Appraisal of Geotechnical Characteristics of Ormara Soil, Baluchistan, Pakistan

Ormara is located 240 km west of Karachi which is a coastal and port city (25° 16' 29N, 64° 35' 10E) ofPakistan. Present study evaluates engineering properties of soils of Ormara for future construction plans and possibleexpansions in the area. Fifty bore holes were done in study area at depths of 20m, 40m and some (10 bore holes) were60m deep. The study area was divided into three major zones i.e. Foot hills, on-shore and off-shore. Groundwater wasencountered at depths of 2.75m on onshore and offshore zones and at 3.65m depth in foothill zone. Laboratory testingi.e. moisture content (12 to 38 %), liquid limit (from 26 to 34), plasticity index (10 to 18) of soil samples indicate thatsoils are low plastic to moderate plastic in nature. Soil samples of granular soils indicate angles of internal friction (ø)varying from 260- 36ºin upper sand layers while 260 to 30º in lower silt layers (encountered after the clay layer) andCohesion ranges 0 to 0.04kg/cm2 in all three zones. Further, unconsolidated undrained triaxial compression tests on aclayey soil sample indicated an undrained cohesion value of 28 kPa. Density values ranges from 1.6 to 2.05gm/cm3.Consolidation (Cv = 0.20 to 0.40 cm2/minute, Cc = 0.149 to 0.17) has been calculated for clay layer. Chemical testscarried out on soil samples indicated that soil and water both are reactive aggressively and may cause corrosion to steeland concrete disintegration

Supervised classification for object identification in urban areas using satellite imagery

This paper presents a useful method to achieve classification in satellite imagery. The approach is based on pixel level study employing various features such as correlation, homogeneity, energy and contrast. In this study gray-scale images are used for training the classification model. For supervised classification, two classification techniques are employed namely the Support Vector Machine (SVM) and the Naive Bayes. With textural features used for gray-scale images, Naive Bayes performs better with an overall accuracy of 76% compared to 68% achieved by SVM. The computational time is evaluated while performing the experiment with two different window sizes i.e., 50x50 and 70x70. The required computational time on a single image is found to be 27 seconds for a window size of 70x70 and 45 seconds for a window size of 50x50.Comment: 2018 International Conference on Computing, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies (iCoMET

CDA as an Approach to Analyze Language Ideologies in Supervisory Meetings

This qualitative case study research set out to look at the concepts of hegemony and power in supervisory meetings centered on the idea of linguistic ideologies. Two BS (English) study supervisees and their supervisors were chosen for the study as two case studies their supervisory meetings were recorded and later transcribed for analysis purpose. The study adopted Halliday’s Systematic Functional Linguistics (SFL) for data collection and Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) analytical methodology for the empirical investigation of the concepts of power as well as hegemony in supervision procedures (1989; 2003). The study's findings show how language contributed to the development of power relationships among the study's participants. In research supervisory meetings, language was a significant issue along with educational experience and knowledge that contributed to the development of unequal power relations among the participants. In terms of methodology and supervisory style, case B was slightly different from case A, due to its flexibility. This study suggests a fair and democratic style of supervision that can be beneficial and flexible for participants involved in research supervision regardless of their educational background. Keywords: Critical discourse analysis (CDA), SFL, Power, Research supervision, Hegemony, Language ideologies. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-33-13 Publication date: November 30th 202

Prevalence of Hepatitis B virus genotypes in HBsAg positive individuals of Afghanistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The structural and functional differences between hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes are the mainstay to severity, complications, treatment and possibly vaccination against the virus. This study was conducted to determine the HBV genotypes in HBsAg positive patients of Afghanistan as no such large scale data available previously.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two hundred and fourteen HBsAg-positive patients were included in this study. All patients were anti-HCV and anti-HIV negative. All the samples were confirmed for HBV DNA with nested PCR while HBV DNA positive samples were subjected to type specific PCR for HBV genotyping (A-F).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the total samples, 168 (78.5%) were males and 46 (21.49%) females, aged ranged between 18 to 71 years. This study demonstrated that genotype D (35.67%) is the predominant genotype circulating in Afghani's population. Genotype C was observed in 32.16% followed by genotype A (19.30%), and genotype B (7.02%) while 6.07% of the individuals were not typed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study has shown a heterogeneous distribution of HBV genotypes. Further more, extensive studies are required to investigate genetic and geographical divergence and characteristics of the virus in the country, as no such large sample sized study has been carried out so far in this country.</p

Prevalence of HBV and HBV vaccination coverage in health care workers of tertiary hospitals of Peshawar, Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) may progress to serious consequences and increase dramatically beyond endemic dimensions that transmits to or from health care workers (HCWs) during routine investigation in their work places. Basic aim of this study was to canvass the safety of HCWs and determine the prevalence of HBV and its possible association with occupational and non-occupational risk factors. Hepatitis B vaccination coverage level and main barriers to vaccination were also taken in account.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 824 health care workers were randomly selected from three major hospitals of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Blood samples were analyzed in Department of Zoology, Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, and relevant information was obtained by means of preset questionnaire. HCWs in the studied hospitals showed 2.18% prevalence of positive HBV. Nurses and technicians were more prone to occupational exposure and to HBV infection. There was significant difference between vaccinated and non-vaccinated HCWs as well as between the doctors and all other categories. Barriers to complete vaccination, in spite of good knowledge of subjects in this regard were work pressure (39.8%), negligence (38.8%) un-affordability (20.9%), and unavailability (0.5%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Special preventive measures (universal precaution and vaccination), which are fundamental way to protect HCW against HBV infection should be adopted.</p

Determining potential of subcooling to attenuate hydrodynamic instabilies for steam-water two phase flow

Hydrodynamic instabilities are regarded as important but are undesirable occurrences for the systems used in process industries, which involve steam. These instabilities affect to a great extent the life line of the safe operation of their systems by inducing thermal stresses and steam induced water hammers. On the basis of system operational analysis, it was found that condensation induced hydrodynamic instabilities were responsible for one third of the destructive events in steam driven systems and their attributes in power and process industry. Thus it becomes vital to investigate the influence of critical parameter such as sub-cooling to curb the destructive effects due to hydrodynamic instabilities on to the process equipment. Here for steam water two phase flows, the attenuation of hydrodynamic instabilities due to sub-cooling and inlet pressure has been investigated. It was found that sub-cooling has more pronounced and notable effect on the attenuation of these instabilities

Development of a Sensor to Detect Condensation of Super-Sonic Steam

This paper explains the development and functioning of AC driven electrodes based sensor which is used for the study of condensation phenomena of steam. Time for the AC signals starts form 20 msecond to 1 second. Data acquisition system is employed against each time interval and the output data is fed into EIDORS (a free software algorithm). Images show the clear boundaries between pure steam, its interface and water

Surgical management of traumatic extra dural hematoma in children: Experiences and analysis from 24 consecutively treated patients in a developing country

Background: Children with epidural hematoma (EDH) present differently thanadults. The outcome of treatment is also different. We aim to report our experiences with EDH in pediatric age group in terms of mode of injury, presenting features, management, and outcomes. We also aim to identify different prognostic indicators in pediatric patients with EDH. Methods: We prospectively collected data from 24 consecutively surgically treated pediatric patients. The data collected included presenting features, radiological imaging, details of management, and outcomes. Descriptive analysis was performed and different variables were tested for any statistical significance with Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS). Results: There were 19 male and 5 female patients. The mean GlasgowComa Scale (GCS) score at presentation was 9.3 ± 4.4. Falls were the mostcommon cause of EDH. Outcome assessment was done at 3 month follow up.A total of 15 patients had a GOS score of 5, 4 patients had a GOS score of4, 2 patients had a GOS score of 3, while 3 patients had a GOS score of 1.On univariate analysis, admitting GCS score, patient’s age, the time frominjury to admission and injury to surgery, anisocoric pupils at presentation andeffacement of basal cisterns were significantly associated with the outcome ofGOS score. Conclusion: Falls are the most common mode of injury leading to EDH inchildren. Lower GCS at presentation, younger age at trauma, increased timesince trauma to surgery and admission, anisocoria and effacement of basalcisterns are statistically significant variables in surgically treated pediatric patients of EDH that confer a poorer prognosis. A timely surgical intervention can result in excellent outcomes