A critical edition of the linguistic dictionary Tahḏīb Al-Khawāṣ Min Durrat Al-Ghawwāṣ a critical edition by Ibn Manẓūr, 711/1311

After studying this linguistic dictionary in manuscript: Al-Tahḏīb by Ibn Manẓūr, I realised the importance of studying and editing the manuscript. This research on Tahḏīb and the development of lexical studies and linguistics led me to note the strong relationships between classical and modern studies especially in Arabic linguistics. Here we can follow the developments of texts and the ideas behind them, both in dictionaries of different schools and in general linguistic works, from the beginnings of the study of the Arabic language, tracing the influence of Arabic studies on that of some eastern and western languages in the mediaeval period. Arabic grammar was developed by treating problems in spoken language. People were in need of rules to help them acquire correct style, to be able to understand the meaning of Qur’ān and Ḥadīth. The scholars, whose work has influenced present-day Arab linguistics and grammatical theory, based their studies on Qur’ānic texts and quotations taken from early poetry. The method of study was generally inductive. Moving from the particular to the general, the scholars discussed various language phenomena in booklets and books concerned with texts, listing words which they had heard from Arabs employing their own local usages and dialects. These indexes became the data of the lexicons and linguistic books. From the first study of Arabic, the linguists dealt with Al-Laḥn, the phenomena affecting the pronunciation of Arabic, observing the errors in the speech of the ordinary people, of the educated people, and even of the scholars. Al-Durrah by Al-Ḥarīrī was one of the most famous works in Arabic linguistics. To treat the scholars' errors rather than those of the ordinary people, it follows no system or method in its structure. Ibn Manẓūr had to classify its lexical items and to arrange them on his Lisān Al-Arab system, with a special critical approach. Some books written before Al-Durrah had the same aim to note Al-Laḥn. In Al-Durrah we can follow the train of those books, which dealt with linguistic materials, especially Adab Al-Kātib by Ibn Qutaiba which we consider an ancient precursor of Al-Durrah and on the other hand of Al- Tahḏīb, the dictionary which we are here editing for the first time

Helicobacter Pylori Gastritis and risk of Ischaemic Stroke

OBJECTIVE: To identify the association between H. Pylori gastritis and stroke. METHOD: Patients with biopsy proven H. Pylori gastritis and non H. Pylori gastritis were enrolled. Patients were followed for a period of two years. RESULTS: A total of 326 patients were included in the study. 162 patients were with H. Pylori gastritis. There was no significance difference in age, sex and duration of symptoms in the two groups. Three patients in H. Pylori group had stroke or TIA as compared to one in non H. Pylori group. Patients with H. Pylori gastritis were more likely to die or have cardiac and or neurological event as compared to Non H. pylori gastritis (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.89-1.67). This relationship was not significant after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors (AOR 0.85, 95% CI 0.45-1.31). CONCLUSION: H. Pylori gastritis is not independently associated with increased risk for stroke. Larger, randomized studies are needed to confirm our findings

Seismic assessment of typological masonry buildings using simulated ground motion records: A case study for Azores, Portugal

Earthquakes are the major causes of damage and loss to the built environment, including cultural heritages, monumental buildings, and historical centres. Many regions with predominant active tectonic plates and high seismicity lack recorded ground motion datasets regarding large-magnitude events or near-field records. Among them, the Azores islands in Portugal are the regions with high seismicity. The traditional buildings from the Azores are mainly constituted of rubble stone masonry, which represents one of the weakest materials once subjected to seismic loads. The seismic performance of buildings has recently increased, given the public awareness related to damage prediction and risk mitigation during earthquakes. This study uses the stochastic finite-fault ground motion simulation approach to simulate region-specific scenario earthquakes in the Azores Plateau at bedrock. Simulations are accomplished by considering the stochastic behaviour of input-model parameters in terms of source and path attenuation effects. As a result, the dataset includes a wide range of moment magnitude and source-to-site distance due to the rupture of active faults in the Azores Plateau. Structural models are simulated using an equivalent frame model. Subsequently, analytical fragility curves are derived for these structures using the generated ground motion datasets. Results reveal that the studied structures are vulnerable to seismic actions.ERC -European Research Council(LA/P/0112/2020

Insights into small scale commercial water services in Nigerian urban area

This paper reviewed the operation of the Small Scale Commercial Water Providers (SSCWP) in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, North Central Nigeria. It provide an insight into their contributions, pattern of expenditure on commercial water supply, their operational constraints and possible solutions; and implications of all these issues for sustainable urban development. The methodology employed a household survey and a survey covering the operations of the SSCWP as well as government officials. Results obtained show that 65% of households in Yola presently rely on SSCWP as a coping strategy. The study recommends regulatory oversight to be created through legislation geared towards a water policy that will improve access to portable water base on an all-inclusive approach. This will lead to improvement in public health

Green Wireless Internet Technology

YesIET Editorial: In the future communications will be pervasive in nature, allowing users access at the “touch of button” to attain any service, at any time, on any device. The future device design process requires both a reconfigurable RF front end and back end with high tuning speed, energy efficiency, excellent linearity and intelligence to maximise the “greenness” of the network. But energy efficiency and excellent linearity are the main topics that are driving the designs of future transceivers, including their efforts to minimise network contributions to climate changes such as the effect of CO2 emissions: the minimisation of these is a requirement for information and communication technology (ICT) as much as for other technologies. Recently, information and communication technologies were shown to account for 3% of global power consumption and 2% of global CO2 emissions, and hence far from insignificant. The approach towards energy conservation and CO2 reduction in future communications will require a gret deal of effort which should be targeted both at the design of energy efficient, low-complexity physical, MAC and network layers, while maintaining the required Quality of Service (QoS). There is also a need, in infrastructures, networks and user terminals, to take a more holistic approach to improving or achieving green communications, from radio operation, through functionality, up to implementation. The increasing demand for data and voice services is not the only cause for concern since energy management and conservation are now at the forefront of the political agenda. The vision of Europe 2020 is to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy, and as part of these priorities the EU have set forth the 20:20:20 targets, whereby greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption should be reduced by 20% while energy from renewables should be increased by 20%

Revealing Malay Royal Town identity: Seri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan

Malay royal town in Malaysia have been establish dating from the 16th century with a unique and significant identity that creates the image of these towns. Malay Royal town identity constitutes the physical environment, human activities, cultural and meaning that creates social phenomenon and place genius loci. Nevertheless, identity in Malaysia's royal towns were facing alteration which resulted to places are becoming less meaningful, placelessness and lose their identity. A case study was carried out in Sri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan, which is one of the royal towns in Malaysia. Thus, this paper discusses the components that characterised the Malay royal town identity of Seri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan. The study methodology involves a historical map overlay, site observations and also the use of semi-structured interviews. The paper concludes that the vitality of these components contributed to identity of the Malay Royal towns in Seri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan

ANN-based ground motion model for Turkey using stochastic simulation of earthquakes

Turkey is characterized by a high level of seismic activity attributed to its complex tectonic structure. The country has a dense network to record earthquake ground motions; however, to study previous earthquakes and to account for potential future ones, ground motion sim- ulations are required. Ground motion simulation techniques offer an alternative means of generating region-specific time-series data for locations with limited seismic networks or re- gions with seismic data gaps, facilitating the study of potential catastrophic earthquakes. In this research, a local ground motion model (GMM) for Turkey is developed using region- specific simulated records, thus constructing a homogeneous data set. The simulations employ the stochastic finite-fault approach and utilize validated input-model parameters in distinct re- gions, namely Afyon, Erzincan, Duzce, Istanbul and Van. To overcome the limitations of linear regression-based models, artificial neural network is used to establish the form of equations and coefficients. The predictive input parameters encompass fault mechanism (FM), focal depth (FD), moment magnitude (Mw), Joyner and Boore distance (RJB) and average shear wave velocity in the top 30 m (Vs30). The data set comprises 7359 records with Mw ranging between 5.0 and 7.5 and RJB ranging from 0 to 272 km. The results are presented in terms of spectral ordinates within the period range of 0.03–2.0 s, as well as peak ground acceleration and peak ground velocity. The quantification of the GMM uncertainty is achieved through the analysis of residuals, enabling insights into inter- and intra-event uncertainties. The simulation results and the effectiveness of the model are verified by comparing the predicted values of ground motion parameters with the observed values recorded during previous events in the region. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed model in simulating physical phenomena.This work was partly financed by FCT/MCTES through National funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under reference UIDB/04029/2020, and under the Associate Laboratory Advanced Production and Intelligent Systems ARISE under refer ence LA/P/0112/2020. This study has been partly funded by the STAND4HERITAGE project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no. 833123), as an advanced grant. This work is financed by national funds through FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, under grant agreement 2020.08876.BD attributed to the second author. This work is financed by national funds through FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, under grant agreement UI/BD/153379/2022 attributed to the third author. Shaghayegh Karimzadeh: Conceptualisation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualisation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. Amirhossein Mohammadi: Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Visualisation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. Sayed Mohammad Sajad Hussaini: Formal anal ysis, Investigation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. Daniel Caicedo: Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing— original draft, Writing—review & editing. Aysegul Askan: Data curation, Resources, Writing—review & editing. Paulo B. Lourenço: Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Writing—review & editing

A systematic review on healthcare financing in Singapore

Background: Healthcare financing has been on the global agenda for many countries to elevate the health status of the citizens at the same time aim for a lean and sustainable health system. Singapore in particular has demonstrated progressive leaps in health care financing through various reforms. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of articles related to health care financing in Singapore was compiled using a series of keyword search in various databases (Medline, CINAHL, and PubMed). Studies that were conducted from 1981 to 2015, written in English and used either a quantitative or qualitative design that focus on health care reform in Singapore were included in this study. Result: Most of the studies revealed that the most innovative factor in the health care financing in Singapore was the structure and the comprehensive health insurance systems that are in place but it was not necessarily deemed beneficial or affordable to its citizens. The systematic review yielded over 125 results, only 7 of which were relevant to this study after examining in full text. A purposeful approach was then pursued. Snowballing on bibliographic references and undertaking key author and grey-literature searches proved as an effective complimentary approach to the original review and was reverted to in addition to the original search. This method brought the full-text results up to 5. Conclusion: Healthcare financing have a direct influence on the citizens of Singapore and although comprehensive, it also has deficiencies and issues that still need to be addressed

Africa: cyber-security and its mutual impacts with computerisation, miniaturisation and location-based authentication

YesThe state of insecurity occasioned by fraudulent practices in Africa has been of concern economically, both at home and abroad. In this paper, we propose ways to mitigate this problem, using Nigeria as a case study. Based on surveys in West Africa, the paper examines the security situation in the continent and its mutual impacts with computerisation, miniaturisation and Location-Based Authentication (LBA). It was discovered that computerisation and miniaturisation had negative effects on cyber-security, as these were being exploited by fraudsters, using advance fee fraud; called 419. As a countermeasure, the paper examines the possibility of using LBA and digitisation of the GSM Mobile country codes down to city/area codes along with GSM/GPS authentications. These could also be combined with the use of a web-based Secret Sharing Scheme for services with very high security demands. The challenges of roaming were also examined and considered to be of negligible impact.Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF