Application of a new K-tau model to near wall turbulent flows

A recently developed K-tau model for near wall turbulent flows is applied to two severe test cases. The turbulent flows considered include the incompressible flat plate boundary layer with the adverse pressure gradients and incompressible flow past a backward facing step. Calculations are performed for this two-equation model using an anisotropic as well as isotropic eddy-viscosity. The model predictions are shown to compare quite favorably with experimental data

Reconstruction for low-income communities in earthquake zones: an investigation for the implementation of community-managed housing reconstruction programmes in low-income countries located in earthquakes zones

The world's earthquake problem is increasing without a change in the earth's geology. Human suffering during earthquakes is almost entirely caused by man-made structures. This is mainly because the world's population is fast increasing and previously unoccupied areas are now being inhabited without much attention being given to vulnerability of the building sites and construction techniques. Such buildings cannot withstand even moderate earthquakes. Earthquake fatality records show that most of the losses to life occur in low-income and lower middle-income countries. Economic losses due to earthquakes arc usually large in high-income countries. The financial impact of earthquake disasters is greater in poorer countries, who find serious problems in rebuilding their towns and villages after a disaster. Most government-implemented reconstruction programmes in low-income and lower middle-income countries have failed because they did not meet the socio-economic needs of the earthquake victims. Consequently a majority of such communities were obliged to live in vulnerable houses. The lack of acceptability of most reconstruction programmes emphasised the need to investigate and analyse the associated problems. This has been performed by studying a recently implemented programme. lt was intended to review the earthquake-victims' response to the programme and what should be done to introduce efficient and effective earthquake-resistant construction strategies in the hazard-prone areas. For this purpose, field work was carried out in the Republic of Yemen to study the reconstruction programme undertaken after the 1982 earthquake. The research findings suggest that reconstruction programmes will be implemented more efficiently and effectively, if the people living in earthquake-affected area arc aware of the hazard and they manage the location, design and construction of their houses using safe techniques. The study proposes certain measures for adoption by the governments of such countries to mitigate the risk of disasters in earthquake-prone areas

Green construction in India: gaining a deeper understanding

A workshop on green construction was organized in New Delhi in July 2008 by Jamia Millia University, India and University of Salford, U.K., aiming to increase 'green' practices that are environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The workshop included participants from regulatory bodies, public and private construction companies and researchers. The object of the workshop was to provide an opportunity to capture issues, challenges and research issues in green practices throughout the supply chain in the construction sector in India. The methodology constituted a survey that was provided to all participants, where eight questions were composed by the facilitators. The participants were asked about their views on voluntary and compulsory ways of assessment and audit of green implementation in India. The findings of the workshop featured major challenges, drivers, initiatives, and the ways of effective implementation as well as enforcement on the discussed topic

Antitumour activity of adenovirus-12 structural proteins against Moloney sarcoma tumours in mice.

When purified fibre and hexon proteins of adenovirus 12 were given intramuscularly to 4-week-old BALB/c mice (250-300 mug/mouse) 2 h prior to inoculation with mouse sarcoma virus (0.05 ml of 10(4) FFU/ml) at the same site, significant suppression of tumour growth (P less than 0.001), and rapid regression in tumour size (P less than 0.001) were noted. As a rule, the survival rate in treated mice was also significantly higher than in untreated mice. Furthermore, the disease process in treated mice as compared to untreated mice was far less extensive as judged by the scarcity of sarcoma lesions on the spleens. Preliminary evidence suggested that treatment with fibre could lead to increased cellular immunity in mice. Whether this may be a secondary consequence of events whereby fibre inhibited tumour growth rather than first order mechanism of the inhibition is not known

Impact of Changes in Reserve Requirement on Banks Profitability: A Case of Commercial Banks in Pakistan

This study examines the relationship between Reserve Requirement Ratio and Banks Profitability in Pakistan. It emphasizes on the effect of changes in CRR on commercial banking profitability and how it affects the ROE and ROA. The data collected for the research was secondary and quantitative time series data for the ten year period 2005-2014. Using correlation analysis followed by Linear Regression carries the empirical analysis of the study. The finding of study reveal that CRR taken as measure for Reserve Requirement has significant inverse relationship on banks’ financial performance, which is measured by ROA and ROE. Keywords: Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR), Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE)

The composition effect on the bowing parameter in the cubic InGaN, AlGaN and AlInN alloys

Numerical simulation based on FP-LAPW calculations is applied to study direct and indirect band gap energy of the cubic AlxGa₁₋xN, InxGa₁₋xN and InxAl₁₋xN alloys.The direct and indirect band-gap bowing parameter is also calculated, and the values obtained are very important, as we find a strong dependence of the bowing parameter on the composition

L’endocardite à Bartonella en Tunisie: Particularités lésionnelles et évolutives

L'endocardite à Bartonalla est une infection ubiquitaire, son diagnostic est difficile vu qu'il s'agit souvent d'endocardite à hémoculture négative. Lebut de cette étude est d'analyser les particularités lésionnelles et  évolutives de cette entité dans un pays du nord d'Afrique, la Tunisie et dedémontrer la gravité de cette infection. Nous avons étudié  rétrospectivement les dossiers médicaux de 20 patients atteints  d'endocardite à Bartonella, confirmée selon les critères de Dukes modifiés. L'âge moyen de nos patients était 37 ans avec une prédominance  masculine (SR=3). Tous nos malades avaient un niveau socio-économique bas. Le motif essentiel de consultation était la dyspnée, 6 patients étaient admis dans un tableau d'insuffisance cardiaque congestive. Une  prédilection des lésions au niveau de la valve aortique a été notée (14 cas). Quatorze patients avaient des végétations endocarditiques avec une taille qui dépasse 10 mm chez 8 malades. La majorité des patients (18 patients) présentaient une régurgitation valvulaire massive en rapport principalement avec des mutilations importantes (6 cas de ruptures de cordages mitraux, 2 cas de déchirures des sigmoïdes aortiques, un cas de perforation valvulaire aortique, un cas de désinsertion de prothèse  mitrale). Quinze malades (3/4) avaient nécessité une chirurgie à la phase active de la maladie, l'indication majeure était l'insuffisance cardiaque. Une complication neurologique était notée chez 2 malades et une  complication rénale chez 3 malades. Treize patients étaient guéris, 5 malades étaient décédés et 2 malades opérés ont présenté une  réinfection à staphylococcus aureus et à candida albicans en  postopératoire. L'endocardite à Bartonella est une infection grave. Cette Bactérie possède un potentiel destructif important. Le recours à la chirurgie est quasi constant. La morbi-mortalité est élevée. La recherche de cette bactérie devrait être alors systématique chez nos malades suspects d'endocardite d'autant plus que la bartonellose est endémique sur nos terres

Accessibility analysis of higher education institution websites of Portugal

The higher education institutions across the globe are steadily increasing their usage of the web platforms to disseminate information to its stakeholders. In this background, it becomes important to make these resources inclusive. An inclusive website of a higher education institution will facilitate seamless access to its resources for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). This paper presents an accessibility analysis of 59 higher education websites of Portugal. Both Polytechnic (19) and University (40) websites were incorporated into the study.The accessibility analysis is carried out with three major tools: AChecker, WAVE, and aXe. With respect to the AChecker tool, the average of known problems was observed almost doubled in Universities than Polytechnic Institution websites of Portugal under all levels of conformance. With respect to WAVE tool, we found that the average of alerts, structural elements, and HTML5 & ARIA in terms of web accessibility status of websites of Polytechnic Institutes are less than the Universities, but contrast errors are found with more frequency in Polytechnic Institutes than in universities, and the average of errors and features are almost the same in both of the cases. Also, we found that the average number of violations and needs of review guidelines as per aXe tool are 50.84 and 21.47 in Polytechnic Institutes? websites and 30.75 and 27.83 in Universities websites belonging to Portugal, respectively. Based on scores obtained by these accessibility analysis tools, the outliers of accessibility violations are calculated with respect to websites of Polytechnic Institutes and Universities of Portugal. Moreover, we also suggested and discussed the important clues to solve the accessibility violations of websites along with their issue descriptions among the selected websites in this study. Hence, this analysis report provides the feedback to website administrator and web developers to improve the accessibility evaluation status of these websites.5311-8814-F0ED | Sara Maria da Cruz Maia de Oliveira PaivaN/

Dietary practices and beliefs of patients with chronic liver disease

Objective: To study of the dietary practices and beliefs of patients suffering from chronic liver disease. Setting: Two private tertcary care hospitals. Method: Fifty patients presenting to the Gastroenterology Clinics at the Aga Khan University Hospital and Baqai Hospital, with compensated liver disease and no other co-morbid condition which required dietary modifications, were enrolled in the study. Patients were interviewed regarding their current dietary practices using an open-ended questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the patients was 48 years and the majority were in relatively poor nutritional status. Four had BMI\u27s \u3c 18; 58% had Hb \u3c 12 g/dl and 36% had albumin levels \u3c 3 gm/dl. The percentage of patients avoiding various foods is as follows: meats 72%, fats and oils 64%, salt 42%, spices 34%, milk and milk products 28%, rice 20%. Conclusion: The most commonly cited reason for avoiding a given food was the advice of the family doctor, followed by advice by gastroenterologists, family and friends. Concepts from alternative medicine and continuation of dietary restrictions imposed during a decompensated phase also influenced intake. Compromised nutritional status is a poor predictor of clinical outcome in liver disease therefore it is important that gastroenterologists be proactive regarding nutritional counseling and both patients and their primary care physicians understand the importance of not imposing unnecessary restrictions on dietary intake