Search results for: Ida Bagus Made Putra Jandhana

Authors: Adie, Julius Undiukeye

Abstract:

This research investigated the practice of academic leadership succession planning in Nigerian higher education institutions, drawing on the lived experiences of the academic staff of the case study institutions. It is multi-case study research that adopts a qualitative research method. Ten participants (mainly academic staff) were used as the study sample. The study was guided by four research questions. Semi-structured interviews and archival information from official documents formed the sources of data. The data collected was analyzed using the Constant Comparative Technique (CCT) to generate empirical insights and facts on the subject of this paper. The following findings emerged from the data analysis: firstly, there was no formalized leadership succession plan in place in the institutions that were sampled for this study; secondly, despite the absence of a formal succession plan, the data indicates that academics believe that succession planning is very significant for institutional survival; thirdly, existing practices of succession planning in the sampled institutions, takes the forms of job seniority ranking, political process and executive fiat, ad-hoc arrangement, and external hiring; and finally, data revealed that there are some barriers to the practice of succession planning, such as traditional higher education institutions’ characteristics (e.g. external talent search, shared governance, diversity, and equality in leadership appointment) and the lack of interest in leadership positions. Based on the research findings, some far-reaching recommendations were made, including the urgent need for the ‘formalization’ of leadership succession planning by the higher education institutions concerned, through the design of an official policy framework.

Keywords: academic leadership, succession, planning, higher education

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Authors: Diego Moya, Juan Paredes, Clay Aldas, Ramiro Tite, Prasad Kaparaju

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Globally, energy policy for geothermal development is addressed in different forms, depending on the economy, resources, country-development, environment aspects and technology access. Although some countries have established strong regulations and standards for geothermal exploration, exploitation and sustainable use at the policy level (government departments and institutions), others have discussed geothermal laws at legal levels (congress – a national legislative body of a country). Appropriate regulations are needed not only to meet local and international funding requirements but also to avoid speculation in the use of the geothermal resource. In this regards, this paper presents the results of a systematic, qualitative and critical literature review of geothermal energy policy worldwide addressing two scenarios: policy and legal levels. At first, literature is collected and classified from scientific and government sources regarding geothermal energy policy of the most advanced geothermal producing countries, including Iceland, New Zealand, Mexico, the USA, Central America, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Kenia, and Australia. This is followed by a systematic review of the literature aiming to know the best geothermal practices and what remains uncertain regarding geothermal policy implementation. This analysis is made considering the stages of geothermal production. Furthermore, a qualitative analysis is conducted comparing the findings across geothermal policies in the countries mentioned above. Then, a critical review aims to identify significant items in the field to be applied in countries with geothermal potential but with no or weak geothermal policies. Finally, patterns and relationships are detected, and conclusions are drawn.

Keywords: assessment, geothermal, energy policy, worldwide

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Authors: Catalina Albornoz, Giacomo Barbieri

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Crop monitoring has shown to reduce vulnerability to spreading plagues and pathologies in crops. Remote sensing with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has made crop monitoring more precise, cost-efficient and accessible. Nowadays, remote monitoring involves calculating maps of vegetation indices by using different software that takes either Truecolor (RGB) or multispectral images as an input. These maps are then used to segment the crop into management zones. Finally, knowing the spectral signature of a crop (the reflected radiation as a function of wavelength) can be used as an input for decision-making and crop characterization. The calculation of vegetation indices using software such as Pix4D has high precision for monoculture plantations. However, this paper shows that using this software on mixed crops may lead to errors resulting in an incorrect segmentation of the field. Within this work, authors propose to filter all the elements different from the main crop before the calculation of vegetation indices and the spectral signature. A filter based on the Sobel method for border detection is used for filtering a coffee crop. Results show that segmentation into management zones changes with respect to the traditional situation in which a filter is not applied. In particular, it is shown how the values of the spectral signature change in up to 17% per spectral band. Future work will quantify the benefits of filtering through the comparison between in situ measurements and the calculated vegetation indices obtained through remote sensing.

Keywords: coffee, filtering, mixed crop, precision agriculture, remote sensing, spectral signature

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Authors: Paschal Arsein Mugabe

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This paper examines sustainable development planning in the context of environmental concerns in rural areas of the Tanzania. It challenges mainstream approaches to development, focusing instead upon transformative action for environmental justice. The goal is to help shape future sustainable development agendas in local government, international agencies and civil society organisations. Research methods: The approach of the study is geographical, but also involves various Trans-disciplinary elements, particularly from development studies, sociology and anthropology, management, geography, agriculture and environmental science. The research methods included thematic and questionnaire interviews, participatory tools such as focus group discussion, participatory research appraisal and expert interviews for primary data. Secondary data were gathered through the analysis of land use/cover data and official documents on climate, agriculture, marketing and health. Also several earlier studies that were made in the area provided an important reference base. Findings: The findings show that, agricultural sustainability in Tanzania appears likely to deteriorate as a consequence of climate change. Noteworthy differences in impacts across households are also present both by district and by income category. Also food security cannot be explained by climate as the only influencing factor. A combination of economic, political and socio-cultural context of the community are crucial. Conclusively, it is worthy knowing that people understand their relationship between climate change and their livelihood.

Keywords: agriculture, climate change, environment, sustainable development

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Authors: Shivani Jha, Klaus Baier, Rafiq Azzam, Ramakar Jha

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In India, generally people migrate from rural area to the urban area for better infra-structural facilities, high standard of living, good job opportunities and advanced transport/communication availability. In fact, unplanned urban development due to migration of people causes seriou damage to the land use, water pollution and available water resources. In the present work, an attempt has been made to use satellite data of different years for urban change detection of Chennai metropolitan city along with pattern analysis to generate future scenario of urban development using buffer zoning in GIS environment. In the analysis, SRTM (30m) elevation data and IRS-1C satellite data for the years 1990, 2000, and 2014, are used. The flow accumulation, aspect, flow direction and slope maps developed using SRTM 30 m data are very useful for finding suitable urban locations for industrial setup and urban settlements. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) have been used in ERDAS imagine software for change detection in land use of Chennai metropolitan city. It has been observed that the urban area has increased exponentially in Chennai metropolitan city with significant decrease in agriculture and barren lands. However, the water bodies located in the study regions are protected and being used as freshwater for drinking purposes. Using buffer zone analysis in GIS environment, it has been observed that the development has taken place in south west direction significantly and will do so in future.

Keywords: urban change, satellite data, the Chennai metropolis, change detection

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Authors: Deepa S N, Srinivasan a D, Veeramanju K T

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The power transformer is a critical equipment in the transmission and distribution network that must be managed to ensure uninterrupted power service. The liquid insulation is essential for the proper functioning of the transformer, as it serves as both coolant and insulating medium, which influences the transformer’s durability. Further, the insulating state of a power transformer has a significant impact on its reliability. Mineral oil derived from petroleum crude oil has been employed as liquid dielectrics for decades due to its superior functional characteristics, however as a resource for the same are getting depleted over the years. Research is undertaken across the globe to identify a viable substitute for mineral oil. Further, alternate insulating oils are being investigated for better environmental impact, biodegradability and economics. Several combinations of vegetable oil derived natural esters are being inspected by researchers across the globe in these domains. In this work, mineral oil is blended with soyabean oil with various proportions and dielectric properties such as dielectric breakdown voltage, relative permittivity, dissipation factor, viscosity, flash and fire point have been investigated according to international standards. A quantitative comparison is made among various samples and is observed that the blended oil sample of equal proportion of mineral oil and soyabean oil, MO50+SO50 exhibits superior dielectric properties such as breakdown voltage of 65kV, dissipation factor of 0.0044, relative permittivity of 3.1680 that are closer to the range of values recommended for power transformer applications. Also, Breakdown voltage values of all the investigated oil samples obeyed the Weibull and Normal probability distribution.

Keywords: blended oil, dielectric breakdown, liquid insulation, power transformer

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Authors: Cornelius Michael Ekenta

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The research made a gender comparative analysis of the influence of sources of information on the adoption of tenera improved oil palm technology. Purposive, stratified and random sampling techniques were used to sample a total of 292 farmers (155 males and 137 females) for the study. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain primary data used for analysis. Obtained data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and Logit regressions analysis. Findings revealed that radio, extension office, television and farmers’ group were the most preferred sources of information by the farmers both male and female. Also, males perceived information from radio (92%) and farmers’ group (84%) to be available and information from Research Institutes as credible (95%). Similarly, the female perceived information from Research Institutes to be reliable (70%). The study showed that 38% of men adopted the variety, 25% of the women adopted the variety while 32% of both men and women adopted the variety in the study area. Regressions analysis indicated that radio, extension office, television, farmers’ group and research institute were significant at 0.5% of probability for men and female farmers. The study concluded that the adoption of tenera improved oil palm technology was low among male and female farmers though men adopted more than the women. It was recommended therefore that Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) in other states of the country should partner with their state radio and television stations to broadcast agricultural programmes periodically to ensure efficient dissemination of agricultural information to the farmers.

Keywords: analysis, Edo, gender, influence, information, sources, tenera

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Authors: Xinchen Zhu

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The rapid fame of the renowned female film star Tang Wei has made her a typical subject (or object) entangled with sensitive issues involving the official ideology, sexuality, and patriarchal values of contemporary China. In 2008, Tang Wei’s official ban has triggered the wave of debates concerning state power and censorship, actor’s rights, sexual ethics, and feminism in the public sphere. Her ban implies that Chinese film censorship acts as a key factor in reconstructing Chinese film stardom. Following the ban, as sensational media texts are re-interpreting the official discourses, the texts also functioned as a crucial vehicle in reconstructing Tang's female image. Therefore, the case study of Tang's film stardom allows us to further explore how female stardom has been entangled with the issues involving official ideology, female sexual ethics, and patriarchal values in contemporary China. This paper argues that Chinese female film stars shoulder the responsibility of film acting which would conform to the official male-dominated values. However, with the development of the Internet, the state no longer remains an absolute control over the new venues. The netizens’ discussion about her ban reshaped Tang’s image as a victim and scapegoat under the unfair oppression of the official authority. Additionally, this paper argues that similar to State’s discourse, netizens’ discourse did not reject patriarchal values, and in turn emphasized Tang Wei’s female chastity.

Keywords: film censorship, Chinese female film stardom, party-state’s power, national discourses, Tang Wei

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Authors: M. Asgari, N. Heydari, N. Shojai Kaveh, S. N. Ashrafizadeh

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Chemical flooding methods are having importance in enhanced oil recovery to recover the trapped oil after conventional recovery, as conventional oil resources become scarce. The surfactant/alkaline process consists of injecting alkali and synthetic surfactant. The addition of surfactant to injected water reduces oil/water IFT and/or alters wettability. The alkali generates soap in situ by reaction between the alkali and naphthenic acids in the crude oil. Oil recovery in fractured reservoirs mostly depends on spontaneous imbibition (SI) of brine into matrix blocks. Thus far, few efforts have been made toward understanding the relative influence of capillary and gravity forces on the fluid flow. This paper studies the controlling mechanisms of spontaneous imbibition process in chalk formations by consideration of type and concentration of surfactants, CMC, pH and alkaline reagent concentration. Wetting properties of carbonate rock have been investigated by means of contact-angle measurements. Interfacial-tension measurements were conducted using spinning drop method. Ten imbibition experiments were conducted in atmospheric pressure and various temperatures from 30°C to 50°C. All experiments were conducted above the CMC of each surfactant. The experimental results were evaluated in terms of ultimate oil recovery and reveal that wettability alteration achieved by nonionic surfactant, which led to imbibition of brine sample containing the nonionic surfactant, while IFT value was not in range of ultra low. The displacement of oil was initially dominated by capillary forces. However, for cationic surfactant, gravity forces was the dominant force for oil production by surfactant solution to overcome the negative capillary pressure.

Keywords: alkaline, capillary, gravity, imbibition, surfactant, wettability

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Authors: Nor Hafizah Anuar, M. Gul Akdeniz

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This paper attempted on emphasize on the station buildings façade elements. Station buildings were essential part of the transportation that reflected the technology. Comparative analysis on architectural styles will also be made between the railway station buildings of Malaysia and any railway station buildings which have similarities. The Malay Peninsula which is strategically situated between the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea makes it an ideal location for trade. Malacca became an important trading port whereby merchants from around the world stopover to exchange various products. The Portuguese ruled Malacca for 130 years (1511–1641) and for the next century and a half (1641–1824), the Dutch endeavoured to maintain an economic monopoly along the coasts of Malaya. Malacca came permanently under British rule under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, 1824. Up to Malaysian independence in 1957, Malaya saw a great influx of Chinese and Indian migrants as workers to support its growing industrial needs facilitated by the British. The growing tin ore mining and rubber industry resulted as the reason of the development of the railways as urgency to transport it from one place to another. The existence of railway transportation becomes more significant when the city started to bloom and the British started to build grandeur buildings that have different functions; administrative buildings, town and city halls, railway stations, public works department, courts, and post offices.

Keywords: Malaysia, station building, architectural styles, facade elements

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Authors: Jean Berger, Nassirou Lo, Martin Noel

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Perfectly suited for natural or man-made emergency and disaster management situations such as flood, earthquakes, tornadoes, or tsunami, multi-target search path planning for a team of rescue agents is known to be computationally hard, and most techniques developed so far come short to successfully estimate optimality gap. A novel mixed-integer linear programming (MIP) formulation is proposed to optimally solve the multi-target multi-agent discrete search and rescue (SAR) path planning problem. Aimed at maximizing cumulative probability of successful target detection, it captures anticipated feedback information associated with possible observation outcomes resulting from projected path execution, while modeling agent discrete actions over all possible moving directions. Problem modeling further takes advantage of network representation to encompass decision variables, expedite compact constraint specification, and lead to substantial problem-solving speed-up. The proposed MIP approach uses CPLEX optimization machinery, efficiently computing near-optimal solutions for practical size problems, while giving a robust upper bound obtained from Lagrangean integrality constraint relaxation. Should eventually a target be positively detected during plan execution, a new problem instance would simply be reformulated from the current state, and then solved over the next decision cycle. A computational experiment shows the feasibility and the value of the proposed approach.

Keywords: search path planning, search and rescue, multi-agent, mixed-integer linear programming, optimization

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Authors: Danjuma Moudu Momoh

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Participation in sports is of immense benefit to the soundness of individual mental and social wellness, particularly among youngsters. The 1980’s and 1990’s compared to 2000’s witnessed great involvement of youngsters in school games arising from the high administrative supports attached to sports. Previous studies in an attempt to increase youngster’s participation in sports had focused more on other factors rather than on administrative factors. This study, therefore, investigated the importance of administrative factors (availability of facilities, availability of equipment, funding, scheduling of sports programme and administrative style of school principals) on students’ sports participation in private and public secondary schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design using validated and structured questionnaire, was adopted. Stratified random sampling technique was used to pick the students both male and female. A total of two thousand five hundred and sixty participants were involved in the study. A reliable coefficient of r=0.82 was obtained for the instruments using Cronbach Alpha. Data were analyzed using multiple regressions to test the hypotheses at 00.5 significant levels. At the end of the study, it was discovered that the relative contributions of administrative factors among the students were: availability of facilities (β=0.314), availability of equipment (β=0.444), funding (β=0.301), scheduling of sports programme (β=0.447), made relative contributions to the dependent variable, administrative style of school principal (β=0.077) did not make significant but minimal contribution to the student’s sports participation.

Keywords: administrative determinants, secondary school students, physical activity, sports participation

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Authors: Abiola Olukemi Ogunyemi

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Many organizations would like to gain customer loyalty, and to achieve this they invest in customer management systems which help them to learn and anticipate the customers’ needs, get feedback from them and serve them. One of the most elementary ways to achieve customer loyalty is for employees to be able to empathize with their customers, and to be able to feel what they feel when the company betrays their trust, which usually otherwise shown in patronage and loyalty. Unfortunately, the staff and management of organizations do not always realize the negative impact of treating customers badly, because they do not stop to think how these customers feel. If they did, they would be more careful and more respectful of these people who are human beings just like they are. They would be wiser, since this would ultimately make them more profitable businesses. This paper looks at thirteen descriptions of situations in which customers felt treated badly by organizations they trusted, and focuses on the feelings of these customers. If the organization (made of people) could empathize with the customer, then customer service would be surely enhanced. It is expected that these stories, real experiences narrated by young professionals working in Nigeria, can awaken greater empathy for consumers within organizations. Thus, they may help the organization to learn empathy and to incorporate it into their foundational principles for ethical behavior. The paper’s contents contribute to a heightened appreciation of empathy as an organizing mechanism by showing how putting one in the consumer’s shoes can help managers to understand how he or she feels. This will lead organizations to be even more innovative in finding ways to meet their customers’ needs and to deserve and win their loyalty. It addresses an issue that cuts across cultures, and therefore can be quite thought-provoking for every business owner or for team leads within organizations. By trying to stimulate empathy across the seller-buyer divide, it necessarily contributes to a deeper understanding of empathy as a building block for a sustainable society.

Keywords: customer service, empathy, ethical behavior, respectfulness

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Authors: Poonam A. Trambadia, Ashish V. Trambadia

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The architecture of sultanate period of Ahmedabad had evolved just before the establishment of Mughal rule in North India. After shifting the capital of the kingdom from Patan to Ahmedabad, when the buildings and structures were being built, an interesting cultural blend happened in architecture. Many sultanate buildings in Ahmedabad historic city have resemblance with Patan including the names. Outer fortification walls and Gates were built during the rule of the third ruler in the late 15th century. All the gates had sandstone slabs supported by three arched entrance in sandstone with wooden shutter. A restoration project of Khanpur Gate was initiated in 2016. The paper identifies some evidences and some hidden layers of structures as important elements of cultural interchange while some were just forgotten in the process. The recycling of pre-existing elements of structures are examined and compared. There were layers uncovered that were hidden behind later repairs using traditional brick arch, which was taken out in the process. As the gate had partially collapsed, the restoration included piece by piece dismantling and restoring in the same sequence wherever required. The recycled materials found in the process were recorded and provided the basis for this study. The gate after this discovery sets a new example of fortification Gate built in Sultanate era. The comparison excludes Maratha and British Period Gates to avoid further confusion and focuses on 15th – 16th century sultanate architecture of Ahmedabad.

Keywords: Ahmedabad World Heritage, fortification, Indo-Islamic style, Sultanate architecture, cultural interchange

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Authors: Baljinder Singh, Navneet Sharma

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The skin can be used as the site for drug administration for continuous transdermal drug infusion into the systemic circulation. For the continuous diffusion/penetration of the drugs through the intact skin surface membrane-moderated systems, matrix dispersion type systems, adhesive diffusion controlled systems and micro reservoir systems have been developed. Various penetration enhancers are used for the drug diffusion through skin. In matrix dispersion type systems, the drug is dispersed in the solvent along with the polymers and solvent allowed to evaporate forming a homogeneous drug-polymer matrix. Matrix type systems were developed in the present study. In the present work, an attempt has been made to develop a matrix-type transdermal therapeutic system comprising of ondansetron-HCl with different ratios of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymeric combinations using solvent evaporation technique. The physicochemical compatibility of the drug and the polymers was studied by infrared spectroscopy. The results obtained showed no physical-chemical incompatibility between the drug and the polymers. The patches were further subjected to various physical evaluations along with the in-vitro permeation studies using rat skin. On the basis of results obtained form the in vitro study and physical evaluation, the patches containing hydrophilic polymers i.e. polyvinyl alcohol and poly vinyl pyrrolidone with oleic acid as the penetration enhancer(5%) were considered as suitable for large scale manufacturing with a backing layer and a suitable adhesive membrane.

Keywords: transdermal drug delivery, penetration enhancers, hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers, ondansetron HCl

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Authors: Eskinder Desta Shumuye, Jun Zhao, Zike Wang

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This paper summarizes the results of experimental studies carried out at Zhengzhou University, School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, research laboratory, on the performance of concrete produced by combining Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) with Ground-Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS). Concrete specimens cast with OPC and various percentage of GGBS (0%, 30%, 50%, and 70%) were subjected to high temperature exposure and extensive experimental test reproducing basic freeze-thaw cycle and a chloride-ion attack to determine their combined effects within the concrete samples. From the experimental studies, comparisons were made on the physical, mechanical, and microstructural properties in compassion with ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPC). Further, durability of GGBS cement concrete, such as exposure to accelerated carbonation, chloride ion attack, and freeze-thaw action in compassion with various percentage of GGBS and ordinary Portland cement concrete of similar mixture composition was analyzed. The microstructure, mineralogical composition, and pore size distribution of concrete specimens were determined via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The result demonstrated that when the exposure temperature increases from 200 ºC to 400 ºC, the residual compressive strength was fluctuating for all concrete group, and compressive strength and chloride ion exposure of the concrete decreased with the increasing of slag content. The SEM and EDS results showed an increase in carbonation rate with increasing in slag content.

Keywords: accelerated carbonation, chloride-ion, concrete, ground-granulated blast furnace slag, GGBS, high-temperature

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Authors: Sanjin Kršćanski, Josip Brnić

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Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) is a method used for calculating stress intensity factor (SIF) of a cracked body that is easily implemented on top of basic finite element (FE) codes and as such can be applied on the various component geometries. It is a relatively simple method that does not require any special finite elements to be used and is usually used for calculating stress intensity factors at the crack tip for components made of brittle materials. This paper studies applicability and accuracy of VCCT applied on standard metal specimens containing trough thickness crack, subjected to an in-plane bending load. Finite element analyses were performed using regular 4-node, regular 8-node and a modified quarter-point 8-node 2D elements. Stress intensity factor was calculated from the FE model results for a given crack length, using data available from FE analysis and a custom programmed algorithm based on virtual crack closure technique. Influence of the finite element size on the accuracy of calculated SIF was also studied. The final part of this paper includes a comparison of calculated stress intensity factors with results obtained from analytical expressions found in available literature and in ASTM standard. Results calculated by this algorithm based on VCCT were found to be in good correlation with results obtained with mentioned analytical expressions.

Keywords: VCCT, stress intensity factor, finite element analysis, 2D finite elements, bending

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Authors: Bassey Rofem Inyang, Matshidze Pfarelo, Mabale Dolphin

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Using a qualitative descriptive design, this study established the consequences of the on-going transitional rites on youth morality in the Thulamela Local Municipality, South Africa. The participants were sampled using a non-random sampling procedure, specifically, a purposive sampling technique and a snowball sampling technique. A semi-structured interview guide was recruited to collect data from the Indigenous Knowledge (IK) custodians, the parents of the youths and the youths until the point of saturation. The analysis was performed using a thematic content method. With the emergence of themes and sub-themes, broad categories were generated to differentiate and explain the thoughts expressed by the various respondents and the observations made in the field. The study findings suggest that the on-going transitional rites are depicted by weekend social activities with the practice of substance use and abuse among the youths at recreational spots. The transitional rites are structured under the guise of “freaks” as an evolving culture among the youths. The freaks culture is a counterculture of the usual initiation schools for transitional rites of passage which is believed to instill morality among youths. The findings comprehensively show that the on-going transitional rites influence inappropriate youth morality. This study concluded that the on-going transitional rites activities and practices evolved as a current socialization standard for quick maturity status; as a result, it will be challenging to provide a complete turnaround of this evolving culture. The study, however, recommends building on the exciting transitional rites of passage to moderate appropriate youths’ morality in Thulamela communities.

Keywords: morality, transitional rites, youths, behaviour

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Authors: Mayesha Tahsin, A.S. Mollah

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Recently, a 1.5x1.5 inch NaI(Tl) detector based gamma-ray spectroscopy system has been installed in the laboratory of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department of the Military Institute of Science and Technology for radioactivity detection purposes. The newly installed NaI(Tl) detector has a circular lead shield of 22 mm width. An important consideration of any gamma-ray spectroscopy is the minimization of natural background radiation not originating from the radioactive sample that is being measured. Natural background gamma-ray radiation comes from naturally occurring or man-made radionuclides in the environment or from cosmic sources. Moreover, the main problem with this system is that it is not suitable for measurements of radioactivity with a large sample container like Petridish or Marinelli beaker geometry. When any laboratory installs a new detector or/and new shield, it “must” first carry out quality and performance tests for the detector and shield. This paper describes a new portable shielding system with lead that can reduce the background radiation. Intensity of gamma radiation after passing the shielding will be calculated using shielding equation I=Ioe-µx where Io is initial intensity of the gamma source, I is intensity after passing through the shield, µ is linear attenuation coefficient of the shielding material, and x is the thickness of the shielding material. The height and width of the shielding will be selected in order to accommodate the large sample container. The detector will be surrounded by a 4π-geometry low activity lead shield. An additional 1.5 mm thick shield of tin and 1 mm thick shield of copper covering the inner part of the lead shielding will be added in order to remove the presence of characteristic X-rays from the lead shield.

Keywords: shield, NaI (Tl) detector, gamma radiation, intensity, linear attenuation coefficient

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Authors: Ravi Kiran Pothamsetty, Radha Rani Ghosh, Baby Paul Thaliath

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Radiation therapy has undergone many advancements and evloved from 2D to 3D. Recently, with rapid pace of drug discoveries, cutting edge technology, and clinical trials has made innovative advancements in computer technology and treatment planning and upgraded to intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) which delivers in homogenous dose to tumor and normal tissues. The present study was a hospital-based experience comparing two different conformal radiotherapy techniques for brain tumors. This analytical study design has been conducted at Regional Cancer Centre, India from January 2014 to January 2015. Ten patients have been selected after inclusion and exclusion criteria. All the patients were treated on Artiste Siemens Linac Accelerator. The tolerance level for maximum dose was 6.0 Gyfor lenses and 54.0 Gy for brain stem, optic chiasm and optical nerves as per RTOG criteria. Mean and standard deviation values of PTV98%, PTV 95% and PTV 2% in IMRT were 93.16±2.9, 95.01±3.4 and 103.1±1.1 respectively; for 3DCRT were 91.4±4.7, 94.17±2.6 and 102.7±0.39 respectively. PTV max dose (%) in IMRT and 3D-CRT were 104.7±0.96 and 103.9±1.0 respectively. Maximum dose to the tumor can be delivered with IMRT with acceptable toxicity limits. Variables such as expertise, location of tumor, patient condition, and TPS influence the outcome of the treatment.

Keywords: brain tumors, intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), three dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT), radiation therapy oncology group (RTOG)

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Authors: Hamid Reza Khodaei, Behnaz Mahdavi, Alireza Banitaba

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Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in all sexual activities of animals. It is made in body from NO syntheses enzyme and L-arginin molecule. NO can make band with sulfur-iron complexes and due to production of steroid sexual hormones related to enzymes which have this complex, NO can change the activity of these enzymes. NO affects many cells including endothelial cells of veins, macrophages and mast cells. These cells are found in testis leydig cells and therefore are important source of NO in testis tissue. Minimizing damages to sperm at the time of sperm freezing and thawing is really important. The goal of this study was to determine the function of NO before freezing and its effects on quality and viability of sperms after thawing and incubation. 4 Holstein bulls were selected from the age of 4, and artificial insemination was done for 3 weeks (2 times a week). Treatments were 0, 10, 50 and 100 nm of sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Data analysis was performed by SAS98 program. Also, mean comparison was done using Duncan's multiple ranges test (P<0.05). Concentrations used were found to increase motility and viability of spermatozoa at 1, 2 and 3 hours after thawing significantly (P<0.05) but there was no significant difference at zero time. SNP levels reduced the amount of lipid peroxidation in sperm membrane, increased acrosome health and improved samples membranes especially in 50 and 100 nm treatments. According to results, adding SNP to semen diluents increases motility and viability of spermatozoa. Also, it reduces lipid peroxidation in sperm membrane and improves sperm function.

Keywords: sperm motility, nitric oxide, lipid peroxidation, spermatozoa

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Authors: Shitu Sani

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The paper is advanced on the historical background of the effects of excess work load on lecturers in higher institutions of learning which will assess the socio-economic and psychological disposition of lecturers in the realm of quality production. The paper further discusses the significant roles played by excess work load in general transformation of higher education, which will give the management and stake holders input for successful development of higher education. Even though all forms of work and organizational procedures are potential source of stress and stressors. In higher institution of leaning, lecturers perform many responsibilities such as lecturing, carrying out research and engaging in community services. If these multiple roles could not be handle property it would have result in stress which may have negative impact on job performance, and it’s relation with instructional technology. A sample 191 lecturers were randomly selected from the higher institutions in the northern west zone in Nigerian using two instruments i.e. work load stress management question and job performance Approval, data were collected on lecturers of socio-economic and physiological stress and job performances. Findings of the study shows that lecture experienced excess work load in academic activities. Lecturer’s job performance was negatively influences by socio-economic and psychological work stress. Among the recommendation made were the need for organizing regular induction courses for lecturers on stress, and enhance interpersonal relations among the lecturers as well as provision of electronic public address system to reduce the stress.

Keywords: effect, excess, lecturers, workload

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Authors: Yahya Al-Gabri

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This study aimed to identify the availability degree of transformational leadership dimensions among heads of scientific departments in the Education Faculty at King Saud University. It also aimed to identify the degree of opinions divergence of the study sample on the availability degree of transformational leadership dimensions among the department heads according to the variable of scientific rank. The researcher used the descriptive approach. The study sample consisted of (34) members of education faculty which chosen randomly. To collect the data, the researcher developed a questionnaire consisting of (47) items distributed on four areas after ensuring validity and reliability. Results showed that the degree of practicing the dimensions of transformational leadership by the heads of scientific departments was medium and the mean was (3.21). The dimension of Individualized consideration came first and had a high degree of availability with a mean of (3.31) and the dimension of idealized influence came secondly and had a medium degree (near of high) of availability with a mean of (3.25), also and the dimension of inspirational motivation came thirdly and had a medium degree of availability with a mean of (3.16), whereas the dimension of intellectual stimulation came finally and had a medium degree of availability with a mean of (3.13). The study also showed that there are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.05) in the availability degree of transformational leadership dimensions among the heads of scientific departments at the Faculty of Education according to the scientific rank variable. Finally, the researcher made a number of recommendations and suggestions.

Keywords: transformational leadership, heads of scientific departments, individualized consideration, idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation

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Authors: E. Bennion, A. Acharya, S. Barnes, D. Ferrell, S. Luckett-Cole, G. Mower, J. Nelson, Y. Nguyen

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Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the validity of a firearm injury query in the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics syndromic surveillance system. Syndromic surveillance data are used at the Utah Department of Health for early detection of and rapid response to unusually high rates of violence and injury, among other health outcomes. The query of interest was defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and used chief complaint and discharge diagnosis codes to capture initial emergency department encounters for firearm injury of all intents. Design: Two epidemiologists manually reviewed electronic health records of emergency department visits captured by the query from April-May 2020, compared results, and sent conflicting determinations to two arbiters. Results: Of the 85 unique records captured, 67 were deemed probable, 19 were ruled out, and two were undetermined, resulting in a positive predictive value of 75.3%. Common reasons for false positives included non-initial encounters and misleading keywords. Conclusion: Improving the validity of syndromic surveillance data would better inform outbreak response decisions made by state and local health departments. The firearm injury definition could be refined to exclude non-initial encounters by negating words such as “last month,” “last week,” and “aftercare”; and to exclude non-firearm injury by negating words such as “pellet gun,” “air gun,” “nail gun,” “bullet bike,” and “exit wound” when a firearm is not mentioned.

Keywords: evaluation, health information system, firearm injury, syndromic surveillance

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Authors: Risikat Oladoyin S. Dauda, Onyebuchi Iwegbu

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This study investigates the response of human development outcomes to selected macroeconomic indicators in Nigeria. Human development outcomes is measured by human development index while the selected macroeconomic variables are inflation rate, real interest rate, government capital expenditure, real exchange rate, current account balance, and savings. Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) technique is employed in examining the response of human development index to the macroeconomic shocks. The result from the forecast error variance decomposition and Impulse-Response analysis reveals that fiscal policy (government capital expenditure) shock is the greatest determinant of human development outcomes. This result reiterates the role which the government plays in improving the welfare of the citizenry. The fiscal policy tool is pivotal in human development which comes in the form of investment in education, health, housing, and infrastructure. Further conclusion drawn from this study is that human development outcome positively and significantly responds to shocks from real interest rate, a monetary policy transmission variable and is felt greatly in the short run period. The policy implication of this study is that if capital budget implementation falls below expectations, human development will be engendered. Hence, efforts should be made to ensure that full implementation and appraisal of government capital expenditure is taken sacrosanct as any shock from such plan, engenders human development outcome.

Keywords: human development outcome, macroeconomic outcomes, structural vector autoregression, SVAR

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Authors: Ilim Moses Msughter

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The study was carried out to examine the availability of Ante-natal care services and the socio-cultural factors affecting the utilization of these services in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State. Four specific objectives were outlined as thus to examine the availability of antenatal care services in Dutsin-Ma local government area, to identify the socio-cultural factors affecting the utilisation of ante-natal care services, to ascertain the challenges affecting utilisation of ante-natal care services and suggest strategies to improve efficiency in ante-natal service delivery and utilisation of same services. Data were collected from 110 respondents using a questionnaire and through the use of the interview. Data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings revealed that ante-natal care services are available in the study area, but access to such services is hindered by several factors, which include religious and traditional beliefs, cost of services and poor attitudes of health care workers which has an adverse effect on people’s desire to visit ante-natal centres. The study recommended that Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) need to be trained on how to handle pregnancy-related complications. It is also recommended that essential ante-natal drugs and services should be subsidised or made free by the government, and this must be closely monitored to ensure efficiency. Finally, human relation training should be organised for nurses and midwives to improve their attitudes towards patients during ante-natal visits.

Keywords: utilisation, religion, traditional birth attendant, ante-natal

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Authors: Aayushi Dalal

Abstract:

It is the mother who bears the child in her womb for 9 months. It is typically rooted in the Indian culture that it is solely the responsibility of women to take care of the children and as a result the gender roles are stereotyped. Instead of a 50-50 partnership in parenting the child, it is hackneyed that men take the responsibility of the bread earner while women nurture the children by staying at home. Thus, mothers are considered to be more psychologically connected to the children than fathers. But the current society is observing role dilution of parents which can create a gap in understanding from the organization’s perspective. This is the basis of the study. The emergence of women into the job market has forever changed how society views the traditional roles of fathers and mothers. Feminism and financial power has reformed the classic parenting model. This has given rise to a more open and flexible society consequently emphasizing the father's importance in the emotional well being of the child while also being capable caretakers and disciplinarians. This study focuses on analyzing the comparative differences of the father's role in the psychological development of the child in India and USA while taking into consideration the organization’s support towards them. A sample size of 150 fathers- 75 from India and 75 from USA was selected and a structured survey was carried out which had several open ended as well as closed ended questions probing to the issue. It was made sure that the environmental factors had as minimal effect as possible on the subjects. The findings of this research would materialize a framework for fathers to understand the magnitude of their role in their child's upbringing. This would not only ameliorate the "father-child" relationship but also make organization more sympathetic towards their employees.

Keywords: paternity, child development, psychology, gender role, organization policy

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Authors: E. Yarar, E. A. Guven, S. Karabay

Abstract:

In this study, a comprehensive simulation was made for the cold tube drawing with fixed plug. The cold tube drawing process is preferred due to its high surface quality and the high mechanical properties. In drawing processes applied to materials with low plastic deformability, cracks can occur on the surfaces and the process efficiency decreases. The aim of the work is to investigate the effects of different drawing parameters on drawing forces and stresses. In the simulations, optimum conditions were investigated for four different materials, Ti64Al4V, AA5052, AISI4140, and C365. One of the most important parameters for the cold drawing process is the die angle. Three dies were designed for the analysis with semi die angles of 5°, 10°, and 15°. Three different parameters were used for the friction coefficient between die and the material. In the simulations, reduction of area and the drawing speed is kept constant. Drawing is done in one pass. According to the simulation results, the highest drawing forces were obtained in Ti64Al4V. As the semi die angle increases, the drawing forces decrease. The change in semi die angle was most effective on Ti64Al4V. Increasing the coefficient of friction is another effect that increases the drawing forces. The increase in the friction coefficient has also increased in drawing stresses. The increase in die angle also increased the drawing stress distribution for the other three materials outside C365. According to the results of the analysis, it is found that the designed drawing die is suitable for drawing. The lowest drawing stress distribution and drawing forces were obtained for AA5052. Drawing die parameters have a direct effect on the results. In addition, lubricants used for drawing have a significant effect on drawing forces.

Keywords: cold tube drawing, drawing force, drawing stress, semi die angle

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Authors: V. Mentl, V. Koula, P. Mazal, J. Volák

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Nowadays, the acoustic emission is a widely recognized method of material damage investigation, mainly in cases of cracks initiation and growth observation and evaluation. This is highly important in structures, e.g. pressure vessels, large steam turbine rotors etc., applied both in classic and nuclear power plants. Nevertheless, the acoustic emission signals must be correlated with the real crack progress to be able to evaluate the cracks and their growth by this non-destructive technique alone in real situations and to reach reliable results when the assessment of the structures' safety and reliability is performed and also when the remaining lifetime should be evaluated. The main aim of this study was to propose a methodology for evaluation of the early manifestations of the fatigue cracks and their growth and thus to quantify the material damage by acoustic emission parameters. Specimens made of several steels used in the power producing industry were subjected to fatigue loading in the low- and high-cycle regimes. This study presents results of the crack growth rate measurement obtained by the classic compliance change method and the acoustic emission signal analysis. The experiments were realized in cooperation between laboratories of Brno University of Technology and West Bohemia University in Pilsen within the solution of the project of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Commerce: "A diagnostic complex for the detection of pressure media and material defects in pressure components of nuclear and classic power plants" and the project “New Technologies for Mechanical Engineering”.

Keywords: fatigue, crack growth rate, acoustic emission, material damage

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Authors: H. El-Messiry, M. El-Zainy, D. Abdelkhalek

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Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) provides high-quality 3-dimensional images of dental structures because of its high spatial resolution. The study of dental morphology is important in research as it provides information about diversities within a population. Many studies have shown different shapes and numbers of roots canals among different races, especially in molars. The aim of this study was to determine the morphology of root canals of mandibular first and third molars in a sample of Egyptian population using CBCT scanning. Fifty mandibular first Molars (M1) and fifty mandibular third (M3) extracted molars were collected. Thick rectangular molds were made using pink wax to hold the samples. Molars were embedded in the wax mold by aligning them in rows leaving arbitrary 0.5cm space between them. The molds with the samples in were submitted for CBCT scan. The number and morphology of root canals were assessed and classified according to Vertucci's classification. The mesial and the distal roots were examined separately. Finally, data was analyzed using Fisher exact test. The most prevalent mesial root canal frequency in M1 was type IV (60%) and type II (40 %), while M3 showed prevalence of type I (40%) and II (40%). Distal root canal morphology showed prevalence of type I in both M1 (66%) and M3 (86%). So, it can be concluded that CBCT scanning provides supplemental information about the root canal configurations of mandibular molars in a sample of Egyptian population. This study may help clinicians in the root canal treatment of mandibular molars.

Keywords: cone beam computed tomography, mandibular first molar, mandibular third molar, root canal morphology

Procedia PDF Downloads 313