Search results for: military physical education

Authors: Hyun Young Kim, Min Jung Kim, Ji Hyun Kim, Sanghyun Lee, Eun Ju Cho

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Oxidative stress that results from overproduction of free radicals can lead to pathogenesis of human diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and cardiovascular disease. Aster yomena (Kitam.) Honda (A. yomena) belonging to Compositae family is a perennial plant, and it has anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic and anti-obesity effects. In this study, we investigated the antioxidative effect of A. yomena by measuring 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl radical (˙OH) and superoxide radical (O₂⁻) scavenging activities in vitro. A. yomena was extracted with ethanol and then partitioned with n-hexane, methylene chloride (CH₂Cl₂), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and n-butanol (n-BuOH). In DPPH radical scavenging assay, the concentration of A. yomena from 10 to 100μg/mL dose-dependently raised the inhibition of DPPH oxidation. Especially, EtOAc fraction of A. yomena showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity among other fractions. The ˙OH radical scavenging activities of the extract and four fractions of A. yomena were increased by over 80% at a concentration of 50μg/mL. Especially, the IC50 value of EtOAc fraction was 0.03 μg/mL that is the lowest value compared with the values of other fractions. In addition, we found that the EtOAc fraction of A. yomena was showed to be better at O₂⁻ radical scavenging than other fractions. Taken together these results, we suggested that A. yomena, especially EtOAc fraction, can be used as a natural antioxidant against free radicals. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (NRF-2016R1D1A1B03931593).

Keywords: Aster yomena (Kitam.) Honda (A. yomena), free radicals, antioxidant, EtOAc fraction

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Authors: Yaniv Knop, Alva Peled

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Over the past few years there has been a growing interest in the development of Portland Composite Cement, by partial replacement of the clinker with mineral additives. The motivations to reduce the clinker content are threefold: (1) Ecological - due to lower emission of CO2 to the atmosphere; (2) Economical - due to cost reduction; and (3) Scientific\Technology – improvement of performances. Among the mineral additives being used and investigated, limestone is one of the most attractive, as it is considered natural, available, and with low cost. The goal of the research is to develop green cement, by partial replacement of the clinker with limestone powder while improving the performances of the cement paste. This work studied blended cements with three limestone powder particle diameters: smaller than, larger than, and similarly sized to the clinker particle. Blended cement with limestone consisting of one particle size distribution and limestone consisting of a combination of several particle sizes were studied and compared in terms of hydration rate, hydration degree, and water demand to achieve normal consistency. The performances of these systems were also compared with that of the original cement (without added limestone). It was found that the ability to replace an active material with an inert additive, while achieving improved performances, can be obtained by increasing the packing density of the cement-based particles. This may be achieved by replacing the clinker with limestone powders having a combination of several different particle size distributions. Mathematical and physical models were developed to simulate the setting history from initial to final setting time and to predict the packing density of blended cement with limestone having different sizes and various contents. Besides the effect of limestone, as inert additive, on the packing density of the blended cement, the influence of the limestone particle size on three different chemical reactions were studied; hydration of the cement, carbonation of the calcium hydroxide and the reactivity of the limestone with the hydration reaction products. The main results and developments will be presented.

Keywords: packing density, hydration degree, limestone, blended cement

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Authors: Tianyue Wan

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Building a child-friendly city (CFC) contributes to improving the quality of urbanization. It also forms a local system committed to fulfilling children's rights and development. Yet, the work related to CFC is still at the initial stage in China. Therefore, taking Wuhan, the most populous city in central China, as the pilot city would offer some reference for other cities. Based on the analysis of theories and practice examples, this study puts forward the challenges of building a child-friendly city under the particularity of China's national conditions. To handle these challenges, this study uses four methods to collect status data: literature research, site observation, research inquiry, and semantic differential (SD). And it adopts three data analysis methods: case analysis, geographic information system (GIS) analysis, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Through data analysis, this study identifies the evaluation system and appraises the current situation of Wuhan. According to the status of Wuhan's child-friendly city, this study proposes three strategies: 1) construct the evaluation system; 2) establish a child-friendly space system integrating 'point-line-surface'; 3) build a digitalized service platform. At the same time, this study suggests building a long-term mechanism for children's participation and multi-subject supervision from laws, medical treatment, education, safety protection, social welfare, and other aspects. Finally, some conclusions of strategies about CFC are tried to be drawn to promote the highest quality of life for all citizens in Wuhan.

Keywords: action plan, child friendly city, construction strategy, urban space

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Authors: Julide Yildirim, Nadir Ocal

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Even though there are many studies investigating the extent and determinants of poverty, there is paucity of research investigating the issue of energy poverty in Turkey. The aim of this paper is threefold: First to investigate the extend of energy poverty in Turkey by using Household Budget Survey datasets belonging to 2005 - 2016 period. Second, to examine the risk factors for energy poverty. Finally, to assess the impact of social assistance program participation on energy poverty. Existing literature employs alternative methods to measure energy poverty. In this study energy poverty is measured by employing expenditure approach, where people are considered as energy poor if they disburse more than 10 per cent of their income to meet their energy requirements. Empirical results indicate that energy poverty rate is around 20 per cent during the time period under consideration. Since Household Budget Survey panel data is not available for 2005 - 2016 period, a pseudo panel has been constructed. Panel logistic regression method is utilized to determine the risk factors for energy poverty. The empirical results demonstrate that there is a statistically significant impact of work status and education level on energy poverty likelihood. In the final part of the paper the impact of social transfers on energy poverty has been examined by utilizing panel biprobit model, where social transfer participation and energy poverty incidences are jointly modeled. The empirical findings indicate that social transfer program participation reduces energy poverty. The negative association between energy poverty and social transfer program participation is more pronounced in urban areas compared with the rural areas.

Keywords: energy poverty, social transfers, panel data models, Turkey

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Authors: Angelo Lerro, Manuela Battipede, Piero Gili, Alberto Brandl

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Redundancy requirements for UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) are hardly faced due to the generally restricted amount of available space and allowable weight for the aircraft systems, limiting their exploitation. Essential equipment as the Air Data, Attitude and Heading Reference Systems (ADAHRS) require several external probes to measure significant data as the Angle of Attack or the Sideslip Angle. Previous research focused on the analysis of a patented technology named Smart-ADAHRS (Smart Air Data, Attitude and Heading Reference System) as an alternative method to obtain reliable and accurate estimates of the aerodynamic angles. This solution is based on an innovative sensor fusion algorithm implementing soft computing techniques and it allows to obtain a simplified inertial and air data system reducing external devices. In fact, only one external source of dynamic and static pressures is needed. This paper focuses on the benefits which would be gained by the implementation of this system in UAV applications. A simplification of the entire ADAHRS architecture will bring to reduce the overall cost together with improved safety performance. Smart-ADAHRS has currently reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. Real flight tests took place on ultralight aircraft equipped with a suitable Flight Test Instrumentation (FTI). The output of the algorithm using the flight test measurements demonstrates the capability for this fusion algorithm to embed in a single device multiple physical and virtual sensors. Any source of dynamic and static pressure can be integrated with this system gaining a significant improvement in terms of versatility.

Keywords: aerodynamic angles, air data system, flight test, neural network, unmanned aerial vehicle, virtual sensor

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Authors: Annika Kjallman Alm, Ove Hellzen, Malin Rising-Holmstrom

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Worldwide, the number of people who are living with dementia is increasing because of an aging population, which leads to increased financial and social costs, including reduced quality of life for people with dementia and their care partners. Most people who have dementia reside in the community. Aging in place could be described as having the health and social supports and services you need to live safely and independently in your home or your society for as long as you wish and are able. People with dementia are not different than people without dementia where they want to remain at home, if possible, with a sense of familiarity and engagement in typical everyday activities. So how do persons with dementia or cognitive decline see their possibilities to be socially involved and experience support? The aim of this study was to explore persons with cognitive decline's sense of involvement and support living in the ordinary dwelling. The study was approved by the Ethical Review Authority in Sweden prior to the interviews. Interviews were conducted with 20 persons living at home, either alone or in a relationship. The persons had perceived cognitive decline; some were under investigation or already had a diagnose of early dementia. Thematic analysis was used to identify, analyze, and report patterns within the data. Researchers extracted three main themes through participants’ interviews: a) Importance of social involvement with family and friends. b) Hindrances for social involvement. c) Struggling mentally with a new life situation. Results found that going to activity centers, staying involved, and meeting friends and family enhanced the sense of involvement and support. There were also hindrances to a sense of involvement and support as they struggled with the diagnose and the changes in daily life, such as physical problems, mental problems, or economic issues. The mental struggle of accepting the cognitive decline and the changes in daily life it brought was also an issue for some of the participants. A multidimensional support should be provided by the community to enable persons with cognitive decline to stay involved in family and community in the comfort of their own homes.

Keywords: aging in place, cognitive decline, dementia, sense of involvement

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Authors: Roike Iwan Montolalu, Henny Adeleida Dien, Feny Mentang, Kristhina P. Rahael, Tomy Moga, Ayub Meko, Siegfried Berhimpon

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In the last 20 years, packaging materials derived from petrochemicals polymers were widely used as packaging materials. This due to various advantages such as flexible, strong, transparent, and the price is relatively cheap. However, the plastic polymer also has various disadvantages, such as the transmission monomer contamination into the material to be packed, and waste is non-biodegradable. Edible film (EF) is an up to date materials, generated after the biodegradable packaging materials. The advantages of the EF materials, is the materials can be eat together with food, and the materials can be applied as a coating materials for a widely kind of foods especially snack foods. The aims of this research are to produce and to analyze the characteristics of smoked EF made from carrageenan, myofibril and collagen of Black Marlin (Makaira indica) industrial waste. Smoked EF made with an addition of 0.8 % smoke liquid. Three biopolymers i.e. carrageenan, myofibril, and collagen were used as treatments, and homogenate for 1 hours at speed of 1500 rpm. The analysis carried out on the pH and physical properties i.e. thickness, solubility, tensile strength, % elongation, and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), as well as on the sensory characteristics of texture i.e. wateriness, firmness, elasticity, hardness, and juiciness of the coated products. The result shown that the higher the concentration the higher the thickness of EF, where as for myofibril proteins appeared higher than carrageenan and collagen. Both of collagen and myofibril shown that concentration of 6% was most soluble, while for carrageenan were in concentration of 2 to 2.5%. For tensile strength, carrageenan was significantly higher than myofibril and collagen; while for elongation, collagen film more elastic than carragenan and myofibril protein. Water vapor transmission rate, shown that myofibril protein film lower than carrageenan and collagen film. From sensory assessment of texture, carrageenan has a high elasticity and juiciness, while collagen and myofibril have a high in firmness and hardness.

Keywords: edible film, collagen, myofibril, carrageenan

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Authors: Neerja Ahlawat

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In Indian society, women have always been an active part of the production process. Be it agriculture, dairy, or other home-based industries, Indian women have been competent and enterprising engaged in multiple economic activities. In recent times, women across the country have started establishing business enterprise and managing and working very hard. Despite their skills and capabilities, however, women are faced with varied problems and challenges. Women entrepreneurs in Haryana face a double challenge – a gender bias against women denies them the education and the opportunities available to their male counterparts and the lack of such learning and skills development inhibits any entrepreneurial ambitions. In many parts of the state, women venturing out of the household domain face much opposition and criticism. The present paper highlights the various problems and challenges faced by the women entrepreneurs while running the enterprises in the present competitive world in Haryana. An attempt has been made to investigate women entrepreneurs about the specific issues such as working capital, distribution channel, sales promotion, electricity, human resources and competition with other industries. The present empirical study was carried out in Rohtak city of Haryana using Interview schedule and Case study method. The study revealed the nature of problems women entrepreneurs face while dealing with issues of labour, market, and bureaucracy. The study categorically pointed out the difficulties women are confronted with while keeping a balance between domestic responsibilities and workplace challenges. The study concluded that women entrepreneurs are redefining their identities and priorities in the male dominant society.

Keywords: entrepreneur, gender bias, capital, human resource

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Authors: Esther M. Folarin, Evans Osabuohien, Ademola Onabote

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Agriculture constitutes an important part of development and poverty mitigation in lower-middle-income countries, like Nigeria. The level of agricultural productivity in the Nigerian economy in line with the level of demand necessary to meet the desired expectation of the Nigerian populace is threatening to meeting the standard of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); This includes the SDG-2 (achieve food security through agricultural productivity). The overall objective of the study is to reveal the performance of the interaction variable in the model among other factors that help in the achievement of greater Nigerian agricultural productivity. The study makes use of Wave 4 (2018/2019) of the Living Standard Measurement Studies, Integrated Survey on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA). Qualitative analysis of the information was also used to provide complimentary answers to the quantitative analysis done in the study. The study employed human capital theory and Grossman’s theory of health Demand in explaining the relationships that exist between the variables within the model of the study. The study engages the Instrumental Variable Regression technique in achieving the broad objectives among other techniques for the other specific objectives. The estimation results show that there exists a positive relationship between female healthcare and the level of female agricultural productivity in Nigeria. In conclusion, the study emphasises the need for more provision and empowerment for greater female access to healthcare and educational attainment levels that aids higher female agricultural productivity and consequently an improvement in the total agricultural productivity of the Nigerian economy.

Keywords: agricultural productivity, education, female, healthcare, investment

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Authors: Ismail Ay

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In this study, it is aimed to analyze the relations of the factors such as the learned resourcefulness, self-efficacy, self-regulation and subjective well-being which are thought to affect the needs of the university students for psychological help and to determine if the subjective well-being mediates other factors in the prediction of the needs of the university students for psychological help. The population of the study is formed of undergraduates who get education in 16 faculties in the central campus of the University of Atatürk in the spring term of 2012-2013 academic years. The sample of the study is formed of 1205 undergraduates (female=666, 55,3 %; male=539, 44,7 %; average of age =21,49; Sd=2,18) selected from the mentioned universe by convenience sampling method. “Need for Psychological Help Scale” has been developed as a part of the study to determine the needs for psychological help. “Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire” has been adapted into Turkish to determine the self-regulation skills. Apart from these, Rosenbaum’s Learned Resourcefulness Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale and to determine subjective well-being; Satisfaction with Life Scale and Positive and Negative Affect Scale have been used within the study. SPSS 22.0 and LISREL 9.1 have been used in the analysis of the data. Pearson product-moment correlation, descriptive analysis, factor analysis and path analysis to test the research hypothesis has been used in the study. According to obtained data, the learned resourcefulness factor does not predict the subjective well-being; however, it highly predicts the self-regulation and self-efficacy factors. It has been determined that the self-regulation and self-efficacy factors predict the subjective well-being in a positive way and medium level, and subjective well-being mediates self-regulation and self-efficacy factors to predict the needs for psychological help. It was also determined that subjective well-being predicts the needs for psychological help in a negative way and fair level. All these results have been discussed in terms of the related theories and literature, and several suggestions have been made.

Keywords: need for psychological help, self-regulation, self-efficacy, learned resourcefulness, subjective well-being, Maslow, psychological needs

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Authors: Salah A. Aly, Mohammed A. Ibrahim, Mostafa M. khttab

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The amount of construction and demolition (C&D) waste has increased considerably over the last few decades. From the viewpoint of environmental preservation and effective utilization of resources, crushing C&D concrete waste to produce coarse aggregate (CA) with different replacement percentage for the production of new concrete is one common means for achieving a more environment-friendly concrete. In the study presented herein, the investigation was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the selection of the materials was carried out and the physical, mechanical and chemical characteristics of these materials were evaluated. Different concrete mixes were designed. The investigation parameter was Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA) ratios. The mechanical properties of all mixes were evaluated based on compressive strength and workability results. Accordingly, two mixes have been chosen to be used in the next phase. In the second phase, the study of the structural behavior of the concrete beams was developed. Sixteen beams were casted to investigate the effect of RCA ratios, the shear span to depth ratios and the effect of different locations and reinforcement of openings on the shear behavior of the tested specimens. All these beams were designed to fail in shear. Test results of the compressive strength of concrete indicated that, replacement of natural aggregate by up to 50% recycled concrete aggregates in mixtures with 350 Kg/m3 cement content led to increase of concrete compressive strength. Moreover, the tensile strength and the modulus of elasticity of the specimens with RCA have very close values to those with natural aggregates. The ultimate shear strength of beams with RCA is very close to those with natural aggregates indicating the possibility of using RCA as partial replacement to produce structural concrete elements. The validity of both the Egyptian Code for the design and implementation of Concrete Structures (ECCS) 203-2007 and American Concrete Institute (ACI) 318-2011Codes for estimating the shear strength of the tested RCA beams was investigated. It was found that the codes procedures gives conservative estimates for shear strength.

Keywords: construction and demolition (C&D) waste, coarse aggregate (CA), recycled coarse aggregates (RCA), opening

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Authors: Karin Schoenpflug, Christine M. Klapeer

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In a large study for the Vienna City Council’s Antidiscrimination unit (WASt) an interdisciplinary team (in the fields of economics, sociology and political science) working with urban economics, critical citizenship studies, the sociology of work & inequality and urban political/human geography conducted an online survey asking LGBTIs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people) in Vienna detailed questions on their quality-of-life, happiness and well-being. 3.161 persons responded and provided us with a rich data set concerning: 1) Labor market structures, discrimination, working conditions and employment practices (economic citizenship); 2) access to health care, welfare, education and safety in public spaces (social citizenship); 3) political participation as well as access to legal institutions (political citizenship). All those fields are important dimensions in regards to “full” citizenship and the well-being of the LGBTI population, but are also constitutive for the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities into the city population(s) of Vienna. Our data also allows us to map the sexual geography of Vienna as LGBTI communities are more likely to live in certain districts; some places are considered safe(r) and “friendlier”. In this way our work helps to fill a research gap connecting (urban) spaces and sexuality, and it produces new data and insights on the quality-of-life of this subpopulation. Our findings allow for urban (policy) planning and limiting violence and discrimination and improving the collective wellbeing and social cohesion.

Keywords: urban sexual geographies, LGBTI, socio-economic status, Vienna, sitizenship status

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Authors: E. M. Vieira, C. S. Vieira, L. P. Bonifácio, L. M. de Oliveira Ciabati, A. C. A. Franzon, F. S. Zaratini, J. A. C. Sanchez, M. S. Andrade, J. P. Dias de Souza

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The quality of prenatal care is key to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. Communication between the health service and users can stimulate prevention and care. M-health has been an important and low cost strategy to health education. The PRENACEL programme (prenatal in the cell phone) was developed. It consists of a programme of information via SMS from the 20^th week of pregnancy up to 12^th week after delivery. Messages were about prenatal care, birth, contraception and breastfeeding. Communication of the pregnant woman asking questions about their health was possible. The objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of PRENACEL as a useful complement to the standard prenatal care. Twenty health clinics were selected and randomized by cluster, 10 as the intervention group and 10 as the control group. In the intervention group, women and their partner were invited to participate. The control group received the standard prenatal care. All women were interviewed in the immediate post-partum and in the 12^th and 24^th week post-partum. Most women were married, had more than 8 years of schooling and visit the clinic more than 6 times during prenatal care. The intervention group presented lowest percentage of higher economic participants (5.6%), less single mothers and no drug user. It also presented more prenatal care visits than the control group and it was less likely to present Severe Acute Maternal Mortality when compared to control group as well as higher percentage of partners (75.4%) was present at the birth compared to control group. Although the study is still being carried out, preliminary data are showing positive results of the compliance of women to prenatal care.

Keywords: cellphone, health technology, prenatal care, prevention

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Authors: D. Anderlini, G. Wallis

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Background: The number of people experiencing stroke is steadily increasing due to changes in diet and lifestyle, to longer life expectancy resulting in older population, to higher survival rates as a consequence of improvements during the acute phase. This study considers what risk factors might contribute to delayed entry to hospital for treatment. Methods: We analyzed data from 2472 patients admitted to the Stroke Unit of the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital, Australia, between 2002 to 2011. Results: Previous studies have reported that factors which can contribute to delay include the patient’s age, the time of day, physical location, visit the GP instead of going to the emergency, means of transport, severity of symptoms and type of stroke. Contrary to findings of other studies, we found a strong correlation between side of lesion and delay in admission: patients with right hemisphere lesions had an average delay of 3.78 days, while patients with left hemisphere lesions had an average delay of 1.49 days. Damage to the right hemisphere generally ends in motor impairment in the non-dominant hand and no speech impediment. In contrast, left hemisphere lesions can result in deficit to; dominant hand function and aphasia which will be noticed even if their impact on performance is relatively minor. A finding which goes against many previous studies, is the fact that women get to the hospital much sooner than men, showing an average delay of 0.92 days in women vs. 3.36 days in men. Conclusion: Acute surgical-pharmacological therapies are most effective if applied immediately after stroke. Hence delays to admission can be crucial to the degree of recovery. The tendency of patients to overlook symptoms of right hemisphere lesion should be the target of information campaigns both for the general public and GPs. Why do men go to hospital so late? We don't know yet! Nevertheless an awareness plan specifically direct to male population should be on the agenda of Health Departments.

Keywords: gender, admission delay, stroke location, bioinformatics, biomedicine

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Authors: P. Daniels, T. Adonis, P. September-Brown, R. Comalie

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The community engagement unit at the University of the Western Cape was tasked with establishing a community engagement database. The database would store information of all community engagement projects related to the university. The wealth of knowledge obtained from the various disciplines would be used to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration within the university, as well as facilitating community university partnership opportunities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore electronic data collection through the development of a database. Two types of electronic data collection platforms were used, namely online questionnaire and email. The semi structured questionnaire was used to collect data related to community engagement projects from different faculties and departments at the university. There are many benefits for using an electronic data collection platform, such as reduction of costs and time, ease in reaching large numbers of potential respondents, and the possibility of providing anonymity to participants. Despite all the advantages of using the electronic platform, there were as many challenges, as depicted in our findings. The findings suggest that certain barriers existed by using an electronic platform for data collection, even though it was in an academic environment, where knowledge and resources were in abundance. One of the challenges experienced in this process was the lack of dissemination of information via email to staff within faculties. The actual online software used for the questionnaire had its own limitations, such as only being able to access the questionnaire from the same electronic device. In a few cases, academics only completed the questionnaire after a telephonic prompt or face to face meeting about "Is higher education in South Africa ready to embrace electronic platform in data collection?"

Keywords: community engagement, database, data collection, electronic platform, electronic tools, knowledge sharing, university

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Authors: Sammy Xiaoyan Ying

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Professional skepticism remains one of the most important and controversial topics in auditing. This study examines the influence of client cooperativeness and fraud risk on judgments of professional skepticism among Chinese entry-level auditors in the context of evaluation of client-provided audit evidence. Given that the essence of auditors’ PS rests on distrust of clients, this study invokes trust-related theories from psychological and cultural perspectives. Specifically, invoking psychology theories of trust concerning positive relationship between risk and distrust, this study hypothesizes that professional skepticism is likely to be positively associated with client fraud risk. The results support the hypothesis and show that lower (higher) levels of client fraud risk lead to lower (higher) levels of professional skepticism. Furthermore, drawing on analysis of relationship between cooperation and trust, with particular reference to guanxi dynamics in the Chinese culture, this study hypothesizes that professional skepticism is likely to be negatively associated with client cooperativeness. The results support the hypothesis and show that higher (lower) levels of client cooperativeness lead to lower (higher) levels of professional skepticism. The findings may assist audit firms and auditing educators in improving training and education programs and enhancing entry-level auditors’ abilities to maintain professional skepticism. Also, practitioners and regulators may benefit from increasing awareness of psychological factors in influencing professional skepticism.

Keywords: audit judgment, Chinese culture, entry-level auditor, professional skepticism

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Authors: Usama Bin Zubair, Muhammad Azeem

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Introduction: Depression has been one of the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorders in Pakistan. A Census conducted by the government of Pakistan in 2017 showed that more than 10000 trans-genders live in Pakistan. HIV, illicit substance use and mental health issues, including depression, have been the main health problems faced by them. Trans-gender population has been suffering from depressive illness more than normal population all over the world. Aim: To assess the prevalence of depression among the transgender population and analyze the relationship of socio-demographic factors with depression. Subjects and Methods: The sample population comprised of one hundred and forty-two transgender people of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Beck depressive inventory II (BDI-II) was used to record the presence and severity of the depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were categorized as mild, moderate and severe. Relationship of the age, smoking, family income, illicit substance use and education were studied with the presence of depressive symptoms among these transgender people of twin cities of Pakistan. Results: A total of 142 transgender people were included in the final analysis. The mean age of the study participants was 39.55 ± 6.18. Out of these, 45.1% had no depressive symptoms while 31.7% had mild, 12.7% had moderate and 10.6% had severe depressive symptomatology. After applying the binary logistic regression, we found that the presence of depressive symptoms had a significant association with illicit substance use among the target population. Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of depressive symptoms among the transgender population in the twin cities of Pakistan. Use of illicit substances like tobacco, cannabis, opiates, and alcohol should be discouraged to prevent mental health problems.

Keywords: depression, transgender, prevalence, sociodemographic factors

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Authors: Wan Jen Chang

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Back ground: Taiwan's current adult lifelong learning services have expanded from vocational training to universal lifelong learning. However, both the professional knowledge training of learning guidance and consulting services and the provision of adult online learning consulting service systems still need to be established. Purpose: The purposes of this study are as follows: 1. Analyze the professional training mechanism for cultivating adult lifelong learning consultation and coaching; 2. Explore the feasibility of constructing a system that uses network technology to provide adult learning consultation services. Research design: This study conducts a literature analysis of counseling and coaching policy reports on lifelong learning in European countries and the United States. There are two focus discussions were conducted with 15 lifelong learning scholars, experts and practitioners as research subjects. The following two topics were discussed and suggested: 1. The current situation, needs and professional ability training mechanism of "Adult Lifelong Learning Consulting and Services"; 2. Strategies for establishing an "Adult Lifelong Learning Consulting and Service internet System". Conclusion: 1.Based on adult lifelong learning consulting and service needs, plan a professional knowledge training and certification system.2.Adult lifelong learning consulting and service professional knowledge and skills training should include the use of network technology to provide consulting service skills.3.To establish an adult lifelong learning consultation and service system, the Ministry of Education should promulgate policies and measures at the central level and entrust local governments or private organizations to implement them.4.The adult lifelong learning consulting and service system can combine the national qualifications framework, private sector and NPO to expand learning consulting service partners.

Keywords: adult lifelong learning, profesional knowledge, consulting and service, network system

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Authors: Sidra Pervez, Afsheen Aman, Shah Ali Ul Qader

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The importance of attaining an optimum performance of an enzyme is often a question of devising an effective method for its immobilization. Cross-linked enzyme aggregate (CLEAs) is a new approach for immobilization of enzymes using carrier free strategy. This method is exquisitely simple (involving precipitation of the enzyme from aqueous buffer followed by cross-linking of the resulting physical aggregates of enzyme molecules) and amenable to rapid optimization. Among many industrial enzymes, amyloglucosidase is an important amylolytic enzyme that hydrolyzes alpha (1→4) and alpha (1→6) glycosidic bonds in starch molecule and produce glucose as a sole end product. Glucose liberated by amyloglucosidase can be used for the production of ethanol and glucose syrups. Besides this amyloglucosidase can be widely used in various food and pharmaceuticals industries. For production of amyloglucosidase on commercial scale, filamentous fungi of genera Aspergillus are mostly used because they secrete large amount of enzymes extracellularly. The current investigation was based on isolation and identification of filamentous fungi from genus Aspergillus for the production of amyloglucosidase in submerged fermentation and optimization of cultivation parameters for starch saccharification. Natural isolates were identified as Aspergillus niger KIBGE-IB36, Aspergillus fumigatus KIBGE-IB33, Aspergillus flavus KIBGE-IB34 and Aspergillus terreus KIBGE-IB35 on taxonomical basis and 18S rDNA analysis and their sequence were submitted to GenBank. Among them, Aspergillus fumigatus KIBGE-IB33 was selected on the basis of maximum enzyme production. After optimization of fermentation conditions enzyme was immobilized on CLEA. Different parameters were optimized for maximum immobilization of amyloglucosidase. Data of enzyme stability (thermal and Storage) and reusability suggested the applicability of immobilized amyloglucosidase for continuous saccharification of starch in industrial processes.

Keywords: aspergillus, immobilization, industrial processes, starch saccharification

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Authors: Sudhaveni Naresh

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International migration is an important subject and gaining more significance andinterest among scholars in recent years. It is defined as crossing of the boundaries of political or administrative units for a certain minimum period for reasons such as education, employment, etc.International migration is not new for India because it has a long history with the Gulf region since ancient period. India is also one of the largest migrant-sending countries after China in the world. Migration towards the Gulf region became more prominent during early 1970s due to oil boom which led to rapid increase in the demand for foreign labour. Of 25 million Indian emigrants are living across the world, about six million Indian emigrants working in the Gulf. Most of these migrants were either unskilled or semi-skilled. Both the pull and push factors behind labour emigrate to Gulf countries. India is world’s leading receiver of remittances and the flow of remittances to India has been increasing steadily since the 1970s. In 2011-12, it was about 4 percent of GDP.Emigrants play a significant role in the economic development and growth of the country via the remittances and knowledge and skill transfer. Scholars see remittances as vital tool in the development for origin country. This paper examines the recent trend and pattern of migration from India to Gulf countries and explores impact of remittances on emigrants’ families at home country. It also highlights opportunities, challenges and the need for strengthening multilateral cooperation to transform migration into an efficient, orderly and humane process.The study propose to undertake a primary survey for this purpose. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used to study the above issues.

Keywords: development, international migration, remittances, unskilled labour

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Authors: Laura Santagostini, Vittoria Guglielmi

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The meaning of the word 'Nature' (literally 'that which is about to be born') has accompanied researchers throughout their study of the environment and has led to the design of technical means to improve the properties of the soil, modifying its structure and/or consistency, thus favouring the emergence and growth of plants. These include soil improvers, i.e. any substance, natural or synthetic, mineral or organic, capable of modifying and improving the chemical, physical, biological and mechanical properties and characteristics of the soil. In particular, GCSCs (Green Composted Soil Conditioners) are soil conditioners produced through a controlled process of transforming selected organic green waste materials, such as clippings from the maintenance of ornamental greenery, crop residues and other plant waste. The use of GCSC in horticulture, fruit growing, industrial cultivation and nursery gardening is an active way to return organic carbon to the soil, thus limiting CO2 emissions and the production of greenhouse gases, and also to limit the environmental impact of peat extraction, which is normally used in these areas of application. With a view to distinguish between GCSC and peats and to assess what further contributions GCSC can provide to the soil and growing plants, we studied the behaviour of the two substrates by chromatographic techniques. After treating the individual soil improvers with different solvents, used individually or by applying a polarity gradient, the extracts obtained were analysed by HPLC and LCMS in order to assess their composition mainly from a qualitative point of view. Data obtained show in GCSC the presence of polyphenolic derivatives attributable to the degradation of plant material and potentially useful for the development and growth of young plants, while commercial peat-based products only sporadically showed the presence of recognisable molecules, confirming the lower complexity of the matrix under analysis. These results allowed us to distinguish the two different types of soil conditioner based on their chromatographic profiles.

Keywords: chromatographic profile, HPLC, polyphenols, soil conditioners

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Authors: Hamilton V. Niculescu

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Following a three year study conducted on eighteen Irish people that are involved in growing vegetables in various community gardens around Dublin, Republic of Ireland, it was revealed that addition of some automated features aimed at improving agricultural practices represented a process which was regarded as potentially beneficial, and as a great tool to closely monitor climate conditions inside the greenhouses. The participants were provided with a free custom-built mobile app through which they could remotely monitor and control features such as irrigation, air ventilation, and windows to ensure optimal growing conditions for vegetables growing inside purpose-built greenhouses. While the initial interest was generally high, within weeks, the participants' level of interaction with the enclosures slowly declined. By employing a constructivist grounded theory methodology, following focus group discussions, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and observations, it was revealed that participants' trust in newer technologies, and renewables, in particular, was low. There are various reasons for this, but because the participants in this study consist of mainly working-class people, it can be argued that lack of education and knowledge are the main barriers acting against the adoption of innovations. Consequently, it was revealed that most participants eventually decided to "set and forget" the systems in automatic working mode, indicating that the immediate effect of introducing people to assisting technologies also introduced some unintended consequences into their lifestyle. It is argued that this occurrence also indicates the fact that people initially "read" newer technologies and only adopt those features that they find useful and less intrusive in regards to their current lifestyle.

Keywords: automation, communication, greenhouse, sustainable

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Authors: W. R. M. Shehani Shanika

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Selling goods and services using images, names and personalities of celebrities has become a common marketing strategy identified in modern physical and online markets. Two concepts called globalization and open economy have given numerous reasons to develop businesses to earn higher profits. Therefore, global market plus domestic markets in various countries have vigorously endorsing images of famous sport stars, film stars, singing stars and cartoon characters for the purpose of increasing demand for goods and services rendered by them. It has been evident that these trade strategies have become a threat to famous personalities in financially and personally. Right to the image is a basic human right which celebrities owned to avoid themselves from various commercial exploitations. In this respect, this paper aims to assess whether the law relating to character merchandising satisfactorily protects right to image of celebrities. However, celebrities can decide how much they receive for each representation to the general public. Simply they have exclusive right to decide monetary value for their image. But most commonly every country uses law relating to unfair competition to regulate matters arise thereof. Legal norms in unfair competition are not enough to protect image of celebrities. Therefore, celebrities must be able to avoid unauthorized use of their images for commercial purposes by fraudulent traders and getting unjustly enriched, as their images have economic value. They have the right for use their image for any commercial purpose and earn profits. Therefore it is high time to recognize right to image as a new dimension to be protected in the legal framework of character merchandising. Unfortunately, to the author’s best knowledge there are no any uniform, single international standard which recognizes right to the image of celebrities in the context of character merchandising. The paper identifies it as a controversial legal barrier faced by celebrities in the rapidly evolving marketplace. Finally, this library-based research concludes with proposals to ensure the right to image more broadly in the legal context of character merchandising.

Keywords: brand endorsement, celebrity, character merchandising, intellectual property rights, right to image, unfair competition

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Authors: Efrat Neter, Esther Brainin, Orna Baron-Epel

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Background: Connecting end-users to newly developed ICT technologies and channeling patients to new products requires an assessment of compatibility. End user’s assessment is conveyed in the concept of eHealth literacy. The study examined the association between perceived and performed eHealth literacy (EHL) in a heterogeneous age sample in Israel. Methods: Participants included 100 Israeli adults (mean age 43,SD 13.9) who were first phone interviewed and then tested on a computer simulation of health-related Internet tasks. Performed, perceived and evaluated EHL were assessed. Levels of successful completion of tasks represented EHL performance and evaluated EHL included observed motivation, confidence, and amount of help provided. Results: The skills of accessing, understanding, appraising, applying, and generating new information had a decreasing successful completion rate with increase in complexity of the task. Generating new information, though highly correlated with all other skills, was least correlated with the other skills. Perceived and performed EHL were correlated (r=.40, P=.001), while facets of performance (i.e, digital literacy and EHL) were highly correlated (r=.89, P<.001). Participants low and high in performed EHL were significantly different: low performers were older, had attained less education, used the Internet for less time and perceived themselves as less healthy. They also encountered more difficulties, required more assistance, were less confident in their conduct and exhibited less motivation than high performers. Conclusions: The association in this age-hetrogenous ample was larger than in previous age-homogenous samples. The moderate association between perceived and performed EHL indicates that the two are associated yet distinct, the latter requiring separate assessment. Features of future rapid performed EHL tools are discussed.

Keywords: eHealth, health literacy, performance, simulation

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Authors: Haaris Khan, Farhad Udwadia

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South Asians are the fastest-growing immigrant population in Canada and are 3-4 times more likely to develop diabetes. In a primary care setting, language barriers continue to persist as a prominent obstacle when delivering crucial health information. Given the abundance of languages in the South Asian community and the varying levels of English fluency, there is compelling evidence that these language barriers can adversely impact health outcomes. The microvascular and macrovascular complications of poor diabetic management are well established and universally recognized. However, these are often difficult concepts to grasp for even individuals fluent in English. In order to lessen the burden of language barriers, we developed a comprehensive guide in various languages that discuss the complications and screening guidelines for diabetic and prediabetic patients. The guide is presented in the form of a pamphlet, with an electronic version being constructed as well, that provides basic information on diabetic retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy as well as the screening recommendations. We also conducted a review of the literature around the topic and incorporated our findings into our project. Our goal is for primary care physicians to have this resource and to be able to provide the link or pamphlet to patients in need. Our presentation also provides a comprehensive overview of some of the other barriers that individuals in the South Asian community face when seeking care. Given the staggering number of individuals in the South Asian community with diabetes and the morbidity and mortality associated with diabetes and its complications, effective community-specific strategies are needed to mitigate the potential consequences of poor diabetes management.

Keywords: diabetes, patient education, ophthalmology, vascular surgery

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Authors: Ehsan Mehryaar, Seyed Armin Motahari Tabari

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Coarse-grained soils are known and commonly used in a wide range of geotechnical projects, including high earth dams or embankments for their high shear strength. The most important engineering property of these soils is friction angle which represents the interlocking between soil particles and can be applied widely in designing and constructing these earth structures. Friction angle and dilative behavior of coarse-grained soils can be estimated from empirical correlations with in-situ testing and physical properties of the soil or measured directly in the laboratory performing direct shear or triaxial tests. Unfortunately, large-scale testing is difficult, challenging, and expensive and is not possible in most soil mechanic laboratories. So, it is common to remove the large particles and do the tests, which cannot be counted as an exact estimation of the parameters and behavior of the original soil. This paper describes a new methodology to simulate particles grading distribution of a well-graded gravel sample to a smaller scale sample as it can be tested in an ordinary direct shear apparatus to estimate the stress-strain behavior, friction angle, and dilative behavior of the original coarse-grained soil considering its confining pressure, and relative density using a machine learning method. A total number of 72 direct shear tests are performed in 6 different sizes, 3 different confining pressures, and 4 different relative densities. Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS) technique was used to develop an equation in order to predict shear strength and dilative behavior based on the size distribution of coarse-grained soil particles. Also, an uncertainty analysis was performed in order to examine the reliability of the proposed equation.

Keywords: MARS, coarse-grained soil, shear strength, uncertainty analysis

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Authors: Sara Mosallanejad, Bogdan Z. Dlugogorski, Jeff Gore, Mohammednoor Altarawneh

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Ammonium nitrate (NH­₄NO₃, AN) is commonly used as the main component of AN emulsion and fuel oil (ANFO) explosives, that use extensively in civilian and mining operations for underground development and tunneling applications. The emulsion formulation and wettability of AN prills, which affect the physical stability and detonation of ANFO, highly depend on the surface tension, density, viscosity of the used liquid. Therefore, for engineering applications of this material, the determination of density and surface tension of concentrated aqueous solutions of AN is essential. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method have been used to investigate the density and the surface tension of high concentrated ammonium nitrate solutions; up to its solubility limit in water. Non-polarisable models for water and ions have carried out the simulations, and the electronic continuum correction model (ECC) uses a scaling of the charges of the ions to apply the polarisation implicitly into the non-polarisable model. The results of calculated density and the surface tension of the solutions have been compared to available experimental values. Our MD simulations show that the non-polarisable model with full-charge ions overestimates the experimental results while the reduce-charge model for the ions fits very well with the experimental data. Ions in the solutions show repulsion from the interface using the non-polarisable force fields. However, when charges of the ions in the original model are scaled in line with the scaling factor of the ECC model, the ions create a double ionic layer near the interface by the migration of anions toward the interface while cations stay in the bulk of the solutions. Similar ions orientations near the interface were observed when polarisable models were used in simulations. In conclusion, applying the ECC model to the non-polarisable force field yields the density and surface tension of the AN solutions with high accuracy in comparison to the experimental measurements.

Keywords: ammonium nitrate, electronic continuum correction, non-polarisable force field, surface tension

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Authors: Sergey V. Vinogradov

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Coastal communities are presently facing increased vulnerabilities due to rising sea levels and shifts in global climate patterns, a trend expected to escalate in the long run. To address the needs of government entities, the public sector, and private enterprises, there is an urgent need to thoroughly investigate, assess, and manage the present and projected risks associated with coastal flooding, including storm surges, sea level rise, and nuisance flooding. In response to these challenges, a practical approach to evaluating storm surge inundation risks has been developed. This methodology offers an integrated assessment of potential flood risk in targeted coastal areas. The physical modeling framework involves simulating synthetic storms and utilizing hydrodynamic models that align with projected future climate and ocean conditions. Both publicly available and site-specific data form the basis for a risk assessment methodology designed to translate inundation model outputs into statistically significant projections of expected financial and operational consequences. This integrated approach produces measurable indicators of impacts stemming from floods, encompassing economic and other dimensions. By establishing connections between the frequency of modeled flood events and their consequences across a spectrum of potential future climate conditions, our methodology generates probabilistic risk assessments. These assessments not only account for future uncertainty but also yield comparable metrics, such as expected annual losses for each inundation event. These metrics furnish stakeholders with a dependable dataset to guide strategic planning and inform investments in mitigation. Importantly, the model's adaptability ensures its relevance across diverse coastal environments, even in instances where site-specific data for analysis may be limited.

Keywords: climate, coastal, surge, risk

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Authors: Naamane Remita, Mohammed laïd Mechri, Nouredine Zekri, Smaïl Chihi

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The goal of this study is the estimation real and imaginary components of both electrical impedance and permittivity z', z'' and ε', ε'' respectively, in Ouargla dunes sand at different temperatures and different frequencies, with alternating current (AC) equal to 1 volt, using the impedance spectroscopy (IS). This method is simple and non-destructive. the results can frequently be correlated with a number of physical properties, dielectric properties and the impacts of the composition on the electrical conductivity of solids. The experimental results revealed that the real part of impedance is higher at higher temperature in the lower frequency region and gradually decreases with increasing frequency. As for the high frequencies, all the values of the real part of the impedance were positive. But at low frequency the values of the imaginary part were positive at all temperatures except for 1200 degrees which were negative. As for the medium frequencies, the reactance values were negative at temperatures 25, 400, 200 and 600 degrees, and then became positive at the rest of the temperatures. At high frequencies of the order of MHz, the values of the imaginary part of the electrical impedance were in contrast to what we recorded for the middle frequencies. The results showed that the electrical permittivity decreases with increasing frequency, at low frequency we recorded permittivity values of 10+ 11, and at medium frequencies it was 10+ 07, while at high frequencies it was 10+ 02. The values of the real part of the electrical permittivity were taken large values at the temperatures of 200 and 600 degrees Celsius and at the lowest frequency, while the smallest value for the permittivity was recorded at the temperature of 400 degrees Celsius at the highest frequency. The results showed that there are large values of the imaginary part of the electrical permittivity at the lowest frequency and then it starts decreasing as the latter increases (the higher the frequency the lower the values of the imaginary part of the electrical permittivity). The character of electrical impedance variation indicated an opportunity to realize the polarization of Ouargla dunes sand and acquaintance if this compound consumes or produces energy. It’s also possible to know the satisfactory of equivalent electric circuit, whether it’s miles induction or capacitance.

Keywords: electrical impedance, electrical permittivity, temperature, impedance spectroscopy, dunes sand ouargla

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Authors: Shivalaxmi Arumugham

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Child sexual abuse (CSA) has taken several forms, particularly with the advent of internet technologies that provide pedophiles access to their targets anonymously at an affordable rate. To combat CSA which has far-reaching consequences on the physical and psychological health of the victims, a special act, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, was formulated amongst the existing laws. With its latest amendment criminalizing various online activities about child pornography also known as child sexual abuse materials in 2019, tremendous pressure is speculated on law enforcement to identify offenders online. Effective investigations of CSA cases help in not only to detect perpetrators but also in preventing the re-victimization of children. Understanding the vulnerability of the child population and that the offenders continue to develop stealthier strategies to operate, it is high time that traditional investigation, where the focus is on apprehending and prosecuting the offender, must make a paradigm shift to proactively investigate to prevent victimization at the first place. One of the proactive policing techniques involves understanding the psychology of the offenders and children and operating undercover to catch the criminals before a real child is victimized. With the fundamental descriptive approach to research, the article attempts to identify the multitude of issues associated with the investigation of child sexual abuse cases currently in practice in India. Then, the article contextualizes the various covert operations carried out by numerous law enforcement agencies across the globe. To provide this comprehensive overview, the paper examines various reports, websites, guidelines, protocols, judicial pronouncements, and research articles. Finally, the paper presents the challenges and ethical issues that are to be considered before getting into undercover operations either in the guise of a pedophile or as a child. The research hopes to contribute to the making of standard operating protocols for investigation officers and other relevant policymakers in this regard.

Keywords: child sexual abuse, cybercrime against children, covert police operations, investigation of CSA

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