Search results for: research industry and business collaboration

Authors: Joanna Cabaj, Sylwia Baluta, Karol Malecha, Kamila Drzozga

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Catecholamines are the principal neurotransmitters that mediate a variety of the central nervous system functions, such as motor control, cognition, emotion, memory processing, and endocrine modulation. Dysfunctions in catecholamine neurotransmission are induced in some neurologic and neuropsychiatric diseases. Changeable neurotransmitters level in biological fluids can be a marker of several neurological disorders. Because of its significance in analytical techniques and diagnostics, sensitive and selective detection of neurotransmitters is increasingly attracting a lot of attention in different areas of bio-analysis or biomedical research. Recently, fluorescent techniques for detection of catecholamines have attracted interests due to their reasonable cost, convenient control, as well as maneuverability in biological environments. Nevertheless, with the observed need for a sensitive and selective catecholamines sensor, the development of a convenient method for this neurotransmitter is still at its basic level. The manipulation of nanostructured materials in conjunction with biological molecules has led to the development of a new class of hybrid modified biosensors in which both enhancement of charge transport and biological activity preservation may be obtained. Immobilization of biomaterials on electrode surfaces is the crucial step in fabricating electrochemical as well as optical biosensors and bioelectronic devices. Continuing systematic investigation in the manufacturing of enzyme–conducting sensitive systems, here is presented a convenient fluorescence sensing strategy for catecholamines detection based on FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) phenomena observed for, i.e., complexes of Fe²⁺ and epinephrine. The biosensor was constructed using low temperature co-fired ceramics technology (LTCC). This sensing system used the catalytical oxidation of catecholamines and quench of the strong luminescence of obtained complexes due to FRET. The detection process was based on the oxidation of substrate in the presence of the enzyme–laccase/tyrosinase.

Keywords: biosensor, conducting polymer, enzyme, FRET, LTCC

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Authors: Sangkhao M., Butcher B. A.

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Diazepam (known as valium) is a medication for calming effect. Many reports on committed suicide cases shown that diazepam is frequently used for this purpose. This research aims to study effect of diazepam on the development of forensically important blowflies, Chrysomya megacephala (Diptera: Calliphoridae) using micro-computed tomography (micro CT). In this study, four rabbits were treated with three different lethal doses of diazepam and one control (LD₀, LD₅₀, LD₁₀₀ and LC). The rabbit’s livers were removed for rearing the blowflies. Pupae were sampled for two series (ages; S1: 24h and S2: 120h) of development. After preparing the specimens, all samples were performed Micro CT using Skyscan 1172. The results shown the effect of diazepam on internal organs and tissues such as brain, cavity of the body, gas bubble, meconium and especially fat body. In the control group, in series 1 (LCS1), fat body was equally dispersed in the head, thorax, and abdomen, development of internal organs were not completed, however, brain, thoracic muscle, wings, legs and rectum were able to observe at 24h after developing into the pupal stage. Development of each organ in the control group in the series two was completed. In the treatment groups, LD₀, LD₅₀, LD₁₀₀ (Series 1 and Series 2), tissues are different, such as gas bubble in LD₀S1, was observed due to rapidity morphological changes during the metamorphosis of blowfly’s pupa in this treatment. Meconium was observed in LD₅₀S2 group because excretion of metabolic waste was not completed. All of the samples in the treatment groups had differentiation of fat bodies because metabolic activities were not completed and these changes affected on functions of every internal system. Discovering of differentiated fat bodies are important results because fat bodies of insect functions as liver in human, therefore it is shown that toxin eliminates from blowfly’s body and homeostatic maintenance of the hemolymph proteins, lipid and carbohydrates in each treatment group are abnormal.

Keywords: forensic toxicology, forensic entomology, diptera, diazepam

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Authors: Waqas Ahmed Khan Afridi, Subhas Chandra Mukhopadhyay, Bandita Mainali

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The research paper presents a unique approach to evapotranspiration (ET) prediction using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) learning algorithm. The study leverages real-time sensor node data to develop an accurate and adaptable prediction model, addressing the inherent challenges of traditional ET estimation methods. The integration of the SVM algorithm with real-time sensor node data offers great potential to improve spatial and temporal resolution in ET predictions. In the model development, key input features are measured and computed using mathematical equations such as Penman-Monteith (FAO56) and soil water balance (SWB), which include soil-environmental parameters such as; solar radiation (Rs), air temperature (T), atmospheric pressure (P), relative humidity (RH), wind speed (u2), rain (R), deep percolation (DP), soil temperature (ST), and change in soil moisture (∆SM). The one-year field data are split into combinations of three proportions i.e. train, test, and validation sets. While kernel functions with tuning hyperparameters have been used to train and improve the accuracy of the prediction model with multiple iterations. This paper also outlines the existing methods and the machine learning techniques to determine Evapotranspiration, data collection and preprocessing, model construction, and evaluation metrics, highlighting the significance of SVM in advancing the field of ET prediction. The results demonstrate the robustness and high predictability of the developed model on the basis of performance evaluation metrics (R2, RMSE, MAE). The effectiveness of the proposed model in capturing complex relationships within soil and environmental parameters provide insights into its potential applications for water resource management and hydrological ecosystem.

Keywords: evapotranspiration, FAO56, KNIME, machine learning, RStudio, SVM, sensors

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Authors: Elissar Mansour, Emily Chen, Tracee Fernandez, Mariam Basheti, Christopher Gordon, Bandana Saini

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Sleep is an essential process for the maintenance of several neurobiological processes such as memory consolidation, mood, and metabolic processes. It is known that sleep patterns vary with age and is affected by multiple factors. While non-pharmacological strategies are generally considered first-line, sedatives are excessively used in the older population. This study aimed to explore the management of sleep in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) by nurse professionals and to identify the key factors that impact provision of optimal sleep health care. An inductive thematic qualitative research method was employed to analyse the data collected from semi-structured interviews with registered nurses working in RACF. Seventeen interviews were conducted, and the data yielded three themes: 1) the nurses’ observations and knowledge of sleep health, 2) the strategies employed in RACF for the management of sleep disturbances, 3) the organizational barriers to evidence-based sleep health management. Nurse participants reported the use of both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions. Sedatives were commonly prescribed due to their fast action and accessibility despite the guidelines indicating their use in later stages. Although benzodiazepines are known for their many side effects, such as drowsiness and oversedation, temazepam was the most commonly administered drug. Sleep in RACF was affected by several factors such as aging and comorbidities (e.g., dementia, pain, anxiety). However, the were also many modifiable factors that negatively impacted sleep management in RACF. These include staffing ratios, nursing duties, medication side effects, and lack of training and involvement of allied health professionals. This study highlighted the importance of involving a multidisciplinary team and the urge to develop guidelines and training programs for healthcare professionals to improve sleep health management in RACF.

Keywords: registered nurses, residential aged care facilities, sedative use, sleep

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Authors: April Love Palad, Charita B. Lasala

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Mastery on English language is one of the important goals of all English language teachers. This goal can be seen based from the students’ actual performance using the target language which is English. Learning the English language includes hard work where efforts need to be exerted and this can be attained gradually over a long period of time. It is extremely important for all English language teachers to know the effects of incorporating games in teaching. Whether this strategy can have positive or negative effects in students learning, teachers should always consider what is best for their learners. Games may help and provide confidents language learners. These games help teachers to create context in which the language is suitable and significant. Focusing in accuracy and fluency is the heart of this study and this will be obtain in either teaching English using the traditional method or teaching English using language games. It is very important for all English teachers to know which strategy is effective in teaching English to be able to cope with students’ underachievement in this subject. This study made use of the comparative-experimental method. It made use of the pre-post test design with the aim to explore the effectiveness of the language games as strategy used in language teaching for high school students. There were two groups of students being observed, the controlled and the experimental, employing the two strategies in teaching English –traditional and with the use of language games. The scores obtained by two samples were compared to know the effectiveness of the two strategies in teaching English. In this study, it found out that language games help improve students’ fluency and accuracy in the use of target language and this is very evident in the results obtained in the pre-test and post –test result as well the mean gain scores by the two groups of students. In addition, this study also gives us a clear view on the positive effects on the use of language games in teaching which also supported by the related studies based from this research. The findings of the study served as the bases for the creation of the proposed learning plan that integrated language games that teachers may use in their own teaching. This study further concluded that language games are effective in developing students’ fluency in using the English language. This justifies that games help encourage students to learn and be entertained at the same time. Aside from that, games also promote developing language competency. This study will be very useful to teachers who are in doubt in the use of this strategy in their teaching.

Keywords: language games, experimental, comparative, strategy, language teaching, methodology

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Authors: Bea Carmel H. Casiding, Charmaine A. Guy, Funny Jovis P. Malasan, Katrina Chelsea B. Manlutac, Danielle Ann N. Novilla, Marianne R. Oliveros, Magnolia C. Sibulo

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Moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, has become a popular research organism for diverse studies. Recent studies have verified the prevention of blood clotting properties of the moon jellyfish tentacle extract through in vitro methods. The purpose of this study was to validate the blood clotting ability of A. aurita tentacle extract using in vivo method of experimentation. The tentacles of A. aurita jellyfish were excised and filtered then centrifuged at 3000xg for 10 minutes. The crude nematocyst extract was suspended in 1:6 ratios with phosphate buffer solution and sonicated for three periods of 20 seconds each at 50 Hz. Protein concentration of the extract was determined using Bradford Assay. Bovine serum albumin was the standard solution used with the following concentrations: 35.0, 70.0, 105.0, 140.0, 175.0, 210.0, 245.0, and 280.0 µg/mL. The absorbance was read at 595 nm. Toxicity testing from OECD guidelines was adapted. The extract suspended in phosphate-buffered saline solution was arbitrarily set into three doses (0.1mg/kg, 0.3mg/kg, 0.5mg/kg) and were administered daily for five days to the experimental groups of five male Sprague-Dawley rats (one dose per group). Before and after the administration period, bleeding time and clotting time tests were performed. The One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the difference of before and after bleeding time and clotting time from the three treatment groups, time, positive and negative control groups. The average protein concentration of the sonicated crude tentacle extract was 206.5 µg/mL. The highest dose administered (0.5mg/kg) produced significant increase in the time for both bleeding and clotting tests. However, the preceding lower dose (0.3mg/kg) only was significantly effective for clotting time test. The protein contained in the tentacle extract with a concentration of 206.5 mcg/mL and dose of 0.3 mg/kg and 0.5 mg/kg of A. aurita elicited anticoagulating activity.

Keywords: anticoagulant, bleeding time test, clotting time test, moon jellyfish

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Authors: Sarah Potter, Michele Laliberte

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As eating disorders are associated with high levels of chronicity, impairment, and distress, it is paramount to evaluate factors that may improve treatment outcomes in this group. Individuals with eating disorders exhibit elevated levels of perfectionism and emotion dysregulation, as well as reduced self-compassion. These variables are related to eating disorder outcomes, including shape/weight concerns and psychosocial impairment. Thus, these factors may be tenable targets for treatment within eating disorder populations. However, the relative contributions of perfectionism, emotion dysregulation, and self-compassion to the severity of shape/weight concerns and psychosocial impairment remain largely unexplored. In the current study, mediation analyses were conducted to clarify how perfectionism, emotion dysregulation, and self-compassion are linked to shape/weight concerns and psychosocial impairment. The sample was comprised of 85 patients from an outpatient eating disorder clinic. The patients completed self-report measures of perfectionism, self-compassion, emotion dysregulation, eating disorder symptoms, and psychosocial impairment. Specifically, emotion dysregulation was assessed as a mediator in the relationships between (1) perfectionism and shape/weight concerns, (2) self-compassion and shape/weight concerns, (3) perfectionism and psychosocial impairment, and (4) self-compassion and psychosocial impairment. It was postulated that emotion dysregulation would significantly mediate relationships in the former two models. An a priori hypothesis was not constructed in reference to the latter models, as these analyses were preliminary and exploratory in nature. The PROCESS macro for SPSS was utilized to perform these analyses. Emotion dysregulation fully mediated the relationships between perfectionism and eating disorder outcomes. In the link between self-compassion and psychosocial impairment, emotion dysregulation partially mediated this relationship. Finally, emotion dysregulation did not significantly mediate the relationship between self-compassion and shape/weight concerns. The results suggest that emotion dysregulation and self-compassion may be suitable targets to decrease the severity of psychosocial impairment and shape/weight concerns in individuals with eating disorders. Further research is required to determine the stability of these models over time, between diagnostic groups, and in nonclinical samples.

Keywords: eating disorders, emotion dysregulation, perfectionism, self-compassion

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Authors: Kassahun Tilahun Dessie

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The purpose of this study was to explore the awareness of teachers and the attitude they have to the curriculum they implement as well as to assess the actual and desired magnitude of teachers' participation in curriculum development process. It also aimed at investigating the factors that affect teachers' level of conception and perception towards the new higher education curriculum. The study was carried out in Debre Birhan University. Teachers, course coordinators, team leaders and presidents were included in the study as research subjects. Teachers were proportionally selected from each department (of the six faculties) based on available sampling technique. Accordingly, a total of 103 teachers were chosen as a subject of the study. In order to collect first hand data from the teachers, a questionnaire with four parts was developed by the researcher. To this end, scales were designed for measuring the extent of teachers' awareness and attitude. Each of the scales encompasses 11 and 17 items respectively. An open ended questionnaire was also attached for the purpose of obtaining elaborated data on the issue. Information was also obtained from interviews with presidents, team leaders and course coordinators. The data obtained were analyzed qualitatively using descriptive statistical tools. The overall results of the analysis revealed that the awareness of teachers on the curriculum was low. The meager participation of teachers in the process of curriculum development and the deficiency of trainings on the concern were major factors. Teachers' perception towards the existence and implementation of the new curriculum was also inclined to the negative, though difficult to generalize. Lack of awareness, administrators poor approach and lack of facilitating appropriate incentives as well as absence of room for evaluating the curriculum etc plays big role in endangering teachers attitude while the up to datedness of the new curriculum, involvement of teachers in the curriculum development process, the wide ranging quality of the new curriculum etc laid a better ground to boost teachers attitude towards the curriculum. This may have implication to the university in that there is a need to facilitate workshops or awareness creation trainings, to have positive and cooperative administrators, and embracing committed teachers to implement the curriculum efficiently.

Keywords: conception, perception, curriculum, higher education, Ethiopia

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Authors: Sangbaek Park, Seungju Lee, Soo-Won Chae

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Unstable shoes are known to strengthen lower extremity muscles and improve gait ability and to change the user’s gait pattern. The change in gait pattern affects human body enormously because the walking is repetitive and steady locomotion in daily life. It is possible to estimate the joint motion including joint moment, force and inertia effect using kinematic and kinetic analysis. However, the change of internal stress at the articular cartilage has not been possible to estimate. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the internal stress of human body during gait with unstable shoes. In this study, FE analysis was combined with motion capture experiment to obtain the boundary condition and loading condition during walking. Motion capture experiments were performed with a participant during walking with normal shoes and with unstable shoes. Inverse kinematics and inverse kinetic analysis was performed with OpenSim. The joint angle and muscle forces were estimated as results of inverse kinematics and kinetics analysis. A detailed finite element (FE) lower extremity model was constructed. The joint coordinate system was added to the FE model and the joint coordinate system was coincided with OpenSim model’s coordinate system. Finally, the joint angles at each phase of gait were used to transform the FE model’s posture according to actual posture from motion capture. The FE model was transformed into the postures of three major phases (1st peak of ground reaction force, mid stance and 2nd peak of ground reaction force). The direction and magnitude of muscle force were estimated by OpenSim and were applied to the FE model’s attachment point of each muscle. Then FE analysis was performed to compare the stress at knee cartilage during gait with normal shoes and unstable shoes.

Keywords: finite element analysis, gait analysis, human model, motion capture

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Authors: Thirupathi Thippani, Kothandaraman Ramanujam

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Current research on energy storage has been paid to metal-air batteries, because of attractive alternate energy source for the future. Metal – air batteries have the probability to significantly increase the power density, decrease the cost of energy storage and also used for a long time due to its high energy density, low-level pollution, light weight. The performance of these batteries mostly restricted by the slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on cathode during battery discharge and charge. The ORR and OER are conventionally carried out with precious metals (such as Pt) and metal oxides (such as RuO₂ and IrO₂) as catalysts separately. However, these metal-based catalysts are regularly undergoing some difficulties, including high cost, low selectivity, poor stability and unfavorable to environmental effects. So, in order to develop the active, stable, corrosion resistance and inexpensive bi-functional catalyst material is mandatory for the commercialization of zinc-air rechargeable battery technology. We have attempted and synthesized non-precious metal (NPM) catalysts comprising cobalt and N-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes (N-MWCNTs-Co) were synthesized by the solid-state pyrolysis (SSP) of melamine with Co₃O₄. N-MWCNTs-Co acts as an excellent electrocatalyst for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and hence can be used in secondary metal-air batteries and in unitized regenerative fuel cells. It is important to study the OER and ORR at high concentrations of KOH as most of the metal-air batteries employ KOH concentrations > 4M. In the first 16 cycles of the zinc-air battery while using N-MWCNTs-Co, 20 wt.% Pt/C or 20 wt.% IrO₂/C as air electrodes. In the ORR regime (the discharge profile of the zinc-air battery), the cell voltage exhibited by N-MWCNTs-Co was 44 and 83 mV higher (based on 5th cycle) in comparison to of 20 wt.% Pt/C and 20 wt.% IrO₂/C respectively. To demonstrate this promise, a zinc-air battery was assembled and tested at a current density of 0.5 Ag⁻¹ for charge-discharge 100 cycles.

Keywords: oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction(OER), non-platinum, zinc air battery

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Authors: Neel K. Shah

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Passive flow control on aerofoils has largely been achieved through the use of protrusions such as vane-type vortex generators. Consequently, innovative flow-control concepts should be explored in an effort to improve current component performance. Therefore, experimental research has been performed at The University of Manchester to evaluate the flow-control effectiveness of a vortex generator made in the form of a surface indentation. The surface indentation has a trapezoidal planform. A spanwise array of indentations has been applied in a convergent orientation around the maximum-thickness location of the upper surface of a NACA-0015 aerofoil. The aerofoil has been tested in a two-dimensional set-up in a low-speed wind tunnel at an angle of attack (AoA) of 3° and a chord-based Reynolds number (Re) of ~2.7 x 105. The baseline model has been found to suffer from a laminar separation bubble at low AoA. The application of the indentations at 3° AoA has considerably shortened the separation bubble. The indentations achieve this by shedding up-flow pairs of streamwise vortices. Despite the considerable reduction in bubble length, the increase in leading-edge suction due to the shorter bubble is limited by the removal of surface curvature and blockage (increase in surface pressure) caused locally by the convergent indentations. Furthermore, the up-flow region of the vortices, which locally weakens the pressure recovery around the trailing edge of the aerofoil by thickening the boundary layer, also contributes to this limitation. Due to the conflicting effects of the indentations, the changes in the pressure-lift and pressure-drag coefficients, i.e., cl,p and cd,p, are small. Nevertheless, the indentations have improved cl,p and cd,p beyond the uncertainty range, i.e., by ~1.30% and ~0.30%, respectively, at 3° AoA. The wake measurements show that turbulence intensity and Reynolds stresses have considerably increased in the indented case, thus implying that the indentations increase the viscous drag on the model. In summary, the convergent indentations are able to reduce the size of the laminar separation bubble, but conversely, they are not highly effective in reducing cd,p at the tested Reynolds number.

Keywords: aerofoil flow control, laminar separation bubbles, low Reynolds-number flows, surface indentations

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Authors: Maja Ruzic-Baf, Vedrana Keteles, Andrea Debeljuh

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Younger and younger children are now using a smartphone, a device which has become ‘a must have’ and the life of children would be almost ‘unthinkable’ without one. Devices are becoming lighter and lighter but offering an array of options and applications as well as the unavoidable access to the Internet, without which it would be almost unusable. Numerous features such as taking of photographs, listening to music, information search on the Internet, access to social networks, usage of some of the chatting and messaging services, are only some of the numerous features offered by ‘smart’ devices. They have replaced the alarm clock, home phone, camera, tablet and other devices. Their use and possession have become a part of the everyday image of young people. Apart from the positive aspects, the use of smartphones has also some downsides. For instance, free time was usually spent in nature, playing, doing sports or other activities enabling children an adequate psychophysiological growth and development. The greater usage of smartphones during classes to check statuses on social networks, message your friends, play online games, are just some of the possible negative aspects of their application. Considering that the age of the population using smartphones is decreasing and that smartphones are no longer ‘foreign’ to children of pre-school age (smartphones are used at home or in coffee shops or shopping centers while waiting for their parents, playing video games often inappropriate to their age), particular attention must be paid to a very sensitive group, the teenagers who almost never separate from their ‘pets’. This paper is divided into two sections, theoretical and empirical ones. The theoretical section gives an overview of the pros and cons of the usage of smartphones, while the empirical section presents the results of a research conducted in three elementary schools regarding the usage of smartphones and, specifically, their usage during classes, during breaks and to search information on the Internet, check status updates and 'likes’ on the Facebook social network.

Keywords: education, smartphone, social networks, teenagers

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Authors: Renata Gagić-Serdar, Miroslava Markovic, Ljubinko Rakonjac, Aleksandar Lučić

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The paper present the results of the entomological experimental studies of the biological, ecological, and (bionomic) insect performances, such as seasonal adaptation of introduced monophagous false indigo and albizias weevil’s Acanthoscelides pallidipennis Motschulsky. and Bruchidius terrenus (Sharp), Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae, to phenological phases of aggressive invasive host plant Amorpha fruticosa L. and Albizia julibrissin (Fabales: Fabaceae) on the territory of Republic of Serbia with special attention on assessing and monitoring of new formed and detected inter species relations between autochthons parasite wasps from fauna (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) and herbaceous seed weevil beetle. During 15 years (2006-2021), on approximately 30 localities, data analyses were done for observed experimental host plants from samples with statistical significance. Status of genera from families Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea.: Pteromalidae and Eulophidae, after intensive investigations, has been trophicly identified. Recorded seed pest species of A. fruticosa or A. julibrissin (Fabales: Fabaceae) was introduced in Serbia and planted as ornamental trees, they also were put undergo different kinds of laboratory and field research tests during this period in a goal of collecting data about lasting each of develop stage of their seed beetles. Field generations in different stages were also monitored by continuous infested seed collecting and its disection. Established host plant-seed predator linkage was observed in correlation with different environment parameters, especially water level fluctuations in bank corridor formation stands and riparian cultures.

Keywords: amorpha, albizia, chalcidoid wasp, invasiveness, weevils

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Authors: Cristine P. Canlas, Crislene Mae L. Gever, Patricia Bea R. Rosialda, Ma. Nina Regina M. Quibod, Perry Archival C. Buenavente, Normandy M. Barbecho, Cynthia Adeline A. Layusa, Michael Day

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Invasive plants have an impact on global biodiversity and ecosystem function, and their management is a complex and formidable task. Two of these invasive plant species, Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata, are found in the Philippines. Lantana camara has the ability to suppress the growth of and outcompete neighboring plants. Chromolaena odorata causes serious agricultural and economical damage and causes fire hazards during dry season. In addition, both species has been reported to poison livestock. One of the known global management strategies to control invasive plants is the introduction of biological control agents. These natural enemies of the invasive plants reduce population density and impacts of the invasive plants, resulting in the balance of the nature in their invasion. Through secondary data sources, interviews, and field validation (e.g. microhabitat searches, sweep netting, opportunistic sampling, photo-documentation), we investigated whether the biocontrol agents previously released by the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) in their Davao Research Center to control these invasive plants are still present and are affecting their respective host weeds. We confirm the presence of the biocontrol agent of L. camara, Uroplata girardi, which was introduced in 1985, and Cecidochares connexa, a biocontrol agent of C. odorata released in 2003. Four other biocontrol agents were found to affect L. camara. Signs of damage (e.g. stem galls in C. odorata, and leaf mines in L. camara) signify that these biocontrol agents have successfully established outside of their release site in Davao. Further investigating the extent of the spread of these biocontrol agents in the Philippines and their damage to the two weeds will contribute to the management of invasive plant species in the country.

Keywords: invasive alien species, biological control agent, entomology, worst weeds

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Authors: Avinash

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Rural Jharkhand has attracted lesser attention in the field of agrarian studies in India, despite more than eighty percent of its rural population being directly dependent on agriculture as their primary source of livelihood. The limited studies on agrarian issues in Jharkhand have focused predominantly on the subsistence nature of agriculture and low crop productivity. There has also not been much research on agrarian social relations between ‘tribe’ and ‘non-tribe’ communities in the region. This paper is an attempt to understand changing agrarian social relations between tribal and non-tribal communities relating them to different kinds of agrarian transitions taking place in two districts of Jharkhand - Palamu and Khunti. In the Palamu region, agrarian relations are dominated by the presence and significant population size of Hindu high caste land owners, whereas in the Khunti region, agrarian relations are characterized by the population size and dominance of tribes and lower caste land owner cum cultivators. The agrarian relations between ‘upper castes’ and ‘tribes’ in these regions are primarily related to agricultural daily wage labour. However, the agrarian social relations between Dalits and tribal people take the form of ‘communal system of labour exchange’ and ‘household-based labour’. In addition, the ethnographic study of the region depicts steady agrarian transitions (especially shift from indigenous to ‘High Yielding Variety’ (HYV) paddy seeds and growing vegetable cultivation) where ‘Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGOs) and agricultural input manufacturers and suppliers are playing a critical role in agrarian transitions as intermediaries. While agricultural productivity still remains low, both the regions are witnessing slow but gradual agrarian transitions. Rural-urban linkages in the form of seasonal labour migration are creating capital and technical inflows that are transforming agricultural activities. This study describes and interprets the above changes through the lens of ‘regional rurality’.

Keywords: agrarian transitions, rural Jharkhand, regional rurality, tribe and non-tribe

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Authors: L. O'Sullivan, C. Murphy

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This study examined the impact, if any, of mobile technology on the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education for All. It focused specifically on teachers and their practice, in a school with large class sizes and limited teaching resources. Teachers in third grade in a large public school in Mozambique were provided with an iPad connected to a projector, powered by a mobile solar-panel. Teachers also participated in ten days of professional development workshops over thirteen months. Teacher discussions, micro-teaching sessions and classes in the school were video-recorded, and data was triangulated using surveys and additional documents including class plans, digital artifacts created by teachers, workshop notes and researcher field notes. The catalyst for teachers’ creativity development was to use the photographic capabilities of the iPad to capture the local context and make lessons relevant to the lived experience of the students. In the transition stage, teachers worked with lesson plans and support from the professional development workshops to make small incremental changes to their practice, which scaffolded their growing competence in the creative use of the technology as a tool for teaching and developing new teaching resources. Over the full period of the study, these small changes in practice resulted in a cultural shift in how teachers approached all lessons, even those in which they were not using the technology. They developed into working as a community of practice. The digital lessons created were re-used and further developed by other teachers, providing a relevant and valuable bank of content in a context lacking in books and other teaching resources. This study demonstrated that mobile technology proved to be a successful catalyst for impacting creative teaching practice in this context, and supports the Quality Education for All Sustainable Development Goal.

Keywords: mobile technology, creative teaching, sub-Saharan Africa, quality education for all

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Authors: Camilla Elphick, Graham Hole, Samuel Hutton, Graham Pike

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Pupil size has been found to change irrespective of luminosity, suggesting that it can be used to make inferences about cognitive processes, such as cognitive load. To see whether identifying a target requires a different cognitive load to rejecting distractors, the effect of viewing a target (compared with viewing distractors) on pupil size was investigated using a sequential video lineup procedure with two lineup sessions. Forty one participants were chosen randomly via the university. Pupil sizes were recorded when viewing pre target distractors and post target distractors and compared to pupil size when viewing the target. Overall, pupil size was significantly larger when viewing the target compared with viewing distractors. In the first session, pupil size changes were significantly different between participants who identified the target (Hits) and those who did not. Specifically, the pupil size of Hits reduced significantly after viewing the target (by 26%), suggesting that cognitive load reduced following identification. The pupil sizes of Misses (who made no identification) and False Alarms (who misidentified a distractor) did not reduce, suggesting that the cognitive load remained high in participants who failed to make the correct identification. In the second session, pupil sizes were smaller overall, suggesting that cognitive load was smaller in this session, and there was no significant difference between Hits, Misses and False Alarms. Furthermore, while the frequency of Hits increased, so did False Alarms. These two findings suggest that the benefits of including a second session remain uncertain, as the second session neither provided greater accuracy nor a reliable way to measure it. It is concluded that pupil size is a measure of face recognition strength in the first session of a target present lineup procedure. However, it is still not known whether cognitive load is an adequate explanation for this, or whether cognitive engagement might describe the effect more appropriately. If cognitive load and cognitive engagement can be teased apart with further investigation, this would have positive implications for understanding eyewitness identification. Nevertheless, this research has the potential to provide a tool for improving the reliability of lineup procedures.

Keywords: cognitive load, eyewitness identification, face recognition, pupillometry

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Authors: Ryan Adams

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Introduction: Major trauma is the leading cause of death in 15-45 year olds and a significant human, social and economic costs. Resuscitation is a stalwart of trauma management, especially in the pre-hospital environment and packed red blood cells (pRBC) are being increasingly used with the advent of permissive hypotension. The evidence in this area is lacking and further research is required to determine its efficacy. Aim: The aim of this retrospective, matched cohort study was to determine if major trauma patients, who received pre-hospital pRBC, have a difference in their initial emergency department cardiovascular status; when compared with injury-profile matched controls. Methods: The trauma databases of the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Royal Children's Hospital (Herston) and Queensland Ambulance Service were accessed and major trauma patient (ISS>12) data, who received pre-hospital pRBC, from January 2011 to August 2014 was collected. Patients were then matched against control patients that had not received pRBC, by their injury profile. The primary outcomes was cardiovascular status; defined as shock index and Revised Trauma Score. Results: Data for 25 patients who received pre-hospital pRBC was accessed and the injury profiles matched against suitable controls. On admittance to the emergency department, a statistically significant difference was seen in the blood group (Blood = 1.42 and Control = 0.97, p-value = 0.0449). However, the same was not seen with the RTS (Blood = 4.15 and Control 5.56, p-value = 0.291). Discussion: A worsening shock index and revised trauma score was associated with pre-hospital administration of pRBC. However, due to the small sample size, limited matching protocol and associated confounding factors it is difficult to draw any solid conclusions. Further studies, with larger patient numbers, are required to enable adequate conclusions to be drawn on the efficacy of pre-hospital packed red blood cell transfusion.

Keywords: pre-hospital, packed red blood cells, severe trauma, emergency medicine

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Authors: Rashima Mahajan, Dipali Bansal, Shweta Singh

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Real time non-invasive Brain Computer Interfaces have a significant progressive role in restoring or maintaining a quality life for medically challenged people. This manuscript provides a comprehensive review of emerging research in the field of cognitive/affective computing in context of human neural responses. The perspectives of different emotion assessment modalities like face expressions, speech, text, gestures, and human physiological responses have also been discussed. Focus has been paid to explore the ability of EEG (Electroencephalogram) signals to portray thoughts, feelings, and unspoken words. An automated workflow-based protocol to design an EEG-based real time Brain Computer Interface system for analysis and classification of human emotions elicited by external audio/visual stimuli has been proposed. The front end hardware includes a cost effective and portable Emotive EEG Neuroheadset unit, a personal computer and a set of external stimulators. Primary signal analysis and processing of real time acquired EEG shall be performed using MATLAB based advanced brain mapping toolbox EEGLab/BCILab. This shall be followed by the development of MATLAB based self-defined algorithm to capture and characterize temporal and spectral variations in EEG under emotional stimulations. The extracted hybrid feature set shall be used to classify emotional states using artificial intelligence tools like Artificial Neural Network. The final system would result in an inexpensive, portable and more intuitive Brain Computer Interface in real time scenario to control prosthetic devices by translating different brain states into operative control signals.

Keywords: brain computer interface, electroencephalogram, EEGLab, BCILab, emotive, emotions, interval features, spectral features, artificial neural network, control applications

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Authors: Cristy Stagnar, Nina Hubig, Diana Ivankovic

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The epigenome is a compelling candidate for mediating long-term responses to environmental effects modifying disease risk. The main goal of this research is to develop a machine learning-based DNA methylation score, which will be valuable in delineating the unique contribution of paternal epigenetic modifications to the germline impacting childhood health outcomes. It will also be a useful tool in validating self-reports of nonsmoking and in adjusting epigenome-wide DNA methylation association studies for this early-life exposure. Using secondary data from two population-based methylation profiling studies, our DNA methylation score is based on CpG DNA methylation measurements from cord blood gathered from children whose fathers smoked pre- and peri-conceptually. Each child’s mother and father fell into one of three class labels in the accompanying questionnaires -never smoker, former smoker, or current smoker. By applying different machine learning algorithms to the accessible resource for integrated epigenomic studies (ARIES) sub-study of the Avon longitudinal study of parents and children (ALSPAC) data set, which we used for training and testing of our model, the best-performing algorithm for classifying the father smoker and mother never smoker was selected based on Cohen’s κ. Error in the model was identified and optimized. The final DNA methylation score was further tested and validated in an independent data set. This resulted in a linear combination of methylation values of selected probes via a logistic link function that accurately classified each group and contributed the most towards classification. The result is a unique, robust DNA methylation score which combines information on DNA methylation and early life exposure of offspring to paternal smoking during pregnancy and which may be used to examine the paternal contribution to offspring health outcomes.

Keywords: epigenome, health outcomes, paternal preconception environmental exposures, supervised machine learning

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Authors: Charmi Chande, Ravindra Phadke

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Microfluidics devices are fabricated by using multiple fabrication methods. Photolithography is one of the common methods wherein SU8 is widely used for making master which in turn is used for making working chip by the process of soft lithography. The high-aspect ratio features of SU-8 makes it suitable to be used as micro moulds for injection moulding, hot embossing, and moulds to form polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) structures for bioMEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) applications. But due to high cost, difficulty in procuring and need for clean room, restricts the use of this polymer especially in developing countries and small research labs. ‘Bisphenol –A’ based polymers in mixture with curing agent are used in various industries like Paints and coatings, Adhesives, Electrical systems and electronics, Industrial tooling and composites. We present the novel use of ‘Bisphenol – A’ based polymer in fabricating micro channels for Lab On Chip(LOC) devices. The present paper describes the prototype for production of microfluidics chips using range of ‘Bisphenol-A’ based polymers viz. GY 250, ATUL B11, DER 331, DER 330 in mixture with cationic photo initiators. All the steps of chip production were carried out using an inexpensive approach that uses low cost chemicals and equipment. This even excludes the need of clean room. The produced chips using all above mentioned polymers were validated with respect to height and the chip giving least height was selected for further experimentation. The lowest height achieved was 7 micrometers by GY250. The cost of the master fabricated was $ 0.20 and working chip was $. 0.22. The best working chip was used for morphological identification and profiling of microorganisms from environmental samples like soil, marine water and salt water pan sites. The current chip can be adapted for various microbiological screening experiments like biochemical based microbial identification, studying uncultivable microorganisms at single cell/community level.

Keywords: bisphenol–A based epoxy, cationic photoinitiators, microfabrication, photolithography

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Authors: Ranjit Kumar Sahu, Ramakar Jha

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Urban Water Management is the practice of managing freshwater, waste water, and storm water as components of a basin-wide management plan. It builds on existing water supply and sanitation considerations within an urban settlement by incorporating urban water management within the scope of the entire river basin. The pervasive problems generated by urban development have prompted, in the present work, to study the spatial extent of urbanization in Golden Triangle of Odisha connecting the cities Bhubaneswar (20.2700° N, 85.8400° E), Puri (19.8106° N, 85.8314° E) and Konark (19.9000° N, 86.1200° E)., and patterns of periodic changes in urban development (systematic/random) in order to develop future plans for (i) urbanization promotion areas, and (ii) urbanization control areas. Remote Sensing, using USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) Landsat8 maps, supervised classification of the Urban Sprawl has been done for during 1980 - 2014, specifically after 2000. This Work presents the following: (i) Time series analysis of Hydrological data (ground water and rainfall), (ii) Application of SWMM (Storm Water Management Model) and other soft computing techniques for Urban Water Management, and (iii) Uncertainty analysis of model parameters (Urban Sprawl and correlation analysis). The outcome of the study shows drastic growth results in urbanization and depletion of ground water levels in the area that has been discussed briefly. Other relative outcomes like declining trend of rainfall and rise of sand mining in local vicinity has been also discussed. Research on this kind of work will (i) improve water supply and consumption efficiency (ii) Upgrade drinking water quality and waste water treatment (iii) Increase economic efficiency of services to sustain operations and investments for water, waste water, and storm water management, and (iv) engage communities to reflect their needs and knowledge for water management.

Keywords: Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), uncertainty analysis, urban sprawl, land use change

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Authors: Baba Hassane Ahmed Hisseini, Abdelkrim Bennabi, Rabah Hamzaoui, Lamis Makki, Gaetan Blanck

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Most of the clay soils are known as problematic soils due to their water content, which varies greatly over time. It is observed that they are used to be subject to shrinkage and swelling, thus causing a problem of stability on the structures of civil engineering construction work. They are often excavated and placed in a storage area giving rise to the opening of new quarries. This method has become obsolete today because to protect the environment, we are leading to think differently and opening the way to new research for the improvement of the performance of this type of clay soils to reuse them in the construction field. The solidification and stabilization technique is used to improve the properties of poor quality soils to transform them into materials with a suitable performance for a new use in the civil engineering field rather than to excavate them and store them in the discharge area. In our case, the polymerization method is used for bad clay soils classified as high plasticity soil class A4 according to the French standard NF P11-300, where classical treatment methods with cement or lime are not efficient. Our work concerns clay soil treatment study using raw materials as additives for solidification and stabilization. The geopolymers are synthesized by aluminosilicates materials like fly ash, metakaolin, or blast furnace slag and activated by alkaline solution based on sodium hydroxide (NaOH), sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) or a mixture of both of them. In this study, we present the mechanical properties of the soil clay (A4 type) evolution with geopolymerisation methods treatment. Various mix design of aluminosilicates materials and alkaline solutions were carried at different percentages and different curing times of 1, 7, and 28 days. The compressive strength of the untreated clayey soil could be increased from simple to triple. It is observed that the improvement of compressive strength is associated with a geopolymerization mechanism. The highest compressive strength was found with metakaolin at 28 days.

Keywords: treatment and valorization of clay-soil, solidification and stabilization, alkali-activation of co-product, geopolymerization

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Authors: Matthew Lee Turnbough

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In 2007 Spain began to experience the effects of a deep economic crisis, which would generate a situation characterised by instability and uncertainty. This has been an obstacle, especially acute for the youth of this country seeking to enter the workforce. As a result of the impact of COVID-19, the youth in Spain are now suffering the effects of a new crisis that has deepened an already fragile labour environment. In this paper, we analyse the discourses that have emerged from a precarious labour market, specifically from two companies dedicated to operating job portals and job listings in Spain, Job Today, and CornerJob. These two start-up businesses have developed mobile applications geared towards young adults in search of employment in the service sector, two of the companies with the highest user rates in Spain. Utilizing a discourse analysis approach, we explore the impact of individualization and how the process of psychologization may contribute to an increasing reliance on individual solutions to social problems. As such, we seek to highlight the expectations and demands that are placed upon young workers and the type of subjectivity that this dynamic could foster, all this within an unstable framework seemingly marked by chance, a context which is key for the emergence of individualization. Furthermore, we consider the extent to which young adults incorporate these discourses and the strategies they employ basing our analysis on the VULSOCU (New Forms of Socio-Existential Vulnerability, Supports, and Care in Spain) research project, specifically the results of nineteen in-depth interviews and three discussion groups with young adults in this country. Consequently, we seek to elucidate the argumentative threads rooted in the process of individualization and underline the implications of this dynamic for the young worker and his/her labour insertion while also identifying manifestations of the goddess of fortune as a representation of chance in this context. Finally, we approach this panorama of social change in Spain from the perspective of the individuals or young adults who find themselves immersed in this transition from one crisis to another.

Keywords: chance, crisis, discourses, individualization, work, youth

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Authors: Xin Li, Ji-Yang Yu, Yue-Hua Niu, Lu-Yuan Wang

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As an inevitable chain of the space data acquirement system, space-borne storage system based on Nand Flash has gradually been implemented in spacecraft. In face of massive, parallel and varied data on board, efficient data management become an important issue of storage research. Face to the requirements of high-performance and reliability in Nand Flash storage system, a combination of hardware and file system design can drastically increase system dependability, even for missions with a very long duration. More sophisticated flash storage concepts with advanced operating systems have been researched to improve the reliability of Nand Flash storage system on satellites. In this paper, architecture of file system with multi-channel data acquisition and storage on board is proposed, which obtains large-capacity and high-performance with the combine of intra-channel pipeline and device partition in Nand Flash. Multi-channel data in different rate are stored as independent files with parallel-storage system in device partition, which assures the high-effective and reliable throughput of file treatments. For massive and high-speed data storage, an efficiency assessment model is established to calculate the bandwidth formula of intra-channel pipeline. Information tables designed in Magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) hold the management of bad block in Nand Flash and the arrangement of file system address for the high-reliability of data storage. During the full-load test, the throughput of 3D PLUS Module 160Gb Nand Flash can reach 120Mbps for store and reach 120Mbps for playback, which efficiently satisfies the requirement of multi-channel data acquisition in Satellite. Compared with previous literature, the results of experiments verify the advantages of the proposed system.

Keywords: device partition architecture, intra-channel pipelining, nand flash, parallel storage

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Authors: Massimo Miccoli, Luca Marangoni, Alberto Aniello Scaringi, Alessandro Marceddu, Alessandro Amicone

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The susceptibility of deep neural networks (DNNs) to adversarial manipulations is a recognized challenge within the computer vision domain. Adversarial examples, crafted by adding subtle yet malicious alterations to benign images, exploit this vulnerability. Various defense strategies have been proposed to safeguard DNNs against such attacks, stemming from diverse research hypotheses. Building upon prior work, our approach involves the utilization of autoencoder models. Autoencoders, a type of neural network, are trained to learn representations of training data and reconstruct inputs from these representations, typically minimizing reconstruction errors like mean squared error (MSE). Our autoencoder was trained on a dataset of benign examples; learning features specific to them. Consequently, when presented with significantly perturbed adversarial examples, the autoencoder exhibited high reconstruction errors. The architecture of the autoencoder was tailored to the dimensions of the images under evaluation. We considered various image sizes, constructing models differently for 256x256 and 512x512 images. Moreover, the choice of the computer vision model is crucial, as most adversarial attacks are designed with specific AI structures in mind. To mitigate this, we proposed a method to replace image-specific dimensions with a structure independent of both dimensions and neural network models, thereby enhancing robustness. Our multi-modal autoencoder reconstructs the spectral representation of images across the red-green-blue (RGB) color channels. To validate our approach, we conducted experiments using diverse datasets and subjected them to adversarial attacks using models such as ResNet50 and ViT_L_16 from the torch vision library. The autoencoder extracted features used in a classification model, resulting in an MSE (RGB) of 0.014, a classification accuracy of 97.33%, and a precision of 99%.

Keywords: adversarial attacks, malicious images detector, binary classifier, multimodal transformer autoencoder

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Authors: Seyed Habib Shojaei, Reza Eivazi, Mir Sajad Shojaei, Alireza Akbari, Pooria Mazloom, Seyede Mitra Sadati, Mir Zeinalabedin Shojaei, Farnaz Farbakhsh

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To study the genetic diversity in rapeseeds and agronomic traits, an experiment was conducted using multivariate statistical methods at Agricultural Research Station of Kashmar in 2012-2013.In this experiment, ten genotypes of rapeseed in a Randomized Complete Block designs with three replications were evaluated. The following traits were studied: seed yield, number of days to the fifty percent of flowering, plant height, number of pods on main stem, length of the pod, seed yield per plant, number of seed in pod, harvest index, weight of 100 seeds, number of pods on lateral branch, number of lateral branches. In analyzing the variance, differences between cultivars were significant. The average comparative revealed that the most valuable variety was Licord regarding to the traits while the least valuable variety was Opera. In stepwise regression, harvest index, grain yield per plant and number of pods per lateral branches were entering to model. Correlation analysis showed that the grain yield with the number of pods per lateral branches and seed yield per plant have positive and significant correlation. In the factor analysis, the first five components explained more than 83% of the variance in the data. In the first factor, seed yield and the number of pods per lateral branches were of the highest importance. The traits, seed yield per plant, and pod per main stem were of a great significance in the second factor. Moreover, in the third factor, plant height and the number of lateral branches were more important. In the fourth factor, plant height and one hundred seeds weight were of the highest variance. Finally, days to fifty percent of flowering and one hundred seeds weight were more important in fifth factor.

Keywords: rapeseed, variance analysis, regression, factor analysis

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Authors: Subesh Panta

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The land is a one of the major boosting factors of production for the agricultural country like Nepal where access to land has been a major source of livelihood of tenants and small farmers. But there is an absence of secure land tenure arrangement which drastically affect the overall production of farmers leading towards food insecurity. Sharecropping is practiced in Nepal especially in tarai region from early period, but there is the gap in the academic study whether the sharecropping has benefitted tenant farmers and make them food sufficient or not. This study attempts to find out the food sufficiency among the tenant households. The research was carried in the three VDCs of Parsa district -Paterwa (Sugauli), Jitpur and Nirchuta. A total of 111 households were determined as the sample size from each of the three VDCs was randomly visited for interview in the study. The size of land rent-in was found to be very small and fragmented. At the same time, the land tenure security was not found to be secured among the tenants. Due to lack of land tenure security, on one hand tenants and small farmers were not found to be motivated to investment in agriculture as they need to share fifty percent of their production with the land owners, and on other hand land owners were also not interested in investing as they have other alternative sources of livelihood rather than agriculture. In conclusion, the study highpoint that the crop production and food sufficiency level of the tenants’ farmers of the Parsa district are decreasing. Many tenants’ farmers are seeking alternative opportunities for livelihood rather than sharecropping due to insecure land tenure, feudalistic practice, lack of storage for agriculture production, lack of proper agro-market. The situation is such that, if no action is taken timely, there may be a situation that we will have to depend on imports for all the food requirements. Thus, the study discloses that the sharecropping could act as catalyst for ensuring food sufficiency for all, if proper land tenure police are promoted to tenants/small farmers with legal titles to their land or promoted with sustainable agriculture methods.

Keywords: agriculture, food sufficiency, land, tenant farmes

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Authors: Basave Gowda, Lokesh K., Prasanth S. M., Bellad S. B., Radha J., Lokesh G. Y., Patil S. B., Vijayakumar D. K., Ganigar B. S., Rakesh C. Mathad

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Quality seed plays an important role in enhancing the crop productivity. It was reported and confirmed by large scale verification research trials that by use of quality seeds alone, the crop yield can be enhanced by 15 to 20 per cent. At present, the quality seed production and distribution through organised sectors comprising both public and private seed sector was only 20-25% of the requirement and the remaining quantity is met through unorganised sector which include the farmer to farmers saved seeds. With an objective of developing an alternative seed system, the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur in Karnataka state has implemented Seed Village Programme in more than 100 villages covering around 5000 farmers every year since 2009-10 and in the selected seed villages, a group of 50-150 farmers were supplied the foundation seeds of new varieties to an extent of 0.4 ha at 50 % subsidy. And two to three training programmes were conducted in the targeted villages for quality seed production and the seed produced in the target group was processed locally in the university seed processing units and arranged for distribution in the local villages by the seed growers themselves. By this new innovative and modified seed system, the university can able to replace old varieties of pigeon pea and green gram by producing 1482, 2978, 2729, 2560, and 4581 tonnes of seeds of new varieties on large scale under farmers and scientists participatory seed village programmes respectively during 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. From this new alternate model of seed system, there should be large scale promotion of regional seed system involving farmers, NGO and voluntary organisation for quick and effective replacement of old, low yielding, disease susceptible varieties with new high yielding, disease resistant for enhanced food production and food security.

Keywords: seed system, seed village, seed replacement, varietal replacement

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Authors: Nyasha Agnes Gurira, Patrick Ngulube

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Heritage as an asset can be used to achieve cultural and socio-economic development through its careful use as a tourist attraction. Cultural heritage sites, especially those listed as World Heritage sites generate a lot of revenue through their use as tourist attractions. According to article 5(a) of the World Heritage Convention, World Heritage Sites (WHS) must serve a function in the life of the communities. This is further stressed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) charter on cultural heritage tourism which recognizes the positive effects of tourism on cultural heritage and underlines that domestic and international tourism is among the foremost vehicles for cultural exchange, conservation should thus provide for responsible and well-managed opportunities for local communities. The inclusion of communities in the world heritage agenda identifies them as the owners of the heritage and partners in the management planning process. This reiterates the need to empower communities and enable them to participate in the decisions which relate to the use of their heritage divorcing from the ideals of viewing communities as beneficiaries from the heritage resource. It recognizes community ownership rights to cultural heritage an element enshrined in Zimbabwe’ national constitution. Through the use of contingency valuation approaches, by assessing the Willingness to pay for visitors at the site the research determined the tourism use value of Great Zimbabwe (WHS). It assessed the extent to which the communities at Great Zimbabwe (WHS) have been developed through the tourism use of the WHS. Findings show that the current management mechanism in place regards communities as stakeholders in the management of the WHS, their ownership and property rights are not fully recognized. They receive indirect benefits from the tourism use of the WHS. This paper calls for a shift in management approach where community ownership rights are fully recognized and more inclusive approaches are adopted to ensure that the goal of sustainable development is achieved. Pro-poor benefits of tourism are key to enhancing the livelihoods of communities and can only be achieved if their rights are recognized and respected.

Keywords: communities, cultural heritage tourism, development, property ownership rights, pro-poor benefits, sustainability, world heritage site

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