Search results for: sana danish

Authors: Sana Ilyas

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Parry-Romberg syndrome is a rare condition clinically defined by slowly progressive atrophy of the skin and soft tissues. This usually effects one side of the face, although a few cases have been documented of bilateral presentation. It is more prevalent in females and usually affects the left side of the face. The syndrome can also be accompanied by neurological abnormalities. It usually occurs in the first two decades of life with a variable rate of progression. The aetiology is unknown, and the disease eventually stabilises. The treatment options usually involve surgical management. The least invasive of these options is the management of facial asymmetry, associated with Parry Romberg syndrome, through the use of tissue fillers. This paper will review the existing literature on the management of Parry Romberg syndrome with tissue filler. Aim: The aim of the study is to explore the current published literature for the management of Parry Romberg syndrome with fillers. It is to assess the development that has been made in this method of management, its benefits and limitations, and its effectiveness for the management of Parry Romberg syndrome. Methodology: There was a thorough assessment of the current literature published on this topic. PubMed database was used for search of the published literature on this method of the management. Papers were analysed and compared with one another to assess the success and limitation of the management of Parry Romberg with dermal fillers Results and Conclusion: Case reports of the use of tissue fillers discuss the varying degrees of success with the treatment. However, this procedure has it’s limitation, which are discussed in the paper in detail. However, it is still the least invasive of all the surgical options for the management of Parry Romberg Syndrome, and therefore, it is important to explore this option with patients, as they may be more comfortable with pursuingtreatment that is less invasive and can still improve their facial asymmetry

Keywords: dermal fillers, facial asymmetry, parry romberg syndrome, tissue fillers

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Authors: Balázs Ádám, Randi Nørgaard Fløe Pedersen, Jørgen Riis Jepsen

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Volatile chemicals that accumulate and release from freight containers constitute significant health risks. Fumigation to prevent spread of pests and off-gassing of freight are sources of hazardous chemicals. The aim of our study was to investigate the regulation and practice of container handling with focus on preventive measures applied against chemical exposures in Denmark. A comprehensive systematic search of scientific literature and organizational domains of international and Danish regulatory bodies was performed to explore regulations related to safe work with transport containers. The practice of container work was investigated in a series of semi-structured interviews with managers and health and safety representatives of organizations that handle transport containers. Although there are several international and national regulations and local safety instructions that relate to container handling, the provided information is not specific or up-to-date enough to conduct safe practice in many aspects. The interviewees estimate high frequency of containers with chemical exposure and deem that they can potentially damage health, although recognizable health effects are rare. Knowledge is limited about the chemicals and most of them cannot be measured by available devices. Typical preventive measures are passive ventilation and personal protective equipment but their use is not consistent and may not provide adequate protection. Hazardous chemicals are frequently present in transport containers; however, managers, workers and even occupational health professionals have limited knowledge about the problem. Detailed risk assessment and specific instructions on risk management are needed to provide safe conditions for work with containers.

Keywords: chemical exposure, fumigation, occupational health and safety regulation, transport container

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Authors: Ofri Earon

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This article is about a growing focus in the city of Copenhagen – the edge zone between the private space inside the residential building and the public space out at the residential street. A slow transition between the private living room and the public urban space creates a mutual benefit. The urban space benefits from an insertion of a homey atmosphere by the extended performance of living rooms to the exterior. The dwelling benefits from belonging to a liveable neighborliness, which means an extension of the private home to a collective home (= the neighborhood). Grounded by this reciprocal value of the edge zone, through the article, it is argued that a wide generosity of the edge zones is of interest among both planners and residents. The article introduces the idea of the edge zone and its possible implications in the development of the liveable residential city. Three examples of ongoing projects at Arkitema Architects are bought to illustrate the challenges and potentials of a generous edge zone. Every example represents a specific dwelling typology in a particular urban context: (1) multi-family residential building in a previous industrial area in the city (2) new courtyard building in the city’s outskirt (3) low and dense residential area out in the suburbia. Throughout these examples, the article seeks to discuss the significance of the edge zone in forthcoming residential areas in Denmark. The analysis of the Danish examples raises the question of why a social behavior that happens spontaneously in the south of Europe has to be carefully implemented in the architecture of north of Europe. In this light, the article ends with a discussion on how to create edge zones that are not designed for a particular usage, but rather as an architectural invitation for varied social behaviors that spontaneously occur in different moments of time by different people. Finally, the article ends with a list of recommendations for the development of the generous edge zone as an open invitation for diverse usage over time.

Keywords: dwelling, edge zone, generosity, livability, urban space

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Authors: A. Khan, I. Khan, M. Younus, S. E. Haque, U. Waheed, H. Neubauer, A. A. Anjum, S. A. Muhammad, A. Idrees T. Abbas, S. Raza, M. A. Ali, M. Farooq, M. Mahmood, A. Hussain, H. Danish, U. Tayyab, M. Zafar, M. Aslam.

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Brucellosis is one of the major problems of milk producing animals in our country which deteriorate the health of livestock. It is a disease of zoonotic significance which is capable of producing disease in humans leading to infertility, orchitis, abortions, and synovitis. In this particular study, milk and serum samples of cattle and buffalo (n=402) were collected from different districts of Punjab including Narowal, Gujranwala and Gujrat. Milk samples were analyzed by Milk Ring Test (MRT), while serum samples were tested through Rose Bengal Plate agglutination Test (RBPT) and Indirect Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay (i-ELISA). The sample tested with MRT were 9.5% positive, including cattle 9.6% and buffalo 9.3%. While using the RBPT test for the detection of serum samples and for screening purpose it was observed that 16.4% animals were seropositive, cattle were 18.8% and buffalo were 13.9% seropositive. The higher prevalence of brucellosis indicates the danger of the disease to human population. The serum samples positive by RBPT were further confirmed by the use of most specific and sensitive serological test known as i-ELISA. 11.4% animals were confirmed as seropositive by i-ELISA including cattle 13.5% seropositive and buffalo 9.3%. The results indicated high seroprevalence of brucellosis in cattle as compared to buffalos. Different risk factors were also studied to know the association between disease and their spread. Advanced age, larger herds, history of abortion and pregnancy of the animals is considered to be the important factors for the prevalence and spread of the hazardous zoonotic disease. It is a core issue of developing countries like Pakistan and has major public health impact.

Keywords: humans, bovines, infertility, orchitis, abortions, seroprevalence, brucellosis

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Authors: Mirza Waseem Abbas, Syed Danish Raza

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For many countries agriculture is still the major force driving the economy and a critically important socioeconomic sector, despite exceptional industrial development across the globe. In countries like Pakistan, this sector is considered the backbone of the economy, and most of the economic decision making revolves around agricultural outputs and data. Timely and accurate facts and figures about this vital sector hold immense significance and have serious implications for the long-term development of the economy. Therefore, any significant improvements in the statistics and other forms of data regarding agriculture sector are considered important by all policymakers. This is especially true for decision making for the betterment of crops and the agriculture sector in general. Provincial and federal agricultural departments collect data for all cash and non-cash crops and the sector, in general, every year. Traditional data collection for such a large sector i.e. agriculture, being time-consuming, prone to human error and labor-intensive, is slowly but gradually being replaced by remote sensing techniques. For this study, remotely sensed data were used for change detection (machine learning, supervised & unsupervised classification) to assess the increase or decrease in area under agriculture over the last fifteen years due to urbanization. Detailed Landsat Images for the selected agricultural districts were acquired for the year 2000 and compared to images of the same area acquired for the year 2016. Observed differences validated through detailed analysis of the areas show that there was a considerable decrease in vegetation during the last fifteen years in four major agricultural districts of the Punjab province due to urbanization (housing societies).

Keywords: change detection, area estimation, machine learning, urbanization, remote sensing

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Authors: Shahzad Bhatti, M. Aslamkhan, Sana Abbas, Marcella Attimonelli, Hikmet Hakan Aydin, Erica Martinha Silva de Souza,

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Despite being situated at the crossroad of Asia, Pakistan has gained crucial importance because of its pivotal role in subsequent migratory events. To highlight the genetic footprints and to contribute an enigmatic picture of the relative population expansion pattern among four major Pashtun tribes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa viz., Bangash, Khattak, Mahsuds and Orakzai, the complete mitochondrial control region of 100 Pashtun were analyzed. All Pashtun tribes studied here revealed high genetic diversity; that was comparable to the other Central Asian, Southeast Asian and European populations. The configuration of genetic variation and heterogeneity further unveiled through Multidimensional Scaling, Principal Component Analysis, and phylogenetic analysis. The results revealed that the Pashtun is a composite mosaic of West Eurasian ancestry of numerous geographic origin. They received substantial gene flow during different invasions and have a high element of the Western provenance. The most common haplogroups reported in this study are: South Asian haplogroup M (28%) and R (8%); whereas, West Asians haplogroups are present, albeit in high frequencies (67%) and widespread over all; HV (15%), U (17%), H (9%), J (8%), K (8%), W (4%), N (3%) and T (3%). Herein we linked the unexplored genetic connection between Ashkenazi Jews and Pashtun. The presence of specific haplotypes J1b (4%) and K1a1b1a (5%) point to a genetic connection of Jewish conglomeration with Khattak tribe. This was a result of an ancient genetic influx in the early Neolithic period that led to the formation of a diverse genetic substratum in present day Pashtun.

Keywords: mtDNA haplogroups, control region, Pakistan, KPK, ethnicity

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Authors: Tanveer Hussain, Misbah Hussain, Masroor Ellahi Babar, Muhammad Traiq Pervez, Fiaz Hussain, Sana Zahoor, Rashid Saif

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Interleukin 2 (IL-2) is a cytokine which is produced by activated T cells, play important role in immune response against antigen. It act in both autocrine and paracrine manner. It can stimulate B cells and various other phagocytic cells like monocytes, lymphokine-activated killer cells and natural killer cells. Acting in autocrine fashion, IL-2 protein plays a crucial role in proliferation of T cells. IL-2 triggers the release of pro and anti- inflammatory cytokines by activating several pathways. In present study, exon 1 of IL-2 gene of four local Pakistani breeds (Dera Din Panah, Beetal, Nachi and Kamori) from two provinces was amplified by using reported Ovine IL-2 primers, yielding PCR product of 501 bp. The sequencing of all samples was done to identify the polymorphisms in amplified region of IL-2 gene. Analysis of sequencing data resulted in identification of one novel nucleotide substitution (T→A) in amplified non-coding region of IL-2 gene. Comparison of IL-2 gene sequence of all four breeds with other goat breeds showed high similarity in sequence. While phylogenetic analysis of our local breeds with other mammals showed that IL-2 is a variable gene which has undergone many substitutions. This high substitution rate can be due to the decreased or increased changed selective pressure. These rapid changes can also lead to the change in function of immune system. This pioneering study of Pakistani goat breeds urge for further studies on immune system of each targeted breed for fully understanding the functional role of IL-2 in goat immunity.

Keywords: interleukin 2, mutational analysis, phylogeny, goat breeds, Pakistan

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Authors: Nikolai Bertelsen, Robert A. Alphinas, Klaus B. Orskov

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The shortest possible tool stickout has been the traditional go-to approach with expectations of increased stability and productivity. However, experimental studies at Danish Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (DAMRC) have proven that for some tool stickout lengths, there exist local productivity optimums when utilizing the Stability Lobe Diagrams for chatter avoidance. This contradicts with traditional logic and the best practices taught to machinists. This paper explores the vibrational characteristics and behaviour of a milling system over the tool stickout length. The experimental investigation has been conducted by tap testing multiple endmills where the tool stickout length has been varied. For each length, the modal parameters have been recorded and mapped to visualize behavioural tendencies. Furthermore, the paper explores the correlation between the modal parameters and the Stability Lobe Diagram to outline the influence and importance of each parameter in a multi-mode system. The insights are conceptualized into a tool tuning approximation solution. It builds on an almost linear change in the natural frequencies when amending tool stickout, which results in changed positions of the Chatter-free Stability Lobes. Furthermore, if the natural frequency of two modes become too close, it will onset of the dynamic absorber effect phenomenon. This phenomenon increases the critical stable depth of cut, allowing for a more stable milling process. Validation tests on the tool tuning approximation solution have shown varying success of the solution. This outlines the need for further research on the boundary conditions of the solution to understand at which conditions the tool tuning approximation solution is applicable. If the conditions get defined, the conceptualized tool tuning approximation solution outlines an approach for quick and roughly approximating tool stickouts with the potential for increased stiffness and optimized productivity.

Keywords: milling, modal parameters, stability lobes, tap testing, tool tuning

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Authors: Tomasz Zarebski

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A very important element of the education system is its evaluation procedure. Each education system should be systematically evaluated and improved. Among the criteria subject to evaluation, attention should be paid to the following: structure of the study programme, implementation of the study programme, admission to studies, verification of learning outcomes achievement by students, giving credit for individual semesters and years, and awarding diplomas, competence, experience, qualifications and the number of staff providing education, staff development, and in-service training, education infrastructure, cooperation with social and economic stakeholders on the development, conditions for and methods of improving the internationalisation of education provided as part of the degree programme, supporting learning, social, academic or professional development of students and their entry on the labour market, public access to information about the study programme and quality assurance policy. Concerning the assessment process and the individual assessment indicators, the participation of students in these processes is essential. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the rules of student participation in accreditation processes on the example of individual countries in Europe. The rules of students' participation in the work of accreditation committees and their influence on the final grade of the committee were analysed. Most of the higher education institutions follow similar rules for accreditation. The general model gives the individual institution freedom to organize its own quality assurance, as long as the system lives up to the criteria for quality and relevance laid down in the particular provisions. This point also applies to students. The regulations of the following countries were examined in the legal-comparative aspect: Poland (Polish Accreditation Committee), Denmark (The Danish Accreditation Institution), France (High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education), Germany (Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of Study Programmes) and Italy (National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes).

Keywords: accreditation, student, study programme, quality assurance in higher education

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Authors: Rafla Attia, Claudio Zucca, Bao Quang Le, Sana Dridi, Thouraya Sahli, Taoufik Hermassi

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In Tunisia, landscape change and land degradation are critical issues for landscape conservation, management, and planning. Landscapes are undergoing crucial environmental problems made evident by soil degradation and desertification. Human improper uses of land resources (e.g., unsuitable land uses, unsustainable crop intensification, and poor rangeland management) and climate change are the main factors leading to the landscape transformation and desertification affecting high proportions of the Tunisian lands. Land use planning (LUP) to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) must be supported by methodologies and technologies that help identify best solutions and practices and design context-specific sustainable land management (SLM) strategies. Such strategies must include restoration or rehabilitation efforts in areas with high land degradation, as well as prevention of degradation that could be caused by improper land use (LU) and land management (LM). The geoinformatics Land Use Planning for LDN (LUP4LDN) tool has been designed for this purpose. Its aim is to support national and sub-national planners in i) mapping geographic patterns of current land degradation; ii) anticipating further future land degradation expected in areas that are unsustainably managed; and iii) providing an interactive procedure for developing participatory LU-LM transitional scenarios over selected regions of interest and timeframes, visualizing the related expected levels of impacts on ecosystem services via maps and graphs. The tool has been co-developed and piloted with national stakeholders in Tunisia. The piloting implementation assessed how the LUP4LDN tool fits with existing LUP processes and the benefits achieved by using the tool to support land use planning for LDN.

Keywords: land use system, land cover, sustainable land management, land use planning for land degradation neutrality

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Authors: Mohamed Rajab Peer Mohamed, Thiruvenkatasamy Kannabiran

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In the present investigation, the scour around a circular pier subjected to a steady current were studied numerically using two-dimensional MIKE21 Flow Model (FM) and Sand Transport (ST)Modulewhich is developed by Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI), Denmark. The unstructured flexible mesh generated with rectangular flume dimension of 10 m wide, 1 m deep, and 30 m long. The grain size of the sand was d50 = 0.16 mm, sediment size, sediment gradation=1.16, pier diameter D= 30 mm and depth-averaged current velocity, U = 0.449 m/s are considered in the model. The estimated scour depth obtained from this model is validated and it is observed that the results of the model have good agreement with flume experimental results.In order to estimate the scour depth, several simulations were made for three cases viz., Case I:change in sediment transport model description in the numerical model viz, i) Engelund-Hansen model, ii) Engelund-Fredsøe model, and iii) Van Rijn model, Case II: change in current velocity for keeping constant pile diameter D=0.03 m and Case III:change in pier diameter for constant depth averaged current speed U=0.449 m/s.In case I simulations, the results indicate that the scour depth S/D is the order of 1.73 for Engelund-Hansen model, 0.64 for Engelund-Fredsøe model and 0.46 for VanRijn model. The scour depth estimates using Engelund-Hansen method compares well the experimental results.In case II, simulations show that the scour depth increases with increasing current component of the flow.In case III simulations, the results indicate that the scour depth increases with increase in pier diameter and it stabilize attains steady value when the Froude number> 2.71.All the results of the numerical simulations are clearly matches with reported values of the experimental results. Hence, this MIKE21 FM –Sand Transport model can be used as a suitable tool to estimate the scour depth for field applications. Moreover, to provide suitable scour protection methods, the maximum scour depth is to be predicted, Engelund-Hansen method can be adopted to estimate the scour depth in the steady current region.

Keywords: circular pier, MIKE21, numerical model, scour, sediment transport

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Authors: Mohammad K. Rumjaun, Sana Amjed, Muhammad A. Ghazi, Safa G. Attar, Jason Raw

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Background: National Health Service (NHS) in England is one of the leading healthcare systems in the world and it heavily relies on the recruitment of overseas doctors. 30.7% of the doctors currently serving in NHS are overseas doctors. Most of these doctors do not receive the essential induction required to work in the NHS when they first arrive and therefore, they mostly struggle to work effectively in the first few months of their new jobs as compared to UK graduates. In our hospital, the clinical need for a dedicated induction programme for the International Medical Graduates (IMGs) was identified for their initial settling period and this programme was designed to achieve this. Methods: A questionnaire was designed for the previous 7 IMGs (Group 1) in order to identify the difficulties they faced in their initial phase. Thereafter, an induction programme consisting of presentations explaining the NHS and hospital framework, communication skills practice sessions, the clinical ceiling of care and patient simulation training was implemented for 6 new IMGs (Group 2). Another survey was done and compared with the previous. Results: After this programme, group 2 required only 1 week to understand the complexity of the IT systems as compared 3 weeks in group 1. 83% of group 2 was well-supported for their on-call duties after this programme as compared to 29% and 100% of group 2 was aware of their role in the job after the induction as compared to 0%. Furthermore, group 2 was able to function independently and confidently in their roles after only 1 month as compared to an average of 3 months for group 1. After running the PDSA cycles, our results show clear evidence that this programme has tremendously benefitted the IMGs in settling in the NHS. The IMGs really appreciated this initiative and have given positive feedback. Conclusion: Leaving your home country to begin your career in a different country is not an easy transition and undoubtedly, everyone struggles. It is important to invest in a well-structured induction programme for the IMGs in the initial phase of their jobs as this will improve not only their confidence and efficacy but also patients’ safety.

Keywords: induction programme, international medical graduates, NHS, overseas doctors struggles.

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Authors: Sana Ammad

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The tradition of linguistic analysis in Islam and Christianity has developed independently of each other in lieu of the social developments specific to their historical context. However, recently increasing number of Muslim academics educated in the West have tried to apply the Western tradition of linguistic interpretation to the Qur’anic text while completely disregarding the Islamic linguistic tradition used and developed by the traditional scholars over the centuries. The aim of the paper is to outline the linguistic tools and methods used by the traditional Islamic scholars for the purpose of interpretating the Holy Qur’an and shed light on how they contribute towards a better understanding of the text compared to their Western counterparts. This paper carries out a descriptive-comparative study of the linguistic tools developed and perfected by the traditional scholars in Islam for the purpose of textual analysis of the Qur’an as they have been described in the authentic works of Usul Al Fiqh (Jurisprudence) and the principles of textual analysis employed by the Western hermeneutical tradition for the study of the Bible. First, it briefly outlines the independent historical development of the two traditions emphasizing the final normative shape that they have taken. Then it draws a comparison of the two traditions highlighting the similarities and the differences existing between them. In the end, the paper demonstrates the level of academic excellence achieved by the traditional linguistic scholars in their efforts to develop appropriate tools of textual interpretation and how these tools are more suitable for interpreting the Qur’an compared to the Western principles. Since the aim of interpreters of both the traditions is to try and attain an objective understanding of the Scriptures, the emphasis of the paper shall be to highlight how well the Islamic method of linguistic interpretation contributes to an objective understanding of the Qur’anic text. The paper concludes with the following findings: The Western hermeneutical tradition of linguistic analysis developed within the Western historical context. However, the Islamic method of linguistic analysis is much more highly developed and complex and serves better the purpose of objective understanding of the Holy text.

Keywords: Islamic jurisprudence, linguistic analysis, textual interpretation, western hermeneutics

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Authors: Mohammad Hossain Mohammadi, Saif Al Ameri, Sana Ziaei, Jinane Mounsef

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Automated enumeration of the number of hand fingers is widely used in several motion gaming and distance control applications, and is discussed in several published papers as a starting block for hand recognition systems. The automated finger enumeration technique should not only be accurate, but also must have a fast response for a moving-picture input. The high performance of video in motion games or distance control will inhibit the program’s overall speed, for image processing software such as Matlab need to produce results at high computation speeds. Since an automated finger enumeration with minimum error and processing time is desired, a comparative study between two finger enumeration techniques is presented and analyzed in this paper. In the pre-processing stage, various image processing functions were applied on a real-time video input to obtain the final cleaned auto-cropped image of the hand to be used for the two techniques. The first technique uses the known morphological tool of skeletonization to count the number of skeleton’s endpoints for fingers. The second technique uses a radial distance method to enumerate the number of fingers in order to obtain a one dimensional hand representation. For both discussed methods, the different steps of the algorithms are explained. Then, a comparative study analyzes the accuracy and speed of both techniques. Through experimental testing in different background conditions, it was observed that the radial distance method was more accurate and responsive to a real-time video input compared to the skeletonization method. All test results were generated in Matlab and were based on displaying a human hand for three different orientations on top of a plain color background. Finally, the limitations surrounding the enumeration techniques are presented.

Keywords: comparative study, hand recognition, fingertip detection, skeletonization, radial distance, Matlab

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Authors: Sameer A. Pathan, Biswadev Mitra, Zain A. Bhutta, Isma Qureshi, Elle Spencer, Asmaa A. Hameed, Sana Nadeem, Ramsha Tahir, Shahzad Anjum, Peter A. Cameron

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Background: This study aimed to compare epidemiology, clinical presentations, management and outcomes of renal colic presentations in two major academic centers and discuss potential implications of these results for the applicability of current evidence in the management of renal colic. Methods: We undertook a retrospective cohort study of patients with renal colic who presented to the Hamad General Hospital Emergency Department (HGH-ED), Qatar, and The Alfred ED, Melbourne, Australia, during a period of one year from August 1, 2012, to July 3, 2013. Cases were identified using ICD-9-CM codes, and an electronic template was used to record the data on predefined clinical variables. Results: A total of 12,223 from the HGH-ED and 384 from The Alfred ED were identified as renal colic presentations during the study period. The rate of renal colic presentations at the HGH-ED was 27.9 per 1000 ED visits compared to 6.7 per 1000 ED visits at The Alfred ED. Patients presenting to the HGH-ED were significantly younger [34.9 years (29.0- 43.4) than The Alfred ED [48 years (37-60); P < 0.001]. The median stone size was larger in the HGH-ED group [6 (4-8) mm] versus The Alfred ED group [4 (3-6) mm, P < 0.001]. The intervention rate in the stone-positive population was significantly higher in the HGH-ED group as opposed to The Alfred ED group (38.7% versus 11.9%, p<0.001). At the time of discharge, The Alfred ED group received less analgesic prescriptions (55.8% versus 83.5%, P < 0.001) and more tamsulosin prescriptions (25.3% versus 11.7%, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Renal colic presentations to the HGH-ED, Qatar, were younger, with larger stone size, compared to The Alfred ED, whereas, medical expulsion therapy use was higher at the Alfred ED. Differences in epidemiology should be considered while tailoring strategies for effective management of patients with renal colic in the given setting.

Keywords: kidney stones, urolithiasis, nephrolithiasis, renal colic, epidemiology

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Authors: Sahand Golmohammadi, Sana Hosseini Shirazi

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Because the status and mechanical parameters of discontinuities in the rock mass are included in the calculations, various methods of rock engineering classification are often used as a starting point for the design of different types of structures. The Q-system is one of the most frequently used methods for stability analysis and determination of support systems of underground structures in rock, including tunnel. In this method, six main parameters of the rock mass, namely, the rock quality designation (RQD), joint set number (Jn), joint roughness number (Jr), joint alteration number (Ja), joint water parameter (Jw) and stress reduction factor (SRF) are required. In this regard, in order to achieve a reasonable and optimal design, identifying the effective parameters for the stability of the mentioned structures is one of the most important goals and the most necessary actions in rock engineering. Therefore, it is necessary to study the relationships between the parameters of a system and how they interact with each other and, ultimately, the whole system. In this research, it has attempted to determine the most effective parameters (key parameters) from the six parameters of rock mass in the Q-system using the rock engineering system (RES) method to improve the relationships between the parameters in the calculation of the Q value. The RES system is, in fact, a method by which one can determine the degree of cause and effect of a system's parameters by making an interaction matrix. In this research, the geomechanical data collected from the water conveyor tunnel of Azad Dam were used to make the interaction matrix of the Q-system. For this purpose, instead of using the conventional methods that are always accompanied by defects such as uncertainty, the Q-system interaction matrix is coded using a technique that is actually a statistical analysis of the data and determining the correlation coefficient between them. So, the effect of each parameter on the system is evaluated with greater certainty. The results of this study show that the formed interaction matrix provides a reasonable estimate of the effective parameters in the Q-system. Among the six parameters of the Q-system, the SRF and Jr parameters have the maximum and minimum impact on the system, respectively, and also the RQD and Jw parameters have the maximum and minimum impact on the system, respectively. Therefore, by developing this method, we can obtain a more accurate relation to the rock mass classification by weighting the required parameters in the Q-system.

Keywords: Q-system, rock engineering system, statistical analysis, rock mass, tunnel

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Authors: Igbakura I. Luga, Alex A. Adikwu

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A comparison of resistance to quinolones was carried out on isolates of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coliO157:H7 from cattle and mecA and nuc genes harbouring Staphylococcus aureus from pigs. The isolates were separately tested in the first and current decades of the 21^st century. The objective was to demonstrate the dissemination of resistance to this frontline class of antibiotic by bacteria from food animals and bring to the limelight the spread of antibiotic resistance in Nigeria. A total of 10 isolates of the E. coli O157:H7 and 9 of mecA and nuc genes harbouring S. aureus were obtained following isolation, biochemical testing, and serological identification using the Remel Wellcolex E. coli O157:H7 test. Shiga toxin-production screening in the E. coli O157:H7 using the verotoxin E. coli reverse passive latex agglutination (VTEC-RPLA) test; and molecular identification of the mecA and nuc genes in S. aureus. Detection of the mecA and nuc genes were carried out using the protocol by the Danish Technical University (DTU) using the following primers mecA-1:5'-GGGATCATAGCGTCATTATTC-3', mecA-2: 5'-AACGATTGTGACACGATAGCC-3', nuc-1: 5'-TCAGCAAATGCATCACAAACAG-3', nuc-2: 5'-CGTAAATGCACTTGCTTCAGG-3' for the mecA and nuc genes, respectively. The nuc genes confirm the S. aureus isolates and the mecA genes as being methicillin-resistant and so pathogenic to man. The fluoroquinolones used in the antibiotic resistance testing were norfloxacin (10 µg) and ciprofloxacin (5 µg) in the E. coli O157:H7 isolates and ciprofloxacin (5 µg) in the S. aureus isolates. Susceptibility was tested using the disk diffusion method on Muller-Hinton agar. Fluoroquinolone resistance was not detected from isolates of E. coli O157:H7 from cattle. However, 44% (4/9) of the S. aureus were resistant to ciprofloxacin. Resistance of up to 44% in isolates of mecA and nuc genes harbouring S. aureus is a compelling evidence for the rapid spread of antibiotic resistance from bacteria in food animals from Nigeria. Ciprofloxacin is the drug of choice for the treatment of Typhoid fever, therefore widespread resistance to it in pathogenic bacteria is of great public health significance. The study concludes that antibiotic resistance in bacteria from food animals is on the increase in Nigeria. The National Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) agency in Nigeria should implement the World Health Organization (WHO) global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. A good starting point can be coordinating the WHO, Office of International Epizootics (OIE), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) tripartite draft antimicrobial resistance monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework in Nigeria.

Keywords: Fluoroquinolone, Nigeria, resistance, Staphylococcus aureus

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Authors: Mahendran Ganesan, Sanjeet Kumar Verma, Zafar Iqbal, Ashish Chandran, Zakir Husain, Shama Afroz, Sana Shahid, Laiq Ur Rahman

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Highly efficient in vitro regeneration system has been developed for Swertia chirayita (Roxb. ex Fleming) H. Karst, a high prized traditional medicinal plant to treat numerous ailments such as liver disorders, malaria and diabetes and are reported to have a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties. Its medicinal usage is well-documented in Indian pharmaceutical codex, the British and the American pharmacopeias, and in different traditional medicine such as the Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medical systems. Nodal explants were cultured on MS medium supplemented with various phytohormones for multiple shoot induction. The nodal segments failed to respond in growth regulator free medium. All the concentrations of BAP, Kin and TDZ facilitated shoot bud break and multiple shoot induction. Among the various cytokinins tested, BAP was found to be more effective with respect to initiation and subsequent development of shoots. Of the various concentrations BAP tested, BAP at 4.0 mg/L showed the higher average number of shoot regeneration (10.80 shoots per explant). Kin at 4 mg/L and TDZ at 4 mg/L induced 5.70 and 04.5+0 shoots per explant, respectively. Further increase in concentration did not favour an increase in the number of shoots. However, these shoots failed to elongate further. Hence, addition of GA₃ (1 mg/L) was added to the above medium. This treatment resulted in the elongation of shoots (2.50 cm) and a further increase in the number of microshoots (34.20 shoots/explant). Roots were also induced in the same medium containing BAP (4 mg/L) + GA₃ (1 mg/L) + NAA (0.5 mg/L). In vitro derived plantlets with well-developed roots were transferred to the potting media containing garden soil: sand: vermicompost (2:1:1). Plantlets were covered with a polyethylene bag and irrigated with water. The pots were maintained at 25 ± 2ºC, and then the polyethylene cover was gradually loosened, thus dropping the humidity (65–70%). This procedure subsequently resulted in in vitro hardening of the plantlet.

Keywords: micropropagation, nodal explant, plant growth regulators, Swertia chirayita

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Authors: Sana Hamdi, Emna Bouazizi, Sami Faiz

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In recent years, real-time spatial applications, like location-aware services and traffic monitoring, have become more and more important. Such applications result dynamic environments where data as well as queries are continuously moving. As a result, there is a tremendous amount of real-time spatial data generated every day. The growth of the data volume seems to outspeed the advance of our computing infrastructure. For instance, in real-time spatial Big Data, users expect to receive the results of each query within a short time period without holding in account the load of the system. But with a huge amount of real-time spatial data generated, the system performance degrades rapidly especially in overload situations. To solve this problem, we propose the use of data partitioning as an optimization technique. Traditional horizontal and vertical partitioning can increase the performance of the system and simplify data management. But they remain insufficient for real-time spatial Big data; they can’t deal with real-time and stream queries efficiently. Thus, in this paper, we propose a novel data partitioning approach for real-time spatial Big data named VPA-RTSBD (Vertical Partitioning Approach for Real-Time Spatial Big data). This contribution is an implementation of the Matching algorithm for traditional vertical partitioning. We find, firstly, the optimal attribute sequence by the use of Matching algorithm. Then, we propose a new cost model used for database partitioning, for keeping the data amount of each partition more balanced limit and for providing a parallel execution guarantees for the most frequent queries. VPA-RTSBD aims to obtain a real-time partitioning scheme and deals with stream data. It improves the performance of query execution by maximizing the degree of parallel execution. This affects QoS (Quality Of Service) improvement in real-time spatial Big Data especially with a huge volume of stream data. The performance of our contribution is evaluated via simulation experiments. The results show that the proposed algorithm is both efficient and scalable, and that it outperforms comparable algorithms.

Keywords: real-time spatial big data, quality of service, vertical partitioning, horizontal partitioning, matching algorithm, hamming distance, stream query

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Authors: Martabolette Stecher

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Introductory: How is knowledge and ability to act on employable opportunities constructed among students and graduates at higher educations? This question have been drawn much attention by researchers, governments and universities in Denmark, since there has been an increases in the rate of unemployment among graduates from higher education. The fact that more than ten thousand graduates from higher education without the opportunity to get a job in these years has a tremendous impact upon the social economy in Denmark. Every time a student graduate from higher education and become unemployed, it is possible to trace upon the person´s chances to get a job many years ahead. This means that the tremendous rate of graduate unemployment implies a decrease in employment and lost prosperity in Denmark within a billion Danish Kroner scale. Basic methodologies: The present study investigates the construction of knowledge and ability to act upon employable opportunities among students and graduates at higher educations in Denmark in a literature review as well as a preliminary study of students from Aarhus University. 15 students from the candidate of drama have been engaging in an introductory program at the beginning of their candidate study, which included three workshops focusing upon the more personal matters of their studies and life. They have reflected upon this process during the intervention and afterwards in a semi-structured interview. Concurrently a thorough literature review has delivered key concepts for the exploration of the research question. Major findings of the study: It is difficult to find one definition of what employability encompasses, hence the overall picture of how to incorporate the concept is difficult. The present theory of employability has been focusing upon the competencies, which students and graduates are going to develop in order to become employable. In recent years there has been an emphasis upon the mechanism which supports graduates to trust themselves and to develop their self-efficacy in terms of getting a sustainable job. However, there has been little or no focus in the literature upon the idea of how students and graduates from higher education construct knowledge about and ability to act upon employable opportunities involving network of actors both material and immaterial network and meaningful relations for students and graduates in developing their enterprising behavior to achieve employment. The Act-network-theory combined with theory of entrepreneurship education suggests an alternative strategy to focus upon when explaining sustainable ways of creating employability among graduates. The preliminary study also supports this theory suggesting that it is difficult to emphasize a single or several factors of importance rather highlighting the effect of a multitude network. Concluding statement: This study is the first step of a ph.d.-study investigating this problem in Denmark and the USA in the period 2015 – 2019.

Keywords: employablity, graduates, action, opportunities

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Authors: Junaid Mahmood Alam, Sana Anwar, Sarah Sughra Asghar

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Chronic hepatitis or Hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection has been identified as one of the factors that could elicit autoimmune disease resulting in the development of auto-antibodies. Furthermore, HCV is implicated in contravening of forbearance to antigens, therefore, inciting auto-reactivity. In this regard, several near and past studies noted the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and production of anti-thyroid antibodies (ATAb) such as anti-thyroid peroxidase (AntiTPO) and anti-thyroglobulin (AntiTG) in patients with HCV. Likewise, one of the etiologies of augmentation of thyroid disease is basically interferon therapy for HCV infections, for which a number of autoimmune diseases have been noted including Grave’s disease, Hishimoto thyroiditis. A prospectively case-control study was therefore carried out at department of clinical biochemistry lab services and chemical pathology in collaboration with department of clinical microbiology, at Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College, Karachi Pakistan for the period January 2015 to December 2017. Two control groups were inducted for comparison purpose, control group 1 = without HCV infection and with thyroid disorders (n = 20), control group 2 = with HCV infection and without thyroid disorders (n = 20), whereas HCV infected were n = 40 where more than half were noted to be positive for either of HCV IgG and Ag. In HCV group, patients with existing sub-clinical hypothyroidism and clinical hyperthyroidism were less than 5%. Analysis showed the presence of AntiTG in 12 HCV patients (30%), AntiTPO in 15 (37.5%) and both AntiTG and antiTPO in 10 patients (25%). Only 3 patients were found with the history of anti-thyroid auto-antibodies (7.5%) and one with parents and relatives with auto-immune disorders (2.5%). Patients that remained untreated were 12 (30%), under treatment 18 (45%) and with complete-course of treatment 10 (25%). As per review of the literature, meta-analysis of evident data and cross-sectional studies of selective cohorts (as studied in presented research), thyroid connection is designated as one of the most recurrent endocrine ailment associated with chronic HCV infection. Moreover, it also represents an extrahepatic disease in the continuum of HCV syndrome. In conclusion, HCV patients were more likely to encompass thyroid disorders especially related to development of either of ATAb or both antiTG and AntiTPO.

Keywords: Hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection, anti-thyroid antibodies, anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies

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Authors: Sana Zia

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One of the most important questions for research on Muslim women's representation is the relationship between Islam and women’s situation in Islamic countries. In this context, certain questions can be raised like is it possible to analyze women’s situation in Islamic countries like Pakistan? Or what is the relationship between Islam and patriarchy? So this paper will examine all these questions by analysing Muslim women's representation in Pakistani Cinema. It is also significant to note that despite political and religious constraints in Muslim countries, in particular, Pakistan, women have not only been part of the film industry for long, but they also have chosen films as their feminist tool to question and expose the effects of patriarchy, religious fundamentalism, and gender-specific socio-cultural oppression. The religious-cultural ethos that could include gender-specific restrictions and limitations on their creative expression as Muslim women in an Islamic society. A new wave of Pakistani cinema is pivoting around strong Muslim female characters and opened up a new thought about Islamic women.Their contributions and success through this medium emphasized the need to investigate the significance and effectiveness of contemporary cinema as a tool of resistance and cross-cultural communication in a Muslim society. So this research can also provide a better understanding about Islam that needs to be modernized and reclaimed from the clutches of fundamentalism and extremism. This paper thus investigates the interrelation of women's representation and Pakistani cinema by analysing two films ‘Bol: To speak up’ and ‘Dukhter: Daughter’. The feminist analysis of these films not only helps to understand the new trends and dimensions in representation of Muslim women in Pakistani cinema, but this also helps to raise awareness globally regarding the depiction of Muslim women. So to foreground the above mentioned discussion, the films under study helps to evaluate their significance, the role they play towards activism, resistance, and global awareness in terms of what could be termed as a Muslim woman. The paper thus provides a valuable insight that how and why Islam is being used as a mechanism to merge social, political and economic factors to define the rights and conditions of Pakistani Muslim women and highlight the cinematic struggle of the film maker’s which by using films as an awareness tool are going to highlight the problems and issues of Muslim women in the global world.

Keywords: Muslim women, Pakistani cinema, patriarchy, religious fundamentalism

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Authors: Barbara Eschen Danielsen, Morten Niels Baxter, Per Sieverts Nielsen

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Europe is currently in an energy and climate crisis, which requires more sustainable solutions than what has been used to before. Europe uses 40% of its energy in buildings so there has come a significant focus on trying to find and commit to new initiatives to reduce energy consumption in buildings. The European Union has introduced a building standard in 2021 to be upheld by 2030. This new building standard requires a significant reduction of CO2 emissions from both privately and publicly owned buildings. The overall aim is to achieve a zero-emission building stock by 2050. EU is revising the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) as part of the “Fit for 55” package. It was adopted on March 14, 2023. The new directive’s main goal is to renovate the least energy-efficient homes in Europe. There will be a cost for the home owner with a renovation project, but there will also be an improvement in energy efficiency and, therefore, a cost reduction. After the implementation of the EU directive, many homeowners will have to focus their attention on how to make the most effective energy renovations of their homes. The new EU directive will affect almost one million Danish homes (30%), as they do not meet the newly implemented requirements for energy efficiency. The problem for this one mio homeowners is that it is not easy to decide which renovation project they should consider. The houses are build differently and there are many possible solutions. The main focus of this paper is to identify the most impactful solutions and evaluate their impact and evaluating them with a criteria based sustainability indicator framework. The result of the analysis give each homeowner an insight in the various renovation options, including both advantages and disadvantages with the aim of avoiding unnecessary costs and errors while minimizing their CO2 footprint. Given that the new EU directive impacts a significant number of home owners and their homes both in Denmark and the rest of the European Union it is crucial to clarify which renovations have the most environmental impact and most cost effective. We have evaluated the 10 most impactful solutions and evaluated their impact in an indicator framework which includes 9 indicators and covers economic, environmental as well as social factors. We have packaged the result of the analysis in three packages, the most cost effective (short term), the most cost effective (long-term) and the most sustainable. The results of the study secure transparency and thereby provides homeowners with a tool to help their decision-making. The analysis is based on mostly qualitative indicators, but it will be possible to evaluate most of the indicators quantitively in a future study.

Keywords: energy efficiency, building renovation, renovation solutions, building energy performance criteria

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Authors: Sana Iqbal

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The female voice in Sufi poetry has been studied as a symbol of humility and devotion. Throughout the centuries, the Sufi shrines have also sheltered women and have served as a source of emotional strength in times of difficulty. Although women have been central to Sufi Islam, female-led rituals and performances (of veneration) are rarely studied as acts of empowerment and symbols of healing. This is especially true for rituals performed in informal spaces, which require going beyond the shrine practices. The rituals and meanings associated with Khizr Khwaja (or Sindhi Hindu god Jhelelal) among women in Punjab can serve as a useful case study to unpack some of these meanings. The paper aims to shed light on female-led rituals among women from Punjab associated with the folkloric traditions associated with Khizar Khwaja, Zinda Pir, Jhulelal or river god in the South Asian region to protect mariners from possible risks (since trade was primarily dependent on water channels) or for inducing timely rain date back to the 10th century in Sindh. However, these meanings and associations have evolved and the paper thus aims to establish a relationship between this figure and the women in Punjab by analysing the findings from an ethnographic study. It traces the historical meanings and significance attached to the divine figure and the wells (informal spaces) associated with him since the rituals performed by women is now infused solely with seeking fertility or to be blessed with a successful pregnancy, as opposed to him being celebrated for other reasons in older times. These associations beg the question of what women gain out of these rituals and making offerings to the mysterious figure of Khizr. Anecdotal evidence in the form of interviews conducted in Bhakar and Talwandi (Punjab) during the summer of 2015 helped to explore the stories related to this legend while also allowing us to witness some of the female-led ritual practices. It can be said that the symbols adopted in the ritual practices invoke liminality for women, which is a blend of opposites. The paper argues that this liminality/journey has been used as a vehicle to transcend all worldly structures of power and it symbolically emphasises the richness of feminine love/devotion and grants healing to female devotees.

Keywords: transgression, gender, liminality, ritual

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Authors: Sana Maidullah, Ankita Sharma

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The present study takes naturalistic decision-making approach to examine the role of personality in information processing in consumer decision making. In the technological era, most of the information comes in form of HTML or similar language via the internet; processing of this situation could be ambiguous, laborious and painful. The present study explores the role of impulsivity in creating an extreme effect on consumer decision making. Specifically, the study explores the role of impulsivity in extreme effect, i.e., extremeness avoidance (compromise effect) and extremeness seeking; the role of demographic variables, i.e. age and gender, in the relation between impulsivity and extreme effect. The study was conducted with the help of a questionnaire and two experiments. The experiment was designed in the form of two shopping websites with two product types: Hotel choice and Mobile choice. Both experimental interfaces were created with the Xampp software, the frontend of interfaces was HTML CSS JAVASCRIPT and backend was PHP MySQL. The mobile experiment was designed to measure the extreme effect and hotel experiment was designed to measure extreme effect with alignability of attributes. To observe the possibilities of the combined effect of individual difference and context effects, the manipulation of price, a number of alignable attributes and number of the non-alignable attributes is done. The study was conducted on 100 undergraduate and post-graduate engineering students within the age range of 18-35. The familiarity and level of use of internet and shopping website were assessed and controlled in the analysis. The analysis was done by using a t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis. The results indicated that the impulsivity leads to compromise effect and at the same time it also increases the relationship between alignability of attribute among choices and the compromise effect. The demographic variables were found to play a significant role in the relationship. The subcomponents of impulsivity were significantly influencing compromise effect, but the cognitive impulsivity was significant for women, and motor impulsivity was significant for males only. The impulsivity was significantly positively predicted by age, though there were no significant gender differences in impulsivity. The results clearly indicate the importance of individual factors in decision making. The present study, with precise and direct results, provides a significant suggestion for market analyst and business providers.

Keywords: impulsivity, extreme effect, personality, alignability, consumer decision making

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Authors: Danish Laidin, Peter Gostomski, Aaron Marshall, Carlo Carere

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Groundwater contamination of nitrate (NO3-) is becoming more prevalent in regions of intensive and extensive agricultural activities. Household nitrate removal involves using ion exchange membranes and reverse osmosis (RO) systems, whereas industrial nitrate removal may use organic carbon substrates (e.g. methanol) for heterotrophic microbial denitrification. However, these approaches both require high capital investment and operating costs. In this study, denitrification was demonstrated using bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) inoculated from sediments and microbial enrichment cultures. The BES reactors were operated continuously as microbial electrolytic cells (MECs) with a poised potential of -0.7V and -1.1V vs Ag/AgCl. Three parallel MECs were inoculated using hydrogen-driven denitrifying enrichments, stream sediments, and biofilm harvested from a denitrifying biotrickling filter, respectively. These reactors were continuously operated for over a year as various operating conditions were investigated to determine the optimal conditions for electroactive denitrification. The mass loading rate of nitrate was varied between 10 – 70 mg NO3-/d, and the maximum observed nitrate removal rate was 22 mg NO3- /(cm2∙d) with a current of 2.1 mA. For volumetric load experiments, the dilution rate of 1 mM NO3- feed was varied between 0.01 – 0.1 hr-1 to achieve a nitrate loading rate similar to the mass loading rate experiments. Under these conditions, the maximum rate of denitrification observed was 15.8 mg NO3- /(cm2∙d) with a current of 1.7mA. Hydrogen (H2) was supplied intermittently to investigate the hydrogenotrophic potential of the denitrifying biofilm electrodes. H2 supplementation at 0.1 mL/min resulted in an increase of nitrate removal from 0.3 mg NO3- /(cm2∙d) to 3.4 mg NO3- /(cm2∙d) in the hydrogenotrophically subcultured reactor but had no impact on the reactors which exhibited direct electron transfer properties. Results from this study depict the denitrification performance of the immobilized biofilm electrodes, either by direct electron transfer or hydrogen-driven denitrification, and the contribution of the planktonic cells present in the growth medium. Other results will include the microbial community analysis via 16s rDNA amplicon sequencing, varying the effect of poising cathodic potential from 0.7V to 1.3V vs Ag/AgCl, investigating the potential of using in-situ electrochemically produced hydrogen for autotrophic denitrification and adjusting the conductivity of the feed solution to mimic groundwater conditions. These findings highlight the overall performance of sediment inoculated MECs in removing nitrate and will be used for the future development of sustainable solutions for the treatment of nitrate polluted groundwater.

Keywords: bio-electrochemical systems, groundwater, electroactive denitrification, microbial electrolytic cell

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Authors: Christian T. Lystbaek

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Background: The importance of innovation management has traditionally been ascribed to private production companies, however, there is an increasing interest in public services innovation management. One of the major theoretical challenges arising from this situation is to understand public values justifying public services innovation management. However, there is not single and stable definition of public value in the literature. The research question guiding this paper is: What is the supposed added value operating in the public sphere? Methodology: The study takes an action research strategy. This is highly contextualized methodology, which is enacted within a particular set of social relations into which on expects to integrate the results. As such, this research strategy is particularly well suited for its potential to generate results that can be applied by managers. The aim of action research is to produce proposals with a creative dimension capable of compelling actors to act in a new and pertinent way in relation to the situations they encounter. The context of the study is a workshop on public services innovation within elderly care. The workshop brought together different actors, such as managers, personnel and two groups of users-citizens (elderly clients and their relatives). The process was designed as an extension of the co-construction methods inherent in action research. Scenario methods and focus groups were applied to generate dialogue. The main strength of these techniques is to gather and exploit as much data as possible by exposing the discourse of justification used by the actors to explain or justify their points of view when interacting with others on a given subject. The approach does not directly interrogate the actors on their values, but allows their values to emerge through debate and dialogue. Findings: The public values related to public services innovation management in elderly care were identified in two steps. In the first step, identification of values, values were identified in the discussions. Through continuous analysis of the data, a network of interrelated values was developed. In the second step, tracking group consensus, we then ascertained the degree to which the meaning attributed to the value was common to the participants, classifying the degree of consensus as high, intermediate or low. High consensus corresponds to strong convergence in meaning, intermediate to generally shared meanings between participants, and low to divergences regarding the meaning between participants. Only values with high or intermediate degree of consensus were retained in the analysis. Conclusion: The study shows that the fundamental criterion for justifying public services innovation management is the capacity for actors to enact public values in their work. In the workshop, we identified two categories of public values, intrinsic value and behavioural values, and a list of more specific values.

Keywords: public services innovation management, public value, co-creation, action research

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Authors: Dewan Ahsan

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Denmark is well ahead in generating electricity from renewable sources. The offshore wind sector is playing the pivotal role to achieve this target. Though there is a rapid growth of offshore wind sector in Denmark, still there is a dearth of synchronization in OHS (occupational health and safety) regulation and standards. Therefore, this paper attempts to ascertain: i) what are the major challenges of the company specific OHS standards? ii) why does the offshore wind industry need a standardized OHS management system? and iii) who can play the key role in this process? To achieve these objectives, this research applies the interview and survey techniques. This study has identified several key challenges in OHS management system which are; gaps in coordination and communication among the stakeholders, gaps in incident reporting systems, absence of a harmonized OHS standard and blame culture. Furthermore, this research has identified eleven key stakeholders who are actively involve with the offshore wind business in Denmark. As noticed, the relationships among these stakeholders are very complex specially between operators and sub-contractors. The respondent technicians are concerned with the compliance of various third-party OHS standards (e.g. ISO 31000, ISO 29400, Good practice guidelines by G+) which are applying by various offshore companies. On top of these standards, operators also impose their own OHS standards. From the technicians point of angle, many of these standards are not even specific for the offshore wind sector. So, it is a big challenge for the technicians and sub-contractors to comply with different company specific standards which also elevate the price of their services offer to the operators. For instance, when a sub-contractor is competing for a bidding, it must fulfill a number of OHS requirements (which demands many extra documantions) set by the individual operator and/the turbine supplier. According to sub-contractors’ point of view these extra works consume too much time to prepare the bidding documents and they also need to train their employees to pass the specific OHS certification courses to accomplish the demand for individual clients and individual project. The sub-contractors argued that in many cases these extra documentations and OHS certificates are inessential to ensure the quality service. So, a standardized OHS management procedure (which could be applicable for all the clients) can easily solve this problem. In conclusion, this study highlights that i) development of a harmonized OHS standard applicable for all the operators and turbine suppliers, ii) encouragement of technicians’ active participation in the OHS management, iii) development of a good safety leadership, and, iv) sharing of experiences among the stakeholders (specially operators-operators-sub contractors) are the most vital strategies to overcome the existing challenges and to achieve the goal of 'zero accident/harm' in the offshore wind industry.

Keywords: green energy, offshore, safety, Denmark

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Authors: Danish Gadda

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Kashmir has been a bleeding-spot in the South Asian politics since 1947 when the subcontinent was bifurcated into Hindu, India and Muslim Pakistan by the departing British colonisers. Kashmir couldn’t accede to either of the two new-born, sovereign nations until tribal invasion from Pakistan forced an unfortunate change of events. India, driven by conditional accession signed by the Kashmir’s last monarch, sent its army to defend Kashmir Valley, with a promise, made subsequently, that the region’s fate would be decided by the natives through an internationally-monitored plebiscite. The country, however, broke its promise, choosing not to withdraw its military to allow the plebiscite, and, instead, strengthened its claim over Kashmir, which it later started describing as her integral part. War, fought in the shape of three and a half bloody battles, ensued between India and Pakistan, even as the United Nations’ intervention managed a ceasefire as early as in the 1950s, though not before Kashmir had come to be divided into its India-controlled and Pakistan-controlled halves. Prolonged, the dispute over Kashmir took a violent turn in 1989-90 with the start of an anti-India armed rebellion. Kashmiris have been fighting for their right to self-determination, and bringing their own life to a grinding halt has been one of their preferred forms of protest against the Indian rule. This form of resistance is locally called ‘Hartals’, and recognised as shutdowns, which have often been prolonged and violent. Since 1989-90, the shutdowns have become only more frequent and forceful, and there are marked days on which Kashmir shuts down in protest every year, like a ritual. This paper is based on a study of how the Indian and Kashmir press covered the shutdowns observed in the troubled valley on four such days: January 26 (Indian Republic Day), February 11 (the day on which India executed a prominent Kashmiri resistance leader), August 15 (India’s Independence Day), and October 27 (the day on which the Indian military has landed in Kashmir). The coverage given by the Indian and Kashmiri press to the shutdowns observed on these days has been studied using the multi-tier content analysis approach: 1) Difference in the number of shutdowns covered by the two section is looked at, 2) the placement of the stories in the two section of the press is analysed, 3) the discourse highlighted by the two section of the press is compared, and 4) the editorials written by the two section of the press about the shutdowns are analysed. The findings show the Indian and the local press have been focussing on the two, predictable extremes of the situation: the Indian press has favoured the state, while the Kashmir or the local press has focussed on the narrative opposing the state’s. The difference is noticed in the quantitative as well as the qualitative aspects of their coverage.

Keywords: Indo-Pak tension, Kashmir conflict, protest shutdowns, South-Asian politics

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Authors: Sana Rezig, Yosr Ben Mlik, Mounir Jaouadi, Foued Khoffi, Slah Msahli, Bernard Durand

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Increasing interest in environmental concerns, natural fibers are once again being considered as reinforcements for polymer composites. The main objective of this study is to explore another natural resource, Typha fiber; which is renewable without production cost and available abundantly in nature. The aim of this study was to study the flexural properties of composite resin with and without reinforcing Typha leaf and stem fibers. The specimens were made by the hand-lay-up process using polyester matrix. In our work, we focused on the effect of various treatment conditions (sea water, alkali treatment and a combination of the two treatments), as a surface modifier, on the flexural properties of the Typha fibers reinforced polyester composites. Moreover, weight ratio of Typha leaf or stem fibers was investigated. Besides, both fibers from leaf and stem of Typha plant were used to evaluate the reinforcing effect. Another parameter, which is reinforcement structure, was investigated. In fact, a first composite was made with air-laid nonwoven structure of fibers. A second composite was with a mixture of fibers and resin for each kind of treatment. Results show that alkali treatment and combined process provided better mechanical properties of composites in comparison with fiber treated by sea water. The fiber weight ratio influenced the flexural properties of composites. Indeed, a maximum value of flexural strength of 69.8 and 62,32 MPa with flexural modulus of 6.16 and 6.34 GPawas observed respectively for composite reinforced with leaf and stem fibers for 12.6 % fiber weight ratio. For the different treatments carried out, the treatment using caustic soda, whether alone or after retting seawater, show the best results because it improves adhesion between the polyester matrix and the fibers of reinforcement. SEM photographs were made to ascertain the effects of the surface treatment of the fibers. By varying the structure of the fibers of Typha, the reinforcement used in bulk shows more effective results as that used in the non-woven structure. In addition, flexural strength rises with about (65.32 %) in the case of composite reinforced with a mixture of 12.6% leaf fibers and (27.45 %) in the case of a composite reinforced with a nonwoven structure of 12.6 % of leaf fibers. Thus, to better evaluate the effect of the fiber origin, the reinforcing structure, the processing performed and the reinforcement factor on the performance of composite materials, a statistical study was performed using Minitab. Thus, ANOVA was used, and the patterns of the main effects of these parameters and interaction between them were established. Statistical analysis, the fiber treatment and reinforcement structure seem to be the most significant parameters.

Keywords: flexural properties, fiber treatment, structure and weight ratio, SEM photographs, Typha leaf and stem fibers

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