Future Activities Research Articles

Medicinal Properties of Crotalaria burhia: A Review

Background: Natural products have a crucial role in the discovery and development of drug molecules. The secondary metabolites derived from the plant have potential therapeutic value and reveal many pharmacological effects. Crotalaria burhia Buchham, a Leguminaceae herb, is mostly present in arid parts of India, Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan. Shinio, Bhip, Bhata, Ghugato, and Ban Sutra are just a few of the names it goes by. It is used to cure gout, eczema, hydrophobia, and inflammation. Plant root porridge is used for typhoid, wounds and cuts, rheumatism, flatulence, earaches, nasal bleeding, and stone problems. The powder form of the plant is used for digestive disorders. The plant has potent pharmacological activity and is also carcinogenic and anticarcinogenic in nature. Various phytoconstituents are present, like tannins, amino acids, alkaloids, steroids, triterpenoids, mucilage, flavonoids, gum, polyphenols, anthraquinones, carbohydrates, glycosides, and saponins. Croburhine is a novel pyrrolizidine alkaloid obtained from it. This review focuses on the existing knowledge of the phytochemistry and pharmacological action of C. burhia, which will provide broad information for a proper assessment of the plant as a medicinal agent. Methods: The experimental analysis and data reported on the species of Crotalaria were reviewed from 2005 to 2022. Various databases were used as article sources, like Medline and Pubmed, and a literature review was done using the keywords Crotalaria burhia, habitat, species, pharmacological action, and traditional uses. Result: On the basis of our perception, we have stated that the species Crotalaria burhia is a golden herb that possesses potent pharmacological activities. It is widely used as a conventional drug for the cure of various diseases, but its active constituents need to be evaluated more for future drug development and pharmacological action. Conclusion: There were a total of 21 research articles about the phytochemical screening of herbs, which showed the presence of different active constituents like alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, glycosides, mucilage, gum, polyphenols, carbohydrates, terpenoids, etc., which are responsible for different pharmacological activities like antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, antihypertensive, antitumor, and analgesic activity.

Longitudinal Associations Between Enjoyment of Physical Education, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Muscular Fitness Among Finnish Adolescents.

Students' experiences in physical education (PE) can shape future physical activity (PA) behaviors. PE enjoyment is associated with PA; however, the relationship between PE enjoyment and fitness has not been extensively investigated. The aim of this study was to examine if changes in PE enjoyment were associated with changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and muscular fitness (MF) among Finnish adolescents. Study participants were students (n = 1147; 11.27 [±0.32] years at baseline) attending public schools in Finland. Data were collected yearly (2017-2021). The 20 m shuttle run assessed CRF, curl-up/push-up tests assessed MF, and the enjoyment subscale of the Sport Commitment Questionnaire-2 measured PE enjoyment. The random intercept cross-lagged panel model, including repeated measures (within-level) and latent levels (between-level) of PE enjoyment, CRF and MF, was tested. Sex, body mass index, moderate to vigorous PA, and peak height velocity were included as covariates in the analysis. Over 5 years, PE enjoyment decreased, CRF increased until Timepoint 3, and MF remained stable. Positive associations between PE enjoyment and fitness were observed, indicating the greater the PE enjoyment, the higher the fitness. For PE enjoyment, CRF and MF repeated measures were positively associated with measurement of the next year. PE enjoyment was positively related to CRF and MF the years thereafter. Our findings highlight the importance of quality PE experiences for enjoyment and fitness gains during the transition from primary to secondary school. These findings are important given youth fitness levels are associated with future health status.

Few large or many small fires: Using spatial scaling of severe fire to quantify effects of fire‐size distribution shifts

AbstractAs wildfire activity increases and fire‐size distributions potentially shift in many forested regions worldwide, anticipating the spatial patterns of burn severity expected with future fire activity is critical for ecological understanding and informing management and policy. Because spatial patterns of burn severity are influenced by a complex mixture of drivers, they remain difficult to predict for any given burned landscape. At broader extents, however, spatial scaling relationships relating high‐severity patch size and shape to overall fire size, when combined with scenarios regarding regional area burned and fire‐size distributions, offer a means to anticipate the spatial configuration of burn severity in future fires. Here, leveraging a satellite burn‐severity dataset for 1615 fire events occurring across the northwest United States between 1985 and 2020, we present an approach for simulating expected patch‐level burn‐severity patterns at the scale of a region or fire regime of interest. We demonstrate this approach in a historically climate‐limited fire regime within the Pacific Northwest, USA, where relatively infrequent but large and severe fires shape biomass‐rich forests, and where fire potential is projected to increase as summer fire seasons become warmer and drier. We quantify how, for a given total burned area, the range of cumulative burn‐severity patterns is expected to vary with the size distributions of fire events. Our results illustrate how shifts in fire‐size distributions toward larger fire events will lead to increasingly large high‐severity burn patches with interior areas that are increasingly far from unburned seed sources following fire. In contrast, the same total area burned in more numerous but smaller fire events will result in qualitatively different cumulative patterns of burn severity, characterized by smaller high‐severity patches and closer proximity to postfire seed sources across burned landscapes. These results have important implications in forested regions, informing management actions ranging from prefire planning (e.g., fire response preparedness) to real‐time decision‐making (e.g., fire suppression vs. managed wildfire use) and postfire responses (e.g., replanting to restore tree cover and/or promoting early‐seral habitat). The approach we present is generalizable and can be applied across regions and fire regimes to anticipate potential future fire effects.

Research on the analysis strategy of electric vehicle charging demand based on multi-correlation daily scenario generation

Abstract With the continuous increase of the penetration rate of OFELECTRIC vehicles, their high random charging loads exert a more significant effect on the stability of the electrical system. Simultaneously, the past charging patterns of electric vehicles indirectly influence the possible future charging activities of these vehicles. Therefore, in order to characterize the correlation between the predicted daily charging behavior of electric vehicles and its historical daily charging behavior, this article uses scene generation theory to fully mine the original multi-correlation Internal characteristics of electric vehicle charging behavior among the original multi-correlation day charging scenario set (OMCDCSS), generating massively generating multi-correlation day charging scenarios (GMCDCS) similar to the probability distribution of OMCDCSS. Secondly, the related scene set (RSS) is screened in the generation of multi-correlation day billing scenario (GMCDCSS) on the basis of weighted Spearman rank (SR). Get the forecast result of electric vehicle load interval.

The gendered nature of AI: Men and masculinities through the lens of ChatGPT and GPT4

Because artificial intelligence powered language models such as the GPT series have most certainly come to stay and will permanently change the way individuals all over the world access information and form opinions, there is a need to highlight potential risks for the understanding and perception of men and masculinities. It is important to understand whether ChatGPT or its following versions such as GPT4 are biased – and if so, in which direction and to which degree. In the specific research field on men and masculinities, it seems paramount to understand the grounds upon which these language models respond to seemingly simple questions such as “What is a man?” or “What is masculine?”. In the following, we provide interactions with ChatGPT and GPT4 where we asked such questions, in an effort to better understand the quality and potential biases of the answers from ChatGPT and GPT4. We then critically reflect on the output by ChatGPT, compare it to the output by GPT4 and draw conclusions for future actions.

Creating a national model to build anti-cancer stewardship and quality improvement initiatives.

e23219 Background: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pharmacy Benefits Management (PBM) Services created a national stewardship with focus on anti-cancer therapeutics within a disease-specific cohort. Building a model to focus on Veterans with a common malignancy is a novel approach. A toolkit was built containing resources to support initiatives to promote standardization of practice and monitor outcomes as a continual quality improvement process. This model was piloted in Veteran patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) since Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) account for the second highest utilization among outpatient oral anti-cancer therapies in VA . Methods: Business rules identified Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) CML cohorts by using data and diagnostic coding (ICD-10; SNOMED CT) from the VA Electronic Health Record (EHR): primary care and hematology/oncology visits, inpatient stays, and problem lists. Medication Use Evaluations (MUEs) were developed: MUE #1: Veterans who received a drug other than imatinib as their initial VA prescription If new initiation, documented reason(s) for drug selection If continuation, prior drug therapy history MUE #2: Veterans who switched from first to second-line TKI Documented reason(s) for switch to 2L Documentation of adverse drug reaction (ADR) in the EHR. Results: 16 VISNs participated in the MUEs. Patient counts are each ~25% of the total CML cohort; ~50% of patients received imatinib 1L and have not switched to 2L. Responses for MUE #1 (N = 559) 293 (52%) continued therapy originally started outside VA with 71% of these patients (n = 208) without documentation of prior imatinib 266 (48%) newly initiated therapy with top documented reasons Intermediate/high risk scoring: 109 (41%) Reason not documented: 80 (30%) Cited FDA indication for CML without clinical justification: 35 (13%) Responses for MUE #2 (N = 576) Top documented reasons for switch from 1L to 2L therapy ADR: 325 (56%) Resistance / inadequate response: 132 (23%) Disease progression: 117 (20%) Only 59 (18%) who experienced an ADR had it documented in the EHR allergies / adverse reactions section. Conclusions: Disease-focused oncology stewardship in a national healthcare system is feasible. Imatinib remains the preferred TKI and accounts for the highest utilization. Oncology Stewardship activities based on the results include education on disease coding, an educational document on why to use imatinib in the 1L setting, and a medication safety article to emphasize documentation of ADRs. In our 1L to 2L MUE, ADRs were the most common reason for patients to be switched to 2L. Future activities include an education sheet on managing TKI ADRs and criteria for a potential treatment-free remission. Further interventions in TKI prescribing may be instituted in select sites. Following initiatives for CML, Anti-Cancer Stewardship Program will be expanded to other oncologic diseases.

Systems Biology in ELIXIR: modelling in the spotlight.

In this white paper, we describe the founding of a new ELIXIR Community - the Systems Biology Community - and its proposed future contributions to both ELIXIR and the broader community of systems biologists in Europe and worldwide. The Community believes that the infrastructure aspects of systems biology - databases, (modelling) tools and standards development, as well as training and access to cloud infrastructure - are not only appropriate components of the ELIXIR infrastructure, but will prove key components of ELIXIR's future support of advanced biological applications and personalised medicine. By way of a series of meetings, the Community identified seven key areas for its future activities, reflecting both future needs and previous and current activities within ELIXIR Platforms and Communities. These are: overcoming barriers to the wider uptake of systems biology; linking new and existing data to systems biology models; interoperability of systems biology resources; further development and embedding of systems medicine; provisioning of modelling as a service; building and coordinating capacity building and training resources; and supporting industrial embedding of systems biology. A set of objectives for the Community has been identified under four main headline areas: Standardisation and Interoperability, Technology, Capacity Building and Training, and Industrial Embedding. These are grouped into short-term (3-year), mid-term (6-year) and long-term (10-year) objectives.

Enhancing water governance and water resources management in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Bangladesh, a riverine nation with rivers originating beyond its borders, experiences a climatic paradox characterized by excessive monsoon rainfall (June to September) and minimal precipitation during winter (December to February). This climatic duality leads to recurring hydrological disasters, including floods, river erosion, and droughts, causing substantial losses in agriculture, fisheries, navigation, ecology, and biodiversity. Effective water governance is imperative to mitigate these economic and environmental impacts. This study aims to evaluate Bangladesh’s current state of water governance and identify gaps in existing policies and regulations related to water resources management (WRM). It is achieved through a comprehensive review of existing laws, acts, regulations, and policies related to water governance. The study reveals that policy documents developed over the last three decades, aimed at enhancing water governance and reducing vulnerabilities to droughts, floods, and riverbank erosion, have identified only a limited number of critical policy gaps in WRM. The government should prioritize gradually decentralizing management policies to strengthen climate resilience in coastal regions. This research offers insights into improving water governance and WRM and contributes to reducing hydrological disasters in Bangladesh. Additionally, it provides valuable guidance for addressing challenges related to upstream transboundary rivers and formulating future strategies and action plans.

Walk With Me: reducing harm and confronting the toxic drug poisoning crisis in small British Columbia cities through community engaged research

In an era of escalating and intersectional crises, the toxic drug poisoning crisis stands out as a devastating and persistent phenomenon. Where we write from in British Columbia (BC), Canada, over 13,000 deaths have occurred in the eight years since the toxic drug poisoning crisis was declared a provincial health emergency. While many of these deaths have occurred in large urban centres, smaller rural communities in British Columbia are also grappling with the profound impacts of the toxic drug poisoning crisis and are struggling to provide adequate support for their vulnerable populations. In response to these challenges, the Walk With Me research project has emerged in the Comox Valley of Vancouver Island, BC, employing community-engaged methodologies grounded in pluralist knowledge production. Walk With Me seeks to understand the unique manifestations of the toxic drug poisoning crisis in small communities, identifying local harm reduction interventions that can foster community resilience, and aiming to catalyze sustainable change by amplifying the voices of those directly affected by the crisis to advocate for policy changes. This paper outlines the conceptual and methodological underpinnings of the Walk With Me project as a harm reduction initiative, which holds community partnerships and diverse ways of knowing at its heart. It presents the community-engaged research framework used by the project to address overlapping health and social crises, offering practical examples of its application in various research projects across sites and organizations. The paper concludes with a reflection on the impacts of Walk With Me to date, highlighting the lessons learned, challenges encountered, and opportunities for future research and action. Overall, this article captures the urgent need for community-engaged approaches to address the toxic drug poisoning crisis and other multidimensional crises facing society, particularly in smaller and rural communities, underscoring the potential for meaningful change through collaborative, grassroots efforts.

Reducing e-waste in Europe: Examining the impact of environmental and financial literacy on the premature replacement of appliances across owner-occupier and rental residential properties using the EVIDENT serious game

AimAs premature replacement of residential appliances drives rising e-waste levels in Europe, analysis of the factors impacting consumer decision-making when faced with opportunities to extend (repair) or reduce appliance lifespans (premature replacement) is needed. This manuscript seeks to explore the impact of environmental and financial literacy on consumer willingness to seek repair of home appliances (over replacement) across owner-occupier and rental properties. The impact of financial salience within the informational frames of these decisions is also explored. MethodAn online discrete choice experiment was conducted using the EVIDENT serious game, a life-simulation game in which players manage a virtual home and face energy decisions. Participants (n = 1056) completed a series of 3 choice experiments exploring repair/replace decision-making and willingness to pay for repair. Prior to the game, measures of environmental literacy, financial literacy, household type, and sociodemographic factors were obtained using a pre-game survey. For rental properties, a further stated preference experiment was conducted to determine the impact of financial incentives on willingness to invest in more efficient appliances for both landlords and tenants. ResultsWhile an overall willingness to seek repair for broken home appliances was found, most participants selected to prematurely replace their broken appliance with a more efficient alternative. Participants aged over 51 were significantly less likely to choose a repair (p < .001), while those in non-full-time employment more likely to select a repair (p < .001). Limited impact of environmental and financial literacy on repair/replace decision-making was found, though financial knowledge, environmental knowledge, and environmental skills were associated with willingness to pay for repair. Willingness towards repair in rental properties (landlords and tenants) was found with tenants willing to pay 34–71.3 % more than homeowners for repair and landlords willing to pay 93.3–108.8 % more depending on the appliance. Mixed impacts of financial incentives in rental properties to surmount impacts of split incentives were found. While 86.6 % of landlords were willing to accept a small fee from tenants towards a more efficient appliances, 65.2 % of tenants were unwilling to pay such a fee. ConclusionResults cast light on the specific impacts of individual financial and environmental literacy, demographic factors, and residence type on early replacement decisions, providing valuable direction for future policy actions.

Development of a High-School Students' Version of the Daily Conversation Scale with Classroom Teachers

Objective This study was intended to develop a "High-School Students' Version of the Daily Conversation Scale with Classroom Teachers" to measure the frequency of daily conversations between high-school students and their classroom teachers.Methods The study consisted of Surveys I and II. Survey I was intended to validate the structural validity and reliability of the "High-School Students' Daily Conversation Scale with Classroom Teachers (Prototype Version)." It measured the frequency of high-school students' daily conversations with classroom teachers using the prototype scale and employed confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory to assess the factor measurement model and item performance, respectively. Internal consistency was evaluated using McDonald's ω (omega) reliability coefficient. Study II was intended to validate the prototype scale through hypothesis testing. The survey assessed daily conversation frequency, teacher support perception, depression/anxiety, and the teacher-student relationship. Two models were constructed: one predicting the impact of daily conversation frequency on support perception and depression/anxiety and the other predicting the impact on the teacher-student relationship. It was hypothesized that both models would fit well, with daily conversation frequency positively associated with support perception and relationship, and depression/anxiety negatively associated with support perception and relationship.Result The sample analyzed in Survey I consisted of 1,394 students in grades 1-3. The results of confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory, and McDonald's omega reliability coefficient met the criteria. The sample for Survey II consisted of 1,688 students in grades 1-3. The results of the analysis supported the hypothesis.Conclusion The results of this study suggest that the prototype version of the scale was conceptually unidimensional and that the difficulty level of each item was well-balanced, indicating the successful development of a "High-School Students' Version of the Daily Conversation Scale with Classroom Teachers." By using this scale and examining the effects of the frequency of daily conversation with homeroom teachers on the psychology and behavior of high-school students, we believe that it will be possible to contribute to an understanding of primary prevention measures that homeroom teachers can take to address mental health problems among their high-school students. We believe that this scale will contribute to future school health activities in the field of public health.

Identifying the top 10 priorities of adolescents with a physical disability regarding participation in physical activity: A Delphi study.

To establish consensus among adolescents with a physical disability regarding their priorities for enhancing participation in physical activity and help inform the design of future interventions for participation in physical activity. We conducted a national multi-round Delphi study involving adolescents with a physical disability aged 13 to 17 years. Round 1 of the initial survey consisted of open-ended questions. Free-text responses were then analysed thematically, creating items categorized according to the family of participation-related constructs (fPRC). In round 2, participants rated the perceived importance of these items using a 5-point Likert scale. The top 10 priorities were constructed from the highest-ranked items. One hundred and sixteen participants (mean age = 14 years 7 months, range = 13-17 years; 66 males; 58 with cerebral palsy; 43 wheelchair users) completed round 1; 108 items were included in round 2. Fifty-eight items were rated as either 'important' or 'really important' by 70% of participants. The top 10 priorities were rated as important or really important by 82% to 94% of participants with a mean Likert score of 4.40 (range = 4.25-4.63). Seven of the top 10 priorities were related to the environmental context of the fPRC. The other three were related to involvement and the related concept of preference. The priorities identified will help inform future physical activity interventions for adolescents with a physical disability.

Civil Protection in Europe: Towards a Unified Command System? Update on knowledge-sharing work and future actions

In the context of climate change, increasing disaster severity and extension, the paper suggests to DGECHO, agency managing the European civil protection mechanism, an improvement for joint operations command-and-control practices. It constitutes an update of Monet et al. (2020) paper, enhancing the work progresses in terms of analysis, applicability, monitoring and training. In this perspective, the work of the authors is completely dedicated to the improvement of interoperability when different (national) civil protection forces work together, to respond to emergencies or disasters. Building on theoretical comparative studies, this opinion paper now relies on an interoperability monitoring tool and consolidates the ways on defining the future for an “European Command System”, proposing innovative operational practices by associating knowledge exchange and operational training. Actually, the presentation will depict how to organize a training strategy at European level, alternating international and regional courses, to pave the way for future harmonization.

Fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and functional fitness among older adults in urban Alaska

ABSTRACT Older adults often face barriers to obtaining recommended diet, physical activity, and fitness levels. Understanding these patterns can inform effective interventions targeting health beliefs and behavior. This cross-sectional study included a multicultural sample of 58 older adults (aged 55+ years, M=71.98) living in independent senior housing in urban Southcentral Alaska. Participants completed a questionnaire and the Senior Fitness Test that assessed self-reported fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, self-efficacy, and functional fitness. T-tests and bivariate correlation analyses were used to test six hypotheses. Results indicated that participants had low physical activity but had a mean fruit and vegetable intake that was statistically significantly higher than the hypothesized “low” score. Only 4.26% of participants met functional fitness standards for balance/agility, and 8.51% met standards for lower-body strength. However, 51.1% met standards for upper-body strength and 46.8% met standards for endurance The results also indicated that nutrition self-efficacy and exercise self-efficacy were positively related to fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity levels, respectively. Interestingly, income was not related to nutrition or activity patterns. These data complicate the picture on dietary and physical activity patterns for older adults in Alaska and offer recommendations for future health promotion activities.

The DaNa projects: public communication of (nano)material safety data-from conspiracy theories to study quality.

In this perspective, the authors give their view on the developments and experiences on communicating on (nano)materials safety. We would like to share our experiences with the scientific community in order to make them useful for future communication activities. We present the long-term work of the science communication projects DaNa, DaNa2.0 and DaNa4.0, running from 2009 to 2023. Starting in the early 2000s with the beginnings of nanotechnology research, communication on the safety of nanomaterials with the public was still very new and faced the projects with many challenges. Today, science communication is indispensable for the dissemination of scientific findings and a fact-based approach like the DaNa "Knowledge Base Materials" creates a trustworthy dialogue with the public. This long-term project series has made a significant contribution to communication on the safety of nanomaterials, perhaps even the largest among publicly funded project series worldwide.

Computational exploration of Picrasma quassioides compounds as CviR-mediated quorum sensing inhibitors against Chromobacterium violaceum.

Chromobacterium violaceum an opportunistic human pathogenic bacterium, exhibits resistance to conventional antibiotics by exploiting its quorum sensing mechanism to regulate virulence factor expression. In light of this, disrupting the quorum sensing mechanism presents a promising avenue for treating infections caused by this pathogen. The study focused on using the cytoplasmic quorum sensing receptor CviR from C. violaceum as a model target to identify novel quorum sensing inhibitors from P. quassioides through in silico computational approaches. Molecular docking analyses unveiled that several phytochemicals derived from Picrasma quassioides exhibit the potential to inhibit quorum sensing by binding to CviR protein. Notably, the compounds such as Quassidine I (- 8.8kcal/mol), Quassidine J (- 8.8kcal/mol), Kumudine B (- 9.1kcal/mol) and Picrasamide A (- 8.9kcal/mol) exhibited high docking scores, indicating strong binding affinity to the CviR protein. The native ligand C6-HSL (N-hexanoyl-L-homoserine lactone) as a positive control/co-crystal inhibitor also demonstrated a significant binding energy of-7.7kcal/mol. The molecular dynamics simulation for 200 ns showed the thermodynamic stability and binding affinity refinement of the top-ranked CviR inhibitor (Kumudine B) with its stable binding and minor fluctuations compared to positive control (C6-HSL). Pharmacokinetic predictions indicated that Kumudine B possesses favourable drug-like properties, which suggest its potential as a drug candidate. The study highlight Kumudine B as a potential agent for inhibiting the CviR protein in C. violaceum. The comprehensive evaluation of Kumudine B provides valuable insights into its pharmacological profiles, facilitating its assessment for diverse therapeutic applications and guiding future research activities, particularly as antibacterial agents for clinical drug development.

A Methodology to Introduce Sustainable Development Goals in Engineering Degrees by Means of Multidisciplinary Projects

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) reflect the relevance that sustainability is gaining in our societies. Including sustainability-related topics in university curricula requires the revision of the contents, teaching/learning strategies and assessment techniques. Although engineering degrees are starting to introduce them, it may become complex to design significant educational experiences. This partly comes from the fact that sustainability is a highly multidisciplinary issue but, currently, the knowledge is compartmentalised into subjects. In this challenging scenario, concrete activities are required for students to better internalise sustainability issues. This work aims to present a methodology that guides academic staff to materialise the design of sustainability-related multidisciplinary activities. Since the designers of new activities may benefit from knowledge of similar experiences, this article describes one implementation throughout eight subjects within the Bachelor’s degree on Industrial Electronics and Automation Engineering at UPV/EHU. The analysis and optimisation of the thermal comfort and energy consumption in the Faculty building became the common thread to design an educational itinerary that covers several subjects along all academic years of the degree, making use of active methodologies. The problem is analysed for every subject from different perspectives. Two questionnaires, carried out before and after the activities, were used for analysing the perception of the students after the activities. Results proved that the multidisciplinary project raised awareness about the SDGs and allowed students to visualise how to apply the acquired skills in problems close to their experience. As a result, more students considered sustainability as a possible future professional activity.

“Zero interaction”, ignoring and acts of omission in the school ecology: Peer ostracism from the perspective of involved adolescents

AbstractThis study focuses on one type of excluding and isolating behaviour, the essence of which is the breakup of social interactions with a group member, which falls within the commonly accepted definition of ostracism. Based on interviews with 29 adolescents aged 12–18 (including 15 girls and 14 boys, all of whom were students in public schools without migrant backgrounds), an analysis of the content and typology of peer ostracism in school classrooms was conducted, emphasizing the perspective of those directly involved in the ostracism, i.e., the perpetrators. Three main dimensions and behavioural aspects related to ostracism emerged from the data: “Avoidance (Zero Interaction)”, “Expulsion from Group” and “Complete Ostracism”. The results indicate that the identified forms of ostracism rarely occur in a pure form, and are most often carried out in combination with non-verbal acts of overt exclusion. Furthermore, peer ostracism in group-class communities, which is consensual and chronic in nature, may reflect a distinct variant that qualifies for independent study. The paper also discusses directions for future research and actions to improve the social classroom environment.

Contribution of Non Governmental Organisations Projects Intervention on Social Economic Growth in Rural Areas. A Case of World Vision Rwanda 2019-2022 Kivuruga Sector, Gakenke Disrtict, Northern Rwanda.

This research is basically done to assess contribution of Non-Governmental Organizations projects intervention on socio economic growth of in rural areas a case study of World Vision Rwanda project in Kivuruga sector. This study had the following specific objectives: to find out the contribution of NGOs on socio economic growth in Kivuruga sector, to elaborate socio economic impacts of NGOs in rural areas especially in Kivuruga sector, to identify the relationship between activities of WVR and socioeconomic growth of its beneficiaries in Kivuruga sector and to give suggestions and recommendation on NGOs activities in rural areas. Due to financial means, time constraints and the need of precision of results, it was impossible to study all population. Target population of this study was 127 beneficiaries of World Vision Rwanda project in Kivuruga sector. A sample of 56 respondents was selected and cluster sampling was used for selecting groups, or clusters, of participants from the population. The clusters were chosen based on distribution of World Vision Rwanda project’s respondents in cells. The study also employed purposive sampling as the sampling technique. Questionnaire, interview and a documentation research were used as tools of data collection. The statistical analysis of the collected data was conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). This study assessed the Contribution of WVR in socio-economic growth where the findings indicated that great extent and very great extent make 73.2%. Therefore, the WVR played a big role in economic growth of Rwanda especially in Kivuruga Sector. As conclusion, it has been revealed that the capacity of the beneficiaries to cover basic expenditure and need (such as food, clothing, transport, education and housing, etc.) has been improved over the program/project period. Likewise, the programs executed by WORLD VISION Rwanda have enabled beneficiaries to engage in small businesses, different income generating activities, developing markets through a systems approach and market linkage, promote and increase the saving practice. As a result, beneficiaries of the programs have their source of income and they become self-reliance and empowered. The recommendations to future action planners are to improve livelihood, socio-economic conditions and then to reduce poverty the participation of women.

Whole-genome resequencing reveals genomic variation and dynamics in Ethiopian indigenous goats

Ethiopia has about 52 million indigenous goats with marked phenotypic variability, which is the outcome of natural and artificial selection. Here, we obtained whole-genome sequence data of three Ethiopian indigenous goat populations (Arab, Fellata, and Oromo) from northwestern Ethiopia and analyzed their genome-wide genetic diversity, population structure, and signatures of selection. We included genotype data from four other Ethiopian goat populations (Abergelle, Keffa, Gumuz, and Woyto-Guji) and goats from Asia; Europe; and eastern, southern, western, and northern Africa to investigate the genetic predisposition of the three Ethiopian populations and performed comparative genomic analysis. Genetic diversity analysis showed that Fellata goats exhibited the lowest heterozygosity values (Ho = 0.288 ± 0.005 and He = 0.334 ± 0.0001). The highest values were observed in Arab goats (Ho = 0.310 ± 0.010 and He = 0.347 ± 4.35e−05). A higher inbreeding coefficient (FROH = 0.137 ± 0.016) was recorded for Fellata goats than the 0.105 ± 0.030 recorded for Arab and the 0.112 ± 0.034 recorded for Oromo goats. This indicates that the Fellata goat population should be prioritized in future conservation activities. The three goat populations showed the majority (∼63%) of runs of homozygosity in the shorter (100–150 Kb) length category, illustrating ancient inbreeding and/or small founder effects. Population relationship and structure analysis separated the Ethiopian indigenous goats into two distinct genetic clusters lacking phylogeographic structure. Arab, Fellata, Oromo, Abergelle, and Keffa represented one genetic cluster. Gumuz and Woyto-Guji formed a separate cluster and shared a common genetic background with the Kenyan Boran goat. Genome-wide selection signature analysis identified nine strongest regions spanning 163 genes influencing adaptation to arid and semi-arid environments (HOXC12, HOXC13, HOXC4, HOXC6, and HOXC9, MAPK8IP2), immune response (IL18, TYK2, ICAM3, ADGRG1, and ADGRG3), and production and reproduction (RARG and DNMT1). Our results provide insights into a thorough understanding of genetic architecture underlying selection signatures in Ethiopian indigenous goats in a semi-arid tropical environment and deliver valuable information for goat genetic improvement, conservation strategy, genome-wide association study, and marker-assisted breeding.