Areas Of Province Research Articles

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කඳුකර සිංහල මානව සංස්කෘතිය කොළොන්න කෝරළයේ කඳුකර ගම්මාන ආශ්‍රිත ප්‍රදේශීය භාෂාව මත සිදු කරන ලද සංකල්පීයකරණ අධ්‍යයනයක් Sinhalese Hill Culture in Sri Lanka: A Conceptual Study of the Regional Language in Hill Areas of Kolonna Korala

There is a unique cultural significance and identity in the cultural life of the Sinhalese villagers who reside in hill areas of Sabaragamuwa, Uwa and Central provinces. It was observed that this hill culture is different from the Sri Lankan established village. Hill country Sinhalese are entwined with the geographical hill area economically, socially, religiously, agriculturally and politically. Hill country and humans are interconnected with cultural values and factors. This study attempts to study the regional language of hill country culture and introduce it to Sri Lankan academic discourse. It is proposed to explore hill country community as a social structure different from traditional village community. The objective of the study was to identify the cultural identity of hill country community and propose the cultural and theoretical foundation which is necessary to understand their social, economic political and religious needs. This is a qualitative research study conducted using inductive method. Sri Lankan village is recognized with the 'lake, stupa, village, temple' concept. It is the main concept with reference to village in cultural discourse. It was conceptualized by this language study that a hill country village culture was developed in relation to hill country and Sabaragamu hills from a long time. By differentiating this hill country human culture as a new social set, a novel village cultural text could be introduced to Sri Lankan society.

Traditional beliefs and practices of postpartum care in rural East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Maternal mortality remains a pressing public health issue in Indonesia, particularly for mothers residing in rural regions who often forego postnatal health services due to traditional beliefs and practices. This qualitative research delved into the cultural perspectives of the local community to gain insight into the care practices of postpartum mothers in rural areas of NTT Province, Indonesia. The study involved in-depth interviews with nine participants, including four postpartum mothers, four family members, and one village midwife, with the interview data analyzed thematically. The research revealed that cultural beliefs and practices revolving around the postpartum period in NTT align with shared beliefs and traditional practices found in various Asian societies. This includes behavioral taboos and food restrictions. The study also identified two primary postpartum traditions aimed at restoring the postpartum mother's body heat and strength. All postpartum mothers adhere to traditional care practices because they believe in their benefits, pressure from family members, and fear of non-compliance consequences. However, postnatal mothers and their families have low postnatal care visits and do not receive adequate information about postpartum care. Health literacy for postpartum women and their families in rural areas needs to be improved and health workers should provide culturally sensitive maternal health services.

Effect of Pore Water Pressure Ratio on Stability of Wind Turbine Shallow Foundations on Saturated Sandy Soil Due to Soil Liquefaction: A Case Study in Coastal Area of Soc Trang Province, Vietnam

Wind turbines are structures whose operation is always affected by dynamic loads. Currently, shallow foundations are common for onshore wind turbines. In the case of saturated sandy soils, dynamic stresses caused by wind turbines can cause the sand to liquefy or reduce its shear strength due to increased excess pore water pressure (ΔU). The pore water pressure ratio (Ru = ΔU/σ’) is now often used to evaluate the effect of ΔU on foundation stability. This paper presents a method for determining Ru and establishing equations to determine the shear strength of saturated sand from Ru. From there, it is possible to estimate the bearing capacity of the foundation on saturated sand (q’ult), taking into account the effect of the pore water pressure ratio. Using the concept of influence factor of liquefaction (Finf), this paper proposes a procedure to evaluate the effect of pore water pressure ratio on the stability factor of shallow foundations on saturated sandy soil. Applying the above method to the coastal area of Soc Trang province, Vietnam shows that the values of q’ult and Ru are inverse exponential relationships while Finf and Ru are exponential relationships. In particular, q’ult and Finf have a very close correlation with Ru and can be expressed as the following expression: Finf=0.9907e3.56Ru; q’ult = 44450e-3.56Ru.

DEVELOPMENT OF MUSLIM-FRIENDLY TOURISM SERVICES INDICATOR IN SLEMAN REGENCY, YOGYAKARTA PROVINCE

Tourism holds significant promise for Indonesia's economy, a fact recognized by the government. Recent attention in the tourism sector has centered on the advancement of Muslim-friendly tourism, an initiative supported by OIC nations, including Indonesia, due to its considerable potential. Consequently, the Ministry of Tourism has initiated the selection of regions as Muslim-friendly tourism hubs, with the Special Region of Yogyakarta being one such area. Despite this, Yogyakarta still lags behind in terms of service indicators, as highlighted in the IMTI. This study focuses on Sleman Regency, the most tourist-laden area in Yogyakarta province. The service indicators encompass aspects like Mosques, Hotels, Halal Restaurants, Airports, and Attractions, indicating the necessity for further development to bolster Muslim-friendly tourism in Yogyakarta, particularly within Sleman Regency. The research aims to scrutinize the evolution of tourist spots and the promotion of Muslim-friendly tourism in Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, utilizing a qualitative methodology with a case study approach. Findings suggest that the full potential of Muslim-friendly tourism in Sleman Regency remains unrealized due to the local government's unclear perception of the concept. Consequently, there's a call for a shift towards community-based tourism, with a focus on tourist villages. Additionally, efforts are underway to intensify the halal certification process for all food and restaurant businesses, spearheaded by the government and LPPOM. It's also imperative for tourism managers in Sleman Regency to prioritize services, particularly in accommodation and ensuring the availability of halal dining options to cater to Muslim travelers.

Cross-Sectional Study on Hematological Variation Associated with Advance Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in a CKDu Endemic Area in Sri Lanka

A cross-sectional study was undertaken to investigate the etiology and disease progression in terms of CKD (chronic kidney disease)-initiation risk factors (IRF) and hematology in Nachchaduwa, a CKDu (CKD of unknown etiology)-endemic area in North Central Province of Sri Lanka. Whole blood, spot urine and risk factor history were obtained following informed consent from all medically confirmed CKD/CKDu cases in the area. CKDu was substantiated when medically accepted IRFs did not exist prior to CKD diagnosis. The disease progression stage (G1-G5) was established by kidney dysfunction markers, eGFR (MDRD, and CKD-EPI-sCr) and UACR using serum creatinine (sCr), urine creatinine (uCr) and urine (uAlb) measured in the study. Hematology variables were compared between early (G2-G3b) and advance (G4-G5) stages to reveal changes over disease progression and assessed for linear associations to disease progression in terms of kidney dysfunction markers and renal outcomes. Multivariate dendrogram and principal component analyses were utilized to study inter-variable relations. The results showed that advance disease (G4-G5) in Nachchaduwa had significantly declined RBC counts and RDW-CV, amid unchanged MCV, MCH, MCHC, hematocrit and total hemoglobin suggesting predominantly normocytic anemia. RBC depletion was further evident in its positive associations to eGFRs, and negative association to sCr (p<0.05, rho stronger than ±0.45). Multivariate analyses revealed that RDW-CV was following the decreasing eGFRs and uCr over disease progression. Results showed the potential utility of erythrocyte count and RDW-CV as markers of advance disease in CKDu endemic areas of Sri Lanka. IRF distribution in Nachchaduwa pointed to a minor fraction of unknown etiology among total CKD, and the major IRFs that led to chronic renal failure did not include Diabetes Mellitus.

Investigation of the Etiology of Molar Incisor Hypomineralization in Children Residing in Konya Province and Surrounding Areas, Türkiye.

According to the literature, hypomineralization of molars and incisors is a multifactorial condition that depends on both genetic and environmental factors. This study aims to diagnose Molar Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH) cases with a new index that better defines the defect and to contribute to the literature by identifying possible etiological factors. This research was conducted with children aged 8-11 years old and their parents from Konya province and surrounding provinces. While children who were diagnosed with MIH as a result of the examination constituted the study group, children with no findings of MIH during intraoral examination were included in the control group. Between February and October 2020, 104 patients for the study group and 104 patients for the control group were reached, and a survey was administered to a total of 208 parents. Asthma, pneumonia, lower respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, a fever, and febrile convulsions between the ages of 0-4 have been found to be related to MIH (p < 0.05). The association between medical diseases in children and enamel defect formation draws attention to the importance of pediatricians in the early diagnosis of MIH cases. Pediatricians can be very helpful in informing parents of children with health problems about possible dental defects and referring them to a pediatric dentist.

Local Sustainability Assessment of the Wonogiri Multipurpose Reservoir Catchment Area in Central Java Province, Indonesia

The sustainability of watershed management is a crucial issue that must be addressed to guarantee the persistence of watershed services including agriculture, food production, and energy supply. This issue has also been addressed in Presidential Regulation No. 18/2020 concerning the National Medium-Term Development Plans for 2020–2024, which stipulate the restoration of priority watersheds, including the Upstream Bengawan Solo Watershed. This study seeks to address this information gap by assessing the local sustainability of the watershed from a temporal dynamics perspective by calculating the Local Sustainability Index (LSI), Local Moran Index, and spatial associations. Measuring sustainable development indices locally is essential because each location has different characteristics, and using specific indicators at the local level is rarely done. The enactment of the national law on village autonomy in Indonesia necessitates the formulation of sustainable development indicators at the village level. These indicators serve as the metrics and frameworks for local government policies and initiatives. Our results show that village sustainability in the social and economic dimensions has increased from 2007 to 2021, especially in urban activity center areas that serve social and economic facilities. This seems different in the environmental dimension, where the sustainability value decreased from 2007 to 2021. The concentration of low sustainability values on ecological conditions occurred in pocket areas. Environmental problems were indicated by land-use conversion and disaster areas.

Training Framework of Aesthetic Education Teachers in Liangshan Yi Area of Sichuan Province

Aesthetic education is a hot spot in China&amp;apos;s education, and it is also the most important part of human comprehensive education. As the teachers of aesthetic education, their ability and growth are directly related to the popularization and level of aesthetic education, and affect the vision and cognition of the educated. Therefore, training aesthetic education teachers in southwest minority areas is the primary task to promote the implementation of aesthetic education in the whole region. The article takes natural beauty, social beauty, artistic beauty and subject beauty as the responsibility of aesthetic education teachers, follows the popularity of teacher structure, the continuity of teacher structure, the richness of teacher form and the professionalism of teacher pattern, and forms a primary and secondary structure tree through the graded cultivation of the essence and the end. Layer upon layer of secondary training content, fostering and cultivating people&amp;apos;s ability; It focuses on the three aspects of tenacious practical level to conceive and build the training methods and contents of aesthetic education teachers, and focuses on the cultivation of talented teachers, teachers who are tireless in teaching and teachers who are knowledgeable and deep in the ways of clustering, helping and secondary. Thus, a team of aesthetic education teachers with distinct priorities, coherent structure, professional structure and suitable for the development of aesthetic education in the Liangshan Yi area of Sichuan province is bred.

Relevance of Aceh's Qanun Jinayat in Minimizing Cases of Sexual Harassment against Children in Aceh

This study aims to describe the relevance of Qanun Number 6 of 2014 concerning Jinayat Law as a legal regulation used to address cases of child sexual Harassment in Aceh. This is considered important because until now cases of child sexual Harassment in Aceh have continued to increase every year. In addition, Aceh is a region that has special regulations that are formed based on Islamic law and customary law. Therefore, the provisions relating to sexual Harassment in Aceh are different from other provincial areas that use the Child Protection Law, the Sexual Violence Crime Law or Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code. The study was conducted using a sociological legal research method with descriptive analytical writing specifications. The focus of this study is on how the relevance of Aceh Qanun Number 6 of 2014 concerning Jinayat Law is in minimizing the number of cases of child sexual Harassment in Aceh, thus causing this study to be different from previous studies. The results of this study indicate that Qanun Number 6 of 2014 concerning Jinayat Law has not been able to optimally address cases of child sexual Harassment in Aceh. It is because the five factors that influence the effectiveness of the implementation of Qanun Jinayat in Aceh have not been effective until now. The five factors are legal factors, law enforcement factors, facilities and infrastructure factors, community factors and cultural factors. In addition, the provisions of the threat of sanctions contained in Qanun Jinayat when associated with the theory of just desert and the theory of the purpose of punishment in Islamic criminal law are still relatively light so that they have an impact on the unprotection of children's rights as victims and do not provide a deterrent effect for perpetrators.

Differences in Physical Activity and Self-Rated Health Levels Based on Satisfaction with Physical Environment of Local Communities: From School to Lifelong Physical Education.

In Korea, substantial disparities exist in physical environments across regions, exacerbating the polarization between metropolitan and provincial areas and urban and rural regions. This study examines the differences in the physical activity and self-rated health of local communities in relation to satisfaction with the physical environment. By identifying and addressing these underlying causes of health disparities, the study provides foundational data to inform policy efforts. The study utilized data from the 2023 Community Health Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It included 231,752 individuals aged 19 and older (105,754 men and 125,998 women) selected through a two-stage probability proportional systematic sampling method. One-on-one online interviews were conducted from 16 May to 31 July 2023. The physical environment was assessed based on public satisfaction with safety, natural and living environments, public transportation, and medical services. Study variables included subjective health status and physical activity, with subvariables for physical activity encompassing the duration of vigorous and moderate physical activity, walking, and flexibility exercises. For data analysis, MANOVA and ANOVA were conducted, with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Considerable variations in physical activity were observed based on satisfaction with the local community environment. Regarding self-rated health, significant differences were found in safety levels, living environment, and medical services. Satisfaction with the physical environment positively influenced physical activity and self-rated health. Therefore, it is imperative to reduce disparities in the physical environment between regions and enhance residents' satisfaction.

The Impact of Residential Building Insulation Standards on Indoor Thermal Environments and Heat-Related Illness Risks During Heatwaves: A Case Study in Korea

This study investigates the impact of building insulation standards on indoor thermal environments and the risk of heat-related illnesses during heatwaves in South Korea. Indoor temperatures were measured in residential buildings located in Chuncheon and Gwangju during the 2022 heatwave, with outdoor temperature data sourced from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Probability distribution fitting was used to estimate the likelihood of indoor temperatures exceeding the critical threshold of 27 °C. Additionally, a linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the probability of exceeding the threshold and heat-related illness data from 2017 to 2023 provided by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The findings reveal significant variations in indoor thermal conditions during heatwaves, influenced by factors such as building type, year of construction, and climate region, which affect the thermal insulation performance. Buildings with a lower thermal insulation performance were associated with higher indoor temperatures, increasing the likelihood of exceeding the critical threshold and contributing to a higher incidence of heat-related illnesses, particularly in provincial non-metropolitan areas. These results underscore the need for region-specific building insulation standards that address both winter energy efficiency and summer heatwave resilience. Enhancing thermal insulation in vulnerable regions could significantly reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses and improve public health resilience to extreme heat events.

User Perception-Based Optimal Route Selection for Vehicles of Disabled Persons in Urban Centers of Saudi Arabia

People with disabilities (PWD), in their routine commutes, confront hindrances associated with road infrastructure in busy urban centers. The present study developed a user perception-based methodology to evaluate optimal routes for PWD in urban settlements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A survey captured the preferences for 105 PWD, consisting of 37 powered wheelchair users, 62 manual wheelchair users, and 6 artificial limb users. The multi-criteria decision analysis evaluated the accessibility index for PWD based on four criteria: length, number of junctions, absence of footpath, and slope. This study revealed that manual wheelchair users prefer the length criterion, powered wheelchair users emphasized the absence of footpaths, and artificial limb users were concerned about slope. The result showed that only two routes out of ten showed medium, while those remaining exhibited low accessibility. Most routes were relatively long for people with disabilities, focusing on the need for public transportation with special arrangements in most small and medium-sized cities, like the study area of Hail and Qassim province of the KSA, to reduce the distance and travel time. The proposed framework provides valuable insights to route evaluation for persons with special needs in the KSA and elsewhere.

Determination of Population Dynamics of Cicadellidae (Hemiptera) Species and Their Relationship with Climatic Parameters in Organic Cotton Fields in Hatay Province, Türkiye

In this study, population dynamics of leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) species in organic cotton-growing areas of Hatay province were investigated along with their associations with climatic parameters. Weekly sampling using a sweep net (100 sweep net/parcel) identified nine species within the Cicadellidae family. Among these, Asymmetrasca decedens (Paoli) and Empoasca decipiens (Paoli) displayed high population densities throughout the entire vegetation period of cotton, while Zyginidia sohrab (Zatchvakin), Psammotettix striatus (Linnaeus), Orosius orientalis (Matsumura), Anaceratagallia laevis (Ribaut), and Anaceratagallia sinuata (Mulsant &amp; Rey) were present in both vegetative and reproductive phases of cotton, with Z. sohrab reaching significant population levels. Cicadulina bipunctella (Matsumura) and Balclutha hebe (Kirkaldy) were found only during the reproductive phase, yet they achieved considerably high populations. Correlation and regression analyses have shown a moderate to high level of positive correlation between the population development of five leafhopper species and various temperature (°C) parameters (r=0.578-0.790, p

Sustainable Energy Solutions for Rural Electrification (A Comprehensive Study of Microgrid and Distributed Generation Systems)

Providing power to the people of Afghanistan is a major problem, especially in rural areas where access is severely restricted. Relying on the National Grid is not viable because 75% of people live in these regions and just 9% of people have access to energy. A Micro-Grid system is suggested in this paper as a practical and affordable way to provide rural villages with electricity. The Sayyidabad area of Wardak province's Khwaja Kotgay acts as a case study for assessing the technical feasibility of this Micro-Grid. In addition to having access to local resources, such as biogas produced from the waste of 150 cattle, the region enjoys 220 to 250 sunny days per year. Each day, about 50 cubic meters of biogas are produced. Biogas and solar energy will work together to generate electricity at night. A carefully planned network, consisting of three sections, will distribute the electricity generated to homes. The components of each segment will be determined by the load requirements of each family. The goal of this initiative is to provide dependable and sustainable electricity to rural areas, thus empowering them. At the end of the research, the researchers will present useful results and important recommendations.

Provision of land use and forest density maps in semi-arid areas of Iran using Sentinel-2 satellite images and vegetation indices

Zagros forests of Iran have several environmental, ecological, and socioeconomic values which provide the unique habitats for many endemic species. However, these ecosystems have severely been destroyed by many anthropogenic and natural factors in recent years. Knowledge of area, distribution, and density of these forests and current natural and human-made land uses inside these ecosystems is necessary for protective management of Zagros forests. This research was performed to obtain the land use and forest density maps in Zagros vegetative area of Fars province in southwestern Iran using Sentinel-2A, vegetation indices, Google Earth, and field data. First the boundary of Zagros forests in Fars province was digitized on Google Earth images. Then, Sentinel-2A satellite images covering the forest region in Fars province were obtained from Copernicus website. A pilot area (16000 ha) in the province was considered to investigate the precision of classification methods. Then, Sentinel-2A satellite image of pilot region was classified by some supervised classification methods (ML: maximum likelihood, MD: minimum distance, MaD: mahalanobis distance, SAM: spectral angle mapper, NN: neural network, SVM: support vector machine, and RF: random forest). In addition, the efficiency of different vegetation indices (NDVI, TNDVI, SAVI, and RVI) was evaluated for classifying the forest density in the pilot region. Furthermore, pilot area was considered to test the precision of Google Earth satellite images in this study. For this purpose, 270 field samples were taken as square plots in nine land uses. Selection of the plots inside each land use was randomly. After initial analysis, all satellite images covering the forest area in Fars province were classified by the most accurate algorithm (SVM) to obtain the land use map. On the other hand, the most accurate vegetation index (SAVI) was used to classify the forest density in the study area. Validation of final maps was performed using several random plots on Google Earth images. The initial results of this research indicated that Google Earth images have an overall accuracy (OA) of 96 % compared to ground truth in Fars province. Results of land use map showed that Zagros forest has covered an area of 794651.79 ha in Fars province. The findings of this research demonstrated that SVM algorithm (OA: 92.94 %, and k: 0.85) has efficiently classified the land uses in Fars province. In addition, SAVI (r2 = 0.719, p < 0.001) has highly been correlated to the forest density in Zagros vegetative area of Fars province. Therefore, land use mapping using SVM algorithm and Sentinel-2A images, and forest density mapping using SAVI is highly recommended in Zagros forests of Fars province in time series which is essential for protective management of these forests in spatio-temporal scale.

Logistics Structure Analysis for Selayar Tangerine Supply Chain Mapping

Citrus fruits are in demand not only for their freshness, but also for their fiber content as nutrients and vitamins, especially vitamin C and vitamin A, which are beneficial for health. Selayar Islands Regency is a citrus development area in South Sulawesi Province. The citrus crop developed in Selayar Islands Regency is the tangerine variety. Along with the development of the citrus plant area, the population of citrus plants in Selayar Islands Regency increases every year. This study aims to describe the mapping of the Selayar tangerine supply chain structure through logistics cost analysis to map the distribution of income between supply chains. The number of respondents in this study was 45 people. This research uses descriptive analysis with convenience and snowball sampling methods to get an objective picture. This research uses logistics cost analysis using the Activity Based Costing method. The results showed that the levels involved in the supply chain are farmers, collectors, wholesalers, small traders, and consumers. The results of the logistics cost calculation show material handling costs as the highest cost of the entire Selayar tangerine supply chain cost.

Investigation of viruses and phytoplasma infections in tomato plantations in Bilecik province, Türkiye

In this study, the status of infections caused by viruses and phytoplasmas in tomato production areas of Bilecik province was determined using conventional molecular methods. During the 2022 tomato production season, 93 plants exhibiting symptoms such as mosaic, leaf and fruit deformations, flower anomalies, and necrotic spots were collected. Viral agents such as tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), southern tomato virus (STV), tobamoviruses, and potyviruses were screened by RT-PCR, while phytoplasmas were detected by nested-PCR. Single, double, and triple infections were detected in 50 of the 93 plants. 17, 5, and 21 plants were infected by a single pathogen for TSWV, STV, and phytoplasmas, respectively. 1, 3, and 2 plants were infected by two pathogens for STV+TSWV, STV+phytoplasma, and TSWV+phytoplasma, respectively. Only one plant detected a triple infection caused by STV, TSWV, and phytoplasmas. The phytoplasma genetic group was determined as 16Sr XII-A by PCR RFLP in-silico and in-vitro methods. Sequencing studies revealed that TSWV had high nucleotide sequence similarity with other Türkiye isolates for the NSs partial gene and STV entire CP gene region. For phytoplasmas, sequencing studies showed that the obtained tomato strains overlapped one-to-one with stolbur strains. Phylogenetic analyses applied with global isolates for TSWV NSs and STV CP gene regions showed the existence of 2 main groups (Clade I and Clade II). TSWV and STV isolates obtained from this study clustered in large main branches (Clade I).

Detection and isolation of Leishmania infantum from natural infected dog in Türkiye

Some clinical signs such as cachexia, alopecia, exfoliative dermatitis, hair loss, and swollen lymph nodes were observed in a one-year-old crossbred male dog living in a rural area of Kirikkale province, Türkiye, was presented to the veterinary clinic by its owner. Anaemia, leucopenia, hyperglobulinemia, and bilirubinemia were detected. Seropositivity was detected using Leishmania IgG/IgM Rapid Test. The amastigote forms of the parasite were observed in the lymph node aspirates. Viable promastigotes were observed in the samples obtained from the Novy-MacNeal-Nicolle medium (NNN) tubes. The parasite DNA was extracted from the promastigotes produced in the NNN medium using a DNA extraction kit according to the manufacturer's instructions. The specific bands indicating the gene regions of L. infantum (350 bp and 730 bp for HSP20 and HSP70, respectively) were observed. Additionally, BLASTn analysis revealed 100 % similarity with GenBank-deposited L. infantum sequences. The sequences were submitted to GenBank (Accession numbers: OR806945 and OR806946). According to the author's knowledge, it is the first dog isolate deposited in the collection of the Microbiology Reference Laboratories and Biological Products Department, General Directorate of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Ankara, Türkiye. The isolate (TR_L. infantum CanL-1_damla) has been preserved by cryopreservation at −150 °C for further studies.

Breastfeeding Experiences of Mothers Staying in Temporary Shelter Areas in Disaster-Affected Provinces in the 2023 Türkiye Earthquake.

While the basic needs of breastfeeding women are similar to those of the general population, there are some specificities that must be taken into account when responding to an emergency. This study examines the breastfeeding barriers faced during a large earthquake in Türkiye and aims to investigate how infant feeding practices of breastfeeding mothers staying in temporary shelters after the earthquake were affected. This study follows a qualitative descriptive design with an inductive approach. It included participants who were older than 18 years of age, had babies no older than 1 year, and were breastfeeding mothers when the earthquake struck. Five main themes were identified through a content analysis of the interviews: (1) breastfeeding environment after the earthquake, (2) emotional impact, (3) change in social relationships, (4) physiological needs and problems, (5) specialized maternal and baby health services. Factors affecting mothers' infant feeding practices were crowded breastfeeding environments, stress and fear caused by the earthquake, decreased breastfeeding support due to changes in social relationships, difficulty in reaching basic physiological needs, and lack of professional health workers in the earthquake region. The most important factor affecting breastfeeding was the lack of suitable environments in which to breastfeed. There should be local, regional, and federal policies to support the privacy needs of displaced breastfeeding mothers.

Identity of traditional weaving: An exploration of consumer preferences and cultural significance

This study aims to investigate the design of traditional Thai woven cloth patterns, focusing on the Sisaket Province area. A combined research approach, using both qualitative and quantitative methods, was applied. The data analysis involved calculating percentages, means, and standard deviations. Results showed that fabric design prototype 2 received the highest average satisfaction scores, particularly for pattern, color, novelty, appropriateness, and uniqueness. Fabric design prototype 3 also achieved high satisfaction scores in these areas, excelling in pattern, color, novelty, appropriateness, and distinctiveness.