Search results for: power distribution

Authors: Madia Safdar, G. Amjad Hussain, Mashhood Ahmad

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One of the major challenges of today’s era is peak demand which causes stress on the transmission lines and also raises the cost of energy generation and ultimately higher electricity bills to the end users, and it was used to be managed by the supply side management. However, nowadays this has been withdrawn because of existence of potential in the demand side management (DSM) having its economic and- environmental advantages. DSM in domestic load can play a vital role in reducing the peak load demand on the network provides a significant cost saving. In this paper the potential of demand response (DR) in reducing the peak load demands and electricity bills to the electric users is elaborated. For this purpose the domestic appliances are modeled in MATLAB Simulink and controlled by a module called energy management controller. The devices are categorized into controllable and uncontrollable loads and are operated according to real-time tariff pricing pattern instead of fixed time pricing or variable pricing. Energy management controller decides the switching instants of the controllable appliances based on the results from optimization algorithms. In GAMS software, the MILP (mixed integer linear programming) algorithm is used for optimization. In different cases, different constraints are used for optimization, considering the comforts, needs and priorities of the end users. Results are compared and the savings in electricity bills are discussed in this paper considering real time pricing and fixed tariff pricing, which exhibits the existence of potential to reduce electricity bills and peak loads in demand side management. It is seen that using real time pricing tariff instead of fixed tariff pricing helps to save in the electricity bills. Moreover the simulation results of the proposed energy management system show that the gained power savings lie in high range. It is anticipated that the result of this research will prove to be highly effective to the utility companies as well as in the improvement of domestic DR.

Keywords: controllable and uncontrollable domestic loads, demand response, demand side management, optimization, MILP (mixed integer linear programming)

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Authors: Alison Marshall

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“Santo Niño in Canada – Religion, Migration, and the Filipino Underside” seeks to explore the intersection of religion, migration and the Filipino underside through research participant narratives, archival research, and fieldwork on the cult of Santo Niño in Canada. Santo Niño is the single most revered saint in Filipino religiosity. According to popular lore, the original statue of Santo Niño was brought to the Philippines by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, who claimed the islands on behalf of Spain. While Santo Niño is meant to be a manifestation of Jesus as a child, in Filipino thought and culture he very much resembles pre-Hispanic spirits, as well as patron saints introduced by the Spanish. Santo Niño shrines appear in churches, restaurants, businesses, and homes throughout the diaspora suggesting that he was much more than a Catholic image. He represents a deity who often shares a business or home shrine with non-Christian statues such as lucky cats, the Buddha, Guanyin, and Guangong, and sometimes the Chinese God of the Earth. He represents how Christian culture has been refashioned through indigenous, Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian influences. He embodies the religious superstructure that defines Christian piety and habits. On the one hand, he stands for Jesus, a pious son of God, and yet, on the other hand, he can be a simple vindictive child who punishes those who ignore him. Santo Niño is a complex character linked to the past before Christianity. As Filipinos engage with Santo Niño in Canada, they connect to him as Jesus, the son of God. They are also connecting to a childlike figure who sometimes uses his spiritual power to punish. A hybrid figure who comes came into being at the beginning of the Spanish colonial moment, he is maintained throughout the American one and continues to be a powerful reminder of Filipino identity and resilience when people leave the Philippines for migrant work. As this paper argues, Santo Niño beliefs, practices, and stories unite people in the diaspora regardless of language, gender, or nation. Santo Niño enables one to think about and understand what it means to be Filipino and living migrant lives in the diaspora today. In this way, the cult of Santo Niño expresses both Catholic orthodoxy and the heterodox Filipino underside that includes the use of magical amulets, healing, visions, and spirit mediumship.

Keywords: ethnography, migration, Philippines, religion

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Authors: Aliaksandr Volchak, Мaryna Barushka

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The territory of Belarus is studied quite well in terms of hydrology but runoff fluctuations over time require more detailed research in order to forecast changes in rivers runoff in future. Generally, river runoff is shaped by natural climatic factors, but man-induced impact has become so big lately that it can be compared to natural processes in forming runoffs. In Belarus, a heavy man load on the environment was caused by large-scale land reclamation in the 1960s. Lands of southern Belarus were reclaimed most, which contributed to changes in runoff. Besides, global warming influences runoff. Today we observe increase in air temperature, decrease in precipitation, changes in wind velocity and direction. These result from cyclic climate fluctuations and, to some extent, the growth of concentration of greenhouse gases in the air. Climate change affects Belarus’s water resources in different ways: in hydropower industry, other water-consuming industries, water transportation, agriculture, risks of floods. In this research we have done an assessment of river runoff according to the scenarios of climate change and global climate forecast presented in the 4th and 5th Assessment Reports conducted by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and later specified and adjusted by experts from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University with the use of a regional climatic model. In order to forecast changes in climate and runoff, we analyzed their changes from 1962 up to now. This period is divided into two: from 1986 up to now in comparison with the changes observed from 1961 to 1985. Such a division is a common world-wide practice. The assessment has revealed that, on the average, changes in runoff are insignificant all over the country, even with its irrelevant increase by 0.5 – 4.0% in the catchments of the Western Dvina River and north-eastern part of the Dnieper River. However, changes in runoff have become more irregular both in terms of the catchment area and inter-annual distribution over seasons and river lengths. Rivers in southern Belarus (the Pripyat, the Western Bug, the Dnieper, the Neman) experience reduction of runoff all year round, except for winter, when their runoff increases. The Western Bug catchment is an exception because its runoff reduces all year round. Significant changes are observed in spring. Runoff of spring floods reduces but the flood comes much earlier. There are different trends in runoff changes in spring, summer, and autumn. Particularly in summer, we observe runoff reduction in the south and west of Belarus, with its growth in the north and north-east. Our forecast of runoff up to 2035 confirms the trend revealed in 1961 – 2015. According to it, in the future, there will be a strong difference between northern and southern Belarus, between small and big rivers. Although we predict irrelevant changes in runoff, it is quite possible that they will be uneven in terms of seasons or particular months. Especially, runoff can change in summer, but decrease in the rest seasons in the south of Belarus, whereas in the northern part the runoff is predicted to change insignificantly.

Keywords: assessment, climate fluctuation, forecast, river runoff

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Authors: Twinkle Sara Joseph

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Virtual reality technology has emerged as a revolutionary power that can transform the education sector in many ways. VR environments can break the boundaries of the traditional classroom setting by immersing the students in realistic 3D environments where they can interact with virtual characters without fearing being judged. Communication skills are essential for every profession, and studies suggest the importance of implementing basic-level communication courses at both the school and graduate levels. Interpersonal communication is a skill that gains prominence as it is required in every profession. Traditional means of training have limitations for trainees as well as participants. The fear of being judged, the audience interaction, and other factors can affect the performance of a participant in a traditional classroom setting. Virtual reality offers a unique opportunity for its users to participate in training that does not set any boundaries that prevent the participants from performing in front of an audience. Specialised applications designed in VR headsets offer a range of training and exercises for participants without any time, space, or audience limitations. The present study aims at measuring the effectiveness of VR training in improving interpersonal communication skills among students. The study uses a mixed-method approach, in which a pre-and post-test will be designed to measure effectiveness. A preliminary selection process involving a questionnaire and a screening test will identify suitable candidates based on their current communication proficiency levels. Participants will undergo specialised training through the VR application Virtual Speech tailored for interpersonal communication and public speaking, designed to operate without the traditional constraints of time, space, or audience. The training's impact will subsequently be measured through situational exercises to engage the participants in interpersonal communication tasks, thereby assessing the improvement in their skills. The significance of this study lies in its potential to provide empirical evidence supporting VR technology's role in enhancing communication skills, thereby offering valuable insights for integrating VR-based methodologies into educational frameworks to prepare students more effectively for their professional futures.

Keywords: virtual reality, VR training, interpersonal communication, communication skills, 3D environments

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Authors: K. Sahithya, I. Balasundar, Pritapant, T. Raghua

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Ni-based superalloy with a nominal composition Ni-14% Cr-11% Co-5.8% Mo-2.4% Ti-2.4% Nb-2.8% Al-0.26 % Fe-0.032% Si-0.069% C (all in wt %) is used as turbine discs in a variety of aero engines. Like any other superalloy, the primary processing of the as-cast superalloy poses a major challenge due to its complex alloy chemistry. The challenge was circumvented by characterizing the different phases present in the material, optimizing the homogenization treatment, identifying a suitable thermomechanical processing window using dynamic materials modeling. The as-cast material was subjected to homogenization at 1200°C for a soaking period of 8 hours and quenched using different media. Water quenching (WQ) after homogenization resulted in very fine spherical γꞌ precipitates of sizes 30-50 nm, whereas furnace cooling (FC) after homogenization resulted in bimodal distribution of precipitates (primary gamma prime of size 300nm and secondary gamma prime of size 5-10 nm). MC type primary carbides that are stable till the melting point of the material were found in both WQ and FC samples. Deformation behaviour of both the materials below (1000-1100°C) and above gamma prime solvus (1100-1175°C) was evaluated by subjecting the material to series of compression tests at different constant true strain rates (0.0001/sec-1/sec). An in-detail examination of the precipitate dislocation interaction mechanisms carried out using TEM revealed precipitate shearing and Orowan looping as the mechanisms governing deformation in WQ and FC, respectively. Incoherent/semi coherent gamma prime precipitates in the case of FC material facilitates better workability of the material, whereas the coherent precipitates in WQ material contributed to higher resistance to deformation of the material. Both the materials exhibited discontinuous dynamic recrystallization (DDRX) above gamma prime solvus temperature. The recrystallization kinetics was slower in the case of WQ material. Very fine grain boundary carbides ( ≤ 300 nm) retarded the recrystallisation kinetics in WQ. Coarse carbides (1-5 µm) facilitate particle stimulated nucleation in FC material. The FC material was cogged (primary hot working) 1120˚C, 0.03/sec resulting in significant grain refinement, i.e., from 3000 μm to 100 μm. The primary processed material was subjected to intensive thermomechanical deformation subsequently by reducing the temperature by 50˚C in each processing step with intermittent heterogenization treatment at selected temperatures aimed at simultaneous coarsening of the gamma prime precipitates and refinement of the gamma matrix grains. The heterogeneous annealing treatment carried out, resulted in gamma grains of 10 μm and gamma prime precipitates of 1-2 μm. Further thermo mechanical processing of the material was carried out at 1025˚C to increase the homogeneity of the obtained micro-duplex structure.

Keywords: superalloys, dynamic material modeling, nickel alloys, dynamic recrystallization, superplasticity

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Authors: Robertson Freeman

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The prime objective of this research is to examine income inequality and its effects on household livelihoods in Parker Paint. Many researchers failed to address the potential threat of income inequality on diverse household livelihood indicators, including health, food, housing, transport and many others. They examine and generalize the effects of income differentials on household livelihoods by addressing one indicator of livelihood security. This research fills the loopholes of previous research by examining the effects of income inequality and how it affects the livelihoods of households, taking into consideration livelihood indicators including health, food security, and transport. The researcher employed the mixed research method to analyze the distribution of income and solicit opinions of household heads on the effects of their monthly income on their livelihoods. Age and sex structure, household composition, type of employment and educational status influence income inequality. The level of income, Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient was mutually employed to calculate and determine the level of income inequality. One hundred eighty-two representing 96% of household heads are employed while 8, representing 4%, are unemployed. However, out of a total number of 182 employed, representing 96%, 27 people representing 14%, are employed in the formal private sector, while 110, representing 58%, are employed in the private informal sector. Monthly average income, savings, investments and unexpected circumstances affect the livelihood of households. Infrastructural development and wellbeing should be pursued by reducing expenditure earmarked in other sectors and channeling the funds towards the provision of household needs. One of the potent tools for consolidating household livelihoods is to initiate livelihood empowerment programs. Government and private sector agencies should establish more health insurance schemes, providing mosquito nets, immunization services, public transport, as well as embarking on feeding programs, especially in the remote areas of Parker paint. To climax the research findings, self-employment, entrepreneurship and the general private sector employment is a transparent double-edged sword. If employed in the private sector, there is the likelihood to increase one’s income. However, this also induces the income gap between the rich and poor since many people are exploited by affluence, thereby relegating the poor from the wealth hierarchy. Age and sex structure, as well as type of employment, should not be overlooked since they all play fundamental roles in influencing income inequality. Savings and investments seem to play a positive role in reducing income inequality. However, savings and investment in this research affect livelihoods negatively. It behooves mankind to strive and work hard to the best of ability in earning sufficient income and embracing measures to retain his financial strength. In so doing, people will be able to provide basic household needs, celebrate the reduction in unemployment and dependence and finally ensure sustainable livelihoods.

Keywords: income, inequality, livelihood, pakerpaint

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Authors: Alinka Molnár-Tóth, Tímea Tánczos, Regina Barna, Katalin Jakab, Péter Klivényi

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Supported by neuroscientific findings, the so-called Hub-and-Spoke model of the human semantic system is based on two subcomponents of semantic cognition, namely the semantic control process and semantic representation. Our semantic knowledge is multimodal in nature, as the knowledge system stored in relation to a conception is extensive and broad, while different aspects of the conception may be relevant depending on the purpose. The motivation of our research is to develop a new diagnostic measurement procedure based on the preservation of semantic representation, which is appropriate to the specificities of the Hungarian language and which can be used to compare the non-verbal semantic knowledge of healthy and aphasic persons. The development of the test will broaden the Hungarian clinical diagnostic toolkit, which will allow for more specific therapy planning. The sample of healthy persons (n=480) was determined by the last census data for the representativeness of the sample. Based on the concept of the Pyramids and Palm Tree Test, and according to the characteristics of the Hungarian language, we have elaborated a test based on different types of semantic information, in which the subjects are presented with three pictures: they have to choose the one that best fits the target word above from the two lower options, based on the semantic relation defined. We have measured 5 types of semantic knowledge representations: associative relations, taxonomy, motional representations, concrete as well as abstract verbs. As the first step in our data analysis, we examined the normal distribution of our results, and since it was not normally distributed (p < 0.05), we used nonparametric statistics further into the analysis. Using descriptive statistics, we could determine the frequency of the correct and incorrect responses, and with this knowledge, we could later adjust and remove the items of questionable reliability. The reliability was tested using Cronbach’s α, and it can be safely said that all the results were in an acceptable range of reliability (α = 0.6-0.8). We then tested for the potential gender differences using the Mann Whitney-U test, however, we found no difference between the two (p < 0.05). Likewise, we didn’t see that the age had any effect on the results using one-way ANOVA (p < 0.05), however, the level of education did influence the results (p > 0.05). The relationships between the subtests were observed by the nonparametric Spearman’s rho correlation matrix, showing statistically significant correlation between the subtests (p > 0.05), signifying a linear relationship between the measured semantic functions. A margin of error of 5% was used in all cases. The research will contribute to the expansion of the clinical diagnostic toolkit and will be relevant for the individualised therapeutic design of treatment procedures. The use of a non-verbal test procedure will allow an early assessment of the most severe language conditions, which is a priority in the differential diagnosis. The measurement of reaction time is expected to advance prodrome research, as the tests can be easily conducted in the subclinical phase.

Keywords: communication disorders, diagnostic toolkit, neurorehabilitation, semantic knowlegde

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Authors: Agnieszka Markowska-Radomska, Ewa Dluska

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Maintaining a bioactive substances dense diet is important for the elderly, especially to prevent diseases and to support healthy ageing. Adequate bioactive substances intake can reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular, osteoporosis, neurodegenerative syndromes, diseases of the oral cavity, gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, diabetes, and cancer). This can be achieved by introducing a comprehensive supplementation of components necessary for the proper functioning of the ageing body. The paper proposes the multiple emulsions of the W1/O/W2 (water-in-oil-in-water) type as carriers for effective co-encapsulation and co-delivery of bioactive substances in supplementation of the elderly. Multiple emulsions are complex structured systems ("drops in drops"). The functional structure of the W1/O/W2 emulsion enables (i) incorporation of one or more bioactive components (lipophilic and hydrophilic); (ii) enhancement of stability and bioavailability of encapsulated substances; (iii) prevention of interactions between substances, as well as with the external environment, delivery to a specific location; and (iv) release in a controlled manner. The multiple emulsions were prepared by a one-step method in the Couette-Taylor flow (CTF) contactor in a continuous manner. In general, a two-step emulsification process is used to obtain multiple emulsions. The paper contains a proposal of emulsion functionalization by introducing pH-responsive biopolymer—carboxymethylcellulose sodium salt (CMC-Na) to the external phase, which made it possible to achieve a release of components controlled by the pH of the gastrointestinal environment. The membrane phase of emulsions was soybean oil. The W1/O/W2 emulsions were evaluated for their characteristics (drops size/drop size distribution, volume packing fraction), encapsulation efficiency and stability during storage (to 30 days) at 4ºC and 25ºC. Also, the in vitro multi-substance co-release process were investigated in a simulated gastrointestinal environment (different pH and composition of release medium). Three groups of stable multiple emulsions were obtained: emulsions I with co-encapsulated vitamins B12, B6 and resveratrol; emulsions II with vitamin A and β-carotene; and emulsions III with vitamins C, E and D3. The substances were encapsulated in the appropriate emulsion phases depending on the solubility. For all emulsions, high encapsulation efficience (over 95%) and high volume packing fraction of internal droplets (0.54-0.76) were reached. In addition, due to the presence of a polymer (CMC-Na) with adhesive properties, high encapsulation stability during emulsions storage were achieved. The co-release study of encapsulated bioactive substances confirmed the possibility to modify the release profiles. It was found that the releasing process can be controlled through the composition, structure, physicochemical parameters of emulsions and pH of the release medium. The results showed that the obtained multiple emulsions might be used as potential liquid complex carriers for controlled/modified/site-specific co-delivery of bioactive substances in dietary supplementation in the elderly.

Keywords: bioactive substance co-release, co-encapsulation, elderly supplementation, multiple emulsion

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Authors: Maryam Nzari

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Today, with the advancement of Internet technology, one of the tools used by humans is a tool that allows them to do what they need easily. Online platforms in different forms and by providing different services make it possible for users to communicate with each other and users with platforms. Audience communication with mass media is not the same as in the past. Today the conditions are different; With online platforms that provide the latest news minute by minute, he has access to all the content and can choose more quickly and easily. According to professionals Galloway, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google companies create a wide range. They are among the products and services that are connected with the daily life of billions of people all over the planet. Over time, platforms gain high economic value and in this way gain power that will influence the social, cultural, economic and political aspects of people’s lives. As a result of the effects of the process of platformization on all areas of individual and collective life, we now live in a platform society, which communicates It is close to “platform politics”. Nowadays, with social media platforms, users can interact with many people and people can share their data on various topics with others in this space. In this research, what will be investigated is the role of these online platforms in economic growth and the introduction of local culture areas in tourist areas. Tourism in a region is linked with various factors; One of the important factors that attract tourists to a region is its culture, and on the other hand, this culture can also affect economic growth. Without a proper understanding of the culture of these tourist areas, it is not possible to plan properly for the growth of the tourism industry and the subsequent increase in economic growth. The interaction of local people and tourists will have social and cultural effects on each other and will give them the opportunity to get to know each other. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine issues such as the role that online platforms play in cultural interaction in tourist areas and to understand that online platforms are only seeking to show the good aspects of a region and then generate enough extra income or that platforms can They play a role beyond what we imagine and introduce the culture of a region in a proper way so that we don’t see disagreements in the tourism planning of that region. in this article It has been tried by using library and field methods Answer the questions.

Keywords: online platforms, economic growth, culture Indigenous, tourism

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Authors: Mazyar Yosofi, Olivier Kerbrat, Pascal Mognol

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Life cycle assessment of additive manufacturing processes has evolved significantly since these past years. A lot of existing studies mainly focused on energy consumption. Nowadays, new methodologies of life cycle inventory acquisition came through the literature and help manufacturers to take into account all the input and output flows during the manufacturing step of the life cycle of products. Indeed, the environmental analysis of the phenomena that occur during the manufacturing step of additive manufacturing processes is going to be well known. Now it becomes possible to count and measure accurately all the inventory data during the manufacturing step. Optimization of the environmental performances of processes can now be considered. Environmental performance improvement can be made by varying process parameters. However, a lot of these parameters (such as manufacturing speed, the power of the energy source, quantity of support materials) affect directly the mechanical properties, surface finish and the dimensional accuracy of a functional part. This study aims to improve the environmental performance of an additive manufacturing process without deterioration of the part quality. For that purpose, the authors have developed a generic method that has been applied on multiple parts made by additive manufacturing processes. First, a complete analysis of the process parameters is made in order to identify which parameters affect only the environmental performances of the process. Then, multiple parts are manufactured by varying the identified parameters. The aim of the second step is to find the optimum value of the parameters that decrease significantly the environmental impact of the process and keep the part quality as desired. Finally, a comparison between the part made by initials parameters and changed parameters is made. In this study, the major finding claims by authors is to reduce the environmental impact of an additive manufacturing process while respecting the three quality criterion of parts, mechanical properties, dimensional accuracy and surface roughness. Now that additive manufacturing processes can be seen as mature from a technical point of view, environmental improvement of these processes can be considered while respecting the part properties. The first part of this study presents the methodology applied to multiple academic parts. Then, the validity of the methodology is demonstrated on functional parts.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, environmental impact, environmental improvement, mechanical properties

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Authors: Haolun Sun, Ping Wang, Mei Wu, Meng Zhang, Bin Hou, Ling Yang, Xiaohua Ma, Yue Hao

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Gallium nitride (GaN) is an attractive material for next-generation power devices. It is noted that the performance of GaN-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) is always limited by the self-heating effect. In response to the problem, integrating devices with polycrystalline diamond (PCD) has been demonstrated to be an efficient way to alleviate the self-heating issue of the GaN-based HEMTs. Among all the heat-spreading schemes, using PCD to cap the epitaxial layer before the HEMTs process is one of the most effective schemes. Now, the mainstream method of fabricating the PCD-capped HEMTs is to deposit the diamond heat-spreading layer on the AlGaN surface, which is covered by a thin nucleation dielectric/passivation layer. To achieve the pattern etching of the diamond heat spreader and device preparation, we selected SiN as the hard mask for diamond etching, which was deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The conventional diamond etching method first uses F-based etching to remove the SiN from the special window region, followed by using O₂/Ar plasma to etch the diamond. However, the results of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and focused ion beam microscopy (FIB) show that there are lots of diamond pillars on the etched diamond surface. Through our study, we found that it was caused by the high roughness of the diamond surface and the existence of the overlap between the diamond grains, which makes the etching of the SiN hard mask insufficient and leaves micro-masks on the diamond surface. Thus, a cyclic etching method was proposed to solve the problem of the residual SiN, which was left in the F-based etching. We used F-based etching during the first step to remove the SiN hard mask in the specific region; then, the O₂/Ar plasma was introduced to etch the diamond in the corresponding region. These two etching steps were set as one cycle. After the first cycle, we further used cyclic etching to clear the pillars, in which the F-based etching was used to remove the residual SiN, and then the O₂/Ar plasma was used to etch the diamond. Whether to take the next cyclic etching depends on whether there are still SiN micro-masks left. By using this method, we eventually achieved the self-terminated etching of the diamond and the smooth surface after the etching. These results demonstrate that the cyclic etching method can be successfully applied to the integrated preparation of polycrystalline diamond thin films and GaN HEMTs.

Keywords: AlGaN/GaN heterojunction, O₂/Ar plasma, cyclic etching, polycrystalline diamond

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Authors: Farahnaz Sadat Golestan Hashemi, Mohd Razi Ismail, Mohd Y. Rafii

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A huge revolution has emerged in genome engineering by the discovery of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats) and CRISPR-associated system genes (Cas) in bacteria. The function of type II Streptococcus pyogenes (Sp) CRISPR/Cas9 system has been confirmed in various species. Other S. thermophilus (St) CRISPR-Cas systems, CRISPR1-Cas and CRISPR3-Cas, have been also reported for preventing phage infection. The CRISPR1-Cas system interferes by cleaving foreign dsDNA entering the cell in a length-specific and orientation-dependant manner. The S. thermophilus CRISPR3-Cas system also acts by cleaving phage dsDNA genomes at the same specific position inside the targeted protospacer as observed in the CRISPR1-Cas system. It is worth mentioning, for the effective DNA cleavage activity, RNA-guided Cas9 orthologs require their own specific PAM (protospacer adjacent motif) sequences. Activity levels are based on the sequence of the protospacer and specific combinations of favorable PAM bases. Therefore, based on the specific length and sequence of PAM followed by a constant length of target site for the three orthogonals of Cas9 protein, a well-organized procedure will be required for high-throughput and accurate mining of possible target sites in a large genomic dataset. Consequently, we created a reliable procedure to explore potential gRNA sequences for type I (Streptococcus thermophiles), II (Streptococcus pyogenes), and III (Streptococcus thermophiles) CRISPR/Cas systems. To mine CRISPR target sites, four different searching modes of sgRNA binding to target DNA strand were applied. These searching modes are as follows: i) coding strand searching, ii) anti-coding strand searching, iii) both strand searching, and iv) paired-gRNA searching. The output of such procedure highlights the power of comparative genome mining for different CRISPR/Cas systems. This could yield a repertoire of Cas9 variants with expanded capabilities of gRNA design, and will pave the way for further advance genome and epigenome engineering.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas systems, gRNA mining, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus thermophiles

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Authors: F. Moghtaderi, M. Burke, J. Troelsen

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There has been a significant decline in active travel as well as the massive increase use of car-dependent travel mode in many countries during past two decades. Evidential risks for people’s physical and mental health problems are followed by this increased use of motorized travel mode. These problems range from overweight and obesity to increasing air pollution. In response to these rising concerns, local councils and other interested organizations around the world have introduced a variety of initiatives regarding reduce the dominance of cars for the daily journeys. However, the nature of these kinds of interventions, which related to the human behavior, make lots of complexities. People’s travel behavior and changing this behavior, has two different aspects. People’s attitudes and perceptions toward the sustainable and healthy modes of travel, and motorized travel modes (especially private car use) is one these two aspects. The other one related to people’s behavior change processes. There are no comprehensive model in order to guide policy interventions to increase the level of succeed of such interventions. A comprehensive theoretical framework is required in accordance to facilitate and guide the processes of data collection and analysis to achieve the best possible guidelines for policy makers. Regarding this gaps in the travel behavior change research, this paper attempted to identify and suggest a multidimensional framework in order to facilitate planning interventions. A structured mixed-method is suggested regarding the expand the scope and improve the analytic power of the result according to the complexity of human behavior. In order to recognize people’s attitudes, a theory with the focus on people’s attitudes towards a particular travel behavior was needed. The literature around the theory of planned behavior (TPB) was the most useful, and had been proven to be a good predictor of behavior change. Another aspect of the research, related to the people’s decision-making process regarding explore guidelines for the further interventions. Therefore, a theory was needed to facilitate and direct the interventions’ design. The concept of the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM) was used regarding reach a set of useful guidelines for the further interventions with the aim to increase active travel and sustainable modes of travel. Consequently, a combination of these two theories (TTM and TPB) had presented as an appropriate concept to identify and design implemented travel behavior change interventions.

Keywords: behavior change theories, theoretical framework, travel behavior change interventions, urban research

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Authors: B. Arzhanov, A. Correia, P. Delgado, J. Meireles

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Quad Flat No-Lead (QFN) packages have become very popular for turners, converters and audio amplifiers, among others applications, needing efficient power dissipation in small footprints. Since semiconductor junction temperature (TJ) is a critical parameter in the product quality. And to ensure that die temperature does not exceed the maximum allowable TJ, a thermal analysis conducted in an earlier development phase is essential to avoid repeated re-designs process with huge losses in cost and time. A simulation tool capable to estimate die temperature of components with QFN package was developed. Allow establish a non-empirical way to define an acceptance criterion for amount of voids in solder interface between its exposed pad and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) to be applied during industrialization process, and evaluate the impact of PCB designs parameters. Targeting PCB layout designer as an end user for the application, a user-friendly interface (GUI) was implemented allowing user to introduce design parameters in a convenient and secure way and hiding all the complexity of finite element simulation process. This cost effective tool turns transparent a simulating process and provides useful outputs after acceptable time, which can be adopted by PCB designers, preventing potential risks during the design stage and make product economically efficient by not oversizing it. This article gathers relevant information related to the design and implementation of the developed tool, presenting a parametric study conducted with it. The simulation tool was experimentally validated using a Thermal-Test-Chip (TTC) in a QFN open-cavity, in order to measure junction temperature (TJ) directly on the die under controlled and knowing conditions. Providing a short overview about standard thermal solutions and impacts in exposed pad packages (i.e. QFN), accurately describe the methods and techniques that the system designer should use to achieve optimum thermal performance, and demonstrate the effect of system-level constraints on the thermal performance of the design.

Keywords: QFN packages, exposed pads, junction temperature, thermal management and measurements

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Authors: Santiago Silva de Andrade

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In recent decades, Marx's ecological theory of the value-form and the theory of metabolic rift have represented fundamental methodological innovations for social scientists interested in environmental transformations and their relationships with the development of the capital system. However, among Latin American environmental historians, such theoretical and methodological instruments have been used infrequently and very cautiously. This investigation aims to demonstrate how the concepts of metabolic rift and ecological value-form are important for understanding the environmental, economic and social transformations in the Amazon region between the second half of the 19th century and the end of the 20th century. Such transformations manifested themselves mainly in two dimensions: the first concerns the link between the manufacture of tropical substances for export and scientific developments in the fields of botany, chemistry and agriculture. This link was constituted as a set of social, intellectual and economic relations that condition each other, configuring an asymmetrical field of exchanges and connections between the demands of the industrialized world - personified in scientists, naturalists, businesspeople and bureaucrats - and the agencies of local social actors, such as indigenous people, riverside dwellers and quilombolas; the second dimension concerns the imperative link between the historical development of the capitalist world-system and the restructuring of the natural world, its landscapes, biomes and social relations, notably in peripheral colonial areas. The environmental effects of capitalist globalization were not only seen in the degradation of exploited environments, although this has been, until today, its most immediate and noticeable aspect. There was also, in territories subject to the logic of market accumulation, the reformulation of patterns of authority and institutional architectures, such as property systems, political jurisdictions, rights and social contracts, as a result of the expansion of commodity frontiers between the 16th and 21st centuries. . This entire set of transformations produced impacts on the ecological landscape of the Amazon. This demonstrates the need to investigate the histories of local configurations of power, spatial and ecological - with their institutions and social actors - and their role in structuring the capitalist world-system , under the lens of the ecological theory of value-form and metabolic rift.

Keywords: amazon, ecology, form-value, metabolic rift

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Authors: Rezki Omar

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Openness cosmic shares dramatically in the order of something quite a bit of neglected priorities within the community at the level of thought and consciousness, and these priorities provider of legal and human rights awareness after a long delay in the process of awareness of human rights, there is no doubt that the long and arduous road. As is obvious to any observer public affairs as well as the specialist and the observer that there is growth and development in the scene and the legal movement is unprecedented, many when dealing with many of the details sought and tries as much as possible to know what is the natural rights, and duties that must comply with legally in no charge with the issue of what is going on, any attempt of weakness and lack of self-reliance and obstacles level during the search show him by virtue of the difficulty of the availability of legal information in some cases on a particular issue, whether or not the image is complete, legally insufficient. Law relationship to society basically a close relationship, there is no law society, a society is impossible without both at the level of domestic relations or international law: «There is a close link between law and society. The law remains influenced by the society in which it grew, as well as the law affects the society, which is governed by, the relationship between the community and law affected and the impact of relationship ». The law of the most important objectives of protecting members of society, and its role is based on the distribution of rights and duties in a fair way, and protect the public interest of the citizen’s basis. The word community when some sociologists are limited to the group that gathered, including cultural unity Cultural Group distinguish between society and the last. In the recent period issued a set of regulations in the various branches of law, which is different from the class and important one hand, and here is important study of the interaction between law and society, and how to make the laws effective in the community? The opposite is true as well. The law as a social phenomenon is impossible to understand and analyzed without taking into account the extent of their impact and vulnerability within the community and accepted. Must evoke the basis that it was developed to address the problems faced by citizens. The over-age and amplify the sanctions are a contradiction of that fundamental reform of the basic objectives of the offender more than anything else Calantqam and revenge, and if the process is not human mistakes. Michel Foucault believes that «tighten laws and regulations against criminals will not reduce the crime rate in the community, so you must activate the system of moral values of society after more deterrent, and the threat of scandal on a social level.» Besson and refers to the legislators, saying the law: «The only way to reduce the crime rate to strengthen the ethical system of the society, especially in the social Amnhoha sanctity of conscience, then you will not be forced to issue harsh sentences against criminals».In summary, it is necessary to combine the enactment of laws and activate the system of moral values and educational values on the ground, and to understand the causes of social problems at the root of all for the equation is complete, and that the law was drafted to serve the citizens and not to harm him.

Keywords: legislators, distinguish, awareness, insufficient

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Authors: Lucie Speyer, Vincent Lecocq, Séverine Humbert, Antoine Hugon

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Mesoporous alumina is commonly used as a catalyst support for the hydrotreating of heavy petroleum cuts. The process of fabrication usually involves: the synthesis of the boehmite AlOOH precursor, a kneading-extrusion step, and a calcination in order to obtain the final alumina extrudates. Alumina is described as a complex porous medium, generally agglomerates constituted of aggregated nanocrystallites. Its porous texture directly influences the active phase deposition and mass transfer, and the catalytic properties. Then, it is easy to figure out that each step of the fabrication of the supports has a role on the building of their porous network, and has to be well understood to optimize the process. The synthesis of boehmite by precipitation of aluminum salts was extensively studied in the literature and the effect of various parameters, such as temperature or pH, are known to influence the size and shape of the crystallites and the specific surface area of the support. The calcination step, through the topotactic transition from boehmite to alumina, determines the final properties of the support and can tune the surface area, pore volume and pore diameters from those of boehmite. However, the kneading extrusion step has been subject to a very few studies. It generally consists in two steps: an acid, then a basic kneading, where the boehmite powder is introduced in a mixer and successively added with an acid and a base solution to form an extrudable paste. During the acid kneading, the induced positive charges on the hydroxyl surface groups of boehmite create an electrostatic repulsion which tends to separate the aggregates and even, following the conditions, the crystallites. The basic kneading, by reducing the surface charges, leads to a flocculation phenomenon and can control the reforming of the overall structure. The separation and reassembling of the particles constituting the boehmite paste have a quite obvious influence on the textural properties of the material. In this work, we are focused on the influence of the kneading step on the alumina catalysts supports. Starting from an industrial boehmite, extrudates are prepared using various kneading conditions. The samples are studied by nitrogen physisorption in order to analyze the evolution of the textural properties, and by synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), a more original method which brings information about agglomeration and aggregation of the samples. The coupling of physisorption and SAXS enables a precise description of the samples, as same as an accurate monitoring of their evolution as a function of the kneading conditions. These ones are found to have a strong influence of the pore volume and pore size distribution of the supports. A mechanism of evolution of the texture during the kneading step is proposed and could be attractive in order to optimize the texture of the supports and then, their catalytic performances.

Keywords: alumina catalyst support, kneading, nitrogen physisorption, small-angle X-ray scattering

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Authors: Sana Iqbal

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The female voice in Sufi poetry has been studied as a symbol of humility and devotion. Throughout the centuries, the Sufi shrines have also sheltered women and have served as a source of emotional strength in times of difficulty. Although women have been central to Sufi Islam, female-led rituals and performances (of veneration) are rarely studied as acts of empowerment and symbols of healing. This is especially true for rituals performed in informal spaces, which require going beyond the shrine practices. The rituals and meanings associated with Khizr Khwaja (or Sindhi Hindu god Jhelelal) among women in Punjab can serve as a useful case study to unpack some of these meanings. The paper aims to shed light on female-led rituals among women from Punjab associated with the folkloric traditions associated with Khizar Khwaja, Zinda Pir, Jhulelal or river god in the South Asian region to protect mariners from possible risks (since trade was primarily dependent on water channels) or for inducing timely rain date back to the 10th century in Sindh. However, these meanings and associations have evolved and the paper thus aims to establish a relationship between this figure and the women in Punjab by analysing the findings from an ethnographic study. It traces the historical meanings and significance attached to the divine figure and the wells (informal spaces) associated with him since the rituals performed by women is now infused solely with seeking fertility or to be blessed with a successful pregnancy, as opposed to him being celebrated for other reasons in older times. These associations beg the question of what women gain out of these rituals and making offerings to the mysterious figure of Khizr. Anecdotal evidence in the form of interviews conducted in Bhakar and Talwandi (Punjab) during the summer of 2015 helped to explore the stories related to this legend while also allowing us to witness some of the female-led ritual practices. It can be said that the symbols adopted in the ritual practices invoke liminality for women, which is a blend of opposites. The paper argues that this liminality/journey has been used as a vehicle to transcend all worldly structures of power and it symbolically emphasises the richness of feminine love/devotion and grants healing to female devotees.

Keywords: transgression, gender, liminality, ritual

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

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

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

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Authors: Susanne Gustafsson

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Life-history research is an extraordinarily fruitful method to use for social analysis and gendered health analysis in particular. Its potential is illustrated through a case study drawn from a Swedish project. It reveals an old type of masculinity that faces difficulties when carrying out two sets of demands simultaneously, as a worker/manager and as a father/husband. The paper illuminates the historical transformation of masculinity and the consequences of this for health. We draw on the idea of the “changing faces of masculinity” to explore the dynamism and complexity of gendered health. An empirical case is used for its illustrative abilities. Jan, a middle-level manager and father employed in the energy sector in urban Sweden is the subject of this paper. Jan’s story is one of 32 semi-structured interviews included in an extended study focusing on well-being at work. The results reveal a face of masculinity conceived of in middle-level management as tacitly linked to the neoliberal doctrine. Over a couple of decades, the idea of “flexibility” was turned into a valuable characteristic that everyone was supposed to strive for. This resulted in increased workloads. Quite a few employees, and managers, in particular, find themselves working both day and night. This may explain why not having enough time to spend with children and family members is a recurring theme in the data. Can this way of doing be linked to masculinity and health? The first author’s research has revealed that the use of gender in health science is not sufficiently or critically questioned. This lack of critical questioning is a serious problem, especially since ways of doing gender affect health. We suggest that gender reproduction and gender transformation are interconnected, regardless of how they affect health. They are recognized as two sides of the same phenomenon, and minor movements in one direction or the other become crucial for understanding its relation to health. More or less, at the same time, as Jan’s masculinity was reproduced in response to workplace practices, Jan’s family position was transformed—not totally but by a degree or two, and these degrees became significant for the family’s health and well-being. By moving back and forth between varied events in Jan’s biographical history and his sociohistorical life span, it becomes possible to show that in a time of gender transformations, power relations can be renegotiated, leading to consequences for health.

Keywords: changing faces of masculinity, gendered health, life-history research method, subverter

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Authors: Leonardo Coloma

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The world changes constantly, every second its properties vary due either natural factors or human intervention. As the most intelligent creatures on the planet, human beings have transformed the environment and paradoxically –have allowed ‘mother nature’ to lose species, accelerate the processes of climate change, the deterioration of the ozone layer, among others. The rapid population growth, the procurement, administration and distribution of resources, waste management, and technological advances are some of the factors that boost urban sprawl whose gray stain extends over the territory, facing challenges such as pollution, overpopulation and scarcity of resources. In Ecuador, these problems are added to the social, cultural, economic and political anomalies that have historically affected it. This fact can represent a greater delay when trying to solve global problems, without having paid attention to local inconveniences –smaller ones, but ones that could be the key to project smart solutions on bigger ones. This research aims to highlight the main characteristics of the development models adopted by two Amazonian cities, and analyze the impact of such urban growth on society; to finally define the parameters that would allow the development of an intelligent city in Ecuador, prepared for the challenges of the XXI Century. Contrasts in the climate, temperature, and landscape of Ecuadorian cities are fused with the cultural diversity of its people, generating a multiplicity of nuances of an indecipherable wealth. However, we strive to apply development models that do not recognize that wealth, not understanding them and ignoring that their proposals will vary according to where they are applied. Urban plans seem to take a bit of each of the new theories and proposals of development, which, in the encounter with the informal growth of cities, with those excluded and ‘isolated’ societies, generate absurd morphologies - where the uncertain becomes tangible. The desire to project smart cities is ever growing, but it is important to consider that this concept does not only have to do with the use of information and communication technologies. Its success is achieved when advances in science and technology allow the establishment of a better relationship between people and their context (natural and built). As a research methodology, urban analysis through mappings, diagrams and geographical studies, as well as the identification of sensorial elements when living the city, will make evident the shortcomings of the urban models adopted by certain populations of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Following the vision of previous investigations started since 2014 as part of ‘Centro de Acciones Urbanas,’ the results of this study will encourage the dialogue between the city (as a physical fact) and those who ‘make the city’ (people as its main actors). This research will allow the development of workshops and meetings with different professionals, organizations and individuals in general.

Keywords: Latin American cities, smart cities, urban development, urban morphology, urban sprawl

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Authors: Werner Roux Uys

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The Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service (SARS) holds a high position of trust in South African society and a lack of trust by taxpayers in the Commissioner’s actions or conduct could compromise SARS’ management of public finances. Tax morality – which is implicit in the social contract between taxpayers and the state – includes distinct phenomena that can cause a breakdown if there is a perceived lack of action on the part of the Commissioner to ensure public finances are kept safe. To promote tax morality, the Commissioner must support the judiciary in the exercise of its discretion to punish fraudulent tax activities and corrupt tax practices. For several years the political meddling in the Commissioner’s actions and conduct have caused perceived abuse of power at SARS, and taxpayers believed their hard-earned income paid over to SARS would be fruitless and wasteful expenditure. The purpose of this article is to identify and analyse previous decisions held by the South African judiciary regarding the Commissioner’s actions and conduct in tax matters, as well as consider important political statements and newspaper bulletins for the purpose of this research. The study applies a qualitative research approach and exploratory case study technique. Keywords were selected and inserted in the LexisNexis electronic database to systematically identify applicable case law where the ratio decidendi of the court referred to the actions and/or conduct of the Commissioner. Specific real-life statements, including political statements and newspaper bulletins, were selected to support the topic at hand. The purpose of the study is to educate the public about the perceptions that have transformed taxpayers’ behaviour towards the Commissioner for SARS since South Africa’s fledgling constitutional democracy was inaugurated in 1994. The study adds to the literature by identifying key characteristics or distinct phenomena regarding the actions and conduct of the Commissioner affecting taxpayers’ behaviour, including discretionary decision-making. From the findings, it emerged that SARS must abide by its (own) laws and that there is a need to educate not only South African taxpayers about tax morality, but also the public in general.

Keywords: commissioner, SARS, action and conduct, judiciary, discretionry, decsion-making

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Authors: Muluwerk Ayele Derebe

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Background: Antenatal care (ANC) is an essential element in the continuum of reproductive health care for preventing preventable pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality. Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the spatial pattern and predictors of ANC visits in Ethiopia. Method: This study was done using Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data of 2016 among 7,174 pregnant women aged 15-49 years which was a nationwide community-based cross-sectional survey. Spatial analysis was done using Getis-Ord Gi* statistics to identify hot and cold spot areas of ANC visits. Multilevel glmmTMB packages adjusted for spatial effects were used in R software. Spatial multilevel count regression was conducted to identify predictors of antenatal care visits for pregnant women, and proportional change in variance was done to uncover the effect of individual and community-level factors of ANC visits. Results: The distribution of ANC visits was spatially clustered Moran’s I = 0.271, p<.0.001, ICC = 0.497, p<0.001). The highest spatial outlier areas of ANC visit was found in Amhara (South Wollo, Weast Gojjam, North Shewa), Oromo (west Arsi and East Harariga), Tigray (Central Tigray) and Benishangul-Gumuz (Asosa and Metekel) regions. The data was found with excess zeros (34.6%) and over-dispersed. The expected ANC visit of pregnant women with pregnancy complications was higher at 0.7868 [ARR= 2.1964, 95% CI: 1.8605, 2.5928, p-value <0.0001] compared to pregnant women who had no pregnancy complications. The expected ANC visit of a pregnant woman who lived in a rural area was 1.2254 times higher [ARR=3.4057, 95% CI: 2.1462, 5.4041, p-value <0.0001] as compared to a pregnant woman who lived in an urban. The study found dissimilar clusters with a low number of zero counts for a mean number of ANC visits surrounded by clusters with a higher number of counts of an average number of ANC visits when other variables held constant. Conclusion: This study found that the number of ANC visits in Ethiopia had a spatial pattern associated with socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic risk factors. Spatial clustering of ANC visits exists in all regions of Ethiopia. The predictor age of the mother, religion, mother’s education, husband’s education, mother's occupation, husband's occupation, signs of pregnancy complication, wealth index and marital status had a strong association with the number of ANC visits by each individual. At the community level, place of residence, region, age of the mother, sex of the household head, signs of pregnancy complications and distance to health facility factors had a strong association with the number of ANC visits.

Keywords: Ethiopia, ANC, spatial, multilevel, zero inflated Poisson

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Authors: Nader Mohamed

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The Late Cretaceous deposits are well developed through-out Egypt. This is due to a ‎transgression phase associated with the subsidence caused by the neo-Tethyan rift event that ‎took place across the northern margin of Africa, resulting in a period of dominantly marine ‎deposits in the Gulf of Suez. The Late Cretaceous Nezzazat Group represents the Cenomanian, ‎Turonian and clastic sediments of the Lower Senonian. The Nezzazat Group has been divided ‎into four formations namely, from base to top, the Raha Formation, the Abu Qada Formation, ‎the Wata Formation and the Matulla Formation. The Cenomanian Raha and the Lower Senonian ‎Matulla formations are the most important clastic sequence in the Nezzazat Group because they ‎provide the highest net reservoir thickness and the highest net/gross ratio. This study emphasis ‎on Matulla formation located in the eastern part of the Gulf of Suez. The three stratigraphic ‎surface sections (Wadi Sudr, Wadi Matulla and Gabal Nezzazat) which represent the exposed ‎Coniacian-Santonian sediments in Sinai are used for correlating Matulla sediments of Ras ‎Budran field. Cutting description, petrographic examination, log behaviors, biostratigraphy with ‎outcrops are used to identify the reservoir characteristics, lithology, facies environment logs and ‎subdivide the Matulla formation into three units. The lower unit is believed to be the main ‎reservoir where it consists mainly of sands with shale and sandy carbonates, while the other ‎units are mainly carbonate with some streaks of shale and sand. Reservoir modeling is an ‎effective technique that assists in reservoir management as decisions concerning development ‎and depletion of hydrocarbon reserves, So It was essential to model the Matulla reservoir as ‎accurately as possible in order to better evaluate, calculate the reserves and to determine the ‎most effective way of recovering as much of the petroleum economically as possible. All ‎available data on Matulla formation are used to build the reservoir structure model, lithofacies, ‎porosity, permeability and water saturation models which are the main parameters that describe ‎the reservoirs and provide information on effective evaluation of the need to develop the oil ‎potentiality of the reservoir. This study has shown the effectiveness of; 1) the integration of ‎geological data to evaluate and subdivide Matulla formation into three units. 2) Lithology and ‎facies environment interpretation which helped in defining the nature of deposition of Matulla ‎formation. 3) The 3D reservoir modeling technology as a tool for adequate understanding of the ‎spatial distribution of property and in addition evaluating the unlocked new reservoir areas of ‎Matulla formation which have to be drilled to investigate and exploit the un-drained oil. 4) This ‎study led to adding a new room of production and additional reserves to Ras Budran field. ‎

Keywords: geology, oil and gas, geoscience, sequence stratigraphy

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Authors: Pushpavathi M., Kavya V., Akshatha V.

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Introduction: Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is a congenital condition which hinders effectual communication due to associated speech and language difficulties. Expressive language delay (ELD) is a feature seen in this population which is influenced by factors such as type and severity of CLP, age at surgical and linguistic intervention and also the type and intensity of speech and language therapy (SLT). Since CLP is the most common congenital abnormality seen in Indian children, early intervention is a necessity which plays a critical role in enhancing their speech and language skills. The interaction between the timing of intervention and factors which contribute to effective intervention by caregivers is an area which needs to be explored. Objectives: The present study attempts to determine the effect of timing of intervention on the contributing maternal factors for effective linguistic intervention in toddlers with repaired CLP with respect to the awareness, home training patterns, speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers. Participants: Thirty six toddlers in the age range of 1 to 4 years diagnosed as ELD secondary to repaired CLP, along with their mothers served as participants. Group I (Early Intervention Group, EIG) included 19 mother-child pairs who came to seek SLT soon after corrective surgery and group II (Delayed Intervention Group, DIG) included 16 mother-child pairs who received SLT after the age of 3 years. Further, the groups were divided into group A, and group B. Group ‘A’ received SLT for 60 sessions by Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), while Group B received SLT for 30 sessions by SLP and 30 sessions only by mother without supervision of SLP. Method: The mothers were enrolled for the Early Language Intervention Program and following this, their awareness about CLP was assessed through the Parental awareness questionnaire. The quality of home training was assessed through Mohite’s Inventory. Subsequently, the speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers were assessed using a Mother’s behavioral checklist. Detailed counseling and orientation was done to the mothers, and SLT was initiated for toddlers. After 60 sessions of intensive SLT, the questionnaire and checklists were re-administered to find out the changes in scores between the pre- and posttest measurements. Results: The scores obtained under different domains in the awareness questionnaire, Mohite’s inventory and Mothers behavior checklist were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Since the data did not follow normal distribution (i.e. p > 0.05), Mann-Whitney U test was conducted which revealed that there was no significant difference between groups I and II as well as groups A and B. Further, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test revealed that mothers had better awareness regarding issues related to CLP and improved home-training abilities post-orientation (p ≤ 0.05). A statistically significant difference was also noted for speech and non-speech behaviors of the mothers (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: Extensive orientation and counseling helped mothers of both EI and DI groups to improve their knowledge about CLP. Intensive SLT using focused stimulation and a parent-implemented approach enabled them to carry out the intervention in an effectual manner.

Keywords: awareness, cleft lip and palate, early language intervention program, home training, orientation, timing of intervention

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Authors: Natalia Alvarado, Myldred Hernandez-Gonzalez, Mary Laird, Madeline Phillips, Elizabeth Miller, Luis Mendez, Teresa Satterfield Linares

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Objectives: Focusing on the reported levels of depressive symptoms from Hispanic individuals in the U.S. during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we analyze the psychological effects of being labeled an ‘essential worker/trabajador(a) esencial.’ We situate this attribute within the complex context of how an individual’s mental health is linked to work status and his/her community’s attitude toward such a status. Method: 336 Spanish-speaking adults (Mage = 34.90; SD = 11.00; 46% female) living in the U.S. participated in a mixed-method study. Participants completed a self-report Spanish-language survey consisting of COVID-19 prompts (e.g., Soy un trabajador esencial durante la pandemia. I am an ‘essential worker’ during the pandemic), civic engagement scale (CES) attitudes (e.g., Me siento responsable de mi comunidad. I feel responsible for my community) and behaviors (e.g., Ayudo a los miembros de mi comunidad. I help members of my community), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (e.g., Me sentía deprimido/a. I felt depressed). The survey was conducted several months into the pandemic and before the vaccine distribution. Results: Regression analyses show that being labeled an essential worker was correlated to CES attitudes (b= .28, p < .001) and higher CES behaviors (b= .32, p < .001). Essential worker status also reported higher levels of depressive symptoms (b= .17, p < .05). In addition, we found that CES attitudes and CES behaviors were related to higher levels of depressive symptoms (b= .11, p <.05, b = .22, p < .001, respectively). These findings suggest that those who are on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic suffer higher levels of depressive symptoms, despite their affirming community attitudes and behaviors. Discussion: Hispanics/Latinxs make up 53% of the high-proximity employees who must work in person and in close contact with others; this is the highest rate of any racial or ethnic category. Moreover, 31% of Hispanics are classified as essential workers. Our outcomes show that those labeled as trabajadores esenciales convey attitudes of remaining strong and resilient for COVID-19 victims. They also express community attitudes and behaviors reflecting a sense of responsibility to continue working to help others during these unprecedented times. However, we also find that the pressure of maintaining basic needs for others exacerbates mental health challenges and stressors, as many essential workers are anxious and stressed about their physical and economic security. As a result, community attitudes do not protect from depressive symptoms as Hispanic essential workers are failing to balance everyone’s needs, including their own (e.g., physical exhaustion and psychological distress). We conclude with a discussion on alternatives to the phrase ‘essential worker’ and of incremental steps that can be taken to address pandemic-related mental health issues targeting US Hispanic workers.

Keywords: COVID-19, essential worker, mental health, race and ethnicity

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Authors: Poonam Goswami

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Background: The diagnosis of a serious illness like cancer can have an impact on a patient’s emotional well-being and may result in psychological symptoms, anxiety, depression, and loss of control. Advance care planning discussions ensure patients’ values and goals of care, including patients’ freedom to choose their place of death, are respected. Unfortunately, these discussions are often delayed and are not initiated early in patients’ cancer trajectory. As a result, patients’ wishes often remains unknown until the last phase of their life. Evidence suggests that many patients inappropriately receive aggressive treatment near the end of life, which does lead to higher resource utilization, decreased quality of life, and increased cost. Additionally, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic challenged the health care systems worldwide and raised important ethical issues, especially regarding the potential need for rationing health care in the context of scarce resources and crisis capacity. The importance of goal concordant care is now even substantially important and is heightened in the context of this pandemic. Problem: Although there is growing evidence on the effects of the ACP on the completion of advanced directives, improved patient and family concordance for preferences for medical care, and receipt of care, there is still a lack of standardized ACP conversation strategies for patients with cancer. Methods: The Key concepts of ACP include (1) assessing patient and family readiness, (2) identifying a surrogate decision maker ( medical power of attorney), (3) exploring patient and family understanding of the disease and treatment options,(4) discussing the values and goals of care, and options for end-of-life care, (5) documenting patient preferences in the medical record, and (6) revisiting the discussions at every change in the treatment plan and /or change in clinical status, including at every hospitalization. Conclusion/Implication for practice: Advance Care Planning (ACP) and end-of-life (EOL) discussions are important for patients, families, and health care providers. Adopting the verbal and nonverbal communication strategies can help overcome the barriers to effective communication on these difficult discussions. ACP with goals of care discussions should not be delayed until the patient is hospitalized.

Keywords: advance care planning, end of life, cancer, global, pandemic

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Authors: Sakshi Gupta, Seema Joshi

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Thiosemicarbazones (TSCs) have garnered significant attention in coordination chemistry due to their versatile coordination modes and pharmacological properties. Mixed ligand complexes of TSCs represent a promising area of research, offering enhanced antimicrobial activities compared to their parent compounds. This review provides an overview of the synthesis, characterization, and antimicrobial properties of mixed ligand complexes incorporating thiosemicarbazones. The synthesis of mixed ligand complexes typically involves the reaction of a metal salt with TSC ligands and additional ligands, such as nitrogen- or oxygen-based ligands. Various transition metals, including copper, nickel, and cobalt, have been employed to form mixed ligand complexes with TSCs. Characterization techniques such as spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and elemental analysis are commonly utilized to confirm the structures of these complexes. One of the key advantages of mixed ligand complexes is their enhanced antimicrobial activity compared to pure TSC compounds. The synergistic effect between the TSC ligands and additional ligands contributes to increased efficacy, possibly through improved metal-ligand interactions or enhanced membrane permeability. Furthermore, mixed ligand complexes offer the potential for selective targeting of microbial species while minimizing toxicity to mammalian cells. This selectivity arises from the specific interactions between the metal center, TSC ligands, and biological targets within microbial cells. Such targeted antimicrobial activity is crucial for developing effective treatments with minimal side effects. Moreover, the versatility of mixed ligand complexes allows for the design of tailored antimicrobial agents with optimized properties. By varying the metal ion, TSC ligands, and additional ligands, researchers can fine-tune the physicochemical properties and biological activities of these complexes. This tunability opens avenues for the development of novel antimicrobial agents with improved efficacy and reduced resistance. In conclusion, mixed ligand complexes of thiosemicarbazones represent a promising class of compounds with potent antimicrobial activities. Further research in this field holds great potential for the development of novel therapeutic agents to combat microbial infections effectively.

Keywords: metal complex, thiosemicarbazones, mixed ligand, selective targeting, antimicrobial activity

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Authors: Youcef Amir

Abstract:

The consumption of beverages continues to grow worldwide due to increasing demography, but pure fruit juices and high-quality nectars can induce protective effects on human health because of their natural bioactive components. In contrast, sodas and gaseous drinks containing synthetic food additives are considered as responsible for consumers of several pathologies such as obesity, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The nutritional and therapeutic virtues of fruit juices are generally a remarkable antioxidant power, anti-cancer activity linked to their richness of indigestible and indigestible sugars, vitamins, mineral salts, carotenoids and phenolic compounds. The main reasons, which led us to produce these fruit derivatives, are the non-availability of the fresh fruits mentioned above all along the year and also the existence of variations in the chemical composition of these different fruits as well as for the major or minor components. We tested, therefore, the physicochemical characteristics of each fruit juice and pulp apart and afterward those of the cocktails formulated. The fresh juices used during our experiments were obtained from the following fruits from north-central Algeria: prickly pear, pomegranate, melon, red oranges. The formulations of these fruit juices were tested after several trials comprising sensorial analysis, physicochemical factors (pH, titratable acidity, Brix degree, formal index, water content, total ash, total and reducing sugars, vitamin C, carotenoids, phenolic compounds) and microbial analysis after a storage period. To the pure juices proportions, citric acid E330, sucrose, and water were added followed by pasteurisation. These products were analysed from the physicochemical, microbial and sensorial viewpoints after a storage period of one month according to national legislation to evaluate their stability. The results of the physicochemical parameters of the prepared beverages had shown good physicochemical results, acceptable sensorial characteristics and microbial stability and safety before and after a storage period. We measured appreciable amounts of minor compounds with health properties.

Keywords: fruit juices, microbial analyses, nectars, physico chemical characteristics, sensorial analysis, storage period

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Rajendra Chetty

Abstract:

Decolonial aesthetics departs and delinks from colonial ideas about ‘the arts’ and the modernist/colonial work of aesthetics. Education is trapped in the western epistemic and hermeneutical vocabulary, hence it is necessary to introduce new concepts and work the entanglement between co-existing concepts. This paper will discuss the contribution of Ronnie Govender, a South African writer, to build decolonial sensibilities and delink from the grand narrative of the colonial and apartheid literary landscape in Govender’s text, At the Edge and other Cato Manor Stories. Govender uses the world of art to make a decolonial statement. Decolonial artists have to work in the entanglement of power and engage with a border epistemology. Govender’s writings depart from an embodied consciousness of the colonial wound and moves toward healing. Border thinking and doing (artistic creativity) is precisely the decolonial methodology posited by Linda T. Smith, where theory comes in the form of storytelling. Govender’s stories engage with the wounds infringed by racism and patriarchy, two pillars of eurocentric knowing, sensing, and believing that sustain a structure of knowledge. This structure is embedded in characters, institutions, languages that regulate and mange the world of the excluded. Healing is the process of delinking, or regaining pride, dignity, and humanity, not through the psychoanalytic cure, but the popular healer. The legacies of the community of Cato Manor that was pushed out of their land are built in his stories. Decoloniality then is a concept that carries the experience of liberation struggles and recognizes the strenuous conditions of marginalized people together with their strength, wisdom, and endurance. Govender’s unique performative prose reconstructs and resurrects the lives of the people of Cato Manor, their vitality and humor, pain and humiliation: a vibrant and racially integrated community destroyed by the regime’s notorious racial laws. The paper notes that Govender’s objective with his plays and stories was to open windows to both the pain and joy of life; a mission that is not didactic but to shine a torch on both mankind’s waywardness as well as its inspiring and often moving achievements against huge odds.

Keywords: Govender, decoloniality, delinking, exclusion, racism, Cato Manor

Procedia PDF Downloads 157