YEMENI CIVIL WAR: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND PROSPECTS

Yemeni conflict reflects the failure of the Yemeni government to address the common needs to its citizen, the uprising of politically marginalized Houthis and the corrupt state, which bring the country into civil war. This article is an attempt to know the causes, consequences, and the role of foreign powers and also the entire situation of Yemeni civil war. Yemen is the poorest Arab country in the world. Due to the effect of the Arab Socialist Movement, Yemen’s Imamate ruling system disintegrated in 1970 and the country divided into two nations, North Yemen and South Yemen. Again in 1990 under the leadership of Ali Abdullah Saleh, both have been united into one nation. The corrupt rule of government, the unhealthy treatment of Houthi minority and the internal conflict made the country more unstable. Political transition happed in 2011 for the stabilization of the country, but it fails to bring peace and finally in 2015 Yemen faces a devastating civil war. Different attempts have been taken by the international community for normalizing the conflict, but all fail to bring peace. The country is suffering the worst humanitarian crisis. Saudi Arabia and Iran is the main player in the conflict. This qualitative study will try to highlight the different scenario of Yemen and also provide an overview of the civil conflict. Keywords: Yemen, Houthis, Civil War, Humanitarian Crisi

Magneto inductive communication system for underwater wireless sensor networks

Underwater wireless sensor networks have found a number of applications in underwater environment monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, military applications and ocean exploration. Among the four possible means of underwater wireless communication, namely acoustic, electromagnetic (EM), magneto-inductive (MI) and optics communication, MI communication enjoys the advantages of being low cost and robust equally in air, water and soil. This dissertation presents design and implementation of a low-power and low-cost MI sensor network node that is suited for long-term deployment of underwater and underground infrastructure monitoring, such as bridge scour and levee scour monitoring. The designed MI sensor node combat the directionality of the single coil MI communication by utilizing 3D coil to both transmit and receive. The presented MI sensor node is tested in air and underwater to show robustness and reliability. The sensor node is designed after thorough analysis and evaluation of various MI challenges such as directionality, short range, decoupling due to mis-alignment of coils, and effect of metal structure. A communication range of 40 m has been achieved by the prototype sensor node. The prototyping cost of a sensor node is less than US$100 and will be drastically reduced at volume production. A novel and an energy efficient medium access control (MAC) protocol based on the carrier sense medium access (CSMA) has also been implemented for the designed sensor node to improve throughput in a dense network --Abstract, page iv

Wheat growth and phytoavailability of copper and zinc as affected by soil texture in saline-sodic conditions

Nutrient disorders in saline-sodic soils can adversely affect crop growth. In order to evaluate the growth response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to Cu and Zn and the phytoavailability of these essential elements, a pot experiment was conducted in three different textured saline-sodic soils [sandy loam (SL), sandy clay loam (SCL) and clay (C)] having an ECe 8.63, 8.80, 8.98 dS m–1 and SAR 21.66, 23.48, 24.84 (mmol L–1)1/2 respectively. Seven treatments including levels of Cu (4, 6 and 8 mg kg–1) and levels of Zn (4, 6 and 8 mg kg–1) were separately applied together with a single control treatment. Dry matter yield (straw + grain) of wheat increased up to 35.2% with Cu and up to 31.2 % with Zn application relative to the control. As soil clay content increased, dry matter yield decreased up to 39.2% in SCL and up to 62.7% in C soil when compared to SL soil. Application of Cu increased the concentration in both wheat straw and grains up to 2.46 and 2.20 mg kg–1 DW respectively relative to the control. Zinc concentration in wheat straw and grains was also increased up to 29.97 and 29.40 mg kg–1 DW respectively relative to the controls. Copper application significantly increased Zn concentrations in wheat plants

Skin Changes in Newly Diagnosed Cases of Hypothyroidism

Introduction: Thyroid disorders are frequent in our population that leads to variety of cutaneous manifestations. Aim of our study was to determine the frequencies of skin changes of hypothyroidism and their association with gender. Methodology: This observational study was conducted at RIHS Islamabad (Ist Jun to 31st Dec 2019) after ethical approval. 105 patients (>18years age) of both genders. Confirmed to have hypothyroidism on the basis of thyroid function tests were included. Secondary hypothyroidism, sick thyroid disease, pregnant women, receiving thyroxin therapy, carcinoma of thyroid, critically ill cases, post-thyroidectomy and iatrogenic thyroid cases were excluded. After informed consent, demographic details were documented. Patients were clinically evaluated and examined in detail including dermatological examination for cutaneous manifestations. Various skin findings are studies with respect to gender. Data was analysed by SPSS version 21 with Chi-square test as a test of significance, significant p<0.05. Results: Among 105 cases of hypothyroidism (62% females and 38% males, mean age was 38.04+12.61 years. Mean TSH level was found to be 32.08 + 33.96 (mean TSH was 35.31+37.31 in females Vs. 26.96 + 27.19 in males; p=0.001). Common skin findings were dry skin in 69.5%, diffuse hair loss in 58%, coarse skin in 57%, pruritis in 51.4%, madarosis 37%, seborrheic dermatitis 34%, coarse scalp hairs 27% and slow nail growth in 23%. The brittle nails, alopecia areata, chronic urticaria, acanthosis nigricans, ivory yellow skin, purpura ecchymosis, ichthyosis, herpes simplex and certain other findings were found in <20% cases. Obesity was observed in 53(50.5%) cases, Type 2 diabetes in 20(19%), hypertension in 23(21.9%), dyslipidaemia in 12(11.4%) and anaemia in 9(8.6%). Obesity, diabetes, dyslipidaemia had no association with gender (p>0.05). However, hypertension and anaemia were significantly frequent amongst females (p<0.05). The dry, coarse skin, diffuse hair loss and seborrheic dermatitis were associated with female gender (p>0.05). Slow nail growth, brittle nails, acne vulgaris, acrochordons, vitiligo, xanthelasma were more common in males however the difference wasn’t statistically significant. Conclusion: Skin acts as an important diagnostic window to diseases affecting internal organs including thyroid disorders. Authors recommend screening for thyroid functions, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obesity and anaemia in patients presenting with suggestive dermatological manifestations irrespective of age and gender. KEYWORDS:  Hypothyroidism.  Thyroid Diseases.  Skin Changes. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. Thyroid Gland

Corporate environmental responsibility and accountability:what chance in vulnerable Bangladesh?

Bangladesh has recently been enjoying significant economic growth mainly arising from an export led development strategy. However, in that process its natural environment has been degraded and become more vulnerable in geophysical terms (e.g. environmental pollution). Much of the Bangladeshi population are also vulnerable in socio-economic terms due primarily to widespread poverty. In this context we ask, albeit sceptically, whether there is any chance of holding corporations to account for their environmental responsibilities. Using the notions of vulnerability and ecological rifts we answer this question by providing evidence from published sources and a series of 32 semi-structured interviews with Bangladeshi stakeholder groups. Key findings include, inter alia, corporate reluctance to take responsibility for the environmental impact of their activities. Our interviewees discuss the possibility of a role for mandatory corporate reporting in enhancing corporate accountability and we argue that this is essential if the contradictions and irrationalities of the globalized capitalist system are to be made visible. Achieving such accountability, however, will not be easy due to a lack of political will and the prohibitive costs involved. Incurring such costs could raise the dangerous prospect of Bangladesh losing business to other, less regulated, economies

The Spillover Effect of Global Uncertainty on BRICS Stock Markets

Using monthly data spanning from 1993 to 2021 and employingthe DCC-GARCH model, this study examines the role ofEconomic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) as a potential exogenousfactor impacting the correlation of Brazil, Russia, India, andChina (BRIC) economies’ stock markets, which is new to theliterature. Further, this dynamic correlation series is used as adependent variable while EPU of BRIC and USA is used as anindependent variable by utilizing the autoregressive distributedlag (ARDL) model. The study finds a positive and significantshort-run as well as the long-run impact of Russia’s and theUS’s EPU on their stock markets. In other words, as the EPUof the USA increases, the correlation of BRIC with the USAStock Market and the World Stock Market increases, suggestingminimum diversification opportunities for the investors. Thestudy also recommends that investors diversify their portfoliosby considering cross borders assets avenues to gain maximumreturns and reduce portfolio risk.JEL Classification: E44, C32, E52, E60, E62, C58How to Cite:Nawaz, A. D., Bhutto, N. A., & Khan, S. (2023). The Spillover Effect of Global Uncertainty on BRICS Stock Markets. Etikonomi, 22(1), 45–64. https://doi.org/10.15408/etk.v22i1.24617

Self-Consistent C-V Characterization of Depletion Mode Buried Channel InGaAs/InAs Quantum Well FET Incorporating Strain Effects

We investigated Capacitance-Voltage (C-V) characteristics of the Depletion Mode Buried Channel InGaAs/InAs Quantum Well FET by using Self-Consistent method incorporating Quantum Mechanical (QM) effects. Though the experimental results of C-V for enhancement type device is available in recent literature, a complete characterization of electrostatic property of depletion type Buried Channel Quantum Well FET (QWFET) structure is yet to be done. C-V characteristics of the device is studied with the variation of three important process parameters: Indium (In) composition, gate dielectric and oxide thickness. We observed that inversion capacitance and ballistic current tend to increase with the increase in Indium (In) content in InGaAs barrier layer.Comment: 5 pages, ICEDSA conference 201

Characterization and evaluation of heavy metal tolerance of bacterial species from soil of waste area near Riyan steel rolling mills, Muzaffarnagar, India

The present study observed a variety of microorganisms from the soil of the waste area near Riyan Steel Rolling Mills , Muzaffarnagar. Among the microorganisms, 10 isolates of Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus showed great potential against detrimental heavy metals like Hg, Pb, Zn. Out of these 10 isolates, only 2 isolates of Bacillus subtilis (N1A2, N1P2), one isolates of P. aeruginosa N1A4 and one isolates of S. aureus A1N3 showed tremendous tolerance against various heavy metals. Bacillus subtilis N1A2 showed15x109 cfu/ml in 100?g/ml of HgCl2 whereas B. subtilis N1P2 showed 15x109 cfu/ml in 400?g/ml of zinc acetatate. Similarily Pseudomonas aeruginosa N1A4 showed 11x109 cfu/ml in 150?g/ml of lead acetate. Staphylococcus aureus A1N3 showed great resistance towards 450?g/ml of zinc sulphate and maintain their growth up to 7x109 cfu/ml. strains were identified as Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus on the basis of their morphological, physiological and biochemical and compared with their standard MTCC strains