Search results for: form characteristic

Authors: Adewole Tomiwa Adetunji, Francis Bayo Lewu, Richard Mundembe

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Plants require nitrogen (N) to support desired production levels. There is a need for better understanding of N transport mechanism in order to improve N assimilation by plant root. Nitrogen is available to plants in the form of nitrate or ammonium, which are transported into the cell with the aid of various transport proteins. Ammonium transporters (AMTs) play a role in the uptake of ammonium, the form in which N is preferentially absorbed by plants. Solanum tuberosum AMT1 (StAMT1) was amplified, sequenced and characterized using molecular biology and bioinformatics methods. Nucleotide database sequences were used to design 976 base pairs AMT1-specific primers which include forward primer 5’- GCCATCGCCGCCGCCGG-3’ and reverse primer 5’-GGGTCAGATCCATACCCGC-3’. These primers were used to amplify the Solanum tuberosum AMT1 internal regions. Nucleotide sequencing, alignment and phylogenetic analysis assigned StAMT1 to the AMT1 family due to the clade and high similarity it shared with other plant AMT1 genes. The deduced amino acid sequences showed that StAMT1 is 92%, 83% and 76% similar to Solanum lycopersicum LeAMT1.1, Lotus japonicus LjAMT1.1, and Solanum lycopersicum LeAMT1.2 respectively. StAMT1 fragments were shown to correspond to the 5th-10th trans-membrane domains. Residue StAMT1 D15 is predicted to be essential for ammonium transport, while mutations of StAMT1 S76A may further enhance ammonium transport.

Keywords: ammonium transporter, bioinformatics, nitrogen, primers, Solanum tuberosum

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Authors: D. Olszewska, J. Niewiedzial

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In some types of Li-ion batteries carbon in the form of graphite is used. Unfortunately, carbon materials, in particular graphite, have very good electrochemical properties, but increase their volume during charge/discharge cycles, which may even lead to an explosion of the cell. The cell element may be replaced by a composite material consisting of lithium-titanium oxide Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) modified with copper and nickel ions and carbon derived from sucrose. This way you can improve the conductivity of the material. LTO is appropriate only for applications which do not require high energy density because of its high operating voltage (ca. 1.5 V vs. Li/Li+). Specific capacity of Li4Ti5O12 is high enough for utilization in Li-ion batteries (theoretical capacity 175 mAh·g-1) but it is lower than capacity of graphite anodes. Materials based on Li4Ti5O12 do not change their volume during charging/discharging cycles, however, LTO has low conductivity. Another positive aspect of the use of sucrose in the carbon composite material is to eliminate the addition of carbon black from the anode of the battery. Therefore, the proposed materials contribute significantly to environmental protection and safety of selected lithium cells. New anode materials in order to obtain Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1Ti5O12 have been prepared by solid state synthesis using three-way: i) stoichiometric composition of Li2CO3, TiO2, CuO, NiO (A- Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1Ti5O12); ii) stoichiometric composition of Li2CO3, TiO2, Cu(NO3)2, Ni(NO3)2 (B-Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1Ti5O12); and iii) stoichiometric composition of Li2CO3, TiO2, CuO, NiO calcined with 10% of saccharose (Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1Ti5O12-C). Structure of materials was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrochemical properties were performed using appropriately prepared cell Li|Li+|Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1Ti5O12 for cyclic voltammetry and discharge/charge measurements. The cells were periodically charged and discharged in the voltage range from 1.3 to 2.0 V applying constant charge/discharge current in order to determine the specific capacity of each electrode. Measurements at various values of the charge/discharge current (from C/10 to 5C) were carried out. Cyclic voltammetry investigation was carried out by applying to the cells a voltage linearly changing over time at a rate of 0.1 mV·s-1 (in the range from 2.0 to 1.3 V and from 1.3 to 2.0 V). The XRD method analyzes show that composite powders were obtained containing, in addition to the main phase, 4.78% and 4% TiO2 in A-Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1O12 and B-Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1O12, respectively. However, Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1O12-C material is three-phase: 63.84% of the main phase, 17.49 TiO2 and 18.67 Li2TiO3. Voltammograms of electrodes containing materials A-Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1O12 and B-Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1O12 are correct and repeatable. Peak cathode occurs for both samples at a potential approx. 1.52±0.01 V relative to a lithium electrode, while the anodic peak at potential approx. 1.65±0.05 V relative to a lithium electrode. Voltammogram of Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1Ti5O12-C (especially for the first measurement cycle) is not correct. There are large variations in values of specific current, which are not characteristic for materials LTO. From the point of view of safety and environmentally friendly production of Li-ion cells eliminating soot and applying Li3.8Cu0.1Ni0.1Ti5O12-C as an active material of an anode in lithium-ion batteries seems to be a good alternative to currently used materials.

Keywords: anode, Li-ion batteries, Li₄O₅O₁₂, spinel

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Authors: Young Jun Lee, Tae Hyuk Lee, Kyoung Tae Park, Jong Hyeon Lee

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The harsh atmosphere of the sulfur-iodine process used for producing hydrogen requires better corrosion resistance and mechanical properties that is possible to obtain with pure tantalum. Ta-W alloy is superior to pure tantalum but is difficult to alloy due to its high melting temperature. In this study, substrates of near-net shape (Swagelok® tube ISSG8UT4) were coated with Ta-W using the multi-anode reactive alloy coating (MARC) process in molten salt (LiF-NaF-K2TaF7) at different current densities (1, 2 and 4mA/cm2). Ta-4W coating films of uniform coating thicknesses, without any entrapped salt, were successfully deposited on Swagelok tube by electrodeposition at 1 mA/cm2. The resulting coated film with a corrosion rate of less than 0.011 mm/year was attained in hydriodic acid at 160°C, and hardness up to 12.9 % stronger than pure tantalum coated film. The alloy coating films also contributed to significant enhancement of corrosion resistance.

Keywords: tantalum, tantalum alloy, tungsten alloy, electroplating

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Authors: Mohammad Javad Shakori, Esmaeil Babakhanzadeh Sajirani, Vajihe Esmaili

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Today, the increasing contamination is an environmental concern. There is relationship between plants and microorganisms many years ago. In this regard, an experiment was conducted in order to investigate the effect of different levels of lead across three levels ‘zero, 50, and 100 mg/L’ and Trichoderma Harzanium fungus across three levels ‘5, 10, and 15%’ in a factorial design in the form of fully randomized blocks in three replications under form conditions in the climatic conditions of Shahroud in Dehlama Village. This research was performed in 2014-2015 on cauliflower. In this experiment, chlorophyll a, b, total, cartenoid, phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant properties of cauliflowers were measured. The results indicated that the greatest level of chlorophyll a (75.723 mg/wet weight), chlorophyll b (27.378 mg/wet weight), and total chlorophyll (109.074 mg/wet weight) was related to the interactive effects of 5% treatment of Trichoderma fungus and 0mg/L lead. The results also indicated that the greatest amount of antioxidant (79.88% of free radical) and flavonoides (22.889 mg of coercetin/g of dry weight) was related to the interactive effects of lead 50 mg/L and the treatment of Trichoderma fungus 5%. Further, the greatest level of phenol (21.33 mg of Gaelic acid/ dry weight) was related to the interactive effects of lead 100 mg/L and Trichoderma fungus 5% . As carotenoids are a type of antioxidant and precursor of vitamin A, with the development of alignment effect with other antioxidants such as the total phenol, flavonoid, achieved desirable levels of antioxidant.

Keywords: antioxidant, lead, flavonoid, cauliflower, chlorophyll

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Authors: Akbar

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Pros and cons of the capital punishment in Indonesia have been out of the date. The discourse of capital punishment has no relevance to the theory of punishment and theories of cultural relativism. In fact, the provisions of exceptions to the right to life by administering the death penalty against the perpetrators of serious crimes in Indonesia is a narrow perspective that does not pay attention to the development of the punishment of the crime. This thing is aggravated by an error to understand the natural right and legal right where the prohibition of those rights is result from a failure to distinguish the characteristic of the rights and to remember the raison d’être of law. To parse the irrational above, this paper will try to analyze normatively the error referring to the complementary theory between the sources of international law and the sources of municipal law of Indonesia. Both sources of the law above should be understood in the mutually reinforcing relationship enforceability because of false perceptions against those will create the disintegration between international law and municipal law of Indonesia. This disintegration is explicit not only contrary to the integrative theory of international law but also integrative theory of municipal law of Indonesia.

Keywords: capital punishment, municipal law, right to life, international law, the raison d’être of law, complementary theory, integrative theory

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Authors: A. Bedük, k. Eryeşil, o. Eşmen, m. Onacak

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The mobbing is a process that is consisting of negative behaviors such as, systematically and continuously insulting, offending against personal dignity, preventing access to necessary information and disseminating rumors against employee by one or more than one individuals in a work environment through which disturbing the employee physically, psychologically and socially to cause to quit his/her job. This research is aiming to explore the results of mobbing (psychological violence) on employees’ organizational commitment in workplaces. Mobbing takes many forms and is often used to force an employee to leave the work environment. Two different types of scales have been reviewed and revised for use in the research. The Heinz Leymann scale is the first measure, which was developed to define causes and effects, in addition to characteristic behaviors of mobbing. The second scale was developed by Allen and Mayer and indicates levels of organizational commitment. In this research, a questionnaire were applied to 50 employees in a special glass factory in Konya to search mobbing itself and indicate the effects of mobbing to organizational commitments. One of the important findings of this research is that there was no relation between mobbing and general organizational commitment.

Keywords: mobbing, organizational commitment, affective commitment, normative commitment, continuance commitment

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Authors: J. Švarc-Gajić, A. Cvetanović

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Apigenin is a flavone synthetized by many plants and quite abundant in chamomile (Matricaria recutita) in its free form and in the form of its glucoside and different acylated forms. Many beneficial health effects have been attributed to apigenin, such as chemo-preventive, anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antispasmodic. It is reported that free apigenin is much more bioactive in comparison to its bound forms. Subcritical water offers numerous advantages in comparison to conventional extraction techniques, such as good selectivity, low price and safety. Superheated water exhibits high hydrolytical potential which must be carefully balanced when using this solvent for the extraction of bioactive molecules. Moderate hydrolytical potential can be exploited to liberate apigenin from its bound forms, thus increasing biological potential of obtained extracts. The polarity of pressurized water and its hydrolytical potential are highly dependent on the temperature. In this research chamomile ligulate flowers were extracted by pressurized hot water in home-made subcritical water extractor in conditions of convective mass transfer. The influence of the extraction temperature was investigated at 30 bars. Extraction yields of total phenols, total flavonoids and apigenin depending on the operational temperature were calculated based on spectrometric assays. Optimal extraction temperature for maximum yields of total phenols and flavonoids showed to be 160°C, whereas apigenin yield was the highest at 120°C.

Keywords: superheated water, temperature, chamomile, apigenin

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Authors: Chander Shekhar, Jeetendra Yadav, Shaziya Allarakha

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Hypertension has been described as an 'iceberg disease' as those who suffered are ignored and hence usually seek healthcare services at a very late stage. It is estimated that more than 2 million Indians are suffering from hypertensive heart disease that contributed to above 0.13 million deaths in 2016. The paper study aims to know the prevalence of Hypertension in India and its variation by socioeconomic backgrounds and to find out risk factors discriminating hypertension with special emphasis on consumption of tobacco and alcohol among men aged 15-54 years in India. The paper uses NFHS (2015-16) data. The paper used binary logistic regression and discriminant analysis to find significant predictors and discriminants of interest. The prevalence of hypertension was 16.5% in the study population. The results suggest that consumption of alcohol and tobacco are significant discriminant characteristics in carrying hypertension irrespective of what socioeconomic background characteristic he possesses.

Keywords: hypertention, alcohol, tobacco, discriminant

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Authors: Raziye Atakan, Ebru Celebi, Gulay Ozcan, Neda Soydan, A. Sezai Sarac

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In this study, a novel polymeric flame retardant chemical with phosphorous-nitrogen synergism was synthesized by polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), hydrophilic polyester resin (PR), phosphoric acid and dicyandiamide (DCDA). Polyester/Cotton (Pes/Co) blend fabrics were treated via pad-dry-cure process with this synthesized chemical. PVA (PR)-P-DCDA has shown that it is an effective flame retardant on the fabrics. In order to improve durable flame retardancy for cotton part of the blend, polysilicic acid and citric acid monohydrate auxiliaries were added in FR finishing bath at different concentrations. Flammability and characteristic properties of the sample were tested according to relevant ISO standard and procedures. To do so, ISO 6940 vertical flammability test, TGA, DTA, LOI and FTIR analysis have been performed. The obtained results showed that this new finishing formulation is a good char-forming agent for the PES/CO blends and polysilicic acid could be used for cellulosic blends with PVA (PR)-P-DCDA.

Keywords: flame retardancy, flammability, Pes/Co blends, polysilicic acid

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Authors: Anmol Patel

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Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is medical intervention which should be considered for all inpatients; with a patient centred approach, open communication and accurate documentation of clinical decisions. National enquiries have shown that in a significant number of cases CPR was attempted when it was considered inappropriate. In these circumstances attempting to prevent a natural death and subjecting a patient to trauma at the end of life would deprive them of a dignified death. Anticipatory “do not attempt CPR (DNACPR)” decisions aim to prevent this for those considered appropriate. As a legal document, these forms are required to be completed accurately and thoroughly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the difference in quality of DNACPR forms completed using electronic versus paper formats. A retrospective review of DNACPR forms and related documentation was completed in two District General Hospitals in South-East England, one of which uses electronic forms, while the other uses paper red forms. 50 completed forms from each hospital were analysed to assess for legibility, and quality of completion of all subsections of the form, including communications with family, relatives and the Multidisciplinary team. The hospital using paper forms showed a 40-44% rate of completion of sections relating to communication with patients and family, compared to 70% with the hospital using electronic forms. Similar trends were observed with other sections of the form. Conclusion: This study suggests that the implementation of electronic DNACPR forms significantly improves clinical practice and promotes better open communication with patients, family and the MDT.

Keywords: DNACPR, resuscitation, DNAR, patient communication

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Authors: Hyun Young Kim, Chung Kwang Lee, Han Hee Cho, Sang Woon Cho, Yong Seo Koo

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In this paper, we proposed a novel SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) - based ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) protection device for I/O and power clamp. The proposed device has a higher holding voltage characteristic than conventional SCR. These characteristics enable to have latch-up immunity under normal operating conditions as well as superior full chip ESD protection. The proposed device was analyzed to figure out electrical characteristics and tolerance robustness in term of individual design parameters (D1, D2, D3). They are investigated by using the Synopsys TCAD simulator. As a result of simulation, holding voltage increased with different design parameters. The holding voltage of the proposed device changes from 3.3V to 7.9V. Also, N-Stack structure ESD device with the high holding voltage is proposed. In the simulation results, 2-stack has holding voltage of 6.8V and 3-stack has holding voltage of 10.5V. The simulation results show that holding voltage of stacking structure can be larger than the operation voltage of high-voltage application.

Keywords: ESD, SCR, holding voltage, stack, power clamp

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Authors: Salmi-Laouar Sihem, Aouissi Riadh

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The Cenomanian formations of the Bellezma-Batna Range are yielding very diversified fossiliferous beds. Among the abundant and well-preserved fossils stands out Aspidiscus cristatus (Lamarck). This taxon is assigned to the Family Latomeandridae (Alloiteau) for the presence of six symmetry axes. The outer morphology of sampled specimens documents a low-energy environment with a high sedimentary rate and a mud-supported bottom. Its provincialism evidences some characteristic thermal gradients of the marked Tethysian climatic areas. Biometric measurements are given. Coral size increases from the North towards the southeastern Tethysian margin where waters are supposed warmer; this feature is also underlined by a frequent bio-erosion of sampled specimens. Its limited stratigraphic range makes it a good candidate for an index species for the Middle Cenomanian.

Keywords: Aspidiscus cristatus, coral, Middle Cenomanian, Batna, Bellezma, Algeria

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Authors: Leila Rashidian, Abbas Ebrahimi

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The development of industrial activities, increase in fossil fuel consumption, vehicles, destruction of forests and grasslands, changes in land use, and population growth have caused to increase the amount of greenhouse gases especially CO₂ in the atmosphere in recent decades. This has led to global warming and climate change. In the present paper, we have investigated the trend of climate change according to the data simulation during the time interval of 2010-2030 in the Fars province. In this research, the daily climatic parameters such as maximum and minimum temperature, precipitation and number of sunny hours during the 1977-2008 time interval for synoptic stations of Shiraz and Abadeh and during 1995-2008 for Lar stations and also the output of HADCM₃ model in 2010-2030 time interval have been used based on the A₂ propagation scenario. The results of the model show that the average temperature will increase by about 1 degree centigrade and the amount of precipitation will increase by 23.9% compared to the observational data. In conclusion, according to the temperature increase in this province, the amount of precipitation in the form of snow will be reduced and precipitations often will occur in the form of rain. This 1-degree centigrade increase during the season will reduce production by 6 to 10% because of shortening the growing period of wheat.

Keywords: climate change, Lars WG, HADCM3, Gillan province, climatic parameters, A2 scenario

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Authors: Djeamsly Salomon

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Background: Epidemiological surveillance is a dynamic national system used to observe all aspects of the evolution of priority health problems, through: collection, analysis, systematic interpretation of information, and dissemination of results with necessary recommendations. The study was conducted to assess the mandatory disease surveillance system in the Sud Department. Methods: A study was conducted from March to May 2021 with key players involved in surveillance at the level of health institutions in the department . The CDC's 2021 updated guideline was used to evaluate the system. We collected information about the operation, attributes, and usefulness of the surveillance system using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Epi-Info7.2 and Excel 2016 were used to generate the mean, frequencies and proportions. Results: Of 30 participants, 23 (77%) were women. The average age was 39 years[30-56]. 25 (83%) had training in epidemiological surveillance. (50%) of the forms checked were signed by the supervisor. Collection tools were available at (80%). Knowledge of at least 7 notifiable diseases was high (100%). Among the respondents, 29 declared that the collection tools were simple, 27 had already filled in a notification form. The maximum time taken to fill out a form was 10 minutes. The feedback between the different levels was done at (60%). Conclusion: The surveillance system is useful, simple, acceptable, representative, flexible, stable and responsive. The data generated was of high quality. However, it is threatened by the lack of supervision of sentinel sites, lack of investigation and weak feedback. This evaluation demonstrated the urgent need to improve supervision in the sites and to feedback information. Strengthen epidemiological surveillance.

Keywords: evaluation, notifiable diseases, surveillance, system

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Authors: Xuan Li, Lei Xu

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By the end of 2014, China has an urban population of 749 million, reaching the urbanization rate of 54.77%. Dense and vertical urban structure has become a common choice for China and most of the densely populated Asian countries for sustainable development. This paper focuses on the most conspicuous urban change period in China, from 2000 to 2010, during which China's population shifted the fastest from rural region to cities. On one hand, the 200 million nationwide "new citizen" along with the 456 million "old citizen" explored in the new-century city for new urban lifestyle and livable built environment; On the other hand, however, large-scale rapid urban constructions are confined to the methods of traditional two-dimensional architectural thinking. Human-oriented design and system thinking have been missing in this intricate postmodern urban condition. This phenomenon, especially the gap and spark between the solid, huge urban physical system and the rich, subtle everyday urban life, will be studied in depth: How the 20th-century high-rise residential building "spontaneously" turned into an old but expensive multi-functional high-rise complex in the 21st century city center; how 21st century new/late 20th century old public buildings with the same function integrated their different architectural forms into the new / old city center? Finally the paper studies cases in Hangzhou: 1) Function Evolve–downtown high-rise residential building “International Garden” and “Zhongshan Garden” (1999). 2) Form Compare–Hangzhou Theater (1998) vs Hangzhou Grand Theatre (2004), Hangzhou City Railway Station (1999) vs Hangzhou East Railway Station (2013). The research aims at the exploring the essence of city from the building form dispel and urban program re-configuration approach, gaining a better consideration of human behavior through compact urban design effort for improving urban intertextuality, searching for a sustainable development path in the crucial time of urban population explosion in China.

Keywords: architecture form dispel, compact urban design, urban intertextuality, urban program re-configuration

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Authors: Te-Jen Chang, I-Hui Pan, Kuang-Hsiung Tan, Shan-Jen Cheng, Chien-Wu Lan, Chih-Chan Hu

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With the event of multimedia age in order to protect data not to be tampered, damaged, and faked, information hiding technologies are proposed. Information hiding means important secret information is hidden into cover multimedia and then camouflaged media is produced. This camouflaged media has the characteristic of natural protection. Under the undoubted situation, important secret information is transmitted out.Reversible information hiding technologies for high capacity is proposed in this paper. The gray images are as cover media in this technology. We compress gray images and compare with the original image to produce the estimated differences. By using the estimated differences, expression information hiding is used, and higher information capacity can be achieved. According to experimental results, the proposed technology can be approved. For these experiments, the whole capacity of information payload and image quality can be satisfied.

Keywords: cover media, camouflaged media, reversible information hiding, gray image

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Authors: Eqqab Maree, Habil Jurgen Bast, Zana K. Shakir

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Passive damping, once properly characterized and incorporated into the structure design is an autonomous mechanism. Passive damping can be achieved by applying layers of a polymeric material, called viscoelastic layers (VEM), to the base structure. This type of configuration is known as free or unconstrained layer damping treatment. A shear or constrained damping treatment uses the idea of adding a constraining layer, typically a metal, on top of the polymeric layer. Constrained treatment is a more efficient form of damping than the unconstrained damping treatment. In constrained damping treatment a sandwich is formed with the viscoelastic layer as the core. When the two outer layers experience bending, as they would if the structure was oscillating, they shear the viscoelastic layer and energy is dissipated in the form of heat. This form of energy dissipation allows the structural oscillations to attenuate much faster. The purpose behind this study is to predict damping effects by using two methods of passive viscoelastic constrained layer damping. First method is Euler-Bernoulli beam theory; it is commonly used for predicting the vibratory response of beams. Second method is Finite Element software packages provided in this research were obtained by using two-dimensional solid structural elements in ANSYS14 specifically eight nodded (SOLID183) and the output results from ANSYS 14 (SOLID183) its damped natural frequency values and mode shape for first five modes. This method of passive damping treatment is widely used for structural application in many industries like aerospace, automobile, etc. In this paper, take a steel cantilever sandwich beam with viscoelastic core type 3M-468 by using methods of passive viscoelastic constrained layer damping. Also can proved that, the percentage reduction of modal frequency between undamped and damped steel sandwich cantilever beam 8mm thickness for each mode is very high, this is due to the effect of viscoelastic layer on damped beams. Finally this types of damped sandwich steel cantilever beam with viscoelastic materials core type (3M468) is very appropriate to use in automotive industry and in many mechanical application, because has very high capability to reduce the modal vibration of structures.

Keywords: steel cantilever, sandwich beam, viscoelastic materials core type (3M468), ANSYS14, Euler-Bernoulli beam theory

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Authors: Umamaheswara Rao Jada, Susmita Mukhopadhyay

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Employee voice behavior has emerged as an important topic in relation to understanding the paybacks within the organizations. Organizations are expecting employees to contribute in the form of suggestions and ideas that not only help an organization to grow but also survive the turbulent times. Leadership in the organization enables and arouses an individual to offer constructive ideas. The significant impact of leadership is undeniable in a context of creating an environment that promotes a free flow of thoughts and ideas in the organization which in turn is significantly influenced by the personality of the leader. Therefore our study aims at examining the underlying factors which influence employee constructive voice behavior in connection with leader’s personality, empowering form of leadership and leader-member exchange in the organization sequentially. A standardized survey questionnaire was used to collect sample of 272 service executives in India. Smart PLS 2.0 was used to test hypothesis and explore the mediation effect. The result shows that the leader personality traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness were positively related to empowering leadership, whereas neuroticism was unrelated to empowering leadership. Empowering leadership influenced followers’ constructive voice behavior significantly. Furthermore, the relationship was partially mediated by leader member exchange relationship. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings, as well as directions for the future line of research, have been presented in the study.

Keywords: constructive voice, empowering leadership, leader member exchange (LMX), leader personality traits

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Authors: Vallence Ngabo M., Leonard Atuhaire, Peter Clever Rutayisire

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The main aim of this study was to establish the differences in both the determinants of stunting and the causal mechanism through which the identified determinants influence stunting amongst male and female under-fives in Uganda. Literature shows that male children below the age of five years are at a higher risk of being stunted than their female counterparts. Specifically, studies in Uganda indicate that being a male child is positively associated with stunting, while being a female is negatively associated with stunting. Data for 904 males and 829 females under-fives was extracted form UDHS-2016 survey dataset. Key variables for this study were identified and used in generating relevant models and paths. Structural equation modeling techniques were used in their generalized form (GSEM). The generalized nature necessitated specifying both the family and link functions for each response variable in the system of the model. The sex of the child (b4) was used as a grouping factor and the height for age (HAZ) scores were used to construct the status for stunting of under-fives. The estimated models and path clearly indicated that the set of underlying factors that influence male and female under-fives respectively was different and the path through which they influence stunting was different. However, some of the determinants that influenced stunting amongst male under-fives also influenced stunting amongst the female under-fives. To reduce the stunting problem to the desirable state, it is important to consider the multifaceted and complex nature of the risk factors that influence stunting amongst the under-fives but, more importantly, consider the different sex-specific factors and their causal mechanism or paths through which they influence stunting.

Keywords: stunting, underfives, sex of the child, GSEM, causal mechanism

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Authors: Chaiwat Tantarangsee

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The purposes of this study are 1) to study the frequent English writing errors of students registering the course: Reading and Writing English for Academic Purposes II, and 2) to find out the results of writing error correction by using coded indirect corrective feedback and writing error treatments. Samples include 28 2nd year English Major students, Faculty of Education, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. Tool for experimental study includes the lesson plan of the course; Reading and Writing English for Academic Purposes II, and tool for data collection includes 4 writing tests of short texts. The research findings disclose that frequent English writing errors found in this course comprise 7 types of grammatical errors, namely Fragment sentence, Subject-verb agreement, Wrong form of verb tense, Singular or plural noun endings, Run-ons sentence, Wrong form of verb pattern and Lack of parallel structure. Moreover, it is found that the results of writing error correction by using coded indirect corrective feedback and error treatment reveal the overall reduction of the frequent English writing errors and the increase of students’ achievement in the writing of short texts with the significance at .05.

Keywords: coded indirect corrective feedback, error correction, error treatment, English writing

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Authors: Wakkai Hosanna Hussaini

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A formal structure of the English clause is composed of at least two elements – subject and verb, in structural grammar and at least one element – predicate, in systemic (functional) and generative grammars. Each of the elements can be represented by a word or group (of words). In modern English structure, very often speakers merge two words as one with the use of an apostrophe. Each of the two words can come from different elements or belong to the same element. In either case, result of the merger is called contraction. Although contractions constitute a part of modern English structure, they are considered informal in nature (more frequently used in spoken than written English) that is why they were initially viewed as constituting an evidence of language deterioration. To our knowledge, no formal syntactic theory yet has been particular on the contractions because of its deviation from the formal rules of syntax that seek to identify the elements that form a clause in English. The inconsistency between the formal rules and a contraction is established when two words representing two elements in a non-contraction are merged as one element to form a contraction. Thus the paper presents the various syntactic issues as effects arising from converting non-contracted to contracted forms. It categorizes English contractions and describes each category according to its syntactic relations (position and relationship) and morphological formation (form and content) as integral part of modern structure of English. This is a position paper as such the methodology is observational, descriptive and explanatory/analytical based on existing related literature. The inventory of English contractions contained in books on syntax forms the data from where specific examples are drawn. It is noted as conclusion that the existing syntactic theories were not originally established to account for English contractions. The paper, when published, will further expose the inadequacies of the existing syntactic theories by giving more reasons for the establishment of a more comprehensive syntactic theory for analyzing English clause/sentence structure involving contractions. The method used reveals the extent of the inadequacies in applying the three major syntactic theories: structural, systemic (functional) and generative, on the English contractions. Although no theory is without scope, shying away from the three major theories from recognizing the English contractions need to be broken because of the increasing popularity of its use in modern English structure. The paper, therefore, recommends that as use of contraction gains more popular even in formal speeches today, there is need to establish a syntactic theory to handle its patterns of syntactic relations and morphological formation.

Keywords: application, effects, English contractions, syntactic theories

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Authors: Mohammad Talei, Neda Ranjbar Nosheri, Reza Kazemi Gorzadini

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Today municipalities are searching for the new tools for increasing the public participation in different levels of urban planning. This approach of urban planning involves the community in planning process using participatory approaches instead of the long traditional top-down planning methods. These tools can be used to obtain the particular problems of urban furniture form the residents’ point of view. One of the tools that is designed with this goal is public participation GIS (PPGIS) that enables citizen to record and following up their feeling and spatial knowledge regarding main problems of the city, specifically urban furniture, in the form of maps. However, despite the good intentions of PPGIS, its practical implementation in developing countries faces many problems including the lack of basic supporting infrastructure and services and unavailability of sophisticated public participatory models. In this research we develop a PPGIS using of Web 2 to collect voluntary geodataand to perform spatial analysis based on Spatial OnLine Analytical Processing (SOLAP) and Spatial Data Mining (SDM). These tools provide urban planners with proper informationregarding the type, spatial distribution and the clusters of reported problems. This system is implemented in a case study area in Tehran, Iran and the challenges to make it applicable and its potential for real urban planning have been evaluated. It helps decision makers to better understand, plan and allocate scarce resources for providing most requested urban furniture.

Keywords: PPGIS, spatial information, urbanizing futures, urban planning

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Authors: Julius Onyancha, Valentina Plekhanova

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One of the significant issues facing web users is the amount of noise in web data which hinders the process of finding useful information in relation to their dynamic interests. Current research works consider noise as any data that does not form part of the main web page and propose noise web data reduction tools which mainly focus on eliminating noise in relation to the content and layout of web data. This paper argues that not all data that form part of the main web page is of a user interest and not all noise data is actually noise to a given user. Therefore, learning of noise web data allocated to the user requests ensures not only reduction of noisiness level in a web user profile, but also a decrease in the loss of useful information hence improves the quality of a web user profile. Noise Web Data Learning (NWDL) tool/algorithm capable of learning noise web data in web user profile is proposed. The proposed work considers elimination of noise data in relation to dynamic user interest. In order to validate the performance of the proposed work, an experimental design setup is presented. The results obtained are compared with the current algorithms applied in noise web data reduction process. The experimental results show that the proposed work considers the dynamic change of user interest prior to elimination of noise data. The proposed work contributes towards improving the quality of a web user profile by reducing the amount of useful information eliminated as noise.

Keywords: web log data, web user profile, user interest, noise web data learning, machine learning

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Authors: Mohamed H. El-Newehy, Badr M. Thamer, Nasser A. M. Barakat, Mohammad A.Abdelkareem, Salem S. Al-Deyab, Hak Y. Kim

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In this study, the influence of nitrogen doping on the electrocatalytic activity of carbon nanofibers with nickel nanoparticles toward methanol oxidation is introduced. The modified carbon nanofibers have been synthesized from calcination of electrospun nanofiber mats composed of nickel acetate tetrahydrate, poly(vinyl alcohol) and urea in argon atmosphere at 750oC. The utilized physicochemical characterizations indicated that the proposed strategy leads to form carbon nanofibers having nickel nanoparticles and doped by nitrogen. Moreover, due to the high-applied voltage during the electrospinning process, the utilized urea chemically bonds with the polymer matrix, which leads to form nitrogen-doped CNFs after the calcination process. Investigation of the electrocatalytic activity indicated that nitrogen doping NiCNFs strongly enhances the oxidation process of methanol as the current density increases from 52.5 to 198.5 mA/cm2 when the urea content in the original electrospun solution was 4 wt% urea. Moreover, the nanofibrous morphology exhibits distinct impact on the electrocatalytic activity. Also, nitrogen-doping enhanced the stability of the introduced Ni-based electrocatalyst. Overall, the present study introduces effective and simple strategy to modify the electrocatalytic activity of the nickel-based materials.

Keywords: electrospinning, methanol electrooxidation, fuel cells, nitrogen-doping, nickel

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Authors: Alexey V. Klyuev, Arkady V. Yakimov, Mikhail I. Ryzhkin, Andrey V. Klyuev

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Fluctuations of Schottky diode parameters in a structure of the mixer are investigated. These fluctuations are manifested in two ways. At the first, they lead to fluctuations in the transfer factor that is lead to the amplitude fluctuations in the signal of intermediate frequency. On the basis of the measurement data of 1/f noise of the diode at forward current, the estimation of a spectrum of relative fluctuations in transfer factor of the mixer is executed. Current dependence of the spectrum of relative fluctuations in transfer factor of the mixer and dependence of the spectrum of relative fluctuations in transfer factor of the mixer on the amplitude of the heterodyne signal are investigated. At the second, fluctuations in parameters of the diode lead to the occurrence of 1/f noise in the output signal of the mixer. This noise limits the sensitivity of the mixer to the value of received signal.

Keywords: current-voltage characteristic, fluctuations, mixer, Schottky diode, 1/f noise

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Authors: Alexey Abilov

Abstract:

Sociological research in the form of a questionnaire survey of the population in the last decade has become an essential part of a comprehensive assessment of the territory in the practice of urban planning in Kazakhstan. This method was successfully used for developing master plans of settlements, urban agglomerations, and projects of detailed planning of individual sections of the urban environment. Also, it greatly contributes to the objectification of design solutions, since in addition to the traditional expert multifactorial assessment of urban development territories by professional designers, they provide an opportunity to consider existing urban development problems at the local level from the inside, through the eyes of the living population. A comparison of two areas of assessment of the territory -expert and social- allows us to give a more balanced final assessment, which can serve as a strong basis for making correct design decisions. The author of the article shows this by the example of the social assessment of the territory of the Almaty urban agglomeration in the form of a questionnaire survey of the population conducted in order to assess the quality of the living environment of the population, preferences in place and forms of recreation, as well as to delimitation the boundaries of the agglomeration. At the same time, the author's methodology of qualitative and quantitative assessment of the territory divided into polling stations is used, based on a comparison of the percentage of respondents' responses to various questionnaire questions with the total number of respondents.

Keywords: social assessment of territory, comprehensive assessment, urban agglomeration, correct design decisions

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Authors: Alibakhsh Kasaeian, Mohammad Sameti, Zahra Noori, Mona Rastgoo Bahambari

Abstract:

Nowadays, the parabolic trough solar collector technology has become the most promising large-scale technology among various solar thermal generations. In this paper, a detailed numerical heat transfer model for a parabolic trough collector with nanofluid is presented based on the finite difference approach for which a MATLAB code was developed. The model was used to simulate the performance of a parabolic trough solar collector’s linear receiver, called a heat collector element (HCE). In this model, the heat collector element of the receiver was discretized into several segments in axial directions and energy balances were used for each control volume. All the heat transfer correlations, the thermodynamic equations and the optical properties were considered in details and the set of algebraic equations were solved simultaneously using iterative numerical solutions. The modeling assumptions and limitations are also discussed, along with recommendations for model improvement.

Keywords: heat transfer, nanofluid, numerical analysis, trough

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Authors: Syukri Himran, Rustan Taraka, Anto Duma

Abstract:

The aim of the study is to improve the understanding of latent and sensible thermal energy storage within a paraffin wax media by an array of cylindrical tubes arranged both in in-line and staggered layouts. An analytical and experimental study was carried out in a horizontal shell-and-tube type system during the melting process. Pertamina paraffin-wax was used as a phase change material (PCM), where as the tubes are embedded in the PCM. From analytical study we can obtain the useful information in designing a thermal energy storage such as : the motion of interface, amount of material melted at any time in the process, and the heat storage characteristic during melting. The use of staggered tubes is proposed as superior to in-line layout for thermal storage. The experimental study was used to verify the validity of the analytical predictions. From the comparisons, the analytical and experimental data are in a good agreement.

Keywords: latent, sensible, paraffin-wax, thermal energy storage, conduction, natural convection

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Authors: Zohreh Derikvand

Abstract:

Nanoreactors Zr-MCM-41were prepared via the reaction of ZrOCl2, Fumed silica, sodium hydroxide and cethyltrimethyl ammonium bromide under hydrothermal condition. The prepared nanoreactors were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. The XRD pattern of Zr-MCM-41 exhibits a high-intensity (100) and two low-intensity reflections (110 and 200) which are characteristic of hexagonal structure, exhibiting the long-range order and good textural uniformity of mesoporous structure. Based on the green chemistry approach, we report an efficient and environmentally benign protocol to study the catalytic activity of Zr-MCM-41 in the Biginelli type reactions initially. Nanoreactors Zr-MCM-41 were used as highly recoverable and reusable catalyst for synthesis of 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one, octahydroquinazolinone, benzimidazolo-quinazolineone and 4,6-diarylpyrimidin-2(1H)-one. The methodology offers several advantages such as short reaction time, high yields and simple operation. The catalyst was active up to three cycles.

Keywords: Zr-MCM-41 nanoreactors, Biginelli like reactions, 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones, ctahydroquinazolinones

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Authors: Soumya Rajan

Abstract:

While delving into the heart of any organization, the structural pre-requisites which form the framework of its system, allures and sometimes invokes great interest. In an attempt to understand the ecosystem of Knowledge that existed in organizations with diverse ownership and legal blueprints, Cooperative Societies, which form a crucial part of the neo-liberal movement in India, was studied. The exploration surprisingly led to the re-designing of at least a set of premises of the researcher on the drivers of engagement in an otherwise structured trade environment. The liberal organizational structure of Cooperative Societies has been empowered with certain terminologies: Voluntary, Democratic, Equality and Distributive Justice. To condense in Hubert Calvert’ words, ‘Co-operation is a form of organization wherein persons voluntarily associated together as human beings on the basis of equality for the promotion of the economic interest of themselves.’ In India, largely the institutions which work under this principle is registered under Cooperative Societies Act of the Central or State laws. A Worker Cooperative Society which originated as a movement in the state of Kerala and spread its wings across the country - Indian Coffee House was chosen as the enterprise for further inquiry for it being a living example and a highly successful working model in the designated space. The exploratory study reached out to employees and key stakeholders of Indian Coffee House to understand the nuances of the structure and the scope it provides for engagement. The key questions which formed shape in the mind of researcher while engaging in the inquiry were: How has the organization sustained despite its principle of accepting employees with no skills into employment and later training and empowering them? How can a system which has pre-independence and post-independence (independence here means the colonial independence from Great Britain) existence seek to engage employees within the premise of equality? How was the value of socialism ingrained in a commercial enterprise which has a turnover of several hundreds of Crores each year? How did the vision of a flat structure, way back in the 1940’s find its way into the organizational structure and has continued to remain as the way of life? These questions were addressed by the Case study research that ensued and placing Knowledge as the key premise, the possibilities of engagement of the organization man was pictured. Understanding that although the macro or holistic unit of analysis is the organization, it is pivotal to understand the structures and processes which best reflect on the actors. The embedded design which was adopted in this study delivered insights from the different stakeholder actors from diverse departments. While moving through variables which define and sometimes defy bounds in rationality, the study brought to light the inherent features of the organization structure and how it influences the actors who form a crucial part of the scheme of things. The research brought forth the key enablers for engagement and specifically explored the standpoint of knowledge in the larger structure of the Cooperative Society.

Keywords: knowledge, organizational structure, engagement, worker cooperative

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