Search results for: national food security strategy

Authors: Samar F. Elkasrawy

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Museums play a significant role in their communities with respect to culture, history, environment, and social development. They are considered as important sites for families, tourists, school groups, cultural visitors and individuals, looking to enjoy, learn and expand their horizons. Aim of audience development programs is to support individuals and organizations to work together to deliver messages that will raise museums' profile for both existing and potential visitors. They recognize the particular role that museums play for communities, the audiences they seek to reach, the experience they seek to offer and the extent and nature of their collections. This study aims at using both the qualitative and quantitative approach to explore the important role that audience development programs in museums can play in raising awareness in their communities concerning cultural heritage preservation and tourism. The Alexandria National Museum is considered as a valuable case study. In depth interviews with museum managers and staff was conducted as well as an online questionnaire. The study also includes suggestions and guidelines for applying audience development programs in Egyptian museums.

Keywords: Alexandria National Museum, audience development programs, cultural heritage, tourism and preservation awareness

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Authors: Soni T. L.

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Sustainable environmental stress is a major concern which needs immediate attention. This paper is an attempt to present participatory action research for sustainable agriculture. Being first and best culture, agriculture protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of people, and safeguards the health and welfare of all groups. During course of time agriculture turned to agribusiness, then the values are not safeguarded. Moreover, in today’s busy life many are not taking efforts to take part in agriculture production. Then children are not getting the opportunity to understand agriculture and farming practices. So student initiatives are vital to make them aware. Here the programmes structured by the researcher come under the auspicious of National Service Scheme, a student-centered educational programme, organized by Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India. The twin objectives of the study are to examine the role of student initiatives for sustainable agriculture and the role of participatory action research in student initiatives. SWOT analysis is made to study strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities. The Methodology adopted is Participatory Action Research. The method is participatory in a sense there is collaboration through participation. The method is action, there is lab land experiences which is real. The method is research that there is documented lessons and creation of new knowledge. Plan of action cover measures adopted and strategies taken i.e., bhavana – kalpana – yojana – sadhana. Through the team effort, the team was successful in converting more than 10 hectares of barren land into cultivable land within and outside the campus. Team efforts of students saved a huge amount of labour cost and produced a huge quantity of organic output and the team was also successful in creating 1000 rain pits in the premises of College for rainwater harvesting. The findings include conveyance of the Message: Food Production is superior to Food donation. Moreover, the study fostered good work ethic and social responsibility among students. Students undertake innovative programmes underlying social and environmental issues and participants got increased opportunities to interact with local and less privileged and acquired increased awareness about real-life experiences which make them confident to interact with people and it resulted in the strengthening of social capital- cooperation, team spirit, social commitment among students. Participants promoted sustainable domestic efforts and ultimately environmental protection is ensured. Finally, there is recognition to the team, institution and the researcher at the university level, state level and at the national level. The learned lessons are, if the approach is good, the response is good and success generates success. Participatory action research is empowering experience for practitioners, focusing the combined time, energy and creativity of a committed group we should lead so many programmes which makes the institution centre of excellence. Authorities should take necessary steps for the Inclusion of community development activities in the curriculum. Action research is problem, client and action centered. So, we must adapt and adopt, coordinates and correlates measures which preserve and conserve the environment.

Keywords: participatory action research, student initiatives, sustainable development, sustainability

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Authors: Michael Ayodeji Boyede

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Studies have shown that workers’ job performance is very low in Nigeria, especially in the food and beverage industry. This trend had been partially attributed to low workers’ self-efficacy, poor self-knowledge, lack of empathy and poor psychological well-being. The descriptive survey design was adopted. Four factories were purposively selected from three states in Southwestern, Nigeria (Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States). Proportionate random sampling techniques were used in selecting 1,820 junior and supervisory cadre workers in Nestle Plc (369), Coca-Cola Plc (392), Cadbury Plc (443) and Nigeria Breweries (616). The five research instruments used were: Workers’ self-efficacy (r=0.81), Workers’ self-knowledge (r=0.78), Workers’ empathy (r=0.74), Workers’ psychological well-being (r=0.70) and Workers’ performance rating (r=0.72) scales. Quantitative data were analysed using Pearson product moment correlation, Multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance. Findings show that there were significant relationships between Workers’ job performance and self-efficacy (r=.56), self-knowledge (r=.54), Empathy (r=.55) and Psychological Well-being (r=.69) respectively. Self-efficacy, self-knowledge, empathy and psychological well-being jointly predict workers’ job performance (F (4,1815) = 491.05) accounting for 52.0% of its variance. Psychological well-being (B=.52). Self-efficacy (B=.10), self-knowledge (B=.11), empathy (B=. 09) had predictive relative weights on workers’ job performance. Inadequate knowledge and training of the supervisors led to a mismatch of workers thereby reducing workers’ job performance. High self-efficacy, empathy, psychological well-being and good self-knowledge influence workers job performance in the food and beverage industry. Based on the finding employers of labour should provide work environment that would enhance and promote the development of these factors among the workers.

Keywords: self-efficacy, self-knowledge, empathy, psychological well-being, job performance

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Authors: Ida Rosada, Nurliani

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Today, the number of women who seek additional income to help her husband is increasing. They do that in order to be able to express themselves in the midst of the family and society. Nonetheless, housewives are in charge of managing family’s income and prepare food for the family. The objective of this research is 1) to analyze the effect of the dual role of women to household income and 2) to analyze the effect of the dual role to consumption patterns. The study used a qualitative approach, data collection techniques are through observation, interviews, and documentation on farming households. The data was analysed qualitative descriptively. The results found that: 1) The revenue contribution of women who play double role in the informal sector amounted to 34.07% (less than 50%). 2) The main reason that the respondents worked in the informal sector is to be able to send their children to school (34%) and to improve household economy condition (28%). 3) After earning additional income, respondents said that they can contribute to increase the family’s income and to cover the family shortage (82%); 4) Respondents’ opinion to changes in food consumption after performing the dual role is the ability to purchase and provide the desired food (44%) and changing patterns of consumption per day (30%).

Keywords: dual role, the informal sector, consumption patterns, household income

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Authors: P. Zamani, A. Taleshi Anbouhi, M. R. Ashory, S. Mohajerzadeh, M. M. Khatibi

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Modal analysis is a developing science in the experimental evaluation of dynamic properties of the structures. Mechanical devices such as accelerometers are one of the sources of lack of quality in measuring modal testing parameters. In this paper, eliminating the accelerometer’s mass effect of the frequency response of the structure is studied. So, a strategy is used for eliminating the mass effect by using sensitivity analysis. In this method, the amount of mass change and the place to measure the structure’s response with least error in frequency correction is chosen. Experimental modal testing is carried out on a steel plate and the effect of accelerometer’s mass is omitted using this strategy. Finally, a good agreement is achieved between numerical and experimental results.

Keywords: accelerometer mass, frequency response function, modal analysis, sensitivity analysis

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Authors: Chiu-Yin Leung

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This research investigates a complex assemblage among indigenous identities, socio-political organization and national apparatus in the border landscape of post-colonial Hong Kong. This former British colony had designated a transient mode of governance in its New Territories and particularly the northernmost borderland in 1951-2012. With a discriminated system of land provisions for the indigenous villagers, the place has been inherited with distinctive village-based culture, historic monuments and agrarian practices until its sovereignty return into the People’s Republic of China. In its latest development imperatives by the national strategic planning, the frontier area of Hong Kong has been identified as a strategy site for regional economic integration in South China, with cross-border projects of innovation and technology zones, mega-transport infrastructure and inter-jurisdictional arrangement. Contemporary literature theorizes borders as the material and discursive production of territoriality, which manifest in state apparatus and the daily lives of its citizens and condense in the contested articulations of power, security and citizenship. Drawing on the concept of assemblage, this paper attempts to tract how the border regime and infrastructure in Hong Kong as a city are deeply ingrained in the everyday lived spaces of the local communities but also the changing urban and regional strategies across different longitudinal moments. Through an intensive ethnographic fieldwork among the borderland villages since 2008 and the extensive analysis of colonial archives, new development plans and spatial planning frameworks, the author navigates the genealogy of the border landscape in Ta Kwu Ling frontier area and its implications as the milieu for new state space, covering heterogeneous fields particularly in indigenous rights, heritage preservation, rural sustainability and regional economy. Empirical evidence suggests an apparent bias towards indigenous power and colonial representation in classifying landscape values and conserving historical monuments. Squatter and farm tenants are often deprived of property rights, statutory participation and livelihood option in the planning process. The postcolonial bureaucracies have great difficulties in mobilizing resources to catch up with the swift, political-first approach of the mainland counterparts. Meanwhile, the cultural heritage, lineage network and memory landscape are not protected altogether with any holistic view or collaborative effort across the border. The enactment of land resumption and compensation scheme is furthermore disturbed by lineage-based customary law, technocratic bureaucracy, intra-community conflicts and multi-scalar political mobilization. As many traces of colonial misfortune and tyranny have been whitewashed without proper management, the author argues that postcolonial justice is yet reconciled in this fragmented border landscape. The assemblage of border in mainstream representation has tended to oversimplify local struggles as a collective mist and setup a wider production of schizophrenia experiences in the discussion of further economic integration among Hong Kong and other mainland cities in the Pearl River Delta Region. The research is expected to shed new light on the theorizing of border regions and postcolonialism beyond Eurocentric perspectives. In reassembling the borderland experiences with other arrays in state governance, village organization and indigenous identities, the author also suggests an alternative epistemology in reconciling socio-spatial differences and opening up imaginaries for positive interventions.

Keywords: heritage conservation, indigenous communities, post-colonial borderland, regional development, rural sustainability

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Authors: Fentie, Belay, Mulat

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In today’s high decrement figure of the global economy, nations are facing many economic, social and political challenges; universally, there is high distress of food and other survival insecurity. Further, as a result of conflict, natural disasters, and leadership influences, youths are existentially less empowered and unemployed, especially in developing countries. With this situation to handle well challenges, it’s important to search, investigate and deliberate about youth, unemployment, empowerment and possible management fashions, as youths have the potential to carry and fight such battles. The method adopted is a qualitative analysis of secondary data sources in youth empowerment, unemployment and development as an inclusive framework. Youth unemployment is a major development headache for most African countries. In Ethiopia, following weak youth empowerment, youth unemployment has increased from time to time, and quality education and organization linkage matter as an important constraint. As a management challenge, although accessibility of quality education for Ethiopian youths is an important constraint, the country's youths are fortified deceptively and harassed in a vicious political challenge in their struggle to fetch social and economic changes in the country. Further, thousands of youths are inactivated, criminalized and lost their lives and this makes youths hopeless anger in their lives and pushes them further to be exposed for addictions, prostitution, violence, and illegitimate migrations. This youth challenge wasn’t only destined for African countries; rather, indeed, it was a global burden and headed as a global agenda. As a resolution, the construction of a healthy education system can create independent youths who acquire success and accelerate development. Developing countries should ensue development in the cultivation of empowerment tools through long and short-term education, implementing policy in action, diminishing wide-ranging gaps of (religion, ethnicity & region), and take high youth population as an opportunity and empower them. Further managing and empowering youths to be involved in decision-making, giving political weight and building a network of organizations to easily access job opportunities are important suggestions to save youths in work, for both increasing their income and the country's food security balance.

Keywords: development, Ethiopia, management, unemployment, youth empowerment

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Authors: Olanrewaju Kafayat, O., Salman Kabir, K.

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The role of organic agriculture in providing food and income is now gaining wider recognition (Van Elzakker et al 2007). The increasing public concerns about food safety issues on the use of fertilizers, pesticide residues, growth hormones, GM organisms, and increasing awareness of environmental quality issues have led to an expanding demand for environmentally friendly products (Thompson, 1998; Rimal et al., 2005). As a result national governments are concerned about diet and health, and there has been renewed recognition of the role of public policy in promoting healthy diets, thus to provide healthier, safer, more confident citizens (Poole et al., 2007), With these benefits, a study into organic vegetables is very vital to all the major stakeholders. This study analyzed the willingness of consumers to pay for organic vegetables in Oyo state, Nigeria. Primary data was collected with the aid of structured questionnaire administered to 168 respondents. These were selected using multistage random sampling. The first stage involved the selection two (2) ADP zones out of the three (3) ADP zones in Oyo state, The second stage involved the random selection of two (2) local government areas each out of the two (2) ADP zones which are; Ibadan South West and Ogbomoso North and random selection of 4 wards each from the local government areas. The third stage involved random selection of 42 household each from of the local government areas. Descriptive statistics, the principal component analysis, and the logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Results showed 55 percent of the respondents were female while 80 percent were  50 years. 74 percent of the respondents agreed that organic vegetables are of better quality. 31 percent of the respondents were aware of organic vegetables as against 69 percent who were not aware. From the logistic model, educational attainment, amount spent on organic vegetables monthly, better quality of organic vegetables and accessibility to organic vegetables were significant and had a positive relationship on willingness to pay for organic vegetable. The variables that were significant and had a negative relationship with WTP are less attractiveness of organic vegetables and household size of the respondents. This study concludes that consumers with higher level of education were more likely to be aware and willing to pay for organic vegetables than those with low levels of education, the study therefore recommends creation of awareness on the relevance of consuming organic vegetables through effective marketing and educational campaigns.

Keywords: consumers awareness, willingness to pay, organic vegetables, Oyo State

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Authors: Tingyu Zhang

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The horizontal ecological compensation (HEC) mechanism is the key to stimulating the active participation of the whole basin in ecological protection. In this paper, we construct an evolutionary model for HEC in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) basin with the introduction of the central government constraint and incentive mechanism (CGCIM) and explore the conditions for the realization of a (Protection and compensation) strategy that meets the social expectations. Further, the water quality-water quantity model is utilized to measure the HEC amount with the characteristic factual data of the YREB in 2020-2022. The results show that the stability of the evolutionary game model of upstream and downstream governments in the YREB is closely related to the CGCIM. If (Protection Compensation) is to be realized as the only evolutionary stable strategy of the evolutionary game system composed of upstream and downstream governments, it is necessary for the CGCIM to satisfy that the sum of the incentives for the protection side and its unilateral or bilateral constraints is greater than twice the input cost of the active strategy, and the sum of the incentives for the compensation side and its unilateral or bilateral constraints is greater than the amount of ecological compensation that needs to be paid by it when it adopts the active strategy. At this point, the total amount of HEC that the downstream government should give to the upstream government of the YREB is 2856.7 million yuan in 2020, 5782.1 million yuan in 2021, and 23166.7 million yuan in 2022. The results of the study can provide a reference for promoting the improvement and refinement of the HEC mechanism in the YREB.

Keywords: horizontal ecological compensation, Yangtze river economic belt, evolutionary game analysis, water quality and quantity model research on territorial ecological restoration in Mianzhu city, Sichuan, under the dual evaluation framework

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Authors: Jafaru Ibrahim, Tonga Agadi Danladi, Haruna Sani

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Many telecommunications industry are looking for new ways to maximize their investment in communication networks while ensuring reliable and secure information transmission. There is a variety of communications medium solutions, the two must popularly in used are wireless technology and wired options, such as copper and fiber-optic cable. Wired network has proven its potential in the olden days but nowadays wireless communication has emerged as a robust and most intellect and preferred communication technique. Each of these types of communication medium has their advantages and disadvantages according to its technological characteristics. Wired and wireless networking has different hardware requirements, ranges, mobility, reliability and benefits. The aim of the paper is to compare both the Wired and Wireless medium on the basis of various parameters such as usability, cost, efficiency, flexibility, coverage, reliability, mobility, speed, security etc.

Keywords: cost, mobility, reliability, speed, security, wired, wireless

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Authors: Kwa-Sur Tam, Byung O. Kang

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By using different ranges of daily sky clearness index defined in this paper, any day can be classified as a clear sky day, a partly cloudy day or a cloudy day. This paper demonstrates how short-term forecasting of solar irradiation can be improved by taking into consideration the type of day so defined. The source of day type dependency has been identified. Forecasting methods that take into consideration of day type have been developed and their efficacy have been established. While all methods that implement some form of adjustment to the cloud cover forecast provided by the U.S. National Weather Service provide accuracy improvement, methods that incorporate day type dependency provides even further improvement in forecast accuracy.

Keywords: day types, forecast methods, National Weather Service, sky cover, solar energy

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Authors: Ergun Sakalar, Kubra Bilgic

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Faster detection and characterization of pathogens are the basis of the evoid from foodborne pathogens. Salmonella spp., Shigella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes are common foodborne bacteria that are among the most life-threatining. It is important to rapid and accurate detection of these pathogens to prevent food poisoning and outbreaks or to manage food chains. The present work promise to develop a sensitive, species specific and reliable PCR based detection system for simultaneous detection of Salmonella spp., Shigella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes. For this purpose, three genes were picked out, ompC for Salmonella spp., ipaH for Shigella spp. and hlyA for L. monocytogenes. After short pre-enrichment of milk was passed through a vacuum filter and bacterial DNA was exracted using commercially available kit GIDAGEN®(Turkey, İstanbul). Detection of amplicons was verified by examination of the melting temperature (Tm) that are 72° C, 78° C, 82° C for Salmonella spp., Shigella spp. and L. monocytogenes, respectively. The method specificity was checked against a group of bacteria strains, and also carried out sensitivity test resulting in under 10² CFU mL⁻¹ of milk for each bacteria strain. Our results show that the flourescence based triplex qPCR method can be used routinely to detect Salmonella spp., Shigella spp. and L. monocytogenes during the milk processing procedures in order to reduce cost, time of analysis and the risk of foodborne disease outbreaks.

Keywords: evagreen, food-born bacteria, pathogen detection, real-time pcr

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Authors: Ayhan Varol, Aysenur Ugurlu

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Due to the depletion of fossil fuels and climate change, there is a rising interest in renewable energy sources. In this concept, a wide range of biomass (energy crops, animal manure, solid wastes, etc.) are used for energy production. There has been a growing interest in biomethane production from biomass. Biomethane production from organic wastes is a promising alternative for waste management by providing organic matter stabilization. Anaerobic digestion of organic material produces biogas, and organic substrate is degraded into a more stable material. Therefore, anaerobic digestion technology helps reduction of carbon emissions and produces renewable energy. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) and organic loading rate (OLR), as well as TS (VS) loadings, influences the anaerobic digestion of organic wastes significantly. The optimum range for HRT varies between 15 days to 30 days, whereas OLR differs between 0.5 to 5 g/L.d depending on the substrate type and its lipid, protein and carbohydrate contents. The organic wastes have biogas production potential through anaerobic digestion. In this study, biomethane production potential of wastes like sugar beet bagasse, agricultural residues, food wastes, olive mill pulp, and dairy manure having different characteristics was investigated in mesophilic CSTR reactor, and their performances were compared. The reactor was mixed in order to provide homogenized content at a rate of 80 rpm. The organic matter content of these wastes was between 85 to 94 % with 61% (olive pulp) to 22 % (food waste) dry matter content. The hydraulic retention time changed between 20-30 days. High biogas productions, 13.45 to 5.70 mL/day, were achieved from the wastes studied when operated at 9 to 10.5% TS loadings where OLR varied between 2.92 and 3.95 gVS/L.day. The results showed that food wastes have higher specific methane production rate and volumetric methane production potential than the other wastes studied, under the similar OLR values. The SBP was 680, 585, 540, 390 and 295 mL/g VS for food waste, agricultural residues, sugar beet bagasse, olive pulp and dairy manure respectively. The methane content of the biogas varied between 72 and 60 %. The volatile solids conversion rate for food waste was 62%.

Keywords: biogas production, organic wastes, biomethane, anaerobic digestion

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Authors: Arbolino Roberta, Boffardi Raffaele

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Achieving the highest effectiveness for the National Plans for Recovery and Resilience (NPRR) while strengthening the objectives of cohesion and reduction of intra-EU unbalances is only possible by means of strategic, coordinated, and coherent policy planning. Therefore, the present research aims at assessing and quantifying the potential impact of NPRRs across the twenty-seven European Member States in terms of economic convergence, considering disaggregated data on industrial, construction, and service sectors. The first step of the research involves a performance analysis of the main macroeconomic indicators describing the trends of twenty-seven EU economies before the pandemic outbreak. Subsequently, in order to define the potential effect of the resources allocated, we perform an impact analysis of previous similar EU investment policies, estimating national-level sectoral elasticity associated with the expenditure of the 2007-2013 and 2014-2020 Cohesion programmes funds. These coefficients are then exploited to construct adjustment scenarios. Finally, convergence analysis is performed on the data used for constructing scenarios in order to understand whether the expenditure of funds might be useful to foster economic convergence besides driving recovery. The results of our analysis show that the allocation of resources largely mirrors the aims of the policy framework underlying the NPRR, thus reporting the largest investments in both those sectors most affected by the economic shock (services) and those considered fundamental for the digital and green transition. Notwithstanding an overall positive effect, large differences exist among European countries, while no convergence process seems to be activated or fostered by these interventions.

Keywords: NPRR, policy evaluation, cohesion policy, scenario Nalsysi

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Authors: Nyong Princely Awazi, Gadinga Walter Forje, Barnabas Neba Nfornkah, Ndzifon Jude Kimengsi

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Ecotourism is documented as a sustainable measure of bridging conservation goals and livelihood sustenance around protected areas, due to its ability of not just providing alternative livelihood, but also in providing the necessary resources that can help finance conservation initiatives. In Cameroon, all ecotourism activities around national parks are aimed at generating revenue through the conservation service while providing sustainable livelihood options to the local population. There exists an information lacuna regarding the contribution of ecotourism finances to conservation efforts in the country. This study was aimed at establishing the contribution of ecotourism finances to conservation initiatives in and around the Campo Ma’an National Park (CMNP). Data were collected through the administering of 120 structured questionnaires to ecotourism actors and 15 key/expert interviews with tourism and conservation actors in the Campo Ma’an landscape. Chi-square test, Spearman’s rank correlation and regressions were used for data analysis. The study revealed that the main sources of ecotourism financing to the park service are through entrance fees, cameras and vehicle fees paid by tourists as well as ecotourism project financing through NGOs. Calculations from the tourism register of the park showed that the park was able to raise as much as 1,576,000 FCFA (US$ 3,152) annually. It was further established that ecotourism revenue has not greatly supported conservation, with 54% of respondents perceiving ecotourism not contributing to biodiversity conservation. Chi Square test results highlighted poor ecotourism governance, low level of ecotourism development, corruption from park management staff, obsolete nature of the current finance law on the management of protected area revenue as key factors hindering ecotourism financing in conservation. For ecotourism financing to contribute to biodiversity conservation in the CMNP and in Cameroon’s protected areas, the government needs to revise the finance law on the management of revenue generated from protected areas, improve park governance to fight corruption and enhance transparency, invest in the development and marketing of the Campo Ma’an national park as a tourism destination in the country.

Keywords: Cameroon, Campo Ma’an National Park, conservation, ecotourism, ecotourism financing

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Authors: Muhammad Umair Arshad

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Background and Objectives: Different vegetables have been reported to possess diabetic potential in in-vitro studies; however, the same role of these vegetables has not been much explored through human intervention. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the comparative effects of muffins supplemented with bitter gourd (BGM), and other vegetables like spinach (SPM) and eggplant (EPM) on subjective appetite, blood glucose (BG), gut hormones and food intake in healthy young males through a randomized, cross over experiment. Methods and Study Design: After 12 hours fasting, twenty-four healthy young males (18-30 Y) were fed 250ml of plain muffins (control) or supplemented with bitter gourd powder, BGM (10g/100g flour), or spinach powder, SPM (10g/100g flour), or eggplant powder, EPM (10g/100g flour). An ad libitum pizza meal was served at 120min to measure the food intake. Subjective appetite, blood glucose, and gut hormones (insulin, GLP-1, active ghrelin) were measured at intervals from baseline to 120min. Results: Post-treatment (0-120min) glucose, but not insulin, decreased following all the vegetables supplemented muffins compared to the control (p < 0.0001) with a more pronounced effect of BGM. However, post-treatment avg. subjective appetite (p=0.0017) and food intake (p=0.0021) were reduced following BGM but not SPM and EPM. BGM further improved GLP-1 concentration (p < 0.0001), and reduced active ghrelin (p=0.0022), compared with control. Conclusions: The bitter gourd supplemented baked foods possess potential more than other vegetables to regulate postprandial appetite and glycemic responses, without a disproportionate increase in insulin concentration.

Keywords: vegetables, muffins, glucose homeostasis, subjective appetite, food intake

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Authors: Muhammad Ali

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Cyber-attacks and anomaly detection on the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure is emerging concern in the domain of data-driven intrusion. Rapidly increasing IoT risk is now making headlines around the world. denial of service, malicious control, data type probing, malicious operation, DDos, scan, spying, and wrong setup are attacks and anomalies that can affect an IoT system failure. Everyone talks about cyber security, connectivity, smart devices, and real-time data extraction. IoT devices expose a wide variety of new cyber security attack vectors in network traffic. For further than IoT development, and mainly for smart and IoT applications, there is a necessity for intelligent processing and analysis of data. So, our approach is too secure. We train several machine learning models that have been compared to accurately predicting attacks and anomalies on IoT systems, considering IoT applications, with ANOVA-based feature selection with fewer prediction models to evaluate network traffic to help prevent IoT devices. The machine learning (ML) algorithms that have been used here are KNN, SVM, NB, D.T., and R.F., with the most satisfactory test accuracy with fast detection. The evaluation of ML metrics includes precision, recall, F1 score, FPR, NPV, G.M., MCC, and AUC & ROC. The Random Forest algorithm achieved the best results with less prediction time, with an accuracy of 99.98%.

Keywords: machine learning, analysis of variance, Internet of Thing, network security, intrusion detection

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Authors: S. Beekrum, B. Odhav, R. Lalloo, E. A. Amonsou

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Marine microalgae are rich sources of novel and biologically active metabolites; therefore they may be used in the food industry as natural food ingredients and functional foods. They have several biological applications related to health benefits, among others. The aim of the study focused on the screening of phytochemicals from Amphora sp. biomass extracts, and to examine the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial potential. Amphora sp. biomass was obtained from CSIR (South Africa) and methanol, hexane and water extracts were prepared. The in vitro antimicrobial effect of extracts were tested against some pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella enteritidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans), using the disc diffusion assay. Qualitative analyses of phytochemicals were conducted by chemical tests. The present investigation revealed that all extracts showed relatively strong antibacterial activity against most of the tested bacteria. The highest phenolic content was found in the methanolic extract. Results of the DPPH assay showed that the biomass contained strong antioxidant capacity, 79% in the methanolic extract and 85% in the hexane extract. Extracts have displayed effectively reducing power and superoxide anion radical scavenging activity. Results of this study have highlighted potential antioxidant activity in the methanol and hexane extracts. The results of the phytochemical screening showed the presence of terpenoids and sterols with potential applications as food flavorants and functional foods, respectively. The use of Amphora sp. as a natural antioxidant source and a potential source of antibacterial compounds and phytochemicals in the food industry appears promising and should be investigated further.

Keywords: antioxidants, antimicrobial, microalgae, phytochemicals, cymbella

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Authors: Eduardo Cabrera-Rode, Janet Rodriguez, Aimee Alvarez, Ragmila Echevarria, Antonio D. Reyes, Ileana Cubas-Duenas, Silvia E. Turcios, Oscar Diaz-Diaz

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Obex is a nutritional supplement to help weight loss naturally. In addition, this supplement has a satiating effect that helps control the craving to eat between meals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Obex in the metabolic syndrome (MS). This was an open label pilot study conducted in 30 patients with MS and ages between 29 and 60 years old. Participants received Obex, at a dose of one sachet before (30 to 45 minutes) the two main meals (lunch and dinner) daily (mean two sachets per day) for 3 months. The content of the sachets was dissolved in a glass of water or fruit juice. Obex ingredients: Açai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) berry, inulin, Phaseolus vulgaris, Caralluma fimbriata, inositol, choline, arginine, ornitine, zinc sulfate, carnitine fumarate, methionine, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine and folic acid. In addition to anthropometric measures and blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol and insulin were determined. Insulin resistance was assessed by HOMA-IR index. Three indirect indexes were used to calculate insulin sensitivity [QUICKI index (Quantitative insulin sensitivity check index), Bennett index and Raynaud index]. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the Joint Interim Statement (JIS) criteria. The JIS criteria require at least three of the following components: (1) abdominal obesity (waist circumference major or equal major or equal 94 cm for men or 80 cm for women), (2) triglycerides major or equal 1.7 mmol/L, (3) HDL cholesterol minor 1.03 mmol/L for men or minor 1.30 mmol/L for women, (4) systolic/diastolic blood pressure major or equal 130/85mmHg or use antihypertensive drugs, and (5) fasting plasma glucose major or equal 5.6 mmol/L or known treatment for diabetes. This study was approved by the Ethical and Research Committee of the National Institute of Endocrinology, Cuba and conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Obex is registered as a food supplement in the National Institute of Nutrition and Food, Havana, Cuba. Written consent was obtained from all patients before the study. The clinical trial had been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov. After three months of treatment, 43.3% (13/30) of participants decreased the frequency of MS. Compared to baseline, Obex significantly reduced body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and waist/hip ratio and improved HDL-c (p<0.0001) and in addition to lowering blood pressure (p<0.05). After Obex intake, subjects also have shown a reduction in fasting plasma glucose (p<0.0001) and insulin sensitivity was enhanced (p=0.001). No adverse effects were seen in any of the participants during the study. In this pilot study, consumption of Obex decreased the prevalence of MS due to the improved selected components of the metabolic syndrome, indicating that further studies are warranted. Obex emerges as an effective and well tolerated treatment for preventing or delaying MS and therefore potential reduction of cardiovascular risk.

Keywords: nutritional supplement, metabolic syndrome, weight loss, insulin resistance

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Authors: Laura M. Schwarz

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WebQuests are an internet-based interactive teaching/learning tool and utilize a scaffolded methodology. WebQuests employ critical thinking, afford inquiry-based constructivist learning, and readily employ Bloom’s Taxonomy. WebQuests have generally been used as instructional technology tools in primary and secondary education and have more recently grown in popularity in higher education. The study of the efficacy of WebQuests as an instructional approach to learning, however, has been limited, particularly in the nursing education arena. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine nursing students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the Nursing WebQuest as a teaching/learning strategy for holistic nursing-related content. Quantitative findings (N=42) suggested that learners were active participants, used reflection, thought of new ideas, used analysis skills, discovered something new, and assessed the worth of something while taking part in the WebQuests. Qualitative findings indicated that participants found WebQuest positives as easy to understand and navigate; clear and organized; interactive; good alternative learning format, and used a variety of quality resources. Participants saw drawbacks as requiring additional time and work; and occasional failed link or link causing them to lose their location in the WebQuest. Recommendations include using larger sample size and more diverse populations from various programs and universities. In conclusion, WebQuests were found to be an effective teaching/learning tool as positively assessed by study participants.

Keywords: holistic nursing, nursing education, teaching/learning strategy, WebQuests

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Authors: Fauzia Dianawati, Riska W. Purnomo

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Food and agricultural sector become the biggest sector contributing to inflation in Indonesia. Especially in Wonogiri district, red cayenne pepper was the biggest sector contributing to inflation on 2016. A national statistic proved that in recent five years red cayenne pepper has the highest average level of fluctuation among all commodities. Some factors, like supply chain, price disparity, production quantity, crop failure, and oil price become the possible factor causes high volatility level in red cayenne pepper price. Therefore, this research tries to find the key factor causing fluctuation on red cayenne pepper by using ARCH/GARCH method. The method could accommodate the presence of heteroscedasticity in time series data. At the end of the research, it is statistically found that the second level of supply chain becomes the biggest part contributing to inflation with 3,35 of coefficient in fluctuation forecasting model of red cayenne pepper price. This model could become a reference to the government to determine the appropriate policy in maintaining the price stability of red cayenne pepper.

Keywords: ARCH/GARCH, forecasting, red cayenne pepper, volatility, supply chain

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Authors: Ciza Didier

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By definition, homosexuality designates the sexual or amorous attraction towards a person of the same sex or of the same gender as one's own. The Burundi country has superficially 27834km2 with 13 millions of population. There are groups of certain people assuming that they are homosexual and that they want to claim their rights. Burundian homosexuals often organise seminars in the premises of the National Health Security Agency (NHSA) located at Kigobe quarter, in Bujumbura, this is the place where they meet to try to exchange and create their association for claim their rights. There are 2 categories of homosexuals: - gays: homosexuality between men (male sex) - lesbians: homosexuality between women (female sex) In the gay couple, there is one who behaves like a woman and often wears feminine styles while the other always remains like a man and always wears masculine styles. In the lesbian couple, there is one who behaves like a man and wears men's styles while the other remains as she is like a woman. In general, Burundian society is against homosexuality. Our society sees them as pariahs carrying a curse. According to Burundian culture and customs, homosexuality is satanic, therefore it is a great sin. In April 2011, Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza signed a law criminalizing homosexual acts and providing for a sentence of three months to two years in prison, as well as a fine of BIF 50,000 to BIF 100,000 for any homosexual behavior. The investigation recently done shows that out of 300 people questioned, 299 were against homosexuality saying that it is against Burundian culture and 1 was for homosexuality. All Burundians are not against homosexuality. Their country must therefore take into consideration the small party of people who are for homosexuality. Homosexuals, too, need to live like others.

Keywords: homosexuality, lesbian, gay, law

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Authors: Artur Saraiva, Moritz von Schwedler, Emília Fernandes

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In recent years, the organic sector has increased significantly. However, with the ‘conventionalization’ of these products, it has been questioned whether these products have been losing their original vision. Accordingly, this research based on 31 phenomenological interviews with committed organic consumers in urban and rural areas of Portugal, aims to analyse how ethical motivations and ecological awareness are related to organic food consumption. The content thematic analysis highlights aspects related to society and environmental concerns. On an individual level, the importance of internal coherence, peace of mind and balance that these consumers find in the consumption of local organic products was stressed. For these consumers, local organic products consumption made for significant changes in their lives, aiding in the establishment of a green identity, and involves a certain philosophy of life. This vision of an organic lifestyle is grounded in a political and ecological perspective, beyond the usual organic definition, as a ‘post-organic era’. The paper contributes to better understand how an ideological environmental discourse allows highlighting the relationship between consumers’ environmental concerns and the politics of food, resulting in a possible transition to new sustainable consumption practices.

Keywords: organic consumption, localism, content thematic analysis, pro-environmental discourse, political consumption, Portugal

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Authors: Maryam M Esfahani

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The Internet of Things is a concept that has fundamentally changed the way information technology works and communication environments. This concept, which is referred to as the next revolution in the field of information and communication technology, takes advantage of existing technologies such as wireless sensor networks, RFID, cloud computing, M2M, etc., to the final slogan of providing the possibility of connecting any object anywhere and everywhere. This use of technologies, along with the possibility of providing new services, also inherits their threats, and although the Internet of Things is facing many challenges, it can be said that its most important challenge is security and privacy, and perhaps even a more tangible challenge is privacy. In this article, we will first introduce the definition and concepts related to privacy, and then we will examine some threats against the privacy of the Internet of Things in different layers of a typical architecture. Also, while examining the differences and the relationship between security and privacy, we study different dimensions of privacy, and finally, we review some of the methods and technologies for improving the level of privacy.

Keywords: Iot, privacy, different dimension of privacy, W3model, privacy enhancing technologies

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Authors: Nouara Boulfoul, Fatima Brabez

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This article presents the status of ISO 9001: 2000 certification in some agro-food companies in Algeria. The article discusses challenges and contributions of certification as perceived by quality managers as well as the difficulties encountered during certification. It also provides the recommendations of these managers for companies that have a certification project. The results show that the top three reasons for adopting ISO 9001: 2000 certification are building a better organization, reducing the costs of non-compliance and meeting customer expectations. The contributions are of an external nature (recognition, brand image, extension of markets, etc.) but also of an internal nature (improvement of the organization, etc.). The recommendations mainly concern management motivation, staff awareness and involvement and compliance with the requirements of the standard.

Keywords: quality management, certification, ISO 9001: 2000, food companies

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Authors: Christopher Holroyd

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With the various terrorist organizations and drug cartels that are currently active, there is a myriad of security concerns facing countries around the world. Organizations that focus their attacks on others through terror, such as what is seen with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), have no boundaries when it comes to doing what is needed to fulfill their desired intent. For countries such as Iraq, who have been trying to rebuild their country since the fall of the Saddam Hussein Regime, organizations such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have been impeding the country’s efforts toward peace and stability. One method utilized by terrorist organizations around the world is human trafficking. This method is one that is seen around the world; modern slavery is still exploited by those who have no concern for human decency and morality, their only concern is to achieve their goals by any means. It is understandable that some people may not have even heard of 'modern slavery', or they just might not believe that it is even an issue in today’s world. Organizations such as ISIS are not the only ones in the world that seek to benefit from the immoral trading of humans. Various drug cartels in the world, such as those seen in Mexico and Central America, have recently begun to take part in the trade – moving humans from state to state, or country to country, to better fuel their overall operations. This now makes the possibility of human trafficking more real for those in the United States because of the proximity of the cartels to the southern border of the country. An issue that, at one time, might have only seen as a distant threat, is now close to home for those in the United States. Looking at these two examples is how we begin to understand why human trafficking is utilized by various organizations around the world. This trade of human beings and the violation of basic human rights is a plague that effects the entire world and not just those that are in a country other than your own. One of the security issues that stem from the trade includes the movement and recruitment of members of the organizations. With individuals being smuggled from one location to another in secrecy, this only puts those trying to combat this trade at a disadvantage. This creates concern over the accurate number of potential recruits, combatants, and other individuals who are working against the host nation, and for the mission of the cartel or terrorist organization they are a part of. An uphill battle is created, and the goals of peace and stability are now harder to reach. Aside from security aspects, it cannot be forgotten that those being traded and forced into slavery, are being done so against their will. Families are separated, children trained to be fighters or worse. This makes the goal of eradicating human trafficking even more dire and important.

Keywords: human trafficking, reconstruction, security, terrorism

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Authors: Pawasuth Saengdee, Chamras Promptmas, Ting Zeng, Silke Leimkühler, Ulla Wollenberger

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Sulfite has been used as a versatile preservative to limit the microbial growth and to control the taste in some food and beverage. However, it has been reported to cause a wide spectrum of severe adverse reactions. Therefore, it is important to determine the amount of sulfite in food and beverage to ensure consumer safety. An efficient electrocatalytic biosensor for sulfite detection was developed by immobilizing of human sulfite oxidase (hSO) on 3-aminoproplytriethoxysilane (APTES) modified indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode. Cyclic voltammetry was employed to investigate the electrochemical characteristics of the hSO modified ITO electrode for various pretreatment and binding conditions. Amperometry was also utilized to demonstrate the current responses of the sulfite sensor toward sodium sulfite in an aqueous solution at a potential of 0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl 1 M KCl). The proposed sulfite sensor has a linear range between 0.5 to 2 mM with a correlation coefficient 0.972. Then, the additional polymer layer of PVA was introduced to extend the linear range of sulfite sensor and protect the enzyme. The linear range of sulfite sensor with 5% coverage increases from 2.8 to 20 mM at a correlation coefficient of 0.983. In addition, the stability of sulfite sensor with 5% PVA coverage increases until 14 days when kept in 0.5 mM Tris-buffer, pH 7.0 at 4 8C. Therefore, this sensor could be applied for the detection of sulfite in the real sample, especially in food and beverage.

Keywords: sulfite oxidase, bioelectrocatalytsis, indium tin oxide, direct electrochemistry, sulfite sensor

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Authors: Radhika Ralhan

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With the formalization of 2030, Global Agenda for Sustainable Development nations have instantaneously geared up their efforts towards the implementation of a comprehensive list of global goals. The criticality of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is imperative, as it will define the course and pace of development for the next 15 years. This development will entail transformational shifts towards a green and inclusive growth. Leadership, investments and technology will constitute as key ingredients of this transformational shift and governance will emerge as a one of the most significant driver of the global 2030 agenda. Corporate Governance is viewed as one of the key force to accelerate the momentum of SDGs and initiate these transformational shifts. Many senior level leaders have reinstated their conviction that adopting a triple bottom line approach will play an imperative role in transforming the entire industrial sector. In the Indian context, the above occurrence bears an intriguing facet, as the framing of SDGs in the global scenario coincided with the emergence of mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Rules in India at national level. As one of the leading democracies in the world, India is among few countries to formally mandate companies to spend 2% from their CSR funds under Section 135 of The New Companies Act 2013. The overarching framework of SDGs correlates to the areas of CSR interventions as mentioned in the Schedule VII of Section 135. As one of the legitimate stakeholders, business leaders have expressed their commitments to their respective governments, to reorient the entire fabric of their companies to scale up global priorities. This is explicitly seen in the case of India where leading business entities have converged national government priorities of Clean India, Make in India and Skill India by actively participating in the campaigns and incorporating these programmes within the ambit of their CSR policies. However, the CSR Act has received mixed responses with associated concerns such as the onus of doing what the government has to do, mandatory reporting mechanisms, policy disclosures, personnel handling CSR portfolios etc. The overall objective of the paper, therefore, rests in analyzing the discourse of CSR and the perspectives of Indian Inc. in imbibing the principles of SDGs within their business polices and operations. Through primary and secondary research analysis, the paper attempts to outline the diverse challenges that are being faced by Indian businesses while establishing the business case of sustainable responsibility. Some of the principal questions that paper addresses are: What are the SDG priorities for India Inc. as per their respective industry sectors? How can corporate policies imbibe the SDGs principles? How can the global concerns in form of SDGs align with the national CSR mandate and development issues? What initiatives have been undertaken by the companies to integrate their long term business strategy and sustainability? The paper will also reinstate an approach or a way forward that will enable businesses to proceed beyond compliance and accentuate the principles of responsibility and transparency within their operational framework.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, CSR, India Inc., section 135, new companies act 2013, sustainable development goals, SDGs, sustainability, corporate governance

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Authors: Muhammad Xaaceph Khan, Abida Butt, Farah Kausar

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Due to geogenic and anthropogenic factors, heavy metals concentrations increased throughout the world and deposit into soil. Thus available to different plants and travel in different food chains. The present study was designed to achieve bioaccumulation of Cd and Zn in the wheat-aphid-beetle food chain. For this purpose, wheat plants were grown in three different treatments: Cd, Zn, Cd+Zn. Data showed that Cd content in soil and wheat plant increases with increase in Cd concentration while plant weighs, panicle weight, seed number per panicle and seed weight per panicle decreases with increase in Cd content in the soil. Zn content in soil and wheat plant increases with increase in Cd concentration while plant weighs, panicle weight, seed number per panicle, and seed weight per panicle increase with an increase in Zn content in the soil. With the addition of Zn in Cd-treated soil, the uptake of Cd decreases in all parts of wheat plants. Bioaccumulation from wheat plant to aphids and then its predators were also studied. Cd concentration increases from low to high concentration in all arthropods. Same was observed in Zn concentrations, while in Cd+Zn, Cd accumulation decreases but Zn accumulates increases. Health risk index (HRI) also showed that in the presence of Zn, the HRI improves and can help to reduce health risks associated with Cd.

Keywords: aphid, beetle, bioaccumulation, cadmium, wheat, zinc

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Authors: Mohd Rashid Bin Hj. Md Idris, Lajiman Bin Janoory, Abdullah Bin Yusof, Mahzir Bin Ibrahim

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The Malay language curriculum at primary school level in Malaysia is instrumental in ensuring the status of the language as the official and national language, the language of instruction as well as the language that unites the various ethnics in Malaysia. A research addressing issues related to the curriculum standard is, therefore, essential to provide value added quality to the existing National Education Philosophy in ongoing efforts to produce an individual who is balanced in intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical developments. The objective of this study is to examine the Philosophy of Language Theory, to review the content of the Malay language subject in relation to the Standard Curriculum for Primary Schools (KSSR), and to identify aspects of Theory of Philosophy in the Standard Curriculum for Primary Schools. The Malay language Primary School Curriculum is designed to enable students to be competent speakers and communicators of the language in order to gain knowledge, skills, information, values, and ideas and to enhance skills in social relations. Therefore, this study is designed to help educators to achieve all the stated goals. At the same time students at primary school level are expected to be able to apply the principle of language perfection as stated in the Philosophy of Language Theory to enable them to understand, appreciate and to take pride in being a Malaysian who speaks the language well.

Keywords: language, philosophy, theory, curriculum, standard, national education philosophy

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