Structural Design and Non-linear Modeling of a Highly Stable Multi-Rotor Hovercraft

This paper presents a new design for a Multi-rotor Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV). The design is based on the requirement of highly stable hover capability other than typical requirements of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), forward and sidewise motions etc. Initially a typical Tri-rotor hovercraft is selected for modeling and analysis. Then design modifications are done to improve the hover stability, with special emphasis on compensating air drag moments that exist at steady state hover. The modified structure is modeled and dynamic equations are derived for it. These equations are analyzed to verify that our structural modifications have the intended stability improvement effect during steady state hover. Keywords: Multi-rotor Crafts, T-Copter, Rotational Matrix, Pseudo Inertial Matrix, Coriolis Acceleration, Air drag moment, Swash Plat

Magnetic resonance imaging findings in patients with schizophrenia

OBJECTIVE: To determine structural abnormalities in the brain of patients with schizophrenia by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). STUDY DESIGN: Comparative study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Departments of Radiology and Psychiatry, the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2007 to June 2008. METHODOLOGY: Thirty-three cases of schizophrenia (n=33) and thirty-three age-matched controls, (n=33) were enrolled for this study. Screening Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of brain was done in order to see structural changes in brain matter. Findings were compared among groups using chi-square and Fisher\u27s exact test with significance at p \u3c 0.05. RESULTS: Among the total of 66 (n=66) MRI films studied for brain abnormalities, brain atrophy, presence of septum pellucidum and enlarged Virchow-Robins spaces were significantly associated with schizophrenia (p \u3c 0.001). There was no significant difference between cases and controls for ventricular dilatation (p=0.5). Sinusitis was mostly associated with controls and well correlated with their symptoms (p \u3c 0.001). CONCLUSION: Brain atrophy was the most commonly seen brain change in the studied sample of patients with schizophrenia. MRI brain can be used to identify structural abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia

Analysis of Infrastructure Investment and Institutional Quality on Living Standards: A Case Study of Pakistan (1990-2013)

In this study, the relationship of Infrastructure Investment and Institutional Quality (CIM) on Living Standards of people was analysed for Pakistan. This paper comprises of trend analysis of institutional quality for different periods of governments of Pakistan coupled with an empirical analysis of the model. The empirical estimates are comprised of unit root test, Johansen Cointegration, VAR analysis and Granger Causality tests for the sample of 1984– 2013. The trend analysis depicts fluctuations of Institutional Quality in different governments due to different political conditions of every period. The empirical analysis shows that there exists long standing relationship between the Institutional Quality, Infrastructure Investment and living standards of people. However, the VAR analysis shows that the coefficients of only Institutional Quality and Living Standards of People (previous year i.e. lag variables) resulted significance in affecting living standards of the people. The Granger causality result shows bidirectional and uni-directional relationships among variables. The results in our study indicate bi-directional relationships of Living Standards of People (GDPC) with Institutional Quality (CIM). Secondly, CIM and Infrastructure Investment (Developmental Expenditure) are having uni-directional relationship. Thirdly, Population and Institutional Quality (Contract Intensive Money) are having uni-directional relationship. Fourthly, GDPC and Infrastructure Investment carry a uni-directional relationship. JEL Classification: E02, F41, H53, O1, O4, P23. Keywords: Institutional Quality (Contract Intensive Money (CIM), Infrastructure Investment (Developmental Expenditure), Trade Openness, GDP per Capita, and Population

Environment Friendly Energy Cooperation in Neighboring Buildings : A Transformed Linearization Approach

Funding Information: Funding: This work was supported in part by the National Research Foundation of Korea-Grant funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Science and ICT) under Grant NRF-2020R1A2B5B02002478, and in part by the Sejong University Research Faculty Program (20212023). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Allelopathic effects of sunflower water extract integrated with affinity herbicide on weed control and wheat yield

The aim of present study was to investigate the allelopathic impact of sunflower water extract integrated with affinity herbicide on weed management and production of wheat variety TD-1 under field condition. The trial was carried out in a three replicated and the average plot size was kept at 3x5m (15 m2). The obtained data showed that the all the treatments considerably (P<0.05) minimized weed density, weed fresh weight, weed dry weight and weed control up to 90.33, 89.31, 89.61, 90.33% with application of sunflower water extract (1:10) @ 20 L ha-1 (One spray at 25 DAS) + Affinity 50 WP @ 0.75 kg ha-1 (One spray at 25 DAS) than control treatment. The application of sunflower water extract (1:10) @ 20 L ha-1 (One spray at 25 DAS) + Affinity 50 WP @ 0.75 kg ha-1 (One spray at 25 DAS) significantly increased number of tillers (32.34%), plant height (14.59%), spike length (27.89%), grains spike-1 (16.80%), grain weight plant-1 (47%), seed index (19.60%) and grain yield (51%) of wheat as compared with control. Overall results indicated that the sunflower water extract integrated with herbicide can be successfully used to control the narrow and broad leaves in wheat crop

The Role of HR Practices on Turnover Intentions Directly and Through Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the Banking Sector of Malaysia

In the recent years, the banking industry of Malaysia has grown rapidly and the roles of employees are undeniable. In todays, dynamic environment banking industry is striving hard to retain the employees in the organization. Employee provides the basis for organization to be successful. The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of HR practices on turnover intentions directly and indirectly through organizational citizenship behavior in banking sector of Malaysia. Data collected through 510 questionnaires from top five banks (by Capital) branches in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In order to investigate the hypotheses, this study applied Structural equation modelling (AMOS). Findings of this study portray that HR practices had negative effect on turnover intentions while the interesting finding is that indirect effect of HR practices through organizational citizenship were also significant. The results are beneficial for top management of banking sector of Malaysia in order to keep motivating employees and to retain them through proper implementation of OCB. To build and align the HR practices and OCB which results in reducing turnover intentions of employees. Keywords: HR Practices, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Turnover Intentions, SEM. JEL Classifications: H11; S12 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.1076

Transformational Leadership Influence on Innovation Directly and Indirectly through Affective Commitment in Hotel Industry of Malaysia

In order to be innovative in hospitality industry the role of leadership style on employees is very crucial. Leaders are in direct contact with employees and their encouragement and support can trigger the employees to be innovative in delivering the service. In hospitality industry the front-line employees need utmost attention as this industry totally depends on the service of employees especially front-line employees who set the first impression of the hotels. Leadership styles have significant impact on employees' innovation.  The study aim was to examine the impact transformational leadership (TL) on innovation in hotel industry of Malaysia. This study filled the gap by examining the transformational leadership style impact on innovation in front line employees. Total 480 questionnaires were distributed among the employees of 5stars hotels which were located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. To examine the hypotheses, this study applied the SEM (AMOS). Findings revealed that transformational leadership had a significant positive effect on employees' innovation. Interesting finding came in mediation analysis, in which affective commitment mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation. Findings of this study are beneficial for management of hotels to understand the role of transformational leadership style, affective commitment on employees in order to be innovative in delivering services. This study provided the in depth analysis for top management to better handle and incite the innovation in employees as the leaders are directly responsible to lead employees in innovative way to be innovative. Keywords: Transformational Leadership, Innovation, Affective commitment, SEM. JEL Classifications: H12; A12 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.1076

Chitosan/poly vinyl alcohol/graphene oxide based ph-responsive composite hydrogel films: drug release, anti-microbial and cell viability studies

The composite hydrogels were produced using the solution casting method due to the non-toxic and biocompatible nature of chitosan (CS)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The best composition was chosen and crosslinked with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), after which different amounts of graphene oxide (GO) were added to develop composite hydrogels. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle was used to analyze the hydrogels. The samples were also evaluated for swelling abilities in various mediums. The drug release profile was studied in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at a pH of 7.4. To predict the mechanism of drug release, the data were fitted into kinetic models. Finally, antibacterial activity and cell viability data were obtained. FTIR studies revealed the successful synthesis of CS/PVA hydrogels and GO/CS/PVA in hydrogel composite. SEM showed no phase separation of the polymers, whereas AFM showed a decrease in surface roughness with an increase in GO content. 100 µL of crosslinker was the critical concentration at which the sample displayed excellent swelling and preserved its structure. Both the crosslinked and composite hydrogel showed good swelling. The most acceptable mechanism of drug release is diffusion-controlled, and it obeys Fick’s law of diffusion for drug released. The best fitting of the zero-order, Hixson-Crowell and Higuchi models supported our assumption. The GO/CS/PVA hydrogel composite showed better antibacterial and cell viability behaviors. They can be better biomaterials in biomedical applications

Pyrolysis, kinetics analysis, thermodynamics parameters and reaction mechanism of Typha latifolia to evaluate its bioenergy potential

The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.08.162 © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This work was focused on understanding the pyrolysis of Typha latifolia. Kinetics, thermodynamics parameters and pyrolysis reaction mechanism were studied using thermogravimetric data. Based on activation energies and conversion points, two regions of pyrolysis were established. Region-I occurred between the conversion rate 0.1 to 0.4 with peak temperatures 538K, 555K, 556K at the heating rates of 10 Kmin-1, 30 Kmin-1, and 50 Kmin-1, respectively. Similarly, the Region-II occurred between 0.4 to 0.8 with peak temperatures of 606K, 621K, 623K at same heating rates. The best model was diffusion mechanism in Region-I. In Region-II, the reaction order was shown to be 2nd and 3rd. The values of activation energy calculated using FWO and KAS methods (134-204 kJ mol-1) remained same in both regions reflecting that the best reaction mechanism was predicted. Kinetics and thermodynamic parameters including E, ΔH, ΔS, ΔG shown that T. latifolia biomass is a remarkable feedstock for bioenergy.Higher Education Commission Pakista

Seed priming alleviates salt stress in two fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum l.) Cultivars

Salinity is globally considered a widespread problem of the irrigated soils in arid and semi-arid areas. To minimize the negative effect of salinity seed priming technique is proved as a useful by improve germination and seedling growth. Therefore, the current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different priming techniques on fenugreek under saline conditions. The priming treatments were potassium nitrate (KNO3), polyethylene glycol (PEG), gibberellic acid (GA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), salicylic acid (SA) and distilled water (D/W). Two fenugreek cultivars i.e. Kasuri methi and Local methi were evaluated under two salinity levels viz. 0 mM and 100 mM. In Kasuri methi (V1), priming with GA3 and PEG enhanced germination index (37.52%) and energy of emergence (98.33%) as compared with other treatments. Final emergence percentage (100%) was increased in control plants of both cultivars when treated with SA. Morphological characteristics such as number of leaves (57.50), number of branches (19.16), shoot length (18.03cm), root length (8.98cm), plant fresh (2.34g) and dry biomass (1.21g) was increased in control plants of Kasuri methi (V1) when primed with SA. Leaf chlorophyll “a” (1.06 mg/g) and chlorophyll “b” (1.30 mg/g) was significantly increased in control plants of Local methi (V2) primed with SA. Antioxidant activity, antioxidant capacity and proline contents in leaves as well as in roots were also increased when treated with SA under salt stress. It is concluded that seeds of Kasuri methi should be treated with SA in order to reduce the effect of salinity and improve the germination, morphological and biochemical characteristic