Search results for: agriculture yield prediction

Authors: S. S. Sharma, P. R. Prabhu, K. Jagannath, Achutha Kini U., Gowri Shankar M. C.

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In present global scenario, aluminum alloys are coining the attention of many innovators as competing structural materials for automotive and space applications. Comparing to other challenging alloys, especially, 7xxx series aluminum alloys have been studied seriously because of their benefits such as moderate strength; better deforming characteristics, excellent chemical decay resistance, and affordable cost. 7075 Al-alloys have been used in the transportation industry for the fabrication of several types of automobile parts, such as wheel covers, panels and structures. It is expected that substitution of such aluminum alloys for steels will result in great improvements in energy economy, durability and recyclability. However, it is necessary to improve the strength and the formability levels at low temperatures in aluminium alloys for still better applications. Aluminum–Zinc–Magnesium with or without other wetting agent denoted as 7XXX series alloys are medium strength heat treatable alloys. Cu, Mn and Si are the other solute elements which contribute for the improvement in mechanical properties achievable by selecting and tailoring the suitable heat treatment process. On subjecting to suitable treatments like age hardening or cold deformation assisted heat treatments, known as low temperature thermomechanical treatments (LTMT) the challenging properties might be incorporated. T6 is the age hardening or precipitation hardening process with artificial aging cycle whereas T8 comprises of LTMT treatment aged artificially with X% cold deformation. When the cold deformation is provided after solution treatment, there is increase in hardness related properties such as wear resistance, yield and ultimate strength, toughness with the expense of ductility. During precipitation hardening both hardness and strength of the samples are increasing. Decreasing peak hardness value with increasing aging temperature is the well-known behavior of age hardenable alloys. The peak hardness value is further increasing when room temperature deformation is positively supported with age hardening known as thermomechanical treatment. Considering these aspects, it is intended to perform heat treatment and evaluate hardness, tensile strength, wear resistance and distribution pattern of reinforcement in the matrix. 2 to 2.5 and 3 to 3.5 times increase in hardness is reported in age hardening and LTMT treatments respectively as compared to as-cast composite. There was better distribution of reinforcements in the matrix, nearly two fold increase in strength levels and upto 5 times increase in wear resistance are also observed in the present study.

Keywords: reinforcement, precipitation, thermomechanical, dislocation, strain hardening

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Authors: Ruchirek Ratchaburi, W. Kevin. Hicks, Christopher S. Malley, Lisa D. Emberson

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Air pollution problems in Thailand have improved over the last few decades, but in some areas, concentrations of coarse particulate matter (PM₁₀) are above health and regulatory guidelines. It is, therefore, useful to investigate how PM₁₀ varies across Thailand, what conditions cause this variation, and how could PM₁₀ concentrations be reduced. This research uses data collected by the Thailand Pollution Control Department (PCD) from 17 monitoring sites, located across 12 provinces, and obtained between 2011 and 2015 to assess PM₁₀ concentrations and the conditions that lead to different levels of pollution. This is achieved through exploration of air mass pathways using trajectory analysis, used in conjunction with the monitoring data, to understand the contribution of different months, an hour of the day and source regions to annual PM₁₀ concentrations in Thailand. A focus is placed on locations that exceed the national standard for the protection of human health. The analysis shows how this approach can be used to explore the influence of biomass burning on annual average PM₁₀ concentration and the difference in air pollution conditions between Northern and Southern Thailand. The results demonstrate the substantial contribution that open biomass burning from agriculture and forest fires in Thailand and neighboring countries make annual average PM₁₀ concentrations. The analysis of PM₁₀ measurements at monitoring sites in Northern Thailand show that in general, high concentrations tend to occur in March and that these particularly high monthly concentrations make a substantial contribution to the overall annual average concentration. In 2011, a > 75% reduction in the extent of biomass burning in Northern Thailand and in neighboring countries resulted in a substantial reduction not only in the magnitude and frequency of peak PM₁₀ concentrations but also in annual average PM₁₀ concentrations at sites across Northern Thailand. In Southern Thailand, the annual average PM₁₀ concentrations for individual years between 2011 and 2015 did not exceed the human health standard at any site. The highest peak concentrations in Southern Thailand were much lower than for Northern Thailand for all sites. The peak concentrations at sites in Southern Thailand generally occurred between June and October and were associated with air mass back trajectories that spent a substantial proportion of time over the sea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand prior to arrival at the monitoring sites. The results show that emissions reductions from biomass burning and forest fires require action on national and international scales, in both Thailand and neighboring countries, such action could contribute to ensuring compliance with Thailand air quality standards.

Keywords: annual average concentration, long-range transport, open biomass burning, particulate matter

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Authors: Corinna Zeli, Silvia Calati, Marco Simeoni, Chiara Comastri

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Developmental stuttering affects about 10% of preschool children; although the high percentage of natural recovery, a quarter of them will become an adult who stutters. An effective early intervention should help those children with high persistence risk for the future. The Psicodizione method for early stuttering is an Italian behavior indirect treatment for preschool children who stutter in which method parents act as good guides for communication, modeling their own fluency. In this study, we give a preliminary measure to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of Psicodizione method on stuttering preschool children with a high persistence risk. Among all Italian children treated with the Psicodizione method between 2018 and 2019, we selected 8 kids with at least 3 high risk persistence factors from the Illinois Prediction Criteria proposed by Yairi and Seery. The factors chosen for the selection were: one parent who stutters (1pt mother; 1.5pt father), male gender, ≥ 4 years old at onset; ≥ 12 months from onset of symptoms before treatment. For this study, the families were contacted after an average period of time of 14,7 months (range 3 - 26 months). Parental reports were gathered with a standard online questionnaire in order to obtain data reflecting fluency from a wide range of the children’s life situations. The minimum worthwhile outcome was set at "mild evidence" in a 5 point Likert scale (1 mild evidence- 5 high severity evidence). A second group of 6 children, among those treated with the Piscodizione method, was selected as high potential for spontaneous remission (low persistence risk). The children in this group had to fulfill all the following criteria: female gender, symptoms for less than 12 months (before treatment), age of onset <4 years old, none of the parents with persistent stuttering. At the time of this follow-up, the children were aged 6–9 years, with a mean of 15 months post-treatment. Among the children in the high persistence risk group, 2 (25%) hadn’t had stutter anymore, and 3 (37,5%) had mild stutter based on parental reports. In the low persistency risk group, the children were aged 4–6 years, with a mean of 14 months post-treatment, and 5 (84%) hadn’t had stutter anymore (for the past 16 months on average).62,5% of children at high risk of persistence after Psicodizione treatment showed mild evidence of stutter at most. 75% of parents confirmed a better fluency than before the treatment. The low persistence risk group seemed to be representative of spontaneous recovery. This study’s design could help to better evaluate the success of the proposed interventions for stuttering preschool children and provides a preliminary measure of the effectiveness of the Psicodizione method on high persistence risk children.

Keywords: early treatment, fluency, preschool children, stuttering

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Authors: Fangliang Chen, Yihe Huang, Tejav Deganyar, Anselm Boehm, Hamid Batoul

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With growing population density and further urbanization, the average noise level in cities is increasing. Excessive noise is not only annoying but also leads to a negative impact on human health. To deal with the increasing city noise, environmental regulations bring up higher standards on acoustic comfort in buildings by mitigating the noise transmission from building envelope exterior to interior. Framed window, door and façade systems are the leading choice for modern fenestration construction, which provides demonstrated quality of weathering reliability, environmental efficiency, and installation ease. The overall sound insulation of such systems depends both on glasses and frames, where glass usually covers the majority of the exposed surfaces, thus it is the main source of sound energy transmission. While frames in modern façade systems become slimmer for aesthetic appearance, which contribute to a minimal percentage of exposed surfaces. Nevertheless, frames might provide substantial transmission paths for sound travels through because of much less mass crossing the path, thus becoming more critical in limiting the acoustic performance of the whole system. There are various methodologies and numerical programs that can accurately predict the acoustic performance of either glasses or frames. However, due to the vast variance of size and dimension between frame and glass in the same system, there is no satisfactory theoretical approach or affordable simulation tool in current practice to access the over acoustic performance of a whole façade system. For this reason, laboratory test turns out to be the only reliable source. However, laboratory test is very time consuming and high costly, moreover different lab might provide slightly different test results because of varieties of test chambers, sample mounting, and test operations, which significantly constrains the early phase design of framed façade systems. To address this dilemma, this study provides an effective analytical methodology to predict the acoustic performance of framed façade systems, based on vast amount of acoustic test results on glass, frame and the whole façade system consist of both. Further test results validate the current model is able to accurately predict the overall sound transmission loss of a framed system as long as the acoustic behavior of the frame is available. Though the presented methodology is mainly developed from façade systems with aluminum frames, it can be easily extended to systems with frames of other materials such as steel, PVC or wood.

Keywords: city noise, building facades, sound mitigation, sound transmission loss, framed façade system

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Authors: T. Sadunishvili, L. Kutateladze, T. Urushadze, R. Khvedelidze, N. Zakariashvili, M. Jobava, G. Kvesitadze

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Multiple repeated soil-climatic zones in Georgia determines the diversity of microorganisms. Hundreds of microscopic fungi of different genera have been isolated from different ecological niches, including some extreme environments. Biosynthetic ability of microscopic fungi has been studied. Trichoderma ressei, representative of the Ascomycetes secrete cellulolytic and xylanolytic enzymes that act in synergy to hydrolyze polysaccharide polymers to glucose, xylose and arabinose, which can be fermented to biofuels. The other mesophilic strains producing cellulases are Allesheria terrestris, Chaetomium thermophile, Fusarium oxysporium, Piptoporus betulinus, Penicillium echinulatum, P. purpurogenum, Aspergillus niger, A. wentii, A. versicolor, A. fumigatus etc. In the majority of the cases the cellulases produced by strains of genus Aspergillus usually have high β-glucosidase activity and average endoglucanases levels (with some exceptions), whereas strains representing Trichoderma have high endo enzyme and low β-glucosidase, and hence has limited efficiency in cellulose hydrolysis. Six producers of stable cellulases and xylanases from mesophilic and thermophilic fungi have been selected. By optimization of submerged cultivation conditions, high activities of cellulases and xylanases were obtained. For enzymes purification, their sedimentation by organic solvents such as ethyl alcohol, acetone, isopropanol and by ammonium sulphate in different ratios have been carried out. Best results were obtained with precipitation by ethyl alcohol (1:3.5) and ammonium sulphate. The yields of enzyme according to cellulase activities were 80-85% in both cases. Cellulase activity of enzyme preparation obtained from the strain Trichoderma viride X 33 is 126 U/g, from the strain Penicillium canescence D 85–185U/g and from the strain Sporotrichum pulverulentum T 5-0 110 U/g. Cellulase activity of enzyme preparation obtained from the strain Aspergillus sp. Av10 is 120 U/g, xylanase activity of enzyme preparation obtained from the strain Aspergillus niger A 7-5–1155U/g and from the strain Aspergillus niger Aj 38-1250 U/g. Optimum pH and temperature of operation and thermostability, of the enzyme preparations, were established. The efficiency of hydrolyses of different agricultural residues by the microscopic fungi cellulases has been studied. The glucose yield from the residues as a result of enzymatic hydrolysis is highly determined by the ratio of enzyme to substrate, pH, temperature, and duration of the process. Hydrolysis efficiency was significantly increased as a result of different pretreatment of the residues by different methods. Acknowledgement: The Study was supported by the ISTC project G-2117, funded by Korea.

Keywords: cellulase, xylanase, microscopic fungi, enzymatic hydrolysis

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Authors: Alexander Buhr, Klaus Ehrenfried

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Trackside induced airflow velocities, also known as slipstream velocities, are an important criterion for the design of high-speed trains. The maximum permitted values are given by the Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) and have to be checked in the approval process. For train manufactures it is of great interest to know in advance, how new train geometries would perform in TSI tests. The Reynolds number in moving model experiments is lower compared to full-scale. Especially the limited model length leads to a thinner boundary layer at the rear end. The hypothesis is that the boundary layer rolls up to characteristic flow structures in the train wake, in which the maximum flow velocities can be observed. The idea is to enlarge the boundary layer using roughness elements at the train model head so that the ratio between the boundary layer thickness and the car width at the rear end is comparable to a full-scale train. This may lead to similar flow structures in the wake and better prediction accuracy for TSI tests. In this case, the design of the roughness elements is limited by the moving model rig. Small rectangular roughness shapes are used to get a sufficient effect on the boundary layer, while the elements are robust enough to withstand the high accelerating and decelerating forces during the test runs. For this investigation, High-Speed Particle Image Velocimetry (HS-PIV) measurements on an ICE3 train model have been realized in the moving model rig of the DLR in Göttingen, the so called tunnel simulation facility Göttingen (TSG). The flow velocities within the boundary layer are analysed in a plain parallel to the ground. The height of the plane corresponds to a test position in the EN standard (TSI). Three different shapes of roughness elements are tested. The boundary layer thickness and displacement thickness as well as the momentum thickness and the form factor are calculated along the train model. Conditional sampling is used to analyse the size and dynamics of the flow structures at the time of maximum velocity in the train wake behind the train. As expected, larger roughness elements increase the boundary layer thickness and lead to larger flow velocities in the boundary layer and in the wake flow structures. The boundary layer thickness, displacement thickness and momentum thickness are increased by using larger roughness especially when applied in the height close to the measuring plane. The roughness elements also cause high fluctuations in the form factors of the boundary layer. Behind the roughness elements, the form factors rapidly are approaching toward constant values. This indicates that the boundary layer, while growing slowly along the second half of the train model, has reached a state of equilibrium.

Keywords: boundary layer, high-speed PIV, ICE3, moving train model, roughness elements

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Authors: Chetra Mang, Ahmadali Tahmasebimoradi, Xavier Lorang

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Lattice structures are widely used in various applications, especially in aeronautic, aerospace, and medical applications because of their high performance properties. Thanks to advancement of the additive manufacturing technology, the lattice structures can be manufactured by different methods such as laser beam melting technology. However, the presence of geometric defects in the lattice structures is inevitable due to the manufacturing process. The geometric defects may have high impact on the mechanical strength of the structures. This work analyzes the correlation between the manufacturing parameters and the mechanical strengths of the lattice structures. To do that, two types of the lattice structures; body-centered cubic with z-struts (BCCZ) structures made of Inconel718, and body-centered cubic (BCC) structures made of Scalmalloy, are manufactured by laser melting beam machine using Taguchi design of experiment. Each structure is placed on the substrate with a specific position and orientation regarding the roller direction of deposed metal powder. The position and orientation are considered as the manufacturing parameters. The geometric defects of each beam in the lattice are characterized and used to build the geometric model in order to perform simulations. Then, the mechanical strengths are defined by the homogeneous response as Young's modulus and yield strength. The distribution of mechanical strengths is observed as a function of manufacturing parameters. The mechanical response of the BCCZ structure is stretch-dominated, i.e., the mechanical strengths are directly dependent on the strengths of the vertical beams. As the geometric defects of vertical beams are slightly changed based on their position/orientation on the manufacturing substrate, the mechanical strengths are less dispersed. The manufacturing parameters are less influenced on the mechanical strengths of the structure BCCZ. The mechanical response of the BCC structure is bending-dominated. The geometric defects of inclined beam are highly dispersed within a structure and also based on their position/orientation on the manufacturing substrate. For different position/orientation on the substrate, the mechanical responses are highly dispersed as well. This shows that the mechanical strengths are directly impacted by manufacturing parameters. In addition, this work is carried out to study the uncertainty propagation of the geometric defects on the mechanical strength of the BCC lattice structure made of Scalmalloy. To do that, we observe the distribution of mechanical strengths of the lattice according to the distribution of the geometric defects. A probability density law is determined based on a statistical hypothesis corresponding to the geometric defects of the inclined beams. The samples of inclined beams are then randomly drawn from the density law to build the lattice structure samples. The lattice samples are then used for simulation to characterize the mechanical strengths. The results reveal that the distribution of mechanical strengths of the structures with the same manufacturing parameters is less dispersed than one of the structures with different manufacturing parameters. Nevertheless, the dispersion of mechanical strengths due to the structures with the same manufacturing parameters are unneglectable.

Keywords: geometric defects, lattice structure, mechanical strength, uncertainty propagation

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Authors: Béla Kovács, Éva Bódi, Farzaneh Garousi, Szilvia Várallyay, Áron Soós, Xénia Vágó, Dávid Andrási

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In agriculture for analysis of elements in different food and food raw materials, moreover environmental samples generally flame atomic absorption spectrometers (FAAS), graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometers (GF-AAS), inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometers (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICP-MS) are routinely applied. An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) is capable for analysis of 70-80 elements in multielemental mode, from 1-5 cm3 volume of a sample, moreover the detection limits of elements are in µg/kg-ng/kg (ppb-ppt) concentration range. All the analytical instruments have different physical and chemical interfering effects analysing the above types of samples. The smaller the concentration of an analyte and the larger the concentration of the matrix the larger the interfering effects. Nowadays there is very important to analyse growingly smaller concentrations of elements. From the above analytical instruments generally the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer is capable of analysing the smallest concentration of elements. The applied ICP-MS instrument has Collision Cell Technology (CCT) also. Using CCT mode certain elements have better (smaller) detection limits with 1-3 magnitudes comparing to a normal ICP-MS analytical method. The CCT mode has better detection limits mainly for analysis of selenium, arsenic, germanium, vanadium and chromium. To elaborate an analytical method for trace elements with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer the most important interfering effects (problems) were evaluated: 1) Physical interferences; 2) Spectral interferences (elemental and molecular isobaric); 3) Effect of easily ionisable elements; 4) Memory interferences. Analysing food and food raw materials, moreover environmental samples an other (new) interfering effect emerged in ICP-MS, namely the effect of various matrixes having different evaporation and nebulization effectiveness, moreover having different quantity of carbon content of food and food raw materials, moreover environmental samples. In our research work the effect of different water-soluble compounds furthermore the effect of various quantity of carbon content (as sample matrix) were examined on changes of intensity of the applied elements. So finally we could find “opportunities” to decrease or eliminate the error of the analyses of applied elements (Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ge, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Te, Hg, Pb, Bi). To analyse these elements in the above samples, the most appropriate inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer is a quadrupole instrument applying a collision cell technique (CCT). The extent of interfering effect of carbon content depends on the type of compounds. The carbon content significantly affects the measured concentration (intensities) of the above elements, which can be corrected using different internal standards.

Keywords: elements, environmental and food samples, ICP-MS, interference effects

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Authors: F. Ghani, T. S. O’Donovan

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Today, the global solar thermal market is dominated by two collector types; the flat plate and evacuated tube collector. With regards to the number of installations worldwide, the evacuated tube collector is the dominant variant primarily due to the Chinese market but the flat plate collector dominates both the Australian and European markets. The market share of the evacuated tube collector is, however, growing in Australia due to a common belief that this collector type is ‘more efficient’ and, therefore, the better choice for hot water applications. In this study, we investigate this issue further to assess the validity of this statement. This was achieved by methodically comparing the performance and economics of several solar thermal systems comprising of; a low-performance flat plate collector, a high-performance flat collector, and an evacuated tube collector coupled with a storage tank and pump. All systems were simulated using the commercial software package Polysun for four climate zones in Australia to take into account different weather profiles in the study and subjected to a thermal load equivalent to a household comprising of four people. Our study revealed that the energy savings and payback periods varied significantly for systems operating under specific environmental conditions. Solar fractions ranged between 58 and 100 per cent, while payback periods range between 3.8 and 10.1 years. Although the evacuated tube collector was found to operate with a marginally higher thermal efficiency over the selective surface flat plate collector due to reduced ambient heat loss, the high-performance flat plate collector outperformed the evacuated tube collector on thermal yield. This result was obtained as the flat plate collector possesses a significantly higher absorber to gross collector area ratio over the evacuated tube collector. Furthermore, it was found for Australian regions operating with a high average solar radiation intensity and ambient temperature, the lower performance collector is the preferred choice due to favorable economics and reduced stagnation temperature. Our study has provided additional insight into the thermal performance and economics of the two prevalent solar thermal collectors currently available. A computational investigation has been carried out specifically for the Australian climate due to its geographic size and significant variation in weather. For domestic hot water applications were fluid temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees Celsius are sought, the flat plate collector is both technically and economically favorable over the evacuated tube collector. This research will be useful to system design engineers, solar thermal manufacturers, and those involved in policy to encourage the implementation of solar thermal systems into the hot water market.

Keywords: solar thermal, energy analysis, flat plate, evacuated tube, collector performance

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Authors: Guerich Mohamed, Assaf Samir

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The application of viscoelastic materials in the form of constrained layers in mechanical structures is an efficient and cost-effective technique for solving noise and vibration problems. This technique requires a design tool to select the best location, type, and thickness of the damping treatment. This paper presents a finite element model for the vibration of beams partially or fully covered with a constrained viscoelastic damping material. The model is based on Bernoulli-Euler theory for the faces and Timoshenko beam theory for the core. It uses four variables: the through-thickness constant deflection, the axial displacements of the faces, and the bending rotation of the beam. The sandwich beam finite element is compatible with the conventional C1 finite element for homogenous beams. To validate the proposed model, several free vibration analyses of fully or partially covered beams, with different locations of the damping patches and different percent coverage, are studied. The results show that the proposed approach can be used as an effective tool to study the influence of the location and treatment size on the natural frequencies and the associated modal loss factors. Then, a parametric study regarding the variation in the damping characteristics of partially covered beams has been conducted. In these studies, the effect of core shear modulus value, the effect of patch size variation, the thickness of constraining layer, and the core and the locations of the patches are considered. In partial coverage, the spatial distribution of additive damping by using viscoelastic material is as important as the thickness and material properties of the viscoelastic layer and the constraining layer. Indeed, to limit added mass and to attain maximum damping, the damping patches should be placed at optimum locations. These locations are often selected using the modal strain energy indicator. Following this approach, the damping patches are applied over regions of the base structure with the highest modal strain energy to target specific modes of vibration. In the present study, a more efficient indicator is proposed, which consists of placing the damping patches over regions of high energy dissipation through the viscoelastic layer of the fully covered sandwich beam. The presented approach is used in an optimization method to select the best location for the damping patches as well as the material thicknesses and material properties of the layers that will yield optimal damping with the minimum area of coverage.

Keywords: finite element model, damping treatment, viscoelastic materials, sandwich beam

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Authors: Beatriz Garcia-Juan, Ana B. Escrig-Tena, Vicente Roca-Puig

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The aim of this article is to conduct a theoretical and empirical study in order to examine how the goal orientation (GO) of public employees affects the relationship between the structural and psychological empowerment that they experience at their workplaces. In doing so, we follow structural empowerment (SE) and psychological empowerment (PE) conceptualizations, and relate them to the public administration framework. Moreover, we review arguments from GO theories, and previous related contributions. Empowerment has emerged as an important issue in the public sector organization setting in the wake of mainstream New Public Management (NPM), the new orientation in the public sector that aims to provide a better service for citizens. It is closely linked to the drive to improve organizational effectiveness through the wise use of human resources. Nevertheless, it is necessary to combine structural (managerial) and psychological (individual) approaches in an integrative study of empowerment. SE refers to a set of initiatives that aim the transference of power from managerial positions to the rest of employees. PE is defined as psychological state of competence, self-determination, impact, and meaning that an employee feels at work. Linking these two perspectives will lead to arrive at a broader understanding of the empowerment process. Specifically in the public sector, empirical contributions on this relationship are therefore important, particularly as empowerment is a very useful tool with which to face the challenges of the new public context. There is also a need to examine the moderating variables involved in this relationship, as well as to extend research on work motivation in public management. It is proposed the study of the effect of individual orientations, such as GO. GO concept refers to the individual disposition toward developing or confirming one’s capacity in achievement situations. Employees’ GO may be a key factor at work and in workforce selection processes, since it explains the differences in personal work interests, and in receptiveness to and interpretations of professional development activities. SE practices could affect PE feelings in different ways, depending on employees’ GO, since they perceive and respond differently to such practices, which is likely to yield distinct PE results. The model is tested on a sample of 521 Spanish local authority employees. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test the research hypotheses using SPSS 22 computer software. The results do not confirm the direct link between SE and PE, but show that learning goal orientation has considerable moderating power in this relationship, and its interaction with SE affects employees’ PE levels. Therefore, the combination of SE practices and employees’ high levels of LGO are important factors for creating psychologically empowered staff in public organizations.

Keywords: goal orientation, moderating effect, psychological empowerment, structural empowerment

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Authors: Aloke Bapli, Debabrata Seth

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Graphene oxide (GO) is the two-dimensional (2D) nanoscale allotrope of carbon having several physiochemical properties such as high mechanical strength, high surface area, strong thermal and electrical conductivity makes it an important candidate in various modern applications such as drug delivery, supercapacitors, sensors etc. GO has been used in the photothermal treatment of cancers and Alzheimer’s disease etc. The main idea to choose GO in our work is that it is a surface active molecule, it has a large number of hydrophilic functional groups such as carboxylic acid, hydroxyl, epoxide on its surface and in basal plane. So it can easily interact with organic fluorophores through hydrogen bonding or any other kind of interaction and easily modulate the photophysics of the probe molecules. We have used different spectroscopic techniques for our work. The Ground-state absorption spectra and steady-state fluorescence emission spectra were measured by using UV-Vis spectrophotometer from Shimadzu (model-UV-2550) and spectrofluorometer from Horiba Jobin Yvon (model-Fluoromax 4P) respectively. All the fluorescence lifetime and anisotropy decays were collected by using time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) setup from Edinburgh instrument (model: LifeSpec-II, U.K.). Herein, we described the photophysics of a hydrophilic molecule 7-(n,n׀-diethylamino) coumarin-3-carboxylic acid (7-DCCA) in the reverse micelles containing GO. It was observed that photophysics of dye is modulated in the presence of GO compared to photophysics of dye in the absence of GO inside the reverse micelles. Here we have reported the solvent relaxation and rotational relaxation time in GO containing reverse micelle and compare our work with normal reverse micelle system by using 7-DCCA molecule. Normal reverse micelle means reverse micelle in the absence of GO. The absorption maxima of 7-DCCA were blue shifted and emission maxima were red shifted in GO containing reverse micelle compared to normal reverse micelle. The rotational relaxation time in GO containing reverse micelle is always faster compare to normal reverse micelle. Solvent relaxation time, at lower w₀ values, is always slower in GO containing reverse micelle compare to normal reverse micelle and at higher w₀ solvent relaxation time of GO containing reverse micelle becomes almost equal to normal reverse micelle. Here emission maximum of 7-DCCA exhibit bathochromic shift in GO containing reverse micelles compared to that in normal reverse micelles because in presence of GO the polarity of the system increases, as polarity increases the emission maxima was red shifted an average decay time of GO containing reverse micelle is less than that of the normal reverse micelle. In GO containing reverse micelle quantum yield, decay time, rotational relaxation time, solvent relaxation time at λₑₓ=375 nm is always higher than λₑₓ=405 nm, shows the excitation wavelength dependent photophysics of 7-DCCA in GO containing reverse micelles.

Keywords: photophysics, reverse micelle, rotational relaxation, solvent relaxation

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Authors: George Pavlidis, Ana Vivas

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The demographic change into an aging population has stimulated the examination of seniors’ mental health and ability to live independently. The corresponding literature depicts the relation between cognitive decline and everyday functionality with aging, focusing largely in individuals that are reaching or have bridged the threshold of various forms of neuropathology and disability. In this context, recent meta-analysis depicts a moderate relation between cognitive performance and everyday functionality in AD sufferers. However, there has not been an analogous effort for the examination of this relation in the healthy spectrum of aging (i.e, in samples that are not challenged from a neurodegenerative disease). There is a consensus that the assessment tools designed to detect neuropathology with those that assess cognitive performance in healthy adults are distinct, thus their universal use in cognitively challenged and in healthy adults is not always valid. The same accounts for the assessment of everyday functionality. In addition, it is argued that everyday functionality should be examined with cultural adjusted assessment tools, since many vital everyday tasks are heterotypical among distinct cultures. Therefore, this study was set out to examine the relation between cognitive performance and everyday functionality a) in the healthy spectrum of aging and b) by adjusting the everyday functionality tools EPT and OTDL-R in the Greek cultural context. In Greece, 107 cognitively healthy seniors ( Mage = 62.24) completed a battery of neuropsychological tests and everyday functionality tests. Both were carefully chosen to be sensitive in fluctuations of performance in the healthy spectrum of cognitive performance and everyday functionality. The everyday functionality assessment tools were modified to reflect the local cultural context (i.e., EPT-G and OTDL-G). The results depicted that performance in all everyday functionality measures decline with age (.197 < r > .509). Statistically significant correlations emerged between cognitive performance and everyday functionality assessments that range from r =0.202 to r=0.510. A series of independent regression analysis including the scores of cognitive assessments has yield statistical significant models that explained 20.9 < AR2 > 32.4 of the variance in everyday functionality scored indexes. All everyday functionality measures were independently predicted by the TMT B-A index, and indicator of executive function. Stepwise regression analyses depicted that TMT B-A and age were statistically significant independent predictors of EPT-G and OTDL-G. It was concluded that everyday functionality is declining with age and that cognitive performance and everyday functional may be related in the healthy spectrum of aging. Age seems not to be the sole contributing factor in everyday functionality decline, rather executive control as well. Moreover, it was concluded that the EPT-G and OTDL-G are valuable tools to assess everyday functionality in Greek seniors that are not cognitively challenged, especially for research purposes. Future research should examine the contributing factors of a better cognitive vitality especially in executive control, as vital for the maintenance of independent living capacity with aging.

Keywords: cognition, everyday functionality, aging, cognitive decline, healthy aging, Greece

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Authors: G. J. Fan, T. T. Lee, M. H. Chen, T. F. Shiao, B. Yu, C. F. Lee

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Rice straw with poor feed quality and spent mushroom substrate are both the most abundant agricultural residues in Taiwan. Edible mushrooms from white rot fungi possess lignocellulase activity. It was expected to improve the feeding value of rice straw for ruminant by solid-state fermentation pretreatment using spent mushroom substrate. Six varieties or subspecies of spent edible mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus (blue or white color), P. sajor-caju, P. citrinopileatus, P. eryngii and Ganoderma lucidium) substrate were evaluated in solid-state fermentation process with rice straw for 8 wks. Quality improvement of fermented rice straw was determined by its in vitro digestibility, lignocellulose degradability, and cell wall breakdown checked by scanning electron microscope. Results turned out that Pleurotus ostreatus (white color) and P. sajor-caju had the better lignocellulose degradation effect than the others and was chosen for advance in vivo study. Rice straw fermented with spent Pleurotus ostreatus or Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate 8 wks was prepared for growing and lactating feeding trials of dairy goat, respectively. Pangolagrass hay at 15% diet dry matter was the control diet. Fermented or original rice straw was added to substitute pangolagrass hay in both feeding trials. A total of 30 head of Alpine castrated ram were assigned into three groups for 11 weeks, 5 pens (2 head/pen) each group. A total of 21 head of Saanen and Alpine goats were assigned into three treatments and individually fed in two repeat lactating trials with 28-d each. In castrated ram study, results showed that fermented rice straw by spent Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom substrate attributed the higher daily dry matter intakes (DMI, 1.53 vs. 1.20 kg) and body weight gain (138 vs. 101 g) than goats fed original rice straw. DMI (2.25 vs. 1.81 kg) and milk yield (3.31 vs. 3.02 kg) of lactating goats fed control pangolagrass diet and fermented rice straw by spent Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate were also higher than those fed original rice straw diet (P < 0.05). Milk compositions, milk fat, protein, total solid and lactose, were similar among treatments. In conclusion, solid-state fermentation by spent Pleurotus ostreatus or Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate could effectively improve the feeding value of rice straw. Fermented rice straw is a good alternative fiber feed resource for growing and lactating dairy goats and 15% in diet dry matter is recommended.

Keywords: feeding value, fermented rice straw, growing and lactating dairy goat, spent Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus sajor-caju mushroom substrate

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Authors: Martin Juckel

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Probably no other field of inorganic chemistry has undergone such a rapid development in the past two decades than the low oxidation state chemistry of main group elements. This rapid development has only been possible by the development of new bulky ligands. In case of our research group, super-bulky monodentate amido ligands and β-diketiminate ligands have been used to a great success. We first synthesized the unprecedented magnesium(I) dimer [ᴹᵉˢNacnacMg]₂ (ᴹᵉˢNacnac = [(ᴹᵉˢNCMe)₂CH]-; Mes = mesityl, which has since been used both as reducing agent and also for the synthesis of new metal-magnesium bonds. In case of the zinc bromide precursor [L*ZnBr] (L*=(N(Ar*)(SiPri₃); (Ar* = C₆H₂{C(H)Ph₂}₂Me-2,6,4, the reduction with [ᴹᵉˢNacnacMg]₂ led to such a metal-magnesium bond. This [L*ZnMg(ᴹᵉˢNacnac)] compound can be seen as an ‘inorganic Grignard reagent’, which can be used to transfer the metal fragment onto other functional groups or other metal centers; just like the conventional Grignard reagent. By simple addition of (TBoN)GeCl (TBoN = N(SiMe₃){B(DipNCH)₂) to the aforesaid compound, we were able to transfer the amido-zinc fragment to the Ge center of the germylene starting material and to synthesize the first example of a germanium(II)-zinc bond: [:Ge(TBoN)(ZnL*)]. While these reactions typically led to complex product mixture, [:Ge(TBoN)(ZnL*)] could be isolated as dark blue crystals in a good yield. This new compound shows interesting reactivity towards small molecules, especially dihydrogen gas. This is of special interest as dihydrogen is one of the more difficult small molecules to activate, due to its strong (BDE = 108 kcal/mol) and non-polar bond. In this context, the interaction between H₂ σ-bond with the tetrelylene p-Orbital (LUMO), with concomitant donation of the tetrelylene lone pair (HOMO) into the H₂ σ* orbital are responsible for the activation of dihydrogen gas. Accordingly, the narrower the HOMO-LUMO gap of tertelylene, the more reactivity towards H₂ it typically is. The aim of a narrow HOMO-LUMO gap was reached by transferring electropositive substituents respectively metal substituents with relatively low Pauling electronegativity (zinc: 1.65) onto the Ge center (here: the zinc-amido fragment). In consideration of the unprecedented reactivity of [:Ge(TBoN)(ZnL*)], a computational examination of its frontier orbital energies was undertaken. The energy separation between the HOMO, which has significant Ge lone pair character, and the LUMO, which has predominantly Ge p-orbital character, is narrow (40.8 kcal/mol; cf.∆S-T= 24.8 kcal/mol), and comparable to the HOMO-LUMO gaps calculated for other literature known complexes). The calculated very narrow HOMO-LUMO gap for the [:Ge(TBoN)(ZnL*)] complex is consistent with its high reactivity, and is remarkable considering that it incorporates a π-basic amide ligand, which are known to raise the LUMO of germylenes considerably.

Keywords: activation of dihydrogen gas, narrow HOMO-LUMO gap, first germanium(II)-zinc bond, inorganic Grignard reagent

Procedia PDF Downloads 179

Authors: Fatemeh Asadi Farsad, Sima Modirkhameneh

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The purpose of this study was to explore the pattern of Psychological Well-Being (PWB) of Iranian male and female EFL teachers during the pandemic. It was intended to see if such a drastic change in the context and mode of teaching affects teachers' PWB. Furthermore, the possible difference between the six elements of PWB of Iranian EFL male vs. female teachers during the pandemic was investigated. The other purpose was to find out the EFL teachers’ perceptions of any modifications, and factors leading to such modifications in their PWB during pandemic. For the purpose of this investigation, a total of 81 EFL teachers (59 female, 22 male) with an age range of 25 to 35 were conveniently sampled from different cities in Iran. Ryff’s PWB questionnaire was sent to participant teachers through online platforms to elicit data on their PWB. As for their perceptions on the possible modifications and the factors involved in PWB during pandemic, a set of semi-structured interviews were run among both sample groups. The findings revealed that male EFL teachers had the highest mean on personal growth, followed by purpose of life, and self-acceptance and the lowest mean on environmental mastery. With a slightly similar pattern, female EFL teachers had the highest mean on personal growth, followed by purpose in life, and positive relationship with others with the lowest mean on environmental mastery. However, no significant difference was observed between the male and female groups’ overall means on elements of PWB. Additionally, participants perceived that their anxiety level in online classes altered due to factors like (1) Computer literacy skills, (2) Lack of social communications and interactions with colleagues and students, (3) Online class management, (4) Overwhelming workloads, and (5) Time management. The study ends with further suggestions as regards effective online teaching preparation considering teachers PWB, especially at severe situations such as covid-19 pandemic. The findings offer to determine the reformations of educational policies concerning enhancing EFL teachers’ PWB through computer literacy courses and stress management courses. It is also suggested that to proactively support teachers’ mental health, it is necessary to provide them with advisors and psychologists if possible for free. Limitations: One limitation is the small number of participants (81), suggesting that future replications should include more participants for reliable findings. Another limitation is the gender imbalance, which future studies should address to yield better outcomes. Furthermore, Limited data gathering tools suggest using observations, diaries, and narratives for more insights in future studies. The study focused on one model of PWB, calling for further research on other models in the literature. Considering the wide effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, future studies should consider additional variables (e.g., teaching experience, age, income) to understand Iranian EFL teachers’ vulnerabilities and strengths better.

Keywords: online teaching, psychological well-being, female and male EFL teachers, pandemic

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: Tsega Asresa, Getahun Tigistu, Melaku Bayih

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Computer vision is a subfield of artificial intelligence that allows computers and systems to extract meaning from digital images and video. It is used in a wide range of fields of study, including self-driving cars, video surveillance, medical diagnosis, manufacturing, law, agriculture, quality control, health care, facial recognition, and military applications. Aromatic medicinal plants are botanical raw materials used in cosmetics, medicines, health foods, essential oils, decoration, cleaning, and other natural health products for therapeutic and Aromatic culinary purposes. These plants and their products not only serve as a valuable source of income for farmers and entrepreneurs but also going to export for valuable foreign currency exchange. In Ethiopia, there is a lack of technologies for the classification and identification of Aromatic medicinal plant parts and disease type cured by aromatic medicinal plants. Farmers, industry personnel, academicians, and pharmacists find it difficult to identify plant parts and disease types cured by plants before ingredient extraction in the laboratory. Manual plant identification is a time-consuming, labor-intensive, and lengthy process. To alleviate these challenges, few studies have been conducted in the area to address these issues. One way to overcome these problems is to develop a deep learning model for efficient identification of Aromatic medicinal plant parts with their corresponding disease type. The objective of the proposed study is to identify the aromatic medicinal plant parts and their disease type classification using computer vision technology. Therefore, this research initiated a model for the classification of aromatic medicinal plant parts and their disease type by exploring computer vision technology. Morphological characteristics are still the most important tools for the identification of plants. Leaves are the most widely used parts of plants besides roots, flowers, fruits, and latex. For this study, the researcher used RGB leaf images with a size of 128x128 x3. In this study, the researchers trained five cutting-edge models: convolutional neural network, Inception V3, Residual Neural Network, Mobile Network, and Visual Geometry Group. Those models were chosen after a comprehensive review of the best-performing models. The 80/20 percentage split is used to evaluate the model, and classification metrics are used to compare models. The pre-trained Inception V3 model outperforms well, with training and validation accuracy of 99.8% and 98.7%, respectively.

Keywords: aromatic medicinal plant, computer vision, convolutional neural network, deep learning, plant classification, residual neural network

Procedia PDF Downloads 176

Authors: Shiwani Bhatnagar, K. K. Srivastava, Sangeeta Singh, Ameen Ullah Khan, Bundesh Kumar, Lokendra Singh Rathore

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From the instigation of the world medicinal plants are treated as part and parcel of human society to fight against diseases. Azadirachta indica (Neem) a herbal plant has been used as an Indian traditional medicine since ages and its products are acknowledged to solve agricultural, forestry and public health related problems, owing to its beneficial medicinal properties. Each part of the neem tree is known for its medicinal property. Bark & leaf extracts of neem have been used to control leprosy, respiratory disorders, constipation and also as blood purifier and a general health tonic. Neem is still regarded as ' rural community dispensary' in India or a tree for solving medical problems. Use of Neem as pesticides for the management of insect pest of agriculture crops and forestry has been seen as a shift in the use of synthetic pesticides to ecofriendly botanicals. Neem oil and seed extracts possess germicidal and anti-bacterial properties which when sprayed on the plant helps in protecting them from foliage pests. Azadirachtin, the main active ingredient found in neem tree, acts as an insect repellent and antifeedant. However the young plants are susceptible to many insect pest and foliar diseases. Recently, in the avenue plantation, planted by Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur, around the premises of IIT Jodhpur, two years old neem plants were found to be severely infested with tip borer Laspeyresia koenigana (Family: Eucosmidae). The adult moth of L. koenigana lays eggs on the tender shoots and the young larvae tunnel into the shoot and feed inside. A small pinhole can be seen at the entrance point, from where the larva enters in to the stem. The severely attached apical shoots exhibit profuse gum exudation resulting in development of a callus structure. The internal feeding causes the stem to wilt and the leaves to dry up from the tips resulting in growth retardation. Alternaria Leaf spot and blight symptoms were also recorded on these neem plants. For the management of tip borer and Alternaria Leaf spot, foliar spray of monocrotophos @0.05% and Dithane M-45 @ 0.15% and powermin @ 2ml/lit were found efficient in managing the insect pest and foliar disease problem. No Further incidence of pest/diseases was noticed.

Keywords: azadirachta indica, alternaria leaf spot, laspeyresia koenigana, management

Procedia PDF Downloads 467

Authors: Luis Enrique Escalante Ochoa

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This paper attempts to assess the impacts of Climate change (CC) on inequalities in the labour market. CC will have the most serious effects on some vulnerable economic sectors, such as agriculture, livestock or tourism, but also on the most vulnerable population groups. The objective of this research is to evaluate the impact of CC on the labour market and particularly on Mexican women. Influential documents such as the synthesis reports produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 and 2014 revived a global effort to counteract the effects of CC, called for an analysis of the impacts on vulnerable socio-economic groups and on economic activities, and for the development of decision-making tools to enable policy and other decisions based on the complexity of the world in relation to climate change, taking into account socio-economic attributes. We follow up this suggestion and determine the impact of CC on vulnerable populations in the Mexican labour market, taking into account two attributes (gender and level of qualification of workers). Most studies have focused on the effects of CC on the agricultural sector, as it is considered a highly vulnerable economic sector to the effects of climate variability. This research seeks to contribute to the existing literature taking into account, in addition to the agricultural sector, other sectors such as tourism, water availability, and energy that are of vital importance to the Mexican economy. Likewise, the effects of climate change will be extended to the labour market and specifically to women who in some cases have been left out. The studies are sceptical about the impact of CC on the female labour market because of the perverse effects on women's domestic work, which are too often omitted from analyses. This work will contribute to the literature by integrating domestic work, which in the case of Mexico is much higher among women than among men (80.9% vs. 19.1%), according to the 2009 time use survey. This study is relevant since it will allow us to analyse impacts of climate change not only in the labour market of the formal economy, but also in the non-market sphere. Likewise, we consider that including the gender dimension is valid for the Mexican economy as it is a country with high degrees of gender inequality in the labour market. In the OECD economic study for Mexico (2017), the low labour participation of Mexican women is highlighted. Although participation has increased substantially in recent years (from 36% in 1990 to 47% in 2017), it remains low compared to the OECD average where women participate around 70% of the labour market. According to Mexico's 2009 time use survey, domestic work represents about 13% of the total time available. Understanding the interdependence between the market and non-market spheres, and the gender division of labour within them is the necessary premise for any economic analysis aimed at promoting gender equality and inclusive growth.

Keywords: climate change, labour market, domestic work, rural sector

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Jayahar Sivasubramanian

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Understanding laminar-turbulent transition process in hyper-sonic boundary layers is crucial for designing viable high speed flight vehicles. The study of transition becomes particularly important in the high speed regime due to the effect of transition on aerodynamic performance and heat transfer. However, even after many years of research, the transition process in hyper-sonic boundary layers is still not understood. This lack of understanding of the physics of the transition process is a major impediment to the development of reliable transition prediction methods. Towards this end, spatial Direct Numerical Simulations are conducted to investigate the instability waves generated by a localized disturbance in a hyper-sonic flat plate boundary layer. In order to model a natural transition scenario, the boundary layer was forced by a short duration (localized) pulse through a hole on the surface of the flat plate. The pulse disturbance developed into a three-dimensional instability wave packet which consisted of a wide range of disturbance frequencies and wave numbers. First, the linear development of the wave packet was studied by forcing the flow with low amplitude (0.001% of the free-stream velocity). The dominant waves within the resulting wave packet were identified as two-dimensional second mode disturbance waves. Hence the wall-pressure disturbance spectrum exhibited a maximum at the span wise mode number k = 0. The spectrum broadened in downstream direction and the lower frequency first mode oblique waves were also identified in the spectrum. However, the peak amplitude remained at k = 0 which shifted to lower frequencies in the downstream direction. In order to investigate the nonlinear transition regime, the flow was forced with a higher amplitude disturbance (5% of the free-stream velocity). The developing wave packet grows linearly at first before reaching the nonlinear regime. The wall pressure disturbance spectrum confirmed that the wave packet developed linearly at first. The response of the flow to the high amplitude pulse disturbance indicated the presence of a fundamental resonance mechanism. Lower amplitude secondary peaks were also identified in the disturbance wave spectrum at approximately half the frequency of the high amplitude frequency band, which would be an indication of a sub-harmonic resonance mechanism. The disturbance spectrum indicates, however, that fundamental resonance is much stronger than sub-harmonic resonance.

Keywords: boundary layer, DNS, hyper sonic flow, instability waves, wave packet

Procedia PDF Downloads 180

Authors: Cristina Lavilla, Andreas Heise

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The synthesis of sequence-controlled polymers has received increasing attention in the last years. Well-defined polyacrylates, polyacrylamides and styrene-maleimide copolymers have been synthesized by sequential or kinetic addition of comonomers. However this approach has not yet been introduced to the synthesis of polypeptides, which are in fact polymers developed by nature in a sequence-controlled way. Polypeptides are natural materials that possess the ability to self-assemble into complex and highly ordered structures. Their folding and properties arise from precisely controlled sequences and compositions in their constituent amino acid monomers. So far, solid-phase peptide synthesis is the only technique that allows preparing short peptide sequences with excellent sequence control, but also requires extensive protection/deprotection steps and it is a difficult technique to scale-up. A new strategy towards sequence control in the synthesis of polypeptides is introduced, based on the sequential addition of α-amino acid-N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs). The living ring-opening process is conducted to full conversion and no purification or deprotection is needed before addition of a new amino acid. The length of every block is predefined by the NCA:initiator ratio in every step. This method yields polypeptides with a specific sequence and controlled molecular weights. A series of polypeptides with varying block sequences have been synthesized with the aim to identify structure-property relationships. All of them are able to adopt secondary structures similar to natural polypeptides, and display properties in the solid state and in solution that are characteristic of the primary structure. By design the prepared polypeptides allow selective modification of individual block sequences, which has been exploited to introduce functionalities in defined positions along the polypeptide chain. Poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG) was the functionality chosen, as it is known to favor hydrophilicity and also yield thermoresponsive materials. After PEGylation, hydrophilicity of the polypeptides is enhanced, and their thermal response in H2O has been studied. Noteworthy differences in the behavior of the polypeptides having different sequences have been found. Circular dichroism measurements confirmed that the α-helical conformation is stable over the examined temperature range (5-90 °C). It is concluded that PEG units are the main responsible of the changes in H-bonding interactions with H2O upon variation of temperature, and the position of these functional units along the backbone is a factor of utmost importance in the resulting properties of the α-helical polypeptides.

Keywords: α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides, multiblock copolymers, poly(ethylene glycol), polypeptides, ring-opening polymerization, sequence control

Procedia PDF Downloads 194

Authors: Debasish Chowdhury, Sunil Mekale, Sarvanamurthy Sakthivel, Sukhvinder Kaur, Rambabu Khambampati, Ashok Agarwal

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Introduction: The migrant intervention in India was initiated during the National AIDS Control Program (NACP) Phase-2 (2002-2007). HIV Sentinel surveillance Studies (HSS) conducted in 2012-13 indicated higher HIV prevalence among migrants (0.99%) compared to general populations (0.35%). Migrants continue to bear a heightened risk of HIV infection which results from the condition and structure of the migration process. USAID PHFI-PIPPSE project in collaboration with the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) developed a unique system called Migrant Service Delivery System (MSDS) to capture migrants profile with respect to their risk profile and to provide tailor made services to them. Description: MSDS is a web-based system, designed and implemented to increase service uptake among migrants through evidence based planning. 110 destination migrants Targeted Intervention (TI) from 11 states were selected for study with varied target populations in terms of occupations; to understand occupation related risk behaviors among the migrants. Occupation wise registration data of high risk vulnerable migrants were analyzed through MSDS for the period April 2014–June 2016. Analysis was made on specific indicators among these occupational groups to understand the risk behavior and their vulnerability to HIV and STIs. Findings: Out of total HIV positive migrant’s workers (N= 847) enrolled in MSDS HIV rate is found to be highest among Auto-Rickshaw (18.66%) followed by Daily wage laborers (14.46%), Loom workers (10.73%), Industrial workers (10.04%) and Construction worker 7.93%. With 45.14% positivity, industrial workers are found to be most vulnerable to Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) (N=10057) among all occupational categories followed by loom workers (16.28%), Skilled worker (Furniture, Jeweler)-7.14%, daily wage laborers (5.45%). Conclusion: MSDS is an effective tool to assess migrants’ risk and their vulnerability to HIV for designing evidence informed program. This system calls for a replication across all destination TIs by NACO for differential strategies for different occupation groups to ensure better yield through scientific planning of intervention among high risk and high vulnerable migrants.

Keywords: migrants, migrant service delivery system, risk, vulnerability

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: Majid Farsadrouh Rashti, Alireza Mohammadinejad, Amir Shafiee Kisomi

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Lead (Pb²⁺), a cation, is a prime constituent of the majority of the industrial effluents such as mining, smelting and coal combustion, Pb-based painting and Pb containing pipes in water supply systems, paper and pulp refineries, printing, paints and pigments, explosive manufacturing, storage batteries, alloy and steel industries. The maximum permissible limit of lead in the water used for drinking and domesticating purpose is 0.01 mg/L as advised by Bureau of Indian Standards, BIS. This becomes the acceptable 'safe' level of lead(II) ions in water beyond which, the water becomes unfit for human use and consumption, and is potential enough to lead health problems and epidemics leading to kidney failure, neuronal disorders, and reproductive infertility. Superabsorbent hydrogels are loosely crosslinked hydrophilic polymers that in contact with aqueous solution can easily water and swell to several times to their initial volume without dissolving in aqueous medium. Superabsorbents are kind of hydrogels capable to swell and absorb a large amount of water in their three-dimensional networks. While the shapes of hydrogels do not change extensively during swelling, because of tremendously swelling capacity of superabsorbent, their shape will broadly change.Because of their superb response to changing environmental conditions including temperature pH, and solvent composition, superabsorbents have been attracting in numerous industrial applications. For instance, water retention property and subsequently. Natural-based superabsorbent hydrogels have attracted much attention in medical pharmaceutical, baby diapers, agriculture, and horticulture because of their non-toxicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Novel superabsorbent hydrogel nanocomposites were prepared by graft copolymerization of acrylamide and itaconic acid in the presence of nanoclay (laponite), using methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) and potassium persulfate, former as a crosslinking agent and the second as an initiator. The superabsorbent hydrogel nanocomposites structure was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, SEM and TGA Spectroscopy adsorption of metal ions on poly (AAm-co-IA). The equilibrium swelling values of copolymer was determined by gravimetric method. During the adsorption of metal ions on polymer, residual metal ion concentration in the solution and the solution pH were measured. The effects of the clay content of the hydrogel on its metal ions uptake behavior were studied. The NC hydrogels may be considered as a good candidate for environmental applications to retain more water and to remove heavy metals.

Keywords: adsorption, hydrogel, nanocomposite, super adsorbent

Procedia PDF Downloads 183

Authors: Heribert R. Kaijage, Samuel N. A. Codjoe, Simon H. D. Mamuya, Mangi J. Ezekiel

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There is strong evidence that climate has changed significantly affecting various sectors including public health. The recommended feasible solution is adopting development trajectories which combine both mitigation and adaptation measures for improving resilience pathways. This approach demands a consideration for complex interactions between climate and social-ecological systems. While other sectors such as agriculture and water have developed climate resilience indices, the public health sector in Tanzania is still lagging behind. The aim of this study was to find out how can we use Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) linked with Remote Sensing (RS) technology and metrological information as tools to inform climate change resilient development and evaluation for the health sector. Methodological review was conducted whereby a number of studies were content analyzed to find appropriate indicators and indices for climate resilience household and their integration approach. These indicators were critically reviewed, listed, filtered and their sources determined. Preliminary identification and ranking of indicators were conducted using participatory approach of pairwise weighting by selected national stakeholders from meeting/conferences on human health and climate change sciences in Tanzania. DHS datasets were retrieved from Measure Evaluation project, processed and critically analyzed for possible climate change indicators. Other sources for indicators of climate change exposure were also identified. For the purpose of preliminary reporting, operationalization of selected indicators was discussed to produce methodological approach to be used in resilience comparative analysis study. It was found that household climate resilient index depends on the combination of three indices namely Household Adaptive and Mitigation Capacity (HC), Household Health Sensitivity (HHS) and Household Exposure Status (HES). It was also found that, DHS alone cannot complement resilient evaluation unless integrated with other data sources notably flooding data as a measure of vulnerability, remote sensing image of Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Metrological data (deviation from rainfall pattern). It can be concluded that if these indices retrieved from DHS data sets are computed and scientifically integrated can produce single climate resilience index and resilience maps could be generated at different spatial and time scales to enhance targeted interventions for climate resilient development and evaluations. However, further studies are need to test for the sensitivity of index in resilience comparative analysis among selected regions.

Keywords: climate change, resilience, remote sensing, demographic and health surveys

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Authors: Neelima Rashmi Lakra

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India was among one of the highly developed economy up to 1850 due to its cottage industries. During the end of the 18th century, modern industrial enterprises began with the first cotton mill in Bombay, the jute mill near Calcutta and the coal mine in Raniganj. This was counted as the real beginning of industry in 1854 in India. Prior to this period people concentrated only to agriculture, menial service or handicraft, and the introduction of industries exposed them to the disciplines of factory which was very tedious for them. With increasing number of factories been setup adding on to mining and introduction of railway, World War Period (1914-19), Second World War Period (1939-45) and the Great Depression (1929-33) there were visible change in the nature of work for the people, which resulted in outburst of strike for various reasons in these factories. Here, with India’s independence there was emergence of public sector industries and labour legislations were introduced. Meanwhile, trade unions came to notice to the rescue of the oppressed but failed to continue till long. Soon after, with the New Economic Policy organisations came across to face challenges to perform their best, where social justice for the workmen was in question. On these backdrops, studies were found discussing the central human capabilities which could be addressed through Social Security schemes. Therefore, this study was taken up to look at the reforms and legislations mainly meant for the welfare of the labour. This paper will contribute to the large number of Indian population who are serving in public sectors in India since the introduction of industries and will complement the issue of social justice through social security measures among this huge crowd serving the nation. The objectives of the study include; to find out what labour Legislations have already been existing in India, the role of Trade Union Movement, to look at the effects of New Economic Policy on these reforms and its effects and measures taken for the workforce employed in the public sectors and finally, if these measures fulfil the social justice aspects for the larger society on whole. The methodology followed collection of data from books, journal articles, reports, company reports and manuals focusing mainly on Indian studies and the data was analysed following content analysis method. The findings showed the measures taken for Social Security, but there were also reflections of very few particular additions or amendments to these Acts and provisions with the onset of New Liberalisation Policy. Therefore, the study concluded examining the social justice aspects in the context of a developing economy and discussing the recommendations.

Keywords: public sectors, social justice, social security schemes, trade union movement

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Roya Yumul, Ofelia Loani Elvir-Lazo, Sevan Komshian, Ruby Wang, Jun Tang

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BACKGROUND: An objective means for monitoring the anti-nociceptive effects of perioperative medications has long been desired as a way to provide anesthesiologists information regarding a patient’s level of antinociception and preclude any untoward autonomic responses and reflexive muscular movements from painful stimuli intraoperatively. To this end, electroencephalogram (EEG) based tools including BIS and qCON were designed to provide information about the depth of sedation while qNOX was produced to inform on the degree of antinociception. The goal of this study was to compare the reliability of qCON/qNOX to BIS as specific indicators of response to nociceptive stimulation. METHODS: Sixty-two patients undergoing general anesthesia with LMA were included in this study. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained, and informed consent was acquired prior to patient enrollment. Inclusion criteria included American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class I-III, 18 to 80 years of age, and either gender. Exclusion criteria included the inability to consent. Withdrawal criteria included conversion to the endotracheal tube and EEG malfunction. BIS and qCON/qNOX electrodes were simultaneously placed on all patients prior to induction of anesthesia and were monitored throughout the case, along with other perioperative data, including patient response to noxious stimuli. All intraoperative decisions were made by the primary anesthesiologist without influence from qCON/qNOX. Student’s t-distribution, prediction probability (PK), and ANOVA were used to statistically compare the relative ability to detect nociceptive stimuli for each index. Twenty patients were included for the preliminary analysis. RESULTS: A comparison of overall intraoperative BIS, qCON and qNOX indices demonstrated no significant difference between the three measures (N=62, p> 0.05). Meanwhile, index values for qNOX (62±18) were significantly higher than those for BIS (46±14) and qCON (54±19) immediately preceding patient responses to nociceptive stimulation in a preliminary analysis (N=20, * p= 0.0408). Notably, certain hemodynamic measurements demonstrated a significant increase in response to painful stimuli (MAP increased from 74 ±13 mm Hg at baseline to 84 ± 18 mm Hg during noxious stimuli [p= 0.032] and HR from 76 ± 12 BPM at baseline to 80 ± 13 BPM during noxious stimuli [p=0.078] respectively). CONCLUSION: In this observational study, BIS and qCON/qNOX provided comparable information on patients’ level of sedation throughout the course of an anesthetic. Meanwhile, increases in qNOX values demonstrated a superior correlation to an imminent response to stimulation relative to all other indices

Keywords: antinociception, BIS, general anesthesia, LMA, qCON/qNOX

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Redie Kidane Ghebrehawariat, Betiel Habte Hadgu, Filmon Berhane Kahsay, Rim Berhane Fisehaye, Samuel Haile Kahsay, Saron Yemane Yosief, Selemawit Mosazghi Gilazghi

Abstract:

A cross-sectional study was conducted from 22 February to 9 April 2022 on small, medium, and large holder dairy farms to determine the bovine mastitis prevalence and associated risk factors in the Anseba region, Eritrea. A total of 34 dairy farms and 193 dairy cows were randomly selected. Dairy cows were physically examined for any change on the udder and milk; a California mastitis test was performed to check sub-clinical mastitis; a closed-ended semi-structured questionnaire composed of 28 variables/risk factors (21 management risk factors and 7 animal-level risk factors) was used to determine the risk factors responsible for clinical and sub-clinical mastitis in the dairy cows. The overall cow-level prevalence of mastitis was 147 (76.2%). The animal level prevalence rate of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis was found to be 22 (11.4%) and 125 (64.8%), respectively, while herd level prevalence both for clinical and subclinical mastitis was found to be 14 (41.2%) and 26 (76.5%) respectively. Based on the already set P-value, which is <0.05, a number of risk factors were found to have a significant relationship with the occurrence of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis. Generally, animal risk factors such as animal age, parity, injury on the udder or teat, and previous history of mastitis presence of injury on the udder and lactation stage were risk factors with a significant relationship with the occurrence of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis. On the other hand, management risk factors with a significant relationship to the occurrence of clinical and sub-clinical mastitis were herd size, failure to milk mastitic cow, at last, educational level, floor type, failure to use a towel, using one towel for more than one cow and failure to practice mastitis test. From a total of 772 quarters, 280 (36.3%) were found positive for sub-clinical mastitis using the California mastitis test; of these, 70 (9%) were weakly positive, 90 (11.7%) were distinct positive, and 120 (15.5%) were strongly positive. Furthermore, 13 (1.7%) quarters were blocked. Quarter level prevalence was right front 80 (41.5%), left front 64 (33.3%), right hind 69 (35.8%) and left hind 67 (34.7%). The study has shown that mastitis is a major problem for dairy farms and the findings suggested that mastitis is one of the limiting factors in increasing milk production. Subclinical mastitis was found to be a devastating problem, and it occurred in all three breeds of lactating dairy cattle. Therefore, farmers should work hard to avoid the above-mentioned risk factors to minimize the infection of their dairy cattle by mastitis and thereby increase their profit. On the other hand, the Ministry of Agriculture, through the extension unit, should work in close contact with the farmers to increase awareness of the economic importance of the disease and associated risk factors.

Keywords: mastitis, prevalence, dairy cattle, Anseba, Eritrea

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Authors: Marlin Mubarak

Abstract:

Background: Endometriosis is a complex disabling disease affecting young females in the reproductive period mainly. The aim of this project is to generate a diagnostic model to predict severity and stage of endometriosis prior to Laparoscopic surgery. This will help to improve the pre-operative diagnostic accuracy of stage 3 & 4 endometriosis and as a result, refer relevant women to a specialist centre for complex Laparoscopic surgery. The model is based on the British Society of Gynaecological Endoscopy (BSGE) pain questionnaire, clinical examination and ultrasound scan. Design: This is a prospective, observational, study, in which women completed the BSGE pain questionnaire, a BSGE requirement. Also, as part of the routine preoperative assessment patient had a routine ultrasound scan and when recto-vaginal and deep infiltrating endometriosis was suspected an MRI was performed. Setting: Luton & Dunstable University Hospital. Patients: Symptomatic women (n = 56) scheduled for laparoscopy due to pelvic pain. The age ranged between 17 – 52 years of age (mean 33.8 years, SD 8.7 years). Interventions: None outside the recognised and established endometriosis centre protocol set up by BSGE. Main Outcome Measure(s): Sensitivity and specificity of endometriosis diagnosis predicted by symptoms based on BSGE pain questionnaire, clinical examinations and imaging. Findings: The prevalence of diagnosed endometriosis was calculated to be 76.8% and the prevalence of advanced stage was 55.4%. Deep infiltrating endometriosis in various locations was diagnosed in 32/56 women (57.1%) and some had DIE involving several locations. Logistic regression analysis was performed on 36 clinical variables to create a simple clinical prediction model. After creating the scoring system using variables with P < 0.05, the model was applied to the whole dataset. The sensitivity was 83.87% and specificity 96%. The positive likelihood ratio was 20.97 and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.17, indicating that the model has a good predictive value and could be useful in predicting advanced stage endometriosis. Conclusions: This is a hypothesis-generating project with one operator, but future proposed research would provide validation of the model and establish its usefulness in the general setting. Predictive tools based on such model could help organise the appropriate investigation in clinical practice, reduce risks associated with surgery and improve outcome. It could be of value for future research to standardise the assessment of women presenting with pelvic pain. The model needs further testing in a general setting to assess if the initial results are reproducible.

Keywords: deep endometriosis, endometriosis, minimally invasive, MRI, ultrasound.

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Authors: Gabriela Silva-Maceda, Silvia Romero-Contreras

Abstract:

Spanish is a more transparent language than English given that it has more direct correspondences between sounds and letters. It has become important to understand how decoding and linguistic comprehension contribute to reading comprehension in the framework of the widely known Simple View Model. This study aimed to identify the level of prediction by these two components in a sample of 1st to 4th grade children attending two schools in central Mexico (one public and one private). Within each school, ten children were randomly selected in each grade level, and their parents were asked about reading habits and socioeconomic information. In total, 79 children completed three standardized tests measuring decoding (pseudo-word reading), linguistic comprehension (understanding of paragraphs) and reading comprehension using subtests from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Spanish, Fourth Edition, and the Test de Lectura y Escritura en Español (LEE). The data were analyzed using hierarchical regression, with decoding as a first step and linguistic comprehension as a second step. Results showed that decoding accounted for 19.2% of the variance in reading comprehension, while linguistic comprehension accounted for an additional 10%, adding up to 29.2% of variance explained: F (2, 75)= 15.45, p <.001. Socioeconomic status derived from parental questionnaires showed a statistically significant association with the type of school attended, X2 (3, N= 79) = 14.33, p =.002. Nonetheless when analyzing the Simple View components, only decoding differences were statistically significant (t = -6.92, df = 76.81, p < .001, two-tailed); reading comprehension differences were also significant (t = -3.44, df = 76, p = .001, two-tailed). When socioeconomic status was included in the model, it predicted a 5.9% unique variance, even when already accounting for Simple View components, adding to a 35.1% total variance explained. This three-predictor model was also significant: F (3, 72)= 12.99, p <.001. In addition, socioeconomic status was significantly correlated with the amount of non-textbook books parents reported to have at home for both adults (rho = .61, p<.001) and children (rho= .47, p<.001). Results converge with a large body of literature finding socioeconomic differences in reading comprehension; in addition this study suggests that these differences were also present in decoding skills. Although linguistic comprehension differences between schools were expected, it is argued that the test used to collect this variable was not sensitive to linguistic differences, since it came from a test to diagnose clinical language disabilities. Even with this caveat, results show that the components of the Simple View Model can predict less than a third of the variance in reading comprehension in Spanish. However, the results also suggest that a fuller model of reading comprehension is obtained when considering the family’s socioeconomic status, given the potential differences shown by the socioeconomic status association with books at home, factors that are particularly important in countries where inequality gaps are relatively large.

Keywords: decoding, linguistic comprehension, reading comprehension, simple view model, socioeconomic status, Spanish

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Authors: G. Zakharov, Z. Aslamazashvili, M. Chikhradze, D. Kvaskhvadze, N. Khidasheli, S. Gvazava

Abstract:

Traditional technologies for processing iron-containing industrial waste, including steel-rolling production, are associated with significant energy costs, the long duration of processes, and the need to use complex and expensive equipment. Waste generated during the industrial process negatively affects the environment, but at the same time, it is a valuable raw material and can be used to produce new marketable products. The study of the effectiveness of self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) methods, which are characterized by the simplicity of the necessary equipment, the purity of the final product, and the high processing speed, is under the wide scientific and practical interest to solve the set problem. The work presents technological aspects of the production of Ferro boron by the method of SHS - metallurgy from iron-containing wastes of rolled production for alloying of cast iron and results of the effect of alloying element on the degree of boron assimilation with liquid cast iron. Features of Fe-B system combustion have been investigated, and the main parameters to control the phase composition of synthesis products have been experimentally established. Effect of overloads on patterns of cast ligatures formation and mechanisms structure formation of SHS products was studied. It has been shown that an increase in the content of hematite Fe₂O₃ in iron-containing waste leads to an increase in the content of phase FeB and, accordingly, the amount of boron in the ligature. Boron content in ligature is within 3-14%, and the phase composition of obtained ligatures consists of Fe₂B and FeB phases. Depending on the initial composition of the wastes, the yield of the end product reaches 91 - 94%, and the extraction of boron is 70 - 88%. Combustion processes of high exothermic mixtures allow to obtain a wide range of boron-containing ligatures from industrial wastes. In view of the relatively low melting point of the obtained SHS-ligature, the positive dynamics of boron absorption by liquid iron is established. According to the obtained data, the degree of absorption of the ligature by alloying gray cast iron at 1450°C is 80-85%. When combined with the treatment of liquid cast iron with magnesium, followed by alloying with the developed ligature, boron losses are reduced by 5-7%. At that, uniform distribution of boron micro-additives in the volume of treated liquid metal is provided. Acknowledgment: This work was supported by Shota Rustaveli Georgian National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRGNSFG) under the GENIE project (grant number № CARYS-19-802).

Keywords: self-propagating high-temperature synthesis, cast iron, industrial waste, ductile iron, structure formation

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