Search results for: controlling proces

Authors: Fariba Dortaj, Reza Asadinejad, Akram Dortaj, Atena Baziyar

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of distance education (based on MOOC) on the components of academic engagement of Kerman PNU. The research was quasi-experimental method that cluster sampling with an appropriate volume was used in this study (one class in experimental group and one class in controlling group). Sampling method is single-stage cluster sampling. The statistical society is students of Kerman Payam Noor University, which) were selected 40 of them as sample (20 students in the control group and 20 students in experimental group). To test the hypothesis, it was used the analysis of univariate and Co-covariance to offset the initial difference (difference of control) in the experimental group and the control group. The instrument used in this study is academic engagement questionnaire of Zerang (2012) that contains component of cognitive, behavioral and motivational engagement. The results showed that there is no significant difference between mean scores of academic components of academic engagement in experimental group and the control group on the post-test, after elimination of the pre-test. The adjusted mean scores of components of academic engagement in the experimental group were higher than the adjusted average of scores after the test in the control group. The use of technology-based education in distance education has been effective in increasing cognitive engagement, motivational engagement and behavioral engagement among students. Experimental variable with the effect size 0.26, predicted 26% of cognitive engagement component variance. Experimental variable with the effect size 0.47, predicted 47% of the motivational engagement component variance. Experimental variable with the effect size 0.40, predicted 40% of behavioral engagement component variance. So teaching with technology (MOOC) has a positive impact on increasing academic engagement and academic performance of students in educational technology. The results suggest that technology (MOOC) is used to enrich the teaching of other lessons of PNU.

Keywords: educational technology, distance education, components of academic engagement, mooc technology

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Authors: Hoai Nam Huynh, Edouard Rivière-Lorphèvre, Olivier Verlinden

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Manufacturing technologies are becoming continuously more diversified over the years. The increasing use of robots for various applications such as assembling, painting, welding has also affected the field of machining. Machining robots can deal with larger workspaces than conventional machine-tools at a lower cost and thus represent a very promising alternative for machining applications. Furthermore, their inherent structure ensures them a great flexibility of motion to reach any location on the workpiece with the desired orientation. Nevertheless, machining robots suffer from a lack of stiffness at their joints restricting their use to applications involving low cutting forces especially finishing operations. Vibratory instabilities may also happen while machining and deteriorate the precision leading to scrap parts. Some researchers are therefore concerned with the identification of optimal parameters in robotic machining. This paper continues the development of a virtual robotic machining simulator in order to find optimized cutting parameters in terms of depth of cut or feed per tooth for example. The simulation environment combines an in-house milling routine (DyStaMill) achieving the computation of cutting forces and material removal with an in-house multibody library (EasyDyn) which is used to build a dynamic model of a 3-DOF planar robot with flexible links. The position of the robot end-effector submitted to milling forces is controlled through an inverse kinematics scheme while controlling the position of its joints separately. Each joint is actuated through a servomotor for which the transfer function has been computed in order to tune the corresponding controller. The output results feature the evolution of the cutting forces when the robot structure is deformable or not and the tracking errors of the end-effector. Illustrations of the resulting machined surfaces are also presented. The consideration of the links flexibility has highlighted an increase of the cutting forces magnitude. This proof of concept will aim to enrich the database of results in robotic machining for potential improvements in production.

Keywords: control, milling, multibody, robotic, simulation

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Authors: Liyu Adhi Kasari Sulung

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Poverty has been a major problem in Indonesia. Islamic micro finance (IMF) named Baitul Maal Wat Tamwil (Bmt) plays a prominent role to eradicate this. Indonesia as the biggest muslim country has many successful applied products such as worldwide adopt group-based lending approach, flexible financing for farmers, and gold pawning. The Problems related to these models are operation risk management and internal control system (ICS). A proper ICS will help an organization in preventing the occurrence of bad financing through detecting error and irregularities in its operation. This study aims to seek a proper risk management scheme of credit system in Bmt and internal control system’s rank for every stage. Risk management variables are obtained at the first In-Depth Interview (IDI) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with Shariah supervisory boards, boards of directors, and operational managers. Survey was conducted covering nationwide data; West Java, South Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara. Moreover, Content analysis is employed to build the relationship among these variables. Research Findings shows that risk management Characteristics in Indonesia involves ex ante, credit process, and ex post strategies to deal with risk in credit system. Ex-ante control consists of Shariah compliance, survey, group leader reference, and islamic forming orientation. Then, credit process involves saving, collateral, joint liability, loan repayment, and credit installment controlling. Finally, ex-post control includes shariah evaluation, credit evaluation, grace period and low installment provisions. In addition, internal control order sort three stages by its priority; Credit process as first rank, then ex-post control as second, and ex ante control as the last rank.

Keywords: internal control system, islamic micro finance, poverty, risk management

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Authors: Marzieh Khedmati, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt

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Vegetative Filter Strips (VFS) are used for controlling the volume of runoff and decreasing contaminant concentrations in runoff before entering water bodies. Many studies have investigated the role of VFS in sediment and nutrient removal, but little is known about their efficiency for the removal of emerging contaminants such as antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Vegetative Filter Strip Modeling System (VFSMOD) was used to simulate the efficiency of VFS in this regard. Several studies demonstrated the ability of VFSMOD to predict reductions in runoff volume and sediment concentration moving through the filters. The objectives of this study were to calibrate the VFSMOD with experimental data and assess the efficiency of the model in simulating the filter behavior in removing ARGs (ermB) and tylosin. The experimental data were obtained from a prior study conducted at the University of Nebraska (UNL) Rogers Memorial Farm. Three treatment factors were tested in the experiments, including manure amendment, narrow grass hedges and rainfall events. Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR) was defined as the filter efficiency and the related experimental and model values were compared to each other. The VFS Model generally agreed with the experimental results and as a result, the model was used for predicting filter efficiencies when the runoff data are not available. Narrow Grass Hedges (NGH) were shown to be effective in reducing tylosin and ARGs concentration. The simulation showed that the filter efficiency in removing ARGs is different for different soil types and filter lengths. There is an optimum length for the filter strip that produces minimum runoff volume. Based on the model results increasing the length of the filter by 1-meter leads to higher efficiency but widening beyond that decreases the efficiency. The VFSMOD, which was proved to work well in estimation of VFS trapping efficiency, showed confirming results for ARG removal.

Keywords: antimicrobial resistance genes, emerging contaminants, narrow grass hedges, vegetative filter strips, vegetative filter strip modeling system

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Authors: Sophie Kroeling, Agnetha Schuchardt

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Striving for sustainability brings a lot of challenges for different fields of interest, e. g. security or health concerns. In Germany, civil protection is predominantly carried out by emergency responders who perform essential tasks of civil protection. Based on theoretical concepts of different psychological stress theories this contribution focuses on the question, how the resilience of emergency responders can be improved. The goal is to identify resources and successful coping strategies that help to prevent and reduce negative outcomes during or after stressful events. The paper will present results from a qualitative analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 emergency responders. These results provide insights into the complexity of coping processes (e. g. controlling the situation, downplaying perceived personal threats through humor) and show the diversity of stressors (like complexity of the disastrous situation, intrusive press and media, or lack of social support within the organization). Self-efficacy expectation was a very important resource for coping with stressful situations. The results served as a starting point for a quantitative survey (that was conducted in March 2017), the development of education and training tools for emergency responders and the improvement of critical incident stress management processes. First results from the quantitative study with more than 700 participants show that, e. g., the emergency responders use social coping within their private social network and also within their aid organization and that both are correlated to resilience. Moreover, missing information, bureaucratic problems and social conflicts within the organization are events that the majority of the participants considered very onerous. Further results from regression analysis will be presented. The proposed paper will combine findings from the qualitative study with the quantitative results, illustrating figures and correlations with respective statements from the interviews. At the end, suggestions for the improvement of the emergency responder’s resilience are given and it is discussed how this can make a contribution to strive for civil security and furthermore a sustainable development.

Keywords: civil security, emergency responders, stress, resilience, resources

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Authors: Sobia Shafqat, Saeed Ahmad Qaisrani

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MicroRNAs play an essential role in the regulation and development of all processes in most eukaryotes because of their prospective part as mediators controlling cell growth and differentiation towards the exact position of RNAs response in plants under biotic and abiotic factors or stressors. In a few cases, Zn is oblivious poisonous for plants due to its heavy metal status. Some other metals are extremely toxic, like Cd, Hg, and Pb, but these elements require in rice for the programming of genes under abiotic stress resembling Zn stress when micro RNAs268 was importantly introduced in rice. The micro RNAs overexpressed in transgenic plants with an accumulation of a large amount of melanin dialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and an excessive quantity of Zn in the seedlings stage. Let out results for rice pliability under Zn stress micro RNAs act as negative controllers. But the role of micro RNA268 act as a modulator in different ecological condition. It has been explained clearly with a long understanding of the role of micro RNA268 under stress conditions; pliability and practically showed outcome to increase plant sufferance under Zn stress because micro RNAs is an intervention technique for gene regulation in gene expression. The proposed study was experimented with by using genetic factors of Zn stress and toxicity effect on rice plants done at District Vehari, Pakistan. The trial was performed randomly with three replications in a complete block design (RCBD). These blocks were controlled with different concentrations of genetic factors. By overexpression of micro RNA268 rice, seedling growth was not stopped under Zn deficiency due to the accumulation of a large amount of melanin dialdehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and an excessive quantity of Zn in their seedlings. Results showed that micro RNA268 act as a negative controller under Zn stress. In the end, under stress conditions, micro RNA268 showed the necessary function in the tolerance of rice plants. The directorial work sketch gave out high agronomic applications and yield outcomes in rice with a specific amount of Zn application.

Keywords: micro RNA268, zinc, rice, agronomic approach

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Authors: Samuel Abebe Ebebo

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Scale precipitation causes a major issue for geothermal power plants because it reduces the production rate of geothermal energy. Each geothermal power plant's different chemical and physical conditions can cause the scale to precipitate under a particular set of fluid-rock interactions. Depending on the mineral, it is possible to have scale in the production well, steam separators, heat exchangers, reinjection wells, and everywhere in between. The scale consists mainly of smectite and trace amounts of chlorite, magnetite, quartz, hematite, dolomite, aragonite, and amorphous silica. The smectite scale is one of the difficult scales at injection wells in geothermal power plants. X-ray diffraction and chemical composition identify this smectite as Stevensite. The characteristics and the scale of each injection well line are different depending on the fluid chemistry. The smectite scale has been widely distributed in pipelines and surface plants. Mineral water equilibrium showed that the main factors controlling the saturation indices of smectite increased pH and dissolved Mg concentration due to the precipitate on the equipment surface. This study aims to characterize the scales and geothermal fluids collected from the Onuma geothermal power plant in Akita Prefecture, Japan. Field tests were conducted on October 30–November 3, 2021, at Onuma to determine the pH control methods for preventing magnesium silicate scaling, and as exemplified, the formation of magnesium silicate hydrates (M-S-H) with MgO to SiO2 ratios of 1.0 and pH values of 10 for one day has been studied at 25 °C. As a result, M-S-H scale formation could be suppressed, and stevensite formation could also be suppressed when we can decrease the pH of the fluid by less than 8.1, 7.4, and 8 (at 97 °C) in the fluid from O-3Rb and O-6Rb, O-10Rg, and O-12R, respectively. In this context, the scales and fluids collected from injection wells at a geothermal power plant in Japan were analyzed and characterized to understand the formation conditions of Mg-silicate scales with on-site synthesis experiments. From the results of the characterizations and on-site synthesis experiments, the inhibition method of their scale formation is discussed based on geochemical modeling in this study.

Keywords: magnesium silicate, scaling, inhibitor, geothermal power plant

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Authors: Chanya Jetsukontorn

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Dengue hemorrhagic fever is the most important Mosquito-borne disease and the major public health problem in Thailand. The most important vector is Aedes aegypti. Environmental factors such as temperature, relative humidity, and biting rate affect dengue virus infection. The most effective measure for prevention is controlling of vector mosquitoes. In addition, surveillance of field-caught mosquitoes is imperative for determining the natural vector and can provide an early warning sign at risk of transmission in an area. In this study, Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were collected in Amphur Muang, Phetchabun Province, Thailand. The mosquitoes were collected in the rainy season and the dry season both indoor and outdoor. During mosquito’s collection, the data of environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and breeding sites were observed and recorded. After identified to species, mosquitoes were pooled according to genus/species, and sampling location. Pools consisted of a maximum of 10 Aedes mosquitoes. 70 pools of 675 Aedes aegypti were screened with RT-PCR for flaviviruses. To confirm individual infection for determining True infection rate, individual mosquitoes which gave positive results of flavivirus detection were tested for dengue virus by RT-PCR. The infection rate was 5.93% (4 positive individuals from 675 mosquitoes). The probability to detect dengue virus in mosquitoes at the neighbour’s houses was 1.25 times, especially where distances between neighboring houses and patient’s houses were less than 50 meters. The relative humidity in dengue-infected villages with dengue-infected mosquitoes was significantly higher than villages that free from dengue-infected mosquitoes. Indoor biting rate of Aedes aegypti was 14.87 times higher than outdoor, and biting times of 09.00-10.00, 10.00-11.00, 11.00-12.00 yielded 1.77, 1.46, 0.68mosquitoes/man-hour, respectively. These findings confirm environmental factors were related to Dengue infection in Thailand. Data obtained from this study will be useful for the prevention and control of the diseases.

Keywords: Aedes aegypti, Dengue virus, environmental factors, one health, PCR

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Authors: Majse Lind, Carla Sharp, Salome Vanwoerden

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Narrative identity is the dynamic and evolving story individuals create about their personal pasts, presents, and presumed futures. This storied sense of self develops in adolescence and is crucial for fostering a sense of self-unity and purpose in life. A growing body of work has shown that several characteristics of narrative identity are disturbed in adults suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD). Very little research, however, has explored the stories told by adolescents with BPD features. Investigating narrative identity early in the lifespan and in relation to personality pathology is crucial; BPD is a developmental disorder with early signs appearing already in adolescence. In the current study, we examine narrative identity (focusing on themes of agency and communion) coded from self-defining memories derived from the child attachment interview in 174 inpatient adolescents (M = 15.12, SD = 1.52) at the time of admission. The adolescents’ social cognition was further assessed on the basis of their reactions to movie scenes (i.e., the MASC movie task). They also completed a trauma checklist and self-reported BPD features at three different time points (i.e., at admission, at discharge, and 6 months after admission). Preliminary results show that adolescents who told stories containing themes of agency and communion evinced better social cognition, and lower emotional abuse on the trauma checklist. In addition, adolescents who disclosed stories containing lower levels of agency and communion demonstrated more BPD symptoms at all three time points, even when controlling for the occurrence of traumatic life events. Surprisingly, social cognitive abilities were not significantly associated with BPD features. These preliminary results underscore the importance of narrative identity as an indicator, and potential cause, of incipient personality pathology. Thus, focusing on diminished themes of narrative-based agency and communion in early adolescence could be crucial in preventing the development of personality pathology over time.

Keywords: borderline personality disorder, inpatient adolescents, narrative identity, follow-ups

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Authors: Jeroen De Ceuster

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This study is the first empirical analysis of the link between corporate governance and European Union competition law. Although competition law enforcement is often studied through the lens of competition law, we offer an alternative perspective by looking at a number of corporate governance factor at the level of the board of directors. We find that undertakings where the Chief Executive Officer is also chairman of the board are twice as likely to violate European Union competition law. No significant relationship was found between European Union competition law infringements and gender diversity of the board, the size of the board, the percentage of directors appointed after the Chief Executive Officer, the percentage of independent directors, or the presence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee. This contribution is based on a 1-1 matched peer study. Our sample includes all ultimate parent companies with a board that have been sanctioned by the European Commission for either anticompetitive agreements or abuse of dominance for the period from 2004 to 2018. These companies were matched to a company with headquarters in the same country, belongs to the same industry group, is active in the European Economic Area, and is the nearest neighbor to the infringing company in terms of revenue. Our final sample includes 121 pairs. As is common with matched peer studies, we use CLR to analyze the differences within these pairs. The only statistically significant independent variable after controlling for size and performance is CEO/Chair duality. The results indicate that companies whose Chief Executive Officer also functions as chairman of the board are twice as likely to infringe European Union competition law. This is in line with the monitoring theory of the board of directors, which states that its primary function is to monitor top management. Since competition law infringements are mostly organized by management and hidden from board directors, the results suggest that a Chief Executive Officer who is also chairman is more likely to be either complicit in the infringement or less critical towards his day-to-day colleagues and thus impedes proper detection by the board of competition law infringements.

Keywords: corporate governance, competition law, board of directors, board independence, ender diversity, corporate social responisbility

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Authors: Yogeeta O. Agrawal, Hitendra S. Mahajan, Sanjay J. Surana

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Methotrexate is effective in controlling recalcitrant psoriasis when administered by the oral or parenteral route long-term. However, the systematic use of this drug may provoke any of a number of side effects, notably hepatotoxic effects. To reduce these effects, clinical studies have been done with topical MTx. It is useful in treating a number of cutaneous conditions, including psoriasis. A major problem in topical administration of MTx currently available in market is that the drug is hydrosoluble and is mostly in the dissociated form at physiological pH. Its capacity for passive diffusion is thus limited. Localization of MTx in effected layers of skin is likely to improve the role of topical dosage form of the drug as a supplementary to oral therapy for treatment of psoriasis. One of the possibilities for increasing the penetration of drugs through the skin is the use of Nanostructured lipid Carriers. The objective of the present study was to formulate and characterize Methotrexate loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (MtxNLCs), to understand in vitro drug release and evaluate the role of the developed gel in the topical treatment of psoriasis. MtxNLCs were prepared by solvent diffusion technique using 3(2) full factorial design.The mean diameter and surface morphology of MtxNLC was evaluated. MtxNLCs were lyophilized and crystallinity of NLC was characterized by Differential Scanning Calorimtery (DSC) and powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The NLCs were incorporated in 1% w/w Carbopol 934 P gel base and in vitro skin deposition studies in Human Cadaver Skin were conducted. The optimized MtxNLCs were spherical in shape, with average particle size of 253(±9.92)nm, zeta potential of -30.4 (±0.86) mV and EE of 53.12(±1.54)%. DSC and XRD data confirmed the formation of NLCs. Significantly higher deposition of Methotrexate was found in human cadaver skin from MtxNLC gel (71.52 ±1.23%) as compared to Mtx plain gel (54.28±1.02%). Findings of the studies suggest that there is significant improvement in therapeutic index in treatment of psoriasis by MTx-NLCs incorporated gel base developed in this investigation over plain drug gel currently available in the market.

Keywords: methotrexate, psoriasis, NLCs, hepatotoxic effects

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Authors: Na Zhou, Chun-Lai Zhang, Qing Li, Bingqi Zhu, Xun-Ming Wang

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The understanding of the dynamics of aeolian sand in the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley (YLZBV), southern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, including its origins, transportation,and deposition, remains preliminary. In this study, we investigated the extensive origin of aeolian sediments in the YLZBV by analyzing the distribution and composition of sediment’s grain size and geochemical composition in dune sediments collected from the wide river terraces. The major purpose is to characterize the sedimentological and geochemical compositions of these aeolian sediments, trace back to their sources, and understand their influencing factors. As a result, the grain size and geochemistry variations, which showed a significant correlation between grain sizes distribution and element abundances, give a strong evidence that the important part of the aeolian sediments in the downstream areas was firstly derived from the upper reaches by intense fluvial processes. However, the sediments experienced significant mixing process with local inputs and reconstructed by regional wind transportation. The diverse compositions and tight associations in the major and trace element geochemistry between the up- and down-stream aeolian sediments and the local detrital rocks, which were collected from the surrounding mountains, suggest that the upstream aeolian sediments had originated from the various close-range rock types, and experienced intensive mixing processes via aeolian- fluvial dynamics. Sand mass transported by water and wind was roughly estimated to qualify the interplay between the aeolian and fluvial processes controlling the sediment transport, yield, and ultimately shaping the aeolian landforms in the mainstream of the YLZBV.

Keywords: grain size distribution, geochemistry, wind and water load, sand source, Yarlung Zangbo River Valley

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Authors: Meltem Anafarta Şendağ, Funda Kutlu

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Attachment theory has some major postulates that direct attention of psychologists from many different domains. First, the theory suggests that attachment is a lifetime process. This means that every human being from cradle to grave needs someone stronger to depend on in times of stress. Second, the attachment is a dynamic process and as one goes through developmental stages it is being transferred from one figure to another (friends, romantic partners). Third, the quality of attachment relationships later in time directly affected by the earliest attachment relationship established between the mother and the infant. Depending on these postulates, attachment literature focuses mostly on mother – child attachment during childhood and romantic relationship during adulthood. However, although romantic partners are important attachment figures in adults’ life, parents are not dropped out from the attachment hierarchy but they keep being important attachment figures. Despite the fact that parents could still be an important figure in adults’ life, adult – parent attachment is overlooked in the literature. Accordingly, this study focuses on adult daughters’ current attachment to their old mothers in relation with early parental bonding and current attachment to husbands. Participants of the study were 383 adult women (Average age = 40, ranging between 23 and 70) whose mothers were still alive and who were married at the time of the study. Participants were completed Adult Attachment Scale, Parental Bonding Instrument, and Experiences in Close Relationship – II together with demographic questionnaire. Results revealed that daughters’ attachment to their mothers weakens as they get older, have more children, and have longer marriages. Stronger attachment to mothers was found positively correlated with current satisfaction with the relationship, perception of maternal care before the age of 12 and negatively correlated with perception of controlling behavior before the age 12. Considering the relationship between current parental attachment and romantic attachment, it was found that as the current attachment to mother strengthens attachment avoidance towards husband decreases. Results revealed that although attachment between the adult daughters and old mothers weakens, the relationship is still critical in daughters’ lives. The strength of current attachment with the mother is related both with the early relationship with the mother and current attachment with the husband. The current study is thought to contribute to attachment theory emphasizing the attachment as a lifetime construct.

Keywords: adult daughter, attachment, old mothers, parental bonding

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Authors: Ebtisam A. Al-Mslemani, Khalid A. Enan, Asmaa Abdelgadier, Nada Assaad, Zaynab Elhussein, Khalid Eltom

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Background: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a zoonotic parasite that can be transmitted from animals to humans, with felids acting as its definitive host. Thus, understanding the epidemiology of this parasite in animal populations is vital to controlling its transmission to humans as well as to other animal groups. Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to summarise and analyse reports of T. gondii infection in animal species residing in the Arabian Peninsula. Methods: It was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), with relevant studies being retrieved from MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. All articles published in Arabic or English languages between January 2000 and December 2020 were screened for eligibility. The random effects model was used to calculate the pooled prevalence of T. gondii infection in different animal populations which were found to harbour this infection. The critical appraisal tool for prevalence studies designed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) was used to assess the risk of bias in all included studies. Results: A total of 15 studies were retrieved, reporting prevalence estimates from 4 countries in this region and in 13 animal species. A quantitative meta-analysis estimated a pooled prevalence of 43% in felids [95% confidence interval (CI) = 23-64%, I2 index = 100%], 48% in sheep (95% CI = 27-70%, I2 = 99%) and 21% in camels (95% CI = 7-35%, I2 = 99%). Evidence of possible publication bias was found in both felids and sheep. Conclusions: This meta-analysis estimates a high prevalence of T. gondii infection in animal species that are of high economic and cultural importance to countries of this region. Hence, these findings provide valuable insight to public health authorities as well as economic and animal resources advisors in countries of the Arabian Peninsula.

Keywords: Arabian Peninsula, toxoplasma gondii, animals; meta-analysis, toxoplasmosis

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Authors: Naima Bouslah, Leila Bounabi, Farid Ouazib, Nabila Haddadine

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Conventional release dosage forms are known to provide an immediate release of the drug. Controlling the rate of drug release from polymeric matrices is very important for a number of applications, particularly in the pharmaceutical area. Hydrogels are polymers in three-dimensional network arrangement, which can absorb and retain large amounts of water without dissolution. They have been frequently used to develop controlled released formulations for oral administration because they can extend the duration of drug release and thus reduce dose to be administrated improving patient compliance. Tramadol is an opioid pain medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain. When taken as an immediate-release oral formulation, the onset of pain relief usually occurs within about an hour. In the present work, we synthesized pH-responsive hydrogels of (hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate-co-acrylic acid), (HEMA-AA) for control drug delivery of tramadol in the gastro-intestinal tractus. The hydrogels with different acrylic acid content, were synthesized by free radical polymerization and characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, X ray diffraction analysis (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). FTIR spectroscopy has shown specific hydrogen bonding interactions between the carbonyl groups of the hydrogels and hydroxyl groups of tramadol. Both the XRD and DSC studies revealed that the introduction of tramadol in the hydrogel network induced the amorphization of the drug. The swelling behaviour, absorptive kinetics and the release kinetics of tramadol in simulated gastric fluid (pH 1.2) and in simulated intestinal fluid (pH 7.4) were also investigated. The hydrogels exhibited pH-responsive behavior in the swelling study. The (HEMA-AA) hydrogel swelling was much higher in pH =7.4 medium. The tramadol release was significantly increased when pH of the medium was changed from simulated gastric fluid (pH 1.2) to simulated intestinal fluid (pH 7.4). Using suitable mathematical models, the apparent diffusional coefficients and the corresponding kinetic parameters have been calculated.

Keywords: biopolymres, drug delivery, hydrogels, tramadol

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Authors: Warnakulasuriya Arachichige Malisha Ann Rosary Fernando, Udalamatta Gamage Omila Chalanka Jinadasa, Bihini Pabasara Amandi Amarasinghe, Manul Thisuraka Mandalawatta, Uthpala Samarakoon, Manori Gamage

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The surge in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) has become a critical public health crisis demanding urgent attention and action. Like many other nations, Sri Lanka is grappling with a significant increase in STDs due to a lack of education and awareness regarding their dangers. Presently, the available applications for tracking and managing STDs cover only a limited number of easily detectable infections, resulting in a significant gap in effectively controlling their spread. To address this gap and combat the rising STD rates, it is essential to leverage technology and data. Employing technology to enhance the tracking and management of STDs is vital to prevent their further propagation and to enable early intervention and treatment. This requires adopting a comprehensive approach that involves raising public awareness about the perils of STDs, improving access to affordable healthcare services for early detection and treatment, and utilizing advanced technology and data analysis. The proposed mobile application aims to cater to a broad range of users, including STD patients, recovered individuals, and those unaware of their STD status. By harnessing cutting-edge technologies like image detection, symptom-based identification, prevention methods, doctor and clinic recommendations, and virtual counselor chat, the application offers a holistic approach to STD management. In conclusion, the escalating STD rates in Sri Lanka and across the globe require immediate action. The integration of technology-driven solutions, along with comprehensive education and healthcare accessibility, is the key to curbing the spread of STDs and promoting better overall public health.

Keywords: STD, machine learning, NLP, artificial intelligence

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Authors: Hasan Ziari, Hassan Fazaeli, Seyed Javad Vaziri Kang Olyaei, Asma Sadat Dabiri

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The presence of cracks in concrete pavements is a place for the ingression of corrosive substances, acids, oils, and water into the pavement and reduces its long-term durability and level of service. One of the causes of early cracks in concrete pavements is the plastic shrinkage. This shrinkage occurs due to the formation of negative capillary pressures after the equilibrium of the bleeding and evaporation rates at the pavement surface. These cracks form if the tensile stresses caused by the restrained shrinkage exceed the tensile strength of the concrete. Different climate conditions change the rate of evaporation and thus change the balance time of the bleeding and evaporation, which changes the severity of cracking in concrete. The present study examined the relationship between the balance time of bleeding and evaporation and the area of cracking in the concrete slabs using the standard method ASTM C1579 in 27 different environmental conditions by using continuous video recording and digital image analyzing. The results showed that as the evaporation rate increased and the balance time decreased, the crack severity significantly increased so that by reducing the balance time from the maximum value to its minimum value, the cracking area increased more than four times. It was also observed that the cracking area- balance time curve could be interpreted in three sections. An examination of these three parts showed that the combination of climate conditions has a significant effect on increasing or decreasing these two variables. The criticality of a single factor cannot cause the critical conditions of plastic cracking. By combining two mild environmental factors with a severe climate factor (in terms of surface evaporation rate), a considerable reduction in balance time and a sharp increase in cracking severity can be prevented. The results of this study showed that balance time could be an essential factor in controlling and predicting plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete pavements. It is necessary to control this factor in the case of constructing concrete pavements in different climate conditions.

Keywords: bleeding and cracking severity, concrete pavements, climate conditions, plastic shrinkage

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Authors: Pallavi Gajjar, Vinayak Malhotra

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Rockets have been known to have played a predominant role in spacecraft propulsion. The quintessential aspect of combustion-related requirements of a rocket engine is the minimization of the surrounding risks/hazards. Over time, it has become imperative to understand the combustion rate variation in presence of external energy source(s). Rocket propulsion represents a special domain of chemical propulsion assisted by high speed flows in presence of acoustics and thermal source(s). Jet noise leads to a significant loss of resources and every year a huge amount of financial aid is spent to prevent it. External heat source(s) induce high possibility of fire risk/hazards which can sufficiently endanger the operation of a space vehicle. Appreciable work had been done with justifiable simplification and emphasis on the linear variation of external energy source(s), which yields good physical insight but does not cater to accurate predictions. Present work experimentally attempts to understand the correlation between inter-energy conversions with the non-linear placement of external energy source(s). The work is motivated by the need to have better fire safety and enhanced combustion. The specific objectives of the work are a) To interpret the related energy transfer for combustion in presence of alternate external energy source(s) viz., thermal and acoustic, b) To fundamentally understand the role of key controlling parameters viz., separation distance, the number of the source(s), selected configurations and their non-linear variation to resemble real-life cases. An experimental setup was prepared using incense sticks as potential fuel and paraffin wax candles as the external energy source(s). The acoustics was generated using frequency generator, and source(s) were placed at selected locations. Non-equidistant parametric experimentation was carried out, and the effects were noted on regression rate changes. The results are expected to be very helpful in offering a new perspective into futuristic rocket designs and safety.

Keywords: combustion, acoustic energy, external energy sources, regression rate

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Authors: Aoxue Yang, Weili Tian, Yonghe Wu, Haikun Liu

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Brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs) are resistant to therapy and give rise to recurrent tumors. These rare and elusive cells are likely to disseminate during cancer progression, and some may enter dormancy, remaining viable but not increasing. The identification of dormant BTSCs is thus necessary to design effective therapies for glioblastoma (GBM) patients. Little progress has been made in therapeutic treatment of glioblastoma in the last decade despite rapid progress in molecular understanding of brain tumors1. Here we show that the stress hormone glucocorticoid is essential for the maintenance of brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs), which are resistant to conventional therapy. The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) regulates metabolic plasticity and chemoresistance of the dormant BTSC via controlling expression of GPD1 (glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1), which is an essential regulator of lipid metabolism in BTSCs. Genomic, lipidomic and cellular analysis confirm that GR/GPD1 regulation is essential for BTSCs metabolic plasticity and survival. We further demonstrate that the GR agonist dexamethasone (DEXA), which is commonly used to control edema in glioblastoma, abolishes the effect of chemotherapy drug temozolomide (TMZ) by upregulating GPD1 and thus promoting tumor cell dormancy in vivo, this provides a mechanistic explanation and thus settle the long-standing debate of usage of steroid in brain tumor patient edema control. Pharmacological inhibition of GR/GPD1 pathway disrupts metabolic plasticity of BTSCs and prolong animal survival, which is superior to standard chemotherapy. Patient case study shows that GR antagonist mifepristone blocks tumor progression and leads to symptomatic improvement. This study identifies an important mechanism regulating cancer stem cell dormancy and provides a new opportunity for glioblastoma treatment.

Keywords: cancer stem cell, dormancy, glioblastoma, glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1, glucocorticoid receptor, dexamethasone, RNA-sequencing, phosphoglycerides.

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Authors: Giancarlo La Marca, Engy Shokry, Fabio Villanelli

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Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, with an estimated prevalence of 50 million people worldwide. Twenty five percent of the epilepsy population is represented in children under the age of 15 years. For antiepileptic drugs (AED), there is a poor correlation between plasma concentration and dose especially in children. This was attributed to greater pharmacokinetic variability than adults. Hence, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is recommended in controlling toxicity while drug exposure is maintained. Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a first-line AED and the drug of first choice in trigeminal neuralgia. CBZ is metabolised in the liver into carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide (CBZE), its major metabolite which is equipotent. This develops the need for an assay able to monitor the levels of both CBZ and CBZE. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a LC-MS/MS method for simultaneous quantification of CBZ and CBZE in dried blood spots (DBS). DBS technique overcomes many logistical problems, ethical issues and technical challenges faced by classical plasma sampling. LC-MS/MS has been regarded as superior technique over immunoassays and HPLC/UV methods owing to its better specificity and sensitivity, lack of interference or matrix effects. Our method combines advantages of DBS technique and LC-MS/MS in clinical practice. The extraction process was done using methanol-water-formic acid (80:20:0.1, v/v/v). The chromatographic elution was achieved by using a linear gradient with a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-water-0.1% formic acid at a flow rate of 0.50 mL/min. The method was linear over the range 1-40 mg/L and 0.25-20 mg/L for CBZ and CBZE respectively. The limit of quantification was 1.00 mg/L and 0.25 mg/L for CBZ and CBZE, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day assay precisions were found to be less than 6.5% and 11.8%. An evaluation of DBS technique was performed, including effect of extraction solvent, spot homogeneity and stability in DBS. Results from a comparison with the plasma assay are also presented. The novelty of the present work lies in being the first to quantify CBZ and its metabolite from only one 3.2 mm DBS disc finger-prick sample (3.3-3.4 µl blood) by LC-MS/MS in a 10 min. chromatographic run.

Keywords: carbamazepine, carbamazepine-10, 11-epoxide, dried blood spots, LC-MS/MS, therapeutic drug monitoring

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Authors: Naziha Mokadem, Rainier Dennis, Ingrid Dennis

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In South Africa, Karst aquifers are receiving greater attention since they provide large supplies of water which is used for domestic and agricultural purposes as well as for industry. Accordingly, a better insight into the origin of water mineralization and the geochemical processes controlling the recharge of the aquifer is crucial. Analyses of geochemical and environmental isotopes could lead to relevant information regarding karstification and infiltration processes, groundwater chemistry and isotopy. A study was conducted in a typical karst landscape of Wonderfonteinspruit catchment, also known as Wonderfonteinspruit Valley in North-western -South Africa. Furthermore, fifty-two samples were collected from (35 boreholes, 5 surface waters, 4 Dams, 4 springs, 1 canal, 2 pipelines, 1 cave) within the study area for hydrochemistry and 2H and 18O analysis. The determination of the anions (Cl-, SO42-, NO2, NO3-) were performed using Metrohm ion chromatography, model: 761 compact IC, with a precision of ± 0.001 mg/l. While, the cations (Na+, Mg2+, K+, Ca2+) were determined using Metrohm ion chromatography, Model: ICP-MS 7500 series. The alkalinity (Alk) was determined by pH meter with volumetric titration using HCL to pH 4.5; 4.2; and 8.2. In addition, 18O and 2H relative to the Vienna-Standard Mean Ocean Water (RVSMOW), were determined by picarro L2130-I Isotopic H2O (Cavity Ringdown laser spectrometer, Picarro Ltd). The hydrochemical analysis of Wonderfonteinspruit groundwater showed a dominance of the cations Ca-Mg and the anion HCO3. Piper diagram shows that the groundwater sample of study area is characterized by four hydrochemical facies: Two main groups: (1) Ca–Mg–Cl–SO4; (2) Ca–Mg–HCO3 and two minor groups: (3) Ca–Mg–Cl; (4) Na–K–HCO3. The majority of boreholes of Malmani (Transvaal Supergroup) aquifer are plotted in Ca–Mg–HCO3.Oxygen-18 (18O‰SMOW) and deuterium (D‰SMOW) isotopic data indicate that the aquifer’s recharge is influenced by two phenomena; precipitation rates for most of the samples and river flow (Wonderfonteinspruit, Middelvieinspruit, Renfonteinspruit) for some samples.

Keywords: South Africa, Wonderfonteinspruit Valley, isotopic, hydrochemical, carbonate aquifers

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Authors: Zahoor Hussain

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Creasing is a physiological disorder of rind in sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] fruit and causes serious economic losses in various countries of the world. The reversible inhibitor of ethylene, aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) with the effects of different concentrations (0, 20, 40 and 60 mgL⁻¹) AVG with 0.05% ‘Tween 20’ as a surfactant applied at the fruit set, the golf ball or at the colour break stage on controlling creasing, rheological properties of fruit and rind as well as fruit quality in of Washington Navel and Lane Late sweet orange was investigated. Creasing was substantially reduced and fruit quality was improved with the exogenous application of AVG depending upon its concentration and stage of application in both cultivars. The spray application of AVG (60 mgL⁻¹) at the golf ball stage was effective in reducing creasing (27.86% and 24.29%) compared to the control (52.14 and 51.53%) in cv. Washington Navel during 2011 and 2012, respectively. Whilst, in cv. Lane Late lowest creasing was observed When AVG was applied at fruit set stage (22.86%) compared to the control (51.43%) during 2012. In cv. Washington Navel, AVG treatment (60 mgL⁻¹) was more effective to increase the fruit firmness (318.97 N) and rind hardness (25.94 N) when applied at fruit set stage. However, rind tensile strength was higher, when AVG was applied at the golf ball stage (54.13 N). In cv. Lane Late, the rind harness (28.61 N), rind tensile strength (78.82 N) was also higher when AVG was sprayed at fruit set stage. Whilst, the fruit compression force (369.68 N) was higher when AVG was applied at the golf ball stage. Similarly, the treatment AVG (60 mgL⁻¹) was more effective in improving fruit weight (281.00 and 298.50 g) and fruit diameter (87.30 and 82.69 mm), rind thickness (5.56 and 5.38 mm) and total sugars (15.27 mg.100ml⁻¹) when AVG was applied at the fruit golf ball stage in cv. Washington Navel and Lane Late, respectively. Similarly, rind harness (25.94 and 28.61 N), total antioxidants (45.30 and 46.48 mM trolox 100ml⁻¹), total sugars (13.64 and 15.27 mg.100ml⁻¹), citric acid (1.66 and 1.32 mg100ml⁻¹), malic acid (0.36 and 0.63 mg.100ml⁻¹) and succinic acid (0.35 and 0.38 mg100ml⁻¹) were also higher, when AVG was applied at the fruit set stage in both cultivars. In conclusion, the exogenous applications of AVG substantially reduces the creasing incidence, improves rheological properties of fruit and rind as well as fruit quality in Washington Navel and Lane Late sweet orange fruit.

Keywords: AVG, creasing, ethylene inhibitor, sweet orange

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Authors: Sukumar Namineni, Tracy O'Connor, Ulrich Kalinke, Percy Knolle, Mathias Heikenwaelder

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The liver is one of the pivotal organs in vertebrate animals, serving a multitude of functions such as metabolism, detoxification and protein synthesis and including a predominant role in innate immunity. The innate immune mechanisms pertaining to liver in controlling viral infections have largely been attributed to the Kupffer cells, the locally resident macrophages. However, all the cells of liver are equipped with innate immune functions including, in particular, the hepatocytes. Hence, our aim in this study was to elucidate the innate immune contribution of hepatocytes in viral clearance using mice lacking Ikkβ specifically in the hepatocytes, termed IkkβΔᴴᵉᵖ mice. Blockade of Ikkβ activation in IkkβΔᴴᵉᵖ mice affects the downstream signaling of canonical NF-κB signaling by preventing the nuclear translocation of NF-κB, an important step required for the initiation of innate immune responses. Interestingly, infection of IkkβΔᴴᵉᵖ mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) led to strongly increased hepatic viral titers – mainly confined in clusters of infected hepatocytes. This was due to reduced interferon stimulated gene (ISG) expression during the onset of infection and a reduced CD8+ T-cell-mediated response. Decreased ISG production correlated with increased liver LCMV protein and LCMV in isolated hepatocytes from IkkβΔᴴᵉᵖ mice. A similar phenotype was found in LCMV-infected mice lacking interferon signaling in hepatocytes (IFNARΔᴴᵉᵖ) suggesting a link between NFkB and interferon signaling in hepatocytes. We also observed a failure of interferon-mediated inhibition of HBV replication in HepaRG cells treated with NF-kB inhibitors corroborating our initial findings with LCMV infections. Collectively, these results clearly highlight a previously unknown and influential role of hepatocytes in the induction of innate immune responses leading to viral clearance during a systemic viral infection with LCMV-WE.

Keywords: CD8+ T cell responses, innate immune mechanisms in the liver, interferon signaling, interferon stimulated genes, NF-kB signaling, viral clearance

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Authors: Damien Kunjal, Faeezah Peerbhai

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Despite the increasing popularity of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), ETF investment choices may not always be rational. Excess trading volume, misevaluations of securities, and excess return volatility present in financial markets can be attributed to the influence of the overconfidence bias. Whilst previous research has explored the overconfidence bias in stock markets; this study focuses on trading in ETF markets. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the presence of investor overconfidence in the South African ETF market. Using vector autoregressive models, the lead-lag relationship between market turnover and the market return is examined for the market of South African ETFs tracking domestic benchmarks and for the market of South African ETFs tracking international benchmarks over the period November 2000 till August 2019. Consistent with the overconfidence hypothesis, a positive relationship between current market turnover and lagged market return is found for both markets, even after controlling for market volatility and cross-sectional dispersion. This relationship holds for both market and individual ETF turnover suggesting that investors are overconfident when trading in South African ETFs tracking domestic benchmarks and South African ETFs tracking international benchmarks since trading activity depends on past market returns. Additionally, using the global recession as a structural break, this study finds that investor overconfidence is more pronounced after the global recession suggesting that investors perceive ETFs as risk-reducing assets due to their diversification benefits. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the overconfidence bias has a significant influence on ETF investment choices, therefore, suggesting that the South African ETF market is inefficient since investors’ decisions are based on their biases. As a result, the effect of investor overconfidence can account for the difference between the fair value of ETFs and its current market price. This finding has implications for policymakers whose responsibility is to promote the efficiency of the South African ETF market as well as ETF investors and traders who trade in the South African ETF market.

Keywords: exchange-traded fund, market return, market turnover, overconfidence, trading activity

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Authors: Prajna Paramita Mohapatra, Pamu Dobbidi

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Lithium ferrite (LiFe5O8) has potential applications as a component of microwave magnetic devices such as circulators and monolithic integrated circuits. For efficient device applications, spinel ferrites in the form of thin films are highly required. It is necessary to improve their magnetic and dielectric behavior by optimizing the processing parameters during deposition. The lithium ferrite thin films are deposited on Pt/Si substrate using the pulsed laser deposition technique (PLD). As controlling the film thickness is the easiest parameter to tailor the strain, we deposited the thin films having different film thicknesses (160 nm, 200 nm, 240 nm) at oxygen partial pressure of 0.001 mbar. The formation of single phase with spinel structure (space group - P4132) is confirmed by the XRD pattern and the Rietveld analysis. The optical bandgap is decreased with the increase in thickness. FESEM confirmed the formation of uniform grains having well separated grain boundaries. Further, the film growth and the roughness are analyzed by AFM. The root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness is decreased from 13.52 nm (160 nm) to 9.34 nm (240 nm). The room temperature magnetization is measured with a maximum field of 10 kOe. The saturation magnetization is enhanced monotonically with an increase in thickness. The magnetic resonance linewidth is obtained in the range of 450 – 780 Oe. The dielectric response is measured in the frequency range of 104 – 106 Hz and in the temperature range of 303 – 473 K. With an increase in frequency, the dielectric constant and the loss tangent of all the samples decreased continuously, which is a typical behavior of conventional dielectric material. The real part of the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss is increased with an increase in thickness. The contribution of grain and grain boundaries is also analyzed by employing the equivalent circuit model. The highest dielectric constant is obtained for the film having a thickness of 240 nm at 104 Hz. The obtained results demonstrate that desired response can be obtained by tailoring the film thickness for the microwave magnetic devices.

Keywords: PLD, optical response, thin films, magnetic response, dielectric response

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Authors: J. Tochukwu Omenma

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Buzzword in Nigeria is that democracy has “come to stay”. Politicians in their usual euphoria consider democracy as already consolidated in the country. Politicians linked this assumption to three fundamental indicators – (a) multiparty system; (b) regular elections and (c) absence of military coup after 15 years of democracy in Nigeria. Beyond this assumption, we intend to empirically verify these claims and assumptions, by relying on Huntington’s conceptualization of democratic consolidation. Though, Huntington asserts that multipartism, regular elections and absence of any major obstacle leading to reversal of democracy are significant indicators of democratic consolidation, but the presence of those indicators must result to alternation of executive power for democratic consolidation to occur. In other words, regular conduct of election and existence of multiple political parties are not enough for democratic consolidation, rather free and fair elections. Past elections were characterized of massive fraud and irregularities casting doubts on integrity of electoral management body (EMB) to conduct free and fair elections in Nigeria. There are three existing perspectives that have offered responses to the emasculation of independence of EMB. One is a more popular position indicating that the incumbent party, more than the opposition party, influence the EMB activities with the aim of rigging elections; the other is a more radical perspective that suggests that weakening of EMB power is more associated with the weakest party than with the incumbent; and the last, is that godfather(s) are in direct control of EMB members thereby controlling the process of electoral process to the advantage of the godfather(s). With empirical evidence sourced from the reports of independent election monitors, (European Union, Election Observation Mission in Nigeria) this paper shows at different electoral periods that, in terms of influencing election outcomes, the incumbent and godfather have been more associated with influencing election results than the opposition. The existing nature of executive power in Nigeria provides a plausible explanation for the incumbent’s overbearing influence thereby limiting opportunity for free and fair elections and by extension undermining the process of democratic consolidation in Nigeria.

Keywords: political party, democracy, democratic consolidation, election, godfatherism

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Authors: Swati Srivastava, Ashish Kumar Upadhyay

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Background: According to United Nation Children’s Fund, it has been estimated that worldwide about 165 million children were stunted in 2012 and India alone accounts for 38% of global burden of stunting. In terms of incidence, India is home of more than 60 million stunted children worldwide. Our study aims to examine the effect of pregnancy intention and maternal postnatal depressive symptoms on early childhood stunting in India. We hypothesized that effect of pregnancy intention and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms were mediated by social support. Methods: We used data from first wave of Young Lives Study India. Out of 2011 children recruited in original cohort, 1833 children had complete information on pregnancy intention, maternal depression and other variables. A series of multivariate logistic regression model were used to examine the effect of pregnancy intention and postnatal depressive symptoms on early childhood stunting. Results: Bivariate result indicates that a higher percent of children born after unintended pregnancy (40%) were stunted than children of intended pregnancy (26%). Likewise, proportion of stunted children was also higher among women of high postnatal depressive symptoms (35%) than low level of depression (24%). Results of multivariate logistic regression model indicate that children born after unintended pregnancy were significantly more likely to be stunted than children born after intended pregnancy (Coefficient: 1.70, CI: 1.17, 2.48). Likewise, early childhood stunting was also associated with maternal postnatal depressive symptoms among women (Coefficient: 1.48, CI: 1.16, 1.88). The effect of pregnancy intention and postnatal depressive symptoms on early childhood stunting remains unchanged after controlling for social support and other variables. Conclusions: The findings of this study provide conclusive evidence regarding consequences of pregnancy intention and postnatal depressive symptoms on early childhood stunting in India. Therefore, there is need to identify the women with unintended pregnancy and incorporate the promotion of mental health into their national reproductive and child health programme.

Keywords: pregnancy intention, postnatal depressive symptoms, social support, childhood stunting, young lives study, India

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Authors: Guillaume P. Fernandez

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Individual language use is a matter of choice in particular interactions. The paper proposes a conceptual and theoretical framework with methodological consideration to develop how language produced in dyadic relations is to be considered and situated in the larger social configuration the interaction is embedded within. An integrated and comprehensive view is taken: social interactions are expected to be ruled by a normative context, defined by the chain of interdependences that structures the personal network. In this approach, the determinants of discursive practices are not only constrained by the moment of production and isolated from broader influences. Instead, the position the individual and the dyad have in the personal network influences the discursive practices in a twofold manner: on the one hand, the network limits the access to linguistic resources available within it, and, on the other hand, the structure of the network influences the agency of the individual, by the social control inherent to particular network characteristics. Concretely, we investigate how and to what extent consistent ego is from one interaction to another in his or her use of adverbs. To do so, social network analysis (SNA) methods are mobilized. Participants (N=130) are college students recruited in the french speaking part of Switzerland. The personal network of significant ones of each individual is created using name generators and edge interpreters, with a focus on social support and conflict. For the linguistic parts, respondents were asked to record themselves with five of their close relations. From the recordings, we computed an average similarity score based on the adverb used across interactions. In terms of analyses, two are envisaged: First, OLS regressions including network-level measures, such as density and reciprocity, and individual-level measures, such as centralities, are performed to understand the tenets of linguistic similarity from one interaction to another. The second analysis considers each social tie as nested within ego networks. Multilevel models are performed to investigate how the different types of ties may influence the likelihood to use adverbs, by controlling structural properties of the personal network. Primary results suggest that the more cohesive the network, the less likely is the individual to change his or her manner of speaking, and social support increases the use of adverbs in interactions. While promising results emerge, further research should consider a longitudinal approach to able the claim of causality.

Keywords: personal network, adverbs, interactions, social influence

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Authors: Mohd Zaki Hamzah, Roslan Rani, Ahmad Bazli Razali, Satiful Bahri Mamat, Abdul Hadi Ripin, Mohd Harun Esa

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Ever since 1901, forest management and silviculture practices in Malaysia have been frequently reviewed and updated to take into account changes in forest conditions, markets, timber demand/supply and technical advances that can be achieved in industrial processes, logging and forest harvesting, and currently, the forest management system practiced in Peninsular Malaysia is the Selective Management System (SMS) which was introduced in 1978. This system requires the selection of management regime (felling) based on Pre-Felling Forest Inventory (Pre-F) data to ensure economical harvesting and also ensuring adequate standing stands for subsequent rounds of felling, while maintaining ecological balance and environmental quality. SMS regulates forest harvesting through area and volume controls, with the cutting cycle 30 years. Most of the forest management units (FMU) (in Peninsular Malaysia) implementing SMS have been certified by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and/or Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), and one such FMU belongs to Kumpulan Pengurusan Kayu Kayan Terengganu (KPKKT). KPKKT, a timber management subsidiary of Golden Pharos Berhad (GPB), adopts the SMS to manage its 108,900 ha of timber concessionary areas in its role as logs’ supplier for the consumption of three subsidiaries of GPB. KPKKT is also responsible for the sustainable development and management of its concession in accordance with the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) standards to ensure that it addresses the loss of forest cover and forest degradation, forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits, and ecologically protecting forests while mobilising financial resources for the implementation of sustainable forest management planning, harvesting, monitoring and the marketing of products. This paper will detail out the management and harvesting guidelines imposed by the controlling government agency, and harvesting processes taken by KPKKT to comply with guidelines and eventually supplying timber to the relevant subsidiaries (downstream mills under GPB).

Keywords: sustainable forest management, silviculture, reduce impact logging, forest certification

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Authors: Surbhi Surbhi, Andrea Erni, Gunter Meister, Harold Cremer, Christophe Beclin

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short 20-23 nucleotide long non-coding RNAs; there are 2605 miRNA in humans and 1936 miRNA in mouse in total (miRBase). The nervous system expresses the most abundant miRNA and most diverse. MiRNAs play a role in many steps during neurogenesis, like cell proliferation, differentiation, neural patterning, axon pathfinding, etc. Moreover, in vitro studies suggested a role in the regulation of local translation at the synapse, thus controlling neuronal plasticity. However, due to the specific structure of miRNA molecules, an in-vivo confirmation of the general role of miRNAs in the control of neuronal plasticity is still pending. For example, their small size and their high level of sequence homology make difficult the analysis of their cellular and sub-cellular localization in-vivo by in-situ hybridization. Moreover, it was found that only 40% of the expressed miRNA molecules in a cell are included in RNA-Induced Silencing Complexes (RISC) and, therefore, involved in inhibitory interactions while the rest is silent. Definitively, the development of new tools is needed to have a better understanding of the cellular function of miRNAs, in particular their role in neuronal plasticity. Here we describe a new technique called in-vivo AGO-APP designed to investigate miRNA expression and function in-vivo. This technique is based on the expression of a small peptide derived from the human RISC-complex protein TNRC6B, called T6B, which binds all known Argonaute (Ago) proteins with high affinity allowing the efficient immunoprecipitation of AGO-bound miRNAs. We have generated two transgenic mouse lines conditionally expressing T6B either ubiquitously in the cell or targeted at the synapse. A comparison of the repertoire of miRNAs immuno-precipitated from mature neurons of both mouse lines will provide us with a list of miRNAs showing a specific activity at the synapse. The physiological role of these miRNAs will be subsequently addressed through gain and loss of function experiments.

Keywords: RNA-induced silencing complexes, TNRC6B, miRNA, argonaute, synapse, neuronal plasticity, neurogenesis

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