Search results for: mode choice Behavior

Authors: Jorge Prada, Christina Cordes, Carsten Harms, Walter Lang

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The development of microfluidic-based biosensors over the last years has shown an increasing employ of thermoplastic polymers as constitutive material. Their low-cost production, high replication fidelity, biocompatibility and optical-mechanical properties are sought after for the implementation of disposable albeit functional lab-on-chip solutions. Among the range of thermoplastic materials on use, the Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer (COC) stands out due to its optical transparency, which makes it a frequent choice as manufacturing material for fluorescence-based biosensors. Moreover, several processing techniques to complete a closed COC microfluidic biosensor have been discussed in the literature. The reported techniques differ however in their implementation, and therefore potentially add more or less complexity when using it in a mass production process. This work introduces and reports results on the application of a purely thermal bonding process between COC substrates, which were produced by the hot-embossing process, and COC foils containing screen-printed circuits. The proposed procedure takes advantage of the transition temperature difference between two COC grades foils to accomplish the sealing of the microfluidic channels. Patterned heat injection to the COC foil through the COC substrate is applied, resulting in consistent channel geometry uniformity. Measurements on bond strength and bursting pressure are shown, suggesting that this purely thermal bonding process potentially renders a technique which can be easily adapted into the thermoplastic microfluidic chip production workflow, while enables a low-cost as well as high-quality COC biosensor manufacturing process.

Keywords: biosensor, cyclo-olefin copolymer, hot embossing, thermal bonding, thermoplastics

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Authors: R. F. Vieira, S. A. Figueiredo, O. M. Freitas, V. F. Domingues, C. Delerue-Matos

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The presence of sulphur compounds like hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans is one of the reasons for waste-water treatment and waste management being associated with odour emissions. In this context having a quantifying method for these compounds helps in the optimization of treatment with the goal of their elimination, namely biofiltration processes. The aim of this study was the development of a method for quantification of odorous gases in waste treatment plants air samples. A method based on head space solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography - flame photometric detector (GC-FPD) was used to analyse H2S and Metil Mercaptan (MM). The extraction was carried out with a 75-μm Carboxen-polydimethylsiloxane fiber coating at 22 ºC for 20 min, and analysed by a GC 2010 Plus A from Shimadzu with a sulphur filter detector: splitless mode (0.3 min), the column temperature program was from 60 ºC, increased by 15 ºC/min to 100 ºC (2 min). The injector temperature was held at 250 ºC, and the detector at 260 ºC. For calibration curve a gas diluter equipment (digital Hovagas G2 - Multi Component Gas Mixer) was used to do the standards. This unit had two input connections, one for a stream of the dilute gas and another for a stream of nitrogen and an output connected to a glass bulb. A 40 ppm H2S and a 50 ppm MM cylinders were used. The equipment was programmed to the selected concentration, and it automatically carried out the dilution to the glass bulb. The mixture was left flowing through the glass bulb for 5 min and then the extremities were closed. This method allowed the calibration between 1-20 ppm for H2S and 0.02-0.1 ppm and 1-3.5 ppm for MM. Several quantifications of air samples from inlet and outlet of a biofilter operating in a waste management facility in the north of Portugal allowed the evaluation the biofilters performance.

Keywords: biofiltration, hydrogen sulphide, mercaptans, quantification

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Authors: Young Hee Geum

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In this paper,we develop the complex dynamics of a family of optimal fourth-order multiple-root solvers and plot their basins of attraction. Mobius conjugacy maps and extraneous fixed points applied to a prototype quadratic polynomial raised to the power of the known integer multiplicity m are investigated. A 300 x 300 uniform grid centered at the origin covering 3 x 3 square region is chosen to visualize the initial values on each basin of attraction in accordance with a coloring scheme based on their dynamical behavior. The illustrative basins of attractions applied to various test polynomials and the corresponding statistical data for convergence are shown to confirm the theoretical convergence.

Keywords: basin of attraction, conjugacy, fourth-order, multiple-root finder

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Authors: R. Ziaie Moayed, B. Mohammadi-Haji

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Stone columns have been widely employing to improve the load-settlement characteristics of soft soils. The results of two small scale displacement control loading tests on stone columns were used in order to validate numerical finite element simulations. Additionally, a series of numerical calculations of static loading have been performed on strengthened raft footing to investigate the effects of using stone columns on bearing capacity of footings. The bearing capacity of single and group of stone columns under static loading compares with unimproved ground.

Keywords: circular raft footing, numerical analysis, validation, vertically encased stone column

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Authors: Radovan Cobanovic, Milica Rankov-Sicar

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The fresh cake is in the group of perishable food which cannot be kept a long period of time. The study of sustainability has been done in order to extend the shelf-life of the product which was 10 days. According to the plan of sustainability, it was defined that 5 samples had to be stored for 20 days at max +8°C and analyzed every 5th day from the day of reception until the 20th day. The shelf life of cake has expired during the study of sustainability in the period between 10th and 20th day of analyses. Cake samples were subjected to sensory analysis (appearance, odor, taste, color, aroma) and bacteriological analysis (Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp. and Enterobacteriaceae) according to Serbian state regulation. All analysis were tested according to ISO methodology: sensory analysis ISO 6658, Listeria monocytogenes ISO 11290-1, Salmonella spp ISO 6579, and Enterobacteriaceae ISO 21258-2. Analyses showed that after ten days of storage at a temperature defined by the manufacturers and within the product's shelf life, the cake did not have any noticeable changes in sensory characteristics. Smell and taste are unaffected there was no presence of strange smell or taste. As far as microbiological analyses are concerned, neither one pathogen was detected and number of Enterobacteriaceae was at level less than 102 cfu/g. After expiry of shelf life in a period of 15th and 20th day of storage, the sensory analysis showed the presence of strange sour-milky smell and rancid taste. Concerning microbiological analyses, there still were not positive results for pathogen microorganisms but the number of Enterobacteriaceae was at level more than 103cfu/g. Reviewing the results of sensory analysis indicates that it is not recommended to extend the shelf-life of the product comparing to the already defined shelf-life because occurred changes may adversely affect the consumer desire for the choice of this product.

Keywords: confectionary product, extension of shelf life, sensory and microbiological analyses, sustainability

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Authors: Farrah Anne Robert, Robert McClelland, Seng Kiat Kok

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Higher education service quality is widely regarded as key factors in the long term success of a higher education institution in attracting and retaining students. This research attempted to establish the impact of service quality on recruiting and retaining students in private higher education institutions (PHEI’s). 501 local and international students responded to a 49 item educational service measure questionnaire from PHEIs in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, two states in Malaysia which together account for 60% of private colleges in Malaysia. Results from this research revealed that, inter-alia, facilities, employability, management and administration services, academic staff competence, curriculum and student overall experiences were key driving factors in attracting and retaining students. Lack of “campus-like building” facilities and lecturer’s effectiveness in delivering lectures were keys concerns in the provision of service quality by PHEI’s in Malaysia. Over the last decade, the Government of Malaysia has set a target of recruiting 200,000 international students to study in Malaysia by PHEI’s and PHEI’s have failed to achieve this target. This research suggests that service quality issues identified above are impacting efforts to recruit and retain both local and international students by PHEIs. The researcher recommends that further and detailed research be carried on these factors and its impact on recruitment and retention. PHEI administrators can benefit from this research by conducting an evaluation of service measures delivered in their institutions and take corrective measures. Prospective students can benefit from this study by including in their choice factors the “service quality delivery” of PHEI’s when deciding to enroll in a particular PHEI.

Keywords: higher education, recruitment, retention, service quality

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Authors: Shaher Bano, Samia Fida, Asif Israr

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The continuous development and exploitation of materials and designs have diverted the attention of the world towards the use of robust composite materials known as fiber-metal laminates in many high-performance applications. The hybrid structure of fiber metal laminates makes them a material of choice for various applications such as aircraft skin panels, fuselage floorings, door panels and other load bearing applications. The synergistic effect of properties of metals and fibers reinforced laminates are responsible for their high damage tolerance as the metal element provides better fatigue and impact properties, while high stiffness and better corrosion properties are inherited from the fiber reinforced matrix systems. They are mostly used as a layered structure in different joint configurations such as lap and but joints. The FML layers are usually bonded with each other using either mechanical fasteners or adhesive bonds. This research work is also focused on modification of an adhesive bonded joint as a single lap joint of carbon fibers based CARALL FML has been modified to increase interlaminar shear strength and avoid delamination. For this purpose different joint modification techniques such as the introduction of spews and shoulder to modify the bond shape and use of nanofillers such as carbon nano-tubes as a reinforcement in the adhesive materials, have been utilized to improve shear strength of lap joint of the adhesively bonded FML layers. Both the simulation and experimental results showed that lap joint with spews and shoulders configuration have better properties due to stress distribution over a large area at the corner of the joint. The introduction of carbon nanotubes has also shown a positive effect on shear stress and joint strength as they act as reinforcement in the adhesive bond material.

Keywords: adhesive joint, Carbon Reinforced Aluminium Laminate (CARALL), fiber metal laminates, spews

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Authors: Meryem Zarri, Mohame Tahiri, Fouad Amraoui

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In the context of water resources shortage that Morocco is experiencing in recent years, the mobilization of non-conventional resources becomes a necessity. The reuse of treated water and the bioconversion of biological sewage sludge into value-added products is considered an environmentally friendly and economical approach to the management of this significant resource which represent at least 80 % of consumed fresh wate In this work, we compare the quality of treated water and sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants in the peri-urban Casablanca by analyzing different physicochemical and bacteriological parameters. The choice was made for three wastewater plants installed in different regions and monitored either by LYDEC and Commune of Had Soualem and use different technologies. Recycling of treated water in agriculture and watering of green spaces is dependent on the compliance of the parameters with international standards (WHO, FAO, …etc.) The preliminary tests of the samples taken during the second half of the year 2021 showed that the advanced technologies put in place at the level of the Mediouna and the airport zone stations (membrane reactor and activated sludge, respectively) give water to the output of the stations more respectful of the standards required in terms of physicochemical parameters (pH, Conductivity, Tubidity, COD, BOD5, TNK, and TPK) and bacteriological (fecal germs, Escherichia Coli, streptococci, Helminthes eggs). The parameters relating to the Had Soualem natural lagoon station are generally at the tolerance’s threshold. The results of analyzes relating to the residual sludge collected at the end of the cycle are, on the whole satisfactory despite a fluctuating variability of the bacteriological parameters.

Keywords: urban wastewater treatment plants, purified wastewater, sewage sludge, physicochemical parameters, bacteriological parameters, peri-urban area of ​​casablanca, morocco

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Authors: Hui-Tzu Lin, Wen-Ying Lin, Jenn-Wu Wang

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The purpose of present research is to investigate whether the global coherence of moral thinking is increased by age. The author utilized two kinds of moral situations to evaluate the subjects’ responses to two contradictive arguments concerning behavior of stealing, cheating in an exam, each with two stories. The two stories will be focused on the main lead and provided two contradictory moral evaluations. Participants were 596 primary schoolchildren in Taiwan. The three age groups were 201 in grade two, 183 in grade three, and 212 in grade six. The result showed that sixth graders’ moral judgment is more coherent than third graders’. The coherence of moral thinking is increased by age which support the implication by Piaget and Kohlberg’s theoretical hypothesis. This indicates that people higher ability to detect contradiction may be involved in the development of the coherence of moral thinking.

Keywords: moral thinking, coherence, local coherence, contradiction, global coherence, cognitive development

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Authors: Kittivate Boonyopakorn

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The purposes of this study were to investigate the method of the English use of the businessmen and to study their behavior of the utilization for the ASEAN economic community. The participants were divided into the three types of the merchants including the construction contractors, the construction material traders, and SME entrepreneurs. Survey questionnaires and interviews were used in this study. The findings showed that in the type of traders, 23 of the participants are construction contractors, 121 are construction material traders, and 206 are SME entrepreneurs. The study of English in language institute is highly 51.4%. The use of Google in translating English into Thai is 41.7%. Learning English themselves is 41.1% respectively. The businessmen study English for readiness for their trade.

Keywords: way of rnglish use, businessmen, ASEAN economic community, Chonburi province

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Authors: Mariateresa Torchia, Helene Cristini, Hannele Kauppinen

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Leadership plays a vital role in organizations. Leaders provide directions and facilitate the processes that enable organizations to achieve their goals and objectives. However, while productivity and financial objectives are often given the greatest emphasis, leaders also have the responsibility for instituting standards of ethical conduct and moral values that guide the behavior of employees. Leaders’ behaviors such as support, empowerment and a high-quality relationship with their employees might not only prevent stress, but also improve employees’ stress coping meanwhile contributing to their affective well-being. Stemming from Girard’s Mimetic Theory, this study aims at understanding how leaders can foster well-being in organizations. To do so, we explore which is the role leaders play in conflict management, resentment management and negative emotions dissipation. Furthermore, we examine whether and to what extent religiosity impacts the way in which leaders operate in relation to employees’ well-being. Indeed, given that organizational values are crucial to ethical behavior and firms’ values may be steeled by a deep sense of spirituality and religious identification, there is a need to take a closer look at the role religion and spirituality play in influencing the way leaders impact employees’ well-being. Thus, religion might work as an overarching logic that provides a set of principles guiding leaders’ everyday practices and relations with employees. We answer our research questions using a qualitative approach. We interviewed 27 Christian leaders (members of the Christian Entrepreneurs and Leaders Association – EDC, a non-profit organization created in 1926 including 3,000 French Christian Leaders & Entrepreneurs). Our results show that well-being can have a different meaning in relation to the type of companies, size, culture, country of analysis. Moreover the values and believes of leaders influence the way they see and foster well-being among employees. Furthermore, leaders can have both a positive or negative impact on well-being. Indeed on the one side, they could increase well-being in the company while on the other hand, they could be the source of resentment and conflicts among employees. Finally, we observed that Christian leaders possess characteristics that are sometimes missing in leaders (humility, inability to compare with others, attempt to be coherent with their values and beliefs, interest in the common good instead of the personal interest, having tougher dilemmas, collectively undertaking the firm). Moreover the Christian leader believes that the common good should come before personal interest. In other words, to them, not only short –termed profit shouldn’t guide strategical decisions but also leaders should feel responsible for their employees’ well-being. Last but not least, the study is not an apologia of Christian, yet it discusses the implications of these values through the light of Girard’s mimetic theory for both theory and practice.

Keywords: Christian leaders, employees well-being, leadership, mimetic theory

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Authors: Seyed Sadegh Naseralavi, Sadegh Balaghi, Ehsan Khojastehfar

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Time history seismic analysis is supposed to be the most accurate method to predict the seismic demand of structures. On the other hand, the required computational time of this method toward achieving the result is its main deficiency. While being applied in optimization process, in which the structure must be analyzed thousands of time, reducing the required computational time of seismic analysis of structures makes the optimization algorithms more practical. Apparently, the invented approximate methods produce some amount of errors in comparison with exact time history analysis but the recently proposed method namely, Complete Quadratic Combination (CQC) and Sum Root of the Sum of Squares (SRSS) drastically reduces the computational time by combination of peak responses in each mode. In the present research, the Basic Modal Displacement (BMD) method is introduced and applied towards estimation of seismic demand of main structure. Seismic demand of sampled structure is estimated by calculation of modal displacement of basic structure (in which the modal displacement has been calculated). Shear steel sampled structures are selected as case studies. The error applying the introduced method is calculated by comparison of the estimated seismic demands with exact time history dynamic analysis. The efficiency of the proposed method is demonstrated by application of three types of earthquakes (in view of time of peak ground acceleration).

Keywords: time history dynamic analysis, basic modal displacement, earthquake-induced demands, shear steel structures

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Authors: Saied Farham-Nia, Alireza Ghaffari-Hadigheh

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Game theory is a mathematical tool to study the behaviors of a rational and strategic decision-makers, that analyze existing equilibrium in interest conflict situation and provides an appropriate mechanisms for cooperation between two or more player. Game theory is applicable for any strategic and interest conflict situation in politics, management and economics, sociology and etc. Real worlds’ decisions are usually made in the state of indeterminacy and the players often are lack of the information about the other players’ payoffs or even his own, which leads to the games in uncertain environments. When historical data for decision parameters distribution estimation is unavailable, we may have no choice but to use expertise belief degree, which represents the strength with that we believe the event will happen. To deal with belief degrees, we have use uncertainty theory which is introduced and developed by Liu based on normality, duality, subadditivity and product axioms to modeling personal belief degree. As we know, the personal belief degree heavily depends on the personal knowledge concerning the event and when personal knowledge changes, cause changes in the belief degree too. Uncertainty theory not only theoretically is self-consistent but also is the best among other theories for modeling belief degree on practical problem. In this attempt, we primarily reintroduced Expected Utility Function in uncertainty environment according to uncertainty theory axioms to extract payoffs. Then, we employed Nash Equilibrium to investigate the solutions. For more practical issues, Stackelberg leader-follower Game and Bertrand Game, as a benchmark models are discussed. Compared to existing articles in the similar topics, the game models and solution concepts introduced in this article can be a framework for problems in an uncertain competitive situation based on experienced expert’s belief degree.

Keywords: game theory, uncertainty theory, belief degree, uncertain expected value, Nash equilibrium

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Authors: Eduardo P. Wiechmann, Jorge A. Henríquez, Pablo E. Aqueveque, Luis G. Muñoz

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PV energy prices are declining rapidly. To take advantage of the benefits of those prices and lower the carbon footprint, operational practices must be modified. Undoubtedly, it challenges the electrowinning practice to operate at constant current throughout the day. This work presents a technology that contributes in providing modulation capacity to the electrode current distribution system. This is to raise the day time dc current and lower it at night. The system is a triple intercell bar that operates in current-source mode. The design is a capping board free dogbone type of bar that ensures an operation free of short circuits, hot swapability repairs and improved current balance. This current-source system eliminates the resetting currents circulating in equipotential bars. Twin auxiliary connectors are added to the main connectors providing secure current paths to bypass faulty or impaired contacts. All system conductive elements are positioned over a baseboard offering a large heat sink area to the ventilation of a facility. The system works with lower temperature than a conventional busbar. Of these attributes, the cathode current balance property stands out and is paramount for day/night modulation and the use of photovoltaic energy. A design based on a 3D finite element method model predicting electric and thermal performance under various industrial scenarios is presented. Preliminary results obtained in an electrowinning facility with industrial prototypes are included.

Keywords: electrowinning, intercell bars, PV energy, current modulation

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Authors: Claudia Cabezas-Zabala, Jairo Lindarte-Artunduaga, Carlos Mario Zuluaga-Dominguez

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Amaranth is an emerging pseudocereal rich in such essential nutrients as protein and dietary fiber, which was employed as an ingredient in the formulation of crackers to evaluate the rheological performance and sensory acceptability of the obtained food. A completely randomized factorial design was used with two factors: (A) ratio of wheat and amaranth flour used in the preparation of the dough, in proportion 90:10 and 80:20 (% w/w) and (B) two levels of inulin addition of 8.4% and 16.7 %, having two control doughs made from amaranth and wheat flour, respectively. Initially, the functional properties of the formulations mentioned were measured, showing no significant differences in the water absorption capacity (WAC) and swelling power (SP), having mean values between 1.66 and 1.81 g/g for WAC and between 1.75 and 1.86 g/g for SP, respectively. The amaranth flour had the highest water holding capacity (WHR) of 8.41 ± 0.15 g/g and emulsifying activity (EA) of 74.63 ± 1.89 g/g. Moreover, the rheological behavior, measured through the use of farinograph, extensograph, Mixolab, and falling index, showed that the formulation containing 20% of amaranth flour and 7.16% of inulin had a rheological behavior similar to the control produced exclusively with wheat flour, being the former, the one selected for the preparation of crackers. For this formulation, the farinograph showed a mixing tolerance index of 11 UB, indicating a strong and cohesive dough; likewise, the Mixolab showed dough reaches stability at 6.47 min, indicating a good resistance to mixing. On the other hand, the extensograph exhibited a dough resistance of 637 UB, as well as extensibility of 13.4 mm, which corresponds to a strong dough capable of resisting the laminate. Finally, the falling index was 318 s, which indicates the crumb will retain enough air to enhance the crispness of a characteristic cracker. Finally, a sensory consumer test did not show significant differences in the evaluation of aroma between the control and the selected formulation, while this latter had a significantly lower rating in flavor. However, a purchase intention of 70 % was observed among the population surveyed. The results obtained in this work give perspectives for the industrial use of amaranth in baked goods. Additionally, amaranth has been a product typically linked to indigenous populations in the Andean South American countries; therefore, the search for diversification and alternatives of use for this pseudocereal has an impact on the social and economic conditions of such communities. The technological versatility and nutritional quality of amaranth is an advantage for consumers, favoring the consumption of healthy products with important contributions of dietary fiber and protein.

Keywords: amaranth, crackers, rheology, pseudocereals, kneaded products

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Authors: Soran Aminiaghdam, Christian Rode, Reinhard Blickhan, Astrid Zech

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Despite considerable studies on the impact of imposed trunk posture on human walking, less is known about such locomotion while negotiating changes in ground level. The aim of this study was to investigate the behavior of the VBCOM in response to a two-fold expected perturbation, namely alterations in body posture and in ground level. To this end, the kinematic data and ground reaction forces of twelve able participants were collected. We analyzed the vertical position of the body center of mass (VBCOM) from the ground determined by the body segmental analysis method relative to the laboratory coordinate system at touchdown and toe-off instants during walking across uneven ground — characterized by perturbation contact (a 10-cm visible drop) and pre- and post-perturbation contacts — in comparison to unperturbed level contact while maintaining three postures (regular erect, ~30° and ~50° of trunk flexion from the vertical). The VBCOM was normalized to the distance between the greater trochanter marker and the lateral malleoli marker at the instant of TD. Moreover, we calculated the backward rotation during step-down as the difference of the maximum of the trunk angle in the pre-perturbation contact and the minimal trunk angle in the perturbation contact. Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs revealed contact-specific effects of posture on the VBCOM at touchdown (F = 5.96, p = 0.00). As indicated by the analysis of simple main effects, during unperturbed level and pre-perturbation contacts, no between-posture differences for the VBCOM at touchdown were found. In the perturbation contact, trunk-flexed gaits showed a significant increase of VBCOM as compared to the pre-perturbation contact. In the post-perturbation contact, the VBCOM demonstrated a significant decrease in all gait postures relative to the preceding corresponding contacts with no between-posture differences. Main effects of posture revealed that the VBCOM at toe-off significantly decreased in trunk-flexed gaits relative to the regular erect gait. For the main effect of contact, the VBCOM at toe-off demonstrated changes across perturbation and post-perturbation contacts as compared to the unperturbed level contact. Furthermore, participants exhibited a backward trunk rotation during step-down possibly to control the angular momentum of their whole body. A more pronounced backward trunk rotation (2- to 3-fold compared with level contacts) in trunk-flexed walking contributed to the observed elevated VBCOM during the step-down which may have facilitated drop negotiation. These results may shed light on the interaction between posture and locomotion in able gait, and specifically on the behavior of the body center of mass during perturbed locomotion.

Keywords: center of mass, perturbation, posture, uneven ground, walking

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Authors: Shashank Gahlaut, Chandrashekhar Sharan, J. P. Singh

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Increasing incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a big concern for the treatment of pathogenic diseases. The effect of treatment of patients with antibiotics often leads to the evolution of antibiotic resistance in the pathogens. The detection of antibiotic or antimicrobial resistant bacteria (microbes) is quite essential as it is becoming one of the big threats globally. Here we propose a novel technique to tackle this problem. We are taking a step forward to prevent the infections and diseases due to drug resistant microbes. This detection is based on some unique features of silver (a noble metal) nanorods (AgNRs) which are fabricated by a physical deposition method called thermal glancing angle deposition (GLAD). Silver nanorods are found to be highly sensitive and selective for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas. Color and water wetting (contact angle) of AgNRs are two parameters what are effected in the presence of this gas. H₂S is one of the major gaseous products evolved in the bacterial metabolic process. It is also known as gasotransmitter that transmits some biological singles in living systems. Nitric Oxide (NO) and Carbon mono oxide (CO) are two another members of this family. Orlowski (1895) observed the emission of H₂S by the bacteria for the first time. Most of the microorganism produce these gases. Here we are focusing on H₂S gas evolution to determine live/dead and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. AgNRs array has been used for the detection of H₂S from micro-organisms. A mobile app is also developed to make it easy, portable, user-friendly, and cost-effective.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, hydrogen sulfide, live and dead bacteria, mobile app

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Authors: Emmanuelle Maria, Pierre Crançon, Gaëtane Lespes

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Colloids are ubiquitous in the environment and are known to play a major role in enhancing the transport of trace elements, thus being an important vector for contaminants dispersion. Colloids study and characterization are necessary to improve our understanding of the fate of pollutants in the environment. However, in stream water and groundwater, colloids are often very poorly concentrated. It is therefore necessary to pre-concentrate colloids in order to get enough material for analysis, while preserving their initial structure. Many techniques are used to extract and/or pre-concentrate the colloidal phase from bulk aqueous phase, but yet there is neither reference method nor estimation of the impact of these different techniques on the colloids structure, as well as the bias introduced by the separation method. In the present work, we have tested and compared several methods of colloidal phase extraction/pre-concentration, and their impact on colloids properties, particularly their size distribution and their elementary composition. Ultrafiltration methods (frontal, tangential and centrifugal) have been considered since they are widely used for the extraction of colloids in natural waters. To compare these methods, a ‘synthetic groundwater’ was used as a reference. The size distribution (obtained by Field-Flow Fractionation (FFF)) and the chemical composition of the colloidal phase (obtained by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) and Total Organic Carbon analysis (TOC)) were chosen as comparison factors. In this way, it is possible to estimate the pre-concentration impact on the colloidal phase preservation. It appears that some of these methods preserve in a more efficient manner the colloidal phase composition while others are easier/faster to use. The choice of the extraction/pre-concentration method is therefore a compromise between efficiency (including speed and ease of use) and impact on the structural and chemical composition of the colloidal phase. In perspective, the use of these methods should enhance the consideration of colloidal phase in the transport of pollutants in environmental assessment studies and forensics.

Keywords: chemical composition, colloids, extraction, preconcentration methods, size distribution

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Authors: Martin Popescu D. Dana Maria

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The aims of this research are to broaden the study on the relationship between emotional intelligence and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). The study sample consisted in 441 Romanian employees from companies all over the country. Data has been collected through web surveys and processed with SPSS. The results indicated an average correlation between the two constructs and their sub variables, employees with a high level of emotional intelligence tend to be less aggressive. In addition, labeling was considered an individual difference which has the power to influence the level of employee aggression. A regression model was used to underline the importance of emotional intelligence together with labeling as predictors of CWB. Results have shown that this regression model enforces the assumption that labeling and emotional intelligence, taken together, predict CWB. Employees, who label themselves as victims and have a low degree of emotional intelligence, have a higher level of CWB.

Keywords: aggression, CWB, emotional intelligence, labeling

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Authors: Salim Belouettar, Kodjo Attipou

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The thermal wrinkling behavior of thin membranes is investigated. The Fourier double scale series are used to deduce the macroscopic membrane wrinkling equations. The obtained equations account for the global and local wrinkling modes. Numerical examples are conducted to assess the validity of the approach developed. Compared to the finite element full model, the present model needs only few degrees of freedom to recover accurately the bifurcation curves and wrinkling paths. Different parameters such as membrane’s aspect ratio, wave number, pre-stressed membranes are discussed from a numerical point of view and the properties of the wrinkles (critical load, wavelength, size and location) are presented.

Keywords: wrinkling, thermal stresses, Fourier series, thin membranes

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Authors: Babina Aryal

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Background: The diagnosis of pancreatitis is generally based on clinical and laboratory findings; however, Computed Tomography (CT) is an imaging technique of choice specially Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) shows morphological characteristic findings that allow for establishing the diagnosis of pancreatitis and determining the extent of disease severity which is done along with the administration of appropriate contrast medium. The purpose of this study was to compare Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI), Dose Length Product (DLP) and Effective Dose (ED) among male and female patients from Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) Pancreatitis Protocol. Methods: This retrospective study involved data collection based on clinical/laboratory/ultrasonography diagnosis of Pancreatitis and has undergone CECT Abdomen pancreatitis protocol. data collection involved detailed information about a patient's Age and Gender, Clinical history, Individual Computed Tomography Dose Index and Dose Length Product and effective dose. Results: We have retrospectively collected dose data from 150 among which 127 were males and 23 were females. The values obtained from the display of the CT screen were measured, calculated and compared to determine whether the CTDI, DLP and ED values were similar or not. CTDI for females was more as compared to males. The differences in CTDI values for females and males were 32.2087 and 37.1609 respectively. DLP values and Effective dose for both the genders did not show significant differences. Conclusion: This study concluded that there were no more significant changes in the DLP and ED values among both the genders however we noticed that female patients had more CTDI than males.

Keywords: computed tomography, contrast enhanced computed tomography, computed tomography dose index, dose length product, effective dose

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Authors: Mohammed Nadir Djedid, Abdallah Chouarfia

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Transparency of the system and its integration into the natural environment of the user are some of the important features of pervasive computing. But these characteristics that are considered as the strongest points of pervasive systems are also their weak points in terms of the user’s privacy. The privacy in pervasive systems involves more than the confidentiality of communications and concealing the identity of virtual users. The physical presence and behavior of the user in the pervasive space cannot be completely hidden and can reveal the secret of his/her identity and affect his/her privacy. This paper shows that the application of major techniques for protecting the user’s privacy still insufficient. A new solution named Shadow Protocol is proposed, which allows the users to authenticate and interact with the surrounding devices within an ubiquitous computing environment while preserving their privacy.

Keywords: pervasive systems, identification, authentication, privacy

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Authors: Jacky Liu

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This paper develops a team sports outcome prediction system with potential for wide-ranging applications across various disciplines. Despite significant advancements in predictive analytics, existing studies in sports outcome predictions possess considerable limitations, including insufficient feature engineering and underutilization of advanced machine learning techniques, among others. To address these issues, we extend the Sports Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (SRP-CRISP-DM) framework and propose a unique, comprehensive predictive system, using National Basketball Association (NBA) data as an example to test this extended framework. Our approach follows a holistic methodology in feature engineering, employing both Time Series and Non-Time Series Data, as well as conducting Explanatory Data Analysis and Feature Selection. Furthermore, we contribute to the discourse on target variable choice in team sports outcome prediction, asserting that point spread prediction yields higher profits as opposed to game-winner predictions. Using machine learning algorithms, particularly XGBoost, results in a significant improvement in predictive accuracy of team sports outcomes. Applied to point spread betting strategies, it offers an astounding annual return of approximately 900% on an initial investment of $100. Our findings not only contribute to academic literature, but have critical practical implications for sports betting. Our study advances the understanding of team sports outcome prediction a burgeoning are in complex system predictions and pave the way for potential profitability and more informed decision making in sports betting markets.

Keywords: machine learning, team sports, game outcome prediction, sports betting, profits simulation

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Authors: T. Rajamäki

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In clean room environment molecular contamination in very small concentrations can cause significant harm for the components and processes. This is commonly referred as airborne molecular contamination (AMC). There is a shortage of high sensitivity continuous measurement data for existence and behavior of several of these contaminants. Accordingly, in most cases correlation between concentration of harmful molecules and their effect on processes is not known. In addition, the formation and distribution of contaminating molecules are unclear. In this work sensitive optical techniques are applied in clean room facilities for investigation of concentrations, forming mechanisms and effects of contaminating molecules. Special emphasis is on reactive acid and base gases ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen fluoride (HF). They are the key chemicals in several operations taking place in clean room processes.

Keywords: AMC, clean room, concentration, reactive gas

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Authors: Mads Kirk Larsen

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Strict air pollution control is today high on the agenda world-wide. By reducing the particular emission, not only the mg/Nm3 will be reduced – also parts of mercury and other hazardous matters attached to the particles will be reduced. Furthermore, it is possible to catch the fine particles (PM2.5). For particulate control, the precipitators are still the preferred choice and much efforts have been done to improve the efficiencies. Many ESP’s have seen electrical upgrading by changing the traditional 1 phase power system into either 3 phase or SMPS (High Frequency) units. However, there exist a 4th type of power supply – the pulse type. This is unfortunately widely unknown, but may be of great benefit to power plants. The FLSmidth type is called COROMAX® and it is a high voltage pulse generator for precipitators using a semiconductor switch operating at medium potential. The generated high voltage pulses have rated amplitude of 80 kV and duration of 75 μs and are superimposed on a variable base voltage of 60 kV rated voltage. Hereby, achieving a peak voltage of 140 kV. COROMAX® has the ability to increase the voltage beyond the natural spark limit inside the precipitator. Voltage levels may often be twice as high after installation of COROMAX®. Hereby also the migration velocity increases and thereby the efficiency. As the collection efficiency is proportional to the voltage peak and mean values, this also increases the collection efficiency of the fine particles where test has shown 80% removal of particles less than 0.07 micron. Another great advantage is the indifference to back-corona. Simultaneously with emission reduction, the power consumption will also be reduced. Another great advantage of the COROMAX® system is that the emission can be improved without the need to change the internal parts or enlarge the ESP. Recently, more than 150 units have been installed in China, where emissions have been reduced to ultra-low levels.

Keywords: eleectrostatic precipitator, high resistivity dust, micropulse energization, particulate removal

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Authors: Carine Kawakami

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In French, as well as in English, there are two types of psychological predicate constructions depending on where the experiencer argument is realized; the first type is in the subject position (e.g. Je regrette d’être venu ici. ‘I regret coming here'), hereinafter called ES construction, and the second type is in the object position (e.g. Cette nouvelle m’a surpris. ‘This new surprised me.'), referred as EO construction. In the previous studies about psychological predicates, the syntactic position of the experiencer argument has been just a matter of its connection with the syntactic or semantic structure of the predicate. So that few attentions have been paid to how two types of realization of experiencer are related to the conceptualization of psychological event and to the function of the sentence describing the psychological event, in the sense of speech act theory. In this research, focusing on the French phenomena limited to the first personal pronoun and the present tense, the ES constructions and the EO constructions will be analyzed from cognitive and functional approach. It will be revealed that, due to the possibility to be used in soliloquy and the high co-occurrence with ça (‘it’), the EO constructions may have expressive function to betray what speaker feels in hic et nunc, like interjection. And in the expressive case, the experiencer is construed as a locus where a feeling appears spontaneously and is construed subjectively (e.g. Ah, ça m’énerve! ‘Oh, it irritates me!'). On the other hand, the ES constructions describe speaker’s mental state in an assertive manner rather than the expressive and spontaneously way. In other words, they describe what speaker feels to the interlocutor (e.g. Je suis énervé. ‘I am irritated.'). As a consequence, when the experiencer argument is realized in the subject position, it is construed objectively and have a participant feature in the sense of cognitive grammar. Finally, it will be concluded that the choice of construction type, at least in French, is correlated to the conceptualization of the psychological event and the discourse feature of its expression.

Keywords: french psychological verb, conceptualization, expressive function, assertive function, experiencer realization

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Authors: Pallab Datta, Jyotirmoy Chatterjee, Santanu Dhara

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Over the past few years, phosphorous containing polymers have received widespread attention for applications such as high performance optical fibers, flame retardant materials, drug delivery and tissue engineering. Being pentavalent, phosphorous can exist in different chemical environments in these polymers which increase their versatility. In human biochemistry, phosphorous based compounds exert their functions both in soluble and insoluble form occurring as inorganic or as organophosphorous compounds. Specifically in case of biomacromolecules, phosphates are critical for functions of DNA, ATP, phosphoproteins, phospholipids, phosphoglycans and several coenzymes. Inspired by the role of phosphorous in functional biomacromolecules, design and synthesis of biomimetic materials are thus carried out by several authors to study macromolecular function or as substitutes in clinical tissue regeneration conditions. In addition, many regulatory signals of the body are controlled by phoshphorylation of key proteins present either in form of growth factors or matrix-bound scaffold proteins. This inspires works on synthesis of phospho-peptidomimetic amino acids for understanding key signaling pathways and this is extended to obtain molecules with potentially useful biological properties. Apart from above applications, phosphate groups bound to polymer backbones have also been demonstrated to improve function of osteoblast cells and augment performance of bone grafts. Despite the advantages of phosphate grafting, however, there is limited understanding on effect of degree of phosphorylation on macromolecular physicochemical and/or biological properties. Such investigations are necessary to effectively translate knowledge of macromolecular biochemistry into relevant clinical products since they directly influence processability of these polymers into suitable scaffold structures and control subsequent biological response. Amongst various techniques for fabrication of biomimetic scaffolds, nanofibrous scaffolds fabricated by electrospinning technique offer some special advantages in resembling the attributes of natural extracellular matrix. Understanding changes in physico-chemical properties of polymers as function of phosphorylation is therefore going to be crucial in development of nanofiber scaffolds based on phosphorylated polymers. The aim of the present work is to investigate the effect of phosphorous grafting on the electrospinning behavior of polymers with aim to obtain biomaterials for bone regeneration applications. For this purpose, phosphorylated derivatives of two polymers of widely different electrospinning behaviors were selected as starting materials. Poly(vinyl alcohol) is a conveniently electrospinnable polymer at different conditions and concentrations. On the other hand, electrospinning of chitosan backbone based polymers have been viewed as a critical challenge. The phosphorylated derivatives of these polymers were synthesized, characterized and electrospinning behavior of various solutions containing these derivatives was compared with electrospinning of pure poly (vinyl alcohol). In PVA, phosphorylation adversely impacted electrospinnability while in NMPC, higher phosphate content widened concentration range for nanofiber formation. Culture of MG-63 cells on electrospun nanofibers, revealed that degree of phosphate modification of a polymer significantly improves cell adhesion or osteoblast function of cultured cells. It is concluded that improvement of cell response parameters of nanofiber scaffolds can be attained as a function of controlled degree of phosphate grafting in polymeric biomaterials with implications for bone tissue engineering applications.

Keywords: bone regeneration, chitosan, electrospinning, phosphorylation

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Authors: Belaynesh Tsegay, Teklay Gebrecherkos, Atsebaha Gebrekidan Kahsay, Mahmud Abdulkader

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Background: Hepatitis B and C viruses are important health and socioeconomic problem across the globe, with a remarkable number of diseases and deaths in sub-Saharan African countries. The burden of hepatitis is unknown in the prison settings of Tigray. Therefore, we aimed to describe the seroprevalence and associated factors of hepatitis B and C viruses among prisoners in Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from February 2020 to May 2020 at the prison facilities of Tigray. Demographics and associated factors were collected from 315 prisoners prospectively. Five milliliters of blood were collected and tested using rapid tests kits of HBsAg (Zhejiang orient Gene Biotech Co., Ltd., China) and HCV antibodies (Volkan Kozmetik Sanayi Ve Ticaret Ltd. STI, Turkey). Positive samples were confirmed using ELISA (Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. Ltd). Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 20, and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The overall seroprevalence of HBV and HCV were 25 (7.9%) and 1 (0.3%), respectively. The majority of hepatitis B viral infections were identified from the age groups of 18–25 years (10.7%) and unmarried prisoners (11.8%). Prisoners greater than 100 per cell (AOR=3.95, 95% CI=1.15–13.6, p=0.029) and with a history of alcohol consumption (AOR=3.01, 95% CI=1.17–7.74, p=0.022) were significantly associated with HBV infections. Conclusion: The seroprevalence of HBV among prisoners was nearly high or borderline, with a very low HCV prevalence. HBV was most prevalent among young adults, those housed with a large number of prisoners per cell, and those who had a history of alcohol consumption. This study recommends that there should be prison-focused intervention, including regular health education, with the emphasis on the mode of transmission and introducing HBV screening policy for prisoners, especially when they enter the prison.

Keywords: seroprevalence, HBV, HCV, prisoners, tigray

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Authors: Nupur A. D., Miah M. S., Moniruzzaman S. K.

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Autism is a neurobiological disorder that affects physical, social, and language skills of a person. A child with autism feels difficulty for processing, integrating, and responding to sensory stimuli. Current estimates have shown that 45% to 96 % of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder demonstrate sensory difficulties. As autism is a worldwide burning issue, it has become a highly prioritized and important service provision in Bangladesh. The sensory deficit does not only hamper the normal development of a child, it also hampers the learning process and functional independency. The purpose of this study was to find out the prevalence of sensory dysfunction among children with autism and recognize common patterns of sensory dysfunction. A cross-sectional study design was chosen to carry out this research work. This study enrolled eighty children with autism and their parents by using the systematic sampling method. In this study, data were collected through the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) assessment tool, which consists of 38 items in the questionnaire, and qualified graduate Occupational Therapists were directly involved in interviewing parents as well as observing child responses to sensory related activities of the children with autism from four selected autism centers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. All item analyses were conducted to identify items yielding or resulting in the highest reported sensory processing dysfunction among those children through using SSP and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 for data analysis. This study revealed that almost 78.25% of children with autism had significant sensory processing dysfunction based on their sensory response to relevant activities. Under-responsive sensory seeking and auditory filtering were the least common problems among them. On the other hand, most of them (95%) represented that they had definite to probable differences in sensory processing, including under-response or sensory seeking, auditory filtering, and tactile sensitivity. Besides, the result also shows that the definite difference in sensory processing among 64 children was within 100%; it means those children with autism suffered from sensory difficulties, and thus it drew a great impact on the children’s Daily Living Activities (ADLs) as well as social interaction with others. Almost 95% of children with autism require intervention to overcome or normalize the problem. The result gives insight regarding types of sensory processing dysfunction to consider during diagnosis and ascertaining the treatment. So, early sensory problem identification is very important and thus will help to provide appropriate sensory input to minimize the maladaptive behavior and enhance to reach the normal range of adaptive behavior.

Keywords: autism, sensory processing difficulties, sensory profile, occupational therapy

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Authors: Ekaterina A. Redkina

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The necessity and importance of teaching professionally oriented content in English needs no proof nowadays. Consequently, the ability to share personal ESP teaching experience seems of great importance. This paper is based on the 8-year ESP and EFL teaching experience at the Moscow State Linguistic University, Moscow, Russia, and presents theoretical analysis of specifics, possible problems, and perspectives of teaching Psychology in English to Russian psychology-students. The paper concerns different issues that are common for different ESP classrooms, and familiar to different teachers. Among them are: designing ESP curriculum (for psychologists in this case), finding the balance between content and language in the classroom, main teaching principles (the 4 C’s), the choice of assessment techniques and teaching material. The main objective of teaching psychology in English to Russian psychology students is developing knowledge and skills essential for professional psychologists. Belonging to international professional community presupposes high-level content-specific knowledge and skills, high level of linguistic skills and cross-cultural linguistic ability and finally high level of professional etiquette. Thus, teaching psychology in English pursues 3 main outcomes, such as content, language and professional skills. The paper provides explanation of each of the outcomes. Examples are also given. Particular attention is paid to the lesson structure, its objectives and the difference between a typical EFL and ESP lesson. There is also made an attempt to find commonalities between teaching ESP and CLIL. There is an approach that states that CLIL is more common for schools, while ESP is more common for higher education. The paper argues that CLIL methodology can be successfully used in ESP teaching and that many CLIL activities are also well adapted for professional purposes. The research paper provides insights into the process of teaching psychologists in Russia, real teaching experience and teaching techniques that have proved efficient over time.

Keywords: ESP, CLIL, content, language, psychology in English, Russian students

Procedia PDF Downloads 605