Search results for: the separation and balance of powers in the state

Authors: Sudhanshu Sharma

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Lisinopril, 1-[N-{(s)-I-carboxy-3 phenyl propyl}-L-proline dehydrate is a lysine analog of enalaprilat, the active metabolite of enalapril. It is long-acting, non-sulhydryl angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor that is used for the treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure in daily dosage 10-80 mg. Pharmacological activity of lisinopril has been proved in various experimental and clinical studies. Owing to its importance and widespread use, efforts have been made towards the development of simple and reliable analytical methods. As per our literature survey, lisinopril in pharmaceutical formulations has been determined by various analytical methodologies like polaragraphy, potentiometry, and spectrophotometry, but most of these analytical methods are not too suitable for the Identification of lisinopril from clinical samples because of the interferences caused by the amino acids and amino groups containing metabolites present in biological samples. This report is an attempt in the direction of developing a simple and reliable method for on plate identification and quantification of lisinopril in pharmaceutical formulations as well as from human urine samples using silica gel H layers developed with a new mobile phase comprising of micellar solutions of N-cetyl-N, N, N-trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Micellar solutions have found numerous practical applications in many areas of separation science. Micellar liquid chromatography (MLC) has gained immense popularity and wider applicability due to operational simplicity, cost effectiveness, relatively non-toxicity and enhanced separation efficiency, low aggressiveness. Incorporation of aqueous micellar solutions as mobile phase was pioneered by Armstrong and Terrill as they accentuated the importance of TLC where simultaneous separation of ionic or non-ionic species in a variety of matrices is required. A peculiarity of the micellar mobile phases (MMPs) is that they have no macroscopic analogues, as a result the typical separations can be easily achieved by using MMPs than aqueous organic mobile phases. Previously MMPs were successfully employed in TLC based critical separations of aromatic hydrocarbons, nucleotides, vitamin K1 and K5, o-, m- and p- aminophenol, amino acids, separation of penicillins. The human urine analysis for identification of selected drugs and their metabolites has emerged as an important investigation tool in forensic drug analysis. Among all chromatographic methods available only thin layer chromatography (TLC) enables a simple fast and effective separation of the complex mixtures present in various biological samples and is recommended as an approved testing for forensic drug analysis by federal Law. TLC proved its applicability during successful separation of bio-active amines, carbohydrates, enzymes, porphyrins, and their precursors, alkaloid and drugs from urine samples.

Keywords: lisnopril, surfactant, chromatography, micellar solutions

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Authors: Umar Jaafar, Mungadi

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Plant growth, biochemical parameters, cytotoxic ion sequestration and ionic in balance were determined for spinach in response to varied concentrations of NaCl. The plant show decline in all vegetative parameters measured. Free proline content increase with increasing salt concentration and differ significantly (p<0.05) while the glycine betaine insignificantly (p>0.05) affected by concentration of NaCl. Salinity increases the cytotoxic ions, sodium chlorine ion and calcium with corresponding decrease in potassium ion concentrations. The ionic balance (Na+/K+) is low due to high content of potassium ion in plant accumulation ranging from 7700 to 6500 mg/kg. It can be concluded that the osmolyte accumulations, high number of leaves are possible indicators of salt tolerance in the spinach.

Keywords: spinach, salinity, osmolyte, cytotoxic

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Authors: Gerardo Hernández Sierra

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Today, we are exposed to different anxiogenic stimuli, some of those stimuli (such as traffic, noise, etc.) generates anxiety in people, being the anxiety a factor that can develop different disorders in people. Therefore, and to improve the quality of life of people it is necessary to find new and helpful tools according to the times we’re living to decrease their anxiety state. Moreover, video games are consolidated globally as a way of interactive entertainment characterized by being available to many people, being fun and easy to play. Even so, people reports that they like playing videogames because they decrease their stress (an anxiety detonator). This research will seek the effectiveness of some videogame genres to reduce the intensity of state anxiety in students. Using State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to do a monitoring of the levels of anxiety pre and post displayed the videogames.

Keywords: anxiety, state trait anxiety inventory (STAI), stress, videogames

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Authors: Chukwuma Anya, Mekwa Eme

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The term ‘’FORM’’ in design could be referred to as the combination of various shapes of different sizes and assembling them in appropriate positions to achieve a unique figure of high aesthetic value. A deduction from this definition is that forms contribute immensely to the actualization of aesthetics in a building. When these various shapes and figures are properly assembled, it may give rise to a concept in design. However some architects and other designers either misuse or abuse the use of these shapes, hence resulting to a design imbalance, lack of uniformity and expression. This academic work is designed to educate the public on the proper usage of some regular shapes like circles, rectangles, pentagons, hexagons, triangles etc, to achieve a unique form in design. By the end of this work, one should be able to assemble different shapes to express different emotions of the mind, such as peace, love, confusion, war, and unity. Some elements of design, such as balance, stability, functionality and aesthetics, will also be achieved even as the building maintains its unique form.

Keywords: aesthetics, form, balance, stability

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Authors: Eriba Christopher Inyila, Godwin Egena Oga

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Statecraft appears to be one of the greatest cultural achievements in the history of man’s civilization. The state itself is often portrayed as the supreme community of the citizen’s collective goodness and will. However, history experience reveals that the state has often been held in captivity permanently in the hand of the political class to almost a total exclusion of the labouring class of workers, artisans and peasants. Consequently, the hallmark of the Nigerian state and society in contemporary era is state of permanent crisis characterized by poverty, unemployment and profound insecurity. A lasting solution to this state of anomie is often touted in terms of ethnic, religious and regional integration which border on non-material perception of realities. A neglected aspect of the approach to the study of recurrent problems in contemporary is the materialist conception of realties through class perspectives of the society. The cutting edge of the approach is found in the attempt to reconcile the contradiction between the productive forces and the social relation of production. In other words, the contemporary state is skewed in favour of ownership of properties/commanding height of economy predominantly in the hands of the few monopoly companies to the total exclusion of majority of Nigerian population classified as peasant, workers and artisan. The lopsided situation creates economic and social disequilibria.

Keywords: national development, class, the state, Nigeria

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Authors: Md Imtiaz, Sanchita Dei, Shubham Damke

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In recent years, there has been a rapidly accelerating shift from traditional surface processing operations to subsea processing operation. This shift has been driven by a number of factors including the depletion of shallow fields around the world, technological advances in subsea processing equipment, the need for production from marginal fields, and lower initial upfront investment costs compared to traditional production facilities. Moving production facilities to the seafloor offers a number of advantage, including a reduction in field development costs, increased production rates from subsea wells, reduction in the need for chemical injection, minimization of risks to worker ,reduction in spills due to hurricane damage, and increased in oil production by enabling production from marginal fields. Subsea processing consists of a range of technologies for separation, pumping, compression that enables production from offshore well without the need for surface facilities. At present, there are two primary technologies being used for subsea processing: subsea multiphase pumping and subsea separation. Multiphase pumping is the most basic subsea processing technology. Multiphase pumping involves the use of boosting system to transport the multiphase mixture through pipelines to floating production vessels. The separation system is combined with single phase pumps or water would be removed and either pumped to the surface, re-injected, or discharged to the sea. Subsea processing can allow for an entire topside facility to be decommissioned and the processed fluids to be tied back to a new, more distant, host. This type of application reduces costs and increased both overall facility and integrity and recoverable reserve. In future, full subsea processing could be possible, thereby eliminating the need for surface facilities.

Keywords: FPSO, marginal field, Subsea processing, SWAG

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Authors: Anton A. Larenkov, Alesya Ya Maruk

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In the present study, highly effective iTLC single strip method for the determination of radiochemical purity (RCP) of ⁶⁸Ga-BCA-peptides was developed (with no double-developing, changing of eluents or other additional manipulation). In this method iTLC-SG strips and commonly used eluent TFA_aq. (3-5 % (v/v)) are used. The method allows determining each of the key radiochemical forms of ⁶⁸Ga (colloidal, bound, ionic) separately with the peaks separation being no less than 4 σ. Rf = 0.0-0.1 for ⁶⁸Ga-colloid; Rf = 0.5-0.6 for ⁶⁸Ga-BCA-peptides; Rf = 0.9-1.0 for ionic ⁶⁸Ga. The method is simple and fast: For developing length of 75 mm only 4-6 min is required (versus 18-20 min for pharmacopoeial method). The method has been tested on various compounds (including ⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-TOC, ⁶⁸Ga-DOTA-TATE, ⁶⁸Ga-NODAGA-RGD₂ etc.). The cross-validation work for every specific form of ⁶⁸Ga showed good correlation between method developed and control (pharmacopoeial) methods. The method can become convenient and much more informative replacement for pharmacopoeial methods, including HPLC.

Keywords: DOTA-TATE, 68Ga, quality control, radiochemical purity, radiopharmaceuticals, TLC

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Authors: Zofia Romanowska

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Recently there have been significant changes in the Polish energy market. Due to the government's decision to strengthen energy security as well as to strengthen the implementation of the European Union common energy policy, the Polish energy market has been undergoing significant changes. In the face of these, it is necessary to answer the question about the direction the Polish energy rationing sector is going, how wide apart the powers of the state are and also whether the real regulator of energy projects in Poland is not in fact the European Union itself. In order to determine the role of the state as a regulator of the energy market, the study analyses the basic instruments of regulation, i.e. the licenses, permits and permissions to conduct various activities related to the energy market, such as the production and sale of liquid fuels or concessions for trade in natural gas. Bearing in mind that Polish law is part of the widely interpreted European Union energy policy, the legal solutions in neighbouring countries are also being researched, including those made in Germany, a country which plays a key role in the shaping of EU policies. The correct interpretation of the new legislation modifying the current wording of the Energy Law Act, such as obliging the entities engaged in the production and trade of liquid fuels (including abroad) to meet a number of additional requirements for the licensing and providing information to the state about conducted business, plays a key role in the study. Going beyond the legal framework for energy rationing, the study also includes a legal and economic analysis of public and private goods within the energy sector and delves into the subject of effective remedies. The research caused the relationships between progressive rationing introduced by the legislator and the rearrangement rules prevailing on the Polish energy market to be taken note of, which led to the introduction of greater transparency in the sector. The studies refer to the initial conclusion that currently, despite the proclaimed idea of liberalization of the oil and gas market and the opening of market to a bigger number of entities as a result of the newly implanted changes, the process of issuing and controlling the conduction of the concessions will be tightened, guaranteeing to entities greater security of energy supply. In the long term, the effect of the introduced legislative solutions will be the reduction of the amount of entities on the energy market. The companies that meet the requirements imposed on them by the new regulation to cope with the profitability of the business will in turn increase prices for their services, which will be have an impact on consumers' budgets.

Keywords: license, energy law, energy market, public goods, regulator

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Authors: Aniket Alam, Sravya Gurram

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This paper proposes a categorization of sport that is based on the system of rules that a sport must adhere to. We focus on these systems of rules to examine how a winner is produced in different sports. The rules of a sport dictate the game play and the direction it takes. We propose to break down the game play into events. At this junction, we observe two kinds of events that constitute the game play of a sport –ones that follow sequential logic and ones that do not. Our focus is pertained to sports that are comprised of sequential events. To examine these events further, to understand how a winner emerges, we take the help of finite-state automaton from the theory of computation (Automata theory). We showcase how sequential sports are eligible to be represented as finite state machines. We depict these finite state machines as state diagrams. We examine these state diagrams to observe how a team/player reaches the final states of the sport, with a special focus on one final state –the final state which determines the winner. This exercise has been carried out for the following sports: Hurdles, Track, Shot Put, Long Jump, Bowling, Badminton, Pacman and Weightlifting (Snatch). Based on our observations of how this final state of winning is achieved, we propose a categorization of sports.

Keywords: sport classification, sport modelling, ontology, automata theory

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Authors: Hassan Gana Abdullahi, Michael A. Fullen, David Oloke

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Drought poses an enormous global threat to sustainable development and is expected to increase with global climate change. Drought and desertification are major problems in Yobe State (north-east Nigeria). This investigation aims to develop a workable framework and management tool for drought mitigation in Yobe State. Mixed methods were employed during the study and additional qualitative information was gathered through Focus Group Discussions (FGD). Data on socio-economic impacts of drought were thus collected via both questionnaire surveys and FGD. In all, 1,040 questionnaires were distributed to farmers in the State and 721 were completed, representing a return rate of 69.3%. Data analysis showed that 97.9% of respondents considered themselves to be drought victims, whilst 69.3% of the respondents were unemployed and had no other means of income, except through rain-fed farming. Developing a viable and holistic approach to drought mitigation is crucial, to arrest and hopefully reverse environment degradation. Analysed data will be used to develop an integrated framework for drought mitigation and management in Yobe State. This paper introduces the socio-economic and environmental effects of drought in Yobe State.

Keywords: drought, climate change, mitigation, management, Yobe State

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Authors: Anila Syed, Manzoor Ahmad

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The relationship between United States and India has transformed from estrangement to wider engagement since 2004. With the convergence of interests and shared values both the US and India came close towards each other and evolved strategic partnership through civil nuclear cooperation. This paper analyze the cost and benefit of strategic partnership with India for US, the impact of India’s emergence as regional power on South Asian balance of power and its impact on Pak-US relationship. It also focuses on security structure of the region and challenges for the US to maintain strategic partnership with two rival states (India and Pakistan). The work also gives some recommendations for balancing power in the region in order to ensure durable peace not only between India and Pakistan but also in south Asia.

Keywords: US-India strategic partnership, civil-nuclear cooperation, balance of power, impacts on Pak-US relationship

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Authors: Imran Khan Swati, Mohammad Younas

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This work aims to explore the potential applications of polymeric hydrophobic membranes and green ionic liquids (ILs). Protic and aprotic ILs were synthesized in the lab., characterized, and tested for CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ separation using hydrophobic polymeric membranes via supported ionic liquid membrane (SILM). ILs were verified by FTIR spectroscopy. The SILMs were stable at room temperature up to 0.5 MPa. For CO₂, [BSmim][tos] had the greatest coefficient of solubility and permeability, along with all ILs. At 0.5 MPa, IL [BSmim][tos] was found with a selectivity of 56.2 and 47.5 for pure CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄, respectively. The ILs synthesized for this study are rated as [BSmim][tos]>[BSmpy][tos]>[Bmim][Cl]>[Bpy][Cl] based on their SILM separation performance. Furthermore, high values of selectivity of [BSmim][tos] and [BSmpy][tos] support the use of ILs for CO₂ separation using SILMs. The study was extended to synthesize and test the ammonium-based ILs, [2-HEA][f] and [2-HEA][Hs]. These ILs achieved 50 % less selectivity for CO₂/N₂ as compared to [BSmim][tos] and [BSmpy][tos]. Nevertheless, the permeability of CO₂ achieved with [2-HEA][f] and [2-HEA][Hs] is more than 20 times higher than the [BSmim][tos] and [BSmpy][tos]. Later, the CO₂/N₂ permeability and selectivity study was extended using a flat sheet membrane contactor with recirculated IL. The contact angle effects, liquid entry pressure (LEP), initial CO₂ concentration, and type of solvents and membrane material on the CO₂ capture efficiency and membrane wetting in the post-combustion capture (PCC) process have been experimentally investigated and evaluated. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) has shown the most hydrophobic property with 6-170 loss in the contact angle. Furthermore, [Omim][BF4] and [Bmim][BF6] have exhibited only 5-8 % loss in LEP using PTFE membrane support. The CO₂ capture efficiency has been achieved as 80.8-99.8 % in different combinations of ILs and membrane support, keeping all other variables constant. While increasing CO₂ concentration from 15 to 45 % vol., an increase of nearly three folds in the CO₂ mass transfer flux was observed. The combination of [Omim][BF4] and PTFE membrane witnessed good long-term stability with only a 20 % loss in CO₂ capture efficiency in 480 min of continuous operation. A 3- D simulation model for non-dispersive solvent absorption in membrane contactors provides insight into the optimum design of a separation system for a specific application minimizing the overall cost and making the process environment-friendly.

Keywords: Post-combustion CO2 capture, membrane synthesis, process development, permeability and selectivity, ionic liquids

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Authors: Mengmeng Xiao

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The study examines the proactive promotion of feminist agendas by states experiencing prolonged one-party dominance, with a specific focus on Japan. Through a case study approach, it explores why leaders of the dominant party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), actively endorse women-friendly initiatives. The findings reveal three primary motivations: 1) the adoption of women-friendly policies for legitimation, 2) the establishment or funding of women’s organizations for co-optation, and 3) the enhancement of women’s economic and employment rights for state-building purposes. These findings bridge theories across the democracy/autocracy spectrum, emphasizing the need to restructure the research framework on state feminism beyond the binary categorization of regime types. Additionally, they underscore the significance of acknowledging the discretion exercised by state officials, providing insights into instances where state feminism may fail in certain democratic contexts.

Keywords: state feminism, feminist policies, national machinery, regime types, political parties, Japan

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Authors: Hanan Algarni

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Background: Impairment of walking and balance skills has negative impact on functional independence and community participation after stroke. Gait recovery is considered a primary goal in rehabilitation by both patients and physiotherapists. Treadmill training coupled with virtual reality technology is a new emerging approach that offers patients with feedback, open and random skills practice while walking and interacting with virtual environmental scenes. Objectives: To synthesize the evidence around the effects of the VR treadmill training on gait speed and balance primarily, functional independence and community participation secondarily in stroke patients. Methods: Systematic review was conducted; search strategy included electronic data bases: MEDLINE, AMED, Cochrane, CINAHL, EMBASE, PEDro, Web of Science, and unpublished literature. Inclusion criteria: Participant: adult >18 years, stroke, ambulatory, without severe visual or cognitive impartments. Intervention: VR treadmill training alone or with physiotherapy. Comparator: any other interventions. Outcomes: gait speed, balance, function, community participation. Characteristics of included studies were extracted for analysis. Risk of bias assessment was performed using Cochrane's ROB tool. Narrative synthesis of findings was undertaken and summary of findings in each outcome was reported using GRADEpro. Results: Four studies were included involving 84 stroke participants with chronic hemiparesis. Interventions intensity ranged (6-12 sessions, 20 minutes-1 hour/session). Three studies investigated the effects on gait speed and balance. 2 studies investigated functional outcomes and one study assessed community participation. ROB assessment showed 50% unclear risk of selection bias and 25% of unclear risk of detection bias across the studies. Heterogeneity was identified in the intervention effects at post training and follow up. Outcome measures, training intensity and durations also varied across the studies, grade of evidence was low for balance, moderate for speed and function outcomes, and high for community participation. However, it is important to note that grading was done on few numbers of studies in each outcome. Conclusions: The summary of findings suggests positive and statistically significant effects (p<0.05) of VR treadmill training compared to other interventions on gait speed, dynamic balance skills, function and participation directly after training. However, the effects were not sustained at follow up in two studies (2 weeks-1 month) and other studies did not perform follow up measurements. More RCTs with larger sample sizes and higher methodological quality are required to examine the long term effects of VR treadmill effects on function independence and community participation after stroke, in order to draw conclusions and produce stronger robust evidence.

Keywords: virtual reality, treadmill, stroke, gait rehabilitation

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Authors: Yau-Luen Ng, Nathan Banka, Santosh Devasia

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In this paper, a method based on soft artificial cilia is introduced to separate particles based on size and mass. In nature, cilia are used for fluid propulsion in the mammalian circulatory system, as well as for swimming and size-selective particle entrainment for feeding in microorganisms. Inspired by biological cilia, an array of artificial cilia was fabricated using Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to simulate the actual motion. A row of four individually-controlled magnetic artificial cilia in a semi-circular channel are actuated by the magnetic fields from four permanent magnets. Each cilium is a slender rectangular cantilever approximately 13mm long made from a composite of PDMS and carbonyl iron particles. A time-varying magnetic force is achieved by periodically varying the out-of-plane distance from the permanent magnets to the cilia, resulting in large-amplitude deflections of the cilia that can be used to drive fluid motion. Previous results have shown that this system of individually-controlled magnetic cilia can generate effective mixing flows; the purpose of the present work is to apply the individual cilia control to a particle separation task. Based on the observed beating patterns of cilia arrays in nature, the experimental beating patterns were selected as a metachronal wave, in which a fixed phase lead or lag is imposed between adjacent cilia. Additionally, the beating frequency was varied. For each set of experimental parameters, the channel was filled with water and polyethylene microspheres introduced at the center of the cilia array. Two types of particles were used: large red microspheres with density 0.9971 g/cm³ and 850-1000 μm avg. diameter, and small blue microspheres with density 1.06 g/cm³ and diameter 30 μm. At low beating frequencies, all particles were propelled in the mean flow direction. However, the large particles were observed to reverse directions above about 4.8 Hz, whereas reversal of the small particle transport direction did not occur until 6 Hz. Between these two transition frequencies, the large and small particles can be separated as they move in opposite directions. The experimental results show that selecting an appropriate cilia beating pattern can lead to selective transport of neutrally-buoyant particles based on their size. Importantly, the separation threshold can be chosen dynamically by adjusting the actuation frequency. However, further study is required to determine the range of particle sizes that can be effectively separated for a given system geometry.

Keywords: magnetic cilia, particle separation, tunable separation, soft actutors

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Authors: Ahmed R. Z. Baghdadi,  Mona H. Gamal Eldein

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Background: With the perceived pain and poor function experienced following knee arthroplasty, patients usually feel unsatisfied. Yet, a controversy still persists on the appropriate operative technique that doesn’t affect proprioception much. Purpose: This study compared the effects of Cruciate Retaining (CR) and Posterior Stabilized (PS) total knee arthroplasty (TKA on dynamic balance, pain and functional performance following rehabilitation. Methods: Thirty patients with CRTKA (group I), thirty with PSTKA (group II) and fifteen indicated for arthroplasty but weren’t operated on yet (group III) participated in the study. The mean age was 54.53±3.44, 55.13±3.48 and 55.33±2.32 years and BMI 35.7±3.03, 35.7±1.99 and 35.73±1.03 kg/m2 for group I, II, and III respectively. The Berg Balance Scale (BBS), WOMAC pain subscale and Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) and Stair-Climbing (SC) tests were used for assessment. Assessments were conducted four weeks pre- and post-operatively, three, six and twelve months post-operatively with the control group being assessed at the same time intervals. The post-operative rehabilitation involved hospitalization (1st week), home-based (2nd-4th weeks), and outpatient clinic (5th-12th weeks) programs, follow-up to all groups for twelve months. Results: The Mixed design MANOVA revealed that group I had significantly lower pain scores and SC time compared with group II three, six and twelve months post-operatively. Moreover, the BBS scores increased significantly and the pain scores and TUG and SC time decreased significantly six months post-operatively compared with four weeks pre- and post-operatively and three months post-operatively in group I and II with the opposite being true four weeks post-operatively. But no significant differences in BBS scores, pain scores and TUG and SC time between six and twelve months post-operatively in group I and II. Interpretation/Conclusion: CRTKA is preferable to PSTKA, possibly due to the preserved human proprioceptors in the un-excised PCL.

Keywords: dynamic balance, functional performance, knee arthroplasty, long-term

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Authors: Ewa Kamarad

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Recent problems with adopting the EU Regulation on matrimonial property regimes have clearly proven that Member States are unable to agree on the scope of the Regulation and, therefore, on the definitions of matrimonial property and marriage itself. Taking into account that the Regulation on the law applicable to divorce and legal separation, as well as the Regulation on matrimonial property regimes, were adopted in the framework of enhanced cooperation, it is evident that lack of a unified definition of marriage has very wide-ranging consequences. The main problem with the unified definition of marriage is that the EU is not entitled to adopt measures in the domain of material family law, as this area remains under the exclusive competence of the Member States. Because of that, the legislation on marriage in domestic legal orders of the various Member States is very different. These differences concern not only issues such as form of marriage or capacity to enter into marriage, but also the most basic matter, namely the core of the institution of marriage itself. Within the 28 Member States, we have those that allow both different-sex and same-sex marriages, those that have adopted special, separate institutions for same-sex couples, and those that allow only marriage between a man and a woman (e.g. Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia). Because of the freedom of movement within the European Union, it seems necessary to somehow recognize the civil effects of a marriage that was concluded in another Member State. The most crucial issue is how far that recognition should go. The thesis presented in the presentation is that, at an absolute minimum, the authorities of all Member States must recognize the civil status of the persons who enter into marriage in another Member State. Lack of such recognition might cause serious problems, both for the spouses and for other individuals. The authorities of some Member States may treat the marriage as if it does not exist because it was concluded under foreign law that defines marriage differently. Because of that, it is possible for the spouse to obtain a certificate of civil status stating that he or she is single and thus eligible to enter into marriage – despite being legally married under the law of another Member State. Such certificate can then be used in another country to serve as a proof of civil status. Eventually the lack of recognition can lead to so-called “international bigamy”. The biggest obstacle to recognition of marriages concluded under the law of another Member State that defines marriage differently is the impossibility of transcription of a foreign civil certificate in the case of such a marriage. That is caused by the rule requiring that a civil certificate issued (or transcribed) under one country's law can contain only records of legal institutions recognized by that country's legal order. The presentation is going to provide possible solutions to this problem.

Keywords: civil status, recognition of marriage, conflict of laws, private international law

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Authors: Shiuh-Jer Huang, Shin-Ham Lee, Sheam-Chyun Lin

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A two wheel inverted pendulum (TWIP) vehicle is built with two hub DC motors for motion control evaluation. Arduino Nano micro-processor is chosen as the control kernel for this electric test plant. Accelerometer and gyroscope sensors are built in to measure the tilt angle and angular velocity of the inverted pendulum vehicle. Since the TWIP has significantly hub motor dead zone and nonlinear system dynamics characteristics, the vehicle system is difficult to control by traditional model based controller. The intelligent model-free fuzzy sliding mode controller (FSMC) was employed as the main control algorithm. Then, intelligent controllers are designed for TWIP balance control, and two wheels synchronization control purposes.

Keywords: balance control, synchronization control, two-wheel inverted pendulum, TWIP

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Authors: Akeem Akinboro, Bala Alhaj Kegun

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Haemoglobinopathy is a genetic disorder that has the potentiality to cause death of individuals in whom both the alpha (α) and beta (β) globin chains of the haemoglobin molecule are defective due to mutations in their genes. The haemoglobin genotype variants among some residents of Niger state, Nigeria, were determined using the secondary data available at Bida, Minna and Kotangora general hospitals of the state. A total of 1,639 data, representing 434, 655 and 550, collected from the outside patients who visited the medical laboratory units of the three general hospitals, respectively, over five years period (2015-2020) were analyzed into gene frequency, sex and age to determine their haemoglobin genotypes status. More males (51.6 – 58.7%) than females (41.3 – 48.4%) visited the three hospitals during the period covered and most of the patients were between 11 - 20 years old. The frequency of HbA allele in the human population was 0.72, 0.65, 0.68 for Bida, Minna and Kotangora, respectively, while it was 0.25, 0.29 and 0.28 for HbS allele. The HbC allele was prevalent at 0.03, 0.06 and 0.05 among the human population in Bida, Minna and Kotangora cities of Niger state. In overall, the prevalence of HbA, HbS and HbC alleles in Niger state of Nigeria was 0.68, 0.28 and 0.05. Minna being the capital city of Niger state and the most populous among the three cities in the state seems to have influx of more people who are carriers of abnormal haemoglobin genotypes which has resulted to higher frequency of HbS and HbC than those of the other two cities in this study. These results show that the pattern of haemoglobin genotypes frequency of Kontagora could be a prediction for the whole of Niger state. It is therefore necessary and important to take screening of blood for haemoglobin genotype serious among intending couples to prevent and reduce the possibility of having increase in the number of people with abnormal haemoglobin genotypes in the state.

Keywords: haemoglobin, genotype, niger state, gene frequency, general hospitals

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Authors: Ahmed A. Alghamdi

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Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are an outstanding material for applications in thermoelectric power generation, nanoelectronics, electrochemical energy storage, photovoltaics, and light emission. They are ultra-lightweight and possess electrical as well as thermal conductivity, flexibility, and mechanical strength. SWCNT is applicable in water treatment, brine desalination, removal of heavy metal ions associated with pollutants, and oil-water separation. Carbon nanotube (CNT) is believed to tackle the trade-off issue between permeability, selectivity, and fouling issues in membrane filtration applications. Studying these CNT structures, as well as their interconnection in nanotechnology, assists in finding the precise position to be placed for water desalination. Reverse osmosis (RO) has been used globally for desalination, resulting in purified water. Thin film composite (TFC) membranes were utilized in the RO process for desalination. The sheet thickness increases the salt rejection and decreases the water flux when CNT is utilized as a support layer to this membrane. Thus, through a temperature-induced phase separation technique (TIPS), axially aligned SWCNT (AASWCNT) is fabricated, and its use enhances the salt rejection and water flux at short reaction times with a modified procedure. An evaluation was conducted and analogized with prior works in the literature, which exhibited that the prepared TFC membrane showed a better outcome.

Keywords: single-walled carbon nanotubes, thin film composite, axially aligned swcnt, temperature induced phase separation technique, reverse osmosis

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Authors: Ghulam Mustafa Kamal, Xiaohua Wang, Bin Yuan, Abdullah Ijaz Hussain, Jie Wang, Shahzad Ali Shahid Chatha, Xu Zhang, Maili Liu

Abstract:

Organic food products are becoming increasingly popular in recent years, as consumers have turned more health conscious and environmentally aware. A lot of consumers have understood that the organic foods are healthier than conventionally produced food stuffs. Price difference between conventional and organic foods is very high. So, it is very common to cheat the consumers by mislabeling and adulteration. Our study describes the 1H NMR based approach to characterize and differentiate soy sauce prepared from organically and conventionally grown raw materials (wheat and soybean). Commercial soy sauce samples fermented from organic and conventional raw materials were purchased from local markets. Principal component analysis showed clear separation among organic and conventional soy sauce samples. Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis showed a significant (p < 0.01) separation among two types of soy sauce yielding leucine, isoleucine, ethanol, glutamate, lactate, acetate, β-glucose, sucrose, choline, valine, phenylalanine and tyrosine as important metabolites contributing towards this separation. Abundance ratio of 13C to 12C was also evaluated by 1H NMR spectroscopy which showed an increased ratio of 13C isotope in organic soy sauce samples indicating the organically grown wheat and soybean used for the preparation of organic soy sauce. Results of the study can be helpful to the end users to select the soy sauce of their choice. This information could also pave the way to further trace and authenticate the raw materials used in production of soy sauce.

Keywords: 1H NMR, multivariate analysis, organic, conventional, 13C isotopic ratio, soy sauce

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Authors: Radovan Čobanović, Milica Rankov Šicar

Abstract:

The fresh cheese is in the group of perishable food which cannot be kept a long period of time. The study of sustainability have been done in order to extend the shelf-life of the product which was 15 days. According to the plan of sustainability it was defined that 35 samples had to be stored for 30 days at 2°C−6°C and analyzed every 7th day from the day of reception until 30th day. Shelf life of the cheese has expired during the study of sustainability in the period between 15th and 30th day of analyses. Cheese samples were subjected to sensory analysis (appearance, odor, taste, color, aroma) and bacteriological analyzes (Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and total plate count) according to Serbian state regulation. All analyses were tested according to ISO methodology: sensory analysis ISO 6658, Listeria monocytogenes ISO 11 290-1, Salmonella spp ISO 6579, Bacillus cereus ISO 7932, Staphylococcus aureus ISO 6888-1, and total plate count ISO 4833. Analyses showed that after fifteen days of storage at a temperature defined by the manufacturers and within the product's shelf life, the cheese did not have any noticeable changes in sensory characteristics. Smell and taste are unaffected there was no separation of whey and there was not presence of strange smell or taste. As far as microbiological analyses are concerned neither one pathogen was detected and total plate count was at level of 103 cfu/g. After expiry of shelf life in a period of 15th and 30th day of storage, the analysis showed that there was a separation of whey on the surface. Along the edge of the container was present a dried part of cheese and sour-milky smell and taste were very weakly expressed. Concerning the microbiological analyses there still were not positive results for pathogen microorganisms but the total plate count was at a level of 106cfu/g. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that this product cannot have longer shelf life than shelf life which is already defined because there are a sensory changes that would certainly have influence on decision of customers when purchase of this product is concerned.

Keywords: sustainability, fresh cheese, shelf-life, product

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Authors: Aspalella A. Rahman

Abstract:

It is widely accepted that the investigation of money laundering and the tracing and confiscation of criminal proceeds have intruded into the principles of banking secrecy. The inroads into banking secrecy present serious threats to democracy, and more importantly, to the traditional banker-customer relationship. It is generally accepted that the fight against money laundering is in conflict with the secrecy rule. Banking secrecy is a customer privilege whereas combating crime is critical for public safety and security. Indeed, achieving a proper balance is a desirable goal. But how we go about achieving such a balance is a question encountered by many law enforcement authorities. Therefore, this paper examines the effect of disclosure under the Malaysian anti-money laundering laws on the traditional duty of banks to keep the customer’s information confidential. It also analyzes whether the Malaysian laws provide a right balance between a duty to keep customer’s information secret and a duty to disclose such information in the fight against money laundering. On closer inspection, it is submitted that the Malaysian laws provide sufficient safeguards to ensure that the disclosure of customer’s information is carried out in a manner that is not prejudicial to the interest of legitimate customers. This is a positive approach that could protect the innocent customers from being mistreated by the law. Ultimately, it can be said that the growing threat of global money laundering and terrorism makes the overriding of banking secrecy justified because without a flow of information from the banks, the effective prevention of the menace is not possible.

Keywords: anti-money laundering law, banker-customer relationship, banking secrecy, confidentiality, money laundering

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Authors: Prathmesh Vikas Patil, Yashaswini Lomte Patil

Abstract:

Laminated composite materials have considerable attention in various engineering applications due to their exceptional strength-to-weight ratio and mechanical properties. The analysis of laminated composite plates in three-dimensional (3D) elasticity is a complex problem, as it requires accounting for the orthotropic anisotropic nature of the material and the interactions between multiple layers. Conventional approaches, such as the classical plate theory, provide simplified solutions but are limited in performing exact analysis of the plate. To address such a challenge, the state space method emerges as a powerful numerical technique for modeling the behavior of laminated composites in 3D. The state-space method involves transforming the governing equations of elasticity into a state-space representation, enabling the analysis of complex structural systems in a systematic manner. Here, an effort is made to perform a 3D elasticity analysis of plates with cross-ply and angle-ply laminates using the state space approach. The state space approach is used in this study as it is a mixed formulation technique that gives the displacements and stresses simultaneously with the same level of accuracy.

Keywords: cross ply laminates, angle ply laminates, state space method, three-dimensional elasticity analysis

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Authors: I. K. Adamu, J. O. Adefila

Abstract:

The paper examines the challenges of irrigated tomato growers in Kano State. Materials used for the study are sourced from newspapers, books, internet and field surveys. Questionnaires were also used to sample the opinion of the tomato farmers in the state. The purposive and snow ball sampling techniques were used to select knowledgeable individual farmers in the study areas. The sample size was based on a five percent (0.05) of the identified members of tomato farmers. Data analysis was achieved using cross-tabulation, percentage, and SWOT analysis. The study reveals that irrigated tomato farmers in Kano State faces a lot of challenges. The study offers some recommendations such as establishment of storage facilities on ground, establishment of processing industries in the state, and introduction of high yield varieties of tomato seeds instead of the outdated UC82B.

Keywords: SWOT, irrigated tomato production, tomato farmers, Nigeria

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Authors: Muhammad M. A. S. Mahmoud

Abstract:

Natural gas sweetening process is a controlled process that must be done at maximum efficiency and with the highest quality. In this work, due to complexity and non-linearity of the process, the H₂S gas separation and the intelligent fuzzy controller, which is used to enhance the process, are simulated in MATLAB – Simulink. The new design of fuzzy control for Gas Separator is discussed in this paper. The design is based on the utilization of linear state-estimation to generate the internal knowledge-base that stores input-output pairs. The obtained input/output pairs are then used to design a feedback fuzzy controller. The proposed closed-loop fuzzy control system maintains the system asymptotically-stability while it enhances the system time response to achieve better control of the concentration of the output gas from the tower. Simulation studies are carried out to illustrate the Gas Separator system performance.

Keywords: gas separator, gas sweetening, intelligent controller, fuzzy control

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Authors: Jasbir Singh Gill, Baljit Singh

Abstract:

Scheduling and mapping the application task graph on multiprocessor parallel systems is considered as the most crucial and critical NP-complete problem. Many genetic algorithms have been proposed to solve such problems. In this paper, two genetic approach based algorithms have been designed and developed with or without task duplication. The proposed algorithms work on two fitness functions. The first fitness i.e. task fitness is used to minimize the total finish time of the schedule (schedule length) while the second fitness function i.e. process fitness is concerned with allocating the tasks to the available highly efficient processor from the list of available processors (load balance). Proposed genetic-based algorithms have been experimentally implemented and evaluated with other state-of-art popular and widely used algorithms.

Keywords: parallel computing, task scheduling, task duplication, genetic algorithm

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Authors: K. Shiba, T. Kaburagi, Y. Kurihara

Abstract:

With global aging, people who require care, such as people with dementia (PwD), are increasing within many developed countries. And PwDs may wander and unconsciously set foot outdoors, it may lead serious accidents, such as, traffic accidents. Here, round-the-clock monitoring by caregivers is necessary, which can be a burden for the caregivers. Therefore, an automatic wandering detection system is required when an elderly person wanders outdoors, in which case the detection system transmits a ‘moving’ followed by an ‘absence’ state. In this paper, we focus on the transition from the ‘resting’ to the ‘absence’ state, via the ‘moving’ state as one of the wandering transitions. To capture the transition of the three states, our method based on the hidden Markov model (HMM) is built. Using our method, the restraint where the ‘resting’ state and ‘absence’ state cannot be transmitted to each other is applied. To validate our method, we conducted the experiment with 10 subjects. Our results show that the method can classify three states with 0.92 accuracy.

Keywords: wander, microwave Doppler sensor, respiratory frequency band, the state transition, hidden Markov model (HMM).

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Takashi Shimizu, Tomoaki Hashimoto

Abstract:

Controlling the flow of fluids is a challenging problem that arises in many fields. Burgers’ equation is a fundamental equation for several flow phenomena such as traffic, shock waves, and turbulence. The optimal feedback control method, so-called model predictive control, has been proposed for Burgers’ equation. However, the model predictive control method is inapplicable to systems whose all state variables are not exactly known. In practical point of view, it is unusual that all the state variables of systems are exactly known, because the state variables of systems are measured through output sensors and limited parts of them can be only available. In fact, it is usual that flow velocities of fluid systems cannot be measured for all spatial domains. Hence, any practical feedback controller for fluid systems must incorporate some type of state estimator. To apply the model predictive control to the fluid systems described by Burgers’ equation, it is needed to establish a state estimation method for Burgers’ equation with limited measurable state variables. To this purpose, we apply unscented Kalman filter for estimating the state variables of fluid systems described by Burgers’ equation. The objective of this study is to establish a state estimation method based on unscented Kalman filter for Burgers’ equation. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by numerical simulations.

Keywords: observer systems, unscented Kalman filter, nonlinear systems, Burgers' equation

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Authors: K. Boualem, T. Yahiaoui, A. Azzi

Abstract:

Numerical investigations are performed to analyze the flow behavior over NACA0015 and to evaluate the efficiency of synthetic jet as active control device. The second objective of this work is to investigate the influence of momentum coefficient of synthetic jet on the flow behaviour. The unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations of the turbulent flow are solved using, k-ω SST provided by ANSYS CFX-CFD code. The model presented in this paper is a comprehensive representation of the information found in the literature. Comparison of obtained numerical flow parameters with the experimental ones shows that the adopted computational procedure reflects nearly the real flow nature. Also, numerical results state that use of synthetic jets devices has positive effects on the flow separation, and thus, aerodynamic performance improvement of NACA0015 airfoil. It can also be observed that the use of synthetic jet increases the lift coefficient about 13.3% and reduces the drag coefficient about 52.7%.

Keywords: active control, synthetic jet, NACA airfoil, CFD

Procedia PDF Downloads 291