bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Hearing Aids on Quality of Life of Hearing Impaired Individuals
Authors: Zafar Fatima , Basheer Hafiz Muhammad Usama , Hassan Amber , Zaib Wajeeha , Waheed Tehmeena
Published: March 2021

The regular use of hearing aids (more than 8 hours a day) benefits people in hearing for bettercommunication than those who are less-likely to use hearing aids Objective: The objective of thestudy was to assess the impact of hearing aids on the quality of life of hearing impaired individualsMethods: In this cross-sectional study total 50 participants were recruited by convenient samplingtechnique from Lahore, Pakistan. 50 patients who were diagnosed with hearing loss and wererecommended with hearing aids of both genders were included in the study. The International OutcomeInventory for Hearing Aids (IOI-HA), questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzedthrough Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 Results: In this research 50hearing impaired individuals who were hearing aid users, participated. The mean age of participants was64.10+15.88 years. Among which 25 (50%) were males and 25(50%) were females. The average time ofhearing aid use was 3.88 hours, majority of patients responded that hearing aid helped quite a lot in thedaily routine (mean score of IOI-HA, 3.62), have moderate difficulty in residual activity (mean score of IOIHA,3.26), moderately satisfied with their hearing aid (mean score of IOI-HA, 3.28), moderately affect theparticipation restriction (mean score of IOI-HA, 3.20), impact of their hearing loss bothered moderately(mean score of IOI-HA, 3.14) and quality of life (QOL) was very much better (3.90). There was insignificantassociation between the QOL of males and females (p-value>0.05) Conclusions: It was concluded fromthe study that the hearing aids have a greater impact on the quality of life and socio-economic aspectsof hearing impaired individuals. Hearing loss is such a problem, which separates certain community ofhearing impaired individuals from the normal population. Individuals with hearing impairment not onlyhave to face personal communication problems but also it affects their health, independency and qualityof life in their daily routine.
Gender based Differences in COVID-19 patients
Authors: Mumtaz Sami Ullah , Iqtadar Somia , Abaidullah Sajid , Gondal Khalid Masood , Hassan Amber , Khan Asad Aslam , Ahmad Fridoon J , Akram Javed
Published: March 2021

Coronaviruses are a huge family of viruses that originate disease extending from the common cold tofurther fatal maladies. Objective: The study was conducted to determine the gender baseddifferences in COVID-19 patients. Methods: Study included total 150 participants visiting Departmentof Medicine, Mayo Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. Data were collected through self-structured questionnaireusing non-probability convenient sampling. Prior written informed consents were taken from theparticipants. Ethical approval was taken from The University of Lahore, Lahore. Data were analyzedthrough SPSS version 25.0. Results: Results showed that among the comorbidities hypertension wasmost common in COVID-19 patients followed by diabetes mellitus, especially in females. Whereas renaldisorders and asthma were most reported in males. Analysis revealed that there was a significantassociation (p=0.001) between disease severity and gender. Conclusion: Study concluded that therewas significant association between gender and disease severity.Key words: COVID-19, gender based differences, comorbidities
Intake of Anti-Epileptic Drugs and their Influences on Sexual Dysfunctions
Authors: Yasmeen Roheela , Mobeen Nida , Khan Muhammad Amjad , Aslam Irfan , Chaudhry Samia
Published: March 2021

Epilepsy which is also called seizures disorder is an uncontrolled action of the central nervous system. Itis not a single disease but a set of neurological disorders. Actually in this situation, the brain does notreceive a precise signal and as a result an abnormal condition is produced that is usually involuntary inaction. In this review, we aimed to focus on the relationship of anti-epileptic drugs with sexual dysfunctionand adaptation of better remedies that improve a patient’s family life. Sexual dysfunction is a commoncomorbidity in people with epilepsy which badly affects their quality of life. Sexual dysfunction is causedby different factors like psychiatric problems, anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) and social factors etc. Sexualdysfunctions include ejaculatory failure, lessen libido, penile erection in men and irregular menstrual cyclein women. Common drugs such as Topiramate, Gabapentin (GBP), Valproate (VA), Carbamazepine (CBZ),Olanzapine (OL) and Risperidone (RTG) that are in practice to treat epilepsy usually produced adverseeffect on sexual dysfunction. Even though a lot of studies have been carried out to control sexualdysfunction in epilepsy’s patient, but still research is going on. Medicine such as Cyproheptadine,Mianserin, Buspirone, Yohimbine were found better to treat epilepsy with minimum side effects of sexualdysfunction. Moreover, it is also seen that certain vasodilators, folate , and vitamin supplements areeffective in improving the quality of life.
Mental Health Disorders and Challenges faced by developing countries
Authors: Mehboob Prof. Dr. Riffat
Published: March 2021

Mental disorders are common and contribute to the highest burden of disease across the globe.Depression and anxiety has become the most frequent disorder in these times. However, it is notconsidered a disease mostly and there are no proper policies and treatment all over the world but thedeveloping countries are affected the most. Mental health care services are lacking and inaccessible tomost of the patients worldwide. Apart from this fact, the stigma associated with this ailment is a majorhindrance in the way of treatment. Lack of human resource and their proper training is also lacking. Thereis a dire need to enhance research capacity to actually estimate the burden and magnitude of the problem,preparing a policy and above all, its implementation to bring a change in the treatment of mental healthproblems. Low and middle income countries are suffering the most due to these disorders and ironicallyit is not considered a disease thereMostly, the uneducated people attribute such mental health issues to supernatural phenomenonsuch as ghosts or magic etc. Additionally, for the treatment of these so-called “supernatural phenomenon”and to get rid of ghosts, they tend to go to “peers” or “baba” who are illiterate people, pretending to havecure for these patients. But infact, such malpractices and misconceptions among masses lead to adisastrous situation. It causes worsening of the condition of patient by not getting the proper medical andpsychiatric treatment, secondly, they are caught up by wrong people who extort huge amount of money.These are the challenges that developing countries are facing for the treatment of mental health issues.Evidence-based interventions and practice by trained personals in community and primary health carefacilities can improve the understanding and treatment of these ailments. Exercise, healthy life style,healthy dietary+ patterns and physical activities may also work wonders in these conditions.

Prof. Dr. Riffat MehboobEditor-in-ChiefPakistan BioMedical Journal
Olivier Messiaen zenébeöntött Credo-ja. Az orgonaművész és zeneszerző mint teológus
Authors: Diósi Dávid
Published: March 2021

Olivier Messiaen wurde ein Leben lang nicht müde zu betonen, dass sein katholischer Glaube bereits in seinem Elternhaus in die Wiege gelegt worden sei. Bei einem Komponisten, der sein Leben lang religiöse bzw. theologische Werke las, diese verinnerlichte und seine Ideenwelt davon beeinflussen ließ, durfte uns schwer fallen, seine Musik als Ausdruck subjektiver Frömmigkeit, Religiosität und Glaubensüberzeugung zu bezweifeln. Er erkennt in allem, was in die Welt und in das Leben der Menschen vom Schöpfer geheimnisvoll und wunderbar eingepflanzt ist, die unverwechselbare Handschrift Gottes. Seine Musik, die christozentrisch den kirchlichen in der Liturgie und während des Kirchenjahres gefeierten Mysterien des Erlösungsgeschehens kompositorisch Ausdruck verleiht, ist ein Lobpreis der Herrlichkeit des allgegenwärtigen und wirkungsmächtigen Gottes. Im Folgenden versuchen wir das ästhetische Credo Messiaens und seine Musikotheologie kurz vorzustellen.
Posztmodern spiritualitás? Egy divatfenomén az egyház szolgálatában?
Authors: Diósi Dávid
Published: March 2021

Heutzutage boomen die Bücher zum Thema Spiritualität. Sie beherrschen die religiöse Szene am Markt. Spiritualität ist eigentlich ein Modewort geworden. Schaut man aber hinter die Kulissen dieses Wortes, entdeckt man gleich, dass es wir hier mit einem sehr diffusen und konturlosen Begriff zu tun haben, der von vielen Zeitgenossen, die sich auf irgendeiner Weise mit Religion(en), bzw. mit Religiosität existentiell „beschäftigen“, zur Selbst-beschreibung nutzen. Vieles nennt sich heute „Spiritualität“ und oft versteht man darunter lediglich ein vages Sichverlassen auf fremde, überrationale Mächte. In folgender Studie wird das angesprochene Phänomen in seinem religiös-gesellschaftlichen Kontext präsentiert und untersucht, sowie zu-gleich der Frage nachgegangen, ob dies für die Zukunft der Kirche auch das langersehnte „Hauptgewinn“ erbringen könnte.
A jövő egyházának „kényelmetlen” atyánkfiai
Authors: Diósi Dávid
Published: March 2021

Laut „Spiegel online“ zeigen die Ergebnisse einer neu¬en Studie des Forschungsteams der Berliner Humboldt-Universtät, der Universität von British Columbia in Vancouver sowie der Partnerver¬mittlung eDarling, dass heutzutage diejenige Menschen, die Wert auf Unab¬hängigkeit und Eigensinn legen, sich immer mehr von ihrer Kultur unter¬scheiden wollen. Sie vertreten Ansichten, die nicht der gängigen Norm der Gesellschaft entsprechen. Wer sich heute von der Masse unterscheiden will, kann möglicherweise das Christentum entdecken. Es wäre aber falsch zu glauben, dass in der Kirche alles so bleibt, wie es ist. Denn gerade diese Menschen, die für sich die Kirche neu entdecken, werden kritische Fragen an die Kirche haben. Sie werden „unbequem“ sein: durch ihre Fragen und Erwartungen. Doch gerade diese „Unbequemen“ werden die Kirche verändern und mit neuer schöpferischen Kraft erfüllen. Durch ihr Fargen und ihre Lebensweise werden sich die Horizonte der zukünftigen Kirche weiten und eröffnen. Ihr Fragen bereitet die Zukunft der Kirche.
Naplemente? (A modern kor metamorfózisa vagyis a posztmodern)
Authors: András István
Published: March 2021

L’articolo seguente porta davanti a noi alcuni aspetti del mondo odierno, nel quale viviamo e che si presenta davanti a noi come epoca postmoderna. Quasi tutti noi usiamo questo concetto, cioè il postmoderno, ma quando dobbiamo defi nire cosa signifi ca precisamente il concetto, siamo in diffi coltà. L’articolo presente cerca di portare alcuni prospettive presentando il postmoderno come la metamorfosi, come il tramonto del mondo moderno. Il postmoderno si presenta come la guarigione dopo la malattia, come una chance. La malattia è passata ma ancora si vedono le cicatrice. Queste cicatrice sono le caratteristiche del mondo postmoderno tramite le quali possiamo conoscere, descrivere e capire il mondo postmoderno. L’idea si fonda nel concetto, pensiero debole, di Gianni Vattimo, con quale siamo riusciti a mostrare una via nella quale si riassume la società e il pensiero odierna. Parole chiave: postmoderno, pensiero debole, metamorfosi, tramonto, soggetto, Überwindung, Verwindung, cicatrice, chance, società, nichilismo, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Vattimo, Rorty.
A holland kölcsön elindulása és felelősei
Authors: Kiss Endre
Published: March 2021

Both the Saint Michael Parish of Cluj Napoca and the entire Diocese of Alba Iulia have been concerned for times with the issue of the loan taken out from the Netherlands. This issue was interpreted in different ways, it was divulged by both the Hungarian and Romanian press, and it also launched a public discussion. Yet, its exact background and focal point were unknown. In this study, I endeavour to present both the background and the protagonists of this delicate issue by exploring the contemporary documents. By taking out the Dutch loan the property of the parish was deposited as a mortgage. The real estate of the parish was administrated by both the parish priest—József Hirschler—and the trustees—Ferenc Nemes and Albert Váradi—with full responsibility.
STUDY ON MEASUREMENT RELIABILITY BASED ON LIU ESTIMATOR
Authors: HUANG J. W. , MA L. , LI R.
Published: March 2021

In this paper, we introduce the Liu estimator in the measurement process as an alternative method to the ordinary least squares estimator. To compare the Liu estimator and the ordinary least squares estimator under the reliability criterion, a simulation study is conducted. Simulation study results show that Liu estimator is an effective method to replace OLS estimator in process measurement. When the Liu parameter choose in a reasonable range, Liu estimator superior to ordinary least squares estimator in terms of reliability.
DESIGN OF PULSED HIGH-VOLTAGE POWER FOR ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR
Authors: FAN L. J. , PAN X. C. , HUANG Z. X. , ZU X. D.
Published: March 2021

In this paper, the physical model of anti-corona phenomenon was established, the theoretical model of anti-corona suppression powered by an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) pulse has been obtained. A dust collecting method was suggested in which a gas has ionized by an electrostatic field to adsorb dust particles to an electrode. The relationship between pulse frequency, amplitude pulse width and dust removal efficiency were tested. Research results showed that the physical model of anti-corona phenomenon could reflect the process of corona generation. The circuit scheme of superimposing high-voltage pulse based on direct current high voltage can effectively suppress the anti-corona phenomenon and improve the dust removal efficiency
A NEW CLASS OF ALMOST UNBIASED ESTIMATOR
Authors: HUANG J. W. , MA L. , WANG L.
Published: March 2021

48 (3) 205-209
B2C E-COMMERCE CUSTOMIZED LOGISTICS AREA INVENTORY ALLOCATION STRATEGY BASED ON CONSTRAINED CLUSTERING ALGORITHM
Authors: HUANG J. K.
Published: March 2021

Logistics network includes regional logistics network and urban logistics network. In this paper, the urban logistics network is taken as the research object. With the improvement of the consumption level of the residents, the attention to quality has become an important reference standard for consumers to choose e-commerce, which makes the electric business shift from "price war" to "service war". Compared with past purchases in physical stores, most consumers prefer to choose convenient and fast online shopping. As a result, the size of the online shopping market has increased rapidly. According to statistics, the growth rate of the online shopping market in the past five years is over 100%, and the growth rate will slow down in the next few years, but it will still maintain steady growth. The importance of logistics for an e-business enterprise is obvious. The improvement and perfection of logistics distribution network is imminent. Scholars at home and abroad have studied this aspect for a long time. This research is based on the optimization of ecommerce logistics distribution network. By summing up the ideas and solutions proposed by researchers at home and abroad for this problem, and combining with the actual situation, a method of optimizing the B2C e-commerce logistics distribution network is designed. Considering the special traffic situation and the actual order demand in the city, the distribution area division, the distribution site stratification, the vehicle routing optimization and the logistics network optimization model are set up, and a combination of various methods is used to solve the problem.
ECONOMIC BENEFIT EVALUATION OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES BASED ON BP NEURAL NETWORK OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHM
Authors: AI F. Y. , WANG M. Z.
Published: March 2021

The economic evaluation methods of existing industrial enterprises have many limitations. In this paper, an economic benefit evaluation method of industrial enterprises based on BP neural network optimization algorithm is proposed. This method takes the economic indicators of enterprises as input of artificial neural network, and uses the optimized BP neural network model to evaluate and analyze enterprises. The running time is greatly shortened, and the evaluation results are objective and accurate. An example is given to illustrate the implementation of the method. The example shows the feasibility of the method. In the fast-changing market situation, the sustainable development of enterprises has attracted the attention of all sectors of society and has become the focus of research. The sustainable development of the enterprise is the objective requirement of the sustainable development of the economy, the guarantee for the long-term economic benefit of the enterprise, and the fundamental method and way to realize the long-term development of the enterprise. Therefore, for enterprises, sustainable development is the primary task of enterprises. The research on sustainable development of enterprises has become a hot topic in the practice and theory field of enterprise management. However, there has been no effective and systematic theory on the index system, quantification and evaluation methods of the evaluation of the sustainable development of enterprises
CONSTRUCTION OF ENTERPRISE ECONOMIC DECISION RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM BASED ON COMBINED ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS MODEL
Authors: ZHAO S. J.
Published: March 2021

With the development of the information age and the network economy, enterprises need more and more decisions, and the difficulty and complexity of decision-making are constantly improving. The traditional centralized decision-making is no longer in line with the requirements of current social and economic development. Therefore, based on the in-depth study of conventional algorithms, this paper constructs a portfolio association analysis model for enterprise economic decision-making recommendation system, and uses the off-line test method to test the construction model. The test results show that the accuracy and recall rate calculated by the combination algorithm are higher than the common collaborative filtering algorithm. The enterprise economic decision recommendation system realizes the integration of economic mathematical model, operational research method and decision-making means, greatly improving the enterprise. The accuracy of scientifically feasible decision-making has improved the efficiency of business operations to a certain extent.
APPLICATION OF DATA MINING ALGORITHM IN INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS OF ENTERPRISE ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE
Authors: WEI G. E. , GAO L. , SHI F.
Published: March 2021

With the continuous development and application of high-speed information technology such as the Internet, the acquisition and utilization of economic intelligence has an important impact on the operation of the national economy and the operation of enterprises. Based on the detailed analysis of data mining algorithms, this paper constructs a user classification model based on clustering algorithm and a user interest feature extraction model based on UR-LDA, and uses the improved K-means algorithm in an unsupervised manner. User clustering was carried out, and data mining experiments were conducted on users of Sina Weibo. The experimental results show that the user data extracted from the interest feature topic is clustered by the improved K-means, and six similar user clusters are obtained. The better clustering results are obtained, which indicates that the classification model constructed in this paper is effective.
RESEARCH AND APPLICATION OF GIS AND DATA MINING TECHNOLOGY IN MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL GEOGRAPHY ENVIRONMENT X
Authors: ZHENG X. L.
Published: March 2021

At present, with the acceleration of the economic development process, the maintenance of the ecological environment has received extensive attention. In order to simplify the workflow of natural geographical environment monitoring and evaluation, this paper combines GIS technology and data mining technology, and builds a decision tree model with monitoring and evaluation as the core. Dongting Lake is taken as the research object to verify the validity of the model. The research results show that the algorithm designed in this paper can classify the land types of natural geographical environment and improve the accuracy of environmental monitoring and evaluation.
CONSTRUCTION OF MARKETING INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF LIQUOR-MAKING ENTERPRISES UNDER CLUSTERING ALGORITHM
Authors: LI M. Y.
Published: March 2021

Large supermarket is the strategic commanding point of liquor marketing channels. For liquor, large supermarket is the combination of linear and offline channels. It is the gathering place for middle and high end liquor ， which is the strategic commanding point for brand building. This paper uses the high-end liquor brand A as an example to excavate the consumption data of a large supermarket from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015. This paper builds a customer cluster by combining with the status quo of liquor marketing. The algorithm, which uses the analytic hierarchy process to calculate the weight of each index, obtains the key customer groups for the marketing of liquor companies and helps to optimize and integrate the marketing resources of liquor companies.
DOMINANT EIGENVECTOR AND EIGENVALUE ALGORITHM IN SPARSE NETWORK SPECTRAL CLUSTERING
Authors: YANG B. J.
Published: March 2021

The sparse network spectrum clustering problem is studied in this paper. It tries to analyze and improve the sparse network spectrum clustering algorithm from the main feature pair algorithm. The main feature pair algorithm in the matrix calculation is combined with the spectral clustering algorithm to explore the application of the main feature pair algorithm on the network adjacency matrix. The defects of traditional main features are analyzed when the algorithm Power is used on the network of special structural features, and the advantages of the new algorithm SII algorithm is proved. The sparse network spectral clustering algorithm in this paper is based on the Score algorithm, and the main features of the algorithm are refined, analyzed and improved.
MODEL DECOMPOSITION BASED ABNORMAL PARAMETER ESTIMATION FOR DISTILLATION COLUMN
Authors: TIAN W. D. , SUN S. L.
Published: March 2021

Parameter estimation method can produce useful physical parameters in finding abnormal causes, but nonlinear model makes this method computationally intensive and non-robust for distillation scenario. In this paper, we propose a model decomposition based parameter estimation method for distillation column diagnosis purposes. Nonlinear first principles dynamic model is divided into some disjoint submodels through occurrence matrix analysis. The whole model is used to monitor distillation process and the submodel that gives the highest contribution to the generated residual is selected to perform abnormal parameter estimation. Application results from stripping tower in the popular Tennessee Eastman challenge problem show that the model decomposition based diagnosis scheme is more time-saving and robust than pure nonlinear model based scheme.
MICROENCAPSULATION OF SHARK LIVER OIL POOL BY SPRAY DRYING
Authors: GARCIA C. M. , FERNANDEZ M. , LOPEZ O. D. , CASTIÑEIRA M. , MARTINEZ B. , NOGUEIRA A. , TURIÑO L.
Published: March 2021

The aim of this paper is to study the spray-dried microencapsulation of shark liver oil using gum arabic and maltodextrin as encapsulating agents. A mix design, was developed where the main factor was the ratio between gum arabic and maltodextrin. Vitamin A content in microencapsulated and non-microencapsulated oil was determined by reversed-phase HPLC analysis, as well as the release of vitamin A from the dried product. The following parameters were also evaluated: encapsulation efficiency, loss on drying, surface morphology and particle size. The encapsulation efficiency of microencapsulated oil increased slightly as the concentration of gum increased. To reach higher encapsulation efficiency and lower moisture content of microencapsulated oil, the combination of gum arabic and maltodextrin should be maintained at 47% and 23%, respectively, according to established manufacturing conditions. The microencapsulation of oil by spray drying has no statistically significant effect on the vitamin A content response, or on its release rate.
MHD VISCOUS NANOFLUID FLOW WITH BASE FLUIDS’ WATER AND KEROSENE IN THE PRESENCE OF A TEMPERATURE GRADIENT DEPENDENT HEAT SINK WITH PRESCRIBED HEAT FLUX
Authors: SARITHA K. , PALANIAMMAL S.
Published: March 2021

MHD viscous nanofluid flow with viscous dissipation and thermal radiation in the presence of a temperature gradient dependent heat sink is analyzed. Hence, this work mainly deals nano fluids with nanoparticles Cu, Ag, Al, Al2O3 and TiO2 and with base fluids’ water and kerosene. Prescribed heat flux boundary condition is employed on the porous surface. Suitable similarity transformations are introduced for converting nonlinear partial differential equations into the nonlinear ordinary differential equations and then solved by analytically. The influence of various physical parameters over the velocity and temperature of nanofluids Cu-water and Cu-kerosene are examined by using graphs. Skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number of various nanofluids tabulated and analyzed. It is found that skin friction coefficient and heat transfer rate of kerosene based nanofluid is higher than the water based nanofluid in the presence of considered physical effects.
Making Teacher-Student Interaction Humorous Through Xiangsheng Techniques in the Chinese EFL Classroom
Authors: Jiang Hongji , Leong Lai Mei
Published: March 2021

This paper aims to propose the use of Xiangsheng techniques in the Chinese EFL classroom. Many previous studies have discussed the perceptions and benefits of the use of humor in the language classroom, but there are rarely any discussions on how to initiate humor. This article summarizes 10 Xiangsheng techniques, which meant to engage teachers and students in interactions which are both interesting and humorous. It is hoped that these Xiangsheng techniques will be able to provide insights into the use of humor for those teachers who wish to use it in their language classrooms.
How Can Social Branding Mitigate Racism Among Fans in Sports? A Q-sort Analysis on the Value of Social Branding Campaigns as Vehicles for Reducing Racism Among Soccer Fans
Authors: Stevens Vidar , Cremers Rens
Published: March 2021

Social branding is a new governance strategy in the field of sport. National governments and sport associations, for instance, use branding to reach out to fans and alter their perceptions of racism in sport. But how do fans, as a target group, actually value this governance strategy? This article zooms in on the purpose of social branding, as perceived by fans as a target group in a social branding campaign on racism in soccer in the Netherlands. The Q-sort methodology was used to study the subjective viewpoints of 29 soccer fans of different professional sport clubs. The analysis reveals that soccer fans prefer a transparent branding process in which they are recognized as coproducers of the brand and can add their story to the brand message that is conveyed to target audiences.
Borderlands Hyperbole, Critical Dystopias, and Transfeminist Utopian Hope: Gaspar de Alba's Desert Blood and Valencia's Capitalismo gore
Authors: Donohue Micah K.
Published: March 2021

There is a growing tendency to hyperbolize the U.S.-Mexican borderlands as a “dystopian zone of terror.” Dystopian borderlands hyperbole is double-edged. It can be used to create virulently racist mischaracterizations of borderlands life, and it can be used critically, as Alicia Gaspar de Alba and Sayak Valencia use it in Desert Blood and Capitalismo gore, to draw attention to structural forms of violence that imperil the borderlands on a daily basis. Desert Blood and Capitalismo gore exemplify a tendency in borderlands literature to hyperbolically magnify borderlands crises of violence, misogyny, exploitation, and racism to all-encompassing dimensions. That magnification serves to highlight (and demand the critical transformation of) historical and structural conditions that have created and perpetuated those crises. The borderlands in Desert Blood and Capitalismo gore are hyperbolically reimagined as dystopias of neoliberal patriarchal violence. Gaspar de Alba and Valencia hyperbolize those dystopias to critique and ultimately abolish them.
Gender Diversity in Audit Partners and Audit Efforts
Authors: Tibiletti Veronica , Azzali Stefano , Mazza Tatiana
Published: March 2021

The research uses regression models and panel data related to audit fees, audit hours and corporate governance. The sample of listed firms yields 751 firms-years observations for the period 2010-2018. We study how gender diversity among audit partners, Chief Executive Officers, and Boards of Directors impact on audit fees and audit hours. We focus on the interaction between auditors and management. We find that female audit partners is associated with lower audit fees and audit hours. Next, we find that female audit partner significantly affects the association with the audit efforts in interaction with management, but when the audit partner is male, audit efforts are also determined by the female representation on the Board of Directors.  We contribute to literature on the effects of gender diversity in auditing and corporate governance. We also enrich the concept of audit efforts by including audit hours as well as audit fees. Finally, the research answers the call for empirical study on the effects of gender diversity in management-auditor interaction.
Impact of Changes in Land Use and Land Cover in the Contribution Basin of Doutor João Penido Water Supply Reservoir of Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil
Authors: Lana Juliana Nazareth de , Oliveira Márcio de , Paula Vanessa Romario de , Rocha Cézar Henrique Barra
Published: March 2021

Changes in the land use and land cover in areas adjacent to water reservoirs directly affect the quality of this water. This research presents a study on the water quality in the basin of one of the most important public water supply reservoirs in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. The main objective of this study was to analyze the behavior of limnological parameters and the correlation with land use and land cover in the contribution basin of the Doutor João Penido reservoir (CBJPR). The methodology was based on the analysis of water quality parameters, related to water samples collected from 2012 to 2015. Six sampling points were chosen from different locations: spring, medium course, main tributaries of the reservoir and the reservoir catchment. The parameters analyzed were turbidity, total solids (TS), oxygen consumed (OC), dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), E. Coli, temperature, pH and total dissolved solids (TDS). The Kendall’s tau test was used to analyze the correlations between the parameters of water quality, land use and land cover in the CBJPR. In general, measured parameters showed better results in spring and in reservoir catchment, showing a worse quality of the water along the tributaries and the dilution power of the reservoir. The correlations pointed to the need for protection and preservation of forests in strategic locations to ensure good water quality.
Evaluation of the infrastructure conducive to the development of electromobility in Poland
Authors: Kosakowska Katarzyna
Published: March 2021

Electric cars have appeared in Poland relatively recently. However, they quickly became an important part of the discussion as an ecological alternative to traditional combustion vehicles. In 2018, the law was introduced regulating the use of infrastructure used by electric vehicles, subsidies and benefits for drivers operating such vehicles. Dynamic development of the electric vehicle market in the world, only to some extent, has translated itself into their popularity in Poland. The article deals with issues related to the causes of such a state, evaluating the main elements determining the expansion and popularity of this segment. Its main objective is to present a methodology for evaluating the infrastructure conducive to the development of electromobility in Poland in terms of the number of electric vehicle charging stations.
Kale Akte – ‘the Fair Promontory’. New Research and Interpretations on the Urban History and Foundation by Ducetius
Authors: Lindhagen Adam
Published: March 2021

This paper examines the origins of the ancient urban settlement Kale Akte on the north coast of Sicily, based on the extensive excavations and research carried out at Caronia and Caronia Marina over the last two decades. It is suggested that the name Kale Akte – ‘Fair Promontory’ – was probably coined in Archaic times by Greek merchants and would have derived from the promontory with its harbour, an obvious landmark for the Greeks. The recently discovered Archaic harbour at Caronia Marina is regarded as a Sikel harbour, created as a maritime outlet for a Sikel settlement that must have existed on the hill-top of Caronia before the foundation by Ducetius. The archaeological finds suggest that the Sikel settlement was well acquainted with the Greek custom of the symposion. In the Archaic period, Kale Akte can be viewed as a ‘middle ground’ where traders of different ethnicities and cultural identity put differences aside in order to make a profit on trade. The topographical characteristics of the site are compared with the two other alleged foundations by Ducetius: Menai (Mineo) and Paliké. The hill-top of Caronia has close similarities with Mineo, but also with Cittadella, the precursor to Morgantina. Ducetius cannot have been the instigator behind the grand urban plan of Morgantina, since all his urban projects seem to have been on a relatively limited scale. The topographical situation of Kale Akte is also compared with that of the neighbouring cities Halaesa, Apollonia and Haluntium. However, the interests of these urban centres were dominated by territorial ambitions, while Kale Akte appears to have specialized in trade and maritime commerce from its inception. It is suggested that the harbour of Kale Akte in Roman times may well have served a much larger area than its own territory. The foundation of Kale Akte on the hill-top of Caronia is thought to have been undertaken by Ducetius with the consent of Syracuse, which was interested in founding a maritime trading post on this part of the coast, and was still under Sikel dominion. This would explain the open character of the settlement and the lack of any fortifications.
Drought Affected Wheat Production in Bangladesh and Breeding Strategies for Drought Tolerance
Authors: Hannan Afsana , Najmol Hoque Md. , Hassan Lutful , Hasan Khan Robin Arif
Published: March 2021

Wheat is one of the major cereal crops in Bangladesh. Over the last two decades, wheat consumption has passionately amplified in Bangladesh but its production has declined due to various stress environments. Recurrent drought event due to climate change that threatens the country’s food safety has become a serious concern. To safeguard the food security, adopting suitable breeding strategies can add momentum. Developing drought tolerant wheat varieties are the definitive means of protecting the crop against hostile effects of drought. Plant breeders are exploring various breeding strategies to breed for the varieties that can cope with water deficient conditions well. Besides, breeders are consistently looking for new prospects and strategies that can boost genetic gain in yield. To endorse drought tolerance in wheat, understanding the physiological and genetic adaptation mechanisms of wheat cultivars during drought stress would provide the estimated benchmarks to adjust for suitable breeding programs. The efforts of developing drought tolerant wheat genotypes could be supported by different breeding strategies including in vitro haploid and double haploid protocols, polyploidization, development of various types of hybrids and induced mutants by utilizing both classical and molecular breeding techniques. The proposed book chapter shall discuss the pattern of drought-stress in the wheat growing regions, effects of drought stress on wheat production and suitable breeding strategies for developing drought tolerant genotypes in Bangladesh.
Queer/Disabled Existence: Human Rights of People with Disability
Authors: Basumatary Deepak
Published: March 2021

The literature has sometimes portrayed queer/disabled people as the “Other.” People with disabilities and queer sexualities are frequently subject to ridicule and abuse. Historically, the literature has aided in the social constructionism of disability phenomena in society by depicting the disabled as someone harmful and undesirable. Furthermore, traditional representations of queer and/or disabled existence have frequently been biased and are usually about how the “able-bodied” or the so-called normal people perceive people with diverse bodies and queer sexualities. However, it has been conspicuously silent regarding the plight of people with disabilities and queer sexualities. In a departure from traditional representations of queer and/or disabled existence, Firdaus Kanga presents a first-hand account of the lived experiences of his precarious life in the Indian sociocultural context and beyond. He has to his credit a series of critically acclaimed books such as Trying to Grow (1990), Heaven on Wheels (1991), The Godmen (1995), and The Surprise Ending (1996). As a severely disabled individual suffering from a crippling disease called osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bones disease), Trying to Grow (1990), a semiautobiographical novel, is a narrative of his lived experiences of disability and tryst with queer sexuality. While his other work, Heaven on Wheels (1991), is a discourse on queer sexuality and disability from the perspective of queer and disabled existence. Kanga critiques the ableist society’s treatment of the queer and the disabled, which is tantamount to human rights abuse.
Isolation and Identification of Carbazole Degrading Bacteria from Lake Water
Authors: Binti Abdul Lateef Khan Khairunnisa
Published: March 2021

Heterocyclic hydrocarbon compounds have been identified as one of the major components of water pollution that occurs as a result of urbanization. It has been known that the presence of these compounds is hazardous and remain in the environment for a long period of time. This study was conducted to isolate and identify heterocyclic hydrocarbon degrading bacteria from lake water by genomic DNA extraction and sequencing as well as measure the degradation rate of the bacteria using Gas Chromatography Flame-Ionization Detector (GC-FID). The water sample was collected from west campus lake of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak where six strains of bacteria that has degrading ability was isolated using sub-culturing technique on MSM double layer agar plates. The genomic DNA of bacteria designated as strain IM1, IM2, IM3, IM4, IM5 and IM6 were extracted and amplified using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The isolates were then sequenced and were identified as Bradyrhizobium sp., Ochrobactrum sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa sp. and Burkholderia sp. All six isolates possessed the ability to utilize carbazole as sole carbon and energy source as the degradation rate of carbazole was measured using GC-FID analysis. After 12 days of incubation, IM2 showed 96.37% degradation while the other five isolates were able to degrade 100% of the carbazole. Thus, bacteria isolated from this study may provide great benefit for bioremediation.
Challenges in Improving Performance of Oxide Thermoelectrics Using Defect Engineering
Authors: Ur Rahman Jamil , Rahman Gul , Lee Soonil
Published: March 2021

Oxide thermoelectric materials are considered promising for high-temperature thermoelectric applications in terms of low cost, temperature stability, reversible reaction, and so on. Oxide materials have been intensively studied to suppress the defects and electronic charge carriers for many electronic device applications, but the studies with a high concentration of defects are limited. It desires to improve thermoelectric performance by enhancing its charge transport and lowering its lattice thermal conductivity. For this purpose, here, we modified the stoichiometry of cation and anion vacancies in two different systems to regulate the carrier concentration and explored their thermoelectric properties. Both cation and anion vacancies act as a donor of charge carriers and act as phonon scattering centers, decoupling the electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity.
Outbreak Management and COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Bayram Değer Vasfiye
Published: March 2021

Humanity has battled with various epidemics, pandemics and natural disasters throughout history since it began to live in communities, still continuing to do so. In the past, it was very difficult to overcome many of these phenomena both at global and regional level, and even many people were killed. However, during the plagues, countries attempted to develop a number of strategies, tactics and methods within the scope of combating the epidemic. At this point, these struggles, measures and actions have facilitated prevention and spread of outbreaks, and sometimes they have not been sufficiently efficacious. On the other hand, struggles with epidemics, pandemics and natural disasters, which deeply affect all segments of the society in terms of social, cultural and economic aspects as well as mental and physical health, have been inherited to the present day, becoming a vast accumulation of practices to be re-applied in possible disasters humanity will face. The main point lies in the fact that here is that the struggles fought in traditional societies and modern societies have different characteristics. Especially in those traditional societies where medicine and technology are underdeveloped, the struggles carried out within uncertain constraints have caused pandemics and epidemics to last longer. The modern society we live in today, on the other hand, is on the verge of several risks and threats unlike traditional societies. When we consider the modern society within the risk society approaches, the present risks should also be thoroughly discussed. In this context, epidemics, which are a type of natural disaster, and the methods of combating them should be investigated within the framework of risk and crisis management due to the risks in modern society.
Enzymatic Saccharification of Canola Straw and Oat Hull Subjected to Microwave-Assisted Alkali Pretreatment
Authors: Samuel Agu Obiora , G. Tabil Lope , Dumonceaux Tim
Published: March 2021

Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass is a critical step in removing substrate-specific barriers to the cellulolytic enzyme attack. The study compared the effectiveness of microwave-assisted alkali pretreatment and alkali treatment in the enzymatic saccharification of canola straw and oat hull. Microwave pretreatments were employed by immersing the biomass in dilute alkali solutions (NaOH and KOH) at concentrations of 0, 0.75, and 1.5% (w/v) for microwave-assisted heating times of 6, 12, and 18 min. Alkali treatments were carried out using the same procedure but by soaking and without microwave heating. The highest glucose yields after enzymatic saccharification of both canola straw and oat hull were obtained when these feedstocks were ground using 1.6 mm hammer mill screen size and subjected to microwave-assisted alkali pretreatment using 1.5% and 0.75% NaOH for 18 min, respectively. SEM analysis indicated a more significant modification in the structure of biomass samples subjected to microwave-assisted alkali pretreatment compared to untreated and alkali-treated biomass samples. Results indicated that microwave-assisted alkali pretreatment with short residence time is effective in improving the glucose yield of canola straw and oat hull during enzymatic saccharification.
Spices-Reservoir of Health Benefits
Authors: Sachdeva Cheryl , Kumar Kaushik Naveen
Published: March 2021

Spices contribute to the quality, nutritive value, and flavor of food. Since ancient times, they hold a great medicinal value. Their antimicrobial, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and other numerous properties have made them a potent source of therapeutic agents. Phytochemical analysis revealed presence of active constituents such as eugenol, curcumin, carotenoids in clove, turmeric, saffron respectively that explains the efficacious nature of these spices. Owing to their easy availability and consumption, it is advised to make spices daily part of our diet though in balanced amount as sometimes excess usage bear few consequences. Evaluating multiple benefits offered by these as immunity boosters especially in times of pandemic and incorporating them in our routine diet would improve disease management strategies. This chapter discusses the reservoir of activities exhibited by few spices along with the components responsible for these activities. Here, we also discussed their negative effects if at all.
Atomistic Mathematical Theory for Metaheuristic Structures of Global Optimization Algorithms in Evolutionary Machine Learning for Power Systems
Authors: Lissner Jonah
Published: March 2021

Global Optimization in the 4D nonlinear landscape generates kinds and types of particles, waves and extremals of power sets and singletons. In this chapter these are demonstrated for ranges of optimal problem-solving solution algorithms. Here, onts, particles, or atoms, of the ontological blueprint are generated inherently from the fractional optimization algorithms in Metaheuristic structures of computational evolutionary development. These stigmergetics are applicable to incremental machine learning regimes for computational power generation and relay, and information management systems.
Search Algorithms on Logistic and Manufacturing Problems
Authors: Bonilla-Enriquez Gladys , Caballero-Morales Santiago-Omar
Published: March 2021

The supply chain comprehensively considers problems with different levels of complexity. Nowadays, design of distribution networks and production scheduling are some of the most complex problems in logistics. It is widely known that large problems cannot be solved through exact methods. Also, specific optimization software is frequently needed. To overcome this situation, the development and application of search algorithms have been proposed to obtain approximate solutions to large problems within reasonable time. In this context, the present chapter describes the development of Genetic Algorithms (an evolutionary search algorithm) for vehicle routing, product selection, and production scheduling problems within the supply chain. These algorithms were evaluated by using well-known test instances. The advances of this work provide the general discussions associated to designing these search algorithms for logistics problems.