Search results for: African region

Authors: V. Fuis, P. Janicek, T. Navrat

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The global solved problem is the calculation of the parameters of ceramic material from a set of destruction tests of ceramic heads of total hip joint endoprosthesis. The standard way of calculation of the material parameters consists in carrying out a set of 3 or 4 point bending tests of specimens cut out from parts of the ceramic material to be analysed. In case of ceramic heads, it is not possible to cut out specimens of required dimensions because the heads are too small (if the cut out specimens were smaller than the normalized ones, the material parameters derived from them would exhibit higher strength values than those which the given ceramic material really has). A special destruction device for heads destruction was designed and the solved local problem is the modification of this destructive device based on the analysis of tensile stress in the head for two different values of the depth of the conical hole in the head. The goal of device modification is a shift of the location with extreme value of 1 max from the region of head’s hole bottom to its opening. This modification will increase the credibility of the obtained material properties of bio ceramics, which will be determined from a set of head destructions using the Weibull weakest link theory.

Keywords: ceramic heads, depth of the conical hole, destruction test, material parameters, principal stress, total hip joint endoprosthesis

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Authors: Ozcan Baris Citil

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The aim of the present study is the determination of the effects of variations in the proximate analysis, cholesterol content and fatty acid compositions of Helix aspersa. Garden snails (Helix aspersa) were picked up by hand from the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey, in autumn (November) in 2015. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and cholesterol analysis were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The protein contents of snail muscle were determined with Kjeldahl distillation units. Statistical comparisons were made by using SPSS Software (version 16.0). Thirty different fatty acids of different saturation levels were detected. As the predominant fatty acids, stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (C18:1ω9), linoleic acid (C18:2ω6), palmitic acid (C16:0), arachidonic acid (C20:4ω6), eicosadienoic acid (C20:2) and linolenic acid (C18:3ω3) were found in Helix aspersa. Palmitic acid (C16:0) was identified as the major SFA in autumn. Linoleic acid (C18:2ω6), eicosadienoic acid (C20:2) and arachidonic acid (C20:4ω6) have the highest levels among the PUFAs. In the present study, ω3 were found 5.48% in autumn. Linolenic acid and omega-3 fatty acid amounts in the autumn decreased significantly but cholesterol content was not affected in Helix aspersa in autumn (November) in 2015.

Keywords: Helix aspersa, fatty acid, SFA, PUFA, cholesterol

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Thiago Ribeiro De Alencar, Jacyro Gramulia Junior, Patricia Teixeira Leite Asano

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The area of the electricity sector that deals with energy needs by the hydropower and thermoelectric in a coordinated way is called Planning Operating Hydrothermal Power Systems. The aim of this area is to find a political operative to provide electrical power to the system in a specified period with minimization of operating cost. This article proposes a computational tool for solving the planning problem. In addition, this article will be introducing a methodology to find new transfer points between reservoirs increasing energy production in hydroelectric power plants cascade systems. The computational tool proposed in this article applies: i) genetic algorithms to optimize the water transfer and operation of hydroelectric plants systems; and ii) Ant Colony algorithm to find the trajectory with the least energy pumping for the construction of pipes transfer between reservoirs considering the topography of the region. The computational tool has a database consisting of 35 hydropower plants and 41 reservoirs, which are part of the southeastern Brazilian system, which has been implemented in an individualized way.

Keywords: ant colony system, genetic algorithms, hydroelectric, hydrothermal systems, optimization, water transfer between rivers

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: Y. Seki, A. Ç. Kılıç, M. Atagür, O. Özdemir, İ. Şen, K. Sever, Ö. Seydibeyoğlu, M. Sarikanat, N. Küçükdoğan

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Cheap and abundant waste materials have been investigated as filler materials in thermoplastic polymers instead of wood- based materials because of deforestation. Vine stem, as an agricultural waste, was used as a filler material for a thermoplastic polymer, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in this study. Agricultural waste of vine stem was collected from Manisa region, Turkey. Vine stem at different rations was used to reinforce HDPE. The effect of vine stem loading on tensile strength and Young’s modulus of composites were obtained. It was clearly observed that tensile strength and Young’s modulus of HDPE was increased by vine stem loading. Thermal stabilities of composites were obtained by using thermogravimetric analysis. Water absorption behavior of HDPE was improved by loading vine stem into HDPE. The crystallinity index values of neat HDPE and vine stem loaded HDPE composites were investigated byX-ray diffraction analysis. From this study, it was inferred that vine stem, as an agricultural waste, can be used as a filler material for HDPE.

Keywords: waste filler, high density polyethylene, composite, composite materials

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Authors: Lisa Shambare, Jean Mulopo, Sehliselo Ndlovu

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One of the major challenges of sustainable development is promoting an industry which is both ecologically durable and economically viable. This requires processes that are material and energy efficient whilst also being able to limit the production of waste and toxic effluents through effective methods of process synthesis and intensification. In South Africa and globally, both miniaturisation and technological advances have substantially increased the amount of electronic wastes (e-waste) generated annually. Vast amounts of e-waste are being generated yearly with only a minute quantity being recycled officially. The passion for electronic devices cannot ignore the scarcity and cost of mining the noble metal resources which contribute significantly to the efficiency of most electronic devices. It has hence become imperative especially in an African context that sustainable strategies which are environmentally friendly be developed for recycling of the noble metals from e-waste. This paper investigates the recovery of gold, silver and palladium from electronic wastes, which consists of a vast array of metals, using ionic liquids which have the potential of reducing the gaseous and aqueous emissions associated with existing hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical technologies while also maintaining the economy of the overall recycling scheme through solvent recovery. The ionic liquids 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium hydrogen sulphate (BmimHSO4) which behaves like a protic acid and was used in the present research for the selective leaching of gold and silver from e-waste. Different concentrations of the aqueous ionic liquid were used in the experiments ranging from 10% to 50%. Thiourea was used as the complexing agent in the investigation with Fe3+ as the oxidant. The pH of the reaction was maintained in the range of 0.8 to 1.5. The preliminary investigations conducted were successful in the leaching of silver and palladium at room temperature with optimum results being at 48hrs. The leaching results could not be explained because of the leaching of palladium with the absence of gold. Hence a conclusion could not be drawn and there was the need for further experiments to be run. The leaching of palladium was carried out with hydrogen peroxide as oxidant and 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium chloride (BmimCl) as the solvent. The experiments at carried out at a temperature of 60 degrees celsius and a very low pH. The chloride ion was used to complex with palladium metal. From the preliminary results, it could be concluded that pretreatment of the treatment e-waste was necessary to improve the efficiency of the metal recovery process. A conclusion could not be drawn for the leaching experiments.

Keywords: BmimCl, BmimHSO4, gold, palladium, silver

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Authors: E. Yazıcı, H. Sundu, E. Veli Veliev

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In order to understand the nature of strong interactions and QCD vacuum, investigation of the meson coupling constants have an important role. The knowledge on the temperature dependence of the form factors is very important for the interpretation of heavy-ion collision experiments. Also, more accurate determination of these coupling constants plays a crucial role in understanding of the hadronic decays. With the increasing of CM energies of the experiments, researches on meson interactions have become one of the more interesting problems of hadronic physics. In this study, we analyze the temperature dependence of the strong form factor of the BcBcJ/ψ vertex using the three point QCD sum rules method. Here, we assume that with replacing the vacuum condensates and also the continuum threshold by their thermal version, the sum rules for the observables remain valid. In calculations, we take into account the additional operators, which appear in the Wilson expansion at finite temperature. We also investigated the momentum dependence of the form factor at T = 0, fit it into an analytic function, and extrapolate into the deep time-like region in order to obtain a strong coupling constant of the vertex. Our results are consistent with the results existing in the literature.

Keywords: QCD sum rules, thermal QCD, heavy mesons, strong coupling constants

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Authors: Noratiqah Mohd Ariff, Abdul Aziz Jemain, Mohd Aftar Abu Bakar

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The construction of Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves is one of the most common and useful tools in order to design hydraulic structures and to provide a mathematical relationship between rainfall characteristics. IDF curves, especially those in Peninsular Malaysia, are often built using moving windows of rainfalls. However, these windows do not represent the actual rainfall events since the duration of rainfalls is usually prefixed. Hence, instead of using moving windows, this study aims to find regionalized distributions for IDF curves of extreme rainfalls based on storm events. Homogeneity test is performed on annual maximum of storm intensities to identify homogeneous regions of storms in Peninsular Malaysia. The L-moment method is then used to regionalized Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution of these annual maximums and subsequently. IDF curves are constructed using the regional distributions. The differences between the IDF curves obtained and IDF curves found using at-site GEV distributions are observed through the computation of the coefficient of variation of root mean square error, mean percentage difference and the coefficient of determination. The small differences implied that the construction of IDF curves could be simplified by finding a general probability distribution of each region. This will also help in constructing IDF curves for sites with no rainfall station.

Keywords: IDF curves, L-moments, regionalization, storm events

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Authors: Thet Su Hlaing, Shoichi Kojima

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The growing desire for better indoor thermal performance with moderate energy consumption is becoming an issue for challenging today’s built environment. Studies related to the effective way of enhancing indoor thermal comfort had been done by approaching in numerous ways. Few studies have been focused on the correlation between building material and indoor thermal comfort of vernacular house. This paper analyzes the thermal comfort conditions of Bamboo House, mostly located in a hot and humid region. Depending on the roofing material, how the indoor environment varies will be observed through monitoring indoor and outdoor comfort measurement of Bamboo house as well as occupants’ preferable comfort condition. The result revealed that the indigenous roofing material mostly influences the indoor thermal environment by performing to have less effect from the outdoor temperature. It can keep the room cool with moderate thermal comfort, especially in the early morning and night, in the summertime without mechanical device assistance. After analyzing the performance of roofing material, which effect on indoor thermal comfort for 24 hours, it can be efficiently managed the time for availing mechanical cooling devices and make it supply only the necessary period of a day, which will lead to a partially reduce energy consumption.

Keywords: bamboo house, hot and humid climate, indoor thermal comfort, local indigenous roofing material

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Authors: Bambang Piscesa, Mario M. Attard, Dwi Presetya, Ali K. Samani

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A numerical strategy formulated using a plasticity approach is presented to model spalling of the concrete cover in reinforced concrete columns. The stage at which the concrete cover within reinforced concrete column spalls has a direct bearing on the load capacity. The concrete cover can prematurely spall before the full cross-section can be utilized if the concrete is very brittle under compression such as for very high strength concretes. If the confinement to the core is high enough, the column can achieve a higher peak load by utilizing the core. A numerical strategy is presented to model spalling of the concrete cover. Various numerical strategies are employed to model the behavior of reinforced concrete columns which include: (1) adjusting the material properties to incorporate restrained shrinkage; (2) modifying the plastic dilation rate in the presence of the tensile pressure; (3) adding a tension cut-off failure surface and (4) giving the concrete cover region and the column core different material properties. Numerical comparisons against experimental results are carried out that shown excellent agreement with the experimental results and justify the use of the proposed strategies to predict the axial load capacity of reinforce concrete columns.

Keywords: spalling, concrete, plastic dilation, reinforced concrete columns

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Authors: Ajit Kumar Yadav, Priyanka Yadav, F. Ram

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In present study is an effort to analyse the burden of diseases in the state. Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) is estimated non-communicable diseases. Multi-rounds (52nd, 60th and 71st round) of the National Sample Surveys (NSSO), conducted in 1995-96, 2004 and 2014 respectively, and Million Deaths Study (MDS) of 2001-03, 2006 and 2013-14 datasets are used. Descriptive and multivariate analyses are carried out to identify the determinants of different types of self-reported morbidity and DALY. The prevalence was higher for population aged 60 and above, among females, illiterates, and rich across the time period and for all the selected morbidities. The results were found to be significant at P<0.001. The estimation of DALY revealed that, the burden of communicable diseases was higher during infancy, noticeably among males than females in 2002. However, females aged 1-5 years were more vulnerable to report communicable diseases than the corresponding males. The age distribution of DALY indicates that individuals aged below 5 years and above 60 year were more susceptible to ill health. The growing incidence of non-communicable diseases especially among the older generations put additional burden on the health system in the state. The state has to grapple with the unsettled preventable infectious diseases in one hand and growing non-communicable in other hand.

Keywords: disease burden, non-communicable, communicable, India and region

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Authors: Z. C. Dlamini, R. L. S. Langa, A. I. Okoh, O. A. Aiyegoro

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The indiscriminate usage of antibiotics in swine production have consequential outcomes; such as development of bacterial resistance to prophylactic antibiotics and possibility of antibiotic residues in animal products. The use of probiotics appears to be the most effective procedure with positive metabolic nutritional implications. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus reuteri ZJ625, Lactobacillus reuteri VB4, Lactobacillus salivarius ZJ614 and Streptococcus salivarius NBRC13956) administered as direct-fed microorganisms in weaned piglets. 45 weaned piglets blocked by weight were dived into 5 treatments groups: diet with antibiotic, diet with no-antibiotic and no probiotic, and diet with probiotic and diet with combination of probiotics. Piglets performance was monitored during the trials. Faecal and Ileum samples were collected for microbial count analysis. Blood samples were collected from pigs at the end of the trial, for analysis of haematological, biochemical and IgG stimulation. The data was analysed by Split-Plot ANOVA using SAS statistically software (SAS 9.3) (2003). The difference was observed between treatments for daily weight and feed conversion ratio. No difference was observed in analysis of faecal samples in regards with bacterial counts, difference was observed in ileums samples with enteric bacteria colony forming unit being lower in P2 treatment group as compared with lactic acid and total bacteria. With exception of globulin and albumin, biochemistry blood parameters were not affected, likewise for haematology, only basophils and segmented neutrophils were differed by having higher concentration in NC treatment group as compared with other treatment groups. Moreover, in IgG stimulation analysis, difference was also observed, with P2 treatment group having high concentration of IgG in P2 treatment group as compared to other groups. The results of this study suggest that probiotics have a beneficial effect on growth performances, blood parameters and IgG stimulation of pigs, most effective when they are administered in synergy form. This means that it is most likely that these probiotics will offer a significant benefit in pig farming by reducing risk of morbidity and mortality and produce quality meat that is more affordable to poorer communities, and thereby enhance South African pig industry’s economy. In addition, these results indicate that there is still more research need to be done on probiotics in regards with, i.e. dosage, shelf life and mechanism of action.

Keywords: antibiotics, biochemistry, haematology, IgG-stimulation, microbial count, probiotics

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Authors: Aziz Larbi, Widad Sadok

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In Morocco, the mountainous regions extend over about 26% of the national territory where 30% of the total population live. They contain opportunities for agriculture, forestry, pastureland and mining. The production systems in these zones are characterised by crop diversification. However, these areas have become vulnerable to the effects of climate change. To understand these effects in relation to the population living in these areas, a study was carried out in the zone of Taliouine, in the Anti-Atlas. The vulnerability of crop productions to climate change was analysed and the different ways of adaptation adopted by farmers were identified. The work was done on saffron, the most profitable crop in the target area even though it requires much water. Our results show that the majority of the farmers surveyed had noticed variations in the climate of the region: irregularity of precipitation leading to a decrease in quantity and an uneven distribution throughout the year; rise in temperature; reduction in the cold period and less snow. These variations had impacts on the cropping system of saffron and its productivity. To cope with these effects, the farmers adopted various strategies: better management and use of water; diversification of agricultural activities; increase in the contribution of non-agricultural activities to their gross income; and seasonal migration.

Keywords: climate change, Taliouine, saffron, perceptions, adaptation strategies

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Authors: Khries Sawsan

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the phenomenon of urbanization is considered as one of the most important tourism resources that differ from one country to another and from one region to another in the same country. Our concern in tourism accommodation is explained by the fact that their location is directly related to the movement to tourist sites .Besides, these constructions comport security considered as the most important motivation for tourists in their choice of any destination. Hotels are the most representative expression of tourism. This is due to their physical prominence in the landscape and being the sole urban component totally unique to tourism. This study sheds light on the impact of tourism development on the spatial pattern in Jordan. It describes the linkages between existing tourism development policies and the spatial development patterns that have occurred as a result throughout Jordan, particularly looking at the impact that tourism has had on the physical environment of major tourism destinations. It puts an illustrative plan of the impact of the augmentation of tourism accommodations in Jordan in the past 40 years ago. The findings of this study help us to understand better the operation of Jordan’ dynamic changes in the location An intensive analysis is then applied on a representative case study in three regions: Amman, Petra and Aqaba. The study proceeds from an historical perspective to, show the evolution of the current development patterns an increase of tourism’s impact on spatial, in the presence of factors as political and economic stability, is expected.

Keywords: spatial patterns, urbanisation, spatial transformations, tourism planning, Jordan

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Authors: Tripatjot S. Panag, J. S. Dhillon

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The lifetime of a wireless sensor network can be effectively increased by using scheduling operations. Once the sensors are randomly deployed, the task at hand is to find the largest number of disjoint sets of sensors such that every sensor set provides complete coverage of the target area. At any instant, only one of these disjoint sets is switched on, while all other are switched off. This paper proposes a heuristic search method to find the maximum number of disjoint sets that completely cover the region. A population of randomly initialized members is made to explore the solution space. A set of heuristics has been applied to guide the members to a possible solution in their neighborhood. The heuristics escalate the convergence of the algorithm. The best solution explored by the population is recorded and is continuously updated. The proposed algorithm has been tested for applications which require sensing of multiple target points, referred to as point coverage applications. Results show that the proposed algorithm outclasses the existing algorithms. It always finds the optimum solution, and that too by making fewer number of fitness function evaluations than the existing approaches.

Keywords: coverage, disjoint sets, heuristic, lifetime, scheduling, Wireless sensor networks, WSN

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Authors: Minho Bang, Seok Min Choi, Jun Su Park, Hokyu Moon, Hyung Hee Cho

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Present study investigates the effect of unsteady wakes on heat transfer in blade tip. Heat/mass transfer was measured in blade tip region depending on a variety of strouhal number by naphthalene sublimation technique. Naphthalene sublimation technique measures heat transfer using a heat/mass transfer analogy. Experiments are performed in linear cascade which is composed of five turbine blades and rotating rods. Strouhal number of inlet flow are changed ranging from 0 to 0.22. Reynolds number is 100,000 based on 11.4 m/s of outlet flow and axial chord length. Three different squealer tip geometries such as base squealer tip, vertical rib squealer tip, and camber line squealer tip are used to study how unsteady wakes affect heat transfer on a blade tip. Depending on squealer tip geometry, different flow patterns occur on a blade tip. Also, unsteady wakes cause reduced tip leakage flow and turbulent flow. As a result, as strouhal number increases, heat/mass transfer coefficients decrease due to the reduced leakage flow. As strouhal number increases, heat/ mass transfer coefficients on a blade tip increase in vertical rib squealer tip.

Keywords: gas turbine, blade tip, heat transfer, unsteady wakes

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Authors: Karen Lesley Webster, Charles Crothers

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As the population of the Auckland region in New Zealand becomes markedly more super-diverse, the question of fair and effective representation becomes increasingly relevant. This paper explores who stood and who was elected to local office, in the three Auckland triennial local elections, following the 2010 amalgamation of the regions local authorities. It addresses the question of how representative the electoral candidates and elected members of local government in Auckland were of the diverse population they serve. A quantitative analysis of the gender and ethnicity of the Auckland Council candidates and elected members in 2013, 2016, and 2019 triennial elections was undertaken, and the gender and ethnicity compared with that of the Auckland population. Our findings show that under the two-tiered shared governance model established by the Local Government Act (Auckland Council) 2009, electoral candidates have become more ethnically and gender representative of Aucklanders at the local level, while at the regional level, divergence from predominantly New Zealand European, male local representatives is emerging, albeit with less pace. These findings warrant further investigation, but overall, the research presents a cautiously optimistic picture of Auckland local democracy in terms of increasing representational diversity.

Keywords: local government, representation, diversity, gender, ethnicity

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Authors: Harishkumar Kamath, Chandrakant R. Kini, N. Yagnesh Sharma

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Gas turbines are highly effective engineered prime movers for converting energy from thermal form (combustion stage) to mechanical form – are widely used for propulsion and power generation systems. One method of increasing both the power output and thermal efficiency is to increase the temperature of the gas entering the turbine. In the advanced gas turbines of today, the turbine inlet temperature can be as high as 1500°C; however, this temperature exceeds the melting temperature of the metal blade. With modern gas turbines operating at extremely high temperatures, it is necessary to implement various cooling methods, so the turbine blades and vanes endure in the path of the hot gases. Merely passing coolant air through the blade does not provide adequate cooling; therefore, it is necessary to implement techniques that will further enhance the heat transfer from the blade walls. It is seen that by incorporating helical grooved passages into the leading edge built on turbulence and higher flow rates through the passages, the blade can be cooled effectively. It seen from the analysis helical grooved passages with diameter 5 mm, helical pitch of 50 mm and 8 starts results in better cooling of turbine blade and gives the best thermal performance.

Keywords: blade cooling, helical grooves, leading edge, numerical analysis

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Authors: Andrey A. Chernousov, Ben Y. B. Chan

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The use of the low-cost paraffinic phase change material can be rather effective in smart building envelopes in the South China region. Particular attention has to be paid to the PCM optimization as an exploitation conditions and the envelope insulation changes its thermal characteristics. The studied smart building envelope consists of a reinforced aluminum exterior, polymeric insulation foam, phase change material and reinforced interior gypsum board. A prototype sample was tested to validate the numerical scheme using EnergryPlus software. Three scenarios of insulation thermal resistance loss (ΔR/R = 0%, 25%, 50%) were compared with the different PCM thicknesses (tP=0, 1, 2.5, 5 mm). The comparisons were carried out for a west facing enveloped office building (50 storey). PCM optimization was applied to find the maximum efficiency for the different ΔR/R cases. It was found, during the optimization, that the PCM is an important smart component, lowering the peak energy demand up to 2.7 times. The results are not influenced by the insulation aging in terms of ΔR/R during long-term exploitation. In hot and humid climates like Hong Kong, the insulation core of the smart systems is recommended to be laminated completely. This can be very helpful in achieving an acceptable payback period.

Keywords: smart building envelope, thermal performance, phase change material, energy efficiency, large-scale sandwich panel

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Authors: Sadia Basar, Naila Habib, Awais Adnan

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The paper presents the Technique for Image Segmentation Using K-Means Clustering Classification. The presented algorithms were specific, however, missed the neighboring information and required high-speed computerized machines to run the segmentation algorithms. Clustering is the process of partitioning a group of data points into a small number of clusters. The proposed method is content-aware and feature extraction method which is able to run on low-end computerized machines, simple algorithm, required low-quality streaming, efficient and used for security purpose. It has the capability to highlight the boundary and the object. At first, the user enters the data in the representation of the input. Then in the next step, the digital image is converted into groups clusters. Clusters are divided into many regions. The same categories with same features of clusters are assembled within a group and different clusters are placed in other groups. Finally, the clusters are combined with respect to similar features and then represented in the form of segments. The clustered image depicts the clear representation of the digital image in order to highlight the regions and boundaries of the image. At last, the final image is presented in the form of segments. All colors of the image are separated in clusters.

Keywords: clustering, image segmentation, K-means function, local and global minimum, region

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Authors: Laras Tursilowati, Bambang Siswanto

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Urban climate change has short- and long-term implications for decision-makers in urban development. The problem for this important metropolitan regional of population and economic value is that there is very little usable information on climate change. Research about urban climate change has been carried out in Bali Indonesia by using Conformal Cubic Atmospheric Model (CCAM) that runs with Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)4.5. The history data means average data from 1975 to 2005, climate projections with RCP4.5 scenario means average data from 2006 to 2099, and anomaly (urban climate change) is RCP4.5 minus history. The results are the history of temperature between 22.5-27.5 OC, and RCP4.5 between 25.5-29.5 OC. The temperature anomalies can be seen in most of northern Bali that increased by about 1.6 to 2.9 OC. There is a reduced humidity tendency (drier) in most parts of Bali, especially the northern part of Bali, while a small portion in the south increase moisture (wetter). The comfort index of Bali region in history is still relatively comfortable (20-26 OC), but on the condition RCP4.5 there is no comfortable area with index more than 26 OC (hot and dry). This research is expected to be useful to help the government make good urban planning.

Keywords: CCAM, comfort index, IPCC AR5, temperature, urban climate change

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Authors: Swapnila V. Vanshiv, Hemant P. Joshi, Atul B. Aware

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Current study illustrates the formulation of floating microspheres for purpose of gastroretention of Dipyridamole which shows pH dependent solubility, with the highest solubility in acidic pH. The formulation involved hollow microsphere preparation by using solvent evaporation technique. Concentrations of rate controlling polymer, hydrophilic polymer, internal phase ratio, stirring speed were optimized to get desired responses, namely release of Dipyridamole, buoyancy of microspheres, entrapment efficiency of microspheres. In the formulation, the floating microspheres were prepared by using ethyl cellulose as release retardant and HPMC as a low density hydrophilic swellable polymer. Formulated microspheres were evaluated for their physical properties such as particle size and surface morphology by optical microscopy and SEM. Entrapment efficiency, floating behavior and drug release study as well the formulation was evaluated for in vivo gastroretention in rabbits using gamma scintigraphy. Formulation showed 75% drug release up to 10 hr with entrapment efficiency of 91% and 88% buoyancy till 10 hr. Gamma scintigraphic studies revealed that the optimized system was retained in the gastric region (stomach) for a prolonged period i.e. more than 5 hr.

Keywords: Dipyridamole microspheres, gastroretention, HPMC, optimization method

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Authors: Jamal Fayazi, Farhad Anoosheh, Mohammad R. Ghorbani, Ali R. Paydar

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In this study, to determine the best non-linear regression model describing the growth curve of native poultry, 9657 chicks of generations 18, 19, and 20 raised in Mazandaran breeding center were used. Fowls and roosters of this center distributed in south of Caspian Sea region. To estimate the genetic variability of none linear regression parameter of growth traits, a Gibbs sampling of Bayesian analysis was used. The average body weight traits in the first day (BW1), eighth week (BW8) and twelfth week (BW12) were respectively estimated as 36.05, 763.03, and 1194.98 grams. Based on the coefficient of determination, mean squares of error and Akaike information criteria, Gompertz model was selected as the best growth descriptive function. In Gompertz model, the estimated values for the parameters of maturity weight (A), integration constant (B) and maturity rate (K) were estimated to be 1734.4, 3.986, and 0.282, respectively. The direct heritability of BW1, BW8 and BW12 were respectively reported to be as 0.378, 0.3709, 0.316, 0.389, 0.43, 0.09 and 0.07. With regard to estimated parameters, the results of this study indicated that there is a possibility to improve some property of growth curve using appropriate selection programs.

Keywords: direct heritability, Gompertz, growth traits, maturity weight, native poultry

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Authors: Abdul Ganiyu Iddrisu

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Digitization is the process of transforming analog material into digital form, especially for storage and use in a computer. Significant development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past years has encouraged many researchers to investigate its contribution to promoting economic growth, and reducing poverty. Yet compelling empirical evidence on the effects of digitization on economic growth remains weak, particularly in Africa. This is because extant studies that explicitly evaluate digitization and economic growth nexus are mostly reports and desk reviews. This points out an empirical knowledge gap in the literature. Hypothetically, digitization influences financial sector development which in turn influences economic growth. Digitization has changed the financial sector and its operating environment. Obstacles to access to financing, for instance, physical distance, minimum balance requirements, low-income flows among others can be circumvented. Savings have increased, micro-savers have opened bank accounts, and banks are now able to price short-term loans. This has the potential to develop the financial sector, however, empirical evidence on digitization-financial development nexus is dearth. On the other hand, a number of studies maintained that financial sector development greatly influences growth of economies. We therefore argue that financial sector development is one of the transmission mechanisms through which digitization affects economic growth. Employing macro-country-level data from African countries and using fixed effects, random effects and Hausman-Taylor estimation approaches, this paper contributes to the literature by analysing economic growth in Africa focusing on the role of digitization, and financial sector development. First, we assess how digitization influence financial sector development in Africa. From an economic policy perspective, it is important to identify digitization determinants of financial sector development so that action can be taken to reduce the economic shocks associated with financial sector distortions. This nexus is rarely examined empirically in the literature. Secondly, we examine the effect of domestic credit to private sector and stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP as used to proxy for financial sector development on 2 economic growth. Digitization is represented by the volume of digital/ICT equipment imported and GDP growth is used to proxy economic growth. Finally, we examine the effect of digitization on economic growth in the light of financial sector development. The following key results were found; first, digitalization propels financial sector development in Africa. Second, financial sector development enhances economic growth. Finally, contrary to our expectation, the results also indicate that digitalization conditioned on financial sector development tends to reduce economic growth in Africa. However, results of the net effects suggest that digitalization, overall, improves economic growth in Africa. We, therefore, conclude that, digitalization in Africa does not only develop the financial sector but unconditionally contributes the growth of the continent’s economies.

Keywords: digitalization, economic growth, financial sector development, Africa

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Authors: Cenkmen R. Begburs

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In Antalya region, freshwater shrimps are usually collected with scoops and tin traps. However, it can be catched by reef traps in some water sources. Freshwater shrimps are constantly catching for commercial reasons because of a favorite bait for angling. There are more or less damage catching fishing vehicles to the habitat. This study was carried out in the Kırkgöz spring, Antalya and examined the effect of reef traps on the Kırkgöz spring habitat. Reef traps used 18.5x23.5x25 cm perforated bricks are arranged next to each other, blocks of random dimensions are prepared in 5x10, 18x24, 7x8 meter dimensions. These blocks are constructed with two layers of bricks that are covered with various materials such as carpets and blankets. Then, freshwater shrimps enter the holes of bricks. The bricks are closed off from both sides and discharged into a container when it is desired to be caught. The reef traps built on the plants which staying on the plant for a long time have been damaging the vegetation under the reef traps. Fishermen are setting new traps on the plants to increase the fishing efficiency since the freshwater shrimps are among the water plants. As a result, this application disrupts the aquatic organisms in their habitats. It is important to use fishing gears which will cause less damage and conserve stocks for sustainable fishing.

Keywords: reef trap, Antalya, environment, damage

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Authors: J. C. Riaño-Rojas, J. D. Alzate-Cardona, E. Restrepo-Parra

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In this work, a study of generic magnetic nanoparticles varying the metric space is presented. As the metric space is changed, the nanoparticle form and the inner product are also varied, since the energetic scale is not conserved. This study is carried out using Monte Carlo simulations combined with the Wolff embedding and Metropolis algorithms. The Metropolis algorithm is used at high temperature regions to reach the equilibrium quickly. The Wolff embedding algorithm is used at low and critical temperature regions in order to reduce the critical slowing down phenomenon. The ions number is kept constant for the different forms and the critical temperatures using finite size scaling are found. We observed that critical temperatures don't exhibit significant changes when the metric space was varied. Additionally, the effective dimension according the metric space was determined. A study of static behavior for reaching the static critical exponents was developed. The objective of this work is to observe the behavior of the thermodynamic quantities as energy, magnetization, specific heat, susceptibility and Binder's cumulants at the critical region, in order to demonstrate if the magnetic nanoparticles describe their magnetic interactions in the Euclidean space or if there is any correspondence in other metric spaces.

Keywords: nanoparticles, metric, Monte Carlo, critical behaviour

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Authors: Trupti Meher, Harihar Sahoo

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Premature menopause refers to the occurrence of menopause before the age of 40 years. Women who experience premature menopause either due to biological or induced reasons have a longer duration of exposure to severe symptoms and adverse health consequences when compared to those who undergo menopause at a later age, despite the fact that premature menopause has a profound effect on the health of women. This study attempted to determine the prevalence and predictors of premature menopause among women aged 25-39 years, using data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) conducted during 2015–16 in India. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression were used to carry out the result. The results revealed that the prevalence of premature menopause in India was 3.7 percent. Out of which, 2.1 percent of women had experienced natural premature menopause, whereas 1.7 percent had premature surgical menopause. The prevalence of premature menopause was highest in the southern region of India. Further, results of the multivariate model indicated that rural women, women with higher parity, early age at childbearing and women with smoking habits were at a greater risk of premature menopause. A sizeable proportion of women in India are attaining menopause prematurely. Unless due attention is given to this matter, it will emerge as a major problem in India in the future. The study also emphasized the need for further research to enhance knowledge on the problems of premature menopausal women in different socio-cultural settings in India.

Keywords: India, natural menopause, premature menopause, surgical menopause

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Authors: Mohammed Ibahrine

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One of the prominent trends in the Saudi digital space in recent years is the boom in the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. As of 2016, Twitter has over six million users in Saudi Arabia. In the wake of the recent political instability in the Arab region, digital platforms have gained importance for both, personal and professional purposes. A conspicuously observable tide of social activism has risen, with Twitter playing an increasingly important role. One of their primary goals is to enforce the logic of public visibility, social mobility and civic participation in the Saudi society. Saudi women use Twitter to disseminate specific and relevant information and promote their social agenda that remained unrecognized and invisible in the mainstream media and thus in the public sphere. The question is to what extent does Twitter empower Saudi women or reinforces their social immobility and invisibility? This paper focuses on three kinds of empowerment through Twitter in the religiously conservative and socially patriarchal Saudi society. It traces and analyses how Saudi female hashtactivism is increasingly becoming a site of struggle over visibility, mobility, control, and civic participation. The underlying thesis is that Twitter makes a contribution to the development of participatory culture, especially in the lives of women.

Keywords: civic, hashtactivism, Saudi Arabia, Twiterverse

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Authors: Isaac Samuel

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A study was conducted to determine the in-vitro degradation of selected Nigerian browse plants consumed by small ruminants on free range in northern guinea savannah region of Nigeria using in vitro gas production, proximate composition, fibre components, methane gas production and dry matter degradation as tools. The leaves samples of the selected browse plants were collected, processed and incubated using in vitro gas dry matter degradation techniques. Results obtained showed variation in the rate of degradation. The result obtained from chemical analysis showed that the CP content of A. occidentale (26.49%) was higher than F. thonningi (23.58%), M. indica (20.58%) and T. catappa (18.61%). Both ADF and NDF of A. occidentale (40.00 and 50.00) were as well higher than F. thonningi (20.00 and 40.00), M. indica (20.00 and 40.00) and T.catappa (20.00 and 42.00). Results from in vitro gas production however showed that T. catappa (23.67ml/DM) has a significantly higher (p<0.05) value than F.thonningi (20.67ml/DM), A. occidentale (16.67ml/DM), and M. indica(14.00ml/DM) at 72 hours of incubation. Methane gas production and in vitro gas production can be used to predict dry matter degradation and nutritive value of feedstuff for small ruminants. A. occidentale with the least methane gas production and highest crude protein (CP) content might have the most nutritive value among the browse plants investigated.

Keywords: in vitro, degradation, browse, gas production

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Authors: Rosaline Govender, Shubnam Rambharos

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Universities are, to a certain extent, the source of under-preparedness ideologically, structurally, and pedagogically, particularly since organizational cultures often alienate students by failing to enable epistemological access. This is evident in the unsustainably low graduation rates that characterize South African higher education, which indicate that under 30% graduate in minimum time, under two-thirds graduate within 6 years, and one-third have not graduated after 10 years. Although the statistics for the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) in South Africa have improved significantly from 2019 to 2021, the graduation (32%), throughput (50%), and dropout rates (16%) are still a matter for concern as the graduation rates, in particular, are quite similar to the national statistics. For our students to succeed, higher education should take a multi-pronged approach to ensure student success, and student engagement is one of the ways to support our students. Student engagement depends not only on students’ teaching and learning experiences but, more importantly, on their social and academic integration, their sense of belonging, and their emotional connections in the institution. Such experiences need to challenge students academically and engage their intellect, grow their communication skills, build self-discipline, and promote confidence. The aim of this mixed methods study is to explore the multi-pronged nature of student success within the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics at DUT and focuses on the enabling and constraining factors of student success. The sources of data were the Mid-year student experience survey (N=60), the Hambisa Student Survey (N=85), and semi structured focus group interviews with first, second, and third year students of the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics Hambisa program. The Hambisa (“Moving forward”) focus area is part of the Siyaphumelela 2.0 project at DUT and seeks to understand the multiple challenges that are impacting student success which create a large “middle” cohort of students that are stuck in transition within academic programs. Using the lens of the sociocultural influences on student engagement framework, we conducted a thematic analysis of the two surveys and focus group interviews. Preliminary findings indicate that living conditions, choice of program, access to resources, motivation, institutional support, infrastructure, and pedagogical practices impact student engagement and, thus, student success. It is envisaged that the findings from this project will assist the university in being better prepared to enable student success.

Keywords: social and academic integration, socio-cultural influences, student engagement, student success

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Authors: Savita, Pargam Vashishtha, Govind Gupta, Ankush Vij, Anup Thakur

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The ligand field dependent visible as well as NIR emission of the Cr³+dopant in spinel hosts has attracted immense attention in tuning the color emitted by the material. In this research, Mg1-xCrxAl₂O₄(x=0.5, 1, 3, 5, and 10 mol%) nanocrystals have been synthesizedby solution combustion method. The synthesized nanocrystals possessed a single phase cubic structure. The strong absorption by host lattice defects (antisite defects, F centres) andd-d transitions of Cr³+ ions lead to radiative emission in the visible and NIR region, respectively. The red-NIR emission in photoluminescence spectra inferred the octahedral symmetry of Cr³+ ions and anticipated the site distortion by the presence ofCr³+ clusters and antisite defects in the vicinity of Cr³+ ions. The thermoluminescence response of UV and γ-irradiated Cr doped MgAl2O4 samples revealed the formation of various shallow and deep defects with doping Cr³+ions. The induced structural cation disorder with an increase in doping concentration caused photoluminescence quenching beyond 3 mol% Cr³+ doping. The color tuning exhibited by Cr doped MgAl₂O₄ nanocrystals by varying Cr³+ ion concentration and excitation wavelength find its applicability in solid state lighting.

Keywords: antisite defects, cation disorder, color tuning, combustion synthesis

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