Search results for: peak current reduction

Authors: Reem Al-Shidhani, Isabelle S. R. Storer, Michael J. Bromley, Lydia Tabernero

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Invasive fungal diseases are an increasing global health concern that contributes to the high mortality rates in immunocompromised patients. The rising of antifungal resistance severely lowers the efficacy of the limited antifungal agents available. New antifungal drugs that target new mechanisms are necessary to tackle the current shortfalls. Amongst post- modifications, phosphorylation is a predominant and an outstanding protein alteration in all eukaryotes. In fungi, protein phosphorylation plays a vital role in many signal transduction pathways, including cell cycle, cell growth, metabolism, transcription, differentiation, proliferation, and virulence. The investigation of Aspergillus fumigatus phosphatases revealed seven genes essential for viability. Inhibiting one of these phosphatases is a new interesting route to develop novel antifungal drugs. In this study, we carried out an early drug discovery process targeting oneessential phosphatase, GlcA. Here, we report the identification of new GlcA inhibitors that show antifungal activity. These important finding open a new avenue to the development of novel antifungals to expand the current narrow arsenal of clinical candidates.

Keywords: invasive fungal diseases, phosphatases, GlcA, competitive inhibitors

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Authors: A. Edwards

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The civil service was created to reform the hiring process for public officials, changing the patronage system to a merit-based system. Though exam reforms continued throughout the 20th century, there have been few during the 21st century, particularly in New York state. In the case of police departments, the civil service exam has acted as a hindrance to its ‘21st Century Policing’ goals and new exam reform efforts have left out officers voices and concerns. Through in-depth interviews of current and retired police officers and local and state civil service administrators in Albany County in New York, this study seeks to understand police influence and insight regarding the civil service exam, placing some of the voice and input for civil service reform on police departments, instead of local and state bureaucrats. The study also looks at the relationship between civil service administrators and police departments. Using practice theory, the study seeks to understand the ways in which the civil service exam was defined in the 20th century and how it is out of step with current thinking while examining possible changes to the civil service exam that would lead to a more equitable hiring process and successful police departments.

Keywords: civil service, hiring, merit, policing

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Authors: Esther Paul, Ibrahim A. M. Alzaydani, Al Hakami, Caryl Beynon

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Research Objectives and Goal: The main aim of the current study was to explore the perspectives of healthcare workers on Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) and infection control measures in a tertiary care Hospital in Abha, Saudi Arabia. As per our knowledge, this is perhaps the first qualitative study on HAI to be done in Saudi Arabia. The goal of the study was to understand the perspectives of the healthcare workers on the current protocol and guidelines for HAI and infections control measures in the hospital, the effectiveness of the current protocol for HAI and infection control measures and ways of reducing the incidence of HAI and improve infection control measures. Methods used: A qualitative research design was used to collect the data from 25 healthcare workers consisting of doctors and nurses, recruited by Snowball strategy via semi-structured interviews which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim immediately. An interview guide consisting of open-ended questions about the existing HAI and infection control practices in the healthcare facility, the awareness of the healthcare workers about HAI and the need for safe infection control measures were used to collect the data. The transcribed data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Results: Using thematic analysis four themes were identified.1.Knowledge of HAI and infection control 2. Infection control measures in practice 3. The gap in infection control measures and HAI 4. Required Implementations. The first theme covered the participants' knowledge on HAI, its definition, the types of HAI and the infection control measures.Most of the participants were aware of HAI and had some idea of the definition of HAI, its significance and the dangers posed by HAI, but few residents had no idea of the types of HAI. The second theme was focussed on the infection control measures in practice. Most of the participants were aware of the importance of infection control measures like hand hygiene, catheter care, and waste disposal. The nurses were responsible for most of the disinfection and sterilization measures and practiced it effectively. However, some doctors and residents had no inkling about these measures. The third theme emphasized that although most of the participants were aware of HAI and infection control measures and were in practice. There were some lacunae regarding their knowledge of the different types of HAI, Personal Protective Equipment practices, communication among the healthcare personnel and the hospital administrations and the means of waste disposal. The fourth and the final theme identified that most of the participants felt the need for implementations of changes regarding existing protocols, workshops/seminars, methods of waste disposal and sterilization and disinfection practices. Conclusion: The current qualitative study concluded that there is a need for better educational programs and hands-on training for all the healthcare personnel including the paramedical staff as well. The residents should have adequate knowledge of infection control practices to guide the nurses and should share the responsibility with the nurses in the practice of effective infection control measures

Keywords: healthcare-associated infections, infection control measures, perspectives, qualitative

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Authors: Tanjil Sowgat, Shamim Kobir

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World is now experiencing the consequences of climate change such as increased heat stress due to high temperature rise. In the context of changing climate, this study intends to find out the planning interventions necessary to adapt to the current heat stress in the planned residential areas of Khulna city. To carry out the study Sonadanga residential area (phase I) of Khulna city has been taken as the study site. This residential neighbourhood covering an area of 30 acres has 206 residential plots. The study area comprises twelve access roads, one park, one playfield, one water body and two street furniture’s. This study conducts visual analysis covering green, open space, water body, footpath, drainage and street trees and furniture and questionnaire survey deals with socio-economic, housing tenancy, experience of heat stress and urban design interventions. It finds that the current state that accelerates the heat stress condition such as lack of street trees and inadequate shading, maximum uses are not within ten minutes walking distance, no footpath for the pedestrians and lack of well-maintained street furniture. It proposes that to adapt to the heat stress pedestrian facilities, buffer sidewalk with landscaping, street trees and open spaces, soft scape, natural and man-made water bodies, green roofing could be effective urban design interventions. There are evidences of limited number of heat stress adaptive planned residential area. Since current sub-division planning practice focuses on rigid land use allocation, it partly addresses the climatic concerns through creating open space and street trees. To better respond to adapt to the heat stress, urban design considerations in the context of sub-division practice would bring more benefits.

Keywords: climate change, urban design, adaptation, heat stress, water-logging

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Authors: Ghazanfar Ali, Fahad N Almajhdi

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This study provides data on the viral diagnosis and molecular epidemiology of influenza A(H3N2) virus isolated in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Nasopharyngeal aspirates from 80 clinically infected patients in the peak of the 2010-2011 winter seasons were processed for viral diagnosis by RT-PCR. Sequencing of entire HA and NA genes of representative isolates and molecular epidemiological analysis were performed. A total of 06 patients were positive for influenza A, B and respiratory syncytial viruses by RT-PCR assays; out of these only one sample was positive for influenza A(H3N2) by RT-PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of the HA and NA gene sequences showed identities higher than 99-98.8 % in both genes. They were also similar to reference isolates in HA sequences (99 % identity) and in NA sequences (99 % identity). Amino acid sequences predicted for the HA gene were highly identical to reference strains. The NA amino acid substitutions identified did not include the oseltamivir-resistant H275Y substitution. Conclusion: Viral isolation and RT-PCR together were useful for diagnosis of the influenza A (H3N2) virus. Variations in HA and NA sequences are similar to those identified in worldwide reference isolates and no drug resistance was found.

Keywords: influenza A (H3N2), genetic characterization, viral isolation, RT-PCR, Saudi Arabia

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Authors: M. A. Hannan, N. Matthias Neisius

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Organophosphorus compound diethyloxymethyl-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPAC) was applied on cotton cellulose to impart eco-friendly flame retardant property to it. Here acetal linkage was introduced rather than conventionally used ester linkage to rescue from the undurability problem of flame retardant compound. Some acidic catalysts, sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH2PO4), ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (NH4H2PO4) and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) were successfully used to form acetal linkage between the base material and flame retardant compound. Inspiring limiting oxygen index (LOI) value of 22.4 was found after exclusive washing treatment. A good outcome of total heat of combustion (THC) 6.05 KJ/g was found possible during pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry (PCFC) test of the treated sample. Low temperature dehydration with sufficient amount of char residue (14.89%) was experienced in case of treated sample. In addition, the temperature of peak heat release rate (TPHRR) 343.061°C supported the expected low temperature pyrolysis in condensed phase mechanism. With the consequence of pyrolysis effects, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) also reported inspiring weight retention% of the treated samples.

Keywords: acetal linkage, char residue, cotton cellulose, flame retardant, loi, low temperature pyrolysis, organophosphorus, THC, THRR

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Authors: Vidya Padmakumar, N. C. Tharavathy

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The study was conducted from July 2015 to July 2017 to determine and understand the occurrence, frequency and diversity of avifauna in the Mallathahalli Lake of Bangalore Urban district. During the study period, 46 species of both terrestrial, as well as, aquatic birds belonging to 30 families were identified out of which 9 families were aquatic birds and 21 families were terrestrial birds. There were 4 species of migratory birds out of 46, showing diurnal migration. There was a significant reduce in the number of bird species both terrestrial and aquatic during the summer season and also varied greatly during winters and monsoon. Of the total 24 species of aquatic birds, Fulica atra and Tachybaptus ruficolis were the most common with 100% frequency and the least frequent species with 3.02% frequency was identified as Threskiornis melanocephalus. Among the 22 species of terrestrial birds, Acridotheres tristis had a frequency of 89% and the least frequent was Pycnonotus cafer (4.45%). The most commonly encountered bird species were from the families- Anatidae, Podicipedidae, Ardeidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Rallidae, Accipitridae, Scolopacidae, Charadridae, Laridae, Meropidae, Hirudinidae. All the birds surviving around the area are dependent on the wetland and crop vegetation surrounding the lake, which are deteriorating due to anthropogenic interventions and urbanization which are rising to its peak gradually causing the decline in the avifaunal diversity.

Keywords: Avifaunal diversity, Mallathahalli lake, seasonal migration, urbanization

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Authors: Ali Dashti

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Recycling materials within the realms of theatrical costume design and production is important. When a Kuwaiti play finishes its run, costumes are thrown away and new ones are designed when necessary. This practice indicates a lack of awareness of recycling strategies. This is a serious matter; tons of textile materials are being wasted rather than recycled. The current process of producing costumes for Kuwait theatre productions involves the conception and sketching of costumes, the purchase of new fabrics, and the employment of tailors for production. Since tailoring is outsourced, there is a shortage of designers who can make costumes autonomously. The current process does not incorporate any methods for recycling costumes. This combined with high levels of textile waste, results in significant ecological issues that demand immediate attention. However, data collected for this research paper, from a series of semi-structured interviews, have indicated that a lack of recycling facilities and increased textile waste do not present an area of concern within the Kuwaiti theatrical costume industry. This paper will review the findings of this research project and investigate the production processes used by costume designers in Kuwait. It will indicate how their behaviors, coupled with their lack of knowledge with using recycling strategies to create costumes, had increased textile waste and negatively affected Kuwait theatre costume design industry.

Keywords: costume, recycle, reuse, theatre

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Authors: Amanda Maria Rodrigues Barroso, Ary Paixao Borges Santana Junior, Caio Araujo Damasceno

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In Piauí, the Brazilian state, solar energy has become one of the renewable sources targeted by internal and external investments, with the intention of leveraging the development of society. However, for a residential or business consumer to be able to deploy this source, there is usually a need for a high initial investment due to its high cost. The countless high taxes on equipment and services are one of the factors that contribute to this cost and ultimately fall on the consumer. Through analysis, a way of reducing taxes is sought in order to encourage consumer adhesion to the use of photovoltaic solar energy. Thus, the objective is to implement the Piauí Solar Program in the state of Piauí in order to stimulate the deployment of photovoltaic solar energy, through benefits granted to users, providing state development by boosting the diversification of the state's energy matrix. The research method adopted was based on the analysis of data provided by the Teresina City Hall, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and by a private company in the capital of Piauí. The account was taken of the total amount paid in Property and Urban Territorial Property Tax (IPTU), in electricity and in the service of installing photovoltaic panels in a residence with 6 people. Through Piauí Solar, a discount of 80% would be applied to the taxes present in the budgets regarding the implementation of these photovoltaic plates in homes and businesses, as well as in the IPTU. In addition, another factor also taken into account is the energy savings generated after the implementation of these boards. In the studied residence, the annual payment of IPTU went from R $ 99.83 reais to R $ 19.96, the reduction of taxes present in the budget for the implantation of solar panels, caused the value to increase from R $ 42,744.22 to R $ 37,241.98. The annual savings in electricity bills were estimated at around R $ 6,000. Therefore, there is a reduction of approximately 24% in the total invested. The trend of the Piauí Solar program, then, is to bring benefits to the state, providing an improvement in the living conditions of the population, through the savings generated by this program. In addition, an increase in the diversification of the Piauí energy matrix can be seen with the advancement of the use of this renewable energy.

Keywords: development, economy, energy, taxes

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Authors: Mohammed Mohsen Ahmed Al Azab

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Co-education at universities is one of the options that may have an economic as well as social benefit, as it may have a positive impact on improving relationships between students and increasing competitiveness among them, which may have positive effects on educational achievement and alleviate some social problems such as divorce. There is, to the best knowledge of the researcher, no studies tested the subject matter of the current study in Saudi society. The Saudi society is undergoing radical changes at all levels. The current study aims to identify the attitudes of university students toward co-education, the differences between male and female students from various specialties in their attitudes towards co-education, and the relationship of this to the educational level of the parent (educated-uneducated) using the descriptive, comparative, correlational approach. The study sample (n = 200) was chosen randomly among male and female students at King Saud University. The researcher prepared and used an attitude scale. Results showed positive attitudes towards co-education among university students (mean = 3.7, Std. = 0.45). It was also shown that there are significant differences between students’ attitudes towards co-education that can be attributed to their field of study, with students in scientific majors scoring higher than humanities counterparts. Findings also show differences between students’ attitudes towards co-education that can be attributed to the educational level of the parent, where the attitudes of those whose parents received some education were more positive. The results did not indicate any differences between students’ attitudes towards co-education that can be attributed to their gender.

Keywords: attitude, co-education, university students, level of parental education

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Authors: Nahid Ehsani, Amir Hossein Rezvanfar

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The main objective of this study is to investigate psychological and socio-cultural factors effective on the tendency of the villagers to use e-banking services. The current paper is an applied study considering its objectives. The main data gathering tool in the current study is a made questionnaire which is designed and executed based on the conceptual background of the subject matter and the objectives and hypotheses of the study. The statistical population of this study includes all the customers of rural branches of Agricultural Bank in Ilam Province (N=82885). Among these 120 participants were chosen through sample size determination formula and they were studied using stratified random sampling method. In the analytical statistics level the results obtained from calculating Spearman’s Correlative Coefficient showed that socio-cultural and psychological factors had a significant impact of the extent of the tendency of the villagers to use e-banking services of the Agricultural Bank at the 99% level. Furthermore, stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that both sets of psychological factors as well as socio-economic factors were able to explain 50 percent of the variance of the independent variable; namely the tendency of villagers to use e-banking services.

Keywords: e-banking, agricultural bank, tendency, socio-economic factors, psychological factors

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Authors: Alexis Naranjo

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In the current global stage, a new sense and mix feelings against the globalization has started to take shape thanks to events such as Brexit and the 2016 US election. The perceptions towards the globalization have started to focus in a resistance movement called the 'anti-globalization movement'. This paper examines the current global stage vs. leadership decisions in a time when market integrations are not longer seeing as an opportunity for an economic growth buster. The biggest economy in the world the United States of America has started to face a new beginning of something called 'anti-globalization', in the current global stage starting with the United Kingdom to the United States a new strategy to help local economies has started to emerge. A new nationalist movement has started to focus on their local economies which now represents a direct threat to the globalization, trade agreements, wages and free markets. Business leaders of multinationals now in our days face a new dilemma, how to address the feeling that globalization and outsourcing destroy and take away jobs from local economies. The initial perception of the literature and data rebels that companies in Western countries like the US sees many risks associate with outsourcing, however, saving cost associated with outsourcing is greater than the firm’s local reputation. Starting with India as a good example of a supplier of IT developers, analysts and call centers we can start saying that India is an industrialized nation which has not yet secured its spot and title. India has emerged as a powerhouse in the outsource industry, which makes India hold the number one spot in the world to outsource IT services. Thanks to the globalization of economies and markets around the globe that new ideas to increase productivity at a lower cost has been existing for years and has started to offer new ideas and options to businesses in different industries. The economic growth of the information technology (IT) industry in India is an example of the power of the globalization which in the case of India has been tremendous and significant especially in the economic arena. This research paper concentrates in understand the behavior of business leaders: First, how multinational’s leaders will face the new challenges and what actions help them to lead in turbulent times. Second, if outsourcing or withdraw from a market is an option what are the consequences and how you communicate and negotiate from the business leader perspective. Finally, is the perception of leaders focusing on financial results or they have a different goal? To answer these questions, this study focuses on the most recent data available to outline and present the findings of the reason why outsourcing is and option and second, how and why those decisions are made. This research also explores the perception of the phenomenon of outsourcing in many ways and explores how the globalization has contributed to its own questioning.

Keywords: anti-globalization, globalization, leadership, outsourcing

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Authors: Ranjith Ihalanayake, Lalith Seelanatha, John Breen

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In this study, we explored the current working capital management practices as applied in small businesses in Victoria, filling an existing theoretical and empirical gap in literature in general and in Australia in particular. Amidst the current global competitive and dynamic environment, the short term insolvency of small businesses is very critical for the long run survival. A firm’s short-term insolvency is dependent on the availability of sufficient working capital for feeding day to day operational activities. Therefore, given the reliance for short-term funding by small businesses, it has been recognized that the efficient management of working capital is crucial in respect of the prosperity and survival of such firms. Against this background, this research was an attempt to understand the current working capital management strategies and practices used by the small scale businesses. To this end, we conducted an internet survey among 220 small businesses operating in Victoria, Australia. The survey results suggest that the majority of respondents are owner-manager (73%) and male (68%). Respondents participated in this survey mostly have a degree (46%). About a half of respondents are more than 50 years old. Most of respondents (64%) have business management experience more than ten years. Similarly, majority of them (63%) had experience in the area of their current business. Types of business of the respondents are: Private limited company (41%), sole proprietorship (37%), and partnership (15%). In addition, majority of the firms are service companies (63%), followed by retailed companies (25%), and manufacturing (17%). Size of companies of this survey varies, 32% of them have annual sales $100,000 or under, while 22% of them have revenue more than $1,000,000 every year. In regards to the total assets, majority of respondents (43%) have total assets $100,000 or less while 20% of respondents have total assets more than $1,000,000. In regards to WCMPs, results indicate that almost 70% of respondents mentioned that they are responsible for managing their business working capital. The survey shows that majority of respondents (65.5%) use their business experience to identify the level of investment in working capital, compared to 22% of respondents who seek advice from professionals. The other 10% of respondents, however, follow industry practice to identify the level of working capital. The survey also shows that more than a half of respondents maintain good liquidity financial position for their business by having accounts payable less than accounts receivable. This study finds that majority of small business companies in western area of Victoria have a WCM policy but only about 8 % of them have a formal policy. Majority of the businesses (52.7%) have an informal policy while 39.5% have no policy. Of those who have a policy, 44% described their working capital management policies as a compromise policy while 35% described their policy as a conservative policy. Only 6% of respondents apply aggressive policy. Overall the results indicate that the small businesses pay less attention into the management of working capital of their business despite its significance in the successful operation of the business. This approach may be adopted during favourable economic times. However, during relatively turbulent economic conditions, such an approach could lead to greater financial difficulties i.e. short-term financial insolvency.

Keywords: small business, working capital management, Australia, sufficient, financial insolvency

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Authors: Sohini Manna, Jong Woo Kim, Oleg Shpyrko, Eric E. Fullerton

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CVD techniques have emerged as a promising approach in the formation of a broad range of nanostructured materials. The realization of many practical applications will require efficient and economical synthesis techniques that preferably avoid the need for templates or costly single-crystal substrates and also afford process adaptability. Towards this end, we have developed a single-step route for the reduction-type synthesis of nanostructured Ni materials using a thermal CVD method. By tuning the CVD growth parameters, we can synthesize morphologically dissimilar nanostructures including single-crystal cubes and Au nanostructures which form atop untreated amorphous SiO2||Si substrates. An understanding of the new properties that emerge in these nanostructures materials and their relationship to function will lead to for a broad range of magnetostrictive devices as well as other catalysis, fuel cell, sensor, and battery applications based on high-surface-area transition-metal nanostructures. We use coherent X-ray diffraction imaging technique to obtain 3-D image and strain maps of individual nanocrystals. Coherent x-ray diffractive imaging (CXDI) is a technique that provides the overall shape of a nanostructure and the lattice distortion based on the combination of highly brilliant coherent x-ray sources and phase retrieval algorithm. We observe a fine interplay of reduction of surface energy vs internal stress, which plays an important role in the morphology of nano-crystals. The strain distribution is influenced by the metal-substrate interface and metal-air interface, which arise due to differences in their thermal expansion. We find the lattice strain at the surface of the octahedral gold nanocrystal agrees well with the predictions of the Young-Laplace equation quantitatively, but exhibits a discrepancy near the nanocrystal-substrate interface resulting from the interface. The strain in the bottom side of the Ni nanocube, which is contacted on the substrate surface is compressive. This is caused by dissimilar thermal expansion coefficients between Ni nanocube and Si substrate. Research at UCSD support by NSF DMR Award # 1411335.

Keywords: CVD, nanostructures, strain, CXRD

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Authors: Mohammed H. Abu-Dieyeh, Mohammad M. Zalloum

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Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are known to enhance plant growth and/or reduce plant damage due to soil-borne pathogens. Tomato is the highest consumable vegetable world-wide including Jordan. Fusarium oxysporum is a pathogen that causes well-known damages and losses to many vegetable crops including tomato. In this study, purification of 112 isolates of PGPR strains from rhizosphere environment of different regions in Jordan was accomplished. All bacterial isolates were In-vitro screened for antagonistic effects against F. oxysporum. The eleven most effective isolates that caused 30%-50% in-vitro growth reduction of F. oxysporum were selected. 8 out of 11 of these isolates were collected from Al-Halabat (arid-land). 7 isolates of Al-Halabat exerted 40-54% In-vitro growth reduction of F. oxysporum. Four-week-old seedlings of tomato cultivar (Anjara, the most susceptible indigenous cultivar to F. oxysporum) treated with PGPR5 (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens), and exposed to F. oxysporum, showed no disease symptoms and no significant changes in biomasses or chlorophyll contents indicating a non-direct mechanism of action of PGPR on tomato plants. However PGPR3 (Bacillus sp.), PGPR4 (Bacillus cereus), and PGPR38 (Paenibacillus sp.) treated plants or PGPR treated and exposed to F. oxysporum showed a significant increasing growth of shoot and root biomasses as well as chlorophyll contents of leaves compared to control untreated plants or plants exposed to the fungus without PGPR treatment. A significant increase in number of flowers per plant was also recorded in all PGPR treated plants. The characterization of rhizobacterial strains were accomplished using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis in addition to microscopic characterization. Further research is necessary to explore the potentiality of other collected PGPR isolates on tomato plants in addition to investigate the efficacy of the identified isolates on other plant pathogens and then finding a proper and effective methods of formulation and application of the successful isolates on selected crops.

Keywords: antagonism, arid land, growth promoting, rhizobacteria, tomato

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Authors: Jonathan Munyoro, Takawira Machimbidza, Stephen Mutula

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The study investigates the current status of Intellectual Property (IP) information services in Zimbabwe's university libraries. Specifically, the study assesses the current IP information services offered in Zimbabwe’s university libraries, identifies challenges to the development of comprehensive IP information services in Zimbabwe’s university libraries, and suggests solutions for the development of IP information services in Zimbabwe’s university libraries. The study is born out of a realisation that research on IP information services in university libraries has received little attention, especially in developing country contexts, despite the fact that there are calls for heightened participation of university libraries in IP information services. In Zimbabwe, the launch of the National Intellectual Property Policy and Implementation Strategy 2018-2022 and the introduction of the Education 5.0 concept are set to significantly change the IP landscape in the country. Education 5.0 places more emphasis on innovation and industrialisation (in addition to teaching, community service, and research), and has the potential to shift the focus and level of IP output produced in higher and tertiary education institutions beyond copyrights and more towards commercially exploited patents, utility models, and industrial designs. The growing importance of IP commercialisation in universities creates a need for appropriate IP information services to assist students, academics, researchers, administrators, start-ups, entrepreneurs, and inventors. The critical challenge for university libraries is to reposition themselves and remain relevant in the new trajectory. Designing specialised information services to support increased IP generation and commercialisation appears to be an opportunity for university libraries to stay relevant in the knowledge economy. However, IP information services in Zimbabwe’s universities appear to be incomplete and focused mostly on assisting with research publications and copyright-related activities. Research on the existing status of IP services in university libraries in Zimbabwe is therefore necessary to help identify gaps and provide solutions in order to stimulate the growth of new forms of such services. The study employed a quantitative approach. An online questionnaire was administered to 57 academic librarians from 15 university libraries. Findings show that the current focus of the surveyed institutions is on providing scientific research support services (15); disseminating/sharing university research output (14); and copyright activities (12). More specialised IP information services such as IP education and training, patent information services, IP consulting services, IP online service platforms, and web-based IP information services are largely unavailable in Zimbabwean university libraries. Results reveal that the underlying challenge in the development of IP information services in Zimbabwe's university libraries is insufficient IP knowledge among academic librarians, which is exacerbated by inadequate IP management frameworks in university institutions. The study proposes a framework for the entrenchment of IP information services in Zimbabwe's university libraries.

Keywords: academic libraries, information services, intellectual property, IP knowledge, university libraries, Zimbabwe

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Authors: S. N. Moghaddas Tafreshi, S. M. Amin Ghotbi

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This paper presents a numerical study for investigating the effectiveness of geocell reinforcement in reducing pressure and settlement over EPS geofoam blocks in road embankments. A 3-D FEM model of soil and geofoam was created in ABAQUS, and geocell was also modeled realistically using membrane elements. The accuracy of the model was tested by comparing its results with previous works. Sensitivity analyses showed that reinforcing the soil cover with geocell has a significant influence on the reduction of imposed stresses over geofoam and consequently decreasing its deformation.

Keywords: EPS geofoam, geocell, reinforcement, road embankments, lightweight fill

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Authors: Hussain Darraj

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Background: Healthcare workers, especially nurses, are subjected to a great risk of psychological stress, mostly moral distress. Therefore, it is crucial to address moral distress in nurses. Objectives: The aim of this study is to study the extent of moral distress among hospital nurses in Jazan. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional study design, which included 419 nurses from Jazan hospitals. A questionnaire was used to measure moral distress and its related factors. Results: The average total score for moral distress among the study participants is 134.14, with a standard deviation of 53.94. Moreover, the current study findings indicate that those over the age of 35 years who work as nurse managers, working in critical departments, have the intention to leave a position, have received ethical training or workshops, have provided care for COVID-19 cases, or work in a department with staff shortages are associated with the experience of higher-level moral stress. Conclusion: Nurses are recommended to be provided with ongoing education and resources in order to reduce moral distress and create a positive work atmosphere for nurses. Moreover, the current study sheds light on the importance of organizational support to provide enough resources and staffing in order to reduce moral distress among nurses. Further research is needed to focus on other health professionals and moral distress. Moreover, future studies are also required to explore the strategies to reduce moral distress levels among nurses.

Keywords: moral distress, Jazan, nurses, hospital

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Authors: Antoine Miguel Borromeo, Kristian Anthony Menez, Moira Louise Ordonez, David Carl Rabaya

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This study aimed to test if induced mood and normative conformity have any effect specifically on prosocial behavior, which was operationalized as the willingness to donate to a non-government organization. The effect of current attitude towards the object of the prosocial behavior was also considered with a covariate test. Undergraduates taking an introductory course on psychology (N = 132) from the University of the Philippines Diliman were asked how much money they were willing to donate after being presented a video about coral reef destruction and a website that advocates towards saving the coral reefs. A 3 (Induced mood: Positive vs Fear and Sadness vs Anger, Contempt, and Disgust) x 2 (Normative conformity: Presence vs Absence) between-subjects analysis of covariance was used for experimentation. Prosocial behavior was measured by presenting a circumstance wherein participants were given money and asked if they were willing to donate an amount to the non-government organization. An analysis of covariance revealed that the mood induced has no significant effect on prosocial behavior, F(2,125) = 0.654, p > 0.05. The analysis also showed how normative conformity has no significant effect on prosocial behavior, F(1,125) = 0.238, p > 0.05, as well as their interaction F(2, 125) = 1.580, p > 0.05. However, the covariate, current attitude towards corals was revealed to be significant, F(1,125) = 8.778, p < 0.05. From this, we speculate that inherent attitudes of people have a greater effect on prosocial behavior than temporary factors such as mood and conformity.

Keywords: attitude, induced mood, normative conformity, prosocial behavior

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Authors: S. Saju, G. Thirugnanam

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In this paper, a medical image watermarking algorithm based on contourlet is proposed. Medical image watermarking is a special subcategory of image watermarking in the sense that images have special requirements. Watermarked medical images should not differ perceptually from their original counterparts because clinical reading of images must not be affected. Watermarking techniques based on wavelet transform are reported in many literatures but robustness and security using contourlet are better when compared to wavelet transform. The main challenge in exploring geometry in images comes from the discrete nature of the data. In this paper, original image is decomposed to two level using contourlet and the watermark is embedded in the resultant sub-bands. Sub-band selection is based on the value of Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) that is calculated between watermarked and original image. To extract the watermark, Kernel ICA is used and it has a novel characteristic is that it does not require the transformation process to extract the watermark. Simulation results show that proposed scheme is robust against attacks such as Salt and Pepper noise, Median filtering and rotation. The performance measures like PSNR and Similarity measure are evaluated and compared with Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) to prove the robustness of the scheme. Simulations are carried out using Matlab Software.

Keywords: digital watermarking, independent component analysis, wavelet transform, contourlet

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Authors: Habu Musa, Nusaibah Binti Syd Ali

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Oil palm industries particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia are being devastated by Ganoderma disease caused by Ganoderma spp. To date, this disease has been causing serious oil palm yield losses and collapse of oil palm trees, thus affecting its contribution to the producer’s economy. Research on sustainable and eco-friendly remedy to counter Ganoderma disease is on the upsurge to avoid the current control measures via synthetic fungicides. Trichoderma species have been the most studied and valued microbes as biological control agents in an effort to combat a wide range of plant diseases sustainably. Therefore, in this current study, the potential of Trichoderma spp. (Trichoderma asperellum, Trichoderma harzianum, and Trichoderma virens) as a consortium approach was evaluated as biological control agents against Ganoderma disease on oil palm. The consortium of Trichoderma spp. applied found to be the most effective treatment in suppressing Ganoderma disease with 83.03% and 89.16% from the foliar and bole symptoms respectively. Besides, it exhibited tremendous enhancement in the oil palm seedling vegetative growth parameters. Also, it had highly induced significant activity of peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and total phenolic content was recorded in the consortium treatment compared to the control treatment. Disease development was slower in the seedlings treated with consortium of Trichoderma spp. compared to the positive control, which exhibited with the highest percentage of disease severity.

Keywords: biological control, ganoderma disease, trichoderma, disease severity

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Authors: M. T. Amina, A. A. Alazba, U. Manzoor

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Solar disinfection (SODIS) is a viable method for household water treatment and is recommended by the World Health Organization as cost effective approach that can be used without special skills. The efficiency of both SODIS and solar collector disinfection (SOCODIS) system was evaluated using four different sources of water including stored rainwater, storm water, ground water and treated sewage. Samples with naturally occurring microorganisms were exposed to sunlight for about 8-9 hours in 2-L polyethylene terephthalate bottles under similar experimental conditions. Total coliform (TC), Escherichia coli (E. coli) and heterotrophic plate counts (HPC) were used as microbial water quality indicators for evaluating the disinfection efficiency at different sunlight intensities categorized as weak, mild and strong weathers. Heterotrophic bacteria showed lower inactivation rates compared to E. coli and TC in both SODIS and SOCODIS system. The SOCODIS system at strong weather was the strongest disinfection system in this study and the complete inactivation of HPC was observed after 8-9 hours of exposure with SODIS being ineffective for HPC. At moderate weathers, however, the SOCODIS system did not show complete inactivation of HPC due to very high concentrations (up to 5x10^7 CFU/ml) in both storm water and treated sewage. SODIS even remained ineffective for the complete inactivation of E. coli due to its high concentrations of about 2.5x10^5 in treated sewage compared with other waters even after 8-9 hours of exposure. At weak weather, SODIS was not effective at all while SOCODIS system, though incomplete, showed good disinfection efficiency except for HPC and to some extent for high E. coli concentrations in storm water. Largest reduction of >5 log occurred for TC when used stored rainwater even after 6 hours of exposure in the case of SOCODIS system at strong weather. The lowest E. coli and HPC reduction of ~2 log was observed in SODIS system at weak weather. Further tests with varying pH and turbidity are required to understand the effects of reaction parameters that could be a step forward towards maximizing the disinfection efficiency of such systems for the complete inactivation of naturally occurring E. coli or HPC at moderate or even at weak weathers.

Keywords: efficiency, microbial, SODIS, SOCODIS, weathers

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Authors: Yoshio Kurosawa

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The applications of soundproof materials for reduction of high frequency automobile interior noise have been researched. This paper presents a sound pressure prediction technique including wind noise by Hybrid Statistical Energy Analysis (HSEA) in order to reduce weight of acoustic insulations. HSEA uses both analytical SEA and experimental SEA. As a result of chassis dynamo test and road test, the validity of SEA modeling was shown, and utility of the method was confirmed.

Keywords: vibration, noise, road noise, statistical energy analysis

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Authors: Masoud Swalehe, Semra Günay

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Developed countries are losing many lives to non-communicable diseases as compared to their developing counterparts. The effects of these diseases are mostly sudden and manifest at a very short time prior to death or a dangerous attack and this has consolidated the significance of emergency medical system (EMS) as one of the vital areas of healthcare service delivery. The primary objective of this research is to reduce ambulance response times (RT) of Eskişehir province EMS since a number of studies have established a relationship between ambulance response times and survival chances of patients especially out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) victims. It has been found out that patients who receive out of hospital medical attention in few (4) minutes after cardiac arrest because of low ambulance response times stand higher chances of survival than their counterparts who take longer times (more than 12 minutes) to receive out of hospital medical care because of higher ambulance response times. The study will make use of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to dynamically reallocate ambulance resources according to demand and time so as to reduce ambulance response times. Geospatial-time distribution of ambulance calls (demand) will be used as a basis for optimal ambulance deployment using system status management (SSM) strategy to achieve much demand coverage with the same number of ambulance resources to cause response time reduction. Drive-time polygons will be used to come up with time specific facility coverage areas and suggesting additional facility candidate sites where ambulance resources can be moved to serve higher demands making use of network analysis techniques. Emergency Ambulance calls’ data from 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2014 obtained from Eskişehir province health directorate will be used in this study. This study will focus on the reduction of ambulance response times which is a key Emergency Medical Services performance indicator.

Keywords: emergency medical services, system status management, ambulance response times, geographic information system, geospatial-time distribution, out of hospital cardiac arrest

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Authors: Kareem Kalo Qassim, Hassan A. M. Mezori

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The bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the environment has become a matter of public interest because it persists in the soil longer than other components of the biosphere. Bioremediation has emerged as the ideal alternative environmentally friendly and ecological sound technology for removing pollutants from polluted sites. Phytoremediation is an attractive remediation technology that makes use of plants to remove contaminants from the environment. A pot experiment was conducted under lath house conditions to evaluate the ability of plants (H. Annuus, S. Bicolor, and Z. Mays) to phytoextract heavy metals from artificially polluted soils by different concentrations of Cadmium, Lead, and Copper (0, 100, 200, 200 + EDTA). The Seed germination was influenced by the presence of heavy metals and inhibition increased by increasing the heavy metals concentration. A significant difference was observed in the effect of lead and copper. Generally, the length of root, shoot, and intact plant was reduced by all the concentrations used in the experiments. The root system was affected more than the shoot system of the same plants. All heavy metals concentrations caused a reduction in the dry weight and chlorophyll content of all tested plant species; the reduction was increased by increasing the concentration of all heavy metals, especially when EDTA was added. The Bioaccumulation of heavy metals concentration of all the tested plants increased by increasing the concentration. The highest accumulation of cadmium was (81.77mg kg⁻¹), and copper was ( 65.07 mg kg⁻¹) in S. bicolor, while lead-in H. annuus was (60.74 mg kg⁻¹). The order of accumulation of heavy metals in all the tested plant species in the root system and the intact plant was as follows: H. annuus ˃ S. bicolor ˃ Z. mays and shoot system was: H. annuus ˃ Z. mays ˃ S. bicolor. The highest TF of cadmium was (0.41) in H. annuus; lead was (0.72) in Z. mays and S. bicolor, and copper was (0.44) in Z. mays. The tested plant species varied in their response to the heavy metals and the inhibition was concentration depended. In general, the roots system was more affected by heavy metals toxicity than the shoots system; the roots system accumulated more heavy metals in the roots than the shoots system. The addition of EDTA to the last concentration of heavy metals facilitated the availably and absorption of heavy metals from the polluted soil by all tested plant species.

Keywords: phytoextyraction, phytoremediation, translocation, heavy metals, soil pollution

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Authors: Maria Sofia Palagonia, Doriano Brogioli, Fabio La Mantia

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In the last decade, lithium has become an important raw material in various sectors, in particular for rechargeable batteries. Its production is expected to grow more and more in the future, especially for mobile energy storage and electromobility. Until now it is mostly produced by the evaporation of water from salt lakes, which led to a huge water consumption, a large amount of waste produced and a strong environmental impact. A new, clean and faster electrochemical technique to recover lithium has been recently proposed: electrochemical ion pumping. It consists in capturing lithium ions from a feed solution by intercalation in a lithium-selective material, followed by releasing them into a recovery solution; both steps are driven by the passage of a current. In this work, a new configuration of the electrochemical cell is presented, used to study and optimize the process of the intercalation of lithium ions through the hydrodynamic condition. Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn₂O₄) was used as a cathode to intercalate lithium ions selectively during the reduction, while Nickel Hexacyano Ferrate (NiHCF), used as an anode, releases positive ion. The effect of hydrodynamics on the process has been studied by conducting the experiments at various fluxes of the electrolyte through the electrodes, in terms of charge circulated through the cell, captured lithium per unit mass of material and overvoltage. The result shows that flowing the electrolyte inside the cell improves the lithium capture, in particular at low lithium concentration. Indeed, in Atacama feed solution, at 40 mM of lithium, the amount of lithium captured does not increase considerably with the flux of the electrolyte. Instead, when the concentration of the lithium ions is 5 mM, the amount of captured lithium in a single capture cycle increases by increasing the flux, thus leading to the conclusion that the slowest step in the process is the transport of the lithium ion in the liquid phase. Furthermore, an influence of the concentration of other cations in solution on the process performance was observed. In particular, the capturing of the lithium using a different concentration of NaCl together with 5 mM of LiCl was performed, and the results show that the presence of NaCl limits the amount of the captured lithium. Further studies can be performed in order to understand why the full capacity of the material is not reached at the highest flow rate. This is probably due to the porous structure of the material since the liquid phase is likely not affected by the convection flow inside the pores. This work proves that electrochemical ion pumping, with a suitable hydrodynamic design, enables the recovery of lithium from feed solutions at the lower concentration than the sources that are currently exploited, down to 1 mM.

Keywords: desalination battery, electrochemical ion pumping, hydrodynamic, lithium

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Authors: Reihaneh Mahdavishahri, Dumayi Gutierrez

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Emotionally focused couple therapy (EFCT) is one of the most effective and evidence-based approaches to couple therapy. Yet, literature is scarce of its effective application with trans and non-binary couples. It is estimated that 1.4 million trans adults live in the United Stated, with about 40% of these individuals experiencing serious psychological distress within the past month. Trans and nonbinary adults are significantly likely to experience discrimination, harassment, family rejection, and relationship challenges throughout the course of their lives. As systemic therapists, applying an informed lens when working with trans and nonbinary couples can contribute to providing effective mental health care to these individuals. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive, intersectional, and culturally informed application of EFCT with trans and nonbinary couples. We will address the current literature on applications of EFCT with diverse couples, EFCT’s strengths and limitations on cultural humility, and the gaps within current systems of care for trans and nonbinary couples. We will then provide an adaptive application of EFCT to help trans, and nonbinary couples recover from potential attachment injuries in their relationships, intersecting gender minority stressors, and achieve healing and restoration in their interpersonal dynamics.

Keywords: attachment, culturally informed care, emotionally focused couple therapy, trans and nonbinary couples

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Authors: Ali Ait Si Mhamed, Rita Kasa, Hans Vossensteyn

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Kazakhstan is the eight largest country on the globe, in terms of the territory, it is rich in natural resources and is developing dynamically. Kazakhstan strives to become one of the top 30 global economies by 2050. This goal preconditions intensive reforms in all sectors of economy, including higher education. This paper focuses on the higher education funding reforms that take place in Kazakhstan and their alignment with the strategic goals of national development. Currently, the government funds higher education costs for only a limited number of students while the majority of students pay full cost covering tuition fees. Only students with high examination scores at the end of the secondary education are eligible to be admitted to publically funded study places in higher education. While this merit-based higher education funding model is overall well-received in the country, there is also a discourse calling to change the existing approach of higher education funding. This paper draws on interviews with national policy makers and leadership at institutions of higher education in Kazakhstan collected during 2016. It seeks to answer a question about how well the current higher education funding mechanism is aligned with the strategic development goals in higher education. The paper discusses how stakeholders see the fit between the current higher education funding mechanism and the ability of higher education institutions to achieve the aims of national strategic development.

Keywords: higher education reform, higher education funding, higher education policy, Kazakhstan

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Authors: Abderrahmane El Kachani, El Mahjoub Chakir, Anass Ait Laachir, Abdelhamid Niaaniaa, Jamal Zerouaoui, Tarik Jarou

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This paper presents a wind turbine based on the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) connected to the utility grid through a shunt active power filter (SAPF). The whole system is controlled by a double nonlinear predictive controller (DNPC). A Taylor series expansion is used to predict the outputs of the system. The control law is calculated by optimization of the cost function. The first nonlinear predictive controller (NPC) is designed to ensure the high performance tracking of the rotor speed and regulate the rotor current of the DFIG, while the second one is designed to control the SAPF in order to compensate the harmonic produces by the three-phase diode bridge supplied by a passive circuit (rd, Ld). As a result, we obtain sinusoidal waveforms of the stator voltage and stator current. The proposed nonlinear predictive controllers (NPCs) are validated via simulation on a 1.5 MW DFIG-based wind turbine connected to an SAPF. The results obtained appear to be satisfactory and promising.

Keywords: wind power, doubly fed induction generator, shunt active power filter, double nonlinear predictive controller

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Authors: Sameh Ahmed, Khaled Galal

Abstract:

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sandwich panels are increasingly making their way into structural engineering applications. One of these applications is the blast mitigation. This is attributed to FRP ability of absorbing considerable amount of energy relative to their low density. In this study, FRP sandwich panels are numerically studied using an explicit finite element code ANSYS AUTODYN. The numerical model is then validated with the experimental field tests in the literature. The inner core configurations that have been studied in the experimental field tests were formed from different orientations of the honeycomb shape. On the other hand, the conducted numerical study has proposed a new core configuration. The new core configuration is formulated from a combination of woven and honeycomb shapes. Throughout this study, two performance parameters are considered; the amount of the energy absorbed by the panels and the peak deformation of the panels. Following, a parametric study has been conducted with more variations of the studied parameters to examine the enhancement of the panels' performance. It is found that the numerical results have shown a good agreement with the experimental measurements. Furthermore, the analyses have revealed that using the proposed core configuration obviously enhances the FRP panels’ behavior when subjected to blast loads.

Keywords: blast load, fiber reinforced polymers, finite element modeling, sandwich panels

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