Search results for: snow coverage

Authors: R. Lhissou , A. El Harti , K. Chokmani, E. Bachaoui, A. El Ghmari

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Soil salinity is a serious environmental hazard in many countries around the world especially the arid and semi-arid countries like Morocco. Salinization causes negative effects on the ground; it affects agricultural production, infrastructure, water resources and biodiversity. Remote sensing can provide soil salinity information for large areas, and in a relatively short time. In addition, remote sensing is not limited by extremes in terrain or hazardous condition. Contrariwise, experimental methods for monitoring soil salinity by direct measurements in situ are very demanding of time and resources, and also very limited in spatial coverage. In the irrigated perimeter of Tadla plain in central Morocco, the increased use of saline groundwater and surface water, coupled with agricultural intensification leads to the deterioration of soil quality especially by salinization. In this study, we assessed several spectral indices of soil salinity cited in the literature using Landsat TM satellite images and field measurements of electrical conductivity (EC). Three Landsat TM satellite images were taken during 3 months in the dry season (September, October and November 2011). Based on field measurement data of EC collected in three field campaigns over the three dates simultaneously with acquisition dates of Landsat TM satellite images, a two assessment techniques are used to validate a soil salinity spectral indices. Firstly, the spectral indices are validated locally by pixel. The second validation technique is made using a window of size 3x3 pixels. The results of the study indicated that the second technique provides getting a more accurate validation and the assessment has shown its limits when it comes to assess across the pixel. In addition, the EC values measured from field have a good correlation with some spectral indices derived from Landsat TM data and the best results show an r² of 0.88, 0.79 and 0.65 for Salinity Index (SI) in the three dates respectively. The results have shown the usefulness of spectral indices as an auxiliary variable in the spatial estimation and mapping salinity in irrigated land.

Keywords: remote sensing, spectral indices, soil salinity, irrigated land

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Authors: I. Asanuma, T. Yamaguchi, J. Park, K. J. Mackin

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Fishery lights on the surface could be detected by the Day and Night Band (DNB) of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP). The DNB covers the spectral range of 500 to 900 nm and realized a higher sensitivity. The DNB has a difficulty of identification of fishing lights from lunar lights reflected by clouds, which affects observations for the half of the month. Fishery lights and lights of the surface are identified from lunar lights reflected by clouds by a method using the DNB and the infrared band, where the detection limits are defined as a function of the brightness temperature with a difference from the maximum temperature for each level of DNB radiance and with the contrast of DNB radiance against the background radiance. Fishery boats or structures on islands could be detected by the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on the polar orbit satellites using the reflected microwave by the surface reflecting targets. The SAR has a difficulty of tradeoff between spatial resolution and coverage while detecting the small targets like fishery boats. A distribution of fishery boats and island activities were detected by the scan-SAR narrow mode of Radarsat-2, which covers 300 km by 300 km with various combinations of polarizations. The fishing boats were detected as a single pixel of highly scattering targets with the scan-SAR narrow mode of which spatial resolution is 30 m. As the look angle dependent scattering signals exhibits the significant differences, the standard deviations of scattered signals for each look angles were taken into account as a threshold to identify the signal from fishing boats and structures on the island from background noise. It was difficult to validate the detected targets by DNB with SAR data because of time lag of observations for 6 hours between midnight by DNB and morning or evening by SAR. The temporal changes of island activities were detected as a change of mean intensity of DNB for circular area for a certain scale of activities. The increase of DNB mean intensity was corresponding to the beginning of dredging and the change of intensity indicated the ending of reclamation and following constructions of facilities.

Keywords: day night band, SAR, fishery, South China Sea

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Authors: Seyedeh Mozhgan Seyed-Talebi, Javad Beheshtian

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The toxicity of lead associated with the lifecycle of perovskite solar cells (PSCs( is a serious concern which may prove to be a major hurdle in the path toward their commercialization. The current proposed lead-free PSCs including Ag(I), Bi(III), Sb(III), Ti(IV), Ge(II), and Sn(II) low-toxicity cations are still plagued with the critical issues of poor stability and low efficiency. This is mainly because of their chemical stability. In the present research, utilization of all inorganic CsSnGeI₃ based materials offers the advantages to enhance resistance of device to degradation, reduce the cost of cells, and minimize the carrier recombination. The presence of inorganic halide perovskite improves the photovoltaic parameters of PCSs via improved surface coverage and stability. The inverted structure of simulated devices using a 1D simulator like solar cell capacitance simulator (SCAPS) version 3308 involves TCOHTL/Perovskite/ETL/Au contact layer. PEDOT:PSS, PCBM, and CsSnGeI₃ used as hole transporting layer (HTL), electron transporting layer (ETL), and perovskite absorber layer in the inverted structure for the first time. The holes are injected from highly stable and air tolerant Sn_0.5Ge_0.5I₃ perovskite composition to HTM and electrons from the perovskite to ETL. Simulation results revealed a great dependence of power conversion efficiency (PCE) on the thickness and defect density of perovskite layer. Here the effect of an increase in operating temperature from 300 K to 400 K on the performance of CsSnGeI₃ based perovskite devices is investigated. Comparison between simulated CsSnGeI₃ based PCSs and similar real testified devices with spiro-OMeTAD as HTL showed that the extraction of carriers at the interfaces of perovskite absorber depends on the energy level mismatches between perovskite and HTL/ETL. We believe that optimization results reported here represent a critical avenue for fabricating the stable, low-cost, efficient, and eco-friendly all-inorganic Cs-Sn-Ge based lead-free perovskite devices.

Keywords: hole transporting layer, lead-free, perovskite solar cell, SCAPS-1D, Sn-Ge based

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Authors: U. Ali Rahoma, Nabil Esawy, Fawzia Ibrahim Moursy, A. H. Hassan, Samy A. Khalil, Ashraf S. Khamees

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The design of any solar energy conversion system requires the knowledge of solar radiation data obtained over a long period. Satellite data has been widely used to estimate solar energy where no ground observation of solar radiation is available, yet there are limitations on the temporal coverage of satellite data. Reanalysis is a “retrospective analysis” of the atmosphere parameters generated by assimilating observation data from various sources, including ground observation, satellites, ships, and aircraft observation with the output of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) models, to develop an exhaustive record of weather and climate parameters. The evaluation of the performance of reanalysis datasets (ERA-5) for North Africa against high-quality surface measured data was performed using statistical analysis. The estimation of global solar radiation (GSR) distribution over six different selected locations in North Africa during ten years from the period time 2011 to 2020. The root means square error (RMSE), mean bias error (MBE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of reanalysis data of solar radiation range from 0.079 to 0.222, 0.0145 to 0.198, and 0.055 to 0.178, respectively. The seasonal statistical analysis was performed to study seasonal variation of performance of datasets, which reveals the significant variation of errors in different seasons—the performance of the dataset changes by changing the temporal resolution of the data used for comparison. The monthly mean values of data show better performance, but the accuracy of data is compromised. The solar radiation data of ERA-5 is used for preliminary solar resource assessment and power estimation. The correlation coefficient (R2) varies from 0.93 to 99% for the different selected sites in North Africa in the present research. The goal of this research is to give a good representation for global solar radiation to help in solar energy application in all fields, and this can be done by using gridded data from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ECMWF and producing a new model to give a good result.

Keywords: solar energy, solar radiation, ERA-5, potential energy

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Authors: Ismahane Emma Karima Bessi

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Military sociology is largely avoided. Discussing the military as a societal phenomenon and the social dimensions of war and peace is now considered a disgraceful and neglected province of social science that has a major impact on global populations. The first official press war began with William Howard Russell in the mid-19th century. The media are crucial to war and peace. Even Gaius Julius Caesar, with his "commentarii bello gallico", was a media tool to influence his warfare. Napoleon Bonaparte also knew how important the press was for his actions. This shows how important history is for crisis and war journalism. The one-sided media coverage that every country is confronted with ultimately prevents people from having a certain interest in the truth and from gross knowledge gaps in order to get an accurate picture of reality. There is a need to examine the relationship between the military, war, and the media to look at the modality in which the media is involved in military conflicts, in this case, as an adjunct, i.e., war because of the media. These are promoted or initiated by the following factors: photos intended for the visual manipulation of the population, the pressure from politicians and parties who are urging and exerting their influence on the global media to share the same pattern of opinion, and, most importantly, the media profiting from the war by listening to popular reactions and passing them on promoting with new visuals. These influence political elections. The media occupies a huge and ubiquitous part of the population. These have the ability to make a country that is in constant crisis and war mode appear in a brilliant light of peace. An article or photograph taken by one journalist has a tremendous impact as it can control the minds of millions of people. Most wars currently have state-political reasons. The parties, therefore, want to have their (potential) voters on their side, who are inflated by the media. The military is loathed or loved. Thinking must be created that a well-trained military in the instances of natural sciences, history, and sociology can save or protect the lives of many people. Theoretical methods for this are defined and evaluated in more detail in this paper.

Keywords: war, history, military, science, journalism, crisis

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Authors: Asselah Amel, Affif Chaouche M'yassa, Toudji Amira, Tazerouti Amel

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This study covers two aspects ; the biodegradability and the performances in corrosion inhibition of a series of synthetized surfactants namely Φ- sodium methyl ester sulfonates (Φ-MES: C₁₂-MES, C₁₄-MES and C₁₆-MES. The biodegradability of these organic compounds was studied using the respirometric method, ‘the standard ISO 9408’. Degradation was followed by analysis of dissolved oxygen using the dissolved oxygen meter over 28 days and the results were compared with that of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). The inoculum used consists of activated sludge taken from the aeration basin of the biological wastewater treatment plant in the city of Boumerdes-Algeria. In addition, the anticorrosive performances of Φ-MES surfactants on a carbon steel "X70" were evaluated in an injection water from a well of Hassi R'mel region- Algeria, known as Baremian water, and are compared to sodium dodecyl sulphate. Two technics, the weight loss and the linear polarization resistance corrosion rate (LPR) are used allowing to investigate the relationships between the concentrations of these synthetized surfactants and their surface properties, surface coverage and inhibition efficiency. Various adsorption isotherm models were used to characterize the nature of adsorption and explain their mechanism. The results show that the MES anionic surfactants was readily biodegradable, degrading faster than SDS, about 88% for C₁₂-MES compared to 66% for the SDS. The length of their carbon chain affects their biodegradability; the longer the chain, the lower the biodegradability. The inhibition efficiency of these surfactants is around 78.4% for C₁₂-MES, 76.60% for C₁₄-MES and 98.19% for C₁₆-MES and increases with their concentration and reaches a maximum value around their critical micelle concentrations ( CMCs). Scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy allowed to the visualization of a good adhesion of the protective film formed by the surfactants to the surface of the steel. The studied surfactants show the Langmuirian behavior from which the thermodynamic parameters as adsorption constant (Kads), standard free energy of adsorption (〖∆G〗_ads^0 ) are determined. Interaction of the surfactants with steel surface have involved physisorptions.

Keywords: corrosion, surfactants, adsorption, adsorption isotherems

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Authors: Imam Muthohar, Budi Hartono, Sigit Priyanto, Hardiansyah Hardiansyah

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The eruption of Merapi Volcano in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2010 caused many casualties due to minimum preparedness in facing disaster. Increasing population capacity and evacuating to safe places become very important to minimize casualties. Regional government through the Regional Disaster Management Agency has divided disaster-prone areas into three parts, namely ring 1 at a distance of 10 km, ring 2 at a distance of 15 km and ring 3 at a distance of 20 km from the center of Mount Merapi. The success of the evacuation is fully supported by road network infrastructure as a way to rescue in an emergency. This research attempts to model evacuation process based on the rise of refugees in ring 1, expanded to ring 2 and finally expanded to ring 3. The model was developed using SATURN (Simulation and Assignment of Traffic to Urban Road Networks) program version 11.3. 12W, involving 140 centroid, 449 buffer nodes, and 851 links across Yogyakarta Special Region, which was aimed at making a preliminary identification of road networks considered vulnerable to disaster. An assumption made to identify vulnerability was the improvement of road network performance in the form of flow and travel times on the coverage of ring 1, ring 2, ring 3, Sleman outside the ring, Yogyakarta City, Bantul, Kulon Progo, and Gunung Kidul. The research results indicated that the performance increase in the road networks existing in the area of ring 2, ring 3, and Sleman outside the ring. The road network in ring 1 started to increase when the evacuation was expanded to ring 2 and ring 3. Meanwhile, the performance of road networks in Yogyakarta City, Bantul, Kulon Progo, and Gunung Kidul during the evacuation period simultaneously decreased in when the evacuation areas were expanded. The results of preliminary identification of the vulnerability have determined that the road networks existing in ring 1, ring 2, ring 3 and Sleman outside the ring were considered vulnerable to the evacuation of Mount Merapi eruption. Therefore, it is necessary to pay a great deal of attention in order to face the disasters that potentially occur at anytime.

Keywords: model, evacuation, SATURN, vulnerability

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Authors: Soumen Mitra, Aparna Saha

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The perceived link between the city and the countryside is evolving rapidly and is getting shifted away from the assumptions of mainstream paradigms to new conceptual networks where rural-urban links are being redefined. In this conceptual field, the fringe interface is still considered as a transitional zone between city and countryside, and is defined as a diffused area rather than a discrete territory. In developing countries fringe areas are said to have both rural and urban characteristics but are devoid of basic municipal facilities. Again, when the urban core areas envelopes the fringe areas along with it the character of fringe changes but services are not well facilitated which in turn results to uneven growth, rapid and haphazard development. One of the major services present in fringe areas is inter-linkages in terms of transit corridors. Planning for the appropriate and sustainable future of fringe areas requires a sheer focus on these corridors pertaining to transit facility, for better accessibility and mobility. Inducing a transit facility plan enhances the various facilities and also increases their proximity for user groups. The study focuses on the western fringe region of Kolkata metropolis which is a major source of industrial hub and housing sector, thus converting the agricultural lands into non-agricultural use. The study emphasizes on providing transit facilities both physical (stops, sheds, terminals, etc.) and operational (ticketing system, route prioritization, integration of transit modes, etc.), to facilitate the region as well as accelerate the growth pattern systematically. Hence, the scope of this work is on the basis of prevailing conditions in fringe areas and attempts for an effective transit facility plan. The strategies and recommendations are in terms of road widening, service coverage, feeder route prioritization, bus stops facilitation, pedestrian facilities, etc, which in turn enhances the region’s growth pattern. Thus, this context of transit facility planning acts as a catalytic agent to avoid the future unplanned growth and accelerates it towards an integrated development.

Keywords: feeder route, fringe, municipal planning, transit facility

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Authors: Pierre-Andre Mudry, Jean Decaix, Jeremy Schmid, Cesar Papilloud, Cecile Munch-Alligne

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In most of the Swiss Alpine regions, the availability of water resources is usually adequate even in times of drought, as evidenced by the 2003 and 2018 summers. Indeed, important natural stocks are for the moment available in the form of snow and ice, but the situation is likely to change in the future due to global and regional climate change. In addition, alpine mountain regions are areas where climate change will be felt very rapidly and with high intensity. For instance, the ice regime of these regions has already been affected in recent years with a modification of the monthly availability and extreme events of precipitations. The current research, focusing on the municipality of Val de Bagnes, located in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, is part of a project led by the Altis company and achieved in collaboration with WSL, BlueArk Entremont, and HES-SO Valais-Wallis. In this region, water occupies a key position notably for winter and summer tourism. Thus, multiple actors want to apprehend the future needs and availabilities of water, on both the 2050 and 2100 horizons, in order to plan the modifications to the water supply and distribution networks. For those changes to be salient and efficient, a good knowledge of the current water distribution networks is of most importance. In the current case, the water drinking network is well documented, but this is not the case for the irrigation one. Since the water consumption for irrigation is ten times higher than for drinking water, data acquisition on the irrigation network is a major point to determine future scenarios. This paper first presents the instrumentation and simulation of the irrigation network using custom-designed IoT devices, which are coupled with a digital clone simulated to reduce the number of measuring locations. The developed IoT ad-hoc devices are energy-autonomous and can measure flows and pressures using industrial sensors such as calorimetric water flow meters. Measurements are periodically transmitted using the LoRaWAN protocol over a dedicated infrastructure deployed in the municipality. The gathered values can then be visualized in real-time on a dashboard, which also provides historical data for analysis. In a second phase, a digital clone of the irrigation network was modeled using EPANET, a software for water distribution systems that performs extended-period simulations of flows and pressures in pressurized networks composed of reservoirs, pipes, junctions, and sinks. As a preliminary work, only a part of the irrigation network was modelled and validated by comparisons with the measurements. The simulations are carried out by imposing the consumption of water at several locations. The validation is performed by comparing the simulated pressures are different nodes with the measured ones. An accuracy of +/- 15% is observed on most of the nodes, which is acceptable for the operator of the network and demonstrates the validity of the approach. Future steps will focus on the deployment of the measurement devices on the whole network and the complete modelling of the network. Then, scenarios of future consumption will be investigated. Acknowledgment— The authors would like to thank the Swiss Federal Office for Environment (FOEN), the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (OFAG) for their financial supports, and ALTIS for the technical support, this project being part of the Swiss Pilot program 'Adaptation aux changements climatiques'.

Keywords: hydraulic digital clone, IoT water monitoring, LoRaWAN water measurements, EPANET, irrigation network

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Authors: Nardjes Hamini, Mohamed Bachir Yagoubi

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Precision agriculture has revolutionized farming by enabling farmers to monitor their crops remotely in real-time. By utilizing technologies such as sensors, farmers can detect the state of growth, hydration levels, and nutritional status and even identify diseases affecting their crops. With this information, farmers can make informed decisions regarding irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide application. Automated agricultural tasks, such as plowing, seeding, planting, and harvesting, are carried out by autonomous robots and have helped reduce costs and increase production. Despite the advantages of precision agriculture, its high cost makes it inaccessible to small and medium-sized farms. To address this issue, this paper presents an open-source guidance system for an autonomous planter robot. The system is composed of a Raspberry Pi-type nanocomputer equipped with Wi-Fi, a GPS module, a gyroscope, and a power supply module. The accompanying application allows users to enter and calibrate maps with at least four coordinates, enabling the localized contour of the parcel to be captured. The application comprises several modules, such as the mission entry module, which traces the planting trajectory and points, and the action plan entry module, which creates an ordered list of pre-established tasks such as loading, following the plan, returning to the garage, and entering sleep mode. A remote control module enables users to control the robot manually, visualize its location on the map, and use a real-time camera. Wi-Fi coverage is provided by an outdoor access point, covering a 2km circle. This open-source system offers a low-cost alternative for small and medium-sized farms, enabling them to benefit from the advantages of precision agriculture.

Keywords: autonomous robot, guidance system, low-cost, medium farms, open-source system, planter robot, precision agriculture, real-time monitoring, remote control, small farms

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Authors: Kofi Nkonkonya Mpuangnan, Samantha Govender, Hlengiwe Romualda Mhlongo

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In recent years, a noticeable and worrisome pattern has emerged in numerous developing nations which is a steady and persistent rise in unemployment rates. This escalation of economic struggles has become a cause of great concern for parents who, having invested significant resources in their children's education, harboured hopes of achieving economic prosperity and stability for their families through secure employment. To effectively tackle this pressing unemployment issue, it is imperative to adopt a holistic approach, and a pivotal aspect of this approach involves incorporating entrepreneurial education seamlessly into the entire educational system. In this light, the authors explored approaches to integrating entrepreneurial education into school curriculum focusing on the following questions. How can an entrepreneurial mindset among learners be promoted in school? And how far have pedagogical approaches improved entrepreneurship in schools? To find answers to these questions, a systematic literature review underpinned by Human Capital Theory was adopted. This method was supported by the three stages of guidelines like planning, conducting, and reporting. The data were specifically sought from publishers with expansive coverage of scholarly literature like Sage, Taylor & Francis, Emirate, and Springer, covering publications from 1965 to 2023. The search was supported by two broad terms such as promoting entrepreneurial mindset in learners and pedagogical strategies for enhancing entrepreneurship. It was found that acquiring an entrepreneurial mindset through an innovative classroom environment, resilience, and guest speakers and industry experts. Also, teachers can promote entrepreneurial education through the adoption of pedagogical approaches such as hands-on learning and experiential activities, role-playing, business simulation games and creative and innovative teaching. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education should develop tailored training programs and workshops aimed at empowering educators with the essential competencies and insights to deliver impactful entrepreneurial education.

Keywords: education, entrepreneurship, school curriculum, pedagogical approaches, integration

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Authors: Ben Main Piotr Ozieranski

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State government spending on pharmaceuticals stands at 1 trillion USD globally, promoting criticism of the pharmaceutical industry's monetization of drug efficacy, product cost overvaluation, and health injustice. This paper elucidates the mechanisms behind a state-institutional response to this problem through the sociological lens of the strategic relational approach to state power. To do so, 30 expert interviews, legal and policy documents are drawn on to explain how state elites in New Zealand have successfully contested a 30-year “pharmaceutical spending containment policy”. Proceeding from Jessop's notion of strategic “selectivity”, encompassing analyses of the enabling features of state actors' ability to harness state structures, a theoretical explanation is advanced. First, a strategic context is described that consists of dynamics around pharmaceutical dealmaking between the state bureaucracy, pharmaceutical pricing strategies (and their effects), and the industry. Centrally, the pricing strategy of "bundling" -deals for packages of drugs that combine older and newer patented products- reflect how state managers have instigated an “incentivization game” that is played by state and industry actors, including HTA professionals, over pharmaceutical products (both current and in development). Second, a protective context is described that is comprised of successive legislative-judicial responses to the strategic context and characterized by the regulation and the societalisation of commercial law. Third, within the policy, the achievement of increased pharmaceutical coverage (pharmaceutical “mix”) alongside contained spending is conceptualized as a state defence of a "social profit". As such, in contrast to scholarly expectations that political and economic cultures of neo-liberalism drive pharmaceutical policy-making processes, New Zealand's state elites' approach is shown to be antipathetic to neo-liberals within an overall capitalist economy. The paper contributes an analysis of state pricing strategies and how they are embedded in state regulatory structures. Additionally, through an analysis of the interconnections of state power and pharmaceutical value Abrahams's neo-liberal corporate bias model for pharmaceutical policy analysis is problematised.

Keywords: pharmaceutical governance, pharmaceutical bureaucracy, pricing strategies, state power, value theory

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Authors: Cristina Gutiérrez Carranza

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Digital nomadism is a trend and lifestyle which combines work and traveling. This tourism tendency is motivated by the desire to have a fixed source of financial income while becoming independent from a specific work location. This study contextualizes Costa Rica and its potential prospects to take advantage of this tourism market niche. It explores the dynamics of digital nomadism in the context of Costa Rica, analyzing the current scenario, challenges, and opportunities related to this global phenomenon. The research covers several areas, including the conceptualization of digital nomadism, its historical background, and contemporary manifestations. The investigation delves into the present state of digital nomadism, evaluating the extent of digitalization in Costa Rica, mobile phone coverage, and fixed internet access. As part of the strategies implemented, as the study develops, mapping the most common destinations of digital nomads is a key factor, bringing a sight on the aspects that make Costa Rica an attractive location for this emerging tourist group. Additionally, the paper draws insights from hosting entrepreneurs and digital nomads with work visas in Costa Rica, offering a comprehensive understanding of the experiences and perspectives from both sides. Hence, the study includes data from a sample of 20 digital nomads holding visas for Costa Rica, offering a detailed analysis of their professional activities, experiences and needs as remote workers in the country. As well it adds in perceptions from 10 entrepreneurs engaged in providing accommodation services to digital nomads contribute to a degree of understanding of the way they have faced this growing movement. This research provides significant insights on the dynamics of digital nomadism in Costa Rica by integrating data from specific sources. Policymakers, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders are anticipated to gain valuable data from the findings regarding the opportunities and challenges of hosting and accommodating digital nomads, which will ultimately aid in the creation of plans to capitalize on this worldwide trend for the nation's socioeconomic development.

Keywords: digital nomads, tourism, sustainability, digital nomads visa, remote jobs

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Authors: Florence Awde

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In 2023, it was expected 350 parents in Arizona would have a child receive a cancer diagnosis (Welcome Arizona Cancer Foundation For Children, n.d.). The news of a child’s diagnosis with cancer can be overwhelming and confusing, especially for those lucky enough to lack a personal tie to the disease that takes approximately 1800 children’s lives each year in the United States (Deegan et al., n.d.). A parent’s beliefs, attitudes, and understandings surrounding cancer are vital for medical staff to provide adequate and culturally competent care for each patient, especially across cultural and ethnic lines in regions housing multicultural populations. Arizona's cultural/linguistic mosaic houses many White and Latino populations and English and Spanish speakers. Variations in insurance coverage, from those insured through public insurance programs (e.g., Medicaid) or private insurance plans (e.g., employee-sponsored insurance) versus those uninsured, also factor into health-seeking attitudes and behaviors. To further understand parental attitudes, understandings, and beliefs towards childhood cancer, 22 parents (11 of Latino ethnicity, 11 of White ethnicity) were interviewed on these facets of childhood cancer, despite 21 of the 22 never having a child receive a cancer diagnosis. The exploration of these perceptions across ethnic lines revealed a higher report of fear-orientated beliefs amongst Latino parents--hypothesized to be rooted in the starkly contrasting lack of belief in the possibility of recovering for children with cancer, compared to their white counterparts who displayed more optimism in the recovery process. Further, this study’s results lay the foundation for future scholarship to explore avenues of information dispersal to Latino parents that correct misconceptions of health outcomes and enable earlier intervention to be possible, ultimately correlating to better health and treatment outcomes by increasing parental health literacy rates for childhood cancer in the Phoenix Metropolitan.

Keywords: Childhood Cancer, Parental Beliefs, Parental Attitudes, Parental Understandings, Phoenix Metropolitan, Culturally Competent Care, Health Disparities, Health Inequities

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Authors: Delaram Ghodsi, Nasrin Omidvar, Hassan Eini-Zinab, Arash Rashidian, Hossein Raghfar

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Food supplementary programs are policy approaches that aim to reduce financial barriers to healthy diets and tackle food insecurity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the supportive section of Multidisciplinary Supplementary Program for Improvement of Nutritional Status of Children (MuPINSC) on households’ food security status and nutritional status of mothers. MuPINSC is a national integrative program in Iran that distributes supplementary food basket to malnourished or growth retarded children living in low-income families in addition to providing health services, including sanitation, growth monitoring, and empowerment of families. This longitudinal study is part of a comprehensive evaluation of the program. The study participants included 359 mothers of children aged 6 to 72 month under coverage of the supportive section of the program in two provinces of Iran (Semnan and Qazvin). Demographic and economic characteristics of families were assessed by a questionnaire. Data on food security of family was collected by locally adapted Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) at the baseline of the study and six month thereafter. Weight and height of mothers were measured at the baseline and end of the study and mother’s BMI was calculated. Data were analysed, using paired t-test, GEE (Generalized Estimating Equation), and Chi-square tests. Based on the findings, at the baseline, only 4.7% of families were food-secure, while 13.1%, 38.7% and, 43.5% were categorized as mild, moderate and severe food insecure. After six months follow up, the distribution of different levels of food security changed significantly (P<0.001) to 7.9%, 11.6%, 42.6%, and 38%, respectively. At the end of the study, the chance of food insecurity was significantly 20% lower than the beginning (OR=0.796; 0.653-0.971). No significant difference was observed in maternal BMI based on food security (P>0.05). The findings show that the food supplementary program for children improved household food security status in the studied households. Further research is needed to assess other factors that affect the effectiveness of this large scale program on nutritional status and household’s food security.

Keywords: food security, food supplementary program, household, malnourished children

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Authors: Mauro Callejas-Cuervo, Andrea Catherine Alarcon-Aldana, Lorena Paola Castillo-Guerra

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The software industry requires highly-trained professionals, capable of developing the roles integrated in the cycle of software development. That is why a large part of the task is the responsibility of higher education institutions; often through a curriculum established to orientate the academic development of the students. It is so that nowadays there are different models that support proposals for the improvement of the curricula for the area of Software Engineering, such as ACM, IEEE, ABET, Swebok, of which the last stands out, given that it manages and organises the knowledge of Software Engineering and offers a vision of theoretical and practical aspects. Moreover, it has been applied by different universities in the pursuit of achieving coverage in delivering the different topics and increasing the professional quality of future graduates. This research presents the structure of teaching and learning guides from the objectives of training and methodological strategies immersed in the levels of learning of Bloom’s taxonomy with which it is intended to improve the delivery of the topics in the area of Requirements Engineering. Said guides were implemented and validated in a course of Requirements Engineering of the Systems and Computer Engineering programme in the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia) using a four stage methodology: definition of the evaluation model, implementation of the guides, guide evaluation, and analysis of the results. After the collection and analysis of the data, the results show that in six out of the seven topics proposed in the Swebok guide, the percentage of students who obtained total marks within the 'High grade' level, that is between 4.0 and 4.6 (on a scale of 0.0 to 5.0), was higher than the percentage of students who obtained marks within the 'Acceptable' range of 3.0 to 3.9. In 86% of the topics and the strategies proposed, the teaching and learning guides facilitated the comprehension, analysis, and articulation of the concepts and processes of the students. In addition, they mainly indicate that the guides strengthened the argumentative and interpretative competencies, while the remaining 14% denotes the need to reinforce the strategies regarding the propositive competence, given that it presented the lowest average.

Keywords: pedagogic guide, pedagogic strategies, requirements engineering, Swebok, teaching-learning process

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Authors: Youtao Gao, Bingyu Jin, Tanran Zhao, Bo Xu

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The history of satellite navigation can be dated back to the 1960s. From the U.S. Transit system and the Russian Tsikada system to the modern Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS), performance of satellite navigation has been greatly improved. Nowadays, the navigation accuracy and coverage of these existing systems have already fully fulfilled the requirement of near-Earth users, but these systems are still beyond the reach of deep space targets. Due to the renewed interest in space exploration, a novel high-precision satellite navigation system is becoming even more important. The increasing demand for such a deep space navigation system has contributed to the emergence of a variety of new constellation architectures, such as the Lunar Global Positioning System. Apart from a Walker constellation which is similar to the one adopted by GPS on Earth, a novel constellation architecture which consists of libration point satellites in the Earth-Moon system is also available to construct the lunar navigation system, which can be called accordingly, the libration point satellite navigation system. The concept of using Earth-Moon libration point satellites for lunar navigation was first proposed by Farquhar and then followed by many other researchers. Moreover, due to the special characteristics of Libration point orbits, an autonomous orbit determination technique, which is called ‘Liaison navigation’, can be adopted by the libration point satellites. Using only scalar satellite-to-satellite tracking data, both the orbits of the user and libration point satellites can be determined autonomously. In this way, the extensive Earth-based tracking measurement can be eliminated, and an autonomous satellite navigation system can be developed for future space exploration missions. The method of state estimate is an unnegligible factor which impacts on the orbit determination accuracy besides type of orbit, initial state accuracy and measurement accuracy. We apply the extended Kalman filter(EKF) and the unscented Kalman filter(UKF) to determinate the orbits of Lagrangian navigation satellites. The autonomous orbit determination errors are compared. The simulation results illustrate that UKF can improve the accuracy and z-axis convergence to some extent.

Keywords: extended Kalman filter, autonomous orbit determination, unscented Kalman filter, navigation constellation

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Authors: Chunyue Liu, Hongxing Jiang

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Traditional water depth survey of wetland habitats used by waterbirds needs intensive labor, time and money. The optical remote sensing image relies on passive multispectral scanner data has been widely employed to study estimate water depth. This paper presents an innovative method for developing the water depth model based on the characteristics of visible and thermal infrared spectra of Landsat ETM+ image, combing with 441 field water depth data at Etoupao shallow wetland. The wetland is located at Momoge National Nature Reserve of Northeast China, where the largest stopover habitat along the eastern flyway of globally, critically-endangered Siberian Cranes are. The cranes mainly feed on the tubers of emergent aquatic plants such as Scirpus planiculmis and S. nipponicus. The effective water control is a critical step for maintaining the production of tubers and food availability for this crane. The model employing multi-band approach can effectively simulate water depth for this shallow wetland. The model parameters of NDVI and GREEN indicated the vegetation growth and coverage affecting the reflectance from water column change are uneven. Combining with the field-observed water level at the same date of image acquisition, the digital elevation model (DEM) for the underwater terrain was generated. The wetland area and water volume of different water levels were then calculated from the DEM using the function of Area and Volume Statistics under the 3D Analyst of ArcGIS 10.0. The findings provide good references to effectively monitor changes in water level and water demand, develop practical plan for water level regulation and water management, and to create best foraging habitats for the cranes. The methods here can be adopted for the bottom topography simulation and water management in waterbirds’ habitats, especially in the shallow wetlands.

Keywords: remote sensing, water depth reversion, shallow wetland habitat management, siberian crane

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Authors: Alina Muradyan, Lina Babayan, Arsen Nanyan, Gohar Galstyan, Vigen Khachatryan

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We present a photometric method for identifying stars, galaxies and quasars in multi-color surveys, which uses a library of ∼> 65000 color templates for comparison with observed objects. The method aims for extracting the information content of object colors in a statistically correct way, and performs a classification as well as a redshift estimation for galaxies and quasars in a unified approach based on the same probability density functions. For the redshift estimation, we employ an advanced version of the Minimum Error Variance estimator which determines the redshift error from the redshift dependent probability density function itself. The method was originally developed for the Calar Alto Deep Imaging Survey (CADIS), but is now used in a wide variety of survey projects. We checked its performance by spectroscopy of CADIS objects, where the method provides high reliability (6 errors among 151 objects with R < 24), especially for the quasar selection, and redshifts accurate within σz ≈ 0.03 for galaxies and σz ≈ 0.1 for quasars. For an optimization of future survey efforts, a few model surveys are compared, which are designed to use the same total amount of telescope time but different sets of broad-band and medium-band filters. Their performance is investigated by Monte-Carlo simulations as well as by analytic evaluation in terms of classification and redshift estimation. If photon noise were the only error source, broad-band surveys and medium-band surveys should perform equally well, as long as they provide the same spectral coverage. In practice, medium-band surveys show superior performance due to their higher tolerance for calibration errors and cosmic variance. Finally, we discuss the relevance of color calibration and derive important conclusions for the issues of library design and choice of filters. The calibration accuracy poses strong constraints on an accurate classification, which are most critical for surveys with few, broad and deeply exposed filters, but less severe for surveys with many, narrow and less deep filters.

Keywords: VO, ArVO, DFBS, FITS, image processing, data analysis

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Authors: Amaal Ali Al-Gamde

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The Syrian revolution is a major issue in the Middle East, which draws in world powers and receives a great focus in international mass media since 2011. The heavy global reliance on cyber news and digital sources plays a key role in conveying a sense of bias to a wide range of online readers. Thus, based on the assumption that media discourse possesses ideological implications, this study investigates the representation of Syrian revolution in online media. The paper explores the discursive constructions of anti and pro-government powers in Syrian revolution in 1000,000-word corpus of Fars online reports (an Iranian news agency), issued between 2013 and 2015. Taking a corpus assisted discourse analysis approach, the analysis investigates three types of lexicosemantic relations, the semantic macrostructures within which the two social actors are framed, the lexical collocations characterizing the news discourse and the discourse prosodies they tell about the two sides of the conflict. The study utilizes computer-based approaches, sketch engine and AntConc software to minimize the bias of the subjective analysis. The analysis moves from the insights of lexical frequencies and keyness scores to examine themes and the collocational patterns. The findings reveal the Fars agency’s ideological mode of representations in reporting events of Syrian revolution in two ways. The first is by stereotyping the opposition groups under the umbrella of terrorism, using words such as (law breakers, foreign-backed groups, militant groups, terrorists) to legitimize the atrocities of security forces against protesters and enhance horror among civilians. The second is through emphasizing the power of the government and depicting it as the defender of the Arab land by foregrounding the discourse of international conspiracy against Syria. The paper concludes discussing the potential importance of triangulating corpus linguistic tools with critical discourse analysis to elucidate more about discourses and reality.

Keywords: discourse prosody, ideology, keyness, semantic macrostructure

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Authors: Theingi Shwe, Riken Homma, Kazuhisa Iki, Juko Ito

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The growing cities of the developing country are characterized by rapid growth and poor infrastructure management inviting and accelerating relative environmental problems. Even though the movements of the sustainability had already been developed around the world, it is still increasing in the developing countries to plant sustainable practices. Aligned with the sustainable development actions, many sustainable assessment tools are also developed to rate and evaluate the sustainability performances through the building to community level. Among them, CASBEE is developed by Japanese organizations and is recognized as one of the international well-known assessment tools. The main purpose of the study is to find out the potential of CASBEE tool reflecting sustainability city level performances in developing countries. The research framework was designed with three major phases: Quantitative Approach, Qualitative Approach and Evaluation Reflection. The first two approaches were based on the investigation of tool’s contents and indicators by means of three sustainable dimensions and sustainability categories. To know the reality and reflection on developing country, Pathein City from Myanmar was selected and evaluated by 2012 version of CASBEE for Cities. The evaluation practices went through assigned indicators and the evaluation outcome presents the performances of Pathein city’s environmental efficiency as a very good in current conditions. The results of this study indicate that the indicators of this tool have balance coverage among three dimensions of sustainability but it has not yet counted enough for some indicators like location, infrastructure and institution which are relative to society dimension. In the developing countries’ cities, the most critical issues on development such as affordable housing and heritage preservation which are already planted in Pathein City but the tool does not account for those issues. Moreover, in some of the indicators, the benchmark and the weighting coefficient are strongly linked to the system birth region. By means of this study, it can be stated that CASBEE for Cities would be potential for delivering sustainable city level development in developing country especially in Myanmar along with further inclusion of the indicators.

Keywords: assessment tool, CASBEE, developing country, Myanmar, Pathein city, sustainable development

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Authors: Nomcebo N. Mpili, Cynthia Z. Madlabana

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The South African Primary Health Care (PHC) system has undergone a number of transformations such as the introduction of National Health Insurance (NHI) to bring about easily accessible universal health coverage and to meet the health needs for all its citizens. This provides ongoing challenges to ensure that health workers are equipped with appropriate knowledge, support, and skills to meet these changes. Therefore it is crucial to understand the experiences and challenges of nurses as the backbone of PHC in providing quality healthcare services. In addition there has been a need to understand nurses’ experiences with management support, role ambiguity and role conflict amongst other challenges in light of the current reforms in healthcare. Indeed these constructs are notorious for having a detrimental impact on the outcomes of change initiatives within any organisation, this is no different in healthcare. This draws a discussion on professional nurses within the South African health care system especially since they have been labelled as the backbone of PHC, meaning any healthcare backlog falls on them. The study made use of semi-structured interviews and adopted the interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA) as the researcher aimed to explore the lived experiences of (n= 18) participants. The study discovered that professional nurses experienced a lack of management support within PHC facilities and that management mainly played an administrative and disciplinary role. Although participants mainly held positive perceptions with regards to changes happening in health care however they also expressed negative experiences in terms of how change initiatives were introduced resulting in role conflict and role ambiguity. Participants mentioned a shortage of staff, inadequate training as well as a lack of management support as some of the key challenges faced in facilities. This study offers unique findings as participants have not only experienced the various reforms within the PHC system however they have also been part of NHI pilot. The authors are not aware of any other studies published that examine management support, role conflict and role ambiguity together especially in South African PHC facilities. In conclusion understanding these challenges may provide insight and opportunities available to improve the current landscape of PHC not only in South Africa but internationally.

Keywords: management support, professional nurse, role ambiguity, role conflict

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Authors: Ji-yang Yu, Dan Huang, Guo-ping Feng, Xin Li, Lu-yuan Wang

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The navigation satellite network, especially the Beidou MEO Constellation, can relay data effectively with wide coverage and is applied in navigation, detection, and position widely. But the constellation has not been completed, and the amount of satellites on-board is not enough to cover the earth, which makes the data-relay disrupted or delayed in the transition process. The data-relay function needs to tolerant the delay or disruption in some extension, which make the Beidou MEO Constellation a delay/disruption-tolerant network (DTN). The traditional DTN designs mainly employ the relay table as the basic of data path schedule computing. But in practical application, especially in critical condition, such as the war-time or the infliction heavy losses on the constellation, parts of the nodes may become invalid, then the traditional DTN design could be useless. Furthermore, when transmitting the critical message in the navigation system, the maximum priority strategy is used, but the nodes still inquiry the relay table to design the path, which makes the delay more than minutes. Under this circumstances, it needs a function which could compute the optimum data path on-board in real-time according to the constellation states. The on-board critical message transmission design for navigation satellite delay/disruption-tolerant network (DTN) is proposed, according to the characteristics of navigation satellite network. With the real-time computation of parameters in the network link, the least-delay transition path is deduced to retransmit the critical message in urgent conditions. First, the DTN model for constellation is established based on the time-varying matrix (TVM) instead of the time-varying graph (TVG); then, the least transition delay data path is deduced with the parameters of the current node; at last, the critical message transits to the next best node. For the on-board real-time computing, the time delay and misjudges of constellation states in ground stations are eliminated, and the residual information channel for each node can be used flexibly. Compare with the minute’s delay of traditional DTN; the proposed transmits the critical message in seconds, which improves the re-transition efficiency. The hardware is implemented in FPGA based on the proposed model, and the tests prove the validity.

Keywords: critical message, DTN, navigation satellite, on-board, real-time

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Authors: Nikolett Deutsch, Éva Pintér, Péter Bagó, Miklós Hetényi

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Strategic technology management has emerged and evolved parallelly with strategic management paradigms. It focuses on the opportunity for organizations operating mainly in technology-intensive industries to explore and exploit technological capabilities upon which competitive advantage can be obtained. As strategic technology management involves multifunction within an organization, requires broad and diversified knowledge, and must be developed and implemented with business objectives to enable a firm’s profitability and growth, excellence in strategic technology management provides unique opportunities for organizations in terms of building a successful future. Accordingly, a framework supporting the evaluation of the technological readiness level of management can significantly contribute to developing organizational competitiveness through a better understanding of strategic-level capabilities and deficiencies in operations. In the last decade, several innovation maturity assessment models have appeared and become designated management tools that can serve as references for future practical approaches expected to be used by corporate leaders, strategists, and technology managers to understand and manage technological capabilities and capacities. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art innovation maturity frameworks, to investigate the critical lessons learned from their application, to identify the similarities and differences among the models, and identify the main aspects and elements valid for the field and critical functions of technology management. To this end, a systematic literature review was carried out considering the relevant papers and articles published in highly ranked international journals around the 27 most widely known innovation maturity models from four relevant digital sources. Key findings suggest that despite the diversity of the given models, there is still room for improvement regarding the common understanding of innovation typologies, the full coverage of innovation capabilities, and the generalist approach to the validation and practical applicability of the structure and content of the models. Furthermore, the paper proposes an initial structure by considering the maturity assessment of the technological capacities and capabilities - i.e., technology identification, technology selection, technology acquisition, technology exploitation, and technology protection - covered by strategic technology management.

Keywords: innovation capabilities, innovation maturity models, technology audit, technology management, technology management maturity models

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Authors: Krassimir Todorov

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The purpose of the paper is to redefine the levels of structure of corporate, business and functional strategies that were established over the past several decades, to a conceptual model, consisting of corporate, business and operations strategies, that are reinforced by functional strategies. We will propose a conceptual framework of different perspectives in the role of strategic operations as a separate strategic place and reposition the remaining functional strategies as supporting tools, existing at all three levels. The proposed model is called ‘the strategic engine’, since the mutual relationships of its ingredients are identical with main elements and working principle of the internal combustion engine. Based on theoretical essence, related to every strategic level, we will prove that the strategic engine model is useful for managers seeking to safeguard the competitive advantage of their companies. Each strategy level is researched through its basic elements. At the corporate level we examine the scope of firm’s product, the vertical and geographical coverage. At the business level, the point of interest is limited to the SWOT analysis’ basic elements. While at operations level, the key research issue relates to the scope of the following performance indicators: cost, quality, speed, flexibility and dependability. In this relationship, the paper provides a different view for the role of operations strategy within the overall strategy concept. We will prove that the theoretical essence of operations goes far beyond the scope of traditionally accepted business functions. Exploring the applications of Resource-based theory and Market-based theory within the strategic levels framework, we will prove that there is a logical consequence of the theoretical impact in corporate, business and operations strategy – at every strategic level, the validity of one theory is substituted to the level of the other. Practical application of the conceptual model is tested in automotive industry. Actually, the proposed theoretical concept is inspired by a leading global automotive group – Inchcape PLC, listed on the London Stock Exchange, and constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Keywords: business strategy, corporate strategy, functional strategies, operations strategy

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Authors: Munruchi Kaur

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Agarics are the fruiting bodies of the fungi falling under Phylum Basidiomycota of class Agaricomycetes. North Western parts of India which comprises of mighty Himalayas decorated with snow cap mountains, forested areas, grassland and the Gangetic plains with the altitude varying between 196m to 3600m have a huge potential of naturally growing wild agarics. These mushrooms lavishly grow in wet humid weather conditions that prevail in these parts of India during the monsoon which hits in the early June and continue up to mid-October. In this area, a diverse form of mixed vegetation is available which is represented by coniferous and angiospermic trees, shrubs, herbs, epiphytes, parasites, climbers etc. The vegetation, topography and climate of this area is quite favorable for the growth of agarics. Cedrus deodara, Pinus longifolia, P. roxburghii, P. wallichiana, Abies pindrow, A. spectabilis, Picea smithiana, Taxus sp., Rhododendron sp. and Quercus sp. occur in pure formations or as scattered patches or as mixed forests, whereas the Gangetic plains are dominated by the angiospermic trees and shrubs, they commonly occur along roadsides or in conserved areas or are the avenues plantations, common amongst these are Shorea robusta, Dalbergia sissoo, Melia azadirachta, Acacia sp., Ficus benghalensis, Eucalyptus sp. and Butea monosperma. These agarics can be categorized on the basis of the habitat in which they grow they are usually foliocolous, lignicolous, humicolous, coprophilous or termitophilous. A number of fungal forays were undertaken to different parts of North West India from time to time during the monsoon season with an aim to decipher the agarics diversity of this part of India. Along with collecting the various agarics from diverse habitat, the ethnomycological data was also collected along with by interacting with the local inhabitants of those areas. Based upon the ethnomycological data collected over the years, cataloging of the edible and inedible agarics has been done and cultures of such potential edible agarics were raised with an aim to domesticate these selected taxa. With an aim to reduce the local pressure on these natural resources, a low-cost technology was developed to make it available to the public for cultivation. As a result, 104 taxa were found edible such as Amanita hemibapha var. ochracea, A. chepangiana, A. banningiana, A. vaginata, Agrocybe parasitica, Author: Professor & Dean Faculty of Life Sciences Punjabi University, Patiala. Punjab, India [email protected] Agaricus bisporus, A. andrewii, A. campestris var. campestris, A. silvicola, A. subrutilescens, A. bernardii, A. abruptibulbus, A. fuscovelatus, A. brunnescens, A. augustus, A. silvaticus, A. arvensis, Volvariella bakeri, V. terastia, V. bombycina, V. diplasia, Psathyrella candolleana, Volvopluteus gloiocephalus, Russula cyanoxantha, R. atropurpurea, R. aurea, Clitocybe gibba,Lentinus transitus, L. kashmirinus, L. crinitus, L. ligrinus, Lactarius rubrilacteus, Pleurotus sapidus, Pluteus subcervinus, Macrocybe gigantea, etc. Cultures of various taxa viz. Pleurotus sajor-caju, Macrocybe gigantea, Pluteus petasatus and Lentinus tigrinus were raised and a proper protocol for the domestication of Pleurotus sajor-caju, Macrocybe gigantea, and Lentinus tigrinus has been developed using the locally available agro-wastes.

Keywords: Agaric, culture, domestication, edible

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Authors: Shivani Yadav

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The paper illustrates dynamics of nuclear resistance movements in India and how peoples’ power rises in response to subversion of justice and suppression of human rights. The need for democratizing nuclear policy runs implicit through the demands of the people protesting against nuclear programmes. The paper analyses the rationale behind developing nuclear energy according to the mainstream development model adopted by the state. Whether the prevalent nuclear discourse includes people’s ambitions and addresses local concerns or not is discussed. Primarily, the nuclear movements across India comprise of two types of actors i.e. the local population as well as the urban interlocutors. The first type of actor is the local population comprising of the people who are residing in the vicinity of the nuclear site and are affected by its construction, presence and operation. They have very immediate concerns against nuclear energy projects but also have an ideological stand against producing nuclear energy. The other types of actors are the urban interlocutors, who are the intellectuals and nuclear activists who have a principled stand against nuclear energy and help to aggregate the aims and goals of the movement on various platforms. The paper focuses on the nuclear resistance movements at five sites in India- Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu), Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Haripur (West Bengal), Mithivirdi (Gujrat) and Gorakhpur (Haryana). The origin, development, role of major actors and mass media coverage of all these movements are discussed in depth. Major observations from the Indian case include: first, nuclear policy discussions in India are confined to elite circles; secondly, concepts like national security and national interest are used to suppress dissent against mainstream policies; and thirdly, India’s energy policies focus on economic concerns while ignoring the human implications of such policies. In conclusion, the paper observes that the anti-nuclear movements question not just the feasibility of nuclear power but also its exclusionary nature when it comes to people’s participation in policy making, endangering the ecology, violation of human rights, etc. The character of these protests is non-violent with an aim to produce more inclusive policy debates and democratic dialogues.

Keywords: anti-nuclear movements, Koodankulam nuclear power plant, non-violent resistance, nuclear resistance movements, social movements

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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: David Quevedo, Diana Coronel

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The present article carries out an evaluation of the drinking water system in the Bellavista sector of the city of Azogues, with the purpose of determining the appropriate equipment to record the actual consumption flows of the inhabitants in said sector. Taking into account that the study area is located in a rural and economically disadvantaged area, there is an urgent need to establish a control system for the consumption of drinking water in order to conserve and manage the vital resource in the best possible way, considering that the water source supplying this sector is approximately 9km away. The research began with the collection of cartographic, demographic, and statistical data of the sector, determining the coverage area, population projection, and a provision that guarantees the supply of drinking water to meet the water needs of the sector's inhabitants. By using hydraulic modeling through the United States Environmental Protection Agency Application for Modeling Drinking Water Distribution Systems EPANET 2.0 software, theoretical hydraulic data were obtained, which were used to design and justify the most suitable measuring equipment for the Bellavista drinking water system. Taking into account a minimum service life of the drinking water system of 30 years, future flow rates were calculated for the design of the macro-measuring device. After analyzing the network, it was evident that the Bellavista sector has an average consumption of 102.87 liters per person per day, but considering that Ecuadorian regulations recommend a provision of 180 liters per person per day for the geographical conditions of the sector, this value was used for the analysis. With all the collected and calculated information, the conclusion was reached that the Bellavista drinking water system needs to have a 125mm electromagnetic macro-measuring device for the first three quinquenniums of its service life and a 150mm diameter device for the following three quinquenniums. The importance of having equipment that provides real and reliable data will allow for the control of water consumption by the population of the sector, measured through micro-measuring devices installed at the entrance of each household, which should match the readings of the macro-measuring device placed after the water storage tank outlet, in order to control losses that may occur due to leaks in the drinking water system or illegal connections.

Keywords: macrometer, hydraulics, endowment, water

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Authors: Maria Christine Rizzon Cintra, Tâmara Duarte Borges, Cristina Santos Sotomaior

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Lamb’s fleece quality can be influenced by many factors, including welfare, stress, nutritional imbalance and presence of ectoparasites. The association of fleece quality and endoparasitism, until now, was not well solved. The present study was undertaken to evaluate if a fleece visual score could predict lamb parasitosis with the focus on gastrointestinal parasites. Fleece quality was scored based on a combination of cleanliness and wool cover, using a three-point scale (1-3). Score 1: fleece shows no sign of dirt or contamination, and had sufficient fleece for the breed and time of year with whole body coverage; Score 2: fleece was little damp or wet, with coat contaminated by small patches of mud or dung and some areas of fleece loose, but no shed or bald patches of no more than 10cm in diameter; Score 3: fleece filthy, very wet with coated in mud or dug, and loose fleece with shed areas of pulls with bald patches greater than 10cm, some areas may be trailing. All fleece quality scores (FQS) were assessed with lamb restrained to ensure close inspection and were done along lamb back and considered just one side of the body. To confirm the gastrointestinal parasites and animal’s anemia, faecal egg counts (FEC) and hematocrit were done for each animal. Lambs were also weighed. All these measurements were done every 15-days, beginning at 60-days until 150-days of life, using 48 animals crossed Texel x Ile de France. For statistics analysis, it was used Stratigraphic Program (4.1. version), and all significant differences between FQS, weight gain, age, hematocrit, and FEC were assessed using analysis of variance following by Duncan test, and the correlation was done by Pearson test at P<0.05. Results showed that animals scored as ‘3’ in FQS had a lower hematocrit and a higher FEC (p<0.05) than animals scored as ‘1’ (hematocrit: 26, 24, 23 and FEC 2107, 2962, 4626 respectively for 1, 2 and 3 FQS). There were correlations between FQS and FEC (r = 0.16), FQS and hematocrit (r = -0.33) an FQS and weight gain (r = -0.20) indicating that worst FQS animals (score 3) had greater gastrointestinal parasites’ infection, were more anemic and had lower weight gain than animals scored as ‘1’ or ‘2’ for FQS. Concerning the lamb´s age, animals that received score ‘3’ in FQS, maintained gastrointestinal parasites’ infection over the time (P<0.05). It was concluded that FQS could be an important indicator to be included in the selective treatment for control verminosis in lambs.

Keywords: fleece, gastrointestinal parasites, sheep, welfare

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