Search results for: Million Meshesha

Authors: Atef Abdallah Abouelmaaty

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The aim of this paper is to study the theme of alienation in some contemporary novels of the most prominent Arab writers who live in Britain and write in English. The paper will focus on three female novelists of Arab origins who won wide fame among reading public, and also won international prizes for their literary creation. The first is the Egyptian Ahdaf Soueif(born in 1950) whose novel The Map of Love(1999) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and has been translated into twenty one languages and sold over a million copies. The second is the Jordanian Fadia Faqir (born in 1956) whose My Name is Salma(2007) was translated into thirteen languages, and was a runner up for the ALOA literary prize. The third is the Sudanese Leila Aboulela(born in 1964) who The Translator was nominated for the Orange Prize and was chosen as a a notable book of the year by the New York Times in 2006. The main reason of choosing the theme of alienation is that it is the qualifying feature of the above mentioned novels. This is because the theme is clearly projected and we can see different kinds of alienation: alienation of man from himself, alienation of man from other men, and alienation of man from society. The paper is concerned with studying this central theme together with its different forms. Moreover, the paper will try to identify the main causes of this alienation among which are frustrated love, the failure to adjust to change, and ethnic pride.

Keywords: alienation, Anglo-Arab, contemporary, novels

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Authors: John Chau, Tzvi Aviv

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Cardiometabolic conditions (hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia) are major public health concerns. Analysis of all prescription records from about 10 million patients at the largest network of pharmacies in Canada reveals small year-over-year increases in the treatment prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cardiometabolic treatment rates increase with age and are higher in males than females. Hypertension treatment rates were 24% in males and 19% in females in 2021. Diabetes treatment rates were 10% in males and 7% in females in 2021. Geospatial analysis using patient addresses reveals interesting differences among provinces and neighborhoods in Canada. Using digital surveys distributed among 8,504 Canadian adults, an increase in hypertension awareness with age and female gender was observed. However, 7% of seniors and 6% of middle-aged Canadians reported uncontrolled blood pressure (>140/90 mmHg). In addition, elevated blood pressure (130-139/80-89 mmHg) was reported by 20% of seniors and 14% of middle-aged Canadians.

Keywords: cardiometabolic conditions, diabetes, hypertension, precision public health

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Authors: Mauricio Becerra Fernández, Olga Rosana Romero Quiroga, Elsa Cristina González La Rotta

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The logistics facilities design and construction is one of the strategic decisions that critically affects the performance of the company, from the economic perspective and relationship with customers. The case study company is the Colombian logistic sector leader, with over 60 years of experience, with sales of about one hundred twenty million dollars at the end of 2014. The preliminary design for the warehouse layout and operation includes a customer that provides approximately 17% of the profits of the company, considering the possibility of moving two forklifts in the warehouse halls. Some changes were not consider in previous stages of design, operations required forklift with different characteristics, whose size, do not allow the circulation of more than a forklift at a time. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the impact of this restriction on the warehouse operation, so decision makers implement actions to achieve efficient operation. The problem is addressed by recognizing logistics processes, which develop in a warehouse, collection of processes information behavior, the simulation of the current situation using ProModel software, model validation, making adjustments required, experiments design, conclusions and recommendations for the company.

Keywords: design, discrete events simulation, forklift allocation, logistics facilities, warehouse

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Authors: Lauren Booker

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In the United States, over 2.5 million children have incarcerated parents. Recent studies have shown 13% of young adults and one-fourth of African Americans will experience parental incarceration. The increasing numbers of incarcerated citizens have left these children as collateral damage and are often forgotten, their special needs inadequately meet or understood. Parental arrest and incarceration creates a uniquely traumatic experience in childhood and has long-term consequences for these children. Until recently, the eating and sleeping habits following parental incarceration had been nonexistent in the literature. However, even this groundbreaking study on eating habits and sleeping disorders following parental incarceration did not touch on the root causes of unhealthy eating which may be influenced by food and housing insecurity and environmental factors that may impact a child’s healthy eating and sleeping behaviors. This study will examine those factors as it could greatly aid in the policies and programs that affect children’s health and development. This proposed study will examine the impact of traumatic stress reactions to parental incarceration by studying sleep and eating habits as the hypothesis is that parental incarceration will lead to disordered eating and sleep disturbances in early adolescents.

Keywords: parental incarceration, eating disorder, trauma, family instability

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Authors: Rishabh Agrawal, S. C. Kaushik, T. S. Bhatti

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In order to reduce energy consumption for sustainable development, continuous energy consumption tracking of building energy systems are essential. In this paper an assessment study has been done to identify the energy consumption & energy conservation potential for commercial buildings sector in Karnataka state, India. There are a total of 326 commercial buildings in the state of Karnataka who has qualified as designated consumers (i.e., having a Contract Demand ≥ 600 KVA), was consider for the study. It has estimated that the annual electricity sale to commercial sector is 3.62 Billion Units (BU) in alone Karnataka State, India, which is an account for 9.57 % of the total electricity sold. The commercial sector constitutes Government & private establishments, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, educational institutions, malls etc. Total 326 commercial buildings in the state accounting for annual energy consumption of 1295.72 Million Units (MU) which works out to about 35% of the sectoral consumption. The annual energy savings potential for 326 commercial buildings is assessed to be 0.25 BU.

Keywords: commercial buildings, connected load, energy conservation studies, energy savings, energy efficiency, energy conservation strategy, energy efficiency, thermal energy, HVAC system

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Authors: Abhinav Singh

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Point Of Sale (POS) malwares have been stealing the limelight this year. They have been the elemental factor in some of the biggest breaches uncovered in past couple of years. Some of them include • Target: A Retail Giant reported close to 40 million credit card data being stolen • Home Depot : A home product Retailer reported breach of close to 50 million credit records • Kmart: A US retailer recently announced breach of 800 thousand credit card details. Alone in 2014, there have been reports of over 15 major breaches of payment systems around the globe. Memory scrapping malwares infecting the point of sale devices have been the lethal weapon used in these attacks. These malwares are capable of reading the payment information from the payment device memory before they are being encrypted. Later on these malwares send the stolen details to its parent server. These malwares are capable of recording all the critical payment information like the card number, security number, owner etc. All these information are delivered in raw format. This Talk will cover the aspects of what happens after these details have been sent to the malware authors. The entire ecosystem of credit card frauds can be broadly classified into these three steps: • Purchase of raw details and dumps • Converting them to plastic cash/cards • Shop! Shop! Shop! The focus of this talk will be on the above mentioned points and how they form an organized network of cyber-crime. The first step involves buying and selling of the stolen details. The key point to emphasize are : • How is this raw information been sold in the underground market • The buyer and seller anatomy • Building your shopping cart and preferences • The importance of reputation and vouches • Customer support and replace/refunds These are some of the key points that will be discussed. But the story doesn’t end here. As of now the buyer only has the raw card information. How will this raw information be converted to plastic cash? Now comes in picture the second part of this underground economy where-in these raw details are converted into actual cards. There are well organized services running underground that can help you in converting these details into plastic cards. We will discuss about this technique in detail. At last, the final step involves shopping with the stolen cards. The cards generated with the stolen details can be easily used to swipe-and-pay for purchased goods at different retail shops. Usually these purchases are of expensive items that have good resale value. Apart from using the cards at stores, there are underground services that lets you deliver online orders to their dummy addresses. Once the package is received it will be delivered to the original buyer. These services charge based on the value of item that is being delivered. The overall underground ecosystem of credit card fraud works in a bulletproof way and it involves people working in close groups and making heavy profits. This is a brief summary of what I plan to present at the talk. I have done an extensive research and have collected good deal of material to present as samples. Some of them include: • List of underground forums • Credit card dumps • IRC chats among these groups • Personal chat with big card sellers • Inside view of these forum owners. The talk will be concluded by throwing light on how these breaches are being tracked during investigation. How are credit card breaches tracked down and what steps can financial institutions can build an incidence response over it.

Keywords: POS mawalre, credit card frauds, enterprise security, underground ecosystem

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Authors: Varinder Kaur Gambhir, Neema Gupta, Sonal Tickoo Chaudhuri

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Bengaluru, a rapidly growing metropolis in India, with a population of 12.5 million citizens, generates 5,757 metric tonnes of solid waste per day. Despite their invaluable contribution to waste management, society and the economy, waste pickers face significant stigma, suspicion and contempt and are left with a sense of shame about their work. In this context, BBC Media Action was funded by the H&M Foundation to develop a 3-year multi-phase social media campaign to shift perceptions of waste picking and informal waste pickers amongst the Bengaluru population. Research has been used to inform project strategy and adaptation, at all stages. Formative research to inform campaign strategy used mixed methods– 14 focused group discussions followed by 406 online surveys – to explore people’s knowledge of, and attitudes towards waste pickers, and identify potential barriers and motivators to changing perceptions. Use of qualitative techniques like metaphor maps (using bank of pictures rather than direct questions to understand mindsets) helped establish the invisibility of informal waste pickers, and the quantitative research enabled audience segmentation based on attitudes towards informal waste pickers. To pretest the campaign idea, eight I-GDs (individual interaction followed by group discussions) were conducted to allow interviewees to first freely express their feelings individually, before discussing in a group. Robert Plucthik’s ‘wheel of emotions’ was used to understand audience’s emotional response to the content. A robust monitoring and evaluation is being conducted (baseline and first phase of monitoring already completed) using a rotating longitudinal panel of 1,800 social media users (exposed and unexposed to the campaign), recruited face to face and representative of the social media universe of Bengaluru city. In addition, qualitative in-depth interviews are being conducted after each phase to better understand change drivers. The research methodology and ethical protocols for impact evaluation have been independently reviewed by an Institutional Review Board. Formative research revealed that while waste on the streets is visible and is of concern to the public, informal waste pickers are virtually ‘invisible’, for most people in Bengaluru Pretesting research revealed that the creative outputs evoked emotions like acceptance and gratitude towards waste-pickers, suggesting that the content had the potential to encourage attitudinal change. After the first phase of campaign, social media analytics show that #Invaluables content reached at least 2.6 million unique people (21% of the Bengaluru population) through Facebook and Instagram. Further, impact monitoring results show significant improvements in spontaneous awareness of different segments of informal waste pickers ( such as sorters at scrap shops or dry waste collection centres -from 10% at baseline to 16% amongst exposed and no change amongst unexposed), recognition that informal waste pickers help the environment (71% at baseline to 77% among exposed and no change among unexposed) and greater discussion about informal waste pickers among those exposed (60%) as against not exposed (49%). Using the insights from this research, the planned social media intervention is designed to increase the visibility of and appreciation for the work of waste pickers in Bengaluru, supporting a more inclusive society.

Keywords: awareness, discussion, discrimination, informal waste pickers, invisibility, social media campaign, waste management

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Authors: Rubab Z. Kahlon, Ibtisam Butt, Isma Younis, Aamer G. Mufti

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Worldwide lung cancer 1.61 million cases were seen in both genders. Lung carcinoma is the major cause of both morbidity and mortality in the world. Purpose of the present study was to describe the spatio- temporal trends of lung cancer in both genders. A retrospective study was conducted. Total 1498 patients of lung carcinoma were examined. Only lung cancer patients from all over the Punjab were included in the present study. MS Excel 2010 was used for data tabulation and calculation while the Arc GIS version 9.3 was used for geographical representation of the data. 1498 cases of Lung cancer were found from 2008-2012. The number of male patients was 1236 and female was 262. Majority of the patients were from Lahore districts with 807 patients. Lung cancer was more prevalent in male as compared to female in our region. Increase in the prevalence of lung cancer was prominently seen in the most populated and industrial areas of the Punjab province. Time trend of five years showed fluctuation in the lung cancer incidence during the study period.

Keywords: districts, gender, lung cancer trends, Punjab province of Pakistan

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Authors: Mohammadreza Ashouri, Majid Bayatian

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Analysis of fire data is a way for the implementation of any plan to improve the level of safety in cities. Such an analysis is able to reveal signs of changes in a given period and can be used as a measure of safety. The information of about 66,341 fires (from 2002 to 2012) released by Tehran Safety Services and Fire-Fighting Organization and data on the population and the number of households provided by Tehran Municipality and the Statistical Yearbook of Iran were extracted. Using the data, the fire changes, the rate of injuries, and mortality rate were determined and analyzed. The rate of injuries and mortality rate of fires per one million population of Tehran were 59.58% and 86.12%, respectively. During the study period, the number of fires and fire stations increased by 104.38% and 102.63%, respectively. Most fires (9.21%) happened in the 4th District of Tehran. The results showed that the recorded fire data have not been systematically planned for fire prevention since one of the ways to reduce injuries caused by fires is to develop a systematic plan for necessary actions in emergency situations. To determine a reliable source for fire prevention, the stages, definitions of working processes and the cause and effect chains should be considered. Therefore, a comprehensive statistical system should be developed for reported and recorded fire data.

Keywords: fire statistics, fire analysis, accident prevention, Tehran

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Authors: Lanyan Peng, Ling Chen

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Leishan Miao New-Year is one of the grandest festivals in the southeastern of Guizhou Province in China. It was officially listed in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008, as a traditional folk cultural activity organized by the local Miao people. With the rise of cultural tourism, after 19 years of exploration, the local government has successfully built Miao New-Year into a cultural card that is well-known at home and abroad. During the Miao New-Year period, it has attracted 3.8 million tourists and achieves a win-win situation in the economy and culture. However, tourism development has changed the living environment and living state of the local people. And it is accompanied by changes in the form of the festival, the content of the festival, and the local people’s needs and attitudes to the festival. This paper uses the field investigation method to achieve 410 questionnaires and 35 interviews, exploring the process and the reasons for changes of Leishan Miao New-Year’s cultural function. Among all the functions, the economic function, identity function, and entertainment function have been enhanced, and the marriage and love function has been extended. In the meanwhile, sacrificial function has been weakened. There are some trends in functions. The function of commemorating ancestor and self-entertainment has been changed to entertaining people and economic pursuit.

Keywords: Miao New-Year, Miao nationality, festival function, changes

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Authors: James Pietris

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Glaucoma is a collection of irreversible optic neuropathies which, if left untreated, lead to severe visual field loss. These diseases are a leading cause of blindness across the globe and are estimated to affect approximately 80 million people, particularly women and people of Asian descent.1This represents a major burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the potential of nicotinamide (vitamin B3) as a novel option in the management of glaucoma. This review aims to analyse the currently available literature to determine whether there is evidence of an association between nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and glaucomatous optic neuropathy and whether nicotinamide has the potential to prevent or reverse these effects. The literature showed a strong connection between reduced NAD+ levels and retinal ganglion cell dysfunction through multiple different studies. There is also evidence of the positive effect of nicotinamide supplementation on retinal ganglion cell function in models of mouse glaucoma and in a study involving humans. Based on the literature findings, a recommendation has been made that more research into the efficacy, appropriate dosing, and potential side effects of nicotinamide supplementation is needed before it can be definitively determined whether it is appropriate for widespread prophylactic and therapeutic use against glaucoma in humans.

Keywords: glaucoma, nicotinamide, vitamin B3, optic neuropathy

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Authors: Clinton Adas

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Industrial animal farming contributes to numerous problems that humans face, and among these, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been identified by the World Health Organisation as a real possibility for the 21st Century. While numerous factors contribute to AMR, one of them is industrial animal farming and its effect on the food chain and environment. In 2017, livestock were given around 73% of all antibiotics worldwide to make them grow faster for profit purposes, to prevent illness caused by unhealthy living conditions, and to treat disease when it breaks out. Many of the antibiotics used provide little benefit to animals, and most are the same as those used by humans - including many deemed critical to human health that should be used sparingly. AMR contributes to millions of illnesses, and in 2019 was responsible for around 4.95 million deaths worldwide. It costs Europe around nine billion euros per year, while it costs the United States (US) around 20 billion dollars per year. While not a simple or quick solution, one way to begin to address the challenge of AMR and other harms from this type of farming is to focus on animal welfare as part of a One Health and Welfare approach, as better welfare requires less antibiotics usage, which may begin to break the cycle.

Keywords: animal and human welfare, industrial animal farming, antimicrobial resistance, one health and welfare, sustainable development goals

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Authors: Md. Alamgir Hossain, Md. Zakir Hossain, Md. Atiqur Rahman

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Tidal power can play a vital role in integrating as new source of renewable energy to the off-grid power connection in isolated areas, namely Sandwip, in Bangladesh. It can reduce the present energy crisis and improve the social, environmental and economic perspective of Bangladesh. Tidal energy is becoming popular around the world due to its own facilities. The development of any country largely depends on energy sector improvement. Lack of energy sector is because of hampering progress of any country development, and the energy sector will be stable by only depend on sustainable energy sources. Renewable energy having environmental friendly is the only sustainable solution of secure energy system. Bangladesh has a huge potential of tidal power at different locations, but effective measures on this issue have not been considered sincerely. This paper summarizes the current energy scenario, and Bangladesh can produce power approximately 53.19 MW across the country to reduce the growing energy demand utilizing tidal energy as well as it is shown that Sandwip is highly potential place to produce tidal power, which is estimated approximately 16.49 MW by investing only US $10.37 million. Besides this, cost management for tidal power plant has been also discussed.

Keywords: sustainable energy, tidal power, cost analysis, power demand, gas crisis

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Authors: Rasaq Ayodeji Iliyas

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Almajiris are teenage beggars who under the guise of been enlisted in religious study beg perpetually on the streets and homes. A poorly attended bridge gap juvenile education system called Tsangaya was instituted for them. This study appraised the attitude and motivation of the over 9 million Almajiris largely domiciled in the Northern Nigeria to the Government’s efforts at getting them educated. The study, a survey research design, employed validated structured interview instrument that showed a high reliability index (Alpha Cronbach- 0.86) to gather data. 950 Almajiris sampled across the 50 Local Government Areas of Katsina (36) and Zamfara (14) States, Nigeria participated in the study. Outcomes of the study revealed a chronic attitudinal problem from the Almajiris; and a peculiarly low motivation to the Tsangaya School. It was, however, recommended that traditional rulers should be mandated by government to sensitize parents on the many risks involved in the inhuman cultural practice, and the grave consequences of unskilled adult life of the children; and state governments should legislate against the demeaning Almajiri practice, which already misrepresents Islam.

Keywords: Almajiri, apraissal, Tsangaya education, motivation, attitude, motivation

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Authors: An-an Chiu, Shaio Yan Huang, Ling-Na Chen, Wei-Hua Lin

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Research has primarily focused on listed companies, less is done regarding small and medium-sized enterprises. Under the authorities' support, Taipei Exchange (TPEx) started Go Incubation Board for Startup and Acceleration Firms (GISA) in January 2014. This platform is designed to help small-sized innovative companies grow and to enter the capital market in the future. This research yield insight into earnings management activities around seasoned equity offerings (SEO) based on Taiwan’s GISA firms and the effectiveness of external corporate governance. Data for the study come from the GISA Market Observation Post System from January 2014 to December 2016. The result finds that GISA firms prone to upward accrual-based earnings management during SEO to avoid long-term negative consequences. Especially, firms with paid-in capital more than NT$ 30 million, higher fundraising amounts, or smaller-sized firms, tend to increase discretionary accruals. Finally, consistent with prior literature, CPA firms effectively serve as the role of external corporate governances on mitigating earnings management.

Keywords: GISA, earnings　management, CPA, seasoned equity offerings

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Authors: Rohit Sarin

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This paper is an attempt to prove the impact of storytelling for effective marketing and maintaining the reputation of the destination for long run. This notable aspect of heritage tourism is cultural exchange among the various communities who visit our country India. Every destination has a life cycle like the product known as destination life cycle. India is considered to be the hub of cultural heritage tourism; its cultural heritage tourism can be traced back to several centuries. Heritage tourism has gained the popularity of global cuisine activity. The statistics of 2014 reveals 903 million International Tourist in heritage tourism destination is done to know the impact of storytelling for their visit to particulars heritage tourism destination. SWOT analysis of the destination is undertaken for the research purpose. A collection of data from the travel agency was taken who visited the heritage tourism destination and were asked to fill questionnaire for the research purpose to know the impact of storytelling for their visit to destination. A total of 100 respondents filled the questionnaire. Likert scale was used in the paper also highlighted the scope, advantage and disadvantage of storytelling for effective marketing and reputation management.

Keywords: destination life cycle, heritage tourism, random sampling, reputation management, storytelling

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Authors: S. Ramia, N. Melhem, K. Kreidieh

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The world is facing an unprecedented displacement crisis. Recently, over 1.1 million asylum seekers have been granted protection status in the European Union (EU). The majority of these asylum seekers were from countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.This influx carries with it a potential introduction of infectious diseases that have been eliminated in the EU, which poses a challenge for EU health authorities. Compared to MENA region countries where Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) endemicity is high to intermediate, member states of the EU show very low (Western Europe) to low (Eastern Europe) levels of HAV endemicity. Because of this situation, there is an ongoing public health concern in high-income countries, like members of the EU, that many adults remain susceptible to HAV outbreaks. The overwhelming majority of the EU members’ states do not include HAV vaccine in their immunization calendars. Hence, this paper urgently calls for the implementation of new policies regarding HAV in EU members’ states.

Keywords: European union, hepatitis A, MENA region refugees, vaccine preventable diseases

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Authors: Michael Adedotun Oke

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In Nigeria, Bamboo is one of the most socioeconomically beneficial farming crops, with yearly investment returns of up to N1.6 million. Growing bamboo is a fantastic long-term investment. It may self-renew for up to 70 years and is durable, long-lasting, and environmentally friendly; through an oral interview with the sellers, usage examples, and visual depiction to support those examples, The paper was able to discuss the different uses for bamboo. The various field observations in Federal Capital Territory, including the electric poles, buildings, paper production, and decoration, from picture frames to room dividing screens, bamboo can make some elegant and exotic decorations for the home, building, furniture, cooking, agriculture, instrument, in construction for flooring, roofing designing, scaffolding, garden planting, even to control erosion and slope stabilization in erosion are observed. The use of it is multiplexed with straightforward man-made technology, in contrast. 'This study wants more innovative practices that will be able to make it lucrative for business purposes and sustainability of the process. Although there are various uses and requirements for growing bamboo successfully, it is advised to receive the proper training and in-depth understanding of the growth and management procedures. Consult an experienced bamboo farmer for help.

Keywords: bamboo, use, Nigeria, socioeconomically

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Authors: Subodh Kumar, Ramkisan Pawar, Gopal D. Belurkar

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This paper describes a study for simple blanking tool. In blanking or piercing operation, punch and die should be concentric for proper cutting. In this study, tolerance analysis method is used to analyze the variation in the press tool assembly. Variation results into the eccentricity in between die and punch due to cumulative tolerance of parts used in assembly. 1D variation analysis were performed by CREO parametric computer aided design (CAD) Software Powered by CETOL 6σ computer aided tolerance analysis software. Use of CAD analysis software given the opportunity to find out the cause of variation in tool assembly. Accordingly, the new specification of tolerance and process setting for die set manufacturing has determined. Tolerance allocation and tolerance analysis method were performed iteratively to conclude that position tolerance as well as size tolerance of hole in top plate for bush and size tolerance of guide pillar were more responsible for eccentricity in punch and die. This work proposes optimum tolerance for press tool assembly parts to achieve 100 % yield for specified .015mm minimum tolerance zone.

Keywords: blanking, GD&T (Geometric Dimension and Tolerancing), DPMU (defects per million unit), press tool, stackup analysis, tolerance allocation, yield percentage

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Authors: Bhavna Negi

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Several studies highlight the significance of media in constructing realities around us. According to Forbes magazine the demand of televisions has increased several times in the developing nations. A recent survey reveals that 112 million Indian households have a television, with 61 percent accessing cable. The space and visibility of television has enormously grown over the last decade in Indian homes. This small box has indeed taken a large place in their daily routines. The multi channel viewing and TRPs puzzle the Indian audience. This medium creates and constructs social images and roles which form internal representation about societal functioing. According to National Council of Applied Economic Research about twenty seven percent Indian literate youth watches TV for recreation. The present study finds about the role of television and its impact on young college going women with reference to family based serials shown on television. It is interesting to see how young women perceive the popular family soaps and define norms, roles and spaces for a woman and a man. The paper further examines the subtle messages given to young women through television serials. It draws insights into the relationship between the contemporary Indian women and the images conceptualized and communicated on television.

Keywords: media, women, gender, social roles

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Authors: Mohsen Mohammadi, Toshio Fujimi

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High population and irregular urban development in Kabul city, Afghanistan's capital, are among factors that increase its vulnerability to earthquake disasters (on top of its location in a high seismic region); this can lead to widespread economic loss and casualties. This study aims to evaluate earthquake risks in Kabul's 13th district based on scientific data. The research data, which include hazard curves of Kabul, vulnerability curves, and a questionnaire survey through sampling in district 13, have been incorporated to develop risk curves. To estimate potential casualties, we used a set of M parameters in a model developed by Coburn and Spence. The results indicate that in the worst case scenario, more than 90% of district 13, which comprises mostly residential buildings, is exposed to high risk; this may lead to nearly 1000 million USD economic loss and 120 thousand casualties (equal to 25.88% of the 13th district's population) for a nighttime earthquake. To reduce risks, we present the reconstruction of the most vulnerable buildings, which are primarily adobe and masonry buildings. A comparison of risk reduction between reconstructing adobe and masonry buildings indicates that rebuilding adobe buildings would be more effective.

Keywords: earthquake risk evaluation, Kabul, mitigation, vulnerability

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Authors: Obulesh Avuku, Satwik Sunnam, Sri Charan Mohan Janthuka, Keerthi Yalamaddi

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In the United States alone, there are over 1.5 million spine fractures per year, resulting in about 17,730 spinal cord injuries. The cervical spine is where fractures in the spine most frequently occur. The prevalence of spinal fractures in the elderly has increased, and in this population, fractures may be harder to see on imaging because of coexisting degenerative illness and osteoporosis. Nowadays, computed tomography (CT) is almost completely used instead of radiography for the imaging diagnosis of adult spine fractures (x-rays). To stop neurologic degeneration and paralysis following trauma, it is vital to trace any vertebral fractures at the earliest. Many approaches have been proposed for the classification of the cervical spine [2d models]. We are here in this paper trying to break the bounds and use the vision transformers, a State-Of-The-Art- Model in image classification, by making minimal changes possible to the architecture of ViT and making it 3D-enabled architecture and this is evaluated using a weighted multi-label logarithmic loss. We have taken this problem statement from a previously held Kaggle competition, i.e., RSNA 2022 Cervical Spine Fracture Detection.

Keywords: cervical spine, spinal fractures, osteoporosis, computed tomography, 2d-models, ViT, multi-label logarithmic loss, Kaggle, public score, private score

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Authors: Okorowo Cyril Agochi

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The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is home to about 20 million people and 40 different ethnic groups. The region has an area of seventy thousand square kilometers (70,000 KM2) of wetlands, formed primarily by sediments deposition and makes up 7.5 percent of Nigeria's total landmass. The notable ecological zones in this region includes: coastal barrier islands; mangrove swamp forests; fresh water swamps; and lowland rainforests. This incredibly naturally-endowed ecosystem region, which contains one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet, in addition to supporting abundant flora and fauna, is threatened by the inhuman act known as gas flaring. Gas flaring is the combustion of natural gas that is associated with crude oil when it is pumped up from the ground. In petroleum-producing areas such as the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where insufficient investment was made in infrastructure to utilize natural gas, flaring is employed to dispose of this associated gas. This practice has impoverished the communities where it is practiced, with attendant environmental, economic and health challenges. This paper discusses the adverse environmental and health implication associated with the practice, the role of Government, Policy makers, Oil companies and the Local communities aimed at bring this inhuman practice to a prompt end.

Keywords: natural combustion, emission, environment, flaring, gas, health, Niger Delta

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Authors: Fatai Shola Afolabi

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The study identified and evaluates the causes of building failure and examined the effects of building failure with respect to cost in Lagos State, Nigeria. The method employed in the collection of data includes the administration of questionnaire to professionals in the construction industry and case studies for the sites. A purposive sampling technique was used for selecting the sites visited, and selecting the construction professionals. Descriptive statistical techniques such as frequency distribution and percentages and mean response analysis were used to analyze data. The study revealed that the major causes of building failures were bad design, faulty construction, over loading, non-possession of approved drawings, Possession of approved drawings but non-compliance, and the use of quarks. In the two case studies considered, the total direct loss to the building owners was thirty eight million three hundred and eight five thousand, seven hundred and twenty one naira (38,385,721) which is about One hundred and ninety four thousand, eighty hundred and fifty one dollars ($194,851) at one hundred and ninety seven naira to one US dollars, central bank Nigeria of exchange rate as at 14th March, 2015.

Keywords: building structures, building failure, building collapse, structural failure, cost, direct loss

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Authors: Ali Mana, Okba Lahmar

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It is natural that sports media seeks to reach the audience of viewers wherever they are and at any time. Perhaps YouTube is one of the most important platforms in which the Algerian audience resides, as Alexa, which is one of the most important tools for providing usage statistics, indicated that the number of Algerian audience views of this site has exceeded 11 million views per month, and many Algerian content makers have initiated the creation of Sports channels in order to achieve profit goals. They also seek through it to market professional footballers abroad, in addition to influencing the opinions of fans towards them. This scene directs us to study the extent to which these channels contribute to discovering professional players, marketing to them, and protecting them from negative criticism. We also aim to know the extent of the influence of the content makers of these channels on the Algerian audience and to raise their awareness of the positive support of the players, regardless of their level of performance. To collect the necessary data, a descriptive study was conducted in which interview and observation were adopted as two basic tools. The sample included 04 sports content makers out of the total community that organizes more than 50 channels. It was chosen intentionally and included channels with more than 300,000 subscribers.

Keywords: sports content creators, YouTube, professional player, Algerian public, sports marketing

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Authors: V. V. Prasada Rao P., K. Venkata Subbaiah, J. Sudhir Kumar

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Most Indian cities or townships are facing greater challenges in proper disposal of their municipal solid wastes, which are growing exponentially with the rising urban population and improvement in the living standards. As per the provisional figures, 377 million people live in the urban areas accounting for 31.16 % of the Country’s total population, and expected to grow by 3.74% every year. In India, the municipal authority is liable for the safe management & disposal of Municipal Solid Wastes. However, even with the current levels of MSW generation, a majority of the local governments are unable to comply with their constitutional responsibility due to reasons ranging from cultural aspects to technological and financial constraints. In contrast, it is expected that the MSW generation in India is likely to increase from 68.8 MTD in 2011 to 160.5 MTD by 2041. Thus, the immediate challenge before the urban local bodies in India is to evolve suitable strategies not only to cope up with the current levels, but also to address the anticipated generation levels of MSW. This paper discusses the reasons for the low levels of enforcement of MSW Rules and suggests effective management strategies for the safe disposal of MSW.

Keywords: biodegradable waste, dumping sites, management strategy, municipal solid waste (MSW), MSW rules, vermicompost

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Authors: Sohail Ahmad, Inayat Kaleem

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Federally Administered Tribal Area(FATA) of Pakistan is one of the most neglected regions in the world as far as development is concerned. It has been the hub of all sorts of illegal activities including militancy and export of terrorism. Therefore, it became inevitable for the government of Pakistan to take action against militants through military operations. Small and large scale military operations are being taken against the non-state actors in FATA with continuity. Over the years, hundreds of thousands have been displaced from the tribal areas of the country. Moreover, military operation Zarb-e-Azb has been launched in North Waziristan Agency in June 2014 to counter militancy across the Af-Pak border region. Though successful in curbing militancy, the operation has displaced around 0.5 million people from the area. Most of them opt to take shelter in the government installed shelter camps, some of them take refuge outside tent villages in the country while some of them prefer to cross into Afghanistan rather their own country Pakistan. This paper will evaluate how the influx of these internally displaced persons in the country is influencing the socio-economic situation of not only the displaced but of the hosting areas as well. Secondly, attention would be given to gauge the impact of such a huge number of displaced population on the law and order and security situation in the host areas.

Keywords: Af-Pak, federally administered tribal area, IDPs, internal displacement, Pakistan

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Authors: Atiqah Binti Ab Aziz

Abstract:

Background: It has been estimated that about 250 million people all over the world suffer from osteoarthritis (OA). Thus, OA is a major health problem in urgent need of better treatment. Problem statement: Current therapies for OA can temporarily relieve clinical symptoms and for pain management, rather than preventing or curing OA. Total knee replacement performed at the end stage of the disease is considered the only cure available. Objectives: This article aimed to explore the potential of treating osteoarthritis via the CRISPR Cas system. Methods: Articles that relate to the application of the CRISPR Cas system in osteoarthritis were extracted, categorized, and reviewed through the PRISMA method using PubMed, an engine published from November 2016 to November 2021. Results: There were 30 articles screened. Articles that fall under the categories of non-English articles, full articles that were not available, articles that were not an original articles were excluded. Ultimately, 13 articles were reviewed. Discussion: This review provides an information on the introduction of CRISPR and discussed on their mechanism of actions in extracted studies for OA treatment. Conclusions: It can be seen that not many medical research utilize the CRISPR Cas system as part of the method in the treatment of OA. Hence exploring the extent of the usage of the CRISPR Cas system in OA treatment is important to determine the research gap and point out at which of the research is needed further investigation to avoid redundancy of existing research and ensure the novelty of the research.

Keywords: osteoarthritis, treatment, CRISPR, review, therapy

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Authors: Merle Van Den Akker, Neil Stewart, Andrea Isoni

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Contactless methods of payment referred to as tap&go, have become increasingly popular globally. However, little is known about the consequences of this payment method on spending, spending habits, personal finance management, and debt accumulation. The literature on other payment methods such as credit cards suggests that, through increased ease and reduced friction, the pain of paying in these methods is reduced, leading to higher and more frequent spending, resulting in higher debt accumulation. Within this research, we use a dataset of 300 million transactions of 165.000 individuals to see whether the onset of using contactless methods of payment increases the occurrence of overdraft fees. Using the R package MatchIt, we find, when matching people on initial overdraft occurrence and salary, that people who do start using contactless incur a significantly higher number of overdraft fees, as compared to those who do not start using contactless in the same year. Having accounted for income, opting-in, and time-of-year effects, these results show that contactless methods of payment fall within the scope of earlier theories on credit cards, such as the pain of paying, meaning that this payment method leads to increasing difficulties managing personal finance.

Keywords: contactless, debt accumulation, overdraft fees, payment methods, spending

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Authors: Ajit Kumar Yadav, Priyanka Yadav, F. Ram

Abstract:

In present study is an effort to analyse the burden of diseases in the state. Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) is estimated non-communicable diseases. Multi-rounds (52nd, 60th and 71st round) of the National Sample Surveys (NSSO), conducted in 1995-96, 2004 and 2014 respectively, and Million Deaths Study (MDS) of 2001-03, 2006 and 2013-14 datasets are used. Descriptive and multivariate analyses are carried out to identify the determinants of different types of self-reported morbidity and DALY. The prevalence was higher for population aged 60 and above, among females, illiterates, and rich across the time period and for all the selected morbidities. The results were found to be significant at P<0.001. The estimation of DALY revealed that, the burden of communicable diseases was higher during infancy, noticeably among males than females in 2002. However, females aged 1-5 years were more vulnerable to report communicable diseases than the corresponding males. The age distribution of DALY indicates that individuals aged below 5 years and above 60 year were more susceptible to ill health. The growing incidence of non-communicable diseases especially among the older generations put additional burden on the health system in the state. The state has to grapple with the unsettled preventable infectious diseases in one hand and growing non-communicable in other hand.

Keywords: disease burden, non-communicable, communicable, India and region

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