Search results for: respiratory frequency band

Authors: Supattra Kanchanopast

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The purpose of this research was to study the customers’ behavioral trend for online accommodation system at Bangkonthi District, Samutsongkhram province. The research collected data from 400 online users. A questionnaire was utilized as the tool in collecting information. Descriptive statistics included frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Independent- sample t- test, analysis of variance and Pearson Correlation were also used. The findings of this research revealed that the majority of the respondents were male, 25-32 years old, and graduated a bachelor degree. The respondents mostly worked in private sectors and had monthly income between 10,001-15,000 baht. The regular online users, visiting this system between 3-4 times/month, spending 1-2 hours/time, searched for online accommodation information. This result showed that the users had good and high attitude towards the system. According to the hypothesis testing, the number of online usage had positive related to the behavioral trends: accommodation purchasing intention and recommend the accommodation to others. Furthermore, both the number of online usage and overall attitude had a significant correlation to accommodation purchase intention and recommend the accommodation to others.

Keywords: customer behavior, information system management, online accommodation services, behavioral trend

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Authors: Tadesse Abera

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This study aimed to investigate the contribution of self-advocacy and engagement in the inclusion of SWDs in HEIs. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was employed. This article reports the quantitative strand. A total of 246 SWDs were selected through stratified proportionate random sampling technique from five public HEIs in Ethiopia. Data were collected through Self-advocacy questionnaire, student engagement scale, and college student experience questionnaire and analyzed through frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, correlation, one sample t-test and multiple regression. Both self-advocacy and engagement were found to have a predictive power on inclusion of respondents in the HEIs, where engagement was found to be more predictor. From the components of self-advocacy, knowledge of self and leadership and from engagement dimensions sense of belonging, cognitive, and valuing in their respective orders were found to have a stronger predictive power on the inclusion of respondents in the institutions. Based on the findings it was concluded that, if students with disabilities work hard to be self-determined, strive for realizing social justice, exert quality effort and seek active involvement, their inclusion in the institutions would be ensured.

Keywords: self-advocacy, engagement, inclusion, students with disabilities, higher education institution

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Authors: Ali Akbar Zeinali

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Lack of appropriate equivalences for the terms or technical words is the result of ineffective translation guidelines adopted in the translation processes. The increasing number of foreign words and specific terms incorporated into the native language are due to the ongoing development of technology and science. Many problems appear in medical translation when the Persian translators try to employ non-Persian or imported words in medical texts, in which multiple equivalents may be created for one particular word based on the individual preferences of authors and translators in the target language due to lack of standardization. The study attempted to discuss the findings based on the compatibility of the international naming criteria, considering the translation procedures. About 67% of 339 equivalents under this study were grouped as incompatible words while about 33% of them were compatible terms. The similarities and differences were investigated and discussed according to the compatibility status of the equivalents with Sager’s criteria. Such equivalents have been classified into several groups through bi-dimensional descriptions that were different features of translation procedures related to the international naming criteria. In review of the frequency distribution of compatibilities, the equivalents were divided into two categories of compatibles and incompatibles, indicating the effectiveness of the applied translation procedures.

Keywords: linguistics, medical translation, naming, terminology

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Authors: Mohammad Y. Alfaifi

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Methidathion (MTD) (Trade name Supracide®) is a non-systemic organophosphorus insecticide used intensively worldwide including Saudi Arabia. However, there is a lack in published studies about it's genotoxicity. In this study we evaluated MTD toxicity in rat bone marrow cells (in vivo) and in lymphocytes (in vitro) using different doses based on LD50. MNNCE (Micronucleated normocromatic erythrocytes) and MNPCE (Micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes), NDI (Nuclear division index) and NDCI (nuclear division cytotoxicity index), necrotic and apoptotic cells were recorded in rat's bone marrow samples. CA, MI (number of cells undergoing mitosis) necrotic, and apoptotic cells recorded in lymphocytes. Results showed that there was a slight increase in the frequency of micronucleated bone marrow cells. However, no structural chromosomal aberrations were detected in vivo or in vitro. On the other hand, the results showed significant increase in necrotic and apoptotic cells following MTD administration in a dose-dependent manner comparing to positive and negative control groups. In light of these results, MTD can be considered highly cytotoxic and moderate genotoxic, and precaution should be taken when using MTD.

Keywords: methidathion, micronucleus, NDI, NDCI, toxicity, chromosomal aberrations

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Authors: Néné Gallé Kide, Mamadou Dia, Lemhaba Ould Yarba, Youssouf Kone, Fatimetou Mint Khalil, Hajar Bouksir, Ghislane Salhi, Younès Saoud

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The diet of Sarotherodon melanotheron and Tilapia guineensis were investigated in the National Park of Banc d'Arguin (PNBA) from September 2012 to October 2013. A total of 499 individuals ranging in size between 219 and 400 mm total length of S. melanotheron (253 males and 246 females), and 280 individuals of T.guineensis (229 males and 51 females) ranged between 180 and 424mm total length. We used for studying the feeding habits of both two species the frequency of occurrence method. The coefficient of emptiness was 40.88% for S. melanotheron and 38.57% for T. guineensis. Both two species were herbivorous and very close feedings. Their diet consists of Seagrass, green, red, blue, and brown algae, diatoms, gastropods, bivalves, Crustaceans, and mud. The Seagrass and green algae were prey preference of these two species. The diet feeding showed that the composition varies slightly depending on the season and size of individuals.

Keywords: Cichlidae, trophic ecology, National park, Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania

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Authors: Theo Ndereyimana, Yann Dufresne, Micael Boulet, Stephane Moreau

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The DEM (Discrete Element Method) is used a lot in the industry to simulate large-scale flows of particles; for instance, in a fluidized bed, it allows to predict of the trajectory of every particle. One of the main limits of the DEM is the computational time. The CGM (Coarse-Graining Method) has been developed to tackle this issue. The goal is to increase the size of the particle and, by this means, decrease the number of particles. The method leads to a reduction of the collision frequency due to the reduction of the number of particles. Multiple characteristics of the particle movement and the fluid flow - when there is a coupling between DEM and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The main characteristic that is impacted is the energy dissipation of the system, to regain the dissipation, an ADM (Additional Dissipative Mechanism) can be added to the model. The objective of this current work is to observe the influence of the choice of the ADM and the factor of coarse-graining on the numerical results. These results will be compared with experimental results of a fluidized bed and with a numerical model of the same fluidized bed without using the CGM. The numerical model is one of a 3D cylindrical fluidized bed with 9.6M Geldart B-type particles in a bubbling regime.

Keywords: additive dissipative mechanism, coarse-graining, discrete element method, fluidized bed

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Authors: Mohamed Hafid, Marcel Lacroix

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This study aimed at developing an inverse heat transfer approach for predicting the time-varying freezing front and the temperature distribution of tumors during cryosurgery. Using a temperature probe pressed against the layer of tumor, the inverse approach is able to predict simultaneously the metabolic heat generation and the blood perfusion rate of the tumor. Once these parameters are predicted, the temperature-field and time-varying freezing fronts are determined with the direct model. The direct model rests on one-dimensional Pennes bioheat equation. The phase change problem is handled with the enthalpy method. The Levenberg-Marquardt Method (LMM) combined to the Broyden Method (BM) is used to solve the inverse model. The effect (a) of the thermal properties of the diseased tissues; (b) of the initial guesses for the unknown thermal properties; (c) of the data capture frequency; and (d) of the noise on the recorded temperatures is examined. It is shown that the proposed inverse approach remains accurate for all the cases investigated.

Keywords: cryosurgery, inverse heat transfer, Levenberg-Marquardt method, thermal properties, Pennes model, enthalpy method

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Authors: Shun Horikoshi, Tohru Kawabe

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This study presents performance analysis results of SMC (Sliding mode control) with changing the chattering functions applied to slip suppression problem of electric vehicles (EVs). In SMC, chattering phenomenon always occurs through high frequency switching of the control inputs. It is undesirable phenomenon and degrade the control performance, since it causes the oscillations of the control inputs. Several studies have been conducted on this problem by introducing some general saturation function. However, study about whether saturation function was really best and the performance analysis when using the other functions, weren’t being done so much. Therefore, in this paper, several candidate functions for SMC are selected and control performance of candidate functions is analyzed. In the analysis, evaluation function based on the trade-off between slip suppression performance and chattering reduction performance is proposed. The analyses are conducted in several numerical simulations of slip suppression problem of EVs. Then, we can see that there is no difference of employed candidate functions in chattering reduction performance. On the other hand, in slip suppression performance, the saturation function is excellent overall. So, we conclude the saturation function is most suitable for slip suppression sliding mode control.

Keywords: sliding mode control, chattering function, electric vehicle, slip suppression, performance analysis

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Authors: Mohamed Abdelkareem

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Remote sensing data contributed on predicting the prospective areas of water resources. Integration of microwave and multispectral data along with climatic, hydrologic, and geological data has been used here. In this article, Sentinel-2, Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array Type L‐band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data were utilized to identify the geological, hydrologic and structural features of Wadi Asyuti which represents a defunct tributary of the Nile basin, in the eastern Sahara. The image transformation of Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 data allowed characterizing the different varieties of rock units. Integration of microwave remotely-sensed data and GIS techniques provided information on physical characteristics of catchments and rainfall zones that are of a crucial role for mapping groundwater prospective zones. A fused Landsat-8 OLI and ALOS/PALSAR data improved the structural elements that difficult to reveal using optical data. Lineament extraction and interpretation indicated that the area is clearly shaped by the NE-SW graben that is cut by NW-SE trend. Such structures allowed the accumulation of thick sediments in the downstream area. Processing of recent OLI data acquired on March 15, 2014, verified the flood potential maps and offered the opportunity to extract the extent of the flooding zone of the recent flash flood event (March 9, 2014), as well as revealed infiltration characteristics. Several layers including geology, slope, topography, drainage density, lineament density, soil characteristics, rainfall, and morphometric characteristics were combined after assigning a weight for each using a GIS-based knowledge-driven approach. The results revealed that the predicted groundwater potential zones (GPZs) can be arranged into six distinctive groups, depending on their probability for groundwater, namely very low, low, moderate, high very, high, and excellent. Field and well data validated the delineated zones.

Keywords: GIS, remote sensing, groundwater, Egypt

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Authors: Marylene N. Tizon

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English instructors pay attention on errors committed by students as errors show whether they know or master their oral skills and what difficulties they may have in the process of learning the English language. This descriptive quantitative study aimed at identifying and categorizing the oral presentation errors of the purposively chosen 118 English 2A students enrolled during the first semester of school year 2013 – 2014. The analysis of the data for this study was undertaken using the errors committed by the students in their presentation. Marking and classifying of errors were made by first classifying them into linguistic grammatical errors then all errors were categorized further into Surface Structure Errors Taxonomy with the use of Frequency and Percentage distribution. From the analysis of the data, the researcher found out: Errors in tenses of the verbs (71 or 16%) and in addition 167 or 37% were most frequently uttered by the students. And Question and negation mistakes (12 or 3%) and misordering errors (28 or 7%) were least frequently enunciated by the students. Thus, the respondents in this study most frequently enunciated errors in tenses and in addition while they uttered least frequently the errors in question, negation, and misordering.

Keywords: grammatical error, oral presentation error, surface structure errors taxonomy, descriptive quantitative design, Philippines, Asia

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Authors: Nader Ghareeb, Rüdiger Schmidt

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Minimizing the weight in flexible structures means reducing material and costs as well. However, these structures could become prone to vibrations. Attenuating these vibrations has become a pivotal engineering problem that shifted the focus of many research endeavors. One technique to do that is to design and implement an active control system. This system is mainly composed of a vibrating structure, a sensor to perceive the vibrations, an actuator to counteract the influence of disturbances, and finally a controller to generate the appropriate control signals. In this work, two different techniques are explored to create two different mathematical models of an active control system. The first model is a finite element model with a reduced number of nodes and it is called a super-element. The second model is in the form of state-space representation, i.e. a set of partial differential equations. The damping coefficients are calculated and incorporated into both models. The effectiveness of these models is demonstrated when the system is excited by its first natural frequency and an active control strategy is developed and implemented to attenuate the resulting vibrations. Results from both modeling techniques are presented and compared.

Keywords: damping coefficients, finite element analysis, super-element, state-space model

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Authors: Lakmini Wijesooriya, Vicki Chalker, Jessica Day, Priyantha Perera, N. P. Sunil-Chandra

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M. pneumoniae has been identified as an etiology for exacerbation of asthma (EQA), although viruses play a major role in EOA. M. pneumoniae infection is treated empirically with macrolides, and its antibiotic sensitivity is not detected routinely. Characterization of the organism by genotyping and determination of macrolide resistance is important epidemiologically as it guides the empiric antibiotic treatment. To date, there is no such characterization of M. pneumoniae performed in Sri Lanka. The present study describes the characterization of M. pneumoniae detected from a child with EOA following a screening of 100 children with EOA. Of the hundred children with EOA, M. pneumoniae was identified only in one child by Real-Time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for identifying the community-acquired respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS) toxin nucleotide sequences. The M. pneumoniae identified from this patient underwent detection of macrolide resistance via conventional PCR, amplifying and sequencing the region of the 23S rDNA gene that contains single nucleotide polymorphisms that confer resistance. Genotyping of the isolate was performed via nested Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) in which eight (8) housekeeping genes (ppa, pgm, gyrB, gmk, glyA, atpA, arcC, and adk) were amplified via nested PCR followed by gene sequencing and analysis. As per MLST analysis, the M. pneumoniae was identified as sequence type 14 (ST14), and no mutations that confer resistance were detected. Resistance to macrolides in M. pneumoniae is an increasing problem globally. Establishing surveillance systems is the key to informing local prescriptions. In the absence of local surveillance data, antibiotics are started empirically. If the relevant microbiological samples are not obtained before antibiotic therapy, as in most occasions in children, the course of antibiotic is completed without a microbiological diagnosis. This happens more frequently in therapy for M. pneumoniae which is treated with a macrolide in most patients. Hence, it is important to understand the macrolide sensitivity of M. pneumoniae in the setting. The M. pneumoniae detected in the present study was macrolide sensitive. Further studies are needed to examine a larger dataset in Sri Lanka to determine macrolide resistance levels to inform the use of macrolides in children with EOA. The MLST type varies in different geographical settings, and it also provides a clue to the existence of macrolide resistance. The present study enhances the database of the global distribution of different genotypes of M. pneumoniae as this is the first such characterization performed with the increased number of samples to determine macrolide resistance level in Sri Lanka. M. pneumoniae detected from a child with exacerbation of asthma in Sri Lanka was characterized as ST14 by MLST and no mutations that confer resistance were detected.

Keywords: mycoplasma pneumoniae, Sri Lanka, characterization, macrolide resistance

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Authors: Jake Tempo, Georgina Williams, Iain Robertson, Claire Pascoe, Darren Rama, Richard Cetti

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Introduction: The twelfth rib is commonly used as a landmark for surgery; however, its variability in length has not been formally studied. The highly variable rib length provides a challenge for urologists seeking a consistent landmark for percutaneous nephrolithotomy and retroperitoneoscopic surgery. Methods and materials: We analysed CT scans of 100 adults who had imaging between 23rd March and twelfth April 2020 at an Australian Hospital. We measured the distance from the mid-sagittal line to the twelfth rib tip in the axial plane as a surrogate for true rib length. We also measured the distance from the twelfth rib tip to the kidney, spleen, and liver. Results: Length from the mid-sagittal line to the right twelfth rib tip varied from 46 (percentile 95%CI 40 to 57) to 136mm (percentile 95%CI 133 to 138). On the left, the distances varied from 55 (percentile 95%CI 50 to 64) to 134mm (percentile 95%CI 131 to 135). Twenty-three percent of people had an organ lying between the tip of the twelfth rib and the kidney on the right, and 11% of people had the same finding on the left. Conclusion: The twelfth rib is highly variable in its length. Similar variability was recorded in the distance from the tip to intra-abdominal organs. Due to the frequency of organs lying between the tip of the rib and the kidney, it should not be used as a landmark for accessing the kidney without prior knowledge of an individual patient’s anatomy, as seen on imaging.

Keywords: PCNL, rib, anatomy, nephrolithotomy

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Authors: X. L. Zhou, S. Tunmee, I. Toda, K. Komatsu, S. Ohshio, H. Saitoh

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Hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films have been synthesized by a radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (rf-PECVD) technique with different bias voltage from 0.0 to -0.5 kV. The Raman spectra displayed the polymer-like hydrogenated amorphous carbon (PLCH) film with 0.0 to -0.1 and a-C:H films with -0.2 to -0.5 kV of bias voltages. The surface chemical information of all films were studied by X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) technique, presented to C-C (sp2 and sp3) and C-O bonds, and relative carbon (C) and oxygen (O) atomics contents. The O contamination had affected on structure and optical properties. The true density of PLCH and a-C:H films were characterized by X-ray refractivity (XRR) method, showed the result as in the range of 1.16-1.73 g/cm3 that depending on an increasing of bias voltage. The hardness was proportional to the true density of films. In addition, the optical properties i.e. refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) of these films were determined by a spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) method that give formation to in 1.62-2.10 (n) and 0.04-0.15 (k) respectively. These results indicated that the optical properties confirmed the Raman results as presenting the structure changed with applied bias voltage increased.

Keywords: negative bias voltage, a-C:H film, oxygen contamination, optical properties

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Authors: Sun Li-Ping, Zhu Jian-Xun, Liu Sheng-Nan

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In order to study the performance of dynamic positioning system during S-lay operations, dynamic positioning system is simulated with the hull-stinger-pipe coupling effect. The roller of stinger is simulated by the generalized elastic contact theory. The stinger is composed of Morrison members. Force on pipe is calculated by lumped mass method. Time domain of fully coupled barge model is analyzed combining with PID controller, Kalman filter and allocation of thrust using Sequential Quadratic Programming method. It is also analyzed that the effect of hull wave frequency motion on pipe-stinger coupling force and dynamic positioning system. Besides, it is studied that how S-lay operations affect the dynamic positioning accuracy. The simulation results are proved to be available by checking pipe stress with API criterion. The effect of heave and yaw motion cannot be ignored on hull-stinger-pipe coupling force and dynamic positioning system. It is important to decrease the barge’s pitch motion and lay pipe in head sea in order to improve safety of the S-lay installation and dynamic positioning.

Keywords: S-lay operation, dynamic positioning, coupling motion, time domain, allocation of thrust

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Authors: Diane Ezeh-Aruah

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This study examined newspaper coverage of President Muhammadu Buhar’s anti-corruption crusade, a case study of Guardian, Nation, Sun and Vanguard newspapers. It assessed the frequency of coverage given to President Buhari’s war against corruption, the prominence of coverage, the angles/framing of topics and the direction of the news stories. The determinants of the prominence of coverage were page placement, length of the story, illustrations and story types. The author made use of agenda setting and framing theories. The research was carried through the method of survey, by distribution of copies of the questionnaire. The result of this study showed that the media gave adequate coverage of President Buhari’s anti-corruption war, even though the reports were not many in the early stages of the law enactment, but the coverages lacked prominence as most of the major stories were not given front page coverage; they lacked pictorial illustrations and not exhaustive enough to be impactful. Newspaper organizations are therefore encouraged to include humanistic angles in their corruption stories rather than focus highly on political angles. They should adopt the elements of investigative and interpretative journalism in their coverage of corruption news.

Keywords: newspaper, coverage, president Muhammadu Buhari, anti-corruption campaign

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Authors: S. H. Allehyani, H. S. Ibrahim, F. M. Ali, E. Sayd, T. Abou Aiad

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The present study aimed to analyse the radiation risk associated with the exposure of haemoglobin (Hb) of rat red blood cells (rbcs) exposed to a 50-Hz 6-kV/m electric field, a fast neutron dose of 1 mSv, and mixed radiation from fast neutrons and an electric field distributed over a period of three weeks at a rate of 5 days/week and 8 hours/day. The dielectric measurements and the absorption spectra for the haemoglobin molecule in the frequency range of 1 kHz to 5 MHz were measured for all of the samples. The dielectric relaxation results demonstrated an increase in the dielectric increment (∆ε) for the rbcs from all of the irradiated animals, which indicates an increase in the electric dipole. Moreover, the results revealed a decrease in the relaxation time (τ) and the molecular radius (r) of the irradiated molecules, which indicates that the increase in ∆ε is mainly due to a pronounced increase in the centre of mass of the charge on the electric dipole of the Hb molecule. The results from the absorption spectra indicate that the ratio of met-haemoglobin to oxy-haemoglobin is altered by irradiation. Moreover, the results from the delayed effect studies show that the structure and function of the newly generated Hb molecules are altered and dissimilar to that of healthy Hb.

Keywords: rat red blood cell haemoglobin, dielectric properties, absorption spectra, biochemical analysis

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Authors: Erfan Ghasemi, Mohammadreza Khani, Hamidreza Mahmoudi, Mohammad Ali Nilforoushzadeh, Babak Shokri, Pouria Akbartehrani

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Given the global significance of treating infectious wounds, the goal of this study is to use spark plasma as a new treatment for infectious wounds. To generate spark plasma, a high-voltage (7 kV) and high-frequency (75 kHz) source was used. Infectious wounds in the peritoneum of mice were divided into control and plasma-treated groups at random. The plasma-treated animals received plasma radiation every 4 days for 12 days, for 60 seconds each time. On the 15th day after the first session, the wound in the plasma-treated group had completely healed. The spectra of spark plasma emission and tissue properties were studied. The mechanical resistance of the wound healed in the plasma treatment group was considerably higher than in the control group (p<0.05), according to the findings. Furthermore, histological evidence suggests that wound re-epithelialization is faster in comparison to controls. Angiogenesis and fibrosis (collagen production) were also dramatically boosted in the plasma-treated group, whereas the stage of wound healing inflammation was significantly reduced. Plasma therapy accelerated wound healing by causing considerable wound constriction. The results of this investigation show that spark plasma has an influence on the treatment of infectious wounds.

Keywords: infectious wounds, mice, spark plasma, treatment

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Authors: L. Ashok Kumar, N. Sujith Kumar

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Most of the PV systems are designed with transformer for safety purpose with galvanic isolation. However, the transformer is big, heavy and expensive. Also, it reduces the overall frequency of the conversion stage. Generally PV inverter with transformer is having efficiency around 92%–94% only. To overcome these problems, transformerless PV system is introduced. It is smaller, lighter, cheaper and higher in efficiency. However, dangerous leakage current will flow between PV array and the grid due to the stray capacitance. There are different types of configurations available for transformerless inverters like H5, H6, HERIC, oH5, and Dual paralleled buck inverter. But each configuration is suffering from its own disadvantages like high conduction losses, shoot-through issues of switches, dead-time requirements at zero crossing instants of grid voltage to avoid grid shoot-through faults and MOSFET reverse recovery issues. The main objective of the proposed transformerless inverter is to address two key issues: One key issue for a transformerless inverter is that it is necessary to achieve high efficiency compared to other existing inverter topologies. Another key issue is that the inverter configuration should not have any shoot-through issues for higher reliability.

Keywords: grid-connected, photovoltaic (PV) systems, transformerless inverter, stray capacitance, common-mode, leakage current, pulse width modulation (PWM)

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Authors: Melis Inalpulat, Levent Genc

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Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes due to human activities and natural causes have become a major environmental concern. Assessment of temporal remote sensing data provides information about LULC impacts on environment. Land Surface Temperature (LST) is one of the important components for modeling environmental changes in climatological, hydrological, and agricultural studies. In this study, LULC changes (September 7, 1984 and July 8, 2014) especially in agricultural lands together with population changes (1985-2014) and LST status were investigated using remotely sensed and census data in South Marmara Watershed, Turkey. LULC changes were determined using Landsat TM and Landsat OLI data acquired in 1984 and 2014 summers. Six-band TM and OLI images were classified using supervised classification method to prepare LULC map including five classes including Forest (F), Grazing Land (G), Agricultural Land (A), Water Surface (W), and Residential Area-Bare Soil (R-B) classes. The LST image was also derived from thermal bands of the same dates. LULC classification results showed that forest areas, agricultural lands, water surfaces and residential area-bare soils were increased as 65751 ha, 20163 ha, 1924 ha and 20462 ha respectively. In comparison, a dramatic decrement occurred in grazing land (107985 ha) within three decades. The population increased % 29 between years 1984-2014 in whole study area. Along with the natural causes, migration also caused this increase since the study area has an important employment potential. LULC was transformed among the classes due to the expansion in residential, commercial and industrial areas as well as political decisions. In the study, results showed that agricultural lands around the settlement areas transformed to residential areas in 30 years. The LST images showed that mean temperatures were ranged between 26-32 °C in 1984 and 27-33 °C in 2014. Minimum temperature of agricultural lands was increased 3 °C and reached to 23 °C. In contrast, maximum temperature of A class decreased to 41 °C from 44 °C. Considering temperatures of the 2014 R-B class and 1984 status of same areas, it was seen that mean, min and max temperatures increased by 2 °C. As a result, the dynamism of population, LULC and LST resulted in increasing mean and maximum surface temperatures, living spaces/industrial areas and agricultural lands.

Keywords: census data, landsat, land surface temperature (LST), land use land cover (LULC)

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Authors: Steven G. Sclan

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Background: Since December 2019, the world has been afflicted by the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is responsible for the condition referred to as Covid-19. The illness has had a cataclysmic impact on the political, social, economic, and overall well-being of the population of the entire globe. While Covid-19 has had a substantial universal fatality impact, it may have an even greater effect on the socioeconomic, medical well-being, and healthcare planning for remaining societies. Significance: As these numbers illustrate, many more persons survive the infection than die from it, and many of those patients have noted ongoing, persistent symptoms after successfully enduring the acute phase of the illness. Recognition and understanding of these symptoms are crucial for developing and arranging efficacious models of care for all patients (whether or not having been hospitalized) surviving acute covid illness and plagued by post-acute symptoms. Furthermore, regarding Covid infection in children (< 18 y/o), although it may be that Covid “+” children are not major vectors of infective transmission, it now appears that many more children than initially thought are carrying the virus without accompanying obvious symptomatic expression. It seems reasonable to wonder whether viral effects occur in children – those children who are Covid “+” and now asymptomatic – and if, over time, they might also experience similar symptoms. An even more significant question is whether Covid “+” asymptomatic children might manifest increased multiple health problems as they grow – i.e., developmental complications (e.g., physical/medical, metabolic, neurobehavioral, etc.) – in comparison to children who had been consistently Covid “ - ” during the pandemic. Topics Addressed and Theoretical Importance: This review is important because of the description of both quantitative and qualitative methods for clinical and biomedical research. Topics reviewed will consider the importance of well-designed, comprehensive (i.e., quantitative and qualitative methods) longitudinal studies of Post Covid-19 symptoms in both adults and children. Also reviewed will be general characteristics of longitudinal studies and a presentation of a model for a proposed study. Also discussed will be the benefit of longitudinal studies for the development of efficacious interventions and for the establishment of cogent, practical, and efficacious community healthcare service planning for post-acute covid patients. Conclusion: Results of multi-dimensional, longitudinal studies will have important theoretical implications. These studies will help to improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of long COVID and will aid in the identification of potential targets for treatment. Such studies can also provide valuable insights into the long-term impact of COVID-19 on public health and socioeconomics.

Keywords: COVID-19, post-COVID-19, long COVID, longitudinal research, quantitative research, qualitative research

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Authors: Rafid Mueen, Konstantin Konstantinov, Micheal Lerch, Zhenxiang Cheng

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In the past two decades, the concern for skin protection from ultraviolet (UV) radiation has attracted considerable attention due to the increased intensity of UV rays that can reach the Earth’s surface as a result of the breakdown of ozone layer. Recently, UVA has also attracted attention, since, in comparison to UVB, it can penetrate deeply into the skin, which can result in significant health concerns. Sunscreen agents are one of the significant tools to protect the skin from UV irradiation, and it is either organic or in organic. Developing of inorganic UV blockers is essential, which provide efficient UV protection over a wide spectrum rather than organic filters. Furthermore inorganic UV blockers are good comfort, and high safety when applied on human skin. Inorganic materials can absorb, reflect, or scatter the ultraviolet radiation, depending on their particle size, unlike the organic blockers, which absorb the UV irradiation. Nowadays, most inorganic UV-blocking filters are based on (TiO2) and ZnO). ZnO can provide protection in the UVA range. Indeed, ZnO is attractive for in sunscreen formulization, and this relates to many advantages, such as its modest refractive index (2.0), absorption of a small fraction of solar radiation in the UV range which is equal to or less than 385 nm, its high probable recombination of photogenerated carriers (electrons and holes), large direct band gap, high exciton binding energy, non-risky nature, and high tendency towards chemical and physical stability which make it transparent in the visible region with UV protective activity. A significant issue for ZnO use in sunscreens is that it can generate ROS in the presence of UV light because of its photocatalytic activity. Therefore it is essential to make a non-photocatalytic material through modification by other metals. Several efforts have been made to deactivate the photocatalytic activity of ZnO by using inorganic surface modifiers. The doping of ZnO by different metals is another way to modify its photocatalytic activity. Recently, successful doping of ZnO with different metals such as Ce, La, Co, Mn, Al, Li, Na, K, and Cr by various procedures, such as a simple and facile one pot water bath, co-precipitation, hydrothermal, solvothermal, combustion, and sol gel methods has been reported. These materials exhibit greater performance than undoped ZnO towards increasing the photocatalytic activity of ZnO in visible light. Therefore, metal doping can be an effective technique to modify the ZnO photocatalytic activity. However, in the current work, we successfully reduce the photocatalytic activity of ZnO through Na doped ZnO fabricated via sol-gel and hydrothermal methods.

Keywords: photocatalytic, ROS, UVA, ZnO

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Authors: Jyoti Wadhwa, Arvinder Singh

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This work presents the theoretical investigation of an enhanced second-harmonic generation of higher-order Gaussian laser beam in plasma having a density ramp. The mechanism responsible for the self-focusing of a laser beam in plasma is considered to be the relativistic mass variation of plasma electrons under the effect of a highly intense laser beam. Using the moment theory approach and considering the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation for the non-linear Schrodinger wave equation, the differential equation is derived, which governs the spot size of the higher-order Gaussian laser beam in plasma. The nonlinearity induced by the laser beam creates the density gradient in the background plasma electrons, which is responsible for the excitation of the electron plasma wave. The large amplitude electron plasma wave interacts with the fundamental beam, which further produces the coherent radiations with double the frequency of the incident beam. The analysis shows the important role of the different modes of higher-order Gaussian laser beam and density ramp on the efficiency of generated harmonics.

Keywords: density rippled plasma, higher order Gaussian laser beam, moment theory approach, second harmonic generation.

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Authors: Doyoung Kim, Hyo Seon Park

Abstract:

Studies of System Identification(SI) based on Structural Health Monitoring(SHM) have actively conducted for structural safety. Recently SI techniques have been rapidly developed with output-only SI paradigm for estimating modal parameters. The features of these output-only SI methods consist of Frequency Domain Decomposition(FDD) and Stochastic Subspace Identification(SSI) are using the algorithms based on orthogonal decomposition such as singular value decomposition(SVD). But the SVD leads to high level of computational complexity to estimate modal parameters. This paper proposes the technique to estimate mode shape with lower computational cost. This technique shows pseudo modal Operating Deflections Shape(ODS) through bandpass filter and suggests time history Modal Assurance Criterion(MAC). Finally, mode shape could be estimated from pseudo modal ODS and time history MAC. Analytical simulations of vibration measurement were performed and the results with mode shape and computation time between representative SI method and proposed method were compared.

Keywords: modal assurance criterion, mode shape, operating deflection shape, system identification

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Authors: Ramovatar, Neeraj Panwar

Abstract:

Lead free Ba₀.₉₈Ca₀.₀₂SnxTi₁₋ₓO₃ (x = 0.01 and 0.05 mole %) ferroelectric ceramics have been synthesized by the solid-state reaction method with sintering at 1400 °C for 2 h. The room temperature x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns identified the tetragonal phase for x = 0.01 composition whereas co-existence of tetragonal and orthorhombic phases for x =0.05 composition. Raman spectroscopy results corroborated with the XRD results at room temperature. The maximum dielectric properties (ɛm ~ 8591, tanδ ~ 0.018) were obtained for the compound with x = 0.01 at 5 kHz. Further, the tetragonal to cubic (TC) transition temperature was observed at 122 °C and 102 °C for the ceramics with x =0.01 and x = 0.05, respectively. The temperature dependent P-E loops also revealed the existence of TC at these particular temperature values. The energy storage density (Ed) of both compounds was calculated from room temperature P – E loops at an applied electric field of 20 kV/cm. The maximum Ed ~ 224 kJ/m³ was achieved for the sample with x = 0.01 as compared to 164 kJ/m³ for the x =0.05 composition. The value of Ed is comparable to other BaTiO₃ based lead free ferroelectric systems. Impedance spectroscopy analysis exhibited the bulk and grain boundary contributions above 300 °C under the frequency range 100 Hz to 1 MHz. The above properties make these ceramics suitable for energy storage devices.

Keywords: dielectric properties, energy storage properties, impedance spectroscopy, lead free ceramics

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Authors: M. C. A. Leite, B. Chen-Charpentier, F. Agusto

Abstract:

A long-term goal of sustainable forest management is a relatively stable source of wood and a stable forest age-class structure has become the goal of many forest management practices. In the absence of disturbances, this forest management goal could easily be achieved. However, in the face of recurring insect outbreaks and other disruptive processes forest planning becomes more difficult, requiring knowledge of the effects on the forest of a wide variety of environmental factors (e.g., habitat heterogeneity, fire size and frequency, harvesting, insect outbreaks, and age distributions). The association between distinct forest disturbances and the potential effect on forest dynamics is a complex matter, particularly when evaluated over time and at large scale, and is not well understood. However, gaining knowledge in this area is crucial for a sustainable forest management. Mathematical modeling is a tool that can be used to broader the understanding in this area. In this talk we will introduce mathematical models formulation incorporating the effect of insect outbreaks either as a single disturbance in the forest population dynamics or coupled with other disturbances: either wildfire or harvesting. The results and ecological insights will be discussed.

Keywords: age-structured forest population, disturbances interaction, harvesting insects outbreak dynamics, mathematical modeling

Procedia PDF Downloads 522

Authors: Suchada Wongsawat

Abstract:

The objectives of this quasi-experiment were: 1) to compare pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group who were given health education on the “Fruit Diets for Elderly Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus”; and 2) to compare the posttest scores between experimental group and controlled group. The samples of this study were elderly patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus at Tambon Kanai Health Promoting Hospital, Thailand. The samples were randomly assigned to experimental and controlled groups, with 30 patients in each group. Statistics used in the data analysis included frequency, percentage, average, standard deviation, paired t-test and independent t-test. The study revealed that the patients in the experimental group had significantly higher posttest scores than the pretest scores in the health education at the .05 statistical level. The posttest scores of the experimental group in the health education were significantly higher than the controlled group at the .05 statistical level.

Keywords: fruit, health education, elderly, diabetes

Procedia PDF Downloads 279

Authors: Xuguang Leng

Abstract:

The crater pattern on the Moon indicates the Moon was captured by Earth in the more recent years, disproves the theory that the Moon was born as a satellite to the Earth. The Moon was tidal locked since it became the satellite of the Earth. Moon’s near side is shielded by Earth from asteroid/comet collisions, with the center of the near side most protected. Yet the crater pattern on the Moon is fairly random, with no distinguishable empty spot/strip, no distinguishable difference near side vs. far side. Were the Moon born as Earth’s satellite, there would be a clear crater free spot, or strip should the tial lock shifts over time, on the near side; and far more craters on the far side. The nonexistence of even a vague crater free spot on the near side of the Moon indicates the capture was a more recent event. Given Earth’s much larger mass and sphere size over the Moon, Earth should have collided with asteroids and comets in much higher frequency, resulting in significant mass gain over the lifespan. Earth’s larger mass and magnetic field are better at retaining water and gas from solar wind’s stripping effect, thus accelerating the mass gain. A dwarf planet Moon can be pulled closer and closer to the Earth over time as Earth’s gravity grows stronger, eventually being captured as a satellite. Given enough time, it is possible Earth’s mass would be large enough to cause the Moon to collide with Earth.

Keywords: moon, origin, crater, pattern

Procedia PDF Downloads 94

Authors: Quang M. Dinh

Abstract:

Stigmatogobius pleurostigma is a commercial fish being caught increasingly in the Mekong Delta. Although it plays an important role for food supply, little is known about this species including morphology, distribution and growth pattern. Meanwhile, its population and age structure is unknown. The present study was conducted in the Mekong Delta to provide new data on population parameters of this goby species. The von Bertalanffy growth parameters were L∞= 8.6 cm, K = 0.83 yr⁻¹, and t0 = -0.07 yr⁻¹ basing on length frequency data analysis of 601 individuals. The fish total length at first capture was 3.8 cm; and fishing, natural and total mortalities of the fish population were 2.31 yr⁻¹, 1.17 yr⁻¹, and 3.48 yr⁻¹ respectively. The maximum fish yield (Eₘₐₓ), economic yield (E₀.₁) and yield of 50% reduction of exploitation (E₅₀) rates were 0.704, 0.555 and 0.335 based on the relative yield-per-recruit and biomass-per-recruit analyses. The fish longevity was 3.61 yr, and growth performance was 1.79. Three fish age groups were recorded in this study (0+, 1+ and 2+). The species is a potential aquaculture candidate because of its high growth parameter. This goby stock was overexploited in the Mekong Delta as its exploitation rate (E=0.34) was higher than E₅₀ (0.335). The mesh size of gillnets should be increased and avoid catching fish in June, recruitment time, for future sustainable fishery management.

Keywords: Stigmatogobius pleurostigma, age, population structure, Vietnam

Procedia PDF Downloads 198

Authors: N. Manoj

Abstract:

The aeroelastic behavior of engine nacelle strake when subjected to unsteady aerodynamic flows is investigated in this paper. Geometric nonlinear characteristics and modal parameters of nacelle strake are studied when it is under dynamic loading condition. Here, an N-S based Finite Volume solver is coupled with Finite Element (FE) based nonlinear structural solver to investigate the nonlinear characteristics of nacelle strake over a range of dynamic pressures at various phases of flight like takeoff, climb, and cruise conditions. The combination of high fidelity models for both aerodynamics and structural dynamics is used to predict the nonlinearities of strake (chine). The methodology adopted for present aeroelastic analysis is partitioned-based time domain coupled CFD and CSD solvers and it is validated by the consideration of experimental and numerical comparison of aeroelastic data for a cropped delta wing model which has a proven record. The present strake geometry is derived from theoretical formulation. The amplitude and frequency obtained from the coupled solver at various dynamic pressures is discussed, which gives a better understanding of its impact on aerodynamic design-sizing of strake.

Keywords: aeroelasticity, finite volume, geometric nonlinearity, limit cycle oscillations, strake

Procedia PDF Downloads 282