Search results for: strong correlation

Authors: K. M. Somawathie, V. Rizliya, H. A. M. Wickrmasinghe, Terrence Madhujith

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The main objective of our study was to determine the in vitro antioxidant and DNA protectant activity of aqueous extract of S. melongena with different skin colors; dark purple (DP), moderately purple (MP), light purple (LP) and purple and green (PG). The antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging assay, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), ferric thiocyanate (FTC) and the egg yolk model. The effectiveness of eggplant extracts against radical induced DNA damage was also determined. There was a significant difference (p < 0.0001) between the skin color and antioxidant activity. TPC and FRAP values of eggplant extracts ranged from 48.67±0.27-61.11±0.26 (mg GAE/100 g fresh weight) and 4.19±0.11-7.46±0.26 (mmol of FeS04/g of fresh weight) respectively. MP displayed the highest percentage of DPPH radical scavenging activity while, DP demonstrated the strongest total antioxidant capacity. In the FTC and egg yolk model, DP and MP showed better antioxidant activity than PG and LP. All eggplant extracts showed potent antioxidant activity in retaining DNA against AAPH mediated radical damage. DP and MP demonstrated better antioxidant activity which may be attributed to the higher phenolic content since a positive correlation was observed between the TPC and the antioxidant parameters.

Keywords: Solanum melongena, skin color, antioxidant, DNA protection, lipid peroxidation

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Authors: M. M. Alsharif

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4-Nonylphenol Compound is widely used as an element of detergents, paints, insecticides and many others products. It is known that the existence of this compound may lead to the emission of estrogenic responses in mammals, birds and fish. It is described as pollutant since it causes disorder of endocrine glands. In previous studies, it was proven that this compound exists in water and in the materials precipitated in Red Sea coast in Jeddah near the drains of processed drainage water and near the drainage site of the residuals of paper factories. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the cytogenetic aberrations caused by 4-nonylphenol through exposing Talapia Fishes to aquatic solution of the compound with 0, 15, 30 microgram/liter for one month. Samples of gills and liver were collected for micronuclei, nuclear abnormalities and measuring DNA and RNA amount in the treated fish. The results pointed out that there is a significant increase in the numbers of micronuclei in the fish exposed to the former concentrations as compared to the control group. Exposing fishes to 4-nonylphenol resulted in an increased amount of both DNA and RNA, compared to the control group. There is a positive correlation between the amount of the compound (i.e. dosage dependent effect) and the inspiring for cytogenetic effect on Talapia fishes in Jeddah. Therefore, micronucleus test, DNA and RNA contents can be considered as an index of cumulative exposure, which appear to be a sensitive model to evaluate genotoxic effects of 4-Nonylphenol compound on fish.

Keywords: genotoxic, 4-nonylphenol, micronuclei, fish, DNA, RNA

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Authors: Rezala Houria, Valverde Jose Luis, Romero Amaya, Molinari Alessandra, Maldotti Andrea

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The escalation of oil prices in 1973 confronted the oil industry with the problem of how to maximize the processing of crude oil, especially the heavy fractions, to give gasoline components. Strong impetus was thus given to the development of catalysts with relatively large pore sizes, which were able to deal with larger molecules than the existing molecular sieves, and with good thermal and hydrothermal stability. The oil embargo in 1973 therefore acted as a stimulus for the investigation and development of pillared clays. Iron doped titania-pillared montmorillonite clays was prepared using bentonite from deposits of Maghnia in western-Algeria. The preparation method consists of differents steps (purification of the raw bentonite, preparation of a pillaring agent solution and exchange of the cations located between the clay layers with the previously formed iron/titanium solution). The characterization of this material was carried out by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, textural measures by BET method, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance UV visible spectroscopy, temperature- programmed desorption of ammonia and atomic absorption.This new material was investigated as photocatalyst for selective oxygenation of the liquid alkylaromatics such as: toluene, paraxylene and orthoxylene and the photocatalytic properties of it were compared with those of the titanium-pillared clays.

Keywords: iron doping, montmorillonite clays, pillared clays, oil industry

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Authors: Mahdi Jalili

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Functional connectivity in the human brain can be represented as a network using electroencephalography (EEG) signals. Network representation of EEG time series can be an efficient vehicle to understand the underlying mechanisms of brain function. Brain functional networks – whose nodes are brain regions and edges correspond to functional links between them – are characterized by neurobiologically meaningful graph theory metrics. This study investigates the degree to which graph theory metrics are sex dependent. To this end, EEGs from 24 healthy female subjects and 21 healthy male subjects were recorded in eyes-closed resting state conditions. The connectivity matrices were extracted using correlation analysis and were further binarized to obtain binary functional networks. Global and local efficiency measures – as graph theory metrics– were computed for the extracted networks. We found that male brains have a significantly greater global efficiency (i.e., global communicability of the network) across all frequency bands for a wide range of cost values in both hemispheres. Furthermore, for a range of cost values, female brains showed significantly greater right-hemispheric local efficiency (i.e., local connectivity) than male brains.

Keywords: EEG, brain, functional networks, network science, graph theory

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Authors: Mona Hamdy, Iman Shaheen, Hadeel Seif Eldin, Basma Ali, Omnia Abdeldayem

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Summary: Bone involvement of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients varies from acute clinical manifestations of painful vaso-occlusive crises or osteomyelitis to more chronic affection of bone mineral density (BMD) and debilitating osteonecrosis and osteoporosis. Secreted klotho protein is involved in calcium (Ca) reabsorption in the kidney. This study aimed to measure serum klotho levels in children with SCD to determine the possibility of using it as a marker of low BMD in children with SCD in correlation with a dual-energy radiograph absorptiometry scan. This study included 60 sickle disease patients and 30 age-matched and sex-matched control participants without SCD. A highly statistically significant difference was found between patients with normal BMD and those with low BMD, with serum Ca and klotho levels being lower in the latter group. Klotho serum level correlated positively with both serum Ca and BMD. Serum klotho level showed 94.9% sensitivity and 95.2% specificity in the detection of low BMD. Both serum Ca and klotho serum levels may be useful markers for detection of low BMD related to SCD with high sensitivity and specificity; however, klotho may be a better indicator as it is less affected by the nutritional and endocrinal status of patients or by intake of Ca supplements.

Keywords: sickle cell disease, BMD, osteoporosis, DEXA, klotho

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Authors: Siqi Qiu, Yijian Zheng, Xin Guo Ming

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In many reliability and risk analysis, failures of components are supposed to be independent. However, in reality, the ignorance of failure dependencies among components may render the results of reliability and risk analysis incorrect. There are two principal ways to incorporate failure dependencies in system reliability and risk analysis: implicit and explicit methods. In the implicit method, failure dependencies can be modeled by joint probabilities, correlation values or conditional probabilities. In the explicit method, certain types of dependencies can be modeled in a fault tree as mutually independent basic events for specific component failures. In this paper, explicit and implicit methods based on BDD will be proposed to evaluate the reliability of systems considering failure dependencies. The obtained results prove the equivalence of the proposed implicit and explicit methods. It is found that the consideration of failure dependencies decreases the reliability of systems. This observation is intuitive, because more components fail due to failure dependencies. The consideration of failure dependencies helps designers to reduce the dependencies between components during the design phase to make the system more reliable.

Keywords: reliability assessment, risk assessment, failure dependencies, binary decision diagram

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Authors: M. H. Aldahrob, A. Kokce, S. Altindal, H. E. Lapa

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In order to obtain the detailed information about the effect of (Zn-doped PVA) interfacial layer, surface states (Nss) and series resistance (Rs) on electrical characteristics, both Au/n- type 4H-SiC (MS) with and without (Zn doped PVA) interfacial layer were fabricated to compare. The main electrical parameters of them were investigated using forward and reverse bias current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage (C-V) and conductance –voltage (G/W –V) measurements were performed at room temperature. Experimental results show that the value of ideality factor (n), zero –bias barrier height (ΦBo), Rs, rectifier rate (RR=IF/IR) and the density of Nss are strong functions interfacial layer and applied bias voltage. The energy distribution profile of Nss was obtained from forward bias I-V data by taking into account voltage dependent effective BH (ΦBo) and ideality factor (n(V)). Voltage dependent profile of Rs was also obtained both by using Ohm’s law and Nicollian and Brew methods. The other main diode parameters such as the concentration of doping donor atom (ND), Fermi energy level (EF).BH (ΦBo), depletion layer with (WD) were obtained by using the intercept and slope of the reverse bias C-2 vs V plots. It was found that (Zn-doped PVA) interfacial layer lead to a quite decrease in the values Nss, Rs and leakage current and increase in shunt resistance (Rsh) and RR. Therefore, we can say that the use of thin (Zn-doped PVA) interfacial layer can quite improved the performance of MS structure.

Keywords: interfacial polymer layer, thickness dependence, electric and dielectric properties, series resistance, interface state

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Authors: Sayed Abdallah Mohamed Dahy

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Aswan High Dam Reservoir extends for 500 km along the Nile River; it is a vast reservoir in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. It was created as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam between 1958 and 1970; about 95% of the main water resources for Egypt are from it. The purpose of this study is to discuss and understand the effect of the fluctuation of the water level in the reservoir on natural and human-induced environmental like earthquakes in the Aswan area, Egypt. In summary, the correlation between the temporal variations of earthquake activity and water level changes in the Aswan reservoir from 1982 to 2014 are investigated and analyzed. This analysis confirms a weak relation between the fluctuation of the water level and earthquake activity in the area around Aswan reservoir. The result suggests that the seismicity in the area becomes active during a period when the water level is decreasing from the maximum to the minimum. Behavior of the water level in this reservoir characterized by a special manner that is the unloading season extends to July or August, and the loading season starts to reach its maximum in October or November every year. Finally, daily rate of change in the water level did not show any direct relation with the size of the earthquakes, hence, it is not possible to be used as a single tool for prediction.

Keywords: Aswan high dam reservoir, earthquake activity, environmental, Egypt

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Authors: Shilpagauri Prasad Ganpule

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The teaching of drama is considered as the most significant and noteworthy area in an ESL classroom. Diverse innovative techniques can be used to make the teaching of drama worthwhile and interesting. The paper presents the different innovative techniques that can be used while teaching Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House [2007]. The innovative techniques facilitate students’ understanding and comprehension of the text. The use of the innovative techniques makes them explore the dramatic text and uncover a multihued arena of meanings hidden in it. They arouse the students’ interest and assist them overcome the difficulties created by the second language. The diverse innovative techniques appeal to the imagination of the students and increase their participation in the classroom. They help the students in the appreciation of the dramatic text and make the teaching learning situation a fruitful experience for both the teacher and students. The students successfully overcome the problem of L2 comprehension and grasp the theme, story line and plot-structure of the play effectively. The innovative techniques encourage a strong sense of participation on the part of the students and persuade them to learn through active participation. In brief, the innovative techniques promote the students to perform various tasks and expedite their learning process. Thus the present paper makes an attempt to present varied innovative techniques that can be used while teaching drama. It strives to demonstrate how the use of innovative techniques improve and enhance the students’ understanding and appreciation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House [2007].

Keywords: ESL classroom, innovative techniques, students’ participation, teaching of drama

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Authors: Khaoula Azraiel, Mohamed Mehdi Abassi, Amel Sadraoui, Walid Hammami, Azouz Msaddek, Imed Cheikh, Maria Mancebo, Elisabet Perez-Navarro, Antonio Caruz, Henda Triki, Ahlem Djebbi

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IL28B rs12979860 genotype is confirmed as an important predictor of response to peginterferon/ribavirin therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). IFNL4 ss469415590 is a newly discovered polymorphism that could also affect the sustained virological response (SVR). The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of IL28B and IFNL4 genotypes with peginterferon/ribavirin treatment response in Tunisians patients with CHC and to determine which of these SNPs, was the stronger marker. A total of 120 patients were genotyped for both rs12979860 and ss469415590 polymorphisms. The association of each genetic marker with SVR was analyzed and comparison between the two SNPs was calculated by logistic regression models. For rs12979860, 69.6% of patients with CC, 41.8% with CT and 42.8% with TT achieved SVR (p = 0.003). Regarding ss469415590, 70.4% of patients with TT/TT genotype achieved SVR compared to 42.8% with TT/ΔG and 37.5% with ΔG /ΔG (p = 0.002). The presence of CC and TT/TT genotypes was independently associated with treatment response with an OR of 3.86 for each. In conclusion, both IL28B rs12979860 and IFNL4 ss469415590 variants were associated with response to pegIFN/RBV in Tunisian patients, without any additional benefit in performance for IFNL4. Our results are different from those detected in Sub-Saharan Africa countries.

Keywords: Hepatitis C virus, IFNL4, IL28B, Peginterferon/ribavirin, polymorphism

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Authors: Teboho Moja, Frans Swanepoel, Okunade Samuel Kehinde

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Knowledge production is key to development worldwide. However, some countries are producers of knowledge used globally, whilst others are mainly consumers of that knowledge. There is a correlation between knowledge production and funding levels for research. Countries in Africa recognize the need to provide research funding at levels that would enhance knowledge production but struggle in balancing many competing needs. African countries have committed to funding research at the level of 1% of their GDP on research and development (R&D), which is the recommended percentage to be earmarked for education; however, many countries have not been able to fulfill this. In 2015-2016 Science Granting Councils in 15 out of 54 African states came together to form a Science Granting Council Initiative to strengthen the research capacity in their countries and to support research and evidence-based policies that will contribute to the continent’s economic and social development. The members of the SGCI work collaboratively; however, there is a challenge in addressing research problems that cut across national boundaries as many governments are more interested in prioritizing national issues given their limited resources. This article focuses on the governance structures of those science granting councils to understand and explore reasons for the continuing underfunding of research, the impact of research, and the perceived direct benefit of research outcomes in informing policy and in benefitting the broader society.

Keywords: research, Science Granting Council, funding, European Research Council, African Research Council

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Authors: Rhadinia Tayag-Relanes, Felina C. Young

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This study was conducted to analyze the noodle production process at Yan Hu Food Manufacturing for the basis of production improvement. The study utilized the PDCA approach and record review in the gathering of data for the calendar year 2019 from August to October data of the noodle products miki, canton, and misua. Causal-comparative research was used in this study; it attempts to establish cause-effect relationships among the variables such as descriptive statistics and correlation, both were used to compute the data gathered. The study found that miki, canton, and misua production has different cycle time sets for each production and has different production outputs in every set of its production process and a different number of wastages. The company has not yet established its allowable rejection rate/ wastage; instead, this paper used a 1% wastage limit. The researcher recommended the following: machines used for each process of the noodle product must be consistently maintained and monitored; an assessment of all the production operators by checking their performance statistically based on the output and the machine performance; a root cause analysis for finding the solution must be conducted; and an improvement on the recording system of the input and output of the production process of noodle product should be established to eliminate the poor recording of data.

Keywords: continuous improvement, process, operations, PDCA

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Authors: Howard Gomwe, Eunice Seekoe

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There is arguably dearth of literature regarding body physical fitness and body composition amongst primary schools in South Africa. For this reason, the study is aimed at investigating and accessing how body composition relates to physical fitness amongst learners between 9 – 14 years of age in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. In order to achieve this, a school-based cross-sectional survey was carried out among 876 primary school learners aged 9 to14 years. Body composition indicators were measured and/or calculated, whilst physical fitness was evaluated by a 20 m shuttle run, push-ups, sit and reach as well as sit-ups, according to the EUROFIT fitness standards. Out of 876 participants, a total of 870 were retained. Of these, 351 (40.34%) were boys and 519 (59.66%) were girls. The average age of learners was 11.04 ± 1.50 years, with boys having a importantly (p = 0.002) higher average age (M = 11.24; SD = 1.51 years) as compared to that of girls (M = 10.91; SD = 1.48 years). The non-parametric Spearman Rho correlation coefficients revealed several significant and negative relationships between body composition measurements with physical fitness characteristics, which were stronger in girls than in boys. The findings advocate for policy makers and responsible authorities to initiate the development of policies and interventions targeted at encouraging physical activity and healthy promotion among primary school learners in South Africa, especially in girls.

Keywords: BMI, body composition, physical fitness, children

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Authors: Fathi Ali Swaid

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The CBR test is widely used in the assessment of granular materials in base, subbase and subgrade layers of road and airfield pavements. Despite the success of this method, but it depends on a limited numbers of soil samples. This limitation do not adequately account for the spatial variability of soil properties. Thus, assessment is derived using these cursory soil data are likely to contain errors and thus make interpretation and soil characterization difficult. On the other hand quantitative methods of soil inventory at the field scale involve the design and adoption of sampling regimes and laboratory analysis that are time consuming and costly. In the latter case new technologies are required to efficiently sample and observe the soil in the field. This is particularly the case where soil bearing capacity is prevalent, and detailed quantitative information for determining its cause is required. In this paper, an electrical resistivity method DC is described and its application in Elg'deem Dirt road, located in Gasser Ahmad - Misurata, Libya. Results from the DC instrument were found to be correlated with the CBR values (r2 = 0.89). Finally, it is noticed that, the correlation can be used with experience for determining CBR value using basic soil electrical resistivity measurements and checked by few CBR test representing a similar range of CBR.

Keywords: California bearing ratio, basic soil electrical resistivity, CBR, soil, subgrade, new technologies

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Authors: Nurul Imansari

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The study object in this research is 'pregnancy and women’s subjectivity represented in Ali’s Brick Lane, Cusk’s Arlington Park, and McGregor’s If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'. Pregnancy is invested with both figurative and literal significance in the novels. Being a symbol of domesticity of the woman in the novels, pregnancy conveys the relationship of the women due to their role as a mother and wife in a family and their subjectivity as a woman. The aim of this study is to examine to what extent pregnancy affects the subjectivity of woman in Ali’s 'Brick Lane', Cusk’s 'Arlington Park', and McGregor’s 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'. It also discusses on how pregnancy can be seen as a symbolic sense and the things that symbolise it. The study uses theoretical ideas of female subjectivity proposed by Julia Kristeva. She stated that in patriarchal culture, the meaning of a woman is always being reduced to the function of reproduction. She has emphasized a new discourse about pregnancy that recognizes the importance of maternal function in the development of subjectivity and in culture. The result shows that the three novels represent pregnancy as something which can affect women’s subjectivity but the way in representing the pregnancy are different from each other. Kristeva’s idea about pregnancy and women’s subjectivity can be applied in both Cusk’s Arlington Park, and McGregor’s If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things as the characters in the texts come from the same background as her. However, it can hardly be applied to Ali’s Brick Lane because this idea can justify the women to choose their own way and South Asian culture still bound to the strong patriarchal system.

Keywords: culture, pregnancy, subjectivity, women

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Authors: Saad Saif

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Tourism promotion in the digital age is significantly influenced by social media, particularly in developing travel markets such as Pakistan. This study examines how travel bloggers use social media to inspire people to plan journeys and increase trust in destinations. It examines how trustworthiness works as a moderator to enhance the legitimacy of social media posts. This study aims to comprehend the dynamics of social media's influence on the travel and tourism industry. This study investigates the influence of travel bloggers' content, with a focus on tone (positive/negative) and emotional intensity (strong/weak), on prospective Pakistani travelers' travel preferences and levels of trust toward a particular location. The study used an experimental design to validate its hypotheses. The results indicate that the emotive content and tone of bloggers influence travel intentions and that destination trust mediates this relationship. It is interesting to observe that variations in the emotional intensity of positive and negative ratings are not always accompanied by changes in destination trust and travel intent. In addition, the influence of a blogger's review tone on travel intention and destination trust is moderated by the credibility of online reviews, whereas the influence of emotional intensity on these outcomes is unaffected by review credibility.

Keywords: tourism marketing, destination trust, travel intention, trustworthiness

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Authors: Muhammad Waqas, Shahan Waheed, Mohsin Qadeer, Ehsan Bari, Salman Ahmed, Iqra Patoli

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Objective: To determine the value of aPTT, platelets and INR as the predictor of unfavorable outcomes in patients with blunt isolated traumatic brain injury. Methods: This was an observational cohort study conducted in a tertiary care facility from 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2012. All the patients with isolated traumatic brain injury presenting within 24 hours of injury were included in the study. Coagulation parameters at presentation were recorded and Glasgow Outcome Scale calculated on last follow up. Outcomes were dichotomized into favorable and unfavorable outcomes. Relationship of coagulopathy with GOS and unfavorable outcomes was calculated using Spearman`s correlation and area under curve ROC analysis. Results: 121 patients were included in the study. The incidence of coagulopathy was found to be 6 %. aPTT was found to a significantly associated with unfavorable outcomes with an AUC = 0.702 (95%CI = 0.602-0.802). Predictive value of platelets and INR was not found to be significant. Conclusion: Incidence of coagulopathy was found to be low in current population compared to data from the West. aPTT was found to be a good predictor of unfavorable outcomes compared with other parameters of coagulation.

Keywords: aPTT, coagulopathy, unfavorable outcomes, parameters

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Authors: Fabian Flintoff

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The nature of the workforce has changed radically over the last 50 years in terms of a wide range of factors, including its education levels, gender composition, and the status of workers. Despite extensive changes to the structure of the workforce, lawmakers and judges have shown a reluctance to reshape employment law. In particular, employment laws have not kept pace with the extensive use of flexible forms of employment, whether part-time, casual or agency employees. This paper focuses on recent attempts at legislative change in the state/provincial and federal jurisdictions in both Australia and Canada. Australian and Canadian employment laws share a common heritage and many similarities. However, there are significant differences in the way in which employment-based disputes are resolved. The Australian component of the paper considers the changes made by the Federal conservative Coalition government in 2021. The paper also reviews the proposals for change to regulating the gig economy made by the Canadian Federal government in the 2021 budget and the idea of a rebuttable presumption in favor of an employment relationship over a contract for services. The paper suggests that there are considerable institutional impediments to achieving pragmatic law reform that balances the interests of workers and employers. It concludes that there are strong interests in the legal and labor law community for continuing the status quo, despite the fact that it may negatively impact the most marginalized members of the workforce in Australia, Canada, and other jurisdictions.

Keywords: employment law, flexible employment, labor law, legislative reform

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Authors: Hummad Ch. Umar

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Most of the developing economies, including Pakistan, are confronted with high level of external debt which is adversely affecting their economic performance. The hypothesis of debt overhang is often used to assess the negative relationship between foreign debt and the economic growth of the indebted country. As first objective of the present study, this hypothesis is tested by using Pooled OLS (POLS), Generalized Method of Moment (GMM), Random Effect (RE), and Fixed effect (FE) techniques. As second objective, the study uses the concept of debt Laffer Curve to determine the eligibility condition of the indebted countries for the relief programs. According to this approach, countries lying on the right side of the Laffer Curve are stated to be trapped in the strong debt overhang making them unable to come out of the vicious circle of low growth and high foreign debt. The empirical analysis confirms that only two countries out of twenty two completely fulfill the conditions of being eligible for the debt relief. All other countries continue to face debt burden of different magnitudes. The study further confirms that the debt relief alone is not sufficient for overcoming the debt problem. Instead, sound economic policies and conducive investment decisions are required to lay the foundations of long-term growth and development. Debt relief should be the option for only those countries that meet a minimum measurable criterion of good governance, economic freedom, and consistency of policies.

Keywords: external debt, debt burden, debt overhang, debt laffer curve, debt relief, investment decisions

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Authors: Ruben Dario Tovar-Valencia, Eshan Ganju, Fei Han, Monica Prezzi, Rodrigo Salgado

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Particle breakage occurs even in strong silica sand particles. There is compelling evidence that suggests that particle breakage causes changes in several properties such as permeability, peak strength, dilatancy and critical state friction angle. Current pile design methods that are based on soil properties do not account for particle breakage that occurs during driving or jacking of displacement piles. This may lead to significant overestimation of pile capacity in sands dominated by particles susceptible to breakage, such as carbonate sands. The objective of this paper is to study the influence of shear displacement on particle breakage and friction angle of carbonate sands, and to furthermore quantify the change in friction angle observed with different levels of particle breakage. To study the phenomenon of particle breakage, multiple ring shear tests have been performed at different levels of vertical confinement on a thoroughly characterized carbonate sand to find i) the shear displacement necessary to reach stable friction angles and ii) the effect of particle breakage on the mobilized friction angle of the tested sand. The findings of this study can potentially be used to update the current pile design methods by developing a friction angle which is a function of shear displacement and breakage characteristics of the sand instead of being a constant value.

Keywords: breakage, carbonate sand, friction angle, pile design, ring shear test

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Authors: Viktorija Mano

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The objective of my research is to critique the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stance on foreign investment and the benefits for small, open economies of allowing the free movement of capital. In my research as a whole I will explore the extent to which this stance impacted upon and influenced the economic policies of Macedonia. This will involve providing a contextualized, critical account of the policy of the IMF focusing on a comparison of its policies during the early 2000s through policy documents, political discourse and enacted policies in Macedonia. The conditionality associated with these policies, such as the enforcement of austerity measures (including cutting public spending and reducing debt) and the privatization of public institutions has provoked strong reactions in countries which receive such loans. My main focus in my research is on exploring how the process of Financial Liberalization (FL) of the Macedonian economy affected capital flows in the form of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the private sector and how the recent Greek crisis of 2008 has impacted on this. In the case of Macedonia, the reality of FL was tested by the collapse of the Greek economy. However, this paper will highlight the main duties of the IMF and the goals of the FL process implemented in various countries.Additionally, I will undertake a rhetorical documentary analysis on the IMF reports regarding the process of FL in Macedonia since its independence until today.

Keywords: FDI, financial liberalization, Greece, IMF, Macedonia

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Authors: Eman Al-khateeba, Ebaa Al-Zayadneha, Osama Al-Dalahmahb, Zeinab Alawadib, Faisal Khatiba, Randa Naffaa, Yanal Shafagoj

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The purpose of the current study was to examine the association of plasma copper and lipid concentrations with changes in cognitive function in elderly Jordanian individuals. The study population consisted of two groups; 52 subjects with dementia, and 50 controls. All individuals were screened with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clock drawing test (CDT).Serum copper and lipid profile were assessed in all subjects, and the results were statistically evaluated at P < 0.05 level of significance. Dementia group had 10.1 % higher copper levels than controls however the difference was not statistically significant. No significant differences could be found between the two groups in lipid profile levels. There was no significant correlation between serum copper, lipid profile and cognitive decline in elderly Jordanians. Demographic variables indicate that educational level less than 12 years and illiterate demonstrated a 3.29 fold (p=0.026) and 6.29 fold (p=0.002) increase in risk of developing dementia, respectively. While coffee intake showed a protective effect against cognitive decline with 6.25 fold lower risk with increased coffee intake.

Keywords: copper, cholesterol, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, lipid profile, coffee

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Authors: Guebli Abdelkader, Reguieg Madani, Belkadi Adel, Sbaa Bouabdellah

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The identification of mechanical variables in the motor performance trajectory has a prominent role in improving skill performance, error-exceeding, it contributes seriously to solving some problems of learning and training. The study aims to highlight the indicators of motor performance for Paralympic athletes during the practicing sports between modelling and between excellence in motor performance, this by taking into account the distinction of athlete practicing with special behavioral skills for the Paralympic athletes. In the study, we relied on the analysis of some previous research of biomechanical performance indicators during some of the events sports (shooting activities in the Paralympic athletics, shooting skill in the wheelchair basketball). The results of the study highlight the distinction of disabled practitioners of sporting events identified in motor performance during practice, by overcoming some physics indicators in human movement, as a lower center of body weight, increase in offset distance, such resistance which requires them to redouble their efforts. However, the results of the study highlighted the strength of the correlation between biomechanical variables of motor performance and the digital level achievement similar to the other practitioners normal.

Keywords: sports, the disabled, motor performance, Paralympic

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Authors: Ada Rocha, Beatriz Almeida, Cláudia Viegas

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Considering the growing trend of food consumption outside the home, Food Service units (FSU) achieved importance and responsibility in feeding the population. FSU have a strong environmental impact since the large-scale production of meals implies a high use of resources and produce high amounts of waste with economic and environmental consequences. At the end of 2019, with the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, this effort towards sustainability was affected by the contingency measures imposed to stop the spread of the virus. Preventive measures in FSU, include the provision of cutlery and paper napkins in individual bags, the use of disposable paper towels, the supply of individual portions of bread and spices, as well as bottled water. These measures are, in many cases, a setback and an obstacle to the implementation of more sustainable practices and imply greater consumption of natural resources and materials. The present study aimed to assess the impact of the implementation of the contingency measures for the Covid-19 pandemic on the environmental practices of FSU in Portugal. A questionnaire was developed to characterize the FSU and the impact of the implementation of contingency measures for the Covid-19 pandemic. A great impact of the implementation of the contingency measures in the sustainability of FSU was observed, highlighting concerns about the need to keep these measures, some of them adopted due to fear of the unknown and its consequences on an ongoing successful process. Policymakers should keep only the ones that may prove to be efficient and positive and abandon or relieve the unnecessary ones.

Keywords: COVID-19, environment, food service, sustainability, SGD

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Authors: Muthukuda Arachchige Dona Shiroma Jeeva Shirajanie Niriella

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Suppressing terrorism and ensuring peace and security of the people is one of the topics which have gained serious attention of the world community. Commissions of terrorist activities, locally and internationally lead to an uncertainty of peace and security, violations of human rights of the people. Thereby it demands stringent security laws and strong criminal justice systems, both at domestic and international levels. This paper intends to evaluate security laws in Sri Lanka through the criminal justice perspective, including their efficacy in relation to combat terrorism. The paper further intends to discuss the importance of such laws in upholding the peace and security at both local and universal levels. The paper argues that the term ‘efficacy’ does not stand for, sending people to jail at large-scale, but the ability to combat terrorism crime without violating the rights of the innocent people. The qualitative research method is followed to conduct this research which contains an extensive examination of security laws available as counter-terrorism laws in Sri Lanka with the relevant international standards adopted by the UN treaties. Primary sources which are relevant to the research, including judicial pronouncements are also discussed in this regard. Secondary sources such as reports, research articles and textbooks on this topic and information available on the internet are also reviewed in this analysis.

Keywords: terrorism, security laws, criminal justice system, Sri Lanka, international treaty law

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Authors: Yasser Rammah, Wolf-Christian Mueller

Abstract:

Nonlinear triad interactions in incompressible three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (3D-MHD) turbulence are studied by analyzing data from high-resolution direct numerical simulations of decaying isotropic (5123 grid points) and forced anisotropic (10242 x256 grid points) turbulence. An accurate numerical approach toward analyzing nonlinear turbulent energy transfer function and triad interactions is presented. It involves the direct numerical examination of every wavenumber triad that is associated with the nonlinear terms in the differential equations of MHD in the inertial range of turbulence. The technique allows us to compute the spectral energy transfer and energy fluxes, as well as the spectral locality property of energy transfer function. To this end, the geometrical shape of each underlying wavenumber triad that contributes to the statistical transfer density function is examined to infer the locality of the energy transfer. Results show that the total energy transfer is local via nonlocal triad interactions in decaying macroscopically isotropic MHD turbulence. In anisotropic MHD, turbulence subject to a strong mean magnetic field the nonlinear transfer is generally weaker and exhibits a moderate increase of nonlocality in both perpendicular and parallel directions compared to the isotropic case. These results support the recent mathematical findings, which also claim the locality of nonlinear energy transfer in MHD turbulence.

Keywords: magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, transfer density function, locality function, direct numerical simulation (DNS)

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Authors: Madhurima Poddar, Vinay Sharma, Shaikh M. Mobin, Rajneesh Misra

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Three 1,8-naphthalimide (NPI) substituted 4,4-difluoroboradiaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) dyads were synthesized via Pd-catalyzed Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction of ethynyl substituted NPI with the meso-, β- and α-halogenated BODIPYs, respectively. The photophysical and electrochemical data reveals considerable electronic communication between the BODIPY and NPI moieties. The electronic absorption spectrum reveals that the substitution of NPI at α position of BODIPY exhibit better electronic communication between the NPI and the BODIPY units. The electronic structures of all the dyads exhibit planar geometries which are in a good correlation with the structures obtained from single crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structures of the dyads exhibit interesting supramolecular interactions. The dyads show good cytocompatibility with the potential of multicolor live-cell imaging; making them excellent candidates for biological applications. The work provides an important strategy of screening the substitution pattern at different position of BODIPYs which will be useful for the design of BODIPY based organic molecules for various optoelectronic applications as well as bio-imaging.

Keywords: bio-imaging studies, cross-coupling, cyclic voltammetry, density functional calculations, fluorescence spectra, single crystal XRD, UV/Vis spectroscopy

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Authors: Melissa Ramirez, Mohammad Awal

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The Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) of a well is a relation between the oil production rate and flowing bottom-hole pressure. This relationship is an important tool for petroleum engineers to understand and predict the well performance. In the petroleum industry, IPR correlations are used to design and evaluate well completion, optimizing well production, and designing artificial lift. The most commonly used IPR correlations models are Vogel and Wiggins, these models are applicable to homogeneous and isotropic reservoir data. In this work, a new IPR model is developed to determine inflow performance relationship of oil wells in a naturally fracture reservoir. A 3D black-oil reservoir simulator is used to develop the oil mobility function for the studied reservoir. Based on simulation runs, four flow rates are run to record the oil saturation and calculate the relative permeability for a naturally fractured reservoir. The new method uses the result of a well test analysis along with permeability and pressure-volume-temperature data in the fluid flow equations to obtain the oil mobility function. Comparisons between the new method and two popular correlations for non-fractured reservoirs indicate the necessity for developing and using an IPR correlation specifically developed for a fractured reservoir.

Keywords: inflow performance relationship, mobility function, naturally fractured reservoir, well test analysis

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Authors: Lubabatu Sada Sodangi

Abstract:

The rapid growth in exchange and accessibility of information via the internet makes many organisations acquire data on their own operation. The aim of data mining is to analyse the different behaviour of a dataset using observation. Although, the subset of the dataset being analysed may not display all the behaviours and relationships of the entire data and, therefore, may not represent other parts that exist in the dataset. There is a range of techniques used in data mining to determine the hidden or unknown information in datasets. In this paper, the performance of two algorithms Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) would be matched using an Adult dataset to find out the percentage of an/the adults that earn > 50k and those that earn <= 50k per year. The two algorithms were studied and compared using IBM SPSS statistics software. The result for CHAID shows that the most important predictors are relationship and education. The algorithm shows that those are married (husband) and have qualification: Bachelor, Masters, Doctorate or Prof-school whose their age is > 41<57 earn > 50k. Also, multilayer perceptron displays marital status and capital gain as the most important predictors of the income. It also shows that individuals that their capital gain is less than 6,849 and are single, separated or widow, earn <= 50K, whereas individuals with their capital gain is > 6,849, work > 35 hrs/wk, and > 27yrs their income will be > 50k. By comparing the two algorithms, it is observed that both algorithms are reliable but there is strong reliability in CHAID which clearly shows that relation and education contribute to the prediction as displayed in the data visualisation.

Keywords: data mining, CHAID, multi-layer perceptron, SPSS, Adult dataset

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Authors: Rabab M. Ramadan, Elaraby A. Elgallad

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With extensive application, the performance of unimodal biometrics systems has to face a diversity of problems such as signal and background noise, distortion, and environment differences. Therefore, multimodal biometric systems are proposed to solve the above stated problems. This paper introduces a bimodal biometric recognition system based on the extracted features of the human palm print and iris. Palm print biometric is fairly a new evolving technology that is used to identify people by their palm features. The iris is a strong competitor together with face and fingerprints for presence in multimodal recognition systems. In this research, we introduced an algorithm to the combination of the palm and iris-extracted features using a texture-based descriptor, the Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT). Since the feature sets are non-homogeneous as features of different biometric modalities are used, these features will be concatenated to form a single feature vector. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is used as a feature selection technique to reduce the dimensionality of the feature. The proposed algorithm will be applied to the Institute of Technology of Delhi (IITD) database and its performance will be compared with various iris recognition algorithms found in the literature.

Keywords: iris recognition, particle swarm optimization, feature extraction, feature selection, palm print, the Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT)

Procedia PDF Downloads 231