A local fuzzy method based on “p-strong” community for detecting communities in networks

In this paper,we propose a local fuzzy method based on the idea of ＂p-strong＂ community to detect the disjoint and overlapping communities in networks.In the method,a refined agglomeration rule is designed for agglomerating nodes into local communities,and the overlapping nodes are detected based on the idea of making each community strong.We propose a contribution coefficient bvcito measure the contribution of an overlapping node to each of its belonging communities,and the fuzzy coefficients of the overlapping node can be obtained by normalizing the bvci to all its belonging communities.The running time of our method is analyzed and varies linearly with network size.We investigate our method on the computergenerated networks and real networks.The testing results indicate that the accuracy of our method in detecting disjoint communities is higher than those of the existing local methods and our method is efficient for detecting the overlapping nodes with fuzzy coefficients.Furthermore,the local optimizing scheme used in our method allows us to partly solve the resolution problem of the global modularity.

The Knowledge about the Potential Health Risks of Illegal Bushmeat Activities among Local Communities Adjacent to Western Nyerere National Park, Tanzania

Establishing knowledge of local communities regarding the potential health risks of illegal bushmeat hunting and its related practices is among the essential means to developing effective conservation and public health programs. To reveal the understanding of the local people regarding the potential health risks of bushmeat consumption and handling of wildlife products, we used a semi-structured questionnaire to survey 261 households in eight villages located adjacent to the western part of Nyerere National Park. Also, we interviewed eight key informants, including conservation personnel and veterinary officers, in the study area. The proportion of local people who were unaware that handling of wildlife products and bushmeat consumption were risky behaviours towards acquiring zoonotic diseases was slightly higher (57%) than the proportion of respondents who were aware of the likely risks of zoonotic diseases from the practices. After all, the majority (83%) of local people admitted having come into contact with wildlife products, while over 70% reported having consumed bushmeat. We found that local communities living closer to the park boundaries (<15 km) have a higher likelihood of contacting wildlife products, and that community members who have lived in the area for more than ten years have experienced more contact with wildlife products than immigrants. Moreover, the age of inhabitants and length of stay were found to be the most significant factors in determining the likelihood of bushmeat consumption. Most people seemed to prefer bushmeat to domestic meat, arguing that bushmeat is far more flavorful, tender, not tainted with chemicals, and has less fat, making it safer. Our study demonstrated that local communities participate in risky practices without contemplating the health consequences that could emerge should a zoonotic disease outbreak occur. Among other strategies, we recommended conservation and public health institutions to increase awareness campaigns on the possible health risks of zoonotic diseases associated with wildlife.

A pattern for partnership between LMDH and Perhutani to enhance local community prosperity and preserve the forest:a case study at RPH Besowo,Kediri Regency,Indonesia

The deforestation in Indonesia is already alarming.One of the strategies used by the government to overcome forest deforestation is social forestry.This program is called PHBM(Pengelolaan Hutan Bersama Masyarakat/Joint Forest Management) which is basically a partnership program.This study aims at describing the partnership program between a local organization(i.e.LMDH) and a government unit(i.e.RPH of Perhutani) within the PHBM program.The objectives of this study are to(a) describe the model of partnerships between LMDH and RPH Besowo for sustainable forest management and local community empowerment;(b) determine the contribution of the forest to the national economy and rural household income;and(c) determine the obstacles commonly found in Besowo forest that have to be faced during the implementation of the partnerships.The study shows that with good partnership between these two units,the prosperity of the local community can be enhanced and the forest preservation can be maintained.The model of the partnerships in this particular area in Indonesia is expected to be applicable as well in other rural areas in Indonesia,as well as in other developing countries.

Selective use patterns of woody plant species by local communities in Mumbwa Game Management Area: A prerequisite for effective management of woodland resources and benefit sharing

Selective patterns of human uses of woody plants in Mumbwa Game Management Area were investigated using quantitative survey methods. Major causes of human encroachment into the wildlife zone were assessed so that appropriate management actions could be taken to ensure continued supply of goods and services to the local community. Woody plant species were found to be diverse with 93 species recorded in the study area. Of these, the community utilized 92 (99%) in different ways. Trees were cut for various reasons, major ones being;building poles, fire wood, fibre, fruit collection, medicine, bee honey collection, house hold tools and utensils and clearing for agriculture. Clearing for agriculture was the most damaging, because it involved removal of below and above ground woody biomass of all sizes and suppression of their regeneration during cultivation in subsequent years. Of the recorded human uses, 2366 kg of woody plant material was consumed per head/yr?1as fire wood. The day to day consumption of firewood varied with season. In the cold season (May-August), a 26 kg (mean weight) bundle of firewood was consumed in three days while in the warm season it lasts five days. Certain species were particularly selected;Julbernardia paniculata,Pericopsis angolensis,Brachystegia speciformis,Brachystegia boehmii,Julbernardia globiflora,Brachystegia longifolia,and Pteleopsis anisoptera. In building and construction, differences were observed in the species and size of poles was used. The mean sizes of roofing poles were 3.5 metres long and 0.18 metres mid-length girth. Wall poles were 2.4 metres long and 0.40 metres mid-length girth. For the main house of about two rooms each, there were an average number of 48 poles in the roof (45,859.2 cm3) and 28 (284,653.6 cm3) in the wall. Clearing for agriculture was the main cause of damage to woody plants in the Game Management Area. The extension of human settlements into the wildlife zone and towards the Itezhi-tezhi road is likely to increase loss of woody vegetation, and will have a negative impact on the habitat for wildlife.

Evaluating the Relationship between National Park Management and Local Communities’ Perceptions Based on Survey, a Case of Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

A sustainable management of national park requires collaboration between park staff, NGOs, local organizations and stakeholders, and government intervention. This collaboration promotes community-based welfare and inspires a sense of responsibility, thus promoting more benefits than conflicts. A survey administered to residents surrounding Nyungwe National Park was used to evaluate the relationship between Nyungwe National Park management and local communities. The residents acknowledged a positive attitude towards participating in conservation organizations where there was involvement, while a negative response revealed weak community mobilization. The community’s opinions about protection and tourism progression noted weak conflict resolution, but a positive attitude towards tourism activities in the area since they believed employment was likely as a result. In addition, the residents asked for support from government investments and stakeholders to develop the local private sector, and asked to be involved during the planning process. Approaches including the design of coordination mechanisms and integrated conservation and developments projects are suggested to promote a management structure leading to community involvement in conservation and tourism activities. This will increase visitor numbers and contribute to economic development not only in the region but also in the whole country. Empirical studies along with the factors shaping tourism and conservation activities should be considered as the basis for sustainable decision and policy making for sustainable management, and will contribute to government, stakeholders and park manager collaborations at Nyungwe national park.

Seed-Oriented Local Community Detection Based on Influence Spreading

In recent years,local community detection algorithms have developed rapidly because of their nearly linear computing time and the convenience of obtaining the local information of real-world networks.However,there are still some issues that need to be further studied.First,there is no local community detection algorithm dedicated to detecting a seed-oriented local community,that is,the local community with the seed as the core.The second and third issues are that the quality of local communities detected by the previous local community detection algorithms are largely dependent on the position of the seed and predefined parameters,respectively.To solve the existing problems,we propose a seed-oriented local community detection algorithm,named SOLCD,that is based on influence spreading.First,we propose a novel measure of node influence named k-core centrality that is based on the k-core value of adjacent nodes.Second,we obtain the seed-oriented local community,which is composed of the may-members and the must-member chain of the seed,by detecting the influence scope of the seed.The may-members and the must-members of the seed are determined by judging the influence relationship between the node and the seed.Five state-of-art algorithms are compared to SOLCD on six real-world networks and three groups of artificial networks.The experimental results show that SOLCD can achieve a high-quality seed-oriented local community for various real-world networks and artificial networks with different parameters.In addition,when taking nodes with different influence as seeds,SOLCD can stably obtain high-quality seed-oriented local communities.

Set pair three-way overlapping community discovery algorithm for weighted social internet of things

There are many problems in Social Internet of Things(IoTs),such as complex topology information,different degree of association between nodes and overlapping communities.The idea of set pair information grain computing and clustering is introduced to solve the above problems so as to accurately describe the similarity between nodes and fully explore the multi-community structure.A Set Pair Three-Way Overlapping Community Discovery Algorithm for Weighted Social Internet of Things(WSIoT-SPTOCD)is proposed.In the local network structure,which fully considers the topological information between nodes,the set pair connection degree is used to analyze the identity,difference and reverse of neighbor nodes.The similarity degree of different neighbor nodes is defined from network edge weight and node degree,and the similarity measurement method of set pair between nodes based on the local information structure is proposed.According to the number of nodes'neighbors and the connection degree of adjacent edges,the clustering intensity of nodes is defined,and an improved algorithm for initial value selection of k-means is proposed.The nodes are allocated according to the set pair similarity between nodes and different communities.Three-way community structures composed of a positive domain,boundary domain and negative domain are generated iteratively.Next,the overlapping node set is generated according to the calculation results of community node membership.Finally,experiments are carried out on artificial networks and real networks.The results show that WSIoT-SPTOCD performs well in terms of standardized mutual information,overlapping community modularity and F1.

Local Perception on the Exploitation, the Current State and Taboos Related to Pangolins (Pholidota, Mammalia) by the Communities Living in the Tayna Nature Reserve and Its Surroundings (RNT) North Kivu DRC

Pangolins are currently considered the most endangered mammal species due to their high rank in local and international traffic. This species is protected in DRC and worldwide, unfortunately it is threatened by numerous human actions. The objective of this study is to identify the different reasons for which these animals are exploited, to provide information to determine from the opinions of the respondents the current state of the population from 2015 to today and to identify their hunting techniques by the local populations. We carried out surveys in the households of hunters, farmers and people practicing other professions in 12 villages, located within the RNT and surroundings areas. Two interview techniques were used: the individual interview and the participatory diagnostic technique. 175 people were interviewed individually. Nearly 97% of our respondents are motivated to consume pangolin as bush meat obtaining by hunting. The main reason for eating pangolin meat is 44% preference and 33% habit. The zone does not know the foreign solicitation of the exploitation of pangolins and its derivatives. The opinions of the population regarding the current state of pangolin in the Tayna Nature Reserve indicate that from 2015 to the present day the common pangolin “Manis tricuspis” has been abundant. Hunters use different hunting techniques, dominated by pickup for the Manis tricuspis, digging burrow, fire at the entrance of the burrow for Manis gigantea and the shotgun for the Manis tetradactyla.

Contribution of Sumalindo Company:In Managing Forest Resources with Local Communities:Mahakam Ulu-East Kalimantan

The role of HPH(Forest Logging Concession)in developing rural communities is very significant.SLJ(Sumalindo Lestari Jaya)as HPH company has an important contribution in empowering local communities,especially in opening land transportation in the interior and helping to build agriculture and gardens.The existence of Sumalindo company participates in developing forest resource management with local communities,among others,increasing livelihoods,maintaining and developing biodiversity conservation and maintaining climate change.These efforts are in accordance with the regulations of the KLHK(Ministry of Environment and Forestry),that every HPH holder is required(mandatory)to obtain a certificate of“PHAPL”(Sustainable Production Natural Forest Management)and an“eco label”from the Indonesian Eco Label Institute.Besides,it is recommended that the holders of HPH concessions and HTI(Industrial Timber Plantations)have an FSC(Forest Stewardship Council)certificate from the EU(European Union),and must meet three indicator elements,namely economic,social and ecological in SFM(Sustainable Forest Management).This article examines three critical questions that show the role of Sumalindo Company in economic,ecological and social development and managing forest resources with the community as follows:(1)The role of Sumalindo company contributes to the development of road infrastructure in the interior;(2)The role of Sumalindo in improving livelihoods and economic and social empowerment of local communities;(3)The role of Sumalindo with local communities in managing forest resources,including maintaining and developing biodiversity conservation and maintaining climate change.

Community-Based Diagnosis for the Improvement of Maternal and Child Protection in the ASACOSEKASI Health Area in the Urban Area of Bamako (Mali)

The community diagnosis is an essential approach to the resolution of health problems with the involvement of the communities concerned who become object and subject. Improvingmaternal and child health is a health priority for many developing countries, including Mali. The objective was to study the role of community-based diagnosis in improving maternal and child protection in a vulnerable urban community in a developing country. Methodology: This was a research-action integrating a community diagnosis conducted in March 2023. The involvement of several stakeholders, including social actors including ASACO, membership card holders, district chiefs, neighborhood delegates, local authorities, and health professionals, made it possible to provide curative, preventive and promotional care. The ASACOSEKA Health Area was used as a setting for the study. The methodology was the indicator approach, contact, document review, interview of CSCOM patients, observation of the structure, prioritization of problems, development of an action plan and restitution of the report. Results: The monograph consisted of describing the characteristics of the study setting. Indeed, the ASACOSEKASI area is located on the left bank of the Niger River, with a population of 34,497 inhabitants. The CSCOM presented to describe a medical unit, a maternity unit, a laboratory unit, an ultrasound room and a medication storage room. The main pathologies found were confirmed simple malaria (45.08%), high AKI: 20.43%, confirmed severe malaria: 19.85%, suspected diarrhoea: 3.43%, trauma related to road accidents: 3.36%, pregnancy-related disorders (1%). BCG, Penta3, VAR, and yellow fever vaccination rates were above 100%. It reflects the fact that the doses administered were higher than the target population. This was related to out-of-area vaccination and lost doses. CPN1, CPN4, tetanus vaccination (VAT2) and family planning (FP) consultations all have a proportion above 100%. Maternal care is increased by out-of-area patients, particularly from Guinea. NPC3 and CPON have a proportion of less than 100%. The target population did not follow policies, standards and procedures. Postpartum, women rarely came to the CPON. Local actions to combat malaria included cleaning up plots and neighbourhoods, weeding families and streets, cleaning gutters, spraying the roosts of the female Anopheles Beetle, sleeping in LLINs, organising chemoprophylaxis days, promoting the use of MS, and using curtains against vectors. Conclusion: The community was involved at all stages of this diagnosis, from design to implementation, as well as to the restitution of local solutions. Indeed, the community diagnosis has led to a resolution plan related to reproductive health.

Distributed Energy and Reserve Scheduling in Local Energy Communities Using L-BFGS Optimization

Encouraging citizens to invest in small-scale renewable resources is crucial for transitioning towards a sustainable and clean energy system.Local energy communities(LECs)are expected to play a vital role in this context.However,energy scheduling in LECs presents various challenges,including the preservation of customer privacy,adherence to distribution network constraints,and the management of computational burdens.This paper introduces a novel approach for energy scheduling in renewable-based LECs using a decentralized optimization method.The proposed approach uses the Limitedmemory Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno(L-BFGS)method,significantly reducing the computational effort required for solving the mixed integer programming(MIP)problem.It incorporates network constraints,evaluates energy losses,and enables community participants to provide ancillary services like a regulation reserve to the grid utility.To assess its robustness and efficiency,the proposed approach is tested on an 84-bus radial distribution network.Results indicate that the proposed distributed approach not only matches the accuracy of the corresponding centralized model but also exhibits scalability and preserves participant privacy.

Post-war Sustainability-Driven School Buildings: A Review of the Literature

The Safe Schools Declaration of 2015 is an inter-governmental political agreement signed by several countries designed to protect the schooling of the school-aged population during armed conflicts.Yet,in countries where civil war erupted,schools were demolished.Several school-aged children were either forcibly recruited by governments or coerced by rebel groups to serve in armed fights.As a result,several children were deprived of their education and have remained suffering from deep psychological scars.The central question of the study is:What kind of sustainability-driven school buildings can be initiated in countries that are now enduring peace so that the learning environments are more comfortable and improve the well-being of the war-impacted children and school employees?After reviewing the literature,a strategic conceptual framework that incorporated the synergistic relationship between economic,social,and environmental aspects of sustainability was initiated to map out sustainable school buildings.In short,the conceptual framework proposed to construct school buildings in some of the war-affected developing countries includes assembling cost-efficiency and eco-effectiveness inputs,using renewable energy sources powered by natural sunlight,collecting rainwater in mud cisterns,reducing emissions of carbon oxides,and empowering the local community to be the main actors to design sustainable buildings during the preconstruction,construction,and post-construction stages to serve as learning spaces for the war-affected occupants and their neighborhoods.

Environmental Education for Transforming Community Livelihoods

This paper describes the experience of introducing Environmental education in small rural local communities, streets in neighborhood towns in African countries.It further explains the role of indigenous community in management of natural resources, environmental conservation and the need of decentralized governance aiming at providing authorities from the grass root level.The research has been carefully studied from the experience of African countries;some developed countries were several researches have been undertaken.Since the indigenous communities have little knowledge of understanding better their environment,its

Community Participation in the Decentralized Health and Water Services Delivery in Tanzania

This article examined community participation in the delivery of water and primary health care services in the Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania. This was the descriptive research study which employed both qualitative and quantitative research designs involving a total of 208 respondents. Where 127 respondents filled in the questionnaires, 51 respondents participated in the in-depth interviews and 30 respondents participated in the Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The results indicate that decentralization reforms have facilitated the formation of health and water services governance structures that facilitate community participation in the service delivery. The findings further revealed the means through which community participated in the delivery of services, i.e., from participating in the meetings, project initiation and management, to membership in various statutory services boards and committees.

Forest cover change and its effects on the livelihood of the dependent local people:the case of Sesheke district of Zambia

Objective-To investigate forest cover change in Masese Local Forest Reserve and its effects on the livelihoods of the dependent communities;to establish the occurrence of forest cover change in Masese Local Forest Reserve;to determine the extent of forest cover change in Masese from 1990to 2005;to determine the tree species that have been affected by forest cover change in Masese; and to assess the effects of forest cover change on the livelihoods of the dependent communities. Methods-Interviews and questionnaire were conducted with a proportion of 36households from Maondo and 84households from Mulimambango settlements.Scenes of landsat images of 1990,2000, 2005and Earth Google image for Masese were used for map analysis.Also remote sensing was used to analyze landsat images and Google image to detect forest and non-forest classes.Results and Conclusion-Forest cover change has adverse implication on the provision of wood forest products and nonwood forest products to the dependent local communities.The declining status of dominant Baikiaea Forest that has exploitable species for building materials and fuel wood has affected the livelihoods of the dependent local communities.There is also increased cost and shortage of fire wood and building materials due to deforestation in Masese Forest Reserve.

Community participation in cultural heritage and environmental policy formulation in Botswana

Cultural heritage does not have direct economic benefits. However, if properly managed it can stimulate social cohesions, improving the environment and have beneficial economic spin offs for the local communities. This paper discusses the role of communities in the formulation of the policies concerning their local environment. It argues that community engagement by policy makers is important in giving legitimacy and ownership of the policies. Furthermore, this paper discusses the potential of cultural heritage in diversifying the economy in Botswana. This paper recommends for the re-assessment of the relationship between the state and local communities which is critical in resuscitating the seemingly ailing community business organizations. In conclusion, it argues for the sustainable management of cultural heritage as a social and economic resource in the next 50 years of Botswana's independence.

Adult Leaming as a Permanent Fixture in Non-formal Community

The paper aims to clarify the relationship between the understanding of the lifelong learning as a permanent fixtureand individual adult learners＇ opinions about its communicative and emancipatory factors in the informalenvironment, creating inclusion and diversity. It proposes different issues of adults＇ actions： intendingempowerment thanks to informal learning, modelling the social change in an informal community, and outliningwhy and how it is important throughout the lifelong learning process in some personal opinions. The study aims toexpand the domain of lifelong learning by including a broader range of human resource and socio-related aspectsthan it can be found in the literature. The paper focuses on a research study using the qualitative approach, includingeight individual interviews with adult learners. These people are willing to describe their bottom-line initiatives andthe constant change in daily life due to the process of lifelong learning in non-formal community. They act as＂lifelong learning forces＂ on two opposite levels： inclusion and diversity, integrating these two elements in highereducation, mediating between the university branding structures and the individual. The research includesimplications for the development of lifelong learning empowerment, the development of＂lifelong learning leaders＂,and for managing the balance between stability and change in turbulent, adults＇ lives.

Perception of Post-Secondary Students on Environmental Practices in Selected Communities in the Philippines: Implications to Climate Change Action

Climate change contributes to disasters in the Philippines. Most human activities have had negative consequences on the environment, exacerbating global warming. Humans contribute to climate change and global warming by burning fossil fuels, cutting down trees, engaging in improper waste disposal, using electricity, and driving a car. This study assessed the environmental practices of communities in Nueva Ecija, Philippines, and their implications for climate change. Respondents were selected using convenient sampling. A questionnaire delivered online was used to elicit their responses then analyzed the data using SPSS. This study revealed that most post-secondary students do not litter but sometimes burn their trash in an open dump. Most of them used LPG as their primary source of fuel for cooking. Rice production is always the same as producing food waste in food production. Garden waste was sometimes produced. Plastic containers are commonly produced as recyclable wastes. They often dispose of wastes in controlled and regulated open dumpsites by their municipality or city. Due to the pandemic, special wastes like face masks and face shields are disposed of daily. Generally, despite no littering behavior, the respondents never burned their trash or threw it on any body of water. They perceived to disagree that these daily community activities contribute to climate change. Lastly, less than half of them affirmed that there are initiative programs at the barangay level to lessen and eliminate community activities that cause climate change.

Gendered Perceptions of Climate Variability and Change among Lo­cal Communities Living around Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda

Climate change affects both men and women which,in turn,shapes their varied and contrasting perceptions of climate variability and change.This paper examined the gendered perceptions of climate variability and change among local communities in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.The objectives are threefold:-identify climatic shocks faced by the local communities;examine the perceptions of men and women of climate variability and change;and to compare their perceptions with empirical meteorological data.This study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods,with data collected from 215 respondents using survey,interviews and focused group discussions.From the findings,indicators of climate variability and change included reduced flooding events,occurrence of human diseases,increasing crop pests and diseases,dry spells and intensity of rains.There was increasing significant temperatures while rainfall was declining.Both male and female significantly associated with increasing temperatures and reduced flooding events.While climatic shocks affected both males and females,the impact was more pronounced depending on distinct livelihood activities and roles and responsibilities undertaken.The study concluded that people’s perceptions of climate change should be taken on by the government and integrated in the national climate programs that support people’s livelihoods and survival mechanisms.

Exploitation of Pangolins (Pholidota, Mammalia) by Communities Living in and around the Tayna Nature Reserve (RNT) North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Pangolin exploitation has recently increased in diverse forms such as bushmeat consumption;species or parts trade, medical use. This species is protected in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and worldwide, unfortunately it is threatened by numerous human actions. The purpose of this study was to determine the profiles of actors using pangolins, the reasons for pangolin exploitation and its products and their use within the local community in and surrounding the reserve. We carried out surveys in the households of hunters, farmers and people practicing other professions in 12 villages, located within the Tayna Nature Reserve (RNT) and surroundings areas. Two interview techniques were used: the individual interview and the participatory diagnostic technique. During one month of data collection, 175 respondents were interviewed. Respondents had diverse profiles according to sex, age, education level and ethnicity. Men were more represented as actors in pangolin exploitation (71.70%) than women (28.30%);the most represented age interval was 20 - 30 years. The education level is distinct amongst respondents: illiterate (37%), primary school (32.4%) and graduate from university (2.9%). An average number of respondents are motivated to consume pangolin as meat obtained by hunting at 50%. The main reason for its consumption is preference (44%) and habit (33%). The scales are pangolin derivatives most recognized by local people and widely used in the pharmacopoeia. Consequently, pangolin protection needs some rigorous measures to reinforce the current law implementation.