Search results for: Association of Southeast Asia Nations
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3704

Search results for: Association of Southeast Asia Nations

3494 Urban Landscape Composition and Configuration Dynamics and Expansion of Hawassa City Analysis, Ethiopia Using Satellite Images and Spatial Metrics Approach

Authors: Berhanu Keno Terfa

Abstract:

To understand the consequences of urbanization, accurate, and long-term representation of urban dynamics is essential. Remote sensing data from various multi-temporal satellite images viz., TM (1987), TM (1995), ETM+ (2005) and OLI (2017) were used. An integrated method, landscape metrics, built-up density, and urban growth type analysis were employed to analyze the pattern, process, and overall growth status in the city. The result showed that the built-up area had increased by 541.3% between 1987 and 2017, at an average annual increment of 8.9%. The area of urban expansion in a city has tripled during the 2005-2017 period as compared to 187- 1995. The major growth took place in the east and southeast directions during 1987–1995 period, whereas predominant built-up development was observed in south and southeast direction during 1995–2017 period. The analysis using landscape metrics and urban typologies showed that Hawassa experienced a fragmented and irregular spatiotemporal urban growth patterns, mostly by extension, suggesting a strong tendency towards sprawl in the past three decades.

Keywords: Hawassa, spatial patterns, remote sensing, multi-temporal, urban sprawl

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3493 Significant Growth in Expected Muslim Inbound Tourists in Japan Towards 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Still Incipient Stage of Current Halal Implementations in Hiroshima

Authors: Kyoko Monden

Abstract:

Tourism has moved to the forefront of national attention in Japan since September of 2013 when Tokyo won its bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. The number of foreign tourists has continued to break records, reaching 13.4 million in 2014, and is now expected to hit 20 million sooner than initially targeted 2020 due to government stimulus promotions; an increase in low cost carriers; the weakening of the Japanese yen, and strong economic growth in Asia. The tourism industry can be an effective trigger in Japan’s economic recovery as foreign tourists spent two trillion yen ($16.6 million) in Japan in 2014. In addition, 81% of them were all from Asian countries, and it is essential to know that 68.9% of the world’s Muslims, about a billion people, live in South and Southeast Asia. An important question is ‘Do Muslim tourists feel comfortable traveling in Japan?’ This research was initiated by an encounter with Muslim visitors in Hiroshima, a popular international tourist destination, who said they had found very few suitable restaurants in Hiroshima. The purpose of this research is to examine halal implementation in Hiroshima and suggest the next steps to be taken to improve current efforts. The goal will be to provide anyone, Muslims included, with first class hospitality in the near future in preparation for the massive influx of foreign tourists in 2020. The methods of this research were questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, and internet research. First, this research aims to address the significance of growing inbound tourism in Japan, especially the expected growth in Muslim tourists. Additionally, it should address the strong popularity of eating Japanese foods in Asian Muslim countries and as ranked no. 1 thing foreign tourists want to do in Japan. Secondly, the current incipient stage of Hiroshima’s halal implementation at hotels, restaurants, and major public places were exposed, and the existing action plans by Hiroshima Prefecture Government were presented. Furthermore, two surveys were conducted to clarify basic halal awareness of local residents in Hiroshima, and to gauge the inconveniences Muslims living in Hiroshima faced. Thirdly, the reasons for this lapse were observed and compared to the benchmarking data of other major tourist sites, Hiroshima’s halal implementation plans were proposed. The conclusion is, despite increasing demands and interests in halal-friendly businesses, overall halal actions have barely been applied in Hiroshima. 76% of Hiroshima residents had no idea what halal or halaal meant. It is essential to increase halal awareness and its importance to the economy and to launch further actions to make Muslim tourists feel welcome in Hiroshima and the entire country.

Keywords: halaal, halal implementation, Hiroshima, inbound tourists in Japan

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3492 Innovation and Economic Growth Model of East Asian Countries: The Adaptability of the Model in Ethiopia

Authors: Khalid Yousuf Ahmed

Abstract:

At the beginning of growth period, East Asian countries achieved impressive economic growth for the decades. They transformed from agricultural economy toward industrialization and contributed to dynamic structural transformation. The achievements were driven by government-led development policies that implemented effective innovation policy to boost technological capability of local firms. Recently, most Sub-Saharan African have been showing sustainable growth. Exceptionally, Ethiopia has been recording double-digit growth for a decade. Hence, Ethiopia has claimed to follow the footstep of East Asia development model. The study is going to examine whether Ethiopia can replicate innovation and economic growth model of East Asia by using Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China as a case to illustrate their model of growth. This research will be based on empirical data gathering and extended theory of national innovation system and economic growth theory. Moreover, the methodology is based on Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM) and also employing cross-countries regression analysis. The results explained that there is a significant relationship between innovation indicators and economic growth in East Asian countries while the relationship is non-existing for Ethiopia except implementing similar policies and achieving similar growth trend. Therefore, Ethiopia needs to introduce inclusive policies that give priority to improving human capital and invest on the knowledge-based economy to replicate East Asian Model.

Keywords: economic growth, FDI, endogenous growth theory, East Asia model

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3491 Geographical Indication Protection for Agricultural Products: Contribution for Achieving Food Security in Indonesia

Authors: Mas Rahmah

Abstract:

Indonesia is the most populous Southeast Asian nations, as Indonesia`s population is constantly growing, food security has become a crucial trending issue. Although Indonesia has more than enough natural resources and agricultural products to ensure food security for all, Indonesia is still facing the problem of food security because of adverse weather conditions, increasing population, political instability, economic factors (unemployment, rising food prices), and the dependent system of agriculture. This paper will analyze that Geographical Indication (GI) can aid in transforming Indonesian agricultural-dependent system by tapping the unique product attributes of their quality products since Indonesia has a lot of agricultural products with unique quality and special characteristic associated with geographical factors such as Toraja Coffee, Alor Vanili, Banda Nutmeg, Java Tea, Deli Tobacco, Cianjur Rise etc. This paper argues that the reputation and agricultural products and their intrinsic quality should be protected under GI because GI will provide benefit supporting the food security program. Therefore, this paper will expose the benefit of GI protection such as increasing productivity, improving the exports of GI products, creating employment, adding economic value to products, and increasing the diversity of supply of natural and unique quality products, etc. that can contribute to food security. The analysis will finally conclude that the scenario of promoting GI may indirectly contribute to food security through adding value by incorporating territory specific cultural, environmental and social qualities into production, processing and developing of unique local, niche and special agricultural products.

Keywords: geographical indication, food security, agricultural product, Indonesia

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3490 A Comparative Analysis: Cultural Reflections of Mexicans in the United States and Turks in Germany

Authors: Gülşen Kocaevli

Abstract:

This paper aims to conduct a comparative analysis on the reflections of cultural elements such as language, festival, and food both in the case of Turkish immigrants in Germany and Mexican immigrants in the United States within a historical perspective. These reflections will be studied first by giving a certain background information on the migratory history of the two nations, Mexican immigration to the US, and Turkish immigration to Germany, respectively. These two cases were picked as the analytical subjects of this paper because both nations first migrated to the related country to constitute a labor force since there was a huge need for that due to several reasons such as the loss of manpower after certain wars or revolutions. At the end of this comparative study, it is speculated to be found that there are certain parallels between these two immigrant societies in the way that they reflect their cultures in the receiving country since both nations have a conventionalist nature which makes them tend more to protect their cultures and pay less effort to integrate into the society in which they are living. Even though this integration might be realized in certain fields like economic status and exogamy, it does not cover all segments nor is there any desire of the receiving government to integrate the immigrants but rather they make policies to assimilate them. This research paper will use a qualitative method which is fundamentally based on the interpretative data drawn from several sociological or ethnographic studies conducted in the related field. The primary and secondary resources of this paper will cover academic books, journal articles, particularly those reporting interviews with the immigrants, and certain governmental documents as well as publicized statistics regarding the subject of analysis. By the use of the aforementioned methodology and resources, the conventionalist nature of the two immigrant nations is aimed to be presented as the unifying factor in the way that Mexicans in the US and Turks in Germany reflect and protect their cultures in the form of language, festivals, and food.

Keywords: assimilation, culture, German-Turks, immigration, Mexican Americans

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3489 Crisis, Identity and Challenge: Next Steps for the ‘English’ Constitution

Authors: Carol Howells, Edwin Parks

Abstract:

This paper explores the existing and evolving constitutional arrangements within the United Kingdom and within the wider international context of the EU. It considers the nature of an ‘English’ constitution and internal colonialism that underpins it. The debates over the UK’s exit from the EU have been many however the constitutional position of the devolved nations (Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) is little understood or explored. Their constitutional position has been touched upon in academic debate (but not widely) and is only now beginning to receive attention. The paper considers the constitutional role of the legislatures within the UK; the UK Parliament Bill for exiting the European Union and provides a commentary on the Brexit process in relation to constitutional arrangements within the UK and EU. Questions arise over the constitutional framework and, whether, having delegated competencies, the UK Parliament can now legislate in relation to delegated competencies without the consent. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are a permanent and a fixed feature of the UK’s constitution, but their position is set within the traditional concept of the ‘English’ constitution. The current situation is opaque and complex and raises significant constitutional questions. In relation to exit from the EU two of the nations did not vote in favour of Brexit and the third is in receipt of an inequitable funding settlement. Questions arise as to whether the work of modernising the UK’s constitution over the past twenty years in recognising the Nations and governments within those nations is now being unpicked and whether the piecemeal and unequal process of devolution and new constitutional arrangements hold weight. Questions of democratic legitimacy arise throughout. An advisory referendum (where no definition of the EU was provided) in which two of the four nations voted to leave the EU and two voted to remain has led the UK Government negotiating a wholesale exit from the EU based on ‘English’ constitutional law principles. Previous constitutional referendums in relation to devolution within the UK have been treated differently. Within the EU questions are being raised in relation to the focus on member states. The goals of the EU mention member countries and its purpose is seen as being to promote greater social, political and economic harmony among the nations of Europe. The emphasis on member states is proving challenging and has led flawed processes. Scrutiny of legislative proposals, historical developments, and social commentary reveal distinct national identities within the UK. Analysis of the debate, legislation and case law surrounding the exiting process from the EU reveal a muddled picture of a constitution in crisis and significant challenges to principles underpinning the rule of law. Suggestions are made for future reforms and a move towards new constitutional arrangements beyond the current ‘English’ constitution.

Keywords: English, constitution, parliament, devolved

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3488 The Environmental Impact of Geothermal Energy and Opportunities for Its Utilization in Hungary

Authors: András Medve, Katalin Szabad, István Patkó

Abstract:

According to the International Energy Association the previous principles of the energy sector should be reassessed, in which renewable energy sources have a significant role. We might witness the exchange of roles of countries from importer to exporter, which look for the main resources of market needs. According to the World Energy Outlook 2013, the duration of high oil prices is exceptionally long in the history of the energy market. Forecasts also point at the expected great differences between the regional prices of gas and electric energy. The energy need of the world will grow by its third. two thirds of which will appear in China, India, and South-East Asia, while only 4 per cent of which will be related to OECD countries. Current trends also forecast the growth of the price of energy sources and the emission of glasshouse gases. As a reflection of these forecasts alternative energy sources will gain value, of which geothermic energy is one of the cheapest and most economical. Hungary possesses outstanding resources of geothermic energy. The aim of the study is to research the environmental effects of geothermic energy and the opportunities of its exploitation in Hungary, related to „Horizon 2020” project.

Keywords: sustainable energy, renewable energy, development of geothermic energy in Hungary

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3487 Views from Shores Past: Palaeogeographic Reconstructions as an Aid for Interpreting the Movement of Early Modern Humans on and between the Islands of Wallacea

Authors: S. Kealy, J. Louys, S. O’Connor

Abstract:

The island archipelago that stretches between the continents of Sunda (Southeast Asia) and Sahul (Australia - New Guinea) and comprising much of modern-day Indonesia as well as Timor-Leste, represents the biogeographic region of Wallacea. The islands of Wallaea are significant archaeologically as they have never been connected to the mainlands of either Sunda or Sahul, and thus the colonization by early modern humans of these islands and subsequently Australia and New Guinea, would have necessitated some form of water crossings. Accurate palaeogeographic reconstructions of the Wallacean Archipelago for this time are important not only for modeling likely routes of colonization but also for reconstructing likely landscapes and hence resources available to the first colonists. Here we present five digital reconstructions of coastal outlines of Wallacea and Sahul (Australia and New Guinea) for the periods 65, 60, 55, 50, and 45,000 years ago using the latest bathometric chart and a sea-level model that is adjusted to account for the average uplift rate known from Wallacea. This data was also used to reconstructed island areal extent as well as topography for each time period. These reconstructions allowed us to determine the distance from the coast and relative elevation of the earliest archaeological sites for each island where such records exist. This enabled us to approximate how much effort exploitation of coastal resources would have taken for early colonists, and how important such resources were. These reconstructions also allowed us to estimate visibility for each island in the archipelago, and to model how intervisible each island was during the period of likely human colonisation. We demonstrate how these models provide archaeologists with an important basis for visualising this ancient landscape and interpreting how it was originally viewed, traversed and exploited by its earliest modern human inhabitants.

Keywords: Wallacea, palaeogeographic reconstructions, islands, intervisibility

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3486 Cross-Cultural Evangelism a Necessity in Contemporary Times: A Case Study of Mission of Diocese on the Niger Anglican Communion to Togo

Authors: Nnatuanya Chinedu Emmanuel

Abstract:

The focus of this research is to point out the importance of mission across nations, tribes, and languages. This is because the message of the gospel is global in nature and as a result, Christians of nations, irrespective of color and denomination, must strive to ensure that this message of transformation is extended to all, notwithstanding their region, locality and color. It is in response to this that this work investigates the evangelization activity of the Diocese on the Niger in Togo, their impacts and activities. The framework of qualitative research was adopted while findings indicate that much work has been done in the areas of human and societal development; notwithstanding, the problem of funding, language barrier, and manpower become a threat to the mission work.

Keywords: cross–cultural Evangelism, diocese on the Niger, Anglican communion, Togo

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3485 Privacy Preserving in Association Rule Mining on Horizontally Partitioned Database

Authors: Manvar Sagar, Nikul Virpariya

Abstract:

The advancement in data mining techniques plays an important role in many applications. In context of privacy and security issues, the problems caused by association rule mining technique are investigated by many research scholars. It is proved that the misuse of this technique may reveal the database owner’s sensitive and private information to others. Many researchers have put their effort to preserve privacy in Association Rule Mining. Amongst the two basic approaches for privacy preserving data mining, viz. Randomization based and Cryptography based, the later provides high level of privacy but incurs higher computational as well as communication overhead. Hence, it is necessary to explore alternative techniques that improve the over-heads. In this work, we propose an efficient, collusion-resistant cryptography based approach for distributed Association Rule mining using Shamir’s secret sharing scheme. As we show from theoretical and practical analysis, our approach is provably secure and require only one time a trusted third party. We use secret sharing for privately sharing the information and code based identification scheme to add support against malicious adversaries.

Keywords: Privacy, Privacy Preservation in Data Mining (PPDM), horizontally partitioned database, EMHS, MFI, shamir secret sharing

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3484 Women’s Empowerment on Modern Contraceptive Use in Poor-Rich Segment of Population: Evidence From South Asian Countries

Authors: Muhammad Asim, Mehvish Amjad

Abstract:

Background: Less than half of women in South Asia (SA) use any modern contraceptive method which leads to a huge burden of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, maternal deaths, and socioeconomic loss. Women empowerment plays a pivotal role in improving various health seeking behaviours, including contraceptive use. The objective of this study to explore the association between women's empowerment and modern contraceptive, among rich and poor segment of population in SA. Methods: We used the most recent, large-scale, demographic health survey data of five South Asian countries, namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. The outcome variable was the current use of modern contraceptive methods. The main exposure variable was a combination (interaction) of socio-economic status (SES) and women’s level of empowerment (low, medium, and high), where SES was bifurcated into poor and rich; and women empowerment was divided into three categories: decision making, attitude to violence and social independence. Moreover, overall women empowerment indicator was also created by using three dimensions of women empowerment. We applied both descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression techniques for data analyses. Results: Most of the women possessed ‘medium’ level of empowerment across South Asian Countries. The lowest attitude to violence empowerment was found in Afghanistan, and the lowest social independence empowerment was observed in Bangladesh across SA. However, Pakistani women have the lowest decision-making empowerment in the region. The lowest modern contraceptive use (22.1%) was found in Afghanistan and the highest (53.2%) in Bangladesh. The multivariate results depict that the overall measure of women empowerment does not affect modern contraceptive use among poor and rich women in most of South Asian countries. However, the decision-making empowerment plays a significant role among both poor and rich women to use modern contraceptive methods across South Asian countries. Conclusions: The effect of women’s empowerment on modern contraceptive use is not consistent across countries, and among poor and rich segment of population. Of the three dimensions of women’s empowerment, the autonomy of decision making in household affairs emerged as a stronger determinant of mCPR as compared with social independence and attitude towards violence against women.

Keywords: women empowerment, modern contraceptive use, South Asia, socio economic status

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3483 A Piebald Cladistic Portray of Mitochondrial DNA Control Region Haplogroups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Authors: Shahzad Bhatti, M. Aslamkhan, Sana Abbas, Marcella Attimonelli, Hikmet Hakan Aydin, Erica Martinha Silva de Souza,

Abstract:

Despite being situated at the crossroad of Asia, Pakistan has gained crucial importance because of its pivotal role in subsequent migratory events. To highlight the genetic footprints and to contribute an enigmatic picture of the relative population expansion pattern among four major Pashtun tribes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa viz., Bangash, Khattak, Mahsuds and Orakzai, the complete mitochondrial control region of 100 Pashtun were analyzed. All Pashtun tribes studied here revealed high genetic diversity; that was comparable to the other Central Asian, Southeast Asian and European populations. The configuration of genetic variation and heterogeneity further unveiled through Multidimensional Scaling, Principal Component Analysis, and phylogenetic analysis. The results revealed that the Pashtun is a composite mosaic of West Eurasian ancestry of numerous geographic origin. They received substantial gene flow during different invasions and have a high element of the Western provenance. The most common haplogroups reported in this study are: South Asian haplogroup M (28%) and R (8%); whereas, West Asians haplogroups are present, albeit in high frequencies (67%) and widespread over all; HV (15%), U (17%), H (9%), J (8%), K (8%), W (4%), N (3%) and T (3%). Herein we linked the unexplored genetic connection between Ashkenazi Jews and Pashtun. The presence of specific haplotypes J1b (4%) and K1a1b1a (5%) point to a genetic connection of Jewish conglomeration with Khattak tribe. This was a result of an ancient genetic influx in the early Neolithic period that led to the formation of a diverse genetic substratum in present day Pashtun.

Keywords: mtDNA haplogroups, control region, Pakistan, KPK, ethnicity

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3482 Association of Genetic Variants of Apolipoprotein A5 Gene with the Metabolic Syndrome in the Pakistani Population

Authors: Muhammad Fiaz, Muhammad Saqlain, Bernard M. Y. Cheung, S. M. Saqlan Naqvi, Ghazala Kaukab Raja

Abstract:

Background: Association of C allele of rs662799 SNP of APOA5 gene with metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been reported in different populations around the world. A case control study was conducted to explore the relationship of rs662799 variants (T/C) with the MetS and the associated risk phenotypes in a population of Pakistani origin. Methods: MetS was defined according to the IDF criteria. Blood samples were collected from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan for biochemical profiling and DNA extraction. Genotyping of rs662799 was performed using mass ARRAY, iPEX Gold technology. A total of 712 unrelated case and control subjects were genotyped. Data were analyzed using Plink software and SPSS 16.0. Results: The risk allele C of rs662799 showed highly significant association with MetS (OR=1.5, Ρ=0.002). Among risk phenotypes, dyslipidemia, and obesity showed strong association with SNP (OR=1.49, p=0.03; OR =1.46, p=0.01) respectively in models adjusted for age and gender. Conclusion: The rs662799C allele is a significant risk marker for MetS in the local Pakistani population studied. The effect of the SNP is more on dyslipidemia than the other components of the MetS.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome, APOA5, rs662799, dyslipidemia, obesity

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3481 Phylogenetic Study of L1 Protein Human Papillomavirus Type 16 From Cervical Cancer Patients in Bandung

Authors: Fitri Rahmi Fadhilah, Edhyana Sahiratmadja, Ani Melani Maskoen, Ratu Safitri, Supartini Syarif, Herman Susanto

Abstract:

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women after breast cancer. In Indonesia, the incidence of cervical cancer cases is estimated at 25-40 per 100,000 women per year. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a major cause of cervical cancer, and HPV-16 is the most common genotype that infects the cervical tissue. The major late protein L1 may be associated with infectivity and pathogenicity and its variation can be used to classify HPV isolates. The aim of this study was to determine the phylogenetic tree of HPV 16 L1 gene from cervical cancer patient isolates in Bandung. After confirming HPV-16 by Linear Array Genotyping Test, L1 gene was amplified using specific primers and subject for sequencing. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that HPV 16 from Bandung was in the subgroup of Asia and East Asia, showing the close host-agent relationship among the Asian type.

Keywords: L1 HPV 16, cervical cancer, bandung, phylogenetic

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3480 Cyber Security in Nigeria: A Collaboration between Communities and Professionals

Authors: Alese Boniface K., Adu Michael K., Owa Victor K.

Abstract:

Security can be defined as the degree of resistance to, or protection from harm. It applies to any vulnerable and valuable assets, such as persons, dwellings, communities, nations or organizations. Cybercrime is any crime committed or facilitated via the Internet. It is any criminal activity involving computers and networks. It can range from fraud to unsolicited emails (spam). It includes the distant theft of government or corporate secrets through criminal trespass into remote systems around the globe. Nigeria like any other nations of the world is currently having their own share of the menace that has been used even as tools by terrorists. This paper is an attempt at presenting cyber security as an issue that requires a coordinated national response. It also acknowledges and advocates the key roles to be played by stakeholders and the importance of forging strong partnerships to prevent and tackle cybercrime in Nigeria.

Keywords: security, cybercrime, internet, government, stakeholders, partnerships

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3479 Climate Adaptability of Vernacular Courtyards in Jiangnan Area, Southeast China

Authors: Yu Bingqing

Abstract:

Courtyards with suitable scale can effectively modify the microclimate and improve thermal comfort. To comprehend the thermal environment of courtyards with different scales in various areas of Jiangnan, this study conducts field research in three traditional villages: (1) Chunman-ting House in Guanlu Village, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, (2) Heqin-tang House in Lizhai Village, Xianju County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, and (3) Langai-Qirui House in Baima-zhai Village, Fengcheng City, Jiangxi Province. First, based on the collected data, the article analyzes the relationship between the thermal environment and the depth-to-height ratio of the courtyard. Second, it employs the Envi-met software to perform numerical simulations, analyzing thermal comfort in various courtyards with different depth-to-height ratios. Finally, it uses the simulation results to deduce the courtyard models suitable for hot summers and cold winters in the Jiangnan area. The result of this study can improve the thermal comfort of vernacular courtyards in the Jiangnan area by adopting a suitable scale for future protection and regeneration. The transformation and utilization of the climate-responsive courtyard model can also become a reference for modern architectural design.

Keywords: vernacular courtyards, thermal environment, depth-to-height ratio, climate adaptability,Southeast China

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3478 The Role of Zakah and Waqf in Poverty Alleviation: A Strategy for West Africa

Authors: Maryam Idris Bakori

Abstract:

The level of poverty in our region (West Africa) is a severe problem. The statistics about it are scary and alarming. For example, Report on Economic and Social Conditions in West Africa by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa gives the following gloomy picture of social conditions in the region: In West Africa, approximately one person in three in the towns, and one in two in the rural areas, cannot afford the expenditure needed to cover their basic needs. The situation has reached emergency proportions and calls for urgent social action (Recent Economic and Social Developments in West Africa and Prospects for 2010). Many different policies and programs to combat the poverty in the region have been embarked upon by the government of various countries in West Africa, but yet the ugly face of poverty persists. However, to explore opportunities and avenues for making positive contributions to national and regional development, this paper sets out to examine the role of two Islamic institutions; Zakah and Waqf, in poverty alleviation and how Islam uses these two institutions among others to eradicate poverty. The paper suggests that the governments of various countries of West Africa should endeavor to integrate Zakah and Waqf into their poverty alleviation programs by borrowing a leaf from some countries in Africa and Asia that have integrated these Islamic institutions into their poverty reduction programs, and they have started to reap the positive result from the policy.

Keywords: waqf, poverty, zakah, Islamic economy, education

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3477 Sea Border Dispute between Greece and Turkey in the Mediterrenean: Implications for Turkey’s Maritime Security and Its Military Spending

Authors: Aslihan Caliskan

Abstract:

The term Mediterranean comes from the Latin “mediterraneus” (Medius, "middle" plus Terra, "land, earth"). For the ancient Romans, the Mediterranean was the center of the earth as they knew it. The desire to gain control of the Mediterranean has led to disputes between many nations throughout history, some of which continue to this day. The recent major natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean have aggravated ongoing tensions in some neighboring countries. The sea border dispute between Turkey and Greece & Greek-Cypriot side is one of the most critical conflicts in the Mediterranean Sea region. This unresolved dispute has many implications for all countries involved, as well as for third parties that have direct or indirect interests in the region. The research question of this context is what are the implications of this controversial sea border problem on the maritime security of Turkey and its military spending. In this paper, the quantitative method is used. Records from the Turkish Defense Ministry, data from the Turkish naval forces have been obtained. In addition, literature research and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) application cases were evaluated, and an incident analysis was carried out. This research shows that the sea border dispute issue has a significant impact on the Turkish military both in terms of the structures required to ensure maritime and border security, as well as rising military costs and its macroeconomic implications. The paper begins with a brief overview of relevant principles and methods applied for delimiting th esea borders. The paper continues with a brief description and a background of the sea border dispute between Turkey and Greece & Greek-Cypriot side in the light of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). An analysis of the implications of the dispute on Turkey’s maritime security and its military spending is provided in the following chapters. The paper ends with concluding remarks of the author, including suggestions for the way forward.

Keywords: sea border security, mediterranean sea, greece-turkey dispute, limitation of sea, united nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS)

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3476 Carbohydrate Intake and Physical Activity Levels Modify the Association between FTO Gene Variants and Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: First Nutrigenetics Study in an Asian Indian Population

Authors: K. S. Vimal, D. Bodhini, K. Ramya, N. Lakshmipriya, R. M. Anjana, V. Sudha, J. A. Lovegrove, V. Mohan, V. Radha

Abstract:

Gene-lifestyle interaction studies have been carried out in various populations. However, to date there are no studies in an Asian Indian population. Hence, we examined whether lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity modify the association between fat mass and obesity–associated (FTO) gene variants and obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in an Asian Indian population. We studied 734 unrelated T2D and 884 normal glucose-tolerant (NGT) participants randomly selected from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES) in Southern India. Obesity was defined according to the World Health Organization Asia Pacific Guidelines (non-obese, BMI < 25 kg/m2; obese, BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the FTO gene (rs9940128, rs7193144, rs8050136, rs918031, rs1588413 and rs11076023) identified from recent genome-wide association studies for T2D were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and direct sequencing. Dietary assessment was carried out using a validated food frequency questionnaire and physical activity was based upon the self-report. Interaction analyses were performed by including the interaction terms in the model. A joint likelihood ratio test of the main SNP effects and the SNP-diet/physical activity interaction effects was used in the linear regression analyses to maximize statistical power. Statistical analyses were performed using STATA version 13. There was a significant interaction between FTO SNP rs8050136 and carbohydrate energy percentage (Pinteraction=0.04) on obesity, where the ‘A’ allele carriers of the SNP rs8050136 had 2.46 times higher risk of obesity than those with ‘CC’ genotype (P=3.0x10-5) among individuals in the highest tertile of carbohydrate energy percentage. Furthermore, among those who had lower levels of physical activity, the ‘A’ allele carriers of the SNP rs8050136 had 1.89 times higher risk of obesity than those with ‘CC’ genotype (P=4.0x10-5). We also found a borderline interaction between SNP rs11076023 and carbohydrate energy percentage (Pinteraction=0.08) on T2D, where the ‘A’ allele carriers in the highest tertile of carbohydrate energy percentage, had 1.57 times higher risk of T2D than those with ‘TT’ genotype (P=0.002). There was also a significant interaction between SNP rs11076023 and physical activity (Pinteraction=0.03) on T2D. No further significant interactions between SNPs and macronutrient intake or physical activity on obesity and T2D were observed. In conclusion, this is the first study to provide evidence for a gene-diet and gene-physical activity interaction on obesity and T2D in an Asian Indian population. These findings suggest that the association between FTO gene variants and obesity and T2D is influenced by carbohydrate intake and physical activity levels. Greater understanding of how FTO gene influences obesity and T2D through dietary and exercise interventions will advance the development of behavioral intervention and personalised lifestyle strategies predicted to reduce the development of metabolic diseases in ‘A’ allele carriers of both SNPs in this Asian Indian population.

Keywords: dietary intake, FTO, obesity, physical activity, type 2 diabetes, Asian Indian.

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3475 Antioxidant Activity, Total Phenol and Pigments Content of Seaweeds Collected from, Rameshwaram, Gulf of Mannar, Southeast Coast of India

Authors: Suparna Roy, P. Anantharaman

Abstract:

The aim of this work is to estimate some in-vitro antioxidant activities and total phenols of various extracts such as aqueous, acetone, ethanol, methanol extract of seaweeds and pigments content by Spectrophotometric method. The seaweeds were collected during 2016 from Rameshwaram, southeast coast of India. Among four different extracts, aqueous extracts from all seaweeds had minimum activity than acetone, methanol and ethanol. The Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta had high antioxidant activity in comparing to Chlorophyta. The highest total antioxidant activity was found in acetone extract fromTurbinaria decurrens (98.97±0.00%), followed by its methanol extract (98.81±0.60%) and ethanol extract (98.58±0.53%). The highest reducing power and H2O2 scavenging activity were found in acetone extract of Caulerpa racemosa (383.25±1.04%), and methanol extract from Caulerpa racemosa var. macrophysa (24.91±0.49%). The methanol extract from Caulerpa scalpelliformis contained the highest total phenol (85.23±0.12%). The Chloro-a and Chloro-b contents were the highest in Gracilaria foliifera (13.69±0.38% mg/gm dry wt.) and Caulerpa racemosa var. macrophysa (9.12 ±0.12% mg/gm dry wt.) likewise carotenoid was also the highest in Gracilaria foliifera (0.054±0.0003% mg/gm dry wt.) and Caulerpa racemosa var. macrophysa (0.04 ±0.002% mg/gm dry wt.). It can be concluded from this study that some seaweed extract can be used for natural antioxidant production, after further characterization to negotiate the side effect of synthetic, market available antioxidants.

Keywords: seaweeds, antioxidant, total phenol, pigment, Olaikuda, Vadakkadu, Rameshwaram

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3474 Evolving Mango Metaphor In Diaspora Literature: Maintaining Immigrant Identity Through Foodways

Authors: Constance Kirker

Abstract:

This paper examines examples of the shared use of mango references as a culinary metaphor powerful in maintaining immigrant identity in the works of diaspora authors from a variety of regions of the world, including South Asia, the Caribbean, and Africa, and across a variety of genres, including novels, culinary memoirs, and children’s books. There has been past criticism of so-called sari-mango literature, suggesting that use of the image of mango is a cliché, even “lazy,” attempt to “exoticize” and sentimentalize South Asia in particular. A broader review across national boundaries reveals that diaspora authors, including those beyond South Asia, write nostalgically about mango as much about the messy “full body” tactile experience of eating a mango as about the “exotic” quality of mango representing the “otherness” of their home country. Many of the narratives detail universal childhood food experiences that are more shared than exotic, such as a desire to subvert the adult societal rules of neatness and get very messy, or memories of small but memorable childhood transgressions such as stealing mangoes from a neighbor’s tree. In recent years, food technology has evolved, and mangoes have become more familiar and readily available in Europe and America, from smoothies and baby food to dried fruit snacks. The meaning associated with the imagery of mangoes for both writers and readers in diaspora literature evolves as well, and authors do not have to heed Salman Rushdie’s command, “There must be no tropical fruits in the title. No mangoes.”

Keywords: identity, immigrant diaspora, culinary metaphor, food studies

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3473 Theorizing Income Inequality in the Face of Financial Globalization

Authors: Li Sheng

Abstract:

Based on an extended post-Keynesian model, we find that the association between the savings rate and income inequality is negative if savers’ funds are borrowed by spending households for consumption but positive if savings are channeled to investing firms for production. A negative association, such as the one that exists in the U.S., hinges on an income illusion created by an asset bubble and cheap credit. Thus, financial globalization leads consumption and income inequality to diverge, and the divergence is more extreme if lower-income groups have higher debt ratios. A positive association, such as the one that exists in China, relates to liquidity constraints faced by consumers such that consumption inequality closely follows income inequality. Our results imply that income inequality must be reduced in both types of countries to increase savings in deficit economies with negative associations and to reduce savings in surplus economies with positive associations.

Keywords: savings rate, income inequality, financial globalization, global imbalances

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3472 Multivariate Genome-Wide Association Studies for Identifying Additional Loci for Myopia

Authors: Qiao Fan, Xiaobo Guo, Junxian Zhu, Xiaohu Ding, Ching-Yu Cheng, Tien-Yin Wong, Mingguang He, Heping Zhang, Xueqin Wang

Abstract:

A systematic, simultaneous analysis of multiple phenotypes in genome-wide association studies (GWASs) draws a great attention to integrate the signals from single phenotypes with increased power. However, lacking an interpretable and efficient multivariate GWAS analysis impede the application of such approach. In this study, we propose to decompose the multivariate model into a series of simple univariate models. This transformation illuminates what exactly the individual trait contributes to the significant signals from the multivariate analyses. By employing our approach in the analysis of three myopia-related endophenotypes from the Singapore Malay Eye Study (SIMES), we identify novel candidate loci which were successfully validated in an independent Guangzhou Twin Eye Study (GTES).

Keywords: GWAS multivariate, multiple traits, myopia, association

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3471 Rohingya Problem and the Impending Crisis: Outcome of Deliberate Denial of Citizenship Status and Prejudiced Refugee Laws in South East Asia

Authors: Priyal Sepaha

Abstract:

A refugee crisis is manifested by challenges, both for the refugees and the asylum giving state. The situation turns into a mega-crisis when the situation is prejudicially handled by the home state, inappropriate refugee laws, exploding refugee population, and above all, no hope of any foreseeable solution or remedy. This paper studies the impact on the capability of stateless Rohingyas to migrate and seek refuge due to the enforcement of rigid criteria of movement imposed both by Myanmar as well as the adjoining countries in the name of national security. This theoretical study identifies the issues and the key factors and players which have precipitated the crisis. It further discusses the possible ramifications in the home, asylum giving, and the adjoining countries for not discharging their roles aptly. Additionally, an attempt has been made to understand the scarce response given to the impending crisis by the regional organizations like SAARC, ASEAN and CHOGAM as well as international organizations like United Nations Human Rights Council, Security Council, Office of High Commissioner for Refugees and so on, in the name of inadequacy of monetary funds and physical resources. Based on the refugee laws and practices pertaining to the case of Rohingyas, this paper analyses that the Rohingya Crisis is in dire need of an effective action plan to curb and resolve the biggest humanitarian crisis situation of the century. This mounting human tragedy can be mitigated permanently, by strengthening existing and creating new interdependencies among all stakeholders, as further ignorance can drive the countries of the Indian Sub-continent, in particular, and South East Asia, by and large into a violent civil war for seizing long-awaited civil rights by the marginalized Rohingyas. To curb this mass crisis, it will require the application of coercive pressure and diplomatic pursuance on the home country to acknowledge the rights of its fleeing citizens. This further necessitates mustering adequate monetary funds and physical resources for the asylum providing state. Additional challenges such as devising mechanisms for the refugee’s safe return, comprehensive planning for their holistic economic development and rehabilitation plan are needed. These, however, can only come into effect with a conscious strive by the regional and international community to fulfil their assigned role.

Keywords: asylum, citizenship, crisis, humanitarian, human rights, refugee, rohingya

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3470 Status and Rights of Rohingya Migrants in Bangladesh: A Critical Analysis

Authors: Md Nur Uddin

Abstract:

The Rohingya people are one of the world's most oppressed and persecuted refugee populations, having been stateless for over six generations and still are. In recent years, more than half-million Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar (Burma) for neighboring nations. This article discusses the Status and Rights of Rohingya Migrants in Bangladesh, with a focus on the living conditions of this vulnerable population. A lot of information has been studied about Rohingya refugees states that violence in Rakhine state has sent an estimated 615,500 Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar since August 25, 2017. In Cox's Bazar, a total of 33,131 Rohingya refugees are housed in two registered camps, with an additional 854,024 living in informal settlements nearby. The living conditions of Rohingya refugees in overcrowded camps remain dismal. Mental health is bad, cleanliness is poor, malnutrition is common, and physical and sexual abuse is endemic. A coordinated diplomatic effort involving Bangladesh and Myanmar, as well as international mediators such as the Organization of Islamic Countries and the United Nations, is essential to adequately resolve this complex matter. Bangladeshi officials must ensure the safety of the Rohingyas in the camps and use available humanitarian aid to give the refugees basic amenities such as food, shelter, sanitation, and medical treatment. UNHCR officials should keep an eye on the actual repatriation process to ensure that refugees who have expressed a desire to stay in Bangladesh are not deported against their choice.

Keywords: international refugee laws, united nations, Rohingya, stateless, humanitarian

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3469 An Efficient Data Mining Technique for Online Stores

Authors: Mohammed Al-Shalabi, Alaa Obeidat

Abstract:

In any food stores, some items will be expired or destroyed because the demand on these items is infrequent, so we need a system that can help the decision maker to make an offer on such items to improve the demand on the items by putting them with some other frequent item and decrease the price to avoid losses. The system generates hundreds or thousands of patterns (offers) for each low demand item, then it uses the association rules (support, confidence) to find the interesting patterns (the best offer to achieve the lowest losses). In this paper, we propose a data mining method for determining the best offer by merging the data mining techniques with the e-commerce strategy. The task is to build a model to predict the best offer. The goal is to maximize the profits of a store and avoid the loss of products. The idea in this paper is the using of the association rules in marketing with a combination with e-commerce.

Keywords: data mining, association rules, confidence, online stores

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3468 Collaborative Online International Learning with Different Learning Goals: A Second Language Curriculum Perspective

Authors: Andrew Nowlan

Abstract:

During the Coronavirus pandemic, collaborative online international learning (COIL) emerged as an alternative to overseas sojourns. However, now that face-to-face classes have resumed and students are studying abroad, the rationale for doing COIL is not always clear amongst educators and students. Also, the logistics of COIL become increasingly complicated when participants involved in a potential collaboration have different second language (L2) learning goals. In this paper, the researcher will report on a study involving two bilingual, cross-cultural COIL courses between students at a university in Japan and those studying in North America, from April to December, 2022. The students in Japan were enrolled in an intercultural communication class in their L2 of English, while the students in Canada and the United States were studying intermediate Japanese as their L2. Based on a qualitative survey and journaling data received from 31 students in Japan, and employing a transcendental phenomenological research design, the researcher will highlight the students’ essence of experience during COIL. Essentially, students benefited from the experience through improved communicative competences and increased knowledge of the target culture, even when the L2 learning goals between institutions differed. Students also reported that the COIL experience was effective in preparation for actual study abroad, as opposed to a replacement for it, which challenges the existing literature. Both educators and administrators will be exposed to the perceptions of Japanese university students towards COIL, which could be generalized to other higher education contexts, including those in Southeast Asia. Readers will also be exposed to ideas for developing more effective pre-departure study abroad programs and domestic intercultural curriculum through COIL, even when L2 learning goals may differ between participants.

Keywords: collaborative online international learning, study abroad, phenomenology, EdTech, intercultural communication

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3467 Relationship between Body Mass Composition and Primary Dysmenorrhoea

Authors: Snehalata Tembhurne

Abstract:

Introduction: A healthy menstrual cycle is a sign of women’s sound health.Various variables may influence the length and regularity of menstrual cycle.Studies have revealed that menstrual cycle abnormalities may be associated with psychological stress,lack of physical exercise, alteration in body composition,endocrine disturbances,higher estrogen levels as seen in obese females.Hence there is an urgent need to find out the relationship between variations in body mass composition(BMI & body fat%) with menstrual abnormalities like primary dysmenorrhoea. Aim: To find out the relationship between body mass composition and primary dysmenorrhea. Objectives: 1.To check whether there is any association between body mass index and primary dysmenorrhoea.2.To check whether there is any association between body fat percentage and primary dysmenorrhoea. NULL HYPOTHESES-There is no relationship between body mass composition and primary dysmenorrhea. Hypothesis: There exists a relationship between body mass composition and primary dysmenorrhea. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted over a period of 6 months with 90 samples selected on random basis. The procedure was explained to the participant and a written consent was taken thereafter. The participant was made to stand on the BODY COMPOSITION SCANNING MONITOR, which scanned the physical profile of the participant (height, weight, BMI, body fat percentage and visceral fat).Thereafter, the candidate was asked about her menstrual irregularities and was asked to grade her level of dysmenorrhoea (if present) using the Verbal Dimensional Dysmenorrhea Scale. Results: Chi square test of association was used to find out the association between body mass composition(body mass index,body fat percentage) and primary dysmenorrhea.The chi-square value for association between body mass index and primary dysmenorrhea was 38.63 p<0.001 which was statistically significant.The chi-square value for the association of body fat % & primary dysmenorrhea was 30.09,p<0.001which was statistically significant. Conclusion: Study shows that there exists a significant relationship between body mass composition and primary dysmenorrhea and as the value of Body mass index and body fat percentages goes on increasing in females, the severity of primary dysmenorrhea also increases.

Keywords: body mass index, body composition screening monitor, primary dysmenorrhea, verbal dimensional dysmenorrhea scale

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3466 Polymorphisms of Calpastatin Gene and Its Association with Growth Traits in Indonesian Thin Tail Sheep

Authors: Muhammad Ihsan Andi Dagong, Cece Sumantri, Ronny Rachman Noor, Rachmat Herman, Mohamad Yamin

Abstract:

Calpastatin involved in various physiological processes in the body such as the protein turnover, growth, fusion and mioblast migration. Thus, allegedly Calpastatin gene diversity (CAST) have an association with growth and potential use as candidate genes for growth trait. This study aims to identify the association between the genetic diversity of CAST gene with some growth properties such as body dimention (morphometric), body weight and daily weight gain in sheep. A total of 157 heads of Thin Tail Sheep (TTS) reared intensively for fattening purposes in the uniform environmental conditions. Overall sheep used were male, and maintained for 3 months. The parameters of growth properties were measured among others: body weight gain (ADG) (g/head / day), body weight (kg), body length (cm), chest circumference (cm), height (cm). All the sheep were genotyped by using PCR-SSCP (single strand conformational polymorphism) methods. CAST gene in locus fragment intron 5 - exon 6 were amplified with a predicted length of about 254 bp PCR products. Then the sheep were stratified based on their CAST genotypes. The result of this research showed that no association were found between the CAST gene variations with morphometric body weight, but there was a significant association with daily body weight gain (ADG) in sheep observed. CAST-23 and CAST-33 genotypes has higher average daily gain than other genotypes. CAST-23 and CAST-33 genotypes that carrying the CAST-2 and CAST-3 alleles potential to be used in the selection of the nature of the growth trait of the TTS sheep.

Keywords: body weight, calpastatin, genotype, growth trait, thin tail sheep

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3465 Effects of Financial Development on Economic Growth in South Asia

Authors: Anupam Das

Abstract:

Although financial liberalization has been one of the most important policy prescriptions of international organizations like the World Bank and the IMF, the effect of financial liberalization on economic growth in developing countries is far from unanimous. Since the '80s, South Asian countries made a significant development in liberalization the financial sector. However, due to unavailability of a sufficient number of time series observations, the relationship between economic growth and financial development has not been investigated adequately. We aim to fill this gap by examining time series data of five developing countries from the South Asian region: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Applying the cointegration tests and Granger causality within the vector error correction model (VECM), we do not find unanimous evidence of financial development on positive economic growth. These results are helpful for developing countries which have been trying to liberalize the financial sector in recent decades.

Keywords: economic growth, financial development, Granger causality, South Asia

Procedia PDF Downloads 348