Search results for: harm reduction

Authors: Mahsa Jalili, Essa Ehsan Khan, Signe Dille Lovmo, Augustine Akruwe, Egil Lien, Rolf Erik Olsen, Trygve Sigholt, Atle Magnus Bones

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Data from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries reported that >1.2 million tons of Atlantic salmon were produced in Norway aquaculture industry in 2016. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are one of the key transcription factor families that respond to nutritional ligands. Recent studies have shown the connection between PPARs with lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in aquaculture. To our knowledge, there is no published data about the effects of krill meal, soybean meal, Bactocell ® and butyrate feedings compared to control group on PPARs gene and protein expressions in Atlantic salmon. Fish, 1year +postsmolt, average weight 250 gram were cultured for 12 weeks after acclimatization by control commercial feeding in 2 weeks after hatchery. Water oxygen rate, salinity, and temperature were monitored every second day. At the end of the trial, fish were taken from tanks randomly, and four replicates per group were collected and stored in -80 freezers until analysis. Total RNA extracted from posterior part of dorsal fin muscle tissues and Nanodrop and Bioanalyzer was used to check the quality of RNA. Gene expression of PPAR α, β and γ were determined by RT-PCR. The expression of genes of interest was measured relative to control group after normalization to three reference genes. Total protein concentration was calculated by Bradford method, and protein expression was determined with primary PPARγ antibody by western blot. All data were analyzed by ANOVA followed by Benjamini-Hochberg and Bonferroni tests. Probability values <0.05 considered significant. Bactocell® and butyrate groups showed significantly lower PPARα expression. PPARβ and γ were not significantly different among groups. PPARγ mRNA expression was approximately consistent with protein expression pattern, except than butyrate group showed lower mRNA level. The order of PPARγ expression was Bactocell® > soy meal > butyrate > krill meal > control respectively. PPARβ gene expression decreased more in soy meal > butyrate > krill meal > Bactocell® > control groups respectively. In conclusion, the increased expression of PPARγ and α is proposed to represent a reduction tendency of lipid storage in fish fed by Bactocell®, butyrate, soy and krill meal.

Keywords: aquaculture, blotting western, gene expression, krill protein extract, prebiotics, probiotics, Salmo salar

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Authors: Giorgi Gaprindashvili

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One of the best examples, in evolution of the public procurement, from post-soviet countries are reforms carried out in Georgia, which brought them close to international standards of procurement. In Georgia, public procurement legislation started functioning in 1998. The reform has passed several stages and came in the form as it is today. It should also be noted, that countries with economy in transition, including Georgia, implemented all the reforms in public procurement based on recommendations and support of World Bank, the United Nations and other international organizations. The first law on public procurement in Georgia was adopted on December 9, 1998 which aimed regulation of the procurement process of budget-organizations, transparent and competitive environment for private companies to access state funds legally. The priorities were identified quite clearly in the wording of the law, but operation/function of this law could not be reached on its level, because of some objective and subjective reasons. The high level of corruption in all levels of governance, can be considered as a main obstacle reason and of course, it is natural, that it had direct impact on the procurement process, as well as on transparency and rational use of state funds. This circumstances were the reasons that reforms in this sphere continued, to improve procurement process, in particular, the first wave of reforms began in 2001. Public procurement agency carried out reform with World Bank with main purpose of smartening the procurement legislation and its harmonization with international treaties and agreements. Also with the support of World Bank various activities were carried out to raise awareness of participants involved in procurement system. Further major changes in the legislation were filed in May 2005, which was also directed towards the improvement and smarten of the procurement process. The third wave of the reform began in 2010, which more or less guaranteed the transparency of the procurement process, which later became the basis for the rational spending of state funds. The reform of the procurement system completely changed the procedures. Carried out reform in Georgia resulted in introducing new electronic tendering system, which benefit the transparency of the process, after this became the basis for the further development of a competitive environment, which become a prerequisite for the state rational spending. Increased number of supplier organizations participating in the procurement process resulted in reduction of the estimated cost and the actual cost from 20% up to 40%, it is quite large saving for the procuring organizations and allows them to use the freed-up funds for their other needs. Assessment of the reforms in Georgia in the field of public procurement can be concluded, that proper regulation of the sector and relevant policy may proceed to rational and transparent spending of the budget from country’s state institutions. Also, the business sector has the opportunity to work in competitive market conditions and to make a preliminary analysis, which is a prerequisite for future strategy and development.

Keywords: public administration, public procurement, reforms, transparency

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Authors: Ravshan A. Ibadov, Sardor Kh. Ibragimov

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Objective. The aim of the study was to optimize the protocol of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after cardiovascular surgical interventions. Methods. The experience of CPR conducted on patients after cardiovascular surgical interventions in the Department of Intensive Care and Resuscitation (DIR) of the Republican Specialized Scientific-Practical Medical Center of Surgery named after Academician V. Vakhidov is presented. The key to the new approach is the rapid elimination of reversible causes of cardiac arrest, followed by either defibrillation or electrical cardioversion (depending on the situation) before external heart compression, which may damage sternotomy. Careful use of adrenaline is emphasized due to the potential recurrence of hypertension, and timely resternotomy (within 5 minutes) is performed to ensure optimal cerebral perfusion through direct massage. Out of 32 patients, cardiac arrest in the form of asystole was observed in 16 (50%), with hypoxemia as the cause, while the remaining 16 (50%) experienced ventricular fibrillation caused by arrhythmogenic reactions. The age of the patients ranged from 6 to 60 years. All patients were evaluated before the operation using the ASA and EuroSCORE scales, falling into the moderate-risk group (3-5 points). CPR was conducted for cardiac activity restoration according to the American Heart Association and European Resuscitation Council guidelines (Ley SJ. Standards for Resuscitation After Cardiac Surgery. Critical Care Nurse. 2015;35(2):30-38). The duration of CPR ranged from 8 to 50 minutes. The ARASNE II scale was used to assess the severity of patients' conditions after CPR, and the Glasgow Coma Scale was employed to evaluate patients' consciousness after the restoration of cardiac activity and sedation withdrawal. Results. In all patients, immediate chest compressions of the necessary depth (4-5 cm) at a frequency of 100-120 compressions per minute were initiated upon detection of cardiac arrest. Regardless of the type of cardiac arrest, defibrillation with a manual defibrillator was performed 3-5 minutes later, and adrenaline was administered in doses ranging from 100 to 300 mcg. Persistent ventricular fibrillation was also treated with antiarrhythmic therapy (amiodarone, lidocaine). If necessary, infusion of inotropes and vasopressors was used, and for the prevention of brain edema and the restoration of adequate neurostatus within 1-3 days, sedation, a magnesium-lidocaine mixture, mechanical intranasal cooling of the brain stem, and neuroprotective drugs were employed. A coordinated effort by the resuscitation team and proper role allocation within the team were essential for effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). All these measures contributed to the improvement of CPR outcomes. Conclusion. Successful CPR following cardiac surgical interventions involves interdisciplinary collaboration. The application of an optimized CPR standard leads to a reduction in mortality rates and favorable neurological outcomes.

Keywords: cardiac surgery, cardiac arrest, resuscitation, critically ill patients

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Authors: Rashmi Shukla, Yamini Bhusan Tripathi

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Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is characterized as diabetic kidney disease which involves many pathways e.g. hyperactivated protein kinase c (PKC), polyol pathway, excess production of advanced glycation end product (AGEs) & free radical accumulation etc. All of them results to hypoxia followed by apoptosis of podocytes, glomerulosclerosis, extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation and fibrosis resulting to irreversible changes in kidney. This is continuously rising worldwide and there are not enough specific drugs, to retard its progress. Due to increasing side effects of allopathic drugs, interest in herbal remedies is growing. Earlier, we have reported that PTY-2 (a phytomedicine, derived from Pueraria tuberosa Linn.) inhibits the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) through activation of MMP-9. Present study exhibited the therapeutic potential of Pueraria tuberosa in the prevention of podocytes apoptosis and modulation of nephrin expression in streptozotocin (STZ) induced DN rats. DN rats were produced by maintaining persistent hyperglycemia for 8 weeks by intra-peritoneal injection of 55 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ). These rats were randomly divided in 2 groups, i.e. DN control, and DN+ water extract of Pueraria tuberosa (PTW). One group of age-matched normal rats served as non-diabetic control (group-1), The STZ induced DN rats (group-2) and DN+PTW treated rats (group-3). The PTW was orally administered (0.3g/kg) daily to group-2 rats and drug vector (1 ml of 10% tween 20) in control rats. The treatments were continued for 20 days and blood and urine samples were collected. Rats were then sacrificed to investigate the expression Bcl2, Bax and nephroprotective protein i.e. nephrin in kidney glomerulus. The effect of PTW was evaluated, we have found that the PTW significantly(p < .001) reversed the raised serum urea, serum creatinine, urine protein and improved the creatinine clearance in STZ induce diabetic nephropathy in rats and also significantly(p < .001) prevented the rise in urine albumin excretion. The Western blot analysis of kidney tissue homogenate showed increased expression of Bcl2 in PTW treated rats. The RT-PCR showed the increased expression and accumulation of nephrin mRNA. The confocal photomicrographs also supported the reduction of Bax and a simultaneous increase in Bcl2 and nephrin in glomerular podocytes. Hence, our finding suggests that the nephroprotective role of PTW is mediated via restoration of nephrin thus prevents the podocytes apoptosis and ameliorates diabetic nephropathy. The clinical trial of PTW would prove to be a potential food supplement/ drug of alternative medicine for patients with diabetic nephropathy in early stage.

Keywords: Pueraria tuberosa, diabetic nephropathy, anti-apoptosis, nephrin

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Authors: Guan-Ying Chen, Han-Tsung Liou, Shou-Ren Hu

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To address traffic congestion problems and encourage the use of public transportation systems in the Taipei metropolitan area, the Taipei City Government and the New Taipei City Government implemented a monthly ticket policy on April 16, 2018. This policy offers unlimited rides on the Taipei MRT, Taipei City Bus, New Taipei City Bus, Danhai Light Rail, and Public Bike (YouBike) on a monthly basis. Additionally, both city governments replaced the smart card discount policy with a new frequent flyer discount program (referred to as the loyal customer program) on February 1, 2020, introducing a differential pricing policy. Specifically, the more frequently the Taipei MRT system is used, the greater the discounts users receive. To analyze the impact of the Taipei public transport monthly ticket policy and the frequent user discount program on the passenger volume of the Taipei MRT system and the transferring behaviors of MRT users, this study conducts a trip-chain analysis using transaction data from Taipei MRT smart cards between September 2017 and December 2020. To achieve these objectives, the study employs four indicators: 1) number of passengers, 2) average number of rides, 3) average trip distance, and 4) instances of multiple consecutive rides. The study applies the t-test and Mann-Kendall trend test to investigate whether the proposed indicators have changed over time due to the implementation of the discount policy. Furthermore, the study examines the travel behaviors of passengers who use monthly tickets. The empirical results of the study indicate that the implementation of the Taipei public transport monthly ticket policy has led to an increase in the average number of passengers and a reduction in the average trip distance. Moreover, there has been a significant increase in instances of multiple consecutive rides, attributable to the unlimited rides offered by the monthly tickets. The impact of the frequent user discount program on changes in MRT passengers is not as pronounced as that of the Taipei public transportation monthly ticket policy. This is partly due to the fact that the frequent user discount program is only applicable to the Taipei MRT system, and the passenger volume was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this research can serve as a reference for Taipei MRT Corporation in formulating its fare strategy and can also provide guidance for the Taipei and New Taipei City Governments in evaluating differential pricing policies for public transportation systems.

Keywords: frequent user discount program, mass rapid transit, monthly ticket, smart card

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Authors: Ezinne K. Okoro, Takahiko Katoh, Yoko Kawamura, Stanley C. Meribe

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HIV infection in children is largely as a result of vertical transmission (mother to child transmission [MTCT]). Thus, elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS is critical in eliminating HIV infection in children. In Nigeria, drawbacks such as; limited pediatric screening, limited human capital, insufficient advocacy and poor understanding of ART guidelines, have impacted efforts at combating the disease, even as treatment services are free. Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program relies on health workers who not only counsel pregnant women on first contact but can competently provide HIV-positive pregnant women with accurate information about the PMTCT program such as feeding techniques and drug adherence. In developing regions like Nigeria where health care delivery faces a lot of drawbacks, it becomes paramount to address these issues of poor PMTCT coverage by conducting a baseline assessment of the knowledge, practices and perceptions related to HIV prevention amongst healthcare workers in Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 250 health workers currently employed in health facilities in Abuja, Nigeria where PMTCT services were offered with the capacity to carry out early infant diagnosis testing (EID). Data was collected using a self-administered, pretested, structured questionnaire. This study showed that the knowledge of PMTCT of HIV was poor (30%) among healthcare workers who offer this service day-to-day to pregnant women. When PMTCT practices were analyzed in keeping with National PMTCT guidelines, over 61% of the respondents reported observing standard practices and the majority (58%) had good attitudes towards caring for patients with HIV/AIDS. Although 61% of the respondents reported being satisfied with the quality of service being rendered, 63% reported not being satisfied with their level of knowledge. Predictors of good knowledge were job designation and level of educational attainment. Health workers who were more satisfied with their working conditions and those who had worked for a longer time in the PMTCT service were more likely to observe standard PMTCT practices. With over 62% of the healthcare workers suggesting that more training would improve the quality of service being rendered, this is a strong pointer to stakeholders to consider a ‘healthcare worker-oriented approach’ when planning and conducting PMTCT training for healthcare workers. This in turn will increase pediatric ARV coverage, the knowledge and effectiveness of the healthcare workers in carrying out appropriate PMTCT interventions and culminating in the reduction/elimination of HIV transmission to newborns.

Keywords: attitudes, HIV/AIDS, healthcare workers, knowledge, mother to child transmission, Nigeria, perceptions

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Authors: U. Pruthviraj, Praveen Kumar R. A. K. Athul, K. V. Gangadharan, S. Rao Shrikantha

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An open source based autonomous unmanned marine surface vehicle (UMSV) is developed for some of the marine applications such as pollution control, environmental monitoring and thermal imaging. A double rotomoulded hull boat is deployed which is rugged, tough, quick to deploy and moves faster. It is suitable for environmental monitoring, and it is designed for easy maintenance. A 2HP electric outboard marine motor is used which is powered by a lithium-ion battery and can also be charged from a solar charger. All connections are completely waterproof to IP67 ratings. In full throttle speed, the marine motor is capable of up to 7 kmph. The motor is integrated with an open source based controller using cortex M4F for adjusting the direction of the motor. This UMSV can be operated by three modes: semi-autonomous, manual and fully automated. One of the channels of a 2.4GHz radio link 8 channel transmitter is used for toggling between different modes of the USMV. In this electric outboard marine motor an on board GPS system has been fitted to find the range and GPS positioning. The entire system can be assembled in the field in less than 10 minutes. A Flir Lepton thermal camera core, is integrated with a 64-bit quad-core Linux based open source processor, facilitating real-time capturing of thermal images and the results are stored in a micro SD card which is a data storage device for the system. The thermal camera is interfaced to an open source processor through SPI protocol. These thermal images are used for finding oil spills and to look for people who are drowning at low visibility during the night time. A Real Time clock (RTC) module is attached with the battery to provide the date and time of thermal images captured. For the live video feed, a 900MHz long range video transmitter and receiver is setup by which from a higher power output a longer range of 40miles has been achieved. A Multi-parameter probe is used to measure the following parameters: conductivity, salinity, resistivity, density, dissolved oxygen content, ORP (Oxidation-Reduction Potential), pH level, temperature, water level and pressure (absolute).The maximum pressure it can withstand 160 psi, up to 100m. This work represents a field demonstration of an open source based autonomous navigation system for a marine surface vehicle.

Keywords: open source, autonomous navigation, environmental monitoring, UMSV, outboard motor, multi-parameter probe

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Authors: Zohre Shahhosseini, Mehdi Pourasghar, AliReza Khalilian, Fariba Salehi

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Objective: The prevalence of anxiety during pregnancy, particularly in developing countries, and its adverse effects on mother and baby, can make pregnancy unpleasant for pregnant women. The effect of anxiety during pregnancy on birth outcomes and children can be a justification for screening of anxious pregnant women in periodic pregnancy care and helping them. In this study, researchers have investigated effects and comparison of group counseling (Cognitive therapy) and interactive lectures on anxiety during pregnancy of primiparas. Methods: The population studied in this semi-experimental trail was nulliparous pregnant women with backgrounds in health care centers in Sari city .They were studied during a period of 3 months from early March to end May 2016. Sample size in this study was 91 patients, who were randomly assigned to three groups: group counseling, interactive lecture, and control group. Demographic questionnaire and Speilberger State –Trait Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) was completed for all three groups after obtaining letter of consent and completing the initial checklist. Then interventions included 4 sessions for group counseling and 4 sessions for interactive lecture which were implemented in two sessions a week. 4 weeks after interventions, Speilberger State – Trait Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), completed by both group counseling and interactive lectures groups again. In control group, the second questionnaire was also completed 4 weeks after completing the initial questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using spss software version 18. At first, the Kalmogorov-Smiranov test was carried out and then chi square tests, Independent t-test, paired t-test, ANOVA test, and Dunnett's post hoc test were applied. Results: Findings show that group counseling and interactive lecture with reducing state and trait anxiety in significant level of P=0/000 contribute to reduction of anxiety in nulliparous pregnant mothers. However, in this study, group counseling was more effective than an interactive lecture in reducing participants' anxiety, but this difference was not significant (P≥0/05). Conclusions: According to the results of this study, it is suggested that by screening of psychological - mental problems of pregnant women in periodic care during pregnancy be considered by revised prenatal care plans and creation of counseling and training units at health centers. Besides owing to the fact that both interactive lecture and group counseling method were effective in reducing anxiety, these methods should be used proportionate to situations and facilities.

Keywords: anxiety, group counseling, cognitive therapy, interactive lecture, nulliparous

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Authors: N. Selvi Gunel, L. M. Oktay, H. Memmedov, B. Durmaz, H. Kalkan Yildirim, E. Yildirim Sozmen

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Object: Propolis which consists of compounds that are accepted as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, immune-modulator and cytotoxic, is frequently used in current therapeutic applications. However, some of them result in allergic side effects, causing consumption to be restricted. Previously our group has succeeded in producing a new biotechnological product which was less allergenic. In this study, we purpose to optimize production conditions of this biologically-transformed propolis and determine the cytotoxic effects of obtained new products on colon cancer cell line (HCT-116). Method: Firstly, solid propolis samples were dissolved in water after weighing, grinding and sizing (sieve-35mesh) and applied 40 kHz/10 min ultrasonication. Samples were prepared according to inoculation with Lactobacillus plantarum in two different proportions (2.5% and 3.5%). Chromatographic analyzes of propolis were performed by UPLC-MS/MS (Waters, Milford, MA) system. Results were analysed by UPLC-MS/MS system MassLynx™ 4.1 software. HCT-116 cells were treated with propolis examples at 25-1000 µg/ml concentrations and cytotoxicity were measured by using WST-8 assay at 24, 48, and 72 hours. Samples with biological transformation were compared with the non-transformed control group samples. Our experiment groups were formed as follows: untreated (group 1), propolis dissolved in water ultrasonicated at 40 kHz/10 min (group 2), propolis dissolved in water ultrasonicated at 40 kHz/10 min and inoculated 2.5% L. plantarum L1 strain (group 3), propolis dissolved in water ultrasonicated at 40 kHz/10 min and inoculated 3.5% L. plantarum L3 strain (group 4). Obtained data were calculated with Graphpad Software V5 and analyzed by two-way ANOVA test followed by Bonferroni test. Result: As a result of our study, the cytotoxic effect of propolis samples on HCT-116 cells was evaluated. There was a 7.21 fold increase in group 3 compared to group 2 in the concentration of 1000 µg/ml, and it was a 6.66 fold increase in group 3 compared to group 1 at the end of 24 hours. At the end of 48 hours, in the concentration of 500 µg/ml, it was determined 4.7 fold increase in group 4 compared to group 3. At the same time, in the concentration of 750 µg/ml it was determined 2.01 fold increase in group 4 compared to group 3 and in the same concentration, it was determined 3.1 fold increase in group 4 compared to group 2. Also, at the 72 hours, in the concentration of 750 µg/ml, it was determined 2.42 fold increase in group 3 according to group 2 and in the same time, in the concentration of 1000 µg/ml, it was determined 2.13 fold increase in group 4 according to group 2. According to cytotoxicity results, the group which were ultrasonicated at 40 kHz/10min and inoculated 3.5% L. plantarum L3-strain had a higher cytotoxic effect. Conclusion: It is known that bioavailability of propolis is halved in six months. The data obtained from our results indicated that biologically-transformed propolis had more cytotoxic effect than non-transformed group on colon cancer cells. Consequently, we suggested that L. plantarum-transformation provides both reduction of allergenicity and extension of bioavailability period by enhancing healthful polyphenols.

Keywords: bio-transformation, propolis, colon cancer, cytotoxicity

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Authors: Nabil Al-Zaqri

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Semiconductor photocatalysts with surface defects display incredible light absorption bandwidth, and these defects function as highly active sites for oxidation processes by interacting with the surface band structure. Accordingly, engineering the photocatalyst with surface oxygen vacancies will enhance the semiconductor nanostructure's photocatalytic efficiency. Herein, a CeO2₋ₓ nanostructure is designed under the influence of low-frequency ultrasonic waves to create surface oxygen vacancies. This approach enhances the photocatalytic efficiency compared to many heterostructures while keeping the intrinsiccrystal structure intact. Ultrasonic waves induce the acoustic cavitation effect leading to the dissemination of active elements on the surface, which results in vacancy formation in conjunction with larger surface area and smaller particle size. The structural analysis of CeO₂₋ₓ revealed higher crystallinity, as well as morphological optimization, and the presence of oxygen vacancies is verified through Raman, X-rayphotoelectron spectroscopy, temperature-programmed reduction, photoluminescence, and electron spinresonance analyses. Oxygen vacancies accelerate the redox cycle between Ce₄+ and Ce₃+ by prolongingphotogenerated charge recombination. The ultrasound-treated pristine CeO₂ sample achieved excellenthydrogen production showing a quantum efficiency of 1.125% and efficient organic degradation. Ourpromising findings demonstrated that ultrasonic treatment causes the formation of surface oxygenvacancies and improves photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and pollution degradation. Conclusion: Defect engineering of the ceria nanoparticles with oxygen vacancies was achieved for the first time using low-frequency ultrasound treatment. The U-CeO₂₋ₓsample showed high crystallinity, and morphological changes were observed. Due to the acoustic cavitation effect, a larger surface area and small particle size were observed. The ultrasound treatment causes particle aggregation and surface defects leading to oxygen vacancy formation. The XPS, Raman spectroscopy, PL spectroscopy, and ESR results confirm the presence of oxygen vacancies. The ultrasound-treated sample was also examined for pollutant degradation, where 1O₂was found to be the major active species. Hence, the ultrasound treatment influences efficient photocatalysts for superior hydrogen evolution and an excellent photocatalytic degradation of contaminants. The prepared nanostructure showed excellent stability and recyclability. This work could pave the way for a unique post-synthesis strategy intended for efficient photocatalytic nanostructures.

Keywords: surface defect, CeO₂₋ₓ, photocatalytic, water treatment, H₂ production

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Authors: Izuddin Fahmy Abu, Mohamad Haiqal Nizar Mohamad, Muhammad Fattah Fazel, Renu Agarwal, Igor Iezhitsa, Nor Salmah Bakar, Henrik Franzyk, Ian Mellor

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Glaucoma is the global leading cause of irreversible blindness. Currently, the available treatment strategy only involves lowering intraocular pressure (IOP); however, the condition often progresses despite lowered or normal IOP in some patients. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) excitotoxicity often occurs in neurodegeneration-related glaucoma; thus it is a relevant target to develop a therapy based on neuroprotection approach. This study investigated the effects of Philanthotoxin-343 (PhTX-343), an NMDAR antagonist, on the neuroprotection of NMDA-induced glaucoma to alleviate visual impairments. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were equally divided: Groups 1 (control) and 2 (glaucoma) were intravitreally injected with phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and NMDA (160nM), respectively, while group 3 was pre-treated with PhTX-343 (160nM) 24 hours prior to NMDA injection. Seven days post-treatments, rats were subjected to visual behavior assessments and subsequently euthanized to harvest their retina and optic nerve tissues for histological analysis and determination of nitrosative stress level using 3-nitrotyrosine ELISA. Visual behavior assessments via open field, object, and color recognition tests demonstrated poor visual performance in glaucoma rats indicated by high exploratory behavior. PhTX-343 pre-treatment appeared to preserve visual abilities as all test results were significantly improved (p < 0.05). H&E staining of the retina showed a marked reduction of ganglion cell layer thickness in the glaucoma group; in contrast, PhTX-343 significantly increased the number by 1.28-folds (p < 0.05). PhTX-343 also increased the number of cell nuclei/100μm2 within inner retina by 1.82-folds compared to the glaucoma group (p < 0.05). Toluidine blue staining of optic nerve tissues showed that PhTX-343 reduced the degeneration changes compared to the glaucoma group which exhibited vacuolation overall sections. PhTX-343 also decreased retinal 3- nitrotyrosine concentration by 1.74-folds compared to the glaucoma group (p < 0.05). All results in PhTX-343 group were comparable to control (p > 0.05). We conclude that PhTX-343 protects against NMDA-induced changes and visual impairments in the rat model by reducing nitrosative stress levels.

Keywords: excitotoxicity, glaucoma, nitrosative stress , NMDA receptor , N-methyl-D-aspartate , philanthotoxin, visual behaviour

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Authors: S. Trafela, X. Xua, K. Zuzek Rozmana

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In this study, we used an accurate and precise method to measure the electrochemically active surface areas (Aecsa) of nickel electrodes. Calculated Aecsa is really important for the evaluation of an electro-catalyst’s activity in electrochemical reaction of different organic compounds. The method involves the electrochemical formation of Ni(OH)₂ and NiOOH in the presence of adsorbed oxalate in alkaline media. The studies were carried out using cyclic voltammetry with polycrystalline nickel as a reference material and electrodeposited nickel nanowires, homogeneous and heterogeneous nickel films. From cyclic voltammograms, the charge (Q) values for the formation of Ni(OH)₂ and NiOOH surface oxides were calculated under various conditions. At sufficiently fast potential scan rates (200 mV s⁻¹), the adsorbed oxalate limits the growth of the surface hydroxides to a monolayer. Although the Ni(OH)₂/NiOOH oxidation peak overlaps with the oxygen evolution reaction, in the reverse scan, the NiOOH/ Ni(OH)₂ reduction peak is well-separated from other electrochemical processes and can be easily integrated. The values of these integrals were used to correlate experimentally measured charge density with an electrochemically active surface layer. The Aecsa of the nickel nanowires, homogeneous and heterogeneous nickel films were calculated to be Aecsa-NiNWs = 4.2066 ± 0.0472 cm², Aecsa-homNi = 1.7175 ± 0.0503 cm² and Aecsa-hetNi = 2.1862 ± 0.0154 cm². These valuable results were expanded and used in electrochemical studies of formaldehyde oxidation. As mentioned nickel nanowires, heterogeneous and homogeneous nickel films were used as simple and efficient sensor for formaldehyde detection. For this purpose, electrodeposited nickel electrodes were modified in 0.1 mol L⁻¹ solution of KOH in order to expect electrochemical activity towards formaldehyde. The investigation of the electrochemical behavior of formaldehyde oxidation in 0.1 mol L⁻¹ NaOH solution at the surface of modified nickel nanowires, homogeneous and heterogeneous nickel films were carried out by means of electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric methods. From investigations of effect of different formaldehyde concentrations (from 0.001 to 0.1 mol L⁻¹) on electrochemical signal - current we provided catalysis mechanism of formaldehyde oxidation, detection limit and sensitivity of nickel electrodes. The results indicated that nickel electrodes participate directly in the electrocatalytic oxidation of formaldehyde. In the overall reaction, formaldehyde in alkaline aqueous solution exists predominantly in form of CH₂(OH)O⁻, which is oxidized to CH₂(O)O⁻. Taking into account the determined (Aecsa) values we have been able to calculate the sensitivities: 7 mA mol L⁻¹ cm⁻² for nickel nanowires, 3.5 mA mol L⁻¹ cm⁻² for heterogeneous nickel film and 2 mA mol L⁻¹ cm⁻² for heterogeneous nickel film. The detection limit was 0.2 mM for nickel nanowires, 0.5 mM for porous Ni film and 0.8 mM for homogeneous Ni film. All of these results make nickel electrodes capable for further applications.

Keywords: electrochemically active surface areas, nickel electrodes, formaldehyde, electrocatalytic oxidation

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Authors: Apurva Patil, Ashay Aswale, Akshay Kulkarni, Shubham Bharadiya

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The potential benefit of gravity compensation of linkages in mechanisms using springs to reduce actuator requirements is well recognized, but practical applications have been elusive. Although existing methods provide exact spring balance, they require additional masses or auxiliary links, or all the springs used originate from the ground, which makes the resulting device bulky and space-inefficient. This paper uses a method of static balancing of mechanisms with conservative loads such as gravity and spring loads using non-zero-free-length springs with child–parent connections and no auxiliary links. Application of this method to the developed arm of a humanoid robot is presented here. Spring balancing is particularly important in this case because the serial chain of linkages has to work against gravity.This work involves approximate spring balancing of the open-loop chain of linkages using minimization of potential energy variance. It uses the approach of flattening the potential energy distribution over the workspace and fuses it with numerical optimization. The results show the considerable reduction in actuator torque requirement with practical spring design and arrangement. Reduced actuator torque facilitates the use of lower end actuators which are generally smaller in weight and volume thereby lowering the space requirements and the total weight of the arm. This is particularly important for humanoid robots where the parent actuator has to handle the weight of the subsequent actuators as well. Actuators with lower actuation requirements are more energy efficient, thereby reduce the energy consumption of the mechanism. Lower end actuators are lower in cost and facilitate the development of low-cost devices. Although the method provides only an approximate balancing, it is versatile, flexible in choosing appropriate control variables that are relevant to the design problem and easy to implement. The true potential of this technique lies in the fact that it uses a very simple optimization to find the spring constant, free-length of the spring and the optimal attachment points subject to the optimization constraints. Also, it uses physically realizable non-zero-free-length springs directly, thereby reducing the complexity involved in simulating zero-free-length springs from non-zero-free-length springs. This method allows springs to be attached to the preceding parent link, which makes the implementation of spring balancing practical. Because auxiliary linkages can be avoided, the resultant arm of the humanoid robot is compact. The cost benefits and reduced complexity can be significant advantages in the development of this arm of the humanoid robot.

Keywords: actuator torque, child-parent connections, spring balancing, the arm of a humanoid robot

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Authors: Jing-Yang Chung, Chi-Wei Liao, Jing Li, Bor Kae Chang, Cheng-Yu Wang

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Chemical hydride ammonia borane (AB, NH3BH3) draws attentions to hydrogen energy researches for its high theoretical gravimetrical capacity (19.6 wt%). Nevertheless, the elevated AB decomposition temperatures (Td) and unwanted byproducts are main hurdles in practical application. It was reported that the byproducts and Td can be reduced with nanoconfinement technique, in which AB molecules are confined in porous materials, such as porous carbon, zeolite, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), etc. Although nanoconfinement empirically shows effectiveness on hydrogen generation temperature reduction in AB, the theoretical mechanism is debatable. Low Td was reported in AB@IRMOF-1 (Zn4O(BDC)3, BDC = benzenedicarboxylate), where Zn atoms form closed metal clusters secondary building unit (SBU) with no exposed active sites. Other than nanosized hydride, it was also observed that catalyst addition facilitates AB decomposition in the composite of Li-catalyzed carbon CMK-3, MOF JUC-32-Y with exposed Y3+, etc. It is believed that nanosized AB is critical for lowering Td, while active sites eliminate byproducts. Nonetheless, some researchers claimed that it is the catalytic sites that are the critical factor to reduce Td, instead of the hydride size. The group physically ground AB with ZIF-8 (zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, (Zn(2-methylimidazolate)2)), and found similar reduced Td phenomenon, even though AB molecules were not ‘confined’ or forming nanoparticles by physical hand grinding. It shows the catalytic reaction, not nanoconfinement, leads to AB dehydrogenation promotion. In this research, we explored the possible criteria of hydrogen production temperature from nanoconfined AB in MOFs with different pore sizes and active sites. MOFs with metal SBU such as Zn (IRMOF), Zr (UiO), and Al (MIL-53), accompanying with various organic ligands (BDC and BPDC; BPDC = biphenyldicarboxylate) were modified with AB. Excess MOFs were used for AB size constrained in micropores estimated by revisiting Horvath-Kawazoe model. AB dissolved in methanol was added to MOFs crystalline with MOF pore volume to AB ratio 4:1, and the slurry was dried under vacuum to collect AB@MOF powders. With TPD-MS (temperature programmed desorption with mass spectroscopy), we observed Td was reduced with smaller MOF pores. For example, it was reduced from 100°C to 64°C when MOF micropore ~1 nm, while ~90°C with pore size up to 5 nm. The behavior of Td as a function of AB crystalline radius obeys thermodynamics when the Gibbs free energy of AB decomposition is zero, and no obvious correlation with metal type was observed. In conclusion, we discovered Td of AB is proportional to the reciprocal of MOF pore size, possibly stronger than the effect of active sites.

Keywords: ammonia borane, chemical hydride, metal-organic framework, nanoconfinement

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Authors: Swati Tomar, Sunil Kumar Gupta

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Anammox is a novel and promising technology that has changed the traditional concept of biological nitrogen removal. The process facilitates direct oxidation of ammonical nitrogen under anaerobic conditions with nitrite as an electron acceptor without the addition of external carbon sources. The present study investigated the feasibility of anammox hybrid reactor (AHR) combining the dual advantages of suspended and attached growth media for biodegradation of ammonical nitrogen in wastewater. The experimental unit consisted of 4 nos. of 5L capacity AHR inoculated with mixed seed culture containing anoxic and activated sludge (1:1). The process was established by feeding the reactors with synthetic wastewater containing NH4-H and NO2-N in the ratio 1:1 at HRT (hydraulic retention time) of 1 day. The reactors were gradually acclimated to higher ammonium concentration till it attained pseudo steady state removal at a total nitrogen concentration of 1200 mg/l. During this period, the performance of the AHR was monitored at twelve different HRTs varying from 0.25-3.0 d with increasing NLR from 0.4 to 4.8 kg N/m3d. AHR demonstrated significantly higher nitrogen removal (95.1%) at optimal HRT of 1 day. Filter media in AHR contributed an additional 27.2% ammonium removal in addition to 72% reduction in the sludge washout rate. This may be attributed to the functional mechanism of filter media which acts as a mechanical sieve and reduces the sludge washout rate many folds. This enhances the biomass retention capacity of the reactor by 25%, which is the key parameter for successful operation of high rate bioreactors. The effluent nitrate concentration, which is one of the bottlenecks of anammox process was also minimised significantly (42.3-52.3 mg/L). Process kinetics was evaluated using first order and Grau-second order models. The first-order substrate removal rate constant was found as 13.0 d-1. Model validation revealed that Grau second order model was more precise and predicted effluent nitrogen concentration with least error (1.84±10%). A new mathematical model based on mass balance was developed to predict N2 gas in AHR. The mass balance model derived from total nitrogen dictated significantly higher correlation (R2=0.986) and predicted N2 gas with least error of precision (0.12±8.49%). SEM study of biomass indicated the presence of the heterogeneous population of cocci and rod shaped bacteria of average diameter varying from 1.2-1.5 mm. Owing to enhanced NRE coupled with meagre production of effluent nitrate and its ability to retain high biomass, AHR proved to be the most competitive reactor configuration for dealing with nitrogen laden wastewater.

Keywords: anammox, filter media, kinetics, nitrogen removal

Procedia PDF Downloads 364

Authors: Feng-Ming Fan, Xiu-Hui Wen

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Shortage of water resources is a crucial problem to be solved in Taiwan. However, lack of effective and mandatory regulation on water recovery and recycling leads to no effective water resource controls currently. Although existing legislation sets standards regarding water recovery, implementation and enforcement of legislation are facing challenges. In order to break through the dilemma, this study aims to find enforcement tools, improve inspection skills, develop an inspection system, to achieve sustainable development of precious water resources. The Taiwan Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIA Act) was announced on 1994. The aim of EIA Act is to protect the environment by preventing and mitigating the adverse impact of development activity on the environment. During the EIA process, we can set standards that require enterprises to reach a certain percentage of water recycling based on different case characteristics, to promote sewage source reduction and water saving benefits. Next, we have to inspect how the enterprises handle their waste water and perform water recovery based on environmental assessment commitments, for the purpose of reviewing and measuring the implementation efficiency of water recycling and reuse, an eco-friendly measure. We invited leading experts in related fields to provide lecture on water recycling, strengthen law enforcement officials’ inspection knowledge, and write inspection reference manual to be used as basis of enforcement. Then we finalized the manual by reaching mutual agreement between the experts and relevant agencies. We then inspected 65 high-tech companies whose daily water consumption is over 1,000 tons individually, located at 3 science parks, set up by Ministry of Science and Technology. Great achievement on water recycling was achieved at an amount of 400 million tons per year, equivalent to 2.5 months water usage for general public in Taiwan. The amount is equal to 710 billion bottles of 600 ml cola, 170 thousand international standard swimming pools of 2,500 tons, irrigation water applied to 40 thousand hectares of rice fields, or 1.7 Taipei Feitsui Reservoir of reservoir storage. This study demonstrated promoting effects of environmental impact assessment commitments on water recycling, and therefore water resource sustainable development. It also confirms the value of EIA Act for environmental protection. Economic development should go hand in hand with environmental protection, and it’s a mainstream. It clearly shows the EIA regulation can minimize harmful effects caused by development activity to the environment, as well as pursuit water resources sustainable development.

Keywords: the environmental impact assessment act, water recycling environmental assessment commitment, water resource sustainable development, water recycling, water reuse

Procedia PDF Downloads 228

Authors: Ivonete Teresinha Schulter Buss Heidemann, Michelle Kuntz Durand, Aline Megumi Arakawa-Belaunde, Sandra Mara Corrêa, Leandro Martins Costa Do Araujo, Kamila Soares Maciel

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Primary Health Care is defined as the level of a system of services that enables the achievement of answers to health needs. This level of care produces services and actions of attention to the person in the life cycle and in their health conditions or diseases. Primary Health Care refers to a conception of care model and organization of the health system that in Brazil seeks to reorganize the principles of the Unified Health System. This system is based on the principle of health as a citizen's right and duty of the State. Primary health care has family health as a priority strategy for its organization according to the precepts of the Unified Health System, structured in the logic of new sectoral practices, associating clinical work and health promotion. Thus, this study seeks to know the possibilities and limits of the care developed by professionals working in Primary Health Care. It was conducted by a qualitative approach of the participant action type, based on Paulo Freire's Research Itinerary, which corresponds to three moments: Thematic Investigation; Encoding and Decoding; and, Critical Unveiling. The themes were investigated in a health unit with the development of a culture circle with 20 professionals, from a municipality in southern Brazil, in the first half of 2021. The participants revealed as possibilities the involvement, bonding and strengthening of the interpersonal relationships of the professionals who work in the context of primary care. Promoting welcoming in primary care has favoured care and teamwork, as well as improved access. They also highlighted that care planning, the use of technologies in the process of communication and the orientation of the population enhances the levels of problem-solving capacity and the organization of services. As limits, the lack of professional recognition and the scarce material and human resources were revealed, conditions that generate tensions for health care. The reduction in the number of professionals and the low salary are pointed out as elements that boost the motivation of the health team for the development of the work. The participants revealed that due to COVID-19, the flow of care had as a priority the pandemic situation, which affected health care in primary care, and prevention and health promotion actions were canceled. The study demonstrated that empowerment and professional involvement are fundamental to promoting comprehensive and problem-solving care. However, limits of the teams are observed when exercising their activities, these are related to the lack of human and material resources, and the expansion of public health policies is urgent.

Keywords: health promotion, primary health care, health professionals, welcoming.

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Authors: Gilda Santos, Rita Marques, Francisca Marques, João Ribeiro, André Fonseca, João M. Miranda, João B. L. M. Campos, Soraia F. Neves

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Every year, an unacceptable number of firefighters are seriously burned during firefighting operations, with some of them eventually losing their life. Although thermal protective clothing research and development has been searching solutions to minimize firefighters heat load and skin burns, currently commercially available solutions focus in solving isolated problems, for example, radiant heat or water-vapor resistance. Therefore, episodes of severe burns and heat strokes are still frequent. Taking this into account, a consortium composed by Portuguese entities has joined synergies to develop an innovative protective clothing system by following a procedure based on the application of numerical models to optimize the design and using a combinationof protective clothing components disposed in different layers. Recently, it has been shown that Phase Change Materials (PCMs) can contribute to the reduction of potential heat hazards in fire extinguish operations, and consequently, their incorporation into firefighting protective clothing has advantages. The greatest challenge is to integrate these materials without compromising garments ergonomics and, at the same time, accomplishing the International Standard of protective clothing for firefighters – laboratory test methods and performance requirements for wildland firefighting clothing. The incorporation of PCMs into the firefighter's protective jacket will result in the absorption of heat from the fire and consequently increase the time that the firefighter can be exposed to it. According to the project studies and developments, to favor a higher use of the PCM storage capacityand to take advantage of its high thermal inertia more efficiently, the PCM layer should be closer to the external heat source. Therefore, in this stage, to integrate PCMs in firefighting clothing, a mock-up of a vest specially designed to protect the torso (back, chest and abdomen) and to be worn over a fire-resistant jacketwas envisaged. Different configurations of PCMs, as well as multilayer approaches, were studied using suitable joining technologies such as bonding, ultrasound, and radiofrequency. Concerning firefighter’s protective clothing, it is important to balance heat protection and flame resistance with comfort parameters, namely, thermaland water-vapor resistances. The impact of the most promising solutions regarding thermal comfort was evaluated to refine the performance of the global solutions. Results obtained with experimental bench scale model and numerical simulation regarding the integration of PCMs in a vest designed as protective clothing for firefighters will be presented.

Keywords: firefighters, multilayer system, phase change material, thermal protective clothing

Procedia PDF Downloads 135

Authors: W. Mohammed Saeed, A. J. Mcbain, S. M. Cruickshank, C. A. O’Neill

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In the gut, probiotics have been shown to protect epithelial cells from pathogenic bacteria through a number of mechanisms: 1-Increasing epithelial barrier function, 2-Modulation of the immune response especially innate immune response, 3-Inhibition of pathogen adherence and down regulation of virulence factors. Since probiotics have positive impacts on the gut, their potential effects on other body tissues, such as skin have begun to be investigated. The purpose of this project is to characterize the potential of probiotic bacteria lysate as therapeutic agent for preventing or reducing the S. aureus infection. Normal human primary keratinocytes (KCs) were exposed to S. aureus (106/ml) in the presence or absence of L. rhamnosus GG lysate (extracted from 108cfu/ml). The viability of the KCs was measured after 24 hours using a trypan blue exclusion assay. When KCs were treated with S aureus alone, only 25% of the KCs remained viable at 24 hours post infection. However, in the presence of L. rhamnosus GG lysate the viability of pathogen infected KCs increased to 58% (p=0.008, n=3). Furthermore, when KCs co-exposed, pre- exposed or post-exposed to L. rhamnosus GG lysate, the viability of the KCs increased to ≈60%, the L. rhamnosus GG lysate was afforded equal protection in different conditions. These data suggests that two possible separate mechanisms are involved in the protective effects of L. rhamnosus GG such as reducing S. aureus growth, or inhibiting of pathogenic adhesion. Interestingly, a lysate of L rhamnosus GG provided significant reduction in S. aureus growth and adhesion of S. aureus that being viable following 24 hours incubation with S aureus. Therefore, a series of Liquid Chromatography (RP-LC) methods were adopted to partially purify the lysate in combination with functional assays to elucidate in which fractions the efficacious molecules were contained. In addition, the Mass Spectrometry-based protein sequencing was used to identify putative proteins in the fractions. The data presented from purification process demonstrated that L. rhamnosus GG lysate has the potential to protect keratinocytes from the toxic effects of the skin pathogen, S. aureus. Three potential mechanisms were identified: inhibition of pathogen growth; competitive exclusion; and displacement of the pathogen from keratinocyte binding sites. In this study, ‘moonlight’ proteins were identified in the current study’s MS/MS data for L. rhamnosus GG lysate, which could elucidate the ability of lysate in the competitive exclusion and displacement of S. aureus from keratinocyte binding sites. Taken together, it can be speculated that L. rhamnosus GG lysate utilizes different mechanisms to protect keratinocytes from S. aureus toxicity. The present study indicates that the proteinaceous substances are involved in anti-adhesion activity. This is achieved by displacing the pathogen and preventing the severity of pathogen infection and the moonlight proteins might be involved in inhibiting the adhesion of pathogens.

Keywords: lysate, fractions, adhesion, L. rhamnosus GG, S. aureus toxicity

Procedia PDF Downloads 273

Authors: Shayan Mohajer Hamidi

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Federated learning has emerged as a promising approach for distributed model training while preserving data privacy. However, the challenges of communication overhead, limited network resources, and slow convergence hinder its widespread adoption. On the other hand, knowledge distillation has shown great potential in compressing large models into smaller ones without significant loss in performance. In this paper, we propose an innovative framework that combines federated learning and knowledge distillation to address these challenges and enhance the efficiency of distributed learning. Our approach, called Federated Knowledge Distillation (FKD), enables multiple clients in a federated learning setting to collaboratively distill knowledge from a teacher model. By leveraging the collaborative nature of federated learning, FKD aims to improve model compression while maintaining privacy. The proposed framework utilizes a coded teacher model that acts as a reference for distilling knowledge to the client models. To demonstrate the effectiveness of FKD, we conduct extensive experiments on various datasets and models. We compare FKD with baseline federated learning methods and standalone knowledge distillation techniques. The results show that FKD achieves superior model compression, faster convergence, and improved performance compared to traditional federated learning approaches. Furthermore, FKD effectively preserves privacy by ensuring that sensitive data remains on the client devices and only distilled knowledge is shared during the training process. In our experiments, we explore different knowledge transfer methods within the FKD framework, including Fine-Tuning (FT), FitNet, Correlation Congruence (CC), Similarity-Preserving (SP), and Relational Knowledge Distillation (RKD). We analyze the impact of these methods on model compression and convergence speed, shedding light on the trade-offs between size reduction and performance. Moreover, we address the challenges of communication efficiency and network resource utilization in federated learning by leveraging the knowledge distillation process. FKD reduces the amount of data transmitted across the network, minimizing communication overhead and improving resource utilization. This makes FKD particularly suitable for resource-constrained environments such as edge computing and IoT devices. The proposed FKD framework opens up new avenues for collaborative and privacy-preserving distributed learning. By combining the strengths of federated learning and knowledge distillation, it offers an efficient solution for model compression and convergence speed enhancement. Future research can explore further extensions and optimizations of FKD, as well as its applications in domains such as healthcare, finance, and smart cities, where privacy and distributed learning are of paramount importance.

Keywords: federated learning, knowledge distillation, knowledge transfer, deep learning

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Authors: Alba Ballester Ciuró, Marc Pares Franzi

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While coming decades are likely to see a higher flood risk in Europe and greater socio-economic damages, traditional flood risk management has become inefficient. In response to that, new approaches such as capacity building and public participation have recently been incorporated in natural hazards mitigation policy (i.e. Sendai Framework for Action, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and EU Floods Directive). By integrating capacity building and public participation, we present a research concerning the promotion of participatory social capacity building actions for flood risk mitigation at the local level. Social capacities have been defined as the resources and abilities available at individual and collective level that can be used to anticipate, respond to, cope with, recover from and adapt to external stressors. Social capacity building is understood as a process of identifying communities’ social capacities and of applying collaborative strategies to improve them. This paper presents a proposal of systematization of participatory social capacity building process for flood risk mitigation, and its implementation in a high risk of flooding area in the Ebro river basin: Ribera Alta del Ebro. To develop this process, we designed and tested a tool that allows measuring and building five types of social capacities: knowledge, motivation, networks, participation and finance. The tool implementation has allowed us to assess social capacities in the area. Upon the results of the assessment we have developed a co-decision process with stakeholders and flood risk management authorities on which participatory activities could be employed to improve social capacities for flood risk mitigation. Based on the results of this process, and focused on the weaker social capacities, we developed a set of participatory actions in the area oriented to general public and stakeholders: informative sessions on flood risk management plan and flood insurances, interpretative river descents on flood risk management (with journalists, teachers, and general public), interpretative visit to the floodplain, workshop on agricultural insurance, deliberative workshop on project funding, deliberative workshops in schools on flood risk management (playing with a flood risk model). The combination of obtaining data through a mixed-methods approach of qualitative inquiry and quantitative surveys, as well as action research through co-decision processes and pilot participatory activities, show us the significant impact of public participation on social capacity building for flood risk mitigation and contributes to the understanding of which main factors intervene in this process.

Keywords: flood risk management, public participation, risk reduction, social capacities, vulnerability assessment

Procedia PDF Downloads 188

Authors: Ibrahim Musa, Mohammed Abdul-Aziz Mabrouk, Yusuf Tanko

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Introduction: Long term physical training affect the performance of athletes especially the females. Soccer which is a team sport, played in an outdoor field, require adequate oxygen transport system for the maximal aerobic power during exercise in order to complete 90 minutes of competitive play. Suboptimal haematological status has often been recorded in athletes with intensive physical activity. It may be due to the iron depletion caused by hemolysis or haemodilution results from plasma volume expansion. There is lack of data regarding the dynamics of red blood cell variables, in male football players. We hypothesized that, a long competitive season involving frequent matches and intense training could influence red blood cell variables, as a consequence of applying repeated physical loads when compared with sedentary. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried on 40 adult males (20 athletes and 20 non athletes) between 18-25 years of age. The 20 apparently healthy male non athletes were taken as sedentary and 20 male footballers comprise the study group. The university institutional review board (ABUTH/HREC/TRG/36) gave approval for all procedures in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Red blood cell (RBC) concentration, packed cell volume (PCV), and plasma volume were measured in fasting state and immediately after exercise. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS/ win.20.0 for comparison within and between the groups, using student’s paired and unpaired “t” test respectively. Results: The finding from our study shows that, immediately after termination of exercise, the mean RBC counts and PCV significantly (p<0.005) decreased with significant increased (p<0.005) in plasma volume when compared with pre-exercised values in both group. In addition the post exercise RBC was significantly higher in untrained (261.10±8.5) when compared with trained (255.20±4.5). However, there was no significant differences in the post exercise hematocrit and plasma volume parameters between the sedentary and the footballers. Moreover, beside changes in pre-exercise values among the sedentary and the football players, the resting red blood cell counts and Plasma volume (PV %) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the sedentary group (306.30±10.05 x 104 /mm3; 58.40±0.54%) when compared with football players (293.70±4.65 x 104 /mm3; 55.60±1.18%). On the other hand, the sedentary group exhibited significant (p < 0.05) decrease in PCV (41.60±0.54%) when compared with the football players (44.40±1.18%). Conclusions: It is therefore proposed that the acute football exercise induced reduction in RBC and PCV is entirely due to plasma volume expansion, and not of red blood cell hemolysis. In addition, the training status also influenced haematological indices of male football players differently from the sedentary at rest due to adaptive response. This is novel.

Keywords: Haematological Indices, Performance Status, Sedentary, Male Football Players

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Authors: Bronwyn Griffin, Caroline Acton, Tona Gillen, Roy Kimble

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Background: Bicycle riding is a common recreational activity enjoyed by many children throughout Australia that has been associated with the usual caveat of benefits related to exercise and recreation. Given Australia was the first country in the world to introduce cyclist helmet laws in 1991, very few publications have reviewed paediatric cycling injuries (fatal or non-fatal) since. Objectives: To identify trends in children (0-16 years) who required admission for greater than 24 hours following a bicycle-related injury (fatal and non-fatal) in Queensland. Further, to discuss changes that have occurred in paediatric cycling injury trends in Queensland since a prominent local study/publication in 1995. This paper aims to establish evidence to inform interventions promoting safer riding to parents, children and communities. Methods: Data on paediatric (0-16 years) cycling injuries in Queensland resulting in hospital admission more than 24 hours across three tertiary paediatric hospitals in Brisbane between November 2008-June 2015 was compiled by the Paediatric Trauma Data Registry for non-fatal injuries. The Child Death Review Team at the Queensland Families and Childhood Commission provided data on fatalities in children <17years from (June 2004 –June 2015). Comparing trends to a local study published in 1995 Results: Between 2008-2015 there were 197 patients admitted for greater than 24 hours following a cycling injury. The median age was 11 years, with males more frequently involved (n=139, 87%) compared to females. Mean length of stay was three days, with 47 (28%) children admitted to PICU, location of injury was most often the street (n=63, 37%). Between 2004 –2015 there were 15 fatalities (Incidence rate 0.25/100,000); all were male, 14/15 occurred on the street, with eight stated to have not been wearing a helmet, 11/15 children came from the least advantaged socio-economic group (SEIFA) compared to a local publication in 1995, finding of 94 fatalities between (1981-1992). Conclusions: There has been a notable decrease in incidence of fatalities between the two time periods with incidence rates dropping from 1.75-0.25/100,000. More statistics need to be run to ascertain if this is a true reduction or perhaps a decrease in children riding bicycles. Injuries that occur on the street that come in contact with a car remain of serious concern. The purpose of this paper is not to discourage bicycle riding among child and adolescent populations, rather, inform parents and the wider community about the risks associated with cycling in order to reduce injuries associated with this sport, whilst promoting safe cycling.

Keywords: paediatric, cycling, trauma, prevention, emergency

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Authors: Robert Pellerin, Michel Gamache, Remi Trudeau, Nathalie Perrier

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The context of large engineering projects is particularly favorable to the appearance of engineering changes and contractual modifications. These elements are potential causes for claims. In this paper, we investigate one of the critical components of the claim management process: the calculation of the impacts of changes in terms of losses of productivity due to the need to accelerate some project activities. When project changes are initiated, delays can arise. Indeed, project activities are often executed in fast-tracking in an attempt to respect the completion date. But the acceleration of project execution and the resulting rework can entail important costs as well as induce productivity losses. In the past, numerous methods have been proposed to quantify the duration of delays, the gains achieved by project acceleration, and the loss of productivity. The calculation related to those changes can be divided into two categories: direct cost and indirect cost. The direct cost is easily quantifiable as opposed to indirect costs which are rarely taken into account during the calculation of the cost of an engineering change or contract modification despite several research projects have been made on this subject. However, proposed models have not been accepted by companies yet, nor they have been accepted in court. Those models require extensive data and are often seen as too specific to be used for all projects. These techniques are also ignoring the resource constraints and the interdependencies between the causes of delays and the delays themselves. To resolve this issue, this research proposes a simulation model that mimics how major engineering changes or contract modifications are handled in large construction projects. The model replicates the use of overtime in a reactive scheduling mode in order to simulate the loss of productivity present when a project change occurs. Multiple tests were conducted to compare the results of the proposed simulation model with statistical analysis conducted by other researchers. Different scenarios were also conducted in order to determine the impact the number of activities, the time of occurrence of the change, the availability of resources, and the type of project changes on productivity loss. Our results demonstrate that the number of activities in the project is a critical variable influencing the productivity of a project. When changes occur, the presence of a large number of activities leads to a much lower productivity loss than a small number of activities. The speed of reducing productivity for 30-job projects is about 25 percent faster than the reduction speed for 120-job projects. The moment of occurrence of a change also shows a significant impact on productivity. Indeed, the sooner the change occurs, the lower the productivity of the labor force. The availability of resources also impacts the productivity of a project when a change is implemented. There is a higher loss of productivity when the amount of resources is restricted.

Keywords: engineering changes, indirect costs overtime, productivity, scheduling, simulation

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Authors: Chamaraja Parulli

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Family is an important social institution devoted to the growth of a child, and parents are the important agents of socialization. Mentally challenged children are those who are affected by intellectual disability, which is manifested by limitation in intellectual functioning and adoptive behavior. Intellectual disability affects about 3-4 percentage of the general population. Intellectual disability is caused by genetic condition, problems during pregnancy, problems during childbirth, or illness. Mental retardation is the world’s most complex and challenging issue. The stigmatization of disability results in social and economic marginalization. Parents of the mentally challenged children will have a very high level of parenting stress, which is significantly more than the stress perceived by the parents of the children without disability. The prevalence of severe mental disorder called Schizophrenia is among 1.1 percent of the total population in India. On the other hand, 11 to 12 percent is the overall lifetime occurrence rate of mental disorders. While the government has a separate program for mental health, the segment is marred by lack of adequate doctors and infrastructure. Mentally retarded children have certain limitations in mental functioning and skills, which makes them slow learners in speaking, walking, and taking care of their personal needs such as dressing and eating. Accepting a child with mental handicap becomes difficult for parents and to the whole family, as they have to face many problems, including those of management, finance, deprivation of rest, and leisure. Also, the problems faced by the parents can be seen in different areas like – educational, psychological, social, emotional, financial and family related issues. The study brought out various difficulties and problems faced by the parents as well as family members. The findings revealed that the mental retardation is not only a medico-psychological problem but also a socio-cultural problem. The study results, however, indicate that the quality of life of the family having children with mental retardation can be improved to a greater extent by building up a child-friendly ambience at home. The main aim of the present study is to assess the problems faced by the parents of mentally challenged children, with the help of personal interview data collected from the parents of mentally challenged children, residing in Shimoga District of Karnataka State, India. These individuals were selected using stratified random sampling method. Organizing effective intervention programs for parents, family, society, and educational institutions towards reduction of family stress, augmenting the family’s strengths, increasing child’s competence and enhancing the positive attitudes and values of the society will go a long way for the peaceful existence of the mentally challenged children.

Keywords: mentally challenged children, intellectual disability, special children, social infrastructure, differently abled, psychological stress, marginalization

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Authors: Richard Sogah

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The significance of transport infrastructure investments for economic growth and development has been central to the World Bank’s strategy for poverty reduction. Among the conventional surface transport infrastructures, road infrastructure is significant in facilitating the movement of human capital goods and services. When transport projects (i.e., roads, super-highways) are implemented, they come along with some negative social values (costs), such as increased noise and air pollution for local residents living near these facilities, displaced individuals, etc. However, these projects also facilitate better utilization of existing capital stock and generate other observable benefits that can be easily quantified. For example, the improvement or construction of roads creates employment, stimulates revenue generation (toll), reduces vehicle operating costs and accidents, increases accessibility, trade expansion, safety improvement, etc. Aside from these benefits, travel time savings (TTSs) which are the major economic benefits of urban and inter-urban transport projects and therefore integral in the economic assessment of transport projects, are often overlooked and omitted when estimating the benefits of transport projects, especially in developing countries. The absence of current and reliable domestic travel data and the inability of replicated models from the developed world to capture the actual value of travel time savings due to the large unemployment, underemployment, and other labor-induced distortions has contributed to the failure to assign value to travel time savings when estimating the benefits of transport schemes in developing countries. This omission of the value of travel time savings from the benefits of transport projects in developing countries poses problems for investors and stakeholders to either accept or dismiss projects based on schemes that favor reduced vehicular operating costs and other parameters rather than those that ease congestion, increase average speed, facilitate walking and handloading, and thus save travel time. Given the complex reality in the estimation of the value of travel time savings and the presence of widespread informal labour activities in Sub-Saharan Africa, we construct a “nationally ranked distribution of time values” and estimate the value of travel time savings based on the area beneath the distribution. Compared with other approaches, our method captures both formal sector workers and individuals/people who work outside the formal sector and hence changes in their time allocation occur in the informal economy and household production activities. The dataset for the estimations is sourced from the World Bank, the International Labour Organization, etc.

Keywords: road infrastructure, transport projects, travel time savings, congestion, Sub-Sahara Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Thor Alexis Sazon, Alexander Guzman-Urbina, Yasuhiro Fukushima

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This study outlines the method of how to develop a surrogate life cycle model based on fuzzy logic using three fuzzy inference methods: (1) the conventional Fuzzy Inference System (FIS), (2) the hybrid system of Data Analytics and Fuzzy Inference (DAFIS), which uses data clustering for defining the membership functions, and (3) the Adaptive-Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), a combination of fuzzy inference and artificial neural network. These methods were demonstrated with a case study where the Global Warming Potential (GWP) and the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of solar photovoltaic (PV) were estimated using Solar Irradiation, Module Efficiency, and Performance Ratio as inputs. The effects of using different fuzzy inference types, either Sugeno- or Mamdani-type, and of changing the number of input membership functions to the error between the calibration data and the model-generated outputs were also illustrated. The solution spaces of the three methods were consequently examined with a sensitivity analysis. ANFIS exhibited the lowest error while DAFIS gave slightly lower errors compared to FIS. Increasing the number of input membership functions helped with error reduction in some cases but, at times, resulted in the opposite. Sugeno-type models gave errors that are slightly lower than those of the Mamdani-type. While ANFIS is superior in terms of error minimization, it could generate solutions that are questionable, i.e. the negative GWP values of the Solar PV system when the inputs were all at the upper end of their range. This shows that the applicability of the ANFIS models highly depends on the range of cases at which it was calibrated. FIS and DAFIS generated more intuitive trends in the sensitivity runs. DAFIS demonstrated an optimal design point wherein increasing the input values does not improve the GWP and LCOE anymore. In the absence of data that could be used for calibration, conventional FIS presents a knowledge-based model that could be used for prediction. In the PV case study, conventional FIS generated errors that are just slightly higher than those of DAFIS. The inherent complexity of a Life Cycle study often hinders its widespread use in the industry and policy-making sectors. While the methodology does not guarantee a more accurate result compared to those generated by the Life Cycle Methodology, it does provide a relatively simpler way of generating knowledge- and data-based estimates that could be used during the initial design of a system.

Keywords: solar photovoltaic, fuzzy logic, inference system, artificial neural networks

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Authors: Yesim Tumsek, Erkan Celebi

Abstract:

In order to simulate the infinite soil medium for soil-foundation interaction problem, the essential geotechnical parameter on which the foundation stiffness depends, is the value of soil shear modulus. This parameter directly affects the site and structural response of the considered model under earthquake ground motions. Strain-dependent shear modulus under cycling loads makes difficult to estimate the accurate value in computation of foundation stiffness for the successful dynamic soil-structure interaction analysis. The aim of this study is to discuss in detail how to use the appropriate value of soil shear modulus in the computational analyses and to evaluate the effect of the variation in shear modulus with strain on the impedance functions used in the sub-structure method for idealizing the soil-foundation interaction problem. Herein, the impedance functions compose of springs and dashpots to represent the frequency-dependent stiffness and damping characteristics at the soil-foundation interface. Earthquake-induced vibration energy is dissipated into soil by both radiation and hysteretic damping. Therefore, flexible-base system damping, as well as the variability in shear strengths, should be considered in the calculation of impedance functions for achievement a more realistic dynamic soil-foundation interaction model. In this study, it has been written a Matlab code for addressing these purposes. The case-study example chosen for the analysis is considered as a 4-story reinforced concrete building structure located in Istanbul consisting of shear walls and moment resisting frames with a total height of 12m from the basement level. The foundation system composes of two different sized strip footings on clayey soil with different plasticity (Herein, PI=13 and 16). In the first stage of this study, the shear modulus reduction factor was not considered in the MATLAB algorithm. The static stiffness, dynamic stiffness modifiers and embedment correction factors of two rigid rectangular foundations measuring 2m wide by 17m long below the moment frames and 7m wide by 17m long below the shear walls are obtained for translation and rocking vibrational modes. Afterwards, the dynamic impedance functions of those have been calculated for reduced shear modulus through the developed Matlab code. The embedment effect of the foundation is also considered in these analyses. It can easy to see from the analysis results that the strain induced in soil will depend on the extent of the earthquake demand. It is clearly observed that when the strain range increases, the dynamic stiffness of the foundation medium decreases dramatically. The overall response of the structure can be affected considerably because of the degradation in soil stiffness even for a moderate earthquake. Therefore, it is very important to arrive at the corrected dynamic shear modulus for earthquake analysis including soil-structure interaction.

Keywords: clay soil, impedance functions, soil-foundation interaction, sub-structure approach, reduced shear modulus

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Authors: Zelalem Teshager

Abstract:

The Choke Mountains have several endangered and endemic wildlife species and provide important ecosystem services. Despite their environmental importance, the Choke Mountains are found in dangerous conditions. This raised the need for an evaluation of the community's perception of deforestation and its major drivers and suggested possible solutions in the Choke Mountains of northwestern Ethiopia. For this purpose, household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions were used. A total sample of 102 informants was used for this survey. A purposive sampling technique was applied to select the participants for in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses were used. Computation of descriptive statistics such as mean, percentages, frequency, tables, figures, and graphs was applied to organize, analyze, and interpret the study. This study assessed smallholder agricultural land expansion, Fuel wood collection, population growth; encroachment, free grazing, high demand of construction wood, unplanned resettlement, unemployment, border conflict, lack of a strong forest protecting system, and drought were the serious causes of forest depletion reported by local communities. Loss of land productivity, Soil erosion, soil fertility decline, increasing wind velocity, rising temperature, and frequency of drought were the most perceived impacts of deforestation. Most of the farmers have a holistic understanding of forest cover change. Strengthening forest protection, improving soil and water conservation, enrichment planting, awareness creation, payment for ecosystem services, and zero grazing campaigns were mentioned as possible solutions to the current state of deforestation. Applications of Intervention measures, such as animal fattening, beekeeping, and fruit production can contribute to decreasing the deforestation causes and improve communities’ livelihood. In addition, concerted efforts of conservation will ensure that the forests’ ecosystems contribute to increased ecosystem services. The major drivers of deforestation should be addressed with government intervention to change dependency on forest resources, income sources of the people, and institutional set-up of the forestry sector. Overall, further reduction in anthropogenic pressure is urgent and crucial for the recovery of the afro-alpine vegetation and the interrelated endangered wildlife in the Choke Mountains.

Keywords: choke afro-alpine, deforestation, drivers, intervention measures, perceptions

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Authors: Serap Gedikli, Hakan Çakmak, M. Buğra Güldiken, Duygu Yalnızoğlu

Abstract:

Air, which is necessary for living things to survive; while it carries some useful substances in it, it can also carry foreign particles of different sizes that may be harmful to the health. All airborne organic substances of biological origin, including bacteria, fungi, fungal spores, viruses, pollen, and their components, are called "bioaerosols". Nowadays, everyone spends most of their time in closed areas such as home, workplace, school, etc. Although it is known that outdoor air pollution affects health, it is not known that indoor air pollution has harmful effects in terms of health. In this study, indoor air microbial load and SARS-CoV-2 virus cleaning efficiency of Froumann brand air cleaners were studied. This work in 300 m³, 600 m³, and 1000 m³ completely closed areas without any air circulation with Froumann N80, N90, and N100 air-cleaning devices. Analyzes were performed for both areas at 60 minutes before and after the device was operated using a particle measuring device (Particles Plus 7302) and an air sampler (Mas-100 ECO). The measurements were taken by placing the test equipment 1.5-2 m away from the air cleaner. At the same time, the efficiency of the HEPA filter was evaluated by taking samples from the air outlet point of the HEPA filter using the air sampling device (Mas-100 ECO) after the device was started. Nutrient agar and malt agar are used as total mesophilic bacteria and total fungi. The number of colony-forming units per m³ (cfu/m³) was calculated by counting colonies in Petri dishes after incubation for 48 hours at 37°C for bacteria and 72 hours at 30°C for fungi. The change in the number of colonies and the decrease in the microbial load was calculated as a percentage value. SARS-CoV-2 activity analysis studies were carried out by İnönü University Microbiology Department in accordance with the World Health Organization regulations. Finally, the HEPA filter in the devices used was taken and kept under a certain temperature and humidity, and the change in the microbial load on it was monitored over a 6-month period. At the end of the studies, a 91%-94% reduction was determined in the total mesophilic bacteria count of Frouman brand N80, N90, and N100 model air cleaners. A decrease of 94%-96% was detected in the total number of yeast/molds. HEPA filter efficiency was evaluated, and at the end of the analysis, 98% of the bacterial load and approximately 100% of yeast/mold load at the HEPA filter air outlet point were decreased. According to the SARS- CoV-2 analysis results, when the device is operating at the medium airflow level 3, it can filter virus-carrying aerosols by 99%. As a result, it was determined that the Froumann model air cleaner was effective in controlling and reducing the microbial load in the indoor air.

Keywords: HEPA filter, indoor air quality, microbial load, SARS-CoV-2

Procedia PDF Downloads 181