A Comparative Study Between ADM and MDM for a System of Volterra Integral Equation

In this paper, a comparative study between Adomain decomposition method (ADM) and Modified decomposition method (MDM) for a system of volterra integral equation. From the illustrate examples it is observed that the exact solution is smaller in both methods, the modified decomposition method is more proficient than its traditional ones it is less complicated, needs less time to get to the solution and most importantly the exact solution is achieved in two iterations

Explaining The Participation In A Small Group Brand Community: An Extended TRA

This research aims to extend the TRA (theory of reasoned action) by adding social (perceived cohesion, social identity), psychological (self image congruence) and motivational (perceived enjoyment) factors to explain the participation in a small group brand community based around the Counter Strike game. The conceptual model proposes to test the mediating role of the perceived cohesion in the relationship between the perceived enjoyment and the attitude, the impact of the self image congruence on the social identity and the role of desire as a mediating variable for the effects of the subjective norms, the attitude and the social identity on social intentions. This study is conducted nearby 145 gamers, members of the Counter Strike small group brand community. The findings revealed that the perceived cohesion partially mediates the relationship between the perceived enjoyment and the attitude. It also showed that the self image congruence is an antecedent of the social identity. The desire mediates fully the effect of subjective norms and the social identity on social intentions, and partially the impact of the attitude on social intentions

Foliar Application of Salicylic Acid on Growth and Yield Components of Tomato Plant Grown under Salt Stress

Abiotic environmental stresses such as drought stress, mineral deficiency, heat stress, and salinity stress are major limiting factors of plant growth and productivity. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), one of the important and widespread crops in the world, is sensitive to moderate levels of salt in the soil. So many authors have reported large variation among tomato genotypes in their response to salinity. The present study was conducted to study the effect of different concentrations of salicylic acid on growth parameters, yield, and yield attributes of tomato under saline conditions. Tomato plants cv. Marmande were grown under normal or saline (100 mM NaCl) conditions. Different levels of salicylic acid: SA (0, 0.01, 0.1, and 1 mM) were applied as a foliar spray. The study was conducted at the vegetative and reproductive stage. Salt stress reduced significantly the whole plant growth at the two stages. Application of SA caused a significantly increase in biomass under non-saline conditions. However, in salt medium, treatment of leaves by SA induces a slight increase in biomass, leaf area and ameliorates the fruit diameter compared with plant grown only in the presence of salt. The beneficial effect of SA is more pronounced with the dose 0.01 mM

Green synthesis of triclinic (anorthic) phase AgCoPO4nanoparticles: opticalstudies and theoretical modelling

We report the plant-mediated synthesis, structural investigation, optical properties and theoretical modelling of atriclinic (anorthic) phase AgCoPO4nanoparticles for thefirst time. As part of green chemistry, the secondarymetabolites in the leaf extract ofCanna indicawere engaged as the reducing/capping agent for the metal nano-particles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the presence of an anorthic AgCoPO4phase, crystallised in a triclinicstructure with P -1 space group. Optical studies using UV-vis spectroscopy and photoluminescence are reported.Transmission electron microscopy suggests the formation of quasi-nanocube morphology, unlike the conventionalspherically-shaped nanoparticles via plant-mediated reduction method. Elemental composition of the nanohybridwas confirmed by energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (E.D.S.). Evidence of crystallinity was supported byselected area electron diffraction (SAED). Study of the dynamic anisotropy of the nanohybrid at optimised statesuggests its proposed application as optical material in colourimetric metal nanoparticles-mediated sensors

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance.

Investment in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences that have been generated and used to track the pandemic on the continent, a number that now exceeds 100,000 genomes. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries that are able to sequence domestically and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround times and more-regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and illuminate the distinct dispersal dynamics of variants of concern-particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron-on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve while the continent faces many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

A year of genomic surveillance reveals how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolded in Africa.

The progression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous, and the full impact is not yet well understood. In this study, we describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations predominantly from Europe, which diminished after the early introduction of international travel restrictions. As the pandemic progressed, ongoing transmission in many countries and increasing mobility led to the emergence and spread within the continent of many variants of concern and interest, such as B.1.351, B.1.525, A.23.1, and C.1.1. Although distorted by low sampling numbers and blind spots, the findings highlight that Africa must not be left behind in the global pandemic response, otherwise it could become a source for new variants

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

A PROMETHEE II-BELIEF for multi-criteria decision-making problems with incomplete information

Multi-criteria decision aid methods consider decision problems in which many alternatives are evaluated on several criteria. These methods are used to deal with perfect information. However, in practice, it is obvious that this information requirement is too strict. In fact, the imperfect data provided by more or less reliable decision makers usually affect decision results, since any decision is closely linked to the quality and availability of information. In this paper, a PROMETHEE II-BELIEF approach is proposed to help multi-criteria decisions based on incomplete information. This approach solves problems with incomplete decision matrix and unknown weights within PROMETHEE II method. On the basis of belief function theory, our approach first determines the distributions of belief masses based on PROMETHEE II’s net flows, and then calculates weights. Subsequently, it aggregates the distribution masses associated with each criterion using Murphy’s modified combination rule in order to infer a global belief structure. The final alternative ranking is obtained via pignistic probability transformation. A case study of a real-world application concerning the location of a treatment center of waste from healthcare activities with infectious risk in the center of Tunisia is studied to illustrate the detailed process of the PROMETHEE II-BELIEF approach