Search results for: North east China

Authors: Hossein Navid, Maryam Adeli Khadem, Shahin Oustan, Mahmoud Zareie

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Among the nutrients needed by the plants, three elements containing nitrate, phosphorus and potassium are more important. The objective of this research was measuring these nutrient amounts in soil using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in range of 400- 4000 cm-1. Soil samples for different soil types (sandy, clay and loam) were collected from different areas of East Azerbaijan. Three types of fertilizers in conventional farming (urea, triple superphosphate, potassium sulphate) were used for soil treatment. Each specimen was divided into two categories: The first group was used in the laboratory (direct measurement) to extract nitrate, phosphorus and potassium uptake by colorimetric method of Olsen and ammonium acetate. The second group was used to measure drug absorption spectrometry. In spectrometry, the small amount of soil samples mixed with KBr and was taken in a small pill form. For the tests, the pills were put in the center of infrared spectrometer and graphs were obtained. Analysis of data was done using MINITAB and PLSR software. The data obtained from spectrometry method were compared with amount of soil nutrients obtained from direct drug absorption using EXCEL software. There were good fitting between these two data series. For nitrate, phosphorus and potassium R2 was 79.5%, 92.0% and 81.9%, respectively. Also, results showed that the range of MIR (mid-infrared) is appropriate for determine the amount of soil nitrate and potassium and can be used in future research to obtain detailed maps of land in agricultural use.

Keywords: nitrate, phosphorus, potassium, soil nutrients, spectroscopy

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Authors: Puran Chandra Joshi

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The Himalaya is the newest mountain system on this earth. This highest as well as fragile mountain system is still rising up. The tectonic activities have been experienced by this entire area, so the geomorphology of the region is affected by it. As we know, geomorphology is the study of landforms and their processes on the earth surface. These landforms are very important for human beings and other creatures on this planet. Present paper traces out the geomorphological features and their significance along Dhauli Ganga river valley in the Himalaya. Study area falls in higher Himalaya, which has experienced glacial and fluvial processes. Dhauli Ganga river is a considerable tributary of river kali, which is the part of huge Gangetic system. Dhauli originates in the form of two tributaries from valley glaciers of the southern slopes of Kumaun-Tibbet water divide. The upper catchment of this river has been carved by the glacial activity. The area of investigation is a remote regionin, Kumaun Himalaya. The native people do seasonal migration due to harsh winters. In summers, they return back with their cattle. In this season, they also grow potatoes and pulses, especiallybeanson river terraces. This study is important for making policies in the entire area. Area has witnessed big landslide in the recent past. So, the present study becomes more important.

Keywords: himalaya, geomorphology, glacial, tectonics

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Authors: Merav Ben Natan, Adam Gharra, Baher Faduos, Abedallah Magadlah, Abedalrahman Biadsy

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Introduction: Mental health nursing is often perceived as an unattractive career choice among nursing students, and it remains unclear whether the type of nursing program influences this view. Aim: This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the association between stigmatizing attitudes in nursing students and their desire for a career in mental health nursing, comparing students in generic and accelerated programs. Method: A total of 220 nursing students from generic and accelerated programs in North-Center Israel participated in this cross-sectional study, completing a questionnaire on stigmatizing attitudes and their interest in a mental health nursing career. Results: Nursing students displayed a generally low desire for mental health nursing, influenced by factors such as enrollment in the generic program, previous mental health work experience, and stigmatizing attitudes. Discussion: Students in the generic program, with lower stigmatizing attitudes and prior mental health experience, exhibited a higher inclination towards mental health nursing. Implications for Practice: Prospective mental health nursing professionals may be identified in the generic program, particularly those with prior mental health experience and lower stigmatizing attitudes. Additional studies are required to confirm and broaden their applicability to other contexts.

Keywords: nursing students, mental health nursing, stigmatizing attitudes, desire for a career in mental health nursing, generic program

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Authors: Shanxiong Chen, Xu Han, Xiaolong Wang, Hui Ma

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Yi is an ethnic group mainly living in mainland China, with its own spoken and written language systems, after development of thousands of years. Ancient Yi is one of the six ancient languages in the world, which keeps a record of the history of the Yi people and offers documents valuable for research into human civilization. Recognition of the characters in ancient Yi helps to transform the documents into an electronic form, making their storage and spreading convenient. Due to historical and regional limitations, research on recognition of ancient characters is still inadequate. Thus, deep learning technology was applied to the recognition of such characters. Five models were developed on the basis of the four-layer convolutional neural network (CNN). Alpha-Beta divergence was taken as a penalty term to re-encode output neurons of the five models. Two fully connected layers fulfilled the compression of the features. Finally, at the softmax layer, the orthographic features of ancient Yi characters were re-evaluated, their probability distributions were obtained, and characters with features of the highest probability were recognized. Tests conducted show that the method has achieved higher precision compared with the traditional CNN model for handwriting recognition of the ancient Yi.

Keywords: recognition, CNN, Yi character, divergence

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Authors: Tao Ding, Danjia Yan, Jinye Li, Chao Ren, Xinhua Hu

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The paper based on the research background of the current situation of water shortage in China and intelligent management of water resources in the information era. And the paper adopts WebGIS technology, combining the mathematical model of water resources management to develop a WebGIS-based water environment capacity inquiry and polluted water emission planning. The research significance of the paper is that it can inquiry the water environment capacity of Jinhua City in real time and plan how to drain polluted water into the river, so as to realize the effective management of water resources. This system makes sewage planning more convenient and faster. For the planning of the discharge enterprise, the decision on the optimal location of the sewage outlet can be achieved through calculation of the Sewage discharge planning model in the river, without the need for site visits. The system can achieve effective management of water resources and has great application value.

Keywords: sewerage planning, water environment capacity, water resources management, WebGIS

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Authors: Ilias A. Makris

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In this work, we attempt to associate firm characteristics with innovative activity. We collect microdata from listed firms of selected Eurozone Country-members, after the beginning of 2007 financial crisis. The following literature, several indicators of growth and performance were selected and tested for their ability to interpret innovative activity. The main scope is to examine the possible differences in performance and growth between innovative and non-innovative firms, during a severe recession. Additionally to that, a special focus will be held on whether macroeconomic performance and national innovation system, determines the extent of innovators' performance. Preliminary findings, through correlation matrices and non-parametric tests, strongly indicate the positive relation between innovative activity and most of the measures used (profitability, size, employment), confirming that even during a recessionary period, innovative firms not only survive but also seem to succeed better economic results in almost all indexes relative to non-innovative. However, even though innovators seem to perform better in all economies examined, the extent of that performance seems to be strongly affected by the supportive mechanisms (financial and structural) that their country provides. Thus, it is clear, that the technologically intensive 'gap' between European South and North, during the economic crisis, became chaotic, due to the harsh austerity measures and reduced budgets in those countries, even in sectors with high potentials in economic activity and employment, impairing the effects of crisis and enhancing the vicious circle of recession.

Keywords: eurozone, innovative activity, development, firm performance, non-parametric tests

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Authors: Waddah S. Abdullah, Saleh M. Al-Sarem

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Electrokinetic remediation of contaminated soils has undoubtedly proven to be one of the most efficient techniques used to clean up soils contaminated with polar contaminants (such as heavy metals) and nonpolar organic contaminants. It can efficiently be used to clean up low permeability mud, wastewater, electroplating wastes, sludge, and marine dredging. EK processes have proved to be superior to other conventional methods, such as the pump and treat, and soil washing, since these methods are ineffective in such cases. This paper describes the use of electrokinetic remediation to clean up soils contaminated with nickel. Open cells, as well as advanced cylindrical cells, were used to perform electrokinetic experiments. Azraq green clay (low permeability soil, taken from the east part of Jordan) was used for the experiments. The clayey soil was spiked with 500 ppm of nickel. The EK experiments were conducted under direct current of 80 mA and 50 mA. Chelating agents (NaEDTA), disodium ethylene diamine-tetra-ascetic acid was used to enhance the electroremediation processes. The effect of carbonates presence in soils was, also, investigated by use of sodium carbonate. pH changes in the anode and the cathode compartments were controlled by using buffer solutions. The results showed that the average removal efficiency was 64%, for the Nickel spiked saturated clayey soil.Experiment results have shown that carbonates retarded the remediation process of nickel contaminated soils. Na-EDTA effectively enhanced the decontamination process, with removal efficiency increased from 64% without using the NaEDTA to over 90% after using Na-EDTA.

Keywords: buffer solution, contaminated soils, EDTA enhancement, electrokinetic processes, Nickel contaminated soil, soil remediation

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Authors: Man Ying Kang, Joshua Kin Man Nan

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The prolonged pandemic has posed alarming public health challenges to various parts of the world, and face-to-face mental health treatment is largely discounted for the control of virus transmission, online psychological services and self-help mental health kits have become essential. Online self-help mindfulness-based interventions have proved their effects on fostering mental health for different populations over the globe. This paper was to test the effectiveness of an online short-term audio-based mindfulness (SAM) program in enhancing wellbeing, dispositional mindfulness, and reducing stress and negative affect in community settings in China, and to explore possible mechanisms of how dispositional mindfulness, stress, and negative affect influenced the intervention effects on wellbeing. Community-dwelling adults were recruited via online social networking sites (e.g., QQ, WeChat, and Weibo). Participants (n=100) were randomized into the mindfulness group (n=50) and a waitlist control group (n=50). In the mindfulness group, participants were advised to spend 10–20 minutes listening to the audio content, including mindful-form practices (e.g., eating, sitting, walking, or breathing). Then practice daily mindfulness exercises for 3 weeks (a total of 21 sessions), whereas those in the control group received the same intervention after data collection in the mindfulness group. Participants in the mindfulness group needed to fill in the World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index (WHO), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) four times: at baseline (T0) and at 1 (T1), 2 (T2), and 3 (T3) weeks while those in the waitlist control group only needed to fill in the same scales at pre- and post-interventions. Repeated-measure analysis of variance, paired sample t-test, and independent sample t-test was used to analyze the variable outcomes of the two groups. The parallel process latent growth curve modeling analysis was used to explore the longitudinal moderated mediation effects. The dependent variable was WHO slope from T0 to T3, the independent variable was Group (1=SAM, 2=Control), the mediator was FMI slope from T0 to T3, and the moderator was T0NA and T0PSS separately. The different levels of moderator effects on WHO slope was explored, including low T0NA or T0PSS (Mean-SD), medium T0NA or T0PSS (Mean), and high T0NA or T0PSS (Mean+SD). The results found that SAM significantly improved and predicted higher levels of WHO slope and FMI slope, as well as significantly reduced NA and PSS. FMI slope positively predict WHO slope. FMI slope partially mediated the relationship between SAM and WHO slope. Baseline NA and PSS as the moderators were found to be significant between SAM and WHO slope and between SAM and FMI slope, respectively. The conclusion was that SAM was effective in promoting levels of mental wellbeing, positive affect, and dispositional mindfulness as well as reducing negative affect and stress in community settings in China. SAM improved wellbeing faster through the faster enhancement of dispositional mindfulness. Participants with medium-to-high negative affect and stress buffered the therapy effects of SAM on wellbeing improvement speed.

Keywords: mindfulness, negative affect, stress, wellbeing, randomized control trial

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Authors: Mujeeb Mohd, Aqil Mohd, A. K. Najmi, Akhtar MMohd, Vasim Mohd

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Dioscorea deltoidea belongs to the Dioscoreaceae family, is usually found in the north-western Himalayas and some other parts of the world up to an altitude of 1000–3000 m. D. deltoidea commonly known as yam and is an extensively used medicinal plant in the indigenous system of medicine. It has been reported to contain dioscine a steroidal glycoside in higher concentration. In the present investigation, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been synthesized by a simple, efficient, environmentally benevolent and economic microwave-assisted method. Callus culture of D. deltoidea was developed and maintained on Murashige and skooge basal medium supplemented with different combination and concentration of plant growth regulators. Aqueous extract of callus culture was used as the reducing and stabilizing agent. The synthesized nanoparticles have been characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD analysis. The presence of a characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption band at 430 nm in UV–Vis reveals the reduction of silver metal ions into silver nanoparticles. Whereas FTIR analysis was performed to probe the possible functional group involved in the synthesis of AgNPs. Further extract and AgNPs were evaluated for antimicrobial activity against different pathogenic microorganisms.

Keywords: antimicrobial, Dioscorea deltoidea, microwave, silver, nanoparticles

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Authors: Artsiom Zinchanka

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The world faces now one of the largest migration crisis and the European Union meets challenges in accepting the flow of migrants that could not be handled finally at this step. This crisis is complicated with many factors, such as military conflict in the Middle East; absence of the appropriate conditions in the refugees’ camps; but also with the complicity of the migration flow consisting of the Sub-Saharan migrants. This type of migrants leave their homelands for many reasons including poverty, not appropriate level of social and economic conditions, absence of infrastructure and access to the education and medical care. In practice, when the restrictive approach directed to limit the flow of illicit migration and to send illicit migrants back to their homelands is not always working, the approach directed to the root causes of the migration crisis can be more effective in settling the crisis. The Cotonou Agreement and the following treaties concluded between the European Union, and Sub-Saharan states show that the European Union considers the development of human rights and appropriate social and economic conditions in the Sub-Saharan states as one of the most important factors addressing the migration crisis. The preventive approach as the efforts of the European Union to develop appropriate social and economic conditions in Sub-Saharan states is considered in this article, as well as its evolution and current condition. This article also considers pros and cons of this approach and the obstacles that this approach faces. The research methods include review of literature and documents, analytical and descriptive methods.

Keywords: migration crisis, preventive approach, Sub-Saharan States, the European Union

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Authors: Yungeng Xie, Cong Liu, Yi Liu, Xuanao Wan

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The study aims to explore microblog users’ emotion expression and sharing behaviors on the Chinese microblog (Weibo). The first theme of study analyzed whether microblog emotions impact readers’ message sharing behaviors, specifically, how the strength of emotion (positive and negative) in microblog messages facilitate/inhibit readers’ sharing behaviors. The second theme compared the differences among the three types of microblog users (i.e., verified enterprise users, verified individual users and unverified users) in terms of their profiles and microblog behaviors. A total of 7114 microblog messages about 24 hot public events in China were sampled from Sina Weibo. The first study results show that strength of negative emotions that microblog messages carry significantly increase the possibility of the message being shared. The second study results indicate that there are significant differences across the three types of users in terms of their emotion expression and its influence on microblog behaviors.

Keywords: emotion expression, information diffusion, microblog, sharing

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Authors: Shan Jiang

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Child aggression represents a significant global issue, with its familial determinants being crucial. Family is a vital context for child development, but prior research on the impact of parental assortative mating on child aggression is limited. This study investigates the effects of assortative mating on child aggression, elucidating the mediating mechanisms involved and examining gender-specific responses, within a substantial sample of 10,570 parents and their children, grades 1-6, in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. The findings indicate that children exhibit a significant increase in aggressive behaviors when maternal income surpasses paternal income, contrasted with families where the father's income is higher. The study identifies family communication, co-parenting quality, and parental problem-solving strategies as significant mediators in the relationship between parental income/education differences and child aggression. This research contributes to understanding the parental influence on child behavior within the family system and offers valuable implications for child protection policy and intervention strategies.

Keywords: assortative mating, aggression, children, family

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Authors: Yunwei Zhang, Na Li, Yuhong Niu

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Bone tissue engineering scaffold was regarded as an important clinical technology of curing bony defect. The patent protection of bone tissue engineering scaffold had been paid more attention and strengthened all over the world. This study analyzed the future development trends of international technologies in the field of bone tissue engineering scaffold and its patent protection. This study used the methods of data classification and classification indexing to analyze 2718 patents retrieved in the patent database. Results showed that the patents coming from United States had a competitive advantage over other countiries in the field of bone tissue engineering scaffold. The number of patent applications by a single company in U.S. was a quarter of that of the world. However, the capability of R&D in China was obviously weaker than global level, patents mainly coming from universities and scientific research institutions. Moreover, it would be predicted that synthetic organic materials as new materials would be gradually replaced by composite materials. The patent technology protections of composite materials would be more strengthened in the future.

Keywords: bone tissue engineering, patent analysis, Scaffold material, patent protection

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Authors: Han Kuikui

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Adolescents, serving as the reserve force for technological innovation talents, possess STEM creativity that is not only pivotal to achieving STEM education goals but also provides a viable path for reforming science curricula in compulsory education and cultivating innovative talents in China. To investigate the relationship among adolescents' grit, creative self-efficacy, future time perspective, and STEM creativity, a survey was conducted in 2023 using stratified random sampling. A total of 1263 junior high school students from the main urban areas of Chongqing, from grade 7 to grade 9, were sampled. The results indicated that (1) Grit positively predicts adolescents' creative self-efficacy and STEM creativity significantly; (2) Creative self-efficacy mediates the positive relationship between grit and adolescents' STEM creativity; (3) The mediating role of creative self-efficacy is moderated by future time perspective, such that with a higher future time perspective, the positive predictive effect of grit on creative self-efficacy is more substantial, which in turn positively affects their STEM creativity.

Keywords: grit, stem creativity, creative self-efficacy, future time perspective

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Authors: Susan Lewis

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The assessment of learning outcomes at the program level has attracted much international interest from the perspectives of quality assurance and ongoing curricular redesign and renewal. This paper examines program-level learning outcomes in the field of music and technology, an area of study that has seen an explosion in program development over the past fifteen years. The Audio Engineering Society (AES) maintains an online directory of educational institutions worldwide, yielding the most comprehensive inventory of programs and courses in music and technology. The inventory includes courses, programs, and degrees in music and technology, music and computer science, music production, and the music industry. This paper focuses on published student learning outcomes for undergraduate degrees in music and technology and analyses commonalities at institutions in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The results of a survey of student learning outcomes at twenty institutions indicates a focus on three distinct student learning outcomes: (1) cross-disciplinary knowledge in the fields of music and technology; (2) the practical application of training through the professional industry; and (3) the acquisition of skills in communication and collaboration. The paper then analyses assessment mechanisms for tracking student learning and achievement of learning outcomes at these institutions. The results indicate highly variable assessment practices. Conclusions offer recommendations for enhancing assessment techniques and better communicating learning outcomes to students.

Keywords: quality assurance, student learning; learning outcomes, music and technology

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Authors: Lei Qin

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As shared accommodation has become one of the most important market developments in the tourism industry, numerous contributions have emerged on travelers’ motivations to choose shared accommodation. A debated question, however, resides in the heterogeneity of travelers based on motivations. This paper aims to reconcile opposing perspectives by comparing motivation segmentation at two distinct phases of innovation adoption of this new hospitality option: (i) before the first travel – potential users showing interest (n=420) and (ii) after the first travel – users (n=420). Interestingly, we find that travelers (including pre-and-post adopters) have a stronger agreement in experiential motivations than practical motivations. However, the heterogeneity of motivations among travelers is significantly higher in users, increasing from two to six clusters, which means travelers cluster into more and distinct motivation groups after adoption. Rather than invalidating specific assumptions used in the literature in terms of motivation heterogeneity, this paper reconciles opposing findings by putting them along with one another in the process of innovation adoption. A subsequent tourists’ segmentation based on motivations were conducted according to their innovation adoption stages.

Keywords: motivation, pre-and-post adoption, shared accommodation, segmentation

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Authors: Oseni Taiwo Amoo, Bloodless Dzwairo

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In this paper, we extend the versatility and usefulness of GIS as a methodology for any river basin hydrologic characteristics analysis (HCA). The Gurara River basin located in North-Central Nigeria is presented in this study. It is an on-going research using spatial Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Arc-Hydro tools to take inventory of the basin characteristics in order to predict water abstraction quantification on streamflow regime. One of the main concerns of hydrological modelling is the quantification of runoff from rainstorm events. In practice, the soil conservation service curve (SCS) method and the Conventional procedure called rational technique are still generally used these traditional hydrological lumped models convert statistical properties of rainfall in river basin to observed runoff and hydrograph. However, the models give little or no information about spatially dispersed information on rainfall and basin physical characteristics. Therefore, this paper synthesizes morphometric parameters in generating runoff. The expected results of the basin characteristics such as size, area, shape, slope of the watershed and stream distribution network analysis could be useful in estimating streamflow discharge. Water resources managers and irrigation farmers could utilize the tool for determining net return from available scarce water resources, where past data records are sparse for the aspect of land and climate.

Keywords: hydrological characteristic, stream flow, runoff discharge, land and climate

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Authors: Ziwei Huang, Jian Ge, Jie Shen, Jiantao Weng

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Retrofitting of existing buildings plays a critical role to achieve sustainable development. This is being considered as one of the approaches to achieving sustainability in the built environment. In order to evaluate the different air-conditioning systems effectiveness and user satisfaction of the existing building which had transformed into green building effectively and accurately. This article takes the green office building in Zhejiang province, China as an example, analyzing the energy consumption, occupant satisfaction and indoor environment quality (IEQ) from the perspective of the thermal environment. This building is special because it combines ground source heat pump system and Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) air-conditioning system. Results showed that the ground source heat pump system(EUIa≈25.6) consumes more energy than VRF(EUIb≈23.8). In terms of a satisfaction survey, the use of the VRF air-conditioning was more satisfactory in temperature. However, the ground source heat pump is more satisfied in air quality.

Keywords: post-occupancy evaluation, green office building, air-conditioning systems, ground source heat pump system

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Authors: Wanghongshu Zhou

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This study aims to explore the relationship between the L2MSS and WTC among Chinese non-English major students in order to provide pedagogical implications for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in Chinese universities. By employing a mixed methods approach, we involved 103 Chinese non-English major students from a typical university in China, conducted questionnaire survey to measure their levels of L2WTC and L2MSS level, and then analyzed the correlation between the two above mentioned variables. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants to provide a deeper understanding and explanation of the questionnaire data. Findings show that 1) Chinese non-English major students’ ideal L2 self and L2 learning experience could positively predict their L2 WTC in EFL class; 2) Chinese non-English major students’ ought-to L2 self might have no significant impact on their L2 WTC in EFL class; and 3) self-confidence might be another main factor that will influence Chinese non-English major students’ L2 WTC in EFL class. These findings might shed light on the second language acquisition field and provide pedagogical recommendations for pre-service as well as in-service EFL teachers.

Keywords: L2 willingness to communicate, L2 motivation, self-confidence, Chinese non-English major students

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Authors: Suresh Reddi, Mathew Leslie, Vishnu S. Das

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Sustainable design is a prominent concept across all sectors of engineering and its importance is widely recognized within the Arabian Gulf region. Despite that sustainable or soft engineering options are not widely deployed in coastal engineering projects and a preference for utilizing ‘hard engineering’ solutions remain. The concept of soft engineering lies in “working together” with the nature to manage the coastline. This approach allows hard engineering options, such as breakwaters or sea walls, to be minimized or even eliminated altogether. Hard structures provide a firm barrier to wave energy or flooding, but in doing so they often have a significant impact on the natural processes of the coastline. This may affect the area locally or impact on neighboring zones. In addition, they often have a negative environmental impact and may create a sense of disconnect between the marine environment and local users. Soft engineering options, seek to protect the coastline by working in harmony with the natural process of sediment transport/budget. They often consider new habitat creation and creating usable spaces that will increase the sense of connection with nature. Often soft engineering options, where appropriately deployed can provide a low-maintenance, aesthetically valued, natural line of coastal protection. This paper deals with an overview of the following: The widely accepted soft engineering practices across the world; How this approach has been considered by Ramboll in some recent projects in Middle East and Asia; Challenges and barriers to use in using soft engineering options in the region; Way forward towards more widespread adoption.

Keywords: coastline, hard engineering, low maintenance, soft engineering options

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Authors: Fatema Tasmia, Brishti Majumder, Atiqur Rahman

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Attaining appropriate thermal comfort conditions in a place where the climate is hot and humid can be perplexing. Especially, when it resides at a congested place like old Dhaka Bangladesh, the provision of giving cross ventilation and building with proper orientation is quite difficult. This paper aims to investigate the indoor thermal environment of a room with and without transitional space or threshold in traditional row houses adjacent to a narrow alley of old Dhaka through field measurements. Transitional spaces are the part of buildings which are used for semi-outdoor household activities, social gathering and it is also proved to provide an indoor thermal effect. The field study was conducted by collecting thermal data (temperature, humidity and airflow) respectively, among the outdoor narrow alley, transitional space and adjacent indoor. This east-west elongated alley has an average width of 2.13 meter (varies from 1.5 to 2.6 meter) holding row houses on both sides. Among different aspects of thermal environment, the study of this paper is based on the analysis of temperature of corresponding cases. Other aspects and their variables were considered as constant (especially material) for accuracy and avoidance of confusion. This study focuses on the outcome that can ultimately contribute to the configuration of row houses with transitional spaces and in its relation to the adjacent outdoor space while achieving thermal comfort.

Keywords: alley, Old-Dhaka, row houses, temperature, thermal comfort, threshold, transitional space

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Authors: Jiaoya Huang, Jianghong Liu

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This paper endeavors to comprehend and scrutinize the entrepreneurial development process within Chinese cultural and creative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as the factors that impinge on entrepreneurs' recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities from the vantage point of institutional theory. The study is centered around three key research questions: namely, the drivers and impediments for entrepreneurs to identify opportunities within three prominent Chinese cultural and creative regions and the influence of institutional facets on the exploitation and recognition of opportunities within the cultural industry. Adopting a qualitative interpretivist research paradigm, a comparative multiple case study design is utilized. Semi-structured interviews will be carried out with founders and mid-level professionals of SMEs in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, which are chosen in accordance with specific criteria. The data will be analyzed through an inductive thematic approach. Anticipatedly, this research will contribute to bridging the research gap in the nexus between institutional theory and entrepreneurial opportunities within the context of cultural and creative industries.

Keywords: entrepreneurial opportunities, cultural and creative industries, institutional theory, Chinese SMEs

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Authors: Neha Gupta

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Landslide vulnerability is considered as the crucial parameter for the assessment of landslide risk. The term vulnerability defined as the damage or degree of elements at risk of different dimensions, i.e., physical, social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Himalaya region is very prone to multi-hazard such as floods, forest fires, earthquakes, and landslides. With the increases in fatalities rates, loss of infrastructure, and economy due to landslide in the Himalaya region, leads to the assessment of vulnerability. In this study, a methodology to measure the combination of vulnerability dimension, i.e., social vulnerability, physical vulnerability, and environmental vulnerability in one framework. A combined result of these vulnerabilities has rarely been carried out. But no such approach was applied in the Indian Scenario. The methodology was applied in an area of east Sikkim Himalaya, India. The physical vulnerability comprises of building footprint layer extracted from remote sensing data and Google Earth imaginary. The social vulnerability was assessed by using population density based on land use. The land use map was derived from a high-resolution satellite image, and for environment vulnerability assessment NDVI, forest, agriculture land, distance from the river were assessed from remote sensing and DEM. The classes of social vulnerability, physical vulnerability, and environment vulnerability were normalized at the scale of 0 (no loss) to 1 (loss) to get the homogenous dataset. Then the Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) was used to assign individual weights to each dimension and then integrate it into one frame. The final vulnerability was further classified into four classes from very low to very high.

Keywords: landslide, multi-criteria analysis, MCA, physical vulnerability, social vulnerability

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Authors: Wang Guangda, Ma Jun, Zhao Caiqi, Pan Rui

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Wind load is the main control load of large statue structures. Due to the irregular plane and elevation and uneven outer contour, statues’ shape coefficient can not pick up from the current code. Currently a common practice is based on wind tunnel test. But this method is time-consuming and high cost. In this paper, based on the fundamental theory of CFD, using fluid dynamics software of Fluent 15.0, a few large statue structure of 40 to 70m high, which are located in china , including large fairy statues and large Buddha statues, are analyzed by numerical wind tunnel. The results are contrasted with the recommended values in load code and the wind tunnel test results respectively. Results show that the shape coefficient has a good reliability by the numerical wind tunnel method of this kind of building. This will has a certain reference value of wind load values for large statues’ structure.

Keywords: large statue structure, shape coefficient, irregular structure, wind tunnel test, numerical wind tunnel simulation

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Authors: Leah Li Echiverri, Haoyu Shang, Yue Li

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Wenzhou-Kean University (WKU) is a Sino-US Cooperative University in China. It practices the English Immersion Program (EIP), where all the courses are taught in English. Class discussions and presentations are pervasively interwoven in designing students’ learning experiences. This WKU model has brought positive influences on students and is in some way ahead of traditional college English majors. However, literature to support the perceptions on the positive outcomes of this teaching and learning model remain scarce. The distinctive profile of Chinese-ESL students in an English Medium of Instruction (EMI) environment contributes further to the scarcity of literature compared to existing studies conducted among ESL learners in Western educational settings. Hence, the study investigated the students’ perceptions towards the English Immersion Program and determine how it influences Chinese-ESL students’ academic performance (AP). This research can provide empirical data that would be helpful to educators, teaching practitioners, university administrators, and other researchers in making informed decisions when developing curricular reforms, instructional and pedagogical methods, and university-wide support programs using this educational model. The purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between the English Immersion Program and Academic Performance among Chinese-ESL students enrolled at WKU for the academic year 2020-2021. Course length, immersion location, course type, and instructional design were the constructs of the English immersion program. English language learning, learning efficiency, and class participation were used to measure academic performance. Descriptive-correlational design was used in this cross-sectional research project. A quantitative approach for data analysis was applied to determine the relationship between the English immersion program and Chinese-ESL students’ academic performance. The research was conducted at WKU; a Chinese-American jointly established higher educational institution located in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. Convenience, random, and snowball sampling of 283 students, a response rate of 10.5%, were applied to represent the WKU student population. The questionnaire was posted through the survey website named Wenjuanxing and shared to QQ or WeChat. Cronbach’s alpha was used to test the reliability of the research instrument. Findings revealed that when professors integrate technology (PowerPoint, videos, and audios) in teaching, students pay more attention. This contributes to the acquisition of more professional knowledge in their major courses. As to course immersion, students perceive WKU as a good place to study, providing them a high degree of confidence to talk with their professors in English. This also contributes to their English fluency and better pronunciation in their communication. In the construct of designing instruction, the use of pictures, video clips, and professors’ non-verbal communication, and demonstration of concern for students encouraged students to be more active in-class participation. Findings on course length and academic performance indicated that students’ perception regarding taking courses during fall and spring terms can moderately contribute to their academic performance. In conclusion, the findings revealed a significantly strong positive relationship between course type, immersion location, instructional design, and academic performance.

Keywords: class participation, English immersion program, English language learning, learning efficiency

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Authors: Kai Liu

Abstract:

Remote sensing-derived land surface temperature (LST) can provide an indication of the temporal and spatial patterns of surface evapotranspiration (ET). However, the spatial resolution achieved by existing commonly satellite products is ~1 km, which remains too coarse for ET estimations. This paper proposed a model that can disaggregate coarse resolution MODIS LST at 1 km scale to fine spatial resolutions at the scale of 250 m. Our approach attempted to weaken the impacts of soil moisture and growing statues on LST variations. The proposed model spatially disaggregates the coarse thermal data by using a non-linear model involving Bowen ratio, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and photochemical reflectance index (PRI). This LST disaggregation model was tested on two heterogeneous landscapes in central Iowa, USA and Heihe River, China, during the growing seasons. Statistical results demonstrated that our model achieved better than the two classical methods (DisTrad and TsHARP). Furthermore, using the surface energy balance model, it was observed that the estimated ETs using the disaggregated LST from our model were more accurate than those using the disaggregated LST from DisTrad and TsHARP.

Keywords: Bowen ration, downscaling, evapotranspiration, land surface temperature

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Authors: Qingli Lei

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This study investigates the impact of family socioeconomic status and parental involvement on the academic performance of elementary school students, specifically focusing on migrant students in China. The findings reveal that gender has a stronger influence on academic performance compared to local status and parental tutoring time. Female students tend to achieve higher scores than males. Parental education level does not significantly predict academic performance, while parent tutoring time does have a significant impact. Furthermore, there is a significant interaction between local status and parental education level, indicating that migrant students with lower-educated parents perform better than their local counterparts, while local children excel when their parents' education levels are higher. These results emphasize the importance of parental involvement, particularly for immigrant students, and highlight the need for interventions that enhance parental engagement in education to improve academic outcomes.

Keywords: academic performance, family socioeconomic status, migrant students, parental involvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Marjan Kamyabi

Abstract:

Attending tourism in the current century is one of the key factors in the success of the tourism industry and, consequently, the prosperity of the economies of the countries. In this regard, accessible tourism can play a major role in the development of tourism, taking into account the attractions, facilities and capabilities of the development of tourism in Northern Cyprus, and given that the satisfaction of tourists from the product and destination of tourism has an undeniable role in attracting tourists. The purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental barriers and accessibility of the tourism industry in Northern Cyprus. Another goal of this study is to introduce this consumer group to the tourism community. In order to achieve the objectives of this paper, a questionnaire was designed and provided to three tourism professionals to assess the reliability, and then, among the 200 people with physical and mental disabilities who travelled to Cyprus, The data analysis was used as a confirmatory factor analysis method. The environmental barrier for tourists with disabilities is classified in three sections of transport, attractions and accommodation, each section being separately identified separately. In general, observance of the principles and standards of proper fitting in the main sectors of the tourism industry of Northern Cyprus in the situation The facilities and transportation were identified as the first problem and obstacle for the development of tourism for people with physical and mental disabilities and, finally, suggestions and solutions for the development of tourism for people with physical and physical disabilities were presented.

Keywords: accessible tourism, environmental barriers, tourism, people with disability, accessibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: S. B. Shahmarova, F. N. Iskandarli, J. T. Zeynalov, F. N. Mammadov, M. M. Mirzayev, F. Y. Bayramov

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The physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of aggregates play an important role in the production of ready-mixed concrete. Furthermore, the alkali-silicate reaction of aggregates is one of the essential factors in construction projects for the durability and longer service life of buildings and construction structures to be built. It is necessary to use the aggregates from the liberated regions of Karabakh and East Zangazur in the preparation of concretes to be produced for reconstruction and renovation projects in those regions. In this regard, the study of the physical and mechanical properties of aggregates in the regions around the Araz River (Fuzuli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan) became a significant issue. So, gravel samples were taken from seven different sources located in the regions around Araz River, where the quarries are planned to be built. The chemical oxide composition of the samples was determined, water absorption and specific gravity tests, chloride, alkali-silicate reaction tests, aggregate crushing strength test, Los Angeles, and frost resistance (into the solution of MgSO₄ and Na₂SO₄) tests were performed, and the results were evaluated in accordance with the relevant standards. As a result, it was determined that the aggregates in the regions around the Araz River (Fuzuli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan) conform to the relative standards and can be used effectively in the production of various concretes to be used for the projects in Karabakh.

Keywords: aggregates of the regions around Araz River (Fuzuli, Jabrayil, and Zangilan), physical and mechanical properties, alkali-silicate reaction, Karabakh, Azerbaijan

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Authors: Dinesh Khanduja, Sahib Sartaj Singh

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In India, among the start ups, many new ventures fail and for the few that survive and grow, there are always numerous problems. In order to make these surviving units productive and cost effective-in today’s competitive environment, the traditional ways of supporting small enterprises and the related programs of governmental assistance need to be significantly transformed. In this context, ‘Business Incubation’ is emerging as one of the most innovative instruments to support small enterprise creation and development all over the world. Incubators, by providing on the-spot diagnosis and treatment of business problems, dramatically lower the early stage failure rate. In Europe, US and countries like China, Singapore, Thailand etc., the exceptionally fast growth of business incubators has baffled even the researchers. In this direction in India, following on the world pattern, several initiatives have been taken over the last decade to encourage the concept of business incubation. Besides profiling the existing ‘Business Incubators’ in India, the paper dwells upon a case study of SMEs in state of Punjab for exploring the relevance of business incubation for enhancing their productive capacity.

Keywords: business incubation, Technology Business Incubator (TBI), Rural Business Hub (RBH), entrepreneurship, Business Development Services (BDS), technology management

Procedia PDF Downloads 508