Search results for: African history

Authors: Kazeem Adesina Dauda, Waheed Babatunde Yahya

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To design a tree that maximizes within-node homogeneity, there is a need for a homogeneity measure that is appropriate for event history data with multiple risks. We consider the use of Deviance and Modified Cox-Snell residuals as a measure of impurity in Classification Regression Tree (CART) and compare our results with the results of Fiona (2008) in which homogeneity measures were based on Martingale Residual. Data structure approach was used to validate the performance of our proposed techniques via simulation and real life data. The results of univariate competing risk revealed that: using Deviance and Cox-Snell residuals as a response in within node homogeneity classification tree perform better than using other residuals irrespective of performance techniques. Bone marrow transplant data and double-blinded randomized clinical trial, conducted in other to compare two treatments for patients with prostate cancer were used to demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed method vis-à-vis the existing ones. Results from empirical studies of the bone marrow transplant data showed that the proposed model with Cox-Snell residual (Deviance=16.6498) performs better than both the Martingale residual (deviance=160.3592) and Deviance residual (Deviance=556.8822) in both event of interest and competing risks. Additionally, results from prostate cancer also reveal the performance of proposed model over the existing one in both causes, interestingly, Cox-Snell residual (MSE=0.01783563) outfit both the Martingale residual (MSE=0.1853148) and Deviance residual (MSE=0.8043366). Moreover, these results validate those obtained from the Monte-Carlo studies.

Keywords: within-node homogeneity, Martingale residual, modified Cox-Snell residual, classification and regression tree

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Authors: A. Kherraf, S. Ouarrak, L. Azzouzi, R. Habbal

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Introduction: Preserved LVEF heart failure is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in hypertensive patients. A strong correlation between impaired diastolic function and longitudinal systolic dysfunction. could have several explanations, first, the diastole is an energy dependent process, especially during its first phase, it also includes active systolic components during the phase of iso volumetric relaxation, in addition, the impairment of the intrinsic myocytic function is part of hypertensive pathology as evidenced by recent studies. METHODS AND MATERIALS: This work consists of performing in a series of 333 hypertensive patients (aged 25 to 75 years) a complete echocardiographic study, including LVEF by Simpson biplane method, the calculation of the indexed left ventricular mass, the analysis of the diastolic function, and finally, the study of the longitudinal deformation of the LV by the technique of speckletracking (calculation of the GLS). Patients with secondary hypertension, leaky or stenosing valve disease, arrhythmia, and a history of coronary insufficiency were excluded from this study. RESULTS: Of the 333 hypertensive patients, 225 patients (67.5%) had impaired diastolic function, of which 60 patients (18%) had high filling pressures. 49.39% had echocardigraphic HVG, Almost all of these patients (60 patients) had low GLS. There is a statistically very significant relationship between lower GLS and increased left ventricular filling pressures in hypertensive patients. These results suggest that increased filling pressures are closely associated with atrioventricular interaction in patients with hypertension, with a strong correlation with impairment of longitudinal systolic function and diastolic function CONCLUSION: Overall, a linear relationship is established between increased left ventricular mass, diastolic dysfunction, and longitudinal LV systolic dysfunction

Keywords: hypertension, diastolic function, left ventricle, heart failure

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Authors: Kenneth D. Aiello, M. Simeone, Manfred Laubichler

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It is increasingly difficult to analyze emerging scientific fields as contemporary scientific fields are more dynamic, their boundaries are more porous, and the relational possibilities have increased due to Big Data and new information sources. In biomedicine, where funding, medical categories, and medical jurisdiction are determined by distinct boundaries on biomedical research fields and definitions of concepts, ambiguity persists between the microbiome, metabolome, and metagenome research fields. This ambiguity continues despite efforts by institutions and organizations to establish parameters on the core concepts and research discourses. Further, the explosive growth of microbiome, metabolome, and metagenomic research has led to unknown variation and covariation making application of findings across subfields or coming to a consensus difficult. This study explores the evolution and variation of knowledge within the microbiome, metabolome, and metagenome research fields related to ambiguous scholarly language and commensurable theoretical frameworks via a semantic analysis of key concepts and narratives. A computational historical framework of cultural evolution and large-scale publication data highlight the boundaries and overlaps between the competing scientific discourses surrounding the three research areas. The results of this study highlight how discourse and language distribute power within scholarly and scientific networks, specifically the power to set and define norms, central questions, methods, and knowledge.

Keywords: biomedicine, conceptual change, history of science, philosophy of science, science of science, sociolinguistics, sociology of knowledge

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Authors: Yusuf Turan

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Definition of Intellectual Property Rights according to the World Intellectual Property Organization: " Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce." It states as follows. There are 2 important points in the definition; we can say that it is the result of intellectual activities that occur by one or more than one PERSON and as INNOVATION. When the history and development of the relevant definitions are briefly examined, it is realized that these two points have remained constant and Intellectual Property law and rights have been shaped around these two points. With the expansion of the scope of the term Intellectual Property as a result of the development of technology, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, questions such as "Can "Artificial Intelligence" be an inventor?" need to be resolved within the expanding scope. In the past years, it was ruled that the artificial intelligence named DABUS seen in the USA did not meet the definition of "individual" and therefore would be an inventor/inventor. With the developing technology, it is obvious that we will encounter such situations much more frequently in the field of intellectual property. While expanding the scope, we should definitely determine the boundaries of how we should decide who performs the mental activity or creativity that we call indispensable on the inventor/inventor according to these problems. As a result of all these problems and innovative situations, it is clearly realized that not only Intellectual Property Law and Rights but also their definitions need to be updated and improved. Ignoring the situations that are outside the scope of the current Intellectual Property Term is not enough to solve the problem and brings uncertainty. The fact that laws and definitions that have been operating on the same theories for years exclude today's innovative technologies from the scope contradicts intellectual property, which is expressed as a new and innovative field. Today, as a result of the innovative creation of poetry, painting, animation, music and even theater works with artificial intelligence, it must be recognized that the definition of Intellectual Property must be revised.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, innovation, the term of intellectual property, right

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Authors: Mohammad Najmol Haque, Takeshi Maki, Jun Sasaki

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Headed stud shear connections are widely used in the junction or embedded zone of hybrid girder to achieve whole composite action with continuity that can sustain steel-concrete interfacial tensile and shear forces. In Japan, Japan Road Association (JRA) specifications are used for hybrid girder design that utilizes very low level of stud capacity than those of American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) specifications, Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) specifications and EURO code. As low design shear strength is considered in design of connections, the time dependent shear behavior due to sustained external loading is not considered, even not fully studied. In this study, a finite element approach was used to evaluate the time dependent shear behavior for headed studs used as connections at the junction. This study clarified, how the sustained loading distinctively impacted on changing the interfacial shear of connections with time which was sensitive to lodging history, positions of flanges, neighboring studs, position of prestress bar and reinforcing bar, concrete strength, etc. and also identified a shear influence area. Stud strength was also confirmed through pushout tests. The outcome obtained from the study may provide an important basis and reference data in designing connections of hybrid girders with enhanced stud capacity with due consideration of their long-term shear behavior.

Keywords: finite element, hybrid girder, shear connections, sustained loading, time dependent behavior

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Authors: Jiangxia Han, Liang Xue, Keda Chen

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Despite the significant progress over the last decades in reservoir simulation using numerical discretization, meshing is complex. Moreover, the high degree of freedom of the space-time flow field makes the solution process very time-consuming. Therefore, we present Physics-Informed Convolutional Neural Networks(PICNN) as a hybrid scientific theory and data method for reservoir modeling. Besides labeled data, the model is driven by the scientific theories of the underlying problem, such as governing equations, boundary conditions, and initial conditions. PICNN integrates governing equations and boundary conditions into the network architecture in the form of a customized convolution kernel. The loss function is composed of data matching, initial conditions, and other measurable prior knowledge. By customizing the convolution kernel and minimizing the loss function, the neural network parameters not only fit the data but also honor the governing equation. The PICNN provides a methodology to model and history-match flow and transport problems in porous media. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed PICNN can provide an accurate physical solution from a limited dataset. We show how this method can be applied in the context of a forward simulation for continuous problems. Furthermore, several complex scenarios are tested, including the existence of data noise, different work schedules, and different good patterns.

Keywords: convolutional neural networks, deep learning, flow and transport in porous media, physics-informed neural networks, reservoir simulation

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Authors: Abejide Dorcas Ropo, Falusi Olamide Ahmed, Daudu Oladipupo Abdulazeez Yusuf, Muhammad Liman Muhammad, Gado Aishatu Adamu

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Bambara groundnut is an indigenous African legume with great potential to tackle the problem of food insecurity in Nigeria. A germplasm collection mission was carried out in collaboration with the Agricultural Developments Project (ADP) Extension officers of Nigeria between October and December 2014. Bambara groundnut seeds were collected from farmers in different States in Nigeria, such as Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Jigawa, Enugu, and Federal Capital Territoy (FCT) Abuja. Some seeds were also collected from National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB). The seeds were phenotyped using the descriptor list of Vigna subterranea produced by the International Plant Genetic Resource Institute. A total of 45 original seed lots were collected, which comprised of mixed seeds having different seed coat colours (15) and pure seeded accessions having the same seed coat and eye colour (30). After sorting, a total of 83 accessions were derived from the 45 original seed lots collected, and a total of 24 distinct seed morphotypes with varying seed coat colours and eye colours were identified from the collections. They include cream ( cream ash eye, cream plain eye, and cream black eye), cream purplish spots, cream brown spots/stripe, cream black stripe, cream dark brown patches, cream light grey spots, cream black patches, black, red, light red, dark red, brownish red, brown speckled with black, red speckled with black, brown, brown with brown pattern below hilum, brown with black pattern below hilum, cream black, grey brown, grey black and variegated red. The highest number of accessions were collected from NACGRAB (11), followed by Niger State (10), and the lowest from Benue, Jigawa, and Adamawa States (2). Niger State also had the highest number of mixed seeds. The different seed phenotypes observed in the study are important for the field production of true-to-type lines and can be exploited for the genetic improvement of the Bambara groundnut.

Keywords: Bambara groundnut, characterization, collection, germplasm, phenotypic

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Authors: Yousef M. Alammari, Mahmoud A. Gaddoury, Reem A. Almohaini, Sara A. Alharbi, Lena S. Alsaleem, Lujain H. Allowaihiq, Maha H. Alrashid, Abdullah H. Alghamdi, Abdullah A. Alaryni

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Objective: The goal of this study was to establish the prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) patients in Saudi Arabia and the variables that are linked to it. Methods: During June 2021, this cross-sectional study was carried out among SLE patients in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Rheumatism Association exploited social media platforms to provide a self-administered online questionnaire to SLE patients. All data analyses were performed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Results: Two hundred and five SLE patients participated in the study (females 91.3 % vs. males 8.7 %). In addition, 13.5 % of patients had a family history of SLE, and 26% had SLE for one to three years. Alteration or loss of sensation (53.4%), Fear (52.4%), and headache (48.1%) were the most prevalent signs of neuropsychiatric symptoms in systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) patients. The prevalence of patients with NPSLE was 40%. In a multivariate regression model, fear, altered sensations, cerebrovascular illness, sleep disruption, and diminished interest in routine activities were identified as independent risk variables for NPSLE. Conclusion: Nearly half of SLE patients demonstrated NP manifestations, with significant symptoms including fear, alteration of sensation, cerebrovascular disease, sleep disturbance, and reduced interest in normal activities. To detect the pathophysiology of NPSLE, it is necessary to understand the relationship between neuropsychiatric morbidity and other relevant rheumatic disorders in the SLE population.

Keywords: neuropsychiatric, systemic lupus erythematosus, NPSLE, prevalence, SLE patients

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Authors: Masoud Mohammadpour, Blair Carlson, Radovan Kovacevic

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The quality of laser welded-brazed (LWB) joints were strongly dependent on the main process parameters, therefore the effect of laser power (3.2–4 kW), welding speed (60–80 mm/s) and wire feed rate (70–90 mm/s) on mechanical strength and surface roughness were investigated in this study. The comprehensive optimization process by means of response surface methodology (RSM) and desirability function was used for multi-criteria optimization. The experiments were planned based on Box– Behnken design implementing linear and quadratic polynomial equations for predicting the desired output properties. Finally, validation experiments were conducted on an optimized process condition which exhibited good agreement between the predicted and experimental results. AlSi3Mn1 was selected as the filler material for joining aluminum alloy 6022 and hot-dip galvanized steel in coach peel configuration. The high scanning speed could control the thickness of IMC as thin as 5 µm. The thermal simulations of joining process were conducted by the Finite Element Method (FEM), and results were validated through experimental data. The Fe/Al interfacial thermal history evidenced that the duration of critical temperature range (700–900 °C) in this high scanning speed process was less than 1 s. This short interaction time leads to the formation of reaction-control IMC layer instead of diffusion-control mechanisms.

Keywords: laser welding-brazing, finite element, response surface methodology (RSM), multi-response optimization, cross-beam laser

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Authors: Pedro Gomes, Lia Ferreira, Sofia Garcia, Jaime Babulal, Luís Costa, Luís Castelo, José Muras, Isabel Gonçalves, Rui Carvalho

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Introduction: Foot ulcers and their complications are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetes. Objectives: The present study aims to evaluate the outcomes in terms of need for hospitalization, amputation, healing time and mortality in patients with new-onset diabetic foot ulcers in subgroups stratified by etiology. Methods: A retrospective study based on clinical assessment of patients presenting with new ulcers to a multidisciplinary diabetic foot consult during 2012. Outcomes were determined until September 2014, from hospital registers. Baseline clinical examination was done to classify ulcers as neuropathic, ischemic or neuroischemic. Results: 487 patients with new diabetic foot ulcers were observed; 36%, 15% and 49% of patients had neuropathic, ischemic and neuroischemic ulcers, respectively. For analysis, patients were classified as having predominantly neuropathic (36%) or ischemic foot (64%). The mean age was significantly higher in the group with ischemic foot (70±12 vs 63±12 years; p <0.001), as well as the duration of diabetes (18±10 vs 16 ± 10years, p <0.05). A history of previous amputation was also significantly higher in this group (24.7% vs 15.6%, p <0.05). The evolution of ischemic ulcers was significantly worse, with a greater need for hospitalization (27.2% vs 18%, p <0.05), amputation (11.5% vs 3.6% p <0.05) mainly major amputation (3% vs. 0%; p <0.001) and higher mean healing time (151 days vs 89 days, p <0.05). The mortality rate at 18 months, was also significantly higher in the ischemic foot group (7.3% vs 1.8%, p <0.05). Conclusions: All types of diabetic foot ulcers are associated with high morbidity and mortality, however, the presence of arterial disease confers a poor prognosis. Diabetic foot can be successfully treated only by the multidisciplinary team which can provide more comprehensive and integrated care.

Keywords: diabetes, foot ulcers, etiology, outcome

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Authors: Katarzyna Pawęska, Aleksandra Bawiec, Ewa Burszta-Adamiak, Wiesław Fiałkiewicz

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The water shortage becomes a serious problem not only in African and Middle Eastern countries, but also recently in the European Union. Scarcity of water means that not all agricultural, industrial and municipal needs will be met. When the annual availability of renewable freshwater per capita is less than 1,700 cubic meters, countries begin to experience periodic or regular water shortages. The phenomenon of water stress is the result of an imbalance between the constantly growing demand for water and its availability. The constant development of industry, population growth, and climate changes make the situation even worse. The search for alternative water sources and independent supplies is becoming a priority for many countries. Data enabling the assessment of country’s condition regarding water resources, water consumption, water price, wastewater volume, forecasted climate changes e.g. temperature, precipitation, are scattered and their interpretation by common entrepreneurs may be difficult. For this purpose, a digital tool has been developed to support decisions related to the implementation of water and wastewater re-use systems, as a result of an international research project “Framework for organizational decision-making process in water reuse for smart cities” (SMART-WaterDomain) funded under the EIG-CONCERT Japan call on Smart Water Management for Sustainable Society. The developed geo-visualization tool graphically presents, among others, data about the capacity of wastewater treatment plants and the volume of water demand in the private and public sectors for Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. It is expected that such a platform, extended with economical water management data and climate forecasts (temperature, precipitation), will allow in the future independent investigation and assessment of water use rate and wastewater production on the local and regional scale. The tool is a great opportunity for small business owners, entrepreneurs, farmers, local authorities, and common users to analyze the impact of climate change on the availability of water in the regions of their business activities. Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the support of the Project Organisational Decision Making in Water Reuse for Smart Cities (SMART- WaterDomain), funded by The National Centre for Research and Development and supported by the EIG-Concert Japan.

Keywords: circular economy, digital tool, geo-visualization, wastewater re-use

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Authors: Oladele V. Adeniyi, B. Longo-Mbenza, Daniel T. Goon

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Background: Lipids are often low or in the normal ranges and controversial in the atherogenesis among Black Africans. The effect of the severity of obesity on some traditional and novel cardiovascular disease risk factors is unclear before and after a diet and exercise maintenance programme among obese black South Africans with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, this study aimed to identify the risk factors to discriminate obesity classes among patients with T2DM before and after a diet and exercise programme. Methods: This interventional cohort of Black South Africans with T2DM was followed by a very – low calorie diet and exercise programme in Mthatha, between August and November 2013. Gender, age, and the levels of body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, monthly income, daily frequency of meals, blood random plasma glucose (RPG), serum creatinine, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), LDL –C, HDL – C, Non-HDL, ratios of TC/HDL, TG/HDL, and LDL/HDL were recorded. Univariate analysis (ANOVA) and multivariate discriminant analysis were performed to separate obesity classes: normal weight (BMI = 18.5 – 24.9 kg/m2), overweight (BMI = 25 – 29.9 kg/m2), obesity Class 1 (BMI = 30 – 34.9 kg/m2), obesity Class 2 (BMI = 35 – 39.9 kg/m2), and obesity Class 3 (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2). Results: At the baseline (1st Month September), all 327 patients were overweight/obese: 19.6% overweight, 42.8% obese class 1, 22.3% obese class 2, and 15.3% obese class 3. In discriminant analysis, only systolic blood pressure (SBP with positive association) and LDL/HDL ratio (negative association) significantly separated increasing obesity classes. At the post – evaluation (3rd Month November), out of all 327 patients, 19.9%, 19.3%, 37.6%, 15%, and 8.3% had normal weight, overweight, obesity class 1, obesity class 2, and obesity class 3, respectively. There was a significant negative association between serum creatinine and increase in BMI. In discriminant analysis, only age (positive association), SBP (U – shaped relationship), monthly income (inverted U – shaped association), daily frequency of meals (positive association), and LDL/HDL ratio (positive association) classified significantly increasing obesity classes. Conclusion: There is an epidemic of diabesity (Obesity + T2DM) in this Black South Africans with some weight loss. Further studies are needed to understand positive or negative linear correlations and paradoxical curvilinear correlations between these markers and increase in BMI among black South African T2DM patients.

Keywords: atherogenic dyslipidaemia, dietary interventions, obesity, south africans

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Fazeli

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Nowadays, the fourth industry, known as the digital transformation of industries, is seen as one of the top subjects in the history of structural revolution, which has led to the high-tech and tactical dominance of the organization. In the face of these profits, the undefined and non-transparent nature of the after-effects of investing in digital transformation has hindered many organizations from attempting this area of this industry. One of the important frameworks in the field of understanding digital transformation in all organizations is the maturity model of digital transformation. This model includes two main parts of digital transformation maturity dimensions and digital transformation maturity stages. Mediating factors of digital maturity and organizational performance at the individual (e.g., motivations, attitudes) and at the organizational level (e.g., organizational culture) should be considered. For successful technology adoption processes, organizational development and human resources must go hand in hand and be supported by a sound communication strategy. Maturity models are developed to help organizations by providing broad guidance and a roadmap for improvement. However, as a result of a systematic review of the literature and its analysis, it was observed that none of the 18 maturity models in the field of digital transformation fully meet all the criteria of appropriateness, completeness, clarity, and objectivity. A maturity assessment framework potentially helps systematize assessment processes that create opportunities for change in processes and organizations enabled by digital initiatives and long-term improvements at the project portfolio level. Cultural characteristics reflecting digital culture are not systematically integrated, and specific digital maturity models for the service sector are less clearly presented. It is also clearly evident that research on the maturity of digital transformation as a holistic concept is scarce and needs more attention in future research.

Keywords: digital transformation, organizational performance, maturity models, maturity assessment

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Authors: Jessica Wood, Serge Desmarais

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There has been recent resurgence in the popular and academic interest of consensual non-monogamous (CNM) relationships- an umbrella term that defines relationships in which each partner has openly agreed to engage in additional romantic and/or sexual relationships outside of their primary partnership. Despite an increase in the academic study of CNM, little psychological attention has been paid to the study of CNM, with the consideration of these relationships commonly occurring within related social science disciplines such as sociology or anthropology. As a discipline, psychology has a history of conducting research in the area of intimate relationships, and psychologists have amassed a wealth of theoretical knowledge in this field. However, historically individuals who engage in "alternative" sexual and romantic behaviours, such as non-heterosexual sex or sex with multiple partners have been pathologized within psychological research. Individuals in CNM relationships or individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or queer have often been excluded from research or “othered” in psychological interpretations of what healthy relationships entail. Thus, our current theoretical understandings of romantic relationships are limited to heterosexual, monogamous relationships. The goal of this presentation is to examine commonly cited components of relationship satisfaction (e.g., commitment, communication) and to critically assess how CNM experiences are presented in, or missing from, the psychological literature on romantic relationships. Additionally, the presentation will also consider how CNM relationships may add to our understanding or enhancement of traditional psychological theories and address issues related to heteronormativity and mononormativity within the discipline. Finally, we will close with a consideration of additional theoretical perspectives that may aid in our understanding of CNM relationships and suggest directions for future research.

Keywords: heteronormativity, mononormativity, psychological research, diverse relationships, gender, sexuality, feminism, queer theory

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Authors: Avneet Kaur

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India is a nation of villages. Traditionally, women had enjoyed a high social status in India. Our mythology, folklore and history are full of women who were epitomes of virtue, wisdom, power, and position. The important concern about their entry into the politics is of great importance all over the world. Women have performed excellently in social, economic and political sphere. However, the fact remains that despite constituting half of the population their representation among elected post continue to remain negligible in Panchayati Raj Institutions. Women in India suffered from many social economic handicaps such as illiteracy, economically dependent, social customs, traditions and rituals that are the main causes of their inactive participation in local governance. There is still widespread patriarchal outlook in the villages and the lack of experience on the part of women leadership are some of the major issues of debate. The implementation of the 73rd Amendment Act of the Indian Constitution in 1992 reserved 1/3 rd of the seats for women empowerment. It was a major step to encourage them to take part in the village politics. This kind of revolution was the beginning of women leadership in villages. The paper intends to study the role and importance of women leadership in Panchayati Raj Institutions in India. The paper is divided into four sections. First section deals with the introduction by taking into account the available research on this particular subject. Second section talks about the role played by women leadership in these institutions after the passing of 73rd Amendment Act. Third section deals with some of the critical insights of the study by discussing the problems faced by the active women’s leadership at the grassroots. Finally, the paper concludes with policy suggestions.

Keywords: women, leadership, grassroots, Panchayati Raj

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Authors: Syed Toqueer Akhter, Hussain Hamid

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Over the last few decades an upward trend has been observed in the case of labor migration from Pakistan. The emigrants are not just economically motivated and in search of a safe living environment towards more developed countries in Europe, North America and Middle East. The opportunity cost of migration comes in the form of brain drain that is the loss of qualified and skilled human capital. Throughout the history of Pakistan, situations of political instability have emerged ranging from violation of political rights, political disappearances to political assassinations. Providing security to the citizens is a major issue faced in Pakistan due to increase in crime and terrorist activities. The aim of the study is to test the impact of political instability, appearing in the form of political terror, violation of political rights and civil liberty on skilled migration of labor. Three proxies are used to measure the political instability; political terror scale (based on a scale of 1-5, the political terror and violence that a country encounters in a particular year), political rights (a rating of 1-7, that describes political rights as the ability for the people to participate without restraint in political process) and civil liberty (a rating of 1-7, civil liberty is defined as the freedom of expression and rights without government intervention). Using time series data from 1980-2011, the distributed lag models were used for estimation because migration is not a onetime process, previous events and migration can lead to more migration. Our research clearly shows that political instability appearing in the form of political terror, political rights and civil liberty all appeared significant in explaining the extent of skilled migration of Pakistan.

Keywords: skilled labor migration, political terror, political rights, civil liberty, distributed lag model

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Authors: Seyed Saeid Tabaee, Omid Bahar

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Nowadays, using energy dissipation devices has been commonly used in structures. A high rate of energy absorption during earthquakes is the benefit of using such devices, which results in damage reduction of structural elements specifically columns. The hysteretic damping capacity of energy dissipation devices is the key point that it may adversely complicate analysis and design of such structures. This effect may be generally represented by equivalent viscous damping. The equivalent viscous damping may be obtained from the expected hysteretic behavior under the design or maximum considered displacement of a structure. In this paper, the hysteretic damping coefficient of a steel moment resisting frame (MRF), which its performance is enhanced by a buckling restrained brace (BRB) system has been evaluated. Having the foresight of damping fraction between BRB and MRF is inevitable for seismic design procedures like Direct Displacement-Based Design (DDBD) method. This paper presents an approach to calculate the damping fraction for such systems by carrying out the dynamic nonlinear time history analysis (NTHA) under harmonic loading, which is tuned to the natural frequency of the system. Two steel moment frame structures, one equipped with BRB, and the other without BRB are simultaneously studied. The extensive analysis shows that proportion of each system damping fraction may be calculated by its shear story portion. In this way, the contribution of each BRB in the floors and their general contribution in the structural performance may be clearly recognized, in advance.

Keywords: buckling restrained brace, direct displacement based design, dual systems, hysteretic damping, moment resisting frames

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Authors: Edward Y. W. Chu

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This paper exemplifies how the political and educational considerations have shaped the heavy-handed MOI policy in Hong Kong after its handover to China in 1997. Its result, a significant degeneration of English standard among the non-elite students, will be reported based on a detailed analysis of the public exam statistics available and other empirical studies. The remedial action taken by the Education Bureau out of the economic and educational considerations will be reported with reference to the official documents. The political, economic and educational considerations exemplified in different stages of Mother-tongue MOI policy in Hong Kong are found to be influential in the MOI policy in other Asian countries as well. For example, out of rapid internationalization and marketization, there has been increasing adoption of English as the MOI in post-secondary institutions in China, Japan & South Korea. On the other hand, while colonial languages were firmly made as the MOI in former colonies such as Vietnam and India, they were greatly retrieved upon independence for political and educational reasons. Malaysia also followed the same pattern upon independence but re-introduced partial English MOI policy in late 90s hoping to capitalize favourable globalization benefits. The short-lived policy was abandoned in 2009 because of the perceived political threat of national identity as well as the lack of educational effectiveness. Based on the great majority of Asian countries studied, this paper argues that MOI policy in Asia is much more than an educational issue, and that there is a clear pattern of how decisions of MOI matters are made. Studying the history and development of MOI in Hong Kong and other Asian countries provides a unique angle to view of how Asian countries prepare for the political, economic and educational challenges nowadays.

Keywords: economics, Hong Kong, medium of instruction, politics

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Authors: Alanoud Moraya Aldalan, Abdulaziz Almaleh

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A crucial component of maintaining a customer-oriented business as in the telecom industry is understanding the reasons and factors that lead to customer churn. Competition between telecom companies has greatly increased in recent years. It has become more important to understand customers’ needs in this strong market of telecom industries, especially for those who are looking to turn over their service providers. So, predictive churn is now a mandatory requirement for retaining those customers. Machine learning can be utilized to accomplish this. Churn Prediction has become a very important topic in terms of machine learning classification in the telecommunications industry. Understanding the factors of customer churn and how they behave is very important to building an effective churn prediction model. This paper aims to predict churn and identify factors of customers’ churn based on their past service usage history. Aiming at this objective, the study makes use of feature selection, normalization, and feature engineering. Then, this study compared the performance of four different machine learning algorithms on the Orange dataset: Logistic Regression, Random Forest, Decision Tree, and Gradient Boosting. Evaluation of the performance was conducted by using the F1 score and ROC-AUC. Comparing the results of this study with existing models has proven to produce better results. The results showed the Gradients Boosting with feature selection technique outperformed in this study by achieving a 99% F1-score and 99% AUC, and all other experiments achieved good results as well.

Keywords: machine learning, gradient boosting, logistic regression, churn, random forest, decision tree, ROC, AUC, F1-score

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Authors: Friday I. Joseph

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Background: Nigeria has an under-five mortality rate that is 128 per 1000 live birth which is higher than the rate for the African region. Optimal breastfeeding practice has the potential to reduce under-five mortality by 13% in developing countries. However, documented exclusive breastfeeding rate in Nigeria from birth to six months is just 17%. Aim: To explore perceptions of the sociocultural factors that influence exclusive breastfeeding for six months among rural mothers in Bindawa and Baure Local Government Area (LGA), Katsina state, North West Nigeria, to inform policies, intervention or strategies to improve exclusive breastfeeding practice in Nigeria. Methods: The social constructionism-interpretivist epistemological approach informed the use of an exploratory study to understand mothers’ experiences and views. Twenty mothers, all from rural areas between 19-35 years old were conveniently sampled from two LGA in Katsina state, north –west Nigeria for semi-structured interviews. Sample size had representation of both Hausa and Fulani ethnic group. Thematic content analysis was utilized for analysis. Results: Three major themes emerged from the study: (1) Breastfeeding initiation - Immediate traditional newborn care practices, birth attendant, place of delivery, the perception of about colostrum determines how soon a mother initiate breastfeeding. (2) Exclusive breastfeeding and introduction of food-Motivation to sustain exclusive breastfeeding relies on the interplay between the obligation to perform traditional rites; mother’s awareness and family support. (3) Decision making about infant feeding – It is not independent of the influence of key social figures like the father, mother-in-law, traditional birth attendant and the health workers. Overall, in spite of awareness of exclusive breastfeeding benefits, mothers expressed concerns that they may not win their family support if they shared contrary views. Conclusions: Health promotion intervention should be tailored, taking cognizant and addressing the sociocultural barriers to the practice of optimal breastfeeding by a focused community and family-based participatory approach. Implementers of interventions should employ culture-sensitive approaches in community-based intervention.

Keywords: exclusive breastfeeding, perception, qualitative, sociocultural determinants

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Authors: Kelly F. Delgado-De Agrela, Sonia E. Ruiz, Marco A. Santos-Santiago

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An approach is proposed for the design of regular buildings equipped with non-linear viscous dissipating devices. The approach is based on a direct-displacement seismic design method which satisfies seismic performance objectives. The global system involved is formed by structural regular moment frames capable of supporting gravity and lateral loads with elastic response behavior plus a set of non-linear viscous dissipating devices which reduce the structural seismic response. The dampers are characterized by two design parameters: (1) a positive real exponent α which represents the non-linearity of the damper, and (2) the damping coefficient C of the device, whose constitutive force-velocity law is given by F=Cvᵃ, where v is the velocity between the ends of the damper. The procedure is carried out using a substitute structure. Two limits states are verified: serviceability and near collapse. The reduction of the spectral ordinates by the additional damping assumed in the design process and introduced to the structure by the viscous non-linear dampers is performed according to a damping reduction factor. For the design of the non-linear damper system, the real velocity is considered instead of the pseudo-velocity. The proposed design methodology is applied to an 8-story steel moment frame building equipped with non-linear viscous dampers, located in intermediate soil zone of Mexico City, with a dominant period Tₛ = 1s. In order to validate the approach, nonlinear static analyses and nonlinear time history analyses are performed.

Keywords: based design, direct-displacement based design, non-linear viscous dampers, performance design

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Authors: Sevgi Karaca

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Since December 6, 2018, mediation has become mandatory for commercial disputes under the Turkish Commercial Code. Mandatory mediation became one of the “causes of action”, and being compulsory means starting the mediation process before going to court. As it contemplates looking at “the causes of the action”, the terminology may lead to misinterpretation of the core of the phrases. However, the terms pertain to a prerequisite for starting the lawsuit. The court will examine failure to comply with such requirements, and the case will be dismissed without further action. Türkiye’s use of obligatory mediation is highly unusual. It is neither judge-led nor judge-assisted mediation but rather a mediation conducted outside of court with the participation of a third party (mediators). What distinguishes it is the incorporation of obligatory mediation into the causes of actions listed in the Code of Civil Procedure. Being one of the causes of action in a legal case implies that the absence of any of them may result in the procedural dismissal of the case without any further action. The case must be presented to the mediator first, and if the parties are unable to reach an agreement, they must deliver the results of the mediation session. Other than submitting the minutes, parties are ineligible to file a lawsuit. However, despite a lengthy history of use in England and Wales, there are considerable reservations about making mediation mandatory. The Civil Procedure Code does not explicitly mention making mediation mandatory. For the time being, there is no Mediation Code, and case law limits the growth of obligatory mediation. Some renowned judges voiced their desire to re-evaluate the notion of required mediation, prompting the Civil Justice Council to release a study in 2021 on the significance of amending case law and the high value of mandatory mediation. By contrasting the approaches to mandatory mediation in England and Wales, the study will investigate the method of controlled mandatory mediation and its effects on the success of mediation in Türkiye.

Keywords: alternative dispute resolution, case law, cause of action, litigation process, mandatory mediation

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Authors: Rachel Cherner

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Introduction: The current study investigates several user characteristics that may predict the adoption of digital mental health supports. The extent to which individual characteristics predict preferences for functional elements of computer-mediated social support (CMSS) platforms and mental health (MH) apps is relatively unstudied. Aims: The present study seeks to illuminate the relationship between broad user characteristics and perceived attraction to CMSS platforms and MH apps. Methods: Participants (n=353) were recruited using convenience sampling methods (i.e., digital flyers, email distribution, and online survey forums). The sample was 68% male, and 32% female, with a mean age of 29. Participant racial and ethnic breakdown was 75% White, 7%, 5% Asian, and 5% Black or African American. Participants were asked to complete a 25-minute self-report questionnaire that included empirically validated measures assessing a battery of characteristics (i.e., subjective levels of anxiety/depression via PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item) and GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item); attachment style via MAQ (Measure of Attachment Qualities); personality types via TIPI (The 10-Item Personality Inventory); growth mindset and mental health-seeking attitudes via GM (Growth Mindset Scale) and MHSAS (Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale)) and subsequent attitudes toward CMSS platforms and MH apps. Results: A stepwise linear regression was used to test if user characteristics significantly predicted attitudes towards key features of CMSS platforms and MH apps. The overall regression was statistically significant (R² =.20, F(1,344)=14.49, p<.000). Conclusion: This original study examines the clinical and sociocultural factors influencing decisions to use CMSS platforms and MH apps. Findings provide valuable insight for increasing adoption and engagement with digital mental health support. Fostering a growth mindset may be a method of increasing participant/patient engagement. In addition, CMSS platforms and MH apps may empower under-resourced and minority groups to gain basic access to mental health support. We do not assume this final model contains the best predictors of use; this is merely a preliminary step toward understanding the psychology and attitudes of CMSS platform/MH app users.

Keywords: computer-mediated social support platforms, digital mental health, growth mindset, health-seeking attitudes, mental health apps, user characteristics

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Authors: Robin Ruowei Yang

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The Khitan-Liao dynasty (907-1125) was founded by the nomadic Khitan people and showed its peculiarities. This regime not only effectively ruled their own nomads, but also ruled the farming ethnic groups of the Han (漢) and others. It also controlled vast territories that included the northern border domains of China, East Asia, and even Central Asia. Different from the practice of other nomadic people, Khitan-Liao built settlement towns and cities on the Mongolia steppe from beginning of the dynasty, which made the politics, economy and culture of the steppe area develop significantly. In the process of cities’ construction, Khitan-Liao set up five capitals respectively. Except three of them were rebuilt or expanded based on existing cities in agricultural areas, two new capitals were built, namely up-capital (Shangjing) and middle-capital (Zhongjing) in the steppe area. This article takes the up-capital (Shangjing) as an example to investigate a special zone in the capital for settling movable tents which adapted Khitan nomads, especially its nomadic government officials to live in. By using primary Chinese historical records and newly archaeological excavations, this article examines how the special tent zone used by the Khitan rulers, discusses how the Khitan-Liao manifested its hybrid cultural characteristics in urban planning, and its implications in studying the history of Khitan-Liao. The information, discussion and argument presented in this article are also worth considering the influence of urbanization of Khitan-Liao’s urbaization on subsequent dynasties in pre-modern China and Inner Asia.

Keywords: cities on Steppe, special tent zone in cities, Khitan-Liao, hybrid culture

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Authors: Seid Ahmed Mohammed, Nedim Yalansiz

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Many historians hardly gave due attention for historical comparison as their methods of study. They were still stunt supporter of the use of their own historical research method in their studies. But this method lacks the way to analyze some worldwide dynamics of events in comparative perspectives. Some dynamics like revolution, modernization, societal change and transformation needs broader analysis for broadening our historical knowledge’s by comparing and contrasting of the causes, courses and consequences of such dynamics historical developments in the world at large. In this paper, our study focuses up on ‘the dynamics of modernization’ and the challenge of modernity of the old regimes. For instance, countries like Turkey, Ethiopia, China, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and Thailand have almost the same dynamics in facing the challenge of modernity. In such countries, the old regimes tried to introduce modernization and ‘reform from the above’ in order to tackle the gradual decline of the empire that faced strong challenge from the outside world. The other similarity of them was that as the rulers attempted to introduce the modernization reforms the old traditional and the religious institutions strongly opposed the reforms as the reforms alienated the power and prestige of the traditional classes. Similarly, the rules introduced modernization for maintaining their own unique socio-cultural and religious dynamics not as borrowing and acculturation of the west by complete destruction of their own. Therefore, this paper attempted to give a comparative analysis of two modernizers Tewodros II (1855-1868) of Ethiopia and Sultan Selim III (1739-1808) of Ottoman Turkey who tried to modernize their empire unfortunately they paid their precious life as a result of modernization.

Keywords: comparative history, Ethiopia, modernization, Ottoman Turkey

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Authors: Shivani Kuttuva, Bridget Fergie, Andrew Mishreki, Shovkat Mir, Fintan Bergin

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Diaphragm disease (DD) of the small bowel is a condition wherein the bowel lumen is divided into a series of short compartments by multiple circumferential membranes of mucosa and submucosa, leading to pinhole lumen and subsequent obstruction. It is a rare condition commonly attributed to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) usage. Herein we present a 31-yr-old-female with a history of NSAIDs usage for one year following neurosurgery, who presented with recurrent idiopathic small bowel obstruction, recalcitrant anaemia, and impaction of capsule endoscope on investigating for anaemia. The capsule endoscopy images demonstrated multiple circumferential strictures with ulcers at its tip and villous atrophy in the proximal bowel, suggestive of NSAIDs related damage. However, due to the lack of awareness of the detrimental effects of NSAIDs on bowel mucosa distal to the duodenum, the underlying aetiology of this clinical presentation remained a mystery for a significant duration. The patient had to undergo repeated laparotomies in order to relieve the symptoms of recurring acute small bowel obstruction. Upon examining the resected specimen under microscopy, the histopathological hallmark of expanded, fibrotic, and congested submucosa was picked up, leading to the confirmation of diaphragm disease. Thus, this case report aims to widen the awareness among clinicians and aid surgeons in devising a management plan for young individuals presenting with recurring episodes of obstruction due to Diaphragm disease.

Keywords: capsule endoscopy, diaphragm disease, NSAIDs, recurrent small bowel obstruction

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Authors: Ghimire K., Mehta R. S., Parajuli P., Chettri R.

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Background: Malnutrition is a common hallmark of Human Immuno Virus (HIV) disease. It plays a synergistic role in immunosuppression which is initiated by Human Immuno Virus itself, and malnutrition forms an independent risk factor for disease progression. Objectives: The objective of the study is to assess the nutritional status of the people living with Human Immuno Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome attending the Anti-Retro viral Treatment Clinic and find the association of nutritional status with different socio-demographic variables. Methods: A total of 101 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) were selected by convenient sampling technique. The study was conducted at the ART clinic of BPKIHS. A subjective global assessment tool was used for data collection. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: The study demonstrated that the mean age of the respondents was 40.97+8.650 years. 65.3% were well-nourished, and 34.7% of the participants were mildly/moderately malnourished, whereas none of them were severely malnourished. BMI was statistically significant with education status, family income, and duration of illness of the participants, and nutritional status was statistically significant with gender, marital status, education status, and family history of HIV. Conclusion: On the basis of the result, it can be concluded that more than half of the respondents were well nourished. Gender, marital status, and education are associated with nutritional status.

Keywords: nutritional status, people living with HIV/AIDS, ART treatment, Nepal

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Authors: Moquan Gong

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In recent years, with the rapid development of deep learning, pre-training technology for natural language processing has made great progress. The early field of natural language processing has long used word vector methods such as Word2Vec to encode text. These word vector methods can also be regarded as static pre-training techniques. However, this context-free text representation brings very limited improvement to subsequent natural language processing tasks and cannot solve the problem of word polysemy. ELMo proposes a context-sensitive text representation method that can effectively handle polysemy problems. Since then, pre-training language models such as GPT and BERT have been proposed one after another. Among them, the BERT model has significantly improved its performance on many typical downstream tasks, greatly promoting the technological development in the field of natural language processing, and has since entered the field of natural language processing. The era of dynamic pre-training technology. Since then, a large number of pre-trained language models based on BERT and XLNet have continued to emerge, and pre-training technology has become an indispensable mainstream technology in the field of natural language processing. This article first gives an overview of pre-training technology and its development history, and introduces in detail the classic pre-training technology in the field of natural language processing, including early static pre-training technology and classic dynamic pre-training technology; and then briefly sorts out a series of enlightening technologies. Pre-training technology, including improved models based on BERT and XLNet; on this basis, analyze the problems faced by current pre-training technology research; finally, look forward to the future development trend of pre-training technology.

Keywords: natural language processing, pre-training, language model, word vectors

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Authors: Sylvie Sossou, Grégoire Gansou, Ildevert Egue

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Introduction: The mission of the family and the school is to educate and train citizens of the city. But the family’s values , parental roles, respect for life collapse in their traditional African form. Indeed laxity with regard to divorce, liberal ideas about child rearing influence the emotional life of the latter. Several causes may contribute to the decline in academic performance. In order to seek a psychological solution to the issue, a study was conducted in 6 schools at the 9th district in Cotonou, cosmopolitan city of Benin. Objective: To evaluate the impact of single parenthood on the psycho child development. Materials and Methods: Questionnaires and interviews were used to gather verbal information. The questionnaires were administered to parents and children (schoolchildren 4, 5 and six form) from 7 to 12 years in lone parenthood. The interview was done with teachers and school leaders. We identified 209 cases of children living with a "single-parent" and 68 single parents. Results: Of the 209 children surveyed the results showed that 116 children are cut relational triangle in early childhood (before 3 years). The psychological effects showed that the separation has caused sadness for 52 children, anger 22, shame 17, crying at 31 children, fear for 14, the silence at 58 children. In front of complete family’s children, these children experience feelings of aggression in 11.48%; sadness in 30.64%; 5.26% the shame, the 6.69% tears; jealousy in 2.39% and 2.87% of indifference. The option to get married in 44.15% of children is a challenge to want to give a happy childhood for their offspring; 22.01% feel rejected, there is uncertainty for 11.48% of cases and 25.36% didn’t give answer. 49, 76% of children want to see their family together; 7.65% are against to avoid disputes and in many cases to save the mother of the father's physical abuse. 27.75% of the ex-partners decline responsibility in the care of the child. Furthermore family difficulties affecting the intellectual capacities of children: 37.32% of children see school difficulties related to family problems despite all the pressure single-parent to see his child succeed. Single parenthood affects inter-family relations: pressure 33.97%; nervousness 24.88%; overprotection 29.18%; backbiting 11.96%, are the lives of these families. Conclusion: At the end of the investigation, results showed that there is a causal relationship between psychological disorders, academic difficulties of children and quality of parental relationships. Other cases may exist, but the lack of resources meant that we have only limited at 6 schools. Early psychological treatment for these children is needed.

Keywords: single-parent, psycho child, school, Cotonou

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Authors: Yu-Wei Chu, Marie Aja-Herrera, Denis Antoine, Mengjie Di

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The purpose of this paper is to explore the innovative perspective of the local traditional culture of garments from different continents. The relationship between the local culture, the indigenous traditional technique of textile manufacture, and modern womenswear will be investigated. This will include exploring and discussing traditional techniques to create textiles reflecting different cultures and relevant handicrafts, including the history of these different peoples and regions. However, along with the improvement of technology, the diversity of culture is usually unified into a single aesthetic element, which makes fashion lack traditional cultural layers. Local cultural awareness has been gradually emerging in womenswear in recent years with the strong sweep of globalization. The possible loss of traditional art and crafts became an awareness for different cultures, who realized the necessity to protect and preserve their individual uniqueness. Modern womenswear is one of the largest markets in the fashion and apparel marketplace. Therefore, the commonalities of traditional textiles and garments for modern womenswear will be researched. Localized traditional fabrics have some elements, such as weaving techniques and other related crafts, in common with more modern manufacturing methods. In addition, the common point of traditional clothing is the use of draping, construction, and fabric manipulation. This paper aims to explore these factors, as discussed above, and also apply, in an innovative and creative manner, some of these traditional arts and crafts to modern womenswear. The combination of textile manipulation and different construction techniques can support the development of innovative womenswear to include a diversity of aesthetics. The main contribution of the paper is to find out the solution to bring local culture into the formal womenswear market with modern aesthetics to realize the ideal of traditional culture reconstruction.

Keywords: traditional culture, modern womenswear, diversity, aesthetics

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