Search results for: point effect

Authors: K. T. Kohler

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Typically in war, force involves physical violence, though those who perpetrated the Holocaust expanded manipulation techniques to include mental violence. This qualitative research study was conducted to understand the effects that the music of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz-Birkenau had on women prisoners during World War II. Over 100 testimonies from the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive reveal that the orchestra’s music had a profoundly distressing effect on many of the women in the camp. Led by Gustav Mahler’s granddaughter, Alma Rosé, the orchestra rhythmed the life cycle of the camp, from marching to and from work, Sunday concerts, welcoming transports, to the prisoners’ walk to gas chambers. What surfaced from these testimonies was that the more technical the exposure a woman had to music before camp, the more disturbing its effect. The juxtaposition of beauty with the visible horror of the camp thrust them into an impossible state where suicide became a plausible alternative. By exploiting the Women’s Orchestra, the Nazis made music a critical component of manipulation within Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Keywords: Alma Rosé, Auschwitz-Birkenau, camp life, concert, Holocaust, music, Oświęcim, Poland, women’s orchestra

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Authors: Mahmoud Saleh Mohammed Alkathy

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Electricity generated from renewable resources may help the transition to clean energy. A reliable energy storage system is required to use this energy properly. To do this, a high breakdown strength (Eb) and a significant difference between spontaneous polarization (Pmax) and remnant polarization (Pr) are required. To achieve this, the defect dipoles in lead free BaTiO3 ferroelectric ceramics are created using Mg2+ and Ni2+ ions as acceptor co-doping in the Ti site. According to the structural analyses, the co-dopant ions were effectively incorporated into the BTO unit cell. According to the ferroelectric study, the co-doped samples display a double hysteresis loop, stronger polarization, and high breakdown strength. The formation of oxygen vacancies and defect dipoles prevent domains' movement, resulting in hysteresis loop pinching. This results in increased energy storage density and efficiency. The defect dipoles mechanism effect can be considered a fascinating technology that can guide the researcher working on developing energy storage for next-generation applications.

Keywords: microstructure, defect, energy storage, effciency

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Authors: Ly Quyet Tien

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The object of this paper is to study Vietnamese Les Rap as art to promote rights and gender in the twenty-first century. The author analyzed Vietnamese Les Rap from the point of view of a contemporary person who has witnessed the tumultuous destiny of the most suffering minority group in Vietnam’s LGBT community. He reviewed scholarly studies, and reputable newspapers on the topic and conducted face to face interviews for qualitative data. The study found that Vietnamese lesbians have composed and used rap as an effective tool to express their fight for visibility, identity, and sensibility. Research reveals that these songs did not only touch the heart of the LGBT community but also the larger public, marking the rising queer voice, contributing to a flourishing of LGBT culture, and revolutionizing the colors of Vietnamese hip hop music in the twenty-first century.

Keywords: culture, lesbian, rap, Vietnam

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Authors: Nikhil Jain, Bin Yu

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We explore the potential of using ultra-thin hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as both supporting substrate and gate dielectric for graphene-channel field effect transistors (GFETs). Different from commonly used oxide-based dielectric materials which are typically amorphous, very rough in surface, and rich with surface traps, h-BN is layered insulator free of dangling bonds and surface states, featuring atomically smooth surface. In a graphene-channel-last device structure with local buried metal gate electrode (TiN), thin h-BN multilayer is employed as both supporting “substrate” and gate dielectric for graphene active channel. We observed superior carrier mobility and electrical conduction, significantly improved from that in GFETs with SiO2 as substrate/gate insulator. In addition, we report excellent dielectric behavior of layered h-BN, including ultra-low leakage current and high critical electric field for breakdown.

Keywords: graphene, field-effect transistors, hexagonal boron nitride, dielectric strength, tunneling

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Authors: Mostafa Amirjan

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In the present study, the properties of Al-Al2O3 nanocomposite hollow sphere structures were investigated. For this reason, the Al-based nanocomposite hollow spheres with different amounts of nano alumina reinforcement (0-10wt %) and different ratio of thickness to diameter (t/D: 0.06-0.3) were prepared via a powder metallurgy method. Then, the effect of mentioned parameters was studied on physical and quasi static mechanical properties of their related prepared structures (open/closed cell) such as density, hardness, strength and energy absorption. It was found that as the t/D ratio increases the relative density, compressive strength and energy absorption increase. The highest values of strength and energy absorption were obtained from the specimen with 5 wt. % of nanoparticle reinforcement, t/D of 0.3 (t=1 mm, D=400µm) as 22.88 MPa and 13.24 MJ/m3, respectively. The moderate specific strength of prepared composites in the present study showed the good consistency with the properties of others low carbon steel composite with similar structure.

Keywords: hollow sphere structure foam, nanocomposite, thickness and diameter (t/D ), powder metallurgy

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Authors: Esther Friedlander, Philip Friedlander

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The use of immunotherapy that inhibits programmed death-1 (PD-1) or its ligand PD-L1 confers survival benefits in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, approximately 45% of patients experience primary treatment resistance, necessitating the development of strategies to improve efficacy. While the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has systemic hemodynamic effects, tissue-specific regulation exists along with modulation of immune activity in part through regulation of myeloid cell activity, leading to the hypothesis that RAS inhibition may improve anti-PD-1/L-1 efficacy. A retrospective analysis was conducted that included 173 advanced solid tumor cancer patients treated at Valley Hospital, a community Hospital in New Jersey, USA, who were treated with a PD-1/L-1 inhibitor in a defined time period showing a statistically significant relationship between RAS pathway inhibition (RASi through concomitant treatment with an ACE inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker) and positive efficacy to the immunotherapy that was independent of age, gender and cancer type. Subset analysis revealed strong numerical benefit for efficacy in both patients with squamous and nonsquamous NSCLC as determined by documented clinician assessment of efficacy and by duration of therapy. A PUBMED literature search was now conducted to identify studies assessing the effect of RAS pathway inhibition on anti-PD-1/L1 efficacy in advanced solid tumor patients and compare these findings to those seen in the Valley Hospital retrospective study with a focus on NSCLC specifically. A total of 11 articles were identified assessing the effects of RAS pathway inhibition on the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy in advanced cancer patients. Of the 11 studies, 10 assessed the effect on survival of RASi in the context of treatment with anti-PD-1/PD-L1, while one assessed the effect on CTLA-4 inhibition. Eight of the studies included patients with NSCLC, while the remaining 2 were specific to genitourinary malignancies. Of the 8 studies, two were specific to NSCLC patients, with the remaining 6 studies including a range of cancer types, of which NSCLC was one. Of these 6 studies, only 2 reported specific survival data for the NSCLC subpopulation. Patient characteristics, multivariate analysis data and efficacy data seen in the 2 NSLCLC specific studies and in the 2 basket studies, which provided data on the NSCLC subpopulation, were compared to that seen in the Valley Hospital retrospective study supporting a broader effect of RASi on anti-PD-1/L1 efficacy in advanced NSLCLC with the majority of studies showing statistically significant benefit or strong statistical trends but with one study demonstrating worsened outcomes. This comparison of studies extends published findings to the community hospital setting and supports prospective assessment through randomized clinical trials of efficacy in NSCLC patients with pharmacodynamic components to determine the effect on immune cell activity in tumors and on the composition of the tumor microenvironment.

Keywords: immunotherapy, cancer, angiotensin, efficacy, PD-1, lung cancer, NSCLC

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Authors: Esmeralda Chávez Vargas, M. de la L. Olvera, A. Maldonado

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The doping it is believed as follows, at high concentration fluorine in ZnO: F films is incorporated to the lattice by substitution of O-2 ions by F-1 ions; at middle fluorine concentrations, F ions may form interstitials, whereas for low concentrations it is increased the carriers and mobility could be explained by the surface passivation effect of fluorine. ZnO:F thin films were deposited on sodocalcic glass substratesat 425 °C , 450°C, 475 during 8, 12, 15 min from a 0.2 M solution. Doping concentration in the starting solutions was varied, namely, [F]/[F+Zn] = 0, 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 at. %; solvent composition was varied as well, 100:100; 50:50; 100:50(acetic acid: water: methanol ratios, in volume). In this work it is reported the characterization results of fluorine doped zinc oxide (ZnO:F) thin films deposited by the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique, using zinc acetate and ammonium fluorine as Zn an F precursors, respectively. The effect of varying the fluorine concentration in the starting solutions, the solvent composition, and the ageing time of the starting solutions, on the electrical resistivity, optical transmittance, structure and surface morphology was analyzed. In order to have a quantitative evaluation of the ZnO:F thin films for its application as transparent electrodes, the Figure of Merit was estimated from the Haacke´s formula. After a thoroughly study, it can be found that optimal conditions for the deposition of transparent and conductive ZnO:F thin films on sodocalcic substrates, were as follows; substrate temperature: solution molar concentration 0.2, doping concentration in the starting solution of [F]/[Zn]= 60 at. %, (water content)/(acetic acid) in starting solution: [H2O/ CH3OH]= 50:50, substrate temperature: 450 °C. The effects of aging of the starting solution has also been analyzed thoroughly and it has been found a dramatic effect on the electric resistivity of the material, aged by 40 days, show an electrical resitivity as low as 120 Ω/□, with a transmittance around 80% in the visible range. X-ray diffraction spectra show a polycrystalline of ZnO (wurtzite structure) where the amount of fluorine doping affects to preferential orientation (002 plane). Therefore, F introduction in lattice is by the substitution of O-2 ions by F-1 ions. The results show that ZnO:F thin films are potentially adequate for application as transparent conductive oxide in thin film solar cells.

Keywords: TCOs, transparent electrodes, ultrasonic spray pyrolysis, zinc oxide, ZnO:F

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Authors: Natalia Fontes De Oliveira

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The Canadian author Margaret Atwood deconstructs the tainted dichotomies between women and men by embracing the disorder throughout her dystopias. In Atwood’s The Testaments, nature can be seen as a background to the story as well as a metaphorical expression of the characters’ state of mind, nevertheless, the protagonists’ nature writing portrays conveys a curiosity to the pre-established sanctions of a docile garden, viewing nature as an autonomous entity, especially when they are away from the confinements of Gilead’s regime. The three narrating protagonists, Agnes, Aunt Lydia, and Nicole, use nature writing subversively as a form of rebellion. This paper investigates how the three protagonists narrate nature through an intimist point of view, with sensibility to observe the multiple relationships among humanity, nature, and the impositions of a theocratic ultra conservative patriarchal society.

Keywords: contemporary literature, dystopias, feminism, women’s writing

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Authors: Jamid Ul Islam, Zillur Rahman

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The impulse for customer engagement research in online brand communities (OBCs) is largely acknowledged in the literature. Applying congruity theory, this study proposes a model of customer engagement by examining how two congruities viz. self-brand image congruity and value congruity influence customers’ engagement in online brand communities. The consequent effect of customer engagement on brand loyalty is also studied. This study collected data through a questionnaire survey of 395 students of a higher educational institute in India, who were active on Facebook and followed a brand community (at least one). The data were analyzed using structure equation modelling. The results revealed that both the types of congruity i.e., self-brand image congruity and value congruity significantly affect customer engagement. A positive effect of customer engagement on brand loyalty was also affirmed by the results. This study integrates and broadens extant explanations of different congruity effects on consumer behavior-an area that has received little attention. This study is expected to add new trends to engage customers in online brand communities and offer realistic insights to the domain of social media marketing.

Keywords: congruity theory, customer engagement, Facebook, online brand communities

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Authors: Bei Shan Lin, Tzu Yu Huang, Ya Ping Chen, Chun Mel Lu

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This research is divided into two parts. The first part is to adopt the method of supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction to extract sage essential oil (Salvia officinalis) and to find out the differences when the procedure is under different pressure conditions. Meanwhile, this research is going to probe into the composition of the extracted sage essential oil. The second part will talk about the effect of the aromatherapy with extracted sage essential oil to improve the sleeping quality for women in menopause. The extracted sage substance is tested by inhibiting DPPH radical to identify its antioxidant capacity, and the extracted component was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. Under two different pressure conditions, the extracted experiment gets different results. By 3000 psi, the extracted substance is IC50 180.94mg/L, which is higher than IC50 657.43mg/L by 1800 psi. By 3000 psi, the extracted yield is 1.05%, which is higher than 0.68% by 1800 psi. Through the experimental data, the researcher also can conclude that the extracted substance with 3000psi contains more materials than the one with 1800 psi. The main overlapped materials are the compounds of cyclic ether, flavonoid, and terpenes. Cyclic ether and flavonoids have the function of soothing and calming. They can be applied to relieve cramps and to eliminate menopause disorders. The second part of the research is to apply extracted sage essential oil to aromatherapy for women who are in menopause and to discuss the effect of the improvement for the sleeping quality. This research adopts the approaching of Swedish upper back massage, evaluates the sleeping quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and detects the changes with heart rate variability apparatus. The experimental group intervenes with extracted sage essential oil to the aromatherapy. The average heart beats detected by the apparatus has a better result in SDNN, low frequency, and high frequency. The performance is better than the control group. According to the statistical analysis of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, this research has reached the effect of sleep quality improvement. It proves that extracted sage essential oil has a significant effect on increasing the activities of parasympathetic nerves. It is able to improve the sleeping quality for women in menopause

Keywords: supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction, Salvia officinalis, aromatherapy, Swedish massage, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, heart rate variability, parasympathetic nerves

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Authors: Salah A. Al-Garyani, Yousef Swesi

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Gas hydrates can be hazardous to upstream operations. On the other hand, the high gas storage capacity of hydrate may be utilized for natural gas storage and transport. Research on the promotion of hydrate formation, as related to natural gas storage and transport, has received relatively little attention. The primary objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of the effects of ionic surfactants, particularly their molecular structures and concentration, on the formation of tetrahydrofuran (THF) hydrate, which is often used as a model hydrate former for screening hydrate promoters or inhibitors. The surfactants studied were sodium n-dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium n-hexadecyl sulfate (SHS). Our results show that, at concentrations below the solubility limit, the induction time decreases with increasing surfactant concentration. At concentrations near or above the solubility, however, the surfactant concentration no longer has any effect on the induction time. These observations suggest that the effect of surfactant on THF hydrate formation is associated with surfactant monomers, not the formation of micelle as previously reported. The lowest induction time (141.25 ± 21 s, n = 4) was observed in a solution containing 7.5 mM SDS. The induction time decreases by a factor of three at concentrations near or above the solubility, compared to that without surfactant.

Keywords: tetrahydrofuran, hydrate, surfactant, induction time, monomers, micelle

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Authors: Girmaye Abebe, Brook Lemma

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Adsorption of phosphorus (P as PO43-) in filter cake was studied to assess the media's capability in removing phosphorous from wastewaters. The composition of the filter cake that was generated from alum manufacturing process as waste residue has high amount of silicate from the complete silicate analysis of the experiment. Series of batches adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate parameters that influence the adsorption capacity of PO43-. The factors studied include the effect of contact time, adsorbent dose, thermal pretreatment of the adsorbent, neutralization of the adsorbent, initial PO43- concentration, pH of the solution and effect of co-existing anions. Results showed that adsorption of PO43- is fairly rapid in first 5 min and after that it increases slowly to reach the equilibrium in about 1 h. The treatment efficiency of PO43- was increased with adsorbent extent. About 90% removal efficiency was increased within 1 h at an optimum adsorbent dose of 10 g/L for initial PO43- concentration of 10 mg/L. The amount of PO43- adsorbed increased with increasing initial PO43- concentration. Heat treatment and surface neutralization of the adsorbent did not improve the PO43- removal capacity and efficiency. The percentage of PO43- removal remains nearly constant within the pH range of 3-8. The adsorption data at ambient pH were well fitted to the Langmuir Isotherm and Dubinin–Radushkevick (D–R) isotherm model with a capacity of 25.84 and 157.55 mg/g of the adsorbent respectively. The adsorption kinetic was found to follow a pseudo-second-order rate equation with an average rate constant of 3.76 g.min−1.mg−1. The presence of bicarbonate or carbonate at higher concentrations (10–1000 mg/L) decreased the PO43- removal efficiency slightly while other anions (Cl-, SO42-, and NO3-) have no significant effect within the concentration range tested. The overall result shows that the filter cake is an efficient PO43- removing adsorbent against many parameters.

Keywords: wastewater, filter cake, adsorption capacity, phosphate (PO43-)

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Authors: Doaa Abbas Zaher

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For the past two decades demand for knowledge has been increasing. Management of society’s knowledge has far reaching effects to economic growth through increased capacity to complete viable activities. Organizations use information technology to effect organizational change. This is a challenge for the less developed nations whose capacity to integrate knowledge in core functions is limited. This creates organizational problems as there is global competition amongst organizations. Cross-cultural perceptions influence difference knowledge Management. This study provides a cross-cultural analysis on the influence in knowledge culture in Japan and Saudi Arabia to effect change in organizations. Since different countries adopt different knowledge management strategies, this dictates the state of organizational development through enriched organizational culture. The research uses a mixed approach design to collect data from primary and secondary sources. Primary source will use the questionnaires while secondary sources uses case analysis from books, articles, reports, and journals. The study will take a period of three years to come up with a complete paper.

Keywords: knowledge management, organizational culture, information, society knowledge

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Authors: Muhammad Umar Khan, Mahesh Kumar, Faraz Neakakhtar

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Although industrialization marks to the economy of a country yet it increases the pollution and temperature of the environment. The world is now shifting towards green energy because the utilization of fossil fuels is resulting in global warming. So we need to develop systems that can operate on renewable energy resources and have low heat losses. The combined solar and geothermal multigeneration system can solve this issue. Rather than making rankine cycle purely a solar-driven, heat from solar is used to drive vapour absorption cycle and reheated to generate power using geothermal reservoir. The results are displayed by using Engineering Equation Solver software, where inputs are varied to optimize the energy and exergy efficiencies of the system. The cooling effect is 348.2 KW, while the network output is 23.8 MW and reducing resultant emission of 105553 tons of CO₂ per year. This eco-friendly multigeneration system is capable of eliminating the use of fossil fuels and increasing the geothermal energy efficiency.

Keywords: cooling effect, eco-friendly, green energy, heat loses, multigeneration system, renewable energy, work output

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Authors: Kajori Banerjee, Laxmi Kant Dwivedi

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“Health transition” is defined to be “a process through which high levels of mortality, morbidity and disability are reduced to low levels by influencing cultural, social and behavioural factors”. Life expectancy in India has been on the rise and parallel the burden of disease and disability has also risen noticeably. Borrowing data from Indian Census (2001, 2011), this study identifies the gender-wise burden of disability by calculating disability free life expectancy (DFLE) and life lived with disability (LWD). Sullivan’s method of calculating DFLE using proportion of disabled is used for this purpose. The change in person years lived with disability in the decade 2001-11 is further decomposed using Arriaga’s method into mortality and disability effects (ME and DE) to check the magnitude and direction of contribution of mortality and disability. Nationally, along with DFLE, LWD has amplified too. Despite having the highest life expectancy and DFLE, LWD in Kerala, was highest for both sexes in 2001. But in 2011, the LWD was highest among the males of Orissa and females of Rajasthan. For the overall population, DE is positive for the prime working age groups of 20-40years indicating that there has been an increase in the disability proportion holding mortality constant for 2001-2011. Females exhibit higher positive DE implying greater loss of healthy years due to disability than males. The findings call for an immediate attention to the causes of rising disability burden among the working population, especially females, as this might heavily effect the availability of quality labour force and its relative economic output in the Indian labour market. This also hints at the degrading quality of the elongated life and needs to be given the required attention to enhance the quality of life lead in the Nation.

Keywords: disability-free life expectancy, disability effect, life expectancy, mortality effect

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Authors: Hyunseo Choi, Jaewan Hong, Seil Lee, Yang Mo Koo

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Non-oriented (NO) electrical steel is one of the most important soft magnetic materials for rotating machines. Si has usually been added to electrical steels to reduce eddy current loss by increasing the electrical resistivity. Si content more than 3.5 wt% causes cracks during cold rolling due to increase of brittleness. Al also increases the electrical resistivity of the materials as much as Si. In addition, cold workability of Fe-Al is better than Fe-Si, so that Al can be added up to 6.0 wt%. However, the effect of Al contents on magnetic properties of electrical steels has not been studied in detail. Magnetic domains of {100} grains in electrical steels, ranging from 1.85 to 6.54 wt% Al, were observed by magneto-optic Kerr microscopy. Furthermore, the correlation of magnetic domains with magnetic properties was investigated. As Al contents increased, the magnetic domain size of {100} grains decreased due to lowered domain wall energy. Reorganization of magnetic domain structure became more complex as domain size decreased. Therefore, the addition of Al to electrical steel caused hysteresis loss to increase. Anomalous loss decreased and saturated after 4.68% Al.

Keywords: electrical steel, magnetic domain structure, Al addition, core loss, rearrangement of domains

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Authors: Mahmoud H. Abu Elella, Riham R. Mohamed, Magdy W. Sabaa

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Introduction: Microbial pollution is global problem threatening the human health. It is resulted by pathogenic microorganisms such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and other pathogenic strains. They cause a dangerous effect on human health, so great efforts have been exerted to produce new and effective antimicrobial agents. Nowadays, natural polysaccharides, such as chitosan and its derivatives are used as antimicrobial agents. The aim of our work is to synthesize of a biodegradable polymer such as N-quaternized chitosan (NQC) then Characterization of NQC by using different analysis techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and using it as an antibacterial agent against different pathogenic bacteria. Methods: Synthesis of NQC using dimethylsulphate. Results: FTIR technique exhibited absorption peaks of NQC, SEM images illustrated that surface of NQC was smooth and antibacterial results showed that NQC had a high antibacterial effect. Discussion: NQC was prepared and it was proved by FTIR technique and SEM images antibacterial results exhibited that NQC was an antibacterial agent.

Keywords: antimicrobial agent, N-quaternized chitosan chloride, silver nanocomposites, sodium polyacrylate

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Authors: Damanjit Kaur, Avani Bhatia

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Color constancy is significant for human vision since color is a pictorial cue that helps in solving different visions tasks such as tracking, object recognition, or categorization. Therefore, several computational methods have tried to simulate human color constancy abilities to stabilize machine color representations. Two different kinds of methods have been used, i.e., normalization and constancy. While color normalization creates a new representation of the image by canceling illuminant effects, color constancy directly estimates the color of the illuminant in order to map the image colors to a canonical version. Color constancy is the capability to determine colors of objects independent of the color of the light source. This research work studies the most of the well-known color constancy algorithms like white point and gray world.

Keywords: color constancy, gray world, white patch, modified white patch

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Authors: Martha E. Ndeley

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Operation management is the key element within the manufacturing process. However, during this process, there are a number of unforeseen disruptions that causes the process to a standstill which are, machine breakdown, employees absenteeism, improper scheduling. When this happens, it forces the shop flow to a rescheduling process and these strategy reschedules only a limited part of the initial schedule to match up with the pre-schedule at some point with the objective to create a new schedule that is reliable which in the long run gets disrupted. In this work, we have developed feedback control system that minimizes any form of disruption before the impact becomes severe, the model was tested in a paper manufacturing industries and the results revealed that, if the disruption is minimized at the initial state, the impact becomes unnoticeable.

Keywords: disruption, machine, absenteeism, scheduling

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Authors: Camille Lacan, Pierre Desmet

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In the crowdfunding model, a campaign succeeds by collecting the funds required over a predefined duration. The success of a CF campaign depends both on the capacity to attract members of the online communities concerned, and on the community members’ involvement in online word-of-mouth recommendations. To maximize the campaign's success probability, project creators (i.e., an organization appealing for financial resources) send messages to contributors to ask them to issue word of mouth. Internet users relay information about projects through Word of Mouth which is defined as “a critical tool for facilitating information diffusion throughout online communities”. The effectiveness of these messages depends on the message framing and the time at which they are sent to contributors (i.e., at the start of the campaign or close to the deadline). This article addresses the following question: What are the effect of message framing and temporal distance on the willingness to share word of mouth? Drawing on Perspectives Theory and Construal Level Theory, this study examines the interplay between message framing (Gains vs. Losses) and temporal distance (message while the deadline is coming vs. far) on intention to share word of mouth. A between-subject experimental design is conducted to test the research model. Results show significant differences between a loss-framed message (lack of benefits if the campaign fails) associated with a short deadline (ending tomorrow) compared to a gain-framed message (benefits if the campaign succeeds) associated with a distant deadline (ending in three months). However, this effect is moderated by the anticipated regret of a campaign failure and the temporal orientation. These moderating effects contribute to specifying the boundary condition of the framing effect. Handling the message framing and the temporal distance are thus the key decisions to influence the willingness to share word of mouth.

Keywords: construal levels, crowdfunding, message framing, word of mouth

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Authors: Camila Parodi, Viviana Letelier, Giacomo Moriconi

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The cement industry is responsible for around a 5% of the CO2 emissions worldwide and considering that concrete is one of the most used materials in construction its total effect is important. An alternative to reduce the environmental impact of concrete production is to incorporate certain amount of residues in the dosing, limiting the replacement percentages to avoid significant losses in the mechanical properties of the final material. Previous researches demonstrate the feasibility of using brick and rust residues, separately, as a cement replacement. This study analyses the variation in the mechanical properties of mortars by incorporating masonry residue composed of clay bricks and cement mortar. In order to improve the mechanical properties of masonry residue, this was subjected to a heat treatment of 650 ° C for four hours and its effect is analyzed in this study. Masonry residue was obtained from a demolition of masonry perimetral walls. The residues were crushed and sieved and the maximum size of particles used was 75 microns. The percentages of cement replaced by masonry residue were 0%, 10%, 20% and 30%. The effect of masonry residue addition and its heat treatment in the mechanical properties of mortars is evaluated through compressive and flexural strength tests after 7, 14 and 28 curing days. Results show that increasing the amount of masonry residue used increases the losses in compressive strength and flexural strength. However, the use of up to a 20% of masonry residue, when a heat treatment is applied, allows obtaining mortars with similar compressive strength to the control mortar. Masonry residues mortars without a heat treatment show losses in compressive strengths between 15% and 27% with respect to masonry residues with heat treatment, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the heat treatment. From this analysis it can be conclude that it is possible to use up to 20% of masonry residue with heat treatment as cement replacement without significant losses in mortars mechanical properties, reducing considerably the environmental impact of the final material.

Keywords: cement replacement, environmental impact, masonry residue, mechanical properties of recycled mortars

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Authors: Yasir Arafat, Asma Shah, Hua Shao

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Background and Aims: Legume/cereal intercropping is used worldwide for enhancement in biomass and yield of cereal crops. However, because of intercropping, the belowground biological and chemical interactions and their effect on physiological parameters and yield of crops are limited. Methods: Wheat faba bean (WF) intercropping was designed to understand the underlying changes in the soil's chemical environment, soil microbial communities, and effect on growth and yield parameters. Experimental plots were established as having no root partition (NRP), semi-root partition (SRP), complete root partition (CRP), and their sole cropping (CK). Low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) were determined by GC-MS, and high throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was carried out to screen microbial structure and composition in different root partitions of the WF intercropping system. Results: We show that intercropping induced a shift in the relative abundance of some genera of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) such as Allorhizobium, Neorhizobium, Pararhizobium, and Rhizobium species and resulted in better growth and yield performance of wheat. Moreover, as the plant's distance of wheat from faba beans decreased, the diversity of microbes increased, and a positive effect was observed on physiological traits and crop yield. Furthermore, an abundance and positive correlations of palmitic acid, arachidic acid, stearic acid, and 9-Octadecenoic with PGPR were recorded in the root zone of WF intercropping, which can play an important role in this facilitative mechanism of enhancing growth and yield of cereals. Conclusion: The two treatments clearly affected soil microbial and chemical composition, which can be reflected in growth and yield enhancement.

Keywords: intercropping, microbial community, LMWOAs, PGPR, soil chemical environment

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Authors: Do-Jin Jang, Sung-Ah Kim

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In designing a kinetic façade, it is hard for the designer to make digital models due to its complex geometry with motion. This paper aims to present a methodology of converting a point cloud of a physical model into a single digital model with a certain topology and motion. The method uses a Microsoft Kinect sensor, and color markers were defined and applied to three paper folding-inspired designs. Although the resulted digital model cannot represent the whole folding range of the physical model, the method supports the designer to conduct a performance-oriented design process with the rough physical model in the reduced folding range.

Keywords: design media, kinetic facades, tangible user interface, 3D scanning

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Authors: Ashwani Kumar

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Abstract- This study presents an analytical modeling approach for analyzing the drain current behavior in Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor (TFET) biosensors used for the detection of DNA biomolecules. The proposed model focuses on elucidating the relationship between the drain current and the presence of DNA biomolecules, taking into account the impact of various device parameters and biomolecule characteristics. Through comprehensive analysis, the model offers insights into the underlying mechanisms governing the sensing performance of TFET biosensors, aiding in the optimization of device design and operation. A non-local tunneling model is incorporated with other essential models to accurately trace the simulation and modeled data. An experimental validation of the model is provided, demonstrating its efficacy in accurately predicting the drain current response to DNA biomolecule detection. The sensitivity attained from the analytical model is compared and contrasted with the ongoing research work in this area.

Keywords: biosensor, double-gate TFET, DNA detection, drain current modeling, sensitivity

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Authors: Suparman

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This paper addresses the problem of the signal segmentation within a Bayesian framework by using reversible jump MCMC algorithm. The signal is modelled by piecewise constant Moving-Average (MA) model where the numbers of segments, the position of change-point, the order and the coefficient of the MA model for each segment are unknown. The reversible jump MCMC algorithm is then used to generate samples distributed according to the joint posterior distribution of the unknown parameters. These samples allow calculating some interesting features of the posterior distribution. The performance of the methodology is illustrated via several simulation results.

Keywords: piecewise, moving-average model, reversible jump MCMC, signal segmentation

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Authors: A. Miloud

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In this work, the results of numerical simulations of the turbulent flow with 3D heat transfer are presented for the case of two U-shaped channels and rotating rectangular section. The purpose of this investigation was to study the effect of the corrugated walls of the heated portion on the improved cooling, in particular the influence of the wavelength. The calculations were performed for a Reynolds number ranging from 10 000 to 100 000, two values of the number of rotation (Ro = 0.0 to 0.14) and a ratio of the restricted density to 0.13. In these simulations, ANSYS FLUENT code was used to solve the Reynolds equations expressing relations between different fields averaged variables over time. Model performance k-omega SST model and RSM are evaluated through a comparison of the numerical results for each model and the experimental and numerical data available. In this work, detailed average temperature predictions, the scope of the secondary flow and distributions of local Nusselt are presented. It turns out that the corrugated configuration further urges the heat exchange provided to reduce the velocity of the coolant inside the channel.

Keywords: cooling blades, corrugated walls, model k-omega SST and RSM, fluent code, rotation effect

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Authors: Azin Nasrollah Zadeh

Abstract:

A factorial experiment was applied to evaluate the effect of chemical and biological fertilizer on yield, total nitrogen uptake and NHI of rice. Four biological treatments including:(M1:no fertilizer),( M2:10 ton/ha cow dung ),(M3:20 ton/ha cow dung) and (M4:5 ton/ha azolla compost) and four chemical fertilizer treatments including: (S1: no fertilizer),(S2:40 kg N /ha),(S3:60 kg N /ha) and ( S4:80 kg N /ha ) were compared. Results showed that highest rate of yield (3387 kg/ha) and total nitrogen uptake (81.4 kg/ha) were reached the highest value at M4. Among the chemical fertilizers the highest grain yield (3373 kg/ha) and total nitrogen uptake (87.7) belonged to highest nitrogen level (S4).Also biological and chemical fertilizers were no significant on Harvest index (NHI). Interaction effect of chemical × biological fertilizers didn't show significant difference between all parameters except of yield, as the most grain yield were obtained in M4S4. So it can be concluded that using of bioilogical fertilizers at appropriate rate and type, considering plant requirement, may improve grain yield, nitrogen uptake and use efficiency in rice.

Keywords: azolla, fertilizer, nitrogen uptake, rice, yield

Procedia PDF Downloads 298

Authors: Zahra Tabarsi, Mehdi Marjani, Alireza Najafpour, Alborz Mirzade

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the macroscopic effect of low level laser and plasma jet for wound healing in rats. The study was performed on 40 old male white rats with an average weight of 250 g and an average age of the same age. After preparing the rats from Ibn Sina Research Institute, they were kept the same for one week under environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and light, and nutrition such as the type of diet and the number of meals. Then, to start the research, rats were randomly divided into two groups (A): laser treatment of wounds, group (B): plasma wound treatment. All rats were inhibited 4 hours before each anesthesia under conditions of abstinence and up to 2 hours after drinking water. Rats were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of ketamine 10% and xylazine 2%.After scrubbing between two shoulders of each rat, a circular wound was created by sterile 5 mm biopsy puncture. Group A rats were treated with low level laser in three sessions and group B in three sessions with argon plasma. Based on the observed results, it seems that Low level laser radiation has more acceptable and appropriate effects than cold plasma on the healing of rat skin wounds.

Keywords: low-level laser, plasma jet, rat, wound healing

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Han Kuikui

Abstract:

Adolescents, serving as the reserve force for technological innovation talents, possess STEM creativity that is not only pivotal to achieving STEM education goals but also provides a viable path for reforming science curricula in compulsory education and cultivating innovative talents in China. To investigate the relationship among adolescents' grit, creative self-efficacy, future time perspective, and STEM creativity, a survey was conducted in 2023 using stratified random sampling. A total of 1263 junior high school students from the main urban areas of Chongqing, from grade 7 to grade 9, were sampled. The results indicated that (1) Grit positively predicts adolescents' creative self-efficacy and STEM creativity significantly; (2) Creative self-efficacy mediates the positive relationship between grit and adolescents' STEM creativity; (3) The mediating role of creative self-efficacy is moderated by future time perspective, such that with a higher future time perspective, the positive predictive effect of grit on creative self-efficacy is more substantial, which in turn positively affects their STEM creativity.

Keywords: grit, stem creativity, creative self-efficacy, future time perspective

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Authors: A. N. Gornostaeva, P. I. Bobyleva, E. R. Andreeva, L. B. Buravkova

Abstract:

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) possess immunomodulatory properties. The effect of MSCs on the crucial cellular immunity compartment – T-cells is of a special interest. It is known that MSC tissue niche and expected milieu of their interaction with T- cells are characterized by low oxygen concentration, whereas the in vitro experiments usually are carried out at a much higher ambient oxygen (20%). We firstly evaluated immunomodulatory effects of MSCs on T-cells at tissue-related oxygen (5%) after interaction implied cell-to-cell contacts and paracrine factors only. It turned out that MSCs under reduced oxygen can effectively suppress the activation and proliferation of PHA-stimulated T-cells and can provoke decrease in the production of proinflammatory and increase in anti-inflammatory cytokines. In hypoxia some effects were amplified (inhibition of proliferation, anti-inflammatory cytokine profile shift). This impact was more evident after direct cell-to-cell interaction; lack of intercellular contacts could revoke the potentiating effect of hypoxia.

Keywords: MSCs, T-cells, activation, low oxygen, cell-to-cell interaction, immunosuppression

Procedia PDF Downloads 383