The selection of a suitable place for an activity is an important decision made for a project, which requires assessing it from different points of view. Educational use is one of the most complicated and substantial uses in urban space that requires precise and logical attention to its location and neighborhood with similar and consistent uses. Faculties of universities are educational spaces that should be protected against physical and moral damage to create a healthy educational environment. To do this, it is necessary to find and assess the factors affecting the location of educational spaces. The extant study aimed at finding and assessing the factors affecting the location of educational spaces to locate art and architecture schools or faculties in 4 important universities. The present study is applied developmental research in terms of nature and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. This study used the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) weighing and controlled the prioritization through the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity) technique in the methodology phase. Since there was no criterion and metric for these centers, six were chosen as the primary metrics after reviewing the relevant theoretical foundations, early investigations, and collecting effective data. Finally, the results indicated the most important factors of vehicular or roadway access, pedestrian access, slope, parking, adjacency, neighborhood, and area. Among the mentioned factors, pedestrian access (w: 0.4231) had the highest weight and was the priority in the location of architecture faculty in studied campuses and areas inside the universities.

Apple farming is a new production venture across the North Shewa Zone. Its production, harvest, postharvest handling, and marketing status are not well known. This study was conducted to assess the above-lined situations across the district. Four representative locations, Asabahir, Tsigereda, Tengego, and Godnamamas were selected based on their apple production status. Then, a total of 88 respondents were randomly selected and interviewed by a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics of percentage, standard deviation, and chi-square tests. A larger percentage of farmers are male (82.9%), in their active production age (41.7%), and produce apples in their backyard (85.25%). The agronomic management of fertilization, pruning, training, and plant spacing deviate from the recommended practices of apple farming. Whereas varietal distribution, irrigation, and post-harvest treatments are better practiced. Loss of fruits by fruit drops and discrimination on the market due to small fruit size are serious problems across the locations. Regarding apple farming, the farmers think of it as a productive venture and got a better price per kg and single fruit sale. They sell mainly in local collectors (60.2%) and nearby cities. As for institutional support, the farmers got apple seedlings, training, and capacity buildings by Agriculture Offices and NGOs, even if the farmers are still in higher need of better support. Therefore, it can be concluded that if not outwaited by poor tree management, destructive product transportation, and higher loss of fruits from trees and in the market, the attitude of the farmers can be capitalized in better production of apples.

The effect of foliar treatment with brassinosteroid (BR) on gender distribution in flowers of walnut (Juglans regia L. cv. Chandler) was investigated. Grafted walnut saplings (‘Chandler’) on the wild walnut (Juglans regia L.) rootstock were planted into 70-liter pots with a soil: peat: perlite medium and grown in pots between 2016–2020. BRs (24-epibrassinolide; EBR and 22(S), 23(S)-homobrassinolide; HBR) were applied at a concentration of 1 mg L^–1 for four consecutive years at the time of flower differentiation. The experimental design was completely randomized with three replicates. The results show that BR applications could alter the sexual distribution of the walnut’s flower. BRs application significantly increased the number of total flowers and female flowers per tree. The number of female flowers was also increased by the season. The highest number of female flowers (20.9) was observed in the trees in 2020 and the application of 1 mg L^–1 of HBR. It was determined that the annual growth of the plant and the increase in the number of females and total flowers were positively related. The effect of BRs indicated that the response was BR-type specific.

Starting from the ‘90s, there has been a significant increase in PPP use in the public sector in Europe, benefiting the implementation of infrastructure projects. In Italy, PPP is still much more limited than in such countries as the UK and France: the projects funded are smaller and the sectors involved are less appropriate. Based on the economic literature, European initiatives and international comparisons, the paper examines aspects of regulations that could encourage the appropriate use of PPP and considers the problems with the Italian regulations, while proposing some corrective measures. The main limitations involve: i) the absence of adequate preliminary assessments about the advantages of using PPP rather than the traditional procurement, ii) the relative lack of attention to the contract terms, iii) inadequate safeguards to ensure the bankability of the projects, and iv) limited information transparency and accessibility.