Search results for: host states

Authors: Digvijaysingh S. Bana, Kiran R. Trivedi

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This paper introduces various methods for the alpha wave to detect the difference between two states of brain. One healthy subject participated in the experiment. EEG was measured on the forehead above the eye (FP1 Position) with reference and ground electrode are on the ear clip. The data samples are obtained in the form of EEG raw data. The time duration of reading is of one minute. Various test are being performed on the alpha band EEG raw data.The readings are performed in different time duration of the entire day. The statistical analysis is being carried out on the EEG sample data in the form of various tests.

Keywords: electroencephalogram(EEG), biometrics, authentication, EEG raw data

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Authors: Tasawar Ashraf

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The paper argues that the European Union’s securitized recourse to migration management which is lacking on the principle of solidarity has enhanced the sufferings of the asylum seekers by influencing the asylum policies of the non-EU states in the Eastern Mediterranean. The research critically analyses the development of the Turkish Asylum Policy and advocates that due to extraordinary burden of refugees and conceivable chances of getting EU membership, Turkey is developing its asylum policy essentially on the footprints of the EU. Such political and economic domination of the EU are resulting in the development of broader securitized migration zone in the EU and MENA region. Therefore, this paper critically analyses two interconnected issues, i.e., securitization of the migration in the EU and MENA region and the deficiency of the principle of solidarity and burden sharing in the European Agenda on Migration and how it reflects on Turkish asylum policy. This paper suggests that the EU must adopt a more generous resettle scheme ensuring the division of the refugee burden on all member and regional states by considering different political, social, and economic factors. Only such corporation can increase the pool of refugee hosting states by collaborating with the regional states to develop their asylum systems in accordance with international law.

Keywords: European Agenda on Migration (EAM), EU, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)

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Authors: Claudia Donoso

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This study compares the restriction of mobility of migrants and asylum seekers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and Ecuador. Based on the discourse analysis of anti-migrant rhetoric in press articles, migrant stories in the press, reports, and border control practices, the study examines the Ecuadorian government’s response to the migration flow of Venezuelans and the United States enforcement practices against Latin American asylum seekers. By exploring Giorgio Agamben’s concept of bare life, the article argues that this failure to protect mobility rights is due to the United States and Ecuador’s views of forced migrants as bare life and carriers of the virus, justifying xenophobia, resistance to humanitarian international law, and exceptionalism. By drawing on a feminist intersectional approach, the study adds to recent research on the securitization of forced migration and challenge the race/ethnicity, immigration status, class, and nationality-based discrimination of the measures undertaken during the pandemic. The article illustrates how the treatment of forced migrants as bare life was aggravated by their intersectional inequalities. It concludes by providing recommendations that could be enforced by the US and Ecuadorian governments to protect the right to freedom of mobility.

Keywords: bare life, intersectionality, mobility rights, COVID-19, Ecuador, United States

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Authors: Emilia Segun-Ajao

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The strategy of relocation aimed at strengthening supply chain resilience in the United States is examined, taking into account recent global disturbances and vulnerabilities in offshore manufacturing. It explains the procurement challenges faced by enterprises and offers solutions to mitigate risks and improve resilience. Through the analysis of innovative approaches, including technological advances, policy considerations, and strategic frameworks, this study provides insights to decision-makers about the complexity of supply chain management. Reshoring has gained attention as a strategy to improve supply chain resilience in the face of global disruptions. This analysis focuses on the importance of relocating as a multifaceted approach to strengthening supply chains, advocating economic benefits, technological advances, and policy frameworks to create a more robust supply landscape in the United States.

Keywords: collaborative partnerships, supply chain resilience, procurement challenges, technology adoption

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Authors: Kedar J. Mahadeshwar

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Concept introduction: This paper talks about how an innovative cloud based analytics enabled solution that could address a major industry challenge that is approaching all of us globally faster than what one would think. The world of supply chain for drugs and devices is changing today at a rapid speed. In the US, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) is a new law for Tracing, Verification and Serialization phasing in starting Jan 1, 2015 for manufacturers, repackagers, wholesalers and pharmacies / clinics. Similarly we are seeing pressures building up in Europe, China and many countries that would require an absolute traceability of every drug and device end to end. Companies (both manufacturers and distributors) can use this opportunity not only to be compliant but to differentiate themselves over competition. And moreover a country such as UAE can be the leader in coming up with a global solution that brings innovation in this industry. Problem definition and timing: The problem of counterfeit drug market, recognized by FDA, causes billions of dollars loss every year. Even in UAE, the concerns over prevalence of counterfeit drugs, which enter through ports such as Dubai remains a big concern, as per UAE pharma and healthcare report, Q1 2015. Distribution of drugs and devices involves multiple processes and systems that do not talk to each other. Consumer confidence is at risk due to this lack of traceability and any leading provider is at risk of losing its reputation. Globally there is an increasing pressure by government and regulatory bodies to trace serial numbers and lot numbers of every drug and medical devices throughout a supply chain. Though many of large corporations use some form of ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, it is far from having a capability to trace a lot and serial number beyond the enterprise and making this information easily available real time. Solution: The solution here talks about a service provider that allows all subscribers to take advantage of this service. The solution allows a service provider regardless of its physical location, to host this cloud based traceability and analytics solution of millions of distribution transactions that capture lots of each drug and device. The solution platform will capture a movement of every medical device and drug end to end from its manufacturer to a hospital or a doctor through a series of distributor or retail network. The platform also provides advanced analytics solution to do some intelligent reporting online. Why Dubai? Opportunity exists with huge investment done in Dubai healthcare city also with using technology and infrastructure to attract more FDI to provide such a service. UAE and countries similar will be facing this pressure from regulators globally in near future. But more interestingly, Dubai can attract such innovators/companies to run and host such a cloud based solution and become a hub of such traceability globally.

Keywords: cloud, pharmaceutical, supply chain, tracking

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Authors: Yakup Ulusu, Numan Eczacıoğlu, İsa Gökçe, Helen Waller, Jeremy H. Lakey

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Besides having the appropriate amino acid sequence to perform the function of proteins, it is important to have correct conformation after this sequence to process. To consist of this conformation depends on the amino acid sequence at the primary structure, hydrophobic interaction, chaperones and enzymes in charge of folding etc. Misfolded proteins are not functional and tend to be aggregated. Cysteine originating disulfide cross-links make stable this conformation of functional proteins. When two of the cysteine amino acids come side by side, disulfide bond is established that forms a cystine bridge. Due to this feature cysteine plays an important role on the formation of three-dimensional structure of many proteins. There are two cysteine amino acids (C44, C69) in the Tol-A-III protein. Unlike protein disulfide bonds from within his own, any non-specific cystine bridge causes a change in the three dimensional structure of the protein. Proteins can be expressed in various host cells as directly or fusion (chimeric). As a result of overproduction of the recombinant proteins, aggregation of insoluble proteins in the host cell can occur by forming a crystal structure called inclusion body. In general fusion proteins are produced for provide affinity tags to make proteins more soluble and production of some toxic proteins via fusion protein expression system like pTolT. Proteins can be modified by using a site-directed mutagenesis. By this way, creation of non-specific disulfide crosslinks can be prevented at fusion protein expression system via the present cysteine replaced by another amino acid such as serine, glycine or etc. To do this, we need; a DNA molecule that contains the gene that encodes for the target protein, required primers for mutation to be designed according to site directed mutagenesis reaction. This study was aimed to be replaced cysteine encoding codon TGT with serine encoding codon AGT. For this sense and reverse primers designed (given below) and used site-directed mutagenesis reaction. Several new copy of the template plasmid DNA has been formed with above mentioned mutagenic primers via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR product consists of both the master template DNA (wild type) and the new DNA sequences containing mutations. Dpn-l endonuclease restriction enzyme which is specific for methylated DNA and cuts them to the elimination of the master template DNA. E. coli cells obtained after transformation were incubated LB medium with antibiotic. After purification of plasmid DNA from E. coli, the presence of the mutation was determined by DNA sequence analysis. Developed this new plasmid is called PtolT-δ.

Keywords: site directed mutagenesis, Escherichia coli, pTolT, protein expression

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Authors: K. Suganya Devi, P. Srinivasan, M. P. Vaishnave, G. Arutperumjothi

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Today’s internet world is highly prone to various online attacks, of which the most harmful attack is phishing. The attackers host the fake websites which are very similar and look alike. We propose an image based authentication using steganography and visual cryptography to prevent phishing. This paper presents a secure steganographic technique for true color (RGB) images and uses Discrete Cosine Transform to compress the images. The proposed method hides the secret data inside the cover image. The use of visual cryptography is to preserve the privacy of an image by decomposing the original image into two shares. Original image can be identified only when both qualified shares are simultaneously available. Individual share does not reveal the identity of the original image. Thus, the existence of the secret message is hard to be detected by the RS steganalysis.

Keywords: image security, random LSB, steganography, visual cryptography

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Authors: Atena Naeimi, Asghar Amiri, Zahra Ghasemi

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A stable suspension of nanocomposite simple manganese(III) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin nanoaggregates and Ag was prepared by a host–guest procedure, in which ethanol and water are used as ‘green’ solvents. The oxidation of alcohols by tetrabutylammonium Peroxomonosulfate(TP) were efficiently enhanced with excellent selectivity under the influence of simple Mn(TPP)OAc (TPP = meso-tetraphenylporphyrin) nanoparticles. Enhanced stabilities and activities were achieved with nanostructured Mn catalysts compared to those of the individual counterparts in solution according to turnover numbers and UV/Vis studies. The title nanocatalyst facilitates a greener reaction because the reaction solvent is water and TP is safe to use. The efficiency of the oxidation system depends critically upon the steric hindrances and electronic structures of both nitrogen donor ligand sand porphyrin nanoparticles.

Keywords: oxidation, nanoaggregates, porphyrinoids, silver

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Authors: Yun-Hsuan Yu, Chi-Shung Tang, Nzar Rauf Abdullah, Vidar Gudmundsson

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Spin-orbit gap feature in energy dispersion of one-dimensional devices is revealed via strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI) effects under Zeeman field. We describe the utilization of a finger-gate or a top-gate to control the spin-dependent transport characteristics in the SOI-Zeeman influenced split-gate devices by means of a generalized spin-mixed propagation matrix method. For the finger-gate system, we find a bound state in continuum for incident electrons within the ultra-low energy regime. For the top-gate system, we observe more bound-state features in conductance associated with the formation of spin-associated hole-like or electron-like quasi-bound states around band thresholds, as well as hole bound states around the reverse point of the energy dispersion. We demonstrate that the spin-dependent transport behavior of a top-gate system is similar to that of a finger-gate system only if the top-gate length is less than the effective Fermi wavelength.

Keywords: spin-orbit, zeeman, top-gate, finger-gate, bound state

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Authors: Samira Cherid, Samir Bentata, Feyza Zahira Meghoufel, Yamina Sefir, Sabria Terkhi, Fatima Bendahma, Bouabdellah Bouadjemi, Ali Zitouni

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Using the transfer-matrix technique and the Kronig Penney model, we numerically and analytically investigate the effect of short-range correlated disorder in random dimer model (RDM) on transmission properties of light in one dimension photonic crystals made of three different materials. Such systems consist of two different structures randomly distributed along the growth direction, with the additional constraint that one kind of these layers appears in pairs. It is shown that the one-dimensional random dimer photonic crystals support two types of extended modes. By shifting of the dimer resonance toward the host fundamental stationary resonance state, we demonstrate the existence of the ballistic response in these systems.

Keywords: photonic crystals, disorder, correlation, transmission

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Authors: Rai Mansoor Imtiaz

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Guardians in hybrid regimes fragment opposition parties and ban their political leaders, and disenfranchise their voters' political participation. When guardians in hybrid regimes are so powerful that they remain decisive on electoral politics of states, and have powers to ban political parties and their leadership, then "why do political parties backed by those powerful guardians lose elections" and "how do anti-establishment parties make electoral inroads at the local and national levels." These two questions are interrelated with the key research question of my research "why do people vote for political parties rejected by powerful guardians in establishmentarian democracies." Furthermore, this research question is important to be explored for two reasons. First, existing literature only reflects the electoral victories of opposition parties or defeats of military-sponsored parties (see Thailand and Turkey) but remains silent on political change that led the anti-military parties to win the elections. Second, why is it a case that people belonging to the countries where militaries remain popular among the public (see Turkey and Pakistan) have started putting their trust in anti-establishment politicians who criticise the military against their intervention in politics? For instance, in Pakistan, where commenting against the military is meant to comment against the state –– an anti-military narrative is getting popular support. The conceptual framework of hybrid states in this research relies on the concept of a 'reserved domain/tutelary body' (guardians of hybrid states). However, this research makes a case that hybrid states are not consolidated separate political entities but rather vacillated states that fluctuate between democratic and authoritarian practices. This paper, therefore, uses the term establishmentarian democracy as a subtype of the hybrid regime, which is more consolidated than a hybrid democracy.

Keywords: Guardians, Hybrid Regimes, Voters, Elections, Democracy, South Asia

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Authors: Fang Li, Jiazhao Wang, Jianmin Ma

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The practical application of Li-S batteries is hampered due to poor cycling stability caused by electrolyte-dissolved lithium polysulfides. Dual functionalities such as strong chemical adsorption stability and high conductivity are highly desired for an ideal host material for a sulfur-based cathode. Polypyrrole (PPy), as a conductive polymer, was widely studied as matrixes for sulfur cathode due to its high conductivity and strong chemical interaction with soluble polysulfides. Thus, a novel cathode structure consisting of a free-standing sulfur-polypyrrole cathode and a polypyrrole coated separator was designed for flexible Li-S batteries. The PPy materials show strong interaction with dissoluble polysulfides, which could suppress the shuttle effect and improve the cycling stability. In addition, the synthesized PPy film with a rough surface acts as a current collector, which improves the adhesion of sulfur materials and restrain the volume expansion, enhancing the structural stability during the cycling process. For further enhancing the cycling stability, a PPy coated separator was also applied, which could make polysulfides into the cathode side to alleviate the shuttle effect. Moreover, the PPy layer coated on commercial separator is much lighter than other reported interlayers. A soft-packaged flexible Li-S battery has been designed and fabricated for testing the practical application of the designed cathode and separator, which could power a device consisting of 24 light-emitting diode (LED) lights. Moreover, the soft-packaged flexible battery can still show relatively stable cycling performance after repeated bending, indicating the potential application in flexible batteries. A novel vapor phase deposition method was also applied to prepare uniform polypyrrole layer coated sulfur/graphene aerogel composite. The polypyrrole layer simultaneously acts as host and adsorbent for efficient suppression of polysulfides dissolution through strong chemical interaction. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the polypyrrole could trap lithium polysulfides through stronger bonding energy. In addition, the deflation of sulfur/graphene hydrogel during the vapor phase deposition process enhances the contact of sulfur with matrixes, resulting in high sulfur utilization and good rate capability. As a result, the synthesized polypyrrole coated sulfur/graphene aerogel composite delivers a specific discharge capacity of 1167 mAh g⁻¹ and 409.1 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.2 C and 5 C respectively. The capacity can maintain at 698 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.5 C after 500 cycles, showing an ultra-slow decay rate of 0.03% per cycle.

Keywords: polypyrrole, strong chemical interaction, long-term stability, Li-S batteries

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Authors: Muhammad Riaz, Muhammad Sarwar

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As a result of broad trapping program for the collection of fruit flies fauna of Pakistan, adults or larvae samples of fruit flies were collected from different localities. After sampling, to characterize fruit fly fauna involved, the collected samples were brought to the laboratory for their species identification. In this study, based on extensive literature records, the presence of one fruit fly species Bactrocera abbasi (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae) belonging to genus Bactrocera Macquar was recognized for the first time. This new species is described and illustrated on the basis of morphological characters, supported by data on its ecology and geographic distribution. Information is also given on host plant and location of type specimen, distinguish remarks and diagnosis are as well included.

Keywords: diptera, tephritidae, bactrocera, new species, taxonomy, Pakistan

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Authors: N. Demertzis, J. L. Bowen

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Sepsis is a complex and rapidly evolving condition, resulting from uncontrolled prolonged activation of host immune system due to pathogenic insult. The aim of this study is the development of a multiplex electrochemical sensing platform, capable of detecting both pathogen associated and host immune markers to enable the rapid and definitive diagnosis of sepsis. A combination of aptamers and molecular imprinting approaches have been employed to generate sensing systems for lipopolysaccharide (LPS), c-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT). Gold working electrodes were mechanically polished and electrochemically cleaned with 0.1 M sulphuric acid using cyclic voltammetry (CV). Following activation, a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) was generated, by incubating the electrodes with a thiolated anti-LPS aptamer / dithiodibutiric acid (DTBA) mixture (1:20). 3-aminophenylboronic acid (3-APBA) in combination with the anti-LPS aptamer was used for the development of the hybrid molecularly imprinted sensor (apta-MIP). Aptasensors, targeting PCT and CRP were also fabricated, following the same approach as in the case of LPS, with mercaptohexanol (MCH) replacing DTBA. In the case of the CRP aptasensor, the SAM was formed following incubation of a 1:1 aptamer: MCH mixture. However, in the case of PCT, the SAM was formed with the aptamer itself, with subsequent backfilling with 1 μM MCH. The binding performance of all systems has been evaluated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The apta-MIP’s polymer thickness is controlled by varying the number of electropolymerisation cycles. In the ideal number of polymerisation cycles, the polymer must cover the electrode surface and create a binding pocket around LPS and its aptamer binding site. Less polymerisation cycles will create a hybrid system which resembles an aptasensor, while more cycles will be able to cover the complex and demonstrate a bulk polymer-like behaviour. Both aptasensor and apta-MIP were challenged with LPS and compared to conventional imprinted (absence of aptamer from the binding site, polymer formed in presence of LPS) and non-imprinted polymers (NIPS, absence of LPS whilst hybrid polymer is formed). A stable LPS aptasensor, capable of detecting down to 5 pg/ml of LPS was generated. The apparent Kd of the system was estimated at 17 pM, with a Bmax of approximately 50 pM. The aptasensor demonstrated high specificity to LPS. The apta-MIP demonstrated superior recognition properties with a limit of detection of 1 fg/ml and a Bmax of 100 pg/ml. The CRP and PCT aptasensors were both able to detect down to 5 pg/ml. Whilst full binding performance is currently being evaluated, there is none of the sensors demonstrate cross-reactivity towards LPS, CRP or PCT. In conclusion, stable aptasensors capable of detecting LPS, PCT and CRP at low concentrations have been generated. The realisation of a multiplex panel such as described herein, will effectively contribute to the rapid, personalised diagnosis of sepsis.

Keywords: aptamer, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, molecularly imprinted polymers, sepsis

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Authors: Farah Wahida Binti Mohamad Said

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Islamic culture is the way of life a Muslim is defined by the Qur’an and Sunnah. On the other hand, Western culture is fashioned by a host of people; Capitalists, atheists, people who believe in same-gender marriages and others of a similar nature. The main issue that faced by the Muslim in Malaysia is the effect of western culture on Muslim lifestyle. This is because of the influence from western culture that dominates mind of the Muslim and also impressed on their lifestyle. Practically, majority all things have connected with western culture. However, the main objective for this project is to develop the effect of western culture on Muslim lifestyle. This project also focuses on a few aspects that relate with cultural of Muslim and western culture nowadays. This paper will include a few method .The methods for this project are a video, interview etc. Another methodology we will put on next paper for more detail information. As a result, this research found that western cultural will be effect on Muslim lifestyle.

Keywords: effect of western culture, Muslim lifestyle, western culture, western and Muslim culture

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Authors: Dike Ike

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Migrants foster innovation and economic development in host nations through their entrepreneurial activities. Female migrant entrepreneurship is gaining more attention from the research community, with several studies being conducted in the field. This paper presents a standalone (scoping) systematic literature review of academic literature related to female migrant entrepreneurship and focuses on their entrepreneurial experiences, strategies, outcomes, resources, and context. For this purpose, 13 articles published in research journals are studied based on their (a) objective, (b) research methods. Based on the review, several gaps in the literature were identified, and suggestions were made to fill the gaps in future research to expand the scientific knowledge on female migrant entrepreneurship.

Keywords: female migrant entrepreneurship, systematic literature review, female migrant entrepreneurship outcomes, female migrant entrepreneurship experiences, female migrant entrepreneurship strategies

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Authors: Elmira Davasaz Tabrizi, Mushteba Sevil, Ercan Arican

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Directly or indirectly, the human microbiome, or the population of bacteria and other microorganisms living in the human body, has been linked with human health. Various research has examined the connection with both illness status and the composition of the human microbiome, even though current studies indicate that the gut microbiome influences the mucosa and immune system. A significant amount of effort is being put into understanding the human microbiome's natural history in terms of health outcomes while also expanding our comprehension of the molecular connections between the microbiome and the host. To maintain health and avoid disease, these efforts ultimately seek to find efficient methods for recovering human microbial communities. This review article describes how the human microbiome leads to chronic diseases and discusses evidence for an important significant disorder that is related to the microbiome and linked to prostate cancer: chronic prostatitis (CP).

Keywords: urobiome, chronic prostatitis, metagenomic, urinary microbiome

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Authors: Favour Makuochukwu Orji, Yingkui Zhao

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A myriad of environmental issues face the Nigerian industrial region, resulting from; oil and gas production, mining, manufacturing and domestic wastes. Amidst these, much effort has been directed by stakeholders in the Nigerian oil producing regions, because of the impacts of the region on the wider Nigerian economy. Research to date has suggested that collaborative environmental management could be an effective approach in managing environmental issues; but little attention has been given to the roles and practices of stakeholders in effecting a collaborative environmental management framework for the Nigerian oil-producing region. This paper produces a framework to expand and deepen knowledge relating to stakeholders aspects of collaborative roles in managing environmental issues in the Nigeria oil-producing region. The knowledge is derived from analysis of stakeholders’ practices – studied through multiple case studies using document analysis. Selected documents of key stakeholders – Nigerian government agencies, multi-national oil companies and host communities, were analyzed. Open and selective coding was employed manually during document analysis of data collected from the offices and websites of the stakeholders. The findings showed that the stakeholders have a range of roles, practices, interests, drivers and barriers regarding their collaborative roles in managing environmental issues. While they have interests for efficient resource use, compliance to standards, sharing of responsibilities, generating of new solutions, and shared objectives; there is evidence of major barriers which includes resource allocation, disjointed policy and regulation, ineffective monitoring, diverse socio- economic interests, lack of stakeholders’ commitment and limited knowledge sharing. However, host communities hold deep concerns over the collaborative roles of stakeholders for economic interests, particularly, where government agencies and multi-national oil companies are involved. With these barriers and concerns, a genuine stakeholders’ collaboration is found to be limited, and as a result, optimal environmental management practices and policies have not been successfully implemented in the Nigeria oil-producing region. A framework is produced that describes practices that characterize collaborative environmental management might be employed to satisfy the stakeholders’ interests. The framework recommends critical factors, based on the findings, which may guide a collaborative environmental management in the oil producing regions. The recommendations are designed to re-define the practices of stakeholders in managing environmental issues in the oil producing regions, not as something wholly new, but as an approach essential for implementing a sustainable environmental policy. This research outcome may clarify areas for future research as well as to contribute to industry guidance in the area of collaborative environmental management.

Keywords: collaborative environmental management framework, case studies, document analysis, multinational oil companies, Nigerian oil producing regions, Nigerian government agencies, stakeholders analysis

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Authors: Gauravi Agarkar, Mahendra Rai

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Fungi are closely associated with the plants in various types of interactions such as mycorrhizal, parasitic or endophytic. Some of these interactions are beneficial and a few are harmful to the host plants. It has been suggested that these plant-associated fungi are able to change their lifestyle abd this means endophyte may become parasite or vice versa. This phenomenon may have profound effect on plant-fungal interactions and various ecological niches. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the factors that trigger the change in fungal lifestyle and understand whether these different lifestyles are interconnected at some points either by physiological, biochemical or molecular routes. This review summarizes the factors affecting plant fungal interactions and discusses the possible mechanisms for lifestyles switching of fungi based on available experimental evidences. Research should be boosted in this direction to fetch more advantages in future and to avoid the severe consequences in agriculture and other related fields.

Keywords: endophytic, lifestyle switching, mycorrhizal, parasitic, plant-fungal interactions

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Authors: Thomas A. Fuller

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Over the past fifteen years, virtual schooling has been introduced and implemented in varying degrees throughout the public education system in the United States. It is possible in some states for students to voluntarily take all of their course load online, without ever having to step in a classroom. Experts foresee a dramatic rise in the number of courses taken online by public school students in the United States, with some predicting that by 2019 as many as 50% of public high school courses will be delivered online. This electronic delivery of public education offers tremendous potential to the scientific community because it calls for innovation and is funded by public school revenue. Public accountability provides a ready supply of statistical data for measuring the progress of virtual schools as they are implemented into the public school arena. This allows for a survey of the current use of virtual schooling through examination of past statistical data, as well as forecasting forward for future years based upon this past data. Virtual schooling is on the rise in the United States, but its growth has been tempered by practical problems of implementation. The greatest and best use of virtual schooling thus far has been to supplement the courses offered by public schools (e.g., offering unique language courses, elective courses, and games-based math and science courses). The weaknesses of virtual schooling lay in the problematic accountability in allowing students to take courses online at home and the lack of supportive infrastructure in the public school arena. Virtual schooling holds great promise for the public school education system in the United States, as well as the scientific community. Online courses allow students access to a much greater catalog of courses than is offered through classroom instruction in their local public school. This promising sector needs assistance from the scientific community in implementing new pedagogical methodologies.

Keywords: virtual schools, online classroom, electronic delivery, technological innovation

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Authors: K. Petrosyan, R. Piwowarczyk, K. Ruraż, S. Thijs, J. Vangronsveld, W. Kaca

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Holoparasitic plants are flowering heterotrophic angiosperms which with the help of an absorbing organ - haustorium, attach to another plant, the so-called the host. Due to the different hosts, unusual lifestyle, lack of roots, chlorophylls and photosynthesis, these plants are interesting and unique study objects for global biodiversity. The seeds germination of the parasitic plants also is unique: they germinate only in response to germination stimulants, namely strigolactones produced by the root of an appropriate host. Resistance of the seeds on different environmental conditions allow them to stay viable in the soil for more than 20 years. Among the wide range of plant protection mechanisms the endophytic communities have a specific role. In this way, they have the potential to mitigate the impacts of adverse conditions such as soil salinization. The major objective of our study was to compare the bacterial endo-microbiomes from seeds of two holoparasitic plants from Orobanchaceae family, Cistanche – C. armena (Armenia) and C. phelypaea (Portugal) – from saline habitats different in soil water status. The research aimed to perform how environmental conditions influence on the diversity of the bacterial communities of C. armena and C. phelypaea seeds. This was achieved by comparison of the endophytic microbiomes of two species and isolation of culturable bacteria. A combination of culture-dependent and molecular techniques was employed for the identification of the seed endomicrobiome (culturable and unculturable). Using the V3-V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene, four main taxa were identified: Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, but the relative proportion of the taxa was different in each type of seed. Generally, sixteen phyla, 323 genera and 710 bacterial species were identified, mainly Gram negative, halotolerant bacteria with an environmental origin. However, also some unclassified and unexplored taxonomic groups were found in the seeds of both plants. 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis from both species identified the gram positive, endospore forming, halotolerant and alkaliphile Bacillus spp. which suggests that the endophytic bacteria of examined seeds possess traits that are correlated with the natural habitat of their hosts. The cultivable seed endophytes from C. armena and C. phelypaea were rather similar, notwithstanding the big distances between their growth habitats - Armenia and Portugal. Although the seed endophytic microbiomes of C. armena and C. phelypaea contain a high number of common bacterial taxa, also remarkable differences exist. We demonstrated that the environmental conditions or abiotic stresses influence on diversity of the bacterial communities of holoparasiotic seeds. To the best of our knowledge the research is the first report of endophytes from seeds of holoparasitic Cistanche armena and C. phelypaea plants.

Keywords: microbiome, parasitic plant, salinity, seeds

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Authors: Tzuli Lin

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This paper aims to explore that the EU and Member State (UK) converges on cultural diplomacy to constitute an influential European external relations. It will address the development of EU cultural diplomacy and practice at Member state level. It also discusses the EU and Member States suffering in cultural resource overlapped. In contrast to the literature on the EU external relations, studies of the cultural dimension are rare. Thus, this paper will utilise the broad policy papers to explore how the cultural diversity among the Member States and the EU has a constructive progress at European level but not at Member State level. It can be argued that cultural component is the pivotal strategy for the stagnated EU external relations since the Euro crisis. The EU recognises that if it wants to promote the trade relations from the inside of Europe to outside, it requires the broad culture context among its traditional diplomacy, which brings the cultural component into a significant role. Even though in the area of Member State level, they share the fundamental value and idea, it does not elaborate Member States regarding the EU as a representative of European cultural diplomacy. In theory and practice, the discourse of Normative Power Europe (NPE) can be the analytic framework to construct the research of cultural diplomacy in Europe. NPE is an idea of the EU’s global role and spreading its norms to others. Moreover, Member States’ national interest has supreme priority rather than the EU. Therefore, this paper will utilise the UK as a case study to explore that cultural diplomacy shows fragmentation at European level. In the result, this paper will illustrate that the EU and the UK have mutual recognised each other as a partner not a leader.

Keywords: EU cultural diplomacy, cultural policy, cultural diversity, normative power

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Authors: R. Burahee, B. Chassinat, T. de Laclos, A. Dépée, A. Sastim

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The purpose of this paper is to propose a solution to detect, predict and reconstitute rain drops in real time – during the night – using an embedded material with an infrared camera. To prevent the system from needing too high hardware resources, simple models are considered in a powerful image treatment algorithm reducing considerably calculation time in OpenCV software. Using a smart model – drops will be matched thanks to a process running through two consecutive pictures for implementing a sophisticated tracking system. With this system drops computed trajectory gives information for predicting their future location. Thanks to this technique, treatment part can be reduced. The hardware system composed by a Raspberry Pi is optimized to host efficiently this code for real time execution.

Keywords: reconstitution, prediction, detection, rain drop, real time, raspberry, infrared

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Authors: Liang-Ta Cheng, Ching-Yu Yang

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Based on fast discrete cosine transform (FDCT), the authors present a high capacity and high perceived quality method for electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. By using a simple adjusting policy to the 1-dimentional (1-D) DCT coefficients, a large volume of secret message can be effectively embedded in an ECG host signal and be successfully extracted at the intended receiver. Simulations confirmed that the resulting perceived quality is good, while the hiding capability of the proposed method significantly outperforms that of existing techniques. In addition, our proposed method has a certain degree of robustness. Since the computational complexity is low, it is feasible for our method being employed in real-time applications.

Keywords: data hiding, ECG steganography, fast discrete cosine transform, 1-D DCT bundle, real-time applications

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Authors: Julien Benomar

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The World Bank report published in April 2023 called “Migrants, Refugees and Society” allows us to first distinguish migrants in search of economic opportunities and refugees that flee a situation of danger and choose their destination based on their immediate need for safety. Amongst those two categories, the report distinguished people having professional skills adapted to the labor market of the host country and those who have not. Out of that distinction of four categories, we choose to focus our research on refugees that do not have professional skills adapted to the labor market of the host country. Given that refugees generally have no recourse to public assistance schemes and cannot count on the support of their entourage or support network, we propose to examine the extent to which external assistance, such as international humanitarian action, is likely to accompany refugees' transition to financial empowerment through entrepreneurship. To this end, we propose to carry out a case study structured in three stages: (i) an exchange with a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) active in supporting refugee populations from Congo and Burundi to Rwanda, enabling us to (i.i) define together a financial empowerment income, and (i. ii) learn about the content of the support measures taken for the beneficiaries of the humanitarian project; (ii) monitor the population of 118 beneficiaries, including 73 refugees and 45 Rwandans (reference population); (iii) conduct a participatory analysis to identify the level of performance of the project and areas for improvement. The case study thus involved the staff of an international NGO active in helping refugees from Rwanda since 2015 and the staff of a Luxembourg NGO that has been funding this economic aid project through entrepreneurship since 2021. The case study thus involved the staff of an international NGO active in helping refugees from Rwanda since 2015 and the staff of a Luxembourg NGO, which has been funding this economic aid through an entrepreneurship project since 2021, and took place over a 48-day period between April and May 2023. The main results are of two types: (i) the need to associate indicators for monitoring the impact of the project on the indirect beneficiaries of the project (refugee community) and (ii) the identification of success factors making it possible to bring concrete and relevant responses to the constraints encountered. The first result thus made it possible to identify the following indicators: Indicator of community potential ((jobs, training or mentoring) promoted by the activity of the entrepreneur), Indicator of social contribution (tax paid by the entrepreneur), Indicator of resilience (savings and loan capacity generated, and finally impact on social cohesion. The second result made it possible to identify that among the 7 success factors tested, the sector of activity chosen and the level of experience in the sector of the future activity are those that stand out the most clearly.

Keywords: entrepreuneurship, refugees, financial empowerment, international aid

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Authors: Temur Chilachava

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In work the new nonlinear mathematical model describing assimilation of the people (population) with some less widespread language by two states with two various widespread languages, taking into account demographic factor is offered. In model three subjects are considered: the population and government institutions with the widespread first language, influencing by means of state and administrative resources on the third population with some less widespread language for the purpose of their assimilation; the population and government institutions with the widespread second language, influencing by means of state and administrative resources on the third population with some less widespread language for the purpose of their assimilation; the third population (probably small state formation, an autonomy), exposed to bilateral assimilation from two rather powerful states. Earlier by us it was shown that in case of zero demographic factor of all three subjects, the population with less widespread language completely assimilates the states with two various widespread languages, and the result of assimilation (redistribution of the assimilated population) is connected with initial quantities, technological and economic capabilities of the assimilating states. In considered model taking into account demographic factor natural decrease in the population of the assimilating states and a natural increase of the population which has undergone bilateral assimilation is supposed. At some ratios between coefficients of natural change of the population of the assimilating states, and also assimilation coefficients, for nonlinear system of three differential equations are received the two first integral. Cases of two powerful states assimilating the population of small state formation (autonomy), with different number of the population, both with identical and with various economic and technological capabilities are considered. It is shown that in the first case the problem is actually reduced to nonlinear system of two differential equations describing the classical model "predator - the victim", thus, naturally a role of the victim plays the population which has undergone assimilation, and a predator role the population of one of the assimilating states. The population of the second assimilating state in the first case changes in proportion (the coefficient of proportionality is equal to the relation of the population of assimilators in an initial time point) to the population of the first assimilator. In the second case the problem is actually reduced to nonlinear system of two differential equations describing type model "a predator – the victim", with the closed integrated curves on the phase plane. In both cases there is no full assimilation of the population to less widespread language. Intervals of change of number of the population of all three objects of model are found. The considered mathematical models which in some approach can model real situations, with the real assimilating countries and the state formations (an autonomy or formation with the unrecognized status), undergone to bilateral assimilation, show that for them the only possibility to avoid from assimilation is the natural demographic increase in population and hope for natural decrease in the population of the assimilating states.

Keywords: nonlinear mathematical model, bilateral assimilation, demographic factor, first integrals, result of assimilation, intervals of change of number of the population

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Authors: Mirijam Vrabec, Marian Janak, Bojan Ambrozic, Angelja K. Surca, Nastja Rogan Smuc, Nina Zupancic, Saso Sturm

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Natural microdiamonds and moissanite (SiC) can form during the orogenic events under ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic conditions (UHP), when parts of Earth’s crust are subducted to extreme depths. So far, such processes were identified only in few places on the Earth, and therefore, represent unique opportunity to study the evolution of the Earth’s deep interior. An important discovery of microdiamonds and moissanite was reported from Pohorje, (Slovenia), where they occurred as single or polyphase inclusions in garnets. Metasedimentary rocks from Pohorje are predominantly gneisses representing parts of the Austroalpine metamorphic units of the Eastern Alps. During Cretaceous orogeny, (ca. 95–92 Ma) continental crustal rocks were deeply subducted to the mantle depths (below 100 km) and metamorphosed at pressures exceeding 3.5 GPa and temperatures between 800–850 °C. Microstructural and phase analysis of the inclusions as well as detailed elemental analysis of host garnets were carried out combining several analytical techniques: optical microscope in plane polarized transmitted light, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) with wavelength-dispersive x-ray spectrometry (WDS) and field-emission scanning microscope (FEG-SEM) with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Micro-Raman analysis revealed sharp, first order diamond bands sometimes accompanied by graphite bands implying that transformation of diamond back to graphite occurred. To study the chemical and crystallographic relationship between microdiamonds and co-inclusions, advanced techniques of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied, which included high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), combined with EDS and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). To prepare electron transparent TEM lamellae selectively a dual-beam Focused Ion Beam/SEM (FIB/SEM) was employed. Detailed study of TEM lamellae, which was cross-sectioned from the highly faceted inclusion body located within the host garnet crystal matrix, revealed rich and rather complex internal structure. Namely, the negative crystal facets of the main inclusion body were typically decorated with up to 1 μm thick amorphous layer, reflecting the general garnet composition with slight variations in Fe/Ca content. Within these layers, ELNES analysis revealed the presence of a 28–30 nm thick layer of amorphous carbon. The very last section of this layer corresponds to composition of SiO2. Within the inclusion, besides diamond and moissanite alumosilicate mineral with pronounced layered structure, iron sulfides and chlorine were identified under TEM and CO2 and CH4 using Raman. Moissanite is found as single crystal or composed from numerous highly textured nano-crystals with the average size of 10 nm. Moissanite inclusions were found embedded inside the amorphous crust implying that moissanite crystalized well before the deposition of the amorphous layer. From the microstructural, crystallographic and chemical observations so far we can deduce, that polyphase inclusions in diamond bearing garnets from Pohorje most probably crystallized from reduced supercritical fluids. Based on layered interface structure of the host mineral multiphase process of crystallization is possible. The presence of microdiamonds and moissanite in rocks from Pohorje demonstrates that these parts of the Eastern Alps were subducted to extreme depths, and were subsequently exhumed back to the Earth's surface without complete breakdown of UHP mineral phases, allowing a rear and exceptional opportunity to study them in-situ.

Keywords: diamond, fluid inclusions, moissanite, TEM, UHP metamorphism.

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Authors: Yakubu Suleiman, S. A. Musa

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Nigeria is the largest cowpea producer in the world, accounting for about 45%, followed by Brazil with about 17%. Cowpea is grown in Kano, Bauchi, Katsina, Borno in the north, Oyo in the west, and to the lesser extent in Enugu in the east. This study was conducted to determine the input–output relationship of Cowpea production in Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa states of Nigeria. The data were collected with the aid of 1000 structured questionnaires that were randomly distributed to Cowpea farmers in the three states mentioned above of the study area. The data collected were analyzed using regression analysis (Cobb–Douglass production function model). The result of the regression analysis revealed the coefficient of multiple determinations, R2, to be 72.5% and the F ration to be 106.20 and was found to be significant (P < 0.01). The regression coefficient of constant is 0.5382 and is significant (P < 0.01). The regression coefficient with respect to labor and seeds were 0.65554 and 0.4336, respectively, and they are highly significant (P < 0.01). The regression coefficient with respect to fertilizer is 0.26341 which is significant (P < 0.05). This implies that a unit increase of any one of the variable inputs used while holding all other variables inputs constants, will significantly increase the total Cowpea output by their corresponding coefficient. This indicated that farmers in the study area are operating in stage II of the production function. The result revealed that Cowpea farmer in Kano, Jigawa and Katsina States realized a profit of N15,997, N34,016 and N19,788 per hectare respectively. It is hereby recommended that more attention should be given to Cowpea production by government and research institutions.

Keywords: coefficient, constant, inputs, regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 408

Authors: Sofia Papadimitriou

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INTRODUCTION: The differential diagnosis between acute viral and bacterial infections is an important cost-effectiveness parameter at the stage of the treatment process in order to achieve the maximum benefits in therapeutic intervention by combining the minimum cost to ensure the proper use of antibiotics.The discovery of sensitive and robust molecular diagnostic tests in response to the role of the host in infections has enhanced the accurate diagnosis and differentiation of infections. METHOD: The study used a sample of six independent blood samples (total=756) which are associated with human proteins-proteins, each of which at the transcription stage expresses a different response in the host network between viral and bacterial infections.Τhe individual blood samples are subjected to a sequence of computer filters that identify a gene panel corresponding to an autonomous diagnostic score. The data set and the correspondence of the gene panel to the diagnostic patents a new Bangalore -Viral Bacterial (BL-VB). FINDING: We use a biomarker based on the blood of 10 genes(Panel-VB) that are an important prognostic value for the detection of viruses from bacterial infections with a weighted average AUROC of 0.97(95% CL:0.96-0.99) in eleven independent samples (sets n=898). We discovered a base with a patient score (VB 10 ) according to the table, which is a significant diagnostic value with a weighted average of AUROC 0.94(95% CL: 0.91-0.98) in 2996 patient samples from 56 public sets of data from 19 different countries. We also studied VB 10 in a new cohort of South India (BL-VB,n=56) and found 97% accuracy in confirmed cases of viral and bacterial infections. We found that VB 10 (a)accurately identifies the type of infection even in unspecified cases negative to the culture (b) shows its clinical condition recovery and (c) applies to all age groups, covering a wide range of acute bacterial and viral infectious, including non-specific pathogens. We applied our VB 10 rating to publicly available COVID 19 data and found that our rating diagnosed viral infection in patient samples. RESULTS: Τhe results of the study showed the diagnostic power of the biomarker VB 10 as a diagnostic test for the accurate diagnosis of acute infections in recovery conditions. We look forward to helping you make clinical decisions about prescribing antibiotics and integrating them into your policies management of antibiotic stewardship efforts. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we are developing a new property of the RNA-based biomarker and a new blood test to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections to assist a physician in designing the optimal treatment regimen to contribute to the proper use of antibiotics and reduce the burden on antimicrobial resistance, AMR.

Keywords: acute infections, antimicrobial resistance, biomarker, blood transcriptome, systems biology, classifier diagnostic score

Procedia PDF Downloads 155

Authors: Brian Smith

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This paper seeks to contrast the contemporary anti-immigration rhetoric since the US pullout of Afghanistan with the debate about enemy aliens in the early modern period. In the seventeenth century, Sir Edward Coke declared that “infidels” should be seen as perpetui inimici (perpetual enemies) since their values were inimical to those of Christian states. As such, they could be perpetually excluded and denied legal standing. Even at that time, these anti-“infidel” arguments clashed with the natural law tradition of hospitality, which assumed that states had a moral responsibility to admit and care for strangers. In particular, this paper looks at the conflict between Hugo Grotius, Samuel Pufendorf, and John Locke. Grotius argues that states have a duty to admit foreigners. He goes out of his way to plan for the admittance of Jewish immigrants. In contrast, Pufendorf claimed that sovereigns had a duty exclude foreigners who would alter the constitutional character of the state. Much like Grotius, Locke argued that non-Christian peoples should be treated as friends and admitted without reservation.

Keywords: enemy aliens, perpetual enemies, hospitality, refugees

Procedia PDF Downloads 106