Search results for: index score

Authors: Seyedmohammad Mousavian, Hanlu Fan, Quingliang Tang

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Climate change is emerging as a severe threat to our society, so businesses are expected to take actions to mitigate carbon emissions. However, the actions to be taken depend on managers’ perceptions of climate change risks. Yet, there is scant research on this issue, and understanding of the determinants of corporate perceptions of climate change is extremely limited. The purpose of this study is to close this gap by examining the relationship between perceptions of climate risk and firm-level and country-level factors. In this study, climate change risk captures physical, regulatory, and other risks, and we use data from European companies that participated in CDP from 2010 to 2017. This study reveals those perceptions of climate change risk are significantly positively associated with the environmental, social, and governance score, firm size, and membership in a carbon-intensive sector. In addition, we find that managers in firms operating in a geographic area that is sensitive to the consequences of global warming are more likely to perceive and formally recognize carbon-related risks in their CDP reports.

Keywords: carbon actions, CDP, climate change risk, risk perception

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Authors: Dim En Nyaung, Thin Lai Lai Thein

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Due to the rapid increase of Internet, web opinion sources dynamically emerge which is useful for both potential customers and product manufacturers for prediction and decision purposes. These are the user generated contents written in natural languages and are unstructured-free-texts scheme. Therefore, opinion mining techniques become popular to automatically process customer reviews for extracting product features and user opinions expressed over them. Since customer reviews may contain both opinionated and factual sentences, a supervised machine learning technique applies for subjectivity classification to improve the mining performance. In this paper, we dedicate our work is the task of opinion summarization. Therefore, product feature and opinion extraction is critical to opinion summarization, because its effectiveness significantly affects the identification of semantic relationships. The polarity and numeric score of all the features are determined by Senti-WordNet Lexicon. The problem of opinion summarization refers how to relate the opinion words with respect to a certain feature. Probabilistic based model of supervised learning will improve the result that is more flexible and effective.

Keywords: opinion mining, opinion summarization, sentiment analysis, text mining

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Authors: Patricia O. Carvalho, Marcia C. F. Messias, Laura Credidio, Carlos A. R. Martinez

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Lipidomic strategy can provide important information regarding cancer pathogenesis mechanisms and could reveal new biomarkers to enable early diagnosis of rectal adenocarcinoma (RAC). This study set out to evaluate lipoperoxidation biomarkers, and lipidomic signature by gas chromatography (GC) and electrospray ionization-qToF-mass spectrometry (ESI-qToF-MS) combined with multivariate data analysis in plasma from 23 RAC patients (early- or advanced-stages cancer) and 18 healthy controls. The most abundant ions identified in the RAC patients were those of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) while those of lisophosphatidylcholine (LPC), identified as LPC (16:1), LPC (18:1) and LPC (18:2), were down-regulated. LPC plasmalogen containing palmitoleic acid (LPC (P-16:1)), with highest VIP score, showed a low tendency in the cancer patients. Malondialdehyde plasma levels were higher in patients with advanced cancer (III/IV stages) than in the early stages groups and the healthy group (p<0.05). No differences in F2-isoprostane levels were observed between these groups. This study shows that the reduction in plasma levels of LPC plasmalogens associated to an increase in MDA levels may indicate increased oxidative stress in these patients and identify the metabolite LPC (P-16:1) as new biomarkers for RAC.

Keywords: biomarkers, lipidomic, plasmalogen, rectal adenocarcinoma

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Authors: I. Majerová, M. Horúcková

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The concept of competitiveness is currently very frequently used term. However, the interpretation of its essence is different. In this paper, one of the many concepts of competitiveness will be analyzed and that is macroeconomic competitiveness, which is understood as a process, which is based on the productivity growth through the growth of key macroeconomic indicators such as standards of living and employment, where all of these variables must have a sustainable basis. Given the competition is a relative quantity it must be constantly compared with the development of competitiveness in other economies or regions. And this comparison method is also used in the article that compares the macro-competitiveness of selected economies of the European Economic Area – the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The aim of the paper is to verify the hypothesis concerning the direct correlation between the size of the economy and its competitiveness.

Keywords: comparison, competitiveness, European economic area, global competitiveness index, immeasurable indicators of competitiveness, macro-competitiveness

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Authors: Vallence Ngabo Maniragaba

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This study aimed at examining the variations of undernutrition among children below 5 years of age in Uganda. The approach of spatial and spatiotemporal analysis helped in identifying cluster patterns, hot spots and emerging hot spots. Data from the 6 Uganda Demographic and Health Surveys spanning from 1990 to 2016 were used with the main outcome variable being undernutrition among children <5 years of age. All data that were relevant to this study were retrieved from the survey datasets and combined with the 214 shape files for the districts of Uganda to enable spatial and spatiotemporal analysis. Spatial maps with the spatial distribution of the prevalence of undernutrition, both in space and time, were generated using ArcGIS Pro version 2.8. Moran’s I, an index of spatial autocorrelation, rules out doubts of spatial randomness in order to identify spatially clustered patterns of hot or cold spot areas. Furthermore, space-time cubes were generated to establish the trend in undernutrition as well as to mirror its variations over time and across Uganda. Moreover, emerging hot spot analysis was done to help identify the patterns of undernutrition over time. The results indicate a heterogeneous distribution of undernutrition across Uganda and the same variations were also evident over time. Moran’s I index confirmed spatial clustered patterns as opposed to random distributions of undernutrition prevalence. Four hot spot areas, namely; the Karamoja, the Sebei, the West Nile and the Toro regions were significantly evident, most of the central parts of Uganda were identified as cold spot clusters, while most of Western Uganda, the Acholi and the Lango regions had no statistically significant spatial patterns by the year 2016. The spatio-temporal analysis identified the Karamoja and Sebei regions as clusters of persistent, consecutive and intensifying hot spots, West Nile region was identified as a sporadic hot spot area while the Toro region was identified with both sporadic and emerging hotspots. In conclusion, undernutrition is a silent pandemic that needs to be handled with both hands. At 31.2 percent, the prevalence is still very high and unpleasant. The distribution across the country is nonuniform with some areas such as the Karamoja, the West Nile, the Sebei and the Toro regions being epicenters of undernutrition in Uganda. Over time, the same areas have experienced and exhibited high undernutrition prevalence. Policymakers, as well as the implementers, should bear in mind the spatial variations across the country and prioritize hot spot areas in order to have efficient, timely and region-specific interventions.

Keywords: undernutrition, spatial autocorrelation, hotspots analysis, geographically weighted regressions, emerging hotspots analysis, under-fives, Uganda

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Authors: Sidharth Talan, Rajlakshmi G. Majumdar

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Problem-solving skill is one the few skills which is constantly endeavored to improve upon by the professionals and academicians around the world in order to sustain themselves in the ever-growing competitive environment. The given paper focuses on evaluating a hypothesized relationship between the problems solving efficiency of an individual with spaced repetitions, conducted with a time interval of one day over a period of two weeks. The paper has utilized uni-variate regression analysis technique to assess the best fit curve that can explain the significant relationship between the given two variables. The paper has incorporated Anagrams solving as the appropriate testing process for the analysis. Since Anagrams solving involves rearranging a jumbled word to form a correct word, it projects to be an efficient process to observe the attention span, visual- motor coordination and the verbal ability of an individual. Based on the analysis for a sample population of 30, it was observed that problem-solving efficiency of an individual, measured in terms of the score in each test was found to be significantly correlated with time period measured in days.

Keywords: Anagrams, histogram plot, moving average curve, spacing effect

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Authors: Yanné Etienne

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The current climatic conditions necessarily impose the development and use of construction materials with low or no carbon footprint. The Far North Region of Cameroon has huge deposits of termite mounds. Various tests in this work have been carried out on these soils with the aim of using them as construction materials. They are mainly geotechnical tests, physical and mechanical tests. The different tests gave the following values: uniformity coefficient (4.95), curvature coefficient (1.80), plasticity index (12.85%), optimum moisture content (6.70%), maximum dry density (2.05 g.cm-³), friction angles (14.07°), and cohesion of 100.29 kN.m2. The results obtained show that termite mound soils, which are ecological materials, are plastic and water-stable can be used for the production of load-bearing elements in construction.

Keywords: termite mound soil, ecological materials, building materials, geotechnical tests, physical and mechanical tests

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Authors: Duangkamol Thitivesa

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This paper focuses on the use of project work as a pretext for applying the conventions of writing, or the correctness of mechanics, usage, and sentence formation, in a content-based class in a Rajabhat University. Its aim was to explore to what extent the student teachers’ academic achievement of the basic writing features against the 70% attainment target after the use of project is. The organization of work around an agreed theme in which the students reproduce language provided by texts and instructors is expected to enhance students’ correct writing conventions. The sample of the study comprised of 38 fourth-year English major students. The data was collected by means of achievement test and student writing works. The scores in the summative achievement test were analyzed by mean score, standard deviation, and percentage. It was found that the student teachers do more achieve of practicing mechanics and usage, and less in sentence formation. The students benefited from the exposure to texts during conducting the project; however, their automaticity of how and when to form phrases and clauses into simple/complex sentences had room for improvement.

Keywords: project-based learning, project work, writing conventions, academic achievement

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Authors: Akanksha Dicholkar, Celin Jacob, Omkar More

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Work force instability, as demonstrated by high rates of staff turnover and lingering vacancy rates, continues to be a major challenge faced by health care organizations. The impact is manifested in workflow inefficiencies, delays in delivering patient care, and dissatisfaction among patients and staff, all of which can have significant negative effects on quality of care and patient safety. In addition, the staggering administrative costs created by a transient work force threaten health care organizations financial viability. One nurse retention strategy is to have newly hired nurses partake in Preceptorship. Precepting is a way to enculturate new employees into their role. Also good professional, collegial relationship between an experienced nurse and a newly hired nurse relations was evidenced. This study demonstrates impact of preceptor program on absconding rate, employee satisfaction & Patient satisfaction. Purpose of study: To decrease absconding rate. Objective: 1. To reduce the high absconding rate among nurses in Aster Medcity (AMC). 2. To facilitate the acclimatization of the newly hired nurse into their role, focusing on professional growth, inter-professional relationships and clinical skills required for the job. Methodology: Descriptive study by Convenience sampling method and collect data by direct observation, questionnaire, interviews. Sample size as per Sample size statistical table at 95 % CI. We conducted a pre and post intervention analysis to assess the impact of Preceptorship at AMC, with a daily occupancy of approx. 300 patients. Result: Preceptor program has had a significant improvement positive impact on all measured parameters. Absconding rate came down from 20% to 0% (P= 0.001). Patient satisfaction scores rose from 85% to 95%. Employee satisfaction rose form 65% to 85%. Conclusion: The project proved that Preceptor Development Programme and the steps taken in hand holding of the new joinees were effective in reducing the absconding rate among nurses and improved the overall satisfaction of new nurses. Preceptee satisfaction with the preceptorship experience was correlated with favorable evaluation of the relationship between the preceptee and preceptor. These findings indicate that when preceptors and preceptees have the benefit of formal preceptorship programs that are well supported, and when the preceptors’ efforts are rewarded, satisfaction is enhanced for both participants, preceptor commitment to the role is reinforced.

Keywords: absconding rate, preceptor, employee satisfaction index, satisfaction index

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Authors: R. J. Kuo, W. C. Cheng, W. C. Lien, T. J. Yang

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Taiwan is a hyper endemic area for the Hepatitis B virus (HBV). The estimated total number of HBsAg carriers in the general population who are more than 20 years old is more than 3 million. Therefore, a case record review is conducted from January 2003 to June 2007 for all patients with a diagnosis of acute hepatitis who were admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) of a well-known teaching hospital. The cost for the use of medical resources is defined as the total medical fee. In this study, principal component analysis (PCA) is firstly employed to reduce the number of dimensions. Support vector regression (SVR) and artificial neural network (ANN) are then used to develop the forecasting model. A total of 117 patients meet the inclusion criteria. 61% patients involved in this study are hepatitis B related. The computational result shows that the proposed PCA-SVR model has superior performance than other compared algorithms. In conclusion, the Child-Pugh score and echogram can both be used to predict the cost of medical resources for patients with acute hepatitis in the ED.

Keywords: acute hepatitis, medical resource cost, artificial neural network, support vector regression

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Authors: Adji Achmad Rinaldo Fernandes

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Path analysis is an analytical technique to study the causal relationship between independent and dependent variables. In this study, the integration of Clusters in the Ward Linkage method was used in a variety of clusters with path analysis. The variables used are character (x₁), capacity (x₂), capital (x₃), collateral (x₄), and condition of economy (x₄) to on time pay (y₂) through the variable willingness to pay (y₁). The purpose of this study was to compare the Ward Linkage method cluster integration in various clusters with path analysis to classify willingness to pay (y₁). The data used are primary data from questionnaires filled out by customers of Bank X, using purposive sampling. The measurement method used is the average score method. The results showed that the Ward linkage method cluster integration with path analysis on 2 clusters is the best method, by comparing the coefficient of determination. Variable character (x₁), capacity (x₂), capital (x₃), collateral (x₄), and condition of economy (x₅) to on time pay (y₂) through willingness to pay (y₁) can be explained by 58.3%, while the remaining 41.7% is explained by variables outside the model.

Keywords: cluster integration, linkage, path analysis, compliant paying behavior

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Authors: Teera Intararuang

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This research aims to study guidelines to developed Sai Temple’ local boat museum to be as cultural tourism attraction and explored villagers requirement in term of type and format of interpretation which they want to promote their cultural tourism for Sai Temple, Kradangnga sub-district, Bang Khon Tee district, Samut Songkhram province. However, this article will explores only the requirement of type and format of interpretation which 40 villagers of Ruam Sai Pattana 789 purposed to promote Sai temple. The procedures are In-depth Interview, Observation, Focus Group by discussing ideas. After that the information received is synthesized and analyzed. From research result, it is revealed that the local community’ requirement on types and format of interpretation as brochure with up to date, faithfully and formally content to present Sai Temple which got the most demand score (3.82) considered as most wanted demand.

Keywords: museum, boat museum, cultural tourism, interpretation, brochure, Bangkhontee district, Samut Songkhram province

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Authors: Jheanel E. Estrada, Larry A. Vea

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This study developed model to detect proper/improper sitting posture using the built in web camera which detects the upper body points’ location and distances (chin, manubrium and acromion process). It also established relationships of human body frames and proper sitting posture. The models were developed by training some well-known classifiers such as KNN, SVM, MLP, and Decision Tree using the data collected from 60 students of different body frames. Decision Tree classifier demonstrated the most promising model performance with an accuracy of 95.35% and a kappa of 0.907 for head and shoulder posture. Results also showed that there were relationships between body frame and posture through Body Mass Index.

Keywords: posture, spinal points, gyroscope, image processing, ergonomics

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Authors: Mustopa, Setyawan Wahyu Pradana

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This study aims to determine the application of animal welfare in Madura cow racing competition at Sumenep district, Madura Island. This study conducted by survey and discussion methods with 3 Madura cow owners in the competition. The animal welfare is going to be proved by observing the condition of the cage, the cleanliness of it, feeding and water, the health of the cow, also owner treatments for their Madura cow that will be served as a racer. Observations made using stable conditions ACRES form with assessment scores ranged from 1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 = regular, 4 = good and 5 = very good, animal welfare conditions seen by conducting observations and interviews with Madura cow owners. The result shows that the Madura cow competition has fulfilled the criteria of animal welfare application. Application of animal welfare principle by the owner of Madura cow terms of ACRES (Animal Concerns Research and Education Society) below standard, the average score obtained was 2.06, which is mean in a poor ratings. Besides considering the animal welfare application, Madura cow owners also do special treatments for their Madura cow with purpose to produce racers that are healthy and fast. Therefore, if the cow wins in Madura cow racing competition, it will purchase a high-value price.

Keywords: animal welfare, competition, Madura cow, racing

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Authors: Shankha Pratim Bhattacharya

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In general building repair and renovation projects are minor in nature. It requires less attention as the primary cost involvement is relatively small. Although the building repair and maintenance projects look simple, it involves much complexity during execution. Many of the present research indicate that few uncertain situations are usually linked with maintenance projects. Those may not be read properly in the planning stage of the projects, and finally, lead to time overrun. Building repair and maintenance become essential and periodical after commissioning of the building. In Institutional buildings, the regular maintenance projects also include addition –alteration, modification activities. Increase in the student admission, new departments, and sections, new laboratories and workshops, up gradation of existing laboratories are very common in the institutional buildings in the developing nations like India. The project becomes very critical because it undergoes space problem, architectural design issues, structural modification, etc. One of the prime factors in the institutional building maintenance and modification project is the time constraint. Mostly it required being executed a specific non-work time period. The present research considered only the institutional buildings of the Eastern part of India to analyse the repair and maintenance project delay. A general survey was conducted among the technical institutes to find the causes and corresponding nature of construction delay factors. Five technical institutes are considered in the present study with repair, renovation, modification and extension type of projects. Construction delay factors are categorically subdivided into four groups namely, material, manpower (works), Contract and Site. The survey data are collected for the nature of delay responsible for a specific project and the absolute amount of delay through proposed and actual duration of work. In the first stage of the paper, a relative importance index (RII) is proposed for the delay factors. The occurrence of the delay factors is also judged by its frequency-severity nature. Finally, the delay factors are then rated and linked with the type of work. In the second stage, a regression analysis is executed to establish an empirical relationship between the actual time of a project and the percentage of delay. It also indicates the impact of the factors for delay responsibility. Ultimately, the present paper makes an effort to identify the critical delay factors for the repair and renovation type project in the Eastern Indian Institutional building.

Keywords: delay factor, institutional building, maintenance, relative importance index, regression analysis, repair

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Authors: Agnieszka H. Ludwig-Slomczynska, Michal T. Seweryn, Przemyslaw Kapusta, Ewelina Pitera, Katarzyna Cyganek, Urszula Mantaj, Lucja Dobrucka, Ewa Wender-Ozegowska, Maciej T. Malecki, Pawel Wolkow

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Obesity results from an imbalance between energy intake and its expenditure. Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) analyses have led to discovery of only about 100 variants influencing body mass index (BMI), which explain only a small portion of genetic variability. Analysis of gene epistasis gives a chance to discover another part. Since it was shown that interaction and communication between nuclear and mitochondrial genome are indispensable for normal cell function, we have looked for epistatic interactions between the two genomes to find their correlation with BMI. Methods: The analysis was performed on 366 T1DM patients using Illumina Infinium OmniExpressExome-8 chip and followed by imputation on Michigan Imputation Server. Only genes which influence mitochondrial functioning (listed in Human MitoCarta 2.0) were included in the analysis – variants of nuclear origin (MAF > 5%) in 1140 genes and 42 mitochondrial variants (MAF > 1%). Gene expression analysis was performed on GTex data. Association analysis between genetic variants and BMI was performed with the use of Linear Mixed Models as implemented in the package 'GENESIS' in R. Analysis of association between mRNA expression and BMI was performed with the use of linear models and standard significance tests in R. Results: Among variants involved in epistasis between mitochondria and nucleus we have identified one in mitochondrial transcription factor, TFB2M (rs6701836). It interacted with mitochondrial variants localized to MT-RNR1 (p=0.0004, MAF=15%), MT-ND2 (p=0.07, MAF=5%) and MT-ND4 (p=0.01, MAF=1.1%). Analysis of the interaction between nuclear variant rs6701836 (nuc) and rs3021088 localized to MT-ND2 mitochondrial gene (mito) has shown that the combination of the two led to BMI decrease (p=0.024). Each of the variants on its own does not correlate with higher BMI [p(nuc)=0.856, p(mito)=0.116)]. Although rs6701836 is intronic, it influences gene expression in the thyroid (p=0.000037). rs3021088 is a missense variant that leads to alanine to threonine substitution in the MT-ND2 gene which belongs to complex I of the electron transport chain. The analysis of the influence of genetic variants on gene expression has confirmed the trend explained above – the interaction of the two genes leads to BMI decrease (p=0.0308). Each of the mRNAs on its own is associated with higher BMI (p(mito)=0.0244 and p(nuc)=0.0269). Conclusıons: Our results show that nuclear-mitochondrial epistasis can influence BMI in T1DM patients. The correlation between transcription factor expression and mitochondrial genetic variants will be subject to further analysis.

Keywords: body mass index, epistasis, mitochondria, type 1 diabetes

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Authors: Jahangir Alam, Ayman El Sabagh, Kamrul Hasan, Shafiqul Islam Sikdar, Celaleddin Barutçular, Sohidul Islam

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The experiment (Germination test and seedling growth) was carried out at the laboratory of Agronomy Department, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU), Dinajpur, Bangladesh during January 2014. Germination and seedling growth of 22 existing wheat genotypes in Bangladesh viz. Kheri, Kalyansona, Sonora, Sonalika, Pavon, Kanchan, Akbar, Barkat, Aghrani, Prativa, Sourab, Gourab, Shatabdi, Sufi, Bijoy, Prodip, BARI Gom 25, BARI Gom 26, BARI Gom 27, BARI Gom 28, Durum and Triticale were tested with three salinity levels (0, 100 and 200 mM NaCl) for 10 days in sand culture in small plastic pot. Speed of germination as expressed by germination percentage (GP), rate of germination (GR), germination coefficient (GC) and germination vigor index (GVI) of all wheat genotypes was delayed and germination percentage was reduced due to salinization compared to control. The lower reduction of GP, GR, GC and VI due to salinity was observed in BARI Gom 25, BARI Gom 27, Shatabdi, Sonora, and Akbbar and higher reduction was recorded in BARI Gom 26, Duram, Triticale, Sufi and Kheri. Shoot and root lengths, fresh and dry weights were found to be affected due to salinization and shoot was more affected than root. Under saline conditions, longer shoot and root length were recorded in BARI Gom 25, BARI Gom 27, Akbar, and Shatabdi, i.e. less reduction of shoot and root lengths was observed while, BARI Gom 26, Duram, Prodip and Triticale produced shorted shoot and root lengths. In this study, genotypes BARI Gom 25, BARI Gom 27, Shatabdi, Sonora and Aghrani showed better performance in terms shoot and root growth (fresh and dry weights) and proved to be tolerant genotypes to salinity. On the other hand, Duram, BARI Gom 26, Triticale, Kheri and Prodip affected seriously in terms of fresh and dry weights by the saline environment. BARI Gom 25, BARI Gom 27, Shatabdi, Sonora and Aghrani showed more salt tolerance index (STI) based on shoot dry weight while, BARI Gom 26, Triticale, Durum, Sufi, Prodip and Kalyanson demonstrate lower STI value under saline conditions. Based on the most salt tolerance and susceptible trait, genotypes under 100 and 200 mM NaCl stresses can be arranged as salt tolerance genotypes: BARI Gom 25> BARI Gom 27> Shatabdi> Sonora, and salt susceptible genotypes: BARI Gom 26> Durum> Triticale> Prodip> Sufi> Kheri. Considering the experiment, it can be concluded that the BARI Gom 25 may be treated as the most salt tolerant and BARI Gom 26 as the most salt sensitive genotypes in Bangladesh.

Keywords: genotypes, germination, salinity, wheat

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Authors: Mustafa Metin Donma, Orkide Donma

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Obesity in children particularly draws attention because it may threaten the individual’s future life due to many chronic diseases it may lead to. Most of these diseases, including obesity itself altogether are related to inflammation. For this reason, inflammation-related parameters gain importance. Within this context, complete blood cell counts, ratios or indices derived from these counts have recently found some platform to be used as inflammatory markers. So far, mostly adipokines were investigated within the field of obesity. The liver is at the center of the metabolic pathways network. Metabolic inflammation is closely associated with cellular dysfunction. In this study, hematologic inflammatory markers and two major hepatokines, cytokines produced predominantly by the liver, fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) and fetuin A were investigated in pediatric obesity. Two groups were constituted from seventy-six obese children based on World Health Organization criteria. Group 1 was composed of children whose age- and sex-adjusted body mass index (BMI) percentiles were between 95 and 99. Group 2 consists of children who are above the 99ᵗʰ percentile. The first and the latter groups were defined as obese (OB) and morbid obese (MO). Anthropometric measurements of the children were performed. Informed consent forms and the approval of the institutional ethics committee were obtained. Blood cell counts and ratios were determined by an automated hematology analyzer. The related ratios and indexes were calculated. Statistical evaluation of the data was performed by the SPSS program. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of neutrophil-to lymphocyte ratio, monocyte-to-high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio between the groups. Mean platelet volume and platelet distribution width values were decreased (p<0.05), total platelet count, red cell distribution width (RDW) and systemic immune inflammation index values were increased (p<0.01) in MO group. Both hepatokines were increased in the same group; however, increases were not statistically significant. In this group, also a strong correlation was calculated between FGF-21 and RDW when controlled by age, hematocrit, iron and ferritin (r=0.425; p<0.01). In conclusion, the association between RDW, a hematologic inflammatory marker, and FGF-21, an inflammation-related hepatokine, found in MO group is an important finding discriminating between OB and MO children. This association is even more powerful when controlled by age and iron-related parameters.

Keywords: childhood obesity, fetuin A , fibroblast growth factor-21, hematologic markers, red cell distribution width

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Authors: Suman Bala, Sunil Kamboj, Vipin Saini

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Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) analysis has been developed to relate antifungal activity of novel substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazole against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger using computer assisted multiple regression analysis. The study has shown the better relationship between antifungal activities with respect to various descriptors established by multiple regression analysis. The analysis has shown statistically significant correlation with R² values 0.932 and 0.782 against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger respectively. These derivatives were further subjected to molecular docking studies to investigate the interactions between the target compounds and amino acid residues present in the active site of glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase. All the synthesized compounds have better docking score as compared to standard fluconazole. Our results could be used for the further design as well as development of optimal and potential antifungal agents.

Keywords: 1, 3, 4-oxadiazole, QSAR, multiple linear regression, docking, glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase

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Authors: Bo Liu, Qingshan Kong, Weiqing Huang

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With the rapid development of modern communication, diagnosing the fiber-optic quality and faults in real-time is widely focused. In this paper, a Labview-based system is proposed for fiber-optic faults detection. The wavelet threshold denoising method combined with Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) is applied to denoise the optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) signal. Then the method based on Gabor representation is used to detect events. Experimental measurements show that signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the OTDR signal is improved by 1.34dB on average, compared with using the wavelet threshold denosing method. The proposed system has a high score in event detection capability and accuracy. The maximum detectable fiber length of the proposed Labview-based system can be 65km.

Keywords: empirical mode decomposition, events detection, Gabor transform, optical time domain reflectometer, wavelet threshold denoising

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Authors: Yousif M. Makeen

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This research will address the processes of geochemical characterization and hydrocarbon generation process occurring within hydrocarbon source and/or reservoir rocks. The geochemical characterization includes organic-inorganic associations that influence the storage capacity of unconventional hydrocarbon resources (e.g. shale gas) and the migration process of oil/gas of the petroleum source/reservoir rocks. Kerogen i.e. the precursor of petroleum, occurs in various forms and types, may either be oil-prone, gas-prone, or both. China has a number of petroleum-bearing sedimentary basins commonly associated with shale gas, oil sands, and oil shale. Taken Sichuan basin as a selected basin in this study, the Sichuan basin has recorded notable successful discoveries of shale gas especially in the marine shale reservoirs within the area. However, a notable discoveries of lacustrine shale in the North-Este Fuling area indicate the accumulation of shale gas within non-marine source rock. The objective of this study is to evaluate the hydrocarbon storage capacity, generation, and retention processes in the rock matrix of hydrocarbon source/reservoir rocks within the Sichuan basin using an advanced X-ray tomography 3D imaging computational technology, commonly referred to as Micro-CT, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), optical microscope as well as organic geochemical facilities (e.g. vitrinite reflectance and UV light). The preliminary results of this study show that the lacustrine shales under investigation are acting as both source and reservoir rocks, which are characterized by very fine grains and very low permeability and porosity. Three pore structures have also been characterized in the study in the lacustrine shales, including organic matter pores, interparticle pores and intraparticle pores using x-ray Computed Tomography (CT). The benefits of this study would be a more successful oil and gas exploration and higher recovery factor, thus having a direct economic impact on China and the surrounding region. Methodologies: SRA TOC/TPH or Rock-Eval technique will be used to determine the source rock richness (S1 and S2) and Tmax. TOC analysis will be carried out using a multi N/C 3100 analyzer. The SRA and TOC results were used in calculating other parameters such as hydrogen index (HI) and production index (PI). This analysis will indicate the quantity of the organic matter. Minimum TOC limits generally accepted as essential for a source-rock are 0.5% for shales and 0.2% for carbonates. Contributions: This research could solve issues related to oil potential, provide targets, and serve as a pathfinder to future exploration activity in the Sichuan basin.

Keywords: shale gas, unconventional resources, organic chemistry, Sichuan basin

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Authors: Anamika Paul, Sudipto Sarkar

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The flow behaviour of non-Newtonian fluid is quite complicated, although both the pseudoplastic (n < 1, n being the power index) and dilatant (n > 1) fluids under this category are used immensely in chemical and process industries. A limited research work is carried out for flow over a bluff body in non-Newtonian flow environment. In the present numerical simulation we control the vortices of a square cylinder by placing an upstream vertical splitter plate for pseudoplastic (n=0.8), Newtonian (n=1) and dilatant (n=1.2) fluids. The position of the upstream plate is also varied to calculate the critical distance between the plate and cylinder, below which the cylinder vortex shedding suppresses. Here the Reynolds number is considered as Re = 150 (Re = U∞a/ν, where U∞ is the free-stream velocity of the flow, a is the side of the cylinder and ν is the maximum value of kinematic viscosity of the fluid), which comes under laminar periodic vortex shedding regime. The vertical plate is having a dimension of 0.5a × 0.05a and it is placed at the cylinder centre-line. Gambit 2.2.30 is used to construct the flow domain and to impose the boundary conditions. In detail, we imposed velocity inlet (u = U∞), pressure outlet (Neumann condition), symmetry (free-slip boundary condition) at upper and lower domain. Wall boundary condition (u = v = 0) is considered both on the cylinder and the splitter plate surfaces. The unsteady 2-D Navier Stokes equations in fully conservative form are then discretized in second-order spatial and first-order temporal form. These discretized equations are then solved by Ansys Fluent 14.5 implementing SIMPLE algorithm written in finite volume method. Here, fine meshing is used surrounding the plate and cylinder. Away from the cylinder, the grids are slowly stretched out in all directions. To get an account of mesh quality, a total of 297 × 208 grid points are used for G/a = 3 (G being the gap between the plate and cylinder) in the streamwise and flow-normal directions respectively after a grid independent study. The computed mean flow quantities obtained from Newtonian flow are agreed well with the available literatures. The results are depicted with the help of instantaneous and time-averaged flow fields. Qualitative and quantitative noteworthy differences are obtained in the flow field with the changes in rheology of fluid. Also, aerodynamic forces and vortex shedding frequencies differ with the gap-ratio and power index of the fluid. We can conclude from the present simulation that fluent is capable to capture the vortex dynamics of unsteady laminar flow regime even in the non-Newtonian flow environment.

Keywords: CFD, critical gap-ratio, splitter plate, wake-wake interactions, dilatant, pseudoplastic

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Authors: Ahmed W. Oda, Ahmed El-Desouky, Hassan Mahdy, Osama M. Moussa

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Nanomaterials have many applications in the field of asphalt paving. Two locally produced nanomaterials were used in the asphalt binder modification. The nanomaterials used are Nanosilica (NS), and Nanoclay (NC). The virgin asphalt binder was characterized by the conventional tests. The bitumen was modified by 3%, 5% and 7% of NS and NC. The penetration index(PI), and the retaining penetration (RP) was calculated based on the results of the penetration and the softening point tests. The results show that the RP becomes 95.35% at 5%NS modified bitumen and reaches 97.56% when bitumen is modified with 3% NC. The results show significant improvement in the bitumen stiffness when modified by the two types of nanomaterials, either fresh or aged (stored).

Keywords: bitumen, modified bitumen, aged, stored, nanomaterials

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Authors: Jamie L. Stangel

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Increased popularity and visibility of college athletics have contributed to an environment in which institutions -most of which lack self-sufficient athletics department budgets- reallocate monies from the university general fund and seek additional funding sources to keep up with increasing levels of spending on athletics. Given the prevalence of debates on student debt levels, coach salaries, and athlete pay, empirical evidence on whether this spending yields an expected return on investment is necessary. This study considered the relationship between the independent variable of the winning percentage of the men’s basketball team at a mid-major university, moderated by NCAA tournament appearance, number of applicants, number of enrollments, average SAT score of students, and donor giving to the university general and athletic funds. The results indicate that, other than a small correlation between athletic success and number of applicants, only when NCAA tournament appearance is used as a moderating variable, these purported benefits are not supported, suggesting the need for a reevaluation of athletic department spending and perceptions on tangible and intangible benefits for universities.

Keywords: athletic success, enrollment, NCAA, private giving

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Authors: R. Ravisankar, Tholkappian A. Chandrasekaran, Y. Raghu, K. K. Satapathy, M. V. R. Prasad, K. V. Kanagasabapathy

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The coastal areas of Tamilnadu are assuming greater importance owing to increasing human population, urbanization and accelerated industrial activities. sIn the present study, sediment samples are collected along the east coast of Tamilnadu for assessment of heavy metal pollution. The concentration of 13 selected heavy metals such as Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni and Zn determined by Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) technique. In order to describe the pollution status, Contamination factor and pollution load index are calculated and reported. This result suggests that sources of metal contamination were mainly attributed to natural inputs from surrounding environments.

Keywords: sediments, heavy metals, EDXRF, pollution contamination factors

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Authors: Izza Hidaya, Korichi Mourad

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Solvent extraction is an affective method for reduction of aromatic content of lube oil. Frequently with phenol, furfural, NMP(N-methyl pyrrolidone). The solvent power and selectivity can be further increased by using surfactant as additive which facilitate phase separation and to increase raffinate yield. The aromatics in lube oil were extracted at different temperatures (ranging from 333.15 to 343.15K) and different concentration of surfactant (ranging from 0.01 to 0.1% wt).The extraction temperature and the amount of sulfate lauryl éther de sodium In phenoll were investigated systematically in order to determine their optimum values. The amounts of aromatic, paraffinic and naphthenic compounds were determined using ASTM standards by measuring refractive index (RI), viscosity, molecular weight and sulfur content. It was found that using 0,01%wt. surfactant at 343.15K yields the optimum extraction conditions.

Keywords: extraction, lubricating oil, aromatics, hydrocarbons

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Authors: Mouhamed Mbouandi Njikam

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This work assesses the trade potential of countries in the Economic Community of Central Africa States (ECCAS). The gravity model of trade is used to evaluate the trade flows of member countries, and to compute the trade potential index of ECCAS during 1995-2010. The focus is on the removal of tariffs and non-tariff barriers in the sub-region. Estimates from the gravity model are used for the calculation of the sub-region’s commercial potential. Its three main findings are: (i) the background research shows a low level of integration in the sub-region and open economies; (ii) a low level of industrialization and diversification are the main factors reducing trade potential in the sub-region; (iii) the trade creation predominate on the deflections of trade between member countries.

Keywords: gravity model, ECCAS, trade flows, trade potential, regional cooperation

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Authors: Pomozova Kseniia, Gorlachev Gennadiy, Chernyaev Aleksandr, Golanov Andrey

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In clinical practice, and especially in stereotactic radiosurgery planning, the significance of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is growing. This makes the existence of software capable of quickly processing and reliably visualizing diffusion data, as well as equipped with tools for their analysis in terms of different tasks. We are developing the «MRDiffusionImaging» software on the standard C++ language. The subject part has been moved to separate class libraries and can be used on various platforms. The user interface is Windows WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), which is a technology for managing Windows applications with access to all components of the .NET 5 or .NET Framework platform ecosystem. One of the important features is the use of a declarative markup language, XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language), with which you can conveniently create, initialize and set properties of objects with hierarchical relationships. Graphics are generated using the DirectX environment. The MRDiffusionImaging software package has been implemented for processing diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI), which allows loading and viewing images sorted by series. An algorithm for "masking" dMRI series based on T2-weighted images was developed using a deformable surface model to exclude tissues that are not related to the area of interest from the analysis. An algorithm of distortion correction using deformable image registration based on autocorrelation of local structure has been developed. Maximum voxel dimension was 1,03 ± 0,12 mm. In an elementary brain's volume, the diffusion tensor is geometrically interpreted using an ellipsoid, which is an isosurface of the probability density of a molecule's diffusion. For the first time, non-parametric intensity distributions, neighborhood correlations, and inhomogeneities are combined in one segmentation of white matter (WM), grey matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) algorithm. A tool for calculating the coefficient of average diffusion and fractional anisotropy has been created, on the basis of which it is possible to build quantitative maps for solving various clinical problems. Functionality has been created that allows clustering and segmenting images to individualize the clinical volume of radiation treatment and further assess the response (Median Dice Score = 0.963 ± 0,137). White matter tracts of the brain were visualized using two algorithms: deterministic (fiber assignment by continuous tracking) and probabilistic using the Hough transform. The proposed algorithms test candidate curves in the voxel, assigning to each one a score computed from the diffusion data, and then selects the curves with the highest scores as the potential anatomical connections. White matter fibers were visualized using a Hough transform tractography algorithm. In the context of functional radiosurgery, it is possible to reduce the irradiation volume of the internal capsule receiving 12 Gy from 0,402 cc to 0,254 cc. The «MRDiffusionImaging» will improve the efficiency and accuracy of diagnostics and stereotactic radiotherapy of intracranial pathology. We develop software with integrated, intuitive support for processing, analysis, and inclusion in the process of radiotherapy planning and evaluating its results.

Keywords: diffusion-weighted imaging, medical imaging, stereotactic radiosurgery, tractography

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Authors: Okanlawon Simon Ayorinde, Odunjo Oluronke Omolola, Fadamiro Joseph Akinlabi, Adedibu Afolabi Adebgite

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A road is a path established over land, especially prepared way between places for the use of pedestrian, riders, and vehicles: a hard surface built for vehicles to travel on. The social, economic and health importance of roads in any community and nation cannot be underestimated. Roads provide access to properties and they also provide mobility which is ability to transport goods and services from one place to another. In the residential zones of many indigenous cities in Nigeria, roads are usually blocked for social ceremonies. Road blocked for ceremonies as used in this study are a temporary barrier across a road, used to stop or hinder traffic from passing through to the other side. Social ceremonies that could warrant road blockage include marriage, child naming, funeral, celebration of life’s achievement, birthday anniversary etc. These activities are likely to generate environmental hazards and their attendant risks. The assessment of these hazards and risks in residential zones of indigenous cities in Nigeria becomes imperative. The study is focused on Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. The town has two local government councils namely Ogbomoso North and Ogbomoso South. Urban tracts that are easy to identify are political wards in the absence of land use segregation, houses numbering and street naming. The wards that had residential having a minimum of 60% of their land use components were surveyed and fifteen out of twenty wards identified in the town were surveyed. The study utilized primary data collected through questionnaire administration The three major road categories (Trunk A-Federal; Trunk B- State; Trunk C-Local) were identified and trunk C-Local roads were purposively selected being the concern of this study because they are the ones often blocked for social activities. The major stakeholders interviewed and the respective sampling methods are residents (random and systematic), social ceremony organizers (purposive), government officials (purposive) and road users namely commercial motorists and commercial motor cyclists (random and incidental). Data analysis was mainly descriptive. Two indices to measure respondents’ perception were developed. These are ‘Hazard Severity Index’ (HSI) and ‘Relative Awareness Index’ (RAI).Thereafter, policy implications and recommendations were provided.

Keywords: road, residential zones, indigenous cities, blocked, social ceremonies

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Authors: Lei Ye, Min Liu, Yong-Li Gao, Jun Zhang

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Purpose: The aims of the study are to investigate the status of health-promoting lifestyle and to compare the healthy lifestyle of emergency nurses in different levels of hospitals in Sichuan province, China. The investigation is mainly about the health-promoting lifestyle, including spiritual growth, health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, interpersonal relations, stress management. Then the factors were analyzed influencing the health-promoting lifestyle of emergency nurses in hospitals of Sichuan province in order to find the relevant models to provide reference evidence for intervention. Study Design: A cross-sectional research method was adopted. Stratified cluster sampling, based on geographical location, was used to select the health facilities of 1389 emergency nurses in 54 hospitals from Sichuan province in China. Method: The 52-item, six-factor structure Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP- II) instrument was used to explore participants’ self-reported health-promoting behaviors and measure the dimensions of health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, interpersonal relations, spiritual growth, and stress management. Demographic characteristics, education, work duration, emergency nursing work duration and self-rated health status were documented. Analysis: Data were analyzed through SPSS software ver. 17.0. Frequency, percentage, mean ± standard deviation were used to describe the general information, while the Nonparametric Test was used to compare the constituent ratio of general data of different hospitals. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the scores of health-promoting lifestyle in different levels hospital. A multiple linear regression model was established. P values which were less than 0.05 determined statistical significance in all analyses. Result: The survey showed that the total score of health-promoting lifestyle of nurses at emergency departments in Sichuan Province was 120.49 ± 21.280. The relevant dimensions are ranked by scores in descending order: interpersonal relations, nutrition, health responsibility, physical activity, stress management, spiritual growth. The total scores of the three-A hospital were the highest (121.63 ± 0.724), followed by the senior class hospital (119.7 ± 1.362) and three-B hospital (117.80 ± 1.255). The difference was statistically significant (P=0.024). The general data of nurses was used as the independent variable which includes age, gender, marital status, living conditions, nursing income, hospital level, Length of Service in nursing, Length of Service in emergency, Professional Title, education background, and the average number of night shifts. The total score of health-promoting lifestyle was used as dependent variable; Multiple linear regression analysis method was adopted to establish the regression model. The regression equation F = 20.728, R2 = 0.061, P < 0.05, the age, gender, nursing income, turnover intention and status of coping stress affect the health-promoting lifestyle of nurses in emergency department, the result was statistically significant (P < 0.05 ). Conclusion: The results of the investigation indicate that it will help to develop health promoting interventions for emergency nurses in all levels of hospital in Sichuan Province through further research. Managers need to pay more attention to emergency nurses’ exercise, stress management, self-realization, and conduct intervention in nurse training programs.

Keywords: emergency nurse, health-promoting lifestyle profile II, health behaviors, lifestyle

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