Search results for: native plants

Authors: Saraswati Kerketta

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Tea industry is one of the oldest organised sector of India. It employs roughly 1.5 million people directly. Since the last decade Indian tea industry, especially in the northern region is experiencing worst crisis in the post-independence period. Due to many reason the prices of tea show steady decline. The workers are paid one of the lowest wage in tea industry in the world (1.5$ a day) below the UN's $2 a day for extreme poverty. The workers rely on addition benefits from plantation which includes food, housing and medical facilities. These have been effective means of enslavement of generations of labourers by the owners. There is hardly any change in the tea estates where the owners determine the fate of workers. When the tea garden is abandoned or is closed all the facilities disappear immediately. The workers are the descendants of tribes from central India also known as 'tea tribes'. Alienated from their native place, the geographical and social isolation compounded their vulnerability of these people. The economy of the region being totally dependent on tea has resulted in absolute unemployment for the workers of these tea gardens. With no other livelihood and no land to grow food, thousands of workers faced hunger and starvation. The Plantation Labour Act which ensures the decent working and living condition is violated continuously. The labours are forced to migrate and are also exposed to the risk of human trafficking. Those who are left behind suffers from starvation, malnutrition and disease. The condition in the sick tea plantation is no better. Wage are not paid regularly, subsidised food, fuel are also not supplied properly. Health care facilities are in very bad shape. Objectives: • To study the socio-cultural and demographic characteristics of the tea garden labourers in the study area. • To examine the social situation of workers in sick estates in dooars region. • To assess the magnitude of deprivation the impact of economic crisis on abandoned and closed tea estates in the region. Data Base: The study is based on data collected from field survey. Methods: Quantative: Cross-Tabulation, Regression analysis. Qualitative: Household Survey, Focussed Group Discussion, In-depth interview of key informants. Findings: Purchasing power parity has declined since in last three decades. There has been many fold increase in migration. Males migrates long distance towards central and west and south India. Females and children migrates both long and short distance. No one has reported to migrate back to the place of origin of their ancestors. Migrant males work mostly as construction labourers and as factory workers whereas females and children work as domestic help and construction labourers. In about 37 cases either they haven't contacted their families in last six months or are not traceable. The families with single earning members are more likely to migrate. Burden of disease and the duration of sickness, abandonment and closure of plantation are closely related. Death tolls are likely to rise 1.5 times in sick tea gardens and three times in closed tea estates. Sixty percent of the people are malnourished in the sick tea gardens and more than eighty five per cent in abandoned and sick tea gardens.

Keywords: migration, trafficking, starvation death, tea garden workers

Procedia PDF Downloads 362

Authors: Shailendra Kumar, Kamal Kumar Gupta

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Dysdercus koenigii is an economically important pest of cotton worldwide. The pest damages the crop by sucking sap, staining lint, reducing the oil content of the seeds and deteriorating the quality of cotton. Plant possesses a plethora of secondary metabolites which are used as defense mechanism against herbivores. One of the important categories of such chemicals is insect growth regulators and the intermediates in their biosynthesis. Farnesol belongs to sesquiterpenoid. It is an intermediate in Juvenile hormone biosynthetic pathway in insects has been widely reported in the variety of plants. This chemical can disrupt the normal metabolic function and therefore, affects various life processes of the insects. Present study tested the efficacy of farnesol against Dysdercus koenigii. 2μl of 5% (100µg) and 10% (200µg) of the farnesol was applied topically on the dorsum of thoracic region of the newly emerged fifth instar nymphs of Dysdercus. The treated insects were observed daily for their survival, weight gain, and developmental anomalies for a period of ten days. The results indicated that treatment with 200µg farnesol decreased survival of the insects to 70% after 24h of exposure. At lower doses, no significant decrease in the survival was observed. However, the surviving nymphs showed alteration in growth, development, and metamorphosis. The weight gain in the treated nymphs showed deviation from control. The treated nymphs showed an increase in mortality during subsequent days and increase in the nymphal duration. The number of nymphs undergoing metamorphosis decreased to 46% and 88% in the treatments with the dose of 200µg and 100µg respectively. Severe developmental anomalies were also observed in the treated nymphs. The treated nymphs moulted into supernumerary nymphs, adultoids, adults with exuviae attached and adults with wing deformities. On treatment with 200µg; 26% adultoid, 4% adults with exuviae attached and 12% adults with wing deformed were produced. Treatment with 100µg resulted in production of 34% adultoid, 26% adults with deformed wing and 4% adults with exuviae attached. Many of the treated nymphs did not metamorphose into adults, remained in nymphal stage and died. Our results indicated potential application plant-derived secondary metabolites like farnesol in the management of Dysdercus population.

Keywords: development, Dysdercus koenigii, farnesol, survival

Procedia PDF Downloads 326

Authors: Tommaso Adamo, Gianpaolo Ghiani, Antonio Domenico Grieco, Emanuela Guerriero

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Batch production plants provide a wide range of scheduling problems. In pharmaceutical industries a batch process is usually described by a recipe, consisting of an ordering of tasks to produce the desired product. In this research work we focused on pharmaceutical production processes requiring the culture of a microorganism population (i.e. bacteria, yeasts or antibiotics). Several sources of uncertainty may influence the yield of the culture processes, including (i) low performance and quality of the cultured microorganism population or (ii) microbial contamination. For these reasons, robustness is a valuable property for the considered application context. In particular, a robust schedule will not collapse immediately when a cell of microorganisms has to be thrown away due to a microbial contamination. Indeed, a robust schedule should change locally in small proportions and the overall performance measure (i.e. makespan, lateness) should change a little if at all. In this research work we formulated a constraint programming optimization (COP) model for the robust planning of antibiotics production. We developed a discrete-time model with a multi-criteria objective, ordering the different criteria and performing a lexicographic optimization. A feasible solution of the proposed COP model is a schedule of a given set of tasks onto available resources. The schedule has to satisfy tasks precedence constraints, resource capacity constraints and time constraints. In particular time constraints model tasks duedates and resource availability time windows constraints. To improve the schedule robustness, we modeled the concept of (a, b) super-solutions, where (a, b) are input parameters of the COP model. An (a, b) super-solution is one in which if a variables (i.e. the completion times of a culture tasks) lose their values (i.e. cultures are contaminated), the solution can be repaired by assigning these variables values with a new values (i.e. the completion times of a backup culture tasks) and at most b other variables (i.e. delaying the completion of at most b other tasks). The efficiency and applicability of the proposed model is demonstrated by solving instances taken from Sanofi Aventis, a French pharmaceutical company. Computational results showed that the determined super-solutions are near-optimal.

Keywords: constraint programming, super-solutions, robust scheduling, batch process, pharmaceutical industries

Procedia PDF Downloads 592

Authors: Ayman El Sabagh, AbdElhamid Omar, Dekoum Assaha, Khair Mohammad Youldash, Akihiro Ueda, Celaleddin Barutçular, Hirofumi Saneoka

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Drought and salinity stress are a worldwide problem, constraining global crop production seriously. Hence, soybean is susceptible to yield loss from water deficit and salinity stress. Therefore, different approaches have been suggested to solve these issues. Osmoprotectants play an important role in protection the plants from various environmental stresses. Moreover, organic fertilization has several beneficial effects on agricultural fields. Presently, efforts to maximize nitrogen fixation in soybean are critical because of widespread increase in soil degradation in Egypt. Therefore, a greenhouse research was conducted at plant nutritional physiology laboratory, Hiroshima University, Japan for assessing the impact of exogenous osmoregulators and compost application in alleviating the adverse effects of salinity and water stress on soybean. Treatments was included (i) water stress treatments (different soil moisture levels consisting of (100%, 75%, and 50% of field water holding capacity), (ii) salinity concentrations (0 and 15 mM) were applied in fully developed trifoliolate leaf node (V1), (iii) compost treatments (0 and 24 t ha-1) and (iv) the exogenous, proline and glycine betaine concentrations (0 mM and 25 mM) for each, was applied at two growth stages (V1 and R1). The seeds of soybean cultivar Giza 111, was sown into basin from wood (length10 meter, width 50cm, height 50cm and depth 350cm) containing a soil mixture of granite regosol soil and perlite (2:1 v/v). The nitrogen-fixing activity was estimated by using gas chromatography and all measurements were made in three replicates. The results showed that water deficit and salinity stress reduced biological nitrogen fixation and specific nodule activity than normal irrigation conditions. Exogenous osmoprotectants were improved biological nitrogen fixation and specific nodule activity as well as, applying of compost led to improving many of biological nitrogen fixation and specific nodule activity with superiority than stress conditions. The combined application compost fertilizer and exogenous osmoprotectants were more effective in alleviating the adverse effect of stress to improve biological nitrogen fixation and specific nodule activity of Soybean.

Keywords: a biotic stress, biological nitrogen fixation, compost, osmoprotectants, specific nodule activity, soybean

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Authors: Cherry Dhiman, Ayushi Paliwal, Mohd. Shahid Khan, M. N. Reddy, Vinay Gupta, Monika Tomar

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The laser based high resolution spectroscopic experimental techniques such as Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Rotating Disk Electrode Optical Emission spectroscopy (RDE-OES) and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) have been used for the study of composition and degradation analysis of used engine oils. Engine oils are mainly composed of aliphatic and aromatics compounds and its soot contains hazardous components in the form of fine, coarse and ultrafine particles consisting of wear metal elements. Such coarse particulates matter (PM) and toxic elements are extremely dangerous for human health that can cause respiratory and genetic disorder in humans. The combustible soot from thermal power plants, industry, aircrafts, ships and vehicles can lead to the environmental and climate destabilization. It contributes towards global pollution for land, water, air and global warming for environment. The detection of such toxicants in the form of elemental analysis is a very serious issue for the waste material management of various organic, inorganic hydrocarbons and radioactive waste elements. In view of such important points, the current study on used engine oils was performed. The fundamental characterization of engine oils was conducted by measuring water content and kinematic viscosity test that proves the crude analysis of the degradation of used engine oils samples. The microscopic quantitative and qualitative analysis was presented by RDE-OES technique which confirms the presence of elemental impurities of Pb, Al, Cu, Si, Fe, Cr, Na and Ba lines for used waste engine oil samples in few ppm. The presence of such elemental impurities was confirmed by LIBS spectral analysis at various transition levels of atomic line. The recorded transition line of Pb confirms the maximum degradation which was found in used engine oil sample no. 3 and 4. Apart from the basic tests, the calculations for dielectric constants and refractive index of the engine oils were performed via SPR analysis.

Keywords: surface plasmon resonance, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, ICCD spectrometer, engine oil

Procedia PDF Downloads 119

Authors: Elizabeth J. Currie, Fernando Ortega Perez

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—‘MEDICINE’ is a new project funded under the EC Horizon 2020 Marie-Sklodowska Curie Actions, to determine concepts of health and healing from a culturally specific indigenous context, using a framework of interdisciplinary methods which integrates archaeological-historical, ethnographic and modern health sciences approaches. The study will generate new theoretical and methodological approaches to model how peoples survive and adapt their traditional belief systems in a context of alien cultural impacts. In the immediate wake of the conquest of Peru by invading Spanish armies and ideology, native Andeans responded by forming the Taki Onkoy millenarian movement, which rejected European philosophical and ontological teachings, claiming “you make us sick”. The study explores how people’s experience of their world and their health beliefs within it, is fundamentally shaped by their inherent beliefs about the nature of being and identity in relation to the wider cosmos. Cultural and health belief systems and related rituals or behaviors sustain a people’s sense of identity, wellbeing and integrity. In the event of dislocation and persecution these may change into devolved forms, which eventually inter-relate with ‘modern’ biomedical systems of health in as yet unidentified ways. The development of new conceptual frameworks that model this process will greatly expand our understanding of how people survive and adapt in response to cultural trauma. It will also demonstrate the continuing role, relevance and use of TM in present-day indigenous communities. Studies will first be made of relevant pre-Colombian material culture, and then of early colonial period ethnohistorical texts which document the health beliefs and ritual practices still employed by indigenous Andean societies at the advent of the 17^th century Jesuit campaigns of persecution - ‘Extirpación de las Idolatrías’. Core beliefs drawn from these baseline studies will then be used to construct a questionnaire about current health beliefs and practices to be taken into the study population of indigenous Quechua peoples in the northern Andean region of Ecuador. Their current systems of knowledge and medicine have evolved within complex historical contexts of both the conquest by invading Inca armies in the late 15^th century, followed a generation later by Spain, into new forms. A new model will be developed of contemporary  Andean concepts of health, illness and healing demonstrating  the way these have changed through time. With this, a ‘policy tool’ will be constructed as a bridhging facility into contemporary global scenarios relevant to other Indigenous, First Nations, and migrant peoples to provide a means through which their traditional health beliefs and current needs may be more appropriately understood and met. This paper presents findings from the first analytical phases of the work based upon the study of the literature and the archaeological records. The study offers a novel perspective and methods in the development policies sensitive to indigenous and minority people’s health needs.

Keywords: Andean ethnomedicine, Andean health beliefs, health beliefs models, traditional medicine

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Authors: Shilpi, Indu Gaur, Neha Bhadauria, Susmita Goswami, Prabir K. Paul

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Cultivation and consumption of organically grown fruits and vegetables have increased by several folds. However, the presence of Human Enteric Pathogens on the surface of organically grown vegetables causing Gastro-intestinal diseases, are most likely due to contaminated water and fecal matter of farm animals. Human Enteric Pathogens are adapted to colonize the human gut, and also colonize plant surface. Microbes on plant surface communicate with each other to establish quorum sensing. The cross talk study is important because the enteric pathogens on phylloplane have been reported to mask the beneficial resident bacteria of plant. In the present study, HEPs and bacterial colonizers were identified using 16s rRNA sequencing. Microbial colonization patterns after interaction between Human Enteric Pathogens and natural bacterial residents on tomato phylloplane was studied. Tomato plants raised under aseptic conditions were inoculated with a mixture of Serratia fonticola and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The molecules involved in cross-talk between Human Enteric Pathogens and regular bacterial colonizers were isolated and identified using molecular techniques and HPLC. The colonization pattern was studied by leaf imprint method after 48 hours of incubation. The associated protein-protein interaction in the host cytoplasm was studied by use of crosslinkers. From treated leaves the crosstalk molecules and interaction proteins were separated on 1D SDS-PAGE and analyzed by MALDI-TOF-TOF analysis. The study is critical in understanding the molecular aspects of HEP’s adaption to phylloplane. The study revealed human enteric pathogens aggressively interact among themselves and resident bacteria. HEPs induced establishment of a signaling cascade through protein-protein interaction in the host cytoplasm. The study revealed that the adaptation of Human Enteric Pathogens on phylloplane of Solanum lycopersicum involves the establishment of complex molecular interaction between the microbe and the host including microbe-microbe interaction leading to an establishment of quorum sensing. The outcome will help in minimizing the HEP load on fresh farm produce, thereby curtailing incidences of food-borne diseases.

Keywords: crosslinkers, human enteric pathogens (HEPs), phylloplane, quorum sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Yena Lee, Vassilis M. Charitopoulos, Karthik Thyagarajan, Ian Morris, Jose M. Pinto, Lazaros G. Papageorgiou

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With globalisation, the need to have better coordination of production and distribution decisions has become increasingly important for industrial gas companies in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. In this work, we investigate a problem that integrates production, inventory, and routing decisions in a liquid oxygen supply chain. The oxygen supply chain consists of production facilities, external third-party suppliers, and multiple customers, including hospitals and industrial customers. The product produced by the plants or sourced from the competitors, i.e., third-party suppliers, is distributed by a fleet of heterogenous vehicles to satisfy customer demands. The objective is to minimise the total operating cost involving production, third-party, and transportation costs. The key decisions for production include production and inventory levels and product amount from third-party suppliers. In contrast, the distribution decisions involve customer allocation, delivery timing, delivery amount, and vehicle routing. The optimisation of the coordinated production, inventory, and routing decisions is a challenging problem, especially when dealing with large-size problems. Thus, we present a two-stage procedure to solve the integrated problem efficiently. First, the problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model by simplifying the routing component. The solution from the first-stage MILP model yields the optimal customer allocation, production and inventory levels, and delivery timing and amount. Then, we fix the previous decisions and solve a detailed routing. In the second stage, we propose a column generation scheme to address the computational complexity of the resulting detailed routing problem. A case study considering a real-life oxygen supply chain in the UK is presented to illustrate the capability of the proposed models and solution method. Furthermore, a comparison of the solutions from the proposed approach with the corresponding solutions provided by existing metaheuristic techniques (e.g., guided local search and tabu search algorithms) is presented to evaluate the efficiency.

Keywords: production planning, inventory routing, column generation, mixed-integer linear programming

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Authors: Rocio López, Miriam Tena, Montserrat Pérez, Rosario Solera

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Biotransformation of organic waste into biogas is considered an interesting alternative for the production of clean energy from renewable sources by reducing the volume and organic content of waste Anaerobic digestion is considered one of the most efficient technologies to transform waste into fertilizer and biogas in order to obtain electrical energy or biofuel within the concept of the circular economy. Currently, three types of anaerobic processes have been developed on a commercial scale: (1) single-stage process where sludge bioconversion is completed in a single chamber, (2) two-stage process where the acidogenic and methanogenic stages are separated into two chambers and, finally, (3) temperature-phase sequencing (TPAD) process that combines a thermophilic pretreatment unit prior to mesophilic anaerobic digestion. Two-stage processes can provide hydrogen and methane with easier control of the first and second stage conditions producing higher total energy recovery and substrate degradation than single-stage processes. On the other hand, co-digestion is the simultaneous anaerobic digestion of a mixture of two or more substrates. The technology is similar to anaerobic digestion but is a more attractive option as it produces increased methane yields due to the positive synergism of the mixtures in the digestion medium thus increasing the economic viability of biogas plants. The present study focuses on the energy recovery by anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and waste from the aquaculture-fishing sector. The valorization is approached through the application of a temperature sequential phase process or TPAD technology (Temperature - Phased Anaerobic Digestion). Moreover, two-phase of microorganisms is considered. Thus, the selected process allows the development of a thermophilic acidogenic phase followed by a mesophilic methanogenic phase to obtain hydrogen (H₂) in the first stage and methane (CH₄) in the second stage. The combination of these technologies makes it possible to unify all the advantages of these anaerobic digestion processes individually. To achieve these objectives, a sequential study has been carried out in which the biochemical potential of hydrogen (BHP) is tested followed by a BMP test, which will allow checking the feasibility of the two-stage process. The best results obtained were high total and soluble COD yields (59.8% and 82.67%, respectively) as well as H₂ production rates of 12LH₂/kg SVadded and methane of 28.76 L CH₄/kg SVadded for TPAD.

Keywords: anaerobic co-digestion, TPAD, two-phase, BHP, BMP, sewage sludge, fish waste

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Daniela E. Marin, Cornelia Braicu, Gina C. Pistol, Roxana Cojocneanu-Petric, Ioana Berindan Neagoe, Mihail A. Gras, Ionelia Taranu

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Aristolochic acid (AA) is a carcinogenic, mutagenic, and nephrotoxic compound commonly found in the Aristolochiaceae family of plants. AA is frequently associated with urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract in human and animals and is considered as being responsible for Balkan Endemic Nephropathy. The pig provides a good animal model because the porcine urological system is very similar to that of humans, both in aspects of physiology and anatomy. MicroRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs that have an impact on a wide range of biological processes by regulating gene expression at post-transcriptional level. The objective of this study was to analyze the miRNA profiling in the kidneys of AA intoxicated swine. For this purpose, ten TOPIGS-40 crossbred weaned piglets, 4-week-old, male and females with an initial average body weight of 9.83 ± 0.5 kg were studied for 28 days. They were given ad libitum access to water and feed and randomly allotted to one of the following groups: control group (C) or aristolochic acid group (AA). They were fed a maize-soybean-meal-based diet contaminated or not with 0.25mgAA/kg. To profile miRNA in the kidneys of pigs, microarrays and bioinformatics approaches were applied to analyze the miRNA in the kidney of control and AA intoxicated pigs. After normalization, our results have shown that a total of 5 known miRNAs and 4 novel miRNAs had different profiling in the kidney of intoxicated animals versus control ones. Expression of miR-32-5p, miR-497-5p, miR-423-3p, miR-218-5p, miR-128-3p were up-regulated by 0.25mgAA/kg feed, while the expression of miR-9793-5p, miR-9835-3p, miR-9840-3p, miR-4334-5p was down-regulated. The microRNA profiling in kidney of intoxicated animals was associated with modified expression of target genes as: RICTOR, LASP1, SFRP2, DKK2, BMI1, RAF1, IGF1R, MAP2K1, WEE1, HDGF, BCL2, EIF4E etc, involved in cell division cycle, apoptosis, cell differentiation and cell migration, cell signaling, cancer etc. In conclusion, this study provides new data concerning the microRNA profiling in kidney after aristolochic acid intoxications with important implications for human and animal health.

Keywords: aristolochic acid, kidney, microRNA, swine

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Authors: Massimiliano Condotta, Paolo Ruggeri, Chiara Scanagatta, Giovanni Borga

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Architects and urban planners, when designing and renewing cities, have to face a complex set of problems, including the issues of noise and air pollution which are considered as hot topics (i.e., the Clean Air Act of London and the Soundscape definition). It is usually taken for granted that these problems go by together because the noise pollution present in cities is often linked to traffic and industries, and these produce air pollutants as well. Traffic congestion can create both noise pollution and air pollution, because NO₂ is mostly created from the oxidation of NO, and these two are notoriously produced by processes of combustion at high temperatures (i.e., car engines or thermal power stations). We can see the same process for industrial plants as well. What have to be investigated – and is the topic of this paper – is whether or not there really is a correlation between noise pollution and air pollution (taking into account NO₂) in urban areas. To evaluate if there is a correlation, some low-cost methodologies will be used. For noise measurements, the OpeNoise App will be installed on an Android phone. The smartphone will be positioned inside a waterproof box, to stay outdoor, with an external battery to allow it to collect data continuously. The box will have a small hole to install an external microphone, connected to the smartphone, which will be calibrated to collect the most accurate data. For air, pollution measurements will be used the AirMonitor device, an Arduino board to which the sensors, and all the other components, are plugged. After assembling the sensors, they will be coupled (one noise and one air sensor) and placed in different critical locations in the area of Mestre (Venice) to map the existing situation. The sensors will collect data for a fixed period of time to have an input for both week and weekend days, in this way it will be possible to see the changes of the situation during the week. The novelty is that data will be compared to check if there is a correlation between the two pollutants using graphs that should show the percentage of pollution instead of the values obtained with the sensors. To do so, the data will be converted to fit on a scale that goes up to 100% and will be shown thru a mapping of the measurement using GIS methods. Another relevant aspect is that this comparison can help to choose which are the right mitigation solutions to be applied in the area of the analysis because it will make it possible to solve both the noise and the air pollution problem making only one intervention. The mitigation solutions must consider not only the health aspect but also how to create a more livable space for citizens. The paper will describe in detail the methodology and the technical solution adopted for the realization of the sensors, the data collection, noise and pollution mapping and analysis.

Keywords: air quality, data analysis, data collection, NO₂, noise mapping, noise pollution, particulate matter

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Authors: Jesus Carretero, Mario Vasile, Javier Garcia-Blas, Felix Garcia-Carballeira

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Supporting cross-border secure and reliable exchange of data and documents and to promote data interoperability is critical for Europe to enhance sector (like eFinance, eJustice and eHealth). This work presents the status and results of the European Project MADE, a Research Project funded by Connecting Europe facility Programme, to provide secure e-invoicing and e-document exchange systems among Europe countries in compliance with the eIDAS Regulation (Regulation EU 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services). The main goal of MADE is to develop six new AS4 Access Points and SMP in Europe to provide secure document exchanges using the eDelivery DSI (Digital Service Infrastructure) amongst both private and public entities. Moreover, the project demonstrates the feasibility and interest of the solution provided by providing several months of interoperability among the providers of the six partners in different EU countries. To achieve those goals, we have followed a methodology setting first a common background for requirements in the partner countries and the European regulations. Then, the partners have implemented access points in each country, including their service metadata publisher (SMP), to allow the access to their clients to the pan-European network. Finally, we have setup interoperability tests with the other access points of the consortium. The tests will include the use of each entity production-ready Information Systems that process the data to confirm all steps of the data exchange. For the access points, we have chosen AS4 instead of other existing alternatives because it supports multiple payloads, native web services, pulling facilities, lightweight client implementations, modern crypto algorithms, and more authentication types, like username-password and X.509 authentication and SAML authentication. The main contribution of MADE project is to open the path for European companies to use eDelivery services with cross-border exchange of electronic documents following PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) based on the e-SENS AS4 Profile. It also includes the development/integration of new components, integration of new and existing logging and traceability solutions and maintenance tool support for PKI. Moreover, we have found that most companies are still not ready to support those profiles. Thus further efforts will be needed to promote this technology into the companies. The consortium includes the following 9 partners. From them, 2 are research institutions: University Carlos III of Madrid (Coordinator), and Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. The other 7 (EDICOM, BIZbrains, Officient, Aksesspunkt Norge, eConnect, LMT group, Unimaze) are private entities specialized in secure delivery of electronic documents and information integration brokerage in their respective countries. To achieve cross-border operativity, they will include AS4 and SMP services in their platforms according to the EU Core Service Platform. Made project is instrumental to test the feasibility of cross-border documents eDelivery in Europe. If successful, not only einvoices, but many other types of documents will be securely exchanged through Europe. It will be the base to extend the network to the whole Europe. This project has been funded under the Connecting Europe Facility Agreement number: INEA/CEF/ICT/A2016/1278042. Action No: 2016-EU-IA-0063.

Keywords: security, e-delivery, e-invoicing, e-delivery, e-document exchange, trust

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Authors: Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Barbara Mainguy, Patrick McFarlane

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Introduction: There are many risk factors for attempting suicide, including young age, “minority stress,” which would include Transgender and Gender Diverse orientations (TGD). The rate of TGD youths for suicide attempts is 3 times higher than heterosexual cis-gender youth. Half of TGD youth have seriously contemplated taking their own lives; of those, about half attempted suicide; and 18% of the TGD teenagers reported suicidal thoughts linked to their gender identity. Native American TGD have a six times higher suicide attempt rate. Conventional mental health has not generally helped these individuals. Stigma and discrimination contribute to healthcare disparities. Storytelling plays a crucial role in the development of human culture and individual identities. Sharing narrative artwork, creative writing, and personal stories allow people to build trust and to share their vulnerabilities. This helps people become aware of themselves in relation to others and gain a sense of comfort that their stories are similar; they may also be transformed in the process. Art provides a means to reach people who are otherwise difficult to engage in services. Methods: TGD individuals are recruited through a snowballing procedure. Following a life story interview, participants complete a scale of gender dysphoria, identification with conventional masculinity, patient-reported anxiety, and depression measure, and a quality-of-life scale. The interview completes the Columbia Suicide Scale. Following this, an artist and a therapist works with the participant to create a story related to their gender identity using the six-part story method. This story is then rendered to an artists’ book, which combines narrative with art (drawings, collage, computer images, etc.) and can take the form of a graphic novella, a zine, or a comic book. The pages can range from plain to ornate, as can the covers. Participants describe their process of making the books as the work unfolds and then participate in an exit interview at the completion of their book, remarking on what has changed for them and how the process affected them. Results: Preliminary results show high levels of suicidal thoughts among this population, as expected. Participants participate enthusiastically in the life story interview process and in the construction of a story related to gender identity. They enthusiastically participate in the studio process of putting their story into the form of a graphic novel, zine, or comic book. Participants reported feeling more comfortable with their TGD identity after the process and more able to resist negative judgments of family members and society. Suicidal thoughts diminish, and participants reported improved emotional wellbeing. Quantitative analysis of questionnaire data is underway Conclusions: A process in which narrative therapy is combined with art therapy shows promise for attracting and helping TGD individuals to reduce their risk for suicide without the stigma of going for mental health treatment. This process can be done outside of conventional mental health settings, on college and University campuses. This can provide an exciting alternative pathway for minority stressed and stigmatized individuals to engage in reflective, psychotherapeutic work without the trappings of psychotherapy or mental health treatment.

Keywords: minority stress, narrative process, artists' books, life story interview

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Authors: Mehrosadat Mirmohammadi, Sara Taghdisi, Ali Padash, Mohammad Hossein Pazandeh

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Gossypol, a yellowish anti-nutritional compound found in cotton plants, exists in various plant parts, including seeds, husks, leaves, and stems. Chemically, gossypol is a potent polyphenolic aldehyde with antioxidant and therapeutic properties. However, its free form can be toxic, posing risks to both humans and animals. Initially, we extracted gossypol from cotton seeds using n-hexane as a solvent (yield: 84.0 ± 4.0%). We also obtained cotton seed and cotton boll extracts via Soxhlet extraction (25:75 hydroalcoholic ratio). These extracts, combined with cornstarch, formed four herbal medicinal formulations. Ethical approval allowed us to investigate their effects on Leishmania-caused skin wounds, comparing them to glucantime (local ampoule). Herbal formulas outperformed the control group (ethanol only) in wound treatment (p-value 0.05). The average wound diameter after two months did not significantly differ between plant extract ointments and topical glucantime. Notably, cotton boll extract with 1% extra gossypol crystal showed the best therapeutic effect. We extracted gossypol from cotton seeds using n-hexane via Soxhlet extraction. Saponification, acidification, and recrystallization steps followed. FTIR, UV-Vis, and HPLC analyses confirmed the product’s identity. Herbal medicines from cotton seeds effectively treated chronic wounds compared to the ethanol-only control group. Wound diameter differed significantly between extract ointments and glucantime injections. It seems that due to the presence of large amounts of fat in the oil, the extraction of gossypol from it faces many obstacles. The extraction of this compound with our technique showed that extraction from oil has a higher efficiency, perhaps because of the preparation of oil by cold pressing method, the possibility of losing this compound is much less than when extraction is done with Soxhlet. On the other hand, the gossypol in the oil is mostly bound to the protein, which somehow protects the gossypol until the last stage of the extraction process. Since this compound is very sensitive to light and heat, it was extracted as a derivative with acetic acid. Also, in the treatment section, it was found that the ointment prepared with the extract is more effective and Gossypol is one of the effective ingredients in the treatment. Therefore, gossypol can be extracted from the oil and added to the extract from which gossypol has been extracted to make an effective medicine with a certain dose.

Keywords: cottonseed, glucantime, gossypol, leishmaniasis

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Authors: Ibrahim Siddig Hamid, Ikram Mohamed Eltayeb

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Trachyspermum ammi belongs to the family Apiaceae, is used traditionally for the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments, lack of appetite and bronchial problems as well used as antiseptic, antimicrobial, antipyretic, febrifugal and in the treatment of typhoid fever. Peganum harmala belongs to the family Zygophyllaceae it has been reported to have an antibacterial activity and used to treat depression and recurring fevers. It also used to kill algae, bacteria, intestinal parasites and molds. In Sudan, the combination of two plants are traditionally used for the treatment of bacillary dysentery. Bacillary dysentery is caused by one or more types of Shigella species bacteria mainly Shigella dysenteri and shigella flexneri. Bacillary dysentery is mainly found in hot countries like Sudan with poor hygiene and sanitation. Bacillary dysentery causes sudden onset of high fever and chills, abdominal pain, cramps and bloating, urgency to pass stool, weight loss, and dehydration and if left untreated it can lead to serious complications including delirium, convulsions and coma. A serious infection like this can be fatal within 24 hours. The objective of this study is to investigate the in vitro susceptibility of Sh. flexneri and Sh. dysenteriae to the T. ammi and P. harmala. T. ammi and P. harmala were extracted by 96% ethanol using Soxhlet apparatus. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was investigated according to the disc diffusion method. The discs were prepared by soaking sterilized filter paper discs in 20 microliter of serially diluted solutions of each plant extract with the concentrations (100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25mg/dl) then placing them on Muller Hinton Agar plates that were inoculated with bacterial suspension separately, the plates were incubated for 24 hours at 37c and the minimum inhibitory concentration of the extract which was the least concentration of the extract to inhibit fungal growth was determined. The results showed the high antimicrobial activity of T. ammi extract with an average diameter zone ranging from 18-20 mm and its minimum inhibitory concentration was found to be 25 mg/ml against the two shigella species. P. harmala extract was found to have slight antibacterial effect against the two bacteria. This result justified the Sudanese traditional use of Trachyspermum ammi plant for the treatment of bacillary dysentery.

Keywords: harmala, peganum, shigella, trachyspermum

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Authors: A. Tarantino, F. Lops, G. Lopriore, G. Disciglio

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Biostimulants are known as the organic fertilizers that can be applied in agriculture in order to increase nutrient uptake, growth and development of plants and improve quality, productivity and the environmental positive impacts. The aim of this study was to test the effects of some commercial biostimulants products (Bion® 50 WG, Hendophyt ® PS, Ergostim® XL and Radicon®) on vegeto-productive behavior and qualitative characteristics of fruits of two emerging apricot cultivars (Orange Rubis® and Farbaly®). The study was conducted during the spring-summer season 2015, in a commercial orchard located in the agricultural area of Cerignola (Foggia district, Apulian region, Southern Italy). Eight years old apricot trees, cv ‘Orange Rubis’ and ‘Farbaly®’, were used. The experimental data recorded during the experimental trial were: shoot length, total number of flower buds, flower buds drop and time of flowering and fruit set. Total yield of fruits per tree and quality parameters were determined. Experimental data showed some specific differences among the biostimulant treatments. Concerning the yield of ‘Orange Rubis’, except for the Bion treatment, the other three biostimulant treatments showed a tendentially lower values than the control. The yield of ‘Farbaly’ was lower for the Bion and Hendophyt treatments, higher for the Ergostim treatment, when compared with the yield of the control untreated. Concerning the soluble solids content, the juice of ‘Farbaly’ fruits had always higher content than that of ‘Orange Rubis’. Particularly, the Bion and the Hendophyt treatments showed in both harvest values tendentially higher than the control. Differently, the four biostimulant treatments did not affect significantly this parameter in ‘Orange Rubis’. With regard to the fruit firmness, some differences were observed between the two harvest dates and among the four biostimulant treatments. At the first harvest date, ‘Orange Rubis’ treated with Bion and Hendophyt biostimulants showed texture values tendentially lower than the control. Instead, ‘Farbaly’ for all the biostimulant treatments showed fruit firmness values significantly lower than the control. At the second harvest, almost all the biostimulants treatments in both ‘Orange Rubis’ and ‘Farbaly’ cultivar showed values lower than the control. Only ‘Farbaly’ treated with Radicon showed higher value in comparison to the control.

Keywords: apricot, fruit quality, growth, organic natural fertilizer

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Authors: Yao-Ying Lai, Maria Pinango, Ashwini Deo

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While grammatical devices are essential to language processing, how comprehension utilizes cognitive mechanisms is less emphasized. This study addresses this issue by probing the complement coercion phenomenon: an entity-denoting complement following verbs like begin and finish receives an eventive interpretation. For example, (1) “The queen began the book” receives an agentive reading like (2) “The queen began [reading/writing/etc.…] the book.” Such sentences engender additional processing cost in real-time comprehension. The traditional account attributes this cost to an operation that coerces the entity-denoting complement to an event, assuming that these verbs require eventive complements. However, in closer examination, examples like “Chapter 1 began the book” undermine this assumption. An alternative, Structured Individual (SI) hypothesis, proposes that the complement following aspectual verbs (AspV; e.g. begin, finish) is conceptualized as a structured individual, construed as an axis along various dimensions (e.g. spatial, eventive, temporal, informational). The composition of an animate subject and an AspV such as (1) engenders an ambiguity between an agentive reading along the eventive dimension like (2), and a constitutive reading along the informational/spatial dimension like (3) “[The story of the queen] began the book,” in which the subject is interpreted as a subpart of the complement denotation. Comprehenders need to resolve the ambiguity by searching contextual information, resulting in additional cost. To evaluate the SI hypothesis, a questionnaire was employed. Method: Target AspV sentences such as “Shakespeare began the volume.” were preceded by one of the following types of context sentence: (A) Agentive-biasing, in which an event was mentioned (…writers often read…), (C) Constitutive-biasing, in which a constitutive meaning was hinted (Larry owns collections of Renaissance literature.), (N) Neutral context, which allowed both interpretations. Thirty-nine native speakers of English were asked to (i) rate each context-target sentence pair from a 1~5 scale (5=fully understandable), and (ii) choose possible interpretations for the target sentence given the context. The SI hypothesis predicts that comprehension is harder for the Neutral condition, as compared to the biasing conditions because no contextual information is provided to resolve an ambiguity. Also, comprehenders should obtain the specific interpretation corresponding to the context type. Results: (A) Agentive-biasing and (C) Constitutive-biasing were rated higher than (N) Neutral conditions (p< .001), while all conditions were within the acceptable range (> 3.5 on the 1~5 scale). This suggests that when lacking relevant contextual information, semantic ambiguity decreases comprehensibility. The interpretation task shows that the participants selected the biased agentive/constitutive reading for condition (A) and (C) respectively. For the Neutral condition, the agentive and constitutive readings were chosen equally often. Conclusion: These findings support the SI hypothesis: the meaning of AspV sentences is conceptualized as a parthood relation involving structured individuals. We argue that semantic representation makes reference to spatial structured-ness (abstracted axis). To obtain an appropriate interpretation, comprehenders utilize contextual information to enrich the conceptual representation of the sentence in question. This study connects semantic structure to human’s conceptual structure, and provides a processing model that incorporates contextual retrieval.

Keywords: ambiguity resolution, contextual retrieval, spatial structured-ness, structured individual

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Authors: Emielex M. Aguilar, Kristen Angela G. Cruz, Czarina Joie L. Rivera, Francis Dave C. Tan, Gavino Ivan N. Tanodra, Dianne Katrina G. Usana, Mary Grace T. Valentin, Nico Albert S. Vasquez, Edwin Monico C. Wee

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The risk of diabetes mellitus is increasing in the Philippines, with Metformin and Insulin as drugs commonly used for its management. The use of herbal medicines has grown increasingly, especially among the elderly population. Moringa oleifera or malunggay is one of the most common plants in the country, and several studies have shown the plant to exhibit a hypoglycemic property with its flavonoid content. This study aims to investigate the possible effects of concomitant use of Metformin and powdered M. oleifera leaves (PMOL) on blood glucose levels. Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were equally distributed into four groups. Fasting blood glucose levels of the rats were measured prior to experimentation. The following treatments were administered to the four groups, respectively: glucose only 2 g/kg; glucose 2 g/kg + Metformin 100 mg/kg; glucose 2 g/kg + PMOL 200 mg/kg; and glucose 2 g/kg + PMOL 200 mg/kg and Metformin 100 mg/kg. Blood glucose levels were determined on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hour post-treatment and compared between groups. Statistical analysis showed that the type of intervention did not show significance in the reduction of blood glucose levels when compared with the other groups (p=0.378), while the effect of time exhibited significance (p=0.000). The interaction between the type of intervention and time of blood glucose measurement was shown to be significant (p=0.024). Within each group, the control and PMOL-treated groups showed significant reduction in blood glucose levels over time with p-values of 0.000 and 0.000, respectively, while the Metformin-treated and the combination groups had p-values of 0.062 and 0.093, respectively, which are not significant. The descriptive data also showed that the mean total reduction of blood glucose levels of the Metformin and PMOL combination treatment group was lower than the PMOL-treated group alone, while the mean total reduction of blood glucose levels of the combination group was higher than the Metformin-treated group alone. Based on the results obtained, the combination of Metformin and PMOL did not significantly lower the blood glucose levels of the rats as compared to the other groups. However, the concomitant use of Metformin and PMOL may affect each other’s blood glucose lowering activity. Additionally, prolonged time of exposure and delay in the first blood glucose measurement after treatment could exhibit a significant effect in the blood glucose levels. Further studies are recommended regarding the effects of the concomitant use of the two agents on blood glucose levels.

Keywords: blood glucose levels, concomitant use, metformin, Moringa oleifera

Procedia PDF Downloads 384

Authors: Adebisi Adunola Demehin, Wanlaya Thamnarak, Jaruwan Chatwichien, Chatchakorn Eurtivong, Kiattawee Choowongkomon, Somsak Ruchirawat, Nopporn Thasana

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The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a transmembrane glycoprotein involved in cellular signalling processes and, its aberrant activity is crucial in the development of many cancers such as lung cancer. Selaginellaceae are fern allies that have long been used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat various cancer types, especially lung cancer. Biflavonoids, the major secondary metabolites in Selaginellaceae, have numerous pharmacological activities, including anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory. For instance, amentoflavone induces a cytotoxic effect in the human NSCLC cell line via the inhibition of PARP-1. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies on biflavonoids as EGFR inhibitors. Thus, this study aims to investigate the EGFR inhibitory activities of biflavonoids isolated from Selaginella siamensis and Selaginella bryopteris. Amentoflavone, tetrahydroamentoflavone, sciadopitysin, robustaflavone, robustaflavone-4-methylether, delicaflavone, and chrysocauloflavone were isolated from the ethyl-acetate extract of the whole plants. The structures were determined using NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. In vitro study was conducted to evaluate their cytotoxicity against A549, HEPG2, and T47D human cancer cell lines using the MTT assay. In addition, a target-based assay was performed to investigate their EGFR inhibitory activity using the kinase inhibition assay. Finally, a molecular docking study was conducted to predict the binding modes of the compounds. Robustaflavone-4-methylether and delicaflavone showed the best cytotoxic activity on all the cell lines with IC50 (µM) values of 18.9 ± 2.1 and 22.7 ± 3.3 on A549, respectively. Of these biflavonoids, delicaflavone showed the most potent EGFR inhibitory activity with an 84% relative inhibition at 0.02 nM using erlotinib as a positive control. Robustaflavone-4-methylether showed a 78% inhibition at 0.15 nM. The docking scores obtained from the molecular docking study correlated with the kinase inhibition assay. Robustaflavone-4-methylether and delicaflavone had a docking score of 72.0 and 86.5, respectively. The inhibitory activity of delicaflavone seemed to be linked with the C2”=C3” and 3-O-4”’ linkage pattern. Thus, this study suggests that the structural features of these compounds could serve as a basis for developing new EGFR-TK inhibitors.

Keywords: anticancer, biflavonoids, EGFR, molecular docking, Selaginellaceae

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Authors: Elchin Hajiyev, Afet Memmedova Dadash, Sabina Hajiyeva, Aynur Karimova, Ramiz Aliyev

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Although potatoes have a wide distribution range, the yield potential of varieties varies greatly depending on the region. Our country is made up of agricultural regions with very different environmental characteristics.In this case, we cannot expect the introduced varieties to show the same adaptation to the different conditions of our country. For this reason, in our country, varieties with high general adaptability should be used, rather than varieties with special adaptability in certain areas. Soil salinization has become a global problem.Increased salinity has a serious impact on food security by reducing plant productivity. Plants have protective mechanisms of adaptation to salt stress, such as the synthesis of physiologically active substances, resistance to antioxidant stress and oxidation of membrane lipids. One of these substances is free proline. Our study revealed genetic variation in proline accumulation among samples exposed to stress factors.Changes in proline content under stress conditions were studied in 50 samples. There was wide variation across all treatments.The amount of proline varied between 7.2–37.7 μM/g under salinity conditions.The lowest rate was in the SF33 genotype (1.5 times more than the control (2.5 μM/g)).The highest level of proline under the influence of salt stress was in the SF45 genotype (7.25 times higher than the control (32.5 μM/g)). Our studies have found that the protective system reacts differently to the influence of stress factors. According to the results obtained on the amount of proline, adaptation mechanisms must be more actively activated to maintain metabolism and ensure viability in sensitive forms under the influence of stress factors. At high doses of the salt stressor, a tenfold increase in proline compared to the control indicates significant damage to the plant organism as a result of stress.To prevent damage to the body, the antioxidant system needs to quickly mobilize and work at full capacity in adverse conditions. An increase in the dose of the stress factor salt in our study caused a greater increase in the amount of free proline in plant tissues. Considering the functions of proline as an osmoprotector and antioxidant, it was found that increasing its amount is aimed at protecting the plant from the acute effects of stressors.

Keywords: genetic variability, potato, genotypes, proline, stress

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Authors: Ankush, Harshit Sosan Lakra, Rachita Kuthial

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Climate change poses significant challenges to vulnerable communities, particularly indigenous populations in ecologically sensitive regions. Jharkhand, located in the heart of India, is home to several indigenous communities, including the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). The Indigenous architecture of the region functions as a significant reservoir of climate adaptation wisdom. It explores the architectural analysis encompassing the construction materials, construction techniques, design principles, climate responsiveness, cultural relevance, adaptation, integration with the environment and traditional wisdom that has evolved through generations, rooted in cultural and socioeconomic traditions, and has allowed these communities to thrive in a variety of climatic zones, including hot and dry, humid, and hilly terrains to withstand the test of time. Despite their historical resilience to adverse climatic conditions, PVTG tribal communities face new and amplified challenges due to the accelerating pace of climate change. There is a significant research void that exists in assimilating their traditional practices and local wisdom into contemporary climate resilience initiatives. Most of the studies place emphasis on technologically advanced solutions, often ignoring the invaluable Indigenous Local knowledge that can complement and enhance these efforts. This research gap highlights the need to bridge the disconnect between indigenous knowledge and contemporary climate adaptation strategies. The study aims to explore and leverage indigenous knowledge of vernacular architecture as a strategic tool for enhancing climatic resilience among PVTGs of the region. The first objective is to understand the traditional wisdom of vernacular architecture by analyzing and documenting distinct architectural practices and cultural significance of PVTG communities, emphasizing construction techniques, materials and spatial planning. The second objective is to develop culturally sensitive climatic resilience strategies based on findings of vernacular architecture by employing a multidisciplinary research approach that encompasses ethnographic fieldwork climate data assessment considering multiple variables such as temperature variations, precipitation patterns, extreme weather events and climate change reports. This will be a tailor-made solution integrating indigenous knowledge with modern technology and sustainable practices. With the involvement of indigenous communities in the process, the research aims to ensure that the developed strategies are practical, culturally appropriate, and accepted. To foster long-term resilience against the global issue of climate change, we can bridge the gap between present needs and future aspirations with Traditional wisdom, offering sustainable solutions that will empower PVTG communities. Moreover, the study emphasizes the significance of preserving and reviving traditional Architectural wisdom for enhancing climatic resilience. It also highlights the need for cooperative endeavors of communities, stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers to encourage integrating traditional Knowledge into Modern sustainable design methods. Through these efforts, this research will contribute not only to the well-being of PVTG communities but also to the broader global effort to build a more resilient and sustainable future. Also, the Indigenous communities like PVTG in the state of Jharkhand can achieve climatic resilience while respecting and safeguarding the cultural heritage and peculiar characteristics of its native population.

Keywords: vernacular architecture, climate change, resilience, PVTGs, Jharkhand, indigenous people, India

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Authors: L. Kanoksak, N. Sukanya, L. Napatsorn, T. Siriporn

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A growing population and demand for packaging are driving up the usage of natural resources as raw materials in the pulp and paper industry. Long-term effects of environmental is disrupting people's way of life all across the planet. Finding pulp sources to replace wood pulp is therefore necessary. To produce wood pulp, various other potential plants or plant parts can be employed as substitute raw materials. For example, pulp and paper were made from agricultural residue that mainly included pulp can be used in place of wood. In this study, cocoa pod husks were an agricultural residue of the cocoa and chocolate industries. To develop composite materials to replace wood pulp in packaging materials. The paper was coated with polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT). By selecting and cleaning fresh cocoa pod husks, the size was reduced. And the cocoa pod husks were dried. The morphology and elemental composition of cocoa pod husks were studied. To evaluate the mechanical and physical properties, dried cocoa husks were extracted using the soda-pulping process. After selecting the best formulations, paper with a PBAT bioplastic coating was produced on a paper-forming machine Physical and mechanical properties were studied. By using the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer (FESEM/EDS) technique, the structure of dried cocoa pod husks showed the main components of cocoa pod husks. The appearance of porous has not been found. The fibers were firmly bound for use as a raw material for pulp manufacturing. Dry cocoa pod husks contain the major elements carbon (C) and oxygen (O). Magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and calcium (Ca) were minor elements that were found in very small levels. After that cocoa pod husks were removed from the soda-pulping process. It found that the SAQ5 formula produced pulp yield, moisture content, and water drainage. To achieve the basis weight by TAPPI T205 sp-02 standard, cocoa pod husk pulp and modified starch were mixed. The paper was coated with bioplastic PBAT. It was produced using bioplastic resin from the blown film extrusion technique. It showed the contact angle, dispersion component and polar component. It is an effective hydrophobic material for rigid packaging applications.

Keywords: cocoa pod husks, agricultural residue, composite material, rigid packaging

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Authors: Tejinder Singh Sidhu

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Hot corrosion has been recognized as a severe problem in steam-powered electricity generation plants and industrial waste incinerators as it consumes the material at an unpredictably rapid rate. Consequently, the load-carrying ability of the components reduces quickly, eventually leading to catastrophic failure. The inability to either totally prevent hot corrosion or at least detect it at an early stage has resulted in several accidents, leading to loss of life and/or destruction of infrastructures. A number of countermeasures are currently in use or under investigation to combat hot corrosion, such as using inhibitors, controlling the process parameters, designing a suitable industrial alloy, and depositing protective coatings. However, the protection system to be selected for a particular application must be practical, reliable, and economically viable. Due to the continuously rising cost of the materials as well as increased material requirements, the coating techniques have been given much more importance in recent times. Coatings can add value to products up to 10 times the cost of the coating. Among the different coating techniques, thermal spraying has grown into a well-accepted industrial technology for applying overlay coatings onto the surfaces of engineering components to allow them to function under extreme conditions of wear, erosion-corrosion, high-temperature oxidation, and hot corrosion. In this study, the hot corrosion performances of Ni-20Cr and Cr₃C₂-NiCr coatings developed by High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) process have been studied. The coatings were developed on a Fe-based superalloy, and experiments were performed in an actual industrial environment of a coal-fired boiler. The cyclic study was carried out around the platen superheater zone where the temperature was around 1000°C. The study was conducted for 10 cycles, and one cycle was consisting of 100 hours of heating followed by 1 hour of cooling at ambient temperature. Both the coatings deposited on Fe-based superalloy imparted better hot corrosion resistance than the uncoated one. The Ni-20Cr coated superalloy performed better than the Cr₃C₂-NiCr coated in the actual working conditions of the coal fired boiler. It is found that the formation of chromium oxide at the boundaries of Ni-rich splats of the coating blocks the inward permeation of oxygen and other corrosive species to the substrate.

Keywords: hot corrosion, coating, HVOF, oxidation

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Authors: Hernan Arturo Blas López, Gustavo Henndel Lopes, Antonio Carlos Silva Costa Teixeira, Carmen Elena Flores Barreda, Patricia Araujo Pantoja

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Phenols are toxic for life and the environment and may come from many sources. Uncured phenolic monomers present in phenolic resins used as binders in grinding wheels and emery paper can contaminate industrial wastewaters in abrasives manufacture plants. Furthermore, vestiges of resol and novolacs resins generated by wear and tear of abrasives are also possible sources of water contamination by phenolics in these facilities. Fortunately, advanced oxidation by dark Fenton and photo-Fenton techniques are capable of oxidizing phenols and their degradation products up to their mineralization into H₂O and CO₂. The maximal allowable concentrations for phenols in Peruvian waterbodies is very low, such that insufficiently treated effluents from the abrasives industry are a potential environmental noncompliance. The current case study highlights findings obtained during the lab-scale application of Fenton’s and photo-assisted Fenton’s chemistries to real industrial wastewater samples from an abrasives manufacture plant in Peru. The goal was to reduce the phenolic content and sample toxicity. For this purpose, two independent variables-reaction time and effect of ultraviolet radiation–were studied as for their impacts on the concentration of total phenols, total organic carbon (TOC), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). In this study, diluted samples (1 L) of the industrial effluent were treated with Fenton’s reagent (H₂O₂ and Fe²⁺ from FeSO₄.H₂O) during 10 min in a photochemical batch reactor (Alphatec RFS-500, Brazil) at pH 2.92. In the case of photo-Fenton tests with ultraviolet lamps of 9 W, UV-A, UV-B and UV-C lamps were evaluated. All process conditions achieved 100% of phenols degraded within 5 minutes. TOC, BOD and COD decreased by 49%, 52% and 86% respectively (all processes together). However, Fenton treatment was not capable of reducing BOD, COD and TOC below a certain value even after 10 minutes, contrarily to photo-Fenton. It was also possible to conclude that the processes here studied degrade other compounds in addition to phenols, what is an advantage. In all cases, elevated effluent dilution factors and high amounts of oxidant agent impact negatively the overall economy of the processes here investigated.

Keywords: fenton oxidation, wastewater treatment, phenols, abrasives industry

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Authors: Magda Gorczyca, Zofia Nocoń

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Past and current studies from different countries showed that river engineering leads to environmental degradation and extinction of many species - often those protected by local and international wildlife conservation laws. Through the years, the main focus of rivers utilization has shifted from industrial applications to recreation and wildlife preservation with a focus on keeping the biodiversity which plays a significant role in preventing climate changes. Thus an opportunity appeared to recreate flooding areas and natural habitats, which are very rare in the scale of Europe. Additionally, river restoration helps to avoid floodings and periodic droughts, which are usually very damaging to the economy. In this research, the biodiversity of dragonflies and ground beetles was analyzed in the context of plant communities and forest stands structure. Results were enriched with data from past and current literature. A comparison was made between two parts of the Odra river. A part where oxbow lake and riparian forest were separated from the river bed by embankment and a part of the river with floodplains left intact. Validity assessment of embankments relocation was made based on the research results. In the period between May and September, insects were collected, phytosociological analysis were taken, and forest stand structure properties were specified. In the part of the river not separated by the embankments, rare and protected species of plants were spotted (e.g., Trapanatans, Salvinianatans) as well as greater species and quantitive diversity of dragonfly. Ground beetles fauna, though, was richer in the area separated by the embankment. Even though the research was done during only one season and in a limited area, the results can be a starting point for further extended research and may contribute to acquiring legal wildlife protection and restoration of the researched area. During the research, the presence of invasive species Impatiens parviflora, Echinocystislobata, and Procyonlotor were observed, which may lead to loss of the natural values of the researched areas.

Keywords: carabidae, floodplains, middle Odra river, Odonata, oxbow lakes, riparian forests

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Authors: Kaleem Kashif, Tayyaba Anam, Yizhi Wu

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This paper introduces a methodology for advancing Italian speech vowels landmark detection within the distinctive feature-based speech recognition domain. Leveraging the legacy tool 'xkl' by integrating combined convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and recurrent neural networks (RNNs), the study presents a comprehensive enhancement to the 'xkl' legacy software. This integration incorporates re-assigned spectrogram methodologies, enabling meticulous acoustic analysis. Simultaneously, our proposed model, integrating combined CNNs and RNNs, demonstrates unprecedented precision and robustness in landmark detection. The augmentation of re-assigned spectrogram fusion within the 'xkl' software signifies a meticulous advancement, particularly enhancing precision related to vowel formant estimation. This augmentation catalyzes unparalleled accuracy in landmark detection, resulting in a substantial performance leap compared to conventional methods. The proposed model emerges as a state-of-the-art solution in the distinctive feature-based speech recognition systems domain. In the realm of deep learning, a synergistic integration of combined CNNs and RNNs is introduced, endowed with specialized temporal embeddings, harnessing self-attention mechanisms, and positional embeddings. The proposed model allows it to excel in capturing intricate dependencies within Italian speech vowels, rendering it highly adaptable and sophisticated in the distinctive feature domain. Furthermore, our advanced temporal modeling approach employs Bayesian temporal encoding, refining the measurement of inter-landmark intervals. Comparative analysis against state-of-the-art models reveals a substantial improvement in accuracy, highlighting the robustness and efficacy of the proposed methodology. Upon rigorous testing on a database (LaMIT) speech recorded in a silent room by four Italian native speakers, the landmark detector demonstrates exceptional performance, achieving a 95% true detection rate and a 10% false detection rate. A majority of missed landmarks were observed in proximity to reduced vowels. These promising results underscore the robust identifiability of landmarks within the speech waveform, establishing the feasibility of employing a landmark detector as a front end in a speech recognition system. The synergistic integration of re-assigned spectrogram fusion, CNNs, RNNs, and Bayesian temporal encoding not only signifies a significant advancement in Italian speech vowels landmark detection but also positions the proposed model as a leader in the field. The model offers distinct advantages, including unparalleled accuracy, adaptability, and sophistication, marking a milestone in the intersection of deep learning and distinctive feature-based speech recognition. This work contributes to the broader scientific community by presenting a methodologically rigorous framework for enhancing landmark detection accuracy in Italian speech vowels. The integration of cutting-edge techniques establishes a foundation for future advancements in speech signal processing, emphasizing the potential of the proposed model in practical applications across various domains requiring robust speech recognition systems.

Keywords: landmark detection, acoustic analysis, convolutional neural network, recurrent neural network

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Authors: Konrad Steyn, Jacques Laubscher

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South African urban design solutions are mostly aligned with European and North American models that are often not appropriate in addressing some of this country’s challenges such as multiculturalism and decaying urban areas. Sustainable urban redevelopment in South Africa should be comprehensive in nature, sensitive in its manifestation, and should be robust and inclusive in order to achieve social relevance. This paper argues that the success of an urban design intervention is largely dependent on the public’s perceptions and expectations, and the way people participate in shaping their environments. The concept of sustainable urbanism is thus more comprehensive than – yet should undoubtedly include – methods of construction, material usage and climate control principles. The case study is a central element of this research paper. 725 Arcadia Street in Pretoria, was originally commissioned as a food market structure. A starkly contrasting existing modernist adjacent building forms the morphological background. Built in 1969, it is a valuable part of Pretoria’s modernist fabric. It was realised early on that the project should not be a mere localised architectural intervention, but rather an occasion to revitalise the neighbourhood through urban regeneration. Because of the complex and comprehensive nature of the site and rich cultural diversity of the area, a multi-faceted approach seemed the most appropriate response. The methodology for collating data consisted of a combination of literature reviews (regarding the historic original fauna and flora and current plants, observation (frequent site visits) and physical surveying on the neighbourhood level (physical location, connectivity to surrounding landmarks as well as movement systems and pedestrian flows). This was followed by an exploratory design phase, culminating in the present redevelopment proposal. Since built environment interventions are increasingly based on generalised normative guidelines, an approach focusing of urban acupuncture could serve as an alternative. Celebrating the specific urban condition, urban acupuncture offers an opportunity to influence the surrounding urban fabric and achieve urban renewal through physical, social and cultural mediation.

Keywords: neighbourhood, urban renewal, South African urban design solutions, sustainable urban redevelopment

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Authors: H. M. El-Rafie, A. H. Abou Zeid, R. S. Mohammed, A. A. Sleem

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Acrocarpus is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae which considered as a large and economically important family. This study aimed to investigate the phytoconstituents of the petroleum ether extract (PEE) of Acrocarpus fraxinofolius bark by Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis of its fractions (fatty acid and unsaponifiable matter). Concerning this, identification of 52 compounds constituting 97.03 % of the total composition of the unsaponifiable matter fraction. Cycloeucalenol was found to be the major compound representing 32.52% followed by 4a, 14a-dimethyl-A8~24(28)-ergostadien (26.50%) and ß-sitosterol(13.74%), furthermore Gas liquid chromatography (GLC) analysis of the sterol fraction revealed the identification of cholesterol (7.22 %), campesterol (13.30 %), stigmasterol (10.00 %) and β - sitosterol (69.48 %). Meanwhile, the identification of 33 fatty acids representing 90.71% of the total fatty acid constituents. Methyl-9,12-octadecadienoate (40.39%) followed by methyl hexadecanoate (23.64%) were found to be the major compounds. On the other hand, column chromatography and Thin layer chromatography (TLC) fractionation of PEE separate the triterpenoid: 21β-hydroxylup-20(29)-en-3-one and β- amyrin which were structurally identified by spectroscopic analysis (NMR, MS and IR). PEE has been biologically evaluated for 1: management of diabetes in alloxan induced diabetic rats 2: cytotoxic activity against four human tumor cell lines (Cervix carcinoma cell line[HELA], Breast carcinoma cell line [MCF7], Liver carcinoma cell line[HEPG2] and Colon carcinoma cell line[HCT-116] 3: hepatoprotective activity against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats and the activity was studied by assaying the serum marker enzymes like AST, ALT, and ALP. Concerning this, the anti-diabetic activity exhibited by 100mg of PEE extract was 74.38% relative to metformin (100% potency). It also showed a significant anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 (IC50= 2.35µg), Hela(IC50=3.85µg) and HEPG-2 (IC50= 9.54µg) compared with Doxorubicin as reference drug. The hepatoprotective activity was evidenced by significant decrease in liver function enzymes, i.e. AST, ALT and ALP by (29.18%, 28.26%, and 34.11%, respectively using silymarin as the reference drug, compared to their concentration levels in an untreated group with liver damage induced by CCl₄. This study was performed for the first time on the bark of this species.

Keywords: Acrocarpus fraxinofolius, antidiabetic, cytotoxic, hepatoprotective

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Authors: Takaaki Miyabe, Hideharu Takahashi, Hiroshige Kikura

Abstract:

The Government of Japan and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated (TEPCO) are struggling with the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants, especially fuel debris retrieval. In fuel debris retrieval, amount of fuel debris, location, characteristics, and distribution information are important. Recently, a survey was conducted using a robot with a small camera. Progress report in remote robot and camera research has speculated that fuel debris is present both at the bottom of the Pressure Containment Vessel (PCV) and inside the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV). The investigation found a 'tie plate' at the bottom of the containment, this is handles on the fuel rod. As a result, it is assumed that a hole large enough to allow the tie plate to fall is opened at the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel. Therefore, exploring the existence of holes that lead to inside the RCV is also an issue. Investigations of the lower part of the RPV are currently underway, but no investigations have been made inside or above the PCV. Therefore, a survey must be conducted for future fuel debris retrieval. The environment inside of the RPV cannot be imagined due to the effect of the melted fuel. To do this, we need a way to accurately check the internal situation. What we propose here is the adaptation of a technology called 'Structure from Motion' that reconstructs a 3D image from multiple photos taken by a single camera. The plan is to mount a monocular camera on the tip of long-arm robot, reach it to the upper part of the PCV, and to taking video. Now, we are making long-arm robot that has long-arm and used at high level radiation environment. However, the environment above the pressure vessel is not known exactly. Also, fog may be generated by the cooling water of fuel debris, and the radiation level in the environment may be high. Since camera alone cannot provide sufficient sensing in these environments, we will further propose using ultrasonic measurement technology in addition to cameras. Ultrasonic sensor can be resistant to environmental changes such as fog, and environments with high radiation dose. these systems can be used for a long time. The purpose is to develop a system adapted to the inside of the containment vessel by combining a camera and an ultrasound. Therefore, in this research, we performed a basic experiment on 3D image reconstruction using a camera and ultrasound. In this report, we select the good and bad condition of each sensing, and propose the reconstruction and detection method. The results revealed the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

Keywords: camera, image processing, reconstruction, ultrasound

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Authors: Samuel E. Okere, Anthony E. Ataga

Abstract:

Introduction: This paper evaluated the mineral compositions, disease resistance elicitors in Pleurotus ostratus (POWESMS), and Pleurotus tuber-regium water extract spent mushroom substrate (PTWESMS) on the growth, yield, and management of cassava mosaic disease. Materials and Methods: The cassava plantlet (tms 98/0505) were generated through meristem tip culture at the Tissue Culture Laboratory, National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike before they were transferred to the screen house, University of Port Harcourt Research Farm. The minerals and elicitors contained in the two spent mushroom substrates were evaluated using standard procedures. The treatments for this investigation comprised cassava plants treated with POWESMS, PTWESMS, and untreated cassava as control, which were inoculated with viral inoculum seven days after treatment application. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized block design with 3 replicates. The data generated were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). Means were separated using Fishers Least Significant Difference at p=0.05. Results: The results obtained revealed that POWESMS contained 19.3, 0.52, and 0.1g/200g substrate of carbohydrate polymers, glycoproteins, and lipid molecules elicitors respectively while it also contained 3.17, 212.1, 17.9,21.8, 58.8 and 111.0 mg/100g substrate for N, P, K, Na, Mg and Ca respectively. Further, PTWESMS contain 1.6, 0.04, and 0.2g/200g of the substrate as carbohydrate polymers, glycoprotein, and lipid respectively; the minerals contained in this substrate were 3.4, 204.8, 8.9, 24.2, 32.2 and 105.5 mg respectively for N, P, K, Na, and Ca. There were also significant differences in the mean values of the number of storage roots, root length, fresh root weight, fresh weight plant biomass, root girth, and whole plant dry biomass, but no significant difference was recorded for harvest index. The result also revealed significant differences in mean values of disease severity index evaluated at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, and 28 weeks after inoculation (WAI). Conclusion: The aqueous extract of these spent mushrooms substrate have shown outstanding prospect in managing cassava mosaic disease and also improvement in growth and yield of cassava due to the high level of the minerals and elicitors they contain when compared with the control. However, more work is recommended, especially in understanding the mechanism of this induced resistance.

Keywords: characterization, elicitors, mosaic, mushroom

Procedia PDF Downloads 107