bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of compositional lines in natural landscapes
Authors: SZABO Mihaela , DUMITRAS Adelina , MIRCEA Diana-Maria , SESTRAS Adriana F. , BRZUSZEK Robert F.
Published: August 2022

Nature was and remains an eternal companion of man, but at the same time, it is also a constant enigma. Man’s connection with nature is ancestral, and the need for this connection is constantly proven. Landscape design is the field where art (human creation) and nature meet, creating a field of endless possibilities in the development of outdoor spaces, but while the artistic side of the field is constantly improved and developed, sometimes the exploration of the natural side is left behind. The present study aims to identify and analyse the types of compositional lines that can be found in natural landscapes. For this, different photos from natural parks or Romanian reserves were selected and subjected to visual analysis. In the examined scenes, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, straight or sinuous lines (the most dominant) were identified, being suggested by tree trunks or logs, water beds or streams, paths, the topography of the land or the contour of the crown. Their properties, such as thickness or repetition, can provide diversity, animate a scene, and generate visual movement or invite further exploration. This work can serve as a basis for a more thorough study of natural landscapes and is relevant to landscape architects who support the use of natural style in their work or are interested in integrative landscape design for a better understanding of natural features, as well as researchers who want to explore the aesthetics of natural landscapes.
DESIGN INSTRUCIONAL E O DESIGN EDUCACIONAL SOB A ÓTICA DE UMA EDUCAÇÃO PROGRESSISTA
Authors: Andrade Saulo Carmo , Santos Maria de Fátima Luz
Published: August 2022

O design instrucional surge como um campo do conhecimento que se encarrega de trazer critérios e planejamento para área da educação. O presente artigo tem o objetivo de analisar as expressões “design instrucional” e “design educacional”, que comumente aparecem como sinônimas, do ponto de vista semântico, histórico e ideológico, numa perspectiva que parte de uma educação de viés progressista. Este trabalho visa ainda apresentar os aspectos do design educacional que são compatíveis com uma visão crítica da educação. Para o desenvolvimento desse artigo, recorreu-se à pesquisa bibliográfica, a partir de autores que tratam do design instrucional, do design educacional e da utilização das tecnologias digitais da informação e comunicação (TDIC) no campo da educação, bem como a autores que discorrem sobre a concepção progressista da educação. Ficou evidente, então, o quanto a expressão “design instrucional” pode ser considerada inadequada para o cenário da atual educação brasileira por carregar consigo aspectos de ordem semântica, histórica e ideológica incompatíveis com uma educação emancipadora que considere os condicionantes históricos e sociais em sua práxis.
Diagnosis of paediatric TB using Xpert® MTB/RIF Ultra on fresh respiratory samples
Authors: Sabi I. , Olomi W. , Nkereuwem E. , Togun T. , Gomez M. P. , Sylla M. , Diarra B. , Sanogo M. , Sichone E. , Mahiga H. , Njeleka F. , Ebonyi A. O. , Egere U. , Ntinginya N. E. , Hoelscher M. , Heinrich N. , Kampmann B.
Published: August 2022

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of Xpert® MTB/RIF Ultra (Ultra) on fresh respiratory samples for the diagnosis of pulmonary TB (PTB) in children.METHODS: Between July 2017 and December 2019, children with presumed TB were prospectively
enrolled at clinical sites in three African countries. Children were assessed using history, physical examination and chest X-ray. Sputum or gastric aspirate samples were analysed using Ultra and culture. The diagnostic accuracy of Ultra was calculated against culture as the reference standard.RESULTS:
In total, 547children were included. The median age was 4.7 years, 77 (14.1%) were HIV infected and 77 (14.1%) had bacteriologically confirmed TB. Ultra detected an additional 20 cases in the group of children with negative culture results. The sensitivity of Ultra was 66.3% (95% CI 47–82),
and the specificity was 95.4% (95% CI 89–99) when assessed against culture as the reference standard.CONCLUSION: Despite the improved performance of Ultra as compared to Xpert as was previously reported, its sensitivity remains sub-optimal for the detection of TB in children.
Ultra detected additional 20 cases which otherwise could not have been detected by culture alone, suggesting that the latter is an imperfect reference standard.
The Making of a Newcastle Modernist: The Early House Designs of Sydney C. Morton
Authors: Hogben Paul
Published: August 2022

In his article series “Modern Homes of Newcastle”, published in the Newcastle Morning Herald between 1961 and 1964, journalist Alan Farrelly wrote about the contemporary domestic architecture of Newcastle and its surrounds and in doing so brought public attention to the work of a generation of the city’s younger architects. Prominent amongst these was Sydney Charles Morton who had four houses of his own design featured in the series. These houses stand out for their bold modernist appearance involving stark rectilinear forms, light-weight construction, flat roofs and large amounts of glazing. For readers of the newspaper, they were an illustration of how far residential design in their region had come.

This paper looks at the pre-history of these houses in the early domestic work of Morton which included the design of ‘Orana’, or what locally became known as “the chicken coop”. In the context of early 1950s Newcastle, where pitched roof, brick and tile homes were standard, ‘Orana’ certainly represented a radical departure and rethinking of the modern house. Like that of many of his generation, Morton’s work, and in particular his breakthrough project in ‘Orana’, occupies a position of ‘ultra’ defiance against convention. The aim of this paper is to understand how this position developed and grew in strength within his time as a student at Sydney Technical College and within his early practice.
On a Field: Undoing Polarities between Indigenous and Non-indigenous Design Knowledges
Authors: Urban Rochus Urban , Newell Dylan
Published: August 2022

This paper discusses how architectural practices can engage with and be inspired by a culture that is more than 60.000 years old. How can architects learn from situated and embodied Indigenous knowledge systems in the Australian context? How can an ethical engagement with indigenous histories and practices inspire the development of future architectural practices? This paper proposes that a better understanding of indigenous relationships to land and our environment can inspire us as a society and as architects to imagine new ways of thinking and practising. Considering our numerous contemporary crises, such as climate change, species extinction, food insecurity, we might need to begin to challenge and question western European norms and frameworks. The persistence of colonial thinking, operating within a capitalist system, has been the root cause of most of our contemporary crises. To attempt to undo the polarities that persist between indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge and thinking, we might learn new ways of storytelling as a means of envisioning an alternative future.

This paper understands the theme of the ‘ultra’ as that position that keeps us apart and stops us from sharing stories that might lead to alternative ways of speculating on shared spatial futures. To situate this discussion, we present a collaborative and pedagogical design experiment undertaken on the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung. On this Country, tentative attempts to learn with the environment and its associated stories were ventured on a small field and storytelling was used to shift our understanding of country and architecture.
The Other Architects Who Made London: Building Applications in Richmond 1886 -1939.” between Architecture and Engineering
Authors: Kroll David
Published: August 2022

Successive house building booms from the late 19th century until the Second World War shaped London’s built environment decisively. In terms of the sheer size of area covered, the dispersed, suburban London of terraced, semi- and detached houses that we know today was to a large extent created then, and much of it was built speculatively - by private firms for an assumed demand. Despite this legacy, the questions of who those involved in the design were and how they did it is an under-researched topic surrounded by assumptions that are often difficult to substantiate. Speculative housing of the period has long been regarded as an example of vernacular architecture, made by craftsmen using standard templates, so-called pattern books, without architect’s or otherwise professional involvement. The idea – in its extreme, ‘ultra’ form - is that designers were hardly necessary, as builders could simply copy house designs found in popular books and build from these. This idea of house building without architects or designers is also reflected in some of the literature but has been questioned more recently in academic research.

This paper will discuss the key occupations involved in the design and planning of speculative housing 1880s – 1939 through a survey of Building Applications for Richmond. These can only be understood in the context of its working world where boundaries between building and design roles were often less specialized than today. The evidence suggests that housing design was not as standardised as it appears, by simply reusing templates, but that much of it was in fact designed, usually for a number of dwellings at a time - by builders, architects and also by other professionals. These were the other ‘architects’ who made the London we know today.
Provocation, Ultra-Resistance and Representation: A Case Study-Based Research Course & the Student Exhibition ‘Re- Presented’
Authors: Yousefnia Ali Rad
Published: August 2022

The core premise of the paper focuses on approaching a specific case study as the subject and the object of an architectural research heritage course, in this case, the UQ Union complex (UQU). During the summer semester 2020 – 2021, thirteen students in the M. Arch program at the University of Queensland (UQ) studied and interpreted the tangible and intangible heritages of the UQU. Once an award-winning project back in the 1960s, the entire complex faced the threat of demolition by the university’s proposed master plan in 2017. There is no doubt that the demolition proposal was an ‘Ultra’ decision. The process followed an ‘Ultra’ reaction in the form of a campaign for saving UQU, supported by hundreds of activists, UQ staff, students, and alumni. Therefore, an ‘Ultra’ synthesis emerged from this dialectic. Besides the pedagogical approaches of the course, the site’s rich history shaped an important section of the paper. Given the spirit of the recent period, the ‘ultra-temporal’ and uncertain times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic created an ambiguous situation, and there is a major pause for the demolition proposal. The new response from the UQ administration was also briefly discussed at the end of the paper.

Within the course, the curiosity to have an in-depth understanding of a built environment transformed and evolved. Thus, the outcome was two exhibitions titled ‘re-Presented’ as a result of this collective work. The course created the opportunity for students to think critically about the role of the UQU Complex within the new master plan and re-image its position in the university’s future by their provocative proposals. These innovative and creative exhibition pieces went beyond conventional methods of documentation. The paper focuses on the students’ journey and how they unpacked the site’s history. It explains how their ideas re-presented a daily built environment that has dispatched from its past and alienated among its users. In summary, an ‘Ultra’ perspective, such as the one exemplified by the described course, comes back in a full circle.
Hotel Australia to Oberoi Adelaide: The Transnational History of an Adelaide Hotel
Authors: Shroff Meherzad B. , Srivastava Amit
Published: August 2022

In the decades following the war, the spread of international luxury chain hotels was instrumental in shaping the global image of modernity. It was not simply the export of modernist architecture as a style, but rather a process which brought about an overall transformation of the industry and culture surrounding modern domesticity. For Adelaide, well before the arrival of large brand hotel chains like Hilton and Hyatt, this process was initiated by the construction of its first international style hotel in 1960 – Australia Hotel. The proposed paper traces the history of this structure and its impact not only on local design and construction industries but also on domestic culture and lifestyle after the shadow period of recovery after the war.

This paper looks at three specific enduring legacies of this structure that went well beyond the modernist aesthetics employed by its original designers, the local firm of Lucas, Parker and Partners. The hotel was one of the first to employ the new technology of lift-slab construction and was recognised by the Head of Architecture at the University of Adelaide, Professor Jensen, as the outstanding building of 1960. It is argued that it was the engagement with such technological and process innovations that has allowed the building to endure through several renovation attempts. In her study of Hilton International hotels, Annabelle Wharton argues how architecture was used for America’s expansion to global economic and political power. Following on from her arguments, this paper explores the implications of the acquisition of the Australia Hotel by the Indian hotel chain Oberoi Hotels in the late 1970s when it became Oberoi Adelaide. The patronage of Indian hotelier Mohan Singh Oberoi came alongside the parallel acquisition of Hotel Windsor in Melbourne, heralding a new era of engagement with Asia. Finally, the paper also highlights the broader impact of this hotel, as a leisure venue for the burgeoning middle class, on the evolving domestic culture of Adelaide.
Yes, You Can Be an Architect and a Woman!’ Women in Architecture: Queensland 1982-1989
Authors: Gardiner Fiona
Published: August 2022

From the 1970s social and political changes in Australia and the burgeoning feminist movement were challenging established power relationships and hierarchies. This paper explores how in the 1980s groups of women architects actively took positions that were outside the established professional mainstream. A 1982 seminar at the University of Queensland galvanised women in Brisbane to form the Association of Women Architects, Town Planners and Landscape Architects. Formally founded the association was multi-disciplinary and not affiliated with the established bodies. Its aims included promoting women and working to reform the practice of these professions. While predominately made up of architects, the group never became part of the Royal Australian Institutes of Architects, it did inject itself into its activities, spectacularly sponsoring the Indian architect Revathi Kamath to speak at the 1984 RAIA. For five years the group was active organising talks, speakers, a newsletter and participating in Architecture Week. In 1984 an exhibition ‘Profile: Women in Architecture’ featured the work of 40 past and present women architects and students, including a profile of Queensland’s then oldest practitioner Beatrice Hutton. Sydney architect Eve Laron, the convenor of Constructive Women in Sydney opened the exhibition. There was an active interchange between Women in Architecture in Melbourne, Constructive Women, and the Queensland group, with architects such as Ann Keddie, Suzanne Dance and Barbara van den Broek speaking in Brisbane. While the focus of the group centred around women’s issues such as traditional prejudice, conflicting commitments and retraining, its architectural interests were not those of conventional practice. It explored and promoted the design of cities and buildings that were sensitive to users including women and children, design using natural materials and sustainability. While the group only existed for a short period, it advanced positions and perspectives that were outside the mainstream of architectural discourse and practice. Nearly 40 years on a new generation of women is leading the debate into the structural inequities in the architectural profession which are very similar to those tackled by women architects in the 1980s.
Pythagorean Palladio: Palladian Proportionality Patterns Decoded?
Authors: Gane Daria Gomez
Published: August 2022

There seem to be many understated assumptions in Palladio’s Four Books on Architecture. He tells us what to do, but never fully explains in detail how he gets to the recommended methods. For instance he uses drawings that understate the use of the root two rectangle (Figure V) in the first geometric method suggested to calculate the heights of vaults and uses the numbers of the tetraktys – without mentioning it - to “calculate” and provide an example of “harmonic” proportion. Had he only been a little more specific many misconceptions about his work – as being not entirely clear and somehow mysterious- might have never eventuated. In this brief work we show Palladio’s use in his designed and built work of one of his favourite proportions, the “proportione diagonea” already mentioned by Serlio, none other than the root two rectangle - the root two being, according to Wittkower, in his 1949 seminal work, the only irrational number of relevance in Renaissance architectural proportionality theory. A brief explanation of how the Tetraktys and Pythagorean Lambda were allegedly used by the stonemason turned architect to “calculate” “arithmetic”, “geometric” and “harmonic” means is provided.
A Selective Digital History: Limitations within Digitisation Practices and their Implications
Authors: Grant Angus , Raisbeck Peter
Published: August 2022

The Greg Burgess Archive (GBA) is perhaps the most complete, and arguably the most valuable architectural practice archive in Australia. However, its physical size presents a problem to both visibility, and longevity, and plans are in place to digitise the collection. While in storage at Avington, Victoria, an archival team – including Burgess himself – have begun repairing the 447 models, scanning the hundreds of tubes of drawings, and extracting data from countless obsolete media. Yet how reasonable is it to assume the efficacy of a program of digitisation? What are the implications for an objective architectural historiography if the process fails? Precipitated by difficulties in accurately digitising Burgess’ intricate physical models, this piece explores both questions.

Firstly, the digitisation process for the GBA acts as a case study. Then, the technical limitations encountered are placed within a wider context of archival concerns in today’s diverse, digital age. These archival concerns are recognised in the eliding of ephemeral archival material – bodies, experiences, spoken histories – all of which may elude Western archival frameworks. What is illustrated here is that the same underrepresentation may extend into digitised collections, and that what is omitted is precisely the contents of the GBA – intricate, tectonic objects which do not conform to the idiosyncrasies of the technology at hand.

The subsequent discussion then proceeds to advance, and explicate, the notion of the third object. Curation, then, is surrendered to the archival process itself, and the agency to reify our material history is at risk of being left to the machines, and their preference for certain types of ethnocultural artifact. Considering this, alternative strategies are presented for both the GBA and institutions at large, yet archivists and historians must be conscious of these limitations, or risk the failings of traditional, institutional archival systems spreading throughout a growing digital landscape.
Barbara van den Broek. Contributions to the Disciplines of Landscape Architecture, Town Planning and Architecture
Authors: Saniga Andrew , Wilson Andrew
Published: August 2022

Barbara van den Broek (1932-2001) trained as an architect in Auckland, New Zealand before moving to Brisbane with her husband and fellow architect Joop, where they established an architectural practice. van den Broek went on to run an office as a sole practitioner and took on architecture and landscape architecture projects. Over the course of her career she completed post-graduate diplomas in Town and Country Planning, Landscape Architecture and Education, and a Master of Science – Environmental Studies, and collaborated on a number of key projects in Queensland and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Our paper will build an account of her career. In assessing the significance of her contribution to landscape architecture, planning and architecture in Australasia, it will bring a number of other spheres into the frame: conservation and Australia’s environment movement; landscape design and the bush garden; and van den Broek’s personal development that included artistic expression, single parenthood, teaching, and the navigation of male-dominated professional environments to develop a practice that contributed to town planning projects in cities across Australia, and made significant contributions to landscape projects in Queensland and PNG.
Designing Post-colonial Domesticity: Positions and Polarities in the Feminine Reception of New Residential Patterns in Modernising East Pakistan and Bangladesh
Authors: Uzra Mehbuba Tune , Scrivener Peter
Published: August 2022

When Paul Rudolph was commissioned to design a new university campus for East Pakistan in the mid-1960s, the project was among the first to introduce the expressionist brutalist lexicon of late-modernism into the changing architectural language of postcolonial South and Southeast Asia. Beyond the formal and tectonic ruptures with established colonial-modern norms that these designs represented, they also introduced equally radical challenges to established patterns of domestic space-use. Principles of open-planning and functional zoning employed by Rudolf in the design of academic staff accommodation, for example, evidently reflected a socially progressive approach – in light of the contemporary civil rights movement back in America – to the accommodation of domestic servants within the household of the modern nuclear family. As subsequent residents would recount, however, these same planning principles could have very different and even opposite implications for the privacy and sense of security of Bangladeshi academics and their families.

The paper explores and interprets the post-occupancy experience of living in such novel ‘ultra-modern’ patterns of a new domesticity in postcolonial Bangladesh, and their reception and adaptation into the evolving norms of everyday residential development over the decades since. Specifically, it examines the reception of and responses to these radically new residential patterns by female members of the evolving modern Bengali Muslim middle class who were becoming progressively more liberal in their outlook and lifestyles, whilst retaining consciousness and respect for the abiding significance in their personal and family lives of traditional cultural practices and religious affinities. Drawing from the case material and methods of an on-going PhD study, the paper will offer a contrapuntal analysis of architectural and ethnological evidence of how the modern Bengali woman negotiates, adapts to and calibrates these received architectural patterns of domesticity whilst simultaneously crafting a reembraced cultural concept of femininity, in a fluid dialogical process of refashioning both space and self.
Usage of the Green/Sustainable Materials in the Construction Process
Authors:   Department of Engineering, University of Bolton, UK., Sohail Aamir
Published: August 2022

This research attempts to assess the environmental impact of conventional elements and the significance of green materials in building. To attain the research objective, the information was gathered using an electronic questionnaire, and Google Drive was used to collect the answers. The data were further calculated on the SPSS computer using replies from the Likert Scale. On the SPSS sheets, participant responses were compiled and tallied. The vast majority of respondents supported the use of green building materials in the construction process for a sustainable development. The data's mean, standard deviation, maximum and minimum values were computed. Responses from participants shown in accordance with the percentages of the data that were presented, where the necessity of conducting an energy audit in buildings was at its highest level (74.94%). The study concluded that the appropriate consideration of eco-friendly sustainable  construction materials is the most direct way for builders to start incorporating sustainable design ideas into structures construction materials is the most direct way for builders to start incorporating sustainable design ideas into structures.
Pre-post electron transfer regioselectivity at glycine modified graphene electrode interface for voltammetric sensing applications
Authors: Jayaprakash Gururaj Kudur , Flores-Moreno Roberto , Kumara Swamy Bahaddurghatta Eshwaraswamy , Mohanty Kaustubha , Dhiman Pravesh
Published: August 2022

In the last few years, glycine (GL) showed good experimental evidence as an electron transfer (ET) mediator at the carbon (in particular graphene (GR)) interface. However, ET properties of GL modified GR interface are still not known completely. These can be achieved using density functional theory-based models. Modelling of modified carbon electrode interfaces is essential in electroanalytical chemistry to get insights into their electronic and redox properties. Here we have modelled glycine modified graphene interface to find out its interfacial redox ET properties. Conceptual density functional theory concepts like frontier molecular orbital (FMO) theory and analytical Fukui functions were utilized to predict the ET sites on the modified graphene surface. It is shown that at the glycine-modified graphene interface, amine groups act as additional oxidation sites and carboxylic acid groups as additional reduction sites. Therefore, glycine acts as an ET mediator at the graphene-based electrode interface. The obtained results are well supported by previously published experimental reports.
Roundup in the aquatic environment and fish reproduction
Authors: Suder Daria , Socha Magdalena
Published: August 2022

This review paper aims at presenting the effects of Roundup in the aquatic environment on fish reproduction. It describes the mechanism of action and toxic effects of Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate on non-target organisms — flatworms, amphibians, and mammals. Commercial formulations based on glyphosate are dangerous for living organisms, as they lead to behavioral disorders, reduce reproductive parameters, and may cause metabolic disorders. In fish, Roundup causes damage to the liver, brain, and gills, and triggers degenerative changes in the kidneys. Sublethal doses of this pesticide impair locomotor activity and damage DNA through oxidative stress. Many experiments show the toxic effect of Roundup on fish reproduction. Reported anomalies include disturbances in embryogenesis (e.g. pericardial edema, tail bend), reduced embryo survival, and an increase in the number of deformed larvae. Roundup and glyphosate inhibit ovarian follicular growth in adult females. Adult males exposed to the pesticide have inferior semen quality, with limited sperm concentration and motility. Roundup represents a serious threat to land and water organisms, and limitation of its use is necessary.
DIAGNOSTIC-STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF BRĂILA COUNTY
Authors:   Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, NICULA Virgil , SPANU Simona ,   Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
Published: August 2022

The diagnostic analysis on the sustainable development of Brăila County represents a broad investigation of the main political, economic, sociological, technical, ecological and legislative aspects. It was carried out in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the reality of Brăila, but also the opportunities and environmental threats that favour or endanger sustainable development, including the root causes. The method is materialized in recommendations regarding the sustainable development of the analysed county (for capitalizing on the strengths and opportunities) or corrective (for eliminating or mitigating the weaknesses and threats identified).
FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN THE ECONOMY OF EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Authors:   Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, STOENOIU Carmen-Elena , SERBAN Mioara Florica , CRISTEA Ciprian ,   Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Published: August 2022

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been debated by many specialists being considered in most cases a source of development for the receiving countries. From this perspective the study is a comparative analysis of FDI evolution in Eastern European countries and an analysis of FDI in Romania. The analysis was carried out over a period of five years and allowed us to obtain useful information regarding the FDI volume expressed in % of GDP, FDI structure and structure of activities in Romania considered attractive for FDI, respectively FDI distribution in the regions of Romania.
A WAY FORWARD FOR ROMANIAN SMALL BUSINESSES AFTER THE PANDEMIC
Authors:   Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, TODERICIU Ramona , BOANTA Alexandra ,   Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
Published: August 2022

The impact of the SARS-COV-2 virus on small and medium-sized businesses is huge, with most businesses having difficulty staying afloat during the pandemic period. Uncertainty is a major factor that can have a truly major impact on small businesses, and this was especially evident during a pandemic. Certainly 2020 is a year of challenges, with a significant impact on SMEs, a year in which the decisions taken by managers will have a significant impact on the direction of their business, a year in which adaptation to current customer requirements is crucial. Thus, it is necessary that managers know and analyze the current market trends so as to approach proactively the adaptation difficulties encountered. The activity of companies has developed mainly in the online environment, in order to maintain contact with customers and to keep the business alive by selling the products and services offered through online platforms. The present study aims to review and analyse the short-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, in order to disseminate the economic effects caused during this period relating to the impact of staff layoffs, restriction or business reorientation, and effects that can generate, in certain situations, economic recession, with temporary or even permanent damages. Therefore, we can say that there are good reasons to believe, as many specialists say, that the effect of the pandemic will be felt for a longer period, without being able to expect a sudden economic recovery, but a slow and long lasting one.
ENVIRONMENTAL FUND IN ROMANIA: ANALISYS OF SOME CURRENT PROGRAMS FOR ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
Authors:   Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, BARBU Liliana
Published: August 2022

Environmental challenges are increasing the pressure on governments to find ways to reduce environmental damage. In Romania, all these challenges are faced by managing the Environment Fund and by using public expenditures for environmental protection as a key tool. The present paper presents a brief analysis of some on-going programs funded by Romanian public authorities in 2020. Specifically, the paper presents how public money is used to make waste management more efficient, to expand the national water and sewerage network, but also to improve the environmental knowledge of the population.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITY IN EUROPE
Authors:   Babes-Bolyai University, BUDOIU-BALAN Oana
Published: August 2022

The role of this study is to present the theory of the entrepreneurial university and the effects of implementing Clark’s model in five universities in England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden, in order to prove how this vision impacts the management of public institutions, the academic communities, the visibility and quality of university research and educational products. The data processed in this article has been collected from research conducted from 1980 to 2010 which led to the formulation of concepts and efficiency factors for entrepreneurial universities, in which the central poles of the managerial system rely on the satisfaction of the customer-beneficiary and on the externalization of the academic results in an industrial type of context.
QUALITY OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION SERVICES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Authors:   Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, NITA Vasile , UNGUREANU Andrei ,   Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi
Published: August 2022

This study discusses the quality of online communication services from the perspective of public administration. Earlier studies show that provision of electronic services has been highly successful in the public sector, where tasks generally have a lower degree of complexity. Most public administration bodies have been committed to providing high quality customer-oriented e-services. Now, the quality in public administration services is highly demanded by citizens, and mainly by users of online communication services, which requires transparency, efficiency and efficacy of these services.
IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF AUDIT RISK AND FRAUD RISK ON THE FIELD OF PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
Authors:   Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, TAVALA Florina-Maria
Published: August 2022

The need to strengthen control/audit on the field of public procurement was imposed after the enactment in 2016 of the new legislative package on the field. Starting from the legislation in the field of public procurement, from the practice in the field and the current economic context, this paper presents the procedures for assessing fraud, as well as concrete examples of indications of fraud specific to the field of public procurement. Some examples of indications of fraud identified and presented in the paper refer to: the possibility of taking bribes for the award of certain contracts, links between the persons involved in the award procedures and members of their families, disclosure of certain information concerning the offer, coercion/exclusion, dubious evaluation of bidders, procurement procedures in complicity.
BOOK REVIEW - INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS: THEORIES, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, TOOLS AND CASE STUDIES, EDITORS: GHEORGHE HURDUZEU, LUMINIȚA NICOLESCU
Authors:   Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, BELASCU Lucian
Published: August 2022

BOOK REVIEW - INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS: THEORIES, STRATEGIES, POLICIES, TOOLS AND CASE STUDIES, EDITORS: GHEORGHE HURDUZEU, LUMINIȚA NICOLESCU
Evaluation of the Fear of COVID-19 and State-Trait Anxiety Levels of Parents Taking Their Child to Hospital with Suspected COVID-19
Authors: DOĞAN Seda , YILDIRIM Ferda
Published: August 2022

Abstract

The coronavirus epidemic causes fear and anxiety in all individuals in the society, especially in parents. This is a condition that triggers many psychological symptoms in both the parent and the child. This study was conducted to determine the fear and anxiety levels of parents who suspect that their child may have COVID-19 during the coronavirus epidemic. 410 parents who took their children to the Emergency Department of the Pediatrics unit were included in the study. Data were collected using the “personal information form,” “The Fear of COVID-19 Scale,” and “State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)” and analyzed through the SPSS software. It was determined that the participant parents had moderate (19.69±6.30) fear, moderate Trait (42.93±5.12), and moderate State Anxiety (43.90±6.56), and there was a significant relationship between the Fear of COVID-19 and Trait Anxiety (R=0.117, R2=0.0147, F(1. 408) =5.629, p=0.018).
Effect of pre-harvest treatment, packaging and storage conditions on shelf life and quality of lasora (Cordia myxa) fruits
Authors: MEGHWAL P R , SINGH DALPAT , SINGH AKATH
Published: August 2022

An experiment was conducted on the effect of pre-harvest spray of calcium chloride (1–2%), pre-cooling, packaging materials and storage conditions on shelf life and quality of lasora fruits. The LDPE bags were found most efficient in reducing the PLW followed by cling film and brown paper bags both under ambient and refrigerated conditions. The pre-cooled fruits revealed significantly lower PLW compared to non pre-cooled fruits up to 4th day in ambient condition and till 14th day in refrigerated conditions. Under ambient conditions, the maximum shelf life of 7 days was recorded in LDPE followed by cling film wrap and brown paper bags while under refrigerated conditions it could be extended up to 14 days in LDPE and cling film packed fruits and 7 days in brown paper. The spoilage was significantly higher at ambient condition within 7 days in LDPE packed fruits (3.54%) and least in cling film. The spoilage increased to 10–12% in refrigerator when the fruits were stored for longer duration and it was not affected significantly by different treatments. The antioxidant activity was absent in the fruits stored in ambient condition while it was recorded in refrigerated fruits even after 14 days of storage.
Potentiality of intercropping in managing Diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella)
Authors: SHARMA KULDEEP , MAHLA M K , RAMESH BABU S , AHIR K C , KUMAR A , SINGH BEERENDRA , CHEEMA RUPINDER SINGH
Published: August 2022

The present experiment was conducted at horticulture farm of Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Udaipur, Rajasthan, during two winter (rabi) seasons 2019–20 and 2020–21. The treatments include, cabbage + marigold, cabbage + onion, cabbage + garlic, cabbage + marigold + insecticides spray, cabbage + onion + insecticides spray, cabbage + garlic + insecticides spray, cabbage + insecticides spray and cabbage sole without insecticide spray as untreated control. The insecticidal treatments scheduled with two sprays, viz. first spray of chlorfenapyr 10% sc @200 g a.i./ ha and spinosad 45% sc @45 g a.i./ha. During both years, cabbage intercropped with marigold + insecticides spray proved to be the best treatment with the lowest mean DBM larval population (0.73 and 0.47 larvae/plant) and highest benefit-cost ratio (6.69 and 6.88). Additionally, the intercrops treatments, viz. cabbage + marigold, cabbage + onion and cabbage + garlic also significantly reduced the number of DBM larvae per plant as compared to the untreated sole cabbage. The different intercrops combinations evaluated had a positive effect on the cabbage crop in reducing the pest and can be taken to manage DBM in a sustainable way.
Suitable mechanization for increasing soybean (Glycine max) production under aberrated climatic regime of Madhya Pradesh
Authors: SINGH R K , TRIPATHI UTTAM KUMAR , RAWAT ANAY , SINGH S R K
Published: August 2022

As a result of climate change during the last decade, the normal rainfall pattern has been disturbed which resulted in frequent aberrations with extreme situation of sudden downpour or long dry spells resulting in severe stress on soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] crop leading to yield reduction. The establishment of in situ rainwater management strategies is essential for minimizing risk of crop failure and stabilizing soybean production. Under such circumstances, KVK, Panna, introduced ridge and furrow equipment for the line sowing of soybean at KVK instructional farm during rainy (kharif) season 2014–17. The maximum yield was recorded in the plants sown in ridge and furrow technique (17.2 q/ha) followed by broad bed furrow technique and sweep seed drill (15.7 and 15.2q/ha, respectively) as compared to broadcasting methods of sowing (11.1 q/ha). The benefit:cost ratio was recorded as high as 1:2.9 under ridge and furrow technique of sowing followed by broad bed furrow technique and sweep seed drill (1:2.7) compared to broadcasting (1:2.0). The ridge and furrow equipment saved more soil moisture (13, 17, 20 and 23% respectively) at 5 days interval for 20 days through increased infiltration rate of rainfall and reduced runoff that lead to slow rate of soil erosion than broadcasting. The furrow allows drainage of excess water in case of heavy precipitation, while also allowing in situ moisture conservation during dry spells, thus mitigating the detrimental effects of excess and dry spell situation in soybean crop.
Effect of fertility levels on sesame (Sesamum indicum) varieties under agri-horti system
Authors: PATEL ABIB KUMAR , BOHRA J S , DEWANGAN SAVITA , SINGH ALOK KUMAR
Published: August 2022

The move towards higher production of quality crops with alternative land use systems i.e. agri-horticulture system in combination with adequate supply of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur and improved varietal selection can solve the problem of lower productivity. Consequently, the present study illustrated that selection of crop varieties according to land use system with balanced nutrients supply can optimize the crop production in sustainable manner. The study showed that the performance of crop with different varietal selection was influenced by the different levels of nutrients supply. The growth and yield parameters were significantly affected with the application of 60, 30, 30, 30 kg of N, P2O5, K2O and S/ha and produced significantly higher seed yield (675 kg/ha) as compared to 40, 20, 20, 20 kg of N, P2O5, K2O and S/ ha and 20, 10, 10, 10 kg of N, P2O5, K2O, and S/ha among various fertility levels.
Organic management for yams (Dioscorea spp.) intercropped in coconut (Cocos nucifera) plantation: Evidences from a validation trial in the coastal humid tropics of Kerala, India
Authors: SUJA G , SUBRAMANIAN P , SUREKHA R , JAGANATHAN D , MARIA C LINTU , RAJ RAKHI K
Published: August 2022

A field experiment was conducted under Network Project on Organic Horticulture during 2015–17 (April-January) at ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (ICAR-CPCRI), Kasaragod, to validate the ICAR-CTCRI developed organic farming technologies in yams under intercropping in an organically raised mature coconut garden (>48 years). Three species of Dioscorea [(greater yam (D. alata), lesser yam (D. esculenta) and white yam (D. rotundata)] were tested under four production systems, viz. traditional, conventional, integrated and organic, and replicated thrice in split plot design in a mature coconut garden. Organic practice was similar to conventional as revealed from the identical impacts on yield, tuber quality and soil chemical properties. Yield under organic management was 98.6% of conventional farming. D. alata and D. esculenta were more responsive (+8 to 10%) to organic management, but organic management lowered yield by 30% in dwarf white yam (D. rotundata). The organic farming package comprising farmyard manure, green manure cowpea, neem cake and ash resulted in higher available N, exchangeable Ca and available Zn in soil and significant improvement in K, higher P and Mg contents in yam tubers. However, the highest profit was realized from coconut + D. alata in integrated system (`1,87,057/ha). Among yams, greater yam (D. alata) was the most productive and profitable under organic management (`1,46,634/ha) in intercropping set up.
Pattern Of Blood Donation And Reasons For Deferral Of Blood Donors In A Tertiary Health Facility In Northeastern Nigeria
Authors: Dachi Rufai Abdu , Awwalu Sani , Yuguda Saleh , Mustapha Falmata Grema , Mukhtar Salisu Muhammad
Published: August 2022

Bbackground: Blood transfusion is an essential lifesaving procedure in medical practice. The source of blood for donation can be from Voluntary Non-remunerated Donors (VNRDs), Family Replacement Donors, Commercial/Paid donors and Autologous Donors. The VNRD has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The situation in developing countries like Nigeria is different as there is scarcity of VNRDs which can be attributed to ignorance, fear, misconceptions regarding blood and blood products donation and transfusion. Objective: This study aimed to determine the pattern of blood donations and reasons for deferral in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital Bauchi. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study where records of blood donors that presented to the Blood Bank of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) Bauchi from January, 2018 to December 2019 were collected. Data was analyzed using Microsoft excel 2016. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Research and Ethics committee of ATBUTH Bauchi. Results: There were 19,406 prospective donors who presented for donation during the period under review. Of the 19,406 prospective donors, 24.7% (4,786/19406) were deferred from donation for various reasons including seropositivity to transfusion transmissible pathogens (70.3%), low blood level (anaemia) (20.5%), low weight (1.3%), among others. Females constituted only 2.4% (354/14,620) of the blood donors. Ninety eight percent (14,423/14,620) were family replacement donors while no commercial donors were seen during the period under review. Conclusion and Recommendations: There is a low rate of voluntary and female blood donation as well as a high donor deferral rate in our environment. We therefore recommend increased advocacy for regular voluntary non-remunerated blood donation by the community as well as encouraging more female participation in blood donation.
Espacio intersticial. Surgimiento y transformación : Caso Tonalá, Jalisco en México
Authors: Águila Flores José Luis
Published: August 2022

La presente investigación fue galardonada con la VIII edición del Premio de Estudios Iberoamericanos La Rábida en la modalidad de Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas. Espacio intersticial, concepto teórico que se ha mostrado tímido y difuso en la literatura urbana; definido como aquel espacio libre y sin intervención urbanística ubicado en la periferia, que media entre zonas urbanizadas dispersas y que muestra una dinámica de ocupación acelerada. ¿Cuáles son los factores que influyen en el surgimiento y transformación del espacio intersticial en la expansión urbana de las ciudades metropolitanas? Se plantea dejar de ver a los intersticios urbanos como una simple ausencia o vacío; se propone verlos como espacios culpables o propositivos dentro del desarrollo urbano; espacios que quizás esperen con optimismo a ser urbanizados, pero por el momento, son sitios durmientes que esperan su intervención en un futuro no lejano. Se propone también, estudiar a los intersticios en conjunto con su contra parte, las células urbanas, aquellos desarrollos con preferencia al uso habitacional, que se muestran aislados, dispersos y egoístas con su contexto inmediato. Dentro de su oportuna metodología, se estudia al municipio de Tonalá, Jalisco en México. Ciudad metropolitana de procedencia indígena y artesana que se presenta como una excelente opción para ser analizada bajo el lente del concepto espacio intersticial, en aras de entender su comportamiento y de encontrar soluciones que minimicen los conflictos urbanos que ocurren en su territorio.