Search results for: climate change risk

Authors: Shihab-Uz-Zaman Shah, Sanjeeb Roy, Habiba Akter

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Keeping the high impact of the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) on the country’s economic growth in mind, this research paves a way for the implementation of Industry 4.0 in the garments industry of Bangladesh. At present, Industry 4.0 is a common buzzword representing the adoption of digital technologies in the production process to transform the existing industries into smart factories and create a great change in the global value chain. The RMG industry is the largest industrial sector of Bangladesh which provides 12.26% to its National GDP (Gross Domestic Product). The work starts with identifying possible enablers of Industry 4.0. To evaluate the enablers, a Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) procedure named Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was used. A questionnaire was developed as a part of a survey for collecting and analyzing expert opinions from relevant academicians and industrialists. The responses were eventually used as the input for the FAHP which helped to assign weight matrices to the enablers. This weight matrix indicated the level of importance of these enablers. The full paper will discuss the way of a successful evaluation of the enablers and implementation of Industry 4.0 by using these enablers.

Keywords: enablers, fuzzy AHP, industry 4.0, RMG sector

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Authors: Merouane Salhi, Toufik Zebbiche

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When the stagnation pressure of perfect gas increases, the specific heat and their ratio do not remain constant anymore and start to vary with this pressure. The gas doesn’t remain perfect. Its state equation change and it becomes for a real gas. In this case, the effects of molecular size and intermolecular attraction forces intervene to correct the state equation. The aim of this work is to show and discuss the effect of stagnation pressure on supersonic thermodynamical, physical and geometrical flow parameters, to find a general case for real gas. With the assumptions that Berthelot’s state equation accounts for the molecular size and intermolecular force effects, expressions are developed for analyzing supersonic flow for thermally and calorically imperfect gas lower than the dissociation molecules threshold. The designs parameters for supersonic nozzle like thrust coefficient depend directly on stagnation parameters of the combustion chamber. The application is for air. A computation of error is made in this case to give a limit of perfect gas model compared to real gas model.

Keywords: supersonic flow, real gas model, Berthelot’s state equation, Simpson’s method, condensation function, stagnation pressure

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Authors: Mujahid S. Alharbi

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The construction of process plants in oil and gas-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia, necessitates substantial investment in design and building. Each new plant, while unique, includes common building types, suggesting an opportunity for design standardization. This study investigates the adoption of standardized Issue For Construction (IFC) packages for non-process buildings in Saudi Aramco. A SWOT analysis presents the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of this approach. The approach's benefits are illustrated using the Hawiyah Unayzah Gas Reservoir Storage Program (HUGRSP) as a case study. Standardization not only offers significant cost savings and operational efficiencies but also expedites project timelines, reduces the potential for change orders, and fosters local economic growth by allocating building tasks to local contractors. Standardization also improves project management by easing interface constraints between different contractors and promoting adaptability to future industry changes. This research underscores the standardization of non-process buildings as a powerful strategy for cost optimization, efficiency enhancement, and local economic development in process plant construction within the oil and gas sector.

Keywords: building, construction, management, project, standardization

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Authors: Parvin Ghafarian, Mohammadreza Mohammadpur Panchah, Mehri Fallahi

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Synoptic patterns from surface up to tropopause are very important for forecasting the weather and atmospheric conditions. There are many tools to prepare and analyze these maps. Reanalysis data and the outputs of numerical weather prediction models, satellite images, meteorological radar, and weather station data are used in world forecasting centers to predict the weather. The forecasting extreme precipitating on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea (CS) is the main issue due to complex topography. Also, there are different types of climate in these areas. In this research, we used two reanalysis data such as ECMWF Reanalysis 5th Generation Description (ERA5) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction /National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) for verification of the numerical model. ERA5 is the latest version of ECMWF. The temporal resolution of ERA5 is hourly, and the NCEP/NCAR is every six hours. Some atmospheric parameters such as mean sea level pressure, geopotential height, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, sea surface temperature, etc. were selected and analyzed. Some different type of precipitation (rain and snow) was selected. The results showed that the NCEP/NCAR has more ability to demonstrate the intensity of the atmospheric system. The ERA5 is suitable for extract the value of parameters for specific point. Also, ERA5 is appropriate to analyze the snowfall events over CS (snow cover and snow depth). Sea surface temperature has the main role to generate instability over CS, especially when the cold air pass from the CS. Sea surface temperature of NCEP/NCAR product has low resolution near coast. However, both data were able to detect meteorological synoptic patterns that led to heavy rainfall over CS. However, due to the time lag, they are not suitable for forecast centers. The application of these two data is for research and verification of meteorological models. Finally, ERA5 has a better resolution, respect to NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, but NCEP/NCAR data is available from 1948 and appropriate for long term research.

Keywords: synoptic patterns, heavy precipitation, reanalysis data, snow

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Authors: Husham Bayazed

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The infant immune system has a reputation for being weak and underdeveloped when compared to the adult immune system, but the comparison isn’t quite fair. At the start, as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and evolves, many Pediatricians and kids' parents have been left with renewed questions about the consequences and sequel of infection on children and the steps to be taken if their child, has the symptoms of COVID-19 or tests positive. Recent Findings: Literature reviews and recent studies revealed that children are better than adults at controlling SARS-CoV-2. There was conflicting evidence on age-related differences in ACE2 expression in the nose and lungs. But scientists who measured the ‘viral load’ in children's upper airways have seen no clear difference between children and adults. Moreover, the hypothesis is that kids might be more exposed to other coronaviruses common cold with a production of ready protective antibodies to lock on to the pandemic coronavirus. But the evidence suggests that adults also have this immunity too. Strikingly, these ‘cross-reactive’ antibodies don’t offer any special protection. Summary: One of the few silver linings of the Covid-19 pandemic is that children are relatively spared. The kid's Innate Immunity is hardly the whole story, the innate immune response against SARS-CoV-2 infection is early initiative calm with low immunological tone to prevent an overactive immunity and with rapidly repair damage to the lungs in contrast to stormy waves in adults. Therefore, Kids are at much lower risk of Covid-19 infection and they are still winning the battle against Covid-19 with their innate immunity.

Keywords: kids, Covid-19, immunity, ACT2

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Authors: Lionel Trovalet, Lisa Liu, Dimitri Bigot, Nadia Hammami, Jean-Pierre Habas, Bruno Malet-Damour

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The MCP-iBAT1 project is carried out to study the behavior of Phase Change Materials (PCM) integrated in building envelopes in a tropical environment. Through the phase transitions (melting and freezing) of the material, thermal energy can be absorbed or released. This process enables the regulation of indoor temperatures and the improvement of thermal comfort for the occupants. Most of the commercially available PCMs are more suitable to temperate climates than to tropical climates. The case of Reunion Island is noteworthy as there are multiple micro-climates. This leads to our key question: developing one or multiple bio-based PCMs that cover the thermal needs of the different locations of the island. The present paper focuses on the numerical approach to select the PCM properties relevant to tropical areas. Numerical simulations have been carried out with two softwares: EnergyPlusTM and Isolab. The latter has been developed in the laboratory, with the implicit Finite Difference Method, in order to evaluate different physical models. Both are Thermal Dynamic Simulation (TDS) softwares that predict the building’s thermal behavior with one-dimensional heat transfers. The parameters used in this study are the construction’s characteristics (dimensions and materials) and the environment’s description (meteorological data and building surroundings). The building is modeled in accordance with the experimental setup. It is divided into two rooms, cells A and B, with same dimensions. Cell A is the reference, while in cell B, a layer of commercial PCM (Thermo Confort of MCI Technologies) has been applied to the inner surface of the North wall. Sensors are installed in each room to retrieve temperatures, heat flows, and humidity rates. The collected data are used for the comparison with the numerical results. Our strategy is to implement two similar buildings at different altitudes (Saint-Pierre: 70m and Le Tampon: 520m) to measure different temperature ranges. Therefore, we are able to collect data for various seasons during a condensed time period. The following methodology is used to validate the numerical models: calibration of the thermal and PCM models in EnergyPlusTM and Isolab based on experimental measures, then numerical testing with a sensitivity analysis of the parameters to reach the targeted indoor temperatures. The calibration relies on the past ten months’ measures (from September 2020 to June 2021), with a focus on one-week study on November (beginning of summer) when the effect of PCM on inner surface temperatures is more visible. A first simulation with the PCM model of EnergyPlus gave results approaching the measurements with a mean error of 5%. The studied property in this paper is the melting temperature of the PCM. By determining the representative temperature of winter, summer and inter-seasons with past annual’s weather data, it is possible to build a numerical model of multi-layered PCM. Hence, the combined properties of the materials will provide an optimal scenario for the application on PCM in tropical areas. Future works will focus on the development of bio-based PCMs with the selected properties followed by experimental and numerical validation of the materials. 1Materiaux ´ a Changement de Phase, une innovation pour le B ` ati Tropical

Keywords: energyplus, multi-layer of PCM, phase changing materials, tropical area

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Authors: Mochamad Chalid, Imam Prabowo

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The pollution due to non-degradable material such as plastics, has led to studies about the development of environmental-friendly material. Because of biodegradability obtained from natural sources, polylactid acid (PLA) and ijuk fiber are interesting to modify into a composite. This material is also expected to reduce the impact of environmental pollution. Surface modification of ijuk fiber through alkalinization with 0.25 M NaOH solution for 30 minutes, was aimed to enhance it’s compatibility to PLA, in order to improve properties of the composite such as the mechanical properties. Alkalinization of the ijuk fibers annihilates some surface components such as lignin, wax and hemicelloluse, so the pore on the surface clearly appeared, decreasing of the density and diameter of the ijuk fibers. The change of the ijuk fiber properties leads to increase the mechanical properties of PLA composites reinforced the ijuk fibers through strengthening of the mechanical interlocking with the PLA matrix. An addition to enhance the distribution of the fibers in the PLA matrix, the stirring during DCM solvent evaporation from the mixture of the ijuk fibers and the dissolved-PLA can reduce amount of the trapped-voids and fibers pull-out phenomena, which can decrease the mechanical properties of the composite.

Keywords: polylactic acid, Arenga pinnata, alkalinization, compatibility, adhesion, morphology, mechanical properties, volume fraction, distributiom

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Authors: Liu Junzhu

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In contemporary China,city is expanding with an amazing speed. And because of the unexpected events’ interference, spatial structure could change itself in a short time, That will lead to the new urban district livingness and unfortunately, this phenomenon is very common.On the one hand,it fail to achieve the goal of city planning, On the other hand,it is unfavourable to the sustainable development of city. Bill Hillier’stheory Space Syntax shows organzation pattern of each space,it explains the characteristics of urban spatial patterns and its transformation regulation from the point of self-organization in system and also, it gives confirmatory and predictive ways to the building and city. This paper used axial model to summarize Hangzhou City’s special structure and enhanced comprehensive understanding of macroscopic space and environment, space structure,developing trend, ect, by computer analysis of Space Syntax. From that, it helps us to know the operation law in the urban system and to understand Hangzhou City’s spatial pattern and indirect social effect it has mad more clearly, Thus, it could comply with the tendency of cities development in process and planning of policy and plan our cities’ future sustainably.

Keywords: sustainable urban design, space syntax, spatial network, segment angular analysis, social inclusion

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Authors: Jonathan A. Mikhail, Arsenio Paez

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It is not uncommon for a viral infection to cause hearing loss. Many viral infections are associated with sudden-onset, often unilateral, idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss. We conducted an exploratory study with thirty patients with pre-existing hearing loss between 50 and 64 to evaluate if COVID-19 was associated with exacerbated hearing loss. We hypothesized that hearing loss would be exacerbated by COVID-19 infection in patients with pre-existing hearing loss. A statistically significant paired T-test between pure tone averages (PTAs) at the patient’s original diagnosis and a current, updated audiometric assessment indicated a regression in hearing (p-value < .001) sensitivity following the contraction of COVID-19. Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) and word recognition scores (WRSs) were also considered, as well as the participants' gender. SRTs between each ear exhibited a statistically significant change (p-value of .002 and p-value < .001). WRSs did not show statistically significant differences (p-value of .290 and p-value of .098). A non-statistically significant Two-Way ANOVA was performed to evaluate gender’s potential role in exacerbated hearing loss and proved to be statistically insignificant (p-value of .214). This study discusses practical implications for clinical and educational pursuits in understanding COVID-19's effect on the auditory system and the need to evaluate the deadly virus further.

Keywords: audiology, COVID-19, sensorineural hearing loss, otology, auditory research

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Authors: Luo Jin China, Jin Fang

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Countryside has been generally recognized and regarded as a characteristic symbol which presents in human memory for a long time. As a result of the change of times, because of it’s failure to meet the growing needs of the growing life and mental decline, the vast rural area began to decline. But their history feature image which accumulated by the ancient tradition provides people with the origins of existence on the spiritual level, such as "identity" and "belonging", makes people closer to the others in the spiritual and psychological aspects of a common experience about the past, thus the sense of a lack of culture caused by the losing of memory symbols is weakened. So, in the modernization process, how to repair its vitality and transform and planning it in a sustainable way has become a hot topics in architectural and urban planning. This paper aims to break the constraints of disciplines, from the perspective of interdiscipline, using the research methods of systems science to analyze and discuss the theories and methods of rural form factors, which based on the viewpoint of memory in psychology. So, we can find a right way to transform the Rural to give full play to the role of the countryside in the actual use and the shape of history spirits.

Keywords: rural, sustainable renovation, restoration, psychology, memory

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Authors: Sergei Zhevnenko

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Сontinuous layer of tantalum boride is formed on the surface as a result of reactive wetting of oxidized tantalum by copper melt with boron at a temperatures above 1150 °C. An increase in the wetting temperature above 1400 °C leads to a change in the formation mechanism of tantalum borides, they are formed in the nanosized flakes. In the presented work, we studied the process of copper-based in-situ composite formation, strengthened by the particles of tantalum borides. We investigated the structure of the formed particles, the conditions, and the kinetics of their formation. Dissolving boride particles do not have time to mix uniformly in the melt upon sufficiently rapid cooling and form a macrostructure, partly repeating the shape of the metallic tantalum. This allows to set different gradient structures in the copper alloy. Such macrostructures have been obtained. Boride particles and microstructures were studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and regions with particles were investigated by nanoindentation. In this work, we also measured the kinetics of impregnation of porous tantalum with copper-boron melt and studied the structures of the composite, in which the melt filling the interpore space is saturated with boride particles.

Keywords: copper, tantalum borides, in-situ composites, wetting, imbibition

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Authors: Raúl González Muñoz, Essam Shehab, Martin Weinitzke, Chris Fowler, Paul Baguley

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Software applications have become crucial to the aerospace industry, providing a wide range of functionalities and capabilities used during the design, manufacturing and support of aircraft. However, as this criticality increases, so too does the risk for business operations when facing a software failure. Hence, there is a need for new methodologies to be developed to support aerospace companies in effectively managing their software portfolios, avoiding the hazards of business disruption and additional costs. This paper aims to provide a definition of operational software maturity, and how this can be used to assess software operational behaviour, as well as a view on the different aspects that drive software maturity within the aerospace industry. The key research question addressed is, how can operational software maturity monitoring assist the aerospace industry in effectively managing large software portfolios? This question has been addressed by conducting an in depth review of current literature, by working closely with aerospace professionals and by running an industry case study within a major aircraft manufacturer. The results are a software maturity model composed of a set of drivers and a prototype tool used for the testing and validation of the research findings. By utilising these methodologies to assess the operational maturity of software applications in aerospace, benefits in maintenance activities and operations disruption avoidance have been observed, supporting business cases for system improvement.

Keywords: aerospace, software lifecycle, software maintenance, software maturity

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Authors: Ibrahim Uba Yusuf

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Conflict is a subject or, better put, theme that primarily dominates Hausa home videos. Conflict in Hausa home videos is one of the sources of attraction to viewers, but do such films achieve anything? The Hausa home video industry in Northern Nigeria, popularly called Kannywood has been making attempts by producing cultural products for consumption within and outside the country. The ability of the industry to connect issues of concern within the region is an effort to reckon with. This paper, therefore, examines how Hausa home videos on peacebuilding can serve as a template for peacebuilding. This is coming at a time when global attention to peacebuilding is increasing. The inclusion of peacebuilding as SDG Goal suggests the need for utilizing other approaches that can enhance peace in risk societies like Nigeria. The paper based its arguments using the key proponents of the auteur theory—the director’s bias, thoughts, and sense of reasoning shape the issues emphasized in the home videos. The paper argues that Hausa home video industry is one medium amongst the many producing discourse about peacebuilding, conflict, and justice, social cohesion, education, and understanding, as well as raising social consciousness on issues of public concern. It is the conclusion of the paper that Hausa home videos produced on sustaining peacebuilding in Northern Nigeria are cultural products that have become lenses to understanding the interplay between representations or portrayal of conflict and peaceful resolutions of the conflicting issues.

Keywords: hausa home videos, peacebuilding, conflict, northern Nigeria

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Authors: Jeonghun Lee

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Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is regulated by the negative feedback of T3 and T4 but is affected by cortisol and cytokines during allostasis. Hence, TSH levels can be influenced by stress through cortisol. In the present study, changes in TSH levels under stress and the potential of TSH as a stress marker were examined in patients lacking T3 or T4 feedback after thyroid surgery. The three stress questionnaires (Korean version of the Daily Stress Inventory, Social Readjustment Rating Scale, and Stress Overload Scale-Short [SOSS]), open-ended question (OQ), and thyroid function tests were performed twice in 106 patients enrolled from January 2019 to October 2020. Statistical analysis was performed using the generalized linear mixed effect model (GLMM) in R software version 4.1.0. In a multiple LMM involving 106 patients, T3, T4, SOSS (category), open-ended questions, the extent of thyroidectomy, and preoperative TSH were significantly correlated with lnTSH. T3 and T4 increased by 1 and lnTSH decreased by 0.03, 3.52, respectively. In case of a stressful event on OQ, lnTSH increased by 1.55. In the high-risk group, lnTSH increased by 0.79, compared with the low group (p<0.05). TSH had a significant relationship with stress, together with T3, T4, and the extent of thyroidectomy. As such, it has the potential to be used as a stress marker, though it showed a low correlation with other stress questionnaires. To address this limitation, questionnaires on various social environments and research on copy strategies are necessary for future studies.

Keywords: stress, surgery, thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroidectomy

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Authors: Gopalu Karunakaran, Matheswaran Jagathambal, Nguyen Van Minh, Evgeny Kolesnikov, Denis Kuznetsov

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This work investigated the use of Beijerinckia indica extracellular extract for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using AgNO₃. The formation of nanoparticles was confirmed by different methods, such as UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, XRD, FTIR, EDX, and TEM analysis. The formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was confirmed by the change in color from light yellow to dark brown. The absorbance peak obtained at 430 nm confirmed the presence of silver nanoparticles. The XRD analysis showed the cubic crystalline phase of the synthesized nanoparticles. FTIR revealed the presence of groups that acts as stabilizing and reducing agents for silver nanoparticles formation. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were generally found to be spherical in shape with size ranging from 5 to 20 nm, as evident by TEM analysis. These nanoparticles were found to inhibit pathogenic bacterial strains. This work proved that the bacterial extract is a potential eco-friendly candidate for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles with promising antibacterial and antioxidant properties. 

Keywords: antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, Beijerinckia indica, characterisation, extracellular extracts, silver nanoparticles

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Authors: Raúl Bajo-Buenestado

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This paper studies the impact of the intensity of market competition on firms' willingness to adopt green technologies —which has become particularly relevant in the light of the debate on whether competition policies should be relaxed to achieve certain environmental targets. We exploit the staggered rollout of different rail-hailing platforms (most notably, Uber) across different metropolitan areas in Spain as a natural experiment that provides time and city-specific exogenous variation in the intensity of competition to study the impact on taxi drivers' decisions to purchase “green” or “dirty” vehicles. It was shown that the entry of these platforms significantly increased the takeout of green vehicles among professional drivers in incumbent (dominant) conventional taxi companies and decreased that of dirty vehicles. The exact opposite effect is observed in the cities where these platforms were extremely unlikely to enter. Back of the envelope calculations suggest that the entry of Uber is associated with an extra green vehicle purchase in every four among taxi drivers, resulting in a substantial drop in the level of emissions from the taxi fleet —still mostly dominated diesel vehicles.

Keywords: technological change, green technology adoption, market competition, diffusion of technology, environmental externalities

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Authors: Wajeehah Aayeshah, Joy Higgs

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The term “transcending pedagogies” has been created to refer to teaching and learning strategies that transcend the mode of student enrolment, the needs of different students, and different learning spaces. The value of such pedagogies in the current arena when learning spaces, technologies and preferences are more volatile than ever before, is a key focus of this paper. The paper will examine current and emerging pedagogies that transcend the learning spaces and enrollment modes of on campus, distance, virtual and workplace learning contexts. A further point of interest is how academics in professional and higher education settings interpret and implement pedagogies in the current global conversation space and re-creation of higher education. This study questioned how the notion and practice of transcending pedagogies enables us to re-imagine and reshape university curricula. It explored the nature of teaching and learning spaces and those professional and higher education (current and emerging) pedagogies that can be implemented across these spaces. We set out to identify how transcending pedagogies can assist students in learning to deal with complexity, uncertainty and change in the practice worlds and better appeal to students who are making decisions on where to enrol. The data for this study was collected through in-depth interviews and focus groups with academics and policy makers within academia.

Keywords: Transcending Pedagogies, teaching and learning strategies, learning spaces, pedagogies

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Authors: Cheng-Yen Lu, Chin-Yuan Hsu

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Ambient temperature reduction (ATR) can extend the lifespan of an annual fish (Nothobranchius rachovii), but the underlying mechanism is unknown. In this study, the expression, concentration, and activity of cellular-degraded molecules were evaluated in the muscle of N. rachovii reared under high (30 °C), moderate (25 °C), and low (20 °C) ambient temperatures by biochemical techniques. The results showed that (i) the activity of the 20S proteasome, the expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II (LC3-II), the expression of lysosome-associated membrane protein type 2a (Lamp 2a), and lysosome activity increased with ATR; (ii) the expression of the 70 kD heat shock cognate protein (Hsc 70) decreased with ATR; (iii) the expression of the 20S proteasome, the expression of lysosome-associated membrane protein type 1 (Lamp 1), the expression of molecular target of rapamycin (mTOR), the expression of phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR), and the p-mTOR/mTOR ratio did not change with ATR. These findings indicated that ATR activated the activity of proteasome, macroautophagy, and chaperone-mediated autophagy. Taken together these data reveal that ATR likely activates cellular degradation activity to extend the lifespan of N. rachovii.

Keywords: ambient temperature reduction, autophagy, degradation activity, lifespan, proteasome

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Authors: Zelalem Zerihun

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In this study, attempts were made to assess the bank-specific, industry-specific, and macro-economic factors affecting bank profitability. Data were collected from ten commercial banks in Ethiopia, covering the period of 2008-2012. A mixed method research approach was adopted for this research. Documentary analysis and in-depth interview were also used to substantiate the data. The study found out that capital strength, income diversification, bank size and gross domestic product are statistically significant and they have a positive relationship with banks’ profitability. However, operational efficiency and asset quality have a negative relationship with banks’ profitability. The relationship for liquidity risk, concentration and inflation were found to be statistically insignificant. The study revealed that focusing and reengineering the banks in light of the key internal drivers could enhance the profitability as well as the performance of the commercial banks in Ethiopia. In addition to this, the study suggests that banks in Ethiopia should not only be concerned about internal structures but also they must consider both the internal environment and the macro-economic environment in designing strategies to improve their profit or their performance.

Keywords: Ethiopian banking industry, macro-economic factors, documentary analysis, capital strength, income diversification

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Authors: José Davi Oliveira De Moura, Chou Sin Chan

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In this study, the effect of convective momentum transport (CMT) on the life of cyclone systems and their organization is analyzed. A case of strong precipitation, in the southeast of Brazil, was simulated using Eta model with two kinds of convective parameterization: Kain-Fritsch without CMT and Kain-fritsch with CMT. Reanalysis data from CFSR were used to compare Eta model simulations. The Wind, mean sea level pressure, rain and temperature are included in analysis. The rain was evaluated by Equitable Threat Score (ETS) and Bias Index; the simulations were compared among themselves to detect the influence of CMT displacement on the systems. The result shows that CMT process decreases the intensity of meso cyclones (higher pressure values on nuclei) and change the positions and production of rain. The decrease of intensity in meso cyclones should be caused by the dissolution of momentum from lower levels from up levels. The rain production and rain distribution were altered because the displacement of the larger systems scales was changed. In addition, the inclusion of CMT process is very important to improve the simulation of life time of meteorological systems.

Keywords: convection, Kain-Fritsch, momentum, parameterization

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Authors: H. T. Abba, Abbas Baba Kura

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Assessment of natural radioactivity of some fish samples in river Yobe was conducted, using gamma spectroscopy method with NaI(TI) detector. Radioactivity is phenomenon that leads to production of radiations, whereas radiation is known to trigger or induce cancer. The fish were analyzed to estimate the radioactivity (activity) concentrations due to natural radionuclides (Radium 222(226Ra), Thorium 232 (232Th) and Potassium 40 (40K)). The obtained result show that the activity concentration for (226Ra), in all the fish samples collected ranges from 15.23±2.45 BqKg-1 to 67.39±2.13 BqKg-1 with an average value of 34.13±1.34 BqKg-1. That of 232Th, ranges from 42.66±0.81 BqKg-1 to 201.18±3.82 BqKg-1, and the average value stands at 96.01±3.82 BqKg-1. The activity concentration for 40K, ranges between 243.3±1.56 BqKg-1 to 618.2±2.81 BqKg-1 and the average is 413.92±1.7 BqKg-1. This study indicated that average daily intake due to natural activity from the fish is valued at 0.913 Bq/day, 2.577Bq/day and 11.088 Bq/day for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K respectively. This shows that the activity concentration values for fish, shows a promising result with most of the fish activity concentrations been within the acceptable limits. However locations (F02, F07 and F12) fish, became outliers with significant values of 112.53μSvy-1, 121.11μSvy-1 and 114.32μSvy-1 effective Dose. This could be attributed to variation in geological formations within the river as while as the feeding habits of these fish. The work shows that consumers of fish from River Yobe have no risk of radioactivity ingestion, even though no amount of radiation is assumed to be totally safe.

Keywords: radiation, radio-activity, dose, radionuclides, river Yobe

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Authors: Martin Van, Mohammed Javed, Sarah Hemington-Gorse

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Aim: Our aim was to determine the effect of size and tumor depth of basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) on surgical margin clearance. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery (WCBPS), Morriston Hospital between 1 Jan 2016 – 31 July 2016. Only patients with confirmed BCC on histopathological analysis were included. Patient data including anatomical region treated, lesion size, histopathological clearance margins and histological sub-types were recorded. An independent T-test was performed determine statistical significance. Results: A total of 228 BCCs were excised in 160 patients. Eleven lesions (4.8%) were incompletely excised. The nose area had the highest rate of incomplete excision. The mean diameter of incompletely excised lesions was 11.4mm vs 11.5mm in completely excised lesions (p=0.959) and the mean histological depth of incompletely excised lesions was 4.1mm vs. 2.5mm for completely excised BCCs (p < 0.05). Conclusions: BCC tumor depth of > 4.1 mm was associated with high rate of incomplete margin clearance. Hence, in prospective patients, a BCC tumor depth (>4 mm) on tissue biopsy should alert the surgeon of potentially higher risk of incomplete excision of lesion.

Keywords: basal cell carcinoma, excision margins, plastic surgery, treatment

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Authors: Bi Wa, Su-Yeon Kwon, Ik-Joong Kang

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Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) as the principle for enhancing Raman scattering by molecules adsorbed on rough metal surfaces or by nanostructures is used to detect the concentration change of γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA). GABA is the mainly inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system in the human body. It plays such significant role in reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. In this case, the Mercaptopropionic Acid (MPA) is used to modified chitosan –gold nanoshell, which enhances the absorption between GABA and Chitosan-gold nanoshell. The sulfur end of the MPA is linked to gold which is the surface of the chitosan nanoparticles via the very strong S–Au bond, while a functional group (carboxyl group) attached to GABA. The controlling of particles’ size and the surface morphology are also the important factors during the whole experiment. The particle around 100nm is using to link to MPA, and the range of GABA from 1mM to 30mM was detected by the Raman Scattering to obtain the calibrate curve. In this study, DLS, SEM, FT-IR, UV, SERS were used to analyze the products to obtain the conclusion.

Keywords: chitosan-gold nanoshell, mercaptopropionic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, surface-enhanced raman scattering

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Authors: Fatemeh Nokhodchi Bonab

Abstract:

Bioinformatics, in its broad sense, involves application of computer processes to solve biological problems. A wide range of computational tools are needed to effectively and efficiently process large amounts of data being generated as a result of recent technological innovations in biology and medicine. A number of computational tools have been developed or adapted to deal with the experimental riches of complex and multivariate data and transition from data collection to information or knowledge. These bioinformatics tools are being evaluated and applied in various medical areas including early detection, risk assessment, classification, and prognosis of cancer. The goal of these efforts is to develop and identify bioinformatics methods with optimal sensitivity, specificity, and predictive capabilities. The recent flood of data from genome sequences and functional genomics has given rise to new field, bioinformatics, which combines elements of biology and computer science. Bioinformatics is conceptualizing biology in terms of macromolecules (in the sense of physical-chemistry) and then applying "informatics" techniques (derived from disciplines such as applied maths, computer science, and statistics) to understand and organize the information associated with these molecules, on a large-scale. Here we propose a definition for this new field and review some of the research that is being pursued, particularly in relation to transcriptional regulatory systems.

Keywords: methods, applications, transcriptional regulatory systems, techniques

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Authors: Atabak Rahimzadeh Ilkhch

Abstract:

Friction stir processing (FSP) has promised for application of thermo-mechanical processing techniques where aims to change the micro structural and mechanical properties of materials in order to obtain high performance and reducing the production time and cost. There are lots of studies focused on the microstructure of friction stir welded aluminum alloys. The main focus of this research is on the grain size obtained in the weld zone. Moreover in second part focused on temperature distribution effect over the entire weld zone and its effects on the microstructure. Also, there is a need to have more efforts on investigating to obtain the optimal value of effective parameters such as rotational speed on microstructure and to use the optimum tool designing method. the final results of this study will be present the variation of structural and mechanical properties of materials in the base of applying Friction stir processing and effect of (FSP) processing and tensile testing on surface quality. in the hand, this research addresses the FSP f AA-7020 aluminum and variation f ration of rotation and translational speeds.

Keywords: friction stir processing, AA-7020, thermo-mechanical, microstructure, temperature

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Authors: Kalandi Charan Pradhan

Abstract:

In this study, we investigate does weather variation determine temporary labour migration using 210 sample households from six Semi-Arid Tropic (SAT) villages for the period of 2005-2014 in India. The study has made an attempt to examine how households use temporary labour migration as a coping mechanism to minimise the risk rather than maximize the utility of the households. The study employs panel Logit regression model to predict the probability of household having at least one temporary labour migrant. As per as econometrics result, it is found that along with demographic and socioeconomic factors; weather variation plays an important role to determine the decision of migration at household level. In order to capture the weather variation, the study uses mean crop yield deviation over the study periods. Based on the random effect logit regression result, the study found that there is a concave relationship between weather variation and decision of temporary labour migration. This argument supports the theory of New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM), which highlights the decision of labour migration not only maximise the households’ utility but it helps to minimise the risks.

Keywords: temporary migration, socioeconomic factors, weather variation, crop yield, logit estimation

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Authors: Julian E. Abuso, Alberto T. Paala Jr.

Abstract:

The creation of settlement farm schools at the outset of American colonization of the Philippines was not a matter of accident; rather, their establishment was a major component of a grand plan on public education based on the benevolent assimilation policy of the United States. This argument is illustrated by the case of Villar Settlement Farm School, a school for the Aetas as a non-Christian tribal community in 1907. The study aims to: (1) identify and describe the antecedents for the establishment of Settlement Farm School, (2) explicate the cultural conflicts encountered by Aetas in school, (3) appraise the consequences of education as acculturation among Aeta population. The study made use of the following: historical data based on primary and secondary sources and life histories from primary informants. The Settlement Farm School for the Aetas was borne out of the American’s change in policy from military to civilian authority, recognition of education as a tool for benevolent assimilation. The narratives of informants manifested resistance to certain aspects of the educational process.

Keywords: settlement farm school Aetas, tribe, colonial education, Aeta, non-Christian tribal community

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Authors: Esmaeil Sarikhani

Abstract:

Objectives: Considering the importance of introducing new methods of improving self-compassion and compassion to the others in nursing students, this study intends to evaluate the effect of self-compassion training on nursing students. Methods: This is a field trial study in which 52 nursing interns from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were selected using convenience sampling method and divided in two experimental and control groups. The sampling was done during two phases: before and after the intervention. The intervention consisted of eight sessions over eight weeks of self-compassion training. The data were collected using the self-compassion standard questionnaire with 26 questions before and after the intervention. Data were then analyzed by the SPSS18 software and independent and paired T-tests, and also Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: The results obtained from the independent t-test showed that the mean score of self-compassion and its components in the experimental group was significantly increased compared to the control group (p < 0.001). Comparing the groups, the mean overall score difference of self-compassion and its components had also a statistically significant change after the intervention (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Self-compassion training program, leads to improving nursing students' self-compassion. As it seems, this method can be used as an important training course in order to improve compassion of nursing students to themselves and the others.

Keywords: self-compassion, student, nursing students, field trial

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Authors: Jeong-Won Kang

Abstract:

Graphene, a single-atom sheet, has been considered as the most promising material for making future nanoelectromechanical systems as well as purely electrical switching with graphene transistors. Graphene-based devices have advantages in scaled-up device fabrication due to the recent progress in large area graphene growth and lithographic patterning of graphene nanostructures. Here we investigated its mechanical responses of circular graphene nanoflake under the nanoindentation using classical molecular dynamics simulations. A correlation between the load and the indentation depth was constructed. The nanoindented force in this work was applied to the center point of the circular graphene nanoflake and then, the resonance frequency could be tuned by a nanoindented depth. We found the hardening or the softening of the graphene nanoflake during its nanoindented-deflections, and such properties were recognized by the shift of the resonance frequency. The calculated mechanical parameters in the force vs deflection plot were in good agreement with previous experimental and theoretical works. This proposed schematics can detect the pressure via the deflection change or/and the resonance frequency shift, and also have great potential for versatile applications in nanoelectromechanical systems.

Keywords: graphene, pressure sensor, circular graphene nanoflake, molecular dynamics

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Authors: Alia Alghosoun, Michael Herty, Mohammed Seaid

Abstract:

We present a new class of numerical techniques to solve shallow water flows over dry areas including run-up. Many recent investigations on wave run-up in coastal areas are based on the well-known shallow water equations. Numerical simulations have also performed to understand the effects of several factors on tsunami wave impact and run-up in the presence of coastal areas. In all these simulations the shallow water equations are solved in entire domain including dry areas and special treatments are used for numerical solution of singularities at these dry regions. In the present study we propose a new method to deal with these difficulties by reformulating the shallow water equations into a new system to be solved only in the wetted domain. The system is obtained by a change in the coordinates leading to a set of equations in a moving domain for which the wet/dry interface is the reconstructed using the wave speed. To solve the new system we present a finite volume method of Lax-Friedrich type along with a modified method of characteristics. The method is well-balanced and accurately resolves dam-break problems over dry areas.

Keywords: dam-break problems, finite volume method, run-up waves, shallow water flows, wet/dry interfaces

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