Search results for: body balance

Authors: Juliana A. Fracarolli, Adilson M. Enes, Inácio M. Dal Fabbro, Silvestre Rodrigues

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The dynamic speckle or biospeckle is an interference phenomenon generated at the reflection of a coherent light by an active surface or even by a particulate or living body surface. The above mentioned phenomenon gave scientific support to a method named biospeckle which has been employed to study seed viability, biological activity, tissue senescence, tissue water content, fruit bruising, etc. Since the above mentioned method is not invasive and yields numerical values, it can be considered for possible automation associated to several processes, including selection and sorting. Based on these preliminary considerations, this research work proposed to study the interaction of a laser beam with vegetative samples by measuring the incident light intensity and the transmitted light beam intensity at several vegetative slabs of varying thickness. Tests were carried on fifteen slices of apple tissue divided into three thickness groups, i.e., 4 mm, 5 mm, 18 mm and 22 mm. A diode laser beam of 10mW and 632 nm wavelength and a Samsung digital camera were employed to carry the tests. Outgoing images were analyzed by comparing the gray gradient of a fixed image column of each image to obtain a laser penetration scale into the tissue, according to the slice thickness.

Keywords: Fruit, laser, laser transmission, vegetative tissue.

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Authors: Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, Amirhossein Moghanian

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The main purpose of this research was to design a biomimetic system by freeze-drying method for evaluating the effect of adding 5 and 10 mol. % of zinc (Zn) in 58S bioactive glass and gelatin (5ZnBG/G and 10ZnBG/G) in terms of structural and biological changes. The structural analyses of samples were performed by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Also, 3-(4,5dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity tests were carried out for investigation of MC3T3-E1 cell behaviors. The SEM results demonstrated the spherical shape of the formed hydroxyapatite (HA) phases and also HA characteristic peaks were detected by XRD spectroscopy after 3 days of immersion in the simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. Meanwhile, FTIR spectra proved that the intensity of P–O peaks for 5ZnBG/G was more than 10ZnBG/G and control samples. Moreover, the results of ALP activity test illustrated that the optimal amount of Zn (5ZnBG/G) caused a considerable enhancement in bone cell growth. Taken together, the scaffold with 5 mol.% Zn was introduced as an optimal sample because of its higher biocompatibility, in vitro bioactivity and growth of MC3T3-E1 cells in comparison with other samples in bone tissue engineering.

Keywords: Scaffold, gelatin, modified bioactive glass, ALP, bone tissue engineering.

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Authors: Muhibul H. Bhuyan, Mafujul Hasan

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If a person can monitor his/her heart rate regularly then he/she can detect heart disease early and thus he/she can enjoy longer life span. Therefore, this disease should be taken seriously. Hence, many health care devices and monitoring systems are being designed to keep track of the heart disease. This work reports a design and simulation processes of an Arduino microcontroller based heart rate measurement and monitoring system in Proteus environment. Clipping sensors were utilized to sense the heart rate of an individual from the finger tips. It is a digital device and uses mainly infrared (IR) transmitter (mainly IR LED) and receiver (mainly IR photo-transistor or IR photo-detector). When the heart pumps the blood and circulates it among the blood vessels of the body, the changed blood pressure is detected by the transmitter and then reflected back to the receiver accordingly. The reflected signals are then processed inside the microcontroller through a software written assembly language and appropriate heart rate (HR) is determined by it in beats per minute (bpm) from the detected signal for a duration of 10 seconds and display the same in bpm on the LCD screen in digital format. The designed system was simulated on several persons with varying ages, for example, infants, adult persons and active athletes. Simulation results were found very satisfactory.

Keywords: Heart rate measurement, design, simulation, Proteus, Arduino Uno microcontroller.

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Authors: Sevil Yildiz

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In parallel, broadcasting has changed rapidly with the changing of the world at the same area. Broadcasting is also influenced and reshaped in terms of the emergence of new communication technologies. These developments have resulted a lot of economic and social consequences. The most important consequences of these results are those of the powers of the governments to control over the means of communication and control mechanisms related to the descriptions of the new issues. For this purpose, autonomous and independent regulatory bodies have been established by the state. One of these regulatory bodies is the Radio and Television Supreme Council, which to be established in 1994, with the Code no 3984. Today’s Radio and Television Supreme Council which is responsible for the regulation of the radio and television broadcasts all across Turkey has an important and effective position as autonomous and independent regulatory body. The Radio and Television Supreme Council acts as being a remarkable organizer for a sensitive area of radio and television broadcasting on one hand, and the area of democratic, liberal and keep in mind the concept of the public interest by putting certain principles for the functioning of the Board control, in the context of media policy as one of the central organs, on the other hand. In this study, the role of the Radio and Television Supreme Council is examined in accordance with the Code no 3894 in order to control over the communication and control mechanisms as well as the examination of the changes in the duties of the Code No. 6112, dated 2011.

Keywords: Regulatory Boards, Radio and Television Supreme Council.

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Authors: Radin Siti Aishah Radin A Rahman, Norasmah Othman, Zaidatol Akmaliah Lope Pihie, Hariyaty Ab. Wahid

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The recent instability in economy was found to be influencing the situation in Malaysia whether directly or indirectly. Taking that into consideration, the government needs to find the best approach to balance its citizen’s socio-economic strata level urgently. Through education platform is among the efforts planned and acted upon for the purpose of balancing the effects of the influence, through the exposure of social entrepreneurial activity towards youth especially those in higher institution level. Armed with knowledge and skills that they gained, with the support by entrepreneurial culture and environment while in campus; indirectly, the students will lean more on making social entrepreneurship as a career option when they graduate. Following the issues of marketability and workability of current graduates that are becoming dire, research involving how far the willingness of student to create social innovation that contribute to the society without focusing solely on personal gain is relevant enough to be conducted. With that, this research is conducted with the purpose of identifying the level of entrepreneurial intention and social entrepreneurship among higher institution students in Malaysia. Stratified random sampling involves 355 undergraduate students from five public universities had been made as research respondents and data were collected through surveys. The data was then analyzed descriptively using min score and standard deviation. The study found that the entrepreneurial intention of higher education students are on moderate level, however it is the contrary for social entrepreneurship activities, where it was shown on a high level. This means that while the students only have moderate level of willingness to be a social entrepreneur, they are very committed to created social innovation through the social entrepreneurship activities conducted. The implication from this study can be contributed towards the higher institution authorities in prediction the tendency of student in becoming social entrepreneurs. Thus, the opportunities and facilities for realizing the courses related to social entrepreneurship must be created expansively so that the vision of creating as many social entrepreneurs as possible can be achieved.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial intention, higher education institutions (HEIs), social entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurial activity, gender.

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Authors: Azza Taha Zaki

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The position Eugene O’Neill occupies in the history of American drama is undisputable. Critics have agreed that the American theatre was waiting for O’Neill to give it substance, character, and value. The American dramatist continues to be considered as a major influence on the body of dramatic repertoire across the globe. The American theatre before O’Neill knew playwrights who were mostly viewed as entertainers. The serious drama had to wait until O’Neill started his career with expressionistic and social drama. His breakthrough, however, came in 1925 when he published Desire Under the Elms, described as the first important tragedy to be written in America. Mourning Becomes Electra, published in 1931, further reinforced the reputation of Eugene O’Neill and was described as his 'magnum opus'. Aspiring to portray the essence of life and man’s innermost conflicts, O’Neill turned to the classical model, rather than to social realistic drama, to create modern tragedies with the aid of the then-new science of psychology. The present paper aims to undertake an in-depth study of how overtones from classical tragedies by the classical masters Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides resonate through O’Neill’s two plays. The paper shows how leaning on classical themes and concepts interpreted in terms of psychological forces have added depth and tragic substance to a modern milieu and produced masterpieces of dramaturgy.

Keywords: classical, drama, O'Neill, modern, tragic

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Authors: Daniel L. Clinciu, Ikrom Abdulaev, Brian D. Oscar

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Various personality profile tests are used to identify personality strengths and limits in individuals, helping both individuals and managers to optimize work and team effort in organizations. One such test, the Hartman’s personality profile, emphasizes four driving "core motives" influenced or affected by both strengths and limitations classified into four colors: Red - motivated by power; Blue - discipline and loyalty; White - peace; and Yellow – fun loving. Two shortcomings of Hartman’s personality test are noted; 1) only one selection for every item / situation allowed and 2) selection of an item / option even if not applicable. A test taker may be as much nurturing as he is opinionated but since “opinionated” seems less attractive the individual would likely select nurturing, causing a misidentification in personality strengths and limits. Since few individuals have a “strong” personality, it is difficult to assess their true personality strengths and limits allowing only one choice or requiring unwanted choices, undermining the potential of the test. We modified Hartman’s personality profile allowing test takers to make either multiple choices for any item / situation or leave them blank if applicable. Sixty-eight participants (38 males and 30 females), 17 - 49 years old, from countries in Asia, Europe, N. America, CIS, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania were included. 58 participants (85.3%) reported the modified test, allowing multiple / no choices better identified their personality strengths and limits, while 10 participants (14.7%) expressed the original (one choice version) was sufficient. The overall results show that our modified test enhanced the identification and balance of core personalities’ strengths and limits, aiding test takers, managers and organizations to better assess individual characteristics, particularly useful in making task-related, teamwork, and management decisions.

Keywords: Organizational behavior, personality tests, personality limitations, personality strengths, task management, team work.

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Authors: Abhijit Mitra, C. Ardil

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We investigate sonic cues for binaural sound localization within classrooms and present a structural model for the same. Two of the primary cues for localization, interaural time difference (ITD) and interaural level difference (ILD) created between the two ears by sounds from a particular point in space, are used. Although these cues do not lend any information about the elevation of a sound source, the torso, head, and outer ear carry out elevation dependent spectral filtering of sounds before they reach the inner ear. This effect is commonly captured in head related transfer function (HRTF) which aids in resolving the ambiguity from the ITDs and ILDs alone and helps localize sounds in free space. The proposed structural model of HRTF produces well controlled horizontal as well as vertical effects. The implemented HRTF is a signal processing model which tries to mimic the physical effects of the sounds interacting with different parts of the body. The effectiveness of the method is tested by synthesizing spatial audio, in MATLAB, for use in listening tests with human subjects and is found to yield satisfactory results in comparison with existing models.

Keywords: Auditory localization, Binaural sound, Head related impulse response, Head related transfer function, Interaural level difference, Interaural time difference, Localization cues.

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Authors: Myagmarsuren Soronzonjav, N. Togtokhbayar, L. Davaahuu, B. Minjigdorj, Seong Gu Hwang

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The number of natural or organic product consumers is increased in recent years and this healthy demand pushes to increase usage of healthy meat. At the same time, consumers pay more attention on the healthy fat, especially on unsaturated fatty acids. These long chain carbohydrates reduce heart diseases, improve memory and eye sight and activate the immune system. One of the important issues to be solved for our Mongolia’s food security is to provide healthy, fresh, widely available and cheap meat for the population. Thus, an importance of the Selenge breed meat production is increasing in order to supply the quality meat food security since the Selenge breed cattle are rapidly multiplied, beneficial in term of income, the same quality as Mongolian breed, and well digested for human body. We researched the lipid, unsaturated and saturated fatty acid contents of meat of Selenge breed younger cattle by their muscle types. Result of our research reveals that 11 saturated fatty acids are detected. For the content of palmitic acid among saturated fatty acids, 23.61% was in the sirloin meat, 24.01% was in the round and chuck meat, and 24.83% was in the short loin meat.

Keywords: Chromatogram, gas chromatography, organic resolving, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids.

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Authors: Terrance Charles, Zhiyin Yang, Yiling Lu

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Heavy trucks are aerodynamically inefficient due to their un-streamlined body shapes, leading to more than of 60% engine power being required to overcome the aerodynamics drag at 60 m/hr. There are many aerodynamics drag reduction devices developed and this paper presents a study on a drag reduction device called Cross Vortex Trap Device (CVTD) deployed in the gap between the tractor and the trailer of a simplified tractor-trailer model. Numerical simulations have been carried out at Reynolds number 0.51×10⁶ based on inlet flow velocity and height of the trailer using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach. Three different configurations of CVTD have been studied, ranging from single to three slabs, equally spaced on the front face of the trailer. Flow field around three different configurations of trap device have been analysed and presented. The results show that a maximum of 12.25% drag reduction can be achieved when a triple vortex trap device is used. Detailed flow field analysis along with pressure contours are presented to elucidate the drag reduction mechanisms of CVTD and why the triple vortex trap configuration produces the maximum drag reduction among the three configurations tested.

Keywords: Aerodynamic drag, cross vortex trap device, truck, RANS.

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Authors: Mohammad Adnan Rajib, Md.Rubayet Mortuza, Saranah Selmi, Asif Khan Ankur, Md. Mujibur Rahman

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Heat Index describes the combined effect of temperature and humidity on human body. This combined effect is causing a serious threat to the health of people because of the changing climate. With climate change, climate variability and thus the occurrence of heat waves is likely to increase. Evidence is emerging from the analysis of long-term climate records of an increase in the frequency and duration of extreme temperature events in all over Bangladesh particularly during summer. Summer season has prolonged while winters have become short in Bangladesh. Summers have become hotter and thus affecting the lives of the people engaged in outdoor activities during scorching sun hours. In 2003 around 62 people died due to heat wave across the country. In this paper Bangladesh is divided in four regions and heat index has been calculated from 1960 to 2010 in these regions of the country. The aim of this paper is to identify the spots most vulnerable to heat strokes and heat waves due to high heat index. The results show upward trend of heat index in almost all the regions of Bangladesh. The highest increase in heat index value has been observed in areas of South-west region and North-west Region. The highest change in average heat index has been found in Jessore by almost 5.50C.

Keywords: Anomaly, Heat index, Relative humidity, Temperature

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Authors: Lubis A., Setiawati L., Setyoningrum A. R., Suryawan A., Irwanto

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Asthma is a condition that causing chronic health problems in children. In addition to basic therapy against disease, we must try to reduce the impact of chronic health problems and also optimize their medical aspect of growth and development. A boy with mild asthma attack frequent episode did not showed any improvement with medical treatment and his asthma control test was 11. From radiologic examination he got hyperaerated lung and billateral sinusitis maxillaris; skin test results were house dust, food and pet allergy; an overweight body; bad school grades; psychological and environmental problem. We followed and evaluated this boy in 6 months, treated holistically. Even we could not do much on environmental but no more psychological and school problems, his on a good bodyweight and his asthma control test was 22. A case of a child with mild asthma attack frequent episode was reported. Asthma clinical course show no significant improvement when other predisposing factor is not well-controlled and a child’s growth and development may be affected. Improving condition of the patient can be created with the help of loving and caring way of nurturing from the parents and supportive peer group. Therefore, continuous and consistent monitoring is required because prognosis of asthma is generally good when regularly and properly controlled.

Keywords: Asthma, chronic health problems, growth and development.

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Authors: Eda Gök

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Peridynamics is a new modeling concept of non-local interactions for solid structures. The formulations of Peridynamic (PD) theory are based on integral equations rather than differential equations. Through, undefined equations of associated problems are avoided. PD theory might be defined as continuum version of molecular dynamics. The medium is usually modeled with mass particles bonded together. Particles interact with each other directly across finite distances through central forces named as bonds. The main assumption of this theory is that the body is composed of material points which interact with other material points within a finite distance. Although, PD theory developed for discontinuities, it gives good results for structures which have no discontinuities. In this paper, displacement control of the isotropic plate under the effect of tensile and bending loading has been investigated by means of PD theory. A MATLAB code is generated to create PD bonds and corresponding surface correction factors. Using generated MATLAB code the geometry of the specimen is generated, and the code is implemented in Finite Element Software. The results obtained from non-local continuum theory are compared with the Finite Element Analysis results and analytical solution. The results show good agreement.

Keywords: Flexural loading, non-local continuum mechanics, Peridynamic theory, solid structures, tensile loading.

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Authors: Tajinder Pal Singh

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Teaching of mathematics to engineering students is an open ended problem in education. The main goal of mathematics learning for engineering students is the ability of applying a wide range of mathematical techniques and skills in their engineering classes and later in their professional work. Most of the undergraduate engineering students and faculties feels that no efforts and attempts are made to demonstrate the applicability of various topics of mathematics that are taught thus making mathematics unavoidable for some engineering faculty and their students. The lack of understanding of concepts in engineering mathematics may hinder the understanding of other concepts or even subjects. However, for most undergraduate engineering students, mathematics is one of the most difficult courses in their field of study. Most of the engineering students never understood mathematics or they never liked it because it was too abstract for them and they could never relate to it. A right balance of application and concept based teaching can only fulfill the objectives of teaching mathematics to engineering students. It will surely improve and enhance their problem solving and creative thinking skills. In this paper, some practical (informal) ways of making mathematics-teaching application based for the engineering students is discussed. An attempt is made to understand the present state of teaching mathematics in engineering colleges. The weaknesses and strengths of the current teaching approach are elaborated. Some of the causes of unpopularity of mathematics subject are analyzed and a few pragmatic suggestions have been made. Faculty in mathematics courses should spend more time discussing the applications as well as the conceptual underpinnings rather than focus solely on strategies and techniques to solve problems. They should also introduce more ‘word’ problems as these problems are commonly encountered in engineering courses. Overspecialization in engineering education should not occur at the expense of (or by diluting) mathematics and basic sciences. The role of engineering education is to provide the fundamental (basic) knowledge and to teach the students simple methodology of self-learning and self-development. All these issues would be better addressed if mathematics and engineering faculty join hands together to plan and design the learning experiences for the students who take their classes. When faculties stop competing against each other and start competing against the situation, they will perform better. Without creating any administrative hassles these suggestions can be used by any young inexperienced faculty of mathematics to inspire engineering students to learn engineering mathematics effectively.

Keywords: Application based learning, conceptual learning, engineering mathematics, word problem.

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Authors: T. Shyam Ramanath, A. Sudharsan, A. Kavitha

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As is needless to say; a majority of accidents, which occur, are due to drunk driving. As such, there is no effective mechanism to prevent this. Here we have designed an integrated system for the same purpose. Alcohol content in the driver-s body is detected by means of an infrared breath analyzer placed at the steering wheel. An infrared cell directs infrared energy through the sample and any unabsorbed energy at the other side is detected. The higher the concentration of ethanol, the more infrared absorption occurs (in much the same way that a sunglass lens absorbs visible light, alcohol absorbs infrared light). Thus the alcohol level of the driver is continuously monitored and calibrated on a scale. When it exceeds a particular limit the fuel supply is cutoff. If the device is removed also, the fuel supply will be automatically cut off or an alarm is sounded depending upon the requirement. This does not happen abruptly and special indicators are fixed at the back to avoid inconvenience to other drivers using the highway signals. Frame work for integration of sensors and control module in a scalable multi-agent system is provided .A SMS which contains the current GPS location of the vehicle is sent via a GSM module to the police control room to alert the police. The system is foolproof and the driver cannot tamper with it easily. Thus it provides an effective and cost effective solution for the problem of drunk driving in vehicles.

Keywords: Global system monitoring, global positioning system.

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Authors: V. Thulasi Bai, Srivatsa S. K.

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Deaths from cardiovascular diseases have decreased substantially over the past two decades, largely as a result of advances in acute care and cardiac surgery. These developments have produced a growing population of patients who have survived a myocardial infarction. These patients need to be continuously monitored so that the initiation of treatment can be given within the crucial golden hour. The available conventional methods of monitoring mostly perform offline analysis and restrict the mobility of these patients within a hospital or room. Hence the aim of this paper is to design a Portable Cardiac Telemedicine System to aid the patients to regain their independence and return to an active work schedule, there by improving the psychological well being. The portable telemedicine system consists of a Wearable ECG Transmitter (WET) and a slightly modified mobile phone, which has an inbuilt ECG analyzer. The WET is placed on the body of the patient that continuously acquires the ECG signals from the high-risk cardiac patients who can move around anywhere. This WET transmits the ECG to the patient-s Bluetooth enabled mobile phone using blue tooth technology. The ECG analyzer inbuilt in the mobile phone continuously analyzes the heartbeats derived from the received ECG signals. In case of any panic condition, the mobile phone alerts the patients care taker by an SMS and initiates the transmission of a sample ECG signal to the doctor, via the mobile network.

Keywords: WET, ECG analyzer, Bluetooth, mobilecellular network, high risk cardiac patients.

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Authors: M.N. Khan, T. Rehman, Z Iqbal, M.S Sajid, M Ahmad, M Riaz

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A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence, species characterization and associated risk factors with Eimeria (E.) in sheep of district Toba Tek Singh from April, 2009 to March, 2010. Of the total 486 faecal samples examined for Eimeria, 209 (43%) were found infected with five species of Eimeria. Amongst the identified species of Eimeria, E. ovinoidalis was the commonest one (48.32%), followed in order by E. ahsata, E. intricata, E. parva and E. faurei with prevalence of 45.45, 28.71, 24.40 and 19.14 percent respectively. Peak prevalence was observed in August. Wet season (rainy and post-rainy) was found to be favourable for Eimeria infection. Lambs had significantly higher prevalence (P < 0.05) of Eimeria than adults. Similarly higher prevalence of Eimeria was observed in female as compared to male. Among management and husbandry practices; watering system, housing system, floor type and herd size strongly influenced the prevalence of Eimeria. Coccidiosis was more prevalent in closed housing system, non-cemented floor type, pond watered animals and larger herds (P < 0.05) as compared to open housing system, partially cemented floor type, tap watered animals and smaller herds respectively. Feeding system, breed and body condition of animals were not found as risk factors (P>0.05) influencing prevalence of Eimeria.

Keywords: Eimeria, Pakistan prevalence, sheep.

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Authors: Carolijn Van Noort

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The aim of this research is to understand how the emerging power bloc BRICS employs infrastructure development narratives to construct a new world order. BRICS is an international body consisting of five emerging countries that collaborate on economic and political issues: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. This study explores the projection of infrastructure development narratives through an analysis of BRICS’ attention to infrastructure investment and financing, its support of the New Partnership on African Development and the establishment of the New Development Bank in Shanghai. The theory of Strategic Narratives is used to explore BRICS’ commitment to infrastructure development and to distinguish three layers: system narratives (BRICS as a global actor to propose development reform), identity narratives (BRICS as a collective identity joining efforts to act upon development aspirations) and issue narratives (BRICS committed to a range of issues of which infrastructure development is prominent). The methodology that is employed is a narrative analysis of BRICS’ official documents, media statements, and website imagery. A comparison of these narratives illuminates tensions at the three layers and among the five member states. Identifying tensions among development infrastructure narratives provides an indication of how policymaking for infrastructure development could be improved. Subsequently, it advances BRICS’ ability to act as a global actor to construct a new world order.

Keywords: BRICS, emerging powers, infrastructural development, strategic narratives.

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Authors: Fruzsina Pataki-Bittó, Edit Németh

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On the one hand, new technologies and communication tools improve employee productivity and accelerate information and knowledge transfer, while on the other hand, information overload and continuous interruptions make it even harder to concentrate at work. It is a great challenge for companies to find the right balance, while there is also an ongoing demand to recruit and retain the talented employees who are able to adopt the modern work style and effectively use modern communication tools. For this reason, this research does not focus on the objective measures of office interruptions, but aims to find those disruption factors which influence the comfort and job satisfaction of employees, and the way how they feel generally at work. The focus of this research is on how employees feel about the different types of interruptions, which are those they themselves identify as hindering factors, and those they feel as stress factors. By identifying and then reducing these destructive factors, job satisfaction can reach a higher level and employee turnover can be reduced. During the research, we collected information from depth interviews and questionnaires asking about work environment, communication channels used in the workplace, individual communication preferences, factors considered as disruptions, and individual steps taken to avoid interruptions. The questionnaire was completed by 141 office workers from several types of workplaces based in Hungary. Even though 66 respondents are working at Hungarian offices of multinational companies, the research is about the characteristics of the Hungarian labor force. The most important result of the research shows that while more than one third of the respondents consider office noise as a disturbing factor, personal inquiries are welcome and considered useful, even if in such cases the work environment will not be convenient to solve tasks requiring concentration. Analyzing the sizes of the offices, in an open-space environment, the rate of those who consider office noise as a disturbing factor is surprisingly lower than in smaller office rooms. Opinions are more diverse regarding information communication technologies. In addition to the interruption factors affecting the employees' job satisfaction, the research also focuses on the role of the offices in the 21^st century.

Keywords: Information overload, interruption, job satisfaction, office environment, work efficiency.

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Authors: H. Meddah, M. Berediaf-Bourahla, B. El-Djouzi, N. Bourahla

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Shear walls made of cold formed steel are used as lateral force resisting components in residential and low-rise commercial and industrial constructions. The seismic design analysis of such structures is often complex due to the slenderness of members and their instability prevalence. In this context, a simplified modeling technique across the panel is proposed by using the finite element method. The approach is based on idealizing the whole panel by a nonlinear shear link element which reflects its shear behavior connected to rigid body elements which transmit the forces to the end elements (studs) that resist the tension and the compression. The numerical model of the shear wall panel was subjected to cyclic loads in order to evaluate the seismic performance of the structure in terms of lateral displacement and energy dissipation capacity. In order to validate this model, the numerical results were compared with those from literature tests. This modeling technique is particularly useful for the design of cold formed steel structures where the shear forces in each panel and the axial forces in the studs can be obtained using spectrum analysis.

Keywords: Cold-formed steel, cyclic loading, modeling technique, nonlinear analysis, shear wall panel.

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Authors: Valentina L. Kouznetsova, Jonathan W. Wang, Igor F. Tsigelny

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Metabolomics has become a rising field of research for various diseases, particularly cancer. Increases or decreases in metabolite concentrations in the human body are indicative of various cancers. Further elucidation of metabolic pathways and their significance in cancer research may greatly spur medicinal discovery. We analyzed the metabolomics profiles of lung cancer. Thirty-three metabolites were selected as significant. These metabolites are involved in 37 metabolic pathways delivered by MetaboAnalyst software. The top pathways are glyoxylate and dicarboxylate pathway (its hubs are formic acid and glyoxylic acid) along with Citrate cycle pathway followed by Taurine and hypotaurine pathway (the hubs in the latter are taurine and sulfoacetaldehyde) and Glycine, serine, and threonine pathway (the hubs are glycine and L-serine). We studied interactions of the metabolites with the proteins involved in cancer-related signaling networks, and developed an approach to metabolomics biomarker use in cancer diagnostics. Our analysis showed that a significant part of lung-cancer-related metabolites interacts with main cancer-related signaling pathways present in this network: PI3K–mTOR–AKT pathway, RAS–RAF–ERK1/2 pathway, and NFKB pathway. These results can be employed for use of metabolomics profiles in elucidation of the related cancer proteins signaling networks.

Keywords: Cancer, metabolites, metabolic pathway, signaling pathway.

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Authors: Luciana Steffen

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People with disabilities are often neglected in the exercise of their sexuality, facing several prejudices and discrimination in this area. For women with disabilities, the negligence is even major. Studies that relate sexual and reproductive rights with the experience of women with disabilities are rare, and in the field of Theology, practically nonexistent in Brazil. The aim of this work is to reflect on the relationship between women with disabilities, sexual and reproductive rights and Theology, according to a feminist perspective. The work is a literature review and involves the areas of Gender Studies, Disability Studies, Feminist Studies and Theology. In the article it will be addressed the relations between disability, sexual and reproductive rights, feminism, as well as the relations with the area of Theology, reflecting on these themes toward a fairer and more inclusive understanding of feminism, sexuality and women with disabilities. To reflect on sexual and reproductive rights of women with disabilities, it is important to reflect on religious concepts about the body, sexuality, reproduction and gender roles, because they are all connected. So, a critical analysis of traditional theological values taking into consideration the dimensions of sexuality and women with disability is important for a more liberating and inclusive understand about sexual and reproductive rights of women with disabilities. Theology should help the other areas in the understanding that all people have the right to live their lives with completeness, dignity and respect, so women with disabilities must have the opportunity of making their own choices on the fields of sexuality and reproduction.

Keywords: Disability, gender, sexual and reproductive rights, Theology.

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Authors: H. Yousefnia, S. Zolghadri

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The measurement of organ radiation exposure dose is one of the most important steps to be taken initially, for developing a new radiopharmaceutical. In this study, the dosimetric studies of a novel agent for SPECT-imaging of the bone metastasis, 111In- 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10 tetraethylene phosphonic acid (111In-DOTMP) complex, have been carried out to estimate the dose in human organs based on the data derived from rats. The radiolabeled complex was prepared with high radiochemical purity in the optimal conditions. Biodistribution studies of the complex was investigated in the male Syrian rats at selected times after injection (2, 4, 24 and 48 h). The human absorbed dose estimation of the complex was made based on data derived from the rats by the radiation absorbed dose assessment resource (RADAR) method. 111In-DOTMP complex was prepared with high radiochemical purity of >99% (ITLC). Total body effective absorbed dose for 111In- DOTMP was 0.061 mSv/MBq. This value is comparable to the other 111In clinically used complexes. The results show that the dose with respect to the critical organs is satisfactory within the acceptable range for diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures. Generally, 111In- DOTMP has interesting characteristics and can be considered as a viable agent for SPECT-imaging of the bone metastasis in the near future.

Keywords: In-111, DOTMP, Internal Dosimetry, RADAR.

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Authors: Hilary J. Watsilla, Narasimha R. Vajjhala

Abstract:

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has made information access easier and affordable. Academic research has also benefited from this, with online journals and academic resource readily available by the click of a button. However, there are limited ways of assessing and controlling the quality of the academic research mostly in public institution. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with a significant number of universities and young population. The quality of knowledge created by academic researchers, however, needs to be evaluated due to the high number of predatory journals published by academia. The purpose of this qualitative study is to look at the knowledge creation, acquisition, and assimilation process by academic researchers in public universities in Nigeria. Qualitative research will be carried out using in-depth interviews and observations. Academic researchers will be interviewed and absorptive capacity theory will be used as the theoretical framework to guide the research. The findings from this study should help understand the impact of ICT on the knowledge creation process in academic research and to understand how ICT can affect the quality of knowledge produced by researchers. The findings from this study should help add value to the existing body of knowledge on the quality of academic research, especially in Africa where there is limited availability of quality academic research. As this study is limited to Nigerian universities, the outcome may not be generalized to other developing countries.

Keywords: Knowledge creation, academic research, knowledge management, information and communication technology, research, university.

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Authors: Somi Nah

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The genre of fantasy depicts a world of imagine that triggers popular interest from a created view of world, and a fantasy is defined as a story that illustrates a world of imagine where scientific or horror elements are stand in its center. This study is not focused on the narrative of the fantasy, i.e. not on the adventurous story, but is concentrated on the image of the fantasy to work on its relationship with intended themes and differences among cultures due to meanings of materials. As for films, we have selected some films in the 2000's that are internationally recognized as expressing unique images of fantasy containing the theme of love in them. The selected films are 5 pieces including two European films, Amelie from Montmartre (2001) and The Science of Sleep (2005) and three Asian films, Citizen Dog from Thailand (2004), Memories of Matsuko from Japan (2006), and I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK from Korea (2006). These films share some common characteristics to the effect that they give tiny lessons and feelings for life with expressions of fantasy images as if they were fairy tales for adults and that they lead the audience to reflect on their days and revive forgotten dreams of childhood. We analyze the images of fantasy in each of the films on the basis of the elements of Mise-en-Scène (setting and props, costume, hair and make-up, facial expressions and body language, lighting and color, positioning of characters, and objects within a frame).

Keywords: Mise-en-scène, fantasy images, films, visualization.

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Authors: Hachem Ben Naceur, Amel Ben Rejeb Jenhani, Mohamed Salah Romdhane

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Endemic Artemia franciscana populations can be found throughout the American continent and also as an introduced specie in several country all over the world, such as in the Mediterranean region where Artemia franciscana was identified as an invasive specie replacing native Artemia parthenogenetica and Artemia salina. In the present study, the characterization of the new invasive Artemia franciscana reported from Sabkhet Halk El-Menzel (Tunisia) was done based on the cysts biometry, nauplii instar-I length, Adult sexual dimorphism and fatty acid profile. The mean value of the diameter of non-decapsulated and decapsulated cysts, chorion thickness and naupliar length is 235.8, 226.3, 4.75 and 426.8 μm, respectively. Sexual dimorphism for adults specimen showed that maximal distance between compound eyes, diameter for compound eyes, length of first antenna and the abdomen length compared to the total body length ratio, are the most important variables for males and females discrimination with a total contribution of 62.39 %. The analysis of fatty acid methyl esters profile of decapsulated cysts resulted in low levels of linolenic acid (LLA, C18:3n-3) and high levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5n-3) with 3.11 and 11.10 %, respectively. Low quantity of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) was also observed with 0.17 mg.g-1 dry weight.

Keywords: Invasive Artemia franciscana, biometry, sexualdimorphism, fatty acid, Tunisia.

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Authors: Theingi Shwe, Riken Homma, Kazuhisa Iki, Juko Ito

Abstract:

The growing cities of the developing country are characterized by rapid growth and poor infrastructure management inviting and accelerating relative environmental problems. Even though the movements of the sustainability had already been developed around the world, it is still increasing in the developing countries to plant sustainable practices. Aligned with the sustainable development actions, many sustainable assessment tools are also developed to rate and evaluate the sustainability performances through the building to community level. Among them, CASBEE is developed by Japanese organizations and is recognized as one of the international well-known assessment tools. The main purpose of the study is to find out the potential of CASBEE tool reflecting sustainability city level performances in developing countries. The research framework was designed with three major phases: Quantitative Approach, Qualitative Approach and Evaluation Reflection. The first two approaches were based on the investigation of tool’s contents and indicators by means of three sustainable dimensions and sustainability categories. To know the reality and reflection on developing country, Pathein City from Myanmar was selected and evaluated by 2012 version of CASBEE for Cities. The evaluation practices went through assigned indicators and the evaluation outcome presents the performances of Pathein city’s environmental efficiency as a very good in current conditions. The results of this study indicate that the indicators of this tool have balance coverage among three dimensions of sustainability but it has not yet counted enough for some indicators like location, infrastructure and institution which are relative to society dimension. In the developing countries’ cities, the most critical issues on development such as affordable housing and heritage preservation which are already planted in Pathein City but the tool does not account for those issues. Moreover, in some of the indicators, the benchmark and the weighting coefficient are strongly linked to the system birth region. By means of this study, it can be stated that CASBEE for Cities would be potential for delivering sustainable city level development in developing country especially in Myanmar along with further inclusion of the indicators.

Keywords: Assessment tool, CASBEE, developing country, Myanmar, Pathein city, sustainable development.

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Authors: Alireza Barari

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Physical activity and diet are factors that influence the body's structure. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of four weeks of resistance training, and glutamine supplement consumption on growth hormone (GH), and Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) Axis. 40 amateur male bodybuilders, participated in this study. They were randomly divided into four equal groups, Resistance (R), Glutamine (G), Resistance with Glutamine (RG), and Control (C). The R group was assigned to a four week resistance training program, three times/week, three sets of 10 exercises with 6-10 repetitions, at the 80-95% 1RM (One Repetition Maximum), with 120 seconds rest between sets), G group is consuming l-glutamine (0.1 g/kg^-1/day^-1), RG group resistance training with consuming L-glutamine, and C group continued their normal lifestyle without exercise training. GH, IGF1, IGFBP-III plasma levels were measured before and after the protocol. One-way ANOVA indicated significant change in GH, IGF, and IGFBP-III between the four groups, and the Tukey test demonstrated significant increase in GH, IGF1, IGFBP-III plasma levels in R, and RG group. Based upon these findings, we concluded that resistance training at 80-95% 1RM intensity, and resistance training along with oral glutamine shows significantly increase secretion of GH, IGF-1, and IGFBP-III in amateur males, but the addition of oral glutamine to the exercise program did not show significant difference in GH, IGF-1, and IGFBP-III.

Keywords: Strength, glutamine, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor 1.

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Authors: Olga Kononova, Andrejs Krasnikovs , Videvuds Lapsa, Jurijs Kalinka, Angelina Galushchak

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Post cracking behavior and load –bearing capacity of the steel fiber reinforced high-strength concrete (SFRHSC) are dependent on the number of fibers are crossing the weakest crack (bridged the crack) and their orientation to the crack surface. Filling the mould by SFRHSC, fibers are moving and rotating with the concrete matrix flow till the motion stops in each internal point of the concrete body. Filling the same mould from the different ends SFRHSC samples with the different internal structures (and different strength) can be obtained. Numerical flow simulations (using Newton and Bingham flow models) were realized, as well as single fiber planar motion and rotation numerical and experimental investigation (in viscous flow) was performed. X-ray pictures for prismatic samples were obtained and internal fiber positions and orientations were analyzed. Similarly fiber positions and orientations in cracked cross-section were recognized and were compared with numerically simulated. Structural SFRHSC fracture model was created based on single fiber pull-out laws, which were determined experimentally. Model predictions were validated by 15x15x60cm prisms 4 point bending tests.

Keywords: fibers, orientation, high strength concrete, flow

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Authors: Altab Hossain, Ataur Rahman, A. K. M. Mohiuddin, Yulfian Aminanda

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Modeling of the dynamic behavior and motion are renewed interest in the improved tractive performance of an intelligent air-cushion tracked vehicle (IACTV). This paper presents a new dynamical model for the forces on the developed small scale intelligent air-cushion tracked vehicle moving over swamp peat. The air cushion system partially supports the 25 % of vehicle total weight in order to make the vehicle ground contact pressure 7 kN/m2. As the air-cushion support system can adjust automatically on the terrain, so the vehicle can move over the terrain without any risks. The springdamper system is used with the vehicle body to control the aircushion support system on any undulating terrain by making the system sinusoidal form. Experiments have been carried out to investigate the relationships among tractive efficiency, slippage, traction coefficient, load distribution ratio, tractive effort, motion resistance and power consumption in given terrain conditions. Experiment and simulation results show that air-cushion system improves the vehicle performance by keeping traction coefficient of 71% and tractive efficiency of 62% and the developed model can meet the demand of transport efficiency with the optimal power consumption.

Keywords: Air-cushion system, ground contact pressure, slippage, power consumption.

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