Search Results (7)

Mountain glaciers are considered natural indicators of warming and a device for climatic change. In addition, it is also a solid reservoir of freshwater resources. Along with climate change, clarifying the dynamic changes of glacier in the Aksu River Basin (ARB) are important for hydrological processes. The study examined the variations in glacier area, elevation, and their reaction to climate change in the ARB between 1990 and 2022. The glacier melt on the runoff is explored from 2003 to 2020. This investigation utilized Landsat and Sentinal-2 images, ICESat, CryoSat, meteorological and hydrological data. The findings suggest that: (1) The glacier area in the ARB retreated by 309.40 km² (9.37%, 0.29%·a⁻¹) from 1990 to 2022. From 2003 to 2021, the ARB glacier surface elevation retreat rate of 0.38 ± 0.12 m·a⁻¹ (0.32 ± 0.10 m w.e.a⁻¹). Comparison with 2003–2009, the retreat rate is faster from 2010 to 2021. (2) From 1990 to 2022, the Toxkan and the Kumalak River Basin’s glacier area decreases between 61.28 km² (0.28%·a⁻¹) and 248.13 km² (0.30%·a⁻¹). Additionally, the rate of glacier surface elevation declined by −0.34 ± 0.11 m·a⁻¹, −0.42 ± 0.14 m·a⁻¹ from 2003 to 2021. (3) The mass balance sensitivities to cold season precipitation and ablation-phase accumulated temperatures are +0.27 ± 0.08 m w.e.a⁻¹(10%)⁻¹ and −0.33 ± 0.10 m w.e.a⁻¹ °C⁻¹, respectively. The mass loss is (962.55 ± 0.57) × 10⁶ m³ w.e.a⁻¹, (1087.50 ± 0.68) × 10⁶ m³ w.e.a⁻¹ during 2003–2009, 2010–2021 respectively. Warmer ablation-phase accumulated temperatures dominate glacier retreat in the ARB. (4) Glacier meltwater accounted for 34.57% and 41.56% of the Aksu River’s runoff during the ablation-phase of 2003–2009 and 2010–2020, respectively. The research has important implications for maintaining the stability of water resource systems based on glacier meltwater. Full article

Willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language (L2) is one of the key concepts in L2 communication and learning. Previously, research practice in this area has been more concerned with investigating the relationship between individual negative emotions and WTC. However, insufficient attention has been given to a wide range of positive and negative emotions contributing to WTC. This study aims to address the impact of emotions (positive and negative) and self-perceived communication competence (SPCC) on WTC in an L2 in the context of Pakistan. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions has driven theoretical reasoning. Higher education students (N = 401) were considered the participants of this study and were approached conveniently. Data were processed and analyzed in SPSS. The findings revealed that positive emotions and SPCC positively influence WTC in an L2. On the contrary, negative emotions have a negative impact on WTC in an L2. Additionally, SPCC appears to be a significant moderator in the relationship between emotions (positive and negative) and WTC in an L2. The study’s findings have important practical implications for Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) in drafting and implementing policies to enhance students’ WTC within higher education classrooms. Full article

Sustainability is a global problem that invites researchers and teachers to integrate sustainability concerns into curricula. The analysis discussed in this paper is grounded in a synthesis of research papers and documents that analyzes the current status of the initiatives taken to achieve sustainability in education in the context of Pakistan. Through content analyses of 26 studies made in higher education, this study discusses the progress and challenges in achieving Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Pakistani Higher Education Institutions. Most of the studies reviewed were open access and published by HEC (Higher Education Commission) Pakistan in recognized national and international journals. This review shows how education contributes to transformation by highlighting the contribution of different stakeholders, i.e., administrators and leaders (eight studies) and teachers and students (fifteen studies). It also highlights governance, communication and coordination among stakeholders (eleven studies), campus outreach (five studies), and significant challenges in achieving sustainability (seven studies). The analysis provides a basis for the consideration of logistical support and quality education (SDG #4) to progress toward the SDGs. This analysis will help educators and managers in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to reflect on their practices, leading to Sustainable Development (SD). In addition to this, this study will help policy makers and curriculum developers to identify key challenges in meeting sustainable development goals. Also, this will enable researchers to identify gaps in the literature when framing their research questions. Full article

Understanding disaster risk perception is vital for community-based disaster risk reduction (DRR). This study was set to investigate the correlations between disaster risk perception and the population at risk. To address this research question, the current study conducted an interdisciplinary approach: a household survey for measuring variables and constructed an Agent-based model for simulating the population at risk. Therefore, two correlations were defined, (1) between risk perception and willingness to evacuate, and (2) between willingness to evacuate and the population at risk. The willingness to evacuate was adopted as a mediator to determine the relationship between risk perception and the population at risk. The results show that the residents generally have a higher risk perception and willingness to evacuate because the study area frequently suffered from debris flow and flash floods. A positive correlation was found between risk perception and willingness to evacuate, and a negative correlation to the population at risk. However, a marginal effect was observed when raising public risk perception to reduce the number of the population at risk. This study provides an interdisciplinary approach to measuring disaster risk perception at the community level and helps policymakers select the most effective ways to reduce the population at risk. Full article

Tourism plays an important role in Kashgar’s socio-economic development. Climate change has a profound impact on the development of tourism. However, basic research on climate change and its impact on tourism remains insufficient in Kashgar. Using the atmospheric reanalysis data ERA5 and the universal thermal climate index (UTCI) model, climate change and climate comfort were evaluated from 1979 to 2018. The annual mean UTCI was −2.3 °C, i.e., at the coolish level, with moderate cold stress, illustrating that Kashgar’s tourism climate was weak. The obvious increase in the annual mean air temperature led to an obviously increased UTCI and a lengthened comfortable period, which provides possibilities to exploit an attractive climate and the potential for tourism. The poor climate conditions imply that the development of Kashgar’s tourism should depend more on the diversification and uniqueness of tourism products and the quality of tourism services. Therefore, the development of increased tourism products and the expansion of tourism regions, in the context of improving climate conditions, were focused on. We expect this case study to provide a reference for consumer travel decision-making and a necessary scientific basis for the planning and implementation of a tourism-based national promotional strategy in western China. Full article

Degree attestation verification and traceability are complex one-to-one processes between the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and universities. The procedure shifted to the digitalized manner, but still, on a certain note, manual authentication is required. In the initial process, the university verified the degree and stamp seal first. Then, a physical channel of degree submission to the receiving ends is activated. After that, the degree is attested while properly examining and analyzing the tamper records related to degree credentials through e-communication with the university for verification and validation. This issue poses a serious challenge to educational information integrity and privacy. Potentially, blockchain technology could become a standardized platform to perform tasks including issuing, verifying, auditing, and tracing immutable records, which would enable the HEC, universities, and Federal Education Ministry (FEM) to quickly and easily get attested and investigate the forge proof versions of certificates. Besides, decentralized distributed data blocks in chronological order provide high security between distributed ledgers, consensus engine, digital signature, smart contracts, permissioned application, and private network node transactions that guarantee degree record validation and traceability. This paper presents an architecture (HEDU-Ledger) and detail design of blockchain-enabled hyperledger fabric applications implementation for degree attestation verification and traceable direct channel design between HEC and universities. The hyperledger fabric endorses attestation records first, and then validates (committer) the degree and maintains the secure chain of tracing between stakeholder peer nodes. Furthermore, this HEDU-Ledger architecture avoids language and administrative barriers. It also provides robustness in terms of security and privacy of records and maintains integrity with secure preservation as compared to that of the other state-of-the-art methods. Full article

This study was conducted to measure the quality of the college library services in the Punjab Province, Pakistan, using LibQUAL survey. Data were collected from 998 respondents consisting of the college faculty and the students. The study found that none of the service quality attributes and dimensions met the desired expectations of group users as well as individual users. Significant differences in library service quality based on users’ gender, type and academic discipline were identified. This study is helpful for the Punjab Higher Education Commission (HEC), the college administrations, the college librarians at the local level and the other developing countries as well. It will guide them in future planning, contribute toward improved resource allocation and enhance purposeful utilization of resources. Full article