Management Policy regarding Water Quality in an Industrial Area: A case of Sindh Industrial Trading Estate

The rapid pace of population growth and continuous expansion of urban area is moving us towards economic prosperity but causes limited water resources across the globe. Water quality issues are prevailing due to the meteoric urban development and knocking the doors of legislators, city planners and development specialist for the efficient management of groundwater by adopting sustainable approaches. To address this alarming situation, current study examines the quality of groundwater in industrial and trading zone, Pakistan, as well as its influences on human fitness and ecological environment. Suitability and quality of 24 boring wells are examined at different depth ranges between (100-150 feet). The study involves substantial field work for collection of water sample, laboratory testing further, correlation matrix in the study figure out water excellence by computing physical parameters i-e pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, turbidity, hardness), chemical parameters including significant ions (sodium, potassium, , magnesium, chloride, calcium, bicarbonate, nitrate), few minor elements (iron, manganese) and trace elements (zinc, nickel, cobalt, chromium and copper) and comparing it with World Health Organization standards. The findings have reported the substandard water quality in the S.I.T.E (Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate) town. However, issues-oriented groundwater protection and management policies can help to promote sustainable development especially taking all stakeholders on board for the smooth implementation and fruitful results. This research will benefit the engineers, planners, concerned authorities for the establishment of public responsiveness and awareness plans about the quality of groundwater

Determinants of dental care utilization among low-income African-American women

OBJECTIVES: To investigate determinants of dental care utilization among low-income African-American women, focusing on psychosocial factors and predictors relevant to this population. METHODS: We used data from Wave I and II of the Detroit Dental Health Project. Participants were selected to represent African-American women caring for young children, and living in Detroit households below 250% of the federal poverty level. Papers I and II are cross-sectional, using baseline data from 969 women. Paper III follows 736 women longitudinally. Our main outcome variable was dental care utilization. The main independent variable in paper I was depression. The role of social support as a moderator was also assessed in that paper. In paper II, the main independent variables were depression, perceived discrimination, and food insufficiency, both individually and in combination. Paper III employs the framework of the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations to assess predisposing, enabling and need factors predicting the incidence of dental visits. RESULTS: Only 41.8% of the women had a dental visit within the past year. Cross-sectional analyses indicated that depressed women had lower odds of having a dental visit within the past year (OR=0.71, 95%CI=0.53-0.94). Emotional social support attenuated the effect of depression on dental visits. Women with high levels of perceived discrimination and those with food insufficiency were less likely to have dental visits in the past year (OR=0.65, 95%CI=0.44-0.95, and OR=0.64, 95%CI=0.44-0.93, respectively). Depression and perceived discrimination were also associated with less preventive visits. When psychosocial stressors were combined, they acted synergistically to lower the odds of having dental visits, including preventive and treatment visits. Longitudinal analyses of the data identified significant interactions between dental insurance and perceived discrimination (P =0.02) and between dental insurance and having a dental home (P =0.04). Experiencing pain in the teeth or gums was also a significant predictor of future dental visits. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate the importance of considering psychosocial factors when studying dental care utilization among low-income African-American women. Our findings also suggest that establishing dental homes, graduating culturally competent dental providers, and providing emotional support resources might improve dental care utilization among these women.2019-09-26T00:00:00

Management Policy regarding Water Quality in an Industrial Area: A case of Sindh Industrial Trading Estate

The rapid pace of population growth and continuous expansion of urban area is moving us towards economic prosperity but causes limited water resources across the globe. Water quality issues are prevailing due to the meteoric urban development and knocking the doors of legislators, city planners and development specialist for the efficient management of groundwater by adopting sustainable approaches. To address this alarming situation, current study examines the quality of groundwater in industrial and trading zone, Pakistan, as well as its influences on human fitness and ecological environment. Suitability and quality of 24 boring wells are examined at different depth ranges between (100-150 feet). The study involves substantial field work for collection of water sample, laboratory testing further, correlation matrix in the study figure out water excellence by computing physical parameters i-e pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, turbidity, hardness), chemical parameters including significant ions (sodium, potassium, , magnesium, chloride, calcium, bicarbonate, nitrate), few minor elements (iron, manganese) and trace elements (zinc, nickel, cobalt, chromium and copper) and comparing it with World Health Organization standards. The findings have reported the substandard water quality in the S.I.T.E (Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate) town. However, issues-oriented groundwater protection and management policies can help to promote sustainable development especially taking all stakeholders on board for the smooth implementation and fruitful results. This research will benefit the engineers, planners, concerned authorities for the establishment of public responsiveness and awareness plans about the quality of groundwater

A constructivist, mobile and principled approach to the learning and teaching of programming

Novices in programming courses need to acquire a theoretical understanding of programming concepts as well as practical skills for applying them, but in traditional learning environments students passively listen to the lecture without proactive practice-based learning. There is a need for a constructivist approach to learning based on the ability of the learner to construct his or her own knowledge from the concepts provided by the instructors. Therefore, learning that uses a practical approach offers more in-depth understanding to students and sustains students’ attention as well as encourages students to be active players in their own learning process. The ubiquitous use of mobile devices and the evolution of mobile device technologies have led to a growing interest in these devices as pedagogical aids in a constructivist learning approach where students can immediately practice the concepts being taught in the lecture on their mobile devices

Investigating customer intentions influenced by service quality: using the mediation of emotional and cognitive responses in Saudi Arabia

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonMobile service operators are struggling to build strong relationship with their customers. The Saudi Market is described as a highly regulated and competitive sector. Consequently, it is essential that mobile service operators re-evaluate the level of their service quality and understand its critical factors that influence customer eWOM and switching intention through emotional and cognitive responses. According to the literature review, there is a need for studies on customer behaviour to demonstrate whether customer responses are prominent indicators of how customers feel. In addition, there is a lack of empirical study and theoretical modelling of the relationships between customers’ emotional response and constructs based on other service experience. The main aim in this research is the investigating customer intentions influenced by service quality using the mediation of emotional and cognitive responses in Saudi Arabia. This research develops a theoretical framework that integrates a set of cognitive and emotional response (pleasure and arousal) to examine the influence of service quality on customer intention by using theory of reasoned action (TRA) and stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R), merged into one framework. Therefore, hypotheses are developed to test the relationship between the framework variables. This research adapts a quantitative methodology along with the positivist philosophical approach to investigate hypothetical relationships within the conceptual framework. This research used online surveys completed by mobile and social media users, including a survey with 601 responses out of 621. To analyse and validate the data, this study applies the structure equation model by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) AMOS V. 23. The result indicates that there are significant relationships between service quality dimensions and emotional response (pleasure and arousal). Moreover, subjective norms have a significant relationship with customer intention and emotional response. In addition, emotional response has, both directly and indirectly, a significant relationship with customer intention. The overall results of this research indicate that both the effect of service quality on eWOM and switching intention were mediated by customer attitude and by the pleasure and arousal emotional responses. These research outcomes yield several theoretical and practical implications. A key limitation of this research is its data collection by using a quantitative research approach and cross-sectional methodology; consequently, the data collection was done solely in the KSA.King Abdul Aziz University and Saudi Arabian Cultural Bureau

The use of laptop computers in programming lectures

This research explores the effect of the use of laptop computers on students&rsquo; learning experiences during lectures. Our methodology involves embedding laptops with visualization software as a learning aid during lectures. We then employ a framework of seven principles of good practice in higher education to evaluate the impact of the use of laptop computers on the learning experience of computer programming students. Overall, we found that students were highly motivated and supportive of this innovative use of laptop computers with lectures.<br /

Asymmetric Threshold Cointegration and Nonlinear Adjustment between Oil Prices and Financial Stress

This paper attempts to estimate the relationship between oil prices and financial stress using weekly data for the period December 31, 1993 to July 15, 2016. The analysis is carried out using the cointegration framework. Both the linear and non-linear models for cointegration and related error correction models are estimated. The paper finds the threshold cointegration model more suitable than the linear cointegration models. It finds evidence of asymmetry in the adjustment process to equilibrium. It also finds that regimes with negative (below the threshold) changes of deviations adjust much faster than regimes with positive (above the threshold) changes of deviations, especially during a crisis period. Also, bi-direction causality is reported between the two variables. Keywords: Threshold cointegration, asymmetric adjustment, asymmetric error correction, financial stress, oil prices, financial crisis. JEL Classifications: C22, C32, C58, G1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.764

Neuroprotective effects of thymoquinone against cerebellar histopathological changes in propylthiouracilinduced hypothyroidism in adult rats

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of thymoquinone (TQ) on histological and immunohistochemical changes in the cerebellar cortex induced by propylthiouracil (PTU) treatment in rats.Methods: Thirty-two adult male albino rats were randomly divided into four groups: C, control; PTU, treatment with oral PTU to induce hypothyroidism; TQ, treatment with TQ; and PTU + TQ, concomitant treatment with oral PTU and TQ for 6 weeks. Cavalieri’s principle and physical dissector methods were employed for unbiased deduction of cerebellar granular layer volume, numerical density, and number of granular cells.Results: In the PTU group, hematoxylin and eosin (H&amp;E)-stained sections revealed degeneration of Purkinje cells, neuronal loss, and spongiosis in the white matter. A decrease in the number of astrocytes-expressing glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and a significant decrease in granular layer cell density were also seen. Concomitant administration of TQ ameliorated histopathological changes, increased the proportion of GFAP-positive astrocytes, increased granular cell density, and significantly (p &lt; 0.05) increased the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormones, T3 and T4.Conclusion: TQ treatment significantly decreases cerebellar changes resulting from PTU-induced hypothyroidism, and results in the retention of neuronal structural integrity in the cerebellar cortex.Keywords: Hypothyroidism, Cerebellum, Thymoquinone, Stereology, Glial fibrillary acidic protein, Neuronal structural integrit

Preconditioned Visual Language Inference with Weak Supervision

Humans can infer the affordance of objects by extracting related contextual preconditions for each scenario. For example, upon seeing an image of a broken cup, we can infer that this precondition prevents the cup from being used for drinking. Reasoning with preconditions of commonsense is studied in NLP where the model explicitly gets the contextual precondition. However, it is unclear if SOTA visual language models (VLMs) can extract such preconditions and infer the affordance of objects with them. In this work, we introduce the task of preconditioned visual language inference and rationalization (PVLIR). We propose a learning resource based on three strategies to retrieve weak supervision signals for the task and develop a human-verified test set for evaluation. Our results reveal the shortcomings of SOTA VLM models in the task and draw a road map to address the challenges ahead in improving them