Search results for: active exploration

Authors: Ali Etemadi, Claudia Fernanda Yasar

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Elevated water storage tank structures (EWSTs) are high elevated-ponderous structural systems and very vulnerable to seismic vibrations. In past earthquake events, many of these structures exhibit poor performance and experienced severe damage. The dynamic analysis of the EWSTs under earthquake loads is, therefore, of significant importance for the design of the structure and a key issue for the development of modern methods, such as active control design. In this study, a reduced model of the EWSTs is explained, which is based on a tuned mass damper model (TMD). Vibration analysis of a structure under seismic excitation is presented and then used to propose an active vibration controller. MATLAB/Simulink is employed for dynamic analysis of the system and control of the seismic response. A single degree of freedom (SDOF) and two degree of freedom (2DOF) models of ELSTs are going to be used to study the concept of active vibration control. Lab-scale experimental models similar to pendulum are applied to suppress vibrations in ELST under seismic excitation. One of the most important phenomena in liquid storage tanks is the oscillation of fluid due to the movements of the tank body because of its base motions during an earthquake. Simulation results illustrate that the EWSTs vibration can be reduced by means of an input shaping technique that takes into account the dominant mode shape of the structure. Simulations with which to guide many of our designs are presented in detail. A simple and effective real-time control for seismic vibration damping can be, therefore, design and built-in practice.

Keywords: elevated water storage tank, tuned mass damper model, real time control, shaping control, seismic vibration control, the laplace transform

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Authors: Rohit Dey, Sailendra Karra

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This paper aims at solving the problem of multi-target searching in a Global Positioning System (GPS) denied environment using swarm robots with limited sensing and communication abilities. Typically, existing swarm-based search algorithms rely on the presence of a global coordinate system (vis-à-vis, GPS) that is shared by the entire swarm which, in turn, limits its application in a real-world scenario. This can be attributed to the fact that robots in a swarm need to share information among themselves regarding their location and signal from targets to decide their future course of action but this information is only meaningful when they all share the same coordinate frame. The paper addresses this very issue by eliminating any dependency of a search algorithm on the need of a predetermined global coordinate frame by the unification of the relative coordinate of individual robots when within the communication range, therefore, making the system more robust in real scenarios. Our algorithm assumes that all the robots in the swarm are equipped with range and bearing sensors and have limited sensing range and communication abilities. Initially, every robot maintains their relative coordinate frame and follow Levy walk random exploration until they come in range with other robots. When two or more robots are within communication range, they share sensor information and their location w.r.t. their coordinate frames based on which we unify their coordinate frames. Now they can share information about the areas that were already explored, information about the surroundings, and target signal from their location to make decisions about their future movement based on the search algorithm. During the process of exploration, there can be several small groups of robots having their own coordinate systems but eventually, it is expected for all the robots to be under one global coordinate frame where they can communicate information on the exploration area following swarm search techniques. Using the proposed method, swarm-based search algorithms can work in a real-world scenario without GPS and any initial information about the size and shape of the environment. Initial simulation results show that running our modified-Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) without global information we can still achieve the desired results that are comparable to basic PSO working with GPS. In the full paper, we plan on doing the comparison study between different strategies to unify the coordinate system and to implement them on other bio-inspired algorithms, to work in GPS denied environment.

Keywords: bio-inspired search algorithms, decentralized control, GPS denied environment, swarm robotics, target searching, unifying coordinate systems

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Authors: Naveeda Akhtar Qureshi, Wajiha

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Coccidiosis is a protozoan parasitic disease of genus Eimeria. It is an avian infection causing a great economic loss of 3 billion USD per year globally. A number of anticoccidial drugs are in use however many of them have side effects and cost effective. With increase in poultry demand throughout the world there is a need of more drugs and vaccines against coccidiosis. The present study is based upon the use of F. racemosa a medicinal plant to be a potential source of anticoccidial agents. The methanolic leaves extract was fractionated by column and thin layer chromatography and got nineteen fractions. Each fraction different concentrations was evaluated for its anticoccidial properties in an invitro experiment against E. tenella, E. necatrix and E. mitis. The anticoccidial active fractions were further characterized by spectroscopy (UV-Vis, FTIR) and GC-MS analysis. The in silico molecular docking of active fractions identified compounds were carried out. Among all fractions significantly maximum sporulation inhibition efficacy was shown by F-19 (67.11±2.18) followed by F-15 (65.21±1.34) at concentration of 30mg/ml against E. tenella. The significantly highest sporozoites viability inhibition was shown by F-19 (69.23±2.11) followed by F-15 (67.14±1.52) against E. necatrix at concentration 30mg/ml. Anticoccidial active fractions 15 and 19 showed peak spectrum at 207 and 202nm respectively by UV analysis. Their FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of carboxylic acid, amines, phenols, etc. Anticoccidial active compounds like Cyclododecane methanol, oleic acid, Octadecanoic acid, etc were identified by GC-MS analysis. Identified compounds in silico molecular docking study showed that cyclododecane methanol of F-19 and oleic acid of F-15 showed highest binding affinity with target S-Adenosylmethionine synthase. Hence for further authentication in vivo anticoccidial studies are recommended.

Keywords: ficus racemosa, cluster fig, column chromatography, anticoccidial fractions, GC-MS, molecular docking., s-adenosylmethionine synthase

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Authors: Sanaa Bardaweel

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Inorganic polyphosphate (poly P) is present in all living forms tested to date, from each of the three kingdoms of life. Studied mainly in prokaryotes, poly P and its associated enzymes are vital in diverse basic metabolism, in at least some structural functions and, notably, in stress responses. These plentiful and unrelated roles for poly P are probably the consequence of its presence in life-forms early in evolution. The genomes of many bacterial species, including pathogens, encode a homologue of a major poly P synthetic enzyme, poly P kinase 1 (PPK1). Genetic deletion of ppk1 results in reduced poly P levels and loss of pathogens virulence towards protozoa and animals. Thus far, no PPK1 homologue has been identified in higher-order eukaryotes and, therefore, PPK1 represents a novel target for chemotherapy. The idea of the current study is to purify the PPK1 from Escherichia coli to homogeneity in order to study the effect of active site point mutations on PPK1 catalysis via the application of site-directed mutagenesis strategy. The knowledge obtained about the active site of PPK1 will be utilized to characterize the catalytic and kinetic mechanism of PPK1 with model substrates. Comprehensive understanding of the enzyme kinetic mechanism and catalysis will be used to design and screen a library of synthetic compounds for potential discovery of selective PPK1-inhibitors.

Keywords: antimicobial, Escherichia coli, inorganic polyphosphate, PPK1-inhibitors

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Authors: Bismark Agbemble

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This paper talks about how project-based learning (PBL) is being infused or implemented in the educational sphere of Africa. The paper navigates through the liminal aspects of PBL as a pedagogical approach to bridge the divide between theoretical knowledge and its application within school curriculums. Given that contextualized learning can be embodied, the abstract vehemently discusses that PBL creates an opportunity for students to work on projects that are of academic relevance in their local settings. It presents PBL’s growth of critical thinking, problem-solving, cooperation, and communications, which is vital in getting young citizens to prepare for the 21st-century revolution. In addition, the abstract stresses the possibility that PBL could become a stimulus to creativity and innovation wherein learning becomes motivated from within by intrinsic motivations. The paper advocates for a holistic approach that is based on teacher’s professional development with the provision of adequate infrastructural facilities and resource allocation, thus ensuring the success and sustainability of PBLs in African education systems. In the end, the paper positions this as a transformative educational methodology that has great potential in helping to shape an African generation that is prepared for a great future.

Keywords: student centered pedagogy, constructivist learning theory, self-directed learning, active exploration, real world challenges, STEM, 21st century skills, curriculum design, classroom management, project base learning curriculum, global intelligence, social and communication skills, transferable skills, critical thinking, investigatable learning, life skills

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Authors: Pedro Esteban

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Most installations nowadays are exposed to many power quality problems, and they also face numerous challenges to comply with grid code and energy efficiency requirements. The reason behind this is that they are not designed to support nonlinear, non-balanced, and variable loads and generators that make up a large percentage of modern electric power systems. These problems and challenges become especially critical when designing green buildings and smart cities. These problems and challenges are caused by equipment that can be typically found in these installations like variable speed drives (VSD), transformers, lighting, battery chargers, double-conversion UPS (uninterruptible power supply) systems, highly dynamic loads, single-phase loads, fossil fuel generators and renewable generation sources, to name a few. Moreover, events like capacitor switching (from existing capacitor banks or passive harmonic filters), auto-reclose operations of transmission and distribution lines, or the starting of large motors also contribute to these problems and challenges. Active power filters (APF) are one of the fastest-growing power electronics technologies for solving power quality problems and meeting grid code and energy efficiency requirements for a wide range of segments and applications. They are a high performance, flexible, compact, modular, and cost-effective type of power electronics solutions that provide an instantaneous and effective response in low or high voltage electric power systems. They enable longer equipment lifetime, higher process reliability, improved power system capacity and stability, and reduced energy losses, complying with most demanding power quality and energy efficiency standards and grid codes. There can be found several types of active power filters, including active harmonic filters (AHF), static var generators (SVG), active load balancers (ALB), hybrid var compensators (HVC), and low harmonic drives (LHD) nowadays. All these devices can be used in applications in Smart Cities bringing several technical and economic benefits.

Keywords: power quality improvement, energy efficiency, grid code compliance, green buildings, smart cities

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Authors: Ehi E. Aimiuwu

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As of 2017, many online learning professionals, institutions, and journals are still wondering how instructors can keep student engaged in the online learning environment to facilitate active learning effectively. The purpose of this qualitative single-case and narrative research is to explore whether online professors understand their role as mentors and facilitators of students’ academic success by keeping students engaged in active learning based on personalized experience in the field. Data collection tools that were used in the study included an NVivo 12 Plus qualitative software, an interview protocol, a digital audiotape, an observation sheet, and a transcription. Seven online professors in the United States from LinkedIn and residencies were interviewed for this study. Eleven online teaching techniques from previous research were used as the study framework. Data analysis process, member checking, and key themes were used to achieve saturation. About 85.7% of professors agreed on rubric as the preferred online grading technique. About 57.1% agreed on professors logging in daily, students logging in about 2-5 times weekly, knowing students to increase accountability, email as preferred communication tool, and computer access for adequate online learning. About 42.9% agreed on syllabus for clear class expectations, participation to show what has been learned, and energizing students for creativity.

Keywords: class facilitation, class management, online teaching, online education, pedagogy

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Authors: F. Ait Ahsene-Aissat, Y. Kerchiche, Y. Moussaoui, M. Hachemi

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Environmental pollution is at the heart of the debate today, the pollutants released into the atmosphere must be measured and reduced to the norms of international releases. The industries pollution is caused by emissions of SO₂, CO and heavy metals in volatile form that must be quantified and monitored. This study presents a qualitative and quantitative analysis However, the collection of volatile heavy metals were performed by active sampling using an isokinetic. SO₂ gas for the maximum is reached for a value of 343 mg / m³, the SO₂ concentration far exceeds the standard releases SO₂ followed by incineration industries in Algeria. the concentration of Cr exceeds 8 times the standard, the Pb concentration in the excess of 6 times, the concentration of Fe has reached very high values exceeding the standard 30 times, the Zn concentration in the excess of 5 times, and the Ni the excess of 4 times and finally that of Cu is almost double of the standard.

Keywords: SO₂, CO, volatiles metals, active sampling isokinetic

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Authors: Elitsa N. Kolentsova, Dimitar Y. Dimitrov, Petya Cv. Petrova, Georgi V. Avdeev, Diana D. Nihtianova, Krasimir I. Ivanov, Tatyana T. Tabakova

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Recently, copper and manganese-containing systems are recognized as active and selective catalysts in many oxidation reactions. The main idea of this study is to obtain more information about γ-Al₂O₃ supported Cu-La catalysts and to evaluate their activity to simultaneous oxidation of CO, CH₃OH and dimethyl ether (DME). The catalysts were synthesized by impregnation of support with a mixed aqueous solution of nitrates of copper, manganese and lanthanum under different conditions. XRD, HRTEM/EDS, TPR and thermal analysis were performed to investigate catalysts’ bulk and surface properties. The texture characteristics were determined by Quantachrome Instruments NOVA 1200e specific surface area and pore analyzer. The catalytic measurements of single compounds oxidation were carried out on continuous flow equipment with a four-channel isothermal stainless steel reactor in a wide temperature range. On the basis of XRD analysis and HRTEM/EDS, it was concluded that the active component of the mixed Cu-Mn-La/γ–alumina catalysts strongly depends on the Cu/Mn molar ratio and consisted of at least four compounds – CuO, La₂O₃, MnO₂ and Cu_1.5Mn_1.5O₄. A homogeneous distribution of the active component on the carrier surface was found. The chemical composition strongly influenced catalytic properties. This influence was quite variable with regards to the different processes.

Keywords: Cu-Mn-La oxide catalysts, carbon oxide, VOCs, deep oxidation

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Authors: Joana Pimenta, Lorena Coelho, José Silva, Vanessa Miranda, Jorge Laranjeira, Rui Soares

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In this paper, the results of R&D on an innovative food package for increased shelf-life are presented. SAP4MA aims at the development of a printed active device that enables smart packaging solutions for food preservation, targeting the extension of the shelf-life of the packed food through the controlled release of active natural antioxidant agents at the onset of the food degradation process. To do so, SAP4MA focuses on the development of active devices such as printed heaters and batteries/supercapacitors in a label format to be integrated on packaging lids during its injection molding process, promoting the passive release of natural antioxidants after the product is packed, during transportation and in the shelves, and actively when the end-user activates the package, just prior to consuming the product at home. When the active device present on the lid is activated, the release of the natural antioxidants embedded in the inner layer of the packaging lid in direct contact with the headspace atmosphere of the food package starts. This approach is based on the use of active functional coatings composed of nano encapsulated active agents (natural antioxidants species) in the prevention of the oxidation of lipid compounds in food by agents such as oxygen. Thus keeping the product quality during the shelf-life, not only when the user opens the packaging, but also during the period from food packaging up until the purchase by the consumer. The active systems that make up the printed smart label, heating circuit, and battery were developed using screen-printing technology. These systems must operate under the working conditions associated with this application. The printed heating circuit was studied using three different substrates and two different conductive inks. Inks were selected, taking into consideration that the printed circuits will be subjected to high pressures and temperatures during the injection molding process. The circuit must reach a homogeneous temperature of 40ºC in the entire area of the lid of the food tub, promoting a gradual and controlled release of the antioxidant agents. In addition, the circuit design involves a high level of study in order to guarantee maximum performance after the injection process and meet the specifications required by the control electronics component. Furthermore, to characterize the different heating circuits, the electrical resistance promoted by the conductive ink and the circuit design, as well as the thermal behavior of printed circuits on different substrates, were evaluated. In the injection molding process, the serpentine-shaped design developed for the heating circuit was able to resolve the issues connected to the injection point; in addition, the materials used in the support and printing had high mechanical resistance against the pressure and temperature inherent to the injection process. Acknowledgment: This research has been carried out within the Project “Smart and Active Packing for Margarine Product” (SAP4MA) running under the EURIPIDES Program being co-financed by COMPETE 2020 – the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization and under Portugal 2020 through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Keywords: smart package, printed heat circuits, printed batteries, flexible and printed electronic

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Authors: Sheng-Ching Wu

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This paper examines the interaction between mutual fund performance and portfolio turnover. Active trading could affect fund performance, but underperforming funds could also be traded actively at the same time to perform well. Therefore, we used two-stage least squares to address with simultaneity. The results indicate that funds with higher portfolio turnovers exhibit inferior performance compared with funds having lower turnovers. Moreover, funds with poor performance exhibit higher portfolio turnover. The findings support the assumptions that active trading erodes performance, and that fund managers with poor performance attempt to trade actively to retain employment.

Keywords: mutual funds, portfolio turnover, simultaneity, two-stage least squares

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Authors: Mei-Ying Liao

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The main purpose of this study was to examine the requirements of a successful concert for young children in preschool in Taiwan. This study reports a case study of a preschool’s experience which undertook ten concerts for young children. The main audiences were young children who were two to six years of age. The performers, including children’s family, amateurs and professional performers, were invited to perform music instruments or singing twice a week. The performers participated in these concerts separately, as a solo or ensemble performance. There were totally ten concerts. The structure of concert included the performance, musical activities, questions and answers, song requests, and exploration of instruments. Data collection included interviews with children, teachers and performers, concert observations, and footnotes. Results showed that the requirements of a successful and meaningful concert for young children were suggested to include concert preparation, concert, and post activities. The concert organizer, host and classroom teachers played vital roles for a successful concert. The organizer had to organize the programs and prepared for the concerts based on the needs and interests of their audience of young children, engage their attention and offer the potential to expand their musical worlds. The hosts had to build a bridge between performers and young children who had to know how they could delight and educate children. Concerts combined games, storytelling, instrument exploration and great music had great effects. Finally, the classroom teachers had to do the extension activities after the concerts so that the children will involve more and get more enthusiasm in concerts.

Keywords: case study, concert, music education, performance

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Authors: H.-G. Herrmann, M. Schwarz, J. Summa, F. Grossmann

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In this work, different non-destructive testing methods for the characterization of defects and interfaces are presented. It is shown that, by means of active thermography, defects in the interface and in the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) itself can be detected and determined. The bonding of metal and thermoplastic can be characterized very well by ultrasonic testing with electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMAT). Mechanical testing is combined with passive thermography to correlate mechanical values with the defect-size. There is also a comparison between active and passive thermography. Mechanical testing shows the influence of different defects. Furthermore, a correlation of defect-size and loading to rupture was performed.

 

Keywords: defect evaluation, EMAT, mechanical testing, thermography

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Authors: S. J. Addinell, T. Richard, B. Evans

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The Deep Exploration Technologies Cooperative Research Centre (DET CRC) is researching and developing a new coiled tubing based greenfields mineral exploration drilling system utilising downhole water powered percussive drill tooling. This new drilling system is aimed at significantly reducing the costs associated with identifying mineral resource deposits beneath deep, barron cover. This system has shown superior rates of penetration in water-rich hard rock formations at depths exceeding 500 meters. Several key challenges exist regarding the deployment and use of these bottom hole assemblies for mineral exploration, and this paper discusses some of the key technical challenges. This paper presents experimental results obtained from the research program during laboratory and field testing of the prototype drilling system. A study of the morphological aspects of the cuttings generated during the percussive drilling process is presented and shows a strong power law relationship for particle size distributions. Several percussive drilling parameters such as RPM, applied fluid pressure and weight on bit have been shown to influence the particle size distributions of the cuttings generated. This has direct influence on other drilling parameters such as flow loop performance, cuttings dewatering, and solids control. Real-time, accurate knowledge of percussive system operating parameters will assist the driller in maximising the efficiency of the drilling process. The applied fluid flow, fluid pressure, and rock properties are known to influence the natural oscillating frequency of the percussive hammer, but this paper also shows that drill bit design, drill bit wear and the applied weight on bit can also influence the oscillation frequency. Due to the changing drilling conditions and therefore changing operating parameters, real-time understanding of the natural operating frequency is paramount to achieving system optimisation. Several techniques to understand the oscillating frequency have been investigated and presented. With a conventional top drive drilling rig, spectral analysis of applied fluid pressure, hydraulic feed force pressure, hold back pressure and drill string vibrations have shown the presence of the operating frequency of the bottom hole tooling. Unfortunately, however, with the implementation of a coiled tubing drilling rig, implementing a positive displacement downhole motor to provide drill bit rotation, these signals are not available for interrogation at the surface and therefore another method must be considered. The investigation and analysis of ground vibrations using geophone sensors, similar to seismic-while-drilling techniques have indicated the presence of the natural oscillating frequency of the percussive hammer. This method is shown to provide a robust technique for the determination of the downhole percussive oscillation frequency when used with a coiled tubing drill rig.

Keywords: cuttings characterization, drilling optimization, oscillation frequency, percussive drilling, spectral analysis

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Authors: Kalinina Anatasiia, Pevnaya Mariya

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The article concerns theoretical basis in the research of student volunteering, identifies references of student volunteering as a social community, classifies human capital indicators of student volunteers. Also there are presented the results of research of 450 student volunteers in Russia concerning the correlation between international volunteering and indicators of human capital of youth. Findings include compared characteristics of human capital of “potential” and “real” international student volunteers. Factor analysis revealed two categories of active students categories of active students.

Keywords: human capital, international volunteering, student volunteering, social community, youth volunteering, youth politics

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Authors: Abbasali Abouei Mehrizi, Hamid Hassanzadeh Afrouzi

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Reducing the drag force increases the efficiency of the aircraft and its better performance. Flow control methods delay the phenomenon of flow separation and consequently reduce the reversed flow phenomenon in the separation region and enhance the performance of the lift force while decreasing the drag force and thus improving the aircraft efficiency. Flow control methods can be divided into active and passive types. The use of synthetic jets actuator (SJA) used in this study for NACA GA (W) -2 airfoil is one of the active flow control methods to prevent stall phenomenon on the airfoil. In this research, the relevant airfoil in different angles of attack with and without jets has been compared by OpenFOAM. Also, after achieving the proper SJA position on the airfoil suction surface, the simultaneous effect of two SJAs has been discussed. It was found to have the best effect at 12% chord (C), close to the airfoil’s leading edge (LE). At 12% chord, SJA decreases the drag significantly with increasing lift, and also, the average lift increase was higher than other situations and was equal to 10.4%. The highest drag reduction was about 5% in SJA=0.25C. Then, due to the positive effects of SJA in the 12% and 25% chord regions, these regions were considered for applying dual jets in two post-stall angles of attack, i.e., 16° and 22°.

Keywords: active and passive flow control methods, computational fluid dynamics, flow separation, synthetic jet

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Authors: Marwa Ragab, Eman El-Kimary

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Chiral separation and analysis of omeprazole and naproxen enantiomers in tablets were achieved using high-performance liquid chromatographic method with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). Kromasil Cellucoat chiral column was used as a stationary phase for separation and the eluting solvent consisted of hexane, isopropanol and trifluoroacetic acid in a ratio of: 90, 9.9 and 0.1, respectively. The chromatographic system was suitable for the enantiomeric separation and analysis of active isomers of the drugs. Resolution values of 2.17 and 3.84 were obtained after optimization of the chromatographic conditions for omeprazole and naproxen isomers, respectively. The determination of S-isomers of each drug in their dosage form was fully validated.

Keywords: chiral analysis, esomeprazole, S-Naproxen, HPLC-DAD

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Authors: Mizan Ahmed, Srikanth Venkatesan

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Geological and tectonic framework indicates that Bangladesh is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. The Bengal Basin is at the junction of three major interacting plates: the Indian, Eurasian, and Burma Plates. Besides there are many active faults within the region, e.g. the large Dauki fault in the north. The country has experienced a number of destructive earthquakes due to the movement of these active faults. Current seismic provisions of Bangladesh are mostly based on earthquake data prior to the 1990. Given the record of earthquakes post 1990, there is a need to revisit the design provisions of the code. This paper compares the base shear demand of three major cities in Bangladesh: Dhaka (the capital city), Sylhet, and Chittagong for earthquake scenarios of magnitudes 7.0MW, 7.5MW, 8.0MW and 8.5MW using a stochastic model. In particular, the stochastic model allows the flexibility to input region specific parameters such as shear wave velocity profile (that were developed from Global Crustal Model CRUST2.0) and include the effects of attenuation as individual components. Effects of soil amplification were analysed using the Extended Component Attenuation Model (ECAM). Results show that the estimated base shear demand is higher in comparison with code provisions leading to the suggestion of additional seismic design consideration in the study regions.

Keywords: attenuation, earthquake, ground motion, Stochastic, seismic hazard

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Authors: Abdel-Monem Sayed Mohamed

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Egypt rapidly growing development is accompanied by increasing levels of standard living particular in its urban areas. However, there is a limited experience in quantifying the sources of risk management in Egypt and in designing efficient strategies to keep away serious impacts of earthquakes. From the historical point of view and recent instrumental records, there are some seismo-active regions in Egypt, where some significant earthquakes had occurred in different places. The special tectonic features in Egypt: Aswan, Greater Cairo, Red Sea and Sinai Peninsula regions are the territories of a high seismic risk, which have to be monitored by up-to date technologies. The investigations of the seismic events and interpretations led to evaluate the seismic hazard for disaster prevention and for the safety of the dense populated regions and the vital national projects as the High Dam. In addition to the monitoring of the recent crustal movements, the most powerful technique of satellite geodesy GPS are used where geodetic networks are covering such seismo-active regions. The results from the data sets are compared and combined in order to determine the main characteristics of the deformation and hazard estimation for specified regions. The final compiled output from the seismological and geodetic analysis threw lights upon the geodynamical regime of these seismo-active regions and put Aswan and Greater Cairo under the lowest class according to horizontal crustal strains classifications. This work will serve a basis for the development of so-called catastrophic models and can be further used for catastrophic risk management. Also, this work is trying to evaluate risk of large catastrophic losses within the important regions including the High Dam, strategic buildings and archeological sites. Studies on possible scenarios of earthquakes and losses are a critical issue for decision making in insurance as a part of mitigation measures.

Keywords: b-value, Gumbel distribution, seismic and GPS data, strain parameters

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Authors: Patsorn Worawattananutai, Srisopa Ruangnoo, Arunporn Itharat

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Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) leaves are vegetables which are extensively used as blood tonic and laxatives in Thai traditional medicine. They are popularly used as healthy sour soup for prevention of chronic diseases such as cancer. Therefore, the cytotoxic activity of different extracts of fresh and dried Hibiscus sabdariffa leaves were investigated via the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay against three types of women’s cancer cell lines, namely the human cervical adenocarcinoma cell line (HeLa), the human ovarian adenocarcinoma cell line (SKOV-3), and the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7). Extraction methods were squeezing, boiling with water and maceration with 95% or 50% ethanol. The 95% ethanolic extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa dry leaves (HSDE95) showed the highest cytotoxicity against all types of women’s cancer cell lines with the IC50 values in range 7.51±0.33 to 12.13±1.85 µg/ml. Its IC50 values against SKOV-3, HeLa and MCF-7 were 7.51±0.33, 9.44±1.41 and 12.13±1.85 µg/ml, respectively. In these results, this extract can be classified as “active” according to the NCI guideline which indicated that IC50 values of the active cytotoxic plant extracts have to be beneath 20 µg/ml. Thus, HSDE95 was concluded to be a potent cytotoxic drug for all women’s cancer cells. This extract should be further investigated to isolate active compounds against women’s cancer cells.

Keywords: breast adenocarcinoma, cervical adenocarcinoma, cytotoxic activity, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ovarian adenocarcinoma

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Authors: Rama Munajat

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Discourse information levels may be viewed from either a background-foreground distinction or a multi-level perspective, and cross-linguistic studies on this area suggest that each information level is marked by a specific linguistic device. In this sense, Sundanese, spoken in Indonesia’s West Javanese Province, further differentiates the background and foreground information into ordinary and significant types. This paper will report an ongoing shift from particle-to-active voice marking in the way Sundanese signals foregrounding events. The shift relates to decades of contact with Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesia’s official language) and linguistic compatibility between the two surface marking strategies. Representative data analyzed include three groups of short stories in both Sundanese and Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) published in three periods: before 1945, 1965-2006, and 2016-2019. In the first group of Sundanese data, forward-moving events dominantly appear in particle KA (Kecap Anteuran, word-accompanying) constructions, where the KA represents different particles that co-occur with a special group of verbs. The second group, however, shows that the foregrounded events are more frequently described in active-voice forms with a subject-predicate (SP) order. Subsequently, the third offers stronger evidence for the use of the SP structure. As for the Indonesian data, the foregrounding events in the first group occur in verb-initial and passive-voice constructions, while in the second and third, the events more frequently appear in active-voice structures (subject-predicate sequence). The marking shift above suggests a structural influence from Indonesian, stemmed from generational differences among authors of the Sundanese short stories, particularly related to their education and language backgrounds. The first group of short stories – published before 1945 or before Indonesia's independence from Dutch – were written by native speakers of Sundanese who spoke Indonesian as a foreign language and went through the Dutch education system. The second group of authors, on the other hand, represents a generation of Sundanese native speakers who spoke Indonesian as a second language. Finally, the third group consists of authors who are bilingual speakers of both Sundanese and Indonesian. The data suggest that the last two groups of authors completed the Indonesian education system. With these, the use of subject-predicate sequences to denote foregrounding events began to appear more frequently in the second group and then became more dominant in those of the third. The coded data also signify that cohesion, coherence, and pragmatic purposes in Particle KA constructions are intact in their respective active-voice structure counterparts. For instance, the foregrounding events in Particle KA constructions occur in Sentence-initial KA and Pre-verbal KA forms, whereas those in the active-voice are described in Subject-Predicate (SP) and Zero-Subject active-voice patterns. Cross-language data further demonstrate that the Sentence-initial KA and the SP active-voice structures each contain an overt noun phrase (NP) co-referential with one of the entities introduced in a preceding context. Similarly, the pre-verbal KA and Zero-Subject active-voice patterns have a deleted noun phrase unambiguously referable to the only one entity previously mentioned. The presence and absence of an NP inform a pragmatic strategy to place prominence on topic/given and comment/new information, respectively.

Keywords: discourse analysis, foregrounding marking, pragmatics, language contact

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Authors: M. Habab, C. Benachaiba, B. Mazari, H. Madi, C. Benoudjafer

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The use of Distributed Generation (DG) has been increasing in recent years to fill the gap between energy supply and demand. This paper presents the grid connected wind energy system with UPQC based on fuzzy controller to compensate for voltage and current disturbances. The proposed system can improve power quality at the point of installation on power distribution systems. Simulation results show the capability of the DG-UPQC intelligent system to compensate sags voltage and current harmonics at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC).

Keywords: shunt active filter, series active filter, UPQC, power quality, sags voltage, distributed generation, wind turbine

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Authors: Biswaranjan D. Mohapatra, Ipsha Hota, Swarna P. Mantry, Nibedita Behera, Kumar S. K. Varadwaj

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Designing highly active and low-cost oxygen evolution (2H₂O → 4H⁺ + 4e⁻ + O₂) electrocatalyst is one of the most active areas of advanced energy research. Some precious metal-based electrocatalysts, such as IrO₂ and RuO₂, have shown excellent performance for oxygen evolution reaction (OER); however, they suffer from high-cost and low abundance which limits their applications. Recently, layered double hydroxides (LDHs), composed of layers of divalent and trivalent transition metal cations coordinated to hydroxide anions, have gathered attention as an alternative OER catalyst. However, LDHs are insulators and coupled with carbon materials for the electrocatalytic applications. Graphene covalently doped with nitrogen has been demonstrated to be an excellent electrocatalyst for energy conversion technologies such as; oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER) & hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, they operate at high overpotentials, significantly above the thermodynamic standard potentials. Recently, we reported remarkably enhanced catalytic activity of benzoate or 1-pyrenebutyrate functionalized N-doped graphene towards the ORR in alkaline medium. The molecular and heteroatom co-doping on graphene is expected to tune the electronic structure of graphene. Therefore, an innovative catalyst architecture, in which LDHs are anchored on aromatic acid functionalized ‘N’ doped graphene may presumably boost the OER activity to a new benchmark. Herein, we report fabrication of Co₂Fe-LDH on aromatic acid (AA) functionalized ‘N’ doped reduced graphene oxide (NG) and studied their OER activities in alkaline medium. In the first step, a novel polyol method is applied for synthesis of AA functionalized NG, which is well dispersed in aqueous medium. In the second step, Co₂Fe LDH were grown on AA functionalized NG by co-precipitation method. The hybrid samples are abbreviated as Co₂Fe LDH/AA-NG, where AA is either Benzoic acid or 1, 3-Benzene dicarboxylic acid (BDA) or 1, 3, 5 Benzene tricarboxylic acid (BTA). The crystal structure and morphology of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). These studies confirmed the growth of layered single phase LDH. The electrocatalytic OER activity of these hybrid materials was investigated by rotating disc electrode (RDE) technique on a glassy carbon electrode. The linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) on these catalyst samples were taken at 1600rpm. We observed significant OER performance enhancement in terms of onset potential and current density on Co₂Fe LDH/BTA-NG hybrid, indicating the synergic effect. This exploration of molecular functionalization effect in doped graphene and LDH system may provide an excellent platform for innovative design of OER catalysts.

Keywords: π-π functionalization, layered double hydroxide, oxygen evolution reaction, reduced graphene oxide

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Authors: Ilaria Manca, Ilaria Manca, Francesca Pettinau, Ignazia Mocci, Elisabetta M. Usai, Barbara Pittau

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Lamotrigine is a phenyltriazine used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder type I. The purpose of this study was to test and compare various solid forms of immediate release (IR) lamotrigine products, at different strenghts, in order to study their disaggregation and dissolution behavior. IR products are designed to release their active substance promptly after administration. Concentration of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice is about 0.1-0.001 M, so FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends, for lamotrigine regular tablets, dissolution tests in HCl 0.1 M.Toinvestigate the pH dependency of drug release in the entire gastrointestinal tract, we worked at two additional media with different pH values (4.5 and 6.8), that reflect conditions in it. To afford acceptable dissolution rates, tablets must disintegrate. Disaggregation of constituent particles increases the surface area and substantially increases the dissolution rate. For this reason availability of an active substance from tablets depends on its ability to disintegrate fast in dissolution media. pH of gastrointestinal fluid affects drug absorption by conditioning its solubility and dissolution, but also tablet disintegration may be influenced by it. To obtain information about the quantitative relationship between different mixture components, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used. We also investigate tablet hardness. The investigation carried out confirms pH 1.2 as the ideal environment for the immediate availability of the active substance.

Keywords: dissolution, disaggregation, Lamotrigine, bioequivalence

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Authors: A.H.Y. Lai, C. Teyra

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In Taiwan, there are 16 official indigenous groups, accounting for 2.3% of the total population. Like other indigenous populations worldwide, indigenous peoples in Taiwan have poorer mental health because of their history of oppression and colonisation. Amid the negative narratives, the ethnic identity of cultural minorities is their unique psychological and cultural asset. Moreover, positive socialisation is found to be related to strong ethnic identity. Based on Phinney’s theory on ethnic identity development and social support theory, this study adopted a strength-based approach conceptualising ethnic identity as the central organising principle that linked perceived social support and mental health among indigenous adults in Taiwan. Aims. Overall aim is to examine the effect of ethnic identity and social support on mental health. Specific aims were to examine : (1) the association between ethnic identity and mental health; (2) the association between perceived social support and mental health ; (3) the indirect effect of ethnic identity linking perceived social support and mental health. Methods. Participants were indigenous adults in Taiwan (n=200; mean age=29.51; Female=31%, Male=61%, Others=8%). A cross-sectional quantitative design was implemented using data collected in the year 2020. Respondent-driven sampling was used. Standardised measurements were: Ethnic Identity Scale(6-item); Social Support Questionnaire-SF(6 items); Patient Health Questionnaire(9-item); and Generalised Anxiety Disorder(7-item). Covariates were age, gender and economic satisfaction. A four-stage structural equation modelling (SEM) with robust maximin likelihood estimation was employed using Mplus8.0. Step 1: A measurement model was built and tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Step 2: Factor covariates were re-specified as direct effects in the SEM. Covariates were added. The direct effects of (1) ethnic identity and social support on depression and anxiety and (2) social support on ethnic identity were tested. The indirect effect of ethnic identity was examined with the bootstrapping technique. Results. The CFA model showed satisfactory fit statistics: x^2(df)=869.69(608), p<.05; Comparative ft index (CFI)/ Tucker-Lewis fit index (TLI)=0.95/0.94; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.05; Standardized Root Mean Squared Residual (SRMR)=0.05. Ethnic identity is represented by two latent factors: ethnic identity-commitment and ethnic identity-exploration. Depression, anxiety and social support are single-factor latent variables. For the SEM, model fit statistics were: x^2(df)=779.26(527), p<.05; CFI/TLI=0.94/0.93; RMSEA=0.05; SRMR=0.05. Ethnic identity-commitment (b=-0.30) and social support (b=-0.33) had direct negative effects on depression, but ethnic identity-exploration did not. Ethnic identity-commitment (b=-0.43) and social support (b=-0.31) had direct negative effects on anxiety, while identity-exploration (b=0.24) demonstrated a positive effect. Social support had direct positive effects on ethnic identity-exploration (b=0.26) and ethnic identity-commitment (b=0.31). Mediation analysis demonstrated the indirect effect of ethnic identity-commitment linking social support and depression (b=0.22). Implications: Results underscore the role of social support in preventing depression via ethnic identity commitment among indigenous adults in Taiwan. Adopting the strength-based approach, mental health practitioners can mobilise indigenous peoples’ commitment to their group to promote their well-being.

Keywords: ethnic identity, indigenous population, mental health, perceived social support

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Authors: Sandra D. Prewitt

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Introduction—The purpose of the extant study was to explore the relationship between religiosity and suicidal ideation. Through this exploration, further knowledge was sought relevant to gaining a better understanding regarding the higher suicide rate continuing to be experienced by young adults. Endeavoring to discover why the suicide rate continues to increase for the subject population, depression and anxiety emerged as major contributory risk factors. Although religiosity has been shown to be related to the reduced risk of suicidal behavior, the curative value of religion relevant to suicide prevention and treatment has not been sufficiently recognized. Considering the enormity of the current suicide problem, pursuits relevant to discovering effective tools enabling impactful prevention and treatment strategies remain essential to reducing suicide deaths. Methodology—The subject study was conducted utilizing a systematic literature review (SLR) which required the researcher to perform searches of appropriate databases, toward the goal of acquiring advanced knowledge based upon existing studies relevant to the subject matter under consideration. Major Findings—Depression and anxiety have been identified as two potential pathways leading to increased suicidal behavior. On the contrary, religiosity emerged as an important protective factor associated with less depression and therefore, fewer instances of suicidal thoughts. The protective nature of religion has been shown to extend to young adults without regard to the presence of identified potential suicidal behavior pathways.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, religion, suicide

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Authors: Mai M. Farid, Ximeng Yang, Tomoharu Kuboyama, Yuna Inada, Chihiro Tohda

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Intro: Trigonella foenum-graecum (Fenugreek), from Fabaceae family is a well-known plant traditionally used as food and medicine. Many pharmacological effects of Trigonella foenum- graecum seeds extract (TF extract) were evaluated such as anti-diabetic, anti-tumor and anti-dementia effects using in vivo models. Regarding the anti-dementia effects of TF extract, diabetic rats, aluminum chloride-induced amnesia rats and scopolamine-injected mice were used previously for evaluation, which are not well established as Alzheimer’s disease models. In addition, those previous studies, active constituents in TF extract for memory function were not identified. Method: This study aimed to clarify the effect of TF extract on Alzheimer’s disease model, 5XFAD mouse that overexpresses mutated APP and PS1 genes and determine the major active constituent in the brain after oral intake of TF extract. Results: Trigonelline was detected in the cerebral cortex of 5XFAD mice after 24 hours of oral administration of TF extract by LC-MS/MS. Oral administration of TF extract for 17 days improved object location memory in 5XFAD mice. Conclusion: These results suggest that TF extract and its active constituents could be an expected therapeutic candidate for Alzheimer’s disease.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, LC-MS/MS, memory recovery, Trigonella foenum-graecum Seeds, 5XFAD mice

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Authors: Akrpoum Souad, Lalaoui Korrichi

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Vicia faba L.,Vaccinium macrocarpon, Punica granatum, Lavandula officinalis, Artemisia absinthium, Linum capitatum and Camellia sinensis were frequently used in our alimentation. In this study, we have tested the antimicrobial activity of their ethanolic and methanolic extracts on some pathogen bacteria, then their ability to in vivo inhibit the growth of Strepcoccus pneumonia. The phytochemical screening has given the composition of the most active extracts. According to the obtained results, the ethanolic extract of Lavendula. officinalis and A absinthium has shown an inhibition of all the tested strains of becteria3. The ethanolic extract of L. officinalis has given the highest activity against S. pneumoniae, followed by the methanolic extract of C. sinensis 1, 2 and P. granatum. The phytochemical screening showed that the most active extracts contained mainly naturels compounds.

Keywords: plants, extracts, antimicrobial activity, streptococcus pneumoniae, phytochemical screening

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Authors: T. Manesh, Abdalla A. Alameen, M. Mohemmed Sha, A. Mohamed Mustaq Ahmed

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Email and instant messaging applications are foremost and extensively used electronic communication methods in this era of information explosion. These applications are generally used for exchange of information using several frontend applications from various service providers by its users. Almost all such communications are now secured using SSL or TLS security over HTTP communication. At the same time, it is also noted that cyber criminals and terrorists have started exchanging information using these methods. Since communication is encrypted end-to-end, tracing significant forensic details and actual content of messages are found to be unattended and severe challenges by available forensic tools. These challenges seriously affect in procuring substantial evidences against such criminals from their working environments. This paper presents a vibrant forensic exploration and architectural framework which not only decrypts any communication or network session but also reconstructs actual message contents of email as well as instant messaging applications. The framework can be effectively used in proxy servers and individual computers and it aims to perform forensic reconstruction followed by analysis of webmail and ICQ messaging applications. This forensic framework exhibits a versatile nature as it is equipped with high speed packet capturing hardware, a well-designed packet manipulating algorithm. It regenerates message contents over regular as well as SSL encrypted SMTP, POP3 and IMAP protocols and catalyzes forensic presentation procedure for prosecution of cyber criminals by producing solid evidences of their actual communication as per court of law of specific countries.

Keywords: forensics, network sessions, packet reconstruction, packet reordering

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Authors: Wael Mohamed, Per-Erik Austrell, Ola Dahlblom

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Wind farms repowering is a significant topic nowadays. Wind farms repowering means the complete dismantling of the existing turbine, tower and foundation at an existing site and replacing these units with taller and larger units. Modern wind turbines are designed to withstand approximately for 20~25 years. However, a very long design life of 100 years or more can be expected for high-quality concrete foundations. Based on that there are significant economic and environmental benefits of replacing the out-of-date wind turbine with a new turbine of better power generation capacity and reuse the foundation. The big difference in lifetime shows a potential for new foundation solution to allow wind farms to be updated with taller and larger units in order to increase the energy production. This also means a significant change in the design loads on the foundations. Therefore, the new foundation solution should be able to handle the additional overturning loads. A raft surrounded by an active stabilisation system is proposed in this study. The concept of an active stabilisation system is a novel idea using a movable load to stabilise against the overturning moment. The active stabilisation system consists of a water tank being divided into eight compartments. The system uses the water as a movable load by pumping it into two compartments to stabilise against the overturning moment. The position of the water will rely on the wind direction and a water movement system depending on a number of electric motors and pipes with electric valves is used. One of the advantages of this active foundation solution is that some cost-efficient adjustment could be done to make this foundation able to support larger and taller units. After the end of the first turbine lifetime, an option is presented here to reuse this foundation and make it able to support taller and larger units. This option is considered using extra water volume to fill four compartments instead of two compartments. This extra water volume will increase the stability moment by 41% compared to using water in two compartments. The geotechnical performance of the new foundation solution is investigated using two existing weak soil profiles in Egypt and Sweden. A comparative study of the new solution and a piled raft with long friction piles is performed using finite element simulations. The results show that using a raft surrounded by an active stabilisation system decreases the tilting compared to a piled raft with friction piles. Moreover, it is found that using a raft surrounded by an active stabilisation system decreases the foundation costs compared to a piled raft with friction piles. In term of the environmental impact, it is found that the new foundation has a beneficial impact on the CO2 emissions. It saves roughly from 296.1 tonnes-CO2 to 518.21 tonnes-CO2 from the manufacture of concrete if the new foundation solution is used for another turbine-lifetime.

Keywords: active stabilisation system, CO2 emissions, FE analysis, reusable, weak soils

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