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Enhancement of resilience an quality of life using strength based counselling and the mediating role of parental bonding in adolescents with type 1 diabetes
The current study was an attempt to understand the socio-demographic profile of newlineadolescents with type 1diabetes, the relationship between variables such as resilience, quality of life, parental bonding and the mediating role of parental bonding. It was also aimed to understand parent s perception of the adolescent s resilience and quality of life and their newlineexperiences. In phase 1, 100 adolescents/ newlinechildren (M=40, F=60, Age 10-18years) with an newlineexisting diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and their parents were enrolled from two hospitals and one clinic in Bangalore. The adolescents were administered Paediatric Quality Of Life for Diabetics (PedsQL) (Child and Adolescent Form), The Resilience Scale for Youth (CYRM), The Parental Bonding Instrument PBI (Father and Mother Form ). Parents were administered the consent form, demographic data sheet and parent version of resilience and quality of life.All scales were translated and back translated. In Phase 2 of the study, an intervention model based on the principles of strength newlinebased counselling to enhance resilience and quality of life (SBCTD1) was developed and newlineused. Qualitative interviews were conducted to understand the experiences of parents of newlinechildren/adolescents having type 1 diabetes. These interviews were tape recorded. 50 newlineadolescents from Phase1, were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n=25) and the control group (n=25). For the intervention group after going through the sessions the Resilience Scales and The Paediatric Quality of Life scales were administered after one and three months respectively. HbA1c values were also collected again after three months of newlineintervention. Control group received regular care and treatment at the center and were not newlineexposed to the model developed for the study. -
Adoption of enterprise risk management erm practices in the zimbabwean banking sector
Corporate failures that occurred in the mid-1990s as well as the global financial crisis that unfolded in the US in 2007 and subsequent banking crises in many countries underscored the need for banking institutions to develop and implement robust risk management systems and controls to prevent the occurrences of such crises. Enterprise risk management (ERM) has emerged as the best practice approach that provided banks with means for mitigating and controlling risks giving rise to such financial crises. Attempts have been made to find out the factors driving the implementation of ERM and the majority of these studies had conflicting newlineconclusions on the effect of some of these factors. Further, weaknesses were noted in variables used by researchers as proxies for ERM adoption. It was noted that several studies used the appointment of a chief risk officer as a variable representing ERM adoption while a number of other researchers focused on surveys or renowned frameworks such as COSO to ascertain the extent of adoption of ERM. These approaches however, had shortcomings. This study therefore sought to address some of the above gaps in literature. The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of adoption of ERM newlinepractices as well to examine factors (adequacy of risk governance structure, newlinequality of organizational culture, intensity of regulatory environment and size of the bank) influencing the adoption and implementation of ERM by banks in Zimbabwe. A mixed method approach was utilized in this study. The population of the study comprised of 18 commercial banks which have been operating in Zimbabwe since the adoption of the multi-currency system in 2009. Respondents for the study were selected using the purposive sampling approach. This was to ensure the respondents had the right experience and expertise to answer questions on enterprise risk management practices newlinewithin their respective banks. -
Community Consciousness and The Construction of Social Honour : A Study Among The Kurds in Finland
Research on honour has recently been overshadowed by discussions surrounding honour-related violence (HRV), particularly honour killings. Typically, inquiries into how the concept of honour, often associated with violent acts, is formed, and expressed on personal or communal levels remain unanswered or are only superficially explored. This study aims to uncover the social structures underlying the concept of honour, demonstrate its manifestation through social interactions, and elucidate how individuals respond to threats against their honour. Because of the many tragic instances of HRV within Kurdish diaspora communities, Kurds and Kurdish culture frequently feature in discussions concerning this phenomenon. Therefore, data for current research has been collected from Kurds living in the diaspora, specifically in Finland. The data were elicited through a combination of methods to be as comprehensive as possible. This included 24 semi-structured interviews with individual participants and four Focus Group Discussions involving 16 participants. A closer look at the data shows that the construction of Kurdish honour is based on a complex interaction of social structures. These structures can be broken down into three key elements: institutional, relational, and embodied factors. In this regard, the research has identified six structural components. The study demonstrates that the intensity of honour-related conflicts stems from an intricate interplay of structural factors. However, the relative weight of these factors determines the flashpoints of tension. Through the lens of structuration theory, the study demonstrates the role of everyday practices and dynamic social factors in shaping individuals' discursive consciousness around honour. Individuals' conceptualization of honour may sometimes diverge from its practical application, leading to a space for social negotiation where honour undergoes continuous reshaping into a dynamic equilibrium that impacts daily life. It's essential to recognize that this equilibrium varies among individuals. However, a threat to honour can prompt varying facework procedures, contingent upon individual characteristics and community expectations. Current Inquiry uncovers six distinct behavioural patterns individuals exhibit during a crisis of honour. The investigation of the participants' narratives reveals a diverse Kurdish culture, as evidenced by their different perceptions about the tolerable thresholds of honour violations and contradictory discourses concerning honour. The final significant finding is that the fear of dishonour typically outweighs the desire for honour among the Kurds, as indicated by both daily language use and chronological analysis of conflict cases. This observation holds significant implications, not only for reevaluating normative terminology but also for informing social and political preventive measures. -
Role of Financial Literacy and Digital Financial Inclusion on Sustainable Development Among The Mao-Naga Tribe of Northeast India
This research empirically analyses the influence of financial literacy and digital financial inclusion on sustainable development. The notion of financial newlineliteracy, adopted from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, combines financial awareness, attitude, knowledge, and behaviour to achieve financial well-being. Digital financial inclusion is the process by which individuals or households in the underserved or unprivileged section of society have access to formal financial services through innovative digital technologies. The main features of digital financial inclusion include reduction of costs, security, ease of access, usefulness, and actual usage of digital financial services. The current study collected data from the Mao-Naga tribe of Manipur and newlineNagaland, Northeast India using a convenient and purposive sampling method. The research method is quantitative in nature, and primary data were collected from adult individuals who were 18 years old or above. These respondents were eligible and able to manage their own bank accounts independently. The study has a crosssectional time horizon with a deductive approach. The data consisted of 1147 samples of Mao-Naga tribe adults using a structured questionnaire on a seven-point newlineLikert scale. The statistical technique of Statistical Packages of Social Science newline(SPSS) software was utilised to ascertain the descriptive result of the study. The newlinehypothesis testing was conducted using the Partial Least Square Structural Equation newlineModelling (PLS-SEM) statistical model. The SMART-PLS 4.0 software was employed to test the hypotheses of PLS-SEM, explanatory variance, effect size, PLS predict, and importance-performance map analysis (IPMA). Financial literacy and sustainable development were analysed from a reflective-formative approach of higher-order constructs. This research indicates that financial literacy and digital financial inclusion can positively influence sustainable development among the Mao-Naga tribe. -
Strategy formulation and implementation in the zimbabwean food manufacturing sector
This study focused on examining the influence of strategy formulation and implementation on the performance and competitive advantage of the foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe. The study was prompted by the fact that newlinestrategy is essential in every organisation and that competing in the market is like newlinewar, you have injuries and casualties and the best strategy wins . More so, even though the food-manufacturing companies are essential to the Zimbabwean economy, there has been limited research on the area of strategy formulation and implementation. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches because looking at the same problem from several viewpoints is an excellent way to verify data and come up with interpretation and conclusions. It is in view of this fact that the researcher used the triangulation approach, which is a combination of both philosophies, qualitative and quantitative data. The research was a survey because it allowed the research to collect data from a sizeable number of participants in 10 foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe. The researcher used personal judgement in selecting the companies to be part of the study. The data was collected from directors and managerial employees, who are largely involved in the process of strategy formulation and implementation. The researcher used the questionnaires and the indepth interviews as research instruments. SPSS was the quantitative data analysis and qualitative data analysis was using thematic analysis. The study found out that foodmanufacturing companies in Zimbabwe were facing performance related challenges and there were mixed responses on the extent to which they were failing to meet financial, customer, internal business process improvement, and learning and growth targets. The food-manufacturing companies implemented marketing, human resource, financial and operations strategies but were not successful in their endeavours. -
Respiratory Motion Prediction of Lung Tumor Using Artificial Intelligence
Managing respiratory motion in radiotherapy for lung cancer presents a formidable and newlinepersistent challenge. The inherent dynamic movement triggered by respiration introduces a notable degree of uncertainty in target delineation, impacting the precision of image-guided radiotherapy. Overlooking the impact of respiratory motion can lead to the emergence of artifacts in images during image acquisition, resulting in inaccuracies in tissue delineation. Moreover, the motion between treatment fractions can induce blurriness in the dose distribution within the treatment process, thereby introducing geometric and dosimetric uncertainties. Additionally, inter-fraction motion can result in the displacement of the distribution of administered doses. Given these complexities, the precise prediction of tumor motion holds the utmost importance in newlineelevating the quality of treatment administration and minimizing radiation exposure to healthy tissues neighboring the pertinent organ during radiotherapy. Nonetheless, achieving the desired level of precision in dose administration remains a formidable task due to the inherent variations in internal patient anatomy across varying time scales and magnitudes. While notable advancements have been witnessed in radiotherapy, attributed to innovations like image guidance tools, which have streamlined treatments, the challenge of accommodating lung tumor motion remains critical, particularly in cases related to newlineradiotherapeutic intervention. Substantial limitations endure despite integrating respiratory-gated techniques in radiation oncology to manage lung tumor motion. Moreover, lung cancer prognosis remains low, irrespective of the recent advancements in radiotherapy. The practice of expanding newlinetreatment margins from the Clinical Treatment Volume (CTV) to encompass the Planning newlineTreatment Volume (PTV) has been adopted as a strategy to amplify treatment outcomes. newlineHowever, this strategy necessitates a trade-off, as it inevitably exposes larger volumes of healthy tissues to radiation. -
Computational Methods for Detection and Recognition of Coronary Artery Stenosis in Angiogram Images
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is caused by stenosis of the coronary artery's lumen. This heart disease is one of the reasons for the highest mortality worldwide. This illness manifests as stenosis or plaque in the coronary arteries and causes atherosclerosis. It damages or clogs the heart arteries, causing a lack of blood flow to the heart muscles and leading to a heart attack. There are different medical modalities to diagnose the heart artery disease. A standard method used by the cardiologist to diagnose the severity of this disease is coronary angiography. An X-ray machine is used to capture the angiogram image at various angles during cardiac catheterization. Experts examine the data and offers different opinions. owever, most of the angiogram videos consist of unclear images with artifacts, and because of the complex structure of the arteries, medical experts fail to get accurate information about the damages and blockages in arteries. Based on the cardiologist's suggestions, a computational model is proposed as a secondary method to detect and recognize the stenosis level from the coronary angiogram images. The proposed model is Coronary Artery Stenosis Detection Using Digital Image Processing (CASDDIP). The proposed research model/framework can identify the stenosis in the cardiogram image with good accuracy of 98.06% precision. This proposed research experimentation can be compared with existing literature methods which outperforms compared to other methods using real time dataset. A dataset, such as angiogram videos and images of patients under varying age groups, is used to train the model. These videos are acquired from the healthcare center with due consent. The proposed CASDDIP model consists of four modules: Keyframe extraction and preprocessing Coronary Artery Segmentation Feature extraction and stenosis detection Initially, a novel keyframe extraction method is proposed to find the keyframe from the angiogram video. Followed by a hybrid segmentation method is presented in this research to extract the coronary artery region from the image. Further a method is proposed to detect the stenosis by extracting and fusing different features. Detected stenosis is categorized using the proposed stenosis level classification method. This CASDDIP model is a supporting tool to help the cardiologist during diagnosis. -
Activity recognition using machine learning techniques for smart home assisted living
The statistical survey by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division says, quotglobally the number of persons aged 60 and above is expected to be more than double by 2050 newlineand more than triple by 2100quot. Especially in India, 9.5 percent of the population comprises of elders above 60 years. This may reach 22.2 percent in 2050 and 44.4 percent in 2100. On one side, the population of newlineelders are gradually increasing and on the other side there is a challenge to take care of the wellbeing of the elders when they are living alone. Smart home assisted living system can address these problems. Smart newlineHome Assisted living System is one among the growing research areas in smart computing. Advances in sensing, communication and ambientintelligence technologies created tremendous change in smart living newlineenvironment. The development in technology made smart home to support elders, disabled persons and the needy person. newlineActivity recognition is a growing technology in recent research and it plays a vital role in smart home assisted living system. Activity Recognition is a more dynamic, interesting, and challenging research newlinetopic in different areas like Ubiquitous Computing, Smart Home Assisted Living, Human Computer Interaction (HIC) etc. It provides solution to various real-time, human-oriented problems like elder care and health newlinecare. newlineIn order to address the issue on providing support on elder care this research proposes a machine learning based activity recognition model and an enhanced communication protocol for a smart home system, which are collaborated for designing the architecture of a smart home assisted living system. This system consists of three sub phases viz., data acquisition, monitoring system, and tracking system. -
Clonning and Characterization of An Exported Protein Present in the RD7 Region of Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
The bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for causing the disease newlinetuberculosis in mammals, which is regarded as one of the oldest diseases haunting the human race. The only available tuberculosis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guerine (BCG), is effective against childhood tuberculosis but is regarded as having low efficacy in conferring protection in the case of tuberculosis in adults. A comparison of the M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain and clinical isolates from Kerala had earlier revealed that the clinical strains have a distinctive 4.5 kb genomic sequence that is lacking from the H37Rv strain in the RD7 region. The RD7 is a distinctive genomic region that is absent in M. tuberculosis H37Rv and Mycobacterium bovis BCG strain. The 4.5 kb genomic sequence is projected to include 6 potential ORFs by newlineNCBI ORF prediction tool, one of which Novel Hypothetical Protein (NHP2) is anticipated to encode an exported protein with a length of 268 amino acids. Studies demonstrate that Mycobacterium tuberculosis secretory proteins such as the Ag85 complex, the ESAT-6 family protein, and the PE-PPE family proteins were newlineeffective vaccine candidates because they trigger T cells. Here, we present an indepth analysis of the exported protein, which is 268 amino acids long. The putative exported protein with a gene 807 bp long was PCR amplified and cloned in the expression vector pET-32a for expression. The protein was over expressed using Isopropyl D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) and was isolated and purified using column chromatography. Bioinformatics studies were conducted to study the characteristics of the expressed protein. A novel putative mycobacterial protein discovered by subtractive hybridization was studied for its potential as a vaccine candidate using cutting-edge computer technologies. -
Design, Training, and Implementation of A New Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Format For Special Educators And Students With Intellectual Disabilities At Selected Special Schools
An individualized Education Plan (IEP) is a multidisciplinary, teamdeveloped plan required for every child receiving special education services. The researcher delved into concerns surrounding Individualized newlineEducation Programs (IEPs) for students with intellectual disabilities. Two significant hurdles were discovered: existing IEPs lacked essential intervention areas, and special education teachers felt inadequately newlineequipped to construct effective plans. newlineThe study tackled these concerns head-on through a multi-pronged approach. Firstly, a meticulous analysis of existing IEPs revealed crucial sections missing from intervention plans, hindering their effectiveness. newlineThis analysis served as the blueprint for crafting a more comprehensive IEP format that addressed the identified gaps and provided a robust framework for intervention. Next, the study focused on empowering special education teachers. Sixty special education teachers certified by the Rehabilitation Council of newlineIndia, participated in training sessions on the new format, undergoing a vital skills and knowledge upgrade in IEP development. This equipped them with the tools and understanding necessary to create more effective plans tailored to individual student needs. The theory then transitioned to practice. Students with intellectual newlinedisabilities were included in interventions based on the improved IEPs, with their progress closely tracked and evaluated. The results were highly promising. Teachers demonstrated a tangible improvement in knowledge, translating into their ability to create more effective IEPs. More importantly, students thrived with the enhanced format. Those involved in interventions using the improved IEPs exhibited significant progress in various domains, highlighting the positive impact of the new approach. The study culminated in key recommendations for further newlineimprovement. Ongoing teacher training sessions were suggested to ensure teachers remain updated on best practices and evolving methodologies. -
Moral Identity, Moral Emotions and Maladaptive Personality Traits Among Adolescents in South Korea by Doo Jong Kim
The rule of survival of the fittest often thwarted the leap towards holistic development. How does morality associate with personality in adolescent development? Drawing on the theories of Augusto Blasi and Gordon Allport, the present study took a morality-personality integrative approach to adolescent development and viewed moral identity centrality as an agentic drive for their holistic growth. It aimed to determine whether moral identity centrality, other-praising moral emotion, and personality dysfunction of maladaptive personality traits are coherent in predicting antisocial behaviour in a sample of 436 Korean adolescents (M = 15.71 years, SD = .70; female 48.4%). The present study set up three hypotheses in the structural relationship of research variables (i.e., moral identity centrality, other-praising moral emotion, personality dysfunction of maladaptive personality traits and antisocial behaviour). Hypothesis 1: Personality dysfunction of multiple maladaptive personality traits predicts antisocial behaviour. Hypothesis 2: Other-praising moral emotion and personality dysfunction mediate moral identity centrality and antisocial behaviour. Hypothesis 3: Sex does not make notable differences in the structural relationship of research variables. The study analyzed the data mainly through structural equation modelling (SEM). As a result, all hypotheses were accepted. First, four multiple maladaptive traits, i.e., negative affectivity, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism, significantly predicted adolescents antisocial behaviour (and#946; = .791, p lt .001) (Hypothesis 1). Second, the modified structural model showed a serial multiple mediation effect of other-praising moral emotion and personality dysfunction between moral identity centrality and antisocial behaviour (Hypothesis 2). Third, multi-group analyses showed apparent coherence among research variables regardless of sex (Hypothesis 3). -
Study of magnetoconvection with maxwell cattaneo law
This thesis deals with the study of Rayleigh-Bard-convection in a Newtonian fluid and micropolar fluid by replacing the classical Fourier law by non-classical Maxwell-Cattaneo heat flux law. The effects of second sound, non-uniform basic temperature gradients, suctioninjection-combination, temperature modulation and gravity modulation in newlinepresence of external constraints like magnetic field and rotation are studied. newlineThe problems investigated in this thesis throw light on externally controlled convection in Newtonian and micropolar fluids in the presence of Maxwell-Cattaneo law. The problems investigated in this thesis deal newlinewith practical problems with very large heat fluxes and/or short time duration. With this motivation, we investigate in this thesis five problems and their summary is given below. (i) Effects of Coriolis force and non-uniform basic temperature gradients on the onset of Rayleigh-Bard-Chandrasekhar newlineconvection with Maxwell-Cattaneo law The effect of non-uniform temperature gradient on RayleighBard-Chandrasekhar convection in a rotating Newtonian fluid with Maxwell-Cattaneo law is studied using the Galerkin technique. The eigenvalues is obtained for free-free, rigid-free and rigid-rigid velocity boundary combinations with isothermal and adiabatic boundaries. A linear stability analysis is performed. The influence of various parameters on the onset of convection has been analyzed. One linear and five non-linear temperature profiles are considered and their comparative influence on onset is discussed. It is found that the results are noteworthy at short times and the critical eigenvalues are less than the classical ones. It is shown that the system having magnetic field will delay in the onset newlineof instability. In general, it is observed that step function and inverted parabolic temperature profile are the most destabilizing and stabilizing profiles. -
Duplex functionally graded and multilayered thermal barrier coatings based on 8 % yttria stabilized zirconia and pyrochlores
Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) protect gas turbine engine metal components while they serve in a high temperature environment (upto 1200?). 8% Yttria- Stabilized Zirconia (8YSZ) is the current state of the art material for TBCs. Typically, 250 to 500 ?m (upto 2 mm) thick TBCs can lower the metal temperature by upto 150C than the service temperature and thereby enhance life to the components. 8YSZ TBCs however, suffer from (a) increased sinterability, (b) phase de-stabilization and (c) poor adhesion with time in service at high temperature. In order to facilitate longer engine running time, research is being directed towards finding (i) newer materials that do not possess these deficiencies or (ii) configurations that can overcome them. In order to further improve the performance efficiency of the engines, TBC materials with extended thermal fatigue life at higher than current service temperatures (>1100?) are also being actively investigated. In the same area of research, this thesis presents the findings of work on air plasma sprayed (i) duplex, (ii) functionally graded and (iii) multilayered configurations of TBCs synthesized from commercial 8YSZ and lab synthesized pyrochlore (lanthanum zirconate, lanthanum cerate and lanthanum cerium zirconate) compositions with NiCrAlY bond coat. Duplex i.e., 2-layered TBCs, synthesized by depositing commercial 8YSZ ceramic topcoat (METCO 204 NS) and NiCrAlY bond coat (AMDRY 962) plasma spray powders on Inconel 718 and/or stainless-steel substrates were used for benchmarking purpose (designated as conventional 8YSZ TBC). Next, TBCs were prepared by using these two powders in blended form (8YSZ+NiCrAlY) to serve as a third intermediate layer between the duplex TBC layers in functionally graded material (FGM) configurations. The role of he third intermediate layer is to minimize the thermal expansion mismatch between the ceramic and bond coat layers at elevated temperatures. 8YSZ FGM TBCs were prepared from three different blends of plasma spray powders of NiCrAlY and 8YSZ (i .e., 25%NiCrAlY +75%8YSZ, 50% NiCrAlY + 50% 8YSZ and 60% NiCrAlY + 40% 8YSZ). The development of newer ceramic TBC materials and configurations was achieved by the synthesis of novel pyrochlores and FGM TBCs from them. The Rare-earth pyrochlores and Rare-earth zirconate pyrochlores studied were (i) Lanthanum Zirconate (La2Zr2O7), (ii) Lanthanum Cerium Zirconate (La2 (Zr0.7Ce0.3)2O7 and (iii) Lanthanum Cerate (La2Ce2O7). Plasma sprayable powders of these compositions were synthesized in the laboratory via a solid-state method. They were spray-coated by Atmospheric Plasma Spray (APS) method in duplex layers by using three different spray parameters on NiCrAlY bond coated substrates. The spray parameter that provided the best TBC for each composition was identified based on preliminary thermal fatigue tests. FGM TBCs with (50% NiCrAlY+ 50% 8YSZ) blend as intermediary layer exhibited significantly improved thermal fatigue resistance (life) over conventional 8YSZ TBC (up to 1400?). Hence, in the FGM pyrochlore system too, further studies were restricted to TBCs with (50%NiCrAlY+50% pyrochlore) blend layers to serve as the intermediate FGM layers. Further studies involved the synthesis of multilayered TBCs: two types of systems have been experimented (a) FGM with commercial 8YSZ integrated with the pyrochlores - here the intermediary blend layer was (50% NiCrAlY+ 50% 8YSZ), and lab synthesized pyrochlores were the topcoats and (b) 8YSZ as an intermediary layer and pyrochlores as the topcoats. Identical (to the extent possible) characterization methods were employed to study and evaluate all TBCs synthesized in this research work. They were (1) thermal fatigue tests between high temperature & ambient by using (a) gas flame (1200? & 1400?) and (b) furnace (1150C) (2) oxidation stability tests (at 800?,1000? and 1150?) (3) structural phase analysis (XRD) and (4) microstructure with chemical composition analysis (SEM/EDS). The work was aided by studies on adhesion strength test (ASTM C633 standard), residual stress analysis and assessment of thermal barrier effect (temperature drop across TBC) in chosen few TBCs. TBCs fabricated from three pyrochlores exhibited significant improvements in terms of thermal fatigue resistance at 1200? and 1400?. In duplex, Multilayer (ML) FGM and Multilayer (ML) configurations, La2Ce2O7 (LC) TBC performance was exemplary in all configurations studied in this research work. XRD analysis of pyrochlores in duplex, ML-FGM and ML configurations TBCs evaluated for thermal fatigue at 1200? and 1400? (gas flame heating) exhibited no phase destabilization in the failed specimen, confirming the thermal stability of the TBC system within the coated layers. The trend of improved thermal fatigue resistance of lanthanum cerate TBCs continued when studied via high-temperature furnace heating at 1150? as well. The experimental research work with details of TBC systems, processing, characterizations, and discussion based on findings and published literature to explore the prospective TBC material system and configuration with the potential to serve as an alternative to conventional 8YSZ TBC, in terms of life and thermal fatigue resistance, comprise the main contents of this thesis. -
Process Development for Mass Production of Cordycepin Using Fermentation Technology
Cordyceps is a rare and exotic medicinal genus that has been utilised for generations in traditional Chinese medicine. China, Bhutan, Nepal, the Tibetan Plateau, and the newlinenortheastern parts of India are the main areas where they may be noticed. Cordycepin newline(C10H13O3N5), an adenosine derivative generated naturally by Cordyceps militaris, has essential pharmacological effects. Cordycepin has been shown to have anti-tumor/antiproliferative, anti-metastatic, apoptosis-inducing, anti-malaria, anti-microbial, antifungal, anti-diabetic/hypoglycemic, and anti-inflammatory qualities, among other things. The scarcity of native Cordyceps spp., as well as illicit commerce and a lack of growing methods in natural habitats, limit the supply of this prized fungus for therapeutic applications. As a result, an attempt was made to standardize the technique for large-scale cordycepin manufacturing in a laboratory setting. To measure the cordycepin, analytical methods by using High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Ultraviolet Visible spectroscopy (UV Spec.) were established. Furthermore, different methods were optimised and established to successfully extract cordycepin from biomass. Solid state fermentation (SSF) was performed to grow the fruiting bodies of C. militaris in jars. A novel technology was developed using cotton in the SSF which improved the cordycepin content by 138.42 %. Different liquid culture methods (static, submerged, and mix) were also studied; the Static mode was chosen for future media optimization studies. Initially, different parameters like the effect of pH, light, media volume, and inoculum percentage were optimised that affect the cordycepin production. Further, numerous media components, including carbon newlinesources, nitrogen sources, metals, salts and also the impact of vitamins, amino acids, newlineand adenosine that can influence the cordycepin production were optimized employing the One Factor at a time (OFAT) method. -
Development and effectiveness of an art therapy application for children
This study involved developing an art therapy app and explored the effectiveness of art therapy using the app on enhancing children's self-esteem. Digital technology has become a part of human life and has also influenced mental health services. There is a recommendation to use digital technology in low-resource countries to bridge the mental health service gap for individuals with mental health problems. To meet the needs of art therapists and clients, an app called Art about Me was designed as a new medium/tool in art therapy intervention by the researcher, an art therapist. Confidentiality, security, documentation, and a backing up system were the primary features considered while developing the app. Three school counselors who participated in an art therapy workshop provided art therapy intervention using the app for children in school settings to improve their self-esteem. The results indicated that art therapy using the app was significantly effective in enhancing their self-esteem. This study concluded that the app could replace traditional art materials and work as a substitute medium. It helped build a therapeutic alliance with clients, develop self-growth and potential for children, and was appreciated by counselors. The art therapy app would be an adequate solution to provide therapeutic services and overcome the limitation of art materials for art therapy, especially in low- resource countries. -
Representation of moral crisis and social order across cultures An analysis of three texts goldings lord of the flies camus s the plague and U R Ananthamurthy s samskara
The growth of human civilization has always been accompanied by unexpected turns and twists caused by individuals and communities exhibiting inexplicable behavior. For every effort of greatness, there has been an equal amount of meanness and debauchery making the humankind more and more inscrutable. Human beings have defied all definitions about themselves and still go about with a perplexing image of both noble and brutal. They create a social order to ensure a newlinecohesive existence but end up breaking it, unable to face the moral crisis caused by the extreme turn of events. This study attempts to see the staging of human recovery from such situations through the fictional narratives of three writers belonging to three cultures and the crises faced by those societies, through a study of The Plague (1947 ) by the French writer, Albert Camus (1913 -1960 ), Lord of the Flies (1954) by the English writer, William Golding (1911 1993) newlineand Samskara (1965) by the Indian writer, U. R. Ananthamurthy (1932 - newline2014). newlineNo society or culture has escaped the throes of crisis be it moral, social, political or otherwise. The crisis that may be surmountable in one culture may shake the foundation of another. Of all the crises prevalent in society, one of the major causes for concern in the eyes of the participants newlineof the New Dialogue is moral crisis . Studies undertaken across the globe have thrown up the alarming fact that this is a crisis which could jolt the social order with its amoral way of thinking. America s moral integrity has been eroded by an anything goes culture abetted by the moral permissiveness of contemporary liberalism. The concern that the waning of tradition is giving way to moral confusion and anarchy is shared the world over including China and India despite their strong traditions. The reasons could be aplenty-ranging from the outbreak of wars, outbreak of epidemics and even crumbling of societies under the burden of orthodoxy of religion and caste. -
ICT integration in universities in relation to ict challenges and work motivation of lecturers in harare zimbabwe
This study was ICT integration in universities in relation to ICT challenges and work motivation of lecturers in Harare, Zimbabwe. There exists varying rates of ICT newlineintegration in universities and this has a negative impact on the teaching and learning newlineprocesses. The major aim of the study was to assess the relationship between ICT integration, ICT Challenges and work motivation of lecturers. The findings of the study is expected to show how universities could isolate challenges and tailor-make strategies of overcoming them whilst at the same time getting deeper insight into human behavior in an organisation and its contribution towards ICT integration. The thesis was therefore conducted to match availability of ICTs and their utilization as newlinethis had a direct bearing on the curriculum delivery as well as empowering learners to newlineengage in meaningful, challenging and enlightening tasks since ICTs have the potential to play a powerful role in every university- both inside and outside lecture room/classroom. Institutional responses to ICT influences have inevitably brought about a lot of changes in the teaching / learning processes. The research approach adopted was quantitative. The sample included 200 lecturers drawn from a population of 600 lecturers consisting of two private and four state universities. Harare was conveniently chosen as it is the capital city of Zimbabwe and has the greatest number of state and private universities. Two questionnaires one on ICT integration and another one on ICT challenges were designed by the researcher and the third one on Work Motivation Questionnaire was adopted from Agrawal (1988) and standardized for the Zimbabwean context. The major challenges associated with slow newlineuptake were analysed and assessed in terms of their impact on the teaching and learning newlineprocesses and the motivation of lecturers was also evaluated together with demographic newlinefeatures to find predictors of successful ICT integration in universities. -
Load Balancing Strategy for Large Scale Software Defined Networks
Programmability has left its mark on every facet of business, with technology playing newlinean integral role. Social networking industry trends underscore technology s ubiquity in newlinenearly every business transaction. Traditional networks grapple with numerous challenges, rendering them ill-equipped to process and handle the demands of the modern newlinelandscape effectively. The lack of programming in these networks leads to stagnation, newlineinhibiting their ability to evolve or enhance performance. The advent of Software Defined Networks (SDN) has introduced increased flexibility into conventional networks, newlineopening avenues for creating innovative services. newlineSDN technology addresses challenges in large-scale networks, offering solutions for newlinehigh throughput, virtualization, fault detection, and load balancing, providing effective network management. The rapid expansion of network services and applications newlinein SDN environments demands sophisticated load-balancing solutions that adapt to newlinedynamic traffic patterns and varying service requirements. This study presents a pioneering algorithm, the Dynamic Load Balancing Algorithm (DLBA), which utilizes the newlineProgramming Protocol-independent Packet Processors (P4) language. The algorithm is newlinespecifically crafted to tackle the issues associated with optimizing traffic distribution in newlinethe data plane of SDN. newlineP4 programming language, recognized as one of the most robust languages, addresses newlinethe limitations of traditional networking, enhancing programmability and agility by newlinedistributing the load across the network. The research implements a novel quotDynamic newlineLoad Balancing Algorithmquot using the P4 language to instill dynamism and achieve load newlinebalance in large-scale networks. The P4-based implementation showcases dynamicity, scalability, flexibility, and adaptability. This research commences with thoroughly newlineexamining existing load-balancing algorithms implemented using the P4 language, followed by a comparative analysis between these algorithms and DLBA. -
Design of new access control structure for provenance based on secret sharing
Access control is one of the important elements in providing confidentiality to the secured data. Access specifiers helps us understand degree of rights given to the users in utilizing data records in a right manner. Tampering the records by unauthorized parties is a high concern in secure communication. Tamper detection plays an important role in trouble shooting an issue associated with network/ host intrusion scenario. The advances in information technology have driven the modern world to focus on the Web for digital information. People across the globe rely on the internet for all the data from generic information to distribution of personal data over heterogeneous networks. Technology has grown so wide to an extent, where almost all of the financial transactions are taking place through online portals. On the other hand, there has been high rise in the security threats towards users confidential data. This information is however shared by the online users while performing financial transaction in e-commerce portals. In order to maintain security mechanism over the untrusted networks various authentication techniques available in this regard. All these security procedures are said to be stubborn and adequate on contextual basis, on the other hand over a period of time the intruders would find out ways to break into systems. Data theft and intrusion into the information systems would increase on a daily basis if defensive measures are not in place. In this concern a new mechanism for securing the data using majority voting concept is proposed. Majority voting for securing the provenance data is applied. Provenance data is data of origin, genesis data and often observed as sensitive data. Provenance is a record of events, timestamps, versions, transformations occurred for the data of interest. Elicitation of an entity's genesis is termed provenance. This understanding is called as data provenance for data objects and their relationships. In most of the cases provenance data is tend to be sensitive, and a small variation or regulation paves way to changes to entire lineage of the connected data. This origin needs to be protected and only approved parties should have right to use the data. Specific description or classification of an instance's historical record or data object is called data provenance. It has many implications in different disciplines in terms of its significance for the acquisition of data flow mechanisms. Personal control of data privacy is a common scenario and various solutions towards security exists. In this regard a unique model is proposed where control of data and its related allies is available with several bodies but however not one; and if access control is to be permitted for a cause based on context, all the entities holding their right keys will have to agree and share on a common platform for accessing the data. Combining these shares in a peculiar pattern allows the grant for accessing data. The method of allocating controls to multiple bodies and allowing grants based on the combination of stakes is called a mechanism for secret sharing. Share separation may be derived from the concept of visual encryption methodology We integrate concepts of secret sharing and provenance to provide an indigenous solution for parameters of information security namely confidentiality, integrity and availability. It is with the availability of exceptional wireless internet access in mobile motivated situations, users and usage data has become massive with respect to media. For example, financial related operations carried out over online platforms by users in many ways were found insecure and unauthenticated. Procedure with appropriate algorithms are available for safe data communication in various modes, however lacks to attain high accuracy and performance with regards to the basic goals of security; confidentiality, integrity, availability at a significant level. Security is the main aspect of any communications among untrusted networks in the current world. Sincere gratitude to many researchers for their tremendous contributions to effective security algorithms despite various threats that compromise the computer systems vulnerabilities. The origin of the data, i.e., by which the transaction thread was created, is the pertinent question to be answered while the financial operation is finalized. This definition of 'data antiquity ' has received good interest from researchers in different fields for many decades and is often termed as data provenance. However, security in provenance has made some progress with recent research, particularly in the field of cyber security. This study emphases on the safety characteristics of data provenance with a distinctive cryptographic approach. The combination of these principles produces unique results for safeguarding the genesis data.