University Spaces as Agents of National Belonging: Analysing the Visual Culture of Public Universities’ Campuses in India and Pakistan

This article discusses the role of ‘space’ in Indian and Pakistani public sector universities in fostering national pride. University spaces have been highlighted, in both countries, for being used by the governments as agents fostering the national narrative yet there is limited research on how these spaces contribute to the visual culture of educational institutions and in the inculcation of nationalistic values. This article adds to the conversations regarding the fostering of national belonging and pride in universities by exploring space as a constitutive element of the visual culture of the higher education environment in India and Pakistan. In both countries, the physical spaces of public universities have become platforms for channelling student voices. This research uses two state-funded universities, from Delhi (in India) and Lahore (in Pakistan), and Lefebvre’s conception of space to conduct a discourse analysis of bulletin boards, graffiti, statues, sculptures, and any other imagery found online pertaining to the campuses and analyse how it is a ‘conceived’ and ‘perceived’ aspect of the visual culture of the universities. It adds to current scholarly conversations on national pride and consciousness in India and Pakistan by showing how university spaces can potentially play an active role in promoting the state’s narrative in students’ or educators’ everyday educational experiences

Survey and Review on Various Topology and Geographical based Routing Protocol Parameters to Ensure the QOS Parameters of VANET

Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) is a type of wireless network that allows communication between vehicles and infrastructure. One of the critical considerations in VANET is Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, which determine the network's performance. The effective management of QoS parameters is essential for VANET's reliable and efficient operation. In this research paper, we aim to explore topology-based and geographical-based routing protocol parameters to ensure QoS parameters in VANET. The former uses the network topology to make routing decisions, while the latter uses the location information of vehicles.  We will first provide an overview of VANET and QoS parameters. Then, we will delve into the key parameters of topology-based and geographical-based routing protocols and how they affect QoS. We will also survey and review the existing routing protocols and parameter values used in these protocols. The findings of this research paper will provide insights into the effective management of QoS parameters in VANET and contribute to the development of more efficient routing protocols

Optimization of Intelligent Transportation System using Biologically-Inspired Vehicular Ad hoc Networks for Achieve the Desired Performance

Many innovations made possible by the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS), such as media apps, encrypted financial transactions, and effective traffic management, rely heavily on vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). Using bio-inspired methodologies, This study looks back at the past and forward to the future to examine all of the routing challenges in VANETs, whether they are associated with a chain of related routing tasks or are aimed at a group of distinct approaches to routing. The high node mobility and unpredictable vehicle distribution (on the road) lead to major issues for VANETs, including the design of a network's physical architecture and unstable connections. VANET's provision of reliable and appropriate vehicular contact in situations requiring good service is crucial. As a result, effective means of navigation are desperately needed in VANET. Hence, in this paper, we examine the Bio-Inspired vehicular ad hoc networks (Bio-VANETs), wherein, should a suggested algorithmic network fail at any given node or vehicle, the remaining vehicles may be able to take over the task of relaying the data to the necessary nodes to achieve the desired performance. Route lifetime increases, and connection failures are decreased when the shortest way is selected using the fewest possible hops over highly connected links. In addition, the received signal intensity fluctuations due to vehicle density and speed are assessed. Packet Delivery Ratio, Optimal Performance, Accuracy and Efficiency of Bio-VANET are discussed and simulated against other methods that are existing models

Decision-support system for risk management of produced water in the offshore petroleum industry

A decision-support system for produced water management (DISSPROWM) in offshore operations is being developed. The system determines the risk and hazards to human and marine species from non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic pollutants, including radionuclides present in produced water. The DISSPROWM also evaluates the best available treatment technology for treating the produced water whose properties are in the database. The system consists of a Windows-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) developed with Microsoft Visual Basic, which integrates a SQL Server database, a risk assessment model and a dilution model for produced water contaminants. The database contains most produced water pollutants and their important properties that are required in dispersion and risk assessment modelling. The database also contains current produced water regulations and information on some of the selected existing treatment technologies with typical cost data required in the decision-support system

Investigation of Heavy Metals in Zebrafish Tissue by Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence

Heavy metals are present in the environment, in many consumer products and can be found in food. Some heavy metals like zinc and copper are essential for enzymatic and metabolic function while others like lead and mercury are toxic and interfere with biological pathways. Zebrafish are a very popular model organism for monitoring toxicity of heavy metals and investigating vertebrate development. In this study we explore the possibility of using total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry to analyze histological sections of zebrafish embryos after exposure to nickel and lead. A methacrylate resin embedding protocol and a paraffin embedding protocol were evaluated as possible options for sample preparation for TXRF analysis of zebrafish embryos. It was found that paraffin is the superior material after an alkaline phosphatase stain was introduced. The stain made the normally transparent fish embryo embedded in paraffin clearly visible on the sample reflector material thus allowing for easy positioning and identification of the area of interest

FUTURE CARDIAC EVENTS IN NORMALLY DIAGNOSED GATED MYOCARDIAL PERFUSION SPECT (GSPECT)

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in Europe and USA and its management consumes a large proportion of national healthcare budgets. Many studies had tested the prognostic value of a normal myocardial perfusion scintigraphy; they concluded that a normal MPI study is associated with a very low rate of future cardiac events. In view of the above this study is designed to determine the risk of future cardiac events after normal MPS in local population. Methods: This was a retrospective observational registry performed in a single center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The data were collected from the nuclear medicine database identifying all the reported normal myocardial perfusion scans between January 2008 and December 2011 . Results: There were 290 patients identified with normal cardiac nuclear scans in the pre-specified time frame. Basic patient demographics were outlined and the patients’ charts were reviewed looking for any major cardiac events such as MI or sudden death. Mean follow up was 14.8 months. There were 2 patients that were admitted with NSTEMI and went on to have diagnostic angiograms. One of those two patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with stenting. The other patient had nonobstructive CAD and was advised for medical management only. These findings are consistent with a 0.7% risk of cardiac events after a negative scan Conclusion: The above findings demonstrate that the risk of major cardiac events after a negative nuclear cardiac scan is low and is in keeping with the international statistics available

FUTURE CARDIAC EVENTS IN NORMALLY DIAGNOSED GATED MYOCARDIAL PERFUSION SPECT (GSPECT)

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in Europe and USA and its management consumes a large proportion of national healthcare budgets. Many studies had tested the prognostic value of a normal myocardial perfusion scintigraphy; they concluded that a normal MPI study is associated with a very low rate of future cardiac events. In view of the above this study is designed to determine the risk of future cardiac events after normal MPS in local population. Methods: This was a retrospective observational registry performed in a single center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The data were collected from the nuclear medicine database identifying all the reported normal myocardial perfusion scans between January 2008 and December 2011 . Results: There were 290 patients identified with normal cardiac nuclear scans in the pre-specified time frame. Basic patient demographics were outlined and the patients’ charts were reviewed looking for any major cardiac events such as MI or sudden death. Mean follow up was 14.8 months. There were 2 patients that were admitted with NSTEMI and went on to have diagnostic angiograms. One of those two patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with stenting. The other patient had nonobstructive CAD and was advised for medical management only. These findings are consistent with a 0.7% risk of cardiac events after a negative scan Conclusion: The above findings demonstrate that the risk of major cardiac events after a negative nuclear cardiac scan is low and is in keeping with the international statistics available

Long-chain aliphatic wax esters isolated from the sponge Chalinula saudensis (Demospongia) along the Jeddah coast of the Red Sea

A esponja Chalinula saudensis ocorre ao longo da costa de Jeddah, Arabia Saudita, mas apenas recentemente foi isolada e identificada. No presente estudo a matéria orgânica total da esponja foi extraída por solventes e o extrato foi separado por partição sucessiva através do emprego de hexano e água, clorofórmio e água e finalmente t-butanol e água. A camada contendo clorofórmio foi então separada por cromatografia em sílica. Os resultados mostraram a presença de ésteres de quatro ácidos graxos de cadeira longa (C28H56O2, C30H60O2, C32H62O2 e C36H70O2), sendo que o segundo deles foi também identificado nos corais Millepora dichotoma e Millepora platyphylla. Não se tem evidência da presença dos demais compostos em outros organismos marinhos, embora haja relatos para ésteres semelhantes de cadeia longa, mas contendo diferentes cadeias alifáticas e diferentes pesos moleculares. Os compostos isolados em C. saudensis são geralmente ceras e sua presença na esponja tem importância não só nas rotas de biosíntese, mas servem como isolantes nas variações sazonais adversas.The sponge Chalinula saudensis, which occurs along the Jeddah coast, has only recently been isolated and identified. In this study, the total crude organic matter of the sponge was extracted by solvents. The total crude extract was further separated by partitioning it with hexane and water, then with water and chloroform, and finally with water and t-butanol. The chloroform layer was subjected to separation by preparative layer chromatography on silica. One fraction contained four long-chain fatty acid esters, C28H56O2, C30H60O2, C32H62O2 and C36H70 O2. The second ester, C30H60O2, has been identified in the fire corals Millepora dichotoma and Millepora platyphylla. The others have not previously been reported from marine organisms; however similar long-chain esters with different long aliphatic chains and with different molecular weights have been identified from other marine organisms. These compounds are normally waxy and their presence in Chalinula saudensis plays a vital role in the biosynthetic pathways. They also act as insulators against seasonal variations

Hybrid Active Contour Based on Local and Global Statistics Parameterized by Weight Coefficients for Inhomogeneous Image Segmentation

Image inhomogeneity often occurs in real-world images and may present considerable difficulties during image segmentation. Therefore, this paper presents a new approach for the segmentation of inhomogeneous images. The proposed hybrid active contour model is formulated by combining the statistical information of both the local and global region-based energy fitting models. The inclusion of the local region-based energy fitting model assists in extracting the inhomogeneous intensity regions, whereas the curve evolution over the homogeneous regions is accelerated by including the global region-based model in the proposed method. Both the local and global region-based energy functions in the proposed model drag contours toward the accurate object boundaries with precision. Each of the local and global region-based parts are parameterized with weight coefficients, based on image complexity, to modulate two parts. The proposed hybrid model is strongly capable of detecting region of interests (ROIs) in the presence of complex object boundaries and noise, as its local region-based part comprises bias field. Moreover, the proposed method includes a new bias field (NBF) initialization and eliminates the dependence over the initial contour position. Experimental results on synthetic and real-world images, produced by the proposed model, and comparative analysis with previous state-of-the-art methods confirm its superior performance in terms of both time efficiency and segmentation accuracy