Search results for: secondary compression index

Authors: Güler Duru Aşiret

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Introduction: Poor sleep quality is a common problem among the older people living in nursing homes. Our study aimed at assessing the effect of individual reminiscence therapy on the sleep quality of the elderly living in nursing homes. Methods: The study had 22 people in the intervention group and 24 people in the control group. The intervention group had reminiscence therapy once a week for 12 weeks in the form of individual sessions of 25-30 minutes. In our study, we first determined the dates suitable for the intervention group and researcher and planned the date and time of individual reminiscence therapies, which would take 12 weeks. While preparing this schedule, we considered subjects’ time schedules for their regular visits to health facilities and the arrival of their visitors. At this stage, the researcher informed the participants that their regular attendance in sessions would affect the intervention outcome. One topic was discussed every week. Weekly topics included: introduction in the first week; childhood and family life, school days, starting work and work life (a day at home for housewives), a fun day out of home, marriage (friendship for the singles), plants and animals they loved, babies and children, food and cooking, holidays and travelling, special days and celebrations, assessment and closure, in the following weeks respectively. The control group had no intervention. Study data was collected by using an introductory information form and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results: In our study, participants’ average age was 76.02 ± 7.31. 58.7% of them were male and 84.8% were single. All of them had at least one chronic disease. 76.1% did not need help for performing their daily life activities. The length of stay in the institution was 6.32 ± 3.85 years. According to the participants’ descriptive characteristics, there was no difference between groups. While there was no statistically significant difference between the pretest PSQI median scores (p > 0.05) of both groups, PSQI median score had a statistically significant decrease after 12 weeks of reminiscence therapy (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant change in the median scores of the subcomponents of sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance and use of sleep medication before and after reminiscence therapy. After the 12-weeks reminiscence therapy, there was a statistically significant change in the median scores for the PSQI subcomponents of subjective sleep quality (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study found that reminiscence therapy increased the sleep quality of the elderly living in nursing homes. Acknowledgment: This study (project no 2017-037) was supported by the Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Aksaray University. We thank the elderly subjects for their kind participation.

Keywords: nursing, older people, reminiscence therapy, sleep

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Authors: Yonas Shuke Kitawa

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Background: Although malaria incidence has substantially fallen sharply over the past few years, the rate of decline varies by district, time, and malaria type. Despite this turn-down, malaria remains a major public health threat in various districts of Ethiopia. Consequently, the present study is aimed at developing a predictive model that helps to identify the spatio-temporal variation in malaria risk by multiple plasmodium species. Methods: We propose a multivariate spatio-temporal Bayesian model to obtain a more coherent picture of the temporally varying spatial variation in disease risk. The spatial autocorrelation in such a data set is typically modeled by a set of random effects that assign a conditional autoregressive prior distribution. However, the autocorrelation considered in such cases depends on a binary neighborhood matrix specified through the border-sharing rule. Over here, we propose a graph-based optimization algorithm for estimating the neighborhood matrix that merely represents the spatial correlation by exploring the areal units as the vertices of a graph and the neighbor relations as the series of edges. Furthermore, we used aggregated malaria count in southern Ethiopia from August 2013 to May 2019. Results: We recognized that precipitation, temperature, and humidity are positively associated with the malaria threat in the area. On the other hand, enhanced vegetation index, nighttime light (NTL), and distance from coastal areas are negatively associated. Moreover, nonlinear relationships were observed between malaria incidence and precipitation, temperature, and NTL. Additionally, lagged effects of temperature and humidity have a significant effect on malaria risk by either species. More elevated risk of P. falciparum was observed following the rainy season, and unstable transmission of P. vivax was observed in the area. Finally, P. vivax risks are less sensitive to environmental factors than those of P. falciparum. Conclusion: The improved inference was gained by employing the proposed approach in comparison to the commonly used border-sharing rule. Additionally, different covariates are identified, including delayed effects, and elevated risks of either of the cases were observed in districts found in the central and western regions. As malaria transmission operates in a spatially continuous manner, a spatially continuous model should be employed when it is computationally feasible.

Keywords: disease mapping, MSTCAR, graph-based optimization algorithm, P. falciparum, P. vivax, waiting matrix

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Authors: Brajendra S. Sengar, Vivek Garg, Gaurav Siddharth, Nisheka Anadkat, Amitesh Kumar, Shaibal Mukherjee

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The optimal band gap (~ 1 to 1.5 eV) and high absorption coefficient ~104 cm⁻¹ has made Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ (CZTSSe) films as one of the most promising absorber materials in thin-film photovoltaics. Additionally, CZTSSe consists of elements that are abundant and non-toxic, makes it even more favourable. The CZTSSe thin films are grown at 100 to 500ᵒC substrate temperature (Tsub) on Soda lime glass (SLG) substrate by Elettrorava dual ion beam sputtering (DIBS) system by utilizing a target at 2.43x10⁻⁴ mbar working pressure with RF power of 45 W in argon ambient. The chemical composition, depth profiling, structural properties and optical properties of these CZTSSe thin films prepared on SLG were examined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX, Oxford Instruments), Hiden secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) workstation with oxygen ion gun of energy up to 5 keV, X-ray diffraction (XRD) (Rigaku Cu Kα radiation, λ=.154nm) and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE, M-2000D from J. A. Woollam Co., Inc). It is observed that from that, the thin films deposited at Tsub=200 and 300°C show Cu-poor and Zn-rich states (i.e., Cu/(Zn + Sn) < 1 and Zn/Sn > 1), which is not the case for films grown at other Tsub. It has been reported that the CZTSSe thin films with the highest efficiency are typically at Cu-poor and Zn-rich states. The values of band gap in the fundamental absorption region of CZTSSe are found to be in the range of 1.23-1.70 eV depending upon the Cu/(Zn+Sn) ratio. It is also observed that there is a decline in optical band gap with the increase in Cu/(Zn+Sn) ratio (evaluated from EDX measurement). Cu-poor films are found to have higher optical band gap than Cu-rich films. The decrease in the band gap with the increase in Cu content in case of CZTSSe films may be attributed to changes in the extent of p-d hybridization between Cu d-levels and (S, Se) p-levels. CZTSSe thin films with Cu/(Zn+Sn) ratio in the range 0.86–1.5 have been successfully deposited using DIBS. Optical band gap of the films is found to vary from 1.23 to 1.70 eV based on Cu/(Zn+Sn) ratio. CZTSe films with Cu/ (Zn+Sn) ratio of .86 are found to have optical band gap close to the ideal band gap (1.49 eV) for highest theoretical conversion efficiency. Thus by tailoring the value of Cu/(Zn+Sn), CZTSSe thin films with the desired band gap could be obtained. Acknowledgment: We are thankful to DIBS, EDX, and XRD facility equipped at Sophisticated Instrument Centre (SIC) at IIT Indore. The authors B. S. S and A. K. acknowledge CSIR, and V. G. acknowledges UGC, India for their fellowships. B. S. S is thankful to DST and IUSSTF for BASE Internship Award. Prof. Shaibal Mukherjee is thankful to DST and IUSSTF for BASE Fellowship and MEITY YFRF award. This work is partially supported by DAE BRNS, DST CERI, and DST-RFBR Project under India-Russia Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology. We are thankful to Mukul Gupta for SIMS facility equipped at UGC-DAE Indore.

Keywords: CZTSSe, DIBS, EDX, solar cell

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Authors: Chunhua Liao, Jinfei Wang, Bo Shan, Yang Song, Yongjun He, Taifeng Dong

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Winter wheat is one of the main crops in Canada. Forecasting of within-field variability of yield in winter wheat at the early stages is essential for precision farming. However, the crop yield modelling based on high spatial resolution satellite data is generally affected by the lack of continuous satellite observations, resulting in reducing the generalization ability of the models and increasing the difficulty of crop yield forecasting at the early stages. In this study, the correlations between Sentinel-2 data (vegetation indices and reflectance) and yield data collected by combine harvester were investigated and a generalized multivariate linear regression (MLR) model was built and tested with data acquired in different years. It was found that the four-band reflectance (blue, green, red, near-infrared) performed better than their vegetation indices (NDVI, EVI, WDRVI and OSAVI) in wheat yield prediction. The optimum phenological stage for wheat yield prediction with highest accuracy was at the growing stages from the end of the flowering to the beginning of the filling stage. The best MLR model was therefore built to predict wheat yield before harvest using Sentinel-2 data acquired at the end of the flowering stage. Further, to improve the ability of the yield prediction at the early stages, three simple unsupervised domain adaptation (DA) methods were adopted to transform the reflectance data at the early stages to the optimum phenological stage. The winter wheat yield prediction using multiple vegetation indices showed higher accuracy than using single vegetation index. The optimum stage for winter wheat yield forecasting varied with different fields when using vegetation indices, while it was consistent when using multispectral reflectance and the optimum stage for winter wheat yield prediction was at the end of flowering stage. The average testing RMSE of the MLR model at the end of the flowering stage was 604.48 kg/ha. Near the booting stage, the average testing RMSE of yield prediction using the best MLR was reduced to 799.18 kg/ha when applying the mean matching domain adaptation approach to transform the data to the target domain (at the end of the flowering) compared to that using the original data based on the models developed at the booting stage directly (“MLR at the early stage”) (RMSE =1140.64 kg/ha). This study demonstrated that the simple mean matching (MM) performed better than other DA methods and it was found that “DA then MLR at the optimum stage” performed better than “MLR directly at the early stages” for winter wheat yield forecasting at the early stages. The results indicated that the DA had a great potential in near real-time crop yield forecasting at the early stages. This study indicated that the simple domain adaptation methods had a great potential in crop yield prediction at the early stages using remote sensing data.

Keywords: wheat yield prediction, domain adaptation, Sentinel-2, within-field scale

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Authors: E. Obreque-Slier, F. Orellana-Rodríguez, R. López-Solís

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Phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites present in some foods, such as wine. Polyphenols comprise two main groups: flavonoids (anthocyanins, flavanols, and flavonols) and non-flavonoids (stilbenes and phenolic acids). Phenolic acids are low molecular weight non flavonoid compounds that are usually grouped into benzoic (gallic, vanillinic and protocatechuic acids) and cinnamic acids (ferulic, p-coumaric and caffeic acids). Likewise, tannic acid is an important polyphenol constituted mainly by gallic acid. Phenolic compounds are responsible for important properties in foods and drinks, such as color, aroma, bitterness, and astringency. Astringency is a drying, roughing, and sometimes puckering sensation that is experienced on the various oral surfaces during or immediately after tasting foods. Astringency perception has been associated with interactions between flavanols present in some foods and salivary proteins. Despite the quantitative relevance of phenolic acids in food and beverages, there is no information about its effect on salivary proteins and consequently on the sensation of astringency. The objective of this study was assessed the interaction of several phenolic acids (gallic, vanillinic, protocatechuic, ferulic, p-coumaric and caffeic acids) with saliva. Tannic acid was used as control. Thus, solutions of each phenolic acids (5 mg/mL) were mixed with human saliva (1:1 v/v). After incubation for 5 min at room temperature, 15-μL aliquots of the mixtures were dotted on a cellulose membrane and allowed to diffuse. The dry membrane was fixed in 50 g/L trichloroacetic acid, rinsed in 800 mL/L ethanol and stained for protein with Coomassie blue for 20 min, destained with several rinses of 73 g/L acetic acid and dried under a heat lamp. Both diffusion area and stain intensity of the protein spots were semiqualitative estimates for protein-tannin interaction (diffusion test). The rest of the whole saliva-phenol solution mixtures of the diffusion assay were centrifuged and fifteen-μL aliquots of each supernatant were dotted on a cellulose membrane, allowed to diffuse and processed for protein staining, as indicated above. In this latter assay, reduced protein staining was taken as indicative of protein precipitation (precipitation test). The diffusion of the salivary protein was restricted by the presence of each phenolic acids (anti-diffusive effect), while tannic acid did not alter diffusion of the salivary protein. By contrast, phenolic acids did not provoke precipitation of the salivary protein, while tannic acid produced precipitation of salivary proteins. In addition, binary mixtures (mixtures of two components) of various phenolic acids with gallic acid provoked a restriction of saliva. Similar effect was observed by the corresponding individual phenolic acids. Contrary, binary mixtures of phenolic acid with tannic acid, as well tannic acid alone, did not affect the diffusion of the saliva but they provoked an evident precipitation. In summary, phenolic acids showed a relevant interaction with the salivary proteins, thus suggesting that these wine compounds can also contribute to the sensation of astringency.

Keywords: astringency, polyphenols, tannins, tannin-protein interaction

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Authors: Rasmita Mishra, Chander Shekher

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Background: Population ageing is an inevitable outcome of demographic transition. Due to increased life expectancy, the old age population in India and worldwide has increased, and it will continue to grow more alarmingly in the near future. There are redundant austerity that has been bestowed upon the widows, thus, the life of widows is never been easy in India. The loss of spouse along with other disadvantaged socioeconomic intermediaries like illiteracy and poverty often make the life of widows more difficult to live. Methodology: Ethical statement: The study used secondary data available in the public domain for its wider use in social research. Thus, there was no requirement of ethical consent in the present study. Data source: Building a Knowledge Base on Population Aging in India (BKPAI), 2011 dataset is used to fulfill the objectives of this study. It was carried out in seven states – Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal – having a higher percentage of the population in the age group 60 years and above compared to the national average. Statistical analysis: Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to understand the level of elderly widows and incidence of abuse against them in India and selected states. Bivariate and Trivariate analysis were carried out to check the pattern of abuse by selected covariates. Chi-Square test is used to verify the significance of the association. Further, Discriminant Analysis (DA) is carried out to understand which factor can separate out group of neglect and non-neglect elderly. Result: With the addition of 27 million from 2001 to 2011, the total elderly population in India is more than 100 million. Elderly females aged 60+ were more widows than their counterpart elderly males. This pattern was observed across selected states and at national level. At national level, more than one tenth (12 percent) of elderly experienced abuse in their lifetime. Incidence of abuse against elderly widows within family was considerably higher than the outside the family. This pattern was observed across the selected place and abuse in the study. In discriminant analysis, the significant difference between neglected and non-neglected elderly on each of the independent variables was examined using group mean and ANOVA. Discussion: The study is the first of its kind to assess the incidence of abuse against elderly widows using large-scale survey data. Another novelty of this study is that it has assessed for those states in India whereby the proportion of elderly is higher than the national average. Place and perpetrators involved in the abuse against elderly widows certainly envisaged the safeness in the present living arrangement of elderly widows. Conclusion: Due to the increasing life expectancy it is expected that the number of elderly will increase much faster than before. As biologically women live longer than men, there will be more women elderly than men. With respect to the living arrangement, after the demise of the spouse, elderly widows are more likely to live with their children who emerged as the main perpetrator of abuse.

Keywords: elderly abuse, emotional abuse physical abuse, material abuse, psychological abuse, quality of life

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Authors: Tamar Grdzelishvili, Zaza Sinauridze

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Introduction: Preeclampsia is a complication of the second trimester of pregnancy, which is characterized by high morbidity and multiorgan damage. Many complex pathogenic mechanisms are now implicated to be responsible for this disease (1). Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality worldwide. Statistics are enough to convince you of the seriousness of this pathology: about 100,000 women die of preeclampsia every year. It occurs in 3-14% (varies significantly depending on racial origin or ethnicity and geographical region) of pregnant women, in 75% of cases - in a mild form, and in 25% - in a severe form. During severe pre-eclampsia-eclampsia, perinatal mortality increases by 5 times and stillbirth by 9.6 times. Considering that the only way to treat the disease is to end the pregnancy, the main thing is timely diagnosis and prevention of the disease. Identification of high-risk pregnant women for PE and giving prophylaxis would reduce the incidence of preterm PE. First-trimester screening model developed by the Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF), which uses the Bayes-theorem to combine maternal characteristics and medical history together with measurements of mean arterial pressure, uterine artery pulsatility index, and serum placental growth factor, has been proven to be effective and have superior screening performance to that of traditional risk factor-based approach for the prediction of PE (2) Methods: Retrospective single center screening study. The study population consisted of women from the Tbilisi maternity hospital “Pineo medical ecosystem” who met the following criteria: they spoke Georgian, English, or Russian and agreed to participate in the study after discussing informed consent and answering questions. Prior to the study, the informed consent forms approved by the Institutional Review Board were obtained from the study subjects. Early assessment of preeclampsia was performed between 11-13 weeks of pregnancy. The following were evaluated: anamnesis, dopplerography of the uterine artery, mean arterial blood pressure, and biochemical parameter: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A). Individual risk assessment was performed with performed by Fast Screen 3.0 software ThermoFisher scientific. Results: A total of 513 women were recruited and through the study, 51 women were diagnosed with preeclampsia (34.5% in the pregnant women with high risk, 6.5% in the pregnant women with low risk; P<0.000 1). Conclusions: First-trimester screening combining maternal factors with uterine artery Doppler, blood pressure, and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A is useful to predict PE in a routine care setting. More patient studies are needed for final conclusions. The research is still ongoing.

Keywords: first-trimester, preeclampsia, screening, pregnancy-associated plasma protein

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Authors: Rajish Shil, Amal Alduhoori, Vipin Thomachan, Jamal Teir, Radhakrishnan Renganathan

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Background: Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) has a broad spectrum of thrombotic and non-thrombotic clinical manifestations. We present a case of APS presenting with seizure, stroke, and atrial mass. Case Description: A 38-year-old male presented with headache of 10 days duration and tonic-clonic seizure. The neurological examination was normal. Magnetic resonance imaging of brain showed small acute right cerebellar infarct. Magnetic resonance angiography of brain and neck showed a focal narrowing in the origin of the internal carotid artery bilaterally. Electroencephalogram was normal. He was started on aspirin, atorvastatin, and carbamazepine. Transthoracic and trans-esophageal echocardiography showed a pedunculated and lobular atrial mass, measuring 1 X 1.5 cm, which was freely mobile across mitral valve opening across the left ventricular inflow. Autoimmune screening showed positive Antiphospholipid antibodies in high titer (Cardiolipin IgG > 120 units/ml, B2 glycoprotein IgG 90 units/mL). Anti-nuclear antibody was negative. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels were normal. Platelet count was low (111 x 109/L). The patient underwent successful surgical removal of the mass, which looked like a thrombotic clot, and Histopathological analysis confirmed it as a fibrinous clot, with no evidence of tumor cells. The patient was started on full anticoagulation treatment and was followed up regularly in the clinic, where our patient did not have any further complications from the disease. Discussion: Our patient was diagnosed to have APS based on the features of high positive anticardiolipin antibody IgG and B2 glycoprotein IgG levels, Stroke, thrombocytopenia, and abnormal echo findings. Thrombotic vegetation can mimic an atrial myxoma on echo. Conclusion: APS can present with neurological and cardiac manifestations, and therefore a high index of suspicion is necessary for a diagnosis of the disease as it can affect both short and long term treatment plans and prognosis. Therefore, in patients presenting with neurological symptoms like seizures, weakness and radiological diagnosis of stroke in a young patient, where atrial masses could be thought to be the cause of stroke, they should be screened for any concomitant findings of thrombocytopenia and/or activated partial thromboplastin time prolongation, which should raise the suspicion of vasculitis, specifically APS to be the primary cause of the clinical presentation.

Keywords: antiphospholipid syndrome, seizures, atrial mass, stroke

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Authors: Mequanent Wale Mekonen, Edoardo Otranto, Angela Alibrandi

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Diabetic kidney disease is one of the main microvascular complications caused by diabetes. Several clinical and biochemical variables are reported to be associated with diabetic kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes. However, their interrelations could distort the effect estimation of these variables for the disease's progression. The objective of the study is to determine how the biochemical and clinical variables in people with type 2 diabetes are interrelated with each other and their effects on the progression of kidney diseases using advanced statistical methods. As a first step, principal component analysis was used to examine how the biochemical and clinical variables intercorrelate with each other, which helped us reduce a set of correlated biochemical variables to a smaller number of uncorrelated variables. Different types of ordered logit regression models were applied to determine the effect of principal components and clinical variables on the order-level response variable (progression of kidney function). These models were fitted within the framework of category comparison of the response variable (cumulative, stage, and adjacent) and under the assumption of proportionality. This retrospective cross-sectional study retrieved data from a type 2 diabetic cohort in a polyclinic hospital at the University of Messina, Italy. The principal component analysis yielded three uncorrelated components. These are principal component 1, which had negative loading of glycosylated hemoglobin, glycemia, and creatinine; principal component 2, which had negative loading of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein; and principal component 3, which had negative loading of high-density lipoprotein and positive loading of triglycerides. The cumulative odds model indicated that the first principal component (a linear combination of glycosylated hemoglobin, glycemia, and creatinine) was a strong and significant risk factor for the progression of kidney disease, with an effect or odds ratio of 0.423 (95% confidence interval, 0.32–0.52, P value = 0.000). However, because the variable principal component 1 does not meet the proportionality assumption, this effect is an invalid estimate. Alternative ordered logit models that allow the effect to vary across the progression level of kidney disease, such as the partial adjacent category models, the partial continuation ratio model, and the partial cumulative odds model, were used to obtain accurate effect estimates. The partial cumulative odds model, partial continuation ratio, and partial adjacent category suggested that clinical variables age, sex, body mass index, medication (metformin), and biochemical variables glycosylated hemoglobin, glycemia, and creatinine significantly impact the progression of kidney disease.

Keywords: diabetic kidney disease, ordered logit model, principal component analysis, type 2 diabetes

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Authors: Mariana-Dana Damaceanu

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Electrochemical oxidation is one of the most convenient ways to obtain conjugated polymer films as polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene or polycarbazole. The research in the field has been mainly directed to the study of electrical conduction properties of the materials obtained by electropolymerization, often the main reason being their use as electroconducting electrodes, and very little attention has been paid to the morphological and optical quality of the films electrodeposited on flat surfaces. Electropolymerization of the monomer solution was scarcely used in the past to manufacture polymer-based light-emitting diodes (PLED), most probably due to the difficulty of obtaining defectless polymer films with good mechanical and optical properties, or conductive polymers with well controlled molecular weights. Here we report our attempts in using electrochemical deposition as appropriate method for preparing ultrathin films of fluorene-based polymers for PLED applications. The properties of these films were evaluated in terms of structural morphology, optical properties, and electrochemical conduction. Thus, electropolymerization of 4,4'-(9-fluorenylidene)-dianiline was performed in dichloromethane solution, at a concentration of 10-2 M, using 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate as electrolyte salt. The potential was scanned between 0 and 1.3 V on the one hand, and 0 - 2 V on the other hand, when polymer films with different structures and properties were obtained. Indium tin oxide-coated glass substrate of different size was used as working electrode, platinum wire as counter electrode and calomel electrode as reference. For each potential range 100 cycles were recorded at a scan rate of 100 mV/s. The film obtained in the potential range from 0 to 1.3 V, namely poly(FDA-NH), is visible to the naked eye, being light brown, transparent and fluorescent, and displays an amorphous morphology. Instead, the electrogrowth poly(FDA) film in the potential range of 0 - 2 V is yellowish-brown and opaque, presenting a self-assembled structure in aggregates of irregular shape and size. The polymers structure was identified by FTIR spectroscopy, which shows the presence of broad bands specific to a polymer, the band centered at approx. 3443 cm-1 being ascribed to the secondary amine. The two polymer films display two absorption maxima, at 434-436 nm assigned to π-π* transitions of polymers, and another at 832 and 880 nm assigned to polaron transitions. The fluorescence spectra indicated the presence of emission bands in the blue domain, with two peaks at 422 and 488 nm for poly (FDA-NH), and four narrow peaks at 422, 447, 460 and 484 nm for poly(FDA), peaks originating from fluorene-containing segments of varying degrees of conjugation. Poly(FDA-NH) exhibited two oxidation peaks in the anodic region and the HOMO energy value of 5.41 eV, whereas poly(FDA) showed only one oxidation peak and the HOMO level localized at 5.29 eV. The electrochemical data are discussed in close correlation with the proposed chemical structure of the electrogrowth films. Further research will be carried out to study their use and performance in light-emitting devices.

Keywords: electrogrowth polymer films, fluorene, morphology, optical properties

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Authors: Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha

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The Journal Citation Reports (JCR) of the Thomson Reuters has, for decades, provided the data for bibliometrically assessing the impact of journals. In their criticism of the journal impact factor (JIF), a number of scholars such as Priem, Taraborelli, Groth and Neylon (2010) observe that the “JIF is often incorrectly used to assess the impact of individual articles. It is troubling that the exact details of the JIF are a trade secret, and that significant gaming is relatively easy”. The emergence of alternative metrics (Altmetrics) has introduced another dimension of re-assessing how the impact of journals (and other units such as articles and even individual researchers) can be measured. Altmetrics is premised upon the fact that research is increasingly being disseminated through social network sites such as ResearchGate, Mendeley, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and ImpactStory, among others. This paper adopts informetrics (including altmetrics) techniques to report on the findings of a study conducted to investigate and compare the social media impact of 274 South Africa Post Secondary Education (SAPSE)-accredited journals, which are recognized and accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) of South Africa (SA). We used multiple sources to extract data for the study, namely Altmetric.com and the Thomson Reuters’ Journal Citation Reports. Data was analyzed in order to determine South African journals’ presence and impact on social media as well as contrast the social media impact with Thomson Reuters’ citation impact. The Spearman correlation test was performed to compare the journals’ social media impact and JCR citation impact. Preliminary findings reveal that a total of 6360 articles published in 96 South African journals have received some attention in social media; the most commonly used social media platform was Twitter, followed by Mendeley, Facebook, News outlets, and CiteULike; there were 29 SA journals covered in the JCR in 2008 and this number has grown to 53 journals in 2014; the journals indexed in the Thomson Reuters performed much better, in terms of their altmetrics, than those journals that are not indexed in Thomson Reuters databases; nevertheless, there was high correlation among journals that featured in both datasets; the journals with the highest scores in Altmetric.com included the South African Medical Journal, African Journal of Marine Science, and Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa while the journals with high impact factors in JCR were South African Medical Journal, Onderstepoort: Journal of Veterinary Research, and Sahara: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV-AIDS; and that Twitter has emerged as a strong avenue of sharing and communicating research published in the South African journals. Implications of the results of the study for the dissemination of research conducted in South Africa are offered. Discussions based on the research findings as well as conclusions and recommendations are offered in the full text paper.

Keywords: altmetrics, citation impact, journal citation reports, journal impact factor, journals, research, scholarly publishing, social media impact, South Africa

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Authors: Farhana Nosheen, Maleeha Fatima

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This study on Afghan refugee women living in Punjab, Pakistan, shows a strong relationship between poor socio-economic status and lower nutritional health status. Pakistan is one of the significant countries accepting refugees from the Afghan war. Universally, refugees are vulnerable to food security and basic life necessities. The in-hand study aimed to investigate food insecurity among afghan refugees who recently migrated to Pakistan. Purposive sampling technique was employed to collect the data from afghan women refugees settled in refugee camp settled in Capital city Islamabad, Pakistan. Data was collected through an interview tool. It revealed from data that the majority of women were underweight, about 74.7% in their reproductive years, which is an alarming situation for the forthcoming children and families. It is also shown that There’s a strong impact of their income level, education, dietary habits and food insecurity on their overall health status. It can also be observed in their Body Mass Index and in their physical appearance; they also show extremely poor levels of hemoglobin which is directly indicated anemic condition, especially iron deficiency anemia among the young Afghan refugee women. The illiteracy rate is about 93.33% among the selected participants as well as a majority of this population has 10-12 family size in comparison with their income level of about 10,000-15,000 Pakistani rupees per month, which can hardly meet their daily food expenditure. Adequate food is rarely accessible to young girls and women due to fewer national and international food aids program available in Pakistan. The majority have pale yellowish skin color (due to low iron content) along with clear white eyes (low hemoglobin level), thin hairs (protein deficiency) and spoon-shaped nails (a direct indicator of low iron level). Data showed a significant relation between appetite and BMI as their appetite is very low, which is directly indicated in their underweight body condition. About 56.67% of the participants had Urinary Tract Infections. The main causes included personal unhygienic conditions and lack of washrooms as well as drinking water facilities in their refugee camps. It is suggested that National and international food aid programs should cater to the nutritional demands of women refugees in the world to protect them from food insecurities as well as future researchers should find out better ways of analysis and treatment plans for such kind of communities who are highly prone to nutritional deficiencies and lack of basic supplies.

Keywords: food insecurity, refugees, women, vulnerable

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Authors: Joo-Heon Lee, Ho-Won Jang, Hyung-Won Cho, Tae-Woong Kim

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Drought is a recurrent climatic feature that occurs in virtually every climatic zone around the world. Korea experiences the drought almost every year at the regional scale mainly during in the winter and spring seasons. Moreover, extremely severe droughts at a national scale also occurred at a frequency of six to seven years. Various drought indices had developed as tools to quantitatively monitor different types of droughts and are utilized in the field of drought analysis. Since drought is closely related with climatological and topographic characteristics of the drought prone areas, the basins where droughts are frequently occurred need separate drought preparedness and contingency plans. In this study, an analysis using statistical methods was carried out for the historical droughts occurred in the five major river basins in Korea so that drought characteristics can be quantitatively investigated. It was also aimed to provide information with which differentiated and customized drought preparedness plans can be established based on the basin level analysis results. Conventional methods which quantifies drought execute an evaluation by applying a various drought indices. However, the evaluation results for same drought event are different according to different analysis technique. Especially, evaluation of drought event differs depend on how we view the severity or duration of drought in the evaluation process. Therefore, it was intended to draw a drought history for the most severely affected five major river basins of Korea by investigating a magnitude of drought that can simultaneously consider severity, duration, and the damaged areas by applying drought run theory with the use of SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) that can efficiently quantifies meteorological drought. Further, quantitative analysis for the historical extreme drought at various viewpoints such as average severity, duration, and magnitude of drought was attempted. At the same time, it was intended to quantitatively analyze the historical drought events by estimating the return period by derived SDF (severity-duration-frequency) curve for the five major river basins through parametric regional drought frequency analysis. Analysis results showed that the extremely severe drought years were in the years of 1962, 1988, 1994, and 2014 in the Han River basin. While, the extreme droughts were occurred in 1982 and 1988 in the Nakdong river basin, 1994 in the Geumg basin, 1988 and 1994 in Youngsan river basin, 1988, 1994, 1995, and 2000 in the Seomjin river basin. While, the extremely severe drought years at national level in the Korean Peninsula were occurred in 1988 and 1994. The most damaged drought were in 1981~1982 and 1994~1995 which lasted for longer than two years. The return period of the most severe drought at each river basin was turned out to be at a frequency of 50~100 years.

Keywords: drought magnitude, regional frequency analysis, SPI, SDF(severity-duration-frequency) curve

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Authors: Federico Herrera, Valle Gomez García de Soria, Itxaso Portero Sainz, Carlos Fernández Arandojo, Mercedes Royg, Ana Marcos Jimenez, Anna Kreutzman, Cecilia MuñozCalleja

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Introduction: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) still remains the major complication associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). The pathogenesis involves migration of donor naïve T-cells into recipient secondary lymphoid organs. Two molecules are important in this process: CD62L and CCR7, which are characteristically expressed in naïve/central memory T-cells. With this background, we aimed to study the influence of CCR7 and CD62L on donor lymphocytes in the development and severity of GVHD. Material and methods: This single center study included 98 donor-recipient pairs. Samples were collected prospectively from the apheresis product and phenotyped by flow cytometry. CCR7 and CD62L expression in CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells were compared between patients who developed acute (n=40) or chronic GVHD (n=33) and those who did not (n=38). Results: The patients who developed acute GVHD were transplanted with a higher percentage of CCR7+CD4+ T-cells (p = 0.05) compared to the no GVHD group. These results were confirmed when these patients were divided in degrees according to the severity of the disease; the more severe disease, the higher percentage of CCR7+CD4+ T-cells. Conversely, chronic GVHD patients received a higher percentage of CCR7+CD8+ T-cells (p=0.02) in comparison to those who did not develop the complication. These data were also confirmed when patients were subdivided in degrees of the disease severity. A multivariable analysis confirmed that percentage of CCR7+CD4+ T-cells is a predictive factor of acute GVHD whereas the percentage of CCR7+CD8+ T-cells is a predictive factor of chronic GVHD. In vitro functional assays (migration and activation assays) supported the idea of CCR7+ T-cells were involved in the development of GVHD. As low levels of CD62L expression were detected in all apheresis products, we tested the hypothesis that CD62L was shed during apheresis procedure. Comparing CD62L surface levels in T-cells from the same donor immediately before collecting the apheresis product, and the final apheresis product we found that this process down-regulated CD62L in both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (p=0.008). Interestingly, when CD62L levels were analysed in days 30 or 60 after engraftment, they recovered to baseline (p=0.008). However, to investigate the relation between CD62L expression and the development of GVHD in the recipient samples after the engraftment, no differences were observed comparing patients with GVHD to those who did not develop the disease. Discussion: Our prospective study indicates that the CCR7+ T-cells from the donor, which include naïve and central memory T-cells, contain the alloreactive cells with a high ability to mediate GVHD (in the case of both migration and activation). Therefore we suggest that the proportion and functional properties of CCR7+CD4+ and CCR7+CD8+ T-cells in the apheresis could act as a predictive biomarker to both acute and chronic GVHD respectively. Importantly, our study precludes that CD62L is lost in the apheresis and therefore it is not a reliable biomarker for the development of GVHD.

Keywords: CCR7, CD62L, GVHD, SCT

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Authors: Muhammad Naeem Chaudhry, Fahim Nawaz, Rana Nauman Shabbir

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New strategies aimed at increasing the resilience of crop plants to the negative effects of climate change represent important research priorities of plant scientists. The use of soil microorganisms to alleviate abiotic stresses like drought has gained particular importance in recent past. A field experiment was planned to investigate the effect of phosphorous solubilizing bacteria on yield and seed quality of Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) under water deficit conditions. The study was conducted at Agronomic Research Farm, University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, The Islamia University Bahawalpur, during 4th week of November, 2013. The available seeds of Camelina sativa were inoculated with two bacterial strains (pseudomonas and Bacillus spp.) and grown under various water stress levels i.e. D0, (four irrigations), D3 (three irrigation), D2 (two irrigations), and D1 (one irrigation). The results revealed that drought stress significantly reduced the plant growth and yield, consequently reducing protein contents and oil concentration in camelina. The exposure to drought stress decreased plant height (16%), plant population (27%), number of fertile branches (41-59%), number of pods per plant (35%) and seed per pod (33%). Drought stress also exerted a negative impact on yield characteristics by reducing the 1000-seed weight (65%), final seed yield (52%), biological yield (22%) and harvest index (39%) of camelina. However, the inoculation of seeds with Pseudomonas and Bacillus spp. promoted the plant growth characterized by increased plant height and enhanced plant population. It was noted that inoculation of seeds with Pseudomonas resulted in the maximum plant population (113.4 cm), primary branches (19 plant-1), and number of pods (664 plant-1), whereas Bacillus inoculation resulted in maximum plant height (113.4 cm), seeds per pod (15.9), 1000-seed weight (1.85 g), and seed yield (3378.8 kg ha-1). Moreover, the inoculation with Bacillus also significantly improved the quality attributes of camelina and gave 3.5% and 2.1% higher oil contents than Pseudomonas and control (no-inoculation), respectively. Similarly, the same strain also resulted in maximum protein contents (33.3%). Our results confirmed the hypothesis that inoculation of seeds with phosphorous solubilizing bacterial strains is an effective, viable and environment-friendly approach to improve yield and quality of camelina under water deficit conditions. However, further studies are suggested to investigate the physiological and molecular processes, stimulated by bacterial strains, for increasing drought tolerance in food crops.

Keywords: Camelina, drought stress, phosphate solubilizing bacteria, seed quality

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Authors: Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, Oluwatoyosi Abikoye

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Gender-Based Violence has persistently been an enduring epidemic rooted in various homes and cultures worldwide throughout history. Despite numerous multifaceted approaches aiming to eliminate gender disparity by empowering girls with independent, survival, or entrepreneurial skills, positive transformation efforts for boys are often neglected. This gap, particularly in West Africa, hinders the reshaping of generational perceptions of men's roles in eradicating all forms of violence against women, creating an imbalance in providing holistic, sustainable solutions in our society. In response to this, the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency established the Kings Club initiative in 2018 in Lagos, Nigeria, aligning with UN SDG 5 on 'gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.' This initiative aims to debunk sociocultural misconceptions, educate on sexual and Gender Violence issues, and promote positive masculinity among schoolboys. The objective is to foster a balance in the behavioral and attitudinal mindsets of young boys, contributing to the success of an equitable society for all in the eradication of gender disparity. The ongoing project demonstrates an annual 89% success rate in behavioral and attitudinal mindset shifts among schoolboys by employing qualitative assessments of participants aged 10–17. The paper uses data from 161 secondary school students drawn from 15 schools in Lagos State Education District 6, exposed to modules on Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Health, Masculinity, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Anger Management, and transitioning from boy to man in a 6-week program, with observations and feedback analyses. The paper evaluates changes in attitudes, behaviors, and gender role perceptions among the boys who are now pioneers of the Kings' Club in their respective schools, serving as positive influencers among their peers in schools and at home. The paper's findings provide a nuanced understanding of cultural dynamics shaping male masculinity in West Africa and offer valuable insights into the effectiveness of innovative interventions to end all forms of violence against women. In conclusion, by intentionally reshaping young boys alongside girls, who represent the future, we stand a chance to create culturally sensitive societal norms that bridge the gap of gender inequity and end all forms of violence against women. The paper posits that its outcomes hold research significance, providing targeted interventions in male masculinity in patriarchal societies.

Keywords: cultural dynamics, gender equality, gender-based violence, positive masculinity

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Authors: Shahid Noor, Kazim Najjad, Muhammad Nasir, Irshad Bhutto, Abdul Samad Memon, Khurram Anwar, Tehseen Riaz, Mian Muhammad Hanif, Nauman A. Mallik, Saeed Ahmed, Israr Ahmed, Ali Yasir

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Background: Musculoskeletal pain is the most common complaint presented to the health practitioner. It is well known that untreated or under-treated pain can have a significant negative impact on an individual’s quality of life (QoL). Objectives: This study was conducted across 10 sites in six (6) major cities of Pakistan to evaluate the tolerability, safety, and the clinical response of Nuberol Forte® (Paracetamol 650 mg + Orphenadrine 50 mg) to musculoskeletal pain in routine Pakistani practice and its impact on improving the patient’s QoL. Design & Methods: This NFORT-EFFECT observational, prospective multicenter study was conducted in compliance with Good Clinical Practice guidelines and local regulatory requirements. The study sponsor was "The Searle Company Limited, Pakistan. To maintain the GCP compliances, the sponsor assigned the CRO for the site and data management. Ethical approval was obtained from an independent ethics committee. The IEC reviewed the progress of the study. Written informed consent was obtained from the study participants, and their confidentiality was maintained throughout the study. A total of 399 patients with known prescreened musculoskeletal conditions and pain who attended the study sites were recruited, as per the inclusion/exclusion criteria (clinicaltrials.gov ID# NCT04765787). The recruited patients were then prescribed Paracetamol (650 mg) and Orphenadrine (50 mg) combination (Nuberol Forte®) for 7 to 14 days as per the investigator's discretion based on the pain intensity. After the initial screening (visit 1), a follow-up visit was conducted after 1-2 weeks of the treatment (visit 2). Study Endpoints: The primary objective was to assess the pain management response of Nuberol Forte treatment and the overall safety of the drug. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scale was used to measure pain severity. Secondary to pain, the patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was also assessed using the Muscle, Joint Measure (MJM) scale. The safety was monitored on the first dose by the patients. These assessments were done on each study visit. Results: Out of 399 enrolled patients, 49.4% were males, and 50.6% were females with a mean age of 47.24 ± 14.20 years. Most patients were presented with Knee Osteoarthritis (OA), i.e., 148(38%), followed by backache 70(18.2%). A significant reduction in the mean pain score was observed after the treatment with the combination of Paracetamol and Orphenadrine (p<0.05). Furthermore, an overall improvement in the patient’s QoL was also observed. During the study, only ten patients reported mild adverse events (AEs). Conclusion: The combination of Paracetamol and Orphenadrine (Nuberol Forte®) exhibited effective pain management among patients with musculoskeletal conditions and also improved their QoL.

Keywords: musculoskeletal pain, orphenadrine/paracetamol combination, pain management, quality of life, Pakistani population

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Authors: Tshepang Tshube

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The primary purpose of this study was to examine student-athletes’ experiences, particularly an in-depth account of balancing school and sport. The secondary objective was to assess student-athletes’ susceptibility to the effects of the “dumb-jock” stereotype threat and also determine the strength of athletic and academic identity as predicated by the extent to which stereotype is perceived by student-athletes. Sub-objectives are (a) examine support structures available for student-athletes in their respective academic institutions, (b) to establish the most effective ways to address student-athletes’ learning needs, (c) to establish crucial entourage members who play a pivotal role in student-athletes’ academic pursuits, (d) and unique and effective ways lecturers and coaches can contribute to student-athletes’ learning experiences. To achieve the above stated objectives, the study used a mixed methods approach. A total of 110 student-athletes from colleges and universities in Botswana completed an online survey that was followed by semi-structured interviews with eight student-athletes, and four coaches. The online survey assessed student-athletes’ demographic variables, measured athletic (AIMS), academic (modified from AIMS) identities, and perceived stereotype threat. Student-athletes reported a slightly higher academic identity (M=5.9, SD= .85) compared to athletic identity (M=5.4, SD=1.0). Student-athletes reported a moderate mean (M=3.6, SD=.82) just above the midpoint of the 7-point scale for stereotype threat. A univariate ANOVA was conducted to determine if there was any significant difference between university and college brackets in Botswana with regard to three variables: athletic identity, student identity and stereotype threat. The only significant difference was in the academic identity (Post Hoc-Tukey Student Identity: Bracket A < Bracket B, Bracket C) with Bracket A schools being the least athletically competitive. Bracket C and B are the most athletically competitive brackets in Botswana. Follow-up interviews with student-athletes and coaches were conducted. All interviews lasted an average of 55 minutes. Following all the interviews, all recordings were transcribed which is an obvious first step in qualitative data analysis process. The researcher and an independent academic with experience in qualitative research independently listened to all recordings of the interviews and read the transcripts several times. Qualitative data results indicate that even though student-athletes reported a slightly higher student identity, there are parallels between sports and academic structures on college campuses. Results also provide evidence of lack of academic support for student-athletes. It is therefore crucial for student-athletes to have access to academic support services (e.g., tutoring, flexible study times, and reduced academic loads) to meet their academic needs. Coaches and lecturers play a fundamental role in sporting student-athletes. Coaches and professors’ academic efficacy on student-athletes enhances student-athletes’ academic confidence. Results are discussed within the stereotype threat theory.

Keywords: athletic identity, colligiate sport, sterotype threat, student athletes

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Authors: Sakinah Idris, Femke Ten Hoeve, Kirstin Greaves-Lord

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Background: Social skills interventions are considered to be efficacious if social skills are improved as a result of an intervention. Nevertheless, the objective assessment of social skills is hindered by a lack of sensitive and validated measures. To measure the change in social skills after an intervention, questionnaires reported by parents, clinicians and/or teachers are commonly used. Observations are the most ecologically valid method of assessing improvements in social skills after an intervention. For this purpose, The Program for the Educational and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) was developed for adolescents, in order to teach them the age-appropriate skills needed to participate in society. It is an evidence-based intervention for adolescents with ASD that taught ecologically valid social skills techniques. Objectives: The current study aims to describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the Dutch Contextual Assessment of Social Skills (CASS), an observational outcome measure of social skills for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Methods: 64 adolescents (M = 14.68, SD = 1.41, 71% boys) with ASD performed the CASS before and after a social skills intervention (i.e. PEERS or the active control condition). Each adolescent completed a 3-minute conversation with a confederate. The conversation was prompt as a natural introduction between two-unfamiliar, similar ages, opposite-sex peers who meet for the first time. The adolescent and the confederate completed a brief questionnaire about the conversation (Conversation Rating Scale). Results: Results indicated sufficient psychometric properties. The Dutch CASS has a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach's α coefficients = 0.84). Data supported the convergent validity (i.e., significant correlated with the Social Skills Improvement System (SSiS). The Dutch CASS did not significantly correlate with the autistic mannerism subscale from Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), thus proved the divergent validity. Based on scorings made by raters who were kept blind to the time points, reliable change index was computed to assess the change in social skills. With regard to the content validity, only the learning objectives of the first two meetings of PEERS about conversational skills relatively matched with rating domains of the CASS. Due to this underrepresentation, we found an existing observational measure (TOPICC) that covers some of the other learning objectives of PEERS. TOPICC covers 22% of the learning objectives of PEERS about conversational skills, meanwhile, CASS is 45%. Unfortunately, 33% of the learning objectives of PEERS was not covered by CASS or TOPICC. Conclusion: Recommendations are made to improve the psychometric properties and content validity of the Dutch CASS.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, observational, PEERS, social skills

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Authors: Antònio Inês, Davide Silva, Filipa Carvalho, Luís Filipe-Riberiro, Fernando M. Nunes, Luís Abrunhosa, Fernanda Cosme

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The presence of mycotoxins in foodstuff is a matter of concern for food safety. Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain molds, being ochratoxin A (OTA) one of the most relevant. Wines can also be contaminated with these toxicants. Several authors have demonstrated the presence of mycotoxins in wine, especially ochratoxin A. Its chemical structure is a dihydro-isocoumarin connected at the 7-carboxy group to a molecule of L-β-phenylalanine via an amide bond. As these toxicants can never be completely removed from the food chain, many countries have defined levels in food in order to attend health concerns. OTA contamination of wines might be a risk to consumer health, thus requiring treatments to achieve acceptable standards for human consumption. The maximum acceptable level of OTA in wines is 2.0 μg/kg according to the Commission regulation No. 1881/2006. Therefore, the aim of this work was to reduce OTA to safer levels using different fining agents, as well as their impact on white wine physicochemical characteristics. To evaluate their efficiency, 11 commercial fining agents (mineral, synthetic, animal and vegetable proteins) were used to get new approaches on OTA removal from white wine. Trials (including a control without addition of a fining agent) were performed in white wine artificially supplemented with OTA (10 µg/L). OTA analyses were performed after wine fining. Wine was centrifuged at 4000 rpm for 10 min and 1 mL of the supernatant was collected and added of an equal volume of acetonitrile/methanol/acetic acid (78:20:2 v/v/v). Also, the solid fractions obtained after fining, were centrifuged (4000 rpm, 15 min), the resulting supernatant discarded, and the pellet extracted with 1 mL of the above solution and 1 mL of H2O. OTA analysis was performed by HPLC with fluorescence detection. The most effective fining agent in removing OTA (80%) from white wine was a commercial formulation that contains gelatin, bentonite and activated carbon. Removals between 10-30% were obtained with potassium caseinate, yeast cell walls and pea protein. With bentonites, carboxymethylcellulose, polyvinylpolypyrrolidone and chitosan no considerable OTA removal was verified. Following, the effectiveness of seven commercial activated carbons was also evaluated and compared with the commercial formulation that contains gelatin, bentonite and activated carbon. The different activated carbons were applied at the concentration recommended by the manufacturer in order to evaluate their efficiency in reducing OTA levels. Trial and OTA analysis were performed as explained previously. The results showed that in white wine all activated carbons except one reduced 100% of OTA. The commercial formulation that contains gelatin, bentonite and activated carbon reduced only 73% of OTA concentration. These results may provide useful information for winemakers, namely for the selection of the most appropriate oenological product for OTA removal, reducing wine toxicity and simultaneously enhancing food safety and wine quality.

Keywords: wine, ota removal, food safety, fining

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Authors: S.K. Bhandari, E. Veneklaas, L. McCaw, R. Mazanec, K. Whitford, M. Renton

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Eucalyptus marginata, E. diversicolor and Corymbia calophylla form widespread forests in south-west Western Australia (SWWA). These forests have economic and ecological importance, and therefore, tree growth and sustainable management are of high priority. This paper aimed to analyse and model the growth of these species at both stand and individual levels, but this presentation will focus on predicting the growth of E. Marginata at the individual tree level. More specifically, the study wanted to investigate how well individual E. marginata tree growth could be predicted by considering the diameter and height of the tree at the start of the growth period, and whether this prediction could be improved by also accounting for the competition from neighbouring trees in different ways. The study also wanted to investigate how many neighbouring trees or what neighbourhood distance needed to be considered when accounting for competition. To achieve this aim, the Pearson correlation coefficient was examined among competition indices (CIs), between CIs and dbh growth, and selected the competition index that can best predict the diameter growth of individual trees of E. marginata forest managed under different thinning regimes at Inglehope in SWWA. Furthermore, individual tree growth models were developed using simple linear regression, multiple linear regression, and linear mixed effect modelling approaches. Individual tree growth models were developed for thinned and unthinned stand separately. The developed models were validated using two approaches. In the first approach, models were validated using a subset of data that was not used in model fitting. In the second approach, the model of the one growth period was validated with the data of another growth period. Tree size (diameter and height) was a significant predictor of growth. This prediction was improved when the competition was included in the model. The fit statistic (coefficient of determination) of the model ranged from 0.31 to 0.68. The model with spatial competition indices validated as being more accurate than with non-spatial indices. The model prediction can be optimized if 10 to 15 competitors (by number) or competitors within ~10 m (by distance) from the base of the subject tree are included in the model, which can reduce the time and cost of collecting the information about the competitors. As competition from neighbours was a significant predictor with a negative effect on growth, it is recommended including neighbourhood competition when predicting growth and considering thinning treatments to minimize the effect of competition on growth. These model approaches are likely to be useful tools for the conservations and sustainable management of forests of E. marginata in SWWA. As a next step in optimizing the number and distance of competitors, further studies in larger size plots and with a larger number of plots than those used in the present study are recommended.

Keywords: competition, growth, model, thinning

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Authors: Nzereogu Stella Kosi, Igwe Ogbonnaya, Emeh Chukwuebuka Odinaka

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A comparative analysis of the expansion rate and soil erodibility of some gullies in Nnewi and Nnobi both of Nanka Formation were studied. The study involved an integration of field observations, geotechnical analysis, slope stability analysis, multivariate statistical analysis, gully expansion rate analysis, and determination of the soil erodibility factor (K) from Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Fifteen representative gullies were studied extensively, and results reveal that the geotechnical properties of the soil, topography, vegetation cover, rainfall intensity, and the anthropogenic activities in the study area were major factors propagating and influencing the erodibility of the soils. The specific gravity of the soils ranged from 2.45-2.66 and 2.54-2.78 for Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively. Grain size distribution analysis revealed that the soils are composed of gravel (5.77-17.67%), sand (79.90-91.01%), and fines (2.36-4.05%) for Nnewi and gravel (7.01-13.65%), sand (82.47-88.67%), and fines (3.78-5.02%) for Nnobi. The soils are moderately permeable with values ranging from 2.92 x 10-5 - 6.80 x 10-4 m/sec and 2.35 x 10-6 - 3.84 x 10⁻⁴m/sec for Nnewi and Nnobi respectively. All have low cohesion values ranging from 1–5kPa and 2-5kPa and internal friction angle ranging from 29-38° and 30-34° for Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively, which suggests that the soils have low shear strength and are susceptible to shear failure. Furthermore, the compaction test revealed that the soils were loose and easily erodible with values of maximum dry density (MDD) and optimum moisture content (OMC) ranging from 1.82-2.11g/cm³ and 8.20-17.81% for Nnewi and 1.98-2.13g/cm³ and 6.00-17.80% respectively. The plasticity index (PI) of the fines showed that they are nonplastic to low plastic soils and highly liquefiable with values ranging from 0-10% and 0-9% for Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to establish relationship among the determined parameters. Slope stability analysis gave factor of safety (FoS) values in the range of 0.50-0.76 and 0.82-0.95 for saturated condition and 0.73-0.98 and 0.87-1.04 for unsaturated condition for both Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively indicating that the slopes are generally unstable to critically stable. The erosion expansion rate analysis for a fifteen-year period (2005-2020) revealed an average longitudinal expansion rate of 36.05m/yr, 10.76m/yr, and 183m/yr for Nnewi, Nnobi, and Nanka type gullies, respectively. The soil erodibility factor (K) are 8.57x10⁻² and 1.62x10-4 for Nnewi and Nnobi, respectively, indicating that the soils in Nnewi have higher erodibility potentials than those of Nnobi. From the study, both the Nnewi and Nnobi areas are highly prone to erosion. However, based on the relatively lower fine content of the soil, relatively lower topography, steeper slope angle, and sparsely vegetated terrain in Nnewi, soil erodibility and gully intensity are more profound in Nnewi than Nnobi.

Keywords: soil erodibility, gully expansion, nnewi-nnobi, slope stability, factor of safety

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Authors: S. H. Babu Gurucharan, Priyanka Kaushal

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Majority of the world's population is expected to live in the Asia and Pacific region by 2050 and thus their cities will generate the maximum waste. India, being the second populous country in the world, is an ideal case study to identify a solution for Asian countries. Waste minimisation and utilisation have always been part of the Indian culture. During rapid urbanisation, our society lost the art of waste minimisation and utilisation habits. Presently, Waste is not considered as a resource, thus wasting an opportunity to tap resources. The technologies in vogue are not suited for effective treatment of large quantities of generated solid waste, without impacting the environment and the population. If not treated efficiently, Waste can become a silent killer. The article is trying to highlight the Indian municipal solid waste scenario as a key indicator of Asian waste management and recommend sustainable waste management and suggest effective solutions to treat the Solid Waste. The methods followed during the research were to analyse the solid waste data on characteristics of solid waste generated in Indian cities, then evaluate the current technologies to identify the most suitable technology in Indian conditions with minimal environmental impact, interact with the technology technical teams, then generate a technical process specific to Indian conditions and further examining the environmental impact and advantages/ disadvantages of the suggested process. The most important finding from the study was the recognition that most of the current municipal waste treatment technologies being employed, operate sub-optimally in Indian conditions. Therefore, the study using the available data, generated heat and mass balance of processes to arrive at the final technical process, which was broadly divided into Waste processing, Waste Treatment, Power Generation, through various permutations and combinations at each stage to ensure that the process is techno-commercially viable in Indian conditions. Then environmental impact was arrived through secondary sources and a comparison of environmental impact of different technologies was tabulated. The major advantages of the suggested process are the effective use of waste for resource generation both in terms of maximised power output or conversion to eco-friendly products like biofuels or chemicals using advanced technologies, minimum environmental impact and the least landfill requirement. The major drawbacks are the capital, operations and maintenance costs. The existing technologies in use in Indian municipalities have their own limitations and the shortlisted technology is far superior to other technologies in vogue. Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste with an efficient green power generation is possible through a combination of suitable environment-friendly technologies. A combination of bio-reactors and plasma-based gasification technology is most suitable for Indian Waste and in turn for Asian waste conditions.

Keywords: calorific value, gas fermentation, landfill, municipal solid waste, plasma gasification, syngas

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Authors: Loganathan Kumaresan, Velusamy Chidambaram, Arumugam Velayutham Karthikeyani, Alex Cheru Pulikottil, Madhusudan Sau, Gurpreet Singh Kapur, Sankara Sri Venkata Ramakumar

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Environmentally driven regulations throughout the world stipulate dramatic improvements in the quality of transportation fuels and refining operations. The exhaust gases like CO, NOx, and SOx from stationary sources (e.g., refinery) and motor vehicles contribute to a large extent for air pollution. The refining industry is under constant environmental pressure to achieve more rigorous standards on sulphur content in the fuel used in the transportation sector and other off-gas emissions. Fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) is a major secondary process in refinery for gasoline and diesel production. CO-combustion promoter additive and gasoline sulphur reduction (GSR) additive are catalytic systems used in FCCU to assist the combustion of CO to CO₂ in the regenerator and regulate sulphur in gasoline faction respectively along with main FCC catalyst. Effectiveness of these catalysts is governed by the active metal used, its dispersion, the type of base material employed, and retention characteristics of additive in FCCU such as attrition resistance and density. The challenge is to have a high-density microsphere catalyst support for its retention and high activity of the active metals as these catalyst additives are used in low concentration compare to the main FCC catalyst. The present paper discusses in the first part development of high dense microsphere of nanocrystalline alumina by hydro-thermal method for CO combustion promoter application. Performance evaluation of additive was conducted under simulated regenerator conditions and shows CO combustion efficiency above 90%. The second part discusses the efficacy of a co-precipitation method for the generation of the active crystalline spinels of Zn, Mg, and Cu with aluminium oxides as an additive. The characterization and micro activity test using heavy combined hydrocarbon feedstock at FCC unit conditions for evaluating gasoline sulphur reduction activity are studied. These additives were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction, NH₃-TPD & N₂ sorption analysis, TPR analysis to establish structure-activity relationship. The reaction of sulphur removal mechanisms involving hydrogen transfer reaction, aromatization and alkylation functionalities are established to rank GSR additives for their activity, selectivity, and gasoline sulphur removal efficiency. The sulphur shifting in other liquid products such as heavy naphtha, light cycle oil, and clarified oil were also studied. PIONA analysis of liquid product reveals 20-40% reduction of sulphur in gasoline without compromising research octane number (RON) of gasoline and olefins content.

Keywords: hydrothermal, nanocrystalline, spinel, sulphur reduction

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Authors: Amel Fayed, Shaden AlSubaih, Nouf Al-Qahtani, Asmaa Gosty, Asma Aljuhaimi

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Introduction: Sleep difficulties are vastly predominant among adults and affect different aspects of their life. Many literatures found out that females are more liable to suffer from sleeping problems. College students are typical example of people dealing with daily pressure and stress to fulfill the daily tasks and responsibilities. In addition to their ultimate goal of achieving excellent academic records which require their full concentration and effort. Consequently, many of them start complaining of sleep deprivations which can undesirably affect their academic achievements. This study was aiming to investigate how prevalent is sleeping disorders among different colleges in the university and its relation their academic achievements. Methods: A cross-sectional study of female university students at Princess Norah Bint Abdulrahman University using self-administered questionnaire was conducted. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) was used to assess different grades of insomnia. Students were requested to answer the questions evaluating their sleeping habits over the last two weeks. Participants reported their latest Grade Point Average (GPA). According to ISI, insomnia severity is reported as ‘No clinically significant’, ‘Subthreshold ‘,’ Clinical moderate insomnia’ and ‘Clinical severe’. Results: In the current study, 228 students participated; 172(75.4%) from medical colleges and 56 (24.6%) from non-medical colleges. About 80% of them claimed to have never taken any medications to help them sleep while only three students confirmed their regular use of sleep-inducing medications. About 16% of the students drink milk or other hot drinks to help them fall asleep. None of the students was suspected of having obstructive sleep apnea or apparent psychiatric disorder. According to ISI, 182 (79.8%) students suffered from subthreshold insomnia, 37 (16.2%) had clinical insomnia (moderate severity) and 9 (3.9%) of students had sleeping problems of non-clinically significance level. However, none of students was found to have severe clinical insomnia. Clinical moderate insomnia was reported in 15.1% of medical students and 19.6% of non-medical students. Moreover, about 82% of medical students suffered from subthreshold insomnia compared to 73.2% of non-medical students. This difference was not statistically significant (P=0.24). About 63% of medical students and 48% of non-medical students believed that high percentage of their colleagues are suffering from insomnias (p-value 0.08) The association between GPA and insomnia revealed that; 19.5% of low GPA group compared to 9.3% of high GPA group had clinical moderate insomnia. This association was not statistically significant (p=0.15). The correlation between the GPA and the ISI score was negative but not conclusive (r=-0.08, p-value = 0.29). More than 92% of all students agreed that sleeping problems affect their academic achievement to varying degrees. Conclusion: our results suggest that insomnia is commonly prevalent among female university students and might affect the students’ achievement. This study provides preliminary data about the quality of sleep among medical and non-medical university students which may be used to promote the healthy sleeping habits among female students.

Keywords: academic achievement, females, insomnia, university student

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Authors: A. F. Jaber, E. Dean, M. Liu, J. He, D. Sabata, J. Radel

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Background: Stroke is a serious health care concern and a major cause of disability in the United States. This condition impacts the individual’s functional ability to perform daily activities. Predicting functional performance of people with stroke assists health care professionals in optimizing the delivery of health services to the affected individuals. The purpose of this study was to identify significant predictors of Motor FIM and of Cognitive FIM subscores among individuals with stroke after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation (typically 4-6 weeks after stroke onset). A second purpose is to explore the relation among personal characteristics, health status, and functional performance of daily activities within 2 weeks of stroke onset. Methods: This study used a retrospective chart review to conduct a secondary analysis of data obtained from the Healthcare Enterprise Repository for Ontological Narration (HERON) database. The HERON database integrates de-identified clinical data from seven different regional sources including hospital electronic medical record systems of the University of Kansas Health System. The initial HERON data extract encompassed 1192 records and the final sample consisted of 207 participants who were mostly white (74%) males (55%) with a diagnosis of ischemic stroke (77%). The outcome measures collected from HERON included performance scores on the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). The data analysis plan included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and Stepwise regression analysis. Results: significant predictors of discharge Motor FIM subscores included age, baseline Motor FIM subscores, discharge NIHSS scores, and comorbid electrolyte disorder (R2 = 0.57, p <0.026). Significant predictors of discharge Cognitive FIM subscores were age, baseline cognitive FIM subscores, client cooperative behavior, comorbid obesity, and the total number of comorbidities (R2 = 0.67, p <0.020). Functional performance on admission was significantly associated with age (p < 0.01), stroke severity (p < 0.01), and length of hospital stay (p < 0.05). Conclusions: our findings show that younger age, good motor and cognitive abilities on admission, mild stroke severity, fewer comorbidities, and positive client attitude all predict favorable functional outcomes after inpatient stroke rehabilitation. This study provides health care professionals with evidence to evaluate predictors of favorable functional outcomes early at stroke rehabilitation, to tailor individualized interventions based on their client’s anticipated prognosis, and to educate clients about the benefits of making lifestyle changes to improve their anticipated rate of functional recovery.

Keywords: functional performance, predictors, stroke, recovery

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Authors: Jihede Haj Messaoud, Hamdi Omar, Hela Fakhfakh Ben Jemia, Chokri Yaich

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The Upper Lutetian alternating marl–limestone succession of Reineche Member was deposited over a warm shallow carbonate platform that permits Nummulites proliferation. High-resolution studies of 30 meters thick Nummulites-bearing Reineche Member, cropping out in Central Tunisia (Jebel Siouf), have been undertaken, regarding pronounced cyclical sedimentary sequences, in order to investigate the periodicity of cycles and their related orbital-scale oceanic and climatic changes. The palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic data are preserved in several proxies obtainable through high-resolution sampling and laboratories measurement and analysis as magnetic susceptibility (MS) and carbonates contents in conjunction with a wireline logging tools. The time series analysis of proxies permits to establish cyclicity orders present in the studied intervals which could be linked to the orbital cycles. MS records provide high-resolution proxies for relative sea level change in Late Lutetian strata. The spectral analysis of MS fluctuations confirmed the orbital forcing by the presence of the complete suite of orbital frequencies in the precession of 23 ka, the obliquity of 41 ka, and notably the two modes of eccentricity of 100 and 405 ka. Regarding the two periodic sedimentary cycles detected by wavelet analysis of proxy fluctuations which coincide with the long-term 405 ka eccentricity cycle, the Reineche Member spanned 0,8 Myr. Wireline logging tools as gamma ray and sonic were used as a proxies to decipher cyclicity and trends in sedimentation and contribute to identifying and correlate units. There are used to constraint the highest frequency cyclicity modulated by a long term wavelength cycling apparently controlled by clay content. Interpreted as a result of variations in carbonate productivity, it has been suggested that the marl-limestone couplets, represent the sedimentary response to the orbital forcing. The calculation of cycle durations through Reineche Member, is used as a geochronometer and permit the astronomical calibration of the geologic time scale. Furthermore, MS coupled with carbonate contents, and fossil occurrences provide strong evidence for combined detrital inputs and marine surface carbonate productivity cycles. These two synchronous processes were driven by the precession index and ‘fingerprinted’ in the basic marl–limestone couplets, modulated by orbital eccentricity.

Keywords: magnetic susceptibility, cyclostratigraphy, orbital forcing, spectral analysis, Lutetian

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Authors: Adriana Garcia G., Alberto A. Escobar P., Amira D. Calvo L., Gabriel Lizama U., Alejandro Zepeda P., Fernando Martínez B., Susana Rincón A.

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Different studies have recently been focused on the use of antioxidants such as polyphenols because of to its anticarcinogenic capacity. However, these compounds are highly sensible to environmental factors such as light and heat, so lose its long-term stability, besides possess an astringent and bitter taste. Nevertheless, the polyphenols can be protected by microcapsule formulation. In this sense, a rich source of polyphenols is sorghum, besides presenting a high starch content. Due to the above, the aim of this work was to obtain modified starches from sorghum by extrusion to encapsulate polyphenols the sorghum by spray drying. Polyphenols were extracted by ethanol solution from sorghum (Pajarero/red) and determined by the method of Folin-Ciocalteu, obtaining GAE at 30 mg/g. Moreover, was extracted starch of sorghum (Sinaloense/white) through wet milling (yield 32 %). The hydrolyzed starch was modified with three treatments: acetic anhydride (2.5g/100g), sodium tripolyphosphate (4g/100g), and sodium tripolyphosphate/ acetic anhydride (2g/1.25g by each 100 g) by extrusion. Processing conditions of extrusion were as follows: barrel temperatures were of 60, 130 and 170 °C at the feeding, transition, and high-pressure extrusion zones, respectively. Analysis of Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), showed bands exhibited of acetyl groups (1735 cm-1) and phosphates (1170 cm-1, 910 cm-1 and 525 cm-1), indicating the respective modification of starch. Besides, all modified starches not developed viscosity, which is a characteristic required for use in the encapsulation of polyphenols using the spray drying technique. As result of the modification starch, was obtained a water solubility index (WSI) from 33.8 to 44.8 %, and crystallinity from 8 to 11 %, indicating the destruction of the starch granule. Afterwards, microencapsulation of polyphenols was developed by spray drying, with a blend of 10 g of modified starch, 60 ml polyphenol extract and 30 ml of distilled water. Drying conditions were as follows: inlet air temperature 150 °C ± 1, outlet air temperature 80°C ± 5. As result of the microencapsulation: were obtained yields of 56.8 to 77.4 % and an efficiency of encapsulation from 84.6 to 91.4 %. The FTIR analysis showed evidence of microcapsules loaded with polyphenols in bands 1042 cm-1, 1038 cm-1 and 1148 cm-1. Analysis Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed transition temperatures from 144.1 to 173.9 °C. For the order hand, analysis of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), were observed rounded surfaces with concavities, typical feature of microcapsules produced by spray drying, how result of rapid evaporation of water. Finally, the modified starches were obtained by extrusion with good characteristics for use as cover materials by spray drying, where the phosphorylated starch was the best treatment in this work, according to the encapsulation yield, efficiency, and transition temperature.

Keywords: encapsulation, extrusion, modified starch, polyphenols, spray drying

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Authors: J. Waita, S. Wamuhu, J. Makoyo, M. Rachel, T. Ngangari, W. Christine, M. Zipporah

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Contraceptive use is one of the key global strategies to alleviate maternal mortality. Global efforts through advocating for contraceptive uptake and service provision has led improved contraceptive prevalence. In Kenya maternal mortality rate has remained a challenged despites efforts by government and non-governmental organizations. Objective: To describe the uptake of contraceptives among women in Tunza Clinics, Kenya. Design and Methods: Ps Kenya through health care marketing fund is implementing a family planning program among its 350 Tunza fractional franchise facilities. Through private partnership, private owned facilities in low socio-economic areas are recruited and trained on contraceptive technology update. The providers are supported through facilitative supervision through a mobile based application Health Network Quality Improvement System (HNQIS) and interpersonal communication through 150 community based volunteers. The data analyzed in this paper was collected between January to July 2017 to show the uptake of modern Contraceptives among women in the Tunza franchise, method mix, age and distribution among the age bracket. Further analysis compares two different service delivery strategies; outreach and walk ins. Supportive supervision HNQIS scores was analyzed. Results: During the time period, a total of 132121 family planning clients were attended in 350 facilities. The average age of clients was 29.6 years. The average number of clients attended in the facilities per month was 18874. 73.7 %( n=132121) of the clients attended in the Tunza facilities were aged above 25 years while 22.1% 20-24 years and 4.2% 15-19 years. On contraceptive method mix, intra uterine device insertions clients contributed to 7.5%, implant insertions 15.3%, pills 11.2%, injections 62.7% while condoms and emergency pills had 2.7% and 0.6% respectively. Analysis of service delivery strategy indicated more than 79% of the clients were walk ins while 21% were attended to during outreaches. Uptake of long term contraceptive methods during outreaches was 73% of the clients while short term modern methods were 27%. Health Network Quality Improvement system assessment scores indicated 51% of the facilities scored over 90%, 25% scoring 80-89% while 21% scored below 80%. Conclusion: Preference for short term methods by women is possibly associated to cost as they are cheaper and easy to administer. When the cost of intra uterine device Implants is meant affordable during outreaches, the uptake is observed to increase. Making intra uterine device and implants affordable to women is a key strategy in increasing contraceptive prevalence hence averting maternal mortality.

Keywords: contraceptives, contraceptive uptake, low socio economic, supportive supervision

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Authors: Benjamin Castillo, Luis Pastenes, Fernando Cordova

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The pathogen growth in animal source foods is a common problem in the food industry, causing monetary losses due to the spoiling of products or food intoxication outbreaks in the community. In this sense, the quality of the product is reflected by the population of deteriorating agents present in it, which are mainly bacteria. The factors which are likely associated with freshness in animal source foods are temperature and processing, storage, and transport times. However, the level of deterioration of products depends, in turn, on the characteristics of the bacterial population, causing the decomposition or spoiling, such as pH level and toxins. Knowing the growth dynamics of the agents that are involved in product contamination allows the monitoring for more efficient processing. This means better quality and reasonable costs, along with a better estimation of necessary time and temperature intervals for transport and storage in order to preserve product quality. The objective of this project is to design a secondary model that allows measuring the impact on temperature bacterial growth and the competition for pH adequacy and release of bacteriocins in order to describe such phenomenon and, thus, estimate food product half-life with the least possible risk of deterioration or spoiling. In order to achieve this objective, the authors propose an analysis of a three-dimensional ordinary differential which includes; logistic bacterial growth extended by the inhibitory action of bacteriocins including the effect of the medium pH; change in the medium pH levels through an adaptation of the Luedeking-Piret kinetic model; Bacteriocin concentration modeled similarly to pH levels. These three dimensions are being influenced by the temperature at all times. Then, this differential system is expanded, taking into consideration the variable temperature and the concentration of pulsed bacteriocins, which represent characteristics inherent of the modeling, such as transport and storage, as well as the incorporation of substances that inhibit bacterial growth. The main results lead to the fact that temperature changes in an early stage of transport increased the bacterial population significantly more than if it had increased during the final stage. On the other hand, the incorporation of bacteriocins, as in other investigations, proved to be efficient in the short and medium-term since, although the population of bacteria decreased, once the bacteriocins were depleted or degraded over time, the bacteria eventually returned to their regular growth rate. The efficacy of the bacteriocins at low temperatures decreased slightly, which equates with the fact that their natural degradation rate also decreased. In summary, the implementation of the mathematical model allowed the simulation of a set of possible bacteria present in animal based products, along with their properties, in various transport and storage situations, which led us to state that for inhibiting bacterial growth, the optimum is complementary low constant temperatures and the initial use of bacteriocins.

Keywords: bacterial growth, bacteriocins, mathematical modelling, temperature

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