Search results for: Address Malata

Authors: E. Cenderelli, E. Bruno, G. Iacoviello, A. Lazzini

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The financial sector is exposed to the risk of cyber-attacks like any other industrial sector. Furthermore, the topic of CybeRisk (cyber risk) has become particularly relevant given that Information Technology (IT) attacks have increased drastically in recent years, and cannot be stopped by single organizations requiring a response at international and national level. IT risk is never a matter purely for the IT manager, although he clearly plays a key role. A bank's risk management function requires a thorough understanding of the evolving risks as well as the tools and practical techniques available to address them. Upon the request of European and national legislation regarding CybeRisk in the financial system, banks are therefore called upon to strengthen the operational model for CybeRisk management. This will require an important change with a more intense collaboration with the structures that deal with information security for the development of an ad hoc system for the evaluation and control of this type of risk. The aim of the work is to propose a framework for the management and control of CybeRisk that will bridge the gap in the literature regarding the understanding and consideration of CybeRisk as an integral part of business management. The IT function has a strong relevance in the management of CybeRisk, which is perceived mainly as operational risk, but with a positive tendency on the part of risk management to the identification of CybeRisk assessment methods that are increasingly complete, quantitative and able to better describe the possible impacts on the business. The paper provides answers to the research questions: Is it possible to define a CybeRisk governance structure able to support the comparison between risk and security? How can the relationships between IT assets be integrated into a cyberisk assessment framework to guarantee a system of protection and risks control? From a methodological point of view, this research uses a case study approach. The choice of “Monte dei Paschi di Siena” was determined by the specific features of one of Italy’s biggest lenders. It is chosen to use an intensive research strategy: an in-depth study of reality. The case study methodology is an empirical approach to explore a complex and current phenomenon that develops over time. The use of cases has also the advantage of allowing the deepening of aspects concerning the "how" and "why" of contemporary events, on which the scholar has little control. The research bases on quantitative data and qualitative information obtained through semi-structured interviews of an open-ended nature and questionnaires to directors, members of the audit committee, risk, IT and compliance managers, and those responsible for internal audit function and anti-money laundering. The added value of the paper can be seen in the development of a framework based on a mapping of IT assets from which it is possible to identify their relationships for purposes of a more effective management and control of cyber risk.

Keywords: bank, CybeRisk, information technology, risk management

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Authors: Monika Soni, Chandra Bhattacharya, Siraj Ahmed Ahmed, Prafulla Dutta

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Dengue is now a globally important arboviral disease. Extensive vector surveillance has already established A.aegypti as a primary vector, but A.albopictus is now accelerating the situation through gradual adaptation to human surroundings. Global destabilization and gradual climatic shift with rising in temperature have significantly expanded the geographic range of these species These versatile vectors also host Chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever virus. Biggest challenge faced by endemic countries now is upsurge in co-infection reported with multiple serotypes and virus co-circulation. To foster vector control interventions and mitigate disease burden, there is surge for knowledge on vector susceptibility and viral tolerance in response to multiple infections. To address our understanding on transmission dynamics and reproductive fitness, both the vectors were exposed to single and dual combinations of all four dengue serotypes by artificial feeding and followed up to third generation. Artificial feeding observed significant difference in feeding rate for both the species where A.albopictus was poor artificial feeder (35-50%) compared to A.aegypti (95-97%) Robust sequential screening of viral antigen in mosquitoes was followed by Dengue NS1 ELISA, RT-PCR and Quantitative PCR. To observe viral dissemination in different mosquito tissues Indirect immunofluorescence assay was performed. Result showed that both the vectors were infected initially with all dengue(1-4)serotypes and its co-infection (D1 and D2, D1 and D3, D1 and D4, D2 and D4) combinations. In case of DENV-2 there was significant difference in the peak titer observed at 16th day post infection. But when exposed to dual infections A.aegypti supported all combinations of virus where A.albopictus only continued single infections in successive days. There was a significant negative effect on the fecundity and fertility of both the vectors compared to control (PANOVA < 0.001). In case of dengue 2 infected mosquito, fecundity in parent generation was significantly higher (PBonferroni < 0.001) for A.albopicus compare to A.aegypti but there was a complete loss of fecundity from second to third generation for A.albopictus. It was observed that A.aegypti becomes infected with multiple serotypes frequently even at low viral titres compared to A.albopictus. Possible reason for this could be the presence of wolbachia infection in A.albopictus or mosquito innate immune response, small RNA interference etc. Based on the observations it could be anticipated that transovarial transmission may not be an important phenomenon for clinical disease outcome, due to the absence of viral positivity by third generation. Also, Dengue NS1 ELISA can be used for preliminary viral detection in mosquitoes as more than 90% of the samples were found positive compared to RT-PCR and viral load estimation.

Keywords: co-infection, dengue, reproductive fitness, viral quantification

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Authors: Ning Chang, Zelong Yuan, Yunpeng Wang, Jianchun Wang

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Large eddy simulation (LES) has been extensively used in the investigation of turbulence. LES calculates the grid-resolved large-scale motions and leaves small scales modeled by sublfilterscale (SFS) models. Among the existing SFS models, the deconvolution model has been used successfully in the LES of the engineering flows and geophysical flows. Despite the wide application of deconvolution models, the effects of subfilter scale dynamics and filter anisotropy on the accuracy of SFS modeling have not been investigated in depth. The results of LES are highly sensitive to the selection of filters and the anisotropy of the grid, which has been overlooked in previous research. In the current study, two critical aspects of LES are investigated. Firstly, we analyze the influence of sub-filter scale (SFS) dynamics on the accuracy of direct deconvolution models (DDM) at varying filter-to-grid ratios (FGR) in isotropic turbulence. An array of invertible filters are employed, encompassing Gaussian, Helmholtz I and II, Butterworth, Chebyshev I and II, Cauchy, Pao, and rapidly decaying filters. The significance of FGR becomes evident, as it acts as a pivotal factor in error control for precise SFS stress prediction. When FGR is set to 1, the DDM models cannot accurately reconstruct the SFS stress due to the insufficient resolution of SFS dynamics. Notably, prediction capabilities are enhanced at an FGR of 2, resulting in accurate SFS stress reconstruction, except for cases involving Helmholtz I and II filters. A remarkable precision close to 100% is achieved at an FGR of 4 for all DDM models. Additionally, the further exploration extends to the filter anisotropy to address its impact on the SFS dynamics and LES accuracy. By employing dynamic Smagorinsky model (DSM), dynamic mixed model (DMM), and direct deconvolution model (DDM) with the anisotropic filter, aspect ratios (AR) ranging from 1 to 16 in LES filters are evaluated. The findings highlight the DDM's proficiency in accurately predicting SFS stresses under highly anisotropic filtering conditions. High correlation coefficients exceeding 90% are observed in the a priori study for the DDM's reconstructed SFS stresses, surpassing those of the DSM and DMM models. However, these correlations tend to decrease as lter anisotropy increases. In the a posteriori studies, the DDM model consistently outperforms the DSM and DMM models across various turbulence statistics, encompassing velocity spectra, probability density functions related to vorticity, SFS energy flux, velocity increments, strain-rate tensors, and SFS stress. It is observed that as filter anisotropy intensify, the results of DSM and DMM become worse, while the DDM continues to deliver satisfactory results across all filter-anisotropy scenarios. The findings emphasize the DDM framework's potential as a valuable tool for advancing the development of sophisticated SFS models for LES of turbulence.

Keywords: deconvolution model, large eddy simulation, subfilter scale modeling, turbulence

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Authors: Rasha Waheeb, Bjorn Andersen, Rafa Shakir

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to avoid delays that occur in emergency reconstruction projects especially in post disaster circumstances whether if they were natural or manmade due to their particular national and humanitarian importance. We presented a theoretical and practical concepts for projects management in the field of construction industry that deal with a range of global and local trails. This study aimed to identify the factors of effective delay in construction projects in Iraq that affect the time and the specific quality cost, and find the best solutions to address delays and solve the problem by setting parameters to restore balance in this study. 30 projects were selected in different areas of construction were selected as a sample for this study. Design/methodology/approach This study discusses the reconstruction strategies and delay in time and cost caused by different delay factors in some selected projects in Iraq (Baghdad as a case study).A case study approach was adopted, with thirty construction projects selected from the Baghdad region, of different types and sizes. Project participants from the case projects provided data about the projects through a data collection instrument distributed through a survey. Mixed approach and methods were applied in this study. Mathematical data analysis was used to construct models to predict delay in time and cost of projects before they started. The artificial neural networks analysis was selected as a mathematical approach. These models were mainly to help decision makers in construction project to find solutions to these delays before they cause any inefficiency in the project being implemented and to strike the obstacles thoroughly to develop this industry in Iraq. This approach was practiced using the data collected through survey and questionnaire data collection as information form. Findings The most important delay factors identified leading to schedule overruns were contractor failure, redesigning of designs/plans and change orders, security issues, selection of low-price bids, weather factors, and owner failures. Some of these are quite in line with findings from similar studies in other countries/regions, but some are unique to the Iraqi project sample, such as security issues and low-price bid selection. Originality/value we selected ANN’s analysis first because ANN’s was rarely used in project management , and never been used in Iraq to finding solutions for problems in construction industry. Also, this methodology can be used in complicated problems when there is no interpretation or solution for a problem. In some cases statistical analysis was conducted and in some cases the problem is not following a linear equation or there was a weak correlation, thus we suggested using the ANN’s because it is used for nonlinear problems to find the relationship between input and output data and that was really supportive.

Keywords: construction projects, delay factors, emergency reconstruction, innovation ANN, post disasters, project management

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Authors: Ngabirano Levis

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One of Africa’s major environmental challenges remains air pollution. In 2017, UNICEF estimated over 400,000 children in Africa died as a result of indoor pollution, while 350 million children remain exposed to the risks of indoor pollution due to the use of biomass and burning of wood for cooking. Over time, indeed, the major causes of mortality across Africa are shifting from the unsafe water, poor sanitation, and malnutrition to the ambient and household indoor pollution, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain a key factor in this. In addition, studies by the OECD estimated that the economic cost of premature deaths due to Ambient Particulate Matter Pollution (APMP) and Household Air Pollution across Africa in 2013 was about 215 Billion US Dollars and US 232 Billion US Dollars, respectively. This is not only a huge cost for a continent where over 41% of the Sub-Saharan population lives on less than 1.9 US Dollars a day but also makes the people extremely vulnerable to the negative climate change and environmental degradation effects. Such impacts have led to extended droughts, flooding, health complications, and reduced crop yields hence food insecurity. Climate change, therefore, poses a threat to global targets like poverty reduction, health, and famine. Despite efforts towards mitigation, air contributors like carbon dioxide emissions are on a generally upward trajectory across Africa. In Egypt, for instance, emission levels had increased by over 141% in 2010 from the 1990 baseline. Efforts like the climate change adaptation and mitigation financing have also hit obstacles on the continent. The International Community and developed nations stress that Africa still faces challenges of limited human, institutional and financial systems capable of attracting climate funding from these developed economies. By using the qualitative multi-case study method supplemented by interviews of key actors and comprehensive textual analysis of relevant literature, this paper dissects the key emissions and air pollutant sources, their impact on the well-being of the African people, and puts forward suggestions as well as a remedial mechanism to these challenges. The findings reveal that whereas climate change mitigation plans appear comprehensive and good on paper for many African countries like Uganda; the lingering political interference, limited research guided planning, lack of population engagement, irrational resource allocation, and limited system and personnel capacity has largely impeded the realization of the set targets. Recommendations have been put forward to address the above climate change impacts that threaten the food security, health, and livelihoods of the people on the continent.

Keywords: Africa, air pollution, climate change, mitigation, emissions, effective planning, institutional strengthening

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Authors: Mercedes Sepulveda, Saras Henderson, Dana Farrell, Gaby Heuft

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In Australia, there is a significant number of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Grandparent Carers who are sole carers for their grandchildren. Services in the community such as accessible healthcare, financial support, legal aid, and transport to services can assist Grandparent Carers to continue to live in their own home whilst caring for their grandchildren. Community nurses can play a major role by being aware of the needs of these grandparents and link them to services via information and referrals. The CALD Grandparent Carer experiences have only been explored marginally and may be similar to the general Grandparent Carer population, although cultural aspects may add to their difficulties. This Needs-Gap Analysis aimed to uncover ‘hidden issues’ for CALD Grandparent Carers such as service gaps and actions needed to address these issues. The stakeholders selected for this Needs-Gap Analysis were drawn from relevant service providers such as community and aged care services, child and/or grandparents support services and CALD specific services. One hundred relevant service providers were surveyed using six structured questions via face to face, phone interviews, or email correspondence. CALD Grandparents who had a significant or sole role of being a carer for grandchildren were invited to participate through their CALD community leaders. Consultative Forums asking five questions that focused on the caring role, issues encountered, and what needed to be done, were conducted with the African, Asian, Spanish-Speaking, Middle Eastern, European, Pacific Islander and Maori Grandparent Carers living in South-east Queensland, Australia. Data from the service provider survey and the CALD Grandparent Carer forums were content analysed using thematic principles. Our findings highlighted social determinants of health grouped into six themes. These were; 1) service providers and Grandparent Carer perception that there was limited research data on CALD grandparents as carers; 2) inadequate legal and financial support; 3) barriers to accessing information and advice; 4) lack of childcare options in the light of aging and health issues; 5) difficulties around transport; and 6) inadequate technological skills often leading to social isolation for both carer and grandchildren. Our Needs-Gap Analysis provides insight to service providers especially health practitioners such as doctors and community nurses, particularly on the impact of caring for grandchildren on CALD Grandparent Carers. Furthermore, factors such as cultural differences, English language difficulties, and migration experiences also impacted on the way CALD Grandparent Carers are able to cope. The findings of this Need-Gap Analysis signposts some of the ‘ hidden issues’ that CALD Grandparents Carers face and draws together recommendations for the future as put forward by the stakeholders themselves.

Keywords: CALD grandparents, carer needs, community nurses, grandparent carers

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Authors: Aarif Hussain, Afnan Tariq

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In recent years, microfinance has emerged as a critical tool for promoting financial inclusion and empowering marginalized communities, particularly women. In India, where poverty and lack of access to financial services continue to be significant challenges for many, microfinance has the potential to provide much-needed support to women with disabled children. These women face unique challenges, including discrimination, lack of access to education and employment, and limited support systems, making it even more difficult for them to break out of poverty and provide for their families. Microfinance, by providing small loans, savings products, and other financial services, can help these women to start or grow businesses, build assets, and achieve financial independence. India has adhered to an SHG-bank linkage model of microfinance since 1980, and programs like IRDP and SGSY were initiatives in the same direction. In the year 2011, India launched DAY-NRLM, a restructured version of SGSY. DAY-NRLM is an SHG-based microfinance program targeting the rural women of India. It aims to organise these poor women into SHGs and link them to banking institutions for creating sustainable livelihoods. The program has a reservation for disabled women but has no special status for mothers with disabled children. The impact of microfinance on women with disabilities and their families has been well documented. Studies have shown that women participating in microfinance programs are more likely to start businesses, increase their income, and improve their standard of living. Furthermore, these women are more likely to invest in their children's education and health, which can have long-term positive effects on their family’s well-being. In the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the programme started in 2013 and is running smoothly to date. Women with children having a disability have not been documented as a category within the programme. The core aspect of this study is to delve into these women’s lives and analyse the impact of SHG membership on their lives and their children. The participants were selected purposively. For data collection, in-depth interviews were conducted. The findings of the paper show that microfinance has the potential to play a significant role in promoting financial inclusion and empowering women with children having disabilities in Kashmir. By providing access to small loans, savings products, and other financial services, microfinance can help these women to start or grow businesses, build assets, and achieve financial independence. However, more work is needed to ensure that these women have equal access to financial services and opportunities and that microfinance institutions are equipped to effectively serve this population. Working together to address these challenges can create a brighter future for women with children having disabilities and their families in India.

Keywords: DAY-NRLM, microfinance, SHGs, women, disabled children

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Authors: Qiang Ren

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In the past 20 years, under the high standard of international investment protection, there have been numerous cases of investors ignoring the host country's measures to protect human health. Examples include investment disputes triggered by the Argentine government's measures related to human health, quality, and price of drinking water under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Examples also include Philip Morris v. Australia, in which case the Australian government announced the passing of the Plain Packing of Cigarettes Act to address the threat of smoking to public health in 2010. In order to take advantage of the investment treaty protection between Hong Kong and Australia, Philip Morris Asia acquired Philip Morris Australia in February 2011 and initiated investment arbitration under the treaty before the passage of the Act in July 2011. Philip Morris claimed the Act constitutes indirect expropriation and violation of fair and equitable treatment and claimed 4.16 billion US dollars compensation. Fortunately, the case ended at the admissibility decision stage and did not enter the substantive stage. Generally, even if the host country raises a human health defense, most arbitral tribunals will rule that the host country revoke the corresponding policy and make huge compensation in accordance with the clauses in the bilateral investment treaty to protect the rights of investors. The significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of host states and investors in international investment treaties undermines the ability of host states to act in pursuit of human health and social interests beyond economic interests. This squeeze on the nation's public policy space and disregard for the human health costs of investors' activities raises the need to include human health in investment rulemaking. The current international investment law system that emphasizes investor protection fails to fully reflect the requirements of the host country for the healthy development of human beings and even often brings negative impacts to human health. At a critical moment in the reform of the international investment law system, in order to achieve mutual enhancement of investment returns and human health development, human health should play a greater role in influencing and shaping international investment rules. International investment agreements should not be limited to investment protection tools but should also be part of national development strategies to serve sustainable development and human health. In order to meet the requirements of the new sustainable development goals of the United Nations, human health should be emphasized in the formulation of international investment rules, and efforts should be made to shape a new generation of international investment rules that meet the requirements of human health and sustainable development.

Keywords: human health, international investment law, Philip Morris v. Australia, investor protection

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Felicisimo Azagra Tejuco Jr.

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Mentoring architecture thesis students is a very critical and exhausting task for both the adviser and advisee. It poses the challenges of resource and time management for the candidate while the best professional guidance from the mentor. The University of Santo Tomas (Manila, Philippines) is Asia's oldest university. Among its notable program is its Architecture curriculum. Presently, the five-year Architecture program requires ten semesters of academic coursework. The last three semesters are relevant to each Architecture graduating student's thesis proposal and defense. The thesis proposal is developed and submitted for approval in the subject Research Methods for Architecture (RMA). Data gathering and initial schemes are conducted in Architectural Design (AD), 9, and are finalized and defended in AD 10. In recent years, their graduating students have maintained an average of 300 candidates before the pandemic. They are encouraged to explore any topic of interest or relevance. Since 2019-2020, one thesis class has used a community planning approach in mentoring the class. Compared to other sections, the first meeting of RMA has been allocated for a visioning exercise and assessment of the class's strengths-weaknesses and opportunities-threats (SWOT). Here, the work activities of the group have been finetuned to address some identified concerns while still being aligned with the academic calendar. Occasional peer critics complement class lectures. The course will end with the approval of the student's proposal. The final year or last two semesters of the graduating class will be focused on the approved proposal. Compared to the other class, the 18 weeks of the first semester consist of regular consultations, complemented by lectures from the adviser or guest speakers. Through remote peer consultations, the mentor maximized each meeting in groups of three to five, encouraging constructive criticism among the class. At the end of the first semester, mock presentations to the external jury are conducted to check the design outputs for improvement. The final semester is spent more on the finalization of the plans. Feedback from the previous semester is expected to be integrated into the final outputs. Before the final deliberations, at least two technical rehearsals were conducted per group. Regardless of the outcome, an assessment of each student's performance is held as a class. Personal realizations and observations are encouraged. Through Online surveys, Interviews, and Focused Group Discussions with the former students, the effectiveness of the mentoring strategies was reviewed and evaluated. Initial feedback highlighted the relevance of setting a positive tone for the course, constructive criticisms from peers & experts, and consciousness of deadlines as essential elements for a practical semester.

Keywords: cooperation, competition, student empowerment, class vision

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Authors: Onesmus Nyaude

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The aim of the study was to investigate participants’ views on how corruption can be combated to enhance learner academic achievement. The study was undertaken on three select public secondary institutions in Zimbabwe. This study also focuses on exploring the various views of educators; parents and the learners on the role played by corruption in perpetuating the seemingly existing learner academic achievement disparities in various educational institutions. The study further interrogates and examines the nexus between the prevalence of corruption in schools and the subsequent influence on the academic achievement of learners. Corruption is considered a form of social injustice; hence in Zimbabwe, the general consensus is that it is perceived rife to the extent that it is overtaking the traditional factors that contributed to the poor academic achievement of learners. Coupled to this, have been the issue of gross abuse of power and some malpractices emanating from concealment of essential and official transactions in the conduct of business. Through proposing robust anti-corruption mechanisms, teaching and learning resources poured in schools would be put into good use. This would prevent the unlawful diversion and misappropriation of the resources in question which has always been the culture. This study is of paramount significance to curriculum planners, teachers, parents, and learners. The study was informed by the interpretive paradigm; thus qualitative research approaches were used. Both probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted in ‘site and participants’ selection. A representative sample of (150) participants was used. The study found that the majority of the participants perceived corruption as a social problem and a human right threat affecting the quality of teaching and learning processes in the education sector. It was established that corruption prevalence within institutions is as a result of the perpetual weakening of ethical values and other variables linked to upholding of ‘Ubuntu’ among general citizenry. It was further established that greediness and weak systems are major causes of rampant corruption within institutions of higher learning and are manifesting through abuse of power, bribery, misappropriation and embezzlement of material and financial resources. Therefore, there is great need to collectively address the problem of corruption in educational institutions and society at large. The study additionally concludes that successful combating of corruption will promote successful moral development of students as well as safeguarding their human rights entitlements. The study recommends the adoption of principles of good corporate governance within educational institutions in order to successfully curb corruption. The study further recommends the intensification of interventionist strategies and strengthening of systems in educational institutions as well as regular audits to overcome the problem associated with rampant corruption cases.

Keywords: academic achievement, combating, corruption, good corporate governance, qualitative study

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Authors: Gerald Steyn

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Despite the huge number of identical, tiny, boxy, freestanding houses built by the South African government after the advent of democracy in 1994, squatter camps continue to mushroom, and there is no evidence that the backlog is being reduced. Not only is the wasteful low-density detached-unit approach of the past being perpetuated, but the social, spatial, and economic marginalization is worse than before 1994. The situation is precarious since squatters are vulnerable to fires and flooding. At the same time, the occupants of the housing schemes are trapped far from employment opportunities or any public amenities. Despite these insecurities, the architectural, urban design, and city planning professions are puzzlingly quiet. Design projects address these issues only at the universities, albeit inevitably with somewhat Utopian notions. Geoffrey Payne, the renowned urban housing and urban development consultant and researcher focusing on issues in the Global South, once proclaimed that “we do not have a housing problem – we have a settlement problem.” This dictum was used as the guiding philosophy to conceptualize urban design and architectural principles that foreground the needs of low-income households and allow them to be fully integrated into the larger conurbation. Information was derived from intensive research over two decades, involving frequent visits to informal settlements, historic Black townships, and rural villages. Observations, measured site surveys, and interviews resulted in several scholarly articles from which a set of desirable urban and architectural criteria could be extracted. To formulate culturally appropriate design principles, existing vernacular and informal patterns were analyzed, reconciled with contemporary designs that align with the requirements for the envisaged settlement attributes, and reimagined as residential design principles. Five interrelated design principles are proposed, ranging in scale from (1) Integrating informal settlements into the city, (2) linear neighborhoods, (3) market streets as wards, (4) linear neighborhoods, and (5) typologies and densities for clustered and aggregated patios and courtyards. Each design principle is described, first in terms of its context and associated issues of concern, followed by a discussion of the patterns available to inform a possible solution, and finally, an explanation and graphic illustration of the proposed design. The approach is predominantly bottom-up since each of the five principles is unfolded from existing informal and vernacular practices studied in situ. They are, however, articulated and represented in terms of contemporary design language. Contrary to an idealized vision of housing for South Africa’s low-income urban households, this study proposes actual principles for critical assessment by peers in the tradition of architectural research in design.

Keywords: culturally appropriate design principles, informal settlements, South Africa’s housing backlog, squatter camps

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Authors: Deepti Kumari, Upamanyu Hore

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Cities are an example of a human-modified environment with few fragments of urban green spaces, which are widely considered for urban biodiversity. The study aims to address the avifaunal diversity in urban parks based on the park size and their urbanization intensity. Also, understanding the key factors affecting species composition and structure as birds are a good indicator of a healthy ecosystem, and they are sensitive to changes in the environment. A 50 m-long line-transect method is used to survey birds in 39 urban parks in Delhi, India. Habitat variables, including vegetation (percentage of non-native trees, percentage of native trees, top canopy cover, sub-canopy cover, diameter at breast height, ground vegetation cover, shrub height) were measured using the quadrat method along the transect, and disturbance variables (distance from water, distance from road, distance from settlement, park area, visitor rate, and urbanization intensity) were measured using ArcGIS and google earth. We analyzed species data for diversity and richness. We explored the relation of species diversity and richness to habitat variables using the multi-model inference approach. Diversity and richness are found significant in different park sizes and their urbanization intensity. Medium size park supports more diversity, whereas large size park has more richness. However, diversity and richness both declined with increasing urbanization intensity. The result of CCA revealed that species composition in urban parks was positively associated with tree diameter at breast height and distance from the settlement. On the model selection approach, disturbance variables, especially distance from road, urbanization intensity, and visitors are the best predictors for the species richness of birds in urban parks. In comparison, multiple regression analysis between habitat variables and bird diversity suggested that native tree species in the park may explain the diversity pattern of birds in urban parks. Feeding guilds such as insectivores, omnivores, carnivores, granivores, and frugivores showed a significant relation with vegetation variables, while carnivores and scavenger bird species mainly responded with disturbance variables. The study highlights the importance of park size in urban areas and their urbanization intensity. It also indicates that distance from the settlement, distance from the road, urbanization intensity, visitors, diameter at breast height, and native tree species can be important determining factors for bird richness and diversity in urban parks. The study also concludes that the response of feeding guilds to vegetation and disturbance in urban parks varies. Therefore, we recommend that park size and surrounding urban matrix should be considered in order to increase bird diversity and richness in urban areas for designing and planning.

Keywords: diversity, feeding guild, urban park, urbanization intensity

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Authors: Oluseun A. Akinsorotan, Louise K. Gentle, Md. Mofakkarul Islam, Richard W. Yarnell

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High levels of anthropogenic activity such as habitat destruction, poaching and encroachment into natural habitat have resulted in significant global wildlife declines. In order to protect wildlife, many protected areas such as national parks have been created. However, it is argued that many protected areas are only protected in name and are often exposed to continued, and often illegal, anthropogenic pressure. In West African protected areas, declines of large mammals have been documented between 1962 and 2008. This study aimed to produce occupancy estimates of the remaining large mammal fauna in the third largest National Park in Nigeria, Old Oyo, and to compare the estimates with historic estimates while also attempting to quantify levels of illegal anthropogenic activity using a multi-disciplinary approach. Large mammal populations and levels of illegal anthropogenic activity were assessed using empirical field data (camera trapping and transect surveys) in combination with data from questionnaires completed by local villagers and park rangers. Four of the historically recorded species in the park, lion (Panthera leo), hunting dog (Lycaon pictus), elephant (Loxodonta africana) and buffalo (Syncerus caffer) were not detected during field studies nor were they reported by respondents. In addition, occupancy estimates of hunters and illegal grazers were higher than the majority of large mammal species inside the park. This finding was reinforced by responses from the villagers and rangers who’s perception was that large mammal densities in the park were declining, and that a large proportion of the local people were entering the park to hunt wild animals and graze their domestic livestock. Our findings also suggest that widespread poverty and a lack of alternative livelihood opportunities, culture of consuming bushmeat, lack of education and awareness of the value of protected areas, and weak law enforcement are some of the reasons for the illegal activity. Law enforcement authorities were often constrained by insufficient on-site personnel and a lack of modern equipment and infrastructure to deter illegal activities. We conclude that there is a need to address the issue of illegal hunting and livestock grazing, via provision of alternative livelihoods, in combination with community outreach programmes that aim to improve conservation education and awareness and develop the capacity of the conservation authorities in order to achieve conservation goals. Our findings have implications for the conservation management of all protected areas that are available for exploitation by local communities.

Keywords: camera trapping, conservation, extirpation, illegal grazing, large mammals, national park, occupancy estimates, poaching

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Authors: Ponghyung Lee

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This study seeks to investigate the variations occurring to Korean consonantal variations center around laryngeal features of the concerned sounds, to the exclusion of others. Our fundamental premise is that the weak contrast associated with concerned segments might be held accountable for the oscillation of the status quo of the concerned consonants. What is more, we assume that an array of notions as a measure of communicative efficiency of linguistic units would be significantly influential on triggering those variations. To this end, we have tried to compute the surprisal, entropic contribution, and relative contrastiveness associated with Korean obstruent consonants. What we found therein is that the Information-theoretic perspective is compelling enough to lend support our approach to a considerable extent. That is, the variant realizations, chronologically and stylistically, prove to be profoundly affected by a set of Information-theoretic factors enumerated above. When it comes to the biblical proper names, we use Georgetown University CQP Web-Bible corpora. From the 8 texts (4 from Old Testament and 4 from New Testament) among the total 64 texts, we extracted 199 samples. We address the issue of laryngeal feature variations associated with Korean obstruent consonants under the presumption that the variations stem from the weak contrast among the triad manifestations of laryngeal features. The variants emerge from diverse sources in chronological and stylistic senses: Christianity biblical texts, ordinary casual speech, the shift of loanword adaptation over time, and ideophones. For the purpose of discussing what they are really like from the perspective of Information Theory, it is necessary to closely look at the data. Among them, the massive changes occurring to loanword adaptation of proper nouns during the centennial history of Korean Christianity draw our special attention. We searched 199 types of initially capitalized words among 45,528-word tokens, which account for around 5% of total 901,701-word tokens (12,786-word types) from Georgetown University CQP Web-Bible corpora. We focus on the shift of the laryngeal features incorporated into word-initial consonants, which are available through the two distinct versions of Korean Bible: one came out in the 1960s for the Protestants, and the other was published in the 1990s for the Catholic Church. Of these proper names, we have closely traced the adaptation of plain obstruents, e. g. /b, d, g, s, ʤ/ in the sources. The results show that as much as 41% of the extracted proper names show variations; 37% in terms of aspiration, and 4% in terms of tensing. This study set out in an effort to shed light on the question: to what extent can we attribute the variations occurring to the laryngeal features associated with Korean obstruent consonants to the communicative aspects of linguistic activities? In this vein, the concerted effects of the triad, of surprisal, entropic contribution, and relative contrastiveness can be credited with the ups and downs in the feature specification, despite being contentiousness on the role of surprisal to some extent.

Keywords: entropic contribution, laryngeal feature variation, relative contrastiveness, surprisal

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Authors: Eman Hegazy, Stefan Anderberg, Joakim Krook

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Urban water infrastructure is crucial for efficient and reliable water supply in growing cities. With the growth of cities, the need for maintenance and renewal of these systems increases but often goes unfulfilled due to a variety of reasons, such as limited funding, political priorities, or lack of public awareness. Neglecting the renewal needs of these systems can lead to frequent malfunctions and reduced quality and reliability of water supply, as well as increased costs and health and environmental hazards. It is important for cities to prioritize investment in water infrastructure and develop long-term plans to address renewal needs. Drawing general conclusions about the rate of renewal of urban water infrastructure systems at an international or national level can be challenging due to the influence of local management decisions. In many countries, the responsibility for water infrastructure management lies with the municipal authorities, who are responsible for making decisions about the allocation of resources for repair, maintenance, and renewal. These decisions can vary widely based on factors such as local finances, political priorities, and public perception of the importance of water infrastructure. As a result, it is difficult to make generalizations about the rate of renewal across different countries or regions. In Sweden, the situation is not different, and the information from Svenskt Vatten indicates that the rate of renewal varies across municipalities and can be insufficient, leading to a buildup of maintenance and renewal needs. This study aims to examine the adequacy of the rate of renewal of urban water infrastructure in Linköping case city in Sweden. Using a case study framework, the study will assess the current status of the urban water system and the need for renewal. The study will also consider the role of factors such as proper identification processes, limited funding, competing for political priorities, and local management decisions in contributing to insufficient renewal. The study investigates the following questions: (1) What is the current status of water and sewerage networks in terms of length, age distribution, and material composition, estimated total water leakage in the network per year, damages, leaks, and outages occur per year, both overall and by district? (2) What are the main causes of these damages, leaks, and interruptions, and how are they related to lack of maintenance and renewal? (3) What is the current status of renewal work for the water and sewerage networks, including the renewal rate and changes over time, recent renewal material composition, and the budget allocation for renewal and emergency repairs? (4) What factors influence the need for renewal and what conditions should be considered in the assessment? The findings of the study provide insights into the challenges facing urban water infrastructure and identify strategies for improving the rate of renewal to ensure a reliable and sustainable water supply.

Keywords: case study, infrastructure, management, renewal need, Sweden

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Authors: Carol Okigbo

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Mathematical problem solving has long been accorded an important place in mathematics curricula at every education level in both advanced and emerging economies. Its classroom approaches have varied, such as teaching for problem-solving, teaching about problem-solving, and teaching mathematics through problem-solving. It requires engaging in tasks for which the solution methods are not eminent, making sense of problems and persevering in solving them by exhibiting processes, strategies, appropriate attitude, and adequate exposure. Teachers play important roles in helping students acquire competency in problem-solving; thus, they are expected to be good problem-solvers and have proper conceptions of problem-solving. Studies show that teachers’ conceptions influence their decisions about what to teach and how to teach. Therefore, how teachers view their roles in teaching problem-solving will depend on their pedagogical conceptions of problem-solving. If teaching problem-solving is a major component of secondary school mathematics instruction, as recommended by researchers and mathematics educators, then it is necessary to establish teachers’ conceptions, what they do, and how they approach problem-solving. This study is designed to determine secondary school teachers’ conceptions regarding mathematical problem solving, its current situation, how teachers’ conceptions relate to their demographics, as well as the interaction patterns in the mathematics classroom. There have been many studies of mathematics problem solving, some of which addressed teachers’ conceptions using single-method approaches, thereby presenting only limited views of this important phenomenon. To address the problem more holistically, this study adopted an integrated mixed methods approach which involved a quantitative survey, qualitative analysis of open-ended responses, and ethnographic observations of teachers in class. Data for the analysis came from a random sample of 327 secondary school mathematics teachers in two Nigerian states - Anambra State and Enugu State who completed a 45-item questionnaire. Ten of the items elicited demographic information, 11 items were open-ended questions, and 25 items were Likert-type questions. Of the 327 teachers who responded to the questionnaires, 37 were randomly selected and observed in their classes. Data analysis using ANOVA, t-tests, chi-square tests, and open coding showed that the teachers had different conceptions about problem-solving, which fall into three main themes: practice on exercises and word application problems, a process of solving mathematical problems, and a way of teaching mathematics. Teachers reported that no period is set aside for problem-solving; typically, teachers solve problems on the board, teach problem-solving strategies, and allow students time to struggle with problems on their own. The result shows a significant difference between male and female teachers’ conception of problems solving, a significant relationship among teachers’ conceptions and academic qualifications, and teachers who have spent ten years or more teaching mathematics were significantly different from the group with seven to nine years of experience in terms of their conceptions of problem-solving.

Keywords: conceptions, education, mathematics, problem solving, teacher

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Authors: Md Kamrul Hassan

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Adaptation interventions are the common response to manage the vulnerabilities of climate change. The nature of adaptation intervention depends on the degree of vulnerability and the capacity of a society. The coping interventions can take the form of hard adaptation – utilising technologies and capital goods like dykes, embankments, seawalls, and/or soft adaptation – engaging knowledge and information sharing, capacity building, policy and strategy development, and innovation. Hard adaptation is quite capital intensive but provides immediate relief from climate change vulnerabilities. This type of adaptation is not real development, as the investment for the adaptation cannot improve the performance – just maintain the status quo of a social or ecological system, and often lead to maladaptation in the long-term. Maladaptation creates a two-way loss for a society – interventions bring further vulnerability on top of the existing vulnerability and investment for getting rid of the consequence of interventions. Hard adaptation is popular to the vulnerable groups, but it focuses so much on the immediate solution and often ignores the environmental issues and future risks of climate change. On the other hand, soft adaptation is education oriented where vulnerable groups learn how to live with climate change impacts. Soft adaptation interventions build the capacity of vulnerable groups through training, innovation, and support, which might enhance the resilience of a system. In consideration of long-term sustainability, soft adaptation can contribute more to resilience than hard adaptation. Taking a developing society as the study context, this study aims to investigate and understand the effectiveness of the adaptation interventions of the coastal community of Sundarbans mangrove forest in Bangladesh. Applying semi-structured interviews with a range of Sundarbans stakeholders including community residents, tourism demand-supply side stakeholders, and conservation and management agencies (e.g., Government, NGOs and international agencies) and document analysis, this paper reports several key insights regarding climate change adaptation. Firstly, while adaptation interventions may offer a short-term to medium-term solution to climate change vulnerabilities, interventions need to be revised for long-term sustainability. Secondly, soft adaptation offers advantages in terms of resilience in a rapidly changing environment, as it is flexible and dynamic. Thirdly, there is a challenge to communicate to educate vulnerable groups to understand more about the future effects of hard adaptation interventions (and the potential for maladaptation). Fourthly, hard adaptation can be used if the interventions do not degrade the environmental balance and if the investment of interventions does not exceed the economic benefit of the interventions. Overall, the goal of an adaptation intervention should be to enhance the resilience of a social or ecological system so that the system can with stand present vulnerabilities and future risks. In order to be sustainable, adaptation interventions should be designed in such way that those can address vulnerabilities and risks of climate change in a long-term timeframe.

Keywords: adaptation, climate change, maladaptation, resilience, Sundarbans, sustainability, vulnerability

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Authors: Susanna Graziano, Lydia Krstic Ward

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The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate the steps of using multimedia and collaborative platforms in project-based learning. The presentation will demonstrate the stages of the learning project with various components of independent and collaborative learning, where students research the topic, share information, prepare a survey, use social media (Facebook, Instagram, WhasApp) and collaborative platforms (wikispaces.com and Google docs) to collect, analyze and process data, then produce reports and logos to be displayed as a final product. At the beginning of the presentation participants will answer a questionnaire about project based learning and share their experience on using social media, real–world project work and collaborative learning. Using a PPP, the presentation will walk participants through the steps of a completed project where tertiary education students are involved in putting together a multimedia campaign for safe driving in Kuwait. The research component of the project entails taking a holistic view on the problem of the high death rate in traffic accidents. The final goal of the project is to lead students to raise public awareness about the importance of safe driving. The project steps involve using the social media and collaborative platforms for collecting data and sharing the required materials to be used in the final product – a display of written reports, slogans and videos, as well as oral presentations. The same structure can be used to organize a multimedia campaign focusing on other issues, whilst scaffolding on students’ ability to brainstorm, retrieve information, organize it and engage in collaborative/ cooperative learning whilst being immersed in content-based learning as well as in authentic tasks. More specifically, the project we carried out at Box Hill College was a real-world one and involved a multimedia Campaign for Safe Driving since reckless driving is one of the major problems in the country. The idea for the whole project started by a presentation given by a board member of the Kuwaiti Society for Traffic Safety who was invited to college and spoke about: • Driving laws in the country, • What causes car accidents, • Driving safety tips. The principal goal of this project was to let students consider problems of traffic in Kuwait from different points of view. They also had to address the number and causes of accidents, evaluate the effectiveness of the local traffic law in order to send a warning about the importance of safe driving and, finally, suggest ways of its improvement. Benefits included: • Engagement, • Autonomy, • Motivation, • Content knowledge, • Language mastery, • Enhanced critical thinking, • Increased metacognitive awareness, • Improved social skills, • Authentic experience.

Keywords: social media, online learning platforms, collaborative platforms, project based learning

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Authors: Rituparna Pal, Faiz Ahmed

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Neighbourhood energy efficiency is a newly emerged term to address the quality of urban strata of built environment in terms of various covariates of sustainability. The concept of sustainability paradigm in developed nations has encouraged the policymakers for developing urban scale cities to envision plans under the aegis of urban scale sustainability. The concept of neighbourhood energy efficiency is realized a lot lately just when the cities, towns and other areas comprising this massive global urban strata have started facing a strong blow from climate change, energy crisis, cost hike and an alarming shortfall in the justice which the urban areas required. So this step of urban sustainability can be easily referred more as a ‘Retrofit Action’ which is to cover up the already affected urban structure. So even if we start energy efficiency for existing cities and urban areas the initial layer remains, for which a complete model of urban sustainability still lacks definition. Urban sustainability is a broadly spoken off word with end number of parameters and policies through which the loop can be met. Out of which neighbourhood energy efficiency can be an integral part where the concept and index of neighbourhood scale indicators, block level indicators and building physics parameters can be understood, analyzed and concluded to help emerge guidelines for urban scale sustainability. The future of neighbourhood energy efficiency not only lies in energy efficiency but also important parameters like quality of life, access to green, access to daylight, outdoor comfort, natural ventilation etc. So apart from designing less energy-hungry buildings, it is required to create a built environment which will create less stress on buildings to consume more energy. A lot of literary analysis has been done in the Western countries prominently in Spain, Paris and also Hong Kong, leaving a distinct gap in the Indian scenario in exploring the sustainability at the urban strata. The site for the study has been selected in the upcoming capital city of Amaravati which can be replicated with similar neighbourhood typologies in the area. The paper suggests a methodical intent to quantify energy and sustainability indices in detail taking by involving several macro, meso and micro level covariates and parameters. Several iterations have been made both at macro and micro level and have been subjected to simulation, computation and mathematical models and finally to comparative analysis. Parameters at all levels are analyzed to suggest the best case scenarios which in turn is extrapolated to the macro level finally coming out with a proposal model for energy efficient neighbourhood and worked out guidelines with significance and correlations derived.

Keywords: energy quantification, macro scale parameters, meso scale parameters, micro scale parameters

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Authors: Leigh G. Hayden, Susan E. Shepley, Cristina Passarelli, William Tingo

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Introduction: Sensory interventions are popular therapeutic and recreational approaches for people living with all stages of dementia. However, it is unknown which sensory interventions are used to achieve which outcomes across all subtypes of dementia. Methods: To address this gap, we conducted a scoping review of sensory interventions for people living with dementia. We conducted a search of the literature for any article published in English from 1 January 1990 to 1 June 2019, on any sensory or multisensory intervention targeted to people living with any kind of dementia, which reported on patient health outcomes. We did not include complex interventions where only a small aspect was related to sensory stimulation. We searched the databases Medline, CINHAL, and Psych Articles using our institutional discovery layer. We conducted all screening in duplicate to reduce Type 1 and Type 2 errors. The data from all included papers were extracted by one team member, and audited by another, to ensure consistency of extraction and completeness of data. Results: Our initial search captured 7654 articles, and the removal of duplicates (n=5329), those that didn’t pass title and abstract screening (n=1840) and those that didn’t pass full-text screening (n=281) resulted in 174 articles included. The countries with the highest publication in this area were the United States (n=59), the United Kingdom (n=26) and Australia (n=15). The most common type of interventions were music therapy (n=36), multisensory rooms (n=27) and multisensory therapies (n=25). Seven articles were published in the 1990’s, 55 in the 2000’s, and the remainder since 2010 (n=112). Discussion: Multisensory rooms have been present in the literature since the early 1990’s. However, more recently, nature/garden therapy, art therapy, and light therapy have emerged since 2008 in the literature, an indication of the increasingly diverse scholarship in the area. The least popular type of intervention is a traditional food intervention. Taste as a sensory intervention is generally avoided for safety reasons, however it shows potential for increasing quality of life. Agitation, behavior, and mood are common outcomes for all sensory interventions. However, light therapy commonly targets sleep. The majority (n=110) of studies have very small sample sizes (n=20 or less), an indicator of the lack of robust data in the field. Additional small-scale studies of the known sensory interventions will likely do little to advance the field. However, there is a need for multi-armed studies which directly compare sensory interventions, and more studies which investigate the use of layering sensory interventions (for example, adding an aromatherapy component to a lighting intervention). In addition, large scale studies which enroll people at early stages of dementia will help us better understand the potential of sensory and multisensory interventions to slow the progression of the disease.

Keywords: sensory interventions, dementia, scoping review

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Authors: A. S. Vidyashree, C. M. Kalleshwaraswamy, R. Asokan, H. M. Mahadevaswamy

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Termites are very vital ecological thespians in tropical ecosystem, having been designated as “ecosystem engineers”, due to their significant role in providing soil ecosystem services. Despite their importance, our understanding of a number of their basic biological processes in termites is extremely limited. Developing a better understanding of termite biology is closely dependent upon consistent species identification. At present, identification of termites is relied on soldier castes. But for many species, soldier caste is not reported, that creates confusion in identification. The use of molecular markers may be helpful in estimating phylogenetic relatedness between the termite species and estimating genetic differentiation among local populations within each species. To understand this, termites samples were collected from various places of Western Ghats covering four states namely Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra during 2013-15. Termite samples were identified based on their morphological characteristics, molecular characteristics, or both. Survey on the termite fauna in Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu indicated the presence of a 16 species belongs to 4 subfamilies under two families viz., Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae. Termititidae was the dominant family which was belonging to 4 genera and four subfamilies viz., Macrotermitinae, Amitermitinae, Nasutitermitinae and Termitinae. Amitermitinae had three species namely, Microcerotermes fletcheri, M. pakistanicus and Speculitermes sinhalensis. Macrotermitinae had the highest number of species belonging two genera, namely Microtermes and Odontotermes. Microtermes genus was with only one species i.e., Microtermes obesi. The genus Odontotermes was represented by the highest number of species (07), namely, O. obesus was the dominant (41 per cent) and the most widely distributed species in Karnataka, Karala, Maharashtra and Tamil nadu followed by O. feae (19 per cent), O.assmuthi (11 per cent) and others like O. bellahunisensis O. horni O. redemanni, O. yadevi. Nasutitermitinae was represented by two genera namely Nasutitermes anamalaiensis and Trinervitermes biformis. Termitinae subfamily was represented by Labiocapritermes distortus. Rhinotermitidae was represented by single subfamily Heterotermetinae. In Heterotermetinae, two species namely Heterotermes balwanthi and H. malabaricus were recorded. Genetic relationship among termites collected from various locations of Western Ghats of India was characterized based on mitochondrial DNA sequences (12S, 16S, and COII). Sequence analysis and divergence among the species was assessed. These results suggest that the use of both molecular and morphological approaches is crucial in ensuring accurate species identification. Efforts were made to understand their evolution and to address the ambiguities in morphological taxonomy. The implication of the study in revising the taxonomy of Indian termites, their characterization and molecular comparisons between the sequences are discussed.

Keywords: isoptera, mitochondrial DNA sequences, rhinotermitidae, termitidae, Western ghats

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Authors: Quentin Lobbe, David Chavalarias, Alexandre Delanoe

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The ICT revolution has given birth to an unprecedented world of digital traces and has impacted a wide number of knowledge-driven domains such as science, education or policy making. Nowadays, we are daily fueled by unlimited flows of articles, blogs, messages, tweets, etc. The internet itself can thus be considered as an unsteady hyper-textual environment where websites emerge and expand every day. But there are structures inside knowledge. A given text can always be studied in relation to others or in light of a specific socio-cultural context. By way of their textual traces, human beings are calling each other out: hypertext citations, retweets, vocabulary similarity, etc. We are in fact the architects of a giant web of elements of knowledge whose structures and shapes convey their own information. The global shapes of these digital traces represent a source of collective knowledge and the question of their visualization remains an opened challenge. How can we explore, browse and interact with such shapes? In order to navigate across these growing constellations of words and texts, interdisciplinary innovations are emerging at the crossroad between fields of social and computational sciences. In particular, complex systems approaches make it now possible to reconstruct the hidden structures of textual knowledge by means of multi-scale objects of research such as semantic maps and phylomemies. The phylomemy reconstruction is a generic method related to the co-word analysis framework. Phylomemies aim to reveal the temporal dynamics of large corpora of textual contents by performing inter-temporal matching on extracted knowledge domains in order to identify their conceptual lineages. This study aims to address the question of visualizing the global shapes of online political discussions related to the French presidential and legislative elections of 2017. We aim to build phylomemies on top of a dedicated collection of thousands of French political tweets enriched with archived contemporary news web articles. Our goal is to reconstruct the temporal evolution of online debates fueled by each political community during the elections. To that end, we want to introduce an iterative data exploration methodology implemented and tested within the free software Gargantext. There we combine synchronic and diachronic axis of visualization to reveal the dynamics of our corpora of tweets and web pages as well as their inner syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships. In doing so, we aim to provide researchers with innovative methodological means to explore online semantic landscapes in a collaborative and reflective way.

Keywords: online political debate, French election, hyper-text, phylomemy

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Authors: Tshephang Bright Molale

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Much is written on the importance of participatory communication and its role in uplifting indigent communities. As the closest government sphere to communities, local government is charged with directly improving the lives of the poor and is required by legislation to conduct Integrated Development Planning (IDP). This requires a municipality to utilise participatory communication aspects including dialogue, empowerment, and planning. These are most important pillars of community development. However, many studies have warned that elements such as modernisation, dependency and bureaucracy need to be observed with caution since they have the potential to impede and limit the extent of participatory communication in community development. These concepts serve as the basic points of departure and theoretical background underpinning this study, which is tasked with exploring the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context of Jouberton Township in the Matlosana Local Municipality, South Africa. In her public address on challenges facing South Africa’s local municipalities in January 2014, former premier, Thandi Modise, emphasised the need for communities to attend municipal IDP meetings, approve earmarked IDP projects, and learn about municipal budget spending. It is evident from theory and higher echelon of government that participatory communication is seen as cardinal to the existence of municipal government. From this background, this study was carried out under the assumption that the practice of participatory communication in contemporary local government only exists on paper; while in reality the public does not enjoy active participation in municipal IDP consultative frameworks. This is despite much discourse being available in government and in academia around the importance of participatory communication in community development. The study espoused a qualitative research approach to gather data and purposive sampling was used to select respondents linked to two IDP projects in Jouberton Township from the 2012/13 financial year. Its purpose was to explore perceptions among municipal representatives and community members in Jouberton Township on the extent of participatory communication in the IDP context. The empirical part of the study comprised of focus group, unstructured interviews, and participant observation. The study revealed that Jouberton communities are passive participators in municipal IDP consultative frameworks where they participate by just being informed about what is going to happen or has already happened and feedback is minimal. This is opposed to a desired form of empowered participation which is recommended by scholars in development communication where stakeholders granted space to participate in joint analysis and joint decision-making about what should be achieved and how. It has been discovered that there is a lack of active participation in community development in the IDP context of Matlosana Municipality and the study makes recommendations on how transformative participatory communication can be applied to improve current norms and standards in local government.

Keywords: development communication, government communication, integrated development plan, participatory communication

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Authors: Sanjeev Sinha, Samir Saurav

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The rapid growth of urban areas in India has led to transportation challenges like traffic congestion and an increase in accidents. Despite efforts by state governments and local administrations to improve urban transport, the surge in private vehicles has worsened the situation. Patna, located in Bihar State, is an example of the trend of increasing reliance on private motor vehicles, resulting in vehicular congestion and emissions. The existing transportation infrastructure is inadequate to meet future travel demands, and there has been a notable increase in the share of private vehicles in the city. Additionally, there has been a surge in economic activities in the region, which has increased the demand for improved travel convenience and connectivity. To address these challenges, a study was conducted to assess the most suitable transit mode for the proposed transit corridor outlined in the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) for Patna. The study covered four stages: developing screening criteria, evaluating parameters for various alternatives, qualitative and quantitative evaluations of alternatives, and implementation options for the most viable alternative. The study suggests that a mass transit system such as a metro rail is necessary to enhance Patna's urban public transport system. The New Metro Policy 2017 outlines specific prerequisites for submitting a Metro Rail Project Proposal to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), including the preparation of a CMP, the formation of an Urban Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA), the creation of an Alternative Analysis Report, the development of a Detailed Project Report, a Multi-Modal Integration Plan, and a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Plan. In 2018, the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Patna was prepared, setting the stage for the subsequent steps in the metro rail project proposal. The results indicated that from the screening and analysis of qualitative parameters for different alternative modes in Patna, it is inferred that the Metro Rail and Monorail score 82.25 and 70.50, respectively, on a scale of 100. Based on the initial analysis and alternative evaluation in the form of quantitative analysis, the Metro Rail System significantly outperformed the Monorail system. The Metro Rail System has a positive Economic Net Present Value (ENPV) at a 14% internal rate of return, while the Monorail has a negative value. In conclusion, the study recommends choosing metro rail over monorail for the proposed transit corridor in Patna. However, the lack of broad-based technical expertise may result in implementation delays and increased costs for monorail.

Keywords: comprehensive mobility plan, alternative analysis, mobility corridors, mass transit system

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Authors: Petnamnueng Dettipponpong, Shuen E. Chen

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Heat stress is known to have negative effects on reproductive functions, such as follicular development and ovulation. This study aimed to investigate the specific effects of heat stress on steroid hormone secretion of ovarian follicle cells, particularly in relation to the expression of Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP). The aim of the study was to understand the impact of heat stress on steroid hormone secretion in ovarian follicle cells and to explore the role of ApoB and MTP in this process. Primary granulosa and theca cells were collected from follicles and cultured under heat stress conditions (42 °C) for various time periods. Controls were maintained under normal conditions (37.5 °C ). The culture medium was collected at different time points to measure levels of progesterone and estradiol using ELISA kits. ApoB and MTP expression levels were analyzed using homemade antibodies and western blot. Data were assessed by a one-way ANOVA comparison test with Duncan’s new multiple-range test. Results were expressed as mean±S.E. Difference was considered significant at P<0.05. The results showed that heat stress significantly increased progesterone secretion in granulosa cells, with the peak observed after 13 hours of recovery under thermoneutral conditions. Estradiol secretion by theca cells was not affected. Heat stress also had a significant negative effect on granulosa cell viability. Additionally, the expression of ApoB and MTP was found to be differentially regulated by heat stress. ApoB expression in theca cells was transiently promoted, while ApoB expression in granulosa cells was consistently suppressed. MTP expression increased after 5 hours of recovery in both cell types. These findings suggest a mechanism by which chicken follicle cells export cellular lipids as very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) in response to thermal stress. These contribute to our understanding of the role of ApoB and MTP steroidogenesis and lipid metabolism under heat stress conditions. The study involved the collection of primary granulosa and theca cells, culture under different temperature conditions, and analysis of the culture medium for hormone levels using ELISA kits. ApoB and MTP expression levels were assessed using homemade antibodies and western blot. This study aimed to address the effects of heat stress on steroid hormone secretion in ovarian follicle cells, as well as the role of ApoB and MTP in this process. The study demonstrates that heat stress stimulates steroidogenesis in granulosa cells, affecting progesterone secretion. ApoB and MTP expression were found to be differentially regulated by heat stress, indicating a potential mechanism for the export of cellular lipids in response to thermal stress.

Keywords: heat stress, granulosa cells, theca cells, steroidogenesis, chicken, apolipoprotein B, microsomal triglyceride transfer protein

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Authors: Iris Xiaohong Quan

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The global digital health market reached 175 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, and is expected to grow at about 25% CAGR to over 650 billion USD by 2025. Different terms such as digital health, e-health, mHealth, telehealth have been used in the field, which can sometimes cause confusion. The term digital health was originally introduced to refer specifically to the use of interactive media, tools, platforms, applications, and solutions that are connected to the Internet to address health concerns of providers as well as consumers. While mHealth emphasizes the use of mobile phones in healthcare, telehealth means using technology to remotely deliver clinical health services to patients. According to FDA, “the broad scope of digital health includes categories such as mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth and telemedicine, and personalized medicine.” Some researchers believe that digital health is nothing else but the cultural transformation healthcare has been going through in the 21st century because of digital health technologies that provide data to both patients and medical professionals. As digital health is burgeoning, but research in the area is still inadequate, our paper aims to clear the definition confusion and provide an overall picture of digital health companies. We further investigate how business models are designed and differentiated in the emerging digital health sector. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are adopted in the research. For the quantitative analysis, our research data came from two databases Crunchbase and CBInsights, which are well-recognized information sources for researchers, entrepreneurs, managers, and investors. We searched a few keywords in the Crunchbase database based on companies’ self-description: digital health, e-health, and telehealth. A search of “digital health” returned 941 unique results, “e-health” returned 167 companies, while “telehealth” 427. We also searched the CBInsights database for similar information. After merging and removing duplicate ones and cleaning up the database, we came up with a list of 1464 companies as digital health companies. A qualitative method will be used to complement the quantitative analysis. We will do an in-depth case analysis of three successful unicorn digital health companies to understand how business models evolve and discuss the challenges faced in this sector. Our research returned some interesting findings. For instance, we found that 86% of the digital health startups were founded in the recent decade since 2010. 75% of the digital health companies have less than 50 employees, and almost 50% with less than 10 employees. This shows that digital health companies are relatively young and small in scale. On the business model analysis, while traditional healthcare businesses emphasize the so-called “3P”—patient, physicians, and payer, digital health companies extend to “5p” by adding patents, which is the result of technology requirements (such as the development of artificial intelligence models), and platform, which is an effective value creation approach to bring the stakeholders together. Our case analysis will detail the 5p framework and contribute to the extant knowledge on business models in the healthcare industry.

Keywords: digital health, business models, entrepreneurship opportunities, healthcare

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Authors: David A. Ullisch, Yantree D. Sankar-Thomas, Stefan Wilke, Thomas Selge, Matthias Pump, Thomas Leibold, Kai Schütte, Gilbert Gorr

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Plants have been considered as a source of natural substances for ages. Secondary metabolites from plants are utilized especially in medical applications but are more and more interesting as cosmetical ingredients and in the field of nutraceuticals. However, supply of compounds from natural harvest can be limited by numerous factors i.e. endangered species, low product content, climate impacts and cost intensive extraction. Especially in the pharmaceutical industry the ability to provide sufficient amounts of product and high quality are additional requirements which in some cases are difficult to fulfill by plant harvest. Whereas in many cases the complexity of secondary metabolites precludes chemical synthesis on a reasonable commercial basis, plant cells contain the biosynthetic pathway – a natural chemical factory – for a given compound. A promising approach for the sustainable production of natural products can be plant cell fermentation (PCF®). A thoroughly accomplished development process comprises the identification of a high producing cell line, optimization of growth and production conditions, the development of a robust and reliable production process and its scale-up. In order to address persistent, long lasting production, development of cryopreservation protocols and generation of working cell banks is another important requirement to be considered. So far the most prominent example using a PCF® process is the production of the anticancer compound paclitaxel. To demonstrate the power of plant suspension cultures here we present three case studies: 1) For more than 17 years Phyton produces paclitaxel at industrial scale i.e. up to 75,000 L in scale. With 60 g/kg dw this fully controlled process which is applied according to GMP results in outstanding high yields. 2) Thapsigargin is another anticancer compound which is currently isolated from seeds of Thapsia garganica. Thapsigargin is a powerful cytotoxin – a SERCA inhibitor – and the precursor for the derivative ADT, the key ingredient of the investigational prodrug Mipsagargin (G-202) which is in several clinical trials. Phyton successfully generated plant cell lines capable to express this compound. Here we present data about the screening for high producing cell lines. 3) The third case study covers ingenol-3-mebutate. This compound is found in the milky sap of the intact plants of the Euphorbiacae family at very low concentrations. Ingenol-3-mebutate is used in Picato® which is approved against actinic keratosis. Generation of cell lines expressing significant amounts of ingenol-3-mebutate is another example underlining the strength of plant cell culture. The authors gratefully acknowledge Inspyr Therapeutics for funding.

Keywords: Ingenol-3-mebutate, plant cell culture, sustainability, thapsigargin

Procedia PDF Downloads 222

Authors: Shiao-Wei Chu

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In order to enhance the ability of their graduates to compete in an increasingly globalized economy, the majority of universities in Taiwan require students to pass Freshman English in order to earn a bachelor's degree. However, many college students show low motivation in English class for several important reasons, including exam-oriented lessons, unengaging classroom activities, a lack of opportunities to use English in authentic contexts, and low levels of confidence in using English. Students’ lack of motivation in English classes is evidenced when students doze off, work on assignments from other classes, or use their phones to chat with others, play video games or watch online shows. Cooperative learning aims to address these problems by encouraging language learners to use the target language to share individual experiences, cooperatively complete tasks, and to build a supportive classroom learning community whereby students take responsibility for one another’s learning. This study includes approximately 50 student participants in a low-proficiency Freshman English class. Each week, participants will work together in groups of between 3 and 4 students to complete various in-class interactive tasks. The instructor will employ a reward system that incentivizes students to be responsible for their own as well as their group mates’ learning. The rewards will be based on points that team members earn through formal assessment scores as well as assessment of their participation in weekly in-class discussions. The instructor will record each team’s week-by-week improvement. Once a team meets or exceeds its own earlier performance, the team’s members will each receive a reward from the instructor. This cooperative learning approach aims to stimulate EFL freshmen’s learning motivation by creating a supportive, low-pressure learning environment that is meant to build learners’ self-confidence. Students will practice all four language skills; however, the present study focuses primarily on the learners’ reading comprehension. Data sources include in-class discussion notes, instructor field notes, one-on-one interviews, students’ midterm and final written reflections, and reading scores. Triangulation is used to determine themes and concerns, and an instructor-colleague analyzes the qualitative data to build interrater reliability. Findings are presented through the researcher’s detailed description. The instructor-researcher has developed this approach in the classroom over several terms, and its apparent success at motivating students inspires this research. The aims of this study are twofold: first, to examine the possible benefits of this cooperative approach in terms of students’ learning outcomes; and second, to help other educators to adapt a more cooperative approach to their classrooms.

Keywords: freshman English, cooperative language learning, EFL learners, learning motivation, zone of proximal development

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Azar Mahmoudi

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Despite the rise of global anti-corruption movements and the strong emergence of international and national anti-corruption laws, corrupt practices are still prevalent in most places, and countries still struggle to translate these laws into practice. On the other hand, in most countries, political and economic elites oppose anti-corruption reforms. In such a situation, the role of external actors, like the other States, international organizations, and transnational actors, becomes essential. Among them, Transnational Corporations [TNCs] can develop their own regime-like framework to govern their internal activities, and through this, they can contribute to the regimes established by State actors to solve transnational issues. Among various regimes, TNCs may choose to comply with the transnational anti-corruption legal regime to avoid the cost of non-compliance with anti-corruption laws. As a result, they decide to strenghen their anti-corruption compliance as they expand into new overseas markets. Such a decision extends anti-corruption standards among their employees and third-party agents and within their projects across countries. To better address the challenges posed by corruption, TNCs have adopted a comprehensive anti-corruption toolkit. Among the various instruments, anti-corruption clauses have become one of the most anti-corruption means in international commercial agreements. Anti-corruption clauses, acting as a due diligence tool, can protect TNCs against the engagement of third-party agents in corrupt practices and further promote anti-corruption standards among businesses operating across countries. An anti-corruption clause allows parties to create a contractual commitment to exclude corrupt practices during the term of their agreement, including all levels of negotiation and implementation. Such a clause offers companies a mechanism to reduce the risk of potential corruption in their dealings with third parties while avoiding civil and administrative penalties. There have been few attempts to examine the role of anti-corruption clauses in the fight against corruption; therefore, this paper aims to fill this gap and examine anti-corruption clauses in a specific sector where corrupt practices are widespread and endemic, i.e., the petroleum industry. This paper argues that anti-corruption clauses are a positive step in ensuring that the petroleum industry operates in an ethical and transparent manner, helping to reducing the risk of corruption and promote integrity in this sector. Contractual anti-corruption clauses vary in terms of the types commitment, so parties have a wide range of options to choose from for their preferred clauses incorporated within their contracts. This paper intends to propose a categorization of anti-corruption clauses in the petroleum sector. It examines particularly the anti-corruption clauses incorporated in transnational hydrocarbon contracts published by the Resource Contract Portal, an online repository of extractive contracts. Then, this paper offers a quantitative assessment of anti-corruption clauses according to the types of contract, the date of conclusion, and the geographical distribution.

Keywords: anti-corruption, oil and gas, transnational corporations, due diligence, contractual clauses, hydrocarbon, petroleum sector

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Valentina Bonetti

Abstract:

Exergy analysis successfully helps optimizing processes in various sectors. In the built environment, a second-law approach can enhance potential interactions between constructions and their surrounding environment and minimise fossil fuel requirements. Despite the research done in this field in the last decades, practical applications are hard to encounter, and few integrated exergy simulators are available for building designers. Undoubtedly, an obstacle for the diffusion of exergy methods is the strong dependency of results on the definition of its 'reference state', a highly controversial issue. Since exergy is the combination of energy and entropy by means of a reference state (also called "reference environment", or "dead state"), the reference choice is crucial. Compared to other classical applications, buildings present two challenging elements: They operate very near to the reference state, which means that small variations have relevant impacts, and their behaviour is dynamical in nature. Not surprisingly then, the reference state definition for the built environment is still debated, especially in the case of dynamic assessments. Among the several characteristics that need to be defined, a crucial decision for a dynamic analysis is between a fixed reference environment (constant in time) and a variable state, which fluctuations follow the local climate. Even if the latter selection is prevailing in research, and recommended by recent and widely-diffused guidelines, the fixed reference has been analytically demonstrated as the only choice which defines exergy as a proper function of the state in a fluctuating environment. This study investigates the impact of that crucial choice: Fixed or variable reference. The basic element of the building energy chain, the envelope, is chosen as the object of investigation as common to any building analysis. Exergy fluctuations in the building envelope of a case study (a typical house located in a Mediterranean climate) are confronted for each time-step of a significant summer day, when the building behaviour is highly dynamical. Exergy efficiencies and fluxes are not familiar numbers, and thus, the more easy-to-imagine concept of exergy storage is used to summarize the results. Trends obtained with a fixed and a variable reference (outside air) are compared, and their meaning is discussed under the light of the underpinning dynamical energy analysis. As a conclusion, a fixed reference state is considered the best choice for dynamic exergy analysis. Even if the fixed reference is generally only contemplated as a simpler selection, and the variable state is often stated as more accurate without explicit justifications, the analytical considerations supporting the adoption of a fixed reference are confirmed by the usefulness and clarity of interpretation of its results. Further discussion is needed to address the conflict between the evidence supporting a fixed reference state and the wide adoption of a fluctuating one. A more robust theoretical framework, including selection criteria of the reference state for dynamical simulations, could push the development of integrated dynamic tools and thus spread exergy analysis for the built environment across the common practice.

Keywords: exergy, reference state, dynamic, building

Procedia PDF Downloads 206