Search results for: extra capsular spread

Authors: Wantana Amatariyakul, Chumnong Amatariyakul

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The research aims to examine the spread of drugs in higher education, especially amphetamine which is rapidly increasing in Thai society, its causes and effects, including the sociological perspective, in order to explain, prevent, control, and solve the problems. The students who participated in this research are regular students of Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Khon Kaen Campus. The data were collected using questionnaires, group discussions, and in-depth interviews. The quantity data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation and using content analysis to analyzed quality data. The result of the study showed that the students had the results of examination on level of knowledge and understanding on drug abuse projected that the majority of sample group attained their knowledge on drug abuse respectively. Despite their uncertainty, the majority of samples presumed that amphetamine, marijuana and grathom (Mitragyna Speciosa Korth) would most likely be abused. The reason for first drug abuse is because they want to try and their friends convince them, as well as, they want to relax or solve the problems in life, respectively. The bad effects appearing to the drug addicts shows that their health deteriorates or worsens, as well as, they not only lose their money but also face with worse mental states. The reasons that respondents tried to avoid using drugs or refused drugs offered by friends were: not wanting to disappoint or upset their family members, fear of rejection by family members, afraid of being arrested by the police, afraid of losing their educational opportunity and ruining their future respectively. Students therefore defended themselves against drug addiction by refusing to try all drugs. Besides this, the knowledge about the danger and the harm of drugs persuaded them to stay away from drugs.

Keywords: drugs, higher education, drug addiction, spread of drugs

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Authors: Huijun Wu

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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive negative shocks across countries. Various research institutes have worked assiduously to develop vaccines to help fight the pandemic, but misinformation from the media has spurred public outcry in several countries not to take jabs. This study leverages massive data [i.e., responses from more than 140,000 people sampled from 144 countries] extracted from the Gallup World Poll’s Wellcome Global Monitor, to analyze and assess how the media contributes to inadequate dissemination of basic scientific knowledge on the vaccines and spread of distrust in central governments as predictors of vaccine hesitancy. The results show that all three predictors are statistically significant at a 5% level and that appropriate design and dissemination of basic scientific knowledge on the vaccines and spread of justified reasons to trust governments would help mitigate vaccine hesitancy. The implication of the results is that the media needs to consider such predictors hitherto ignored.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine hesitancy, media and communication, basic scientific knowledge, distrust in central governments

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Authors: Narendra Nath Patra

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Several recent studies reinforce the existence of a thick molecular disc in galaxies along with the dynamically cold thin disc. Assuming a two-component molecular disc, we model the disc of NGC 6946 as a four-component system consists of stars, HI, thin disc molecular gas, and thick disc molecular gas in vertical hydrostatic equilibrium. Following, we set up the joint Poisson-Boltzmann equation of hydrostatic equilibrium and solve it numerically to obtain a three-dimensional density distribution of different baryonic components. Using the density solutions and the observed rotation curve, we further build a three-dimensional dynamical model of the molecular disc and consecutively produce simulated CO spectral cube and spectral width profile. We find that the simulated spectral width profiles distinguishably differs for different assumed thick disc molecular gas fraction. Several CO spectral width profiles are then produced for different assumed thick disc molecular gas fractions and compared with the observed one to obtain the best fit thick disc molecular gas fraction profile. We find that the thick disc molecular gas fraction in NGC 6946 largely remains constant across its molecular disc with a mean value of 0.70 +/- 0.09. We also estimate the amount of extra-planar molecular gas in NGC 6946. We find 60% of the total molecular gas is extra-planar at the central region, whereas this fraction reduces to ~ 35% at the edge of the molecular disc. With our method, for the first time, we estimate the thick disc molecular gas fraction as a function of radius in an external galaxy with sub-kpc resolution.

Keywords: galaxies: kinematics and dynamic, galaxies: spiral, galaxies: structure , ISM: molecules, molecular data

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Authors: Abinash Tripathy, Girish Muralidharan, Amitava Pramanik, Prosenjit Sen

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Superhydrophobic surfaces are abundant in nature. Several surfaces such as wings of butterfly, legs of water strider, feet of gecko and the lotus leaf show extreme water repellence behaviour. Self-cleaning, stain-free fabrics, spill-resistant protective wears, drag reduction in micro-fluidic devices etc. are few applications of superhydrophobic surfaces. In order to design robust superhydrophobic surface, it is important to understand the interaction of water with superhydrophobic surface textures. In this work, we report a simple coating method for creating large-scale flexible superhydrophobic paper surface. The surface consists of multiple layers of silanized zirconia microparticles decorated with zirconia nanoparticles. Water contact angle as high as 159±10 and contact angle hysteresis less than 80 was observed. Drop impact studies on superhydrophobic paper surface were carried out by impinging water droplet and capturing its dynamics through high speed imaging. During the drop impact, the Weber number was varied from 20 to 80 by altering the impact velocity of the drop and the parameters such as contact time, normalized spread diameter were obtained. In contrast to earlier literature reports, we observed contact time to be dependent on impact velocity on superhydrophobic surface. Total contact time was split into two components as spread time and recoil time. The recoil time was found to be dependent on the impact velocity while the spread time on the surface did not show much variation with the impact velocity. Further, normalized spreading parameter was found to increase with increase in impact velocity.

Keywords: contact angle, contact angle hysteresis, contact time, superhydrophobic

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Authors: Bih Ni Lee

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This paper discusses the unending coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The activity of detecting, testing those with symptoms, and isolating their contacts is the most effective method of stopping the chain of coronavirus infection. The number of cases of coronavirus continues to increase with some reporting a cure, but not a few die. Efforts to treat and prevent continue to fight COVID-19 with flu-like symptoms. The importance of the study is to identify smartphone applications that can track the movement of individuals in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, especially in Malaysia. This research method used a literature review, which included new insights into the quality of action and scientific papers. It synthesized information gleaned from a variety of sources. The findings of the study are that the Government of Malaysia has launched three main applications to track the movement of individuals, namely Gerak Malaysia, MyTrace, MySejahtera. Similarly, every state in Malaysia has its own state government application to track individual movements. Overall, Malaysia is one of the countries in the world that has successfully curbed the spread of COVID-19; Covid-19 cases in Malaysia are under control.

Keywords: COVID-19 app, national security council, Gerak Malaysia, MyTrace, MySejahtera

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Authors: Joshua Teo, Leo Phan

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Signet cell carcinoma of the appendix is the rarest and the most aggressive subtype of appendiceal malignancy, typically with non-specific presentations. We describe a case of a 62-year-old male with large bowel obstruction and CT demonstrating dilated large bowels from caecum to proximal sigmoid colon with pneumoperitoneum. Intra-operatively, closed-loop obstruction caused by dense adherence of sigmoid colon to caecum was noted, which had resulted in caecal perforation. Histopathology study indicated primary appendiceal malignancy of signet cell morphology with intra-peritoneal spread to the sigmoid colon. Large bowel obstruction from appendiceal malignancy has rarely been reported, and a similar presentation has not been described in the existing literature. When left-sided large bowel obstruction is suspected to be caused by a malignant stricture, it is essential to consider transperitoneal spread of appendiceal malignancy as potential aetiology, particularly in the elderly.

Keywords: appendiceal carcinoma, large bowel obstruction, signet ring cell cancer, caecal perforation

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Authors: Solange Adechian, Michèle Balage, Didier Remond, Carole Migné, Annie Quignard-Boulangé, Agnès Marset-Baglieri, Sylvie Rousset, Yves Boirie, Claire Gaudichon, Dominique Dardevet, Laurent Mosoni

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Studies have shown that timing of protein intake, leucine content, and speed of digestion significantly affect postprandial protein utilization. Our aim was to determine if one can spare lean body mass during energy restriction by varying the quality and the timing of protein intake. Obese volunteers followed a 6-wk restricted energy diet. Four groups were compared: casein pulse, casein spread, milk-soluble protein (MSP, = whey) pulse, and MSP spread (n = 10-11 per group). In casein groups, caseins were the only protein source; it was MSP in MSP groups. Proteins were distributed in four meals per day in the proportion 8:80:4:8% in the pulse groups; it was 25:25:25:25% in the spread groups. We measured weight, body composition, nitrogen balance, 3-methylhistidine excretion, perception of hunger, plasma parameters, adipose tissue metabolism, and whole body protein metabolism. Volunteers lost 7.5 ± 0.4 kg of weight, 5.1 ± 0.2 kg of fat, and 2.2 ± 0.2 kg of lean mass, with no difference between groups. In adipose tissue, cell size and mRNA expression of various genes were reduced with no difference between groups. Hunger perception was also never different between groups. In the last week, due to a higher inhibition of protein degradation and despite a lower stimulation of protein synthesis, postprandial balance between whole body protein synthesis and degradation was better with caseins than with MSP. It seems likely that the positive effect of caseins on protein balance occurred only at the end of the experiment.

Keywords: lean body mass, fat mass, casein, whey, protein metabolism

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Authors: Dipendra Kumar Yadav, Nabaraj Paudel, Anjana Yadav

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Background: Low Birth weight (LBW) is defined as the weight at birth less than 2500 grams, irrespective of the period of their gestation. LBW is an important indicator of general health status of population and is considered as the single most important predictors of infant mortality especially of deaths within the first month of life that is birth weight determines the chances of newborn survival. Objective of this study was to identify the maternal risk factors associated with low birth weight neonates. Materials and Methods: A hospital based case-control study was conducted in maternity ward of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal from 23 September 2014 to 12 November 2014. During study period 59 cases were obtained and twice number of control group were selected with frequency matching of the mother`s age with ± 3 years and total controls were 118. Interview schedule was used for data collection along with record review. Data were entered in Epi-data program and analysis was done with help of SPSS software program. Results: From bivariate logistic regression analysis, eighteen variables were found significantly associated with LBW and these were place of residence, family monthly income, education, previous still birth, previous LBW, history of STD, history of vaginal bleeding, anemia, ANC visits, less than four ANC visits, de-worming status, counseling during pregnancy, CVD, physical workload, stress, extra meal during pregnancy, smoking and alcohol consumption status. However after adjusting confounding variables, only six variables were found significantly associated with LBW. Mothers who had family monthly income up to ten thousand rupees were 4.83 times more likely to deliver LBW with CI (1.5-40.645) and p value 0.014 compared to mothers whose family income NRs.20,001-60,000. Mothers who had previous still birth were 2.01 times more likely to deliver LBW with CI (0.69-5.87) and p value 0.02 compared to mothers who did not has previous still birth. Mothers who had previous LBW were 5.472 times more likely to deliver LBW with CI (1.2-24.93) and p value 0.028 compared to mothers who did not has previous LBW. Mothers who had anemia during pregnancy were 3.36 times more likely to deliver LBW with CI (0.77-14.57) and p value 0.014 compared to mothers who did not has anemia. Mothers who delivered female newborn were 2.96 times more likely to have LBW with 95% CI (1.27-7.28) and p value 0.01 compared to mothers who deliver male newborn. Mothers who did not get extra meal during pregnancy were 6.04 times more likely to deliver LBW with CI (1.11-32.7) and p value 0.037 compared to mothers who getting the extra meal during pregnancy. Mothers who consumed alcohol during pregnancy were 4.83 times more likely to deliver LBW with CI (1.57-14.83) and p value 0.006 compared to mothers who did not consumed alcohol during pregnancy. Conclusions: To reduce low birth weight baby through economic empowerment of family and individual women. Prevention and control of anemia during pregnancy is one of the another strategy to control the LBW baby and mothers should take full dose of iron supplements with screening of haemoglobin level. Extra nutritional food should be provided to women during pregnancy. Health promotion program will be focused on avoidance of alcohol and strengthen of health services that leads increasing use of maternity services.

Keywords: low birth weight, case-control, risk factors, hospital based study

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Authors: Ramim Tanver Rahman, Muhammad Mahbub Sobhan, M. A. Alim

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This study reports on processing of biscuits using skinned, treated and dried cassava flour. Five samples of biscuits S2, S3, S4, S5, and S6 containing 8, 16, 24, 32, and 40% cassava flour with wheat flour and a control sample (S1) containing no cassava flour were processed. The weights of all the biscuit samples were higher than that of control biscuit. The biscuit containing cassava flour was lower width than the control biscuit. The spread ratio of biscuits with 16% cassava flour was higher than other combinations of cassava flour. No remarkable changes in moisture content, peroxide value, fatty acid value, texture, and flavor were observed up to 4 months of storage in ambient conditions (27° to 35°C). A decreasing trend in color, flavor, texture and overall acceptability was observed with the increased incorporation of cassava flour. The sample S1 (no cassava flour) secured the highest overall acceptability and sample S6 (40% cassava flour) obtained the lowest overall acceptability. It is recommended that good quality cassava flour fortified biscuits may be processed in industrial-scale substituting the wheat flour by cassava flour up to 24% levels.

Keywords: cassava flour, wheat flour, shelf life, spread ratio, storage, biscuit

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Authors: Seyedeh Zeinab Peighambarzadeh, Mehdi Tavana

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Cataract is the most common cause of blindness worldwide and its incidence will increase as the World’s population ages. Even in modern ophthalmology, there is no effective medical treatment for cataract except surgery. Development of a drug which could prevent or delay the onset of cataract will lessen this burden and reduce the number of blind patients waiting for cataract surgery. This study was undertaken to evaluate the protective effect of vitamin E on Selenite-induced Cataract in Sprague-dawely rats. Cataracts were induced in rats by administration of sodium selenite. On postpartum day ten, in group I, saline was injected subcutaneously. Group II rat pups received subcutaneous injection of vitamin E (60mg/kg B.W.) at day 8 postpartum and every other day thereafter. Group III and IV rat pups received a subcutaneous injection of sodium selenite (13mg/kg B.W.) at day 10 postpartum. Group IV also received subcutaneous injection of vitamin E (60mg/kg B.W.) at day 8 postpartum and every other day thereafter. The development of cataract in rats was assessed clinically by slit-lamp biomicroscope from day 14 up to postpartum day 28. After sacrifice, extricated pup lenses were analyzed for total and soluble protein concentrations and eletrophoretic pattern (SDS-PAGE). There was no opacification of lens in Group I and II. There was mature cataract in 95% of Group III. In group IV, 55% of rats developed sub capsular or cortical cataract. Cataractous and biochemical changes of the crystalline lens proteins due to selenite can be retard or prevented by vitamin E.

Keywords: preventive effect, selenite-induced cataract, vitamin E, rat

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Authors: Nurvadi Albekov

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Communicative situation is a basis, which designates potential models of ‘constructed forms’, a motivated basis of a text, for a text can be assumed as a product of the communicative situation. It is within the field of emergence the models of text, that can be potentially prognosticated in a certain communicative situation, are designated. Every text can be assumed as conceptual system structured on the base of certain communicative situation. However in the process of ‘structuring’ of a certain model of ‘conceptual system’ consciousness of a recipient is able act only within the border of the field of emergence for going out of this border indicates misunderstanding of the communicative situation. On the base of communicative situation we can witness the increment of meaning where the synergizing of the informative model of communication, formed by using of the invariant units of a language system, is a result of verbalization of the communicative situation. The potential of the models of a text, prognosticated within the field of emergence, also depends on the communicative situation. The conception ‘the field of emergence’ is interpreted as a unit of the language system, having poly-directed universal structure, implying the presence of the core, the center and the periphery, including different levels of means of a functioning system of language, both in terms of linguistic resources, and in terms of extra linguistic factors interaction of which results increment of a text. The conception ‘field of emergence’ is considered as the most promising in the analysis of texts: oral, written, printed and electronic. As a unit of the language system field of emergence has several properties that predict its use during the study of a text in different levels. This work is an attempt analysis of entropy in a text in the aspect of lingua-cultural code, prognosticated within the model of the field of emergence. The article describes the problem of entropy in the field of emergence, caused by influence of the extra-linguistic factors. The increasing of entropy is caused not only by the fact of intrusion of the language resources but by influence of the alien culture in a whole, and by appearance of non-typical for this very culture symbols in the field of emergence. The borrowing of alien lingua-cultural symbols into the lingua-culture of the author is a reason of increasing the entropy when constructing a text both in meaning and in structuring level. It is nothing but artificial formatting of lexical units that violate stylistic unity of a phrase. It is marked that one of the important characteristics descending the entropy in the field of emergence is a typical similarity of lexical and semantic resources of the different lingua-cultures in aspects of extra linguistic factors.

Keywords: communicative situation, field of emergence, lingua-culture, entropy

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Authors: Shivanand Pawar

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In India, a collective range of measurements had been adopted to control the massive spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, but World Health Organization (2022) revealed 525 930 fatalities and 43,847,065 confirmed cases. There are currently 30,857 cases per million people. Lack of knowledge, attitude and practices are the main causes thought to be increased COVID-19. The present study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice among Tamil Nadu residents. The participants (N=332) were aged 20 to 50 (mean=42.78, & SD=13.98) and were selected using purposive sampling, and data were collected online using knowledge, attitude and practice scale. Data were analyzed using person correlation and multiple regression analysis. The result found that 31.30% had satisfactory knowledge, 68.70% had non-satisfactory knowledge, followed by 45.20% had a positive attitude, 54.80% had a negative attitude, and 34.30% had a good practice, and 65.70% had poor practice towards COVID-19. Correlation results revealed that age has a negative and significant relationship with Knowledge and Practice towards COVID-19. The current study results contribute to the existing literature on knowledge, attitude and practice of COVID-19 to reduce the COVID-19 cases by managing unhealthy knowledge, attitude and practice to control the massive spread of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19, knowledge, practice, attitude, Fisherman community

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Authors: Mohhamed El Habib Labdouni

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Introduction: Co-infection with VIH and tuberculosis poses one of the major ongoing challenges for global TB and AIDS prevention and control. The objective of this study is to raise the issue of the resurgence of TB, in People living with VIH supported in a referent center in western Algeria. Its epidemiological, clinical, biological and radiological new trends, and to compare the mortality rate between early and delayed ART. Methods: It was a prospective study, during 36 months from the 01st/01/2012 to 31st/12/2014, by identifying and analyzing cases of TB-VIH co-infection. Our population was devised in two groups/ early ART and delayed ART. The primary and secondary endpoints were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank test the period of follow up, which was fixed at 300 weeks. Results: Sixty cases of co-infection TB -VIH were enrolled in our study: 78.3% had pulmonary tuberculosis associated with extra-pulmonary, 13.3% had only pulmonary tuberculosis and 08.3% presented strictly extra-pulmonary TB. The clinical particularity of this co-infection is the frequency of serious localization such us: pleural 23.3%, peritoneal 31.7%, and meningeal suffusion 13.3%.y-.biologicaly we notice the predominance both of pancytopenia and leucoanemia, hyponatremia in 38,6% and hypokalemia in 19,3%. By analyzing Kaplan-Meier survival curves, we notice that early ART initiation is associated with a significant reduction of all-cause mortality (p = 0,000), and we have identified several prognostic factors such as hypokalemia hyponatremia, leukocytosis thrombopenemia leucothrombopenia (p = 0,005). Conclusion: Our study confirms most of the results reported in the literature. Early ART initiation reduces the rate of all-cause mortality, despite the probability of the occurrence of TB-IRIS.

Keywords: TB-HIV co-infection, early ART, hyponatremia, extrapulmonary tuberculosis

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Authors: Anahita Suri

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Craft -an integral part of the conduit to create something beautiful- is a visual representation of the human imagination given life through the hand. The Mirgan tribe in the Naxalite infested forests of Koraput, Odisha are not exempt from this craving for beauty. These skilled craftsmen dye and weave the simple yet sophisticated Kotpad textiles. The women undertake the time-consuming task of dyeing the cotton and silk yarns with the root of the aul tree. The men then weave these yarns into beautiful sarees and dupattas. The root of the aul tree lends the textile its maroon to brown color, which is offset against the unbleached cotton to create a minimalist and distinctive look. The motifs, incorporated through the extra weft technique, reflect the rich tribal heritage of the community. This is an eco-friendly, non-toxic textile. Kotpad fabrics were on the verge of extinction due to various factors like poor infrastructure, no innovation in traditional designs/products, customer ignorance leading to low demand. With livelihood opportunities through craft slowly dwindling, artisans were moving to alternative sources of income generation, like agriculture and daily wage labor. There was an urgent need for intervention to revive the craft, spread awareness about them in urban spaces, and strengthen the artisan’s ability to innovate and create. Recent efforts by government bodies and local designers have given Kotpad handloom a contemporary look without diluting its essence. This research explores the possibilities to leverage Kotpad handloom to find a place in the dynamic culture of the world by its promotion among different target groups and incorporating self-sustaining practices for the artisans. This could further encourage a space for handmade and handcrafted art, rich with stories about India, with a contemporary visual sensibility. This will strengthen environmental and ethical sustainability.

Keywords: craft, contemporary, handloom, natural dye, tribal

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Authors: Syed Noaman Shah

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The current paper evaluates the effect of external public debt risk on the borrowing cost of private non-financial firms in euro zone. Further, the study also treats the impact of austerity measures on syndicated-loan spreads of private firm followed by euro area member states to revive the economic growth in the region. To test these hypotheses, we follow multivariate ordinary least square estimation method to assess the effect of external public debt on the borrowing cost of private firms. By using foreign syndicated-loan issuance data of non-financial private firms from 2005 to 2011, we attempt to gauge how the private financing cost varies with high levels of sovereign external debt prevalent in the euro zone. Our results suggest significant effect of external public debt on the borrowing cost of private firm. In particular, an increase in external public debt by one standard deviation from its sample mean raises syndicated-loan spread by 89 bps. Furthermore, weak creditor rights protection prevalent in member states deepens this effect. However, we do not find any significant effect of domestic public debt on the private sector borrowing cost. In addition, the results show significant effect of austerity measures on private financing cost, both in normal and in crisis period in the euro zone. In particular, one standard deviation change in fiscal consolidation conditional mean reduces the syndicated-loan spread by 22 bps. In turn, it indicates strong presence of credibility channel due to austerity measures in euro area region.

Keywords: corporate debt, fiscal consolidation, sovereign debt, syndicated-loan spread

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Authors: Fatemeh Valizadeh Gamchi, Edward L. Boone

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This research focuses on Lyme disease, a widespread infectious condition in the United States caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. It is critical to identify environmental and economic elements that are contributing to the spread of the disease. This study examined data from Virginia to identify a subset of explanatory variables significant for Lyme disease case numbers. To identify relevant variables and avoid overfitting, linear poisson, and regularization regression methods such as a ridge, lasso, and elastic net penalty were employed. Cross-validation was performed to acquire tuning parameters. The methods proposed can automatically identify relevant disease count covariates. The efficacy of the techniques was assessed using four criteria on three simulated datasets. Finally, using the Virginia Department of Health’s Lyme disease data set, the study successfully identified key factors, and the results were consistent with previous studies.

Keywords: lyme disease, Poisson generalized linear model, ridge regression, lasso regression, elastic net regression

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Authors: Tajudeen Yusuf

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Arabic Literature of Nigerian Authorship, like others, has contributed widely to the spread of morality and values in human Society. There is no doubt that the relationship between literature and society has been widely conceived, for it reflects society and serves as a means of social control. Indeed, the influence of literature on attitude and human behaviors cannot be underestimated. Focused on some selected themes and verses in a literary work of Isa Abubakar Alabi known as (Ar-Ryaadh), the paper aims to reveal the contributions of the Arabic literary icon of Nigerian origin in spreading values and morality in society through his literary works. The study employs a descriptive method. Isa Abubakar Alabi, a Nigerian Arabic scholar, is known as a wise and famous poet not only in Nigeria but throughout West Africa and Arab countries at large. He has produced a sort of poetry that is distinguished with superiority in spreading peace, harmony, societal values and morality. Indeed, his literary works address humanism, kindness, honesty, law, justice, truthfulness, and patriotism, which may positively influence humans.

Keywords: Arabic, literature, moral, Nigeria, values

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Authors: A. Baviskar, C. Sandeep, K. Shankar

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Solving Multi-objective Optimization Problems requires faster convergence and better spread. Though existing Evolutionary Algorithms (EA's) are able to achieve this, the computation effort can further be reduced by hybridizing them with innovative strategies. This study is focuses on converging to the pareto front faster while adapting the advantages of Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm-II (SPEA-II) for a better spread. Two different approaches based on optimizing the objective functions independently are implemented. In the first method, the decision variables corresponding to the optima of individual objective functions are strategically used to guide the search towards the pareto front. In the second method, boundary points of the pareto front are calculated and their decision variables are seeded to the initial population. Both the methods are applied to different constrained and unconstrained multi-objective test functions. It is observed that proposed guided search based algorithm gives better convergence and diversity than several well-known existing algorithms (such as NSGA-II and SPEA-II) in considerably less number of iterations.

Keywords: boundary points, evolutionary algorithms (EA's), guided search, strength pareto evolutionary algorithm-II (SPEA-II)

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Authors: B. Vadiraj, S. N. Omkar, B. Kapil Bharadwaj, Yash Vardhan Gupta

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During manned exploration of space, missions will require astronaut crewmembers to perform Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs) for a variety of tasks. These EVAs take place after long periods of operations in space, and in and around unique vehicles, space structures and systems. Considering the remoteness and time spans in which these vehicles will operate, EVA system operations should utilize common worksites, tools and procedures as much as possible to increase the efficiency of training and proficiency in operations. All of the preparations need to be carried out based on studies of astronaut motions. Until now, development and training activities associated with the planned EVAs in Russian and U.S. space programs have relied almost exclusively on physical simulators. These experimental tests are expensive and time consuming. During the past few years a strong increase has been observed in the use of computer simulations due to the fast developments in computer hardware and simulation software. Based on this idea, an effort to develop a computational simulation system to model human dynamic motion for EVA is initiated. This study focuses on the simulation of an astronaut moving the orbital replaceable units into the worksites or removing them from the worksites. Our physics-based methodology helps fill the gap in quantitative analysis of astronaut EVA by providing a multisegment human arm model. Simulation work described in the study improves on the realism of previous efforts, incorporating joint stops to account for the physiological limits of range of motion. To demonstrate the utility of this approach human arm model is simulated virtually using ADAMS/LifeMOD® software. Kinematic mechanism for the astronaut’s task is studied from joint angles and torques. Simulation results obtained is validated with numerical simulation based on the principles of Newton-Euler method. Torques determined using mathematical model are compared among the subjects to know the grace and consistency of the task performed. We conclude that due to uncertain nature of exploration-class EVA, a virtual model developed using multibody dynamics approach offers significant advantages over traditional human modeling approaches.

Keywords: extra vehicular activity, biomechanics, inverse kinematics, human body modeling

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Authors: Sharmin Sultana, Palash Chandra Banik, Shirin Jahan Mumu, Liaquat Ali

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Santals are one of the oldest indigenous groups of South Asia who, according to anthropological evidence, are thought to be the origins of the Bengali race. The aim of the study was to explore, according to our best knowledge for the first time, the prevalence and determinants of hypertension in this relatively isolated and marginalized indigenous group who still live mostly in a traditional style. Under a cross-sectional analytical design, the study was conducted on the adult (age≥18 years) Santals (n=389, M/F 184/205, age in years, 38±15.3) of a village located in a remote rural area of northern Bangladesh. Subjects were selected by purposive sampling, and data were collected by interviewer-administered pretested questionnaire. Blood pressure was measured by following the WHO guideline of JNC-7 has been used to classify the blood pressure. The prevalence of hypertension was 4.9% among the respondents. Females had a much higher prevalence (5.4%) of hypertension compared to males (4.3%). Among the risk indicators of hypertension, more than half (50.9%) of the study population took extra salt in their meals, whereas 10.5% of respondents used extra salt occasionally, which is an important risk factor for high blood pressure. High waist circumference was found in 19% of the study subjects in terms of central obesity. Older age group (p=0.003, OR=1.1, 95%CI-1.02-1.10), respondents who completed more than primary school (p=0.038, OR=7.1, CI-1.11, 44.6), overweight and obesity (p=0.004, OR=17.1, CI-2.5, 118.1), were the major determinant for hypertension as found from the binary logistic model. None of the respondents received any medication, neither they visit any doctor ever for their hypertension control. The prevalence of hypertension was found to be low but not ignorable. Pre-hypertension in the case of systolic blood pressure needs attention among Santal indigenous population.

Keywords: hypertension, indigenous group, Santals, Bangladesh

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Authors: Chloé Kernaléguen, Laura Kundun, Tessie Lery, Ryan Laleg, Zhangyun Tan

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This study explores global disparities in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis incidence among children aged 0-2 years, focusing on the human development index (HDI) as a key determinant. RSV bronchiolitis poses a significant health risk to young children, influenced by factors, including socio-economic conditions captured by the HDI. Through a comprehensive systematic review and dataset selection (Switzerland, Brazil, United States of America), we formulated an HDI-SEIRS numerical model within the SEIRS framework. Results show variations in RSV bronchiolitis dynamics across countries, emphasizing the influence of HDI. Modelling reveals a correlation between higher HDI and increased bronchiolitis spread, notably in the USA and Switzerland. The ratios HDIcountry over HDImax strengthen this association, while climate disparities contribute to variations, especially in colder climates like the USA and Switzerland. The study raises the hypothesis of an indirect link between higher HDI and more frequent bronchiolitis, underlining the need for nuanced understanding. Factors like improved healthcare access, population density, mobility, and social behaviors in higher HDI countries might contribute to unexpected trends. Limitations include dataset quality and restricted RSV bronchiolitis data. Future research should encompass diverse HDI datasets to refine HDI's role in bronchiolitis dynamics. In conclusion, HDI-SEIRS models offer insights into factors influencing RSV bronchiolitis spread. While HDI is a significant indicator, its impact is indirect, necessitating a holistic approach to effective public health policies. This analysis sets the stage for further investigations into multifaceted interactions shaping bronchiolitis dynamics in diverse socio-economic contexts.

Keywords: bronchiolitis propagation, HDI influence, respiratory syncytial virus, SEIRS model

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Authors: Tabrej Khan, Tamer A. Sebaey, Balbir Singh, M. A. Umarfarooq

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Spread-tow thin-ply-based technology has resulted in the progress of optimized reinforced composite plies with ultra-low thicknesses. There is wide use of composite bolted joints in the aircraft industry for load-bearing structures, and they are regarded as the primary source of stress concentration. The purpose of this study is to look into the bearing strength and structural performance of single shear bolt joint configurations in composite laminates, which are basically a combination of conventional thin-plies and thick-plies in some specific stacking sequence. The placement effect of thin-ply within the configured stack on bearing strength, as well as the potential damages, were investigated. Mechanical tests were used to understand the disfigurement mechanisms of the plies and their reciprocity, as well as to reflect on the single shear bolt joint properties and its load-bearing capacity. The results showed that changing the configuration of laminates by inserting the thin plies inside improved the bearing strength by up to 19%.

Keywords: hybrid composites, delamination, stress concentrations, mechanical testing, single bolt joint, thin-plies

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Authors: Luis Prada, Jose Gomez, Arlex Chaves, Julio Pedraza

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Polymeric liquids have been used in the oil industry, especially at enhanced oil recovery (EOR). From the rheological point of view, polymers have the particularity of being viscoelastic liquids. One of the most common and useful models to describe that behavior is the Upper Convected Maxwell model (UCM). The main characteristic of the polymer used in EOR process is the increase in viscosity which pushes the oil outside of the reservoir. The elasticity could contribute in the drag of the oil that stays in the reservoir. Studying the elastic effect on the oil drop at the pore scale, bring an explanation if the addition of elastic force could mobilize the oil. This research explores if the contraction and expansion of the polymer in the pore scale may increase the elastic behavior of this kind of fluid. For that reason, this work simplified the pore geometry and build two simple geometries with micrometer lengths. Using source terms with the user define a function this work introduces the UCM model in the ANSYS fluent simulator with the purpose of evaluating the elastic effect of the polymer in a contraction and expansion geometry. Also, using the Eulerian multiphase model, this research considers the possibility that extra elastic force will show a deformation effect on the oil; for that reason, this work considers an oil drop on the upper wall of the geometry. Finally, all the simulations exhibit that at the pore scale conditions exist extra vortices at UCM model but is not possible to deform the oil completely and push it outside of the restrictions, also this research find the conditions for the oil displacement.

Keywords: ANSYS fluent, interfacial fluids mechanics, polymers, pore scale, viscoelasticity

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Authors: Ageliki I. Katsarou, Andriana C. Kaliora, Antonia Chiou, Apostolos Papalois, Nick Kalogeropoulos, Nikolaos K. Andrikopoulos

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Chronic inflammation plays a pivotal role in CVD development, while phytochemicals have been shown to reduce CVD risk. Several studies have correlated olive oil consumption with CVD prevention and CVD risk reduction. However, the effect of individual olive oil macro- or micro-constituents and possible synergisms among them needs to be further elucidated. Herein, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) lipidic and polar phenolics fractions were evaluated for their effect on inflammatory markers in cholesterol-fed rats. Oils combining different characteristics as to their polar phenolic content and lipid profile were used. Male Wistar rats were fed for 9 weeks on either a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) or a HCD supplemented with oils, either commercially available, i.e. EVOO, sunflower oil (SO), or modified as to their polar phenol content, i.e. phenolics deprived-EVOO (EVOOd), SO enriched with the EVOO phenolics (SOe). Post-intervention, aorta and blood samples were collected. HCD induced dyslipidemia, manifested by serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol elevation. Additionally, HCD resulted in higher adhesion molecules’ levels in rat aorta. In the case of E-selectin, this increase was attenuated by HCD supplementation with EVOO and EVOOd, while no alterations were observed in SO and SOe groups. No differences were observed between pairs of commercial and modified oils, indicating that oleates may be the components responsible for aorta E-selectin levels lowering. The same was true for vascular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1); augmentation in cholesterol-fed animals was attenuated by EVOO and EVOOd diets, highlighting oleates effect. In addition, VCAM-1 levels were higher in SO group compared to the respective SOe, indicating that in the presence of phenolic compounds linoleic acid have become less prone to oxidation. Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) levels were higher in cholesterol-fed rats, however not affected by any of the oils supplemented during the intervention. Overall, EVOO was found superior in regulating adhesion molecule levels in rat aorta compared to SO. EVOO and EVOOd exhibited analogous effects on all adhesion molecules assessed, indicating that EVOO major constituents (oleates) improve E-selectin and VCAM-1 levels in rat aorta, independently from phenolics presence. Further research is needed to elucidate the effect of phenolics and oleates in other tissues.

Keywords: extra virgin olive oil, cholesterol-fed rats, polar phenolics, adhesion molecules

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Authors: Kais Ben-Ahmed, Mhamed Ali-El-Aroui

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This paper develops a Local Generalized Linear Spatial Model (LGLSM) to describe the spatial variation of Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) infection risk in northern and central Tunisia. The response from each region is a number of affected children less than five years of age recorded from 1996 through 2006 from Tunisian pediatric departments and treated as a poison county level data. The model includes climatic factors, namely averages of annual rainfall, extreme values of low temperatures in winter and high temperatures in summer to characterize the climate of each region according to each continentality index, the pluviometric quotient of Emberger (Q2) to characterize bioclimatic regions and component for residual extra-poison variation. The statistical results show the progressive increase in the number of affected children in regions with high continentality index and low mean yearly rainfull. On the other hand, an increase in pluviometric quotient of Emberger contributed to a significant increase in VL incidence rate. When compared with the original GLSM, Bayesian locally modeling is improvement and gives a better approximation of the Tunisian VL risk estimation. According to the Bayesian approach inference, we use vague priors for all parameters model and Markov Chain Monte Carlo method.

Keywords: generalized linear spatial model, local model, extra-poisson variation, continentality index, visceral leishmaniasis, Tunisia

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Authors: Jong-Won Lee

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Since Cloud environment has appeared as the most powerful keyword in the computing industry, the growth in VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) became remarkable in domestic market. In recent years, with the trend that mobile devices such as smartphones and pads spread so rapidly, the strengths of VDI that allows people to access and perform business on the move along with companies' office needs expedite more rapid spread of VDI. However, although this enhanced accessibility and mobility can bring the enhanced productivity, it sometimes conflicts with the security, so there should be more detailed security solution, which is user authentication. In this paper, mobile OTP (One-Time Password) authentication method is proposed to secure mobile device portability through rapid and secure authentication using mobile devices such as mobile phones or pads, which does not require additional purchase or possession of OTP tokens of users. However, in order to use the service continuously and reliably in the cloud environment, both service provider and user have to prepare for security awareness and security threats, and continuously study the conflicting aspect between the improving user convenience and the security and supplement so that cloud service can provide opportunities to develop as a new growth industry in the future and create a new market in IT industry.

Keywords: cloud, OTP, mobility, security, authentication

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Authors: Ageliki I. Katsarou, Andriana C. Kaliora, Antonia Chiou, Apostolos Papalois, Nick Kalogeropoulos, Nikolaos K. Andrikopoulos

Abstract:

Oxidative stress is a major mechanism underlying CVDs while inflammation, an intertwined process with oxidative stress, is also linked to CVDs. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is widely known to play a pivotal role in CVD prevention and CVD reduction. However, in most studies, olive oil constituents are evaluated individually and not as part of the native food, hence potential synergistic effects as drivers of EVOO beneficial properties may be underestimated. In this study, EVOO lipidic and polar phenolics fractions were evaluated for their effect on inflammatory (TNF-alpha) and oxidation (malondialdehyde/MDA) markers, in cholesterol-fed rats. Thereat, oils with discernible lipidic profile and polar phenolic content were used. Wistar rats were fed on either a high-cholesterol diet (HCD) or a HCD supplemented with oils, either commercially available, i.e. EVOO, sunflower oil (SO), or modified as to their polar phenol content, i.e. phenolics deprived-EVOO (EVOOd), SO enriched with the EVOO phenolics (SOe). After 9 weeks of dietary intervention, heart and blood samples were collected. HCD induced dylipidemia shown by increase in serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and triacylglycerols. Heart tissue has been affected by dyslipidemia; oxidation was indicated by increase in MDA in cholesterol-fed rats and inflammation by increase in TNF-alpha. In both cases, this augmentation was attenuated in EVOO and SOe diets. With respect to oxidation, SO enrichment with the EVOO phenolics brought its lipid peroxidation levels as low as in EVOO-fed rats. This suggests that phenolic compounds may act as antioxidant agents in rat heart. A possible mechanism underlying this activity may be the protective effect of phenolics in mitochondrial membrane against oxidative damage. This was further supported by EVOO/EVOOd comparison with the former presenting lower heart MDA content. As for heart inflammation, phenolics naturally present in EVOO as well as phenolics chemically added in SO, exhibited quenching abilities in heart TNF-alpha levels of cholesterol-fed rats. TNF-alpha may have played a causative role in oxidative stress induction while the opposite may have also happened, hence setting up a vicious cycle. Overall, diet supplementation with EVOO or SOe attenuated hypercholesterolemia-induced increase in MDA and TNF-alpha in Wistar rat hearts. This is attributed to phenolic compounds either naturally existing in olive oil or as fortificants in seed oil.

Keywords: extra virgin olive oil, hypercholesterolemic rats, MDA, polar phenolics, TNF-alpha

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Authors: Cristian Baldini

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‘Diabesity’ is a term for diabetes occurring in the context of obesity. The positive effect of LCHF diets (low-carb, high-fat diets) is well documented: LCHF diets are at least as effective as other dietary strategies for reducing body weight, improving glycaemic control, and reducing both hyperinsulinaemia and blood glucose (reduction of HbA1c) in type 2 diabetes and have unique positive effects on blood lipid concentrations and cardiovascular risk factors. Also, in obese insulin-resistant women, food fried in extra-virgin olive oil significantly reduced both insulin and C-peptide responses after a meal. This case study shows that if combined, both dietary strategies produce a strong effect on blood glucose, resulting in a “forced” reduction of exogenous insulin injection to avoid the problem of hypoglycaemia. Blood tests after three months of this dietary treatment show how HbA1c, triglycerides, and blood lipid profile (LDL, HDL, Total Cholesterol) are improved despite the reduction of exogenous insulin injection of 80% with a parallel body weight decrease of 15%. For continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), the patient used FreeStyle Libre before and after the dietary treatment. In order to check general body functions and glycosuria, the patient used the urine test Multistix 10 SG Siemens.

Keywords: diabetes, obesity, diabesity, fat, fried foods

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Authors: Maria Gonzalez Alriols, Itziar Egues, Maria A. Andres, Mirari Antxustegi

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Peer to peer learning is an educational tool very useful to enhance teamwork and reinforce cooperation between mates. It is particularly successful to work with students of different level of previous knowledge, as it often happens among pupils of subjects in the first course of science and engineering studies. Depending on the performed pre-university academic itinerary, the acquired knowledge in disciplines as mathematics, physics, or chemistry may be quite different. This fact is an added difficulty to the tuition of first-course basic science subjects of engineering degrees, with inexperienced students that do not know each other. In this context, peer to peer learning applied in small groups facilitates the communication between mates and makes it easier for the students with low level to be helped by the ones with better prior knowledge. In this work, several collaborative learning strategies were designed to be applied in the tuition of the subject 'chemistry', which is imparted in the first course of an engineering degree. Students were organized in groups combining mates with different level of prior knowledge. The teaching role was offered to the more experienced students who were responsible for designing learning pills to help the other mates in their group. This workload was rewarded with an extra mark, and more extra points were offered to all the group mates if every student in the group reached a determined level at the end of the semester. It was very important to start these activities from the beginning of the semester in order to avoid absenteeism. The obtained results were positive as a higher percentage of mates signed up and passed the final exam, the obtained final marks were higher, and a much better atmosphere was observed in the class.

Keywords: peer to peer tuition, collaborative learning, engineering instruction, chemistry

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Authors: Hassan Gholibeigian, Kazem Gholibeigian

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In this paper, our goal is determination of loading versus time in crust. For this goal, we present a computational procedure to propose a cumulative strain energy time profile which can be used to predict the approximate location and time of the next major earthquake (M > 4.5) along a specific fault, which we believe, is more accurate than many of the methods presently in use. In the coming pages, after a short review of the research works presently going on in the area of earthquake analysis and prediction, earthquake mechanisms in both the jerk and sequence earthquake direction is discussed, then our computational procedure is presented using differential equations of equilibrium which govern the nonlinear dynamic response of a system of finite elements, modified with an extra term to account for the jerk produced during the quake. We then employ Von Mises developed model for the stress strain relationship in our calculations, modified with the addition of an extra term to account for thermal effects. For calculation of the strain energy the idea of Pulsating Mantle Hypothesis (PMH) is used. This hypothesis, in brief, states that the mantle is under diurnal cyclic pulsating loads due to unbalanced gravitational attraction of the sun and the moon. A brief discussion is done on the Denali fault as a case study. The cumulative strain energy is then graphically represented versus time. At the end, based on some hypothetic earthquake data, the final results are verified.

Keywords: pulsating mantle hypothesis, inner core’s dislocation, outer core’s bulge, constitutive model, transient hydro-magneto-thermo-mechanical load, diurnal stress, jerk, fault behaviour

Procedia PDF Downloads 250