Fluxional Carbon Cages and their 'Shapeshifting' Properties

Fluxional carbon cages1 such as bullvalene, the barbaralyl cation and barbaralane are molecules which possess ‘shapeshifting’ properties. These shapeshifting properties arise through rapid and reversible Cope rearrangements, which allow for every carbon atom to exchange with every other carbon atom giving rise to thousands of degenerate valence isomers. This rare phenomenon is crucial in the study of the fundamental concept of valence isomerisation and can manifest as a dynamic structural library arising from a single, rigid molecule.2 The possibility of accessing a large number of nondegenerate isomers from functionalised bullvalene derivatives has been utilised to design shapeshifting sensors,3 where the equilibrium distribution is shifted through specific noncovalent bonding interactions or dynamic covalent bonds when interacting with different guests. Applications of these molecules, however, are restricted by their lengthy and low-yielding syntheses as well as their structural complexity, which hinders a full understanding over equilibria and rearrangements. This Thesis will discuss investigations into barbaralane structures – an attractive alternative fluxional scaffold which can be readily synthesised and exists as just two isomers in rapid flux at room temperature. New classes of tractable fluxional carbon cages have been explored with their rearrangements and equilibria being fully understood and controlled, in both the solution and solid state. These bistable nondegenerate systems are later elaborated into highly fluxional cations – the stability of which is tuned by substituent effects. 1. (a) W. von E. Doering and W. R. Roth, Tetrahedron, 1963, 19, 175; (b) P. Alhberg, D. L. Harris and S. Winstein, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 7445; (c) J. G. Henkel and J. T. Hane, J. Org. Chem. 1983, 48, 3858. 2. P. R. McGonigal, C. de León, Y. H. Wang, A. Homs, C. R. Solorio-Alvardo and A. M. Echavarren, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 13093. 3. (a) K. K. Larson, M. He, J. F. Teichert, A. Naganawana and J. W. Bode, Chem. Sci. 2012, 3, 1825; (b) J. F. Teichert, D. Mazunin and J. W. Bode, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 1134

Siege of Violent Crimes through Economic Complexity and Institutions

This study is an effort to explore the determinants of violent crimes by using the panel data of 34 countries covering the time span from 2000 to 2014. The robust least square technique is applied for empirical analysis. The findings of the study reveal that the economic complexity, institutions and per capita income have significant negative impact while economic misery and population growth have significant positive relationship on violent crimes. Moreover, efficient institutions have prime importance to curb the crimes in a society. The better provision of knowledge and highly skilled labor force in an efficient institutional environment for alleviation of crimes is suggested as a policy tool. Additionally, serious efforts to decrease the economic misery and population growth are need of the hour to overcome the crimes

Religious cults of liberation: an analysis of the Nation of Islam and the Ras Tafarian movements

The emergence of Black religious cults like the Nation of Islam in the United States and the Ras Tafarian in Jamaica, derives from the comparatively meagre participation of the Black population of these countries in other institutions of society. This paper outlines the themes for understanding the emergence of these 'cults of liberation.' It is an examination and analysis of the desperate situations of lower class Blacks in urban areas. Religion is seen as offering a sense of group solidarity in situations of uncertainty and extreme privation; providing an 'identity' in opposition to the 'Negro' image, and overall, as performing a 'revitalizing' role in situations of subjection and denigration. The cults of liberation aim at turning the sense of dis-privilege, which arose from submission to dominant societal values and deprivation from material, cultural and moral advancement of Black people, into one of advantages

PENGEMBANGAN KECERDASAN SPIRITUAL SANTRI MELALUI DAUROH AL-QUR’AN MANAJEMEN TERAPAN QUR’AN (MATAQU)BOGOR

Kurangnya kecerdasan spiritual yang dimiliki masyarakat dalam penerapan aktivitas sehari-hari dan dalam menghadapi berbagai persoalan hidup, sehingga masyarakat keliru dalam setiap jalan kehidupannya dan sangat memprihatinkan. Bisa dilihat, banyak manusia sekarang yang terlibat dengan narkoba, minuman keras, kekerasan dalam pergaulan, kriminalitas, bullying, bolos sekolah, menghina dan tak segan untuk tidak mematuhi dan menghormati orangtua, bahkan ada yang membunuh orangtua sendiri. Hal ini terjadi karena kurang kuatnya penanaman nilai-nilai spiritual. Penelitian ini bertujan untuk mengetahui kecerdasan spiritual santri melalui kegiatan yang ada di dauroh dan factor-faktor apa saja yang mempengaruhi peningkatan kecerdasan spiritual santri di Dauroh MataQu. Manfaat praktis penelitian bagi peneliti adalah menambah pengetahuan serta pengalaman, bagi masyarakat yang ingin mengikuti dauroh Al-Qur’an. Teori yang digunakan adalah kecerdasan spiritual dari Davis Roberts A. Emmons, tentang karakteristik orang yang memiliki kecerdasan spiritual. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode deskriptif kualitatif yaitu penelitian yang menggambarkan keadaan sesungguhnya dari objek yang diteliti dan dibandingkan dengan teori yang ada. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan metode observasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah tahfidz Qur’an dan kecerdasan spiritual. Berdasarkan analisis yang dilakukan peneliti ialah pengembangan kecerdasan spiritual santri di Dauroh Al-Qur’an MataQu yang dilakukan oleh Kepala pimpinan dauroh dan para stadzah melalui beberapa upaya seperti kegiatankegiatan yang ada di dauroh yaitu; 1. Tahfidz Al-Qur’an 2. Shalat sunnah 3. Puasa sesnin kamis 4. Rihlah 5. Olahraga. Serta analisis yang menunjukan kecrdasan spiritual santri dari karakter yang telah ditetapkan. Terdapat pengembangan dalam kecerdasan spiritual santri dari upaya-upaya yang dilakukan oleh dauroh seperti tumbuhnya sifat kejujuran, kepedulian, syukur, sabar, dan kerjasama antara sesama

Pengesahan Penyimpanan Arsip Elektronik Dengan Menggunakan Add-On Signature

Abstrak: Pengarsipan modern kini telah didukung oleh teknologi. Arsip yang dulunya disimpan secara fisik dan menghabiskan banyak sumber daya, seperti kertas dan ruang, menjadi tersimpan secara elektronik. Arsip disimpan dalam bentuk dokumen portabel untuk memudahkan pengarsipan secara elektronik. Dalam proses pengarsipan memerlukan validasi agar arsip yang disimpan dapat dilacak dengan pasti siapa yang membuat dan kapan diupload. Validasi tersebut menggunakan tanda tangan digital. Penyedia layanan tanda tangan digital semakin mendukung pelaksanaan pengarsipan elektronik ini. Salah satu penyedia teknologi tersebut adalah Google. Google Form dengan fasilitas Add-on Signature adalah jawabannya. Dengan menggunakan metode dasar dalam pembuatan aplikasi sederhana, yaitu SDLC, Form Google untuk pengarsipan dilengkapi dengan tanda tangan digital dibuat.   Kata kunci: Add-on, Arsip, Google form, Pengarsipan elektronik, Tanda tangan digital   Abstract: Technology is now supporting modern archiving. The Archives, which used to be physically stored and consume many resources, such as paper and spaces, become electronically. Archives are stored in the form of portable documents to facilitate electronic filing. The archiving process requires validation. If so that the archives stored can be traced with certainty to who created and when it uploaded. The verification is using a digital signature. The Digital signature service providers are increasingly supporting this implementation of electronic archiving. One of these technology providers is Google. Google Form with Add-on Signature facility is the answer to do this. By applying the method in development of the software, SDLC, Google Forms for archiving comes with a digital signature created.   Keywords: Add-on, Arcive, Google form, electronic filing, digital signature

Assesment of Salinity and Alkalinity of Groundwater and It Relation to the Geochemical Propersties of Soil in a Specific Site of Lasbela Region

The study was conducted on assessment of salinity and alkalinity of groundwater and it relation to the geochemical properties of soil in a specific site of Lasbela region during 2013-14. Field data was collected through questionnaires. Water and soil samples were collected from 32 randomly selected sites. Both soil and water were analyzed for Electrical Conductivity and SAR by following standard procedures. The general trend line showed that soil salinity increased with an increase in water salinity. ECw has significantly affected the soil properties sites. The Alkanity levels both at water and soil differ significantly with each other. Alkanity of soil is increasing with the application of sodic water. Alkanity levels of groundwater used for irrigation of crops didn’t have a significant relation for soil Alkanity at different sites of the study area. There is an inverse relationship between Electrical conductivity and Sodium Adsorption Ratio. The saline groundwater quality from the irrigation to the whole region is although causing reduction in soil alkanity but it is causing lesser impact when compared to the individual sites in the study area. Keywords: Salinity, Alkanity, Sodium Absorption Ratio, Electrical Conductivity, Assessmen

PHURIE : hurricane intensity estimation from infrared satellite imagery using machine learning

Automated prediction of hurricane intensity from satellite infrared imagery is a challenging problem with implications in weather forecasting and disaster planning. In this work, a novel machine learning-based method for estimation of intensity or maximum sustained wind speed of tropical cyclones over their life cycle is presented. The approach is based on a support vector regression model over novel statistical features of infrared images of a hurricane. Specifically, the features characterize the degree of uniformity in various temperature bands of a hurricane. Performance of several machine learning methods such as ordinary least squares regression, backpropagation neural networks and XGBoost regression has been compared using these features under different experimental setups for the task. Kernelized support vector regression resulted in the lowest prediction error between true and predicted hurricane intensities (approximately 10 knots or 18.5 km/h), which is better than previously proposed techniques and comparable to SATCON consensus. The performance of the proposed scheme has also been analyzed with respect to errors in annotation of center of the hurricane and aircraft reconnaissance data. The source code and webserver implementation of the proposed method called PHURIE (PIEAS HURricane Intensity Estimator) is available at the URL: http://faculty.pieas.edu.pk/fayyaz/software.html#PHURIE

Exploring the relationship of cognitive function with and without COVID-19 recovered schizophrenic patients

BackgroundThe Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is linked to the deterioration of cognitive function among individuals suffering from schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to compare the cognitive performance of schizophrenic patients before and after COVID-19.MethodsA longitudinal cohort study involving a sample of 219 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia was enrolled between June 2022 and May 2023. The participants were split into two groups infected with COVID-19 (n = 165) and not infected with COVID-19 (n = 54). The data were gathered via a questionnaire on demographic characteristics, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale, and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI).ResultsThe repeated-measures ANOVA showed that Among patients diagnosed with COVID-19, there was a deterioration in global cognitive function (before COVID-19 = −2.45 vs. after COVID-19 = −3.02, p = 0.007), working memory (before COVID-19 = −2.76 vs. after COVID-19 = −3.34, p < 0.00 1), motor speed (before COVID-19 = −1.64 vs. after COVID-19 = −2.12, p < 0.001), attention and speed of information processing (before COVID-19 = −1.93 vs. after COVID-19 = −1.16, p = 0.008). multi-variable analysis showed that several factors as having a secondary grade of education (β = 0.434), experiencing insomnia (β = 0.411)and the interaction between COVID-19 diagnosis and cognition at baseline (β = 0.796) were significantly associated with cognitive deficits. At the same time, no significant associations were found between global cognition and clinical symptoms, autonomy, or depression (p > 0.05).ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted various cognitive functions, such as verbal memory, working memory, and global cognition. Insomnia has been identified as the predominant determinant of cognitive impairment, alongside the confirmation of a COVID-19 diagnosis. Additional research is imperative to elucidate the diversification of cognitive functionality observed in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia who have acquired COVID-19