Search results for: association rule mining

Authors: Peiyin Hung, Katy Kozhimannil, Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice

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Background/Objective: The loss of obstetric services has been a pressing concern in urban and rural areas nationwide. This study aims to determine factors that contribute to the loss of obstetric care through closures of a hospital or obstetric unit. Methods: Data from 2002-2013 American Hospital Association annual surveys were used to identify hospitals providing obstetric services. We linked these data to Medicare Healthcare Cost Report Information for hospital financial indicators, the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for zip-code level characteristics, and Area Health Resource files for county- level clinician supply measures. A discrete-time multinomial logit model was used to determine contributing factors to obstetric unit or hospital closures. Results: Of 3,551 hospitals providing obstetrics services during 2002-2013, 82% kept units open, 12% stopped providing obstetrics services, and 6% closed down completely. State-level variations existed. Factors that significantly increased hospitals’ probability of obstetric unit closures included lower than 250 annual birth volume (adjusted marginal effects [95% confidence interval]=34.1% [28%, 40%]), closer proximity to another hospital with obstetric services (per 10 miles: -1.5% [-2.4, -0.5%]), being in a county with lower family physician supply (-7.8% [-15.0%, -0.6%), being in a zip code with higher percentage of non-white females (per 10%: 10.2% [2.1%, 18.3%]), and with lower income (per $1,000 income: -0.14% [-0.28%, -0.01%]). Conclusions: Over the past 12 years, loss of obstetric services has disproportionately affected areas served by low-volume urban and rural hospitals, non-white and low-income communities, and counties with fewer family physicians, signaling a need to address maternity care access in these communities.

Keywords: access to care, obstetric care, service line discontinuation, hospital, obstetric unit closures

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Authors: Y. A. Prada, Fanny Guzman, Rafael Cabanzo, John J. Castillo, Enrique Mejia-Ospino

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In this work, we show the important results about of synthesis of photoluminiscents gold nanoclusters using a small peptide as template for biosensing applications. Interestingly, we design one peptide (NBC2854) homologue to conservative domain from 215 250 residue of a galactolectin protein which can recognize the proteophosphoglycans (PPG) from Leishmania. Peptide was synthetized by multiple solid phase synthesis using FMoc group methodology in acid medium. Finally, the peptide was purified by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography using a Vydac C-18 preparative column and the detection was at 215 nm using a Photo Diode Array detector. Molecular mass of this peptide was confirmed by MALDI-TOF and to verify the α-helix structure we use Circular Dichroism. By means of the methodology used we obtained a novel fluorescents gold nanoclusters (AuNC) using NBC2854 as a template. In this work, we described an easy and fast microsonic method for the synthesis of AuNC with ≈ 3.0 nm of hydrodynamic size and photoemission at 630 nm. The presence of cysteine residue in the C-terminal of the peptide allows the formation of Au-S bond which confers stability to Peptide-based gold nanoclusters. Interactions between the peptide and gold nanoclusters were confirmed by X-ray Photoemission and Raman Spectroscopy. Notably, from the ultrafine spectra shown in the MALDI-TOF analysis which containing only 3-7 KDa species was assigned to Au₈-₁₈[NBC2854]₂ clusters. Finally, we evaluated the Peptide-gold nanocluster as an optical biosensor based on fluorescence spectroscopy and the fluorescence signal of PPG (0.1 µg-mL⁻¹ to 1000 µg-mL⁻¹) was amplified at the same wavelength emission (≈ 630 nm). This can suggest that there is a strong interaction between PPG and Pep@AuNC, therefore, the increase of the fluorescence intensity can be related to the association mechanism that take place when the target molecule is sensing by the Pep@AuNC conjugate. Further spectroscopic studies are necessary to evaluate the fluorescence mechanism involve in the sensing of the PPG by the Pep@AuNC. To our best knowledge the fabrication of an optical biosensor based on Pep@AuNC for sensing biomolecules such as Proteophosphoglycans which are secreted in abundance by parasites Leishmania.

Keywords: biosensing, fluorescence, Leishmania, peptide-gold nanoclusters, proteophosphoglycans

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Authors: Afshan Channa, Sameeha Aleem, Harim Mohsin

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First rank symptoms (FRS) are considered to be pathognomic for Schizophrenia. However, FRS is not a distinctive feature of Schizophrenia. It has also been noticed in affective disorder, albeit not inclusive in diagnostic criteria. The presence of FRS in Mania leads to misdiagnosis of psychotic illness, further complicating the management and delay of appropriate treatment. FRS in Mania is associated with poor clinical and functional outcome. Its existence in the first episode of bipolar disorder may be a predictor of poor short-term outcome and decompensating course of illness. FRS in Mania is studied in west. However, the cultural divergence and detriments make it pertinent to study the frequency of FRS in affective disorder independently in Pakistan. Objective: The frequency of first rank symptoms in manic patients, who were under treatment at psychiatric services of tertiary care hospital. Method: The cross sectional study was done at psychiatric services of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. One hundred and twenty manic patients were recruited from November 2014 to May 2015. The patients who were unable to comprehend Urdu or had comorbid psychiatric or organic disorder were excluded. FRS was assessed by administration of validated Urdu version of Present State Examination (PSE) tool. Result: The mean age of the patients was 37.62 + 12.51. The mean number of previous manic episode was 2.17 + 2.23. 11.2% males and 30.6% females had FRS. This association of first rank symptoms with gender in patients of mania was found to be significant with a p-value of 0.008. All-inclusive, 19.2% exhibited FRS in their course of illness. 43.5% had thought broadcasting, made feeling, impulses, action and somatic passivity. 39.1% had thought insertion, 30.4% had auditory perceptual distortion, and 17.4% had thought withdrawal. However, none displayed delusional perception. Conclusion: The study confirms the presence of FRS in mania in both male and female, irrespective of the duration of current manic illness or previous number of manic episodes. A substantial difference was established between both the genders. Being married had no protective effect on the presence of FRS.

Keywords: first rank symptoms, Mania, psychosis, present state examination

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Authors: Bharati Mehta, Manish Parakh, Bharti Bhandari, Sneha Ambwani

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Speech and language delay (SLD) is seen commonly as a co-morbidity in children having severe resistant focal and generalized, syndromic and symptomatic epilepsies. It is however not clear whether epilepsy contributes to or is a mere association in the pathogenesis of SLD. Also, it is acknowledged that Auditory Brainstem Evoked Responses (ABER), besides used for evaluating hearing threshold, also aid in prognostication of neurological disorders and abnormalities in the hearing pathway in the brainstem. There is no circumscribed or surrogate neurophysiologic laboratory marker to adjudge the extent of SLD. The current study was designed to evaluate the abnormalities in Electroencephalography (EEG) and ABER in children with SLD who do not have an overt hearing deficit or autism. 94 children of age group 2-8 years with predominant SLD and without any gross motor developmental delay, head injury, gross hearing disorder, cleft lip/palate and autism were selected. Standard video Electroencephalography using the 10:20 international system and ABER after click stimulus with intensities 110 db until 40 db was performed in all children. EEG was abnormal in 47.9% (n= 45; 36 boys and 9 girls) children. In the children with abnormal EEG, 64.5% (n=29) had an abnormal background, 57.8% (n=27) had presence of generalized interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs), 20% (n=9) had focal epileptiform discharges exclusively from left side and 33.3% (n=15) had multifocal IEDs occurring both in isolation or associated with generalised abnormalities. In ABER, surprisingly, the peak latencies for waves I, III & V, inter-peak latencies I-III & I-V, III-V and wave amplitude ratio V/I, were found within normal limits in both ears of all the children. Thus in the current study it is certain that presence of generalized IEDs in EEG are seen in higher frequency with SLD and focal IEDs are seen exclusively in left hemisphere in these children. It may be possible that even with generalized EEG abnormalities present in these children, left hemispheric abnormalities as a part of this generalized dysfunction may be responsible for the speech and language dysfunction. The current study also emphasizes that ABER may not be routinely recommended as diagnostic or prognostic tool in children with SLD without frank hearing deficit or autism, thus reducing the burden on electro physiologists, laboratories and saving time and financial resources.

Keywords: ABER, EEG, speech, language delay

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Authors: Savas Yildiz

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The article assesses the performance of international aid donors to determine the sub-national distribution of their aid projects dependent on recipient countries’ governance. The present paper extends the scope from a cross-country perspective to a more detailed analysis by looking at the effects of institutional qualities on the sub-national distribution of foreign aid. The analysis examines geo-referenced aid project in 37 countries and 404 regions at the first administrative division level in Sub-Saharan Africa from the World Bank (WB) and the African Development Bank (ADB) that were approved between the years 2000 and 2011. To measure the influence of institutional qualities on the distribution of aid the following measures are used: control of corruption, government effectiveness, regulatory quality and rule of law from the World Governance Indicators (WGI) and the corruption perception index from Transparency International. Furthermore, to assess the importance of ethnic heterogeneity on the sub-national distribution of aid projects, the study also includes interaction terms measuring ethnic fragmentation. The regression results indicate a general skew of aid projects towards regions which hold capital cities, however, being incumbent presidents’ birth region does not increase the allocation of aid projects significantly. Nevertheless, with increasing quality of institutions aid projects are less skewed towards capital regions and the previously estimated coefficients loose significance in most cases. Higher ethnic fragmentation also seems to impede the possibility to allocate aid projects mainly in capital city regions and presidents’ birth places. Additionally, to assess the performance of the WB based on its own proclaimed goal to aim the poor in a country, the study also includes sub-national wealth data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DSH), and finds that, even with better institutional qualities, regions with a larger share from the richest quintile receive significantly more aid than regions with a larger share of poor people. With increasing ethnic diversity, the allocation of aid projects towards regions where the richest citizens reside diminishes, but still remains high and significant. However, regions with a larger share of poor people still do not receive significantly more aid. This might imply that the sub-national distribution of aid projects increases in general with higher ethnic fragmentation, independent of the diverse regional needs. The results provide evidence that institutional qualities matter to undermine the influence of incumbent presidents on the allocation of aid projects towards their birth regions and capital regions. Moreover, even for countries with better institutional qualities the WB and the ADB do not seem to be able to aim the poor in a country with their aid projects. Even, if one considers need-based variables, such as infant mortality and child mortality rates, aid projects do not seem to be allocated in districts with a larger share of people in need. Therefore, the study provides further evidence using more detailed information on the sub-national distribution of aid projects that aid is not being allocated effectively towards regions with a larger share of poor people to alleviate poverty in recipient countries directly. Institutions do not have any significant influence on the sub-national distribution of aid towards the poor.

Keywords: aid allocation, georeferenced data, institutions, spatial analysis

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Authors: Balazs Patczai, Katalin Gocze, Gabriella Kiss, Dorottya Szabo, Tibor Mintal

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Introduction: Running has become increasingly popular on a global scale in the past decades. Amateur athletes are taking their sport to a new level in an attempt to surpass their performance goals. The aim of our study was to assess the musculoskeletal condition of amateur runners and the prevalence of injuries with a special focus on stress fracture risk. Methods: The cross sectional analysis included ankle mobility, hamstring and lower back flexibility, the use of Renne’s test for iliotibial band syndrome, functional tests for trunk and rotary stability, and measurements of bone density. Data was collected at 2 major half-marathon events in Hungary. Results: Participants (n=134) mean age was 41.76±8.57 years (males: 40.67±8.83, females: 42.08±8.56). Measures of hamstring and lower back flexibility fell into the category of good for both genders (males: 7.13±6.83cm, females: 10.17±6.67cm). No side asymmetry nor gender differences were characteristic in the case of ankle mobility. Trunk stability was significantly better for males than in females (p=0.004). Markers of bone health were in the low normal range for females and were significantly better for males (T-score: p=0.003, T-ratio: p=0.014, Z-score: p=0.034, Z-ratio: p=0.011). 5.2% of females had a previous stress fracture and 24.1% experienced irregular menstrual cycles during the past year. As for the knowledge on the possible association of energy deficiency, menstrual disturbances and their effect on bone health, Only 8.6% of females have heard of the female athlete triad either during their studies or from a health professional. Discussion: The overall musculoskeletal state was satisfactory for both genders both physically and functionally. More attention and effort should be placed on primary and secondary prevention of amateur runners. Very few active women are well informed about the effects of low energy availability and menstrual dysfunction and the negative impact these have on bone health.

Keywords: bone health, flexibility, running, stress fracture

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Authors: Fae Princess Bermudez

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Background: One of the least significant leads on a 12-lead electrocardiogram is the augmented right lead (aVR), as it is not as specific compared to the other leads. In this case series, the value of lead aVR, which is more often than not ignored, is highlighted. Three cases of aVR ST segment elevation on 12-lead electrocardiogram are described, with the end outcome of demise of all three patients. The importance of immediate revascularization is described to improve prognosis in this group of patients. Objectives: This case series aims to primarily present under-reported cases of isolated aVR ST-segrment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), their course and outcome. More specific aims are to identify the criteria in determination of isolated aVR STEMI, know its clinical significance, and determine appropriate management for patients with this ECG finding. Method: A short review of previous studies, case reports, articles and guidelines from 2011-2016 was done. The author reviewed available literature, sorted out those that proved to be significant for the presented cases, and described them in conjunction with the aforementioned cases. Findings: Based on the limited information on these rare or under-reported cases, it was found that isolated aVR STEMI had a poorer prognosis that led to significant mortality and morbidity of patients. The significance of aVR ST-elevation was that of an occlusion of the left coronary artery or a severe three-vessel disease in the presence of an Acute Coronary Syndrome. Guidelines from American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation in 2013 already recognized ST-elevation of lead aVR in isolation as a STEMI; hence, recommended that patients with this particular ECG finding should undergo reperfusion strategies to improve prognosis. Conclusion: The indispensability of isolated aVR ST-segment elevation on ECG should alert physicians, especially Emergency physicians, to the high probability of Acute Coronary Syndrome with a very poor prognosis. If this group of patients is not promptly managed, demise may ensue, with cardiogenic shock as the most probable cause. With this electrocardiogram finding, physicians must be quick to make clinical decisions to increase chances of survival of this group of patients.

Keywords: AVR ST-elevation, diffuse ST-segment depression, left coronary artery infarction, myocardial infarction

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Authors: Flavia Cordeiro, Fabio Silva, Alvaro Eiras, Jose Luiz Acebal

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Aedes aegypti is present in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world and is a vector of several diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever, chikungunya, zika etc. The growth in the number of arboviruses cases in the last decades became a matter of great concern worldwide. Meteorological factors like mean temperature and precipitation are known to influence the infestation by the species through effects on physiology and ecology, altering the fecundity, mortality, lifespan, dispersion behaviour and abundance of the vector. Models able to describe the dynamics of the vector population size should then take into account the meteorological variables. The relationship between meteorological factors and the population dynamics of Ae. aegypti adult females are studied to provide a good set of predictors to model the dynamics of the mosquito population size. The time-series data of capture of adult females of a public health surveillance program from the city of Lavras, MG, Brazil had its association with precipitation, humidity and temperature analysed through a set of statistical methods for time series analysis commonly adopted in Signal Processing, Information Theory and Neuroscience. Cross-correlation, multicollinearity test and whitened cross-correlation were applied to determine in which time lags would occur the influence of meteorological variables on the dynamics of the mosquito abundance. Among the findings, the studied case indicated strong collinearity between humidity and precipitation, and precipitation was selected to form a pair of descriptors together with temperature. In the techniques used, there were observed significant associations between infestation indicators and both temperature and precipitation in short, mid and long terms, evincing that those variables should be considered in entomological models and as public health indicators. A descriptive model used to test the results exhibits a strong correlation to data.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti, cross-correlation, multicollinearity, meteorological variables

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Authors: Habtamu Wolde Engudai

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Background: Sedation can be provided to facilitate a procedure or to stabilize patients admitted in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Sedation is often necessary to maintain optimal care for critically ill children requiring mechanical ventilation. However, if sedation is too deep or too light, it has its own adverse effects, and hence, it is important to monitor the level of sedation and maintain an optimal level. Objectives: The objective is to assess the level of sedation and associated factors among intubated critically ill children admitted to PICU of JUMC, Jimma. Methods: A prospective observation study was conducted in the PICU of JUMC in September 2021 in 105 patients who were going to be admitted to the PICU aged less than 14 and with GCS >8. Data was collected by residents and nurses working in PICU. Data entry was done by Epi data manager (version 4.6.0.2). Statistical analysis and the creation of charts is going to be performed using SPSS version 26. Data was presented as mean, percentage and standard deviation. The assumption of logistic regression and the result of the assumption will be checked. To find potential predictors, bi-variable logistic regression was used for each predictor and outcome variable. A p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Finally, findings have been presented using figures, AOR, percentages, and a summary table. Result: in this study, 105 critically ill children had been involved who were started on continuous or intermittent forms of sedative drugs. Sedation level was assessed using a comfort scale three times per day. Based on this observation, we got a 44.8% level of suboptimal sedation at the baseline, a 36.2% level of suboptimal sedation at eight hours, and a 24.8% level of suboptimal sedation at sixteen hours. There is a significant association between suboptimal sedation and duration of stay with mechanical ventilation and the rate of unplanned extubation, which was shown by P < 0.05 using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test of goodness of fit (p> 0.44).

Keywords: level of sedation, critically ill children, Pediatric intensive care unit, Jimma university

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Authors: Sarita Magu, Deepak Singh

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Study Design: This prospective study was conducted at the department of Radio Diagnosis, at Pt B.D. Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak in 57 patients of spine injury on radiographs or radiographically normal patients with neurological deficits presenting within 72 hours of injury. Aims: Evaluation of the role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Spinal Trauma Patients and to compare MRI findings with clinical profile and neurological status of the patient and to correlate the MRI findings with neurological recovery of the patient and predict the outcome. Material and Methods: Neurological status of patients was assessed at the time of admission and discharge in all the patients and at long term interval of six months to one year in 27 patients as per American spine injury association classification (ASIA). On MRI cord injury was categorized into cord hemorrhage, cord contusion, cord edema only, and normal cord. Quantitative assessment of injury on MRI was done using mean canal compromise (MCC), mean spinal cord compression (MSCC) and lesion length. Neurological status at admission and neurological recovery at discharge and long term follow up was compared with various qualitative cord findings and quantitative parameters on MRI. Results: Cord edema and normal cord was associated with favorable neurological outcome. Cord contusion show lesser neurological recovery as compared to cord edema. Cord hemorrhage was associated with worst neurological status at admission and poor neurological recovery. Mean MCC, MSCC, and lesion length values were higher in patients presenting with ASIA A grade injury and showed decreasing trends towards ASIA E grade injury. Patients showing neurological recovery over the period of hospital stay and long term follow up had lower mean MCC, MSCC, and lesion length as compared to patients showing no neurological recovery. The data was statistically significant with p value <.05. Conclusion: Cord hemorrhage and higher MCC, MSCC and lesion length has poor prognostic value in spine injury patients.

Keywords: spine injury, cord hemorrhage, cord contusion, MCC, MSCC, lesion length, ASIA grading

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Authors: Soumaya Mrabet, Taieb Ach, Imen Akkari, Amira Atig, Neirouz Ghannouchi, Koussay Ach, Elhem Ben Jazia

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Introduction: Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated small intestinal disorder that occurs in genetically susceptible people. It is significantly associated with other autoimmune disorders represented mainly by type 1 diabetes and autoimmune dysthyroidism. The aim of our study is to determine the prevalence and the type of the various autoimmune diseases associated with CD in adult patients. Material and methods: This is a retrospective study including patients diagnosed with CD, explored in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Endocrinology and Diabetology Departments of the Farhat Hached University Hospital, between January 2005 and January 2016. The diagnosis of CD was confirmed by serological tests and duodenal biopsy. The screening of autoimmune diseases was based on physical examination, biological and serological tests. Results: Sixty five patients with a female predominance were included, 48women (73.8%) and 17 men (26.2%). The mean age was 31.8 years (17-75). A family history of CD or other autoimmune diseases was present in 5 and 10 patients respectively. Clinical presentation of CD was made by recurrent abdominal pain in 49 cases, diarrhea in 29 cases, bloating in 17 cases, constipation in 25 cases and vomiting in 8 cases. Autoimmune diseases associated with CD were found in 30 cases (46.1%): type 1 diabetes in 15 patients attested by the positivity of anti-GAD antibodies in 11 cases and anti-IA2 in 4 cases, Hashimoto thyroiditis in 8 cases confirmed by the positivity of anti-TPO antibodies, Addison's disease in 2 patients, Anemia of Biermer in 2 patients, autoimmune hepatitis, Systemic erythematosus lupus, Gougerot Sjögren syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, Vitiligo and antiphospholipid syndrome in one patient each. CD was associated with more than one autoimmune disease defining multiple autoimmune syndrome in 2 female patients. The first patient had Basedow disease, Addison disease and type 1 diabetes. The second patient had systemic erythematosus lupus and Gougerot Sjögren syndrome. Conclusion: In our study autoimmune diseases were associated with CD in 46.1% of cases and were dominated by diabetes and dysthroidism. After establishing the diagnosis of CD the search of associated autoimmune diseases is necessary in order to avoid any therapeutic delay which can alter the prognosis of the patient.

Keywords: association, autoimmune thyroiditis, celiac disease, diabetes

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Authors: Vaibhav Rathi, Soumen Maity, Achu R. Sekhar, Abhijit Banerjee

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Construction sector in India is extremely resource and carbon intensive. It contributes to significantly to national greenhouse emissions. At the resource end the industry consumes significant portions of the output from mining. Resources such as sand and soil are most exploited and their rampant extraction is becoming constant source of impact on environment and society. Cement is another resource that is used in abundance in building and construction and has a direct impact on limestone resources. Though India is rich in cement grade limestone resource, efforts have to be made for sustainable consumption of this resource to ensure future availability. Use of these resources in high volumes in India is a result of rapid urbanization. More cities have grown to a population of million plus in the last decade and million plus cities are growing further. To cater to needs of growing urban population of construction activities are inevitable in the coming future thereby increasing material consumption. Increased construction will also lead to substantial increase in end of life waste generation from Construction and Demolition (C&D). Therefore proper management of C&D waste has the potential to reduce environmental pollution as well as contribute to the resource efficiency in the construction sector. The present study deals with estimation, characterisation and documenting current management practices of C&D waste in 10 Indian cities of different geographies and classes. Based on primary data the study draws conclusions on the potential of C&D waste to be used as an alternative to primary raw materials. The estimation results show that India generates 716 million tons of C&D waste annually, placing the country as second largest C&D waste generator in the world after China. The study also aimed at utilization of C&D waste in to building materials. The waste samples collected from various cities have been used to replace 100% stone aggregates in paver blocks without any decrease in strength. However, management practices of C&D waste in cities still remains poor instead of notification of rules and regulations notified for C&D waste management. Only a few cities have managed to install processing plant and set up management systems for C&D waste. Therefore there is immense opportunity for management and reuse of C&D waste in Indian cities.

Keywords: building materials, construction and demolition waste, cities, environmental pollution, resource efficiency

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Authors: Sardar Khana, Zar Ali Khana

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Rapid industrial development and urbanization contribute a lot to wastewater discharge. The wastewater enters into natural aquatic ecosystems from industrial activities and considers as one of the main sources of water pollution. Discharge of effluents loaded with heavy metals into the surrounding environment has become a key issue regarding human health risk, environment, and food chain contamination. Nickel causes fatigue, cancer, headache, heart problems, skin diseases (Nickel Itch), and respiratory disorders. Nickel compounds such as Nickel Sulfide and Nickel oxides in industrial environment, if inhaled, have an association with an increased risk of lung cancer. Therefore the removal of Nickel from effluents before discharge is necessary. Removal of Nickel by low-cost biosorbents is an efficient method. This study was aimed to investigate the efficiency of activated carbon and Pinusroxburgiisaw dust for the removal of Nickel from industrial effluents using commercial Activated Carbon, and raw P.roxburgii saw dust. Batch and column adsorption experiments were conducted for the removal of Nickel. The study conducted indicates that removal of Nickel greatly dependent on pH, contact time, Nickel concentration, and adsorbent dose. Maximum removal occurred at pH 9, contact time of 600 min, and adsorbent dose of 1 g/100 mL. The highest removal was 99.62% and 92.39% (pH based), 99.76% and 99.9% (dose based), 99.80% and 100% (agitation time), 92% and 72.40% (Ni Conc. based) for P.roxburgii saw dust and activated Carbon, respectively. Similarly, the Ni removal in column adsorption was 99.77% and 99.99% (bed height based), 99.80% and 99.99% (Concentration based), 99.98%, and 99.81% (flow rate based) during column studies for Nickel using P.Roxburgiisaw dust and activated carbon, respectively. Results were compared with Freundlich isotherm model, which showed “r2” values of 0.9424 (Activated carbon) and 0.979 (P.RoxburgiiSaw Dust). While Langmuir isotherm model values were 0.9285 (Activated carbon) and 0.9999 (P.RoxburgiiSaw Dust), the experimental results were fitted to both the models. But the results were in close agreement with Langmuir isotherm model.

Keywords: nickel removal, batch, and column, activated carbon, saw dust, plant uptake

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Authors: Gubair Tarabeh, Ghadir Zriek, David Oppenheim, Avi Sagi-Schwartz, Nina Koren-Karie

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Introduction: Mind-Mindedness (MM) focuses on mothers' attunement to their infant's mental states as reflected in their speech to the infant. Appropriate MM comments are associated with attachment security in individualistic Western societies where parents value their children’s autonomy and independence, and may therefore be more likely to engage in mind-related discourse with their children that highlights individual thoughts, preferences, emotions, and motivations. Such discourse may begin in early infancy, even before infants are likely to understand the semantic meaning of parental speech. Parents in collectivistic societies, by contrast, are thought to emphasize conforming to social norms more than individual goals, and this may lead to parent-child discourse that emphasizes appropriate behavior and compliance with social norms rather than internal mental states of the self and the other. Therefore, the examination of maternal MM and its relationship with attachment in Arab collectivistic culture in Israel was of particular interest. Aims of the study: The goal of the study was to examine whether the associations between MM and attachment in the Arab culture in Israel are the same as in Western samples. An additional goal was to examine whether appropriate and non-attuned MM comments could, together, distinguish among mothers of children in the different attachment classifications. Material and Methods: 76 Arab mothers and their infants between the ages of 12 and 18 months were observed in the Strange Situation Procedure (49 secure (B), 11 ambivalent (C), 14 disorganized (D), and 2 avoidant (A) infants). MM was coded from an 8-minute free-play sequence. Results: Mothers of B infants used more appropriate and less non-attuned MM comments than mothers of D infants, with no significant differences with mothers of C infants. Also, mothers of B infants used less non-attuned MM comments than both mothers of D infants and mothers of C infants. In addition, Mothers of B infants were most likely to show the combination of high appropriate and low non-attuned MM comments; Mothers of D infants were most likely to show the combination of high non-attuned and low appropriate MM comments; and a non-significant trend indicated that mothers of C infants were most likely to show a combination of high appropriate and high non-attuned MM comments. Conclusion: Maternal MM was associated with attachment in the Arab culture in Israel with combinations of appropriate and non-attuned MM comments distinguishing between different attachment classifications.

Keywords: attachment, maternal mind-mindedness, Arab culture, collectivistic culture

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Authors: Rachel Gough

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In 2014, Skellig Michael, an island off Ireland’s western seaboard and UNESCO world heritage site became a major setting in Disney’s Star Wars franchise. The subsequent influx of tourists to the site has proven to be a point of contention nationally. The increased visitor numbers have uplifted certain areas of the local economy, the mainland, but have caused irreparable damage to historic monuments and to endangered bird populations who breed on the island. Recent research carried out by a state body suggests far-reaching and longterm negative impacts on the island’s culture and environment, should the association with the Star Wars franchise persist. In spite of this, the film has been widely endorsed by the Irish government as providing a vital economic boost to historically marginalised rural areas through film tourism. This paper argues quite plainly that what is taking place on Skellig is neocolonialism. Skellig Michael’s unique resources, its aesthetic qualities, its ecosystem, and its cultural currency have been sold by the state to a multinational corporation, who profit from their use. Meanwhile, locals are left to do their best to turn a market trend into sustainable business at the expense of culture ecology and community. This paper intends to be the first dedicated study into the psychogeographic and cultural impact of Skellig Michael’s deterioration as a result of film tourism. It will discuss the projected impact of this incident on Irish culture more broadly and finally will attempt to lay out a roadmap for more collaborative filmmaking and touristic approach, which allows local cultures and ecosystem’s to thrive without drastically inhibiting cultural production. This paper will ultimately find that the consequences of this representation call for a requirement to read tourism as a split concept — namely into what we might loosely call “eco-tourism” and more capital-based “profit-bottom-line tourism.”

Keywords: ecology, film tourism, neocolonialism, sustainability

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

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Chronologic age (CA) of individuals is closely related to obesity and generally affects the magnitude of obesity parameters. On the other hand, close association between basal metabolic rate (BMR) and metabolic age (MA) is also a matter of concern. It is suggested that MA higher than CA is the indicator of the need to improve the metabolic rate. In this study, the aim was to assess some commonly used obesity parameters, such as obesity degree, visceral adiposity, BMR, BMR-to-weight ratio, in several groups with varying differences between MA and CA values. The study comprises adults, whose ages vary between 18 and 79 years. Four groups were constituted. Group 1, 2, 3 and 4 were composed of 55, 33, 76 and 47 adults, respectively. The individuals exhibiting -1, 0 and +1 for their MA-CA values were involved in Group 1, which was considered as the control group. Those, whose MA-CA values varying between -5 and -10 participated in Group 2. Those, whose MAs above their real ages were divided into two groups [Group 3 (MA-CA; from +5 to + 10) and Group 4 (MA-CA; from +11 to + 12)]. Body mass index (BMI) values were calculated. TANITA body composition monitor using bioelectrical impedance analysis technology was used to obtain values for obesity degree, visceral adiposity, BMR and BMR-to-weight ratio. The compiled data were evaluated statistically using a statistical package program; SPSS. Mean ± SD values were determined. Correlation analyses were performed. The statistical significance degree was accepted as p < 0.05. The increase in BMR was positively correlated with obesity degree. MAs and CAs of the groups were 39.9 ± 16.8 vs 39.9 ± 16.7 years for Group 1, 45.0 ± 15.3 vs 51.4 ± 15.7 years for Group 2, 47.2 ± 12.7 vs 40.0 ± 12.7 years for Group 3, and 53.6 ± 14.8 vs 42 ± 14.8 years for Group 4. BMI values of the groups were 24.3 ± 3.6 kg/m², 23.2 ± 1.7 kg/m², 30.3 ± 3.8 kg/m², and 40.1 ± 5.1 kg/m² for Group 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Values obtained for BMR were 1599 ± 328 kcal in Group 1, 1463 ± 198 kcal in Group 2, 1652 ± 350 kcal in Group 3, and 1890 ± 360 kcal in Group 4. A correlation was observed between BMR and MA-CA values in Group 1. No correlation was detected in other groups. On the other hand, statistically significant correlations between MA-CA values and obesity degree, BMI as well as BMR/weight were found in Group 3 and in Group 4. It was concluded that upon consideration of these findings in terms of MA-CA values, BMR-to-weight ratio was found to be much more useful indicator of the severe increase in obesity development than BMR. Also, the lack of associations between MA and BMR as well as BMR-to-weight ratio emphasize the importance of consideration of MA-CA values rather than MA.

Keywords: basal metabolic rate, basal metabolic rate-to-weight-ratio, chronologic age, metabolic age, obesity degree

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Authors: Akbar Nawaz Khan, Abdul Ghaffar, Muhammad Naeem Riaz

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The study was conducted to investigate the phenotypic features, morphometry and production potentialities of indigenous naked neck chicken (NN) of Pakistan under intensive management condition. A total of 35 NN chicks were randomly selected, and the experiment was performed at Poultry and wildlife research section NARC Islamabad for a period of 22 weeks. The predominant plumage color was black and golden while skin color was observed white. The average shank length, leg length, thigh length, keel length, chest breadth, head width, wing space, wing length, body length, body girth, body height and pubic bone width in adult males and females were 69.19 ± 3.34mm, 117.93 ± 4.42mm, 117.93 ± 4.42mm, 90.87 ± 6.53mm, 95.03 ± 4.56mm, 49.77 ± 2.53mm, 30.63 ± 1.50cm, 27.24 ± 2.71cm, 18.88 ± 0.65cm, 17.77 ± 1.01cm, 25.96 ± 0.56cm, 47.81 ± 1.41cm and 35.69 ± 4.09mm respectively. The average age and live body weight of NN chicken at sexual maturity were recorded as 165.85 days and 1269.38 g. While hen-day egg production of NN was recorded as 45%. The present study was aimed to investigate the existence of polymorphism at IGF-I gene in indigenous naked neck chicken through PCR based Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism. Based on restriction analysis using Hinf I restriction enzyme, three genotypes were detected designated as AA, AC, and CC. Restriction analysis of PCR amplified product showed the presence of DNA fragments of 622, 378, 244 and 191, (genotypes). The PCR-RFLP analysis is easy, cost effective method which permits the easy characterization of IGF-I gene. This showed the investigated IGF-I genes can serve as good molecular markers for marker assisted selection (MAS) concerning growth related traits in chicken.

Keywords: Desi chicken, naked neck, morphology, morphometry, production potential, egg traits, egg geometry, IGF-I, growth, PCR- RFLP, chicken

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Authors: James Beringer

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Switzerland’s ability to forge a strong national identity across linguistic barriers has long been of interest to nationalism scholars. This begs the question of how this has been achieved, given that traditional explanations of luck or exceptionalism appear highly reductionist. This paper evaluates the theory that successful Swiss management of linguistic diversity stems from the strong integration of multilingualism into Swiss national identity. Using archival analysis of Swiss government records, historical accounts of prominent Swiss citizens, as well as secondary literature concerning the fundamental aspects of Swiss national identity, this paper charts the historical evolution of Swiss national identity. It explains how multilingualism was deliberately and successfully integrated into Swiss national identity as a response to political fragmentation along linguistic lines during the First World War. Its primary conclusions are the following. Firstly, the earliest foundations of Swiss national identity were purposefully removed from any association with a single national language. This produced symbols, myths, and values -such as a strong commitment to communalism, the imagery of the Swiss natural landscape, and the use of Latin expressions, which can be adopted across Swiss linguistic groups. Secondly, the First World War triggered a turning point in the evolution of Swiss national identity. The fundamental building blocks proved insufficient in preventing political fractures amongst linguistic lines, as each Swiss linguistic group gravitated towards its linguistic neighbours within Europe. To avoid a repeat of such fragmentation, a deliberate effort was made to fully integrate multilingualism as a fundamental aspect of Swiss national identity. Existing natural symbols, such as the St Gotthard Mountains, were recontextualized in order to become associated with multilingualism. The education system was similarly reformed to reflect the unique multilingual nature of the Swiss nation. The successful result of this process can be readily observed in polls and surveys, with large segments of the Swiss population highlighting multilingualism as a uniquely Swiss characteristic, indicating the symbiotic connection between multilingualism and the Swiss nation.

Keywords: language's role in identity formation, multilingualism in nationalism, national identity formation, Swiss national identity history

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Authors: Han-Qin Zheng, Yi-Fan Chiang-Hsieh, Chia-Hung Chien, Wen-Chi Chang

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As the most important non-vascular plants, algae have many research applications, including high species diversity, biofuel sources, adsorption of heavy metals and, following processing, health supplements. With the increasing availability of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data for algae genomes and transcriptomes, an integrated resource for retrieving gene expression data and metabolic pathway is essential for functional analysis and systems biology in algae. However, gene expression profiles and biological pathways are displayed separately in current resources, and making it impossible to search current databases directly to identify the cellular response mechanisms. Therefore, this work develops a novel AlgaePath database to retrieve gene expression profiles efficiently under various conditions in numerous metabolic pathways. AlgaePath, a web-based database, integrates gene information, biological pathways, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) datasets in Chlamydomonasreinhardtii and Neodesmus sp. UTEX 2219-4. Users can identify gene expression profiles and pathway information by using five query pages (i.e. Gene Search, Pathway Search, Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs) Search, Gene Group Analysis, and Co-Expression Analysis). The gene expression data of 45 and 4 samples can be obtained directly on pathway maps in C. reinhardtii and Neodesmus sp. UTEX 2219-4, respectively. Genes that are differentially expressed between two conditions can be identified in Folds Search. Furthermore, the Gene Group Analysis of AlgaePath includes pathway enrichment analysis, and can easily compare the gene expression profiles of functionally related genes in a map. Finally, Co-Expression Analysis provides co-expressed transcripts of a target gene. The analysis results provide a valuable reference for designing further experiments and elucidating critical mechanisms from high-throughput data. More than an effective interface to clarify the transcript response mechanisms in different metabolic pathways under various conditions, AlgaePath is also a data mining system to identify critical mechanisms based on high-throughput sequencing.

Keywords: next-generation sequencing (NGS), algae, transcriptome, metabolic pathway, co-expression

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Authors: Nuray Ocakli

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19th century was the era of changes and transformations for the Ottoman Empire. The first sultan of this century, Mahmud II (1808-1839), was the architect of Ottoman modernization and fundamental changes. The most radical of these was abolishing the Janissary corps and the traditional Ottoman military band, Mehteran. Mahmud II introduced modernized military corps as well as western style royal and military music. Mahmut II invited the Italian composer Giuseppe Donizetti to establish a modern military band for the new army and to compose the Sultan’s royal anthem. In 1828, Donizetti composed the first western-style Ottoman anthem, Mahmudiyye anthem. During the 19th and early 20th century, four other western style Ottoman anthems (Aziziyye, Mecidiyye, Hamidiyye, and Resadiyye) were composed but the last anthem adopted in the reign of Mehmet VI (r. 1918-1922) was again Mahmudiyye anthem. This paper aims to analyze the Mahmudiyye anthem composed as royal anthem in 1828 but adopted as national anthem in 1918. Research questions of this paper are as follows: What were the characteristics of the Mahmudiyye anthem making it the best choice of the last sultan for the last national anthem? Are there specific reasons of the last sultan to adopt Mahmudiyye anthem or not to adopt any of the other four anthems? The musical characteristics of the anthem are analyzed based on the Cerulo’s empirical research. Cerulo examined the musical structures of 124 western style anthems from 150 countries in the 1580-1976 period. Cerulo’s research categorizes musical codes of the anthems as basic and embellished related with the level of sociopolitical control. Musical analysis of the anthem indicates that the basic musical code of the anthem implies a high level of socio-political control during the reign of both Mahmut II and Mehmet VI. Historical analysis of each sultans’ reign shows that both sultans were autocratic. Mahmut II designed authoritarian government policies to suppress possible reactions against his reforms. On the other hand, authoritarian policies of Mehmet VI are related with the domestic and international political conditions following the World War I. Historical analysis of the research questions show that compared to the other western style Ottoman anthems, Mahmudiyye anthem remained the only neutral anthem symbolizing modernization and westernization of the empire. Other anthems were all the symbols of failed ideologies such as Ottomanism, pan-Islamism, and pan-Turkism. In the early 20th century, there were a few common things remained among the diverse communities of the Ottoman Empire: The land they shared as homeland and the idea of modernization to save the homeland. For this reason, the last sultan Mehmet VI adopted Mahmudiyye anthem as the memory of a unified empire under the rule of a powerful and modernist sultan. The last sultan’s reign lasted just for four years, and the Ottoman Empire disintegrated in 1922, but his adaptation of the Mahmudiyye anthem indicates his unifying policies, his attitudes to save the empire and the caliphate.

Keywords: Mahmudiyye anthem, musical code, national anthem, Ottoman Empire, royal anthem

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Authors: Manisha Massey, Mariette Berndsen, Helen McLaren

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The existing body of literature concerning the incidence, prevalence, and experiences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) lacked cultural inclusivity, primarily reflecting Euro-centric perspectives. This study investigated and reviewed the existing literature to understand the experiences of women of color from South Asia, addressing the gap in understanding how culture and diversity impact CSA. While individualist cultures emphasize autonomy, collectivist societies prioritize interdependence. South Asia's diverse intersections, including gender, caste, religion, and class, have intensified child sexual exploitation, challenging assumed homogeneity and safety. Additionally, the power exploitation in the space of abuse and grooming supplementing with the prevalence of honor violence makes disclosures of sexual abuse for children daunting and unsafe in these cultures. This scoping review examined the connection between CSA, psychological trauma, re-traumatization, and shame among adult South Asian women from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Despite distinct borders, these countries share historical, linguistic, and traditional ties. Following PRISMA guidelines, the review employed thematic analysis. Findings underscored cultural factors' influence on CSA incidence, help-seeking barriers, and treatment challenges. The pivotal role of shame (sharam) and honor (izzat) in disclosure and healing processes was highlighted. The study emphasized the need for culturally sensitive interventions while noting limited literature on re-traumatisation. Incorporating a culturally informed perspective, this research aims to decolonize trauma therapy by contributing to the CSA discourse, shedding light on its intricate interaction with trauma, shame, and healing among South Asian women.

Keywords: Childhood sexual abuse, decolonizing psychology, trauma, re-trauma, shame

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Authors: Afeez Kolawole Shittu

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Democracy as practiced across the globe is sustained with the increase participation of all eligible voters irrespective of class, race, colour, and disabilities. However, there is a perception within the contemporary African society that people with disability (PWDs) belongs to charity and welfare. This is exacerbated with little understanding among African counties including Nigeria that persons with disability have fundamental rights inevitably rooted in the constitution. This significant viewpoint has continued to militate against the social inclusion of persons with disabilities in various aspects of societal lives including their political participation It is instructive to note that the political right of PWDs has been protected by various international conventions. Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights and Dignities for Persons with Disability (CRPD) guaranteed the participation of persons with disability in the political process. Domesticating and ratification of this right has been a challenge for many African countries including Nigeria. Against the backdrop, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body saddled with the responsibility of conducting elections in Nigeria provided forum for the participation of persons with disability in election through implementations of electoral act. Section 56 (1) and (2) of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) provide for voting participation of persons with disability. This study examines the implementation of the electoral act and how it impacts the voting participation of persons with disability vis-à-vis other challenges affecting the participation of PWDs in electoral process in Nigeria’s 2019 general election. This paper draws on mixed method in sourcing relevant information from the respondents. Interview will be conducted among INEC officials, Civil Society Organisations, Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD). Questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion will be held among different forms of PWDs. The data will be analysed using appropriate descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, as well as thematic content analysis. The study will enlighten understanding on the awareness of the political rights of PWDs as well as improving their electoral participation for sustainable democracy in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

Keywords: electoral reforms, voting participation, persons with disabilities

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Authors: Mythri G., Manjunath ML, Girish Babu M., Shireen Swaliha Quadri

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Background: The increase in diabetes among the elderly is of concern because in addition to the wide range of traditional diabetes complications, evidence has been growing that diabetes is associated with increased risk of cognitive decline. Aims and Objectives: To find out if there is any association between blood sugar levels and short-term and working memory status in patients of type 2 diabetes. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in 200 individuals aged between 40-65 years consisting of 100 diagnosed cases of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and 100 non-diabetics from OPD of Mc Gann Hospital, Shivamogga. Rye’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Verbal Fluency Test and Visual Reproduction Test, Working Digit Span Test and Validation Span Test were used to assess short-term and working memory. Fasting and Post Prandial blood sugar levels were estimated. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 21. Results: Memory test scores of type 2 diabetics were significantly reduced (p < 0.001) when compared to the memory scores of age and gender matched non-diabetics. Fasting blood sugar levels were found to have a negative correlation with memory scores for all 5 tests: AVLT (r=-0.837), VFT (r=-0.888), VRT(r=-0.787), WDST (r=-0.795) and VST (r=-0.943). Post- Prandial blood sugar levels were found to have a negative correlation with memory scores for all 5 tests: AVLT (r=-0.922), VFT (r=-0.848), VRT(r=-0.707),WDST (r=-0.729) and VST (r=-0.880) Memory scores in all 5 tests were found to be negatively correlated with the FBS and PPBS levels in diabetic patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The decreased memory status in diabetic patients may be due to many factors like hyperglycemia, vascular disease, insulin resistance, amyloid deposition and also some of the factor combine to produce additive effects like, type of diabetes, co-morbidities, age of onset, duration of the disease and type of therapy. These observed effects of blood sugar levels of diabetics on memory status are of potential clinical importance because even mild cognitive impairment could interfere with todays’ activities.

Keywords: diabetes, cognition, diabetes, HRV, respiratory medicine

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Authors: Bougema Theodore Ntenkeh, Chi-bikom Barbara Kyien

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The reduction of poverty and hunger sits at the heart of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and are the first two of the Sustainable Development Goals. The World Food Day celebrated on the 16th of October every year, highlights the need for people to have physical and economic access at all times to enough nutritious and safe food to live a healthy and active life; while the world poverty day celebrated on the 17th of October is an opportunity to acknowledge the struggle of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard, and for the community to recognize and support poor people in their fight against poverty. The association between household food security and poverty reduction is not only sparse in Cameroon but mostly qualitative. The paper therefore investigates the effect of household food security on poverty reduction in Cameroon quantitatively using data from the Cameroon Household Consumption Survey collected by the Government Statistics Office. The methodology employed five indicators of household food security using the Multiple Correspondence Analysis and poverty is captured as a dummy variable. Using a control function technique, with pre and post estimation test for robustness, the study postulates that household food security has a positive and significant effect on poverty reduction in Cameroon. A unit increase in the food security score reduces the probability of the household being poor by 31.8%, and this effect is statistically significant at 1%. The result further illustrates that the age of the household head and household size increases household poverty while households residing in urban areas are significantly less poor. The paper therefore recommends that households should diversify their food intake to enhance an effective supply of labour in the job market as a strategy to reduce household poverty. Furthermore, family planning methods should be encouraged as a strategy to reduce birth rate for an equitable distribution of household resources including food while the government of Cameroon should also develop the rural areas given that trend in urbanization are associated with the concentration of productive economic activities, leading to increase household income, increased household food security and poverty reduction.

Keywords: food security, poverty reduction, SDGs, Cameroon

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Authors: Lesibana Rafapa

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Accounts exist of circumcision-anchored cultural initiation in central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, North Africa, and West Africa -straddling states like Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This attests to the continent-wide spread of this cultural practice. In this paper, the writer relates the cultural aspect of circumcision-subsuming initiation among black African cultural groups across the continent to the notion that African cultures are varied yet subscribe to a common central concept. The premise of the paper is that the common practice of initiation for both male and female children that have to be initiated by adults to the tradition and customs of a people coincides with such a central concept. The practice of traditional initiation is as broad as to encompass aspects of spirituality, morality, and social organisation, in the nature of the central concept of which it is a trans-sectional part. Cultural initiation, sometimes referred to as traditional circumcision, constitutes culture-determined rites of passage for the initiates. The study’s aim, the findings of which are presented in this paper, was to probe gender equality in the development and promotion of the cultural practice of initiation. The researcher intended to demonstrate how in South Africa, female circumcision is treated equally or marginalised in efforts of the democratic government to regulate and strengthen the practice of circumcision as part of its broader liberation programme meant to reverse politico-cultural bondage experienced during apartheid rule that the present black regime helped bring to an end. It is argued that the failure to regard female circumcision as equal to its male counterpart is a travesty of the black government’s legislation and policies espousing equality and the protection and empowerment of vulnerable and previously marginalised population groups that include black women. The writer did a desk-top study of the history and characteristics of female circumcision among the black Northern Sotho, VaTsonga, and VhaVenda cultural groups of the Limpopo Province, stretching north to the border of South Africa with Zimbabwe, as well as literature on how political and other authorities exert efforts to preserve and empower the practice. The findings were that male initiation is foregrounded and totalised to represent the practice of initiation as a whole, at the expense of its female counterpart facing marginalisation and unequal regard. It is outlined in this paper how such impoverishment of an otherwise woman-empowering cultural practice deprives hitherto black cultures that suffered brutal repression during apartheid of a fuller recovery much needed in the democratic era. The writer applies some aspects of postcolonial theory and some tropes of feminism in the discussion of an uneven status of cultural circumcision at the hands of present day powers that be.

Keywords: African cultures, female circumcision, gender equality, women empowerment

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Authors: Louis Ngai Yuen Wong, Varun Maruvanchery

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The Bukit Timah Granite, which is a major rock formation in Singapore, encompasses different rock types such as granite, adamellite, and granodiorite with various hybrid rocks. The present study focuses on the Central Singapore Granite found in the Mandai area. Even within this small aerial extent, lithological variations with respect to the composition, texture as well as the grain size have been recognized in this igneous body. Over the years, the research effort on the Bukit Timah Granite has been focused on achieving a better understanding of its engineering properties in association with civil engineering projects. To our best understanding, a few types of research attempted to systematically investigate the influence of grain size, mineral composition, texture etc. on the strength of Bukit Timah Granite rocks in a comprehensive manner. In typical local industry practices, the different lithological varieties are not differentiated, but all are grouped under Bukit Timah Granite during core logging and the subsequent determination of engineering properties. To address such a major gap in the local engineering geological practice, a preliminary study is conducted on the variations of uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) in seven distinctly different lithological varieties found in the Bukit Timah Granite. Other physical properties including Young’s modulus, P-wave velocity and dry density determined from laboratory testing will also be discussed. The study is supplemented by a petrographical thin section examination. In addition, the specimen failure mode is classified and further correlated with the lithological varieties by carefully observing the details of crack initiation, propagation and coalescence processes in the specimens undergoing loading tests using a high-speed camera. The outcome of this research, which is the first of its type in Singapore, will have a direct implication on the sampling and design practices in the field of civil engineering and particularly underground space development in Singapore.

Keywords: Bukit Timah Granite, lithological variety, thin section study, high speed video, failure mode

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Authors: Dhananjay W. Bansod, Santosh Phad

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Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) are major contributing factors to the disease burden in the world as well as in India. With a growing proportion of older persons in India gives rise to several challenges. With the advancement of age, elderly is exposed to various kinds of health problems more specifically NCDs. Therefore, an effort has been made to examine the prevalence of NCDs among older persons and its treatment-seeking behaviour, also it is tried to explore the association between the NCDs and its effect on the overall wellbeing of older persons. Data used from “Building Knowledge Base of Population Ageing Survey” conducted in 2011 in seven states of India. Six chronic diseases used (non-communicable diseases) namely Arthritis, Hypertension, Cataract, Diabetes, Asthma and Heart diseases to understand the issues related to NCDs. Also seen the effect of NCDs on the wellbeing of the elderly, the subjective well-being consists of nine questions from which SUBI score generated for mental health status, which ranges from 9 to 27. This Index indicates that lower the score better is the mental health status. Further, this index modified and generated three categories of Better (9-15), Average (16-20) and Worse (21-27). The reliability analysis is carried out with the coefficient (Cronbach’s alpha) of the scale was 0.8884. The result shows that Orthopedic / musculoskeletal ailments involving arthritis, rheumatism and osteoarthritis are the most common type of ailment followed by hypertension. Two-thirds of the elderly reported suffering from at least one chronic ailment. Most chronic illness conditions received some form of treatment and mainly depend on public health facilities. Financial insecurity is the primary obstruction in seeking treatment for most of the chronic ailments which typically require a longer duration of medication and repeated medical consultations, both having significant economic implications. According to SUBI index, only 15 per cent of the elderly are in Better mental health status, and one-third of the elderly are with the worse score. Elderly with the ailments like Cataract, Asthma and Arthritis have worse mental health. It depicts that the burden of disease is more among the elderly and it is directly affecting the overall wellbeing of older persons.

Keywords: NCD, well-being, older person, India

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Authors: Dina Kon Mushid, Kabutakapua Kakanda, Dibu Dave Mbako

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The failure of material usually involves elastoplastic deformation and fracturing. Continuum mechanics can effectively deal with plastic deformation by using a yield function and the flow rule. At the same time, it has some limitations in dealing with the fracture problem since it is a theory based on the continuous field hypothesis. The lattice model can simulate the fracture problem very well, but it is inadequate for dealing with plastic deformation. Based on the discretized virtual internal bond model (DVIB), this paper proposes a lattice model that can account for plasticity. DVIB is a lattice method that considers material to comprise bond cells. Each bond cell may have any geometry with a finite number of bonds. The two-body or multi-body potential can characterize the strain energy of a bond cell. The two-body potential leads to the fixed Poisson ratio, while the multi-body potential can overcome the limitation of the fixed Poisson ratio. In the present paper, the modified Stillinger-Weber (SW), a multi-body potential, is employed to characterize the bond cell energy. The SW potential is composed of two parts. One part is the two-body potential that describes the interatomic interactions between particles. Another is the three-body potential that represents the bond angle interactions between particles. Because the SW interaction can represent the bond stretch and bond angle contribution, the SW potential-based DVIB (SW-DVIB) can represent the various Poisson ratios. To embed the plasticity in the SW-DVIB, the plasticity is considered in the two-body part of the SW potential. It is done by reducing the bond stiffness to a lower level once the bond reaches the yielding point. While before the bond reaches the yielding point, the bond is elastic. When the bond deformation exceeds the yielding point, the bond stiffness is softened to a lower value. When unloaded, irreversible deformation occurs. With the bond length increasing to a critical value, termed the failure bond length, the bond fails. The critical failure bond length is related to the cell size and the macro fracture energy. By this means, the fracture energy is conserved so that the cell size sensitivity problem is relieved to a great extent. In addition, the plasticity and the fracture are also unified at the bond level. To make the DVIB able to simulate different Poisson ratios, the three-body part of the SW potential is kept elasto-brittle. The bond angle can bear the moment before the bond angle increment is smaller than a critical value. By this method, the SW-DVIB can simulate the plastic deformation and the fracturing process of material with various Poisson ratios. The elastoplastic SW-DVIB is used to simulate the plastic deformation of a material, the plastic fracturing process, and the tunnel plastic deformation. It has been shown that the current SW-DVIB method is straightforward in simulating both elastoplastic deformation and plastic fracture.

Keywords: lattice model, discretized virtual internal bond, elastoplastic deformation, fracture, modified stillinger-weber potential

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Authors: Siraj Beyan Mohamed, Woldia University

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The study is accompanied in northern Ethiopian basement rocks, Finarwa area, and its surrounding areas, south eastern Tigray. From the field observations, the geology of the area haven been described and mapped based on mineral composition, texture, structure, and colour of both fresh and weather rocks. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) have conducted to analysis gold and base metal mineralization. The ore mineral under microscope are commonly base metal sulphides pyrrhotite, Chalcopyrite, pentilanditeoccurring in variable proportions. Galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and gold mineral are hosted in quartz vein. Pyrite occurs both in quartz vein and enclosing rocks as a primary mineral. The base metal sulfides occur as disseminated, vein filling, and replacement. Geochemical analyses result determination of the threshold of geochemical anomalies is directly related to the identification of mineralization information. From samples, stream sediment samples and the soil samples indicated that the most promising mineralization occur in the prospect area are gold(Au), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn). This is also supported by the abundance of chalcopyrite and sphalerite in some highly altered samples. The stream sediment geochemical survey data shows relatively higher values for zinc compared to Pb and Cu. The moderate concentration of the base metals in some of the samples indicates availability base metal mineralization in the study area requiring further investigation. The rock and soil geochemistry shows the significant concentration of gold with maximum value of 0.33ppm and 0.97 ppm in the south western part of the study area. In Finarwa, artisanal gold mining has become an increasingly widespread economic activity of the local people undertaken by socially differentiated groups with a wide range of education levels and economic backgrounds incorporating a wide variety of ‘labour intensive activities without mechanisation.

Keywords: gold, base metal, anomaly, threshold

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Authors: Ana Paula Soares, Alexandrina Lages, Helena Oliveira, Francisco-Javier Gutiérrez-Domínguez, Marisa Lousada

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From an early age, exposure to a spoken language allows us to implicitly capture the structure underlying the succession of the speech sounds in that language and to segment it into meaningful units (words). Statistical learning (SL), i.e., the ability to pick up patterns in the sensory environment even without intention or consciousness of doing it, is thus assumed to play a central role in the acquisition of the rule-governed aspects of language and possibly to lie behind the language difficulties exhibited by children with development language disorder (DLD). The research conducted so far has, however, led to inconsistent results, which might stem from the behavioral tasks used to test SL. In a classic SL experiment, participants are first exposed to a continuous stream (e.g., syllables) in which, unbeknownst to the participants, stimuli are grouped into triplets that always appear together in the stream (e.g., ‘tokibu’, ‘tipolu’), with no pauses between each other (e.g., ‘tokibutipolugopilatokibu’) and without any information regarding the task or the stimuli. Following exposure, SL is assessed by asking participants to discriminate between triplets previously presented (‘tokibu’) from new sequences never presented together during exposure (‘kipopi’), i.e., to perform a two-alternative-forced-choice (2-AFC) task. Despite the widespread use of the 2-AFC to test SL, it has come under increasing criticism as it is an offline post-learning task that only assesses the result of the learning that had occurred during the previous exposure phase and that might be affected by other factors beyond the computation of regularities embedded in the input, typically the likelihood two syllables occurring together, a statistic known as transitional probability (TP). One solution to overcome these limitations is to assess SL as exposure to the stream unfolds using online techniques such as event-related potentials (ERP) that is highly sensitive to the time-course of the learning in the brain. Here we collected ERPs to examine the neurofunctional correlates of SL in preschool children with DLD, and chronological-age typical language development (TLD) controls who were exposed to an auditory stream in which eight three-syllable nonsense words, four of which presenting high-TPs and the other four low-TPs, to further analyze whether the ability of DLD and TLD children to extract-word-like units from the steam was modulated by words’ predictability. Moreover, to ascertain if the previous knowledge of the to-be-learned-regularities affected the neural responses to high- and low-TP words, children performed the auditory SL task, firstly, under implicit, and, subsequently, under explicit conditions. Although behavioral evidence of SL was not obtained in either group, the neural responses elicited during the exposure phases of the SL tasks differentiated children with DLD from children with TLD. Specifically, the results indicated that only children from the TDL group showed neural evidence of SL, particularly in the SL task performed under explicit conditions, firstly, for the low-TP, and, subsequently, for the high-TP ‘words’. Taken together, these findings support the view that children with DLD showed deficits in the extraction of the regularities embedded in the auditory input which might underlie the language difficulties.

Keywords: development language disorder, statistical learning, transitional probabilities, word segmentation

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