Search results for: agricultural science instruction

Authors: J. O. Akinyele, R. W. Salim, K. O. Oikelome, O. T. Olateju

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Rice Husk (RH) is the major byproduct in the processing of paddy rice. The management of this waste has become a big challenge to some of the rice producers, some of these wastes are left in open dumps while some are burn in the open space, and these two actions have been contributing to environmental pollution. This study evaluates an alternative waste management of this agricultural product for use as a civil engineering material. The RH was burn in a controlled environment to form Rice Husk Ash (RHA). The RHA was mix with lateritic clay at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% proportion by weight. Chemical test was conducted on the open burn and controlled burn RHA with the lateritic clay. Physical test such as particle size distribution, Atterberg limits test, and density test were carried out on the mix material. The chemical composition obtained for the RHA showed that the total percentage compositions of Fe2O3, SiO2 and Al2O3 were found to be above 70% (class “F” pozzolan) which qualifies it as a very good pozzolan. The coefficient of uniformity (Cu) was 8 and coefficient of curvature (Cc) was 2 for the soil sample. The Plasticity Index (PI) for the 0, 2, 4, 6, 8. 10% was 21.0, 18.8, 16.7, 14.4, 12.4 and 10.7 respectively. The work concluded that RHA can be effectively used in hydraulic barriers and as a stabilizing agent in soil stabilization.

Keywords: rice husk ash, pozzolans, paddy rice, lateritic clay

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Authors: Pedro Llanos, Diego García

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Spaceflight is considered the last frontier in terms of science, technology, and engineering. But it is also the next frontier in terms of human physiology and performance. After more than 200,000 years humans have evolved under earth’s gravity and atmospheric conditions, spaceflight poses environmental stresses for which human physiology is not adapted. Hypoxia, accelerations, and radiation are among such stressors, our research involves suborbital flights aiming to develop effective countermeasures in order to assure sustainable human space presence. The physiologic baseline of spaceflight participants is subject to great variability driven by age, gender, fitness, and metabolic reserve. The objective of the present study is to characterize different physiologic variables in a population of STEM practitioners during an aerobatic flight. Cardiovascular and pulmonary responses were determined in Science Astronaut Candidates (SACs) during unusual attitude aerobatic flight indoctrination. Physiologic data recordings from 20 subjects participating in high-G flight training were analyzed. These recordings were registered by wearable sensor-vest that monitored electrocardiographic tracings (ECGs), signs of dysrhythmias or other electric disturbances during all the flight. The same cardiovascular parameters were also collected approximately 10 min pre-flight, during each high-G/unusual attitude maneuver and 10 min after the flights. The ratio (pre-flight/in-flight/post-flight) of the cardiovascular responses was calculated for comparison of inter-individual differences. The resulting tracings depicting the cardiovascular responses of the subjects were compared against the G-loads (Gs) during the aerobatic flights to analyze cardiovascular variability aspects and fluid/pressure shifts due to the high Gs. In-flight ECG revealed cardiac variability patterns associated with rapid Gs onset in terms of reduced heart rate (HR) and some scattered dysrhythmic patterns (15% premature ventricular contractions-type) that were considered as triggered physiological responses to high-G/unusual attitude training and some were considered as instrument artifact. Variation events were observed in subjects during the +Gz and –Gz maneuvers and these may be due to preload and afterload, sudden shift. Our data reveal that aerobatic flight influenced the breathing rate of the subject, due in part by the various levels of energy expenditure due to the increased use of muscle work during these aerobatic maneuvers. Noteworthy was the high heterogeneity in the different physiological responses among a relatively small group of SACs exposed to similar aerobatic flights with similar Gs exposures. The cardiovascular responses clearly demonstrated that SACs were subjected to significant flight stress. Routine ECG monitoring during high-G/unusual attitude flight training is recommended to capture pathology underlying dangerous dysrhythmias in suborbital flight safety. More research is currently being conducted to further facilitate the development of robust medical screening, medical risk assessment approaches, and suborbital flight training in the context of the evolving commercial human suborbital spaceflight industry. A more mature and integrative medical assessment method is required to understand the physiology state and response variability among highly diverse populations of prospective suborbital flight participants.

Keywords: g force, aerobatic maneuvers, suborbital flight, hypoxia, commercial astronauts

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Authors: Priscilla Echeverria

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This paper addresses initial teacher formation as a formative space in which pedagogy students develop a pedagogical agency capacity to contribute to social justice, considering ethical, political, and epistemic dimensions. This paper is structured by discussing first the concepts of agency, pedagogical interaction, and social justice from a critical perspective; and continues offering preliminary results on the capacity of pedagogical agency in novice teachers after the analysis of critical incidents as a research methodology. This study is motivated by the concern that responding to the current neoliberal scenario, many initial teacher formation (ITF) programs have reduced the meaning of education to instruction, and pedagogy to methodology, favouring the formation of a technical professional over a reflective or critical one. From this concern, this study proposes that the restitution of the subject is an urgent task in teacher formation, so it is essential to enable him in his capacity for action and advance in eliminating institutionalized oppression insofar as it affects that capacity. Given that oppression takes place in human interaction, through this work, I propose that initial teacher formation develops sensitivity and educates the gaze to identify oppression and take action against it, both in pedagogical interactions -which configure political, ethical, and epistemic subjectivities- as in the hidden and official curriculum. All this from the premise that modelling democratic and dialogical interactions are basic for any program that seeks to contribute to a more just and empowered society. The contribution of this study lies in the fact that it opens a discussion in an area about which we know little: the impact of the type of interactions offered by university teaching at ITF on the capacity of future teachers to be pedagogical agents. For this reason, this study seeks to gather evidence of the result of this formation, analysing the capacity of pedagogical agency of novice teachers, or, in other words, how capable the graduates of secondary pedagogies are in their first pedagogical experiences to act and make decisions putting the formative purposes that they are capable of autonomously defining before technical or bureaucratic issues imposed by the curriculum or the official culture. This discussion is part of my doctoral research, "The importance of developing the capacity for ethical-political-epistemic agency in novice teachers during initial teacher formation to contribute to social justice", which I am currently developing in the Educational Research program of the University of Lancaster, United Kingdom, as a Conicyt fellow for the 2019 cohort.

Keywords: initial teacher formation, pedagogical agency, pedagogical interaction, social justice, hidden curriculum

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Authors: Maryam Firouzmandi, Moosa Miri

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Common reasons for early tooth loss are trauma, extraction due to caries or periodontal disease and congenital missing. The remaining space after tooth loss may cause functional and esthetic problems. Therefore restorative dentists should attempt to manage these spaces using conservative methods. The goal is to restore the lost esthetic and function, prevent phonetic, self-esteem and personality problems and tongue habits. Preserving alveolar bone is also of great importance during the growth stage. Purpose: When deciding about the management of the missing tooth, space implants are contradicted until the completion of dentoalveolar development. Even in adulthood, due to systemic or periodontal problems or biological and economic issues, the implant might not be indicated. In this article, the alternative conservative restorative methods of space maintenance are going to be discussed. Essix retainers are made chair-side as easy as forming a custom bleaching tray with some modifications. They are esthetically acceptable and not expensive. These temporaries provide support for the lips but could not be used during function. Mini-screw-supported temporaries are another option for maintaining the space, especially after orthodontic treatment when there is a time lag between the termination of orthodontic treatment and definitive restoration. Two techniques will be presented for this kind of restoration: Denture tooth pontic or a composite crown. The benefits are alveolar bone preservation, Physiologic pressure on the alveolar ridge to increase its density and even can be retained until the completion of the definitive treatment. Bonded fixed partial denture includes Maryland bridge, fiber-reinforced composite bridge, resin-bonded bridge, and ceramic bonded bridge. These types of bridges are recommended to be used after a pubertal growth spurt and a recent meta-analysis considered their clinical success similar to conventional FDPs and implant-supported crowns. However, they have several advantages that are going to be discussed by presenting some clinical examples. Practical instruction on how to construct an FRC bridge and a novel chair-side Maryland bridge will be given by means of clinical cases. Clinical relevance: minimally invasive options should always be considered and destruction of healthy enamel and dentin during the preparation phase should be avoided as much as possible.

Keywords: tooth missing, fiber-reinforced composite, Maryland, Essix retainers, screw-retained restoration

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Authors: Dorit Alt, Nirit Raichel

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Although university teaching is claimed to have a special task to support students in adopting ways of thinking and producing new knowledge anchored in scientific inquiry practices, it is argued that students' habits of learning are still overwhelmingly skewed toward passive acquisition of knowledge from authority sources rather than from collaborative inquiry activities.This form of instruction is criticized for encouraging students to acquire inert knowledge that can be used in instructional settings at best, however cannot be transferred into real-life complex problem settings. In order to overcome this critical inadequacy between current educational goals and instructional methods, the LLAF consortium (including 16 members from 8 countries) is aimed at developing updated instructional practices that put a premium on adaptability to the emerging requirements of present society. LLAF has created a practical guide for teachers containing updated pedagogical strategies and assessment tools, based on the constructivist approach for learning that put a premium on adaptability to the emerging requirements of present society. This presentation will be limited to teachers' education only and to the contribution of the project in providing a scale designed to measure the extent to which the constructivist activities are efficiently applied in the learning environment. A mix-method approach was implemented in two phases to construct the scale: The first phase included a qualitative content analysis involving both deductive and inductive category applications of students' observations. The results foregrounded eight categories: knowledge construction, authenticity, multiple perspectives, prior knowledge, in-depth learning, teacher- student interaction, social interaction and cooperative dialogue. The students' descriptions of their classes were formulated as 36 items. The second phase employed structural equation modeling (SEM). The scale was submitted to 597 undergraduate students. The goodness of fit of the data to the structural model yielded sufficient fit results. This research elaborates the body of literature by adding a category of in-depth learning which emerged from the content analysis. Moreover, the theoretical category of social activity has been extended to include two distinctive factors: cooperative dialogue and social interaction. Implications of these findings for the LLAF project are discussed.

Keywords: constructivist learning, higher education, mix-methodology, structural equation modeling

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Authors: Khalid Javed, Rashid Mahmood

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The constitution empowers the Federal Government to collect taxes on income other than agricultural income, taxes on capital value, customs, excise duties and sales taxes. The Central Board of Revenue (CBR) and its subordinate departments administer the tax system. Each of the three principal taxes has a different history and different set of issues. For a large number of income tax payers the core of the business process is pre-audit and assessment by a tax official. This process gives considerable discretion to tax officials, with potential for abuse. Moreover, this process is also not tenable as the number of taxpayers increase. The report is focused on a total overhaul of the process and organization of income tax. Sales tax is recent and its process and organization is adjusted to the needs of an expanding tax base. These are based on self-assessment and selective audit. Similarly, in customs the accent is on accelerating and broadening the changes begun in recent years. Before long, central excise will be subsumed in sales tax. During the nineties, despite many changes in the tax regime and introduction of withholding and presumptive taxes, Federal Government tax to GDP ratio has varied narrowly around eleven percent. The tax base has grown but still remains narrow and skewed. The number of income tax filers is around one million.

Keywords: central board of revenue, GDP, sale tax, income tax

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Authors: Shahid Mahmood, Ghulam Mueen-Ud-Din, Farah Naz Akbar, Yousaf Quddoos, Syeda Mahvish Zahra, Wajiha Saeed, Tayyaba Sami Ullah

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Obesity is an epidemic across the globe that affects all the segments of the population. Physical inactivity, passionate consumption of junk food, inadequate water intake and an unhealthy lifestyle are evident among university girls that are ruining their health gravely especially fat accumulation. The study was carried out to investigate the potential etiological factors of obesity development in university girls. The cross sectional study was carried out after approval of the Departmental Review Committee for Ethics (DRCE) as the par Declaration of Helsinki at Institute of Food Science and Nutrition (IFSN), University of Sargodha, Sargodha-Pakistan and Department of Food Science and Home Economics, G. C. Women University, Faisalabad-Pakistan. 400 girls were selected randomly from different departments of both universities. Nutritional status of the volunteers was assessed through approved protocols for demographics, anthropometrics, body composition, energetics, vital signs, clinical signs and symptoms, medical/family history, and dietary intake assessment (FFQ), water intake and physical activity level. The obesity was determined on body fat (%). Alarming and unheeded etiological factors for the development of obesity in girls were explored by the study. About 93 % girls had a sedentary level of physical activity, zealous consumption of junk food (5.31±1.23 servings), drank little water (1.09±0.26 L/day) that consequent high heaps of fat (35.06±3.02 %), measly body water (52.38±3.4 %), poor bone mass (05.14±0.31 Kg), and high BMI (26.68±1.14 Kg/m²) in 34% girls. The malnutrition also depicted by poor vital signs i.e. low body temperature (97.11±0.93 °F), slightly higher blood pressure (124.19±4.08 / 85.25±2.97 mmHg), rapid pulse rate (99.2 ± 6.85 beats/min), reduced blood O₂ saturation (96.53±0.96 %), scanty peak expiratory flow rate (297 ± 15.7 L /min). The outcomes of the research articulated that physical inactivity; extreme intakes of junk food, insufficient water consumption are etiological factors for obesity development among girls which are usually overlooked in Pakistan.

Keywords: informed consent, junk food, obesity, physical inactivity

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Authors: Usriatur Rohma, Adji Achmad Rinaldo Fernandes

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Nonparametric path analysis is a statistical method that does not rely on the assumption that the curve is known. The purpose of this study is to determine the best nonparametric truncated spline path function between linear and quadratic polynomial degrees with 1, 2, and 3-knot points and to determine the significance of estimating the best nonparametric truncated spline path function in the model of the effect of population migration and agricultural economic growth on rural poverty through the variable unemployment rate using the t-test statistic at the jackknife resampling stage. The data used in this study are secondary data obtained from statistical publications. The results showed that the best model of nonparametric truncated spline path analysis is quadratic polynomial degree with 3-knot points. In addition, the significance of the best-truncated spline nonparametric path function estimation using jackknife resampling shows that all exogenous variables have a significant influence on the endogenous variables.

Keywords: nonparametric path analysis, truncated spline, linear, quadratic, rural poverty, jackknife resampling

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Authors: Amreth Chandrasehar

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Machine Learning (ML) Models are developed and run in production to solve various use cases that help organizations to be more efficient and help drive the business. But this comes at a massive development cost and lost business opportunities. According to the Gartner report, 85% of data science projects fail, and one of the factors impacting this is not paying attention to Model Observability. Model Observability helps the developers and operators to pinpoint the model performance issues data drift and help identify root cause of issues. This paper focuses on providing insights into incorporating model observability in model development and operationalizing it in production.

Keywords: model observability, monitoring, drift detection, ML observability platform

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Authors: Gete Umbrey, Saifur Rahman

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Graphs are found to be most capable in computing, and its abstract structures have been applied in some specific computations and algorithms like in phase encoding controller, processor microcontroller, and synthesis of a CMOS switching network, etc. Being motivated by these works, we develop an independent approach to study semiring structures and various properties by defining the binary operations which in fact, seems analogous to an existing definition in some sense but with a different approach. This work emphasizes specifically on the construction of semigroup and semiring structures on the set of undirected graphs, and their properties are investigated therein. It is expected that the investigation done here may have some interesting applications in theoretical computer science, networking and decision making, and also on joining of two network systems.

Keywords: graphs, join and union of graphs, semiring, weighted graphs

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Authors: Yaeji Lim, Hee-Seok Oh

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The coherence analysis measures the linear time-invariant relationship between two data sets and has been studied various fields such as signal processing, engineering, and medical science. However classical coherence analysis tends to be sensitive to outliers and focuses only on mean relationship. In this paper, we generalized cross periodogram to quantile cross periodogram and provide richer inter-relationship between two data sets. This is a general version of Laplace cross periodogram. We prove its asymptotic distribution under the long range process and compare them with ordinary coherence through numerical examples. We also present real data example to confirm the usefulness of quantile coherence analysis.

Keywords: coherence, cross periodogram, spectrum, quantile

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Authors: Reza Zakerinejad

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Gully erosion is a serious problem that threading the sustainability of agricultural area and rangeland and water in a large part of Iran. This type of water erosion is the main source of sedimentation in many catchment areas in the north of Iran. Since in many national assessment approaches just qualitative models were applied the aim of this study is to predict the spatial distribution of gully erosion processes by means of detail terrain analysis and GIS -based logistic regression in the loess deposition in a case study in the Golestan Province. This study the DEM with 25 meter result ion from ASTER data has been used. The Landsat ETM data have been used to mapping of land use. The TreeNet model as a stochastic modeling was applied to prediction the susceptible area for gully erosion. In this model ROC we have set 20 % of data as learning and 20 % as learning data. Therefore, applying the GIS and satellite image analysis techniques has been used to derive the input information for these stochastic models. The result of this study showed a high accurate map of potential for gully erosion.

Keywords: TreeNet model, terrain analysis, Golestan Province, Iran

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Authors: Adebayo J. Julius, Oluremi N. Iluyomade

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Livelihood in Nigeria is a paradox of poverty amidst plenty. The Country is endowed with a good climate for agriculture, naturally growing fruit trees and vegetables, and undomesticated water resources. In spite of all its endowment, Nigeria continues to live in poverty year in year out. This thus raises a very important question as to how can there be so much poverty in Nigeria with all its natural endowments. This study focused comparative analysis of the utilization of community informatics for sustainable livelihoods through agriculture. The idea projected in this study is that small strategic changes in the modus operandi of social informatics can have a significant impact on sustainability of livelihoods. This paper carefully explored the theories of community informatics and its efficacies in dealing with sustainability issues. This study identified, described and evaluates the roles of community informatics in some sectors of the economy, different analytical tools to benchmark the influence of social informatics in agriculture against what is obtainable in agricultural sectors of the economy were used. It further employed comparative analysis to build a case model for sustainable livelihood in agriculture through community informatics.

Keywords: informatics , model, rural community, livelihoods sustainability, Nigeria

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Authors: Nikolaos Souvlakis

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One of the prominent phenomena that have survived even in the 21st century, when science is gaining more and more space in the scientific world, is the evil eye within non-Westernized societies and more specifically in Greek culture. The presentation is based on the Christian Orthodox beliefs and folklore about the evil eye. Evil eye occupies an important role in individuals' everyday life and it is fuelled by Satanic powers. Satanic powers and the belief on them have an immense effect on individual's well-being and mental health causing spiritual suffering. The present paper examines the psychological manifestations of the belief of evil eye in individuals' mental health and the ways to protect from it according to the Greek Orthodox tradition.

Keywords: spirituality, belief, evil eye, mental health, well-being, healing

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Authors: Tülin Koldaş, Özlem Çetin Erdoğan, Ahmet Beyarslan

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Brachistinae Föerster, 1862 is a subfamily of the family Braconidae (order Hymenoptera) with about 410 species distributed all around the world. Brachistinae includes the genera, Eubazus Nees von Esenbeck 1814, Foersteria Szépligeti 1896, Chelostes van Achterberg 1990, Triaspis Haliday 1835 and Schizoprymnus Förster 1862. Members of the subfamily live as parasitoids on the families Curculionidae and Apionidae (Coleoptera), which also include very important agricultural pests.  In generally, members of the genus Triaspis are poorly known biologically. The genus is represented by 37 species in the West Palearctic region and 118 species worldwide. Adult specimens of Triaspis were collected from as wide a range of habitats as possible at different altitudes in different parts of Turkey between 1982 and 2010. Samples collected from short plants using standard insect sweeping nets were transferred into tubes containing 70% ethanol and labelled following their preparations according to museum techniques. Seven Triaspis species have been reported from Turkey in this study. Five of these species are new to the fauna of Turkey.

Keywords: Triaspis, Braconidae, Hymenoptera, Turkey, fauna

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Authors: Zakaria Kharbouch, Mustapha Bouchaara, F. Elkouihen, A. Habbal, A. Ratnani, A. Faik

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Solid-state lithium-ion batteries have garnered increasing interest in modern energy research due to their potential for safer, more efficient, and sustainable energy storage systems. Among the critical components of these batteries, the electrolyte plays a pivotal role, with LLZO garnet-based electrolytes showing significant promise. Garnet materials offer intrinsic advantages such as high Li-ion conductivity, wide electrochemical stability, and excellent compatibility with lithium metal anodes. However, optimizing ionic conductivity in garnet structures poses a complex challenge, primarily due to the multitude of potential dopants that can be incorporated into the LLZO crystal lattice. The complexity of material design, influenced by numerous dopant options, requires a systematic method to find the most effective combinations. This study highlights the utility of machine learning (ML) techniques in the materials discovery process to navigate the complex range of factors in garnet-based electrolytes. Collaborators from the materials science and ML fields worked with a comprehensive dataset previously employed in a similar study and collected from various literature sources. This dataset served as the foundation for an extensive data refinement phase, where meticulous error identification, correction, outlier removal, and garnet-specific feature engineering were conducted. This rigorous process substantially improved the dataset's quality, ensuring it accurately captured the underlying physical and chemical principles governing garnet ionic conductivity. The data refinement effort resulted in a significant improvement in the predictive performance of the machine learning model. Originally starting at an accuracy of 0.32, the model underwent substantial refinement, ultimately achieving an accuracy of 0.88. This enhancement highlights the effectiveness of the interdisciplinary approach and underscores the substantial potential of machine learning techniques in materials science research.

Keywords: lithium batteries, all-solid-state batteries, machine learning, solid state electrolytes

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Authors: Rabia Shabbir, Sheikh Saeed Ahmad, Amna Butt

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Rapid land use changes have taken place in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, over the past decades due to accelerated urbanization and industrialization. In this study, land use changes in the metropolitan area of Islamabad was observed by the combined use of GIS and satellite remote sensing for a time period of 15 years. High-resolution Google Earth images were downloaded from 2000-2015, and object-based classification method was used for accurate classification using eCognition software. The information regarding urban settlements, industrial area, barren land, agricultural area, vegetation, water, and transportation infrastructure was extracted. The results showed that the city experienced a spatial expansion, rapid urban growth, land use change and expanding transportation infrastructure. The study concluded the integration of GIS and remote sensing as an effective approach for analyzing the spatial pattern of urban growth and land use change.

Keywords: land use change, urban growth, Islamabad, object-based classification, Google Earth, remote sensing, GIS

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Authors: Robert Miller, Fred Soltero, Sandra Allan, Denise Bonilla

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The Tropical Bont Tick (TBT), Amblyomma variegatum, was introduced to the Caribbean in the mid-1700s. Since it has spread throughout the Caribbean dispersed by cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis). Tropical Bont Ticks vector many pathogens to livestock and humans. However, only the livestock diseases heartwater, Ehrlichia (Cowdria) ruminantium, and dermatophilosis, Dermatophilus congolensis, are associated with TBT in the Caribbean. African tick bite fever (Rickettsia africae) is widespread in Caribbean TBT but human cases are rare. The Caribbean Amblyomma Programme (CAP) was an effort led by the Food and Agricultural Organization to eradicate TBTs from participating islands. This 10-year effort successfully eradicated TBT from many islands. However, most are reinfested since its termination. Pheromone technology has been developed to aid in TBT control. Although not part of the CAP treatment scheme, this research established that pheromones in combination with pesticide greatly improves treatment efficiencies. Additionally, pheromone combined with CO₂ traps greatly improves active surveillance success. St. Croix has a history of TBT outbreaks. Passive surveillance detected outbreaks in 2016 and in May of 2021. Surveillance efforts are underway to determine the extent of TBT on St Croix. Puerto Rico is the next island in the archipelago and is at a greater risk of re-infestation due to active outbreaks in St Croix. Tropical Bont Ticks were last detected in Puerto Rico in the 1980s. The infestation started on the small Puerto Rican island of Vieques, the closest landmass to St Croix, and spread to the main island through cattle movements. This infestation was eradicated with the help of the Tropical Cattle Tick (TCT), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, eradication program. At the time, large percentages of Puerto Rican cattle were treated for ticks along with the necessary material and manpower mobilized for the effort. Therefore, a shift of focus from the TCT to TBT prevented its establishment in Puerto Rico. Currently, no large-scale treatment of TCTs occurs in Puerto Rico. Therefore, the risk of TBT establishment is now greater than it was in the 1980s. From Puerto Rico, the risk of TBT movement to the American continent increases significantly. The establishment of TBTs in the Americas would cause $1.2 billion USD in losses to the livestock industry per year. The USDA Agricultural Research Service recently worked with the USDA Animal Health Inspection Service and the Puerto Rican Department of Agriculture to modernize the management of the TCT. This modernized program uses safer pesticides and has successfully been used to eradicate pesticide-susceptible and -resistant ticks throughout the island. The objective of this work is to prevent the infestation of Puerto Rico by TBTs by combining the current TCT management efforts with TBT surveillance in Vieques. The combined effort is designed to eradicate TCT from Vieques while using the treated cattle as trap animals for TBT using pheromone impregnated tail tags attached to treated animals. Additionally, active surveillance using CO₂-baited traps combined with pheromone will be used to actively survey the environment for free-living TBT. Knowledge gained will inform TBT control efforts in St. Croix.

Keywords: Amblyomma variegatum, caribbean, eradication, Rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus, pheromone

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Authors: Elif Tugce Aksun Tumerkan

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Fluorescent proteins (FPs) have become very popular since green fluorescent protein discovered from crystal jellyfish. It is known that Anthozoa species have a wide range of chromophore organisms, and the initial crystal structure for non-fluorescent chromophores obtained from the reef-building coral has been determined. There are also differently coloured pigments in non-bioluminescent Anthozoa zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate which are frequently members of the GFP-like protein family. The development of fluorescent proteins (FPs) and their applications is an outstanding example of basic science leading to practical biotechnological and medical applications. Fluorescent proteins have several applications in science and are used as important indicators in molecular biology and cell-based research. With rising interest in cell biology, FPs have used as biosensor indicators and probes in pharmacology and cell biology. Using fluorescent proteins in genetically encoded metabolite sensors has many advantages than chemical probes for metabolites such as easily introduced into any cell or organism in any sub-cellular localization and giving chance to fixing to fluoresce of different colours or characteristics. There are different factors effects to signalling mechanism when they used as a biosensor. While there are wide ranges of research have been done on the significance and applications of fluorescent proteins, the cell signalling response of FPs and target cell are less well understood. In this study, it was aimed to clarify the response of adaptive mechanisms of coral species such as pH, temperature and symbiotic relationship and target cells properties on the signalling capacity. Corals are a rich natural source of fluorescent proteins that change with environmental conditions such as light, heat stress and injury. Adaptation mechanism of coral species to these types of environmental variations is important factor due to FPs properties have affected by this mechanism. Since fluorescent proteins obtained from nature, their own ecological property like the symbiotic relationship is observed very commonly in coral species and living conditions have the impact on FPs efficiency. Target cell properties also have an effect on signalling and visualization. The dynamicity of detector that used for reading fluorescence and the level of background fluorescence are key parameters for the quality of the fluorescent signal. Among the factors, it can be concluded that coral species adaptive characteristics have the strongest effect on FPs signalling capacity.

Keywords: biosensor, cell biology, environmental conditions, fluorescent protein, sea anemone

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Authors: Sraman Sree Mattananda

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This present article is an analytical research on ‘Buddhism and Innovative Sustainable Development.' The main purpose of researching is to the better understanding of many social science theories both in politics and in economics. And the understanding of both Buddhism and science is complementary in order to enable any individual to live a full and meaningful human life. How people can avoid conflict, socially, economically, politically and spiritually using Buddhist teachings for a sustainable development. The aim of studying is also to comprehend every human to be aware that peoples’ happiness and sorrow depends on the choices that they had taken to do what was perceptional right and wrong. Everything that happens does have a reason. This study will be supported by the supply of environmental knowledge, philosophy, and experience. Within the domestic and international cultures, this knowledge might provide a significant basis for the contemporary and the future world. Happiness and unsatisfactoriness of mind depend on the consequences of what we had already done. This is to give deep sense to adjust the nature of all that exists and desire not to attach to them and to liberate oneself leaving the reality as it is. An implicit of references will be drawn from the primary sources, secondary sources, internet sources, and other Scholar’s diamond writings, to prove the investigation of philosophical and theoretical analysis. After the investigation of philosophical and theoretical analysis, the article will demonstrate about, what Buddha advised the follows to stop over-exploitation and how to eradicate conflicts to gain a peaceful society. This will be a lively awareness in the approach to the understanding of the Buddhist view of reality and adopt with middle path. The last part of the article will concern with the Buddhist Challenge of sustaining the society and how Buddhist contemporary scholars interpret sustainable development issues. Mahatma Gandhi’s emphasize to use Buddhist Non-Violence will be demonstrating to gain peace, freedom, and security. Twelve things that concern us when we want to explore the issues of sustainability, demonstrated by A Little Book of Hope will be cleared. How individual hearts can implicate to the contemporary globe will be demonstrated to obtain healthy and practical environment. Finally, generating new awareness and care by minimizing the negative impact on earth resources will reduce the degradation of the planet which would pose a challenge to sustain Development.

Keywords: Buddhism, economic, sustainable development, Buddhist ethics

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Authors: Ana Paula Almeida Castaldelli Maciel, Gabriela Medeiros, Amanda de Souza Machado, Maria Clara Pilatti, Ralpho Rinaldo dos Reis, Silvio Cesar Sampaio

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Sustainable agricultural systems are crucial to ensuring global food security and the long-term production of nutritious food. Comprehensive soil and water management practices, including nutrient management, balanced fertilizer use, and appropriate waste management, are essential for sustainable agriculture. Swine wastewater (SWW) treatment has become a significant focus due to environmental concerns related to heavy metals, antibiotics, resistant pathogens, and nutrients. In South America, small farms use soil to dispose of animal waste, a practice that is expected to increase with global pork production. The potential of SWW as a nutrient source is promising, contributing to global food security, nutrient cycling, and mineral fertilizer reduction. Short- and long-term studies evaluated the effects of SWW on soil and plant parameters, such as nutrients, heavy metals, organic matter (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and pH. Although promising results have been observed in short- and medium-term applications, long-term applications require more attention due to heavy metal concentrations. Organic soil amendment strategies, due to their economic and ecological benefits, are commonly used to reduce the bioavailability of heavy metals. However, the rate of degradation and initial levels of OM must be monitored to avoid changes in soil pH and release of metals. The study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of SWW application on soil fertility parameters, focusing on calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K), in addition to CEC and OM. Experiments were conducted at the Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Brazil, using 24 drainage lysimeters for nine years, with different application rates of SWW and mineral fertilization. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was then conducted to summarize the composite variables, known as principal components (PC), and limit the dimensionality to be evaluated. The retained PCs were then correlated with the original variables to identify the level of association between each variable and each PC. Data were interpreted using Analysis of Variance - ANOVA for general linear models (GLM). As OM was not measured in the 2007 soybean experiment, it was assessed separately from PCA to avoid loss of information. PCA and ANOVA indicated that crop type, SWW, and mineral fertilization significantly influenced soil nutrient levels. Soybeans presented higher concentrations of Ca, Mg, and CEC. The application of SWW influenced K levels, with higher concentrations observed in SWW from biodigesters and higher doses of swine manure. Variability in nutrient concentrations in SWW due to factors such as animal age and feed composition makes standard recommendations challenging. OM levels increased in SWW-treated soils, improving soil fertility and structure. In conclusion, the application of SWW can increase soil fertility and crop productivity, reducing environmental risks. However, careful management and long-term monitoring are essential to optimize benefits and minimize adverse effects.

Keywords: contamination, water research, biodigester, nutrients

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Authors: Turuganti Venkateswarlu, Jagadeesh Anmala

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Excessive runoffs from various non-point source land uses, and other point sources are rapidly contaminating the water quality of streams in the Upper Green River watershed, Kentucky, USA. It is essential to maintain the stream water quality as the river basin is one of the major freshwater sources in this province. It is also important to understand the water quality parameters (WQPs) quantitatively and qualitatively along with their important features as stream water is sensitive to climatic events and land-use practices. In this paper, a model was developed for predicting one of the significant WQPs, Fecal Coliform (FC) from precipitation, temperature, urban land use factor (ULUF), agricultural land use factor (ALUF), and forest land-use factor (FLUF) using Random Forest (RF) algorithm. The RF model, a novel ensemble learning algorithm, can even find out advanced feature importance characteristics from the given model inputs for different combinations. This model’s outcomes showed a good correlation between FC and climate events and land use factors (R2 = 0.94) and precipitation and temperature are the primary influencing factors for FC.

Keywords: water quality, land use factors, random forest, fecal coliform

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Authors: Chatarina Muryani, Sarwono, Sugiyanto Heribentus

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Major part of Grobogan District, Central Java Province, Indonesia, always suffers from drought every year. The drought has implications toward almost all of the community activities, both domestic, agriculture, livestock, and industrial. The aim of this study was to determine (1) the drought distribution area in Grobogan District in 2015; (2) the impact of drought; and (3) the community adaptation toward the drought. The subject of the research was people who were impacted by the drought, purposive sampling technique was used to draw the sample. The data collection method was using field observation and in-depth interview while the data analysis was using descriptive analysis. The results showed that (1) in 2015, there were 14 districts which were affected by the drought and only 5 districts which do not suffer from drought, (2) the drought impacted to the reduction of water for domestic compliance, reduction of agricultural production, reduction of public revenue, (3) community adaptation to meet domestic water need was by making collective deep-wells and building water storages, adaptation in agriculture was done by setting the cropping pattern, while adaptation on economics was by allocating certain amount of funds for the family in anticipation of drought, which was mostly to purchase water.

Keywords: adaptation, distribution, drought, impacts

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Authors: Mary Chidiebere Asoya

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The dominance of two parties in multiparty democracies is a phenomenon that has come to be taken for granted. It has led to deepening corruption and redundant governance in many countries as politicians in the two dominating parties are aware of and exploit the fact that power must rotate between the two parties. As a result, politicians in two dominating parties can hobnob and frequently inter-marry between the two parties in a way that appears to suggest they are running a single dominating party. This paper explores what could end this hegemony by projecting a third party into the limelight. The argument is that long-standing frustration with corruption and increasing revolutionary tendencies could move voters away from the two dominating parties, ending the dominance of the parties. The case study is the February 25, 2023, Presidential elections in Nigeria.

Keywords: democracy, political party, election, nigeria, political science

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Authors: Seyedeza Baharisaravi

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As we know, we are living in the hyper competitive environment and all of companies strive hard to engross more and more customers. Thus, in this milieu, we should produce and deliver diverse commodities, regarding with the consumers' interests. So, all companies elicit that they should pay attention on the external resources besides the internal ones. Hence, the meaning of supply chain management has been introduced as a fundamental issue for global e-business, e-commerce and e-government. The present paper explains prominences, challenges, keys, various descriptions, advantages and disadvantages, globalization and the future of one of the vital issues in the business realm which is supply chain management (SCM). This issue is one of the newest concepts of business science that has transformed the essence of every business and attitude of marketers.

Keywords: SCM concepts, supply chain management, the importance of SCM, SCM in organization

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Authors: M. R. Naroui Rad, A. Ghalandarzehi, J. A. Koohpayegani

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Nine advanced cultivars and lines were planted in transplant trays on March, 2013. In mid-April 2014, nine cultivars and lines were taken from the seedling trays and were evaluated and compared in an experiment in form of a completely randomized block design with three replications at the Agricultural Research Station, Zahak. The results of the analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference between the studied cultivars in terms of average fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, ratio of fruit length to its diameter, the relative number of seeds per fruit, and each plant yield. The total yield of Sohrab and Y6 line with and an average of 41.9 and 36.7 t/ ha allocated the highest yield respectively to themselves. The results of simple correlation between the analyzed traits showed the final yield was affected by the average fruit weight due to direct and indirect effects of fruit weight and plant yield on the final yield. The genotypic and heritability values were high for fruit weight, fruit length and number of seed per fruit. The first two principal components accounted for 81.6% of the total variation among the characters describing genotypes.

Keywords: eggplant, principal component, variation, path analysis

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Authors: Salah Jellali, Nusiba Suliman, Yassine Charabi, Jamal Al-Sabahi, Ahmed Al Raeesi, Malik Al-Wardy, Mejdi Jeguirim

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Huge amounts of agricultural biomasses are worldwide produced. At the same time, large quantities of phosphorus are annually discharged into water bodies with possible serious effects onto the environment quality. The main objective of this work is to turn a local Omani biomass (date palm fronds wastes: DPFW) into an effective material for phosphorus recovery from aqueous and the reuse of this P-loaded material in agriculture as ecofriendly amendment. For this aim, the raw DPFW were firstly impregnated with 1 M salt separated solutions of CaCl₂, MgCl₂, FeCl₃, AlCl₃, and a mixture of MgCl₂/AlCl₃ for 24 h, and then pyrolyzed under N2 flow at 500 °C for 2 hours by using an adapted tubular furnace (Carbolite, UK). The synthetized biochars were deeply characterized through specific analyses concerning their morphology, structure, texture, and surface chemistry. These analyses included the use of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with an energy-dispersive X-Ray spectrometer (EDS), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), sorption micrometrics, and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) apparatus. Then, their efficiency in recovering phosphorus was investigated in batch mode for various contact times (1 min to 3 h), aqueous pH values (from 3 to 11), initial phosphorus concentrations (10-100 mg/L), presence of anions (nitrates, sulfates, and chlorides). In a second step, dynamic assays, by using laboratory columns (height of 30 cm and diameter of 3 cm), were performed in order to investigate the recovery of phosphorus by the modified biochar with a mixture of Mg/Al. The effect of the initial P concentration (25-100 mg/L), the bed depth height (3 to 8 g), and the flow rate (10-30 mL/min) was assessed. Experimental results showed that the biochars physico-chemical properties were very dependent on the type of the used modifying salt. The main affected parameters concerned the specific surface area, microporosity area, and the surface chemistry (pH of zero-point charge and available functional groups). These characteristics have significantly affected the phosphorus recovery efficiency from aqueous solutions. Indeed, the P removal efficiency in batch mode varies from about 5 mg/g for the Fe-modified biochar to more than 13 mg/g for the biochar functionalized with Mg/Al layered double hydroxides. Moreover, the P recovery seems to be a time dependent process and significantly affected by the pH of the aqueous media and the presence of foreign anions due to competition phenomenon. The laboratory column study of phosphorus recovery by the biochar functionalized with Mg/Al layered double hydroxides showed that this process is affected by the used phosphorus concentration, the flow rate, and especially the column bed depth height. Indeed, the phosphorus recovered amount increased from about 4.9 to more than 9.3 mg/g used biochar mass of 3 and 8 g, respectively. This work proved that salt-modified palm fronds-derived biochars could be considered as attractive and promising materials for phosphorus recovery from aqueous solutions even under dynamic conditions. The valorization of these P-loaded-modified biochars as eco-friendly amendment for agricultural soils is necessary will promote sustainability and circular economy concepts in the management of both liquid and solid wastes.

Keywords: date palm wastes, Mg/Al double-layered hydroxides functionalized biochars, phosphorus, recovery, sustainability, circular economy

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Authors: G. A. Gevorgyan, K. A. Ghazaryan, T. H. Derdzyan

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The heavy metal pollution of the soils around the mining area near Shamlugh town and related risks to human health were assessed. The investigations showed that the soils were polluted with heavy metals that can be ranked by anthropogenic pollution degree as follows: Cu>Pb>As>Co>Ni>Zn. The main sources of the anthropogenic metal pollution of the soils were the copper mining area near Shamlugh town, the Chochkan tailings storage facility and the trucks transferring are from the mining area. Copper pollution degree in some observation sites was unallowable for agricultural production. The total non-carcinogenic chronic hazard index (THI) values in some places, including observation sites in Shamlugh town, were above the safe level (THI<1) for children living in this territory. Although the highest heavy metal enrichment degree in the soils was registered in case of copper, the highest health risks to humans especially children were posed by cobalt which is explained by the fact that heavy metals have different toxicity levels and penetration characteristics.

Keywords: Armenia, copper mine, heavy metal pollution of soil, health risks

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Authors: Sadeq Al Yaari, Ayman Al Yaari, Adham Al Yaari, Montaha Al Yaari, Aayah Al Yaari, Sajedah Al Yaari

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Objective: This research aims at investigating the research ethics in the field of science. Method: It is an exploratory research wherein the researchers attempted to cover the phenomenon at hand from all specialists’ viewpoints. Results Discussion is based upon the findings resulted from the analysis the researcher undertook. Concerning the results’ prediction, the researcher needs first to seek highly qualified people in the field of research as well as in the field of statistics who share the philosophy of the research. Then s/he should make sure that s/he is adequately trained in the specific techniques, methods and statically programs that are used at the study. S/he should also believe in continually analysis for the data in the most current methods.

Keywords: research ethics, legal, rights, psychoneurolinguistics

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Authors: Abegunde Linda, Adedeji Oluwatayo, Tope-Ajayi Opeyemi

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Maize constitutes a major agrarian production for use by the vast population but despite its economic importance, it has not been produced to meet the economic needs of the country. Achieving optimum yield in maize can meaningfully be supported by land suitability analysis in order to guarantee self-sufficiency for future production optimization. This study examines land suitability for maize production through the analysis of the physic-chemical variations in soil properties over space using a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework. Physic-chemical parameters of importance selected include slope, landuse, and physical and chemical properties of the soil. Landsat imagery was used to categorize the landuse, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mapping (SRTM) generated the slope and soil samples were analyzed for its physical and chemical components. Suitability was categorized into highly, moderately and marginally suitable based on Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) classification using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique of GIS. This result can be used by small scale farmers for efficient decision making in the allocation of land for maize production.

Keywords: AHP, GIS, MCE, suitability, Zea mays

Procedia PDF Downloads 392