg, Anneli Svanholm

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Climate change and human actions cause the extinction of wild mushrooms. In Benin, the diversity of fungi is large and may still contain species new to science but the inventory effort remains low and focuses on particularly edible species (Russula, Lactarius, Lactifluus, and also Amanita). In addition, inventories have started recently and some groups of fungi are not sufficiently sampled, however, the degradation of fungal habitat continues to increase and some species are already disappearing. (Yorou and De Kesel, 2011), however, the degradation of fungi habitat continues to increase and some species may disappear without being known. This genus (Inocybe) overlooked has a worldwide distribution and includes more than 700 species with many undiscovered or poorly known species worldwide and particularly in tropical Africa. It is therefore important to orient the inventory to other genera or important families such as Inocybe (Fungi, Agaricales) in order to highlight their diversity and also to know their phylogenetic positions with a combined approach of gene regions. This study aims to evaluate the species richness and phylogenetic position of Inocybe species and affiliated taxa in West Africa. Thus, in North Benin, we visited the Forest Reserve of Ouémé Supérieur, the Okpara forest and the Alibori Supérieur Forest Reserve. In the center, we targeted the Forest Reserve of Toui-Kilibo. The surveys have been carried during the raining season in the study area meaning from June to October. A total of 24 taxa were collected, photographed and described. The DNA was extracted, the Polymerase Chain Reaction was carried out using primers (ITS1-F, ITS4-B) for Internal transcribed spacer (ITS), (LROR, LWRB, LR7, LR5) for nuclear ribosomal (LSU), (RPB2-f5F, RPB2-b6F, RPB2- b6R2, RPB2-b7R) for RNA polymerase II gene (RPB2) and sequenced. The ITS sequences of the 24 collections of Inocybaceae were edited in Staden and all the sequences were aligned and edited with Aliview v1.17. The sequences were examined by eye for sufficient similarity to be considered the same species. 13 different species were present in the collections. In addition, sequences similar to the ITS sequences of the thirteen final species were searched using BLAST. The nLSU and RPB2 markers for these species have been inserted in a complete alignment, where species from all major Inocybaceae clades as well as from all continents except Antarctica are present. Our new sequences for nLSU and RPB2 have been manually aligned in this dataset. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using the RAxML v7.2.6 maximum likelihood software. Bootstrap replications have been set to 100 and no partitioning of the dataset has been performed. The resulting tree was viewed and edited with FigTree v1.4.3. The preliminary tree resulting from the analysis of maximum likelihood shows us that these species coming from Benin are much diversified and are distributed in four different clades (Inosperma, Inocybe, Mallocybe and Pseudosperma) on the seven clades of Inocybaceae but the phylogeny position of 7 is currently known. This study marks the diversity of Inocybe in Benin and the investigations will continue and a protection plan will be developed in the coming years.

Keywords: Benin, diversity, Inocybe, phylogeny placement

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Authors: Nadia Zahra Karimi Khiavi, Amir Ghiami Rad

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Due to the high likelihood of injuries in karate, karatekas' injuries warrant special treatment. This study explores the prevalence of karate injuries in East Azerbaijan, Iran and provides a model for karatekas to use in the prevention of such injuries. This study employs a descriptive approach. Male and female participants with a brown belt or above in either control or non-control styles in East Azerbaijan province are included in the study's statistical population. A statistical sample size of 100 people was computed using the tools employed (smartpls), and the samples were drawn at random from all clubs in the province with the assistance of the Karate Board in order to give a model for the prevention of karate injuries. Information was gathered by means of a survey that made use of the Standard Questionnaire for Australian Sports Medicine Injury Reports. The information is presented in the form of tables and samples, and descriptive statistics were used to organise and summarise the data. Control and non-control independent t-tests were conducted using SPSS version 20, and structural equation modelling (pls) was utilised for injury prevention modelling at a 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the most common areas of injury among the control groups were the upper limbs (46.15%), lower limbs (34.61%), trunk (15.38%), and head and neck (3.84%). The most common types of injuries were broken bones (34.61%), sprain or strain (23.13%), bruising and contusions (23.13%), trauma to the face and mouth (11.53%), and damage to the nerves (69.69%). Uncontrolled committees are most likely to sustain injuries to the head and neck (33.33%), trunk (25.92%), upper limbs (22.22%), and lower limbs (18.51%). The most common injuries were to the mouth and face (33.33%), dislocations and fractures (22.22%), aspirin and strain (22.22%), bruises and contusions (18.51%), and nerves (70%), in that order. Among those who practice control kata, injuries to the upper limb account for 45.83%, the lower limb for 41.666%, the trunk for 8.33%, and the head and neck for 4.166%. The most common types of injuries are dislocations and fractures (41.66 per cent), aspirin and strain (29.16 per cent), bruising and bruises (16.66 per cent), and nerves (12.5%). Injuries to the face and mouth were not reported among those practising the control kata. By far, the most common sites of injury for those practising uncontrolled kata were the lower limb (43.74%), upper limb (39.13%), trunk (13.14%), and head and neck (4.34%). The most common types of injuries were dislocations and fractures (34.82%), aspirin and strain (26.08%), bruises and contusions (21.73%), mouth and face (13.14%), and nerves. Teaching the concepts of cooling and warming (0.591) and enhancing the degree of safety in the sports environment (0.413) were shown to play the most essential roles in reducing sports injuries among karate practitioners of controlling and uncontrolled styles, respectively. Use of common sports gear (0.390), Modification of training programme principles (0.341), Formulation of an effective diet plan for athletes (0.284), Evaluation of athletes' physical anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and physics (0.247).

Keywords: sports injuries, karate, prevention, cooling and warming

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Authors: Dayron Camilo Bermudez Mendoza

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Road transportation is a significant source of externalities, notably in terms of environmental degradation and the emission of pollutants. These emissions adversely affect public health, attributable to criteria pollutants like particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) and carbon monoxide (CO), and also contribute to climate change through the release of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2). It is, therefore, crucial to quantify the emissions from mobile sources and develop a methodological framework for their economic valuation, aiding in the assessment of associated costs and informing policy decisions. The forthcoming congress will shed light on the externalities of transportation in Bogotá, showcasing methodologies and findings from the construction of emission inventories and their spatial analysis within the city. This research focuses on the economic valuation of emissions from mobile sources in Bogotá, employing methods like hedonic pricing and contingent valuation. Conducted within the urban confines of Bogotá, the study leverages demographic, transportation, and emission data sourced from the Mobility Survey, official emission inventories, and tailored estimates and measurements. The use of hedonic pricing and contingent valuation methodologies facilitates the estimation of the influence of transportation emissions on real estate values and gauges the willingness of Bogotá's residents to invest in reducing these emissions. The findings are anticipated to be instrumental in the formulation and execution of public policies aimed at emission reduction and air quality enhancement. In compiling the emission inventory, innovative data sources were identified to determine activity factors, including information from automotive diagnostic centers and used vehicle sales websites. The COPERT model was utilized to ascertain emission factors, requiring diverse inputs such as data from the national transit registry (RUNT), OpenStreetMap road network details, climatological data from the IDEAM portal, and Google API for speed analysis. Spatial disaggregation employed GIS tools and publicly available official spatial data. The development of the valuation methodology involved an exhaustive systematic review, utilizing platforms like the EVRI (Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory) portal and other relevant sources. The contingent valuation method was implemented via surveys in various public settings across the city, using a referendum-style approach for a sample of 400 residents. For the hedonic price valuation, an extensive database was developed, integrating data from several official sources and basing analyses on the per-square meter property values in each city block. The upcoming conference anticipates the presentation and publication of these results, embodying a multidisciplinary knowledge integration and culminating in a master's thesis.

Keywords: economic valuation, transport economics, pollutant emissions, urban transportation, sustainable mobility

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Authors: Shradha Parsekar, Suma Nair, Ajay Bailey, Binu V. S.

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Background: Concealing of cancer-related information is seen in many low-and-middle-income countries and may be associated with multiple factors. Comparatively, there is lack of information about, how breast cancers diagnosed women disclose cancer-related information to their social contacts and vice versa. To get more insights on the participant’s experience, opinions, expectations, and attitudes, a qualitative study is a suitable approach. Therefore, this study involving in-depth interviews was planned to lessen this gap. Methods: Interviews were conducted separately among breast cancer patients and their caregivers with semi-structured qualitative interview guide. Purposive and convenient sampling was being used to recruit patients and caregivers, respectively. Ethical clearance and permission from the tertiary hospital were obtained and participants were selected from the Udupi district, Karnataka, India. After obtaining a list of breast cancer diagnosed cases, participants were contacted in person and their willingness to take part in the study was taken. About 39 caregivers and 35 patients belonging to different breast cancer stages were recruited. Interviews were recorded with prior permission. Data was managed by Atlas.ti 8 software. The recordings were transcribed, translated and coded in two cycles. Most of the patients belonged to stage II and III cancer. Codes were grouped together into to whom breast cancer status was concealed to and underneath reason for the same. Main findings: followings are the codes and code families which emerged from the data. 1) Concealing the breast cancer status from social contacts other than close family members (such as extended family, neighbor and friends). Participants perceived the reasons as, a) to avoid questions which people probe (which doesn’t have answers), b) to avoid people paying courtesy visit (to inquire about the health as it is Indian culture to visit the sick person) making it inconvenient for patient and caregivers have to offer something and talk to them, c) to avoid people getting shocked (react as if cancer is different from other diseases) or getting emotional/sad, or getting fear of death d) to avoid getting negative suggestion or talking anything in front of patient as it may affect patient negatively, e) to avoid getting stigmatized, f) to avoid getting obstacle in child’s marriage. 2) Participant concealed the breast cancer status of young children as they perceived that it may a) affect studies, b) affect emotionally, c) children may get scared. 3) Concealing the breast cancer status from patients as the caregivers perceived that they have fear of a) worsening patient’s health, b) patient getting tensed, c) patient getting shocked, and d) patient getting scared. However, some participants stressed important in disclosing the cancer status to social contact/patient to make the people aware of the disease. Conclusion: The news of breast cancer spreads like electricity in the wire, therefore, patient or family avoid it for many reasons. Although, globally, due to physicians’ ethical obligations, there is an inclination towards more disclosure of cancer diagnosis and status of prognosis to the patient. However, it is an ongoing argument whether patient/social contacts should know the status especially in a country like India.

Keywords: breast cancer, concealing cancer status, India, qualitative study

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Authors: Tomas Makaras, Julija Razumienė, Vidutė Gurevičienė, Gintarė Sauliutė, Milda Stankevičiūtė

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Stress responses represent animal’s natural reactions to various challenging conditions and could be used as a welfare indicator. Regardless of the wide use of glucose measurements in stress evaluation, there are some inconsistencies in its acceptance as a stress marker, especially when it comes to comparison with non-invasive cortisol measurements in the fish challenging stress. To meet the challenge and to test the reliability and applicability of glucose measurement in practice, in this study, different environmental/anthropogenic exposure scenarios were simulated to provoke chemical-induced stress in fish (14-days exposure to landfill leachate) followed by a 14-days stress recovery period and under the cumulative effect of leachate fish subsequently exposed to pathogenic oomycetes (Saprolegnia parasitica) to represent a possible infection in fish. It is endemic to all freshwater habitats worldwide and is partly responsible for the decline of natural freshwater fish populations. Brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) and sea trout (Salmo trutta trutta) juveniles were chosen because of a large amount of literature on physiological stress responses in these species was known. Glucose content in fish by applying invasive and non-invasive glucose measurement procedures in different test mediums such as fish blood, gill tissues and fish-holding water were analysed. The results indicated that the quantity of glucose released in the holding water of stressed fish increased considerably (approx. 3.5- to 8-fold) and remained substantially higher (approx. 2- to 4-fold) throughout the stress recovery period than the control level suggesting that fish did not recover from chemical-induced stress. The circulating levels of glucose in blood and gills decreased over time in fish exposed to different stressors. However, the gill glucose level in fish showed a decrease similar to the control levels measured at the same time points, which was found to be insignificant. The data analysis showed that concentrations of β-D glucose measured in gills of fish treated with S. parasitica differed significantly from the control recovery, but did not differ from the leachate recovery group showing that S. parasitica presence in water had no additive effects. In contrast, a positive correlation between blood and gills glucose were determined. Parallel trends in blood and water glucose changes suggest that water glucose measurement has much potency in predicting stress. This study demonstrated that measuring β-D-glucose in fish-holding water is not stressful as it involves no handling and manipulation of an organism and has critical technical advantages concerning current (invasive) methods, mainly using blood samples or specific tissues. The quantification of glucose could be essential for studies examining the stress physiology/aquaculture studies interested in the assessment or long-term monitoring of fish health.

Keywords: brown trout, landfill leachate, sea trout, pathogenic oomycetes, β-D-glucose

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Authors: MD Mashiur Rahman, Muhammad Arshadul Haque

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Emerging conservation agriculture (CA) is an option for improving soil health and maintaining environmental sustainability for intensive agriculture, especially in the tropical climate. Three years lengthy research experiment was performed in arid climate from 2018 to 2020 at research field of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Station (RARS)F, Jamalpur (soil texture belongs to Agro-Ecological Zone (AEZ)-8/9, 24˚56'11''N latitude and 89˚55'54''E longitude and an altitude of 16.46m) to evaluate the effect of CA approaches on energy use efficiency and a streamlined life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of wheat production. For this, the conservation tillage practices (strip tillage (ST) and minimum tillage (MT)) were adopted in comparison to the conventional farmers' tillage (CT), with retained a fixed level (30 cm) of residue retention. This study examined the relationship between energy consumption and life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of wheat cultivation in Jamalpur region of Bangladesh. Standard energy equivalents megajoules (MJ) were used to measure energy from different inputs and output, similarly, the global warming potential values for the 100-year timescale and a standard unit kilogram of carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO₂eq) was used to estimate direct and indirect GHG emissions from the use of on-farm and off-farm inputs. Farm efficiency analysis tool (FEAT) was used to analyze GHG emission and its intensity. A non-parametric data envelopment (DEA) analysis was used to estimate the optimum energy requirement of wheat production. The results showed that the treatment combination having MT with optimum energy inputs is the best suit for cost-effective, sustainable CA practice in wheat cultivation without compromising with the yield during the dry season. A total of 22045.86 MJ ha⁻¹, 22158.82 MJ ha⁻¹, and 23656.63 MJ ha⁻¹ input energy for the practice of ST, MT, and CT was used in wheat production, and output energy was calculated as 158657.40 MJ ha⁻¹, 162070.55 MJ ha⁻¹, and 149501.58 MJ ha⁻¹, respectively; where energy use efficiency/net energy ratio was found to be 7.20, 7.31 and 6.32. Among these, MT is the most effective practice option taken into account in the wheat production process. The optimum energy requirement was found to be 18236.71 MJ ha⁻¹ demonstrating for the practice of MT that if recommendations are followed, 18.7% of input energy can be saved. The total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission was calculated to be 2288 kgCO₂eq ha⁻¹, 2293 kgCO₂eq ha⁻¹ and 2331 kgCO₂eq ha⁻¹, where GHG intensity is the ratio of kg CO₂eq emission per MJ of output energy produced was estimated to be 0.014 kg CO₂/MJ, 0.014 kg CO₂/MJ and 0.015 kg CO₂/MJ in wheat production. Therefore, CA approaches ST practice with 30 cm residue retention was the most effective GHG mitigation option when the net life cycle GHG emission was considered in wheat production in the silt clay loam soil of Bangladesh. In conclusion, the CA approaches being implemented for wheat production involving MT practice have the potential to mitigate global warming potential in Bangladesh to achieve soil carbon footprint, where the life cycle assessment approach needs to be applied to a more diverse range of wheat-based cropping systems.

Keywords: conservation agriculture and tillage, energy use efficiency, life cycle GHG, Bangladesh

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Authors: Pola Goldberg Oppenheimer, Stephan Hofmann, Sumeet Mahajan

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Owing to its fingerprint molecular specificity and high sensitivity, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an established analytical tool for chemical and biological sensing capable of single-molecule detection. A strong Raman signal can be generated from SERS-active platforms given the analyte is within the enhanced plasmon field generated near a noble-metal nanostructured substrate. The key requirement for generating strong plasmon resonances to provide this electromagnetic enhancement is an appropriate metal surface roughness. Controlling nanoscale features for generating these regions of high electromagnetic enhancement, the so-called SERS ‘hot-spots’, is still a challenge. Significant advances have been made in SERS research, with wide-ranging techniques to generate substrates with tunable size and shape of the nanoscale roughness features. Nevertheless, the development and application of SERS has been inhibited by the irreproducibility and complexity of fabrication routes. The ability to generate straightforward, cost-effective, multiplex-able and addressable SERS substrates with high enhancements is of profound interest for miniaturised sensing devices. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been concurrently, a topic of extensive research however, their applications for plasmonics has been only recently beginning to gain interest. CNTs can provide low-cost, large-active-area patternable substrates which, coupled with appropriate functionalization capable to provide advanced SERS-platforms. Herein, advanced methods to generate CNT-based SERS active detection platforms will be discussed. First, a novel electrohydrodynamic (EHD) lithographic technique will be introduced for patterning CNT-polymer composites, providing a straightforward, single-step approach for generating high-fidelity sub-micron-sized nanocomposite structures within which anisotropic CNTs are vertically aligned. The created structures are readily fine-tuned, which is an important requirement for optimizing SERS to obtain the highest enhancements with each of the EHD-CNTs individual structural units functioning as an isolated sensor. Further, gold-functionalized VACNTFs are fabricated as SERS micro-platforms. The dependence on the VACNTs’ diameters and density play an important role in the Raman signal strength, thus highlighting the importance of structural parameters, previously overlooked in designing and fabricating optimized CNTs-based SERS nanoprobes. VACNTs forests patterned into predesigned pillar structures are further utilized for multiplex detection of bio-analytes. Since CNTs exhibit electrical conductivity and unique adsorption properties, these are further harnessed in the development of novel chemical and bio-sensing platforms.

Keywords: carbon nanotubes (CNTs), EHD patterning, SERS, vertically aligned carbon nanotube forests (VACNTF)

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Authors: Ilaria Coppola, Davide Lacqua, Nadia Ranìa

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Over the past two decades, migration has gained central importance in the global landscape. Europe hosts the largest number of migrants, totaling 92.9 million people, approximately 37.4 million of whom are regular residents within the European Union's borders. Reception services and different modes of management have received increasing attention precisely because of the complexity of the phenomenon, which necessarily impacts the wider community. Indeed, opening a reception center in an area entails major challenges for that context, for the community that inhabits it, and for the people who use that service. Questioning the strategies needed to offer a functional reception service means listening to the different actors involved who daily face the difficulties involved in working in the field. Recognizing the importance of the professional figures who work closely with migrant people, each with their own specific experiences has led researchers to study and analyze the different types of reception centers and their management. This has led to the development of intervention models and best practices in various countries. However, research from this perspective is still limited, especially in Italy. From this theoretical framework, this study aims to bring out an innovative qualitative tool, such as the world café, the work experiences of 29 social workers working in shelters in the Italian context. Most of the participants were female and lived in the Northwest regions of Italy. Through this tool, the aim was to bring out and share reflections on the critical issues encountered in working in reception centers, with a view to identifying possible solutions for better management of services. The World café represents a tool used in participatory action research that promotes dialogue among participants through the sharing of reflections and ideas. In fact, from critical reflections, participants are invited to identify and share possible solutions to provide a more functional service with benefits to the entire community. Therefore, this research, through the innovative technique of the World café, aims to promote critical thinking processes that can help participants find solutions that can be introduced into their work contexts or proposed to decision-makers. Specifically, the findings shed light on several issues, including complex bureaucratic procedures, insufficient project planning, and inefficiencies in the services provided to migrants. These concerns collectively contribute to what participants perceive as a disorganized and uncoordinated system. In addition, the study explores potential solutions that promote more efficient networking practices, coordinated project management, and a more positive approach to cultural diversity. The main results obtained will be discussed with a focus on critical reflections and possible solutions identified.

Keywords: participatory action research, world café method, reception services, migration contexts, social workers, Italy

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Authors: Renata Hall

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This presentation seeks to highlight an arts-based, Black feminist, and community based participatory approach to exploring the strengths and pleasures, concerns and barriers, and wants and needs of diverse Black women in navigating formal and informal sexual and reproductive healthcare continuums. Recognizing the ongoing intersectional discrimination that Black women face interpersonally and systemically in community and healthcare spaces that service needs such as, early and unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatment and testing, human immune-deficiency virus (HIV) treatment and testing, pre and post-natal care, gynecology and obstetrics, sex education, sexual violence and assault reporting and support, gender affirming spaces and more, this presentation unveils the community and embodied pathways to caring for the sexual self through cultural practices, advocacy and peer support. The presentation will be grounded in the arts and lived experience of 8 Black women, aiming to highlight the sexual and reproductive subjectivities of Black women, through the application and discussion of Black feminist arts-based methodology and praxis. The presentation not only seeks to illuminate methods and grammars of Blackness but so too, invite practitioners to engage in cultural and community-based methods to care. There are many themes of the conference covered in this presentation; feminist methodologies revealing narratives community and inclusion, how the utilization of technology, social media and cultural forces can drive community feminist activism and self-advocacy, how feminist methodologies can uncover opportunities for anti-racist praxis, and lastly enhancing collaboration in research. Specifically revealing how Black feminist thought and associated methods can be enhanced through community based participatory action (CBPAR) research approaches such as, photovoice, this presentation reveals the systemic histories and modern-day experiences of Black women when accessing sexual and reproductive care whilst also uncovering embodied and community-based strengths that produce grassroots, digital, and self-advocacy within healthcare systems. The ways in which the arts, digital age, cultural influences, and lived experiences can come to the fore in collaborative data collection and analysis with research participants, will be the crux of my presentation, bridging to how both Black feminist, CBPAR, and arts-based methods can create tangible, anti-racist and racially reflexive implications for the healthcare and community sector seeking to pedestal Black women's strengths and resilience's and corroborate with their lived experiences. This conversation will center around 3 of the 9 themes derived from my dissertation research, which focuses on the strengths of Black women's community care, culturally informed self-care practices, and communication and vocal pathways to strengthen their sexual and reproductive self-concept and navigational skills in the face of intersectional discrimination in care continuums.

Keywords: sexual and reproductive healthcare, black feminisms, black feminist research, antiracist healthcare policy, antiracist healthcare delivery, arts based research, photovoice

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Authors: Aline Woine, Moïra Mikolajczak, Virginie Dardier, Isabelle Roskam

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Background information: Becoming a parent is said to be the happiest event one can ever experience in one’s life. This popular (and almost absolute) truth–which no reasonable and decent human being would ever dare question on pain of being singled out as a bad parent–contrasts with the nuances that reality offers. Indeed, while many parents do thrive in their parenting role, some others falter and become progressively overwhelmed by their parenting role, ineluctably caught in a spiral of exhaustion. Parental burnout (henceforth PB) sets in when parental demands (stressors) exceed parental resources. While it is now generally acknowledged that PB affects the parent’s behavior in terms of neglect and violence toward their offspring, little is known about the impact that the syndrome might have on the children’s internalized (anxious and depressive symptoms, somatic complaints, etc.) and/or externalized (irritability, violence, aggressiveness, conduct disorder, oppositional disorder, etc.) behaviors. Furthermore, at the time of writing, to our best knowledge, no research has yet tested the reverse effect, namely, that of the child's internalized and/or externalized behaviors on the onset and/or maintenance of parental burnout symptoms. Goals and hypotheses: The present pioneering research proposes to fill an important gap in the existing literature related to PB by investigating the bidirectional effect between PB and the child’s internalized and/or externalized behaviors. Relying on a cross-lagged longitudinal study with three waves of data collection (4 months apart), our study tests a transactional model with bidirectional and recursive relations between observed variables and at the three waves, as well as autoregressive paths and cross-sectional correlations. Methods: As we write this, wave-two data are being collected via Qualtrics, and we expect a final sample of about 600 participants composed of French-speaking (snowball sample) and English-speaking (Prolific sample) parents. Structural equation modeling is employed using Stata version 17. In order to retain as much statistical power as possible, we use all available data and therefore apply the maximum likelihood with a missing value (mlmv) as the method of estimation to compute the parameter estimates. To limit (in so far is possible) the shared method variance bias in the evaluation of the child’s behavior, the study relies on a multi-informant evaluation approach. Expected results: We expect our three-wave longitudinal study to show that PB symptoms (measured at T1) raise the occurrence/intensity of the child’s externalized and/or internalized behaviors (measured at T2 and T3). We further expect the child’s occurrence/intensity of externalized and/or internalized behaviors (measured at T1) to augment the risk for PB (measured at T2 and T3). Conclusion: Should our hypotheses be confirmed, our results will make an important contribution to the understanding of both PB and children’s behavioral issues, thereby opening interesting theoretical and clinical avenues.

Keywords: exhaustion, structural equation modeling, cross-lagged longitudinal study, violence and neglect, child-parent relationship

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Authors: Saltanat Zhilkibayeva, Muratulla Utenov, Nurzhan Utenov

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The distributed inertia forces of complex nature appear in links of rod mechanisms within the motion process. Such loads raise a number of problems, as the problems of destruction caused by a large force of inertia; elastic deformation of the mechanism can be considerable, that can bring the mechanism out of action. In this work, a new analytical approach for the definition of internal forces in links of robotic systems and mechanisms with statically indeterminate and determinate structures taking into account the distributed inertial and concentrated forces is proposed. The relations between the intensity of distributed inertia forces and link weight with geometrical, physical and kinematic characteristics are determined in this work. The distribution laws of inertia forces and dead weight make it possible at each position of links to deduce the laws of distribution of internal forces along the axis of the link, in which loads are found at any point of the link. The approximation matrixes of forces of an element under the action of distributed inertia loads with the trapezoidal intensity are defined. The obtained approximation matrixes establish the dependence between the force vector in any cross-section of the element and the force vector in calculated cross-sections, as well as allow defining the physical characteristics of the element, i.e., compliance matrix of discrete elements. Hence, the compliance matrixes of an element under the action of distributed inertial loads of trapezoidal shape along the axis of the element are determined. The internal loads of each continual link are unambiguously determined by a set of internal loads in its separate cross-sections and by the approximation matrixes. Therefore, the task is reduced to the calculation of internal forces in a final number of cross-sections of elements. Consequently, it leads to a discrete model of elastic calculation of links of rod mechanisms. The discrete model of the elements of mechanisms and robotic systems and their discrete model as a whole are constructed. The dynamic equilibrium equations for the discrete model of the elements are also received in this work as well as the equilibrium equations of the pin and rigid joints expressed through required parameters of internal forces. Obtained systems of dynamic equilibrium equations are sufficient for the definition of internal forces in links of mechanisms, which structure is statically definable. For determination of internal forces of statically indeterminate mechanisms (in the way of determination of internal forces), it is necessary to build a compliance matrix for the entire discrete model of the rod mechanism, that is reached in this work. As a result by means of developed technique the programs in the MAPLE18 system are made and animations of the motion of the fourth class mechanisms of statically determinate and statically indeterminate structures with construction on links the intensity of cross and axial distributed inertial loads, the bending moments, cross and axial forces, depending on kinematic characteristics of links are obtained.

Keywords: distributed inertial forces, internal forces, statically determinate mechanisms, statically indeterminate mechanisms

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Authors: Iacopo Odoardi, Emanuele Felice, Dario D'Ingiullo

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We investigate the role of human capital in the Chinese inland-coastal inequality and how the consequences of the 2007-2008 crisis may induce China to refocus its development path on human capital. We compare panel data analyses for two periods for the richer/coastal and the relatively poor/inland provinces. Considering the rapid evolution of the Chinese economy and the changes forced by the international crisis, we wonder if these events can lead to rethinking local development paths, fostering greater attention on the diffusion of higher education. We expect that the consequences on human capital may, in turn, have consequences on the inland/coastal dualism. The focus on human capital is due to the fact that the growing differences between inland and coastal areas can be explained by the different local endowments. In this respect, human capital may play a major role and should be thoroughly investigated. To assess the extent to which human capital has an effect on economic growth, we consider a fixed-effects model where differences among the provinces are considered parametric shifts in the regression equation. Data refer to the 31 Chinese provinces for the periods 1998-2008 and 2009-2017. Our dependent variable is the annual variation of the provincial gross domestic product (GDP) at the prices of the previous year. Among our regressors, we include two proxies of advanced human capital and other known factors affecting economic development. We are aware of the problem of conceptual endogeneity of variables related to human capital with respect to GDP; we adopt an instrumental variable approach (two-stage least squares) to avoid inconsistent estimates. Our results suggest that the economic strengths that influenced the Chinese take-off and the dualism are confirmed in the first period. These results gain relevance in comparison with the second period. An evolution in local economic endowments is taking place: first, although human capital can have a positive effect on all provinces after the crisis, not all types of advanced education have a direct economic effect; second, the development path of the inland area is changing, with an evolution towards more productive sectors which can favor higher returns to human capital. New strengths (e.g., advanced education, transport infrastructures) could be useful to foster development paths of inland-coastal desirable convergence, especially by favoring the poorer provinces. Our findings suggest that in all provinces, human capital can be useful to promote convergence in growth paths, even if investments in tertiary education seem to have a negative role, most likely due to the inability to exploit the skills of highly educated workers. Furthermore, we observe important changes in the economic characteristics of the less developed internal provinces. These findings suggest an evolution towards more productive economic sectors, a greater ability to exploit both investments in fixed capital and the available infrastructures. All these aspects, if connected with the improvement in the returns to human capital (at least at the secondary level), lead us to assume a better reaction (i.e., resilience) of the less developed provinces to the crisis effects.

Keywords: human capital, inland-coastal inequality, Great Recession, China

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Authors: Andréanne Gagné, Jo Anni Joncas, Éric Tendon

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Teaching in vocational training requires an excellent mastery of the trade being taught, but also solid professional skills in pedagogy. Teachers are typically recruited on the basis of their trade expertise, and they do not necessarily have training or experience in pedagogy. In order to counter this lack, the Ministry of Education (Québec, Canada) requires them to complete a 120-credit university program to obtain their teaching certificate. They must complete this training in addition to their teaching duties. This training was rarely planned in the teacher’s life course, and each teacher approaches it differently: some are enthusiastic, but many feel reluctant discouragement and even frustration at the idea of committing to a training program lasting an average of 10 years to completion. However, Quebec is experiencing an unprecedented shortage of teachers, and the perseverance of vocational teachers in their careers requires special attention because of the conditions of their specific integration conditions. Our research examines the perceptions that vocational teachers in training have of their academic experience in pre-service teaching. It differs from previous research in that it focuses on the influence of the academic experience on the teaching employment experience. The goal is that by better understanding the university experience of teachers in vocational education, we can identify support strategies to support their school experience and their teaching. To do this, the research is based on the theoretical framework of the sociology of experience, which allows us to study the way in which these “teachers-students” give meaning to their university program in articulation with their jobs according to three logics of action. The logic of integration is based on the process of socialization, where the action is preceded by the internalization of values, norms, and cultural models associated with the training context. The logic of strategy refers to the usefulness of this experience where the individual constructs a form of rationality according to his objectives, resources, social position, and situational constraints. The logic of subjectivation refers to reflexivity activities aimed at solving problems and making choices. These logics served as a framework for the development of an online questionnaire. Three hundred respondents, newly enrolled in an undergraduate teaching program (bachelor's degree in vocational education), expressed themselves about their academic experience. This paper relates qualitative data (open-ended questions) subjected to an interpretive repertory analysis approach to descriptive data (closed-ended questions) that emerged. The results shed light on how the respondents perceive themselves as teachers and students, their perceptions of university training and the support offered, and the place that training occupies in their professional path. Indeed, their professional and academic paths are inextricably linked, and it seems essential to take them into account simultaneously to better meet their needs and foster the development of their expertise in pedagogy. The discussion focuses on the strengths and limitations of university training from the perspective of the logic of action. The results also suggest support strategies that can be implemented to better support the integration and retention of student teachers in professional education.

Keywords: teacher, vocational training, pre-service training, academic experience

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Authors: Collen Tebogo Masilo, Erik Schmikl

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The demand for the DataMiner product by customers has presented a great challenge for the vendor in Skyline Communications in deploying its limited resources in the form of human resources, financial resources, and office space, to achieve high organisational performance in all its international operations. The rapid growth of the organisation has been unable to efficiently support its existing customers across the globe, and provide services to new customers, due to the limited number of approximately one hundred employees in its employ. The combined descriptive and explanatory case study research methods were selected as research design, making use of a survey questionnaire which was distributed to a sample of 100 respondents. A sample return of 89 respondents was achieved. The sampling method employed was non-probability sampling, using the convenient sampling method. Frequency analysis and correlation between the subscales (the four themes) were used for statistical analysis to interpret the data. The investigation was conducted into mechanisms that can be deployed to balance the high demand for products and the limited production capacity of the company’s Belgian operations across four aspects: demand management strategies, capacity management strategies, communication methods that can be used to align a sales management department, and reward systems in use to improve employee performance. The conclusions derived from the theme ‘demand management strategies’ are that the company is fully aware of the future market demand for its products. However, there seems to be no evidence that there is proper demand forecasting conducted within the organisation. The conclusions derived from the theme 'capacity management strategies' are that employees always have a lot of work to complete during office hours, and, also, employees seem to need help from colleagues with urgent tasks. This indicates that employees often work on unplanned tasks and multiple projects. Conclusions derived from the theme 'communication methods used to align sales management department with operations' are that communication is not good throughout the organisation. This means that information often stays with management, and does not reach non-management employees. This also means that there is a lack of smooth synergy as expected and a lack of good communication between the sales department and the projects office. This has a direct impact on the delivery of projects to customers by the operations department. The conclusions derived from the theme ‘employee reward systems’ are that employees are motivated, and feel that they add value in their current functions. There are currently no measures in place to identify unhappy employees, and there are also no proper reward systems in place which are linked to a performance management system. The research has made a contribution to the body of research by exploring the impact of the four sub-variables and their interaction on the challenges of organisational productivity, in particular where an organisation experiences a capacity problem during its growth stage during tough economic conditions. Recommendations were made which, if implemented by management, could further enhance the organisation’s sustained competitive operations.

Keywords: high demand for products, high organisational performance, limited production capacity, limited resources

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Authors: Joy Tweed, Jon Pike

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In Thailand, a 4.0 policy has been initiated that is designed to prepare and train an appropriate workforce to support the move to a value-based economy. One aspect of support for this policy is a project to encourage the creation of double degree programmes, specifically between Thai and UK universities. This research into the project, conducted with its key players, explores the factors that can either enable or hinder the development of such programmes. It is an area that has received little research attention to date. Key findings focus on differences in quality assurance requirements, attitudes to benefits, risks, and committed levels of institutional support, thus providing valuable input into future policy making. The Transnational Education (TNE) Development Project was initiated in 2015 by the British Council, in conjunction with the Office for Higher Education Commission (OHEC), Thailand. The purpose of the project was to facilitate opportunities for Thai Universities to partner with UK Universities so as to develop double degree programme models. In this arrangement, the student gains both a UK and a Thai qualification, spending time studying in both countries. Twenty-two partnerships were initiated via the project. Utilizing a qualitative approach, data sources included participation in TNE project workshops, peer reviews, and over 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with key informants within the participating UK and Thai universities. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed for key themes. The research has revealed that the strength of the relationship between the two partner institutions is critical. Successful partnerships are often built on previous personal contact, have senior-level involvement and are strengthened by partnership on different levels, such as research, student exchange, and other forms of mobility. The support of the British Council was regarded as a key enabler in developing these types of projects for those universities that had not been involved in TNE previously. The involvement of industry is apparent in programmes that have high scientific content but not well developed in other subject areas. Factors that hinder the development of partnership programmes include the approval processes and quality requirements of each institution. Significant differences in fee levels between Thai and UK universities provide a challenge and attempts to bridge them require goodwill on the part of the latter that may be difficult to realise. This research indicates the key factors to which attention needs to be given when developing a TNE programme. Early attention to these factors can reduce the likelihood that the partnership will fail to develop. Representatives in both partner universities need to understand their respective processes of development and approval. The research has important practical implications for policy-makers and planners involved with TNE, not only in relation to the specific TNE project but also more widely in relation to the development of TNE programmes in other countries and other subject areas. Future research will focus on assessing the success of the double degree programmes generated by the TNE Development Project from the perspective of universities, policy makers, and industry partners.

Keywords: double-degree, internationalization, partnerships, Thai-UK

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Authors: Naphaporn Sapsopha

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Aging population has been growing rapidly in Thailand due to several factors – namely, the declining size of the average Thai family, changing family structure, higher survival rates of women, and job migration patterns – there are fewer working-age citizens who are able to care for and support their aging family members. When a family can no longer provide for their elders, the responsibility shifts to the government. Many non-profit institutional care facilities for older adults have already been established, but having such institutions are not enough. In addition to the provisions that a reliable shelter can provide, older adults also need efficient social services, physical wellness, and mental health, all of which are crucial for successful aging. Yet, to date, there is no consensus or a well-accepted definition of what constitutes successful aging. The issue is further complicated by cultural expectations, and the gendered experience of the older adults. These issues need to be better understood to promote effective care and wellness. This qualitative research investigates the relationship between institutional care and successful aging among the institutionalized Thai older adults at a non-profit facility in Bangkok, Thailand. Specifically, it examines: a) How do institutionalized older adults define successful aging?, b) What factors do they believe contribute to successful aging?, and c) Do their beliefs vary by gender? Data was collected using a phenomenological research approach that included focus groups and in-depth interviews using open-ended questions, conducted on 10 institutionalized older adults (5 men and 5 women) ages 60 or over. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using grounded theory methodology. The participants aged between 70-91 years old, and they varied in terms of gender, education, occupation, and life background. The results revealed that Thai institutionalized older adults viewed successful aging as a result of multiple interrelated factors: maintaining physical health, good mental and cognitive abilities. Remarkably, the participants identified as successful aging include independence for self-care and financial support, adhering to moral principles and religious practice, seeing the success of their loved ones, and making social contributions to their community. In addition, three primary themes were identified as a coping strategy to age successfully: self-acceptance by being sufficient and satisfied with all aspects of life, preparedness and adaptation for every stage of life, and self-esteem by maintaining their self. These beliefs are shared across gender and age differences. However, participants highlighted the importance of the interrelationship among these attributes similar to the need for a secure environment, the thoughtfulness and social support of institutional care in order to maintain positive attitude and well-being. With highly increased Thai aging population, many of these older adults will find themselves living in the institutional care; therefore, it is important to intensively understand how older adults viewed successful aging, what constituted successful aging and what could be done to promote it. Interventions to enhance successful aging may include meaningful practice and along with an effective coping strategy in order to lead a better quality of life those living in institutional care.

Keywords: institutional care, older adults, self-acceptant, successful aging

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Authors: Livia Calcagni

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Most of the largest cities in the world are located in areas that are vulnerable to coastal erosion and flooding, both linked to climate change and rising sea levels (RSL). Nevertheless, more and more people are moving to these vulnerable areas as cities keep growing. Architects, engineers and policy makers are called to rethink the way we live and to provide timely and adequate responses not only by investigating measures to improve the urban fabric, but also by developing strategies capable of planning change, exploring unusual and resilient frontiers of living, such as floating architecture. Since the beginning of the 21st century we have seen a dynamic growth of water-based architecture. At the same time, the shortage of land available for urban development also led to reclaim the seabed or to build floating structures. In light of these considerations, time is ripe to consider floating architecture not only as a full-fledged building typology but especially as a full-fledged adaptation solution for RSL. Currently, there is no global international legal framework for urban development on water and there is no structured performance based building design (PBBD) approach for floating architecture in most countries, let alone national regulatory systems. Thus, the research intends to identify the technological, morphological, functional, economic, managerial requirements that must be considered in a the development of the PBBD framework conceived as a meta-design tool. As it is expected that floating urban development is mostly likely to take place as extension of coastal areas, the needs and design criteria are definitely more similar to those of the urban environment than of the offshore industry. Therefor, the identification and categorization of parameters takes the urban-architectural guidelines and regulations as the starting point, taking the missing aspects, such as hydrodynamics, from the offshore and shipping regulatory frameworks. This study is carried out through an evidence-based assessment of performance guidelines and regulatory systems that are effective in different countries around the world addressing on-land and on-water architecture as well as offshore and shipping industries. It involves evidence-based research and logical argumentation methods. Overall, this paper highlights how inhabiting water is not only a viable response to the problem of RSL, thus a resilient frontier for urban development, but also a response to energy insecurity, clean water and food shortages, environmental concerns and urbanization, in line with Blue Economy principles and the Agenda 2030. Moreover, the discipline of architecture is presented as a fertile field for investigating solutions to cope with climate change and its effects on life safety and quality. Future research involves the development of a decision support system as an information tool to guide the user through the decision-making process, emphasizing the logical interaction between the different potential choices, based on the PBBD.

Keywords: adaptation measures, floating architecture, performance based building design, resilient architecture, rising sea levels

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Authors: Miyoko Taniguchi

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Conflict and violence have prevailed over the last four decades in conflict-affected areas in Muslim Mindanao, despite the signing of several peace agreements between the Philippine government and Islamic separatist insurgents (the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)), and peacebuilding activities on the ground. In the meantime, the peace talks had been facilitated and mediated by international actors such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and its member countries such as Indonesia, and Malaysia, and Japan. In 2014, both the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the MILF finally reached a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CAB) in 2014 under the Aquino III administration, though a Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) based on the CAB was not enacted at the Catholic-majority of the Philippine Congress. After a long process of deliberations at the Congress, Republic Act 11054, known as the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), was enacted in 2018 under the Duterate administration. In the beginning, President Duterte adopted an 'inclusive approach' that involves the MILF, all factions of the MNLF, non-Islamized indigenous peoples, and other influential clan leaders to align all peace processes under a single Bangsamoro peace process. A notable difference from past administrations, there is an explicit recognition of all agreements and legislations based on the rights of each stakeholder. This created a new identity as 'Bangsamoro', the residents of Muslim Mindanao, enhancing political legitimacy. Besides, it should be noted an important role of 'insider mediators' -a platform for the Bangsamoro from diverse sectors attempting to work within their respective organizations in Moro society. Give the above background, this paper aims at probing the effectiveness of insider mediation as one of the alternative approaches for mediation in the peace process. For the objectives, this research uses qualitative methods such as process-tracing and semi-structured interviews from diverse groups of stakeholders at from the state to the regional level, including the government officials involved in peace process under the Presidential Office, rebels (MILF and MNLF), civil society organizations involved in lobbying and facilitating peace process, especially in the legislative process. The key outcomes and findings are that the Insider Mediators Group, formed in 2016, had taken on a significant role in facilitating the achievement of a wider consensus among stakeholders on major Moro issues such as BBL’s passing during the last administration to call for unity among the Bangsamoro. Most of its members are well-educated professionals affiliated with the MILF, the MNLF, and influential clans. One of the group’s biggest achievements has been the lobbying and provision of legal advice to legislators who were not necessarily knowledgeable about the peace process during the deliberation of the bicameral conference of the BBL, which eventually led to its passage. It can be concluded that in the long run, strengthening vertical and horizontal relations between the Moro society and the State and among the Moro peoples that can be viewed as a means to sustainable peace.

Keywords: insider mediation, Mindanao, peace process, Moro Islamic liberation front

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Authors: Tatiana G. Smirnova, Stan G. Benjamin

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Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) land surface model (LSM) was a land-surface component in several generations of operational weather prediction models at the National Center for Environment Prediction (NCEP) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It was designed for short-range weather predictions with an emphasis on severe weather and originally was intentionally simple to avoid uncertainties from poorly known parameters. Nevertheless, the RUC LSM, when coupled with the hourly-assimilating atmospheric model, can produce a realistic evolution of time-varying soil moisture and temperature, as well as the evolution of snow cover on the ground surface. This result is possible only if the soil/vegetation/snow component of the coupled weather prediction model has sufficient skill to avoid long-term drift. RUC LSM was first implemented in the operational NCEP Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) weather model in 1998 and later in the Weather Research Forecasting Model (WRF)-based Rapid Refresh (RAP) and High-resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR). Being available to the international WRF community, it was implemented in operational weather models in Austria, New Zealand, and Switzerland. Based on the feedback from the US weather service offices and the international WRF community and also based on our own validation, RUC LSM has matured over the years. Also, a sea-ice module was added to RUC LSM for surface predictions over the Arctic sea-ice. Other modifications include refinements to the snow model and a more accurate specification of albedo, roughness length, and other surface properties. At present, RUC LSM is being tested in the regional application of the Unified Forecast System (UFS). The next generation UFS-based regional Rapid Refresh FV3 Standalone (RRFS) model will replace operational RAP and HRRR at NCEP. Over time, RUC LSM participated in several international model intercomparison projects to verify its skill using observed atmospheric forcing. The ESM-SnowMIP was the last of these experiments focused on the verification of snow models for open and forested regions. The simulations were performed for ten sites located in different climatic zones of the world forced with observed atmospheric conditions. While most of the 26 participating models have more sophisticated snow parameterizations than in RUC, RUC LSM got a high ranking in simulations of both snow water equivalent and surface temperature. However, ESM-SnowMIP experiment also revealed some issues in the RUC snow model, which will be addressed in this paper. One of them is the treatment of grid cells partially covered with snow. RUC snow module computes energy and moisture budgets of snow-covered and snow-free areas separately by aggregating the solutions at the end of each time step. Such treatment elevates the importance of computing in the model snow cover fraction. Improvements to the original simplistic threshold-based approach have been implemented and tested both offline and in the coupled weather model. The detailed description of changes to the snow cover fraction and other modifications to RUC soil and snow parameterizations will be described in this paper.

Keywords: land-surface models, weather prediction, hydrology, boundary-layer processes

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Authors: Matthias Leitner, Gernot Pottlacher

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Experimental determination of critical point data like critical temperature, critical pressure, critical volume and critical compressibility of high-melting metals such as niobium is very rare due to the outstanding experimental difficulties in reaching the necessary extreme temperature and pressure regimes. Experimental techniques to achieve such extreme conditions could be diamond anvil devices, two stage gas guns or metal samples hit by explosively accelerated flyers. Electrical pulse-heating under increased pressures would be another choice. This technique heats thin wire samples of 0.5 mm diameter and 40 mm length from room temperature to melting and then further to the end of the stable phase, the spinodal line, within several microseconds. When crossing the spinodal line, the sample explodes and reaches the gaseous phase. In our laboratory, pulse-heating experiments can be performed under variation of the ambient pressure from 1 to 5000 bar and allow a direct determination of critical point data for low-melting, but not for high-melting metals. However, the critical point also can be estimated by extrapolating the liquid phase density according to theoretical models. A reasonable prerequisite for the extrapolation is the existence of data that cover as much as possible of the liquid phase and at the same time exhibit small uncertainties. Ohmic pulse-heating was therefore applied to determine thermal volume expansion, and from that density of niobium over the entire liquid phase. As a first step, experiments under ambient pressure were performed. The second step will be to perform experiments under high-pressure conditions. During the heating process, shadow images of the expanding sample wire were captured at a frame rate of 4 × 105 fps to monitor the radial expansion as a function of time. Simultaneously, the sample radiance was measured with a pyrometer operating at a mean effective wavelength of 652 nm. To increase the accuracy of temperature deduction, spectral emittance in the liquid phase is also taken into account. Due to the high heating rates of about 2 × 108 K/s, longitudinal expansion of the wire is inhibited which implies an increased radial expansion. As a consequence, measuring the temperature dependent radial expansion is sufficient to deduce density as a function of temperature. This is accomplished by evaluating the full widths at half maximum of the cup-shaped intensity profiles that are calculated from each shadow image of the expanding wire. Relating these diameters to the diameter obtained before the pulse-heating start, the temperature dependent volume expansion is calculated. With the help of the known room-temperature density, volume expansion is then converted into density data. The so-obtained liquid density behavior is compared to existing literature data and provides another independent source of experimental data. In this work, the newly determined off-critical liquid phase density was in a second step utilized as input data for the estimation of niobium’s critical point. The approach used, heuristically takes into account the crossover from mean field to Ising behavior, as well as the non-linearity of the phase diagram’s diameter.

Keywords: critical point data, density, liquid metals, niobium, ohmic pulse-heating, volume expansion

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Authors: Angelo Corallo, Maria Elena Latino, Marta Menegoli

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The link between man and food plays, in the social and economic system, a central role where cultural and multidisciplinary aspects intertwine: food is not only nutrition, but also communication, culture, politics, environment, science, ethics, fashion. This multi-dimensionality has many implications in the food economy. In recent years, the consumer became more conscious about his food choices, involving a consistent change in consumption models. This change concerns several aspects: awareness of food system issues, employment of socially and environmentally conscious decision-making, food choices based on different characteristics than nutritional ones i.e. origin of food, how it’s produced, and who’s producing it. In this frame the ‘consumption choices’ and the ‘interests of the citizen’ become one part of the others. The figure of the ‘Citizen Consumer’ is born, a responsible and ethically motivated individual to change his lifestyle, achieving the goal of sustainable consumption. Simultaneously the branding, that before was guarantee of the product quality, today is questioned. In order to meet these needs, Agri-Food companies are developing specific product lines that follow two main philosophies: ‘Back to basics’ and ‘Less is more’. However, the issue of ethical behavior does not seem to find an adequate on market offer. Most likely due to a lack of attention on the communication strategy used, very often based on market logic and rarely on ethical one. The label in its classic concept of ‘clean labeling’ can no longer be the only instrument through which to convey product information and its evolution towards a concept of ‘clear label’ is necessary to embrace ethical and transparent concepts in progress the process of democratization of the Food System. The implementation of a voluntary traceability path, relying on the technological models of the Internet of Things or Industry 4.0, would enable the Agri-Food Supply Chain to collect data that, if properly treated, could satisfy the information need of consumers. A change of approach is therefore proposed towards Agri-Food traceability that is no longer intended as a tool to be used to respond to the legislator, but rather as a promotional tool useful to tell the company in a transparent manner and then reach the slice of the market of food citizens. The use of mobile technology can also facilitate this information transfer. However, in order to guarantee maximum efficiency, an appropriate communication model based on the ethical communication principles should be used, which aims to overcome the pipeline communication model, to offer the listener a new way of telling the food product, based on real data collected through processes traceability. The Citizen Consumer is therefore placed at the center of the new model of communication in which he has the opportunity to choose what to know and how. The new label creates a virtual access point capable of telling the product according to different point of views, following the personal interests and offering the possibility to give several content modalities to support different situations and usability.

Keywords: agri food traceability, agri-food transparency, clear label, food system, internet of things

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Authors: Foozhan Gharehkhani

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The use of solar energy as a sustainable renewable energy source has gained significant attention in recent years. Solar concentrating systems (CSP), which direct solar radiation onto a receiver, are an effective means of producing high-temperature thermal energy. Cavity receivers, known for their high thermal efficiency and reduced heat losses, are particularly noteworthy in these systems. Optimizing their design can enhance energy efficiency and reduce costs. This study leverages the genetic algorithm, a powerful optimization tool inspired by natural evolution, to optimize the performance of a solar concentrator system with a cavity receiver, aiming for a more efficient and cost-effective design. In this study, a system consisting of a solar concentrator and a cavity receiver was analyzed. The concentrator was designed as a parabolic dish, and the receiver had a cylindrical cavity with a helical structure. The primary parameters were defined as the cavity diameter (D), the receiver height (h), and the helical pipe diameter (d). Initially, the system was optimized to achieve the maximum heat flux, and the optimal parameter values along with the maximum heat flux were obtained. Subsequently, a multi-objective optimization approach was applied, aiming to maximize the heat flux while minimizing the system construction cost. The optimization process was conducted using the genetic algorithm implemented in MATLAB with precise execution. The results of this study revealed that the optimal dimensions of the receiver, including the cavity diameter (D), receiver height (h), and helical pipe diameter (d), were determined to be 0.142 m, 0.1385 m, and 0.011 m, respectively. This optimization resulted in improvements of 3% in the cavity diameter, 8% in the height, and 5% in the helical pipe diameter. Furthermore, the results indicated that the primary focus of this research was the accurate thermal modeling of the solar collection system. The simulations and the obtained results demonstrated that the optimization applied to this system maximized its thermal performance and elevated its energy efficiency to a desirable level. Moreover, this study successfully modeled and controlled effective temperature variations at different angles of solar irradiation, highlighting significant improvements in system efficiency. The significance of this research lies in leveraging solar energy as one of the prominent renewable energy sources, playing a key role in replacing fossil fuels. Considering the environmental and economic challenges associated with the excessive use of fossil resources—such as increased greenhouse gas emissions, environmental degradation, and the depletion of fossil energy reserves—developing technologies related to renewable energy has become a vital priority. Among these, solar concentrating systems, capable of achieving high temperatures, are particularly important for industrial and heating applications. This research aims to optimize the performance of such systems through precise design and simulation, making a significant contribution to the advancement of advanced technologies and the efficient utilization of solar energy in Iran, thereby addressing the country's future energy needs effectively.

Keywords: cavity receiver, genetic algorithm, optimization, solar concentrator system performance

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Authors: Shereen Kamel

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This study explores the recent application of bilingual education in Egyptian public schools. It aims to provide an overall picture of bilingual education programs globally and examine its adequacy to the Egyptian social and cultural context. The study also assesses the current application process of teaching English as a Second Language in public schools from the early childhood education stage and onwards, instead of starting it from middle school; as a strategy that promotes English language proficiency and equity among students. The theoretical framework is based on Jim Cummins’ bilingual education theories and on recent trends adopting different developmental theories and perspectives, like Stephen Crashen’s theory of Second Language Acquisition that calls for communicative and meaningful interaction rather than memorization of grammatical rules. The question posed here is whether bilingual education, with its peculiar nature, could be a good chance to reach out to all Egyptian students and prepare them to become global citizens. In addition to this, a more specific question is related to the extent to which social and cultural variables can affect the young learners’ second language acquisition. This exploratory analytical study uses mixed-methods research design to examine the application of bilingual education in Egyptian public schools. The study uses a cluster sample of schools in Egypt from different social and cultural backgrounds to assess the determining variables. The qualitative emphasis is on interviewing teachers and reviewing students’ achievement documents. The quantitative aspect is based on observations of in-class activities through tally sheets and checklists. Having access to schools and documents is authorized by governmental and institutional research bodies. Data sources will comprise achievement records, students’ portfolios, parents’ feedback and teachers’ viewpoints. Triangulation and SPSS will be used for analysis. Based on the gathered data, new curricula have been assigned for elementary grades and teachers have been required to teach the newly developed materials all of a sudden without any prior training. Due to shortage in the teaching force, many assigned teachers have not been proficient in the English language. Hence, teachers’ incompetency and unpreparedness to teach this grade specific curriculum constitute a great challenge in the implementation phase. Nevertheless, the young learners themselves as well as their parents seem to be enthusiastic about the idea itself. According to the findings of this research study, teaching English as a Second Language to children in public schools can be applicable and is culturally relevant to the Egyptian context. However, there might be some social and cultural differences and constraints when it comes to application in addition to various aspects regarding teacher preparation. Therefore, a new mechanism should be incorporated to overcome these challenges for better results. Moreover, a new paradigm shift in these teacher development programs is direly needed. Furthermore, ongoing support and follow up are crucial to help both teachers and students realize the desired outcomes.

Keywords: bilingual education, communicative approach, early childhood education, language and culture, second language acquisition

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Authors: Poulomi Bhadra, Manjushree Palit, Sanjeev P. Sahni

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Forensic science uses all branches of science for criminal investigation and trial and has increasingly emerged as an important tool in the administration of justice. However, the growth and development of this field in India has not been as rapid or widespread as compared to the more developed Western countries. For successful administration of justice, it is important that all agencies involved in law enforcement adopt an inter-professional approach towards forensic science, which is presently lacking. In light of the alarmingly high average acquittal rate in India, this study aims to examine the lack of understanding and appreciation of the importance and scope of forensic evidence and expert opinions amongst law professionals such as lawyers and judges. Based on a study of trial court cases from Delhi and surrounding areas, the study underline the areas in forensics where the criminal justice system has noticeably erred. Using this information, the authors examine the extent of forensic understanding amongst legal professionals and attempt to conclusively identify the areas in which they need further appraisal. A cross-sectional study done using a structured questionnaire was conducted amongst law professionals across age, gender, type and years of experience in court, to determine their understanding of DNA, fingerprints and other interdisciplinary scientific materials used as forensic evidence. In our study, we understand the levels of understanding amongst lawyers with regards to DNA and fingerprint evidence, and how it affects trial outcomes. We also aim to understand the factors that prevent credible and advanced awareness amongst legal personnel, amongst others. The survey identified the areas in modern and advanced forensics, such as forensic entomology, anthropology, cybercrime etc., in which Indian legal professionals are yet to attain a functional understanding. It also brings to light, what is commonly termed as the ‘CSI-effect’ in the Western courtrooms, and provides scope to study the existence of this phenomenon and its effects on the Indian courts and their judgements. This study highlighted the prevalence of unchallenged expert testimony presented by the prosecution in criminal trials and impressed upon the judicial system the need for independent analysis and evaluation of the scientist’s data and/or testimony by the defense. Overall, this study aims to define a clearer and rigid understanding of why legal professionals should have basic understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of forensic sciences. Based on the aforementioned findings, the author suggests various measures by which judges and lawyers might obtain an extensive knowledge of the advances and promising potentialities of forensic science. This includes promoting a forensic curriculum in legal studies at Bachelor’s and Master’s level as well as in mid-career professional courses. Formation of forensic-legal consultancies, in consultation with the Department of Justice, will not only assist in training police, military and law personnel but will also encourage legal research in this field. These suggestions also aim to bridge the communication gap that presently exists between law practitioners, forensic scientists and the general community’s awareness of the criminal justice system.

Keywords: forensic science, Indian legal professionals, interdisciplinary awareness, legal education

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Authors: D. Dixon, J. Nicol, J. A. Coulter, E. Harrison

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The ease with which they can be functionalized, combined with their excellent biocompatibility, make gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) ideal candidates for various applications in nanomedicine. Indeed several promising treatments are currently undergoing human clinical trials (CYT-6091 and Auroshell). A successful nanoparticle treatment must first evade the immune system, then accumulate within the target tissue, before enter the diseased cells and delivering the payload. In order to create a clinically relevant drug delivery system, contrast agent or radiosensitizer, it is generally necessary to functionalize the AuNP surface with multiple groups; e.g. Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) for enhanced stability, targeting groups such as antibodies, peptides for enhanced internalization, and therapeutic agents. Creating and characterizing the biological response of such complex systems remains a challenge. The two commonly used methods to attach multiple groups to the surface of AuNPs are the creation of a mixed monolayer, or by binding groups to the AuNP surface using a bi-functional PEG linker. While some excellent in-vitro and animal results have been reported for both approaches further work is necessary to directly compare the two methods. In this study AuNPs capped with both PEG and a Receptor Mediated Endocytosis (RME) peptide were prepared using both mixed monolayer and PEG linker approaches. The PEG linker used was SH-PEG-SGA which has a thiol at one end for AuNP attachment, and an NHS ester at the other to bind to the peptide. The work builds upon previous studies carried out at the University of Ulster which have investigated AuNP synthesis, the influence of PEG on stability in a range of media and investigated intracellular payload release. 18-19nm citrate capped AuNPs were prepared using the Turkevich method via the sodium citrate reduction of boiling 0.01wt% Chloroauric acid. To produce PEG capped AuNPs, the required amount of PEG-SH (5000Mw) or SH-PEG-SGA (3000Mw Jenkem Technologies) was added, and the solution stirred overnight at room temperature. The RME (sequence: CKKKKKKSEDEYPYVPN, Biomatik) co-functionalised samples were prepared by adding the required amount of peptide to the PEG capped samples and stirring overnight. The appropriate amounts of PEG-SH and RME peptide were added to the AuNP to produce a mixed monolayer consisting of approximately 50% PEG and 50% RME. The PEG linker samples were first fully capped with bi-functional PEG before being capped with RME peptide. An increase in diameter from 18-19mm for the ‘as synthesized’ AuNPs to 40-42nm after PEG capping was observed via DLS. The presence of PEG and RME peptide on both the mixed monolayer and PEG linker co-functionalized samples was confirmed by both FTIR and TGA. Bi-functional PEG linkers allow the entire AuNP surface to be capped with PEG, enabling in-vitro stability to be achieved using a lower molecular weight PEG. The approach also allows the entire outer surface to be coated with peptide or other biologically active groups, whilst also offering the promise of enhanced biological availability. The effect of mixed monolayer versus PEG linker attachment on both stability and non-specific protein corona interactions was also studied.

Keywords: nanomedicine, gold nanoparticles, PEG, biocompatibility

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Authors: Kutangila Malundama Succes, Koita Mahamadou

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In the context of climate change and demographic pressure, groundwater has emerged as an essential and strategic resource whose sustainability relies on good management. The accuracy and relevance of decisions made in managing these resources depend on the availability and quality of scientific information they must rely on. It is, therefore, more urgent to improve the state of knowledge on groundwater to ensure sustainable management. This study is conducted for the particular case of the aquifers of the transboundary sedimentary basin of Taoudéni in its Burkinabe part. Indeed, Burkina Faso (and the Sahel region in general), marked by low rainfall, has experienced episodes of severe drought, which have justified the use of groundwater as the primary source of water supply. This study aims to improve knowledge of the hydrogeology of this area to achieve sustainable management of transboundary groundwater resources. The methodological approach first described lithological units regarding the extension and succession of different layers. Secondly, the hydrodynamic behavior of these units was studied through the analysis of spatio-temporal variations of piezometric. The data consists of 692 static level measurement points and 8 observation wells located in the usual manner in the area and capturing five of the identified geological formations. Monthly piezometric level chronicles are available for each observation and cover the period from 1989 to 2020. The temporal analysis of piezometric, carried out in comparison with rainfall chronicles, revealed a general upward trend in piezometric levels throughout the basin. The reaction of the groundwater generally occurs with a delay of 1 to 2 months relative to the flow of the rainy season. Indeed, the peaks of the piezometric level generally occur between September and October in reaction to the rainfall peaks between July and August. Low groundwater levels are observed between May and July. This relatively slow reaction of the aquifer is observed in all wells. The influence of the geological nature through the structure and hydrodynamic properties of the layers was deduced. The spatial analysis reveals that piezometric contours vary between 166 and 633 m with a trend indicating flow that generally goes from southwest to northeast, with the feeding areas located towards the southwest and northwest. There is a quasi-concordance between the hydrogeological basins and the overlying hydrological basins, as well as a bimodal flow with a component following the topography and another significant component deeper, controlled by the regional gradient SW-NE. This latter component may present flows directed from the high reliefs towards the sources of Nasso. In the source area (Kou basin), the maximum average stock variation, calculated by the Water Table Fluctuation (WTF) method, varies between 35 and 48.70 mm per year for 2012-2014.

Keywords: hydrodynamic behaviour, taoudeni basin, piezometry, water table fluctuation

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Authors: Ani Wilson Uchenna, Ogbonna Chikodi

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This study examined the impact of artificial intelligence driven applications on banks’ performance in West Africa using Nigeria and Ghana as case studies. Specifically, the study examined the extent to which deployment of smart automated teller machine impacts the banks’ net worth within the reference period in Nigeria and Ghana. It ascertained the impact of point of sale on banks’ net worth within the reference period in Nigeria and Ghana. Thirdly, it verified the extent to which webpay services can influence banks’ performance in Nigeria and Ghana and finally, determined the impact of mobile pay services on banks’ performance in Nigeria and Ghana. The study used automated teller machine (ATM), Point of sale services (POS), Mobile pay services (MOP) and Web pay services (WBP) as proxies for explanatory variables while Bank net worth was used as explained variable for the study. The data for this study were sourced from central bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin as well as Bank of Ghana (BoGH) Statistical Bulletin, Ghana payment systems oversight annual report and world development indicator (WDI). Furthermore, the mixed order of integration observed from the panel unit test result justified the use of autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to data analysis which the study adopted. While the cointegration test showed the existence of cointegration among the studied variables, bound test result justified the presence of long-run relationship among the series. Again, ARDL error correction estimate established satisfactory (13.92%) speed of adjustment from long run disequilibrium back to short run dynamic relationship. The study found that while Automated teller machine (ATM) had statistically significant impact on bank net worth (BNW) of Nigeria and Ghana, point of sale services application (POS) statistically and significantly impact on bank net worth within the study period, mobile pay services application was statistically significant in impacting the changes in the bank net worth of the countries of study while web pay services (WBP) had no statistically significant impact on bank net worth of the countries of reference. The study concluded that artificial intelligence driven application have significant an positive impact on bank performance with exception of web pay which had negative impact on bank net worth. The study recommended that management of banks both in Nigerian and Ghanaian should encourage more investments in AI-powered smart ATMs aimed towards delivering more secured banking services in order to increase revenue, discourage excessive queuing in the banking hall, reduced fraud and minimize error in processing transaction. Banks within the scope of this study should leverage on modern technologies to checkmate the excesses of the private operators POS in order to build more confidence on potential customers. Government should convert mobile pay services to a counter terrorism tool by ensuring that restrictions on over-the-counter withdrawals to a minimum amount is maintained and place sanctions on withdrawals above that limit.

Keywords: artificial intelligence (ai), bank performance, automated teller machines (atm), point of sale (pos)

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Authors: Karimova Sitora Yuldashevna

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The August 2021 resurgence of Taliban as a ruling force in Afghanistan once again challenged the global community into dealing with an unprecedentedly unlike-minded government. To express their disapproval of the new regime, Western governments and intergovernmental institutions have suspended their infrastructural projects and other forms of support. Moreover, the Afghan offshore reserves were frozen, and Afghanistan was disconnected from the international financial system, which impeded even independent aid agencies’ work. The already poor provision of aid was then further complicated with political conditionality. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of conditional aid policy in the Afghan peacebuilding under Taliban rule and provide recommendations to international donors on further course of action. Arguing that conditionality of aid is a counterproductive factor in the peacebuilding process, this paper employs scholarly literature on peacebuilding alongside reports from International non-governmental organizations INGOs who operate directly in Afghanistan. The existing debate on peacebuilding in Afghanistan revolves around aid as a means of building democratic foundation for achieving peace on communal and national levels and why the previous attempts to do so were unsuccessful. This paper focuses on how to recalibrate the approach to aid provision and peacebuilding in the new reality. In the early 2000s, amid the weak Post-Cold War international will for a profound engagement in the conflict, humanitarian and development aid became the new means of achieving peace. Aid agencies provided resources directly to communities, minimizing the risk of local disputes. Through subsidizing education, governance reforms, and infrastructural projects, international aid accelerated school enrollment, introduced peace education, funded provincial council and parliamentary elections, and helped rebuild a conflict-torn country.When the Taliban seized power, the international community called on them to build an inclusive government based on respect for human rights, particularly girls’ and women’s schooling and work, as a condition to retain the aid flow. As the Taliban clearly failed to meet the demands, development aid was withdrawn. Some key United Nation agencies also refrained from collaborating with the de-facto authorities. However, contrary to the intended change in Talibs’ behavior, such a move has only led to further deprivation of those whom the donors strived to protect. This is because concern for civilians has always been the second priority for the warring parties. This paper consists of four parts. First, it describes the scope of the humanitarian crisis that began in Afghanistan in 2001. Second, it examines the previous peacebuilding attempts undertaken by the international community and the contribution that the international aid had in the peacebuilding process. Third, the paper describes the current regime and its relationships with the international donors. Finally, the paper concludes with recommendations for donors who would have to be more realistic and reconsider their priorities. While it is certainly not suggested that the Taliban regime is legitimized internationally, the crisis calls upon donors to be more flexible in collaborating with the de-facto authorities for the sake of the civilians.

Keywords: Afghanistan, international aid, donors, peacebuilding

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Authors: A.H. Martínez, T. López-Montero, R. Miró, R. Puig, R. Villar

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An alternative to mitigate the heat island effect is to pave streets and sidewalks with pavements that reflect incident solar energy, keeping their surface temperature lower than conventional pavements. The “Heat island mitigation to prevent global warming by designing sustainable pavements with reflective and photoluminescent properties (RELUM) Project” has been carried out with this intention in mind. Its objective has been to develop bituminous mixtures for urban pavements that help in the fight against global warming and climate change, while improving the quality of life of citizens. The technology employed has focused on the use of reflective pavements, using bituminous mixes made with synthetic bitumens and light pigments that provide high solar reflectance. In addition to this advantage, the light surface colour achieved with these mixes can improve visibility, especially at night. In parallel and following the latter approach, an appropriate type of treatment has also been developed on bituminous mixtures to make them capable of illuminating at night, giving rise to photoluminescent applications, which can reduce energy consumption and increase road safety due to improved night-time visibility. The work carried out consisted of designing different bituminous mixtures in which the nature of the aggregate was varied (porphyry, granite and limestone) and also the colour of the mixture, which was lightened by adding pigments (titanium dioxide and iron oxide). The reflectance of each of these mixtures was measured, as well as the temperatures recorded throughout the day, at different times of the year. The results obtained make it possible to propose bituminous mixtures whose characteristics can contribute to the reduction of urban heat islands. Among the most outstanding results is the mixture made with synthetic bitumen, white limestone aggregate and a small percentage of titanium dioxide, which would be the most suitable for urban surfaces without road traffic, given its high reflectance and the greater temperature reduction it offers. With this solution, a surface temperature reduction of 9.7°C is achieved at the beginning of the night in the summer season with the highest radiation. As for luminescent pavements, paints with different contents of strontium aluminate and glass microspheres have been applied to asphalt mixtures, and the luminance of all the applications designed has been measured by exciting them with electric bulbs that simulate the effect of sunlight. The results obtained at this stage confirm the ability of all the designed dosages to emit light for a certain time, varying according to the proportions used. Not only the effect of the strontium aluminate and microsphere content has been observed, but also the influence of the colour of the base on which the paint is applied; the lighter the base, the higher the luminance. Ongoing studies are focusing on the evaluation of the durability of the designed solutions in order to determine their lifetime.

Keywords: heat island, luminescent paints, reflective pavement, temperature reduction

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Authors: Swati Mishra

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In recent years, there has been an explosion in Gold NanoParticle (GNP) research, with a rapid increase in publications in diverse fields, including imaging, bioengineering, and molecular biology. GNPs exhibit unique physicochemical properties, including surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and bind amine and thiol groups, allowing surface modification and use in biomedical applications. Nanoparticle functionalization is the subject of intense research at present, with rapid progress being made towards developing biocompatible, multi-functional particles. In the present study, the photochemical method has been done to functionalize various-shaped GNPs like nanostars by the molecules like ninhydrin. Ninhydrin is bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, antigen-antibody reactive, and used in fingerprint technology in forensics. The GNPs functionalized with ninhydrin efficiently will bind to the amino acids on the target protein, which is of eminent importance during the pandemic, especially where long-term treatments of COVID- 19 bring many side effects of the drugs. The photochemical method is adopted as it provides low thermal load, selective reactivity, selective activation, and controlled radiation in time, space, and energy. The GNPs exhibit their characteristic spectrum, but a distinctly blue or redshift in the peak will be observed after UV irradiation, ensuring efficient ninhydrin binding. Now, the bound ninhydrin in the GNP carrier, upon chemically reacting with any amino acid, will lead to the formation of Rhumann purple. A common method of GNP production includes citrate reduction of Au [III] derivatives such as aurochloric acid (HAuCl4) in water to Au [0] through a one-step synthesis of size-tunable GNPs. The following reagents are prepared to validate the approach. Reagent A solution 1 is0.0175 grams ninhydrin in 5 ml Millipore water Reagent B 30 µl of HAuCl₄.3H₂O in 3 ml of solution 1 Reagent C 1 µl of gold nanostars in 3 ml of solution 1 Reagent D 6 µl of cetrimonium bromide (CTAB) in 3 ml of solution1 ReagentE 1 µl of gold nanostars in 3 ml of ethanol ReagentF 30 µl of HAuCl₄.₃H₂O in 3 ml of ethanol ReagentG 30 µl of HAuCl₄.₃H₂O in 3 ml of solution 2 ReagentH solution 2 is0.0087 grams ninhydrin in 5 ml Millipore water ReagentI 30 µl of HAuCl₄.₃H₂O in 3 ml of water The reagents were irradiated at 254 nm for 15 minutes, followed by their UV Visible spectroscopy. The wavelength was selected based on the one reported for excitation of a similar molecule Pthalimide. It was observed that the solution B and G deviate around 600 nm, while C peaks distinctively at 567.25 nm and 983.9 nm. Though it is tough to say about the chemical reaction happening, butATR-FTIR of reagents will ensure that ninhydrin is not forming Rhumann purple in the absence of amino acids. Therefore, these experiments, we achieved the functionalization of gold nanostars with ninhydrin corroborated by the deviation in the spectrum obtained in a mixture of GNPs and ninhydrin irradiated with UV light. It prepares them as a carrier molecule totake up amino acids for targeted delivery or germicidal action.

Keywords: gold nanostars, ninhydrin, photochemical method, UV visible specgtroscopy

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