This article focuses on identity construction and social structures within the Sāmoan community as represented in Sia Figiel’s novel Where We Once Belonged. I argue that however the post/colonial Sāmoan identity is hybridized, the essence of the individual is still connected to Fa’a Sāmoa-the Sāmoan traditions and ways. However rapid are the colonial vicissitudes, the Sāmoan literature and lifestyle are developed to be a resistance platform. This resistance platform is dedicated not only to expose the colonial impact but also to assist the social and political reconstruction of post/colonial Samoa. To this end, this article studies identity construction, and the challenges that women face within Sāmoan social structures.
The aim: to evaluate combined microscopy techniques for determining the morphological and optical properties of methadone hydrochloride (MDN) crystals. Materials and methods: MDN crystal formation was optimized using a closed container method and crystals were characterized using polarized light microscope (PLM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy (CM). SEM and CM were used to determine MDN crystal thickness and study its relationship with crystal retardation colours using the Michel-Levy Birefringence approach. Results: Dimensions (mean±SD) of diamond shaped MDN crystals were confirmed using SEM and CM. Crystals were 46.4±15.2 Vs 32.0±8.3 µm long, 28.03±8.2 Vs 20.85±5.5 µm wide, and 6.62±
... Show MoreThe precise classification of DNA sequences is pivotal in genomics, holding significant implications for personalized medicine. The stakes are particularly high when classifying key genetic markers such as BRAC, related to breast cancer susceptibility; BRAF, associated with various malignancies; and KRAS, a recognized oncogene. Conventional machine learning techniques often necessitate intricate feature engineering and may not capture the full spectrum of sequence dependencies. To ameliorate these limitations, this study employs an adapted UNet architecture, originally designed for biomedical image segmentation, to classify DNA sequences.The attention mechanism was also tested LONG WITH u-Net architecture to precisely classify DNA sequences
... Show MoreTwo novel demountable shear connectors for precast steel-concrete composite bridges are presented. The connectors use high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the steel beam with the aid of a special locking configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connectors promote accelerated construction and overcome typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connectors allow bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (3) steel beams can be replaced, while precast
... Show MoreAn encryption system needs unpredictability and randomness property to maintain information security during transmission and storage. Although chaotic maps have this property, they have limitations such as low Lyapunov exponents, low sensitivity and limited chaotic regions. The paper presents a new improved skewed tent map to address these problems. The improved skew tent map (ISTM) increases the sensitivity to initial conditions and control parameters. It has uniform distribution of output sequences. The programs for ISTM chaotic behavior were implemented in MATLAB R2023b. The novel ISTM produces a binary sequence, with high degree of complexity and good randomness properties. The performance of the ISTM generator shows effective s
... Show MoreIn this work, of New Ligand [(E)-5-hydroxy-4-(3-(4-methoxy phenyl) acryl amido) naphthalene -1- sulfonic acid] (ANS) was prepared by reflexing reaction of 4-amino-5-hydroxy naphthalene sulfonic acid with para methoxy cinnamic acid, this produced and described chemical was employed as ligand to prepare tri and di-organotin complexes by condensation reaction with the salts of organotin chloride (phenyl, butyl, and methyl tin chloride). Specialized methods, including elemental analysis, (tin and proton) magnetic resonance, and infrared spectra, were used to identify the complexes. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and CUPRAC (Cupric Reducing Antioxidant Capacity) are both commonly used methods for measuring antioxidant capacity in v
... Show MoreNew (pentulose-?-lactone-2,3-enedibenzoate barbituric acid) (L) have been synthesized by reaction of (5-C-dimethyl malonyl-pentulose-?-lactone-2,3-enedibenzoate) with urea in alkaline media (sodium methoxide). (Ca+2, Co+2, Ni+2, Cu+2, Zn+2, Cd+2 and Hg+2) complexes of (pentulose-?-lactone-2,3-enedibenzoate barbituric acid) (L) have been prepared and characterized by (1H and 13CNMR), FTIR, (U.V-Vis) spectroscopy, Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (A.A.S), Molar conductivity measurements and Magnetic moment measurements, and the following general formula has been given for the prepared complexes [MLCl2(H2O)].XH2O, where M = (Ca+2, Co+2, Ni+2, Cu+2, Zn+2, Cd+2, Hg+2), X = five molecules with (Cd+2) complex, L = (pentulose-?-lactone-2,3
... Show MoreBackground: A great dental and biomedical interest had been paid to silver nanoparticles because of their antimicrobial activity. Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of a newly developed Nano-silver fluoride that was synthesized from moringa oleifera leaf extract against S. mutants. Material and method: The green synthesis method was used to prepare Nano-silver fluoride from moringa oleifera leaf extract. The minimum inhibitory concentration and the minimum bactericidal concentration were evaluated using brain heart infusion plates, while the cytotoxicity was evaluated by the hemolytic activity. Results: Nano-silver fluoride had a bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect (MIC was 60 ppm a
... Show MoreSocial networking sites represent one of the modern communication technologies that have contributed to the expression of public opinion trends towards various events and crises of which security crisis is most important being characterized by its ability to influence the community life of the public. In order to recognize its role in shaping opinions of the educated class of the public that is characterized by a high level of knowledge, culture and having experience in dealing with the media. Its advantage is that they have an active audience by expressing their views on the situations, events, and news published on them as well as expressing their attitudes and sympathy with the events. So a number of questions are included in the ques
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