Search results for: technology transfer offices

Authors: Geremew Geidare Kailo, Igor Gáspár, András Koris, Ivana Pajčin, Flóra Vitális, Vanja Vlajkov

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Three-dimension (3D) printing, a very popular additive manufacturing technology, has recently undergone rapid growth and replaced the use of conventional technology from prototyping to producing end-user parts and products. The 3D Printing technology involves a digital manufacturing machine that produces three-dimensional objects according to designs created by the user via 3D modeling or computer-aided design/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) software. The most popular 3D printing system is Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) or also called Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). A 3D-printed object is considered food safe if it can have direct contact with the food without any toxic effects, even after cleaning, storing, and reusing the object. This work analyzes the processing timeline of the filament (material for 3D printing) from unboxing to the extrusion through the nozzle. It is an important task to analyze the growth of bacteria on the 3D printed surface and in gaps between the layers. By default, the 3D-printed object is not food safe after longer usage and direct contact with food (even though they use food-safe filaments), but there are solutions for this problem. The aim of this work was to evaluate the 3D-printed object from different perspectives of food safety. Firstly, testing antimicrobial 3D printing filaments from a food safety aspect since the 3D Printed object in the food industry may have direct contact with the food. Therefore, the main purpose of the work is to reduce the microbial load on the surface of a 3D-printed part. Coating with epoxy resin was investigated, too, to see its effect on mechanical strength, thermal resistance, surface smoothness and food safety (cleanability). Another aim of this study was to test new temperature-resistant filaments and the effect of high temperature on 3D printed materials to see if they can be cleaned with boiling or similar hi-temp treatment. This work proved that all three mentioned methods could improve the food safety of the 3D printed object, but the size of this effect variates. The best result we got was with coating with epoxy resin, and the object was cleanable like any other injection molded plastic object with a smooth surface. Very good results we got by boiling the objects, and it is good to see that nowadays, more and more special filaments have a food-safe certificate and can withstand boiling temperatures too. Using antibacterial filaments reduced bacterial colonies to 1/5, but the biggest advantage of this method is that it doesn’t require any post-processing. The object is ready out of the 3D printer. Acknowledgements: The research was supported by the Hungarian and Serbian bilateral scientific and technological cooperation project funded by the Hungarian National Office for Research, Development and Innovation (NKFI, 2019-2.1.11-TÉT-2020-00249) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. The authors acknowledge the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences’s Doctoral School of Food Science for the support in this study

Keywords: food safety, 3D printing, filaments, microbial, temperature

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Authors: An-Na Li, Ying-Yu Chen, Chang-Kuang Chiou

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Food tourism is one of the growing industries and areas of interest in the tourism industry today. The Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) are aware of the importance of gastronomy in order to stimulate local and regional economic development. From the heritage and cultural aspects, gastronomy is becoming a more important part of the cultural heritage of region and countries. Heritage destinations provide culinary heritage, which fits the current interest in traditional food, and cuisine is part of a general desire for authentic experiences. However, few studies have empirically examining food tourist’s behavior. This study examined the effects of cuisine experience, emotions and tourists’ revisit intentions. A total of 402 individuals responded to the on-site survey in the historic town of Lu-Kang in Taiwan. The results indicated that tourists’ cuisine experience include place flavor, media recommended local learning, life transfer and interpersonal share. In addition, cuisine experience had significant impacts on emotions, which in turn cuisine experience and emotions had significant effects on tourists’ revisit intentions. The findings suggested that the cuisine experience is a multi- dimensions construct. On the other hands, the good quality of cuisine experience could evoke tourists’ positive emotions and it plays a significant role in promote tourist revisit intentions and word of mouth. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords: culinary tourism, cuisine experience, emotions, revisit intentions

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Authors: Sam Zhang

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The landscape of Opto mechatronics is viewed along the line of light vs. matter, photonics vs. semiconductors, and optics vs. mechatronics. Optomechatronics is redefined as the integration of light and matter from the atom, device, and system to the application. The markets and megatrends in Opto mechatronics are further listed. The author then focuses on Opto mechatronic technology in the semiconductor industry as an example and reviews the practical systems, characteristics, and trends. Opto mechatronics, together with photonics and semiconductor, will continue producing the computational and smart infrastructure required for the 4th industrial revolution.

Keywords: photonics, semiconductor, optomechatronics, 4th industrial revolution

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Authors: Raluca Ana Maria Viziteu, Anna Prudnikova

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Industrial control systems (ICS) have received much attention in recent years due to the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) that has increased the interdependence of safety and security issues to be considered. These issues require ICS-tailored solutions. That led to the need to creation of a methodology for supporting ICS device manufacturers and system integrators in carrying out threat modeling of embedded ICS devices in a way that guarantees the quality of the identified threats and minimizes subjectivity in the threat identification process. To research, the possibility of creating such a methodology, a set of existing standards, regulations, papers, and publications related to threat modeling in the ICS sector and other sectors was reviewed to identify various existing methodologies and methods used in threat modeling. Furthermore, the most popular ones were tested in an exploratory phase on a specific PLC device. The outcome of this exploratory phase has been used as a basis for defining specific characteristics of ICS embedded devices and their deployment scenarios, identifying the factors that introduce subjectivity in the threat modeling process of such devices, and defining metrics for evaluating the minimum quality requirements of identified threats associated to the deployment of the devices in existing infrastructures. Furthermore, the threat modeling methodology was created based on the previous steps' results. The usability of the methodology was evaluated through a set of standardized threat modeling requirements and a standardized comparison method for threat modeling methodologies. The outcomes of these verification methods confirm that the methodology is effective. The full paper includes the outcome of research on different threat modeling methodologies that can be used in OT, their comparison, and the results of implementing each of them in practice on a PLC device. This research is further used to build a threat modeling methodology tailored to OT environments; a detailed description is included. Moreover, the paper includes results of the evaluation of created methodology based on a set of parameters specifically created to rate threat modeling methodologies.

Keywords: device manufacturers, embedded devices, industrial control systems, threat modeling

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Authors: H. M. Côrtes, J. I. Da Silva Filho, M. F. Blos, B. S. Zanon

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In a modern society the factor corresponding to the increase in the level of quality in industrial production demand new techniques of control and machinery automation. In this context, this work presents the implementation of a Paraconsistent-Fuzzy Digital PID controller. The controller is based on the treatment of inconsistencies both in the Paraconsistent Logic and in the Fuzzy Logic. Paraconsistent analysis is performed on the signals applied to the system inputs using concepts from the Paraconsistent Annotated Logic with annotation of two values (PAL2v). The signals resulting from the paraconsistent analysis are two values defined as Dc - Degree of Certainty and Dct - Degree of Contradiction, which receive a treatment according to the Fuzzy Logic theory, and the resulting output of the logic actions is a single value called the crisp value, which is used to control dynamic system. Through an example, it was demonstrated the application of the proposed model. Initially, the Paraconsistent-Fuzzy Digital PID controller was built and tested in an isolated MATLAB environment and then compared to the equivalent Digital PID function of this software for standard step excitation. After this step, a level control plant was modeled to execute the controller function on a physical model, making the tests closer to the actual. For this, the control parameters (proportional, integral and derivative) were determined for the configuration of the conventional Digital PID controller and of the Paraconsistent-Fuzzy Digital PID, and the control meshes in MATLAB were assembled with the respective transfer function of the plant. Finally, the results of the comparison of the level control process between the Paraconsistent-Fuzzy Digital PID controller and the conventional Digital PID controller were presented.

Keywords: fuzzy logic, paraconsistent annotated logic, level control, digital PID

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Authors: Eun Jeong Yu, Inn Soo Kang, Tae Ki Yoon, Mi Kyoung Koong

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Advanced female age is associated with higher cycle cancelation rates, lower clinical pregnancy rate, increased miscarriage and aneuploidy rates in IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) cycles. This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a Cha Fertility Center, Seoul Station. All fresh non-donor IVF cycles performed in women aged 40 years and above from January 2016 to December 2016 were reviewed. Donor/recipient treatment, PGD/PGS (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis/ Preimplantation Genetic Screening) were excluded from analysis. Of the 1,166 cycles from 753 women who completed ovulation induction, 1,047 were appropriate for the evaluation according to inclusion and exclusion criterion. IVF cycles were categorized according to age and grouped into the following 1-year age groups: 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 and > 46. The mean age of patients was 42.4 ± 1.8 years. The median AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) level was 1.2 ± 1.5 ng/mL. The mean number of retrieved oocytes was 4.9 ± 4.3. The clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate in women > 40 years significantly decreased with each year of advancing age (p < 0.001). The clinical pregnancy rate decreased from 21% at the age of 40 years to 0% at ages above 45 years. Live birth rate decreased from 12.3% to 0%, respectively. There were no clinical pregnancy outcomes among 95 patients aged above 45 years of age. The overall miscarriage rate was 40.7% (range, 36.7%-70%). The transfer of at least one good quality embryo was associated with about 4-9% increased chance of a clinical pregnancy rate. Therefore, IVF in old age women less than 46 had a reasonable chance for successful pregnancy outcomes especially when good quality embryo is transferred.

Keywords: advanced maternal age, in vitro fertilization, pregnancy rate, live birth rate

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Authors: Brian Tung, Yam Wing Siu, Tsun Se Cheong

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Purpose: This research aims to explore how personal and environmental factors, especially the socio-economic changes and behavioral changes fostered by the COVID-19 outbreak pandemic, affect the financial vulnerability of a specific segment of people in financial distress. Innovative research methodology of machine learning will be applied to data collected from over 300 local individuals in Hong Kong seeking counseling or similar services in recent years. Results: First, machine learning has found that too much exposure to digital services and information on digitized services may lead to adverse effects on respondents’ financial vulnerability. Second, the improvement in financial literacy level provides benefits to the financially vulnerable group, especially those respondents who have started with a lower level. Third, serious addiction to digital technology can lead to worsened debt servicing ability. Machine learning also has found a strong correlation between debt servicing situations and income-seeking behavior as well as spending behavior. In addition, if the vulnerable groups are able to make appropriate investments, they can reduce the probability of incurring financial distress. Finally, being too active in borrowing and repayment can result in a higher likelihood of over-indebtedness. Conclusion: Findings can be employed in formulating a better counseling strategy for professionals. Debt counseling services can be more preventive in nature. For example, according to the findings, with a low level of financial literacy, the respondents are prone to overspending and unable to react properly to the e-marketing promotion messages pop-up from digital services or even falling into financial/investment scams. In addition, people with low levels of financial knowledge will benefit from financial education. Therefore, financial education programs could include tech-savvy matters as special features.

Keywords: personal finance, digitization of the economy, COVID-19 pandemic, addiction to digital technology, financial vulnerability

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Authors: A. Myrzabekova, D. Nurmukhamed, K. Nurumov, A. Zhulbarissova

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It is widely believed that stress can affect teachers’ intention to change the workplace. While existing research primarily focuses on the intrinsic sources of stress stemming from the school climate, the current attempt analyzes educational policies as one of the determinants of teacher’s intention to leave schools. In this respect, Kazakhstan presents a unique case since the country endorsed several educational policies which directly impacted teaching and administrative practices within schools. Using Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018 (TALIS) data with the country specific questionnaire, we construct a statistical measure of stress caused by the implementation of educational policies and test its impact on teacher’s intention to leave through the logistic regression. In addition, we control for sociodemographic, professional, and students related covariates while considering the intrinsic dimension of stress stemming from the school climate. Overall, our results suggest that stress caused by the educational policies has a statistically significant positive effect on teachers’ intentions to transfer between schools. Both policy makers and educational scholars could find these results beneficial. For the former careful planning and addressing the negative effects of the educational policies is critical for the sustainability of the educational process. For the latter, accounting for exogenous sources of stress can lead to a more complete understanding of why teachers decide to change their schools.

Keywords: educational policies, Kazakhstani teachers, logistic regression factor analysis, sustainability education TALIS, teacher turnover intention, work stress

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Authors: Peiming Li

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This paper presents an innovative blockchain-based approach to enhance the reliability and efficiency of federated learning systems. By integrating a decentralized oracle consensus mechanism into the federated learning framework, we address key challenges of data and model integrity. Our approach utilizes a network of redundant oracles, functioning as independent validators within an epoch-based training system in the federated learning model. In federated learning, data is decentralized, residing on various participants' devices. This scenario often leads to concerns about data integrity and model quality. Our solution employs blockchain technology to establish a transparent and tamper-proof environment, ensuring secure data sharing and aggregation. The decentralized oracles, a concept borrowed from blockchain systems, act as unbiased validators. They assess the contributions of each participant using a Hidden Markov Model (HMM), which is crucial for evaluating the consistency of participant inputs and safeguarding against model poisoning and malicious activities. Our methodology's distinct feature is its epoch-based training. An epoch here refers to a specific training phase where data is updated and assessed for quality and relevance. The redundant oracles work in concert to validate data updates during these epochs, enhancing the system's resilience to security threats and data corruption. The effectiveness of this system was tested using the Mnist dataset, a standard in machine learning for benchmarking. Results demonstrate that our blockchain-oriented federated learning approach significantly boosts system resilience, addressing the common challenges of federated environments. This paper aims to make these advanced concepts accessible, even to those with a limited background in blockchain or federated learning. We provide a foundational understanding of how blockchain technology can revolutionize data integrity in decentralized systems and explain the role of oracles in maintaining model accuracy and reliability.

Keywords: federated learning system, block chain, decentralized oracles, hidden markov model

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Authors: Marcus Klein, Martina GrießBach, Richard Kupke

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The current advances in the research and manufacturing of large area graphene layers are promising towards the introduction of this exciting material in the display industry and other applications that benefit from excellent electrical and optical characteristics. New production technologies in the fabrication of flexible displays, touch screens or printed electronics apply graphene layers on non-metal substrates and bring new challenges to the required metrology. Traditional measurement concepts of layer thickness, sheet resistance, and layer uniformity, are difficult to apply to graphene production processes and are often harmful to the product layer. New non-contact sensor concepts are required to adapt to the challenges and even the foreseeable inline production of large area graphene. Dedicated non-contact measurement sensors are a pioneering method to leverage these issues in a large variety of applications, while significantly lowering the costs of development and process setup. Transferred and printed graphene layers can be characterized with high accuracy in a huge measurement range using a very high resolution. Large area graphene mappings are applied for process optimization and for efficient quality control for transfer, doping, annealing and stacking processes. Examples of doped, defected and excellent Graphene are presented as quality images and implications for manufacturers are explained.

Keywords: graphene, doping and defect testing, non-contact sheet resistance measurement, inline metrology

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Authors: S. Somerset, D. J. Hoare, P. Leighton

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Limited participation in physical activity and sport has been linked to poorer mental and physical health in children. Studies have shown that children who participate in sports benefit from improved social skills, self-confidence, communication skills and a better quality of life. Children who participate in sport are also more likely to continue their participation into their adult life. Deaf or hard of hearing children should have the same opportunities to participate in sport and receive the benefits as their hearing peers. Anecdotal evidence suggests this isn’t always the case. This is concerning given there are 45,000 children in the UK with permanent hearing loss. The aim of this study was to understand what encourages or discourages deaf or hard of hearing children to take part in sports. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the University of Nottingham School of Medicine ethics committee. We conducted eight focus groups with deaf or hard of hearing children aged 10 to 15 years. A total of 45 children (19 male, 26 female) recruited from local schools and sports clubs took part. Information was gathered on the children’s thoughts and feelings about participation in sport. This included whether they played sports and who with, whether they did or did not like sport, and why they got involved in sport. Focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Several key themes were identified as being associated with levels of sports participation. These included friendships, family and communication. Deaf or hard of hearing children with active siblings had participated in more sports. Communication was a common theme throughout regardless of the type of hearing-assistive technology a child used. Children found communication easier during sport if they were allowed to use their technology and had particular difficulty during sports such as swimming. Children expressed a desire not to have to identify themselves at a club as having a hearing loss. This affected their confidence when participating in sport. Not surprisingly, children who are deaf or hard of hearing are more likely to participate in sport if they have a good support network of parents, coaches and friends. The key barriers to participation for these children are communication, lack of visual information, lack of opportunity and a lack of awareness. By addressing these issues more deaf and hard of hearing children will take part in sport and will continue their participation.

Keywords: barrier, children, deaf, participation, hard of hearing, sport

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Authors: Kristina F. Wolff

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Background: In the Federal Republic of Germany, violence against women is deeply embedded in society. Germany is, as of March 2020, the most populous member state of the European Union with 83.2 million inhabitants and, although more than half of its inhabitants are women, gender equality was not certified in the Basic Law until 1957. Women have only been allowed to enter paid employment without their husband's consent since 1977 and have marital rape prosecuted only since 1997. While the lack of equality between men and women is named in the preamble of the Istanbul Convention as the cause of gender-specific, structural, traditional violence against women, Germany continues to sink on the latest Gender Equality Index. According to Police Crime Statistics (PCS), women are significantly more often victims of lethal violence, emanating from men than vice versa. The PCS, which, since 2015, also collects gender-specific data on violent crimes, is kept by the Federal Criminal Police Office, but without taking into account the relevant criteria for targeted prevention, such as the history of violence of the perpetrator/killer, weapon, motivation, etc.. Institutions such as EIGE or the World Health Organization have been asking Germany for years in vain for comparable data on violence against women in order to gain an overview or to develop cross-border synergies. The PCS are the only official data collection on violence against women. All players involved are depend on this data set, which is published only in November of the following year and is thus already completely outdated at the time of publication. In order to combat German femicides causally, purposefully and efficiently, evidence-based data was urgently needed. Methodology: Beginning in January 2019, a database was set up that now tracks more than 600 German femicides, broken down by more than 100 crime-related individual criteria, which in turn go far beyond the official PCS. These data are evaluated on the one hand by daily media research, and on the other hand by case-specific inquiries at the respective public prosecutor's offices and courts nationwide. This quantitative long-term study covers domestic violence as well as a variety of different types of gender-specific, lethal violence, including, for example, femicides committed by German citizens abroad. Additionallyalcohol/ narcotic and/or drug abuse, infanticides and the gender aspect in the judiciary are also considered. Results: Since November 2020, evidence-based data from a scientific survey have been available for the first time in Germany, supplementing the rudimentary picture of reality provided by PCS with a number of relevant parameters. The most important goal of the study is to identify "red flags" that enable general preventive awareness, that serve increasingly precise hazard assessment in acute hazard situations, and from which concrete instructions for action can be identified. Already at a very early stage of the study it could be proven that in more than half of all femicides with a sexual perpetrator/victim constellation there was an age difference of five years or more. Summary: Without reliable data and an understanding of the nature and extent, cause and effect, it is impossible to sustainably curb violence against girls and women, which increasingly often culminates in femicide. In Germany, valid data from a scientific survey has been available for the first time since November 2020, supplementing the rudimentary reality picture of the official and, to date, sole crime statistics with several relevant parameters. The basic research provides insights into geo-concentration, monthly peaks and the modus operandi of male violent excesses. A significant increase of child homicides in the course of femicides and/or child homicides as an instrument of violence against the mother could be proven as well as a danger of affected persons due to an age difference of five years and more. In view of the steadily increasing wave of violence against women, these study results are an eminent contribution to the preventive containment of German femicides.

Keywords: femicide, violence against women, gender specific data, rule Of law, Istanbul convention, gender equality, gender based violence

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Authors: Andrey M. Norov, Denis A. Pagaleshkin, Pavel S. Fedotov, Viacheslav M. Kolpakov, Konstantin G. Gorbovskiy

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The article focuses on the latest research and developments (R&D) aimed at the development of plants for production of complex phosphorus-containing fertilizers which are in line with the principles of the best available techniques (BAT). The advantages of the implemented technical solutions are given. The paper describes developed options of flexible technologies for schemes with DGD (drum granulator dryer) and for schemes with AG-DD (ammoniator-granulator and dryer drum).

Keywords: ammoniator-granulator drier drum, phosphorus-containing fertilizer technology, PK, PKS and NPKS-fertilizers, WPA

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Authors: Nitin Dwivedi, Jigna Shah

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Aim and objective of study: This article indicates a comparison among various generations of dendrimers, a dendrimer is a bioactive material has repetitively branched molecule and used for delivery of various therapeutic active agents. This debut report compares the effect various generations of PPI dendrimers for brain targeting and management of neurodegenerative disorders potential on single platform. This report involves the study of the various mechanism of synthesis ligand anchored various generations PPI dendrimers deliver the drug directly to the CNS, prove their effectiveness in the management of the various neurodegenerative disease. Material and Methods: The Memantine an anti-Alzheimer drug loaded in different generations (3.0G, 4.0G, and 5.0G) of PPI dendrimers which were synthesized were synthesized. The various studies investigate the effect of PPI dendrimers generation on different characteristic parameters i.e. synthesis procedure, drug loading, release behavior, hemolysis profile at different concentration, MRI study for determine the route drug from olfactory transfer, animal model study in vitro, as well as in vivo performance. The outcomes of the investigation indicate drug delivery benefit as well as superior biocompatibility of 4.0G PPI dendrimer over 3.0G and 5.0G dendrimer, respectively. Results and Conclusion: The above study indicate the superiority of in drug delivery system with maximum drug utilization and minimize the drug dose for neurodegenerative disorder over 5.0G PPI dendrimers. So, 4.0G PPI dendrimers are the safe formulations for the symptomatic treatment of the neurodegenerative disorder. The fifth-generation poly(propyleneimine) (PPI) dendrimers, inherent toxicity due to the presence of many peripheral cationic groups is the major issue that limits their applicability.

Keywords: Alzheimer disease, generation, memantine, PPI

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Authors: Misra Ayse Adsiz, Selim Selvi

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In today's world, technology is competing with time. In order to catch up with the world's companies and adapt quickly to the changes, it is necessary to speed up the processes and keep pace with the rate of change of the technology. The missile system design processes, which are handled with classical methods, keep behind in this race. Because customer requirements are not clear, and demands are changing again and again in the design process. Therefore, in the system design process, a methodology suitable for the missile system design dynamics has been investigated and the processes used for catching up the era are examined. When commonly used design processes are analyzed, it is seen that any one of them is dynamic enough for today’s conditions. So a hybrid design process is established. After a detailed review of the existing processes, it is decided to focus on the Scrum Framework and Agile Philosophy. Scrum is a process framework. It is focused on to develop software and handling change management with rapid methods. In addition, agile philosophy is intended to respond quickly to changes. In this study, it is aimed to integrate Scrum framework and agile philosophy, which are the most appropriate ways for rapid production and change adaptation, into the missile system design process. With this approach, it is aimed that the design team, involved in the system design processes, is in communication with the customer and provide an iterative approach in change management. These methods, which are currently being used in the software industry, have been integrated with the product design process. A team is created for system design process. The roles of Scrum Team are realized with including the customer. A scrum team consists of the product owner, development team and scrum master. Scrum events, which are short, purposeful and time-limited, are organized to serve for coordination rather than long meetings. Instead of the classic system design methods used in product development studies, a missile design is made with this blended method. With the help of this design approach, it is become easier to anticipate changing customer demands, produce quick solutions to demands and combat uncertainties in the product development process. With the feedback of the customer who included in the process, it is worked towards marketing optimization, design and financial optimization.

Keywords: agile, design, missile, scrum

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Authors: Reza Hadjiaghaie Vafaie, Sevda Givtaj

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Automation and control of biological samples and solutions at the microscale is a major advantage for biochemistry analysis and biological diagnostics. Despite the known potential of miniaturization in biochemistry and biomedical applications, comparatively little is known about fluid automation and control at the microscale. Here, we study the electric field effect inside a fluidic channel and proper electrode structures with different patterns proposed to form forward, reversal, and rotational flows inside the channel. The simulation results confirmed that the ac electro-thermal flow is efficient for the control and automation of high-conductive solutions. In this research, the fluid pumping and mixing effects were numerically studied by solving physic-coupled electric, temperature, hydrodynamic, and concentration fields inside a microchannel. From an experimental point of view, the electrode structures are deposited on a silicon substrate and bonded to a PDMS microchannel to form a microfluidic chip. The motions of fluorescent particles in pumping and mixing modes were captured by using a CCD camera. By measuring the frequency response of the fluid and exciting the electrodes with the proper voltage, the fluid motions (including pumping and mixing effects) are observed inside the channel through the CCD camera. Based on the results, there is good agreement between the experimental and simulation studies.

Keywords: microfluidic, nano/micro actuator, AC electrothermal, Reynolds number, micropump, micromixer, microfabrication, mass transfer, biomedical applications

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Authors: Patrice Conner

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Nanotechnologies have enormous potential to contribute to human flourishing in responsible and sustainable ways. They are rapidly developing field of science, technology and innovation. As enabling technologies, their full scope of applications is potentially very wide. Major implications are expected in many areas, e.g. healthcare, information and communication technologies, energy production and storage, materials science/chemical engineering, manufacturing, environmental protection, consumer products, etc. However, nanotechnologies are unlikely to realize their full potential unless their associated societal and ethical issues are adequately attended. Namely nanotechnologies and nanoparticles may expose humans and the environment to new health risks, possibly involving quite different mechanisms of interference with the physiology of human and environmental species. One of the building blocks of the ‘safe, integrated and responsible’ approach is standardization. Both the Economic and Social Committee and the European Parliament have highlighted the importance to be attached to standardization as a means to accompany the introduction on the market of nanotechnologies and nanomaterials, and a means to facilitate the implementation of regulation. ISO and CEN have respectively started in 2005 and 2006 to deal with selected topics related to this emerging and enabling technology. In the beginning of 2010, EC DG ‘Enterprise and Industry’ addressed the mandate M/461 to CEN, CENELEC and ETSI for standardization activities regarding nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. Thus CEN/TC 352 ‘Nanotechnologies’ has been asked to take the leadership for the coordination in the execution of M/461 (46 topics to be standardized) and to contact relevant European and International Technical committees and interested stakeholders as appropriate (56 structures have been identified). Prior requests from M/461 deal with characterization and exposure of nanomaterials and any matters related to Health, Safety and Environment. Answers will be given to: - What are the structures and how they work? - Where are we right now and how work is going from now onwards? - How CEN’s work and targets deal with and interact with global matters in this field?

Keywords: characterization, environmental protection, exposure, health risks, nanotechnologies, responsible and sustainable ways, safety

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Authors: Zain Alammari, Emna M. Mhedhbi, Claudio G. Grunewald

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This study aims to compare a standard F2 media to a local media called Altakamul. The new media was tested in Nannochloropsissp cultures at a lab scale. The main difference between both media is the Nitrogen source (NaNO3 in F/2 and NH4 in Altakamul). According to the preliminary results during three weeks experiments, no significant differences were found between F2 and Alatakamul media in terms of Nannochloropsis growth. We can anticipate that Altakamul media will be the cheapest media option for microalgae cultivation at a higher scale, reducing the OPEX

Keywords: microalgae, nannochloropsis, culture, nitrogen

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Authors: Lufungula Osembe

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The field of education has witnessed advances in technology and digital transformation. The methods of teaching have undergone significant changes in recent years, resulting in effects on various areas such as pedagogies, curriculum design, personalized teaching, gamification, data analytics, cloud-based learning applications, artificial intelligence tools, advanced plug-ins in LMS, and the emergence of multimedia creation and design. The field of education has not been immune to the changes brought about by digital innovation in recent years, similar to other fields such as engineering, health, science, and technology. There is a need to look at the variables/elements that digital innovation brings to education and develop a framework for higher institutions of learning to assess their readiness to create a viable environment for digital innovation to be successfully adopted. Given the potential benefits of digital innovation in education, it is essential to develop a framework that can assist academics and policymakers in higher institutions of learning to evaluate the effectiveness of adopting and adapting to the evolving landscape of digital innovation in education. The primary research question addressed in this study is to establish the preparedness of higher institutions of learning to adopt and adapt to the evolving landscape of digital innovation. This study follows a Design Science Research (DSR) paradigm to develop a framework for academics and policymakers in higher institutions of learning to evaluate the readiness of their institutions to adopt digital innovation in education. The Design Science Research paradigm is proposed to aid in developing a readiness framework for digital innovation in education. This study intends to follow the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, which includes problem awareness, suggestion, development, evaluation, and conclusion. One of the major contributions of this study will be the development of the framework for digital innovation in education. Given the various opportunities offered by digital innovation in recent years, the need to create a readiness framework for digital innovation will play a crucial role in guiding academics and policymakers in their quest to align with emerging technologies facilitated by digital innovation in education.

Keywords: digital innovation, DSR, education, opportunities, research

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Authors: Felib Ayman Shawky Salem

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Nowadays crypto currency has become a global phenomenon known to most people. People using this alternative digital money to do a transaction in many ways (e.g. Used for online shopping, wealth management, and fundraising). However, this digital asset also widely used in criminal activities since its use decentralized control as opposed to centralized electronic money and central banking systems and this makes a user, who used this currency invisible. The high-value exchange of these digital currencies also has been a target to criminal activities. The crypto currency crimes have become a challenge for the law enforcement to analyze and to proof the evidence as criminal devices. In this paper, our focus is more on bitcoin crypto currency and the possible artifacts that can be obtained from the different type of digital wallet, which is software and browser-based application. The process memory and physical hard disk are examined with the aims of identifying and recovering potential digital evidence. The stage of data acquisition divided by three states which are the initial creation of the wallet, transaction that consists transfer and receiving a coin and the last state is after the wallet is being deleted. Findings from this study suggest that both data from software and browser type of wallet process memory is a valuable source of evidence, and many of the artifacts found in process memory are also available from the application and wallet files on the client computer storage.

Keywords: cryptocurrency, bitcoin, payment methods, blockchain, appropriation, online retailers, TOE framework, disappropriation, non-appropriationBitCoin, financial protection, crypto currency, money laundering cryptocurrency, digital wallet, digital forensics

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Authors: Xuewei Li, Jingfeng Yuan, Jianliang Zhou

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The 21st century has been called the century of human exploitation of underground space. Due to the characteristics of large quantity, tight schedule, low safety reserve and high uncertainty of deep foundation pit engineering, accidents frequently occur in deep foundation pit engineering, causing huge economic losses and casualties. With the successful application of information technology in the construction industry, building information modeling has become a research hotspot in the field of architectural engineering. Therefore, the application of building information modeling (BIM) and other information communication technologies (ICTs) in construction safety management is of great significance to improve the level of safety management. This research summed up the mechanism of the deep foundation pit engineering accident through the fault tree analysis to find the control factors of deep foundation pit engineering safety management, the deficiency existing in the traditional deep foundation pit construction site safety management. According to the accident cause mechanism and the specific process of deep foundation pit construction, the hazard information of deep foundation pit engineering construction site was identified, and the hazard list was obtained, including early warning information. After that, the system framework was constructed by analyzing the early warning information demand and early warning function demand of the safety management system of deep foundation pit. Finally, the safety management system of deep foundation pit construction site based on BIM through combing the database and Web-BIM technology was developed, so as to realize the three functions of real-time positioning of construction site personnel, automatic warning of entering a dangerous area, real-time monitoring of deep foundation pit structure deformation and automatic warning. This study can initially improve the current situation of safety management in the construction site of deep foundation pit. Additionally, the active control before the occurrence of deep foundation pit accidents and the whole process dynamic control in the construction process can be realized so as to prevent and control the occurrence of safety accidents in the construction of deep foundation pit engineering.

Keywords: Web-BIM, safety management, deep foundation pit, construction

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Zeeshan Ahmed, Ajinkya Sarode, Pratik Basarkar, Atul Bhargav, Debjyoti Banerjee

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The use of CO₂ in oil recovery and in CO₂ capture and storage is gaining traction in recent years. These applications involve heat transfer between CO₂ and the base fluid, and hence, there arises a need to improve the thermal conductivity of CO₂ to increase the process efficiency and reduce cost. One way to improve the thermal conductivity is through nanoparticle addition in the base fluid. The nanofluid model in this study consisted of copper (Cu) nanoparticles in varying concentrations with CO₂ as a base fluid. No experimental data are available on thermal conductivity of CO₂ based nanofluid. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are an increasingly adopted tool to perform preliminary assessments of nanoparticle (NP) fluid interactions. In this study, the effect of the formation of a nanolayer (or molecular layering) at the gas-solid interface on thermal conductivity is investigated using equilibrium MD simulations by varying NP diameter and keeping the volume fraction (1.413%) of nanofluid constant to check the diameter effect of NP on the nanolayer and thermal conductivity. A dense semi-solid fluid layer was seen to be formed at the NP-gas interface, and the thickness increases with increase in particle diameter, which also moves with the NP Brownian motion. Density distribution has been done to see the effect of nanolayer, and its thickness around the NP. These findings are extremely beneficial, especially to industries employed in oil recovery as increased thermal conductivity of CO₂ will lead to enhanced oil recovery and thermal energy storage.

Keywords: copper-CO2 nanofluid, molecular dynamics simulation, molecular interfacial layer, thermal conductivity

Procedia PDF Downloads 337

Authors: Moustafa Ali Elwan, Ibrahim Salem Abdelrafa, Ashraf Moharm

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Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most commonly prescribed oral and topical drugs worldwide. Moreover, NSAIDs are responsible for most of all adverse drug reactions. For several decades, there are numerous attempts to use the cutaneous layers as a gate into the body for the local delivery of the therapeutic agent. Transdermal drug delivery is a validated technology contributing significantly to global pharmaceutical care. Transdermal Drug Delivery systems can be improved by using therapeutic agents. Moreover, Transdermal Drug Delivery systems can be improved by using chemical enhancers like ultrasound or iontophoresis. Iontophoresis provides a mechanism to enhance the penetration of hydrophilic and charged molecules across the skin. Objective: to compare the drug administration by ‘iontophoresis’ versus the oral rule. Methods: This study was conducted at the Faculty of Physical Therapy, Modern University for technology and information, Cairo, Egypt, on 20 participants (8 female & 12 male) who complained of tennis elbow. Their mean age was (25.45 ± 3.98) years, and all participants were assessed in many aspects: Pain threshold was assessed by algometer. Range of motion was assessed by electro goniometer, and isometric strength was assessed by a portable hand-held dynamometer. Then Participants were randomly assigned into two groups: group A was treated with oral NSAID (diclofenac) while group B was treated via administration of NSAIDs (diclofenac) via an iontophoresis device. All the participants were subjected to blood samples analysis in both pre-administration of the drug and post-administration of the drug for 24 hours (sample/every 6 hours). Results: The results demonstrated that there was a significant improvement in group b, “iontophoresis NSAIDs group,” more than in group B,” oral NSAIDs group,” in all measurements ‘ pain threshold, strength, and range of motion. Also, the iontophoresis method shows higher maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax) and concentration-time curves than the oral method.

Keywords: diclofenac, iontophoresis, NSAIDs, oral, tennis elbow

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Chiang-Lead Woo

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In reply to serious environmental problems, the Taiwan government quickly adjusted some articles to suit the needs of environmental protection recently, such as the amendment to article 190-1 of the Taiwan Criminal Code. The transfer of legislation comes as an improvement which canceled the limitation of ‘endangering public safety’. At the same time, the article 190-1 goes from accumulative concrete offense to abstract crime of danger. Thus, the public looks forward to whether environmental crime following the imposition of fines or penalties works efficiently in anti-pollution by the deterrent effects. However, according to the addition to article 38-2 of the Taiwan Criminal Code, the confiscation system seems controversial legislation to restrain ill-gotten gains. Most prior studies focused on comparisons with the Administrative Penalty Law and the Criminal Code in environmental issue in Taiwan; recently, more and more studies emphasize calculations on ill-gotten gains. Hence, this paper try to examine the deterrent effect in environmental crime by economic analysis of law and environmental economics perspective. This analysis shows that only if there is an extremely high probability (equal to 100 percent) of an environmental crime case being prosecuted criminally by Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency, the deterrent effects will work. Therefore, this paper suggests deliberating the confiscation system from supplementing the System of Environmental and Economic Accounting, reasonable deterrent fines, input management, real-time system for detection of pollution, and whistleblower system, environmental education, and modernization of law.

Keywords: confiscation, ecosystem services, environmental crime, ill-gotten gains, the deterrent effect, the system of environmental and economic accounting

Procedia PDF Downloads 170

Authors: Amit Kumar, Davide Lionetti, Victor Day, James Blakemore

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Capture and activation of the water-soluble uranyl dication (UO22+) remains a challenging problem, as few rational approaches are available for modulating the reactivity of this species. Here, we report the divergent synthesis of heterobimetallic complexes in which UO22+ is held in close proximity to a range of redox-inactive metals by tailored macrocyclic ligands. Crystallographic and spectroscopic studies confirm assembly of homologous UVI(μ-OAr)2Mn+ cores with a range of mono-, di-, and trivalent Lewis acids (Mn+). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) data suggest preferential binding of K+ in an 18-crown-6-like cavity and Na+ in a 15-crown-5-like cavity, both appended to Schiff-base type sites that selectively bind UO22+. CV data demonstrate that the UVI/UV reduction potential in these complexes shifts positive and the rate of electron transfer decreases with increasing Lewis acidity of the incorporated redox-inactive metals. Moreover, spectroelectrochemical studies confirm the formation of [UV] species in the case of monometallic UO22+ complex, consistent with results from prior studies. However, unique features were observed during spectroelectrochemical studies in the presence of the K+ ion, suggesting new insights into electronic structure may be accessible with the heterobimetallic complexes. Overall, these findings suggest that interactions with Lewis acids could be effectively leveraged for rational tuning of the electronic and thermochemical properties of the 5f elements, reminiscent of strategies more commonly employed with 3d transition metals.

Keywords: electrochemistry, Lewis acid, macrocycle, uranyl

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Hassan Taimoor, Piotr Krajewski, Piotr Gabrielzcak

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Being responsible for the largest source of energy-related emissions, the transportation sector is driven by more than half of global oil demand and total energy consumption, making it a crucial factor in tackling climate change and environmental degradation. The present study empirically tests the effectives of the energy-related tax (TXEN) in curbing transport-related carbon emissions (CO2TRANSP) in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economies over the period of 1990-2020. Moreover, Green Finance (GF), Technology (TECH), and Gross domestic product (GDP) have also been added as explanatory factors which might affect CO2TRANSP emissions. The study employs the Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR), an advance econometric technique to observe the variations along each quantile. Based on the results of the preliminary test, we confirm the presence of cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity. Whereas the result of the panel unit root test report mixed order of variables’ integration. The findings reveal that rise in income level activates CO2TRANSP, confirming the first stage of Environmental Kuznet Hypothesis. Surprisingly, the present TXEN policies of OECD member states are not mature enough to tackle the CO2TRANSP emissions. However, the findings confirm that GF and TECH are solely responsible for the reduction in the CO2TRANSP. The outcomes of Bootstrap Quantile Regression (BSQR) further validate and support the earlier findings of MMQR. Based on the findings of this study, it is revealed that the current TXEN policies are too moderate, and an incremental and progressive rise in TXEN may help in a transition toward a cleaner and sustainable transportation sector in the study region.

Keywords: transport-related CO2 emissions, energy-related tax, green finance, technological development, oecd member states

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: A. A. Dare, E. U. Iniegbedion

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Industrial furnaces generally involve enclosures of fire typically initiated by the combustion of gases. The fire leads to temperature distribution inside the enclosure. A proper understanding of the temperature and velocity distribution within the enclosure is often required for optimal design and use of the furnace. This study was therefore directed at numerical modeling of temperature distribution inside an enclosure as typical in a furnace. A mathematical model was developed from the conservation of mass, momentum and energy. The stream function-vorticity formulation of the governing equations was solved by an alternating direction implicit (ADI) finite difference technique. The finite difference formulation obtained were then developed into a computer code. This was used to determine the temperature, velocities, stream function and vorticity. The effect of the wall heat conduction was also considered, by assuming a one-dimensional heat flow through the wall. The computer code (MATLAB program) developed was used for the determination of the aforementioned variables. The results obtained showed that the transient temperature distribution assumed a uniform profile which becomes more chaotic with increasing time. The vertical velocity showed increasing turbulent behavior with time, while the horizontal velocity assumed decreasing laminar behavior with time. All of these behaviours were equally reported in the literature. The developed model has provided understanding of heat transfer process in an industrial furnace.

Keywords: heat source, modelling, enclosure, furnace

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Elene Tatunashvili, Bun Chan, Philippe E. Nashar, Christopher S. P. McErlean

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The reduction of aryl diazonium salts is one of the most efficient ways to generate aryl radicals for use in a wide range of transformations, including Sandmeyer-type reactions, Meerwein arylations of olefins and Gomberg-Bachmann-Hey arylations of heteroaromatic systems. The aryl diazonium species can be reduced electrochemically, by UV irradiation, inner-sphere and outer-sphere single electron transfer processes (SET) from metal salts, SET from photo-excited organic catalysts or fragmentation of adducts with weak bases (acetate, hydroxide, etc.). This paper details an approach for the metal-free reduction of aryl diazonium salts, which facilitates the efficient synthesis of various aromatic compounds under exceedingly mild reaction conditions. By measuring the oxidation potential of a number of organic molecules, a series of nucleophiles were identified that reduce aryl diazonium salts via the addition-fragmentation mechanism. This approach leads to unprecedented operational simplicity: The reactions are very rapid and proceed in the open air; there is no need for external irradiation or heating, and the process is compatible with a large number of radical reactions. We illustrate these advantages by using the addition-fragmentation strategy to regioselectively arylate a series of heterocyclic compounds, to synthesize ketones by arylation of silyl enol ethers, and to synthesize benzothiophene and phenanthrene derivatives by radical annulation reactions.

Keywords: diazonium salts, hantzsch esters, oxygen, radical reactions, synthetic methods

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Assem Abdel Hamed Mousa

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The Internet of Things probably already influences your life. And if it doesn’t, it soon will, say computer scientists; Ubiquitous computing names the third wave in computing, just now beginning. First were mainframes, each shared by lots of people. Now we are in the personal computing era, person and machine staring uneasily at each other across the desktop. Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm technology, when technology recedes into the background of our lives. Alan Kay of Apple calls this "Third Paradigm" computing. Ubiquitous computing is essentially the term for human interaction with computers in virtually everything. Ubiquitous computing is roughly the opposite of virtual reality. Where virtual reality puts people inside a computer-generated world, ubiquitous computing forces the computer to live out here in the world with people. Virtual reality is primarily a horse power problem; ubiquitous computing is a very difficult integration of human factors, computer science, engineering, and social sciences. The approach: Activate the world. Provide hundreds of wireless computing devices per person per office, of all scales (from 1" displays to wall sized). This has required new work in operating systems, user interfaces, networks, wireless, displays, and many other areas. We call our work "ubiquitous computing". This is different from PDA's, dynabooks, or information at your fingertips. It is invisible; everywhere computing that does not live on a personal device of any sort, but is in the woodwork everywhere. The initial incarnation of ubiquitous computing was in the form of "tabs", "pads", and "boards" built at Xerox PARC, 1988-1994. Several papers describe this work, and there are web pages for the Tabs and for the Boards (which are a commercial product now): Ubiquitous computing will drastically reduce the cost of digital devices and tasks for the average consumer. With labor intensive components such as processors and hard drives stored in the remote data centers powering the cloud , and with pooled resources giving individual consumers the benefits of economies of scale, monthly fees similar to a cable bill for services that feed into a consumer’s phone.

Keywords: internet, cloud computing, ubiquitous computing, big data

Procedia PDF Downloads 382

Authors: Ömer Tamer, Davut Avcı, Yusuf Atalay

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Novel picolinate complex of manganese(II) ion, [Mn(pic)2] [pic: picolinate or 2-pyridinecarboxylate], was prepared and fully characterized by single crystal X-ray structure determination. The manganese(II) complex was characterized by FT-IR, FT-Raman and UV–Vis spectroscopic techniques. The C=O, C=N and C=C stretching vibrations were found to be strong and simultaneously active in IR and spectra. In order to support these experimental techniques, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed at Gaussian 09W. Although the supramolecular interactions have some influences on the molecular geometry in solid state phase, the calculated data show that the predicted geometries can reproduce the structural parameters. The molecular modeling and calculations of IR, Raman and UV-vis spectra were performed by using DFT levels. Nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of synthesized complex were evaluated by the determining of dipole moment (µ), polarizability (α) and hyperpolarizability (β). Obtained results demonstrated that the manganese(II) complex is a good candidate for NLO material. Stability of the molecule arising from hyperconjugative interactions and charge delocalization was analyzed using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The highest occupied and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO and LUMO) which is also known the frontier molecular orbitals were simulated, and obtained energy gap confirmed that charge transfer occurs within manganese(II) complex. Molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) for synthesized manganese(II) complex displays the electrophilic and nucleophilic regions. From MEP, the the most negative region is located over carboxyl O atoms while positive region is located over H atoms.

Keywords: DFT, picolinate, IR, Raman, nonlinear optic

Procedia PDF Downloads 499