Search results for: secondary school

Authors: Selatnia Khaled Grine Ikram

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The city of Biskra, like other Algerian cities, knows of urban traffic congestion. The concentration of investments especially in the secondary and tertiary sectors in the Wilaya has attracted a large rural population. The latter, combined with the high rate of natural growing, favored the imbalance of the spatial frame of wilayal system and consequently the traffic congestion of the primate city (Biskra). This urban disease is explained by a two-tier development. The capital of Wilaya growing faster than its others centers body and takes measurements of proportion to the whole. The consequences can only be negative. The pressure on the roads, the growth of the fleet, overloading of equipment and activities have become the characteristics of the city of Biskra, which can no longer meet the needs of its inhabitants. This research attempts to show the relationship between urban congestion of the primate city and the imbalance of the spatial structure of the micro-regional urban system.

Keywords: traffic congestion, spatial structure, pressure on the roads, equipment and activities

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Authors: Christa Siminiuk, Morgan Yates, Paramita Banerjee, Alison Curtis, Lysbeth Cuanda

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This review looked at current evidence regarding barriers and facilitators to nursing scholarship within the content of Canadian Schools of Nursing. Nursing scholarship mainly referred to research, though other activities as described by Boyer’s Model were also discussed. This scoping review was done to assist the Langara School of Nursing in developing an evidenced-based plan to enhance scholarly work among its faculty members. The scoping review identified 10 articles which detailed barriers and facilitators in both Canadian and international contexts. Barriers and facilitators in these articles were extracted and they were also critically appraised. The identified barriers and facilitators fell into three main areas; personal attributes, facility factors and system challenges. The three area will be discussed further in the presentation as well as strategies identified to overcome these barriers.

Keywords: barriers, facilitators, nursing education, scholarship

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Authors: G. Iacoviello, A. Lazzini

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This paper focuses on the development of the study of accounting in the Italian education system between the 19th and 20th centuries. It also focuses on the subsequent formation of a scientific and experimental forma mentis that would prepare students for administrative and managerial activities in industry, commerce and public administration. From a political perspective, the period was characterized by two dominant movements - liberalism (1861-1922) and fascism (1922-1945) - that deeply influenced accounting practices and the entire Italian education system. The materials used in the study include both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources used to inform this study are numerous original documents issued from 1890-1935 by the government and maintained in the Historical Archive of the State in Rome. The secondary sources have supported both the development of the theoretical framework and the definition of the historical context. This paper assigns to the educational system the role of cultural producer. Foucauldian analysis identifies the problem confronted by the critical intellectual in finding a way to deploy knowledge through a 'patient labour of investigation' that highlights the contingency and fragility of the circumstances that have shaped current practices and theories. Education can be considered a powerful and political process providing students with values, ideas, and models that they will subsequently use to discipline themselves, remaining as close to them as possible. It is impossible for power to be exercised without knowledge, just as it is impossible for knowledge not to engender power. The power-knowledge relationship can be usefully employed for explaining how power operates within society, how mechanisms of power affect everyday lives. Power is employed at all levels and through many dimensions including government. Schools exercise ‘epistemological power’ – a power to extract a knowledge of individuals from individuals. Because knowledge is a key element in the operation of power, the procedures applied to the formation and accumulation of knowledge cannot be considered neutral instruments for the presentation of the real. Consequently, the same institutions that produce and spread knowledge can be considered part of the ‘power-knowledge’ interrelation. Individuals have become both objects and subject in the development of knowledge. If education plays a fundamental role in shaping all aspects of communities in the same way, the structural changes resulting from economic, social and cultural development affect the educational systems. Analogously, the important changes related to social and economic development required legislative intervention to regulate the functioning of different areas in society. Knowledge can become a means of social control used by the government to manage populations. It can be argued that the evolution of Italy’s education systems is coherent with the idea that power and knowledge do not exist independently but instead are coterminous. This research aims to reduce such a gap by analysing the role of the state in the development of accounting education in Italy.

Keywords: education system, government, knowledge, power

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Authors: Kaycee Bills

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Past studies have indicated students who have disabilities are at a higher risk of experiencing bullying victimization in comparison to other student groups. Extracurricular activity participation has been shown to establish better social outcomes for students. These positive social outcomes indirectly decrease the number of times a student is bullied. The following study uses the National Crime Victimization Survey – School Crime Supplement (NCVS/SCS) to analyze the bullying concurrences experienced among students, with disabilities being a focal variable. To explore the relationship between extracurricular involvement and bullying occurrence rates, this study employs a binary logistic regression to determine if athletic and non-athletic extracurricular activities have an impact on the number of times a student with disabilities experiences bullying. Implications for future social welfare practice and research are discussed.

Keywords: disability, bullying, extracurricular activities, athletics

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Authors: Jaspinder Kaur, Jatinder Pal Singh

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Introduction- Delusional parasitosis is a rare psychotic illness characterized by a fixed belief of manifesting a parasite in a body when in reality, it was not. Also known as Ekbom syndrome or delusional infestations, or acarophobia. Although the patient has no primary skin pathology, but all skin findings were secondary to skin manipulation by the patient itself, which is why up to 90% of patients first seek consultation from a dermatologist. Most commonly, it was seen in older people with female to male ratio is 2:1. For treatment, the patient first need to be investigated to rule all other possible causes, as Delusional parasitosis can be caused by Vitamin B12 deficiency, pellagra, hepatic and renal disease, diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, and leprosy. When all possible causes ruled out, psychiatric referral to be done. Rule out other psychiatric comorbidities, and treatment should be done accordingly. Patient with delusional parasitosis responds well to second generation antipsychotics and need to continuous medication over years, and relapse is likely if treatment is stopped. Case Presentation- A 79-year-old female, belonging to lower socio-economic status, presented with complaints of itching sensation with erythematous patches over the scalp and multiple scratch excoriations lesion over the scalp, face and neck from the past 7-8 months. She had a feeling of small insect crawling under her skin and scalp area. To reduce the itching and kill the insect, she would scratch and squeeze her skin repeatedly. When the family tried to give her explanation that there was no insect in her body, she would not get convinced, rather got angry and abuse family members for not believing her. Gradually, her sleep would remain disturbed, she would be seen awake at night, seen to be scratching her skin, pull her scalp hair, even squeeze out her healed lesions. She collected her skin debris, scalp hairs and look out for insect. Because of her continuous illness, the patient started to remain sad and had crying spells. Her appetite decreased. She became socially isolated and stopped doing her activities of daily living. Family member’s first consulted dermatologist, investigated thoroughly with routine investigations, autoimmune and malignancy workup. As all investigations were normal, following which patient was referred for psychiatric evaluation. The patient was started on Tablet Olanzapine 2.5 mg, gradually increased to 7.5 mg. Over 1 month, there was reduction in itching, skin pricking. Lesions were gradually healed, and the patient continued to take other dermatological medications and ointment and was in regular follow up with psychiatric liaison from past 2 months with 70-80 % improvement in her symptoms. Conclusion- Delusional parasitosis is a psychiatric disorder of insidious onset, seen commonly in middle and old age people. Both psychiatric and dermatology consultation liaison will help the patient for an early diagnosis and adequate treatment. If a primary psychiatric diagnosis, the patient respond well to second generation antipsychotics but always require a further evaluation and treatment management if it is secondary to some physical or other psychiatric comorbidity.

Keywords: delusional parasitosis, delusional infestations, rare, primary psychiatric diagnosis, antipsychotic agents

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Authors: Tiffany Hollis

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Childhood trauma is well documented in mental health research, yet has received little attention in urban schools. Child trauma affects brain development and impacts cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning. When educators understand that some of the behaviors that appear to be aggressive in nature might be the result of a hidden diagnosis of trauma, learning can take place, and the child can thrive in the classroom setting. Traumatized children, however, do not fit neatly into any single ‘box.’ Although many children enter school each day carrying with them the experience of exposure to violence in the home, the symptoms of their trauma can be multifaceted and complex, requiring individualized therapeutic attention. The purpose of this study was to examine how prepared educators are to address the unique challenges facing children who experience trauma. Given the vast number of traumatized children in our society, it is evident that our education system must investigate ways to create an optimal learning environment that accounts for trauma, addresses its impact on cognitive and behavioral development, and facilitates mental and emotional health and well-being. The researcher describes the knowledge, attitudes, dispositions, and skills relating to trauma-informed knowledge of induction level teachers in a diverse middle school. The data for this study were collected through interviews with teachers, who are in the induction phase (the first three years of their teaching career). The study findings paint a clear picture of how ill-prepared educators are to address the needs of students who have experienced trauma and the implications for the development of a professional development workshop or series of workshops that train teachers how to recognize and address and respond to the needs of students. The study shows how teachers often lack skills to meet the needs of students who have experienced trauma. Traumatized children regularly carry a heavy weight on their shoulders. Children who have experienced trauma may feel that the world is filled with unresponsive, threatening adults, and peers. Despite this, supportive interventions can provide traumatized children with places to go that are safe, stimulating, and even fun. Schools offer an environment that potentially meets these requirements by creating safe spaces where students can feel at ease and have fun while also learning via stimulating educational activities. This study highlights the lack of preparedness of educators to address the academic, behavioral, and cognitive needs of students who have experienced trauma. These findings provide implications for the creation of a professional development workshop that addresses how to recognize and address the needs of students who have experienced some type of trauma. They also provide implications for future research with a focus on specific interventions that enable the creation of optimal learning environments where students who have experienced trauma and all students can succeed, regardless of their life experiences.

Keywords: educator preparation, induction educators, professional development, trauma-informed

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Authors: Jian Wu

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Since a few years, some French companies have integrated CRS (corporate social responsibility) criteria in their variable remuneration plans to ‘restore a good working atmosphere’ and ‘preserve the natural environment’. These CSR criteria are based on concerns on environment protection, social aspects, and corporate governance. In June 2012, a report on this practice has been made jointly by ORSE (which means Observatory on CSR in French) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Facing this initiative from the business world, we need to examine whether it has a real economic utility. We adopt a theoretical approach for our study. First, we examine the debate between the ‘orthodox’ point of view in economics and the CSR school of thought. The classical economic model asserts that in a capitalist economy, exists a certain ‘invisible hand’ which helps to resolve all problems. When companies seek to maximize their profits, they are also fulfilling, de facto, their duties towards society. As a result, the only social responsibility that firms should have is profit-searching while respecting the minimum legal requirement. However, the CSR school considers that, as long as the economy system is not perfect, there is no ‘invisible hand’ which can arrange all in a good order. This means that we cannot count on any ‘divine force’ which makes corporations responsible regarding to society. Something more needs to be done in addition to firms’ economic and legal obligations. Then, we reply on some financial theories and empirical evident to examine the sound foundation of CSR. Three theories developed in corporate governance can be used. Stakeholder theory tells us that corporations owe a duty to all of their stakeholders including stockholders, employees, clients, suppliers, government, environment, and society. Social contract theory tells us that there are some tacit ‘social contracts’ between a company and society itself. A firm has to respect these contracts if it does not want to be punished in the form of fine, resource constraints, or bad reputation. Legitime theory tells us that corporations have to ‘legitimize’ their actions toward society if they want to continue to operate in good conditions. As regards empirical results, we present a literature review on the relationship between the CSR performance and the financial performance of a firm. We note that, due to difficulties in defining these performances, this relationship remains still ambiguous despite numerous research works realized in the field. Finally, we are curious to know whether the integration of CSR criteria in variable remuneration plans – which is practiced so far in big companies – should be extended to other ones. After investigation, we note that two groups of firms have the greatest need. The first one involves industrial sectors whose activities have a direct impact on the environment, such as petroleum and transport companies. The second one involves companies which are under pressures in terms of return to deal with international competition.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, variable remuneration, stakeholder theory

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Authors: Mohamed A. Ghandourah, Walied M. Alarif, Nahed O. Bawakid

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Halogenated cyclic enynes and terpenoids are commonly identified among secondary metabolites of the genus Laurencia. Laurencian acetogenins are entirly C15 non-terpenoid haloethers with different carbocyclic nuclei; a specimen of the Red Sea red alga L. obtusa was investigated for its acetogenin content. The dichloromethane extract of the air-dried red algal material was fractionated on aluminum oxide column preparative thin-layer chromatography. Three new rare C12 acetogenin derivatives (1-3) were isolated from the organic extract obtained from Laurencia obtusa, collected from the territorial Red Sea water of Saudi Arabia. The structures of the isolated metabolites were established by means of spectroscopical data analyses. Examining the isolated compounds in activated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) revealed potent Anti-inflammatory activity as evidenced by inhibition of NFκB and release of other inflammatory mediators like TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6.

Keywords: Red Sea, red algae, fatty acids, spectroscopy, anti-inflammatory

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Authors: Salam Abukhadrah

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This research advocates for the use of feminist evaluation (FE) as a tool of great potential in policy and program assessment in relation to women’s empowerment. This research explores the journey of women’s place into the evaluation and international development. Moreover, this research presents a case example of the use of FE on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), in Ganaparthi village in rural India, in Andhra Pradesh state (AP). This evaluation is formed on the basis of women’s empowerment framework that seeks to examine empowerment as a process and an end in itself rather than as just simplified quantifiable outcomes. This framework is used to conduct in-depth semi-structured interviews that are later cross-validated by a focus group discussion. In addition, this evaluation draws on secondary data from the MGNREGA website and on extracted data from the National Family Health Survey of AP.

Keywords: feminist evaluation, MGNREGA, women’s empowerment, case example, India

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Authors: Abdul Aleem

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The study aimed to establish age-related normative values for motor skill assessments in Pakistani children aged 15 to 20 years, utilize two motor coordination tests: the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD) and the Korper Coordinations test for kinder. In the present study, BMI, age and gender were correlated with the motor performance of the children. The study developed the preliminary normative data for the Test for Gross Motor Development TGMD-2 and KTK test for primary school children. There was a positive correlation between age and TGMD-2 and KTK test scores. All participants performed 100% on the locomotor subset of TGMD-2 test and boys showed better motor proficiency than girls on scores of TGMD-2 test. Moreover, there was a negative correlation between the KTK test score and the BMI of participants.

Keywords: motor competence, Korper coordinations, normative values, developmental coordination disorder

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Authors: Nada Bezić, Valerija Dunkić, Rušćić Mirko

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Astragalus monspessulanus L. ssp. illyricus (Bernhardt) Chater is endemic species of Fabaceae family and belongs to hemicryptophyte. This plant grows wild in the sub-Mediterranean area. We analyzed the composition of the essential oil of stems and leaves of A. monspessulanus L. ssp. Illyricus, collected in Tijarica, near Split, Croatia. Water distilled essential oils from aerial parts of investigation plant have been analysed by GC and GC/MS using VF-5ms capillary column. The total yield of oil was 0.08%, based on dry weight of samples. Thirty-eight compounds were representing 88.5% of the total oil. This essential oil was characterized by a high concentration of cis-myrtanol (20.5%), geranyl acetate (9.6%) and phytone (6.6%). Previous research in the species A. monspessulanus have included flavoalkaloids and flavonoids composition. The present study gives additional knowledge about secondary metabolites contents on the genus Astragalus.

Keywords: essential oil, isovaleric acid, Valeriana tuberosa, geranyl acetate, phytone

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Authors: Gideon Abagna Azunre

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Informal urbanism is perhaps the most ubiquitous urban phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Ghana specifically. Estimates suggest that about two-fifths of urban dwellers (37.9%) in Ghana live in informal settlements, while two-thirds of the working labour force are within the informal economy. This makes Ghana invariably an ‘informal country.’ Informal urbanism involves economic and housing activities that are – in law or in practice – not covered (or insufficiently covered) by formal regulations. Many urban folks rely on informal urbanism as a survival strategy due to limited formal waged employment opportunities or rising home prices in the open market. In an era of globalizing neoliberalism, this struggle to survive in cities resonates with several people globally. For years now, there have been intense debates on the utility of informal urbanism – both its economic and housing dimensions – in developing sustainable cities. While some scholars believe that informal urbanism is beneficial to the sustainable city development agenda, others argue that it generates unbearable negative consequences and it symbolizes lawlessness and squalor. Consequently, the main aim of this research was to dig below the surface of the narratives to locate the role of informal urbanism in the quest for sustainable cities. The research geographically focused on Ghana and its burgeoning informal sector. Also, both primary and secondary data were utilized for the analysis; Secondary data entailed a synthesis of the fragmented literature on informal urbanism in Ghana, while primary data entailed interviews with informal stakeholders (such as informal settlement dwellers), city authorities, and planners. These two data sets were weaved together to discover the nexus between informal urbanism and the tripartite dimensions of sustainable cities – economic, social, and environmental. The results from the research showed a two-pronged relationship between informal urbanism and the three dimensions of sustainable city development. In other words, informal urbanism was identified to both positively and negatively affect the drive for sustainable cities. On the one hand, it provides employment (particularly to women), supplies households’ basic needs (shelter, health, water, and waste management), and enhances civic engagement. However, on the other hand, it perpetuates social and gender inequalities, insecurity, congestion, and pollution. The research revealed that a ‘black and white’ interpretation and policy approach is incapable of capturing the complexities of informal urbanism. Therefore, trying to eradicate or remove it from the urbanscape because it exhibits some negative consequences means cities will lose their positive contributions. The inverse also holds true. A careful balancing act is necessary to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs. Overall, the research presented a de-colonial theorization of informal urbanism and thus followed post-colonial scholars’ clarion call to African cities to embrace the paradox of informality and find ways to integrate it into the city-building process.

Keywords: informal urbanism, sustainable city development, economic sustainability, social sustainability, environmental sustainability, Ghana

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Authors: Mathinee Khongsatid, Phusit Phukamchanoad, Sakapas Saengchai

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This research aims to study the democratic political socialization of the 5th and 6th Graders under the Authority of Dusit District Office, Bangkok by using stratified sampling for probability sampling and using purposive sampling for non-probability sampling to collect data toward the distribution of questionnaires to 300 respondents. This covers all of the schools under the authority of Dusit District Office. The researcher analyzed the data by using descriptive statistics which include arithmetic mean and standard deviation. The result shows that 5th and 6th graders under the authority of Dusit District Office, Bangkok, have displayed some characteristics following democratic political socialization both inside and outside classroom as well as outside school. However, the democratic political socialization in classroom through grouping and class participation is much more emphasized.

Keywords: democratic, political socialization, students grades 5-6, descriptive statistics

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Authors: Michael Augustus Akagbor

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When discussing human rights, the philosophical underpinnings of discussions about African realities are controversial, often hinging on whether human rights existed in pre-colonial Africa as not just a philosophy of thought but also a way of imagining the individual's place in society. Critics have often fixated on what many argue is the lack of socio-political structures that could have fostered the emergence and development of human rights contraptions in “mechanical” solidarities such as pre-colonial agrarian African societies. This paper debunks the notion that the perceived ‘absence’ of an ‘advanced’ and differentiated social system where the philosophical imaginaries of Hobbes and Locke could have emerged is not grounds to deny the imagined place of the human rights of the ‘individual’ in pre-colonial Africa. The paper adopts the qualitative methodology by reviewing and analyzing secondary data from various sources to advance the view that the concepts of human rights are not alien to indigenous Africa’s legal and political processes.

Keywords: human rights, reality, philosophical, Africa, individual

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Authors: Yael Fisher

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Little is known about perceived self-efficacy of public preschool teachers, their perception of preschool excellence, or the relations between the two. There were three purposes for this research: defining the professional self-efficacy of preschool teachers (PTSE); defining preschool teachers' perception of preschool excellence (PTPPE); and investigating the relationship between the two. Scales for PTSE and PTPPE were developed especially for this study. Public preschool teachers (N = 202) participated during the 2013 school year. Structural Equation Modeling was performed to test the fit between the research model and the obtained data. PTPSE scale (α = 0.91) was comprised of three subscales: pedagogy (α=0.84), organization (α = 0.85) and staff (α = 0.72). The PTPPE scale (α = 0.92) is also composed of three subscales: organization and pedagogy (α = 0.88), staff (α = 0.84) and parents (α = 0.83). The goodness of fit measures were RMSEA = 0.045, CFI = 0.97, NFI = 0.89, df = 173, χ²=242.94, p= .000, showing GFI = 1.4 (< 3) as a good fit. Understanding self-efficacy of preschool teachers, preschool could and should lead to better professional development (in-service training) of preschool teachers.

Keywords: self-efficacy, public pre schools, preschool excellence, SEM

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Authors: Jose A. Pomilio, Olavo Bet, Mateus P. Vieira

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The power converter that feeds high-frequency, high-voltage transformers must be carefully designed due to parasitic components, mainly the secondary winding capacitance and the leakage inductance, that introduces resonances in relatively low-frequency range, next to the switching frequency. This paper considers applications in which the load (resistive) has an unpredictable behavior, changing from open to short-circuit condition faster than the output voltage control loop could react. In this context, to avoid over voltage and over current situations, that could damage the converter, the transformer or the load, it is necessary to find an operation point that assure the desired output voltage in spite of the load condition. This can done adjusting the frequency response of the transformer adding an external inductance, together with selecting the switching frequency to get stable output voltage independently of the load.

Keywords: high-voltage transformer, resonant converter, soft-commutation, external inductance

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Authors: Zia Ul Haq, Saleem Muhammad, Naeem Ullah, Abbas Shah, Abdullah Shah

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Pakistan being the developing country is facing double burden of communicable and non-communicable disease. The aspect of secondary prevention of ischemic heart disease in developing countries is the dire need for public health specialists, clinicians and policy makers. There is some evidence that psychotherapeutic measures, including psychotherapy, recreation, exercise and stress management training have positive impact on secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases but there are some contradictory findings as well. Cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) has not yet fully implemented in Pakistan. Psychological, physical and specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes needs assessment with respect to its practicality, effectiveness, and success. Objectives: To determine the effect of cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures of post MI patients compared to the usual care. Hypothesis: Post MI patients who receive the interventions (CRP) will have better HRQoL as compared to those who receive the usual cares. Methods: The randomized control trial was conducted at a Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Peshawar. LRH is the biggest hospital of the Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). A total 206 participants who had recent first myocardial infarction were inducted in the study. Participants were randomly allocated into two group i.e. usual care group (UCG) and cardiac rehabilitation group (CRG) by permuted-block randomization (PBR) method. CRP was conducted in CRG in two phases. Three HRQoL outcomes i.e. general health questionnaire (GHQ), self-rated health (SRH) and MacNew quality of life after myocardial infarction (MacNew QLMI) were assessed at baseline and follow-up visits among both groups. Data were entered and analyzed by appropriate statistical test in STATA version 12. Results: A total of 195 participants were assessed at the follow-up period due to lost-to-follow-up. The mean age of the participants was 53.66 + 8.3 years. Males were dominant in both groups i.e. 150 (76.92%). Regarding educational status, majority of the participants were illiterate in both groups i.e. 128 (65.64%). Surprisingly, there were 139 (71.28%) who were non-smoker on the whole. The comorbid status was positive in 120 (61.54%) among all the patients. The SRH at follow-up among UCG and CRG was 4.06 (95% CI: 3.93, 4.19) and 2.36 (95% CI: 2.2, 2.52) respectively (p<0.001). GHQ at the follow-up of UCG and CRG was 20.91 (95% CI: 18.83, 21.97) and 7.43 (95% CI: 6.59, 8.27) respectively (p<0.001). The MacNew QLMI at follow-up of UCG and CRG was 3.82 (95% CI: 3.7, 3.94) and 5.62 (95% CI: 5.5, 5.74) respectively (p<0.001). All the HRQoL measures showed strongly significant improvement in the CRG at follow-up period. Conclusion: HRQOL improved in post MI patients after comprehensive CRP. Education of the patients and their supervision is needed when they are involved in their rehabilitation activities. It is concluded that establishing CRP in cardiac units, recruiting post-discharged MI patients and offering them CRP does not impose high costs and can result in significant improvement in HRQoL measures. Trial registration no: ACTRN12617000832370

Keywords: cardiovascular diseases, cardiac rehabilitation, health-related quality of life, HRQoL, myocardial infarction, quality of life, QoL, rehabilitation, randomized control trial

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Authors: T. Ahilan, V. Aswin Adityan, S. Kailash

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UAV’s are small remote operated or automated aerial surveillance systems without a human pilot aboard. UAV’s generally finds its use in military and special operation application, a recent growing trend in UAV’s finds its application in several civil and non military works such as inspection of power or pipelines. The objective of this paper is the augmentation of a UAV in order to replace the existing expensive sonar (sound navigation and ranging) based equipment amongst small scale fisherman, for whom access to sonar equipment are restricted due to limited economic resources. The surveillance equipment’s present in the UAV will relay data and GPS location onto a receiver on the fishing boat using RF signals, using which the location of the schools of fishes can be found. In addition to this, an emergency beacon system is present for rescue operations and drone recovery.

Keywords: UAV, Surveillance, RF signals, fishing, sonar, GPS, video stream, school of fish

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Authors: Mark Christian Inductivo Siwa, Jesrelle Ormoc Bontuyan

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This study was conducted in selected tertiary schools in selected universities in Asian countries such as Philippines, Thailand, and China, which are the top performing countries in Southeast Asian Games or SEA Games and Asian School Games (ASG), also known as the Youth SEA Games and Asian Games. The respondents of the study are sports administrators/directors and coaches in selected Southeast Asian countries such as Philippines, Thailand, and in Asia which is China. This study has generated a progressive sports operational model of Sports Leadership and Management in Selected Universities in Asia. This study utilized mixed-method research. It is a methodology for conducting research that involves collecting, analyzing and integrating quantitative (e.g., experiments, surveys) and qualitative (e.g., focus groups, interviews) research. This approach to research is used to provide integration for a better understanding of the research problem than either of each alone. This study particularly employed the explanatory sequential design of mixed methods, which involved two phases: the quantitative phase, which involves the collection and analysis of quantitative data, followed by the qualitative phase, which involves the collection and analysis of qualitative data. This study will prioritize the quantitative data and the findings will be followed up during the interpretation phase in the qualitative data of the study. The qualitative data help explain or build upon initial quantitative results. In phase I, the researcher began with the collection and analysis of the quantitative data. His investigation gave greater emphasis on the quantitative methods, particularly employed surveys with the coaches and sports directors of the three selected universities in Asia. In Phase II, the researcher subsequently collected and analyzed the qualitative data obtained through an interview with the sports directors to follow from or connect to the results of the quantitative phase. This study followed the data analysis spiral so that the researcher could follow – up or explain the quantitative results. The researcher engaged in the process of moving in analytic circles. Based on the school's mission and vision, the sports leadership and management consistently followed the key factors to take into account when leading the organization and managing the process in sports leadership and management when formulating objectives/goals, budget, equipment care and maintenance, facilities, training matrix, and consideration. Also, sports management demonstrates the need for development in terms of the upkeep and care of equipment as well as athlete funding. The development of goals or sports management goals, sports facilities and equipment, as well as improvements in demonstrating training and consideration, and incentives, should also include a maintenance plan. The study concluded with a progressive sports operational model that was created based on the result of the study.

Keywords: sports leadership and management, formulating objectives, budget, equipment care and maintenance, training, consideration, incentives, progressive sports operational model

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Authors: Christin Tønseth

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The Norwegian ‘knowledge promotion reform’ was implemented in elementary schools and upper secondary schools in 2006. The goal of the reform was that all pupils should develop basic skills and competencies in order to take an active part in the knowledge society. This paper discusses how governmentality as a management principle is demonstrated through the Norwegian ‘knowledge promotion reform’. Evaluation reports and political documents are the basis for the discussion. The ‘knowledge promotion reform’ was including quality assurance for schools, teachers, and students and the authorities retained control by using curricula and national tests. The reform promoted several intentions that were not reached. In light of governmentality, it seemed that thoughts and intentions by the authorities differed from those in the world of practice. The quality assurances did not motivate the practitioners to be self-governing. The relationship between the authorities and the implementation actors was weak, and the reform was, therefore, difficult to implement in practice.

Keywords: governance, governmentality, the Norwegian knowledge promotion reform, education, politics

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Authors: Julio Cesar Torres Rocha

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The present study is a three-stage action research that aims at raising EFL teachers’ awareness of World Englishes (WE) within a critical perspective of inquiry. Through a taught module on English and its varieties, a survey, a reflection paper, and a semi-structured interview were used to collect the data. The results of the study showed that there was a clear change of conception, at the theoretical level, in teachers’ papers. However, WE was regarded as future possibility for action. On the one hand, all of the participants said the module changed their conception of other varieties of English different from British and American ones. They all went from identifying themselves with either American or British variety, a celebratory perspective, to acknowledging and accepting other English varieties, a critical perspective of English as an international language (EIL).

Keywords: teachers’ s awareness, English as an international language, introducing world Englishes, critical applied linguistics

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Authors: Theoni Soublis

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The COVID-19 pandemic created a severe interruption in teaching and learning in K-12 schools. It is essential that educational researchers, teachers, and administrators understand the long term effects that COVID-19 had on a variety of stakeholders in education. This investigation aims to analyze the research since the beginning of the pandemic that focuses specifically on teacher retention, resilience, and training. The results of this investigation will help to inform future research in order to better understand how the institution of education can continue to be prepared and to better prepare for future significant shifts in the modalities of instruction. The results of this analysis will directly impact the field of education as it will broaden the scope of understanding regarding how COVID- 19 impacted teaching and learning. The themes that will emerge from the data analysis will directly inform policy makers, administrators, and researchers about how to best implement training and curriculum design in order to support teacher effectiveness this in the classroom. Educational researchers have written about how teacher morale plummeted and how many teachers reported early burnout and higher stress levels. Teachers’ stress and anxiety soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, but so has their resilience and dedication to the field of education. This research aims to understand how public-school teachers overcame teaching obstacles presented to them during COVID-19. Research has been conducted to identify a variety of information regarding the impact the pandemic has had on K-12 teachers, students, and families. This research aims to understand how teachers continued to pursue their teaching objectives without significant training of effective online instruction methods. Not many educators even heard of the video conferencing platform Zoom before the spring of 2020. Researchers are interested in understanding how teachers used their expertise, prior knowledge, and training to institute immediate and effective online learning environments, what types of relationships did teachers build with students while teaching 100% remotely, and how did relationships change with students while teaching remotely? Furthermore, did the teacher-student relationship propel teacher resolve to be successful while teaching during a pandemic. Recent world events have significantly impacted the field of public-school teaching. The pandemic forced teachers to shift their paradigm about how to maintain high academic expectations, meet state curriculum standards, and assess students learning gains to make data-informed decisions while simultaneously adapting modes of instruction through multiple outlets with little to no training on remote, synchronous, asynchronous, virtual, and hybrid teaching. While it would be very interesting to study how teaching positively impacted students learning during the pandemic, I am more interested in understanding how teaches stayed the course and maintained their mental health while dealing with the stress and pressure of teaching during COVID-19.

Keywords: teacher retention, COVID-19, teacher education, teacher moral

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Authors: Mohini M. Sain, Vijay Kumar, Tasmia Tabassem, Jimi Tjong

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In the recent times, the Lithium-sulfur batteries (LiSBs) have emerged as a highly promising next generation of secondary batteries for their high theoretical specific capacity (1675 mAh/g) and low cost, and they have shown immense possibilities in utilizing in battery operated electric vehicles (BEVs). However, the commercialization of LiSBs is restricted due to the slow redox kinetics of sulfur cathode and shuttling effect of polysulfides during battery operation. Thus, the development of novel host materials is crucial for suppressing the dissolution of polysulfides into electrolyte, and this eventually helps in resolving the long-term cycling problem in LiSBs. This work provides a simple and straightforward method to design carbon materials with optimized nitrogen content with high surface area and thus simultaneously reveals new methods and strategies for realizing high performance host material design for practical LiSBs.

Keywords: Li ion battery, graphtitic carbon, electrode fabrication, BeV

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Authors: Andreas Aceranti, Simonetta Vernocchi, Marco Colorato, Ludwig Conistabile, Martina Falappi

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This study was born out of the necessity to delve into and understand the intricate world of tattoos, a millenary art that lays its foundation, although sometimes complex, for effective non-verbal communication. What is most astonishing about a phenomenon such as irreversibly branding the skin, which at first glance may appear superficial, especially in the eyes of those who do not fully understand its meaning, is the fact that it is actually one of the most enduring forms of communication: body modification through tattoos or ornamental dyes indicated the wearer's membership in a particular ethnic group, social class or religious community. Even within crime-based aggregations, tattoos had (and still have) the purpose of conveying one's affiliation to a particular group, thus making one's criminal identity known. The profession of a language and cultural mediator teaches that it is essential to be able to read between the lines to grasp all those aspects that words alone do not convey. Tattooing, therefore, becomes a tool of analysis and a language that is not secondary to be taken into account for an in-depth reading of the reality that surrounds us and of cultures different from our own.

Keywords: tattoo, cultural tattoos, tattooing, non verbal communication

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Authors: Zhipeng Chen, Lingfeng Wang, Shuang Qiu, Shijian Ge

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Macroalgae are larger in size compared with microalgae; hence, they imposed lower separation and drying costs. To explore the potential for enhancing cultivation conditions in macroalgae Chaetomorpha linum (C. linum)-based bioreactor for nutrient recovery from municipal wastewaters and examine the biochemical composition of the macroalgae for the potential downstream production of biofuels, screening experiments were performed. This study suggested that C. linum grew well on primary (PW), secondary (SW), and centrate wastewater (CW). A step feeding approach was shown to significantly enhance biomass productivity when grown on 10% CW; meanwhile, nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies increased to 86.8 ± 1.1% and 92.6 ± 0.2%, respectively. The CO₂-supplemented SW cultures were 1.20 times more productive than the corresponding controls without CO₂ supplementation. These findings demonstrate that C. linum could represent a promising and efficient wastewater treatment alternative which could also provide a feedstock for downstream processing to biofuels.

Keywords: biofuel production, macroalgae, nutrient removal, wastewater

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Authors: Uche A. Nnawulezi

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This paper examines an essential and complex part of International humanitarian law standards of military necessity. Military necessity is an unpredictable phenomenon. The unpredictability of this regulation likewise originates from the fact that is one of the most fundamental, yet most misjudged and distorted standards of international law of armed conflict. This rule has been censured as essentially wrong in light of its non-compliance with the principles of international humanitarian law in recent past. The author noted in this study that military necessity runs counter to humanitarian exigencies. These have generated debate among researchers for them to propose that for international law to be considered more important, it is indispensable that the procedures and substance of custom be illuminated and made accessible to every one of the individuals who may utilize it or be influenced by it. However, a significant number of analysts have attributed particular weaknesses to this doctrine. This study relied on both primary and secondary sources of data collection. Significantly, the recommendation made in this paper, if completely adopted, shall go a long way in guaranteeing a better application of the principles of international humanitarian law.

Keywords: military necessity, international law, international humanitarian law, customary law

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Authors: Lumindu Dilumka, Ranaweera I. D., Sudusinghe S. P., Sanduni Kanchana A. M. K.

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This study was motivated by the challenges experienced by parents and guardians in ensuring the safety of children in cyberspace. In the last two or three years, online education has become very popular all over the world due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Therefore, parents, guardians and teachers must ensure the safety of children in cyberspace. Children are more likely to go astray and there are plenty of online programs are waiting to get them on the wrong track and also, children who are engaging in the online education can be distracted at any moment. Therefore, parents should keep a close check on their children's online activity. Apart from that, due to the unawareness of children, they tempt to share their sensitive information, causing a chance of being a victim of phishing attacks from outsiders. These problems can be overcome through the proposed web-based system. We use feature extraction, web tracking and analysis mechanisms, image processing and name entity recognition to implement this web-based system.

Keywords: online education, cyber bullying, social media, face recognition, web tracker, privacy data

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Authors: Mansur Ahmed Kazaure

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The emergence of internet-based social media has made it possible for one person to communication with hundreds or even thousands of people about a company goods and services and the companies that provides them. Thus, the impact of customer-to-customer communications has been significantly magnified in the marketplace. Therefore, the essence of this paper is to critically evaluate the literature of social media and their implication for practice, but the author pay attention on twitter as a new marketing communication tools. The author found out that, despite the implication of using social media especially twitter by the companies as part of their marketing communication tool, but still it can enhance the opportunity for the companies to develop and maintain long-term customer relationship. The paper concludes that, using twitter as a marketing communication tool is a market trend and it is the best way for marketers to add value to their customer, however with the Twitter marketers can get a feedback about the performance of their product and its brand in the marketplace. The paper is purely a conceptual discourse based on secondary data.

Keywords: social media, marketing communication, marketing communication tools, Twitter, Facebook

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Authors: K. O’Mara, T. Cresswell

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Nearly half of the world’s population live near the coast, and as a result, estuaries and coastal bays in populated or industrialized areas often receive metal pollution. Heavy metals have a chemical affinity for sediment particles and can be stored in estuarine sediments and become biologically available under changing conditions. Organisms inhabiting estuaries can be exposed to metals from a variety of sources including metals dissolved in water, bound to sediment or within contaminated prey. Metal uptake and assimilation responses can vary even between species that are biologically similar, making pollution effects difficult to predict. A multi-trophic level experiment representing a common Eastern Australian estuarine food chain was used to study the sources for Cd, Mn and Zn uptake and assimilation in organisms occupying several trophic levels. Sand cockles (Katelysia scalarina), school prawns (Metapenaeus macleayi) and sand whiting (Sillago ciliata) were exposed to radiolabelled seawater, suspended sediment and food. Three pulse-chase trials on filter-feeding sand cockles were performed using radiolabelled phytoplankton (Tetraselmis sp.), benthic microalgae (Entomoneis sp.) and suspended sediment. Benthic microalgae had lower metal uptake than phytoplankton during labelling but higher cockle assimilation efficiencies (Cd = 51%, Mn = 42%, Zn = 63 %) than both phytoplankton (Cd = 21%, Mn = 32%, Zn = 33%) and suspended sediment (except Mn; (Cd = 38%, Mn = 42%, Zn = 53%)). Sand cockles were also sensitive to uptake of Cd, Mn and Zn dissolved in seawater. Uptake of these metals from the dissolved phase was negligible in prawns and fish, with prawns only accumulating metals during moulting, which were then lost with subsequent moulting in the depuration phase. Diet appears to be the main source of metal assimilation in school prawns, with 65%, 54% and 58% assimilation efficiencies from Cd, Mn and Zn respectively. Whiting fed contaminated prawns were able to exclude the majority of the metal activity through egestion, with only 10%, 23% and 11% assimilation efficiencies from Cd, Mn and Zn respectively. The findings of this study support previous studies that find diet to be the dominant accumulation source for higher level trophic organisms. These results show that assimilation efficiencies can vary depending on the source of exposure; sand cockles assimilated more Cd, Mn, and Zn from the benthic diatom than phytoplankton and assimilation was higher in sand whiting fed prawns compared to artificial pellets. The sensitivity of sand cockles to metal uptake and assimilation from a variety of sources poses concerns for metal availability to predators ingesting the clam tissue, including humans. The high tolerance of sand whiting to these metals is reflected in their widespread presence in Eastern Australian estuaries, including contaminated estuaries such as Botany Bay and Port Jackson.

Keywords: cadmium, food chain, metal, manganese, trophic, zinc

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Authors: Hadjer Boukhtache, Rachida Allem

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The objective of this work is to estimate the impact of polyphenols extracted from the fruits of Crataegus oxycantha on human nutrition and health by evaluating the antibacterial activity of this plant using the agar diffusion method. The polyphenol content was found to be 48.86 ± 1.96 mg GAE/g, while flavonoids accounted for 30.35 ± 2.91 mg QE/g. The methanolic, ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts of C. oxycantha demonstrated strong antibacterial activity against most of the tested bacterial strains. The results of this study highlighted the richness of the plant’s fruits in phenolic compounds. These compounds exhibited significant antibacterial activity, serving as an excellent biologically-derived bactericidal agent that could replace chemical treatments. Additionally, the fruits are rich in nutritional values that are recommended for human well-being. This study confirms the effectiveness of consuming these fruits in human diets and supports the rational use of this plant in traditional medicine.

Keywords: C. oxycantha, polyphenols, flavonoids, antibacterial activity, human nutrition

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