Search results for: open failure

Authors: Mehmet Akif Bütüner, İlhan Koşalay

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Hydroelectric power plants (HEPPs) are renewable energy power plants with the highest installed power in the world. While the control systems operating in these power plants ensure that the system operates at the desired operating point, it is also responsible for stopping the relevant unit safely in case of any malfunction. While these control systems are expected not to miss signals that require stopping, on the other hand, it is desired not to cause unnecessary stops. In traditional control systems including modern systems with SCADA infrastructure, alarm conditions to create warnings or trip conditions to put relevant unit out of service automatically are usually generated with predefined limits regardless of different operating conditions. This approach results in alarm/trip conditions to be less likely to detect minimal changes which may result in serious malfunction scenarios in near future. With the methods proposed in this research, routine behavior of the oil circulation of hydraulic governor of a HEPP will be modeled with machine learning methods using historical data obtained from SCADA system. Using the created model and recently gathered data from control system, oil pressure of hydraulic accumulators will be estimated. Comparison of this estimation with the measurements made and recorded instantly by the SCADA system will help to foresee failure before becoming worse and determine remaining useful life. By using model outputs, maintenance works will be made more planned, so that undesired stops are prevented, and in case of any malfunction, the system will be stopped or several alarms are triggered before the problem grows.

Keywords: hydroelectric, governor, anomaly detection, machine learning, regression

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Authors: Pooja Ahuja, Tejal Bhutani, M. S. Dahiya

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Cheiloscopy, the study of lip prints, is a tool in forensic investigation technique that deals with identification of individuals based on lips patterns. The objective of this study is to determine predominant lip print pattern found among the Gujarati population, to evaluate whether any sex difference exists and to study the permanence of the pattern over six months duration. The study comprised of 100 healthy individuals (50 males and 50 females), in the age group of 18 to 25 years of Gujarati population of the Gandhinagar region of the Gujarat state, India. By using Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification, Lip prints were then divided into four quadrants and also classified on the basis of peripheral shape of the lips. Materials used to record the lip prints were dark brown colored lipstick, cellophane tape, and white bond paper. Lipstick was applied uniformly, and lip prints were taken on the glued portion of cellophane tape and then stuck on to a white bond paper. These lip prints were analyzed with magnifying lens and virtually with stereo microscope. On the analysis of the subject population, results showed Branched pattern Type II (29.57 percentage) to be most predominant in the Gujarati population. Branched pattern Type II (35.60 percentage) and long vertical Type I (28.28 percentage) were most prevalent in males and females respectively and large full lips were most predominantly present in both the sexes. The study concludes that lip prints in any form can be an effective tool for identification of an individual in a closed or open group forms.

Keywords: cheiloscopy, lip pattern, predomianant, Gujarati population

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Authors: Amit Keshav, Alok Sharma, Bidyut Mazumdar

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Colocasia esculenta leaves and roots are widely used in Asian countries, such as, India, Srilanka and Pakistan, as food and feed material. The root is high in carbohydrates and rich in zinc. The leaves and stalks are often traditionally preserved to be eaten in dry season. Leaf juice is stimulant, expectorant, astringent, appetizer, and otalgia. Looking at the medicinal uses of the plant leaves; phytochemicals were extracted from the plant leaves and were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to find the functional groups. Phytochemical analysis of Colocasia esculenta (L.) leaf was studied using three solvents (methanol, chloroform, and ethanol) with soxhlet apparatus. Powder of the leaves was employed to obtain the extracts, which was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed for phytochemical content using standard methods. Phytochemical constituents were abundant in the leave extract. Leaf was found to have various phytochemicals such as alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins, oxalates and phenols etc., which could have lot of medicinal benefits such as reducing headache, treatment of congestive heart failure, prevent oxidative cell damage etc. These phytochemicals were identified using UV spectrophotometer and results were presented. In order to find the antioxidant activity of the extract, DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) method was employed using ascorbic acid as standard. DPPH scavenging activity of ascorbic acid was found to be 84%, whereas for ethanol it was observed to be 78.92%, for methanol: 76.46% and for chloroform: 72.46%. Looking at the high antioxidant activity, Colocasia esculenta may be recommended for medicinal applications. The characterizations of functional groups were analyzed using FTIR spectroscopy.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, Colocasia esculenta, leaves, characterization, FTIR

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Authors: Dongwan Kang, Joohyung Oh, Chaetae Im

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Advancement of communication technologies and smart devices in the recent times is leading to changes into the integrated wired and wireless communication environments. Since early days, businesses had started introducing environments for mobile device application to their operations in order to improve productivity (efficiency) and the closed corporate environment gradually shifted to an open structure. Recently, individual user's interest in working environment using mobile devices has increased and a new corporate working environment under the concept of BYOD is drawing attention. BYOD (bring your own device) is a concept where individuals bring in and use their own devices in business activities. Through BYOD, businesses can anticipate improved productivity (efficiency) and also a reduction in the cost of purchasing devices. However, as a result of security threats caused by frequent loss and theft of personal devices and corporate data leaks due to low security, companies are reluctant about adopting BYOD system. In addition, without considerations to diverse devices and connection environments, there are limitations in detecting abnormal behaviors such as information leaks which use the existing network-based security equipment. This study suggests a method to detect abnormal behaviors according to individual behavioral patterns, rather than the existing signature-based malicious behavior detection and discusses applications of this method in BYOD environment.

Keywords: BYOD, security, anomaly behavior detection, security equipment, communication technologies

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Authors: Elin Linder

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Ethnographic endeavors feature a long history of creative modes of engagements, and anthropology an equally long critique of its disciplinary attention to worded representations of beyond worded experiences. Curious and critical as our research comes about, takes place, unfolds, and develops, processes of documenting, exploring, experiencing, and producing knowledge commonly evolve as intrinsic parts of our situated wishes to make sense of the worlds we study. We may imagine to do one thing and to use a specific mode of fieldnoting, only to end up doing something else, such as to capture dynamics and dimensions otherwise not attentively engaged or even lost. This paper builds on such an experience, and it acts window to open the conversation for doing and representing ethnographic work as creatively as it was undertaken. Expressively and actively undertaken by means of sensuous scholarship, fieldworking in the world of olivicoltura in Apulia intriguingly advanced into resourcefully embodied research using a drone. While the drone first and foremost allowed perspectives that one as a human is largely and physically incapable of exploring, it rapidly emerged into a mode of engagement that probed critical question how one comes to learn how to see that which one watches, listen to that which one hears, smell that which one scents, feel that which one touch, and gather that which one experience. This paper develops how the drone incorporated a transition of a particularly situated ethnographic sense of attention, all while visualizing how imaginative conceptualizations enable unexpected modes of multimodal knowing in much multisensorial worlds of being.

Keywords: drone, multimodality, sensuous scholarship, critical creativity, ethnographic practice

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Authors: Adesoji Tunbosun Jaiyeola, Josiah Adeyemo

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Sediment yield can be considered to be the total sediment load that leaves a drainage basin. The knowledge of the quantity of sediments present in a river at a particular time can lead to better flood capacity in reservoirs and consequently help to control over-bane flooding. Furthermore, as sediment accumulates in the reservoir, it gradually loses its ability to store water for the purposes for which it was built. The development of hydrological models to forecast the quantity of sediment present in a reservoir helps planners and managers of water resources systems, to understand the system better in terms of its problems and alternative ways to address them. The application of artificial intelligence models and technique to such real-life situations have proven to be an effective approach of solving complex problems. This paper makes an extensive review of literature relevant to the theories and applications of evolutionary algorithms, and most especially genetic programming. The successful applications of genetic programming as a soft computing technique were reviewed in sediment modelling and other branches of knowledge. Some fundamental issues such as benchmark, generalization ability, bloat and over-fitting and other open issues relating to the working principles of GP, which needs to be addressed by the GP community were also highlighted. This review aim to give GP theoreticians, researchers and the general community of GP enough research direction, valuable guide and also keep all stakeholders abreast of the issues which need attention during the next decade for the advancement of GP.

Keywords: benchmark, bloat, generalization, genetic programming, over-fitting, sediment yield

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Authors: Alan Walsh, Peter Walker, Michael Ellis

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There is a real danger that both practitioners and researchers considering risks associated with megaprojects ignore or underestimate the impacts of cultural risk. The paper investigates the potential impacts of a failure to achieve cultural unity between the principal actors executing a megaproject. The principle relationships include the relationships between the principle Contractors and the project stakeholders or the project stakeholders and their principle advisors, Western Consultants. This study confirms that cultural dissonance between these parties can delay or disrupt the megaproject execution and examines why cultural issues should be prioritized as a significant risk factor in megaproject delivery. This paper addresses the practical impacts and potential mitigation measures, which may reduce cultural dissonance for a megaproject's delivery. This information is retrieved from on-going case studies in live infrastructure megaprojects in Europe and the Middle East's GCC states, from Western Consultants' perspective. The collaborating researchers each have at least 30 years of construction experience and are engaged in architecture, project management and contracts management, dealing with megaprojects in Europe or the GCC. After examining the cultural interfaces they have observed during the execution of megaprojects, they conclude that globally, culture significantly influences their efficient delivery. The study finds that cultural risk is ever-present, where different nationalities co-manage megaprojects and that cultural conflict poses a real threat to the timely delivery of megaprojects. The study indicates that the higher the cultural distance between the principal actors, the more pronounced the risk, with the risk of cultural dissonance more prominent in GCC megaprojects. The findings support a more culturally aware and cohesive team approach and recommend cross-cultural training to mitigate the effects of cultural disparity.

Keywords: cultural risk underestimation, cultural distance, megaproject characteristics, megaproject execution

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Authors: Amir Hossein Ashari, Sedighe Erfan Manesh

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When investigating Iranian traditional and historical urban development, such as that seen in Shiraz, our attention is drawn to mosques as a focal point. Vakil Mosque in Shiraz is completely consistent, coordinated and integrated with the Bazaar, square and school. This is a significant example of traditional urban development. The position of the mosque in the most important urban joint near bazaar in a way that it is considered part of the bazaar structure are factors that have given it social, political, and economic roles in addition to the original religious role. These are among characteristics of sustainable development. The mosque has had an important effect in formation of the city because it is connected to main gates. In terms of access, the mosque has different main and peripheral access paths from different parts of the city. The courtyard of the mosque was located next to the main elements of the city so that it was considered as an urban open space, which made it a more active and more dynamic place. This study is carried out via library and field research with the purpose of finding strategies for taking advantage of useful features of the mosque in traditional urban development. These features include its role as a gathering center for people and city in sustainable urban development. Mosque can be used as a center for enhancing social interactions and creating a sense of association that leads to sustainable social space. These can act as a model which leads us to sustainable cities in terms of social and economic factors.

Keywords: mosque, traditional urban development, sustainable social space, Vakil Mosque, Shiraz

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Authors: Bicky Agarwal, Ambika Behl, Rajiv Kumar, Ashish Dhamaniya

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India ranks second for having the largest road network in the world after the United States (U.S.). According to the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), the U.S. produced about 94.6 million tons of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in 2021. Despite the benefits of RAP usage, it is not widely adopted in many countries, including India. Rising asphalt binder costs and environmental concerns have spurred interest in using RAP material in asphalt mixtures. However, increasing RAP content may have adverse effects on certain characteristics of asphalt mixtures, such as cracking resistance. Cracking is a common pavement issue that affects the lifespan and durability of hot-mix asphalt pavements. Assessing cracking resistance is crucial in pavement design. Various laboratory tests and performance indicators are utilized to evaluate cracking resistance. This study aims to use the Texas Overlay Tester (TOT) to assess the impact of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) on the cracking resistance of Bituminous Concrete (BC-II) mixes. Following the Marshall Mix Design method, asphalt mixes with RAP contents of 0% (Control), 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% were prepared and tested at their Optimum Binder Content (OBC). The ITS results showed that the control mix had an ITS value of 1.2 MPa, with slight decreases observed in mixes containing up to 60% RAP, although these changes were not statistically significant (p=0.538>0.05). The TSR tests indicated that all mixes exceeded the minimum requirement of 80%. The Texas Overlay Test (TOT) was used to evaluate cracking performance and revealed that higher RAP contents had a negative impact on fatigue resistance. The 50% RAP mix exhibited the highest CFE, indicating that it has the best resistance to crack propagation despite having a lower number of cycles to failure. All mixes were categorized as falling into the Soft-crack-resistant quadrant, indicating their ability to resist crack propagation while being more susceptible to crack initiation.

Keywords: RAP, BC-II, HMA, TOT

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Authors: Anon Paserakung, Chaloemphon Muangyen, Suban Foiklang, Yanin Opatpatanakit

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Improving nutritive values and digestibility of maize stover is an alternative way to increase their utilization in ruminant and reduce air pollution from open burning of maize stover in the northern Thailand. The present study, 2x3 factorial arrangements in completely randomized design was conducted to investigate the effect of maize stover components (whole and upper stover; cut above 5th node). Urea treatment at levels 0, 3, and 6% DM on dry matter digestibility and fermentation kinetics of maize stover using in vitro gas production. After 21 days of urea treatment, results illustrated that there was no interaction between maize stover components and urea treatment on 48h in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD). IVDMD was unaffected by maize stover components (P > 0.05), average IVDMD was 55%. However, using whole maize stover gave higher cumulative gas and gas kinetic parameters than those of upper stover (P<0.05). Treating maize stover by ensiling with urea resulted in a significant linear increase in IVDMD (P<0.05). IVDMD increased from 42.6% to 53.9% when increased urea concentration from 0 to 3% and maximum IVDMD (65.1%) was observed when maize stover was ensiled with 6% urea. Maize stover treated with urea at levels of 0, 3, and 6% linearly increased cumulative gas production at 96h (31.1 vs 50.5 and 59.1 ml, respectively) and all gas kinetic parameters excepted the gas production from the immediately soluble fraction (P<0.50). The results indicate that maize stover treated with 6% urea enhance in vitro dry matter digestibility and fermentation kinetics. This study provides a practical approach to increasing utilization of maize stover in feeding ruminant animals.

Keywords: maize stover, urea treatment, ruminant feed, gas production

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Authors: Ling Xu, Giuseppe Loprencipe, Antonio D'Andrea

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Asphalt pavement with recycled and sustainable materials has become the most commonly adopted strategy for road construction, including reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and crumb rubber (CR) from waste tires. However, the adhesion and cohesion characteristics of rubberized reclaimed asphalt pavement were still ambiguous, resulting in deteriorated adhesion behavior and life performance. This research investigated the effect of bonding characteristics on rutting resistance and moisture susceptibility of rubberized reclaimed asphalt pavement in terms of two RAP sources with different oxidation levels and two tire rubber with different particle sizes. Firstly, the binder bond strength (BBS) test and bonding failure distinguishment were conducted to analyze the surface behaviors of binder-aggregate interaction. Then, the compatibility and penetration grade of rubberized RAP binder were evaluated by rotational viscosity test and penetration test, respectively. Hamburg wheel track (HWT) test with high-temperature viscoelastic deformation analysis was adopted, which illustrated the rutting resistance. Additionally, a water boiling test was employed to evaluate the moisture susceptibility of the mixture and the texture features were characterized with the statistical parameters of image colors. Finally, the colloid structure model of rubberized RAP binder with surface interaction was proposed, and statistical analysis was established to release the correlation among various indexes. This study concluded that the gel-phase colloid structure and molecular diffusion of the free light fraction would affect the surface interpretation with aggregate, determining the bonding characteristic of rubberized RAP asphalt.

Keywords: bonding characteristics, reclaimed asphalt pavement, rubberized asphalt, sustainable material

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Authors: Diana La Forgia, Jean Baptiste Thibord, François Verheggen

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Volatiles Organic Compound (VOCs) are one of the many features of defense used by plants in their eternal fight against pests. Their main role is to attract the natural enemies of the herbivores. But on another hand, they can be used by the same herbivores to locate plants while foraging. In an attempt to fill a gap of knowledge in a complex web of interactions, we focused on wireworms (Coleoptera:Elateridae). Wireworms whose larvae feed on roots are one of the most spread pests of valuable crops such as maize and potatoes, causing important economical damage. Little is known about the root compounds that are playing a role in the attraction of the larvae. In order to know more about these compounds, we compared four different maize varieties (Zea mays mays) that are known to have different levels of attraction, from weak to strong, for wireworms in fields. We tested the attraction of larvae in laboratory conditions in dual-choice olfactometer assays where they were offered all possible combinations of the four maize varieties. Contemporary, we collected the VOCs of each variety during 24h using a push-and-pull system. The collected samples were then analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer (GC-MS) to identify their molecular profiles. The choice of the larvae was dependent on the offered combination and some varieties were preferred to others. Differences were also observed in terms of quantitative and qualitative emissions of volatile profiles between the maize varieties. Our aim is to develop traps based on VOCs from maize roots to open a new frontier in wireworms management.

Keywords: integrated pest management, maize roots, plant defense, volatile organic compounds, wireworms

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Authors: Pavan K. Emani, Shashank Kothari, V. S. Phanikanth

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The ultimate load analysis of RC pile groups has assumed a lot of significance under liquefying soil conditions, especially due to post-earthquake studies of 1964 Niigata, 1995 Kobe and 2001 Bhuj earthquakes. The present study reports the results of numerical simulations on pile groups subjected to monotonically increasing lateral loads under design amounts of pile axial loading. The soil liquefaction has been considered through the non-linear p-y relationship of the soil springs, which can vary along the depth/length of the pile. This variation again is related to the liquefaction potential of the site and the magnitude of the seismic shaking. As the piles in the group can reach their extreme deflections and rotations during increased amounts of lateral loading, a precise modeling of the inelastic behavior of the pile cross-section is done, considering the complete stress-strain behavior of concrete, with and without confinement, and reinforcing steel, including the strain-hardening portion. The possibility of the inelastic buckling of the individual piles is considered in the overall collapse modes. The model is analysed using Riks analysis in finite element software to check the post buckling behavior and plastic collapse of piles. The results confirm the kinds of failure modes predicted by centrifuge test results reported by researchers on pile group, although the pile material used is significantly different from that of the simulation model. The extension of the present work promises an important contribution to the design codes for pile groups in liquefying soils.

Keywords: collapse load analysis, inelastic buckling, liquefaction, pile group

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Authors: Adina Dudau, Georgios Kominis, Melinda Szocs

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This paper links distinct bodies of literature around innovation and public services by examining a case of perceived innovation failure. Through a mixed methodology investigating student attitudes to, and behaviour around, technological innovation in higher education, the paper makes a contribution to the public service innovation literature by focusing on the duality of innovation outcomes, suggestive of an innovation typology in public services. The study was conducted in a UK Russell Group university and it focused on a technological process innovation. The innovation consisted of the provision of feedback to students in the form of a digital video (mp4), tailored to each individual submission, with extended voice-over commentary from the course coordinator and visual cues intended to help students see the relevance of comments to their submissions. The sample of the study consisted of a class of 79 undergraduate students. To investigate student attainment, we designed a field (also known as quasi or natural) experiment, essentially a manipulation of a social setting (in this case, the form of feedback given to students), but as part of a naturally occurring social arrangement (a real course which students attend and in which they are assessed). A two group control group design (see figure 3) was utilised to examine the effectiveness of the feedback innovation (video feedback). Two outcome variables of the service innovation were measured: student satisfaction and student attainment. In other words, the study examined not only students’ perceptions of whether VF was deemed to be beneficial towards their subsequent assignments; but also evidence of actual incremental benefits in students’ performance from one assignment to the next after VF was provided. The results were baffling and indicating competing agendas in higher education.

Keywords: higher education, audio-video, feedback, innovation

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Authors: Zikra Faiz, Zaheer Asghar, Nisar Abid

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Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) includes computers, the Internet, and electronic delivery systems such as televisions, radios, multimedia, and overhead projectors etc. In the modern world, ICTs is considered as an essential element of the teaching-learning process. The study was aimed to discover the usage of ICTs in Special Education Institutions for Visually Impaired students, Lahore, Pakistan. Objectives of the study were to explore the problems faced by teachers while using ICT in the classroom. The study was phenomenology in nature; a qualitative survey method was used through a semi-structured interview protocol developed by the researchers. The sample comprised of eighty faculty members selected through a purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis technique with the help of open coding. The study findings revealed that multimedia, projectors, computers, laptops and LEDs are used in special education institutes to enhance the teaching-learning process. Teachers believed that ICTs could enhance the knowledge of visually impaired students and every student should use these technologies in the classroom. It was concluded that multimedia, projectors and laptops are used in classroom by teachers and students. ICTs can promote effectively through the training of teachers and students. It was suggested that the government should take steps to enhance ICTs in teacher training and other institutions by pre-service and in-service training of teachers.

Keywords: information and communication technologies, in-services teachers, special education institutions

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Authors: Janet B. Badong-Badilla

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In Jesuit universities, laypersons, who come from the same or different faith backgrounds or traditions, are considered as collaborators in mission. The Jesuits themselves support the contributions of the lay partners in realizing the mission of the Society of Jesus and recognize the important role that they play in education. This study aims to investigate and generate particular notions and understandings of lived experiences of being a lay partner in Jesuit universities in the Philippines, particularly those involved in higher education. Using the qualitative approach as introduced by grounded theorist Barney Glaser, the lay partners’ concept of being a partner, as lived in higher education, is generated systematically from the data collected in the field primarily through in-depth interviews, field notes and observations. Glaser’s constant comparative method of analysis of data is used going through the phases of open coding, theoretical coding, and selective coding from memoing to theoretical sampling to sorting and then writing. In this study, Glaser’s grounded theory as a methodology will provide a substantial insight into and articulation of the layperson’s actual experience of being a partner of the Jesuits in education. Such articulation provides a phenomenological approach or framework to an understanding of the meaning and core characteristics of Jesuit-Lay partnership in Jesuit educational institution of higher learning in the country. This study is expected to provide a framework or model for lay partnership in academic institutions that have the same practice of having lay partners in mission.

Keywords: grounded theory, Jesuit mission in higher education, lay partner, lived experience

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Authors: Marwa H. Salah

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Modern consumption culture represents a widespread phenomenon that affects young people, as it affects all age groups in both urban and rural societies. It has been helped by globalization, specifically cultural globalization, also internal and external migration, and the immense development in information technology as well, these factors have led to the appearance of the conspicuous consumption pattern among young people. This research firstly interested in identifying the nature of this pattern of consumption among young people in the countryside, which represents a society with a special nature, was characterized by the pattern of traditional consumption. Secondly to find out whether the rural character has an impact on the conspicuous consumption of youth. Finally to identify the reasons for the rural youth's tendency to such type of consumption and if it contributes in satisfying certain social needs. The research used the anthropological method. Observation and open-ended interviews were used as tools to collect data and an interview guide was applied on a selective youth sample (40:20 male and 20 female) aged between 17to 34 in an Egyptian village located in Dakahlia governorate. The research showed that rural youth has impacted with the modern consumption culture and not isolated from it despite the lack of financial abilities. The conspicuous consumption is a dominant pattern of consumption among the Egyptian rural youth and it has been practicing by rural youth regardless of their educational & financial levels. Also, the wish to show the social and economic status, bragging and show off is the main reason for the rural youth to adopt the conspicuous consumption, moreover to face the inferior view from their counterparts’ urban youth.

Keywords: consumption culture, youth, conspicuous consumption, rural society

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Authors: Hamdi Omar Omar, Hela Fakhfakh, Chokri Yaich

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This work reflects the integration of different techniques, such as field sampling and observations, magnetic susceptibility measurement, cyclostratigaraphy and sequence stratigraphy. The combination of these results allows us to reconstruct the environmental evolution of the Sidi Khalif Formation in the North-South Axis (NOSA), aged of Upper Tithonian, Berriasian and Lower Valanginian. Six sedimentary facies were identified and are primarily influenced by open marine sedimentation receiving increasing terrigenous influx. Spectral analysis, based on MS variation (for the outcropped section) and wireline logging gamma ray (GR) variation (for the sub-area section) show a pervasive dominance of 405-kyr eccentricity cycles with the expression of 100-kyr eccentricity, obliquity and precession. This study provides (for the first time) a precise duration of 2.4 myr for the outcropped Sidi Khalif Formation with a sedimentation rate of 5.4 cm/kyr and the sub-area section to 3.24 myr with a sedimentation rate of 7.64 cm/kyr. We outlined 27 5th-order depositional sequences, 8 Milankovitch depositional sequences and 2 major 3rd-order cycles for the outcropping section, controlled by the long eccentricity (405 kyr) cycles and the precession index cycles. This study has demonstrated the potential of MS and GR to be used as proxies to develop an astronomically calibrated time-scale for the Mesozoic era.

Keywords: Berriasian, magnetic susceptibility, orbital tuning, Sidi Khalif Formation

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Authors: Walaa H. Salama, Azza M. Abdel-Aty, Afaf S. Fahmy

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Background: Egyptian Cobra; Naja haje (Elapidae) is one of most common snakes, widely distributed in Egypt and its envenomation causes multi-organ failure leading to rapid death. Thus, Different medicinal plants showed a protective effect against venom toxicity and may complement the conventional antivenom therapy. Aim: The present study was designed to assess both the antioxidant capacity of methanolic extract of rosemary leaves and evaluate the neutralizing ability of the extract against hepatotoxicity induced by Naja haje venom. Methods: The total phenolic and flavonoid contents and the antioxidant capacity of the methanolic rosemary extract were estimated by DPPH and ABTS Scavenging methods. In addition, the rosemary extract were assessed for anti-venom properties under in vitro and in vivo standard assays. Results: The rosemary extract had high total phenolic and flavonoid content as 12 ± 2 g of gallic acid equivalent per 100 gram of dry weight (g GAE/100g dw) and 5.5 ± 0.8 g of catechin equivalent per 100 grams of dry weight (g CE/100g dw), respectively. In addition, the rosemary extract showed high antioxidant capacity. Furthermore, The rosemary extract were inhibited in vitro the enzymatic activities of phospholipase A₂, L-amino acid oxidase, and hyaluronidase of the venom in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, indirect hemolytic activity, hepatotoxicity induced by venom were completely neutralized as shown by histological studies. Conclusion: The phenolic compounds of rosemary extract with potential antioxidant activity may be considered as a promising candidate for future therapeutics in snakebite therapy.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, neutralization, phospholipase A₂ enzyme, snake venom

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Authors: Gustavo Menezes De Souza Melo, Arnaud Heitz, Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum

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Additive manufacturing is a growing market that is taking over in many industries as it offers numerous advantages like new design possibilities, weight-saving solutions, ease of manufacture, and simplification of assemblies. These are all unquestionable technical or financial assets. As to the environmental aspect, additive manufacturing is often discussed whether it is the best solution to decarbonize our industries or if conventional manufacturing remains cleaner. This work presents a life cycle assessment (LCA) comparison based on the technological case of a motorbike swing-arm. We compare the original equipment manufacturer part made with conventional manufacturing (CM) methods to an additive manufacturing (AM) version printed using the laser powder bed fusion process. The AM version has been modified and optimized to achieve better dynamic performance without any regard to weight saving. Lightweight not being a priority in the creation of the 3D printed part brings us a unique perspective in this study. To achieve the LCA, we are using the open-source life cycle, and sustainability software OpenLCA combined with the ReCiPe 2016 at midpoint and endpoint level method. This allows the calculation and the presentation of the results through indicators such as global warming, water use, resource scarcity, etc. The results are then showing the relative impact of the AM version compared to the CM one and give us a key to understand and answer questions about the environmental sustainability of additive manufacturing.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, environmental impact, life cycle assessment, laser powder bed fusion

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Authors: Sk Shamim Hasan Abir, Karen Lozano, Mohammed Jasim Uddin

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Over the last few years, nanofiber-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has caught great attention among researchers all over the world due to its inherent capability of converting mechanical energy to usable electrical energy. In this study, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanofiber prepared by Forcespinning® (FS) technique were used to fabricate TENG for self-charging energy storage device and biomechanical body motion sensor. The surface of the TPU nanofiber was modified by uniform deposition of thin gold film to enhance the frictional properties; yielded 254 V open-circuit voltage (Voc) and 86 µA short circuit current (Isc), which were 2.12 and 1.87 times greater in contrast to bare PVDF-TPU TENG. Moreover, the as-fabricated PVDF-TPU/Au TENG was tested against variable capacitors and resistive load, and the results showed that with a 3.2 x 2.5 cm2 active contact area, it can quick charge up to 7.64 V within 30 seconds using a 1.0 µF capacitor and generate significant 2.54 mW power, enough to light 75 commercial LEDs (1.5 V each) by the hand tapping motion at 4 Hz (240 beats per minutes (bpm)) load frequency. Furthermore, the TENG was attached to different body parts to capture distinctive electrical signals for various body movements, elucidated the prospective usability of our prepared nanofiber-based TENG in wearable body motion sensor application.

Keywords: biomotion sensor, forcespinning, nanofibers, triboelectric nanogenerator

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Authors: Sanjeev Sharma

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We are living in the information age. Information is not only important to an individual but also to researchers, scientists, academicians and all others who are doing work in their respective fields. The 21st century which is also known as the electronic era has brought several changes in the mechanism of the libraries in their working environment. In the present scenario, acquisition of information resources and implementation of new strategies have brought a revolution in the library’s structures and their principles. In the digital era, the role of the library has become important as new information is coming at every minute. The knowledge society wants to seek information at their desk. The libraries are managing electronic services and web-based information sources constantly in a democratic way. The basic objective of every library is to save the time of user which is based on the quality and user-orientation of services. With the advancement of information communication and technology, the libraries should pay more devotion to the development trends of the information society that would help to adjust their development strategies and information needs of the knowledge society. The knowledge-based society demands to re-define the position and objectives of all the institutions which work with information, knowledge, and culture. The situation is the era of digital India is changing at a fast speed. Everyone wants information 24x7 and libraries have been recognized as one of the key elements for open access to information, which is crucial not only to individual but also to democratic knowledge-based information society. Libraries are especially important now a day the whole concept of education is focusing more and more independent e-learning and their acting. The citizens of India must be able to find and use the relevant information. Here we can see libraries enter the stage: The essential features of libraries are to acquire, organize, store and retrieve for use and preserve publicly available material irrespective of the print as well as non-print form in which it is packaged in such a way that, when it is needed, it can be found and put to use.

Keywords: knowledge, society, libraries, culture

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Authors: Gopika Rajagopal, Sudheesh Thiyyakkandi

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Back-to-back reinforced earth (RE) walls are extensively used in these days as bridge abutments and highway ramps, owing to their cost efficiency and ease of construction. High quality select fill is the most suitable backfill material due to its excellent engineering properties and constructability. However, industries are compelled to use low quality, locally available soil because of its ample availability on site. However, several failure cases of such walls are reported, especially subsequent to rainfall events. The stiffness of reinforcement is one of the major factors affecting the performance of RE walls. The present study focused on analyzing the effect of reinforcement stiffness on the performance of complete select fill, complete marginal fill, and hybrid-fill (i.e., combination of select and marginal fills) back-to-back RE walls, immediately after construction and upon rainwater infiltration through finite element modelling. A constant width to height (W/H) ratio of 3 and height (H) of 6 m was considered for the numerical analysis and the stiffness of reinforcement layers was varied from 500 kN/m to 10000 kN/m. Results showed that reinforcement stiffness had a noticeable influence on the response of RE wall, subsequent to construction as well as rainwater infiltration. Facing displacement was found to decrease and maximum reinforcement tension and factor of safety were observed to increase with increasing the stiffness of reinforcement. However, beyond a stiffness of 5000 kN/m, no significant reduction in facing displacement was observed. The behavior of fully marginal fill wall considered in this study was found to be reasonable even after rainwater infiltration when the high stiffness reinforcement layers are used.

Keywords: back-to-back reinforced earth wall, finite element modelling, rainwater infiltration, reinforcement stiffness

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Authors: Eman A. Alghamdi, A. M. Aldhafiri

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It was found that the induce an isolated dopant close to the middle of the bandgap by occupying the Cd position in the CdTe lattice structure is an efficient factor in reducing the nonradiative recombination rate and increasing the solar efficiency. According to our laboratory results, this work has been carried out to obtain the effect of substrate temperature on the CdTe0.6Sn0.4 prepared by thermal evaporation technique for photovoltaic application. Various substrate temperature (25°C, 100°C, 150°C, 200°C, 250°C and 300°C) was applied. Sn-doped CdTe thin films on a glass substrate at a different substrate temperature were made using CdTe and SnTe powders by the thermal evaporation technique. The structural properties of the prepared samples were determined using Raman, x-Ray Diffraction. Spectroscopic ellipsometry and spectrophotometric measurements were conducted to extract the optical constants as a function of substrate temperature. The structural properties of the grown films show hexagonal and cubic mixed structures and phase change has been reported. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reviled that a homogenous with a bigger grain size was obtained at 250°C substrate temperature. The conductivity measurements were recorded as a function of substrate temperatures. The open-circuit voltage was improved by controlling the substrate temperature due to the improvement of the fundamental material issues such as recombination and low carrier concentration. All the result was explained and discussed on the biases of the influences of the Sn dopant and the substrate temperature on the structural, optical and photovoltaic characteristics.

Keywords: CdTe, conductivity, photovoltaic, ellipsometry

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Authors: Ni Luh Putu Harta Wedari

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Background: Clostridium difficile has two main virulence factors, namely TcdA and TcdB. TcdA encoded by the tcdA gene acts as an enterotoxin, pro-inflammatory and fluid accumulation, while TcdB encoded by the tcdB gene is cytotoxic, causes disruption of the actin cytoskeleton, and causes disruption of tight junctions in colon cells. This study aims to explore the relationship between the tcdA and tcdB genes and the duration of diarrhea in elderly patients. Method: This research was an observational analytic with a prospective cross-sectional with samples of elderly diarrhea patients who met the inclusion criteria in Denpasar City health service facilities from 1 December 2022 until 30 June 2023, and then their feces were analyzed using the real-time PCR method. Results: In this study, 40 elderly diarrhea patients met the inclusion criteria and in accordance with the minimum sample size, 28 (70%) men and 12 (30%) women. 5 patients (12.5%) had a history of azithromycin, 4 (10%) levofloxacin, 17 (42.5%) ciprofloxacin, 8 (20%) metronidazole, 1 (2.5%) cefoperazone, 5 (12, 5%) doxycycline. Comorbids, namely 13 (32.5%) type II diabetes mellitus, 4 (10%) chronic kidney disease, 10 (25%) malignancies, 7 (17.5%) urinary tract infections, 3 (7.5%) %) immunocompromised, 2 (5%) cardiac heart failure, and 1 (2.5%) acute on chronic kidney disease. The overall diarrhea duration average was 5 days. 8 samples (20%) were positive for 16s rRNA, and there was no significant difference in diarrhea duration with negative samples (p=0.166). The relationship between the tcdA gene and the duration of diarrhea could not be performed because all samples were negative. Likewise, relationship analysis between the coexistence of tcdA and tcdB could not be performed. There was no significant difference between tcdB positive 3 (7.5%) and negative with diarrhea duration (p=0.739). Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between the presence of the 16s rRNA and tcdB C. difficile genes with the duration of diarrhea in elderly patients.

Keywords: clostridium, difficile, diarrhea, elderly, tcdA, tcdB

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Authors: R. Hassan, J. Duncombe, E. Darke, A. Dias, K. Anderson, R. G. Middleton

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Background: NHS England has set itself the task of delivering a “Net Zero” National Health service by 2040. It is incumbent upon all health care practioners to work towards this goal. Orthopaedic surgeons are no exception. Distal radial fractures are the most common fractures sustained by the adult population. However, studiesare shortcoming on individual patient experience. The aim of this study was to assess the patient’ssatisfaction and outcomes with woodcast used in the conservative management of distal radius fractures. Methods: For all patients managed with woodcast in our unit, we undertook a structured questionnairethat included the Patient Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) score, The EQ-5D-5L score, and the pain numerical score at the time of injury and six weeks after. Results: 30 patients were initially managed with woodcast.80% of patients tolerated woodcast for the full duration of their treatment. Of these, 20% didn’t tolerate woodcast and had their casts removed within 48 hours. Of the remaining, 79.1% were satisfied about woodcast comfort, 66% were very satisfied about woodcast weight, 70% were satisfied with temperature and sweatiness, 62.5% were very satisfied about the smell/odour, and 75% were satisfied about the level of support woodcast provided. During their treatment, 83.3% of patients rated their pain as five or less. Conclusion: For those who completed their treatment in woodcast, none required any further intervention or utilised the open appointment because of ongoing wrist problems. In conclusion, when woodcast is tolerated, patients’ satisfaction and outcome levels were good. However, we acknowledged 20% of patients in our series were not able to tolerate woodacst, Therefore, we suggest a comparison between the widely used synthetic plaster of Pariscasting and woodcast to come in order.

Keywords: distal radius fractures, ecological cast, sustainability, woodcast

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Authors: Ezeugwunne Ifeoma Priscilla, Charles Chinedum Onyenekwe, Joseph Eberendu Ahaneku, Rosemary Adanma Analike, Adesuwa Peace Eidangbe

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This study was designed to assess the effect of malaria parasitaemia on serum reproductive hormone levels of asymptomatic HIV adult subjects. A total of 271 participants aged between 17 and 58 ears were conveniently recruited. 135 asymptomatic HIV-infected subjects participated in the study; 67 of them had malaria parasitaemia. 136 HIV seropositive control subjects, 68 of them had malaria parasitaemia. Blood samples were collected from the participants for the determination of HIV status by immunoassay and immunochromatography. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to assay for serum LH, FSH, Estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, prolactin, and PSA levels, CD4+T cell counts by Cyflow method, thick and thin films determination of malaria parasitaemia count and density by WHO. Student's t-tests and ANOVA were used to compare means. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. The results showed significant differences in serum levels of LH, FSH, PSA, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone amongst the groups at P<0.05, respectively. The serum levels of LH, FSH, and PSA were significantly higher in malaria-infected asymptomatic HIV subjects than in asymptomatic HIV subjects with malaria parasitaemia (P<0.05 in each case). Also, the serum levels of LH, FSH, PSA, estrogen, and progesterone were significantly higher in malaria-infected asymptomatic HIV subjects compared with malaria-infected HIV seronegative subjects (P<0.05, respectively). The mean MP counts and MP density were significantly higher in asymptomatic HIV subjects compared to HIV seronegative subjects (P<0.05, in each case). The mean serum levels of testosterone were significantly lower in both malaria-infected and malaria uninfected HIV seronegative subjects (P<0.05, in each case). In conclusion, Malaria and HIV co-infection might increase the burden of hypogonadism as well as primary testicular failure, hyperprogesteronaemia, elevated levels of estrogen, and PSA in adult males asymptomatic HIV subjects.

Keywords: malaria parasitaemia, HIV, CD4, reproductive hormones

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Authors: Chong Zhang, Guoming Tang, Bin Ge, Jiuyang Tang

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With the fast growing road traffic and increasingly severe traffic congestion, more and more citizens choose to use the public transportation for daily travelling. Meanwhile, the shared bike provides a convenient option for the first and last mile to the public transit. As of 2016, over one thousand cities around the world have deployed the bike-sharing system. The combination of these two transportations have stimulated the development of each other and made significant contribution to the reduction of carbon footprint. A lot of work has been done on mining the riding behaviors in various bike-sharing systems. Most of them, however, treated the bike-sharing system as an isolated system and thus their results provide little reference for the public transit construction and optimization. In this work, we treat the bike-sharing and public transit as a whole and investigate the customers’ bike-and-ride behaviors. Specifically, we develop a spatio-temporal traffic delivery model to study the riding patterns between the two transportation systems and explore the traffic characteristics (e.g., distributions of customer arrival/departure and traffic peak hours) from the time and space dimensions. During the model construction and evaluation, we make use of large open datasets from real-world bike-sharing systems (the CitiBike in New York, GoBike in San Francisco and BIXI in Montreal) along with corresponding public transit information. The developed two-dimension traffic model, as well as the mined bike-and-ride behaviors, can provide great help to the deployment of next-generation intelligent transportation systems.

Keywords: riding pattern mining, bike-sharing system, public transportation, bike-and-ride behavior

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Authors: Waddah S. Abdullah, Saleh M. Al-Sarem

Abstract:

Electrokinetic remediation of contaminated soils has undoubtedly proven to be one of the most efficient techniques used to clean up soils contaminated with polar contaminants (such as heavy metals) and nonpolar organic contaminants. It can efficiently be used to clean up low permeability mud, wastewater, electroplating wastes, sludge, and marine dredging. EK processes have proved to be superior to other conventional methods, such as the pump and treat, and soil washing, since these methods are ineffective in such cases. This paper describes the use of electrokinetic remediation to clean up soils contaminated with nickel. Open cells, as well as advanced cylindrical cells, were used to perform electrokinetic experiments. Azraq green clay (low permeability soil, taken from the east part of Jordan) was used for the experiments. The clayey soil was spiked with 500 ppm of nickel. The EK experiments were conducted under direct current of 80 mA and 50 mA. Chelating agents (NaEDTA), disodium ethylene diamine-tetra-ascetic acid was used to enhance the electroremediation processes. The effect of carbonates presence in soils was, also, investigated by use of sodium carbonate. pH changes in the anode and the cathode compartments were controlled by using buffer solutions. The results showed that the average removal efficiency was 64%, for the Nickel spiked saturated clayey soil.Experiment results have shown that carbonates retarded the remediation process of nickel contaminated soils. Na-EDTA effectively enhanced the decontamination process, with removal efficiency increased from 64% without using the NaEDTA to over 90% after using Na-EDTA.

Keywords: buffer solution, contaminated soils, EDTA enhancement, electrokinetic processes, Nickel contaminated soil, soil remediation

Procedia PDF Downloads 246

Authors: B. E. Tarazona-Romero, J. G. Ascanio-Villabona, O. Lengerke-Perez, A. D. Rincon-Quintero, C. L. Sandoval-Rodriguez

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Desalination offers solutions for the shortage of water in the world, however, the process of eliminating salts generates a by-product known as brine, generally eliminated in the environment through techniques that mitigate its impact. Brine treatment techniques are vital to developing an environmentally sustainable desalination process. Consequently, this document evaluates three different geometric configurations of solar stills as an alternative for brine treatment to be integrated into a low-scale desalination process. The geometric scenarios to be studied were selected because they have characteristics that adapt to the concept of appropriate technology; low cost, intensive labor and material resources for local manufacturing, modularity, and simplicity in construction. Additionally, the conceptual design of the collectors was carried out, and the ray tracing methodology was applied through the open access software SolTrace and Tonatiuh. The simulation process used 600.00 rays and modified two input parameters; direct normal radiation (DNI) and reflectance. In summary, for the scenarios evaluated, the ladder-type distiller presented higher efficiency values compared to the pyramid-type and single-slope collectors. Finally, the efficiency of the collectors studied was directly related to their geometry, that is, large geometries allow them to receive a greater number of solar rays in various paths, affecting the efficiency of the device.

Keywords: appropriate technology, brine treatment techniques, desalination, monte carlo ray tracing

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