Search results for: sanitary and epidemiological regimes

Authors: Tânia F. C. V. Silva, Eloísa S. S. Vieira, João Pinto da Costa, Rui A. R. Boaventura, Vitor J. P. Vilar

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Sanitary landfill leachates are characterized as a complex mixture of diverse organic and inorganic contaminants, which are usually removed by combining different treatment processes. Due to its simplicity, reliability, high cost-effectiveness and high nitrogen content (mostly under the ammonium form) inherent in this type of effluent, the activated sludge biological process is almost always applied in leachate treatment plants (LTPs). The purpose of this work is to assess the effect of the main nitrification and denitrification variables on the nitrogen's biological removal, from mature leachates. The leachate samples were collected after an aerated lagoon, at a LTP nearby Porto, presenting a high amount of dissolved organic carbon (1.0-1.3 g DOC/L) and ammonium nitrogen (1.1-1.7 g NH4+-N/L). The experiments were carried out in a 1-L lab-scale batch reactor, equipped with a pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) control system, in order to determine the reaction kinetic constants at unchanging conditions. The nitrification reaction rate was evaluated while varying the (i) operating temperature (15, 20, 25 and 30ºC), (ii) DO concentration interval (0.5-1.0, 1.0-2.0 and 2.0-4.0 mg/L) and (iii) solution pH (not controlled, 7.5-8.5 and 6.5-7.5). At the beginning of most assays, it was verified that the ammonium stripping occurred simultaneously to the nitrification, reaching up to 37% removal of total dissolved nitrogen. The denitrification kinetic constants and the methanol consumptions were calculated for different values of (i) volatile suspended solids (VSS) content (25, 50 and 100 mL of centrifuged sludge in 1 L solution), (ii) pH interval (6.5-7.0, 7.5-8.0 and 8.5-9.0) and (iii) temperature (15, 20, 25 and 30ºC), using effluent previously nitrified. The maximum nitrification rate obtained was 38±2 mg NH4+-N/h/g VSS (25ºC, 0.5-1.0 mg O2/L, pH not controlled), consuming 4.4±0.3 mg CaCO3/mg NH4+-N. The highest denitrification rate achieved was 19±1 mg (NO2--N+NO3--N)/h/g VSS (30ºC, 50 mL of sludge and pH between 7.5 and 8.0), with a C/N consumption ratio of 1.1±0.1 mg CH3OH/mg (NO2--N+NO3--N) and an overall alkalinity production of 3.7±0.3 mg CaCO3/mg (NO2--N+NO3--N). The denitrification process showed to be sensitive to all studied parameters, while the nitrification reaction did not suffered significant change when DO content was changed.

Keywords: mature sanitary landfill leachate, nitrogen removal, nitrification and denitrification parameters, lab-scale activated sludge biological reactor

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Authors: Ardak Myrzabekova

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Sentinel epidemiological surveillance (SES) of severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) was introduced in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2008. The purpose of this study was to analyze SES of flu among SARI patients in the Republic of Kazakhstan during last two flu seasons. Comparative analysis was conducted of SARI morbidity during 40 – 23 weeks of 2014/2015 (season 2014) and 2015/2016 (season 2015) in online base (http:\\ses.dec.kz). In the database during season 2014 were 1,398 SARI patients and 1,985 patients during season 2015. Individual data (clinical, epidemiological and laboratory) of SARI cases were collected based on the questionnaire and were put into the flu electronic system. The studied population was residents of the Republic of Kazakhstan who addressed for medical help in 24 sentinel in-patient clinics in 9 sentinel regions of the country. Swabs from nose and throat were taken for laboratory testing from SARI patients who met the standard case definition. The samples were examined in virology labs of sentinel regions using PCR and 'AmpliSens' test systems made in Russia. The first positive results for flu during season 2014 were obtained on 48 week, during season 2015 – on 46 week. The increase of the number of hospitalized SARI patients was observed during 42 week of 2015 – 01 week of 2016, and during 03 - 06 weeks of 2016, with fluctuating SARI incidence rate from 171 to 444 per 1,000 hospitalized. The highest SARI incidence rate during season 2014 were observed during 01 - 03 weeks of 2015: from 389 to 466 per 1,000 hospitalized. Patients admitted to the ICU during season 2015 were 3.0% (60) SARI patients, compared to 2.7% (38) in 2014 (p=0.3), obtaining oxygen therapy 1.0% (21) compared to 0.3% (5), accordingly, (р=0.009); with shortness of breath 74.8% (1,486) compared to 72.6% (1,015), (р=0.07); with impairment of consciousness 1.0% (21) compared to 0.6% (9), (р=0.11); with muscle pain 19.3% (384) compared to 13.6% (191), (р < 0.001); with joint pain 13.3% (265) compared to 9.3% (131), (p < 0.001). During season 2015 the prevailing subtype of flu А was А/Н1N1-09, it was observed mainly in the age group 30-64: 32.5% (169/520). During season 2014 flu А/Н3N2 was observed mainly in the age group 15-29: 43.6% (106/243). Among children under 14 flu А/Н1N1-09 during season 2015 was 37.3% (194/520), during season 2014 flu А/Н3N2 – 34.9% (85/243). Earlier beginning of the flu season was noted in 2015-2016 and a longer period of hospitalization of SARI patients, with high SARI morbidity rates, unlike season 2014-2015. Season 2015-2016 was characterized by prevailing circulation of virus of flu А/Н1N1-09, mainly in the age group 30-64, and also among children under 14. During season 2014-2015 the virus circulating in the country was А/Н3N2, which was observed mainly in the age group 15-29 and among children under 14.

Keywords: flu, electronic system, sentinel epidemiological surveillance, severe acute respiratory infections

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Authors: Duško Salemović, Aleksandar Dedić, Matilda Lazić, Dragan Halas

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The aim of the paper was the thermal balance control of vertical kiln dryer indirect type (VSU-36) for drying sunflower seed, produced by "Cer" - Čačak, capacity 39 [t/h]. The balance control was executed because the dryer damaged by NATO bombing in 1999, and it was planned its reconstruction. The structural and geometric characteristics of the dryer were known, and it was necessary to determine the parameters of: wet air as a drying agent and the sunflower seeds. The thermal balance control was the basis for replacement of damaged parts of dryer during its reconstruction. After that, it was necessary to perform the subsequent calculation of strength. Therefore, since its accuracy was largely dependent on cost-effectiveness and safety of a single drying chamber. Also, the work provides guidelines for the regimes of drying of grain crops with the explanation of specificity of drying sunflowers.

Keywords: sunflower seeds, regimes of drying, vertical kiln dryer, thermal analysis

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Authors: Vaibhav Baliyan, Shweta Mehrotra, S. S. Parihar

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The agricultural productivity is challenged by climate change and depletion in natural resources, including water and land, which significantly affects the crop yield. Wheat is a thermo-sensitive crop and is prone to heat stress. High temperature decreases crop duration, yield attributes, and, subsequently, grain yield and biomass production. Terminal heat stress affects grain filling duration, grain yield, and yield attributes, thus causing a reduction in wheat yield. A field experiment was conducted at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, for two consecutive rabi seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) on six varieties of wheat (early sown - HD 2967, HD 3086, HD 2894 and late sown - WR 544, HD 3059, HD 3117 ) with three moisture regimes (100%, 80%, and 60% ETc, and no irrigation) and six sowing dates in three replications to investigate the effect of different moisture regimes and sowing dates on growth, yield and water use efficiency of wheat for development of best management practices for mitigation of terminal heat stress. HD3086 and HD3059 gave higher grain yield than others under early sown and late sown conditions, respectively. Maximum soil moisture extraction was recorded from 0-30 cm soil depth across the sowing dates, irrigation regimes, and varieties. Delayed sowing resulted in reducing crop growth period and forced maturity, in turn, led to significant deterioration in all the yield attributing characters and, there by, reduction in yield, suggesting that terminal heat stress had greater impact on yield. Early sowing and irrigation at 80% ETc resulted in improved growth and yield attributes and water use efficiency in both the seasons and helped to some extent in reducing the risk of terminal heat stress of wheat grown on sandy loam soils of semi-arid regions of India.

Keywords: sowing, irrigation, yield, heat stress

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Authors: Ali Azeem, Seung-Cheol Hong

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This study focuses on the epidemiological association between childhood leukaemia & adult brain cancer to offer strong evidence that extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) produced from power lines caused cancer. It also gives a comprehensive literature review on epidemiological studies of ELF-MF risk associated with HVTL and childhood leukaemia & adult brain cancer. From the literature review, it is concluded that there is a weak association present between ELF-MF and childhood leukaemia. No consistent association was present between brain cancer and ELF-MF. This study is done on Scielo data and PubMed using the terms extremely low-frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF+cancer), adult brain cancer, high power transmission lines, etc., for the past 10 years.

Keywords: childhood leukaemia, high voltage transmission lines, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, power lines

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Authors: Pouriya Darabiyan, Kourosh Zarea, Saeed Ghanbari, Aseya Temori, Shokreya Ehsani

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Introduction: Diabetes is one of the most common metabolic disorders and is one of the top 10 leading causes of death in adults. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the epidemiological prevalence of diabetes in Afghanistan between 2015 and 2019. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed using the information of diabetics registered in the system related to the Ministry of Health of Afghanistan from 2015 to 2019. Eventually, people's information, including age, gender, and place of residence, was entered into STATA software version 12 and analyzed using descriptive statistics tests. Results: The study, which was performed on 49,339 people with diabetes in 34 provinces and 8 regions of Afghanistan, found that most of the women studied were 55.2% (272,311) women and had the highest and lowest prevalence in the region. The order is related to South East and South. The average prevalence of diabetes per 10,000 people is about 62.13. Conclusions: The prevalence of diabetes in Afghanistan over a five-year period in men and women is on the rise, requiring more attention from relevant authorities to improve public health and prevent, control and treat chronic diseases such as diabetes. Keywords: Diabetes, Prevalence, Afghanistan, Epidemiology

Keywords: diabetes, prevalence, Afghanistan, epidemiology

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Authors: Ugur Karakaya, Hasan Bulent Kantarcı

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In this study, firstly democratic thoughts which directly or indirectly affect economic development and/or the interaction between authoritarian regimes and the economic development and the direction and channels of this interaction were studied and then the study tried to determine how democracy affects economic development. It was concluded that the positive contributions of democracy to economic development were more determinant than the effects that were either negative or restrictive in terms of development. When compared to autocracy, since democracy is more successful in managing social conflicts, ensuring political stability and preventing social disasters such as famine, it contributes more to economic development. Democracy also facilitates delegation of authority, provides a stable investment environment and accelerates mobilization of resources in accordance with economic growth/development. Democracy leads to an increase in human capital accumulation and increases the growth rate through reducing income inequality. It can be said that democratic regimes are the most appropriate ones in terms of increasing economic performance and supporting economic development through their strong institutional structures and the assurance they will ensure in property rights.

Keywords: democracy, economic growth, economic freedom, autocratic regime

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Authors: M. S. Khurram, S. A. Memon, S. Khan

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Bed voidage behavior among different flow regimes for Geldart A, B, and D particles (fluid catalytic cracking catalyst (FCC), particle A and glass beads) of diameter range 57-872 μm, apparent density 1470-3092 kg/m³, and bulk density range 890-1773 kg/m³ were investigated in a gas-solid circulating fluidized bed of 0.1 m-i.d. and 2.56 m-height of plexi-glass. Effects of variables (gas velocity, particle properties, and static bed height) were analyzed on bed voidage. The axial voidage profile showed a typical trend along the riser: a dense bed at the lower part followed by a transition in the splash zone and a lean phase in the freeboard. Bed expansion and dense bed voidage increased with an increase of gas velocity as usual. From experimental results, a generalized model relationship based on inverse fluidization number for dense bed voidage from bubbling to fast fluidization regimes was presented.

Keywords: axial voidage, circulating fluidized bed, splash zone, static bed

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Authors: Abed Hannane, Rouag Noureddine

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The present study aims to evaluate the association of fresh garlic (Allium sativum L.) and storage at 4°C in preserving the microbiological, nutritional, and sanitary quality of Merguez-type sausages prepared and sold locally from meat offal. The analysis focused on the evaluation of the microbiological quality of fifteen samples randomly taken from several butcheries in the wilaya of BBA, eastern Algeria. The bacteriological analysis revealed the presence of 6.88.10⁵ CFU/g of total aerobic bacteria, 5.39.10⁵ CFU/g of total coliforms, 2.23.10⁵ CFU/g of fecal coliforms, 2.43.103 CFU/g of Escherichia coli and 1.8.10⁵ CFU/g of coagulase-positive staphylococci, values higher than Algerian standards. The addition of fresh garlic as an antibacterial preservative at concentrations of 0.06, 0.12, 0.18, and 0.24 g/g to ground beef samples and stored in the refrigerator at 4°C for 15 days. The addition of garlic to Merguez made it possible to significantly reduce the presence of different bacterial groups during their refrigerated storage, compared to untreated meat, bringing it below the standards defined in the matter. Thus, the use of garlic as a food additive at a concentration of 0.12 g/g was sufficient to obtain levels according to Algerian standards equal to 1.8.10⁴ CFU/g of total aerobic bacteria, 9.48.10³ CFU/ g of total coliforms, 3.68.10³ UFC/g fecal coliforms, 4.56.10² UFC/g of E.coli 2.39.10⁴ UFC/g of coagulase-positive staphylococci. It is clear that thanks to the addition of garlic to Merguez, the sanitary quality has been improved by reducing the aerobic bacterial load and increasing the shelf life at 4°C.

Keywords: antimicrobial effect, garlic, sausage, storage

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Authors: Nükhet Konuk, N. Gamze Turan, Yüksel Ardalı

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Solid waste management is the most environmental problem in Turkey as a result of the rapid increase in solid waste generation caused by the rapid population growth, urbanization, rapid industrialization and economic development. The large quantity of waste generated necessitates system of collection, transportation and disposal. The landfill method for the ultimate disposal of solid waste continues to be widely accepted and used due to its economic advantages. In Turkey, most of the disposal sites open dump areas. Open dump sites may result in serious urban, sanitary and environmental problems such as an unpleasant odor and the risk of explosion as well as groundwater contamination because of leachate percolation. Unsuitable management practices also result in the loss of resources and energy, which could be recycled and produced from a large part of the solid waste. Therefore, over the past few decades, particular attention has been drawn to the sustainable solid waste management as a response to the increase in environmental problems related to the disposal of waste. The objective of this paper is to assess the situation of landfilling practices in Turkey as a developing country and to identify any gaps in the system as currently applied. The results show that approximately 25 million tons of MSW are generated annually in Turkey. The percentage of MSW disposed to sanitary landfill is only 45% whereas more than 50% of MSW is disposed without any control.

Keywords: developing countries, open dumping, solid waste management, sustainable landfilling, sustainable solid waste management

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Authors: Ghoul Rachid Brahim

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Introduction: Degenerative disc disease is a process of premature and accelerated deterioration of the intervertebral disc; it is of multifactorial origin and is responsible for chronic low back pain. Objectives: Determine an epidemiological profile of patients with painful lumbar degenerative disc disease. Patients and methods: We performed a prospective study of 104 patients operated on for degenerative painful lumbar disc disease over a period of 25 months. The parameters analyzed were: age, sex, Body Mass Index (BMI), comorbidities, family history of low back pain, and difficulty with professional activity. Results: The average age was 43.3 years, with a clear predominance of men: 72 men for 32 women, the average BMI was 26.80Kg / m2, and 63.5% of the patients were overweight. The occurrence of disc degeneration in pathological conditions was noted in 14.4% of cases. The notion of familial low back pain was found in 49% of cases. The majority of patients perform more or less arduous work (51%) in the cases. Conclusion: In our series, degenerative painful lumbar disc disease predominates in the male subject, active obese who performs more or less painful work, in whom we find a family history of low back pain.

Keywords: degenerative disc disease, low back pain, body mass index, disque intervertebrale

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Authors: Amel Benatallah, Michel Marie, Faical Ghozlane

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Bluetongue (BT) is a major concern of veterinary services and a real threat to the sheep population. Epidemiological situation of blue tongue has revealed that in 2000, the serotype 2 (BTV2) was isolated and identified. The vector of BTV has affected 10 provinces out of 48 provinces in the country. As a result, 28 outbreaks were reported with 191 cases including 29 deaths. In 2006, the vector of the FCO has still hit Algeria, but this time with another serotype, the BTV 1. The latter was responsible for the resurgence of the disease in 11 provinces (29 outbreaks with 265 reported cases and 36 deaths).The same serotype (BTV1) was isolated and identified in 2008 in two provinces (2 outbreaks with 15 cases revealing 5 deaths) , in 2009 in 5 provinces (19 outbreaks with 78 reported cases and 20 deaths). In addition, 2010 and 2011 saw the resurgence of the same serotype (BTV1) respectively in 9 (46 outbreaks with 131 cases including and 25 deaths) and 7 provinces (16 outbreaks with 63 reported cases and 6 deaths). Serological and entomological surveys were conducted in Algeria during the period from 2000 to 2007 in order to identify the different BTV strains of existing FCO in Algeria in addition to vector Culicoides Imicola and to study the ecology of this vector to limit its movement in the country.

Keywords: blue tongue, serotype, vectors, culicoides imicola, BTV, FCO

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Authors: Stefan Papastefanou

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is an interdisciplinary field of computer science with the aim of creating intelligent machine behavior. Early approaches to AI have been configured to operate in very constrained environments where the behavior of the AI system was previously determined by formal rules. Knowledge was presented as a set of rules that allowed the AI system to determine the results for specific problems; as a structure of if-else rules that could be traversed to find a solution to a particular problem or question. However, such rule-based systems typically have not been able to generalize beyond the knowledge provided. All over the world and especially in IT-heavy industries such as the United States, the European Union, Singapore, and China, machine learning has developed to be an immense asset, and its applications are becoming more and more significant. It has to be examined how such products of machine learning models can and should be protected by IP law and for the purpose of this paper patent law specifically, since it is the IP law regime closest to technical inventions and computing methods in technical applications. Genetic breeding models are currently less popular than recursive neural network method and deep learning, but this approach can be more easily described by referring to the evolution of natural organisms, and with increasing computational power; the genetic breeding method as a subset of the evolutionary algorithms models is expected to be regaining popularity. The research method focuses on patentability (according to the world’s most significant patent law regimes such as China, Singapore, the European Union, and the United States) of AI inventions and machine learning. Questions of the technical nature of the problem to be solved, the inventive step as such, and the question of the state of the art and the associated obviousness of the solution arise in the current patenting processes. Most importantly, and the key focus of this paper is the problem of patenting inventions that themselves are developed through machine learning. The inventor of a patent application must be a natural person or a group of persons according to the current legal situation in most patent law regimes. In order to be considered an 'inventor', a person must actually have developed part of the inventive concept. The mere application of machine learning or an AI algorithm to a particular problem should not be construed as the algorithm that contributes to a part of the inventive concept. However, when machine learning or the AI algorithm has contributed to a part of the inventive concept, there is currently a lack of clarity regarding the ownership of artificially created inventions. Since not only all European patent law regimes but also the Chinese and Singaporean patent law approaches include identical terms, this paper ultimately offers a comparative analysis of the most relevant patent law regimes.

Keywords: algorithms, inventor, genetic breeding models, machine learning, patentability

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Authors: Dejan Tanikić, Miodrag Manić, Jelena Đoković, Saša Kalinović

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This paper deals with the determination of the optimum machining parameters, according to the measured and modelled data of the cutting temperature and surface roughness, during the turning of the AISI 4140 steel. The high cutting temperatures are unwanted occurences in the metal cutting process. They impact negatively on the quality of the machined part. The machining experiments were performed using different cutting regimes (cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut), with different values of the workpiece hardness, which causes different values of the measured cutting temperature as well as the measured surface roughness. The temperature and surface roughness data were modelled after that using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The obtained RSM models are used in the process of optimization of the cutting regimes using the Genetic Algorithms (GA) tool, which enables the metal cutting process in the optimum conditions.

Keywords: genetic algorithms, machining parameters, response surface methodology, turning process

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Authors: Atefeh Bagherianziarat, Dana Hamplova

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The inverse social gradient in life satisfaction (LS) is a well-established research finding. To estimate the influence of inequality on LS, most of the studies have explored the effect of the objective aspects of inequality or individuals’ socioeconomic status (SES). However, relatively fewer studies have confirmed recently the significant effect of the subjective aspect of inequality or subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) on life satisfaction over and above SES. In other words, it is confirmed by some studies that individuals’ perception of their unequal status in society or SSS can moderate the impact of their absolute unequal status on their life satisfaction. Nevertheless, this newly confirmed moderating link has not been affirmed to work likewise in societies with different levels of social inequality and also for people who believe in the value of equality, at different levels. In this study, we compared the moderative influence of subjective inequality on the link between objective inequality and life satisfaction. In particular, we focus on differences across welfare state regimes based on Esping-Andersen's theory. Also, we explored the moderative role of believing in the value of equality on the link between objective and subjective inequality on LS in the given societies. Since our studied variables were measured at both individual and country levels, we applied a multilevel analysis to the European Social Survey data (round 9). The results showed that people in deferent regimes reported statistically meaningful different levels of life satisfaction that is explained to different extends by their household income and their perception of their income inequality. The findings of the study supported the previous findings of the moderator influence of perceived inequality on the link between objective inequality and LS. However, this link is different in various welfare state regimes. The results of the multilevel modeling showed that country-level subjective equality is a positive predictor for individuals’ life satisfaction, while the GINI coefficient that was considered as the indicator of absolute inequality has a smaller effect on life satisfaction. Also, country-level subjective equality moderates the confirmed link between individuals’ income and their life satisfaction. It can be concluded that both individual and country-level subjective inequality slightly moderate the effect of individuals’ income on their life satisfaction.

Keywords: individual values, life satisfaction, multilevel analysis, objective inequality, subjective inequality, welfare regimes status

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Authors: Shaun Lim

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This paper presents a 9-month ethnographic case study of the value creating strategies employed by an Oxford market-trader of 20th-century maps. Maps are usually valued and sold as either antique objets d’art or useful navigational tools, with 20th-century maps precariously lying between the boundary of the aesthetic and utilitarian value-regimes. Here, the brokerage practices involved in the framing of outdated, lowly valued maps into vintage commodities will be examined. Ethnographic material of the unstudied market of old maps is introduced and situated in the second-hand, antique and collectible spheres of exchange. The map-trader as a broker is the ethnographic and methodological starting point of this paper. Brokerage is understood through the activity of framing that defines and brackets the value-regimes of commodities with the aid of market and framing devices. The trader’s activities will be examined in three parts. (1) The post-sourcing industry: the altering, mounting and tagging of maps before putting them into market circulation. Mounts, frames and tags are seen as market devices that authenticates and frames maps with aesthetic and symbolic values along with the disentanglement of its use value. (2) The market-display: the constitution of space that encourages the relations of looking at maps as aesthetic objects, while the categorical arrangement of the display contributes to legitimising of the collectability of maps. (3) The salesmanship strategies of the trader: the match-making of customers with maps of meaningful value, and the mediating of knowledge through the verbal articulation of the map’s symbolic values. Ultimately, value is not created in an accumulative sense, but is layered and superimposed to cater to a wide spectrum of patrons. The trader creates demand for his goods by mediating and articulating value-regimes already coherent to potential patrons.

Keywords: art and material culture, brokerage, commodification, framing, markets, value

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Authors: Abdul Hameed, Muhammad Zaheer Ahmed, Salman Gulzar, Bilquees Gul, Jan Alam, Ahmad K. Hegazy, Abdel Rehman A. Alatar, M. Ajmal Khan

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Seed germination and recovery from salt stress of an annual halophyte Suaeda heterophylla (Kar. and Kir.) Bunge to different iso-osmotic concentrations (0, -0.46, -0.92, -1.38, -1.84, and -2.30 MPa) of NaCl and PEG-6000 at 15/25, 20/30 and 25/35°C in both 12-h temperature and light regimes and in complete darkness were studied. Maximum number of seeds germinated in distilled water and increase in concentrations of both NaCl and PEG-6000 decreased germination at all temperature regimes, light and dark conditions, with higher inhibition in NaCl than PEG-6000. Recovery of germination and viability of seeds were lower in NaCl than PEG-6000 both in the light and dark. Moderate alternate temperatures (20/30°C) and 12-h photoperiod were found to be the optimal for seed germination and recovery. Better seed germination of S. heterophylla when osmotic potential caused both by NaCl and PEG 6000 is lower, temperature regime of 20/30°C and light regime is for 12 h.

Keywords: seed germination, abiotic stresses, Suaeda heterophylla, molecular biology

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Authors: Aimad Koulali

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Flow structure evolution around a single pair of Delta vortex generators (VGs) is studied numerically. For laminar, transient, and turbulent flow regimes, numerical simulations have been performed in a duct with a pair of Delta vortex generators. The finiteelementmethodwasused to simulate the flow. To formulate the fluid structure interaction problem, the ALE formulation was used. The aim of this study is to provide a detailed insight into the generation and dissipation of longitudinal vortices over a wide range of flow regimes, including the laminar-turbulent transition. A wide range of parameters has been exploited to describe the inducedphenomenawithin the flow. Weexaminedvariousparametersdepending on the VG geometry, the flow regime, and the channel geometry. A detailed analysis of the turbulence and wall shear stress properties has been evaluated. The results affirm that there are still optimal values to obtain better performing vortices in order to improve the exchange performance.

Keywords: finte element method, deformable vortex generator, numerical analysis, fluid structure interaction, ALE formlation, turbulent flow

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Authors: A. Bayaga

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This research provides a technical account of estimating Transition Probability using Time-homogeneous Markov Jump Process applying by South African HIV/AIDS data from the Statistics South Africa. It employs Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) model to explore the possible influence of Transition Probability of mortality cases in which case the data was based on actual Statistics South Africa. This was conducted via an integrated demographic and epidemiological model of South African HIV/AIDS epidemic. The model was fitted to age-specific HIV prevalence data and recorded death data using MLE model. Though the previous model results suggest HIV in South Africa has declined and AIDS mortality rates have declined since 2002 – 2013, in contrast, our results differ evidently with the generally accepted HIV models (Spectrum/EPP and ASSA2008) in South Africa. However, there is the need for supplementary research to be conducted to enhance the demographic parameters in the model and as well apply it to each of the nine (9) provinces of South Africa.

Keywords: AIDS mortality rates, epidemiological model, time-homogeneous markov jump process, transition probability, statistics South Africa

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Authors: Michael Koblischka, Yassine Slimani, Thomas Karwoth, Anjela Koblischka-Veneva, Essia Hannachi

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On bulk FeSe superconductors containing different additions of Ag, a thorough investigation of the microstructures was performed using optical microscopy, SEM and TEM. The electrical resistivity was measured using four-point measurements in the temperature range 2 K ≤ T ≤ 150 K. The data obtained are analyzed in the framework of the excess conductivity approach using the Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) model. The investigated samples comprised of five distinct fluctuation regimes, namely short-wave (SWF), onedimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D), and critical (CR) fluctuation regimes. The coherence length along the c-axis at zero-temperature (ξc(0)), the lower and upper critical magnetic fields (Bc1 and Bc2), the critical current density (Jc) and numerous other superconducting parameters were estimated with respect to the Ag content in the samples. The data reveal a reduction of the resistivity and a strong decrease of ξc(0) when doping the 11-samples with silver. The optimum content of the Ag-addition is found at 4 wt.-% Ag, yielding the highest critical current density.

Keywords: iron-based superconductors, FeSe, Ag-addition, excess conductivity, microstructure

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Authors: Rai Mansoor Imtiaz

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Guardians in hybrid regimes fragment opposition parties and ban their political leaders, and disenfranchise their voters' political participation. When guardians in hybrid regimes are so powerful that they remain decisive on electoral politics of states, and have powers to ban political parties and their leadership, then "why do political parties backed by those powerful guardians lose elections" and "how do anti-establishment parties make electoral inroads at the local and national levels." These two questions are interrelated with the key research question of my research "why do people vote for political parties rejected by powerful guardians in establishmentarian democracies." Furthermore, this research question is important to be explored for two reasons. First, existing literature only reflects the electoral victories of opposition parties or defeats of military-sponsored parties (see Thailand and Turkey) but remains silent on political change that led the anti-military parties to win the elections. Second, why is it a case that people belonging to the countries where militaries remain popular among the public (see Turkey and Pakistan) have started putting their trust in anti-establishment politicians who criticise the military against their intervention in politics? For instance, in Pakistan, where commenting against the military is meant to comment against the state –– an anti-military narrative is getting popular support. The conceptual framework of hybrid states in this research relies on the concept of a 'reserved domain/tutelary body' (guardians of hybrid states). However, this research makes a case that hybrid states are not consolidated separate political entities but rather vacillated states that fluctuate between democratic and authoritarian practices. This paper, therefore, uses the term establishmentarian democracy as a subtype of the hybrid regime, which is more consolidated than a hybrid democracy.

Keywords: Guardians, Hybrid Regimes, Voters, Elections, Democracy, South Asia

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Authors: Michael Koblischka, Anjela Koblischka-Veneva, XianLin Zeng, Essia Hannachi, Yassine Slimani

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Superconducting foams of YBa2Cu3O7 (abbreviated Y-123) were produced using the infiltration growth (IG) technique from Y2BaCuO5 (Y-211) foams. The samples were investigated by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and electrical resistivity measurements. SEM observations indicated the specific microstructure of the foam struts with numerous tiny Y-211 particles (50-100 nm diameter) embedded in channel-like structures between the Y-123 grains. The investigation of the excess conductivity of different prepared composites was analyzed using Aslamazov-Larkin (AL) model. The investigated samples comprised of five distinct fluctuation regimes, namely short-wave (SWF), one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D), and critical (CR) fluctuations regimes. The coherence length along the c-axis at zero-temperature (ξc(0)), lower and upper critical magnetic fields (Bc1 and Bc2), critical current density (Jc) and numerous other superconducting parameters were estimated from the data. The analysis reveals that the presence of the tiny Y-211 particles alters the excess conductivity and the fluctuation behavior observed in standard YBCO samples.

Keywords: Excess conductivity, Foam, Microstructure, Superconductor YBa2Cu3Oy

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Authors: Pármenas Costa Macedo do Nascimento

Abstract:

Periodontal disease is the most common disease in the oral cavity of felines. It starts with the accumulation of bacteria on the tooth surface supporting the tissues of the periodontal tissue, namely gums, alveolar bone, cementum, and periodontal ligament. The main clinical symptom observed by the owner is bad breath, which may lead to local and systemic consequences depending on the stage of periodontal disease, such as bleeding and bone loss. Therefore, the study is important to educate tutors to take better care of the felines oral health in order to try to prevent the disease. For this epidemiological study, the target population has been felines, located on the outskirts of Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, with a geographic area of 155.68 km², with no defined breed, from October 1st to 10th, 2021, whose samples has been randomly selected, with a detailed profile. The variables of interest for this study have been: absence or presence of periodontal disease, gender, age (delimited by age group), and condition (domiciled or homeless). Using a sample of 40 felines from 4 districts of the east side of Manaus chosen at random, an oral exam has been made to identify the studied disease. The animal's apparent age, condition, sex, and presence or absence of periodontal disease has been noted. It has been observed that 70% (28/40) of them had periodontal disease, mostly females, aged between 0 and 5 years and domiciled, totaling 30% (12/40).

Keywords: felines, oral cavity, oral exam, periodontal disease

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Authors: Jeremy Johnson, Craig Nitschke, Luke Kelly

Abstract:

Fire regimes, climate and topographic gradients interact to influence ecosystem structure and function across fire-prone, montane landscapes worldwide. Biota have developed a range of adaptations to historic fire regime thresholds, which allow them to persist in these environments. In south-eastern Australia, a signal of fire regime changes is emerging across these landscapes, and anthropogenic climate change is likely to be one of the main drivers of an increase in burnt area and more frequent wildfire over the last 25 years. This shift has the potential to modify vegetation structure and composition at broad scales, which may lead to landscape patterns to which biota are not adapted, increasing the likelihood of local extirpation of some mammal species. This study aimed to address concerns related to the influence of abrupt changes in fire regimes on mammal populations in montane landscapes. It first examined the impact of climate, topography, and vegetation on fire patterns and then explored the consequences of these changes on mammal populations and their habitats. Field studies were undertaken across diverse vegetation, fire severity and fire frequency gradients, utilising camera trapping and passive acoustic monitoring methodologies and the collection of fine-scale vegetation data. Results show that drought is a primary contributor to fire regime shifts at the landscape scale, while topographic factors have a variable influence on wildfire occurrence at finer scales. Frequent, high severity wildfire influenced forest structure and composition at broad spatial scales, and at fine scales, it reduced occurrence of hollow-bearing trees and promoted coarse woody debris. Mammals responded differently to shifts in forest structure and composition depending on their habitat requirements. This study highlights the complex interplay between fire regimes, environmental gradients, and biotic adaptations across temporal and spatial scales. It emphasizes the importance of understanding complex interactions to effectively manage fire-prone ecosystems in the face of climate change.

Keywords: fire, ecology, biodiversity, landscape ecology

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Authors: Olusegun Raphael Adeyemi, Samuel Oluwaseun Osunleti, Abiddin Adekunle Bashiruddin

Abstract:

Field trials were conducted in 2020 and 2021 at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria to evaluate the effect of biochar application under different weeding regimes on growth and yield of okra. Treatments were laid out in split- plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Main plot treatments were three levels of biochar namely 0t/ha, 10t/ha and 20t/ha while sub-plots treatments consisted of four weeding regimes (weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS, weeding at 3 and 6 WAS, weeding at 3 WAS and weedy check as control). Data collected on growth and yield of okra, and weed parameters were subjected to analysis of variance and treatment means were separated using least significant difference at p < 0.05. Results showed that biochar applied at 20 t/ha increased okra yield by 47.5% compared to the control. Weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS gave the highest okra yield. Uncontrolled weed infestation throughout crop growth resulted in 87.3% yield reduction in okra. It is concluded that weed suppression , growth and yield of okra can be enhanced by the application of biochar at 20t/ha and weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS hence recommended.

Keywords: biochar, okra, weeding, weed competition

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Authors: Li Yin, Xiaoqin Wang

Abstract:

Background and purpose: Cancer diagnosis is part of a complex stochastic process, in which patients' personal and social characteristics influence the choice of diagnosing methods, diagnosing methods, in turn, influence the initial assessment of cancer stage, the initial assessment, in turn, influences the choice of treating methods, and treating methods in turn influence cancer outcomes such as cancer survival. To evaluate diagnosing methods, one needs to estimate and test the causal effect of a regime of cancer diagnosis and treatments. Recently, Wang and Yin (Annals of statistics, 2020) derived a new general formula, which expresses these causal effects in terms of the point effects of treatments in single-point causal inference. As a result, it is possible to estimate and test these causal effects via point effects. The purpose of the work is to estimate and test causal effects under various regimes of cancer diagnosis and treatments via point effects. Challenges and solutions: The cancer stage has influences from earlier diagnosis as well as on subsequent treatments. As a consequence, it is highly difficult to estimate and test the causal effects via standard parameters, that is, the conditional survival given all stationary covariates, diagnosing methods, cancer stage and prognosis factors, treating methods. Instead of standard parameters, we use the point effects of cancer diagnosis and treatments to estimate and test causal effects under various regimes of cancer diagnosis and treatments. We are able to use familiar methods in the framework of single-point causal inference to accomplish the task. Achievements: we have applied this method to stomach cancer survival from a clinical study in Sweden. We have studied causal effects under various regimes, including the optimal regime of diagnosis and treatments and the effect moderation of the causal effect by age and gender.

Keywords: cancer diagnosis, causal effect, point effect, G-formula, sequential causal effect

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Authors: Olusegun Raphael Adeyemi, Samuel Oluwaseun Osunleti, Abiddin Adekunle Bashiruddin

Abstract:

Field trials were conducted in 2020 and 2021 at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, to evaluate the effect of biochar application under different weeding regimes on the growth and yield of okra. Treatments were laid out in a split- plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Main plot treatments were three levels of biochar, namely 0t/ha, 10t/ha and 20t/ha while sub-plot treatments consisted of four weeding regimes (weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS, weeding at 3 and 6 WAS, weeding at 3 WAS and weedy check as control). Data collected on growth and yield of okra and weed parameters were subjected to analysis of variance, and treatment means were separated using the least significant difference at p < 0.05. Results showed that biochar applied at 20 t/ha increased okra yield by 47.5% compared to the control. Weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS gave the highest okra yield. Uncontrolled weed infestation throughout crop growth resulted in an 87.3% yield reduction in okra. It is concluded that weed suppression, growth and yield of okra can be enhanced by the application of biochar at 20t/ha and weeding at 3, 6 and 9 WAS hence recommended.

Keywords: biochar, okra, weeding, weed competition, yield

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Authors: Aneeq Sarwar

Abstract:

This study assesses the interaction between environmental and intellectual property policy on the rate of invention of environmental inventions and specifically tests for whether there is a synergy between stricter IP regimes and stronger environmental policies. The empirical analysis uses firm and industry-level data from seven OECD countries from 2009 to 2015. We also introduce a new measure of environmental inventions using a Natural Language Processing Topic Modelling technique. We find that intellectual property policy strictness demonstrates greater effectiveness in encouraging inventiveness in environmental inventions when used in combination with stronger environmental policies. This study contributes to existing literature in two ways. First, it devises a method for better identification of environmental technologies, we demonstrate how our method is more comprehensive than existing methods as we are better able to identify not only environmental inventions, but also major components of said inventions. Second, we test how various policy regimes affect the development of environmental technologies, we are the first study to examine the interaction of the environmental and intellectual property policy on firm level innovation.

Keywords: environmental economics, economics of innovation, environmental policy, firm level

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Authors: Hecson Christian, Joel Macwan

Abstract:

Landfill site selection in an urban area is a critical issue in the planning process. With the growth of the urbanization, it has a mammoth impact on the economy, ecology, and environmental health of the region. Outsized amount of wastes are produced and the problem gets soared every day. Hence, selection of ideal site for sanitary landfill is a challenge for urban planners and solid waste managers. Disposal site is a function of many parameters. Among all, Geotechnical parameters are very vital as the same is related to surrounding open land. Moreover, the accessible safe and acceptable land is also scarce. Therefore, in this paper geotechnical parameters are used to develop a GIS model to identify an ideal location for landfill purpose. Metropolitan city of Surat is highly populated and fastest growing urban area in India. The research objectives are to conduct field experiments to collect data and to transfer the facts in GIS platform to evolve a model, to find ideal location. Planners’ preferences were obtained to use analytical hierarchical process (AHP) to find weights of each parameter. Integration of GIS and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques are applied to improve decision-making. It augments an environment for transformation and combination of geographical data and planners’ preferences. GIS performs deterministic overlay and buffer operations. MCDA methods evaluate alternatives based on the decision makers’ subjective values and priorities. Research results have shown many alternative locations. Economic analysis of selected site from actual operations point of view is not included in this research.

Keywords: GIS, AHP, MCDA, Geo-technical

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Authors: Mohamed El Kory Yacoub, Ahmed Bezeid El Mamy Beyatt, Djibril Barry, Yanogo Pauline, Nicolas Meda

Abstract:

Introduction: Rift Valley Fever is a zoonotic arbovirosis that severely affects ruminants, as well as humans. It causes abortions in pregnant females and deaths in young animals. The disease occurs during heavy rains followed by large numbers of mosquito vectors. The objective of this work is to evaluate the surveillance system for Rift Valley Fever. Methods: We conducted an evaluation of the Rift Valley Fiver surveillance system. Data were collected from the analysis of the national database of the Mauritanian Network of Animal Disease Epidemiological Surveillance at the Ministry of Rural Development, of RVF cases notified from the whole national territory, of questionnaires and interviews with all persons involved in RVF surveillance at the central level. The quality of the system was assessed by analyzing the quantitative attributes defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results: In 2019, 443 cases of RVF were notified by the surveillance system, of which 36 were positive. Among the notified cases of Rift Valley Fever, the 0- to the 3-year-old age group of small ruminants was the most represented with 49.21% of cases, followed by 33.33%, which was recorded in large ruminants in the 0 to 7-year-old age group, 11.11% of cases were older than seven years. The completeness of the data varied between 14.2% (age) and 100% (species). Most positive cases were recorded between October and November 2019 in seven different regions. Attribute analysis showed that 87% of the respondents were able to use the case definition well, and 78.8% said they were familiar with the reporting and feedback loop of the Rift Valley Fever data. 90.3% of the respondents found it easy, while 95% of them responded that it was easy for them to transmit their data to the next level. Conclusions: The epidemiological surveillance system for Rift Valley Fever in Mauritania is simple and representative. However, data quality, stability, and responsiveness are average, as the diagnosis of the disease requires laboratory confirmation and the average delay for this confirmation is long (13 days). Consequently, the lack of completeness of the recorded data and of description of cases in terms of time-place-animal, associated with the delay between the stages of the surveillance system can make prevention, early detection of epidemics, and the initiation of measures for an adequate response difficult.

Keywords: evaluation, epidemiological surveillance system, rift valley fever, mauritania, ruminants

Procedia PDF Downloads 124