Search results for: home state litigation

Authors: Sonia Wahengbam, Natasha Elangbam

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Female impersonation has existed through the length of human civilization and the breadth of its cultures. Transvestism and drag queen cultures have created multi-sited spaces where in the shadow of art, one can cross the gender barrier and express one’s hidden identity. This paper will explore a dynamic cultural space that exists in Manipur, a state in the northeastern region of India, where the female impersonators (nupi shabis) of a folk theater (Shumang Leela) are using this traditional and popular art form to claim social acceptance of their homosexual identities through the medium of entertainment. It will highlight how by crossing the gender boundary, this third gender group has carved out a unique socio-economic niche where they have exploited their sexual identities to their advantage. The paper will trace the expanding cultural ‘’borderland’’ of Manipur where there is an increasing sense of ‘becoming’, belonging and sharing” of identities through the interweaving of old and new media. The research will be based on interviews with the nupi shabis, cultural critics and other experts.

Keywords: transvestism, Manipur, female impersonators (nupi shabis), Shumang Leela, gender

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Authors: Harche Rima, Laoufi Nadia Aicha

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This work focuses on the study and modeling of the fouling phenomenon in a vertical pipe. In the first step, milk is one of the fluids obeying the phenomenon of fouling because of the denaturation of these proteins, especially lactoglobulin, which is the active element of milk, and to facilitate its use, we chose to study milk as a fouling fluid. In another step, we consider the test section of our installation as a tubular-type heat exchanger that works against the current and in a closed circuit. A simple mathematical model of Kern & Seaton, based on the kinetics of the fouling resistance, was used to evaluate the influence of the operating parameters (fluid flow velocity and exchange wall temperature) on the fouling resistance. The influence of the variation of the fouling resistance with the operating conditions on the efficiency of the heat exchanger and the importance of the dirty state exchange coefficient as an exchange quality control parameter were discussed and examined. On the other hand, an electronic scanning microscope analysis was performed on the milk deposit in order to obtain its actual image and composition, which allowed us to calculate the thickness of this deposit.

Keywords: fouling, milk, tubular heat exchanger, fouling resistance

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Authors: Ahmed Elsayed Ahmed, Ashraf Hafez, A. N. Ouda, Hossam Eldin Hussein Ahmed, Hala Mohamed ABD-Elkader

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are playing increasingly prominent roles in defense programs and defense strategies around the world. Technology advancements have enabled the development of it to do many excellent jobs as reconnaissance, surveillance, battle fighters, and communications relays. Simulating a small unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAV) dynamics and analyzing its behavior at the preflight stage is too important and more efficient. The first step in the UAV design is the mathematical modeling of the nonlinear equations of motion. In this paper, a survey with a standard method to obtain the full non-linear equations of motion is utilized,and then the linearization of the equations according to a steady state flight condition (trimming) is derived. This modeling technique is applied to an Ultrastick-25e fixed wing UAV to obtain the valued linear longitudinal and lateral models. At the end, the model is checked by matching between the behavior of the states of the non-linear UAV and the resulted linear model with doublet at the control surfaces.

Keywords: UAV, equations of motion, modeling, linearization

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Authors: Abdurrasheed Sa'id, Abubakar Isma'il, Waheed Alayande

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This study focused on carrying out numerical simulations of Kangimi reservoir sedimentation by reviewing different numerical sediment transport models, and GSTARS3 was selected. The model was developed using the 1977 data. It was calibrated by simulating the 2012 profile and sediment deposition and compared with 2012 hydrographic survey results of NWRI. The model was validated by simulating the 2016 deposition and compared the results with NWRI estimates. Also, the performance of the proposed model was tested using statistical parameters such as MSE (Mean Square Error), MAPE (Mean Average Percentage Error) and R2 (Coefficient of determination) with values of 1.32m, 0.17% and 0.914 respectively which shows strong agreement. After the calibration, validation and performance testing the model was used to simulate the 2032 and 2062 profiles and deposition. The results showed that by 2032 the reservoir will be silted by 25.34MCM or 43.3% of the design capacity and 60.7% of the capacity by the year 2062. A number of sedimentation mitigation measures were recommended.

Keywords: NWRI- national water resources institute, sedimentation, GSTARS3, model

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Authors: Ayman Hijazi, Witold Kwapinski, J. J. Leahy

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Finding a sustainable alternative energy to fossil fuel is an urgent need as various environmental challenges in the world arise. Therefore, formic acid (FA) decomposition has been an attractive field that lies at the center of the biomass platform, comprising a potential pool of hydrogen energy that stands as a distinct energy vector. Liquid FA features considerable volumetric energy density of 6.4 MJ/L and a specific energy density of 5.3 MJ/Kg that qualifies it in the prime seat as an energy source for transportation infrastructure. Additionally, the increasing research interest in FA decomposition is driven by the need for in-situ H₂ production, which plays a key role in the hydrogenation reactions of biomass into higher-value components. It is reported elsewhere in the literature that catalytic decomposition of FA is usually performed in poorly designed setups using simple glassware under magnetic stirring, thus demanding further energy investment to retain the used catalyst. Our work suggests an approach that integrates designing a distinct catalyst featuring magnetic properties with a robust setup that minimizes experimental & measurement discrepancies. One of the most prominent active species for the dehydrogenation/hydrogenation of biomass compounds is palladium. Accordingly, we investigate the potential of engrafting palladium metal onto functionalized magnetic nanoparticles as a heterogeneous catalyst to favor the production of CO-free H₂ gas from FA. Using an ordinary magnet to collect the spent catalyst renders core-shell magnetic nanoparticles as the backbone of the process. Catalytic experiments were performed in a jacketed batch reactor equipped with an overhead stirrer under an inert medium. Through a distinct approach, FA is charged into the reactor via a high-pressure positive displacement pump at steady-state conditions. The produced gas (H₂+CO₂) was measured by connecting the gas outlet to a measuring system based on the amount of the displaced water. The uniqueness of this work lies in designing a very responsive catalyst, pumping a consistent amount of FA into a sealed reactor running at steady-state mild temperatures, and continuous gas measurement, along with collecting the used catalyst without the need for centrifugation. Catalyst characterization using TEM, XRD, SEM, and CHN elemental analyzer provided us with details of catalyst preparation and facilitated new venues to alter the nanostructure of the catalyst framework. Consequently, the introduction of amine groups has led to appreciable improvements in terms of dispersion of the doped metals and eventually attaining nearly complete conversion (100%) of FA after 7 hours. The relative importance of the process parameters such as temperature (35-85°C), stirring speed (150-450rpm), catalyst loading (50-200mgr.), and Pd doping ratio (0.75-1.80wt.%) on gas yield was assessed by a Taguchi design-of-experiment based model. Experimental results showed that operating at a lower temperature range (35-50°C) yielded more gas, while the catalyst loading and Pd doping wt.% were found to be the most significant factors with P-values 0.026 & 0.031, respectively.

Keywords: formic acid decomposition, green catalysis, hydrogen, mesoporous silica, process optimization, nanoparticles

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Authors: Yilei Song, Linlin Tian, Ning Zhao

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Turbulence energetics and structures in the wake of large-scale wind turbines under the stably-stratified atmospheric boundary layer (SABL) can be complicated due to the presence of low-level jets (LLJs), a region of higher wind speeds than the geostrophic wind speed. With a modified one-k-equation, eddy viscosity model specified for atmospheric flows as the sub-grid scale (SGS) model, a realistic atmospheric state of the stable ABL is well reproduced by large-eddy simulation (LES) techniques. Corresponding to the precursor stably stratification, the detailed wake properties of a standard 5-MW wind turbine represented as an actuator line model are provided. An engineering model is proposed for wake prediction based on the simulation statistics and gets validated. Results confirm that the proposed wake model can provide good predictions for wind turbines under the SABL.

Keywords: large-eddy simulation, stably-stratified atmospheric boundary layer, wake model, wind turbine wake

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Authors: Saidu I. Rambo, Emmanuel O. Ibam, Sunday O. Adewale

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The configuration of routers for effective communication in the Nigerian Navy (NN) enables the navy to improve on the current communication systems. The current system is faced with challenges that make the systems partially effective. The major implementation of the system is to configure routers using hierarchical model and obtaining a VSAT option on C-band platform. These routers will act as a link between Naval Headquarters and the Commands under it. The routers main responsibilities are to forward packets from source location to destination using a Link State Routing Protocol (LSRP). Also using the Point to Point Protocol (PPP), creates a strong encrypted password using Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) which uses one-way hash function of Message Digest 5 (MD5) to provide complete protection against hackers/intruders. Routers can be configured using a Linux operating system or internet work operating system in the Microsoft platform. With this, system packets can be forwarded to various locations more effectively than the present system being used.

Keywords: C-band, communication, router, VSAT

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Authors: Xiuying Wang, Changliang Li, Bo Xu

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A fixed-length feature vector is required for many machine learning algorithms in NLP field. Word embeddings have been very successful at learning lexical information. However, they cannot capture the compositional meaning of sentences, which prevents them from a deeper understanding of language. In this paper, we introduce a novel hierarchical tree long short-term memory (HTLSTM) model that learns vector representations for sentences of arbitrary syntactic type and length. We propose to split one sentence into three hierarchies: short phrase, long phrase and full sentence level. The HTLSTM model gives our algorithm the potential to fully consider the hierarchical information and long-term dependencies of language. We design the experiments on both English and Chinese corpus to evaluate our model on sentiment analysis task. And the results show that our model outperforms several existing state of the art approaches significantly.

Keywords: deep learning, hierarchical tree long short-term memory, sentence representation, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Sang-Myung Jung, Gwang Heum Yoon, Hoo Chul Lee, Hwa Sung Shin

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Ceramide, a component of stratum corneum at epidermis, helps to construct a rigid and dense skin barrier to prevent pathogens that cause atopic dermatitis. However, ceramide was too hydrophobic to be directly absorbed into stratum corneum and has risks of side effects by excessive treatment. To overcome the obstacles, ceramide was embedded into PLGA nanoparticles coated with chitosan. PLGA and chitosan have been known as biocompatible materials. PLGA was squeezed when faced with water and pumped ceramide out of PLGA nanoparticle. In addition, the chitosan coating layer helped initial adherence of nanoparticles to skin and regulate ceramide release until removed. This coating was degraded at weakly acid state like skin surface, finally ceramide release could be controlled. Finally, the nanoparticle was demonstrated to be non-cytotoxic and regenerate stratum corneum of atopic dermatitis model. Overall the nanoparticle is suggested as a novel and effective nanodrug to apply atopic dermatitis.

Keywords: nanoparticle, controlled release, atopic dermatitis, chitosan coating, ceramide

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Authors: Aysegul Sarac

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The aim of this study is to analyze the impacts of integrating agile development principles and practices, in particular to reduce project lead time in a multi-project environment. We analyze Arçelik Washing Machine R&D Center in which multiple projects are conducted by shared resources. In the first part of the study, we illustrate the current waterfall model system by using a value stream map. We define all activities starting from the first idea of the project to the customer and measure process time and lead time of projects. In the second part of the study we estimate potential improvements and select a set of these improvements to integrate agile principles. We aim to develop a future state map and analyze the impacts of integrating lean principles on project lead time. The main contribution of this study is that we analyze and integrate agile product development principles in a real multi-project system.

Keywords: agile project management, multi project system, project lead time, product development

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Authors: Chad Goldsworthy, B. Rajeswari Matam

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The use of deep learning for species identification in camera trap images has revolutionised our ability to study, conserve and monitor species in a highly efficient and unobtrusive manner, with state-of-the-art models achieving accuracies surpassing the accuracy of manual human classification. The high imbalance of camera trap datasets, however, results in poor accuracies for minority (rare or endangered) species due to their relative insignificance to the overall model accuracy. This paper investigates the use of Focal Loss, in comparison to the traditional Cross Entropy Loss function, to improve the identification of minority species in the “255 Bird Species” dataset from Kaggle. The results show that, although Focal Loss slightly decreased the accuracy of the majority species, it was able to increase the F1-score by 0.06 and improve the identification of the bottom two, five and ten (minority) species by 37.5%, 15.7% and 10.8%, respectively, as well as resulting in an improved overall accuracy of 2.96%.

Keywords: convolutional neural networks, data imbalance, deep learning, focal loss, species classification, wildlife conservation

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Authors: Nurzarimah Jamil, Mohd Nazaruddin Jamil

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This paper is a preliminary study about The Importance of Political Advice in Islam: Ḥadīth Thematical Study by showing the concept and proper ways to advice to politician based on hadith Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The unique of political advice in Islam that Muslim already have the strong and fulfil example that can be apply in nowadays governance that is the way of political and leadership Prophet Muhammad show in his time. As a political leader, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) established a great state whose capital was Madinah. However, his real political leadership was in the realm of morality and spirituality in which he conducted himself perfectly in situations of weakness as well as strength. His way of dealing in Makkah and Madinah indicates his great political leadership. Based on fact nowadays some of the country not practicing the proper way to advice to rulers or governance that make a lot of madness around them. This paper also aims the concept and the proper way that can be following to all Muslim to advising by the politeness, justice and kindness.

Keywords: Hadith, leadership, political advice, Prophet Muhammad

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Authors: Gaurav Kumar, Baldev Setia

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Water is essential for sustenance of life and the ecosystem. Among the various uses of water, the water required for drinking and domestics has the priority over other needs. Water that is required for human consumption must be available in sufficient quantity and should be of good quality. Keeping in view the futuristic needs of water of Kurukshetra town, a durable and cost-effective water supply system with the help of Ranney well has been proposed. This has been proposed on the premise that Brahmsarovar, the largest static water body in the state of Haryana provides sufficient recharge to the groundwater aquifer. In the study, a 30 year design period has been adopted and the water demand up to the year 2050 has been computed. The proposed Ranney well to be constructed in the vicinity of the Brahmsarovar will have a caisson of diameter of 12 m and will be laid at a depth of 30 m below MSL. The laterals, 20 in number, 300 mm in diameter and 15 m in length will be located in two layer separated by 1.5 m. the impact on environment because of the construction and working of the Ranney well is also studied and it has been found that there are no adverse impacts of the proposed scheme. However, the present study is limited to the hydraulics design of the scheme and does not address the structural design of components of Ranney well and the cost involved.

Keywords: drawdown, Ranney well, LPCD, MSL, transmissibility, storativity

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Authors: Abdelhamid Louliej, Younes Jabrane

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Satellites are becoming indispensable assets to fifth-generation (5G) new radio architecture, complementing wireless and terrestrial communication links. The combination of satellites and 5G architecture allows consumers to access all next-generation services anytime, anywhere, including scenarios, like traveling to remote areas (without coverage). Nevertheless, this solution faces several challenges, such as a significant propagation delay, Doppler frequency shift, and high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR), causing signal distortion due to the non-linear saturation of the High-Power Amplifier (HPA). To compensate for HPA non-linearity in 5G satellite transmission, an efficient pre-distorter scheme using Neural Networks (NN) is proposed. To assess the proposed NN pre-distorter, two types of HPA were investigated: Travelling Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) and Solid-State Power Amplifier (SSPA). The results show that the NN pre-distorter design presents EVM improvement by 95.26%. NMSE and ACPR were reduced by -43,66 dB and 24.56 dBm, respectively. Moreover, the system suffers no degradation of the Bit Error Rate (BER) for TWTA and SSPA amplifiers.

Keywords: satellites, 5G, neural networks, HPA, TWTA, SSPA, EVM, NMSE, ACPR

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Authors: T. Ul Rehman, S. Agnello, F. M. Gelardi, M. M. Calvino, G. Lazzara, G. Buscarino, M. Cannas

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Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as promising candidates for detecting metal ions owing to their large surface area, customizable porosity, and diverse functionalities. In recent years, there has been a surge in research focused on MOFs with luminescent properties. These frameworks are constructed through coordinated bonding between metal ions and multi-dentate ligands, resulting in inherent fluorescent structures. Their luminescent behavior is influenced by factors like structural composition, surface morphology, pore volume, and interactions with target analytes, particularly metal ions. MOFs exhibit various sensing mechanisms, including photo-induced electron transfer (PET) and charge transfer processes such as ligand-to-metal (LMCT) and metal-to-ligand (MLCT) transitions. Among these, MIL-53(Al) stands out due to its flexibility, stability, and specific affinity towards certain metal ions, making it a promising platform for selective metal ion sensing. This study investigates the structural, thermal, and luminescent properties of MIL-53(Al) metal-organic framework (MOF) upon Fe3+ cation exchange. Two separate sets of samples were prepared to activate the MOF powder at different temperatures. The first set of samples, referred to as MIL-53(Al), activated (120°C), was prepared by activating the raw powder in a glass tube at 120°C for 12 hours and then sealing it. The second set of samples, referred to as MIL-53(Al), activated (300°C), was prepared by activating the MIL-53(Al) powder in a glass tube at 300°C for 70 hours. Additionally, 25 mg of MIL-53(Al) powder was dispersed in 5 mL of Fe3+ solution at various concentrations (0.1-100 mM) for the cation exchange experiment. The suspension was centrifuged for five minutes at 10,000 rpm to extract MIL-53(Al) powder. After three rounds of washing with ultrapure water, MIL-53(Al) powder was heated at 120°C for 12 hours. For PXRD and TGA analyses, a sample of the obtained MIL-53(Al) was used. We also activated the cation-exchanged samples for time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) measurements at two distinct temperatures (120 and 300°C) for comparative analysis. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns reveal amorphization in samples with higher Fe3+ concentrations, attributed to alterations in coordination environments and ion exchange dynamics. Thermal decomposition analysis shows reduced weight loss in Fe3+-exchanged MOFs, indicating enhanced stability due to stronger metal-ligand bonds and altered decomposition pathways. Raman spectroscopy demonstrates intensity decrease, shape disruption, and frequency shifts, indicative of structural perturbations induced by cation exchange. Photoluminescence spectra exhibit ligand-based emission (π-π* or n-π*) and ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT), influenced by activation temperature and Fe3+ incorporation. Quenching of luminescence intensity and shorter lifetimes upon Fe3+ exchange result from structural distortions and Fe3+ binding to organic linkers. In a nutshell, this research underscores the complex interplay between composition, structure, and properties in MOFs, offering insights into their potential for diverse applications in catalysis, gas storage, and luminescent devices.

Keywords: Fe³⁺ cation exchange, luminescent metal-organic frameworks (LMOFs), MIL-53(Al), solid-state analysis

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Authors: Mahboobeh Sadeghi, Zahra Izadi Khah, Mansour Hakim Javadi, Masoud Gholamali Lavasani

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Background: Since there is a relation between psychological and physiological factors, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of Emotion Regulation training on cognitive emotion regulation problem in patients with Multiple Sclerosis(MS) Method: In a randomized clinical trial thirty patients diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis referred to state welfare organization were selected. The sample group was randomized into either an experimental group or a nonintervention control group. The subjects participated in 75-minute treatment sessions held three times a week for 4weeks (12 sessions). All 30 individuals were administered with Cognitive Emotion Regulation questionnaire (CERQ). Participants completed the questionnaire in pretest and post-test. Data obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed using Mancova. Results: Emotion Regulation significantly decreased the Cognitive Emotion Regulation problems patients with Multiple sclerosis (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Emotion Regulation can be used for the treatment of cognitive-emotion regulation problem in Multiple sclerosis.

Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis, cognitive-emotion regulation, emotion regulation, MS

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Authors: Fouzia Khanam, Tridib Chowdhury, Belal Hossain, Sajedur Rahman, Mahfuzar Rahman

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Introduction: Over the last decades, the world has achieved a noticeable success in preventing malaria. Nevertheless, malaria, a vector-borne infectious disease, remains a major public health burden globally as well as in Bangladesh. To achieve the goal of eliminating malaria, BRAC, a leading organization of Bangladesh in collaboration with government, is distributing free LLIN to the 13 endemic districts of the country. The study was conducted with the aim of assessing the gap between coverage, access, and utilization of LLIN among the people of the 13 malaria endemic districts of Bangladesh. Methods: This baseline study employed a community cross-sectional design triangulated with qualitative methods to measure households’ ownership, access and use of 13 endemic districts. A multistage cluster random sampling was employed for the quantitative part and for qualitative part a purposive sampling strategy was done. Thus present analysis included 2640 households encompassing a total of 14475 populations. Data were collected using a pre-tested structured questionnaire through one on one face-to-face interview with respondents. All analyses were performed using STATA (Version 13.0). For the qualitative part participant observation, in-depth interview, focus group discussion, key informant interview and informal interview was done to gather the contextual data. Findings: According to our study, 99.8% of households possessed at least one-bed net in both study areas. 77.4% households possessed at least two LLIN and 43.2% households had access to LLIN for all the members. So the gap between coverage and access is 34%. 91.8% people in the 13 districts and 95.1% in Chittagong Hill Tracts areas reported having had slept under a bed net the night before interviewed. And despite the relatively low access, in 77.8% of households, all the members were used the LLIN the previous night. This higher utilization compared to access might be due to the increased awareness among the community people regarding LLIN uses. However, among those people with sufficient access to LLIN, 6% of them still did not use the LLIN which reflects the behavioral failure that needs to be addressed. The major reasons for not using LLIN, identified by both qualitative and quantitative findings, were insufficient access, sleeping or living outside the home, migration, perceived low efficacy of LLIN, fear of physical side effects or feeling uncomfortable. Conclusion: Given that LLIN access and use was a bit short of the targets, it conveys important messages to the malaria control program. Targeting specific population segments and groups for achieving expected LLIN coverage is very crucial. And also, addressing behavior failure by well-designed behavioral change interventions is mandatory.

Keywords: long lasting insecticide net, malaria, malaria control programme, World Health Organisation

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Authors: Gohar Rahman, Rabia Saad Ullah

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This research aims to examine the use of discourse markers within the dominion of political speeches, differentiating between genders. The analysis centers on twelve speakers, comprising six males and six females. Speeches selected include commencement, victory, state union addresses, campaigns, and presidential speeches. Halliday and Hasan's cohesion framework, specifically discourse markers, is utilized as a theoretical framework. Data is quantitatively analyzed using AntConc to identify marker frequency. The findings are presented through Excel's tables and graphs, suggesting differences in discourse marker preferences between genders. The findings suggest a divergence in the preferences for discourse markers between males and females. However, asserting that females utilize discourse markers more frequently due to the increased use of filler words, face threat mitigation, and polite speech would be an exaggeration. The disparity in frequency is not substantial, suggesting that males and females exhibit varying language inclinations to some degree.

Keywords: discourse markers, political discourse, gender, speeches, language

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Authors: Hope Amba Neji

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The study adopted a quasi-experimental design. Two schools were used for the experimental study, while one school was used for the control. The experimental groups were subjected to treatment for four weeks with chemistry museum artifacts and a visit as made to the museum so that learners would have real-life learning experiences with museum resources, while the control group was taught with the conventional method. The instrument for the study was a 20-item Chemistry Memory Test (CMT) and a 10-item Chemistry Interest Questionnaire (CIQ). The reliability was ascertained using (KR-20) and alpha reliability coefficient, which yielded a reliability coefficient of .83 and .81, respectively. Data obtained was analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that museum artifacts have a significant effect on students’ memory enhancement and interest in chemistry. It was recommended chemistry learning should be enhanced, motivating and real with museum artifacts, which significantly aid memory enhancement and interest in chemistry.

Keywords: museum artifacts, memory, chemistry, atitude

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Authors: Anbang Liu, Huaqing Xie, Zihua Wu, Xiaoxiao Yu, Yuanyuan Wang

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Due to the temperature-dependence and mutual coupling of thermoelectric parameters, the Thomson effect always exists, which is derived from temperature gradients during thermoelectric conversion. The synergistic effect between the Thomson effect and non-equilibrium heat transport of charge carriers leads to local heat absorption or release in thermoelements, thereby affecting its power generation performance and conversion efficiency. This study verified and analyzed the influence and mechanism of the Thomson effect on N-type skutterudite thermoelement through quasi-steady state testing under approximate vacuum conditions. The results indicate the temperature rise/fall of N-type thermoelement at any position is affected by Thomson heat release/absorption. Correspondingly, the Thomson effect also contributes advantageously/disadvantageously to the output power of N-type skutterudite thermoelement when the Thomson coefficients are positive/negative. In this work, the output power can be promoted or decreased maximally by more than 27% due to the presence of Thomson heat when the absolute value of the Thomson coefficient is around 36 μV/℃.

Keywords: Thomson effect, heat transport, thermoelectric conversion, numerical simulation

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Authors: Soumia Hammadi, Imane Nouacer, Lamine Hamida, Younes A. Hammadi, Rachid Chaibi

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Aims and objective: In the present work, we investigate the impact of both acute and chronic diabetes mellitus induced by streptozotocin (STZ) on the hypothalamus of the small gerbil (Gerbillus gerbillus). In this purpose, we aimed to study the histologic structure of the gerbil’s hypothalamic supraoptic (NSO) and paraventricular nucleus (NPV) at two distinct time points: two days and 30 days after diabetes onset. Methods: We conducted our investigation using 19 adult male gerbils weighing 25 to 28 g, divided into three groups as follow: Group I: Control gerbils (n=6) received an intraperitoneal injection of citrate buffer. Group II: STZ-diabetic gerbils (n=8) received a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ at a dose of 165 mg/kg of body weight. Diabetes onset (D0) is considered with the first hyperglycemia level exceeding 2,5 g/L. This group was further divided into two subgroups: Group II-1: Experimental Gerbils, at acute state of diabetes (n=8) sacrificed after 02 days of diabetes onset, Group II-2: Experimental Gerbils at chronic state of diabetes (n=7) sacrificed after 30 days of diabetes onset. Two and 30 days after diabetes onset, gerbils had blood drawn from the retro-orbital sinus into EDTA tubes. After centrifugation at -4°C, plasma was frozen at -80°C for later measurement of Cortisol, ACTH, and insulin. Afterward, animals were decapitated; their brain was removed, weighed, fixed in aqueous bouin, and processed and stained with Toluidine Bleu stain for histo-stereological analysis. A comparison was done with control gerbils treated with citrate buffer. Results: Compared to control gerbils, at 02 Days post diabetes onset, the neuronal somata of the paraventricular (NPV) and supraoptic nuclei (NSO) expressed numerous vacuoles of various sizes, we distinct also a neuronal juxtaposition and several unidentifiable vacuolated profiles were also seen in the neuropile. At the same time, we revealed the presence of à shrunken and condensed nuclei, which seem to touch the parvocellular neurons ( NPV); this leads us to suggest the presence of an apoptotic process in the early stage of diabetes. At 30 days of diabetes mellitus, the NPV manifests a few neurons with a distant appearance, in addition the magnocellular neurons in both NPV and NSO were hypertrophied with a rich euchromatin nucleus, a well-defined nucleolus, and a granular cytoplasm. Despite the neuronal degeneration at this stage, unexpectedly, ACTH registers a continuous significant high level compared to the early stage of diabetes mellitus and to control gerbils. Conclusion: The results suggest that the induction of diabetes mellitus using STZ in the small gerbils lead to alterations in the structure and morphology of the hypothalamus and hyper-secretion of ACTH and cortisol, possibly indicating hyperactivity of the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) during both the early and later stages of the disease. The subsequent quantitative evaluation of CRH, immunehistochemical evaluation of apoptosis, and oxidative stress assessment could corroborate our results.

Keywords: diabetes type 1., streptozotocin., small gerbil., hypothalamus., paraventricular nucleus., supraoptic nucleus.

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Authors: Rozelle Labuschagne, Ronel Roos

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Individuals often experience a reduction in physical function, quality of life and basic activities of daily living after surgery. This is exponentially true for high-risk patients, especially the elderly and frail individuals. Not much is known about the physical function, physical activity preferences and factors associated with the six-minute walk test of elderly individuals who would undergo elective abdominal surgery in South Africa. Such information is important to design effective prehabilitation physiotherapy programs prior to elective surgery. The purpose of the study was to describe the demographic profile and physical function of elderly patients who would undergo elective surgery and to determine factors associated with their six-minute walk test distance findings. A cross-sectional descriptive study in elderly patients older than 60 years of age who would undergo elective abdominal surgery were consecutively sampled at a private hospital in Pretoria, South Africa. Participants’ demographics were collected and physical function assessed with the Functional Comorbidity Index (FCI), DeMorton Mobility Index (DEMMI), Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL) and six-minute walk test (6MWT). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis with IBM SPSS 25. A p-value ≤ 0.05 were deemed statistically significant. The pilot study consisted of 12 participants (female (n=11, 91.7%), male (n=1, 8.3%) with a mean age of 65.8 (±4.5) years, body mass index of 28 (±4.2) kg.m2 with one (8.3%) participant being a current smoker and four (33.3%) participants having a smoking history. Nine (75%) participants lived independently at home and three (25%) had caregivers. Participants reported walking (n=6, 50%), stretching exercises (n=1, 8.3%), household chores & gardening (n=2, 16.7%), biking/swimming/running (n=1, 8.3%) as physical activity preferences. Physical function findings of the sample were: mean FCI score 3 (±1.1), DEMMI score 81.1 (±14.9), IADL 95 (±17.3), 6MWT 435.50 (IQR 364.75-458.50) with percentage 6MWT distance achieved 81.8% (IQR 64.4%-87.5%). A strong negative correlation was observed between 6MWT distance walked and FCI (r = -0.729, p=0.007). The majority of study participants reported incorporating some form of physical activity into their daily life as form of exercise. Most participants did not achieve their predicted 6MWT distance indicating less than optimal levels of physical function capacity. The number of comorbidities as determined by the FCI was associated with the distance that participants could walk with the 6MWT. The results of this pilot study could be used to indicate which elderly individuals would benefit most from a pre-surgical rehabilitation program. The main goal of such a program would be to improve physical function capacity as measured by the 6MWT. Surgeons could refer patients based on age and number of comorbidities, as determined by the FCI, to potentially improve surgical outcomes.

Keywords: abdominal surgery, elderly, physical function, six-minute walk test

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Authors: Sohaibullah Zarghoon, Syed Yousaf, Cyril Belavy, Stanislav Duris, Samuel Emebu, Radek Matusu

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Induction heating is extensively employed in industrial furnaces due to its swift response and high energy efficiency. Designing and optimising these furnaces necessitates the use of computer-aided simulations. This study aims to develop an accurate temperature field model for a rectangular steel billet in an induction furnace by leveraging various parameters in COMSOL Multiphysics software. The simulation analysis incorporated temperature dynamics, considering skin depth, temperature-dependent, and constant parameters of the steel billet. The resulting data-driven model was transformed into a state-space model using MATLAB's System Identification Toolbox for the purpose of designing a linear quadratic regulator (LQR). This controller was successfully implemented to regulate the core temperature of the billet from 1000°C to 1200°C, utilizing the distributed parameter system circuit.

Keywords: induction heating, LQR controller, skin depth, temperature field

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Authors: Sélima Baccar, Ephraim Clark

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This paper can be considered as a new perspective to analyse credit spreads. A comprehensive empirical analysis of conditional variance of credit spreads indices is performed using various GARCH models. Based on a comparison between traditional and asymmetric GARCH models with alternative functional forms of the conditional density, we intend to identify what macroeconomic and financial factors have driven daily changes in the US Dollar credit spreads in the period from January 2011 through January 2013. The results provide a strong interdependence between credit spreads and the explanatory factors related to the conditions of interest rates, the state of the stock market, the bond market liquidity and the exchange risk. The empirical findings support the use of asymmetric GARCH models. The AGARCH and GJR models outperform the traditional GARCH in credit spreads modelling. We show, also, that the leptokurtic Student-t assumption is better than the Gaussian distribution and improves the quality of the estimates, whatever the rating or maturity.

Keywords: corporate bonds, default risk, credit spreads, asymmetric garch models, student-t distribution

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Authors: Gwanghee Heo, Geonhyeok Bang, Chunggil Kim, Chinok Lee

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This paper attempts to develop a wireless feedback control system as a primary step eventually toward a bio-inspired structure system where inanimate structure behaves like a life form autonomously. It is a standalone wireless control system which is supposed to measure externally caused structural responses, analyze structural state from acquired data, and take its own action on the basis of the analysis with an embedded logic. For an experimental examination of its effectiveness, we applied it on a model of two-span bridge and performed a wireless control test. Experimental tests have been conducted for comparison on both the wireless and the wired system under the conditions of Un-control, Passive-off, Passive-on, and Lyapunov control algorithm. By proving the congruence of the test result of the wireless feedback control system with the wired control system, its control performance was proven to be effective. Besides, it was found to be economical in energy consumption and also autonomous by means of a command algorithm embedded into it, which proves its basic capacity as a bio-inspired system.

Keywords: structural vibration control, wireless system, MR damper, feedback control, embedded system

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Authors: Era Dorihi Kale, Sabina Gero, Uly Agustine

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Asylum seekers are people who come to other countries to get asylum. In line with that, they also carry the culture and health behavior of their country, which is very different from the new country they currently live in. This situation raises problems, also in the health sector. The approach taken must also be a culturally sensitive approach, where the culture and habits of the refugee's home area are also valued so that the health services provided can be right on target. Some risk factors that already exist in this group are lack of activity, consumption of fast food, smoking, and stress levels that are quite high. Overall this condition will increase the risk of an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease. This research is a descriptive and experimental study. The purpose of this study is to identify health status and develop a culturally sensitive health promotion model, especially related to the risk of cardiovascular disease for asylum seekers in detention homes in the city of Kupang. This research was carried out in 3 stages, stage 1 was conducting a survey of health problems and the risk of asylum seeker cardiovascular disease, Stage 2 developed a health promotion model, and stage 3 conducted a testing model of health promotion carried out. There were 81 respondents involved in this study. The variables measured were: health status, risk of cardiovascular disease and, health promotion models. Method of data collection: Instruments (questionnaires) were distributed to respondents answered for anamnese health status; then, cardiovascular risk measurements were taken. After that, the preparation of information needs and the compilation of booklets on the prevention of cardiovascular disease is carried out. The compiled booklet was then translated into Farsi. After that, the booklet was tested. Respondent characteristics: average lived in Indonesia for 4.38 years, the majority were male (90.1%), and most were aged 15-34 years (90.1%). There are several diseases that are often suffered by asylum seekers, namely: gastritis, headaches, diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, skin allergies, sore throat, cough, and depression. The level of risk for asylum seekers experiencing cardiovascular problems is 4 high risk people, 6 moderate risk people, and 71 low risk people. This condition needs special attention because the number of people at risk is quite high when compared to the age group of refugees. This is very related to the level of stress experienced by the refugees. The health promotion model that can be used is the transactional stress and coping model, using Persian (oral) and English for written information. It is recommended for health practitioners who care for refugees to always pay attention to aspects of culture (especially language) as well as the psychological condition of asylum seekers to make it easier to conduct health care and promotion. As well for further research, it is recommended to conduct research, especially relating to the effect of psychological stress on the risk of cardiovascular disease in asylum seekers.

Keywords: asylum seekers, health status, cardiovascular disease, health promotion

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Authors: David Chapola Nggada

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This is a survey designed to find out the impact of the ongoing insurgency in north eastern Nigeria on educational attainment. It is a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative research work on a sample size of 71 secondary school students currently displaced from Baga Biu and Monguno areas of Borno State, now residing as internally displaced persons(IDPs) in Gombe and Yola IDP camps. This was done through both semi structured interview and questionnaire administration. Statistical methods used include percentage and cross tables to gain specific insight into different dimensions of what this implies. Two major aspects of the impact covered were impact on individual student and impact on societal development. These two dimensions were measured against national development variables and analyzed against reviewed literature and findings across the globe. A combination of theories from different fields led to a deeper and better insight. The results confirm a significant relationship between educational attainment and the development of the north east region and Nigeria as a whole. Recommendations were made on ways of reintegrating this group back to the educational system.

Keywords: education, insurgency, national development, threat

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Authors: Eva L. Suarez, Daniel E. Meeroff, Yan Yong

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The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed flood maps based on experts’ experience and estimates of the probability of flooding. Current flood-risk models evaluate flood risk with regional and subjective measures without impact from torrential rain and nuisance flooding at the neighborhood level. Nuisance flooding occurs in small areas in the community, where a few streets or blocks are routinely impacted. This type of flooding event occurs when torrential rainstorm combined with high tide and sea level rise temporarily exceeds a given threshold. In South Florida, this threshold is 1.7 ft above Mean Higher High Water (MHHW). The National Weather Service defines torrential rain as rain deposition at a rate greater than 0.3-inches per hour or three inches in a single day. Data from the Florida Climate Center, 1970 to 2020, shows 371 events with more than 3-inches of rain in a day in 612 months. The purpose of this research is to develop a data-driven method to determine comprehensive analytical damage-avoidance criteria that account for nuisance flood events at the single-family home level. The method developed uses the Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) method from the American Society of Quality (ASQ) to estimate the Damage Avoidance (DA) preparation for a 1-day 100-year storm. The Consequence of Nuisance Flooding (CoNF) is estimated from community mitigation efforts to prevent nuisance flooding damage. The Probability of Nuisance Flooding (PoNF) is derived from the frequency and duration of torrential rainfall causing delays and community disruptions to daily transportation, human illnesses, and property damage. Urbanization and population changes are related to the U.S. Census Bureau's annual population estimates. Data collected by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service’s National Resources Inventory (NRI) and locally by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) track the development and land use/land cover changes with time. The intent is to include temporal trends in population density growth and the impact on land development. Results from this investigation provide the risk of nuisance flooding as a function of CoNF and PoNF for coastal areas of South Florida. The data-based criterion provides awareness to local municipalities on their flood-risk assessment and gives insight into flood management actions and watershed development.

Keywords: flood risk, nuisance flooding, urban flooding, FMEA

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Authors: Mengistie Zewdu

Abstract:

Ethiopia is an un-colonized African state with rich cultural and natural heritage resources. Due to different reasons, Ethiopia has various cultural heritage resources residing in different countries. Started in the second half of the 19th century, different Ethiopian regimes have been working to recover the country’s cultural heritage treasures. Thus, the purpose of this article is to explore the endeavours that have been exerted to recover the cultural heritage of Ethiopia to their original place. As this article reveals, differed from other African countries’ endeavour for the restitution of their looted cultural treasures, Ethiopia’s approach to recover its cultural heritage is somewhat unique. This paper also argues that, although Ethiopia has been working for a century and a half to restitute its cultural heritages, the endeavours of Ethiopian governments to recover Ethiopia’s priceless cultural heritage have still been minimal. The efforts to recover Ethiopian cultural heritage have shown progress with increasing magnitude. However, large-scale endeavors are still needed to bring back the priceless cultural heritage resources to their country of origin.

Keywords: Ethiopia, cultural heritage, plundered heritage, recovering cultural heritage, endeavor to recover cultural heritage

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Authors: A. Abbou, V. Makis, N. Salari

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We study the condition-based maintenance (CBM) problem of a system subject to stochastic deterioration. The system is composed of three units (or modules): (i) Module 1 deterioration follows a Markov process with two operational states and one failure state. The operational states are partially observable through periodic condition monitoring. (ii) Module 2 deterioration follows a Gamma process with a known failure threshold. The deterioration level of this module is fully observable through periodic inspections. (iii) Only the operating age information is available of Module 3. The lifetime of this module has a general distribution. A CBM policy prescribes when to initiate a maintenance intervention and which modules to repair during intervention. Our objective is to determine the optimal CBM policy minimizing the long-run expected average cost of operating the system. This is achieved by formulating a Markov decision process (MDP) and developing the value iteration algorithm for solving the MDP. We provide numerical examples illustrating the cost-effectiveness of the optimal CBM policy through a comparison with heuristic policies commonly found in the literature.

Keywords: reliability, maintenance optimization, Markov decision process, heuristics

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