Search results for: photophysical studies

Authors: Charlotte K. Lee, Henrique R. N. Aguiar, Ralph Smith, James Baldock, Sam Botchey

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Background: Femoral neck stress fractures (FNSF) are uncommon, making up 1 to 7.2% of stress fractures in healthy subjects. FNSFs are prevalent in young women, military recruits, endurance athletes, and individuals with energy deficiency syndrome or female athlete triad. Presentation is often non-specific and is often misdiagnosed following the initial examination. There is limited research addressing the return–to–activity time after FNSF. Previous studies have demonstrated prognostic time predictions based on various imaging techniques. Here, (1) OxSport clinic FNSF practice standards are retrospectively reviewed, (2) FNSF cohort demographics are examined, (3) Regression models were used to predict return–to–activity prognosis and consequently determine bone stress risk factors. Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of FNSF attending Oxsport clinic between 01/06/2020 and 01/01/2020 were selected from the Rheumatology Assessment Database Innovation in Oxford (RhADiOn) and OxSport Stress Fracture Database (n = 14). (1) Clinical practice was audited against five criteria based on local and National Institute for Health Care Excellence guidance, with a 100% standard. (2) Demographics of the FNSF cohort were examined with Student’s T-Test. (3) Lastly, linear regression and Random Forest regression models were used on this patient cohort to predict return–to–activity time. Consequently, an analysis of feature importance was conducted after fitting each model. Results: OxSport clinical practice met standard (100%) in 3/5 criteria. The criteria not met were patient waiting times and documentation of all bone stress risk factors. Importantly, analysis of patient demographics showed that of the population with complete bone stress risk factor assessments, 53% were positive for modifiable bone stress risk factors. Lastly, linear regression analysis was utilized to identify demographic factors that predicted return–to–activity time [R2 = 79.172%; average error 0.226]. This analysis identified four key variables that predicted return-to-activity time: vitamin D level, total hip DEXA T value, femoral neck DEXA T value, and history of an eating disorder/disordered eating. Furthermore, random forest regression models were employed for this task [R2 = 97.805%; average error 0.024]. Analysis of the importance of each feature again identified a set of 4 variables, 3 of which matched with the linear regression analysis (vitamin D level, total hip DEXA T value, and femoral neck DEXA T value) and the fourth: age. Conclusion: OxSport clinical practice could be improved by more comprehensively evaluating bone stress risk factors. The importance of this evaluation is demonstrated by the population found positive for these risk factors. Using this cohort, potential bone stress risk factors that significantly impacted return-to-activity prognosis were predicted using regression models.

Keywords: eating disorder, bone stress risk factor, femoral neck stress fracture, vitamin D

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Authors: Swati Vohra

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A genuine economic and social transformation requires equal contribution and participation from both men and women; however, achieving this gender parity is a global concern. In the patriarchal societies around the world, women have been silenced, oppressed, and subjugated. Girls and women comprise half of the world’s population. This, however, must not be the lone reason for recognizing and providing equal opportunities to them. Every individual has a right to develop through opportunities without the biases of gender, caste, race, or ethnicity. The world today is confronted by pressing issues of climate change, economic crisis, violence against women and children, escalating conflicts, to name a few. Achieving gender parity is thus an essential component in meeting this wide array of challenges in order to create just, robust and inclusive societies. In 2015, The United Nation enunciated achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, one of which is SGD#5- Gender Equality, that is not merely a stand-alone goal. It is central to the achievement of all 17 SDG’s. Without progress on gender equality, the global community will not only fail to achieve the SDG5, but it will also lose the impetus towards achieving the broad 2030 agenda. This research is based on a hypothesis that aims to connect the targets laid by the UN under SDG#5 - 5.4 (Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work) and 5.5 (Ensure women participation for leadership at all levels of decision-making). The study evaluates the impact of unpaid household responsibilities on women’s leadership in India. In Indian society, women have experienced a low social status for centuries, which is reflected throughout the Indian history with preference of a male child and common occurrences of female infanticides that are still prevalent in many parts of the country. Insistence on the traditional gender roles builds patriarchal inequalities into the structure of Indian society. It is argued that a burden of unpaid labor on women is placed, which narrows the opportunities and life chances women are given and the choices they are able to make, thereby shutting them from shared participation in public and economic leadership. The study investigates theoretical framework of social construction of gender, unpaid labor, challenges to women leaders and peace theorist perspective as the core components. The methodology used is qualitative research of comprehensive literature, accompanied by the data collected through interviews of representatives of women leaders from various fields within Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). The women leaders interviewed had the privilege of receiving good education and a conducive family support; however, post marriage and children it was not the case and the social obligations weighed heavy on them. The research concludes by recommending the importance of gender-neutral parenting and education along with government ratified paternal leaves for at least six months and childcare facilities available for both the parents at workplace.

Keywords: gender equality, gender roles, peace studies, sustainable development goals, social construction, unpaid labor, women’s leadership

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Authors: Lijuan Li

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Nitric oxide (NO) has become a fascinating entity in biological chemistry over the past few years. It is a gaseous lipophilic radical molecule that plays important roles in several physiological and pathophysiological processes in mammals, including activating the immune response, serving as a neurotransmitter, regulating the cardiovascular system, and acting as an endothelium-derived relaxing factor. NO functions in eukaryotes both as a signal molecule at nanomolar concentrations and as a cytotoxic agent at micromolar concentrations. The latter arises from the ability of NO to react readily with a variety of cellular targets leading to thiol S-nitrosation, amino acid N-nitrosation, and nitrosative DNA damage. Nitric oxide can readily bind to metals to give metal-nitrosyl (M-NO) complexes. Some of these species are known to play roles in biological NO storage and transport. These complexes have different biological, photochemical, or spectroscopic properties due to distinctive structural features. These recent discoveries have spawned a great interest in the development of transition metal complexes containing NO, particularly its iron complexes that are central to the role of nitric oxide in the body. Spectroscopic evidence would appear to implicate species of “Fe(NO)2+” type in a variety of processes ranging from polymerization, carcinogenesis, to nitric oxide stores. Our research focuses on isolation and structural studies of non-heme iron nitrosyls that mimic biologically active compounds and can potentially be used for anticancer drug therapy. We have shown that reactions between Fe(NO)2(CO)2 and a series of imidazoles generated new non-heme iron nitrosyls of the form Fe(NO)2(L)2 [L = imidazole, 1-methylimidazole, 4-methylimidazole, benzimidazole, 5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole, and L-histidine] and a tetrameric cluster of [Fe(NO)2(L)]4 (L=Im, 4-MeIm, BzIm, and Me2BzIm), resulted from the interactions of Fe(NO)2 with a series of substituted imidazoles was prepared. Recently, a series of sulfur bridged iron di nitrosyl complexes with the general formula of [Fe(µ-RS)(NO)2]2 (R = n-Pr, t-Bu, 6-methyl-2-pyridyl, and 4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidyl), were synthesized by the reaction of Fe(NO)2(CO)2 with thiols or thiolates. Their structures and properties were studied by IR, UV-vis, 1H-NMR, EPR, electrochemistry, X-ray diffraction analysis and DFT calculations. IR spectra of these complexes display one weak and two strong NO stretching frequencies (νNO) in solution, but only two strong νNO in solid. DFT calculations suggest that two spatial isomers of these complexes bear 3 Kcal energy difference in solution. The paramagnetic complexes [Fe2(µ-RS)2(NO)4]-, have also been investigated by EPR spectroscopy. Interestingly, the EPR spectra of complexes exhibit an isotropic signal of g = 1.998 - 2.004 without hyperfine splitting. The observations are consistent with the results of calculations, which reveal that the unpaired electron dominantly delocalize over the two sulfur and two iron atoms. The difference of the g values between the reduced form of iron-sulfur clusters and the typical monomeric di nitrosyl iron complexes is explained, for the first time, by of the difference in unpaired electron distributions between the two types of complexes, which provides the theoretical basis for the use of g value as a spectroscopic tool to differentiate these biologically active complexes.

Keywords: di nitrosyl iron complex, metal nitrosyl, non-heme iron, nitric oxide

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Authors: A. Odoom, A. Salama, H. Ibrahim

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Hydrogen is a clean source of energy for power production and transportation. The main source of hydrogen in this research is biodiesel. Glycerol also called glycerine is a by-product of biodiesel production by transesterification of vegetable oils and methanol. This is a reliable and environmentally-friendly source of hydrogen production than fossil fuels. A typical composition of crude glycerol comprises of glycerol, water, organic and inorganic salts, soap, methanol and small amounts of glycerides. Crude glycerol has limited industrial application due to its low purity thus, the usage of crude glycerol can significantly enhance the sustainability and production of biodiesel. Reforming techniques is an approach for hydrogen production mainly Steam Reforming (SR), Autothermal Reforming (ATR) and Partial Oxidation Reforming (POR). SR produces high hydrogen conversions and yield but is highly endothermic whereas POR is exothermic. On the downside, PO yields lower hydrogen as well as large amount of side reactions. ATR which is a fusion of partial oxidation reforming and steam reforming is thermally neutral because net reactor heat duty is zero. It has relatively high hydrogen yield, selectivity as well as limits coke formation. The complex chemical processes that take place during the production phases makes it relatively difficult to construct a reliable and robust numerical model. Numerical model is a tool to mimic reality and provide insight into the influence of the parameters. In this work, we introduce a finite volume numerical study for an 'in-house' lab-scale experiment of ATR. Previous numerical studies on this process have considered either using Comsol or nodal finite difference analysis. Since Comsol is a commercial package which is not readily available everywhere and lab-scale experiment can be considered well mixed in the radial direction. One spatial dimension suffices to capture the essential feature of ATR, in this work, we consider developing our own numerical approach using MATLAB. A continuum fixed bed reactor is modelled using MATLAB with both pseudo homogeneous and heterogeneous models. The drawback of nodal finite difference formulation is that it is not locally conservative which means that materials and momenta can be generated inside the domain as an artifact of the discretization. Control volume, on the other hand, is locally conservative and suites very well problems where materials are generated and consumed inside the domain. In this work, species mass balance, Darcy’s equation and energy equations are solved using operator splitting technique. Therefore, diffusion-like terms are discretized implicitly while advection-like terms are discretized explicitly. An upwind scheme is adapted for the advection term to ensure accuracy and positivity. Comparisons with the experimental data show very good agreements which build confidence in our modeling approach. The models obtained were validated and optimized for better results.

Keywords: autothermal reforming, crude glycerol, hydrogen, numerical model

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Authors: Dila Ram Bhandari

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Throughout the 20th century, new governments were created where identities such as ethnic, religious, linguistic, caste, communal, tribal, and others played a part in the development of constitutions and the legal system of victim and criminal justice. Acute issues with extremism, poverty, environmental degradation, cybercrimes, human rights violations, crime against, and victimization of both individuals and groups have recently plagued South Asian nations. Everyday massive number of crimes are steadfast, these frequent crimes have made the lives of common citizens restless. Crimes are one of the major threats to society and also for civilization. Crime is a bone of contention that can create a societal disturbance. The old-style crime solving practices are unable to live up to the requirement of existing crime situations. Crime analysis is one of the most important activities of the majority of intelligent and law enforcement organizations all over the world. The South Asia region lacks such a regional coordination mechanism, unlike central Asia of Asia Pacific regions, to facilitate criminal intelligence sharing and operational coordination related to organized crime, including illicit drug trafficking and money laundering. There have been numerous conversations in recent years about using data mining technology to combat crime and terrorism. The Data Detective program from Sentient as a software company, uses data mining techniques to support the police (Sentient, 2017). The goals of this internship are to test out several predictive model solutions and choose the most effective and promising one. First, extensive literature reviews on data mining, crime analysis, and crime data mining were conducted. Sentient offered a 7-year archive of crime statistics that were daily aggregated to produce a univariate dataset. Moreover, a daily incidence type aggregation was performed to produce a multivariate dataset. Each solution's forecast period lasted seven days. Statistical models and neural network models were the two main groups into which the experiments were split. For the crime data, neural networks fared better than statistical models. This study gives a general review of the applied statistics and neural network models. A detailed image of each model's performance on the available data and generalizability is provided by a comparative analysis of all the models on a comparable dataset. Obviously, the studies demonstrated that, in comparison to other models, Gated Recurrent Units (GRU) produced greater prediction. The crime records of 2005-2019 which was collected from Nepal Police headquarter and analysed by R programming. In conclusion, gated recurrent unit implementation could give benefit to police in predicting crime. Hence, time series analysis using GRU could be a prospective additional feature in Data Detective.

Keywords: time series analysis, forecasting, ARIMA, machine learning

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Authors: Krystal Wang, Chongzheng Wei, Runsen Chen, Shufang Sun

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Suicide is a global public mental health issue and is the tenth leading cause of death globally. Approximately 75% of suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Compared to the general population, transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) young people have higher suicidal risks. Research has shown that the prevalence of suicidal behaviors among TGNC populations was high in both the United States and China. However, studies were mostly embedded within Western cultures. Limited data and research were available to assess suicidal behaviors among TGNC youth in LMIC countries and to consider various types of TGNC youth. The goal of the current project is to 1) investigate the prevalence of lifetime and past-year suicidal ideations, plans, and attempts among Chinese TGNC youth, 2) explore the relationship between gender identity and suicidal outcomes among TGNC youth in China, 3) identify individual, school, and family level risk and protective factors for suicidal behaviors. The study used data from a cross-sectional survey conducted by Beijing LGBTQ Center in 2021. The survey was the largest TGNC population study in China to understand the health conditions of TGNC individuals. Of the 7612 individuals who completed the survey, a total of 5632 youth (aged 10 to 19) was included in the final analysis. 2259 (40.11%) participants were categorized as transfeminine youth, 1034 (18.36%) as transmasculine youth, 1169 (20.76%) as nonbinary youth AFAB, 568 (10.09%) as nonbinary youth AMAB, 344 (6.11%) as questioning youth AFAB and 258 (4.58%) as questioning youth AMAB. Suicidal behaviors were assessed by asking about lifetime suicidal ideation and attempts, past 12 months suicidal ideation, plan and attempts, and suicidal methods. To achieve the aims, we conducted statistical analysis in Stata/SE 17.0 to 1) describe the prevalence of suicidal outcomes and 2) assess the relationship between gender identity and suicidal outcomes by performing crosstabs, bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions, and adjusting for covariates. The lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideations and attempts for the whole sample was 85.13% and 51.7%. Transfeminine youth had a significantly higher risk for lifetime suicidal ideations (Odds Ratios (OR) = 1.67, CI:1.28,2.18) and attempts than transmasculine youth (OR=1.66, CI: 1.35,2.03), adjusting for age and past year binge drinking, known risk factors of suicide behavior. Past-year prevalence of suicidal behaviors was also high among TGNC youth, with 75.69% in suicidal ideation, 88.77% in suicidal plans, and 57.96% in suicidal attempts. Transfeminine youth, among six subgroups, had the highest risk for past-year suicidal ideations and attempts compared to transmasculine youth. Non-binary youth, regardless of sex assigned at birth, also had a significantly higher risk for suicidal ideations. The prevalence of lifetime and past-year suicidal behaviors was alarming among TGNC youth in China. Among different categories of TGNC youth, transfeminine youth reported the most elevated suicidal risk. The findings indicated a compelling need for researchers and practitioners to address the mental health risks for this specific group and target interventions for TGNC youth in China.

Keywords: child and adolescent mental health, gender minority health, cross-cultural perspective, preventing suicide in youth

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Authors: Magda Milleyde de Sousa Lima, Letícia Lima Aguiar, Marina Guerra Martins, Erika Veríssimo Dias Sousa, Lizandra Sampaio de Oliveira, Lívia Moreira Barros, Joselany Áfio Caetano

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Patients with chronic kidney disease are vulnerable to episodes which make the safety of their health vulnerable, mainly due to the treatment process that exposes them to high rates of interventions during hemodialysis sessions. Some factors associated with health care contribute to the risk of death and complications. However, there are a small number of scientific studies evaluating the level of safety of hemodialysis clinics, and the sociodemographic characteristics of patients and professionals associated with this safety. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the level of patient safety in hemodialysis clinics in the Brazilian capital, to identify the sociodemographic and clinical factors of patients and nursing staff associated with the level of safety. This is an observational, descriptive and quantitative research conducted in three hemodialysis clinics placed in the city of Fortaleza-CE, Brazil, from September to November 2019. The sample was formed after a sample calculation for finite inhabitants of correlation with 200 chronic renal patients, 30 nursing technicians and seven nurses. Conventional sampling was used based on the inclusion criteria: being present at the hemodialysis session on the day the researcher performed the data collection and being 18 years of age or older. Participants who presented communication difficulties to listen to and/or answer the sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire were excluded. Two instruments were applied: sociodemographic and clinical characterization form and Chronic Renal Patient Safety Assessment Scale on Hemodialysis (EASPRCH). The data were analyzed using the Kruskal Walls Test for categorical variables and Spearman correlation coefficient for non-categorical variables, using the Statistical Package SPSS version 20.0. The present study respected the ethical and legal principles determined by resolution 466/2012 of the National Health Council, under the approval of the Ethics and Research Committee with an opinion number: 3,255,635. The results showed that a hemodialysis clinic presented unsafe care practices of 32 points in the EASPRCH (p=0.001). A statistical association was identified between the level of safety and the variables of the patients: level of education (p=0.018), family income (p=0.049), type of employment (p=0.012), venous access site (p=0.009), use of medication during the session (p=0.008) and time of hemodialysis (p=0.002). When evaluating the profile of nurses, a statistical association was evidenced between the level of safety with the variables: marital status (p=0.000), race (p=0.017), schooling (p= 0.000), income (p=0.013), age (p=0.000), clinic workload (p=0.000), time working with hemodialysis (p=0.000), time working in the clinic (p= 0.007) and clinic sizing (p=0.000). In order, the sociodemographic factors of nursing technicians associated with the level of patient safety were: race (p= 0.001) and weekly workload at (p=0.010). Therefore, it is concluded that there is a non-conformity in the level of patient safety in one of the clinics studied and, that sociodemographic and clinical factors of patients and health professionals corroborate the level of safety of the health unit.

Keywords: hemodialysis, nursing, patient safety, quality improvement

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Authors: Masoud Fathi Kazerouni, Jens Schlemper, Klaus-Dieter Kuhnert

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Green planet is one of the Earth’s names which is known as a terrestrial planet and also can be named the fifth largest planet of the solar system as another scientific interpretation. Plants do not have a constant and steady distribution all around the world, and even plant species’ variations are not the same in one specific region. Presence of plants is not only limited to one field like botany; they exist in different fields such as literature and mythology and they hold useful and inestimable historical records. No one can imagine the world without oxygen which is produced mostly by plants. Their influences become more manifest since no other live species can exist on earth without plants as they form the basic food staples too. Regulation of water cycle and oxygen production are the other roles of plants. The roles affect environment and climate. Plants are the main components of agricultural activities. Many countries benefit from these activities. Therefore, plants have impacts on political and economic situations and future of countries. Due to importance of plants and their roles, study of plants is essential in various fields. Consideration of their different applications leads to focus on details of them too. Automatic recognition of plants is a novel field to contribute other researches and future of studies. Moreover, plants can survive their life in different places and regions by means of adaptations. Therefore, adaptations are their special factors to help them in hard life situations. Weather condition is one of the parameters which affect plants life and their existence in one area. Recognition of plants in different weather conditions is a new window of research in the field. Only natural images are usable to consider weather conditions as new factors. Thus, it will be a generalized and useful system. In order to have a general system, distance from the camera to plants is considered as another factor. The other considered factor is change of light intensity in environment as it changes during the day. Adding these factors leads to a huge challenge to invent an accurate and secure system. Development of an efficient plant recognition system is essential and effective. One important component of plant is leaf which can be used to implement automatic systems for plant recognition without any human interface and interaction. Due to the nature of used images, characteristic investigation of plants is done. Leaves of plants are the first characteristics to select as trusty parts. Four different plant species are specified for the goal to classify them with an accurate system. The current paper is devoted to principal directions of the proposed methods and implemented system, image dataset, and results. The procedure of algorithm and classification is explained in details. First steps, feature detection and description of visual information, are outperformed by using Scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), HARRIS-SIFT, and FAST-SIFT methods. The accuracy of the implemented methods is computed. In addition to comparison, robustness and efficiency of results in different conditions are investigated and explained.

Keywords: SIFT combination, feature extraction, feature detection, natural images, natural plant recognition, HARRIS-SIFT, FAST-SIFT

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Authors: Marta Polec

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The paper outlines the problem of street performances in Poland in context of humanistic management studies. The Author perceives activity of street performers of various art and entertainment actions as a phenomenon of informal organizing, self-management and cultural entrepreneurship in urban sphere. What has to be highlighted, performative street art is not currently being an interest of scientific research as often as visual street art. That is why the Author indicates the need of including new approaches of humanistic and social disciplines, especially different management paradigms, in examining various aspects of the activity of street performers. The paper shows the results of ethnographic study based on anthropological interviews, participant observation non-participant observation, shadowing, field notes, audiovisual documentation and text analysis. The fieldwork was performed since 2014 in the old towns and major areas of several the most popular touristic Polish cities, mainly in Gdansk, Cracow, Lublin, Warsaw, and Wroclaw. The research group included street artists of various kinds of performative arts. The investigation was prepared within the ‘Ethnography of the informal organization of street artists in Poland’ project, as a part of Diamond Grant programme (the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland). The first conclusion of the study is that street shows form a way of artistic self-realization and unusual promotion of creative activity in public space. As street performance helps to make some extra money and even earning a living in general, it seems to constitute a new profession. Street performers as a specific environment usually know each other and in many ways cooperate informally to carry on their shows successfully. Secondly, this activity brings plenty benefits for the local communities. Street shows attract inhabitants and tourists quite often by appealing to intangible cultural heritage and memorializing it. They also pose a space for discussing current social issues. Moreover, they disseminate relatively inexpensive public access to culture, but also state an example of social courage of choosing unconventional occupation. Finally, currently being used terms of street performers/street artists/buskers in different languages, as instance as in Polish, are still fluent and undefined. As a consequence, it brings implications for existing common knowledge about street performers, for example in establishing and implementing public policies. It impedes solving many ethical and social dilemmas concerning the question of performances in public sphere, which in some cases seem to be related to, as: children’s work, beggars’ practices or question of harmony of public space. The main aim of this study was to expose street performances as yet undefined profession, including different possibilities of interacting with the audience, based on providing impressions, experiences and memories. Although the issue seems to be current and common, in indicated context there is a lack of equal and unified approach of managing urban sphere, which in practice differs both in informal rules and official policies concerning street performances not only in cities in Poland, but also generally in Europe.

Keywords: informal, organizing, street performance, urban sphere

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Authors: Marta Malo, Carlota Soto, Carmen García-Rosales, Teresa Hernández

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SiC based composites are candidates for possible use as structural and functional materials in the future fusion reactors, the main role is intended for the blanket modules. In the blanket, the neutrons produced in the fusion reaction slow down and their energy is transformed into heat in order to finally generate electrical power. In the blanket design named Dual Coolant Lead Lithium (DCLL), a PbLi alloy for power conversion and tritium breeding circulates inside hollow channels called Flow Channel Inserts (FCIs). These FCI must protect the steel structures against the highly corrosive PbLi liquid and the high temperatures, but also provide electrical insulation in order to minimize magnetohydrodynamic interactions of the flowing liquid metal with the high magnetic field present in a magnetically confined fusion environment. Due to their nominally high temperature and radiation stability as well as corrosion resistance, SiC is the main choice for the flow channel inserts. The significantly lower manufacturing cost presents porous SiC (dense coating is required in order to assure protection against corrosion and as a tritium barrier) as a firm alternative to SiC/SiC composites for this purpose. This application requires the materials to be exposed to high radiation levels and extreme temperatures, conditions for which previous studies have shown noticeable changes in both the microstructure and the electrical properties of different types of silicon carbide. Both initial properties and radiation/temperature induced damage strongly depend on the crystal structure, polytype, impurities/additives that are determined by the fabrication process, so the development of a suitable material requires full control of these variables. For this work, several SiC samples with different percentage of porosity and sintering additives have been manufactured by the so-called sacrificial template method at the Ceit-IK4 Technology Center (San Sebastián, Spain), and characterized at Ciemat (Madrid, Spain). Electrical conductivity was measured as a function of temperature before and after irradiation with 1.8 MeV electrons in the Ciemat HVEC Van de Graaff accelerator up to 140 MGy (~ 2·10 -5 dpa). Radiation-induced conductivity (RIC) was also examined during irradiation at 550 ºC for different dose rates (from 0.5 to 5 kGy/s). Although no significant RIC was found in general for any of the samples, electrical conductivity increase with irradiation dose was observed to occur for some compositions with a linear tendency. However, first results indicate enhanced radiation resistance for coated samples. Preliminary thermogravimetric tests of selected samples, together with posterior XRD analysis allowed interpret radiation-induced modification of the electrical conductivity in terms of changes in the SiC crystalline structure. Further analysis is needed in order to confirm this.

Keywords: DCLL blanket, electrical conductivity, flow channel insert, porous SiC, radiation damage, thermal stability

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Authors: G. Kiran Kumar, K. Padmaja

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The rise of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is an important urban phenomenon that needs to be well understood before we pronounce a verdict whether it is beneficial or not. The challenge of supply of safe and nutritious food is faced by urban inhabitants. The definition of urban and peri-urban varies from city to city depending on the local policies framed with a view to bring regulated urban habitations as part of governance. Expansion of cities and the blurring of boundaries between urban and rural areas make it difficult to define peri-urban agriculture. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that definition adopted in one region may not fit in the other. On the other hand the proportion of urban population is on the rise vis-à-vis rural. The rise of UPA does not promise that the food requirements of cities can be entirely met from this practice, since availability of enormous amounts of spaces on rooftops and vacant plots is impossible for raising crops. However, UPA reduces impact of price volatility, particularly for vegetables, which relatively have a longer shelf life. UPA improves access to fresh, nutritious and safe food for the urban poor. UPA provides employment to food handlers and traders in the supply chain. UPA can pose environmental and health risks from inappropriate agricultural practices; increased competition for land, water and energy; alter the ecological landscape and make it vulnerable to increased pollution. The present work is based on case studies in peri-urban agriculture in Hyderabad, India and relies on secondary data. This paper tries to analyze the need for more intensive production technologies without affecting the environment. An optimal solution in terms of urban-rural linkages has to be devised. There is a need to develop a spatial vision and integrate UPA in urban planning in a harmonious manner. Zoning of peri-urban areas for agriculture, milk and poultry production is an essential step to preserve the traditional nurturing character of these areas. Urban local bodies in conjunction with Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture can provide uplift to existing UPA models, without which the UPA can develop into a haphazard phenomenon and add to the increasing list of urban challenges. Land to be diverted for peri-urban agriculture may render the concept of urban and peri-urban forestry ineffective. This paper suggests that UPA may be practiced for high value vegetables which can be cultivated under protected conditions and are better resilient to climate change. UPA can provide models for climate resilient agriculture in urban areas which can be replicated in rural areas. Production of organic farm produce is another option for promote UPA owing to the proximity to informed consumers and access to markets within close range. Waste lands in peri-urban areas can be allotted to unemployed rural youth with the support of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and used for UPA. This can serve the purposes of putting wastelands to food production, enhancing employment opportunities and enhancing access to fresh produce for urban consumers.

Keywords: environment, food security, urban and peri-urban agriculture, zoning

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Authors: Mary Ghobrial, Sahar Wefky

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Marine macroalgae have proven to be rich source of bioactive compounds with biomedical potential, not only for human but also for veterinary medicine. Emergence of microbial disease in aquaculture industries implies serious loses. Usage of commercial antibiotics for fish disease treatment produces undesirable side effects. Marine organisms are a rich source of structurally novel biologically active metabolites. Competition for space and nutrients led to the evolution of antimicrobial defense strategies in the aquatic environment. The interest in marine organisms as a potential and promising source of pharmaceutical agents has increased in the last years. Many bioactive and pharmacologically active substances have been isolated from microalgae. Compounds with antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activities have been also detected in green, brown and red algae. Selected species of marine benthic algae belonging to the Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta, collected from different coastal areas of Alexandria (Egypt), were investigated for their antibacterial and antifungal, activities. Macroalgae samples were collected during low tide from the Alexandria Mediterranean coast. Samples were air dried under shade at room temperature. The dry algae were ground, using electric mixer grinder. They were soaked in 10 ml of each of the solvents acetone, ethanol, methanol and hexane. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated using well-cut diffusion technique In vitro screening of organic solvent extracts from the marine macroalgae Laurencia pinnatifida, Pterocladia capillaceae, Stepopodium zonale, Halopteris scoparia and Sargassum hystrix, showed specific activity in inhibiting the growth of five virulent strains of bacteria pathogenic to fish Pseudomonas fluorescens, Aeromonas hydrophila, Vibrio anguillarum, V. tandara, Escherichia coli and two fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. niger. Results showed that, acetone and ethanol extracts of all test macroalgae exhibited antibacterial activity, while acetone extract of the brown Sargassum hystrix displayed the highest antifungal activity. The extracts of seaweeds inhibited bacteria more strongly than fungi and species of the Rhodophyta showed the greatest activity against the bacteria rather than fungi tested. The gas liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry detection technique allows good qualitative and quantitative analysis of the fractionated extracts with high sensitivity to the smaller amounts of components. Results indicated that, the main common component in the acetone extracts of L. pinnatifida and P. capillacea is 4-hydroxy-4-methyl2-pentanone representing 64.38 and 58.60%. Thus, the extracts derived from the red macroalgae were more efficient than those obtained from the brown macroalgae in combating bacterial pathogens rather than pathogenic fungi. The most preferred species over all was the red Laurencia pinnatifida. In conclusion, the present study provides the potential of red and brown macroalgae extracts for development of anti-pathogenic agents for use in fish aquaculture.

Keywords: bacteria, fungi, extracts, solvents

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Authors: Liou Shyhnan, Chia Han Yang

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The study aims to investigate the promotion of innovation in the development of cultural and creative industries (CCI) and apply research on culture and creativity to this promotion. Using the research perspectives of culture and creativity as the starting points, this study has examined the challenges, trends, and opportunities that have emerged from the development of the CCI until the present. It is found that a definite context of cause and effect exist between them, and that a homologous theoretical basis can be used to understand and interpret them. Based on the characteristics of the aforementioned challenges and trends, this study has compiled two main theoretical systems for conducting research on culture and creativity: (i) reciprocal process between creativity and culture, and (ii) a mechanism for innovation involving multicultural convergence. Both theoretical systems were then used as the foundation to arrive at possible research propositions relating to the two developmental systems. This was respectively done through identification of the theoretical context through a literature review, and interviews and observations of actual case studies within Taiwan’s CCI. In so doing, the critical factors that can address the aforementioned challenges and trends were discovered. Our results indicated that, for reciprocal process between creativity and culture, we recognize that culture serves as creative resources in cultural and creative industries. According to shared consensus, culture provides symbolic meanings and emotional attachment for products and experiences offered by CCI. Besides, different cultures vary in their effects on creativity processes and standards, thus engendering distinctive preferences for and evaluations of the creative expressions and experiences of CCIs. In addition, we identify that creativity serves as the engine for driving the continuation and rebirth of cultures. Accounting for the core of culture, the employment of technology, design, and business facilitates the transformation and innovation mechanism for promoting culture continuity. In addition, with cultural centered, the digital technology, design thinking, and business model are critical constitutes of the innovation mechanism to promote the cultural continuity. Regarding cultural preservation and regeneration of local spaces and folk customs, we argue that the preservation and regeneration of local spaces and cultural cultures must embody the interactive experiences of present-day life. And cultural space and folk custom would regenerate with interact and experience in modern life. Regarding innovation mechanism for multicultural convergence, we propose that innovative stakeholders from different disciplines (e.g., creators, designers, engineers, and marketers) in CCIs rely on the establishment of a cocreation mechanism to promote interdisciplinary interaction. Furthermore, CCI development needs to develop a cocreation mechanism for enhancing the interdisciplinary collaboration among CCI innovation stakeholders. We further argue multicultural mixing would enhance innovation in developing CCI, and assuming an open and mutually enlightening attitude to enrich one another’s cultures in the multicultural exchanges under globalization will create diversity in homogenous CCIs. Finally, for promoting innovation in developing cultural and creative industries, we further propose a model for joint knowledge creation that can be established for enhancing the mutual reinforcement of theoretical and practical research on culture and creativity.

Keywords: culture and creativity, innovation, cultural and creative industries, cultural mixing

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Authors: Izabela P. Vatanabe, Rafaela Peron, Patricia Manzine, Marcia R. Cominetti

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Introduction: Considering the increase in life expectancy of world population, there is an emerging concern in health services to allocate better care and care to elderly, through promotion, prevention and treatment of health. It has been observed that frailty syndrome is prevalent in elderly people worldwide and this complex and heterogeneous clinical syndrome consist of the presence of physical frailty associated with cognitive dysfunction, though in absence of dementia. This can be characterized by exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, decreased walking speed, weakness and low level of physical activity, in addition, each of these symptoms may be a predictor of adverse outcomes such as hospitalization, falls, functional decline, institutionalization, and death. Cognitive frailty is a recent concept in literature, which is defined as the presence of physical frailty associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) however in absence of dementia. This new concept has been considered as a subtype of frailty, which along with aging process and its interaction with physical frailty, accelerates functional declines and can result in poor quality of life of the elderly. MCI represents a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in view of high conversion rate for this disease. Comorbidities and physical frailty are frequently found in AD patients and are closely related to heterogeneity and clinical manifestations of the disease. The decreased platelets ADAM10 levels in AD patients, compared to cognitively healthy subjects, matched by sex, age and education. Objective: Based on these previous results, this study aims to evaluate whether ADAM10 platelet levels of could act as a biomarker of cognitive frailty. Methods: The study was approved by Ethics Committee of Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and conducted in the municipality of São Carlos, headquarters of Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). Biological samples of subjects were collected, analyzed and then stored in a biorepository. ADAM10 platelet levels were analyzed by western blotting technique in subjects with MCI and compared to subjects without cognitive impairment, both with and without presence of frailty. Statistical tests of association, regression and diagnostic accuracy were performed. Results: The results have shown that ADAM10/β-actin ratio is decreased in elderly individuals with cognitive frailty compared to non-frail and cognitively healthy controls. Previous studies performed by this research group, already mentioned above, demonstrated that this reduction is still higher in AD patients. Therefore, the ADAM10/β-actin ratio appears to be a potential biomarker for cognitive frailty. The results bring important contributions to an accurate diagnosis of cognitive frailty from the perspective of ADAM10 as a biomarker for this condition, however, more experiments are being conducted, using a high number of subjects, and will help to understand the role of ADAM10 as biomarker of cognitive frailty and contribute to the implementation of tools that work in the diagnosis of cognitive frailty. Such tools can be used in public policies for the diagnosis of cognitive frailty in the elderly, resulting in a more adequate planning for health teams and better quality of life for the elderly.

Keywords: ADAM10, biomarkers, cognitive frailty, elderly

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Authors: Muhammad Fayyaz Nazir, Ellen Wayenberg, Shahzadaah Faahed Qureshi

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Introduction: The study is based on the Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT) constructs to explore the role of policy actors in implementing the COVID-19 Disease Prevention and Control (DP&C) Policy. The study analyzes the role of healthcare workers' contextual factors, such as cognition, motives, and resources, and their interactions in implementing Social Distancing (SD). In this way, we test a two actors policy implementation theory, i.e., the CIT in a three-actor context. Methods: Data was collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews. For a qualitative study design, interviews were conducted with questions on cognition, motives, and resources from the healthcare workers involved in implementing SD in the local context in Multan – Pakistan. The possible interactions resulting from contextual factors of the policy actors – healthcare workers were identified through framework analysis protocol guided by CIT and supported by trustworthiness criterion and data saturation. Results: This inquiry resulted in theory application, addition, and enrichment. The theoretical application in the three actor's contexts illustrates the different levels of motives, cognition, and resources of healthcare workers – senior administrators, managers, and healthcare professionals. The senior administrators working in National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), Provincial Technical Committees (PTCs), and Districts Covid Teams (DCTs) were playing their role with high motivation. They were fully informed about the policy and moderately resourceful. The policy implementors: healthcare managers working on implementing the SD within their respective hospitals were playing their role with high motivation and were fully informed about the policy. However, they lacked the required resources to implement SD. The target medical and allied healthcare professionals were moderately motivated but lack of resources and information. The interaction resulted in cooperation and the need for learning to manage the future healthcare crisis. However, the lack of resources created opposition to the implementation of SD. Objectives of the Study: The study aimed to apply a two actors theory in a multi actors context. We take this as an opportunity to qualitatively test the theory in a novel situation of the Covid-19 pandemic and make way for its quantitative application by designing a survey instrument so that implementation researchers can apply CIT through multivariate analyses or higher-order statistical modeling. Conclusion: Applying two actors' implementation theory in exploring a complex case of healthcare intervention in three actors context is a unique work that has never been done before, up to the best of our knowledge. So, the work will contribute to the policy implementation studies by applying, extending, and enriching an implementation theory in a novel case of the Covi-19 pandemic, ultimately fulfilling the gap in implementation literature. Policy institutions and other low or middle-income countries can learn from this research and improve SD implementation by working on the variables with weak significance levels.

Keywords: COVID-19, disease prevention and control policy, implementation, policy actors, social distancing

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Authors: R. Yuan, S. Sivasankaran, N. Dutta, K. Ebrahimi

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This paper investigates the software capability and computer-aided engineering (CAE) method of modelling transient heat transfer process occurred in the vehicle underhood region during vehicle thermal soak phase. The heat retention from the soak period will be beneficial to the cold start with reduced friction loss for the second 14°C worldwide harmonized light-duty vehicle test procedure (WLTP) cycle, therefore provides benefits on both CO₂ emission reduction and fuel economy. When vehicle undergoes soak stage, the airflow and the associated convective heat transfer around and inside the engine bay is driven by the buoyancy effect. This effect along with thermal radiation and conduction are the key factors to the thermal simulation of the engine bay to obtain the accurate fluids and metal temperature cool-down trajectories and to predict the temperatures at the end of the soak period. Method development has been investigated in this study on a light-duty passenger vehicle using coupled aerodynamic-heat transfer thermal transient modelling method for the full vehicle under 9 hours of thermal soak. The 3D underhood flow dynamics were solved inherently transient by the Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM) method using the PowerFlow software. This was further coupled with heat transfer modelling using the PowerTHERM software provided by Exa Corporation. The particle-based LBM method was capable of accurately handling extremely complicated transient flow behavior on complex surface geometries. The detailed thermal modelling, including heat conduction, radiation, and buoyancy-driven heat convection, were integrated solved by PowerTHERM. The 9 hours cool-down period was simulated and compared with the vehicle testing data of the key fluid (coolant, oil) and metal temperatures. The developed CAE method was able to predict the cool-down behaviour of the key fluids and components in agreement with the experimental data and also visualised the air leakage paths and thermal retention around the engine bay. The cool-down trajectories of the key components obtained for the 9 hours thermal soak period provide vital information and a basis for the further development of reduced-order modelling studies in future work. This allows a fast-running model to be developed and be further imbedded with the holistic study of vehicle energy modelling and thermal management. It is also found that the buoyancy effect plays an important part at the first stage of the 9 hours soak and the flow development during this stage is vital to accurately predict the heat transfer coefficients for the heat retention modelling. The developed method has demonstrated the software integration for simulating buoyancy-driven heat transfer in a vehicle underhood region during thermal soak with satisfying accuracy and efficient computing time. The CAE method developed will allow integration of the design of engine encapsulations for improving fuel consumption and reducing CO₂ emissions in a timely and robust manner, aiding the development of low-carbon transport technologies.

Keywords: ATCT/WLTC driving cycle, buoyancy-driven heat transfer, CAE method, heat retention, underhood modeling, vehicle thermal soak

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Authors: Adriana Salgado, Sandra Castaneda, Ivan Perez

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Learning to read and write is a complex process involving several cognitive skills, contextual, and cultural environments. The basis of this development is linguistic skills, such as the ability to name and understand vocabulary, retell a story, phonological awareness, letter knowledge, among others. In children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), one of the main concerns is related to language disorders. Nevertheless, most of the children with ASD are able to decode written information but have difficulties in reading comprehension. The research of these processes in the Spanish-speaking population is limited. However, the increasing prevalence of this diagnosis (1 in 115 children) in Mexico has implications at different levels. Educational research is an important area of interest in ASD children, such as emergent literacy. Reading and writing expand the possibilities of academic, cultural, and social information access. Taking this information into account, the objective of this research was to identify the relationship between language skills, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and early reading and writing in ASD Spanish-speaking children. The method used for this research was based on tasks that were selected, adapted and in some cases designed to measure initial reading and writing, as well as language skills (naming, receptive vocabulary, and narrative skills), phonological awareness (similar phonological word pairs, beginning sound awareness and spelling) and letter knowledge, in a sample of 45 children (38 boys and 7 girls) with prior diagnosis of ASD. Descriptive analyses, as well as bivariate correlations, cluster analysis, and canonical correspondence, were obtained for the data results. Results showed that variability was large; however, it was possible to characterize the sample in low, medium, and high score groups regarding children performance. The low score group (46.7% of the sample), had a null or deficient performance in language skills and phonological awareness, some could identify up to five letters of the alphabet, showed no early reading skills but they could scribble. The middle score group was characterized by a highly variable performance in different tasks, with better language skills in receptive and naming vocabulary, some narrative, letter knowledge, and phonological awareness (beginning sound awareness) skills. The high score group, (24.4% of the sample) had the best performance in language skills in relation to the sample data, as well as in the rest of the measured skills. Finally, scores were canonically correlated between naming, receptive vocabulary, narrative, phonological awareness, letter knowledge and initial learning of reading and writing skills for the high score group and letter knowledge, naming and receptive vocabulary for the lower score group, which is consistent with previous research in typical and ASD children. In conclusion, the obtained data is consistent with previous studies. Despite large variability, it was possible to identify performance profiles and relations based on linguistic, phonological awareness, and letter knowledge skills. These skills were predictor variables of the initial development of reading and writing. The above has implications for a future program and strategies development that may benefit the acquisition of reading and writing in ASD children.

Keywords: autism, autism spectrum disorders, early literacy, emergent literacy

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Authors: K. S. Rao, Ankesh Kumar

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The search for alternative energy sources to petroleum has increased these days because of increase in need and depletion of petroleum reserves. Therefore the importance of oil shales as an economically viable substitute has increased many folds in last 20 years. The technologies like hydro-fracturing have opened the field of oil extraction from these unconventional rocks. Oil shale is a compact laminated rock of sedimentary origin containing organic matter known as kerogen which yields oil when distilled. Oil shales are formed from the contemporaneous deposition of fine grained mineral debris and organic degradation products derived from the breakdown of biota. Conditions required for the formation of oil shales include abundant organic productivity, early development of anaerobic conditions, and a lack of destructive organisms. These rocks are not gown through the high temperature and high pressure conditions in Mother Nature. The most common approach for oil extraction is drastically breaking the bond of the organics which involves retorting process. The two approaches for retorting are surface retorting and in-situ processing. The most environmental friendly approach for extraction is In-situ processing. The three steps involved in this process are fracturing, injection to achieve communication, and fluid migration at the underground location. Upon heating (retorting) oil shale at temperatures in the range of 300 to 400°C, the kerogen decomposes into oil, gas and residual carbon in a process referred to as pyrolysis. Therefore it is very important to understand the physico-mechenical behavior of such rocks, to improve the technology for in-situ extraction. It is clear from the past research and the physical observations that these rocks will behave as an anisotropic rock so it is very important to understand the mechanical behavior under high pressure at different orientation angles for the economical use of these resources. By knowing the engineering behavior under above conditions will allow us to simulate the deep ground retorting conditions numerically and experimentally. Many researchers have investigate the effect of organic content on the engineering behavior of oil shale but the coupled effect of organic and inorganic matrix is yet to be analyzed. The favourable characteristics of Assam coal for conversion to liquid fuels have been known for a long time. Studies have indicated that these coals and carbonaceous shale constitute the principal source rocks that have generated the hydrocarbons produced from the region. Rock cores of the representative samples are collected by performing on site drilling, as coring in laboratory is very difficult due to its highly anisotropic nature. Different tests are performed to understand the petrology of these samples, further the chemical analyses are also done to exactly quantify the organic content in these rocks. The mechanical properties of these rocks are investigated by considering different anisotropic angles. Now the results obtained from petrology and chemical analysis are correlated with the mechanical properties. These properties and correlations will further help in increasing the producibility of these rocks. It is well established that the organic content is negatively correlated to tensile strength, compressive strength and modulus of elasticity.

Keywords: oil shale, producibility, hydro-fracturing, kerogen, petrology, mechanical behavior

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Authors: Cristina Chaminade, Mandar Kulkarni, Balaji Parthasarathy, Monica Plechero

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The characteristics of a regional innovation system (RIS) and the specificity of the knowledge base of an industry may contribute to create peculiar paths for innovation and development of firms’ geographic extended innovation networks. However, the relative empirical evidence in emerging economies remains underexplored. The paper aims to fill the research gap by means of some recent qualitative research conducted in 2016 in Beijing (China) and Bangalore (India). It analyzes cases studies of firms in the new media industry, a sector that merges different IT competences with competences from other knowledge domains and that is emerging in those RIS. The results show that while in Beijing the new media sector results to be more in line with the existing institutional setting and governmental goals aimed at targeting specific social aspects and social problems of the population, in Bangalore it remains a more spontaneous firms-led process. In Beijing what matters for the development of innovation networks is the governmental setting and the national and regional strategies to promote science and technology in this sector, internet and mass innovation. The peculiarities of recent governmental policies aligned to the domestic goals may provide good possibilities for start-ups to develop innovation networks. However, due to the specificities of those policies targeting the Chinese market, networking outside the domestic market are not so promoted. Moreover, while some institutional peculiarities, such as a culture of collaboration in the region, may be favorable for local networking, regulations related to Internet censorship may limit the use of global networks particularly when based on virtual spaces. Mainly firms with already some foreign experiences and contact take advantage of global networks. In Bangalore, the role of government in pushing networking for the new media industry at the present stage is quite absent at all geographical levels. Indeed there is no particular strategic planning or prioritizing in the region toward the new media industry, albeit one industrial organization has emerged to represent the animation industry interests. This results in a lack of initiatives for sustaining the integration of complementary knowledge into the local portfolio of IT specialization. Firms actually involved in the new media industry face institutional constrains related to a poor level of local trust and cooperation, something that does not allow for full exploitation of local linkages. Moreover, knowledge-provider organizations in Bangalore remain still a solid base for the IT domain, but not for other domains. Initiatives to link to international networks seem therefore more the result of individual entrepreneurial actions aimed at acquiring complementary knowledge and competencies from different domains and exploiting potentiality in different markets. From those cases, it emerges that role of government, soft institutions and organizations in the two RIS differ substantially in the creation of barriers and opportunities for the development of innovation networks and their specific aim.

Keywords: regional innovation system, emerging economies, innovation network, institutions, organizations, Bangalore, Beijing

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Authors: Myriam Benraad

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On 5 July 2016, just days before the bloody terrorist attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, the Al-Hayat media centre, one of the official propaganda branches of the Islamic State, broadcast a French nasheed which paid tribute to the Paris and Brussels attacks of November 2015 and March 2016. Entitled 'My Revenge', the terrorist anthem was of rare vehemence. It mentioned, sequentially, 'huddled bodies', in a reference to the civilian casualties of Western air strikes in the Iraqi-Syrian zone, 'explosive belts', 'sharp knives', 'large-calibre weapons' as well as 'localised targets'. France was accused of bearing the responsibility for the wave of attacks on its territory since the Charlie Hebdo massacre of January 2015 due to its 'ruthless war' against the Muslim world. Evoking an 'old aggression' and the 'crimes and spoliations' of which France has made itself guilty, the jihadist hymn depicted the rebirth of the caliphate as 'laudable revenge'. The notion of revenge has always been central to contemporary jihadism, understood both as a revolutionary ideology and a global militant movement. In recent years, the attacks carried out in Europe and elsewhere in the world have, for most, been claimed in its name. Whoever says jihad, says drama, yet few studies, if any, have looked at its dramatic and emotional elements, most notably its tragic vengefulness. This seems all the more astonishing that jihad is filled with drama; it could even be seen as a drama in its own right. The jihadists perform a script and take on roles inspired by their respective group’s culture (norms, values, beliefs, and symbols). The militants stage and perform such a script for a designated audience, either partisan, sympathising or hostile towards them and their cause. This research paper will examine the dramaturgy of jihadism and in particular, the genre that best characterises its violence: revenge tragedy. Theoretically, the research will rely on the tools of social movement theory and the sociology of emotions. Methodologically, it will draw from dramaturgical analysis and a combination of qualitative and quantitative tools to attain valuable observations of a number of developments, trends, and patterns. The choice has been made to focus mainly – however not exclusively – on the attacks which have taken place since 2001 in the European Union and more specific member states that have been significantly hit by jihadist terrorism. The research looks at a number of representative longitudinal samples identifying continuities and discontinuities, similarities, but also substantial differences. The preliminary findings tend to establish the relevance and validity of this approach in helping make better sense of sensitisation, mobilisation, and survival dynamics within jihadist groups, and motivations among individuals who have embraced violence. Besides, they illustrate their pertinence for counterterrorism policymakers and practitioners. Through drama, jihadist groups ensure the unceasing regeneration of their militant cause as well as their legitimation among their partisans. Without drama, and without the spectacular ideological staging of reality, they would not be able to maintain their attraction potential and power of persuasion.

Keywords: Jihadism, dramaturgy, revenge, tragedy

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Authors: Parul Kulshreshtha, Subrata Sinha, Rakesh Bhatnagar

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This study was conducted by taking B. anthracis as a model pathogen. On infecting a host, B. anthracis secretes three proteins, namely, protective antigen (PA, 83kDa), edema factor (EF, 89 kDa) and lethal factor (LF, 90 kDa). These three proteins are the components of two anthrax toxins. PA binds to the cell surface receptors, namely, tumor endothelial marker (TEM) 8 and capillary morphogenesis protein (CMG) 2. TEM8 and CMG2 interact with LDL-receptor related protein (LRP) 6 for endocytosis of EF and LF. On entering the cell, EF acts as a calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase that causes a prolonged increase of cytosolic cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). LF is a metalloprotease that cleaves most isoforms of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases (MAPKK/MEK) close to their N-terminus. By secreting these two toxins, B.anthracis ascertains death of the host. Once the systemic levels of the toxins rise, antibiotics alone cannot save the host. Therefore, toxin-specific inhibitors have to be developed. In this wake, monoclonal antibodies have been developed for the neutralization of toxic effects of anthrax toxins. We created hybridomas by using spleen of mice that were actively immunized with rLFn (recombinant N-terminal domain of lethal factor of B. anthracis) to obtain anti-toxin antibodies. Later on, separate group of mice were immunized with rLFn to obtain a polyclonal control for passive immunization studies of monoclonal antibodies. This led to the identification of one cohort of rLFn-immunized mice that harboured disease-enhancing polyclonal antibodies. At the same time, the monoclonal antibodies from all the hybridomas were being tested. Two hybridomas secreted monoclonal antibodies (H8 and H10) that were cross-reactive with EF (edema factor) and LF (lethal factor), while the other two hybridomas secreted LF-specific antibodies (H7 and H11). The protective efficacy of H7, H8, H10 and H11 was investigated. H7, H8 and H10 were found to be protective. H11 was found to have disease enhancing characteristics in-vitro and in mouse model of challenge with B. anthracis. In this study the disease enhancing character of H11 monoclonal antibody and anti-rLFn polyclonal sera was investigated. Combination of H11 with protective monoclonal antibodies (H8 and H10) reduced its disease enhancing nature both in-vitro and in-vivo. But combination of H11 with LETscFv (an scFv with VH and VL identical to H10 but lacking Fc region) could not abrogate the disease-enhancing character of H11 mAb. Therefore it was concluded that for suppression of disease enhancement, Fc portion was absolutely essential for interaction of H10 with H11. Our study indicates that the protective potential of an antibody depends equally on its idiotype/ antigen specificity and its isotype. A number of monoclonal and engineered antibodies are being explored as immunotherapeutics but it is absolutely essential to characterize each one for their individual and combined protective potential. Although new in the sphere of toxin-based diseases, it is extremely important to characterize the disease-enhancing nature of polyclonal as well as monoclonal antibodies. This is because several anti-viral therapeutics and vaccines have failed in the face of this phenomenon. The passive –immunotherapy thus needs to be well formulated to avoid any contraindications.

Keywords: immunotherapy, polyclonal, monoclonal, antibody-dependent disease enhancement

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Authors: Sandy Elsayed, Aya Mohamed, Noha Nassar

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Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social deficits and repetitive behavior. Multiple studies suggest that oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are key factors in the etiology of ASD and often associated with worsening of ASD-related behaviors. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF-2) is a transcription factor that promotes expression of antioxidant response element genes in oxidative stress. In ASD subjects, decreased expression of NRF-2 in frontal cortex shifted the redox homeostasis towards oxidative stress, and resulted in inflammation evidenced by elevation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) transcriptional activity. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is a NRF-2 activator that is used in the treatment of psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. It participates in the transcriptional control of inflammatory factors via inhibition of NF-κB and its downstream targets. This study aimed to investigate the role of DMF in alleviating the cognitive impairments and behavior deficits associated with ASD through mitigation of oxidative stress and inflammation in prenatal valproic acid (VPA) rat model of autism. Methods: Pregnant female Wistar rats received a single intraperitoneal injection of VPA (600 mg/kg) to induce autistic-like-behavioral and neurobiological alterations in their offspring. Chronic oral gavage of DMF (150mg/kg/day) started from postnatal day (PND) 24 till PND62 (39 days). Prenatal VPA exposure elicited autistic behaviors including decreased social interaction and stereotyped behavior. Social interaction was evaluated using three-chamber sociability test and calculation of sociability index (SI), while stereotyped repetitive behavior and anxiety associated with ASD were assessed using marble burying test (MBT). Biochemical analyses were done on prefrontal cortex homogenates including NRF-2, and NF-κB expression. Moreover, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-) protein expression were evaluated as markers of inflammation. Results: Prenatal VPA elicited decreased social interaction shown by decreased SI compared to control group (p < 0.001) and DMF enhanced SI (p < 0.05). In MBT, prenatal injection of VPA manifested stereotyped behavior and enhanced number of buried marbles compared to control (p < 0.05) and DMF reduced the anxiety-related behavior in rats exhibiting ASD-like behaviors (p < 0.05). In prefrontal cortex, NRF-2 expression was downregulated in prenatal VPA model (p < 0.0001) and DMF reversed this effect (p < 0.0001). The inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB was elevated in prenatal VPA model (p < 0.0001) and reduced (p < 0.0001) upon NRF-2 activation by DMF. Prenatal VPA expressed higher levels of proinflammatory cytokine TNF- compared to control group (p < 0.0001) and DMF reduced it (p < 0.0001). Finally, the gene expression of iNOS was downregulated upon NRF-2 activation by DMF (p < 0.01). Conclusion: This study proposes that DMF is a potential agent that can be used to ameliorate autistic-like-changes through NRF-2 activation along with NF-κB downregulation and therefore, it is a promising novel therapy for ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders, dimethyl fumarate, neuroinflammation, NRF-2

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Authors: Kaomud Tyagi, Rajasree Chakraborty, Shantanu Kundu, Devkant Singha, Kailash Chandra, Vikas Kumar

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The melon thrips, Thrips palmi is a serious pest of a wide range of agriculture crops and also act as vectors for plant viruses (genus Tospovirus, family Bunyaviridae). More molecular data on this species is required to understand the cryptic speciation and evolutionary affiliations. Mitochondrial genomes have been widely used in phylogenetic and evolutionary studies in insect. So far, mitogenomes of five thrips species (Anaphothrips obscurus, Frankliniella intonsa, Frankliniella occidentalis, Scirtothrips dorsalis and Thrips imaginis) is available in the GenBank database. In this study, we sequenced the first complete mitogenome T. palmi and compared it with available thrips mitogenomes. We assembled the mitogenome from the whole genome sequencing data generated using Illumina Hiseq2500. Annotation was performed using MITOS web-server to estimate the location of protein coding genes (PCGs), transfer RNA (tRNAs), ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and their secondary structures. The boundaries of PCGs and rRNAs was confirmed manually in NCBI. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using the 13 PCGs data using maximum likelihood (ML) in PAUP, and Bayesian inference (BI) in MrBayes 3.2. The complete mitogenome of T. palmi was 15,333 base pairs (bp), which was greater than the genomes of A. obscurus (14,890bp), F. intonsa (15,215 bp), F. occidentalis (14,889 bp) and S. dorsalis South Asia strain (SA1) (14,283 bp), but smaller than the genomes of T. imaginis (15,407 bp) and S. dorsalis East Asia strain (EA1) (15,343bp). Like in other thrips species, the mitochondrial genome of T. palmi was represented by 37 genes, including 13 PCGs, large and small ribosomal RNA (rrnL and rrnS) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNAs) genes (with one extra gene for trn-Serine) and two A+T-rich control regions (CR1 and CR2). Thirty one genes were observed on heavy (H) strand and six genes on the light (L) strand. The six tRNA genes (trnG,trnK, trnY, trnW, trnF, and trnH) were found to be conserved in all thrips species mitogenomes in their locations relative to a protein-coding or rRNA gene upstream or downstream. The gene arrangements of T. palmi is very close to T. imaginis except the rearrangements in tRNAs genes: trnR (arginine), and trnE (glutamic acid) were found to be located between cox3 and CR2 in T. imaginis which were translocated between atp6 and CR1 in T. palmi; trnL1 (Leucine) and trnS1(Serine) were located between atp6 and CR1 in T. imaginis which were translocated between cox3 and CR2 in T. palmi. The location of CR1 upstream of nad5 gene was suggested to be ancestral condition of the thrips species in subfamily Thripinae, was also observed in T. palmi. Both the Maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI) phylogenetic trees generated resulted in similar topologies. The T. palmi was clustered with T. imaginis. We concluded that more molecular data on the diverse thrips species from different hierarchical level is needed, to understand the phylogenetic and evolutionary relationships among them.

Keywords: thrips, comparative mitogenomics, gene rearrangements, phylogenetic analysis

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Authors: Jing Zhang, Yvonne Reinwald, Nick Poulson, Alicia El Haj, Chung See, Mike Somekh, Melissa Mather

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Biomedical imaging of native tissue using light offers the potential to obtain excellent structural and functional information in a non-invasive manner with good temporal resolution. Image contrast can be derived from intrinsic absorption, fluorescence, or scatter, or through the use of extrinsic contrast. A major challenge in applying optical microscopy to in vivo tissue imaging is the effects of light attenuation which limits light penetration depth and achievable imaging resolution. Recently Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM) has been used to map the 3D distribution of fluorophores dispersed in biological structures. In this approach, a focused sheet of light is used to illuminate the sample from the side to excite fluorophores within the sample of interest. Images are formed based on detection of fluorescence emission orthogonal to the illumination axis. By scanning the sample along the detection axis and acquiring a stack of images, 3D volumes can be obtained. The combination of rapid image acquisition speeds with the low photon dose to samples optical sectioning provides SPIM is an attractive approach for imaging biological samples in 3D. To date all implementations of SPIM rely on the use of fluorescence reporters be that endogenous or exogenous. This approach has the disadvantage that in the case of exogenous probes the specimens are altered from their native stage rendering them unsuitable for in vivo studies and in general fluorescence emission is weak and transient. Here we present for the first time to our knowledge a label-free implementation of SPIM that has downstream applications in the clinical setting. The experimental set up used in this work incorporates both label-free and fluorescent illumination arms in addition to a high specification camera that can be partitioned for simultaneous imaging of both fluorescent emission and scattered light from intrinsic sources of optical contrast in the sample being studied. This work first involved calibration of the imaging system and validation of the label-free method with well characterised fluorescent microbeads embedded in agarose gel. 3D constructs of mammalian cells cultured in agarose gel with varying cell concentrations were then imaged. A time course study to track cell proliferation in the 3D construct was also carried out and finally a native tissue sample was imaged. For each sample multiple images were obtained by scanning the sample along the axis of detection and 3D maps reconstructed. The results obtained validated label-free SPIM as a viable approach for imaging cells in a 3D gel construct and native tissue. This technique has the potential use in a near-patient environment that can provide results quickly and be implemented in an easy to use manner to provide more information with improved spatial resolution and depth penetration than current approaches.

Keywords: bioimaging, optics, selective plane illumination microscopy, tissue imaging

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Authors: Marcus Goh Tian Xi, Alicia Chua Si Wen, Eunice Gan Ghee Wu, Helen Bound, Lee Liang Ying, Albert Lee

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The Map of Dialogical Inquiry provides a conceptual look at the underlying nature of future-oriented skills. According to the Map, learning is learner-oriented, with conversational time shifted from teachers to learners, who play a strong role in deciding what and how they learn. For example, in courses operating on the principles of Dialogical Inquiry, learners were able to leave the classroom with a deeper understanding of the topic, broader exposure to differing perspectives, and stronger critical thinking capabilities, compared to traditional approaches to teaching. Despite its contributions to learning, the Map is grounded in a qualitative approach both in its development and its application for providing feedback to learners and educators. Studies hinge on openended responses by Map users, which can be time consuming and resource intensive. The present research is motivated by this gap in practicality by aiming to develop and validate a quantitative measure of the Map. In addition, a quantifiable measure may also strengthen applicability by making learning experiences trackable and comparable. The Map outlines eight learning aspects that learners should holistically engage. This research focuses on the Analysing aspect of learning. According to the Map, Analysing has four key components: liking or engaging in logic, using interpretative lenses, seeking patterns, and critiquing and deconstructing. Existing scales of constructs (e.g., critical thinking, rationality) related to these components were identified so that the current scale could adapt items from. Specifically, items were phrased beginning with an “I”, followed by an action phrase, to fulfil the purpose of assessing learners' engagement with Analysing either in general or in classroom contexts. Paralleling standard scale development procedure, the 26-item Analysing scale was administered to 330 participants alongside existing scales with varying levels of association to Analysing, to establish construct validity. Subsequently, the scale was refined and its dimensionality, reliability, and validity were determined. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed if scale items loaded onto the four factors corresponding to the components of Analysing. To refine the scale, items were systematically removed via an iterative procedure, according to their factor loadings and results of likelihood ratio tests at each step. Eight items were removed this way. The Analysing scale is better conceptualised as unidimensional, rather than comprising the four components identified by the Map, for three reasons: 1) the covariance matrix of the model specified for the CFA was not positive definite, 2) correlations among the four factors were high, and 3) exploratory factor analyses did not yield an easily interpretable factor structure of Analysing. Regarding validity, since the Analysing scale had higher correlations with conceptually similar scales than conceptually distinct scales, with minor exceptions, construct validity was largely established. Overall, satisfactory reliability and validity of the scale suggest that the current procedure can result in a valid and easy-touse measure for each aspect of the Map.

Keywords: analytical thinking, dialogical inquiry, education, lifelong learning, pedagogy, scale development

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Authors: Katherine Del Carmen Camacho Zorogastua, Victor Hugo Gallo Ramos, Jhon Walter Gomez Lora

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Marine hydrocarbon exploration (oil and natural gas) activities are developed using 2D, 3D and 4D seismic prospecting techniques where sound waves are directed from a seismic vessel emitted every few seconds depending on the variety of air compressors, which cross the layers of rock at the bottom of the sea and are reflected to the surface of the water. Hydrophones receive and record the reflected energy signals for cross-sectional mapping of the lithological profile in order to identify possible areas where hydrocarbon deposits can be formed. However, they produce several significant negative environmental impacts on the marine ecosystem and in the social and economic sectors. Therefore, the objective of the research is to publicize the negative impacts and environmental measures that must be carried out during the development of these activities to prevent and mitigate water quality, the population involved (fishermen) and the marine biota (e.g., Cetaceans, fish) that are the most vulnerable. The research contains technical environmental aspects based on bibliographic sources of environmental studies approved by the Peruvian authority, research articles, undergraduate and postgraduate theses, books, guides, and manuals from Spain, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico. It describes the negative impacts on the environment and population (fishing sector), environmental prevention, mitigation, recovery and compensation measures that must be properly implemented and the cases of global sea species stranding, for which international experiences from Spain, Madagascar, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Peru were referenced. Negative impacts on marine fauna, seawater quality, and the socioeconomic sector (fishermen) were identified. Omission or inadequate biological monitoring in mammals could alter their ability to communicate, feed, and displacement resulting in their stranding and death. In fish, they cause deadly damage to physical-physiological type and in their behavior. Inadequate wastewater treatment and waste management could increase the organic load and oily waste on seawater quality in violation of marine flora and fauna. The possible estrangement of marine resources (fish) affects the economic sector as they carry out their fishing activity for consumption or sale. Finally, it is concluded from the experiences gathered from Spain, Madagascar, Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, and Peru that there is a cause and effect relationship between the inadequate development of seismic exploration activities (cause) and marine species strandings (effect) since over the years, stranded or dead marine mammals have been detected on the shores of the sea in areas of seismic acquisition of hydrocarbons. In this regard, it is recommended to establish technical procedures, guidelines, and protocols for the monitoring of marine species in order to contribute to the conservation of hydrobiological resources.

Keywords: 3D seismic prospecting, cetaceans, significant environmental impacts, prevention, mitigation, recovery, environmental compensation

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Suliman Al-Fayoumi, Sherri Amberg, Huafeng Zhou, Jack W. Singer, James P. Dean

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Pacritinib is an oral kinase inhibitor with specificity for JAK2, FLT3, IRAK1, and CSF1R. In clinical studies, pacritinib was well tolerated with clinical activity in patients with myelofibrosis. The most frequent adverse events (AEs) observed with pacritinib are gastrointestinal (diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting; mostly grade 1-2 in severity) and typically resolve within 2 weeks. A human ADME mass balance study demonstrated that pacritinib is predominantly cleared via hepatic metabolism and biliary excretion (>85% of administered dose). The major hepatic metabolite identified, M1, is not thought to materially contribute to the pharmacological activity of pacritinib. Hepatic diseases are known to impair hepatic blood flow, drug-metabolizing enzymes, and biliary transport systems and may affect drug absorption, disposition, efficacy, and toxicity. This phase 1 study evaluated the pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety of pacritinib and the M1 metabolite in study subjects with mild, moderate, or severe hepatic impairment (HI) and matched healthy subjects with normal liver function to determine if pacritinib dosage adjustments are necessary for patients with varying degrees of hepatic insufficiency. Study participants (aged 18-85 y) were enrolled into 4 groups based on their degree of HI as defined by Child-Pugh Clinical Assessment Score: mild (n=8), moderate (n=8), severe (n=4), and healthy volunteers (n=8) matched for age, BMI, and sex. Individuals with concomitant renal dysfunction or progressive liver disease were excluded. A single 400 mg dose of pacritinib was administered to all participants. Blood samples were obtained for PK evaluation predose and at multiple time points postdose through 168 h. Key PK parameters evaluated included maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), time to Cmax (Tmax), area under the plasma concentration time curve (AUC) from hour zero to last measurable concentration (AUC0-t), AUC extrapolated to infinity (AUC0-∞), and apparent terminal elimination half-life (t1/2). Following treatment, pacritinib was quantifiable for all study participants at 1 h through 168 h postdose. Systemic pacritinib exposure was similar between healthy volunteers and individuals with mild HI. However, there was a significant difference between those with moderate and severe HI and healthy volunteers with respect to peak concentration (Cmax) and plasma exposure (AUC0-t, AUC0-∞). Mean Cmax decreased by 47% and 57% respectively in participants with moderate and severe HI vs matched healthy volunteers. Similarly, mean AUC0-t decreased by 36% and 45% and mean AUC0-∞ decreased by 46% and 48%, respectively in individuals with moderate and severe HI vs healthy volunteers. Mean t1/2 ranged from 51.5 to 74.9 h across all groups. The variability on exposure ranged from 17.8% to 51.8% across all groups. Systemic exposure of M1 was also significantly decreased in study participants with moderate or severe HI vs. healthy participants and individuals with mild HI. These changes were not significantly dissimilar from the inter-patient variability in these parameters observed in healthy volunteers. All AEs were grade 1-2 in severity. Diarrhea and headache were the only AEs reported in >1 participant (n=4 each). Based on these observations, it is unlikely that dosage adjustments would be warranted in patients with mild, moderate, or severe HI treated with pacritinib.

Keywords: pacritinib, myelofibrosis, hepatic impairment, pharmacokinetics

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Authors: Z. Giagkazoglou, D. Loukovitis, C. Gubili, A. Imsiridou

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Along with the increase in human population, demand for seafood has increased. Despite the strict labeling regulations that exist for most marketed species in the European Union, seafood substitution remains a persistent global issue. Food fraud occurs when food products are traded in a false or misleading way. Mislabeling occurs when one species is substituted and traded under the name of another, and it can be intentional or unintentional. Crustaceans are one of the most regularly consumed seafood in Greece. Shrimps, prawns, lobsters, crayfish, and crabs are considered a delicacy and can be encountered in a variety of market presentations (fresh, frozen, pre-cooked, peeled, etc.). With most of the external traits removed, products as such are susceptible to species substitution. DNA barcoding has proven to be the most accurate method for the detection of fraudulent seafood products. To our best knowledge, the DNA barcoding methodology is used for the first time in Greece, in order to investigate the labeling practices for crustacean products available in the market. A total of 100 tissue samples were collected from various retailers and markets across four Greek cities. In an effort to cover the highest range of products possible, different market presentations were targeted (fresh, frozen and cooked). Genomic DNA was extracted using the DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit, according to the manufacturer's instructions. The mitochondrial gene selected as the target region of the analysis was the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI). PCR products were purified and sequenced using an ABI 3500 Genetic Analyzer. Sequences were manually checked and edited using BioEdit software and compared against the ones available in GenBank and BOLD databases. Statistical analyses were conducted in R and PAST software. For most samples, COI amplification was successful, and species-level identification was possible. The preliminary results estimate moderate mislabeling rates (25%) in the identified samples. Mislabeling was most commonly detected in fresh products, with 50% of the samples in this category labeled incorrectly. Overall, the mislabeling rates detected by our study probably relate to some degree of unintentional misidentification, and lack of knowledge surrounding the legal designations by both retailers and consumers. For some species of crustaceans (i.e. Squila mantis) the mislabeling appears to be also affected by the local labeling practices. Across Greece, S. mantis is sold in the market under two common names, but only one is recognized by the country's legislation, and therefore any mislabeling is probably not profit-motivated. However, the substitution of the speckled shrimp (Metapenaus monoceros) for the distinct, giant river prawn (Macrobranchium rosenbergii), is a clear example of deliberate fraudulent substitution, aiming for profit. To our best knowledge, no scientific study investigating substitution and mislabeling rates in crustaceans has been conducted in Greece. For a better understanding of Greece's seafood market, similar DNA barcoding studies in other regions with increased touristic importance (e.g., the Greek islands) should be conducted. Regardless, the expansion of the list of species-specific designations for crustaceans in the country is advised.

Keywords: COI gene, food fraud, labelling control, molecular identification

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Authors: Eugene Aninagyei-Bonsu

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Introduction: Agriculture has been a cornerstone of human civilization, ensuring food security and livelihoods for billions of people worldwide. In recent decades, rapid advancements in technology have revolutionized the agricultural sector, offering innovative solutions to enhance productivity, sustainability, and efficiency. This abstract summarizes key findings from a research study that explores the impacts of technology in modern agriculture and its implications for future food production systems. Methodologies: The research study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative data analysis with qualitative interviews and surveys to gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of technology in agriculture. Data was collected from various stakeholders, including farmers, agricultural technicians, and industry experts, to capture diverse perspectives on the adoption and utilization of agricultural technologies. The study also utilized case studies and literature reviews to contextualize the findings within the broader agricultural landscape. Major Findings: The research findings reveal that technology plays a pivotal role in transforming traditional farming practices and driving innovation in agriculture. Advanced technologies such as precision agriculture, drone technology, genetic engineering, and smart irrigation systems have significantly improved crop yields, reduced environmental impact, and optimized resource utilization. Farmers who have embraced these technologies have reported increased productivity, enhanced profitability, and improved resilience to environmental challenges. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of accessible and affordable technology solutions for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Mobile applications, sensor technologies, and digital platforms have enabled small-scale farmers to access market information, weather forecasts, and agricultural best practices, empowering them to make informed decisions and improve their livelihoods. The research emphasizes the need for targeted policies and investments to bridge the digital divide and promote equitable technology adoption in agriculture. Conclusion: In conclusion, this research underscores the transformative potential of technology in agriculture and its critical role in advancing sustainable food production systems. The findings suggest that harnessing technology can address key challenges facing the agricultural sector, including climate change, resource scarcity, and food insecurity. By embracing innovation and leveraging technology, farmers can enhance their productivity, profitability, and resilience in a rapidly evolving global food system. Moving forward, policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders must collaborate to facilitate the adoption of appropriate technologies, support capacity building, and promote sustainable agricultural practices for a more resilient and food-secure future.

Keywords: technology development in modern agriculture, the influence of information technology access in agriculture, analyzing agricultural technology development, analyzing of the frontier technology of agriculture loT

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Authors: Vijay Marisetty, Poonam Singh

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Research on the effect of director's network connections on investor welfare is inconclusive. Some studies suggest that directors' connections are beneficial, in terms of, improving earnings information, firms valuation for new investors. On the other hand, adverse effects of directorial networks are also reported, in terms of higher earnings management, options back dating fraud, reduction in firm performance, lower board monitoring. From regulatory perspective, the role of directorial networks on corporate welfare is crucial. Cognizant of the possible ill effects associated with directorial networks, large investors, for better representation on the boards, are building their own database of prospective directors who are highly qualified, however, sourced from outside the highly connected directorial labor market. For instance, following Dodd-Frank Reform Act, California Public Employees' Retirement Systems (CalPERs) has initiated a database for registering aspiring and highly qualified directors to nominate them for board seats (proxy access). Our paper stems from this background and tries to explore the chances of outside directors getting directorships who lack established network connections. The paper is able to identify such aspiring directors' information by accessing a unique Indian data sourced from an online portal that aims to match the supply of registered aspirants with the growing demand for outside directors in India. The online portal's tie-up with stock exchanges ensures firms to access the new pool of directors. Such direct access to the background details of aspiring directors over a period of 10 years, allows us to examine the chances of aspiring directors without corporate network, to enter directorial network. Using this resume data of 16105 aspiring corporate directors in India, who have no prior board experience in the directorial labor market, the paper analyses the entry dynamics in corporate directors' labor market. The database also allows us to investigate the value of corporate network by comparing non-network new entrants with incumbent networked directors. The study develops measures of network centrality and network degree based on merit, i.e. network of individuals belonging to elite educational institutions, like Indian Institute of Management (IIM) or Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and based on job or company, i.e. network of individuals serving in the same company. The paper then measures the impact of these networks on the appointment of first time directors and subsequent appointment of directors. The paper reports the following main results: 1. The likelihood of becoming a corporate director, without corporate network strength, is only 1 out 100 aspirants. This is inspite of comparable educational background and similar duration of corporate experience; 2. Aspiring non-network directors' elite educational ties help them to secure directorships. However, for post-board appointments, their newly acquired corporate network strength overtakes as their main determinant for subsequent board appointments and compensation. The results thus highlight the limitations in increasing board diversity.

Keywords: aspiring corporate directors, board diversity, director labor market, director networks

Procedia PDF Downloads 313