Search results for: fiscal reaction function
6955 Theoretical Evaluation of the Effect of Solvent on the Feasibility of the Reaction of 2-Chlorobenzimidazole With Four N,N′-Cyclic Azomethine Imines to Construct Polycyclic Benzimidazoles
Authors: Mohamed Abdoul-Hakim, A. Zeroual, H. Garmes
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In this work, we theoretically evaluated the reactivity of four 4-methyl-3-oxo-1,2-pyrazolidinium ylides with 2-Chlorobenzimidazole in MeOH in basic medium using DFT at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level. The analysis of the results shows that apart from its ability to retain its electrons, the deprotonated 2-Chlorobenzimidazole has a higher nucleophilic character. The reaction requires energy input to initiate the nucleophilic attack of the 2-Chlorobenzimidazole anion, and the inclusion of the solvent effect facilitates the formation of two regioisomers via an intramolecular vinyl nucleophilic substitution (SNVi). The transition states of this latter step are stabilized by charge transfer interactions σ(N-C) →σ*(C-Cl) for the more favorable regioisomer and n(N)→σ*(C-Cl) for the other regioisomer.Keywords: benzonitrile N-oxide, DFT, intramolecular vinyl nucleophilic substitution (SNVi), 4-methyl-3-OXO-1, 2-pyrazolidinium ylides
Procedia PDF Downloads 1426954 Oral Lichen Planus a Manifestation of Grinspan's Syndrome or a Lichenoid Reaction to Medication
Authors: Sahar Iqrar, Malik Adeel Anwar, Zain Akram, Maria Noor
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Introduction: Oral lichen planus is a chronic inflammatory condition of unknown etiology. Oral lichen planus may be related with several other diseases. Grinspan's Syndrome is characterized by a triad of oral lichen planus, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Other associations reported in the literature are with chronic liver disease and, with dyslipidemia. The nature of these associations is still not fully understood. Material and methods: Study was conducted in Department of Oral Medicine, Fatima Memorial Hospital College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore, Pakistan. A total of n=89 clinically diagnosed patients of oral lichen planus of both gender and all age groups were recruited and detailed history were recorded in the designed performs. Results: A total of n=89 patients were taken with male to female ratio of 3:8 in which 24 were male and 65 females. Mean age was 48.8 ± 13.8 years. Age range of 10-74 years was seen. Among these patients suffering from oral lichen planus, 41.6% (n=37) had a positive history for hypertension with 59.5% (n=22) of these patients were taking different medication for their condition. Whereas Diabetes Mellitus was found in 24.7% (n=22) patients with 72.7% (n=16) of these patients using the hypoglycemic drug (oral or injectable) to control their blood glucose levels. Out of these n=89 lichen planus patients 21.3% had both hypertension and diabetes mellitus (fulfilling the criteria for Grinspan's Syndrome). Out of this Grinspan's Syndrome pool 94.7% (n=19) were taking drug atleast for one of the two conditions. Conclusion: As noticed form the medical history of the patients, most of them were using hypoglycemic drugs for diabetes mellitus and beta blockers, diuretics and calcium channel blockers for hypertension. These drugs are known for lichenoid reaction. Therefore, it should be ruled out at histopathological/ immunological and molecular level whether these patients are suffering from lichen planus or lichenoid drug reaction to truly declare them as patients with Grinspan’s Syndrome.Keywords: diabetes mellitus, grinspan's syndrome, lichenoid drug reaction, oral lichen planus
Procedia PDF Downloads 2456953 Alkali Silica Reaction Mitigation and Prevention Measures for Arkansas Local Aggregates
Authors: Amin Kamal Akhnoukh, Lois Zaki Kamel, Magued Mourad Barsoum
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The objective of this research is to mitigate and prevent the alkali silica reactivity (ASR) in highway construction projects. ASR is a deleterious reaction initiated when the silica content of the aggregate reacts with alkali hydroxides in cement in the presence of relatively high moisture content. The ASR results in the formation of an expansive white colored gel-like material which forms the destructive tensile stresses inside hardened concrete. In this research, different types of local aggregates available in the State of Arkansas were mixed and mortar bars were poured according to the ASTM specifications. Mortar bars expansion was measured versus time and aggregates with potential ASR problems were detected. Different types of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) were used in remixing mortar bars with highly reactive aggregates. Length changes for remixed bars proved that different types of SCMs can be successfully used in reducing the expansive effect of ASR. SCMs percentage by weight is highly dependent on the SCM type. The result of this study will help avoiding future losses due to ASR cracking in construction project and reduce the maintenance, repair, and replacement budgets required for highways network.Keywords: alkali silica reaction, aggregates, misture, cracks, Mortar Bar Test, supplementary cementitious materials
Procedia PDF Downloads 3366952 Effects of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback to Improve Autonomic Nerve Function, Inflammatory Response and Symptom Distress in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease: A Randomized Control Trial
Authors: Chia-Pei Chen, Yu-Ju Chen, Yu-Juei Hsu
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The prevalence and incidence of end-stage renal disease in Taiwan ranks the highest in the world. According to the statistical survey of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2019, kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death in Taiwan. It leads to autonomic dysfunction, inflammatory response and symptom distress, and further increases the damage to the structure and function of the kidneys, leading to increased demand for renal replacement therapy and risks of cardiovascular disease, which also has medical costs for the society. If we can intervene in a feasible manual to effectively regulate the autonomic nerve function of CKD patients, reduce the inflammatory response and symptom distress. To prolong the progression of the disease, it will be the main goal of caring for CKD patients. This study aims to test the effect of heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVBF) on improving autonomic nerve function (Heart Rate Variability, HRV), inflammatory response (Interleukin-6 [IL-6], C reaction protein [CRP] ), symptom distress (Piper fatigue scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI], and Beck Depression Inventory-II [BDI-II] ) in patients with chronic kidney disease. This study was experimental research, with a convenience sampling. Participants were recruited from the nephrology clinic at a medical center in northern Taiwan. With signed informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to the HRVBF or control group by using the Excel BINOMDIST function. The HRVBF group received four weekly hospital-based HRVBF training, and 8 weeks of home-based self-practice was done with StressEraser. The control group received usual care. We followed all participants for 3 months, in which we repeatedly measured their autonomic nerve function (HRV), inflammatory response (IL-6, CRP), and symptom distress (Piper fatigue scale, PSQI, and BDI-II) on their first day of study participation (baselines), 1 month, and 3 months after the intervention to test the effects of HRVBF. The results were analyzed by SPSS version 23.0 statistical software. The data of demographics, HRV, IL-6, CRP, Piper fatigue scale, PSQI, and BDI-II were analyzed by descriptive statistics. To test for differences between and within groups in all outcome variables, it was used by paired sample t-test, independent sample t-test, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Thirty-four patients with chronic kidney disease were enrolled, but three of them were lost to follow-up. The remaining 31 patients completed the study, including 15 in the HRVBF group and 16 in the control group. The characteristics of the two groups were not significantly different. The four-week hospital-based HRVBF training combined with eight-week home-based self-practice can effectively enhance the parasympathetic nerve performance for patients with chronic kidney disease, which may against the disease-related parasympathetic nerve inhibition. In the inflammatory response, IL-6 and CRP in the HRVBF group could not achieve significant improvement when compared with the control group. Self-reported fatigue and depression significantly decreased in the HRVBF group, but they still failed to achieve a significant difference between the two groups. HRVBF has no significant effect on improving the sleep quality for CKD patients.Keywords: heart rate variability biofeedback, autonomic nerve function, inflammatory response, symptom distress, chronic kidney disease
Procedia PDF Downloads 1846951 Dielectric and Impedance Spectroscopy of Samarium and Lanthanum Doped Barium Titanate at Room Temperature
Authors: Sukhleen Bindra Narang, Dalveer Kaur, Kunal Pubby
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Dielectric ceramic samples in the BaO-Re2O3-TiO2 ternary system were synthesized with structural formula Ba2-xRe4+2x/3Ti8O24 where Re= rare earth metal and Re= Sm and La where x varies from 0.0 to 0.6 with step size 0.1. Polycrystalline samples were prepared by the conventional solid state reaction technique. The dielectric, electrical and impedance analysis of all the samples in the frequency range 1KHz- 1MHz at room temperature (25°C) have been done to get the understanding of electrical conduction and dielectric relaxation and their correlation. Dielectric response of the samples at lower frequencies shows dielectric dispersion while at higher frequencies it shows dielectric relaxation. The ac conductivity is well fitted by the Jonscher law (σac = σdc+Aωn). The spectroscopic data in the impedance plane confirms the existence of grain contribution to the relaxation. All the properties are found out to be function of frequency as well as the amount of substitution.Keywords: dielectric ceramics, dielectric constant, loss tangent, AC conductivity, impedance spectroscopy
Procedia PDF Downloads 4616950 Application of the Discrete Rationalized Haar Transform to Distributed Parameter System
Authors: Joon-Hoon Park
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In this paper the rationalized Haar transform is applied for distributed parameter system identification and estimation. A distributed parameter system is a dynamical and mathematical model described by a partial differential equation. And system identification concerns the problem of determining mathematical models from observed data. The Haar function has some disadvantages of calculation because it contains irrational numbers, for these reasons the rationalized Haar function that has only rational numbers. The algorithm adopted in this paper is based on the transform and operational matrix of the rationalized Haar function. This approach provides more convenient and efficient computational results.Keywords: distributed parameter system, rationalized Haar transform, operational matrix, system identification
Procedia PDF Downloads 5126949 Rice Serine/Threonine Kinase 1 Is Required for the Stimulation of OsNug2 GTPase Activity
Authors: Jae Bok Heo, Yun Mi Lee, Hee Rang Yun
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Several GTPases are required for ribosome biogenesis and assembly. We recently characterized rice (Oryza sativa) nuclear/nucleolar GTPase 2 (OsNug2), belonging to the YlqF/YawG family of GTPases, as playing a role in pre-60S ribosomal subunit maturation. To investigate the potential factors involved in regulating the function of OsNug2, yeast two-hybrid screens were carried out using OsNug2 as bait. Rice serine/threonine kinase 1 (OsSTK1) was identified as a potential interacting protein candidate. In vitro pull down and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays confirmed the interaction between OsNug2 and OsSTK1, and like green fluorescent protein-tagged OsNug2, green fluorescent protein-tagged OsSTK1 was targeted to the nucleus of Arabidopsis protoplasts. OsSTK1 was not found to affect the GTP-binding activity of OsNug2; however, when recombinant OsSTK1 was included in OsNug2 assay reaction mixtures, OsSTK1 increased the GTPase activity of OsNug2. To test whether OsSTK1 phosphorylates OsNug2 in vitro, a kinase assay was performed. OsSTK1 was found to have weak autophosphorylation activity and strongly phosphorylated serine 209 of OsNug2. Yeast complementation testing resulted in a GAL::OsNug2(S209N) mutant-harboring yeast strain exhibiting a growth-defective phenotype on galactose medium at 39°C, divergent from that of a yeast strain harboring GAL::OsNug2. The intrinsic GTPase activity of mutant OsNug2(S209N) was found to be similar to that of OsNug2, was not fully enhanced upon weak binding of OsSTK1. Our findings reported here indicate that OsSTK1 functions as a positive regulator protein of OsNug2 by enhancing the GTPase activity of OsNug2, and that the phosphorylation of serine 209 of OsNug2 is essential for the complete function of OsNug2 in ribosome biogenesis.Keywords: OsSTK1, OsNug2, GTPase activity, GTP binding activity, phosphorylation
Procedia PDF Downloads 3756948 Ni-W alloy Coatings: A Promising Electrode Material
Authors: Mr. Liju Elias, A. Chitharanjan Hegde
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Ni-W alloy coatings have been developed galvanostatically on copper substrate from tri-sodium citrate bath, using glycerol as the additive. The deposition conditions for production of Ni-W coatings have been optimized for peak performance of their electrocatalytic activity, namely hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The corrosion behavior of the coatings were tested under working conditions of electrocatalysis (1M KOH). Electrocatalytic behaviours were tested by cyclic voltammetry and chrono-potentiometry techniques. Experimental results demonstrated that Ni-W coatings at low and high current densities (c. d.) showing superior performance for OER and HER respectively. The increased electrocatalytic activity for HER with increase of deposition c. d. was attributed to the phase structure, surface morphology and chemical composition of the coatings, confirmed by XRD, SEM and EDX analysis, respectively. The dependency of hardness and thickness of the coatings on HER and OER were examined, and results were discussed.Keywords: electrocatalytic behavior, HER, Ni-W alloy, OER
Procedia PDF Downloads 4196947 A Multi Function Myocontroller for Upper Limb Prostheses
Authors: Ayad Asaad Ibrahim
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Myoelectrically controlled prostheses are becoming more and more popular, for below-elbow amputation, the wrist flexor and extensor muscle group, while for above-elbow biceps and triceps brachii muscles are used for control of the prosthesis. A two site multi-function controller is presented. Two stainless steel bipolar electrode pairs are used to monitor the activities in both muscles. The detected signals are processed by new pre-whitening technique to identify the accurate tension estimation in these muscles. These estimates will activate the relevant prosthesis control signal, with a time constant of 200 msec. It is ensured that the tension states in the control muscle to activate a particular prosthesis function are similar to those used to activate normal functions in the natural hand. This facilitates easier training.Keywords: prosthesis, biosignal processing, pre-whitening, myoelectric controller
Procedia PDF Downloads 3676946 Modification of Escherichia coli PtolT Expression Vector via Site-Directed Mutagenesis
Authors: Yakup Ulusu, Numan Eczacıoğlu, İsa Gökçe, Helen Waller, Jeremy H. Lakey
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Besides having the appropriate amino acid sequence to perform the function of proteins, it is important to have correct conformation after this sequence to process. To consist of this conformation depends on the amino acid sequence at the primary structure, hydrophobic interaction, chaperones and enzymes in charge of folding etc. Misfolded proteins are not functional and tend to be aggregated. Cysteine originating disulfide cross-links make stable this conformation of functional proteins. When two of the cysteine amino acids come side by side, disulfide bond is established that forms a cystine bridge. Due to this feature cysteine plays an important role on the formation of three-dimensional structure of many proteins. There are two cysteine amino acids (C44, C69) in the Tol-A-III protein. Unlike protein disulfide bonds from within his own, any non-specific cystine bridge causes a change in the three dimensional structure of the protein. Proteins can be expressed in various host cells as directly or fusion (chimeric). As a result of overproduction of the recombinant proteins, aggregation of insoluble proteins in the host cell can occur by forming a crystal structure called inclusion body. In general fusion proteins are produced for provide affinity tags to make proteins more soluble and production of some toxic proteins via fusion protein expression system like pTolT. Proteins can be modified by using a site-directed mutagenesis. By this way, creation of non-specific disulfide crosslinks can be prevented at fusion protein expression system via the present cysteine replaced by another amino acid such as serine, glycine or etc. To do this, we need; a DNA molecule that contains the gene that encodes for the target protein, required primers for mutation to be designed according to site directed mutagenesis reaction. This study was aimed to be replaced cysteine encoding codon TGT with serine encoding codon AGT. For this sense and reverse primers designed (given below) and used site-directed mutagenesis reaction. Several new copy of the template plasmid DNA has been formed with above mentioned mutagenic primers via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR product consists of both the master template DNA (wild type) and the new DNA sequences containing mutations. Dpn-l endonuclease restriction enzyme which is specific for methylated DNA and cuts them to the elimination of the master template DNA. E. coli cells obtained after transformation were incubated LB medium with antibiotic. After purification of plasmid DNA from E. coli, the presence of the mutation was determined by DNA sequence analysis. Developed this new plasmid is called PtolT-δ.Keywords: site directed mutagenesis, Escherichia coli, pTolT, protein expression
Procedia PDF Downloads 3786945 Steady State Charge Transport in Quantum Dots: Nonequilibrium Green's Function (NEGF) vs. Single Electron Analysis
Authors: Mahesh Koti
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In this paper, we present a quantum transport study of a quantum dot in steady state in the presence of static gate potential. We consider a quantum dot coupled to the two metallic leads. The quantum dot under study is modeled through Anderson Impurity Model (AIM) with hopping parameter modulated through voltage drop between leads and the central dot region. Based on the Landauer's formula derived from Nonequilibrium Green's Function and Single Electron Theory, the essential ingredients of transport properties are revealed. We show that the results out of two approaches closely agree with each other. We demonstrate that Landauer current response derived from single electron approach converges with non-zero interaction through gate potential whereas Landauer current response derived from Nonequilibrium Green's Function (NEGF) hits a pole.Keywords: Anderson impurity model (AIM), nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF), Landauer's formula, single electron analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 4776944 Magneto-Hydrodynamic Mixed Convective Fluid Flow through Two Parallel Vertical Plates Channel with Hall, Chemical Reaction, and Thermal Radiation Effects
Authors: Okuyade Ighoroje Wilson Ata
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Magneto-hydrodynamic mixed convective chemically reacting fluid flow through two parallel vertical plates channel with Hall, radiation, and chemical reaction effects are examined. The fluid is assumed to be chemically reactive, electrically conducting, magnetically susceptible, viscous, incompressible, and Newtonian; the plates are porous, electrically conductive, and heated to a high-temperature regime to generate thermal rays. The flow system is highly interactive, such that cross/double diffusion is present. The governing equations are partial differential equations transformed into ordinary differential equations using similarity transformation and solved by the method of Homotopy Perturbation. Expressions for the concentration, temperature, velocity, Nusselt number, Sherwood number, and Wall shear stress are obtained, computed, and presented graphically and tabularly. The analysis of results shows, amongst others, that an increase in the Raleigh number increases the main velocity and temperature but decreases the concentration. More so, an increase in chemical reaction rate increases the main velocity, temperature, rate of heat transfer from the terminal plate, the rate of mass transfer from the induced plate, and Wall shear stress on both the induced and terminal plates, decreasing the concentration, and the mass transfer rate from the terminal plate. Some of the obtained results are benchmarked with those of existing literature and are in consonance.Keywords: chemical reaction, hall effect, magneto-hydrodynamic, radiation, vertical plates channel
Procedia PDF Downloads 826943 Descriptive Study of Adverse Drug Reactions in a Paediatric Hospital in Mongolia from 2015 to 2019
Authors: Khaliun Nyambayar, Nomindari Azzaya, Batkhuyag Purevjav
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Pharmacovigilance was officially introduced in Mongolia in 2003, in accordance with the Health Minister Order 183 for the registry of adverse drug reactions (ADR), approved in 2006 and was reviewed in 2010. This study was designed to evaluate the incidence and common types of adverse drug reactions among hospitalized children, the frequency of adverse drug reaction reported by health care providers, and the follow-up processes resulting from adverse drug reactions. A retrospective study of paediatric patients who experienced an adverse drug reaction from 2015 to 2019, extracted from the “yellow” card at the State Research Center for Maternal and Child Health, (city). A total of 417 adverse drug reactions were reported with an overall incidence was 80 (21.5%). Adverse reactions resulting from the use of antibiotics (particularly gentamycin, cephalosporins, and vancomycin) were usually mild. ADR’s were reported by physicians and nurses (93.8%), pharmacists (6.25%). Although documentation of physician notification occurred for 93% of adverse drug reactions, only 29% of cases were documented in the patient's medical chart, 13% included follow-up education for individuals involved, and 10% were updated in the allergy profile of the hospital computer system. Measures to improve the detection and reporting of adverse drug reactions by all health care professionals should be improved, to enhance our understanding of the nature and impact of these reactions in children.Keywords: adverse drug reaction, pediatric, yellow card, Mongolia
Procedia PDF Downloads 1166942 Transesterification of Refined Palm Oil to Biodiesel in a Continuous Spinning Disc Reactor
Authors: Weerinda Appamana, Jirapong Keawkoon, Yamonporn Pacthong, Jirathiti Chitsanguansuk, Yanyong Sookklay
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In the present work, spinning disc reactor has been used for the intensification of synthesis of biodiesel from refined palm oil (RPO) based on the transesterification reaction. Experiments have been performed using different spinning disc surface and under varying operating parameters viz. molar ratio of oil to methanol (over the range of 1:4.5–1:9), rotational speed (over the range of 500–2,000 rpm), total flow rate (over the range of 260-520 ml/min), and KOH catalyst loading of 1.50% by weight of oil. Maximum FAME (fatty acid methyl esters) yield (97.5 %) of biodiesel from RPO was obtained at oil to methanol ratio of 1:6, temperature of 60 °C, and rotational speed of 1500 rpm and flow rate of 520 mL/min using groove disc at KOH catalyst loading of 1.5 wt%. Also, higher yield efficiency (biodiesel produced per unit energy consumed) was obtained for using the spinning disc reactor based approach as compared to the ultrasound hydrodynamic cavitation and conventional mechanical stirrer reactors. It obviously offers a significant reduction in the reaction time for the transesterification, especially when compared with the reaction time of 90 minutes required for the conventional mechanical stirrer. It can be concluded that the spinning disk reactor is a promising alternative method for continuous biodiesel production.Keywords: spinning disc reactor, biodiesel, process intensification, yield efficiency
Procedia PDF Downloads 1596941 A Kinetic Study on Recovery of High-Purity Rutile TiO₂ Nanoparticles from Titanium Slag Using Sulfuric Acid under Sonochemical Procedure
Authors: Alireza Bahramian
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High-purity TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) with size ranging between 50 nm and 100 nm are synthesized from titanium slag through sulphate route under sonochemical procedure. The effect of dissolution parameters such as the sulfuric acid/slag weight ratio, caustic soda concentration, digestion temperature and time, and initial particle size of the dried slag on the extraction efficiency of TiO₂ and removal of iron are examined. By optimizing the digestion conditions, a rutile TiO₂ powder with surface area of 42 m²/g and mean pore diameter of 22.4 nm were prepared. A thermo-kinetic analysis showed that the digestion temperature has an important effect, while the acid/slag weight ratio and initial size of the slag has a moderate effect on the dissolution rate. The shrinking-core model including both chemical surface reaction and surface diffusion is used to describe the leaching process. A low value of activation energy, 38.12 kJ/mol, indicates the surface chemical reaction model is a rate-controlling step. The kinetic analysis suggested a first order reaction mechanism with respect to the acid concentrations.Keywords: TiO₂ nanoparticles, titanium slag, dissolution rate, sonochemical method, thermo-kinetic study
Procedia PDF Downloads 2596940 The Effect of Vitamin D Deficiency on Endothelial Function in Atherosclerosis Patients Living in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Wedad Azhar
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Vitamin D is an essential fat-soluble vitamin that is required for the maintenance of good health. It is obtained either through exposure to sunlight (ultraviolet B radiation) or through dietary sources. The role of vitamin D is beyond bone health. Indeed, it plays a critical role in the immune system and a broad range of organ functions such as the cardiovascular system. Moreover, vitamin D plays a critical role in the endothelial function, which is one of the main indicators of atherosclerosis. This study is investigating the correlation between vitamin D status and endothelial function in preventing and treating atherosclerosis especially in country that has ample of sunshine but yet, Saudis from suffering from this issue vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. Ninety participants from both genders and aged 40 to 60will be involved. The participants will be categorised into three groups: the control group will be healthy persons, patients at risk of developing atherosclerosis, patients formally diagnosed atherosclerosis. Half of the participants in each group should already have been taking vitamin D supplementations. Fasting blood samples will be taken from the participants for biochemical assays. Endothelial function will be assist by flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery. Participants will be asked to complete a questionnaire on their social and economic status, education level, daily exposure to sunlight, smoking status, consumption of supplements and medication, and a food frequency of vitamin D intake. The data will be analysed using SPSS.Keywords: atherosclerosis, endothelial function, nutrition, vitamin D
Procedia PDF Downloads 2966939 Esterification Reaction of Stearic Acid with Methanol Over Surface Functionalised PAN Fibrous Solid Acid Catalyst
Authors: Rawaz A. Ahmed, Katherine Huddersman
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High-lipid Fats, Oils and Grease (FOGs) from wastewater are underutilized despite their potential for conversion into valuable fuels; this work describes a surface-functionalized fibrous Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) mesh as a novel heterogeneous acid catalyst for the conversion of free fatty acids (FFAs), via a catalytic esterification process into biodiesel. The esterification of stearic acid (SA) with methanol was studied over an acidified PAN solid acid catalyst. Disappearance of the carboxylic acid (C=O) peak of the stearic acid at 1696 cm-1 in the FT-IR spectrum with the associated appearance of the ester (C=O) peak at 1739 cm-1 confirmed the production of the methyl stearate. This was further supported by 1H NMR spectra with the appearance of the ester (-CH₂OCOR) at 3.60-3.70 ppm. Quantitate analysis by GC-FID showed the catalyst has excellent activity with >95 % yield of methyl stearate (MS) at 90 ◦C after 3 h and a molar ratio of methanol to SA of 35:1. To date, to our best knowledge, there is no research in the literature on the esterification reaction for biodiesel production using a modified PAN mesh as a catalyst. It is noteworthy that this acidified PAN mesh catalyst showed comparable activity to conventional Brönsted acids, namely H₂SO₄ and p-TSA, as well as exhibiting higher activity than various other heterogeneous catalysts such as zeolites, ion-exchange resins and acid clay.Keywords: fats oil and greases (FOGs), free fatty acid, esterification reaction, methyl ester, PAN
Procedia PDF Downloads 2486938 An Eco-Friendly Preparations of Izonicotinamide Quaternary Salts in Deep Eutectic Solvents
Authors: Dajana Gašo-Sokač, Valentina Bušić
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Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are liquids composed of two or three safe, inexpensive components, often interconnected by noncovalent hydrogen bonds which produce eutectic mixture whose melting point is lower than that of each component. No data in literature have been found on the quaternization reaction in DES. The use of DES have several advantages: they are environmentally benign and biodegradable, easy for purification and simple for preparation. An environmentally sustainable method for preparing quaternary salts of izonicotinamide and substituted 2-bromoacetophenones was demonstrated here using choline chloride-based DES. The quaternization reaction was carried out by three synthetic approaches: conventional method, microwave and ultrasonic irradiation. We showed that the highest yields were obtained by the microwave method.Keywords: deep eutectic solvents, izonicotinamide salts, microwave synthesis, ultrasonic irradiation
Procedia PDF Downloads 1336937 Chromatographic Preparation and Performance on Zinc Ion Imprinted Monolithic Column and Its Adsorption Property
Authors: X. Han, S. Duan, C. Liu, C. Zhou, W. Zhu, L. Kong
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The ionic imprinting technique refers to the three-dimensional rigid structure with the fixed pore sizes, which was formed by the binding interactions of ions and functional monomers and used ions as the template, it has a high level of recognition to the ionic template. The preparation of monolithic column by the in-situ polymerization need to put the compound of template, functional monomers, cross-linking agent and initiating agent into the solution, dissolve it and inject to the column tube, and then the compound will have a polymerization reaction at a certain temperature, after the synthetic reaction, we washed out the unread template and solution. The monolithic columns are easy to prepare, low consumption and cost-effective with fast mass transfer, besides, they have many chemical functions. But the monolithic columns have some problems in the practical application, such as low-efficiency, quantitative analysis cannot be performed accurately because of the peak shape is wide and has tailing phenomena; the choice of polymerization systems is limited and the lack of theoretical foundations. Thus the optimization of components and preparation methods is an important research direction. During the preparation of ionic imprinted monolithic columns, pore-forming agent can make the polymer generate the porous structure, which can influence the physical properties of polymer, what’ s more, it can directly decide the stability and selectivity of polymerization reaction. The compounds generated in the pre-polymerization reaction could directly decide the identification and screening capabilities of imprinted polymer; thus the choice of pore-forming agent is quite critical in the preparation of imprinted monolithic columns. This article mainly focuses on the research that when using different pore-forming agents, the impact of zinc ion imprinted monolithic column on the enrichment performance of zinc ion.Keywords: high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ionic imprinting, monolithic column, pore-forming agent
Procedia PDF Downloads 2186936 Spark Plasma Sintering of Aluminum-Based Composites Reinforced by Nanocrystalline Carbon-Coated Intermetallic Particles
Authors: B. Z. Manuel, H. D. Esmeralda, H. S. Felipe, D. R. Héctor, D. de la Torre Sebastián, R. L. Diego
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Aluminum Matrix Composites reinforced with nanocrystalline Ni3Al carbon-coated intermetallic particles, were synthesized by powder metallurgy. Powder mixture of aluminum with 0.5-volume fraction of reinforcement particles was compacted by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique and the compared with conventional sintering process. The better results for SPS technique were obtained in 520ºC-5kN-3min.The hardness (70.5±8 HV) and the elastic modulus (95 GPa) were evaluated in function of sintering conditions for SPS technique; it was found that the incorporation of these kind of reinforcement particles in aluminum matrix improve its mechanical properties. The densities were about 94% and 97% of the theoretical density. The carbon coating avoided the interfacial reaction between matrix-particle at high temperature (520°C) without show composition change either intermetallic dissolution.Keywords: aluminum matrix composites, intermetallics, spark plasma sintering, nanocrystalline
Procedia PDF Downloads 4576935 Decay Analysis of 118Xe* Nucleus Formed in 28Si Induced Reaction
Authors: Manoj K. Sharma, Neha Grover
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Dynamical cluster decay model (DCM) is applied to study the decay mechanism of 118Xe* nucleus in reference to recent data on 28Si + 90Zr → 118Xe* reaction, as an extension of our previous work on the dynamics of 112Xe* nucleus. It is relevant to mention here that DCM is based on collective clusterization approach, where emission probability of different decay paths such as evaporation residue (ER), intermediate mass fragments (IMF) and fission etc. is worked out on parallel scale. Calculations have been done over a wide range of center of mass energies with Ec.m. = 65 - 92 MeV. The evaporation residue (ER) cross-sections of 118Xe* compound nucleus are fitted in reference to available data, using spherical and quadrupole (β2) deformed choice of decaying fragments within the optimum orientations approach. It may be noted that our calculated cross-sections find decent agreement with experimental data and hence provide an opportunity to analyze the exclusive role of deformations in view of fragmentation behavior of 118Xe* nucleus. The possible contribution of IMF fragments is worked out and an extensive effort is being made to analyze the role of excitation energy, angular momentum, diffuseness parameter and level density parameter to have better understanding of the decay patterns governed in the dynamics of 28Si + 90Zr → 118Xe* reaction.Keywords: cross-sections, deformations, fragmentation, angular momentum
Procedia PDF Downloads 3236934 A Deterministic Approach for Solving the Hull and White Interest Rate Model with Jump Process
Authors: Hong-Ming Chen
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This work considers the resolution of the Hull and White interest rate model with the jump process. A deterministic process is adopted to model the random behavior of interest rate variation as deterministic perturbations, which is depending on the time t. The Brownian motion and jumps uncertainty are denoted as the integral functions piecewise constant function w(t) and point function θ(t). It shows that the interest rate function and the yield function of the Hull and White interest rate model with jump process can be obtained by solving a nonlinear semi-infinite programming problem. A relaxed cutting plane algorithm is then proposed for solving the resulting optimization problem. The method is calibrated for the U.S. treasury securities at 3-month data and is used to analyze several effects on interest rate prices, including interest rate variability, and the negative correlation between stock returns and interest rates. The numerical results illustrate that our approach essentially generates the yield functions with minimal fitting errors and small oscillation.Keywords: optimization, interest rate model, jump process, deterministic
Procedia PDF Downloads 1626933 Impact of Motor Behaviour Aspects of Autism on Cognitive Ability in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Rana Zeina
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Cognitive and behavioral symptoms may, in fact, overlap and be related to the level of the general cognitive function. We measured the behavioral aspects of autism and its correlation to the cognitive ability in 30 children with ASD. We used a neuropsychological battery CANTAB eclipse to evaluate the ASD children's cognitive ability. Individuals with ASDs and challenging behaviors showed significant correlation between some cognitive abilities and motor behavior aspects. Based on these findings we can conclude that the motor behavioral problems in autism affect specific cognitive abilities in ASDs such as comprehension, learning, reversal, acquisition, attention set shifting, and speed of reaction to one stimulus. Future research should also focus on the relationship between motor stereotypes and other subtypes of repetitive behaviors, such as verbal stereotypes, and ritual and routine adherence and use different types of CANTAB tests.Keywords: cognitive ability, CANTAB test, behaviour motor aspects, autism spectrum disorders
Procedia PDF Downloads 4996932 Hybrid Approximate Structural-Semantic Frequent Subgraph Mining
Authors: Montaceur Zaghdoud, Mohamed Moussaoui, Jalel Akaichi
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Frequent subgraph mining refers usually to graph matching and it is widely used in when analyzing big data with large graphs. A lot of research works dealt with structural exact or inexact graph matching but a little attention is paid to semantic matching when graph vertices and/or edges are attributed and typed. Therefore, it seems very interesting to integrate background knowledge into the analysis and that extracted frequent subgraphs should become more pruned by applying a new semantic filter instead of using only structural similarity in graph matching process. Consequently, this paper focuses on developing a new hybrid approximate structuralsemantic graph matching to discover a set of frequent subgraphs. It uses simultaneously an approximate structural similarity function based on graph edit distance function and a possibilistic vertices similarity function based on affinity function. Both structural and semantic filters contribute together to prune extracted frequent set. Indeed, new hybrid structural-semantic frequent subgraph mining approach searches will be suitable to be applied to several application such as community detection in social networks.Keywords: approximate graph matching, hybrid frequent subgraph mining, graph mining, possibility theory
Procedia PDF Downloads 4096931 Entropy Generation of Unsteady Reactive Hydromagnetic Generalized Couette Fluid Flow of a Two-Step Exothermic Chemical Reaction Through a Channel
Authors: Rasaq Kareem, Jacob Gbadeyan
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In this study, analysis of the entropy generation of an unsteady reactive hydromagnetic generalized couette fluid flow of a two-step exothermic chemical reaction through a channel with isothermal wall temperature under the influence of different chemical kinetics namely: Sensitized, Arrhenius and Bimolecular kinetics was investigated. The modelled nonlinear dimensionless equations governing the fluid flow were simplified and solved using the combined Laplace Differential Transform Method (LDTM). The effects of fluid parameters associated with the problem on the fluid temperature, entropy generation rate and Bejan number were discussed and presented through graphs.Keywords: couette, entropy, exothermic, unsteady
Procedia PDF Downloads 5196930 Organization of the Purchasing Function for Innovation
Authors: Jasna Prester, Ivana Rašić Bakarić, Božidar Matijević
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Various prominent scholars and substantial practitioner-oriented literature on innovation orientation have shown positive effects on firm performance. There is a myriad of factors that influence and enhance innovation but it has been found in the literature that new product innovations accounted for an average of 14 percent of sales revenues for all firms. If there is one thing that has changed in innovation management during the last decade, it is the growing reliance on external partners. As a consequence, a new task for purchasing arises, as firms need to understand which suppliers actually do have high potential contributing to the innovativeness of the firm and which do not. Purchasing function in an organization is extremely important as it deals on an average of 50% or more of a firm's expenditures. In the nineties the purchasing department was largely seen as a transaction-oriented, clerical function but today purchasing integration provides a formal interface mechanism between purchasing and other firm functions that services other functions within the company. Purchasing function has to be organized differently to enable firm innovation potential. However, innovations are inherently risky. There are behavioral risk (that some partner will take advantage of the other party), technological risk in terms of complexity of products and processes of manufacturing and incoming materials and finally market risks, which in fact judge the value of the innovation. These risks are investigated in this work since it has been found in the literature that the higher the technological risk, higher will be the centralization of the purchasing function as an interface with other supply chain members. Most researches on organization of purchasing function were done by case study analysis of innovative firms. This work actually tends to prove or discard results found in the literature based on case study method. A large data set of 1493 companies, from 25 countries collected in the GMRG 4 survey served as a basis for analysis.Keywords: purchasing function organization, innovation, technological risk, GMRG 4 survey
Procedia PDF Downloads 4856929 The Impact of Transformational Leadership and Interpersonal Interaction on Mentoring Function
Authors: Ching-Yuan Huang, Rhay-Hung Weng, Yi-Ting Chen
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Mentoring functions will improve new nurses' job performance, provide support with new nurses, and then reduce the turnover rate of them. This study explored the impact of transformational leadership and interpersonal interaction on mentoring functions. We employed a questionnaire survey to collect data and selected a sample of new nurses from three hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 306 valid surveys were obtained. Multiple regression model analysis was conducted to test the study hypothesis. Inspirational motivation, idealized influence, and individualized consideration had a positive influence on overall mentoring function, but intellectual stimulation had a positive influence on career development function only. Perceived similarity and interaction frequency also had positive influences on mentoring functions. When the shift overlap rate exceeded 80%, mentoring function experienced a negative result. The transformational leadership of mentors actually would improve the mentoring functions among new staff nurses. Perceived similarity and interaction frequency between mentees and mentors also had a positive influence on mentoring functions. Managers should enhance the transformational leadership of mentors by designing leadership training and motivation programs. Furthermore, nursing managers should promote the interaction between new staff nurses and their mentors, but the shift overlap rate should not exceed 80%.Keywords: interpersonal interaction, mentoring function, mentor, new nurse, transformational leadership
Procedia PDF Downloads 3366928 Pollutants Removal from Synthetic Wastewater by the Combined Electrochemical Sequencing Batch Reactor
Authors: Amin Mojiri, Akiyoshi Ohashi, Tomonori Kindaichi
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Synthetic domestic wastewater was treated via combining treatment methods, including electrochemical oxidation, adsorption, and sequencing batch reactor (SBR). In the upper part of the reactor, an anode and a cathode (Ti/RuO2-IrO2) were organized in parallel for the electrochemical oxidation procedure. Sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) with a concentration of 2.5 g/L was applied as the electrolyte. The voltage and current were fixed on 7.50 V and 0.40 A, respectively. Then, 15% working value of the reactor was filled by activated sludge, and 85% working value of the reactor was added with synthetic wastewater. Powdered cockleshell, 1.5 g/L, was added in the reactor to do ion-exchange. Response surface methodology was employed for statistical analysis. Reaction time (h) and pH were considered as independent factors. A total of 97.0% biochemical oxygen demand, 99.9% phosphorous and 88.6% cadmium were eliminated at the optimum reaction time (80.0 min) and pH (6.4).Keywords: adsorption, electrochemical oxidation, metals, SBR
Procedia PDF Downloads 2146927 System Identification and Controller Design for a DC Electrical Motor
Authors: Armel Asongu Nkembi, Ahmad Fawad
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The aim of this paper is to determine in a concise way the transfer function that characterizes a DC electrical motor with a helix. In practice it can be obtained by applying a particular input to the system and then, based on the observation of its output, determine an approximation to the transfer function of the system. In our case, we use a step input and find the transfer function parameters that give the simulated first-order time response. The simulation of the system is done using MATLAB/Simulink. In order to determine the parameters, we assume a first order system and use the Broida approximation to determine the parameters and then its Mean Square Error (MSE). Furthermore, we design a PID controller for the control process first in the continuous time domain and tune it using the Ziegler-Nichols open loop process. We then digitize the controller to obtain a digital controller since most systems are implemented using computers, which are digital in nature.Keywords: transfer function, step input, MATLAB, Simulink, DC electrical motor, PID controller, open-loop process, mean square process, digital controller, Ziegler-Nichols
Procedia PDF Downloads 636926 Nanohybride Porphyrin and Silver as an Efficient Catalyst for Oxidation of Alcohols by Tetrabutylammonium Peroxomonosulfate
Authors: Atena Naeimi, Asghar Amiri, Zahra Ghasemi
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A stable suspension of nanocomposite simple manganese(III) meso-tetraphenylporphyrin nanoaggregates and Ag was prepared by a host–guest procedure, in which ethanol and water are used as ‘green’ solvents. The oxidation of alcohols by tetrabutylammonium Peroxomonosulfate(TP) were efficiently enhanced with excellent selectivity under the influence of simple Mn(TPP)OAc (TPP = meso-tetraphenylporphyrin) nanoparticles. Enhanced stabilities and activities were achieved with nanostructured Mn catalysts compared to those of the individual counterparts in solution according to turnover numbers and UV/Vis studies. The title nanocatalyst facilitates a greener reaction because the reaction solvent is water and TP is safe to use. The efficiency of the oxidation system depends critically upon the steric hindrances and electronic structures of both nitrogen donor ligand sand porphyrin nanoparticles.Keywords: oxidation, nanoaggregates, porphyrinoids, silver
Procedia PDF Downloads 297