Search results for: safer alternative

Authors: Maria Ostroukhova, Zhanneta Zalutskaya, Elena Ermilova

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The alternative oxidase (AOX) mediates cyanide-resistant respiration, which bypasses proton-pumping complexes III and IV of the cytochrome pathway to directly transfer electrons from reduced ubiquinone to molecular oxygen. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, AOX is a monomeric protein that is encoded by two genes of discrete subfamilies, AOX1 and AOX2. Although AOX has been proposed to play essential roles in stress tolerance of organisms, the role of subfamily AOX2 is largely unknown. In C. reinhardtii, AOX2 was initially identified as one of constitutively low expressed genes. Like other photosynthetic organisms C. reinhardtii cells frequently experience periods of hypoxia. To examine AOX2 transcriptional regulation and role of AOX2 in hypoxia adaptation, real-time PCR analysis and artificial microRNA method were employed. Two experimental approaches have been used to induce the anoxic conditions: dark-anaerobic and light-anaerobic conditions. C. reinhardtii cells exposed to the oxygen deprivation have shown increased AOX2 mRNA levels. By contrast, AOX1 was not an anoxia-responsive gene. In C. reinhardtii, a subset of genes is regulated by transcription factor CRR1 in anaerobic conditions. Notable, the AOX2 promoter region contains the potential motif for CRR1 binding. Therefore, the role of CRR1 in the control of AOX2 transcription was tested. The CRR1-underexpressing strains, that were generated and characterized in this work, exhibited low levels of AOX2 transcripts under anoxic conditions. However, the transformants still slightly induced AOX2 gene expression in the darkness. These confirmed our suggestions that darkness is a regulatory stimulus for AOX genes in C. reinhardtii. Thus, other factors must contribute to AOX2 promoter activity under dark-anoxic conditions. Moreover, knock-down of CRR1 caused a complete reduction of AOX2 expression under light-anoxic conditions. These results indicate that (1) CRR1 is required for AOX2 expression during hypoxia, and (2) AOX2 gene is regulated by CRR1 together with yet-unknown regulatory factor(s). In addition, the AOX2-underexpressing strains were generated. The analysis of amiRNA-AOX2 strains suggested a role of this alternative oxidase in hypoxia adaptation of the alga. In conclusion, the results reported here show that C. reinhardtii AOX2 gene is stress inducible. CRR1 transcriptional factor is involved in the regulation of the AOX2 gene expression in the absence of oxygen. Moreover, AOX2 but not AOX1 functions under oxygen deprivation. This work was supported by Russian Science Foundation (research grant № 16-14-10004).

Keywords: alternative oxidase 2, artificial microRNA approach, chlamydomonas reinhardtii, hypoxia

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Authors: Omolara Lade, David Oloke

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Ibadan City suffers serious water supply problems; cases of dry taps are common in virtually every part of the City. The scarcity of piped water has made communities find alternative water sources; groundwater sources being a ready source. These wells are prone to pollution due to the close proximity of septic tanks to wells, disposal of solid or liquid wastes in pits, abandoned boreholes or even stream channels and landfills. Storms and floods in Ibadan have increased with consequent devastating effects claiming over 120 lives and displacing 600 people on August 2011 alone. In this study, an analysis of the water demand and sources of supply for the city was carried out through questionnaire survey and collection of data from City’s main water supply - Water Corporation of Oyo State (WCOS), groundwater sources were explored and 30 years rainfall data were collected from Meteorological station in Ibadan. 1067 questionnaire were administered at household level with a response rate of 86.7 %. A descriptive analysis of the survey revealed that 77.1 % of the respondents did not receive water at all from WCOS while 83.8 % depend on groundwater sources. Analysis of data from WCOS revealed that main water supply is inadequate as < 10 % of the population water demand was met. Rainfall intensity is highest in June with a mean value of 188 mm, which can be harvested at community—based level and used to complement the population water demand. Rainwater harvesting if planned, and managed properly will become a valuable alternative source of managing urban flood and alleviating water scarcity in the city.

Keywords: Ibadan, rainwater harvesting, sustainable water, urban flooding

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Authors: David Ruiz, Carlos Nava, Roberto Carbajal

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The psychological profile has become one of the most important sources of information when it comes to individual selection and the hiring process in any organization. Psychological instruments are used to collect data about variables that are considered critically important for performance in work. However, because of conceptual chaos in organizational psychology, most of the information provided by psychological testing is not directly useful for Mexican human resources professionals to take hiring decisions. The aims of this paper are 1) to underline the lack of conceptual precision in theoretical testing foundations in Mexico and 2) presenting a reliability and validity analysis of a frustration tolerance instrument created as an alternative to a heuristically conduct individual assessment in organizations. First, a description of assessment conditions in Mexico is made. Second, an instrument and a theoretical framework is presented as an alternative to the assessment practices in the country. A total of 65 Psychology Iztacala Superior Studies Faculty students were assessed. Cronbach´s alpha coefficient was calculated and an exploratory factor analysis was carried out to prove the scale unidimensionality. Reliability analysis revealed good internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach’s α = 0.825). Factor analysis produced 4 factors for the scale. However, factor loadings and explained variation give proof to the scale unidimensionality. It is concluded that the instrument has good psychometric properties that will allow human resources professionals to collect useful data. Different possibilities to conduct psychological assessment are suggested for future development.

Keywords: psychological assessment, frustration tolerance, human resources, organizational psychology

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Authors: Lubna Khondker

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Background: Melasma is a common pigmentary dermatosis, manifested by hyperpigmented macules or patches on the face, commonly occurring in females due to an acquired disorder in the melanogenesis process. Although several treatments are currently used, it remains a great challenge due to recurrence and refractory nature. It was recently reported that tranexamic acid (TA-plasmin inhibitor) is an effective treatment for melasma. Objective: This study aims to compare the efficacy and side effects of intralesional injection of Tranexamic acid with oral Tranexamic acid in the treatment of melasma. Methods: A clinical trial was done in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, for a period of 4 years. A total of 100 patients with melasma who did not respond to topical therapy were included in the study as group A and group B. Group A Patients were administered intralesional injection (10 mg/ml) of Tranexamic acid( TA) weekly for 6 weeks, and group B patients were treated with oral tranexamic acid 250 mg 12 hourly for 12 weeks after taking informed consent. The severity and extent of pigmentation were assessed by the modified melasma area severity index (MASI). The response to treatment was assessed by MASI at 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks after stopping treatment. Results: The study showed the MASI scores at the baseline, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks in group A were 18.23±1.22, 6.14±3.26, 3.21±2.14 and 2.11±2.01 respectively, and in group B, 17.87±1.12, 11.21±6.25, 6.57±4.26 and 6.41±4.17 respectively. The mean MASI significantly reduced in group A compared to group B in the 4th, 8th, and 12th weeks. The present study showed that among group A patients, 56% rated excellent (>75% reduction) in outcome, 32% good (50-75% reduction), 8% moderate (25-50% reduction) and only 4% (<25% reduction) was unsatisfactory and among group B patients, 14% rated excellent in outcome, 28% good, 36% moderate and 22% was unsatisfactory. Overall improvement in our study in group A was 96% and in group B 78%. Side effects were negligible, and all the patients tolerated the treatment well. Conclusion: Based on our results, intralesional Tranexamic acid (10 mg/ml) is more effective and safer than oral Tranexamic acid in the treatment of melasma.

Keywords: intralesional tranexamic acid, melasma, oral tranexamic acid, MASI score

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Authors: Rimel Mwamba, Mohan Gundeti

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Introduction: The use of robot-assisted laparoscopic surgeries (RALS) has largely increased in recent years, offering faster and safer treatment options for pediatric patients. In the field of urology, RALS has shown a significant advantage over laparoscopic and open surgeries but continues to be controversial in pediatric cases due to limited comprehensive data on its use. Methods: In this review, we aim to summarize the factors associated with RALS use in pediatric cases involving pyeloplasty, ureteral reimplantation, heminephrectomy, and lower urinary tract reconstruction. We used PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews to systematically search for literature on the topic. We then critically assessed and compiled data on RALS outcomes, complications, and associated factors. Results: To date, numerous comparative studies have been conducted on pediatric RALS, with only one randomized control trial investigating the nuances of robotic use against standard of care treatments. These robotic approaches have shown promise in post-surgical outcomes for pediatric patients undergoing upper and lower urinary tract reconstruction. Barriers to use still persist, however, showcasing a need to increase access to the technology, refine instruments for pediatric use, address cost barriers, and provide proper training for surgeons. Conclusion: RALS providesan opportunity to improve pediatric patient outcomes for numerous urologic complications. Additional studies are required to better compare the use of RALS with current standard practices. Due to the difficult nature of conducting randomized control trials, additional prospective observational studies are needed.

Keywords: pediatric urology, robot-assisted laparoscopic surgeries (RALS), pyeloplasty, ureteral reimplantation, heminephrectomy, and lower urinary tract reconstruction

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Authors: Md. Moniruzzaman, Thirayoot Limanond

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Being the most visible indicator, the transport system of a city points out how developed the city is. Dhaka megacity holds a mixed composition of motorized and non-motorized modes of transport and the number of vehicle figure is escalating over times. And this obviously poses associated environmental costs like air pollution, noise etc. which is degrading the quality of life in the city. Eventually sustainable transport or more importantly green transport from environmental point of view has become a prime choice to the transport professionals in order to cope up the crisis. Currently the city authority is planning to execute such sustainable transport systems that could serve the pressing demand of the present and meet the future needs effectively. This study focuses on the selection and evaluation of green transportation systems among potential alternatives on a priority basis. In this paper, Fuzzy TOPSIS - a multi-criteria decision method is presented to find out the most prioritized alternative. In the first step, Twenty-one individual specific criteria for sustainability assessment are selected. In the following step, experts provide linguistic ratings to the potential alternatives with respect to the selected criteria. The approach is used to generate aggregate scores for sustainability assessment and selection of the best alternative. In the third step, a sensitivity analysis is performed to understand the influence of criteria weights on the decision making process. The key strength of fuzzy TOPSIS approach is its practical applicability having a generation of good quality solution even under uncertainty.

Keywords: green transport, multi-criteria decision approach, urban transportation system, sustainability assessment, fuzzy theory, uncertainty

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Authors: Doreen Mekunda

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This paper is built on the premise that the current socio-political crisis in the two restive regions of Cameroon, though enveloped with destructive and devastating trends (effects) on both property and human lives, is not without its strengths and merits. It is incontestable that many cultures, to a greater extent, are going to be destroyed as people forcibly move from war-stricken habitats to non-violent places. Many cultural potentials, traditional shrines, artifacts, art, and crafts, etc., are unknowingly or knowingly disfigured, and many other ugly things will, by the end of the crisis, affect the cultures of these two regions under siege and of the receiving population. A plethora of other problems like the persecution of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for being displaced and blamed for increased crime rates and the existence of cultural and ethnic differences that produce both inter-tribal and interpersonal conflicts and conflicts between communities will abound. However, there is the emergence of rapid literature, and other forms of cultural productions, whether written or oral, is visible, thereby precipitating a rich cultural diversity due to the coming together of a variety of cultures of both the IDPs and the receiving populations, rapid urbanization, improvement of health-related issues, the rebirth of indigenous cultural practices, the development of social and lingua-cultural competences, dependence on alternative religions, faith and spirituality. Even financial and economic dependence, though a burden to others by IDPs, has its own merits as it improves the living standards of the IDPs. To be able to obtain plausible results, cultural materialism, which is a literary theory that hinges on the empirical study of socio-cultural systems within a materialist infrastructure-super-structure framework, is employed together with the postcolonial theory. Postcolonial theory because the study deals with postcolonial experiences/tenets of migration, hybridity, ethnicity, indignity, language, double consciousness, migration, center/margin binaries, and identity, amongst others. The study reveals that the involuntary movement of persons from their habitual homes brings about movement in cultures, thus, the emergence of new cultures. The movement of people who hold fast to their cultural heritage can only influence new forms of literature, the development of new communication competences, the rise of alternative religion, faith and spirituality, the re-emergence of customary and traditional legal systems that might have been abandoned for the new judicial systems, and above all the revitalization of traditional health care systems.

Keywords: alternative religion, emergence, socio-political crisis, spirituality, lingua-cultural competences

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Authors: Meltem Koray, Arda Ozgon, Duygu Ofluoglu, Mehmet Yaltirik

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Oral ulcerations can be seen as a side effect of different drugs. These ulcers usually appear within a few weeks following drug treatment. In most of cases, these ulcers resist to conventional treatments, such as anesthetics, antiseptics, anti-inflammatory agents, cauterization, topical tetracycline and corticosteroid treatment. The diagnosis is usually difficult, especially in patients receiving multiple drug therapies. Hyaluronan or hyaluronic acid (HA) is a biomaterial that has been introduced as an alternative approach to enhance wound healing and also used for oral ulcer treatment. The aim of this report is to present the treatment of drug-induced oral ulceration on maxillary mucosa with HA gel. 60-year-old male patient was referred to Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery complaining of oral ulcerations during few weeks. He had received chemotherapy and radiotherapy in 2014 with the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and he has accompanying systemic diseases such as; cardiological, neurological diseases and gout. He is medicated with Escitalopram (Cipralex® 20mg), Quetiapine (Seroquel® 100mg), Mirtazapine (Zestat® 15mg), Acetylsalicylic acid (Coraspin® 100mg), Ramipril-hydrochlorothiazide (Delix® 2.5mg), Theophylline anhydrous (Teokap Sr® 200mg), Colchicine (Colchicum Dispert® 0.5mg), Spironolactone (Aldactone® 100mg), Levothyroxine sodium (Levotiron® 50mg). He had painful oral ulceration on the right side of maxillary mucosa. The diagnosis was 'drug-induced oral ulceration' and HA oral gel (Aftamed® Oral gel) was prescribed 3 times a day for 2 weeks. Complete healing was achieved within 3 weeks without any side effect and discomfort. We suggest that HA oral gel is a potentially useful local drug which can be an alternative for management of drug-induced oral ulcerations.

Keywords: drug-induced, hyaluronic acid, oral ulceration, maxillary mucosa

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Authors: R. Whalley

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The heat transfer modelling for a diffusion process will be considered. Difficulties in computing the time-distance dynamics of the representation will be addressed. Incomplete and irrational Laplace function will be identified as the computational issue. Alternative approaches to the response evaluation process will be provided. An illustration application problem will be presented. Graphical results confirming the theoretical procedures employed will be provided.

Keywords: heat, transfer, diffusion, modelling, computation

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Authors: Kubra Dogan, Fatih Tornuk

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Due to increasing consumer demand for the high-quality food products and awareness regarding the health benefits of different nutrients in food minimal processing becomes more popular in modern food preservation. To date, heat treatment is often used for inactivation of spoilage microorganisms in foods. However, it may cause significant changes in the quality and nutritional properties of food. In order to overcome the detrimental effects of heat treatment, several alternatives of non-thermal microbial inactivation processes have been investigated. Ultraviolet (UV) inactivation is a promising and feasible method for better quality and longer shelf life as an alternative to heat treatment, which aims to inhibit spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms and to inactivate the enzymes in vegetable juice production. UV-C is a sub-class of UV treatment which shows the highest microcidal effect between 250-270 nm. The wavelength of 254 nm is used for the surface disinfection of certain liquid food products such as vegetable juice. Effects of UV-C treatment on microbiological load and quality parameter of vegetable juice which is a mix of celery, carrot, lemon and orange was investigated. Our results showed that storing of UV-C applied vegetable juice for three months, reduced the count of TMAB by 3.5 log cfu/g and yeast-mold by 2 log cfu/g compared to control sample. Total phenolic content was found to be 514.3 ± 0.6 mg gallic acid equivalent/L, and there wasn’t a significant difference compared to control. The present work suggests that UV-C treatment is an alternative method for disinfection of vegetable juice since it enables adequate microbial inactivation, longer shelf life and has minimal effect on degradation of quality parameters of vegetable juice.

Keywords: heat treatment, phenolic content, shelf life, ultraviolet (UV-C), vegetable juice

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Authors: Sylwia K. Naliwajko, Renata Markiewicz-Zukowska, Justyna Moskwa, Krystyna Gromkowska-Kepka, Konrad Mielcarek, Patryk Nowakowski, Katarzyna Socha, Anna Puscion-Jakubik, Maria H. Borawska

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Glioblastoma (grade IV WHO) is a rapidly progressive brain tumor with very high morbidity and mortality. The vast malignant gliomas are not curable despite the therapy (surgical, radiotherapy, chemotherapy) and patients seek alternative or complementary treatments. Patients often use cannabidiol (CBD) oil as an alternative therapy of glioblastoma. CBD is one of the cannabinoids, an active component of Cannabis sativa. THC (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) can be addictive, and in many countries CBD oil without THC ( < 0,2%) is available. Propolis produced by bees from the resin collected from trees has antiglioma properties in vitro and can be used as a supplement in complementary therapy of gliomas. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of extract from CBD oil in combination with propolis extract on two glioblastoma cell lines. The MTT (Thiazolyl Blue Tetrazolium Bromide) test was used to determine the influence of CBD oil extract and polish propolis extract (PPE) on the viability of glioblastoma cell lines – U87MG and LN18. The cells were incubated (24, 48 and 72 h) with CBD oil extract and PPE. CBD extract was used in concentration 1, 1.5 and 3 µM and PPE in 30 µg/mL. The data were presented compared to the control. The statistical analysis was performed using Statistica v. 13.0 software. CBD oil extract in concentrations 1, 1.5 and 3 µM did not inhibit the viability of U87MG and LN18 cells (viability more than 90% cells compared to the control). There was no dose-response viability, and IC50 value was not recognized. PPE in the concentration of 30 µg/mL time-dependently inhibited the viability of U87MG and LN18 cell line (after 48 h the viability as a percent of the control was 59,7±6% and 57,8±7%, respectively). In a combination of CBD with PPE, the viability of the treated cells was similar to PPE used alone (58,2±7% and 56,5±9%, respectively). CBD oil extract did not show anti-glioma activity and in combination with PPE did not change the activity of PPE.

Keywords: anticancer, cannabidiol, cell line, glioblastoma

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Authors: Aberdam Edith, Sangari Linda, Petit Isabelle, Aberdam Daniel

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Background and Rationale: Transparent avascularised cornea is essential for normal vision and depends on limbal stem cells (LSC) that reside between the cornea and the conjunctiva. Ocular burns or injuries may destroy the limbus, causing limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). The cornea becomes vascularised by invaded conjunctival cells, the stroma is scarring, resulting in corneal opacity and loss of vision. Grafted autologous limbus or cultivated autologous LCS can restore the vision, unless the two eyes are affected. Alternative cellular sources have been tested in the last decades, including oral mucosa or hair follicle epithelial cells. However, only partial success has been achieved by the use of these cells since they were not able to uniformly commit into corneal epithelial cells. Human pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) display both unlimited growth capacity and ability to differentiate into any cell type. Our goal was to design a standardized and reproducible protocol to produce transplantable autologous LSC from patients through cell reprogramming technology. Methodology: First, keratinocyte primary culture was established from a small number of plucked hair follicles of healthy donors. The resulting epithelial cells were reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and further differentiate into corneal epithelial cells (CEC), according to a robust protocol that recapitulates the main step of corneal embryonic development. qRT-PCR analysis and immunofluorescent staining during the course of differentiation confirm the expression of stage specific markers of corneal embryonic lineage. First appear ectodermal progenitor-specific cytokeratins K8/K18, followed at day 7 by limbal-specific PAX6, TP63 and cytokeratins K5/K14. At day 15, K3/K12+-corneal cells are present. To amplify the iPSC-derived LSC (named COiPSC), intact small epithelial colonies were detached and cultivated in limbal cell-specific medium. In that culture conditions, the COiPSC can be frozen and thaw at any passage, while retaining their corneal characteristics for at least eight passages. To evaluate the potential of COiPSC as an alternative ocular toxicity model, COiPSC were treated at passage P0 to P4 with increasing amounts of SDS and Benzalkonium. Cell proliferation and apoptosis of treated cells was compared to LSC and the SV40-immortalized human corneal epithelial cell line (HCE) routinely used by cosmetological industrials. Of note, HCE are more resistant to toxicity than LSC. At P0, COiPSC were systematically more resistant to chemical toxicity than LSC and even to HCE. Remarkably, this behavior changed with passage since COiPSC at P2 became identical to LSC and thus closer to physiology than HCE. Comparative transcriptome analysis confirmed that COiPSC from P2 are similar to a mixture of LSC and CEC. Finally, by organotypic reconstitution assay, we demonstrated the ability of COiPSC to produce a 3D corneal epithelium on a stromal equivalent made of keratocytes. Conclusion: COiPSC could become valuable for two main applications: (1) an alternative robust tool to perform, in a reproducible and physiological manner, toxicity assays for cosmetic products and pharmacological tests of drugs. (2). COiPSC could become an alternative autologous source for cornea transplantation for LSCD.

Keywords: Limbal stem cell deficiency, iPSC, cornea, limbal stem cells

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Authors: M. Nita-Lazar, E. Manea, C. Bumbac, A. Banciu, C. Stoica

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The population and economic growth have generated a significant new number of pollutant compounds which have to be degraded before reaching the environment. The wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have been the last barrier between the domestic and/or industrial wastewaters and the environment. At present, the conventional WWTPs have very high operational costs, most of them linked to the aeration process (60-65% from total energy costs related to wastewater treatment). In addition, they have had a low efficiency in pollutants removal such as pharmaceutical and other resilient anthropogenic compounds. In our study, we have been focused on new wastewater treatment strategies to enhance the efficiency of pollutants removal and decrease the wastewater treatment operational costs. The usage of mixed microalgae-bacteria granules technology generated high efficiency and low costs by a better harvesting and less expensive aeration. The intertrophic relationships between microalgae and bacteria have been characterized by the structure of the population community to their metabolic relationships. The results, obtained by microscopic studies, showed well-organized and stratified microalgae-bacteria granules where bacteria have been enveloped in the microalgal structures. Moreover, their population community structure has been modulated as well as their nitrification, denitrification processes (analysis based on qPCR genes expression) by the type of the pollutant compounds and amounts. In conclusion, the understanding and modulation of intertrophic relationships between microalgae and bacteria could be an economical and technological viable alternative to the conventional wastewater treatment. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by grant PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0865 from the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation CNCS/CCCDI-UEFISCDI.

Keywords: activated sludge, bacteria, granules, microalgae

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Authors: Gloria Pinilla, Jose Manuel Baena, Patricia Gálvez-Martín, Juan Antonio Marchad

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Cartilage is a dense connective tissue with limited self-repair properties. Currently, the therapeutic use of autologous or allogenic chondrocytes makes up an alternative therapy to the pharmacological treatment. The design of a bioprinted 3D cartilage with chondrocytes and biodegradable biomaterials offers a new therapeutic alternative able of bridging the limitations of current therapies in the field. We have developed an enhanced printing processes-Injection Volume Filling (IVF) to increase the viability and survival of the cells when working with high-temperature thermoplastics without the limitation of the scaffold geometry in contact with cells. We have demonstrated the viability of the printing process using chondrocytes for cartilage regeneration. This development will accelerate the clinical uptake of the technology and overcomes the current limitation when using thermoplastics as scaffolds. An alginate-based hydrogel combined with human chondrocytes (isolated from osteoarthritis patients) was formulated as bioink-A and the polylactic acid as bioink-B. The bioprinting process was carried out with the REGEMAT V1 bioprinter (Regemat 3D, Granada-Spain) through a IVF. The printing capacity of the bioprinting plus the viability and cell proliferation of bioprinted chondrociytes was evaluated after five weeks by confocal microscopy and Alamar Blue Assay (Biorad). Results showed that the IVF process does not decrease the cell viability of the chondrocytes during the printing process as the cells do not have contact with the thermoplastic at elevated temperatures. The viability and cellular proliferation of the bioprinted artificial 3D cartilage increased after 5 weeks. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the potential use of Regemat V1 for 3D bioprinting of cartilage and the viability of bioprinted chondrocytes in the scaffolds for application in regenerative medicine.

Keywords: cartilage regeneration, bioprinting, bioink, scaffold, chondrocyte

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Authors: Belal Neazi

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'Larger Houses Consume More Resources’ – both in construction and during operation. The most important aspect of smaller homes is that it uses less electricity and fuel for construction and maintenance. Here, an urban interpretation of the contemporary minimal existence movement is explained. In an attempt to restrict urban decay and to encourage inner-city renewal, the Tiny House principles are interpreted as alternative ways of dwelling in urban neighbourhoods. These tiny houses are usually pretty different from each other in interior planning, but almost similar in size. The disadvantage of large homes came up when people were asked to vacate as they were not able to pay the massive amount of mortgages. This made them reconsider their housing situation and discover the ideas of minimalism and the general rising inclination in environmental awareness that serve as the basis for the tiny house movement. One of the largest benefits of inhabiting a tiny house is the decrease in carbon footprint. Also, to increase social behaviour and freedom. It’s better for the environmental concern, financial concerns, and desire for more time and freedom. Examples of the tiny house village which are sustaining homeless population and the use of different reclaimed materials for the construction of these tiny houses are explained in the paper. It is proposed in the paper, that these houses will reflect the diversity while proposing an alternative model for the rehabilitation of decaying row-homes and the renewal of fading communities. The core objective is to design small or micro spaces for the economically backward people of the place and increase their social behaviour and freedom. Also, it’s better for the environmental concern, financial concerns, and desire for more time and freedom.

Keywords: city renewal, environmental concern, micro-living, tiny house

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Authors: De Biase Ilaria, Della Rocca Mattia

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Our work aims to highlight the role played by cognitive biases in the reception of environmental information, including scientific communication from expert to the lay public, especially in relationship with environmental data coming from biological and biotechnological recording. Some alternative strategies are suggested in order to maximize public awareness on environmental changes.

Keywords: science communication, environment and psychology, cognitive biases, environmental awareness

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Authors: Sara Atibi, Azzeddine Atibi, Salim Ahmed, Khadija El Kababi

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The concept of chemical bonding is fundamental in chemistry education, ubiquitous in school curricula, and essential to numerous topics in the field. Mastery of this concept enables students to predict and explain the physical and chemical properties of substances. However, chemical bonding is often regarded as one of the most complex concepts for secondary and higher education students to comprehend, due to the underlying complex theory and the use of abstract models. Teachers also encounter significant challenges in conveying this concept effectively. This study aims to identify the difficulties and alternative conceptions faced by Moroccan secondary school students in learning about chemical bonding, as well as the pedagogical strategies employed by teachers to overcome these obstacles. A survey was conducted involving 150 Moroccan secondary school physical science teachers, using a structured questionnaire comprising closed, open-ended, and multiple-choice questions. The results reveal frequent student misconceptions, such as the octet rule, molecular geometry, and molecular polarity. Contributing factors to these misconceptions include the abstract nature of the concepts, the use of models, and teachers' difficulties in explaining certain aspects of chemical bonding. The study proposes improvements for teaching chemical bonding, such as integrating information and communication technologies (ICT), diversifying pedagogical tools, and considering students' pre-existing conceptions. These recommendations aim to assist teachers, curriculum developers, and textbook authors in making chemistry more accessible and in addressing students' misconceptions.

Keywords: chemical bonding, alternative conceptions, chemistry education, pedagogical strategies

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Authors: Thewodros K. Geberemariam

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The rapid physical expansion of urbanization coupled with aging infrastructure presents a unique decision and management challenges for many big city municipalities. Cities must therefore upgrade and maintain the existing aging urban drainage infrastructure systems to keep up with the demands. Given the overall contribution of assets to municipal revenue and the importance of infrastructure to the success of a livable city, many municipalities are currently looking for a robust and smart urban drainage infrastructure asset management solution that combines management, financial, engineering and technical practices. This robust decision-making shall rely on sound, complete, current and relevant data that enables asset valuation, impairment testing, lifecycle modeling, and forecasting across the multiple asset portfolios. On this paper, predictive computational intelligence (CI) and multi-class machine learning (ML) coupled with online, offline, and historical record data that are collected from an array of multi-parameter sensors are used for the extraction of different operational and non-conforming patterns hidden in structured and unstructured data to determine and produce actionable insight on the current and future states of the network. This paper aims to improve the strategic decision-making process by identifying all possible alternatives; evaluate the risk of each alternative, and choose the alternative most likely to attain the required goal in a cost-effective manner using historical and near real-time urban drainage infrastructure data for urban drainage infrastructures assets that have previously not benefited from computational intelligence and machine learning advancements.

Keywords: computational intelligence, machine learning, urban drainage infrastructure, machine learning, classification, prediction, asset management space

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Authors: A. Kesraoui, M. Seffen

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Applications of adsorption onto activated carbon for water treatment are well known. The process has been demonstrated to be widely effective for removing dissolved organic substances from wastewaters, but this treatment has a major drawback is the high operating cost. The main goal of our research work is to improve the retention capacity of Tunisian biomass for the depollution of industrial wastewater and retention of pollutants considered toxic. The biosorption process is based on the retention of molecules and ions onto a solid surface composed of biological materials. The evaluation of the potential use of these materials is important to propose as an alternative to the adsorption process generally expensive, used to remove organic compounds. Indeed, these materials are very abundant in nature and are low cost. Certainly, the biosorption process is effective to remove the pollutants, but it presents a slow kinetics. The improvement of the biosorption rates is a challenge to make this process competitive with respect to oxidation and adsorption onto lignocellulosic fibers. In this context, the alternating current appears as a new alternative, original and a very interesting phenomenon in the acceleration of chemical reactions. Our main goal is to increase the retention acceleration of dyes (indigo carmine, methylene blue) and phenol by using a new alternative: alternating current. The adsorption experiments have been performed in a batch reactor by adding some of the adsorbents in 150 mL of pollutants solution with the desired concentration and pH. The electrical part of the mounting comprises a current source which delivers an alternating current voltage of 2 to 15 V. It is connected to a voltmeter that allows us to read the voltage. In a 150 mL capacity cell, we plunged two zinc electrodes and the distance between two Zinc electrodes has been 4 cm. Thanks to alternating current, we have succeeded to improve the performance of activated carbon by increasing the speed of the indigo carmine adsorption process and reducing the treatment time. On the other hand, we have studied the influence of the alternating current on the biosorption rate of methylene blue onto Luffa cylindrica fibers and the hybrid material (Luffa cylindrica-ZnO). The results showed that the alternating current accelerated the biosorption rate of methylene blue onto the Luffa cylindrica and the Luffa cylindrica-ZnO hybrid material and increased the adsorbed amount of methylene blue on both adsorbents. In order to improve the removal of phenol, we performed the coupling between the alternating current and the biosorption onto two adsorbents: Luffa cylindrica and the hybrid material (Luffa cylindrica-ZnO). In fact, the alternating current has succeeded to improve the performance of adsorbents by increasing the speed of the adsorption process and the adsorption capacity and reduce the processing time.

Keywords: adsorption, alternating current, dyes, modeling

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Authors: Saowapa Phaithayawat

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The purposes of this study are 1) to study the over 20-year attempt of Mahakan fort community to negotiate with Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to remain in their residential area belonging to the state, and 2) to apply the new social and cultural dimension between the state and the community as an alternative for local participation in keeping their residential area. This is a qualitative research, and the findings reveal that the community claimed their ancestors’ right as owners of this piece of land for over 200 years. The community, therefore, requested to take part in the preservation of land, culture and local intellect and the area management in terms of being a learning resource on the cultural road in Rattanakosin Island. However, BMA imposed the law concerning the community area relocation in Rattanakosin Island. The result of law enforcement led to the failure of the area relocation, and the hard hit on physical structure of the area including the overall deterioration of the cultural road renovated in the year 1982, the 200 years’ celebration of Bangkok. The enforcement of law by the state required the move of the community, and the landscape improvement based on the capital city plan. However, this enforcement resulted in the unending conflicts between the community and the state, and the solution of this problem was unclear. At the same time the community has spent a long time opposing the state’s action, and preparing themselves by administrating the community behind Mahakan fortress with community administrative committee under the suggestion of external organization by registering all community members, providing funds for community administration. At the meantime the state lacked the continuation of the enforcement due to political problem and BMA’s administration problem. It is, therefore, suggested that an alternative solution to this problem lie at the negotiation between the state and the community with the purpose of the collaboration between the two to develop the area under the protective law of each side.

Keywords: Pom-Mahakan community, reduction of conflicts, social area disclosure, residential area

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Authors: Lina Jassim, Robiah Yunus, , Amran Salleh

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Since nano particles have been assessed as thermo stabilizer, rheology enhancer, and ecology safer, nano drilling fluid can be utilized to overcome the complexity of hole cleaning in highly deviated interval of an extended reach wells. The eccentric annular flow is a flow with special considerations; it forms a vital part of drilling fluid flow analysis in an extended reach wells. In this work eccentric, dual phase flow (different types of rock cuttings with different size were blended with nano fluid) through horizontal well (an extended reach well) are simulated with the help of CFD, Fluent package. In horizontal wells flow occurs in an adverse pressure gradient condition, that makes the particle inside it susceptible to reversed flow. Thus the flow has to be analyzed in a three dimensional manner. Moreover the non-Newtonian behavior of the nano fluid makes the problem really challenging in numerical and physical aspects. The primary objective of the work is to establish a relationship between different flow characteristics with the speed of inner wall rotation. The nano fluid flow characteristics include swirl of flow and its effect on wellbore cleaning ability , wall shear stress and its effect on fluid viscosity to suspend and carry the rock cuttings, axial velocity and its effect on transportation of rock cuttings to the wellbore surface, finally pressure drop and its effect on managed of drilling pressure. The importance of eccentricity of the inner cylinder has to be analyzed as a part of it. Practical horizontal well flows contain a good amount of particles (rock cuttings) with moderate axial velocity, which verified nano drilling fluid ability of carrying and transferring cuttings particles in the highly deviated eccentric annular flow is also of utmost importance.

Keywords: Non-Newtonian, dual phase, eccentric annular, CFD

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Authors: Seember Susan Aondoakura

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This paper examines the international legal framework established to address the challenges women and girls experience in situations of violent conflict. The United Nations (UN) women, peace, and security agenda (hereafter WPS agenda, the Agenda) aspire to make wars safer for women. It recognizes women's agency in armed conflict and their victimization and formulates measures for their protection. The Agenda also acknowledges women's participation in conflict transformation and post-conflict reconstruction. It also calls for the involvement of women in conflict transformation, encourages the protection of women from sex and gender-based violence (SGBV), and provides relief and recovery from conflict-related SGBV. Using Third World Critical Feminist Theory, this paper argues that the WPS agenda overly focus on the protection of women from SGBV occurring in the less developed and conflict-ridden states in the global south, obscures the complicity of western states and economies to the problem, and silences the privileges that such states derive from war economies that continue to fuel conflict. This protectionist approach of the UN also obliterates other equally pressing problems in need of attention, like the high rates of economic degradation in conflict-ravaged societies of the global south. Prioritising protection also 'others' the problem, obliterating any sense of interconnections across geographical locations and situating women in the less developed economies of the global south as the victims and their men as the perpetrators. Prioritising protection ultimately situates western societies as saviours of Third World women with no recourse to their role in engendering and sustaining war. The paper demonstrates that this saviour mentality obliterates chances of any meaningful coalition between the local and the international in framing and addressing the issue, as solutions are formulated from a specific lens—the white hegemonic lens.

Keywords: conflict, protection, security, SGBV

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Authors: Dagim Dessalegn Haile

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This study investigated the interaction between the drivers' socio-demographic background information (age, gender, and driving experience) and the risky events score in the i-DREAMS platform. Further, the relationship between the participants' background driving behavior and the i-DREAMS platform behavioral output scores of risky events was also investigated. The i-DREAMS acronym stands for Smart Driver and Road Environment Assessment and Monitoring System. It is a European Union Horizon 2020 funded project consisting of 13 partners, researchers, and industry partners from 8 countries. A total of 25 Belgian car drivers (16 male and nine female) were considered for analysis. Drivers' ages were categorized into ages 18-25, 26-45, 46-65, and 65 and older. Drivers' driving experience was also categorized into four groups: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, and 46-60 years. Drivers are classified into two clusters based on the recorded score for risky events during phase 1 (baseline) using risky events; acceleration, deceleration, speeding, tailgating, overtaking, and lane discipline. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering using SPSS shows Cluster 1 drivers are safer drivers, and Cluster 2 drivers are identified as risky drivers. The analysis result indicated no significant relationship between age groups, gender, and experience groups except for risky events like acceleration, tailgating, and overtaking in a few phases. This is mainly because the fewer participants create less variability of socio-demographic background groups. Repeated measure ANOVA shows that cluster 2 drivers improved more than cluster 1 drivers for tailgating, lane discipline, and speeding events. A positive relationship between background drivers' behavior and i-DREAMS platform behavioral output scores is observed. It implies that car drivers who in the questionnaire data indicate committing more risky driving behavior demonstrate more risky driver behavior in the i-DREAMS observed driving data.

Keywords: i-dreams, car drivers, socio-demographic background, risky events

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Authors: Emine Yılmaz, Serap Fındık

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Baker’s yeast industry uses molasses as a raw material. Molasses is end product of sugar industry. Wastewater from molasses processing presents large amount of coloured substances that give dark brown color and high organic load to the effluents. The main coloured compounds are known as melanoidins. Melanoidins are product of Maillard reaction between amino acid and carbonyl groups in molasses. Dark colour prevents sunlight penetration and reduces photosynthetic activity and dissolved oxygen level of surface waters. Various methods like biological processes (aerobic and anaerobic), ozonation, wet air oxidation, coagulation/flocculation are used to treatment of baker’s yeast effluent. Before effluent is discharged adequate treatment is imperative. In addition to this, increasingly stringent environmental regulations are forcing distilleries to improve existing treatment and also to find alternative methods of effluent management or combination of treatment methods. Sonochemical oxidation is one of the alternative methods. Sonochemical oxidation employs ultrasound resulting in cavitation phenomena. In this study, decolorization of baker’s yeast effluent was investigated by using ultrasound. Baker’s yeast effluent was supplied from a factory which is located in the north of Turkey. An ultrasonic homogenizator used for this study. Its operating frequency is 20 kHz. TiO2-ZnO catalyst has been used as sonocatalyst. The effects of molar proportion of TiO2-ZnO, calcination temperature and time, catalyst amount were investigated on the decolorization of baker’s yeast effluent. The results showed that prepared composite TiO2-ZnO with 4:1 molar proportion treated at 700°C for 90 min provides better result. Initial decolorization rate at 15 min is 3% without catalyst, 14,5% with catalyst treated at 700°C for 90 min respectively.

Keywords: baker’s yeast effluent, decolorization, sonocatalyst, ultrasound

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Authors: K. N. Dinesh Babu, P. K. Gargava

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Energization of a transformer results in sudden flow of current which is an effect of core magnetization. This current will be dominated by the presence of second harmonic, which in turn is used to segregate fault and inrush current, thus guaranteeing proper operation of the relay. This additional security in the relay sometimes obstructs or delays differential protection in a specific scenario, when the 2^nd harmonic content was present during a genuine fault. This kind of scenario can result in isolation of the transformer by Buchholz and pressure release valve (PRV) protection, which is acted when fault creates more damage in transformer. Such delays involve a huge impact on the insulation failure, and chances of repairing or rectifying fault of problem at site become very dismal. Sometimes this delay can cause fire in the transformer, and this situation becomes havoc for a sub-station. Such occurrences have been observed in field also when differential relay operation was delayed by 10-15 ms by second harmonic blocking in some specific conditions. These incidences have led to the need for an alternative solution to eradicate such unwarranted delay in operation in future. Modern numerical relay, called as intelligent electronic device (IED), is embedded with advanced protection features which permit higher flexibility and better provisions for tuning of protection logic and settings. Such flexibility in transformer protection IEDs, enables incorporation of alternative methods such as dynamic switching of second harmonic feature for blocking the differential protection with additional security. The analysis and precautionary measures carried out in this case, have been simulated and discussed in this paper to ensure that similar solutions can be adopted to inhibit analogous issues in future.

Keywords: differential protection, intelligent electronic device (IED), 2nd harmonic inhibit, inrush inhibit

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Authors: Yuan-Jye Tseng, Yi-Shiuan Chen

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The paper presented a sustainable design model for integrated evaluation of the design and supply chain of a product for the sustainable objectives. To design a product, there can be alternative ways to assign the detailed specifications to fulfill the same design objectives. In the design alternative cases, different material and manufacturing processes with various supply chain activities may be required for the production. Therefore, it is required to evaluate the different design cases based on the sustainable objectives. In this research, a closed-loop design model is developed by integrating the forward design model and reverse design model. From the supply chain point of view, the decisions in the forward design model are connected with the forward supply chain. The decisions in the reverse design model are connected with the reverse supply chain considering the sustainable objectives. The purpose of this research is to develop a mathematical model for analyzing the design cases by integrated evaluating the criteria in the closed-loop design and the closed-loop supply chain. The decision variables are built to represent the design cases of the forward design and reverse design. The cost parameters in a forward design include the costs of material and manufacturing processes. The cost parameters in a reverse design include the costs of recycling, disassembly, reusing, remanufacturing, and disposing. The mathematical model is formulated to minimize the total cost under the design constraints. In practical applications, the decisions of the mathematical model can be used for selecting a design case for the purpose of sustainable design of a product. An example product is demonstrated in the paper. The test result shows that the sustainable design model is useful for integrated evaluation of the design and the supply chain to achieve the sustainable objectives.

Keywords: closed-loop design, closed-loop supply chain, design evaluation, supply chain management, sustainable design model

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Authors: D. Nkazi, S. E. Iyuke, J. Mulopo

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Increasing global energy demand as well as air quality concerns have in recent years led to the search for alternative clean fuels to replace fossil fuels. One such alternative is the blending of petrol with ethanol, which has numerous advantages such ethanol’s ability to act as oxygenate thus reducing the carbon monoxide emissions from the exhaust of internal combustion engines of vehicles. However, the hygroscopic nature of ethanol is a major concern in obtaining a perfectly homogenized petrol-ethanol fuel. This problem has led to the study of ways of homogenizing the petrol-ethanol mixtures. During the blending process, volumes fraction of ethanol and petrol were studied with respect to the depth within the storage container to confirm homogenization of the blend and time of storage. The results reveal that the density of the mixture was constant. The binodal curve of the ternary diagram shows an increase of homogeneous region, indicating an improved of interaction between water and petrol. The concentration distribution in the reactor showed proof of cavitation formation since in both directions, the variation of concentration with both time and distance was found to be oscillatory. On comparing the profiles in both directions, the concentration gradient, diffusion flux, and energy and diffusion rates were found to be higher in the vertical direction compared to the horizontal direction. It was therefore concluded that ultrasonication creates cavitation in the mixture which enhances mass transfer and mixing of ethanol and petrol. The horizontal direction was found to be the diffusion rate limiting step which proposed that the blender should have a larger height to diameter ratio. It is, however, recommended that further studies be done on the rate-limiting step so as to have actual dimensions of the reactor.

Keywords: ultrasonication, petrol, ethanol, concentration

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Authors: Kayode A. Olaniyi, Adeola A. Ogunleye, Tola M. Osifeko

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Electric Vehicles (EV) appear to be gaining increasing patronage as a feasible alternative to Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) for having low emission and high operation efficiency. The EV energy storage systems are required to handle high energy and power density capacity constrained by limited space, operating temperature, weight and cost. The choice of strategies for energy storage evaluation, monitoring and control remains a challenging task. This paper presents review of various energy storage technologies and recent researches in battery evaluation techniques used in EV applications. It also underscores strategies for the hybrid energy storage management and control schemes for the improvement of EV stability and reliability. The study reveals that despite the advances recorded in battery technologies there is still no cell which possess both the optimum power and energy densities among other requirements, for EV application. However combination of two or more energy storages as hybrid and allowing the advantageous attributes from each device to be utilized is a promising solution. The review also reveals that State-of-Charge (SoC) is the most crucial method for battery estimation. The conventional method of SoC measurement is however questioned in the literature and adaptive algorithms that include all model of disturbances are being proposed. The review further suggests that heuristic-based approach is commonly adopted in the development of strategies for hybrid energy storage system management. The alternative approach which is optimization-based is found to be more accurate but is memory and computational intensive and as such not recommended in most real-time applications.

Keywords: battery state estimation, hybrid electric vehicle, hybrid energy storage, state of charge, state of health

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Authors: Muhammad Shahid, Kafait Ullah, Kashif Imran, Arshad Mahmood, Maarten Arentsen

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Poor planning and governance in the power sector of Pakistan have generated several issues ranging from gradual reliance on thermal-based expensive energy mix, supply shortages, unrestricted demand, subsidization, inefficiencies at different levels of the value chain and resultantly, the circular debt. This situation in the power sector has also hampered the growth of allied economic sectors. This study uses the Long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) system for electricity modelling of Pakistan from the period of 2016 to 2040. The study has first time in Pakistan forecasted the electricity demand at the provincial level. At the supply side, five scenarios Business as Usual Scenario (BAUS), Coal Scenario (CS), Gas Scenario (GS), Nuclear Scenario (NS) and Renewable Scenario (RS) have been analyzed based on the techno-economic and environmental parameters. The study has also included environmental externality costs for evaluating the actual costs and benefits of different scenarios. Contrary to the expectations, RS has a lower output than even BAUS. The study has concluded that the generation from RS has five times lesser costs than BAUS, CS, and GS. NS can also be an alternative for the sustainable future of Pakistan. Generation from imported coal is not a good option, however, indigenous coal with clean coal technologies should be promoted. This paper proposes energy planners of the country to devise incentives for the utilization of indigenous energy resources including renewables on priority and then clean coal to reduce the energy crises of Pakistan.

Keywords: economic evaluation, externality cost, penetration of renewable energy, regional electricity supply-demand planning

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Authors: Benedetta Isella, Aleksander Drinic, Alissa Heim, Phillip Czichowski, Lisa Lauts, Hans Leemhuis

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Introduction: Membranes for guided bone regeneration are essential to perform a barrier function between the soft and the regenerating bone tissue. Bioabsorbable membranes are desirable in this field as they do not require a secondary surgery for removal, decreasing patient surgical risk. Collagen was the first bioabsorbable alternative introduced on the market, but its degradation time may be too fast to guarantee bone regeneration, and optimisation is needed. Silk fibroin, being biocompatible, slowly bioabsorbable, and processable into different scaffold types, could be a promising alternative. Objectives: The objective is to compare the general performance of a silk fibroin membrane for guided bone regeneration to current collagen alternatives developing suitable standardized tests for the mechanical and morphological characterization. Methods: Silk fibroin and collagen-based membranes were compared from the morphological and chemical perspective, with techniques such as SEM imaging and from the mechanical point of view with techniques such as tensile and suture retention strength (SRS) tests. Results: Silk fibroin revealed a high degree of reproducibility in surface density. The SRS of silk fibroin (0.76 ± 0.04 N), although lower than collagen, was still comparable to native tissues such as the internal mammary artery (0.56 N), and the same can be extended to general mechanical behaviour in tensile tests. The SRS could be increased by an increase in thickness. Conclusion: Silk fibroin is a promising material in the field of guided bone regeneration, covering the interesting position of not being considered a product containing cells or tissues of animal origin from the regulatory perspective and having longer degradation times with respect to collagen.

Keywords: guided bone regeneration, mechanical characterization, membrane, silk fibroin

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