On h-almost conformal η-Ricci-Bourguignon soliton in a perfect fluid spacetime

The primary object of the paper is to study h-almost conformal η-Ricci-Bourguignon soliton in an almost pseudo-symmetric Lorentzian Kähler spacetime manifold when some different curvature tensors vanish identically. We have also explored the conditions under which an h-almost conformal Ricci-Bourguignon soliton is steady, shrinking or expanding in different perfect fluids such as stiff matter, dust fluid, dark fluid and radiation fluid. We have observed in a perfect fluid spacetime with h-almost conformal η-Ricci-Bourguignon soliton to be a manifold of constant Riemannian curvature under some certain conditions. We have gone on to refine the classification of the potential function with respect to gradient h-almost conformal η-Ricci-Bourguignon soliton in a perfect uid spacetime with torse-forming vector field ξ. Finally, we have developed an example of h-almost conformal η-Ricci-Bourguignon soliton

On a class of N(k)-mixed generalized quasi-Einstein manifolds

The objective of the present paper is to study N(k)-mixed generalized quasi-Einstein manifolds. We prove the existence of these manifolds. Later we establish some curvature properties of N(k)-mixed generalized quasi-Einstein manifolds under certain conditions. In the last section, we give two examples of N(k)-mixed generalized quasi-Einstein manifolds

Calibration and Implementation of Heat Cycle Requirement of MQ-7 Semiconductor Sensor for Detection of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a prevalent and widely distributed air pollutant. Its detection and control in residential and industrial environments are essential in order to avoid potentially severe health consequences in people. The aim of this study was to conduct an air quality assessment by measuring CO concentrations using the MQ-7 Semiconductor Sensor. The MQ-7 sensor is a commonly accessible and cost-effective sensor with specific heating needs. The objectives of the study are to provide a method for implementing heater cycle requirements, equipment-less calibration, and the derivation of a formula for measuring CO concentrations in parts per million (ppm). A procedure for calibrating gas sensors is discussed, which involves measuring the sensing resistance and calculating the resistance ratio. The resistance ratio is then used to calculate the target gas concentration in ppm using a formula derived with the aid of Microsoft Excel, such that it represents the original CO characteristic curve provided in the sensor datasheet with greater accuracy. An N-channel MOSFET and Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) voltage were used to get the required heater voltage levels. The methodology developed for calibrating and deriving the equation to determine the target gas concentration can be used for any MQ semiconductor sensor and does not require any special equipment.

The Sustainability of Three Indonesian Palm Oil Business Entities

The demand of palm oil products from export destination countries is still recorded to have a high growth. The prospect of world vegetable oil consumption need especially for palm oil that keeps rising gives an opportunity for Indonesia to increase its palm oil production. This research was conducted to observe how far oil palm plantation companies have conducted ISPO through Business Sustainability Typology perspective. This research made use of descriptive quantitative method. The data processing and analysis technique used in this research was descriptive quantitative analysis through Analytical Network Process (ANP) approach by using Super Decisions 2.2 software. Based on the processing result, the three companies were close to Sustainability version 3.0 but have not been perfect. Based on the average calculation of the three companies, the first priority composition from these companies is profit aspect consisting of permit and management system, implementations of oil palm processing guidelines and cultivation guidelines. In addition, it is the people aspect comprising responsibility to workers, community development, and social and community responsibility, and lastly the planet aspect of environmental management and monitoring. Managerial implications include developing and generating renewable energy by processing palm liquid waste (POME) to produce biogas as energy. They also include encouraging and supporting communities in various areas of development and utilization with a sustainable economy and holding a pollution tax that is included as a licensing fee, establishing standards for processing waste and subsidies related to business developmentKeywords: business sustainability typology, palm oil, ANP, sustainability, oil palm plantation companie

New Plantation Moratorium Policy and Smallholders Palm Oil Rejuvenation for Increasing Productivity of Indonesian Palm Oil

Palm oil is one of the plantation sub-sectors that plays an important role in the Indonesian economy. Smallholder plantation with an area of more than 40% has a significant role in the development of this industry. Low productivity becomes the main problem on -in smallholder plantation. Low productivity of smallholder plantation is mainly due to the inappropriate of plant genetic material. Genetic improvement for increased productivity can be done either through new planting (extensification) and rejuvenation (intensification). Extensification constrained Presidential Instruction 10/2011 while the intensification constrained by funding issues of rejuvenation. This research conducts a literature review, in-depth interview and questionnaire method to collect opinions from the experts and practitioners. Analytical Network Process (ANP) is used to analyze the data. The results showed that the factors which influenced in this study were policy environment (41.29%), policy stakeholder (35.72%), and public policy (23.00%). The moratorium policy has not been able to improve Indonesia's forest governance. This policy precludes opportunities for economic growth for the palm oil industry. The rejuvenation of the smallholder is constrained by funding problems. Access to credit- constrained aspects of land legality. Extensification barriers and intensification of smallholders threaten the sustainability of national palm oil production. Plant genetic improvements, improved legality, and law enforcement of moratorium policies are required to increase the productivity of smallholder plantations. Keywords: moratorium, productivity, public policy, palm oil, smallholder

Safety and Potential Efficacy of Gemfibrozil as a Supportive Treatment for Children with Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis and Other Lipid Storage Disorders.

Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (NCL), also known as Batten disease, is a group of genetically distinct lysosomal disorders that mainly affect the central nervous system, resulting in progressive motor and cognitive decline primarily in children. Multiple distinct genes involved in the metabolism of lipids have been identified to date with various mutations in this family of diseases. There is no cure for these diseases but some new therapeutic approaches have been tested that offer more hope than the standard palliative care. Many of the therapeutic advances require invasive procedures but some progress in slowing the disease has been found and more options can be expected in the future. We also review the literature on children with disease/conditions other than NCL for the non-invasive use, safety, and tolerability of a lipid-lowering drug, gemfibrozil, as a potential treatment for NCLs. Gemfibrozil has shown efficacy in an animal model of NCL known as CLN2 (late infantile classic juvenile) and has been shown to be safe for lowering lipids in children. Among the 200 non-NCL children found in the published literature who were treated with gemfibrozil for NCL-related problems, only 3 experienced adverse events, including 2 with muscle pain and 1 with localized linear IgA bullous dermatitis. We conclude that gemfibrozil is safe for long-term use in children, causes minimal adverse events, is well tolerated, and may delay the progression of NCLs. Gemfibrozil may potentially be an alternative to more invasive therapeutic approaches currently under investigation and has the potential to be used in combination with other therapeutic approaches

Essays on the political economy of conflict

In early anarchic states of society, the distribution of resources was determined primarily by private capacity for violence. Increasingly, sophisticated political systems have attempted to consolidate this capacity in the hands of the state as an enforcer of rights to resources. Nevertheless, even in modern democracies, private resources continue to be used in attempts to control the state and influence distribution. This thesis explores some of the tensions between violence and democratic process in several settings: resource contests, elections and intra-state conflicts. A participatory state is a pre-commitment by rational individuals to avoid conflict by mutually contributing towards an impartial peacekeeper. In the first essay (Chapter 2), I use a laboratory experiment to test the propensity to make costly investments in an institution for mutual conflict-avoidance in a rent-seeking game. I find that this specific institution induces agents to reduce conflict effort compared to when the institution is unavailable. This result is robust to egalitarian and unequal distributions of endowments. In the second and third essays (Chapters 3 and 4), I empirically investigate the roles of pre-election and post-election violence in the political economy of African national-level elections. Using an instrument variable regression model, I find a positive partial effect of pre-election violence on voter support for incumbent. I also find that the incidence of post-election violence drops when incumbent is re-elected. The partial effect of the incumbent’s margin of victory on post-election violence is negative in linear and Poisson regressions, and the local average effect of the incumbent’s victory is negative in a regression-discontinuity setting. In the fourth essay (Chapter 5), I focus on the salience of ethnic fractionalisation and polarisation in explaining the severity of intra-state conflicts. Three levels of conflict severity are modelled using a generalised ordered response model, simultaneously estimating parameters for each threshold of conflict severity. I find that polarisation, fractionalisation, and income inequality are respectively associated with minor, moderate and major conflict. In effect, the salience of polarisation and fractionalisation is found to be dependent on the severity of conflict

Amelioration of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by gemfibrozil in mice via PPARβ/δ: implications for multiple sclerosis

It is important to describe effective and non-toxic therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune demyelinating disease. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease that serves as a model for MS. Earlier we and others have shown that, gemfibrozil, a lipid-lowering drug, exhibits therapeutic efficacy in EAE. However, the underlying mechanism was poorly understood. Although gemfibrozil is a known ligand of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), here, we established that oral administration of gemfibrozil preserved the integrity of blood–brain barrier (BBB) and blood–spinal cord barrier (BSB), decreased the infiltration of mononuclear cells into the CNS and inhibited the disease process of EAE in both wild type and PPARα–/– mice. On the other hand, oral gemfibrozil was found ineffective in maintaining the integrity of BBB/BSB, suppressing inflammatory infiltration and reducing the disease process of EAE in mice lacking PPARβ (formerly PPARδ), indicating an important role of PPARβ/δ, but not PPARα, in gemfibrozil-mediated preservation of BBB/BSB and protection of EAE. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a critical role in the disease process of EAE/MS and we also demonstrated that oral gemfibrozil protected Tregs in WT and PPARα–/– EAE mice, but not PPARβ–/– EAE mice. Taken together, our findings suggest that gemfibrozil, a known ligand of PPARα, preserves the integrity of BBB/BSB, enriches Tregs, and inhibits the disease process of EAE via PPARβ, but not PPARα

On Compact Super Quasi-Einstein Warped Product with Nonpositive Scalar Curvature

This note deals with super quasi-Einstein warped product spaces. Here we establish that if M is a super quasi-Einstein warped product space with nonpositive scalar curvature and compact base, then M is simply a Riemannian product space. Next we give an example of super quasi-Einstein space-time. In the last section a warped product is defined on it