Search results for: visual loss

Authors: Jill Stephenson, Marie Vaganay, Robert Cameron, Caoimhe McGurk, Neil Hewitt

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Purpose: The key aim of the research was to identify the secondary stressors experienced by businesses affected by single or repeated flooding and to determine to what extent businesses were affected by these stressors, along with any resulting impact on health. Additionally, the research aimed to establish the likelihood of businesses being re-exposed to the secondary stressors through assessing awareness of flood risk, implementation of property protection measures and level of community resilience. Design/methodology/approach: The chosen research method involved the distribution of a questionnaire survey to businesses affected by either single or repeated flood events. The questionnaire included the Impact of Event Scale (a 15-item self-report measure which assesses subjective distress caused by traumatic events). Findings: 55 completed questionnaires were returned by flood impacted businesses. 89% of the businesses had sustained internal flooding while 11% had experienced external flooding. The results established that the key secondary stressors experienced by businesses, in order of priority, were: flood damage, fear of reoccurring flooding, prevention of access to the premise/closure, loss of income, repair works, length of closure and insurance issues. There was a lack of preparedness for potential future floods and consequent vulnerability to the emergence of secondary stressors among flood affected businesses, as flood resistance or flood resilience measures had only been implemented by 11% and 13% respectively. In relation to the psychological repercussions, the Impact of Event scores suggested that potential prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was noted among 8 out of 55 respondents (l5%). Originality/value: The results improve understanding of the enduring repercussions of flood events on businesses, indicating that not only residents may be susceptible to the detrimental health impacts of flood events and single flood events may be just as likely as reoccurring flooding to contribute to ongoing stress. Lack of financial resources is a possible explanation for the lack of implementation of property protection measures among businesses, despite 49% experiencing flooding on multiple occasions. Therefore it is recommended that policymakers should consider potential sources of financial support or grants towards flood defences for flood impacted businesses. Any form of assistance should be made available to businesses at the earliest opportunity as there was no significant association between the time of the last flood event and the likelihood of experiencing PTSD symptoms.

Keywords: flood event, flood resilience, flood resistance, PTSD, secondary stressors

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Authors: Ahmed Alghurabi, Mysara Mohyaldinn, Shiferaw Jufar, Obai Younis, Abdullah Abduljabbar

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Erosion modeling equations were typically acquired from regulated experimental trials for solid particles entrained in single-phase or multi-phase flows. Evidently, those equations were later employed to predict the erosion damage caused by the continuous impacts of solid particles entrained in streamflow. It is also well-known that the particle impact angle and velocity do not change drastically in gas-sand flow erosion prediction; hence an accurate prediction of erosion can be projected. On the contrary, high-density fluid flows, such as water flow, through complex geometries, such as sand screens, greatly affect the sand particles’ trajectories/tracks and consequently impact the erosion rate predictions. Particle tracking models and erosion equations are frequently applied simultaneously as a method to improve erosion visualization and estimation. In the present work, computational fluid dynamic (CFD)-based erosion modeling was performed using a commercially available software; ANSYS Fluent. The continuous phase (water flow) behavior was simulated using the realizable K-epsilon model, and the secondary phase (solid particles), having a 5% flow concentration, was tracked with the help of the discrete phase model (DPM). To accomplish a successful erosion modeling, three erosion equations from the literature were utilized and introduced to the ANSYS Fluent software to predict the screen wire-slot velocity surge and estimate the maximum erosion rates on the screen surface. Results of turbulent kinetic energy, turbulence intensity, dissipation rate, the total pressure on the screen, screen wall shear stress, and flow velocity vectors were presented and discussed. Moreover, the particle tracks and path-lines were also demonstrated based on their residence time, velocity magnitude, and flow turbulence. On one hand, results from the utilized erosion equations have shown similarities in screen erosion patterns, locations, and DPM concentrations. On the other hand, the model equations estimated slightly different values of maximum erosion rates of the wire-wrapped screen. This is solely based on the fact that the utilized erosion equations were developed with some assumptions that are controlled by the experimental lab conditions.

Keywords: CFD simulation, erosion rate prediction, material loss due to erosion, water-sand flow

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Authors: Caroline Kim

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Scholars have long disputed the relationship between the origins of language and human behavior. Historically, behaviorist psychologist B. F. Skinner argued that language is one instance of the general stimulus-response phenomenon that characterizes the essence of human behavior. Another, more recent approach argues, by contrast, that language is an innate cognitive faculty and does not arise from behavior, which might develop and reinforce linguistic facility but is not its source. Pinker, among others, proposes that linguistic defects arise from damage to the brain, both congenital and acquired in life. Much of his argument is based on case studies in which damage to the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas of the brain results in loss of the ability to produce coherent grammatical expressions when speaking or writing; though affected speakers often utter quite fluent streams of sentences, the words articulated lack discernible semantic content. Pinker concludes on this basis that language is an innate component of specific, classically language-correlated regions of the human brain. Taking a notorious 1970s case of linguistic maladaptation, this paper queries the dominant materialist paradigm of language-correlated regions. Susan “Genie” Wiley was physically isolated from language interaction in her home and beaten by her father when she attempted to make any sort of sound. Though without any measurable resulting damage to the brain, Wiley was never able to develop the level of linguistic facility normally achieved in adulthood. Having received a negative reinforcement of language acquisition from her father and lacking the usual language acquisition period, in adulthood Wiley was able to develop language only at a quite limited level in later life. From a contemporary behaviorist perspective, this case confirms the possibility of language deficiency without brain pathology. Wiley’s potential language-determining areas in the brain were intact, and she was exposed to language later in her life, but she was unable to achieve the normal level of communication skills, deterring socialization. This phenomenon and others like it in the case limited literature on linguistic maladaptation pose serious clinical, scientific, and indeed philosophical difficulties for both of the major competing theories of language acquisition, innateness, and linguistic stimulus-response. The implications of such cases for future research in language acquisition are explored, with a particular emphasis on the interaction of innate capacity and stimulus-based development in early childhood.

Keywords: behaviorism, innateness hypothesis, language, Susan "Genie" Wiley

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Authors: Alla Ovsyannikova, Oksana Rymar, Elena Shakhtshneider, Mikhail Voevoda

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In Siberia endocrinologists increasingly noted young patients with the course of diabetes mellitus differing from 1 and 2 types. Therefore we did a molecular genetic study for this group of patients to verify the monogenic forms of diabetes mellitus in them and researched the characteristics of this pathology. When confirming the monogenic form of diabetes, we performed a correction therapy for many patients (transfer from insulin to tablets), prevented specific complications, examined relatives and diagnosed their diabetes at the preclinical stage, revealed phenotypic characteristics of the pathology which led to the high significance of this work. Materials and Methods: We observed 5 patients (4 families). We diagnosed MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young) during the molecular genetic testing (direct automatic sequencing). All patients had a full clinical examination, blood samples for biochemical research, determination of C-peptide and TSH, antibodies to b-cells, microalbuminuria, abdominal ultrasound, heart and thyroid ultrasound, examination of ophthalmologist. Results: We diagnosed 3 rare types of MODY: two women had MODY8, one man – MODY6 and man and his mother - MODY12. Patients with types 8 and 12 had clinical features. Age of onset hyperglycemia ranged from 26 to 34 years. In a patient with MODY6 fasting hyperglycemia was detected during a routine examination. Clinical symptoms, complications were not diagnosed. The patient observes a diet. In the first patient MODY8 was detected during first pregnancy, she had itchy skin and mostly postprandial hyperglycemia. Upon examination we determined glycated hemoglobin 7.5%, retinopathy, non-proliferative stage, peripheral neuropathy. She uses a basic bolus insulin therapy. The second patient with MODY8 also had clinical manifestations of hyperglycemia (pruritus, thirst), postprandial hyperglycemia and diabetic nephropathy, a stage of microalbuminuria. The patient was diagnosed autoimmune thyroiditis. She used inhibitors of DPP-4. The patient with MODY12 had an aggressive course. In the detection of hyperglycemia he had complaints of visual impairment, intense headaches, leg cramps. The patient had a history of childhood convulsive seizures of non-epileptic genesis, without organic pathology, which themselves were stopped at the age of 12 years. When we diagnosed diabetes a patient was 28 years, he had hypertriglyceridemia, atherosclerotic plaque in the carotid artery, proliferative retinopathy (lacerocoagulation). Diabetes and early myocardial infarction were observed in three cases in family. We prescribe therapy with sulfonylureas and SGLT-2 inhibitors with a positive effect. At the patient's mother diabetes began at a later age (30 years) and a less aggressive course was observed. She also has hypertriglyceridemia and uses oral hypoglycemic drugs. Conclusions: 1) When young patients with hyperglycemia have extrapancreatic pathologies and diabetic complications with a short duration of diabetes we can assume they have one of type of MODY diabetes. 2) In patients with monogenic forms of diabetes mellitus, the clinical manifestations of hyperglycemia in each succeeding generation are revealed at an earlier age. Research had increased our knowledge of the monogenic forms of diabetes. The reported study was supported by RSCF, research project No. 14-15-00496-P.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, MODY diabetes, monogenic forms, young patients

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Authors: Masoud Fathi Kazerouni, Jens Schlemper, Klaus-Dieter Kuhnert

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Green planet is one of the Earth’s names which is known as a terrestrial planet and also can be named the fifth largest planet of the solar system as another scientific interpretation. Plants do not have a constant and steady distribution all around the world, and even plant species’ variations are not the same in one specific region. Presence of plants is not only limited to one field like botany; they exist in different fields such as literature and mythology and they hold useful and inestimable historical records. No one can imagine the world without oxygen which is produced mostly by plants. Their influences become more manifest since no other live species can exist on earth without plants as they form the basic food staples too. Regulation of water cycle and oxygen production are the other roles of plants. The roles affect environment and climate. Plants are the main components of agricultural activities. Many countries benefit from these activities. Therefore, plants have impacts on political and economic situations and future of countries. Due to importance of plants and their roles, study of plants is essential in various fields. Consideration of their different applications leads to focus on details of them too. Automatic recognition of plants is a novel field to contribute other researches and future of studies. Moreover, plants can survive their life in different places and regions by means of adaptations. Therefore, adaptations are their special factors to help them in hard life situations. Weather condition is one of the parameters which affect plants life and their existence in one area. Recognition of plants in different weather conditions is a new window of research in the field. Only natural images are usable to consider weather conditions as new factors. Thus, it will be a generalized and useful system. In order to have a general system, distance from the camera to plants is considered as another factor. The other considered factor is change of light intensity in environment as it changes during the day. Adding these factors leads to a huge challenge to invent an accurate and secure system. Development of an efficient plant recognition system is essential and effective. One important component of plant is leaf which can be used to implement automatic systems for plant recognition without any human interface and interaction. Due to the nature of used images, characteristic investigation of plants is done. Leaves of plants are the first characteristics to select as trusty parts. Four different plant species are specified for the goal to classify them with an accurate system. The current paper is devoted to principal directions of the proposed methods and implemented system, image dataset, and results. The procedure of algorithm and classification is explained in details. First steps, feature detection and description of visual information, are outperformed by using Scale invariant feature transform (SIFT), HARRIS-SIFT, and FAST-SIFT methods. The accuracy of the implemented methods is computed. In addition to comparison, robustness and efficiency of results in different conditions are investigated and explained.

Keywords: SIFT combination, feature extraction, feature detection, natural images, natural plant recognition, HARRIS-SIFT, FAST-SIFT

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Authors: Rupam Saikia, Ashim Kanti Dey

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Sonapur is an intense hilly region on the border of Assam and Meghalaya lying in North-East India and is very near to a seismic fault named as Dauki besides which makes the region seismically active. Besides, these recently two earthquakes of magnitude 6.7 and 6.9 have struck North-East India in January and April 2016. Also, the slope concerned for this study is adjacent to NH 44 which for a long time has been a sole important connecting link to the states of Manipur and Mizoram along with some parts of Assam and so has been a cause of considerable loss to life and property since past decades as there has been several recorded incidents of landslide, road-blocks, etc. mostly during the rainy season which comes into news. Based on this issue this paper reports a static and dynamic slope stability analysis of Sonapur which has been carried out in MIDAS GTS NX. The slope being highly unreachable due to terrain and thick vegetation in-situ test was not feasible considering the current scope available so disturbed soil sample was collected from the site for the determination of strength parameters. The strength parameters were so determined for varying relative density with further variation in water content. The slopes were analyzed considering plane strain condition for three slope heights of 5 m, 10 m and 20 m which were then further categorized based on slope angles 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 considering the possible extent of steepness. Initially static analysis under dry state was performed then considering the worst case that can develop during rainy season the slopes were analyzed for fully saturated condition along with partial degree of saturation with an increase in the waterfront. Furthermore, dynamic analysis was performed considering the El-Centro Earthquake which had a magnitude of 6.7 and peak ground acceleration of 0.3569g at 2.14 sec for the slope which were found to be safe during static analysis under both dry and fully saturated condition. Some of the conclusions were slopes with inclination above 40 onwards were found to be highly vulnerable for slopes of height 10 m and above even under dry static condition. Maximum horizontal displacement showed an exponential increase with an increase in inclination from 30 to 70. The vulnerability of the slopes was seen to be further increased during rainy season as even slopes of minimal steepness of 30 for height 20 m was seen to be on the verge of failure. Also, during dynamic analysis slopes safe during static analysis were found to be highly vulnerable. Lastly, as a part of the study a comparative study on Strength Reduction Method (SRM) versus Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) was also carried out and some of the advantages and disadvantages were figured out.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, factor of safety, slope stability, strength reduction method

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Authors: Eun Mi Ryu, Ah Young An, Ji Yeon Kang, Yeong Soo Shin, Hee Sun Kim

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As the number of fire incidents has been increased, fire incidents significantly damage economy and human lives. Especially when high strength reinforced concrete is exposed to high temperature due to a fire, deterioration occurs such as loss in strength and elastic modulus, cracking, and spalling of the concrete. Therefore, it is important to understand risk of structural safety in building structures by studying structural behaviors and rehabilitation of fire damaged high strength concrete structures. This paper aims at investigating rehabilitation effect on fire damaged high strength concrete beams using experimental and analytical methods. In the experiments, flexural specimens with high strength concrete are exposed to high temperatures according to ISO 834 standard time temperature curve. After heated, the fire damaged reinforced concrete (RC) beams having different cover thicknesses and fire exposure time periods are rehabilitated by removing damaged part of cover thickness and filling polymeric mortar into the removed part. From four-point loading test, results show that maximum loads of the rehabilitated RC beams are 1.8~20.9% higher than those of the non-fire damaged RC beam. On the other hand, ductility ratios of the rehabilitated RC beams are decreased than that of the non-fire damaged RC beam. In addition, structural analyses are performed using ABAQUS 6.10-3 with same conditions as experiments to provide accurate predictions on structural and mechanical behaviors of rehabilitated RC beams. For the rehabilitated RC beam models, integrated temperature–structural analyses are performed in advance to obtain geometries of the fire damaged RC beams. After spalled and damaged parts are removed, rehabilitated part is added to the damaged model with material properties of polymeric mortar. Three dimensional continuum brick elements are used for both temperature and structural analyses. The same loading and boundary conditions as experiments are implemented to the rehabilitated beam models and nonlinear geometrical analyses are performed. Structural analytical results show good rehabilitation effects, when the result predicted from the rehabilitated models are compared to structural behaviors of the non-damaged RC beams. In this study, fire damaged high strength concrete beams are rehabilitated using polymeric mortar. From four point loading tests, it is found that such rehabilitation is able to make the structural performance of fire damaged beams similar to non-damaged RC beams. The predictions from the finite element models show good agreements with the experimental results and the modeling approaches can be used to investigate applicability of various rehabilitation methods for further study.

Keywords: fire, high strength concrete, rehabilitation, reinforced concrete beam

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Authors: Marta Polec

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The paper outlines the problem of street performances in Poland in context of humanistic management studies. The Author perceives activity of street performers of various art and entertainment actions as a phenomenon of informal organizing, self-management and cultural entrepreneurship in urban sphere. What has to be highlighted, performative street art is not currently being an interest of scientific research as often as visual street art. That is why the Author indicates the need of including new approaches of humanistic and social disciplines, especially different management paradigms, in examining various aspects of the activity of street performers. The paper shows the results of ethnographic study based on anthropological interviews, participant observation non-participant observation, shadowing, field notes, audiovisual documentation and text analysis. The fieldwork was performed since 2014 in the old towns and major areas of several the most popular touristic Polish cities, mainly in Gdansk, Cracow, Lublin, Warsaw, and Wroclaw. The research group included street artists of various kinds of performative arts. The investigation was prepared within the ‘Ethnography of the informal organization of street artists in Poland’ project, as a part of Diamond Grant programme (the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland). The first conclusion of the study is that street shows form a way of artistic self-realization and unusual promotion of creative activity in public space. As street performance helps to make some extra money and even earning a living in general, it seems to constitute a new profession. Street performers as a specific environment usually know each other and in many ways cooperate informally to carry on their shows successfully. Secondly, this activity brings plenty benefits for the local communities. Street shows attract inhabitants and tourists quite often by appealing to intangible cultural heritage and memorializing it. They also pose a space for discussing current social issues. Moreover, they disseminate relatively inexpensive public access to culture, but also state an example of social courage of choosing unconventional occupation. Finally, currently being used terms of street performers/street artists/buskers in different languages, as instance as in Polish, are still fluent and undefined. As a consequence, it brings implications for existing common knowledge about street performers, for example in establishing and implementing public policies. It impedes solving many ethical and social dilemmas concerning the question of performances in public sphere, which in some cases seem to be related to, as: children’s work, beggars’ practices or question of harmony of public space. The main aim of this study was to expose street performances as yet undefined profession, including different possibilities of interacting with the audience, based on providing impressions, experiences and memories. Although the issue seems to be current and common, in indicated context there is a lack of equal and unified approach of managing urban sphere, which in practice differs both in informal rules and official policies concerning street performances not only in cities in Poland, but also generally in Europe.

Keywords: informal, organizing, street performance, urban sphere

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Authors: Sasirin Srisomkiew, Sireewan Ratsadornasai, Tanomkwan Tipvong, Isariya Meesing

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Cassava is an important food source in the tropics and has recently gained attention as a potential source of biofuel that can replace limited fossil fuel sources. As a result, the demand for cassava production to support industries both within the country and abroad has increased. In Thailand, most farmers prefer to grow cassava in sandy and sandy loam areas where the soil has low natural fertility. Cassava is a tuber plant that has large roots to store food, resulting in the absorption of large amounts of nutrients from the soil, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Therefore, planting cassava in the same area for a long period causes soil erosion and decreases soil fertility. The loss of soil fertility affects the economy, society, and food and energy security of the country. Therefore, it is necessary to know the level of soil fertility and the amount of nutrients in the soil. To address this problem, this study applies geo-informatics technology and mathematical equations to assess erosion and soil fertility and to analyze factors affecting the amount of cassava production in Maha Sarakham Province. The results show that the area for cassava cultivation has increased in every district of Maha Sarakham Province between 2015-2022, with the total area increasing to 180,922 rai or 5.47% of the province’s total area during this period. Furthermore, it was found that it is possible to assess areas with soil erosion problems that had a moderate level of erosion in areas with high erosion rates ranging from 5-15 T/rai/year. Soil fertility assessment and information obtained from the soil nutrient map for 2015–2023 reveal that farmers in the area have improved the soil by adding chemical fertilizers along with organic fertilizers, such as manure and green manure, to increase the amount of nutrients in the soil. This is because the soil resources of Maha Sarakham Province mostly have relatively low agricultural potential due to the soil texture being sand and sandy loam. In this scenario, the ability to absorb nutrients is low, and the soil holds little water, so it is naturally low in fertility. Moreover, agricultural soil problems were found, including the presence of saline soil, sandy soil, and acidic soil, which is a serious restriction on land use because it affects the release of nutrients into the soil. The results of this study may be used as a guideline for managing soil resources and improving soil quality to prevent soil degradation problems that may occur in the future.

Keywords: Cassava, geoinformatics, soil erosion, soil fertility, land use change

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Authors: Mohammad Abdollahi

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Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is one of the most popular, widely grown and the second most important vegetable crop, after potatoes. Nematodes have been identified as one of the major pests affecting tomato production throughout the world. The most destructive nematodes are the genus Meloidogyne. Most widespread and devastating species of this genus are M. incognita, M. javanica, and M. arenaria. These species can cause complete crop loss under adverse growing conditions. There are several potential methods for management of the root knot nematodes. Although the chemicals are widely used against the phytonematodes, because of hazardous effects of these compounds on non-target organisms and on the environment, there is a need to develop other control strategies. Nowadays, non-chemical measures are widely used to control the plant parasitic nematodes. Biocontrol of phytonematodes is an important method among environment-friendly measures of nematode management. There are some soil-inhabiting fungi that have biocontrol potential on phytonematodes, which can be used in nematode management program. The fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, originally is an entomopathogenic bioagent. Biocontrol potential of this fungus on some phytonematodes has been reported earlier. Recently, use of organic soil amendments as well as the use of bioagents is under special attention in sustainable agriculture. This research aimed to reduce the pesticide use in control of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica in tomato. The effects of M. anisopliae IMI 330189 and different levels of oak tree debris on M. javanica were determined. The combination effect of the fungus as well as the different rates of soil amendments was determined. Pots were filled with steam pasteurized soil mixture and the six leaf tomato seedlings were inoculated with 3000 second stage larvae of M. javanica/kg of soil. After eight weeks, plant growth parameters and nematode reproduction factors were compared. Based on the results of our experiment, combination of M. anisopliae IMI 330189 and oak debris caused more than 90% reduction in reproduction factor of nematode, at the rates of 100 and 150 g/kg soil (P ≤ 0.05). As compared to control, the reduction in number of galls was 76%. It was 86% for nematode reproduction factor, showing the significance of combined effect of both tested agents. Our results showed that plant debris can increase the biological activity of the tested bioagent. It was also proved that there was no adverse effect of oak debris, which potentially has antimicrobial activity, on antagonistic power of applied bioagent.

Keywords: biological control, nematode management, organic soil, Quercus branti, root knot nematode, soil amendment

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Authors: Wisdom Robert Duruji, Moses Kanayochukwu Ifoh, Efeoghene Edward Esiemunobo

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This study examines the impact of natural and artificial disasters, lackadaisical and semantic approach in risk management, and mitigation implication for sustainable development goals in Nigeria, from 2009 to 2022. The study utilizes a range of research methods to achieve its objectives. These include literature review, website knowledge, Google search, news media information, academic journals, field-work and on-site observations. These diverse methods allow for a comprehensive analysis on the impact and the implications being study. The study finds that paradigm shift from remediating seismic, flooding, environmental pollution and degradation natural disasters by Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to political and charity organization; has plunged risk reduction strategies to embezzling opportunities. However, this lackadaisical and semantic approach in natural disaster mitigation, invariably replicates artificial disasters in Nigeria through: Boko Haram terrorist organization, Fulani herdsmen and farmers conflicts, political violence, kidnapping for ransom, ethnic conflicts, Religious dichotomy, insurgency, secession protagonists, unknown-gun-men, and banditry. This study also, finds that some Africans still engage in self-imposed slavery through human trafficking, by nefariously stow-away to Europe; through Libya, Sahara desert and Mediterranean sea; in search for job opportunities, due to ineptitude in governance by their leaders; a perilous journey that enhanced artificial disasters in Nigeria. That artificial disaster fatality in Nigeria increased from about 5,655 in 2009 to 114,318 in 2018; and to 157,643 in 2022. However, financial and material loss of about $9.29 billion was incurred in Nigeria due to natural disaster, while about $70.59 billion was accrued due to artificial disaster; from 2009 to 2018. Although disaster risk mitigation and politics can synergistically support sustainable development goals; however, they are different entities, and need for distinct separations in Nigeria, as in reality and perception. This study concluded that referendum should be conducted in Nigeria, to ascertain its current status as a nation. Therefore it is recommended that Nigerian governments should refine its naturally endowed crude oil locally; to end fuel subsidy scam, corruption and poverty in Nigeria!

Keywords: corruption, crude oil, environmental risk analysis, Nigeria, referendum, terrorism

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Authors: Shahram Naghizadeh Raeisi, Ali Alghooneh

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The loss of curd cohesiveness and syneresis are two common problems in the ultrafiltered cheese industry. In this study, by using membrane technology and protein modification, a modified cheese was developed and its properties were compared with a control sample. In order to decrease the lactose content and adjust the protein, acidity, dry matter and milk minerals, a combination of ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis technologies was employed. For protein modification, a two-stage chemical and enzymatic reaction was employed before and after ultrafiltration. The physicochemical and microstructural properties of the modified ultrafiltered cheese were compared with the control one. Results showed that the modified protein enhanced the functional properties of the final cheese significantly (pvalue< 0.05), even if the protein content was 50% lower than the control one. The modified cheese showed 21 ± 0.70, 18 ± 1.10 & 25±1.65% higher hardness, cohesiveness and water-holding capacity values, respectively, than the control sample. This behavior could be explained by the developed microstructure of the gel network. Furthermore, chemical-enzymatic modification of milk protein induced a significant change in the network parameter of the final cheese. In this way, the indices of network linkage strength, network linkage density, and time scale of junctions were 10.34 ± 0.52, 68.50 ± 2.10 & 82.21 ± 3.85% higher than the control sample, whereas the distance between adjacent linkages was 16.77 ± 1.10% lower than the control sample. These results were supported by the results of the textural analysis. A non-linear viscoelastic study showed a triangle waveform stress of the modified protein contained cheese, while the control sample showed rectangular waveform stress, which suggested a better sliceability of the modified cheese. Moreover, to study the shelf life of the products, the acidity, as well as molds and yeast population, were determined in 120 days. It’s worth mentioning that the lactose content of modified cheese was adjusted at 2.5% before fermentation, while the lactose of the control one was at 4.5%. The control sample showed 8 weeks shelf life, while the shelf life of the modified cheese was 18 weeks in the refrigerator. During 18 weeks, the acidity of modified and control samples increased from 82 ± 1.50 to 94 ± 2.20 °D and 88 ± 1.64 to 194 ± 5.10 °D, respectively. The mold and yeast populations, with time, followed the semicircular shape model (R2 = 0.92, R2adj = 0.89, RMSE = 1.25). Furthermore, the mold and yeast counts and their growth rate in the modified cheese were lower than those for control one; Aforementioned result could be explained by the shortage of the source of energy for the microorganism in the modified cheese. The lactose content of the modified sample was less than 0.2 ± 0.05% at the end of fermentation, while this was 3.7 ± 0.68% in the control sample.

Keywords: non-linear viscoelastic, protein modification, semicircular shape model, ultrafiltered cheese

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Authors: Supanan Chansap, Werachon Cheukamud, Pornanan Kueakhai, Narin Changklungmoa

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Fasciola species (Fasciola spp.) is caused fasciolosis in ruminants such as cattle, sheep, and buffalo. Fasciola gigantica (F.gigantica) commonly infects tropical regions. Fasciola hepatica (F.hepatica) in temperate regions. Liver fluke infection affects livestock economically, for example, reduced milk and meat production, weight loss, sterile animals. Currently, Triclabendazole is used to treat liver flukes. However, liver flukes have also been found to be resistant to drugs in countries. Therefore, vaccination is an attractive alternative to prevent liver fluke infection. Peptide vaccines are new vaccine technologies that mimic epitope antigens that trigger an immune response. An interesting antigen used in vaccine production is catepsin L, a family of proteins that play an important role in the life of the parasite in the host. This study aims to identify immunogenic regions of protein and construct a multi-epidetope vaccine using an immunoinformatic tool. Fasciola gigantica Cathepsin L1 (FgCatL1), Fasciola gigantica Cathepsin L1G (FgCatL1G), and Fasciola gigantica Cathepsin L1H (FgCatL1H) were predicted B-cell and Helper T lymphocytes (HTL) by Immune Epitope and Analysis Resource (IEDB) servers. Both B-cell and HTL epitopes aligned with cathepsin L of the host and Fasciola hepatica (F. hepatica). Epitope groups were selected from non-conserved regions and overlapping sequences with F. hepatica. All overlapping epitopes were linked with the GPGPG and KK linker. GPGPG linker was linked between B-cell epitope. KK linker was linked between HTL epitope and B-cell and HTL epitope. The antigenic scores of multi-epitope peptide vaccine was 0.7824. multi-epitope peptide vaccine was non-allergen, non-toxic, and good soluble. Multi-epitope peptide vaccine was predicted tertiary structure and refinement model by I-Tasser and GalaxyRefine server, respectively. The result of refine structure model was good quality that was generated by Ramachandran plot analysis. Discontinuous and linear B-cell epitopes were predicted by ElliPro server. Multi-epitope peptide vaccine model was two and seven of discontinuous and linear B-cell epitopes, respectively. Furthermore, multi-epitope peptide vaccine was docked with Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2). The lowest energy ranged from -901.3 kJ/mol. In summary, multi-epitope peptide vaccine was antigenicity and probably immune response. Therefore, multi-epitope peptide vaccine could be used to prevent F. gigantica infections in the future.

Keywords: fasciola gigantica, Immunoinformatic tools, multi-epitope, Vaccine

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Authors: Evelyn Asante Yeboah, Kwabena O. Asubonteng, Justice Camillus Mensah, Christine Furst

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Smallholder-dominated mosaic landscapes in rural Africa are relevant for food production, biodiversity conservation, and climate regulation. Land-use transitions threaten the multifunctionality of such landscapes, especially the production capacity of arable lands resulting in food security challenges. Using land-cover maps derived from maximum likelihood classification of Landsat satellite images for the years 2002, 2015, and 2020, post-classification change detection, landscape metrics, and key informant interviews, the study assessed the implications of rubber plantation expansion and oil business development on the food production capacity of Ahanta West District, Ghana. The analysis reveals that settlement and rubber areas expanded by 5.82% and 10.33% of the landscape area, respectively, between 2002 and 2020. This increase translates into over twice their initial sizes (144% in settlement change and 101% in rubber change). Rubber plantation spread dominates the north and southwestern areas, whereas settlement is widespread in the eastern parts of the landscape. Rubber and settlement expanded at the expense of cropland, palm, and shrublands. Land-use transitions between cropland, palm, and shrubland were targeting each other, but the net loss in shrubland was higher (-17.27%). Isolation, subdivision, connectedness, and patch adjacency indices showed patch consolidation in the landscape configuration from 2002 to 2015 and patch fragmentation from 2015 to 2020. The study also found patches with consistent increasing connectivity in settlement areas indicating the influence of oil discovery developments and fragmentation tendencies in rubber, shrubland, cropland, and palm, indicating springing up of smaller rubber farms, the disappearance of shrubland, and splitting up of cropland and palm areas respectively. The results revealed a trend in land-use transitions in favor of smallholder rubber plantation expansion and oil discovery developments, which suggest serious implications on food production systems and poses a risk for food security and landscape multifunctional characteristics. To ensure sustainability in land uses, this paper recommends the enforcement of legislative instruments governing spatial planning and land use in Ghana as embedded in the 2016 land-use and spatial planning act.

Keywords: food production systems, food security, Ghana’s west coast, land-use transitions, multifunctional rural landscapes

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Randa M. T. Mohamed

Abstract:

Spices have long been used as traditional ingredients in the kitchen for seasoning, coloring, aromatic and food preservative properties. Besides, spices are equally used for therapeutic purposes. The objective of this study was to survey and document the medicinal properties of spices commonly used in the Sudanese kitchen for different food preparations. Also, extracts from reported spices were screened for the presence of secondary metabolites as well as their antioxidant and beta-lactamase inhibitory properties. This study was conducted in the Rekabbya Quartier in Omdurman, Khartoum State, Sudan. Information was collected by carrying out semi-structured interviews. All informants (30) in the present study were women. Spices were purchased from Attareen shop in Omdurman. Essential oils from spices were extracted by hydrodistillation, and ethanolic extracts by maceration. Phytochemical screening was performed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). The antioxidant capacity of essential oils and ethanolic extracts was investigated through TLC bioautography. Beta lactamase inhibitory activity was performed by the acidimetric test. Ethnobotany study showed that a total of 16 spices were found to treat 36 ailments belonging to 10 categories. The most frequently claimed medicinal uses were for the digestive system diseases treated by 14 spices and respiratory system diseases treated by 8 spices. Gynecological problems were treated with 4 spices. Dermatological diseases were cured by 5 spices, while infections caused by tapeworms and other microbes causing dysentery were treated by 3 spices. 4 spices were used to treat bad breath, bleeding gum and toothache. Headache, eyes infection, cardiac stimulation and epilepsy were treated with one spice each. Other health problems like fatigue and loss of appetite, and low breast milk production were treated by 1, 3 and 2 spices, respectively. The majority (69%, 11/16) of spices were exported from different countries like India, China, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Nigeria, while 31% (5/16) was cultivated in Sudan. Essential oils of all spices were rich in terpenes, while ethanolic extracts contained variable classes of secondary metabolites. Both essential oils and ethanolic extracts of all spices exerted considerable antioxidant activity. Only one extract, Syzygium aromaticum, possessed beta-lactamase inhibitory activity. In conclusion, this study could contribute to conserving information on traditional medicinal uses of spices in Sudan. Also, the results demonstrated the potential of some of these spices to exert beneficial antimicrobial and antioxidant effects. Detailed phytochemical and biological assays of these spices are recommended.

Keywords: spices, enthnobotany, antioxidant, betalactamase inhibition

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Authors: Nataliya G. Olkhovik

Abstract:

Nowadays in the system of Russian higher medical education there have been undertaken initiatives that resulted in focusing on the resources of e-learning in teaching foreign languages. Obviously, the face-to-face communication in foreign languages bears much more advantages in terms of effectiveness in comparison with the potential of e-learning. Thus, we’ve faced the necessity of strengthening the capacity of e-learning via integration of active methods into the process of teaching foreign languages, such as project activity of students. Successful project activity of students should involve the following components: monitoring, control, methods of organizing the student’s activity in foreign languages, stimulating their interest in the chosen project, approaches to self-assessment and methods of raising their self-esteem. The contemporary methodology assumes the project as a specific method, which activates potential of a student’s cognitive function, emotional reaction, ability to work in the team, commitment, skills of cooperation and, consequently, their readiness to verbalize ideas, thoughts and attitudes. Verbal activity in the foreign language is a complex conception that consolidates both cognitive (involving speech) capacity and individual traits and attitudes such as initiative, empathy, devotion, responsibility etc. Once we organize the project activity by the means of e-learning within the ‘Foreign language’ discipline we have to take into consideration all mentioned above characteristics and work out an effective way to implement it into the teaching practice to boost its educational potential. We have integrated into the e-platform Moodle the module of project activity consisting of the following blocks of tasks that lead students to research, cooperate, strive to leadership, chase the goal and finally verbalize their intentions. Firstly, we introduce the project through activating self-activity of students by the tasks of the phase ‘Preparation of the project’: choose the topic and justify it; find out the problematic situation and its components; set the goals; create your team, choose the leader, distribute the roles in your team; make a written report on grounding the validity of your choices. Secondly, in the ‘Planning the project’ phase we ask students to represent the analysis of the problem in terms of reasons, ways and methods of solution and define the structure of their project (here students may choose oral or written presentation by drawing up the claim in the e-platform about their wish, whereas the teacher decides what form of presentation to prefer). Thirdly, the students have to design the visual aids, speech samples (functional phrases, introductory words, keywords, synonyms, opposites, attributive constructions) and then after checking, discussing and correcting with a teacher via the means of Moodle present it in front of the audience. And finally, we introduce the phase of self-reflection that aims to awake the inner desire of students to improve their verbal activity in a foreign language. As a result, by implementing the project activity into the e-platform and project activity, we try to widen the frameworks of a traditional lesson of foreign languages through tapping the potential of personal traits and attitudes of students.

Keywords: active methods, e-learning, improving verbal activity in foreign languages, personal traits and attitudes

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Maria De Albuquerque Bercot, Caio Gustavo Mesquita Angelo, Daniela Maria Moreira Siqueira, Augusto Assucena De Vasconcellos, Rodrigo Studart Correa

Abstract:

Mining is an important socioeconomic activity in Brazil although it negatively impacts the environment. Mineral operations cause irreversible changes in topography, removal of vegetation and topsoil, habitat destruction, displacement of fauna, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, siltation of watercourses and have potential to enhance climate change. Due to the impacts and its pollution potential, mining activity in Brazil is legally subjected to environmental licensing. Unlicensed mining operations or operations that not abide to the terms of an obtained license are taken as environmental crimes in the country. This work reports a case analyzed in the Forensic Institute of the Brazilian Federal District Civil Police. The case consisted of detecting illegal aspects of sand exploitation from a licensed mine in Federal District, nearby Brasilia city. The fieldwork covered an area of roughly 6 ha, which was surveyed with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (PHANTOM 3 ADVANCED). The overflight with UAV took about 20 min, with maximum flight height of 100 m. 592 UAV georeferenced images were obtained and processed in a photogrammetric software (AGISOFT PHOTOSCAN 1.1.4), which generated a mosaic of geo-referenced images and a 3D model in less than six working hours. The 3D model was analyzed in a forensic software for accurate modeling and volumetric analysis. (MAPTEK I-SITE FORENSIC 2.2). To ensure the 3D model was a true representation of the mine site, coordinates of ten control points and reference measures were taken during fieldwork and compared to respective spatial data in the model. Finally, these spatial data were used for measuring mining area, excavation depth and volume of exploited sand. Results showed that mine holder had not complied with some terms and conditions stated in the granted license, such as sand exploration beyond authorized extension, depth and volume. Easiness, the accuracy and expedition of procedures used in this case highlight the employment of UAV imagery and computational photogrammetry as efficient tools for outdoor forensic exams, especially on environmental issues.

Keywords: computational photogrammetry, environmental monitoring, mining, UAV

Procedia PDF Downloads 312

Authors: Vinayak Malhotra, Samanyu Raina, Ajinkya Vajurkar

Abstract:

Enhancing the rocket efficiency by controlling the external factors in solid rockets motors has been an active area of research for most of the terrestrial and extra-terrestrial system operations. Appreciable work has been done, but the complexity of the problem has prevented thorough understanding due to heterogenous heat and mass transfer. On record, severe issues have surfaced amounting to irreplaceable loss of mankind, instruments, facilities, and huge amount of money being invested every year. The coupled effect of an external heat source and external heat sink is an aspect yet to be articulated in combustion. Better understanding of this coupled phenomenon will induce higher safety standards, efficient missions, reduced hazard risks, with better designing, validation, and testing. The experiment will help in understanding the coupled effect of an external heat sink and heat source on the burning process, contributing in better combustion and fire safety, which are very important for efficient and safer rocket flights and space missions. Safety is the most prevalent issue in rockets, which assisted by poor combustion efficiency, emphasizes research efforts to evolve superior rockets. This signifies real, engineering, scientific, practical, systems and applications. One potential application is Solid Rocket Motors (S.R.M). The study may help in: (i) Understanding the effect on efficiency of core engines due to the primary boosters if considered as source, (ii) Choosing suitable heat sink materials for space missions so as to vary the efficiency of the solid rocket depending on the mission, (iii) Giving an idea about how the preheating of the successive stage due to previous stage acting as a source may affect the mission. The present work governs the temperature (resultant) and thus the heat transfer which is expected to be non-linear because of heterogeneous heat and mass transfer. The study will deepen the understanding of controlled inter-energy conversions and the coupled effect of external source/sink(s) surrounding the burning fuel eventually leading to better combustion thus, better propulsion. The work is motivated by the need to have enhanced fire safety and better rocket efficiency. The specific objective of the work is to understand the coupled effect of external heat source and sink on propellant burning and to investigate the role of key controlling parameters. Results as of now indicate that there exists a singularity in the coupled effect. The dominance of the external heat sink and heat source decides the relative rocket flight in Solid Rocket Motors (S.R.M).

Keywords: coupled effect, heat transfer, sink, solid rocket motors, source

Procedia PDF Downloads 219

Authors: Leja Salciute

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Mental health difficulties are one of the reasons for abnormal feeding behaviour. This is especially evident in a crisis situation. Abnormal feeding behaviour occurs when individuals use food as a method to provide relief for these negative emotions. The study aimed to discover an association between emotional regulation, mental health difficulties and disruption in feeding behaviours in the UK in times of crisis. A mixed-methods design was used. Abnormal feeding behaviour was measured using the Binge Eating Disorder Screener-7, SCOFF scale, Crisis impact scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and demographics. The sample comprised 342 participants with a history of excessive overeating. The participants (male= 198, female= 141 and other= 3) came from the general population and they were aged 16 and over. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 89. Findings from the survey concluded that difficulties with emotion regulation were found to be associated with abnormal feeding behaviours. Mental health difficulties correlated significantly with changes in individuals’ lives, such as work or routines. Individuals differed in their abnormal feeding behaviour in terms of their age, that is, younger individuals showed less struggle with their eating patterns while older individuals faced greater struggles with their abnormal feeding behaviour. Emotion regulation significantly influenced abnormal feeding behaviour. Results from qualitative data suggest four common themes that were identified: demonstration of gratitude, negative emotions, disruptions to social life, and financial loss. For example, participants developed and gained an awareness of being grateful for the simple things in life even when participants experienced hardships. The results also suggested that emotional eating acted like a sedative that allowed the participant to run away from their painful reality. Crisis situation negatively affected relationships among participants and induced negativity related to social interaction. Finally, the respondents highlighted that the presence of uncertainty made it hard to plan ahead and look forward to the future. Although respondents experienced negative emotions and financial losses, some of them still managed to allocate time for themselves and enjoy their time off during crisis. However, majority of respondents referred to their inability to control their external circumstances and turned to and relied upon food overconsumption instead. This had a negative effect on their mental health and presented disruptions in feeding behaviour. It was recommended for individuals in times of crisis to seek psychological support in the form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Keywords: binge eating, maladaptive eating behaviours, mental health, negative emotions in crisis

Procedia PDF Downloads 66

Authors: Iris Vogeler, Rogerio Cichota, Armin Werner

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Dairy farms are under pressure to increase productivity while reducing environmental impacts. Effective fertiliser management practices are critical to achieve this. Determination of optimum nitrogen (N) fertilisation rates which maximise pasture growth and minimise N losses is challenging due to variability in plant requirements and likely near-future supply of N by the soil. Remote sensing can be used for mapping N nutrition status of plants and to rapidly assess the spatial variability within a field. An algorithm is, however, lacking which relates the N status of the plants to the expected yield response to additions of N. The aim of this simulation study was to develop a multi-variate model for determining N fertilisation rate for a target percentage of the maximum achievable yield based on the pasture N concentration (ii) use of an algorithm for guiding fertilisation rates, and (iii) evaluation of the model regarding pasture yield and N losses, including N leaching, denitrification and volatilisation. A simulation study was carried out using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). The simulations were done for an irrigated ryegrass pasture in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. A multi-variate model was developed and used to determine monthly required N fertilisation rates based on pasture N content prior to fertilisation and targets of 50, 75, 90 and 100% of the potential monthly yield. These monthly optimised fertilisation rules were evaluated by running APSIM for a ten-year period to provide yield and N loss estimates from both nonurine and urine affected areas. Comparison with typical fertilisation rates of 150 and 400 kg N/ha/year was also done. Assessment of pasture yield and leaching from fertiliser and urine patches indicated a large reduction in N losses when N fertilisation rates were controlled by the multi-variate model. However, the reduction in leaching losses was much smaller when taking into account the effects of urine patches. The proposed approach based on biophysical modelling to develop a multi-variate model for determining optimum N fertilisation rates dependent on pasture N content is very promising. Further analysis, under different environmental conditions and validation is required before the approach can be used to help adjust fertiliser management practices to temporal and spatial N demand based on the nitrogen status of the pasture.

Keywords: APSIM modelling, optimum N fertilization rate, pasture N content, ryegrass pasture, three dimensional surface response function.

Procedia PDF Downloads 127

Authors: Maria De Los Angeles Rodriguez Cadena

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This paper discusses how the fictional versions of women of the past contribute to advance today’s ideas of social justice, personal freedom and emancipation as well as to highlight the creative challenge of constructing people and events on fictional narratives on television that incorporate multiple and simultaneous layers of meaning and complexity. This project builds on existing scholarship on audiovisual texts by exploring an influential but under-studied director. In two Mexican television series, Patricia Arriaga Jordan, an award-winning television producer, scriptwriter and director, constructs the life of two outstanding women that have played an influential role in national history and captured Mexican’s popular imagination for generations: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Malinche. Malinche (2018) tells the story of an extraordinary indigenous woman, Malintzin, during the Spanish Conquest (1511-1550) that is considered to have played a key role in the fall of the Aztec empire by acting as translator, negotiator and cultural mediator for the Spanish conquerors. Juana Ines (2016) portrays Sor Juana, a poet, essayist, playwright, theologian, philosopher, nun, of XVII century colonial Mexico, one of the brightest minds of her time, and now recognized as the first feminist of the Americas who wrote on the rights of women to an education, religious authority and feminist advocacy. Both series, as fictional narratives that recreate defining historical periods, specific events and relevant characters in the History of Mexico can be read as an example of what is called texts of cultural memory. A cultural memory text is a narrative that bonds the concepts of history, identity and belonging, and that is realized and disseminated through symbolic systems such as written documents, visual images, and dramatic representation. Cultural memory, through its narratives of historical fiction, emphasizes memory processes (historiography) and its implications and artifacts (cultural memory) mainly through the medial frameworks of remembering, which are the medial process by which memories (narratives, documents) participate in public knowledge and become collective memory. Historical fiction on television not only creates a portrayal of the past related to the real lives of protagonists, but it also significantly contributes to understand the past as an ever-evolving entity that highlights both, the necessary connection with the present as part of a developing sense of collective identity and belonging, as well as the relevance of the medium in which the past is represented and that ultimately supports the process of historical awareness. Through the emblematic recreation of national heroines and historical events in the unique context of historical drama on television, those texts constitute a venue where concepts of the past and the traditionally established ideas about history and heroines are highlighted, questioned and transformed.

Keywords: cultural memory, historical fiction, Mexico, television, women directors

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Marina Karaseva

Abstract:

The beginning of our century became a new digital epoch in the educational situation. Last decade the newest stage of this process had been initialized by the touch-screen mobile devices with program applications for them. The touch possibilities for learning fundamentals of music are of especially importance for music majors. The phenomenon of touching, firstly, makes it realistic to play on the screen as on music instrument, secondly, helps students to learn music theory while listening in its sound elements by music ear. Nowadays we can detect several levels of such mobile applications: from the basic ones devoting to the elementary music training such as intervals and chords recognition, to the more advanced applications which deal with music perception of non-major and minor modes, ethnic timbres, and complicated rhythms. The main purpose of the proposed paper is to disclose the main tendencies in this process and to demonstrate the most innovative features of music theory applications on the base of iOS and Android systems as the most common used. Methodological recommendations how to use these digital material musicologically will be done for the professional music education of different levels. These recommendations are based on more than ten year ‘iTheory’ teaching experience of the author. In this paper, we try to logically classify all types of ‘iTheory’mobile applications into several groups, according to their methodological goals. General concepts given below will be demonstrated in concrete examples. The most numerous group of programs is formed with simulators for studying notes with audio-visual links. There are link-pair types as follows: sound — musical notation which may be used as flashcards for studying words and letters, sound — key, sound — string (basically, guitar’s). The second large group of programs is programs-tests containing a game component. As a rule, their basis is made with exercises on ear identification and reconstruction by voice: sounds and intervals on their sounding — harmonical and melodical, music modes, rhythmic patterns, chords, selected instrumental timbres. Some programs are aimed at an establishment of acoustical communications between concepts of the musical theory and their musical embodiments. There are also programs focused on progress of operative musical memory (with repeating of sounding phrases and their transposing in a new pitch), as well as on perfect pitch training In addition a number of programs improvisation skills have been developed. An absolute pitch-system of solmisation is a common base for mobile programs. However, it is possible to find also the programs focused on the relative pitch system of solfegе. In App Store and Google Play Market online store there are also many free programs-simulators of musical instruments — piano, guitars, celesta, violin, organ. These programs may be effective for individual and group exercises in ear training or composition classes. Great variety and good sound quality of these programs give now a unique opportunity to musicians to master their music abilities in a shorter time. That is why such teaching material may be a way to effective study of music theory.

Keywords: ear training, innovation in music education, music theory, mobile devices

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Ali Mashayekh, Mahdiye Khorasani, Thomas weyh

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The demand for battery electric vehicles (BEV) is steadily increasing, and it can be assumed that electric mobility will dominate the market for individual transportation in the future. Regarding BEVs, the focus of state-of-the-art research and development is on vehicle batteries since their properties primarily determine vehicles' characteristic parameters, such as price, driving range, charging time, and lifetime. State-of-the-art battery packs consist of invariable configurations of battery cells, connected in series and parallel. A promising alternative is battery systems based on multilevel inverters, which can alter the configuration of the battery cells during operation via semiconductor switches. The main benefit of such topologies is that a three-phase AC voltage can be directly generated from the battery pack, and no separate power inverters are required. Therefore, modular battery systems based on different multilevel inverter topologies and reconfigurable battery systems are currently under investigation. Another advantage of the multilevel concept is that the possibility to reconfigure the battery pack allows battery cells with different states of charge (SoC) to be connected in parallel, and thus low-loss balancing can take place between such cells. In contrast, in conventional battery systems, parallel connected (hard-wired) battery cells are discharged via bleeder resistors to keep the individual SoCs of the parallel battery strands balanced, ultimately reducing the vehicle range. Different multilevel inverter topologies and reconfigurable batteries have been described in the available literature that makes the before-mentioned advantages possible. However, what has not yet been described is how an intelligent operating algorithm needs to look like to keep the SoCs of the individual battery strands of a modular battery system with integrated power electronics balanced. Therefore, this paper suggests an SoC balancing approach for Battery Modular Multilevel Management (BM3) converter systems, which can be similarly used for reconfigurable battery systems or other multilevel inverter topologies with parallel connectivity. The here suggested approach attempts to simultaneously utilize all converter modules (bypassing individual modules should be avoided) because the parallel connection of adjacent modules reduces the phase-strand's battery impedance. Furthermore, the presented approach tries to reduce the number of switching events when changing the switching state combination. Thereby, the ohmic battery losses and switching losses are kept as low as possible. Since no power is dissipated in any designated bleeder resistors and no designated active balancing circuitry is required, the suggested approach can be categorized as a proactive balancing approach. To verify the algorithm's validity, simulations are used.

Keywords: battery management system, BEV, battery modular multilevel management (BM3), SoC balancing

Procedia PDF Downloads 118

Authors: Alice Carter, Lucy Dumbell, Lorna Cameron, Victoria Lewis

Abstract:

The Olympic discipline of eventing is the triathlon of equestrian sport, consisting of dressage, cross-country and show jumping. Falls on the cross-country are common and can be serious even causing death to rider. Research identifies an increased risk of a fall with an increasing number of obstacles and for jumping efforts later in the course suggesting fatigue maybe a contributing factor. Advice based on anecdotal evidence suggests riders undertake strength and conditioning programs to improve their ‘core’, thus improving their ability to maintain and control their riding position. There is little empirical evidence to support this advice. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate truck muscle fatigue and cognitive function during a simulated jumping test. Eight adult riders participated in a riding test on a Racewood Event simulator for 10 minutes, over a continuous jumping programme. The SEMG activity of six trunk muscles were bilaterally measured at every minute, and normalised root mean squares (RMS) and median frequencies (MDF) were computed from the EMG power spectra. Visual analogue scales (VAS) measuring Fatigue and Pain levels and Cognitive Function ‘tapping’ tests were performed before and after the riding test. Average MDF values for all muscles differed significantly between each sampled minute (p = 0.017), however a consistent decrease from Minute 1 and Minute 9 was not found, suggesting the trunk muscles fatigued and then recovered as other muscle groups important in maintaining the riding position during dynamic movement compensated. Differences between the MDF and RMS of different muscles were highly significant (H=213.01, DF=5, p < 0.001), supporting previous anecdotal evidence that different trunk muscles carry out different roles of posture maintenance during riding. RMS values were not significantly different between the sampled minutes or between riders, suggesting the riding test produced a consistent and repeatable effect on the trunk muscles. MDF values differed significantly between riders (H=50.8, DF = 5, p < 0.001), suggesting individuals may experience localised muscular fatigue of the same test differently, and that other parameters of physical fitness should be investigated to provide conclusions. Lumbar muscles were shown to be important in maintaining the position, therefore physical training program should focus on these areas. No significant differences were found between pre- and post-riding test VAS Pain and Fatigue scores or cognitive function test scores, suggesting the riding test was not significantly fatiguing for participants. However, a near significant correlation was found between time of riding test and VAS Pain score (p = 0.06), suggesting somatic pain may be a limiting factor to performance. No other correlations were found between the factors of participant riding test time, VAS Pain and Fatigue, however a larger sample needs to be tested to improve statistical analysis. The findings suggest the simulator riding test was not sufficient to provoke fatigue in the riders, however foundations for future studies have been laid to enable methodologies in realistic eventing settings.

Keywords: eventing, fatigue, horse-rider, surface EMG, trunk muscles

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: María Barbaño Acevedo Gómez, Elena Sonsoles Rodríguez López, Sofía Olivia Calvo Moreno, Ángel Basas García, Christophe RamíRez Parenteau

Abstract:

Introduction: Urinary incontinence (UI) is defined as the involuntary leakage of urine. In persons who practice sport, its prevalence is 36.1% (95% CI 26.5% –46.8%) and varies as it seems to depend on the intensity of exercise, movements and impact on the ground. Such high impact sports are likely to generate higher intra-abdominal pressures and leading to pelvic floor muscle weakness. Although physical exercise reduces the risk of suffering from many diseases the mentality of an elite athlete is not to optimize their health, achieving their goals can put their health at risk. Furthermore, feeling or suffering from any discomfort during training seems to be normal within the elite sport demands. Objective: The main objective of the present study was to know the effects of UI in sports performance in athletes. Methods: This was an observational study conducted in 754 elite athletes. After collecting questions about pelvic floor, UI and sport-related data, participants completed the questionnaire International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-UI Short- Form (ICIQ-SF) and ISI (index of incontinence severity). Results: 48.8% of the athletes declare having losses also in rest, preseason and / or competition (χ2 [3] = 3.64; p = 0.302), being the competition period (29.1%) the most frequent where suffer from urine leakage. Of the elite athletes surveyed, 33% had UI according ICIQ-SF (mean age 23.75 ± 7.74 years). Elite athletes with UI (5.31 ± 1.07 days) dedicate significantly more days per week to training [M = 0.28; 95% CI = 0.08-0.48; t (752) = 2.78; p = 0.005] than those without UI. Regarding frequency, 59.7% lose urine once a week, 25.6% lose urine more than 3 times a week, and 14.7% daily. Based on the amount, approximately 15% claim to lose a moderate and abundant. Athletes with the highest number of urine leaks during their training, the UI affects them more in their daily life (r = 0.259; p = 0.001), they present a greater number of losses in their day to day (r = 0.341; p <0.001 ) and greater severity of UI (r = 0.341; p <0.001). Conclusions: Athletes consider that UI affects them negatively in their daily routine, 30.9% affirm having a severity between moderate and severe in their daily routine, and 29.1% loss urine in competition period. An interesting fact is that more than half of the samples collected were elite athletes who compete at the highest level (Olympic Games, World and European Championship), the dedication to sport occupies a big piece in their life. The most frequent period where athletes suffers urine leakage is in competition and there are many emotions that athletes manage to get their best performance, if we add urine losses in that moments it is possible that their performance could be affected.

Keywords: athletes, performance, prevalence, sport, training, urinary incontinence

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Randa M. T. Mohamed

Abstract:

Spices have long been used as traditional ingredients in the kitchen for seasoning, coloring, aromatic and food preservative properties. Besides, spices are equally used for therapeutic purposes. The objective of this study was to survey and document the medicinal properties of spices commonly used in the Sudanese kitchen for different food preparations. Also, extracts from reported spices were screened for the presence of secondary metabolites as well as their antioxidant and beta-lactamase inhibitory properties. This study was conducted in the Rekabbya Quartier in Omdurman, Khartoum State, Sudan. Information was collected by carrying out semi-structured interviews. All informants (30) in the present study were women. Spices were purchased from Attareen shop in Omdurman. Essential oils from spices were extracted by hydrodistillation and ethanolic extracts by maceration. Phytochemical screening was performed by thin layer chromatography (TLC). The antioxidant capacity of essential oils and ethanolic extracts was investigated through TLC bioautography. Beta lactamase inhibitory activity was performed by the acidimetric test. Ethnobotany study showed that a total of 16 spices were found to treat 36 ailments belonging to 10 categories. The most frequently claimed medicinal uses were for the digestive system diseases treated by 14 spices and respiratory system diseases treated by 8 spices. Gynaecological problems were treated by 4 spices. Dermatological diseases were cured by 5 spices while infections caused by tapeworms and other microbes causing dysentery were treated by 3 spices. 4 spices were used to treat bad breath, bleeding gum and toothache. Headache, eyes infection, cardiac stimulation and epilepsy were treated by one spice each. Other health problem like fatigue and loss of appetite and low breast milk production were treated by 1, 3 and 2 spices respectively. The majority (69%, 11/16) of spices were exported from different countries like India, China, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Nigeria while 31% (5/16) was cultivated in Sudan. Essential oils of all spices were rich in terpenes while ethanolic extracts contained variable classes of secondary metabolites. Both essential oils and ethanolic extracts of all spices exerted considerable antioxidant activity. Only one extract, Syzygium aromaticum, possessed beta lactamase inhibitory activity. In conclusion, this study could contribute in conserving information on traditional medicinal uses of spices in Sudan. Also, the results demonstrated the potential of some of these spices to exert beneficial antimicrobial and antioxidant effect. Detailed phytochemical and biological assays of these spices are recommended.

Keywords: spices, ethnobotany, phytoconstituents, antioxidant, beta lactamase inhibition

Procedia PDF Downloads 70

Authors: Hongmei Wang, Ziyun Xiang, Ying liu, Li Yu, Dongsheng Yue

Abstract:

Intro: The COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) has greatly changed the global economic, political and financial ecology. The mutation of the coronavirus in the UK in December 2020 has brought new panic to the world. Deep learning was performed on Chest Computed tomography (CT) of COVID-19 and Influenza and describes their characteristics. The predominant features of COVID-19 pneumonia was ground-glass opacification, followed by consolidation. Lesion density: most lesions appear as ground-glass shadows, and some lesions coexist with solid lesions. Lesion distribution: the focus is mainly on the dorsal side of the periphery of the lung, with the lower lobe of the lungs as the focus, and it is often close to the pleura. Other features it has are grid-like shadows in ground glass lesions, thickening signs of diseased vessels, air bronchi signs and halo signs. The severe disease involves whole bilateral lungs, showing white lung signs, air bronchograms can be seen, and there can be a small amount of pleural effusion in the bilateral chest cavity. At the same time, this year's flu season could be near its peak after surging throughout the United States for months. Chest CT for Influenza infection is characterized by focal ground glass shadows in the lungs, with or without patchy consolidation, and bronchiole air bronchograms are visible in the concentration. There are patchy ground-glass shadows, consolidation, air bronchus signs, mosaic lung perfusion, etc. The lesions are mostly fused, which is prominent near the hilar and two lungs. Grid-like shadows and small patchy ground-glass shadows are visible. Deep neural networks have great potential in image analysis and diagnosis that traditional machine learning algorithms do not. Method: Aiming at the two major infectious diseases COVID-19 and influenza, which are currently circulating in the world, the chest CT of patients with two infectious diseases is classified and diagnosed using deep learning algorithms. The residual network is proposed to solve the problem of network degradation when there are too many hidden layers in a deep neural network (DNN). The proposed deep residual system (ResNet) is a milestone in the history of the Convolutional neural network (CNN) images, which solves the problem of difficult training of deep CNN models. Many visual tasks can get excellent results through fine-tuning ResNet. The pre-trained convolutional neural network ResNet is introduced as a feature extractor, eliminating the need to design complex models and time-consuming training. Fastai is based on Pytorch, packaging best practices for in-depth learning strategies, and finding the best way to handle diagnoses issues. Based on the one-cycle approach of the Fastai algorithm, the classification diagnosis of lung CT for two infectious diseases is realized, and a higher recognition rate is obtained. Results: A deep learning model was developed to efficiently identify the differences between COVID-19 and influenza using chest CT.

Keywords: COVID-19, Fastai, influenza, transfer network

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Brock Liden, Eric Janowitz

Abstract:

Introduction: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) affects 70% of individuals with diabetes1. DPN causes a loss of protective sensation, which can lead to tissue damage and diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) formation2. These ulcers can result in infections and lower-extremity amputations of toes, the entire foot, and the lower leg. Even after a DFU is healed, recurrence is common, with 49% of DFU patients developing another ulcer within a year and 68% within 5 years3. This case series examines the use of sensory insoles and newly available plantar data (pressure, temperature, step count, adherence) and remote patient monitoring in patients at risk of DFU. Methods: Participants were provided with custom-made sensory insoles to monitor plantar pressure, temperature, step count, and daily use and were provided with real-time cues for pressure offloading as they went about their daily activities. The sensory insoles were used to track subject compliance, ulceration, and response to feedback from real-time alerts. Patients were remotely monitored by a qualified healthcare professional and were contacted when areas of concern were seen and provided coaching on reducing risk factors and overall support to improve foot health. Results: Of the 40 participants provided with the sensory insole system, 4 presented with a DFU. Based on flags generated from the available plantar data, patients were contacted by the remote monitor to address potential concerns. A standard clinical escalation protocol detailed when and how concerns should be escalated to the provider by the remote monitor. Upon escalation to the provider, patients were brought into the clinic as needed, allowing for any issues to be addressed before more serious complications might arise. Conclusion: This case series explores the use of innovative sensory technology to collect plantar data (pressure, temperature, step count, and adherence) for DFU detection and early intervention. The results from this case series suggest the importance of sensory technology and remote patient monitoring in providing proactive, preventative care for patients at risk of DFU. This robust plantar data, with the addition of remote patient monitoring, allow for patients to be seen in the clinic when concerns arise, giving providers the opportunity to intervene early and prevent more serious complications, such as wounds, from occurring.

Keywords: diabetic foot ulcer, DFU prevention, digital therapeutics, remote patient monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: J. Hakula

Abstract:

Discussion on euthanasia is a continuous process. Euthanasia is defined as 'deliberately ending a patient's life by administering life-ending drugs at the patient's explicit request'. With few exceptions, worldwide in most countries human societies have not been able to agree on some fundamental issues concerning ultimate decisions of life and death. Outranking methods in voting oriented social choice theory and multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) can be applied to issues in medical ethics. There is a wide range of voting methods, and using different methods the same group of voters can end up with different outcomes. In the MCDM context, decision alternatives can be substituted for candidates, and criteria for voters. The view chosen here is that of a single decision-maker. Initially, three alternatives and three criteria are chosen. Pairwise and basic positional voting rules - plurality, anti-plurality and the Borda count - are applied. In the MCDM solution, criteria are put weights by giving them the more 'votes'; the more important the decision-maker ranks them. A hypothetical example on evaluating properties of euthanasia consists of three alternatives A, B, and C, which are ranked according to three criteria - the patient’s willingness to cooperate, general action orientation (active/passive), and cost-effectiveness - the criteria having weights 7, 5, and 4, respectively. Using the plurality rule and the weights given to criteria, A is the best alternative, B and C thereafter. In pairwise comparisons, both B and C defeat A with weight scores 7 to 9. On the other hand, B is defeated by C with weights 11 to 5. Thus, C (i.e. the so-called Condorcet winner) defeats both A and B. The best alternative using the plurality principle is not necessarily the best in the pairwise sense, the conflict remaining unsolved with or without additional weights. Positional rules are sensitive to variations in alternative sets. In the example above, the plurality rule gives the rank ABC. If we leave out C, the plurality ranking between A and B results in BA. Withdrawing B or A the ranking is CA and CB, respectively. In pairwise comparisons an analogous problem emerges when the number of criteria is varied. Cyclic preferences may lead to a total tie, and no (rational) choice between the alternatives can be made. In conclusion, the choice of the best commitment to re-evaluate euthanasia, with criteria left unchanged, depends entirely on the evaluation method used. The right strategies matter, too. Future studies might concern the problem of an abstention - a situation where voters do not vote - and still their best candidate may win. Or vice versa, actively giving the ballot to their first rank choice might lead to a total loss. In MCDM terms, a decision might occur where some central criteria are not actively involved in the best choice made.

Keywords: medical ethics, euthanasia, voting methods, multicriteria decision-making

Procedia PDF Downloads 154

Authors: Melvin Sethobya, Sithule Xanga, Sechaba Lenong, Lunga Nolakana, Gbenga Adesola

Abstract:

Mining has been the cornerstone of the South African economy for the last century. Most of the gold mining in South Africa was conducted within the Witwatersrand basin, which contributed to the rapid growth of the city of Johannesburg and capitulated the city to becoming the business and wealth capital of the country. But with gradual depletion of resources, a stoppage in the extraction of underground water from mines and other factors relating to survival of the mining operations over a lengthy period, most of the mines were abandoned and left to pollute the local waterways and groundwater with toxins, heavy metal residue and increased acid mine drainage ensued. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy commissioned a project whose aim is to monitor, maintain, and mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of polluted water mine water flowing into local streams affecting local ecosystems and livelihoods downstream. As part of mitigation efforts, the diagnosis and monitoring of groundwater or surface water polluted sites has become important. Geophysical surveys, in particular, Resistivity and Magnetics surveys, were selected as some of most suitable techniques for investigation of local ingress points along of one the major streams cutting through the Witwatersrand basin, namely the Blesbokspruit, which is found in the eastern part of the basin. The aim of the surveys was to provide information that could be used to assist in determining possible water loss/ ingress from the Blesbokspriut stream. Modelling of geophysical surveys results offered an in-depth insight into the interaction and pathways of polluted water through mapping of possible ingress channels near the Blesbokspruit. The resistivity - depth profile of the surveyed site exhibit a three(3) layered model with low resistivity values (10 to 200 Ω.m) overburden, which is underlain by a moderate resistivity weathered layer (>300 Ω.m), which sits on a more resistive crystalline bedrock (>500 Ω.m). Two locations of potential ingress channels were mapped across the two traverses at the site. The magnetic survey conducted at the site mapped a major NE-SW trending regional linearment with a strong magnetic signature, which was modeled to depth beyond 100m, with the potential to act as a conduit for dispersion of stream water away from the stream, as it shared a similar orientation with the potential ingress channels as mapped using the resistivity method.

Keywords: eletrictrical resistivity, magnetics survey, blesbokspruit, ingress

Procedia PDF Downloads 61