Search results for: data structure

Authors: M. Trousselard, D. Steiler, C. Drogou, P. van-Beers, G. Lamour, S. N. Crosnier, O. Bouilland, P. Dubost, M. Chennaoui, D. Léger

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According to published data, undersea navigation for long periods (nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, SSBN) constitutes an extreme environment in which crews are subjected to multiple stresses, including the absence of natural light, illuminance below 1,000 lux, and watch schedules that do not respect natural chronobiological rhythms, for a period of 60-80 days. These stresses seem clearly detrimental to the submariners’ sleep, with consequences for their affective (seasonal affective disorder-like) and cognitive functioning. In the long term, there are abundant publications regarding the consequences of sleep disruption for the occurrence of organic cardiovascular, metabolic, immunological or malignant diseases. It seems essential to propose countermeasures for the duration of the patrol in order to reduce the negative physiological effects on the sleep and mood of submariners. Light therapy, the preferred treatment for dysfunctions of the internal biological clock and the resulting seasonal depression, cannot be used without data to assist knowledge of submariners’ chronobiology (melatonin secretion curve) during patrols, given the unusual characteristics of their working environment. These data are not available in the literature. The aim of this project was to assess, in the course of two studies, the benefits of two environmental techniques for managing chronobiological stress: techniques for optimizing potential (TOP; study 1)3, an existing programme to help in the psychophysiological regulation of stress and sleep in the armed forces, and dawn and dusk simulators (DDS, study 2). For each experiment, psychological, physiological (sleep) or biological (melatonin secretion) data were collected on D20 and D50 of patrol. In the first experiment, we studied sleep and depressive distress in 19 submariners in an operational setting on board an SSBM during a first patrol, and assessed the impact of TOP on the quality of sleep and depressive distress in these same submariners over the course of a second patrol. The submariners were trained in TOP between the two patrols for a 2-month period, at a rate of 1 h of training per week, and assigned daily informal exercises. Results show moderate disruptions in sleep pattern and duration associated with the intensity of depressive distress. The use of TOP during the following patrol improved sleep and depressive mood only in submariners who regularly practiced the techniques. In light of these limited benefits, we assessed, in a second experiment, the benefits of DDS on chronobiology (daily secretion of melatonin) and depressive distress. Ninety submariners were randomly allocated to two groups, group 1 using DDS daily, and group 2 constituting the control group. Although the placebo effect was not controlled, results showed a beneficial effect on chronobiology and depressive mood for submariners with a morning chronotype. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the difficulty of practicing the tools of psychophysiological management in real life. They raise the question of the subjects’ autonomy with respect to using aids that involve regular practice. It seems important to study autonomy in future studies, as a cognitive resource resulting from the interaction between internal positive resources and “coping” resources, to gain a better understanding of compliance problems.

Keywords: chronobiology, light therapy, seasonal affective disorder, sleep, stress, stress management, submarine

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Authors: Yaofei Jiang, Liangqing Wang, Yanjun Xu

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In recent years, geological explorations have been carried out on the Rumei hydropower station, China. After preliminary analysis of results, the mainly problem of slope in reservoir area is about the stability of accumulation body. It is found that there are 23 accumulations in various sizes in the reservoir area, and most of them are unfavorable geological bodies. Three typical (No. 1, 7, 17) accumulation body slopes were selected as subjects to investigate the stability of the slopes. Take No. 1 accumulation body slope as an example and basic geological condition investigation and formation mechanism analysis were carried out to study the stability and geological analysis of engineering influence of the slope. The accumulation body in the research area distributes along the river with natural slope of 32° ~ 37° which is the natural angle of repose of gravel. The formation mechanism is analyzed based on the composition and structure of the accumulation body. The middle and lower part of the body is dense full of gravel soil mixed with a small amount of sand gravel which is stable. In the upper part, gravel soil is interbedded with bad cemented gravel which as a weak surface is not conducive to slope stability. Under the natural condition before storing water, the underground water level is deep buried, mainly distributed in the bedrock, and the surface and groundwater discharge conditions of the accumulation body are good, which is beneficial to the stability of slope. The safety coefficient calculated by the limit equilibrium method is 1.14, which indicates the slope is basically stable. However, the safety coefficient drops to 1.02 when the normal storage level is 2895m, which is in a dangerous state. The accumulation body will be destabilized by a small-area instability to large-scale or overall instability.

Keywords: accumulation body slope, stability evaluation, geological engineering investigation, effect of storing water

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Authors: Tathagatha Khan, Smruti Sourava Mohapatra

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Median openings are provided in raised median of multilane roads to facilitate U-turn movement. The U-turn movement is a highly complex and risky maneuver because U-turning vehicle (minor stream) makes 180° turns at median openings and merge with the approaching through traffic (major stream). A U-turning vehicle requires a suitable gap in the major stream to merge, and during this process, the possibility of merging conflict develops. Therefore, these median openings are potential hot spot of conflict and posses concern pertaining to safety. The traffic at the median openings could be managed efficiently with enhanced safety when the capacity of a traffic facility has been estimated correctly. The capacity of U-turns at median openings is estimated by Harder’s formula, which requires three basic parameters namely critical gap, follow up time and conflict flow rate. The estimation of conflicting flow rate under mixed traffic condition is very much complicated due to absence of lane discipline and discourteous behavior of the drivers. The understanding of placement of major stream vehicles at median opening is very much important for the estimation of conflicting traffic faced by U-turning movement. The placement data of major stream vehicles at different section in 4-lane and 6-lane divided multilane roads were collected. All the test sections were free from the effect of intersection, bus stop, parked vehicles, curvature, pedestrian movements or any other side friction. For the purpose of analysis, all the vehicles were divided into 6 categories such as motorized 2W, autorickshaw (3-W), small car, big car, light commercial vehicle, and heavy vehicle. For the collection of placement data of major stream vehicles, the entire road width was divided into sections of 25 cm each and these were numbered seriatim from the pavement edge (curbside) to the end of the road. The placement major stream vehicle crossing the reference line was recorded by video graphic technique on various weekdays. The collected data for individual category of vehicles at all the test sections were converted into a frequency table with a class interval of 25 cm each and the placement frequency curve. Separate distribution fittings were tried for 4- lane and 6-lane divided roads. The variation of major stream traffic volume on the placement characteristics of major stream vehicles has also been explored. The findings of this study will be helpful to determine the conflict volume at the median openings. So, the present work holds significance in traffic planning, operation and design to alleviate the bottleneck, prospect of collision and delay at median opening in general and at median opening in developing countries in particular.

Keywords: median opening, U-turn, conflicting traffic, placement, mixed traffic

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Authors: Sadaf Ambreen, Ayesha Bibi, Sara Rafiq

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Hypertension is a medical condition in which blood pressure in the arteries is elevated than the normal, having systolic blood pressure more than 120mmHg and diastolic blood pressure more than 80 mmHg. It leads to health complications and increase the risk of diseases such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack, and even death. The aim of the current study was to evaluate nutritional status and activity level among hypertensive early adults in District Mardan Data was collected from the subjects of Public Hospital, Mardan Medical Complex, through questionnaire. A complete information about individual sociodemographic, anthropometry and health status were collected, and physical activity was assessed by using IPAQ questionnaire. A total of 150 individuals were included in the study, in which 90% were females, and 10% were males. Data was analyzed through SPSS Version 22. Majority of the study subjects, 88%, were married, 70% having nuclear living system, 43% were having elementary education, and 43% were working as laborer. Body mass index and waist circumference in female counterpart were found to be positively associated with hypertension and was found statistically significant P=<0.01. Results showed that majority of females were fall in hypertension crisis category with mild activity, and males were having hypertension stage 1 with moderate activity. Our study concluded that non-optimal nutritional status and physical inactivity resulted in elevated blood pressure in females, therefore, lifestyle change such as optimal nutritional status and physical activity may play key role in reducing risk of hypertension.

Keywords: obesity/overwight, body mass index, waist circumference, early adulthood

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Authors: Vandenbroucke Karel, Georges Annabel, Schuurman Dimitri

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In the past years, bundling of transport flows, whether or not implemented in an intermodal process, has popped up as a promising concept in the logistics sector. Bundling of transport flows is a process where two or more shippers decide to synergize their shipped goods over a common transport lane. Promoted by the European Commission, several programs have been set up and have shown their benefits. Bundling promises both shippers and logistics service providers economic, societal and ecological benefits. By bundling transport flows and thus reducing truck (or other carrier) capacity, the problems of driver shortage, increased fuel prices, mileage charges and restricted hours of service on the road are solved. In theory, the advantages of bundled transport exceed the drawbacks, however, in practice adoption among shippers remains low. In fact, bundling is mentioned as a disruptive process in the rather traditional logistics sector. In this context, a Belgian company asked iMinds Living Labs to set up a Living Lab research project with the goal to investigate how the uptake of bundling transport flows can be accelerated and to check whether an online data sharing platform can overcome the adoption barriers. The Living Lab research was conducted in 2016 and combined quantitative and qualitative end-user and market research. Concretely, extensive desk research was conducted and combined with insights from expert interviews with four consultants active in the Belgian logistics sector and in-depth interviews with logistics professionals working for shippers (N=10) and LSP’s (N=3). In the article, we present findings which show that there are several factors slowing down the uptake of bundling transport flows. Shippers are hesitant to change how they currently work and they are hesitant to work together with other shippers. Moreover, several practical challenges impede shippers to work together. We also present some opportunities that can accelerate the adoption of bundling of transport flows. First, it seems that there is not enough support coming from governmental and commercial organizations. Secondly, there is the chicken and the egg problem: too few interested parties will lead to no or very few matching lanes. Shippers are therefore reluctant to partake in these projects because the benefits have not yet been proven. Thirdly, the incentive is not big enough for shippers. Road transport organized by the shipper individually is still seen as the easiest and cheapest solution. A solution for the abovementioned challenges might be found in the online data sharing platform of the Belgian company. The added value of this platform is showing shippers possible matching lanes, without the shippers having to invest time in negotiating and networking with other shippers and running the risk of not finding a match. The interviewed shippers and experts indicated that the online data sharing platform is a very promising concept which could accelerate the uptake of bundling of transport flows.

Keywords: adoption barriers, bundling of transport, shippers, transport optimization

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Authors: Kyoko Tominaga

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Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs), Social Enterprises and other actors play an important role in political decisions in governments at the international levels. Especially, such organizations’ and activists’ network in civil society is quite important to effect to the global politics. To solve the complex social problems in global era, diverse actors should corporate each other. Moreover, network of protesters is also contributes to diffuse tactics, information and other resources of social movements. Based on the findings from the study of International Trade Fairs (ITFs), the author analyzes the network of activists in anti-globalism movement. This research focuses the transition of 54 activists’ whole network in the “protest event” against 2008 G8 summit in Japan. Their network is examined at the three periods: Before protest event phase, during protest event phase and after event phase. A mixed method is used in this study: the author shows the hypothesis from social network analysis and evaluates that with interview data analysis. This analysis gives the two results. Firstly, the more protesters participate to the various events during the protest event, the more they build the network. After that, active protesters keep their network as well. From interview data, we can understand that the active protesters can build their network and diffuse the information because they communicate with other participants and understand that diverse issues are related. This paper comes to same conclusion with previous researches: protest events activate the network among the political activists. However, some participants succeed to build their network, others do not. “Networked” activists are participated in the various events for short period of time and encourage the diffusion of information and tactics of social movements.

Keywords: social movement, global justice movement, tactics, diffusion

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Authors: Senait Belay Adugna, Mirutse Giday, Tsegahun Manyazewal

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Background: The emergence and resurgence of zoonotic diseases have continued to be a major threat to global health and the economy. Developing countries are particularly vulnerable due to agricultural expansions and the domestication of animals by humans. Scientifically sound clinical trials are important to find better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat zoonotic diseases, while there is a lack of evidence to inform the clinical trials’ capacity and practice in countries highly affected by the diseases. This study aimed to investigate researchers’ perceptions and experiences in conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia. Methods: This study employed a descriptive, qualitative study design. It included major academic and research institutions in Ethiopia that had active engagements in veterinary and public health research. It included the National Veterinary Institute, the National Animal Health Diagnostic and Investigation Center, the College of Veterinary Medicine at Addis Ababa University, the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, the Armauer Hansen Research Institute, and the College of Health Sciences at Addis Ababa University. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 senior researcher investigators in the institutions who hold a proven exhibit primarily leading research activities or research units. Data were collected from October 2019 to April 2020. Data analysis was undertaken using open code 4.03 for qualitative data analysis. Results: Five major themes, with 18 sub-themes, emerged from the in-depth interview in connection. These were: challenges in the prevention, control, and treatment of zoonotic diseases; One Health approach to mitigate zoonotic diseases; personal and institutional experiences in conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases; barriers in conducting clinical trials towards zoonotic diseases; and strategies that promote conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases. Conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia is hampered by a lack of clearly articulated ethics and regulatory frameworks, trial experts, financial resources, and good governance. Conclusions: In Ethiopia, conducting clinical trials on zoonotic diseases deserves due attention. Strengthening institutional and human resources capacity is a precondition to harnessing effective implementation of clinical trials on zoonotic diseases in the country. In Ethiopia, where skilled human resource is scarce, the One Health approach has the potential to form multidisciplinary teams to systematically improve clinical trials capacity and outcomes in the country.

Keywords: Ethiopia, clinical triak, zoonoses, disease

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Authors: Lina F. Ballesteros, Hafsae Lamsaf, Miguel A. Cerqueira, Lorenzo M. Pastrana, Sandra Carvalho, Jose A. Teixeira, S. Calderon V.

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The use of bio-based packaging materials containing metallic and bimetallic nanostructures is relatively modern technology. In this sense, the food packaging industry has been investigating biological and renewable resources that can replace petroleum-based materials to reduce the environmental impact and, at the same time, including new functionalities using nanotechnology. Therefore, the main objective of the present work consisted of developing bio-based poly-lactic acid (PLA) films with Zinc (Zn) and Zinc-Iron (Zn-Fe) nanostructures deposited by magnetron sputtering. The structural, antimicrobial, and optical properties of the films were evaluated when exposed at 60% and 96% relative humidity (RH). The morphology and elemental analysis of the samples were determined by scanning (transmission) electron microscopy (SEM and STEM), and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The structure of the PLA was monitored before and after deposition by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, and the antimicrobial and color assays were performed by using the zone of inhibition (ZOI) test and a Minolta colorimeter, respectively. Finally, the films were correlated in terms of the deposit conditions, Zn or Zn-Fe concentrations, and thickness. The results revealed PLA films with different morphologies, compositions, and thicknesses of Zn or Zn-Fe nanostructures. The samples showed a significant antibacterial and antifungal activity against E. coli, P. aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, S. aureus, and A. niger, and considerable changes of color and opacity at 96% RH, especially for the thinner nanostructures (150-250 nm). On the other hand, when the Fe fraction was increased, the lightness of samples increased, as well as their antimicrobial activity when compared to the films with pure Zn. Hence, these findings are relevant to the food packaging field since intelligent and active films with multiple properties can be developed.

Keywords: biopolymers, functional properties, magnetron sputtering, Zn and Zn-Fe nanostructures

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Authors: R. M. Kashim

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The study investigated primary school teachers’ conceptual and procedural knowledge of rational numbers and its effects on pupil’s achievement in rational numbers. Specifically, primary school teachers’ level of conceptual knowledge about rational numbers, primary school teachers’ level of procedural knowledge about rational numbers, and the effects of teachers conceptual and procedural knowledge on their pupils understanding of rational numbers in primary schools is investigated. The study was carried out in Bauchi metropolis in the Bauchi state of Nigeria. The design of the study was a multi-stage design. The first stage was a descriptive design. The second stage involves a pre-test, post-test only quasi-experimental design. Two instruments were used for the data collection in the study. These were Conceptual and Procedural knowledge test (CPKT) and Rational number achievement test (RAT), the population of the study comprises of three (3) mathematics teachers’ holders of Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) teaching primary six and 210 pupils in their intact classes were used for the study. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance and t- test. The findings indicated that the pupils taught rational number by a teacher that has high conceptual and procedural knowledge understand and perform better than the pupil taught by a teacher who has low conceptual and procedural knowledge of rational number. It is, therefore, recommended that teachers in primary schools should be encouraged to enrich their conceptual knowledge of rational numbers. Also, the superiority performance of teachers in procedural knowledge in rational number should not become an obstruction of understanding. Teachers Conceptual and procedural knowledge of rational numbers should be balanced so that primary school pupils will have a view of better teaching and learning of rational number in our contemporary schools.

Keywords: conceptual, procedural knowledge, rational number, pupils

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Authors: Ainur Mukhambetova, Miras Karzhauov, Vyacheslav Ogay

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Introduction: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the capacity to be differentiated into several cell lineages and are a promising source for cell therapy and tissue engineering. However, currently most MSCs culturing protocols use media supplemented with fetal bovine serum (FBS), which limits their application in clinic due to the possibility of zoonotic infections, contamination and immunological reactions. Consequently, formulating effective serum free culture medium becomes one of the important problems in contemporary cell biotechnology. Objectives: The aim of this study was to define an optimal serum-free medium for culturing of periosteum derived MSCs. Materials and methods: The MSCs were extracted from human periosteum and transferred to the culture flasks pretreated with CELLstart™. Immunophenotypic characterization, proliferation and in vitro differentiation of cells grown on STEM PRO® MSC SFM were compared to the cells cultured in the standard FBS containing media. Chromosome analysis and flow cytometry were also performed. Results: We have shown that cells were grown on STEM PRO® MSC SFM retained all the morphological, immunophenotypic (CD73, CD90, CD105, vimentin and Stro-1) and cell differentiation characteristics specific to MSCs. Chromosome analysis indicated no anomalies in the chromosome structure. Flow cytometry showed a high expression of cell adhesion molecules CD44 (98,8%), CD90 (97,4%), CD105 (99,1%). In addition, we have shown that cell is grown on STEM PRO® MSC SFM have higher proliferation capacity compared to cell expanded on standard FBS containing the medium. Conclusion: We have shown that STEM PRO® MSC SFM is optimal for culturing periosteum derived human MSCs which subsequently can be safely used in cell therapy.

Keywords: cell technologies, periosteum-derived MSCs, regenerative medicine, serum-free medium

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Authors: Ram Sharan Mehta, Dina Khanal, Pushpa Parajuli, Gayanand Mandal, Bijaya Bartuala

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Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Adequate awareness of risk factors of CVD is the first step towards effective preventive strategies to combat the CVD burden in diabetes patients.This study aims to assess the awareness on risk factors of CVD among patients with diabetes mellitus attending diabetic clinic of BPKIHS and to find the association between awareness with their selected socio demographic variables. Methods and Material: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 112 patients with diabetes in diabetic clinic of BPKIHS. Convenient sampling technique was used for data collection over duration of one month using interview schedule by HDFQ II tool. Data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. (Chi square). Results: The mean age of respondents was 55.4±12.13 years. That mean HDFQ score was 14.31± 5.08. Only 33% of the respondents had adequate level of awareness whereas majority of the respondents (67%) had inadequate level of awareness. Majority of the respondent (83.9%) were aware about smoking, (78.6%) physical activity, (75%) increasing age, (75.9%) high blood pressure, (71.4%) overweight respectively. Whereas most of the respondents were not aware of high cholesterol, fatty diet, preventive strategies and association of diabetes with CVD. Awareness was statistically significant with (p=0.043) educational status, (p=0.025) monthly income, (p=0.05) residence, (p=0.006) CVD information received and (p=0.022) co morbid condition as a heart disease. Conclusion: The findings of this study concluded most of the respondents had an inadequate level of awareness on risk factors of CVD. So Effective education and appropriate preventive strategies of CVD are indeed important to reduce CVD burden in diabetes patients.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease, awareness, diabetes patients, risk

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Authors: Sreejani Barua, P. P. Srivastav

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Formulation of new functional food products for diabetes patients and obsessed people is a challenge for food industries till date. Starch is a certainly happening, ecological, reasonable and profusely obtainable polysaccharide in plant material. In the present scenario, there is a great interest in modifying starch functional properties without destroying its granular structure using different modification techniques. Resistant starch (RS) contains almost zero calories and can control blood glucose level to prevent diabetes. The current study focused on modification of mung bean starch which is a good source of legumes carbohydrate for the production of functional food. Heat moisture treatment (HMT) of mung starch was conducted at moisture content of 10-30%, temperature of 80-120 °C and time of 8-24 h.The content of resistant starch after modification was significantly increased from native starches containing RS 7.6%. The design combinations of HMT had been completed through Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD). The effects of HMT process variables on the yield of resistant starch was studied through Rapid Surface Methodology (RSM). The highest increase of resistant starch was found up to 34.39% when treated the native starch with 30% m.c at 120 °C temperature for 24 h.The functional properties of both native and modified mung bean starches showed that there was a reduction in the swelling power and swelling volume of HMT starches. However, the solubility of the HMT starches was higher than that of untreated native starch and also observed change in structural (scanning electron microscopy), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, blue value and thermal (differential scanning calorimetry) properties. Therefore, replacing native mung bean starch with heat-moisture treated mung bean starch leads to the development of new products with higher resistant starch levels and functional properties.

Keywords: Mung bean starch, heat moisture treatment, functional properties, resistant starch

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Authors: Murat Arıbaş, Uğur Özcan

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Due to the increasing number of universities and academics, the fund of the universities for research activities and grants/supports given by government institutions have increased number and quality of academic research projects. Although every academic research project has a specific purpose and importance, limited resources (money, time, manpower etc.) require choosing the best ones from all (Amiri, 2010). It is a pretty hard process to compare and determine which project is better such that the projects serve different purposes. In addition, the evaluation process has become complicated since there are more than one evaluator and multiple criteria for the evaluation (Dodangeh, Mojahed and Yusuff, 2009). Mehrez and Sinuany-Stern (1983) determined project selection problem as a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem. If a decision problem involves multiple criteria and objectives, it is called as a Multi Attribute Decision Making problem (Ömürbek & Kınay, 2013). There are many MCDM methods in the literature for the solution of such problems. These methods are AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), ANP (Analytic Network Process), TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation), UTADIS (Utilities Additives Discriminantes), ELECTRE (Elimination et Choix Traduisant la Realite), MAUT (Multiattribute Utility Theory), GRA (Grey Relational Analysis) etc. Teach method has some advantages compared with others (Ömürbek, Blacksmith & Akalın, 2013). Hence, to decide which MCDM method will be used for solution of the problem, factors like the nature of the problem, types of choices, measurement scales, type of uncertainty, dependency among the attributes, expectations of decision maker, and quantity and quality of the data should be considered (Tavana & Hatami-Marbini, 2011). By this study, it is aimed to develop a systematic decision process for the grant support applications that are expected to be evaluated according to their scientific adequacy by multiple evaluators under certain criteria. In this context, project evaluation process applied by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) the leading institutions in our country, was investigated. Firstly in the study, criteria that will be used on the project evaluation were decided. The main criteria were selected among TÜBİTAK evaluation criteria. These criteria were originality of project, methodology, project management/team and research opportunities and extensive impact of project. Moreover, for each main criteria, 2-4 sub criteria were defined, hence it was decided to evaluate projects over 13 sub-criterion in total. Due to superiority of determination criteria weights AHP method and provided opportunity ranking great number of alternatives TOPSIS method, they are used together. AHP method, developed by Saaty (1977), is based on selection by pairwise comparisons. Because of its simple structure and being easy to understand, AHP is the very popular method in the literature for determining criteria weights in MCDM problems. Besides, the TOPSIS method developed by Hwang and Yoon (1981) as a MCDM technique is an alternative to ELECTRE method and it is used in many areas. In the method, distance from each decision point to ideal and to negative ideal solution point was calculated by using Euclidian Distance Approach. In the study, main criteria and sub-criteria were compared on their own merits by using questionnaires that were developed based on an importance scale by four relative groups of people (i.e. TUBITAK specialists, TUBITAK managers, academics and individuals from business world ) After these pairwise comparisons, weight of the each main criteria and sub-criteria were calculated by using AHP method. Then these calculated criteria’ weights used as an input in TOPSİS method, a sample consisting 200 projects were ranked on their own merits. This new system supported to opportunity to get views of the people that take part of project process including preparation, evaluation and implementation on the evaluation of academic research projects. Moreover, instead of using four main criteria in equal weight to evaluate projects, by using weighted 13 sub-criteria and decision point’s distance from the ideal solution, systematic decision making process was developed. By this evaluation process, new approach was created to determine importance of academic research projects.

Keywords: Academic projects, Ahp method, Research projects evaluation, Topsis method.

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Authors: Joel S. Akintayo, Ramat T. Salman

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The stakeholders’ pressure on corporate managers to maintain firm’s profitability has created economic incentives for management to engage in earnings management practices. Therefore, this study examines the effects of audit quality and corporate governance on earnings management of quoted deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria. This study specifically investigates the influence of audit tenure, audit fee, board independence, and board size on earnings management of DMBs. Explanatory research design was employed in carrying out the study while secondary data were sourced from the annual reports and accounts of all the 15 quoted DMBs in Nigerian Stock Exchange as at December 31, 2015 for a period of 10 years covering from 2006 to 2015. The data obtained for the study were analyzed using panel regression analysis approach. The findings reveal that board independence has a negative significant effect on earnings management at a 5% level of significance (p=0.002), while audit fee has a positive significant effect on earnings management at a 5% level of significance (p=0.013) and audit tenure has a negative significant effect on earnings management of DMBs at a 5% level of significance (p=0.003). Surprisingly, board size was statistically not significant at a 5% level of significance (p=0.086). The study concludes that high audit quality and sound corporate governance could improve the earnings quality of DMBs. Hence, the study recommends that the authorities saddled with the responsibility of banking supervision in Nigeria such the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CBN to advise the National Assembly in Nigeria to pass into law the three years professional requirement for audit tenure.

Keywords: audit quality, audit tenure, audit fee, board independence, corporate governance, earnings management

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Authors: Nsenga Bakinahe

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Background: Adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) globally and, particularly in Rwanda, face significant challenges related to HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). Rwanda has a young population, with 65.3% below 30 years of age, demonstrating a need for SRH promotion and HIV prevention for this population. We aimed to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services among AGYW in Rwanda. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 384 AGYW aged 15-24 years who had ever been pregnant and currently reside in Nyagatare district, Eastern Rwanda from January to April 2023. A questionnaire was developed to collect data, participants were randomly selected and data were collected by one-on-one interviews and were analyzed using SPSS V21. The statistical relationship between variables was significant at P-Value of 0.05 and 95% confidence interval. Results: The majority (97.9%) of respondents demonstrated a good level of knowledge, (52.2%) of the respondents had positive attitudes towards integrated HIV prevention and SRH services. Looking at the practice of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services use, 51.4% of respondents have a low level of practice. The practice of integrated HIV prevention and SRH services was significantly associated with school drop-out and family status (P>0.05). Conclusion: The findings from these studies collectively emphasize the need for comprehensive education, targeted interventions, and community-based support to achieve better health outcomes regarding HIV prevention and overall sexual and reproductive health among adolescent girls and young women. Empowering adolescent girls and young women with accurate information and comprehensive support will enable them to make informed decisions, protect their health effectively, and contribute to reducing the burden of HIV and improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

Keywords: integrated HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health services, among adolescentes girls, and young women

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Authors: Rajai Al-Rousan

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The repair and strengthening of concrete structures is a big challenge for the concrete industry for both engineers and contractors. Due to increasing economical constraints, the current trend is to repair/upgrade deteriorated and functionally obsolete structures rather than replacing them with new structures. CFRP has been used previously by air space industries regardless of the high costs. The decrease in the costs of the composite materials, as results of the technology improvement, has made CFRP an alternative to conventional materials for many applications. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams externally strengthened with CFRP composites exposed for three years for the following conditions: (a) room temperature, (b) cyclic ponding in 15% salt-water solution, (c) hot-water of 65oC, and (d) rapid freeze/thaw cycles. Results indicated that the after three years of various environmental conditions, the bond strength between the concrete beams and CFRP sheets was not affected. No signs of separation or debonding of CFRP sheets were observed before testing. Also, externally strengthening RC beams with CFRP sheets leads to a substantial increase in the ductility of concrete structures. This is a result of forcing the concrete to undergo inelastic deformation, resulting in compression failure of the structure after yielding of steel reinforcement. In addition, exposure to heat water tank for three years reduces the ultimate load by about 11%. This 11% reduction in the ultimate load equates to about 53%, 46% and 68% loss of the gain of the strength attributed to the CFRP of 2/3 Layer, 1 Layers and 2 Layers CFRP Sheets respectively. This mean that with decreasing of number of layers the environmental exposure had an efficient effect on concrete by protection concrete from environmental effect and adverse effect on the bond performance.

Keywords: flexural, behavior, CFRP, composites, environment, conditions

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Authors: Hirokatsu Kawashima

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One important element of teaching/learning listening is intensive listening such as listening for precise sounds, words, grammatical, and semantic units. Several classroom-based investigations have been conducted to explore the usefulness of auditory recognition of phonological, grammatical and semantic errors in such a context. The current study reports the results of one such investigation, which targeted auditory recognition of phonological, grammatical, and semantic errors at the sentence level. 56 Japanese EFL learners participated in this investigation, in which their recognition performance of phonological, grammatical and semantic errors was measured on a 9-point scale by learners’ self-evaluation from the perspective of 1) two types of similar English sound (vowel and consonant minimal pair words), 2) two types of sentence word order (verb phrase-based and noun phrase-based word orders), and 3) two types of semantic consistency (verb-purpose and verb-place agreements), respectively, and their general listening proficiency was examined using standardized tests. A number of findings have been made about the interactive relationships between the three types of auditory error recognition and general listening proficiency. Analyses based on the OPLS (Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structure) regression model have disclosed, for example, that the three types of auditory error recognition are linked in a non-linear way: the highest explanatory power for general listening proficiency may be attained when quadratic interactions between auditory recognition of errors related to vowel minimal pair words and that of errors related to noun phrase-based word order are embraced (R2=.33, p=.01).

Keywords: auditory error recognition, intensive listening, interaction, investigation

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Authors: Sajjad Seifi Mofarah, S. K. Sadrnezhaad, Shokooh Moghadam, Javad Tavakoli

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In recent years a new method of combination treatment for cancer has been developed and studied that has led to significant advancements in the field of cancer therapy. Hyperthermia is a traditional therapy that, along with a creation of a medically approved level of heat with the help of an alternating magnetic AC current, results in the destruction of cancer cells by heat. This paper gives details regarding the production of the spherical nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 in order to be used for medical purposes such as tumor treatment by hyperthermia. To reach a suitable and evenly distributed temperature, the nanocomposite with core-shell morphology and spherical form within a 100 to 200 nanometer size was created using phase separation emulsion, in which the magnetic nano-particles γ-Fe2O3 with an average particle size of 20 nano-meters and with different percentages of 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 were covered by polyvinyl alcohol. The main concern in hyperthermia and heat treatment is achieving desirable specific absorption rate (SAR) and one of the most critical factors in SAR is particle size. In this project all attempts has been done to reach minimal size and consequently maximum SAR. The morphological analysis of the spherical structure of the nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 was achieved by SEM analyses and the study of the chemical bonds created was made possible by FTIR analysis. To investigate the manner of magnetic nanocomposite particle size distribution a DLS experiment was conducted. Moreover, to determine the magnetic behavior of the γ-Fe2O3 particle and the nanocomposite PVA/γ-Fe2O3 in different concentrations a VSM test was conducted. To sum up, creating magnetic nanocomposites with a spherical morphology that would be employed for drug loading opens doors to new approaches in developing nanocomposites that provide efficient heat and a controlled release of drug simultaneously inside the magnetic field, which are among their positive characteristics that could significantly improve the recovery process in patients.

Keywords: nanocomposite, hyperthermia, cancer therapy, drug releasing

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Authors: Ernest Nweke

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The work of Professional Accountants and Corporate governance are synonymous and cannot be divorced from each other. Organizations, profit and non-profit alike cannot implement sound corporate practices without inputs from Professional Accountants. In today’s dynamic corporate world, good corporate governance practice is a sine qua non. More so, following the corporate failures of the past decades like Enron and WorldCom, governments around the world, including Mongolia are becoming more proactive in ensuring sound corporate governance mechanisms. In the past fifteen years, the Mongolian government has taken several measures to establish and strengthen internal corporate governance structures in firms. This paper highlights the role of professional accountants and auditors play in ensuring that good corporate governance mechanisms are entrenched in listed companies in Mongolia. Both primary and secondary data are utilized in this research. In collection of primary data, Delphi method was used, securing responses from only knowledgeable senior employees, top managers, and some CEOs. Using this method, a total of 107 top-level company employees and executives randomly selected from 22 companies were surveyed; maximum of 5 and minimum of 4 from each company. These companies cut across several sectors. It was concluded that Professional Accountants play key roles in setting and maintaining firm governance. They do this by ensuring full compliance with all the requirements of good and sound corporate governance, establishing reporting, monitoring and evaluating standards, assisting in the setting up of proper controls, efficient and effective audit systems, sound fraud risk management and putting in place an overall vision for the enterprise. Companies with effective corporate governance mechanisms are usually strong and fraud-resilient. It was also discovered that companies with big 4 audit firms tend to have better governance structures in Mongolia.

Keywords: accountants, corporate disclosure, corporate failure, corporate governance

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Authors: Otgonjargal Damdinbaljir

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Background: Infant feeding practices have a major role in determining the nutritional status of children and are associated with household socioeconomic and demographic factors. In 2010, Mongolia used WHO 2008 edition of Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices for the first time. Objective: To evaluate the feeding status of infants and young children under 2 years old in Mongolia. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted by cluster random sampling. The data on breastfeeding and complementary food supplement of the 350 infants and young children aged 0-23 months in 21 provinces of the 4 economic regions of the country and capital Ulaanbaatar city were collected through questionnaires. The feeding status was analyzed according to the WHO 2008 edition of Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices. Analysis of data: Survey data was analysed using the PASW statistics 18.0 and EPI INFO 2000 software. For calculation of overall measures for the entire survey sample, analyses were stratified by region. Age-specific feeding patterns were described using frequencies, proportions and survival analysis. Logistic regression was done with feeding practice as dependent and socio demographic factors as independent variables. Simple proportions were calculated for each IYCF indicator. The differences in the feeding practices between sexes and age-groups, if any, were noted using chi-square test. Ethics: The Ethics Committee under the auspices of the Ministry of Health approved the study. Results: A total of 350 children aged 0-23 months were investigated. The rate of ever breastfeeding of children aged 0-23 months reached up to 98.2%, while the percentage of early initiation of breastfeeding was only 85.5%. The rates of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, continued breastfeeding for 1 year, and continued breastfeeding for 2 years were 71.3%, 74% and 54.6%, respectively. The median time of giving complementary food was the 6th month and the weaning time was the 9th month. The rate of complementary food supplemented from 6th-8th month in time was 80.3%. The rates of minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency, and consumption of iron-rich or iron-fortified foods among children aged 6-23 months were 52.1%, 80.8% (663/813) and 30.1%, respectively. Conclusions: The main problems revealed from the study were inadequate category and frequency of complementary food, and the low rate of consumption of iron-rich or iron-fortified foods were the main issues to be concerned on infant feeding in Mongolia. Our findings have highlighted the need to encourage mothers to enrich their traditional wheat- based complementary foods add more animal source foods and vegetables.

Keywords: complementary feeding, early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, minimum meal frequency

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Authors: Malihe Moeinin, Robert Hill, Ferranti Wong

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Background: A white spot lesion (WSL) is defined as subsurface enamel porosity from carious demineralisation on the smooth surfaces of the tooth. It appears as a milky white opacity. Lesions shown an apparently intact surface layer, followed underneath by the more porous lesion body. The small pores within the body of the lesion act as diffusion pathway for both acids and minerals, so allowing the demineralisation of enamel to occur at the advancing front of the lesion. Objectives: The objective is to mapthe porosity and its size on WSL with Focused Ion Bean- Scanning Electron Microscopy (FIB-SEM) Method: The basic method used for FIB-SEM consisted of depositing a one micron thick layer of platinum over 25μmx 25μm of the interest region of enamel. Then, making a rough cut (25μmx 5μmx 20μm) with 3nA current and 30Kv was applied with the help of drift suppression (DS), using a standard “cross-sectional” cutting pattern, which ended at the front of the deposited platinum layer. Two adjacent areas (25μmx 5μmx 20μm) on the both sides of the platinum layer were milled under the same conditions. Subsequent, cleaning cross-sections were applied to polish the sub-surface edge of interest running perpendicular to the surface. The "slice and view" was carried out overnight for milling almost 700 slices with 2Kv and 4nA and taking backscattered (BS) images. Then, images were imported into imageJ and analysed. Results: The prism structure is clearly apparent on FIB-SEM slices of WSL with the dissolution of prism boundaries as well as internal porosity within the prism itself. Porosity scales roughly 100-400nm, which is comparable to the light wavelength (500nm). Conclusion: FIB-SEM is useful to characterize the porosity of WSL and it clearly shows the difference between WSL and normal enamel.

Keywords: white spot lesion, FIB-SEM, enamel porosity, porosity

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Authors: Tassana Boontong, Vilaivan Thongcharoen, Orapan Thosingha, Suphamon Chansakul, Anorut Jenwitheesuk, Chanin Chakkrapopyodhin, Isara Phiwchai, Mattika Chaichan, Rungnapha Khiewchaum

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According to Thailand health policy, subdistrict health promoting hospitals (SHPHs) serve as forefront facilities for inclusive health care service. Those services include health promotion, disease prevention, primary medical care and rehabilitation. However, SHPHs residing in some distant area, such as SHPHs residing on the islands, would deliver different services relevant to health needs of the local people and the tourists. This research aimed to study health care delivery services at SHPHs on the islands in Thailand. Data were collected using questionnaires. The result revealed that in Thailand, there are 58 SHPHs on the islands. During data collection process, the researchers were not allowed to collect data in 5 SHPHs in the southern part due to Covid-19 pandemic. The report is based on 53 SHPHs on the islands. Numbers of health care personnel were 201, 72.14 % were female, with the ages ranged from 22 to 60 years (mean = 35.56 years). About 53% were community health personnel, while 26.08% were professional nurses. In regard to work experiences, the range of year varied from less than 1 year to 30 years, with the mean of 8.36 years. The majority of their responsibilities focused on providing primary medical care (86.34%), caring of people with chronic illnesses (85.30%) and providing medical care procedures for patients with chronic illnesses at home (84.36%). Nurses were main health care personnel in performing primary medical care. Due to difficulty transportation from the islands to the mainland, nurses had to provide prompt emergency medical care while the patients arrived with emergency and critical illnesses such as severe head trauma, stroke or coronary artery disease. Although some medical procedures were complex and not covered by nursing and midwifery license, they decided to protect patients from life- threatening conditions and make them stable before transportation. In SHPHs, the workload exceeded manpower, health care personnel had to work overtime almost every day. In the famous tourist islands, health care personnel had to carry 3-4 folds of their workload during the holidays because of the large crowds of foreign and Thai tourists. It is recommended that SHPHs on the islands should scale up the level of services to cover advanced medical care. Health care personnel, in particular, professional nurses, should be equipped with emergency and critical care skills. The expected outcomes of the services should emphasize on rescuing patients with emergency and life-threatening illnesses and providing comprehensive care for people living on or visiting the islands.

Keywords: distant area, islands, sub district health promoting hospital, heath care services, Thailand

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Authors: Zatil Athaillah, Anastasia Devi, Dian Muzdalifah, Wirasuwasti Nugrahani, Linar Udin

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During tempe fermentation, some chemical changes occurred and they contributed to sensory, appearance, and health benefits of soybeans. Many studies on health properties of tempe have specialized on their isoflavones. In this study, other components of tempe, particularly water soluble chemicals, was investigated for their biofunctionality. The study was focused on the ability to suppress MCF-7 breast cancer cell growth and antioxidant activity, as expressed by DPPH radical scavenging activity, total phenols and total flavonoids, of the water extracts. Fermentation time of tempe was extended up to 120 hr to increase the possibility to find the functional components. Extraction yield and soluble nitrogen content were also quantified as accompanying data. Our findings suggested that yield of water extraction of tempe increased as fermentation was extended up to 120 hr, except for a slight decrease at 72 hr. Water extracts of tempe showed inhibition of MCF-7 breast cancer cell growth, as shown by lower IC50 values when compared to control (unfermented soybeans). Among the varied fermentation timescales, 60-hr period showed the highest activity (IC50 of 8.7 ± 4.95 µg/ml). The anticancer activity of extracts obtained from different fermentation time was positively correlated with total soluble nitrogens, but less relevant with antioxidant data. During 48-72 hr fermentation, at which cancer suppression activity was significant, the antioxidant properties from the three assays were not higher than control. These findings indicated that water extracts of tempe from extended fermentation could inhibit breast cancer cell growth but further study to determine the mechanism and compounds that play important role in the activity should be conducted.

Keywords: tempe, anticancer, antioxidant, phenolic compounds

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Authors: Abdelrahman Elsehsah

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The main objective of this study is to assess changes in the water capacity of Aswan High Dam Lake (AHDL) caused by evaporation and seepage losses. To achieve this objective, a comprehensive methodology was employed. The methodology involves acquiring Sentinel-3 imagery and extracting the surface area of the lake using remote sensing techniques. Using water areas calculated from sentinel images, collected field data, and the lake’s water balance equation, monthly evaporation and seepage losses were estimated for the years 2021 and 2022. Based on the water balance method results, the average monthly evaporation losses for the year 2021 were estimated to be around 1.41 billion cubic meters (Bm3), which closely matches the estimates provided by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI) annual reports (approximately 1.37 Bm3 in the same year). This means that the water balance method slightly overestimated the monthly evaporation losses by about 2.92%. Similarly, the average monthly seepage losses for the year 2022 were estimated to be around 0.005 Bm3, while the MWRI reports indicated approximately 0.0046 Bm3. By another means, the water balance method overestimated the monthly seepage losses by about 8.70%. Furthermore, the study found that the average monthly evaporation rate within AHDL was 210.88 mm/month, which closely aligns with the computed value of approximately 204.9 mm/month by AHDA. These findings indicated that the applied water balance method, utilizing remote sensing and field data, is a reliable tool for estimating monthly evaporation and seepage losses as well as monthly evaporation rates in AHDL.

Keywords: Aswan high dam lake, remote sensing, water balance equation, seepage loss, evaporation loss

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Authors: Jenyu Peng

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Incestuous abuse can be considered a form of domestic violence that exemplifies gender inequality. It challenges the common image of home as “haven of safety”. In Taiwan, even after years of feminist NGOs’ effort to encourage victims to speak up, the shared cultural representations of family, still praising piety towards the parents, seem to keep the incest trauma in secret. As clinical practitioners have observed, most devastating psychological sequels of incest trauma are often related to silencing. Thus one can expect that in families centered cultures, the difficulties for victims to disclose are greater, and the traumatic consequences more severe. This poses crucial therapeutic issues for clinicians working in those cultures. Since 2009, the author, a trained psychoanalyst and researcher, has been conducting “clinical fieldwork” on incest trauma in Taiwan. Employing ethnographical method, our theoretical references are both psychoanalytical and anthropological. The necessity of interdisciplinary efforts in incest trauma research will be addressed and discussed. The analyses of the present paper will focus on five incestuous families: four Han families, and one aboriginal. Although Taiwanese aboriginal peoples have been pretty much sinicized since decades, it is worth observing the convergent and divergent aspects in these two cultures. Moreover, findings of a previous research conducted in France during 2002-2004 will serve as background for the purpose of comparison. The results will be presented along with three questions: 1) How the perception of family influences the process of disclosure? 2) How the incestuous experience comes into play with victims’ gender identity and sexuality, pivotal for the subjectification? 3) How victims more successful in gendered subjectification modify their dynamics with their traumatizing family? This research finds that most victims tend to defend their own incestuous families, and that victims’ subjectivity and agency are actually entangled in the power structure of incestuous family.

Keywords: incestuous family, subjectification, gender identity, agency

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Authors: Hadach Fatiha, Algouti Ahmed, Algouti Abdellah, Jdaba Naji, Es-Sarrar Othman, Mourabit Zahra

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This paper investigates the structure and evolution of diapirism in the Ait Ourir basin, located in the High Atlas of Marrakesh, using structural and sedimentological fieldwork integrated with field mapping. A tectonic-sedimentological study of the Mesozoic cover of the Ait Ourir basin area revealed that these units were subjected to important saccadic halokinetic activity, reflected by anticline structures associated with regional faults that created several synclinal mini-basins. However, the lack of seismic coverage in the study area makes the proposed interpretation based on extrapolations of information observed on the surface. In this work, we suggest that faults and salt activity led to the formation of different structures within the studied area. The growth of the Triassic evaporites at different stages during the Mesozoic is reflected by progressive and local unconformities, recorded as having different ages. These structures created high diapiric zones with reduced sedimentation, showing abrupt lateral thickness variations in several places where this activity was occurring; this is clearly defined within the Wanina and Jbel Sour’s mini-basins, where the Senonian was observed to rest at an angular unconformity over the entire sedimentary cover encompassing the time period from the Liassic to the Turonian. The diapirism associated with the major faults, especially encountered between the basins, is often accompanied by late Triassic volcanic material. This diapir-fault relationship resulted in shallow and often depocentric zones in a pull-apart system within a distensive context.

Keywords: diapir, evaporites, faults, pull-apart, Mesozoic cover, Ait Ourir, western High Atlas, Morocco

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Authors: Ming Fang Hsieh

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the reading responses of infants and toddlers across different contexts in nursery centers. The study adopted Sipe’s framework for children’s literacy education to explore the reading behavior of infants and toddlers. The study was conducted at two nurseries. The sample comprised 46 infants and toddlers and 6 caregivers. The methods of data collection included observation of various reading activities, including shared reading in a group, one-on-one reading, and unstructured reading activities, as well as interviews with caregivers. The data obtained through observations and interviews were transcribed and analyzed. The caregivers and the children’s parents signed an informed consent form before the start of the study. There was no risk anticipated during the course of the study. The analysis revealed five types of reading responses exhibited by the infants and toddlers: (1) linguistic- verbally responding to reading, repeating vocabulary, and answering questions; (2) affective- concentrating on reading or requesting for repeated reading, leaning on books, and gazing at caregivers; (3) explosive- children under 18 months were observed manipulating books through their bodies or different movements like flipping, rotating, or tapping on books; (4) social- during unstructured reading context, children were seen interacting with peers or following the rules of reading, sitting properly, and choosing one book at a time; and (5) distracted responses- paying attention to something else instead of reading, walking around, and playing, which was usually observed during shared reading in a group. The study concluded that children’s distraction and explosive reading behaviors may be a part of the process of their emergent reading behavior. As children develop, they demonstrate an increase in verbal responses, improved concentration, and better behavior. The study suggests that adults should continue to provide appropriate reading opportunities beginning from infancy to nurture children’s reading behaviors.

Keywords: reading response, infants and toddlers, early reading, picture books

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Authors: D. Miroud, H. Mokaddem, M. Tata, N. Foucha

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The body of PDC (polycrystalline diamond compact) drill bit can be manufactured from two different materials, steel and tungsten carbide matrix. Commonly the steel body is produced by machining, thermal spraying a bonding layer and hardfacing of Ni-based matrix reinforced with fused eutectic tungsten carbide (WC/W2C). The matrix body bit is manufactured by infiltrating tungsten carbide particles, with a Copper binary or ternary alloy. By erosion-corrosion mechanisms, the PDC drill bits matrix undergoes severe damage, occurring particularly around the PDC inserts and near injection nozzles. In this study, we investigated the possibility to repair the damaged matrix regions by hardfacing technic. Ni-based hardfacing alloy reinforced with fused eutectic tungsten carbide is deposited on infiltrated WC-W-Ni substrate by oxyacetylene welding (OAW). The microstructure at the hardfacing / matrix interface is characterized by SEM- EDS, XRD and micro hardness Hv0.1. The hardfacing conditions greatly affect the dilution phenomenon and the distribution of carbides at the interface, without formation of transition zone. During OAW welding deposition, interdiffusion of atoms occurs: Cu and Sn diffuse from infiltrated matrix substrate into hardfacing and simultaneously Cr and Si alloy elements from hardfacing diffuse towards the substrate. The dilution zone consists of a nickel-rich phase with a heterogeneous distribution of eutectic spherical (Ni-based hardfacing alloy) and irregular (matrix) WC/W2C carbides and a secondary phase rich in Cr-W-Si. Hardfacing conditions cause the dissolution of banding around both spherical and irregular carbides. The micro-hardness of interface is significantly improved by the presence of secondary phase in the inter-dendritic structure.

Keywords: dilution, dissolution, hardfacing, infiltrated matrix, PDC drill bits

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Authors: Yazidu Saidi Mbalamula

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Free Basic Education (FBE) policy implementation in Secondary Schools has been one of thrilled undertaking both to the government and household in Tanzania. On the one hand, the government has achieved citizenry acceptance to responsibility and accountability, and on the other hand, the household has been relieved from social costs that were unbearable and deprived many Tanzanians access to basic education and secondary education in particular. Specifically, this study presents a descriptive survey conducted in two districts of Kagera region located at the northern part of Tanzania. Three objectives were pursued to identify achievements realized and challenges in the FBE implementation, and also stakeholders’ proposals were explored on how to improve FBE implementation. A sample of 91 respondents, including school managers, teachers, students, and parents, were involved in the study. Both questionnaires and interviews were used whereby the quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The results show that implementation of free education policy in secondary schools had far positive impact on the improvement of school management, school attendance, reduced school drop-out, reduced parents-school managers conflicts, and increased enrollment rates. Notwithstanding that, the political machinery remains instrumental to instigate policy reforms in education sector. Nevertheless, the alienating interests of politibureau, often top-down and blanketed by superficial government redness, can hardly be feasible to wield such huge programme given staggering stakeholders’ awareness of the actual requirements and unlatching resources to back up policy implementation. The study recommends that further studies on stakeholders’ conceptions on the FBE and equity of financing of basic education in Tanzania.

Keywords: capitation grant, CCM, free basic education, kagera, education policy

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Authors: Ainouna Bouziane

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The ability of Electron Tomography to recover the 3D structure of catalysts, with spatial resolution in the subnanometer scale, has been widely explored and reviewed in the last decades. A variety of experimental techniques, based either on Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) or Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) have been used to reveal different features of nanostructured catalysts in 3D, but High Angle Annular Dark Field imaging in STEM mode (HAADF-STEM) stands out as the most frequently used, given its chemical sensitivity and avoidance of imaging artifacts related to diffraction phenomena when dealing with crystalline materials. In this regard, our group has developed a methodology that combines image denoising by undecimated wavelet transforms (UWT) with automated, advanced segmentation procedures and parameter selection methods using CS-TVM (Compressed Sensing-total variation minimization) algorithms to reveal more reliable quantitative information out of the 3D characterization studies. However, evaluating the accuracy of the magnitudes estimated from the segmented volumes is also an important issue that has not been properly addressed yet, because a perfectly known reference is needed. The problem particularly complicates in the case of multicomponent material systems. To tackle this key question, we have developed a methodology that incorporates volume reconstruction/segmentation methods. In particular, we have established an approach to evaluate, in quantitative terms, the accuracy of TVM reconstructions, which considers the influence of relevant experimental parameters like the range of tilt angles, image noise level or object orientation. The approach is based on the analysis of material-realistic, 3D phantoms, which include the most relevant features of the system under analysis.

Keywords: electron tomography, supported catalysts, nanometrology, error assessment

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