Search results for: isolated areas

Authors: Samira Ghasempourkazemi

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In terms of the COVID-19 pandemic, lots of mutations in the urban system, which have systemic impacts, have clearly appeared. COVID-19 not only had a direct impact on health but also caused significant losses to other departments, including the economy, education, tourism, environment and the construction industry. Therefore, the pandemic caused a disruption in the whole urban system. Particularly, today’s large urban areas are not designed in order to be compatible during a pandemic. Hence, cities are more vulnerable to infectious disease threats according to the population density, built environment and socioeconomic aspects. Considering the direct relationship between population and rate of infection, higher rates are given to those individuals located in areas with high-density populations. Population density can be a factor that seems to have a strong impact on the spread of infectious diseases. Thus, the preliminary hypothesis can be related to a densely populated areas which become hotspots for the rapid spread of the pandemic due to high levels of interaction. In addition, some other indicators can be effective in this condition, such as age range, education and socio-economy. To figure out the measure of infectious disease risk in densely populated areas in Istanbul is an objective of this study. Besides, this study intends to figure out Vulnerability Index in the case of COVID-19. In order to achieve the proper result, the considered method can be Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) by involving the mentioned variables. In the end, the study represents the COVID Vulnerability of densely populated areas in a metro city and the gaps that need to be identified and plugged for the pandemic-resilience city of tomorrow.

Keywords: infectious disease, COVID-19, urban system, densely populated area

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Authors: M. Bellakhal, M. Bellakhal, L. Aleya

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The specific composition and abundance of dinoflagellate resistance cysts in relation to environmental factors were studied from the superficial sediment at 123 stations in the Bizerte lagoon. 48 morphotypes of dinoflagellate cysts were identified, mainly dominated by Brigantidinium simplex, Votadinum spinosum, Alexandrium pacificum, Alexandrium pseudogonyaulax, and Lingulodinum machaerophorum. The density of cysts ranged from 1276 to 20126 cysts g⁻¹ dry sediment. Significant differences in the distribution pattern of the cysts were recorded, which allowed us to distinguish two areas; thus the inner areas of the lagoon have an abundance of cysts greater than the areas with marine influence. Ballast water discharges and shellfish culture may be incriminated as potential sources of introduction of species, particularly potentially toxic ones such as A. pacificum and Polysphaeridium zoharyi, without neglecting the role of currents in cyst distribution. Cyst mapping can be used as an indicator of potential foci of future toxic species blooms in this ecosystem.

Keywords: Bizerta Lagoon, cysts, dinoflagellates, mapping

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Authors: Brandtner Patrick, Staberhofer Franz

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Logistics and Supply Chain Management are of crucial importance for organisational success. In the era of Digitalization, several implications and improvement potentials for these domains arise, which at the same time could lead to decreased competitiveness and could endanger long-term company success if ignored or neglected. However, empirical research on the issue of Digitalization and benefits purported to it by practitioners is scarce and mainly focused on single technologies or separate, isolated Supply Chain blocks as e.g. distribution logistics or procurement only. The current paper applies a holistic focus group approach to elaborate practitioner use cases at the nexus of the concepts of Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Digitalization. In the course of three focus group workshops with over 45 participants from more than 20 organisations, a comprehensive set of benefit entitlements and areas for improvement in terms of applying digitalization to SCM is developed. The main results of the paper indicate the relevance of Digitalization being realized in practice. In the form of seventeen concrete research action fields, the benefit entitlements are aggregated and transformed into potential starting points for future research projects in this area. The main contribution of this paper is an empirically grounded basis for future research projects and an overview of actual research action fields from practitioners’ point of view.

Keywords: digital supply chain, digital transformation, supply chain management, value networks

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Authors: Parul Grover, K. A. Suri, Raj Kumar, Gulshan Bansal

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Background: Nyctanthes arbortristis Linn is traditionally used as anticancer herb in Indian system of medicine, but its introduction into modern system of medicine is still awaited due to lack of systematic scientific studies. Objective: The objective of the present study was to isolate and characterize anticancer phytoconstituents from N. arbortristis L. leaves based on bioactivity guided fractionation. Method: Different extracts of the leaves of the plant were prepared by Soxhlet extractor. Each extract was evaluated for anticancer activity against HL-60 cell lines. Chloroform and HA extract showed potent anticancer activity and hence were selected for fractionation. Fraction C1 from chloroform extract was found to be most potent amongst all when tested against three cell lines (HL-60, A-549, and HCT-116) and thus was selected for further fractionation and a pure compound CP-01 was isolated. RP-HPLC method has been developed for quantification of isolated compound by using Kinetex C-18 column with gradient elution at 0.7 mL/min using mobile phase containing potassium dihydrogen phosphate (0.01 M, pH 3.0) with acetonitrile. The wavelength of maximum absorption (λₘₐₓ) selected was 210 nm. Results: The structure of potent anticancer CP-01 was determined on the basis spectroscopic methods like IR, 1H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and Mass Spectrometry and it was characterized as 1,1,2-tris(2’,4’-di-tert-butylbenzene)-4,4-dimethyl-pent-1-ene. The content of CP-01 was found to be 0.88 %w/w of chloroform extract and 0.08 %w/w of N.arbortristis leaves. Conclusion: The study supports the traditional use of N. arbortristis as anticancer herb & the identified compound CP-01 can serve as an excellent lead to develop potent and safe anticancer drugs.

Keywords: anticancer, HL-60 cell lines, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, RP-HPLC

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Authors: Nancy Ibrahim Abdalla, Abdelaziz Karamalla Gaiballa

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Rangelands in semi-arid areas provide a good source for feeding huge numbers of animals and serving environmental, economic and social importance; therefore, these areas are considered economically very important for the pastoral sector in Sudan. This paper investigates the means of differentiating between different rangelands sites according to soil types using principal component analysis to assist in monitoring and assessment purposes. Three rangeland sites were identified in the study area as flat sandy sites, sand dune site, and hard clay site. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the number of factors needed to distinguish between rangeland sites and produce a new set of data including the most useful spectral information to run satellite image processing. It was performed using selected types of data (two vegetation indices, topographic data and vegetation surface reflectance within the three bands of MODIS data). Analysis with PCA indicated that there is a relatively high correspondence between vegetation and soil of the total variance in the data set. The results showed that the use of the principal component analysis (PCA) with the selected variables showed a high difference, reflected in the variance and eigenvalues and it can be used for differentiation between different range sites.

Keywords: principal component analysis, PCA, rangeland sites, semi-arid areas, soil types

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Authors: Rashmi Shahu

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This is a comparative study of the Organizational Role Stress among the private and government sector employees. There was no known similar kind of Organizational Role Stress study in the field area i.e. Nagpur city. Hence, in order to understand the ORS level pertaining to the government and private sector employees in various offices it was taken as the subject for this study. The Method used for this study was the incidental sampling method. The Organizational Role Scale containing 50 statements related to the ten different ORS areas was used for observations. All 60 participants were tested. The results of the study show that there was a significant difference in only one area of ORS i.e. Personal Inadequacy for the participants. The employees from the private sector showed higher Personal Inadequacy than the government employees. Rest of the ORS areas showed no significant difference meaning that the employees were well adjusted in the respective areas.

Keywords: organozational role stress, private sector, government sector, personal inadequacy

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Authors: R. Morbidelli, C. Saltalippi, A. Flammini, J. Dari

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This work analyses what effect systematic awareness-raising of the population on domestic water consumption produces. In a period where the availability of water is continually decreasing due to reduced rainfall, it is of paramount importance to raise awareness among the population. We conducted an experiment on a large sample of homes in urban areas of Central Italy. In the first phase, lasting three weeks, normal per capita, water consumption was quantified. Subsequently, instructions were given on how to save water during various uses in the household (showers, cleaning hands, use of water in toilets, watering small green areas, use of water in the kitchen, ...), and small visual messages were posted at water dispensers to remind users to behave properly. Finally, household consumption was assessed again for a further three weeks. This experiment made it possible to quantify the effect of the awareness-raising action on the reduction of water consumption without the use of any structural action (replacement of dispensers, improvement of the water system, ...).

Keywords: water saving, urban areas, awareness-raising, climate change

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Authors: Maria da Conceição Proença

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This case study implements the evaluation of burned areas that suffered successive wildfires in Portugal mainland during the summer of 2017, killing more than 60 people. It’s intended to show that this evaluation can be done with remote sensing data free of charges in a simple laptop, with open-source software, describing the not-so-simple methodology step by step, to make it available for county workers in city halls of the areas attained, where the availability of information is essential for the immediate planning of mitigation measures, such as restoring road access, allocate funds for the recovery of human dwellings and assess further restoration of the ecological system. Wildfires also devastate forest ecosystems having a direct impact on vegetation cover and killing or driving away from the animal population. The economic interest is also attained, as the pinewood burned becomes useless for the noblest applications, so its value decreases, and resin extraction ends for several years. The tools described in this paper enable the location of the areas where took place the annihilation of natural habitats and establish a baseline for major changes in forest ecosystems recovery. Moreover, the result allows the follow up of the surface fuel loading, enabling the targeting and evaluation of restoration measures in a time basis planning.

Keywords: image processing, remote sensing, wildfires, burned areas evaluation, sentinel-2

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Authors: Bin Wang, Yong Xu, Honggang Qu, Rongmei Liu, Zhenji Gao

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Based on the geodynamic environment, basic geological characteristics of minerals and so on, gold deposits in China are divided into 11 categories, of which tectonic fracture altered rock, mid-intrudes and contact zone, micro-fine disseminated and continental volcanic types are the main prospecting kinds. The metallogenic age of gold deposits in China is dominated by the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. According to the geotectonic units, geological evolution, geological conditions, spatial distribution, gold deposits types, metallogenic factors etc., 42 gold concentration areas are initially determined and have a concentrated distribution feature. On the basis of the gold exploration density, gold concentration areas are divided into high, medium and low level areas. High ones are mainly distributed in the central and eastern regions. 93.04% of the gold exploration drillings are within 500 meters, but there are some problems, such as less and shallower of drilling verification etc.. The paper discusses the resource potentials of gold deposits and proposes the future prospecting directions and suggestions. The deep and periphery of old mines in the central and eastern regions and western area, especially in Xinjiang and Qinghai, will be the future key prospecting one and have huge potential gold reserves. If the exploration depth is extended to 2,000 meters shallow, the gold resources will double.

Keywords: gold deposits, gold deposits types, gold concentration areas, prospecting, resource potentiality

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Authors: Blair D. Macdonald

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After nearly one hundred years of its origin, foundational quantum mechanics remains one of the greatest unexplained mysteries in physicists today. Within this time, chaos theory and its geometry, the fractal, has developed. In this paper, the propagation behaviour with an iteration of a simple fractal, the Koch Snowflake, was described and analysed. From an arbitrary observation point within the fractal set, the fractal propagates forward by oscillation—the focus of this study and retrospectively behind by exponential growth from a point beginning. It propagates a potentially infinite exponential oscillating sinusoidal wave of discrete triangle bits sharing many characteristics of light and quantum entities. The model's wave speed is potentially constant, offering insights into the perception and a direction of time where, to an observer, when travelling at the frontier of propagation, time may slow to a stop. In isolation, the fractal is a superposition of component bits where position and scale present a problem of location. In reality, this problem is experienced within fractal landscapes or fields where 'position' is only 'known' by the addition of information or markers. The quantum' measurement problem', 'uncertainty principle,' 'entanglement,' and the classical-quantum interface are addressed; these are a problem of scale invariance associated with isolated fractality. Dual forward and retrospective perspectives of the fractal model offer the opportunity for unification between quantum mechanics and cosmological mathematics, observations, and conjectures. Quantum and cosmological problems may be different aspects of the one fractal geometry.

Keywords: measurement problem, observer, entanglement, unification

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Authors: M. Naveed Iqbal, Sheza Fatima, Noman Shabbir

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In the presence of energy crisis in Pakistan, off-grid remote areas are not on priority list. The use of new large scale coal fired power plants will also make this situation worst. Therefore, the greatest challenge in our society is to explore new ways to power off grid remote areas with renewable energy sources. It is time for a sustainable energy policy which puts consumers, the environment, human health, and peace first. The renewable energy is one of the biggest growing sectors of the energy industry. Therefore, the large scale use of micro grid is thus described here with modeling, simulation, planning and operating of the micro grid. The goal of this research paper is to go into detail of a library of major components of micro grid. The introduction will go through the detail view of micro grid definition. Then, the simulation of Micro Grid in MATLAB/ Simulink including the Photo Voltaic Cell will be described with the detailed modeling. The simulation with the design and modeling will be introduced too.

Keywords: micro grids, distribution generation, PV, off-grid operations

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Authors: Chingkheihunba Pebam, Shima Yazdanmehr

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This research project aims to study the role that gender has upon the use of National Parks and forested recreation areas in Slavonice, Czech Republic. Furthermore, this study investigate the role and significance that forested areas have upon the daily lives of local residents. This research proposes to observe the users at twenty distinct locations during twelve weeks study period. The study locations are within close proximity to the historic and recreational destination of Slavonice, situated in the southern part of the Czech Republic. This research aims to monitor the frequency of human presence and their associated movements in various recreation and tourism destinations in a discreet manner without disturbing the ecological elements such as wildlife/flora and fauna using uniquely generated Quick Response Codes (QR) for each twenty locations.

Keywords: national park, gender, czech republic, QR code

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Authors: Vladimir Berezin, Andrey Bogoyavlenskiy, Pavel Alexyuk, Madina Alexyuk, Aizhan Turmagambetova, Irina Zaitseva, Nadezhda Sokolova, Elmira Omirtaeva

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Introduction: Triterpene saponins of plant origin are one of the most promising candidates for elaboration of novel adjuvants. Due to the combination of immunostimulating activity and the capacity interact with amphipathic molecules with formation of highly immunogenic nanocomplexes, triterpene saponins could serve as a good adjuvant/delivery system for vaccine use. In the research presented adjuvants on the base of nanocomplexes contained triterpene saponins isolated from Glycyrrhiza glabra and Saponaria officinalis plants indigenous to Kazakhstan were elaborated for influenza vaccine use. Methods: Purified triterpene saponins 'Glabilox' and 'SO1' with low toxicity and high immunostimulatory activity were isolated from plants Glycyrrhiza glabra L. and Saponaria officinalis L. by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and identified using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Influenza virus A/St-Petersburg/5/09 (H1N1) propagated in 9-days old chicken embryos was concentrated and purified by centrifugation in sucrose gradient. Nanocomplexes contained lipids, and triterpene saponins Glabilox or SO1 were prepared by dialysis technique. Immunostimulating activity of experimental vaccine preparations was studied in vaccination/challenge experiments in mice. Results: Humoral and cellular immune responses and protection against influenza virus infection were examined after single subcutaneous and intranasal immunization. Mice were immunized subunit influenza vaccine (HA+NA) or whole virus inactivated influenza vaccine in doses 3.0/5.0/10.0 µg antigen/animal mixed with adjuvant in dose 15.0 µg/animal. Sera were taken 14-21 days following single immunization and mice challenged by A/St-Petersburg/5/09 influenza virus in dose 100 EID₅₀. Study of experimental influenza vaccine preparations in animal immunization experiments has shown that subcutaneous and intranasal immunization with subunit influenza vaccine mixed with nanocomplexes contained Glabilox or SO1 saponins stimulated high levels of humoral immune response (IgM, IgA, IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b antibody) and cellular immune response (IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, and IFN-γ cytokines) and resulted 80-90% protection against lethal influenza infection. Also, single intranasal and single subcutaneous immunization with whole virus inactivated influenza vaccine mixed with nanoparticulated adjuvants stimulated high levels of humoral and cellular immune responses and provided 100% protection against lethal influenza infection. Conclusion: The results of study have shown that nanocomplexes contained purified triterpene saponins Glabilox and SO1 isolated from plants indigenous to Kazakhstan can stimulate a broad spectrum of humoral and cellular immune responses and induce protection against lethal influenza infection. Both elaborated adjuvants are promising for incorporation to influenza vaccine intended for subcutaneous and intranasal routes of immunization.

Keywords: influenza vaccine, adjuvants, triterpene saponins, immunostimulating activity

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Authors: Recep Keşli, Gülşah Aşık, Cengiz Demir, Onur Türkyılmaz

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Objective: Serratia species are identified as aerobic, motile Gram negative rods. The species Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens) causes both opportunistic and nosocomial infections. The genus Providencia is Gram-negative bacilli and includes urease-producing that is responsible for a wide range of human infections. Although most Providencia infections involve the urinary tract, they are also associated with gastroenteritis, wound infections, and bacteremia. The aim of this study was evaluate the antimicrobial resistance rates of S. marcescens and Providencia spp. strains which had been isolated from various clinical materials obtained from different patients who belongs to intensive care units (ICU) and inpatient clinics. Methods: A total of 35 S. marcescens and Providencia spp. strains isolated from various clinical samples admitted to Medical Microbiology Laboratory, ANS Research and Practice Hospital, Afyon Kocatepe University between October 2013 and September 2015 were included in the study. Identification of the bacteria was determined by conventional methods and VITEK 2 system (bio-Merieux, Marcy l’etoile, France) was used additionally. Antibacterial resistance tests were performed by using Kirby Bauer disc (Oxoid, Hampshire, England) diffusion method following the recommendations of CLSI. Results: The distribution of clinical samples were as follows: upper and lower respiratory tract samples 26, 74.2 % wound specimen 6, 17.1 % blood cultures 3, 8.5%. Of the 35 S. marcescens and Providencia spp. strains; 28, 80% were isolated from clinical samples sent from ICU. The resistance rates of S. marcescens strains against trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, piperacillin-tazobactam, imipenem, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime, cefepime and amikacin were found to be 8.5 %, 22.8 %, 11.4 %, 2.8 %, 17.1 %, 40 %, 28.5 % and 5.7 % respectively. Resistance rates of Providencia spp. strains against trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, piperacillin-tazobactam, imipenem, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime, cefepime and amikacin were found to be 10.2 %, 33,3 %, 18.7 %, 8.7 %, 13.2 %, 38.6 %, 26.7%, and 11.8 % respectively. Conclusion: S. marcescens is usually resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, ampicillin/sulbactam, cefuroxime, cephamycins, nitrofurantoin, and colistin. The most effective antibiotic on the total of S. marcescens strains was found to be gentamicin 2.8 %, of the totally tested strains the highest resistance rate found against to ceftazidime 40 %. The lowest and highest resistance rates were found against gentamiycin and ceftazidime with the rates of 8.7 % and 38.6 % for Providencia spp.

Keywords: Serratia marcescens, Providencia spp., antibiotic resistance, intensive care unit

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Authors: Caroline Kim

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Scholars have long disputed the relationship between the origins of language and human behavior. Historically, behaviorist psychologist B. F. Skinner argued that language is one instance of the general stimulus-response phenomenon that characterizes the essence of human behavior. Another, more recent approach argues, by contrast, that language is an innate cognitive faculty and does not arise from behavior, which might develop and reinforce linguistic facility but is not its source. Pinker, among others, proposes that linguistic defects arise from damage to the brain, both congenital and acquired in life. Much of his argument is based on case studies in which damage to the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas of the brain results in loss of the ability to produce coherent grammatical expressions when speaking or writing; though affected speakers often utter quite fluent streams of sentences, the words articulated lack discernible semantic content. Pinker concludes on this basis that language is an innate component of specific, classically language-correlated regions of the human brain. Taking a notorious 1970s case of linguistic maladaptation, this paper queries the dominant materialist paradigm of language-correlated regions. Susan “Genie” Wiley was physically isolated from language interaction in her home and beaten by her father when she attempted to make any sort of sound. Though without any measurable resulting damage to the brain, Wiley was never able to develop the level of linguistic facility normally achieved in adulthood. Having received a negative reinforcement of language acquisition from her father and lacking the usual language acquisition period, in adulthood Wiley was able to develop language only at a quite limited level in later life. From a contemporary behaviorist perspective, this case confirms the possibility of language deficiency without brain pathology. Wiley’s potential language-determining areas in the brain were intact, and she was exposed to language later in her life, but she was unable to achieve the normal level of communication skills, deterring socialization. This phenomenon and others like it in the case limited literature on linguistic maladaptation pose serious clinical, scientific, and indeed philosophical difficulties for both of the major competing theories of language acquisition, innateness, and linguistic stimulus-response. The implications of such cases for future research in language acquisition are explored, with a particular emphasis on the interaction of innate capacity and stimulus-based development in early childhood.

Keywords: behaviorism, innateness hypothesis, language, Susan "Genie" Wiley

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Authors: Khaled Khleifat, Muayyad Abboud, Amjad Khleifat, Humodi Saeed

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In this study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated from infected burn patients and characterized by standard biochemical tests. The in vitro copper uptake was compared between this isolated pathogenic strain and two non-pathogenic control strains of Gram positive bacteria Bacillusthuringiensis strain Israelisas well as Gram negative bacteria Enterobacter aerogenes. Maximum copper uptake of 470 ppm/g biomass was obtained by P. aeruginosa strain, while the control strains B. thuringiensis andEnterobacter aerogenes had copper uptake of 350 and 383 ppm/g biomass, respectively. However, the lowest copper uptake (60 ppm/g biomass) was observed with another control the saprophytic strain Pseudomonas (Shewanella) putrefaciens. A further investigation regarding the effect of copper toxicity on bacterial growth, gave an MIC score of 600 ppm for P. aeruginosa strain compared to 460 and 300 ppm for the two Gram positive and Gram negative control strains, respectively. In tandem with these in vitro findings, blood analysis on burn patients infected with P. aeruginosa has indicated a selective decrease of copper (hypocupremia) and ceruloplasmin plasma levels. The iron metabolism was also affected by this copper deprivation leading to a similar decrease in plasma levels of PCV, iron, total iron binding capacity, and transferrin. All these hematological changes were significantly different (P < 0.05) from the matched group of non-infected burn patients. The observed hypocupremia in infected burn patients was attributed to demanding scavenger ability by P. aeruginosa strain for the copper of plasma.

Keywords: pseudomonas, Cu uptake, burn patients, biosorption

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Authors: Jether Gomes, Thiago M. R. Dias, Gray F. Moita

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The production and publication of scientific works have increased significantly in the last years, being the Internet the main factor of access and diffusion of these. In view of this, researchers from several areas of knowledge have carried out several studies on scientific production data in order to analyze phenomena and trends about science. The understanding of how research has evolved can, for example, serve as a basis for building scientific policies for further advances in science and stimulating research groups to become more productive. In this context, the objective of this work is to analyze the main research topics investigated along the trajectory of the Brazilian science of researchers working in the areas of engineering, in order to map scientific knowledge and identify topics in highlights. To this end, studies are carried out on the frequency and relationship of the keywords of the set of scientific articles registered in the existing curricula in the Lattes Platform of each one of the selected researchers, counting with the aid of bibliometric analysis features.

Keywords: research topics, bibliometrics, topics of interest, Lattes Platform

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Authors: Arsalan Jabbar, Wajiha Javed, Nelofer Mehboob, Zahid Memon

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Introduction: There are multiple social, individual and cultural factors that influence an individual’s decision to adopt family planning methods especially among non-users in patriarchal societies like Pakistan.Non-users, if targeted efficiently, can contribute significantly to country’s CPR. A research study showed that non-users if convinced to adopt lactational amenorrhea method can shift to long-term methods in future. Research shows that if non-users are targeted efficiently a 59% reduction in unintended pregnancies in Saharan Africa and South-Central and South-East Asia is anticipated. Methods: We did secondary data analysis on Pakistan Demographic Heath Survey (2012-13) dataset. Use of contraception (never-use/ever-use) was the outcome variable. At univariate level Chi-square/Fisher Exact test was used to assess relationship of baseline covariates with contraception use. Then variables to be incorporated in the model were checked for multi-collinearity, confounding, and interaction. Then binary logistic regression (with an urban-rural stratification) was done to find the relationship between contraception use and baseline demographic and social variables. Results: The multivariate analyses of the study showed that younger women (≤ 29 years) were more prone to be never users as compared to those who were > 30 years and this trend was seen in urban areas (AOR 1.92, CI 1.453-2.536) as well as rural areas (AOR 1.809, CI 1.421-2.303). While looking at regional variation, women from urban Sindh (AOR 1.548, CI 1.142-2.099) and urban Balochistan (AOR 2.403, CI 1.504-3.839) had more never users as compared to other urban regions. Women in the rich wealth quintile were more never users and this was seen both in urban and rural localities (urban (AOR 1.106 CI .753-1.624); rural areas (AOR 1.162, CI .887-1.524)) even though these were not statistically significant. Women idealizing more children(> 4) are more never users as compared to those idealizing less children in both urban (AOR 1.854, CI 1.275-2.697) and rural areas (AOR 2.101, CI 1.514-2.916). Women who never lost a pregnancy were more inclined to be non-users in rural areas (AOR 1.394, CI 1.127-1.723) .Women familiar with only traditional or no method had more never users in rural areas (AOR 1.717, CI 1.127-1.723) but in urban areas it wasn’t significant. Women unaware of Lady Health Worker’s presence in their area were more never users especially in rural areas (AOR 1.276, CI 1.014-1.607). Women who did not visit any care provider were more never users (urban (AOR 11.738, CI 9.112-15.121) rural areas (AOR 7.832, CI 6.243-9.826)). Discussion/Conclusion: This study concluded that government, policy makers and private sector family planning programs should focus on the untapped pool of never users (younger women from underserved provinces, in higher wealth quintiles, who desire more children.). We need to make sure to cover catchment areas where there are less LHWs and less providers as ignorance to modern methods and never been visited by an LHW are important determinants of never use. This all is in sync with previous literate from similar developing countries.

Keywords: contraception, demographic and health survey, family planning, never users

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Authors: Abdollah Jamshidi, Tayebeh Zeinali, Mehrnaz Rad, Jamshid Razmyar

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Listeria infections occur worldwide in variety of animals and man. Listeriae are widely distributed in nature. The organism has been isolated from the feces of humans and several animals, different soils, plants, aquatic environments and food of animal and vegetable origin. Listeria monocytogenes is recognized as important food-borne pathogens due to its high mortality rate. This organism is able to growth at refrigeration temperature, and high osmotic pressure. Poultry can become contaminated environmentally or through healthy carrier birds. In recent decades, prophylactic use of antimicrobial agents may be lead to emergence of antibiotic resistant organisms, which can be transmitted to human through consumption of contaminated foods. In this study, from 200 fresh chicken carcasses samples which were collected randomly from different supermarkets and butcheries, 80 samples were detected as contaminate with Listeria spp. and 19% of the isolates identified as Listeria monocytogene using multiplex PCR assay. Conventional methods were used to differentiate other species of the listeria genus. The results showed the most prevalent isolates as L. monocytogenes (48.75%). Other isolates were detected as Listeria innocua (28.75%), Listeria murrayi (20%), Listeria grayi (3.75%) and Listeria welshimeri (2.5%).The Majority of the isolates had multidrug resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Most of them were resistant to erythromycin (50%), followed by Tetracycline (44.44%), Clindamycin (41.66%), and Trimethoprim (25%). Some of them showed resistance to chloramphenicol (17.65%). The results indicate the resistance of the isolates to antimicrobials commonly used to treat human listeriosis, which could be a potential health hazard for consumers.

Keywords: listeria species, L. monocytogenes, antibiotic resistance, chicken carcass

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Authors: Luojie Tang

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Riverside space is an important public space and ecological corridor in urban areas, but mountainous urban rivers are often overlooked due to their deep valleys and poor accessibility. This article takes the Qing Shui Xi River in Chongqing as an example, and through long-term field inspections, measurements, interviews, and online surveys, summarizes the problems of poor accessibility, limited space for renovation, lack of waterfront facilities, excessive artificial intervention, low average runoff, severe river water pollution, and difficulty in integrated watershed management in riverside space. Based on the current situation and drawing on relevant experiences, this article summarizes the design methods for riverside space in deep valley rivers in mountainous urban areas. Regarding spatial design techniques, the article emphasizes the importance of integrating waterfront spaces into the urban public space system and vertical linkages. Furthermore, the article suggests different design methods and improvement strategies for the already developed areas and new development areas. Specifically, the article proposes a planning and design strategy of "protection" and "empowerment" for new development areas and an updating and transformation strategy of "improvement" and "revitalization" for already developed areas. In terms of ecological restoration methods, the article suggests three focus points: increasing the runoff of urban rivers, raising the landscape water level during dry seasons, and restoring vegetation and wetlands in the riverbank buffer zone while protecting the overall pattern of the watershed. Additionally, the article presents specific design details of the Qingshuixi River to illustrate the proposed design and restoration techniques.

Keywords: deep-cut river, design method, mountainous city, Qingshuixi river in Chongqing, waterfront space design

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Authors: Samuel Hyellamada Jerry

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This study focused on assessing conservation priorities within the Karlahi Forest Reserve of Fufore Local Government in Adamawa State. The main objective was to identify specific areas within the forest reserve that require immediate conservation attention. The research employed remote sensing and GIS techniques to achieve this goal. By overlaying the IDRIS Silva module results, a spatial distribution map was generated, highlighting the cumulative priority areas within and outside the forest. Among the total vegetated area of 26.38 km² in the Karlahi Forest Reserve, the analysis revealed that 16.16 km² were classified as high-priority conservation zones. Additionally, 4.59 km² and 5.63 km² were identified as medium and low-priority areas, respectively. In light of these findings, it is recommended that conservation efforts incorporate detailed land cover information and regular assessments of species diversity. Furthermore, strict adherence to national and state policies regarding forest reserves and parks is crucial for effective conservation management.

Keywords: priority, Karlahi, forest, reserve, IDRISI Silva, species diversity

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Authors: Mahdi Bazarganigilani

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Aortic enlargement, also known as an aortic aneurysm, can occur when the walls of the aorta become weak. This disease can become deadly if overlooked and undiagnosed. In this paper, a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system was introduced to accurately diagnose aortic enlargement from chest x-ray images. An enhanced convolutional neural network (CNN) was employed and then trained by transfer learning by using three different main areas from the original images. The areas included the left lung, heart, and right lung. The accuracy of the system was then evaluated on 1001 samples by using 4-fold cross-validation. A promising accuracy of 90% was achieved in terms of the F-measure indicator. The results showed using different areas from the original image in the training phase of CNN could increase the accuracy of predictions. This encouraged the author to evaluate this method on a larger dataset and even on different CAD systems for further enhancement of this methodology.

Keywords: computer-aided diagnosis systems, aortic enlargement, chest X-ray, image processing, convolutional neural networks

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Authors: Peter Lindstrom, Caroline Gyberg, Scott Goodwin

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The Swedish police organisation was fundamentally reorganized in 2015 when 21 regional police forces were combined into one national police authority divided in 7 larger police regions, 35 police areas, and some 100 local police districts. A central theme for the reform was that local crime prevention policing should be more unified in the country. In this paper, we review crime prevention strategies in Sweden from a criminological and policing perspective focusing, among other things, on differences between urban and rural areas. In the crime prevention field, words such as 'knowledge- and evidence-based', 'collaboration', and 'strategies' are common. Our objective is to investigate the relationship between theoretical and practical knowledge in local crime prevention work. Our research indicate that an elaborated and strategic connection between theoretical and practical perspectives is important for successful local crime prevention work. Universities may provide a platform such knowledge exchange.

Keywords: crime prevention, police reform, urban and rural areas, criminological and policing perspectives

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Authors: Xin Li, Zhenxue Jiang, Zhuo Li

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Generally, shale gas is trapped within shale systems with low porosity and ultralow permeability as free and adsorbing states. Its production is controlled by properties, in terms of occurrence phases, gas contents, and percolation characteristics. These properties are all influenced by porous features. In this paper, porosity differences of marine shales were explored between Lower Cambrian shale and Lower Silurian shale of Sichuan Basin, South China. Both the two shales were marine shales with abundant oil-prone kerogen and rich siliceous minerals. Whereas Lower Cambrian shale (3.56% Ro) possessed a higher thermal degree than that of Lower Silurian shale (2.31% Ro). Samples were measured by a combination of organic-chemistry geology measurement, organic matter (OM) isolation, X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption, and focused ion beam milling and scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM). Lower Cambrian shale presented relatively low pore properties, with averaging 0.008ml/g pore volume (PV), averaging 7.99m²/g pore surface area (PSA) and averaging 5.94nm average pore diameter (APD). Lower Silurian shale showed as relatively high pore properties, with averaging 0.015ml/g PV, averaging 10.53m²/g PSA and averaging 18.60nm APD. Additionally, fractal analysis indicated that the two shales presented discrepant pore morphologies, mainly caused by differences in the combination of pore types between the two shales. More specifically, OM-hosted pores with pin-hole shape and dissolved pores with dead-end openings were the main types in Lower Cambrian shale, while OM-hosted pore with a cellular structure was the main type in Lower Silurian shale. Moreover, porous characteristics of isolated OM suggested that OM of Lower Silurian shale was more capable than that of Lower Cambrian shale in the aspect of pore contribution. PV of isolated OM in Lower Silurian shale was almost 6.6 times higher than that in Lower Cambrian shale, and PSA of isolated OM in Lower Silurian shale was almost 4.3 times higher than that in Lower Cambrian shale. However, no apparent differences existed among samples with various matrix compositions. At late diagenetic or metamorphic epoch, extensive diagenesis overprints the effects of minerals on pore properties and OM plays the dominant role in pore developments. Hence, differences of porous features between the two marine shales highlight the effect of diagenetic degree on OM-hosted pore development. Consequently, distinctive pore characteristics may be caused by the different degrees of diagenetic evolution, even with similar matrix basics.

Keywords: marine shale, lower Cambrian, lower Silurian, om isolation, pore properties, om-hosted pore

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Authors: Harikrishna Yadav Nanganuru, Narasimhulu Korrapati

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The demand for the lead (Pb) in the battery industry has been growing for last twenty years. On an average about 2.35 million tons of lead is used in the battery industry. According to the survey of supply and demand battery industry is using 75% of lead produced every year. Due to the increase in battery scrap, secondary lead production has been increasing in this decade. Europe and USA together account for 75% of the world’s secondary lead production. The effluent from used battery scrap consists of high concentrations of lead. Unauthorized disposal of spent batteries, which contain intolerable concentration of lead, into landfills or municipal water canals causes release of Pb into the environment. Lead is one of the toxic heavy metals that have large damaging effects on the human health. Due to its persistence and toxicity, the presence of Pb in drinking water is considered as a special concern. Accumulation of Pb in the human body for long period of time can result in the malfunctioning of some organs. Many technologies have been developed for the removal of lead using microorganisms. In this paper, effluent was taken from the spent battery scrap and was characterized by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer. Microorganisms play an important role in removal of lead from the contaminated sites. So, the bacteria were isolated from the effluent. Optimum conditions for the microbial growth and applied for the lead removal. These bacterial cells were immobilized and used for the removal of Pb from the known concentration of metal solution. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies were shown that the Pb was efficiently adsorbed by the immobilized bacteria. From the results of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), 83.40 percentage of Pb was removed in a batch culture.

Keywords: adsorption, effluent, immobilization, lead (Pb)

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Authors: Milad Alizadeh Galdiani, Navid Sabet, Mohamad Ali Mohit, Fatemeh Palizdar

Abstract:

Railway as one of the most important transportation modes, passes through ‎various areas with different conditions ‎inevitably, and in many countries such as ‎China, United States, Australia, and Iran, it passes through sandy ‎desert areas. One ‎of the main problems in these areas is the movement of sand, causing various ‎damages ‎to ballasted railway track such as corrosion in the railway fastening system. ‎The soil composition of some desert areas like Fahraj in Iran consists of sand ‎and ‎salt. Due to the movement of sand and corrosive ions of salt, the fastening system ‎of the railway is ‎corroded, which, in turn, reduces the thickness of the components ‎and their life span.‎ In this research, the Nano-coating for fastening system of ‎the railway is ‎introduced, and its performance has been investigated in both ‎laboratory and field tests. The Nano-coating of ‎the fastening system consists of zinc-rich, epoxy, polyurethane, and additive, which is produced through ‎Nano ‎technology. This layer covers the surface of the fastening system and ‎prohibits the chemical reactions, which result in ‎corrosion. The results of ‎Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) ‎indicate that corrosion resistance ‎increases 315 times by using nano-coating, salt spray test results demonstrate that ‎nano-coated components remained intact after 1000 hours.‎

Keywords: ballasted railway, Nano-coating, railway fastening system, sandy desert

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Authors: Shubhashree Mahalik, Dhanesh Kumar, Jatin Kumar Pradhan

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Odisha is one of the coastal states situated on the eastern part of India with 480 km long coastline. The coastal Odisha is referred to as "Gift of Six Rivers". Balasore, a major coastal district of Odisha is bounded by Bay of Bengal in the East having 26 km long seashore. It is lined with several estuaries rich in biodiversity.Several studies have been carried out on the macro flora and fauna of this area but very few documented information are available regarding microbial biodiversity. In the present study, an attempt has been made to isolate and identify bacteria found along the estuaries of Balasore.Many marine microorganisms are sources of natural products which makes them potential industrial organisms. So the ability of the isolated bacteria to secrete one such industrially significant product, PHB (Polyhydroxybutyrate) has been elucidated. Several rounds of sampling, pure culture, morphological, biochemical and phylogenetic screening led to the identification of two PHB producing strains. Isolate 5 was identified to be Brevibacillus sp. and has maximum similarity to Brevibacillus parabrevis (KX83268). The isolate was named as Brevibacillus sp.KEI-5. Isolate 8 was identified asLysinibacillus sp. having closest similarity withLysinibacillus boroni-tolerance (KP314269) and named as Lysinibacillus sp. KEI-8.Media, temperature, carbon, nitrogen and salinity requirement were optimized for both isolates. Submerged fermentation of both isolates in Terrific Broth media supplemented with optimized carbon and nitrogen source at 37°C led to significant accumulation of PHB as detected by colorimetric method.

Keywords: Bacillus, estuary, marine, Odisha, polyhydroxy butyrate

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Authors: Rachida Benabbou, Sang Hun Park, Hee Chung Lee

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The world’s population is increasing with unprecedented speed, leading to fast growing urbanization pace. Cities since the Industrial revolution had evolved to fit the growing demand on infrastructure, roads, transportation, and housing. Through this evolution, cities had grown into grey, polluted, and vehicle-oriented urban areas with a significant lack of green spaces. Consequently, we ended up with low quality of life for citizens. Therefore, many cities, nowadays, are revising the way we think urbanism and try to grow into more livable and citizen-friendly, by creating change from the inside out. Thus, cities are trying to bring back nature in its crowded grey centers and regenerate many urban areas as green public spaces not only as a way to give new breath to the city, but also as a way to create change either in the environmental, social and economic levels. The city of Seoul is one of the fast growing global cities. Its population is over 12 million and it is expected to continue to grow to a point where the quality of life may seriously deteriorate. As most green areas in Seoul are located in the suburbs in form of mountains, the city’s urban areas suffer from lack of accessible green spaces in a walking distance. Understanding the gravity and consequences of this issue, Seoul city is undergoing major changes. Many of its projects are oriented to be green public spaces where citizens can enjoy the public life in healthy outdoors. The aim of this paper is to explore the results of urban conversions into green public spaces. Starting with different locations, nature, size, and scale, these conversions can lead to significant change in the surrounding areas, thus can be used as an efficient tool of regeneration for urban areas. Through a comparative analysis of three different types of urban conversions projects in the city of Seoul, we try to show the positive urban influence of the outcomes, in order to encourage cities to use green spaces as a strategic tool for urban regeneration and redevelopment.

Keywords: urban conversion, green public space, change, urban regeneration

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Authors: Chibuzo Okoye Daniels, Gillian Glegg, Lynda Rodwell

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The continuously growing quantity of very slow degrading litter deliberately discarded into the coastal waters around Lagos as marine debris is obvious. What is not known is how to tackle this problem to reduce its prevalence and impact on the environment, economy and community. To identify ways of tackling the marine debris problem two case study areas (Ikoyi and Victoria Islands of Lagos State) were used to assess the root causes, the threat posed by marine debris in the coastal waters around Lagos and the efficacy of current instruments, programmes and initiatives that address marine debris in the study areas. The following methods were used: (1) Self-completed questionnaires for households and businesses within the study areas; (2) Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders; (3) Observational studies of waste management from collection to disposal and waste management facilities for waste originating from land and maritime sources; (4) Beach surveys and marine debris surveys on shorelines and ports; and (5) Fishing for marine debris. Results of this study identified the following root causes: (1) Indiscriminate human activities and behaviors, and lack of awareness on the part of the main stakeholders and the public of the potential consequences of their actions; (2) Poor solid waste management practices; (3) Lack of strict legal frameworks addressing waste and marine debris problem; and (4) Disposal of non-degradable wastes into domestic sewer system and open streets drains. To effectively tackle marine debris problem in the study areas, adequate, appropriate and cost effective solutions to the above mentioned root causes needs to be identified and effectively transferred for implementation in the study areas.

Keywords: marine debris problem, Lagos state, litter, coastal waters

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Authors: Solomon Gebremariam, Mulugeta Naizigi, Aregawi Haileselassie

Abstract:

Background: Knowledge of the pattern of bacterial isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility is crucial for guiding empirical treatment and infection prevention and control measures. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the pattern of bacterial isolates and their susceptibility patterns from various specimens. Methods: Retrospectively, a total of 1067 microbiological culture results that were isolated, characterized, and identified by standard microbiological methods and whose antibiotic susceptibility was determined using CLSI guidelines between 2017 and 2019 were retrieved and analyzed. Data were entered and analyzed using the Stata release 10.1 statistical package. Result: The positivity rate of culture was 26.04% (419/1609). The most common bacteria isolated were S. aureus 23.8% (94), E. coli 15.1% (60), Klebsiella pneumonia 14.1% (56), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 8.5% (34), and CONS 7.3% (29). S. aureus and CONS showed a high (58.1% - 96.2%) rate of resistance to most antibiotics tested. They were less resistant to Vancomycin which is 18.6% (13/70) and 11.8% (2/17), respectively. Similarly, the resistance of E. coli, Klebsella pneumonia, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was high (69.4% - 100%) to most antibiotics. They were less resistant to Ciprofloxacilin, which is 41.1% (23/56), 19.2% (10/52), and 16.1% (5/31), respectively. Conclusion: This study has shown that there is a high rate of antibiotic resistance among bacterial isolates in this hospital. A combination of Vancomycin and Ciprofloxacin should be considered in the choice of antibiotics for empirical treatment of suspected infections due to S. aureus, CONS, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas such as in infections within hospital setup.

Keywords: antimicrobial, resistance, bacteria, hospital

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