Search results for: common effect

Authors: Chantel Snyman, Chrizanne van Eeden, Marita Heyns

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most common disabilities in schools, with up to50% of children displaying behaviors that challenge, bringing about demanding teaching circumstances. The teachers and teaching assistants of such learners often experience a negative impact on their own quality of life. Research globally and in South Africa about the teachers of ASD learners and teaching interventions, especially positive psychology approaches aimed at supporting learners with ASD, is limited. The primary research aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility as well as the effect of a strength-based intervention for teachers on the behavior of their learners with ASD and on the wellbeing and self-efficacy of teachers and assistants over time. This quantitative study used a pre-experimental group design with a pre-test-post-test method for the proposed school-based intervention. Teachers and teaching assistants completed the Difficult Behavior Self-Efficacy Scale, the Mental Health Questionnaire, and the short Behaviors That Challenge Checklist for learners with ASD. The six-week intervention on character strengths was delivered by the researcher as part of Teacher Staff Development. Results were generally significant on a practical level (based on practical effect sizes), which indicate that the intervention had a visible effect on behaviors that challenge. Research scores over time suggested a positive effect of the intervention in the well-being of participants and an overall positive effect on behaviors that challenge of ASD learners. Results showed that the character strengths intervention shows promise as a simple but effective intervention for teachers and teaching assistants, with positive effects for learners and teaching staff in the ASD classroom. It is recommended that this intervention should be repeated over a longer period of time and with a larger sample to determine its validity.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder (ASD), behavior that challenge, character strengths, disabilities, self-efficacy, teachers, teaching assistants, well-being

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Authors: Sambit Supriya Dash, Rahul Ravi R, Vikram Ramanan, Vinayak Malhotra

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Combustion in itself is a complex phenomenon that involves the interaction and interplay of multiple phenomena, the combined effect of which gives rise to the common flame that we see and use in our daily life applications from cooking to propelling our vehicles to space. The most important thing that goes unnoticed about these flames is the effect of the various phenomena from its surrounding environment that affects its behavior and properties. These phenomena cause a variety of energy interactions that lead to various types of energy transformations which in turn affect the flame behavior. This paper focuses on experimentally investigating the effect of one such phenomenon, which is the acoustics or sound energy on diffusion flames. The subject in itself is extensively studied upon as thermo-acoustics globally, whereas the current work focuses on studying its effect on soot formation on diffusion flames. The said effect is studied in this research work by the use of a butane as fuel, fitted with a nozzle that houses 3 arrays consisting of 4 holes each that are placed equidistant to each other and the resulting flame impinged with sound from two independent and similar sound sources that are placed equidistant from the centre of the flame. The entire process is systematically video graphed using a 60 fps regular CCD and analysed for variation in flame heights and flickering frequencies where the fuel mass flow rate is maintained constant and the configuration of entrainment holes and frequency of sound are varied, whilst maintaining constant ambient atmospheric conditions. The current work establishes significant outcomes on the effect of acoustics on soot formation; it is noteworthy that soot formation is the main cause of pollution and a major cause of inefficiency of current propulsion systems. This work is one of its kinds, and its outcomes are widely applicable to commercial and domestic appliances that utilize combustion for energy generation or propulsion and help us understand them better, so that we can increase their efficiency and decrease pollution.

Keywords: thermoacoustics, entrainment, propulsion system, efficiency, pollution

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Authors: Eric Bonetto, Anthony Piermatteo, Fabien Girandola, Gregory Lo Monaco

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The present contribution focuses on the effect of the structure of social representations on group identification. A social representation (SR) is defined as an organized and structured set of cognitions, produced and shared by members of a same group about a same social object. Within this framework, the central core theory establishes a structural distinction between central cognitions – or 'core' – and peripheral ones: the former are theoretically considered as more connected than the later to group members’ social identity and may play a greater role in SRs’ ability to allow group identification by means of a common vision of the object of representation. Indeed, the central core provides a reference point for the in-group as it constitutes a consensual vision that gives meaning to a social object particularly important to individuals and to the group. However, while numerous contributions clearly refer to the underlying role of SRs in group identification, there are only few empirical evidences of this aspect. Thus, we hypothesize an effect of the structure of SRs on group identification. More precisely, central cognitions (vs. peripheral ones) will lead to a stronger group identification. In addition, we hypothesize that the refutation of a cognition will lead to a stronger group identification than its activation. The SR mobilized here is that of 'studying' among a population of first-year undergraduate psychology students. Thus, a pretest (N = 82), using an Attribute-Challenge Technique, was designed in order to identify the central and the peripheral cognitions to use in the primings of our main study. The results of this pretest are in line with previous studies. Then, the main study (online; N = 184), using a social priming methodology, was based on a 2 (Structural status of the cognitions belonging to the prime: central vs. peripheral) x 2 (Type of prime: activation vs. refutation) experimental design in order to test our hypotheses. Results revealed, as expected, the main effect of the structure of the SR on group identification. Indeed, central cognitions trigger a higher level of identification than the peripheral ones. However, we observe neither effect of the type of prime, nor interaction effect. These results experimentally demonstrate for the first time the effect of the structure of SRs on group identification and indicate that central cognitions are more connected than peripheral ones to group members’ social identity. These results will be discussed considering the importance of understanding identity as a function of SRs and on their ability to potentially solve the lack of consideration of the definition of the group in Social Representations Theory.

Keywords: group identification, social identity, social representations, structural approach

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Authors: Amessis-Ouchemoukh Nadia, Salhi Rim, Ouchemoukh Salim, Ayad Rabha, Sadou Dyhia, Guenaoui Nawel, Hamouche Sara, Madani Khodir

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The cooking method is a key factor influencing the quality of vegetables. In this study, the effect of the most common cooking methods on the nutritional composition, phenolic content, pigment content and antioxidant activities (evaluated by DPPH, ABTS, CUPRAC, FRAP, reducing power and phosphomolybdene method) of fresh, steamed, and boiled red beet was investigated. The fresh samples showed the highest nutritional and bioactive composition compared to the cooked ones. The boiling method didn’t lead to a significant reduction (p< 0.05) in the content of phenolics, flavonoids, flavanols and DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, CUPRAC, phosphomolybdeneum and reducing power capacities. This effect was less pronounced when steam cooking was used, and the losses of bioactive compounds were lower. As a result, steam cooking resulted in greater retention of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity compared to boiling. Overall, this study suggests that steam cooking is a better method in terms of retention of pigments and bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of beetroot.

Keywords: beta vulgaris, cooking methods, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activities

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Authors: Gulcan Sahal, Behzad Nasseri, Ali Akbar Ebrahimi, Isil Seyis Bilkay

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Proteus mirabilis strains which are natural colonizers of healthy individuals’ gastrointestinal tract are also known as common causes of catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Nowadays, as a result of an increased resistance to various antimicrobial drugs, there has been a growing interest in natural products. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate biofilm formation of P. mirabilis strains on lemongrass oil containing polycaprolactone nanofibers. Polycaprolactone nanofibers with different lemongrass oil concentrations were successfully prepared by electrospinning and biofilm formation of P. mirabilis on these nanofibers were determined by ‘Crystal Violet Staining Assay’. According to our results, polycaprolactone nanofibers with some lemongrass oil concentrations, decreased biofilm formation of P. mirabilis and this effect increased in parallel with the increase in lemongrass oil concentration. Our results indicate that, polycaprolactone nanofibers with some concentrations of lemongrass oil may provide a treatment against catheter-associated urinary tract infections by means of causing an inhibition on biofilm formation of P. mirabilis.

Keywords: anti-biofilm, biofilm formation, essential oils, nanofibers, proteus mirabilis

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Authors: Habib Onsori, Somayeh Akrami, Mohammad Rahmati

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Deafness is the most common sensory disorder with the frequency of 1/1000 in many populations. Mutations in the GJB2 (CX26) gene at the DFNB1 locus on chromosome 13q12 are associated with congenital hearing loss. Approximately 80% of congenital hearing loss cases are recessively inherited and 15% dominantly inherited. Mutations of the GJB2 gene, encoding gap junction protein Connexin 26 (Cx26), are the most common cause of hereditary congenital hearing loss in many countries. This report presents two cases of different mutations from Iranian patients with bilateral hearing loss. DNA studies were performed for the GJB2 gene by PCR and sequencing methods. In one of them, direct sequencing of the gene showed a heterozygous T→C transition at nucleotide 604 resulting in a cysteine to arginine amino acid substitution at codon 202 (C202R) in the fourth extracellular domain (TM4) of the protein. The analyses indicate that the C202R mutation appeared de novo in the proband with a possible dominant effect (GenBank: KF 638275). In the other one, DNA sequencing revealed a compound heterozygous mutation (35delG, 363delC) in the Cx26 gene that is strongly associated with congenital non-syndromic hearing loss (NSHL). So screening the mutations for hearing loss individuals referring to genetics counseling centers before marriage and or pregnancy is recommended.

Keywords: CX26, deafness, GJB2, mutation

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Authors: Bing-Fang Lee, Srinivasan Periasamy, Ming-Yie Liu

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Shift work sleep disorder is a common problem in industrialized world. It is a type of circadian rhythmic sleep disorders characterized by insomnia and sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep in workers may lead to poor health conditions such as hepatic dysfunction. Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland to alleviate insomnia. Moreover, it is a powerful antioxidant and may prevent acute liver injury. Therefore, workers take in melatonin to deal with sleep-related health is an important issue. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of melatonin on an acute hepatic injury model sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were injected with a single dose (500 mg/kg) of monocrotaline (MCT) to induce SOS. Melatonin (1, 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg) was injected 1 h before MCT treatment. After 24 h of MCT treatment, mice were sacrificed. The blood and liver were collected. Organ damage was evaluated by serum biochemistry, hematology analyzer, and histological examination. Low doses of melatonin (1 and 3 mg/kg) had no protective effect on SOS. However, high doses (10 and 30 mg/kg) exacerbated SOS. In addition, it not only increased serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and extended liver damage indicated by histological examination but also decreased platelet levels, lymphocyte ratio, and glutathione level; it had no effect on malondialdehyde and nitric oxide level in SOS mice. To conclude, melatonin may exacerbate MCT-induced SOS in mice. Furthermore, melatonin might have a synergistic action with SOS. Usage of melatonin for insomnia by people working in long shift must be cautioned; it might cause acute hepatic injury.

Keywords: acute liver injury, melatonin, shift work, sleep deprivation

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Authors: Kshanaprava Dhalsamant, Punyadarshini P. Tripathy, Shanker L. Shrivastava

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Potato is chosen as the food product for carrying out the natural convection mixed-mode solar drying experiments since they are easily available and globally consumed. The convective heat and mass transfer coefficients along with effective diffusivity were calculated considering both shrinkage and without shrinkage for the potato cylinders of different geometry (8, 10 and 13 mm diameters and a constant length of 50 mm). The convective heat transfer coefficient (hc) without considering shrinkage effect were 24.28, 18.69, 15.89 W/m2˚C and hc considering shrinkage effect were 37.81, 29.21, 25.72 W/m2˚C for 8, 10 and 13 mm diameter samples respectively. Similarly, the effective diffusivity (Deff) without considering shrinkage effect were 3.20×10-9, 4.82×10-9, 2.48×10-8 m2/s and Deff considering shrinkage effect were 1.68×10-9, 2.56×10-9, 1.34×10-8 m2/s for 8, 10 and 13 mm diameter samples respectively and the mass transfer coefficient (hm) without considering the shrinkage effect were 5.16×10-7, 2.93×10-7, 2.59×10-7 m/s and hm considering shrinkage effect were 3.71×10-7, 2.04×10-7, 1.80×10-7 m/s for 8, 10 and 13 mm diameter samples respectively. Increased values of hc were obtained by considering shrinkage effect in all diameter samples because shrinkage results in decreasing diameter with time achieving in enhanced rate of water loss. The average values of Deff determined without considering the shrinkage effect were found to be almost double that with shrinkage effect. The reduction in hm values is due to the fact that with increasing sample diameter, the exposed surface area per unit mass decreases, resulting in a slower moisture removal. It is worth noting that considering shrinkage effect led to overestimation of hc values in the range of 55.72-61.86% and neglecting the shrinkage effect in the mass transfer analysis, the values of Deff and hm are overestimated in the range of 85.02-90.27% and 39.11-45.11%, respectively, for the range of sample diameter investigated in the present study.

Keywords: shrinkage, convective heat transfer coefficient, effectivive diffusivity, convective mass transfer coefficient

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Authors: Rotondwa P. Gunununu, Mustapha Mohammed, Felix D. Dakora

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Common bean is the most importantly high protein grain legume grown in Southern Africa for human consumption and income generation. Although common bean can associate with rhizobia to fix N₂ for bacterial use and plant growth, it is reported to be a poor nitrogen fixer when compared to other legumes. N₂ fixation can vary with legume species, genotype and rhizobial strain. Therefore, screening legume germplasm can reveal rhizobia/genotype combinations with high N₂-fixing efficiency for use by farmers. This study assessed symbiotic performance and N₂ fixation in 63 common bean genotypes under field conditions at Malkerns Station in Eswatini, using the ¹⁵N natural abundance technique. The shoots of common bean genotypes were sampled at a pod-filling stage, oven-dried (65oC for 72h), weighed, ground into a fine powder (0.50 mm sieve), and subjected to ¹⁵N/¹⁴N isotopic analysis using mass spectrometry. At maturity, plants from the inner rows were harvested for the determination of grain yield. The results revealed significantly higher modulation (p≤0.05) in genotypes MCA98 and CIM-RM01-97-8 relative to the other genotypes. Shoot N concentration was highest in genotype MCA 98, followed by KAB 10 F2.8-84, with most genotypes showing shoot N concentrations below 2%. Percent N derived from atmospheric N₂ fixation (%Ndfa) differed markedly among genotypes, with CIM-RM01-92-3 and DAB 174, respectively, recording the highest values of 66.65% and 66.22 % N derived from fixation. There were also significant differences in grain yield, with CIM-RM02-79-1 producing the highest yield (3618.75 kg/ha). These results represent an important contribution in the profiling of symbiotic functioning of common bean germplasm for improved N₂ fixation.

Keywords: nitrogen fixation, %Ndfa, ¹⁵N natural abundance, grain yield

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Authors: S. Njoumi, L. Ben Haj Said, M. J. Amiot, S. Bellagha

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The main objective of this research was to establish the kinetics of variation of total polyphenol content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) in Tunisian Corchorus olitorius powder and in a traditional home cooked-meal (Molokheiya) when using stewing and stir-frying as cooking methods, but also to compare the effect of these two common cooking practices on water content, TPC, TFC and color. The L*, a* and b* coordinates values of the Molokheiya varied from 24.955±0.039 to 21.301±0.036, from -1.556±0.048 to 0.23±0.026 and from 5.675±0.052 to 6.313±0.103 when using stewing and from 21.328±0.025 to 20.56±0.021, from -1.093± 0.011to 0.121±0.007 and from 5.708±0.020 to 6.263±0.007 when using stir-frying, respectively. TPC and TFC increased during cooking. TPC of Molokheiya varied from 29.852±0.866 mg GAE/100 g to 220.416±0.519 mg GAE/100 g after 150 min of stewing and from 25.257±0.259 mg GAE/100 g to 208.897 ±0.173 mg GAE/100 g using stir-frying method during 150 min. TFC of Molokheiya varied from 48.229±1.47 mg QE/100 g to 843.802±1.841 mg QE/100 g when using stewing and from 37.031± 0.368 mg QE/100 g to 775.312±0.736 mg QE/100 g when using stir-frying. Kinetics followed similar curves in all cases but resulted in different final TPC and TFC. The shape of the kinetics curves suggests zero-order kinetics. The mathematical relations and the numerical approach used to model the kinetics of polyphenol and flavonoid contents in Molokheiya are described.

Keywords: Corchorus olitorius, Molokheiya, phenolic compounds, kinetic

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Authors: Faheem Shahzad Baloch, Muhammad Azhar Nadeem, Muhammad Amjad Nawaz, Ephrem Habyarimana, Gonul Comertpay, Tolga Karakoy, Rustu Hatipoglu, Mehmet Zahit Yeken, Vahdettin Ciftci

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Turkey is considered a bridge between Europe, Asia, and Africa and possibly played an important role in the distribution of many crops including common bean. Hundreds of common bean landraces can be found in Turkey, particularly in farmers’ fields, and they consistently contribute to the overall production. To investigate the existing genetic diversity and hybridization events between the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools in the Turkish common bean, 188 common bean accessions (182 landraces and 6 modern cultivars as controls) were collected from 19 different Turkish geographic regions. These accessions were characterized using phenotypic data (growth habit and seed weight), geographic provenance, 12557 high-quality whole-genome DArTseq markers, and 3767 novel DArTseq loci were also identified. The clustering algorithms resolved the Turkish common bean landrace germplasm into the two recognized gene pools, the Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools. Hybridization events were observed in both gene pools (14.36% of the accessions) but mostly in the Mesoamerican (7.97% of the accessions), and was low relative to previous European studies. The lower level of hybridization witnessed the existence of Turkish common bean germplasm in its original form as compared to Europe. Mesoamerican gene pool reflected a higher level of diversity, while the Andean gene pool was predominant (56.91% of the accessions), but genetically less diverse and phenotypically more pure, reflecting farmers greater preference for the Andean gene pool. We also found some genetically distinct landraces and overall, a meaningful level of genetic variability which can be used by the scientific community in breeding efforts to develop superior common bean strains.

Keywords: bean germplasm, DArTseq markers, genotyping by sequencing, Turkey, whole genome diversity

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Authors: E. Botchway, C. Godfrey, V. Anderson, C. Catroppa

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Introduction: Sleep disturbances are common after childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI). This systematic review aimed to assess the prevalence, types, and predictors of sleep disturbances in childhood TBI. Methods: Medline, Pubmed, PsychInfo, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases were searched. Out of the 547 articles assessed, 15 met selection criteria for this review. Results: Sleep disturbances were common in children and adolescents with TBI, irrespective of injury severity. Excessive daytime sleepiness and insomnia were the most common sleep disturbances reported. Sleep disturbance was predicted by sex, injury severity, pre-existing sleep disturbances, younger age, pain, and high body mass index. Conclusions: Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in childhood TBI, regardless of the injury severity. Routine assessment of sleep in survivors of childhood TBI is recommended.

Keywords: traumatic brain injury, sleep diatiurbances, childhood, systematic review

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Authors: Anwar Hussain, Ahmed Imran, Farida Faisal, Fatima Sultana

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The present research evaluates a comparative assessment of dividend policy and share price across the South Asian countries including Pakistan, India and Sri-Lanka over the period of 2010 to 2014. Academic writers found that dividend policy and share price relationship is not same in south Asian market due to different reasons. Moreover, Panel Models used = for the evaluation of current study. In addition, Redundant fixed effect Likelihood and Hausman test used for determine of Common, Fixed and Random effect model. Therefore Indian market dividend policies play a fundamental role and significant impact on Market Share Prices. Although, present research found that different as compared to previous study that dividend policy have no impact on share price in Sri-Lanka and Pakistan.

Keywords: dividend policy, share price, South Asian countries, panel data analysis, theories and parameters of dividend

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Authors: Andrea Borroni

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The evolution of technology, the global scale of economy, and the new short-term employment contracts make a very peculiar set of disposition of raising interest for the legal interpreter: the employee inventor compensation. Around the globe, this issue is differently regulated according to the legal systems; therefore, it is extremely fragmented. Of course, employers with transnational businesses should face this issue from a comparative perspective. Different legal regimes are available worldwide awarding, as a consequence, diverse compensation to the inventor and according to their own methodology. Given these premises, the recourse to comparative law methodology (legal formants, diachronic and synchronic methodology, common core approach) is the best equipped to face all these different national approaches in order to achieve a tidy systematic. This research, so, elaborates a map of the specific criteria to grant the compensation for the inventor and to show the criteria to calculate them. This finding has been the first step to find out a common core of the discipline given by the common features present in the different legal systems.

Keywords: comparative law, employee invention, intellectual property, legal transplant

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Authors: M. Fayez Al Homsi, Reem Al Homsi

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Renal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Glomerular diseases make a small portion of the renal disease. Lupus glomerulonephritis (GN) is the commonest among the GN of systemic diseases. More than a hundred and eighty-eight consecutive renal biopsies are performed and evaluated for clinically suspected glomerular diseases over a period of two years. As in a standard practice after receiving the ultrasound-guided renal biopsies, the fresh biopsy is divided to three parts, one part is frozen for immunofluorescence evaluation, the second part is placed in 4% glutaraldehyde for electron microscopic evaluation, and the third part is placed in 10% buffered formalin for light microscopic evaluation. Primary glomerular diseases are detected in 83 biopsies; glomerulonephritis (GN) of systemic diseases are identified in 88, glomerular lesions in vascular diseases in 3, glomerular lesions in metabolic diseases in 7, hereditary nephropathies in 2, end-stage kidney in 2, and glomerular lesions in transplantation in 3 biopsies. Among the primary lesions, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (28) and mesangial proliferative GN (26) were the most common. Lupus GN (67) and Ig A nephropathy (20) were the most common of the GN of systemic diseases. Lupus nephritis biopsies included one biopsy diagnosed as class 1 (normal), 17 biopsies class 2 (mesangial proliferation), 5 biopsies class 3 (focal proliferative GN), 39 biopsies class 4 diffuse proliferative GN), 3 biopsies class 5 (membranous GN), and 2 biopsies class 6 (crescentic GN). Lupus GN is the most common among GN of systemic diseases. While diabetes is very common here, diabetic GN (3 biopsies) is not as common as might one expects. Most likely this is due to sampling and reluctance on part of nephrologists and patients in sampling the kidney in diabetes mellitus.

Keywords: diabetes, glomerulonephritis, lupus, mesangial proliferation, nephropathy

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Authors: Ashwini Mohan, Haris Batley

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An orthodontic index is used to rate or categorise an individual’s occlusion using a numeric or alphanumeric score. Indexing of malocclusions and their correction is important in epidemiology, diagnosis, communication between clinicians as well as their patients and assessing treatment outcomes. Many useful indices have been put forward, but to the author’s best knowledge, no one method to this day appears to be equally suitable for the use of epidemiologists, public health program planners and clinicians. This article describes the common clinical orthodontic indices and classifications used in United Kingdom.

Keywords: classification, indices, orthodontics, validity

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Authors: Layla Farhat, Mathieu Bardoux, Stéphane Longuemart, Ziad Herro, Abdelhak Hadj Sahraoui

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Electrocaloric (EC) effect refers to the isothermal entropy or adiabatic temperature changes of a dielectric material induced by an external electric field. This phenomenon has been largely ignored for application because only modest EC effects (2.6

Keywords: electrocaloric effect, thermoreflectance, ferroelectricity, cooling system

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Authors: Safeer Hussain Khan, H. Fukhar-ud-Din

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The concept of quasi-contractive type operators was given by Berinde and extended by Imoru and Olatinwo. They named this new type as contractive-like operators. On the other hand, Xu and Noo introduced a three-step-one-mappings iterative process which can be seen as a generalization of Mann and Ishikawa iterative processes. Approximating common fixed points has its own importance as it has a direct link with minimization problem. Motivated by this, in this paper, we first extend the iterative process of Xu and Noor to the case of three-step-three-mappings and then prove a strong convergence result using contractive-like operators for this iterative process. In general, this generalizes corresponding results using Mann, Ishikawa and Xu-Noor iterative processes with quasi-contractive type operators. It is to be pointed out that our results can also be proved with iterative process involving error terms.

Keywords: contractive-like operator, iterative process, common fixed point, strong convergence

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Authors: Javid Zarei

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International buyback contracts are a type of contract service. These kinds of contracts are the most important instrument for attracting foreign investors in accordance with Iran's laws. These contracts have been the basis of commercial and economic relations between Iran and foreign companies for about 30 years. The legal structure of this type of contract has gradually evolved, so today, an advanced generation of it under the title of Iran Petroleum Contract is being used in the industry of Iran. This article has analytically examined the issue of Iran's commercial contracts in the oil industry and contracting services and allocated sections to examine the strengths and weaknesses of these oil contracts. Also, this research is an attempt to examine and compare the Concession regime with the Buyback contracts, each of which is derived from the common law legal system and the Islamic legal system, respectively.

Keywords: buyback contracts, concession regime, ownership, common law legal system, Islamic legal system of Iran

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Authors: Ibrahim Ajani Tijani, C. W. Lim

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Limited studies have examined the effect of size on the mechanical behavior of confined concrete subjected to 3-dimensional (3D) test. With the novel 3D testing system to produce passive confinement, concrete cubes were tested to examine the effect of size on stress-strain behavior of the specimens. The effect of size on 3D stress-strain relationship was scrutinized and compared to the stress-strain relationship available in the literature. It was observed that the ultimate stress and the corresponding strain was related to the confining rigidity and size. The size shows a significant effect on the intersection stress and a new model was proposed for the intersection stress based on the conceptual design of the confining plates.

Keywords: concrete, aggregate size, size effect, 3D compression, passive confinement

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Authors: Eisa A. Alsafran, Francis T. Edum-Fotwe, Wayne E. Lord

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The degree to which a public client actively participates in Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes, is seen as a determinant of the success of the arrangement, and in particular, efficiency in the delivery of the assets of any infrastructure development. The asset delivery is often an early barometer for judging the overall performance of the PPP. Currently, there are no defined descriptors for the degree of such participation. The lack of defined descriptors makes the association between the degree of participation and efficiency of asset delivery, difficult to establish. This is particularly so if an optimum effect is desired. In addition, such an association is important for the strategic decision to embark on any PPP initiative. This paper presents a conceptual model of different levels of participation that characterise PPP schemes. The modelling was achieved by a systematic review of reported sources that address essential aspects and structures of PPP schemes, published from 2001 to 2015. As a precursor to the modelling, the common areas of Public Client Participation (PCP) were investigated. Equity and risk emerged as two dominant factors in the common areas of PCP, and were therefore adopted to form the foundation of the modelling. The resultant conceptual model defines the different states of combined PCP. The defined states provide a more rational basis for establishing how the degree of PCP affects the efficiency of asset delivery in PPP schemes.

Keywords: asset delivery, infrastructure development, public private partnership, public client participation

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Authors: Vera Jancurova

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The financial theory is dominated by the believe that weekday effect has disappeared from current markets. The purpose of this article is to study anomalies, especially weekday effect, at real markets that disrupt the efficiency of financial markets. The research is based on the analyses of historical daily exchange rates of significant world indices to determine the presence of weekday effects on financial markets. The methodology used for the study is based on the analyzes of daily averages of particular indexes for different time periods. Average daily gains were analyzed for their whole time interval and then for particular five and ten years periods with the aim to detect the presence on current financial markets. The results confirm the presence of weekday effect at the most significant indices - for example: Nasdaq, S & P 500, FTSE 100 and the Hang Seng. It was confirmed that in the last ten years, the weekend effect disappeared from financial markets. However in last year’s the indicators show that weekday effect is coming back. The study shows that weekday effect has to be taken into consideration on financial markets, especially in the past years.

Keywords: indices, anomalies, behavioral finance, weekday effect

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Authors: Hamnah Nisar

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As food is something which is particularly important for survival, in fact, it improves the quality of life and promotes health. Quality food is a key to a healthy life. Consumption of food depends on the knowledge we have regarding the nutrients it contains. Moreover, the awareness and knowledge about something is an initial stage for its improvement. We cannot work on anything unless we have knowledge about it. The pros and cons, effects, causes, dos, and don'ts, especially for an important things like food, are a necessity to learn. That is why my research would be all about analyzing what difference awareness makes on people and how making people more aware about a certain thing can help them improve their lifestyles and bring a positive change for them. The research would be done through questionnaires and interviews among two classes, one would be the upper class and the other would-be lower class. Because the upper class can easily access learning facilities and can know about the new things than the lower class. The questions would be related to what kind of food do they consume, what health issues they face, or what health issues are common among their regions. The results of the research would be helpful to know firstly the effects of awareness and education regarding food on health, how a basic thing like knowledge can have a significant effect on health and can be the cause of several diseases.

Keywords: nutrition, awareness, quality food, knowledge

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Authors: Othmane Zarhali, Cécilia Aubrun, Emmanuel Bacry, Jean-Philippe Bouchaud, Jean-François Muzy

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The Nested factor model was introduced by Bouchaud and al., where the asset return fluctuations are explained by common factors representing the market economic sectors and residuals (noises) sharing with the factors a common dominant volatility mode in addition to the idiosyncratic mode proper to each residual. This construction infers that the factors-residuals log volatilities are correlated. Here, we consider the case of a single factor where the only dominant common mode is a S-fbm process (introduced by Peng, Bacry and Muzy) with Hurst exponent H around 0.11 and the residuals having in addition to the previous common mode idiosyncratic components with Hurst exponents H around 0. The reason for considering this configuration is twofold: preserve the Nested factor model’s characteristics introduced by Bouchaud and al. and propose a framework through which the stylized fact reported by Peng and al. is reproduced, where it has been observed that the Hurst exponents of stock indices are large as compared to those of individual stocks. In this work, we show that the Log S-fbm Nested factor model’s construction leads to a Hurst exponent of single stocks being the ones of the idiosyncratic volatility modes and the Hurst exponent of the index being the one of the common volatility modes. Furthermore, we propose a statistical procedure to estimate the Hurst factor exponent from the stock returns dynamics together with theoretical guarantees, with good results in the limit where the number of stocks N goes to infinity. Last but not least, we show that the factor can be seen as an index constructed from the single stocks weighted by specific coefficients.

Keywords: hurst exponent, log S-fbm model, nested factor model, small intermittency approximation

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Authors: Xiaoxiao Yu, Guodu He, Zihua Wu, Yuanyuan Wang, Huaqing Xie

Abstract:

Core-shell composite structure is a common method to regulate the spectral absorption of nanofluids, but there occur complex preparation processes, which limit the applications in some fields, such as photothermal utilization and catalysis. This work proposed point-mode Cu₂O/TiN plasmonic nanofluids to regulate the spectral capturing ability and simplify the preparation process. Non-noble TiN nanoparticles with the localized surface plasmon resonance effect are dispersed in Cu₂O nanoparticles for forming a multi-point resonance source to enhance the spectral absorption performance. The experimental results indicate that the multiple resonance effect of TiN effectively improves the optical absorption and expands the absorption region. When the radius of Cu₂O nanoparticles is equal to 150nm, the optical absorption of point-mode Cu₂O/TiN plasmonic nanoparticles is best. Moreover, the photothermal conversion efficiency of Cu₂O/TiN plasmonic nanofluid can reach 97.5% at a volume fraction of 0.015% and an optical depth of 10mm. The point-mode nanostructure effectively enhances the optical absorption properties and greatly simplifies the preparation process of the composite nanoparticles, which can promote the application of multi-component photonic nanoparticles in the field of solar energy.

Keywords: solar energy, nanofluid, point-mode structure, Cu₂O/TiN, localized surface plasmon resonance effect

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Authors: Yu-Shan Hsu

Abstract:

This paper studies a two-sector growth model with a technology of social constant returns and with a utility that features either a zero or a positive income effect on the demand for leisure. The purpose is to investigate how the existence of aggregate instability or equilibrium indeterminacy depends on both the intensity of the income effect on the demand for leisure and the value of the labor supply elasticity. The main finding is that when there is a factor intensity reversal between the private perspective and the social perspective, indeterminacy arises even if the utility has a positive income effect on leisure demand. Moreover, we find that a smaller value of the labor supply elasticity increases the range of the income effect on leisure demand and thus increases the possibility of equilibrium indeterminacy. JEL classification: E3; O41

Keywords: indeterminacy, non-separable preferences, income effect, labor supply elasticity

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Authors: Pan Hongxia, Wang Zhenhua

Abstract:

In this paper, the EMD decomposition in the process of endpoint effect adopted data based on AR model to predict the continuation and window function method of combining the two effective inhibition. Proven by simulation of the simulation signal obtained the ideal effect, then, apply this method to the gearbox test data is also achieved good effect in the process, for the analysis of the subsequent data processing to improve the calculation accuracy. In the end, under various working conditions for the gearbox fault diagnosis laid a good foundation.

Keywords: gearbox, fault diagnosis, ar model, end effect

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Authors: Nasiruddin Khan

Abstract:

The action of (-)-epicatechin, a cocoa (Theobroma cacao) flavanol that modulates redox/oxidative stress are contributed mainly to their antioxidant properties. The present study investigates the concentration and time dependent effect of (-)-epicatechin metabolites 3MeEc, 4MeEc, and 4SulEc on the production of ROS on BAEC using L-012, Lucigenin as chemiluminescence dye and XO/HX system. Our result demonstrates that 3MeEc shows significant (P <0.05) lowering effect of ROS production in BAEC with increasing concentration of metabolite while L-012 was used as chemiluminescence dye but not in the case of Lucigenin. In XO/HX system, using L-012 as chemiluminescence dye, 3MeEc and 4MeEc showed significant lowering effect on ROS production with increasing concentration from 100-500nM as compared to the positive control (SOD). When Lucigenin was used as chemiluminescence dye, 3MeEc exerted significant lowering effect with increasing concentration when compared to the positive control (SOD) whereas 4MeEc showed significant lowering effect in ROS production from 250 nM on as compared to positive control. For 4SulEc, a significant lowering effect of ROS production was only observed at 100 and 250 nM. Overall, although each metabolite shows considerable effect, 3MeEc exhibited more pronounced effect on decreasing the production of ROS as compared to other two metabolites.

Keywords: epicatechin metabolites, HO-1, Nrf2, ROS

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Authors: W. J. Fan, B. S. Ma

Abstract:

The many-body effect on band structure and optical gain of n+ doping tensile-strained Ge/GeSiSn quantum wells are investigated by using an 8-band k•p method. Phase diagram of Ge/GeSiSn quantum well is obtained. The E-k dispersion curves, band gap renormalization and optical gain spectra including many-body effect will be calculated and discussed. We find that the k.p method without many-body effect will overestimate the optical gain and transition energy.

Keywords: Si photonics, many-body effect, optical gain, Ge-on-Si, Quantum well

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Authors: Dogan Cetin, Omar Hamdi Jasim

Abstract:

Using some additives is very common method to improve the soil properties such as shear strength, bearing capacity; and to reduce the settlement and lateral deformation. Soil reinforcement with natural materials is an attractive method to improve the soil properties because of their low cost. However, the studies conducted by using natural additive are very limited. This paper presents the results of an investigation on the immediate and long-term effects of the sawdust on the shear strength behavior of a clayey silt soil obtained in Arnavutkoy in Istanbul with sawdust. Firstly, compaction tests were conducted to be able to optimum moisture content for every percentage of sawdust. The samples were obtained from compacted soil at optimum moisture content. UU Triaxial Tests were conducted to evaluate the response of randomly distributed sawdust on the strength of low plasticity clayey silt soil. The specimens were tested with 1%, 2% and 3% content of sawdust. It was found that the undrained shear strength of clay soil with 1%, 2% and 3% sawdust were increased respectively 4.65%, 27.9% and 39.5% higher than the soil without additive. At 5%, shear strength of clay soil decreased by 3.8%. After 90 days cure period, the shear strength of the soil with 1%, 2%, 3% and %5 increased respectively 251%, 302%, 260% and 153%. It can be said that the effect of the sawdust usage has a remarkable effect on the undrained shear strength of the soil. Besides the increasing undrained shear strength, it was also found that the sawdust decreases the liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index by 5.5%, 2.9 and 10.9% respectively.

Keywords: compaction test, sawdust, shear strength, UU Triaxial Test

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