Search results for: Theoretical Analysis

Authors: Shareefa Abdullah Al-Maqtari, Ruzaika Omar Basaree, Rafeah Legino

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A pictorial representation of hybrid forms in science-art collaboration has become a crucial issue in the course of exploring a new painting technique development. This is straight related to the reception of an invisible-recognition phenomenology. In hybrid pictorial representation of invisible-recognition phenomenology, the challenging issue is how to depict the pictorial features of indescribable objects from its mental source, modality and transparency. This paper proposes the hybrid technique of painting Demonstrate, Resemble, and Synthesize (DRS) through a combination of the hybrid aspect-recognition representation of understanding picture, demonstrative mod, the number theory, pattern in the modular arithmetic system, and the coherence theory of visual attention in the dynamic scenes representation. Multi-methods digital gaze data analyses, pattern-modular table operation design, and rotation parameter were used for the visualization. In the scientific processes, Eye-trackingvideo-sections based was conducted using Tobii T60 remote eye tracking hardware and TobiiStudioTM analysis software to collect and analyze the eye movements of ten participants when watching the video clip, Alexander Paulikevitch’s performance’s ‘Tajwal’. Results: we found that correlation of fixation count in section one was positively and moderately correlated with section two Person’s (r=.10, p < .05, 2-tailed) as well as in fixation duration Person’s (r=.10, p < .05, 2-tailed). However, a paired-samples t-test indicates that scores were significantly higher for the section one (M = 2.2, SD = .6) than for the section two (M = 1.93, SD = .6) t(9) = 2.44, p < .05, d = 0.87. In the visual process, the exported data of gaze number N was resembled the hybrid forms of visuospatial attention using the table-mod-analyses operation. The explored hybrid guideline was simply applicable, and it could be as alternative approach to the sustainability of contemporary visual arts.

Keywords: science-art collaboration, hybrid forms, pictorial representation, visuospatial attention, modular arithmetic

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Authors: Bing-Qing Lu, Hui-Tzu Min

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Recent research, supported by sociocultural theory, has shown that collaborative writing in the second language (L2) contexts afford students opportunities to interact with each other to co-construct knowledge during the co-composing process. To date, much research on pair interaction in L2 collaborative writing settings has centered on intermediate and advanced learners by using static categorization of pair interaction patterns. Little is known about the fluid nature of pair interaction during collaborative writing, especially among low-proficiency learners. This study, thus, is aimed to explore the interaction dynamics of low-proficiency L2 learners during collaborative writing via examining the interaction pattern, focus of interaction, and the language related episodes (LREs) of 5 low-proficiency L2 writers from Taiwan. Employing a micro-level functional analytical method to capture the changing nature of pair interaction dynamics, the researchers calculated the number of characters/words produced by each pair member during CW and then classified their utterances into four task related-aspects--content, organization, language use, and task management--to determine each pair member's relative contribution to different dimensions of the evolving text. The LREs were also identified and examined. The results show that, of the five pairs, three pairs changed their interaction patterns when discussing different aspects of writing. Regarding the focus of their interaction, all five pairs paid attention to content most, followed by language use, task management, and organization. They were able to successfully resolve the majority of language issues (75.2%) in LREs and use the correct forms in their writing. These findings lend support to the fluid nature of pairs’ interactions and the changing roles of L2 learners in collaborative writing and highlighted the necessity of examining learners’ interaction patterns from a micro-level perspective. These findings also support previous research that low-proficiency pairs are able to correctly revolve 2/3 of their produced LREs, suggesting that collaborative writing may also be suitable for L2 low-proficiency learners.

Keywords: collaborative writing, low-proficiency L2 learners, micro-level functional analysis, pair interaction pattern

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Authors: Farhad Reyazat, Richard Werner

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This paper contributes to the existent literature by developing a framework that explains how to monitor potential threats to banking sector stability. The study explores structural vulnerabilities at the country level, but also look at bilateral exposures within a network context. The study contributes in analysing of the European banking systemic risk at aggregated level, which integrates the characteristics of bank size, and interconnectedness relative to the size of the economy which ultimate risk belong to, taking to account the concentration ratio of the banking industry within the whole economy. The nature of the systemic risk depends on the interplay of the network topology with the nature of financial transactions over the network, assets and buffer stemming from bank size, correlations, and the nature of the shocks to the financial system. The study’s results illustrate the contribution of banks’ size, size of economy and concentration of counterparty exposures to a given country’s banks in explaining its systemic importance, how much the banking network depends on a few traditional hubs activities and the changes of this dependencies over the last 9 years. The role of few of traditional hubs such as Swiss banks and British Banks and also Irish banks- where the financial sector is fairly new and grew strongly between 1990s till 2008- take the fourth position on 2014 reducing the relative size since 2006 where they had the first position. In-degree concentration index analysis in the study shows concentration index of banking network was not changed since financial crisis 2007-8. In-degree concentration index on first quarter of 2014 indicates that US, UK and Germany together, getting over 70% of the network exposures. The result of comparing the in-degree concentration index with 2007-4Q, shows the same group having over 70% of the network exposure, however the UK getting more important role in the hub and the market share of US and Germany are slightly diminished.

Keywords: systemic risk, counterparty risk, financial stability, interconnectedness, banking concentration, european banks risk, network effect on systemic risk, concentration risk

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Authors: Bouami Hind, Millot Patrick

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The implementation of automated devices in life-critical systems such as hospitals can bring a new set of challenges related to automation malfunctions. While automation has been identified as great leverage for the medication dispensing system’s security and efficiency, it also increases the complexity of the organization. In particular, the installation and operation stage of automated devices can be complex when malfunctions related to automated systems occur. This paper aims to document operators’ situation awareness about the malfunctions of automated drug delivery systems (ADCs) during their implementation through Saint Brieuc hospital’s feedback. Our evaluation approach has been deployed in Saint Brieuc hospital center’s pharmacy, which has been equipped with automated nominative drug dispensing systems since January of 2021. The analysis of Saint Brieuc hospital center pharmacy’s automation revealed numerous malfunctions related to the implementation of Automated Delivery Cabinets. It appears that the targeted performance is not reached in the first year of implementation in this case study. Also, errors have been collected in patients' automated treatments’ production such as lack of drugs in pill boxes or nominative carnets, excess of drugs, wrong location of the drug, drug blister damaged, non-compliant sachet, or ticket errors. Saint Brieuc hospital center’s pharmacy is doing a tremendous job of setting up and monitoring performance indicators from the beginning of automation and throughout ADC’s operation to control ADC’s malfunctions and meet the performance targeted by the hospital. Health professionals, including pharmacists, biomedical engineers and directors of work, technical services and safety, are heavily involved in an automation project. This study highlights the importance of the evaluation of ADCs’ performance throughout the implementation process and the hospital’s team involvement in automation supervision and management.

Keywords: life-critical systems, situation awareness, automated delivery cabinets, implementation, risks and malfunctions

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Authors: P. Mandree, S. O. Ramchuran, F. O'Brien, L. Sethunya, S. Khumalo

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South Africa is identified as one of the five emerging waste management markets, globally. The waste sector in South Africa influences the areas of energy, water and food at an economic and social level. Recently, South African industries have focused on waste valorization and diversification of the current product offerings in an attempt to reduce industrial waste, target a zero waste-to-landfill initiative and recover energy. South Africa has a number of waste streams including industrial and agricultural biomass, municipal waste and marine waste. Large volumes of agricultural and forestry residues, in particular, are generated which provides significant opportunity for production of bio-based fuels and chemicals. This could directly impact development of a rural economy. One of the largest agricultural industries is the sugar industry, which contributes significantly to the country’s economy and job creation. However, the sugar industry is facing challenges due to fluctuations in sugar prices, increasing competition with low-cost global sugar producers, increasing energy and agricultural input costs, lower consumption and aging facilities. This study is aimed at technology development for the production of various bio-based chemicals using feedstock from the sugar refining process. Various indigenous bacteria and yeast species were assessed for the potential to produce platform chemicals in flask studies and at 30 L fermentation scale. Quantitative analysis of targeted bio-based chemicals was performed using either gas chromatography or high pressure liquid chromatography to assess production yields and techno-economics in order to compare performance to current commercial benchmark processes. The study also creates a decision platform for the research direction that is required for strain development using Industrial Synthetic Biology.

Keywords: bio-based chemicals, biorefinery, industrial synthetic biology, waste valorization

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Authors: Vivianne Aggestam

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Purpose: Organic dairy products have steadily increased with consumer popularity in recent years in Sweden, permitting more transport activities. The main aim of this study was to compare the transport costs and the environmental emissions made by the organic and conventional dairy production in Sweden. The objective was to evaluate differences and environmental impacts of transport between the two different production systems, allowing a more transparent understanding of the real impact of transport within the supply chain. Methods: A partial attributional Life Cycle Assessment has been conducted based on a comprehensive survey of Swedish farmers, dairies and consumers regarding their transport needs and costs. Interviews addressed the farmers and dairies. Consumers were targeted through an online survey. Results: Higher transport inputs from conventional dairy transportation are mainly via feed and soil management on farm level. The regional organic milk brand illustrate less initial transport burdens on farm level, however, after leaving the farm, it had equal or higher transportation requirements. This was mainly due to the location of the dairy farm and shorter product expiry dates, which requires more frequent retail deliveries. Organic consumers tend to use public transport more than private vehicles. Consumers using private vehicles for shopping trips primarily bought conventional products for which price was the main deciding factor. Conclusions: Organic dairy products that emphasise its regional attributes do not ensure less transportation and may therefore not be a more “climate smart” option for the consumer. This suggests that the idea of localism needs to be analysed from a more systemic perspective. Fuel and regional feed efficiency can be further implemented, mainly via fuel type and the types of vehicles used for transport.

Keywords: supply chains, distribution, transportation, organic food productions, conventional food production, agricultural fossil fuel use

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Authors: James Ladzekpo

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Background: The urgent need to identify new pharmacological targets for diabetes treatment and prevention has been amplified by the disease's extensive impact on individuals and healthcare systems. A deeper insight into the biological underpinnings of diabetes is crucial for the creation of therapeutic strategies aimed at these biological processes. Current predictive models based on genetic variations fall short of accurately forecasting diabetes. Objectives: Our study aims to pinpoint key epigenetic factors that predispose individuals to diabetes. These factors will inform the development of an advanced predictive model that estimates diabetes risk from genetic profiles, utilizing state-of-the-art statistical and data mining methods. Methodology: We have implemented a recursive feature elimination with cross-validation using the support vector machine (SVM) approach for refined feature selection. Building on this, we developed six machine learning models, including logistic regression, k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN), Naive Bayes, Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, and Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network, to evaluate their performance. Findings: The Gradient Boosting Classifier excelled, achieving a median recall of 92.17% and outstanding metrics such as area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) with a median of 68%, alongside median accuracy and precision scores of 76%. Through our machine learning analysis, we identified 31 genes significantly associated with diabetes traits, highlighting their potential as biomarkers and targets for diabetes management strategies. Conclusion: Particularly noteworthy were the Gradient Boosting Classifier and Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network, which demonstrated potential in diabetes outcome prediction. We recommend future investigations to incorporate larger cohorts and a wider array of predictive variables to enhance the models' predictive capabilities.

Keywords: diabetes, machine learning, prediction, biomarkers

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Authors: Mohsin Shahab, Shagufta Rehmat, Faisal F. Khan

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Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has generated health problems worldwide. Health care workers are the front-line warriors against the pandemic. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of COVID-19 (7th May 2021 to 3rd August 2021) amongst Health Care Workers (HCWs) and to assess the complications associated with it and its effects on their quality of life. Material and Method: The study was conducted in healthcare facilities which serve as pandemic hospitals in district Swat. A total of 140 healthcare workers, who were employed in the COVID-19 health care facilities, including the department of Pulmonology, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and COVID-19 wards. Participants were tested for COVIID-19 using RT PCR test. A Case Report Form (CRF) for conditions during and post COVID-19 was filled to assess the complications and quality of life of health care workers. Results: A total of 140 Health Care Workers were studied, out of which 40% were doctors, 22% nursing staff, 17% paramedic staff, 9% cleaning staff, lab technologist 6%, 2% operation theater staff, administration staff, and pharmacist. The respondents were also investigated for pre-existing illness prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection, hypertension was the most prevalent, followed by chronic heart diseases and neurological disorders. Fever was the most common symptom, recorded 76.42% in the participants, while 55.71% of participants had dry cough, 55% had a sore throat, following by chest pain 43.56%. Reinfection rate was 10%, with chest pain being recorded in 85.71%. Post disease complication analysis showed that 47.14% of the participants were diagnosed with a new diagnosis after the COVID-19 recovery. Pulmonological diseases were recorded the most as a new diagnosis in, followed by gastrointestinal and psychological problems. Conclusions: The results of the study illustrates how COVID-19 has affected the overall health and quality of life of HCWs in District Swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, HCW's, symptoms, questionnaire, post COVID-19

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Authors: Nikica Mihaljević

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Published in 2023, "Tre ciotole. Rituali per un anno di crisi" is a collection of short stories completely disconnected from one another in regard to topics and the representation of characters. However, these short stories complete and somehow continue each other in a particular way. The book happens to be Murgia's last book, as the author died a few months later after the book's publication and it appears as a kind of summary of all her previous literary works. Namely, in her previous publications, Murgia already stressed certain characters' particularities, such as solitude and alienation from others, which are at the center of attention in this literary work, too. What all the stories present in "Tre ciotole" have in common is the dealing with characters' identity and self-awareness through the challenges they confront and the way the characters live their emotions in relation to the surrounding space. Although the challenges seem similar, the spatial element around the characters is different, but it confirms each time that characters' emotions, and, consequently, their self-awareness, can be formed and built only through their connection and relation to the surrounding space. In that way, the reader creates an imaginary network of complex relations among characters in all the short stories, which gives him/her the opportunity to search for a way to break out of the usual patterns that tend to be repeated while characters focus on building self-awareness. The aim of the paper is to determine and analyze the role of spatial elements in the creation of characters' emotions and in the process of self-awareness. As the spatial element changes or gets transformed and/or substituted, in the same way, we notice the arise of the unconscious desire for self-harm in the characters, which damages their self-awareness. Namely, the characters face a crisis that they cannot control by inventing other types of crises that can be controlled. That happens to be their way of acting in order to find the way out of the identity crisis. Consequently, we expect that the results of the analysis point out the similarities in the short stories in characters' depiction as well as to show the extent to which the characters' identities depend on the surrounding space in each short story. In this way, the results will highlight the importance of spatial elements in characters' identity formation in Michela Murgia's short stories and also summarize the importance of the whole Murgia's literary opus.

Keywords: Italian literature, short stories, environment, spatial element, emotions, characters

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Authors: Aziz Zulazmi Samsudin, Siti Norhedayah Abdul Latif

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The lack of normalization of mental health as a conversational topic is becoming increasingly evident in certain cultures. The fact that students underutilize mental health services in schools can be attributed to the presence of various barriers that impede their willingness to seek for help. Stigma surrounding mental health services continue to be the most prevalent barrier for help seeking behavior. Alternative barriers have emerged that are both personal and public in nature that can have a substantial impact on students’ preference to seek for help in schools. A sequential explanatory study was carried out among 256 Muslim students in a school with dual education system in exploring both their Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) and Mental Health Help-Seeking Attitude (MHSA). In addition, 12 students were interviewed in a focus group setting to explore further the phenomena of help seeking approach by students to understand the initial quantitative analysis. Preliminary findings indicated that the students’ level of self-stigma was only moderate, but they had a favorable attitude towards counselling help. There was no significant difference on gender for both variables; however, the lower the self-stigma, the higher the mental help-seeking attitude for this current study, which is a common trend of relationship between the two variables. The interview revealed that, apart from public stigma, the absence of a qualified counsellor, a lack of ethical principles of counselling, a confidentiality issue, and the emotional openness of the students were identified as other barriers to their help-seeking attitudes. This paper also discussed the recommendation made by students in addressing barriers to counselling and facilitating their counselling needs for the improvement of students' mental and academic well-being. Additionally, this research offers the most recent data about mental health in the context of schools with a dual education system in Brunei Darussalam. It is hoped to serve as a guide for policy makers to consider the provision of mental health services that is more appealing to the students’ mental and academic well-being.

Keywords: mental health help-seeking attitude (MHSA), public stigma, school counselling, self-stigma, self-stigma of seeking help (SSOSH), well-being.

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Authors: Hannes Groeneweg

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Myanmar is considered one of the largest fishing nations in the world. The country’s rapid economic and political reform process since 2011 entails both challenges and opportunities for its marine fishing sector. The development pathway of the sector remains unclear. Which future will eventually materialize is shaped and determined by the various visions and actions of the stakeholders engaging in political debates and decision-making. These visions can be conceptualized through the Science and Technology Studies (STS) concept of sociotechnical imaginaries. The research of this article is guided by the question of which imaginaries are currently relevant, who is propagating these imaginaries, and how are these imaginaries produced and contested. Using qualitative documentary analysis of policy documents, reports, and media articles as well as in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, three archetypical national sociotechnical imaginaries of Myanmar’s future marine fisheries were identified: The industrial scale extractivism imaginary views marine fishing sector as a driver for national economic growth and focuses on the industrial and technological development of the production chain, increasing yield and exports. Sustainable fishing management encompasses the vulnerability of marine ecosystems and views increasing efficient sustainability governance, planning, and management into existing fishing practices. In the traditional sufficiency fishing imaginary, small-scale fishing practices are viewed as an important livelihood practice for millions of coastal dwellers. The need to conserve them through strengthening the self-reliance, autonomy, and resilience of these communities is stressed. In national debates, the first two imaginaries are currently dominant. The imaginaries, as well as their contestations, are also linked to other critical political issues. The paper suggests that participatory decision-making processes are needed to create an inclusive imaginary of the future marine fishing sector.

Keywords: science and technology studies, sociotechnical imaginaries, marine fishing, knowledge coproduction, Myanmar

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Authors: Ghada Ben Hamad, Zohir Younsi, Hassane Naji, Noureddine Lebaz, Naoual Belouaggadia

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This study deals with a bifunctional micro-encapsulated phase change (MCP) material, capric-stearic acid/graphene oxide-TiO2, which has been successfully developed by in situ hydrolysis and polycondensation of tetrabutyl titanate and modification of graphene oxide (GO) on the TiO2 doped shell. The use of graphene and doped TiO2 is a promising approach to provide photocatalytic activity under visible light and improve the microcapsules physicochemical properties. The morphology and chemical structure of the resulting microcapsule samples were determined by using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electronic microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) methods. The ultraviolet, visible spectrophotometer (UV–vis), the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and the thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) were used to investigate the absorption of visible and ultraviolet (UV), the thermal properties, and thermal stabilities of the microcapsules. Note that, the visible light photocatalytic activity was assessed for the toluene and benzene gaseous removal in a suitable test room. The microcapsules exhibit an interesting spherical morphology and an average diameter of 15 to 25 μm. The addition of graphene can enhance the rigidity of the shell and improve the microcapsules thermal reliability. At the same time, the thermal analysis tests showed that the synthesized microcapsules had a high solar thermal energy-storage and better thermal stability. In addition, the capric-stearic acid microcapsules exhibited high solar photocatalytic activity with respect to atmospheric pollutants under natural sunlight. The fatty acid samples obtained with the GO/TiO2 shell showed great potential for applications of solar energy storage, solar photocatalytic degradation of air pollutants and buildings energy conservation.

Keywords: thermal energy storage, microencapsulation, titanium dioxide, photocatalysis, graphene oxide

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Authors: Diana Flores Galindo, Richard Gil Herrera

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Nowadays, Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 are very important in every country. One of the main benefits is continued market presence. It has been identified that there is a need to change existing educational programs, as well as update the knowledge and skills of existing employees. It should be borne in mind that behind each technological improvement, there is a human being. Human talent cannot be neglected. The main objectives of this article are to review the link between Lean Manufacturing, the incorporation of Industry 4.0 and the steps to follow to implement it; analyze the current situation and study the implications and benefits of this new trend, with a particular focus on Mexico. Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 implementation waves must always take care of the most important capital – intellectual capital. The methodology used in this article comprised the following steps: reviewing the reality of the fourth industrial revolution, reviewing employees’ skills on the journey to become world-class, and analyzing the situation in Mexico. Lean Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 were studied not as exclusive concepts, but as complementary ones. The methodological framework used is focused on motivating companies’ collaborators to guarantee common results, innovate, and remain in the market in the face of new requirements from company stakeholders. The key findings were that both trends emphasize the need to improve communication across the entire company and incorporate new technologies into everyday work, from the shop floor to administrative staff, to help improve processes. Taking care of people, activities and processes will bring a company success. In the specific case of Mexico, companies in all sectors need to be aware of and implement technological improvements according to their specific needs. Low-cost labor represents one of the most typical barriers. In conclusion, companies must build a roadmap according to their strategy and needs to achieve their short, medium- and long-term goals.

Keywords: lean management, lean manufacturing, industry 4.0, motivation, SWOT analysis, Hoshin Kanri

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Authors: Muhammad Nouman, Fahad Tiwana, Muhammad Irfan, Mohsin Tiwana

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Traffic congestion has been increasing significantly in major metropolitan areas as a result of increased motorization, urbanization, population growth and changes in the urban density. Traffic congestion compromises efficiency of transport infrastructure and causes multiple traffic concerns; including but not limited to increase of travel time, safety hazards, air pollution, and fuel consumption. Traffic management has become a serious challenge for federal and provincial governments, as well as exasperated commuters. Effective, flexible, efficient and user-friendly traffic information/database management systems characterize traffic conditions by making use of traffic counts for storage, processing, and visualization. While, the emerging data collection technologies continue to proliferate, its accuracy can be guaranteed through the comparison of observed data with the manual handheld counters. This paper presents the design of tablet based manual traffic counting application and framework for development of traffic database management system for Pakistan. The database management system comprises of three components including traffic counting android application; establishing online database and its visualization using Google maps. Oracle relational database was chosen to develop the data structure whereas structured query language (SQL) was adopted to program the system architecture. The GIS application links the data from the database and projects it onto a dynamic map for traffic conditions visualization. The traffic counting device and example of a database application in the real-world problem provided a creative outlet to visualize the uses and advantages of a database management system in real time. Also, traffic data counts by means of handheld tablet/ mobile application can be used for transportation planning and forecasting.

Keywords: manual count, emerging data sources, traffic information quality, traffic surveillance, traffic counting device, android; data visualization, traffic management

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Authors: Puji Sucia Sukmaningrum, Achsania Hendratmi, Noven Suprayogi, Muhammad Madyan

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Theoretically, Islamic banks in Indonesia and Malaysia not necessarily aware to the interest rate fluctuation, since they don’t use interest-based instruments. Both countries use dual banking system in which Islamic and conventional banking system are exist. This situation makes the profit-sharing level of the Islamic banks will be indirectly affected by the interest rate fluctuation from the conventional banks system. One of the risk management tools for anticipating the risk of interest rate fluctuation is gap management, which has purpose to narrow the difference between Rate Sensitive Asset (RSA) and Rate Sensitive Liability (RSL). This formed gap will give the information about the risk potential in Islamic banks which respect to the fluctuation on the interest rate. This study aims to determine the position of the gap formed at Islamic Maybank Indonesia and Islamic Maybank Malaysia, and analyze the difference in the formation of gap based on the period of sensitivity. This study is a quantitative research with comparative study using sensitivity gap analysis, independent sample t-test, and Mann-Whitney method. The data being used was secondary data from Maturity Profile contained in the Annual Financial Report of Islamic Maybank Indonesia and Islamic Maybank Malaysia from 2011 to 2015 period. The result shows that, cumulatively the formation of the gap was negative gap. From the results of independent sample t-test and Mann-Whitney, the formation of the gap in Islamic Maybank Indonesia and Islamic Maybank Malaysia for a period of sensitivity of ≤ 1 month and >1-3 months show a significant difference, while the period of sensitivity >3-12 months does not. The result shows, even though Indonesia and Malaysia using same dual banking systems, the gap values are different. The difference in debt policy between Indonesia and Malaysia also affecting the gap sensitivity in debt. In can be concluded that each country needs an appropriate gap management to support its Islamic banking performance specifically.

Keywords: assets and liability management, gap management, interest rate risk, Islamic bank

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Authors: Snezana Rajkovic, Miroslava Markovic, Ljubinko Rakonjac, Aleksandar Lucic, Radoslav Rajkovic

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Woolly apple aphid, Eriosoma lanigerum (Hausmann) is a widely distributed pest of apple trees, especially where its parasites have been killed by insecticides. It can also be found on pear, hawthorn, mountain ash, and elm trees. Relatively small to medium-sized aphids, characterized by a reddish-brown body, a blood-red stain when crushed and a fluffy, flocculent wax covering. Specialized dermal glands produce the characteristic fluffy or powdery wax, which gives E. lanigerum its characteristic 'woolly' appearance. Also, woolly apple aphid is a problemm in nursery production of spure.The experiments were carried out in the nursery “Nevade” in Gornji Milanovac, "Srbijasume" on the spruce seedlings, aged 2 years. In this study, organic insecticide King Bo, aqueous solution (a. i. oxymatrine 0.2% + psoralen 0.4%), manufacturer Beijing Kingbo Biotech Co. Ltd., Beijing, China. extracted from plants and used as pesticides in nursery production were investigated. King Bo, bioinsecticide is manufactured from refined natural herbal extract several wild medicinal plants, such as Sophora flavescens Ait, Veratrum nigrum L, A. Carmichael, etc. Oxymatrine 2.4 SL is a stomach poison that has antifeeding and repellent action. This substance stimulates development and growth in a host plant and also controls the appearance of downy mildew.The trials were set according to instructions of methods-monitoring of changes in the number of larvae and adults compared to before treatment. The treatment plan was made according to fully randomized block design. The experiment was conducted in four repetitions. The basic plot had the area of 25 m2. Phytotoxicity was estimated by PP methods 1/135 (2), the intensity of infection according to Towsend-Heuberger, the efficiency by Abbott, the analysis of variance with Ducan test and PP/181 (2).

Keywords: bioinsecticide, efficacy, nurssery production, woolly apple aphid

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Authors: Alexey Yu. Martynov, Sulejman Bayramov

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Introduction: The myocardial bridging is the most common anomaly of the coronary arteries (CA). Depending on the examination method, the frequency of detected myocardial bridges (MB) varies in a rather wide range. The typical clinical manifestations of MB are angina pectoris, arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death. Objective: To study the incidence of MB in patients hospitalized with coronary artery disease (CAD). To assess clinical manifestations of MB in patients admitted with CAD. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of 19159 case histories of patients admitted at clinical city hospital in Moscow from 01.01.2018 to 31.12 2019 with CAD was performed. 9384 patients’ coronary angiographies (CAG) were examined for MB. The localization of MB, the degree of coronary contraction by MB, the number of MB, isolated MB and combined with CAD were assessed. The clinical manifestations of MB were determined. Results: MB was detected in 52 patients all with one myocardial bridge. 20 patients with MB have intact CA, and 32 patients have MB combined with CAD. Among 20 patients with intact CA: I degree of MB contraction (up to 50%) was detected in 9 patients. Clinical manifestations in five cases were angina pectoris, in 3 myocardial infarction (MI) - 1 patients with ST segment elevation MI (STEMI), 2 without ST segment elevation MI (NSTEMI), 1 post-infarction cardiosclerosis (PICS). Stable angina II FC in 3, III FC in 1, vasospastic angina (VSA) in 1 patient. II degree of MB contraction (up to 50-70%) was determined in 9 patients: in seven cases angina pectoris was detected, 1 NSTEMI, 1 PICS. Stable angina II FC in 3, III FC in 1, VSA in 3 patients. III degree of MB contraction (> 70%) detected in 2 patients. II FC stable angina in one case, PICS in another. Among 32 patients having MB combined with CAD I degree of MB contraction was observed in 20 patients. Clinical manifestations in 12 cases were angina pectoris in 8 II FC and in 4 III FC, 7 MI 6 with STEMI and 1 NSTEMI, 1 PICS. II degree of MB contraction was detected in 7 patients, 4 of them had angina pectoris, 3 MI 2 with STEMI and 1 NSTEMI. Stable angina II FC in 3, VSA in 1 patients. III degree of MB contraction was diagnosed in five patients. In two cases, II FC and III FC stable angina were observed, 2 MI with STEMI and NSTEMI, 1 PICS. Conclusions: MB incidence is one in 368 patients with CAD. The most common involvement (68%) is MB combined with CA atherosclerotic lesions. MB with intact CA are detected in one-third (32%) of patients. The first-degree MB contraction is most frequent condition. MI is more often detected in intact CA with first degree MB than in the second degree. The degree of MB contraction was not correlated with the severity of the clinical manifestations.

Keywords: clinical manifestations, coronary angiography, coronary artery disease, myocardial bridging, myocardial infarction, stable angina

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Authors: Serkan Sayin, Songul F. Varol

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High attention on the organic light-emitting diodes has been paid since their efficient properties in the flat panel displays, and solid-state lighting was realized. Because of their high efficient electroluminescence, brightness and providing eminent in the emission range, organic light emitting diodes have been preferred a material compared with the other materials consisting of the liquid crystal. Calixarenes obtained from the reaction of p-tert-butyl phenol and formaldehyde in a suitable base have been potentially used in various research area such as catalysis, enzyme immobilization, and applications, ion carrier, sensors, nanoscience, etc. In addition, their tremendous frameworks, as well as their easily functionalization, make them an effective candidate in the applied chemistry. Herein, a calix[4]arene derivative has been synthesized, and its structure has been fully characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR), proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR), carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C-NMR), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and elemental analysis techniques. The calixarene derivative has been employed as an emitting layer in the fabrication of the organic light-emitting diodes. The optical and electrochemical features of calixarane-contained organic light-emitting diodes (Clx-OLED) have been also performed. The results showed that Clx-OLED exhibited blue emission and high external quantum efficacy. As a conclusion obtained results attributed that the synthesized calixarane derivative is a promising chromophore with efficient fluorescent quantum yield that provides it an attractive candidate for fabricating effective materials for fluorescent probes and labeling studies. This study was financially supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK Grant no. 117Z402).

Keywords: calixarene, OLED, supramolecular chemistry, synthesis

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Authors: Dagnew Dessie Mengie

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The purpose of this study was to investigate German tourists' demand for Ethiopian tourism destinations. The author has made every effort to identify the differences in the preferences of German visitors’ demand in Ethiopia comparing with Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, and South African tourism sectors if they are invited to visit at the same time. However, the demand for international tourism for Ethiopia currently lags behind these African countries. Therefore, to offer demand-driven tourism products, the Ethiopian government and tour and travel operators need to understand the important factors that affect international tourists’ decision to visit Ethiopian tourist destinations. The aim of this study was to analyze German Tourists’ Demand for Ethiopian destinations. The researcher aimed to identify the demand for German tourists’ preference for Ethiopian tourist destinations compared to the above-mentioned African countries. For collecting and analysing data for this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods of research are being used in this study. The most significant data are collected by using the primary data collection method i.e. survey and interviews which are the most and large number of potential responses and feedback from nine German active tourists,12 Ethiopian tourism officials, four African embassies, and four well functioning private tour companies and secondary data collected from books, journals, previous research and electronic websites. Based on the data analysis of the information gathered from interviews and questionnaires, the study disclosed that the majority of German tourists do have not that high demand for Ethiopian Tourist destinations due to the following reasons: (1) Many Germans are fascinated by adventures and safari and simply want to lie on the beach and relax. These interests have leaded them to look for other African countries which have these accesses. (2) Uncomfortable infrastructure and transport problems are attributed to the decreasing number of German tourists in the country. (3) Inadequate marketing operation of the Ethiopian Tourism Authority and its delegates in advertising and clarifying the above irregularities which are raised by the tourists.

Keywords: environmental benefits of tourism, social benefits of tourism, economic benefits of tourism, political factors on tourism

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Authors: M. Ahmadi, Sh. Damanabi, F. Sadoughi

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National Health Information System plays an important role in ensuring timely and reliable access to Health information which is essential for strategic and operational decisions that improve health, quality and effectiveness of health care. In other words, by using the National Health information system you can improve the quality of health data, information and knowledge used to support decision making at all levels and areas of the health sector. Since full identification of the components of this system for better planning and management influential factors of performance seems necessary, therefore, in this study, different attitudes towards components of this system are explored comparatively. Methods: This is a descriptive and comparative kind of study. The society includes printed and electronic documents containing components of the national health information system in three parts: input, process, and output. In this context, search for information using library resources and internet search were conducted and data analysis was expressed using comparative tables and qualitative data. Results: The findings showed that there are three different perspectives presenting the components of national health information system, Lippeveld, Sauerborn, and Bodart Model in 2000, Health Metrics Network (HMN) model from World Health Organization in 2008 and Gattini’s 2009 model. All three models outlined above in the input (resources and structure) require components of management and leadership, planning and design programs, supply of staff, software and hardware facilities, and equipment. In addition, in the ‘process’ section from three models, we pointed up the actions ensuring the quality of health information system and in output section, except Lippeveld Model, two other models consider information products, usage and distribution of information as components of the national health information system. Conclusion: The results showed that all the three models have had a brief discussion about the components of health information in input section. However, Lippeveld model has overlooked the components of national health information in process and output sections. Therefore, it seems that the health measurement model of network has a comprehensive presentation for the components of health system in all three sections-input, process, and output.

Keywords: National Health Information System, components of the NHIS, Lippeveld Model

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Authors: V. E. Messerle, A. B. Ustimenko, O. A. Lavrichshev

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A large amount of manure and its irrational use negatively affect the environment. As compared with biomass fermentation, plasma processing of manure enhances makes it possible to intensify the process of obtaining fuel gas, which consists mainly of synthesis gas (CO + H₂), and increase plant productivity by 150–200 times. This is achieved due to the high temperature in the plasma reactor and a multiple reduction in waste processing time. This paper examines the plasma processing of biomass using the example of dried mixed animal manure (dung with a moisture content of 30%). Characteristic composition of dung, wt.%: Н₂О – 30, С – 29.07, Н – 4.06, О – 32.08, S – 0.26, N – 1.22, P₂O₅ – 0.61, K₂O – 1.47, СаО – 0.86, MgO – 0.37. The thermodynamic code TERRA was used to numerically analyze dung plasma gasification and pyrolysis. Plasma gasification and pyrolysis of dung were analyzed in the temperature range 300–3,000 K and pressure 0.1 MPa for the following thermodynamic systems: 100% dung + 25% air (plasma gasification) and 100% dung + 25% nitrogen (plasma pyrolysis). Calculations were conducted to determine the composition of the gas phase, the degree of carbon gasification, and the specific energy consumption of the processes. At an optimum temperature of 1,500 K, which provides both complete gasification of dung carbon and the maximum yield of combustible components (99.4 vol.% during dung gasification and 99.5 vol.% during pyrolysis), and decomposition of toxic compounds of furan, dioxin, and benz(a)pyrene, the following composition of combustible gas was obtained, vol.%: СО – 29.6, Н₂ – 35.6, СО₂ – 5.7, N₂ – 10.6, H₂O – 17.9 (gasification) and СО – 30.2, Н₂ – 38.3, СО₂ – 4.1, N₂ – 13.3, H₂O – 13.6 (pyrolysis). The specific energy consumption of gasification and pyrolysis of dung at 1,500 K is 1.28 and 1.33 kWh/kg, respectively. An installation with a DC plasma torch with a rated power of 100 kW and a plasma reactor with a dung capacity of 50 kg/h was used for dung processing experiments. The dung was gasified in an air (or nitrogen during pyrolysis) plasma jet, which provided a mass-average temperature in the reactor volume of at least 1,600 K. The organic part of the dung was gasified, and the inorganic part of the waste was melted. For pyrolysis and gasification of dung, the specific energy consumption was 1.5 kWh/kg and 1.4 kWh/kg, respectively. The maximum temperature in the reactor reached 1,887 K. At the outlet of the reactor, a gas of the following composition was obtained, vol.%: СO – 25.9, H₂ – 32.9, СO₂ – 3.5, N₂ – 37.3 (pyrolysis in nitrogen plasma); СO – 32.6, H₂ – 24.1, СO₂ – 5.7, N₂ – 35.8 (air plasma gasification). The specific heat of combustion of the combustible gas formed during pyrolysis and plasma-air gasification of agricultural waste is 10,500 and 10,340 kJ/kg, respectively. Comparison of the integral indicators of dung plasma processing showed satisfactory agreement between the calculation and experiment.

Keywords: agricultural waste, experiment, plasma gasification, thermodynamic calculation

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Authors: Hassan Nour, Nouh Mounadi, Oussama Abchir, Belaidi Salah, Samir Chtita

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Cholinesterase enzymes are biological catalysts essential for the transformation of acetylcholine, which is a neurotransmitter implicated in memory and learning, into acetic acid and choline, altering the neurotransmission process in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Therefore, inhibition of cholinesterase enzymes is a relevant strategy for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The current investigation aims to explore potential Cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitors through a comprehensive computational approach. Forty-nine phytoconstituents extracted from Cannabis sativa L were in-silico screened using molecular docking, pharmacokinetic and toxicological analysis to evaluate their possible inhibitory effect towards the cholinesterase enzymes. Two phytoconstituents belonging to cannabinoid derivatives were revealed to be promising candidates for Alzheimer therapy by acting as cholinesterase inhibitors. They have exhibited high binding affinities towards the cholinesterase enzymes and showed their ability to interact with key residues involved in cholinesterase enzymatic activity. In addition, they presented good ADMET profiles allowing them to be promising oral drug candidates. Furthermore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were executed to explore their interactions stability under mimetic biological conditions and thus support our findings. To corroborate the docking results, the binding free energy corresponding to the more stable ligand-ChE complexes was re-estimated by applying the MM-PBSA method. MD and MM-PBSA studies affirmed that the ligand-ChE recognition is spontaneous reaction leading to stable complexes. The conducted investigations have led to great findings that would strongly guide the pharmaceutical industries towards the rational development of potent anti-Alzheimer agents.

Keywords: alzheimer’s disease, molecular docking, cannabis sativa l, cholinesterase inhibitors

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Authors: Suhathai Tosangwarn, Philip Clissett, Holly Blake

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Background: High prevalence of depression has been reported among older adults living in care homes in Thailand, associated with physical impairment, low social support, low self-esteem and particularly stigma associated with living in a care home. However, little is understood about how such stigma is experienced among Thai care home residents. This study examines residents’ perceptions of stigma and their strategies for coping with stigma. Method/Design: Case study research was used to gain an in-depth view about the stigma of residents’ perspectives and experiences from two care homes in the northeast of Thailand by conducting an in-depth interview and non-participant observation. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 older residents (aged >60 years), purposively sampled from both care homes. Non-participant observation was conducted in various public spaces of the care homes, including the dining room, corridors, and activities areas for approximately one to two hours per day at different times; morning and afternoon including weekdays and weekend in both care homes for one month. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The study identified three major themes related to the causes of stigma, the reactions towards stigma and the mitigating factors. Negative beliefs about care homes, negative attitudes, and stereotypes toward the elderly and perceptions of unequal power relations between staff and residents were the main factors precipitating stigma. Consequently, residents exhibited negative emotions and behaviours, including depressive symptoms, while living in care homes. Residents reported the use of particular coping strategies, including accessing support from the public and staff and engaging in care home activities which these helped them to cope with their perception of stigma. Conclusion: Improved understanding of the underlying factors behind perceived stigma in care home residents may help to prevent depression and reduce perceptions of stigma associated with living in a care home, by informing strategy, supportive intervention and guidelines for appropriate care for older Thai residents.

Keywords: care home, depression, older adult, stigma, Thailand

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Authors: Maryam Zahmatkesh

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Middle managers form a significant occupational category in organisations. They undertake a vital role, as they sit between the operational and strategic roles. Traditionally they were acting as diplomat administrators, and were only in power to meet the demands of professionals. Following the introduction of internal market, in line with the principles of New Public Management, middle managers have been considered as change agents. More recently, in the debates of middle managers, there is emphasis on entrepreneurialism and enacting strategic role. It was assumed that granting autonomy to the local organisations and the inception of semi-autonomous hospitals (Foundation Trusts in England and Board of Trustees in Iran) would give managers more autonomy to act proactively and innovatively. This thesis explores the hospital middle managers’ perception of and responses to public management reforms (in particular, hospital autonomy) in England and Iran. In order to meet the aims of the thesis, research was undertaken within the interpretative paradigm, in line with social constructivism. Data were collected from interviews with forty-five middle managers, observational fieldwork and documentary analysis across four teaching university hospitals in England and Iran. The findings show the different ways middle managers’ autonomy is constrained in the two countries. In England, middle managers have financial and human recourses, but their autonomy is constrained by government policy and targets. In Iran, middle managers are less constrained by government policy and targets, but they do not have financial and human resources to exercise autonomy. Unbalanced autonomy causes tension and frustration for middle managers. According to neo-institutional theory, organisations are deeply embedded within social, political, economic and normative settings that exert isomorphic and internal population-level pressures to conform to existing and established modes of operation. Health systems which are seeking to devolve autonomy to middle managers must appreciate the multidimensional nature of the autonomy, as well as the wider environment that organisations are embedded, if they are about to improve the performance of managers and their organisations.

Keywords: autonomy, healthcare organisations, middle managers, new public management

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Authors: Pravin Kumar, Rajendra K. Singh, Prabhakar Singh

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A widespread research work on Mo-based double perovskite systems has been reported as a potential application for electrode materials of solid oxide fuel cells. Mo-based double perovskites studied in form of B-site ordered double perovskite materials, with general formula A₂B′B″O₆ structured by alkaline earth element (A = Sr, Ca, Ba) and heterovalent transition metals (B′ = Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, etc. and B″ = Mo, W, etc.), are raising a significant interest as potential mixed ionic-electronic conductors in the temperature range of 500-800 °C. Such systems reveal higher electrical conductivity, particularly those assigned in form of Sr₂CoMoO₆₋δ (M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn etc.) which were studied in different environments (air/H₂/H₂-Ar/CH₄) at an intermediate temperature. Among them, the Sr₂CoMoO₆₋δ system is a potential candidate as an anode material for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) due to its better electrical conductivity. Therefore, Sr₂CoMoO₆₋δ (SCM) system with La-doped on Sr site has been studied to discover the structural and electrical properties. The double perovskite system Sr₂CoMoO₆₋δ (SCM) and doped system Sr₂-ₓLaₓCoMoO₆₋δ (SLCM, x=0.04) were synthesized by the citrate-nitrate combustion synthesis route. Thermal studies were carried out by thermo-gravimetric analysis. Phase justification was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) as a tetragonal structure with space group I4/m. A minor phase of SrMoO₄ (s.g. I41/a) was identified as a secondary phase using JCPDS card no. 85-0586. Micro-structural investigations revealed the formation of uniform grains. The average grain size of undoped (SCM) and doped (SLCM) compositions was calculated by a linear intercept method and found to be ⁓3.8 μm and 2.7 μm, respectively. The electrical conductivity of SLCM is found higher than SCM in the air within the temperature range of 200-600 °C. SLCM system was also measured in reducing atmosphere (pure H₂) in the temperature range 300-600 °C. SLCM has been showed the higher conductivity in the reducing atmosphere (H₂) than in air and therefore it could be a promising anode material for SOFCs.

Keywords: double perovskite, electrical conductivity, SEM, XRD

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Authors: Hasanzadeh Tahraband F., Kheirkhah M.

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The trauma resulting from abortion causes fear, frustration, inability, lack of self-confidence, and psychological distress in women. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of midwifery counseling based on the Gamble approach on coping strategies of women with abortion. This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on women with abortions in April–October 2021, Karaj, Iran. Ninety-six eligible women were randomly assigned to two 48-member groups with 4, 6, and 8 blocks. The women in the intervention group participated in two 45-75-minute Gamble counseling programs. They were asked to fill out the demographic and fertility information questionnaire before the intervention and the cope operations preference inquiry questionnaire before, immediately (in the 4-6th week of the study), and three months after the intervention. The analysis of the data was done through Chi-square, independent sample t-test. The significance level was considered P<0.05. The results showed that the differences between the two groups before the intervention were not statistically significant in terms of demographic and fertility variables (P>0.05). However, the total mean score of the problem-focused dimension in 3-month post-abortion (97/34±8/69) and the emotion-focused dimension in 4-6 weeks and 3-month post-abortion (34/14±3/48 and 32/41±3/41) in the intervention group was significantly different from the control group (P<0.001). According to the results of the repeated measures ANOVA, the level of coping and its dimensions significantly changed in the intervention group over time (P<0.001). The results of the present study showed that Gamble counseling promoted the problem-focused dimension score and reduced the emotion-focused dimension score in women with abortion. It is recommended that Gamble counseling should be used as midwife-led counseling to increase coping strategies and reduce the psychological distress of women who have experienced abortion.

Keywords: midwife-led counseling, coping strategies, post-abortion, psychological distress, Iran

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Authors: Shanakr Bhattarai, V. S. Tiwari, Barak Akabayov

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The plummeting number of infections and death is due to the development of drug-resistant bacteria. In addition, the number of approved antibiotic drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is insufficient. Therefore, developing new drugs and finding novel targets for central metabolic pathways in bacteria is urgently needed. One of the promising targets is DNA replication machinery which consists of many essential proteins and enzymes. DnaG primase is an essential enzyme and a central part of the DNA replication machinery. DnaG primase synthesizes short RNA primers that initiate the Okazaki fragments by the lagging strand DNA polymerase. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that inhibition of primase activity will stall DNA replication and prevent bacterial proliferation. We did the expression and purification of eight different bacterial DnaGs (Mycobacterium tuberculosis(Mtb), Bacillus anthracis (Ba), Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msmeg), Francisella tularencis (Ft), Vibrio cholerae (Vc) and Yersinia pestis (Yp), Staphylococcus aureus(Saureus), Escherichia coli(Ecoli)) followed by the radioactive activity assay. After obtaining the pure and active protein DnaG, we synthesized the inhibitors for them. The inhibitors were divided into five different groups, each containing five molecules, and the cocktail inhibition assay was performed against each DnaGs. The groups of molecules inhibiting the DnaGs were further tested with individual molecules belonging to inhibiting groups. Each molecule showing inhibition was titrated against the corresponding DnaGs to find IC50. We got a molecule(VS167) that acted as broad inhibitors, inhibiting all eight DnaGs. Molecules VS180 and VS186 inhibited seven DnaGs (except Saureus). Similarly, two molecules(VS 173, VS176) inhibited five DnaGs (Mtb, Ba, Ft, Yp, Ecoli). VS261 inhibited four DnaGs (Mtb, Ba, Ft, Vc). MS50 inhibited Ba and Vc DnaGs. And some of the inhibitors inhibited only one DnaGs. Thus we found the broad and specific inhibitors for different bacterial DnaGs, and their Structure-activity analysis(SAR) was done. Further, We tried to explain the similarities among the enzyme DnaGs from different bacteria based on their inhibition pattern.

Keywords: DNA replication, DnaG, okazaki fragments, antibiotic drugs

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Authors: Muhammad Sufyan, Muhammad D. Gogi, Muhammad Arshad, Ahmad Nawaz, Muhammad Usman

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Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) universally known as silver fiber and is one of the most important cash crop of Pakistan. A wide array of pests constraints cotton production among which sucking insect pests cause serious losses. Mostly new chemistry insecticides used to control a wide variety of insect pests including sucking insect pests. In the present study efficacy of different neonicotinoids was evaluated against sucking insect pests of cotton in the field and in laboratory for red and dusky cotton bug. The experiment was conducted at Entomology Research Station, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). Field trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Confidence Ultra (Imidacloprid) 70% SL, Confidor (Imidacloprid) 20% SL, Kendo (Lambda cyhalothrin) 24.7 SC, Actara (Thiamethoxam) 25% WG, Forcast (Tebufenozide+ Emamectin benzoate) 8.8 EW and Timer (Emamectin benzoate) 1.9 EC at their recommended doses. The data was collected on per leaf basis of thrips, aphid, jassid and whitefly before 24 hours of spray. The post treatment data was recorded after 24, 48 and 72 hours. The fresh, non-infested and untreated cotton leaves was collected from the field and brought to the laboratory to assess the efficacy of neonicotinoids against red and dusky cotton bug. After data analysis all the insecticides were found effective against sucking pests. Confidence Ultra was highly effective against the aphid, jassid, and whitefly and gave maximum mortality, while showed non-significant results against thrips. In case of aphid plot which was treated with Kando 24.7 SC showed significant mortality after 72 hours of pesticide application. Similar trends were found in laboratory conditions with all these treatments by making different concentrations and had significant impact on dusky cotton bug and red cotton bug population after 24, 48 and 72 hours after application.

Keywords: cotton, laboratory and field conditions, neonicotinoids, sucking insect pests

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Authors: Bisi Olawoyin

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The idea of knowledge sharing facilitated by the internet and complemented by a collaborative offline process in form of shared workshops called Makerspaces has become an attractive economic development agenda worldwide. Towards this end, Nigeria has established a number of Technology Incubation Centers (TICs) across the country with a view to using them as institutional mechanisms for commercializing Research and Development results; thus helping to promote venture creation and economic development. This study thus examines the impact of the nurturing by the TICs, on the performance of selected incubated enterprises that have grown into medium scale businesses in different sectors of the economy. The objective is to determine the extent to which the process of incubation has contributed to their growth in relation to similar businesses that developed outside the TICs. Six enterprises nurtured by TICs and six others outside, these were selected for the study. Data were collected in respect of the twelve enterprises covering their first five years of operation. Performances in terms of annual turnover, market share, and product range were analysed by scatter diagram plotted to show these variables against time and on comparative basis between TIC and non-TIC enterprises. Results showed an initial decline in performance for most of the incubatees in the first two years due to sluggish adjustment to withdrawal of subsidies enjoyed at the TICs. However, four of them were able to catch up with improved performance and surpass their non–TIC counterparts consistently from the third year. Analysis of year on year performance also showed average growth rate of 7% and 5 % respectively for TIC and non–TIC enterprises. The study, therefore, concludes that TICs have great role to play in nurturing new, innovative businesses but sees the need for government to address the provision of critical facilities especially electricity and utilities that constitute critical cost components for businesses. It must also address the issue of investment grants, loans including the development of technology/industrial parks that will serve to boost business survival.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, incubation, innovation, makerspaces

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Authors: Taha Enes Kon, Vanshika Reddy

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This project focuses on developing a gamified mobile application to aid in stroke rehabilitation by enhancing motor skills through interactive activities. The primary goal was to design a companion app for a passive haptic rehab glove, incorporating Google MediaPipe for gesture tracking and vibrotactile feedback. The app simulates farming activities, offering a fun and engaging experience while addressing the monotony of traditional rehabilitation methods. The prototype focuses on a single minigame, Flower Picking, which uses gesture recognition to interact with virtual elements, encouraging users to perform exercises that improve hand dexterity. The development process involved creating accessible and user-centered designs using Figma, integrating gesture recognition algorithms, and implementing unity-based game mechanics. Real-time feedback and progressive difficulty levels ensured a personalized experience, motivating users to adhere to rehabilitation routines. The prototype achieved a gesture detection precision of 90%, effectively recognizing predefined gestures such as the Fist and OK symbols. Quantitative analysis highlighted a 40% increase in average session duration compared to traditional exercises, while qualitative feedback praised the app’s immersive design and ease of use. Despite its success, challenges included rigidity in gesture recognition, requiring precise hand orientations, and limited gesture support. Future improvements include expanding gesture adaptability and incorporating additional minigames to target a broader range of exercises. The project demonstrates the potential of gamification in stroke rehabilitation, offering a scalable and accessible solution that complements clinical treatments, making recovery engaging and effective for users.

Keywords: stroke rehabilitation, haptic feedback, gamification, MediaPipe, motor control

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