American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS)
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The Impact of Climate Change on Food Security and Livelihoods In Zimbabwe: Assessing the Sustainability of Intervention Strategies Adopted In the Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe.
Get PDFThe study explores the knowledge levels held by communities about the impact of climate change on food security and livelihoods in Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe. The study identifies and describes how climate change has impacted on these variables; and establishes the types of micro-mechanism coping measures the communities have initiated to address challenges that frustrate attainment of their food security and livelihoods in this Province. The study goes further to identify the long term intervention strategies adopted; and subsequently assesses their sustainability towards ensuring food security and livelihoods. The study finally advocates for a more sustainable model of intervention strategies resilient enough to take care of, nurture and rehabilitate the natural resources base, the ecosystems and biodiversity. Such strategies are projected to be robust enough to withstand all forms of challenges that emanate from the dynamics and numerous impacts of climate change for the purposes of maintaining equilibrium in terms of serving the needs of the current and future generations. To achieve resilience, robustness and sustainability, the study brought on board the participatory concept and monitoring and evaluation elements to the intervention strategies to close the gap that exit in the strategies for continuity. The study reviews various journal papers, chapters in books, conference proceedings and summit meetings [14 , 70]. Articles relevant to the topic under review were utilised to show the gap(s), contradictions and silences in the existing knowledge base. The review process uses the desk type of research method
Gravity and Solar System Evolution
Get PDFIn this work, we attempt to construct some novel solutions of a gravity mystery with Six types of theories for Gravitation namely: Newton\u27s Theory of a Gravitation, Einstein\u27s Theory of the Gravitation, Dark Matter and Dark Energy Theory, Braneworld Gravity, Quantum Gravity, and the Cosmic Fabric Gravitation Theory. The Cosmic Fabric consists of a dark fabric, and bright fabric as all objects where contained at the structure of a Solar System. For this purpose, we use some mathematical equations, and MATLAB Program to draw the optimum shape of a gravitation as a dark fabric distortion in three dimensions. In the investigation, showing the discrepancies between the solutions for Gravitational theories which obtained in the past time, and the new solutions of a gravity obtained using different methods in present time. Furthermore, Cosmic Fabric Gravity where dramatically draws the Geometry of a Gravitation in three dimentions to a better understanding of the characteristics of a Gravitation in the present research work. It is the new theory of a gravitation in the 21 century. The Gravity is acting directly on the Formation, Structure, combination, and Evolution of a Solar System. Solar System is the gravitationally bound system where Dark Fabric steeply warped, and strongly vibrated in the center under the stress of the Sun, and all Planets, Asteroids, Comets, Natural Satellites, Meteors, dust particles, gaseous molecules, atoms orbit it uniformly
Fake News and Post-truth: Numerical Simulations of Information Diffusion in Social Networks
Get PDFThe year 2016 was crucial in terms of the use of social networks as tools for disseminating information for political purposes. The election of candidate Donald Trump for the presidency of the United States of America lit a warning signal about the influence that the information disseminated through social networks exerted in the choice of candidates by the American people. Since then, researchers from different areas have focused on the topic, which involves different aspects: computing, social sciences, mathematics, among others. Therefore, the object of study of this work is the phenomenon of behavioral changes brought about by the new social relationships established by digital social networks, under the scope of the spread of fake news through them. To guarantee the intended study, the general objective was to adapt mathematical models consisting of ordinary differential equations for the dissemination of information on social networks for the spread of fake news. As specific objectives, the contribution of the mathematical models proposed in the mitigation, through algorithms, of the spread of false or distorted information was discussed, as well as the discussion on the concepts of fake news and post-truth from a social point of view, in a way that individuals can also distinguish true information from disinformation through individual interpretation tools. As a research methodology, bibliographic research was chosen and a systematic literature review was carried out, to consider published works on the proposed research object. For the numerical simulations, a numerical code was developed in MATLAB, which was able to carry out the desirable experiments. It is concluded that innovation diffusion models can adapt to fake news dissemination models. However, such models are not able to robustly simulate the mitigation of fake news
Mini Review: Chemical Characterization and Evaluation of Antiviral and Antibacterial Activity of Extracts from Graptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther (Crassulaceae)
Get PDFGraptopetalum paraguayense E. Walther (GP) is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine belonging to the Crassulaceae family As herbal medicine, GP possesses several biological/pharmacological perspectives. It was found that GP aqueous extracts exhibit anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anti-hypertensive and antihyperglycemic, immunomodulatory, antineoplastic, antiviral and antibacterial activities. The GP contains in the high range levels phenolic compounds and anthocyanins. Despite the intense study of the plant, little data exist regarding its chemical composition. It was found that the GP aqueous extract has no cytotoxic effect on RD and Lep cells. The extract effectively inhibited herpes simplex virus (HSV) replication in dose-dependent manner moderate activity as well as Gram-positive bacterial strains
A Framework for emergency department management: a proposal based on process mining and simulation
No full textAn emergency department (ED) face random demands from patients with different needs, which may contribute to their overcrowding. therefore, the present study designed a framework to support decision making in ED management. The framework integrates simulation techniques supported by process mining. Simulation was used in this work because it contributes to capture the randomness and complexity of patient flow in the ED and support the decision-making process. However, the data to feed a simulation model is usually collected manually from the time between patient arrivals in the ED, time for triage, interviews with experts, among others. Nevertheless, use only these collection techniques may be error-induced because they are based on human perceptions, as well as they are long. In this sense, process mining contributed to the construction of the studied ED simulation model through the discovery of the real process and the historical data of the patients registered in the event log. Through process mining, little conceptual modeling effort was used for the simulation model, which may contribute to encouraging the use of simulation in hospital environments
Which Correlation Coefficient Should Be Used for Investigating Relations between Quantitative Variables?
Get PDFSince the purpose of many studies is to describe and summarize the relations between two or more variables, the correlation analysis has been become one of the most fundamental statistical concepts for many researchers. There are different correlation coefficients have been developed and proposed for different cases. In this stage, it is extremely important to aware of which correlation coefficient(s) is more appropriate to use based on the measurement levels, type of the variables, distribution of the variables, type of relations between the variables, and presence of outliers or not in dataset. In this study, nine different correlation coefficients have been compared in terms of Type I error rate and test power under different experimental conditions. As a result, it has been possible to produce information about which correlation coefficient is more appropriate to use in which situations. Results of this simulation study showed that the performances of these correlation coefficients are affected by sample size and effect size rather than the distribution shape. When both the type I error and test power estimates are evaluated together, the Pearson\u27s correlation, Winsorized, Spearman Rank, and Kendall-Tau correlation coefficients are seem to be the most appropriate coefficients for many experimental conditions
Stock Ownership Structure and Capital Structure in Tax Reform: Evidence from Indonesian Capital Market
Get PDFIndonesian government has reformed the taxation law in 2007. One form of this reform is ratification the new income tax law, Act No. 36 of 2008. This regulation is revealed that companies listed on capital market can obtain reduced income tax rate by 5%. Decrease in income tax rates is granted to domestic corporate taxpayers listed on capital market that have public ownership over 40% of the total paid shares and the shares owned by at least 300 party. The purpose of this research is to analyze the differences of stock ownership structure and capital structure before and after the ratification of Act No. 36 of 2008. This research used property, real estate, and building construction companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) as a sample. Sample selection is performed based on purposive sampling method. The result indicates that government regulation related to tax incentives which was aimed to increase the proportion of public ownership is still less effective. In addition, this study also showed that the proportion of public ownership has no significant effect on firm performance
Genexpert Positivity in Sputum Negative Cases with Clinico-radiologically Suggestive of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Infection in Tertiary Center
Get PDFBackground:
Tuberculosis is a major public health problem of word. Nearly 1/3rd of the global population is infected with mycobacterium Tuberculosis. GeneXpert is mainly indicated for early diagnosis and treatment of the pulmonary tuberculosis to prevent the TB related mortality and morbidity.
The objective of this study is to study GeneXpert result in sputum AFB negative but clinic-radiologically suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis infection.
Methodos:
A Quantitative study was carried in the Department of Internal Medicine of National Medical College. A total of 80 cases with clinically and radiologically suggestive of PTB with AFB negative were included in this study. Data were collected for one year period and calculated the result by using SPSS.
Result:
Among the total 80 patients were included who presented in national medical college Birgunj, Parsa in the time period of 1 year.
In this study most common age group who presented with PTB were 31-45 years in 36.3% case with female predominance in 51.2% cases and male predominance of GeneXpert positive in 31 patients.
Symptoms observed in our study was Cough>2 weeks, hemoptysis, weight loss, fever, SOB and night sweat among which most common presentation was cough >2 weeks in 81.3% cases with GeneXpert predominantly positive in 44 cases presented with cough >2 weeks.
In our study five radiological feature were observed among which most common was pleural effusion in 51 cases, 63.7% cases with predominant GeneXpert positive in 40 cases.
Conclusion:
GeneXpert testing increases the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis cases and it is also use full to diagnose and confirm the pulmonary tuberculosis in smear negative cases
Preparation and Characterization of Barium Titanate Nano Particles Using Solution Combustion
Get PDFFerroelectric materials are gaining increased importance as a result of their high dielectric constants making them useful for electrical capacitors, high piezoelectric constants to make sensors, actuators, RF Filters, ferroelectric hysteresis suit making non-volatile memories, high pyroelectric properties for infra-red detectors, thermistors, and strong electro-optic effects to be used in optical switches, data storage, etc. Barium titanate undergoes change in shape from perovskite into cubic structure Curie temperature which causes polarization, or spontaneous, polarization. Many techniques were described for the synthesis of Barium titanate including solid-state reaction, sol-gel method, hydrothermal and solution combustion. Solution combustion. The last method offers good control of the properties to meet specific requirements of the products and allows the preparation of nanomaterials to suit energy saving and protection of environment made it attractive for many purposes. In the present work barium titanate is synthesized as submicro to nano sized particles using the solution combustion technique utilizing urea and glycerin as fuel / oxidant mixture. The experimental parameters were varied to suit the optimization of the process
Principal Component Analysis for the Study of Opening Underground Caverns in Salt Rocks
Get PDFThe constant dynamism within the oil industry associated with the need for new technologies in terms of production and disposal of products were fundamental for the increase of studies about the use of underground caverns in salt rocks as an alternative for the storage of petroleum products. Salt rock is particularly useful for storage because of its low cost, low permeability, and its healing potential when compared to other rocks, including granite, mud, and basalt. The opening process and subsequent development of these cavities are complex activities and the variables involved in the process play a crucial role during the entire operation. In this sense, the present work aims to identify, through the PCA (Principal Component Analysis) statistical tool, the variables that most influence the process of opening a salt cavern by dissolution. For this, numerical simulations of the dissolution mining process for opening a cavern under typical conditions of water injection into a salt rock using the software SALGAS were developed considering different methods of saline water circulation, after that, the variables injection temperature, injection rate, radius, volume, pump power, cumulative energy, tubing loss, produced brine, pump pressure, injection pressure, and salt dissolution factor were interpreted using the multivariate statistical tool through software PAST. For the simulations generated, the results with the statistical tool were satisfactory, it was found that the brine injection rate contributes significantly to the process, in terms of x-axis, directly influencing the behavior of other variables, the temperature have a great importance to the y-axis. Regarding the total variability of the data, more than 97% of these could be represented in terms of the first two components for both scenarios studied