Search results for: alcohol dependence

Authors: Erdoğan Özbay, Hakan T. Türker, Müzeyyen Balçıkanlı, Mohamed Lachemi

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In this paper, the effects of fiber types and elevated temperatures on compressive strength, modulus of rapture and the bond characteristics of fiber reinforced concretes (FRC) are presented. By using the three different types of fibers (steel fiber-SF, polypropylene-PPF and polyvinyl alcohol-PVA), FRC specimens were produced and exposed to elevated temperatures up to 800 ºC for 1.5 hours. In addition, a plain concrete (without fiber) was produced and used as a control. Test results obtained showed that the steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) had the highest compressive strength, modulus of rapture and bond stress values at room temperatures, the residual bond, flexural and compressive strengths of both FRC and plain concrete dropped sharply after exposure to high temperatures. The results also indicated that the reduction of bond, flexural and compressive strengths with increasing the exposed temperature was relatively less for SFRC than for plain, and FRC with PPF and PVA.

Keywords: bond stress, compressive strength, elevated temperatures, fiber reinforced concrete, modulus of rapture

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Authors: Nisha Singh, Neeru Adlakha

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Calcium signalling is one of the most important intracellular signalling mechanisms. A lot of approaches and investigators have been made in the study of calcium signalling in various cells to understand its mechanisms over recent decades. However, most of existing investigators have mainly focussed on the study of calcium signalling in various cells without paying attention to the dependence of calcium signalling on other chemical ions like inositol-1; 4; 5 triphosphate ions, etc. Some models for the independent study of calcium signalling and inositol-1; 4; 5 triphosphate signalling in various cells are present but very little attention has been paid by the researchers to study the interdependence of these two signalling processes in a cell. In this paper, we propose a coupled mathematical model to understand the interdependence of inositol-1; 4; 5 triphosphate dynamics and calcium dynamics in a myocyte cell. Such studies will provide the deeper understanding of various factors involved in calcium signalling in myocytes, which may be of great use to biomedical scientists for various medical applications.

Keywords: calcium signalling, coupling, finite difference method, inositol 1, 4, 5-triphosphate

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: V. Davaakhuu, D. Tserendagva, D. Amarsaikhan, T. Altanstetseg

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In this study we aimed to detect main risk factors for diabetes in Mongolia and obtain data we used survey modified questionnaire. Survey data were obtained from 634 valid nurses (day work nurses-317, shift work nurses-317). Participants who were pregnant, less than 20 years old and no check for fasting glucose level were excluded from the survey in order to determine the risk factors of diabetes. Our study result shows the main risk factors of diabetes were physical inactivity, overweight and obesity, alcohol and tobacco use and lack of vegetable and fruit consumption. Peripheral blood glucose level was normal in subjects with BMI 26.28 ± 0.56, but 20 % of the subjects with normal blood glucose level were obese. Blood glucose level was higher in subjects with BMI 28.63 ± 2.32 and 36 % of them were obese. According to our study results, 3.62% of the surveyed population were identified having no diabetes risk factors, 52.3% were at risk, 28.8% were in higher risk for diabetes by the WHO criteria. In general, the prevalence of blood glucose were especially higher in shift work nurses.

Keywords: day work nurses, shift work nurses, BMI, WHR

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Authors: Ratna Dewi Kusumaningtyas, Prima Astuti Handayani, Arief Budiman

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Reactive Distillation (RD) is a multifunctional reactor which integrates chemical reaction with in situ separation to shift the equilibrium towards the product formation. Thus, it is suitable for equilibrium limited reaction such as esterification and transesterification to enhance the reaction conversion. In this work, the application of RD for high FFA oil esterification-transterification for biodiesel production using sulphuric acid catalyst has been studied. Crude Jatropha Oil with FFA content of 30.57% was utilized as the feedstock. Effects of the catalyst concentration and molar ratio of the alcohol to oils were also investigated. It was revealed that best result was obtained with sulphuric acid catalyst (reaction conversion of 94.71% and FFA content of 1.62%) at 60C, molar ratio of methanol to FFA of 30:1, and catalyst loading of 3%. After undergoing esterification reaction, jatropha oil was then transesterified to produce biodiesel. Transesterification reaction was performed in the presence of NaOH catalyst in RD column at 60C, molar ratio of methanol to oil of 6:1, and catalyst concentration of 1%. It demonstrated that biodiesel produced in this work agreed with the Indonesian National and ASTM standard of fuel.

Keywords: reactive distillation, biodiesel, esterification, transesterification

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Authors: C. Asha Poorna, N. S. Pradeep

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The biological function of lipase is to catalyze the hydrolysis of triacylglycerols to give free fatty acid, diacylglycerols, mono-acylglycerols and glycerol. They constitute the most important group of biocatalysts for biotechnological applications. The aim of the present study was to identify the lipolytic activity of Streptomyces sp. From soil sample collected from the sacred groves of southern Kerala. The culture conditions of the isolate were optimised and the enzyme was purified and characterised. The purification was attempted with acetone precipitation. The isolate observed to have high lipolytic activity and identified to be of Streptomyces strain. The purification was attempted with acetone precipitation. The purified enzyme observed to have an apparent molecular mass of ~60kDa by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The enzyme showed maximum activity at 60oC and pH-8. The lipase showed tolerance towards different organic solvents like ethanol and methanol that are commonly used in transesterification reactions to displace alcohol from triglycerides contained in renewable resources to yield fatty acid alkyl esters known as biodiesel.

Keywords: lipase, Streptomyces, biodiesel, fatty acid, transesterification

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Authors: A. Jawahar

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In this paper, the dependence of soliton pulses with respect to phase in a 10 Gbps, single channel, dispersion uncompensated telecommunication system was studied. The characteristic feature of periodic soliton interaction was noted at the Interaction point (I=6202.5Km) in one collision length of L=12405.1 Km. The interaction point is located for 10Gbps system with an initial relative spacing (qo) of soliton as 5.28 using Perturbation theory. It is shown that, when two in-phase solitons are launched, they interact at the point I=6202.5 Km, but the interaction could be restricted with introduction of different phase initially. When the phase of the input solitons increases, the deviation of soliton pulses at the I also increases. We have successfully demonstrated this effect in a telecommunication set-up in terms of Quality factor (Q), where the Q=0 for in-phase soliton. The Q was noted to be 125.9, 38.63, 47.53, 59.60, 161.37, and 78.04 for different phases such as 10o, 20o, 30o, 45o, 60o and 90o degrees respectively at Interaction point I.

Keywords: Soliton interaction, Initial relative spacing, phase, Perturbation theory and telecommunication system

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Authors: Sadaf Nawaz, Adnan Ahmed Khan, Asad Mahmood, Chaudhary Farrukh Javed

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Classically, an energy detector is implemented in time domain (TD). However, frequency domain (FD) based energy detector has demonstrated an improved performance. This paper presents a comparison between the two approaches as to analyze their pros and cons. A detailed performance analysis of the classical TD energy-detector and the periodogram based detector is performed. Exact and approximate mathematical expressions for probability of false alarm (Pf) and probability of detection (Pd) are derived for both approaches. The derived expressions naturally lead to an analytical as well as intuitive reasoning for the improved performance of (Pf) and (Pd) in different scenarios. Our analysis suggests the dependence improvement on buffer sizes. Pf is improved in FD, whereas Pd is enhanced in TD based energy detectors. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations results demonstrate the analysis reached by the derived expressions.

Keywords: cognitive radio, energy detector, periodogram, spectrum sensing

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Authors: Zian Cheak Tiu, Harith Ahmad, Sulaiman Wadi Harun

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A simple multi-wavelength passively Q-switched Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) is demonstrated using low cost multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) based saturable absorber (SA), which is prepared using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a host polymer. The multi-wavelength operation is achieved based on nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) effect by incorporating 50 m long photonic crystal fiber (PCF) in the ring cavity. The EDFL produces a stable multi-wavelength comb spectrum for more than 14 lines with a fixed spacing of 0.48 nm. The laser also demonstrates a stable pulse train with the repetition rate increases from 14.9 kHz to 25.4 kHz as the pump power increases from the threshold power of 69.0 mW to the maximum pump power of 133.8 mW. The minimum pulse width of 4.4 µs was obtained at the maximum pump power of 133.8 mW while the highest energy of 0.74 nJ was obtained at pump power of 69.0 mW.

Keywords: multi-wavelength Q-switched, multi-walled carbon nanotube, photonic crystal fiber

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Authors: Hoang Van Ngoc, Nguyen Thu Huong, Nguyen Quang Bau

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Using the quantum kinetic equation for electrons interacting with acoustic phonon, the density of the constant current associated with the drag of charge carriers in cylindrical quantum wire by a linearly polarized electromagnetic wave, a DC electric field and a laser radiation field is calculated. The density of the constant current is studied as a function of the frequency of electromagnetic wave, as well as the frequency of laser field and the basic elements of quantum wire with a parabolic potential. The analytic expression of the constant current density is numerically evaluated and plotted for a specific quantum wires GaAs/AlGaAs to show the dependence of the constant current density on above parameters. All these results of quantum wire compared with bulk semiconductors and superlattices to show the difference.

Keywords: The photon-drag effect, the constant current density, quantum wire, parabolic potential

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Authors: Mokhtar Labiod, Nabil Ikhlef, Keltoum Bouherine, Olivier Leroy

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A numerical model for the radio-frequency (RF) Argon discharge chamber is developed to simulate the low pressure low temperature inductively coupled plasma. This model will be of fundamental importance in the design of the plasma magnetic control system. Electric and magnetic fields inside the discharge chamber are evaluated by solving a magnetic vector potential equation. To start with, the equations of the ideal magnetohydrodynamics theory will be presented describing the basic behaviour of magnetically confined plasma and equations are discretized with finite element method in cylindrical coordinates. The discharge chamber is assumed to be axially symmetric and the plasma is treated as a compressible gas. Plasma generation due to ionization is added to the continuity equation. Magnetic vector potential equation is solved for the electromagnetic fields. A strong dependence of the plasma properties on the discharge conditions and the gas temperature is obtained.

Keywords: direct-coupled model, magnetohydrodynamic, modelling, plasma torch simulation

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Authors: X. S. Wu, H. Jia, P. H. Qian, Z. Zhang, H. L. Cai, F. M. Zhang

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A bipolar resistance switching behaviour is detected for a Ti/TiO2-x/Au memristor device, which is fabricated by a masked designed magnetic sputtering. The current dependence of voltage indicates the curve changes slowly and continuously. When voltage pulses are applied to the device, the set and reset processes maintains linearity, which is used to simulate the synapses. We argue that the conduction mechanism of the device is from the oxygen vacancy channel model, and the resistance of the device change slowly due to the reaction between the titanium electrode and the intermediate layer and the existence of a large number of oxygen vacancies in the intermediate layer. Then, Hopfield neural network is constructed to simulate the behaviour of neural network in image processing, and the accuracy rate is more than 98%. This shows that titanium dioxide memristor has a broad application prospect in high performance neural network simulation.

Keywords: memristor fabrication, neuromorphic computing, bionic synaptic application, TiO₂-based

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Authors: Bambang Ariantara, Nandy Putra, Rangga Aji Pamungkas

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The development of electric vehicle batteries has resulted in very high energy density lithium-ion batteries. However, this progress is accompanied by the risk of thermal runaway, which can result in serious accidents. Heat pipes are heat exchangers that are suitable to be applied in electric vehicle battery thermal management for their lightweight, compact size and do not require external power supply. This paper aims to examine experimentally a flat plate loop heat pipe (FPLHP) performance as a heat exchanger in the thermal management system of the lithium-ion battery for electric vehicle application. The heat generation of the battery was simulated using a cartridge heater. Stainless steel screen mesh was used as the capillary wick. Distilled water, alcohol and acetone were used as working fluids with a filling ratio of 60%. It was found that acetone gives the best performance that produces the thermal resistance of 0.22 W/°C with 50 °C evaporator temperature at heat flux load of 1.61 W/cm2.

Keywords: electric vehicle, flat-plate loop heat pipe, lithium-ion battery, thermal management system

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Authors: Marc Toutain, Pascale Leconte, Antoine Gauthier

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Introduction: Eating Disorders (ED), such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating, are psychiatric illnesses that mostly affect young people. The main symptoms concern eating (restriction, excessive food intake) and weight control behaviors (laxatives, vomiting). Psychological comorbidities (depression, executive function disorders, etc.) and problematic behaviors toward physical activity (PA) are commonly associated with ED. Acquaintances on ED risk factors are still lacking, and more community sample studies are needed to improve prevention and early detection. To our knowledge, studies are needed to specifically investigate the link between ED risk level, PA, and psychological risk factors in a community sample of adolescents. The aim of this study is to assess the relation between ED risk level, exercise (type, frequency, and motivations for engaging in exercise), and psychological factors based on the Jacobi risk factors model. We suppose that a high risk of ED will be associated with the practice of high caloric cost PA, motivations oriented to weight and shape control, and psychological disturbances. Method: An online survey destined for students has been sent to several middle schools and colleges in northwest France. This survey combined several questionnaires, the Eating Attitude Test-26 assessing ED risk; the Exercise Motivation Inventory–2 assessing motivations toward PA; the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale assessing anxiety and depression, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale; and the Body Esteem Scale assessing body dissatisfaction, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale assessing self-esteem, the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised assessing PA dependence, the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness assessing interoceptive awareness and the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale assessing perfectionism. Machine learning analysis will be performed in order to constitute groups with a tree-based model clustering method, extract risk profile(s) with a bootstrap method comparison, and predict ED risk with a prediction method based on a decision tree-based model. Expected results: 1044 complete records have already been collected, and the survey will be closed at the end of May 2022. Records will be analyzed with a clustering method and a bootstrap method in order to reveal risk profile(s). Furthermore, a predictive tree decision method will be done to extract an accurate predictive model of ED risk. This analysis will confirm typical main risk factors and will give more data on presumed strong risk factors such as exercise motivations and interoceptive deficit. Furthermore, it will enlighten particular risk profiles with a strong level of proof and greatly contribute to improving the early detection of ED and contribute to a better understanding of ED risk factors.

Keywords: eating disorders, risk factors, physical activity, machine learning

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Authors: Xitong Liu, Yutong Huang, Shu-Ching Yang

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The phenomena of hypergamous and hypogamous marriages have become popular due to the imbalanced sex ratio caused by Chinese social preference for sons. Our research explores the spillover effect of husbands' lifestyles on their wives' marital satisfaction in China. Both personal and spouse lifestyle elements are utilized to develop regression models to study husbands' spillover effects on women's marital satisfaction. With data from China Family Panel Study and Stata for analysis, we tested our hypothesis that both smoking and substance use by a spouse will negatively impact women's marital satisfaction. Our empirical findings suggest that substance use has negative implications on marriage satisfaction. In particular, husbands' substance use is more critical to wives' marriage satisfaction than wives' behaviours. Conversely, another behavior indicating bad habits, the number of times the spouse drank alcohol, had no significant effect on the wife's marital satisfaction. We concluded our investigation and provided future implications for scholars in the family economics field.

Keywords: Asian/Pacific Islander families, family economics, housework/division of labor, spillover

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Authors: L. Achou, A. Doghmane

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Elastic performances, as an essential property of nanowires (NWs), play a significant role in the design and fabrication of modern nanodevices. In this paper, our interest is focused on ZnO NWs to investigate wire diameter (D_wire ≤ 400 nm) effects on elastic properties. The plotted data reveal that a strong size dependence of the elastic constants exists when the wire diameter is smaller than ~ 100 nm. For larger diameters (D_wire > 100 nm), these ones approach their corresponding bulk values. To enrich this study, we make use of the scanning acoustic microscopy simulation technique. The calculation methodology consists of several steps: determination of longitudinal and transverse wave velocities, calculation of refection coefficients, calculation of acoustic signatures and Rayleigh velocity determination. Quantitatively, it was found that changes in ZnO diameters over the ranges 1 nm ≤ D_wire ≤ 100 nm lead to similar exponential variations, for all elastic parameters, of the from: A = a + b exp(-D_wire/c) where a, b, and c are characteristic constants of a given parameter. The developed relation can be used to predict elastic properties of such NW by just knowing its diameter and vice versa.

Keywords: elastic properties, nanowires, semiconductors, theoretical model, ZnO

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Authors: Jeferson Gomes Dos Santos, Mirelle Cristina De Abreu Quintela

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Considering that after the 1988 Constitution, in Brazil, municipalities have acquired new roles in the face of a financial reality that jeopardizes more substantial actions, the Public Budget is essential for the establishment of guidelines for action, within each budgetary reality. Within this, the present work sought to understand the budget profile of the mining municipality of Ataleia, with a view to identifying its budget composition, in relation to the main sources of revenue and expenditure. To achieve the purposes of the study, information was collected on the municipality's finances, from the years 2000 to 2016, visualizing the progress of its revenues in terms of funding and origin, and expenses in terms of nature and purpose. It was evidenced that the municipality, having its budget revenue in the period, still shows great dependence on intergovernmental transfers, as the own collection was relatively low. The budget expenditure of the period was mainly influenced by social expenditures, but it must be said that the municipality complied with the limits of spending, minimum and maximum, established by law.

Keywords: expenses, municipal budget, planning, revenue

Procedia PDF Downloads 221

Authors: Mohammad Amjad Sabir, Ishtiaq Khan, Shahid Ali, Umar Shabbir, Aneel Ahmad

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Creep, being the main silt contributor to the rivers, is a slow, downhill flow of soils. The creep velocity is measured in millimeters to a couple of centimeters per year and is determined with the help of tilt caused by creep in the vertical objects and needs at least ten years to get a reliable creep velocity. This project was devised to calculate creep velocity using dendrochronology and looking for the difference of creep velocity registered by different trees on the same slope. It was concluded that dendrochronology provides a very reliable procedure of creep velocity estimation if ‘J’ shaped trees are studied for their horizontal movement and age. The age of these trees was measured using tree coring, and the horizontal movement was measured with a conventional tape. Using this procedure it does not require decades and additionally the data reveals the creep velocity for up to 150 years and even more instead of just a decade. It was also concluded that the creep velocity does not only depend on bulk density of soil hence no pronounced effect of bulk density was detected.

Keywords: creep velocity, Galiyat, Pakistan, dendrochronology, Nagri Bala

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Authors: M. Al Azri, M. Elzain, K. Bouziane, S. M. Chérif

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n-Type 6H-SiC(0001) substrates were implanted with three fluencies of Mn+ 5x1015 Mn/cm2 (Mn content: 0.7%), 1x1016 (~2 %), and 5x1016 cm–2 (7%) with implantation energy of 80 keV and substrate temperature of 365ºC. The samples were characterized using Rutherford Backscattering and Channeling Spectroscopy (RBS/C), High-Resolution X-Ray Diffraction technique (HRXRD), micro-Raman Spectroscopy (μRS), and Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) techniques. The aim of our work is to investigate implantation induced defects with dose and to study any correlation between disorder-composition and magnetic properties. In addition, ab-initio calculations were used to investigate the structural and magnetic properties of Mn-doped 6H-SiC. Various configurations of Mn sites and vacancy types were considered. The calculations showed that a substitutional Mn atom at Si site possesses larger magnetic moment than Mn atom at C site. A model is introduced to explain the dependence of the magnetic structure on site occupation. The magnetic properties of ferromagnetically (FM) and antiferromagnetically (AFM) coupled pairs of Mn atoms with and without neighboring vacancies have also been explored.

Keywords: ab-initio calculations, diluted magnetic semiconductors, magnetic properties, silicon carbide

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Authors: Muhammad Ayoub, Abrar Inayat, Bhajan Lal, Sintayehu Mekuria Hailegiorgis

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Biodiesel which comes from pure renewable resources provide an alternative fuel option for future because of limited fossil fuel resources as well as environmental concerns. The transesterification of vegetable oils for biodiesel production is a promising process to overcome this future crises of energy. The use of heterogeneous catalysts greatly simplifies the technological process by facilitating the separation of the post-reaction mixture. The purpose of the present work was to examine a heterogeneous catalyst, in particular, Mg-Al modified K-10 clay, to produce methyl esters of palm oil. The prepared catalyst was well characterized by different latest techniques. In this study, the transesterification of palm oil with methanol was studied in a heterogeneous system in the presence of Mg-Al modified K-10 clay as solid base catalyst and then optimized these results with the help of Design of Experiments software. The results showed that methanol is the best alcohol for this reaction condition. The best results was achieved for optimization of biodiesel process. The maximum conversion of triglyceride (88%) was noted after 8 h of reaction at 60 ̊C, with a 6:1 molar ratio of methanol to palm oil and 3 wt % of prepared catalyst.

Keywords: palm oil, transestrefication, clay, biodiesel, mesoporous clay, K-10

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Authors: G. Balogh, I. A. Szabó, P.Z. Kovács

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Mechanical stress has a strong effect on the magnitude of the Barkhausen-noise in structural steels. Because the measurements are performed at the surface of the material, for a sample sheet, the full effect can be described by a biaxial stress field. The measured Barkhausen-noise is dependent on the orientation of the exciting magnetic field relative to the axis of the stress tensor. The sample inhomogenities including the residual stress also modifies the angular dependence of the measured Barkhausen-noise. We have developed a laboratory device with a cross like specimen for bi-axial bending. The measuring head allowed performing excitations in two orthogonal directions. We could excite the two directions independently or simultaneously with different amplitudes. The simultaneous excitation of the two coils could be performed in phase or with a 90 degree phase shift. In principle this allows to measure the Barkhausen-noise at an arbitrary direction without moving the head, or to measure the Barkhausen-noise induced by a rotating magnetic field if a linear superposition of the two fields can be assumed.

Keywords: Barkhausen-noise, bi-axial stress, stress measuring, stress dependency

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Authors: Yih-Wenn Laih

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In recent times, the dependence and co-movement among international financial markets have become stronger than in the past, as evidenced by commentaries in the news media and the financial sections of newspapers. Studying the co-movement between returns in financial markets is an important issue for portfolio management and risk management. The realization of co-movement helps investors to identify the opportunities for international portfolio management in terms of asset allocation and pricing. Since the election of the new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in November 2012, the yen has weakened against the US dollar from the 80 to the 120 level. The policies, known as “Abenomics,” are to encourage private investment through a more aggressive mix of monetary and fiscal policy. Given the close economic relations and competitions among Asia markets, it is interesting to discover the co-movement relations, affected by the depreciation of yen, between stock market of Japan and 5 major Asia stock markets, including China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. Specifically, we devote ourselves to measure the co-movement of stock markets between Japan and each one of the 5 Asia stock markets in terms of rank correlation coefficients. To compute the coefficients, return series of each stock market is first fitted by a skewed-t GARCH (generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity) model. Secondly, to measure the dependence structure between matched stock markets, we employ the symmetrized Joe-Clayton (SJC) copula to calculate the probability density function of paired skewed-t distributions. The joint probability density function is then utilized as the scoring scheme to optimize the sequence alignment by dynamic programming method. Finally, we compute the rank correlation coefficients (Kendall's  and Spearman's ) between matched stock markets based on their aligned sequences. We collect empirical data of 6 stock indexes from Taiwan Economic Journal. The data is sampled at a daily frequency covering the period from January 1, 2013 to July 31, 2015. The empirical distributions of returns indicate fatter tails than the normal distribution. Therefore, the skewed-t distribution and SJC copula are appropriate for characterizing the data. According to the computed Kendall’s τ, Korea has the strongest co-movement relation with Japan, followed by Taiwan, China, and Singapore; the weakest is Hong Kong. On the other hand, the Spearman’s ρ reveals that the strength of co-movement between markets with Japan in decreasing order are Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. We explore the effects of “Abenomics” on Asia stock markets by measuring the co-movement relation between Japan and five major Asia stock markets in terms of rank correlation coefficients. The matched markets are aligned by a hybrid method consisting of GARCH, copula and sequence alignment. Empirical experiments indicate that Korea has the strongest co-movement relation with Japan. The strength of China and Taiwan are better than Singapore. The Hong Kong market has the weakest co-movement relation with Japan.

Keywords: co-movement, depreciation of Yen, rank correlation, stock market

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Authors: Jessy Mattar, Mohamad Turk, Maurice Nonus, Nikolai Lebovka, Henri El Zakhem, Eugene Vorobiev

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The effects of electro-stimulation of S. cerevisiae cells in colloidal suspension by Pulsed Electric Fields ‎‎(PEF) with electric field strength E = 20 – 2000 V.cm-1 and effective PEF treatment time tPEF = 10^−5 – 1 s were ‎investigated. The applied experimental procedure includes variations in the preliminary fermentation time and ‎electro-stimulation by PEF-treatment. Plate counting was performed.‎ At relatively high electric fields (E ≥ 1000 V.cm-1) and moderate PEF treatment time (tPEF > 100 µs), the ‎extraction of ionic components from yeast was observed by conductivity measurements, which can be related to ‎electroporation of cell membranes. Cell counting revealed a dependency of the colonies’ size on the time of ‎preliminary fermentation tf and the power consumption W, however no dependencies were noticeable by varying the initial yeast concentration in the treated suspensions.‎

Keywords: intensification, yeast, fermentation, electroporation, biotechnology

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Authors: Faezeh Shalchy

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Concrete is the most used materials in the world. It is also one of the most versatile while complex materials which human have used for construction. However, concrete is weak in tension, over the past thirty years many studies were accomplished to improve the tensile properties of concrete (cement-based materials) using a variety of methods. One of the most successful attempts is to use polymeric fibers in the structure of concrete to obtain a composite with high tensile strength and ductility. Understanding the mechanical behavior of fiber reinforced concrete requires the knowledge of the fiber/matrix interfaces at the small scale. In this study, a combination of numerical simulations and experimental techniques have been used to study the nano structure of fiber/matrix interfaces. A new model for calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H)/fiber interfaces is proposed based on Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. The adhesion energy between the C-S-H gel and 2 different polymeric fibers (polyvinyl alcohol and polypropylene) was numerically studied at the atomistic level since adhesion is one of the key factors in the design of fiber reinforced composites. The mechanisms of adhesion as a function of the nano structure of fiber/matrix interfaces are also studied and discussed.

Keywords: fiber-reinforced concrete, adhesion, molecular modeling

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Authors: Chengyuan Zhu, Zhu Wang

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With the strategy of Rural Rejuvenation proposed in China, the rural has become the focus of all works today. In addition to the support of industry and policy, the rural planning and construction which is the space dependence of Rural Rejuvenation are also very crucial. Based on an analysis of the case of Yangdun Village in Deqing County, this paper summarizes village existing resources and construction status quo. It tries to illuminate the micro-activated organic renewal strategies and methods, based on ecological landscape, history context, industry development and living life requirements. It takes advantage of industrial linkage and then asks for the coordination of both spatial and industrial planning, the revival and remodeling of the rural image can be achieved through shaping the of architectural and landscape nodes as well as the activation of street space.

Keywords: rural construction, rural human settlements, micro-activation, organic renewal

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Authors: Changhong Guo, Shaomei Fang, Yong He

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In this paper, fractional Black-Scholes models for the European option pricing were established based on the fractional G-Brownian motion (fGBm), which generalizes the concepts of the classical Brownian motion, fractional Brownian motion and the G-Brownian motion, and that can be used to be a tool for considering the long range dependence and uncertain volatility for the financial markets simultaneously. A generalized fractional Black-Scholes equation (FBSE) was derived by using the Taylor’s series of fractional order and the theory of absence of arbitrage. Finally, some explicit option pricing formulas for the European call option and put option under the FBSE were also solved, which extended the classical option pricing formulas given by F. Black and M. Scholes.

Keywords: European option pricing, fractional Black-Scholes equations, fractional g-Brownian motion, Taylor's series of fractional order, uncertain volatility

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Authors: Dagmara Malina, Katarzyna Bialik-Wąs, Klaudia Pluta

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The growing significance of transdermal systems, in which skin is a route for systemic drug delivery, has generated a considerable amount of data which has resulted in a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of transport across the skin in the context of the controlled and prolonged release of active substances. One of such solutions may be the use of carrier systems based on intelligent polymers with different physicochemical properties. In these systems, active substances, e.g. drugs, can be conjugated (attached), immobilized, or encapsulated in a polymer matrix that is sensitive to specific environmental conditions (e.g. pH or temperature changes). Intelligent polymers can be divided according to their sensitivity to specific environmental stimuli such as temperature, pH, light, electric, magnetic, sound, or electromagnetic fields. Materials & methods—The first stage of the presented research concerned the synthesis of pH-sensitive polymeric carriers by a radical polymerization reaction. Then, the selected active substance (hydrocortisone) was introduced into polymeric carriers. In a further stage, bio-hybrid sodium alginate/poly(vinyl alcohol) – SA/PVA-based hydrogel matrices modified with various carrier-drug systems were prepared with the chemical cross-linking method. The conducted research included the assessment of physicochemical properties of obtained materials i.e. degree of hydrogel swelling and degradation studies as a function of pH in distilled water and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at 37°C in time. The gel fraction represents the insoluble gel fraction as a result of inter-molecule cross-linking formation was also measured. Additionally, the chemical structure of obtained hydrogels was confirmed using FT-IR spectroscopic technique. The dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique was used for the analysis of the average particle size of polymer-carriers and carrier-drug systems. The nanocarriers morphology was observed using SEM microscopy. Results & Discussion—The analysis of the encapsulated polymeric carriers showed that it was possible to obtain the time-stable empty pH-sensitive carrier with an average size 479 nm and the encapsulated system containing hydrocortisone with an average 543 nm, which was introduced into hydrogel structure. Bio-hybrid hydrogel matrices are stable materials, and the presence of an additional component: pH-sensitive carrier – hydrocortisone system, does not reduce the degree of cross-linking of the matrix nor its swelling ability. Moreover, the results of swelling tests indicate that systems containing higher concentrations of the drug have a slightly higher sorption capacity in each of the media used. All analyzed materials show stable and statically changing swelling values in simulated body fluids - there is no sudden fluid uptake and no rapid release from the material. The analysis of FT-IR spectra confirms the chemical structure of the obtained bio-hybrid hydrogel matrices. In the case of modifications with a pH-sensitive carrier, a much more intense band can be observed in the 3200-3500 cm⁻¹ range, which most likely originates from the strong hydrogen interactions that occur between individual components.

Keywords: hydrogels, polymer nanocarriers, sodium alginate/poly(vinyl alcohol) matrices, wound dressings.

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Authors: Bikas Chandra Bhattarai

Abstract:

Child labour is the serious issue all over the world. In Nepal, many children are working in different structured and unstructured sector. Metal fabrication is one of the sectors where many children are involved. The present study is carried out to focus on the overall socio-economic condition, psychological aspect, working environment condition and welfare of the child labour. Metal fabrication factories from Kirtipur, Chovar Area, Gongabu, Sitapaila and Sankhamul area of Kathmandu municipality were selected for the study. The structured questionnaire was prepared, and overall 55 children under age 16 were interviewed. Working in metal fabrication factory is risky job for children. The main reason behind child labour is poverty. The working environment in the metal fabrication factory was not found satisfactory. Children are exposed to various types of physical and chemical hazards. Factories are not paying proper attention to safety condition at the workplace. Large number of children is attracted towards smoking and drinking alcohol leading to unnecessary expense of their income. There should be the provision of regular health check up and insurance to the working children. Monitoring from the government level should be implemented for the betterment of working children.

Keywords: child labour, Kathmandu, Nepal, metal fabrication

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Authors: Mahsa Kangazian Kangazi, Ali Akbar Ghareh Aghaji, Majid Montazer

Abstract:

Nowadays, silica nanofibers are highly regarded among the inorganic nanofibers due to the high reactivity and availability of silicon compounds in nature. Sol-gel process is required for electrospinning of silica nanofibers in which a metal alkoxide is hydrolyzed, and the viscosity is increased. In this study, silica nanofibers containing silver nanoparticles were synthesized and electrospun from a mixture of silica sol with an easy spinnable polymer (PVA) as an additive. The silica sol contains tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), silver nitrate, distilled water, nitric acid, and ethanol. Nanofibers were formed through electrospinning setup. The nanofibers were calcinated to remove the solvent and additive polymer. Consequently, pure silica nanofibers were produced. FTIR analysis indicated entire removal of polyvinyl alcohol from the structure and formation of silan groups. The presence of silver, silica and oxygen was confirmed by EDX. Also, XRD patterns revealed the presence of silver nanoparticles with a mean crystal size of 18 nm. FESEM images showed that adding silver nitrate into the sol-gel, resulted in lower nanofibers diameter from 286 to 136 nm. Furthermore, the electrospun nanofibers were more resistance in acidic media than alkaline media.

Keywords: in situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles, silica nanofibers, sol-gel, tetraethyl orthosilicate

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Authors: Majid Karimabadi, Ahmad Farzaneh Kore, Behnam Azadegan

Abstract:

The evolution of magnetized quark gluon plasma (QGP) in the framework of magneto- hydrodynamics is the focus of our study. We are investigating the temporal and spatial evolution of QGP using a second order viscous hydrodynamic framework. The fluid is considered to be magnetized and subjected to the influence of a magnetic field that is generated during the early stages of relativistic heavy ion collisions. We assume boost invariance along the beam line, which is represented by the z coordinate, and fluid expansion in the x direction. Additionally, we assume that the magnetic field is perpendicular to the reaction plane, which corresponds to the y direction. The fluid is considered to have infinite electrical conductivity. To analyze this system, we solve the coupled Maxwell and conservation equations. By doing so, we are able to determine the time and space dependence of the energy density, velocity, and magnetic field in the transverse plane of the viscous magnetized hot plasma. Furthermore, we obtain the spectrum of hadrons and compare it with experimental data.

Keywords: QGP, magnetohydrodynamics, hadrons, conversation

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Authors: Samaneh Rahimirshnani, Hossein Jafari

Abstract:

In this paper, we consider fluid queueing processes fed by an isonormal Gaussian process. We study the correlation structure of the queueing process and the rate of convergence of the running supremum in the queueing process. The Malliavin calculus techniques are applied to obtain relations that show the workload process inherits the dependence properties of the input process. As examples, we consider two isonormal Gaussian processes, the sub-fractional Brownian motion (SFBM) and the fractional Brownian motion (FBM). For these examples, we obtain upper bounds for the covariance function of the queueing process and its rate of convergence to zero. We also discover that the rate of convergence of the queueing process is related to the structure of the covariance function of the input process.

Keywords: queue length process, Malliavin calculus, covariance function, fractional Brownian motion, sub-fractional Brownian motion

Procedia PDF Downloads 57