Search results for: transmission line outages

Authors: Tshilidzi C. Manyanya, Nthaduleni S. Nethengwe, Edmore Kori

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The UNFCCC, FAO, GCF, IPCC and other global structures advocate for agro-ecology do address food security and sovereignty. However, most of the expected outcomes concerning agro-ecological were not empirically tested for universal application. Agro-ecology is theorised to increase crop health over ago-ecological farms and decrease over conventional farms. Increased crop health means increased carbon sequestration and thus less CO2 in the atmosphere. This is in line with the view that global warming is anthropogenically enhanced through GHG emissions. Agro-ecology mainly affects crop health, soil carbon content and yield on the cultivated land. Economic sustainability is directly related to yield capacity, which is theorized to increase by 3-10% in a space of 3 - 10 years as a result of agro-ecological implementation. This study aimed to empirically assess the practicality and validity of these assumptions. The study utilized mainly GIS and RS techniques to assess the effectiveness of agro-ecology in crop health improvement from satellite images. The assessment involved a longitudinal study (2013 – 2015) assessing the changes that occur after a farm retrofits from conventional agriculture to agro-ecology. The assumptions guided the objectives of the study. For each objective, an agro-ecological farm was compared with a conventional farm in the same climatic conditional occupying the same general location. Crop health was assessed using satellite images analysed through ArcGIS and Erdas. This entailed the production of NDVI and Re-classified outputs of the farm area. The NDVI ranges of the entire period of study were thus compared in a stacked histogram for each farm to assess for trends. Yield capacity was calculated based on the production records acquired from the farmers and plotted in a stacked bar graph as percentages of a total for each farm. The results of the study showed decreasing crop health trends over 80% of the conventional farms and an increase over 80% of the organic farms. Yield capacity showed similar patterns to those of crop health. The study thus showed that agro-ecology is an effective strategy for crop-health improvement and yield increase.

Keywords: agro-ecosystem, conventional farm, dialectical, sustainability

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Authors: Olanrewaju O. Adeojo

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The constitutional system of government provides for the federating units of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the States and the Local Councils under a governing structure of the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary with attendant distinct powers and spheres of influence. The legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and of a State are vested in the National Assembly and House of Assembly of the State respectively. The Local council exercises legislative powers in clearly defined matters as provided by the Constitution. Though, the executive as constituted by the President and the Governor are charged with the powers of execution and administration, the legislature is empowered to ensure that such powers are duly exercised in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. The vast areas do not make oversight functions indefinite and more importantly the purpose for the exercise of the powers are circumscribed. It include, among others, any matter with respect to which it has power to make laws. Indeed, the law provides for the competence of the legislature to procure evidence, examine all persons as witnesses, to summon any person to give evidence and to issue a warrant to compel attendance in matters relevant to the subject matter of its investigation. The exercise of functions envisaged by the Constitution seem to an extent to be literal because it lacks power of enforcing the outcome. Furthermore, the docility of the legislature is apparent in a situation where the agency or authority being called in to question is part of the branch of government to enforce sanctions. The process allows for cover up and obstruction of justice. The oversight functions are not functional in a situation where the executive is overbearing. The friction, that ensues, between the Legislature and the Executive in an attempt by the former to project the spirit of a constitutional mandate calls for concern. It is needless to state a power that can easily be frustrated. To an extent, the arm of government with coercive authority seems to have over shadowy effect over the laid down functions of the legislature. Recourse to adjudication by the Judiciary had not proved to be of any serious utility especially in a clime where the wheels of justice grinds slowly, as in Nigeria, due to the nature of the legal system. Consequently, the law and the Constitution, drawing lessons from other jurisdiction, need to insulate the legislative oversight from the vagaries of the executive. A strong and virile Constitutional Court that determines, within specific time line, issues pertaining to the oversight functions of the legislative power, is apposite.

Keywords: constitution, legislative, oversight, power

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Authors: Dimitrios Bakavos, Dimitrios Tsivoulas, Chaowalit Limmaneevichitr

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Aluminium cast alloys, of the Al-Si system, are widely used for shape castings. Their microstructures can be further improved on one hand, by alloying modification and on the other, by optimised artificial ageing. In this project four hypoeutectic Al-alloys, the A356, A356+ Ag, A356+Sc, and A356+Ag+Sc have been studied. The interactions of Ag and Sc during solidification and artificial ageing at 170°C to a T6 temper have been investigated in details. The evolution of the eutectic microstructure is studied by thermal analysis and interrupted solidification. The ageing kinetics of the alloys has been identified by hardness measurements. The precipitate phases, number density, and chemical composition has been analysed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and EDS analysis. Furthermore, the SHT effect onto the Si eutectic particles for the four alloys has been investigated by means of optical microscopy, image analysis, and the UTS strength has been compared with the UTS of the alloys after casting. The results suggest that the Ag additions, significantly enhance the ageing kinetics of the A356 alloy. The formation of β” precipitates were kinetically accelerated and an increase of 8% and 5% in peak hardness strength has been observed compared to the base A356 and A356-Sc alloy. The EDS analysis demonstrates that Ag is present on the β” precipitate composition. After prolonged ageing 100 hours at 170°C, the A356-Ag exhibits 17% higher hardness strength compared to the other three alloys. During solidification, Sc additions change the macroscopic eutectic growth mode to the propagation of a defined eutectic front from the mold walls opposite to the heat flux direction. In contrast, Ag has no significance effect on the solidification mode revealing a macroscopic eutectic growth similar to A356 base alloy. However, the mechanical strength of the as cast A356-Ag, A356-Sc, and A356+Ag+Sc additions has increased by 5, 30, and 35 MPa, respectively. The outcome is a tribute to the refining of the eutectic Si that takes place which it is strong in the A356-Sc alloy and more profound when silver and scandium has been combined. Moreover after SHT the Al alloy with the highest mechanical strength, is the one with Ag additions, in contrast to the as-cast condition where the Sc and Sc+Ag alloy was the strongest. The increase of strength is mainly attributed to the dissolution of grain boundary precipitates the increase of the solute content into the matrix, the spherodisation, and coarsening of the eutectic Si. Therefore, we could safely conclude for an A356 hypoeutectic alloy additions of: Ag exhibits a refining effect on the Si eutectic which is improved when is combined with Sc. In addition Ag enhance, the ageing kinetics increases the hardness and retains its strength at prolonged artificial ageing in a Al-7Si 0.3Mg hypoeutectic alloy. Finally the addition of Sc is beneficial due to the refinement of the α-Al grain and modification-refinement of the eutectic Si increasing the strength of the as-cast product.

Keywords: ageing, casting, mechanical strength, precipitates

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Authors: Ji Young Lee, Jong Woon Kim

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It is essential to secure high availability of railway vehicles to realize high quality and efficiency of railway service. Once the availability decreased, planned railway service could not be provided or more cars need to be reserved. additional cars need to be purchased or the frequency of railway service could be decreased. Such situation would be a big loss in terms of quality and cost related to railway service. Therefore, we make various efforts to get high availability of railway vehicles. Because it is a big loss to operators, we make various efforts to get high availability of railway vehicles. To secure high availability, the idle time of the vehicle needs to be reduced and the following methods are applied to railway vehicles. First, through modularization design, exchange time for line replaceable units is reduced which makes railway vehicles could be put into the service quickly. Second, to reduce periodic preventive maintenance time, preventive maintenance with short period would be proceeded test oriented to minimize the maintenance time, and reliability is secured through overhauls for each main component. With such design changes for railway vehicles, modularized components are exchanged first at the time of vehicle failure or overhaul so that vehicles could be put into the service quickly and exchanged components are repaired or overhauled. Therefore, spare components are required for any future failures or overhauls. And, as components are modularized and costs for components are high, it is considerably important to get reasonable quantities of spare components. Especially, when a number of railway vehicles were put into the service simultaneously, the time of overhauls come almost at the same time. Thus, for some vehicles, components need to be exchanged and overhauled before appointed overhaul period so that these components could be secured as spare parts for the next vehicle’s component overhaul. For this reason, components overhaul time and spare parts quantities should be decided at the same time. This study deals with the time of overhauls for repairable components of railway vehicles and the calculation of spare parts quantities in consideration of future failure/overhauls. However, as railway vehicles are used according to the service schedule, maintenance work cannot be proceeded after the service was closed thus it is quite difficult to resolve this situation mathematically. In this study, Simulation software system is used in this study for analyzing the time of overhauls for repairable components of railway vehicles and the spare parts for the railway systems.

Keywords: overhaul time, rolling stocks, simulation, spare parts

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Authors: Inês Boticas, Diana P. Ferreira, Ana Eusébio, Carlos Silva, Pedro Magalhães, Ricardo Silva, Raul Fangueiro

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Since the beginning of the 20^th century, sportswear has a major contribution to the impact of fashion on our lives. Nowadays, the embracing of sportswear fashion/looks is undoubtedly noticeable, as the modern consumer searches for high comfort and linear aesthetics for its clothes. This compromise lead to the arise of the athleisure trend. Athleisure surges as a new style area that combines both wearability and fashion sense, differentiated from the archetypal sportswear, usually associated to “gym clothes”. Additionally, the possibility to functionalize and implement new technologies have shifted and progressively empowers the connection between the concepts of physical activities practice and well-being, allowing clothing to be more interactive and responsive with its surroundings. In this study, a design inspired in retro and urban lifestyle was envisioned, engineering textile structures that can respond to external stimuli. These structures are enhanced to be responsive to heat, water vapor and humidity, integrating shape memory polymers (SMP) to improve the breathability and heat-responsive behavior of the textiles and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) to heighten the surface hydrophobic properties. The best results for hydrophobic exhibited superhydrophobic behavior with water contact angle (WAC) of more than 150 degrees. For the breathability and heat-response properties, SMP-coated samples showed an increase in water vapour permeability values of about 50% when compared with non SMP-coated samples. These innovative technological approaches were endorsed to design innovative clothing, in line with circular economy and eco-design principles, by assigning a substantial degree of mutability and versatility to the clothing. The development of a coat and shirt, in which different parts can be purchased separately to create multiple products, aims to combine the technicality of both the fabrics used and the making of the garments. This concept translates itself into a real constructive mechanism through the symbiosis of high-tech functionalities and the timeless design that follows the athleisure aesthetics.

Keywords: breathability, sportswear and casual clothing, sustainable design, superhydrophobicity

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Authors: Victoria Lewis, L. Dumbell

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The British Equestrian Federation (BEF) aims to develop a holistic coach education and certification program, moving away from traditional autocratic instruction in line with the UK Coaching Framework. This framework is based on generic coaching science research where the coach is cited as a pivotal aspect in developing sporting success. Theoretic knowledge suggests that the role of the sports coach is to develop the physical, tactical, technical and psychological attributes of the athlete and is responsible for the planning, organization and delivery of the training plan and competition schedule. However, to the best of the author’s knowledge, there is no empirical evidence to suggest that is the role required in equestrian sport as the rider takes responsibility for many of these tasks. This research aimed to address the void in current knowledge by gaining an understanding of coaching in equestrian sport in order to improve coaching education system through awareness of the role of the coach. Objectives were to examine the relationship between coach and rider at elite level in equestrian sport providing empirical evidence to suggest that the rider is, in part, ‘self –coached’. To identify the elite equestrian coaches’ role in coaching these ‘self-coached riders. A qualitative method using semi-structured interviews was used. A sample of elite coaches (N=3) and elite riders (N=3) were interviewed. Analysis of the transcripts revealed a total of 534 meaning units that were further grouped into sub-themes and general themes from the coaches’ perspective and the riders’ perspective. This led to the development of a final thematic structure revealing major dimensions that characterized coaching in elite equestrian sport. It was found that the riders at the elite level coach themselves the majority of the time, therefore, can be considered as ‘self-coached’ athletes. However, they do use elite coaches in a mentoring and consultancy role, where they seek guidance from the coach on specific problems, to sound ideas off or to seek reassurance that what they are doing is correct. Findings from this research suggest that the rider-coach relationship at the elite level is a professional one, based on trust and respect, but not a close relationship as seen in other sports. The results show the imperative need for the BEF to educate coaches in coaching the self-coached rider at the elite level, particularly in terms of mentoring skills. As well as incorporating rider education aimed at developing the independent, self-coached riders.

Keywords: coaching, elite sport, equestrian, self coached

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Authors: Mrinal Gupta, Mohammad Rumman, Babita Singh Abbas Ali Mahdi, Shivani Pandey

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Introduction: Berberine (BBR), a bioactive compound isolated from Coptidis Rhizoma, possesses diverse pharmacological activities, including anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, hypolipidemic, and anti-diabetic. However, its role as an anti-diabetic agent in animal models of dexamethasone (Dex)-induced diabetes remains unknown. Studies have shown that natural compounds, including aloe, caper, cinnamon, cocoa, green and black tea, and turmeric, can be used for treating Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Compared to conventional drugs, natural compounds have fewer side effects and are easily available. Herein, we studied the anti-diabetic effects of BBR in a mice model of Dex-induced diabetes. Methods: HepG2 cell line was used for glucose release and glycogen synthesis studies. Cell proliferation was measured by methylthiotetrazole (MTT) assay. For animal studies, mice were treated with Dex (2 mg/kg, i.m.) for 30 days and the effect of BBR at the doses 100, 200, and 500 mg/kg (p.o.) was analyzed. Glucose, insulin, and pyruvate tests were performed to evaluate the development of the diabetic model. An echo MRI was performed to assess the fat mass. Further, to elucidate the mechanism of action of BBR, mRNA expression of genes regulating gluconeogenesis, glucose uptake, and glycolysis were analyzed. Results: In vitro BBR had no impact on cell viability up to a concentration of 50μM. Moreover, BBR suppressed the hepatic glucose release and improved glucose tolerance in HepG2 cells. In vivo, BBR improved glucose homeostasis in diabetic mice, as evidenced by enhanced glucose clearance, increased glycolysis, elevated glucose uptake, and decreased gluconeogenesis. Further, Dex treatment increased the total fat mass in mice, which was ameliorated by BBR treatment. Conclusion: BBR improves glucose tolerance by increasing glucose clearance, inhibiting hepatic glucose release, and decreasing obesity. Thus, BBR may become a potential therapeutic agent for treating glucocorticoid-induced diabetes and obesity in the future.

Keywords: glucocorticoid, hyperglycemia, berberine, HepG2 cells, insulin resistance, glucose

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Authors: Shafiqul Islam, Cordia Chu

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Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate related disasters such as flood and cyclone. Exploring from the semi-structured in-depth interviews of 38 stakeholders and literature review, this study examined the public spending distribution process in DRR. This paper demonstrates how the processes of political economy-enclosure, exclusion, encroachment, and entrenchment hinder the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) efforts of Department of Disaster Management (DDM) such as distribution of flood centres, cyclone centres and 40 days employment generation programs. Enclosure refers to when DRR projects allocated to less vulnerable areas or expand the roles of influencing actors into the public sphere. Exclusion refers to when DRR projects limit affected people’s access to resources or marginalize particular stakeholders in decision-making activities. Encroachment refers to when allocation of DRR projects and selection of location and issues degrade the environmental affect or contribute to other forms of disaster risk. Entrenchment refers to when DRR projects aggravate the disempowerment of common people worsen the concentrations of wealth and income inequality within a community. In line with United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Hyogo and Sendai Frameworks, in the case of Bangladesh, DRR policies implemented under the country’s national five-year plan, disaster-related acts and rules. These policies and practices have somehow enabled influential-elites to mobilize and distribute resources through bureaucracies. Exclusionary forms of fund distribution of DRR exist at both the national and local scales. DRR related allocations have encroached through the low land areas development project without consulting local needs. Most severely, DRR related unequal allocations have entrenched social class trapping the backward communities vulnerable to climate related disasters. Planners and practitioners of DRR need to take necessary steps to eliminate the potential risks from the processes of enclosure, exclusion, encroachment, and entrenchment happens in project fund allocations.

Keywords: Bangladesh, disaster risk reduction, fund distribution, political economy

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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: David W. Taylor, Fernando Lourenço, Carolyn Branston, Paul Tucker

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There are an increasing number of students at Universities in the United Kingdom engaging in entrepreneurship role-play to explore business start-up as a career alternative to employment. These role-play activities have been shown to have a positive influence on students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Universities also play a role in developing graduates’ awareness of social responsibility. However, social responsibility is often missing from these entrepreneurship role-plays. It is important that these role-play activities include the development of values that support social responsibility, in-line with those running hybrid, humane and sustainable enterprises, and not simply focus on profit. The Young Enterprise (YE) Start-Up programme is an example of a role-play activity that is gaining in popularity amongst United Kingdom Universities seeking ways to give students insight into a business start-up. A Post-92 University in the North-West of England has adapted the traditional YE Directorship roles (e.g., Marketing Director, Sales Director) by including a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Director in all of the team-based YE Start-Up businesses. The aim for introducing this Directorship was to observe if such a role would help create a more socially responsible value-system within each company and in turn shape business decisions. This paper investigates role-play as a tool to help enterprise educators develop socially responsible attitudes and values in nascent entrepreneurs. A mixed qualitative methodology approach has been used, which includes interviews, role-play, and reflection, to help students develop positive value characteristics through the exploration of unethical and selfish behaviors. The initial findings indicate that role-play helped CSR Directors learn and gain insights into the importance of corporate social responsibility, influenced the values and actions of their YE Start-Ups, and increased the likelihood that if the participants were to launch a business post-graduation, that the intent would be for the business to be socially responsible. These findings help inform educators on how to develop socially responsible nascent entrepreneurs within a traditionally profit orientated business model.

Keywords: student entrepreneurship, young enterprise, social responsibility, role-play, values

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Authors: Jarwa Prasetya Sih Handoko

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The issue of energy crisis for big cities in Indonesia are issues raised in line with the development of the city is rapidly increasing. Various attempts were made by the government in overcoming problems of energy needs in Indonesia. In addition to the efforts of the government required the efforts made by the public to solve this problem. The concept of green building in the design of the building with efforts to use energy efficiently can be one of the efforts that can be applied to solve this problem. Jakarta is capital and the one of the major cities in Indonesia with high economic growth. This leads to increased demand for office space for the people. So that the construction of office buildings in big cities like Jakarta very numerous. Office building is one of the buildings that require large energy consumption. As a building that could potentially require huge amounts of energy, the design should consider the use of energy to help provide solutions to problems of energy crisis in Indonesia. The concept of energy efficient is one of the concepts addressed in an effort to use energy in buildings to save energy needs of the building operations. Therefore, it is necessary to have a study that explores the application of the concept of energy efficiency and conservation in office buildings in Jakarta. In this study using two (2) buildings case study that Sequis Center Building and Sampoerna Strategic Square. Both are office buildings in Jakarta have earned the Green Building Certificate of Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI). The study used literature review methods to address issues raised earlier. Whether it's related to a literature review on the study of office buildings and green building. With this paper is expected to be obtained on the application of the concept of energy efficiency and conservation in office buildings that have earned recognition as a green building by GBCI. The result could be a reference to the architect in designing the next office buildings, especially related to the concept of energy use in buildings. From this study, it can be concluded that the concept of energy efficiency and conservation in the design of office buildings can be applied to its orientation, the openings, the use shade in buildings, vegetation and building material selection and efficient use of water. So that it can reduce energy requirements needed to meet the needs of the building user activity. So the concept of energy efficiency and conservation in office buildings can be one of the efforts to realize the Green Office Building. Recommendations from this study is that the design of office buildings should be able to apply the concept of energy utilization in the design office. This is to meet the energy needs of the office buildings in an effort to realize the Green Building.

Keywords: energy crisis, energy efficiency, energy conservation, green building, office building

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Authors: Daral Maesincee, Jompol Thongpaen

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Thus far, most of the decisions made within the walls of Thai higher education (HE) institutions have primarily been supply-oriented. With the current supply-driven, itemized HE financing systems, the nation is struggling to systemically produce high-quality manpower that serves the market’s needs, often resulting in education mismatches and unemployment – particularly in science, technology, and innovation (STI)-related fields. With the COVID-19 pandemic challenges widening the education inequality (accessibility and quality) gap, HE becomes even more unobtainable for underprivileged students, permanently leaving some out of the system. Therefore, Thai HE needs a new financing system that produces the “right people” for the “right occupations” through the “right ways,” regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds, and encourages the creation of non-degree courses to tackle these ongoing challenges. The “Demand-Side Financing for Thai Higher Education” policy aims to do so by offering a new paradigm of HE resource allocation via two main mechanisms: i) standardized formula-based unit-cost subsidizations that is specific to each study field and ii) student loan programs that respond to the “demand signals” from the labor market and the students, that are in line with the country’s priorities. Through in-dept reviews, extensive studies, and consultations with various experts, education committees, and related agencies, i) the method of demand signal analysis is identified, ii) the unit-cost of each student in the sample study fields is approximated, iii) the method of budget analysis is formulated, iv) the interagency workflows are established, and v) a supporting information database is created to suggest the number of graduates each HE institution can potentially produce, the study fields and skillsets that are needed by the labor market, the employers’ satisfaction with the graduates, and each study field’s employment rates. By responding to the needs of all stakeholders, this policy is expected to steer Thai HE toward producing more STI-related manpower in order to uplift Thai people’s quality of life and enhance the nation’s global competitiveness. This policy is currently in the process of being considered by the National Education Transformation Committee and the Higher Education Commission.

Keywords: demand-side financing, higher education resource, human capital, higher education

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Authors: Lee Bih Ni, Zulfhikar Rabe, Nurul Asyikin Hassan

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The Ministry of Education Malaysia dynamically and drastically made the subject of History mandatory to be in force in 2013. This is in recognition of the nation's heritage and treasures in maintaining true facts and information for future generations of the State. History reveals the civilization of a nation and the fact of national cultural heritage. Civilization needs to be preserved as a legacy of sovereign heritage. Today's generation is the catalyst for future heirs who will support the principle and direction of the country. In line with the National Education Philosophy that aims to shape the potential development of individuals holistically and uniquely in order to produce a balanced and harmonious student in terms of intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical. Hence, understanding the importance of studying the history subject as a pillar of identity and the history of nationhood is to be a priority in the pursuit of knowledge and empowering the spirit of statehood that is nurtured through continuous learning at school. Judging from the aspect of teacher leadership role in integrating history in a combined way based on Teacher Education Philosophy. It empowers the teaching profession towards the teacher to support noble character. It also supports progressive and scientific views. Teachers are willing to uphold the State's aspirations and celebrate the country's cultural heritage. They guarantee individual development and maintain a united, democratic, progressive and disciplined society. Teacher's role as a change and leadership agent in education begins in the classroom through formal or informal educational processes. This situation is expanded in schools, communities and countries. The focus of this paper is on the role of teacher leadership influencing the effectiveness of teaching and learning history in the classroom environment. Leadership guides to teachers' perceptions on the role of teacher leadership, teaching leadership, and the teacher leadership role and effective teacher leadership role. Discussions give emphasis on aspects of factors affecting the classroom environment, forming the classroom agenda, effective classroom implementation methods, suitable climate for historical learning and teacher challenges in implicating the effectiveness of teaching and learning processes.

Keywords: teacher leadership, leadership lessons, effective classroom, effective teacher

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Authors: Altab Hossain, Shakerul Islam, Golamur R. Khan, Abu Zafar M. Salahuddin

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An effective identification of breakdowns is of premier importance for the safe and reliable operation of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) and its associated facilities. A great number of monitoring and diagnosis methodologies are applied and used worldwide in areas such as industry, automobiles, hospitals, and power plant to detect and reduce human disasters. The potential consequences of several hazardous activities may harm the society using nuclear and its associated facilities. Hence, one of the most popular and effective methods to ensure safety and monitor the entire nuclear facility and imply risk-free operation without human interference during the hazardous situation is using a robot. Therefore, in this study, an advanced autonomous robot has been designed and developed that can monitor several parameters in the NPP to ensure the safety and do some risky job in case of nuclear disaster. The robot consisted of autonomous track following unit, data processing and transmitting unit can follow a straight line and take turn as the bank greater than 90 degrees. The developed robot can analyze various parameters such as temperature, altitude, radiation, obstacle, humidity, detecting fire, measuring distance, ultrasonic scan and taking the heat of any particular object. It has an ability to broadcast live stream and can record the document to its own server memory. There is a separate control unit constructed with a baseboard which processes the recorded data and a transmitter which transmits the processed data. To make the robot user-friendly, the code is developed such a way that a user can control any of robotic arm as per types of work. To control at any place and without the track, there is an advanced code has been developed to take manual overwrite. Through this process, administrator who has logged in permission to Dynamic Host Client Protocol (DHCP) can make the handover of the control of the robot. In this process, this robot is provided maximum nuclear security from being hacked. Not only NPP, this robot can be used to maximize the real-time monitoring system of any nuclear facility as well as nuclear material transportation and decomposition system.

Keywords: nuclear power plant, radiation, dynamic host client protocol, nuclear security

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Authors: David Obafemi Adebayo

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An occupational challenge has been identified as one of the factors that could cripple set goals and life ambitions of an Internally Displaced Person (IDP). The main thrust of this study is therefore, explore the use of life support/adjustment strategy with a view to repositioning these internally displaced persons in Nigeria in revamping their goals and achieving their life-long ambitions. The study intends to investigate whether there exist, on the basis of gender, religion, years of working experience and educational qualification any significant difference in the occupational challenges and adjustment strategies of IDPs. The study being descriptive of survey type adopted a multi-stage sampling technique to select the minimum of 400 internally displaced persons from IDP camps in Yimitu Village, Waru District in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The research instrument used for the study was a researcher-designed questionnaire entitled “Questionnaire on Occupational Challenges and Adjustment Strategy of Internally Displaced Persons (QOCASIDPs)”. Eight null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha levels of significance. Frequency counts and percentages, means and rank order, t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) (where applicable) were employed to analyze the data. The Study determined whether occupational challenges of internally displaced persons included loss of employment, vocational discrimination, marginalization by employers of labour, isolation due to joblessness, lack of occupational freedom, which were found to be true. The results were discussed in line with the findings. The study established the place of notable adjustment strategies adopted by internally displaced person like engaging in petty trading, sourcing soft loans from NGOs, setting up small-scale businesses in groups, acquiring new skills, engaging in further education, among others. The study established that there was no significant difference in the occupational challenges of IDPs on the basis of years of working experience and highest educational qualifications, though there was significant difference on the basis of gender as well as religion. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made.

Keywords: internally displaced persons, occupational challenges, adjustment strategies, Abuja-Nigeria

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Authors: Mir Ahmad Lashteh Neshaei, Hamed Afsoos Biria, Ata Ghabraei, Mir Abdolhamid Mehrdad

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Awareness of effective land using issues in coastal area including protection of natural ecosystems and coastal environment due to the increasing of human life along the coast is of great importance. There are numerous valuable structures and heritages which are located in defence sites and waterfront area. Marine structures such as groins, sea walls and detached breakwaters are constructed in coast to improve the coast stability against bed erosion due to changing wave and climate pattern. Marine mechanisms and interaction with the shore protection structures need to be intensively studied. Groins are one of the most prominent structures that are used in shore protection to create a safe environment for coastal area by maintaining the land against progressive coastal erosion. The main structural function of a groin is to control the long shore current and littoral sediment transport. This structure can be submerged and provide the necessary beach protection without negative environmental impact. However, for submerged structures adopted for beach protection, the shoreline response to these structures is not well understood at present. Nowadays, modelling and computer simulation are used to assess beach morphology in the vicinity of marine structures to reduce their environmental impact. The objective of this study is to predict the beach morphology in the vicinity of submerged groins and comparison with non-submerged groins with focus on a part of the coast located in Dahane sar Sefidrood, Guilan province, Iran where serious coast erosion has occurred recently. The simulations were obtained using a one-line model which can be used as a first approximation of shoreline prediction in the vicinity of groins. The results of the proposed model are compared with field measurements to determine the shape of the coast. Finally, the results of the present study show that using submerged groins can have a good efficiency to control the beach erosion without causing severe environmental impact to the coast. The important outcome from this study can be employed in optimum designing of defence sites in the coastal cities to improve their efficiency in terms of re-using the heritage lands.

Keywords: submerged structures, groin, shore protective structures, coastal cities

Procedia PDF Downloads 308

Authors: George Hikah Benson

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The promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and Intersex (LGBTQIs) rights within the continent of Africa in general and Ghana, in particular, has for some time now, met the fiercest of resistance; premised mainly on socio-cultural-religious factors. This phenomenon contrasts with notions of countries of the Global North where persons within the context of their fundamental freedoms and rights have the right to sexual choices and preferences. A Private Member’s Bill was introduced to the Ghanaian Parliament in 2021, seeking to criminalize the promotion and advocacy of LGBTQIs related activities. This paper in assessing public views on the matter also seeks to ascertain the security implications regarding the passage of the law at the community level. The study also evaluates LGBTQIs rights vis-a-vis the provisions of Chapter 5 of the 1992 Ghana Constitution and global legal jurisprudence on fundamental human rights. To that end, the study adopted a mixed design approach (quantitative and qualitative) to gather data from 1,550 respondents from all ‘walks of life, across all sixteen regions of Ghana. The main findings are that first, over 85% of Ghanaians abhor the practices of LGBTQIs in keeping with the societal, cultural and religious beliefs of Ghanaians, and will go any length to prevent its survival in the country. Further, the time is not ripe for the acceptance of LGBTQ rights in Ghana as the activities will disrupt family values and poison the existing peace that Ghanaians are currently enjoying. However, it is generally believed that when the bill is passed into law, Ghana’s international image will be dented, and 60% of participants and respondents will be unmoved. Against this hostile, intolerant backdrop regarding LGBTQIs rights in the country and in many other African countries, the study foremost recommends that such a law, when passed, should come with a ‘human face’ that will not just seek to be punitive of LGBTQIs persons but corrective. Additionally, the law should be one that offers them support in line with their rights as Ghanaian and African citizens. Moreover, religious and traditional bodies should endeavor to engage LGBTQIs persons in a friendlier, corrective and loving manner rather than in the current hostile environment that society exposes them to.

Keywords: Ghanaian parliament, LGBTQIs rights, perceptions, socio-culture-religious

Procedia PDF Downloads 80

Authors: Sze Wing Ho, Nagendra P. Shah

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Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have shown the beneficial effects on human gastrointestinal tract, such as protects diarrhea induced by lactose intolerance or enteric pathogens. Citrulline is a non-protein amino acid and also the precursors of arginine and nitric oxide, it has shown to enhance intestinal barrier function. Citrulline has shown to improve the growth of some strains of LAB, it is important for LAB to have a sufficient cell concentration to contribute the effects. Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the effect of combining citrulline with LAB on the anti-adhesion effect against pathogens and the effect on the cell integrity. The effect of citrulline on selected LAB was determined by incubating in 0%, 0.1% or 0.2% citrulline enriched MRS broth for 18 h. The adhesion ability of LAB and the anti-adhesion effect of LAB and citrulline against pathogens were performed on IPEC-J2 cell line. Transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) assay was used to measure the tight junction (TJ) integrity. TJ proteins (claudin-1, occludin and zonula occluden-1 (ZO-1)) were determined by western blot analysis. It found that the growth of Lactobacillus helveticus ASCC 511 was significantly stimulated by 0.2% citrulline compared with control during 18 h fermentation. The adhesion of L. helveticus ASCC 511 and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus (L. bulgaricus) ASCC 756 was increased when supplemented with citrulline. Citrulline has shown significant inhibitory effect on the adhesion of Escherichia coli PELI0480 (O157:H7), Shigella sonnei ATCC 25931, Staphyloccocus aureus CMCC26003 and Cronobacter sakazakii ATCC 29544. The anti-adhesion effect of L. helveticus ASCC 511, L. bulgaricus ASCC 756 and Lactobacillus paracasei ASCC 276 against Cronobacter sakazakii ATCC 29544 was significantly enhanced with citrulline supplementation. Treatments with citrulline and LAB were able to maintain the TEER of IPEC-J2 cell and shown the positive effect on the TJ proteins. In conclusion, citrulline had stimulating effect on some strains of LAB and determined to improve the adhesion of LAB on intestinal epithelial cell, to enhance the inhibitory effect on enteric pathogens adhesion as well as had beneficial effects on maintaining cell integrity. It implied LAB supplemented with citrulline might have advantageous effects on gastrointestinal tracts.

Keywords: citrulline, lactic acid bacteria, amino acid, anti-adhesion effect, cell integrity

Procedia PDF Downloads 230

Authors: Jigar N. Shah, Hiral J. Shah, Praful D. Bharadia

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The major challenge faced by formulation scientists in transdermal drug delivery system is to overcome the inherent barriers related to skin permeation. The stratum corneum layer of the skin is working as the rate limiting step in transdermal transport and reduce drug permeation through skin. Many approaches have been used to enhance the penetration of drugs through this layer of the skin. The purpose of this study is to investigate the development and evaluation of a combined approach of drug carriers and iontophoresis as a vehicle to improve skin permeation of an analgesic drug. Iontophoresis is a non-invasive technique for transporting charged molecules into and through tissues by a mild electric field. It has been shown to effectively deliver a variety of drugs across the skin to the underlying tissue. In addition to the enhanced continuous transport, iontophoresis allows dose titration by adjusting the electric field, which makes personalized dosing feasible. Drug carrier could modify the physicochemical properties of the encapsulated molecule and offer a means to facilitate the percutaneous delivery of difficult-to-uptake substances. Recently, there are some reports about using liposomes, microemulsions and polymeric nanoparticles as vehicles for iontophoretic drug delivery. Niosomes, the nonionic surfactant-based vesicles that are essentially similar in properties to liposomes have been proposed as an alternative to liposomes. Niosomes are more stable and free from other shortcoming of liposomes. Recently, the transdermal delivery of certain drugs using niosomes has been envisaged and niosomes have proved to be superior transdermal nanocarriers. Proniosomes overcome some of the physical stability related problems of niosomes. The proniosomal structure was liquid crystalline-compact niosomes hybrid which could be converted into niosomes upon hydration. The combined use of drug carriers and iontophoresis could offer many additional benefits. The system was evaluated for Encapsulation Efficiency, vesicle size, zeta potential, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), DSC, in-vitro release, ex-vivo permeation across skin and rate of hydration. The use of proniosomal gel as a vehicle for the transdermal iontophoretic delivery was evaluated in-vitro. The characteristics of the applied electric current, such as density, type, frequency, and on/off interval ratio were observed. The study confirms the synergistic effect of proniosomes and iontophoresis in improving the transdermal permeation profile of selected analgesic drug. It is concluded that proniosomal gel can be used as a vehicle for transdermal iontophoretic drug delivery under suitable electric conditions.

Keywords: iontophoresis, niosomes, permeation enhancement, transdermal delivery

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Stefanie Behncke

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This paper analyses the effects of different macroprudential policy measures that have recently been implemented in Switzerland. Among them is the activation and the increase of the countercyclical capital buffer (CCB) and a tightening of loan-to-value (LTV) requirements. These measures were introduced to limit systemic risks in the Swiss mortgage and real estate markets. They were meant to affect mortgage growth, mortgage risks, and banks’ capital buffers. Evaluation of their quantitative effects provides insights for Swiss policymakers when reassessing their policy. It is also informative for policymakers in other countries who plan to introduce macroprudential instruments. We estimate the effects of the different macroprudential measures with a Differences-in-Differences estimator. Banks differ with respect to the relative importance of mortgages in their portfolio, their riskiness, and their capital buffers. Thus, some of the banks were more affected than others by the CCB, while others were more affected by the LTV requirements. Our analysis is made possible by an unusually informative bank panel data set. It combines data on newly issued mortgage loans and quantitative risk indicators such as LTV and loan-to-income (LTI) ratios with supervisory information on banks’ capital and liquidity situation and balance sheets. Our results suggest that the LTV cap of 90% was most effective. The proportion of new mortgages with a high LTV ratio was significantly reduced. This result does not only apply to the 90% LTV, but also to other threshold values (e.g. 80%, 75%) suggesting that the entire upper part of the LTV distribution was affected. Other outcomes such as the LTI distribution, the growth rates of mortgages and other credits, however, were not significantly affected. Regarding the activation and the increase of the CCB, we do not find any significant effects: neither LTV/LTI risk parameters nor mortgage and other credit growth rates were significantly reduced. This result may reflect that the size of the CCB (1% of relevant residential real estate risk-weighted assets at activation, respectively 2% at the increase) was not sufficiently high enough to trigger a distinct reaction between the banks most likely to be affected by the CCB and those serving as controls. Still, it might be have been effective in increasing the resilience in the overall banking system. From a policy perspective, these results suggest that targeted macroprudential policy measures can contribute to financial stability. In line with findings by others, caps on LTV reduced risk taking in Switzerland. To fully assess the effectiveness of the CCB, further experience is needed.

Keywords: banks, financial stability, macroprudential policy, mortgages

Procedia PDF Downloads 353

Authors: Tannia Vindel, Angel Matute, Erik Elvir, Kelvin Santos

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Currently in Honduras, is been incentivized the generation of energy using renewable fonts, such as: hydroelectricity, wind power, biomass and, more recently with the strongest growth, photovoltaic energy. In July 2015 were installed 455.2 MW of photovoltaic energy, increasing by 24% the installed capacity of the national interconnected system existing in 2014, according the National Energy Company (NEC), that made possible reduce the thermoelectric dependency of the system. Given the good results of those large-scale photovoltaic plants, arises the question: is it interesting for the distribution utility and for the consumers the integration of photovoltaic systems in micro-scale in the urban and rural areas? To answer that question has been researched the insertion of photovoltaic energy in the residential sector in Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela (Central District), Honduras to determine the technical and economic viability. Francisco Morazán department, according the National Statistics Institute (NSI), in 2001 had more than 180,000 houses with power service. Tegucigalpa, department and Honduras capital, and Comayagüela, both, have the highest population density in the region, with 1,300,000 habitants in 2014 (NSI). The residential sector in the south-central region of Honduras represents a high percentage being 49% of total consumption, according with NEC in 2014; where 90% of this sector consumes in a range of 0 to 300 kWh / month. All this, in addition to the high level of losses in the transmission and distribution systems, 31.3% in 2014, and the availability of an annual average solar radiation of 5.20 kWh/(m2∙day) according to the NASA, suggests the feasibility of the implementation of photovoltaic systems as a solution to give a level of independency to the households, and besides could be capable of injecting the non-used energy to the grid. The capability of exchange of energy with the grid could make the photovoltaic systems acquisition more affordable to the consumers, because of the compensation energy programs or other kinds of incentives that could be created. Technical viability of the photovoltaic systems insertion has been analyzed, considering the solar radiation monthly average to determine the monthly average of energy that would be generated with the technology accessible locally and the effects of the injection of the energy locally generated on the grid. In addition, the economic viability has been analyzed too, considering the photovoltaic systems high costs, costs of the utility, location and monthly energy consumption requirements of the families. It was found that the inclusion of photovoltaic systems in Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela could decrease in 6 MW the demand for the region if 100% of the households use photovoltaic systems, which acquisition may be more accessible with the help of government incentives and/or the application of energy exchange programs.

Keywords: grid connected, photovoltaic, residential, technical analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 250

Authors: Abtehal Y. Anaas, Mohd. Nazmi Bin Abd. Manap

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Meat Tenderness is one of the most important factors affecting consumers' assessment of meat quality. Variation in meat tenderness is genetically controlled and varies among breeds, and it is also influenced by environmental factors that can affect its creation during rigor mortis and postmortem. The final postmortem meat tenderization relies on the extent of proteolysis of myofibrillar proteins caused by the endogenous activity of the proteolytic calpain system. This calpain system includes different calcium-dependent cysteine proteases, and an inhibitor, calpastatin. It is widely accepted that in farm animals including chickens, the μ-calpain gene (CAPN1) is a physiological candidate gene for meat tenderness. This study aimed to identify the association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in the CAPN1 gene with the tenderness of chicken breast meat from two Malaysian native and commercial broiler breed crosses. Ten, five months old native chickens and ten, 42 days commercial broilers were collected from the local market and breast muscles were removed two hours after slaughter, packed separately in plastic bags and kept at -20ºC for 24 h. The tenderness phenotype for all chickens’ breast meats was determined by Warner-Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF). Thawing and cooking losses were also measured in the same breast samples before using in WBSF determination. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify the previously reported C7198A and G9950A SNPs in the CAPN1 gene and assess their associations with meat tenderness in the two breeds. The broiler breast meat showed lower shear force values and lower thawing loss rates than the native chickens (p<0.05), whereas there were similar in the rates of cooking loss. The study confirms some previous results that the markers CAPN1 C7198A and G9950A were not significantly associated with the variation in meat tenderness in chickens. Therefore, further study is needed to confirm the functional molecular mechanism of these SNPs and evaluate their associations in different chicken populations.

Keywords: CAPNl, chicken, meat tenderness, meat quality, SNPs

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: Henok Hailemariam, Frank Wuttke

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Collapsible soils are weak soils that appear to be stable in their natural state, normally dry condition, but rapidly deform under saturation (wetting), thus generating large and unexpected settlements which often yield disastrous consequences for structures unwittingly built on such deposits. In this study, a prediction model for the relative subsidence of stressed collapsible soils based on dielectric permittivity measurement is presented. Unlike most existing methods for soil subsidence prediction, this model does not require moisture content as an input parameter, thus providing the opportunity to obtain accurate estimation of the relative subsidence of collapsible soils using dielectric measurement only. The prediction model is developed based on an existing relative subsidence prediction model (which is dependent on soil moisture condition) and an advanced theoretical frequency and temperature-dependent electromagnetic mixing equation (which effectively removes the moisture content dependence of the original relative subsidence prediction model). For large scale sub-surface soil exploration purposes, the spatial sub-surface soil dielectric data over wide areas and high depths of weak (collapsible) soil deposits can be obtained using non-destructive high frequency electromagnetic (HF-EM) measurement techniques such as ground penetrating radar (GPR). For laboratory or small scale in-situ measurements, techniques such as an open-ended coaxial line with widely applicable time domain reflectometry (TDR) or vector network analysers (VNAs) are usually employed to obtain the soil dielectric data. By using soil dielectric data obtained from small or large scale non-destructive HF-EM investigations, the new model can effectively predict the relative subsidence of weak soils without the need to extract samples for moisture content measurement. Some of the resulting benefits are the preservation of the undisturbed nature of the soil as well as a reduction in the investigation costs and analysis time in the identification of weak (problematic) soils. The accuracy of prediction of the presented model is assessed by conducting relative subsidence tests on a collapsible soil at various initial soil conditions and a good match between the model prediction and experimental results is obtained.

Keywords: collapsible soil, dielectric permittivity, moisture content, relative subsidence

Procedia PDF Downloads 348

Authors: Zachary Cooper-Baldock, Paulo E. Santos, Russell S. A. Brinkworth, Karl Sammut

Abstract:

In recent years, large unmanned underwater vehicles such as the Boeing Voyager and Anduril Ghost Shark have been developed. These vessels can be structured to contain onboard internal payload bays. These payload bays can serve a variety of purposes – including the launch and recovery (LAR) of smaller underwater vehicles. The LAR of smaller vessels is extremely important, as it enables transportation over greater distances, increased time on station, data transmission and operational safety. The larger vessel and its payload bay structure complicate the LAR of UUVs in contrast to static docks that are affixed to the seafloor, as they actively impact the local flow field. These flow field impacts require analysis to determine if UUV vessels can be safely launched and recovered inside the motherships. This research seeks to determine the hydrodynamic forces exerted on a vertically over-actuated, small, unmanned underwater vehicle (OUUV) during an internal LAR manoeuvre and compare this to an under-actuated vessel (UUUV). In this manoeuvre, the OUUV is navigated through the stern wake region of the larger vessel to a set point within the internal payload bay. The manoeuvre is simulated using ANSYS Fluent computational fluid dynamics models, covering the entire recovery of the OUUV and UUUV. The analysis of the OUUV is compared against the UUUV to determine the differences in the exerted forces. Of particular interest are the drag, pressure, turbulence and flow field effects exerted as the OUUV is driven inside the payload bay of the larger vessel. The hydrodynamic forces and flow field disturbances are used to determine the feasibility of making such an approach. From the simulations, it was determined that there was no significant detrimental physical forces, particularly with regard to turbulence. The flow field effects exerted by the OUUV are significant. The vertical thrusters exert significant wake structures, but their orientation ensures the wake effects are exerted below the UUV, minimising the impact. It was also seen that OUUV experiences higher drag forces compared to the UUUV, which will correlate to an increased energy expenditure. This investigation found no key indicators that recovery via a mothership payload bay was not feasible. The turbulence, drag and pressure phenomenon were of a similar magnitude to existing static and towed dock structures.

Keywords: underwater vehicles, submarine, autonomous underwater vehicles, AUV, computational fluid dynamics, flow fields, pressure, turbulence, drag

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Gabrielle Peck, Ryan Hayes

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This research presents the design and creation of a drone gas analyser, aimed at addressing the need for independent data collection and analysis of gas emissions during large-scale fires, particularly wasteland fires. The analyser drone, comprising a lightweight gas analysis system attached to a remote-controlled drone, enables the real-time assessment of smoke toxicity and the monitoring of gases released into the atmosphere during such incidents. The key components of the analyser unit included two gas line inlets connected to glass wool filters, a pump with regulated flow controlled by a mass flow controller, and electrochemical cells for detecting nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide, and oxygen levels. Additionally, a non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) analyser is employed to monitor carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and hydrocarbon concentrations. Thermocouples can be attached to the analyser to monitor temperature, as well as McCaffrey probes combined with pressure transducers to monitor air velocity and wind direction. These additions allow for monitoring of the large fire and can be used for predictions of fire spread. The innovative system not only provides crucial data for assessing smoke toxicity but also contributes to fire prediction and management. The remote-controlled drone's mobility allows for safe and efficient data collection in proximity to the fire source, reducing the need for human exposure to hazardous conditions. The data obtained from the gas analyser unit facilitates informed decision-making by emergency responders, aiding in the protection of both human health and the environment. This abstract highlights the successful development of a drone gas analyser, illustrating its potential for enhancing smoke toxicity analysis and fire prediction capabilities. The integration of this technology into fire management strategies offers a promising solution for addressing the challenges associated with wildfires and other large-scale fire incidents. The project's methodology and results contribute to the growing body of knowledge in the field of environmental monitoring and safety, emphasizing the practical utility of drones for critical applications.

Keywords: fire prediction, drone, smoke toxicity, analyser, fire management

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: M. S. Stepanova, V. V. Zakharov, P. D. Khavlyuk, I. D. Skurlov, A. Y. Dubovik, A. L. Rogach

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Carbon dots are small carbon-based spherical nanoparticles, which are typically less than 10 nm in size that can be modified with surface passivation and heteroatoms doping. The light-absorbing ability of carbon dots has attracted a significant amount of attention in photoluminescence for bioimaging and fluorescence sensing applications owing to their advantages, such as tunable fluorescence emission, photo- and thermostability and low toxicity. In this study, carbon dots were synthesized by the solvothermal method from citric acid and ethylenediamine dissolved in water. The solution was heated for 5 hours at 200°C and then cooled down to room temperature. The carbon dots films were obtained by evaporation from a high-concentration aqueous solution. The increase of both luminescence intensity and light transmission was obtained as a result of a 405 nm laser exposure to a part of the carbon dots film, which was detected using a confocal laser scanning microscope (LSM 710, Zeiss). Blueshift up to 35 nm of the luminescence spectrum is observed as luminescence intensity, which is increased more than twofold. The exact value of the shift depends on the time of the laser exposure. This shift can be caused by the modification of surface groups at the carbon dots, which are responsible for long-wavelength luminescence. In addition, a shift of the absorption peak by 10 nm and a decrease in the optical density at the wavelength of 350 nm is detected, which is responsible for the absorption of surface groups. The obtained sample was also studied with time-resolved confocal fluorescence microscope (MicroTime 100, PicoQuant), which made it possible to receive a time-resolved photoluminescence image and construct emission decays of the laser-exposed and non-exposed areas. 5 MHz pulse rate impulse laser has been used as a photoluminescence excitation source. Photoluminescence decay was approximated by two exhibitors. The laser-exposed area has the amplitude of the first-lifetime component (A1) twice as much as before, with increasing τ1. At the same time, the second-lifetime component (A2) decreases. These changes evidence a modification of the surface groups of carbon dots. The detected effect can be used to create thermostable fluorescent marks, the physical size of which is bounded by the diffraction limit of the optics (~ 200-300 nm) used for exposure and to improve the optical properties of carbon dots or in the field of optical encryption. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russian Federation, goszadanie no. 2019-1080 and financially supported by Government of Russian Federation, Grant 08-08.

Keywords: carbon dots, photoactivation, optical properties, photoluminescence and absorption spectra

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Kanti Sapkota, Do Hyun Lee, Sung Soo Han

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Nanocomposites have been widely used in various fields such as electronics, catalysis, and in chemical, biological, biomedical and optical fields. They display broad biomedical properties like antidiabetic, anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial and antibacterial activities. Moreover, nanomaterials have been used for wastewater treatment. Particularly, bimetallic hybrid nanocomposites exhibit unique features as compared to their monometallic components. Hybrid nanomaterials not only afford the multifunctionality endowed by their constituents but can also show synergistic properties. In addition, these hybrid nanomaterials have noteworthy catalytic and optical properties. Notably, Au−Ag based nanoparticles can be employed in sensor and catalysis due to their characteristic composition-tunable plasmonic properties. Due to their importance and usefulness, various efforts were developed for their preparation. Generally, chemical methods have been described to synthesize such bimetallic nanocomposites. In such chemical synthesis, harmful and hazardous chemicals cause environmental contamination and increase toxicity levels. Therefore, ecologically benevolent processes for the synthesis of nanomaterials are highly desirable to diminish such environmental and safety concerns. In this regard, here we disclose a simple, cost-effective, external additive free and eco-friendly method for the synthesis of Au-Ag@AgCl nanocomposites using Nephrolepis cordifolia root extract. Au-Ag@AgCl NCs were obtained by the simultaneous reduction of cationic Ag and Au into AgCl in the presence of plant extract. The particle size of 10 to 50 nm was observed with the average diameter of 30 nm. The synthesized nanocomposite was characterized by various modern characterization techniques. For example, UV−visible spectroscopy was used to determine the optical activity of the synthesized NCs, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was employed to investigate the functional groups present in the biomolecules that were responsible for both reducing and capping agents during the formation of nanocomposites. Similarly, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy were used to determine crystallinity, size, oxidation states, thermal stability and weight loss of the synthesized nanocomposites. As a synthetic application, the synthesized nanocomposite exhibited excellent catalytic activity for the multicomponent synthesis of biologically interesting quinoline molecules via domino annulation-aromatization reaction of aniline, arylaldehyde, and phenyl acetylene derivatives. Interestingly, the nanocatalyst was efficiently recycled for five times without substantial loss of catalytic properties.

Keywords: nanoparticles, catalysis, multicomponent, quinoline

Procedia PDF Downloads 116

Authors: Elena Maria Scalisi, Roberta Pecoraro, Martina Contino, Sara Ignoto, Carmelo Iaria, Santi Concetto Pavone, Gino Sorbello, Loreto Di Donato, Maria Violetta Brundo

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5G Technology is evolving to satisfy a variety of service requirements that may allow high data-rate connections (1Gbps) and lower latency times than current (<1ms). In order to support a high data transmission speed and a high traffic service for eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband) use cases, 5G systems have the characteristic of using different frequency bands of the radio wave spectrum (700 MHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz and 26.5-27.5 GHz), thus taking advantage of higher frequencies than previous mobile radio generations (1G-4G). However, waves at higher frequencies have a lower capacity to propagate in free space and therefore, in order to guarantee the capillary coverage of the territory for high reliability applications, it will be necessary to install a large number of repeaters. Following the introduction of this new technology, there has been growing concern over the past few months about possible harmful effects on human health. The aim of this preliminary study is to evaluate possible short term effects induced by 5G-millimeter waves on embryonic development and early life stages of Danio rerio by Z-FET. We exposed developing zebrafish at frequency of 27 GHz, with a standard pyramidal horn antenna placed at 15 cm far from the samples holder ensuring an incident power density of 10 mW/cm2. During the exposure cycle, from 6 h post fertilization (hpf) to 96 hpf, we measured a different morphological endpoints every 24 hours. Zebrafish embryo toxicity test (Z-FET) is a short term test, carried out on fertilized eggs of zebrafish and it represents an effective alternative to acute test with adult fish (OECD, 2013). We have observed that 5G did not reveal significant impacts on mortality nor on morphology because exposed larvae showed a normal detachment of the tail, presence of heartbeat, well-organized somites, therefore hatching rate was lower than untreated larvae even at 48 h of exposure. Moreover, the immunohistochemical analysis performed on larvae showed a negativity to the HSP-70 expression used as a biomarkers. This is a preliminary study on evaluation of potential toxicity induced by 5G and it seems appropriate to underline the importance that further studies would take, aimed at clarifying the probable real risk of exposure to electromagnetic fields.

Keywords: Biomarker of exposure, embryonic development, 5G waves, zebrafish embryo toxicity test

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Authors: Samson Viulu, Hugo Hebala, Duddley Kopu

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Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is a controversial fund that has existed in the Solomon Islands since the early 90s to date. It is largely controversial because it is directly handled by members of parliament (MPs) of the Solomon Islands legislation chamber. It is commonly described as a political slash fund because only voters of MPs benefit from it to retain loyalty. The CDF was established by a legislative act in 2013; however, it does not have any subsidiary regulations to it, therefore, very weak governance. CDF is purposely to establish development projects in the rural areas of the Solomon Islands to spur economic growth. Although almost USD500M was spent in CDF in the last decade, there has been no growth in the economy of the Solomon Islands; rather, a regress. Solomon Islands has now formulated a first home-grown policy aimed at guiding the overall development of the fifty constituencies, improving delivery mechanisms of the CDF, and strengthening its governance through the regulation of the CDF Act 2013. The Solomon Islands Constituency Development Policy is the first for the country since gaining independence in 1978 and gives strong emphasis on a cross-sectoral approach through effective partnerships and collaborations and decentralizing government services to the isolated rural areas of the country. The new policy is driving the efforts of the political government to decentralize government services to isolated rural communities to encourage the participation of rural dwellers in economic activities. The decentralization will see the establishment of constituency offices within all constituencies and the piloting of townships in constituencies that have met the statutory requirements of the state. It also encourages constituencies to become development agents of the national government than being mere political boundaries. The decentralization will go in line with the establishment of the Solomon Islands Special Economic Zones (SEZ), where investors will be given special privileges and exemptions from government taxes and permits to attract tangible development to occur in rural constituencies. The design and formulation of the new development policy are supported by the UNDP office in the Solomon Islands. The new policy is promoting a reorientation on the allocation of resources more toward the productive and resource sectors, making access to finance easier for entrepreneurs and encouraging growth in rural entrepreneurship in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, down streaming, and tourism across the Solomon Islands. This new policy approach will greatly assist the country to graduate from the least developed countries status in a few years’ time.

Keywords: decentralization, constituency development fund, Solomon Islands constituency development policy, partnership, entrepreneurship

Procedia PDF Downloads 68

Authors: Raj Kumar, Prem Felix Siril

Abstract:

The poor aqueous solubility of many pharmaceutical drugs and potential drug candidates is a big challenge in drug development. Nanoformulation of such candidates is one of the major solutions for the delivery of such drugs. We initially developed the evaporation assisted solvent-antisolvent interaction (EASAI) method. EASAI method is use full to prepared nanoparticles of poor water soluble drugs with spherical morphology and particles size below 100 nm. However, to further improve the effect formulation to reduce number of dose and side effect it is important to control the delivery of drugs. However, many drug delivery systems are available. Among the many nano-drug carrier systems, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) have many advantages over the others such as high biocompatibility, stability, non-toxicity and ability to achieve controlled release of drugs and drug targeting. SLNs can be administered through all existing routes due to high biocompatibility of lipids. SLNs are usually composed of lipid, surfactant and drug were encapsulated in lipid matrix. A number of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have poor bioavailability resulting from their poor aqueous solubility. In the present work, SLNs loaded with NSAIDs such as Nabumetone (NBT), Ketoprofen (KP) and Ibuprofen (IBP) were successfully prepared using different lipids and surfactants. We studied and optimized experimental parameters using a number of lipids, surfactants and NSAIDs. The effect of different experimental parameters such as lipid to surfactant ratio, volume of water, temperature, drug concentration and sonication time on the particles size of SLNs during the preparation using hot-melt sonication was studied. It was found that particles size was directly proportional to drug concentration and inversely proportional to surfactant concentration, volume of water added and temperature of water. SLNs prepared at optimized condition were characterized thoroughly by using different techniques such as dynamic light scattering (DLS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). We successfully prepared the SLN of below 220 nm using different lipids and surfactants combination. The drugs KP, NBT and IBP showed 74%, 69% and 53% percentage of entrapment efficiency with drug loading of 2%, 7% and 6% respectively in SLNs of Campul GMS 50K and Gelucire 50/13. In-vitro drug release profile of drug loaded SLNs is shown that nearly 100% of drug was release in 6 h.

Keywords: nanoparticles, delivery, solid lipid nanoparticles, hot-melt sonication, poor water soluble drugs, solubility, bioavailability

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