bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nutritional Composition, Antioxidant Activity and Common Phytochemicals of Selected BARI Mango Varieties and Commercial Cultivar Langra
Authors: Molla Mohammad Mainuddin , Sabuz Ashfak Ahmed , Chowdhury Md. Golam Ferdous , Khan Md. Hafizul Haque , Alam Mahfujul , Miaruddin Md. , Khatun Anjumanara , Ali Md. Sekender
Published: November 2020

The present study sought to explore the nutritional composition, bioactive phytochemicals and antioxidant activity of BARI mango-4, BARI mango-6 and Langra cultivar. The total phenolic (TPH), vitamin C, total carotene, ß-carotene content and antioxidant activity of the mangos were determined by 1,1- diphenyl-2picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging and reducing power assays (RPA). Phenolic compounds were assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array detector and auto sampler. Results revealed that moisture, TSS, pH, total acidity, reducing, total sugar and energy of the BARI mango-4 and BARI mango-6 were 76.54 and 75.24 %, 17.10°B and 21.20°B, 4.90 and 5.01, 0.49 and 0.50 %, 3.90 and 4.54 %, 11.20 and 13.46 % and 4028.06 and 3950.27 cal/g respectively whereas the Langra cultivar remained 76.33 %, 17.63°B, 4.25, 0.63 %, 2.79 %, 9.79 % % and 3871.28 cal/g respectively. Phytochemicals especially TPH, ascorbic acid, total flavonoid (TF), total carotenoid (TC), ß-carotene and total anthocyanin content (TAC) of the BARI mango-4 and BARI mango-6 were 20.53 and 20.67 mg GAE/g, 39.98 and 26.26 mg/100 g, 3.14 mg and 2.87 QE/g, 76.38 and 81.33 mg/100 g, 28.17 and 65.84 µg/100 g and 1.67 and 11.69 mg/100 respectively whereas the Langra contained 19.90 mg GAE/g, 25.53 mg/100g, 1.38 mg QE/g, 4.21 mg/100 g, 31.00 µg/100 g and18.22 mg/100 g respectively. In case of antioxidant activities total antioxidant capacity, DPPH radical scavenging activity, reducing power capacity (RPC), metal chelating capacity (MCC), Nitric oxide (NO) free radical scavenging activity and IC50 of the BARI mango-4 and BARI mango-6 were 229.00 and 309.00 µg of ascorbic acid/mg of extract, 96.84 and 94.73 %, 12.20 and 9.71 µg/mL, 157.36 and 132.89 %, 61.74 and 72.65 µg/mL and 0.59 and 0.71 µg/mL respectively whereas the Langra cultivar contained 194.25 µg of ascorbic acid/mg of extract, 87.94 %, 2.54 µg/mL, 177.80 %, 53.74 µg/mL and 25.11 µg/mL respectively. The results indicate that BARI mango-4 and BARI mango-6 exhibited rich source of TPH, TC, ß-carotene, ascorbic acid, TA, TAC and NO free radical scavenging activity whereas the Langra is the rich source of MCC and anthocyanin content. Phenolic acids were leading agent in BARI mango-4 and BARI mango-6. Moreover, BARI mango-4 and BARI mango-6 extract had a great potential to fight free radical chain reactions and for usage in therapeutic applications.
Soil Fertility Evaluation of Major Cocoa Producing Areas of Cross River State, Nigeria
Authors: Kekong Michael A. , Undie Utietiang L.
Published: November 2020

Assessment of soil textures and fertility properties of major cocoa producing areas of Cross River State of Nigeria was carried out to ascertain their suitability for cocoa production. Thirty six (36) representative soil samples were collected between November 2016 and January 2017 from 18 selected cocoa farms in Boki, Ikom and Etung and analyzed using standard laboratory procedures. Result indicated textural classes of loamy sand, sandy loam sandy clay loam, sandy clay and clay loam soils in the cocoa farms with a mean clay 30.02 percent, silt 13.49% and sand 56.43 the result of the fertility properties of the soils show means in the ranges of pH (5,31-5.64), EC (0.021-0.023 ds/m), OM (2.81-3.36%)TN (0.07-0.09%), AV.P (2.82-5.92 mg/kg), exch Mg (1.47-200 cmol/kg) exchange Na (0.05-0.06 cmol/kg) ECEC (6.73-8.94 cmol/kg) BS (77.25-82.70%). In this study area base saturation, exchangeable calcium and magnesium and total nitrogen were adequate within recommended limit. Available phosphorus, potassium, organic matter electrical conductivity and effective cation exchange capacity were below the critical level. A guarded application of appropriate fertilizers in this cocoa growing area is recommended for sustainable yield of cocoa in quantity and quality.
Geochemical Characteristics of Amphibolites in Parts of Iseyin-Oyan Schist Belt, Southwestern Nigeria
Authors: Abdus-Salam Maryam O. , Bolarinwa Anthony T. , Olatunji Akinade S. , Omotunde Victoria B.
Published: November 2020

Amphibolite is an important lithologic unit of the Nigerian basement complex that are commonly intercalated within metasedimentary sequences. Disseminated grains of sulphide minerals and base metal deposits are reported to occur in amphibolites and some other lithologies in other schist belts of Nigeria apart from the Iseyin-Oyan schist belt. Detailed geochemical study of amphibolitic rocks in this schist belt is scarce in literature, whereas none exist for the area under study, thus, this study is aimed at delineating the amphibolites within the Iseyin-Oyan schist belt around Itasa area with detail appraisal of their petrography and geochemical characteristics. A geologic field mapping was undertaken, and fresh representative amphibolite samples were obtained. Petrographic and geochemical studies of the samples were carried out with a view to understand their nature and petrogenetic characteristics. Geochemical data were elucidated using diverse geochemical discrimination diagrams. The amphibolites occur as lenses of small to large rocky boulders trending NNE-SSW and are essentially basal to quartz mica schist. Modal compositions revealed that they are dominantly composed of hornblende and plagioclase. XRD and mineral chemistry revealed that the plagioclase ranged from andesine to anorthite while hornblende is mainly magnesiohornblende. Geochemical data and discrimination diagrams revealed that the amphibolites are formed from basaltic to basaltic-andesite protolith that are of tholeiitic nature and had suffered crustal contamination. Tectonic discrimination diagrams indicated that the rocks were emplaced in the Mid Ocean Ridge but had been affected by collision due to Pan African Orogenic tectonic event.
Rare Earth Elements Assessment in the Granitoids of Part of Southwestern Nigeria
Authors: Omotunde Victoria B. , Olatunji Akinade S. , Abdus-Salam Maryam O.
Published: November 2020

The Rare Earth Elements (REE) composition of granitoids in and around Ila-Orangun area Southwestern Nigeria was assessed in order to ascertain their potential for possible exploitation. Detailed lithological mapping of the area was undertaken followed by whole rock geochemical analysis of representative samples of the granitoids using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique. Petrographic study of the samples was carried out as well as the interpretation of the geochemical data using diverse geochemical discrimination plots.

The rock units mapped were biotite granite gneiss, granite gneiss and hornblende biotite granite. Biotite hornblende gneiss, quartzite, talc-chlorite-tremolite-schist, mica schist and pegmatites were the surrounding country rocks.

The REE concentrations (in ppm) revealed higher concentrations of the light REEs compared to the heavy REEs. The fractionation ratio, (La/Yb)N ranged from 4.35-15.04 (granite gneiss) and 13.78-18.48 (hornblende biotite granite) indicating enrichment in LREEs over the HREEs. The spider plot for the REEs also showed that the granitoids are LREE-enriched and HREE-depleted suggesting fractional crystallisation and a distinct negative Eu anomaly indicating plagioclase fractionation. Enrichment plot also revealed that the REEs in the granitoids are significantly enriched. Comparison with other areas showed that the granitoids of the study area especially the hornblende biotite granite has higher concentrations of REEs and may be a possible pointer of REE mineralisation.
Environmental Leprosy Through the Lens of Waste Disposal and Management in Bamenda II Municipality, Northwest-Cameroon
Authors: Samba Gideon , Kuma Japhet. C.
Published: November 2020

Waste, whether in solid or liquid form are indispensable parts of human activity. They emanate from man’s productive activities or as a by-product of the materials consumed by man. Man appears not able to deal sufficiently with this waste even though the natural environment is the recipient of this waste. In the Bamenda II municipal council, like in some other towns of Cameroon, solid waste dumping is indiscriminate and has exerted negative effect on the environment. This study termed environmental leprosy through the lens of waste disposal in Bamenda II had as objectives to investigate solid waste disposal methods as drivers to environmental leprosy, assess the relationship between household’s attitude and practices of indiscriminate solid waste disposal and identify measures that can be taken to eliminate environmental leprosy in Bamenda II Municipality. To achieve these objectives, data were obtained through primary and secondary sources using a mixed design method of inquiry which combines both quantitative and qualitative approaches to explore data on solid waste dumping in the study matrix. Purposive and systematic sampling techniques were employed for the sample population of 156 using Miller & Brewer sample determination method. The data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics with the help of SPSS logistic version 20. Results from the analysis showed that indiscriminate solid waste dumping have exerted negative effects on the environment thus environmental leprosy. The study also indicated that households attitude have also contributed greatly to indiscriminate sold waste dump in Bamenda II. The study therefore strongly recommends the Ministry of Health and that of Environment at the national and regional levels, to both agree on responsibilities for appropriate waste management policies that could be implemented in all regional municipal councils.
Coping with change in India’s media: Struggles of English-language journalists in an evolving mediascape
Authors: Obijiofor Levi , Singh Shailendra B.
Published: November 2020

In recent times, journalism, worldwide, has been undergoing significant changes. Some of the major revolutions have occurred in India, the world’s largest democracy. The size and face of Indian news media have seen rapid transformations owing to major economic, technological, and political developments in the country in recent decades. The focus of this research is on how India’s English-language media are dealing with the various changes, including digital disruptions and other pressures under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Hindutva’ government. The insights are drawn from the experiences and perceptions of a sample of journalists at the forefront of covering major events. Being in the coalface, these journalists are bearing the brunt of the developments, both good and bad. The email interviews reveal that while the English-language media may be a small part of India’s vast national media landscape, they are also buffeted by some major developments in the country, and fighting to maintain their independence in the face of some powerful trends and influences in technology, politics, and commerce.
FRONTLINE: The nexus of political documentary and alternative journalism
Authors: Zafra Norman
Published: November 2020

This article is a critical commentary of how political documentary embodies the traits and functions of alternative journalism. I explore this notion through Obrero (‘worker’) my independent documentary project about the labour migration of Filipino workers to Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand, after the earthquake in 2011. This article maps out the points at where the theories and practices of alternative media and documentary intersect. Analysing political documentary as a format of alternative journalism has links to the long tradition of film and video production as a tool for social critique. As a form of practice-based research, Obrero falls under the rubric of alternative journalism—able to represent the politically marginal sectors of the polity and report on issues underreported in the mainstream press. This article concludes that a distribution plan that is responsive to fragmenting audiences works best when alternative journalism no longer targets a niche but transborder audiences.
The political affordances of the ‘coconut wireless’: Rotumans on social media in the 2018 Fiji elections
Authors: Varea Rufino , Titifanue Jason , Kant Romitesh , Varea Renata
Published: November 2020

As a unique group of people, Rotumans make up less than two percent of Fiji’s population, and as a minority Indigenous ethnic group in Fiji, they have remained relatively hidden and silent in political affairs. Outmigration from the island has led to more than 80 percent of Rotumans residing outside of Rotuma. In recent times, the Rotuman diaspora has heavily relied on the use of ICTs and new media technologies as crucial tools for the reinvigoration of Rotuma’s culture. This in itself poses an intriguing paradox as internet connectivity on Rotuma is quite limited. However, social media platforms have been increasingly used by Rotumans outside of Rotuma, and have enabled increased connectivity and greater dissemination of information among the Rotuman diaspora. Recently, the primary purpose of such social media groups has evolved from merely being a tool for rekindling familial ties, to being a platform for political discourse on Rotuman issues. In essence, despite the scattered nature of the Rotuman population, digital technologies are offering Rotumans the affordance of being able to inform and educate themselves and their networks on political issues of Rotuman interest. By employing ethnography and netnography principles and through in-person and online engagement with Rotumans within and outside of Rotuma, this article examines the affordances that digital technologies offer Rotumans concerning national political discourse. This is carried out with a specific focus on the 2018 general elections in Fiji.
FRONTLINE: The sociology of a pandemic: Countering a COVID 'disinfodemic' with a campus media initiative
Authors: Robie David , Krishnamurthi Sri
Published: November 2020

Parallel with the global spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, a dangerous ‘disinfodemic’ has been infecting the flow of information worldwide. Communication and media outlets have faced a new challenge with not only being responsible for reportage and analysis of a fast-moving public health emergency—the biggest this century, but forced to sift through the mass circulation of falsehoods that have spread as rapidly as the virus. Concerned about the risks for both health and public responses to disinformation, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres identified the ‘new enemy’ as a ‘growing surge of disinformation’. The UN launched a COVID-19 Communications for Solidarity Initiative to rapidly inform people about facts and science and to ‘promote and inspire acts of humanity’ globally. New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world whose strategy of COVID elimination has been a sustained approach to ‘keep the virus out, find it and stamp it out’. Evoking a theme of ‘our team of five million’ and national kindness, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has led a remarkable campaign blending decisive action and transparency. In this context, this article critically examines a four-month ‘Coronavirus Plus’ initiative conducted by the Pacific Media Centre at a communication programme in one of the New Zealand’s universities in response to the pandemic, deploying the Asia Pacific Report website, asiapacificreport.nz.
The politics of local government environmental evaluations: Assessing bureaucracy in post-Reformasi Indonesia
Authors: Alfirdaus Laila , Manalu S. Rouli
Published: November 2020

This article argues that bureaucracy plays politics in Indonesia, not only during the electoral periods, but also in public service. Using the case of environmental evaluation in local government, where natural resources comprise most of the local economy, this article discusses the politics of bureaucracy in undergoing daily governing processes. The environment and natural resource businesses are two opposing fields. Environmental evaluation becomes a contentious area and is usually highly political. This article identifies the bureaucracy’s politicisation in environmental evaluation as occuring in at least in two forms—in measurement and in project implementation. In terms of measurement, bureaucracy tends to use minimum standards, while in project implementation, there are some occasions where bureaucracy tends to sub-contract the work to the third party, usually NGOs, especially in relations to sensitive issues, so that it is politically safer for them, once the result is not as pleasing as expected. This article uses some cases in Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Central Java, and Bangka Belitung, and applied case study as research approach.
Micro-celebrity participation and risk communication in Indonesia
Authors: Mutia Sadasri Lidwina
Published: November 2020

Information dissemination in the media, specifically social media, is one of the critical channels of information related to the COVID-19 outbreak sought by the public. The information presented has been related to accurate and reliable situation reports and false information in various forms, not only text-based but also audio and visual. The chaos of data, coupled with a central response that seemed unprepared, shaped the Indonesian community’s perceptions of the COVID-19 outbreak. This fact related to the massive number of internet users in Indonesia is one aspect of the government’s decision, in this case BNPB (Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana; officially National Disaster Management Authority), to engage strong social media influencers. The government collaborated with some influencers to enable public engagement through online social media platforms in the context of COVID-19—two of them being @dr.tirta and @rachelvennya. The platforms also gained more visibility after being appointed COVID-19 influencers. They updated information about COVID-19 on their social media accounts with picture posts and Instagram stories, either individually or in collaboration with others. This study aims to analyse the practice of the Indonesian government’s agency using micro-celebrity to deploy a risk communication frame and the delivery of the message by a celebrated person.
A common conception of justice underlies Pacific churches’ message on climate change
Authors: Cass Philip
Published: November 2020

This article presents an overview of the role mainstream  churches can play in mitigating the climate change crisis in the Pacific and their role in facilitating climate induced migration. It builds on earlier work by the author (Cass, 2018; 2020) with a focus on Fiji, Tonga and Papua New Guinea. Both Catholic and Protestant churches share a concern for the future of the planet based on the principles of economic, social and climate justice, which complement moral and ecumenical imperatives. The article examines what message the churches convey through the media and the theology that underlines them.
REVIEW: Media must build and retain trust
Authors: Cass Philip
Published: November 2020

A Day Like Today, by John Humphrys. London, UK: William Collins, 2019. 400 pages. ISBN 9780007415595  400pp.

JOHN HUMPHRYS will be less well known outside the UK than his contemporary from BBC World,  John Simpson, but his autobiography is an entertaining and informative recounting of his career and well worth reading. For more than three decades he presided over BBC Radio 4’s flagship early morning current affairs programme, Today. Like Jeremey Paxman on BBC2’s Newsnight, he built a reputation for taking no prisoners in interviews and for having a keen sense of what makes good radio journalism.
REVIEW: Noted: Fix the system before it’s too late
Authors: Cass Philip
Published: November 2020

The Broken Estate: Journalism and Democracy in a Post-Truth World, by Mel Bunce. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2019. 224 pages. ISBN 9780947518356

NEW ZEALAND has probably the worst television systems of any OECD nation, media ownership so concentrated that there is only one truly independent newspaper left, plummeting readership levels and almost insuperable economic challenges. And yet, as London-based New Zealand journalist-turned academic Mel Bunce observes, there has never been a time when the country most needed a functioning, independent media system that people could trust.

In this slim, but powerful volume, she outlines what is wrong with New Zealand’s media and ways that it might be fixed.
REVIEW: New paradigms plus technology could change the way we report on race
Authors: Duffield Lee
Published: November 2020

Reporting on Race in a Digital Era, by Carolyn Nielsen. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. xiii, 236 pages. ISBN 978-3-030-35220-2/ISBN 978-3-030-35221-9 (eBook)
CAROLYN NIELSEN has proposed a role for journalism in resolving political oppression, offering a case study on the crisis surrounding street killings of African Americans by police. This United States journalism academic provides a review of prominent work since the 1970s on journalism theory and principles. She gives an historical treatment of news media coverage in race relations and criticises ‘traditional’ journalism—as a central point kicking into the corpse of ‘objectivity’ as a key value. This is late, with objectivity and a moral neutrality, as the adopted trait of journalists, already forsaken.
REVIEW: Bookshelf: Reading something as flimsy as a novel
Authors: Field Michael
Published: November 2020

In this section of Pacific Journalism Review we ask our regular contributors to pick three books that have played an important part of their academic, professional or writing lives. In this issue, the selection is by veteran Pacific affairs reporter MICHAEL FIELD.

Tales of the Tikongs, by Epeli Hau’ofa. Honolulu, US: University of Hawai’i Press. 1994. 104 pages. ISBN 9780824815943.

Man Alone, by John Mulgan. Auckland, NZ: Penguin Random House. 1939/2002. 224 pages. ISBN: 9780143020011.

Typee, by Herman Melville. Auckland, NZ: Penguin Random House. 1846/2001. 116 pages. ISBN: 9780375757457.

NON-FICTION is, mostly, my thing. It takes a bit to persuade me to devote precious book time to something as flimsy as a novel. Yet, at the top of my list of influential books is Epeli Hau’ofa’s Tales of the Tikongs, published in 1994. The one defence for its inclusion in this list is that it never felt like fiction: it was unerringly accurate when it came to the world of Pacific states and foreign aid. Hau’ofa followed it with Kisses in the Nederends in 1995. Five years later, on the Suva campus at the University of the South Pacific, I asked him why his satire ran to only two volumes. He replied that he had no desire to be the Pacific Salman Rushdie.
FRONTLINE: Jill Emberson: A lifetime of bearing witness to help others
Authors: Bacon Wendy
Published: November 2020

Jill Emberson, an award-winning Australian journalist of Tongan heritage died in 2019. She achieved national attention for her campaign to provide a voice for all women suffering from ovarian cancer and for more and fairer funding for ovarian cancer research. Through an analysis of her programmes and interviews with colleagues, this article focuses on Emberson’s journalism from daily news coverage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander protests in 1982 for public radio to her Meet the Mob podcast series in 2014. It focuses on her significant radio documentaries on women in the Pacific for the ABCs’ feminist Coming Out Show (1986) and Ties that Bind, which was about Tonga, including the Tongan diaspora in Australia (2009). It argues that Emberson’s own journey to discover her cultural identity shaped her as a reflective journalist whose work was underpinned by a concern for social justice, marginalised communities, the impacts of colonisation and gender discrimination.
REVIEW: Lively account of the Middle East conflict
Authors: Minto John
Published: November 2020

Dances With Death – Perilous Encounters Reporting on Hostilities in the Turbulent Middle East, by Tuma Hazou. Auckland, NZ: Tuma Hazou. 2020, 148 pages. 978-0-473-50605-6

DANCES with Death is an extraordinary personal account of Palestinian journalist Tuma Hazou’s experiences from a 40-year journalism career mostly spent reporting from the war-ravaged Middle East. As a young Palestinian, Tuma was accepted for a job at the BBC in London – their youngest announcer at just 22 years of age. After 10 years there he transferred to Jordan and in subsequent decades was at the heart of reporting on events in the Middle East.
FRONTLINE: Gentle sounds, distant roar: a watershed year for journalism as research
Authors: Nash Chris
Published: November 2020

The Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC) 2020 decision on disciplinary categories has profound implications for journalism as a research discipline.  Journalism Practice and Professional Writing retain their six-digit Fields of Research (FoR) code within the Creative Arts and Writing Division, a new six-digit FoR of Journalism Studies has been created in the Division of Language, Communication and Culture, and three new FoR codes of Literature, Journalism and Professional Writing have been created for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pacific Peoples within the new Indigenous Studies Division.  This categorisation both confirms Journalism as a sovereign and independent discipline distinct from Communication and Media Studies, which has been in bitter contention for more than two decades.  The ANZSRC confirmed its 2008 policy that the sole and definitive criterion for categorisation was methodology.  This article explores the welcome ramifications of this decision for Journalism within Australasian university-based journalism and charts some of the issues ahead for journalism academics as they embark on the long overdue and fraught path to disciplinary self-recognition as an equal among the humanities and social sciences.
REVIEW: Exposing reality about the mythic ‘age of truth’
Authors: Robie David
Published: November 2020

Myth of ‘Free Media’ and Fake News in the Post-truth Era, by Kalinga Seneviratne. New Delhi, India: Sage. 2020, 348 pages. ISBN 9789353881276
Mindful Communication for Sustainable Development: Perspectives from Asia, edited by Kalinga Seneviratne. New Delhi, India: Sage: 2018, 353 pages. ISBN 9789352805518
POST-TRUTH? Was there ever really such a thing as the Golden Age of Truth as trumpeted by the liberal Western press? According to Kalinga Seneviratne in his latest challenging book, quite simply ‘no’. In some countries, such as New Zealand, fake news and the manipulation of half-truths and disinformation has been dismissed as a by-product of the Trump era in the White House and the Brexit debacle.
EDITORIAL: Under the pandemic siege
Authors: Cass Philip , Robie David
Published: November 2020

It is possible that future generations will think that BC stands for Before Coronavirus—and possibly that AD stands for After the Donald. All joking aside, here in Aotearoa New Zealand we have been far luckier than most countries, with early and decisive action by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her advisers rapidly bringing the pandemic threat under control. Several Island nations remain COVID-free, thanks again to early intervention and strong measures, including border control. In countries which did not react properly, the results have been catastrophic. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2019) has predicted that the appalling death toll in the United States will reach and possibly surpass 250,000 by the time Donald Trump is finally ejected from the White House. Comparatively safe as we are in New Zealand, this is still the second edition of Pacific Journalism Review we have produced with COVID-19 in the background and even when the pandemic is over, or at least brought under control, we will still be threatened by a host of challenges—not least that of climate change, which has already forced internal migration in Papua New Guinea and Fiji and threatens to do the same in the ASEAN region, with its incomparably larger population.
Media representation of environmental issues in Malaysia
Authors: Mohamad Saleh Mohamad Saifudin , Heinrichs Harald
Published: November 2020

This research aims to discover the types of environment issues represented in Malaysian newspapers and environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) newsletters, and to examine the factors in the selection of environmental issues by both social actors. Two methods were employed for the purpose of this study. First, a quantitative content analysis were conducted on 2,050 environmental articles on The Star and Utusan Malaysia’s newspapers together with World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) and Malaysia Nature Society’s (MNS) newsletters from the period of 2012 to 2014. Second, a total of 24 interviewees encompassing of 13 interviewees from The Star and Utusan Malaysia, and 11 interviewees from WWF and MNS were chosen for the in-depth interview sessions. The results of this study discovered that the ways of media and ENGOs representing environmental information in newspapers and newsletters are slightly different. The ENGOs have given more attention to environmental effort topics like sustainable living while the media are focused more environmental problems like floods. However, this study also found that the Malaysian media and the ENGOs shared certain similar criteria for selecting environmental issues for their newsletters especially the news values of proximity, timeliness and impact.
GESTURE RECOGNITION SYSTEM FOR NIGERIAN TRIBAL GREETING POSTURES USING SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE
Authors: Aina Segun , Sholesi Kofoworola V. , Lawal Aderonke R. , Okegbile Samuel D. , Oluwaranti Adeniran I.
Published: November 2020

This paper presents the application of Gaussian blur filters and Support Vector Machine (SVM) techniques for greeting recognition among the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria. Existing efforts have considered different recognition gestures. However, tribal greeting postures or gestures recognition for the Nigerian geographical space has not been studied before. Some cultural gestures are not correctly identified by people of the same tribe, not to mention other people from different tribes, thereby posing a challenge of misinterpretation of meaning. Also, some cultural gestures are unknown to most people outside a tribe, which could also hinder human interaction; hence there is a need to automate the recognition of Nigerian tribal greeting gestures. This work hence develops a Gaussian Blur – SVM based system capable of recognizing the Yoruba tribe greeting postures for men and women. Videos of individuals performing various greeting gestures were collected and processed into image frames. The images were resized and a Gaussian blur filter was used to remove noise from them. This research used a moment-based feature extraction algorithm to extract shape features that were passed as input to SVM. SVM is exploited and trained to perform the greeting gesture recognition task to recognize two Nigerian tribe greeting postures. To confirm the robustness of the system, 20%, 25% and 30% of the dataset acquired from the preprocessed images were used to test the system. A recognition rate of 94% could be achieved when SVM is used, as shown by the result which invariably proves that the proposed method is efficient.
INTERACTIVE STORY GRAPH STRUCTURE FOR DIGITAL STORYTELLING
Authors: Narawi Nur Azima Alya , Abd Rahman Hayati , Mohamed Shaari Nazrul Azha , Wan Hussin Wan Ya
Published: November 2020

The flow of the storyline should be structured well and organized to make it understandable and complete. The most attractive and interesting storytelling nowadays is digital storytelling, as all the information and entertainment move into digital devices. To make digital storytelling more interactive and attractive, some interactive features, such as interactivity, iteration, and multi-option incorporated in the story structure. Nevertheless, the interactive features should be explained well in the story structure to ease the process of interpreting the interactive storyline. However, the existing story structure could not support those features. Therefore, the creation of a new story structure will help the process of interpreting an interactive storyline with those interactive features. This paper will demonstrate the new story structure that blends well with the interactive features by modifying the existing story structure approach. The flow of the storyline in a new story structure can be created by applying a few new symbols that match the storyline by following the guidelines on making a new story structure. The new story structure has been evaluated by 10 expert reviews with the aim to look at the acceptance and usability of the new story structure as part of the process to interpret the interactive storyline for digital storytelling. The results of the evaluation were tested using SPSS software with a value of 88.89% by analyzing the data from descriptive analysis and bar charts.
PREFERENCE SIMILARITY NETWORK CLUSTERING CONSENSUS GROUP DECISION MAKING MODEL IN ANALYSING CONSUMERS’ REVIEWS AND SELECTING SAMPLES OF PRODUCT
Authors: Kamis Nor Hanimah , Ishak Nur Syahera
Published: November 2020

In recent years, the integration of notions from Social Network Analysis (SNA) into decision making context is rapidly increased. One of the feasible procedures is Preference Similarity Network Clustering Consensus Group Decision Making model, where it is capable to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of decision making process. We utilize this approach in analysing consumers’ reviews and selecting the best sample of laboratory products. This is the first effort of applying this model in real life situation. The referred approach is capable of  measuring the similarity of consumers’ reviews, visualize their similarities in the form of network structure, partition them into subgroups, measure their group consensus level and select the best sample of product. The obtained results provide essential information to the laboratory, manufacturer or a company to improve the quality of product and further plan on the marketing strategy, advertisement and research development. Generally, this model can be used as an alternative tool in solving decision making problems, especially in analysing reviews and selection of alternatives.
OFFLINE YORÙBÁ HANDWRITTEN WORD RECOGNITION USING GEOMETRIC FEATURE EXTRACTION AND SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE CLASSIFIER
Authors: Oladele Matthias Omotayo , Adepoju Temilola Morufat , Olatoke Olaide ` Abiodun , Ojo Oluwaseun Adewale
Published: November 2020

Yorùbá language is one of the three main languages that is been spoken in Nigeria. It is a tonal language that carries an accent on the vowel alphabets. There are twenty-five (25) alphabets in Yorùbá language with one of the alphabets a digraph (GB). Due to the difficulty in typing handwritten Yorùbá documents, there is a need to develop a handwritten recognition system that can convert the handwritten texts to digital format. This study discusses the offline Yorùbá handwritten word recognition system (OYHWR) that recognizes Yorùbá uppercase alphabets. Handwritten characters and words were obtained from different writers using the paint application and M708 graphics tablets. The characters were used for training and the words were used for testing. Pre-processing was done on the images and the geometric features of the images were extracted using zoning and gradient-based feature extraction. Geometric features are the different line types that form a particular character such as the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines. The geometric features used are the number of horizontal lines, number of vertical lines, number of right diagonal lines, number of left diagonal lines, total length of all horizontal lines, total length of all vertical lines, total length of all right slanting lines, total length of all left-slanting lines and the area of the skeleton. The characters are divided into 9 zones and gradient feature extraction was used to extract the horizontal and vertical components and geometric features in each zone. The words were fed into the support vector machine classifier and the performance was evaluated based on recognition accuracy. Support vector machine is a two-class classifier, hence a multiclass SVM classifier least square support vector machine (LSSVM) was used for word recognition. The one vs one strategy and RBF kernel were used and the recognition accuracy obtained from the tested words ranges between 66.7%, 83.3%, 85.7%, 87.5%, and 100%. The low recognition rate for some of the words could be as a result of the similarity in the extracted features.
TRADER HUB SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT USING VAN K THARP EXPECTANCY THEORY TO ANALYSE RETAIL FOREX TRADING SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
Authors: Pakhrudin Khairul , Kamaruddin Kamalia Azma , Ahmad Fauziah
Published: November 2020

With the advance of technology, foreign exchange trading, known as forex or FX trading, has been conducted electronically using the Internet. Forex traders were using technical analysis to project the best price when buying or selling currencies, and by using the technical analysis tools, they have created their own trading system. Forex traders need to make consistent profitability in the long term to sustain in the forex market, therefore a good trading system is vital. In order to evaluate their trading system performance, forex traders can use the backtesting and forward testing methods. However, these two methods took a long time to perform and did not provide the exact benchmark quality of the trading system. This paper describes how Van K Tharp Expectancy Theory was applied in the development of the Trader Hub System (THS) to evaluate forex trading systems quality. By using the system development life cycle (SDLC) methodology, four phases have been undertaken, which were requirements gathering, requirements analysis, system design, and system development. The outcome is a system that can easily evaluate forex trading system performance; thus, it may help retail forex traders in Malaysia to do technical analysis on their foreign exchange pairs.
PERFORMANCE OF KUALA LUMPUR COMPOSITE INDEX STOCK MARKET
Authors: Mohamed Yusof Noreha , Badrul Azhar Badrina Nur Yasmin , Zakaria Syazana , Maulad Mohamad Rawi Intan Nadia Azvilla
Published: November 2020

Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) is made up of over 30 large companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia Main Market. All FTSE Bursa Malaysia data are calculated and disseminated every 15 seconds in real-time. It is believed that the volatility of the stock market has a negative impact on real economic recovery. This paper aims to describe the underlying structure and the phenomenon of the sequence of observations in the series. The information obtained, can determine the performance of time series model to fit the data series from January 2002 until December 2018. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models have been shown to provide the correct trend of volatility. The objectives of this paper are to determine the overall trend of the KLCI stock return and to investigate the performance of Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) based on KLCI stock return. Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) have been chosen to be used in this paper to measure accuracy. The results show that the best ARIMA model is ARIMA(1,1), while for the GARCH model, it is GARCH(1,1).
A HYBRID SERENDIPITY SOCIAL RECOMMENDER MODEL
Authors: Zolkafly Ahmad Subhi , Ahmad Rahayu
Published: November 2020

Social support is essential, especially in a working environment, because it can reduce psychological strain. The psychological strain associated with mental health in daily lives could have been gained from mismatched staffing and indirect control of the staffs. In order to meditate the problem, in this study, a hybrid serendipity social recommender model is proposed. This model is a combination of several proposed models encountered during the development process. Firstly, Rough Set Theory (RST) has been used in the early development stage to compute an automated attribute selection. RST is a mathematical tool that is widely used for knowledge discovery and feature selection. At the same time, it, minimizes redundancies among variables in classifying objects and extracts rules from the database. In the next stage, the classification model is used to classify the data into subclasses by using a deep learning algorithm. This algorithm aims to define the higher matching suggested attributes and used for processing massive data. Lastly, a reasoning approach is applied by using case-based reasoning from the result produced. The reasoning approach is used to finding the reasons why the attributes are selected. This approach searches the history of the selected attributes or compute a reason by digging back in the database.
The Five-Minute-Walk Distance Concept, Case Study: City of Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Authors: Strinu Oana
Published: December 2020

"The Five-Minute-Walk Distance Concept, Case Study: City of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. This term, also known as the “pedestrian shed”, refers to the distance that would make a person’s option of walking or driving to a destination differ. The distance is visualized as a 400-meter radius area most commonly found in some major cities or capitals’ downtown areas/main areas. To further highlight the characteristics of this concept I applied it on a case study of the city of Cluj-Napoca, checking the adherence of many areas against the concept’s principles. This will display the percentage of studied areas that meet the definition criteria and the results will indicate the proposed collection of measures to be adopted by the local authorities to increase the area definition validity score and to improve the citizens quality of life. This concept could be easily replicated in any city or capital and its metrics could be used to assess citizens.

Keywords: neighborhood, 5-minute walking distance, urban development, city driving, pedestrian shed."
Desarrollo y Teoría Desarrollista en la Argentina
Authors: Aused José María
Published: November 2020

La crisis económica mundial de 1929 propició en la Argentina el fin del modelo agroexportador y la gestación de un nuevo modelo, de industrialización por sustitución de importaciones. A partir de la década de 1950, siendo la premisa fundamental que la edificación de una estructura industrial integrada y el crecimiento económico debían ser deliberadamente promovidos, la idea del desarrollo fue el objeto de referencia común para argumentos, análisis y prescripciones distintas dentro del pensamiento social y económico argentino. El objetivo de este trabajo es indagar sobre esta idea en el pensamiento de Raúl Prebisch y Rogelio Frigerio, a través de algunas discusiones teóricas que marcaron un enriquecedor contrapunto entre ellos y, al mismo tiempo, con dos representantes del pensamiento nacional popular como Arturo Jauretche y John William Cooke.
El feminismo existencialista de Simone de Beauvoir en La mujer rota
Authors: Flores Olague Roberto Gerardo
Published: November 2020

En el presente artículo se expone el existencialismo feminista de Simone de Beauvoir en una de sus obras literarias más representativas: La mujer rota, la cual fue publicada a finales de la dédcada de los sesenta del siglo pasado. En dicho libro, Beauvoir expresa, a través de tres relatos, su filosofía feminista enmarcada por la influencia de Jean-Paul Sartre, pero a través de su interpretación personal, señalando las condiciones que han llevado a la mujer a vivir sometida en un mundo que espera de ella comportamientos ideales.
A última guerra pela Colônia do Sacramento (1777)
Authors: Possamai Paulo Cesar
Published: November 2020

Em 1774 os portugueses reconquistaram o Rio Grande de São Pedro, que estava na mão dos espanhóis desde 1762, desencadeando uma resposta dos espanhóis que organizaram uma grande ofensiva militar. Sob o comando de D. Pedro de Cevallos, nomeado vice-rei do Rio da Prata, uma frota espanhola tomou a ilha de Santa Catarina e a Colônia do Sacramento em 1777. A mudança do governo em Portugal, com a morte de do rei José I levou a um acordo com a Espanha que resultou num tratado de paz que deteu a ofensiva espanhola e resultou na devolução da ilha de Santa Catarina aos portugueses, porém a Colônia do Sacramento foi definitivamente cedida à corte de Madrid.
De lo local a lo global en el espacio de las historias conectadas
Authors: Carzolio María Inés
Published: November 2020

El presente artículo tiene por finalidad exponer de manera sucinta desde una perspectiva crítico analítica, las principales líneas que abonan lo que una historiadora ha llamado recientemente “giro global” en el estudio de la historia atlántica, estableciendo en términos generales del problema, las fuentes historiográficas en que se abrevan.
DEVELOPING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS BASED ON INQUIRY LEARNING MODEL
Authors: Sari Nur Fadila
Published: November 2020

ABSTRACT: This research is aimed to developing instructional English materials for the students of the seventh grade especially in basic competencies 3.1, 4.1, 3.2, and 4.2 at MTs Madani Pao-pao based on 2013 curriculum supported by using inquiry learning model and using the concept of HOTS in indicators achieved. The research design used in this study was Research and Development (R&D). The development model used was ADDIE model. It consists of need analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The procedures included analyzing materials needed by spreading questionnaire to the students and analyzing the basic competencies used, designing a blueprint of materials and the instructional materials, and validating the material by the expert. There were 146 students as the respondents of 26 questionnaire questions. The instruments used in this research were the documents, questionnaire, and validation checklist. In this research, the expert was involved in order to validate the product. There were three systematic aspects that they validated of the product: Materials Systematic Organization, Systematic English Teaching and Systematic Content of English. Therefore, the result indicated that based on experts judgment as well as product development result, the developed basic competency 3.1 & 4.1 and basic competency 3.2 & 4.2 were applicable to be taught at the seventh grade students of Junior High School as topic in English for them.
APPLYING COGNITIVE LEARNING STRATEGY IN DEVELOPING THE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY
Authors: Luqman Luqman
Published: November 2020

This research aimed to examine the types of cognitive learning strategy that the students employed in developing their ability to speak English. This research applied quantitative descriptive and experimental research method. Data were analyzed by descriptive presentation and statistical analysis of t test. This research was carried out at the second year of SMA 2 Sinjai. They are all selected by using random sampling by number of students as sample of 30 students. The researcher conducted questionnaire to capture data about type of cognitive learning strategy used by the students. The result showed that, on average 58.04 % of all respondents using cognitive learning strategy, and 70 % or 21 of the 30 respondents used the practice to overcome the difficulties speaking. The analysis with the formula t test showed that, applying the cognitive learning strategy had significant positive impact on developing the learners’ ability to speak English. This was indicated by the average value before and after treatment (73 and 85.25) and obtained the distribution t table 2.000 with t calculate 5.467 obtained greater than t table.