Search results for: Spread Spectrum Modulation (SSM)

Authors: Carmen Aguilera-Carnerero

Abstract:

Islamophobia, the unfounded hostility towards Muslims and Islam, has been deeply studied in the last decades from different perspectives ranging from anthropology, sociology, media studies, and linguistics. In the past few years, we have witnessed how the birth of social media has transformed formerly passive audiences into an active group that not only receives and digests information but also creates and comments publicly on any event of their interest. In this way, average citizens now have been entitled with the power of becoming potential opinion leaders. This rise of social media in the last years gave way to a different way of Islamophobia, the so called ‘cyberIslamophobia’. Considerably less attention, however, has been given to the study of islamophobic images that accompany the texts in social media. This paper attempts to analyse a corpus of 300 images of islamophobic nature taken from social media (from Twitter and Facebook) from the years 2014-2017 to see: a) how hate speech is visually constructed, b) how cyberislamophobia is articulated through images and whether there are differences/similarities between the textual and the visual elements, c) the impact of those images in the audience and their reaction to it and d) whether visual cyberislamophobia has undergone any process of permeating popular culture (for example, through memes) and its real impact. To carry out this task, we have used Critical Discourse Analysis as the most suitable theoretical framework that analyses and criticizes the dominant discourses that affect inequality, injustice, and oppression. The analysis of images was studied according to the theoretical framework provided by the visual framing theory and the visual design grammar to conclude that memes are subtle but very powerful tools to spread Islamophobia and foster hate speech under the guise of humour within popular culture.

Keywords: cyberIslamophobia, visual grammar, social media, popular culture

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Authors: Udayakumar Vee, Franck Quero

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Zwitterionic polymers generally have been viewed as a new class of antimicrobial and non-fouling materials. They offer a broad versatility for chemical modification and hence great freedom for accurate molecular design, which bear an equimolar number of homogenously distributed anionic and cationic groups along their polymer chains. This study explores the effectiveness of the auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate hydrogel in the diabetic-induced mouse model. A series of silver metal-doped auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate/vinylaniline copolymer hydrogels is designed via a 3D printer. Zwitterion monomers have been characterized by FT-IR and NMR techniques. The effect of changing the monomers and different loading ratios of Ag over zwitterion on the final hydrogel materials' antimicrobial properties and biocompatibility will be investigated in detail. The synthesized auxetic hydrogel has been characterized using a wide range of techniques to help establish the relationship between molecular level and macroscopic properties of these materials, including mechanical and antibacterial and biocompatibility and wound healing ability. This work's comparative studies and results provide new insights and guide us in choosing a better auxetic structured material for a broad spectrum of wound healing applications in the animal model. We expect this approach to provide a versatile and robust platform for biomaterial design that could lead to promising treatments for wound healing applications.

Keywords: auxetic, zwitterion, carboxylate, sulfonate, polymer, wound healing

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Authors: H.Karnezi, K. Tierney

Abstract:

Childhood fears that persist over time and interfere with the children’s normal functioning may have detrimental effects on their social and emotional development. Cognitive behavior therapy is considered highly effective in treating fears and anxieties. However, given that many childhood fears are based on fantasy, the applicability of CBT may be hindered by cognitive immaturity. Furthermore, a lack of motivation to engage in therapy is another commonly encountered obstacle. The purpose of this study was to introduce and evaluate a more developmentally appropriate intervention model, specifically designed to provide phobic children with the motivation to overcome their fears. To this end, principles and techniques from cognitive and behavior therapies are incorporated into the ‘Drama in Education’ model. The Cognitive Behaviour Drama (CBD) method involves using the phobic children’s creativity to involve them in the therapeutic process. The children are invited to engage in exciting fictional scenarios tailored around their strengths and special interests. Once their commitment to the drama is established, a problem that they will feel motivated to solve is introduced. To resolve it, the children will have to overcome a number of obstacles culminating in an in vivo confrontation with the fear stimulus. The study examined the application of the CBD model in three single cases. Results in all three cases shown complete elimination of all fear-related symptoms. Preliminary results justify further evaluation of the Cognitive Behaviour Drama model. It is time and cost-effective, ensuring the clients' immediate engagement in the therapeutic process.

Keywords: phobias, autism, intervention, drama

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Authors: Udayakumar Veerabagu, Franck Quero

Abstract:

Zwitterion carboxylate and sulfonate polymers generally have been viewed as a new class of antimicrobial and non-fouling materials. They offer a broad versatility for chemical modification and hence great freedom for accurate molecular design, which bear an equimolar number of homogenously distributed anionic and cationic groups along their polymer chains. This study explores the effectiveness of the auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate hydrogel in the diabetic-induced mouse model. A series of silver metal-doped auxetic zwitterion carboxylate/sulfonate/vinylaniline copolymer hydrogels is designed via a 3D printer. Zwitterion monomers have been characterized by FT-IR and NMR techniques. The effect of changing the monomers and different loading ratios of Ag over zwitterion on the final hydrogel materials' antimicrobial properties and biocompatibility will be investigated in detail. The synthesized auxetic hydrogel has been characterized using a wide range of techniques to help establish the relationship between molecular level and macroscopic properties of these materials, including mechanical and antibacterial and biocompatibility and wound healing ability. This work's comparative studies and results provide new insights and guide us in choosing a better auxetic structured material for a broad spectrum of wound healing applications in the animal model. We expect this approach to provide a versatile and robust platform for biomaterial design that could lead to promising treatments for wound healing applications.

Keywords: auxetic, zwitterion, carboxylate, sulfonate, polymer, wound healing

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Authors: Mostafa Refat Ismail, Hazem Eldaly

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The adaptation of architecture design to building function is getting highly needed in contemporary designs, especially with the great progression in design methods and tools. This, in turn, requires great flexibility in design strategies, as well as a wider spectrum of space settings to achieve the required environment that special activities imply. Acoustics is an essential factor influencing cognitive acts and behavior as well as, on the extreme end, the physical well-being inside a space. The complexity of this constrain is fueled up by the extended geometric dimensions of multipurpose halls, making acoustic adequateness a great concern that could not easily be achieved for each purpose. To achieve a performance oriented acoustic environment, various parametric shaped false ceilings based on origami folded notion are simulated. These parametric origami shapes are able to fold and unfold forming an interactive structure that changes the mutual acoustic environment according to the geometric shapes' position and its changing exposed surface areas. The mobility of the facets in the origami surface can stretch up the range from a complete plain surface to an unfolded element where a considerable amount of absorption is added to the space. The behavior of the parametric origami shapes are being modeled employing a ray tracing computer simulation package for various shapes topology. The conclusion shows a great variation in the acoustical performance due to the variation in folding faces of the origami surfaces, which cause different reflections and consequently large variations in decay curves.

Keywords: parametric, origami, acoustics, architecture

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Authors: Michele Romanello

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COVID-19 has spread rapidly in Brazil since March 2020, making the country one of the most affected in the world by the pandemic. From an economic point of view, Brazil came from a pre-pandemic period characterized by low or negative growth, with a resulting increase in the number of unemployed and informal workers. This paper considers lockdown implementation in the situation of the large presence of informality in the economy. The objective of the paper is to analyze how the country has tried to help workers affected by economic crisis after the implementation of measures against COVID-19 and whether the emergency assistance from the government has been adequate to contain the increase of informal workers and unemployed. The methodology used in this paper is survival analysis. Through this methodology, the formality – informality, and informality – unemployment transitions are analyzed. This analysis draws data from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Continuous PNAD) and from the National Household Sample Survey COVID-19 (PNAD COVID-19) covering the period of January 2020 – July 2020. The results indicate that emergency aid has been not sufficient to reduce the transitions of workers from formal to informal jobs and from informal jobs to unemployment. Emergency aid has been not sufficient considering the previous situation of the country, with levels of poverty and inequality very high. In the next months, another fundamental determinant of the income trajectory in the context of the COVID-19 crisis will be the continuity of the emergency aid, especially considering the fiscal adjustment policy pursued by the government. Therefore, the current negative portrait may be even worse in the coming months.

Keywords: Brazil, COVID-19, informality, survival analysis

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Authors: Maryam Hajrezaie, Mahmood Ameen Abdulla, Nazia AbdulMajid, Maryam Zahedifard

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Colon cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in the world. Cancer chemoprevention is defined as the use of natural or synthetic compounds capable of inducing biological mechanisms necessary to preserve genomic fidelity. New schiff based compounds are reported to exhibit a wide spectrum of biological activities of therapeutic importance. To evaluate inhibitory properties of CdCl2(C14H21N3O2) complex on colonic aberrant crypt foci, five groups of 7-week-old male rats were used. Control group was fed with 10% Tween 20 once a day, cancer control group was intra-peritoneally injected with 15 mg/kg Azoxymethan, drug control group was injected with 15 mg/kg azoxymethan and 5-Flourouracil, experimental groups were fed with 2.5 and 5 mg/kg CdCl2(C14H21N3O2) compound each once a day. Administration of compound were found to be effectively chemoprotective. Andrographolide suppressed total colonic ACF formation up to 72% to 74%, respectively, when compared with control group. The results also showed a significant increase in glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase activities and a decrease in malondialdehyde level. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated down-regulation of PCNA protein. According to the Western blot comparison analysis, COX-2 and Bcl2 is up-regulated whilst the Bax is down-regulated. according to these data, this compound plays promising chemoprotective activity, in a model of AOM-induced in ACF.

Keywords: chemopreventive, Schiff based compound, aberrant crypt foci (ACF), immunohistochemical staining

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Authors: Kitti Szoke, Laszlo Szoke, Attila Czompa, Arpad Tosaki, Istvan Lekli

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Autophagy plays an important role in cardiac hypertrophy, which is one of the most common causes of heart failure in the world. This self-degradative catabolic process, responsible for protein quality control, balancing sources of energy at critical times, and elimination of damaged organelles. The autophagic activity can be triggered by starvation, oxidative stress, or pharmacological agents, like rapamycin. This induced autophagy can promote cell survival during starvation or pathological stress. In this study, it is investigated the effect of the induced autophagic process on angiotensin induced hypertrophic H9c2 cells. In our study, it is used H9c2 cells as an in vitro model. To induce hypertrophy, cells were treated with 10000 nM angiotensin-II, and to activate autophagy, 100 nM rapamycin treatment was used. The following groups were formed: 1: control, 2: 10000 nM AT-II, 3: 100 nM rapamycin, 4: 100 nM rapamycin pretreatment then 10000 nM AT-II. The cell viability was examined via MTT (cell proliferation assay) assay. The cells were stained with rhodamine-conjugated phalloidin and DAPI to visualize F-actin filaments and cell nuclei then the cell size alteration was examined in a fluorescence microscope. Furthermore, the expression levels of autophagic and apoptotic proteins such as Beclin-1, p62, LC3B-II, Cleaved Caspase-3 were evaluated by Western blot. MTT assay result suggests that the used pharmaceutical agents in the tested concentrations did not have a toxic effect; however, at group 3, a slight decrement was detected in cell viability. In response to AT-II treatment, a significant increase was detected in the cell size; cells became hypertrophic. However, rapamycin pretreatment slightly reduced the cell size compared to group 2. Western blot results showed that AT-II treatment-induced autophagy, because the increased expression of Beclin-1, p62, LC3B-II were observed. However, due to the incomplete autophagy, the apoptotic Cleaved Caspase-3 expression also increased. Rapamycin pretreatment up-regulated Beclin-1 and LC3B-II, down-regulated p62 and Cleaved Caspase-3, indicating that rapamycin-induced autophagy can restore the normal autophagic flux. Taken together, our results suggest that rapamycin activated autophagy reduces angiotensin-II induced hypertrophy.

Keywords: angiotensin-II, autophagy, H9c2 cell line, hypertrophy, rapamycin

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Authors: Saidou Hassidou, Laminou Ary Mahaman Moustapha

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Uncontrolled urbanization of African cities, plus the lack of municipal waste management services in these cities, generate landscapes become places of multiple and varied interactions between health and environment. In this sense, under strong urban growth in a context of sub-equipment sanitation, the city of Maradi doesn’t escape to this situation which results in the spread of pollution (release of unpleasant odors, proliferation of mosquitoes) and many diseases posing multiple health problems. Our study focuses only on liquid waste especially domestic wastewater. To study the different domestic wastewater management options in the town of Maradi, a survey was conducted among 340 households in 17 districts. We note in most cases a crucial of waste management infrastructure (drainage and wastewater treatment) at the city. Thus, only the individual sanitation facilities are used. In the town of Maradi, in addition to the storm drains, there are, in old districts, ditches that discharge wastewater and unfortunately end up in rivers without treatment. Domestic wastewater total production is estimated at 86,761.28 m3 per day. This water is mostly from laundry activities, bathing, dishes, and is discharged in large part through the streets, by more than 60% of households. Also, pit emptying is performed at 39.11% by the vehicle Peugeot tank. The quality of service rendered by an actor is very important to encourage households to join. Existing autonomous sanitation facilities are poorly designed and poorly maintained. Fecal sludge is dumped in a hole near saturated latrines; this work is mainly done by manual scavengers or dumped in fields or on nearby vacant land concessions.

Keywords: management, urban wastewater, domestic wastewater, Maradi, Niger

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Authors: Ionel Botef

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Aerospace products operate in very aggressive environments characterized by high temperature, high pressure, large stresses on individual components, the presence of oxidizing and corroding atmosphere, as well as internally created or externally ingested particulate materials that induce erosion and impact damage. Consequently, during operation, the materials of individual components degrade. In addition, the impact of maintenance costs for both civil and military aircraft was estimated at least two to three times greater than initial purchase values, and this trend is expected to increase. As a result, for viable product realisation and maintenance, a spectrum of issues regarding novel processing technologies, innovation of new materials, performance, costs, and environmental impact must constantly be addressed. One of these technologies, namely the cold-gas dynamic-spray process has enabled a broad range of coatings and applications, including many that have not been previously possible or commercially practical, hence its potential for new aerospace applications. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to summarise the state of the art of this technology alongside its theoretical and experimental studies, and explore how the cold-gas dynamic-spray process could be integrated within a framework that finally could lead to more efficient aircraft maintenance. Based on the paper's qualitative findings supported by authorities, evidence, and logic essentially it is argued that the cold-gas dynamic-spray manufacturing process should not be viewed in isolation, but should be viewed as a component of a broad framework that finally leads to more efficient aerospace operations.

Keywords: aerospace, aging aircraft, cold spray, materials

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Authors: Diea Gamal Abo El-Hassan, Salwa Ahmed Aly, Abdelrahman Mahmoud Abdelgwad

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The major conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers have anticancer effect, especially breast cancer cells, inhibits cell growth and induces cell death. Also, CLA has several health benefits in vivo, including antiatherogenesis, antiobesity, and modulation of immune function. The present study aimed to assess the safety and anticancer effects of milk fat CLA against in vivo Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) in female Swiss albino mice. This was based on acute toxicity study, detection of the tumor growth, life span of EAC bearing hosts, and simultaneous alterations in the hematological, biochemical, and histopathological profiles. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifty adult female mice were equally divided into five groups. Groups (1-2) were normal controls, and Groups (3-5) were tumor transplanted mice (TTM) inoculated intraperitoneally with EAC cells (2×106 /0.2 mL). Group (3) was (TTM positive control). Group (4) TTM fed orally on balanced diet supplemented with milk fat CLA (40 mg CLA/kg body weight). Group (5) TTM fed orally on balanced diet supplemented with the same level of CLA 28 days before tumor cells inoculation. Blood samples and specimens from liver and kidney were collected from each group. The effect of milk fat CLA on the growth of tumor, life span of TTM, and simultaneous alterations in the hematological, biochemical, and histopathological profiles were examined. Results: For CLA treated TTM, significant decrease in tumor weight, ascetic volume, viable Ehrlich cells accompanied with increase in life span were observed. Hematological and biochemical profiles reverted to more or less normal levels and histopathology showed minimal effects. Conclusion: The present study proved the safety and anticancer efficiency of milk fat CLA and provides a scientific basis for its medicinal use as anticancer attributable to the additive or synergistic effects of its isomers.

Keywords: anticancer activity, conjugated linoleic acid, Ehrlich ascites carcinoma, % increase in life span, mean survival time, tumor transplanted mice.

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Authors: Ajaz Shaheen, Jawaid Ahmed Siddqui

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This world has purely become scientific and technological, and therefore it demands more from our young learners to be more intellectual in learning sciences. A point of concern that is dragging the attention of educationists is that young learners are gradually detaching from science and scientific theory. To deal with this matter, we must arrange such engaging activities that may improve the imaginative skills of our young learners. Our ongoing research program highlights the effects of such activities that demand the learners to interpret scientific information in the form of text they possess. These mixed stories are also known as what we call BioStories. Learners upload their narratives on different websites to let their peers go through their manuscripts. That, as a result, brings more refinement to their works. Moreover, stories allow the learners to read, understand and learn on a broader spectrum. We have conducted separate studies with learners from Grades 6, 9, and 12 that involve case studies and quasi-experimental designs. The conclusion we drew from the analysis of Grade 6 learners was that the alignment of stories helped them become more familiar with the scientific issue. Not only this but also the learners of the respective grade built up their interest in the subject and also developed a clear understanding of related subject topics. On the other hand, results from the 8th and 9th grades study support the argument that learners reflected a positive attitude toward writing scientific information. Lastly, we concluded from the 12th-grade learners that they took pride in their writing skills and built up their strength, determination, and interest. The students became self-conscious as they wrote hybridized scientific narratives in science.

Keywords: BioStories, hybridized writing, scientific literacy, scientific method

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Authors: Syed A. Bukhari, Ankur Goswmai, Dale Hume, Thomas Thundat

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Here we demonstrate mechanical detection of photo-induced Insulator to metal transition (MIT) in ultra-thin vanadium dioxide (VO₂) micro strings by using < 100 µW of optical power. Highly focused laser beam heated the string locally resulting in through plane and along axial heat diffusion. Localized temperature increase can cause temperature rise > 60 ºC. The heated region of VO₂ can transform from insulating (monoclinic) to conducting (rutile) phase leading to lattice compressions and stiffness increase in the resonator. The mechanical frequency of the resonator can be tuned by changing optical power and wavelength. The first mode resonance frequency was tuned in three different ways. A decrease in frequency below a critical optical power, a large increase between 50-120 µW followed by a large decrease in frequency for optical powers greater than 120 µW. The dynamic mechanical response was studied as a function of incident optical power and gas pressure. The resonance frequency and amplitude of vibration were found to be decreased with increasing laser power from 25-38 µW and increased by1-2 % when the laser power was further increased to 52 µW. The transition in films was induced and detected by a single pump and probe source and by employing external optical sources of different wavelengths. This trend in dynamic parameters of the strings can be co-related with reversible Insulator to metal transition in VO₂ films which creates change in density of the material and hence the overall stiffness of the strings leading to changes in string dynamics. The increase in frequency at a particular optical power manifests a transition to a more ordered metallic phase which tensile stress onto the string. The decrease in frequency at higher optical powers can be correlated with poor phonon thermal conductivity of VO₂ in conducting phase. Poor thermal conductivity of VO₂ can force in-plane penetration of heat causing the underneath SiN supporting VO₂ which can result as a decrease in resonance frequency. This noninvasive, non-contact laser-based excitation and detection of Insulator to metal transition using micro strings resonators at room temperature and with laser power in few µWs is important for low power electronics, and optical switching applications.

Keywords: thermal conductivity, vanadium dioxide, MEMS, frequency tuning

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Authors: Ismail Cengiz, Faruk Elaldi

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Within the scope of the study presented in this paper, load carrying capacity and buckling behavior of a stiffened aluminum panel designed by adopting current ‘buckle-resistant’ design application and ‘Post –Buckling’ design approach were investigated experimentally and numerically. The test specimen that is stabilized by Z-type stiffeners and manufactured from aluminum 2024 T3 Clad material was test under compression load. Buckling behavior was observed by means of 3 – dimensional digital image correlation (DIC) and strain gauge pairs. The experimental study was followed by developing an efficient and reliable finite element model whose ability to predict behavior of the stiffened panel used for compression test is verified by compering experimental and numerical results in terms of load – shortening curve, strain-load curves and buckling mode shapes. While finite element model was being constructed, non-linear behaviors associated with material and geometry was considered. Finally, applicability of aluminum stiffened panel in airframe design against to composite structures was evaluated thorough the concept of ‘Structural Efficiency’. This study reveals that considerable amount of weight saving could be gained if the concept of ‘post-buckling design’ is preferred to the already conventionally used ‘buckle resistant design’ concept in aircraft industry without scarifying any of structural integrity under load spectrum.

Keywords: post-buckling, stiffened panel, non-linear finite element method, aluminum, structural efficiency

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Dousti, Yaman Boluk, Vivek Bindiganavile

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Well cementing is one of the most crucial and important steps in any well completion. Oil well cement paste is employed to fill the annulus between the casing string and the well bore. However, since the cementing process takes place at the end of the drilling process, a satisfying and acceptable job may not be performed. During the cementing process, the cement paste must be pumped in the annulus, therefore concerns arise both in the workability and the flowability associated with the paste. On the other hand, the cement paste around the casing must demonstrate the adequate compressive strength in order to provide a suitable mechanical support for the casing and desirably prevent collapse of the formation. In this experimental study, the influence of cellulose nanocrystal particles on the workability, flowability and also mechanical properties of oil well cement paste has been investigated. The cementitious paste developed in this research is composed of water, class G oil well cement, bentonite and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). Bentonite is used as a cross contamination component. Two method of testing were considered to understand the flow behavior of the samples: (1) a mini slump test and (2) a conventional flow table test were utilized to study the flowability of the cementitious paste under gravity and also under applied load (number of blows for the flow table test). Furthermore, the mechanical properties of hardened oil well cement paste dosed with CNC were assessed by performing a compression test on cylindrical specimens. Based on the findings in this study, the addition of CNC led to developing a more viscous cement paste with a reduced spread diameter. Also, by introducing a very small dosage of CNC particles (as an additive), a significant increase in the compressive strength of the oil well cement paste was observed.

Keywords: cellulose nanocrystal, cement workability, mechanical properties, oil well cement

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Authors: Yahya Almurtadha, Mukhtar Ghaleb, Ahmed M. Shamsan Saleh

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The world witnessed a fierce attack from the Covid-19 virus, which affected public life socially, economically, healthily and psychologically. The world's governments tried to confront the pandemic by imposing a number of precautionary measures such as general closure, curfews and social distancing. Scientists have also made strenuous efforts to develop an effective vaccine to train the immune system to develop antibodies to combat the virus, thus reducing its symptoms and limiting its spread. Artificial intelligence, along with researchers and medical authorities, has accelerated the vaccine development process through big data processing and simulation. On the other hand, one of the most important negatives of the impact of Covid 19 was the state of anxiety and fear due to the blowout of rumors through social media, which prompted governments to try to reassure the public with the available means. This study aims to proposed using Sentiment Analysis (AKA Opinion Mining) and deep learning as efficient artificial intelligence techniques to work on retrieving the tweets of the public from Twitter and then analyze it automatically to extract their opinions, expression and feelings, negatively or positively, about the symptoms they may feel after vaccination. Sentiment analysis is characterized by its ability to access what the public post in social media within a record time and at a lower cost than traditional means such as questionnaires and interviews, not to mention the accuracy of the information as it comes from what the public expresses voluntarily.

Keywords: deep learning, opinion mining, natural language processing, sentiment analysis

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Authors: Muhammad Saleem

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Tourism stands as one of the swiftly expanding sectors globally, contributing to 10% of the overall worldwide GDP. It holds a vital role in generating income, fostering employment opportunities, alleviating poverty, facilitating foreign exchange earnings, and advancing intercultural understanding. This industry encompasses a spectrum of activities, encompassing transportation, communication, hospitality, catering, entertainment, and advertising. The objective of this study is to assess the evolution and obstacles encountered by sports tourism in Pakistan. In pursuit of this objective, relevant literature has been scrutinized, while data has been acquired from 60 respondents, employing a simple random sampling approach for analysis. The survey comprised close-ended inquiries directed towards all participants. Analytical tools such as mean, mode, median, graphs, and percentages have been employed for data analysis. The findings revealed through robust analysis, indicate that the mean, mode, and median tools consistently yield results surpassing the 70% mark, underscoring that heightened development within sports tourism significantly augments its progress. Effective governance demonstrates a favorable influence on sports tourism, with increased government-provided safety and security potentially amplifying its expansion, thus attracting a higher number of tourists and consequently propelling the growth of the sports tourism sector. This study holds substantial significance for both academic scholars and industry practitioners within Pakistan's tourism landscape, as previous explorations in this realm have been relatively limited.

Keywords: obstacles-spots, evolution-tourism, sports-pakistan, sports-obstacles-pakistan

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Authors: Yunmi Park, Mahn-Jo Kim

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The purpose of this research is to find out the effect of raising poultry in environment-friendly producing area to fruit quality and crop within chestnut tree yield. This study was conducted on chestnut tree cultivation sites raising poultry at intervals of five to ten days for three years in the mountainous area which was located in the middle corner of Chungcheongbuk-do province, Korea. The quality of chestnut fruit and the control effects of harmful insects have been investigated between the sites raising poultry and control sites for three years. As a result, the harvest yielded were two to five kilograms higher in the chestnut tree cultivation sites raising poultry compared with the control site without poultry. Also, for the purposes of determining the price when selling, the ratio of the biggest fruit is higher by 3% to 14% in the chestnut tree cultivation sites raising poultry. In order to investigate the effects of pest control through raising poultry, the ratio of harmful insect species to treatment sites was relatively low compared to control site. The appreciable result is that the control effect of larvae of the chestnut leaf-cut weevil was higher in the position where raising the poultry of 4 to 5 weeks compared to the position where raising the poultry of 12 weeks. This study found that the spread of poultry in the cultivation of chestnut trees increased the fruit quality by improving the size of fruits and lowering the dosage of harmful insect, chestnut leaf-cut weevil. Also, the eco-friendly chicken produced by these mountainous regions is expected to contribute to enhancing the incomes of the farmers by differentiating themselves from existing products.

Keywords: chestnut tree, environment-friendly, fruit quality, raising poultry

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Authors: Raluca Popescu, Diana Costinel, Elisabeta-Irina Geana, Oana-Romina Botoran, Roxana-Elena Ionete, Yazan Falah Jadee 'Alabedallat, Mihai Botu

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Walnut production is high in Romania, different varieties being cultivated dependent on high yield, disease resistance or quality of produce. Walnuts have a highly nutritional composition, the kernels containing essential fatty acids, where the unsaturated fraction is higher than in other types of nuts, quinones, tannins, minerals. Walnut consumption can lower the cholesterol, improve the arterial function and reduce inflammation. The purpose of this study is to determine and compare the composition of walnuts of indigenous and international varieties all grown in Romania, in order to identify high-quality indigenous varieties. Oil has been extracted from the nuts of 34 varieties, the fatty acids composition and IV (iodine value) being afterwards measured by NMR. Furthermore, δ13C of the extracted oil had been measured by IRMS to find specific isotopic fingerprints that can be used in authenticating the varieties. Chemometrics had been applied to the data in order to identify similarities and differences between the varieties. The total saturated fatty acids content (SFA) varied between n.d. and 23% molar, oleic acid between 17 and 35%, linoleic acid between 38 and 59%, linolenic acid between 8 and 14%, corresponding to iodine values (IV - total amount of unsaturation) ranging from 100 to 135. The varieties separated in four groups according to the fatty acids composition, each group containing an international variety, making possible the classification of the indigenous ones. At both ends of the unsaturation spectrum, international varieties had been found.

Keywords: δ13C-IRMS, fatty acids composition, 1H-NMR, walnut varieties

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Authors: Muhammad Farhan Ul Moazzam, Tamkeen Urooj Paracha, Ghani Rahman, Byung Gul Lee, Nasir Farid, Adnan Arshad

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The novel coronavirus pandemic disease (COVID-19) affected the whole globe, though there is a lack of clinical studies and its epidemiological features. But as per the observation, it has been seen that most of the COVID-19 infected patients show mild to moderate symptoms, and they get better without any medical assistance due to a better immune system to generate antibodies against the novel coronavirus. In this study, the active cases, serious cases, recovered cases, deaths and total confirmed cases had been analyzed using the geospatial inverse distance weightage technique (IDW) within the time span of 2nd March to 3rd June 2020. As of 3rd June, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Italy were 231,238, total deaths 33,310, serious cases 350, recovered cases 158,951, and active cases were 39,177, which has been reported by the Ministry of Health, Italy. March 2nd-June 3rd, 2020 a sum of 231,238 cases has been reported in Italy out of which 38.68% cases reported in the Lombardia region with a death rate of 18%, which is high from its national mortality rate followed by Emilia-Romagna (14.89% deaths), Piemonte (12.68% deaths), and Vento (10% deaths). As per the total cases in the region, the highest number of recoveries has been observed in Umbria (92.52%), followed by Basilicata (87%), Valle d'Aosta (86.85%), and Trento (84.54%). The COVID-19 evolution in Italy has been particularly found in the major urban area, i.e., Rome, Milan, Naples, Bologna, and Florence. Geospatial technology played a vital role in this pandemic by tracking infected patient, active cases, and recovered cases. Geospatial techniques are very important in terms of monitoring and planning to control the pandemic spread in the country.

Keywords: COVID-19, public health, geospatial analysis, IDW, Italy

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Authors: Hutomo Abdurrohman, Muhammad Latief, Waridatun Nida, Ranta Dwi Irawati

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Yogyakarta Kembali Monument (Monjali) is one of the most popular tourist attraction in Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta is known as ‘Student City’, and Monjali is a right place to learn and explore more about Yogyakarta, especially for students in elementary and junior high school to do the study tour. Monjali is located in North Ringroad, Jongkang, Sariharjo village, Ngaglik Subdistrict, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta. Monjali offers many historical replicas, and also the story behind them. That is about the war between Indonesia's fighter, called TNI (Indonesian national army) and the colonizer of Netherlands in Yogyakarta, on March, 1st 1949. That event could open the eyes of the whole of Indonesia, because at that time the TNI was placed by the invaders. This research is an effort to evaluate the visitor's interest in Monjali as a special tourist attraction. The substance that we use in this research is the Monjali's visitors whom up to 17 years old by taking a respondent in every 15 persons who visit Monjali, and we need 200 respondents to know the condition and facilities of Monjali. This research has been collected since January 2017 until October 2017. We do the interview and spread the questionnaire which has been tested all of its validity and reliability. This data analysis is descriptive statistic analysis by using the qualitative data, which is converted into the quantitative data, use the Linkert Scale. The result of this research shows that the interest of Monjali's visitors is higher 75,6%. Based on the result, we know that Monjali is being an attractiveness for people which always experience its improvements and the development. Monjali is the success to be a place which combines the entertainment with its education as a vision of Yogyakarta as a Student City.

Keywords: descriptive statistical analysis, Jogja Kembali monument, Linkert scale, sensation

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Authors: Atinderpal Kaur, Shweta Dang

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Our aim is to develop a nanoemulsion-based delivery system containing polyphenon 60 (P60) and ciprofloxacin (Cipro) for intravaginal delivery to treat urinary tract infection. In the present study Polyphenon 60 (P60) and ciprofloxacin (Cipro) were loaded in a single nano emulsion (NE) system via ultra-sonication technique and characterized for particle size, in vitro release and antibacterial efficacy against Bcl-2 level Escherichia coli bacteria. To determine in vivo pharmacokinetic parameters and intravaginal transportation of NE, gamma scintigraphy and biodistribution study was conducted by radiolabelling NE with technetium pertechnetate (99mTc). The preliminary antibacterial investigation showed synergy between these compounds with FICindex of 0.42. The developed formulation showed zeta potential +55.3 and particle size of 151.7 nm, with PDI of 0.196. The in vitro release percentage of P60 at the end of 7th hours was 94.8 ± 0.9 % whereas the release for Cipro was 75.1± 0.15 % in simulated vaginal media. MBC was identified and the findings demonstrated that in both ESBL (Extended Spectrum β- lactamase) and MBL (Metallo β- lactamase) cultures the P60+Cipro NE showed inhibition of growth of all the isolates at 2 mg/ml dilutions. The percentage per gram of radiolabelled drug was found (3.50±0.26) and (3.81±0.30) in kidney and urinary bladder, respectively at 3 h. From the findings, it was concluded that the developed P60+Cipro NE was transported efficiently throughout the target organs, had long duration of action and high biocompatibility via intravaginal administration as compared to oral administration.

Keywords: ciprofloxacin, gamma scintigraphy, intravaginal drug delivery, Polyphenon 60

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Authors: Abtin Farokhipanah

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In recent years, analysis of structures is based on ductility design in contradictory to strength design in surveying earthquake effects on structures. ASCE07-10 code offers to intensify relative drifts calculated from a linear analysis with Cd which is called (Deflection Amplification Factor) to obtain the real relative drifts which can be calculated using nonlinear analysis. This lateral drift should be limited to the code boundaries. Calculation of this amplification factor for different structures, comparing with ASCE07-10 code and offering the best coefficient are the purposes of this research. Following our target, short and tall building steel structures with various earthquake resistant systems in linear and nonlinear analysis should be surveyed, so these questions will be answered: 1. Does the Response Modification Coefficient (R) have a meaningful relation to Deflection Amplification Factor? 2. Does structure height, seismic zone, response spectrum and similar parameters have an effect on the conversion coefficient of linear analysis to real drift of structure? The procedure has used to conduct this research includes: (a) Study on earthquake resistant systems, (b) Selection of systems and modeling, (c) Analyzing modeled systems using linear and nonlinear methods, (d) Calculating conversion coefficient for each system and (e) Comparing conversion coefficients with the code offered ones and concluding results.

Keywords: ASCE07-10 code, deflection amplification factor, earthquake engineering, lateral displacement of structures, response modification coefficient

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Authors: Eunice S. A. Jeje

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The world over no society is homogeneous therefore, there is the presence of migrants from different places who resides in different places due to certain factors that either attracts them to these places or forced them out of their initial environment. The bottom line is that they moved out of their initial environment to other places for survival, therefore, engage in social cum economic activities to sustain a living which at the same time has enhanced the development and growth of such communities. In the case of Zaria, the Yoruba people are one of the major migrant groups who had moved into Zaria over time. Out of the numerous roles they played in the development of Zaria, the establishment and sustenance of the printing industry are one. Selected Yoruba migrants from the South-west of the country who were skilled in the profession due to stiff competition in their region and the desire to eke out a living had to move into Northern Nigeria to establish printing outlets which have consequently developed to what it is today. The printing industry is one of the avenues to which information and knowledge are disseminated. This is achieved through the publishing of texts, books, Newspapers, Magazines, pamphlets, etc. to convey information to the wider public, in this bid, it leads to the spread of knowledge, ideas, and information. The introduction of printing industry to Nigeria was in the 19th century during the incursion of the missionaries to the West Coast of Africa, but it was not until the colonial period (20th Century) that its presence could be felt in the interior of Nigeria especially in Northern Nigeria and to be specific in Zaria. In essence, the influence of the Yoruba people in the growth and expansion of printing industry in Zaria cannot be over emphasized. It is the thrust of this research to bring to the fore through the use of primary and secondary sources the role and contributions of the Yoruba people in the development of the print industry in Zaria and also showcase the importance of migrants in the development of societies.

Keywords: development, printing industry, Yoruba, Zaria

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Authors: Ahmed ElAzab, Amira M. Idrees, Mahmoud A. Mahmoud, Hesham Hefny

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Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook attracts over 500 million users across the world, for those users, their social life, even their practical life, has become interrelated. Their interaction with social networking has affected their life forever. Accordingly, social networking sites have become among the main channels that are responsible for vast dissemination of different kinds of information during real time events. This popularity in Social networking has led to different problems including the possibility of exposing incorrect information to their users through fake accounts which results to the spread of malicious content during life events. This situation can result to a huge damage in the real world to the society in general including citizens, business entities, and others. In this paper, we present a classification method for detecting fake accounts on Twitter. The study determines the minimized set of the main factors that influence the detection of the fake accounts on Twitter, then the determined factors have been applied using different classification techniques, a comparison of the results for these techniques has been performed and the most accurate algorithm is selected according to the accuracy of the results. The study has been compared with different recent research in the same area, this comparison has proved the accuracy of the proposed study. We claim that this study can be continuously applied on Twitter social network to automatically detect the fake accounts, moreover, the study can be applied on different Social network sites such as Facebook with minor changes according to the nature of the social network which are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: fake accounts detection, classification algorithms, twitter accounts analysis, features based techniques

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Authors: Anna Keuchenius

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Broadly speaking, scientific development is studied in either a qualitative manner with a focus on the behavior and interpretations of academics, such as the sociology of science and science studies or in a quantitative manner with a focus on the analysis of publications, such as scientometrics and bibliometrics. Both come with a different set of methodologies and few cross-references. This paper contributes to the bridging of this divide, by on the on hand approaching the process of scientific progress from a qualitative sociological angle and using on the other hand quantitative and computational techniques. As a case study, we analyze the diffusion of Granovetter's hypothesis from his 1973 paper 'On The Strength of Weak Ties.' A network is constructed of all scientists that have referenced this particular paper, with directed edges to all other researchers that are concurrently referenced with Granovetter's 1973 paper. Studying the structure and growth of this network over time, it is found that Granovetter's hypothesis is used by distinct communities of scientists, each with their own key-narrative into which the hypothesis is fit. The diffusion within the communities shares similarities with the diffusion of an innovation in which innovators, early adopters, and an early-late majority can clearly be distinguished. Furthermore, the network structure shows that each community is clustered around one or few hub scientists that are disproportionately often referenced and seem largely responsible for carrying the hypothesis into their scientific subfield. The larger implication of this case study is that the diffusion of scientific hypotheses and ideas are not the spreading of well-defined objects over a network. Rather, the diffusion is a process in which the object itself dynamically changes in concurrence with its spread. Therefore it is argued that the methodology presented in this paper has potential beyond the scientific domain, in the study of diffusion of other not well-defined objects, such as opinions, behavior, and ideas.

Keywords: diffusion of innovations, network analysis, scientific development, sociology of science

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Authors: George Abu-Aqil, Leah Tsror, Elad Shufan, Shaul Mordechai, Mahmoud Huleihel, Ahmad Salman

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Pectobacterium and Dickeya spp which negatively affect a wide range of crops are the main causes of the aggressive diseases of agricultural crops. These aggressive diseases are responsible for a huge economic loss in agriculture including a severe decrease in the quality of the stored vegetables and fruits. Therefore, it is important to detect these pathogenic bacteria at their early stages of infection to control their spread and consequently reduce the economic losses. In addition, early detection is vital for producing non-infected propagative material for future generations. The currently used molecular techniques for the identification of these bacteria at the strain level are expensive and laborious. Other techniques require a long time of ~48 h for detection. Thus, there is a clear need for rapid, non-expensive, accurate and reliable techniques for early detection of these bacteria. In this study, infrared spectroscopy, which is a well-known technique with all its features, was used for rapid detection of Pectobacterium and Dickeya spp. at the strain level. The bacteria were isolated from potato plants and tubers with soft rot symptoms and measured by infrared spectroscopy. The obtained spectra were analyzed using different machine learning algorithms. The performances of our approach for taxonomic classification among the bacterial samples were evaluated in terms of success rates. The success rates for the correct classification of the genus, species and strain levels were ~100%, 95.2% and 92.6% respectively.

Keywords: soft rot enterobacteriaceae (SRE), pectobacterium, dickeya, plant infections, potato, solanum tuberosum, infrared spectroscopy, machine learning

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Authors: Muhammad Yousaf Ali, Shahid Mansoor, Javeria Qazi, Imran Amin, Musarrat Shaheen

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Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is the major threat to the cotton crop and is transmitted by whitefly (Bemisia tabaci). Since multiple begomoviruses and associated satellites are involved in CLCuD, approaches based on the concept of broad-spectrum resistance are essential for effective disease control. Gro-El and G5 are two proteins from whitefly endosymbiont and M13 bacteriophage origin, respectively. Gro-El encapsulates the virus particle when it enters the whitefly and protects the virus from the immune system of the whitefly as well as prevents viral expression in it. This characteristic of Gro-El can be exploited to get resistance against viruses if expressed in plants. G5 is a single-stranded DNA binding protein, expression of which in transgenic plants will stop viral expression on its binding with ssDNA. The use of tissue-specific promoters is more efficient than constitutive promoters. Transgenics of Nicotiana benthamiana for Gro-El under constitutive promoter and Gro-El under phloem specific promoter were made. In comparison to non-transgenic plants, transgenic plants with Gro-El under NSP promoter showed promising results when challenged against cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMuV) along with cotton leaf curl Multan beta satellite (CLCuMB), cotton leaf curl Khokhran virus (CLCuKoV) along with cotton leaf curl Multan beta satellite (CLCuMB) and Pedilenthus leaf curl virus (PedLCV) along with Tobacco leaf curl beta satellite (TbLCB).

Keywords: cotton leaf curl disease, whitefly, endosymbionts, transgenic, resistance

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Bahram Khan, Anderson Rocha Ramos, Rui R. Paulo, Fernando J. Velez

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With the growing demand for a new blend of applications, the users dependency on the internet is increasing day by day. Mobile internet users are giving more attention to their own experiences, especially in terms of communication reliability, high data rates and service stability on move. This increase in the demand is causing saturation of existing radio frequency bands. To address these challenges, researchers are investigating the best approaches, Carrier Aggregation (CA) is one of the newest innovations, which seems to fulfill the demands of the future spectrum, also CA is one the most important feature for Long Term Evolution - Advanced (LTE-Advanced). For this purpose to get the upcoming International Mobile Telecommunication Advanced (IMT-Advanced) mobile requirements (1 Gb/s peak data rate), the CA scheme is presented by 3GPP, which would sustain a high data rate using widespread frequency bandwidth up to 100 MHz. Technical issues such as aggregation structure, its implementations, deployment scenarios, control signal techniques, and challenges for CA technique in LTE-Advanced, with consideration of backward compatibility, are highlighted in this paper. Also, performance evaluation in macro-cellular scenarios through a simulation approach is presented, which shows the benefits of applying CA, low-complexity multi-band schedulers in service quality, system capacity enhancement and concluded that enhanced multi-band scheduler is less complex than the general multi-band scheduler, which performs better for a cell radius longer than 1800 m (and a PLR threshold of 2%).

Keywords: component carrier, carrier aggregation, LTE-advanced, scheduling

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Harold Mauricio Díaz-Vargas, Cristian Alfonso Jimenez-Castaño, David Augusto Cárdenas-Peña, Guillermo Alberto Ortiz-Gómez, Alvaro Angel Orozco-Gutierrez

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Precise identification of the nerves is a crucial task performed by anesthesiologists for an effective Peripheral Nerve Blocking (PNB). Now, anesthesiologists use ultrasound imaging equipment to guide the PNB and detect nervous structures. However, visual identification of the nerves from ultrasound images is difficult, even for trained specialists, due to artifacts and low contrast. The recent advances in deep learning make neural networks a potential tool for accurate nerve segmentation systems, so addressing the above issues from raw data. The most widely spread U-Net network yields pixel-by-pixel segmentation by encoding the input image and decoding the attained feature vector into a semantic image. This work proposes a conditioning approach and encoder pre-training to enhance the nerve segmentation of traditional U-Nets. Conditioning is achieved by the one-hot encoding of the kind of target nerve a the network input, while the pre-training considers five well-known deep networks for image classification. The proposed approach is tested in a collection of 619 US images, where the best C-UNet architecture yields an 81% Dice coefficient, outperforming the 74% of the best traditional U-Net. Results prove that pre-trained models with the conditional approach outperform their equivalent baseline by supporting learning new features and enriching the discriminant capability of the tested networks.

Keywords: nerve segmentation, U-Net, deep learning, ultrasound imaging, peripheral nerve blocking

Procedia PDF Downloads 86