Search results for: regression task

Authors: Muhammad Shahzad Tufail, Iram Liaqat

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Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have wider biomedical applications due to their intensive antimicrobial activities. However, toxicity and side effects of nanomaterials like AgNPs is a subject of great controversy towards the further studies in this direction. In this study, biogenically synthesized AgNPs, previously characterized via ultraviolet (UV) visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), were subjected to toxicity evaluation using mice model. Albino male mice (BALB/c) were administered with 50 mgkg-1, 100 mgkg-1 and 150 mgkg-1 of AgNPs, respectively, except for control for 30 days. Log-probit regression analysis was used to measure the dosage response to determine the median lethal dose (LD50). Exposure to AgNPs caused significant changes in the levels of serum AST (P ˂ 0.05) at the 100mgkg-1 and 150mgkg-1 of AgNPs exposure, while ALT and serum creatinine (P ˃ 0.05) levels remained normal. Histopathology of male albino mice liver and kidney was studied after 30 days experimental period. Results revealed that mice exposed to heavy dose (150 mgkg-1) of AgNPs showed cell distortion, necrosis and detachment of hepatocytes in the liver. Regarding kidney, at lower concentration, normal renal structure with normal glomeruli was observed. However, at higher concentration (150 mgkg-1), kidneys showed smooth surface and dark red colour with proliferation of podocytes. It can be concluded from present study that biologically synthesized AgNPs are small to be eliminated easily by kidney and therefore the liver and kidney did not show toxicity at low concentrations.

Keywords: silver nanoparticles, pseudomonas aeruginosa, male albino mice, toxicity assessment

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Authors: Mitra Assadi, Md. Faan

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Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a common neurodevelopmental disorder with limited pharmacological interventions. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) has produced promising results in ASD, although there is no consensus regarding optimal targets or stimulation paradigms. A prevailing theory in ASD attributes the core deficits to dysfunction of the mirror neurons located in the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Methods: Thus far, 11 subjects with ASD, 10 boys and 1 girl with the mean age of 13.36 years have completed the study by receiving 10 session of high frequency rTMS to the IPL. The subjects were randomized to receive stimulation on the left or right IPL and sham stimulation to the opposite side. The outcome measures included the Social Responsiveness Scale – Second Edition (SRS-2) and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Verbal Fluency task. Results: None of the 11 subjects experienced any adverse effects. The rTMS did not produce any improvement in verbal fluency, nor there was any statistically significant difference between the right versus left sided stimulation. Analysis of social awareness on SRS-2 (SRS-AWR) indicated a close to significant effect of the treatment with a small to medium effect size. After removing a single subject with Level 3 ASD, we demonstrated a close to significant improvement on SRS-AWR with a large effect size. The analysis of the data 3-month post TMS demonstrated return of the SRS-AWR values to baseline. Conclusion: This preliminary analysis of the 11 subjects who have completed our study thus far shows a favorable response to high frequency rTMS stimulation of the mirror neurons/IPL on social awareness. While the decay of the response noted during the 3-month follow-up may be considered a limitation of rTMS, the presence of the improvement, especially the effect size despite the small sample size, is indicative of the efficacy of this technique.

Keywords: rTMS, autism, scoial cognition, mirror neurons

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Authors: Naveed Zahra, Zahid Kamran, Shakeel Ahmad

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Heat stress is one of the most important environmental stressors challenging poultry production worldwide. The detrimental effect of heat stress results in reduction in the productive performance of poultry with high incidences of mortality. Researchers have made efforts to prevent such damage to poultry production through dietary manipulation. Supplementation with Chromium (Cr) might have some positive effects on some aspect of blood parameters and broilers performance. Chromium (Cr) the element whose trivalent Cr (III) organic state is present in trace amounts in animal feed and water is found to be a key element in evading heat stress and thus cutting down the heavy expenditure on air conditioning in broiler sheds. Chromium, along with other essential minerals is lost due to increased excretion during heat stress and thus its inclusion in broiler diet is kind of mandatory in areas of hot climate. Chromium picolinate in broiler diet has shown a hike in growth rate including muscle gain with body fat reduction under environmental stress. Fat reduction is probably linked to the ability of chromium to increase the sensitivity of the insulin receptors on tissues and thus the uptake of sugar from blood increases which decreases the amount of glucose to be converted to amino acids and stored in adipose tissue as triglycerides. Organic chromium has also shown to increase lymphocyte proliferation rate and antioxidant levels. So, the immune competency, muscle gain and fat reduction along with evasion of heat stress are good enough signs that indicate the fruitful inclusion of dietary chromium for broiler. This promising element may bring the much needed break in the local poultry industry. The task is now to set the exact dose of the element in the diet that would be useful enough and still not toxic to broiler. In conclusion there is a growing body of evidence which suggest that chromium may be an essential trace element for livestock and poultry. The nutritional requirement for chromium may vary with different species and physiological state within a species.

Keywords: broiler, chromium, heat stress, performance

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Authors: Basem Elarbe, Ibrahim Elganidi, Norida Ridzuan, Norhyati Abdullah

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Wax deposition in production pipelines and transportation tubing from offshore to onshore is critical in the oil and gas industry due to low-temperature conditions. It may lead to a reduction in production, shut-in, plugging of pipelines and increased fluid viscosity. The most significant popular approach to solve this issue is by injection of a wax inhibitor into the channel. This research aims to determine the amount of wax deposition of Malaysian crude oil by estimating the effective parameters using (Design-Expert version 7.1.6) by response surface methodology (RSM) method. Important parameters affecting wax deposition such as cold finger temperature, inhibitor concentration and experimental duration were investigated. It can be concluded that SA-co-BA copolymer had a higher capability of reducing wax in different conditions where the minimum point of wax reduction was found at 300 rpm, 14℃, 1h, 1200 ppmThe amount of waxes collected for each parameter were 0.12g. RSM approach was applied using rotatable central composite design (CCD) to minimize the wax deposit amount. The regression model’s variance (ANOVA) results revealed that the R2 value of 0.9906, indicating that the model can be clarified 99.06% of the data variation, and just 0.94% of the total variation were not clarified by the model. Therefore, it indicated that the model is extremely significant, confirming a close agreement between the experimental and the predicted values. In addition, the result has shown that the amount of wax deposit decreased significantly with the increase of temperature and the concentration of poly (stearyl acrylate-co-behenyl acrylate) (SABA), which were set at 14°C and 1200 ppm, respectively. The amount of wax deposit was successfully reduced to the minimum value of 0.01 g after the optimization.

Keywords: wax deposition, SABA inhibitor, RSM, operation factors

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Authors: Engida Yisma, Berhanu Dessalegn, Ayalew Astatkie, Nebreed Fesseha

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Background: The use of the partograph is a well-known best practice for quality monitoring of labour and subsequent prevention of obstructed and prolonged labour. However, a number of cases of obstructed labour do happen in health facilities due to poor quality of intrapartum care. Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study assessed knowledge and utilization of partograph among obstetric care givers in public health institutions of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with knowledge and use of partograph among obstetric care givers. Results: Knowledge about the partograph was fair: 189 (96.6%) of all the respondents correctly mentioned at least one component of the partograph, 104 (53.3%) correctly explained the function of alert line and 161 (82.6%) correctly explained the function of action line. The study showed that 112 (57.3%) of the obstetric care givers at public health institutions reportedly utilized partograph to monitor mothers in labour. The utilization of the partograph was significantly higher among obstetric care givers working in health centres (67.9%) compared to those working in hospitals (34.4%) [Adjusted OR = 3.63(95%CI: 1.81, 7.28)]. Conclusions: A significant percentage of obstetric care givers had fair knowledge of the partograph and why it is necessary to use it in the management of labour and over half of obstetric care givers reported use of the partograph to monitor mothers in labour. Pre-service and on-job training of obstetric care givers on the use of the partograph should be given emphasis. Mandatory health facility policy is also recommended to ensure safety of women in labour in public health facilities in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Keywords: partograph, knowledge, utilization, obstetric care givers, public health institutions

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Authors: Priyanka Sharma

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The women voter turnout in India is increasing. The rising female voter turnout is explained in part by men intimidating women in the household to vote. Women are more likely than men to be guided before voting. What is perhaps more significant is that the gender gap has shrunk significantly over the years. However, there are layers and categories of women voters in India. Some women are much more likely than the average woman to follow advice. Against this backdrop, this paper investigates the variation among women voters during the national elections of 2019 in India. The central question of this research paper is whether or not the development of greater political opinion among women would offset guided voting and allow them to emerge as more independent voters. So the independent variable of the study is Indian women’s opinion on politics, and the dependent variable is their voting behavior. The methodology used in this paper is both quantitative and qualitative. This study investigated and examined Lokniti’s election survey data. The sample size used in this survey is 11568. The analysis of this study has revealed that there is a considerable impact of women having a political opinion on their voting behavior. The Bivariate analysis of the variables states that 83% of Indian women who have opinions on political issues do not seek advice while going to vote. This proves the hypothesis of this paper that women with an opinion on politics are more likely to be independent voters. To check the statistical significance of the finding, a chi-square test was done and the p-value found is 0.009737, which shows it is statistically significant. Furthermore, a regression test has been done by controlling certain variables like age, educational qualification, caste, and financial position of the women to probe the influence on the dependent variable. The findings provide worthwhile insights into the relationship between these control variables and the women voting behavior in India.

Keywords: dependent voter, independent voter, political opinion, voting behavior, women voter

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Authors: Khadeeja Munawar, Shamsul Haque

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The claim that traumatic events influence the recalled memories and mental health has received mixed empirical support. This study examines the memories of a sample drawn from Pakistan, a country that has witnessed many life-changing socio-political events, wars, and natural disasters in 72 years of its history. A sample of 210 senior citizens (Mage = 64.35, SD = 6.33) was recruited from Pakistan. The aim was to investigate if participants retrieved more memories related to past traumatic events using a word-cueing technique. Each participant reported ten memories to ten neutral cue words. The results revealed that past traumatic events were not adversely affecting the memories and mental health of participants. When memories were plotted with respect to the ages at which the events happened, a pronounced bump at 11-20 years of age was seen. Memories within as well as outside of the bump were mostly positive. The multilevel logistic regression modelling showed that the memories recalled were personally important and played a role in enhancing resilience. The findings revealed that despite facing an array of ethnic, religious, political, economic, and social conflicts, the participants were resilient, recalled predominantly positive memories, and had intact mental health. The findings have clinical implications in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The patients can be made aware of their negative emotions, troublesome/traumatic memories, and the distorted thinking patterns and their memories can be restructured. The findings can also be used to teach Memory Specificity Training (MEST) by psycho-educating the patients around changes in memory functioning and enhancing the recall of memories, which are more specific, vivid, and filled with sensory details.

Keywords: cognitive behavioral therapy, memories, mental health, resilience, trauma

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Authors: Nakul V. Naphade, Sandra G. L. Persiani, Yew Wah Wong, Pramod S. Kamath, Avinash H. Anantharam, Hui Ling Aw, Yann Grynberg

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Achieving zero-energy targets in existing buildings is known to be a difficult task requiring important cuts in the building energy consumption, which in many cases clash with the functional necessities of the building wherever the on-site energy generation is unable to match the overall energy consumption. Between the building’s consumption optimization limit and the energy, target stretches a case-specific optimization grey zone, which requires tailored intervention and enhanced user’s commitment. In the view of the future adoption of more stringent energy-efficiency targets in the context of hot-humid tropical climates, this study aims to define the energy optimization grey zone by assessing the energy-efficiency limit in the state-of-the-art typical mid- and high-rise full AC office buildings, through the integration of currently available technologies. Energy models of two code-compliant generic office-building typologies were developed as a baseline, a 20-storey ‘high-rise’ and a 7-storey ‘mid-rise’. Design iterations carried out on the energy models with advanced market ready technologies in lighting, envelope, plug load management and ACMV systems and controls, lead to a representative energy model of the current maximum technical potential. The simulations showed that ZEB targets could be achieved in fully AC buildings under an average of seven floors only by compromising on energy-intense facilities (as full AC, unlimited power-supply, standard user behaviour, etc.). This paper argues that drastic changes must be made in tropical buildings to span the energy optimization grey zone and achieve zero energy. Fully air-conditioned areas must be rethought, while smart technologies must be integrated with an aggressive involvement and motivation of the users to synchronize with the new system’s energy savings goal.

Keywords: energy simulation, office building, tropical climate, zero energy buildings

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Authors: Sy, Melecio Jr

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The decision to adopt vertical integration (VI) is firm-specific, but there is a common practice among businesses in an industry to maximize the massive potential benefits of VI. This study aims to determine VI adoption in the restaurant industry in Davao City. Using a two-step sampling process, the study used a validated survey questionnaire among 264 restaurant owners and managers randomly selected and geographically classified. It is a quantitative study where the data were subjected to a structural equation model (SEM). The results revealed that VI is present but limited to procurement, production, restaurant services, and online marketing. Raw materials were outsourced while delivery to customers through third-party delivery services. VI slowly increased over ten years except for online marketing, which has grown significantly in a few years. The endogenous and exogenous variables were correlated and established the linear regression model. The SEM's best fit model revealed that strategic motives (SMOT) and market factors (MFAC) influenced VI adoption while MFAC is the best predictor. Favorable market factors may lead restaurants to adopt VI. It is, thus, recommended for restaurants to institutionalize strategic management, quantify the impact of double marginalization in future studies as a reason for VI and conduct this study during the new normal to see the influence of business efficiencies and firm economies on VI adoption.

Keywords: business efficiencies, business management, davao city, firm economies, market factors, philippines, strategic motives, structural equation model, supply chain, vertical integration adoption

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Authors: Rong Yuan, Zhao Tao

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Only a handful of literature have used to non-linear model to investigate the influencing factors of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China’s manufacturing sectors. And there is a limit in investigating quantitatively and systematically the mechanism of correlation between economic development and GHG emissions considering inherent differences among manufacturing sub-sectors. Considering the sectorial characteristics, the manufacturing sub-sectors with various impacts of output on GHG emissions may be explained by different development modes in each manufacturing sub-sector, such as investment scale, technology level and the level of international competition. In order to assess the environmental impact associated with any specific level of economic development and explore the factors that affect GHG emissions in China’s manufacturing industry during the process of economic growth, using the threshold Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model, this paper investigated the influence impacts of GHG emissions for China’s manufacturing sectors of different stages of economic development. A data set from 28 manufacturing sectors covering an 18-year period was used. Results demonstrate that output per capita and investment scale contribute to increasing GHG emissions while energy efficiency, R&D intensity and FDI mitigate GHG emissions. Results also verify the nonlinear effect of output per capita on emissions as: (1) the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is supported when threshold point RMB 31.19 million is surpassed; (2) the driving strength of output per capita on GHG emissions becomes stronger as increasing investment scale; (3) the threshold exists for energy efficiency with the positive coefficient first and negative coefficient later; (4) the coefficient of output per capita on GHG emissions decreases as R&D intensity increases. (5) FDI shows a reduction in elasticity when the threshold is compassed.

Keywords: China, GHG emissions, manufacturing industry, threshold STIRPAT model

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Authors: Mouna Baassi, Mohamed Moussaoui, Sanchaita Rajkhowa, Hatim Soufi, Said Belaaouad

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The objective of this paper is to address the challenging task of targeting Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 Reverse Transcriptase (HIV-1 RT) in the treatment of AIDS. Reverse Transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) have limitations due to the development of Reverse Transcriptase mutations that lead to treatment resistance. In this study, a combination of statistical analysis and bioinformatics tools was adopted to develop a mathematical model that relates the structure of compounds to their inhibitory activities against HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase. Our approach was based on a series of compounds recognized for their HIV-1 RT enzymatic inhibitory activities. These compounds were designed via software, with their descriptors computed using multiple tools. The most statistically promising model was chosen, and its domain of application was ascertained. Furthermore, compounds exhibiting comparable biological activity to existing drugs were identified as potential inhibitors of HIV-1 RT. The compounds underwent evaluation based on their chemical absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, toxicity properties, and adherence to Lipinski's rule. Molecular docking techniques were employed to examine the interaction between the Reverse Transcriptase (Wild Type and Mutant Type) and the ligands, including a known drug available in the market. Molecular dynamics simulations were also conducted to assess the stability of the RT-ligand complexes. Our results reveal some of the new compounds as promising candidates for effectively inhibiting HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase, matching the potency of the established drug. This necessitates further experimental validation. This study, beyond its immediate results, provides a methodological foundation for future endeavors aiming to discover and design new inhibitors targeting HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase.

Keywords: QSAR, ADMET properties, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, reverse transcriptase inhibitors, HIV type 1

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Authors: Jose G. Tshikuka, Goabaone Rankgoane-Pono, Mgaywa G. M. D. Magafu, Julius C. Mwita, Tiny Masupe, Fortunat M. Kandanda, Shimeles G. Hamda, Roy Tapera, Mooketsi Molefi, John T. Tlhakanelo

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Background: Factors associated with overweight and obesity among antiretroviral therapy (ART) recipients have not been sufficiently studied in Botswana. We aimed to study (i) the prevalence and trends in overweight/obesity by duration of exposure to ART among recipients, (ii) changes in body mass index (BMI) categories among recipients before ART initiation (BMI-1) and after ART initiation (BMI-2), (iii) associations between ART and overweight/obesity and (iv) factors associated with BMI changes among ART recipients. Methods: A 12 years retrospective record-based review was conducted. Factors potentially associated with BMI change among patients after at least three years of ART exposure were examined using multiple regression model. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed. ART regimens, duration of exposure to ART, and recipients’ demographic and biomedical characteristics including the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus related comorbidities (DRC) were investigated as potential factors associated with overweight/obesity. Results: Twenty-nine percent of recipients were overweight, 16.6% had obesity of whom 2.4% were morbidly-obese at the last clinic visit. Overweight/obesity recipients were more likely to be female, to have DRC and less likely to have nadir CD4 count or CD4 count between 201 – 249 cells/mm³. Neither the first-line nor the second-, third-line ART regimens predicted overweight/obesity more than the other and neither did the duration of exposure to ART. No significant linear trends were observed in the prevalence of overweight/obesity by the duration of exposure to ART. Conclusions: These results indicate that overweight/obesity seen among ART recipients is not directly induced by ART. ART used CD4 and/or DRC pathway to induce overweight/obesity seen among recipients; suggesting that, weight gain documented herein is likely a reflection of improved health status that mirrors trends in the general population or a DRC related effect. Weight management programs may be important components of HIV care.

Keywords: overweight/obesity, recipients of antiretroviral therapy, HIV/AIDS, Botswana

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Authors: Vadim A. Kuznetsov, Anna M. Soldatova, Tatyana N. Enina, Elena A. Gorbatenko, Dmitrii V. Krinochkin

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The aim of the study was to evaluate potential parameters related with super-response to CRT. Methods: 60 CRT patients (mean age 54.3 ± 9.8 years; 80% men) with congestive heart failure (CHF) II-IV NYHA functional class, left ventricular ejection fraction < 35% were enrolled. At baseline, 1 month, 3 months and each 6 months after implantation clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic parameters, NT-proBNP level were evaluated. According to the best decrease of left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV) (mean follow-up period 33.7 ± 15.1 months) patients were classified as super-responders (SR) (n=28; reduction in LVESV ≥ 30%) and non-SR (n=32; reduction in LVESV < 30%). Results: At baseline groups differed in age (58.1 ± 5.8 years in SR vs 50.8 ± 11.4 years in non-SR; p=0.003), gender (female gender 32.1% vs 9.4% respectively; p=0.028), width of QRS complex (157.6 ± 40.6 ms in SR vs 137.6 ± 33.9 ms in non-SR; p=0.044). Percentage of LBBB was equal between groups (75% in SR vs 59.4% in non-SR; p=0.274). All parameters of mechanical dyssynchrony were higher in SR, but only difference in left ventricular pre-ejection period (LVPEP) was statistically significant (153.0 ± 35.9 ms vs. 129.3 ± 28.7 ms p=0.032). NT-proBNP level was lower in SR (1581 ± 1369 pg/ml vs 3024 ± 2431 pg/ml; p=0.006). The survival rates were 100% in SR and 90.6% in non-SR (log-rank test P=0.002). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that LVPEP (HR 1.024; 95% CI 1.004–1.044; P = 0.017), baseline NT-proBNP level (HR 0.628; 95% CI 0.414–0.953; P=0.029) and age at baseline (HR 1.094; 95% CI 1.009-1.168; P=0.30) were independent predictors for CRT super-response. ROC curve analysis demonstrated sensitivity 71.9% and specificity 82.1% (AUC=0.827; p < 0.001) of this model in prediction of super-response to CRT. Conclusion: Super-response to CRT is associated with better survival in long-term period. Presence of LBBB was not associated with super-response. LVPEP, NT-proBNP level, and age at baseline can be used as independent predictors of CRT super-response.

Keywords: cardiac resynchronisation therapy, superresponse, congestive heart failure, left bundle branch block

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Authors: Mustafa Sertçelik, Turan Çalban, Hacali Necefoğlu, Sabri Çolak

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In this study, Chevreul’s salt solubility and its dissolution kinetics in ammonium chloride solutions were investigated. Chevreul’s salt that we used in the studies was obtained by using the optimum conditions (ammonium sulphide concentration; 0,4 M, copper sulphate concentration; 0,25 M, temperature; 60°C, stirring speed; 600 rev/min, pH; 4 and reaction time; 15 mins) determined by T. Çalban et al. Chevreul’s salt solubility in ammonium chloride solutions and the kinetics of dissolution were investigated. The selected parameters that affect solubility were reaction temperature, concentration of ammonium chloride, stirring speed, and solid/liquid ratio. Correlation of experimental results had been achieved using linear regression implemented in the statistical package program statistica. The effect of parameters on Chevreul’s salt solubility was examined and integrated rate expression of dissolution rate was found using kinetic models in solid-liquid heterogeneous reactions. The results revealed that the dissolution rate of Chevreul’s salt was decreasing while temperature, concentration of ammonium chloride and stirring speed were increasing. On the other hand, dissolution rate was found to be decreasing with the increase of solid/liquid ratio. Based on result of the applications of the obtained experimental results to the kinetic models, we can deduce that Chevreul’s salt dissolution rate is controlled by diffusion through the ash (or product layer). Activation energy of the reaction of dissolution was found as 74.83 kJ/mol. The integrated rate expression along with the effects of parameters on Chevreul's salt solubility was found to be as follows: 1-3(1-X)2/3+2(1-X)= [2,96.1013.(CA)3,08 .(S/L)-038.(W)1,23 e-9001,2/T].t

Keywords: Chevreul's salt, copper, ammonium chloride, ammonium sulphide, dissolution kinetics

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Authors: Shittu Bisi Agnes

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Studies on households’ willingness to pay for environmental and general health safety in the advent of Ebola virus Diseases in Nigeria was carried out. This is aimed at revealing the means by which the virus was eventually eradicated in Nigeria as widely claimed in the media. This study therefore attempted to determine the environmental and general health condition in the State Of Osun, how socio-economic characteristics of the people affected willingness to pay. And also provide platform for the reduction of environmental and general health problems. Data were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and administer 150 randomly selected people of study area, and oral interview was also utilized. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive tools and inferential statistics vis-a-viz regression analysis. Findings showed 92.5% of respondents was aware of ebola virus diseases outbreak in Nigeria, 8.5% was unaware of any disease outbreak. And 65.7% of respondents was strongly willing to pay for environmental and general health safety 27.1% was fairly willing, 5.7% was indifferent and 1.7% was unwilling to pay. 5% rated the level of environmental and general health condition in the area has been good, 53.6% rated theirs has been fair, 33.6% as been poor. The average willingness to pay per household per month were #500.00, #250.00, #150.00 and #100.00 respectively for the four categories. It was recommended that policy instruments to increase peoples' income will accelerate eradication of environmental and general health problems, environmental health education in form of talk shop, workshop, lectures and seminars could be organized at the political ward levels, churches, mosque, and at schools. Environmental and general health safety related information could be disseminated through mass media, market women, and functional unions.

Keywords: ebola virus diseases (EVD), socio-economic, safety, pay, Osun

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Authors: Shian-Ling Keng, Onn Siong Yim, Poh San Lai, Soo Chong Chew, Anne Chong, Richard Ebstein

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Research has demonstrated a positive association between mindfulness meditation and physical health. Little work, however, has examined the association between trait mindfulness and leukocyte telomere length (LTL), an emerging marker of cellular aging. The present study aimed to examine whether facets of trait mindfulness are correlated with longer LTL in a Singaporean Han Chinese sample and whether these facets may mediate the association between psychological symptoms and LTL. 158 adults (mean age = 27.24 years) completed measures assessing trait mindfulness and psychological symptoms (i.e., depression and stress) and provided blood samples for analyses of LTL using qPCR. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to assess the association between facets of trait mindfulness and LTL. Bootstrapping-based mediational analyses were run to examine the role of trait mindfulness as a mediator of the association between psychological symptoms and LTL. Of five facets of trait mindfulness (describe, act with awareness, observe, nonreactivity, and nonjudging), nonreactivity was significantly associated with LTL, after controlling for the effects of age, gender, and education, β = .21, p = .006. Further, there was a trend for overall trait mindfulness, β = .15, p = .06, and nonjudging, β = .13, p = .095, to each predict longer LTL. Nonreactivity significantly mediated the association between depression and LTL, BCa 95% CI [-.004, -.0004], p=.03, as well as the association between stress and LTL, BCa 95% CI [-.004, -.0004], p=.04. The results provide preliminary evidence for a positive association between selected facets of trait mindfulness and slower cellular aging, indexed by LTL. The findings suggest that individuals who are high on equanimity may experience slower aging at the cellular level, presumably through engaging in more effective coping mechanisms and modulation of stress. The findings also highlight the role of nonreactivity as a potential mechanism that underlies the association between LTL and psychological symptoms.

Keywords: depression, mindfulness, stress, telomere length

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Authors: Dmitrii Glushkov, Aleksandr G. Nigay, Olga S. Yashutina

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In recent years, due to the intensive development of the Arctic and Antarctic areas, the actual task is to develop technology for the effective utilization of solid and liquid combustible wastes in an environment with low temperatures. Firstly, such technology will help to prevent the dumping of waste into the World Ocean and reduce the risks of causing environmental damage to the Far North areas. Secondly, promising actions will help to prepare fuel compositions from the waste in the places of their production. Such kind of fuels can be used as energy resources. It will reduce waste utilization costs when transporting them to the mainland. In the present study, we suggest a solution to the problem of waste utilization by the preparation of gel fuels based on solid and liquid combustible components with the addition of the thickener. Such kind of fuels is characterized by ease of preparation, storage, transportation and use (as energy resources). The main regularities and characteristics of physical and chemical processes are established with varying parameters of gel fuels and heating sources in wide ranges. The obtained results let us conclude about the prospects of gel fuels practical application for combustible wastes utilization. Appropriate technology will be characterized by positive environmental, operational and economic effects. The composition of the gel fuels can vary in a wide range. The fuels preparation based on one type of a combustible liquid or a several liquids mixture with the finely dispersed components addition makes it possible to obtain compositions with predicted rheological, energy or environmental characteristics. Besides, gel fuels have a lower level of the fire hazard compared to common solid and liquid fuels. This makes them convenient for storage and transportation. In such conditions, it is not necessary to transport combustible wastes from the territory of the Arctic and the Antarctic to the mainland for processing, which is now quite an expensive procedure. The research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 18-13-00031).

Keywords: combustible liquid waste, gel fuel, ignition and combustion, utilization

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Authors: Mitra Sadoughi

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This study presents the knowledge-sharing model based on individual and organizational factors related to faculty members. To achieve this goal, individual and organizational factors were presented through qualitative research in the form of open codes, axial, and selective observations; then, the final model was obtained using structural equation model. Participants included 1,719 faculty members of the Azad Universities, Mazandaran Province, Region 3. The samples related to the qualitative survey included 25 faculty members experienced at teaching and the samples related to the quantitative survey included 326 faculty members selected by multistage cluster sampling. A 72-item questionnaire was used to measure the quantitative variables. The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.93. Its content and face validity was determined with the help of faculty members, consultants, and other experts. For the analysis of quantitative data obtained from structural model and regression, SPSS and LISREL were used. The results showed that the status of knowledge sharing is moderate in the universities. Individual factors influencing knowledge sharing included the sharing of educational materials, perception, confidence and knowledge self-efficiency, and organizational factors influencing knowledge sharing included structural social capital, cognitive social capital, social capital relations, organizational communication, organizational structure, organizational culture, IT infrastructure and systems of rewards. Finally, it was found that the contribution of individual factors on knowledge sharing was more than organizational factors; therefore, a model was presented in which contribution of individual and organizational factors were determined.

Keywords: knowledge sharing, social capital, organizational communication, knowledge self-efficiency, perception, trust, organizational culture

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Authors: Ahmed Abdullah Ahmed

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The task of recognizing the writer of a handwritten text has been an attractive research problem in the document analysis and recognition community with applications in handwriting forensics, paleography, document examination and handwriting recognition. This research presents an automatic method for writer recognition from digitized images of unconstrained writings. Although a great effort has been made by previous studies to come out with various methods, their performances, especially in terms of accuracy, are fallen short, and room for improvements is still wide open. The proposed technique employs optimal codebook based writer characterization where each writing sample is represented by a set of features computed from two codebooks, beginning and ending. Unlike most of the classical codebook based approaches which segment the writing into graphemes, this study is based on fragmenting a particular area of writing which are beginning and ending strokes. The proposed method starting with contour detection to extract significant information from the handwriting and the curve fragmentation is then employed to categorize the handwriting into Beginning and Ending zones into small fragments. The similar fragments of beginning strokes are grouped together to create Beginning cluster, and similarly, the ending strokes are grouped to create the ending cluster. These two clusters lead to the development of two codebooks (beginning and ending) by choosing the center of every similar fragments group. Writings under study are then represented by computing the probability of occurrence of codebook patterns. The probability distribution is used to characterize each writer. Two writings are then compared by computing distances between their respective probability distribution. The evaluations carried out on ICFHR standard dataset of 206 writers using Beginning and Ending codebooks separately. Finally, the Ending codebook achieved the highest identification rate of 98.23%, which is the best result so far on ICFHR dataset.

Keywords: off-line text-independent writer identification, feature extraction, codebook, fragments

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Authors: Paridhi Agarwal, Kusum M. George

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A cynic is someone upset about the future prematurely. In today’s highly competitive workplace, cynicism has become a prominent concern. It is a controversial issue that brings about psychological disengagement and antagonism towards the management. In organizational sciences, scientific investigation of this negative work behavior is lacking, and so there is no universal definition so far. But most commonly, Organizational Cynicism (OC) has been characterized as an unfavorable attitude towards the organization, encompassing a belief that the organization has low integrity, negative affect, and depreciative behavioral tendencies. Given its prevalence, this study aims to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on OC. This research examines the predictability of OC from two factors- Perceived Organizational Support (POS) and Emotional Intelligence (EI) among millennials in India as well as identify contradictions in today’s scenario. Standardized Organizational Cynicism Scale comprising of three components, Perceived Organizational Support Questionnaire and Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Test are used on a convenient sample of 104 corporate sector employees in the age range 22-35 years. Correlation test elucidated the relationships, and regression analysis revealed the level of influence of the above variables on OC. Surprisingly, Emotional-Social Awareness had stronger relationships with all dimensions of OC in males as compared to females. It was also seen that EI and POS, together with predicted OC, but separately, only POS accounted for variability in OC, and this impact was much stronger for males, implying that there are other important factors that make females cynical at work. Thus, the over-emphasis on EI training for the millennial generation has also been challenged in this study. It can be said that there are avertible preconditions to the negative attitude- OC. This research has important managerial implications in areas of recruitment, training, and organizational environment.

Keywords: emotional intelligence, millennials, organizational cynicism, perceived organizational support.

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Authors: Ange Weinrabe, James Tran, Ian B. Hickie

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Risk-taking behaviour is common during youth. In the time between adolescence and early adulthood, young people (aged 15-25 years) are more vulnerable to mood disorders, such as anxiety and depression. What impact does an emerging mood disorder have on decision-making in youth at critical decision points in their lives? In this article, we explore the impact of risk and ambiguity on youth decision-making in a clinical setting using a well-known economic experiment. At two time points, separated by six to eight weeks, we measured risky and ambiguous choices concurrently with findings from three psychological questionnaires, the 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), the 17-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Adolescent Version (QIDS-A17), and the 12-item Somatic and Psychological Health Report (SPHERE-12), for young help seekers aged 16-25 (n=30, mean age 19.22 years, 19 males). When first arriving for care, we found that 50% (n=15) of participants experienced severe anxiety (K10 ≥ 30) and were severely depressed (QIDS-A17 ≥ 16). In Session 2, taking attrition rates into account (n=5), we found that 44% (n=11) remained severe across the full battery of questionnaires. When applying multiple regression analyses of the pooled sample of observations (N=55), across both sessions, we found that participants who rated severely anxious avoided making risky decisions. We suggest there is some statistically significant (although weak) (p=0.09) relation between risk and severe anxiety scores as measured by K10. Our findings may support working with novel tools with which to evaluate youth experiencing an emerging mood disorder and their cognitive capacities influencing decision-making.

Keywords: anxiety, decision-making, risk, adolescence

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Authors: Odey Moses Ogah, Felix Terhemba Ikyereve

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The study was carried out to analyzed risks in financing agriculture by agricultural cooperatives in Benue State, Nigeria. The study made use of research questionnaires for data collection. A multistage sampling technique was used to select a sample of 210 respondents from 21 agricultural cooperatives. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in data analysis. Loan defaulting (66.7%) and reduction in savings by members (51.4%) were the major causes of risks faced by agricultural cooperatives in financing agriculture in the study area. Other causes include adverse changes in commodity prices (48.6%), disaster (45.7%), among others. It was found that risks adversely influence the profitability and competition of agricultural cooperatives (82.9%). Multiple regression analysis results showed that the coefficient of multiple determinations was 0.67, implying that the explanatory variables included in the model accounted for 67% of the variation in the level of profitability of agricultural cooperatives. The number of loans, average amount of loan and the interest rate were significant and important determinants of profitability of the cooperatives. The majority of the respondents (88.6%) made use of loan guarantors as a strategy of managing loan default/no repayment. It was found that the majority (70%) of the respondents were faced with the challenge of lack of insurance cover. The study recommends that agricultural cooperative officials should be encouraged to undergo formal training and education to easily acquire administrative skills in the management of agricultural loans; Farmer's loan size should be increased and released on time to enable them to use it effectively. Policies that enhance insuring farm activities should be put in place to discourage farmers from risk aversion.

Keywords: agriculture, analysis, cooperative, finance, risks

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Authors: M. S. Aparna, Pushparaj Shetty D.

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Nowadays social networking sites have become so popular that the producers or the sellers look for these sites as one of the best options to target the right audience to market their products. There are several tools available to monitor or analyze the social networks. Our task is to identify the right community web pages and find out the behavior analysis of the members by using these tools and formulate an appropriate strategy to market the products or services to achieve the set goals. The advertising becomes more effective when the information of the product/ services come from a known source. The strategy explores great buying influence in the audience on referral marketing. Our methodology proceeds with critical budget analysis and promotes viral influence propagation. In this context, we encompass the vital bits of budget evaluation such as the number of optimal seed nodes or primary influential users activated onset, an estimate coverage spread of nodes and maximum influence propagating distance from an initial seed to an end node. Our proposal for Buyer Prediction mathematical model arises from the urge to perform complex analysis when the probability density estimates of reliable factors are not known or difficult to calculate. Order Statistics and Buyer Prediction mapping function guarantee the selection of optimal influential users at each level. We exercise an efficient tactics of practicing community pages and user behavior to determine the product enthusiasts on social networks. Our approach is promising and should be an elementary choice when there is little or no prior knowledge on the distribution of potential buyers on social networks. In this strategy, product news propagates to influential users on or surrounding networks. By applying the same technique, a user can search friends who are capable to advise better or give referrals, if a product interests him.

Keywords: viral marketing, social network analysis, community web pages, buyer prediction, influence propagation, budget constraints

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Authors: Ruttana Phetsitong, Patama Vapattanawong, Malee Sunpuwan, Marc Voelker

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The majority of care for older people at home in Thai society falls upon caregivers resulting in caregiver’s mental health problem. Beyond individual characteristics, household factors might have a profound effect on the caregiver’s mental health. But reliable data capturing this at the household level have been limited to date. The objectives of the present study were to explore the levels of Thai caregiver’s mental health and to investigate the factors affecting the mental health at household level. Data were obtained from the 2011 National Survey of Thai Older Persons conducted by the National Statistical Office of Thailand. Caregiver’s mental health was measured by using the 15- items-short version of the Thai Mental Health Indicator (TMHI-15) developed by the Department of Mental Health, the Ministry of Public Health. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to explore the impact of potential factors on caregiver’s mental health. The THMI-15 produced an overall average caregiver mental health score of 30.9 out of 45 (SD 5.3). The score can be categorized into good (34.02-45), fair (27.01-34), and poor (0-27). Duration of care for older people, household wealth, and functional dependency of the older people significantly predicted total caregiver’s mental health. Household economic factor was key in predicting better mental health. Compared to those poorest households, the adjusted effect of the fifth quintile household wealth was high (OR=2.34; 95%CI=1.47-3.73). The findings of this study provide a fuller picture to a better understanding of the level and factors that cause the mental health of Thai caregivers. Health care providers and policymakers should consider these factors when designing interventions aimed at alleviating caregiver’s psychological burden when provided care for older people at home.

Keywords: caregiver’s mental health, household, older people, Thailand

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Authors: David Cook, Brynhildur Davidsdottir, Dadi. M. Kristofersson

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The approval of development projects with significant environmental impacts implies that the economic costs of the affected environmental resources must be less than the financial benefits, but such irreversible decisions are frequently made without ever attempting to estimate the monetary value of the losses. Due to this knowledge gap in the processes informing decision-making, development projects are commonly approved despite the potential for social welfare to be undermined. Heeding a repeated call by the OECD to commence economic accounting of environmental impacts as part of the cost-benefit analysis process for Icelandic energy projects, this paper sets out the results pertaining to the nation’s first two contingent valuation studies of geothermal areas likely to be developed in the near future. Interval regression using log-transformation was applied to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) for the preservation of the high-temperature Eldvörp and Hverahlíð fields. The estimated mean WTP was 8,333 and 7,122 ISK for Eldvörp and Hverahlíð respectively. Scaled up to the Icelandic population of national taxpayers, this equates to estimated total economic value of 2.10 and 1.77 billion ISK respectively. These results reinforce arguments in favour of accounting for the environmental impacts of Iceland’s future geothermal power projects as a mandatory component of the exploratory and production license application process. Further research is necessary to understand the economic impacts to specific ecosystem services associated with geothermal environments, particularly connected to changes in recreational amenity. In so doing, it would be possible to gain greater comprehension of the various components of total economic value, evolving understanding of why one geothermal area – in this case, Eldvörp – has a higher preservation value than another.

Keywords: decision-making, contingent valuation, geothermal energy, preservation

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Authors: Kavian Khosravinia, Mohd Khair Hassan, Ribhan Zafira Abdul Rahman, Syed Abdul Rahman Al-Haddad

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The CAN (controller area network) bus is introduced as a multi-master, message broadcast system. The messages sent on the CAN are used to communicate state information, referred as a signal between different ECUs, which provides data consistency in every node of the system. OBD-II Dongles that are based on request and response method is the wide-spread solution for extracting sensor data from cars among researchers. Unfortunately, most of the past researches do not consider resolution and quantity of their input data extracted through OBD-II technology. The maximum feasible scan rate is only 9 queries per second which provide 8 data points per second with using ELM327 as well-known OBD-II dongle. This study aims to develop and design a programmable, and latency-sensitive vehicle data acquisition system that improves the modularity and flexibility to extract exact, trustworthy, and fresh car sensor data with higher frequency rates. Furthermore, the researcher must break apart, thoroughly inspect, and observe the internal network of the vehicle, which may cause severe damages to the expensive ECUs of the vehicle due to intrinsic vulnerabilities of the CAN bus during initial research. Desired sensors data were collected from various vehicles utilizing Raspberry Pi3 as computing and processing unit with using OBD (request-response) and direct CAN method at the same time. Two types of data were collected for this study. The first, CAN bus frame data that illustrates data collected for each line of hex data sent from an ECU and the second type is the OBD data that represents some limited data that is requested from ECU under standard condition. The proposed system is reconfigurable, human-readable and multi-task telematics device that can be fitted into any vehicle with minimum effort and minimum time lag in the data extraction process. The standard operational procedure experimental vehicle network test bench is developed and can be used for future vehicle network testing experiment.

Keywords: CAN bus, OBD-II, vehicle data acquisition, connected cars, telemetry, Raspberry Pi3

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Authors: Agada N. Ihuoma, Nagata Yasunori

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Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques play a crucial role in predicting the expected energy outcome and its performance, analysis, modeling, and control of renewable energy. Renewable energy is becoming more popular for economic and environmental reasons. In the face of global energy consumption and increased depletion of most fossil fuels, the world is faced with the challenges of meeting the ever-increasing energy demands. Therefore, incorporating artificial intelligence to predict solar radiation outcomes from the intermittent sunlight is crucial to enable a balance between supply and demand of energy on loads, predict the performance and outcome of solar energy, enhance production planning and energy management, and ensure proper sizing of parameters when generating clean energy. However, one of the major problems of forecasting is the algorithms used to control, model, and predict performances of the energy systems, which are complicated and involves large computer power, differential equations, and time series. Also, having unreliable data (poor quality) for solar radiation over a geographical location as well as insufficient long series can be a bottleneck to actualization. To overcome these problems, this study employs the anaconda Navigator (Jupyter Notebook) for machine learning which can combine larger amounts of data with fast, iterative processing and intelligent algorithms allowing the software to learn automatically from patterns or features to predict the performance and outcome of Solar Energy which in turns enables the balance of supply and demand on loads as well as enhance production planning and energy management.

Keywords: artificial Intelligence, backward elimination, linear regression, solar energy

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Authors: A. Dinelka Panagoda, Bathiya Bandara, Chamod Wijetunga, Chathura Malinda, Lakmal Rupasinghe, Chethana Liyanapathirana

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This research takes us forward with the concepts of Federated Learning and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) to introduce an efficient malware detection technique and provide a mitigation mechanism to give birth to a resilient and automated healthcare sector network system by also adding the feature of extended privacy preservation. Due to the daily transformation of new malware attacks on hospital Integrated Clinical Environment (ICEs), the healthcare industry is at an undefinable peak of never knowing its continuity direction. The state of blindness by the array of indispensable opportunities that new medical device inventions and their connected coordination offer daily, a factor that should be focused driven is not yet entirely understood by most healthcare operators and patients. This solution has the involvement of four clients in the form of hospital networks to build up the federated learning experimentation architectural structure with different geographical participation to reach the most reasonable accuracy rate with privacy preservation. While the logistic regression with cross-entropy conveys the detection, SDN comes in handy in the second half of the research to stack up the initial development phases of the system with malware mitigation based on policy implementation. The overall evaluation sums up with a system that proves the accuracy with the added privacy. It is no longer needed to continue with traditional centralized systems that offer almost everything but not privacy.

Keywords: software-defined network, federated learning, privacy, integrated clinical environment, decentralized learning, malware detection, malware mitigation

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Authors: Ali panahi-Kosar Khosravi

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Earthquake resilience is one of the most important theoretical and practical concepts in crisis management. Over the past few decades, the rapid growth of urban areas and developing lower urban areas (especially in developing countries) have made them more vulnerable to human and natural crises. Therefore, the resilience of urban communities, especially low-income and unhealthy neighborhoods, is of particular importance. The present study seeks to assess and evaluate the resilience of neighborhoods in the center of district 6 of Tabriz in terms of awareness, knowledge and personal skills, social and psychological capital, managerial-institutional, and the ability to return to appropriate and sustainable conditions. The research method in this research is descriptive-analytical. The authors used library and survey methods to collect information and a questionnaire to assess resilience. The statistical population of this study is the total households living in the four neighborhoods of Shanb Ghazan, Khatib, Gharamalek, and Abuzar alley. Three hundred eighty-four families from four neighborhoods were selected based on the Cochran formula using a simple random sampling method. A one-sample t-test, simple linear regression, and structural equations were used to test the research hypotheses. Findings showed that only two social and psychological awareness and capital indicators in district 6 of Tabriz had a favorable and approved status. Therefore, considering the multidimensional concept of resilience, district 6 of Tabriz is in an unfavorable resilience situation. Also, the findings based on the analysis of variance indicated no significant difference between the neighborhoods of district 6 in terms of resilience, and most neighborhoods are in an unfavorable situation.

Keywords: resilience, statistical analysis, earthquake, district 6 of tabriz

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Authors: Watcharapong Yaowarat, Thanee Kaewthummanukul, Waruntorn Jongrungrotsakul

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Noise-induced hearing loss, the most significant occupational and safety problem among the working population, can be effectively prevented through hearing protection devices (HPDs) use. This study aimed to examine whether the following factors, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, and interpersonal and situational influences about using hearing protection could predict HPD use among 132 qualified workers in production lines at Kaolin Mineral Dressing factories, Uttaradit and Lampang provinces. Data collection was undertaken from August to September 2020 according to the interview form developed by Yaruang et al. (2010), which was assured by a panel of experts and its reliability value was at an acceptable level. Data analysis was performed using logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that only the situational factor of using hearing protection could predict HPD use, which accounted for 21.80 percent of the total variance for HPD use. It was also found that the study sample who had a score for the situational factors on using hearing protection greater than or equal to the median was 4.16 times more likely to use HPDs than those who had lower median scores. (OR = 4.16, p < .05). The results, thus, indicate that organization policies addressing worker health along with enhancing a supportive environment for HPD use, in particular, the provision of various HPDs, are of great importance. Therefore, occupational health nurses and related health teams should enhance workers’ use of HPDs effectively through knowledge dissemination by adopting strategies appropriate to the workplace context leading to an achievement of worker health policy focusing on work safety.

Keywords: predicting factors, hearing protection device, factors predicting hearing protection device use, kaolin mineral dressing factories

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