Search results for: negative phase

Authors: Akram Khelaifia, Salah Guettala, Nesreddine Djafar Henni, Rachid Chebili

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Reinforced concrete shear walls are pivotal in protecting buildings from seismic forces by providing strength and stiffness. This study highlights the importance of strategically placing shear walls and optimizing the shear wall-to-floor area ratio in building design. Nonlinear analyses were conducted on an eight-story building situated in a high seismic zone, exploring various scenarios of shear wall positioning and ratios to floor area. Employing the performance-based seismic design (PBSD) approach, the study aims to meet acceptance criteria such as inter-story drift ratio and damage levels. The results indicate that concentrating shear walls in the middle of the structure during the design phase yields superior performance compared to peripheral distributions. Utilizing shear walls that fully infill the frame and adopting compound shapes (e.g., Box, U, and L) enhances reliability in terms of inter-story drift. Conversely, the absence of complete shear walls within the frame leads to decreased stiffness and degradation of shorter beams. Increasing the shear wall-to-floor area ratio in building design enhances structural rigidity and reliability regarding inter-story drift, facilitating the attainment of desired performance levels. The study suggests that a shear wall ratio of 1.0% is necessary to meet validation criteria for inter-story drift and structural damage, as exceeding this percentage leads to excessive performance levels, proving uneconomical as structural elements operate near the elastic range.

Keywords: nonlinear analyses, pushover analysis, shear wall, plastic hinge, performance level

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Authors: S. Serhal, Y. Melinge, D. Rangeard, F. Hage Chehadeh

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Filling of estuaries is an international problem that can cause economic and environmental damage. This work aims the study of the rheological structuring mechanisms of natural sedimentary liquid-solid mixture in estuaries in order to better understand their filling. The estuary of the Rance river, located in Brittany, France is particularly targeted by the study. The aim is to provide answers on the rheological behavior of natural sediments by detecting structural factors influencing the rheological parameters. So we can better understand the fillings estuarine areas and especially consider sustainable solutions of ‘cleansing’ of these areas. The sediments were collected from the trap of Lyvet in Rance estuary. This trap was created by the association COEUR (Comité Opérationnel des Elus et Usagers de la Rance) in 1996 in order to facilitate the cleansing of the estuary. It creates a privileged area for the deposition of sediments and consequently makes the cleansing of the estuary easier. We began our work with a preliminary study to establish the trend of the rheological behavior of the suspensions and to specify the dormant phase which precedes the beginning of the biochemical reactivity of the suspensions. Then we highlight the visco-plastic character at younger age using the Kinexus rheometer, plate-plate geometry. This rheological behavior of suspensions is represented by the Bingham model using dynamic yield stress and viscosity which can be a function of volume fraction, granular extent, and chemical reactivity. The evolution of the viscosity as a function of the solid volume fraction is modeled by the Krieger-Dougherty model. On the other hand, the analysis of the dynamic yield stress showed a fairly functional link with the solid volume fraction.

Keywords: estuaries, rheological behavior, sediments, Kinexus rheometer, Bingham model, viscosity, yield stress

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Authors: Kateryna Zharan, Jan C. Bongaerts

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In recent years, economic attractiveness of renewable energy (RE) for the mining industry, especially for off-grid mines, and a negative environmental impact of fossil energy are stimulating to use RE for mining needs. Being that remote area mines have higher energy expenses than mines connected to a grid, integration of RE may give a mine economic benefits. Regarding the literature review, there is a lack of business models for adopting of RE at mine. The main aim of this paper is to develop an optimized model of RE integration into the German mining industry (GMI). Hereby, the GMI with amount of around 800 mill. t. annually extracted resources is included in the list of the 15 major mining country in the world. Accordingly, the mining potential of Germany is evaluated in this paper as a perspective market for RE implementation. The GMI has been classified in order to find out the location of resources, quantity and types of the mines, amount of extracted resources, and access of the mines to the energy resources. Additionally, weather conditions have been analyzed in order to figure out where wind and solar generation technologies can be integrated into a mine with the highest efficiency. Despite the fact that the electricity demand of the GMI is almost completely covered by a grid connection, the hybrid energy system (HES) based on a mix of RE and fossil energy is developed due to show environmental and economic benefits. The HES for the GMI consolidates a combination of wind turbine, solar PV, battery and diesel generation. The model has been calculated using the HOMER software. Furthermore, the demonstrated HES contains a forecasting model that predicts solar and wind generation in advance. The main result from the HES such as CO2 emission reduction is estimated in order to make the mining processing more environmental friendly.

Keywords: diesel generation, German mining industry, hybrid energy system, hybrid optimization model for electric renewables, optimized model, renewable energy

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Authors: Yakubu Suleiman, S. A. Musa

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The research was conducted to determine the physical characteristics of banana fruits that influenced consumer preferences for the fruit in Northern Nigeria. Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents were also identified. Simple descriptive statistics and Hedonic prices model were used to analyze the data collected for socio-economic and consumer preference respectively with the aid of 1000 structured questionnaires. The result revealed the value of R2 to be 0.633, meaning that, 63.3% of the variation in the banana price was brought about by the explanatory variables included in the model and the variables are: colour, size, degree of ripeness, softness, surface blemish, cleanliness of the fruits, weight, length, and cluster size of fruits. However, the remaining 36.7% could be attributed to the error term or random disturbance in the model. It could also be seen from the calculated result that the intercept was 1886.5 and was statistically significant (P < 0.01), meaning that about N1886.5 worth of banana fruits could be bought by consumers without considering the variables of banana included in the model. Moreover, consumers showed that they have significant preference for colours, size, degree of ripeness, softness, weight, length and cluster size of banana fruits and they were tested to be significant at either P < 0.01, P < 0.05, and P < 0.1 . Moreover, the result also shows that consumers did not show significance preferences to surface blemish, cleanliness and variety of the banana fruit as all of them showed non-significance level with negative signs. Based on the findings of the research, it is hereby recommended that plant breeders and research institutes should concentrate on the production of banana fruits that have those physical characteristics that were found to be statistically significance like cluster size, degree of ripeness,’ softness, length, size, and skin colour.

Keywords: analysis, consumers, preference, variables

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Authors: Sevda Ddras, Fariba Mehrkhou, Remzi Atlihan, Maryam Fourouzan

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The greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is one of the most important pest on vegetables and ornamental host plants. In this research, the sub-lethal concentration (LC30) of thiamethoxam-lambda cyhalothrin (TLC) on the biological properties, life table parameters and population projection of T. vaporarium and its parasitoid, Encarsia formosa Gahan, were studied at controlled condition (25 ±5 ℃, R.H. 60 ±10 % and a photoperiod of 16:8 h (L:D). Bioassays were conducted by dipping tomato leaves containing third instar nymphs of the whitefly T. vaporariorum, in the obtained LC30 concentration of eforia. The life table data were analyzed using the computer program TWOSEX–MSChart based on the age-stage, two-sex life table theory. The results showed that, usage of sublethal concentration of TLC effected the biological properties and population growth parameters of greenhouse whitefly by shortening the developmentl time, adult longevity, decreasing the fecundity and population growth paramters. Also, the LC30 concentration of TLC had negative effects on life history and life table parameters of E.formosa. The obtained results illustrated that the sublethal concentration of TLC resulted in prolonging of developmental time, decreasing of adult longevity, survival rate and population growth parameters of E.formosa. Additionally, the population projection results were accordance with the population growth rate of either greenhouse whitefly or E.formosa. We conclude that, TLC should not be used in integrated pest management programs where E. formosa exists.

Keywords: greenhouse whitefly, Encarsia formosa, thiamethoxam-lambda cyhalothrin, population projection, life table parameters

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Authors: Chi Nguyen Thi Quynh, Steven Schilizzi, Atakelty Hailu, Sayed Iftekhar

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Territorial Use Rights for Fisheries (TURFs) have been emerged as a promising tool for fisheries conservation and management. However, illegal fishing has undermined the effectiveness of TURFs, profoundly degrading global fish stocks and marine ecosystems. Conservation and management of fisheries, therefore, largely depends on effectiveness of enforcing fishing regulations, which needs co-enforcement by fishers. However, fishers tend to resist monitoring participation, as their views towards monitoring scheme design has not been received adequate attention. Fishers’ acceptability of a monitoring scheme is likely to be achieved if there is a mechanism allowing fishers to engage in the early planning and design stages. This study carried out a choice experiment with 396 fishers in Vietnam to elicit fishers’ preferences for monitoring scheme and to estimate the relative importance that fishers place on the key design elements. Preference heterogeneity was investigated using a Scale-Adjusted Latent Class Model that accounts for both preference and scale variance. Welfare changes associated with the proposed monitoring schemes were also examined. It is found that there are five distinct preference classes, suggesting that there is no one-size-fits-all scheme well-suited to all fishers. Although fishers prefer to be compensated more for their participation, compensation is not a driving element affecting fishers’ choice. Most fishers place higher value on other elements, such as institutional arrangements and monitoring capacity. Fishers’ preferences are driven by their socio-demographic and psychological characteristics. Understanding of how changes in design elements’ levels affect the participation of fishers could provide policy makers with insights useful for monitoring scheme designs tailored to the needs of different fisher classes.

Keywords: Design of monitoring scheme, Enforcement, Heterogeneity, Illegal Fishing, Territorial Use Rights for Fisheries

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Authors: A van Onselen, C. M. Walsh, F. J. Veldman, C. Brand

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Objectives: To determine the nutritional status and risk factors associated with women practicing geophagia in QwaQwa, South Africa. Materials and Methods: An observational epidemiological study design was adopted which included an exposed (geophagia) and non-exposed (control) group. A food frequency questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and blood sampling were applied to determine nutritional status of participants. Logistic regression analysis was performed in order to identify factors that were likely to be associated with the practice of geophagia. Results: The mean total energy intake for the geophagia group (G) and control group(C) were 10324.31 ± 2755.00 kJ and 10763.94 ± 2556.30 kJ respectively. Both groups fell within the overweight category according to the mean body mass index (BMI) of each group (G= 25.59 kg/m2; C= 25.14 kg/m2). The mean serum iron levels of the geophagia group (6.929 μmol/l) were significantly lower than that of the control group (13.75 μmol/l) (p = 0.000). Serum transferrin (G=3.23g/l; C=2.7054g/l) and serum transferrin saturation (G=8.05%; C=18.74%) levels also differed significantly between groups (p=0.00). Factors that were associated with the practice of geophagia included haemoglobin (Odds ratio (OR):14.50), serum-iron (OR: 9.80), serum-ferritin (OR: 3.75), serum-transferrin (OR: 6.92) and transferrin saturation (OR: 14.50). A significant negative association (p=0.014) was found between women who were wage-earners and those who were not wage-earners and the practice of geophagia (OR: 0.143; CI: 0.027; 0.755). These findings seem to indicate that a permanent income may decrease the likelihood of practising geophagia. Key findings: Geophagia was confirmed to be a risk factor for iron deficiency in this community. The significantly strong association between geophagia and iron deficiency emphasizes the importance of identifying the practice of geophagia in women, especially during their child bearing years. Further research to establish whether the practice of geophagia is a cause of iron-deficiency, or whether it is the consequence thereof, would give a clearer view on how to recognise and treat the condition.

Keywords: geophagia, iron deficiency anaemia, dietary intake, anthropometry

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Authors: Abdulsalam A. Al-Tamimi, Chris Peach, Paulo Rui Fernandes, Paulo J. Bartolo

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Bone fixation implants currently used to treat traumatic fractured bones and to promote fracture healing are built with biocompatible metallic materials such as stainless steel, cobalt chromium and titanium and its alloys (e.g., CoCrMo and Ti6Al4V). The noticeable stiffness mismatch between current metallic implants and host bone associates with negative outcomes such as stress shielding which causes bone loss and implant loosening leading to deficient fracture treatment. This paper, part of a major research program to design the next generation of bone fixation implants, describes the combined use of three-dimensional (3D) topology optimization (TO) and additive manufacturing powder bed technology (Electron Beam Melting) to redesign and fabricate the plates based on the current standard one (i.e., locking compression plate). Topology optimization is applied with an objective function to maximize the stiffness and constraint by volume reductions (i.e., 25-75%) in order to obtain optimized implant designs with reduced stress shielding phenomenon, under different boundary conditions (i.e., tension, bending, torsion and combined loads). The stiffness of the original and optimised plates are assessed through a finite-element study. The TO results showed actual reduction in the stiffness for most of the plates due to the critical values of volume reduction. Additionally, the optimized plates fabricated using powder bed techniques proved that the integration between the TO and additive manufacturing presents the capability of producing stiff reduced plates with acceptable tolerances.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, locking compression plate, finite element, topology optimization

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Authors: Sujata Gupta Kedar, J. N. Tulika

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Early researchers suggested that imprisonment had negative psychological and physical effects on its inmates, leading to psychological deterioration. The term “prisons” in the Consensus Statement of WHO is intended to denote, as those institutions which hold people who have been sentenced to a period of imprisonment by the courts for offences against the law. Thus “prisons” if local circumstances justify it, may also be taken to include secure institutions holding on a compulsory basis on any of the following categories of people: remand prisoners; civil prisoners; juvenile detainees; immigration detainees; some categories of mentally disordered patients; asylum seekers; refugees; people detained pending expulsion, deportation, exile, exclusion or any other form of compulsory transfer to other countries or areas of the country; people detained in police cells; and any other compulsorily detained group. Prisons are aimed to cure the criminal and their behavior but their records are not encouraging. Instead the imprisonment affects all prisoners in different way. From withstanding the shock of entry to the new culture, which is very different from their own, prisoners must try to determine how to spend the time in prison, since the hours appears to be endless in prisons. There is also the fear of deterioration. This article aims to provide an overview of the psychological well being of female prisoners in the prison environment in five areas- satisfaction, efficiency, sociability, mental health and interpersonal relations. Research was done on two different types of imprisonment- under trial prisoner and convict. Total sample included 22 female prisoners of Nagaon Special Jail of Assam. The instrument used for the study was based on Psychological Well Being Scale. Statistical analysis was done with t-test and one way anova test. The result demonstrated that there is no significant difference in the psychological wellbeing of female prisoners in the prison and that there is no significant difference in the psychological well being of different types of female prisoners involved in different crimes but there is significant difference in the mental health of the female prisoners in prison.

Keywords: psychological effect, female prisoners, prison, well being of prisoners

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Authors: Svetlana Guryeva, Inna Kornienko, Elena Petersen

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At present, translational medicine is a rapidly developing branch of biomedicine. The main idea of translational medicine is a practical application of fundamental research. One of the possible applications for translational medicine is researching therapies that improve human age-related organism condition. To fill the gap between experiments and clinical practice, it is necessary to create the standardized system for the investigation of different effects on cellular aging models. In this study, primary human fibroblasts derived from patients of different ages were used as a cellular aging model. The senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity, lipofuscin, γ-H2AX, the reactive oxygen species level, and cell death markers (annexin V/propidium iodide) were used as biomarkers of the cell functional state. The effects of damaging exposures (oxidative stress and heat shock), potential positive factors (metformin and acetaminophen), and their combinations were investigated using the described biomarkers. Oxidative stress and heat shock caused the increase in the levels of all biomarkers, and only the cells from young patients partly coped with stress 3 days after the exposures. Metformin improved the state of pretreatment cells from young and old patients. The acetaminophen did not show significant changes in the biomarker levels compare to the action of metformin. This study proved the opportunity to develop a standardized screening system based on biomarkers of the cell functional state to identify potential positive or negative effects of some physical and chemical exposures. Moreover, such a system can be useful for the aims of regenerative medicine to determine the effect of cell pretreatment before transplantation.

Keywords: biomarkers, primary fibroblasts, regenerative medicine, senescence, test system, translational medicine

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Authors: Siti Anis Nadia Abu Bakar, Vani Tanggamani

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Over recent years, the quality and environmental management practices are the necessary tasks in hospitality industry in order to provide high quality services, a comfortable and safe environment for occupants as well as innovative nature and shareholders' satisfaction, its environmental and social added value sustainable. Numerous studies have observed and measured quality management program (QMProg) and environmental management practices (EMPrac) independently. This paper analyzed the level of QMProg, and EMPrac in hospitality industry, particularly on hotel performance, specifically in the context of Malaysia as hotel industry in Malaysia has contributed tremendously to the development in the Malaysia tourism industry.The research objectives are; (1) to analyze how the level of QMProg influences on firm performance; (2) to investigate the level of EMPrac and its influence on firm performance. This paper contributes to the literature by providing added-value to the service industry strategic decision-making processes by helping to predict the varying impacts of positive and negative corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on financial performance in their respective industries. Further, this paper also contributes to develop more applicable CSR strategies. As a matter of fact, the findings of this paper has contributed towards an integrated management system that will assist a firm in implementation of their environmental strategy by creating a higher level of accountability for environmental performance. The best results in environmental systems have instigated managers to explore more options when dealing with problems, especially problems involving the reputation of their hotel. In conclusion, the results of the study infer that the best CSR strategies of the quality and environmental management practices influences hotel performance.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental management practices (EMPrac), performance (PERF), quality management program (QMProg)

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Authors: Dhiraj Neupane

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Decentralized policy and practices have largely concentrated on the transformation of decision-making authorities from central to local institutions (or people) in the developing world. Such policy and practices always aimed for the equitable and efficient management of resources in the line of poverty reduction. The transformation of forest decision-making autonomy has also glorified as the best forest management alternatives to maximize the forest benefits and improve the livelihood of local people living nearby the forests. However, social heterogeneity and poor decision-making capacity of local institutions (or people) pose a nexus while managing the resources and sharing the forest benefits among the user households despite the policy objectives. The situation is severe in the lowland of Nepal, where forest resources have higher economic potential and user households have heterogeneous socio-economic conditions. The study discovered that utilizing the power of decision-making autonomy, user households were putting low values of timber considering the equitable access of timber to all user households as it is the most valuable product of community forest. Being the society is heterogeneous by socio-economic conditions, households of better economic conditions were always taking higher amount of forest benefits. The low valuation of timber has negative consequences on equitable benefit sharing and poor support to livelihood improvement of user households. Moreover, low valuation has possibility to increase the local demands of timber and increase the human pressure on forests.

Keywords: decentralized forest policy, Nepal, poverty, social heterogeneity, Terai

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Authors: Taoufik Djennane

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Algeria is characterized by a fragmented language education policy. While pre-university education is entirely conducted in Arabic, higher education remains linguistically divided, with some fields offered in Arabic and others exclusively based on French. Within this linguistic policy, English remains far behind French. However, there has been a significant shift in the state’s linguistic orientation since the social riot of March 2019, known as El-Hirak, which ousted away the ex-president. Since then, social calls were voiced to get rid of French, and English started to receive an unprecedented political push. The historical decision only came at the beginning of the academic year 2023-2024 when the ministry of higher education imposed English as medium of instruction (hereafter EMI), especially in scientific and technological fields. As such, this paper considered this abrupt switch in the medium of instruction and its effects on the community of teachers. Building on a socio-psychological approach, teachers’ attitudes towards EMI were measured. Data were collected using classroom observation, semi-structured interviews and a survey. The results showed that a clear majority of teachers hold negative attitudes towards EMI. The point is that they are linguistically incompetent, and they are not ready yet to deliver content subjects in a language they have no, or little, command of. The study showed the importance of considering attitudes in the ‘policy-formation’ stage before the ‘implementation’ stage. The findings also proved that teachers are not passive bystanders; they can rather be the final arbiters imposing themselves as policy-makers resisting ministerial instructions through their linguistic practices inside the classroom which only acknowledge French. The study showed the necessity to avoid sudden switch and opt for gradual change, without putting aside those who are directly concerned with political/pedagogical measures (teachers, learners, etc).

Keywords: micro planning, EMI, language education policy, agency

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Authors: Tsuneyuki Namekata, Yoko Namekata

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It is known that the mean investment evolves from a very low initial value to some high level in the Continuous Prisoner's Dilemma. We examine how the cooperation level evolves from a low initial level to a high level in our Demographic Multi-level Donor-Recipient situation. In the Multi-level Donor-Recipient game, one player is selected as a Donor and the other as a Recipient randomly. The Donor has multiple cooperative moves and one defective move. A cooperative move means the Donor pays some cost for the Recipient to receive some benefit. The more cooperative move the Donor takes, the higher cost the Donor pays and the higher benefit the Recipient receives. The defective move has no effect on them. Two consecutive Multi-level Donor-Recipient games, one as a Donor and the other as a Recipient, can be viewed as a discrete version of the Continuous Prisoner's Dilemma. In the Demographic Multi-level Donor-Recipient game, players are initially distributed spatially. In each period, players play multiple Multi-level Donor-Recipient games against other players. He leaves offspring if possible and dies because of negative accumulated payoff of him or his lifespan. Cooperative moves are necessary for the survival of the whole population. There is only a low level of cooperative move besides the defective move initially available in strategies of players. A player may modify and expand his strategy by his recent experiences or practices. We distinguish several types of a player about modification and expansion. We show, by Agent-Based Simulation, that introducing only the modification increases the emergence rate of cooperation and introducing both the modification and the expansion further increases it and a high level of cooperation does emerge in our Demographic Multi-level Donor-Recipient Game.

Keywords: agent-based simulation, donor-recipient game, emergence of cooperation, spatial structure, TFT, TF2T

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Authors: Adeyinka Adeniran, Omowunmi Bakare, Esther Oluwole, Florence Chieme, Temitope Durojaiye, Modupe Akinyinka, Omobola Ojo, Babatunde Olujobi, Marcus Ilesanmi, Akintunde Ogunsakin

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Introduction: Globally, COVID-19 has greatly impacted the human race physically, socially, mentally, and economically. However, healthcare workers seemed to bear the greatest impact. The study, therefore, sought to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the primary healthcare workers in Ekiti, South-west Nigeria. Methods: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive study using a quantitative data collection method of 716 primary healthcare workers in Ekiti state. Respondents were selected using an online convenience sampling method via their social media platforms. Data was collected, collated, and analyzed using SPSS version 25 software and presented as frequency tables, mean and standard deviation. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using a t-test, and the level of statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Less than half (47.1%) of respondents were between 41-50 age group and a mean age of 44.4+6.4SD. A majority (89.4%) were female, and almost all (96.2%) were married. More than (90%) had ever heard of Coronavirus, and (85.8%) had to spend more money on activities of daily living such as transportation (90.1%), groceries (80.6%), assisting relations (95.8%) and sanitary measures (disinfection) at home (95.0%). COVID-19 had a huge negative impact on about (89.7%) of healthcare workers, with a mean score of 22+4.8. Conclusion: COVID-19 negatively impacted the daily living and professional duties of primary healthcare workers, which reflected their psychological, physical, social, and economic well-being. Disease outbreaks are unlikely to disappear in the near future. Hence, global proactive interventions and homegrown measures should be adopted to protect healthcare workers and save lives.

Keywords: Covid-19, health workforce, primary health care, health systems, depression

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Authors: Hao Yang, Lei Chen, Ting Mei, Jianbang Zheng

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Currently, the uncooled PbSe photodetectors in the mid-infrared range (2-5μm) with sensitization technology extract more photoelectric response than traditional ones, and enable the room temperature (300K) photo-detection with high detectivity, which have attracted wide attentions in many fields. This technology generally contains the film fabrication with vapor phase deposition (VPD) and a sensitizing process with doping of oxygen and iodine. Many works presented in the recent years almost provide and high temperature activation method with oxygen/iodine vapor diffusion, which reveals that oxygen or iodine plays an important role in the sensitization of PbSe material. In this paper, we provide our latest experimental results and discussions in the stoichiometry of oxygen and iodine and its influence on the polycrystalline structure and photo-response. The experimental results revealed that crystal orientation was transformed from (200) to (420) by sensitization, and the responsivity of 5.42 A/W was gained by the optimal stoichiometry of oxygen and iodine with molecular density of I2 of ~1.51×1012 mm-3 and oxygen pressure of ~1Mpa. We verified that I2 plays a role in transporting oxygen into the lattice of crystal, which is actually not its major role. It is revealed that samples sensitized with iodine transform atomic proportion of Pb from 34.5% to 25.0% compared with samples without iodine from XPS data, which result in the proportion of about 1:1 between Pb and Se atoms by sublimation of PbI2 during sensitization process, and Pb/Se atomic proportion is controlled by I/O atomic proportion in the polycrystalline grains, which is very an important factor for improving responsivity of uncooled PbSe photodetector. Moreover, a novel sensitization and dopant activation method is proposed using oxygen ion implantation with low ion energy of < 500eV and beam current of ~120μA/cm2. These results may be helpful to understanding the sensitization mechanism of polycrystalline lead salt materials.

Keywords: polycrystalline PbSe, sensitization, transport, stoichiometry

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Authors: Dilliram Paudyal

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The history of taxation in Nepal dates back to antiquity. However, the modern tax system gained its momentum after the establishment of democracy in 1951, which initially focused only land tax and tariff on foreign trade. In the due time, several taxes were introduced, such as direct taxes, indirect taxes, and non-taxes. However, the tax structure in Nepal is heavily dominated by indirect taxes that contribute more than 60 % of the total revenue. The government has been mobilizing revenues through a series of tax reforms during the Tenth Five-year Plan (2002 – 2007) and successive Three-year Interim Development Plans by introducing several tax measures. However, these reforms are regressive in nature, which does not lead the overall economy towards short-run stability as well as in the long run development. Based on the literature review and discussion among government officials and few taxpayers individually and groups, this paper aims to major issues and challenges that hinder the tax reform effective in Nepal. Additionally, this paper identifies potential way and process of tax reform in Nepal. The results of the study indicate that transparency in a major problem in Nepalese tax system in Nepal, where serious structural constraints with administrative and procedural complexities envisaged in the Income Tax Act and taxpayers are often unaware of the specific size of tax which is to comply them. Some other issues include high tax rate, limited tax base, leakages in tax collection, rigid and complex Income Tax Act, inefficient and corrupt tax administration, limited potentialities of direct taxes and negative responsiveness of land tax with higher administrative costs. In the context, modality of tax structure and mobilize additional resources is to be rectified on a greater quantum by establishing an effective, dynamic and highly power driven Autonomous Revenue Board.

Keywords: corrupt, development, inefficient, taxation

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Authors: Emmanuelle Maria, Pierre Crançon, Gaëtane Lespes

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The knowledge of uranium migration processes within underground environments is a major issue in the environmental risk assessment associated with nuclear activities. This process is identified as strongly controlled by adsorption mechanisms, thus leading to strongly delayed migration paths. Colloidal ligands are likely to significantly increase the mobility of uranium in natural environments. The ability of colloids to mobilize and transport uranium depends on their origin, their nature, their structure, their stability and their reactivity with uranium. Thus, the colloidal mobilization and transport properties are often described as site-specific. In this work, the colloidal phases of two leachates obtained from two different horizons of the same podzolic soil were characterized with a speciation approach. For this purpose, a multi-technique strategy was used, based on Field-Flow Fractionation coupled to Ultraviolet, Multi-Angle Light Scattering and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (AF4-UV-MALS-ICPMS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Electrospray Ionization Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry (ESI-Orbitrap), and Time-Resolved Laser Fluorescence Spectroscopy (TRLFS-EEM). Thus, elemental composition, size distribution, microscopic structure, colloidal stability and possible organic and/or inorganic content of colloids were determined, as well as their association with uranium. The leachates exhibit differences in their physical and chemical characteristics, mainly in the nature of organic matter constituents. The multi-technique investigation strategy used provides original data about colloidal phase structure and composition, offering a new vision of the way the uranium can be mobilized and transported in the considered soil. This information is a real significant contribution opening the way to our understanding and predicting of the colloidal transport.

Keywords: colloids, migration, multi-technique, speciation, transport, uranium

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Authors: Mehak Nagpal, T. S. Sathyanarayan Rao

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Background: Sexual functioning is a neglected aspect of health in women with diabetes, though it contributes greatly towards quality of life and feeling of wellbeing. Also women with DM are at higher risk than men of developing sexual dysfunction and depression. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional comparison study. Sample size: 100 previously diagnosed type 2DM patients attending Outpatient Diabetic Clinic at Medicine department JSS Hospital Mysore; aged 20-65 years and 60 normal healthy female subjects for Control group. Data was collected with ethical approval over a period of 2 years. Tools Used: 1) Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD – 17 item) 2) Female Sexual Functioning Index (FSFI) 3) Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX-F) for female-for screening. 4) The Appraisal of Diabetes Scale (ADS). Results: Statistically significant differences were observed in prevalence rate and severity of depression between diabetic group (45% vs 11% syndromal depression) and controls. Depression scores correlated significantly with glycaemic control, adherence to treatment, BMI and the cognitive appraisal of diabetes. There was significantly greater impairment in the sexual functioning of women with type 2 diabetes mellitus as compared to controls; both prevalence (62% vs 38.3%) and severity (p value < 0.01). Arousal (74.2% vs 53.3%), Desire (76.3% vs 50%) and Satisfaction (76.7% vs 63.7%) were most affected and 64.5% were affected in 2 or more domains. A negative illness appraisal on ADS correlated significantly with poor glycaemic control, higher rates of depression and also more severe female sexual dysfunction (p value < 0.05). Conclusion: Diabetes specific factors that correlated significantly with FSD in this study included the psychological appraisal of diabetes, duration of diabetes, presence of complications and BMI.

Keywords: depression, female sexual dysfunction, India, type 2 diabetes mellitus

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Authors: Riyona Chetty, Raisuyah Bhagwan, Nalini Govender

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Background: A myriad of physical, psychosocial, and environmental sequelae are associated with limb loss. However, there is a paucity of empirical South African data, which focuses on these sequelae, how they interface with the amputee’s quality of life as well as the challenges they experience following amputation. Objective: This study sought to explore the biopsychosocial effects of amputation and how amputation affected the quality of life of transtibial amputees. Setting: Participants were recruited from a medical facility, under the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health in South Africa. Methods: A qualitative approach guided this study. Data was collected using one-on-one interviews with 14 unilateral transtibial amputees. Data was analysed thematically. Results: Five broad themes emerged from the inquiry, which captured amputees’ experiences of phantom limb pain, body image disturbances, and their challenges related to adapting to daily activities. Participants also expressed the salience of familial support as well as the importance of psychological interventions to cope. Conclusion: The findings suggested that support networks and professional psychological intervention are imperative in facilitating successful adjustment to the amputation experience. Raising awareness of limb loss in both, rural and urban settings may help reduce the stigma attached to it. Contribution: Quality of life comprises several domains, namely physical, psychological, environmental, and social albeit limited local and international data exists regarding the environmental and social effects. This study brought to the fore the positive and negative effects of amputation in each domain, as well as various strategies that facilitate successful adjustment to amputation.

Keywords: amputation, quality of life, biopsychosocial, phantom limb pain, body image, support

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Authors: Ana Belon Hercilla

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The study is developed in “Reactivos Jeans” company, in the city of Arequipa, whose main business is the laundry of garments at an industrial level. In 2012 the company initiated actions to provide a dry cleaning service of alpaca fiber garments, recognizing that this item is in a growth phase in Peru. Additionally this company took the initiative to use a new greenwashing technology which has not yet been developed in the country. To accomplish this, a redesign of both the process and the plant layout was required. For redesigning the plant, the methodology used was the Systemic Layout Planning, allowing this study divided into four stages. First stage is the information gathering and evaluation of the initial situation of the company, for which a description of the areas, facilities and initial equipment, distribution of the plant, the production process and flows of major operations was made. Second stage is the development of engineering techniques that allow the logging and analysis procedures, such as: Flow Diagram, Route Diagram, DOP (process flowchart), DAP (analysis diagram). Then the planning of the general distribution is carried out. At this stage, proximity factors of the areas are established, the Diagram Paths (TRA) is developed, and the Relational Diagram Activities (DRA). In order to obtain the General Grouping Diagram (DGC), further information is complemented by a time study and Guerchet method is used to calculate the space requirements for each area. Finally, the plant layout redesigning is presented and the implementation of the improvement is made, making it possible to obtain a model much more efficient than the initial design. The results indicate that the implementation of the new machinery, the adequacy of the plant facilities and equipment relocation resulted in a reduction of the production cycle time by 75.67%, routes were reduced by 68.88%, the number of activities during the process were reduced by 40%, waits and storage were removed 100%.

Keywords: redesign, time optimization, industrial laundry, greenwashing

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Authors: Zineb Kassab, Nassima El Miri, A. Aboulkas, Abdellatif Barakat, Mounir El Achaby

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Recently, more attention has been given to biopolymers with a focus on sustainable development and environmental preservation. Following this tendency, the attempt has been made to replace polymers derived from petroleum with superior biodegradable polymers (biopolymers). In this context, biopolymers are considered potential replacements for conventional plastic materials. However, some of their properties must be improved for better competitiveness, especially regarding their mechanical, thermal and barrier properties. Bio-nanocomposite technology using nanofillers has already been proven as an effective way to produce new materials with specific properties and high performances. With the emergence of nanostructured bio-composite materials, incorporating elongated rod-like cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) has attracted more and more attention in the field of nanotechnology. This study is aimed to develop bio-composite films of biopolymer matrices [Carboxymethyle cellulose (CMC), Starch (ST), Chitosan (CS) and Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)] reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) using the solution casting method. The CNC were extracted at a nanometric scale from lignocellulosic fibers via sulfuric acid hydrolysis and then characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), confocal microscopy, infrared spectroscopy (IR), atomic force and transmission electron microscopies (AFM and TEM) techniques. The as extracted CNC were used as a reinforcing phase to produce a variety of bio-composite films at different CNC loading (0.5-10 wt %) with specific properties. The rheological properties of film-forming solutions (FFS) of bio-composites were studied, and their relation to the casting process was evaluated. Then, the structural, optical transparency, water vapor permeability, thermal stability and mechanical properties of all prepared bio-composite films were evaluated and studied in this report. The high performances of these bio-composite films are expected to have potential in biomaterials or packaging applications.

Keywords: biopolymer composites, cellulose nanocrystals, food packaging, lignocellulosic fibers

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Authors: Zahra F. Al-Khateeb, Shenel Shekerzade, Hasna Boumenar, Siân M. Henson, Jordi L. Tremoleda, A. T. Michael-Titus

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of disability and death in young adults and also increases the risk ofneurodegeneration. The mechanisms linking moderate to severe TBI to neurodegeneration are not known. It has been proposed that cellular senescence inductionpost-injury could amplify neuroinflammation and induce long-term changes. The impact of these processes after injury to an immature brain has not been characterised yet. We carried out a controlled cortical impact injury (CCI) in juvenile 1 month-old male CD1 mice. Animals were anesthetised and received a unilateral CCI injury. The sham group received anaesthesia and had a craniotomy. A naïve group had no intervention. The brain tissue was analysed at 5 days and 35 days post-injury using immunohistochemistry and markers for microglia, astrocytes, and senescence. Compared tonaïve animals, injured mice showed an increased microglial and astrocytic reaction early post-injury, as reflected in Iba1 and GFAP markers, respectively; the GFAP increase persisted in the later phase. The senescence analysis showed a significant increase inγH2AX-53BP1 nuclear foci, 8-oxoguanine, p19ARF, p16INK4a, and p53 expression in naïve vs. sham groups and naïve vs. CCI groups, at 5 dpi. At 35 days, the difference was no longer statistically significant in all markers. The injury induced a decrease p21 expression vs. the naïve group, at 35 dpi. These results indicate the induction of a complex senescence response after immature brain injury. Some changes occur early and may reflect the activation/proliferation of non-neuronal cells post-injury that had been hindered, whereas changes such as p21 downregulation may reflect a delayed response and pro-repair processes.

Keywords: cellular senescence, traumatic brain injury, brain injury, controlled cortical impact

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Authors: Darren Edwards, Thomas Pinna

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Background: Interoception and heart rate variability have been found to predict outcomes of mental health and well-being. However, these have usually been investigated independently of one another. Objectives: This review aimed to explore the associations between interoception and heart rate variability (HRV) with emotion regulation (ER) and ER strategies within the existing literature and utilizing systematic review methodology. Methods: The process of article retrieval and selection followed the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Databases PsychINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, and MEDLINE were scanned for papers published. Preliminary inclusion and exclusion criteria were specified following the patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO) framework, whilst the checklist for critical appraisal and data extraction for systematic reviews of prediction modeling studies (CHARMS) framework was used to help formulate the research question, and to critically assess for bias in the identified full-length articles. Results: 237 studies were identified after initial database searches. Of these, eight studies were included in the final selection. Six studies explored the associations between HRV and ER, whilst three investigated the associations between interoception and ER (one of which was included in the HRV selection too). Overall, the results seem to show that greater HRV and interoception are associated with better ER. Specifically, high parasympathetic activity largely predicted the use of adaptive ER strategies such as reappraisal, and better acceptance of emotions. High interoception, instead, was predictive of effective down-regulation of negative emotions and handling of social uncertainty, there was no association with any specific ER strategy. Conclusions: Awareness of one’s own bodily feelings and vagal activation seem to be of central importance for the effective regulation of emotional responses.

Keywords: emotional regulation, vagal tone, interoception, chronic conditions, health and well-being, psychological flexibility

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Authors: Narayana Murthy Akurathi, Vijaya Lakshmi Marella

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The literature is reviewed with regard to online Super critical fluid extraction (SFE) coupled directly with supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) -mass spectrometry that have typically more sensitive than conventional LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS. It is becoming increasingly interesting to use on-line techniques that combine sample preparation, separation and detection in one analytical set up. This provides less human intervention, uses small amount of sample and organic solvent and yields enhanced analyte enrichment in a shorter time. The sample extraction is performed under light shielding and anaerobic conditions, preventing the degradation of thermo labile analytes. It may be able to analyze compounds over a wide polarity range as SFC generally uses carbon dioxide which was collected as a by-product of other chemical reactions or is collected from the atmosphere as it contributes no new chemicals to the environment. The diffusion of solutes in supercritical fluids is about ten times greater than that in liquids and about three times less than in gases which results in a decrease in resistance to mass transfer in the column and allows for fast high resolution separations. The drawback of SFC when using carbon dioxide as mobile phase is that the direct introduction of water samples poses a series of problems, water must therefore be eliminated before it reaches the analytical column. Hundreds of compounds analysed simultaneously by simple enclosing in an extraction vessel. This is mainly applicable for pharmaceutical industry where it can analyse fatty acids and phospholipids that have many analogues as their UV spectrum is very similar, trace additives in polymers, cleaning validation can be conducted by putting swab sample in an extraction vessel, analysing hundreds of pesticides with good resolution.

Keywords: super critical fluid extraction (SFE), super critical fluid chromatography (SFC), LCMS/MS, GCMS/MS

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Authors: Nadhia Maharany Siara, Muammal, Ilham Nurhakim, Rofifah Yusadi, M. Adie Putra Tanggara, I. Nyoman Suluh Wijaya

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Urbanization in urban areas has impact to the demand of land use for housing, and it began to occur development in the high-density area called Kampung Kota. Kampung Kota grows and develops without planning or organically. The existence of Kampung Kota, becoming identity of the city development in Indonesia, gives self-identity to the city planning in Indonesia, but the existence of Kampung Kota in the development of the city in Indonesia is often considered as a source of environment, health, and social problems. This cause negative perception about the sustainability of Kampung Kota. This research aims to identify morphology and sustainability level of Kampung Kota in Polehan Sub-District, Blimbing District, Malang City. So far, there have not been many studies that define sustainability of Kampung Kota especially from the perspective of Kampung Kota morphology as a part of urban housing areas. This research took place in in Polehan Sub-District, Blimbing District, Malang City which is one of the oldest Kampung Kota in Malang City. Identification of the sustainability level in this research is done by defining the morphology of Kampung Kota in Polehan Sub-District, Blimbing District, Malang City with a descriptive approach to the observation case (Kampung Kota Polehan Sub-District). After that, definition of sustainability level is defined by quantifying the spatial structure by using the criteria from the new urbanism model which consist of buildings and populations density, compactness, diversity and mix land uses and sustainable transportation. In this case, the use of new urbanism model approach is very appropriate. New Urbanism is a design-driven strategy that is based on traditional forms to minimize urban sprawl in the suburbs. The result obtained from this study is the hometown of the level of sustainability in Polehan Sub-District, Blimbing District, Malang City of 3.2 and can be considered to have a good sustainability.

Keywords: Kampung Kota, new urbanism model, sustainability, urban morphology

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Authors: Raymond Dominic Uzoh

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Starch fillers were extracted from three plant sources namely amora tuber (a wild variety of Irish potato), sweet potato and yam starch and their particle size, pH, amylose, and amylopectin percentage decomposition determined accordingly by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The starch was introduced into natural rubber in liquid phase (through gelatinization) by the latex compounding method and compounded according to standard method. The prepared starch/natural rubber composites was characterized by Instron Universal testing machine (UTM) for tensile mechanical properties. The composites was further characterized by x-ray diffraction and crosslink density analysis. The particle size determination showed that amora starch granules have the highest particle size (156 × 47 μm) followed by yam starch (155× 40 μm) and then the sweet potato starch (153 × 46 μm). The pH test also revealed that amora starch has a near neutral pH of 6.9, yam 6.8, and sweet potato 5.2 respectively. Amylose and amylopectin determination showed that yam starch has a higher percentage of amylose (29.68), followed by potato (22.34) and then amora starch with the lowest value (14.86) respectively. The tensile mechanical properties testing revealed that yam starch produced the best tensile mechanical properties followed by amora starch and then sweet potato starch. The structure, crystallinity/amorphous nature of the product composite was confirmed by x-ray diffraction, while the nature of crosslinking was confirmed by swelling test in toluene solvent using the Flory-Rehner approach. This research study has rendered a workable strategy for enhancing interfacial interaction between a hydrophilic filler (starch) and hydrophobic polymeric matrix (natural rubber) yielding moderately good tensile mechanical properties for further exploitation development and application in the rubber processing industry.

Keywords: natural rubber, fillers, starch, amylose, amylopectin, crosslink density

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Authors: Nazirah Hassan, Andrew Kendrick

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Punishment inside the penal institution has always been practiced in order to maintain discipline and keep order. Nonetheless, criminologists have long debated that the enforcement of discipline by punishing inmates is often ineffective and has a detrimental impact on inmates’ conduct. This paper uses data from a sample of 289 incarcerated young offenders to investigate the prevalence of institutional misconduct. It explores punitive cultural practices inside institutions and how this culture affects the inmates’ conduct during confinement. The project focused on male and female young offenders aged 12 to 21 years old, in eight juvenile justice institutions. The research collected quantitative and qualitative data using a mixed-method approach. All participants completed the Direct and Indirect Prisoner behavior Checklist-Scaled Version Revised (DIPC-SCALED-R). In addition, exploratory interviews were carried out with sixteen inmates and eight institutional staff. Results of the questionnaire survey show that almost half of the inmates reported a higher level of involvement in perpetration. It demonstrates a remarkable convergence of direct, rather than indirect, perpetration. Also, inmates reported a higher level of tobacco used and behavior associated with negative attitudes towards staff and institutional rules. In addition to this, the qualitative data suggests that the punitive culture encourages the onset of misconduct by increasing the stressful and oppressive conditions within the institution. In general, physical exercise and locking up inmates are two forms of punishment that were ubiquitous throughout the institutions. Interestingly, physical exercise is not only enforced by institutional staff but also inmates. These findings are discussed in terms of existing literature and their practical implications are considered.

Keywords: institutional punishment, incarcerated young offenders, punitive culture, institutional misconduct

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Authors: N. V. Klassen, A. A. Vasin, A. M. Likhter, K. A. Voronin, A. V. Mariasevskaya, I. M. Shmit’ko

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Regular patterning in mixtures of bio-polymers (chitosan and collagen) and nanoparticles in water suspensions has been found by means of optical microscopy. The patterning was created either by external electrical field of moderate amplitude (200–1000 v/cm) or spontaneously. Simultaneously with the patterning pushing out of water drops mixed with nanoparticles to the external regions was observed. These phenomena are explained by interactions of charged bio-polymers and nanoparticles with external and internal electrical fields as well as with the regions of decreased dielectrical permittivity surrounding nano-objects in water which possesses anomalously high dielectrical permittivity. Electrical charges of opposite signs of the nano-objects induce their mutual attraction whereas dipole moments created around these nano-objects by the electrical fields are pushing these particles to the regions with lower fields. Due to this reason, non-homogeneities of dielectrical permittivity around nano-objects immersed into water suspension induces mutual repulsion of the objects. This spatial decrease of this repulsion with the inter-particle distances is more sharp than that of the Coulomb attraction. So, at longer distances, the attractions are stronger whereas at shorter distances the repulsion prevails. At a certain distance these two forces compensate each other creating the equilibrium state of the mixture of nano-objects with opposite charges. When the groups of positive and negative nano-objects consist from identical particles, quasi-periodical pattern of the suspension is observed like mesoscopic two-dimensional super-crystal. These results can clarify the mechanisms of healing of internal organs with direct or alternative electrical fields.

Keywords: bio-polymers, chitosan, collagen, nanoparticles, Coulomb attraction, polarization repulsion, periodical patterning, electrical low frequency resonances

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Authors: Salman Ahmad, Muhammad Aown Sammar Raza, Muhammad Farrukh Saleem, Rashid Iqbal, Muhammad Saqlain Zaheer, Muhammad Usman Aslam, Imran Haider, Muhammad Adnan Nazar, Muhammad Ali

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Among the various abiotic stresses, drought stress is one of the most challenging for field crops. Wheat is one of the major staple food of the world, which is highly affected by water deficit stress in the current scenario of climate change. In order to ensure food security by depleting water resources, there is an urgent need to adopt technologies which result in sufficient crop yield with less water consumption. Mulching and partial rootzone drying (PRD) are two important management techniques used for water conservation and to mitigate the negative impacts of drought. The experiment was conducted to screen out the best-suited mulch for wheat under PRD system. Two water application techniques (I1= full irrigation I2= PRD irrigation) and four mulch treatments (M0= un-mulched, M1= black plastic mulch, M2= wheat straw mulch and M4= cotton sticks mulch) were conducted in completely randomized design with four replications. The treatment, black plastic mulch was performed the best than other mulch treatments. For irrigation levels, higher values of growth, physiological and water-related parameters were recorded in control treatment while, quality traits and enzymatic activities were higher under partial root zone drying. The current study concluded that adverse effects of drought on wheat can be significantly mitigated by using mulches but black plastic mulch was best suited for partial rootzone drying irrigation system in wheat.

Keywords: antioxidants, leaf water relations, Mulches, osmolytes, partial root zone drying, photosynthesis

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