Search results for: block works

Authors: Sachi Matsuoka

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This study aimed at implicating a current community health in South India focusing on a Vaidya, a non-codified traditional doctor, based on long-term field works. As the prevalence of colonic diseases is increasing in all over the world, it is needed to know the potential of non-codified medicines and how they can effectively take in a part in community health. Describing the people’s treatment seeking behaviours in a suburban village which is susceptible to modernization can give us a new insight for studying Indian medicines, that is included not only non-codified but also codified traditional ones, affected by global, national and local communities. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered via participatory fieldworks and open-ended interviews to a Vaidya and his 97 patients and 31 individuals who lived in a community near the Vaidya’s station. It was found that the community members seldom consulted the Vaidya while a number of patients outside the village (mainly from urban nearby area) daily visited the Vaidya. Thus, the role of the Vaidya as the community’ s primary health care provider had nearly disappeared. Nonetheless, the Vaidya was deeply respected as one of the community’ s leaders by its members because of the spiritual and financial support he provided to them. The reasons for choosing the Vaidya for the patients from urban area are characterized by several social factors of the patients such as their religious belief, seriousness, occupation and medical history. Meanwhile, not only the Vaidya but also other codified traditional medicines, e.g., Ayurveda, were less popular among the community members. It sounds paradoxical given that the traditional Indian medical system has been becoming popular as an alternative medicine in societies outside of India, such as in Europe. The community members who are less educated and engaged in religious activities in daily life preferred to allopathy, the biomedicine in Indian context. It is thus concluded that roles of non-codified medicine has changed depending on its cultural and social contexts, even though its medical system is not authorized by the government. Nowadays, traditional medical effectiveness is recognized as evidenced by scientific survey and the codified medical doctors treats diseases rather than people. However, this study implicated that people’s treatment seeking behaviors are likely based on the social context in which people live their lives even though evidenced based codified medicine is provided in their community.

Keywords: medical pluralism, non-codified medicine, south india, treatment-seeking behaviours

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Authors: Wusu Conteh

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Since the 1990s, neo-liberalization has become a global agenda. The free market ushered in an unprecedented drive by Multinational Corporations (MNCs) to secure mineral rights in resource-rich countries. Several governments in the Global South implemented a liberalized mining policy with support from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). MNCs have maintained that voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has engendered socio-economic development in mining-affected communities. However, most resource-rich countries are struggling to transform the resources into sustainable socio-economic development. They are trapped in what has been widely described as the ‘resource curse.’ In an attempt to address this resource conundrum, the African Mining Vision (AMV) of 2009 developed a model on resource governance. The advent of the AMV has engendered the introduction of mandatory community development agreement (CDA) into the legal framework of many countries in Africa. In 2009, Sierra Leone enacted the Mines and Minerals Act that obligates mining companies to invest in Primary Host Communities. The study employs interviews and field observation techniques to explicate the dynamics of the CDA program. A total of 25 respondents -government officials, NGOs/CSOs and community stakeholders were interviewed. The study focuses on a case study of the Sierra Rutile CDA program in Sierra Leone. Extant scholarly works have extensively explored the resource curse and voluntary CSR. There are limited studies to uncover the mandatory CDA and its impact on socio-economic development in mining-affected communities. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explicate the impact of the CDA in Sierra Leone. Using the theory of change helps to understand how the availability of mandatory funds can empower communities to take an active part in decision making related to the development of the communities. The results show that the CDA has engendered a predictable fund for community development. It has also empowered ordinary members of the community to determine the development program. However, the CDA has created a new ground for contestations between the pre-existing local governance structure (traditional authority) and the newly created community development committee (CDC) that is headed by an ordinary member of the community.

Keywords: community development agreement, impact, mandatory, participation

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Authors: Xinghui Wu, Chun Yang

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Inertial microfluidics is a competitive fluidic method with applications in separation of particles, cells and bacteria. In contrast to traditional microfluidic devices with low Reynolds number, inertial microfluidics works in the intermediate Re number range which brings about several intriguing inertial effects on particle separation/focusing to meet the throughput requirement in the real-world. Geometric modifications to make channels become irregular shapes can leverage fluid inertia to create complex secondary flow for adjusting the particle equilibrium positions and thus enhance the separation resolution and throughput. Although inertial microfluidics has been extensively studied by experiments, our current understanding of its mechanisms is poor, making it extremely difficult to build rational-design guidelines for the particle focusing locations, especially for irregularly shaped microfluidic channels. Inertial particle microfluidics in irregularly shaped channels were investigated in our group. There are several fundamental issues that require us to address. One of them is about the balance between the inertial lift forces and the secondary drag forces. Also, it is critical to quantitatively describe the dependence of the life forces on particle-particle interactions in irregularly shaped channels, such as a rectangular one. To provide physical insights into the inertial microfluidics in channels of irregular shapes, in this work the immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method (IB-LBM) was introduced and validated to explore the transport characteristics and the underlying mechanisms of an inertial focusing single particle in a rectangular microchannel. The transport dynamics of a finitesized particle were investigated over wide ranges of Reynolds number (20 < Re < 500) and particle size. The results show that the inner equilibrium positions are more difficult to occur in the rectangular channel, which can be explained by the secondary flow caused by the presence of a finite-sized particle. Furthermore, force decoupling analysis was utilized to study the effect of each type of lift force on the inertia migration, and a theoretical model for the lateral lift force of a finite-sized particle in the rectangular channel was established. Such theoretical model can be used to provide theoretical guidance for the design and operation of inertial microfluidics.

Keywords: inertial microfluidics, particle focuse, life force, IB-LBM

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Authors: M. Sirhan, S. Bekhor, A. Sidess

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In-service pavements deteriorate with time due to traffic wheel loads, environment, and climate conditions. Pavement deterioration leads to a reduction in their serviceability and structural behavior. Consequently, proper maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) are necessary actions to keep the in-service pavement network at the desired level of serviceability. Due to resource and financial constraints, the pavement management system (PMS) prioritizes roads most in need of maintenance and rehabilitation action. It recommends a suitable action for each pavement based on the performance and surface condition of each road in the network. The pavement performance and condition are usually quantified and evaluated by different types of roughness-based and stress-based indices. Examples of such indices are Pavement Serviceability Index (PSI), Pavement Serviceability Ratio (PSR), Mean Panel Rating (MPR), Pavement Condition Rating (PCR), Ride Number (RN), Profile Index (PI), International Roughness Index (IRI), and Pavement Condition Index (PCI). PCI is commonly used in PMS as an indicator of the extent of the distresses on the pavement surface. PCI values range between 0 and 100; where 0 and 100 represent a highly deteriorated pavement and a newly constructed pavement, respectively. The PCI value is a function of distress type, severity, and density (measured as a percentage of the total pavement area). PCI is usually calculated iteratively using the 'Paver' program developed by the US Army Corps. The use of soft computing techniques, especially Artificial Neural Network (ANN), has become increasingly popular in the modeling of engineering problems. ANN techniques have successfully modeled the performance of the in-service pavements, due to its efficiency in predicting and solving non-linear relationships and dealing with an uncertain large amount of data. Typical regression models, which require a pre-defined relationship, can be replaced by ANN, which was found to be an appropriate tool for predicting the different pavement performance indices versus different factors as well. Subsequently, the objective of the presented study is to develop and train an ANN model that predicts the PCI values. The model’s input consists of percentage areas of 11 different damage types; alligator cracking, swelling, rutting, block cracking, longitudinal/transverse cracking, edge cracking, shoving, raveling, potholes, patching, and lane drop off, at three severity levels (low, medium, high) for each. The developed model was trained using 536,000 samples and tested on 134,000 samples. The samples were collected and prepared by The National Transport Infrastructure Company. The predicted results yielded satisfactory compliance with field measurements. The proposed model predicted PCI values with relatively low standard deviations, suggesting that it could be incorporated into the PMS for PCI determination. It is worth mentioning that the most influencing variables for PCI prediction are damages related to alligator cracking, swelling, rutting, and potholes.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, computer programming, pavement condition index, pavement management, performance prediction

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Authors: Huiling Feng, Jihong Liang, Xiaodong Gong, Yongjun Xu

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Recording history is a tradition in ancient China. A record of a dynasty makes a dynastic history; a record of a locality makes a chorography, and a record of a clan makes a genealogy – the three combined together depicts a complete national history of China both macroscopically and microscopically, with genealogy serving as the foundation. Genealogy in ancient China traces back to a family tree or pedigrees in the early and medieval historical times. After Song Dynasty, the civilian society gradually emerged, and the Emperor had to allow people from the same clan to live together and hold the ancestor worship activities, thence compilation of genealogy became popular in the society. Since then, genealogies, regarded as important as ancestor and religious temples in a traditional villages even today, have played a primary role in identification of a clan and maintain local social order. Chinese genealogies are rich in their documentary materials. Take the Genealogy of Wu Clan in Gaoqian as an example. Gaoqian is a small village in Xianju County of Zhejiang Province. The Genealogy of Wu Clan in Gaoqian is composed of a whole set of materials from Foreword to Family Trees, Family Rules, Family Rituals, Family Graces and Glories, Ode to An ancestor’s Portrait, Manual for the Ancestor Temple, documents for great men in the clan, works written by learned men in the clan, the contracts concerning landed property, even notes on tombs and so on. Literally speaking, the genealogy, with detailed information from every aspect recorded in stylistic rules, is indeed the carrier of the entire culture of a clan. However, due to their scarcity in number and difficulties in reading, genealogies seldom fall into the horizons of common people. This paper, focusing on the case of the Genealogy of Wu Clan in the Village of Gaoqian, intends to reproduce a digital Genealogy by use of ICTs, through an in-depth interpretation of the literature and field investigation in Gaoqian Village. Based on this, the paper goes further to explore the general methods in transferring physical genealogies to digital ones and ways in visualizing the clanism culture embedded in the genealogies with a combination of digital technologies such as software in family trees, multimedia narratives, animation design, GIS application and e-book creators.

Keywords: clanism culture, multimedia narratives, genealogy of Wu Clan, GIS

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Authors: Gordana Branković, Vesna Dragičević, Dejan Dodig, Desimir Knežević, Srbislav Denčić, Gordana Šurlan-Momirović

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Phytic acid is a major pool in the flux of phosphorus through agroecosystems and represents a sum equivalent to > 50% of all phosphorus fertilizer used annually. Nutrition rich in phytic acid can substantially decrease micronutrients apsorption as calcium, zink, iron, manganese, copper due to phytate salts excretion by human and non-ruminant animals as poultry, swine and fish, having in common very scarce phytase activity, and consequently the ability to digest and utilize phytic acid, thus phytic acid derived phosphorus in animal waste contributes to water pollution. The tested accessions consisted of 15 genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. ssp. vulgare) and of 15 genotypes of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). The trials were sown at the three test sites in Serbia: Rimski Šančevi (RS) (45º19´51´´N; 19º50´59´´E), Zemun Polje (ZP) (44º52´N; 20º19´E) and Padinska Skela (PS) (44º57´N 20º26´E) during two vegetation seasons 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The experimental design was randomized complete block design with four replications. The elementary plot consisted of 3 internal rows of 0.6 m2 area (3 × 0.2 m × 1 m). Grains were grinded with Laboratory Mill 120 Perten (“Perten”, Sweden) (particles size < 500 μm) and flour was used for the analysis. Phytic acid grain content was determined spectrophotometrically with the Shimadzu UV-1601 spectrophotometer (Shimadzu Corporation, Japan). Objectives of this study were to determine: i) variability and stability of the phytic acid content among selected genotypes of bread and durum wheat, ii) predominant source of variation regarding genotype (G), environment (E) and genotype × environment interaction (GEI) from the multi-environment trial, iii) influence of climatic variables on the GEI for the phytic acid content. Based on the analysis of variance it had been determined that the variation of phytic acid content was predominantly influenced by environment in durum wheat, while the GEI prevailed for the variation of the phytic acid content in bread wheat. Phytic acid content expressed on the dry mass basis was in the range 14.21-17.86 mg g-1 with the average of 16.05 mg g-1 for bread wheat and 14.63-16.78 mg g-1 with the average of 15.91 mg g-1 for durum wheat. Average-environment coordination view of the genotype by environment (GGE) biplot was used for the selection of the most desirable genotypes for breeding for low phytic acid content in the sense of good stability and lower level of phytic acid content. The most desirable genotypes of bread and durum wheat for breeding for phytic acid were Apache and 37EDUYT /07 No. 7849. Models of climatic factors in the highest percentage (> 91%) were useful in interpreting GEI for phytic acid content, and included relative humidity in June, sunshine hours in April, mean temperature in April and winter moisture reserves for genotypes of bread wheat, as well as precipitation in June and April, maximum temperature in April and mean temperature in June for genotypes of durum wheat.

Keywords: genotype × environment interaction, phytic acid, stability, variability

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Authors: S. N. C. M. Dias, Niels Schuetze, Franz Lennartz

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The current focus in irrigated agriculture will move from maximizing crop production per unit area towards maximizing the crop production per unit amount of water (water productivity) used. At the same time, inadequate water supply or deficit irrigation will be the only solution to cope with water scarcity in the near future. Soil matric potential based irrigation plays an important role in such deficit irrigated agriculture to grow any crop including rice. Rice as the staple food for more than half of the world population, grows mainly under flooded conditions. It requires more water compared to other upland cereals. A major amount of this water is used in the land preparation and is lost at field level due to evaporation, deep percolation, and seepage. A field experimental study was conducted in the experimental premises of rice research and development institute of Sri Lanka in Kurunegala district to estimate the water productivity of rice under deficit irrigation. This paper presents the feasibility of improving current irrigation management in rice cultivation under water scarce conditions. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with four different irrigation treatments with three replicates. Irrigation treatments were based on soil matric potential threshold values. Treatment W0 was maintained between 60-80mbars. W1 was maintained between 80-100mbars. Other two dry treatments W2 and W3 were maintained at 100-120 mbar and 120 -140 mbar respectively. The sprinkler system was used to irrigate each plot individually upon reaching the maximum threshold value in respective treatment. Treatments were imposed two weeks after seed establishment and continued until two weeks before physiological maturity. Fertilizer applications, weed management, and other management practices were carried out per the local recommendations. Weekly plant growth measurements, daily climate parameters, soil parameters, soil tension values, and water content were measured throughout the growing period. Highest plant growth and grain yield (5.61t/ha) were observed in treatment W2 followed by W0, W1, and W3 in comparison to the reference yield (5.23t/ha) of flooded rice grown in the study area. Water productivity was highest in W3. Concerning the irrigation water savings, grain yield, and water productivity together, W2 showed the better performance. Rice grown under unsaturated conditions (W2) shows better performance compared to the continuously saturated conditions(W0). In conclusion, soil matric potential based irrigation is a promising practice in irrigation management in rice. Higher irrigation water savings can be achieved in this method. This strategy can be applied to a wide range of locations under different climates and soils. In future studies, higher soil matric potential values can be applied to evaluate the maximum possible values for rice to get higher water savings at minimum yield losses.

Keywords: irrigation, matric potential, rice, water scarcity

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Authors: Ariadna Manresa, Ines Ferrer

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Introduction: Ultrasonic moulding process (USM) is a recent injection technology used to manufacture micro components. It is able to melt small amounts of material so the waste of material is certainly reduced comparing to microinjection molding. This is an important advantage when the materials are expensive like medical biopolymers. Micro-scaled components are involved in a variety of uses, such as biomedical applications. It is required replication fidelity so it is important to stabilize the process and minimize the variability of the responses. The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of the main process parameters on the filling behaviour, the dimensional accuracy and the cavity pressure when a micro-plate is manufactured by biomaterials such as PLA and PCL. Methodology or Experimental Procedure: The specimens are manufactured using a Sonorus 1G Ultrasound Micro Molding Machine. The used geometry is a rectangular micro-plate of 15x5mm and 1mm of thickness. The materials used for the investigation are PLA and PCL due to biocompatible and degradation properties. The experimentation is divided into two phases. Firstly, the influence of process parameters (vibration amplitude, sonotrodo velocity, ultrasound time and compaction force) on filling behavior is analysed, in Phase 1. Next, when filling cavity is assured, the influence of both cooling time and force compaction on the cavity pressure, part temperature and dimensional accuracy is instigated, which is done in Phase. Results and Discussion: Filling behavior depends on sonotrodo velocity and vibration amplitude. When the ultrasonic time is higher, more ultrasonic energy is applied and the polymer temperature increases. Depending on the cooling time, it is possible that when mold is opened, the micro-plate temperature is too warm. Consequently, the polymer relieve its stored internal energy (ultrasonic and thermal) expanding through the easier direction. This fact is reflected on dimensional accuracy, causing micro-plates thicker than the mold. It has also been observed the most important fact that affects cavity pressure is the compaction configuration during the manufacturing cycle. Conclusions: This research demonstrated the influence of process parameters on the final micro-plated manufactured. Future works will be focused in manufacturing other geometries and analysing the mechanical properties of the specimens.

Keywords: biomaterial, biopolymer, micro injection molding, ultrasound

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Authors: Beatriz Salamanca

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In his public lecture ‘On the American Indians’ given at the University of Salamanca in 1538-39, Francisco de Vitoria presented an unsettling defense of freedom of movement, arguing that the Spanish had the right to travel and dwell in the New World, since it was considered part of the law of nations [ius gentium] that men enjoyed free mutual intercourse anywhere they went. The principle of freedom of movement brought hopeful expectations, promising to bring mankind together and strengthen the ties of fraternity. However, it led to polemical situations when those whose mobility was in question represented a harmful threat or was for some reason undesired. In this context, Vitoria’s argument has been seen on multiple occasions as a justification of the expansion of the Spanish empire. In order to examine the meaning of Vitoria’s defense of free mobility, a more detailed look at Vitoria’s text is required, together with the study of some of his earliest works, among them, his commentaries on Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, where he presented relevant insights on the idea of the law of nations. In addition, it is necessary to place Vitoria’s work in the context of the intellectual tradition he belonged to and the responses he obtained from some of his contemporaries who were concerned with similar issues. The claim of this research is that the Spanish right to travel advocated by Vitoria was not intended to be interpreted in absolute terms, for it had to serve the purpose of bringing peace and unity among men, and could not contradict natural law. In addition, Vitoria explicitly observed that the right to travel was only valid if the Spaniards caused no harm, a condition that has been underestimated by his critics. Therefore, Vitoria’s legacy is of enormous value as it initiated a long lasting discussion regarding the question of the grounds under which human mobility could be restricted. Again, under Vitoria’s argument it was clear that this freedom was not absolute, but the controversial nature of his defense of Spanish mobility demonstrates how difficult it was and still is to address the issue of the circulation of peoples across frontiers, and shows the significance of this discussion in today’s globalized world, where the rights and wrongs of notions like immigration, international trade or foreign intervention still lack sufficient consensus. This inquiry about Vitoria’s defense of the principle of freedom of movement is being placed here against the background of the history of political thought, political theory, international law, and international relations, following the methodological framework of contextual history of the ‘Cambridge School’.

Keywords: Francisco de Vitoria, freedom of movement, law of nations, ius gentium, Spanish empire

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Authors: Bagnoud-Velásquez Mariluz, Damergi Eya, Grandjean Dominique, Frédéric Vogel, Ludwig Christian

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The sustainability of algae to biofuel processes is seriously affected by the energy intensive production of fertilizers. Large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus are required for a large-scale production resulting in many cases in a negative impact of the limited mineral resources. In order to meet the algal bioenergy opportunity it appears crucial the promotion of processes applying a nutrient recovery and/or making use of renewable sources including waste. Hydrothermal (HT) conversion is a promising and suitable technology for microalgae to generate biofuels. Besides the fact that water is used as a “green” reactant and solvent and that no biomass drying is required, the technology offers a great potential for nutrient recycling. This study evaluated the possibility to treat the water HT effluent by the growth of microalgae while producing renewable algal biomass. As already demonstrated in previous works by the authors, the HT aqueous product besides having N, P and other important nutrients, presents a small fraction of organic compounds rarely studied. Therefore, extracted heteroaromatic compounds in the HT effluent were the target of the present research; they were profiled using GC-MS and LC-MS-MS. The results indicate the presence of cyclic amides, piperazinediones, amines and their derivatives. The most prominent nitrogenous organic compounds (NOC’s) in the extracts were carefully examined by their effect on microalgae, namely 2-pyrrolidinone and β-phenylethylamine (β-PEA). These two substances were prepared at three different concentrations (10, 50 and 150 ppm). This toxicity bioassay used three different microalgae strains: Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Chlorella sorokiniana and Scenedesmus vacuolatus. The confirmed IC50 was for all cases ca. 75ppm. Experimental conditions were set up for the growth of microalgae in the aqueous phase by adjusting the nitrogen concentration (the key nutrient for algae) to fit that one established for a known commercial medium. The values of specific NOC’s were lowered at concentrations of 8.5 mg/L 2-pyrrolidinone; 1mg/L δ-valerolactam and 0.5 mg/L β-PEA. The growth with the diluted HT solution was kept constant with no inhibition evidence. An additional ongoing test is addressing the possibility to apply an integrated water cleanup step making use of the existent hydrothermal catalytic facility.

Keywords: hydrothermal process, microalgae, nitrogenous organic compounds, nutrient recovery, renewable biomass

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Authors: Jamila Fakchich, Mostafa Jamila Lazaar Elachouri, Lakhder Fakchich, Fatna Ouali, Abd Errazzak Belkacem

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Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease that has a significant impact on the health, quality of life, and life expectancy of patients as well as the health care system. By its nature diabetes, is a multisystem disease with wide-ranging complication that span nearly all region of the body. This epidemic problem, however, is not unique to the industrialized society, but has also hardly struck the developing countries. In Morocco, as developing country, there is an epidemic rise in diabetes, with ensuing concern about the management and control of this disease; it began a chronic burdensome disease of largely middle-aged and elderly people, with a long course and serious complications often resulting in high death-rate, the treatment of diabetes spent vast amount of resources including medicines, diets, physical training. Treatment of this disease is considered problematic due to the lack of effective and safe drugs capable of inducing sustained clinical, biochemical, and histological cure. In Moroccan society, the phytoremedies are some times the only affordable sources of healthcare, particularly for the people in remote areas. In this paper, we present a synthesis work obtained from the ethnobotanical data reported in different specialized journals. A Synthesis of four published ethnobotanical studies that have been carried out in different region of Morocco by different team seekers during the period from 1997 to 2015. Medicinal plants inventoried by different seekers in four Moroccan’s areas have been regrouped and codified, then, Factorial Analysis (FA) and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) are used to analyse the aggregated data from the four studies and plants are classified according to their frequency of use by population. Our work deals with an attempt to gather information on some traditional uses of medicinal plants from different regions of Morocco, also, it was designed to give a set of medicinal plants commonly used by Moroccan people in the treatment of diabetes; In this paper, we intended to provide a basic knowledge about plant species used by Moroccan society for treatment of diabetes. One of the most interesting aspects of this type of works is to assess the relative cultural importance of medicinal plants for specific illnesses and exploring its usefulness in the context of diabetes.

Keywords: Morocco, medicinal plants, ethnobotanical, diabetes, phytoremedies

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Authors: P. H. G. J. Pushpakumara, A. M. P. Adikari, S. U. B. Tennakoon, Ranil Abeysinghe, Andrew Dawson

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Introduction: Deliberate Self-harm (DSH) is a global public health problem. Since 1950, suicide rates in Sri Lanka are among the highest national rates in the world. It has become an increasingly common response to emotional distress in young adults. However, it remains unclear the reason for this occurrence. Objectives: The descriptive component of this study was conducted to identify of epidemiological pattern of DSH and suicide in Kurunegala District (KD). Assessment of association between DSH socio-cultural, economical and psychological factors were the objectives of the case control component. Methods: Prospective data collection of DSH and suicide was conducted at all (46) hospitals and all (28) police stations in the KD for thirty six months, from 1st January 2011, as the descriptive component. Case control component was conducted at T.H. Kurunegala (THK) for eighteen months duration, from 1st July 2011. Cases (n=439) were randomly selected from a block of 7 consecutively admitted consenting DSP patients using a computer program. Age, sex and residential divisional secretariat division one to one matched, individuals were randomly selected as controls from patients presented to Out Patient Department. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I and II Disorders was used to diagnose psychiatric disorders. Validated tools were used to measure other constructs. Results: Suicide incidences in KD were, 21.6, 20.7 and 24.3 per 100,000 population in 2011- 2013 (Male:female ratio 5.7, 4.4 and 6.4). 60% of suicides were due to poisoning. DSP incidences were 205.4, 248.3 and 202.5 per 100,000 population in 2011- 2013. Highest age standardized male DSP incidence reported in 20-24 years (769.6/100,000) and female in 15-19 years (1304.0/100,000). Bing married (age >25 years), monthly family income less than Rs.30,000, not achieving G.C.E (O/L) qualifications, a school drop-out, not in a permanent position in occupation, being a manual and an own account worker, were significantly associated with DSP. Perceiving the quality of relationship as bad or very bad with parents, spouse/ girlfriend/ boyfriend and sibling as associated with 8, 40 and 10.5 times higher risk respectively. Feeling and experiences of neglect, other emotional abuses, feeling of insecurity with the family, in child hood, and having a contact history carried an excess risk for DSP. Cases were less likely to seek help. Further, they had significantly lower scores for life skills and life skills application ability. 25.6% DSH patients had DSM TR axis-I and/or TR axis-II disorder. The presence of psychiatric disorder carried 7.7 (95% CI 4.3 – 13.8) times higher risk for DSP. Conclusion: In general, pattern of DSH and suicide is, unique, different from developed, upper and middle income and lower and middle income countries. It is a learned way of expressing emotions in difficult situations of vulnerable people.

Keywords: deliberate self-harm, help-seeking, life-skills, mental- health, psychological, social, suicide

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Authors: Jana Soler Libran

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The primary aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between power and knowledge suggested in Michel Foucault's theory. Taking into consideration the role of power in knowledge production, the goal is to evaluate to what extent genealogy can be presented as a practical method for epistemic resistance. To do so, the methodology used consists of a revision of Foucault’s literature concerning the topic discussed. In this sense, conceptual analysis is applied in order to understand the effect of the double dimension of power on knowledge production. In its negative dimension, power is conceived as an organ of repression, vetoing certain instances of knowledge considered deceitful. In opposition, in its positive dimension, power works as an organ of the production of truth by means of institutionalized discourses. This double declination of power leads to the first main findings of the present analysis: no truth or knowledge can lie outside power’s action, and power is constituted through accepted forms of knowledge. To second these statements, Foucaultian discourse formations are evaluated, presenting external exclusion procedures as paradigmatic practices to demonstrate how power creates and shapes the validity of certain epistemes. Thus, taking into consideration power’s mechanisms to produce and reproduce institutionalized truths, this paper accounts for the Foucaultian praxis of genealogy as a method to reveal power’s intention, instruments, and effects in the production of knowledge. In this sense, it is suggested to consider genealogy as a practice which, firstly, reveals what instances of knowledge are subjugated to power and, secondly, promotes aforementioned peripherical discourses as a form of epistemic resistance. In order to counterbalance these main theses, objections to Foucault’s work from Nancy Fraser, Linda Nicholson, Charles Taylor, Richard Rorty, Alvin Goldman, or Karen Barad are discussed. In essence, the understanding of the Foucaultian relationship between power and knowledge is essential to analyze how contemporary discourses are produced by both traditional institutions and new forms of institutionalized power, such as mass media or social networks. Therefore, Michel Foucault's practice of genealogy is relevant, not only for its philosophical contribution as a method to uncover the effects of power in knowledge production but also because it constitutes a valuable theoretical framework for political theory and sociological studies concerning the formation of societies and individuals in the contemporary world.

Keywords: epistemic resistance, Foucault’s genealogy, knowledge, power, truth

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Authors: Jocelyne Kenne Kenne

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Previous works in the field of sociolinguistics have explored the various outcomes of linguistic pluralism. One of these outcomes is the creation of new languages. The presentation will focus on one of such languages, Camfranglais, a hybrid language spoken by Cameroonians. It appeared in the 1970s in the francophone area in Cameroon and developed as a result of interactions between French, English, Cameroonian Pidgin English and local Cameroonian languages, all languages spoken in Cameroon. With the migration of Cameroonians to Europe, researches have been conducted to analyze the sociolinguistic profile of Cameroonians in their new environment. The emphasis on this presentation will be on two recent studies that have been conducted to analyze the peculiarity of Camfranglais in two European countries: Germany and Italy. The research involved 59 Cameroonians living in Italy and 49 Cameroonians residing in Germany. The respondents were composed of participants from different linguistic background, students and workers, married and single. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods was employed. The field study was divided into three parts. The first part was focused on observing the Cameroonians interact in different places such as in canteens, in the university halls of residence, lecture theatres, at homes, at various Cameroonian meetings. Those observations were accompanied by audio-recordings of the various interactions. The aim was to study communication between Cameroonians to see whether they use Camfranglais or not; if yes, in which domains and what were the speakers’ linguistic profiles. Additionally, questionnaires of different lengths were used to collect biographical information concerning the participants and their sociolinguistic profile and finally, in-depth interviews with Cameroonians were conducted to inquire about the use, the functions and the importance of this language in the migratory context. The results of the research demonstrate how a widespread use of Camfranglais by Cameroonians in Germany and Italy reveal a longing for home on the one hand and a sign of belonging on the other. It also shows the differences that exist between the profiles of Camfranglais speakers in Europe and the speakers in Cameroon notably in terms of age and social class. Finally, it points out some differences in the use, the structure and the functions of this hybrid language in the migratory setting. This study is a contribution to existing research in the field of contact languages and can serve as a comparison for other situations of multilingualism and the creation of mixed languages. Furthermore, with globalization, the study of migrant languages and the contact of these languages with new languages are topics that might be productive for further research in the field of sociolinguistics.

Keywords: interaction, migrants language, multilingualism, mixed languages

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Authors: S. R. Dehghani, G. F. Naterer, Y. S. Muzychka

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Wave-impact sea spray creates many droplets which form a spray cloud traveling over marine objects same as marine vessels and offshore structures. In cold climates such as Arctic reigns, sea spray icing, which is ice accretion on cold substrates, is strongly dependent on the wave-impact sea spray. The rate of cooling of droplets affects the process of icing that can yield to dry or wet ice accretion. Trajectories of droplets determine the potential places for ice accretion. Combining two models of trajectories and heat transfer for droplets can predict the risk of ice accretion reasonably. The majority of the cooling of droplets is because of droplet evaporations. In this study, a combined model using trajectory and heat transfer evaluate the situation of a cloud of spray from the generation to impingement. The model uses some known geometry and initial information from the previous case studies. The 3D model is solved numerically using a standard numerical scheme. Droplets are generated in various size ranges from 7 mm to 0.07 mm which is a suggested range for sea spray icing. The initial temperature of droplets is considered to be the sea water temperature. Wind velocities are assumed same as that of the field observations. Evaluations are conducted using some important heading angles and wind velocities. The characteristic of size-velocity dependence is used to establish a relation between initial sizes and velocities of droplets. Time intervals are chosen properly to maintain a stable and fast numerical solution. A statistical process is conducted to evaluate the probability of expected occurrences. The medium size droplets can reach the highest heights. Very small and very large droplets are limited to lower heights. Results show that higher initial velocities create the most expanded cloud of spray. Wind velocities affect the extent of the spray cloud. The rate of droplet cooling at the start of spray formation is higher than the rest of the process. This is because of higher relative velocities and also higher temperature differences. The amount of water delivery and overall temperature for some sample surfaces over a marine vessel are calculated. Comparing results and some field observations show that the model works accurately. This model is suggested as a primary model for ice accretion on marine vessels.

Keywords: evaporation, sea spray, marine icing, numerical solution, trajectory

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Authors: Divyansh Goel, Varun Jain

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Classical economics works on the principle that people are rational and analytical in their decision making and their choices fall in line with the most suitable option according to the dominant strategy in a standard game theory model. This model has failed at many occasions in estimating the behavior and dealings of rational people, giving proof of some other underlying heuristics and cognitive biases at work. This paper probes into the study of these factors, which fall under the umbrella of behavioral economics and through their medium explore the solution to a problem which a lot of nations presently face. There has long been a wide disparity in the number of people holding favorable views on organ donation and the actual number of people signing up for the same. This paper, in its entirety, is an attempt to shape the public policy which leads to an increase the number of organ donations that take place and close the gap in the statistics of the people who believe in signing up for organ donation and the ones who actually do. The key assumption here is that in cases of cognitive dissonance, where people have an inconsistency due to conflicting views, people have a tendency to go with the default choice. This tendency is a well-documented cognitive bias known as the status quo bias. The research in this project involves an assay of mandated choice models of organ donation with two case studies. The first of an opt-in system of Germany (where people have to explicitly sign up for organ donation) and the second of an opt-out system of Austria (every citizen at the time of their birth is an organ donor and has to explicitly sign up for refusal). Additionally, there has also been presented a detailed analysis of the experiment performed by Eric J. Johnson and Daniel G. Goldstein. Their research as well as many other independent experiments such as that by Tsvetelina Yordanova of the University of Sofia, both of which yield similar results. The conclusion being that the general population has by and large no rigid stand on organ donation and are gullible to status quo bias, which in turn can determine whether a large majority of people will consent to organ donation or not. Thus, in our paper, we throw light on how governments can use status quo bias to drive positive social change by making policies in which everyone by default is marked an organ donor, which will, in turn, save the lives of people who succumb on organ transplantation waitlists and save the economy countless hours of economic productivity.

Keywords: behavioral economics, game theory, organ donation, status quo bias

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Authors: Kaveri Dutta, Ratna Sharma

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Indian traditional textile is a synthesis of various cultures. Art and crafts of a country showcases the rich cultural and artistic history of that nation. Prehistorically Indian handicrafts were basically made for day to day use; the yearning for aesthetic application soon saw the development of flooding designs and motifs. Similarly, Bagh print a traditional hand block Print with natural colours an Indian handicraft practiced in Bagh, Madhya Pradesh(India). Bagh print has its roots in Sindh, which is now a part of Pakistan. The present form of Bagh printing actually started in 1962 when the craftsmen migrated from Manavar to the neighboring town of Bagh situated in Madhya Pradesh and hence Bagh has always been associated with this printing style. Bagh printing basically involved blocks that are carved onto motifs that represent flora such as Jasmine, Mushroom leheriya and so on. There are some prints that were inspired by the jaali work that embellished the Taj Mahal and various other forts. Inspiration is also drawn from the landscapes and geometrical figures. The motifs evoke various moods in the serenity of the prints and that is the catchy element of Bagh prints. The development in this traditional textile is as essential as in another field. Nowadays fashion trends are fragile and innovative changes over existing fashion field in the short span is the demand of times. We must make efforts to preserve this cultural heritage of arts and crafts and this is done either by documenting the various ancient traditions or by making a blend of it. Since this craft is well known over the world, but the need is to document the original motif, fabric, technology and colors used in contemporary fashion. Hence keeping above points in mind this study on bagh print textiles of Madhya Pradesh work has been formulated. The information incorporated in the paper was based on secondary data taken from relevant books, journals, museum visit and articles. Besides for the demographic details and working profile of the artisans dealt with printing, an interview schedule was carried out in three regions of Madhya Pradesh. This work of art was expressed in Cotton fabric. For this study selected traditional motifs for Bang printing was used. Some of the popular traditional Bagh motifs are Jasmine, Mushroom leheriya, geometrical figures and jaali work. The Bagh printed cotton fabrics were developed into a range of men’s ethic wear in combination with embroideries from Rajasthan. Products developed were bandhgala jackets, kurtas, serwani and dupattas. From the present study, it can be observed that the embellished traditional Bang printed range of ethnic men’s wear resulted in the fresh and colourful pattern. The embroidered Bagh printed cotton fabric also created a huge change in a positive way among artisans of the three regions.

Keywords: art and craft of Madhya Pradesh, evolution of printing in India, history of Bagh printing, sources of inspiration

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Authors: Misha Nedeljkovich

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In the film’s famous scene (Roma città aperta-1945), Pina (Anna Magnani) collapses in the street when machined-gunned by a German soldier. Her son Marcello (Vito Annchiarico) tries to revive her. Her death is signaling not closure, but the cycle of life; Marcello saves Francesco with the shawl taken from his mother’s corpse. One pivotal scene in Brief Encounter (1945) occurs in the apartment of Alec’s (Trevor Howard) friend Stephen (Valentine Dyall), when Stephen returns to catch Alec and Laura (Celia Johnson) together alone. David Lean directs this scene using her shawl as a sign of in flagrante delicto. In La Strada (1954), Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina) was waving good bye when her mother sensing impending doom changed her mind and desperately tried to stop her waving back with her shawl: Don’t go my daughter! Your shawl! Your shawl! Gelsomina refuses to return, waving back: It’s time to go! Stanley Kubrick’s tale of a boxer who crosses a mobster to win the heart of a lady, Killer’s Kiss (1955), reminds us that Times Square used to contain sweaty boxing gyms and dance halls. The film’s longest Times Square interlude is its oddest: the boxer Davie Gordon played by Jamie Smith has his shawl stolen by two playful men in Shriners’ hats who are silent except for one who blows a harmonica, faintly heard over honking cabs and overheard conversations. This long sequence appears to be joining in on directors’ shawl conversations with Kubrick’s own twist. Principle characters will never know why all this happened to them that evening. Love, death, happiness and everlasting misery all of that is caused by Dave’s shawl. Finally, the decade of cinematic shawl conversations conclude in Betolucci’s Before the Revolution (Prima della rivoluzione–1964). One of his character’s lifts up a shawl asking if this was a Rossellini’s shawl. I argue that exploring complimentary allusions in a film where directors are acknowledging their own great debt to another film or filmmaker will further our knowledge of film history adding both depth and resonance to the great works in cinema.

Keywords: allusions, Bertolucci, Fellini, homage, Kubrick, lean, Rossellini

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Authors: Sagir M. Yusuf, Chris Baber

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In this paper, we describe how to achieve knowledge understanding and prediction (Situation Awareness (SA)) for multiple-agents conducting searching activity using Bayesian inferential reasoning and learning. Bayesian Belief Network was used to monitor agents' knowledge about their environment, and cases are recorded for the network training using expectation-maximisation or gradient descent algorithm. The well trained network will be used for decision making and environmental situation prediction. Forest fire searching by multiple UAVs was the use case. UAVs are tasked to explore a forest and find a fire for urgent actions by the fire wardens. The paper focused on two problems: (i) effective agents’ path planning strategy and (ii) knowledge understanding and prediction (SA). The path planning problem by inspiring animal mode of foraging using Lévy distribution augmented with Bayesian reasoning was fully described in this paper. Results proof that the Lévy flight strategy performs better than the previous fixed-pattern (e.g., parallel sweeps) approaches in terms of energy and time utilisation. We also introduced a waypoint assessment strategy called k-previous waypoints assessment. It improves the performance of the ordinary levy flight by saving agent’s resources and mission time through redundant search avoidance. The agents (UAVs) are to report their mission knowledge at the central server for interpretation and prediction purposes. Bayesian reasoning and learning were used for the SA and results proof effectiveness in different environments scenario in terms of prediction and effective knowledge representation. The prediction accuracy was measured using learning error rate, logarithm loss, and Brier score and the result proves that little agents mission that can be used for prediction within the same or different environment. Finally, we described a situation-based knowledge visualization and prediction technique for heterogeneous multi-UAV mission. While this paper proves linkage of Bayesian reasoning and learning with SA and effective searching strategy, future works is focusing on simplifying the architecture.

Keywords: Levy flight, distributed constraint optimization problem, multi-agent system, multi-robot coordination, autonomous system, swarm intelligence

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Authors: Ardalan Sabamehr, Ashutosh Bagchi

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Recently, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) based on the vibration of structures has attracted the attention of researchers in different fields such as: civil, aeronautical and mechanical engineering. Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) have been developed to identify modal properties of infrastructure such as bridge, building and so on. Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD), Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI) and Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) are the three most common methods in output only modal identification. FDD, SSI, and CWT operate based on the frequency domain, time domain, and time-frequency plane respectively. So, FDD and SSI are not able to display time and frequency at the same time. By the way, FDD and SSI have some difficulties in a noisy environment and finding the closed modes. CWT technique which is currently developed works on time-frequency plane and a reasonable performance in such condition. The other advantage of wavelet transform rather than other current techniques is that it can be applied for the non-stationary signal as well. The aim of this paper is to compare three most common modal identification techniques to find modal properties (such as natural frequency, mode shape, and damping ratio) of three story steel frame which was built in Concordia University Lab by use of ambient vibration. The frame has made of Galvanized steel with 60 cm length, 27 cm width and 133 cm height with no brace along the long span and short space. Three uniaxial wired accelerations (MicroStarin with 100mv/g accuracy) have been attached to the middle of each floor and gateway receives the data and send to the PC by use of Node Commander Software. The real-time monitoring has been performed for 20 seconds with 512 Hz sampling rate. The test is repeated for 5 times in each direction by hand shaking and impact hammer. CWT is able to detect instantaneous frequency by used of ridge detection method. In this paper, partial derivative ridge detection technique has been applied to the local maxima of time-frequency plane to detect the instantaneous frequency. The extracted result from all three methods have been compared, and it demonstrated that CWT has the better performance in term of its accuracy in noisy environment. The modal parameters such as natural frequency, damping ratio and mode shapes are identified from all three methods.

Keywords: ambient vibration, frequency domain decomposition, stochastic subspace identification, continuous wavelet transform

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Authors: Kirill D. Semavin, Norbert S. Chilingarov, Eugene.V. Skokan

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The ionic liquids (ILs) based on imidazolium cation are well known nowadays. The changing anions and substituents in imidazolium ring may lead to different physical and chemical properties of ILs. It is important that such ILs with halogen as anion are characterized by a low thermal stability. The data about thermal stability of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride are ambiguous. In the works of last years, thermal stability of this IL was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and obtained results are contradictory. Moreover, in the last study, it was shown that the observed temperature of the beginning of decomposition significantly depends on the experimental conditions, for example, the heating rate of the sample. The vapor pressure of this IL is not presented at the literature. In this study, the vapor pressure of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride was obtained by Knudsen effusion mass-spectrometry (KEMS). The samples of [ЕMIm]Cl (purity > 98%) were supplied by Sigma–Aldrich and were additionally dried at dynamic vacuum (T = 60 0C). Preliminary procedures with Il were derived into glove box. The evaporation studies of [ЕMIm]Cl were carried out by KEMS with using original research equipment based on commercial MI1201 magnetic mass spectrometer. The stainless steel effusion cell had an effective evaporation/effusion area ratio of more than 6000. The cell temperature, measured by a Pt/Pt−Rh (10%) thermocouple, was controlled by a Termodat 128K5 device with an accuracy of ±1 K. In first step of this study, the optimal temperature of experiment and heating rate of samples were customized: 449 K and 5 K/min, respectively. In these conditions the sample is decomposed, but the experimental measurements of the vapor pressures are possible. The thermodynamic activity of [ЕMIm]Cl is close to 1 and products of decomposition don’t affect it at firstly 50 hours of experiment. Therefore, it lets to determine the saturated vapor pressure of IL. The electronic ionization mass-spectra shows that the decomposition of [ЕMIm]Cl proceeds with two ways. Nonetheless, the MALDI mass spectra of the starting sample and residue in the cell were similar. It means that the main decomposition products are gaseous under experimental conditions. This result allows us to obtain information about the kinetics of [ЕMIm]Cl decomposition. Thus, the original KEMS-based procedure made it possible to determine the IL vapor pressure under decomposition conditions. Also, the loss of sample mass due to the evaporation was obtained.

Keywords: ionic liquids, Knudsen effusion mass spectrometry, thermal stability, vapor pressure

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Authors: Shalini Shawari Matharage

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The worldwide refugee challenge has arisen as a critical concern, with millions of individuals fleeing their home countries owing to conflict, persecution, and human rights violations. Since the establishment of an international framework in 1951 for tackling the humanitarian needs of refugees and asylum seekers, many developed and developing countries have adopted a refugee admittance framework into their national immigration policy and steadily changed their domestic legislation to assist the resettlement of refugees. However, many developed nations have put forth strict limitations on refugee admission in the midst of the continuing refugee crisis, claiming factors including national sovereignty, security of their borders, and national economy. Two such developed nations that have been restrictive on refugees is Japan and the United Kingdom. Despite their contrasting histories, migration methods, and viewpoints on diversity in modern society, the two notably developed nations have taken similar restrictive approaches in refugee policy in the recent years. This study attempts to investigate the underlying causes that led these countries to adopt strict refugee policies and how those policies have affected their compliance with international human rights responsibilities. The study employs a head-to-head methodology to examine the structural inequities in Japan and the United Kingdom's refugee policies. Using data from the UNHCR Refugee Data Finder, official government policy proposals, statements, and academic works, the study evaluates the contemporary refugee legislations, fundamental causes, and subsequent implications. The study illustrates a combination of economic, security, and demographic issues, as well as political rigidity and negative public perceptions, as major determinants of the two countries' restrictive refugee policies. The findings shed light on the restrictive actions taken by Japan and the UK, raising concerns about potential breaches in obligations to their commitments to international law and human rights obligations. Understanding the underlying issues influencing these policies allows lawmakers and activists to establish more compassionate refugee policies that adhere to international human rights and protect vulnerable individuals fleeing persecution. Ultimately, this study aims to contribute to the development of sensible refugee policies that uphold human rights and humanitarian values.

Keywords: immigration, Japan, refugee policy, united kingdom

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Authors: Yi Meng, Yun Gao

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Having spent significant periods studying and working in North America and Europe, we, as two Chinese art educators, have been profoundly shaped by both Eastern and Western cultures. Consequently, our ambition is to enrich students' learning experiences by delving into and merging both cultural perspectives for innovative, creative expressions. This exposition draws on our action research study on students' visual literacy practices in a visual literacy course at a prominent Chinese university. The central premise was to explore innovative art forms by cross-utilizing various aspects of diverse cultures. By examining distinct cultural elements, we encouraged students to break away from familiar approaches and forge new paths in their creative endeavors. In implementing our curriculum, we utilized a multimodal pedagogy that deviated from the predominant print-based presentations typically employed in our classroom settings. This pedagogical approach effectively encouraged students to critically analyze the artifact, imbue it with their understanding and perspectives, and then produce an original piece. This approach also motivated students to leverage the semiotic potential of various communicative modes to address diverse cultural issues through their multimodal designs. To demonstrate the potential for cultural amalgamation, we utilized the artwork of Hong Kong-based artist Tik Ka. His works epitomize the fusion of Chinese traditions with Western pop culture, which served as a visual and conceptual reference point for students. Seeing how these distinct cultural elements could coexist and enrich each other in Tik Ka's work was inspiring and motivating for the students. Taken together, these pedagogical strategies helped create a dialogical space where students could actively experience, analyze, and negotiate complex modes of expression. This environment fostered active learning, encouraging students to apply their knowledge, question their assumptions, and reconsider their perspectives. Overall, such a unique approach to visual literacy education has the potential to reshape students' understanding of both cultures. By encouraging them to critically engage with their multimodal designs, we promoted an in-depth, nuanced appreciation of these diverse cultural heritages. The students no longer just interpreted and replicated images—they actively contributed to a dynamic and ongoing conversation between cultures.

Keywords: multimodal pedagogy, creative expressions, visual literacy education, multimodal designs

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Authors: Nji Queenta Ngum, Mwanza Mulunda

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Introduction Most African research reports on the frequent aflatoxin contamination of various foodstuffs, with researchers rarely specifying which of the Aspergillus species are present in these commodities. Numerous research works provide evidence of the ability of fungi to grow, thrive, and interact with other crop species and focus on the fact that these processes are largely affected by climatic variables. South Africa is a water-stressed country with high spatio-temporal rainfall variability; moreover, temperatures have been projected to rise at a rate twice the global rate. This weather pattern change may lead to crop stress encouraging mold contamination with subsequent mycotoxin production. In this study, the biodiversity and distribution of Aspergillus species with their corresponding toxins in maize from six distinct maize producing regions with different weather patterns in South Africa were investigated. Materials And Methods By applying cultural and molecular methods, a total of 1028 maize samples from six distinct agro-climatic regions were examined for contamination by the Aspergillus species while the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was applied to analyse the level of contamination by aflatoxins. Results About 30% of the overall maize samples were contaminated by at least one Aspergillus species. Less than 30% (28.95%) of the 228 isolates subjected to the aflatoxigenic test was found to possess at least one of the aflatoxin biosynthetic genes. Furthermore, almost 20% were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins, with mean total aflatoxin concentration levels of 64.17 ppb. Amongst the contaminated samples, 59.02% had mean total aflatoxin concentration levels above the SA regulatory limit of 20ppb for animals and 10 for human consumption. Conclusion In this study, climate variables (rainfall reduction) were found to significantly (p<0.001) influence the occurrence of the Aspergillus species (especially Aspergillus fumigatus) and the production of aflatoxin in South Africa commercial maize by maize variety, year of cultivation as well as the agro-climatic region in which the maize is cultivated. This included, amongst others, a reduction in the average annual rainfall of the preceding year to about 21.27 mm, and, as opposed to other regions whose average maximum rainfall ranged between 37.24 – 44.1 mm, resulted in a significant increase in the aflatoxin contamination of maize.

Keywords: aspergillus species, aflatoxins, diversity, drought, food safety, HPLC and PCR techniques

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Authors: Parvez Sattar

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There are around 150,000 female sex workers in Bangladesh, and the country hosts one of the largest brothels in the world. There are 20 brothel-villages in the country, of which 14 are recognized to be ‘official’, and at least 11 are currently operational. Although the national Constitution adopts a preventive policy against prostitution, law does not, as such, prohibit commercial sex work by an adult woman working in a brothel having made an affidavit in this regard. But, at the same time, the law renders at least some forms of floating and hotel based sex work illegal, while sex between males has been termed as sodomy and made culpable offence even on its own. All forms of sex works by MSM and Hijra are thus branded as criminal acts. Observations and findings drawn in this article are based on both primary and secondary sources collecting data from a series of field-based empirical studies conducted by the author through questionnaire survey, FGDs, key informant consultations and other PRA/PLA tools. General and specific conclusions have been based on analysis guided by international standards of human and labour rights approaches. It has been noted that neither the community attitudes nor the cultural mind-sets, or the State's institutional set up is supportive of the causes of sex workers engaged in the most exploitative forms of labour. Lack of respect for fundamental rights continues to diminish any chances of sex workers' reintegration to the mainstream of the society, perpetuates poverty, and increases their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. To aggravate the scenario, the endemic practice of a complex debt-bondage masked by the so-called 'entry-cost' and ‘legal license’ to the industry is considered to be a somewhat accepted 'open secret' and that the police and administration keep their eyes off from such practices treating these as 'their internal affairs'. Often these practices are used by the Sardarni/Khala (landlady) and other 'managing' actors as the tool for further exploitation of the sex workers as well as a 'control strategy'. The paper concludes with the observation that the tabooed truths of commercial sex and sex workers are inherently embedded in the very factors that compel them into this endemically ostracised profession itself. While denial of both recognition and enjoyment of the fundamental human rights of sex workers is widespread, it is the same cycle of social vulnerability and economic exclusion that often confines these people within a continuous process of servitude and modern day slavery.

Keywords: commercial sex work and human rights, Labor protection in sex industry, Prostitution Law in Bangladesh, Sex work as modern day slavery

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Authors: Pelin Atav, Gözen Güner Aktaş, Nur Ayalp

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Today’s world has started to develop design process within an interdisciplinary working environment. There is an aim of creating the most permanent design for the future. While satisfying people’s needs, environment and people relationships should be considered. When this relationship was considered for the future, the sustainability term comes to mind. The term Sustainability has been adapted very well by designer and architects. It is also one of the main and significant parts of the design process. As the education process cultivates the future professionals, the awareness of those concepts in the education process has a vital importance. The question is stated as thus: Are the 3rd and 4th year design studio students, familiar and sensitive to the concept of sustainability in the TOBB ETU University Interior Design Studio. Design studios and the instructors should be taken into consideration while this sustainability term is taught. The term "Sustainability" can not be learned without making any application in the actual real world. While students make this study, They can have the chance to search the topic of sustainability step by step. Due to having various extent, sustainability term becomes quite a comprehensive issue. In order not to create negative consequences, designers and architects work by adapting this term. In terms of material, construction process, lighting, building service, furniture, systems that are used, energy consumption issues that are considered and creating positive drawbacks for the future are aimed. This research is aimed at how university education shapes designer’s works in terms of sustainability. By giving a project that is a main interest in the field of sustainability, students are expected to reach well-thought-of results and analysis. Project process were conducted with instructor and student studies together. According to critics from their instructors, students try to product well- designed results. TOBB University was choosen as a research area situated in Ankara in Turkey. Third and fourth class (interior designer/architect department) students who are from the Faculty of Fine Arts Design and Architecture are the subject group selected for this study. Aim of this study is demonstrating sustainability as a term having application in design studio. Thus, awareness of sustainability terms will be evaluated and its development process in the university education will be observed. Consequently, results that are expected is how sustainability term is conducted in project and for the sustainability term awareness in design studios and their projects have been sufficient or not.

Keywords: design education, design process, interior design studios, sustainability

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Authors: Arash Imani Fooladi

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In recent years, with the growing population and decrease in the amount of non-renewable energy supplies, which is caused by the uncontrolled energy use, the world witnesses air pollution and destruction of the natural resources. Most of the buildings which are constructed in order to inhabit this great amount of population have minimum facilities. With the passing time researchers began to feel anxious about increase in the amount of energy which people are continuously using and they tried to find some ways to solve it. One of the methods, which human being has used all during the history, was considering the orientation, size, form and shape of the building during design process and trying to take advantage of the methods which his ancestors used in order to make buildings thermally comfortable. In the last forty years with the development of building materials a new way of conserving energy, called insulation, was invented. In North Cyprus, with its adverse weather condition (hot and dry summers and rainy winters) no method was used to make buildings thermally comfortable. This fact leads to wasting a noticeable amount of energy for heating and cooling the buildings. The main aim of this article is to evaluate the defects of insulation in North Cyprus and to introduce some suggestions to improve the current defects of insulation. Therefore, this paper focuses on the Toros dormitory and the construction firms in TRNC. Toros Dormitory is situated in North Cyprus and it is one of the dormitories of Eastern Mediterranean University. Lots of problems are observed with its insulation. Forty students who inhabit in this dormitory are selected randomly in order to study these defects. Close ended questionnaires are used to find out the level of satisfaction of these students on the subject. Furthermore, eight constructors in North Cyprus are selected to study their level of satisfaction, the most important factors for choosing an insulation type and the material they often use as insulation. The results demonstrated that most of the students in the dormitory are not satisfied with the thermal conditions. Constructors are also unsatisfied with the insulating conditions in TRNC. They claimed that polystyrene which is commonly used is not the proper material for insulation in this area. Finally ICF system is evaluated, it is a new system of construction which also works as an insulation and recently it is being used all over the world. The material is suggested as a proper insulation type for North Cyprus.

Keywords: thermal comfort, insulation, building envelop, hot and humid climate, ICF system

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Authors: Jiang Niu, Yue Jiang

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With the ultimate goal to automatically generate translated texts with high quality, machine translation has made tremendous improvements. However, its translations of literary works are still plagued with problems in coherence, esp. the translation between distant language pairs. One of the causes of the problems is probably the lack of linguistic knowledge to be incorporated into the training of machine translation systems. In order to enable readers to better understand the problems of machine translation in coherence, to seek out the potential knowledge to be incorporated, and thus to improve the quality of machine translation products, this study applies Theme-Rheme structure to examine how a machine-translated literary text is organized and developed in terms of coherence. Theme-Rheme structure in Systemic Functional Linguistics is a useful tool for analysis of textual coherence. Theme is the departure point of a clause and Rheme is the rest of the clause. In a text, as Themes and Rhemes may be connected with each other in meaning, they form thematic and rhematic progressions throughout the text. Based on this structure, we can look into how a text is organized and developed in terms of coherence. Methodologically, we chose Chinese and English as the language pair to be studied. Specifically, we built a comparable corpus with two modes of English translations, viz. machine translation (MT) and human translation (HT) of one Chinese literary source text. The translated texts were annotated with Themes, Rhemes and their progressions throughout the texts. The annotated texts were analyzed from two respects, the different types of Themes functioning differently in achieving coherence, and the different types of thematic and rhematic progressions functioning differently in constructing texts. By analyzing and contrasting the two modes of translations, it is found that compared with the HT, 1) the MT features “pseudo-coherence”, with lots of ill-connected fragments of information using “and”; 2) the MT system produces a static and less interconnected text that reads like a list; these two points, in turn, lead to the less coherent organization and development of the MT than that of the HT; 3) novel to traditional and previous studies, Rhemes do contribute to textual connection and coherence though less than Themes do and thus are worthy of notice in further studies. Hence, the findings suggest that Theme-Rheme structure be applied to measuring and assessing the coherence of machine translation, to being incorporated into the training of the machine translation system, and Rheme be taken into account when studying the textual coherence of both MT and HT.

Keywords: coherence, corpus-based, literary translation, machine translation, Theme-Rheme structure

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Authors: Ashraf Samir Hakim, Randa Mohamed Alarousy

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The consumption of food contaminated with molds (microscopic filamentous fungi) and their toxic metabolites results in the development of food-borne mycotoxicosis. The spores of molds are ubiquitously spread in the environment and can be detected everywhere. Ochratoxin A is a potentially carcinogenic fungal toxin found in a variety of food commodities , not only is considered the most abundant and hence the most commonly detected member but also is the most toxic one.Ochratoxin A is the most abundant and hence the most commonly detected member, but is also the most toxic of the three. A very limited research works concerning foods of porcine origin in Egypt were obtained in spite of presence a considerable swine population and consumers. In this study, the quality of various ready-to-eat local and imported pork meat and meat byproducts sold in Egyptian markets as well as edible organs as liver and kidney were assessed for the presence of various molds and their toxins as a raw material. Mycological analysis was conducted on (n=110) samples which included pig livers n=10 and kidneys n=10 from the Basateen slaughter house; local n=70 and 20 imported processed pork meat byproducts.The isolates were identified using traditional mycological and biochemical tests while, Ochratoxin A levels were quantitatively analyzed using the high performance liquid. Results of conventional mycological tests for detecting the presence of fungal growth (yeasts or molds) were negative, while the results of mycotoxins concentrations were be greatly above the permiceable limits or "tolerable weekly intake" (TWI) of ochratoxin A established by EFSA in 2006 in local pork and pork byproducts while the imported samples showed a very slightly increasing.Since ochratoxin A is stable and generally resistant to heat and processing, control of ochratoxin A contamination lies in the control of the growth of the toxin-producing fungi. Effective prevention of ochratoxin A contamination therefore depends on good farming and agricultural practices. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) including methods to reduce fungal infection and growth during harvest, storage, transport and processing provide the primary line of defense against contamination with ochratoxin A. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of mycological assessment, especially the mycotoxins in pork byproducts in Egypt.

Keywords: Egyptian markets, mycotoxicosis, ochratoxin A, pork meat, pork by-products

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Authors: Florent Cerdan, Anne-Gaëlle Denay, Annette Roy, Jean-Claude Grandidier, Éric Laine

Abstract:

The insulation of MarkIII membrane of the Liquid Natural Gas Carriers (LNGC) consists of a load- bearing system made of panels in reinforced polyurethane foam (R-PUF). During the shipping, the cargo containment shall be potentially subject to risk events which can be water leakage through the wall ballast tank. The aim of these present works is to further develop understanding of water transfer mechanisms and water effect on properties of R-PUF. This multi-scale approach contributes to improve the durability. Macroscale / Mesoscale Firstly, the use of the gravimetric technique has allowed to define, at room temperature, the water transfer mechanisms and kinetic diffusion, in the R-PUF. The solubility follows a first kinetic fast growing connected to the water absorption by the micro-porosity, and then evolves linearly slowly, this second stage is connected to molecular diffusion and dissolution of water in the dense membranes polyurethane. Secondly, in the purpose of improving the understanding of the transfer mechanism, the study of the evolution of the buoyant force has been established. It allowed to identify the effect of the balance of total and partial pressure of mixture gas contained in pores surface. Mesoscale / Microscale The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamical Mechanical Analysis (DMA), have been used to investigate the hydration of the hard and soft segments of the polyurethane matrix. The purpose was to identify the sensitivity of these two phases. It been shown that the glass transition temperatures shifts towards the low temperatures when the solubility of the water increases. These observations permit to conclude to a plasticization of the polymer matrix. Microscale The Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) study has been used to investigate the characterization of functional groups on the edge, the center and mid-way of the sample according the duration of submersion. More water there is in the material, more the water fix themselves on the urethanes groups and more specifically on amide groups. The pic of C=O urethane shifts at lower frequencies quickly before 24 hours of submersion then grows slowly. The intensity of the pic decreases more flatly after that.

Keywords: porous materials, water sorption, glass transition temperature, DSC, DMA, FTIR, transfer mechanisms

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