Search results for: interest rate and trade openness

Authors: Mandlenkosi George Robert Mahlobo, Tumelo Seadira, Major Melusi Mabuza, Peter Apata Olubambi

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Cathodic protection (CP) has been widely considered a suitable technique for mitigating corrosion of buried metal structures. Plenty of efforts have been made in developing techniques, in particular non-destructive techniques, for monitoring and quantifying the effectiveness of CP to ensure the sustainability and performance of buried steel structures. The aim of this study was to investigate the evolution of the electrochemical processes at the steel/soil interface during the application of CP on steel in simulated soil. Carbon steel was subjected to electrochemical tests with NS4 solution used as simulated soil conditions for 4 days before applying CP for a further 11 days. A previously modified non-destructive voltammetry technique was applied before and after the application of CP to measure the corrosion rate. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), in combination with mathematical modeling through equivalent electric circuits, was applied to determine the electrochemical behavior at the steel/soil interface. The measured corrosion rate was found to have decreased from 410 µm/yr to 8 µm/yr between days 5 and 14 because of the applied CP. Equivalent electrical circuits were successfully constructed and used to adequately model the EIS results. The modeling of the obtained EIS results revealed the formation of corrosion products via a mixed activation-diffusion mechanism during the first 4 days, while the activation mechanism prevailed in the presence of CP, resulting in a protective film. The x-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of corrosion products and the predominant protective film corresponding to the calcareous deposit.

Keywords: carbon steel, cathodic protection, NS4 solution, voltammetry, EIS

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Salma Hussein, Hadia Aziz

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Entrepreneurship plays a significant and imperative role in economic and social growth, and therefore, is stimulated and encouraged by governments and academics as a mean of creating job opportunities, innovation, and wealth. Indicative of its importance, it is essential to identify factors that encourage and promote entrepreneurial behavior. This is particularly true for developing countries where the need for entrepreneurial development is high and the resources are scarce, thus, there is a need to maximize the outcomes of investing in entrepreneurial development. Entrepreneurial education has been the center of attention and interest among researchers as it is believed to be one of the most critical factors in promoting entrepreneurship over the long run. Accordingly, the urgency to encourage entrepreneurship education and develop an enterprise culture is now a main concern in Egypt. Researchers have postulated that cognition has the potential to make a significant contribution to the study of entrepreneurship. One such contribution that future studies need to consider in entrepreneurship research is the cognitive processes that occur within the individual such as cognitive style. During the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in cognitive style among researchers and practitioners specifically in innovation and entrepreneurship field. Limited studies pay attention to study the antecedent dynamics that fuel entrepreneurial cognition to better understand its role in entrepreneurship. Moreover, while many studies were conducted on entrepreneurship education, scholars are still hesitant regarding the teachability of entrepreneurship due to the lack of clear evidence of its impact. Furthermore, the relation between cognitive style and entrepreneurial intentions, has yet to be discovered. Hence, this research aims to test the impact of entrepreneurship education on cognitive style and subsequent intention in order to evaluate whether student’s and potential entrepreneur’s cognitive styles are affected by entrepreneurial education and in turn affect their intentions. Understanding the impact of Entrepreneurship Education on ways of thinking and intention is critical for the development of effective education and training in entrepreneurship field. It is proposed that students who are exposed to entrepreneurship education programs will have a more balanced thinking style compared to those students who are not exposed. Moreover, it is hypothesized that students having a balanced cognitive style will exhibit higher levels of entrepreneurial intentions than students having an intuitive or analytical cognitive style. Finally, it is proposed that non-formal entrepreneurship education will be more positively associated with entrepreneurial intentions than will formal entrepreneurship education. The proposed methodology is a pre and post Experimental Design. The sample will include young adults, their age range from 18 till 35 years old including both students enrolled in formal entrepreneurship education programs in private universities as well as young adults who are willing to participate in a Non-Formal entrepreneurship education programs in Egypt. Attention is now given on how far individuals are analytical or intuitive in their cognitive style, to what extent it is possible to have a balanced thinking style and whether or not this can be aided by training or education. Therefore, there is an urge need for further research on entrepreneurial cognition in educational contexts.

Keywords: cognitive style, entrepreneurial intention, entrepreneurship education, experimental design

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Mohamad Ahrari, Kayvan Sadri, Mahmoud Reza Jafari

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PEGylated liposomes have a smaller volume of distribution and decreased clearance, consequently, due to their more prolonged presence in bloodstream and maintaining their stability during this period, these liposomes can be applied for imaging tumoral sites. The purpose of this study is to develop an appropriate radiopharmaceutical agent in long-term imaging for improved diagnosis and evaluation of tumors. In this study, liposomal formulations encapsulating albumin is synthesized by solvent evaporation method along with homogenization, and their characteristics were assessed. Then these liposomes labeled by Philips method and the rate of stability of labeled liposomes in serum, and ultimately the rate of biodistribution and gamma scintigraphy in C26-colon carcinoma tumor-bearing mice, were studied. The result of the study of liposomal characteristics displayed that capable of accumulating in tumor sites based of EPR phenomenon. these liposomes also have high stability for maintaining encapsulated albumin in a long time. In the study of biodistribution of these liposomes in mice, they accumulated more in the kidney, liver, spleen, and tumor sites, which, even after clearing formulations in the bloodstream, they existed in high levels in these organs up to 96 hours. In gamma scintigraphy also, organs with high activity accumulation from early hours up to 96 hours were visible in the form of hot spots. concluded that PEGylated liposomal formulation encapsulating albumin can be labeled with In-Oxine, and obtained stabilized formulation for long-term imaging, that have more favorable conditions for the evaluation of tumors and it will cause early diagnosis of tumors.

Keywords: nano liposome, 111In-oxine, imaging, biodistribution, tumor

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: R. Vasireddi, J. Kruse, M. Vakili, M. Trebbin

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Here we present a gas dynamic virtual nozzle (GDVN) based microfluidic jetting devices for spinning of nano/microfibers. The device is fabricated by soft lithography techniques and is based on the principle of a GDVN for precise three-dimensional gas focusing of the spinning solution. The nozzle device is used to produce micro/nanofibers of a perfluorinated terpolymer (THV), which were collected on an aluminum substrate for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The influences of air pressure, polymer concentration, flow rate and nozzle geometry on the fiber properties were investigated. It was revealed that surface properties are controlled by air pressure and polymer concentration while the diameter and shape of the fibers are influenced mostly by the concentration of the polymer solution and pressure. Alterations of the nozzle geometry had a negligible effect on the fiber properties, however, the jetting stability was affected. Round and flat fibers with differing surface properties from craters, grooves to smooth surfaces could be fabricated by controlling the above-mentioned parameters. Furthermore, the formation of surface roughness was attributed to the fast evaporation rate and velocity (mis)match between the polymer solution jet and the surrounding air stream. The diameter of the fibers could be tuned from ~250 nm to ~15 µm. Because of the simplicity of the setup, the precise control of the fiber properties, access to biocompatible nanofiber fabrication and the easy scale-up of parallel channels for high throughput, this method offers significant benefits compared to existing solution-based fiber production methods.

Keywords: gas dynamic virtual nozzle (GDVN) principle, microfluidic device, spinning, uniform nanofibers

Procedia PDF Downloads 150

Authors: Adebisi Moruf Ademola

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Hematite (Fe2O3),commonly known as ‘rust’ which usually surfaced on metal when exposed to some climatic materials. This emerges as a promising candidate for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting due to its favorable physiochemical properties of the narrow band gap (2.1–2.2 eV), chemical stability, nontoxicity, abundance, and low cost. However, inherent limitations such as short hole diffusion length (2–4 nm), high charge recombination rate, and slow oxygen evolution reaction kinetics inhibit the PEC performances of a-Fe2O3 photoanodes. As such, given the narrow bandgap enabling excellent optical absorption, increased charge carrier density and accelerated surface oxidation reaction kinetics become the key points for improved photoelectrochemical performances for a-Fe2O3 photoanodes and metal ion doping as an effective way to promote charge transfer by increasing donor density and improving the electronic conductivity of a-Fe2O3. Hematite attracts enormous efforts with a number of metal ions (Ti, Zr, Sn, Pt ,etc.) as dopants. A facile deposition-annealing process showed greatly enhanced PEC performance due to the increased donor density and reduced electron-hole recombination at the time scale beyond a few picoseconds. Zr doping was also found to enhance the PEC performance of a-Fe2O3 nanorod arrays by reducing the rate of electron-hole recombination. Slow water oxidation reaction kinetics, another main factor limiting the PEC water splitting efficiency of aFe2O3 as photoanodes, was previously found to be effectively improved by surface treatment.

Keywords: deposition-annealing, hematite, metal ion doping, nanorod

Procedia PDF Downloads 221

Authors: Dana Al-Qattan, Faiza Goodarzi, Heba Al-Resheedan, Kawther Shehab, Shoug Al-Ansari

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This project involves working with different types of forecasting methods and facility planning tools to help the company we have chosen to improve and reduce its inventory, increase its sales, and decrease its wastes and losses. The methods that have been used by the company have shown no improvement in decreasing the annual losses. The research made in the company has shown that no interest has been made in exploring different techniques to help the company. In this report, we introduce several methods and techniques that will help the company make more accurate forecasts and use of the available space efficiently. We expect our approach to reduce costs without affecting the quality of the product, and hence making production more viable.

Keywords: production planning, inventory management, inventory control, simulation, facility planning and design, engineering economy and costs

Procedia PDF Downloads 570

Authors: Bahram Fathi, Mahdi Khodaparast Mashhadi, Masuod Homayounifar

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Global awareness on energy security and climate change has created much interest in assessing energy efficiency performance. A number of previous studies have contributed to evaluate energy efficiency performance using different analytical techniques among which data envelopment analysis (DEA) has recently received increasing attention. Most of DEA-related energy efficiency studies do not consider undesirable outputs such as CO2 emissions in their modeling framework, which may lead to biased energy efficiency values. Within a joint production frame work of desirable and undesirable outputs, in this paper we construct energy efficiency performance index for measuring energy efficiency performance by using environmental DEA model with CO2 emissions. We finally apply the index proposed to assess the energy efficiency performance in OPEC over time.

Keywords: energy efficiency, environmental, OPEC, data envelopment analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Hung Lin-Zin, Lai Mei-Yen

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Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed male cancer in the U.S. The prevalence is around 1 in 8. The etiology of prostate cancer is still unknown, but some predisposing factors, such as age, black race, family history, and obesity, may increase the risk of the disease. In 2020, a total of 7,178 Taiwanese people were nearly diagnosed with prostate cancer, accounting for 5.88% of all cancer cases, and the incidence rate ranked fifth among men. In that year, the total number of deaths from prostate cancer was 1,730, accounting for 3.45% of all cancer deaths, and the death rate ranked 6th among men, accounting for 94.34% of the cases of male reproductive organs. Looking for domestic and foreign literature on the use of OMOP (Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership, hereinafter referred to as OMOP) database analysis, there are currently nearly a hundred literature published related to nursing-related health problems and nursing measures built in the OMOP general data model database of medical institutions are extremely rare. The OMOP common data model construction analysis platform is a system developed by the FDA in 2007, using a common data model (common data model, CDM) to analyze and monitor healthcare data. It is important to build up relevant nursing information from the OMOP- CDM database to assist our daily practice. Therefore, we choose prostate cancer patients who are our popular care objects and use the OMOP- CDM database to explore the common associated health problems. With the assistance of OMOP-CDM database analysis, we can expect early diagnosis and prevention of prostate cancer patients' comorbidities to improve patient care.

Keywords: OMOP, nursing diagnosis, health problem, prostate cancer

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Seyedmahdi Mousavihashemi

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One of the most important subjects of interest in researches is 'improving' which result in various algorithms. In so many geometrical problems we are faced with target functions which should be optimized. In group practices, all the functions’ cooperation lead to convergence. In the study, the optimization algorithm of dense particles is used. Usage of the algorithm improves the given performance norms. The results reveal that usage of swarm algorithm for reinforced particles in designing state feedback improves the given performance norm and in optimized designing of multi-target state feedback controlling, the network will maintain its bearing structure. The results also show that PSO is usable for optimization of state feedback controllers.

Keywords: multi-objective, enhanced, feedback, optimization, algorithm, particle, design

Procedia PDF Downloads 500

Authors: Yo Fukutani, Shuji Moriguchi, Takuma Kotani, Terada Kenjiro

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If risk management of the assets owned by companies, risk assessment of real estate portfolio, and risk identification of the entire region are to be implemented, it is necessary to consider simultaneous damage to multiple buildings. In this research, the Sagami Trough earthquake tsunami that could have a significant effect on the Japanese capital region is focused on, and a method is proposed for simultaneous damage assessment using copulas that can take into consideration the correlation of tsunami depths and building damage between two sites. First, the tsunami inundation depths at two sites were simulated by using a nonlinear long-wave equation. The tsunamis were simulated by varying the slip amount (five cases) and the depths (five cases) for each of 10 sources of the Sagami Trough. For each source, the frequency distributions of the tsunami inundation depth were evaluated by using the response surface method. Then, Monte-Carlo simulation was conducted, and frequency distributions of tsunami inundation depth were evaluated at the target sites for all sources of the Sagami Trough. These are marginal distributions. Kendall’s tau for the tsunami inundation simulation at two sites was 0.83. Based on this value, the Gaussian copula, t-copula, Clayton copula, and Gumbel copula (n = 10,000) were generated. Then, the simultaneous distributions of the damage rate were evaluated using the marginal distributions and the copulas. For the correlation of the tsunami inundation depth at the two sites, the expected value hardly changed compared with the case of no correlation, but the damage rate of the ninety-ninth percentile value was approximately 2%, and the maximum value was approximately 6% when using the Gumbel copula.

Keywords: copulas, Monte-Carlo simulation, probabilistic risk assessment, tsunamis

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Masahiro Takahashi, Kosuke Harada, Shihomi Nakao, Mitsuhiro Higashihata, Hiroshi Ikenoue, Daisuke Nakamura, Tatsuo Okada

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Zinc oxide (ZnO) is one of the light emitting materials in ultraviolet (UV) region. In addition, ZnO nanostructures are also attracting increasing research interest as building blocks for UV optoelectronic applications. We have succeeded in synthesizing vertically-aligned ZnO nanostructures by laser interference patterning, which is catalyst-free and non-contact technique. In this study, vertically-aligned ZnO nanowall arrays were synthesized using two-beam interference. The maximum height and average thickness of the ZnO nanowalls were about 4.5 µm and 200 nm, respectively. UV lasing from a piece of the ZnO nanowall was obtained under the third harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser excitation, and the estimated threshold power density for lasing was about 150 kW/cm2. Furthermore, UV lasing from the vertically-aligned ZnO nanowall was also achieved. The results indicate that ZnO nanowalls can be applied to random laser.

Keywords: zinc oxide, nanowall, interference laser, UV lasing

Procedia PDF Downloads 504

Authors: D. Hilton

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An analysis of the Australian Diabetes Screening Study estimated undiagnosed diabetes mellitus [DM] prevalence in a high risk general practice based cohort. DM prevalence varied from 9.4% to 18.1% depending upon the diagnostic criteria utilised with age being a highly significant risk factor. Utilising the gold standard oral glucose tolerance test, the prevalence of DM was 22-23% in those aged >= 70 years and <15% in those aged 40-59 years. Opportunistic screening in Australian general practice potentially can identify many persons with undiagnosed type 2 DM. An Australian Bureau of Statistics document published three years ago, reported the highest rate of DM in men aged 65-74 years [19%] whereas the rate for women was highest in those over 75 years [13%]. If you consider that the Australian Bureau of Statistics report in 2007 found that 13% of the population was over 65 years of age and that this will increase to 23-25% by 2056 with a further projected increase to 25-28% by 2101, obviously this information has to be factored into the equation when age related diabetes prevalence predictions are calculated. This 10-15% proportional increase of elderly persons within the population demographics has dramatic implications for the estimated number of elderly persons with DM in these age groupings. Computational methodology showing the age related demographic changes reported in these official statistical documents will be done showing estimates for 2056 and 2101 for different age groups. This has relevance for future diabetes prevalence rates and shows that along with many countries worldwide Australia is facing an increasing pandemic. In contrast Japan is expected to have a decrease in the next twenty years in the number of persons with diabetes.

Keywords: epidemiological methods, aging, prevalence, diabetes mellitus

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: Mingming Leng

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Wal-Mart has allocated considerable human resources for its quality assurance program, in which the largest retailer serves its supply chains as a quality gatekeeper. Asda Stores Ltd., the second largest supermarket chain in Britain, is now investing £27m in significantly increasing the frequency of quality control checks in its supply chains and thus enhancing quality across its fresh food business. Moreover, Tesco, the largest British supermarket chain, already constructed a quality assessment center to carry out its gatekeeping responsibility. Motivated by the above practices, we consider a supply chain in which a retailer plays the gatekeeping role in quality assurance by identifying defects among a manufacturer's products prior to selling them to consumers. The impact of a retailer's gatekeeping activity on pricing and quality assurance in a supply chain has not been investigated in the operations management area. We draw a number of managerial insights that are expected to help practitioners judiciously consider the quality gatekeeping effort at the retail level. As in practice, when the retailer identifies a defective product, she immediately returns it to the manufacturer, who then replaces the defect with a good quality product and pays a penalty to the retailer. If the retailer does not recognize a defect but sells it to a consumer, then the consumer will identify the defect and return it to the retailer, who then passes the returned 'unidentified' defect to the manufacturer. The manufacturer also incurs a penalty cost. Accordingly, we analyze a two-stage pricing and quality decision problem, in which the manufacturer and the retailer bargain over the manufacturer's average defective rate and wholesale price at the first stage, and the retailer decides on her optimal retail price and gatekeeping intensity at the second stage. We also compare the results when the retailer performs quality gatekeeping with those when the retailer does not. Our supply chain analysis exposes some important managerial insights. For example, the retailer's quality gatekeeping can effectively reduce the channel-wide defective rate, if her penalty charge for each identified de-fect is larger than or equal to the market penalty for each unidentified defect. When the retailer imple-ments quality gatekeeping, the change in the negotiated wholesale price only depends on the manufac-turer's 'individual' benefit, and the change in the retailer's optimal retail price is only related to the channel-wide benefit. The retailer is willing to take on the quality gatekeeping responsibility, when the impact of quality relative to retail price on demand is high and/or the retailer has a strong bargaining power. We conclude that the retailer's quality gatekeeping can help reduce the defective rate for consumers, which becomes more significant when the retailer's bargaining position in her supply chain is stronger. Retailers with stronger bargaining powers can benefit more from their quality gatekeeping in supply chains.

Keywords: bargaining, game theory, pricing, quality, supply chain

Procedia PDF Downloads 277

Authors: Khlif Hamadi

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Customer Relationship Management has become the main interest of researchers and practitioners especially in the domains of Management and Information Systems (IS). This paper is an overview of success factors that could facilitate successful adoption of CRM. There are 2 factors: the organizational climate and the capacity for innovation. The survey was developed with 200 CRM users. Empirical research is in the positivist paradigm based on the hypothetico-deductive method. Indeed, the approach adopted is the quantitative approach based on a questionnaire complied by Tunisian companies operating in different sectors of activity. For the data analyses, the structural equations method was used to conduct our exploratory and confirmatory analysis. The results revealed that the creative organizational climate and high innovation capacity positively influence the success of CRM practice.

Keywords: CRM practices, innovation capacity, organizational climate, the structural equation

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Aynur Aker, Hasan Kaya

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In recent years, the use of the aluminum based alloys in the industry and technology are increasing. Alloying elements in aluminum have further been improving the strength and stiffness properties that provide superior compared to other metals. In this study, investigation of physical properties (microstructure, microhardness, tensile strength, electrical conductivity and thermal properties) in the Al-12.6wt.%Si-%2wt.Ni ternary alloy were investigated. Al-Si-Ni alloy was prepared in a graphite crucible under vacuum atmosphere. The samples were directionally solidified upwards with different growth rate (V) at constant temperature gradient G (7.73 K/mm). The microstructures (flake spacings, λ), microhardness (HV), ultimate tensile strength, electrical resistivity and thermal properties enthalpy of fusion and specific heat and melting temperature) of the samples were measured. Influence of the growth rate and flake spacings on microhardness, ultimate tensile strength and electrical resistivity were investigated and relationships between them were experimentally obtained by using regression analysis. According to results, λ values decrease with increasing V, but microhardness, ultimate tensile strength, electrical resistivity values increase with increasing V. Variations of electrical resistivity for cast samples with the temperature in the range of 300-1200 K were also measured by using a standard dc four-point probe technique. The enthalpy of fusion and specific heat for the same alloy was also determined by means of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) from heating trace during the transformation from liquid to solid. The results obtained in this work were compared with the previous similar experimental results obtained for binary and ternary alloys.

Keywords: electrical resistivity, enthalpy, microhardness, solidification, tensile stress

Procedia PDF Downloads 376

Authors: Yanal Abul Failat

Abstract:

The production of oil and natural gas from shale formations is becoming a trend, and many countries with technically and economically recoverable unconventional resources are endeavoring to explore how shale formations may benefit the economy and achieve energy security. The trajectory of shale gas development in the UK is highly supported by the government; in the Gas Generation Strategy Paper published by the UK government on 5 December 2013, it is recognized that the shale gas production would decrease reliance on imports and thus enhance the UK’s energy security. Moreover, the UK Institute of Directors report on UK Shale Gas Potential explains that in the UK there is a potential of production peaking at around 1.13 trillion cubic feet (“tcf”) and a sector that could support around 70,000 jobs and secure net benefit to the Treasury in tax revenues. On this basis, there has been a growing interest in the benefits of exploring the UK’s shale gas but a combination of technical challenges faced in shale gas operations, a stern opposition by environmentalists and concerns on the adequacy of the legal framework have slowed the progress of the emerging UK shale industry.

Keywords: shale gas, UK, legal, oil and gas, energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 711

Authors: Salehi Zahabi Saleh, Rajabi Hosaien, Rasaneh Samira

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Yttrium-90 (90Y) radioembolisation(RE) is increasingly used for the treatment of patients with unresectable primary or metastatic liver tumours. Image-based approaches to assess microsphere distribution after RE have gained interest but are mostly hampered by the limited imaging possibilities of the Isotope 90Y. Quantitative 90Y-SPECT imaging has limited spatial resolution because it is based on 90Y Bremsstrahlung whereas 90Y-PET has better spatial resolution but low sensitivity. As a consequence, new alternative methods of visualizing the microspheres have been investigated, such as MR imaging of iron-labelled microspheres. It was also shown that MRI combines high sensitivity with high spatial and temporal resolution and with superior soft tissue contrast and thus can be used to cover a broad range of clinically interesting imaging parameters.The aim of the study in this article was to investigate the capability of MRI to measure the intrahepatic microsphere distribution in order to quantify the absorbed radiation dose in RE.

Keywords: radioembolisation, MRI, imaging, dosimetry

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: Sultan Alharby, Nick Harris, Alex Weddell, Jeff Reeve

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The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has received much attention over the last five years. It is predicted that the IoT will influence every aspect of our lifestyles in the near future. Wireless Sensor Networks are one of the key enablers of the operation of IoTs, allowing data to be collected from the surrounding environment. However, due to limited resources, nature of deployment and unattended operation, a WSN is vulnerable to various types of attack. Security is paramount for reliable and safe communication between IoT embedded devices, but it does, however, come at a cost to resources. Nodes are usually equipped with small batteries, which makes energy conservation crucial to IoT devices. Nevertheless, security cost in terms of energy consumption has not been studied sufficiently. Previous research has used a security specification of 802.15.4 for IoT applications, but the energy cost of each security level and the impact on quality of services (QoS) parameters remain unknown. This research focuses on the cost of security at the IoT media access control (MAC) layer. It begins by studying the energy consumption of IEEE 802.15.4 security levels, which is followed by an evaluation for the impact of security on data latency and throughput, and then presents the impact of transmission power on security overhead, and finally shows the effects of security on memory footprint. The results show that security overhead in terms of energy consumption with a payload of 24 bytes fluctuates between 31.5% at minimum level over non-secure packets and 60.4% at the top security level of 802.15.4 security specification. Also, it shows that security cost has less impact at longer packet lengths, and more with smaller packet size. In addition, the results depicts a significant impact on data latency and throughput. Overall, maximum authentication length decreases throughput by almost 53%, and encryption and authentication together by almost 62%.

Keywords: energy consumption, IEEE 802.15.4, IoT security, security cost evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 168

Authors: Lian Zeng

Abstract:

Double-Spear 1-H2-1 (DS1-H2-1) is an oncolytic virus and an innovative biological drug candidate. The chemical composition of the drug product is a live attenuated West Nile virus (WNV) containing the human T cell costimulator (CD86) gene. After intratumoral injection, the virus can rapidly self-replicate in the injected site and lyse/kill the tumor by repeated infection among tumor cells. We also established xenograft tumor models in mice to evaluate the drug candidate's efficacy on those tumors. The results from preclinical studies on transplanted tumors in immunodeficient mice showed that DS1-H2-1 had significant oncolytic effects on human-origin cancers: it completely (100%) shrieked human glioma; limited human neuroblastoma growth reached as high as 95% growth inhibition rate (%TGITW). The safety data of preclinical animal experiments confirmed that DS1-H2-1 is safe as a biological drug for clinical use. In the preclinical drug efficacy experiment, virus-drug administration with different doses did not show abnormal signs and disease symptoms in more than 300 tested mice, and no side effects or death occurred through various administration routes. Intravenous administration did not cause acute infectious disease or other side effects. However, the replication capacity of the virus in tumor tissue via intravenous administration is only 1% of that of direct intratumoral administration. The direct intratumoral administration of DS1-H2-1 had a higher rate of viral replication. Therefore, choosing direct intratumoral injection can ensure both efficacy and safety.

Keywords: oncolytic virus, WNV-CD86, immunotherapy drugs, glioma, neuroblastoma

Procedia PDF Downloads 132

Authors: Marwa Abdulsalam, Osamu Suzuki, Wirawan Dony Dahana

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One of the remarkable and unique industries in Japan is the food samples industry which can be noticed in most of the restaurants located around Japan. However, the market is getting saturated, which has pushed Japanese food sample manufacturers to start exploring new international markets. Most of the markets they explored were in the East Asian region, such as China or Korea. In this research, we examine the feasibility and the potential adoption rate of food samples in the international market outside the East Asian region. The main focus of this study is on the Saudi Arabian market. Nonetheless, since Saudi Arabia is a big market, the study results could possibly be applied to the international market as well. The study has conducted a quantitative survey to test the potential of the food samples industry in Saudi Arabia especially in 4 major cities: Jeddah, Mecca, Riyadh, and Dammam. The survey also tests the willingness to purchase, the average price point that the consumer is willing to pay for food samples, and the factors that drive restaurant owners to adopt the food samples system. The study created a correlation analysis between different factors, such as the geographic factor and the size of the restaurant factor, to examine the effect of different aspects on the purchasing decision. The study has found that the Japanese food samples system is predicted to adapt successfully in the Saudi Arabian market and in the international market alike due to the high importance of the food culture and the existence of the communication challenges that the food samples can solve. Additionally, the market survey stated in this study indicated that 83% of the restaurants’ managers are willing to adopt this system in their restaurants.

Keywords: food samples, innovative marketing, international market, marketing method

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: M. J. Reis Lima, J. Oliveira, A. C. Sousa Pereira, M. C. Castilho, E. Teixeira-Lemos

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The increasing interest in plant sterol enriched foods is due to the fact that they reduce blood cholesterol concentrations without adverse side effects. In this context, enriched foods with phytosterols may be helpful in protecting population against atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present work was to evaluate in a population of Viseu, Portugal, the consumption habits low-fat, plant sterol-enriched yoghurt. For this study, 577 inquiries were made and the sample was randomly selected for people shopping in various supermarkets. The preliminary results showed that the biggest consumers of these products were women aged 45 to 65 years old. Most of the people who claimed to buy these products consumed them once a day. Also, most of the consumers under antidyslipidemic therapeutics noticed positive effects on hypercholesterolemia.

Keywords: consumption habits, fermented milk, functional foods, low fat, phytosterols

Procedia PDF Downloads 457

Authors: Yael Wolff Sagy, Yiska Loewenberg Weisband, Vered Kaufman Shriqui, Michal Krieger, Arie Ben Yehuda, Ronit Calderon Margalit

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Background: Obesity is both a risk factor and common comorbidity of diabetes. Obesity impedes the achievement of glycemic control, and enhances damage caused by hyperglycemia to blood vessels; thus it increases diabetes-related complications. This study assessed the prevalence of obesity and morbid obesity among Israeli adults with diabetes, and estimated disparities associated with sex and socioeconomic position (SEP). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the setting of the Israeli National Program for Quality Indicators in Community Healthcare. Data on all the Israeli population is retrieved from electronic medical records of the four health maintenance organizations (HMOs). The study population included all Israeli patients with diabetes aged 20-64 with documented body mass index (BMI) in 2016 (N=180,451). Diabetes was defined as the existence of one or more of the following criteria: (a) Plasma glucose level >200 mg% in at least two tests conducted at least one month apart in the previous year; (b) HbA1c>6.5% at least once in the previous year (c) at least three prescriptions of diabetes medications were dispensed during the previous year. Two measures were included: the prevalence of obesity (defined as last BMI≥ 30 kg/m2 and <35 kg/m2) and the prevalence of morbid obesity (defined as last BMI≥ 35 kg/m2) in individuals aged 20-64 with diabetes. The cut-off value for morbid obesity was set in accordance with the eligibility criteria for bariatric surgery in diabetics. Data were collected by the HMOs and aggregated by age, sex and SEP. SEP was based on statistical areas ranking by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics and divided into 4 categories, ranking from 1 (lowest) to 4 (highest). Results: BMI documentation among adults with diabetes was 84.9% in 2016. The prevalence of obesity in the study population was 30.5%. Although the overall rate was similar in both sexes (30.8% in females, 30.3% in males), SEP disparities were stronger in females (32.7% in SEP level 1 vs. 27.7% in SEP level 4; 18.1% relative difference) compared to males (30.6% in SEP level 1 vs. 29.3% in SEP level 4; 4.4% relative difference). The overall prevalence of morbid obesity in this population was 20.8% in 2016. The rate among females was almost double compared to the rate in males (28.1% and 14.6%, respectively). In both sexes, the prevalence of morbid obesity was strongly associated with lower SEP. However, in females, disparities between SEP levels were much stronger (34.3% in SEP level 1 vs. 18.7% in SEP level 4; 83.4% relative difference) compared to SEP-disparities in males (15.7% in SEP level 1 vs. 12.3% in SEP level 4; 27.6% relative difference). Conclusions: The overall prevalence of BMI≥ 30 kg/m2 among adults with diabetes in Israel exceeds 50%; and the prevalence of morbid obesity suggests that 20% meet the BMI-criteria for bariatric surgery. Prevalence rates show major SEP- and sex-disparities; especially strong SEP disparities in morbid obesity among females. These findings highlight the need for greater consideration of different population groups when implementing interventions.

Keywords: diabetes, health disparities, health policy, obesity, socio-economic position

Procedia PDF Downloads 215

Authors: Pratik Pankaj Pawar

Abstract:

Lightweight structures - structures with reduced weight, which otherwise retain the qualities necessary for the building performance, ensuring proper durability and strength, safety, indoor environmental quality, and energy efficiency; structures that strive for the optimization of structural systems - are in tune with current trends and socio-economic, environmental, and technological factors. The growing interest in lightweight structures design makes them an ever more significant field of research. This article focuses on the architectural aspects of lightweight structures and on their contemporary and future applications. The selected advanced building technologies - i.e., Ultra-High-Performance Concrete, fabrics, and flexible photovoltaics.

Keywords: light weight building, carbyne, aerographite, geopolymer reinforced wood particles aggregate

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Gordon Weight, Hermione Tsoi, Patrick Cutinha, Sanjay Rajpal

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Aim: Greenlight-laser prostatectomy (GLLP) is becoming a popular treatment option for bladder outlet obstruction and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). In this retrospective study, we aim to explore the patient selection, perioperative morbidity, and functional outcomes of GLLP. Methods: Patients who underwent GLLP at a UK tertiary centre between June 2018 and November 2021 were included in this study. Retrospective data covering patient demographics, perioperative parameters and postoperative outcomes were collected using the electronic records systems. Results: 305 patients were included in this study with a mean age of 73 (range 30-90) years. The most common indication (62.6%) for the procedure was patient’s wish to be free from long-term catheters (LTC) or intermittent catheterisation (ISC), followed by failed medical therapy for LUTS (36.4%). 84.6% of patients had an ASA ≥2, and 32.1% took anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy. Inpatient stays were minimal, with the majority (68.2%) of patients were performed as day case, and only 10.5% of patients requiring more than a single night admission. The 3-month readmission rate was 10.8%, with the most common causes being haematuria and urinary-tract infection. The successful TWOC rate at follow up was 91.2%. Amongst the 19 patients who failed TWOC, 14 had LTC prior to the procedure and 4 had been performing ISC. Conclusions: Our study shows that GLLP is a safe and effective day case treatment and can be suitable for elderly and comorbid patients. Patients requiring LTC or ISC pre-operatively should be counselled carefully about the risk of not being catheter-free post procedure.

Keywords: urology, endourology, prostate, bladder outlet obstruction, laser

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Reda Abdel Azim

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Gas conning phenomenon considered one of the prevalent matter in oil field applications as it significantly affects the amount of produced oil, increase cost of production operation and it has a direct effect on oil reservoirs recovery efficiency as well. Therefore, evaluation of such phenomenon and study the reservoir mechanisms that may strongly affect invading gas to the producing formation is crucial. Gas conning is a result of an imbalance between two major forces controlling the oil production: gravitational and viscous forces especially in naturally fractured reservoirs where the capillary pressure forces are negligible. Once the gas invading the producing formation near the wellbore due to large producing oil rate, the oil gas contact will change and such reservoirs are prone to gas conning. Moreover, the oil volume expected to be produced requires the use of long horizontal perforated well. This work presents a numerical simulation study to predict and propose solutions to gas coning in naturally fractured oil reservoirs. The simulation work is based on discrete fractures and permeability tensors approaches. The governing equations are discretized using finite element approach and Galerkin’s least square technique (GLS) is employed to stabilize the equation solutions. The developed simulator is validated against Eclipse-100 using horizontal fractures. The matrix and fracture properties are modelled. Critical rate, breakthrough time and GOR are determined to be used in investigation of the effect of matrix and fracture properties on gas coning. Results show that fracture distribution in terms of diverse dip and azimuth has a great effect on conning occurring. In addition, fracture porosity, anisotropy ratio, and fracture aperture.

Keywords: gas conning, finite element, fractured reservoirs, multiphase

Procedia PDF Downloads 195

Authors: Tzu-Ching Weng, Hsin-Yi Chi

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This study examines the effect of family succession on the cost of bank loans and non-price contractual terms. We use a unique dataset from China and find that lending banks are likely to charge high-interest rates and offer tight contractual terms, such as loan maturity and collateral requirement, for family succession firms. These findings indicate that information and default risks may arise after subsequent family successions. We also find that family succession firms can reduce the cost of bank loans by hiring top-tier auditors to enhance financial reporting credibility. This finding suggests that professional and high-quality auditors can provide extremely valuable services to family succession firms.

Keywords: family succession, cost of bank loans, loan contract terms, top-tier auditor

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Emma K. Sales, Nilda G. Butardo

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The project was undertaken to determine the effects of modified tissue culture protocols e.g. age of culture and hormone levels (2,4-D) in generating somaclonal variation. Moreover, the utility of molecular markers (SSR and MSAP) in sorting off types/somaclones were investigated. Results show that somaclonal variation is in effect due to prolonged subculture and high 2,4-D concentration. The resultant variation was observed to be due to high level of methylation events specifically cytosine methylation either at the internal or external cytosine and was identified by methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP). Simple sequence repeats (SSR) on the other hand, was able to associate a marker to a trait of interest. These therefore, show that molecular markers can be an important tool in sorting out variation/mutants at an early stage.

Keywords: methylation, MSAP, somaclones, SSR, subculture, 2, 4-D

Procedia PDF Downloads 301

Authors: Bouchra Wassate, Younes Karhat, Khadija El Falaki

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Leachate is a source of surface water and groundwater contamination if it has not been pretreated. Indeed, due to its complex structure and its pollution load make its treatment extremely difficult to achieve the standard limits required. The objective of this work is to show the interest of advanced oxidation processes on leachate treatment of urban waste containing high concentrations of organic pollutants. The efficiency of Fenton (Fe2+ +H2O2 + H+) reagent for young leachate recovered from collection trucks household waste in the city of Casablanca, Morocco, was evaluated with the objectives of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and discoloration reductions. The optimization of certain physicochemical parameters (initial pH value, reaction time, and [Fe2+], [H2O2]/ [Fe2+] ratio) has yielded good results in terms of reduction of COD and discoloration of the leachate.

Keywords: COD removal, color removal, Fenton process, oxidation process, leachate

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Ahmad Rabby

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The demographic trend analyses of Bombay-duck from time series catch data using CMSY and BSM for the first time in Bangladesh. During 2000-2018, CMSY indicates average lowest production in 2000 and highest in 2018. This has been used in the estimation of prior biomass by the default rules. Possible 31030 viable trajectories for 3422 r-k pairs were found by the CMSY analysis and the final estimates for intrinsic rate of population increase (r) was 1.19 year-1 with 95% CL= 0.957-1.48 year-1. The carrying capacity(k) of Bombay-duck was 283×103 tons with 95% CL=173×103 - 464×103 tons and MSY was 84.3×103tons year-1, 95% CL=49.1×103-145×103 tons year-1. Results from Bayesian state-space implementation of the Schaefer production model (BSM) using catch & CPUE data, found catchabilitiy coefficient(q) was 1.63 ×10-6 from lcl=1.27×10-6 to ucl=2.10×10-6 and r= 1.06 year-1 with 95% CL= 0.727 - 1.55 year-1, k was 226×103 tons with 95% CL=170×103-301×103 tons and MSY was 60×103 tons year-1 with 95% CL=49.9 ×103- 72.2 ×103 tons year-1. Results for Bombay-duck fishery management based on BSM assessment from time series catch data illustrated that, Fmsy=0.531 with 95% CL =0.364 - 0.775 (if B > 1/2 Bmsy then Fmsy =0.5r); Fmsy=0.531 with 95% CL =0.364-0.775 (r and Fmsy are linearly reduced if B < 1/2Bmsy). Biomass in 2018 was 110×103 tons with 2.5th to 97.5th percentile=82.3-155×103 tons. Relative biomass (B/Bmsy) in last year was 0.972 from 2.5th percentile to 97.5th percentile=0.728 -1.37. Fishing mortality in last year was 0.738 with 2.5th-97.5th percentile=0.525-1.37. Exploitation F/Fmsy was 1.39, from 2.5th to 97.5th percentile it was 0.988 -1.86. The biological reference points of B/BMSY was smaller than 1.0, while F/FMSY was higher than 1.0 revealed an over-exploitation of the fishery, indicating that more conservative management strategies are required for Bombay-duck fishery.

Keywords: biological reference points, catchability coefficient, carrying capacity, intrinsic rate of population increase

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Ahuva Even-Zohar, Shoshi Werner

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Context: Sexuality is an important aspect of overall quality of life for individuals across different age groups and health conditions. Sexual interest and activity continue to be important and play a role in people's life as they age. Despite this, there is limited research on the sexual health of older adults. Research Aim: The study aims to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and sexual activity of older adults and to explore the relationship between sexual activity and quality of life among this population. Methodology: The study involved 203 Jewish participants from Israel, with an average age of 69.59. The participants completed questionnaires administered through an Internet panel. The questionnaires measured variables such as knowledge about and attitudes towards sexuality, sexual activity, quality of life, and socio-demographic information. Findings: The study found that a majority of the participants reported engaging in sexual activity, with most of them experiencing full sexual intercourse. Approximately half of the participants expressed high levels of satisfaction with their sexual activity. The results indicated that older adults demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge and permissive attitudes towards sexuality in later life. Moreover, higher levels of knowledge and permissive attitudes were associated with increased sexual activity. The frequency of sexual activity was identified as a predictor of quality of life, with a mediating effect on the relationship between attitudes towards older adults' sexuality and quality of life. Notably, men and older adults who were married or in a relationship reported higher frequencies of sexual activity compared to women and older adults without a partner. Furthermore, a majority of participants did not seek professional help or discuss their sexual concerns with a therapist. Theoretical Importance: This research contributes to our understanding of a topic that is often considered taboo - sexuality among older adults. It highlights that older adults maintain an interest in sexual activity, and that engaging in such activity contributes to their overall quality of life. Data Collection and Analysis Procedures: The data for this study were collected using structured questionnaires administered through an Internet panel. The questionnaires included closed-ended questions, allowing for quantitative data analysis. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were performed to examine the relationships between the variables. Questions Addressed: This study aimed to address the following questions: What is the level of knowledge and attitudes towards sexuality among older adults? How prevalent is sexual activity among older adults and what factors are associated with it? How does sexual activity impact the quality of life of older adults? Do older adults seek professional help for their sexual concerns? Conclusion: The main conclusion drawn from this research is that sexuality is a crucial aspect of older adults' lives and significantly contributes to their quality of life. The study emphasizes the need for educational programs aimed at older adults and professionals, which promote the understanding and benefits of sexuality in later life. It also suggests that professionals should actively encourage older individuals to seek help and support when experiencing difficulties related to sexuality.

Keywords: men, older adults, quality of life, sexuality, women

Procedia PDF Downloads 71