Structure and reactivity of Titania-supported Molybdenum and Vanadium oxides

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University.For abstract see full text.University of Mosul, Ira

Promoting learners’ autonomy by using Facebook to enhance students’ writing skills / Syazliyati Ibrahim, Sharina Saad, Norlizawati Md Tahir and Phaveena Primsuwan

Language learning in the 21st century develops in tandem with technology. The growth of social media as the platform for communication is a positive element that can influence students’ learning especially in languages. One clear advantage of having such media is that students can be autonomous in their learning because they are already familiar with the platform and they use these sites in their daily lives. VELLP or Virtual English Language Learning Programme is one such agenda that has managed to take advantage of the popular usage of social media amongst students today. This programme is created to cater to thirty students of SMK Bakar Arang, Sungai Petani who have the potential to become better English language users. All thirty students are invited to join the online learning community in Facebook, moderated by four English language lecturers. Diverse topics and interesting issues were raised in the online forum, enabling the students to communicate with one another using correct language. A pretest and a posttest were given; and data from the tests were tabulated to show the effectiveness of the programme. All in all, VELLP has managed to prove that an online chatroom or an online community is able to facilitate second language learners to practice their writing skills in the target language in a fun and relaxed manner

State estimation technique for a planetary robotic rover

Given the long traverse times and severe environmental constraints on a planet like Mars, the only option feasible now is to observe and explore the planet through more sophisticated planetary rovers. To achieve increasingly ambitious mission objectives under such extreme conditions, the rovers must have autonomy. Increased autonomy, obviously, relies on the quality of estimates of rover's state i.e. its position and orientation relative to some starting frame of reference. This research presents a state estimation approach based on Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to fuse distance from odometry and attitude from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), thus mitigating the errors generated by the use of either system alone. To simulate a Sun-sensor based approach for absolute corrections, a magnetic compass was used to give absolute heading updates. The technique was implemented on MotherBot, a custom-designed skid steered rover. Experimental results validate the application of the presented estimation strategy. It showed an error range within 3% of the distance travelled as compared to about 8% error obtained from direct fusion

“COVID-19” and its Cardiovascular Complications – Review

By the end of December in 2019, the world got trapped under the dark shadow of the deadly novel virus that was given the name as “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome‐coronaVirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2)”. Due to its rapid spread in all the continents, “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)” was announced as the pandemic due to its high potential of infecting the human beings. This viral infection not only become the reason of mortality, but it also lethally effected the the infrastructure of public health care system and the global economic situation. “COVID-19” generally maifestated as the “viral pneumonia”, sporadically leading to “acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)” and death. Frequent clinical studies have depicted an interrelation between this deadly virus and cardiovascular diseases. Precedent cardiovascular disease in a person seems to be linked with adverse consequences and high chances of mortality in patients with (COVID-19 infection), whereas this virus itself has a potential of inducing the arrhythmia, acute coronary syndrome, myocardial injury and venous thromboembolism. One of the most significant point of concern is the drug & disease interactions that affect the patients with viral infection and comorbid cardiovascular diseases. By integrating the data and information regarding the biological features of this contagious novel virus, this review has summarized the pivotal cardiac manifestations, their management, and future implications. By correlating the facts and figures related to the biological conditions of this lethal virus with the reported clinical findings, we can ameliorate our conceptions regarding the significant mechanisms underlying (COVID-19), ultimately leading towards the control of this viral infection by the progressive development in preventions and treatments

Future of Cooperative Farming in Pakistan

The main objective of this study was to work out production efficiency of some cooperative and non cooperative farmers in the central Punjab, Pakistan. For this purpose a survey of central Punjab was conducted in the year of 2008-09. Two type samples were taken for the study. First type sample was comprised of 15 respondents who had joined together in different ways to cultivate their available lands. Second type included 60 respondents, 20 from each district of Jhang, Faisalabad and TT Singh. The results obtained through t-statistics analysis revealed that the per acre use of Agri inputs and outputs obtained for all the cash crops was significantly different and  higher in case of cooperatives than non-cooperatives farmers. The benefit cost   (B-C) ratio indicated that it was 38% higher for cooperative than non-cooperatives as it was 1.98 and 1.43 for respective categories. But these cooperatives farming could not sustain for longer time due to the lake of education and conflicts between the members. Keywords: Cooperatives, Farming, Punjab, Pakista

Wolbachia pipientis: A potential candidate for combating and eradicating dengue epidemics in Pakistan

AbstractDengue virus syndrome is an emerging global health challenge which is endemic in tropical countries like Pakistan. In recent years dengue incidences have increased considerably in different areas of Pakistan with more sever impacts on urban and peri-urban populations. This review is an effort to highlight the changing epidemiology of dengue fever, role of Government of Pakistan in disease management and control using preventive and community based approaches in the region. Moreover, there is an emphasis on application of Wolbachia as novel, inexpensive and environmentally benign candidate for control and eradication of dengue transmitting vectors