Search results for: rural regional

Authors: Claudia Carbajal, Jija Dutt, Smriti Pahwa, Sumukhi Vaid, Karishma Vats

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ASER Centre, the research and assessment arm of Pratham Education Foundation sees measurement as the first stage of action. ASER uses primary research to push and give empirical foundations to policy discussions at a multitude of levels. At a household level, common citizens use a simple assessment (a floor-level test) to measure learning across rural India. This paper presents the evidence on the applicability of an ASER approach to the health sector. A citizen-led assessment was designed and executed that collected information from young mothers with children up to a year of age. The pilot assessments were rolled-out in two different models: Paid surveyors and student volunteers. The survey covered three geographic areas: 1,239 children in the Jaipur District of Rajasthan, 2,086 in the Rae Bareli District of Uttar Pradesh, and 593 children in the Bhuj Block in Gujarat. The survey tool was designed to study knowledge of health-related issues, daily practices followed by young mothers and access to relevant services and programs. It provides insights on behaviors related to infant and young child feeding practices, child and maternal nutrition and supplementation, water and sanitation, and health services. Moreover, the survey studies the reasons behind behaviors giving policy-makers actionable pathways to improve implementation of social sector programs. Although data on health outcomes are available, this approach could provide a rapid annual assessment of health issues with indicators that are easy to understand and act upon so that measurements do not become an exclusive domain of experts. The results give many insights into early childhood health behaviors and challenges. Around 98% of children are breastfed, and approximately half are not exclusively breastfed (for the first 6 months). Government established diet diversity guidelines are met for less than 1 out of 10 children. Although most households are satisfied with the quality of drinking water, most tested households had contaminated water.

Keywords: citizen-led assessment, rapid health assessment, Infant and Young Children Feeding, water and sanitation, maternal nutrition, supplementation

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Authors: Živilė Jurgelėnė, Vitalijus Karabanovas, Augustas Morkvėnas, Reda Dzingelevičienė, Nerijus Dzingelevičius, Saulius Raugelė, Boguslaw Buszewski

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The short- and long-term effects of COVID-19 antiviral drug molnupiravir and micro/nanoplastics on the early development of Salmo trutta were investigated using accumulation and exposure studies. Salmo trutta were used as standardized test organisms in toxicity studies of COVID-19 waste contaminants. The 2D/3D imaging was performed using confocal fluorescence spectral imaging microscopy to assess the uptake, bioaccumulation, and distribution of molnupiravir and micro/nanoplastics complex in live fish. Our study results demonstrated that molnupiravir may interact with a micro/nanoplastics and modify their spectroscopic parameters and toxicity to S. trutta embryos and larvae. The 0.2 µm size microplastics at a concentration of 10 mg/L were found to be stable in aqueous media than 0.02 µm, and 2 µm sizes polymeric particles. This study demonstrated that polymeric particles can adsorb molnupiravir that are present in mixtures and modify the accumulation of molnupiravir in Salmo trutta embryos and larvae. In addition, 2D/3D confocal fluorescence imaging showed that the single polymeric particle hardly accumulates and couldn't penetrate outer tissues of the tested organism. However, co-exposure micro/nanoplastics and molnupiravir could significantly enhance the polymeric particles capability of accumulating on surface tissues and penetrating surface tissue of fish in early development. Exposure to molnupiravir at 2 g/L concentration and co-exposure to micro/nanoplastics and molnupiravir did not bring about survival changes in in the early stages of Salmo trutta development, but we observed the reduction in heart rate and decrease in gill ventilation. The statistical analysis confirmed that micro/nanoplastics used in combination with molnupiravir enhance the toxicity of the latter micro/nanoplastics to embryos and larvae. This research has received funding from the European Regional Development Fund (project No 13.1.1-LMT-K-718-05-0014) under a grant agreement with the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), and it was funded as part of the European Union’s measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: fish, micro/nanoplastics, molnupiravir, toxicity

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Authors: Sabyasachi Behera, Shiv Kumar, Pramod Gautam, Anisur Rahman, Pawan Pathak, Rahul Bhadouria

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Background: The increasing proportion of population especially urban poor and vulnerable groups or groups with specific needs, with health indicators worse than their rural counterparts in India face various issues related with availability and quality of health care. The reasons are myriad, starting from information and awareness of the community, especially, in a scenario wherein the needs and challenges of floating and migrant urban populations remain poorly understood. Weak linkages between health care facilities and slum dwellers and vulnerable populations hinder the improvement of health services for urban poor. Method: To address this issue, TCIHC program is helping health department of Indore city of Madhya Pradesh to establish a referral mechanism with a dual approach: at both community and facility level. The former is based on the premise of ‘building social capital’, i.e. norms and networks within a community facilitating collective action, helps improve the demand and supply of health services at appropriate levels of care (Minus 2: Accredited Social Health Activist and Community Health Groups; Minus 1: Urban Health Nutrition Days; Zero: Urban Primary Health Center; Plus 1: secondary facility with BEmONC services; Plus 2: secondary facilities with CEmONC services; Plus 3: tertiary level facility) for the urban poor. The latter focuses on encouraging the provision of all services at various levels of service delivery points and stakeholders to function in a coordinated manner to ensure better health service availability and coverage in underserved slum areas. Results: This initiative has enhanced the utilization of community based, primary and secondary level services through defined referral pathways that are clearly known to a community dweller. Conclusion: An ideal referral mechanism should begin with referral at the community level wherein services of a frontline health care provider are accessed by them at their door-step, causing no delay in both understanding and decision on the health issues faced by them.

Keywords: levels of care, linkages, referral mechanism, service delivery

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Authors: Fikru Fentaw Abera

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Climate changes alter regional hydrologic conditions and results in a variety of impacts on water resource systems. Such hydrologic changes will affect almost every aspect of human well-being. The goal of this paper is to assess the impact of climate change on the hydrology of Upper Guder catchment located in northwest of Ethiopia. The GCM derived scenarios (HadCM3 A2a & B2a SRES emission scenarios) experiments were used for the climate projection. The statistical downscaling model (SDSM) was used to generate future possible local meteorological variables in the study area. The down-scaled data were then used as input to the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model to simulate the corresponding future stream flow regime in Upper Guder catchment of the Abay River Basin. A semi distributed hydrological model, SWAT was developed and Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) was utilized for uncertainty analysis. GLUE is linked with SWAT in the Calibration and Uncertainty Program known as SWAT-CUP. Three benchmark periods simulated for this study were 2020s, 2050s and 2080s. The time series generated by GCM of HadCM3 A2a and B2a and Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM) indicate a significant increasing trend in maximum and minimum temperature values and a slight increasing trend in precipitation for both A2a and B2a emission scenarios in both Gedo and Tikur Inch stations for all three bench mark periods. The hydrologic impact analysis made with the downscaled temperature and precipitation time series as input to the hydrological model SWAT suggested for both A2a and B2a emission scenarios. The model output shows that there may be an annual increase in flow volume up to 35% for both emission scenarios in three benchmark periods in the future. All seasons show an increase in flow volume for both A2a and B2a emission scenarios for all time horizons. Potential evapotranspiration in the catchment also will increase annually on average 3-15% for the 2020s and 7-25% for the 2050s and 2080s for both A2a and B2a emissions scenarios.

Keywords: climate change, Guder sub-basin, GCM, SDSM, SWAT, SWAT-CUP, GLUE

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Authors: Jean Paul Hategekimana, Bampire Claudine, Niyonsenga Nadia, Irakoze Josiane

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Peas, soybeans and rice are crops which are grown in Rwanda and are available in rural and urban local markets and they give contribution in reduction of health problems especially in fighting malnutrition and food insecurity in Rwanda. Several research activities have been conducted on how cereals flour can be mixed with legumes flour for developing baked products which are rich in protein, fiber, minerals as they are found in legumes. However, such activity was not yet well studied in Rwanda. The aim of the present study was to develop bread and biscuit products from peas, soybeans and rice as functional ingredients combined with wheat flour and then analyze the nutritional content and consumer acceptability of new developed products. The malnutrition problem can be reduced by producing bread and biscuits which are rich in protein and are very accessible for every individual. The processing of bread and biscuit were made by taking peas flour, soybeans flour and rice flour mixed with wheat flour and other ingredients then a dough was made followed by baking. For bread, two kind of products were processed, for each product one control and three experimental samples in different three ratios of peas and rice were prepared. These ratios were 95:5, 90:10 and 80:20 for bread from peas and 85:5:10, 80:10:10 and 70:10:20 for bread from peas and rice. For biscuit, two kind of products were also processed, for each product one control sample and three experimental samples in three different ratios were prepared. These ratios are 90:5:5,80:10:10 and 70:10:20 for biscuit from peas and rice and 90:5:5,80:10:10 and 70:10:20 for biscuit from soybean and rice. All samples including the control sample were analyzed for the consumer acceptability (sensory attributes) and nutritional composition. For sensory analysis, bread from of peas and rice flour with wheat flour at ratio 85:5:10 and bread from peas only as functional ingredient with wheat flour at ratio 95:5 and biscuits made from a of soybeans and rice at a ratio 90:5:5 and biscuit made from peas and rice at ratio 90:5:5 were most acceptable compared to control sample and other samples in different ratio. The moisture, protein, fat, fiber and minerals (Sodium and iron.) content were analyzed where bread from peas in all ratios was found to be rich in protein and fiber compare to control sample and biscuit from soybean and rice in all ratios was found to be rich in protein and fiber compare to control sample.

Keywords: bakery products, peas and rice flour, wheat flour, sensory evaluation, proximate composition

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Authors: Maria Consuelo Doble

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For decades, basic public education in the Philippines has been beleaguered by a governance scenario of multi-layered decision-making and the lack of collaboration between sectors in addressing issues on poor access to schools, high dropout rates, low survival rates, and poor student performance. These chronic problems persisted despite multiple efforts making it appear that the education system is incapable of reforming itself. In the mountainous rural towns of La Trinidad and Tuba, in the province of Benguet in Northern Philippines, collaborative education governance was catalyzed by the intervention of Synergeia Foundation, a coalition made up of individuals, institutions and organizations that aim to improve the quality of education in the Philippines. Its major thrust is to empower the major stakeholders at the community level to make education work by building the capacities of School Governing Councils (SGCs). Although mandated by the Department of Education in 2006, the SGCs in Philippine public elementary schools remained dysfunctional. After one year of capacity-building by Synergeia Foundation, some SGCs are already exhibiting active community-based multi-sectoral collaboration, while there are many that are not. With the myriad of factors hindering collaboration, Synergeia Foundation is now confronted with the pressing question: What are the factors that promote collaborative governance in the SGCs so that they can address the education-related issues that they are facing? Using Emerson’s (2011) framework on collaborative governance, this study analyzes the application of collaborative governance by highly-functioning SGCs in the public elementary schools of Tuba and La Trinidad. Findings of this action research indicate how the dynamics of collaboration composed of three interactive and iterative components – principled engagement, shared motivation and capacity for joint action – have resulted in meaningful short-term impact such as stakeholder engagement and decreased a number of dropouts. The change in the behavior of stakeholders is indicative of adaptation to a more collaborative approach in governing education in Benguet highland settings such as Tuba and La Trinidad.

Keywords: basic public education, Benguet highlands, collaborative governance, School Governing Council

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Authors: Estibe Dagne Mekonnen

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In recent years, the prevalence of undernourishment was 30 percent for sub-Saharan Africa, compared with 16 percent for Asia and the Pacific (Ali, 2011). In Ethiopia, almost 40 percent of the total population in the country and 57 percent of Addis Ababa population lives below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 per day (UNICEF, 2009). This study aims to analyze the determinant of household food secrity in Addis Ababa city administration. Primary data were collected from a survey of 256 households in the selected sub-city, namely Addis Ketema, Arada, and Kolfe Keranio, in the year 2022. Both Purposive and multi-stage cluster random sampling procedures were employed to select study areas and respondents. Descriptive statistics and order logistic regression model were used to test the formulated hypotheses. The result reveals that out of the total sampled households, 25% them were food secured, 13% were mildly food insecure, 26% were moderately food insecure and 36% were severely food insecure. The study indicates that household family size, house ownership, household income, household food source, household asset possession, household awareness on inflation, household access to social protection program, household access to credit and saving and household access to training and supervision on food security have a positive and significant effect on the likelihood of household food security status. However, marital status of household head, employment sector of household head, dependency ratio and household’s nonfood expenditure has a negative and significant influence on household food security status. The study finally suggests that the government in collaboration with financial institutions and NGO should work on sustaining household food security by creating awareness, providing credit, facilitate rural-urban linkage between producer and consumer and work on urban infrastructure improvement. Moreover, the governments also work closely and monitor consumer good suppliers, if possible find a way to subsidize consumable goods to more insecure households and make them to be food secured. Last but not least, keeping this country’s peace will play a crucial role to sustain food security.

Keywords: determinants, household, food security, order logit model, Addis Ababa

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Authors: Kruttika Bhuse

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Aim: Synergism between periodontists and orthodontists (periodontal accelerated osteogenic orthodontics- PAOO) creates crucial opportunities to enhance clinical outcomes of combined therapies regarding both disciplines and has made adult orthodontics a reality. Thus, understanding the biomechanics of bone remodelling may increase the clinical applications of corticotomy facilitated orthodontics with or without alveolar augmentation. Wilckodontics can be an attractive treatment option and be a “win-win” situation for both the dental surgeon and patient by reducing the orthodontic treatment time in adults. Materials and methods: In this review, data related to the clinical aspects, steps of procedure, biomechanics of bone, indications and contraindications and final outcome of wilckodontic shall be discussed. 50 supporting articles from various international journals and 70 clinical cases were reviewed to get a better understanding to design this wilckodontic - meta analysis. Various journals like the Journal Of Clinical And Diagnostic Research, Journal Of Indian Society Of Periodontology, Journal Of Periodontology, Pubmed, Boston Orthodontic University Journal, Good Practice Orthodontics Volume 2, have been referred to attain valuable information on wilckodontics which was then compiled in this single review study. Result: As a promising adjuvant technique based on the transient nature of demineralization-remineralisation process in healthy tissues, wilckodontics consists of regional acceleratory phenomenon by alveolar corticotomy and bone grafting of labial and palatal/lingual surfaces, followed by orthodontic force. The surgical wounding of alveolar bone potentiates tissue reorganization and healing by a way of transient burst of localized hard and soft tissue remodelling.This phenomenon causes bone healing to occur 10-50 times faster than normal bone turnover. Conclusion: This meta analysis helps understanding that the biomechanics of bone remodelling may increase the clinical applications of corticotomy facilitated orthodontics with or without alveolar augmentation. The main benefits being reduced orthodontic treatment time, increased bone volume and post-orthodontic stability.

Keywords: periodontal osteogenic accelerated orthodontics, alveolar corticotomy, bone augmentation, win-win situation

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Authors: Gabriel Roveda-Hoyos, Margarita Ramirez-Gomez, Adrian Perez, Diana Paola Serralde

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The objective of this study was to determine the variability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (HFMA) communities associated with wild agraz plants (Vaccinium meridionale Swartz) in the Colombian Andes. This species is one of the most promising fruits within the genus Vaccinium because of the high content of anthocyanins and antioxidants in its fruits, and like other species of the Ericaceae family, it depends on the association with HFM for its development in the natural environment. In this study, the presence of mycorrhizae in wild communities of V. meridionale was evaluated, and their relationship with the edaphic and climatic conditions of the study area was analyzed. Sampling was conducted in the rural area of the municipalities of Raquira, and Chiquinquira, Chia, and Tabio in the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyaca, Colombia. Seven sites were selected, and in each site, 5 plants were randomly selected, root and soil samples were taken from each plant in the rhizosphere zone for the quantification of colonization and the presence of spores. The samples were collected on different soils, taxonomic orders Entisols, Inceptisols, and Alfisols, located at altitudes between 2,600 and 3,000 above sea level in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. The physicochemical characteristics of the soil were compared with the density of spores and the percentage of presence of mycorrhizae in the roots and variables with the morphometric and physiological characteristics of the plants. Four types of mutual associations were found: arbuscular mycorrhizae, ectendomycorrhiza, ericoid mycorrhizae, and endophytic septate fungi. The main results obtained show a predominance of spores of the genera Glomus and Acaulsopora, in most of the soils analyzed. The spore density of Glomeromycete fungi in the soil varied considerably between the different sites; it was higher ( > 50 spores/g of dry soil) in soil samples with lower bulk density and higher content of organic matter; in these soils a higher cation exchange capacity was found, as well as of nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, manganese and zinc concentration. It can be concluded that Vaccinium meridionale is able to establish in a natural way, association with HFMA.

Keywords: Ericaceae, Arbuscular mycorrhizae, Andes, soils, Glomus sp.

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Authors: David Nchinda Keming

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The present study is focused on both the national and international collective fight against Boko Haram terrorism on Cameroon and the rule played by the Lake Chad Basin Countries (LCBCs) and the global community to suffocate the sect’s activities in the region. Although countries of the Lake Chad Basin include: Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger others like Benin also joined the course. The justification for the internationalisation of the fight against Boko Haram could be explained by the ecological and international climatic importance of the Lake Chad and the danger posed by the sect not only to the Lake Chad member countries but to global armed, civil servants and the international political economy. The study, therefore, kick start with Cameroon’s reaction to Boko Haram’s terrorist attacks on its territory. It further expounds on Cameroon’s request on bilateral diplomacy from members of the UN Security Council for an international collective support to staple the winds of the challenging sect. The study relies on the hypothesis that Boko Haram advanced terrorism on Cameroon was more challenging to the domestic military intelligence thus forcing the government to seek for bilateral and multilateral international collective support to secure its territory from the powerful sect. This premise is tested internationally via (multilateral cooperation, bilateral response, regional cooperation) and domestically through (solidarity parade, religious discourse, political manifestations, war efforts, the vigilantes and the way forward). To accomplish our study, we made used of the mixed research methodologies to interpret the primary, secondary and tertiary sources consulted. Our results reveal that the collective response was effectively positive justified by the drastic drop in the sect’s operations in Cameroon and the whole LCBCs. Although the sect was incapacitated, terrorism remains an international malaise and Cameroon hosts a fertile ground for terrorists’ activism. Boko Haram was just weakened and not completely defeated and could reappear someday even under a different appellation. Therefore, to absolutely eradicate terrorism in general and Boko Haram in particular, LCBCs must improve their military intelligence on terrorism and continue to collaborate with advanced experienced countries in fighting terrorism.

Keywords: Boko Haram, terrorism, domestic, international, response

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Authors: Woldegerima G. Medhin, Tadele Araya

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Background: Rabies is acute viral encephalitis affecting mainly carnivores and insectivorous but can affect any mammal. Case fatality rate is 100% once clinical signs appear. Rabies has a worldwide distribution in continental regions of Asia and Africa. Globally, rabies is responsible for more than 61000 human deaths annually. An estimation of human mortality rabies in Asia and Africa annually exceed 35172 and 21476 respectively. Ethiopia approximately 2900 people were estimated to die of rabies annually, Tigary region approximately 98 people were estimated to die annually. The aim of this study is to analyze trends, describe, and evaluate the ten years rabies data in Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods: We conducted descriptive epidemiological study from 15-30 February, 2023 of rabies exposure and death in humans by reviewing the health management information system report from Tigray Regional Health Bureau and vaccination coverage of dog population from 2013 to 2022. We used case definition, suspected cases are those bitten by the dogs displaying clinical signs consistent with rabies and confirmed cases were deaths from rabies at time of the exposure. Results: A total 21031 dog bites and 375 deaths report of rabies and 18222 post exposure treatments for humans in Tigray region were used. A suspected rabies patients had shown an increasing trend from 2013 to 2015 and 2018 to 2019. Overall mortality rate was 19/1000 in Tigray. Majority of suspected patients (45%) were age <15 years old. An estimated by Agriculture Bureau of Tigray Region about 12000 owned and 2500 stray dogs are available in the region, but yearly dog vaccination remains low (50%). Conclusion: Rabies is a public health problem in Tigray region. It is highly recommended to vaccinate individually owned dogs and concerned sectors should eliminate stray dogs. Surveillance system should strengthen for estimating the real magnitude, launch preventive and control measures.

Keywords: rabies, Virus, transmision, prevalence

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Authors: Aniko Babits, Ahmad Daoud

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Introduction: The beach chair position (BCP) is a good approach to almost all types of shoulder procedures. However, moving an anaesthetized patient from the supine to sitting position may pose a risk of cerebral hypoperfusion and potential cerebral ischaemia as a result of significant reductions in blood pressure and cardiac output. Hypocapnia in ventilated patients and impaired blood flow to the vertebral artery due to hyperextension, rotation, or tilt of the head may have an impact too. Co-morbidities that may increase the risk of cerebral ischaemia in the BCP include diabetes with autonomic neuropathy, cerebrovascular disease, cardiac disease, severe hypertension, generalized vascular disease, history of fainting, and febrile conditions. Beach chair surgery requires a careful anaesthetic and surgical management to optimize patient safety and minimize the risk of adverse outcomes. Methods: We describe the necessary steps for optimal patient positioning and the aims of intraoperative management, including anaesthetic techniques to ensure patient safety in the BCP. Results: Regardless of the anaesthetic technique, adequate patient positioning is paramount in the BCP. The key steps to BCP are aimed at optimizing surgical success and minimizing the risk of severe neurovascular complications. The primary aim of anaesthetic management is to maintain cardiac output and mean arterial pressure (MAP) to protect cerebral perfusion. Blood pressure management includes treating a fall in MAP of more than 25% from baseline or a MAP less than 70 mmHg. This can be achieved by using intravenous fluids or vasopressors. A number of anaesthetic techniques could also improve cerebral oxygenation, including avoidance of intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) with general anaesthesia (GA), using regional anaesthesia, maintaining normocapnia and normothermia, and the application of compression stockings. Conclusions: In summary, BCP is a reliable and effective position to perform shoulder procedures. Simple steps to patient positioning and careful anaesthetic management could maximize patient safety and avoid unwanted adverse outcomes in patients undergoing surgery in BCP.

Keywords: beach chair position, cerebral oxygenation, cerebral perfusion, sitting position

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Authors: Josué Alfredo Tomas Machaca Fajardo, Jhon Elvis Chahua Janampa, Pedro Rau Lavado

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A flood vulnerability index was developed for the Piura River watershed in northern Peru using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to assess flood risk. The official methodology to assess risk from natural hazards in Peru was introduced in 1980 and proved effective for aiding complex decision-making. This method relies in part on decision-makers defining subjective correlations between variables to identify high-risk areas. While risk identification and ensuing response activities benefit from a qualitative understanding of influences, this method does not take advantage of the advent of national and international data collection efforts, which can supplement our understanding of risk. Furthermore, this method does not take advantage of broadly applied statistical methods such as PCA, which highlight central indicators of vulnerability. Nowadays, information processing is much faster and allows for more objective decision-making tools, such as PCA. The approach presented here develops a tool to improve the current flood risk assessment in the Peruvian basin. Hence, the spatial analysis of the census and other datasets provides a better understanding of the current land occupation and a basin-wide distribution of services and human populations, a necessary step toward ultimately reducing flood risk in Peru. PCA allows the simplification of a large number of variables into a few factors regarding social, economic, physical and environmental dimensions of vulnerability. There is a correlation between the location of people and the water availability mainly found in rivers. For this reason, a comprehensive vision of the population location around the river basin is necessary to establish flood prevention policies. The grouping of 5x5 km gridded areas allows the spatial analysis of flood risk rather than assessing political divisions of the territory. The index was applied to the Peruvian region of Piura, where several flood events occurred in recent past years, being one of the most affected regions during the ENSO events in Peru. The analysis evidenced inequalities for the access to basic services, such as water, electricity, internet and sewage, between rural and urban areas.

Keywords: assess risk, flood risk, indicators of vulnerability, principal component analysis

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Authors: Mohamed Abdalla Saleem, Hana Ellafi

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The study area is located in the eastern part of the Sirt Basin, in the Sarir-Hameimat arm of the basin, south of Amal High. The area covers the northern part of the Hamemat Trough and the Rakb High. All of these tectonic elements are part of the major and common tectonics that were created when the old Sirt Arch collapsed, and most of them are trending NW-SE. This study has been conducted to investigate the subsurface structures and the sedimentology characterization of the area and attempt to define its development tectonically and stratigraphically. About 7600 land gravity measurements, 22500 gridded magnetic data, and petrographic core data from some wells were used to investigate the subsurface structural features both vertically and laterally. A third-order separation of the regional trends from the original Bouguer gravity data has been chosen. The residual gravity map reveals a significant number of high anomalies distributed in the area, separated by a group of thick sediment centers. The reduction to the pole magnetic map also shows nearly the same major trends and anomalies in the area. Applying the further interpretation filters reveals that these high anomalies are sourced from different depth levels; some are deep-rooted, and others are intruded igneous bodies within the sediment layers. The petrographic sedimentology study for some wells in the area confirmed the presence of these igneous bodies and defined their composition as most likely to be gabbro hosted by marine shale layers. Depth investigation of these anomalies by the average depth spectrum shows that the average basement depth is about 7.7 km, while the top of the intrusions is about 2.65 km, and some near-surface magnetic sources are about 1.86 km. The depth values of the magnetic anomalies and their location were estimated specifically using the 3D Euler deconvolution technique. The obtained results suggest that the maximum depth of the sources is about 4938m. The total horizontal gradient of the magnetic data shows that the trends are mostly extending NW-SE, others are NE-SW, and a third group has an N-S extension. This variety in trend direction shows that the area experienced different tectonic regimes throughout its geological history.

Keywords: sirt basin, tectonics, gravity, magnetic

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Authors: Zuzana Fišerová, Marie Paseková

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Debt relief (also labelled personal bankruptcy) is a bankruptcy settlement method which was implemented into Czech legislation by the Insolvency Act (Act No. 182/2006 Coll. on Insolvency and its Resolution) on 1 January 2008. The need to implement the institute of personal bankruptcy arose from the excessive over-indebtedness of many inhabitants of the Czech Republic after the crisis that arose around 2008 and 2009. The contribution analyses the development in the manner in which households approach personal bankruptcy and assesses and surveys the differences between indebtedness among men and women. The first section analyses the development in numbers of filed personal bankruptcy petitions and the successfulness thereof; it likewise analyses the impact of other economic influences (regional differences, unemployment etc.). The differences between debtors in dependency to gender are also surveyed. A survey of insolvency proceedings for 664 persons whose insolvency proceedings were commenced in 2008 was conducted, whilst the data were acquired from the publicly accessible insolvency register. The hypothesis on the equality of the average debt level of men and women was tested when comparing indebtedness in dependency to debtor gender. At a significance level of 0.05, the test confirmed that the mean value of debt level for women is lower than the mean value of debt level for men. Through analysis of further results, it was found that the average level of debt among women was CZK 537 thousand, while the average level of creditor satisfaction reached 46.2%. Men in the monitored sample had an average level of reported receivables of CZK 652 thousand, satisfaction of their creditors reached 58.8%. The main changes in the institute of personal bankruptcy are then evaluated in the closing discussion, and the impacts of these changes for households are assessed. The development of legislation in the Czech Republic and practice are shifting towards broader usage of personal bankruptcy, especially insofar as it can now also be used by entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the amendment of the Insolvency Act has enabled married couples to apply for joint debt relief, which has improved the position of the marriage partner with lower income and who would not get permission for debt relief on his/her own (mostly women are at issue). In current practice, the condition of adequate income is also solved by the fact that another person (usually a family member) undertakes to donate a certain monthly sum throughout the duration of the debt relief. Personal bankruptcy can thus be completed also by individuals to whom it would previously have been denied by the court.

Keywords: debtor, households, insolvency act, over-indebtedness, personal bankruptcy

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Authors: Elham Falatoonitoosi, Vikki Schaffer, Don Kerr

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Over-development for tourism and its consequences on residents’ well-being turn into a critical issue in tourism destinations. Learning about undesirable impacts of tourism has led many people to seek more sustainable and responsible tourism. The main objective of this research is to understand how and to what extent sustainable tourism development enhances locals’ well-being regarding stakeholder perception. The research was conducted in a coastal-hinterland tourism region through two sequential phases. At the first phase, a unique set of 19 sustainable tourism indicators resulted from a triplex model was used to examine the sustainability effects on the main factors of residents’ well-being including equity and living condition, life satisfaction, health condition, and education quality. The triplex model including i) systematic literature search, ii) convergent interviewing, and iii) DEMATEL aimed to develop sustainability indicators, specify them for a particular destination, and identify the dominant sustainability issues acting as key predictors in sustainable development. At the second phase, a hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine the relationship between sustainable development and local residents’ well-being. A number of 167 participants from five different groups of stakeholders perceived the importance level of each sustainability indicators regarding well-being factors on 5-point Likert scale. Results from the first phase indicated that sustainability training, government support, tourism sociocultural effects, tourism revenue, and climate change are the top dominant sustainability issues in the regional sustainable development. Results from the second phase showed that sustainable development considerably improves the overall residents’ well-being and has positive relationships with all well-being factors except life satisfaction. It explains that it was difficult for stakeholders to recognize a link between sustainable development and their overall life satisfaction and happiness. Among well-being’s factors, health condition was influenced the most by sustainability indicators that indicate stakeholders believed sustainability development can promote public health, health sector performance, quality of drinking water, and sanitation. For the future research, it is highly recommended to analysis the effects of sustainable tourism development on the other features of a tourism destination’s well-being including residents sociocultural empowerment, local economic growth, and attractiveness of the destination.

Keywords: residents' well-being, stakeholder perception, sustainability indicators, sustainable tourism

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Authors: A. Saghatelyan, Sh. Asmaryan, G. Tepanosyan, V. Muradyan

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One of major concern to Armenia has been soil degradation emerged as a result of unsustainable management and use of grasslands, this in turn largely impacting environment, agriculture and finally human health. Hence, assessment of soil degradation is an essential and urgent objective set out to measure its possible consequences and develop a potential management strategy. Since recently, an essential tool for assessing pasture degradation has been remote sensing (RS) technologies. This research was done with an intention to measure preciseness of Linear spectral unmixing (LSU) and NDVI-SMA methods to estimate soil surface components related to degradation (fractional vegetation cover-FVC, bare soils fractions, surface rock cover) and determine appropriateness of these methods for mapping man-induced soil degradation in high mountain pastures. Taking into consideration a spatially complex and heterogeneous biogeophysical structure of the studied site, we used high resolution multispectral QuickBird imagery of a pasture site in one of Armenia’s rural communities - Nerkin Sasoonashen. The accuracy assessment was done by comparing between the land cover abundance data derived through RS methods and the ground truth land cover abundance data. A significant regression was established between ground truth FVC estimate and both NDVI-LSU and LSU - produced vegetation abundance data (R2=0.636, R2=0.625, respectively). For bare soil fractions linear regression produced a general coefficient of determination R2=0.708. Because of poor spectral resolution of the QuickBird imagery LSU failed with assessment of surface rock abundance (R2=0.015). It has been well documented by this particular research, that reduction in vegetation cover runs in parallel with increase in man-induced soil degradation, whereas in the absence of man-induced soil degradation a bare soil fraction does not exceed a certain level. The outcomes show that the proposed method of man-induced soil degradation assessment through FVC, bare soil fractions and field data adequately reflects the current status of soil degradation throughout the studied pasture site and may be employed as an alternate of more complicated models for soil degradation assessment.

Keywords: Armenia, linear spectral unmixing, remote sensing, soil degradation

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Authors: F. Argurio, F. G. Vaccaro

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In a global environment defined by ever-increasing health issues, in spite of the progress made by modern medicine, this paper seeks to readdress the question of global health in an international relations perspective. The research hypothesis is: the lower the security environment, the higher the spread of communicable diseases. This question will be channeled by re-scaling the connotation of 'global' and 'international' dimension through the theoretical lens of glocalization, a theory by Bauman that starts its analysis from simple systems to get to the most complex ones. Glocalization theory will be operationalized by analyzing health in an armed-conflict context. In this respect, the independent variable 'low security environment' translates into the cases of Syria and Yemen, which provide a clear example of the all-encompassing nature of conflict on national health and the effects on regional development. In fact, Syria and Yemen have been affected by poliomyelitis and cholera outbreaks respectively. The dependent variable will be constructed on said communicable diseases which belong to the families of sanitation-related and vaccine-preventable diseases. The research will be both qualitative and quantitative, based on primary (interviews) and secondary (WHO and other NGO’s reports) sources. The methodology is based on the assessment of the vaccine coverage and case-analysis in time and space using epidemiological data. Moreover, local health facilities’ functioning and efficiency will be studied. The article posits that the intervention and cooperation of international organizations with the local authorities becomes crucial to provide the local populations with their primary health needs. In Yemen, the majority of fatal cholera cases were in the regions controlled by the Houthi rebels, not officially accredited by the International Community. Similarly, the polio outbreak in Syria primarily affected the areas not controlled by the Syrian Arab Republic forces, recognized as the leading interlocutor by the WHO. The jeopardized possibilities to access these countries have been pivotal to the determining the problem in controlling sanitation-related and vaccine preventable diseases. This represents a potential threat to global health.

Keywords: health in conflict-affected areas, cholera, polio, Yemen, Syria, glocalization

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Authors: Gashaw Gismu Chakilu

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Climate and land cover change are very important issues in terms of global context and their responses to environmental and socio-economic drivers. The dynamic of these two factors is currently affecting the environment in unbalanced way including watershed hydrology. In this paper individual and combined impacts of climate change and land use land cover change on hydrological processes were evaluated through applying the model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in Gumara watershed, Upper Blue Nile basin Ethiopia. The regional climate; temperature and rainfall data of the past 40 years in the study area were prepared and changes were detected by using trend analysis applying Mann-Kendall trend test. The land use land cover data were obtained from land sat image and processed by ERDAS IMAGIN 2010 software. Three land use land cover data; 1973, 1986, and 2013 were prepared and these data were used for base line, model calibration and change study respectively. The effects of these changes on high flow and low flow of the catchment have also been evaluated separately. The high flow of the catchment for these two decades was analyzed by using Annual Maximum (AM) model and the low flow was evaluated by seven day sustained low flow model. Both temperature and rainfall showed increasing trend; and then the extent of changes were evaluated in terms of monthly bases by using two decadal time periods; 1973-1982 was taken as baseline and 2004-2013 was used as change study. The efficiency of the model was determined by Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) and Relative Volume error (RVe) and their values were 0.65 and 0.032 for calibration and 0.62 and 0.0051 for validation respectively. The impact of climate change was higher than that of land use land cover change on stream flow of the catchment; the flow has been increasing by 16.86% and 7.25% due to climate and LULC change respectively, and the combined change effect accounted 22.13% flow increment. The overall results of the study indicated that Climate change is more responsible for high flow than low flow; and reversely the land use land cover change showed more significant effect on low flow than high flow of the catchment. From the result we conclude that the hydrology of the catchment has been altered because of changes of climate and land cover of the study area.

Keywords: climate, LULC, SWAT, Ethiopia

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Authors: Gómez R. Marta, Martín M. Jesús María

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The general aim of this paper identifies the areas of highest concentration of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) around the incinerator through the use of dispersion models. Atmospheric dispersion models are useful tools for estimating and prevent the impact of emissions from a particular source in air quality. These models allow considering different factors that influence in air pollution: source characteristics, the topography of the receiving environment and weather conditions to predict the pollutants concentration. The PCDD/Fs, after its emission into the atmosphere, are deposited on water or land, near or far from emission source depending on the size of the associated particles and climatology. In this way, they are transferred and mobilized through environmental compartments. The modelling of PCDD/Fs was carried out with following tools: Atmospheric Dispersion Model Software (ADMS) and Surfer. ADMS is a dispersion model Gaussian plume, used to model the impact of air quality industrial facilities. And Surfer is a program of surfaces which is used to represent the dispersion of pollutants on a map. For the modelling of emissions, ADMS software requires the following input parameters: characterization of emission sources (source type, height, diameter, the temperature of the release, flow rate, etc.) meteorological and topographical data (coordinate system), mainly. The study area was set at 5 Km around the incinerator and the first population center nearest to focus PCDD/Fs emission is about 2.5 Km, approximately. Data were collected during one year (2013) both PCDD/Fs emissions of the incinerator as meteorology in the study area. The study has been carried out during period's average that legislation establishes, that is to say, the output parameters are taking into account the current legislation. Once all data required by software ADMS, described previously, are entered, and in order to make the representation of the spatial distribution of PCDD/Fs concentration and the areas affecting them, the modelling was proceeded. In general, the dispersion plume is in the direction of the predominant winds (Southwest and Northeast). Total levels of PCDD/Fs usually found in air samples, are from <2 pg/m3 for remote rural areas, from 2-15 pg/m3 in urban areas and from 15-200 pg/m3 for areas near to important sources, as can be an incinerator. The results of dispersion maps show that maximum concentrations are the order of 10-8 ng/m3, well below the values considered for areas close to an incinerator, as in this case.

Keywords: atmospheric dispersion, dioxin, furan, incinerator

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Authors: Huda Alyami

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The present study aims to measure the effectiveness of an "Interactive eBook" in order to develop skills of designing and employing webquests for female intern teachers. The study uses descriptive analytical methodology as well as quasi-experimental methodology. The sample of the study consists of (30) female intern teachers from the Department of Special Education (in the tracks of Gifted Education and Learning Difficulties), during the first semester of the academic year 2015, at King Abdul-Aziz University in Jeddah city. The sample is divided into (15) female intern teachers for the experimental group, and (15) female intern teachers for the control group. A set of qualitative and quantitative tools have been prepared and verified for the study, embodied in: a list of the designing webquests' skills, a list of the employing webquests' skills, a webquests' knowledge achievement test, a product rating card, an observation card, and an interactive ebook. The study concludes the following results: 1. After pre-control, there are statistically significant differences, at the significance level of (α ≤ 0.05), between the mean scores of the experimental and the control groups in the post measurement of the webquests' knowledge achievement test, in favor of the experimental group. 2. There are statistically significant differences, at the significance level of (α ≤ 0.05), between the mean scores of experimental and control groups in the post measurement of the product rating card in favor of the experimental group. 3. There are statistically significant differences, at the significance level of (α ≤ 0.05), between the mean scores of experimental and control groups in the post measurement of the observation card for the experimental group. In the light of the previous findings, the study recommends the following: taking advantage of interactive ebooks when teaching all educational courses for various disciplines at the university level, creating educational participative platforms to share educational interactive ebooks for various disciplines at the local and regional levels. The study suggests conducting further qualitative studies on the effectiveness of interactive ebooks, in addition to conducting studies on the use of (Web 2.0) in webquests.

Keywords: interactive eBook, webquest, design, employing, develop skills

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Authors: Xuan Li, Lei Xu

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By the end of 2014, China has an urban population of 749 million, reaching the urbanization rate of 54.77%. Dense and vertical urban structure has become a common choice for China and most of the densely populated Asian countries for sustainable development. This paper focuses on the most conspicuous urban change period in China, from 2000 to 2010, during which China's population shifted the fastest from rural region to cities. On one hand, the 200 million nationwide "new citizen" along with the 456 million "old citizen" explored in the new-century city for new urban lifestyle and livable built environment; On the other hand, however, large-scale rapid urban constructions are confined to the methods of traditional two-dimensional architectural thinking. Human-oriented design and system thinking have been missing in this intricate postmodern urban condition. This phenomenon, especially the gap and spark between the solid, huge urban physical system and the rich, subtle everyday urban life, will be studied in depth: How the 20th-century high-rise residential building "spontaneously" turned into an old but expensive multi-functional high-rise complex in the 21st century city center; how 21st century new/late 20th century old public buildings with the same function integrated their different architectural forms into the new / old city center? Finally the paper studies cases in Hangzhou: 1) Function Evolve–downtown high-rise residential building “International Garden” and “Zhongshan Garden” (1999). 2) Form Compare–Hangzhou Theater (1998) vs Hangzhou Grand Theatre (2004), Hangzhou City Railway Station (1999) vs Hangzhou East Railway Station (2013). The research aims at the exploring the essence of city from the building form dispel and urban program re-configuration approach, gaining a better consideration of human behavior through compact urban design effort for improving urban intertextuality, searching for a sustainable development path in the crucial time of urban population explosion in China.

Keywords: architecture form dispel, compact urban design, urban intertextuality, urban program re-configuration

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Authors: Shinta Holdsworth, Jan Axmacher, Darren J. Mann

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Beetles represent the most diverse insect taxon, and they contribute significantly to a wide range of vital ecological functions. Examples include decomposition by bark beetles, nitrogen recycling and dung processing by dung beetles or pest control by predatory ground beetles. Nonetheless, research into the distribution patterns, species richness and functional diversity of beetles particularly from tropical regions remains extremely limited. In our research, we aim to investigate the distribution and diversity patterns of beetles and the roles they play in small tropical island ecosystems in the Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park and on Java. Our research furthermore provides insights into the effects anthropogenic activities have on the assemblage composition and diversity of beetles on the small islands. We recorded a substantial number of highly abundant small island species, including a substantial number of unique small island species across the study area, highlighting these islands’ potential importance for the regional conservation of genetic resources. The highly varied patterns observed in relation to the use of different trapping types - pitfall traps and flight interception traps (FITs) - underscores the need for complementary trapping strategies that combine multiple methods for beetle community surveys in tropical islands. The significant impacts of human activities have on the small island beetle faunas were also highlighted in our research. More island beetle species encountered in settlement than forest areas shows clear trend of positive links between anthropogenic activities and the overall beetle species richness. However, undisturbed forests harboured a high number of unique species, also in comparison to disturbed forests. Finally, our study suggests that, with regards to different feeding guilds, the diversity of herbivorous beetles on islands is strongly affected by the different levels of forest cover encountered.

Keywords: beetle diversity, forest disturbance, island biogeography, island settlement

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Authors: Ahmad Lutfi, Nikolas Dhega

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The Malala deposit in northwest Sulawesi is the only known porphyry molybdenum and the only source for rhenium, occurrence in Indonesia. The neural network method produces results that correspond very closely to those of the knowledge-based fuzzy logic method and weights of evidence method. This method required data of solid geology, regional faults, airborne magnetic, gamma-ray survey data and GIS data. This interpretation of the network output fits with the intuitive notion that a prospective area has characteristics that closely resemble areas known to contain mineral deposits. Contrasts with the weights of evidence and fuzzy logic methods, where, for a given grid location, each input-parameter value automatically results in an increase in the prospective estimated. Malala District indicated molybdenum anomalies in stream sediments from in excess of 15 km2 were obtained, including the Takudan Fault as most prominent structure with striking 40̊ to 60̊ over a distance of about 30 km and in most places weakly at anomaly B, developed over an area of 4 km2, with a ‘shell’ up to 50 m thick at the intrusive contact with minor mineralization occurring in the Tinombo Formation. Series of NW trending, steeply dipping fracture zones, named the East Zone has an estimated resource of 100 Mt at 0.14% MoS2 and minimum target of 150 Mt 0.25%. The Malala porphyries occur as stocks and dykes with predominantly granitic, with fluorine-poor class of molybdenum deposits and belongs to the plutonic sub-type. Unidirectional solidification textures consisting of subparallel, crenulated layers of quartz that area separated by layers of intrusive material textures. The deuteric nature of the molybdenum mineralization and the dominance of carbonate alteration.The nature of the Stage I with alteration barren quartz K‐feldspar; and Stage II with alteration quartz‐K‐feldspar‐apatite-molybdenite veins combined with the presence of disseminated molybdenite with primary biotite in the host intrusive.

Keywords: molybdenite, Malala, porphyries, anomaly B

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Authors: Bharat Rawat, Shekhar Rajbhandari, Yadav Bhatta, Jay Prakash Jaiswal, Shivaji Bikram Silwal, Rajiv Shrestha, Shova Sunuwar

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Introduction: The honey produced by the bees fed on Rhobdodendron species containing grayanotoxin is known as mad honey. Grayanotoxin is found in honey obtained from the nectar of Rhododendron species growing on the mountains of the Black Sea region of Turkey and also in Japan, Nepal, Brazil, parts of North America, and Europe. Although the incidence of grayanotoxin poisoning is rare, there is concern that the number of cases per year will rise with the increasing demand for organic products. Mad honey intoxication might present with mild symptoms of cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and neurological systems or might also present with a life-threatening form with AV block and cardiovascular collapse. In this article, we describe the summary of five cases, which came to our hospital with mad honey related cardiac complications. Findings: In last one year, five cases presented in the emergency department with sudden onset of Loss of consciousness, dizziness, shortness of breath. They felt difficulty after the consumption of 1-3 teaspoonful of wild honey. The honey was brought from most of the rural parts of Nepal like khotang. Some of them also came with vomiting, dizziness, and loose stool. On examination, most of them had severe bradycardia and low blood pressure. No abnormalities were detected on systemic examinations. In one patient, ECG and cardiac enzymes showed features of the acute coronary syndrome, but his treadmill test done few days later was normal. All patients were managed with inj. Atropine, I/V normal saline, and other supportive measures and discharged in a stable condition within one or two days. Conclusions: Rhododendrons is the national flower of Nepal. The specific species of rhododendron found in Nepal which contains the toxin is not known. Bees feeding on these rhododendrons are known to transfer the grayanotoxin to the honey they produce. Most symptoms are mild and resolve themselves without medical intervention. Signs and symptoms of grayanotoxin poisoning rarely last more than 24 hours and are usually not fatal. Some signs of mad honey poisoning include Bradycardia, Cardiac arrhythmia, Hypotension, Nausea and Vomiting. They respond to close monitoring and appropriate supportive treatment. Normally, patients recover completely with no residual damage to the heart or its conduction system.

Keywords: rhobdodendron, honey, grayanotoxin, bradycardia

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Authors: Rhaetian Bern D. Azaula

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The Philippines' indigenous population, estimated to be 10%-20%, is protected by the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), passed in 1997. However, due to their isolation and limited access to basic services such as health education or needs for health assistance, the law's implementation remains a challenge. As traditional medicine continues to play a significant role in society as the prevention and treatment of some illnesses, it is still customary and widely used to use plants in both traditional and modern ways; however, commercially prepared drugs are progressively advanced as time goes by. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study is to investigate the indigenous community at Barangay Magsikap General Nakar, Quezon, and analyze the factors that affect the respondent’s preferences in an indigenous community and reasons for patronizing traditional and commercially prepared medicines and proposes updated health education strategies and instructional materials. Slovin's formula was utilized to reduce the total population representation, followed by stratified sampling for proportional allocation of respondents. The study selects respondents (1) from an Indigenous Community in Barangay Magsikap, General Nakar, Quezon, (2) aged 60 and above, and (3) who are willing to participate. The researcher utilized a checklist-based questionnaire with a Tagalog version, and a Likert Scale was utilized to assess the respondent's choices on selected items. The researcher obtained informed consent from the indigenous community's regional and local office, the chieftain of the tribe, and the respondents, ensuring confidentiality in the collection and retrieval of data. The study revealed that respondents aged 60-69, males with no formal education, are unemployed and have no income source. They prefer traditional medicines due to their affordability, availability, and cultural practices but lack safe preparation, dosages, and contraindications of used medicines. Commercially prepared medications are acknowledged, but respondents are not fully aware of proper administration instructions and dosage labels. Recommendations include disseminating approved herbal medicines and ensuring proper preparation, indications, and contraindications.

Keywords: traditional medicine, commercially prepared medicine, indigenous community, elderly adult

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Authors: Xianghong Lu, Yuejun Wang, Chengshi Gan, Xin Qian

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The North Sulawesi Arc, located on the east of Indonesia and to the south of the Celebes Sea, is the north part of the K-shape of Sulawesi Island and has a complex tectonic history since the Cenozoic due to the convergence of three plates (Eurasia, India-Australia and Pacific plates). Published rock records contain less precise chronology, mostly using K-Ar dating, and rare geochemistry data, which limit the understanding of the regional tectonic setting. This study presents detailed zircon U-Pb geochronological and Hf-O isotope and whole-rock geochemical analyses for the Na-rich granites from the North Sulawesi Arc. Zircon U-Pb geochronological analyses of three representative samples yield weighted mean ages of 30.4 ± 0.4 Ma, 29.5 ± 0.2 Ma, and 27.3 ± 0.4 Ma, respectively, revealing the Oligocene magmatism in the North Sulawesi Arc. The samples have high Na₂O and low K₂O contents with high Na₂O/K₂O ratios, belonging to Low-K tholeiitic Na-rich granites. The Na-rich granites are characterized by high SiO₂ contents (75.05-79.38 wt.%) and low MgO contents (0.07-0.91 wt.%) and show arc-like trace elemental signatures. They have low (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)i ratios (0.7044-0.7046), high εNd(t) values (from +5.1 to +6.6), high zircon εHf(t) values (from +10.1 to +18.8) and low zircon δ18O values (3.65-5.02). They show an Indian-Ocean affinity of Pb isotopic compositions with ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratio of 18.16-18.37, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratio of 15.56-15.62, and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratio of 38.20-38.66. These geochemical signatures suggest that the Oligocene Na-rich granites from the North Sulawesi Arc formed by partial melting of the juvenile oceanic crust with sediment-derived fluid-related metasomatism in a subducting setting and support an intra-oceanic arc origin. Combined with the published study, the emergence of extensive calc-alkaline felsic arc magmatism can be traced back to the Early Oligocene period, subsequent to the Eocene back-arc basalts (BAB) that share similarity with the Celebes Sea basement. Since the opening of the Celebes Sea started from the Eocene (42~47 Ma) and stopped by the Early Oligocene (~32 Ma), the geodynamical mechanism of the formation of the Na-rich granites from the North Sulawesi Arc during the Oligocene might relate to the subduction of the Indian Ocean.

Keywords: North Sulawesi Arc, oligocene, Na-rich granites, in-situ zircon Hf–O analysis, intra-oceanic origin

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Authors: Anila Naz, Arusa Lakhani, Kiran Mubeen, Yasmeen Amarsi

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Pakistan's neonatal mortality rate has the highest proportion in the South Asian region and it is higher in the rural areas as compared to the urban areas. Poor resuscitation techniques and lack of basic newborn resuscitation skills in birth attendants, are contributing factors towards neonatal deaths. Based on the significant outcomes of the Helping Baby Breath (HBB) training, a similar training was implemented for Community Midwives (CMWs) in a low resource setting in Gujrat, Pakistan, to improve their knowledge and skills. The training evaluation was conducted and participant feedback was obtained through both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of the quantitative assessment of the training evaluation will be published elsewhere. This paper presents the qualitative evaluation of the training. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the perceptions of HBB trained CMWs about the effectiveness of the HBB training, and the challenges faced in the implementation of HBB skills for newborn resuscitation, at their work settings. The qualitative descriptive design was used in this study. The purposive sampling technique was chosen to recruit midwives and key informants as participants of the training. Interviews were conducted by using a semi-structured interview guide. The study included a total of five interviews: two focus group interviews for CMWs (10 in each group), and three individual interviews of key informants. The content analysis of the qualitative data yielded three themes: the effectiveness of training, challenges, and suggestions. The findings revealed that the HBB training was effective for the CMWs in terms of its usability, regarding improvement in newborn resuscitation knowledge and skills. Moreover, it enhanced confidence and satisfaction in CMWs. However, less volume of patients was a challenge for a few CMWs with regards to practicing their skills. Due to the inadequate number of patients and less opportunities of practice for several CMWs, they required such trainings frequently, in order to maintain their competency. The CMWs also recommended that HBB training should be part of the Midwifery program curriculum. Moreover, similar trainings were also recommended for other healthcare providers working in low resource settings, including doctors and nurses.

Keywords: neonatal resuscitation technique, helping baby breathe, community midwives, training evaluation

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Authors: Faizan Sultan

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Non-government organizations (NGOs) in Pakistan have the potential to deliver services such as health, education, and rural development through targeting the most vulnerable communities of society. Having this significant importance, NGOs are facing numerous challenges in service delivery. So, there is a need to identify the challenges NGOs face in community development, particularly post-conflict development. The current study has analyzed the social and political constraints in development projects in the post-conflict region of the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The objectives of this study are “What are the social and political constraints faced by the nongovernmental organizations in the implementation of development aid Projects in post-conflict development of Swat and to examine the challenges in coordination mechanism between government departments, NGOs, and community in reconstruction activities”. This research is based upon both the quantitative and qualitative data that is being gathered from the NGO representatives, government officials, and community members who were involved in post-conflict development interventions in the Swat region. A purposive sampling technique was used to select respondents from the community members/activists (25 in number) and government and NGO officials (10 in number). Based on analysis against our objectives, NGOs have faced numerous constraints such as Insecurity, Negative Perceptions about NGOs, restrictions on women's mobility, government policies and regulations, lack of coordination and networking, trust deficit, and political interference while implementing their project interventions. These findings concluded that constraints have affected project implementation to a greater extent, including women's participation, involvement of marginalized populations, and equal distribution of resources. In the Swat region, NGOs cannot openly discuss sensitive projects such as human rights, gender-based projects, or women empowerment as these issues are very sensitive to the local community due to their cultural values. The community may not allow their females to go outside their homes as this region is a male-dominated society. Similarly, lack of communication and poor networking for the arrangements of the project meetings were also the major constraints.

Keywords: national disaster management authority, millennium development goals, provincial disaster management authority, provincial reconstruction, rehabilitation and settlement authority

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Authors: Sandra Cecilia Bautista-Rodríguez, Vladimir Melgarejo

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Climate change, loss of ecosystems, increasing poverty, increasing marginalization of rural communities and declining food security are global issues that require urgent attention. In this regard, a great deal of research has focused on how agroecosystems respond to these challenges as they provide ecosystem services (ES) that lead to higher levels of resilience, adaptation, productivity and self-sufficiency. Hence, the valuing of ecosystem services plays an important role in the decision-making process for the design and management of agroecosystems. This paper aims to define the link between ecosystem service valuation methods and ES value dimensions in agroecosystems from ecological economics and agroecology. The method used to identify valuation methodologies was a literature review in the fields of Agroecology and Ecological Economics, based on a strategy of information search and classification. The conceptual framework of the work is based on the multidimensionality of value, considering the social, ecological, political, technological and economic dimensions. Likewise, the valuation process requires consideration of the ecosystem function associated with ES, such as regulation, habitat, production and information functions. In this way, valuation methods for ES in agroecosystems can integrate more than one value dimension and at least one ecosystem function. The results allow correlating the ecosystem functions with the ecosystem services valued, and the specific tools or models used, the dimensions and valuation methods. The main methodologies identified are multi-criteria valuation (1), deliberative - consultative valuation (2), valuation based on system dynamics modeling (3), valuation through energy or biophysical balances (4), valuation through fuzzy logic modeling (5), valuation based on agent-based modeling (6). Amongst the main conclusions, it is highlighted that the system dynamics modeling approach has a high potential for development in valuation processes, due to its ability to integrate other methods, especially multi-criteria valuation and energy and biophysical balances, to describe through causal cycles the interrelationships between ecosystem services, the dimensions of value in agroecosystems, thus showing the relationships between the value of ecosystem services and the welfare of communities. As for methodological challenges, it is relevant to achieve the integration of tools and models provided by different methods, to incorporate the characteristics of a complex system such as the agroecosystem, which allows reducing the limitations in the processes of valuation of ES.

Keywords: ecological economics, agroecosystems, ecosystem services, valuation of ecosystem services

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